dolce far niente

 My new neighbours have guests today. As I peer out of my window, I see two sleep flashy cars parked outside their drive. They have music blasting. I also hear voices, which is uncommon as their home also has their elderly parents. Pleasantly enough, they have toned down the volume of the music and switched to Malayalam songs. They have their get-together on their lawn. One of the tall bushes serves as a Christmas tree as it is decked with lights. They have the Christmas wreaths hung on the wall of their porch. As I observe more carefully, it looks like its dinner time. The ladies are taking plates and eating. There is one couple that stands out from the group. They are standing on the porch, talking to each other. They are not mingling with the rest who are on the lawn, chatting, eating or drinking.     The guy has shoulder length curly hair and is in black and white checks shirt. The lady is in a salwar with full sleeves and has a head scarf which keeps slipping off fro...

    I had a framed picture of Gideon, the angel; just outside my room in my childhood home. I always used to think it was beautiful, especially the concept of a guardian overseeing your journey through life. The girl on the bridge must be the sister or cousin of the baby boy. In his vision, she is his guide and protector, always there to stand beside him despite any perils or struggles life throws. The bridge has a missing ledge and one of its railings is missing. Even the existing railing is haphazardly fixed onto the bridge. But there are some tiny flowers towards the end of the bridge. This signifies that at the end of the road less traveled, there is hope.        The original artwork was painted by Benhard Plockhorst.  

    It's early morning, the birds are tweeting, the night bats have disappeared, the sun is out. And so am I. There is a gentle breeze. Out on a stroll, I pass by many small shops with their shutters down. The morning hawkers are sitting by the street side, trying to sell vegetables, fruits and even flowers. As I pass by a plot filled with garbage, I see that there is a yellow scooter by the side. Overgrown grass and plants cover a part of it. Why would anyone want to abandon a nice colored scooter. The color still looks new on it. But the license plate is covered by moss. The seat is wet from last night's drizzle. When I look closely, I notice that one of the tyre's is out of air. I imagine that the owner abandoned it due to some superstition about a flat tyre. If I had the will and the power, I would have fought the growth of foliage on it and dragged it to my house. Then I would have cleaned it by spraying water from the hose pipe. And leave it beside my car.    

I started my attempts at vegetable gardening a few months back. On one of my morning walks, I bought a kilogram of soil from a small, local nursery. The soil was dark black. I microwaved a slightly ripe tomato till the juices of the pulp started oozing out. Once it cooled down, I scooped out the pulpy seeds and sprinkled in my soil. I had an aluminum pressure cooker that I converted as a pot. For a few days, I religiously watered the pot. I was overjoyed when shoots of green started appearing. But, unfortunately, the leaves started to brown inspite of the regular watering.       Then I decided to buy the seeds. So I bought chili, spinach and tomato seeds from my local nursery lady. This time, spinach showed some signs of germination. But alas, they too wilted away. Not wanting to give up, I ordered grow bags, more soil and a wide collection of seeds from Amazon. Not to regret that I didn't try well enough, I got epsom salt too. Well, it's supposed to n...

My coffee cup is in the color of coffee. It is a "Chumbak" brand and a sticker on it says "Handcrafted with love". It is about 10 cms talk I would say. It has an imprint of a branch with leaves and three white flowers. The stamens are red with red colored pollen. Four white petals are floating in the air next to the branch. Each of these petals have a red dot at the narrow edge, implying that the petals of the flower emerge from a red growth. The cup has vague horizontal lines running across its curved surface. When my cup is brimming with super hot, bubbly coffee, I pretend to ignore the weight of this massive cup in order to enjoy the steaming brew.       My cup outshadows my white water/juice drinking cup which has imprints of many birds, flowers, grass and leaves. Without a shadow of doubt, my coffee mug is far simpler in design. I love my coffee breaks.

 I have a stuffed bunny called Bungee Bunny. She is tough and resilient. She spends her time next to her owner. She is white and violet in color, with brown eyes and a tiny pink nose. Her pointy ears are violet in color. She is soft and cuddly. She usually follows me. If I am sitting at my writing desk, she would mostly be on my lap. Sometimes she gives company to my other favorite stuffed bunny called Calendula. Calendula is pure white with brown patches on the underside of her ears. Both of them are good friends. When I am cooking, my favorite bunny, Bungee Bunny, sits on the kitchen worktop and watches me. Even when I am sleeping, she is beside me. She is so cuddly that sometimes I place her on the top of my stomach. She is always awake before I wake up. I wonder how she manages it. I love her.

