Lock down Lessons

While we have all gotten used to wrapping our minds around lock down, Covid-19 is playing a much deeper game with the world. None of us are sure if we have seen the worst case scenario yet, but we all are coping with what life has thrown at us. In spite of the pandemonium it has created, the global pandemic behooves me for the life lessons, it has taught in a short time.

1. This planet is not just ours. It belongs to other species too. We acted otherwise all along.
2. There is no substitute to family. It’s a big safety net.
3. Everything else has its substitutes – from the simple newspaper to an herb like oregano. Absolutely anything can be substituted. No Oregano use fresh basil from the pots. No moisturizer use coconut oil and the list goes on.
4. Important to be creative, in everything – especially in cooking. How else would I have survived so many days impressing two men, with some limited resources.
5. Even the strong ones need help and support – physically and emotionally. Give it without being judgmental.
6. The stone rejected by builders becomes the cornerstone – got to understand the real meaning of this verse. Our elliptical has moved from the first floor to our terrace due to complete lack of patronage and during this lock down it has been a saving grace for our workouts.
7. It’s not enough that you have a good collection of professional wear, but imperative that you have a good collection of home wear too. To create an feel good factor, I lavishly used all the holiday wear at home.
8. I always believed we paid a big price for a house, as its is locked most of the day and we get back late in the evenings. No, I am wrong. Its definitely serving its ROI now.
9. There is nothing that cannot happen virtually – weddings, birthdays, Zumba, mass, family get together's, games, why even funerals.
10. It pays to have good neighbors around, especially when you end up seeing them almost every day for more than 40 days
11. Hopeless and futile to have dependencies in life. Change is the only constant thing.
12. Always knew the uncertainty of life, but Covid-19, took it a little far. Attitude adjustment is the key.
13. When its between life and death, everything else can wait. That includes religion too.
14. For what it’s worth other interests in life would help you sustain yourself during slow down days, even later – reading, art, writing, music, plants, pets, cooking, dreaming, cleaning and not to forget Netflix. Apply your mind and this list is endless.
15. In no time, the discernibly strong can spiral out of control and look like fools
16. For all we know L.I.F.E could just turn around willfully, malevolently and vindictively anytime. Don’t we ever forget that.
17. Yes. Life can take a complete U turn in no time and without any notice!
18. Health is what we all need to aspire for. Nothing more. Nothing less. Period.
19. We all desire for continuity and that’s exactly why we see people scaling up to the unprecedented times – school teachers using virtual apps for classes, people coming up with innovative videos on music and many more.
20. Education that we thought is the most important has taken a back seat.  how do explain that?
21. The most ordinary of the folks cannot be replaced and they still work.   the garbage cleaner, vegetable vendor, the milk man, the nurses, the ward boys
22. While we all sit smugly in the safety of homes, there are health workers who are right in the middle of the chaos, making sacrifices
23. There is no limit to the foolishness of the humankind.  One world leader can prove it to us.
24. Isn’t this Pandemic a great leveler? Almost like time?

A couple of days at Auroville

2019 has been the most traveled year for both J and me starting with Dubai for our wedding anniversary and then on to other locations that I have blogged about. It was in the first week of October, Dussehra holidays, soon after the Tada waterfall trip, we decided to visit Auroville. Not a planned trip and Pondicherry being just a stone’s throw away, we managed to get a last minute booking in a home stay at Auroville. Though we have been to Pondicherry so many times, this was our first to Auroville, yeah, unbelievably so.

Lovely roads and clear skies

Auroville - the sign board

A long drive needs a fresh early morning start and that’s our usual practice and we were greeted to a fine bright morning, with clear skies and soft white clouds that created a good tapestry all along our drive and reached Auroville by 10.00 am

The home stay

The home stay that J booked was within the Botanical garden of Auroville and was modelled like a traditional south Indian household with wooden pillars, red oxide floors, teak wood furniture with verandahs all around the house amid thick greenery.  This homestay was surrounded by chikkoo trees aka mud berries, that I love, though most of the fruits were unripe.  Within the compound there were lot of flowering plants like the roses,  crossandras and varieties of Jasmine which spread its fragrance in the evening.

