music,musings n more

Laws are obeyed, rules are followed, but in this age of hyper-individualism, is that unspoken, unwritten code of conduct termed civic sense becoming a dying art? Or do we still have time to salvage some remnants? Causes and effects are plenty, but at the receiving end of such apathy are those who still value empathy as one of the guiding lights of life, and for them its absence stings, just as it does for me. Take the example of the maddening evening crowd in the metros of Dubai. The government has done a fabulous job of connecting every nook and corner of the land with a state-of-the-art metro service that is user-friendly, sleek, and reliable, programmed at regular intervals to match the surge of commuters. That’s when we find those adamant ladies who won’t budge an inch from the doorstep. Those getting in either need to know a little bit of acrobatics or muster immense strength and agility to push past these human pillars. It is not because they can’t move in or need to exit at the...

 Uprooted plants, portulacas  dismembered , torn leaves- off late my garden witnessed mysterious attacks which had me baffled . No amount of arranging and rearranging or repotting, had an impact. The Sherlock Holmes in me , looked for clues and could find none. I decided to keep a vigil during the day and positioned myself on the sofa to get a full view of my balcony .   Before long, a handsome hunk, adorned in  astonishing multicolours, appeared . After an end to end inspection of my plants, with a look that said, "uff, cant she have some exotic ones instead of the obvious Portulacas or Vincas,," he started plucking them. No, 'plucking them' would be an understatement, he was pulling it the same way I shred the coconut with my hands, with all my might.. My heart froze in icy horror for a second. My babies, my precious , much looked after plants were suffering. Then regaining my wits, I jumped up from my cozy sofa and with a war cry , ran out in to the swelterin...

    Back in the 90s, while in college, "a family that ate together... ", was the norm. Privacy was not a word often uttered, let alone having any importance in simple middle class households. A room to yourselves, even if you lived in a fairly large three bedroom house, was not very common. Closing the door to the room and staying most of your waking hours in your own utopia was a big taboo. So, I studied in a bedroom which had a study table and which ensured that I was in tune with the day-to-day household happenings. My concentration power depended on my interest in studies. Everything happened in tandem with the inner and outer microcosm.    And in the ladies hostel where I was put up, space was at a premium. Three narrow beds occupied the whole of the room and the rest held our bags and other paraphernalia, a small curtain with just enough space behind, to extend folded hands was all the privacy we could have. But, that closed space ensured a little world in...

Life prior to the pandemic for me, was pretty chilled, like for many others. And like them I learnt many lessons from the many experiences told and retold by those affected ,  which I vowed will make my life better. Armed with the words of caution from my doctor husband and the volumes of information that the media and the internet provided, not to mention the number of seminars and campaigns attended, I was sure that I was following what my husband coined, SMS, which stands for soap/sanitizer, mask and social distancing. In the month of January 2021, when many were still hesitating to take the vaccine, we boldly got ourselves vaccinated. We did not  have  any post vaccine discomforts. But things turned topsy turvy when a few days later, my husband started complaining of burning sensation all over the body, along with slight fever. Around the same time, I also started feeling quite weak and lethargic.    We booked the RTPCR test and we were sure that it would ...

Oh! You have " wife " problems, quipped my husband in the most sarcastic of tones , to a friend experiencing Wi-Fi issues, while on a zoom meeting. I , backed by years of experience, chose to smile it off .         But it set me thinking. Covid -19 and the ensuing world wide turmoil and unrest has left me quite introspective these days! But this time the thinking process was powered by the movie " Thappad" which had left a deep impression on my sensibilities.May be as a homemaker for whom the home is the pivotal point, I could relate a lot to many of the instances in the movie. A doormat, a sounding board - that is what often a homemaker is. The 'thappad' in the movie may be physical , but often for a homemaker it could be years of collected emotions , a residue of many incidents and instances,  that triggers one  volcanic eruption . Bound by affection, instincts and duty you forget yourself and toil on for years. It might have often left you restless ...