 The mind is a complex organ. It's actually not an organ, but more a part of you, a part of who you are. How much ever I try to still the thoughts, they keep flowing like water. Imagine a situation where the whole world is still and quiet, and so the mind reflects that. But isn't that too much to ask for, for everyone has to go on with their day to day activities. Each and every person in this world have their own priorities, and they live their life to fulfill them. Who am I to tell them to stop; work by how I am. I am just a small ant in this world, demanding peace and quiet, so that my mind can be still.    But the mind is governing you; you are the owner of your mind. You can allow it to think happy, loving and peaceful thoughts. If you take care of the mind with as much gentleness as you take care of your baby, you will be happy, calm and at peace with your surroundings. So be conscious of the thoughts that feed your mind, block out the ugly, vain and fruitless thoug...

 The corner coffeeshop is where I spend my time when I have to focus my thoughts. They have a varying degree of cakes on display. I feel it is a display of luxury. but when i am there early in the morning, there are very few other customers. i order a coffee for myself, sit at a chair close to the french windows. from here i can observe the shades and shadows of objects on the road. the sun is just out, but it is enough to cast shadows. the electric line post just outside has a long shadow. it's shadow is intermingled with the shadows of the telephone and electric wires. here in india, we are still backward when it comes to electricity and telephone. the town planning was not done to accomodate underground cables. this is unlike how it is in europe and the west. many times in the newspaper, we read the news about people being electricuted by accidentally stepping on a live wire. these news are usually more common in the rainy season. india is so unsafe in such respects. i wish with...

 From my balcony, I always see this pair of sparrows every morning. The male is mostly white with speckles of black.      The female is black with criss-cross lines of white. They live in a nest in our mahogany tree. Their nest is made of twigs and dried grass. I sometimes wonder that it must have been quite an effort to pick the twigs one by one with their tiny beaks.        It would have probably taken them days to build such a sturdy nest. They seem to be happy together. In the mornings, I see them twittering to each other on the telephone line.        They are probably talking about all those "strange" beings that pass under them and that big "strange" being that stares at them day in and day out. Is it any wonder that they have so much to twitter to each other.

 In the mornings, when I step out of my colony, I always see a pack of stray dogs. One of them has a worn off collar. He has brown patches on his white fur, so I started calling him Patch. Patch must have run away from a home that didn't care for him. I can't imagine why else he won't go back to his owner's home or why the owner hasn't plastered walls of nearby houses with his missing dog picture. The other dog is Wolfy for me because of her thick coat of grey fur. She has pointed ears with a tinge of white between her ears. But her fur is coming off in patches because of her roaming life. I imagine that once she was a beauty. Mixit is the one with a gallimaufry of brown, white and black fur. Her legs have less fur and have bruises. Must be from the nomadic life she lives. Mixit, Wolfy and Patch are busy picking their way through the waste bins just outside the colony. I hope they find something because all of them seem to look like scarecrows to me.    

 I am lying down on my wooden floor for a siesta. But I am distracted by the ants that are scurrying around. They seem to be busy. Some of the red ants are the biting kind and I tick them off gently from coming to my side. But the tinier ones are the busiest. They don't zig-zag, but go in a straight path to wherever their destination is. Then I see a clutter of small red ants in a spot. When I look more closely, I see that they are on top of some crumbs of food. They are taking nibbles till their stomachs are full and then carrying how much ever their tiny mouths can mange, to their families. Those I feel are the lucky families; where their parents think about their children. So as these ants "stomp"around my siesta place, I drift off to sleep.

 There once lived a cat called Kitty.    She used to spend her time in the night under a warm carpet in the terrace of a home of some nice people. She loved that spot because she felt protected and safe. The terrace had unpainted rough walls. So this was where she scratched her back. You know cats can't reach their backs with their paws or tongue. So this was Kitty's option when she felt like a good massage at the end of a day of roaming. The terrace had a few nice potted plants. She wondered if the owner of the home would mind if she pawed some of the plants. But for now, she was happy with the arrangement.                               During the day, she usually set out to meet her friends in the local area. They used to meet in a common place not far off. There was Crackly, with a number of orange spots on her fur. Then there was Tickly, who was always happy. Tintiny was the one ...