Contemplations and Ruminations

Do not, do not, do not! The father in church intoned What, she thought warily Gratify the needs of the flesh, he preached. Why not, she mused, smiling at the one Sitting beside her, oblivious to the sermon It is beautiful to love and be loved. What's there to be scared When love exists deep in your soul No amount of denying can bring peace. So the other day the father in church was talking about how it is a sin to gratify the needs of the flesh. And all I could think about was why, why is he so scared, why does the church seem scared of sexual union. Isn't that how the priest exists, because his parents decided to have sex (unless he was conceived clinically in a petri dish). Why does our society fear sex, why does it have such a bad connotation? Why couldn't the father bring in love, why couldn't he say that if you feel a connection or if you really love the person then it is beautiful, otherwise, it might end in heartache. It's not only the father... ...

This picture was taken circa 1990 when the mountain gods (the western ghats) with their gentle song were all we could see everywhere we looked. Check out the mud bound road and the half-saree clad higher secondary students (akkas then)... life was amazing here, it took me years to realise that. Here I am at one of the mountains thirty years later, just soaking in nature and contemplating how far I've come from that little girl who hated this village and couldn't wait to leave. Life always surprises you in the most beautiful of ways when you learn to go with the flow. You may not get the view you were hoping for, but you will be rendered speechless by the view that awaits you, it will be something you never thought could exist and yet here you are... reveling at how the universe has always got your back.   This is one of the pristine beaches back home... the sun on one side, moon on the other.  I sit here typing all this as the rains fall outside while I sip on warm...

So after dropping Nam off at the airport in the previous post , me and Vinod stopped by this pretty church near the airport. To see a painting that  Fr. Gabriel   mentioned when we met him recently.  And here's the painting by the Swiss artist, Alexandre Cingria,... who is best known for his work on stained glass windows. Inside the very simple and charming church of Cointrin (the location)... A Hungarian mass was about to take place and the people were so kind, that me and my brother stayed for the Hungarian service. We stopped by migros on the way home and I picked up this apple strudel... my last pastry here before I leave the next day.  Then came home and made this huge savoury puff pastry for my brother to take to work the next day.  Spent the rest of the evening packing and weighing my luggage, then went to sleep.  Woke up the next day, made some breakfast for my brother and he went to work. Then I made this tortellini,...

After exploring Coppet , we took the train back to Geneva and then bus 8 to Old Town, and walked a bit to reach the Geneva Street Food Festival. My brother met us here, and we spent the evening strolling around trying out different kinds of food... Cute food trucks... One of my favourite foods here, crepes... A cheesy spinach crepe...  The pie truck... The Churros truck... Eating under the trees... Pizza... See, how they take care of their surroundings... nobody dares dirty the place. I wish we, in India, could cultivate a culture of cleanliness... in thought, word and deed. It was nice... just strolling around, watching friends and families having a great time. The goodlife indeed...  Some Japanese food... Which tasted pretty good... We picked up a Lobster roll here... My sister loves lobster and prawns... An Aperol , got a nice buzz with this... Always fond of seafood, my brother picked up this fish and chips... ...