The day I bunked school

I was in second standard then, about 7 years of age. My school was about a kilometer or two from home and I used to walk for about half an hour to reach. There were some country roads which we had to walk to save time and distance, a railway line to cross, a slum to go past. Those were the days when there were no school buses painted yellow to take the kids to school. May be there were in some hi-fi international schools, but those were something we were unaware of. We did our schooling in some local private school as did most of our peers from that age. And walking to school was the only option. Second Saturdays would be special as dad would be off from work and would drop us in his scooter, a luxury we looked forward to!

In the beginning mom used to accompany me, with my little sister, who would walk a bit and for the rest of the walk, end up in mom’s arms. And then there was this older girl, a neighbor of ours, who was in fifth or sixth standard then who also went to the same school and an arrangement was made for me to go with her and comeback with her. Let’s call her L.

I used to enjoy walking with her - a big girl who seemed to know so much, who had friends on the way, who knew many shops that sold candies on the way and who I thought was one bold girl. What I didn’t know then was that she used to miss classes quite often, be sent out by teachers every other day for not completing home work and got very low grades. These were something that weren’t even possible for me to imagine, as my parents saw to it that I always completed my homework, taught me at home as well, never allowed me to bunk just like that and I was always told education was the most important thing to have in life! So all things that this girl L did, amused me.

There were times when I’d have some complex and feel inferior to her, as I never had the guts to do all that she did - to be so carefree about school, and not to be asked about anything about school at home. I envied her freedom! I cursed my luck for having parents who took interest in my studies and grades and home works…

(What I didn’t know then was that as soon as she completed her 10^th, no matter she failed or passed with a rank, her parents would get her married off to a rich guy or rather a man, much older than her, and then she’ll have a couple of kids before her mid twenties and that’s about it. There was nothing beyond this for her to aspire for… but in my case, my parents aspired that I’d study well (of course I was the one who got first in class most of the times) and become an engineer or a doctor or whatever was that I aspired. They wanted me to become independent with good education and that was the most important one.)

Coming back to the story, this girl, on some days stopped by the railway track and asked me to go to school alone and come back in the evening. By now, I was well aware of the route and was used to walking alone too. And in the evenings when I’d come back she’d already be there, and would walk back with me. I was so dumb that I’d assume she came to school after me and came back just before me! Later she told me that she’d sit by the railway track and play there by herself for the entire day and go back home after the school hours!

She tried persuading me to give her company too. But I was too scared to attempt anything like that as I knew the consequences of it. When I didn’t give in, she tried scaring me. She showed me a used and thrown hand gloves and said stories that there were some criminals there who murdered people and chopped their bodies into pieces and carried them in gunny bags. And that this hand had fallen off by mistake. I was petrified by this thought. I then agreed to stay with her one day, and hide and watch that guy who killed people! Was it out of fear of that guy or was it because of curiosity or to appear bold like her, I don’t remember now. Anyways I bunked the next day.

As we reached the railway track, we didn’t go further on the school road and instead, removed our shoes and got on to playing something there. And the criminal who was apparently the cause of this venture had been forgotten! After about an hour or so, to my ill luck, there came this neighbor aunty, who knew both of us and there we were caught red handed, err mud handed :)

I don’t remember the exact sequence of what happened later, but I and L were in that lady’s house and my mom was brought there; our house was a couple of furlongs from hers, may be her son went over and brought my mother (there were no telephones then). Mom had her comb still stuck on her hair, she had left in a hurry. And the next thing I remember is that my mom took me home silently, clearly angry and as soon as we went home, she changed my soiled clothes and gave me a couple of whacks from her comb.

And later I was given some counseling and asked to confess on the details of the event. And there was some lesson on why it was bad to bunk so as well; and how it could be dangerous for little girls to be roaming about the railway track the whole day and so on. And there ended my bunked day!

The Writer's Blogger's block

Every night, just before drifting off to sleep, these awesome brilliant ideas pop up in my mind, about something that i should write. I'll get nice awesome words and sentences as well, that I’ll decide to put on the blog first thing in the morning. I am quite determined to remember them till the morning as well, trying to memorize the ideas and words!! Getting up then and writing is not something that i do...

