Wordsmith at work

Three birthdays and too much cake in one week.The significant other turned 61(age is just a number, you say), there was a milestone birthday with the firstborn turning 21and it was the lucky and last teenage birthday of the junior sweet tooth .   The milestone birthday made me realise that there is now technically one more adult at home. What's in store for me? I wonder.Three males - A twenty-one-year-old, a 19-year-old and a 61-year-old(read 16)I find myself pitted against 3 males!! One day at a time sweet Jesus!   Death and destruction have marked the recent past. Innocent lives claimed by cowards. Will justice prevail? Will the criminals be brought to book?  An outspoken journalist and activist is gunned down because she spoke her mind, a seven-year-old is brutally murdered because he fought his perverted assailant and a talented pianist allegedly jumps to his death . How more gruesome does it get? How many more precious lives wil...

Son, This is a milestone birthday and you are twenty-one. from a baby with colic to a man of music, The journey has sure been an exciting one. Your childish chatter on tape is but a precious keepsake, The years have flown; you, child have grown, A man soon to come into his own.  It was touch and go, but today you have so much to show.  Life is sometimes an  uphill climb, just continue to smile, be gentle and kind May happiness and good luck come knocking at your door. May the good lord be with you wherever you go! You came to us a good 40 days early. It seemed that you were not going to be with us for long - Nana said that you looked like a tiny black rat, with zero chances of survival but it has been 21 years and you are alive and kicking! There were many, many moments of anxiety and fear but you little man, put up a brave fight and today we raise a toast to 21 years of 'awesome'.  A powerhouse of talent you have excelled in almost every fi...

T he city is back on its feet after the deluge last week. Water logging, flooding and a few untimely deaths because of negligence marked August 29th2017.  Mumbaikars relived July 2005 on August 29th 2017. The richest municipal corporation in India received the thrashing of its life from all quarters for its apathy towards the citizens and shoddy maintenance of infrastructure.Every time a deluge happens Mumbaikars experience a sense of Deja vu. Will the corporation ever learn or ever care?   As always, in these difficult times, the 'good -samaritan' spirit of the Mumbaikars comes to the fore. The numerous shelters that mushroomed were amazing and there have been testimonies to the same.   On one hand, we hail the famed Mumbaikar spirit which the municipal corporation seems to have taken for granted and on the other hand if  Mumbaikars practised a little more civic sense the city may not find itself in these h...

Indians celebrated 70 years of glorious freedom from foreign rule on the 15th.There was flag hoisting and there were speeches and the usual rhetoric.Th e working crowd and students enjoyed another break as our Parsi brethren celebrate yet another new year. Navroze Mubarak.  The rains continue, sometimes quite dispiritedly and sometimes we enjoy a torrential downpour.As I write this the sun is playing peek - a -boo.We are eight months into the year.Preparations are on to welcome lord, Ganesh.The junior sweet tooth in the house is looking forward to sinking his teeth into modaks, the delicacy of the festival.A slew of festivals follow.   So far the year has seen two good Hindi movies, Lipstick under the burqa and Toilet... Ek Prem Katha.  both of which have done a pretty good job in sending a message across. Hindi cinema does have its good days.  Talking about Hindi cinema takes me back to my college days when there was no online boo...

Something that I miss dreadfully from my spinsterhood days is curling up with a good book. Recently a classmate from the school WhatsApp group suggested that the group talk books. Out tumbled the names of books, authors, 'have - read', 'must - read' and presently reading. Many have continued to be voracious readers like while others like yours truly were rediscovering the joys of reading. My first tangible memory of this very pleasurable hobby was the book 'A basketful of surprises by Enid Blyton that dad brought home for me. There was no turning back.I was hooked. My parents both book lovers supported my passion for reading.  As a child, Enid Blyton was a hot favourite. I gradually moved on to the adventures of the Hardy boys and Nancy Drew.Richmal Crompton's William saw me chuckling away to glory  There was this book shack that dad dropped me off where for many years I kept alive my passion for reading. Together with Enid Blyton and Nancy Drew, the lives and...

This post may contradict an earlier post, 'Friends are forever.' I am 53 and have I lost any friends along the way? I read this rather interesting article about 'losing friends along the way' The writer received a forward that said, 'if you are not losing friends then you are not growing up.'  No man is an island and friends are an elixir to life. Life happens, you make friends and somewhere along the way you begin to lose touch with some of them, you find that you have very little or nothing in common, your goals and dreams differ, you walk different paths in pursuit of your goals and dreams and you make new friends along those paths.  Hence in order to achieve your dreams and goals and to grow says the writer losing friends is inevitable. "In order to move on, you need to outgrow people and situations.'You don't need to break friendships, you stay in touch but just about.   My significant other swears by the fact that your only friends a...

It is a quiet Sunday afternoon. I have just woken up from my siesta and thought that I would pen a few lines on the eve of my 53rd birthday.So what do I have to say for myself?  I was a few kilos lighter last year at this time. The jeans  I wore last year on my birthday are a little too snug for comfort this year. Ah! but isn't that what life is all about? you lose some and you win some!I was in conversation with a college friend whom I have not seen for thirty plus years and we thought that the gang should meet up before ailments get the better of us. Our spirits are up and age is just a number.  This one year has been none too eventful. Mostly boring house hold chores, mundane stuff but in between, I have managed to crack an article writing course that I had enrolled for 3 years ago and have rediscovered the joys of being a bibliophile in the last  12 months. I consider that quite a  feat for a boring old homemaker! I am presently...