It can be considered early days in this April 2013 A to Z Blogging Challenge. I had considerable hesitation before I joined up. Should I? Can I? Dare I?
Actually such doubts have plagued me at almost every important junction in my life especially once I entered my third decade. Should I? was my top question when I quit my job in a top orthopaedic hospital. I never did give myself time to fully answer it but went ahead and resigned. After a gap I began independent practise and that was when I was hit by the “Can I” blues… As it turned out they were quite unfounded as my patients progressed well. Still a few years later, I decided to stop my Physiotherapy practice which is when “Dare I” set in.
You see, that is what I have been trained for, so trying my luck in a totally new stream was something that scared me some what. What if I cannot succeed? What if I end up with a huge loan that I cannot repay? What if this, what if that… I was engulfed by doubts but somehow I shrugged them off.
I began writing and surprisingly I found some success. Ofcourse, my family’s support all through the period was a big boost. Looking back I can see that my doubts were unfounded.
The same ‘Dare I’ plagued me recently when entering this challenge. Travel, domestic commitments, infrastructure problems (we face electricity outages in our part of the world) and so on and so forth the biggest being lack of inspiration!! I initially planned to go a themes but did not. However you will find that many posts are related to plants which was the first theme that I thought of.
I planned the posts but was stumped by “D”.
D
(Btw, that’s the upper case D in the Edwardian Script font size 72 in my MS Word doc)
Yet here I am and hopefully will survive this challenge with some interesting posts!
Wish me luck!
For those using keyboard short cuts when on their PCs or
laptops will immediately recognise these words. “Control + Z” is the pair of
keys to be punched whenever you wish to “undo” some written text or erase the
latest action. (It may have more uses but I am not aware of those!), especially
great to save some arm movement!!
I first learn’t to type on an iron and steel contraption
that occupied the better part of the study table. ‘qwerty’ on the top row to be
typed by the left hand and so on… I tried not to look down and type but it was terribly
difficult especially as there was no option to go back and correct a misspelt
word or rewrite a grammatically wrong sentence. Mistakes meant having to cover
them up with whiteners (ugly to look at and obviously revealing the cover-ups)
or simply throw the paper away. Those were not the days when we worried about
wasting paper and no one reminded us of how many trees were cut to make one
sheet of paper.
One really had to press the keys down firmly so as to get it to print on the paper. I had to learn the ‘art’ of properly rolling the paper and carbon so I could get copies.
So I plodded on, eyes firmly locked on the paper to try
to perfect my typing. Afternoons found me clattering away on the machine, as I typed practically anything to master the keys- newspaper abstracts, model questions for my daughter or even got someone to give me a ‘dictation’… No no, I wasn’t training to be a secretary but I just could not give up now that I had begun. I can happily say I succeeded to some extent.
When I started using a computer, writing became a breeze
as I had the “Control + Z” option. I used one of the many ‘games’ to ‘learn’
typing and enjoyed ‘catching’ falling apples with alphabets more than finding
the right keys!! The “upper case A” to swat buzzing flies was not as easy as “colon sign: ” to snag a flying beetle. The games were addictive as my ‘typing speed’ did not seem to improve but accuracy was
fairly high which I was happy with…
They say old habits die hard which is proved as I still
tend to pound the keys even if gentle touch would suffice. The alphabets printed on them get worn out pretty soon and the keyboards need to be ‘touched up’
just in case I do need to look down at the alphabets!! Oh well, I cant just throw it away as e-waste…
Worn out alphabet markings refreshed with little paper cuttings
Now, we hardly ever see the old traditional typewriters, most probably have been recycled already. Any chance of using the “Control + Z”
command for to resurrect them??
I grew up in Mumbai (then called Bombay) and a cycle was
never used to commute to school (as it was in Pune- then called Poona). So to
learn this particular vehicle one had to hire it for five rupees an hour,
ensure the tyres were properly inflated, try to learn your skill in those 60
minutes and then walk back home after you have returned the cycle… A couple of
grazed knees and a dented ego quite effectively and rapidly ended my cycle
learning attempts.
