Break From The Past: Australia!

Please click here for  Part 1 and here for  Part 2

Australia!

Here we come!!

 I had heard so much about this country. The biggest attraction lies in its natural beauty, so beautiful, that words  are simply not enough to describe its  awesome beauty.

 This was a Sydney based job, that suited someone like Chandran, who was looking to further a great  career.  However it also meant a lot of travelling , which he did not mind, and which of course bothered me a little.

  So off we hopped like two love stung Kangaroos to Australia.We settled in a beautiful beach house given to us by the company( for it was a senior post) in Sydney suburbs. The place given to us was stunning with its  beautiful view of the sea. The house was designed with spacious balconies opening out from the living room and from all the 3 bedrooms, giving us spectacular views of the sea The last time I saw something like that house was in the movie " Salaam Namaste".

I remember how the movie brought  back all the memories of my life in Australia, especially that house, though it did not really look the same, it was small compared to our house,  but the style, the big  bay windows  facing the sea, etc., really had me gushing out emotionally, like a broken dam, with  thoughts of the most beautiful moments in my life. Oh, why and how did things change so fast?
I had no answer.

  Coming here was like a second honeymoon for us.  Soon we were comfortably settled,  and were getting used to the Ozy lifestyle, their slang, their mannerism, their  laid  back attitude.

  Sydney, Australia's Olympic city, set on the beautiful Sydney Harbor, was a city where surprisingly people and events moved pretty fast, that, sometimes made me wonder, whether there really  was a city in a country as laid back as Australia, I was absolutely stunned. Its all embracing character,  history, superb waterways and heart-stopping buildings,  and the extremely jolly and helpful people, made this city a perfect place to settle down. It didn't take us long to feel totally at home here.

To think we were in the suburb, yet not very far from all the fun, and excitement of the city life. I simply loved our house very much, the 24 hours sound of the waves, the  beauty  of the waves, going to bed with the sound of the tranquil and soothing waves lulling us to sleep and waking up everyday to a spectacular sunrise. Can life be any better, I was blessed in every way, and I was grateful and very happy.

    Whenever Chandran got a break from his various assignments we were off exploring the city with all its wonderful sights. We traveled through the Harbor Bridge for a spectacular tour of the Blue Mountains, we saw the famous Three Sisters rock formation, and while we were there,.. I remember I started feeling giddy, and almost fainted.

  Chandran got worried, we were having such a wonderful time when I suddenly felt strange,  he insisted we return back  home immediately,  although I felt better after a little while, but still he would not listen. Soon this giddiness became a regular feature with me, and when we consulted the doctor, we were told,  we should be prepared to welcome a child into our lives.

    I was thrilled, so was Chandran, he celebrated it by treating me to a candle light dinner, cooked specially by him and the table set by the windows overlooking the  beautiful sea. He was very good in baking, and he had baked an upside down pineapple cake for me. He was a man with many talents.
 He was the one who taught me how to dance, initially I was kind of nervous and shy,  but soon I caught on with the steps for he was such a patient teacher.  I started to  enjoy moving and flowing gracefully with the music. We often put on the music and danced together, and let all our weariness leave us,  it was sheer bliss.

 That day too he put on my favorite music,  the cool breeze wafting through the open windows, the music and the soothing breeze, transporting us to another world as we danced and danced, till I felt so tired I could dance no more..... it was most memorable evening of my life.

 We soon found out that I was having twins. That really frightened me, how will I be able to look after twins was a question which kept bothering me a lot. But Chandran was not worried at all. He said if God has given us twins he would also give us the ability to look after them.  His patience and his constant guidance saw me through my delivery, and soon we had two screaming babies in our hands.

  Two healthy babies were enough to keep me fully occupied, and soon they grew up to be healthy boys, old enough for school. Four years later I was once again pregnant, and this time I really prayed for a girl, for the first time itself I was a little disappointed I did not have girls, at least one could have been a girl . So this time, I was eagerly looking forward to having a girl child. When the doctor asked me whether I would like to know the sex of the child, I said no, for I was sure it was going to be girl.  I had already selected the name, and waited with  lots of hope and enthusiasm

  However,  this time too we had a boy, and he looked at me so cutely, that I forgot that I wanted a girl. It was a sheer joy to be a mother again......girl or boy suddenly seemed irrelevant to me. 

 ( To be continued)

Break From The Past: The Wedding....

Please click here for Part 1
 
Indeed, how satisfying it is to finally get what you want in life, to find one's soul mate.

 We were so happy with our decision, everything worked out well for us .Our parents, though initially were not so happy, but eventually came around  and gave us their blessings.

  We decided to have a simple court marriage, followed by a reception at my place. You see, we had a big house with a huge garden, perfect for an informal reception that we had planned. Ours being a joint - family with all my brothers and their families, my uncles and aunts and their children and my grand parents ----we all lived in this huge house we called our home.

