Semul

One of the topmost trees in my list of favorites is the humble semul/simmar/semal.

At home in arid dusty landscapes, it thrives in hellholes like Gurgaon as well. And I am very grateful for that I must add. Its vibrant red flowers mark the end of winters. Around this time, the trees totally lack any foliage but are full of fleshy flowers. In fact, I recall that we used to have a semul tree above our classroom in Nazira. And in April, the floor used to be full of freshly fallen as well as half rotten flowers. And yes, the nearby village was called semulguri. We could take a boat to cross the river and go vegetable shopping there. Sounds fantastic and it was.

:)

Of ancient songs

I love vacations. Well who doesnt :P

Unlike K, I prefer mountains to beaches. We have been on short trips on the Himalayan range a handful of times. And although I enjoyed every moment of our time there, I was always glad to back in the plains. Always. Having said that, I just want to tell that I am very thankful to the Himalayan range. Please dont get angry I dont feel at home on you (:P). I guess, its because I belong in your shadows.

Well, I dont feel so anxious on the Aravalis though. In a way I am intimidated by them. They somehow manage to hold their regalia despite being old and arid. They make me believe that I have been a part of them for a long time, longer than I can remember in this memory. The Aravalis are like an old person, very old and very wise. So old that time has given up on her and it doesnt matter how many eons pass, she is always going to be that old. So old that she has become a chronicle of time iteslf. Age has taught her to be forgiving of the pesky humans mining her flesh though ugly quarries. Age has also taught her that the best way to take care of life is to make it very hard to live in her care. And as a result, life is thriving and so is she. And together they sing songs where melodies mingle with dust and are carried far away and for a very long time. The Aravalis have so much to teach, so much to tell, if only we could listen.

Cultivate and Inculcate

You know what rocks? yeah granite and slate but also learning new things. And learning to use technology for actually improving your life.

So somebody initiated these cool things called podcasts. And bam! 10 years later, I finally started to listen to those. And audiobooks. Those rock too. Needless to say I am cooking way too often these days. :)
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Speaking of rocks, the other week we (I) finally settled on the stone for kitchen counters. They are grey with black specks on them.
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I have five plants on my office desk now.

Studying again

The neighbourhood park has some very lively tangerine trees. Over the years these have become my favorite. And the kids' too. These trees are always laden with fruit. And I mean ALWAYS. Literally hundreds of them.

But today morning, there was something new. The trees had blossoms. And they smell lovely. While walking past them I thought I caught a whiff of something I faintly recognized but couldn't place. On my way back, I stopped to smell them. (must have looked like a dork - a grown woman smelling trees) And I realized, they smell faintly like jasmine(mogra). Lovely.

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Some homes feel like vacations. At least on pinterest. I wonder if the people living in them are aware of this.

My idea of a vacation comprises the tropics, bougainvillea, big troughs of frangipani floating on water, can furniture and afternoon. Not at all unattainable in a house. Only if we could move to the tropics.

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I am wearing a sort of flowy sweater/jacket thing today. i feel like batman. :)

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Little T gave me a compliment today. He said, "Mommy, I love your petu. Its so soft and squishy". I said thank you. And I was. 

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I realize I should start studying seriously now. They say realization is the first step. Well I am glad to have a start of any kind.

Random

I like listening to music while I cook. Not that I cook so very often, but when I do, it sounds very good :P

My usual favorites are classics of course. But recently, I stumbled upon some old favorites of ours. And so Savage Garden is the flavor of the month. Nostalgia.. The funny thing is, although I havent really heard these songs for more than a decade, but I found (to my delight) that I was able to sing along those songs. ooh I want you, I dont know if I need you.... :)

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Ksh and I have started a self-help group. There are only two people in the group. We stop each other from losing our sh*t at the kids. I must say it is working pretty well. And we have the added delight of having a new common hobby.

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We are also neck deep in getting things finished for the house. I love crawling through the web to find something for the new place. Ksh likes to see the pinterest stuff I show him and somehow thinks I am going to be able to replicate it. :O

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I want to try my hand at woodwork. Like work with really professional tools. I want to become a furniture maker.

