Monday, March 23, 2015



It is the time when moon is about to take rest in the heart of sky and as promised Sun is ready to guard the earth while moon is resting....


I stand close to a mango tree and I see wasps swarming all around,enticed by the fragnance of the tender mango leaves, they are in search of a perfect dwelling where they will rest and mate for the season...I know i should not stand in their way...but I can't move, I find myself chained, rooted to the spot...for some reason, I am awfully quiet today....  


I look downstairs,  the concrete path below is covered by terracotta pots meticulously arranged on the both sides, and by dry leaves, twigs, wilted flowers and broken bird feathers....I have this strong urge to take up the broom and clean  the path...to sweep away all the dirt....may be because quite insidiously I want to sweep  away all the confusions, dilemma, thoughts that are clouding my senses for some reason. ..I want to clean every crack, every corner, every bend...I want to feel good!!





Wednesday, March 18, 2015

A picture a day series

Sitting outside the puja room...

Sleepless




Night, the hour of rest…

 For me, night comes riding the wings of an owl, while others sleep, I am awake… like the unwavering light of the street lamp outside the window, who guards the quiet and lonely street.

How strongly I desire to embrace sleep with my two eyes.

 It feels so close every night… just like the apple blossom on the branch of a not too-high tree... but when you extend your hand for it, it seems far too-high… out of reach... like an illusion.




Monday, March 16, 2015

Around here



Trees are trembling, leaves are shivering and thunder resonating while we remain safe indoors.



Today i have this real bad headache....While it rains heavily outside, I hum a soothing tune,  anoint my palms with little warm mustard oil and place them on my temples,  warmth melts something inside me and very silently tears run down my cheeks,  glisten on my lashes....I feel little lighter... little better....throbbing in my head subsides.


I hear Vihaan giggling...he is holding a laddoo loaded with ghee, cashews, and nuts in his right hand... crushing it eagerly....he  is happy.... and I am happy to see him surrounded with joy.




A picture a day series

Sunday, March 15, 2015

A picture a day series




You seem to like this rocking chair a lot, will have to buy one for  you back in Mumbai!!




Visit to a Deer park


I had been planning an outing to a nearby local park, It has many of endangered and vulnerable animal species of our state, but due to persistent rainfall we couldn't go out, this park is approximately 30 steps away from our place, located on the foothills of Manda hills...

Today I decided to visit this park , while Vihaan was at home with his grandma, I left home around 4.00 in the evening, clicked few pictures and returned back by 5.00 PM. I enjoyed this little me time and trekking in slight drizzle.

and now I am waiting for a sunny day so that I can take Vihaan along with me, I am sure that he will enjoy being there!!




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Friday, March 13, 2015

Picture a day series

How we revamped an old arm chair to a chic new one.



This chair was going to a waste in the attic..., it caught my eye and I took the task of revamping it....white paint and new fabric was all I used and with little sweat of my brow and sewing efforts of my Mother In Law, here it is..., put to good use....

Vihaan likes it a lot besides his grandpa and grandma!!










Thursday, March 12, 2015

Picture a day series



How bad health can shadow the most radiant of personalities...

My ever exuberant and playful baby cranky today due to fever.




Craving for little time for myself



I look at myself, dry hands, dry lips, rough skin, matted hair..., I wonder, is this real me ??,  I feel like an alien in this body.... just then a cohort of crows flies past in the sky... taking me along... I get lost in deep thoughts.

I feel pain, tension knots in my neck all the way down to the spine and throbbing in my temples...and on the top of it, Vihaan is little more edgy then usual....his grandma prepares her Aarti platter for ritual, ritual that is believed to dilute harmful energies and cast away evil spirits that may have seeped in during the day. She lights up a flame, adds camphor, sage, and few more fragrant and holy herbs, it burns brightly and she waves the flame clockwise 3 times, in the sequence- right shoulder, forehead, left shoulder and down to the knees.  Vihaan watches with fascination, he smiles and coos...

I get into the trance for a brief second, tnis camphor flame, fragrant smoke takes me to a different world altogether, to a limitless ocean as if to a womb... and I feel like floating in the warm water like a foetus... I feel all new...I feel light as a feather....I feel at peace..., and then... Vihaan jumps in my lap and brings me back to my former self, back to reality...and I feel tired once again...., how much I long for little "me time".


Wednesday, March 11, 2015

Around here

Day has just begun, prayer lamp is already lit...a street hawker is out, he has to spend entire day out, shouting out loud for old books/cardboard boxes, scraps, and in return he will get nothing but the amount  that will buy him just a handful of rice or flour...it's a long day ahead for him.  


I am sitting in the dappled sun, air around is heavy with scents of chillies, cloves, turmeric, and aroma of kahwa served in ceramic cups. Nearby Vihaan jumps with glee on spotting a tiny Adonis blue, beautiful wings fluttering in air, sliver spotted skipper and blue admiral are also seen close by, Vihaan smiles charmingly.  


In the garden, the Myrtle, heather, spurge, lily and daisy families are budding, blooming, and buzzing with life and Asian carpenter bee and blue bottle, nearby the silent spectator, the plumaged bee eater is waiting for the right moment to attack the bee, suddenly I get distracted by the faint cries of a lonely Alpine Chough perched on the mango tree, it's faint cries cast a spell on me.  


Tiny leaves are emerging from the axils of the mango tree, in the autumn the leaves had left the branches with the petiole.


I hear the melodies of the parrots, pigeons, barbets, hoopes, passerines and chickadees...Vihaan is holding a navel orange, crushing it with his bare hands, tangy juice on his hands and clothes  and aroma around him....it has a mouth watering effect on my gustatory sense. I pick a fresh clementine and neatly peel it, and savour it, a small bit is savoured by Vihaan as well...he closes his eyes and twitches his face...he knows all the spells and charms.  


Terrace is covered with the Bird's eye chillies, spread out meticulously for sun drying,  we add a lot of these for instilling flavour to our savoury dishes, the smaller the fruit, the hotter it is, I believe so or may be it is the shrad of my imagination.


At dusk beforing retreating indoors, I see heavenwards and see clouds, Cumulonimbus and altocumulus,  I name them, I know they presage rain.


Late at night, me and Vihaan, we snuggle up in the Applique quilt...while Vihaan is fast asleep I hear rolling thunder and I know what is coming riding the chariot.  I close my eyes, place my left ear close to Vihaan's chest and his beating lulls me, my lids get heavy and I see the blue Admiral,  the hoppoe,  I sense the aroma of the clementines once again and I doze off....    













Picture a day series




Life turns a full circle.. You standing holding bars that your dad use to at your age..  Yodelling as he use to do..


May you be as unique and original you can be..  But always have sense of belonging..  May that's what will be different about you..