Another one, for which I have to thank Kamalika ( Please see here !! ) again..The theme for this one is " MOOD "..I chose a few photos from my collection,which I think would aptly fit the topic..
My interpretations of the items of the Scavenger Hunt Sunday Event on Ashley Sisk's blog ( see here ). She's a great photographer and I'm so happy to get an oppurtunity to take part in such an event..Thanks to Ashley and to Kamalika ( visit her blog here ) as well,because of whom I came to know of such an event in the first place !!
My interpretations of the items :-
Wish / Dream
Clean
Currency
Pair
Square
1.Wish /Dream
Wishing I could go back to my hometown,take an early morning boat ride in the nearby river,which runs along our house..
2.CLEAN
My very cute broom,which keeps my bed clean ..
3.CURRENCY
I got this coin bag from a boutique in India...Love to keep my quarters in it !!
4.PAIR
A pair of Mottled Duck,feeding in the poodle formed by the fresh rain..
5.SQUARE
Very handy when I need to weigh my baggages before a trip....Reminds me of the times when I go home !!
I'm an avid photographer..Seldom do I go out without a camera..Sometimes,I slow down and take pictures in a weird manner from the driver's seat..Sometimes, I take a walk just for the sake of capturing nature's mundane affairs..For me,photography is a pastime,an obsession,an easy route to rewind and relax...
Thanks to Kamalika of http://silencesings.blogspot.com/, I became aware of the " Macro Monday Event " . And I wanted to share a few photographs from my collection...
I’m still waiting for that sunshine…I’m looking for it,if you’ll believe me..While I’m on the road,driving ..I’m looking out..When I’m outside,in my balcony-I’m searching for it…Only yesterday,I was waiting for the lights to turn green –and I was looking at the clouds-They are almost there,to that texture ,look and feel which I want them to be..to get in the Puja-mood..It’s almost there,but not quite.Something’s still missing and I’m not satisfied till they are perfect..But something beautiful happened,when I was staring at those beautiful white clouds,spread out like cotton ,when beaten up with a bow..The entire canvas of the sky was full of these fluffy clouds and then suddenly two different flocks of doves , from two parallel overhead wires stirred up…and took a beautiful flight of fantasy…They floated around for quite sometime,in wave-like movements,dancing around in the afternoon sun..I was uncommonly happy that the signal was taking it’s time to turn to green..They made swoops and glides in unison,as if dancing to some beautiful classical music,inaudible to me but audible to the sky,those clouds,the trees,the air..and whole of the big,wide world.. And then they gradually alighted back on those man-made wires..
This beautiful sight made me happy ,although a bit sad because I couldn’t capture this moment in my camera..But I felt refreshed nonetheless…
When I came to think of it,I realised how little things can make you happy and how less you need to be happy,even for a little bit,everyday !!
In those initial years after coming to US, I didn’t pay much attention to certain things around me-Perhaps I was too busy getting acquainted with the life here,too busy getting myself adjusted to the everyday chores that I was not habituated to do …But all those times I went back home,Mom’s cooking tasted ever so heavenly and finger-lickingly scrumptious…Nothing struck a bell except the obvious facts like I have missed this food so much and there’s nothing like Mom’s food !! And I continued to nurture these beliefs up until the time when I had some relatives over in our place from India..They were quick to point out to the fact that certain things tasted so much different here than in India..Different as in tasteless..Certain vegetables which we use in our daily meals in India had no taste here..The chicken tasted “ different “ not being freshly-cut and such..That opened my eyes to a lot of things …more precisely,to lots of thoughts linking up to the days of our childhood.
When it comes to vegetables and fruits,you can get everything nowadays all year round,even in India..although this was not the case even a few years back.And which seemed a big difference to me when I came here.I used to tell Ma about the different vegetables that I can get here ,irrespective of the month or the season and their sheer sizes..Peeling garlic is almost fun here due to the bigger sizes of the cloves !! I thought of all the frustrations and troubles Ma must have gone through when she wanted to prepare some dish and found out that the vegetable was not yet in the market or is too much priced due to being in the start of it’s season ….
But this spell was broken a little when I realized that food didn’t taste as good as I’m used to having it..I’m preparing the exact same recipe but still I couldn’t do it like Ma - Well,obviously I’m far from being as good a cook like my Ma…and although everything here is fatter ,bigger,fresher and easier to get ….there’s that factor of faster,better and mass production which changes the taste and value of certain things..
And then,there’s no one to wave the magical wand on them..How can something,even organic for that matter ,taste as good as home..if there’s no dad to go out on Sunday mornings to get the fresh-cut mutton from the butcher,or the vegetables from the bazar …or on Tuesday evenings,on his way back home from office..stopping by the “ haat “ and picking up a few good stuff ???
