http://suan.sulekha.com/blog/post/2007/12/pazha-pradhaman.htm

http://suan.sulekha.com/blog/posts/pageno-5.htm

http://suan.sulekha.com/blog/post/2007/12/anxiety.htm

http://suan.sulekha.com/blog/posts/pageno-5.htm

http://suan.sulekha.com/blog/post/2007/12/remembering-tejeshwar-singh.htm

http://suan.sulekha.com/blog/posts/pageno-4.htm

http://suan.sulekha.com/blog/post/2007/12/the-journey.htm

http://suan.sulekha.com/blog/posts/pageno-4.htm

http://suan.sulekha.com/blog/post/2007/12/carrot-coconut-bake.htm

http://suan.sulekha.com/blog/posts/pageno-4.htm

http://suan.sulekha.com/blog/post/2007/12/nature.htm

http://suan.sulekha.com/blog/posts/pageno-4.htm

http://suan.sulekha.com/blog/post/2007/12/the-bethlehem-lilly.htm

http://suan.sulekha.com/blog/posts/pageno-4.htm

http://suan.sulekha.com/blog/post/2007/12/the-costly-smile.htm

http://suan.sulekha.com/blog/posts/pageno-4.htm

http://suan.sulekha.com/blog/post/2008/01/flower-power.htm

http://suan.sulekha.com/blog/posts/pageno-3.htm

http://suan.sulekha.com/blog/post/2008/01/fun-with-vegetables.htm

http://suan.sulekha.com/blog/posts/pageno-3.htm

http://suan.sulekha.com/blog/post/2008/01/ancient-art.htm

http://suan.sulekha.com/blog/posts/pageno-3.htm

http://suan.sulekha.com/blog/post/2008/01/into-the-net.htm

http://suan.sulekha.com/blog/posts/pageno-3.htm

http://suan.sulekha.com/blog/post/2008/01/peas-and-pomagranate-pulao.htm

http://suan.sulekha.com/blog/posts/pageno-3.htm

http://suan.sulekha.com/blog/post/2008/02/ode-to-my-valentine.htm

http://suan.sulekha.com/blog/posts/pageno-3.htm

http://suan.sulekha.com/blog/post/2008/08/a-prickly-pear-flower.htm

http://suan.sulekha.com/blog/posts/pageno-2.htm

http://suan.sulekha.com/blog/post/2009/02/roaming-the-western-ghats.htm

http://suan.sulekha.com/blog/posts.htm

A Visit to Bylakuppe

A Visit to Bylakuppe

Dil Se: Homing Pigeons: a photo blog.

Dil Se: Homing Pigeons: a photo blog.: "The days of the homing sparrows are gone. They were so much part of my childhood in Andhra Pradesh. Their twittering, their nests, their egg..."

Sights and sounds at Green Meadows.

The line moves on
of some men
and mostly women

the sun lighting the red bricks
on their rusted iron plates.

Suddenly, a woman is out
 to  look at a child
relishing the taste of mud
then scoots off
as some men arrive in a sedan.

Now the line moves on
at a hectic pace
arms go up in a familiar rhythm
as bricks and empty plates
get exchanged.

The show goes on
taking a cue from somewhere

of a restless baton.

The child is bored with the mud
cries aloud as she toddles around
her mother in the line
may have heard her.

Soon the digging of a borewell begins
shrill , piercing, monotonous
unending and deafening
all the other sounds.

Small Message,Big Impact by Terri L. Sjodin. A Review by Sunanda Satish

Today, time is money. It is precious and hard to get. There is also a sense of uncertainty looming large in every sphere of life. In such a world, “a three- minute elevator speech” is all you have, need and can get, to say whatever you want.

Terri L Sjodin’s book makes a delightful read, apart from the fact that it comes packed with information. On a personal level I liked the book, for it is about the dictum that I believe in – a small message is enough to make a big impact. Rather, a big one is very often boring! The moment I see that the Forwarded e mail is a long one, I just hit the Delete button! Hence,  Terri and I bond not just on this idea .but also on the significance of the individual inner conviction.  “What is the hardest product or service to sell?” is a question in the FAQ section of the book. The author’s answer will be the gospel truth for all times and generations: “the one you don’t believe in.”

