Lazy-bones go under cover

I am yet to grow out of my childhood silliness. Lazing on the bed until 9:00am although I am  no more asleep is part and parcel of the 7th day of the week. Normally I would have written about my sunday morning colombian coffee or about something I have done in the kitchen.
Since 9:00am this morning I summoned my 7year old to do what in our terms is called a 'pillow fight' or ' an under cover fight'. I have to admit, I do like mini wrestling with my son. I annoy him saying he is only a 'fake hero' and how big a HERO I am.

The gadgets of this mini WWE are couple of pillows and a 7 tog quilt. One has to constantly throw or hit  the other with the pillow. Don't let your imaginations wild at this point as no such thing as feathers flying from the pillow happens in this particular pillow fight!

Following this, more wrestling happens under a big quilt. The rule is that at no point the fighters are allowed to go outside the blanket. If they fail this they are the loser. The wrestling arena is the quilt blanket.

Game continues until 10:00am when both of us agree that the other one is NOT the hero. No game is complete without the noises that heroes alone can make. I titled my self the HERO , so did my son to himself. Everyone is a winner in this game.

The noises we both made became the funny lines of the day. It goes like this..

I went..."We are family,
               We both are komaly (meaning clowns in tamil language)

My son goes.....Dad is oncall(y) ( dad got called into work on  and
                         our mouths are garlicky (haven't brushed teeth until 10:00am..yuck!)

Storm

What is more difficult than to do a enter the supermarket with a shopping list in mind rather than on a piece of paper? BBC has been constantly giving out red, amber and green alerts for a storm that is to cross the South of Britain, so I have to stock up some food.
It is indeed very upsetting for me to think that the morning hours of my precious Sunday is going to be at the local supermarket trying to find food that could potentially fill my tiny refrigerator.
I haven't cooked anything nice for over a week, thanks to work pressure. With tiredness dampening my spirits to cook,  I strolled down the aisles for groceries/food etc.,
The human mind works so fast. As soon my eyes capture fresh vegetables and fruits my brain is fast tracking the recipes for lunch and dinner. All I have to do is to remember to buy all the ingredients for the recipes. Making sure that I have all the ingredients for my recipes is as satisfying as preparing good food itself.
Having filled my refrigerator I have this strange feeling that I am coming down with flu. Anyway,  I have to cheer myself up, so I am off to make some hot vegetable soup enriched with double cream.
Fingers crossed with the hurricane. Hopefully I won't have to work tomorrow due to the effect of hurricane and I can rest even if influenza befriended me!!

PRESS

My mundane Sunday evening task is to 'press' my trousers to keep them ready for the rest of the week. I do not particularly enjoy doing it because I am not good at it and reminds me of the fact of life that 'ironing things out' is not easy as 'ironing clothes out'!

This time I asked myself this question 'why am I doing this and what for' ? 'What is it that I want to achieve'? Suddenly my prosaic task became slightly interesting after all.

I was pressing my beige coloured trousers and its history stood out before me. I realised that I have possessed this particular trousers for over 10years. It is the senior citizen of my wardrobe. It has stains from my professional environment, it has been worn out and has been re stitched. I can hear that it is longing to retire or recycled. Yet,today, I chose it to be ironed.

Up until today I do not know what I want to achieve from ironing.  Honestly speaking I think I am more worried about what others will think of me if I wore a non-ironed wrinkled trouser. If the whole society did not care about my looks I would have not used a ironing machine and I don't think even such machines would have been in practice.

At the same time I am part of the society. I don't think I will buy new trousers if they are wrinkled.

Everything in this world has to be 'MADE IN CHINA' ; otherwise something is wrong in the making. I suppose even the first ironing tools were Chinese invention ? ( invasion these days...)

Crease resistant trousers will definitely make my life easy !!

Title..hmm..how about Aeroplane

I hate traveling on a plane. There are no two ways of saying it. Most times I come under circumstances where I am forced to board a plane because it is the only quickest public? transport  available to travel between continents. How easy will it be for the continents to shrink quickly as and when my mind requires so that I can drive to places rather than fly?!!

Surprisingly, this time I did enjoy a few scenes through the not so clean window of the Boeing 777.

A window seat is sometimes a privilege especially if the journey is during the day time.  The landscape of the sky (a misnomer or should I say the 'skyscape') is like a second version of the mountains and seas underneath. The clouds are the giant snow mountains of the skies; the skies themselves form the seas. It seems as if the 'skyscape' is a modified reflection of the landscape.

