Park-ing

The sky was overcast this morning

bringing the temperature down to the

mid 90s with a cool breeze.

So we set off to a children 's park after finishing

house chores

This park is known by many names

Japanese Park

Haathi or Elephant Park

Children 's Park

its latest nomenclature is after a religious icon

A kiosk selling drinks and snacks.

This little guy was minding the ice cream cart
while his grandpa rested on a bench

A slide in the shape of an elephant

Abner zipping down

Abner playing with the kids of

a Muslim family.

I imagined the father works in a middle east

country and was home on a family visit.

Taking advantage of good weather he brought his burqa clad wife and 8 children for an outing.

On another slide

Some kids with their dog

Abner on top of a play sculpture

Because of the heat there were hardly any flowers

But lots of greenery

Caught human love-birds

away from the madding crowd.

As we were leaving something really funny happened.

I was taking all these photos

and someone must have observed this.

A boy approached me assuming

I was a professional photographer

and requested me to take their photos.

I very politely told him I

could not do this

as I am an amateur.

When we returned home after 2 hours

in a relaxed atmosphere

my peace was shattered

to see my mother very upset and gloomy.

Some boys had jumped into our campus and ignited a fire

in a wooded area on the far side of the church.

The fire was in control. Our church handy man

had done the job.

But my mom was not convinced.

She was was also having an upset tummy.

Anxiety sets it off.

Because of mother 's health

I walk on egg-shells

a knife blade and pins and needles at times.

I get tied up in knots, its hard to explain.

Sonia is a great support. She will stay another week.

Later on when the church worker came and

told mother that all was well

she relaxed and had some food.

Anyway I am glad

for the pleasant morning

we had at the park.

Do you believe in miracles ?

Take Five

Summer fruit basket These are lichis (lychees)

Their juicy white flesh is very sweet.

And the skin is prickly.

They grow well in the foothills of the Himalayas.

It is a native fruit of China.
The British brought the lichi to India.
Lichi bottled juice is very refreshing.
It makes a good dessert with ice cream or fresh cream.
You can also have it as a cake or trifle topping.

These mangoes are the langra variety.
East U.P. (my state)is famous for them
and they are exported all over the world from here.
They have a distinct flavor which we enjoy.
There are more than 400 different varieties of mangoes in India.
Most of them are speciality and not easily available.
Fruits, like vegetables have become very
expensive.
But we can 't resist
a treat.

Mummy and Abner having a snack

while watching TV.

They are eating lai-channa.

The common man 's snack.

It consists of puffed rice mixed with

roasted peas, gram or peanuts,

garnished with chopped up onions, tomatoes

fresh coriander, salt and green chillies.

It is a very healthy snack.

You can buy it from a roadside stall

or rustle it up to your

own liking at home.
Poor people have it as a meal at times
as its very cheap.

Loiuse
tagged me for

5 un-important things about myself

Yesterday there was a welcome rainstorm in the afternoon

and the weather became pleasant.

So we went to visit a shut-in aunt.

On the way back Abner wanted to drive the

cycle rickshaw.

But his 7 year old legs

couldn 't take him anywhere.

The monsoons have hit the eastern part of India.

Cyclone Aila has caused

extensive damage to

Bengal and Orissa and Bangladesh.

This is The Day

Happy birthday to my sister Anjali
Refreshing the old times

Anjali with Namrita

at the Kempty Falls

in Mussoorie ( Himalayas)

Anju and I as High Schoolers.

I have most of the old photographs

and my sisters want me to post

them on my blog, so we all can

see how trim we were !

The Big Bang

Sonia 's 7 year old son Abner is very fond

of drums.
He played the congo drums in
church. He had the drums all to himself
as the Seminary students who usually play them
are away.
So he joyfully banged away

Psalm 98
4Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all the earth: make a loud noise, and rejoice, and sing praise
*****************
You must watch this amazing musical performance

Prime Oath

Yesterday Dr Manmohan Singh was

sworn in as the Prime Minister of India

together with 19 members of his

Cabinet in the Presidential Palace.

