Christmas has come and gone. This holiday was jam-packed with events. There was a wedding in the family and so the Christmas festivities were all bundled up with the wedding. I know my children had a lot of fun with all their cousins (in spite of them being very grown-up adults!). Now very soon they have all to leave to go back to work.
My daughter will soon be leaving with her wee ones. She has been here for 3 months. How the time has flown. We'll really miss her and the grandkids. But then there will be school and another grandkid coming for a visit and so life will go on.
Happy New Year to all!

Hi blog world! As my grandkids (with their parents) have gone off to visit their other grandparents, I suddenly have found the time to blog.
I have had some interesting conversations with my four-and-a-half year old grandson. Recently, before he left to go to his other grandparents (for a week) he asked me--

GS: "Will you miss me?"
Me: " Of course I will. I love you."
GS: "Will you love me even if I was a Tyrannosaurus, or a crocodile?" (This--I think-- relates to his wish to believe in reincarnation after he heard about it).
Me: "Well I guess if I know it's you I will".
Gs: "I promise I won't do anything to you. Supposing I'm a biting black ant, will you still love me?"
Me: "Supposing you forget me and bite me, I might get upset."
Gs: "Never!! How can a grandson forget his grandmother!'

End of conversation :-)

The season begins

I've just returned from a performance of Christmas carols. The singing was good and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. So, the season begins.

We had a nice weekend up in the hills near here, at a beautiful hotel. It was a group deal as a group my husband belongs to, had booked the place for a night. As I said the place was beautiful and the weather delightful and the food arranged quite good, the high point being a barbecued lamb.
But the weekend reinforced the fact that I am just not a 'people' person. I am bad at making 'polite' conversation,and I find it stifling to sit around and yak-yak-yak with a whole lot of people--although I am acquainted with most of the people who were there for a number of years. I do not find it too difficult to make one-to-one conversation, but more than that and it just doesn't work. I'm the kind who has only one or two friends, apart from all my husband's family who I am mostly close to. But even among them, I find it easiest to talk only in a small group.
I suppose I must come out as an unfriendly woman, an oddball. But now, at my age, I don't think I want to change, as I am kind of comfortable this way and my close family all accept me this way, and best of all, my husband is much like me. 2 of a kind :-)

Shameless publicity for my 'memories' blog

This is a straightforward request to folks who read my memory blog--if they do--to please leave an occasional comment :-) Of course only genuine comments!

Wishing all my blog friends in the USA a great Thanksgiving weekend. May it be peaceful and joyful.

It was the 20th anniversary of the breaking of the Berlin Wall recently and what it brought memories of, to me, was of the fact that it's been 20 years since my son had his spinal operation the National hospital for Neurology in Queens Square in London. He was in the hospital after his surgery and he saw it on the TV in his ward and told us about it , when we went to visit. He was 16 then. He and all of us have come a long way and I am so grateful for all the good things that have happened to him and to all of us, in the last 20 years.

What with my new granddaughter, school, regular power outages (*drat, darn, whatever*), I haven't been able to post. Besdies new granddaughter seems to have driven everything out of my mind and find it difficult to think through any post. So, I thought I wouldn't post for a while. But I'll be around reading blogs.
See you later.

Inspired by Mrs T over at The Witty Words of a Wayward Wife( who is sharing bits of her holiday in Cyprus with us as and when she gets the time) and by the fact that my grandson--who is, in typical new Gen fashion, an absolute computer addict and so wants to use the comp whenever I'm in front of it--has gone to visit his other grandparents, I decided that I would share some more of the good times of my holiday in the US.
Among he high points of my trip was the music I got to hear and most of it free, as it was summer.  I think it's so wonderful that there is so much free culture available in the US during summer.
I love jazz and much of the music I heard was jazz.  I got to hear a concert at Chicago's lovely Jay Pritzker auditorium.  What an impressive sound system!  And it was wonderful to know you could sit anywwhere and hear the same quality of music, whether up close to the stage, or way back on the grass.  There was a trip to the Hollywood bowl on my California part of the trip--a treat from my brother--big band jazz (but I preferred the Jay Pritker) and some Latino music in a street square in North LA  and then the Chicago Jazz festival held over the Labor Day weekend. Though I got to hear only a bit of that, what I heard was a tribute to Benny Goodman, and I loved his music. Unfortunately, I couldn't get to hear any classical music, because by the time I found out about the summer music happennings, all the classical music shows were over.
The last time we were in the US was firstly for a very serious visit and secondly was made at the end of summer, into autumn.  So at that time I had no opportunity to listen to any music.  So this was so much fun.  I only wish now,that I had researched more before going, so that I could have taken better advantage of all the music that was out there.  Now I know that I will certainly do more research before I make another trip.

