Happy Holi!!

Apologies to the readers. I have not had much time to write. But here is a picture from March, 2012.  Holi the festival of color fell on March 8th this year.  However, a week before that the streets were not 'saf' and one could become prey to water balloons and squirt guns.  Here a little one readies his gun for the next round, as his maid holds to his shirt to prevent him from straying too far. Delhi, 2012.

Krafty Butterflies

The following picture was taken in Ayuthaya, Bangkok.  At a local night market, walking distance from where I was staying.  I could not help but notice these handmade butterflies from dried palm leaves.  The patterns are hand drawn too, with markers.  Wanna guess the price? 15 Baht each--0.50 USD. 

And here is the picture of the artist.  I can imagine him sitting under a large tree, cross legged working on his art.  A lit cigarette wastes away next to his tea. His cat facing away from the cigarette smoke, pretends to take a nap!!  The man was very gentle, could hardly speak any english, but me, I had learnt to haggle in Thai.  Although, here there was no bargaining required. I did buy two of these, just so I would not feel guilty for taking his picture.

Oh, and yes, see those green things in the basket?  I had had them a few times in my childhood. They are thalmus of a lotus plant.  Thick and fleshy, not only do they provide support for the delicate lotus flower, but also help them float on water, and sometimes float long distances.  Lotus grows in stagnant water, so 'long distances' here is relative.  However, the fun part is that there are these almond sized fleshy edible fruits inside of the thalmus.  I loved them the first time I had them, when I was about eight.  But ever since then, every time I have had them they have not been ripe, so they are slightly bitter.  When I saw them on my last visit to Thailand, so many memories of childhood came back.  These are more common in tropical regions, so were not very common in North India.  I have also heard that in south of India there is a special dish made of lotus petals and stamina (plural of stamen).  In general, no place can match Asia's ingenuity in cuisine.  Asians have highly developed taste buds, and the world has benefitted from it!!

Scruncher: As Is Your Deed So Is Your Destiny

Yes, I took the picture.  Isn't it perfect for a new year's post?  I have said that I never tire of shooting sunsets, sunrises, moonlit evenings, and clouds!!  This one is taken from a plane, May 2009. 

You are your deepest desire;
as is your desire so is your will;
as is your will so is your deed;
as is your deed so is your destiny."
---------------Brihadaranyaka Upanishad:

May you choose wisely this year....and may you all be filled with joy and love.....Gott Nytt Ar, Naya Saal Mubarak, Feliz Navidad, A Very Happy New Year to you all


The following entry was written nearly a decade ago, randomly in one of my notebooks.  Since it was not a regular journal, it stayed on those pages for a while.  But every time I came across it, I looked at the content with a new eye. A decade ago, I was trying to sort life just as I am right now.  So, this message comes in handy. I hope that some of the readers will find it useful.  Do let me know......:))

Scruncher: As Is Your Deed So Is Your Destiny

February 2002

The tragic becomes beautiful when accepted with grace, it becomes comic when seen through a child’s eye, it becomes “salvation” when used to transform one’s consciousness –and it becomes magical by acknowledging its powers to make us superhuman.

                 -----------Accidentally Seasoned Hobo

All you need is a cruncher to begin renovating.

And I am not just talking about buildings.

Although that is how I found out about it.

Those of us who park there, were told that parking lot Green B will not have as many spots open for a while.  We might be assigned newer spots.  We were told that it is being renovated.

Renovated?

“That six-floor parking deck made of steel, concrete and mortar doesn’t need renovating,” was my first thought “It’s fine the way it is, huge, concrete and stable.  Besides, it’s been there forever why waste money?  Effort?  And most importantly why waste time?

Time !!  

But as the days passed I saw one section after another of the six-floor deck crumble.  

At first it had seemed unimaginable.  The sound of crumbling and crunching was obscenely loud.  Every time I parked there I could feel my blood stopping to circulate.  Fearing a hemorrhage I’d park as quickly as I could and run away from the screeching walls.  

Then it seemed ridiculous to take down what several men had put together.  What had served us for a very long time.  Then, I noticed on the days that I packed in the unbroken side of it, they had the time to come apart from its ¬amidst, loud clanking, roaring screeching and that deafened our spirits and deadened red blood of all those who live in half a mile range of it.  A few days later, it had started to look ugly.  The steel rods strong they are and useless, first supporting themselves, tough and malleable, and yet absolutely useless.  These rods now supported nothing and so looked bleak despite the inherent strength.

One day on my way to get my car, I stood watching it in awe, as massive bulldozers run at the speed of 5 miles per hour driven by men under 6 feet, elegantly grazed over the concrete.  

Concrete, solid, definitely a substantial foundation – concrete.  Another machine, driven by an average sized man pulled bricks and mortar away from –wires, rods and other building material.  

I asked the overseer—“so what’s this thing called?”

“That?”  still driving the machine, he smiled at me quizzically, “is a scruncher ” and then he shrugged, may be wondering what is a woman dressed in a business suite, holding a brief case in her right hand and insulated mug in her left want with a scruncher….??

As I walk towards my car, sipping my cold tea, on a chilly February evening, I pondered over the number of times I had been accused of being an idealist, the number of times my own negative thinking had neatly arranged the world in blocks of concrete and laid it out as a various levels of priorities, so beautifully than I knew exactly where to park my thoughts on which day, where to extract the car of my ideas from, how far to take them in, how far to pull them out, how well to steer my thoughts so that the adjacent cars weren’t hit –

Huh?” I wondered!  I just wondered if we all needed, a high-powered scruncher!

Yeah, that’s what it is ---we need a scruncher!!

So, don’t tell me this is the way things have been done, or else I’ll show you the scruncher.

By the way, good portion of parking lot green B is now a vast field, and for the time being, it can be turned into a playground, a daycare, free health clinic, a music school, a temple, a synagogue or a, mosque, may be a museum, or may be a parking lot……..

I know, in all likelihood, it might end up being a parking lot—but for now there are numerous possibilities—in its emptiness—

That’s the power of a Scruncher!

2002.