Contemplations and Ruminations

Back in those days when my grandmother was a little girl, the people were under the rule of the kingdom. There were kings and queens, and these kings and queens ruled majestically in their provinces even though they were under the control of England . In the early 1900's my grandmother and her people belonged to the Travancore Maharaja Kingdom. Now this kingdom did not follow the patriarchal rule wherein the eldest son of the ruiling king ascends the throne. Instead they followed a kind of nephew succession (Maramakal vali) where the son of the ruling king's sister ascends the throne. Kinda odd don't you think that the kings children are not considered for the throne, makes you wonder how the prince's and princesses interacted with their cousins... would have been weird to hang out with your cousin knowing that one day he would inherit your father's kingdom, but that's the way it was then. Now if the ruling king had no sister than 2 or more young girls from n...

It's been a while since I entered stuff in here... that's cause I went home recently and you know how exciting that can be, then after returning back I found that the painters and electricians had completely stripped my room and removed all the wires in sight. Anyway, things are back to normal now.... for another few months at least. I was home for quite a while and it was a relief... Manoj had come down too and needless to say when he's around, I laugh till the tears fall. During the day it was just the two of us, (Linda would go off to college and Nam would go to work) we got hooked to watching Two and a Half Men, I had no idea this show was so hilarious! He likes to cook too, so we both cooked up a few dishes... and I baked a lot, in fact I got obsessed with baking. It was like something would take control of me and untill I baked a dish I could not think of anything else. But it was wonderful... the scents that waft through the house, taking that first hot bite and t...

This sight rooted me to the spot, I had come upstairs as usual to supervise the construction work and when I caught sight of the sky I gasped. It was unusually beautiful, like the angels had been having a cloud fight (sorta like a pillow fight) which explains the tufts of clouds all over the place. This was pretty interesting too, like a giant eagle swooping low... check out those wing spans. These resemble scratches, like God had been testing his brush when he was painting the sunset below... The sunset and the silhouette of a lone bird...

My Girl (Fan Chan) : This is a Thai movie and I caught it on World Movies when I was switching channels one day. It had just started and I couldn't change the channel even if I wanted to, the kids in the movie were so cute. The story is bout a young man who receives a wedding invitation from his closest childhood friend, a girl in his class. He reminisces bout his childhood on the journey to his hometown to attend this wedding. It was wonderfully told and the kids played their parts well, the girl was so cute she reminded me of Winnie Cooper. I realized something watching this movie, these thai kids are so cute and the girls grow up to be pretty and beautiful but its sad 'bout the guys, they do not look masculine enough... they seem to have feminine features. The boy in the movie grows up and he looks like a girl, that was a bit of a disappointment... other than that, the movie was a joy to watch. I liked it a lot. My Little Bride (Eorin Shinbu) : This is a delightfully cut...

So I got to thinking bout my school days recently and it saddened me that I was starting to forget a few teachers who had shaped my life, I have already forgotten nearly half the classmates... though its not my fault. Some people just don't want to join facebook, then how can you find them in this big world. Even if I do find them, there is not much to talk beyond the 'where are you & what are you doing' phrases. But the teachers are another matter, they deserve to be remembered for moulding us. I gotta hand it to the convent school I studied in, they really knew how to select their educators... all the teachers I had shared a genuine passion for teaching and above that they had strong moral values and faith which invariably shaped our lives. To them being a good person was what mattered the most and they made sure we grasped this knowledge, it also helped that I had staunch catholic parents who cemented this view. Anyway, I just wanted to jot down stuff bout my teacher...

So I am standing there in line at the doctor's office, cursing everyone and glancing at my watch for the upteenth time, I hate waiting... I have no patience whatsoever. Anyway I am standing there and muttering to myself, when the guy in front of me turns back and smiles. He's a young boy, 20 something with a friendly grin and a pleasing nature, he starts talking and tells me that he has to undergo an operation and hopes that everything turns out alright. After a few minutes his turn arrives and he enters the doctor's office, leaving me out in the hallway. I stand there no longer impatient but wondering bout the affable young man and how he changed my mood with his outgoing nature. He comes out smiling and takes his leave with a wave of his hand, that's the last I see of him as I enter the doctor's room. After being examined the doc conludes that its a minor infection, writes down a few tablets and tells me to visit again in two days. Two days later I am back and ful...

