Unwelcome visitors

Before my retirement we were staying in Govt. accommodation. After I retired we shifted to our own house , which we constructed with  great  fervour and  enthusiasm. At that time it was a developing colony. There were very few houses. Construction  activity for several houses was in progress.  After we shifted we were told that at night many unwelcome intruders  had a tendency to visit the households. We too had some nocturnal visits. The very first day after shifting, the music system from my son's car  became the casualty. The next day, accompanied  by  the guardian  of law(police man) the thief came to our house.  We were asked to  recognise our music system from more than a dozen  music systems. The thief had confessed his guilt and  directed  the police personal to all the houses , which he had visited. Perhaps he was a newcomer to the job and was not aware of the tricks of the trade. To cut the long story short, we got back our music system after paying a couple of visits to the court.My son even told the judge that he did not want his music system if he was made to visit the court again.

                              The next visitor came after a month. At midnight my grand daughters  went to the kitchen to take water. They  noticed that a man was sitting on the window sill of the room adjacent to the kitchen. He had lit a candle and was trying to cut the wire  mesh of the window.  The girls  screamed and ran back to their room. The thief must have become out of his wits and disappeared.
                 There was another visit by the robbers. This time they managed to enter the house. They cut open the wire mesh and removed the screws  from the iron grills and entered the Drawing/cum Dining room. This visit was during Diwali  festival. Perhaps the intruders tried to open other rooms , but all bedrooms were bolted from inside and their efforts failed. In the Dining room they found sweets, dry fruits and chocolates and fruits. They sat comfortably on the sofa sets and finished all the eatables! Morning when we got up we were shocked to see the whole area full  of nut shells, empty sweet boxes , peals of bananas and oranges spread all over the floor. Ha,ha ha.It was serious but we all had a heart laugh.
  One more incident and I will be done with. After all these attempts of  robbery we decided to install a security alarm. With all fanfare the security system was installed. The very first  night  the alarm started at  about 1 a.m. All of us got up with a start. We were scared. My son and daughter-in-law  bravely opened the door.There was nothing. we were puzzled. The next night and every night that followed the alarm would go ting ting,ting,ting.  We did not know what to do. Some nights it would ring three or four times. The mystery was soon solved. My children had gone out for a party. When they came home late, they were still on the road, when the alarm started.  Actually its sensor was too sensitive. Any vehicle crossing in front of the house triggered the alarm. The next morning we got it dismantled. Good riddance. We all heaved a sigh of relief!
  We then bought a cute little Labrador puppy and got rid of the nuisance. By this time the colony was fully developed and became quite safe. 

Tring tring the phone rang.

A  telephone  was a luxury in olden days.Many people could not afford to have a telephone connection . These days a telephone is a necessity.  With the advent of mobile phones the land line phones  have taken the status of great grand parents. It is there in every house but  lying in a corner of a room they, perhaps enjoy their days of past  glory. In our house every one has a mobile phone. The land line is hardly used It is there because   internet connection is through the land line.
 Last week we had gone out for  a marriage ceremony. We reached home late and went to bed at about  1'0 clock. It was 3 a.m. All of us were in deep sleep!! Suddenly the sound 'tring,tring' started. My husband got up with a jolt,"What is the sound?" By then the ringing had stopped. My children heard the commotion and came out from their  room."What happened Papa? Why are you in panic? Are you all right?"  A barrage of questions started. Before I could  say something, tring tring, the phone rang again. My son murmured,'Who can it be at this unholy hour?"I noticed he   took the receiver hesitatingly.The expression on his face was of suspense. The next moment we heard him saying , "No, no. Wrong number, this is not  the Police Station." All of us were rolling in laughter! 

This post is a part of Write Over the Weekend, an initiative for Indian Bloggers by BlogAdda

A memorable road Trip

A journey by road is always thrilling, exciting and enjoyable. We are our own masters. We can select the route and time according to our convenience.We are not bound by any fixed time of travelling as by air or rail. We can stop anywhere en route and laugh, sing or or exchange  seats at will. All this is possible because we are not surrounded by strangers.
                 Last Summer vacations we decided to visit Narendra Nagar, in Uttarakhand. It is about fifteen kilometres from Rishikesh. Situated  in the mountains it is a  very quiet and peaceful  resort. Far from the madding crowd, it is a famous destination for Spa.  Our family of six, my hubby, son, daughter-in-law, two little grand daughters and myself  started from Delhi at about 8 'o clock in the morning. It was a cloudy and pleasant morning. Soon after we started, my grand daughter remembered that it was my nephew's birthday . We dialled his number and all six of us  started singing 'Happy birthday to you' at the pitch of our voice. It was great fun.  We had not taken breakfast and  carried some nick knacks. Every one started feeling hungry. We started with roasted  shakkerkandi(sweet potatoes)At home no one even touches shakkarkandi, but that day  everyone enjoyed eating it with great enthusiasm.  Hardly fifteen minutes passed and  we all felt like munching, so we ate  spring rolls, which were prepared early morning.  My son stopped the car and we had some hot coffee . The kids took their favourite Thums Up. The weather was unusually pleasant. We took some photos.
         

