Category: Uncategorized

Posted on

This thing called love

It makes one laugh, it makes one cry
It matures in a moment, yet brings out the child
It’s the simplest thing yet ever so complicated
It freezes time yet makes the world go roundA strength a weakness, a puzzle to solve

What is it
this thing called Love?

It drives some crazy yet is someone’s sanity
Some hold on for it, some let go for it

Some kill for it some die for it
All pervasive yet oh so elusive

Simply strange yet strangely simple
that’s what it is, this thing called Love.

Beyond analysis, beyond thought
Beyond all what the mind has wrought

It is friendship and passion, affection and romance
brotherhood and motherhood, a fleeting glance

A moment of insanity or plain humanity
it’s all of that and much much moreThat’s what it is
This thing called Love.
*******

Linking to ABC Wednesday the brainchild of the wonderful Mrs Nesbitt for the letter L.

Of course L has to be for ‘Love’

 

 

Posted on

K is for kite flying

This is a completely wrong time to talk about kites and kite flying in India. But try telling that to the kids. Do they care? Not a whit. And so last weekend they decided they wanted to make kites. Here’s what they came up with:

We used kite paper, some sequins and sketch pens. Fed up of all the sticking and drawing they went on to make some simpler ones that were done in a jiffy. I seriously doubt these will get anywhere close to the skies but the kids had fun. 

While on kites I will not be true to my hometown Lucknow without telling a tiny bit about kite flying in my city. We call it ‘patang bazi’ or ‘kankauwe bazi’.

While all over India kites are flown on the festival of Makar Sankranti around 14 of January in Lucknow we do things differently, just like the twins! For us the kite flying day is the day after the festival of Diwali, sometime in October/November. The festival is known as Jamghat (literally translated it means ‘gathering’). The idea behind it is that all evil flies away along with the kites.

The entire city comes to a stand still that day. Shops are shut and so are offices. The entire population makes its way to terraces and fields brandishing their kite-flying gear for some serious action. The idea of a kite fight is to tangle the opponent’s kite in yours and then cut it off. The string plays a crucial role in this action packed drama in the skies. Known as manjha, it is coated with many layers of a paste of crushed glass mixed with a binding agent. It’s quite lethal and I well remember, for my cousins a good day at Jamghat invariably meant cut and bleeding fingers. Not that they cared one bit as they gloated about the kites they had cut and the victories they had scored. Of course the amateurs only got to hold the charkhi (or the spool) till they finally progressed to actually handling the kite.

Jamghat is said to have been initiated during the times of the Nawabs to bring together all communities of the city. The nawabs were known to be large hearted if degenerate rulers. A story goes that they used golden or silver strings so that anyone who got their kites could benefit from them. It was Nawab Wajid Ali Shah who brought in kites similar to the ones we have today.

One last word: Long long ago kites were also used to convey romantic messages. The only catch – you never could be sure who got your message! It must have resulted in plenty of intrigue I’m sure. 

Linking to ABC Wednesday for the letter K. Head on over for more K posts.

Posted on

10 things to remember on a journey without kids

I had often wondered if/when I could ever leave the children and travel on my own. Well, finally it happened. As it turns out the Husband was home and it was just four days (out of which two were over the weekend). 

Off I went.

It felt weird – to say the least – to be travelling without two small hands to hold on to. If you’re a mum too and have forgotten quite what it’s like to travel alone you might find these pointers useful.

1. It’s normal to carry just a single piece of baggage. Nah, you haven’t forgotten anything. And it’s not even important whether the bag is pink, blue or yellow.

2. On the flight, you are not allowed to cuddle people sitting on either side of you (to be on the safe side, keep your hands off the hand rests).

3. If your boarding pass says window seat, you actually get to sit at the window.

4. You can survive a two-hour flight without a visit to the loo. As a bonus – you also survive take offs and landings without admonishing your neighbours to ‘hold it in’ even while wondering anxiously if they will hold it in.