And the next morning starts with getting up late and hurrying to cook breakfast and lunch before D leaves. And then I sit with my laptop, along with my bowl of breakfast, and may be the TV ON too... And as a pre-programmed application, my fingers first open the Facebook and go down the feed from all friends, all updates useful, useless and the links and the forwards (shares) and so on... And also some notifications on friends liking or commenting on my posts... And then the blogs to check for new comments and stats... I'm talking about my food blog here; that is a more happening place than this one! And then the blog updates of other bloggers and pals... And then some news may be, and I just completely forget the idea of writing, let alone the most-determined-to-remember ideas... Huh!

And after all these I feel a bit sad that a brilliant idea is not recorded :(

The idea of writing a great post has just got dissolved....

Hmm... I know I should not let this happen... I should concentrate more on writing and give more importance to it...

Hope it happens soon...

The Age Factor

'While how old you are is not in your hands, how old you feel, definitely is!'

Recently a blog friend of mine posted something on being 30, some positive aspects of it. I liked the post and left a comment on the lines of agreeing with her and mentioning of sailing in the same boat. And her reply was “Man u n thirty..U don’t look a day older than 25..Rock on”

He he! Obviously this made me gleam and grin from ear to ear. This is not the first time that such a thing has happened. Many a time, people belive that I am much younger than I actually am. I believe it’s because of my appearance…. I hope not it is because I am childish or so :)

A couple of months back when I accompanied mom to Mysore for her exams (Ohh yeah, she is definitely younger than me…. She’s doing a degree now), an old lady, at whose house we stayed asked me what I’m studying! Then when she was told that I’m working in so and so company and am married for so and so years, she was astonished. And I was more astonished, that I can still pass for a student!

It does feel good when someone makes a remark like that, doesn’t it? At least for me it does. I feel good when someone asks me something like ‘what are you studying?’ or comments like ‘You look like a school girl. Can't say you are married by looking at this picture.’(a blog friend when she first saw my pic in FB).

Ok… some pondering over these incidents gave me some enlightenment yesterday, and i came up with the quote on top! That I should not feel like thirty and should instead feel five years younger. That gave me a strange joy…. That makes me believe in being able to do all that I wanted to and couldn’t in the last five years… That made me feel like living all those years and more once again, all over with a fresh start! And finally it made me younger than what I am… Believe me it makes wonders!

Thanks to all of you whose comments helped me in this realization :)

Skandla: A short trek outside city of Goteborg

On a Saturday afternoon that we didn’t want to go to far off place, googled and found this place pretty close to ours, called Skändla where there are remains of the medieval village, and apparently Stone - Bronze age man lived here.

We’d have to change two buses but the total journey was just about half an hour, though the buses to the place are infrequent. We got down at the mentioned stop – Skandla Sodra, and were pretty lost as to how to reach the actual place. We did see a hillock covered with forest on our left, but weren’t sure where the entrance was. We asked the only two people we saw there, who apparently were also new to that place and as per their suggestion, kept walking on the main road. After a long walk of about a couple of kilometers we were sure that we were still going around the forest trying to find the entrance rather than entering it! No guesses for who was looking at the map :P. Okay, the map didn’t show the entrance, it only showed the road around it :D

However the walk around the forest itself was quite pleasurable, with a small country side road in between hilly forest on one side and huge fields on the other, with some Roe-deer and hares in between to entertain us. Of course birds to keep our camera busy :)

We were done with the walking quota of the day by then and decided to return for the day and come back the next. This time took another smaller road back, and almost figured out where the entrance was, so as not to repeat the same mistake again!

The next day we set out earlier in the say, and this time reached the entrance from the bust stop in just a couple of minutes, but yes, on the opposite side to what we had taken the previous day. There were routes and maps and clear information about the place, helping us not to get lost.

It is about 7km walk in the forest, mostly on small paths, but the paths are clearly marked. We took a thick stick for some protection, as there was not a single human around the entire place. Only towards the end of our trek did we find two more groups of people.

There are some remains of a medieval age village. Apparently evidences of stone age, bronze age and iron age man have been found here.  

There are these huge heaps of boulders which acted as a fort for their safety.

Here’s the other side of the ‘fort’ that is not easy to climb up.

Fell in love with this house adjoining the forest..

Finally after a satisfying walk in a jungle of Sweden, glad that the home made pizza loaded with cheese was well burnt, came back home and collapsed :)

4 weeks in Goteborg!

Ooooo…. It’s almost a month, and so soon! We’re in Sweden now, in the city Goteborg. D had to move here on work and I followed him! Leaving behind everything ;) Took a break from work, which was a good change. Loving this new place, esp since it is summer here and the weather is pleasant. I have all the time for myself, a total contrast to my life back home… loving this change.