Years later, I realised that my limited efforts had imparted a certain
sense of balance and I actually took up cycling but as an exercise. Erratic
and heavy traffic is a huge deterrent but it’s been thoroughly enjoyable so
far. I am told Spinning is another option to exercising using a static cycle.
It allows the person to simulate going uphill, downhill, he can stand up on the
cycle and even move arms around without fear of being hit by a careless driver
or worrying about being chased by stray dogs. The psychedelic lights and
pulsating music only completes the sensory experience while exercising. Some clubs even offer a simulated program that imitates the Tour de France. Wow!
Its sole
drawback seems to be that that it’s done indoors which is a good thing during the monsoon. I might even give it a try this year…
I have always found it
fascinating to read stories written from a different perspective. After
all the other view point may actually change the entire way we ‘see’
things.
Mahabharata is on our ancient texts and all of us have heard it in
bits and pieces in the form of different stories. Lord Krishna’s
dialogue with Arjun on the battlefield is commonly taught and explained
as a standalone piece. Every reader can find their own perspective.
Yet each character in this epic has his or her own story which is often
not told hence not commonly known. Adi Parva by Amruta Patil is a story
told by a woman narrator, the River Ganga. It presents the epic to us
from the viewpoint of the women therein.
Gandhari who blindfolded herself when she was married to the blind Prince Dhritarashtra who later became King of Hastinapur.
The unmarried Kunti (called Pritha in her childhood) who gives up her first born.
The
book is rich with colourful picture panels that powerfully express
the author’s thoughts. I must add that this is not a text heavy book
which makes totally unusual. I bought the book on Flipkart but it may be
available in the major bookstores as well. It takes time to digest the
conveyed ideas but well worth a reading.
The following post won the second prize in the Women’s Web Celebrating Girls, Celebrating Women Contest
Children are our most treasured possessions especially daughters. The mother daughter bond is very very strong and never really seems to be broken whatever the age. I know my mother worries about me even now and would take every opportunity to look out for me though both of us have several decades to our credit.
This is my entry for the Women’s Web Celebrating Girls, Celebrating Women Contest. It is an introspective article I wrote long ago (31 Jan 2009 to be precise) and which was published online in a now-extinct e-zine called 4indianwoman. Its entitled “Butterflies”
Butterflies
I had watched her tentatively spread her
wings as she ventured into a hundred year old college. Frankly I was worried.
What if she could not find suitable friends? What if she was ragged? What if
she could not manage notorious Pune traffic on her brand new two-wheeler? What
if… the list was ever growing and I worked overtime to sort out any wrinkles in
picture developing on the canvas of her life.
I was roundly accused of pampering, a
charge I sometimes admit to… Had I forgotten I too had been to a college or my
first days there? Our parents were tougher I think, as we fended for ourselves
quite easily. There was not such a huballoo about ‘healthy interaction’ a
polite term for ragging- as mostly it stayed just that. Being in Bombay (as it
was called then) we all travelled by bus or train with no mobiles to stay
connected. Yet never once did we feel disconnected or unsafe. Actually parents
too never felt the need to constantly be in touch with us.
Then why was I different? I looked around;
all mothers like me seemed to be in the same boat and they too had an
upbringing similar to mine. We all were falling head over heels to do that
extra bit for our kids. Did somebody say children faced peer pressure? I seemed
to be falling prey to the same….
So here I was managing home and hearth and
career and now had pulled on this added responsibility. Tackling college
authorities for amenities was my pet peeve and one that had my blood pressure
going through the roof.
But getting back on track, she made her
first solo and slowly found a whole new world opening up. I saw the world
through her eyes all over again yet could never understand the joy of eating a
wada pav from the streetside vendor or endless texting on the cell phone or
watching movies from the first row!
Getting into a B-school was a natural
progression of her education but all my joy was offset by my worry receptors
again working overtime. So began yet another episode. Of course today’s hostels
are much different from my time, but I was not reassured.
The course was designed to sort out wheat
from chaff, never mind that these students had undergone a gruelling selection
process. Hearing her strenuous routine had me in shivers. But then companies
did not pay obscene salaries for nothing. They knew the product they recruit
has it in him/her to take on corporate battles. So I guess learning was
happening 24X7 for both of us. To be fair some of this ‘help’ was unasked for….
