Lens and Sensibility

My 'new' phone

2012-01-23T22:44:00.000-08:00

This is my new phone :)!

I saw it in the store when Vijay and I went to buy a cordless (our old one died), fell for it, and it came home with us! This is extremely unusual --- spur-of-the-moment buying is very very rare in the Ramchander household, believe me.

This is the kind of phone we grew up with. When I was a child, we lived in our ancestral house in Warangal. Apart from the family, consisting of my father's seven brothers and two sisters, his mother and her co-sister, there were many other people living in the house. One of them was Pendyam Srinivas Rao, who was a journalist working for Press Trust of India (PTI). The first phone we used, belonged to him -- the privilege of working for PTI! I still remember the number --- 197! Yes, it had just three digits.

The next phone belonged to us and had four digits -- 7202. The instruments were all black and looked like my 'new' phone. After some years, this number changed to five digits, then to six and now it has seven!

My grandmother's house in Hyderabad had a phone which, again, was a privilege; they got it because my aunt was a doctor. You see, not everyone had a phone. Hard to believe, no?

I had a chance to live in phone-less Big House, where I lived with my in-laws. However, we were at office all day and made the necessary calls from there. Now I realise why Big House was so quiet; there was no tring-tring to disturb the peace! Finally when we applied for a phone, we had to wait three whole years before we were allotted one. And this was not the 18th century...it was early 1990s! How much has changed since then!

Nostalgia made me buy this antique model, for as I told Vijay, we can't become children, but we can have a phone that would remind us of our childhood, each time we used it.

Unfortunately it is not a dummy. It rings...along with the three other phones in the house!

Chasing the memory of a taste...

2012-01-07T08:32:00.000-08:00

Foolish, stupid, brash. Sometimes, I am surprised at myself.

An uncle brought ten huge guavas the other day. We ate one and the remaining sat in the basket on the dining table, staring at us and soon their heady smell spread through the dining room into the drawing and the office. I looked at them for 2 busy days and at the end of an exhausting third day, I suddenly decided to make guava jelly!

If you know me well, you would know that I am not the jam-jelly-squash making type of person. But...

It was inspired by the memory of the taste of the guava jelly that my father-in-law used to make in 'big house' many years ago. Every guava season, he would very scientifically make guava jam and jelly. I remember he even used a thermometer while cooking the jelly. So it turned out perfect. He used to bottle the jam and keep the jelly neatly and perfectly cut into squares in a white 'jaali' cupboard. If it had been my parents' home, I would have shamelessly attacked the cupboard, but as a new bride in the house, I had to discreetly help myself to a piece now and then.

I had to make (and eat) guava jelly that evening.

And so I downloaded the recipe (seemed simple enough!) and then began my journey to bring to reality, that taste of the guava jelly from big house. Boil-cut-separate seeds-blend in mixer...before I knew what was happening, I had already used up four large vessels, a strainer and a mixer vessel+lid. Then came the cooking of the mashed guavas. Stir-stir-stir...2 hours whizzed past! I was tired and sleepy. Stir-stir-stir...it was supposed to change colour, but it didn't. I tried to remember the colour of the jelly....must have been green not reddish, as the recipe suggested. Then, as I stir-stir-stirred....watched TV...stir-stir-stirred....watched TV, quite unexpectedly, the guava started boiling, and spewing the jelly out of the vessel...first on the stove, then on the kitchen platform, and some of it even landed on the floor! Alarmed, I brought the ladder, and took out a larger vessel from the attic and poured out the jelly from the small vessel to the large...thus adding one more sticky vessel to be washed.

You get the picture?

Wondering what planetary movement had caused this sudden lapse in sense, I continued stirring the blasted jelly till it left the sides of the vessel, and till my hand ached (as specified in the recipe!). Its aroma permeated my entire house and the neighbouring floors too, and I found my daughter holding her nose as she tried to find a guava-smell-free space in the house. The jelly finally got done by 11.30 pm; it was edible but alas, nowhere close to the taste I cherished. I ended my day washing about 10 vessels, cleaning the stove, the platform and the floor. AND my chappals that had got all sticky and squeaky.

"I will never do this again", I promised myself as my tired head hit my pillow. But I know that in a year or so I will forget the agony of this chase, and the fact that I am not the jam-jelly-squash-making kind of person, and I will once again set out to chase the memory of a taste from long ago.

WHAT'S WITH ME?

Mario Mirandaaa....aah!

2011-12-13T22:45:00.000-08:00

A paper, a pencil and a quiet corner. How much can one achieve with this? Some paintings and drawings, and a few inevitable bulges in the waistline, owing to an inanimate lifestyle, perhaps?

In Mario Miranda's creations, the bulges were only in the eyes of the people he drew, and in the buxom women his work was filled with; and they were anything but inanimate! There was life and movement in his every stroke. And one need not talk about what he achieved from his quiet corner.

Mario caught the essence of India in his work...his drawings were always full of people in wonderful detail. "How much he saw!" said a friend of mine, and I totally agree with that. Not many of us really 'see' things as we go about our mundane lives.

My earliest memory of Mario's work is from the Illustrated Weekly of India, a magazine we all read and loved as children. We looked forward to episodes of Minister Bundaldass and his secretary Moonswamy. They were hilarious, filled with tasteful humour, and we enjoyed laughing at politicians, as we did at the film actress Miss Rajni Nimbupani.

Apart from his amazing body of work, I think Mario taught my generation to laugh at ourselves. Yes, India is this and India is that, but what the hell! The cows on roads, the overflowing trains, the streets with people rushing about their daily lives...hey! there are funny things going on around us all the time!

He also depicted romance in a charming way. His lines calmed down, and created a mood at once pleasant and beautiful. His cross hatching was masterly and his buildings and monuments were an architect's delight. I must add that his depiction of flora was amazing too.

On my last visit to Goa in 2008, I wanted to meet Mario, but couldn't. But I was very happy to see that his work was available in stores in Panjim, especially in the elegant Velha Goa Galleria. And now there is a website showcasing his work: http://www.mariodemiranda.com/

Thank you, Mario Joao Carlos do Rosario de Britto Miranda, for being born amongst us, for showing us everything you saw. India will miss you.

Bookaroo 2011

2011-11-30T09:06:00.001-08:00

Here's a peek at Bookaroo 2011 (www.bookaroo.in), which Ragini and I attended from 26 to 27 November 2011. I did a session on "Just look up..." and Ragini and I together did one on "Autorickshaw blues..." For two days, spending time with writers and illustrators from all over the world, we actually felt somewhat famous, especially at the signing sessions or when a visitor came looking for us :) ! It was also reassuring to see children thronging the beautiful Sanskriti Kendra and breathing books for 2 days.

The festival began with Jeeva Raghunath, a professional story-teller...she is AWESOME!

Adeline Foo from Singapore talking about her book "The diary of Amos Lee"

Ahem! Ahem! At Eureka, the bookstore!

British writers "the 2Steves"...Steve Barlow and Steve Skidmore doing their double act...they had the crowd cheer and scream!

Our very own Jerry Pinto at an informal tete-a-tete with children.

Yes, he is very funny.

At Sanskriti Kendra's beautiful terracotta museum...btw, in 2004, Ragini and I stayed for 4 days at the Kendra when she attended an illustrator's workshop. She was 10 then...so this was a nostalgia trip too. We were delighted to meet the artist Mr Sudhasatwa Basu, who helped Ragini with her drawing in 2004.

Another genius...Devdutt Pattanaik (left), whose books on Hindu mythology are well written and timely. His session was fabulous. He's a natural.

Satoshi Kitamura's session was fun; the kids loved it. He's a Japanese illustrator and writer.

Chatura Rao (right) and Lovleen Mishra talk about how to bring stories to life.

Yes, Lovleen is Hum log's Chutki!

Kunzang Choden (left), a Bhutanese writer, reads from her book.

Ragini with Jo Williams, one of the main Bookaroo organisers.

All in all, the Bookaroo festival was a pleasure to attend. Congratulations, Swathi Roy, Jo Williams, and Teamwork Productions...for a job very well done!

At the end of it, Ragini said, "Let's write another book, so we can come here again!"

Borderline drive 3: thoughts en route to Kalpa

2011-10-16T09:55:00.000-07:00

We load Haliatus and begin the drive to Kalpa. It is exciting because leave alone Maloo and me, even Harsha and Prabha are not sure about the route. It seems mysterious and slightly scary, but fun. As we begin the drive, I decide to jot down sights, thoughts and feelings. Here are some of the more interesting ones, written in my notepad in shaky handwriting. It would have become a poem if I had better skills!

Pink and white morning glories

A place called Katrine!

Pine trees, deodars...

A gurgling Beas, an unending road,

Paratha-filled stomachs and Kailash Kher

At Aut, a 3-km tunnel...ooooh!

There was light at the end of it.

Apple transport across hills

How many types of flora...even palms!

Road sinks because of landslide

It is dangerous, so stones piled to indicate to drivers

We leave NH and are now on the narrow roads

through villages of HP

Unbarricaded roads winding through grand mountains

No road now --- katcha!

No vehicles in sight...forest sounds!

Fresh mountain air on face.

A burst of violet blooms

Sunshine filters through pine trees

We are the only people on earth.

Rang de Basanti adds to ambience.

Suddenly, houses up on the hills

A chubby little boy in orange clothes looks busy

Then a school with the slogan...'come to learn', 'go to serve'

A cowherd talking on cell phone!

A pine forest breaks the view of the sky.

On the other side, terrace gardens.

It is warm now.

As Harsha steers expertly, we get tossed and turned...centrifuged!

Mules and horses tethered on roadside

A man works on cementing a new milestone!

Three young men in jeans

It suddenly gets cold again; jackets back again

Forest sounds continue, stomach turning.

Misty and cold; valleys and clouds beneath us.

Just wow! Vijay calls...call gets cut.

See jungle fowl...then suddenly,

FIRST SIGHTING OF WILDLIFE!

Vultures feeding on dead cow. WOW!

So many of them! We stop and watch.

I hope the cow hasn't been injected with the banned drug.

We then see the red beaked blue magpie...

beautiful bird with long designer tail

We move on

Now we are IN the clouds!

Listening to Senorita

We are heading towards Tattapani

No words to describe this beauty--neither Keats', not Frost's;

No camera or painting can do justice to this.

Deodars are full of flowers--yellow

Delicate white cloriander-like flowers all along

A village and a little distance from there,

the hills, the hills!

We have been in the car for 7 and a half hours now!

Now, kacha road. Landscape dry, trees sparse.

Pine trees disappear, it is dry and warm.

Dirt track continues endlessly

Suddenly, a waterfall.

It is scary now...where are we going?

We took the wrong turn.

Cannot takea U-turn;

luckily, after an hour, it ends in a village.

We turn back. Spirits up, we continue.

A river appears...a welcome sight.

It is now River Behna.

We finally get to NH 22. Phew!

It is warm now and we have the AC on.

Another river appears...this is Sutluj.

Beekeeping on the roadside

Pine trees are back again; there are also Eucalyptus.

I stopped writing after this point...it became dark and we were on katcha roads for 2-3 hours--- very narrow; sometimes it seemed like there was no road at all. But then, we would see the lights of another vehicle before us, to prove that there was a road! We were driving at 10-20 kmph, with the dry, rocky mountains and one side and the steep valley below on the other. Very scary, and I tried hard not took look at anything! But there is trust in Harsha's driving...

Finally, after a long, long drive, we reached Reckong Peo, and were told that Kalpa was another 7-8 km from there. The whole town was sleeping, even the mountains on all sides seemed asleep. The drive to Kalpa was steep and we suddenly felt our ears clogging up. Hotel Kinner Villa, where we stayed, was the highest point. After climbing two flights of stairs (and panting!), we were in our room. Everything felt strange and new -- and cold!

We had driven for 15 hours.

***

In the morning, looked out of the window and found this:

It was worth every second of the 15-hour drive!

Borderline drive 2: Manali

2011-10-15T09:30:00.000-07:00

Manali was 'Jab we met' country and the postcard-worthy landscapes and people were a delight. My own favourite definitely will always be dominating presence of the mountain on one side and the companionship of River Beas on the other. I will let the photos and captions speak...

Haliatus, Harsha and Prabha's Xylo.

The most important character on this drive!

The gurgling Beas was like a hyperactive child!

The Hidimba temple...

Not far from there is the Ghatodgaja temple, which is a tall pine tree--

my idea of a temple!

A decked up Manali beauty; she's smart too...

she charged me ten bucks for taking this photo!

A typical landscape as one drives around Manali.

A lone Sadhu lost in thought. Harsha firmly believes that he was fully doped.

"These guys live for the moment...:, he says.

Solang, an hour's drive from Manali. This is where parasailing and other activities happen.

The Hyderabad team at Solang.

The Vashisht temple...this wood-stone architecture is typical of the region.

We were fortunate to witness this procession...a local folk festival.

A Budhist monastery -- the region is dotted with them.

A prayer inscribed on stone. Artistic calligraphy.

Malini turning the prayer bells at the monastery.

I find the concept of prayer bells very charming.

And then, there's so much colour everywhere!

This, I think, is Guru Padama Sambhava

And these people are the borderline adventurers

--Harsha, Malini and Prabha.

It was very difficult to choose 17 photos out of at least 300. But these do capture the essence of our stay in Manali.

Please ignore the date on the photos...I had given Maloo my camera and had borrowed a cam (thanks, Vasanthi!), and the date wasn't set.

On the borderline drive with Harsha-Prabha - 1

2011-10-14T07:18:00.000-07:00

It was a long journey to get to the point where Maloo and I got on Haliatus (Harsha-Prabha's Xylo). I went through the usual ups and downs...should I do the trip? Can I take the time off from family and from work? Am I being selfish going away with Maloo like this? And then I had to deal with the many whatifs that come to my very imaginative mind!

Now I am so glad we did this trip. It is great to, once in a while, drop everything and go off on a small adventure. To be with the fun-loving Harsha and Prabha is a chance to, literally and figuratively, sit in the back seat and not have to think or plan. I feel recharged and ready to take on everything that comes my way!

This was our schedule:

Day 1: Hyderabad-Delhi-Manali

Days 2 and 3: Manali

Day 4: Drive from Manali to Kalpa

Day 5: Kalpa

Day 6: Drive from Kalpa to Solan (near Shimla)

Day 7: Drive from Solan to Corbett (here we got off the car)

Days 8 and 9: Corbett

Day 10: Corbett to Delhi

Day 11: Back in Hyderabad

In Delhi, we spent a few hours with my cousin Sharmila, and then took a bus to Manali, where we met Harsha and Prabha in Hotel Picadilly.

This was (roughly) the route we took from Manali.

The aim was to drive across the Himalayas to Reckong Peo and Kalpa which are close to the India-Tibet border. From Kalpa, the original plan was to drive to Khab, which is the closest point to the border. But we were told that the roads were bad and that the army would not allow us to go to the border, so we spent a day in Reckong Peo instead, and then continued the drive the next day.

This road trip gave us many new experiences---visual, spiritual and emotional. There is much to write about, and many photos to share. I really don't know how to do this. I think I will do it in batches, so that it is easy for me to find the time to write, and easy for people to read.

The one dominating thought I came back with is that Himachal Pradesh makes one feel like an insignificant dot that can easily get blown away in the wind, and not make a difference to the world.

It is good to feel this way once in a while.

To my large family...

2011-09-13T10:10:00.000-07:00

The large circle of relatives on my father and mother's side looks somewhat like the spirograph here. There are circles within, and circles outside circles. Some small circles overlap large circles, some large ones overlap smaller ones; some make loops with others, which in turn make loops with some others. As the family grew by loops and bounds, the spirograph grew in circumference and complexity, and would be a challenge for any mathematician. Some circles get knotted with others and become an unentangle-able mess, much like maanja and thread on the floor of the terrace if you don't wind the charka quickly enough after losing a kite!

The innermost circle comprises our immediate family--my father, mother, my brother and his family and me and mine. The next circle consists of my father's 9 siblings and my mother's 6 siblings, their spouses and my 30 first cousins. These people are very close to me, and I try my best to keep in touch with them (when time and distance become an issue, there's Facebook). We even ran a family magazine called Chatty Chitti at a time when we realised that half the family was moving to the US. The magazine wanted to turn into a novel after a few years, and we gave up...

Now my cousins have grown up and have their own spouses, children and in-laws, thus either adding new circles or crisscrossing existing ones. At last count, the family--on my father's and my mother's side--stood at a handsome 108!

