MY TRYST WITH NATURE BEGINS AGAIN

After a two month break - was in the hills July/August when it was searing heat and suffocating humidity in the plains- I am back in  home sweet home and  my daily tryst with nature, something which almost makes me feel  on cloud nine begins once again. Now hopefully the weather is changing for the better. In my home town Patiala my connection with nature is on a micro level. I commune with the flora and fauna of the park which is my destination for a morning walk for the moment. Why I’ve chosen this venue is due to its being at a stone’s throw from my house and secondly it is not frequented by many. I prefer to connect peacefully with the objects around.

Today (5th September) for example the birds kept me company. When I stepped in, scores of white cranes- with long black legs and yellow bills- were busy pecking in the grass for worms. I could note the change in their body language instantly. They stopped pecking and stood alert, straining their long necks for any danger signals. Satisfied that nothing is amiss and perhaps trusting me they resumed their activity, but after flying to a safer distance away from me. Then I spied a vulture overhead and sensing danger the whole lot of them flew away within seconds.

There was also a crowd of the ubiquitous larks twittering gleefully and hopping with abandon, relishing their breakfast as some of them with worms hanging from their beaks seemed to be in the look out for a secluded place to savour the delicacy. They seemed to be having a field day with short flights here and there inside the park, in search of food. Underneath the dark brown exterior their wings show white designer patches which look enchanting when they fly. I left them to their antics.

A few fish tailed blackbirds attracted my attention next as they were chasing a yellow coloured bird probably a predator in a frenzied squeaking. A lone black butterfly with speckled behind, hovered around. A couple of pigeons I spotted fluttering their feathers above the window shade of the house across the road. Overhead a foursome of parrots flew past hurriedly as if on some important mission. Perched on a high voltage wire a lonesome dove was coo cooing perhaps waiting for her partner. On a richly leafed tree a kind of warblers were having a gossip session vying with each other to keep up the crescendo.

Two black stray dogs were giving me company as well. Though I better not to have such company. One was lying in the middle of the pavement and I passed by it many times via a safe detour and the other was having a snooze under thick bushes. I was all the time conscious of their presence. The stray dog menace in spite of many tragic fallouts is here to stay. The authorities refuse to learn any lessons and pass the buck all the time. The hapless citizenry looks on.

However the creature that affords me utmost pleasure and inspiration- guess who? It is the utterly cheerful, fluffy and sprightly, squirrel. It is my all weather friend. What a designer body!!! Dark brown and silver grey stripes on the upper body and mouth and tail dons a salt and pepper coloured fur. They present a picture of endearing positivity. Pause and get treated to a live display of their capers from one tree to the other and their ease and daintiness as they cross the gaps between railing spikes around the park. Their liveliness is infectious. I enjoy watching their graceful scampering on the ground, as they forage for seeds, nuts and acorns. I sometimes ask myself, “Which setting of genes they‘ve been bestowed with by nature that makes them so carefree and happy?” We surely can learn some life lessons from them. When I return home I feel bathed in the sunshine of gaiety and mirth which my dear friends rub off on to me.

As soon as the sun shows up in its glory, these visitors leave for their shady environs. But before they do so, I too get back to my safe haven.

Dear friends: Your comments on the write ups are welcome and will be earnestly appreciated. Pl. share your own experiences.

Here is a light moment:

Mother: Please God, don't let John play the match. But if he plays, let him win.

JOYS OF LEARNING

I am in my sixties and feel more spirited and enthusiastic about certain things than ever before. Earlier family responsibilities and a job (which had their own charm and ambivalence) left hardly any time to experience any thing other than the extensions of these.

However, I am a free bird now. Life’s daily hassles apart; I’ve plenty of time on my hands to pursue my passions. I do spend hours in perusing newspapers, reading my favourite books, browsing the internet and dabbling in writing .The internet has blessed me with much power by broadening my world via social networking and blogging. There is plenty of food for thought and reflection.

Internet has changed my world entirely. I consider it the best thing, which could have happened to me. The credit goes to my husband (a self learner) who has helped to open the mysteries of the ‘World Wide Web’ to me. Later with my own efforts, I found myriad ways of entering this magical ‘Sim Sim.’

I find it to be a treasure trove of knowledge and information about anything and everything on this planet. Search engine Google transports me to anywhere in the world at the click of a button. There are very good sites which I visit regularly, where you can find articles by eminent medical professionals written in a simple, readable language about all sorts of health problems. You can benefit from the information and treat minor ailments yourself, saving many a visit to the doctor. By the way I consider ‘HEALTHbeat’ a Harvard Medical school publication extremely useful.

