Ponyo

A quick post - incredibly cute little animation that I stumbled across on Film4. Japanese Ghilbi studios always do fantastic animations - some cuter than others. Ponyo isn't exactly the cutest, but its nice to watch for a change.

Little K adores it. Some bits here and there are just plain silly, but the best part is Ponyo's interaction with Souske.
We role-play Ponyo ad Souske sometimes. Its so much fun!

A cup of tea

A lot can happen over a cup of tea.
A mind can think, and dwell, as the spoon swirls little circles in the tea cup - new ideas brew with the tea and worries dissolve with the sugar.

A lot can happen over a cup of tea.
Cold hands are warmed around the steaming hot cup, as hearts thaw with every sip.

A lot can happen over a cup of tea.
Storms in teacups. Fists banged on desks and spilled tea stains on tables. Minds fuming and steaming, as the tea sits untouched, tepid, lukewarm - insipid.

A lot can happen over a cup of tea.
Reams of gossips! Hush hush and giggle giggle - biscuits dipped and dipped again and a soggy residue at the bottom of the cup.

A lot can happen over a cup of tea.
Dripping rains. Glistening leaves. Sloshed up shoes and soaking wet clothes. Steaming hot tea, strong - nostrils seeking the steam and the heat. And a stolen glance over a cup of tea.

A lot can happen over a cup of tea.
Lets talk about you. No, lets talk about me. Another tea? With milk? No milk? I like mine with sugar - I like mine with lemon. Lets talk about 'we'.

A lot can happen over a cup of tea.
Tears brimming, teacups in hands - gently resting on the lap. Untouched.I can smell the tea - and your tears mixed with it.

A lot can happen over a cup of tea.
Tiered eyes, tiered limbs, tiered mind. Will you just sit, and let me make a cup of tea - for you and me?

A lot, really, A LOT can happen over a cup of tea.

Happy Diwali!

For me, Diwali is all about atmosphere. There is a slight winter nip in the air, the mornings have just started turning a bit foggy, delicious smells of savouries being fried waft in on lazy afternoons , earthen lamps (panatis), firecrackers, lanterns (akashkandil), small figurines (mavale) for the fort (killa) start making their appearances in all markets - and Diwali is in the air.

From the place where I come from, Diwali is celebrated for 4 days.
It starts with the ladies of the house taking a ritualistic oil bath - abhyanga snan.
Ladies apply scented oils and wash their hair. Little girls are given a good body massage. A special herbal paste called utana is used for bath. Call it a Spa Day for ladies!
Vasubaras - is celebrated by paying respect to cow and her calf. They are worshipped on this day and are fed specially prepared offerings.
Then comes Dhanatrayodashi or Dhanteras. Wealth is worshipped in this day, and is celebrated prominently by traders and businessmen. Buying gold, silver or even utensils is auspicious.
Next day is Narakachaturdashi. Its a Spa day for the family! People wake up before sunrise and take the elaborate abhyanga snan. Baths are elaborate - first a full body massage with perfumed oils, and then a bath with special herbal utnas.
The most popular day of Diwali is Laxmi Pooja. On this day, Goddess of Wealth is worshipped in the form of gold, silver, money, accounts, balance books, jewellery etc. Colourful rangolis adorn the courtyards of many houses.The lights and fireworks are the brightest on this day.
The next day is Padwa - signifying the bond between husband and wife. The lady of the house receives a generous gift from her husband, mostly an ornament or a piece of jewellery.
The last day is Bhaubij or Bhaiduj. It signifies the bond of love between siblings. Sisters receive gifts from their brothers.