My grandmother was the oldest and passed away early this year, at 90. The oldest living person now, in one of the closer circles is at a healthy 99. She is my father's sister's husband's mother...not too far from the innermost circle! (one secret if anyone's interested...she has been eating fruit for dinner the last 60 years...easy thing to do?)

And then there are my father's cousins and their children and my mother's cousins and their children who we used to meet, mostly at weddings. Some were Very Important People with jobs in high places, some were learned and awe-inspiring, some were simpletons. Some I admired, some I liked, some I ignored, and of some I was terrified. With none of them, unfortunately, I could be myself, and most of them really do not know who the real me is.

These circles look like the spirograph here.

AND, when I married Vijay, a few more circles were added to my spirograph (as newly weds, we spent a few weeks studying each other's family jungles). While his father's side has comparatively few people, his mother has 9 siblngs, with one of them having had nine children! Add to this, their families. I have never counted the number of people on Vijay's side, but I bet they don't beat us at the numbers game!

As time goes by, the spirograph of my family is beginning to look somewhat like this.

Sometimes I get dizzy just thinking of all these people in my life. Sometimes I love the fact that I belong to this HUMONGOUS group of people...it makes me feel humble. I often get invites to weddings, engagements, cradle ceremonies, birthdays, wedding anniversaries...25th, then 50th; sashtipoorthis and sahasra chandra darsanam birthdays (80th). As the family ages, there are funerals to attend, then 13th day ceremonies, and then once a year, death anniversaries. I cannot attend all of them. I honour invites from the innermost circles, and those of others with whom I have some childhood connection.

To all those whose invites I have not honoured---thank you for including me in your list. I am touched that you thought of me and my family. I did not mean to be disrespectful; I did not come because even though there is a lot of space in my heart, there are only 24 hours to my day, and I have to draw a line (circle?) somewhere...

FIVE

2011-09-06T11:00:00.000-07:00

I have now been blogging for 5 years now. Actually the blog turned five in August, but I didn't remember. I looked back to see what my blogging year has been like, and I realised that I have posted a lot of significant events during this year. But I haven't been doing much creative writing, and this is something I should do. I also want to write humour, and about some of my ancestors, so that bits of family history are recorded here, especially for my children to read.

There is much to write, and I am convinced that "Lens and Sensibility" is here to stay. :)

Traffic to this blog has become quite less now, thanks to FB's domination. However, like most bloggers, I too follow the practice of giving a link to some posts on FB. In spite of this, once in a while, blogging still throws up some surprises in physical time and space. Some time back, a friend introduced me to her friend, who was very warm to me, as though she was an old friend. It was unusual and I began wondering why...and then told me she reads my blog!

Before I end, here is some interesting info about blogging from Wikipedia.

"www.blogday.org was created with the belief that bloggers should have one day dedicated to getting to know other bloggers from other countries and areas of interest. The designated date is August 31, because when written 3108, it resembles the word "Blog". On that day, bloggers recommend five new blogs to their visitors, so that readers discover new, previously unknown blogs."

Stepping into year 6...cheers, and thank you, my dear reader.

Bidar

2011-08-21T09:30:00.000-07:00

A week day, an Innova, a good driver, and four like-minded, fun-loving friends. It is perhaps the best way to do a trip. We went to Bidar last week, and discovered that it makes a great 2-day outing from Hyderabad.

For the record, we saw the following: Chaubara clock tower, Madrassa (Mahmood Gawan), Bidar fort (Sharza gate, Gumbad gate, Rangeen Mahal, Tarkash mahal, Diwan-i-am, mosque); Barid Shah tombs; Ashtur --Bahamani Sultan tombs; Gurudwara; bidri workshop. Towards evening, we visited the Blackbuck Resort---the newest Jungle Lodges branch---and on our way back from there, we were rewarded by the sighting of a hoopoe taking a leisurely stroll and a kingfisher at work.

I was amused by the pink facades of houses on the Chaubara street; I was touched by the vastness and quiet of the fort; felt the sincerety of the people at the gurudwara as we partook of the 'langar' (the free lunch); and was amazed when I saw the making of bidriware, and at how one of the ingredients in the process was soil from the Bidar fort! The langurs of Bidar charmed us, as they jumped up and down, ran and climbed, generally going about their monkey business.

At the fort, in the Rani's mahal, there was a mixture of Kerala (carved wood), Islamic (mother of pearl on granite) and Kakatiya styles, which I thought was unusual.

At the Narasimha temple, one has to go through a cave, wading through above waist-level water to get to the sanctum sanctorum, with bats on the ceiling of the cave, and occasionally flying out at you. Exciting, huh? However, what touched me was the 'sparrow wall' I saw there (photo below). Great idea for the conservation of sparrows. Inexpensive too.

Hotel Shiva International on one of Bidar's main streets (where we stayed) was great value for money, and we were delighted to find an authentic Kamat right across the road. What more does one want on a holiday?

A few unusual glimpses of the trip are posted below. For the more cliched ones, one can always look at Google images!

My favourite photo from the Bidar collection. This was taken near the Chaubara clock tower.

The neighbour doesn't want to be left behind...!

At the Madrassa...

The playful langurs...

The langurs on the fort wall

A view of the Bidar fort from the car

One view of the fort

This banyan tree had at least five parasites growing from its hollow, including a flowering lantana and a neem tree!

A Hindu saint (Panduranga, I think) apparently visited the sultan at the fort and left his footprint here. We saw people worshipping this spot.

Signs of Independence day celebration in the fort!

A view of the new from the old...present Bidar is conspicuous by its brightly painted houses...mustards, shades of pinks, blues and violets, even.

The Gurudwara

One of the Barid Shah tombs was apparently struck down by lightning.

These are nests of birds I could not identify. They fly around swiftly and keep going to the ceiling to deposit feathers and other material to add to the nest. They never stopped so I could not get a closer look at them!

A sparrow peeping out from its nest on the sparrow wall at the Narasimha temple.

The sparrow wall...why can't we do this everywhere?!

The tranquil Blackbuck resort at Vilaspur, about 20 km from Bidar

Sorry, no photo of the Narasimha temple wade-in-water scene. I would like to leave that undisclosed, so you can imagine the cave, the water, the bats. If you get too curious, ask Google.

India@65

2011-08-14T21:39:00.000-07:00

What do ordinary people do on 15th August? Is the day just like any other day? Is there still the pride and patriotic fervour we used to see as children?

Around where I live, I see a lot of activity on the morning of 15th August. The office next door has a formal flag hoisting on the terrace, so we wake up to a choice of patriotic songs (no dearth of those!) from their loudspeaker. Along the road, every basti hoists its own flag; in some places, one can see 3-4 flags with a few metres of each other! Mornings are hectic as children wake up early and go to school, dressed either in nicely pressed uniforms, or in formal Indian wear. Malini proudly wore India colours this morning. In her school, this is an occasion for earlier batches to meet up and re-live happy times in school.

In our apartment complex, we gather on the terrace, hoist the flag and then sing Jana gana mana. It is a beautiful moment, always, and a simple, symbolic gesture to show our respect for the country we live in.

Last night, passing by the Secretariat and Legislative Assembly, we gasped at the breathtakingly beautiful illumination of the monuments. The city looked decked up and special. A friend told me Charminar looked great too. In a shop window I saw a row of mannequins dressed in white, holding little flags...a very interesting sight, indeed! I am happy that despite all the problems and the criticism, there is still this spirit, which is evident every Independence day, and of course, each time India wins a cricket match!

India is 65, and certainly moving forward, in spite of politicians! I pray that this year, the rich in India get slightly poorer and that the poor get a lot richer.

Jai Hind!

Seven nests and seven chirpy, house-proud, yellow-brown weaver birds...

2011-08-08T10:31:00.001-07:00

On the outskirts of Warangal, amidst fields, near a well...seven nests and seven chirpy, house-proud, yellow-brown weaver birds made my day! These are not great shots, but it was exciting looking through the trees and watching the birds!

Rock walk after 2 years!

2011-07-19T23:26:00.000-07:00

It has been almost two years now, since I went for rock walks. I had been dreaming of being able to do it comfortably again, and it was great to go back! The 17 July walk was to Venkateshwara Gutta, after the Shamirpet lake (turn left into village at Gandhi statue). It is a beautiful drive and a fantastic trek and I enjoyed every bit of it.

The quiet ponds, the greenery, and the sprinkling of pretty white flowers gave me great joy.

The star-shaped flowers carpeting clearings

amidst rocks are breathtakingly beautiful!

A view of the water body as we climbed the rocks

It is serene at this place...if only people didn't talk so much...

but then, it is not an ideal world, is it!

Frauke Qadir, one of the founders of Society to Save the Rocks.

I admire her persistent efforts.

The best perch in the world...!

See how the boulder is balanced! Here's Tara admiring the rock.

At one point it flattens...

Selaginella (not the one with purple flowers) completely dries up in summer,

and looks like dried up poo (like pellets). After one rain, the whole place

becomes velvety green! Now, if that isn't magic, what is?

The other side of Venkateshwara gutta...social forestry.

The temple on the gutta

A new road, yet again

2011-06-24T00:07:00.000-07:00

Eighteen years ago, a new road opened before me, when I became a mother. Having always been free-spirited, I felt grounded. Of course, I was overjoyed--every new baby is a wonder of nature; and the ultimate in creativity. And this was my baby, and I was going to do my best for her and cherish the experience of bringing her up.

Ah, but it was not easy being a mother. Contrary to all the romantic notions of motherhood, I found that one (at least me) had to learn to be a mother. It was hard work, and didn’t come naturally to me.

As I saw my baby next to me, many thoughts ran inside my head, and I wondered how this little person was going to change my life. Being a sportsperson, I exclaimed that I would play table tennis with her! Someone said, the baby is tall…she might play basketball. Hearing her cry melodiously, I declared that she would sing “like Parveen Sultana”! And looking at her long fingers, I said, “She will be an artist”. And as time went by, I realized that a baby could be fun after all.

So, did I play table tennis with her?

Was she part of her school’s basket ball team?

Did she sing?

Is she an artist?

I was most disappointed that Ragini showed very little interest in sports. However, I did get a chance to play a little table tennis with her. She isn’t too interested, but has learnt the basics. She did play basket ball in school, but not too much.

But she does sing and is passionate about the kind of music Parveen Sultana et al. sing, and yes, she is an artist, and is now going to study design. So I was not too wrong there!

As my daughter prepares to leave home to join college in a a neighbouring State, many thoughts once again run through my head. As in movies, images from the last 18 years flash in my mind…suddenly there is great happiness, and suddenly anxiety. Then a sense of disbelief that I had held her hand through pre-school to primary, middle to high school and beyond; there I was, rushing through packing her school lunch, dropping her off in music class, teaching her to cross the road, shedding quiet tears at her first concert. And here I am now, teaching her to drive the scooter and car, and all set to drop her off at a hostel to begin a new journey.

Life moves in slow motion when you are changing nappies, but once children are past 10, life zips past, and suddenly there is another road…only this time, it is before the child.

Along with the zillion thoughts in my overcrowded head, are these words from a Hindi song:

Abhi na jaayo chhodh kar / ke dil abhi bhara nahi

abhi abhi to aayi ho / bahaar ban ke chaayi ho…

It is a beautiful, romantic number that Ragini sings melodiously, but in this context it is sad, and I am pushing the song away from my head. For I do know that just as I have never really ‘left’ my parents, my children will always be with me.

When Ragini was born, I remember telling my boss, Sue Hainsworth, about how relieved I was that my baby was physically ‘out of my system’. And then she had said, “Oh, don’t you worry…she will not go out of your system for the next 50 years!”

At that time I did not realize how right Sue was!

Painting by Angu Walters, Cameroon (http://www.artcameroon.com/).

"Just look up..." launched!

2011-06-15T02:53:00.001-07:00

We had a launch for "Just look up...to see the magic in the trees around you" on Sunday 12 June 2011, at Saptaparni, Road no. 8, Banjara Hills, Hyderabad. Environmentalist / artist Vijayaram spoke about his work in and around Hyderabad, my friend Kobita (freelance artist; she does the gardening class with me) spoke about the importance of being sensitive to nature, and I spoke about the making of this book and about how one can live in the city and still enjoy nature. The book was launched by my nephews Anand (9) and Raghav (7).

It was an informal event, and I was fortunate that about 60 people came, family and friends included. The event was followed by a small snack and chai party, and included samosas from Marredpalli (courtesy Tara); Osmania biscuits from Nimrah Cafe, Charminar; and chai (courtesy Saptaparni).

Here are a few scenes from the event, courtesy, Anand Vishwanatha, whose photos were the only record of this event. He deliberately did not use a flash so as to capture Saptaparni's dim-lit ambience.

Kobita speaking about why one should look up. Before beginning, she warned people to be cautious when they did, in case they had tripped and fell.

Vijayaram spoke before Kobita about the various projects he was working on in the city and around, from his anti-plastic campaigns to efforts at tree-translocation.

The charming ambience at Saptaparni

Sadhana speaking about the book and its making

The audience

Launched! Anand holding up the book, while Raghav and Ragini look on

Shekhar (at right) was the compere

A light moment after the launch of the book

A section of the audience

Friends Giridhar and Rekha with Priti Aisola (author of See Paris for me)

and Padmini Patell of Young World

The grand ladies from the family--Mrs Seshu Vithal (left)

and my mother-in-law, Mrs Savitri Raghavendar Rao (right)

Snacking and chatting...

Anand wanted me to sign a copy for someone

I prepared the following speech, but in the last minute, decided not to read it out. I missed some points, and added some others. I am not used to the stage, but tried my best to say something meaningful.

_______________

Saptaparni, 12 June 2011

Thank you all for coming here this evening, to celebrate a little book called “Just look up…to see the magic in the trees around you”. Thank you, Vijayaram garu and Kobita for being here today, and for what you have said.

Background: Let me tell you briefly about how this book happened. Since the last 9 years, along with my friend Kobita, I have been doing a gardening class for children in Vidyaranya High School. As part of this gardening class, we take children on a tree walk around the school, and show them the 25-odd varieties of trees that are there. Every time I did this, I felt a need for photos or illustrations to show children a particular tree in the season when it blooms. So I began taking pictures on my many walks amidst nature. Over some years, I had a fairly good collection of photos. Being an editor and designer of books, I began giving it a structure between other assignments, and slowly the idea of this book began to excite me, and I began putting it together with interest and a sense of purpose.

Another important thing of course, is the feeling that I should share with people the joy I derive from nature.

Cause: More important than the book or its making, is the cause it represents. This book is a reminder to people, especially in urban areas, that they should not lose the ability to wonder at the simple joys that nature offers. My own happiest childhood memories are associated with plants, trees, insects and animals. Helping my mother plant zinnias and hollyhocks, playing with little red velvet mites or birba buddies (insects that made their appearance soon after the rains began); and catching dragon flies and frogs---just for fun! These are my fondest memories. I also have a favourite memory of the amazement I felt when I was told on every trip to Bangalore, that it was my maternal grandfather K. Bhima Rao, who had planted the neem trees on Margosa road. He had worked as Deputy Director of Agriculture long long ago.

Important to be in touch with nature: I believe it is very important for human beings to be in touch with nature…sadly, many people do not even realize this. They do not realize this perhaps because their mother or father or a grandmother or grandfather never pointed out to them, the shapes of clouds or the colours of a sunset. It is so important for parents to tell children to look at nature. This is what Kobita and I try hard to pass on to children in our gardening class. We tell them to look at the sky, to observe plants and trees, to notice the delicateness of petals, the patterns on shells and insects!

Nature in the city: Following the life cycle of a butterfly is fantastic education; discovering eggs in a nest and observing them till they hatch, teaches a child something no book can teach. To do all this, one doesn’t have to spend thousands of rupees to go on a holiday to the Sahyadris or to Sunderbans or to Madagascar or Manaus. Magic happens around us even in the city…in the tree outside one’s apartment complex or in one’s school or workplace. Hyderabad is fortunate to have many beautiful parks.

Rock walks: I discovered several interesting things on rock walks with Hyderabad’s Society to Save the Rocks. It was on one such walk that I saw the abrus creeper with its pretty red and black seeds. I had never seen it before. It was also on one rock walk that I spotted the birba buddis we used to play with as children. I quickly showed them to my children, and felt that I had fulfilled an important duty towards them! I was also overjoyed that these little insects had not become extinct in these parts.