There is this library back home that fills me with wonder every time I go there, it's actually an ancient antique looking house that was entrusted to a trust fund to function as a library. And what a library it is, its got that old rugged charm and it warms the cockles of your heart. Every room you enter has got rows of well stacked books and the sunlight just spills over them, and as you go from room to room touching those worn out books and smelling the sunshine... you feel this is it, this is how it should be... this is how paradise probably is. Well, everybody has got their own notion of heaven and this is how I think it will be... anyway, here are a few pictures of Owen Trust Library. So I've been listening to George Strait lately and he's in one word awesome, he deserves to be called the King of Country, his songs are still rooted deep in the soul of country music. He is like a beacon to the true spirit of country songs. When many country artists are now considered co...

So I'm sitting here with a headache listening to Anne Murray and thanking God for online radio, cause whenever I get these kinds of head exploding headache's, I just tune into some country channel mostly 'soft country music' or 'country love songs' and things seem better after a while. Talking bout music, the other day I was at church and this funeral mass was about to begin and the choir was practicing and everything looked so serene and peaceful... seemed like a nice and simple farewell. So I told Antonio that when I died I wanted a nice and simple English mass with nice songs and he said, "No, you will have a nice Tamil mass and your choir members can sing one song in the end, Joy To The World". Yeah, he's funny alright. I saw Sherlock Holmes yesterday and surprisingly I liked Watson more than Sherlock in the movie. Robert Downey Jr. was interesting as Sherlock with his sarcastic replies and dishevelled appearance, but I did not like the way he...

I keep thinking bout the people stuck under the wreckage in Haiti slowly feeling life ebb away. It must be terrifying pinned under piles of rubble, unable to reach out to the open sky that is a few feet away. Suffocating in a dark place, with no food or water and no way of communicating to the world outside... praying to be rescued yet as the dark hours pass by wondering if they will ever find you. Thinking of loved ones and crying over the fear of not seeing them again... and finally hoping that heaven is a safe place where you will never have to endure such torment and anguish again. I don't know how many people were/are trapped under the debris in Haiti, but from what I have been reading I know it is quite a huge number, and I cannot begin to describe what I feel for them. I just hope that as many as possible were rescued on time and that the others who had to meet their creator were received with joyful arms, the safest place imaginable. If there are people still alive inside, ...

So went to the local market a few days back and the sights and sounds really crowd your senses, you return with your head reeling with images. This poem is a result of that entertaining trip to the heart of one of the biggest markets near my place. Onions, potatoes and garlic galore Adorn the pavement and the floor. Spinach, cabbage and all the greens Glistening with dew drops, look so clean. Vendors rattling of prices in a tune Housewives haggling and discussing what's new. Wizened old ladies crouched in a corner Deftly stringing lovely jasmines together. Rows of glass bangles glinting in the sun Tinkling cheerfully when you try them on. Vibrant, colourful and full of life A trip to the market fills you with delight.

Its the dawn of another year and I've calmed down a bit. December always puts me in an excited mood, its like being under a 'year end' spell. I remember being fascinated with Christmas and December in general since I was a little girl. Those days it was all about the holidays, the nicely wrapped gifts and the new clothes. But now with all of us scattered on different parts of the planet, Christmas has really come to mean just two precious words, home and family. It was a blessing to be home with the family and I loved every moment of it, though I fell sick with food poisoning. Even that little bout of sickness turned out to be very interesting with folks touching my forehead nonstop and everybody caring for me in the most amusing way. Antonio and Priyanka were the ones who were around when the fever first started, they toasted the bread and boiled the milk and practically fed me. Vinod came running and kissed me on the forehead to take my temperature, like they do on the ...