Letter from Amma

My dear Altoid,

He said he couldnt come over today, so will call him next week and fix a time.
(!!@#&^^%%%% if you are asking what kind of a start this could be to a letter, well its obvious you dont interact much with my mater....Seren and I have years of experience and catch on to random trains of thought like wildfire) I have been down with a cold and cough. I went to the doctor and he has prescribed antibiotics, which I dont need/believe in. I prefer the quack that lives 50 kms away to the certified doctor across the street, cos the quack gives me colored potions that make me throw up all the impurities and cleanses my system. Faith healing is quite a strong antidote, you know. But what to do, the doctors themselves dont believe in it. Hope you are doing fine and eating right and exercising regularly.

The "maestri"(that would be the handyman, I believe- loosely translated) had come and swindled us of 300Rs, he took away the stash of cement that we had kept aside to build the second mansion on top of the one we have..... please dont let your father know, he'll ask to file for divorce papers right away. I cant afford to fight an international matrimonial law suit. The roof is still leaking, I am not able to pay for more than 25 buckets to catch the water. The maestri says thats a new type of roof design.

She said that eating taro root everyday will cure you of all diseases you have and will ever have in your life(!@@^****((%$!). The password has been changed and she has not shared it with me. And then she yells at me saying I am technically challenged. Who has the time to do tags?
(Ha! you, the innocent readers, didnt catch it, did you? SHE is talking about two different people in these 3 lines. If you didnt get that, you really dont need to be reading further, cos most likely NOTHING else will make sense!).
Have you checked your brain lately? You know after a certain age, one should get all mental and physical faculties checked at regular intervals. Ok, it is now charred and your sister will scream if I present this to her for dinner. I have to make rotis without oil for her too. She behaves as if I never cook for her.....btw what color are the flowers in the big shrub thats in the third spot away from the creeper against the wall? Have you gotten a fresh batch of strawberries...dont forget to water the poinsettias regularly. Please dont forget to use MiracleGro, its true to its name and very soon you will have a thriving garden. You know, he never calls back and emails to him keep bouncing. I am not sure if its a hyphen or underscore in his email id. Maybe it is both? Can you find out on the internet what his email is and let me know?

Ok, my students have arrived at the doorstep and they have exams next week. I wont be sleeping for the next two weeks worrying about their results and how it will affect my image. Take care of yourself and please write. I find it difficult to browse your blog for updates because I dont know what she does but sometimes I cant find the website easily in explorer.

Love
Amma

Lens speak 1

Twas the perfect weather to stroll around DC this weekend; lighting was just so right and the cool breeze made the long walks even more soothing and goaded one to go on some more and more and more...........

(I played around quite a bit with Photoshop on these pics, as can be seen- I am sucker for panoramic views. The one shown here is that of the WW2 memorial between Lincoln memorial+reflecting pool and the Washington monument.)

Enjoy!

Wishing well from a well-wisher

During a recent conversation with a good friend, I realized there was this one thing she wished to have....badly. "I'd kill to own one of those" she said. But being as thrifty as she is, she winces at the high cost of the ones found at county fairs and countryside flea markets.

I believe I am a moderately materialistic person. While I dont splurge(too often!), if there is something that catches my fancy, I do try to indulge them. Agreed, I am still trying to cut corners and save for the macro lens(which I had posted about asking for contributions and as is evident, was fruitless) for my more-sacred-than-life camera. But I believe no one should pine for something that strongly for too long. So I decided to help her out, especially since her birthday was just around the corner.

Ebay was my first stop and within a few minutes I'd found the right one for her and placed a bid. In two days my bid was accepted, paid the pal(Ecommerce zindabad)and the seller was well on his way to ship the item out.

Some ten days later(since I was travelling) my neighbor brought a 4'x2'x1/2' package that she had picked up from my doorstep in my absence(God bless her). Erm! Gulp! went I. Cos you see, I had ordered a.........................wishing well planter and the package seemd nothing that could fit one!

A few minutes later the realization thunderbolt struck me....it was a do-it-yourself kit. While I unpacked the contents, I was reminded of my past experiences with woodworking and self-assembled furniture. My first attempt was a computer table....I assembled it with my signature style...it swayed from side to side . Finally I had to discard it in our apartment trash yard, cos no one would buy it at the yard sale. The study table I have now was NOT assembled by yours truly. I asked for help and stayed away from deriving any pride for putting together a work of art.

The bookshelf was no different....swayed and sashayed as well. But for that, I had an easy fix. Its been propped against a wall for many years now. It has survived, thus far.

All these thoughts came gushing out of my memory, as I unpacked the myriad different pieces and nuts and bolts. BYOS, the package declared in bold print.(Bring your own screwdriver). Aha, time to bring out the new drill, I rejoiced. See, I am now the proud owner of a new drill- one that will make any tool-obsessed, home-improvement-addicted, home depot/lowes-loving male proud!

After a few days of heavy duty carpentry, I have come to one conclusion. The instruction booklet which makes the assembly look simple and obvious is very clearly intended for professionals. I remember at least 10 times when I've had to screw/unscrew to get it right. Some rounds have been "DOH" moments, when I've realised the right technique AFTER having tightened about 10 screws!

