The fighting in the Taj Hotel--the last point of terrorist resistance--is now officially over they say. But the horror of it will take a long long time to be dimmed and for Time to apply it's healing balm.
For all of us who have had contact with Mumbai, Mumbai is a living, breathing entity. I was born there and most of my family have lived there at some point of time. What has occurred in the last 2 and a half days has saddened me so deeply.
The modern face of terror is very frightening, because reason truly seems to have taken a back seat. Is this the kind of situation we are going to see more of, as life on our planet gets more difficult to live in(due to our consumerism and conspicuous consumption),and we get to be more like rats in an overcrowded cage, running through an endless maze? I truly hope not.
29 November 2008
27 November 2008
A nightmare.
What is happening in Mumbai is a nightmare. We have been following the news from 10.30 p.m last night. you kept hoping that it would end soon. When we went to bed at 4 a.m, it was with the hope that when we woke up it would be over. Vain hope! Even now, at 6.15 in the evening, the firing and explosions are going on. I pray it ends soon.
I do not feel anger, but only deep sorrow, that young men--almost boys- of 21 or so, should perpetrate these kind of acts, when they should be spending time on growing up.
My prayers go out to the brave Mumbaikars. May the nightmare end soon.
Peace.
I do not feel anger, but only deep sorrow, that young men--almost boys- of 21 or so, should perpetrate these kind of acts, when they should be spending time on growing up.
My prayers go out to the brave Mumbaikars. May the nightmare end soon.
Peace.
23 November 2008
Tagged yet again.
This is another tag that 3inone tagged me with.
1. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? Yes. My paternal grandmother.
2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED? Today, after reading someone’s blog.
3. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? Sort of.
4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE LUNCH MEAT? Meat, fish, eggs--not fussy.
5. DO YOU HAVE KIDS? Yes, 3.
6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? Maybe
7. DO YOU USE SARCASM A LOT? Sometimes
8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? Yes.
9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? No—not now.
10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE CEREAL? Breads-made of any cereal.
11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? No.
12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? Hmmm. Yes.
13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE ICE CREAM? Anything but Vanilla.
14. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE? Their expression.
15. RED OR PINK? Red.
16. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVOURITE THING YOU LIKE ABOUT YOURSELF? Lots of things.
17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST ? My children when they aren’t around, my mother and my mum-in-law.
18. WHAT COLOUR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? Violet sarong and black slippers.
19. WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU ATE? Bread
22. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? Gordon Lightfoot—‘If you could read my mind now’ on Youtube.
23. IF YOU WHERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOUR WOULD YOU BE? Sea -green.
24. FAVOURITE SMELLS? Morning coffee, powdered cinnamon, jasmine or mahogany flowers on the night air and freshly grated lemon rind.
25. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? A niece
26. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU? Yes.
27. FAVOURITE SPORTS TO WATCH? Nothing really, but will watch anything just to keep company.
28. HAIR COLOUR? Pepper dusted with salt.
29. EYE COLOUR? Almost black.
30. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? No.
31. FAVOURITE FOOD? Breads and Bengali sweet curd (mishti doi).
32. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS? Happy endings.
33. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED? At the theatre? Quantum of Solace.
34. WHAT COLOUR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING? Light blue.
35. SUMMER OR WINTER? Cool weather.
36. FAVOURITE DESSERT? Fruity desserts of any kind, chocolatey desserts and Bengali sweets.
37. LEAST LIKELY TO RESPOND ? Respond to what?
38. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW? Just finished Inheritance of Loss.
39. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? No mouse pad..
40. WHAT DID YOU WATCH ON T.V. LAST NIGHT? ‘The Proof’ a sweet movie starring Gwyneth Paltrow and Anthony Hopkins. (this was done on 23rd)
41. FAVOURITE SOUND? A baby’s gurgling laugh.
42. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES? Beatles.
43. WHAT IS THE FURTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME? California, USA
44. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT? Well…..maybe singing
45. WHERE WERE YOU BORN? Bombay(was still Bombay then), Maharashtra, India.
Would anyone like to do this tag?
1. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? Yes. My paternal grandmother.
2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED? Today, after reading someone’s blog.
3. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? Sort of.
4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE LUNCH MEAT? Meat, fish, eggs--not fussy.
5. DO YOU HAVE KIDS? Yes, 3.
6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? Maybe
7. DO YOU USE SARCASM A LOT? Sometimes
8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? Yes.
9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? No—not now.
10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE CEREAL? Breads-made of any cereal.
11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? No.
12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? Hmmm. Yes.
13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE ICE CREAM? Anything but Vanilla.
14. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE? Their expression.
15. RED OR PINK? Red.
16. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVOURITE THING YOU LIKE ABOUT YOURSELF? Lots of things.
