Write tribe Wednesday prompt # 7 The smallest things

In my journey of of life I have witnessed many ups and downs. Good things make me happy.At the same time I don't brood over incidents which are not favourable because I know it will pass. There are many occasions when I feel depressed, but it does not last long.  In every one's  life such moments come when you feel elated   for no particular reason; when even insignificant things become memorable and leave an everlasting impact .
                    In India we have so many people who work in our houses doing every thing from cooking, washing utensils,washing our clothes and ironing.them. They are there to sweep the house arrange our beds, clean our cars  etc.. In fact every job from  A to Z is performed by them. We hear from relatives and friends settled in many other countries that no help is available to undertake domestic  responsibilities. It is due to  poverty they are compelled to perform even menial jobs. In our house  also we are fortunate that we have   people  to work for us.  It is our responsibility  to be thankful to them We have never treated them as menials. In times of their need   we are always supportive to them.This is  perhaps the reason that they respect us. I don't remember that any servant left our house due to any differences or misunderstanding. 
 We celebrated our golden jubilee  of married life four years ago.  We gave  gifts to all the servants  a day or two before the actual date. On the morning of the that day,I noticed  some whispering going on. We could not decipher what was happening. I told my husband that they may ask for a raise in their salary. As usual we sat for breakfast. We were in for a surprise! Before  breakfast was served,  all six of them entered smiling , wished us happy anniversary and presented a bouquet of flowers to me I was  very much moved. It mattered  so much for us. This gesture moved me. Sometimes smallest  things take up the most  room in ones heart. This is what precisely happened to me. This incident made so much room in my heart that I can never forget!!






Prompted by Corinne Rodrigues Write Tribe Promt # 7 The smallest things.

Haiku Heights Prompt # 260 Firefly

                                                     The innocent  firefly
                                  searching a candle light
                                       unaware of doom!!


Prompted by Leo's Haiku Heights Prompt # 260  Firefly

Oof!! too much rain!!

After the sultry , oppressive and sweltering Summer we always welcome the rains. Rainy season brings relief and energises  our spirits. The monotony of hot summer  dust storms is broken which is very comforting. This year the rains came much ahead of the normal Meteorological  Department  prediction .  Even though for the ordinary humans, it was a deliverance from the scorching heat, it was was dooms day for several thousands  and thousands  of people!! The fury unleashed by  the rains in Uttarakhand was  so severe that  thousands of people became the victims of  this violent turbulation unleashed by  floods triggered by unprecedented and calamitous  rains of such a vast scale never witnessed before.(After all how much rain is good enough? Is there no limit?)According to estimates given by various Newspapers more than  two thousand villages have been partially or completely wiped out in Rudraprayag, Chomili and Uttarkashi . The Government and  other agencies have formed disaster management committees  for rescuing the people and for providing food, medicines and other basic necessities for the people trapped in various pockets. They are dropping  items of basic requirements for the the stranded ones.
    The people who have managed to come back are relating heart rending  stories through which they have managed to reach back. with fear and trauma writ large on their faces. Their tales of woe  will even melt a stone. I would like to share a real incident experienced by a family known to us. They had reached Kedarnath before the havoc struck. They were staying in a hotel. A night before the sordid  event , they were  chatting and enjoying  after dinner. Suddenly one of them felt as if there was a tremor. At first they all laughed it away but when he insisted that he actually felt the room  shaking, they  went out of the room. They were seven of them. (Husband, wife, their three children ,their father and his sister) All seven of them went and sat on the  top of a hill just near the hotel. All of them were in a merry making mood.  Suddenly  there was a deafening thunder and lightning. Very heavy rain started lashing the mountains .The Man who was narrating this  incident suddenly felt choked  when he was describing  what they saw the next moment . The whole hotel building  from where they had come out only a few minutes before collapsed like a   pack of cards. Within seconds they saw that the car parking area  turned into a  vast open sea of  gushing flood.None of the  persons who were in the hotel  survived, including their cars and drivers! The whole night they remained there . Flabbergasted, shocked ,despaired , nonplussed and confused  they spent the night on that hill top. Next morning they found vast areas  wiped out by  avalanches and deluges. Horror struck they wondered what was happening. What was it, a delusion or an illusion!!No pavement or road was visible. They could not even make out from which direction they had come from.  They sighted a dog and started moving behind  it. At least two to three days they walked to no where.  They saw a a lonely horse eating leaves from a tree. They  presumed that the leaves were not poisonous and ate those leaves.  The old man fainted . He was a diabetic and due to hunger  he collapsed.  The muddy water  mixed with the leaves rubbed on the stony mountain was given to him three or four times, before he regained consciousness. After moving ahead some distance they saw a helicopter. It was a God send. They  screamed and waved towards the helicopter., which dropped packets of biscuits with a map showing the directions  of the escape route!! After walking for another long hours they reached a road.From the road they were picked up by an army jeep , which left them at the station. This man, is a millionaire, a timber merchant, owner of timber estates in India and abroad. They are all in a hospital recovering from the traumatic conditions  which they experienced in the last few days. After hearing  the mishaps of this family, I could not sleep last night. This true incident seems to be a fictional story. Imagine how many more people would have  suffered such shocks or even worse !!
 We must contribute  our might to  the  relief, rehabilitation and  reconstruction  of  millions  of those who are the victims of this disastrous natural calamity.