                             A cloudy morning view.


 My son announced that he would not stop the car till we reach Moorthal , a resort .It was 1'o clock when we reached Moorthal. It was extremely crowded. We bought some hot Pakoras and proceeded.  The girls were  now in a mood to recite poems.  Once they start, they become enthusiastic. We were enjoying and clapping. 
             We reached Rishikesh at about 4 pm. The drive from Rishikesh to Narendra Nagar is  very exciting.  It started raining. Moving up hill in rain was  an amazing experience. The car was moving quite slowly  and we were enjoying the beauty of the mountains. We drove for 45 minutes before we reached Narendra Nagar.  We reached Ananda Spa. It is a magnificent hotel.The PRO of the Hotel accompanied us to the Palace  Annexe, where three rooms were booked for us.  This small town  was the residence of Maharaja Narendra Shah of Tehri Garhwal  who shifted his capital to this picturesque  place. Ananda Hotel was the palace of the Maharaja.  The Palace annexe was added  for the special guests  of the Maharaja, who included the late Smt Indira Gandhi, Sh Lal Bahadur Shastri, Prime Ministers of India and Lord Mountbatten
  The rooms were exquisite, spacious and regal.A  photo   given below shows  the scenic beauty of the place.
   

    This is a view of the Himalayas from the Ananda Hotel

 This is a view of the Hotel Ananda where we spent the evening.
 The next day we went to Rishikesh for  the famous Rafting. The children enjoyed  rafting. Truly speaking I was very much scared.

       This is a view of the Rafting site. The water splashing high up  was enjoyable for the children.
                             
                                           
                                 A view of the Arti .

The whole day we spent in Rishikesh. In the evening we saw the Arti,  which  was  a treat for the eyes. We returned to Narendra Nagar in the evening. All of us had a special body massage, which we liked very much.I had never experienced such a soul stirring massage. The whole body felt totally relaxed!
 The next day morning we had a round of the town. After lunch we we started back  for Delhi. It was a memorable journey by road.







 Photos courtesy google.    
 

A Naughty Bat !!

                                                                                               Today  early morning my grand daughter, R, who is  studying in USA called.   She sounded very excited . I could feel that she was terrified , because her speech was not very clear. I kept my fingers crossed.Excitedly she said,  " Dadi , last night a bat entered my room."
I guess everyone will be scared of this frightful, horrible and dreadful  creature. Normally we do not encounter a bat, because it  remains in the open or in old dilapidated  buildings, which we see in  horror movies.It shuns residential  homes.How did it manage to fly inside the room?Poor child, how shocked she would have been.!!She said that she was studying, when she saw a shadow of  'something' flying  in the adjoining living room.  Even before she went out, the unwelcome visitor intruded into her  room. She shrieked and ran out of the room. She is sharing a three bedroom flat with two other friends. One girl was not at home and the other one was asleep. She got up when she heard the commotion.  They called the Animal   Control team, but they did not come. Both of them tried to drive away the bat but it started playing hide and seek with them.  Both of them were  scared. After troubling them  the creature  suddenly became invisible. Perhaps it escaped  through the window. They are still wondering  which route did it  take to leave the house.The mystery of the  invisible bat remains unsolved!













Photo courtesy google









                                                  

Shadow of your smile

My  Mother was a very affectionate lady. Every one who came in contact with her was impressed by her pleasant demeanour and personality.  She was very spiritual, virtuous and learned. She was respected by all friends and  relatives. She was a very affectionate mom, but a strict disciplinarian. It is because of her  control that her children  are very well placed. Even though not highly educated, she moved comfortably in high society.She went to a club and played Rummy every evening. She was cheerful.She is no more but the shadow of her smile is deeply etched in my mind.




Prompted by  Suzy Que's prompt 'shadow of your smile?'  Write Tribe  #2  100 words on Saturday..

Haiku Heights 266 Time

                                                                                                 
        We will be celebrating our 54th anniversary this year. Time has just flown away !!                                                                                      

                                                   

                                                            Fifty four years !                                                
                               blissful  in each other's heart

                                  unaware day and night.


