Hello everyone… I have been out for the last two weeks.. to read about what I did in these last teo weeks, check out my travel blog…. A Wandering Mind .
Here’s an interesting site I visited yesterday.. Not only can you imrove your vocabulary. but at the same time, donate rice to the hungry…
Here’s the latest addition to my ever-growing bookshelf – THE THREE OAK MYSTERY by EDGAR WALLACE . And therein lies a story……………….
My father was a great fan of Edgar Wallace books, and over the years had accumulated a sizeable collection of his books. However, when he passed away at the early age of 35, a victim to Cancer, we had no choice,but to donate most of his books , due to lack of storage space. I was only 5 years old at that time, and my mother kept only a few books as mementoes for me, among which were only two works of Edgar Wallace- Four Square Jane, and The Forger. As I grew up , I found that I had inherited not only his love for books, which anyway was a very strong thread running through the whole family, but also the same kind of tastes in books that he had. Till date, my mother is surprised that I am so much like him, without even a memory of him. Anyway, to get back to what this post is about– books, I found that I enjoyed the Edgar Wallace books, and tried to hunt out more of them.It was then that I found out from my mother and uncles that he was my dad’s favourite author, and also that very few of his books were available.
Over the years, I have been a member of many libraries, but unfortunately, many of them had not even heard of this talented author. I have since learnt that he was a soldier, a poet, war correspondent, and playwright also. He wrote more than170 books, which have been translated into 28 languages and sales of which have exceeded 50 million copies. Over 160 Films have been made on his books-more than any other author. He was working on the original screenplay for King Kong hen he died . In the 1920s, one of his many publishers claimed that a quarter of all books written in England were written by him.
Quite an impressive biography, isn’t it ? But I found it very difficult to get his books anywhere…
Imagine my surprise , therefore, when I walked into the Higginbotham’s store at Chennai Airport, and on the very first rack were Edgar Wallace books- 10 of them… I was sorely tempted to buy all of them, but I managed to control myself and only bought this one.
I sat up all night to finish reading it, and WoW!!! Enjoyed every page. …Typical Edgar Wallace……Good Plot, Twists and turns everywhere, well written………a book I heartily recommend to all mystery book lovers……….
Over this weekend, I got to know what it feels like, to be a regular business traveller. Samhith and I spent the weekend at Chennai with my sister-in-law, Sandhya, attending a function at her place. We went by train, leaving Bombay on friday evening, and returned by a night flight on Sunday, as Samhith had to attend school today (Monday). Whew! Were we tired!
Of course, the trip was worth it, because we had a blast ! Shankar’s family was all there, as well as friends and relatives, many of whom we didn’t remember…The function, a puja to Lord Ayyappa, went off very well.We all enjoyed it. I esecially loved the decoration (ook out for photos ..I shall upload them soon….) Samhith enjoyed the bhajan, and even sang one song !
But this post is not about the function. This is about the journey……..
As I mentioned earlier, we went by train, and were lucky to get a good group of co-passengers, mostly 25 year-olds going back home after a conference in Bombay. Samhith made friends rather too fast, and thankfully, they diidnt resent it, and played with him, all through the journey, letting him listen to music on their mobiles, and showing him videos on their laptop… but even after all that, he was really tired and fed up with travelling, and wanted to get off the train… This, in spite of going in a Third AC Coach this time ! I have always enjoyed train journeys and want him to do the same, so I take along loads of books, and play some games with him almost all the time, but somehow he stil doesnt enjoy it. God alone knows how i can make him enjoy train travel a lot more…..
While returing by air, he was quite happy……..after all, it is only a couple of hours…… and he asked me why we hadnt flown to Chennai too…. I tried to explain that we travel by air only when it is necessary, and that train travel itself is part of the holiday we are taking, but I dont think he was convinced…… Anyway, now he feels that it is perfectly possible to go to Chennai for the weekend, and asks me why we can’t do it every weekend….
Explaining financial constraints to children is never easy, but important, and a task that I have to perform some time or the other. But I still dont know how to g about it….. We shall be travelling again, by train , during our summer holiday, and am already planning out activities to do while we are sitting indoors for 12 to 24 hours at a stretch… Hope this time around, I have more luck, and actually succeed in making him look forward to a train journey……….
Incidentally, here is another thing I have noticed….. Samhith seems happier in the II Class compartment when we are travelling more than 20 hours in the train…. Maybe because he can look outside, buy things from the vendors who swarm around at every station, and in general interact with a lot more people, than he can in an AC coach.
Now, is this something I have imagined, or is is something you too face ? I ask this of all of you, as my husband doent agree… He says that the II Class is too noisy and dirty, and there is to much dirt… Samhith can’t possibly enjoy it… He says I am imagining things, and now refuses to book in II Class, unless of course, nothing else is available.. Please do get back to me with your ideas………..
