A Good Life..

No sight of the much predicted rains. Not even a stray drop of rain till Friday afternoon for us Delhites while the entire neighborhood reveled in cooler temperatures.

And then, what a shower!

My poor plants that were looking so tired and wilted for the last couple of weeks are now drenched to the roots. Just hoping they don’t all decide to die on me from ‘over-feeding’…I so love my little potted garden.

 

What an evening!

First, an early exit from work. Explored my favourite book store while waiting for my husband P who’d promised to take a short break from work to come meet me.

Plan: Coffee.

It took him nearly two hours to ‘run away’. By then, I had dissected the ‘On Sale’ section, leafed through the entire ‘Western Philosophy’, noted down Dalai Lama and Osho quotes, sighed and swooned at the ridiculously expensive fountain pen collection and filled my basket to the brim.

I always do that. Fill my basket with books that I assume I’m going to buy till at the billing counter better sense (occasionally !!) prevails and I dump half of them.

Finally  I dumped just three which means I am now the proud owner of over half a dozen new books I have no time to read! But it feels good.

Anyway, Coffee happened.

 

 

And it was just when we were giggling away like teenagers that we realized the menacingly approaching dark clouds will soon be upon us if we did not rush back home. And if you think it should have been a romantic proposition let me remind you that we were stuck with two cars.

How could we have forgotten that we had both ran away from work!

Besides, P still had to go back to the hospital to check on a patient.

So, post coffee date saw us both head our own ways.

The clouds did catch up with us half way through.

The usually vibrant sun had retreated without a fight and we were stuck with howling winds and lashing rains much akin to a Hollywood doomsday scene.

 

 

But it was fun. In spite of the fact that I could hardly see where I was driving, it sure was fun!

So finally, we got our share of the rains.

 

I was a tad worried though. Ginger is a little apprehensive of thunder. With Shadow and Buddy around, who hardly seems to notice it, she is much better now. But I do make it a point to always get back home as fast as possible at the first signs of a brewing storm. Thankfully the sky wasn’t very noisy,  just terribly leaky!

Anyway, my kids were fine.

A ‘more than usual’ exuberant welcome. I was over three hours late. They knew exactly. They always know.

 

The evening walk was lovely. The now gentle raindrops, the wet grass, the fresh air…. perfect setting for a romp in the park.

P suggested special dinner. And that he was willing to fix one.

Perfect!

What can be better than to curl up with a fresh new book, Ginger Buddy and Shadow huddled close while your husband fixes a gourmet meal of sorts!

 

HA!

Sweet and Spicy Ginger Chicken fry. Risotto. Baked and fried Mango chutney as a side!

It was only half way through our meal I realized I hadn’t got any pictures!

What a quaint little day!

 

Saturday passed off in a blur again. The entire world invariably imagines doctors should be on duty on weekend evenings because ‘It is just so convenient for us to see you on a Saturday. We do not have to take off from work’!

A humid Sunday morning. No rains. Ginger, Buddy and Shadow cooled off the routine way!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

P is off to see a patient again!

Should we go out afterwards? The mid-year discount sales are on at almost all my favorite stores and I do need a new wardrobe. But then Murray and Federer are on at 5. Of course I can always record the match. But it isn’t as much fun to watch it afterwards.

Hmmm…

 

And then there’s tomorrow. I need to prepare for tomorrow. It’s a specially special day, this coming Monday.

Oh! I think I’ll just talk about it later!

 

Hope you are all having a lovely Sunday.

WAIT…

It must be raining somewhere…

For the first time in nearly two months, the breeze feels cool. Certainly not as cool as we would like it to be but a definite improvement over the thick moisture laden hot winds that was making life impossible.

For once the Met Department seems to have got it right…

‘Tuesday evening would see a drop in temperatures. Possibility of a thunderstorm in certain areas. The much awaited Monsoon rains should reach Delhi by late Wednesday.’

So for us the countdown begins….

Mummy was at home the entire day today. She hasn’t been feeling very well for the last couple of days. Sort of a heat exhaustion. So she decided to take the day off. We wish she would learn to take a proper off if she wants to get better soon.

What good is it staying at home if you keep running around the house doing things that can actually wait till you’re better?

We are certain she has an obsessive compulsive disorder when it comes to cleaning, tidying up and stuff like that.

Anyway, Mummy at home doing stuff is better than no Mummy at all. So, when even after much cajoling and coaxing she refused to come and sleep, we settled down for our nap hoping she would take a hint. And finally she did!