This place had a common kitchen which we could use along with the other guests, though we used it only for our morning Tea, also had a wood fired Pizza oven, if we cared make one that is. Felt at home at this place especially with the care taker Abhi’s two little kids, who got friendly with us and would accompany us during our botanical garden trips. Since it was Dussehra, they had holidays too.

J was keen on meditation at Mathiri Mandhir and that’s why we went in there as soon we reached there.  One big miss of this trip was that due to the holiday rush, we couldn’t get a slot for meditation on all the three days we were there.

The first day hence, after checking out Mathiri Mandir briefly and their timings, a bit disappointed for missing out on meditation, we rested at our homestay before we went in for a short trip around the Botanical garden, followed by a long walk on the roads covered by green canopy at Auroville.  Most of the roads here, especially the one leading to Mathiri Mandir had these quaint cafes, which were quite inviting.

Auroville is synonymous with Pondicherry and it is a tiny town where people from around the world come over to live their dreams.  There are stories about corporate honchos, doctors, scientists and others from all walks of life who come here and turn into organic farming, becoming teachers and mechanics and living simple lives.  You see them all around here in Auroville.  This was a dry land where people feared to live earlier and thanks to the sustained efforts of the Aurobindo Ashram, this has turned into a lush Greenland leaving not a patch as a dry land within Auroville.  It also put in some existential questions in our minds.

The plan for the next day morning was a trip to the Auro beach which was a couple of kilometres away from our homestay.   A little drive to cross the ECR and we were at a lovely beach.  Sparsely crowded, the beach was literally all ours.  With the sun coming out, leaving its rays on the salty water and letting it glisten, giving us a gleam to our morning, soaking us up in the serenity only an ocean can bring. After a brisk walk, a photo shoot and some time in the water we got back to  Mathiri Mandir.  The visitor centre there has a nice restaurant that serves good continental and Indian breakfast.  That is the only place which did not demand a Auro Card – an essential there at Auroville.

The Auro beach, all for ourselves

Not wanting to waste a minute of our time there, we picked up the pass for the Mathri mandir view point.  Auroville means ‘the city of the dawn’ and was founded by a French lady who was called ‘The Mother’; and was the successor to Shri Aurobindo, a well- known spiritual leader. The town was founded by her with the aim of creating a place which was a symbol of human unity in the 70’s.

Spread across around 20 sq km the place is full of calmness and tranquility and the walk up to Matri mandir definitely refreshed our body and soul. The 1 km long walk amidst soothing greenery which also gives ample shade from the blazing sun while you listen to the sounds of birds that soothe the tantalized souls of the city.   J and I had some deep discussions about how simple life can be if only we chose it to be simple.   There is a free bus service and a shuttle service to move up this path, and we chose to walk.  There is a revered silence that engulfs this place, in spite of so many people around.  Along this mud pathway 12 slabs of rocks, each with a painting of a different colored flower, symbolizing a human quality – sincerity, peace, equality, generosity, goodness, courage, progress, receptivity, aspiration, perseverance, gratitude and humility.

The mighty Mathri Mandir

 Resting under the green awning of
Banyan tree 

At the end of the path rose up in front of us, the Mathri Mandir.  Against the backdrop of the blue sky, it looked stunning. The Mathri mandir is a golden globe like structure coming out of the earth, symbolized by the 12 stone petals. The view point was a bit crowded but we still could find a spot to sit down and stare at this marvelous structure.  On our way back, the sun burning us down a bit, we reached the great banyan tree, under which we sat for a while.   J even dozed a bit there.  

We had planned to have lunch at Tantos Trattoria Pizzeria, highly recommended by friends who travel there often.  We had to park our car under a large banyan tree grown wild and walked up to this place. It was a small open air kind of restaurant, but it had a zany elegance with roofed pergolas.  The other diners were mix of Indians, foreigners mostly young and with a nice ambiance with a wonderful vibe enhanced by the natural setting.  They had the original wood fired ovens  into which the freshly made pizza base went in and came out to be topped with our choice of toppings.  The food served was more than what J and I could devour.   Though not a pizza person, Tantos lived up to its name filling us up not just food, but with a great feel.  

