Summer !!

If you look at something as simple as a foliage,you can sometimes perceive so many of God’s creation in one single glance- A dainty cobweb, probably spun by a spider named Charlotte, raindrops and sun playing whimsically, in sync on them and on the berries studded neatly in between the bunches of beautifully arranged leaves !!

It’s full-blown summer –something is bursting with abundance ,some are shriveling up ….There are a bunch of turtles who are playing hide-n-seek when the sun is at it’s highest …..The fishes are having a blast in the murky waters of the lake,insects and dragonflies are buzzing around,the band of duckling are following their mom’s trail in foraging ….You look at all these and feel that you had to be here today to appreciate the harmony of nature…God has bestowed everyone of us with providence and to take control,you have to be out there and watch them do whatever they do best and let them continue to do that for ages to come ~ ~

The overlook !!

The hanging balcony,the round balcony running around the perimeter of the house or the straight balcony along the front of the house-Whatever it is, I absolutely need to have a balcony…they are my breathing spaces....They are my refuge from the present and a time machine to my past ..These jutting out structures- I hold so dear to me,without them I feel like asphyxiating ..Whatever a balcony was to Juliet,it couldn’t have been less for me !! Whatever a balcony was to Monet, it was almost the same for me with let’s say a “ minor “ difference- I cannot wield the brush like he did,but that didn’t stop me from painting a thousand suns and moons,of the ablaze sky and trees- all in the empty canvases of my mind….How else would I dream of catching hold of those fluffed up clouds and want to feel their texture between my fingers,if I haven’t had a balcony to call my own ???

Questions, unanswered !!

Who am I ? How do I define me ? Is this me ? Is this what I’m supposed to be or was I destined for something else ? Is anything predestined at all or do you chose your own fate? Is there a way to undo your decisions or are there some invisible hands at work to make you chose the path you chose,relating back to the predestined effect !!

I’ve heard so many times- You get what you deserve- everything is pre-ordained and laid out for you the moment you arrive in this world !!

How much of it is true ? How much are the “ deserve “ and “ preordained “ parts connected to each other ?

So, what enamoured me in Mr.Frost’s poetry for so long was just a fantastical world of my own ? Are there or aren’t there two choices a person can get, and once he choses one of them, he pines for the other one for the rest of his life …or is it that however multiple choices you get, you always end up in walking those paths which you were destined for …with your thoughts,desires,exercises, essays playing no part in it whatsoever ?

Even if you think and plan that “ you have miles to go before you sleep “, the dead end might just be around the corner !!

If such is the true yet hushed up picture, is this the farthest I go ? Or am I to still await my arrival ?

Rathyatra

Like so many others festivals, Rathyatra has always been a very significant part of our growing up years….and all those years are now a big fat colorful blob of memories in my mind- one huge borderless collage of memorable years,clumped together in one frame…So many years of looking forward to this day each yr with the same fervour,if not more ...The very exciting “ Rath-r Mela “ or the fair- A must-visit event for us every yr, so much so that,at one point of our lives,we used to travel 40 kms from our home-An evening spent in lots of shopping -Our main interest being mostly in books-from the Book Fair part of this Rath-r Mela and Mom’s was plants and cactus-from the Agriculture Fair !!

Something connected eating papad bhaja ( deep fried Poppadum ) with Rath for us Bengalis….

When younger,until a certain age, every yr we used to decorate small Rath(chariots),bought specially for the occasion- with decorations made of crepe and marble papers,flowers plucked from our garden,prasad like “ Batasha,nokuldana,michri,misti etc “ and a small Jagannath-Subhadra-Balaram together as the centerpiece.

Bro’ and I used to compete with each other,trying to outdo each other in our decorations and Thamma ( Dadi ), who was the chief initiator of all these fun, used to declare both of us winners for the day !! Thamma was very very enthusiastic about everything…and specially Rath was one of such occasions which I always associate with Thamma ..Nothing else can come in the same sentence with Rath other than Thamma,who used to help us plan and then put together all the decorations !!

We used to sit with her in our patio after lunch , with our Rath(chariots),all the flowers we plucked,all the decorations we crafted out and put everything together on the Rath ( Chariots )…She even prepared her special homemade glue for these occasions....

After that, Bro’ and I used to go out and pull our chariots in the concrete garden path..and then there used to be Chariot Racing …which ended with yet another fight !!

In the evening,we used to accompany Dadu to the nearest temple, where a big chariot procession was in effect-One time, I lost my new silvery sandals to the crowd while trying to touch the chariot rope ( which is an auspicious & holy ritual ) and that put this affair to an end !!

And with passing years,it was decided by the elders that we are too big to decorate and pull Rath in our garden path anymore- So from then onwards,Rathyatra for us,meant the arrival of the grand fair and our annual visit to it, rain or shine !!

Today, RathYatra is only a date on the calendar,a day dedicated to churning out some old memories,with images of small colorfully adorned chariots in our garden path,fluttering around in my mind..jumbled up assortment of all those old taste,smell,sound,sight & sensation ~ ~

~ Impression of a lifetime ~

So many things shape the mind,actions,thoughts and life of a child-Parents,environment,school,friends…and sometimes very importantly-the teachers…So much so that, sometimes they form a lasting impression on their minds and stay with them throughout their lives.....Something like this had happened to me ~ ~

I have been lucky of being a teacher’s pet most of my life and have received that special attention from them during my school days.Those fond memories are still with me…And I always thought-That was it – Until one day,I woke up after a night of dejection and gloom,and felt rejuvenated-The reason being one very strange dream,the one which took me back to the yesteryear -and that dream gradually came back to me as the day unfolded itself ..