Haiku Heights # 259 Cresando

                   The  school is out  
                                  ocean of  merry  kids 
                            gushing out joyfully
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   


 
                                                                                                                                    
                                                                     

                                                         
                                                   
                                                  
                                                   Test match ends
                                       the winners in glee, resulting
                                          a cresendo  of sounds  




 Prompted by Leo's Haiku Heights  # cresendo     Pics:courtesy Google
                                                                       
                                                          
                                                                     

Things I Learnt from my Father.

A Father's role in the development of the child is very important.It is the Father who gives  economic and social stability  to the house.  A father inculcates in the child the spirit of  cooperation  with others outside the home. Every Father uplifts  the emotional  relations  of the children at home and in the society. I am indebted to my Father for what I am today. Due to the impact of his personality I acquired  good   inter personal relations  and learnt how  to  spread happlness and contentment .

1. My Father was  a disciplinarian.  He ensured that all the children (we are five brothers and sisters) must have bath before taking breakfast. Right from childhood we were taught table manners. The most important  habit which was  inculcated  in his children was to eat every thing that was cooked. There was no question of saying ,"I  don't like .........." and also not to leave any leftovers in the plate.

2. He instilled  in me a spirit of self confidence.  Whenever guests came home  I and my siblings were told to greet them  and be seated  with the elders for sometime and answer  whatever the  outsiders asked.

3. He ensured that  the whole family should have their meals together . There is a saying ' the family that eats together, stays together'.

4.He  saw to it that  his children never wasted money. He was highly placed  and ensured that we must  spend judiciously. 

5.He encouraged his children to read lot of books.

6.He  wanted his children never to insult others  but  to  speak politely.

7. He was very particular that all his children got good education. I and my siblings  had our early education in Convent schools. Once when he was transferred to a  place where good  schooling facilities were not available, he sent us to a boarding School.

8. Those were pre Independence days. Very few people sent girls  to college for higher education. He encouraged us to study.  It was due  to  his guidance  that I  became a Post graduate and also did B.Ed. 

9. He inspired me to learn driving a  car, which was very rare for  girls those days.

10.  Inspite of the fact that he was holding a very high  position, he motivated me to take up a job.

11. He was a very liberal person. When I   expressed that I wanted to marry a boy  from Kerala(my parents were Punjabi) he did not object. He just wanted to meet the boy and speak to him. After a meeting with him, my Father was impressed and gave his consent. His decisions were always fair. 

12. He  taught us to have Faith in God  and always be thankful to Him for His mercies!!

I can proudly say that I am a good wife , and a good homemaker , and a good administrator (before retirement) due to values  ingrained in me by my Father. Papa ji Thank you. 
May his soul rest in peace. 