A fleeting moment translated  on to a canvas, a thought that germinated in my mind and blossomed into words, a bead that caught my attention and made me entwine it into a necklace… ART for me is a piece of myself, my thoughts and ideas getting concrete shape and attaining eternity.      As a young mother to be, I found myself quite alone, when I first entered UAE, the land of myriad hues and cultures. To combat loneliness I used to doodle on the Paint brush tool on my desktop computer. Slowly I explored around and found the little stores selling art and craft materials. It opened whole new vistas of glass painting, emboss painting etc. which I had not found back home in India. As years slipped by, the ups and downs of life and the enforced responsibilities of a mother and wife often had me pining for the much needed ME time which were huge consolations emotionally. The stolen moments from the mundanities were dedicated to drawing and painting. My ART was my savi...

     Habitually, these days while working in the kitchen, I switch on a Malayalam news channel on youtube , not only to keep myself abreast with the current affairs in Gods Own Country , but also to get rid of the monotony  of the routine.The moment a channel is selected along with the nonchalant face of the news reader ,comes the garlands of comments in the section below. My instantaneous reaction is to switch those off as it is nothing but negativity filled hate dialogues in the choicest of Malayalam words.      What has happened to malayalees ethics and civic sense? I know, its an oft repeated question! I know malayalees are a highly responsive lot. But there is something called a language etiquette. the comments section on any social media platform , be it Facebook, twitter or channels like YouTube , the replies and responses are nauseating. I fail to understand , why such insanely vulgar words should be used , when the same response with e...

Living in a country where you are surrounded by youthful vigour, everywhere, it is a hard hitting reality check when you visit India for vacations.Old, tired faces of parents greet you first at the airport.A smile brightens their faces and you get a momentary glimpse of their former glory.A visit to the relatives or friends home , inevitably means  listening with growing trepidation about the travails of old age or  the minus members in a family due to deaths. A simple "how are you " often is replied with a " days are just rolling by and we are just living on." Then your heart starts reminding you " your days are coming soon."The brightness of youth would soon lack its lustre and and before you know it would be your turn to wait for the kids at the airport.

 " Yeh Mumbai Sheher hadso ka shehar hai.." the song kept ringing in my mind, annoyingly clear enough as we touched down at the magnificient Chathrapathi Shivaji Maharaja International terminal.It was almost 11 pm. The lights outside shown bright and the city seemed quite active, through the flight windows. But still I was apprehensive.May be because the Mumbai I know is through Bollywoods portrayal of the dark and bloody underworld stories. In my little Gods own country , it isnt safe to travel at night is what I'm always cautioned. So , a night ride in a taxi through the not familiar Mumbaiyya sadak, that too with a young daughter, was pretty daunting to me. But my hubby dear seemed cool and so I didnt reveal my jitters either. And yes , to add fuel to it our dear BSNL sims were not working!!! We set out in a battered taxi to Andheri west , with nothing but the name of the hotel and the street to show the route.It was close to 12 am , and we were going round and round i...

"Excuse me please, kindly move. This is my seat ," boomed the voice of my 18 year old ,tall son, towering over a lady who seemed quite cosy in his aisle seat , when he boarded his flight to Chennai.With a smirk she replied , "We are all going to the same place. So what difference does it make!" It took some time for him to convince her that though their destinations were the same , they have assigned seats. Finally she moved into the next seat.    On a recent trip to Karipur, I watched in consternation as the hapless steward tried to get everyone seated in their respective seats , to get the already delayed flight on air. The complaint was that seats allotted were scattered. And a family wanted to sit together even in the 3 hours short flight!!! A queue was building up behind them. In the meanwhile a few had already done the " adjustments" and seated themselves next to their friends or acquaintances. A lady was seen roaming around trying to find a vacant...