A sane voice inside reminded me everyone
has to put in such hours. I understood that she needed to go through the
process to emerge stronger. But understanding would not translate into actions…
I prayed that God give my strength to her, give me her fatigue and doubts so
she could soar higher. I did whatever I could to ease her burden!
That’s when I was told this story. A
butterfly emerges from a cocoon by pushing out through its enfolding layers.
Unable to bear its struggles, a child peeled off layers of the cocoon and
waited with baited breath for the colourful beauty to fly into his hand. But
that did not happen. It fell to the ground lay weakly flapping its wings…
Nature had deemed its struggle necessary. This was to force liquid from its
body to its tiny wings to make them powerful.
Some activities are necessary to gain
survival skills. That is the law of Nature. The modern urban jungle too has its
own laws to live by, its unique dangers that one has to learn to face and
conquer. I would be doing an injustice if I tore away the cocoon or worse
continued to reinforce it. Butterflies have to strengthen their own wings if
they want to come out of the closed confines of the cocoon however warm and
cosy it may be. And those around (namely me or other Moms like me) have to let
them learn and win! The earlier we do it the better!
Its strange that since our work/data is now stored in a digital form, the importance of spring cleaning seems to have reduced. Here in India, other than spring, its the days leading up to Divali (a major festival usually at the start of winters) that sees all households in the throes of a major clean up. Wardrobes, shoe racks, store rooms, kitchen stores and so on all get a thorough make over often with a coat of paint as well. Tons of faded/torn/outdated/outgrown clothes are either given away to the needy or some are possibly recycled into mops/dusters.
Yet I find that our digital ‘storage’ too must be cleaned occasionally. While it may not be necessary to ‘throw away’ things, data may need to be transferred into another format or some such ‘geeky’ treatment.
Here is another post that has emerged out of my e-spring cleaning of the October 2007 vintage!
…..
This has been a difficult week for me.
Reason? I was finding it really difficult to procure a particular soap bar.
Elementary, you may as well say like the legendary Sherlock Holmes. But there
was a huge barrier.
Seeing the deteriorating state of my kadahis my domestic help recommended a particular brand to get them to sparkle. “None of this
fancy stuff you bring is any good,” she said. However she did not know its
name. Seeing my confusion she helpfully described the product to me.
So I set off to the local shop confident of
making a purchase. What happened was totally surprising. The shopkeeper was
completely foxed by what I was asking for. Any fancy description seemed to draw
a blank.
Finally I began with the description I had
of the soap. I wanted a bar with a picture of a lemon on it! It had to have a
particular fragrance. It was specifically meant for aluminium vessels. This
brought strange looks from everyone on both sides of the store counter. I
seemed like an educated lady, had come out of a car and here I was describing a
brand like an illiterate person! I went from shop to shop with this description but
no one could provide me the ‘right’ stuff. I did not even know what right was
anymore. Did we really have such a large range of cleaning products? Then why
could I not find one for my kadahi?
Here I was a self-proclaimed celebrated
hostess, shopaholic, mall savvy and alert consumer who could not get one bar of
soap. My ego thoroughly deflated I picked up the first one I was offered at the
10th shop and returned home.
‘This is not the one’ she pronounced.
I gave up. I told her to get a wrapper
from somewhere and I showed the shop keeper to give me the kadahi panacea. The joy I felt that day was something I
had not felt even when I had managed to pick up the rare kantha sari at
the monsoon sale!
The struggle was worth it because my
utensils are sparkling now! Lesson Learnt: Keep an open mind and learn from
everybody. There is no substitute for experience and recommendations from such
a person will invariably make a positive change.
Age should not be a barrier but mental
attitude can be. Overcome it and open your mind there is a wealth of learning
waiting for us!
NOTE:
Kadahi: Wok
Kantha: A type of embroidery from India’s West Bengal state
Khatta Meetha or Sour Sweet is an unlikely flavour combination for some but one that many in India relish. Many of our foods (dals- lentil preparations, vegetables) all have both Khatta (Sour) and Meetha (Sweet) ingredients in just the right proportion that one is left wondering if the dish he/she just ate was sweet or sour!!