17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST ? My children when they aren’t around, my mother and my mum-in-law.
18. WHAT COLOUR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? Violet sarong and black slippers.
19. WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU ATE? Bread
22. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? Gordon Lightfoot—‘If you could read my mind now’ on Youtube.
23. IF YOU WHERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOUR WOULD YOU BE? Sea -green.
24. FAVOURITE SMELLS? Morning coffee, powdered cinnamon, jasmine or mahogany flowers on the night air and freshly grated lemon rind.
25. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? A niece
26. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU? Yes.
27. FAVOURITE SPORTS TO WATCH? Nothing really, but will watch anything just to keep company.
28. HAIR COLOUR? Pepper dusted with salt.
29. EYE COLOUR? Almost black.
30. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? No.
31. FAVOURITE FOOD? Breads and Bengali sweet curd (mishti doi).
32. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS? Happy endings.
33. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED? At the theatre? Quantum of Solace.
34. WHAT COLOUR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING? Light blue.
35. SUMMER OR WINTER? Cool weather.
36. FAVOURITE DESSERT? Fruity desserts of any kind, chocolatey desserts and Bengali sweets.
37. LEAST LIKELY TO RESPOND ? Respond to what?
38. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW? Just finished Inheritance of Loss.
39. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? No mouse pad..
40. WHAT DID YOU WATCH ON T.V. LAST NIGHT? ‘The Proof’ a sweet movie starring Gwyneth Paltrow and Anthony Hopkins. (this was done on 23rd)
41. FAVOURITE SOUND? A baby’s gurgling laugh.
42. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES? Beatles.
43. WHAT IS THE FURTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME? California, USA
44. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT? Well…..maybe singing
45. WHERE WERE YOU BORN? Bombay(was still Bombay then), Maharashtra, India.
Would anyone like to do this tag?
Hiphop Grandmom's tag
Hiphop Grandmom tagged me.
My oldest memory:
Going to nursery school in Bombay; being taken after school to an older cousin’s house, where I drew on their wall and was scolded for it.
Ten years ago:
My husband’s 50th birthday and when I told my husband that our now son-in-law wanted to marry our daughter.
My first thought this morning:
It’s a holiday and so I have more than an hour to spend online.
If you built a time capsule, what would it contain:
An 33rpm LP record—to show what that looked like, a newspaper (Nov. 5th 2008), an old book, a picture of our present picture tube PC and a couple of magazines—one news mag, one showing gadgets of today and one woman’s mag.
This year:
Has been full of events and has gone by at a crazy pace. The financial meltdown has been a big topic of discussion, as also the election. It’s an ok year.
14 years from now:
I hope that I am as ambulatory and healthy—mentally and physically—as I am today.
Now to tag 3 people--Mrs. T, Mallika and Dot?
My oldest memory:
Going to nursery school in Bombay; being taken after school to an older cousin’s house, where I drew on their wall and was scolded for it.
Ten years ago:
My husband’s 50th birthday and when I told my husband that our now son-in-law wanted to marry our daughter.
My first thought this morning:
It’s a holiday and so I have more than an hour to spend online.
If you built a time capsule, what would it contain:
An 33rpm LP record—to show what that looked like, a newspaper (Nov. 5th 2008), an old book, a picture of our present picture tube PC and a couple of magazines—one news mag, one showing gadgets of today and one woman’s mag.
This year:
Has been full of events and has gone by at a crazy pace. The financial meltdown has been a big topic of discussion, as also the election. It’s an ok year.
14 years from now:
I hope that I am as ambulatory and healthy—mentally and physically—as I am today.
Now to tag 3 people--Mrs. T, Mallika and Dot?
22 November 2008
'You've got to be carefully taught'
I heard that the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical 'South Pacific' (based on James Michener's book) has been revived recently. The New York Times gave the revival a good review.
We had the LP of the Broadway show at home and were familiar with all the songs long before the movie came to India in '64/'65. I knew and loved all the songs. The subtle anti-war and not so subtle anti-racist attitudes in the movie resonated with me.
Then I got to watch the movie again when my mother got a DVD of the original movie. Somehow I never thought that it would be revived now, because the issues seemed to be from so long ago and so was really surprised to hear about the revival. I have heard some of the songs on online radio.
After my post on Bigotry and some of the comments, particularly Usha's comment, this song from 'South Pacific' came to mind---
Well, still relevant I think.
We had the LP of the Broadway show at home and were familiar with all the songs long before the movie came to India in '64/'65. I knew and loved all the songs. The subtle anti-war and not so subtle anti-racist attitudes in the movie resonated with me.
Then I got to watch the movie again when my mother got a DVD of the original movie. Somehow I never thought that it would be revived now, because the issues seemed to be from so long ago and so was really surprised to hear about the revival. I have heard some of the songs on online radio.