മനസ്സിൽ തട്ടുന്ന ചില കാര്യങ്ങൾ അല്ലെങ്കിൽ ചില വ്യക്തിത്വങ്ങൾ , എന്നിലെ എഴുത്തുകാരിയെ ഉണർത്തുമ്പോഴാണ്  എൻ്റെ ബ്ലോഗുകൾ പിറക്കുന്നത്. ഇത്തവണ ഉറ്റ സുഹൃത്തും, അയൽവാസിയും , ഞങ്ങൾക്ക് ഒരു നല്ല റോൾമോഡലും ആയ ഒരു പച്ച മനുഷ്യൻ ആണ് എൻ്റെ  എഴുത്തിനു തിരി കൊളുത്തിയത്‌ .കുറച്ചു വര്ഷങ്ങളായി പരിചയമുള്ള അദ്ദേഹത്തിന്റെ കൂടെ ചിലവിടുന്ന ഓരോ നിമിഷവും, ഓർമയിൽ തങ്ങി  നിൽക്കുന്ന ഒരു പാട് പുത്തൻ അറിവുകൾ സമ്മാനിക്കാറുണ്ട്.    പേരെടുത്തു പറയേണ്ട ആവശ്യമില്ല, എന്തെന്നാൽ  ഇത് വായിച്ചു തീരും മുൻപ് ആരെയാണ് ഞാൻ പരാമർശിക്കുന്നത് എന്ന് മനസ്സിലാക്കാൻ പറ്റും , കാരണം അദ്ദേഹം ഇപ്പോൾ ചർച്ചകളിൽ നിറഞ്ഞു നിൽക്കുകയാണ്. ഞങ്ങളുടെ സംഭാഷണങ്ങളിലും അദ്ദേഹം നിറ  സാന്നിധ്യമാണ്  എന്നത് കൊണ്ട്‌   ഞങ്ങളെ അറിയുന്നവർക്ക് അദ്ദേഹം  സുപരിചിതനാണ്. വ്യക്തി വൈഭവം കൊണ്ടു മനസ്സിൽ തട്ടി നിൽക്കുന്ന  ഒരു യൂണിക്‌ മനുഷ്യൻ. ബിസിനസ്സ് രംഗത്തെ അതീവ പാടവം,സൂക്ഷ്‌മബുദ്ധി,  ദീർഘവീക്ഷണം ഇതൊക്കെ  അതിശയാവഹം തന്നെ, പക്ഷെ അദ്ദേഹത്തെ വേറിട്ട്  നിർത്തുന്നത് വിനയവും എളിമയും നിറഞ്ഞ പെരുമാറ്റ...

 My writings ensue when I strongly feel about something or when I am touched by something. This time the trigger for thoughts, is a good friend, or rather our role model in many facets of life.As a neighbor we have known him since several years. Each moment we have spent with him has been a lesson in itself.     Let me not name him now. No, not for an element of surprise, but since I very well know that it will be obvious to those who know us, as to whom I am referring to,  for he is a unique person. And no this is not to eulogize him. A self made entrepreneur, his stories about his life until now,  fills us with awe and inspiration.It reminds us that God has been always been benevolent to us. His  farsightedness , business acumen and strong sense of judgement is not what makes him different.But the very fact that, in-spite of scaling the heights he has reached, he is humility personified is what makes him unique. Life experiences may have made him quite s...

            "How do I know what my daughter wants to do?", asked a fretting mom about her 12 year old. Though not an expert , I ,looking through the glasses of experience replied that it is too early for the little girl  to form her mind. But whatever she does has to come from within her and should be nurtured with passion and devotion.             Those  words, a universal truth, I had said with much conviction, as I had seen the same happening with my children.My daughter started singing at the tender age of 3.We were lucky parents in that we never had to compel her to take to music. It came naturally in the flow of life , being born into a musical family.But at times, the same flow of life would tip her priorities away from her music which is ingrained in her. And at times it would be a phase of ebb, often the outcome of her striving to  achieve 100 percent at this tender age and her own sense of not attainin...

                                                                                “Chewing gum keeps the throat supple”, says Lataji. She always keep a handful of them with her... She eats a lot of chillies to keep her voice sweet...Well, these are just some interesting snippets about Lataji,Indias legendary singer. Lata Mangeshkar has been a biographer’s delight. Chronological detailing about her illustrious music career she made up with her mellisonant voice runs into volumes. She has plenty to say about her musical career spanning from the 40s to the present, interesting anecdotes, and facts about the musical maestros she has worked with .All these provide   insights into the glorious years of Indian film music. ...