I communicate with my children and friends within minutes without incurring any expenditure through email. Video chatting via ‘Skype’ adds to the pleasure of communicating with my near and dear ones.

I no longer need to keep clippings of my favourite articles in newspapers. I can access online editions of all major newspapers, if need be.

A few discomforts and age related changes I’ve gone through but these haven’t diminished my desire to tap hitherto unexplored territories. I’ve not allowed my inability to read the small print of labels, expiry dates and other information, make me feel helpless. Nothing can deter me from penning my impressions about the world around me the way i wish to. My eyes do get tired sometimes and I’ve to curtail my forays. But a good pair of spectacles has eased out my difficulties.

For example I’ve bidden good bye to wearing high heels or fancy shoes and instead settle for a pair from Dr. Scholls’ limited variety for pneumatic feel and balance. Comfort, not fashion is what I look for now.

My digestive system does throw tantrums off and on but I manage it with sensible eating habits. Internet research has enlightened me a lot in this direction and I make full use of it. Once in a while I break the rules to indulge my taste buds.

Energy levels may have depleted but I remain active, alert and learn something every single day.

It is about forty years into my marriage but I feel fresh and vibrant as if it happened only yesterday.

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Dear friends: Pl. give your take on the above narrative in a comment.

Let us laugh together:

An overweight fellow went to a doctor. The doctor said, " I want you to eat regularly for two days, then skip a day and repeat this procedure for two weeks." When the fellow returned, he shocked the doctor by losing 20 pounds.

"Why that is amazing?Did you follow my instructions?" The fellow nodded," I'll tell you though. I thought I was to drop dead that third day."

"From hunger you mean?'

"No, from skipping."

On Coming back from the Hills in July

                                 

Hello friends!!!

Let me tell you how I am feeling after coming back from the hills a few days back? It is like simmering in a cauldron of hot water throughout the day. True to the adage that ‘grass is greener on the other side of the fence,’ we decided to return to our nest, tired as we were by the continuous spell of rain at Kumarhatti, where we put up for the summer. OMG, what a damning decision it proved to be! 

The minute we stepped out of the car, my blinkers got removed, reality stared at me straight and clear. In the act of unloading our things itself, we got bathed with sweat and all the excess salts poured out from the skin pores leaving us limp like wilted flowers. We opened all the windows, doors and switched on fans and ACs to get a breather. No luck of course. Humidity stifles. Anyway, I had to set the kitchen in operation. Fortunately, we had left the refrigerator running and I immediately stuffed it with the eatables and fruit which we had bought on the way. Washed the few utensils needed. While I got busy in my empire, hubby dear, right then started fixing the computer paraphernalia and TV dish set up box. At a break neck speed, we worked for about two hours at our respective domains without exchanging a word and succeeded in organizing the essentials.

Over the years I have learnt to wind up the house in such a manner that both of us only need a couple of hours to start the house running once again. After the needful was done, it was time to replenish our energy with some victuals. I prepared my favorite Tulsi tea. (I was missing it so much at Kumarhatti) Mercifully my Tulsi plants are still there with plenty of leaves while the other plants and lawns showed utter neglect. I had instructed our gardener in detail but I had truly wasted my words on him. When the cat is away the mice will obviously play. I put out the intended tirade before it welled up furiously inside me.

  
Tea, some rest and I was on my feet again to start the washing with loads of clothes which I had brought with me. Two wash cycles of the washing machine finished the task well enough. Then after changing the bed linen to prepare for the night, I decided to call it a day. Hubby  was still wrestling with some chores.  

The hardest part of resettling however is to get a new part-time maid. The household tasks which are beyond me are: intensive cleaning and mopping after the house is closed for months. It is four days since we came back and I could manage to get the house cleaned only once. Have not found the right one so far. I am trying and will have to succeed. By the way, we‘re off to Amritsar tomorrow and hubby is insisting that we pack up to go back to Kumarhatti again as he feels like a fish out of water. And I feel no better. Will decide after coming back from our short trip. It is like living one day at a time now. Don’t know what lies ahead?

Agreeing with the assertion that one should learn to live in incertitude, I remain prepared for anything now.  

A Morning in the Hills of Kumarhatti during Monsoon-(22nd July)

It was actually the rays of the rising sun penetrating through my bedroom window, which welcomed me, when I opened my eyes in the morning. The golden glow made me jump out of the bed instantly. The warmth of the sun we missed terribly for almost a week, because the sickeningly cloudy weather interspersed by intermittent rains had starved us of the healthy feeling of a sunny day. It was sheer madness to waste the precious moments inside when the beauty of the day was beckoning me literally to ‘make hay while the sun shines.’ The sun seemed to be coercing the weak mist on the mountain tops and slopes to go and relax and let it brighten the lives of the folks down under.