'Boy who harnessed the wind'

Don't know how many of you have come across the story of this young man from Malawi..  Truly inspirational!!

Friend heart/fiery heart

So now, I'm back at home from the other side of the world and feeling more human, instead of one of the undead (modern technology does to one by whizzing us around!)
I had a lovely time in the US, spending time with my new grandbaby and her proud parents, spending some time with my brothers and their families, enjoying the mostly pleasant weather most enjoyable and a real bonus--meeting my blog friend Onedia.
This post will be about my meeting with O--one of my oldest blog friends I think.
O drove around 10 hours--the driving done completely by her--with Katha, O's exchange daughter from Germany. It being the Labor Day weekend, I'm sure traffic wasn't easy. They stayed in downtown Chicago.
Unfortunately the day she reached Chicago, I was still recovering from the onset of a cold and cough. So I got to spend just a morning with her. But it was a wonderful day!
Firstly, although the forecast had predicted rain, it turned out to be a glorious morning as I walked--meandered--along Wacker Drive, and the 'Magnificient Mile'. I did attract a few glances during my 2 mile walk (which took me close to an hour incidentally), because I was all togged up in 'Indian, Indian' clothes.
Finally I reached a cross roads and there across the street was a tall (to me) woman, dressed elegantly in black, who I recognised as Onedia immediately. Oh it was so exciting to travel to the other side of the world and meet up with a blog friend you have only read--like old time meeting of pen friends!!
O and I then headed to the food court in the mall where young Katha was enjoying a morning's shopping and decided to eat brunch at the restaurant there. We had the most amazing baked apple pancakes, which I can still taste! And we talked and talked!! I did wonder if O could quite understand my accent. But it was grand.
After the brunch, O called Katha, who came and took pictures of us, after which O and I caught the local train, me to get off at Jackson to go listen to a bit of the Chicago jazz festival which was on and O to head out somewhere, where Katha would meet her later.
I don't usually put up pictures of me here, so the picture of me & O will go to another blog. But here is the picture of the lovely gift O gave me, (which she made keeping in mind our 'Auras' as showed up on a fun quiz in Facebook). O said that it is a friend heart and I have noted that a pendant like this is there on her Fiery Hearts blog

Thank you for the beautiful gift and the great time O! I do hope you and Mathew will be able to make a trip to India sometime.

Thoughts from a sleepless night

I stay up and read a murder mystery to know the ending and then think I'll check my mail and realise it's early morning and it's afternoon half-way across the world at my home and that this time next week I'll be in Chennai and getting ready to leave by the night train to go back home. 
It seems so long since I left home.  And in the dark as it happens so often, I feel disembodied, detached, and wonder do I justify my existence.Do all sentient beings feel the need to justify their existence?  What use am I in the scheme of things?  And i think of the lines from the poem (never can remember which one, certainly not at this time of the night) 'They also serve who only stand and and wait', which I often use to justify to myself my existence and I think of Agatha Christie's novels and a thought that runs through many of them, that sometimes a person's whole existence maybe only for the moment when his or her presence alone can change the course of somebody else's life.  And I try to see if there was a tapestry of life on the hill or of the life of my family am I there and what colours would the silks that portray my life be.  And I know I am there--muted shades of blue and green--background shades. 
But that is for the daylight.  Now, in the early dawn darkness, I am only words.

