The final fall...

 25th June 2024

Today will be a day I will never forget, for today witnessed an artificial calamity and a murder.

Cherith and hubby were going to get his picture clicked for the school diary. He saw his granny coming from the other side and insisted her to join them. He ran behind her inside the gate pestering her and I was standing at the balcony when I heard a thundering crack.

I helplessly saw a tree outside our neighbour's house going downwards. Within seconds it hit the terrace parapet of the house on the opposite side and crushed it after damaging a car outside.

My mother-in-law, husband and cherry ran out to see what came crashing down and were shocked and thankful at the same time. Shocked to see this ages old silver Oak fall like this and grateful that neither they nor anyone else were hurt.

I was flabbergasted after what I had witnessed. I call this an artificial calamity because its our doing. We have caused it. A closer look at the base reveals the absence of roots.

A few years back, the whole area was being concretized and none, absolutely none of us thought or suggested of leaving a little natural space, the mud around the trees so they could continue to receive their nutrition. Without a single drop of water reaching the roots, they dried and died and the tree only stood hollow. It had withstood much heavier winds before today but perhaps today it couldn't bear it any longer and made the final fall.

The sight of that tree made me think how we forget our roots while trying to achieve greater things in life. Without proper nourishment of trust, attention, affection, care and understanding, the foundations of our relationships dry up creating a void that results in a quiet yet fatal crash. The social and societal concrete around us never gives the opportunity to water our roots. It's vital for us to leave personal space, so that the soil of our bonds aren't left thirsty.

I was snapped out of my thoughts when all the people from around started surrounding the long dead tree. Some calling electricity board, some contacting the municipality. 

The old lady who had nurtured this tree came outside, touched it and wept as she saw the twin tree lying lifeless just like she had witnessed the death of her 2 sons. She couldn't see the chaos and quietly went inside.

Now the people standing around were not only planning to clear this tree after ruthlessly cutting it into pieces but also shamelessly planned to get another tree chopped that stood right next to this one.

They argued that this one was soon going to fall and it may hurt someone.

So after tearing the fallen, the men with the electric saw planned on eliminating the second tree that guarded the old lady's house. And within minutes I witnessed the murder right before my eyes. The saw sliced between the tree, at different places, sometimes cutting it's branches, sometimes it's thick trunk. The wood within tempted the workers around while I could feel it's pain as it scattered it's dust clinging on to the thread between life and death.

I felt I had written the falling of that tree and the slaughter of this tree in my poem some time back, like dejavu. That time all I could think of was how beautifully, lovingly nature had created, provided for and flourished for us and how cruelly and carelessly we were reciprocating. And may be that's why nature has been trying new ways to decimate us. The tsunamis, floods, droughts, the epidemics and the unforgiving COVID pandemic demonstrates nature's increasing strength and our growing weakness..

Silently praying for all the souls of nature...

CHS

The Byline...

I finished an amazing read called The Animal Farm by George Orwell and I recommend it to all book lovers and readers.

Not being a spoiler, I want to tell you why I picked this book.

First, It's a cute, quick read. Just a 95 page book. Second, Despite its concise size, it delves into the matters of our lives through animals. Third and most important, it put me in front of a mirror...

You'll know when you read it but let me tell you, I, at many instances felt questioned indirectly for the way we live. The way we forgot what independence actually means.

Being Indians, knowing the stories of our heroes, freedom fighters, we have left behind the spirit with which the fight for independence was carried out. The thoughts and ideologies of those selfless people who laid their lives to see a free country, run by its own people.

A country where people would be entitled to their own produce, enjoy fruits of their labour, where they had a free will, where all would be equal, where no human would harm another, where no one was above or beneath anyone.

The fundamentals that were set during the freedom struggle seem to be unremembered with each generation. Of course we have prospered as a country collectively but we also come across people who work way harder than others and still struggle for basics.

One of the poems in my book Nav-Udit also revolves around the same.

This book has shook my conscience. Makes me ponder upon the reason for our silence. Asks me to look out for the source of resilience and the outcome of it.

It's going to give your inner self a voice, one that resonates with the current scenario, one that questions equality and one that remains prevalent but yet unheard.

It throws light on our true state of affairs and how some of us are blinded, some muzzled and the others handicapped from reminding ourselves and others of actual liberty.

All this meticulously and rightly put in the byline - "All animals are equal. But some animals are More Equal than Others"

CHEERS and GOD BLESS!

CHS

Never said I Love You!