Birthday rants

Saw a parrot in flight today. It kind of looked like a swift while flying, a very pretty green swift. magnificent 

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"We are, each of us, a product of the stories we tell ourselves" - Derren Brown, Happy

I came across this book by chance. Bought it on a whim and started it in the middle of another one(The Pilgrimage by Coelho. I need more conviction to finish it though). And I have been so surprised. Its a wonderful read. More wisdom than I could handle at one go. So what happens it that I read a passage, marvel it for a while and then realize that I have to re-read it. And marvel it some more. It is a pleasure.

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I also turn 34 today. Thats a big number. And with age, I am surprised to find myself turning more and more "right-wing" and agreeing with people like Jordan Peterson. I am also scared that the world(at least the first / western world and by the virtue of being blind followers - the educated class of my own humble third world country) is inching towards becoming utterly useless. 

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Another bit of wisdom that I garnered is that I have to be more patient. And by Gods grace, my kids have an incredible ability to teach me patience.

Days to remember

Memories are fickle. They form and then fade, sometimes get distorted and tend to reshape themselves in a simpler manner loosing some of their flavor along the way and picking some false ones with time. Usually it doesn't matter much as long as its a happy memory. But sometimes you want to remember times exactly as they play out. These are such times. The other day K and I realized that although we are rushed all the time, these may be our halcyon days. No major worries, kids in the sweet age where they don't have acad pressure yet.

So apart from the others, here are some silly things I really want to remember:

- Little V learning to speak. His vocabulary expands every minute. Current favorites - more, big, eat, bus, truck, baby and of course NO

- T turning into a little boy from being my baby and so eager to grow up. He is obsessed with farts and keeps a daily count. Also, he takes pleasure in announcing whenever there is a count++ event

- Their favorite "hide and seek" games. V calls it the game of "paaiise". I kind of feel sorry for the family living in the flat below us.

- The way V asks me to play with him the moment he realizes that I am getting ready for work. 

- Night time story sessions. I suspect K enjoys them more than the kids.

I know that soon the kids will have friends of their own, they might not want to play with us anymore. But till that time comes...

For us

This year we had a long long new year's party. The kind you never want to end. But it has to so that there are justifiable reasons to have more parties. And so this one is coming to an end. 

It was one to remember :)

So here is to a very happy and successful year full of joys (big and small), and laughter and genuine smiles. May God bless us with good health and happy times. And faith.

Cheers

Tis the season...

Picnics are fun. Running around, gathering wild lemons, digging, collecting stones, and me – eating all the time. But as it happens, when we have a good time, we tend to make a mess. In fact, I believe it is not possible to be organized and have fun at the same time. Just incomprehensible. So inevitably, at the end, when it is time to leave, we have to clean up. Everything goes back to its place, toys back, garbage in the bin, mats folded & hats back on heads. Everything is organized just to be scattered again.

It’s the same (kind of) with end of the year. Come December and somehow I feel compelled to sort and wrap up everything. Just to be taken out and scattered in the coming year. And had fun with. You know, having fun requires one to make a mess.

Family is here. And it feels every bit like I supposed it would. Noisy bliss I call it. And it’s the best kind of bliss.

Touchwood.

My Precious

The other day, little T found two ball bearings that in the school play-ground. That day when I went to pick him up from school, he was so visibly excited to see me. He said (perfectly mimicking my tone I must add), “Mommy, I have a surprise for you.”

Then he added, “I found two beautiful today. So I got them for your necklace.” J

Those little shiny ball bearings are the best gifts I have ever received.

Proud mommy moment. 

A garden runs wild

So we made a short weekend navratri trip to Ahmedabad. Awesome weather. Great atmosphere.
We managed to tick all the entries from our must-do list and then some.

One of the things I never had imagined I would do was to pluck a ripe "mousambi" and eat it right there by the tree. Yup.

It was amazing.

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"Prance" almost made into the list

My favorite words of the week -

- Continuum 

- Dulcet

- Tread

- Preen

Dream Diary

Thanks to my younger one, our sleep has become less and intermittent. 

For me bad sleep brings on weird dreams. Or may be its just that I remember them more. 

Anyways, so yesterday(night?) my dream was setup in a pre-apocalypse kind of setup. The terrain was rocky and mountainous with rickety spiraling, iron stairs with broken steps. And I vaguely recall people going about their day while being scared all the time.