The book: Coming back to the book, I would like to tell you all that this book is not just a collection of photos…there is a story that continues through the book. So, I request my readers to read it from cover to cover…it won’t take more than 20 minutes. The other aspect I wish to point out is the spread on the last two pages. It is a calendar of events, and gives a month-by-month indicator of which trees to watch out for each month. I really hope those who read this book will use this calendar and watch out for the magical events that happen year after year after year. As Hugh Johnson says, “No two gardens are the same. No two days are the same in one garden.”

What is my dream for this book? Ideally, I would like it to be like the Olympic torch…and pass on the spirit of friendship with nature from one generation to the other. More realistically, I would like it to make people take more walks in parks, listen to the song of the koel, and simply acknowledge the presence of the several fascinating varieties of trees around us. On an ambitious note is the hope that once people become sensitive to trees and nature, when an axe hits a roadside tree, there will be many voices that will shout, “Stop…don’t cut down this tree”.

Acknowledgements: Before I end, I would like acknowledge the role of a few people who made a difference.

- I thank Mrs Anuradha for graciously letting me have this get-together in the creative space that is Saptaparni. I also thank Sunita and Ramu and others here, for their help

- My sincere thanks to Vijayaram, Usha and Kobita for sharing their thoughts this evening. To me they are people who, with their beliefs and work, represent hope and sanity in this crazy world. Thank you, Shekhar, for adding the special touch.

- My interest in plants and trees is thanks to my mother, who treasures her lovely garden, which is home to birds, squirrels and a snake or two; and to my father, for making that beautiful home for us to grow up in.

- My knowledge of trees is entirely due to inspiration from Kobita, and from my students—whose curiosity fuels my enthusiasm to learn more....

- My gratitude to Mrs Shanta Rameshwar Rao, Principal, Vidyaranya High School, for believing in me and for giving me the opportunity to discover nature with children.

- ...to my friends Kamakshi, Usha and Jananie for their help with the text

- To Anand Vishwanadha and S Karthikeyan for motivation, before and after this book was published. It is because of their enthusiastic insistence that this book launch is happening here today.

- ...to Mr Bittu Sahgal, Editor, Sanctuary Asia, for writing the foreword to my book. I am touched, indeed.

- To Team Pragati for their care and attention during the printing of this book

- ... to my children, Ragini and Malini, for giving me a chance to be a child with them...and to Vijay, for providing stability to my world.

- To all of you,—thank you for being here. I hope this book will make you look up and revel in the visual delights that nature offers.

- Finally, to Mother Nature herself, who I look up to as the only god.

***

A little book begins its travels

2011-05-25T02:02:00.000-07:00

It has been about a month since "Just look up..." has been printed. In this one month, it has travelled to a few places, and there have been three reviews--two from Bangalore and one from Hyderabad.

Lakshmi Sharath's is here.

Deepa Mohan's is here.

Anand Vishwanatha's is here

And now an interview by Lavanya Srinivasan of mybangalore.com, which you can read here.

I have been sending copies to whoever asked for them. I first kept 10 copies in Vijayaram's Emerald Sweets next to Indira Park, and they were sold in about 3 weeks. Encouraged, I kept 10 more and when I checked last week, five more were sold. Of the 15 copies I placed in Satpaparni, 7 have been sold...I need to find out whether they sold any more. Goethe Zentrum sold 5 copies, and I was very happy leaving two copies at Evening Hour, a small library/book shop run by Priyanka Gontla.

I sent 10 copies to Chennai and 10 copies to Pune to friends of my friend Rekha Abel. She and Giridhar have been showing the book around. Yes, and I sent three copies to a friend in Michigan, whose mother came and picked them up. About 10 are with people in Warangal, and a friend of my father's said to me, "You have tried to fathom the unfathomable, and have done a good job of it".

People have been reading the reviews and have been writing in for copies, and so, yours truly has been making trips to the post office to send them by SpeedPost! I did try to put up the book on the net, but it didn't work out. Yes, I am also looking for a distributor and have written to Flipkart.

The struggles of self-publishing! I know I will find my way...it may take some time, but I will.

Other exciting things are requests for a tree walk in a tree-filled college campus (would love to, and will do it when the rains come), a request to train teachers to conduct gardening classes (which I very much would like to), and a request to conduct gardening classes (which I can't, considering the time it will take).

I am planning a book launch to enable the book to travel some more. Anything formal makes me nervous, but it has to be done, and am in the process of planning the logistics.

All in all, a good feeling that I have brought out a book on the right topic at the right time, when people are alarmed at the felling of trees, and feel they should do something about it.

I guess a book like this slips into the role of a harbinger of hope....

New life in the garden!

2011-05-16T09:38:00.000-07:00

As I wrote earlier, the number of birds in my garden have increased ever since the trees began growing. I wake up to hear chirping of birds, and this makes a huge difference to my life.

There is a Chinese proverb: "Keep a green tree in your heart and perhaps a singing bird will come".

Guess what came to live my garden after the singing birds? A frog!

I spotted it this evening, smiled at it and welcomed it into the rather unkempt green space that, I am sure, it loves.

For those not familiar with the background, read about it here.

Anand Vishwanadha's review

2011-05-15T09:43:00.000-07:00

My friend Anand Vishwanadha's review was really touching. He posted it on his blog here:

http://thisandthatandmuse.blogspot.com/2011/05/just-look-up-to-see-magic-in-trees.html

I am surrounded by beautiful people who are pampering me no end!

About "Just look up...to see the magic in the trees around you"

2011-05-10T22:48:00.000-07:00

Written by Sadhana Ramchander, this book is meant to sensitize people of all ages to the beauty of trees, and to nature in general. In the race for the next generation of gadgets, people, especially in urban areas, have forgotten the joys that nature offers. This book is simply to remind them of this.

Read a review of "Just look up..." here.

Reviews of 'Just look up...'

2011-05-10T05:02:00.000-07:00

Read a review of my book here:

http://backpakker.blogspot.com/2011/05/just-look-up-book-review.html

My thanks to Lakshmi Sharath, media professional, traveller and travel writer for this review.

***

Deepa Mohan is a freelance writer who loves Bangalore, and has been both enthused and worried over the rapidly changing city. She is also a Bangalore metroblogger.

Her well-written, in-depth review of "Just look up..." has been posted on three places on the net:

Citizen Matters:

http://bangalore.citizenmatters.in/blogs/show_entry/2994

Bangalore captured:

http://bangalorecaptured.com/2011/05/11/just-look-up-book-review/

Wordpress:

http://deponti.wordpress.com/2011/05/11/just-look-up-book-review/

All this, thanks to Karthikeyan, whose photos I used in the book. Karthik is the Chief Naturalist at Jungle Lodges, Karnataka. You can find his awe-inspiring writeups here:

http://www.wildwanderer.com/journal/

My sincere thanks to these wonderful people for all that they are doing for my book.

My new book!

2011-04-19T09:39:00.000-07:00

I have been working on this book for several years now. The difference between this and the several books I do for clients is that this one I conceptualised and wrote myself. I also took most of the photos (over many years), and put it together with passion. But the journey was long, filled with uncertainties and even as I hold it in my hand today, I cannot believe that I finally self-published this little book.

The decision to self-publish came about because I did not want to give publishers the trouble of making a fuss about my book. I knew (from experience) that they would act high and mighty; they would ask me to change stuff I wrote; they would make me run around them begging for what's rightfully mine; and finally they would pay me a measly amount, and forget that I existed.

So "Just look up..." is completely mine--the content, the size, the look, the paper, the cover design, even the ISBN! But I know that I now need to let it go. It has already started its journey into the world. I am slowly discovering how to make it available to people (please note that I don't use the word, 'market'), and am meeting some wonderful people in the process. Its a new path I am walking on, and as of now, I see a refreshing green.

Read the back cover to know what this book is all about. I hope to soon make it available on the internet. I hope to have a book release because I believe that every new book deserves one, just as every new baby has a naming ceremony...watch this space, and please plan to come.

I might also fulfill a childhood desire and open a shop that will sell just one thing---my book! :)

All Day I Dream About Sports!

2011-04-09T10:30:00.000-07:00

These are excerpts from my friend Upendran's article, "What happened to my canvas shoes?", published in the September 2009 issue of Teacher Plus. I reproduce these facts here because I find them very interesting and want to keep this info in my blog. This is about how Adidas, Nike and Reebok got their names.

Adidas: Quoting Upendran, "There was a time when people believed that 'Adidas' was an acronym for 'All Day I Dream about Sports' (I did too, and was rather angry when he busted this myth!). Of course, some people thought that the 's' stood for something else: sex! Neither story is true. The founder of Adidas was a German named Adolf Dassler; nicknamed 'Adi' by his friends..."

So Adidas is a combination of Adi, his nickname, and Das from Dassler! Nothing to do with dreams or sports...too bad!

Nike: This name comes from Greek mythology, where the goddess of victory was called Nike. So by naming the shoes after the goddess of victory, Phil Knight, the Chairman of Nike, was suggesting that any athlete who wore his brand was assured of a place on the victor's podium.

Reebok: This company was started by Joseph William Foster. A 'rhebok' is spelt 'Reebok' in Afrikaans, and is a type of antelope or gazelle known for its amazing speed. Reebok was the first company to make running shoes with spikes and sports shoes for women.

You can read Upendran's article here.

Beehives, bats and a temple

2011-03-21T09:54:00.000-07:00

We went to Ramappa, near Warangal, where there is a 12th century Shiva temple built by the Kakatiya kings. I had gone there many years back. Nothing had changed. In a way I was happy, but then, I do wish AP Tourism would build a good place for people to stay overnight, and maybe have a few safe picnic spots (sans hordes of monkeys) and arrange for treks into the jungle near the temple. The only guest house that has always been there, is in a dilapidated state. It did not even get a coat of paint in years. Apart from this, it is definitely a great place to go...the temple is beautiful, the air is fresh and the trees look robust. Would be great to stay overnight.

Anyone wants to go to Ramappa...ask me and I will tell you how best to get there. Here are some images:

Just before we reached the temple, we had to stop to admire this tree with about 20 beehives...

...and this tree had more than 200 bats hanging from it!

The Ramappa Temple

This famous 'typical Ramappa' bracket on the left shows a woman shooing away a monkey...

... obviously she didn't succeed, because they are still there!

I love this view of the temple

The Tabebuias (tree of gold) and Buteas (flame of the forest) outside the temple

I have never seen this tree before...any help in identifying it is welcome, I wonder if it is a peepal with fresh new pink leaves?

There is a lot of renovation work going on inside and around the temple

These flowers are called Kondagogu in Telugu. I have never seen them before, and was told that the trees are in the forest behind the temple. Would like to see the tree some day.

We used to find pieces of bricks seen here (on top) when we went to Ramappa as children. The unique thing about these bricks was that they had a pumice-stone like quality--they floated in water and didn't disintegrate.

My mother (and part of my father) outside the gate of the temple

This is the Ramappa lake. Very large with lots of water.

This picture is so symbolic of everything nice...the fields, the openness, and don't miss the orange and green flags on the auto!

To all parents and children...

2011-03-14T06:18:00.000-07:00

I love everything Shel Silverstein did. He wrote well, he drew well,

he sang well, he was oh, so funny...and when he sang he sang

shyly and with feeling. Certainly a big big favourite.

Just one problem...he died. He has been the inspiration behind

my book, "Autorickshaw blues and other colours".

I just discovered, on YouTube, a beautiful song he sang about

the relationship between a father and son. You can hear

Shel Silverstein sing it at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7e5ZVIpB4sw&feature=related

This song starts somewhere in the middle of the video.

Here are the lyrics.

BBJ: Daddy, what if the sun stopped shining?
What would happen then?

BB: If the sun stopped shining, you'd be so surprised
You'd stare at the heavens with wide open eyes,
And the wind would carry your light to the skies
And the sun would start shining again.

BBJ: But, Daddy, what if the wind stopped blowing?
What would happen then?

BB: If the wind stopped blowing, then the land would be dry,
And your boat wouldn't sail and, son, your kite couldn't fly,
And the grass would see your trouble and she'd tell the wind,
And the wind would start blowing again.

BBJ: But, Daddy, what if the grass stopped growing?
What would happen then?

BB: Well, if the grass stopped growing you'd probably cry,
And the ground would be watered by the tears from your eyes,
And like your love for me, that grass would grow so high.
Yes, the grass would start growing again.

BBJ: But, Daddy, what if I stopped loving you?
What would happen then?

BB: If you stopped loving me, then the grass would stop growing,
The sun would stop shining and the wind would stop blowing.
So you see, if you wanna keep this old world a'going,
You'd better start loving me again, again...
You better start loving me again.
You hear me, Bobby?

BOTH: You better start loving me again.
(You love me, Bobby? Yes)
You better start loving me again.

The Hindu Women's car rally...win-win-win?

2011-03-07T07:43:00.000-08:00

I don't believe in the 8 March women's day thing. Never did. But when The Hindu announced that they were having an all-women car rally, I had to participate. Luckily I could inspire three others and so we went.

The event started late and there were some hiccups in the beginning. But they pampered us...they gave us breakfast, coke, T-shirts, note books...someone was spending money on us, and it felt good! We were four smart women and set off with the first clue. We did everything right; followed all rules, and found one clue after another very easily.

We thought we did well as we drove the last lap to Prasad's.

No, we didn't win anything. This surprised us, somehow. But it was okay. As a rule, we belong to the also-ran category, and are used to it.

But at the end of it all, why were we left with a feeling of dissatisfaction? Why did I feel something was missing? Why the feeling that I didn't play anything? Everything did end happily, didn't it?

The idea was from The Hindu; it was sponsored by various businesses; and organised by an event-management group. Some 200 women participated, had fun, and enjoyed all the media attention they got. The winning teams won handsome amounts of Rs 50,000, Rs 30,000 and Rs 20,000. The Hindu, having generated their content, will now fill its pages with colour, and get publicity; so will the sponsors. The event managers are happy they made their money. The winners are on top of the world--of course! The media got their footage. Surely this is a win-win situation for all concerned?

So what am I complaining about? Am I just jealous? Am I saying the grapes are sour?

What makes me unhappy is that in all this, no one seems to notice that there is one loser. No, it is not me...I am not so important. I think the loser is the sport itself. The rally was far too easy...there were just four clues, and very simple ones at that! No cryptic clues, no racking brains, no challenge, no running here and there, no losing one's way, no discovering places in Hyderabad. It was way too simple even to talk about after the event was over. Okay, there were some winners and some losers, but shouldn't the winners have earned their prize money? I honestly feel I would have felt this way even if I had won the event.

I need to be part of some genuine sport. I miss it very much.

Living in a self-spun web...

2011-02-27T09:31:00.000-08:00

"The one complaint against both of you is that you are too sensitive", said a well-meaning friend, about Vijay and me, and advised that we become a little thick-skinned. When I heard this, I was embarrassed and felt somewhat stupid. Then I felt that perhaps it would good to be different from what we were. Perhaps we had indeed been too sensitive about issues around us. Perhaps it was time we changed our attitude towards the world, and turned into more 'bindaas' type of people...like, maybe, politicians? It would be nice not to be able to care a damn about the bits of injustice doled out to us everyday. It would be nice to ignore the mental, physical and spiritual filth; it would be great to be able to live for ourselves, and not bother about people around (and not feel guilty!). These things do bog you down...I think I would give anything to be able to do bring down the level of my sensitivity.

I came home after meeting this friend feeling rather light-headed, with a resolve to re-invent myself. Actually, Vijay and I have questioned this aspect of ourselves several times. Why are we like this? Why are we so obsessed with peace, rather than things like wealth and property that most people give value to? Why are we not ambitious for ourselves and for our children the way many people are? Why this care and concern, attachment and sentimentality?

But we seem helpless, for our sensibility seems to surround us like a giant spider web. The threads are soft, fine and comfortable, and it seems to have become our comfort zone. What's worse, we have passed this on to our children, as well. (Of course...how can they be otherwise?) Yet it feels many a time, very difficult and tiring being us, and maybe that's why it felt good when someone said, "be different".

But how should we get out of that web, which I have a feeling we have spun ourselves, just by being what we naturally can be? Is it possible to be different? If yes, is that difference for the better? Are we doomed to live with our sensibility? Or is 'doom' the wrong word in this context after all?