After my post on Bigotry and some of the comments, particularly Usha's comment, this song from 'South Pacific' came to mind---
You've got to be taught
To hate and fear
You've got to be taught
From year to Year
It's got to be drummed
in your dear little ear
You've got to be carefully taught
You've got to be taught
To be Afraid
Of people whose eyes
are oddly made
And people whose skin
Is a different shade
You've got to be carefully taught
You've got to be taught
Before it's too late
Before you are 6 or 7 or 8
To hate all the people
your relatives hate
You've got to be carefully taught.
To hate and fear
You've got to be taught
From year to Year
It's got to be drummed
in your dear little ear
You've got to be carefully taught
You've got to be taught
To be Afraid
Of people whose eyes
are oddly made
And people whose skin
Is a different shade
You've got to be carefully taught
You've got to be taught
Before it's too late
Before you are 6 or 7 or 8
To hate all the people
your relatives hate
You've got to be carefully taught.
Well, still relevant I think.
Been Away
Been out of the loop for a bit; was baby-sitting my grandson over in his home town, as his parents had both to be out of town. So my husband and I were with him for around 4 days. But as I didn't get much computer time then, I find I am totally behind in my blogging world :) There have been so many posts, while I was gone, that I still haven't done reading. I found that I have been tagged with 2 different tags too, both of which I will do.
06 November 2008
'Yes we can'
A young Indian friend wondered why so many of us in this country were getting so excited about this time's US election. The answer that came to me was "A beacon of hope".
For people like me, there were several events that I never thought would take place in my lifetime. But this is one of three events which, to me, signal hope and the feeling that goodness can prevail. The first of the three events was the breaking of the Berlin Wall, then the dismantling of apartheid in South Africa and now this--that the US can elect a president without race getting in the way. Every time I think about it, it brings tears to my eyes.
Whether we like it or not, US values/attitudes/prevailing ethics, do have an impact on the rest of the world. In the last so many years--particularly from the Reagan era--there seems to have been a sharp rise of materialism, which permeated the whole world. I am not saying that the US is responsible for what the rest of us did; but somehow the message being conveyed, was that materialism was the only way to go. Barack Obama's election seems to bring back a warm fellow feeling for other people, a concern for each other, which is an essential in attempting to reverse the damage Man has done to Mother Earth, in his pursuit of this selfish materialism. Increased concern for others also brings hope for kindness to all people, irrespective of whether they believe in the same religion as you do or not.
Cheers to the American people.
For people like me, there were several events that I never thought would take place in my lifetime. But this is one of three events which, to me, signal hope and the feeling that goodness can prevail. The first of the three events was the breaking of the Berlin Wall, then the dismantling of apartheid in South Africa and now this--that the US can elect a president without race getting in the way. Every time I think about it, it brings tears to my eyes.
Whether we like it or not, US values/attitudes/prevailing ethics, do have an impact on the rest of the world. In the last so many years--particularly from the Reagan era--there seems to have been a sharp rise of materialism, which permeated the whole world. I am not saying that the US is responsible for what the rest of us did; but somehow the message being conveyed, was that materialism was the only way to go. Barack Obama's election seems to bring back a warm fellow feeling for other people, a concern for each other, which is an essential in attempting to reverse the damage Man has done to Mother Earth, in his pursuit of this selfish materialism. Increased concern for others also brings hope for kindness to all people, irrespective of whether they believe in the same religion as you do or not.
Cheers to the American people.
04 November 2008
Waiting....
I have butterflies in my tummy, want to watch all the live coverage, but at the same time feel nervous. I know the US is not the country I live in, but even so, feel so deeply involved in this election--as I think so much of the rest of the world is. I cannot bring myself to go to bed--at 12.16 a.m. our time--because I'm reading different news sites. I cannot wait for tomorrow morning--Indian time--to know the results.
02 November 2008
All creatures great and small
This is one of the smallest butterflies in my garden and on a really small flower.
Now for the creepy looking thing below....
It's a pupa that we saw on a mango leaf at school.
Can you see how the web around the erstwhile caterpillar is the exact same green of the mango leaf? What really excited me was the fact that there is a rib along the middle that is just like the rib of the mango leaf. The teacher who was showing the kids different leaves, didn't even notice it, till she touched the leaf and felt it was something soft, it was so beautifully camouflaged. Most pupae hide under leaves. But this is so blends into the background, that it can afford to be on top of the leaf.
01 November 2008
Change--again!
As you can see, I've taken down the pink page. I've been enjoying tweaking my blog--in fact having a blast at it. I wanted to do my own thing with a local picture. So the background is a photo from our own backwaters, taken by a niece and saved on my computer. Hope you like it.
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