Prompted by Leo's Haiku Heights  # 266  Time

Haiku# 265 Squeeze

                                                       School bus moves 
                                pity the  kids squeezed in
                                       like guinea pigs.


Prompted by Leo's Haiku Heights  #265 Squeeze

Rain Haiku

Haiku   Rain
                     dark  night clouds
                roaring, thumping,deafening, scary
                      kids  behind sheets.







Written in response to Ruchira's Haiku  for Write Tribe

The end of an era.

India will witness a historical  metamorphosis from  15 th July  2013. It will  be a testimony  to  the end of a  one hundred and fifty year  old  practise of sending  a telegram. The  end of this once very popular service, which started in  the year 1850,  will become  a reality due to   the modern prevalence of SMS, Email etc. The death knell was sounded in the year 1991,with the advent  and consequent  popularity of Internet. At the peak of its  prevalence,the telegraph boy was a  very important  visitor in villages, small towns and also metropolis. The telegram  brought welcome messages like birth in a family, results of the children and deaths in the family. Whereas people used to dread a midnight call of the telegraph boys, fearing communication of a  news of death, they hailed him when the same person brought news of  births ,weddings, appointments etc. 
 In  many countries the telegram has been wiped out. India and a few other countries were  left . India is also joining the countries where telegraph service has already become extinct. I read in the Newspaper that an affluent father has sent a telegram to his daughter, merely to keep it as a momento for the future off springs. It is amusing that such a popular service is  being wiped out by the  all mighty Sms's Emails internet  and super fast methods of communication Might is right!! Hence the mightier one is progressing leaving behind the frail  and haggard one. It will now exist in books of History. As we say "change is law of nature''. Only the fittest will survive! Bye telegrams.

Write Tribe contest no. 1 A trip to Jaipur

Last year we went to Jaipur. We were two families.We decided that instead of taking two cars we should hire  a  mini bus. Were twelve in all. We left Delhi on Friday at about 10.30 in the morning. The highway from Delhi to Jaipur is excellent, so travelling by road is a pleasure.It was the month of October . The weather was very pleasant. After we crossed the toll bridge the tyre of the bus got punctured. The Driver stopped the bus and took out the stepney . He started  waving to passers by for help.Two men riding a bicycle stopped. As luck would have it they were mechanics, working in a nearby  petrol pump. They changed the tyre and we moved.  We were carrying some snacks ,fruits and  some knick knacks. It was my  sister, Shashi's  responsibility  to organise the  snacks.  My  son Deepak started ,"Masi,we are hungry". All the other children started singing in a chorus, ' we are hungry, we are hungry'. She opened a packet full of namkins . Hunger is infectious. Every body demanded some thing to eat. The namkin packets were over in no time. Now started a music session. It started with two children and reached its peak  by involving everybody.  Every one was  singing wildly at the pitch of their voice. Hindi songs, English pop,Punjabi folk, and  urdu kawallies. Every one felt thirsty and  had  all sorts of juices, colas and Chach.  I saw some elders and children yawning and dozing off. We reached 'Midway," a resort. We all got down. We went inside from the lobby to a  small hall. Our attention was driven to a calendar hanging near the entrance. All of us burst into uncontrolled laughter. The calender was of the year 2009,   only three years old. We had our lunch, freshened up and started again. We told the Driver not to stop anywhere en route. It was already 3.30 and we had reached only midway. After this point the bus was fast. We crossed the Jaipur fort but did not get down. It was about 7'0 clock when we reached RamBagh Palace , a hotel ,where we had booked four rooms.  In the front garden a party was going on. There was a Mehandi wali in one corner and a bangle seller in the other corner. The  whole place looked like a fairy land. We were guided to our rooms. The rooms were neat and tidy, with sparkling lamps and a beautiful chandelier.  On one side there was a TV and a telephone and  on the other side there was an artistic writing table.  My daughter, who is a very curious  to examine every thing, found  several picture postcards of the places of tourist's interest in Jaipur and nearby places. She also found coins of ancient India in the drawer. She was very excited. On the wall there were beautiful hand painted photographs. All of us were tired.We had early dinner and slept. 
We stayed there for three days.We saw all the beautiful spots of Jaipur, did lot of shopping  and returned to Delhi on the third day.





My entry for the Write Tribe Contest  no.1

Haiku Heights # 262 Sand

                                                               
After my retirement, I had written a book Reverse Gear,; going back into my past in Reverse Gear. This is a  photograph of the cover page of the book.





                                                                 

         
                                                                     

                                      On sands of time
                                I drove Reverse Gear
                                 leaving imprints forever.







 





prompted by   Leo's Haiku Heights # 262 Sand.