A stroll around good old numaish

2011-02-14T06:42:00.000-08:00

Hyderabad has ever so many exhibitions happening through the year, but nothing beats the numaish. It has shopping, entertainment, plenty of eats--from all-time favourites like popcorn and cotton candy--to chat, tikkas, mirchi bajjis and now, Chinese fast food. The numaish has truly become a classic of our times, and certainly has character. Despite the same stalls being in the same place year after year, there still is a newness about it.

This year we tried a dish we hadn't eaten before--called mutabbaq ( the word means 'folded'), an Arabian snack. A mutabbaq can have many kinds of stuffings, but the one we had was stuffed with egg, veggies and lots of coriander. We had to wait for a long time before it was cooked to the satisfaction of the chap making it, but it was well worth the wait...it turned out to be a just-crisp-just-soft, almost-melt-in-the-mouth, hot and very tasty snack that one thinks about long after the eating has been done!

The numaish having become the subject of photographic interest for Ragini, who has been playing around with her camera, we wandered around for much longer than usual. I was inspired to take my Kodak along too. Here are some pictures (The really good photos, of course, will be among the daughter's FB collection!).

It cooks and cooks and cooks...but the mutabbaq is well worth the wait!

Why does this popcorn always taste better than any other popcorn?

Plenty of these

Cycles and flowers...

...and lots of chappals!

The banner outside the exhibition...who are they saying this to, I wonder

Sorry...came backwards...this is the entrance.

Note that this is the 71st edition...it certainly deserves the classic label!

My grandmother...

2011-01-12T18:44:00.001-08:00

On 10 January 2011, I met my grandmother. She hugged and kissed me, and blessed me. She passed away on 11 January.

I will miss her very much.

Half a century on beautiful Earth…

2011-01-09T02:53:00.000-08:00

…and I land gently, excited at the thought of being fifty on 10 January 2011.

The last one month has been very busy and exciting. I worked on a book for my children’s school—Vidyaranya---which, like me, was born in 1961. The celebrations are just over, and we had a great time listening to music, watching plays, singing, gossiping and laughing. The 2-day festival was like a carnival, and I kept feeling that everyone is celebrating my birthday too!

I have had a decent life, despite the ups and downs---a very happy childhood, traumatic but sport-and-fun-filled teenage years with good friends; followed by my twenties, which were filled with academics, professional achievement, the agony of falling in love, and ecstasy of finding my partner in life. The happiest moments of my life were during my thirties was when my children---Ragini and Malini---were born. I had hoped for one, but got two beautiful children, and I have always been thankful for that. Little did I know that I would also be a parent to BluePencil (my consultancy); to all the children who go through my gardening class in school, and also to the nine trees I have planted in 2009! So, if someone, somewhere had blessed me saying, “May you be the mother of a hundred children”, it has, kind of, come true!

Life has been fun, creative, and filled with many wonderful people, each of whom has taught me something in life. I have learnt some interesting truths, some of which I list below. They are not in any particular order, and Google didn't tell me these---they have all been gathered and processed over many years by the hard disk in my head.

Most people don’t read long blog posts (but I haven’t understood this well, because I do sometimes write lengthy posts, like this one!)
If you do a good deed to someone, the reward comes, not necessarily from that person, but from someone else. But come, it will.
Nothing is wasted in life…not even a bad experience.
Some sacrifice in life is essential for the soul.
Don’t always work for money; work for free once in a while. Your ‘happiness account’ will swell considerably.
Dream impossible dreams.
Don’t stop dreaming.
If you want something badly, you will get it.
A puri needs as much dough as a chapati does.
The only way you can improve the world is to work for the good of your immediate surroundings
Two very important words to follow: Light lelo!
There are no ghosts…I never saw one; my parents never saw one; my grandparents didn’t either. And I don’t know anyone who saw one.
Don’t ever fight with your parents or siblings or anyone…it is not worth it.
Extra-marital affairs are not worth it, either.
Don’t be over-ambitious in life…either about wealth or career, love or sex.
Life, most certainly, is a journey--enjoy it and don’t think of the destination.
If the child goes away to a foreign country, parents look okay, but they are very lonely.
It is only Indians who go to the US…Americans don’t go anywhere.
People think I am stupid (and parochial) when I say this, but I believe it is important to serve one’s country.
Each day is a new beginning.
Live in the present…don’t think too much about the past, and don’t plan too much ahead.
Be yourself…why should you impress anybody?
Realize the preciousness of your body; it is your duty to take care of it.
If someone hurts you very much, pretend they don’t exist.
Spend as much time as you can with people close to you and with nature.
Go out and play as much as possible; don’t stop playing because you think you are grown up.
Read, travel, listen to music…as much as is possible.
Fine arts are good for the soul…look at paintings, make performing arts a part of your life.
One does travel in life, even if one doesn’t leave home (as, to go to America)
Three things one must learn, so one can lead a comfortable life: cooking, driving, and earning money.
Nature is the only god.
It is great to have a dog.
It is also great to have a blog!

I wanted to write 50, but I feel lazy. Okay, one more.

34. It is okay to be lazy once in a while!

The one thing that makes me most happy this birthday is that I have my parents celebrating with me, and I will begin my day tomorrow going to a temple and then visiting my 90-year-old grandmother to pull her leg that she is getting old because she has a 50-year old grand-daughter J!

That’s all…happy birthday to me!

2011

2011-01-03T09:43:00.001-08:00

UNFIT TO FIT…the story of Project Sadhana 2010

2010-12-11T17:58:00.000-08:00

This post is dedicated to Rachna, who taught me to eat, breathe and walk.

The year 2009, as is evident in this blog, was one where I took on the project to develop and nurture the garden in my apartment complex. My project during 2010 was myself, and this is the story of my journey to wellness. I usually don't post personal issues in this blog. However, I write about this experience because it could help people who have similar problems and are at a loss how to deal with them.

The background: I always believed that to lead a comfortable and happy life, a person has to have three kinds of intelligence: academic, emotional and medical. I used to feel that I have academic and emotional intelligence, but was not savvy when it came to dealing with health issues. The reason I think, is that I belong to an in-between generation. My parents live the natural way…they never got periodic tests done, and only went to doctors when something went wrong…and it rarely did! The generation next to mine seems to be very smart about keeping a tab on their health; some even go and get tests done just because corporate hospitals offer discounts! But me...even though I wanted to be savvy too, I was terrified of doctors and medical tests, and every time I had to go for a diagnostic test, I tied myself in knots.

I have not been as fortunate as my parents. I have been fighting ill health ever since I was 17. Doctors have been walking alongside me through my life, and though they made me go through the trauma of all kinds of diagnostic tests during my teens and early twenties, they finally helped me overcome my endocrinal/gynaec problem. I am eternally grateful to the medical technology that enabled me to lead the kind of life I wanted to lead.

Around the time I got over these health problems, had children and a comfortable career going, and thought I could now travel, trek, climb rocks, learn to hang-glide (something I always wanted to do), I realized that something else had begun bothering me. My legs had begun giving me problems. The leg pain was periodical, so I attributed it to my hormones. My feet and ankles began to swell up and were very painful. I went to my GP and he treated me, but it never got completely cured. It took me a few years to realize that it was something that had come to stay.

2006 to 2009: My condition worsened. The leg pain was becoming unbearable. I had some good days but many bad ones. I even began to have pain in my feet…no footwear seemed right. I went from doctor to doctor, hoping that someone would help me. Each of them made me go through tests and gave different names to my problem. I went through a variety of treatments. Nothing worked. Over these 3 years:

- Doctor 1 (Allopath) gave me 4 pills for 5 days. Nothing happened.

- Doctor 2 (Homeopath) made me go through general blood tests to see if I had any cholesterol/sugar problems. Everything was normal. He then made a wrong diagnosis and gave me the wrong treatment.

- Doctor 3: (Homeopath) gave me the wrong treatment.

- Doctor 4: (Allopath) gave me 4 pills for 7 days and told me a lot of people had these pains and I just needed to go for regular walks (which I already did)…

During 2008, I had a minor fall and since then I started having a pain in the right knee. This added to my woes. I went to Doctor 5.

- Doctor 5: (Orthopedic) looked at the x-ray, and said nothing was wrong with the knee, and that he was not the right doc for me.

My suffering only increased. I began to find that my flexibility was slowly becoming restricted. First I discovered that I could no longer run, hop or skip (I needed to do all these with the children I worked with once a week). That’s okay, I told myself ruefully…maybe it’s the age I am at. Then I discovered that I was not too comfortable at sit-down lunches; my feet felt stiff and ached a lot. I had pain when I stood for a long time (as in the kitchen) and even when I sat working for long hours.

I went about my life bearing the pain. However, me being me, I pursued all my interests including trekking and going for rock walks with Hyderabad’s Society to Save Rocks. I travelled, I went to school every week to take the gardening class…

I was not ill.

But I slowly realized that I was not well, either.

Jan-June 2010: In January, I went to Pune for the Sawai Gandharva music festival. On the second day, I had fever for half a day and after that began the most terrible knee pain I ever experienced. I found that I could barely walk. I managed to attend the 4-day festival and returned to Hyderabad. I lost no time and went to two more doctors. My GP said some fevers come with leg pain and treated me for it. No relief.

- Doctor 6: (Homeopath) made me go through yet another test and gave my problem yet another label.

- Doctor 7: (another Orthopedic), made me go for a ride on an MRI machine, and declared that that there was a tear in my meniscus; that I had osteo-arthritis; and that I would (typically) have to undergo knee replacement 10 years from now.

I was totally disheartened. The supplements the Orthopaedic gave me did nothing to my pain. I went to him every month for 3 months, and he changed the medication each month. No change in pain levels, or in the level of my depression. He told me I needed to lose weight. “How?” I had asked him “Should I go to a gym, or sign up with take up a weight-reduction package somewhere?”. Having always been overweight, losing weight was something I could never do in my life. The doc said I should just go for walks. How could I lose weight just by walking? I knew it was not possible.

I seemed to have hit a wall. Me? Badminton player Sadhana? Osteo-arthritis? I was finding it difficult to walk, even? What added to my gloom was that in this day and age, I was not getting help. I was totally in the pits.

***

July 2010: Hope: That was when I read an article in Outlook magazine, about a nutrition therapist—Rachna Chhachhi—based in Delhi. She offered online consultancy. I looked at her website. The thing that convinced me most was her own story---about how, at 38, she had had rheumatoid arthritis, and how she battled with it, and won. I read every word on her website. Then I wrote to her.

Rachna’s prompt, detailed reply made me cry. Here was one person who understood what I was going through. She seemed to look at my problems holistically, and said she could help me. Her charges seemed steep; I had never spent that kind of money on myself. I discussed with my family and decided to invest in my health.

It turned out to be the best decision I had taken in 10 years. Rachna first made me go through blood tests, asked me to write a complete history of my problems, asked for my height-weight and other measurements I was not particularly proud of.

She then sent me my first diet chart.

‘Impossible’ was the word that came to my mind when I saw that chart, which also included nutrition supplements. I did not think I could follow that diet…but I decided to try. Towards evening of the the first day, I told my family I couldn’t do this. “To hell with the nutrition therapist”, I told them. “I want to eat and live normally”.

Rachna chased me. She called many times. She wrote emails. I did not want to talk to her. I told her to give me time to think about this. After 2 days I spoke to her. I said I would try. I knew that I did not have many choices.

It was a tough 2 months ahead of me. I started on Rachna’s diet in all earnest. We chatted on Yahoo almost every day. She was intelligent, knowledgeable, patient and inspiring. I liked her, and slowly began to believe in her. I did what she told me…about 90%, sometimes 80%. Upon her advice, I began Pranayama. Four difficult weeks passed. It was difficult. Some days when the pain was bad and I asked her what I should do, she would give me a solution that seemed tougher than the blasted diet chart. “I hate you, Rachna, for making my life so difficult”, I told her impolitely during one chat and added “…but one day, I hope to be a success story on your website. ” “Doesn’t matter if you hate me”, she told me sternly. “Just follow what I am telling you and you will be fine. You certainly will be on my website.”

Three weeks passed. One day I felt slightly better. It was a weekend. I decided to test myself, and drove 1 hour in peak traffic to Hyderabad University to attend an all-night concert. The next day was Independence Day. I had to organize a flag hoisting in my building and then a party in the evening. I therefore spent a very tiring day after the night without sleep. The result: I ended up in a very bad state. Rachna gave me a no holds barred scolding, and made a new rule: I take on activities only alternate days, and no more adventures till I became completely alright.

Surprise! It was around Week 5 that people began to ask me if I had lost weight. My pain levels had not reduced, but I did have a pain-free hour or two some days. After 5 weeks, I tried wearing a dress I could not get into earlier…and voila! I slipped in easily. I was delighted! Curious to see how much I had lost, I bought weighing scales—5 kg gone! Wow! My joy knew no bounds…this was something I had always thought I could never do.

I revelled in this, despite the pain. Rachna, during our regular email chats, kept telling me I would be 90% pain-free in 40 days. I soon reached Day 40. Yes, there seemed to be an improvement. It was the beginning of good times. The pain became less and less. I weighed myself again 2 weeks later. Two more kilos knocked off! My poor legs had less to carry and I felt happy I could do this for them.

My clothes were now loose and ill-fitting. I happily began to shop for new clothes…one size less. More and more compliments came my way. I enjoyed them and now have a huge collection of people’s reactions to the new me.

I had started the nutrition therapy end July. By October, I was 90% pain free and felt light and fit. But the stiffness in my legs was still there. Rachna said I should go on to Phase 2 of my treatment—Yoga. I found a teacher—Kamala, Ragini’s friend’s mother, and thus began another journey towards enlightenment.

On 12 November 2010, I wrote the following email to to Rachna:

_____

Hi Rachna...

I miss talking to you!

Yesterday, hurriedly wearing my churidar as I dressed to go out for dinner, I felt such a gladness envelope my heart. I could dress quickly, and without pain. Earlier, wearing a churidar had become a very painful affair for me...I could barely hold up my leg and couldn't balance properly. It used to depress me so much.

Another improvement ever since I started yoga is that I am able to sit astride on the scooter (pillion), which enables me to teach Ragini to drive the scooter. Oh, there are many many instances like this. Just now I spent 2 hrs in the kitchen and produced a good meal and am still happy. No need to sit with my legs stretched out on the beanbag.

This is a new life. Yes, it is.

Remember Rachna...during one of our chats I had told you I hated you for making me go on a seemingly impossible diet and lifestyle? In this email I would like to tell you how glad I am that I read about you and signed up for therapy from you. You made a huge, huge difference to my life. Thank you once again.

With affection,

Sadhana

_____

This writeup is neither criticism of doctors, nor an advertisement for Rachna. It is just an account of my journey to good health. But it also illustrates how doctors’ limited focus plays havoc with their patients’ lives. I hope and pray the next generation of doctors look at people’s problems in a more holistic manner. Specialization is not always good.

The new me: My lifestyle has changed from one where I didn’t think about what I ate and didn’t have the time or energy for exercise. In the last 6 months, I have learnt to eat right; I now do yoga and pranayama religiously for 45 minutes to 1 hour every morning at least 6 days a week. I respect my body and have promised myself that I will take care of it. I am now minus 9 kg in all, and that much happier.

It has been a long journey, and at the end of it, I am not tired. On the contrary, I am excited and looking forward to turning 50 in January 2011. Earlier this year, I was apprehensive about this milestone, and unsure of how I would handle the next decade of my life. At the end of this Project, I feel I have already learnt to hang-glide and am all set to land ever so gently on my birthday on 10 Jan, 2011.

Thank you, Rachna, for teaching me to eat, breathe and walk; and for showing me the way to wellness.

Thank you, Kamala, for teaching me the power of ‘Om’, and for putting me on the path to complete flexibility. I can see myself playing badminton, trekking and climbing rocks with confidence from 2011.

My family held my hand through this exercise…Vijay, Ragini, Malini, my parents, and my brother Gautham; they were with me during this journey and bore the brunt of tears, tantrums and bad cooking.

The last word…has to be my mother’s. She taught me the power of faith. All the while I was undergoing this treatment, she went to the temple once a week and did 21 pradakshinams each time, praying for me to recover quickly. I have no words to thank her. She understands.

___

PS: I have skipped the medical jargon and the details, because this is already a long post. If specifics will be of help, please write to me at sadhana_bluepencil@yahoo.com, and I will gladly share them with you.

Narsayya

2010-11-22T05:39:00.000-08:00

Narsayya, who worked at Ratnakara for several years, passed away yesterday (21 Nov 2010). He has been in the village with his daughter the last 4-5 years, and has been ill the last 6 months.

