Wall of Canvas

It is important to build a wall to separate the street from railway lines, especially if the railway line and street run parallel to each other. It has its advantages; it safeguards the security of people and help them walk in straight line, parallel to the wall without getting distracted by moving train that passes on the other side of the wall, It serves as a shield for naughty children, who may escape the strong grip of their parents and run on the railway track out of curiosity and is also a great boundary of obstacle for those stingy commuters who get special pleasure in travelling without a ticket. But the wall has its disadvantages too when it is used by street dwellers as a back-drop for their temporary-about-to-become-permanent home and some times used by people who have never learnt their bowel-control-habits and peeing on the wall is an instant relief and sometimes, it is even used by hawkers to put up their temporary stall. Unless, it is seen as a canvas by an artistic eye, which will change the wall’s status from a poor, old, rust-colored, dingy wall into a beautiful work of art that the travelers will admire while driving down those colorful lanes. When people start to care, the results are astonishing…. On 15th August, while the whole country celebrated Independence Day, I walked down the Tulsi Pipe Road to watch the children and adult dabble paint on the wall producing amazing art work. Even the children as young as five year old, were happy to hold the paint brush, one size bigger than their size of the palm, giving colored strokes on that dingy wall. “Move a bit, let her click few pictures” said someone in the crowd, letting me capture the event into my lens. Freedom for me, on this day, was to watch the artists doodle freely and let the images appear out of nowhere……..Freedom to express one self in vibrant colors.

Thadri

Life has not been the same since I lost my mom, about three years ago. I miss my mom terribly, especially on festive days when my mom would spread the happiness to each and every member of the house, without expecting anything in return. Today was the big festival of our Sindhis. It is called THADRI The mother goddess is worshipped in various forms, Sittala, is worshipped by Sindhis. She is the eldest of several sisters, The annual festival observed in honor of this goddess is called "Thadri", or the cooling festival. It falls on the 7th day of the waning in the month of Savan (July-August) every year. Ladies prepare Lolas and curd on the previous day of the festival , They sing, go to the local shrine and the cold meals (thados). On this day, fire is not lit at home. On this day, mom would be too excited because she loved cooking and it gave her the reason to cook, Her cooking would start, a day prior to the festival. There would be dry vegetable, lentil chappatis, sweet pancakes, sour rice-curd, fried bahjiyas and many more delicacies (I would marvel at her stamina, she never complained about work, never ever) . On the festive day, She would invite everybody for cold lunch. There would be card session after lunch and so much laughter in the house. My family had a great sense of humor; specially my aunts (dad’s sisters) and they would be laughing and quarrelling at the same time…how much I would enjoy seeing so much commotion. Me and my cousins would receive lots of gifts in cash and kind. It would be a great day to celebrate. All my aunts were very jovial and their jokes were always laced with metaphors which made their conversation wittier. With time, most of my family is gone and the traditions are also gradually dying. I don’t make any such things, nor do I enjoy this kind of food anymore. Being weight conscious, I don’t eat fried stuff, or too much sweet or anything with too much masala. I like simple stir fries, or simple home cooked food. I just eat to ease my hunger. My sister called me for lunch today, but I ate quietly and remembered my mom and missed my family and their laughter even more….

Mumbai is not afraid.

Early morning my sistah calls me and warns me not to step out of house. I want to know the reason, and she says, because flu is in air, (but that I already know,) media has pounded me with an overdose of this news, and if I have work to do, it cannot wait. So I leave for school on this dangerous morning But the streets are full, aren’t all the people supposed to sit indoors? Nah! The spirit in Mumbai is that it never sleeps and when they can dare floods and riots then who is afraid of this silly disease? Just a flu (never mind if it has got a horror name-swine flu) People in Mumbai always believe that nothing can hamper their spirit and streets are crowded like they always are. Did you say that Children are vulnerable to swine flu? Well, this kid must be not more than 5 years and he is here on the street without any cloth covering his mouth,(I did see many people with their mouth covered) but not this kid, he doing his odd jobs of begging….I saw him run with a packet of Vada Pav, (which somebody had given him) and was back to the same place (without eating his share) to continue his begging And what about this dabawallah…he takes a breather on his inverted stack, smoking his beedi and then taking a short nap. But I play safe. I decide to go to school in AC bus. When I reach school after two full hours of travel, there is a sinister look in school….school is closed…..

The Power is Within Me

After many lazy Tuesday, I went today to attend Jaya Row’s spiritual class. I like going for her class to wear the spiritual blanket and think under my bonnet. It gives me insight of who I am. It reminds me of my duty towards leading a good life, more over, I like the interactive session, where people ask question about the subjects that they already know but act ignorant and I start thinking about it. I am wondering if people ask question just to get attention to them selves or do they really not know the answer? Many of the questions I hear them repeated class after class. Do they really suffer from amnesia or is their mind wandering in another fantasy world when their questions are being answered? Anyways, today this lady was asking the difference between disciple and Guru. Now as far as I can remember, she must be attending this class for more than ten years already and she quite regular, does she really not know the answer? Is she really searching for answers? I can’t believe this, why cant people ask something that they don’t know….. Well, Jaya Row has patience, because she also must be aware of this lady’s presence in her class for more than ten years, but still she went on to answer her question and explained patiently the difference between Guru and Disciple. Patiently, she explained that Guru is one who is at a higher level and he is able to guide us in overcoming hurdles in life. He helps us to keep the balance between devotion and knowledge, Disciple is the seeker while guru is the guide. Disciple should know what to ask from a guru, but many people are misguided and they will ask such stupid question such as what they should name their child or what property will be useful to them. Is it sensible to ask your guru for materialistic gain? Shouldn’t they be asking their Guru the spiritual guidance to reach the salvation? And what is the right path to follow, how they can lead a better life and be a good human being? A Guru is one who has power of communicating with his disciple and showing him the real path, he should be knowledgeable himself so that he has power to guide his disciple. He should have capacity to teach and the disciple should have sincerity to learn and have desire for liberation. My mom would often say that I don’t have to go to seek my Guru; I just have to strive to be a good human being and lead a good and clean life, follow the rules of our society and live within my means. When the time for spiritual enlighten will come, my Guru will find me And I will know that He has come…..…..because I will know that I am ready, when I will understand the powers within me….…..

