" Time Stands Still "

Somehow I always, feel the time stands still for me. I never feel rushed for time.


It is such a nice feeling, to have Time by your side always. I always have time for everything, if planned properly we can do a lot of things and still have time to enjoy every little things that come by our way. If we love and respect time it would always be there for us giving us company and standing still with us. I think it is a great feeling.
Time stood still with me as I admired the most beautiful place in the world: Sikkim. It was my wish that I should see the snow capped mountains, and that wish came true during our 25th wedding anniversarry.

Time was there with me as I stood like a crazy woman, wanting my husband to take pictures of me in the famous Times Square in New York



Time came along with me to Central park in New York, and we enjoyed a cool and serene Saturday afternoon there.



We traveled together to see the world famous Niagara Falls, and Time was my guide, taking me to less visited sites there ....

Sikkim

Time was there showing me the awesomenesss of  the snow covered mountains of Sikkim at close range: Oh! it was so beautiful, words fail to describe its beauty



Time was my constant companion, when I visited Spain and Portugal

 He looked on as an indulgent father, when I childishly wanted a picture taken on a moving tram

Time too seemed to be wonder struck to see the Golden Gate Bridge still standing tall and still strong and beautiful

Time was there to see my daughter get married to a nice man, and when tears of happiness come flowing from my eyes he is there to wipe my tears, or sometimes shedding tears of joy with me, thereby giving me company.

 He marveled along with me at the most beautiful places visited by me as if he was seeing it for the first time

Time reminded me, the lines of Rumi read somewhere: not to forget that the earth delights to feel my  bare feet and the wind longs to play with my hair...

He consoled me when I really missed the people I loved the most
He was there when I was terribly sick, all the time pushing me gently to get well and strong.

I am grateful to him for my very existence in this world, finding new things to admire and capture them in my camera, for I no longer take sunrise, sunset, the wonderful clouds, the flowers, and the people surrounding me for granted. I am eternally grateful to Time for always leading me in the right direction.


Well, for me Time has always been a friend, a guide, a mentor, a father all rolled into one.
He has always been there, is always there and would always be there for me.
He is my constant companion, hand in hand we have traveled together, in good times and in bad, never leaving each other's side, even for a second : our bond is strong.
I feel so blessed to have time constantly with me, nurturing me, healing me, encouraging me, changing me, and inspiring me.
Thank you dear time, for I cherish every minute of our togetherness in this great and wonderful journey called Life.



Do you have the same relationship with Time?
I would really love to know .

Our Trip to Sikandra

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A TRIP TO SIKANDRA

Memories of a trip to Sikandra some forty years ago are deeply etched in my mind like an indelible tattoo. I was around 14 years old at that time and we were living in Agra, my parents and my three other siblings.  Holidays from school were spent on short day trips and picnics to various places of interest nearby.  This Sunday it happened to be Sikandra – the final resting place of the grand mughal, Akbar the great.  We hired a Tonga ( a horse driven cart), which was quite common and the carriage of choice in those days. My parents, myself and our very dear friends the Therejas with their 2 kids and Bobby, our 6 month old puppy all piled in to the six seater with baskets full of packed lunches and snacks, and off we went, clip clop to Sikandra.

My mom and myself were not in favor of taking our puppy, but my dad just brushed aside our concerns and said, Bobby will be just fine. I must share with the readers at this point that the two Thereja kids were always up to some mischief, and there was never a dull moment or peace when these brats were around : but being very close friends one had to tolerate them.

We had a fairly enjoyable tonga journey, the weather being  pleasant, the tree lined roads made our trip more beautiful, flowers of variegated colours soothing to the eyes.

We reached Sikandra in good time and enjoyed wandering around the beautiful monument, the mausoleum and tomb of Akbar.   Sightseeing done, we sat down to our picnic lunch under a shady tree, playing with the Bobby and generally having a fun time.  After a while, the senior citizens were found to be happily snoozing, with a cool breeze blowing across the maidan, and we followed suit, with Bobby curled up around my legs.