Narsayya was a very important part of our childhood. From cleaning the house to taking care of the garden to taking the dog for a walk and even catching cockroaches for me and my friends (when we had to practice dissection!), he was truly Ratnakara's Jeeves. Quiet, non-interfering, slow but very dependable...that was Narsayya.

I took the above photo as part of a series (which I did just for fun) about the newspaper Newstime. Its advertising slogan was, "All things to all people". I took pictures of this newspaper being used in different ways. I made Narsayya pose with Newstime being used as a cone filled with peanuts or something! Of course, he obliged...he did everything anyone wanted him to. Good old Narsayya.

My garden as it looks now

2010-11-09T21:24:00.000-08:00

This is what my garden looks like in November 2010. We planted the first trees in August 2009.

The lawn is the new addition this season. It is not carpet grass..it is the easy-to-maintain gaddi.

I have been waiting for the Passion flowers to bloom. Finally they are!

Hibiscus (planted by my friend Madhavi who lives on the 6th floor) and datura, side by side

This woodrose creeper was beautiful but had become uncontrollable. It was growing 6 inches a day (really!) and would have soon crawled all along the Himayatnagar wires. Had to remove it. Felt very sad, but I couldn't help it. It is now in a pot and as soon as it forgives me by sprouting a few leaves, I will plant it somewhere where it can grow to its heart's content.

This Allamanda replaces the woodrose

Side view of the garden

A pomegranate plant had already been there when we started the garden, but it is only now that it is bearing fruit.

The cosmos from last year's crop are back!

Malini sowed these Vinca rosea seeds...they bloom always and are spreading...almost like the wood rose! But they can be controlled.

New addition this year...it is a wild gooseberry plant;

the small, sour variety that comes in bunches.

A labour of love...

2010-10-14T10:09:00.000-07:00

There are publications and publications. But some are special. Swara Raga Kadambam will always be special to me. Brought out by Ms Anuradha Reddy of Saptaparni, and written by Sri Suryanarayana, who teaches music there, this is basically a book for students of Carnatic classical music. Beginning with an introduction to the seven notes, this book goes on to describe various raagas and their characteristics, geetamulu, swarajatulu, explanation and pratipadaarthalu of various 'kritulu'. There are exercises, of course, and interesting fillers giving info about the lives of great composers.

I did not do much for this book. I just gave advice on the design (and got credited as 'design consultant!). But it was a pleasure because, one, the book was a great team effort and done with love and adoration of the students towards their guru; and two, they took my suggestions very seriously, and didn't try to twist my arm, for which I am grateful. This resulted in a neat and user-friendly publication, that I feel very proud of (despite the typical editor-speak whispering into my ear that it could have been better!).

The book had a fitting release by Sri Nookala China Satyanarayana at Saptaparni. Before and after this, there were concerts by the students and then by Sri Suryanarayana, who has a good command on the craft of carnatic music (I do not know much of this genre of music, but I can say this much).

My own great moment was when the music teacher said to me..."Meeru chayyabatte eee pustakamu inta baaga undi. Memu artist cheta chala muggulu, designlu dimpinchukunnamu. Anni vaadadamanukunnamu...meerocchhi "Ivanni vadakandi, oka chinna design matrame use cheyyandi," annaru! Mee maata vinakunte, idi muggula pustakamu laga kanipinchedi!"

(It is because of you that this book looks so good. We got the artist to draw many muggus [rangolis] and designs, and wanted to use them all in the book. You came along and said, "Don't use any of these...just use one pattern throughout!" If we had not listened to you, this would have become a book of rangolis!")

This is one of the best compliments I have received in my career! I will cherish this moment always.

My compliments to Anuradha, Rajini, Sri Suryanarayana, Sri Durga (who painstakingly did the layout) and the artist K Sukumar, for the expressive drawings on the cover and inside pages.

For those who want more info on the book, here's a (bad) image of the back cover.

Visarjan day - 23 Sep 2010

2010-09-24T06:22:00.000-07:00

Woke up at 4.30 am on 24 Sep, hearing the Ganesh procession drum beats outside my window. This is what I saw (above). Went back to bed thinking, "Ah, in the morning, there will be peace.

Woke up at 7 am and this is what I saw outside my window. The Ganesh processions caused huge trafiic jams all over the city, and...there was no school!

In Indira Park, one ordinary morning...

2010-09-15T10:53:00.001-07:00

It seemed like any other morning in Indira Park, but it wasn't.
There was a daawat going on here! (click on photo to enlarge)

Don't miss the crow watching from a distance...
actually, there was also a dove feeding on the grain, but I couldn't him in the frame!
(click on photo to enlarge)

One wouldn't think these two could be friends! (click on photo to enlarge)

Very busy, very involved. You humans go your way; we are not bothered!
(click on photo to enlarge)

Where did they go?

I stood there amazed, and excitedly taking pictures, but there were other homo sapiens who walked past uninterested, bluetooths/ipods firmly in place...

FOUR

2010-08-25T10:23:00.000-07:00

I have been blogging for 4 years now!

August 2009 to August 2010 has been important in two ways for my blog. One, I recorded passionately, a long-cherished dream coming true. It may sound silly for someone living in any of the developed countries with all their luxuries, but for my situation, it was no mean task. With the help of children, I developed a garden in a disputed part of my building complex that resembled a junk yard.

My blog space was an outlet during this time, and I poured out my apprehensions, recorded the hesitant steps and then celebrated the colour that slowly crept into the garden. There is much improvement since, and now work in the garden involves pruning and trimming! We have even laid out a lawn this monsoon! Yes, I need to post an update.

The other important thing I want to record here is that I met three people during this year, who I made friends with through this blog. Lakshmi Prabhala, who lives in Hyderabad, has become a friend and I now once in a while go on photo-shoots with her. I feel privileged! In December I met Anita and Amit Vaccharajani, the writer-illustrator couple (and their daughter Nayan) in Mumbai. Anita and Amit have written and illustrated several children's books. Their home is a treasure-trove of children's books, and we could have spent 2 days in their home just browsing! And then I met Bishwanath Ghosh who came to Hyderabad to conduct a writing workshop; it was great meeting him, and I got him to autograph a copy of his book, "Chai chai".

I wonder if this period looks 'pretty' on my blog. In reality, it was not. I was quite stressed out and 2010 began with more personal challenges, which I am spending the whole of this year trying to address, so that I can write more humorous posts in the next blog year! This season, I am enjoying recording the weather, because rains have been more than good, and have given us a feeling of well being, and the thought that something somewhere is happening right.

With the popularity of FaceBook, I have a feeling that visitors to blogs have become fewer, and there are fewer comments too, simply because a blog comment is not as easy to post as a comment on FB. Which is okay...for, I reiterate, I really write for myself. But I do know that my mother and father read my blog, and miss it when I don't write regularly. So, yes...I write for them too. And if you are reading this, I write for you, dear reader. Thank you for visiting. It would make a difference if you didn't.

Lens and sensibility is just like any other part of my life now. If I don't update it, I get a nagging feeling, as though I haven't done something important. It continues to reflect my life...those aspects that I like to and can write about. I have now given it a new, fresh green look, for nature's colours are really what I like to live with.

In the coming year, I hope to write more funny stuff, and real stories and anecdotes from my large and very interesting family, so that they will be recorded here for my children and whoever else would like to read them.

I am so glad I started blogging.

I am my children and everything around them...

2010-08-19T07:39:00.000-07:00

I was I for the longest time. Me and my interests and my career and my world filled with writing, books, assignments, clients, sports, cinema, music, theatre, picnics, bike rides...

Suddenly I find my world expanding. As my children grow up, I move with them into their worlds. New worlds filled with fun, new people, anticipation, of course mixed, as always with anxiety. I once again pass through the familiar paths of anger, frustration, achievement, ecstacy. As they dream, I dream. For them, and with them. The fun and frolic of a 12-year old and the inhibited expectations of a 17-year old. I laugh when they laugh; I cry when they cry, and many a time, when they don't.

When they give importance to seemingly insignificant things in their lives, I can see exactly what it means to them. I see their faces with understanding, I know what's in their minds. Well, most of the time.

Many a time I do not understand being the mother of an older child...it is incomprehensible. I think of myself at that age, and how my mother was, when I was my older daughter's age, and still I do not comprehend. I hold her hand tight, but I know I must let go. And then I can go back to being me, with my many interests.

In the meantime, I really must stop crying each time my children sing on stage...what's with me, really?

Interesting words from the Kabir Project video...

2010-08-07T22:28:00.000-07:00

This is in Hindi...sorry, can't type Devanagri:

Kele ke paat paat mein paat
Gadhe ki laat laat mein laat
Kabir ki baat baat mein baat
aur Manushya ki jaat jaat mein jaat.

(A banana has a leaf within a leaf within a leaf
A donkey's kick is a kick within a kick within a kick
Kabir's words have words within words within words
And human beings have caste within caste within caste.)

Very funny

2010-08-05T09:33:00.001-07:00

This is here because it is so very funny. I picked it up from FaceBook, where a friend's friend posted it. I have to preserve it here!

Don't miss the bottles holding down the banner :) :) :)

FIFA sporting action

2010-06-27T19:40:00.000-07:00

I love World cup football. It is like a festival every four years. I love the action, the colours; I love the sheer energy, the hair styles, the passion, the overflowing audiences, the excellence. Yes, the excellence.

I also love the vuvuzelas....would like one for Sankranthi kite-flying!

I have been staying up till 2 am to watch the late-night matches. Cheered for Ghana against the US (winning a bet with Gautham on SMS!), and what a win they had! Last night I watched Argentina vs Mexico...and also saw good old Diego Maradona in a new avatar. The guy's got style, whatever he does. Remember watching his antics in 1986 in Ashoknagar, with Mohan mama, Vijaya aunty, Rahul, Paru Prashanth, Sammi, Sai...the whole gang, and shouting and cheering, over cups of chai and beer!

Here's something about Maradona and 1986:

Diego Maradona dominated the World Cup in 1986 like few players ever. Argentina won the event, of course, and Maradona was the awarded the Golden Ball as its best player. That was just a small part of it.

In a 2-1 quarterfinal victory over hated England, he scored twice in the disparate fashions that perfectly define him.

There was the “bad” – the illegal, self-described “Hand of God” goal when he purposefully punched the ball in. And there was the “good” – a spectacular, darting 50-yard run that was voted greatest in the history of the World Cup and hailed by many as the “Goal of the Century.”

And that was just one game.

In front of the media he was controversial and colorful and charismatic. He never backed down. He backed everything up. There was simply nothing like him."

It is strange how one associates certain events with a certain time in life. For me World cup = 1986, Mohan mama, Maradona. It will remain that way. I think every time I watch this great sporting event, I re-live that moment in 209 Ashoknagar.

On a photo-shoot with Lakshmi Prabhala

2010-06-18T21:45:00.000-07:00

Floral mosaic patterns and Koranic verses on the inner walls of the Ashoor Khana.
During the 1908 Musi floods, the Ashurkhana was flooded up to 6 feet and the mosaic artwork washed away. In this picture, you can see the paint below, and the shiny, intricate mosaic above.

Sunday 13 June, I went for a photo-shoot to Charminar with my photographer-friend Lakshmi Prabhala (who I met through this blog). She had decided on a not-so-well-known place she had not visited before. This was the Ashoor Khana, a place of mourning, which is frequented by muslims during Moharram. Just 10 minutes from the Charminar main road, is a gate that leads to the Ashoor Khana. One walks into a compound through a large green gate, and sees old buildings along the compound. It is quiet, despite the hustle of Charminar traffic outside, and there is an old world charm about the place and the poeple who are in charge. Met a genteel young man with the Hyderabadi tehzeeb; he's the 9th generation to be taking care of this place.

The Bade Shahi Ashoor Khana was built in 1594 by Sultan Mohammed Quli Qutb Shahi, ruler of the Qutub Shahi dynasty. It is a classic example of Indo-Iranian architecture, and is a house of mourning in memory of the martyrdom of Imam Hussain.

Lakshmi Prabhala's detailed writeup is here, along with her signature photographs.

Also visited another Ashoor Khana in Dabirpura. It was pouring cats and dogs, but we managed to go in and have a look.

Weather watch: Monsoon 2010

2010-06-02T08:00:00.000-07:00

10 November 2010: It seems as though rainy season is not yet over! It rained on and off through October and beginning of November came a cyclone and so rainy weather. Today has been somewhat sunny. Prayers more than answered!

26 August 2010: Has been raining every other day. Downpours, usually in the evenings and nights. This year, we know what it is to use umbrellas...we had one, we bought one more! The other day, again on a photo-shoot with Lakshmi, we reached the Edi Bazaar to see Purani Iidgah and it started to pour. We quickly took pictures, hopped back into the auto, and came back through pouring rain. Somewhere, something is happening right, for which I am truly grateful.

19 August 2010: It continues to be a great monsoon. Two days back, the skies dumped rain on us. It has been so good that one doesn't think about rain...we are just taking it for granted! This hasn't happened in the last several years. Thanks, God.

23 July 2010: Yes, it has been a normal monsoon! In fact, yesterday's paper said AP has excess rainfall already! It has been raining every other day. Last night, big rain. Good for the garden...yesterday evening, Nagesh came and laid out the lawn. The place looks so good. One step at a time, but we are taking those steps. And heavens are showering down their blessings. Thank you, God.

20-27 June: Dry spell. Blue skies, but clouds come during the day. Last 2-3 days have been very humid.

19 June 2010: Last Sunday (13 June), I went to Charminar for a photo-shoot with Lakshmi Prabhala. Saw two Ashoorkhanas (places of mourning). I would never have gone to these places but for Lakshmi. Maybe a post on this. But here, I want to record that it poured while we were there, and we got soaking wet. It was fun. During the week, it has been consistently cloudly with intermittent showers. Last night it rained well too. It looks like a proper rainy season, as it used to be when we were children.

11-12 June: Yes, it has been raining on and off; roads have puddles on them; clothes don't dry (I don't mind one bit!); and it is cloudy all the time. Varuna Deva...please keep at it. We like you.
10 June 2010: It rains for about 10 minutes at the typical Hyderabadi rain time...the school-leaving time. Vijay has taken the car to OU for his book release function (the ASRao book...it is finally done!). I go on the scooter to pick up Maloo, jacket and all. Then Kobita and I, and the children drive to Hermitage complex to see the cartoon poster show on the occasion of the World Environment Day. Some of the posters were brilliant, most of them depressing.

It pours again in the night, lightning, thunder, the works. Vijay takes us out for dinner to celebrate his book. Post-dinner, we drive to Necklace Road to celebrate the rain.

1 June 2010: I go to the Mango show in the public gardens with Maloo around 4.30 pm. It is cloudy when we start from home, but I think, "It is only 1 June. Officially, rainy season will begin on 7 June. These clouds will go away..."

But, no...there is a a HUGE downpour. Lightening, thunder (I jump up and grab Maloo's hand!)...and the rain comes straight down, thick and steady. Rains for about 45 minutes.

I pray that we will have a good monsoon this year.

Icelandic ash

2010-05-18T08:05:00.000-07:00

This one's really funny.

After back-to-back disasters, Icelanders seek escape in humour

A joke gleefully repeated since the volcano erupted relates that Britain “wanted cash, but because the Icelandic alphabet contains no letter C, they got only ash.”

Another quip goes like this: “When Iceland’s economy died, its final wish was that its ashes would be spread across Europe.”

One joke perfectly catches the absurdity of tiny Iceland, which doesn’t even have a standing army, going out to bully the world. “You mess with Iceland?” goes the gag, in full Mafioso mode: “We shut down all your airports.”

Thanks to Shylaja Nagasrinivasa for sending it to me.

The street parallel to that on which I played gilli-danda

2010-05-14T10:09:00.000-07:00

Summer is synonymous with mangoes and pickles. I grew up in a home where pickles were made on a manufacturing scale---500 mangoes, no less. After distribution to various people, these new pickles were stored in 'jaadis' (large ceramic containers) in a special store room. Despite having grown up in such an atmosphere, I must confess that I did not learn any pickle-making...instead, I played gilli-danda, flew kites, played cricket with my uncles and their friends.

Many years have passed since those days. In recent times, my mother gives us pickles in a three-tier tiffin carrier. She and my grandmother still make 4-5 varieties of pickles, but on a smaller scale. I still have no clue how exactly they are made.