We did some reading today. Not on the net or on our Kindle but some REAL reading. It always feels good..the feel of a real book. We hardly ever get the time to read real books these days. We finished off one that we have been reading for like a hundred years now – ‘The Case of the Howling Dog’. A Perry Mason story. And then we re-read bits of this wonderful book ‘ The Life and Letters of Tofu Roshi’ by Susan Moon.

One day when we can manage some time we would like to tell you about this book in detail. We often hear people speak about life changing books. Well, this is one book that has changed many a things in the way we view life. It has taught us so much about Zen philosophy in a simple, playful way that we keep going to this book over and over again. Even when there are so many other new books in our shelves that need to be read.

 

 

(Practicing our Yin and Yang Posture)

 

 

Well, it is half past seven in the evening and the sun hasn’t yet retired for the night.

Isn’t it tired from straining all day long? Time for our evening walk. Daddy isn’t back from the hospital yet. We think we will wait for him to come home so we can go out to the park together. It is much more fun when he comes along. With him around, Mummy doesn’t freak out when we run after squirrels and birds like she does when she’s alone with us. Not that we will find many squirrels or birds that will stay up to play with us after dark.

But then,you never know. We might just find a bat!

 

Hopeful,

Buddy, Ginger and Shadow

 

 

Technorati Tags: Delhi,Monsoon,Rain,Ginger,Buddy,Shadow,Life,Zen,Perry Mason,Susan Moon

A GREEN GREEN!

The other day, my friend Janice from JABBLOG with her post on something green made me instantly think of this picture. And it has been stuck in my mind ever since!

Strange how the mind works!
This isn’t a recent picture, neither taken on any special day nor do I consider it a particularly difficult and interesting subject to capture.
But this was the image that I instantly thought of when I read ‘GREEN’! I rummaged through my untitled folders filled to the brim with unedited photographs and was just so satisfied when I could finally find it.

Heaven knows why!
I mean there are just so many lovely subjects that I had experimented with that were green. And various beautiful shades of the colour too.

Guess it has something to do with the vibrancy that comes across in this particular one.
I had taken this one fine spring morning in the nearby park in the middle of walking Ginger, Buddy and Shadow. They were busy chasing spring butterflies, squirrels, lizards and numerous little insects I don’t know anything of! It was a beautiful happy day and this particular green just seemed to scream out ‘Spring’ out loud.

It is indeed a lovely, happy, fresh shade of green. Somehow it makes me think of a glass of chilled refreshing lime juice!

Talking of which I really need to go get one. It is 43+ degree Celcius outside and the rains are still playing foul. The drive back from work promises to be hot and humid in spite of all the air-conditioning inside.



Just in case all my 'GREEN talk has made you think of your own Green picture or has left you craving for more 'Greens', please do go visit 'Rainbows and Daisies'

Technorati Tags: Green,Summer,Spring,Lime juice,Life,Photography

Random Shots

 

A series of photographs collected over time. A passionate collection – one that brings back so many memories of small joys and major events. One that tries to capture the varied hues of nature and life as we DO NOT see it! One that I had been meaning to catalogue.

One day, I hope to showcase my pictures. It is a life dream to exhibit my work. Just as it is to publish, well, a book of sorts. Not because I aim to achieve great recognition as a photographer or hope to fill my coffers (not that THAT is a bad idea!) but because I have this huge driving ambition to see my passion come alive at a gallery.

Till then, my blog is my wall!

 

The following series of pictures is titled : ‘Life on a Beach’

 

 

‘SIESTA’

 

 

‘INDULGENCE’

 

 

‘SOLITUDE’ 

 

 

 ‘AN ESSAYIST’S SOJOURN’

 

 

‘ THE SEA BECKONS…’

 

 

‘The SILENCE of THE WAVES’

 

 

Technorati Tags: Goa,Photography,India,Beach holiday

SHERU

Undisputed access to the entire apartment complex area, free run of the property, unquestioned right to dig as large and deep a hole as he likes in the manicured garden…Sheru has a good life.

He is all of 12 and half years. He prefers to sleep away most of his days. He hobbles about in the premises on arthritic limbs but is still very alert, smart and serious about his duties as the resident guard of our colony.

We learned from one of the oldest guards that Sheru (his name is an endearing Hindi alternative to ‘Tiger’) was adopted by the builder who was looking after the construction of the complex years ago. He was just a tiny little bundle of fur then. The builder moved away long back and left Sheru behind. We don’t know if the builder had meant this handsome little dog to be the colony dog right from the outset or whether he just abandoned him here but Sheru stayed on. And made this place his home.

 

Sheru is an old dog now. Probably the oldest resident of our colony. But he isn’t a dog that you can take for granted yet. It was only just the other day that we found he had managed to lay his paws on what has eluded us for so long.