It was time to get back home, and we all gathered near our Tonga, which was parked on a gradient in that hilly terrain. We arranged all our belongings and reclaimed our respective seats in the Tonga. The little Thereja was sitting in the front seat of the tonga, and the men folk were busy talking with the tonga fellow regarding the trip back.  The restless Thereja boy chose this moment to pulled the Lagan (reins) which the horse understood as a signal to reverse, and it stepped back, plunging us all down the hill at an ever accelerating speed, bumping and jolting uncontrollably with nothing to hold on to except each other.  All of us were flung out of the tonga in one big heap : The Thereja female landed on some thorny bushes , I hit a small outcrop of rock and my mom fell right in the middle, and on top of her rolled the wheels of the carriage and finally the hapless horse came down heavily and lay on my mom's thigh with full force.  Bobby fortunately landed on all fours and terror stricken, ran round and round in circles, yelping to high heaven.

We were all in deep shock as everything happened in a flash : it was so frightening, and for quite some time we lay there dazed not knowing what hit us.

People who witnessed this bizarre scene were shouting, and rushing down to help us. My mom was screaming in mortal agony as the entire weight of the horse was on her thighs, she was already suffering from weak legs due to previous injuries, and now on top of it was this disaster.

The assembled crowd tried to pull the horse from atop my screaming mother but the horse itself was in such a shock it was in no position to budge. With great difficulty, the crowd which had gathered managed to lift the horse and set it aside, and helped my mom get up and carried her up the road.

The tonga was in shambles :  with no alternative mode of transport available in that remote place there was nothing else we could do but pray for divine deliverance.

Meanwhile the tonga fellow, an enterprising soul managed to put back the cart together with help from the onlookers, and also cajoled the hurt and shocked animal to ride again. We all gathered our scattered paraphernalia and climbed on to the tonga rather gingerly.  With dusk falling, it was getting dark very quickly, as we made our way home slowly in utter silence.  We felt sorry for the poor horse, and at the same time were full of admiration for his courage and fortitude to get back to business immediately after such a devastating experience.  We felt like thrashing the little Thereja brat, who escaped unhurt, but it would have been churlish to hold a grudge against such a small child.

Reaching home, my mom was carried up to our abode on the 1st floor and put to bed. Her thighs were all black and blue.  The doctor was called in :  one look at her,  he advised  complete rest for a month, along with pain killers, the versatile Iodex for balm  hot and cold treatment, and of course some TLC.

My mom being a very strong willed and sturdy woman both in mind and body managed to get well after resting for nearly 3 months.  For the rest of her life, my mom suffered off and on with the pain from the injury which would often recur and bother her no end.

That was a nightmare of a trip , none of us can ever forget to this day.

We are grateful to the almighty that no greater tragedy befell us on that day,  and we never fail to thank God for such small mercies.

BTW,  Bobby poor fellow lost one tooth in the melee, and we became ardent fans of Iodex.  The Thereja brat went on to become a brilliant engineer, entrepreneur and inventor of mechanical and electrical doodads which find use in every home today.

Some memories can be nightmares too.

Rama Ananth


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A few cool pictures shot by me

 The sunset drama in Coorg from the famous Raja's Seat

Scenic Talai kaveri

 Our house with the newly laid garden

 Flowers too are from our garden

 Sharmista this picture is specially for you: I found the same urli which broke a few years back

 Flowers from our garden

 Our Spanish Bell

House beautiful:  Sunset viewed from our house

I love the way this picture has come out. It somehow gives the illusion, that there is a sea behind the  barbed wire fencing, and the sunset looks really beautiful, with palm trees swaying to the evening breeze.
Actually the big leaning tree is an old cashew tree. Sometimes photos give a new twist to the real picture, but still I love the way this one has come out. What do you think?

I love to think of nature as having unlimited broadcasting stations, through which God speaks to us every day, every hour and every moment of our lives, if we will only tune in and remain so. George Washington Carver


 There are many things in life that will catch your eye, but only a few will catch your heart: pursue those .

The Zen like Rock Garden

  See how beautifully the white shoots have come up adding their own charm to the garden

 Toffee with her favorite foot ball: I miss her so much

When called to take a picture with me, our Toffee came slowly walking on the tiles: her last few days with us..

 These tiles were specially put for our dog to walk, so that the grass would not get spoiled, and our dog Toffee always used to walk very prettily on those tiles only. And there is the tennis ball she used love playing "Catch, Catch" with us.

 Slow down and enjoy life. It's not only the scenery you miss by going too fast - you also miss the sense of where you are going and why.  Eddie Cantor

Let me know whether you enjoyed seeing these photos, just as much as I enjoyed taking them.