All that you wanted to know about me but were afraid to ask...

but I do have friends who will tag me so that I can tell the truth...and of course, I do like to talk about meself,(who doesn't?) if only people would allow me...many times, when I am talking about meself, people cut me and say, 'rehne do..stop showing off, we already like you too much'...and I feel blessed that people like me even when they dont know much about me...but when I get chance to brag about myself.(which I finally got)..how can I ever miss???? so, here I go answering all the questions as truthfully as I can..... 1. What time did you get up this morning? 9:00 am 2. How do you like your steak? I like it when it smiles 3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema? New York (and that too, without US visa!) 4. What is your favorite TV show? CNN _IBN- Cyrus with his phunny news, kya baat hai!! 5. If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be? Mumbai of course, and in this same house...muje kahi nahi janna! 6. What did you have for breakfast? A glass of fresh vegetable juice (laoki, carrots, cucumber) 7. What is your favorite cuisine? Stir fries, fast and easy..... 8. What foods do you dislike? One that has too much Indian masalas and I am burping continuously after eating….buuurb! See…there I go again!! 9. Favorite Place to Eat? In my balcony, enjoy the westerly winds ruffling my hair and I go Chomp! Chomp! 10. Favorite dressing? a mixture of honey, vinegar, musturd oil, salt and black pepper 11.What kind of vehicle do you drive? Why should I drive? I am not a driver… 12. What are your favorite clothes? cool beige, pale blues or light pink, t-shirts with round necks 13. Where would you visit if you had the chance? Phew! I am done with travelling, been all over the globe, not taking any more chances--bas ho gaya..... 14. Cup 1/2 empty or 1/2 full? ½ empty of my stamina 15. Where would you want to retire? In an old age home with all the comforts of TV, Computer, AC room and library, spa, massage parlors and playing cards room with all the young volunteers being at my command with snap of my finger. 16. Favorite time of day? 11pm to 2am, everything is so quiet and I can think better…. 17. Where were you born? Jaipur, Rajasthan 18. What is your favorite sport to watch? Watching the married couple arguing over minor things, blaming each other, cribbing….snapping...bahut mazza aata hai...!!! 19. Who do you think will not tag you back? Some one who hates me… or my guts 20. Person you expect to tag you back first? one, who never ignores me.... 21. Who are you most curious about their responses to this? Someone whom I have been stalking for days.. hehhee 22. Bird watcher? Arrey, where are the birds in this concrete jungle?? doorbhini se bhi nahi dikhte hai....! 23. Are you a morning person or a night person? Depends on my moods 24. Do you have any pets? No way, I love my freedom 25. Any new and exciting news you'd like to share? Pssss! Rakhi Sawant is coming back on TV, (I will buy ear buds this time so that I don't hear about it even from my neghbor's TV) 26. What did you want to be when you were little? Wanted to own toys industry (hey, I had actually won prize for most innovative toy when I was little, (tsk! tsk! India lost me to bad writing) 27. What is your best childhood memory? No good memories, only bad. I had a bad childhood, was abused, punished, threatened by my school teachers everyday….. They all hated the sight of me… 28. Are you a cat or dog person? I am pushee cat 29. Are you married? huh? 30. Always wear your seat belt? never, but I hold it in such a way that traffic policemen are fooled 31. Been in a car accident? Yes, but I was blessed, (not a scratch) 32. Any pet peeves? Dishonesty. Unpunctuality. Wrong message carriers. 33. Favorite Pizza Toppings? hmmn! Cheese, jalapenos, tomatoes, olives, mushrooms, onions, broccolis and eggplant 34. Favorite Flower? Sunflower 35. Favorite ice cream? Vanilla, tender coconut 36. Favorite fast food restaurant? Subway 37. How many times did you fail your driver's test? Well, I never like failing in any test, so I never try one which will give negative results…. 38. From whom did you get your last email? From my fellow blogger who wants to swap-blogging post with me 39. Which store would you choose to max out your credit card? I do only cash buying, never credit cards…. 40. Do anything spontaneous lately? Nah! I am a deeeeeeeeep thinker….I don’t react immediately 41. Like your job? Of course, if I had one…… 42. Broccoli? Pretty. Healthy. me like it very much. 43. What was your favorite vacation? The one where I traveled across the whole of North India that included Haridwar, Badrinaryan, Rhishikesh, Jammu, Kashmir, Delhi (with my family of 25 members ,,Wow! That was unforgettable) 44. Last person you went out to dinner with? My favorite cousins from Caribbean Islands 45. What are you listening to right now? some distant traffic sounds on the linking road 46. What is your favorite color? Blue 47. How many tattoos do you have? What! Do you really think I would do that??? 48. How many are you tagging for this quiz? Depends 49. What time did you finish this quiz? 12 midnight 50. Coffee Drinker? Nah!