Within OUR frames

This post has been brewing as to say for weeks now.

With all my trips home, it is invariably an attempt to post some pictures and the story continuously beside.

Having written the first part (and hoping it will add some color to the post) let me get on before I decide to set it down completely.

It was altogether a bad start. After landing up in India, in just a couple of hours I had my luggage stolen. Feels great. I flew to Bangalore the next day I landed in Delhi. On our way home from the airport, we stopped to have dinner in a restaurant. After dinner we returned to find one of the the car windows broken and the bag gone. There begins my travel errand!!

This is from our trip to Tirumala. In one way or the other, visiting some temple town is always on the cards when I am in India.

Divya and I in the jeep in a state of impatient expectancy about our road trip through the seven hills.

The chilly freshness of the place surpasses every other excellence. I wanted to stop in and take some pictures but the driver didn’t conceive it as a wise thing.

With the many advertisements about leopards and wild elephants, it was a close call to realizing my safari dream to the extent that I had my fingers crossed to seeing some wildlife. We drove through for about 3 hours and luckily saw nothing.

This is a very shaken picture of Appa but one I liked the best… a very gleeful him talking about his first trip to these hills with my mother after their wedding. Hmm sweet memories ..fine let me save him the unease and say no further.

In bus only the two of us. Amma, Appa and Annu were doing the customary-last-minute-buying. Being a parent (yes one day I am going to be one) ..why is it that we grow up but they don’t. Like Appa asking the driver to take care of us. It was amusing. In a while the driver peacefully locked us inside and went for a stroll.

Anyhow he was really nice. 1. he drove us right up to our bus back to Bangalore. He drove with just the 5 of us. We told him if he waits long we will miss our next bus. 2. he bought us verkadalai. When people are nice I find them unexpectedly very nice. May be because I am immune to such niceties… well people are good and kind in north too.

Our next visit was to Shravanabelagola. It was all planned very suddenly the same morning. We had intended to drive to my father’s native village that day. It was just an afterthought as all of us were surprisingly up by 4 AM and running.

This one is a pick from that morning’s 5-o’clock-photo- shoot. It is so with Appa and Divya, never tired of taking pictures. Thanks to them we are thoroughly bored of our repeated pictures.

I and Annukutti on the top of the hill in Shravanabelagola ..and my second misgiving

Just after this picture, aware(ingly) I leaned back resting on the poles. In a sudden jolt one of the vertical poles came loose. My vigil was only through chance that day. It WAS daunting for a moment. They did have warning boards but I happen to see them a little late. Seems I was in store of lot of luck

This is our sole surviving picture. Not a great photo but like said the only one with all of us in it. With our continuing attempt to have a appeasing photo together, I now appreciate anything close to it.

We continued to my father’s village from here. The place is a natural spree ..paddy fields, coconut groves, sugarcane stalks, banana plants.

Living in Delhi I have been here only occasionally. My school vacations were mostly about coming to Bangalore. In the last years those visits grew seldom too.

I miss the oldies… the river, the smell of burning wood, the temple festivities, the long walks to the bus stand, nights slept in open watching the sky and the fireflies. I wonder if there is another such place with so many fireflies.

This was on the day before Divya flew back to UK.. saying bye to friends and family.

Here the devil in disguise ..Annukutti for her school annual function performance.

This is my other best picture. I thought she looked really nice with all the crazy make up but then ONLY I thought. As put, the black-n-white effect is more appealing and I better comply along rather risk open fire.

Amma and Appa on Karthika Deepam. So has been my trip home. It is us so far. In our world. The nearest it will be his and later ours.

Home is where the heart is. I miss them ..more and more frequently these days. The same, being there is nice only for a couple of days… the novelty wears off. I am like a fish out of water restless to get back to a life I have spun without them. They understand.

Yes as Ayn Rand says loving is exception making. Ok my mind wanders too much..

missing link

Having them completely lost from my memory ..I met them today in the train simply by chance. They are a beautiful family, so happy together. It was really good to see them again.