Pizza in the oven

We had an unforgettable evening though.  Visiting Pondicherry beach promenade was in our list, so we went up there which was around 12 kms from our home stay.  Reminiscing our earlier memories of the place, didn’t watch the time go by and started back around 8pm.   With the GPS in place, we didn’t bother much about our route back, until we were by the headlights of our vehicle.  We had covered a good 8kms by then, and GPS told us there is just 4kms left, so J decided to proceed precariously.

I could sense J tightening up a bit and I was terrified.   I sat in complete silence, having lost the mobile signals, but the roads weren’t getting any better,  It was a plain mud road and felt like forever in the wilderness until we reached a gate.  The locked gate was not a familiar one, though GPS announced, You have arrived. Not able to reach our caretaker, the only option was to go back to a place where we got the signals back.  So we drove back through the same eerie pathway, until we got the signals back, and this time after changing our desitnation to Mathri Mandir we were able to come to the familiar roads.  That was a freaky excitement though.  

The road that scared the hell out of us

So we had an adhoc activity for the next day – figure out how and where we lost our way. J was so particular and he did.  The botanical garden is in  50 acre plot and this home stay is on the nethermost side of this plot.  There is a pathway right behind this garden, and GPS has shown the shortest route to the botanical garden and taken us through the road less traveled literally, in the opposite side.   We laughed so hard because it didn’t take us less than 30 seconds to come to the road that led us to the locked gate.  We drove through that same way in broad daylight and wondered how darkness and fear can change everything.

At one of the landscaped water bodies @Botanical garden

The guppies we caught

We went around the Botanical garden that has luxurious landscapes, formal gardens, nurseries, arboretums and also a warehouse that sells plants, garden equipment, accessories and even organic manure. The caretakers kids were around us showing us where we can pick up gardening stuff.  I laid my hands on a oval shaped terracotta tub, for a reasonable price  and J picked some equipment for the rubber estate in Kerala.

The best thing about the day was we went to a pond nearby and caught a whole lot guppies growing wild. Surprised J enjoyed catching those little fellas along with me and those little kids and we brought them home in a 5 liter Bisleri bottle.

Auroville has some genuine dairy farms that I have heard of and so we picked some dairy products including some exotic cheese from these places, which were packed neatly.  Dennu is a fan of all kind of cheese and I was sure he would give me the widest grin.

We had planned to get back to Mathiri Mandir then, and visit the meditation centre and stay there again, to experience Auroville all over.   Whenever that is.

5 things I really miss during the lockdown

Did any of us see this coming?  Without a doubt, our answer is a big NO. Amidst all this uncertainty and gloominess, our daily lives have gone topsy turvy, a whole lot of our plans are out of our control and the whole world is gripped by the fear of this microbe.  It may take a lot longer than all the forecasts for our lives before lock down to return and I feel social distancing can even become the new way of life, moving forward.

Some of the the ordinary things that we all took for granted certainly looks like a luxury and we all have a list of stuff that we miss everyday.  Right from the first day of the lock down, there are a few things that I miss more than others and as always, this virtual space looked like the best place to jot down those little delights that had to bite the dust, in the last few weeks

1. Walk in the trail -  The Joy of walking a good 5 km in the trail, motivating me every single day to  wake up early. A snaking mud road, along the Adyar river, crossing the OTA run by Indian army and along the rear side of the airport was an happy place.  Surrounded by lots of trees and songbirds this one hour walk, used to be my time of planning, introspection, prayer and self-talk.   I drive a couple of kilometres to reach this place and then I am transported to a world of my own away from traffic and the hustle of a city, drawing immense strength from this simple activity.  Lumowell and Leslie Sansone with their impressive power walking routines these days couldn't impress me as much as my walk in the trail.  