Note this post was written last week  for Father's day, but could not be posted. I am always indebted to my Papa for  all the   love and blessings he gave to his children.

The cutest thing I have ever seen

This video was sent to me by a friend. I am sharing it with friends. Kindly see,  kindly share and kindly  think about it.

Happy Baby Elephant

This is one of the cutest things I have ever seen.

Haiku Heights # 258 Lunch

                                                     Lunch and munch
                                   taste with punch of chillies
                                    ah for the tongue.

                                      Lunch time woes    
                                 kids like  none,pizza burger
                                     Make them smile

                              Prompted by Leo's   Haiku Heights #258 - Lunch

                                                          

Wednsday write tribe prompt # 6There is always hope!!

   

                                           Pic.courtesy   MorgueFile (http://mrg.bz/LsH3I1).

Mr. and Mrs. Puri were a happy go lucky  couple. They were married  for the past twenty years. Mr. Puri was a flourishing Business man and his better half, Meera was a Lecturer in a local college. Their two  sons were very affectionate, doting and loving . They literally worshiped their parents. Ramesh, the elder son, was studying in second year of an  Engineering  College and the second son Ritesh, in  XI  class. Both the boys were hard working, persevering and assiduous  students. They were  pious,  devout and god fearing.  Every evening Meera would light a lamp and  they bowed  their head in reverence  in front of God.  Their neighbours were envious of their prosperity, mutual love  and consideration for each other. The wheel of fortune was moving favourably  for their  prosperity and well being.


15th August!! it was Independence day and also Ritesh's 18th  birthday. He will be a major. Every one in the family was excited. Meera had planned a party, like every year, but Ritesh wanted to have celebration in the school hostel with  friends. His Father was opposed to the idea but Meera pleaded with him to agree to  the child's request. His outings  increased. The parents noted that there was a change in his behaviour. He liked to  be aloof and got irritated when questioned.He failed in all subjects in  the Unit test.  The parents were baffled. They met his class teacher.She told them  that she had  also noticed that  Ritesh was not his former self. He was not attentive in the class and missed classes frequently. She called the monitor of the class. What he said shocked the parents and also the teacher. He told them that Ritesh had developed friendship with the ruffians of the class and  was addicted to drugs. They went home dejected. They  did not expect that their son would be addicted to drugs. Mr. Puri remembered that  one of his friend's brother is a counsellor. He contacted him. Mr Nair, the counsellor  advised them to send Ritesh to a Rehabilitation centre. Mr. Puri was also  facing losses in his business. And now he was burdened with his son's  problem.Ritesh looked haggard and frail. Mr Puri was not his usual happy-go- lucky person. He was now a man in despair. Meera gathered strength. She admitted Ritesh in the Rehabilitation centre. It appeared that time stood still. The next six months  dragged with no good news.  Slowly Mr. Puri was regaining his business. Meera was happy for her husband. Her heart , pining for Ritesh was always  dejected . 

One morning Mr. Puri's  mobile phone woke them  up. He  took the phone  reluctantly. It was Ritesh on the other side.He felt nervous and handed over the phone to Meera. Her whole being was transformed . All her hopes aroused. She heard Ritesh saying,"Ma, I am missing you,Come and take me".  Meera was dancing with ecstasy,exultation and gratification!!! 

The good old days were here again. 
                

 Prompted by Corinne Rodrigues Wednesday write Tribe  # 6.

This is a fiction.

haiku heights # 257 Enigma

                                                     Tiptoes she comes
                                           touching my heart  and soul
                                                     it's a waterfall.



                                                 Dreamy ,drooping eyes,
                                            thumping heart  feels her breath
                                                   Ah,but a dream .

Prompted by Leo's Haiku Heights #257 - Enigma

                                                   



                                                  

Haiku heights ......Ripples # 256

                                                                        
 

          Golden ripples flowing
    like waves of water, wonders
         how came by.
                                                                                     
                                                                                               
                                                                                                  



                          Stealing his heart
               Ripples of wondrous joy,hidden 
                          smile yet  so dear..