Lemon juice, Tamarind, Kokum, Amchur powder are usually added for the sour flavour and sweetness is afforded by sugar, jaggery etc. The sweetness kills the sharp tangy edge of the sour ingredient even as the same lemon makes a sweet dish wonderfully memorable.
Obviously our food habits mirror Life in general as if brings both sweet and sour moments. Moments that we cannot avoid moments that make life the beautiful journey that it is. This is aptly captured in an old Hindi movie called Khatta Meetha directed by Basu Chatterjee (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khatta_Meetha_%281978_film%29). Do watch it if you get an opportunity to do so.
This is the essence of my blog, to capture both sweet and sour moments that happening around us! Then ofcourse there is Teekha (Spicy), moments that test our very patience and bring out the true nature of our character, that force us to sit up and think.. How can we ignore those?
As you can see its been a while since my last post and I have a zillion reasons for it…
Advancing age doesn’t mean that work recedes – and I don’t mean ‘work’ as in professional work – rather the pile of ‘things’ to be done seems to increase without one even realising it. Whatever be its source, work must be done and done in its time for it to have any meaning….
Talking of advancing age reminds me of a post I had written earlier and published on a website called 4indianwoman in October 2008. Its not available online anymore hence I repost it here, celebrating the fourth decade!!
They say it’s not polite to ask a woman her
age. The answer you get may not necessarily be entirely correct! Some gallantly
say that no woman is older than 35. However much we may shy away, none of us
can halt the march of Time.
I did not really think much about crossing
the dreaded 40 milestone. I was too busy in my ‘sansar’. Each birthday
meant celebrations though I don’t remember having any parties when I was a kid
but more than made up while in the IAF.
So when did this begin to hurt or rather
matter?
The first brush was obviously with the
first appearance of silver (not white!) in my hair. That was promptly dealt
with Mehendi initially and later with more expensive (not necessarily)
better tubes! You wont find many women crediting their white hair for
experience- there isn’t any to! It would be more like the burgundy, black,
browns or now blond!!
I managed this hurdle pretty effectively I
thought. The next brush with my age came up when I went looking for a job in
Pune. While I did not have an issue with belonging to the baby boomer group
prospective employers certainly did as I got some really startling responses to
my searches. Most seemed sceptical about my commitment. The really frank ones
said what do you need to work for? This is not your age to work? Age to work?
Hey I was just touching 40! Usually the person giving me this advice was
someone touching 60!
Did I already have wrinkles and sagging
skin? These comments forced me to increase frequency of trips to the parlour
that lightened my wallet but did nothing much for my face. At least I thought
not.
Any way. I managed to get a job and began
working with someone slightly over half my age. It wasn’t so difficult actually
in fact I think our combination worked quite well. Anyway I was not willing to
get into a rat race and quit the job.
By now a couple more years had been added
to my account. I joined the gym, which did wonders for my ego that had been
bruised often in the age department. I found I could lift as much and more weights
as a 20 year old and was certainly more flexible. Looking around I realised
that most ladies of my ‘age group’ had this quality! Hooray! I guess that meant
I had future bone, joint and hopefully heart troubles under control!
That’s when another enemy struck and at the
weakest point! To be honest I am a firm believer in retail therapy and am an
avid fan of malls, organised retail, exhibitions, stores … Fancying myself an
‘informed’ customer I always made it a point to read ingredients, expiry dates and
of course MRP. Now this is where calamity struck. Silently my ocular lens and
muscles had weakened and slowly but surely I found myself holding the product
further and further away as I tried to read the figures and alphabets that
suddenly looked like tiny black dots. Now this was a definite handicap. In
crowded places besides fear of physical injury being displaced by other
enthusiastic shoppers there is a real danger of misreading the digits (end up
paying more) or buying expired stock (yes, I sadly discovered that glitzy shops
too stocked those!).
I rushed off to the ophthalmologist and
armed myself with a pair of spectacles. But that was not the end of my
troubles. You see, spectacles have to be carried along and worn to be of use!