2. Church -  A sunday mass is a rule written in stone at home. There was no question of skipping the weekly mass.  Even during those non GPS days of travel, I could find a catholic church to attend a sunday mass, in any part of the world.   An online mass was for  the older people and never attempted participating in one all these days.  Forced into live streaming mass from our syro-malabar church (that's a rite I belong to), the only sunny side is Dennu sits with us and we go through the mass together.  In a real church, he would refuse that and considers it very juvenile.  A blessing in disguise, but, I do miss the ambience a church creates and the peace it brings.

3. Cabin at office - Never thought I would miss this little space.  I work for a team, that does not insist on working from office. And moreover most of our sessions are facilitated online and if the network bandwidth was good enough, the digital medium could be accessed from anywhere.  Belonging to the old school, I loved working from the space assigned to me, networking and engaging with colleagues from other teams.  That little white board, the draws, cupboards, books on the table and strangely I seem to be missing all that and the space itself. Thankfully, plants are taken care of by a few who drop into office once in a while.  Yep, I have plants in my cabin - I am a plant mom you see!

4. Driving - It could be the fact that I started driving late, I truly enjoy driving, even within the city.  when most people of my age are looking at depending on drivers or taxi services like Uber or Ola, I would prefer driving on my own. Even to some of our offices 25kms away from home, I would drive rather than take a taxi. Driving is a sign of  empowerment which cut my dependencies on others, precisely why I loved it, even the daily commute and yes, its in this list.

5. Babes trip - If not for Covid 19, we would have been finalising our Babes trip, by now.  Usually starts with a lunch meeting outside office,  and the entire process of finalizing the dates, ensuring we have the cognizance of our families about the destination, breaking it down into places of visit everyday, the logistics, collaborating with our tour operator, filling up excel sheets, forex, visa, the list looks endless and ahh the shopping!  I wonder if we will make it this year.  Like Sudha was saying in one of our group calls, if not this year next year we will make that as two trips.

Not cribbing, but just reminiscing some of the bits and bobs of life that added colour to life earlier.

Ta-Daah! How we surprised ourselves !!

A post on this title has been due for more than half an year. If not for the lock down going on right now, it would have had a slow natural death in my head even before it was put down into writing.

A trek was in the offing for some time, primarily to test our physical abilities.  Especially after my surgery, I have been wanting to check my endurance levels. So this came up and looked moderately tough and good enough for us to test it out.   J is the energetic and physically active kinds and this is something that would excite him, I was pretty sure, even if I cannot make it, he will drag me along.  That’s the hope I had when I set out with him.

So it was 2^nd of October, 2019, that we ventured into this trek, though this ended up being much more intense than what we hoped for. Setting out pretty early around 6.45 am, it took a swift 90 minutes to cover the 90 km distance.  J was at the wheel and as usual the drive was a breeze.  Clear skies, scenic roadsides and we had the edge of starting out early, the roads were traffic free.

Doesn't it look good?

Tada falls is in the border of Chennai and Andhra Pradesh, in a village by that name. We were greeted by a sign board that said “Welcome to Ubbalamadugu Waterfall” and I realized why no one ever uses the full name.  The car park at the base was empty, & after paying the entrance fee, which was meagre, we set out for the trek.   Armed with our essentials, including water, snacks, jackets, goggles and sunscreen we crossed an iron bridge across a river, a fairly large one, to walk over to the road leading to the waterfalls. 

Jacket gets under the hat

I was expecting a mini trek, and to see the waterfalls in a few minutes but that was not to be.   We had to walk through sandy pathways which were by now sunny and bright (read as heat pricking the skin), some distance of which was  surrounded by thick shrubs and few metres just bare, open to the sky, with absolutely no vegetation.  The earlier rains kept the greenery on the surrounding mountains lush and bright, and that was a big respite to watch and tread along.  Few minutes in the sun and got to realise the flimsy hat was no good in front of the blazing sun, so had to use the jacket as my head cover  - didn’t want to end up with a headache, by evening.