The rest of the Cabinet members will take oath

on Tuesday

Aerial view

Inside tour

The beautiful Ashoka Hall
where the ceremony took place

Chor Bizzarre

Chor is the Hindi word for thief

A few nights ago when I went out to take the laundry in I was taken aback to

find a shawl, bed sheet and my new cotton pants (shalwar) missing.

This has never happened before.

It was scary too and I wondered

at the audacity of a thief to come and

steal from my clothesline.

I was about to go out and search for them with a flashlight when Sonia returned from shopping

and found the missing clothes lying in our neighbour 's yard.

Their dog Naughty (aptly named)

had pulled them off the line and dragged them

to his house.

In doing do he chewed up my pants.

I am quite mad at that because

Sonia had given them to me and they were new.

I shall try to darn them.

Sheeba was mad at Naughty too and chased him away.

I suppose in the West it is the thing to

pay for the damage caused by pets.

It is not so here. And my neighbour offered, but I declined,

as it would create a social awkwardness.

I could never accept a replacement from them.

Relationships are more important than clothes.

Roahl Dahl is one of my favorite authors.

His books "Matilda " and "Charlie and the Chocolate

Factory" have made made into movies.

Here is a funny quote from him

to go with the doggie photos

“There’s jacky-jumpers in my tummy! There’s squigglers in my belly! There’s bangers in my bottom

Roahl Dahl

**************

Last week we discovered that

the goat lady whom we allowed to

gather fodder and fuel was

stealing vegetables from our land.

She hid them under the grass she collected.

Its sad because we gave her vegetables regularly.

Now she has been banned from our area.

I know poverty can lead a person to this

but it is also our duty

to teach people to be honest and

socially responsible.

Raja Ravi Verma

I like the paintings of Raja Ravi Verma (1848 - 1906)I have selected a few

on the theme of motherhood

Varma, (Malayalam: രാജാ രവി വര്‍മ ) (April 29, 1848- October 2, 1906) was an Indian painter from the princely state of Travancore who achieved recognition for his depiction of scenes from the epics of the Mahabharata and Ramayana. His paintings are considered to be among the best examples of the fusion of Indian traditions with the techniques of European academic art.
Varma is most remembered for his paintings of beautiful sari clad women, who were portrayed as very shapely and graceful. His exposure in the west came when he won the first prize in the Vienna Art Exhibition in 1873. Raja Ravi Varma died in 1906 at the age of 58. He is generally considered as one among the greatest painters in the history of Indian art.

Read about a stolen jasmine plant and a church planting bird called Mango on TAIWAN PRATTLER 'S BLOG

Sunday Blessings - We ' re Back Home

Praise God we returned home on Saturday evening.

Mother Hazel 's laparoscopy was successful.

On the 13th they ran several tests and the surgery took

place on 14th evening.

Several people came to pray and

to encourage us.

My Pastor, his wife and Sonia

were a great help. Mama has to get her strength and appetite back.

She has to have her sutures removed after 5 days.
The Catholic Hospital we went to is moderately
priced and offers excellent services.

Our room

My bed. I had to take my own sheet, pillow and blanket.

We also have to arrange our own food.

The young smart Catholic nurses

in this hospital are very efficient, dedicated

and well trained.

My Aunt Rita was admitted in a room down this corridor.

She had open surgery for gall stones.

One large stone was gorged in a duct which gave her jaundice.

She was very weak and ill. They inserted a tube to keep

the stone in place.

A day before her scheduled surgery she got high fever.

In the afternoon she was alone in her room

and a nurse, who knew we are related,

came to me and requested me to apply

a cold compress on my aunt 's forehead.

I did that for sometime till her fever came down and

her husband returned. My Pastor went

to pray for her several times.

She had her surgery and Uncle

showed me the large stones they removed.

I 've got Mama 's stones too.

They are about 6, like necklace beads.

Thank you so much for your

prayers and good wishes.

Everyday I read God 's promises from the Bible

and prayed with mother.

He is true to His Word.