in coimbatore

It's been a while since I penned here. I am on vacation.As usual, the days spent here in India are so full and satisfactory. There are people everywhere. Just a smile in return for one, then maybe a greeting to another person, then again a few sentences to a closer friend all makes a day more enjoyable. Even small talk is possible at a visit to the nearby shop. Although I'm not an extrovert, I love the atmosphere here, the freedom.

haze

Today the haze has settled down, here in Doha and I could feel the full force of the summer sun once again. Till yesterday, the blue sky over Doha which I had adored and which enchanted me from the moment I landed here, had become invisible. A dusty screen, miles long was the culprit. This dusty atmosphere has become a frequent phenomenon of late.
Even last year the desert wind would blow creating a temperory haze which would settle as instantly. So, what has changed now ?
The met office says that scanty i.e practically nil rain is resposible for this. Maybe ! I strongly feel that this is due to the gigantic scale and pace in which this sleepy country is turning into one of the most happening places in this part of the world. This was mentioned in the papers too & they have used the term 'urbanisation'. So, you can imagine what is exactly taking place here.

45 - 50 degrees

Very little separates Spring & Summer in Doha. As the warmth increases after winter, it is pleasant for a few days. The lingering memory of the cold blends with the slightly warm sunshine. The petunias, marigolds and the other flowers that line the roads, thrive in this combination and the drive through the traffic becomes an enjoyable experience. The colour soothes.
Then suddenly we are taken by surprise at the strength of the desert sun. He bears down hard. Summer makes a hot entry. The flowers start to wilt and so do we. The sun is up at 4.30 and by 6.30 in the morn, it is like noon. The air conditioner softens the harsh effect. If you have to move about in the sun , then it is like being being in a sauna.
Teaching in these conditions is tough. The air conditioner is not strong enough for a motley class. Concentrating becomes tougher for the teacher as well as the students, in the afternoon. I too wait for the 1.30 bell.
Now, it is not the end. There is still the bus ride in the midst of high pitched crowd of about 50 children. They are now full of energy & talking non-stop. Sweat streams from their faces but it does not make them uncomfortable. I frown at the trickle running down my spine. The baked bus cannot be cooled enough for our comfort and so, the children put down the windows. A slight breeze now blows and it forms a refreshing cloak around me. But soon, it turns into hot air. I feel I am in a suffocating sauna. Luckily, I am one of the first to get off and I run to the comfort of home.

my new role

I have donned a new role,that of a teacher in a school. Here is a place where patience is tried and vocal chords are tested . Unfortunately there are no management books on "How to Manage a class of 30 over-excited pre-teens". I'm sure it would benefit many a teacher.

I had this conversation with my 11 year old son :

me, " There are a few children in a class who are 3-4 years older than they should be for that level. It is very difficult to keep them attentive and control them ".

my son," adult education is indeed a tough job ".

link to timeline(india)

Indian History & civilization is ancient. Sadly, we learnt only the Mughal dynasty in detail & a little about the other ancient rulers like Asoka, Maurya's etc. Here is India's Timeline which has been put in a simple ,yet effective manner . I found this easy to understand . To any enthusiast of India's history, here is the link -
http://www.kamat.com/kalranga/timeline/timeline.htm

Mumbai

As a stay at home Mom, I have been lucky to have experienced many memorable moments.
We lived in many a home in different settings.
At my Mumbai home, the feeling was one of claustrophobia. It was a 1 bedroom apartment. To a girl brought up in a spacious home in a quiet Bangalore suburb of Jayanagar, Bombay was itself a culture shock. Apartments were unknown to me and the house on the 4th floor epitomised everything that I had heard Bombay(sorry..Mumbai) stood for. But I found the space that I missed. It was on the terrace of the building. After my work in the morning I would sun myself there. I enjoyed the moments as I looked out to see the grazing fields of the diary farm(Aarey milk colony) adjoining our residential complex. I had never before seen such large black buffaloes. The proximity to these bovine animals had a drawback; abundance of giant mosquitoes. We were saved from them by the light of day. I could even see the small hills surrounding this city on one side.
There was a small lane that would turn into our colony from the Western Express Highway. A few minutes down the lane and we would feel it become cooler and of course it was calm. Today, I know that this lane is no more and there is a four lane road passing through the same area. Maybe the view too has changed for anybone who has the time to go out onto the terrace like me !

I have partially got the hang of blogging now. It is not very difficult even for a reticent person like me. I would love to add many more sections like music, travel etc. I have to still learn to get people into reading my blog,of course if they find it intersting :-) and then get their reactions.

So, anybody out there ? You are free to post your reactions

Yoga Year

A few months ago, the Madhya Pradesh govt. introduced Yoga in the schools. I viewed this as a positive development. In these days of adult diseases among children like obesity, stress, diabetes etc. a healthy start to the day at least in schools was a great idea. Moreover, the whole world has adopted India's ancient way of healthy living. In fact I was surprised to see that America is celebrating 2008 as the "Yoga Year". In Doha, the education council has started a campaign to increase the questioning mentality of its population aptly named 'Ever Wondered'. And, Yoga was the first of its features.So, this form goes past the boundaries of strict religion.

