HIDE AND SEEK!

CIRCA 2009.

She hides behind her mother and tells me "Dadi go and look for me downstairs, I am hiding". I go down looking for her, then come up again, look behind the sofas, the curtains, ask everyone around if they have seen Aaria and then find a giggling away to glory Aaria! "Found you," I exclaim very excitedly.

Then it is my turn to hide and Aaria tells me to go hide in the kitchen, then she counts up to ten says "Ready or not here I come," and comes looking for me in all the rooms, behind sofas, behind the curtains, and finally comes to the kitchen and triumphantly declares, " found you".

Oh! the delights of childhood and the delights of indulgent grand parents! Jharna and Anurag are quite flustered about this game of Hide and Seek." Please explain, what is this game? I don't get it", says Jharna.

I simply say "Generation gap, my dear, you won't understand!"

They will have to await their turn and the right time to play the games with rules made and broken, tears, screams of joy and total abandon of reason.

The problem is that all do not understand this game. It is rather difficult to grasp. To understand it there are a few conditions which are to be met. You have to have allowed your hair to grey, your wisdom to have blossomed with spending time on terra firma, finished spending time working for your living, got health insurance, spent time going into hospitals for health check ups, know all about cholesterol, blood pressure, healthy foods, eating fruit, importance of walking. Only when most of these conditions are met that  you understand the rules of the game!

COUNTING IN EARNEST!

The joy of seeing a little girl running from one end of the room to the other to express her happiness at seeing you arrive at her house is a sight worth a million dollars!

The time when your grandson tells you that because of what you taught him, he has done well in his exams! Priceless reward.

These are the benefits of having grown up to that age when even the local vegetable vendor calls you mummy! The modern form of calling you a mataji!! Oh my goodness this is  the dreaded age of all. But then I reason that this also has its perks. Allow the vegetable vendor to call you mummy and then go play hide and seek, with that little person who trusts that you still have the energy to run up and down the stairs, pick her up when she is tired, make the yummiest of food to be told very bluntly on your face, "You don't know how to make pancake, please learn it from boo"(bua,pishi, atya, paternal aunty).

The dialogues, the fights, the "go away dadi" said with full force, is met with an ungrudging," I love you Dadi" in some moments of rare consideration!

That is life. The moments spent with honest, true, caring grand children is reward for having greyed your hair in the sun!

CIRCA 2012.

FIND A SONG FOR ME!

THIS POSTER IS ON TOP OF MOUNT TITLIS IN SWITZERLAND.

A song is all that I seek,

A sweet, melodious song,

Sung in a soulful voice,

A song which will make me sing with it,

In my untrained and rough voice.

I love  melody, I love  words,

I love the emotion that comes with a song,

A nostalgic song of times gone by,

A lovely song of times to come,

Showing me a rainbow and the birds sitting on a line,

Chirping, singing and flying away,

Always together, chatting away.

A song telling me of clouds which give me shade,

Of lovely stars, the moon, and the lovely breeze,

A song that will  make me happy and chirpy,

And make my feet tap all by themselves,

Which will make my fingers drum on the table, 

And then make me sing with abandon, 

I am sure I will love that song,

I am still looking for it,

Any idea? Where could it be?

THE STORY OF MY LIFE-PART TWO.

Black & White era!

I continue with my story after a gap of a few years. A story that started in March 1967, courtesy Indian Railways, continues now even after 46 years.

There were a lot of differences between Triloki and I. To begin with even our names  belong to different eras, while one belongs to the mythological era, the other belongs to the contemporary era. I belong to Maharashtra, Triloki is from Punjab.  He is fair, I am dark. The only common thing between us was that we both excelled  in our studies. Both lived in Delhi and studied in Ranchi.  Triloki was a topper in the Engineering College and I topped my University in Political Science (hon's).

We got married after much resistance from both the families. We were so adamant that the parents had no alternative but to agree to arrange our wedding. The wedding was at South Extension part ll, where I lived. My father was a stickler for punctuality and the  baraat  actually arrived on the dot at 7 pm. The food was excellent and had all the non vegetarian dishes which everyone loved. This was different as in North Indian weddings, food is normally vegetarian, as a wedding is a religious function.

We had a civil marriage, as my family as well as Triloki are atheists. The Magistrate came home, there were no rituals, in fact I  even refused to wear the traditional red  sari, I wore blue!

46 years have gone by and yet we do not understand each other. We are still ever ready to fight, and  do not take each other for granted. The passing of years has only affected us to the extent that we both have different  coloured hair, which is now quite scant, perhaps to compensate for the thinning hair we have an expanding waistline, and so there is addition in weight, there are beautiful lines on our face, and we both do look distinguished. Time has been kind to us! We have travelled all around the world, we have shared breath taking view of the Himalayas, Alps, the Indian Ocean, Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, Mediteranean Sea, what else? Have seen a few wonders of the world. Seen almost every corner of our "back home" England!