5. You can get through a flight without a single apology.

6. You don’t need to ask the airline staff for favours – no change of seats, no extra water, no extra tissues to mop off said water.

7. Airport shopping zones are a grossly misunderstood lot. Far from the disaster-waiting-to-happen-zones you thought them, they make for blissful browsing.

8. You get to decide what you want to do on the flight – reading, listening to music and sleeping being real options (over visiting loos, ensuring co-passengers don’t get kicked/ pushed, mopping messes and refereeing seats).

9. The baggage carousal is just that – a baggage carousal, not a forbidden slide you cannot allow your kid on.

10. A two hour flight is way too long. After a point you don’t quite know what to do with yourself.

A last bit of advice. Sit back, relax and try to enjoy yourself just as much as the kids are enjoying your absence back home.

Linking to ABC Wednesday for the letter ‘J’ for Journey. Joyful thanks to Mrs Nesbitt who thought up this wonderful meme.

Posted on

‘I’


Somedays I want
No food to cook, no beds to make
No laundry to fold, no rugs to shake
No fights to sort of girls and boys
a little respite from all that noise
No kids who slowly drive me mad
Not even their ever wonderful dad.

Somedays I want to put up my feet 
to pick out a book and read and read
to sit in a mess if that’s what I want
to wear raggedy rags I wouldn’t dare flaunt
to swing in a swing or snuggle under a quilt 
to watch mindless TV without a shred of guilt.
to listen to a song and sing out loud
or lie on the grass and watch a cloud.

To rekindle a friendship over a hot cup of tea
A long forgotten friendship with myself and me.
In the books and quilt, the grass and the sky
Maybe that’s where I’ll find a little bit of ‘I’.

Linking to ABC Wednesday for the letter ‘I’ with thanks to Mrs Nesbitt who thought up ABC Wednesday.

Posted on

#Make it happen

After a gruelling 16 hour work day she’s packing up. She’s thinking…. cab, home, food, TV, sleep.

She glances at the time – an hour to go for midnight. Nope, no
cab, not safe. The local, it has to be.
She asks for a ride to the station. The ladies’ compartment
looks invitingly empty. Too empty, she thinks.
She heads to the general compartment. She walks in braving
the ‘looks’, ignoring the deliberate brush of bodies against her tired back.
She’s exhausted but she doesn’t forget to keep a hand out near her chest, ready
to ward of groping hands.
She finds a window seat, sinks down, puts her laptop bag on
the other side then shuts her eyes and tries to relax, her senses on a semi
alert. She feels someone’s eyes on her,
snaps open her eyes and sits up straight settling her jacket.  It’s that man across the aisle. She gives him
a dagger look, settles her jacket once again and awaits her station.
She gets off. It’s a short ride home but her watch is
inching towards the midnight hour and she’s nervous. She catches an auto and
gets in pretending to chat away with a friend on her phone, faking a carefree
attitude she’s far from feeling. Ten minutes later, she’s home having spent an hour
and a half on a stressful journey she could have done comfortably in 45
minutes.
She peeks in at her kids and husband sleeping peacefully. Changes,
serves herself, puts away the food. Thinks of switching on the tele then
chooses to crash.
Tomorrow is another day.


After a grueling 16 hour work day he’s packing up. He’s thinking…. Cab, Home, Food, TV, Sleep.

And so he catches a cab, gets home, peeks in at the sleeping
wife and kids, eats and settles before the TV till he crashes out.
To,
The man who ‘does not notice’
The woman who doesn’t protest
The teens who ‘tease’ a girl on the street
The woman who is too scared to step out at night
The man who sees but lets it pass
The aunty who holds the girl in jeans responsible
Take notice, protest, step out, speak up, trust, support.
Only together can we make an equal world.
Together we can #MakeItHappen.

On Women’s Day let’s get together to #MakeItHappen at Blog-A-Rhythm.

Privacy Policy Proudly powered by WordPress