It’s those things-smells of Ma’s cooking,sights of dad’s grocery bags, realizing those toils of our parents, those childhood days,those memories which seemed routine when they were present but seems so magical,now that they are a part of the non-existent past - those things,that serve as the ultimate enhancers.
( I added a photo of Jamrul/Bell fruit from Ma’s garden – See how they beam in the sun,those babies !! )
Today was one of those days when I looked about me and felt like I knew this sunshine from somewhere- The day I was about to leave home for hostel life,for the first time..had this exact same tint to it..Not a sunshine which one associates with happiness,but one of dejection-Memories of leaving the love and constant protection of your parents to one of struggle.Although hostel life is not all bad,and I personally feel everyone should experience it..but still,for me it marked a big change in my otherwise tranquil life...
There are lots of such days when I can relate to the color of the sunshine …There is a particular time of the year when it happens more often..I’m still waiting for it to happen this year..It’s almost time though- Days when I start to feel durga puja is just around the corner-the cottony clouds,the bright sunshine,the sky..everything has a different feel and look-something which I can’t express in words so well but only can be felt..specially if you have spent your lifetime looking forward to durga pujo every year and observing the gradual changes which marks the advent of autumn or “ Sharat “ in bengal....Monsoon gradually takes her leave, and Kaash fuul starts taking form in the clumps of grassy brushes,in the fields and roadsides…mostly around those places left wet by the rains. Sunshine starts to abound and clumps of milky white,fluffy clouds start floating around like little boats in the vast blue ocean of the sky….
In my mind full of memories,durga pujo & Sharat kaal are representated aptly by two things- Kaash Fuul and Shiuli Fuul..And as puja holidays started to get closer,bamboo poles started piling up at tentative spots for “ pandals “, you hear the word “ pujo’r bazar ( pujo shopping ) “ and ongoing decision-making at home regarding pujo gifts to relatives…I knew it’s time..And immediately my eternal lookout for any signs of Kaash fuul started.
I was in India last year for durga puja-after many years..And on our way to Kolkata via G.T.Road , I felt like I was in a dream..The roadsides and the fields ..as far as eyes could see,were covered with whiteness..Kaash fuul…my favorite…abounding everywhere..in all the nook and corner..It was a sight which made my trip worthwhile…it was a sight which brought back floods of memories and fed my hungry mind and soul with material to make whole new memories….I asked dad to stop so that I could step out of the car and imbibe this sight….A few days later,there was a big storm,which often happens this time of the year..and all those whiteness were gone…some dropped off to the ground,others were slumped by the torrent…a few remained to brave the wind.But I’ve taken in one of the best sights and I was not that sad. In my parents’ garden,like every year giant pink “ sthal-padma “ ( Land-Lotus ) started to bloom..Shiuli came a little later..I remembered how my brother and I used to tire ourselves out by collecting loads of shiuli fuul,which covered the grounds below the tree in a thick carpet,every morning..There’s no fragrance like the shiuli-It’s just out of this world..and the fact that it comes only during a particular time of the year and that too during the durga puja-makes it all so much more special. Shapla,shaluk,Padma ….made their appearances in the ponds and lakes…Yes,durga pujo is definitely here…
So,in this far-off land…it so happens that that the imminence of durga pujo arrives some way or the other to me-Sometimes,from the advertisements and announcements in the online radio,or a little chat with Ma when she tells me about all the shopping she’s been doing since there’s only a month or two left …Or sometimes,one fine sunny day..I feel and smell that durga pujo-ness in the sunshine..and when I look up,I see those exact same clouds and the clear,crisp,blue sky i’ve been seeing all my life.What I do then is to add my own spice to it-those sights of kaash,shiuli,shaapla,shaluk,sthal Padma ~ those smell of dhoop,dhuno,haziness around the pandals due to all the smoke ~ the sounds of stotro-paath ( chanting of mantras ),blaring microphones,puspanjali ( offering to the goddess ) in progress ~ and everything else I need to do to transport me back home, to the voices of my parents telling us to hurry up..to those days of durga puja..
I’m still awaiting that kind of a sunshine this year…eagerly ~ ~
The hills are alive, with the sound of music,
With songs they have sung, for a thousand years...
The hills fill my heart, with the sound of music...
My heart wants to sing every song, it hears.
My heart, wants to beat like the wings of the birds,
that rise from the lake to the trees....
My heart wants to sigh like a chime that flies,
from a church on a breeze...
To laugh like a brook when it trips and falls over
stones, on its way..
To sing through the night, like a lark who is learning to pray...
I go to the hills, when my heart is lonely...
I know I will hear, what I've heard before...
My heart will be blessed, with the sound of music.....