Anyway, so the dream somehow got me running in a building. So what did I do, I picked up a mattress(yes a full sized one) and used it as some kind of a pole (mattress ?) vault to quickly cover the distance. 

It was awesome. :)

Quarter to three

Yup. Quarter to three in the afternoon - thats my most favorite time of the day. Specially on days when it has rained in the morning, but got miraculously clear afterwards.

The sun is at that perfect angle to light up the trees and leaves so that they seems greener, the sky is at its bluest, good lunch makes people happier and sleepier and a good cup of tea picks them right up.

Enough time has passed since the morning so that you can feel accomplished by all that you did that day, yet you are left with enough daylight hours to finish anything left to do.

Yes, quarter to three is the best time of the day. Today.

Confessions

Despite my best efforts to stay away, last year I was finally caught up in the GOT net. So much so that I seriously cannot wait till the next season begins. It is annoying.
Now, there are a few guesses that I have, and I want to see if they come true. Not noting them down would make me forget and also, I wouldnt have the pleasure of shouting "I KNEW it" to hapless people around me.
So here are my guesses:

1. "the dragon has three heads" would refer to the Lannister trio
2. Daenerys wont get the iron throne. Not for long anyway.
3. The night king would turn out to be a Stark.
4. Bran would plant the dragonglass at fist of the fist men that Sam and Jon found and used to survive.
5. Jorah with the greyscale would be immune to white walkers/undead army.
6. Cersei would still have some wildfire left under kings landing which would be used to kill the walkers. Eventually.
7. Arya would meet Bran before they get to winterfell. If they do.
8. Euron would die this season.

Eight years

It seems like we were kids just yesterday.
Yes, we were kids together.
Now we have kids together.
And yesterday seems so far away.

I know its tomorrow that matters more
So this is for many more joyful tomorrows

normal life is an oxymoron

The act of living, by its very definition, is to navigate the numerous turns and bends, take frequent snack breaks and occasional naps and to arrive at a destination which is the least important part of the journey.

The adventure being that one can never be sure that they are about to reach the destination until they do (and sometimes not even then :O)

Its the journey that matters. A journey which should not be made in a hurry at all. Why would one want to arrive before their time? 

So take time and smell the roses. Enjoy the bumps and the occasional potholes. 

Refuse to be carried by others, walk by yourself. Decide your own course, find a good partner whose company you would enjoy on this road. And above all, enjoy the journey.

On walking

The reason I don’t post much these days is that because out of my old habit of keeping a journal, I love writing about the day at the end of the day. Writing for me is a kind of reminiscing about the day. In a way, it is a form of time travel back to the day past where I cant change anything. But yes, it helps me make meaning out of the happenings. It’s like living the day again, enjoying the conversations one more time. Only this time in my head.

But now the definition of my “day” stretches itself to the end of socially acceptable waking hours and occasionally spills beyond midnight. By that time I am too exhausted/ zombified to walk to the bed, let alone turn on the laptop and write something. (yeah I don’t like writing on ipad or my phone. Both devices very easy to waste time on but very difficult to get anything productive done)

Anyways, so most of my reminiscing now happens during the “walk”. The half hour window I have been sanctioned after we are done with everybody’s dinner. K graciously stays home with the kids while I don up my walking shoes, gear up with some music and go for a stroll. That is the part of my day when it is ok for me to not be attentive about the surroundings (not many cars on road at night and the colony is pretty safe) and daydream.

So now my blogging /journaling/ walking has all merged into one. Its just not recorded anymore.

Throwback thursday

Let the rain come down 
   and wash away my fears
let it fill my soul 
   and drown my fears
let it shatter the walls 
   for a new Sun
A new day has come

 - Aldo Nova and Stephen Moccio, from Celine Dion's song - A new day has come

Music to the rescue

"Summer is here."

The Game of Thorns is full on in Gurgaon this year. Gusts of dust (alliteration much ??) greet us as soon as we step outside.

Anyways, so today while driving back to work I was kind of aware of the heat outside. But then this song came on radio - "Rim jhim gire sawan..."

Lovely song. And it reminded that the heat is here for a reason. It paves the way for monsoon. And then I didnt feel the heat anymore.