Prompted by  Haiku Heights #256 - Ripples

Pic Courtesy Google

7x7x7x7

This is in response to  the prompt 7x7x7x7x7

The seventh book on my  bookshelf  is 'Divine Experiences' written by K. R. Vaidyathan.  It is a  publication of Bhartiya Vidya Bhawan., New Delhi. 
 On page  seven the words in the seventh line  are "As per Doctor's advice we asked our children to come back" .
            

   Shobha was ill for the last several years.
  During summer holidays her grandchildren  came and stayed with her.
  The next day, after they left, she was admitted to a Hospital in an unconscious state.
  As per Doctor's advice we asked our children to come back.
  The children saw their  grandma in the ICU, frail and feeble.
  Her eyes  gleamed, with  a faint smile on her face.
  The Doctor said ," The worst is over. Now she will live". 


                                        


 

Inspired by Corinne Rodrigues prompt 7x7x7x7

Haiku # 255 Chivallry

                                                 Chivalrous   man  picks
                         waiting bride, stunned guests helpless
                                       true love wins.      















      

Prompted by Leo's Haiku Heights #255 - Chivalry

Beautiful eyes # prompt 12

Mannu, a pretty girl  had very sweet eyes.Her family doted on her.One day after school, she was hit by a truck.She was rushed to the hospital, and was declared dead. Her father took a decision   to donate her eyes to  Paru, his daughter-in-law, who was stone blind. After surgery Paru reached home and wanted  to see Mannu. She was  taken to  a portrait of  Mannu. Her husband told her, "here is  Mannu"  She fell down with a shock. Mahesh  consoled her ' Mannu is not dead. She is alive in your eyes. Her sweet eyes will always live.


                                         

100 Words On Saturday 12 Prompt: BEAUTIFUL EYES

                                         

Moral Haiku # 254

                                    
   



                                                  Flourishing  evil 
                                       no contol, action  or punishment
                                                thrives  relentlessly



                                                      Forgot our culture
                                             modesty, manners calm nad kindness
                                                       extinct from society.

         

Prompted byHaiku Heights # 254 Moral

   

Why do I write

 Why do I write, why do I write, Why do I write  is the question which has been   haunting  me for the last two days. I tried to analyse.. I write because I love to write. Right from childhood  I was encouraged  by my parents and teachers to write. One of the reasons  may be that I had a very  good handwriting. . Very often I was asked by the teachers to write on the blackboard. This became a sort of second habit with me.  I remember writing stories, poems and articles for School and College magazines. I was also addicted to reading novels and stories from Hindi as well as English literature. It was my fascination and obsession  for English Literature which provoked me to opt for English  as my subject in M.A. That was the year 1957. Very few girls used to go for higher studies.  After my post graduation I took up a job  as an English  Teacher. As a Teacher my craze for reading and writing got a fillip.  After working as a teacher for six years I got promotions as Principal, Education Officer, Deputy Director of Education and finally Additional Director of Education. I used to write immaculate and flawless notes in the files. 
               Now came my retirement  in 1993. I got several health problems, which crippled me. Today I am on Wheel Chair. It was destiny that from a very active  life ,I was unable to walk even one step.!! Even though physically I was impaired and disabled, my brain  remained active and assiduous. My son got me a computer and hardly after  an hour of  instruting"do this ,do that" he left me to my fate. I read  a few books  on  Computer learning. Whosoever came to our house I Started with my queries. Even my grand daughters would give me inputs (whatever they learnt in school). I started writing in 'Word" some vague stories and poems. One day my son suggested, "Mom why don't you write your autobiography?"The idea got into my head.  I started writing. I wrote more than 60,000 words in three months. My right hand fingers were numb, .I could not type on the keypad. I used a ball pen and with the tip of the pen went on tip, tip, tip. Even for  this write up  my ball pen is substituting my fingers. Needless to say that my children got my autobiography printed. They organised a  a function to release my book. Secretary (Edu)  of Delhi Govt released my book in the year 2011. 
                           Again the perennial question  arose in my mind. What do I write? My grand daughter initiated a Blog for me. She named it 'eccentricgrandmum.blogspot.com' She gave me my ball pen and said ,"Dadi, now you can endlessly pursue your writing". I was a bit hesitant . She inspired me and said that I could write anything This is what blogging is all about.  A cousin brother of mine ,who writes for many blogging sites, encouraged me to register myself in one of the sites.  I did. The rest is History. I write ,write and write. My Computer is  my constant companion . My Husband, who himself is a prolofic writer encourages me in  my endeavour. And comments? If I get comments I am no doubt happy, but if there are no comments ,I tell my self "I did not deserve it" . So I write . My blogging journey  goes on and on!!

