Friday 29 May 2009

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.

Thursday 28 May 2009

Do you believe in miracles ?



Tuesday 26 May 2009

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.

Monday 25 May 2009

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 !

Sunday 24 May 2009

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

Saturday 23 May 2009

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








Friday 22 May 2009

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.

Wednesday 20 May 2009

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 17 May 2009

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.