Oh Shillong!

I spent a night in Shillong recently, after 11 years. This is a picture of me, taking it all in. I have a lifetime of memories in this mountain town. Since the time I left it behind for college, there has probably not been a day when I didn't remember it, generally with a sense of blissful nostalgia.

However, in the past three years or so, the memories have started to hurt more than bringing solace. Everything about Shillong stands to be a stark reminder of a world that will never be. My father and his love, our homestead and every single thing in it, the books, the carpet, the steel utensils, the water taps. 

Yet, during our recent visit,  I made it a point to visit Shillong. It was healing. The lost world came alive by the sight of my dad's college, Shillong College, as we drove by, the sweets and nimkis at Delhi Mistan that he so loved and always got us rejuvenated the palette, the sights of Ward's Lake that he solitarily rambled, brought solace!

My Experiments With Truth: Jealousy

It takes a lot to reveal your dark side, but here I am ready to risk that. I consider myself immensely fortunate that the green-eyed monster doesn't have a lot of influence on me. Even through times when I was hopelessly and desperately struggling to have an offspring, the concern for the well-being of others, completely erased any envy that it may evoke in some, in a similar situation. 

That status quo, changed, twice in quick succession, several years back. First time was when Kate Middleton married the future king of the Brits. It seemed like the world was served to her in a royal platter, only because she was drop dead gorgeous and had successfully orchestrated  a love story by enrolling in the same college as Prince William overnight, once his college selection was announced. The second time was a similar situation. Amal Clooney not only married the most handsome and most eligible bachelor on the planet, "The George Clooney", but she was also a successful international rights lawyer and even better looking than him.

Envy filled my heart. Deep down I think it was just the trousseau of beautiful dresses that made me feel that way. For once I felt like "Life was not fair"🤔😀The paparazzi didn't help! They just plastered pictures of these two gorgeous ladies in the best dresses the world has ever seen, in the most exotic locations, one with "The Prince" the other with "The George Clooney".

The years passed by and after the initial affliction i stopped thinking about it. Life went on for them and for me. Coincidentally, we were in London in March of this year when Kate announced her cancer diagnosis. I was heartbroken. My husband said "What happened, I thought you didn't even like her? "

Later I saw tabloid covers about Amal and George growing apart due to physical distance between them due to their professions.

I kept hoping and praying that Kate Middleton recovered, especially after recently seeing people i know closely go down with cancer in a matter of months. 

It was actually so receiving to see Kate smiling again attending a Wimbledon event and George and Amal seem to be making amends as well, as per reports!! ☺️ 

Morale of the story - Be happy in your own skin and your own life. You don't know what others lives are like deep down and how they will turn out to be  Spare them the jealousy, but more importantly spare yourself the negativity.

Tomorrow is not promised!!

We make plans and more plans. We are our own micro Government. We try to manufacture our future by putting our present on the assembly line. We mortgage our present for future equity. Only if that one thing happened, we would be happy forever and that forever never comes because there are more and more milestones to accomplish. All this while, life passes us by. It is essential to plan for future, but we also need to make sure, we don't let the moments slip by unnoticed,  uncared for, uncredited.

Live, breathe, experience, every moment of your present, sun, rain or snow, because tomorrow is not always promised!

The Warp and Weft of a Mother's Love!!

My mother in law is 87 years old. When Tridib visited her last November,  she insisted that he should bring back with him one of her mekhela-sadors for me to wear. When I spoke with her thereafter, she asked me if I liked it and expressed her wish for me to wear it to some gathering.  I obliged with a serene heart. It was definitely peaceful to be enveloped in her pristine love, quite literally! 

A Generous Heart!!

The joy of gifting originates in the generosity of the heart and not in the magnitude of wealth. A roadside vendor we met during a recent trip to Nassau, Bahamas reinforced that thought manifold. 

We were a large group moving from one sight to another in a bus, trying to hit a few places before the scheduled return time of the cruise we were traveling in. Our last stop was the famous Fish Fry area, with a lot of restaurants serving fresh fish like sea bass. By that time we knew we wouldn't have time to stop at a market and shop for souvenirs.  So my friends and I were checking what we could find at a small nearby vendor. I believe none of us bought anything since we couldn't decide. A few minutes later one of my friends came with two stone turtles with Bahamas written on them, she said he gave her one and also sent one for my daughter who was looking at them. I was dumbfounded. I have only heard of tourists being charged extravagant amounts by local vendors in touristy places. This was the first time someone was giving away free souvenirs.  

I was so touched, I went back to the guy with my friend, to give him a token sum. He took it, but wouldn't let me leave without handing me one more thing my daughter was apparently looking at, a pink flamingo key chain. My friend gave him few dollars as well and we bid adieu.

As our bus crossed his store, I managed to get a quick shot of this man. He seemed like he was barely making ends meet, but his generosity was exemplary. If you happen to be in the Fish Fry area in Nassau, do look for him and buy some souvenirs from him.He was located diagonally opposite to Oh Andros restaurant.

I wanted to share this story in the spirit of the season of giving and receiving.Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone!!

Oh Mum!!

The chrysanthemum flower has always held a special place in my heart because in Eastern Indian languages like Assamese and Bengali, it is called ChandraMallika, which is an amalgamation of my dad's name and mine. I remember his face breaking into a gentle smile whenever he saw one because of that connotation.

Only very recently, I learned that it is also the official flower for November, my birth month, when a friend gifted me a custom jewelry box with my name and a mums blooms on it.  On checking further, I learned that this flower has ancient history originating in China and regarded as one of the Four Gentlemen of China” — a group of prestigious  plants that each signify a new season with mums signifying autumn. In Japan, they are held in such high regard that the Emperor’s throne is referred to as the Chrysanthemum Throne. In Australia,  they signify "Mother's Day" since they bloom there in May. All over the world they signify qualities like purity, perseverance, honesty and the like. 

This autumn, my mum and I (pun intended) witnessed the most beautiful exhibition of mums in Longwood Gardens.

This is a single plant with 1200 blooms

            Jewelry box gifted by a special friend!

Hickory Run Boulder Field, Pennsylvania

Once upon a time, long, long ago, while wondering in the Pocono Mountains, from hill to valley, four friends came across a field of boulders. They were awestruck by the sheer size of the field. They had never seen or even heard of anything like that before. On getting closer, they learned from a sign that the field was created around 20,000 years ago by glacial activity. The friends were Rishi, Ria, Rimi & Tridib, loitering in carefree abandon. Since then a special few have been taken to visit this field. This time it was Ma's turn!!

The Boulder field is a true relic of the past. This area is a National Natural Landmark, and State Park Natural Area. It has remained relatively unchanged for more than 20,000 years. The Boulder Field appears striking because of its flatness and absence vegetation over the large area of 400 feet by 1,800 feet. Some of the boulders measure as much as 26 feet long. It is 10-12 feet deep on average and apparently water still runs under the field forming the Hickory Run stream.