We’re traveling quite a bit on weekends, exploring various places in and around Goteborg. And doing a lot of walking! And also I’m cooking a variety of dishes… experimenting new stuff. Of course the food blog is more active now! Hope the same here too :)

Will be back soon with more updates!

Ciao

‘Weight’age

BIL’s wedding just got over last week. And time for another wedding - sis’s.

I was supposed to reduce a couple of kilos before the wedding. Not that I’m obese, just a couple of kilos of shed-able weight, that’s all! But just as I started back my exercise regime, there were some unforeseen situations that weight loss was the last thing I could think of.

House repainting was just about to get over, with all the mess from attic down on the floor in all the rooms, which did require all our attention. Just then there was MIL falling off a bike and breaking her nose and jaw and getting admitted to hospital twice including for a minor surgery, four weeks before her son’s wedding…. And so the wedding work - like inviting ppl and other stuff got doubled up and was topped with the hospital work and also everyday cooking work, till she felt better. Now, all these including our regular office work.

For me all these were definitely on a much higher priority as compared to losing those extra couple of kilos. Well, I don’t mean I’m not bothered about it, but then, though I might not absolutely like it, looking a little plump in the wedding is actually ok for me, given these circumstances.

While most of the relatives complimented that I looked good, one colleague who is obsessed with just looking slim made comments after comments that I looked fat. May be a darker coloured saree would have made me look thinner, maybe I should have worked out more, maybe I should have stretched and bent just before the occasion and so on…

When I looked at my own pic later, I felt I did look plumper than usual, but the reason why most people said I looked good was probably because they gave more weightage to the way I had been handling things, my behaviour and the way I treat them all gracefully, rather than just my actual weight :).

As far as I am concerned, I’m happy with my prioritization, I’m glad that everything went on well, in spite of all the tensions there were, and I looked and behaved my best, which I what most people and myself will remember about me. Very few people will remember the little fat here and there and that is ok!

That said, I don’t mean I’ll not reduce :D

So... what's your weight-age??

Updates!

Ok, some updates before the year ends!

It's been so busy of late that there's hardly some breathing time! Seriously!!

As always, end of October calls for a special tripof the year and this time, it coincided with a birding trip we had planned with BNHS to Point Calimere. And well, since it was our anniversay time, we wanted a couple of days for ourselves too, so planned Pondicherry again. Another post on the place we stayed and such will follow, don't know when!

Oh by then, BIL, N (D's brother) had found his girl after a long search, and it was his engagement shopping followed by the engagement itself the week we returned. From there started our busy busy schedule, with wedding preparations already started, and to add to it, my sis's wedding also got fixed! Another round of shopping and arranging and time for her engagement!! And two weddings to prepare for!!

Meanwhile FIL was pretty ill for two weeks and there was quite a bit of running around hospitals. Thank God, he's better now. This means more wedding work on us now!

Between all these, our home needs a repainting and that is starting today. I'll be taking all the leaves off (that i generally save for trips and more trips) for this... But looking forward to a fresh looking place :)

No year-end trip this time :'((((

And yesterday was D's birthday and I celebrated it with a lot of josh, just the way i wanted to. Last two years were kind of disappointing for various reasons, and this time, i guess i made up for it - a nice home cooked lunch, a candle light dine out, a calendar printed with pics he had shot, and a surprise camera lens he wanted :) Made his day, and mine too :))

Thats it for now!

Navarathri / Dasara doll arrangements!

Happy Navarathri / Dasara to all of you!

Navarathri, is a festival of Dolls, esp in Southern India. We arrange dolls of Gods, Goddesses and other stuff and pray everyday, for 10 days or nine nights (nava-rathri).

Here's the arrangement we made this year!

If you've seen our arrangements a couple of years ago here, you'll notice some changes. We try to make some additions and deletions and rearrangements every year, and this year, we added this Mount Kailash, abode of Lord Shiva. This is again from my parent's collection.

This is Mahabalipuram, with a beautiful background, which Dee bought as an addition this time.

And this cricket stadium is also an addition to previous years'.

Check the batsman, ready to bat!

And no, here comes our creation for this year! After the park last year, we wanted something different this time. Having visited Khuri, in Jaisalmer last year, we decided to create a Desert Village and here it is!

Though we couldn't create the pattern on the dunes anywhere close to the Creator, we did manage it somewhat decent looking, i guess!

Found these camels with a great difficulty, at the last minute!

And here's some arrangement of flowers and Kundan Rangoli.