Yes! One of those pestering pigeons. And it wasn’t even a baby!!

 

 

 

  

 

This time there was no one around to save the bird (Pls refer to earlier post)and it was long gone by the time Mummy found Sheru looking so smug!

This old boy certainly has a lot left in him!

In the evenings, Sheru prefers to lounge by the huge gates at the entrance, as if he needs to keep an eye on everyone coming in or going out. During the chilly winter days, he would sit with the guards and warm his old achy paws by the wood-fire they invariably light up and then go to sleep with them inside their station.

In the summers, he prefers to dig a large hole in a corner of the garden and sleep away the hot, humid hours in the shade. But only till nightfall when he is to be found at his usual place by the entrance gates.

 

 

 

 

What is so beautiful about Sheru’s story is that you find so many little instances of kindness and acceptance in it.

Like for example, the guards. There are so many of them working in shifts. Some young, friendly, smart and subtle. Others old, grumpy and loud. But they are all equally kind and tolerant of Sheru. They make sure his water bowl at the gate is full and if you happen to take him some food or milk, they gladly wash his bowl and feed him. A lot of people in our colony do that. Take him food, that is.

Equally tolerant is the poor gardener who works everyday in this scorching summer heat watering and trimming all the grass and plants, straining to keep our lawns green and fresh. And then, when Sheru manages to find the coolest freshly watered spot to dig his bed in he is allowed to!

 

Sheru understands. And certainly works hard to earn his living.

He isn’t very fond of us or the other dogs in our colony and is very vocal about his displeasure. Understandably so too. For him, we must seem like groomed and pampered pooches that strut about in his territory without a care.

But he is very fond of Mummy. Wagging tail, adorable eyes, old and wise but still shining like an excited puppy’s, paws that are bent by arthritis but that gathers speed from the trust that there’ll always be a treat for him…

He is a beautiful old dog, inside and out.

It is sad that he doesn’t have a proper home. He would have made a lovely companion, brave, loyal and friendly. But we are thankful that he has had a safe life so far. And he belongs.

That is so much to be thankful for when you think of so many other equally brave, loyal and friendly dogs who never have and never will know what it is to belong…

 

 

A tad sad,

Ginger, Buddy and Shadow

 

 

Technorati Tags: Life,New Delhi,India,Sheru,Sher Singh,Dog Adoption

To Kill a Mocking Bird

The other day I killed a bird.

Well, almost! I was just working on it’s tail feathers when Buddy gave me away with his excited wagging. Buddy is funny that way. Anything worth investigating or chasing, he would either dig/sniff/jump with a noisy ‘wuff’ or just dash off after whatever letting the whole world know he is on the hunt. Words like ‘stealth’ and ‘stalking’ simply do not exist in his dictionary. Silly boy!

Anyway, there I was silently working the tail feathers of this baby pigeon (that probably had fallen down from it’s little nest on the rain gutter of our eastern side balcony) I had managed to chase into our living room and under the sofa that Buddy suddenly happened to smell it.

I knew he would give the entire game away and so I had made sure I was behind the sofa farthest from the dinning area (where you are most likely to find Buddy at any given time of the day!) But guess you can’t deceive a labrador’s nose.

Mummy noticed him and Ginger wagging away ever so noisily and Ginger even trying to dig her way through the concrete living room floor to get behind the sofa.

 

Sigh!

What followed is just so disappointing.

The sofa was pulled away from the wall, Mummy’s shriek brought Daddy running, the bird was unceremoniously snatched away and I was called ‘a BAD dog’.

 

I, Shadow a BAD DOG?

Why, I was just trying to keep our home clear of those mocking birds that marks our balconies, soil our potted garden, leave marks on the parapets and generally invade our perimeter.

 

This isn’t fair at all.

It was the birds that started this war. I mean, look. We lounge out there in the balcony enjoying the fresh air after a nice cooling bath and these birds fly into our airspace and refuse to leave. They sit there, high up on the awnings and rain-gutters and persistently mock us day after day.

 

 

 

 

Buddy and Ginger no longer requests them to leave. Sometimes I think they are right. We are just wasting our woof anyway.

But I just can’t help myself.

That is the reason I was so very excited that day when I saw this book on Mummy’s kindle.

 

 

So Mummy has some agenda now to rid us of those persistent pests. But turns out this book doesn’t have step by step instructions on how to rid one of a mocking bird like I had thought. In fact it has nothing at all to do with birdies. What a misleading title!

It really can’t be my fault then that I had drawn inspiration from this book and decided to take the matter of the invading pigeons into my own paws.

