The blue sky

Dear Aaba, I always remember calling you aaba from the time I started talking. Our family had a history of only boys being born into the family for almost 11 generations. And there I came fighting against that tradition of "only boys". A daughter born into a family is often considered to be a treasure trove in our community, which you also rightly believed. You named me "Deepa", which means light. It was Diwali around the time I was born and that is the reason you named me Deepa, is what grandmom tells me. You indeed considered me a bright little light which brought you joy, happiness and the pride of becoming a grandfather. You doted on me and took me places. You never spoiled me by buying anything which I demanded. But you gave me only what was good and healthy for me. You were very particular about your morning walks and what you ate. You never ate food from outside, you only ate what grandmom prepared at home. You alw...

 Today, my landlady's grandson, who is just 3 yrs old, came to me and told me that he wants to watch Tom and Jerry at my home. He also asked me to sit beside him and watch it. I hadn’t watched Tom and Jerry in the recent past as I was so busy with my life. But still his persuasion I sat to watch it today. As the first titles rolled on, his eyes lit up as if he was watching a magician reveal his tricks in front of him. He started laughing uncontrollably and was talking to me in Kannada and trying to tell me something. I was just saying yes and ok. He was shouting loudly and giggling with joy. It was such a treat to watch his innocent laugh and see him enjoy so much. His laughter was so pure and unadulterated. I also joined him in this enjoyment. Tom and Jerry are no less than any magicians, are they? Almost everybody of my generation has grown up watching them. They make us laugh and make us cry with their crazy tricks. Tom constantly chases Jerry and J...

When I had been to Germany in November last year, I also visited my host mother, Ms. Christiane Laehnemann in a city called Magdeburg. I had been there earlier as student and wanted to meet her again this time with Atul. She is a lecturer in a college and is a very well spoken and well read person. We visited her on a week end and on Sunday she took us to a nearby church as it was the first Sunday of Advent before Christmas. We attended the services in the church, where there was a small programme of kids and then the priest spoke about the importance of Advent. It was a very nice experience. People were friendly, everybody smile to me and wished me. But I observed that most of the people present there were old people. There were hardly any youngsters or people of my age for the services. Maybe they didn't believe in God or didn't have time to attend the services on a cold winter morning. After the services, there was a small tea party where there were stalls of differe...

कालच स्टार प्रवाह वर "गंध" हा अप्रतिम चित्रपट बघायला मिळाला. सगळेच कलाकार ताकदीचे होते. ३ लघु कथांना गुंफून  एक मस्त असा वातावरण तयार केला होता. उत्तम दिग्दर्शन, उत्तम सादरीकरण आणि थोडक्यात बरच काही सांगायचा अगदी सुंदर प्रयत्न वाटला.  "गंध" ह्या शब्दाचा इंग्रजी मध्ये "स्मेल" असा अनुवाद करण्यात आला होता ह्या चित्रपटात. मला तो खटकला. "गंध" सारख्या इतक्या सुंदर मराठी शब्दाचा अनुवाद इंग्रजी मध्ये "स्मेल" असा कसा होऊ शकतो? नाही अजिबात होऊ शकत नाही. गंध ह्या शब्दाचा जो अर्थ मला पटकन सुचला तो होता एकच "fragrance". पहिला पाउस पडला की मातीला जो वास येतो तो गंध, हिरव्या ओल्या पानांना जो हिरवा वास येतो येतो तो ही गंधच. एखादं बाळ उराशी धरला की त्याच्या तोंडाला दुधाचा  जो चिकट गोड असा वास येतो तो गंध. कोऱ्या नवीन पुस्तकांचा गंध तसंच नवीन करकरीत नोटांचाही गंधच, कपड्यांवर अत्तराचा मंद असा दरवळणारा गंध आणि शेणानी अंगण सारवतात तेव्हा येणारा ही गंधच. आजी जेव्हा फोडणीत छानपैकी कढीपत्ता आणि लसूण टाकते आणि तेव्हा जो काही घमघमाट सुटतो तो ही ए...