Am in the US of A and getting used to cooler climes, longer daylight times and my new granddaughter. We have been to Chicago twice now, once spending a day walking around and looking around and doing the touristy things like visiting Millenium Park. That was a pleasant day.
Last weekend we visited the 'beach', which is on the shore of the lake--Lake Michigan.
It was a hot day--91 F. [My children in Chennai were highly amused when I told them that it was hot here :-)] Well it was rather like a Bangalore hot day--very sunny and dry. But the water of the lake was ice cold--or so it felt to us Indians. But the water was packed with people, even little kids, playing, swimming and some just wallowing in the water. A large portion of Chicago seemed to be there, enjoying the sunshine. We had wondered about what clothes to wear, but out there at the beach we realised it truly didn't matter, because skimpy was in. We saw a whole bunch of runners--both men and women-- participating in a Susan G Komen 'Race for the Cure' for breast cancer, wearing pink shirts, pink ribbons, pink bands on their wrists, all dedicatedly walking/running although it was so warm. There were little vignettes of family life, from many different cultural backgrounds, in the deep, cool shade of the trees in the area, each a setting for a little story. I wish I could have lingered longer, but we were out with a little baby too--who was in a sling on her mom and it was too hot to stay in one place.
But all of it was interesting. Sadly, there are no pictures.

Off for a visit

So, there are just 4 more days, before we're off on our trip to the US of A. Our bags are almost packed, cept for some last minute stuff. Haven't been out of this country for 17 years now. Wonder how the long flight will be and what it will feel like to be in a foreign land after so long, cos I guess I've got kinda entrenched in my comfort zone in these 17 years.
Waiting to see how it will be.

What are you?

A while back, my daughter told me that she thought I gave up easily. I agreed with her then. I thought about it a great deal later and came to the conclusion that I really did not give up that easily about things that really mattered to me (the way I wanted to bring up my children for example). But I've never been confrontational. I think of myself as water--a meandering stream flowing peacefully along. If a stone is thrown in its path, the water flows around it or wears it down with gentle, persistent erosion. I have dealt with most of my life like that.
So tell me, what element do you feel you are?

One up for some of us!

Saw this article in the NY times online. Isn't that great!

'Know that the Self is the rider, and the body the chariot;that the intellect is the charioteer and the mind the reins.
The senses, say the wise, are the horses; the roads they travel are the mazes of desire...............
When a man lacks discrimination and his mind uncontrolled, his senses are unmanageable, like the restive horses of a charioteer. But when a man has discrimination and his mind is controlled, his senses, like the well-broken horses of a charioteer, lightly obey the rein.'

(Excerpts from the Upanishads, translated from the original Sanskrit by Swami Prabhavananda and Frederick Mancherster)

I have been reading from this translation of the Upanishads in the last week or so and letting the words flow into me. But these particular sentences absolutely gripped me and I wanted to share it with you all. What a wonderful picture! It solidifies so graphically, such an abstract idea. I hope that one day my senses will be the 'well-broken horses of a charioteer'.

MJ

From the Net I see that for many people out there, Michael Jackson's death has been a personal loss. I can see that for people of MJ's generation, he was the icon in their lives and he was certainly a prolific musician in his younger days.
To me it hasn't meant so much--after all, I got to hear him when I was already in grad school and thought him a kid's wonder, though the fact that he was so young and singing so well was to be appreciated.
He was really good in his early days. But the last few years, after his plastic surgeries, I just couldn't even bear to look at his face. To me the grotesque, pathetic mask he became was a lesson to us all on the tragedy of someone not wanting to be themselves. He was surely a sad and tortured person. May he now find the peace and contentment that he seemed to have been seeking all his life.

An award

This award was given me by La Delirante. Thanks so much La D! I want to give this to all the blogs on my blog roll, because they are all lovely blogs, each in their own way. I love you all.

Excited!

I'm just a wee bit surprised (pleasantly so) to find that I am so excited at the thought of the trip abroad next month-- and it's not just at the thought of seeing my granddaughter. I had sort of given up the idea that I would be able to travel abroad one more time, given the fact that my husband is retired and I don't exactly work in a job paying big bucks. So the fact that this trip is in the bag--visas done, tickets done--has given me such a thrill.
I've been busy on the Net checking out the latest clothes etc. I'm unlikely to go on a shopping trip pre-US visit. But still it's fun to know the trends(even if I'm plus-size and closer to 60 than 50)and look at pretty makeovers of women my age :-) Apropros the age related make-up, trends, I found 2 sites--the online site of More magazine (anyone come across it?) and Bella online. Are there any more sites that any of you know about? There were many sites for plus-size fashion though. Would love to know if any of you have any suggestions.
P.S I see that the meaning of the last 2 sentences is ambiguous. What I really wanted was to know if there are any more sites for fashion/makeup for us seniors.