Anyway, that birdie survived. Mummy dressed up it’s wounds and settled it on the parapet outside. It sat there very still for nearly an hour. It must have been stunned after it’s near death experience. But then, after what seemed like an eternity, it fluffed up it’s feathers as if to test them and then slowly took off. Mummy was very worried it would fall down to it’s death from our fourth floor home but she needn’t have worried.

A bird is a bird and I guess it never forgets how to fly, tail feathers or no tail feathers…..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The birdies still come and sit up there on the awnings for ages and I still ask them everyday to leave us alone. Mummy tells me I am a ‘GOOD BOY’ for trying to chase them away. None of them have fallen down ever since the incident with that particular birdie but one question still bothers me.

 

‘To kill or not to kill a mocking bird, that is the question’.

 

Confused,

Shadow

 

 

Technorati Tags: Shadow,Indian Dog,Delhi,Pigeon,To Kill a Mocking Bird,Harper Lee,Life

 

ZEN CORNERS

I think there must be these little corners in your home that are serene, beautiful and colourful enough to inspire a sense of calm solitude. Where you can maybe relax with a book and  your cup of coffee. Or just feel refreshed and happy because these little spaces are just that – Colourful, creative, fragrant and totally refreshing and happy.

Over time, I’ve sensed this change in my own moods which I realise, has made it’s way into the decor I choose for my home. I have thrown away all the garish and loud stuff and have settled for subtle and simple stuff. More greenery, more earth, more water, more BUDDHA!

Somehow, over the past couple of years I’ve developed this huge inclination towards a Zen way of life. Neither I nor my husband have ever been religious people. And by that I mean we do not believe in idol worship or religious rituals of any kind.
I do not have anything against any such practice(except of course the sickening animal sacrifices!) or anyone who practice classical religious rituals. To each his own.
Just that I do not feel inclined to follow blindly a tradition that is prevelant in the society if it doesn’t help me in any way.

I am sure prayers and rituals – going to a temple, church or mosque, fasting, mass prayers, chanting - are designed to inspire peace and happiness. If they don’t their entire purpose is lost. I cannot blindly go to a temple ( I am a Hindu BECAUSE I was born in a household that follows the dictum of the Hindu scriptures) and pray/fast/donate/chant . I am more at peace with myself when I’ve used the same time, money, effort on getting that poor little thirsty stray a drink. God never wants a donation nor elaborate and expensive dresses and jewelry. I find God in the wag of tail or the smile of that poor street urchin whose face light up at being offered a pitiful little packet of biscuit.

That is where my connection with Zen philosophy comes in.

I like what it says so simply. That living your life to the fullest is the strongest form of meditation and prayer. It doesn’t ask you to renounce life or it’s material aspects. It just asks you to appreciate the paperback edition of the latest best seller you are reading instead of craving for the very expensive and fancy hardcover edition. Prayer is when you find peace doing whatever.

It is as simple as that.

Where does that lovely little corner in my home fit into all these?
Well, this….

 

 

 

 

One little corner in our living room which radiates enough positive energy to start my day on a happy note. Our music system is on the same bookshelf on which this beautiful  Buddha figurine rests. Ginger, Buddy and Shadow love to lounge around here because this part of the room leads to the large balcony with my little potted garden. May be they like the greenery or may be the breeze blowing in through the door. Or maybe the soft music nearby…
One of our Zen Corners…..


‘What is the path?',  the Zen Master Nan-sen was asked. 'Everyday life is the path, he answered.’

Technorati Tags: Zen,Delhi,India,Life

FRY DAY

 

It is 43 degrees Celsius today and if the weatherman gets it right, the mercury is set to touch 45 degrees by Friday.

 

 

 

Last night, we dreamt of those wonderful days we spent by the beach in Goa last year….

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hope it is  a nice, cool weather at your end....

 

Ginger, Buddy and Shadow

 

 

 

Technorati Tags: Delhi,India,Summer,Goa,Beach holiday,Photography

Chicken Sausages and Salami : tea-time snacking!

 

 

We are certain there’s still some left in the refrigerator. Only we can’t get to it.

 

Contemplating,

Ginger, Buddy and Shadow

Technorati Tags: Chicken Sausages,Salami,Republic of Chicken,India,Snacks,Tea time

Weekend

It rained. It finally rained on Saturday evening!

If you ignore the fact that it was preceded by the worst dust storm of the season that uprooted trees, disrupted electricity, caused terrible traffic jams in addition to making a mess of the house, it was very much welcome. The after effects are still visible. Of the rain, we mean. It is much cooler outside now.