Since a few years, some introspection. A feeling that I must retain this art of pickle making, so unique to my people. I can't let it disappear, can I? and unless I learn and make pickles myself, how will I teach my children? how can I let them lead a home-made-pickle-less existence? With these thought constantly nagging me, a few years back, I joined my aunt when she made pickles, and made notes. I came home thrilled, with large bottles of pickles, but with a feeling that my aunt had done most of the work...I had just watched. Ditto when I joined my mother in her pickle-making efforts the subsequent year.

After these attempts, I went back to my gilli-danda ways, and forgot about making pickles. Just bought Priya pickles off the shelf when we needed some...seemed quite sensible, except for the mechanical taste of commercial pickles.

This year, with the long, hotter-than-before summer days ahead, and with not too much pressure of work and added to everything else, the disappointment of a cancelled holiday, I decided to Make My Own Pickles once again. Just to refresh my memory (and to learn their secrets), I went to my Andhra neighbour's house when they were making their pickles, watched them and quickly wrote down their recipes. Aha...I was all set!

Nallakunta market in Hyderabad is abuzz with mango sellers, mango choppers and buyers, who go there unmindful of the heat. There is an infectious enthusiasm there as people buy mangoes in 100s, to make their yearly pickles. As advised by my neighbour, I took a bottle of water and a clean cloth, washed the mangoes I bought, and gave them to the bandi-wallah to chop, and quickly spread the cloth I took, so the pieces fell on my clean cloth and not on his dirty plastic sack.

Cut to the next few days. The mixing done, every morning for 5-6 days, two of the pickles need to be sun-cooked. So either I go up or if busy, I nag my jobless, holidaying children to take them up to the terrace. They grumble and begin disliking my new pickle-making avatar! But the whole day, as the sun blazes and everyone else is moaning and complaining, I am ever so happy that my pickle is getting the hottest sun possible, and would cook perfectly. Just think---this one thought makes the summer heat so much more bearable! And any sign of even a remote cloud, and we rush to get the pickles back. This summer, the mango pickles became a total raison-d'-etre. Perhaps it has been this way for millions of women all over India for generations. I am happy I finally discovered this.

My kitchen looks special and different. Large vessels covered with cloth sit on my microwave in the ant-less part of my kitchen. I wait patiently till the pickles are finally done. With enthusiasm and care, I trasfer them into bottles. With greater enthusiasm and pride I given a bottle of each to my mother and mother-in-law. And some to my neighbour. The verdict is good. Everyone's enjoying the three varieties of pickles I made. It is great feeling...very satisfactory, indeed!

I have arrived...on the street parallel to that on which I played gilli-danda.

Blue

2010-05-04T10:07:00.000-07:00

A million thoughts trip over one another and I can't seem to focus. My mind wanders around; eyes look but don't see; ears hear, but don't listen. I search for something even Google is unable to find. I find myself searching on FaceBook...for some clue. I clean a lot, I cook. I even do the dishes. For once these things make me feel better...it is not a writer's block; it is one of those times...

Painting: Mark Rothko

A drive from Warangal fort to my home

2010-04-15T23:11:00.000-07:00

I have now lived in Hyderabad for 30 years, and in Himayatnagar for 22 years. I regret not taking pictures of streets in Hyderabad, not even those of the Himayatnagar main road, for it has changed drastically over the last 20 years. Our own Hardikar Bagh has changed from a road full of quaint old buildings with large compounds, to a car-lined street with apartment complexes on both sides.

Warangal, on the other hand, has not changed much. I never thought about it, until the other day, bringing back Maloo and her friends from Warangal fort, I took pictures of the roads from the fort till my home. I was amazed that very little had changed over the years. Yes, there are places in the world that haven't changed very much.

Here are some pictures of the roads, plus some places with which are associated, some precious memories.

One of the four beautiful carved gates of the Warangal fort

The children posing at the fort

Warangal main road...it hasn't changed since we were children

An old carved building along the Warangal main road

The road near the Bhadrakali temple

The famous Hanam-'konda'

Yes, one thing has changed. Alankar theatre, where we used to go to see English movies, has been replaced with Reliance Super.

Thousand pillars temple is the same, except that the second part of the temple which was in ruins, has now been totally dismantled and is being rebuilt afresh

Hanmkonda chowrastha has changed, but doesn't look very different

Lashkar Bazar...notice the vast sky, not visible in big cities.

Bad photo...took it for the statue of Gandhi in the background...we used take my brother Gautham for a ride in the car to see 'Gandhi tata' when Gautham had colic attacks.

The town hall and public gardens

The road leading to Nakkalgutta, where my home is located

The turning towards our lane

This road, on which our home is located, has changed...three of four high-rises have come up in the last 5-6 years

Home

The place where we spent many an evening, playing shuttle badminton...the Warangal club

Maloo and friends playing badminton...

ITC SRA Sangeet Sammelan

2010-04-04T20:55:00.000-07:00

Two days of good music, thanks to the ITC Sangeet Research Academy's programme in Ravindra Bharati, Hyderabad.

The artistes were:
3 April
- Sameehan Kashalkar (vocal), ITC SRA Scholar: Pandit Ulhas Kashalkar's son, this young man is a good singer in the making.
- Pandit Debashish Bhattacharya (Chaturangi -- Indian classical slide guitar). This was the highlight of the day...truly, great music. The instrument is fantastic, and the Tablist Samar Saha) was superb.
- Vidushi Malini Rajurkar: She sang effortlessly, as usual. However, one feels that her programme is somehow incomplete...no tanpura, no shishyas.

4 April
- Aniruddha Bhattacharya (vocal), Past Scholar, ITC SRA: He was good, but not exceptional.
- Pandit Tejendra Narayan Majumdar (Sarod): Something wasn't quite okay with this performance.
- Dr M Balamurali Krishna and Pandit Ajoy Chakrabarty (jugalbandi): Two masters in action...much as I don't much like Carnatic-Hindustani jugalbandis, it was exhilerating. As Dr Balamurali Krishna said, the distinction Carnatic/Hindustani came later...what they were singing was Indian music.

Tabla was by Subhankar Banerjee, Mridangal: D S R murthy, Violin Peri Sreerama Murthy. The tabla-mridangam jugalbandi was fantastic too.

More from my garden

2010-03-27T07:04:00.000-07:00

This is just for record...

so I can look at the pictures here and feel happy!

Harvest: three precious brinjals, and some mirchis...green and red!

Vinca rosea...Maloo sowed the seeds a few months back

Second generation Cosmos...the garden is full of them! The seeds were sown by Maloo's friend Priyal.

Not-so-glorious-anymore Morning Glory
Yes, tomatoes!

Waiting for the cauliflower!

The FaceBook bubble

2010-03-25T04:09:00.000-07:00

This was the status of one of my friends on FB recently:
"Bored with facebook, orkut, mobiles & chat windows. Going away from all these for some time. Post me an e-mail if it's too urgent. I would love to recieve handwritten letters if old friends want to catch up. BYE..."

Yes, social network sites can get to you sometimes. The internet itself is but a bubble, and FaceBook has entered most people's lives. FB, to me, is the most amazing bubble, containing all my friends---a very alive, thinking group of people, all reaching out, reacting, communicating; sometimes posting several lines but saying very little, sometimes using very few words but saying a lot. A photo here, a comment there, some news here, a link there...some days they leave a deep impression on me, and I keep introspecting on the comment or link the whole day.

I always loved soap bubbles...small, big, colourful, floating gently in the air, bursting with a soundless pop. I know the soap bubble will surely burst, yet I like it. Similarly, I like the FB bubble also...it has a lot of colour too; I know it can burst and I will then find myself all alone in front of my computer, but until then, why not enoy the gentle, and sometimes not so gentle sway?

Flowers in my garden...

2010-03-09T19:21:00.000-08:00

This is what my garden looks like now. It gives me much happiness...and peace. On a busy day, I pine for time to spend downstairs. I feel prayer can only happen among plants and trees, birds and bees...amidst nature, not anywhere else.

As says T.E. Brown:

A garden is a lovesome thing, God wot!

Rose plot,

Fringed pool,

Ferned grot---

The veriest school

Of peace; and yet the fool

Contends that God is not---

Not God! in gardens! when the eve is cool?

Nay, but I have a sign:

'Tis very sure God walks in mine.

I will forever be grateful for this opportunity to convert this little patch of land to green.

What's with these girls?

2010-03-01T05:53:00.000-08:00

This disturbs me a great deal. Why are girls increasingly wearing these masks? I first spotted this bandit-queen attire in Baroda and Ahmedabad in 2007, and wondered why girl-scooterists there covered themselves thus. I asusumed it was a Gujju-ism...even so, wouldn't it be better to wear a helmet with a visor instead of this stuffy costume? At least it would protect their heads in case of an accident.

Soon, this spread to other cities...Hyderabad included. And it is not typical only of scooterists; even girls walking on the road dress like this. I recently saw a whole group of friends dressed like this in the railway station. They also wear gloves and cover their arms completely...

WHAT'S WITH THEM? Stop doing this girls!! :((

Panchgani

2010-02-22T05:05:00.000-08:00

This is a post I should have written early January. Echoes of music from Pune muffled the bird calls we heard in Panchgani in the last week of December. This was a family trip: Vijay's brother Vasudev and his family, and the four of us. Here are a few pictures from the trip.

Outside the Nana Phadnavis Wada at Menavli, on the way to Panchgani

Shiva temple on the banks of River Krishna. This is where Swades was shot.
Panchgani main road; its a cute little typical hill town.
An interesting visual at the Strawberry Inn, a nice Parsi eating place, where they have good paintings, and where they play hindustani classical music. The food's good, too.
Strawberries being sold outside the MAPRO farm near Panchgani...
...also, fresh carrots and turnips
Elphinstone Point/Needle Point (the board said Niddal Point!)

Paragliding...would love to do this!

Backwaters of the Dhom dam on River Krishna

We stayed at a home stay called Shubham Nivas, with a nursery in its backyard. This place only gives you a room and nothing else, not even chai. For food, one has to take a 5-minute walk to Strawberry Inn, which is a great place. We also drove half way to Mahabaleshwar, and saw some of the breathtaking viewpoints there.

Ideally, one must stay in Panchgani for a month during monsoons... must be an overwhelming experience.

Couples - yesterday and today

2010-02-09T21:43:00.000-08:00

There is something nice about couples of my parents' generation. They always go everywhere together, and are seen together more often than not. In the early Hindi films also, there were established couples who were paired together in every other movie. Raj Kapoor-Nargis, Dilip Kumar-Vyjayanthimala, Dharmendra-Hema Malini, Amitabh Bachchan-Jaya Bhaduri, Rishi Kapoor-Neetu Singh...very often, the screen couple became a real-life couple.

In my own family and among friends, I have begun admiring couples, including my own parents, who seem to lead their lives together, despite the bickering that is inevitable in a marriage. If there is a social event, they invariably go together; they plan holidays together; they visit people together.

In my generation, us women have rightfully sought---and got---the freedom we deserve. After marriage, we begin our lives as a couple, but slowly, as we discover that we don't agree on everything, we decide at some point, to 'agree to disagree'...that's when we begin to find friends and 'do our thing'. Go shopping by ourselves, go to a play or a concert with friends, I even go on trips on my own.

Yes, life's fun...definitely better than if one becomes a 'Gandhari' and does not do things one likes because the spouse does not like it. While I have enjoyed and still enjoy doing things on my own or with the children, I have suddenly begun to miss being a 'couple', and have begun envying others who have managed to continue being one, years and years after their marriage.

As they say, women are never satisfied with what they have. I now need to work on Vijay to get back to being the 'couple' we used to be. In the first years of our marriage, he even accompanied me to a Kathakali performance (did I hear someone say "poor Vijay!")!

Can couples who 'agree to disagree' once again 'agree to agree'? Or will this happen only when the children leave home?

Auto

2010-01-29T09:35:00.000-08:00

I helped my aunt Yashodhara buy a this painting from budding artist Konda Srinivasa Rao.

I helped budding artist Konda Srinivasa Rao sell this painting to my aunt Yashodhara.

I feel good for both.

57th Sawai Gandharva Music Festival 2009, Pune, India

2010-01-17T09:27:00.000-08:00

As I said on Facebook, in a world where there is so much mediocrity, it is great to witness the excellence that Sawai Gandharva has always stood for. It restores one's faith in life.

This is the reason I like to travel to Pune to attend this festival; apart from the music itself, of course.

As I took my seat on Day 1, I felt a certain peace and calm envelope me. Just to be there, the familiar shamianas, the thousands of music lovers, the CD shops and food stalls behind, and the best of the best Hindustani classical musicians singing for us, ah…bliss! To see and hear Anand Deshpande, the very efficient and no-nonsense compere was reassuring. Things had not changed.

Day 1 started with a recorded message from Bhimsen Joshi, after which Pramod Gaekwad played the shahnai, establishing a festive ambience. The highlight of the day was Pandit Tarun Bhattacharya on Santoor, ably accompanied by Tarun Banerjee (not sure I got the name right) on the tabla. They were a fantastic combination, and their superlative performance lifted the audience to ecstatic heights, and received a standing ovation. He ended with a lilting Pahadi dhun, which made one want to dance! Devaki Pandit was good too, and sang Raag Bhim Palasi and Raag Amruth Varshini. The last to sing was our own Pandit Jasraj (with a very simply dressed and docile Durga sitting behind him!). He began with the familiar “Sakala ban gagan pawan…” However, I had to leave because it was quite late.

Day 2, Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia gave an enjoyable performance, his bansuri accompanied by tabla and mridangam whiz kids who drummed magic into our ears! At one point, it seemed like the flute was the accompanying instrument, rather than the other way round! The day ended with my favourite Malini ‘Tai’ Rajurkar. She was simple, as usual, no frills…sang accompanied only by tabla and harmonium, and rendered the raagas with a purity that I feel is rare. Earlier, Shrinivas Joshi (Bhimsen Joshi’s son) sang. An IIT-ian, Shrinivas looks young and boyish, and is carrying the responsibility of organising Sawai Gandharva year after year ever since his father‘s illness. His singing is no comparison with the Senior Joshi; he sang one khyal with aalap-taan, etc., and then sang some bandishes and bhajans. We were introduced to his cute little son, about 6-7 years old, who sang a little along with him!

One of the things that I feel touched about Sawai is this…you have the old, established musicans in front, and behind them are the youngsters---the shishyas---usually with the tanpuras and fresh eager young voices; the baton will be passed on one day, but the musical journey is long and very exacting. One day, the shishyas will be singing sitting in front, and only when they have proved themselves at many other concerts will they reach Pune and the Sawai stage. This is what makes Sawai special. This is what makes Sawai sacred.

On day 3, Pandit Ulhas Kashalkar’s performance was no doubt the most inspiring. Earlier, the charming Samhita Nandi from Kolkata sang Raag Bhagyashree very melodiously indeed. She is surely a musician to watch out for.

Day 4 had some emotional moments. Towards the end of the morning session, when Girija Devi from Banaras Gharana (see photo below) was singing, Pandit Bhimsen Joshi came in his car to listen to her. There was a hush in the audience…it was an overwhelming moment indeed. She got up and went to meet him, and came back in tears…she apparently told him that his place was on the stage and not in the car, and that she prayed that he would be disease-free and would sing again. Many a person in the audience had tears in their eyes. Even as she was overcome by emotion, we were treated to some inspired thumris, dadras and kajris. The other artiste who was a huge hit was Ustad Shahid Pervez…the audience kept asking for more! Among the tabla players who stole people’s hearts through the festival were Ramdas Palsule, Vijay Ghate and Tarun Banerjee.

The evening session had two greats---Pandit Satyasheel Deshpande and Dr Prabha Atre. Deshpande trained under greats such as Kumar Gandharva and Bhimsen Joshi. As people asked for more, he sang one of Kumar Gandharva’s Nirgun bhajans, and what a wonderful rendition it was! What I liked about Dr Prabha Atre was that she gave her shishyas a very fair chance to sing along with her---and they got to sing quite a few taans as well. There was also a Bharatnatyam performance by Mallika Sarabhai and her son Rewanta Sarabhai. They were very good.