 All of them were excited about the marriage, everyone pitching in to make it a memorable event for both of us.

 We left for Kashmir for our honeymoon.It was a dream come true for me,  for I always wanted to visit Kashmir that too with the person I loved. Chandran knew about it, and had it all planned. So here we were two newly weds on our way to romantic Kashmir. We stayed in a beautiful, luxurious, absolutely romantic houseboat. Later we left for one of  those skiing resorts. Here I had good fun learning to ski from an instructor. The gently graded ski slopes were perfect for a beginner like me.

 Oh ! I forgot to mention,we had a wonderful time rowing over the Dal Lake. It was all so romantic, I can still remember the warmth of his body, as I snuggled so close to him, as we rowed on and on and on...... romance was in the air..

If you asked me what temples and mosques we visited,  well,  I would say, none. Neither the temple or mosque really interested us, for we were blissfully unaware of all the mandatory  sight- seeing. The beautiful mountains,  the breath taking gardens, the serene lakes,  brought us closer and closer to each other,  that if we were to die we would have died in each others' arms.  Kashmir and love are made for each other just like Chandran and me.

 In short,  we had a really wonderful trip: a trip that I would always cherish and treasure in my heart. We came back from Kashmir drenched in love.

 Our lives moved on ....as if it was not a reality ....but a dream, a dream filled with so much love, care and tenderness.

 Soon it was time for us to move to Australia.
( Sorry, if there are some mistakes, too busy to edit)

To be continued soon

Break From The Past (Part 1)

I was watching the world go by from my balcony. It was around 5.30 on a cool and breezy evening.
There was a hint of a drizzle too. Oh! what a great evening, so pleasant and peaceful. I put on
my favourite music on the Sony and settled myself comfortably in my cosy rocking chair.
It was the time when I often found myself going into one my frequent mental trips delving into
the past. It had become a necessity, as I found it really helped me purge out all those repressed
feelings of anger, frustration, guilt and self pity that were plaguing me of late.

Each day as I travelled through these emotions, I found myself sometimes crying uncontrollably,
shaking physically at the thought of all the insults heaped upon me.  It would take me sometime
to get a grip on myself on these occasions - which I eventually did, and when I did ---- there was
this immense sense of relief as if I had released a deadly poison from my mind, body, and soul.
So each day as I sat watching the world go by I managed to rid myself of all the negativity
building up within me. I was happy. Each day made me feel better and better, and the emerging
of my new self really amazed me. Where was this Sudha hidden all these years?
 I often wondered.

My memories dragged me back to the time I first met Chandran. Oh! everything was so clear, and so near as though it happened just yesterday. The first meeting with Chandran was so romantic.  Wasn't it my birthday that day?
Yes indeed, for I remember I had worn that beautiful black and white printed cotton saree that my father had bought for me specially from Ahmedabad, crisp and smelling of baked starch right off the Dhobi’s ironing board. It wasn't exactly new, but I simply loved that saree.

Unfortunately, the bus in which I was travelling, was unusually crowded that day, as the bus had to accommodate several extra passengers, who had been stranded because of a breakdown of their bus. There was this cheap looking lowlife who kept on trying to get as close to me as possible, literally breathing down my neck. Suddenly I felt a hand brushing against my waist. That was it, my spirit of tolerance evaporated, and I turned around breathing fire, ready to slap the fellow hard : but, before I could even lift my hand, there was a commotion and I saw the oaf, his head down, holding his jaw, as though punched hard by an unseen hand. People all around were shouting, asking the conductor to stop the bus.  And before I could even comprehend what was going on, I found myself firmly led by this tall dark man out of the bus. I was too stunned to even utter a cry of surprise – it all happened so fast. And when I did recover from the shock, I found myself sitting opposite this total stranger inside a Coffee house.

I was upset that a rowdy tried to touch me.  I was equally upset that this total stranger had the
temerity to drag me out from a crowded bus to a Coffee house without so much as by your leave.

Apparently he had been watching this hooligan on the bus trying to get close to me for quite some
time. When that creep tried to touch me, he felt it was time he gave that man what he deserved -
a good punch on his jaw. Before things got worse,  he thought it would save me a lot of trouble if I
was whisked away quickly from that charged atmosphere.

The shrill ring of the telephone brought me back to the present with a jolt, and I got up wearily
from my dream to answer the call.

To be continued....

A Story re-told

I had written this story a few years back, and had published it in my previous blog space. It has been divided into many short parts, and I plan to repost this story with some changes.
Not being a professional writer, there might be many imperfections, and I hope you will bear with me.
I started off this story with something in my mind, but as the story progressed, it changed completely and became something differnt from what I actually had in my mind, The story has parts of me, parts of stories of imaginery people hopefully all tied up together.