The book deals at length about the concept of “the elevator speech”- the message delivered in the time span of an elevator ride. It is explained logically in twelve chapters. It takes you from defining your goal, to your target audience your material, method, delivery, practice and judgment. In other words, you learn not just your work better,but also become an enlightened self about your own strengths and weaknesses.

My personal favourite is the chapter titled “It’s the presenter’s job to bring the message to life” I couldn’t agree with the writer more. For me, the book also came to life, so to speak, with that analogy from the Barbara Streisand movie, The Mirror Has Two Faces!

I also loved that invaluable tip on dressing from “Nana and Pop”. That should, indeed, belittle the craze for and the conviction that “designer clothes” can always get you across!

Through out the chapters, it was heartening to note the stress laid on integrity, individuality and hard work. These virtues coupled with an intense, power packed Small Message….I guess, heads must  turn your way!

From a pavement in Calcutta

To my  mother

Do not open your eyes
It must be so cozy over those rags
In the basket, under the little tree.
Nothing has gone except the wobbling tram.
Your mother is there kindling the fire
Her face pickled in grime and sweat
She shoos the flies gathering round the broth.
Do not open your eyes.
Nobody has gone except the grubby old man,
Muttering as he gets his chest down again
To pull his rickshaw load along.
Let them all go
Ever trampling everywhere
Do not open your eyes
You fit my photo frame perfect
Let me click just you so cozy in your basket.
No, do not open your eyes
Let me have nothing else
In my photograph, in my memory.

Sunanda Satish

First published in The Telegraph

Homing Pigeons: a photo blog.

The days of the homing sparrows are gone. They were so much part of my childhood in Andhra Pradesh. Their twittering, their nests, their eggs….my learning to differentiate between the male and the female…dad getting to be an expert on them…

Sadly, today, the kids have to see even a sparrow ,probably in a zoo.

Our apartment is home to a lot of pigeons. Sometimes, I am apprehensive that their lot is dwindling too. They are a moody lot, see who isn’t ? On some days they come and eat all the grains I give them. On some days none of them touch it…fasting? Or sulking? I shall never know.

On a day when there wasn’t much activity, I clicked away . I am not too happy with the result. I waited in vain for the flight of a group, then gave up! I realized how much praise one ought to shower on a frame well captured! My album is also poorer by the fact that I missed out on some sizzling scenes…they seemed to say ,all that’s “for your eyes only.”



a cold dawn





my forty winks




pehle aap.....





one for the album




there we go again..



stalemate!



enjoying the solitude?



the black beauty



the coy one



awesome twosome

 






three isn't a crowd!





who is who here?                                                    





what yoga is this?




many thanks for this flight...into my frame!





together,watching another sundown.....



Strange Bedfellows

I can't stand for long,  in closed interiors. I have  claustrophobia.I like the open and so throw the windows and doors open, as much as I can.  I know a lot of people who are like me. Then there are the others who have to have the fan going all the time. Rather the fan is enough even in closed settings! While some others like me cannot bear it for long. I feel the world can be divided that way, like the cat lovers and the dog lovers.There are a sizeable fan lovers and fan haters.

That's the first major adjustment I had to make, after marriage. Yes, you guessed it. The spouse cannot sleep with out the fan's movement. Since then I have researched, analysed and come to the conclusion that it is more of  a psychological matter. We agree on that! He too has adjusted to the fact that the fan will not be turned beyond the minimum speed .His oft repeated one liner is that, in our house the fans are show pieces! I didn't find it very funny but it gets people probing.

At my neighbour's, the lady of the house has a tendency to sweat profusely all the time. Her husband cannot sleep with the fan on. Worse, according to her, he gives her a talk on its ill effects.It's bad for circulation, for the bones, can give you arthritis, bad for the skin and lungs...I have hung on to all these  reasons, to justify my own take better , when occasions demand.The poor lady adjusted for a few days, nights rather, then decided to shift her place. The husband, I believe  now lets  the fan rotate sometimes and not always.