I immediately prepared my ginger tea and mug in hand stepped out on the balcony. Tell you why I was in such a hurry to come out. In hills especially in July and August the weather is the king, queen and also a spoilt child. Its changeability is phenomenal. You spread your clothes for drying and airing on the balcony railing and come inside for finishing some chore. Lo and behold! Suddenly belligerent and menacingly dark clouds appear from no where, without any warning of gurgling thunder or lightening and start shedding their excess baggage of water. You have to have the speed of a sprinter to salvage the stuff which you have put outside for sunning.

I have an ambivalent attitude towards this sort of wantonness of the clouds. It is appealing after a couple of sunny days but disgusting when confronted with a continued spell of wetness. The chameleon like character of the clouds keeps you on tenter hooks all day long per sure. For locals it is no big deal. They are used to carrying umbrellas and trudge on slowly and steadily.

Coming back to this particular morning which fascinated and prompted me to pen this piece; I dragged a chair to sit and closed my eyes to savour the moment in all its glory. The sweet cosiness of the sun had a friend in the balmy breeze which was gently carousing around. Soon I became conscious of the scented air teasing my hair and my face being caressed by a fragrantly sensuous fairy like touch. I floated in a dreamy trance. Time stood still. After a while I came to myself and opened my eyes to a feeling of chill on my bare arms. The sun had disappeared. I looked skywards. The army of clouds was marching ahead in a threatening posture ready to charge. The cool breeze turned cold and hinted that I wrap myself with a shawl.

  I didn’t go inside though. Another episode equally enticing on that particular morning was inviting me to partake of its dance and song sequence being enacted on the pine tops and adjacent bushes, a couple of meters away from my balcony. I could not help standing up to watch the thrilling spectacle. Supporting myself by the terrace pillar, I was drawn irresistibly into the avian arena and got swayed by the shrill music and merry playfulness of a score of a kind of sparrows: grey plume, white breast, black shapely crest and eyes surrounded by a white ring. (A hill species I suppose). Their sculpted small bodies, agile, alive and alert, danced from bough to bough in a twittering madness♫. A spectacle absolutely unbelievable!!! It was an exhibition of supreme joy, like being on cloud nine!!! (:

A Bizarre Dream!

Sigmund Freud the father of Psychoanalysis in his work “The Interpretation of Dreams” says, ‘through dreams you are able to get a glimpse into your unconscious or id; because your guards are down during the dream state and your unconscious has the opportunity to act out and express the hidden desires of the id.’ With this premise of Freud in mind, let me share my dream with you.

Yesterday night I had a bizarre dream which impacted me mentally on waking up. Once before, I had a somewhat similar dream but it receded from my mental landscape without leaving a stir. But this one is recurring repeatedly in my consciousness. I am puzzled about the symbolism behind it. So I penned it down. The dream narrative moves like this:

There is a knock at the door and an unrecognized male nasal voice calls me by name. Curiously, I open the door, look right and left but there is nobody to be seen. I recall that I did hear the knock and my name being called. I am still in that perplexed state when suddenly out of the blue I see a jet black, horrid looking, crow shaped creature with a tail like a thin iron rod jump past me into the room. Vaguely I surmise a resemblance to some cartoon character. Frightened and stunned I hastily step aside. Another look at it tells me however that though revolting to look at,most likely it won’t harm.

While it moves about in a zig-zag manner on the floor it defecates smudges of darkish rubbery stuff and constantly repeats my name in a heavy voice. Mustering up courage to move I very carefully take steps so as to avoid stepping on the filthy looking stuff. I feel nauseated. Mean while I try calling my husband for help. But voice doesn’t come out; my throat feels dry and hoarse. I decide to act on my own. After all I think it is a small creature.

I don’t know how I get hold of a stick and straightaway hit him on its head. To my horror its body gets split into two and one part instantly flies away and clings to the wall. What do l see? The separated part while moving slowly is creating holes in the wall. The inside of the wall looks hollow. Its body part left on the floor is as agile as before as if nothing has happened. It keeps moving constantly and speaks unintelligibly. The tone certainly becomes mocking. In the meantime the whole floor is littered with that horrible substance which is dropping out of its body. I feel helpless and on the verge of tears. But realize anyways that I‘ll have to do something. That stick luckily is still in my hand. I make a last ditch effort. With a focused aim I hit it hard. To my great relief I find the stick landed right on it’s left out body which is completely smashed though the tail remains intact.

It is at this juncture my dream ends and I wake up with a start. I find myself on my bed with a stiff neck and a throbbing head!!!(:

I haven’t yet stopped guessing what was it all about?