What does India do at this announcement ? As everything today, it created a controversy. And soon this initiative was made optional. The various Chinese & Japanese forms like Karate & currently Tai Chi have been accepted readily in our soceity but something which is indigenous knowledge is being debated on whether all sections of people can practise yoga.

DAWN

How do I select the best
Sunrise I have seen
Classify it in degrees
of pleasure given me ?
Or sing superlatives
new to every morn?

Enchanted I was, one dawn,
At the strips of orange
as coconut trunks and fronds
made him peep at me.

On another, I saw him plainly,
Over the city space
Another day to be,
up, alive and about.

Glowing and fresh he has been
after a twelve hour rest
hazy too sometimes
A night of sleep disturbed.

Perfect circle he is
a border well-defined
smudged face otherwise
fading into, behind.

To the critics-Not a perfect poem,
inconsistent syllables too,
But it is one from the heart
of a sun worshipper true.

cheer leaders expose culture dilemma

The IPL cricket tournament is sure generating more HEAT in the Indian Summer in every sense of the term. Fireworks, Bombshells, International cricketeers and of course cricket itself.

Yesterday, the ministers in Mumbai at last had enough of the blatant body display and spoke their mind to the press. They want this to be stopped. Well, it was to be expected. I was wondering at the delay in this protest.

Even though an ordinary Indian is bombarded with lude and nude dances from films and albums. It must be a different matter for them to see these bosomy, white dancers in flesh !and so much of it ! At every venue,I'm sure the men must be rushing to catch the front row seats.

Can you blame them ? Even today most of India' women are clad from head to toe. Now the spectators can sing the popular song from Guru " Ek Lo , Ek Muft" , the English translation in this context being "Buy Ticket for Cricket and get a freeshow" , loudly.

Now what do our know it all newsreaders do? They are all excited. To them any dissent towards Art, Movies etc in the name of culture is like a personal barb. Yesterday, the NDTV newsreader made this statement after reading this particular news about the cheerleaders, he said "What is Indian Culture ?" in a most sarcastic tone & laugh.
Have these 30+ snobs been imported from some other country ?Why do they make a mockery of anything traditional or ancient or historical? Oh ! they are a global channel and I think the rules for broadcasting are that they have to denounce these and glorify everything modern. Is'nt there a middle path ?
India has gone this far today because of her traditional and cultural strength . I'm sure she will survive the current, brash set of news men/women who are and want to be Global Citizens rather than Indians and are trying to influence the youth in being the same.

Continuing my topic on the construction going on here,
A few days ago,I was standing with my son in front of our building to see him off to school. In front, there is a smalll plot which looks to be the site of another building. Almost all the empty space in front is gone & in place stands blocks of apartments. I am sure a person in one can shake the hands of another through the window.
My son made these hypothecations. He said that if we were in India, the children could have got together to sign a letter to Dr. Abdul Kalam and if he were the president he would have surely responded by constructing parks everywhere for children !
India's former president sure has made an impact on children as a person who could get things done.

View

                                                       The Corniche View from terrace

When I came here 2 yrs ago, a view from the terrace of our 5 storied building was a pleasing one. To the east, there were the beautiful villas spread out with lots of greenery in every compound. Looking even further, I could glimpse stretches of sand with dotted with desert plants.

Today, all this has been obscured by buildings. They are built in such a manner that the only open area is the entrance which also doubles up as the parking lot and that too only for a few cars(the rest have to be parked on the road).People cannot even take a walk around the building. Children ? Well, it does'nt matter to anyone that they have to be cooped up in the house all day. Maybe this is the case of developing cities everywhere.

Luckily, I still have my view to the North East spanning the Corniche`, and the changing colours of the water in the bay. This soothing experience may be taken away as I see a huge trench(for a foundation, obviously) being dug up nearby.

Journeying through life, imagine you are at a traffic signal which has just turned red. You are sure it is not going to change for quite some time. you are waiting and waiting...
Do you sometimes switch off the engine or keep it running.
If you are in the middle lane. Then what ? when the light turns green, where will you be ? To the left , everyone will zip past. And to the right, they will go slowly but surely to their next stop. But where will your lane go ? Or where will you go ?

I feel I am in life's middle lane. As in age, direction and destination. Hence, the title to this blog.

websites for kids

Here are 2 websites which I liked . There are crosswords and other activities for kids.

I had called over a few children from the neighboring buildings and engaged them in various activities during holidays.
I printed some of these pages and would give it to them. They loved the brain teasers ;more so because it was done in a group.

billybear4kids.com
apples4theteacher.com

A NEW FRIEND

Here is a small story I wrote for kids

Madhur, an energetic 7 year old made his way through slush to the little patch of green. Having stamped this path often, he knew it was solid ground there. He had a long fishing pole in one hand and a small bucket of wriggly worms in the other. Madhur carefully tied one to the fishing rod. He wondered why his friends felt ‘Yucky’ at the sight of these cute creatures. Sitting on his haunches, he let down the rod ever so gently into the translucent water. He couldn’t see anything below but knew there was booty in colourful fishes there.