Enjoy! Happy Dasara, once again!

Old friends and Unforgotten Gifts!

Recently I found an old good friend on Facebook. Apparently she had recently joined FB and I had found her with some difficulty. The last we had spoken to each other was about 4-5 years ago, though I’d remember quite often.

So when I pinged her, here was the exchange of messages we had...

Me: Hi Nxxxx! How are you doing?? Hope u remember me...

She: Very happy to see your note Sumxxx... xxxxxxxxxxx... Ofcouse I do remember you... I still use your Bon voyage key chain... Do you recall giving that to me when I left to US?

Me: Xxxxxxxxxxx, xxxxxxxxxxxx, xxxxxxxxxxxx
I don't remember the key chain, but was happy about that! Well, I too am still using the hair clip you had bought for me and Hema in Seoul!

She: I forgot about the hair clip... but happy you are using it... xxxxxxxxxxxxxx... let me know your number... lets talk sometime.

Well, she had bought me and another friend a hair clip each and I still have treasured it. Whenever I use it, I mention it to D about her! And apparently I had bought her a key chain which she too is using! Both of us remembered the gifts we had got, but had forgotten the ones that we had given!

Isn’t it good to count your gifts?

Rainy, Wet and Leechy Wayanad!

It was a long weekend and we had planned to drive down to Wayanad. Started pretty early in the morning and after a quick meeting with a friend's family for breakfast, set out towards Wayanad. The drive was quite smooth, though the road is quite narrow at some places after Mysore, there was very little traffic and enjoyed it. Loved the picturesque landscapes and stopped at a couple of places, where the villagers were harvesting the crops right on the road!

After Mysore, I had taken over the wheels and let the photographer do his job :). And to our luck we spotted this herd of tuskers including a baby. They were pretty close to the road in fact! We slowed down, took a few shots and started off.

As i always say, wherever we go, the rains follow and this trip was no exception! It started raining as soon as we entered Wayanad area and continued to, for most of the time, but it was pleasant too.

We had booked our stay in Green Magic resort in Vythiri. Vythiri is a beautiful place off the road and there is a high end resort too, by the same name around 3 kms from the main road. The place we had booked in is further up the hill some 4 kms further after the Vythiri resort. We were told to park our car in front of one of the houses off the main road and a jeep was to pick us up to the resort. The roads, or rather the path that lead to the resort was narrow, slippery due to continuous rains, but we felt we could have driven our car itself.

However, after about 3 kms, the road, if at all i can call it that, got too rocky, slippery and narrower. Add to it the up slope! No wonder we were taken by the jeep! There were places where a small bridge like thing was just wide enough for the two pairs of wheels to cross! It was indeed adventurous!

After a couple of heart gripping incidents, we reached the resort.

The resort was a simple looking row of cottages, overlooking a beautiful stream. The rooms were cozy, without electricity for most of the time, built in a rural style, has an open dining area, again off the stream. It is totally secluded from civilization. They do have another resort a km or so further, the other one we were told had more modern amenities, but we were here just for the nature, not for a TV or AC :)

The only sounds heard were that of the roaring stream below, pitter patters of continuous rain drops and some insects! It rained for most part of the two days and there were leeches all around. Well, do not freak out about leeches, all they do is suck some blood, and at max, you'll have some slight itching for some time! See this one on my hand, it's interesting how they get on to you and find a suitable place to suck blood! (Ok, here before it settled, i drew it off my hand, though :D)

The best part of the trip was we were the ONLY guests there on the second day! The other group that had checked in the previous day found it boring since it was raining and checked out earlier. And we had the whole resort to ourselves!! Sitting on the porch and watching the rains and eating some hot snacks prepared by the staff was all we had to do, and it was a total relaxation! Due to rains, there wasn't much of bird/butterfly activity, just watched these snails move around everywhere! (Not sure of the Id)

The bath had a glass wall and overlooked a beautiful little private garden!

There are also a couple of tree houses, which give a wonderful view of the thick canopy and wildlife view from very close.

The staff were good, though we had language problems! food was just ok, with little options, considering we are vegetarians. Also they gave us a good discount over the actual price, may be because it was off-season. Would love to go back there again, in a brighter season!

Note: We made this trip in Oct 2009, and writing it down now, when an acquaintance asked for info on Wayanad resort. Unfortunately we were not much into wildlife as much then, and due to rains we didn't do much other than relaxing!

On our return journey, we stopped at Pookot lake and then at Edakkal caves, both were crowded with people and didn't impress us!