Sunday 21 August 2011

When the clouds were parted for an instant by the sun....

                  Monsoon was the most awesome time of the year during school days. For one thing all the canals surrounding my house overflows and it becomes very difficult to distinguish the road from the water bed and schools get flooded and therefore there wouldn't be classes for most days. I still remember a day when classes were dismissed as the principal's office got flooded and he had to sit on the table for the next few hours. Its also the time when i get to meet the limbless creatures (you know who), who owing to the circumstances starts traveling through the road turned pond. Till i got my cycle i had to walk all the way to school. So there comes this day which is extra wet and roads are extra flooded and teeny weeny me with my 10kg school bag wades through the road, jumping through all the dry spots trying to find a way without hurting the fishes and tadpoles now enjoying their new grey home. It is thundering and lightening and i get super scared. Their is not a soul in the road except for the occasional vehicles. Then i glance at the road running parallel to mine on the other side of the canal and who do you think i saw....nah its nobody interesting but my class teacher. But the sight of her then was like rain in desert.....well not really as the rain is the villain here. She smiles and looks at me every other second. So now we are walking on parallel roads, to the same destination, exchanging silent assurances and smiles. That was the day we became friends (she is just out of college and is young enough to be my sister) which lead to my going for tuition at her home and got attacked by her dog...well that is a story for later.
                    After geting cycle, rainy days were disaster at first...since i didn't know to balance the cycle with one hand while holding the umbrella in the other. I hated rain coats. For one thing mine was all big and made me look fat, and it was made into a shirt and skirt instead of a single long piece of plastic, which made it all the more difficult to manage.But after long days of practice, boy didn't i manage the balance act. Nothing could stop me after that....neither the strong winds nor the roads with deep pits.Even though i end up getting all drenched and cold, those moments struggling with the umbrella , cycle and traffic, moving through narrow roads, praying not to loss balance and occasionally losing breaks and running into fish sellers, those were the best monsoons of my life ( i crashed into the cycles of 2 fish sellers, 1 in the morning and 1 after school, on the same day once).

Sunday 7 August 2011

Radha and Krishna

                                     
                                     No I don't have any intention of narrating stories from the puranas. Indeed the love between the Hindu deity Krishna and his love Radha is portrayed as the most romantic couple in poetry, paintings and what not. But the Radha and Krishna I know personally are my maternal grandparents and if reciting the name of Radha is as holy as that of Krishna, then my granpa is for sure going to heaven. He calls my granny atleast a thousand times each day. Their's was an arranged marriage even though my granny likes to think otherwise. From what the early black and white photos conveys I am pretty sure that both were stunners in their youth. From now on granpa is K and granny is R. So K is the most volatile and stubborn person I have ever known in my life. For eg I will take you to a conversation between K and A,
K: R, did you see my umbrella.I kept it open right here.
R: Somebody might have kept it in the stand
K: Noway. I kept it right here for it to get dried.
R: I am busy in the kitchen...please look on the table or in the stand
K: But why would anybody take it? It is my umbrella. I am sure I kept it right here.
Me( storming out of the room tired of hearing the conversation) : What is going on here?
R( taking the umbrella out of the stand): See it was right here. Why can't you just look.
K: Well I kept it their only...why should I look here.
Me: FINEEEEEE
                                  R is literally the epitome of peace. She is calm, composed, extremely loving and caring. K in his 70's is still smart and healthy with not a trace of pressure, sugar or so called old age ailments. He gets up at 4am with R, goes for his daily morning walk at 5am. R in the mean time will be busy in the kitchen and finishes lunch with atleast 4 currys by 7am. K by the way is a retired engineer and R, a retired teacher.K is an obsessed dog lover and our home used to have 3 dogs, 2 cats and a parrot once upon a time. Born as a pet dog to K is something every dog will wish for...indeed it is something even some of my relatives and friends wished for. The dogs are pampered by  K to that extent that at times if I happen to be in the viscinity while he is serving the lunch for dogs, he would cordially invite me to  help myself with the mutton biriani that is prepared exclusively for dogs. The breakfast for dogs includes milk, biscuits and every other delicacy he can think of. And if at all some relatives settled abroad asks him what they should bring for him when they come home, he asks for dictionaries and encyclopaedias on dog care. K always names the dogs Raja,Rani and Judy. Even if one is replaced by a new dog , he or she gets the name of his predecessor.
 Let me take you to another conversation between R and K,
The conversation is taking place in the kitchen where R is preparing the biriani for dogs and K is supervising.
K: Raja didn't show any interest in biriyani yesterday..You shouldn't boil the rice too much. And  i guess you                                        didn't season it well yesterday.
R(murmering to herself): As if they complain. Dogs are to be treated as dogs not guests.
K: You never boils the rice to the right texture... see it is getting sticky.
R(to herself): Why can't you make it on your own and serve your babies...why bothering me.
Me (a mere spectator of all this) : I wish i could be your dog in my next life.