Right from my childhood I had developed this concept that anyone wearing
vision-enhancing eyegear was a lesser mortal. Probably arose from a staple diet
of vernacular movies that showed that girls with less than ‘approved’ features
or with add-ons like spectacles did not stand a chance in the marriage market!
Help in the form of husband and daughter is
not always around and I gradually was forced to carry my new ‘eyes’ around. On
a sober note, it made me aware how much I took vision for granted.
Now I plan to keep a separate spectacles
pair in my purse and one at home.
I started writing and the Internet opened a
whole new world for me. I was discovering skills even I did not know I had. In
fact joy, sorrow, disappointment, success experienced over the years gave me a
new perspective. They say wine gets better with age…
It took me some time but I am now quite
comfortable and proud of my age. Next up on my list of to-do things is to join
a dance class- obviously inspired by Richard Gere in Shall We Dance!
Irrespective of external appearances, it is important to stay young and happy
at a mental level. Keep yourself busy and learn something new. Age becomes
irrelevant then…
The best way to really know our country is to physically travel and ‘see’ different states. This is especially true for our vast nation with diverse habitats and cultures. We have ‘learnt’ history in school but I certainly do not remember anything more than certain names. The Chalukyas, Vijayanagar empire, all were names that shone from behind a thick mist. As things worked out, I got an opportunity to visit some historical sites, one that I took up eagerly.
Monuments at Bijapur, Badami and Hampi (close to Hospet) all in Karanata are not easily accesible. Our visit ended at Hampi but those who can must include Halebid in their itinerary as well. By easy I mean that one needs to travel by train or air to the closest destination and reach these places by road. Luckily the roads are all excellent, well maintained and one covers large distances easily. These are small towns but the three offer comfortable, clean, vegetarian hotels with helpful and courteous staff. Lack of such facilities have deterred me from visiting places despite being a self professed ‘travel enthusiast’. But this time, I was pleasantly surprised.
(Each of the sites named below are linked to the ASI website for detailed information.)
Gol Gumbaz at Bijapur was one place that I had heard of but never really made any attempt to visit it. Its main feature obviously is its dome, a.k.a whispering dome that is second biggest only after the dome at Rome. Whispering a few words in it causes them to echo up to 13 times and naturally everyone coming there wants to experience this phenomenon. Result.. an ear-piercing continuous crescendo of screams, laughter that is sure to send your head spinning. Its best if you visit early (when the Gol Gumbaz opens at about 6AM) so you can peacefully appreciate the skills of the men of yore who have created this monument. There is a museum on the premises that is said to be excellent but being a Friday, it was closed when we visited. The Ibrahim Rauza is yet another must visit tourist attraction at Bijapur. These monuments are under the care of the Archeological Survey of India and have a nominal entry fee for Indians plus nominal camera charges.
The main attraction at Badami is the cave temples. However between Bijapur and Badami one must visit the Aihole and Pattadakal temple sites which are World Heritage Sites. While these are called temples, most of them are not places of worship any more. When at Badami do visit the Banashankari temple – a peaceful serene temple that was originally said to have been built in the ninth century. We were blessed to get a peaceful unhurried darshan of the goddess – a wonderful experience. Dakshin Kashi or Mahakuta is yet another ancient Shiva mandir. Legend has it that the demons Vatapi and Ilvala were destroyed by Agastya at this site.
A couple of interesting things that I recommend: walk in the underground Pradakshana chamber at the Vitthala Temple, Hampi and walk in the secret chamber at Pushkarni. Both involve walking in the dark but some light does filter in and one can see outlines as the eyes adjust to the low light.
Hampi is close to Hospet (about 12-15 kms), a small yet busy town due to several steel plants around it. If I was impressed by the highways we had travelled on so far, the ones under-construction outside Hospet will be absolutely stunning as and when they are completed. The entire region Bijapur, Badami, Hospet and Hubli is well irrigated and we saw flourishing crops along the highways. Bright yellow sunflower fields were our steady companions all through but the other crops changed from jowar, maize, sugarcane and the Hampi area had plentiful coconut and banana groves growing amid towering rocks. People spoke Kannada but were open to answering our queries in Hindi. We looked forward to tasting north Kannada cuisine (supposed to be different) but found that most restaurants offered Punjabi, Chinese, fast foods …. And we opted for bottled water all through. One crosses the Bhima, Krishna and Tungabhadra Rivers and Kudalsangama is a best place to see the mighty Krishna after its confluence with the Ghataprabha and Malprabha rivers.
