film. the day after Nemo...

Shots by Nishi with his Pentax film camera... his new love.

Sharing these with 

since we have been feasting on these shots all over the weekend...

p.s : more of Nemo here.

Friday before Nemo... the Snow, the Slush and the Good Man

Last Friday, with warnings of heavy snow storm, the lab closed down at 2:00 p.m. We immediately went and picked Pradyot up from the daycare.. and headed to Sam's Club for some last moment stocking up...

Nishi had forgotten the candles and we hadn't any in the house.. so that was a must purchase that we couldn't afford to skip inspite of all the warnings and the apparent slush and snow. 

however.. we just couldn't find any candle in any aisle. so we decided to stop at the neighborhood grocery shop. but by then it had already started snowing heavily. the view through the car window was fast becoming a blur... the traffic was slowing every minute and as a consequence the usual 20 minutes drive stretched to a mighty 45 minutes that day.

and by the time we reached the store and Nishi finished that last bit of essential stock up... it was 5:00 p.m. now the big snowballs had begun pouring down. and as pretty as the surroundings looked from the car... the moment Nishi started the car, we realized what a BIG SOUP we had plunged ourselves in. the wheels had got stuck in the snow and slush... and no amount of engine acceleration could make them budge. and when Nishi asked me to step out and push the car while he pressed the accelerator... to my horror i realized that my shoes did not have the grip for snow.  the more I tried to push... the more I slipped. of course. Newton's 3rd Law was at work ... but i wasn't thinking about that then..  it was freezing and we just wanted to get back home. later Nishi told me that at that moment he was considering abandoning the car right there and walking back. but he of course did not mention it then. for he knew that with Pradyot around it wouldn't be easy convincing me about that... 

anyway while he was tossing his options... and i gathering all the strength to push the car again... by God's grace a kind gentleman stepped out from his car and helped me give the car THE PUSH.... At that moment I really didn't know how to thank him enough. I merely said "Thank you so much. Drive safe,"  and jumped into the car. but thinking back... I feel I should have atleast given him a big hug... 

The Day After Nemo.

The day after Nemo we woke up to a cold room with a view to endless stretches of snow.....

^^ our neighborhood as it appeared from our apartment windows.....

^^ with no electricity since the previous night, Saturday morning the room temperatures had dropped to 52 degree F. so dressed in his fur suit we let Pradyot play while we attended to the household chores .. taking breaks every few minutes to take a peek through the windows...

^^ it was then that i spotted the blue jay back in our backyard...  perched on that branch outside.. it looked as pretty as ever.. but it too couldn't take the gusts of cold air for long.. so it flew away soon after.

^^by noon  with all four stoves boiling water full-time, the room temperatures had reached 62 degrees F. and since the kitchen felt like the most comfortable corner around, I busied myself cooking some fine dishes.. while Nishi went down with his spade to join our neighbors clear the tracks that had gathered about three feet of snow.. and dig out our car from the snow....

^^by two when a considerable amount of snow had been cleared he was glad to find a meal of fries and stewed veggies laid  out for lunch... Beer Battered Asparagus Pakoda and a bengali veggy mix with a face-lift so that it would resemble Ratatuollie a bit ... 

^^ since Nishi wanted Pradyot to feel the snow... so after lunch we all went out for a while. the sun was shining bright... and with the reflection from the snow it hurt our eye... but our boy cared for none of that... he was happy to be out. walking slipping and sliding .. all the time giggling and laughing and rejoicing his brand new experience of being in the snow ...  it was amazing to see how much he enjoyed himself out there.....  but we did stay out long.  because soon after our eyes and noses started watering and we did not want to risk it further... so we returned to our darkening apartment and after a quick-fix-early-dinner retired to the warmth of the quilts and the blankets in the bed....

Preparing for Nemo... ...

Panicked by his experience during Hurricane Sandy, Nishi has been doing all he can in preparation for Nemo. Yesterday after dropping us home... he bought a shovel, salt for snow and filled the car-gas-tank  full. because when Sandy had struck... he was trapped for 3 days straight... in a dark house with no electricity and no gas in the tank.  and not until a lab-mate obliged him with a ride and some gas... did he manage to resume back into normal life. but of course in comparison to all the sufferings that Sandy brought.. this was nothing.  in any case like everyone else... we are stocking up on every bit we can think of ...while praying and hoping all along that Nemo doesn't strike as bad. 

If you are around these corners... stay safe... hope you are well-stocked with food, candles and gas.


update: the non-stop rain and the sleet and the slush is making me nervous. the weather predictions have been pretty accurate so far... seems like there is no escaping the blizzard tonight. 

Yesterday... after four thirty post meridiem

Yesterday... around 4 p.m we realized that we hadn't used the MLK weekend well... so at about four-thirty p.m, without paying too much attention to weather.com we headed towards...

^^ our favorite neighborhood destination... Le Bonne Boulangerie in the village of Port Jefferson...

^^ to feast our eyes and palate to sweet treats..

^^ But by 5:30 we had to leave.. for it had begun to snow... 

^^ and while we were still on our way... the snowflakes grew so much in size and strength .....  

^^  that when we reached home at 5:55pm...it felt as if our little village had been taken over by the White Witch of Narnia....

Lately....

Pradyot has started daycare... and after yielding to his motion sickness for almost a week, we have finally found a way to deal with it. sour apple lollipops or orange flavored ones. its his pick. but whichever it is... it keeps him engaged and keeps his breakfast down. so we are  good. 