At the end of the long walk we waded through another water way and continued walking along.  It is here the sand gives way to hard untamed rocks.  There is no pathway and you just use judgement and balance to hop from one stone to another and follow few of the young trekkers along.  Water was all around, and there were places so deep that it came up to the chest.   Knowing how to swim definitely helped J, while I took the round about rocky terrain, he would swim to cross that part and wait for me.   Mental note to self – Learn to swim, for heaven sake.

Scenic ! Ain't it?

The rocky pathway got tougher, with thicker vegetation, larger trees with a lot of our ancestors, arrogant and unhappy that we are intruding into their space.   J kept hopping in front of me with ease and I had difficult keeping pace with him and was also gasping for breath.  In some places the trekkable path was quite narrow and we had to hang on to thick rope like roots to walk along. Within an hours’ time the trek was beginning to be difficult and I had to sit down for a while under a tree for a few minutes of rest.  

The trek route was not crowded, and our fellow trekkers, were mostly men. I definitely gave the few young girls a run for their money, as I found myself in better shape.  Though I was lagging behind J, I was fitter than the those kids who were throwing tantrums even to jump onto a stone just two feet in height.  Some even were going back.  In most places the water was crystal clear, chill and invites to dunk yourself in.  Especially when you are sweating like a pig under the sun.  Every now and then I would stop listen to the sound of flowing water, and gaze at the fishes.

Water, Water, Everywhere!!!

The rocky terrain from here got rougher, and the pathway, if there was one, was getting steep. At one point, I was losing hope as I had to climb a rock above me which was almost 10 feet high. I knew J would be able to do it, but I didn’t see myself climbing up that boulder. Wondering if we have to abandon this trek, at this point, which I didn’t want to, as I could see J really enjoying it, in his wild elements, I heard him say, you can climb it, Vincy. That was just enough for me. He quickly maneuvered his way to top of the rock, took my bag and then guided me to climb up and also gave me a hand and literally carried me to the top of the boulder.

This was the point from where I never saw a single girl.   The rocks were getting harder to climb, a single miss could cost you the entire front row teeth or at least a couple of broken limbs. I was not looking around anymore, my focus was only on putting one step in front of the other and keeping up with the increasing altitude.

That’s when I heard the sound of water falling, feeble first and as we moved forward it was becoming dominant. It was a welcoming sound, signalling the waterfall and energizing and driving me forward.   Around 10 minutes later and after yet another steep climb, we came to a point from where the water was gushing through, one little stream but with mighty force. The sound of water now was loud, clear and transcending into your being, pushing every other sound into the background.

this one thing was worth all the climb!

A group of college / fresher kind of kids were under that stream and J didn’t to get wet.  J was also a bit apprehensive that these men may misbehave as I was the only woman there. I told him not to worry and brought out my HR skills.  I walked up, used all my years of practice in stretching my decibel levels and requested them for some space.  I found that I could speak over the sound of a waterfall, and the crowd, though a small one, recognizes a HR professional.  I saw J relaxing at this point.

Like Moses parting the red sea, the crowd moved away so I could get under the torrent, a chill running through my spine, water thumping my head, rhythmically.  Screaming all the while, in childlike glee, the picture J took, shows as if I am the only one around there and under that waterfall.   A few minutes, by which time, I was shivering, got out, thanked the boys and men who waved back and jumped back right in, under the waterfall.

Resting awhile!

The climb was exhausting and we rested for a while under the blazing sun. Tried snacking but  lost most  of the food packets to the cornucopia of simians around.  The moment we open a packet they throng to us in  hordes, wild and we were no match to their rapid pace.  J was embarrassed with high pitched shrills I would make when they snatch the packets away.  By now it was noon and so we trekked back. Except in one place where I needed help from J, remember the 10 feet boulder, which I struggled a bit, the others were easy as peasy.  Hopping most of the way, yeah in some places, I would sit down and put my bottom to good use.

Clawing our way back the place was packed to the hilt, people all over, the water sources were filled with people.  I thanked our stars for being there early. Found a quiet spot to spend some time in the water, spent some time gazing at small fishes and listening to the sound of wilderness. 

Towards the end of the trek!

Just one selfie finally!