A strange observation at Virupaksha… When visitors offer money
to the temple elephant, he ‘blesses’ them with his trunk by placing it on their heads . Yet I saw him
‘refuse’ to do so for a foreign visitor… The mahout returned the coin the lady visitor had offered but I still cannot understand the reason for this denial..
The rock carvings at all these sites are
stunning not only for their intricacy, beauty and symmetry but also as
to how the artisans must have worked back then without the help of the
so-called indispensable modern gadgets. The inverted shadow image of the
main gopuram at Virupaksha temple, Hampi seen in a dark chamber about
200m away as the light streams in from a hole in the wall. The Badami
cave temples have been carved from the top downwards and some free
standing ones were carved from down upwards much as we now build our
buildings. The walls here have carvings that record work of the
artisans who created these magnificent structures. Frescos painted with
natural dyes have stood the test of hundreds of years. The three rows of carved rock channels outside the Navrang mandap in the Vitthala Temple, Hampi was designed to cool its interiors by the water that trickled down. The musical
columns at this site are amazing not only for their artistic
creativity but the scientific thought put in to recreate musical sounds
from solid rocks. Ditto for the water channels at Pushkarni, Hampi.
Badami is also home to monkeys and their presence almost amounts to a menace as they steal food out of our hands or snatch bags, bottles expecting them to contain food. Do not carry plastic bags, plastic bottles when at the Badami cave temples. Ditto at Virupaksha temple at Hampi.
I cannot end this post without mentioning the trees that I identified…
The Vitthala temple, Hampi has a supposedly 160 year old Chafa
(Plumeria) tree (still blooming). The Virupaksha temple has a couple of
Kailaspati trees in its premises and there are two huge Kadamb trees
outside the Mahakuta. The Ibrahim Rauza had massive Thespesia in its
beautiful lawns- much bigger than any I have seen around Pune. These were common around Bijapur but less so in the other towns mentioned here. I noticed the occasional Shirish but Maharukh was commoner around Hospet and Hubli. Sag (Tectona grandis) grew rampantly everywhere in fact, there were what seemed liked dedicated plantations at some sites. The landscaped gardens have some beautiful trees (Sawar, Sterculia foetida, Chandan etc). The
Badami cave temple complex has some lovely trees growing on the rocks –
an effect that we as bonsai enthusiasts struggle to achieve.
When visiting these sites make sure to wear strong, comfortable walking shoes. Carry your cap and sunglasses, sunscreen and drinking water. Its a good idea to take services of a local guide as they have an uncanny knack of bringing these silent stones alive. There is lot of walking involved plus climbing up and down often irregular and long flights of stairs. Keeping some analgesic creams for your joints may be a good idea!
Concerned authorities have worked hard to preserve our heritage. The sites are extremely clean, well maintained and surrounding manicured gardens add to their beauty. By visiting them we can reconnect with history and really know this incredible country of ours.
Its that time of the year again, the summer is over and winter is just making its presence felt….
The slight nip in the early morning air (in Pune) is fast dispelled as the sun rises makes its way up over the horizon… The markets are blazing with colour – from flowers, lanterns (आकाश कंदील ), blinking coloured lights.. just to name a few.
Its Divali and time to feast and enjoy.
Take a break from your regular routine and indulge yourself in things you otherwise stay away from.. yes it includes gorging on sweets.. Thats the point of regular year round exercise…
🙂
And what is Divali without fireworks and Rangoli? While there are several very strong reasons not to almost literally ‘burn’ away money on firecrackers, some may like to enjoy a few phuljhadi’s…
What I am really trying to say is that its time to let your hair down, enjoy little pleasures … Keep alive the child inside you..
Happy Divali!!
May the festival of lights bring another year of joy, fulfilled dreams, good health and success!!
Cheers!
Archana
