Write Tribe- day 3- Seven Questions!

"Mamma, what is this?" asked my little one holding a small prototype of the eagle with wings spread out. I had brought it as a dangler for the car.

"You know what it is, don't you? Why don't you tell me what it is?"

"An Eagle?"  he asked raising an eyebrow, only like he could. He looks so cute when he does that!

"Hmm..." I nodded.

"Why is this eagle black while this one", he said fishing out another from behind his back, " is colourful?"

"Because it isn't an eagle, it's a macaw." I said.

"But caw caw is also black no?" he said the "caw-caw" referring to the crow.

I sat him down, smiling at the innocence, "A macaw is a type of huge parrot which has big colourful wings."

He looked at the eagle for some time and then came the next question, "Why is the eagle's mouth open?"

"He must be hungry".

He seemed to be thinking again.

"Is it a girl or a boy?"

"What?"

"The eagle."

Oh dear, I thought, I have no idea how to distinguish between a male and female eagle. I looked at it from all sides, with no inkling of what it could be, "Could be anything, I don't think I know."

"Where's the baby eagle?" came the next question.

If I said it was in the shop, and I didn't buy it, he would ask me why I didn't buy it. If I told him there was no baby eagle, he will tell me there would have been and I didn't search properly. While I wondered what I should say, the elder one chipped in, "See, if this is mamma eagle, then it needs pappa eagle to have a baby, and if it is pappa, then it needs mamma to have a baby. Since there is only one eagle, there is no baby."

Before I could say Bravo for a well thought out answer, I stopped mid track, taken aback at what he said. Did he really know THAT? I mean, he is just 9 yrs old, I don't remember ever discussing anything remotely related to the birds and bees with him. How could he know? Well, since the topic had been broached, I decided I might as well use this opportunity to talk to him.

As I still cleared my throat wondering how to begin, it was the younger one again, "Why?"

Dear god bless my soul.

"Because," said the elder one without blinking his eyelids, "Our pappa goes to work and gets us whatever we need, so the baby eagle will also need it's pappa to be around and bring it food while the mamma eagle looks after it."

The younger one was visibly satisfied with the answer.

And as for me, I felt rather silly!! Kids don't need a lot of explanation, and there is no need to get paranoid about answering their innocent questions. It's all about giving them as much information as their age merits with a straight face and with a smile!

Write Tribe- day 2 - 7 am in the morning....

It was 7am already. Nita was getting late for work. She hurried to the shower and switched on the light.

‘Phat!’

The bulb burst and broke into a thousand pieces. Suddenly there was complete darkness and Nita stood stunned. She cleaned the mess, lit a candle and turned the shower knob.

‘Plonk’

The shower nozzle fell down and landed on her feet.

‘Aww..’

She jumped in pain and fright.

‘What a way to start the morning!’, she thought.

When she finally got ready, she realized she had very little time for breakfast.

‘Let me make a quick omlette.’

She poured the beaten egg into the pan and lo! the omelette flew out of the pan like Mexican jumping beans!

‘Is this some kind of a joke?’, she asked the pan in a stern voice.

The pan just seemed to smile and say,

‘Don’t give me that look. It’s your bad day, darling!’

‘Whatever!’, she said with a resigned look.

She limped (‘grrr.. the shower nozzle be cursed!’) to the doorway with an empty growling stomach.

‘Let me pick up something to eat on the way to work.’

‘whirrrrr…whirrrr…whirr…’

‘Now what? You have decide to conspire too, Mr. Car? Why won’t you start?’

She got down and kicked the tyre with her feet forgetting it was already hurt.

‘Awww…awww..no!’

She limped to the taxi stand and tried to hail down a cab. There was none in sight. She limped further hoping to find one. She had almost walked to the main road. Vehicles were whizzing past and she tried to protect her precious hair and face from the smoke and pollution using her scarf.

‘Watch where you are going, lady!’

She turned around to see a man in a car that had swerved just in time to avoid hitting her.

‘Sorry!’

Before she could turn back and continue walking, a huge truck came out of nowhere and crashed into her.

                                                                   *******

‘Hello good morning,
Let’s go, let’s rock,
Hello,
Yeah, come on,
good morning.’

Nita got up with a start soaked in her own sweat.

‘Darn, the alarm! It’s 7am already. But thank god! It was just a dream!’

She hurried to the shower and switched on the light.

‘Phat!’

The bulb burst and broke into a thousand pieces. Suddenly there was complete darkness.

Sweet and sour memories

This post has been published by me as a part of the Blog-a-Ton 41; the forty-first edition of the online marathon of Bloggers; where we decide and we write. To be part of the next edition, visit and start following Blog-a-Ton. The theme for the month is "SWEET AND SOUR"

A couple of weeks ago, we visited Dad's eldest brother who was bedridden. Bade papa was all of 85, yet full of life and energy. He saw us stream in to meet him and the most radiant smile lit up his face. 

"Come, come, come..." he beckoned us in and motioned for us to sit around him. 

Badi Ma, dutifully arranged for chairs to be placed around his bed so that he could see and talk to all of us. His memory seemed to be failing him and he pointed to my hubby, 

"This is....." he tried hard to remember.

"My husband, S" I added helpfully.

"Ah! yes, how can I forget!" 

