My Lady of the Lantern

The trip began in the evening. There was a tree that was elegant in its bare sense. The walls were beautiful from the outside. ….and elephants stood as support to the inner recesses. There was fine carving on the walls inside… ….and there were geometric patterns in the window grills, each carved to perfection by hand. The entrances were a beauty… …and the columns next to a courtyard were carved with the motifs of a dancer’s bells. The rest of the civilization appeared far away. There were some secret staircases, I did not take. And courtyards that once thrived with life and humdrum called my name. The balconies yearned to be stood upon… …and I did not know if I had gone farther from, or was walking towards an unknown. There was a water-tank which helped troops when they were embattled… …and there were secret doors inside the tank. The garden of the Phantom of the Opera was now overrun by weeds. …and down below I caught a mosque’s outline. Night finally fell, and I said Goodbye! And I a...

That egg was placed to be crushed under the tyre of the groom’s car as he set off for the Wedding Venue ( in Wedding 1 ). I captured the ritual and assumed that it was done as a sign of good luck. I carried the assumption in the second wedding as well, when the same was repeated in Wedding 2. My assumption came unfounded last night when hubby and I were returning home from somebody’s place. I asked him about why the egg had been so placed. The reason for the crushing was that at some point of time, animal sacrifice was done before any auspicious occasion to please the Gods. And now, rather than sacrificing animals, eggs are crushed as a symbolic mark of the same exercise. I was hit by the meaning. Crushing that egg guaranteed that there would be nothing productive or nextgen-ish ever coming through that one egg. What would you have felt at being a witness to that phenomenon? Had you not known the meaning what would your reaction be? Had you known the meaning, would you have felt any di...

The bouquet is very special. Do you remember I had written a while back about my aunt's 75th birthday ? Well, my mother and lot of my aunt's family made the trip to celebrate her birthday, but one particular aunt could not ( she had an eye surgery in the offing ). My 'absent' aunt had also not been able to send a gift and while conversing with my mother on the day-before she spoke of how bad she felt for completely missing it out. The venue for the birthday celebration was a farmhouse tucked in the outskirts of a city. The evening before the birthday, my mother secretly spirited in a bouquet, and wrote a card, and had it 'delivered' on the D-day. Till date, my dear birthday girl believes that the bouquet had been ordered from across the oceans and delivered here. She was so happy to see that bouquet! Her smile on receiving the flowers made the day even more beautiful. ^WiseGuy^ The rest of the class is soaking sunshine here .

This Show and Tell , I am making you see the effect of cosmic disco-lights that can make the same scene look so starkly different. The first pic is: And the second pic is: And both the pics were clicked on the same evening...within 20 minutes of one another (date was July 8, 2009). ^WiseGuy^

This show and tell, I have something really exciting to share with you - two poems that are very close to my heart. The first one has fury-unrestrained of a broken heart, and the second one is sensuous, and very much so. Poem I – by Anna Akhmatova – You Thought I Was That Type You thought I was that type: that you could forget me, and that I'd plead and weep and throw myself under the hooves of a bay mare, or that I'd ask the sorcerers for some magic potion made from roots and send you a terrible gift: my precious perfumed handkerchief. Damn you! I will not grant your cursed soul vicarious tears or a single glance. And I swear to you by the garden of the angels, I swear by the miracle-working ikon, and by the fire and smoke of our nights: I will never come back to you. Poem II – by Orhan Veli Kanik – Spread Out She's spread out; Her skirt pulled up slightly; She's lifted her arm, one can see her armpits; And with one hand she's holding her breast; I know, she thin...

Hey people! Have got some pretty pictures from the weekend trip to the in-laws. What you are about to see are all flower bearing creepers. First up is: Madhumalati . Madhumalati blossoms in their deep red colour can take away the 'drab' from any space. Also, its fragrance does something delicious to any breeze caressing it. Needless to say, it is often set up to grow near entrances or windows. It has beautiful buds (as if a painter has just dipped them in a jar of colour/ or like the wand of a lipstick). The other flower I captured is Aparajita . Aparajita has no scent. The commonest colour I see is cobalt blue. The other two colours known to me are yellow and white. But this shade of blue really is the prettiest. Aparajita bears flowers throughout the year. And BTW, Aparajita literally means ‘undefeated’. The last pic I am about to show is you is locally called as Badakh Bel . Bel means creeper….and well badakh literally means duck. So, why is the creeper called as Badak...