Here’s another effort, at sketching this time… i did learn sketching for a time, from my husband’s uncle, who is a whiz at such things… but that was when i was pregnant…. this sketch is for my sister’s friend….
After a long time, another post from me… here is one of my artistic efforts… doesnt look great, does it ? well, probably because it has been almost 8 years since I picked up a brush and put it on paper.. Yes, 8 years is quite a long time … thats probably why my painting looks like something my son would have made… in fact, i bought the new paint set for him, intending to teach him how to paint… he doestn really have the patience, or the inclination, but , being a mother, i just keep trying…..
Well, anyway, there were the paints, and samhith was fast asleep, and it was just the two of us at home….. all the others are out of station… so i allowed myself to succumb to the temptation…. I have never learnt to paint properly… it has always been just a medium to let off steam, and usually perks me up …. and so it was this time round too….. i had just had a row with my husband and was feeling just a bit bad about it, and doing this has certainly helped me…. it helped me keep myself from shooting off my mouth when i spoke to him yesterday, and things certainly seem rosier now……..
Hi Folks, my son loves stories…he keeps asking for more and more and more….. the only problem is, he likes hearing the same stories againm and again, and again, while I get sort of tired of the repetition. The other thing is, he has this fascination for Krishna stories , which doesnt seem to go away, and he wants more of them, and new ones too…. so last week, just to keep him engaged, I made up a story of my own. I do that sometimes, but this time, I also decided to write it down, so that I could actually get back some real feedback … my son’s views can’t count..he simply loves all the stories I tell him !!!
So, please people, read my story and tell me what you think.
I have not been able to decide what to call my story. So, suggestions are welcome !!
Deep in the heart of India, in a small village, lived a little boy named Shyam. He lived with his parents and grandparents in a cottage in the village. He was loved by one and all. He loved to play with everyone and listen to the stories his mother and grandmother told him. His favourite story was about Krishna, the ninth of the Dashavatars, or incarnations of Lord Vishnu. He loved to hear the stories of Krishna over and over again. Amma, please tell me again how Krishna stole butter from his neighbors’ house with his friends house! He kept asking his mother all the time. As he grew, his fascination with Krishna grew, especially when he learnt that his name, ‘Shyam’ was also one of Krishna’s names.
His fascination with Krishna grew to such an extent, that soon, he started behaving like Krishna. He entered his neighbors’ houses and ate up all the butter and curds. He hid their clothes while they bathed in the river, broke the pots of water they carried back, and in general troubled them in every way he had heard Krishna used to. His mother was at her wits end. All the neighbours and villagers started complaining, and she did not know what to say to them. And her son, no matter what she said to him, he took it as a joke. As far as he was concerned, he was just behaving like Krishna, the same Krishna that everyone in the village prayed to. When Krishna had been mischievous, then too, people had complained to Yashoda, his mother, but it was all in fun. Everyone actually wanted Krishna to come to their house and trouble them playfully. Then why would they complain about him? He too was Shyam, wasn’t he? Much as his mother tried to explain, he never understood.
Finally, one day,Shyam’s mother lost her patience. She had just had a huge group of women coming home to complain once again about her son, and she had enough!! Shyam came home only to get the worst scolding he had ever received from his mother She raved and ranted about his behaviour, and then finally said, “I have had enough of you behaving like this. Just get out of my sight, and stay out till you learn how to behave!” Shyam was stunned! He had never seen his mother so angry. It was evident that he was going to get no support from the older members of the family. His grandparents simply looked on, obviously in agreement with their daughter-in-law. Too stunned to answer, Shyam just started walking towards the riverbank…his favourite place, just outside the village. He sat there, looking at his reflection in the water, reflecting on the things that had happened.
He suddenly became aware of another reflection in the water, appearing behind him. ‘No, it couldn’t be’, he thought, as he looked first at the reflection, and then turned slowly around. But yes, it was, it really was Krishna. Krishna, in person, standing behind him, looking at him, Shyam, with a smile on his lips. If Shyam had been stunned before, now he was absolutely tongue-tied! He wanted to say so many things, but he couldn’t think, let alone speak. Then Krishna himself broke the silence. Laying his hand on the small boy’s head, he said, “Did I get you into trouble?” No!!! The answer burst from Shyam’s mouth like a rocket set afire. No! It wasn’t your fault, he said. “But you tried to act like me, didn’t you?” asked Krishna, smilingly. ”Yes, and that is just what I don’t understand” said Shyam. “When people didn’t get angry with you, why do they get angry with me? I just wanted people to love me just like they loved you.”