Pandit Bhimsen Joshi made another appearance, this time in a wheel chair on stage, along with his contemporary Pandit Ram Narayan (Saarangi). Pandit Ram Narayan spoke about Joshi and Joshi also spoke one sentence in Marathi. It was sad to see Joshi, the maestro known for a thousand expressions, with just one expression on his face; perhaps he had had a paralytic stroke. But who knows, some miracle could happen, and he just might sing again, just as Pandit Firoze Dastur had, when I went last time. Even as the music went on, things were happening behind the shamianas. The picture above (look at Bismillah Khan!) is one of the photos at the photo exhibition of two greats who passed away during 2009---Gangubai Hangal and Pandit Firoze Dastur; the latter surprised audiences in 2006 by suddenly singing Bhairavi along with the shishyas of Joshi (I have a very amateur video of this moment; if anyone is interested I could send it by email). The CD shops alongside did brisk business; there were thousands of titles, and most were on sale.

Apart from this there were, during the morning, two activities, “Antarang”---a discussion with the artistes, and the other was the screening of documentary films on music. I did not attend any of these.

On my way back to Hyderabad, the chuk-chuk of Mumbai Express strangely sounded melodious... o-da-ni-ta-ni ta-ni-ta-ni... o-da-ni-ta-ni ta-ni-ta-ni... , and I said, "Wah! Kya baat hai!!"

Links:
Satyasheel Deshpande: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Dy1NpD7FZc

Tarun Bhattacharya: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IigfD86AcJQ
Shrinivas Joshi: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2vpF08-UdE

Sawai Gandharva 2009 (January 2010) --- the Program

2010-01-14T21:52:00.000-08:00

Thursday 7 Jan 2010: Sri Pramod Gaikwad (Shahnai); Sri Nagnath Wodeyar (vocal); Smt Devaki Pandit (vocal); Pandit Tarun Bhattacharya (Santoor) and Pandit Jasraj (vocal)

Friday 8 Jan 2010: Sri Rajendra Kandalgavkar (vocal); Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia (flute); Sri Srinivas Joshi (vocal); Pandita Smt Malini Rajurkar (vocal)

Saturday 9 Jan 2010: Sri Chandrashekar Vajhe (vocal); Pandit Srikanth Deshpande (vocal); Pandit Bishwajit Rai Chaudhary (Sarod); Smt Samhita Nandi (vocal); Pandit Ulhas Kashalkar (vocal)

Sunday 10 Jan 2010 (morning): Pandit Raja Kale (vocal); Ustad Shahid Parvez (Sitar); Pandita Smt Girija Devi (vocal)

Sunday 10 January 2010 (evening): Ustad Raja Miyan (vocal); Pandit Ramnarayan and Sri Harsh Narayan (Saarangi); Pandit Satyasheel Deshpande (vocal); Smt Mallika Sarabhai (dance) and Dr Prabha Atre (vocal)

Artistes whose names are in mustard were very good; and those in green simply ROCKED! Some of course, are established musicians, some are new names...do please make a note of their names and listen to them on YouTube. Highlights, surprises and emotional moments in the next post.

Background to Pune trip for Sawai Gandharva 2009

2010-01-14T21:33:00.000-08:00

It was when my daughter Malini declared that their annual ‘Hoopya trip’ (an adventure camp, off Pune) was from 7-11 Jan 2010 that I decided to go for the Sawai Gandharva music festival, which was scheduled for 7-10 Jan, one month late this year because of the swine flu scare. With Maloo not at home, I would feel less guilty going; besides, I had been a good girl through 2009 and had not done even one trip on my own!

As in 2006, I aked my school friend Vijayalakshmi to buy season tickets for me. She told me there was an announcement in the newspapers and radio in the last week of Dec 2009 that the tickets would be given on 1 Jan 2010, at three places…Ambewala (or is it Tambewala?), Alurkar music shop and one other place. My friend went to Ambewala (?) and stood in the queue at 4-30 in the morning for two hours and then got the tickets. The tickets costed Rs 1800 each, and four were given per person.

Will always be grateful to Vijayalakshmi for doing this for me. Only regret that I could not meet her in Pune because she was very busy (she’s a doctor).

Tara accompanied me and we stayed at Hotel Shreyas, Apte Road, about 10 minutes (by auto) from the venue---New English School, Ramanbaug. Non-AC double room costed Rs 1700 per day for bed and breakfast; food is typical Maharashtrian, their thali being very popular in the city. We discovered that some of the artistes were also put up at this hotel.

My earlier Sawai Gandharva posts of Dec 2006 are here and here.

Happy new year 2010!

2010-01-12T21:28:00.000-08:00

I wish and pray that in 2010, a miracle happens, and there is an end to irrational governance that smothers and cripples ordinary people in a world run by idiots (mostly).

A picture for the new year. Simple as it is, any guesses what exactly this is?

Photo copyright: Sadhana Ramchander

Aall iz not well...

2010-01-05T03:08:00.000-08:00

I went to see the much-talked about Three Idiots, looking forward to 2 hrs of entertainment. The first half is fun, and there are lots of funny moments...however, post-interval, I felt a headache coming, and, in the darkness of Prasad's multiplex, the same old irrationality that had been bothering me lately raised its head once again. I looked at Aamir Khan and thought, "Et tu...Aamir?"

I am very disappointed. Here's why:

- This film is neither an adaptation of Chetan Bhagat's book, nor is it Rajkumar Hirani's Munnabhai MBBS. It is a hotch potch.
- The storyline is inconsistent and weak, as though the script evolved as the film was shot. I felt as though a fun-loving film crew sat around a table, and as each one came up with a funny idea, everyone else guffawed and said, "Yes, yes...let's include this in the film."
- Characters are cliched, and serious issues trivialised and laughed at. And what is Aamir Khan supposed to be? God?
- The actors: Boman Irani, though brilliant, reminds one of Munnabhai's Mamu; Aamir Khan's body language makes him look amazingly young, but there are times when one wonders whether he is Akash (Dil chahta hai), Nikhumbh Sir (Taare Zameen Par), or Stan Laurel (Laurel and Hardy). However, I was most touched by the actor who plays the creative-and-frustrated genius who commits suicide. The actor who played Chatur is brilliant and Madhavan is good, as always.
- Caricaturing of Raju Rastogi's paralytic father and his stressed-out mother is just not funny, nor is taking the father to the hospital on a scooter.
- AND, what's with the delivery scene? Anyone wondering how to teach their children about how babies are born?...take them to Three Idiots. The reviews didn't talk about it, did they? I wonder why...
- Stories woven around the quest for excellence have been written by many writers and philosophers, including Richard Bach (Jonathan Livingston Seagull) and Antoine St Exupery (Little Prince). In this film too, Aamir gives the same message: "follow your heart, do what you love to do in life, and not what your parents force you to do, pursue learning and excellence." I have no problem with this, and I too have lived my life trying to do just this. "BUT", he adds in the last scene, "like me, become successful...keep your no. 1 rank even 10 years after you pass out; if you are passionate about what you do, you will always be better than the nerd who was no. 2."

What about plain, simple happiness? Couldn't the film have ended with Aamir becoming a fantastic teacher and not the mysterious Wangdu, the award-winning scientist/teacher who can decide the fate of Chatur, the no. 2-in-college?

Vidhu Vinod, Raju Hirani, and co. must be laughing their way to the bank, singing "Aall iz well, but who's the idiot?"

I suspect it is me.

__________________________________________
Here is a link to Sagarika Ghose's review of this film. I agree with her on most aspects.

For sensibility in the new year...

2010-01-02T22:04:00.000-08:00

This is a world where a few power-hungry and drunk-with-power people are at the steering wheel, doing what they wish and getting away with it again and again. I want to be optimistic and hope that some day, logic overpowers this nonsense, especially in the legislature and judiciary in India. Otherwise, we probably will see the likes of Kasab either become a top Hindi film hero, or a heavy-weight politician.

Fervently wishing for logic, reason and sensibility in 2010...Happy New Year!

New statement...new chaos

2009-12-23T20:09:00.000-08:00

Last night, the government once again shot themselves on their foot by giving a new statement on the Telangana issue. This time they said that the government would meet with all parties concerned and take another look at the situation, in the light of the United Andhra Pradesh agitation. No mention of their earlier commitment to split the state.

9 Dec: KCR goes on a fast, agitation in Telangana, they announce Telangana state.

23 Dec: As a reaction, Lagadapati and a hundred others begin fasting, unrest in Andhra, they announce something to the effect that Telangana has been put on back burner.

What kind of 'intellectuals and elders' are these, who come up with such half-baked decisions? What kind of governance is this?

Now, 48-hr bandh, everything closed, buses being burnt...

Telangana

2009-12-23T20:04:00.000-08:00

K Chandrasekhar Rao of the Telangana Rashtriya Samithi goes on a fast unto death for the formation of a separate Telangana. On the 11th day of his fast, with violence and unrest mounting, the Center takes a decision overnight to 'begin the process of a separate Telangana state'. People are dumbfounded. Ministers and MLAs resign (100+ so far); people all over Andhra and Rayalseema start an agitation; Hyderabad is much sought after, much like Krishna caught in the fight between Rukmini and Satyabhama in Sri Krishna Rayabaram! Now the announcement from the Center that Hyderabad would of course be the capital of Telangana, simply because it is_in_Telangana.

Noise and unrest everywhere; unpredictability; disruption in normal life...the children have already had three unexpected holidays because of bandhs...oh, I pine for some quiet and peace.

I really do not know what to make of all this. Of course, the Telangana agitation is a very old one, so there really is no need for anyone to be surprised by this (as is the reaction of many, especially young people). Telanganas have been a downtrodden lot, and they deserve some resources and attention. But I am not sure if carving out a separate state is the answer, especially because I don't see a smart leadership. KCR has neither the strength nor the charisma; TRS fared very badly in the recent elections; so what are these jokers going to do, being in power, heading a state?

I am very much a Telanganite...well, half Telangana...my father is from Warangal and my mother from Bangalore. But I love my language and the culture I have grown up in. Telanganas are very large-hearted and simple people. They are not shrewd and smart...which is perhaps why they have ended up likes this. But then, I am married to an Andhra and I have blended well into Vijay's family. So I find it very difficult to shout "Jai Telangana". What for? Can't KCR and company ask for a better deal without a separate state? Maybe not, when I see the thugs who are running this state.

I'll stay out of the politics. I just feel very sad that this is happening. I basically hate partitions. I still feel sad about the India-Pakistan partition. Nothing to do with the shape of the map or anything, but the whole idea of a separation. Does it have to be this way?

We wait and watch as events unfurl before us...but I do feel that 2009 has been very bad for AP. The elections with the unexpectedly disgusting results (Congress won by a huge majority); YSR's gory end; the no-rain, then too-much-rain-and-flooding where hundreds of people lost their lives. And now this unrest all over the state.

It has also opened a pandora's box, and the effect is showing in many other parts of India too. And all this when we, as human beings, should come together with just one agenda: not to abuse the Earth further...

This, I am told, is being idealistic, and it is not good to be this way

______________________________
2 comments:

Harsha Koda said...
The 4-walls or the compound wall or state's border is another way of 'restricting entry'... not about better lives for the people who are enclosed within...

... thank god for Doors, and gates... people will always find a way to get to the other side.

When the whole world (starting from the unification of Europe) is looking at 'getting together' as solution to problems... we are looking at 'splitting' for problems
4:25 AM, December 14, 2009

Sadhana Ramchander said...
Politics...and vested interests. And a confused leadership above. The whole thing is ridiculous. Do hope things will settle down soon.
4:56 AM, December 14, 2009

Weather watch...Hyderabadi winter

2009-12-07T19:43:00.000-08:00

About 5 years back, I used to take out the 4-5 waist coats I have, around September, and wear them on and off. In the recent years, I haven't been able to do that for it has been too hot for waist coats. Come November-December, I would be able to live in silks and the few synthetics that I have. Cottons made me feel cold, and I kept them away for the always-on-time summer. This has been my measure of the post-rainy and early winter weather.

Since some years, no waist coats at all till November. This year, it has been pleasant and cold since Nov, as it should be, at least early morning and night. The minimum temperature has reached 15 degrees centigrade. Daytime is as usual, hot (30-31 degrees C).

One funny thing, though. The Tabebuias (the yellow ones) are a perplexed lot this year. I saw the ones on the Necklace road flowering fully in Jan-Feb (right time for them to flower) last year; then I again saw flowers on and off in July-Aug (surprise!), and now, in December, they are flowering again...not turning yellow completely, but some yellow peeping out from the green...it truly a confused tree, poor thing...and it doesn't even know about Copenhagen!

The Jasraj show in Hyderabad

2009-11-30T09:26:00.000-08:00

This year, Jasraj threw his US sishyas at us unsuspecting Hyderabadis. Even Chowmohalla could not rescue the situation. And Durga Jasraj seems to be at an all-time low in confidence levels. Some of the other programs they put together were also not good.

I pine for Sawai Gandharva...yes, I plan to go...New English School, Shanivarpet, Pune, 7-10 Jan 2010.

What's beetroot called in Telugu?

2009-11-23T20:25:00.000-08:00

I have to record this dinnertime conversation for posterity because it is very funny, very Maloo. But you need to know Telugu and Hyderabad to understand it. Any explanation will spoil the spontaneity.

Vijay asked whether Maloo knew the other Telugu name for potato.

Maloo: The other name for potato? Alu gadda?
No?
Ulli gadda?
No?
I know...erra gadda!

We start laughing.

And Maloo says...."Sorry...erra gadda is beetroot, right?

Great logic there...we are in splits now!!

A refreshing day

2009-11-20T18:36:00.000-08:00

The other day, on an impulse, I set off to the University of Hyderabad, one hour away from the city, to see some chalk art by Tracy Lee Stum. Took a ride with my friend Usha, who teaches there. The ride was great, the weather perfect (cool and cloudy), and I enjoyed chatting with my friend for an hour.

However, when she dropped me off at the auditorium where the chalk art had been done, I discovered that the art work had been washed away in the previous night's rain!

I now had to either sit under a tree and read the book I was carrying, or go to my friend's department and sit in the library, or head back home. I decided on the last option, but in an unhurried way. I decided to take the train instead---I had been wanting to take the MMTS since some time, but hadn't done it. So I walked back about 3 km to the gate, took a shared auto to the MMTS station, then the train to Hyderabad for Rs 3 ! As I walked down the lane to the station, I was rewarded with this photo-op.

The MMTS ride was great, and I got off at our very own picturesque Necklace Road. Then, again on an impulse, went to the multiplex to see a children's film (International Children's Film Festival was on). I was again rewarded---saw a very good film---Siri Raja Siri (Sri Lanka). All in all, a great day! I am now inspired to take a train out of town on an unplanned rail adventure :)

Dream coming true...

2009-11-11T23:08:00.000-08:00

This is why I was happy on Deepavali! My garden is thriving (see background post 'Dreams'). We not only have trees, but some shrubs and creepers as well. Some are even flowering now. We also painted a few walls with jaju (geru in Hindi). The place looks attractive and children and some adults come every evening to water the plants or to just walk around.

And what's more, we also have a table tennis table in our complex. We play every day...sport is back in my life! At one time it was my life...what I am today is because of sport...a post on this later when I have some time, for this topic is very close to my heart, and it is emotionally draining to write about it. One day I will.

In the meantime, have a look at these pictures.

This is how it was when we began

Children painting the drab wall

The little ones had a great time!

Children sowing dhania and methi

The completed wall

Cordia has begun flowering

...and so have some others!

Inauguration of the TT table

The inaugural match: Champ vs champ. We have ex-Champ---Coach Nagender Reddy--- and his son (Vighnay) who is the State no 1, living in our building

Perfection

2009-11-02T20:49:00.000-08:00

Three years back, I lost my watch. It was a watch I had chosen and had for a very long time. I loved it; it seemed just right on my hand. But over the years, I got used to its simple beauty, and began to take it for granted. I even wished I would lose it or something so that I could buy a new watch. Of course, I did have a second (and a third) watch gifted by my family, but I wore this one as a matter of choice.

And one day I lost it. It just fell off from my bag into which I used to carelessly stuff it. Very bad...I know. But to be honest, I was a little happy that it was gone. This too is very bad, I know.

And then began my search for the perfect watch. Titan was my first choice. I looked closely at what they had to offer...the heritage collection interested me. But I was disappointed. Nothing seemed good enough. Then I looked at FastTrack. I liked just one among those, but I had bought that for my daughter two years back, and she loved it and wore it everyday. I couldn't buy the same thing. This search soon turned into an obsession...I couldn't pass by a watch shop without going into it; every mall I went into, I headed towards the watch section, and looked for one that I might spontaneously like. They were good...but there was something lacking. If they had the right look, one couldn't read the time. If the readability was okay, the look wasn't right for me. Too much gold, too much steel, too black, too messy; if the dial was good the strap was steel or gold, and I wanted leather; if the starp was good, the dial wasn't.