Photo Credit: raventhird via Compfight cc This is in  response to WriteTribe prompt and the Thursday bloghop #80 at the Writer’s Post.
 

Haiku # Eccentric

   
                                                 
                                            Me eccentric grandmum
                      coined by sweet  grand daughter
                                   for my blog



                                    Who is'nt eccentric
                    world eccentric ,whimsical outlandish
                                   some time (or) other



Prompted by Haiku heights  # Eccentric

welcoming a daughter in law

In my last post I had written about my Daughter's marriage.Since I am a Punjabi and my husband is a Keralite we follow both North ans South traditions and customs. Whereas we celebrate Diwali, Holi and other festivals we also  celebrate Onam and Vishu in the same spirit and fervour.We relish Paranthas, Paneer, Sarson ka Saag as much as Idli, Dosa, Avial and Eressery with same enthusiasm. We have friends not only from Punjab but also from Kerala. We speak Hindi, English and Malyalam at home.
                           Right  from their childhood we planned that one  of our children should marry  a  Punjabi and the other one a Malyali.Even though when the children grew up we never discussed our plan with them., it was God's will that the Daughter( J ) married a Punjabi (J )and the Son(D) got a wife (K)from Kerala.On one visit we had met K and liked her but bringing her as a DIL never struck us. As it is a belief  'marriages are made in Heaven',we got a proposal  of marriage for our Son  from Kerala  from the same girl's  Father. We were more than happy. Of  course every thing depended on the boy and  the girl.Their opinion mattered the most. The girl came to Delhi with her Father. D and K met  and liked each other. It was decided that marriage ceremony would be performed in Guruvayur Temple, Kerala. 
It was the year 1988. We booked tickets for Trichur. Many of our relatives  also accompanied us.  From Trichur we went to Guruvayur in cars.  A guesthouse had been booked for us. In the evening many of our relatives(my in-laws) arrived.Singing, dancing and merry making, everyone was in a festive  spirit. All men were clad in Mundus in typical malyali style. My brother-in-law, Vishwash Nath, who is a Punjabi to the core wore the Mundu and nothing on top. In a hilarious mood he went on proclaiming that his name was Vishwanathan.
   The Muhuratham was at 9 a.m. the next day.My daughter and niece had brought mehandi from Delhi to apply on K's hand. Both of them went to her room.She was fully decked . Her friends and relatives were apprehensive that her dress was likely to be spoiled.  But these two had their way. Mehandi  looked very beautiful in her  hands. It added radiance to her personality and face. 
All of us assembled in the Mandapam of the Temple. Several couples  were scheduled to marry that day. The Hall was full  of people. There was a rostrum in the centre of the Hall. From this rostrum the couples can have a Darshan of Lord Guruvayoorappan.  The Kerala marriage ceremony takes hardly five minutes to complete, unlike a  Punjabi marriage ceremony. The bride and bride groom have to walk  around a lamp(Vilaku)three times. No mantras  are recited. The groom ties a Tali(A symbol of a married lady) round the brides neck. They exchanged  garlands. The priest told them to pray and take blessings from God! (Tozhu) This turned out to be a funny situation. D did not know Malyalam. He looked blank. The bride whispered in his ears  to pray. 
After the marriage ceremony was over all the guests assembled in a hall of the guest house. Some more rituals were performed. The Hall was tastefully decorated with coconut and banana festoons.(thoranum)  All the relatives gave spoonful of banana mashed in milk to the couple as blessings for a happy wedded life. In the end there was Sadya(feast) consisting of Kerala delicacies.
 Next day we left for Delhi. Before the bride entered the house she was welcomed inside according to traditional customs. We are proud of our DIL. She is like a daughter. She is very lovable and has taken the responsibility  of the whole house. She is a perfectionist. After her arrival the fusion of North and South  is complete. God bless her!
 

