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TALL HIGH RISES..
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This week’s Thursday Challenge : CONSTRUCTION (Business, Residential, Street, Bridge, Sidewalk, Lego Bricks,…)
Beginnings of a home
Happy or Sad?
| Sometime back I stumbled upon this contest at Indiblogger where you had to write about an instance that made you happy and sad at the same time. Finally now that the contest is ancient history, I have my moment. |
The happy news – I lost some weight.. well not much weight… but some solid inches for sure.
The sad news – the weight loss translated into the loss of a dear loved one. My jeans. If you think I’m too much of a material girl (if I can call myself that at 40, ‘girl’ I mean) let me tell you it’s no ordinary pair. It’s my newest possession, about a month old (that’s no age for anyone to be declared dead) and it was love at first sight. It was the perfect blue denim with these cute shiny Swarowsky things at the sides – a real prized possession. Besides it cost almost 4K (The Husband must NOT read this). And now, sigh!, it’s a misfit.
According to the ‘think positive’ philosophy that I’m determined to follow I must concentrate on the happy thought of the weight loss.. but it’s really too early to raise a toast, if I’m honest. These vacations I piled on calories like never before — total lack of exercise plus FOOOOD. How I binged and how it showed.
So what I’ve lost is just the tip off the four-kg fat iceberg I piled on. Can you believe that .. four kgs in two months! Damn that ice cream, that kulfi, that Lakhnawi chaat and those ghee steeped paranthas. What’s worse the voice of my conscience (that’s my mum) was quiet because she was busy managing work and my not-too-well dad. She had a guilty suspicion she’d driven him to falling ill by her constant nagging about his weight. You see she’s the conscience of the entire household. And so, though she did bring up my weight, she wasn’t really in form.
Back from Lucknow, as I browsed at Shoppers the only T shirt that fitted me was a bright red one… unfortunately it bore the inscription ‘I love my bump’. The only bumps I had then were goosebumps.
I have been slogging it out most conscientiously at the gym since that fateful day.. trying to squeeze in 6 days a week plus a short walk when I can. And look where it’s landed me.
This pretty friend of mine will now be relegated to the dark confines of the they-don’t-fit-me-anymore clothes’ cupboard, waiting to be worn again some day. Only I can’t but hope I never fit into this one.. or do I?
Bright as day
This week’s Thursday Challenge : “YELLOW” (Flowers, Vegetables, Sun, Clothing, Vehicle, Toys, Blanket,…). The pics were all clicked by my sister during a trip to Amsterdam…
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DAFFODILS: Daffodils always make me nostalgic.. not because I ever saw them in my childhood but because together with William Wordsworth they take me back to my school days.
‘.. and then my heart with pleasure fills, and dances with the daffodils’.. Lovely
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GOLDEN ROSES: Aren’t they beautiful.
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CLOGS, AMSTERDAM: Google tells me these shoes are made of Balsa white poplar wood. Apparently they are known to keep your feet warm and are supposed to be very comfortable. They’re also the most popular souvenirs from Amsterdam. Traditionally they had to be yellow with a red pattern. I love this one with the windmill.
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Soul searching with Tom and Jerry
Never had I thought I’d be mentioning ‘Tom and Jerry’ and ‘soul seraching’ in the same post. But then there’s a first time for everything. Here’s how it happened…The other day I was sipping my evening tea while the kids sat with their milk watching Tom and Jerry. That particular episode had Tom dying and going to heaven. At the gates he’s denied entry because he’d spent his life chasing a poor mouse. He’s given a glimpse of hell (the usual .. a monster boiling him in oil or whatever else they use). However, he’s told, if he could get a letter of forgiveness signed by Jerry he’d get a place in heaven. Off he goes to plead with Jerry. Finally he gets his letter signed after the usual chase and drama.
Hrit watched with rapt attention and then piled me with questions about the soul and heaven and hell. Can it walk, can it talk, how does it go to heaven, is there really a train (like there was in TnJ), what actually happens in hell, what does the soul do when it’s in heaven (Really, what does one do in heaven?). I rejoiced secretly… I had found the way to keep him off naughty things.. Little did I know his conscience was working over time.
He had a fitful sleep that night. Once he woke up saying “Mama I had a bad dream.. a monster hit me”. Since he’s almost always fighting monsters while awake I thought he’d simply carried them on to his dreams. Then at about 1 pm he sat up and said, “Mama who do we have to get the letter signed from?” That’s what the tossing and turning had been all about.
My dear son had been thinking of all the naughty things he’d done and wondering who all he would have to go to for his letter (s) of forgiveness. I could almost see his brain frantically going over the umpteen times he’d pulled Naisha’s hair, or fought with the neighbour’s daughter or filled water in the soap dispenser, or thrown things down from the balcony.
Had I been less sleepy or he less distressed I’d have laughed. But the poor boy was almost in tears and all I could do was console him and put him back to sleep.
The things that stick!
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Then today he apparently defeated another boy in a bout during his Taekwando class. That boy happens to be a year older and a green belt while Hrit is still a yellow belt. He also happens to be a friend of Hrit’s. I pretty much puffed up with pride. Here’s how our conversation went.
Hrit : I won only because I was concentrating and he wasn’t. Then everyone clapped for me and no one clapped for him.
Me (smiling): Wow Hrit that’s wonderful.
Hrit: No mama don’t smile, it’s not nice. He’s my friend you know and no one clapped for him.
Lesson learnt!
On the road
This week’s Thursday Challenge : “VEHICLES” (Trucks, Motorcycles, Cars, Buses, Bicycles,…)
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| UNICORN VEHICLE: Front of a bike and the back of a cart. We saw them in Gujarat where they’re called ‘Chhakdas’. Most are elaborately done up in the brightest of colours complete with blaring music for the entertainment of the commuters. Considering that they’re noisy as hell the music has to be loud with a capital ‘L’ to be heard. |
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| WORK IN PROGRESS: These trucks on the roads of UP come with the tops missing. There’s just a small cabin for the driver and that’s it. I’ve no clue why they’re left like that. |
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| That’s what they look like from the back |
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| FAMILY VEHICLE: Some might worship motorcycles for style and speed but in UP it’s just that.. a family vehicle. |
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| LONG DRIVE: Hrit gets to drive an auto from California to Mumbai 🙂 |