My little bundle of joy

Nammuttan......my heartbeat,my world...turns three tomorrow. And, I am sooo thankful to THE ONE ABOVE for this most wonderful gift HE gave me.

Growing age, workplace rush, and the home front, makes me tired often, but my little darling by her sweet talks and pranks rids me off all my aches and tiredness, and I forget myself catering to her demands...."Ammamma ivade varu ivade irikkyu ente koode kalikkyu" .......and then by her sweet twittering ways..."u wont talk to me? u want to sleep?" and all sorts of sweet nothings, she keeps me active.

But yesterday,she,by her innocent ways moved a strange chord in the depth of my heart.I was telling her about mother pigeon and baby pigeon having gone to sleep and why she should not go to the terrace lest she disturbed them.Then she asked,when mother pigeon woke up in the morning, and flew away to get food for the baby, what would the baby do.I went on to explain to her that baby pigeon would play and wait for mama pigeon to come back.Then by action I showed how mama would feed the baby pigeon beak to beak.Immediately she said,"enikkyu veshkkunu"( I am hungry). In the same flow I said let mama come.Little did I expect the response that came.She asked.."appo ammamma aarkka maamu kodkkua? raghumaamuno?"( so whom will ammamma feed? raghu maamu).
I just did not know what to say to that innocent query. When she said I am hungry, she thought I would feed her, and when I said let mamma come....was she taken aback? was she hurt? I dont know what feelings overcame me.. I picked her up and kissed her all over and said... no no ammamma will feed her darling nammukutty and went on to get food for her.But her instant response in that innocent manner set me thinking. When her mama came home we talked about that and even now I find it hard to stop my tears to think was my darling hurt that ammamma said let amma come?

The way she said was very touching, indeed.Sometimes little ones really set us thinking even over our casual remarks. I am reminded of a line from a malayalam poem...

വാക്കുകള്‍ കൂട്ടിചോല്ലാന്‍ വയ്യാത്ത കിടാങ്ങളേ ദീര്ഘദര്ശനമ് ചെയ്യും ദെഇവജ്ന്യരല്ലൊ നിങ്ങള്‍

(roughly translated it means kids who cant utter full sentences even are so very farsighted than us adults.)

Whatever...........kids do set us thinking wild at times...No??????

Onasamsakal--Happy Onam!

Tomorrow is onam. This post --a very short one- is just to wish a very Happy Onam to all my co bloggers and all those who would care to peep into my blog(this and ambrosia). while u all enjoy the onam feast, tomorrow, here is an old couple from NOIDA , INDIA,wishing u all avery happy onam! Onasamsakal Evarkkum

Kanwarias----Shiva's foot soldiers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Past three days all the educational institutions in Ghaziabad are closed!and all of us in the teaching fraternity are treated to a pleasant surprise of five days off from our busy schedule(of course we will work overtime or may be we will skip certain other calendar listed holidays).However for now we are relaxing thanks to the self styled soldiers of lord Shiva. As traffic crawl along UP- Delhi border, we can see long lines and huge crowds of saffron clad men and rarely a few women carrying kanwars( triangular wooden frames) colourfully decorated with cheap plastic festoons and toys. As monsoon sets in , we can see these kanwariahs initially in pairs or small groups across the plains of north India. From Bihar, Rajasthan and Uttarakhand and mostly from Uttar Pradesh they travel by various modes of transport towards Haridwar, Gangotri and Gomukh, to collect the sacred water from river Ganges and take the water to their local Shiva shrine to offer the ganga jal(sacred water of Ganges )on the shivaling.The real pilgrimage starts after collecting the water from Ganga. the kanwarias have to walk bare foot on their way back home carrying kanwars in various forms(according to their planned penance). the toughest one is the dak kanwar in which the kanwaria has to run all the way carrying the kanwar and the easiest one usually by the novitiates is the baithi, in which the kanwar can be allowed to sit on ground while the kanwaria rests. walking or even in rare cases running long distance means extreme exhaustion, blisters on feet, cramps,and often irritability. this also teaches them a lot of endurance, though we can hardly see them in that positive state of mind.intoxicants like bhang is consumed by many to help them bear the hardship (may be). the result of all this is arrogance and rowdiness on the part of these pilgrims who are called Bholenath(another name for Shiva). On their tour back home they are treated like Shiva and reverence is in abundance for them. The huge tents set up by rich shop keepers and various charity organizations and blessed by the government host these pilgrims by pampering them, feeding them and even tending their blistered feet and massaging their limbs.All through their journey back which may span over a period of 10 days, they receive royal treatment at every rest house tents they reach and en route, the kanwaria devotees hasten to feed them and offer cool drinks and and care even on roads.
Usually majority of the kanwarias are from the lower strata of society who are otherwise looked on with contempt by the upper strata and as suspected thieves and miscreants by the police. nce they don the kanwaria garb they are treated with great reverence. Most of them who are deprived of two square meals day in their normal life, are fed with rich food and given the luxury of abundant rest and pamper by those who look down upon them otherwise. What a paradox of our society! Or is that a sweet unpronounced revenge by the lowly people on the affluent lot in the society?? Whatever.... for now they are simply basking in the name of god and making use of every ounce of pamper bestowed on them....and....thanks to them,I and many others like me in the teaching faculty along with the students are relaxing in gratitude(?????) to the kanwarias--------the soldiers of lord Shiva!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

An ode to selfless love

Who are you to me?????????????
A sister I never had????
A daughter not born to me?
a friend who cares and dotes over me?
Nay.. u are all rolled into one my sweet loving Xi!
Five days of togetherness encompassed in formal ways
Turned into five decades of loving bond?
Those were just two days with you again....
You turned that into an eon of memory
Ever reminding me of your caring and loving ways
Each moment coming back to me to tell me
You care and you love with full heart
I dare not thank u my Xi.....lest....
Your crystal clear heart breaks!!!!!!!!.........for.....
Your love, I know is unconditional......