I am a devotee of Sabarimala Ayyappan and if someone asks what are the parameters of a devotee, then here is what I can confidently say. I believe that a trip to Sabarimala isn’t a holiday trip or a journey to prove a point. But it is an inward journey into yourselves, when you test your tenacity, your tolerance, your self-will while renouncing worldly comforts and abstaining from indulging in negative thoughts and actions. It is a huge commitment and cannot be taken up by a full time mother, wife and daughter like me. I would rather wait for that age when I have a stronger mental disposition ,when I can hold my head over all the responsibilities binding me down and with a calm and focused mind spend 41 days extolling the name of the lord and live in penance .Only then I am fully an Ayyappa Bhaktha .I see no inequality here, as even now I possess the right to have a darshan of Lord Ayyappa in the numerous other temples across the world.I see no need to panic or wound religious se...

    What stopped the writing bug in me from penning down my musings for years,  were my two children who obviously needed my attention.What triggers the words now, is another child , an eight year old, charming little boy whom I very much adore. I have always been immensely impressed by the patience and interest which he had shown in learning drawing and painting from me. But I saw him breakdown when his mother narrated how he was nervous about the spelling contest the next day in school. For quite awhile he was inconsolable. Making an eight year old understand that winning a medal in a competition isn't the "be all and end all" in life is a hard task. But I couldn't stop myself from saying a few things to him which eventually stopped his cries and renewed his confidence in himself.          The first thing I asked him was , "Is it because of someones' pressure that you have enrolled yourself for the competition?" He replied that it was a compuls...

Hell was let loose in Mumbai last week taking away hundreds of life and causing destructions to iconic landmarks.Bereaving families can never be consoled . But what irks is the devastating effects of mud slinging and political drama that followed.What difference does it make now that a few politicians have resigned,the damage has been done.This was someting that could have been thwarted in the first place.ATS and other security personnels were busy covering the politicians in the impending elections in Gujarat and Rajastan that the IB tip off and alerts went unnoticed. Lapses are many.And the media is making the scenario murkier by blowing out of proportions each and every happening. In between happened some amusing incidents like the Kerala CM being shooed off ,rightly so, by the martyrs father.Given the circumstances the Father is not wrong.'Whats is the big deal' in such after disaster high profile visits which causes further trouble to the inconsolable family.He only did wh...

Here are some cushion covers,latest in my creative collection.I have not used any fixed media for this .Its a mixed media work done on art silk.. Acrylic and silk paints with kundan stones Zardosi silk painting

"Hey ,would you like to come for the Udit Narayan show in Aviation club"..the phone call from my dearest friend was so unexpected .Udit...ofcourse i couldnt miss him .And then followed a mad rush of getting ready and running to be there on time .At the venue ,again ,unexpectedly i learned that Alka Yagnik is performing..How come such big stars were ascending and there were no prior ads in the media?? But the show, as if its mandatory, started late and with the compere blaming it all on the traffic."Hold on,We didnt see any traffic congestion" my friend quipped.Crowd was also getting restless when Deepa Narayan made the 'shubharambh " with "Vakrathunda mahakaya". Alka Yagniks cheerful and vivacious presence soon ushered in a mood of festivity.It was as if the stage was a second home to her.She exudes confidence and charm in all her actions and words."Tumhi Dekho Na" , "Laal Dupatta","Tauba"... oh, the melodies were end...

every time I see the 2 big white balloons advertising the very presence of Naif souq in deira,i try to put in a word with my favourite God to please let the shoppers In DubaI take the cue and make them visit the souq. The fire in the old naif souq had wiped out not only a landmark but also the livelihood of multitudes who had left behind everything to toil it out in an unknown land.The months of agonising wait had finally found results in the new Naif Souq hitherto erected on temperory grounds.But the crowds which used to throng the old souq is missing here.The shops are filled with all the usual goodies .clothes and accessories in fact are beng sold at a much cheaper price.One of the shopkeepers lamented that their condition is slowly worsening as they had to again put in money to get the merchandise to replace the lost one.Ramadan is over and still no signs of business catching up. So wake up Dubai..come and see the new Naif Souq,now cleaner ,bigger , cheaper and easily access...