I then looked at Citizen, XLS, Omega, Christian Dior---at one point I thought expense was not the criterion; I must find a watch that was just right for me.

It was only then that I began to understand what my old watch had meant to me. I did not even have a photograph...I went back and described it to the Titan showroom guy and asked him if that model was still available. He said no, the old models didn't come any more.

In the meantime, my brother Gautham gifted me a new eco-drive watch, that had no battery...it charged automatically with light! I liked new technology and I liked the watch too...but somehow it didn't seem like my watch. My wrist was still unhappy.

Last month I went to a watch shop in Warangal to buy a watch for my sister-in-law Deepthi. I looked at all the models to pick one she might like. And as my ever-searching eyes looked, my eye fell on one model...it seemed soothing to the eye; there was something delicate and special about it...it seemed just right. I asked them to show it to me. And...believe it or not...it was the very same model as my lost watch, whose value I had realised over and over again during this time. I could not believe my luck! With great happiness, I bought it for Rs 750, wore it in the shop itself, and was on cloud nine the whole day...just floating happily, looking at my just right! Here it is, photographed for posterity...and no, I will never lose it again.

This watch, I think, illustrates a quotation from one of our printer friend's emails:
Small small things make perfection
But perfection is not a small thing.

Baby caterpillar walk

2009-10-26T20:08:00.000-07:00

This little fellow was taking a walk on my keyboard. I rescued him from being crushed by the keys...!

Happy Deepavali

2009-10-19T07:24:00.001-07:00

It has been a very special Deepavali for me. I am very happy. I will write about this soon. Have been a bit too busy for my liking...what to do?

Since I am posting this after Deepavali, hope you had a great day, dear reader.

Weather watch: This is what's been happening

2009-10-09T02:51:00.001-07:00

As they say in Telugu: ativrushti, anavrushti...either we have too much of something, or too little...I feel very sad to see the plight of millions of people suffering and homeless because of the floods. Can we ever learn to deal with the eccentricities of nature?

Painting the wall red

2009-10-04T09:06:00.001-07:00

Lens and Sensibility: 3 years, 133 posts old!

2009-09-25T23:56:00.000-07:00

I've done 3 years of blogging, and am very happy I haven't given up! It makes me as satisfied as it made me in the beginning. Only, I have become more casual about it...while in 2006 when I began blogging, it was still not so common, now everyone blogs, from Big B to Sadhana Ramchander.

I have made some interesting friends because of my blog...Anita Vaccharajani, a writer from Mumbai, who wrote a lovely book on India "Amazing India: a state-by-state guide"; Lakshmi Prabala, a very talented photographer from Hyderabad; and Mayank Bhatnagar, an artist from Jaipur. Their friendship has crept out of my blog's comments box, into the in-box of my email, and in one case, to my phone. I hope to meet these people some day, hopefully soon.

This exercise in writing has kept me in touch with people who I care about, and has also enabled all kinds of people to get to know me better (including my own parents). I recently bumped into Mrs Lakshmi, an old friend who now lives in Sri Lanka...she warmly gave me a hug and one of the first things she told me was that she regularly reads and enjoys reading my blog, and that she knows much more about me now! I was somewhat embarassed, but it felt very good!

Apart from this, Lens and Sensibility has also been a weather watch, especially in the rainy season, when the worry of the lack of rains gnaws at me and then I refer to the previous years' blogs to see how the pattern has been changing (no newspaper database for me!). I inherited this rain-obsession from my father who has always been very conscious of the importance of a good monsoon.

This space has been a travellogue too, as I always write about the new places I go to. And there are always those times when I express disappointment, anger, anguish, and many a time, happiness. So, Lens and Sensibility continues to be a mirror to my life, emotions, optimism.

I thank all my readers for visiting this space, and invite them to keep coming back. There is much to talk about and much to reflect; much to hope for and much to change.

As says children's writer Shel Silverstein, in Where the Sidewalk ends:
"If you are a dreamer, come in,
If you are a dreamer,
A wisher, a liar;
A hope-er, a pray-er;
A magic bean buyer...
Come in!"
...and walk with me as I enter my fourth year of this virtual journey, which, at one end is connected to a very real black keyboard on which type my very real fingers, signalled by a very real brain that three years back, conjured up the words L-e-n-s a-n-d S-e-n-s-i-b-i-l-it-y!

Shakespeare evening at Antu's

2009-09-21T20:12:00.000-07:00

With Antu (my cousin) being in Hyderabad, can Shakespeare be far behind? We read Midsummer night's dream Sunday evening and it was great fun. Felt good to read the bard after many many years. Used to have a play every year in school...I was in primary school when we did MND and played one of the fairies who is called to scratch the ass's head! In this photo, Antu as Bottom (turned into an ass) and Kobita as Titania who is smitten by the ass because of a love potion smeared on her eyelids as she sleeps.

The kids had a ball, with Maloo playing lion, Rahel the wall and Esha moonshine.

Flower at Naimisam

2009-09-09T19:58:00.001-07:00

Maloo took this photo at Naimisam, the Jiddu Krishnamurti retreat in Ghatkesar, an hour's drive from Hyderabad, where we had a blissful time listening to rustling peepals and bird song, and playing with Sai and Lucky, the two dogs who stole our hearts!

YSR's chopper crashes in Nallamalla forest

2009-09-03T02:48:00.001-07:00

We have been watching the news channels continuously for 24 hours ever since we learnt that Chief Minister YSR went missing. I woke up thrice in the night to see what happened. Alas, the drama in real life ended in a tragedy. Goodbye CM. Bad decision to move out in a chopper in such weather. Condolences to his family. Also to the families of the four others who died.

One, two, three, four, five...

2009-08-30T09:53:00.000-07:00

...six trees planted. Three more to go. Ah...the feel of wet earth!

Dreams

2009-08-23T05:10:00.000-07:00

The autorickshaw driver might dream about buying a Nano. The slum dweller might dream about a small house made of bricks where he and his family would not get wet when it rains. The rich person living in a posh house with a garden might dream about growing that exotic plant, or owning a BMW. Just as there are as many realities as there are people, there must be as many kinds of dreams as there are realities.

I dream of justice. Many years ago, my family of gentle, genteel people were cheated out of a beautiful old house by a cunning builder. We faced tragedy and disappointment, we were denied what was rightfully ours. We have been living in a flat on that very land, trying to forget what happened, and getting on with our lives, putting the past behind us. Our children, who never saw the old house say once in a while, "Oh, we could have had beautiful birthday parties in the old house...why did all this happen?"

Many trees were cut down when the old house was replaced with this complex. With heavy hearts we allowed it to happen. But to the left of the building, there were still some trees remaining when we moved here...huge, old trees, one Alphonso and three sapota trees, all bearing the tastiest fruit one would ever find...and tender memories going back a few generations, associated with them. We could still see the birds and the bats from our balcony, and hear the insects at night. Then one day, a few years back, the axe got them too, and soon they were gone, leaving behind stumps, and some more memories.

The pain will never go away. The agony of what could have been gnaws me time and again. Others in the family are luckily more philosophical and spiritual, and believe that perhaps it was meant to be this way. But I am still angry and restless on and off.

Now suddenly an opportunity to do something in the place where the mango and sapota trees had been (last year this time, this had seemed impossible). I waited and watched, hesitated a great deal, and today, I put forward one little step. I got some saplings to plant there, of my choice---tree jasmine, cordia, tulip tree, tabebuia, sampange (the old house had one). Maybe I'll get a bakula too.

To me the planting of a tree represents hope.

A minute part of a dusty old dream is returning, and I tread very cautiously towards making it happen.

But I am afraid of this dream.

It rained! It rained! It rained! It also lightning-ed and thundered! Thank you, God.

2009-08-17T20:51:00.001-07:00

Independence Day 2009

2009-08-15T21:41:00.000-07:00

Flag hoisting on our terrace, flag hoisting at daughter's school, and then in the evening, a building get-together for some fun and games with I-Day theme. Did a lot of research on the internet while putting together a quiz for the evening. While at it, I discovered some great music for the audio round. Here's a link to one version of Vaishnava Janato.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VS1QkpPltNw&feature=related

Do listen to it...it is lovely.

While searching for the songs on the net, I also came across many proud-to-be-Indian comments by NRIs, especially on YouTube. Ditto with comments on FaceBook.

My simple brain cannot understand why, despite such a deep sense of belonging with India, they cannot return to live here, the land they grew up in, and the land where their ageing parents and other family still lead a happy life. Writer Jaya Madhavan in her column in the Indian Express this morning, talks about her life in the US, before she retrned to India, when she felt, "In the land of seagulls/the crows try to merge with the snow".

They go for a purpose, I understand that. But why do they not return?

The rain, it does not come

2009-08-13T20:48:00.000-07:00

It has not been raining at all. There are clouds...there have been clouds ever since the rainy season began. But it does not rain. It rained on 7 June as though to keep a promise, but practically nothing after that. Drizzled one day a few days back, raising some hopes. But once again, dry clouds. It is as though the clouds have forgotten how to rain. As though humankind is being punished for the way they treat nature.

The yagnas didn't help this time. Nor did the frog weddings, or the cloud seeding.

It truly is a dismal time. More than 170 districts in India already declared drought-hit; farmers committing suicide. Swine flu making big bad news every day. Terror threats, of course---the new world's malaise. Prices of commodities have already been high (tur dal Rs 108 a kg)...one can expect further price hikes. It is depressing. Maybe I should stop reading the newspapers or watching news. But even if I do that...how can I escape Yahoo's smooth news capsules? And I definitely cannot ignore the clouds...no technology needed there.

There have been years like this in the past. I tell myself it will pass. It has to pass, and there have to be better times.

My ever-optimistic mother says we still have the rest of August, and the whole of September. It will pour...and we will at least have ground water. I hope she is right. As they say in Hyderabad, "Aapke mooh mein ghee shakkar!"

Mother, daughter, grand-daughter

2009-08-08T20:30:00.000-07:00

I dream of being able to paint, sing, dance, act. I can do none of these, but attempt to do them nevertheless! I present here, rather shyly, some colours from my amateur brush...

Butterfly on water

2009-08-02T06:11:00.000-07:00

River Krishna in Vijayawada. This butterfly looks cool and happy...but in reality it was struggling to fly away. The water seemed magnetic, pulling it in...

Something philosophical about this scene.

Skipping stones

2009-07-19T23:11:00.000-07:00

Childhood...whenever we went on a picnic and found a small pond or a lake, we looked for small flat stones and for the next one hour, all we did was throw the stones close to the surface of the water so they went zip...zip...zip...zip! It was addicting, and a lot of fun.

Did this at Shamirpet yesterday, after many years. For my children, it was an introduction to this fun outdoor pastime. A friend we met there told me this was now a 'sport' and had a name---'skipping stones', and that there were championships too, and that the world record was 40 skips, and that the French had manufactured a machine to determine the size-weight-velocity ratio of the stone that resulted in ideal skip...or something like that!

So I came home and googled 'skipping stones', and among other things, found this interesting info:

Virtually every culture has a term for stone skipping. The English call it 'ducks and drakes', Danes call it 'smutting'; in France, it is 'ricochet', in Ireland, 'stone skiffing'.
Eskimos skip rocks on ice; Bedouins on smooth sand.
Currently, the Guinness Book of World Records accords the title to Jerdone Coleman McGhee, a Texas engineer who in 1992 scored an incredible 38 skips on the Blanco River.
The grandaddy of all such skip-offs is held every Fourth of July on Michigan's Mackinac Island.
It was here in 1977 that John Kolar earned the all-time Mackinac record of "24 plus-infinity"---his stone vanished ominously into fog after two dozen skips!
There's also a book on skipping stones, called The secrets of stone skipping, by Jerdone Coleman-McGhee.
And what's more...someone seems to have come up with this quote: Skip stones, not school!
Shakespeare wrote about skipping stones in the original version of Henry V.

Whatever...I am happy I introduced this 'sport' to the kids yesterday!

Image from http://www.yeeha.net/nassa/blife.txt.html

Kabir

2009-07-15T09:58:00.000-07:00

I always liked Kabir dohe in school. And one doha that I firmly believed in, and which always guided me, especially during my growing-up years was this:

Dheere dheere re mana, dheere sab kuch hoye
Maali seenche so ghara, ritu aaye phal hoye
(O mind, go slow; things happen at their own pace
A gardener may pour a hundred buckets of water, but the fruit arrives only in its season)

And now I am watching Shabnam Virmani's Kabir Project videos . While the videos are honest, meaningful and aesthetic, I wonder if it is because they deal with Kabir Das, and his ideas, which, now that I finished school (!) I realise, appeal to free-spirited and creative people. However, I must give Shabnam---and Shrishti school of art and design--- great credit for this research.

I was especially touched by 'Koi sunta hai', the video that intertwines Kumar Gandharva's life with Kabir's...both geniuses in their own right. Now I not only know the meaning of the songs in Nirgun ke gun, one of my favourite Kumar Gandharva albums, I also know how he sang them with so much feeling...it came from all the suffering he went through in his life, because of which he discovered Kabir.

Inspired by this video, I delightedly listened, on YouTube, to Kalapini Komkali (Kumar Gandharva's daughter; ah! she really sings like him!) and Bhuvanesh Komkali (his grandson).

And inspired by the Kabir Project, I also pulled out a book I bought a long time back, and began reading it. Written by Jaya Madhavan for Tulika, it is called 'Kabir, the weaver poet'.

Kahe Kabir suno bhai Sadho*!

(My mother sometimes calls me Sadhu!)

Michael Jackson

2009-07-07T19:27:00.000-07:00

Why am I feeling so bad about MJ's death? I was never a great fan, just a curious onlooker, looking at his life from a corner of my eye. Yes, 'Beat it' and 'Bad' were part of my growing up, but that's all.

I would like to remember him as he looks in this picture, not the ghost he had become. Why did the people around him let him become that ghost? What were the doctors doing? And why is the media constantly harping over the bizarre aspects of his life, instead of simply celebrating his talent? Just let him be. Just let him go.

Celebrities, especially those who belong to your generation often become a measure of where you are in life. Even though I did not hum MJ's songs or follow closely, the twists and turns of his life, he was there somewhere, doing his thing in his own style. Something typical of my generation, or so I like to think. Perhaps that is why I am grieving so much.

My children have now begun to look at his videos, and listen to his songs; they think he is awesome. Something tells me he will become, posthumously, a larger-than-life icon for generations to come. Here's a link to Black or White, a video I discovered with my children. This is the only way I can say goodbye to him.

Kaale megha, kaale megha paani to barsaao...

2009-07-04T00:00:00.000-07:00

I will not...

2009-06-27T23:28:00.000-07:00

I will not accumulate stuff in the house.
I will not accumulate stuff in the house.
I will not accumulate stuff in the house.
I will not accumulate stuff in the house.
I will not accumulate stuff in the house.
I will not accumulate stuff in the house.
I will not accumulate stuff in the house.
I will not accumulate stuff in the house.
I will not accumulate stuff in the house.
I will not accumulate stuff in the house.

Vijay just went to give away a whole lot of stuff we did not need. And what a lot that turned out to be! I am ashamed of myself and promise that it will not happen again.

All cupboards and drawers are hereafter going to be half empty. Honest...

Nature rejoices the first rains!

2009-06-21T19:21:00.001-07:00

It is only us human beings who are not easily satisfied about anything, constantly cribbing about the weather---if it is summer, it is too hot; when the rains come, it is too sultry.

Plants and animals, on the other hand, are not only easy to satisfy, they express their happiness in beautiful ways. I took these photos inside the Hyderabad University campus soon after the first rains. Wild flowers ask people to smile, laburnums pose against the rocks, and a strikingly coloured insect takes a leisurely stroll on the cool, damp earth. And yes, I could finally show birba buddis (red velvet mites, about which I wrote in one of my first posts), to my children!

Goodbye Habib saab

2009-06-13T10:39:00.000-07:00

Habib Tanvir, one of India's greatest dramatists passed away on 8 June 2009. I saw his famous play Charandas Chor a long time back, and was fascinated by it. I saw it again just 3 months back, and was fortunate to see him in it for the last time.

Habib Tanvir's theatre is original, very genuine, and quintessentially Indian. I also saw another sensitive, gripping play based on the Bhopal tragedy, a few years back.

Here's a good article on the grand old man of the Indian theatre, who we will miss terribly.