You see, while Truth itself is a relative term, and difficult to comprehend, some bed room truths can be even more complicated.

This write up is inspired by a friend who stormed into my home the other day. She was in tears and spoke at length about how important it was for a woman to be economically independent. Absolutely, I agreed, though I was in no way, independent! But why this kind of an introspection today, I was curious. Her husband doesn't feel the need for an air conditioner "not even in this summmer". According to him it is bad for the general health, you'll age before your time, habit forming plus the power bill is going to shoot up.!

That's a couple more into my collection. The amiable  office boy, Ali, who I knew back in Hyderabad, would have muttered in the typical lingo "Uparwala bhee kaisa kaisa jodi banaatha hai!"(the couples that the almighty brings together!)

Meanwhile, I think at least now  the marriage beuros and the like  must ensure a perfect couple database. When cloning and such science takes over this will come in handy and the world will sleep in harmony, peacefully, oh in a beautiful, natural environment  sans fans or air conditioners!

My mother

to my mother

I call August very cruel

for it seemed so unreal

that a joyful life is simply shattered

to recall, shredded in albums or anecdotes regaled.

But that was only terribly once

that your body felt so stiff and cold like ice

so numb and dead

leaving me dazed and stunned.

Now in my mirror, sometimes

I see how similar even you looked, at times

the inheritance was not my choice

but today that's how I hear your voice.

They say you know your mother

when you yourself become a mother

these days I brood over that new knowledge

--a turmoil with regrets and apologies to pledge.

As my life meanders across

those unpalpable mounds I too cross

Hopeless, I still long for your caress

warm as it was, always.

Delivering Happiness : My views.

The book truly delivered happiness of some sort. I mean when I simply filled in those details while surfing the net, I didn’t expect anything to come out of it. So, I was pleasantly surprised to get the couriered copies!  

            The next challenge for me was to read a non fiction book. A short train journey the following week, finding myself bookless I took it along compulsively. All this cut the ice, later on, of course,  I read through the book as I found it quite interesting.

            Among the three sections I found “profits” very engrossing. Those experiences seem so earnest and written in a lucid style. I’m sure many a reader would have related to many of these “adventures” and emotions.

            The book starts off with a quote by Gandhiji and needless to say my Indian eyes sparkled with pride!

            ‘The accomplishments of the children were the trophies that many parents defined their own success and status by”. The Asian culture thus is defined. Albeit, the child draws his lessons. “it is possible to run a business by mail order, without any face to face  interaction .” Nurtured within this kind of a  system the Asian businessman thinks differently.

“there was something alluring being involved in something where the sole purpose was to create an experience and emotional journey for people, and then to have nothing but memories left afterward to hold onto.”

            The Bard teaches a different lesson here, when the Morse code makes up for a sonnet!” “It sometimes pays to take risks and think out of the box.” Gradually, the other lessons follow-how the presentation of truth is as important as the truth, the importance of ‘humility’, the power of ‘crowd sourcing”. Success brings with it the follow up questions, What’s success? Happiness?  What am I working toward?  

            Thoughts breeze in and many a truth dawn. “How easily we are all brainwashed by our society and culture to stop thinking and just assume by default that more money equals more success and more happiness…”

            Thus, at the outset, the “culture” is defined. Defined in the upbringing, defined in perception and defined for the future. That’s the keyword, the answer for “the best way to build a brand for the long term.”

            In the end, that is Zappos’ equation of success. “You get the culture right, most of the other stuff……..will happen naturally on its own.”

            Passion, personal stories and reality are also what make up the ‘flow’ in “Delivering happiness”. It shall motivate many young entrepreneurs. Well…I have chosen to join the movement. With this bit, take the novice entrepreneur along the right path to profit.

            I shall gift my second copy to my young cousin.

Blog, Blog Blog

To me this is freedom.
Freedom from the humdrum,
Freedom from the same routine
Freedom from merged identities
Freedom from thrusted entities
Freedom from set ways, conditioned thoughts

Freedom to be alone
To peel off all the garbs
To feel my gut self
To speak into an expanse

Om shanthi, shanthi shanthihi