Sudhir, Koustubh and I met when we first started our careers with Hewlett Packard as translators. Sudhir knew French and I and Koustubh knew German.  Sudhir had come from Pune and Koustubh and I from Mumbai. Coming from the same state and speaking a common language in a new state helped us bond over garam chai in the canteen very quickly. And there was just no looking back. We went for lunch together, went out on week ends for movies, shopping. We helped each other to beat the stress and frustration at work. We talked about movies, music. Eating and shopping were our favorite topics. Sudhir loved shopping and Koustubh always took time to zero down on buying something. We tried almost all different cuisines available in Bangalore. Soon, Sudhir moved out of HP. I went back to Mumbai, however returned soon to HP. Koustubh was still there. But he also moved out for better prospects after I re-joined. But still we were in regular touch with each other on mails, calls and sometimes ...

In a couple of hours, the first match of the ICC Cricket World cup commences with the hosts India and Bangladesh pitted against each other. Indians are crazy for cricket, which is a world known phenomenon now. No matter how much we fight against each other on the basis of religion, caste and other things, we all come together as one nation to watch, cheer and play cricket. Lots of hopes of millions of Indians are pinned to the Indian cricket team and they are perhaps under pressure to bring home the much coveted world cup. I really wish and pray that India at least comes to the final and then win the cup. Watching India in a final against the arch rivals (no points for guessing their name, you all know it very well :-)) is just like watching a war game and adrenaline running high. Today the road would be empty as everybody would be glued to their television sets and they will cheer the team and create a wonderful atmosphere. My husband often talks to...

I usually wake up by 5 am on weekdays. An early bird, you see! The alarm goes off exactly at the time, when I feel like sleeping for “only” 5 more minutes. These extra 5 minutes seem like heaven. Anything which comes extra in life is usually desirable, isn’t it? I want to take the advantage of these 5 blissful minutes, but then my conscience pricks me and I get up from the bed quickly lest I succumb to those 5 minutes. I do yoga and pranayaam for an hour and then I also walk for about 15-20 minutes in the terrace. Almost daily, I am busy in completing the walk as a chore and do not notice the serene and calm atmosphere around me. But today, I happened to notice the green lush trees around my house. They appeared so very full and strong and hearty to me, waiting to embrace the golden rays of the sun. The blue sky was standing tall with a few white clouds here and there. The birds were preparing to leave home in search of food just as I was going to leave home in sometime for office. ...

I am a foodie.   I love eating any types of veg cuisines from all over the world.   A few years back, I used to eat non-veg (only butter chicken, once in six months, that too in hotel). But I gave up in 2005 when I had been to Tirupati with my friends from Bangalore.   Just like that, out of the blue, I thought of giving something up and cultivate a type of discipline in myself. As I was not very keen on eating non-veg, giving it up was easy. I did not miss it much and also did not mind someone sitting besides me and eating it.   There were so many varieties available in veg food itself that non veg items couldn't lure me after I gave them up.   If you ask me to list down 5 five favorite dishes.. the first in the list would be   1) Gobi Manchurian. I just love it at anytime of the day and on any day. I love the very tangy taste of it. And the roasted flavor of it along with some cut vegetables makes me go bonkers!!   2) It is a tie. Shared between Sev puri and Pav bh...

I had been to Lalbaug with my best friend Koustubh and his mom during the month of January. Lalbaug is a well known botanical garden in Bangalore. It has a famous glass house which hosts flower shows. It also has an aquarium and a lake, and is one of the tourist attractions in Bangalore. The flower shows are held there biannually during the Independence Day and Republic Day celebrations and it is a worth watch. I had been hearing this since a long time, but the 6 yrs I was in Bangalore , I had never paid a visit there. So, this time I made it happen and it was a wonderful experience. Being a Sunday, it was crowded, but we could see all the plants and flowers which were kept in the exhibition. I love plants, especially the ones that bear flowers.. Flowers of different shapes, sizes, colors and fragrances, just like the people in this world with their distinctive features. I had given a small bamboo plant to Koustubh as it is considered to be a sign of good fortune and in return, ...

Hello friends and well wishers! I am back with this new blog of mine. I won't be boring you with long essays and write-ups here. My friend John proved to be an inspiration again for this new blog. He has written his thoughts on routine things and after reading his blog, I thought of giving a channel to my thoughts which fleet in my head all the time! You should check out his blog too. It goes http://john-jethi.blogspot.com/ I will see you again with varied thoughts and my flight into the vast limitless blue skies of thoughts! Happy Viewing!