And I'll sing, once more..
I hold this song very very dear to me..like the movie itself- When my mom was a teenager,she watched this movie for the first time..and like every other adolescent girl,she fell in love with it-With the songs,with “ I’m sixteen,going on seventeen “,with the soft yet passionate chemistry between Fraulein Maria & Captain Von Trapp…
When I turned 10,my mom brought this movie from the store ( those were the times of big fat black video cassettes ) for us to watch it for the first time..I guess she must have waited eagerly all these years to open my eyes to the aspects of deep love, soft romance and intense passion...which could all be found beautifully in this movie.
I was mesmerized with everything,just like my mom had been in her teenage days.Such is the character of this movie,I believe..that through the generations it has created the same kinds of feelings in all the girls of a certain age..That was the time I fell in love with Christopher Plummer , the romantic moonlit night in the glass house,when Maria and Captain Von Trapp confessed their love for each other …that delicately soft love and deep passion displayed in the most gentle manner !!
And I fell in love with the idea of love..and started to understand the meaning of the word “ romance “ – romance in the ripples of a lake,in the gurgling sound of water-when it flows over the rocks…in the moonlit nights and in the leaves changing colours during fall….I fell in love with Julie Andrews, and her voice…So much was the love,that I went back to watch this movie innumerable times till date,and I always felt the same charm and joy…The movie itself, to me ..stands for everything positive- love,respect..for each other,for your homeland ...
I’m madly fond of the prelude and the song ( the one which I started this post with ) – It gladdens my heart when I can relate to the lyrics of a song with the feelings of my heart-and this is one of such song which I can relate to,every word of it ~ ~
Something’s doesn’t change with time and I believe,there should be some such things which will always be beautiful and remain unchanged with time & create the same magic for all ages....For moms and daughters to cherish,enjoy and treasure,individually and together……
How much do we hide in our daily life ? How much of a mask do we wear ? The people we meet everyday or those we think of as near and dear,confide in,believe to be faithful and trustworthy-how much can we trust them actually ? How much should they trust us ? Don’t I wear a mask from time to time ? Don’t we feign friendship with people whom we might not like ? Aren’t we,the women-the master artistes ?
Women are taught to be hypocrites-they should mask their feelings-their sorrow,their dissatisfaction,their pain-instead of opining on some matter,they should act dumb-they should act as if everything is well and good-that she’s happy,as long as the sun rises in the east and sets in the west !! Then how can someone judge a woman for being the hypocrite she is,when the same society teaches her to be so ? On one hand , society wants a woman to wear a mask – only a mask can make a woman perfect in all aspects…No displays of emotions,of any kind is the way to be..And then,when time comes-the same woman can be railed against for being bit of a pretender. Times have changed a lot, but certain norms of society hasn’t !!
As a woman,how much do we judge another of our own sex ? On one hand,we pretend to be all for feminism..and then,we find faults and shortcoming of others..A woman who have gone through emotional distress and sufferings at the hands of another, eventually behaves the same way when her time comes to take a leading role in the family – I wonder,why not think for minute to reminisce about how she had felt and find out ways to better the new relations in her life,to be a different person-After all,shouldn’t we all learn from our pains and sufferings ??
Should we continue wearing the mask,for better or for worse ? Should we keep masking our feelings,to bring true happiness for someone else,although we might be as virtually happy as someone can be....And which might in the long run,make all of us terribly unhappy ?!
The boughs hanged low,very near to her..they were stretching out towards her..looking all grand in their green opulence…The verdure animated her emotions…And in a sudden moment of revelation,she realized what she was missing..She was missing that special someone,who would hold her hand whenever she outstretched her own towards that person,in joy,in sorrow,in fear,in apprehension…in times of need-happy or sad..These sturdy limbs were in a way telling her to find that special someone…or more so,find friends to lighten up this darkness that’s been prevailing and hanging low,in her life !! And simultaneous to this revealing moment,the thunder clapped loudly with a sudden gust of wind rustling it’s way through the foliage-almost like in a movie,which made her smile …She decided to find those gems of life,in the little flashes-whenever there would be a lightning on a overcast day !!
The kissing touch of a dewdrop which might open a bud and glisten the blades of grass, the touch of the sun which brightens things up, the touch of a bee that can transform a flower to a fruit ,the touch of an artist which gives finesse to an art, the loving touch of appreciation left by someone, caressing touch of the breeze cooling you down-on a hot summer day,the touching words of support,even from a stranger-which soothes you to the core and calms you, the touch of a mother which soothes her baby-even if the baby’s 40 yrs old now...There are so many different manifestations of that word and so many different ways that word can affect someone or something...Let that touch , touch you..Let you be touched by that effectual touch…..