New grandchild

I am now grandmother of two. I have a new granddaughter, born on the 9th. I have seen photographs of her and she is so cute. I can't wait to see her but will have to wait till August as she was born in the US.

These last two months of summer were hectic. There were summer classes for young children that I helped with---almost 3 weeks; there weddings galore as is usual during the summer, there were short trips taken and through a large part of it, my grandson was there. I had a busy but fun time. My daughter and son-in-law had come for a short vacation too and we went to Kovalam--a beach near Trivandrum. After that I went with my daughter for 2 weeks and returned the day before I had to be back at work to find my beloved Dobe was very ill.
During all this, the elections took place and the results were quite unexpected and very exciting.

It's now that I'm back at work and the regular routine that there is more time to blog and I'm trying hard to catch up on all the posts I missed all this while. Sharing with you a sunset at the crowded beach at Kovalam. There's also a post with some pictures over at the family blog

A Tag from a while back

Hip Hop Grandmom tagged me quite a while back. I am supposed to report 10 facts about myself. As always, it took me a while. Here are 10 things about me--
1. I'm not fussy about food--that is to say, I'm not one of those who's good at distinguishing whether a particular dish is exquisitely made or not and when I'm hungry, I will eat what's put in front of me, as long as it's relatively clean and not something I'm squeamish about eating (like fried grasshoppers or something). The only exception is when it comes to coffee!
2. I love music and a wide variety, though what I feel like listening to depends on what I feel like (that's usual) and the weather.
3. I find it easy to relate to young children and animals--more than to adult human beings I think at times.
4. I'm fascinated by the natural world, form the tiny to the very large- (though of course watching the tiny may be safer!)
5. Like Hiphop Grandmom, who tagged me, I find it easy to see the other person's point of view, which means that I find it very difficult to scold people, even when I feel angry.
6. As you can see, I'm very spare in my writing. I don't know whether that came naturally or from the training of the teachers in school, who kept insisting on us being brief and to the point!
7.I'm not a TV watcher. If I'm alone at home, there's no question of my turning on the TV. If at all I watch, it's because I'm passing through the room when someone else is watching or because someone tells me to come and watch a good programme with them. I'd much rather read or sit at the computer.
8. I'm never bored when I'm alone. I can usually find something to do.
9. I'm generally a laid-back person--as I'm sure has come across in the blog.
10. I am a chronic sufferer of low self-worth. The sense of self-worth usually goes down and down and I'm constantly battling to keep it at acceptable levels.

Completely forgot about tagging someone else. Well, I'm leaving it to whoever would like to take it up.

I've been almost completely off blog world for almost 2 months.  But I'm really sad.  My Dobe died today.  She was 12.  She was ailing for a while and then I had to be out of town for 2 weeks.  My husband was here though, except for a couple of days.  I felt that she was a bit relieved when I came back  She had become skin and bones because she was refusing food and was so weak.  But last night, (around 24 hrs ago), she got up and went outside as it was a clear night.  She loved being out in the dark.  I stood outside with her and she drank a great deal of water.  Then she kind of staggered upto me and leant against me as she sometimes did and wanted me to pet her--her good bye I guess.  I'll really miss her.

I have been not only off blog world, but off the Internet too mostly, although grandson has gone with his parents--5 days now. 
Firstly the last week the power has been off quite a few times during the day--our Electricity Board gearing up for the coming monsoons.  Then I read Eragorn and Eldest back to back.  There is of course all the housework that got neglected during my bussssy days and last night a humdinger of a migraine, which knocked me out. 
There are so many posts I keep thinking of, but don't sit at the computer long enough to type them out.  Pictures of my grandson's visit I plan to put up on the famly blog sometime this week.

Just wanted to tell everybody that yes, my grandson had returned with us, which is why I've been barely able to sit at the computer. Hope to catch up with blogworld sometime this week.

On Children
Kahlil Gibran

Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.

You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow,
which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them,
but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.

You are the bows from which your children
as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite,
and He bends you with His might
that His arrows may go swift and far.
Let our bending in the archer's hand be for gladness;
For even as He loves the arrow that flies,
so He loves also the bow that is stable.