100 words on Saturday Idli Day!

Every Sunday we have Idli for Breakfast. Children  want only  Idli. If there is  something else,  there is  great pandemonium. I  ensure that Idli paste is available for Sunday. One  Saturday we had some guests . We served them Dosas. Next day  there was no paste so omelette  and bread was made for breakfast. "Why no Idli?' " I am not hungry'',  "I don't want breakfast."Children left the room. Only I and  my DIL  were left. We did not know whether to laugh or brood. But we got a lesson. Sunday has to be Idli Day! We want our Treasure Intact.
                            
In response to  prompt ,100 words on Saturday.introduced by Every Day Gyaan.

A grandma speaks

This an article which I had posted for Parentous.com in the month of  May 2013

This is a scene from the sitting room of a  nuclear family.

The mother enters the room. Rahul , her three year old son is watching TV, which is tuned on  full volume.

Mother: “Rahul Sunny get up. Come and take bath.”

Rahul: Mamma please. I will close the TV in five minutes.”

Mother comes again after fifteen minutes.

Mother,” Rahul you are still here watching TV. I am switching it off.” The TV is switched off.  Now starts the pandemonium. Rahul starts throwing tantrums, shrieking loudly, goes out of control and starts hitting his Mother.  The Lady seems to have no other option; again the TV is switched on. Within seconds, the child goes and sits in front of the “idiot box”, as if nothing has happened. I was a witness to this episode.

I have observed that over the years parental control has considerably decreased. The only reason, which I feel is that there are smaller families with only one or two children, who tend to be the ‘darlings’ of   their Mom and Dad.  Whatever may be the reason, every parent wishes a happy and successful future for the child.

 Sitting in front of the television during the major part of the day affects the mental as well as the physical growth of the child. Many children aged two or three years old keep watching   cartoons to which they become addicted.  I have seen children who do not even understand the language enjoying   every minute of such cartoons. In many houses TV   is always on full volume. It is of utmost importance that the parents fix a time for viewing TV or even playing video games. The children must have physical and mental exercises. Through outdoor activities the children develop better reflexes, learn the basics of give and take, cooperating with others. Excessive use of TV and computers is taking away the joys that we, as children, experienced because these gizmos were not there to divert us.

Outdoor activity provides children opportunities to scrutinize, experiment, discover, shout, sing, dance with joy, fight and reunite with friends of their own age group. Swami Vivekananda, a renowned saint, philosopher and a spiritual leader of India, whose 150^th birth anniversary was celebrated recently, rightly and wisely observed that leaders are made on the play fields rather than in class rooms.

 Children who are encouraged to play instead of watching TV or Computers are healthier, develop self esteem and a spirit of comraderie. Medical and health research   personals have   emphatically advocated that to avoid life style induced diseases, it is necessary that right from child hood the children must be exposed to outdoor activities. It is essential not  to have a sedantry life style right from a very young age. Of late   a new trend has been noticed. While sitting in front of TV or internet, children keep munching fast food, which is readily available everywhere and delivered at home. This uncontrolled eating of undesirable food leads to obesity in children. This life style is a matter of concern for health researchers. According to a survey conducted in metropolitan cities the   percentage of obesity in children has considerably increased. I quote below an extract  from The Times of India  dated March15,2013 an article titled  ‘Too much Tv can give your kid cancer’------- the increasing hours of watching TV, playing computer games or surfing the internet could put them at a much higher risk of getting cancer in adult life, experts have warned . Doctors fear that long spells of inactivity while glued to a screen may lead to childhood obesity and the associated health dangers, and now they are calling on parents to restrict the amount of time kids watch telly……..’

 Another serious   effect   of indulging in TV by continuing to sit in the position or lie down to watch TV affects the posture of the children. A  Physiotherapist   friend told me the other day that a large  number  of  young  children visit  Hospitals  for treatment of  spondylitis, which is caused by incorrect posture.

Some parents may say there is no open space near their residence. Generally in all group housing societies open space is available. The idea is that the children must be exposed to fresh air. They may take some exercises   which are essential for the nourishment for the body and   the mind.  An old adage ‘all work and no play makes  Jack a dull boy’ is correct for all times. However if there is no open space  the  child must not be  allowed to sit   in front of TV for long hours. Several indoor games are there  in the market. The aim should be that the child has some   diversion to  enable  him/her  to develop his/her   faculties of the body, mind and soul.

 

Haiku Heights # 261 'fingerprints'

                                                                       Romeo climbed up
                                            entered wrong  room, arrested,
                                               lamenting behind bars.








 

 Prompted by Haiku Heights #261  'fingerprints'
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