We have  loved the beaches, loved the mountains, loved the forests.

Been to Ngorongoro in Tanzania, Pench in Maharashtra,  Sequoia National park in California, and so many other  forested areas in India.

Although we are so different, yet strangely we like the same kind of food, movies,  and have the same   interest in traveling .

What then could be our areas of differences?

We argue about anything and everything under the sun.

While I can talk nineteen to the dozen, Triloki is a person of very few words. I guess I make up for both of us!

In the final year of college, I had been given the title of Miss Chatter Box.

While I look after the aesthetics of my house, Triloki looks after all the nitty gritty. He is a plumber, electrician, handyman, all rolled into one.

Life has been good.

Looking back I find it hard to believe that it has actually been 46 years since I met a stranger on the Patna Ranchi Express in an unreserved compartment. They do say never trust a stranger. I agree, don't trust a stranger, because they could take over your entire life!!

The coloured era

Yes I Am A Woman!

Oh yes, I am a woman,and a proud woman at that!
I am  dark,intelligent, and, impatient,
I do not accept defeat easily,
I do not allow anyone to break my spirit,
I laugh, I cry, I talk and I nag,
Did you ask me why?

I am....that is why!
I want to make a difference to this world,
I want to give back more than I got,
I want to repay all the debts that I incurred,
To my parents, my peers, my friends and foes alike,
To those who gave me love, I repay by giving more love,
To those who gave me misery,
I repay by forgiving them their trespass,
I carry no baggage with me,
It's all neatly compartmentalised,
Distributed and discarded and nothing carried on,
My books are balanced,
My days job is done,
As a banker I can say
The clean cash has been balanced my dear!
As I return home,light as a bubble,
Floating high in the air,
A myriad colored rainbow
Makes a child scream with joy
Everyone wants to catch me
But can I ever be caught?
I am just a free bubble spreading beauty and charm!
Yes I am a woman who loves , lives and causes no harm!

TAKE ME HIGHER!

ST. PAUL'S CATHEDRAL, LONDON.

Steps, stairs, which lead us to a place higher than where we are, are quite fascinating.

They are such a  part and parcel of our life that we often do not see the beauty of these stairs. When they are outside a house they beautify the facade of the building. Broad, beautiful steps leading up from the garden look majestic. They give a very imposing look to the building. If there are two or three steps going up from the lawn, they look comfortable and cozy. If there are a number of steps leading up to the  building then they look opulent. 

When the stairs are inside the house and are meant to lend grandeur to the building then they are very broad and occupy as much space as a room. These stairs can be found in palaces in Europe. These steps are indeed majestic. They are not only used for travelling up and down, but also for allowing the person using the steps to come down in style to meet and greet those who are waiting at the bottom of the steps. 

Spiral staircases occupy less space and are to be found in castles and towers. On these steps one comes down cautiously. There is a bit of foreboding when using these steps. One wrong step and one can go down spiraling very fast and hurt oneself quite badly, as I once did.The most fascinating spiral stairs are at the Qutab Minar at Delhi. I always feel that spiral stairs are meant for the nimble footed. Somehow they  conjure up the image of a princess running down surreptitiously to meet someone.

RODEO DRIVE L.A.

Wide, wide steps like the Spanish Steps in Rome, lays open a huge vista in front. These are beautiful steps which makes one feel very unbound with the feeling of free space. Steps in the open make one want to sit and look at the world go by from a distance. Space, distance, comfort, grace, romance, everything is there in these steps.

ATHENS GREECE- 400BC.

The steps in the ancient theaters of Greece are fascinating. How well made were they! Everyone could sit and watch the plays from anywhere. The acoustics too were so good that without microphones and amplifiers people could hear the artists.

Steps on the ghats of the rivers give a feeling of life flowing by leisurely, continuously . One can sit on the bank of the river on the steps and feel calm. The flow of the river, the sound of the river and boats plying slow and steady with nothing but the sound of oars is very soothing.

METEORA GREECE-GOING UP TO THE SKY?

What is it that makes stairs so fascinating? Is it because they lead us somewhere? Somehow, whenever I think of stairs they only seem to be going upwards. I never visualise them as going down. Although stairs are never one way. They take us up as well as bring us down. Perhaps because looking up is always a better option than looking down!!

Looking up gives the feeling of aspiration, soaring up higher in the sky, moving out to freedom, going towards infinity. Just going higher, higher, higher!