Love happens...when nature wills

She braved the odds that nature threw at her

Bowing graciously to the harsh winds of summer

Wilting away slowly with every passing day

Biding her time until heat gave way

The summer was brutal and so were His men

But she clung on to hope, she had some then

Waiting to be kissed and loved

By a benign dark cloud

But, alas! The clouds were just passing by

Her redemption, was not so easy

Green turned into yellow and then brown

She soon began to lose faith,

Into the ground of sorrow, she was to drown.

Then he came, like a whiff of fresh air,

Blowing soft kisses, riding on a pregnant cloud

Every drop of love, wet her, healed her.

Caressing his beloved,

He washed away the dust,

Reminiscent of the painful past

Her face was awash in his selfless grace

Carrying droplets of pearls,

 Oh so many!

They danced in joy, happy and gay!

Making a promise, all in silence

To wait, hope, love and surrender

To bloom in abandoned joy

To let go in unrestrained ecstasy

A romance that is incomplete

Without him or her

And, such is nature’s legacy

* Tried to capture the love affair between a young sapling and the first rains. This was written for a contest hosted by Atta galatta. And, nope, this is not a winning entry :-)

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What's your good name?

If someone can be named Sitara then why does Guitara for a name sound so funny?

If a person named Ram is no where close to having the personality or qualities that the original bearer of the name possessed, then why does it mean any one with the name Raavan will be anything like the original?

Names have always fascinated and baffled me. I fail to understand the frenzy with which modern day parents name their offspring with the most difficult-to-pronounce and unheard of names-in the quest to be more unique. Since the time I've stepped into parenthood, I have come across some really bizarre names of which I'd rather not allude to here for obvious reasons.

Names have come far from the olden times of carrying forward the grandfather or grandmother's name resulting in having at least five subramanians, krishnamoorthys, Lakshmis or Kalyanis from the same generation in the family and having funny nicknames like Paapa, Echimi (short for lakshmi) or Ambi or even having the residing city attached to the name like Delhi mani to different each one from the other!

Naming children after mythological figures have been the most favourite since time immortal. Yet, one does not come across anyone named Duryodhana or Shakuni or Draupadi. There is a lot of baggage attached to these names, no? I don't claim to know a lot of people but in my limited circle too, I have come across just one "Abhimanyu" so far. I love the name, actually. Does the superstitious fear of a short life attached to the name surmounts logical thinking? Maybe, so. One never takes a chance with one's children.

And, of course, while talking of names, how can you go without mentioning those dubious first names of a male that can also be names in full for a female causing confusions about the gender of the person and causing much embarrassment to the carrier of that name? I can see the male and female Lakshmi-narayans, Uma-shankars, Vidhya-shankars, and Radha-krishnans nodding away furiously. 

Indian English uses forms like asking, "what's your good name?" - something that doesn't make much sense since we cannot substantiate the answer by further asking, so what's your bad name then? If History or Mythology has any bearing on the goodness of the names, then perhaps there are many 'bad' names out there. Of course, they way many politicians with lovely sounding names behave today, a lot of 'good' names are going to be dumped in future.

Courtesy:google;sqidoo.com

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Rudderless and some dreams

The school has begun in full-swing and I am left with some precious time in the mornings in which I fit in my yoga-something I wanted to get back to for a very long time now, the little content writing that I do, some reading and some browsing. The husband casually mentioned about maybe taking up something for serious-like further studies or maybe a more serious work profile. That left me thinking about myself and the options I have. I can go back to what I was doing earlier or try out something totally different.

I have never been ambitious. Yes, never the kind that imagined myself to be in a certain profession, passionately pursuing a self-marked goal. Actually, I never knew what would make me happy. I still don't know. In my younger days, I loved listening to the radio, to the old Hindi film classics and had many a film trivia on my finger tips. Zee Antakshari playing would have me sway and jump in excitement with the answers even before Deewane, Parwane or Mastane could press the buzzer. The Sister used to refer to me as having some kind of "filmi dimaag". Really, History dates or Math equations could baffle me but any tune or part of a movie scene would have me spitting out the name of the film, and other sundry trivia-for no particular audience as such, just to amuse the family members around and to revel in some false glory of housing such tremendous talent!

But, of course, such interests are best nipped in the bud, or at best pursued as a second or third interest, probably only in addition to a trophy job. These cannot be gloated about in public and do not really help in the more serious and realistic career paths like that of being a MBA, CA, doctor or Engineer. Which, of course, never really featured on my radar. For a very long time, I swam dispassionately and unattractively in unknown waters, trying to find the anchor which will have me rooted; in search of the cliched call of life.

Stumbling along, living patches of life doing things that interested me for that particular phase of life, believing that I have found the career goal and path, has been the story of my life so far.  Motherhood and post let me dabble more with the internet and I found myself writing on this space. This side of me has been the most surprising revelation-to me and those who knew me during my more confused and rudderless times. Again, I'm not sure if this is my calling because aside from showing bits of my prowess with words here (amidst many bouts of total paralysis to think and write coherently), I really don't know what more can be done. Again, a classic case of inability to dream big. 