My friend over at Eve's Lungs tagged me with this interesting tag on motherhood which was started by by HBM and David. It's part of Global Voices Online. The tag requires that I state 5 things that I love about being a mother. The tag also requires that one tag other mothers, of whom at least one person, should be from another country. After reading HBM's and David's posts, I went searching for posts by women from African countries. I found a couple of interesting ones, but haven't had the time to pursue the matter further. I certainly intend to add a few to my blog roll and then maybe tag them later.
About being a mother, Kahlil Gibran's 'On Children' has been my guiding principle (most of the time). "You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts" has been a thought which has helped me so often as a mother. Whenever, especially in my children's younger years, I wanted that they should think in a certain way and they didn't, this quote of Gibran's has been a help and a prod to keep loving them.
So to list 5 things I love about being a mother:
1. I loved when each child became articulate, so that then I could get an idea of their view of the world.
2. I loved/love the fact that each of my 3 children (2 sons and a daughter) have such distinct personalities and world views but are such good friends, loving and respecting each other.
3. I love being the mother of a daughter. She is one of my best friends and I am so proud of her personality.
4. My sons have taught me a lot, especially patience [:-)] I love it when they include me in the things they may be doing at the moment. But the best was when one day the two of them, (when they had just about become adults) sat me down and told me "You don't need to feel responsible for our actions anymore. What we are now has been shaped not just by you, but also the world around us. You taught us whatever you could and that is a part of us. But now, we're adults and responsible for our actions". I am very proud of them both and the kind of people they are now.
5. And then I loved the physical love expressions of motherhood--the weight of a contented baby on my shoulder, the passing touch of a child, children leaning into you while listening intently to a story, the little cuddles just because, the sudden hugs, the breaking out of a beautiful smile. Now as adults, there are the occasional hugs, the weight of an arm draped casually on my shoulder, the fact that when I hug my boys, I have a long way to look up to their face but they accept my hugs [:-)]

Now to tag some mums :- I tag Rohini over at Mama Says So and Dot of Dot's Thoughts
and Esbee at Life in Forsyth and Shari at Literally Blind-Sided. I would love my own daughter to take up the tag too, but wonder if she has the time!

I'm out of town, to stay with my daughter. The plan is for us--my husband and me--to take back our grandson with us as he is on summer vacation now. As he is just 3.75, almost 4, there is no guarantee that he will get on the train with us,when we return on Tuesday. Here's hoping he will.
But anyway, if he does come, then I guess Iwill have very little time to blog, take night walks or any such 'me' time. But then again, I get to spend quality time with him and watch the workings of a growing mind, see a personality forming, all of which I love. I also get to see the world from his perspective.
So to Eve who has tagged me, I promise to do the tag during a stolen moment :-)

4 cousins between the ages of 12 to 22 head out in a car to watch a late movie in a theatre not that far from their home.  Soon after , nobody is exactly sure how, the car ends up on the wrong side of the road and smashes into a concrete garbage bin at the edge of the road and 2 young lives are snuffed out, that of the young 19 year-old driver of the car and his cousin, a young woman of 22, sitting in the back of the car behind the driver's seat.  The young woman was a student of mine in her pre-school days.  The 4 youngsters were the children of a brother and a sister. 
It is an awful tragedy.  What happens; is it that young drivers are reckless? It was not even that late in the evening--just around 8.30 p.m.   Whatever maybe the cause, the consequences have been devastating.  I pray for those two families.
Every day in our newspapers there is a report of somebody dying in a road accident.  Is it that my fellow citizens are bad drivers who do not follow rules?  Is it that our roads--built mostly in the last century--cannot cope with the surge in vehicular traffic? Is it that our training methods for drivers have not been updated to deal with the lighter, faster cars of today?  Do not the laws governing the road have enough teeth?   All we see are the consequences and the consequences are always tragic and always seems senseless.

A blow out!

We have been having summer showers. The good side of that is the temperature comes down. But summer showers are usually accompanied by thunder and lightning. So we had a bad case of that last Thursday evening and the modem got knocked out along with the LAN card on my computer. The modem was repaired on Saturday. But I found out about the LAN card only later. Finally that was replaced today. I find it seriously cramps my style when I have to share my husband's computer! I am so happy to have my computer back today. Unfortunately I could not put up the Easter greetings I had intended to put up. Well anyway, I hope everyone had a good Easter.

Tab buttons

I decided to keep the nature walks/studies in another blog. So now I have the tabbed buttons in the side bar, each of which links to different blogs as well as to my blog roll and profile.

