L is for Libra, Learning

Yes I am a Libra--

This is, most of it, so correct, except the artistic bit :-)

Learning, as defined in the Oxford Dictionary is both (1)The acquisition of knowledge or skills through study, experience, or being taught, and (2)Knowledge acquired through study, experience, or being taught.
As one grows older, one is supposed to become wiser through the second type of learning-knowledge that is acquired.  But for that to happen we have to be open to the first type of learning, whether it is learning from our experiences, or through self-study or through training to acquire new skills.  Being open to the idea that we can always learn from the world around us keeps our minds young I think.  Realising that, in spite of whatever knowledge we have acquired by the very fact of having lived so long, that there is still so much we do not know and will never know, is essential to keep us humble.   As we grow old, many of us do tend to act as though we are beyond new learning, because we have seen it all. But, even an old dog can learn new tricks, or at least learn that there are these new tricks,which he may not be able to do.  The fact that there all these tricks he can already perform, doesn't necessarily make him the most learned dog on the block.

So tomorrow on to M.

K is for Kerala, Kovalam.....

Kerala is the state I'm from and where I live--advertised as 'God's won Country'.  Here's a tourist map of my state.  Nice one!

Kovalam is one of my favourite beaches, also because it is the best beach, reachable in less than half a day.  There may be better beaches for swimming further north in the state, but I haven't been there.
Kovalam is a little south-west of the capital Trivandrum.  Since my grandfather lived in Trivandrum for a while, I have been visiting Kovalam for almost 50 years.  So I have seen it grow from a small fishing village, but with a beautiful beach, to the touristy place it has become today.  The now much more popular beach there--the so called Eve's beach--was a very difficult place to access when we were young.  It began to be developed around 30 years back.  Now it is the main tourist hangout in Kovalam area.  A picture of the sunset there, one of the many I have taken.

K is also for Kolkata, where I did my high school.  Of course when I was there then, it was spelt with a C!  I haven't been to Kolkata now for over 25 years.  So I have no pictures.  I have been planning a visit there for a while.  Hope to make it not in too distant a future.

J is for Jazz and Jackfruit

Jazz is definitely my go-to music.  I love Western and Eastern Instrumental Classical Music as well as, of course, oldies from when I was young-60s and early 70s mainly--and Latin music too, but there I end up listening to Latin Jazz.
My all time favourite piece--Take Five.

I was introduced to Jazz by my elder brother when I was about 15 and my love for Jazz has only grown with age.

Now for the Jackfruit.  It is one of the very common fruits here--from about January till around June end.  It is supposed to be the largest tree borne fruit.  The wood is also hardy and is often used to make furniture here.  Here is a picture of one of my trees with fruit.  The fruit is cooked and eaten as a vegetable when raw and, when ripe, eaten as is or made into sweet dishes.

I is for icecream

Our very own Amul ice cream

Summer is getting over in my part of the world as the monsoon starts.  Once the monsoon is in full swing, ice cream generally gets the go by.  But we had plenty of ice cream during the summer vacation, especially with my four grandchildren around.  We had plenty of  Amul Vanilla ice cream.  I also made this awesome Mango ice cream from Edible garden's recipe, which, in spite of being really easy to make, was decadently smooth and so yum!
I am linking to the Wikipedia page on ice cream because it's interesting (What's not to be interesting after all)

A break

I should have been posting I for____, whatever but I am taking a break.
Someone in my friends' list, on Facebook, had shared this post and photo by Sheryl Sandberg and that was the first thing I saw this morning.  I started reading and I could not continue beyond the first paragraph.  I was taken over by a storm of weeping.  I had to force myself to read the full post through a thick curtain of tears.  I wanted to reach out to her and tell her that I know just how it is.  I thought of my daughter-in-law, and how she's doing a pretty good job at 'beating the shit out of option B' although I know she still wants option A pretty much most of the time.
Sheryl Sandberg says she learned compartmentalize is healthy.  Oh I endorse that completely.  It's the only way to go on living.
I had recently re-read this post of mine about the bank of shelves in my mind.  A year or so after I had written that post, the bank of shelves had sort of faded, because most of it had been looked and sorted.  But now the huge chest-of-drawers is back, but full of stuff related to my son.  Some are tightly shut and I dare not open them, some occasionally come open a bit, I peek in and shut them up again and some I open and look at and sort and sigh maybe, but it is something I can open again and again.  And so that is how my mind compartmentalizes.

H is for Happiness

Happiness is apparently what everybody wants and is searching for.  But, the meaning of happiness is so personal and unique to each person, formed by our personalities, which in itself is fascinating.  For example many people say that love is essential to happiness; yet love itself, and the meaning and expression of love is different for each person.
For me, happiness lies in fleeting moments, which even the memory of, gives me joy.
Happiness is--family close by, an unexpected hug from little children, because given freely; a walk on a moonlit night, reading a Terry Pratchett, or P. G. Wodehouse or--the funniest book I have read--Rosie is my Relative by Gerald Durrell :-); listening to music, exercising to music, feeling one with the universe on a starry night; singing/jamming with family and friends; all of these bring happiness and leave happy memories.
Wishing each one happiness.
I am adding a link to this old post of mine about favourite things.

G is for Grandfather

My maternal Grandfather is the only one I have seen.  My other Grandfather died quite a few years before I was born.
My maternal Grandfather was really special.  He was already a widower when I was born.  He had 7 children of which my mother was the 5th.  He was  someone who participated wholly in life. I remember him visiting us in Bombay and then visiting his other daughter in Pune.  He was not an old fogey at all.  He was a fun grandfather when we used to visit him at his home in Kerala.  My mother used to come home to her dad every year, with the three of us younger siblings.  I remember him having made a tree house for my brother and me in a small guava tree and him telling us stories--my brother and me again as my sister was a baby then.  He taught us to play ping-pong, as he used to have a table at home and he had a beautiful table with an inlaid chess board and beautiful chess men.  He also loved cards and played bridge and canasta.
When he could no longer live on his own, he lived with one of his sons.  Towards the end of his life--in his nineties, he lived with his eldest son.  There he used to play bridge with some other friends from nearby, till he thought he was become a liability to whoever had to partner him.  All his grandchildren loved visiting him, because he was always interested in each of us.  He was always interested in the world around him; BBC radio was a constant companion.
He was a civil engineer and supervised the building of my parents' home in Trivandrum city, when he was in his eighties.  The house is such a good construction and so well done, that the folks who bought it from my parents are very happy with the house and have done minimal work on it.
He died when he was almost 97, the year my youngest was born.  Unfortunately he passed away before I could take my youngest to show him to my granddad, as I had done with my other two kids.
We all still remember him with great affection.