“People do love you very much. They just don’t want to be troubled by you. See, when I was born, the people who were born along with me, all the villagers, the children, the elders, everyone was part of a divine plan. It was like a drama being enacted on a stage for the benefit of the spectators, in this case, people in general. I was born on earth to teach people the values of love and duty, and things took the course I wanted them to take. It is not the same situation with you, or for that matter anyone else. Again, if you read about my life, you can also see in how many instances and in how many ways Balarama (my brother) and I helped the people around us. That is what you must learn from my stories. Not just how mischievous I was!” Krishna answered with a twinkle in his eyes.
Shyam seemed to understand exactly what his dear Krishna was saying, for he heard him with full concentration. Then at last he said, “I think I can understand now what my mother and you want me to do. You want me to make friends and make them love me , by helping them, not getting into their houses and forcing them to play with me. Is that right, Krishna? “Yes! You have got it just right! From now on, you must only be good, and no body must ever complain about you. Can you promise me that?” asked Krishna. “I promise” replied Shyam, “but when will I see you again?” You can see me whenever you want , but just meditating on me, by closing you eyes, and concentrating on me, and then, after you grow up, take care of your parents, your family, your children, and then, when you have finished all your duties, you can come to me for ever and ever and ever….”
And as Krishna said these words, he seemed to disappear into the reflection in the water. Shyam got up with a start. Oh, Krishna had gone, but he had promised him that he would be able to see him whenever he wanted. But, he had a promise to keep too…
Shyam ran all the way home. His parents were sitting on the doorstep, waiting for their little boy, wondering where he had gone.
“Amma, I am home… I met Krishna, and he explained everything to me, and from now, I am going to be a very very good boy….”out it came, all in a rush… Shyam’s mother didn’t understand…She thought “The poor boy was hungry and tired. He must have slept off and had a dream… let me take him in and feed him…” and they all went inside…
And you know what, from that day, Shyam was a very good boy. He helped everyone, and troubled nobody. He became the ideal boy from then on, and everybody used to say, “Oh, what a nice boy that Shyam is” he was good not only at home, but at school too, he studied well, and grew up to be a very good young man. And he never forgot his friend Krishna!!!
——————–X———————-
Yesterday, after long time, we all went out together. Appa, Amma,(my in-laws) Shankar, Samhith and myself. The last time we all went out was to the circus, and this time it was to a Fair. We had been wanting to see this handloom fair,which comes every december to Bombay. They have good stuff , especially clothes, slippers, bangles, etc. at decent prices, and my son has quite a lot to keep him occupied -there are a number of rides, merry-go-rounds, etc. Last year we had returned disappointed, as Samhith was just showing an interest to ride in them, but the quality of the merry go rounds was awful Shankar was rather skeptical about going there this year, but he gave in to our demands, and finally joined us.. And I must appreciate that. He had participated in the Mumbai Marathon- the 21 Kms Half Marathon, just that morning, but he stil came, just to please Samhith…. A good Dad, isn’t he?
Well, anyway, we were in for a pleasant surprise. The rides were excellent, brand new ones, and lots of them! Samhith enoyed himself.
And this year there was a bonus…. They had made a replica of the famous Amarnath Shrine ( For those in the dark, Amarnath is a cave in the himalayas where a natural Lingam is formed of ice every year, and is a popular pilgrim spot, to which thousands of people trek every year) They had made a path apearing to be a mountain path, with small temples dotting the path, going through water along the way, and finally a cave inside which a white lingam was kept. Not very original perhaps but interesting to the multitudes of Indians who yearn to make the Amarnath yatra, but are not able to make it for various reasons. We all enjoyed it, and hope to make it to the original shrine at least once in our lifetime.
We had lots of fun, ate lots and lots of junk food while Samhith went from one ride to another. We had anticipated spending about an hour there, but ended up spending three, and returned home close to midnight. And whats more, I have already made plans to take my sister Kanthi there when she has a day off from her busy college life.
For now, you can see the photos I took there.. For more, wait and watch !!!
I just read a post today, You know you are getting older when… and it really struck a chord….. Especially the one about renewing friendships on facebook, and then not being able to keep it up…… getting on with one’s own life…..how true!! Just today, I met an old friend online, after ages…… and we started chatting…About 5 years back when we were studying together, we would talk for hours on the phone, meet up at someone’s place and study together, but today, we spoke for harly a few minutes before he got a call and my son started demanding my attention… we had to both sign out. We have promised to keep in touch, but then with the kind of hectic life that we have, i dont know when we are going to be able to talk………….
About books, thankfully I havent reached that stage yet…many of my friends still have threir comics stacked up carefully……………..of course no one has the time to read them…….
Personally, I still love to read Harry Potter, and given the chance, enjoy re-reading all the Enid Blyton books tooo…..but when I tell anyone about reading these books, the look I get staggers me…..people ask me why i a reading books that my son will soon be reading…… it makes me feel so, so old……i have stopped telling anyone what i read these days…..
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