It is interesting to think about how people have views and attitudes formed by both their nature and nurture. I know that all this is already so well known, but the study of human nature is always fascinating. It also helps to realise this fact as it eases one's need to docket/judge/identify with or against, another person's attitudes.

Tweaks

I've been so intensely working on getting a tabbed menu on my blogs, that last night--even after getting to bed by 1 a.m., by brain was whirling with html! I had to force myself to calm my brain and sleep as we had a breakfast engagement this morning.
Now I've kind of done it to my satisfaction and hence am feeling sleeeepy.

a movie

Watched 'Ocean's eleven' the other day and found that I no longer enjoy movies which celebrate people's ingenuity in crime. To me movies that deal with what is best and brightest in the human spirit, or those that deal with the ordinary lives of men and women are much more memorable and enjoyable (not withstanding George Clooney and Brad Pitt). I wonder whether I'm going old too fast?

Bye for a bit

I have been reading all the blogs on my blog roll and catching up with all the posts that I had missed reading in between and the realisation came to me that my blog--in blogworld--was a bit like a music-loving tone-deaf person who persists in singing, but always off-key. You feel for him/her, but's grating all the same; and you wish they would know when to keep quiet.
So I have decided to go off from blog world for a while though I will be keeping up with my blog rolll. Bye friends.

Lent

It's the time of Lent again. For the Eastern churches the Lent begins 7 weeks before Easter. So Lent officially started from 22nd of February. Many people here give up meat and fish, sometimes eggs, alcohol (a big sacrifice believe me in this state) and even dairy products are eschewed by some.
This year Dr. Philipose Mar Chyrstosm, the senior most bishop of the Mar Thoma Church of Kerala has asked for the observance of 'Carbon fasting' to reduce global warming. The article is here. I wish I could have linked you to the article where all the points he enumerated were mentioned. Unfortunately that doesn't seem to work.
Anyway, I for one have been inspired and have been trying toobserve the suggestions he has put forward.

It will be two years tomorrow, since my mother passed away.  recently I have been missing her a bit--wanting to share some things with her, which I realised that I would have shared only with her.
Was remembering her death and thought once more, that although it was upsetting to me for her to go so suddenly, there was no other way she would have wanted it.  She had been so worried about being bed ridden and a burden.   I knew too, that I had to let her go, because she was so weary and wanted to rest, more so after having looked after my father with senile dementia and watching him go.
I am sure she is at peace.

A hot day!

It was a pretty hot day a couple of days back.  So everyone was at the water hole!

First was a magpie robin--

 

then a chipmunk

and then, towards dusk, crows discussing the day's happenings at the water hole. Each waited their turn to drink and some had a quick bath too.

I'm sorry the chipmunk isn't too clear.  He was way too timid to allow me any nearer

I've finished two of the books--'In Spite of the Gods' and 'Dreams from my Father'. The first one was an interesting view of modern India. ' Dreams' had me crying so many times. To some extent it spoke of the immigrant experience, of all people of colour, whether black, brown or yellow, in a white man's country. I loved it and finished it really fast. Now there are two more books to go through.
In the meantime I have also been able to get videos of a magpie robin bathing in my birdbath as also a chipmunk/squirrel raiding my dog's food :) I'll put them up soon.

I am joining a large number of bloggers who have protested about this issue, regarding the targeting of a blogger for voicing his opinions, on his own private blog! There were so many people who felt as C Kunte did, that by and large, the reporting during 26/11 was irresponsible. Many people expressed their opinons on their blogs too. But why has one individual been singled out and made to retract his post? How come our FREE Press wants to muzzle the ordinary citizen's right to free speech? This smacks of the ancient days when the educated priestly classes--here and in much of the world--opposed literacy and then dissemination of information, because they felt threatened.

I've come to the conclusion that I have an on-again off-again love affair with my PC.  At present I'm rather in the off-again mode for various reasons.  One reason is that whenever I have wanted to sit at the computer--after work--there have been frequent power cuts.  Then there is the fact that my computer takes forever to load--too many programs.  So, I'm getting a new hard drive!
There is also the fact of the new camera, which means I'm creeping around oustside (even during the noon day sun!) to captures birds or other wildlife--at which I've been wildly unsuccessful [probably 'cos I lumber around too clumsily and noisily?]  By the way, in the course of trying to take bird videos, I have discovered that my phone cam actually gives me a better zoom to take bird pics than my camera!
Then there is the nice fact that my brother--after a flying visit here of all of 2 days--has left me 3 books to read, apart from the book I've been reading sporadically.
The book I'm reading--

I find it an interesting view of our country.