Well, what marks the end of a crappy day at work and the beginning of a weekend that is going to be good? What makes the cut as ‘Wow!’? A surprise package !!! I was making my way up the stairs of the apartment with my hands full with stuff, when the watchman said, “ Ma’m, this came for you .” Go on boy…I am about to fall under the weight of all this, and you can please keep something else too over everything. But I looked at the package and knew it was different. Nobody wanted me to have any exciting offers to ponder on or new schemes or new gold purchase capers or entry into schools we were not anyways interested in. I made it to inside the house and immediately picked up the package. I read the name of the sender on the envelope. It did not mean anything to me. I opened the package and a card fell out. Thank You Sassycupcakes ! It was her. She had sent me that package! She made my day. And oh, the soap smells so delicious that I am tempted to gulp it down in giant quantities. Mmmm…...

It started with my mother looking at me last night and commenting: ‘ Why do you look so yellow? ’…that verbal stir quite permanently disturbed my composure…. I was all set to give my holy fluid to a path lab today for confirming what the discussion was indicating – Jaundice …. Anyways, last night it was settled that she would observe me today morning, in the sunlight and make further judgement about whether I really looked like it. But the word Jaundice clung onto my psyche. Can you believe that one of the questions I asked her was whether I could have Jaundice and also be preggers at the same time? Then came sleep time…my favourite time. Well, hubby dear had already been on the bed for about 30 minutes when I trudged into the room…I took a bath and crashed onto my bed….with Jaundice Jaundice Jaundice running like a one word record in my brain. I went off to sleep. And I dreamt, I was pregnant and jaundiced . And I had a big belly and Jaundice …and my baby was fine, but I had Jaundi...

This week I am sharing some photos of the exterior of a temple I visited on a really hot Sunday afternoon. Afternoon meant that the doors to the inner chambers were locked for God to finish his daily siesta. So I had to satisfy myself with the mundane things outside. Am beginning with a selection of paintings done on the walls...very graphic! Now what you see here is what was used in the old days as a giant lamp stand....each of those spouts would carry an oil-lamp in the night. I am not sure if it was lit like that on all nights, but atleast for festivals, the pillar would get decked up. There are two such pillars to the main entrance of the temple. A side profile of the temple....Spectacular! Mr. Sun caught me taking a pic of the front side. I love this typical architecture, somthing not seen now in the 'modern' buildings here. The rest of the Show and Tellers congregate here ! ^WiseGuy^

I was tagged (again) for Honest Scrap by the very sweet MAK-now . And even though I have been tagged for this before , I decided to do it, coz it is so much fun! Thank You, MAK-now! And yes, I hope you know that Show and Tell has moved to mid-week from now on! Let’s begin: What is expected is that I need to - 1) Choose a minimum of 7 blogs that you find brilliant in content or design. 2) Show the 7 winners names and links on your blog, and leave a comment informing them that they were prized with “Honest Scrap.” Well, there’s no prize, but they can keep the nifty icon. 3) List at least 10 honest things about yourself. Get ready for brutal honesty - 1. I stole chemistry notes of a friend when I was in the 9th class. She forgot her notes under her desk and I picked them up and popped them in my bag. I was a little ‘behind’ and decided to copy hers…next day, she had already created a ruckus and I was afraid of telling the truth. I quietly kept her copy under her desk, with a note of apolo...

I think the image 'tells' it all ... ^WiseGuy^

Here’s the picture…you tell me…. What might dis be ? . . . . . . . . Oh, come on…you just need to see it more carefully…come a bit closer to the screen.. . . . . . No, not this close! Relax! Here’s another one. Tell me, what might dis be ? . . . . . . Stop making faces….you should have guessed it already…disco lights, flower power curtains? . . . . I am really asking you to tell me, what might dis be ? . . . . . . You got it? Did you really? Wow! Coz, if you still did not, alas, I will again ask, what might dis be ? . . . . . . . Those were gifted to me in October 2008. The package reached me during the IVF cycle….it was sent to G with DH, unopened, while I stayed back in City I . I opened the box, along with my birthday gifts somewhere in March 2009. That’s right; had I not been blogging or documenting anything….December to March 2009 would have been one big black hole. The first time I tried them on was March 22, 2009 and the pictures are from then. All my birthday gifts too had sta...

To peak a whole year of Show and Tells, Mel asked the class to bring its favourite Show and Tell for this particular one. Out of the 29 Show and Tells, that I have done, I want to bring to class this particular Show and Tell: Show and Tell: A Book to Remember posted on November 02, 2008 ! I was torn between two Show and Tells, and I chose this one because it belongs to an era when I had little audience. Hence, this Show and Tell received less attention than the other one. To check what everybody else brought check out Mel's blog ! But to the circle meet for this Show and Tell, today I have got something which is something I have never talked of - Books! Ya I know I know...I do a lot of books...so stop being so agitated at me! You see, my mother sent me two books, saying that it would be more useful for me to have them. The books talk of s€x... But the importance of those books lies in completely different directions... Those books were gifted to my mother by her eldest sister som...