I was back in school-One of my favorite teachers from high school was reading out one of my papers in front of the whole class and then afterwards,she encouraged me and told me something which stuck with me…As always,she appreciated me and professed her immense faith and pride in me, and then she encouraged me..of things I’m capable of,of things she expects from me …This particular teacher-I was in awe of her..And as if she was the only one who could pull me out of my temporary state of dispirit ..And on this particular date,when I felt down,she came back from my past and cheered me up,reminding me of my true potential !!

It was so strange to realize all of a sudden that although a certain person had some place in your mind and heart, she can have so much influence on you,that in your subtlest moments,in your subconscious state of mind…that person stealthily creeps back from the long gone past, and with a few right words can bring you right back up on your feet !!

~ ~ Inconspicuous

Saw a fallen branch on the banks..and went down to take the clean shot,which I was unable to get from my balcony

~ And when I was done with the conspicuous, my eyes caught the inconspicuous beauties of nature, which we happen to trample so often ~

I walk on these grasses every day, I look at this lawn,this bank daily-but still my inquisitive mind and exploring eyes have overlooked them……

I came upon so many different kinds of vines and saplings…vibrant green in their proud new self - There were humble blooms among the grasses,flowers of the growths that we often call “ weeds “ - Only if you look closer, you’ll notice their real nature, and know that such little beings can be so pretty,so bewitching……

There is so much quality in the macrocosm- so much richness flourishing in the sods ~ Seldom do we care to look for them…but when we do come across them, we grow to love them and eventually happen to contemplate the beauty and variety of miniscule beings, the roles they play in this whole existence…in their lives and our lives and the lives of the zillion other critters ~ ~

Bedazzled by the aura !!

We all sat there,that evening,in the darkness and waited for the display to begin-And even though I have seen it many times before..it still seemed to transport me to a diff world-mesmerizing world of fantastical romance ..I mean, how beautiful can this get ? The lapping waves, it’s foam barely visible, the strange seductive hissing sound of the waves……the bright shimmering water,due to the reflections…and the changing colors of the shimmering waters-with the colors of the fireworks above !! All the blinding lights from the nearby hotels couldn’t mar a bit of this experience.

We talked about the Diwali celebrations back home~ everyone chipping in their childhood memories, who preferred what kind of fireworks,whose caliber was upto which level-Starting from “ tara baaji “, “ rong Moshal “ to “ Kali Potka “, “ Choc Bomb “,” Rocket “ etc…

Then we inhaled deeply – The wind has brought a very familiar smell towards us-that of the burnt-out fireworks, which we all seemed to devour

And lastly, my wandering & always anxious mind thought of an inevitable thought-how much pollution does all these fireworks,all these smoke and fume cause each yr ? How much poison are we inhaling ? How much damage are we doing just by being mesmerized by this, just by loving this and looking forward to this event, every yr ????

Ghosts of the Abyss ~ ~

The documentary which takes you to a separate world-The world of the skeletal remains of a once majestic steamship …now a ghost,deep in the abysmal waters of the North Atlantic. Once called the ship which can never sink, it sank,to the shock and dismay of the world, on 14^th April 1912 ~ Taking with it the lives of more than 1500 passengers..Lack of enough lifeboats being the major reason for such a huge casualty-and women and children were given preference over men, leading to the death of comparatively larger number of men that cold night !!

She was the largest passenger steamship,engineered with the latest technology,built by some most experienced engineers of that time..Inspite of all those extensive and expensive safety measures, she succumbed to an early end, four days into the voyage from Southampton,England to New York ~

The rich and famous passengers were in for a great time-the opulent,luxurious ship, a great Captain-Edward Smith, with 30 yrs of Naval career under his belt, the use of the most technologically advanced systems of those times.What more could you hope for ?? An accident, as fatal as this, was the least possible thing that can happen -The ship was equipped with everything to brave any kind of storm which comes her way !!

But yet she sank…..with all her luxury,majesty and her passengers !!

What great four days those proud passengers must have led, what pride must the engineers and workers taken in their work of art , the firemen aboard the ship who worked the boilers must have been proud too ,to be on the Titanic and the Naval staff must have held their head high above their starched collars !!

Now she stands,buried half-way into a dark,deep chasm of the North Atlantic ocean floor- split apart into two…covered with barnacles and rusticles !! She is still a regal thing to look at-many of her décor still intact-the glass works,the woodworks….Many of her artifacts have been removed and taken to a museum in Greenwich,England-But she’s dwindling fast,microbes are eating her away …

Watching the insides of RMS Titanic in the movie “Ghosts of the Abyss “ transported me to a different era, a different creation-She is dead,her worldly days have long been over,almost 100 yrs ago ~ but yet she is so much alive-Alive in her own royal ways…People are still in absolute awe of her,people still want to know her and take a look at her ~

I envied the researchers and scientists who have been going down to 12500 ft below the ocean surface and taking a tour of the wreck …I envied all the sea creatures which now call this majestic wreck " their home "- What a life…to live on and in the Titanic ~

That ill-fated night of 14^th April 1912, indeed “ A Night To Remember “ ..

When she lived,she was an object of admiration…and even though she’s dead to the worldly eyes now…she’ll always be awe-inspiring, for years and years to come !!