Celebrations in our house were ritualistic. Like that special Moti soap - reserved strictly for Diwali bath times. It just didn't feel right to use this soap for the everyday bath! Same was the case with those perfumed almond oils. (Funnily enough, little K associates the smell of a certain perfumed oil with Diwali, and has coined it 'Happy Diwali Oil' !).
Family shopping trips were quintessential as Diwali approached. Those days, shopping - especially clothes shopping happened on occasions. Festivals, weddings, birthdays. It wasn't the norm to go shopping on the fly, definitely not as a pastime.
Ditto for fireworks. We used to be given a budget - within which we could fit our list. Small temporary stalls would be set up in a huge public ground, where people used to go in the evening to shop for firecrackers. More than the display fireworks, the loud ones that burst with a bang were preferred. While the chunkier items were used up under adult supervision, the harmless ones were used as afternoon pastimes - we used to get a good 10 days off from school. Talking of school, how could we forget the Diwali homework  Schools gave reams and and reams ( or so we felt) of homework to be completed - I remember filling several 400 paged notebooks with essays and sums and Q & As.
There used to big family lunches and dinners, where all uncles and aunts and cousins used to gather. After the meals, as elders indulged in general chit chat or a game of cards, kids would build killas - small fort replicas with bricks and mud. A robust arrangement of bricks would be covered with a thin hemp or jute cloth and then plastered with potting soil or mud.Mustard seeds would be sowed to grow 'farms' and foliage on the fort. Great creativity and imagination went into these - caves , wells, water moats, tunnels, steps - anything and everything was included in the structure. Little figurines of Shivaji and his soldiers (mavale) were put on a fort, along side farmers and their cattle, wild animals and ladies carrying water pots up the fort!

Diwali offered great opportunities for community gatherings, and many live performances of dance and music, lectures by dignitaries were arranged.
Diwali offered a special something for everybody - ladies had their pharal preparation afternoons, kids had their killa sessions, menfolk busied themselves setting up lanterns , driving the shopping trips and being at the beck and call for any after-work-hour help. Families visited neighbours for a quick cup of tea and samplings of the pharal. Even  domestic helpers were handed packets of home made goodies accompanied by hefty tips or an occasional new saree or dress.
Such were the festivities - that filled peoples' minds with generosity and well being. Diwali not just in the air, but in the minds and spirits.

What are you watching these days?

God bless Sky+. For a toddler's parents, getting a turn to watch there favourite TV programme is virtually impossible. Recording their favourite programme on the other hand, is just a few clicks away!

God Bless BBC - for the pure, unadulterated joy of watching a very interesting programme on TV - uninterrupted. This, by far is the single most reason I so love BBC. And of course the quality of programmes.

Some of C's and mine combined favourites are from BBC - The Sherlock series, Dragon's Den, Top Gear, News, MasterChef, Andrew Marr's History Of the World ( and The Paradise- on my list only and the Great British Bake Off on C's list only) to name a few. Also on recording is Richard Hammond's Miracles Of Nature. But yet to establish a fan following. Homes Under The Hammer is a good change too. So is Flog It ( but only sometimes!)
BBC iPlayer is yet another blessing - never were the long journeys to work so appealing!

Sky too has some interesting stuff going on. We are enjoying Elementary , and Grey's Anatomy might come back as a favourite - but its too early to tell. Game Of Thrones series - really well made. Definite watch (for me).

Channel 4's Grand Designs is another of our picks. There were times when we would watch back to back episodes late into the night! Location Location Location and A Place in the Sun are on the list too.

Discovery's best picks for us are How Its Made and Myth Busters. Even little K enjoy's it.

The usual suspects - sitcoms - are my territory only. There have been on and off recordings of Desperate Housewives, How I Met Your Mother, Big Bang Theory, Scrubs - but I tire of them after sometime.

Movies - we enjoy our Hindi movies. But, they are a pain to watch when just as the hero takes a sideways look at the villain and... Sunrise Kitchens offer you a huge selection of designs and materials!!! Can't stand the adverts.
But once recorded, C sits readily armed with the remote, and whizzes past these annoyances in a fraction.

Now you would think, hmm.. that's a lot of TV these people can manage to watch.
Well, there are a few things we enjoy together - and watching TV is one of them. Thankfully, C n me mostly share the same viewing interest, so watching something together and then chatting and discussing it later gives us the much needed 'us' time after a day spent at work. That, and The Great British Weather, make watching TV our favourite pastime.