I think, as we write and read what we have written, we feel that it is not correct, it has to change, somehow we feel that the story slowly, and subtly,  starts having a character of its own, taking the story telling from our hands and we willingly, and happily become  its slave.
 One thing I have come to realize, is that we keep changing, our thoughts keep evolving, as we keep  reading, writing and re- writing, and the story that come out of all this chaos, is something we like very much,  and remains very close to our hearts, even though we may not be perfect writers.

So see you with the first part of this story, and hope you will keep coming back for more!

A House Full Of Memories !!!

“Home wasn't a set house, or a single town on a map. It was wherever the people who loved you were, whenever you were together. Not a place, but a moment, and then another, building on each other like bricks to create a solid shelter that you take with you for your entire life, wherever you may go.” Sarah Dessen



“There is nothing more admirable than when two people who see eye to eye keep house as man and wife, confounding their enemies and delighting their friends.” ~ Homer The Odyssey







Treasured memories of little ones, now old enough to have their own little ones..

The lovely infinity tile pattern in our son's bathroom

The cars collected over the years are displayed on the grill of a big window in our son's bathroom

I am sure he misses sleeping in the loft



Grow old along with me, the best is yet to be...
Ours is a happy home...filled with happy memories.

“What is home? My favorite definition is "a safe place," a place where one is free from attack, a place where one experiences secure relationships and affirmation. It's a place where people share and understand each other. Its relationships are nurturing. The people in it do not need to be perfect; instead, they need to be honest, loving, supportive, recognizing a common humanity that makes all of us vulnerable.” ~ Gladys Hunt



A beautiful painting by Dali: 'The girl waiting by the window'


The memory of our Dog Toffee resting next to these elephants
Oh ! these lovely elephants have been roaming around our garden for about 12 years


I glance at the photo, and the pilot light of memory flickers in my eyes.



Our daughter when she was just 4 years old, the memory is still so fresh


An old photograph of mine taken at our wedding
Happy are the couple married after they fall in love; however, happier are the couple who fall in love with each after they are married.

All photographs are there to remind us of what we forget. In this - as in other ways - they are the opposite of paintings. Paintings record what the painter remembers. Because each one of us forgets different things, a photo more than a painting may change its meaning according to who is looking at it. ~John Berger
Today, I felt like seeing our house through these pictures, although things change, but still they remain unchanged in so many ways and I think that's the way they are meant to be. Each little corner has some story to tell, some memories to be refreshed,  and one comes out of that, feeling totally rejuvenated.
I think we should all go through photographs and revisit the days gone by and come back refreshed.

Face, Neck Exercises and Ancient Chinese Detox Massage

Some time back I was browsing through the net and came across some very interesting, scientific face and neck exercises that we can follow along. These exercises are specifically designed to set right all the trouble spots. I will not bore you with the details, as you would know what they are, when you watch the videos.
Then I also came across an ancient Chinese Massage of the face and the neck which one should do twice a day, and this is also very easy to follow, and it just takes about 5 minutes, to release all the toxins from our face and neck and give us that youthful face and neck we all yearn for.
This again we can follow along with the person who is demonstrating them.
Maybe, these are some people who would say, they would like to age naturally. well as for me and I know majority of the people would like to age beautifully, without falling prey to wrinkles, flabby skin hanging, double chin etc.
We cannot prevent aging, however we can look ten years younger than our biological age by exercising the various parts of our body to keep ourselves healthy, physically, mentally and spiritually.
So to all those people who think like me, here are the two videos:

These exercises are meant both for men and women, so go along just do it !! When you start seeing results you would be happy you have got something , which you can always  follow.

Our Cute little Lab: Bumbilli

This is a picture video of our cute puppy Bumbilli
Watch as she settles in our house....
The pictures and selection of music was mine, and, everything was put together by my dear friend Mitesh Shah of:
http://realityviews.blogspot.in

Many of you must be knowing him, he is regular blogger, and keeps updating us about Politics and music.
Thank you Mitesh, for putting everything together beautifully.

Aghori : Indian Comic With A Difference

Aghori Launch at the Comic.con Bangalore:











                    With my daughter Mathanki

                      Ram V And Vivek Goel






Today is the second and final day.
The crowd that was seen yesterday was mind blowing.
There are so many stalls, people showcasing so many varieties of Comics/ Art and what not, parents with their children, young adults, college students, grand parents every, body jostling along to have a look at the various display of books, taking part in the quiz, having discussions with the new authors etc.
We are all very happy to see the happy, satisfied faces of the participants.
They are an inspiration to all the youngsters.
They hope to see more sales today, and are a tiny bit worried, that they may not have enough comic books to cater to the demand, but anyway they are a happy lot ( to see such a positive response and demand)

The trailer made by Palash Vaswani got an awesome response.

Here is Ram V: Bangalore Comic Con - Stall B4 - Dark Magic, Bearded Heroes, Robots, Chickens, Zombies, Ninjas and any combination of the above - discussions welcome ( Also - Pirates! ) - All Bangalorians, see you there!!


Drop in at the Koramangala Indoor Stadium to pick up your signed copy;-)