Toffee : our sweetest and most beautiful dog

"She took my heart and ran with it, and I hope she's running still, fast and strong, a piece of my heart bound up with her forever"

Today our Toffee passed away at 9 AM.
She succumbed to a deadly disease called Lymphosarcoma (Cancer). She was six years old, she would have turned 7 in May this year.
Although she was a very happy, fun loving, healthy foot ball playing dog, this disease came all of a sudden, and, maybe for 10 days, she looked like she had beaten this disease, when all of a sudden she was again feeling  very sick. Doctors had not given up on her, they tried everything, but she could not survive,

Our first dog Cookie

No words can ever describe the loss of a dear pet. Dogs are so lovable, and they love you unconditionally, and also makes you want to show the same unconditionally love to everybody ( but unfortunately we are not able to).
Two dogs came into our lives and showered us with their love.
Our first dog Cookie left us when she was just 3 and half years old, and then came Toffee, who showered us with so much love for almost 7 years, and now she has also left us.
I must say, both our dogs left without too much  suffering, for their end came very suddenly. We are grateful for that. 
I am sure they too had a great time with us.
 Thank you Cookie and thank you Toffee, for bringing so much happiness and love into our lives.
This is for Cookie and Toffee:


The Rainbow Bridge

Our Dog Toffee

Just this side of Heaven is a place called the Rainbow Bridge.
When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge. There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together. There is plenty of food and water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable. All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor; those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by.

The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing: they miss someone very special to them who had to be left behind.

"There is no psychiatrist in the world like a puppy licking your face."

They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. The bright eyes are intent; the eager body quivers. Suddenly she begins to break away from the group, flying over the green grass, her legs carrying her faster and faster. YOU have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart.

Then you cross Rainbow Bridge together. . .

 

Away from Blogging: here I am at it again...

The reason I could not blog was various:
 Our dog fell very ill all of sudden, she would not eat anything, she was just lying around and had become very quiet. We consulted the Vet., he checked and said, it was just some digestion problem, she would become better in a few days, he gave her some injection and some tablets and tonic.
However things started becoming bad to worse: the doctor too,  got worried as she developed all kinds of lumps in her throat, her legs and her stomach, and she was not eating/ drinking anything, except water.
He took some tests, for he suspected cancer: we really thought she was going to die any time. But the reports came negative: that was good news indeed!
But, still according to the Vet, she had lot of complications, and,  she had to be taken everyday to the clinic to be given drips, and injections, she really looked very sad as if she had given up, she was resting all the time. She had to be force fed, it was very difficult. It took around 1 month for her to come back being her old self. She still could not walk freely as before because of the lumps, slowly the lumps got dissolved, through medicines, her voice came back rather feebly , and she started showing interest in eating.
It is amazing how from literally being  on the death bed she has somehow recovered.
Now almost after 10 days she has got back to looking her normal self, walking better, eyes shining with health, she has to put on some weight which she had lost during her illness: she is definitely on her road to recovery, and she is being really pampered by all of us.
 She had Jaundice, liver problem, kidney problem, and other related problems and complications. 
I somehow could relate to her as a patient: for many years ago I too suffered from Malaria, which left me in the same state  that she was.
We are really grateful to our Watchman, our Maid, our Doctor and Of course God who saw to it along with all  of us who loved her, that she  somehow got over this severe illness. 
At least, we can shout, groan, and make a big fuss about our illness, but our dog just kept quiet, not being able to express its discomfort, the pain, the uneasiness: we can learn so much from animals.

                                                     Toffee  with our son and daughter

Everybody was petting / pampering her during a small get together we had : it was not only a celebration of my husband's birthday, it was also a celebration of Toffee's recovery, and she enjoyed every bit of it.


Then a very dear friend from Norway, Shanthi came,  and stayed with us for a night as promised by her. We had so much fun chatting away till midnight. I had come to know her through blogging. Next morning she was dropped back to her hotel by Ananth.
Our son came the same night from Ann Arbor Michigan for 3 weeks. Our daughter and her husband too came for 3 days for Ananth's birthday. We had a whole gang of uncles and aunts, cousins who had all come from various places to attend the get together at our place to wish him.
I, who always have Time, as my blog's title suggests, found time literally slipping away, for this time, I have not even really spent time with our son, who would be leaving on the 22nd of this month.

As they say, "all good things must come to an end". I leave you with some pictures:

                                        Our daughter and her husband Ram

Bought this beautiful Tussar silk saree for another blogger friend Linhy, who lives in Chicago, would be sending it with our son.  Isn't it pretty?