What we thought would be easy, wasn’t all that easy a 10 km trek, up and down put together on rocky ground, really tested our mettle.   At the end of the trek, my hair was messy, my feet hurt, joints creaked, clothes wet but the realization that we could do it together, gave us the sparkle in our eyes.  

And that’s exactly how we surprised ourselves.

Book Review - 24 hours by Greg Iles

Gils, my blog friend is the inspiration behind this book review.  Having seen him do at least a dozen or more reviews every year, on his blog, wanted to give it a try.  Never have I done it before, and wanted to begin small and write about this novel, 24 hours by Greg Iles.

The read itself was special as this was one of the books I carried along for our laid back Maldives trip. Especially during this lock down, the trip itself looks like a distant dream. I gorged on this book, like how I used to when I was in college. Chanced upon it from Dennu’s collection having confidence in his choice of books.  And I wasn’t wrong.  He wasn’t happy that I rummaged through his clutter in his room and took it without asking him.   He calls it stealing, but I am his mom and how can that be even called that?

My first book from this author, it’s a suspense thriller, and Iles does not waste anytime, and sets the mood right from the first chapter.  The story, which is about kidnapping keeps you engrossed by the well laid out suspense and there are many moments where the author keeps you on tenterhooks.  The plot is tight and pace right, keeping an capricious reader like me hooked on.   The ease with which I could slip into reading, should give you an idea about how thrilling the story was. 

Iles is so good that the kidnap and violence that comes along with the story is so believable that he is able to create an imagery in the readers mind. Towards the end of the book, there is an aircraft chase, which plays out in your head almost like a movie.  The characters of the story are intelligent including the kidnappers.  A six year old from the Jennings family is kidnapped and the parents are kept  in two different locations.  Accompanied by one kidnapper each, the kidnapped child is with another character.  How the parents foil the attempt and do they get the child back is the crux of the story.

It’s a blasphemy that I simplified the intricate plot into few lines, as the story sent my heart racing during the read.  And mind you, I was in the most peaceful place on earth with no interruptions around, the blue sea spreading herself in the best of the colors in front of me.   Yet the tension mounts, the scenes and pages fly past, the pace never subsides, and I didn’t see time go past.  I would stop only when J gives me a call to move. 

The characters come alive with the narration of Iles, and you relate to them quite personally. Abby the kidnapped child and Huey who is in charge of the child, develop a bond that warms the toughest heart.   Huey, who grew up as a special child with mental health issues, takes care of Abby ( or any other kidnapped child) and carves out wooden figurines for the children.  His love for Abby and how he understands the child is touching – a mountain of a man with a heart of gold. Huey does not have any hidden agenda and does not understand the unruly ways of the adults.  I loved that guy for his innocence.

The book

Finished this book in almost a week, and yes, it was worth the steal.

I'll probably be the only one on earth to put up a picture for a book review.  but I couldn't resist putting this up!

The reader

Hand made, Afresh!!!

This project started almost 6 months back and have been dragging my feet on it, not just because I am a lazy bum, but also due to the complexities involved in the project itself.

The lock down period seemed the best time to complete it, when the gentle push from J almost became a shove and he started asking me if I am going to work on it, or if he should re purpose the base for something else, less significant.

A name board for the house has been a cherished dream since we moved in. While the house was under construction, there were too many inevitable stuff that took our attention away and my murmur about a name board fell on deaf years. In fact, after a few years I almost forgot about it, until recently during a trip to J’s tharavad (ancestral home in Malayalam) in Thalassery, I saw a large name board made of a cross section of teak wood with golden brass letters on it. Most houses in Kerala are palatial and this name board looked imposing at the entrance. The piece of wood was itself around 3 feet. 

The cross section  of wood on top
 is the base 

And this desire for a name board for our house was rekindled and since its been a long wait, I wanted to do it as an DIY project. J wasn’t very impressed with my idea, since he thought I wanted similar one that we saw in Kerala. A bit of explaining and he sourced a really small cross section of teak wood from his place. 