I can't wait to be King!

Little K's current favorite is The Lion King. He loves it - can watch it every day. He does watch it every weekend. And he does not just watch - he listens. He even shushes us when we are talking - he really wants to listen to what everyone in the film are saying.
And he understands - I recently over heard him explaining the entire plot to one of his friends. He knows Mufasa and Simba are good, and Scar and the hyenas aren't.
But best bit was at bath time one day. I generally leave him with his bath toys for about 5 mins towards the end, so that he can splash about till I get his stuff ready. I heard him singing the 'Oh I just can't wait to be King..' song. Ok, by song I mean that one line - but then it was in tune - and he filled rest of it with 'na na na..'.
And on another day, he wanted to help out in the kitchen - by ahem! cutting vegetables with the kitchen knife.
When I said he needs to wait till he is a grown-up to do that, he broke into this song !
Needless to say - I am thrilled! I can't wait to see my little Simba grow up !

This is the full lyrics of that song. Now I don't listen to Elton John very often, but Lion King definitely is some where in the top of charts for me!

Curiosity Killed the Cat

Curiosity Killed the Cat, is a proverb used to warn of the dangers (or foils) of unnecessary investigation or experimentation - says Wikipedia.

I have, of my own accord , experienced it first hand , most recently.
As I travel by underground rail ( or tube as Londoners fondly(!?) call it) to work every day, I notice several people reading either one of   'The Hunger Games' trilogy by Suzanne Collins, or 'A Song of Ice And Fire' series by George R R Martin.
I normally pick books based on impulse, recommendations, reviews, nostalgia or popularity - not necessarily in that order.
Having seen the above mentioned books so often, on a daily basis, it was not long before I made a trip to the library and asked for the first book of each series - and surprise surprise - there wasn't one available. There were 69 and 72 reservations respectively for the 20 'Hunger Games' and 17 'Games of Throne' copies   at the library!  I put my name on the list and waited for the email announcing my copy was ready to be picked.

If I like a book, I read it slowly, leisurely.  I want it to last as long as possible - I dread the disappointment of finishing that book. I get anxious as fewer and fewer pages are left to be read.

The Hunger Games is a trilogy. The Ice and Fire series has 7 books - of which sixth and seventh are yet to release! If these books appeal to my taste, and get me engrossed, I will have 10 books to savour - now that is something worth considering.
 I had a similar excited frenzy with Harry Potter and The Lord Of The Rings. ( Though, of all Harry Potter books, 'Prisoner of Azkaban' I liked best, and all those that came after it never lived up to the standard for me.  As for 'The Lord Of the Rings' - J R R Tolkien - take a bow! Never has been my reader's mind so encouraged and enthused into imagination , since the golden years of reading Enid Blyton's 'Adventures of Wishing Chair' ! )

There has been an increasing trend to make movies based on books.

Now, when you read a book, your imagination has no boundaries, no limits. Anything and everything is possible. Such is the power of the written word, that an infinite supply of thoughts can be drawn out from the depths of your mind. Your mind does wonders with spinning images and sounds and smells and feelings in your head from the words that you read.
But show that book as a movie - and your mind is fed with someone else's vision, someone else's interpretation! And mostly ( except for the noble exception of The Lord Of The Rings) the movie versions result into disappointment.

I prefer to read a book, than watch a movie made out of it.

Coming back to the cat that got killed - I read the first 'Hunger Games' and then happened to look it up on the net - just out of curiosity! And Wikipedia ruined it for me. 3 books summarized into a few pages - and I kind of had no more interest in reading the books any more.
I also happened to see the televised drama based on 'Games Of Throne' - its very well made, but now every time I read about Ned Stark, I will have Sean Bean in my head.

If only I had not looked these things up - I would have had 10 books to look forward to! Sigh! and Alas!


This month is (apparently) the National Blog Posting Month. The theme is blogging for blogging's sake!
Works for me, as it gives me a (much needed) boost to blog more regularly. I am going to try and post more often for this NaBloPoMo!