Episode 4
Rajma, Rudraksha & Cupcakes!
Hi folks,
After experiencing typical “English” weather for 3 days in good ole US of A, the sun is out and things are really looking bright.( You know guys like GD, Self & a few others, who went to ‘Convent’(sic) schools, <actually schools run by dedicated teachers>, claim to be most aquainted with GB, esp the weather…So Eng weather>sandwiches>muffins> Tea!! ) Born in the UK!
In the rain-soaked period, I couldn’t, help but , crave for One of the sure cures(& highly ‘Desi’) for a rainy day. Chai & p..odey (pakode pronounced thus, as shown). The other cure being a quick shot , by any name! Right now, I’m on a trip of Capt Morgan (or Murugan, if it makes you feel at home). The finest spiced rum, from Puerto Rico. And I am availing ‘parental claim’ for this, in a different way, as Anshuman is presently based at San Juan, Puerto Rico. So, my loyalty is there presently!
Like America was discovered by mistake, I too have made some discoveries, which to some of you, may be far- fetched, but, nevertheless….. As a child, I was always fascinated by those striped ‘long shorts’(?) that most men folk, especially in the Konkan region, wore. The other day, when we were at Macy’s (pl note subtle game dropping!), I thought I’d pick up some shorts. All those specimens hung up, were modifications of ‘my uncles striped pjs’, in that, while ‘those’ were only vertically striped, ‘these’ were both ways, ie. checked. And they were marketed as ‘Bermudas’. See, I always knew that all original ‘Indian’ things, would be hijacked by the newer world countries. Alas!, copyright was taken literally, The right to Copy. So, the connection between ‘Konkan’ & ‘Caribbean’ . Q.E.D.
Now, you have to skip a couple of days of inactivity, then we cut to this week-end. Now, as we all are aware, ‘the Lord above toiled for Six days & Six nights and on the Seventh, He rested. That’s how the week-end came about, they say. But Gen now, has done one better than God and have come up with a concept of creating whatever they do, in 5 days & nights! So, Sat, Sun reserved for chilling out! That’s how, Sat saw us hitting the road in real earnest . We drove through some beautiful complexes, very, very upmarket, stealthily took pictures & wished the impossible. Then on to a place called the Millennium Park. There are about 3-4 such parks, right in the middle of town; impossible to believe that acres & acres of greenery have been preserved just so that our children can really ‘feel’ the environment. And innumerable birds apart, we came across a family of White Tailed Deer, America’s most common deer.
Our next halt was the Forest Park , another huge, huge area, which has a museum, art gallery, stage shows, boating, eateries .. but above all, in spite of hundreds of cars & ppl, there was place for all, privacy for family picnics & beautifully kept lawns and walkways .And they say this is One Tenth of what Central Park can accommodate! Whew!!
Coming back to the 5 day work culture. What amazes me, every time, is that throughout the week, ppl are going about their jobs as though nothing else matters or exists. Right from as early as 7:00 am till 8:30 pm or so, ppl are at work. Come Friday evening & then every activity is centred around family, hobbies, weekly chores & just unwinding. They really work for the week end. We have just Jenny who is working, but even while working from home, we see this ethos & it grows on you too!!
Of course, birds, animals, nature etc. is something inseparable from me, so for whatever it is worth, I carry my little digicam along & I think I have been able to capture some beautiful moments, which I would like to share with you all. In fact, my first shoot with the handycam is a half minute shot of a male Cardinal, chasing insects in the branches of the tree, right outside our verandah. I hope to put this on the You tube. Let’s see!(or the uninitiated, the Cardinal is a bird found in USA. Not to be mixed up with Cardinals of the church!)
To end this episode, you must be wondering why such a strange title to this mail? (If you haven’t, there’s something wrong! You are not inquisitive enuff!) No, there’s no deep-rooted quasi-spiritual side this. How does one explain “Bell, Book & Candle”, “The Tight White Collar”, “Morning becomes Electra”? (Did you know that these are actual titles of books?-Raise your hands!) I would like to believe that they all got their inspiration in much as the same way, I got mine- You see, there were these 3-4 Rajma seeds lying on the bedside table, which Kalpana uses for her ‘seed-therapy’ (more of this later), the R udraksh ‘mala’ lying next to it. So the first 2 names fitted. And rather than go for alliteration & look for another ‘R’, which may have sounded quite fake, I let the issue lie… till I saw this book by Martha Stewart on ‘Cup Cakes’! So, next time any of you guys feel like writing a best seller, you know where to call for ‘Unlimited, Unconnected Titles’. Cheers, TC
Ashok
In case you have missed the snaps - here is the link once more..
Nice article baba - hopefully all the 'hours' spent in putting you online is worth it :D
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