The ready made carved out alphabets available online and in the market did not match my expectations. Either these alphabets were too flowery and grandiose, or bore an austere look. Joe also checked around with some timber merchants for carving alphabets and their samples didn’t appeal either. That’s when I decided, I will carve out the alphabets myself. Yep.

The Balsa wood sheet

I was particular it has to be a wood carving, ( for no specific reason, though). I scouted around for a while until I laid my hands on a sheet of Balsa wood, 3 mm thick, from an hobby products’ shop with a fancy name, called itsy bitsy. This is the same place where I picked up my shiny gratitude journal too.

Contrary to what I had imagined, carving out the alphabets wasn’t that easy. First off, while cutting out the alphabets from a stencil I created on the sheet, the wood would chip off into tiny pieces, almost in the finishing stages. There was rarely an alphabet that I carved out which came in a single piece. So after each carving, I had to use every glue I had at hand – fevibond, feviquik and in some cases even the fabric glue and the most humble fevicol.

@ close look, each alphabet
is a collection of multiple pieces

The carved out alphabets now looked as though a kinder-gartener broke it up using bare hands. I was thoroughly disappointed and wanted to even abandon the project. J not hiding his disappointment about the look of the alphabets didn’t help. Anyways, since I had put in considerable amount of time in this by now, didn’t want to back out. 

Meanwhile, J was working on the base. He had even ordered a grinding machine by Bosch and it reached us just before the lock down. The base was ground smooth along with the sides and a coat of varnish applied to make it look shiny and this process was repeated 5 times as the varnish was being sucked in by the base. At the end of the process J gave me a shiny base, with the grains of the teak visible. Now I had the pressure of making sure the alphabets matched the gloss of  base.

The finished base from J, 

the grains visible.

I set to work on the alphabets which still looked pathetic with all the glue on it, unfinished edges and varied colors because of the different glues applied thoughtlessly.

I used the available filers to smoothen out the rough edges, like sand paper from J’s tool kit, my nail file from the pedicure kit, and finally even took the help of the menial blade. 

Alphabets after some filling, 

filing and a coat of paint.

still not all that great

The carved out alphabets were pretty fragile, so had to be really slow and gentle handling them with these amateurish tools. Also needed a lot of light and was pretty painful bending over these and finishing them up. Sure enough they definitely tested my patience. Yet, the rich creamy color of balsa wood was patchy and had to paint them white.

And then it all came together and finally this is how the name board looks like  – fruit of hard labor.

The name board done 

The joy of ideating, creating and looking at your own handicraft – ineffable tour de force.  Here's how it looks at our entrance.

So what if it took 15 years for us to put up a name board for our home ?

Lockdown Malarky

Times are tough and the entire world is anguished about a micro organism that seems to destroy it, one at a time, in front of its eyes. Completely perplexed by its inability to find a cure yet, best brains around the world are still scrambling to find a vaccine against the deadly pathogen. Our country is locked down, and all of us are bound to the confines of our homes. In fact the whole world seems to be on a lock down mode. 

Not easy to keep the spirits up and be cheerful. But, that’s the only thing which will keep us going. We need to stay positive – easier said than done. Just like everyone of you, being stressed, worried and anxious, initially I too was a bit apprehensive. Coping at a time of passive distress unknown to mankind, was not easy for me either. 

Here is what I am consciously doing to survive this lock down period. Simple ways that have got me going so far.