From my Kitchen Diary

It has been quite some time that  nothing has come out of my Kitchen Diary.. There was no particular reaon for not writing anything. Due to intense summer some sort of lethargy has taken over.Today I propose to write some recipes using mango as the  main   ingredient.. We have  several varieties of  mangoes available in our country. I feel that this is one fruit which everybody likes to take in some form or the other.First of all I present a recipe for Mango Ice Cream.
  Ingredients:- 
1. Mangoes      3big
2.Sugar             2 tablespoons.
3. Milk              3/4th litre
4.Corn starch    1 tablespoon
5.Fresh cream   250 grams
  Method:-
1. Remove the skin of the mangoes, and cut pieces of  medium size.. A few pieces can be cut small  of  size.
2 .Keep 1/2  litre of milk for boiling.Add the sugar.
3. .In the leftover 1/4 litre  milk add corn starch and stir. 
4  When the milk starts boiling, lower the flame and add the milk in which corn starch is dissolved.
5. Keep stirring  till the milk is slightly thick. Ensure that no lump is formed.
6..Remove from the fire and keep it in the frig  for cooling.(10 to 15 mts).
7. Till the milk cools down, make a puree of  the mango pieces in a blender.
8. Add the fresh cream in the puree
9 Add the cooled milk .
10.Churn lightly for a minute.                                                                   
11.Add the finely cut mango pieces. 
12. Pour the mixture in a bowl, with a lid and keep it in the freezer. 
The Ice Cream will take 2  to 3 hours for setting.

Mango Panna is  a  drink prepared from raw mangoes. It is very cooling. 
Ingredients
1.Raw mangoes                       2
2.Salt                                       1/2 teaspoon
3. Sugar                                    4 teaspoons.                                            
4. Roasted jeera powder       1/4 teaspoon.
5.Mint leaves                           3 or 4
Method:-
Remove the skin of the mangoes.  Cut pieces. Add salt, sugar,jeera powder and mint leaves .Put all the ingredients in a blender. Add 1/2 cup water and prepare juice. Pour the juice in a jug and add 2 glasses  of water  Stir well.
Add  one cube of ice in each glass of Panna..This will make 3 to 4  glasses of Panna.

Aam Papad is a favourite snack of all children. I remember that as children we loved munching aam papad and our parents used to scold us. Their main objection was that it was unhygienic.  We can prepare it at home and  allow the children to enjoy 
Ingredients:-
Mangoes Ripe  4
 Sugar                $ teaspoons.
Salt                    1/2 teaspoons
 Method:-
 Peel the mangoes. Put the mango slices in a Karhai .Add sugar and salt. Cook it for a few minutes .Keep stirring. When  the sugar melts and the pulp is slightly thick, remove from the fire. Take two full plates. Apply some oil on the plates. Pour the Mango paste in two plates. spread the paste evenly  and with a spatula press it well. Keep the plates in the  bright sun for two days. When it dries cut strips  and  place them one over the other. (two or three layers) .
Note: if it  is  cloudy  Aam papad  can be kept in the Microwave for 5 to 6 minutes. Check in between  so that it  is not burnt.




Pics courtesy google

Haiku Heights # 252 Stone

Inspired by the  prompt 'stone'

Who   says   stones

lifeless; Gods  we   worship  in  temples

smile, love  bless.