Raining Thoughts

Afterlife options could hardly ever be considered a sane lunch-time topic. But it so happened one day that our office lunch group conversation rose up in spins & swirls of mystical musings that came to rest finally upon the turn-yourself-into-a-tree-after-you-die topic. Beautiful and degradable earthen urns that encased the seeds of trees where your ashes would go into, so that once it’s planted in the soil you eternally become a part of the tree as it sprouts and grows. The beauty of the idea struck my soul so hard that I could almost envision my tree-self, rooted beside a white thicket fence blooming fragrantly in green profusion, with perhaps a few cows mooing in the back drop to enhance the pastoral effect. And what did I visualise myself as? A little allspice tree… One of the first plants that I’d ever fallen in love with. I have fond memories of the allspice plant that stood sturdy and fragrant on the gravelly laterite on our front porch at home years ago....

Alleppey had us at ‘hello’. The pristine morning sunshine rippling upon her backwaters and the most delectable breakfast on her platter…steaming hot idi appams & what I would forever call the yummiest, tangiest & spiciest fish curry on earth had us excitedly looking forward to the longest backwater cruise in Kerala.  The boat-ride from Allepey to Quilon (Alappuzha to Kollam, for us Malayalis) was packed with 8 hours of soul-melting rendezvous with nature. The ride took us through 3 of the major backwater lagoons in Kerala, the Vembanad, Kayamkulam & Ashtamudi lakes intertwined with scores of water channel systems to form the most beautiful water world of God’s own country. With an array of passengers from different geographies across the world on board, our boat was no less than a microcosm of diverse senses and perceptions that collectively lapped up the sinuous sounds and verdant visions that enveloped us from all around. Rest of the tale…in pictures. ...

As I walked among the rows and rows of memory stones, reading the engravings upon each, an agonizing comprehension dawned that almost all the war heroes whose souls have been interred here were just teenagers or slightly older soldiers, nipped from the stalk of life in the prime of their youth, by the wars, the first and the second world wars. The Kirkee War Cemetery in Pune, maintained to this day by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, remains a tribute to the valiant lives of thousands of service personnel, lost as part of both the world wars, while living & serving in India during the colonial era. It was not a planned visit, but one that abruptly materialized during our drive through the military cantonment area across the Mula road along which the cemetery rests serenely wrapped in green. The drive itself was a beautiful experience with the summer blooms sheltering the smooth roads and occasional sightings of old stone buildings and grassy expanses of land. We ...

The thick white mist grew whiter by the second and spiraled all around us, immersing us in a tangible heaven that had charmingly descended upon the mortal world.  As soon as we set foot upon her fairyland, the dame de mystique , Kodaikanal lost no time at all in casting her magic spell upon us, captivating our minds, unleashing upon us her umpteen shades of green and white, exalting the mountains. Time has not withered her magnificence. Surpassing her own beauty time after time, each time, this ‘princess’ among hills has remained forever young, forever beautiful & ever so pristine. There was rain. There was mist. There was never a dull moment, never a halt to beauty as we journeyed on and on, spell-bound through her green winding roads, hoping the trail would never end. 

Of all my text books from primary school, the one closest to my heart was the colorful science text book full of vivid color pictures and fancily boxed fun facts. In comparison to the monochrome social studies and language books, the science book stood out like a beautiful rainbow full of promises… a beacon of hope in a color-deprived universe.  And of all the chapters in there, the very very multicolored seed dispersal chapter always looked best to me with its seeds of all hues, shapes and sizes, illustrated in different acts of getting dispersed. Seed dispersal was (and is) a gargantuan affair. It could alter geographies, flora, fauna, perhaps…the course of life itself. And all those fine techniques nature chose to employ. How strangely impressive! Flying seeds, floating seeds, hooked seeds, sticky seeds, clingy seeds, chewy seeds, shitty seeds…  Ah well…that brings me to the crux of the matter. About time I began my post. So… It’s one of those lull train journeys tha...

           The mercury has climbed to a record high. The Indian General Election 2014, dubbed the nation's “first big social media poll” is now just a stone's throw away! As the poll fever shoots up…up…& away… we also witness a huge transformation manifesting itself across the dimensions of an age-old customary event associated with the elections. An event which has established itself  deep within the system  over the years, an affair which has come to assume the proportions of a rather ‘ necessary social evil ’ ...... Election Campaigning!           W ith a huge chunk of the campaigning laddoos  now being distributed to one and all through virtual outlets like instant messaging sites and social networking websites, electioneering has undergone a paradigmatic shift in style & strategy this year. Facebook,WhatsApp & YouTube have become the prime pulpits of political parties everywhere. Not to forget Tw...

 Green is the colour! No other colour can soothe my frayed nerves as much as Green is capable of. Even while having a busy day at office, just walking to the pantry balcony and having a cup of tea, watching the greenery outside helps in ironing out the creases of tiredness from my weary mind. And thankfully the campus in which my office sits is quite a verdant one. There is no dearth of trees, big or small; in-between the many buildings that occupy the vast business space, and short walks from one building to the other is never a dry or tiresome affair. Tall old fashioned silver & glass lamp-posts add charm to  the avenues and the vintage-looking park benches that line both sides of the walk-ways, makes the scene prettier. They call them the 'Think Points'. The thought of sitting on one of those curvy wooden benches relishing the luxuriant green spreading shade of a tree…watching the clouds change shape… waiting for absolutely nothing…. is so tempting. The only ...