• Uncertainty brings along fear of the unknown. Conscious decision of not being afraid of what can go wrong, instead looking forward to what can go right. Simply put, I have stopped attending to my fears.
• Being grateful for the little blessings of life. On a roll with my gratitude Journal. Earlier this year, I started with my gratitude journal and its helping me sail through this period positively. You can read about my gratitude journal here
• Endorphins trigger positivity and I ensure they are released in abundance in my body. Being active physically has been an essential part of my lifestyle, but the walk in the trail is curtailed by the lock down. That has not deterred me from working out at home, following Anna Renderer, from Strong by Zumba and Luis from SELF, both help in no equipment workouts. Our Elliptical on the terrace, almost a decade old, and none paid two hoots to, all these days, has gained prominence in our lives out of nowhere. The Zumba group that I am part of at my work place, have formed a virtual group and thrice every week, we dance to some peppy numbers, virtually. I mirror my laptop to the big screen and watch my Zumba trainer dance. Jay and Sudha also join in and its fun unlimited. J and D are amused. The point is sweat and hormones help to stay positive.
• The travelling time that I save upon, since I am working from home, which is a considerable 90 to 100 mins a day, is used fruitfully for reading or writing the blog and that’s the reason for the recent influx of posts on the blog, in the month of March.
• Watch what’s going on around the world, just once in a day, for information sakes. Watching news channels was one of the prime sources of anxiety for me. Curbing it helped quite a bit.
• Chats, group video calls with friends, family and cousins across the world has brought in smiles and happiness during the times of distress. Builds in resilience to all the negativity around. In some cases I have come to realize there are friends and others who look up to us, and we are their hope for staying positive. So during conversations, I purposely avoid the obvious negativity and bring up the brighter elements.
• Attending online sessions, webinars and keeping my learning alive. Perspectives from others and learning keeps the excitement of life and helps to beat the gloom around.
• Engage the entire family in cooking and other chores. J and I have always believed in doing our own chores, especially after Dennu finished up his schooling. Until then, it was difficult to manage without house help. Also J has never been the kind to shirk away from house hold chores, including cooking. Rarely have I had to cook, without him. These days, we try and get Dennu to cook with and for us too, ( he is a good cook btw). Just a couple of days back J and I tried our hand at baking, and managed to bake some garlic bread with mixed herbs and it came out well. One of the days last week, Dennu cooked our lunch – Pasta and eggs. Dalgona coffee, the latest internet craze is in our list too.
• Spend time with my pet babies. The WFH option allows me to dawdle around and enjoy the time with them and they look happier.
• Pray together as a family. First time ever we went through our mass, online. It was not bad folks.
• Have a schedule everyday and follow it through. All three of us get into our assigned work places, to each their own rooms and meet up for lunch and tea breaks. Dennu likes some solitary time for himself, but still its nice to have him around and engage with him. Inclusive, yet mutually exclusive during work times 😊
• DIY projects – one of the projects just got over. A post on it coming up soon. Smiling up to my ears. The others are in different stages. Some in which I am involved and some I am just in advisory position. The sense of accomplishment when these get done are immense and fills one up with happy hormones.

We are all in this together folks. In fact, the whole world and lets hope for the best to happen to our fragile world. and this too shall pass.

My simple prayer is that we all become more humane than what we were before, and then, we would have learnt our lessons.

Can I go back in time?

The Tharavad was the best house in town

the trees, flowers, fruits, ponds, canals and the green fields

pristine nature along with abundant love

were more than what we wanted

The lively chorus of bird songs gently woke us up in the dawn

the pleasing odor of mangoes, jack fruits and cashew apples

told us exactly how ripe they were

alluring us, the juveniles, with their bright colors

Jasmine, spider lily and rose bushes tickled our senses

with their intense fragrances

the earthy scent of petrichor in June

soothed our souls and cooled our beings

The scent of fresh soil when the grass is pulled

inhaling the dry smell of summer

along with the aroma of home cooked meals,

sweets, snacks and savories were our respite

Worried only about climbing trees

aiming right when throwing stones at fruits

or jumping up to the high swing on breadfruit tree

and finding a balance in the mildly flowing canal

The little fears were of the unseen snakes

or getting caught while playing in the wood fired stoves

and the intense darkness of night
The only disgust was the smell of rotting cow dung

Croaking frogs, Mooing Mangu, our buffalo, cackling roosters
chirping cicadas stroking our curiosity of where they came from,

squealing in glee watching fireflies at bedtime

all added to our delight

Stories the elders told us at nighttime

put us to sleep, along with our own

whispers to the cousins' clan

made us feel safe in the eerie silence

Can I go back in time

Where all the adults were stronger and bigger than us

not a care, not a worry, no insecurities and competition

nestled in care and protection amongst loved ones

life was one big vacation

Can I go back in time, please?