The view down below started as an ocean of concrete (buildings- the blocks of  livelihood) with patches of green. Mostly arid, I must say it wasn't visually appealing.  I could feel the hot sun through the window. Warm temperature is a welcome change for me!

After a while, the plane  changed its course and I could see what I think is a massive river. The ripples on the water are like the wrinkle lines on a valuable leather wallet. Who knows what treasures are buried underneath?

The land was dotted with marshy wetlands and small lakes. The beautiful reflection of the noon sun on the surface of lakes was a treat to watch!

I wish I could add some pictures of the view, but this time whatever registered in my retina and mind is better than the pixel format.

I want to keep my spirits high for tomorrow because I have two more flights to catch  before I reach the land that I currently belong!

Thirukurral

Thirukurral is the one of the best forms of Tamil Poetry that I have come across since my childhood. It was a burden to learn at school  because I never understood the meaning and I had never appreciated the essence of this rich Tamil Literary Work until recently. Aram (Righteousness), Porul (Wealth) & Inbam (Joy) are explained in depth, thanks to authors who deciphered the couplets to people like me. Other Language translations are available but I doubt they are as good as reading in Tamil.
When I read ' Pirivaatraamai' (Pangs of Separation) from Inbam followed by Thuravu (Renunciation) from Aram I developed a sense of relief that presence of such human thoughts explained by Dr. Karunanidhi (whose explanation I read) is universal but the exploration and expression of such thoughts are unique to the Supreme poet-Thiruvalluvar.

Inbam explains the sweet pain and suffering  of Love in Life. It spreads some warmth upon the reader to certain extent.Aram,on the contrary is a fountain of coldwater that instantaneously takes away the warmth of Inbam. Thiruvalluvar has made it a point to teach the folks good things in life so he has given the chapters of Aram in the beginning and later on elaborated on Inbam. By the time the reader comes to read Inbam he would be a better person to understand the pain of Love and would be able to cope with it better I suppose!!

It probably will take my lifetime to understand Thirukurral completely . Nevertheless I am fortunate to read and enjoy such fantastic poetry!!

மரங்களே!

தமிழுக்கு 'ழ' அழகுப் போல இந்த வானிற்கு நீங்கள்  அழகா ?

Do Candle Flames talk as they Dance?

 

Ornamental Grasses

Ornamental Grasses will be on my wish list when I miraculously become a non-lazy person and maintain a garden!

 Until that time, I have no hesitations to watch their beauty at a distance or slightly closer. This particular grass has flowers that are paddy lookalikes. I wondered how a field of paddy will look if covered in snow. The last picture is slightly closer to my imagination.

My First Grey Hair!

The First Grey Hair

NO, let it stay. It speaks but truth:
My Autumn's day is dawning.
The dream is past; sweet dream of youth.
Hair, I accept thy warning.
With mournful thought, my spirit swells,
At the wild chime of memory bells.....

(Mary Eliza Perine Tucker Lambert)

There are not many 'first' happenings in my life that I am able to remember. I would have liked to remember my first day at school, the first book I read, the first sentence I wrote,my first exam, the first dream that I dreamt, my first ever friend, my first day at Bharathanatiyam dance class etc.,  and the list goes on and on. Funnily I do remember the drama behind my 'First Grey Hair'. I was reading the above mentioned poem when I recollected the past and tried to relate my feeling in connection.

 I have spend most of my school summer holidays at my Gran's house which is a Traditionally purpose built 'Agraharam' House. The house is built at an elevation so that when the deities from local temples take a procession, one can stand in front of the house and watch the occasion. It is like a Stadium to practise Religion.

Although the house is huge it typically has an entrance with a  very low headroom. People that walk through the door have to show their respect by bending their head down as they enter or else they get their heads hurt. I never released that I had grown taller than the house's entrance door until one day the house itself  harshly reminded me that.Yes,I bumped my head at the entrance and blood started gushing from my torn scalp.

The bleeding was arrested firstly by ground coffee. Coffee,Tea and Cobwebs are considered hemostatic agents and aid in clot formation. I was brave teenager then to have my scalp sutured (I mean I did not cry!)

 I was a bit bald  for a few days where the sutures went  and when some of the hair did grow back 2 of them were grey!! My First Ever Pair of Grey Hair.....I cherish them till this day although honestly speaking I don't want to see any more for I would partly feel the same way as this poet but will not say 'No,let it stay'!!!