Even I have started working... well working in the sense that everyday I spend few hours in the library reading and revising my books. the first few days were a little frustrating.. i somehow felt  lost in the known kingdom.. but things are getting better. and i am sure that within a few weeks i'll feel confident enough to meet and discuss math with my old friends.. and also apply for jobs.

I must confess that I haven't yet found a way to balance my baby, house and passion. but the good news is Nishi is helping a LOT more.... and together we are gradually shaping things out...

Hope you've been keeping well and doing great. Hope you have a wonderful week.

Stay safe, keep warm and eat healthy.

xoxxo....

Acceptance .....

The other day as we walked past a narrow over-populated lane in Chennai

a friend asked  "what is it you see in their faces ?"

I replied "acceptance..."

It was apparently just the word that he had been looking for....   

for the shop-keepers, the flower-vendors, the street-kids who dotted that narrow lane did not look unhappy. neither did they seem to be complacent (as is often portrayed by the tourists-photographers or the film-makers).... for clearly their living conditions weren't the best... but over the generations they seemed to have learnt that denial or self-pity will not change the picture for them. neither will it help to be a rebel... for in our country (and possibly in most countries) rebels are always harshly suppressed... so they had adjusted to their surroundings, learnt to survive through frugality, learnt to accept life as has been catered to them and wear a moderate smile whenever asked to do so by a photographer  for his frame or a film-maker for his fame......

[i wish i had a camera that day... but i didn't. so i googled and put up the image which was closest to what we had seen in that narrow lane in Chennai that day]

about flavours that erased and revealed ....

It was my third visit to naturals ice-cream parlour... The last two times I had been accompanied... but this time it was unplanned...  lets say, after the episodes of the day i needed a break to lift my spirits and i thought that an ice-cream treat is best qualified for the job in the list.... so i walked into the parlour unaccompanied....

naturals  is an ice-cream franchise which prides in introducing seasonal-fruit-flavoured ice-creams with intriguing toppings of fruity-flavoured-jellies, cashews, shredded-carameled-nuts, honey and a variety of exotica besides the usual choco-chips, cherries and black-current crushes.... On my earlier visits I had tried their custard-apple, musk-melon, watermelon and papaya flavours and each of them was great! Today I tried two freshly introduced flavours of the season, anjir (i.e fig) and mukkani ( which is a trio of mango-jackfruit-banana). I tried a small helping of the first and then settled for two big scoops of the mukkani-flavoured one topped with a generous helping of nuts, raisins and honey...and DIVINE is all i can say !

.... and while my scoops soothed me and  busied themselves in wiping  memories of my ugly day, it occurred to me that I have finally learnt to love and enjoy the time I spend with myself !! for earlier, whenever I was faced with a similar situation the ever-so-self-concious me would end up hurrying through my order in awe of being the focus of weird glances ... but this time i just sat there with my cup of ice-cream... peeping at their selections and smiling back at them... as if approvingly !!   i guess i am gradually learning to balance "being introvert with being sociable " and i am loving this....

[image by google search]

let the weariness pass......

i love this photograph !! it is the header of the Indian railway website.

fills me with nostalgia... reminds me of the good old days... when i used to wait for the vacations...  and when they began, curled up by my mother's side, traveled miles and miles by train to go to my cousins' place... what fun the holidays used to be!

now cousins have settled in places where the trains cannot take me ... but this picture is making  me wander lusty and i wish to travel.  travel perhaps to the hills to escape from this dreary heat ... or perhaps to the unknown terrains where the romance in the air will soothe me, refresh me,  and cure me of this weariness .... let it wither away...


p.s:   i am traveling today early morning.  going to my dear niece Shruti's place for this weekend ....... what are your plans ?  have a wonderful lo....ng weekend ! take care, tata !

rewind-edit-play....

Teenage was in such a haste..         

   i could barely relish ..       

i had only blinked,   and it had vanished..                         

      if i could,  i would rewind

           and this time spare me of the oddities...

              - love me a little more, worry a lot less,

                 bask in the winter sun, swim at summer bays...    

 indulge unsparingly  creating memories  ...

[image from weheartit]

Thank you friends !!

                                                                             Its Sunday night .....

i laughed and laughed

 till my eyes brimmed and overflowed

              and i was happy and alive....

i felt like a little child.
Thank you friends- 

   i had a lovely time tonight !!

[image via weheartit]

"Do you ever dream..

Forrest, about who you're gonna be? "                    

Forrest Gump: Who I'm gonna be? ......


Jenny Curran: Yeah.

Forrest Gump:  Aren't-aren't I going to be me?

At times I wish I could move on with no memories of all those years that took away my innocence, my confidence, my trust and my faith from me... I wish those cynicisms hadn't touched me as deeply as they did... and their shadows would let me be.. just  for a while....

For just a little while  I wish  I could   un-educate myself, abandon the prejudices and be a little wild, a little uncivilized....
For just a little while  I wish  I could be a pure and simple me 
Embracing life and all around  less critically, more spontaneously and a lot more endearingly
For just a little while  I wish....
                      ...I wish I could dare to be me !

 [image from Forrest Gump by google search]

Choices...

For over a decade I have been shifting base

the addresses change in the letters sent to me..

In the beginning all this was exciting,

rather indulging -- made me feel important,

a little special sometimes.

But now my volitions have begun to trade loyalties...

We don't want to move they fuss...

Moving is not as enticing they chafe.....

Tis unsettling they fret.

Now I wish to settle down...
Have a bed to wake up into at the break of each day,

have a place called 'home' to go back to each evening,

have a family around to cook for, care for-

tell my stories to at the end of each day.

This life was my choice.

I love my job and chose it thus. 

Yet now I crave to be home-bound.

[image 2 is by p. bandhyopadhay]