Madhur had never tasted fishes as his mother never cooked any. The fish which he would catch would go into his aquarium collection. As he was wondering what type of fish he would be lucky to get, he felt a little tug on the fishing line. At the same instance, he felt something soft land on his head.

He looked into the water and to his surprise; it was the weirdest green frog he had ever seen. Was it his imagination? Did it smile at him? He shook hard to dislodge it but the creature refused to move. Madhur almost jumped next when Greeny (the name seemed to suit him) dashed his tongue to catch a fly hovering around his head.

Tentatively, Madhur stretched his hand to touch Greeny. He expected it to vanish, but it stayed on. Madhur also liked the feel of Greeny’s soft legs on his head. He looked around and saw that it was twilight. He knew that it would become dark soon. He had to go home now. As if sensing this, Greeny darted away into a nearby bush. Loudly singing a happy song, Madhur gathered his things. He was not sorry for the lost catch; instead, he had made a friend. He knew Greeny would be at this same place on his next visit.

not updating changes&new posts

yesterday, i did a lot of formatting & added new posts. now my blog is the same without any of the changes. it is really frustrating. i tried all the help tips. cleared my temp. internet files. looked up site in another browser. nothing mis working. help !!

SMELLS of the CITY

I wrote this for a website which had given the title 'city smells'. Someone read it & told me they cldnt understand. So, good luck :-) Hope you do!

The sun is just warming up the neighbourhood. Soon, a glint through the leaves of the Neem tree catches my eye. This slowly turns into a mellow ray and, as I am about to glance away, I am bathed in a shower of sunlight. Rays of soothing heat lets off the bitter, medicinal aroma of the leaves.

A slightly cold breeze pushes at my skirt urging me to drift along. ‘I see a lot. Much more than anyone’, breeze tells me. “I am happy with what I can see”, I murmur under my breath. I do not want to go. I stamp my feet against the floor. I feel a shove. I am adrift. He is by my side but it is not reassuring enough.

We fly past the gate and encounter the rotten smell of the previous day strewn around by cats, dogs and bandicoots in search of waste to fill their stomachs. We crinkle our noses and drift some more.

Empty crates are stacked on the road-side. Packets of milk that were in the crates are gone. They were delivered at doors of many a house when still dark. Some leaky packets have left behind a puddle that sent milky ness wafting out to us. We find ourselves smiling for no particular reason. Suddenly, we are pushed by a great gust.

Turning a corner we see a ‘greens’ hawker filling large bags hanging on his bicycle. His mouth is shut but soon he would holler his arrival. The sound would pierce through walls and vibrate in everybody’s ears. We get a refreshing whiff of mint as he lifts a bundle.

Sun’s warmth is evaporating the remaining wetness on the road and we encounter dust coated moisture as it rises. ‘This smell is not unlike rain ‘, I think.

We are carried further in a strong draft of air. Morning is progressing and so also activities. The satisfying warmth in the air is turning into scorching heat. Buses are racing each other to get to the next stop first and hence more customers. Their horns are blaring. Fresh air is slowly giving way to burnt diesel. ‘These monsters can cut ether in two”, I think. Now, we hear brakes being applied and a bus stopping with reluctance. We move towards the stationary bus. Speed, bus, and brakes give a name to this smell which reaches us before we even see it ; that of fresh blood.

What had the monster trapped? As we brush past few witnesses, I see familiar clothes, body and lastly face. Mine. I look around. The fading breeze smiles and says again, “I see a lot more than you!”

Am ‘I’ the one who is taking in the sun-shower? Is the form flying around, me? Whose is the soulless body? I do not want the burden of these questions and I struggle to stop them. A nauseating smell of dried urine mixed with food being fried strikes me and quells the confusion. I open my eyes and as I get a view of the commotion in the bus-stand, I feel a crick in my neck. I have reached my destination but the questions remain.

today, yesterday

In today's internet world, everyone wears their heart on their blogs. For some, just communicating so freely is unthinkable. For others it is still hard to let go in the World WILD Web! if you are from the old world, its a step at a time.

FORGET --
1. That you had to wait months to get a phone connection. You would get that prized black phone – only if you had good connections at the city telecom off.
As a newly married, it was worse. You had to plan the day & the time your parents would call you a week in advance. And remember that day! If you forgot, you would be left feeling guilty till the next call. All this would be done at the house of a friend since you would not have a connection, remember ?

2. Mobile was a term used as a prefix for libraries & hospitals. Not something you held in your hand.

3. That calling long distance (STD ... The people who coined this surely had a poor medical vocabulary :~) ) to say something urgent or important was at the mercy of the telephone lines. Your fingers would go weak from dialing. In case you were lucky to get through, you would have to be prepared for the asthmatic wheeze and cough making conversation difficult.

4. That if you had a mobile, you would not have told as many lies as people do today ; )
“ I’m almost there…”( when he is a mile away), I’m stuck at a traffic signal … (when he shut off his alarm & got up late), I am on my way to see you…. ( and he never turns up) …

5. You had to go to the library & sneeze your way to the information you wanted or just look longingly at the costly book in the bookshop.

Maybe there’s more to forget ,
Once you forget all these, then you are ready to click away without hesitation.