Talking of dreams, of late our new home and its decor has been on my mind. I've been working with our designer to get close to what I've envisaged for my home. It's exciting and nerve-wrecking at the same time. Exciting, because its our first home and the canvas is new and fresh. The opportunity to make the best is too tempting to be ignored. Nerve-wrecking, because there is the fear of going overboard, of getting things right yet not losing our sleep over the bills. I am worried about things like how the final look will turn out to be, if I'll be able to translate all that is in my mind into the real, financial constraints, space constraints of the new house-yes, we haven't even moved in and already certain elements don't seem to fit in due to  shortcomings in the floor plan.

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Disaster

Simmering under a low fire,
                         slowly rising to the surface
making no noise,
                       of it's impending advance

Hastening suddenly 
                       as it reaches the summit
raging loudly,
                    pouring out in a split

Oh! haven't we all experienced,
                        the agony of being late, just by a second 
in simmering down the flame,
                         just as the milk rose to fame

A perfect kitchen spoiler, 
                           nothing short of a disaster
was just waiting to happen,
                          surely a ploy by the Heaven!

----------------------------------------------------
Who has not cried over spilt milk?.It definitely spells disaster on a perfect morning.

 My take on today's promt-Disaster for the Blog-a-prompt

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Monday blues

I suffered from Monday blues when I had a job. Nothing unusual there. However even now, when I do not work outside of home, this day is never welcome in my life. I just want to skip to Tuesday or Wednesday after a Sunday. A two-day weekend of relaxed schedules and outings with the family and friends leaves me craving for more and I hate Sunday evenings.

Interestingly, Monday next should bring some relief in my life since R's school is slated to open that day. He will be away for a straight 6 hours which gives me enough time to bring in some semblance into my schedule. Of course, this will be the beginning of a new circus in the mornings since R and the husband's schedules begin an hour earlier, as compared to last year's, which means the time deficit has to be managed by advancing the alarm clock by that much time. 

Now, although I'm not exactly someone who welcomes mornings with a smile on the face and spring in the step, I do wake up earlier than most others I know. Even on holidays-I like to sip my coffee and read the newspaper at leisure in the quiet time before the household gets busy. On the work days, I like to finish off all the mundane tasks as early as possible, so that the rest of the day is left for more pleasurable work. Yet, it is never a pleasure waking up (earlier the morning, crabbier my mood) to do a juggler's act in the kitchen; of cooking up and packing away the breakfast and lunch, clearing up the house that always seems like a tornado-struck place in the mornings, putting away the dishes to wash, loading the machine before the maid comes to duty, Phew!

With the husband also leaving for office earlier than before, I'm worried he might not be able to pitch in with getting R ready for school; something he used to do last year, taking off a huge task off my hands. 

So, Mondays now on will garner more mixed feelings. I am happy about the extra free hours after the morning circus but equally wary of the extra acts in the circus. Hmm, weekends should have one more day I say!

A part of the blog-a-prompt. Today's prompt is, of course, Monday.

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Day 2 -Thirst

I can think of a lot of things for the word, but the foremost that comes to my mind is the story of the thirsty crow that I used to narrate when I was probably in my second or third standard. I would stress on the "r" in crow, it seems. And, it seems the crow used to be my favourite bird too! Guess the story had too much effect on me. 

I was amused to discover that these stories are still around and do read it out to R many a time. Of course, in today's age and development, such stories seem quite silly. Does the water really rise when pebbles are dropped into the pot? Yes, I'm wondering quite late in my life about this story.

I happened to stumble upon the below picture on the net:


Well, crows are smarter than the story writer thought, apparently.

pic courtesy: 7-nature.blogspot.com 

This is my take on the prompt-thirst for the blog-a-prompt.

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Colour, colour, which colour do you choose?

So, I'm back with a week-long marathon agenda that has daily-prompts, an idea flouted by (who else?) the marathon bloggers, in a bid to get rid of the writer's block that most of us seem to be facing.

Today's prompt is colour. 

How the world appear if there were only black and white for colours? Dull, sad, cold, morbid even?  Colours bring a certain kind of warmth, sense of prosperity and happiness and smiles on the face.Imagine a fertile land with ample rain and shine. It has the grass always green and the blooms in myriad hues and sheen.

I'm in the process of doing up my home and spend hours on the net drooling over the fabulously done up homes. I love the traditional decor; the warm colours that add warmth and personality to a home. In my learning, colours can be brought inside a home in many ways. 

You can have colourful accessories like throw cushions, rugs, carpets, knick-knacks and wall hangings to complement a neutral color on the walls or have your walls coloured in lovely hues  instead. Green plants in colourful planters and lovely blooms in a well-maintained balcony is a feature that multiplies the beauty of a home. 
 
Another thing I have noticed is how light/lighting play an important role in bringing out a colour or brightening a dull corner of the home.

 I loved the warm hue created by the combination of the beautiful rug below:

Courtesy-Studio Ebony Bangalore

 Pics below are courtesy pinterest.com:

A bold colour on the wall,yet the effect is so stunning

Colourful cushions and carpets add so much warmth and eye-appeal

Greens add to the beauty, don't they?

With so many colours and options around, it is easy to drown and lose focus when it comes to home decoration.

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