Long story short, last night(this has been my daily evening routine, in place of quiet reading time, post-dinner) I have a final product....Voila!

This goes to C, for her birthday and Altoid gets to have two scoops of Haagen Dazs pistachio icecream for a job well done. This end-product has been quality tested and no swaying and sashaying have been found so far. No pieces are falling apart, I dont have any pieces left unused, all screws have been set and for now, all seems well with the assembly world.
After the grand reveal I will be sending special prayers to the woodwork Gods to not let me down by making the planter fall apart when a plant gets placed. On second thoughts, perhaps I need to test that as well.

"The object of most prayers is to wangle an advance on good intentions" ~ Marley Bob

I'm it- again!

Gasp! And this time I've been tagged by HHG, and again, this time- how COULD I say no?

There are 3 rules.
Rule 1. The rules must be mentioned in the beginning of the tag.
Rule 2 You must list one fact that is somehow relevant to your life for each letter of your middle name. If you don’t have a middle name, use the middle name you would have liked to have had.
Rule 3. At the end of your blog post, you need to choose one person for each letter of your middle name to tag.

Ok, those of you that are eagerly waiting to hear my middle name- sorry, I aint gonna declare the ugly middle name my parents lovingly conferred upon me. For that matter I dont particularly like my first name, in the first place. A rant about that later, for now let me finish this tag before HHG chases me with a stick in her usual "teacherni" disposition :D(trust me, having a teacher at home, one picks up on such quirks, fast!).

So my Perimma(doddamma, mother's older sister) , in her usual sudden and unpredictable outbursts of affection, would call me Priya(short for Priyadarshini). Hence I will pick that as my middle name for this tag.

P : Pessimist. Yup, I am pessimism personified. Positive thinking is a trait I am trying to master, so P could stand for that as well.

R: Rational. For me everything is mostly in the mind. I try to reason and insist on keeping my feet firmly planted on solid ground. Absolutely no belief in fantasies, miracles and possibility of the existence of utopia for me.

I : Insatiable desires to travel around the world. If duties and responsibilities wouldnt come in my way, I'd be backpackign in EU right about NOW!
Also stands for Introvert.
This doesnt necessarily mean I am unfriendly or antisocial. But you wont find me being the center of attention in a huge gathering. I can definitely not be called gregarious, vivacious etc etc, no one could say that of me, even by chance.

Y : Yumm-O Food. Love to cook, eat good food and a foodie at heart as has already been mentioned.

A : Artistic. I am very interested in all kinds of art forms- painting, drawing, writing, literature and crafts-just about any and all versions of art.

There, all done!

I will not take on the onerous task of passing this tag on to unsuspecting regulars. But I would encourage those that do read my blog, if you havent done this already, be my guest and take it up.

Footnote : So coming back to this lousy name(s) that my parents allowed to be placed upon me, I realise there is no point going through the rigmarole of changing it at this time...for some reason I dont see myself telling everyone that calls/emails/talks to me to start calling me Sujatha. Too much effort, not worth it. End of topic. This is just so my parents KNOW what they did wrong! :D

Revisiting the Bay

This time its been a more casual, less "how soon can we move on to the next tourist spot for more patelgirl" kinda trip to the Bay area. And the day we chose was perfect, if one could orchestrate the just right sunny, warm but not cold, clear sans foggy day to visit SFO, this would've been just it. And a master stroke of luck. So we set off.

My first Bay area trip was my very first touristy trip after landing in the US. And it had been a packed long weekend- visiting Yosemite and squeezing in a day of sightseeing. And like I said before, I was an FOB with lots on my travel plate, and hence it was all about how soon to see a place and move on to the next.

Not this time. And so there I was, with a camera and a bottle of water- viewing the city with a new pair of eyes.











This embedded slideshow has some of my favorite pics. Of course, the Golden Gate bridge was my favorite pick to photograph, next was the Grace Cathedral and lastly the sail boats on the bay. Here goes...


Whilst waiting for the tour bus to arrive, we stopped by at a local Arts and Crafts fair right across Fisherman's wharf. While I aimlessly walked around, I stopped briefly at a stall.....at a stall that had some wonderful bookmarks, luggage tags and paintings in water color. And my mind wandered, while my body was thus tethered. Watercolor has been my favorite art medium and it always frustrates me to realise that I am bad at it. I love the simplicity of the medium, the basic color palette, the skill of having to control as simple of a medium as water with a brush. Yes, I am enamoured by it. I have been to many classes but never have been able to master it, though it needs some practice and letting go of oneself to let the hands flow along with water to create art!

And thus I was immersed in my thoughts, when I heard a voice "You know, I just picked up a brush and went at it, when I was 50 yrs old. I'd been a full-time tax consultant till then."