Just one more wish about us---my dear,
May this bond live on till our last breath my Xi

A fortnight of sheer joy

I remember those days when I started life as a home maker around 32 years back.It was sheer excitement and thrill to collect small items for the kitchen and for the living room. I always thought gone are those days of excitement and sheer joy of setting up a new household.

32 years passed amidst moving from a rented house to the Air India quarters and then to our own house and then building extensions and additions.Things seemed to have settled down and life almost stood still and devoid of much excitement. Little did I know that the excitement and thrill was to resurface and once again in a different perspective was I to experience all that.

Fifteen days of a totally new experience of setting up a new home and experimenting with basic available equipment and infrastructure and all the while enjoying every bit of it....................that too in a paradise like environ!!!!!!!!!!
May be my sheer joy of doing all this for my doting son who lost no chance to pamper Amma and to take every little effort to make her happy and cater to her demands, brought all the thrill of yesteryear's back
32 years back it was the man of my life who danced to the tune of my demands...and this time it is the other important male member of my life-----my son----who let go no chance to fulfill my demands. Whatever..... setting up anew home for my son, cooking solely for him, and waiting to see the smile of happiness and contentment at seeing me home when he came back from work, and watching him glow while seeing his favourite dish on table ...Oh my God that was my greatest joy!!!!!
That fortnight of my stay with my child, my doting darling son, took away from me all aches and pains of growing old, and the wonderful flora and fauna and the weather of Bangalore made my mind and body healthier and younger.Truly speaking I did not want to leave that paradise, but I have my soul mate, and a work place to turn back to and loads to do before i turn to those green pastures again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It was just three days back she had come to my room---a tired form, with disheveled hair and lost look, pale and red eyed! I still remember that frail young lady. She had come straight away from the railway station, to meet her son,Tushar in the L K G class. Accompanied by the K G in charge, she initially sounded very vague. I had to make her sit and relax and with a little prodding by the head mistress, she told me her story.......she is the mother of two, the elder one in L K G in my school, and the younger one just 2 years old. Since the birth of her daughter, she had noticed a great change in her husband, apart from the habit of drinking and gambling,he had started having extra marital relations too. she tried to adjust to his ways to the maximum, for the sake of her children, when it became unbearable, she called her brother, who took her away to Punjab, and the husband sent her with the brother but not the children. After a week in Punjab she could no longer stay away from her children. she returned to her children and came to school straight to take home her son. The teachers were surprised to see her, as it was only the previous day that her husband called up the class teacher and said, Tushar's mother died suddenly. and the teachers were very sad for the child. It was only when the lady came and spoke to the teachers that another aspect unfolded to them and the head mistress took her to me. I tried my best to console her and sent her home. Yesterday, as I reached school, I was greeted by a sobbing teacher who said Tushar's mother died on saturday night! and on sunday all the last rites were over, a neighbour had informed the teacher in the morning of monday!!
indeed totally un acceptable! she died? but she was so determined to live for her children. when she heard of her husband's words to her son's teacher she had become all the more determined to live and carry on a fight against the injustice meted out to her. what could have happened? was she killed? was it an unnatural death? my heart refuses to accept she would have killed herself. Whatever...... my heart goes out to those kids who are now orphaned . i just cant get off my mind that frail but brave form of the lady!

Taking on a tag at last........

Sindhu tagged...so here I go with my random facts............................
1.I am a very sensitive.sentimental ,sincere person....
2.I brood over losses and deprivations---to this day I miss and weep for those two dearest persons..........my amma and my brother, who are no more with me...
3.I firmly trust in GOD and strongly believe that i cant move even a finger if HE does not want me to......
4.Love, love, and lots of love...... that is what I love to receive and give profusely....
5.Am a good listener and often tend to relate to the problems of others and try to solve them....
6.Am crazy about chocolates!!!!!!!
7.My children are my strength and weakness too....I count a lot on them
8.I dread the thought of losing my loved ones
9.I get easily melted by the woes of others and get carried away---in fact some have even taken advantage of this trait of mine!!
10.At unexpected times I exhibit great strength and will power
11.I just cant stand hypocrite.
12.I am able to befriend people and as such am able to be a good friend and confidante.
13.my granddaughter Namya is my world
14.I am able to get along with people of different age groups, by relating to them, talking to them and sometimes even directing them.
15,.I am very much in love with my mother tongue and hold it in high esteem
16.I love my profession so much so that my family says teaching History is my first love! In fact I would say teaching is my passion
17.I fear failure at times and am not very comfortable in trying new things.....but once I get into my will power ,I DO GO ABOUT TRYING NEW IDEAS AND AND MAKE SURE TO SUCCEED(may be paradoxes of character?)
18.I tend to take time to adjust to new surroundings and new people....but once I get adjusted I find it very difficult to leave them....
19.Enthusiasm comes to me naturally and my husband says that at times I am over enthusiastic.
20.I worry too much and the slightest negative vibe shatters me.
21,I VALUE RELATIONSHIPS OVER MONEY AND FINANCIAL OR SOCIAL STATUS.
22.I love to travel , travel and travel.......especially to seashores and places near water bodies.
23.I am a great romantic at heart and poetry turns me on.
24. I am ever ready to learn.... rather, I have never got fed up of studying.....which my children find hard to fathom.
25.I love to read and find vent to my thoughts and beliefs in writing them down......often to keep them packed away in the secret chambers of my almirah!!!!!
Oh! there is so much I would love to jot down....but '25' is the limit...right Sindhu??????????