Lessons learnt from 'The Last Lecture'

It was two years back when my daughter gifted me a book ‘The Last Lecture’ by Randy Pausch, Professor at Carnegie Mellon. It was in fact the last lecture delivered by him as he was earlier diagnosed with terminal cancer and had few months to live. The lecture transformed into a story by one of his friends, was, published to become a best seller.

I read the book a number of times. Every reading enhanced my understanding of the valuable legacy which he left for his children and his readers. Being the last lecture and the simple truths it exemplifies, makes it poignant and sentimental. Let’s share a few of the professor’s proud moments.

He attributed his success to his firm belief in: “If you want something bad enough, never give up.”

One of his dreams was to experience the floating feeling of weightlessness in zero gravity. There was a plane designed by NASA to acclimatize the astronauts to Zero gravity. An opportunity came his way when his students at Carnegie Mellon were invited by NASA to do certain experiments. He hoped to accompany them but the authorities refused to accommodate any teacher. The opportunity was lost. However he did not lose hope. After extensive efforts he found a way out. He offered to become a journalist and send his virtual reality experiences to mainstream journals, publication of which would enhance NASA’s reputation. He kept persuading till they agreed and finally his dream was realized and he did experience that magical floating experience of zero gravity.

According to him: “Hard work is like compounded interest in the bank. The rewards build faster.”

When he was young, his parents always encouraged inquisitiveness ‘about current events, history’ and life. For him there was no better way to learn this than consulting ‘World Book Encyclopedia’ which his parents subscribed for, regardless of the ‘princely’ cost. The tradition in his house was: ‘Open the encyclopedia. Open the dictionary. Open your mind.’ He cherished the World Book and one of his childhood dreams was to be a contributor. It took him many many years of dedicated hard work in the field, before he could fulfill his dream of writing a new entry under “V” (Virtual Reality).

He believed in action and not brooding in the face of challenges. “This is not fair” was never a part of his vocabulary. Rather he’d say: “Let us saddle up and ride.”

His seven months pregnant wife, had her water bag ruptured at home and was rushed to the hospital. The doctors asked him to keep her calm as she was half way into clinical shock. With his presence of mind, he kept her conscious and reassured during the crucial C-section and saved both mother and child.

While concluding his lecture he says if we possess self belief, honesty and integrity, ‘no matter what cards we are dealt with, we will play them well.’

Moving to the hills in summer

Moving to the hills in summer

The popular adage ‘Nothing comes out of nothing’ comes full circle for me around this time of the year. Running away from the sweltering heat of the plains becomes a necessity especially if you have a small place you can call your own, some where in the hills. Fortunately I have one in the lap of hills at Kumarhatti in Himachal Pradesh. The transition from your permanent home to the temporary one in the mountains is a herculean task, and the exercise is worth mentioning to validate the wisdom which lies at the core of the above quip.

I had to work round the clock for a few days before embarking on the intended journey. You can well imagine the toil and travails of winding up a fully operational household. Every conceivable issue has to be dealt with. Starting from the payment of utility bills to lawn care, security, mail delivery and much more has to be taken care of. After that the momentous date for moving up is fixed. It is here that the toughest task starts. Arranging provisions and other stuff in the car, including water bottles and some food stuff… require the skill of a master craftsman. Finally you reach your destination after overcoming traffic jams, traffic snarls, raging tempers and racing hearts. Great relief it is to be in one piece after the twists and turns of the eventful journey.

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. In the process of settling down you have to pass through unavoidable drudgery and experience muscle pulls and pains in the body because of over exertion and stair climbing. In the real world one has to bake the cake to eat it too. Likewise to enjoy the sweet coolness one has to set the things right in the summer home before one reaps the fruits of one’s labour. It is an exercise involving many days before there is a semblance of a feeling of home sweet home.

But you can’t help noticing the sweat less activity and the cool breeze fanning you. Even the overstrained back tries to straighten up, already nourished by the whiff of clean and fresh mountain air.

The teething troubles, major and minor hic-cups are all forgotten after a few days. Long walks in balmy air and the sight of lanky pines swinging in the breeze; transport you to a dreamlike world. Sharpened appetite makes you feel stronger and fitter. Lethargic feelings of the plains produced by whirling fans, deafening coolers and ACs are bidden farewell to. You feel energized and take on life with a positive orientation.

It is however at night that the surreal aspect of hills is revealed. You step into the balcony and behold the oasis of twinkling lights stretching up to the horizon and brightly blinking stars in the cloudless sky over head. The fantastic spectacle gets etched in your mind. It is such exotic sights which leave indelible images in the reservoir of your memory.

You deserve it all, after going through the stresses and strains of a sort of domestic upheaval.
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