The blue sky

My memory of Switzerland dates back to 1985, when my grandmother had been there for 3 years with my aunt to look after her baby daughter. She had told me about how beautiful and serene that place is and she had got me a toy camera in which I could view different slides of snow filled peaks and the jersey cows and vast fields with no people in sight. My dream of visiting this paradise on earth got fulfilled on 18th April 2014, thanks to my hubby! We set out for a 4 day trip to Switzerland by car and the first stop was a small town called Thun. The road to Thun was awesome. Snowcapped mountains on both sides and some green fields here and there, where cows and horses and sheep were grazing. We reached hotel around 2 pm, kept our luggage and then went for a stroll to a nearby lake and park. It was cold and cloudy, but we managed to see the snow peaked mountains and little blue skies here and there. Had a nice stroll around the lake. Tanay was more than happy to play in the sand p...

Yesterday, I stepped out of the house in the morning for office. It was bright and sunny, but not warm. Sun was there, but his presence was not very strong. As soon as I got on the road, I could smell the cow dung from somewhere. It felt as if there were a few cows grazing around in a cowshed and the air was filled with the smell of their dung. If you are wondering, what I am talking about and how can I like the smell of cow dung, let me tell you, it is one of the most common thing used to plaster the courtyard and the earthen kitchen floors in villages. It is a coolant too and it keeps away flies and insects. People who have been to their grandparents in the Konkan region of Maharashtra will immediately identify with what I am saying. The smell took me to my great-grandmother’s village, called Maldoli, near Chiplun, Ratnagiri. My mother and her cousin sister grew up in this village for a few years after their birth. Both these sisters have a special bond with the village, th...

This year 7th April was a Monday. Last year, being a Sunday on that day, we had invited many friends in Germany to celebrate Tanay’s first birthday. We had booked a time slot in a Chinese restaurant and the people had enjoyed the buffet and drinks. Tanay wasn’t sure of what was going on, but this year, it was a little different. He was older by a year and he also had friends with whom he could celebrate this big day. ‘Wir wollen etwas Indisches’; the caretakers said. That means they wanted something Indian on his birthday for lunch. It is a ritual here in Germany that the parents of the birthday boy/girl bake a cake for the group and the caretakers. The caretakers told me that they are bored of eating muffins and cakes and so they want to taste something Indian. Indian food has always been the world’s favorite owing to the rice aroma, spices and taste. So, I brainstormed with my friends and moms and zeroed upon Aloo paratha (Indian bread filled with potato) and gulab jamun (s...

‘A hobby is a regular activity done for pleasure - typically during leisure - e.g., collecting themed items and objects, engaging in creative and artistic pursuits, playing sports.’ Wikipedia defines hobby in this manner. Collection has been my favorite pastime since childhood. The first of things which I really collected and remember vividly were bus tickets. I used to ask everybody around me, who travelled in bus to hand over their tickets to me. And when people asked me what I would do with them, I used to proudly say that I would become a bus conductor with all these tickets. When I think of it now, I find it very funny. There were tickets of different colors and I found the ticket set with the conductors very fascinating. What all one fancies during childhood!! Next in line, which I started collecting was greeting cards. I have around 500 greeting cards even today, in my parents’ house. I got many of them for birthday, festivals and so on. My aunt, who shifted to the US...