They are the neighbors at my Professor’s [Dr. Rattay] place. Last time when I went to visit Dr. Rattay they were visiting her too. And we got all of us acquainted…

I was standing by the window and could see the whole family trudging along the lawn into the house. The father carrying his two younger kids followed by the mother and behind them the rest three kids. They have their eldest daughter and then four sons. Yes aren’t they impressive?

I had wanted to write a post that very day but couldn’t. Let me take it up today. They are a very interesting couple, really young and lively people. They pale every other family I have known in Europe. He is a German and she is a French. They met in London, fell in love and got married. And to talk about the languages they speak… English, French and German alluding to every detail. Even the children [except the youngest, he doesn't speak yet] made picture-perfect expressions in all three. Well may be it is good to have cross-country parents.

When I saw them today ..it was the same awe gripping me as a child. Nothing changed. Don’t know what did I expect to change. And the fact that they carry the kids in their arms makes them all the more likable. This is something I don’t see often in Munich. Things are way easy now with prams. It is an amazing number the number of prams I see in Munich.

Fathers are wonderful and being one must be a much stronger feeling. Being in his father’s arms must be the safest of the places for that kid. Sad they didn’t travel long with me and got out a few stops earlier. He walked off HOLDING his lady in the other hand and the other four kids followed. I know I am hopelessly trying to draw all those family ties here ..perhaps the day when I have children [:D].

Later today as if to smitten the nice morning, a friend at work got a call from home saying his father has passed away. Love and one’s presence are the only links to handle family ties. And it hits hard to think of the missing link in his life… all was well and good until this morning. His father had had a sudden heart attack!

S612

Its been more than 5 months since I blogged …and as ever I put an effort to be regular and blog more frequently.

Saying ‘put an effort’ would completely wrongly justify to my laziness and negligence. Thanks to my lazy interest, I feel a little lonely on my blog.

Anyhow, what triggered today’s post is Room S612. My niche here …started out right with my living in Munich. Today I had been to the student housing office. My permission to occupy the room is only until March 30th.

I must be moving out pretty soon. I don’t know is it normal to feel so much at home with a room. Nothing in downcast but in a while it will be altogether a new place to live. Should I call it ‘great’ or should I call it ’strange’ that we can so easily adapt leaving out our past habits? I know people who are so emotional with everything they have in life.

I have actually lived through this whole place and all the surrounding buildings. My, how the time has flown?

A lot many other things have come to an end as well and a lot many have begun. Now I have a complete scrapbook of things to do. Now no time to key everything down.

Next post will follow shortly

Bit TOO ridiculous

Seems I am completely frustrated with my neighbor. Yes, the girl next door. I guess she is training to become an addictive compulsive thief.

Up until a couple of weeks ago, just a day like today my mouthwash went missing. I couldn’t believe someone would steal my mouth rinse from me. But it happened …in broad day light.

And today, here’s the thing ..now I don’t see my toothpaste. I had bought it only last week. This is crazy, so infuriating especially when you are broke and are living in near scrimps …and of all you pay 150 bucks to have this toothpaste (Colgate) in particular. She is a strange person (as Balaji said, I should do her DNA to figure out the notable human traits) I am living with. In the beginning it was food. I have to share my kitchen and bathroom with four other people and it was always very easy for her to take all our things from the fridge. Not to be surprised, she does this very often. She has nicked so much of food.

Things were calm for a while but everything started again in all probability. I simply let it go sensing it would be another one long headache (conversing with her) I didn’t want to have. Needless to say, things are becoming worse and worse. That’s where it is going. I have tried all the reasonable options; spoke to her nicely as well as threateningly, notified all my other neighbors and looks nobody can gather some courage to confront her. It is always and only me.

I don’t want to sit gloating. I want to think of a good way to cut the cord. Good grief …hope I don’t smash her head. Isn’t it nice to have such wonderful neighbors living around???