The books that have been left behind for me to read--

As you can see--many hours of enjoyable reading ahead!

Afternoon bird song--but recorded with my trusty phone cam!

'It's a lovely day'

"It's a lovely day today
And whatever we've got to do
We've got a lovely day to do it in, that's true
................
I'll say it's a lovely day for saying
It's a lovely day. "


It's a beautiful 'winter' morning! The air is crisp and pleasantly cool and the skies so clear. There's a gently breeze swaying the trees gently. Unlike in more Northern climes, our 'winters' are never dark. So the day is bright.
I love the sunshine during our winter. It is as bright as ever, but when the sun is in the south, he shines less harshly. There is a clarity about the light, which makes me linger outside. The light slants thought the trees, clothing the leaves in a green not seen in the strong summer sunlight.
What a lovely morning and how glad I am that I have a holiday to enjoy it.

a great gift.

The other exciting happening over the holidays—I have a camera! A dear niece gave me the camera as a gift. It's a basic camera I suppose--a Sony cyber-shot. I'm just getting to know the camera and it's features. I had just learned all the features in my phone camera. Now I will have to learn the many more features available here.

Unfortunately, ever since I got the camera, I haven't been able to see birds close enough in the trees to take pictures of :( I prowl around at noon trying to see the birds that I can hear calling, so that I can photograph them.. But alas, I can't find them. Maybe it's just too hot and dry. Hopefully I will have pictures after a summer shower.

Thanks Hiphop Grandmom for this award.
This award is given to a blog that invests and believes in PROXIMITY - nearness in space, time and relationships! These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in prizes or self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers! Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award.
I pass these awards on to
All the blogs in my blogroll actually. They are all good friends and wonderful writers. Some of them already have the award I know. But all the same, thank you so much for being my friend!

Hi Blogworld!

Been out of touch with Blogworld for a while. Was out of town, where there was not much Internet time. Have only just caught up with all the blogs I follow. I didn't want to post till I'd read all the posts of my blog friends that I missed.
Well, during the time I went missing, some exciting things have happened:-- I got to see the birth of a baby! This was a first for me. Though I have been to the hospital with a to-be mother, have helped with baby-sitting new borns, I have never witnessed a birth. My own daughter had to have a Ceasarean.
In India, normally there are no private labour rooms. It's only in the very recent past, that upper-end private hospitals have started having such rooms. In a usual hospital, in the labour room there would usually be more than one woman giving birth. I remember that when I had my babies, especially my eldest, there were atleast 5 or 6 women having their babies at the same time, in cubicles on either side of me. So it was just not done to have anyone with you during the final stage of labour.
In the generation previous to mine though, women just had children at home, with a midwife, and in later days maybe a lady doctor, to help. For example my mother-in-law had 7 of her 8 kids at home and my own mother delivered my elder 2 siblings at her parents' home. But when hospitals became the norm for delivery, under Indian conditions of the time--many babies being born, far more infectons around than now--there was no way any lay person could be allowed into a labour room.
But whatever the situation, men were strictly excluded, unless the man in question was the doctor. But now with all the reading of books from the West on birth and how the husband is allowed to witness the birth, more and more young Indian women are asking for their husbands to be allowed in to the labour rooms, as well as a close female relative.  So the young father-to-be and I were in the room.  But dad-to-be kept to a corner, well out of the way, till the baby was with the pediatrician and he was given permission to go see his son.
Anyway, so I got to see the little baby come out into our world and laid on his mother, after which he was taken away to be cleaned up and his stats looked at.  I didn't really see much of the gore as I was holding the young mum's hand.
To me the experience was much like when I used to go cheer my daughter and friends when they ran marathons (11and1/2 kms) in school.  When they flagged towards the end, one would cheer, "Come on, come on, you can do it, just a bit more, hang in there!"  Even the words I used was about the same :).  It was an exhilarating, though somewhat exhausting experience!  But I wouldn't have missed it for the world.