We had a pretty dull weekend. Mummy had to go operate on this emergency case that came in late Saturday night with a huge abscess in his nose. Couldn’t let him wait till Monday. There was every chance that his nasal cartilage would get damaged and his nose would crumple! So early Sunday morning, Mummy left us to fend for ourselves and disappeared for a good part of the day.

Alright. We are exaggerating a little here. Daddy was very much home and he took us for a long walk and play session in the park and Mummy came back home by mid morning.

But the fact remains that she was working on a Sunday morning and we do not approve of this at all.

 

For some reason, after breakfast, Daddy had this urge to clean out the store room and get the water pipes and air conditioning serviced!

The store and water pipes job was done but Mummy put her paw foot down. No air conditioning service work THIS Sunday. It will disturb the peace for a good part of our already shortened Sunday.

So finally, we got to take a short afternoon nap and had a yummy late Sunday lunch Daddy had fixed.

 

 

(Bud couldn’t make up his mind…the blankets or the afternoon sun!)

 

Daddy loves cooking. He likes to innovate dishes out of the routine stuff we eat everyday. But for a long time now, he hasn’t been getting the time to cook. So Sunday’s surprise lunch was a treat!

 

(Pasta in White sauce garnished with light fried chicken sausages)

 

 

We really love the Met Department. They are just SO dependable. The weather always turns out to be exactly the opposite of what they predict each morning!

Like this front page news on Sunday about Delhites being too happy and smug about the sudden drop in temperatures after Saturday’s storm and that Sunday onwards, next three days will be the hottest.

Well, the cool weather continued throughout Monday and the sun continued to doze behind the clouds!!

Tomorrow is another day…

 

Hope you all had a great start to your week.

 

Wags,

Ginger, Buddy and Shadow

 

 

Technorati Tags: New Delhi,India,Life,Pasta

Just Life…

Right now if you happen to leave a cake mix out in the balcony, it would for sure turn into a cake in half an hour. Mummy left her slippers out there yesterday while she was watering the plants and today morning we found they had developed cracks like you find on the earth’s lithosphere in the hot and arid Sahara. If you so desire you might even heat up water out there and save on cooking gas!

So you get the general idea of the temperatures here in New Delhi these days.

Our plants need to be generously watered at least twice a day and even then they look sad. But in spite of all these signs, Mummy was surviving on less than 1 litre of water per day! She may assume she was contributing towards preserving the earth’s most important resource but we (including Daddy) think she has been utterly moronic. Especially when she decided the other day to go street shopping in this heat with her friend and came back with a huge cramp, bloody urine and fever.

You are right. She’s now gone and developed a renal stone ONCE AGAIN.

So in between taking care of her, one little pigeon puppy (that mummy had rescued from the platform of a crowded metro station), two little eggs that hatched into a pair of pigeons, sleeping, playing and generally being cute our paws were full and we had absolutely no time to spare for blogging.

Hence the long hiatus.

Anyway, Mummy is better now and is concentrating on hydrating herself. Sadly, the little pigeon puppy died. It was too small and fragile and had fallen down from the very high roof of this metro platform and probably was injured. But to our utter delight, the eggs turned puppy pigeons that grew up and flew away! (Full story later)

So now we are back to blogging.

Like we were saying, real summer’s here now to stay. The best thing we like about summers is ICE-CREAM! Mummy and Daddy like to take it with chilled mangoes. We lick it straight off the cups.

We have been taking great efforts to keep our little potted garden fresh and green. In spite of the heat, all our pains to keep the plants alive and vibrant are bearing fruit. Rather, flowers!

 

 

 

 

There’s this new stretch that is now open for the general public which if Mummy takes to work, it saves her 20 minutes of driving time. The only catch is it is quite quiet and lonely and she wasn’t very comfortable in the beginning.

 

 

But beginning yesterday, she found the Delhi Police has stationed mobile Police vans at regular short distances all along that stretch.

How thoughtful of them! She now saves precious morning time and also gets to enjoy the scenic road.

Today’s evening walk was a dusty affair. Instead of the rain we were hoping for so ardently, there was this huge dust storm that came our way. It now looks like the dark menacing clouds that had appeared on the horizon have been blown away by the strong wind.

There were even these little tornadoes that lifted up dry leaves  to as high as 10 feet in the air. Mummy had to dust and vacuum the entire house and we had a good shower with our anti-itch medication. Finally we are all settled.

We are thinking, should we watch a movie or should we catch up on some beauty sleep?

‘Ides of March’ or ‘Revolutionary Road’. Which one…which one…which one?

May be we should just take a vote on this.

 

Now please do keep safe, have fun and keep wagging…

Wags,

Ginger, Buddy n Shadow

 

 

 

Technorati Tags: Gardening,Life,Renal stones,New Delhi,India