There is a person who has never verbally said I love you to me and three of my siblings but has gone out of his way to prove and show his love for us..

Papa...

He's made sure his children have got a life way better than his. Providing for the family, shelter, education and security; all that is usually done by every father. But I have seen every father trying to give his children things that he never got.

It's generic for fathers to wake up every morning and go to work. It amazes me how they never think of themselves once they become fathers.

No buying clothes when the whole family asks for new clothes, no extra footwear until the one he is using wears to tatters, no demands for special food apart from usual home cooked food, not even going to the doctor for small things but rushing us to the doctor even when we have a cold.

In our world, Papa has showed his endearment towards his eldest daughter by ignoring all the ill people have spoken about her, supporting her silently in the toughest times, never wanting her to become weak..

His fondness for his second daughter is seen in his process of forgiving her naivety and mistakes, trying to keep her in a secure environment away from people who don't deserve her.

His deep affection exudes in his a way of making sure sweets, fruits (especially mangoes) and everything he can think of, reaches his youngest daughter. Also when he shares his emotions and thoughts with her regularly covering up for their physical distance.

His adulation for his only son was evident when he got him the Giant robot, skates, cricket kit and all the things he never said no to.. He takes pride in talking to others about him. Be it his way of getting admission to high school, his choice of college, representing India at an international cricket tournament or even starting a new line of business..

The rare tears he shed at the daughters' weddings, his worry when his son did not come home on time. His concern about his kids when their mother left them. The double responsibility of being a mother and father both to ensure his family stays afloat.. 

Papa has never said 'I love you' to any of us but continues to dote on each one of us despite our shortcomings. He assures we stay bonded and has taught us to value people above all. 

Father's life is nothing less than an inspiring story for his children. He is the university of knowledge, struggle, experience and never ending source of strength and concealed care and blessings..

Here's wishing our Fathers stay healthy and enjoy peace irrespective of the world they are in right now.

What is your father's way of showing love? If you're a father, how do you convey your love to your children?

CHEERS and GOD BLESS!!

CHS

Barfi and Eye.

What an intresting title!!

So yesterday I set out to make coconut barfis for the first time. I started looking at YouTube video references to make coconut barfi while prepping. Seen, understood, I got working. The procedure was followed to the T but in the end, when I mixed the roasted coconut with sugar syrup, it became too dry.

I called out to my mother in law who said sugar syrup was less. So I made more sugar syrup and mixed it. The mixture was still dry but it became too sweet. Then I thought of adding little water as it was already sweet. So I added half a cup water and added the dry mixture little by little.

2 minutes later, the entire mixture was ready, just that this time it was too flowy to set. I nonetheless set them in two plates and waited as instructed by mother in law. After 30 minutes, the mixture had thickened but the barfis still wont cut.

So we grinded more coconut and mixed it with the flowy mixture (in batches). I suggested making laddoos because barfis looked impossible. After making a few, she tried to set a little mixture.

The barfis finally set. I took the rest of the mixture, made the alteration and set it, finally ending the procedure. We ended up making 3 varities from the same mixture - coconut laddoos, dry barfis and chewy barfis while finishing all the stocked up coconuts that my mother in law was worried about. All this took about two and a half hours.

Post lunch I sat with a piece of garment that required sewing skills. I can do normal stitches and hems but this needed me to make eyes for hooks. YouTube to my rescue again and I finished making decent looking eyes. Although 4 were perfect and the other 3 were acceptable, learning something new made me happy. 

2 takeaways from the day that started lazy, boring, gloomy, dull and hazy.

1. While learning and making coconut barfis and the eye, I forgot everything else. I was totally into learning and completing the task at hand. That taught me what 'living in the moment' really meant. We all generally spend so much time thinking about what happened and what would happen..

2. While fixing the barfi mixture, I learned the true value of homemakers. I must confess here that I have (in the past) underestimated rather doubted my worth as a homemaker. But hey, if it wasn't for us, would anything in the family/ home work as efficiently as it does?

We save the money. We save the dishes that would have been wasted. We sew/ mend clothes that would be thrown otherwise. We save the relationships that turn sour/bitter. We save the day! There is no one who can do it all so effortlessly and selflessly..

With the barfis blending sweetness in my thoughts and the eye inspiring me become a learner again there is no scope for self doubt and no need for validation anymore.

Let's be proud of who we are and what we do. We are the invisible spines of all households, we can continue to be unseen while never forgetting our significance..

CHEERS & GOD BLESS!!

CHS