He turned slowly to my sister and recognised her immediately. He seemed mighty pleased with himself and clicked his frail fingers in glee. Taking a cue, she brought her husband closer to him and told his name. 

"Oh, yes, I know, I know..." he said, not wanting us to know he had indeed forgotten the names.

The kids came around and climbed on his bed jumping around, seemingly oblivious to the old man on the bed. 

"Sshhhh....get down this minute," I chided.

"No, no..let them be," he brushed my comment aside, "I like it this way...if kids don't behave like this, who else will? you and me?" he laughed.

I was scared they'd fall on him and cause him pain.

We spoke for a long time about the good times and he would pause to reflect on those memories as if they had just passed by. He was struggling to speak with the slur in his voice, and badi ma dutifully translated what we could not understand.

Finally we got up to leave and he hugged each one us lying down. 

"I might not be around the next time you visit here" he remarked, as I took a last look before leaving his room. A thin smile trying to form on his lips but quickly fading away.

A lump formed in my throat at the thought of never being able to see him again. "No bade papa, you'll be fine," I assured, not so sure myself, "don't say such things."

He simply nodded and smiled, maybe at my immaturity, maybe at my childlike wish.

We spoke about him on our way back home. He had been an inspiration to all of us with his vast knowledge, his thirst for education for every single member of our large family, and his sense of humour and wit. 

The next day we had been travelling back home by train, when Dad called us to tell us that bade papa had passed away that afternoon. It was incredibly hard to believe that the man we had seen in flesh and blood less than 24 hours ago was no more. 

Badi Ma told us how happy he had been after we left. Till he went to bed, he could not stop raving about us and our kids and the wonderful time we had together, she said. 

Sweet and sour memories these, souring before we could enjoy the sweetness of it all. But these are the ones I will cherish all my life. I am happy we were able to make the visit that day, or I would have lost the opportunity of bringing him whatever little happiness we did, in his final moments.

RIP Bade Papa.

The fellow Blog-a-Tonics who took part in this Blog-a-Ton and links to their respective posts can be checked here. To be part of the next edition, visit and start following Blog-a-Ton. Participation Count: 04

Write tribe- Day 1- Seven things about me!!

The Write Tribe Festival of Words kick starts today. It is a seven day blogging festival with SEVEN as its theme will be celebrated from the 1st to the 7th of September. 

Some 88 Bloggers have already registered for this first Write Tribe Festival of Words. Looks like it will be a rollercoaster of fun and creativity!!

You can join us in this celebration too. To sign up fill this form or visit the Write Tribe blog.

Looking forward to meet you in this Festival of Words!

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To start off I decided to tell you seven things about me. 

1.       I am crazily fond of kajal.

Irrespective of whether I’m going out or staying at home, I make it a point to smear my eyes with kajal every single day. Yeah…that’s how crazy I am!! Little wonder then, that I find kohl lined eyes incredibly beautiful.

2.       I lust after Kishore da’s songs.

I guess everyone who knows me also knows how this man makes me sooooo crazy. Maybe we have a past life connection!  I listen to his songs day in and day out irrespective of whether I’m writing, or cooking or reading….I'm listening to him now... and I know all his songs by heart…yea…I can pick up the song with the very first note….!! My favorite Kishore da songs are "phoolon ke rang se, dil ki kalam se" and "pal pal dil ke pass"

3.       Small things make me extremely happy.

Hubby always tells me how easy it is to make me happy. A small praise here, a little pat there, a bar of chocolate, and that would be enough to make me really happy!! But I can always sniff out flattery and I loathe it…

4.       I am more sensitive than mimosa pudica…

I cry when I see emotional scenes. Yea…even if I have seen that several times before!!  Marriage and ‘bidai’ scenes make me very teary eyed as do death scenes!! I end up making quite a ‘scene’ of myself, crying myself silly!! I am very scared of horror movies, and when I watch them, I usually sit next to my hubby with a secure pillow in front of my face!

Hurtful words, insensitive words, even a higher decibel of the voice….have the ability to trigger my tear gland within no time!

5.       I am an outdoor person.

that's my gang..the 3 missing people are clicking this snap and hence not visible here! 

I love travelling, and lucky to have a hubby who shares my passion…luckier still to have a gang of friends who share this as well!! We were initially a group of 6 couples, who over the past decade have increased to 24, with two kids each!! Weekends, long holidays, and the silliest of reasons are enough to get us off on a nice getaway…we have travelled with heavily pregnant girls (well into the 8^th month!!) and little infants ( as small as 3 months old!), in brief nothing has stopped us from taking our little trips!!!

6.       I still love to drink milk.

While everyone I know, goes ‘yuck’ at the mere mention of milk, I can drink tons of it! I like it flavoured with rose, or almonds or just plain with sugar…and I like it cold.  No tea or coffee for me. now, now...don't crinkle your noses!!!

7.       I make friends at the drop of a hat.

And I keep them too! I can be extremely comfortable in the alienist of surroundings and making friends acquaintances out of total strangers is no big deal for me. Of course not all acquaintances turn into friendships, but those that do become close, I make every effort to keep them that way.

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A first....

A Victory

That's a screen shot of my story that got published in the August issue of Tamarind rice , an online magazine. Kind of felt nice to see my name in print! The issue was about freedom and my post was just about that! Read the story on page 10-11 of the august issue and let me know how you liked it!!