written in 1974.
he talks about why he likes Madras…
“Madras has not the second-hand self importance of New Delhi nor the hysterical ugliness of Bombay, it is a million miles from the despairing horros of Calcutta. It is an agreeable, rather boring place; it is the sort of place I would be if i were a town.”
this weekend, we move seven floors higher
i’ll miss the corridor. the place where i made friends with the neighbour. who is the best part of living on this floor.
yes. i know. i know that we’ll be still be in the same block, but never just round the corner:-(
…someone I travel 4 hours to see; plan the trip months in advance while wishing the days speed by in a swish; and for who i shop to increase her twin addictions to sugared-slivers of dried-ginger (from a Mega Mall in Kuala Lumpur), and palm-sugar (tall brown cylinders of sweetness from Malacca.)
And what do we do when we meet? argue. disagree. squabble. play in loop.
(miss you, ma)
Me to the mmmim: “never mind if you are too busy to talk and in a meeting. Just pass the phone to whoever is free, I’ll chat with them…”
guaranteed aaaargh generator. tried today and tested.
**
the bff is in gurgaon for a 10-hour stopover and sends me an email:
“Bloody hell! this place has to be seen to be believed. its not even a concrete jungle. it’s gawdy corporate america meets Indian showmanship– to manipulate India’s youth. Brainwashing and visual stimuli at its worst!”
wondering what she saw that set her off …
or was it jet lag….
**
one hoped one’s toddler’s first full sentence would be an
“I love you ma”
or
“I love appa”
or
“I love big brother..”
etc etc
Baby Param yelled his first full sentence loud and clearly (for 18 floors of residents to hear). This while racing in the corridor, with an 8 year old, 5 year old and 4 year old.
with his 22-month-lungs he bellowed:
“MY TURN!”
I think i should be glad that his first full sentence wasnt “pass the remote”
…
i would have heard the songs from raavanan/raavan by 2011 (for the first time). considering there’s a time-delay in my catching up with Kollywood/Bollywood.
I am still in january 2010. love love love this lilting song from naanayam. spb and chitra.
**
hollywoodwise i am in 2006: watched casino royale today. ..(dubbed tamil version) very pouty james bond. no? anyways. off to google the story to understand the movie.
…i loved it there. this is my second visit. I went there with my parents eight years ago… and never forgot the land that’s more green than green.
that’s why I persuaded the mmmim to choose SriLanka.
i live on the sixth floor in an apartment in KL that has 18 floors. I’m tired of structures that tower over the world. Tired of towers and sky scrapers and high rises. And Sri Lanka is all houses. Rows and rows and rows of houses. How lovely is it be so grounded.
Wesak is a unique time to see Sri Lanka. Celebratory flags, paper lanterns dot the landscape. In the middle of a rattly road from Bentota to Kandy, a young boy flags our van down… He offers a tray and a big smile. Some sweet hot herbal tea and biscuits for us.
the boy with the biscuits...
a boy waves the flag on the road. a signal for travellers to stop
We are taken aback. Kinda shy to accept the kindness and hospitality of strangers.
“This is a tradition during this time of the year,” says our driver Darsana.
Buddha Land
How lovely it is… When beauty is not grand, afar, breathtaking and immense. Srilankan beauty is close and familiar enough to touch. Flowers that i cant name in colours that i cant describe. Beaches that are white. Evening skies that are pink. Waterfalls that are as tall as I am. Tea, made with machinery that is NOT state of the art (yay!)
When you visit SriLanka you know nature is close at hand.
***
more pix:
attention tpl. more hakoba...
how much fun veggie shopping can be...
1. waiters serving the welcome drink in the hotel will actually tell you that they won’t serve the drink up in your room. even if you are holding one sleeping kid, one handbag and one Nikon bulky camera.
2. that would be Sri Lankan Rs. 500 (INR 250 ) for a tiny plate of french fries. In a very average restaurant. where the waiter dips his fingers into the water tumbler.
3. i went on a boatride… so much of Sri Lankan life to see, clothes hanging to dry, an opportunity to tell someone that our family hates all animals (firstborn told the boatman this), a baby crocodile, a lagoon, a fisherman, an all-white-kurtas Muslim boys cricket team, stories of the tsunami, of war and of peace
4. Just like tiny Ganesha statues punctuate Chennai’s roads, avenues and turns. It’s Buddha for Sri Lankans. And we were there during Buddha Poornima, when celebratory flags dotted the whole of Sri Lanka.
5. 17 = number of times our van was stopped by armed policemen. This was on a 3-day trip.
6. At the elephant orphanage: Elephants look tired. None of them had tusks. One was limping on three-feet. The children loved to see baby elephants downing milk from a bottle. But the MMMiM came away sad.
7. Srilankan grandmas’ preferred fabric for blouses/tops = hakoba. i dislike hakoba. i think it’s too er holey moley.
8. i always thought cabbage came from the supermarket. now i know better. it comes from a farm in Nuwara Eliya.
9. near a temple where Sita was allegedly kept imprisoned by Ravana there’s a giant hole in a rock. the locals call it hanuman’s foot print. the fervent believer in Hindu mythology (the mmmim )says he spotted a hanuman’s big toe likeness there as well.
10. the mmmim had sandwiches for breakfast, for three consecutive days.
11. “let’s buy “dilmah” brand of tea for everyone back home…” The MMMim tells me. This man doesnt know these things. He’s a very world-unaware kinda guy. No brands. No shopping. And no bread for breakfast is his policy. And he’s saying : “let’s buy “dilmah” brand of tea for everyone?”
How?
Apparently the Sri Lankan cricketers used to wear the dilmah logo when they play against india. That’s how it stuck in his head.
***
firstborn makes a friend...
hanuman's footprint.
***
Srilankan Fresh
**
yet another hakoba grandma
***
at the elephant orphanage
***
this many elephants to look at... and the kids are making foot-print patterns in the mud
**
shall i count the ways... that baby param tortured us in the hotel rooms
… in the supermarket. and i think. egad. Crappy idea.
Ok. Huggies. never mind if you had a ridiculous idea (I know how you feel. I have a high barminess threshold.)
But why would you announce it to the world too…?
…
seemed to stay afloat during the school holidays.
firstborn is now off for two weeks. And I am going down. glug. glug.
Twopointthree kids, sixpointsix ideas on raising them 