We both looked at each other and smiled. Thus I met Heidi. More about Heidi and her works here. I was very encouraged and her message came at the right moment, when I needed the reassurance that I too, had hope. So thanks Heidi, I will try my hand at watercolor once AGAIN. Heidi had an interesting collection of art work. One of her customers suggested that she make luggage tags, and I totally agree that it is a wonderful idea. Yup, you guessed right. I got myself an artsy luggage tag that looks thus :

Footnote : The farmer's market over the weekends are just awesome. Some of the picturesque homes in downtown SFO makes one wish moving out there. Food tastes so much better as well, maybe it was just a break from my own boring cooking?
Another to-do whilst in SFO is to use the streetcar. I loved the leisurely and packed(like sardines) ride :) but hey its good to do as the SanFranciscoans do while in SFO, right?

Role play, explained

Bro Green

I have never tied a rakhi to any "brother" in my life! (until this year)

Yes, strange fact. I dont have brothers, but plenty of cousins(first, second and multiple generations out). Nope, still havent. And with the recent commercialisation of the festival, I am also not the kind that produced rakhis in a jiffy at unsuspecting males. But when I heard about this some years ago, it remained in my mind and was waiting for a chance to be able to do the same. It totally made sense to me- the concept of making a tree one's brother. Asking for shelter and protection from trees, for a greener environment. Yes, I believe in it and I can do this, I thought to myself.

So this year, having moved in my new home, I realised this was the right year, the right moment. And tie a rakhi, I did, to the dogwood tree in my backyard.

And I asked for shelter during hot summers, under its cool branches. I asked that my plants grow and thrive and disprove the theory that I have a black thumb ;). Alright, I know, selfish motive here. But that IS the real deal.

For some weeks now, my kind neighbors and friends have been very supportive and generously donating saplings, bulbs, cuttings of various plants from their own yard. Well, they dont know about my Hannibalistic tendencies when it comes to plants. So I ask for some good fortune and a "miracle" or two maybe (I will even intensify my belief in "miraclegro", if it helps). But yes, I need the shelter, support and mercy from my brother trees, shrubs and plants. My bit for a greener backyard!

So I've planted an assortment of flowering plants- ranging from chrysanthemums, tulip and daffodil bulbs, assorted colors of hibiscus.

Next spring, watch out for this space. Either I will have a ravaged backyard or a blooming garden. Its all in the hands of my dogwood bhai!

A day for the Acharya

Like I mentioned in this post, one of the best things that India has is Teacher's day(5th of Sept) thanks to our ex-President, Dr Radhakrishnan.

"Teaching is the profession that teaches all the other professions." ~Author Unknown

So true isnt it? No knowledge is sans a teacher some where, some time, some place. And each of us has memories- fond or otherwise of our teachers from kindgergarten to school to university. And those that turn out to be teachers, one of the noblest professions and definitely not the easiest. Even as I moved abroad, I realise that a teacher's life is that of the daily unsung heroes, those that slog and toil, being overworked and underpaid everywhere around the globe. That it takes a big soul with a bigger heart to decide to become a teacher.

I launch into a rollcall- of the teachers that will always stay in my memory.

Miss Bulloch - My class teacher in primary school. I have no idea what she taught, her face always remains in my memory as resemblin, literally, a bull.

Miss Linnie- My English teacher in middle school. She was the first teacher to instil in me the habit of using a dictionary. She'd insist on never giving out meanings of words just so we'd get off our lazy behinds and use the dictionary. Not only was she a wonderful English teacher, she'd also make wonderful greeting cards with pressed flowers which she'd sell to her students for a mere pittance. Remarkable lady and a great teacher. I have no idea where/how she is now.

Miss Manjula - My class teacher through middle school. Tall, dark, smart and terribly good looking :). She was my idol and a feast for the eyes. Its so good to see a well dressed teacher, and that she was.

Miss Damayanti - My science teacher in high school. The only way I'd learn physics and chemistry and biology.

S. Nagaraj - My math teacher in college. No one else has had me this interested in Math and score well and outdo myself as this Sir. He passed away a couple of years later. May he SO RIP.

And last but definitely cannot be the least, my resident teacher- my own mother, a chance to peek into the other side of a teacher's life and times. Like she says, in her profile, she was born to rule, but forced to teach and somewhere along the way she fell in love with it. Teaching reminds me of the papers that we'd add up numbers for Amma, the many different practice sessions that she'd teach us to prepare for her next day's classes, her first interview class, the house filled with test and exam papers- monthly, quarterly, annuals, report cards, pens strewn all over the house, Amma leaving early for her school Independence day/Republic Day celebrations- so many memories.

And of course, she will always run into one or more students at the many malls and hangout joints of Bangalore- the glee on her face, her confused look at failing to recall the student's name- totally entertaining :). Of course, one of the weird quirks of fate, I know I will never or can be a teacher. So the children of the world are spared, and how!

Acharya devo bhava!
Edited to add : Since I couldnt recall his name, I had to call in on advanced resources(aka Amma) for this name : Mr. Govindraj(4th standard). Within a few weeks of entering his class, he took one look at my wonderfully cursive writing and declared that I'd be the first to graduate from pencil to pen! Boy, was I gleaming my way out of the school gates that day to announce the great news to Amma and proceed immediately to a stationery store and procure my first pen!! Oh, the joy and such sweet memories.

Distorted digits

Wiggly toes
Red and glam
Now your turn
Pick the sham.