You know you're working too hard when....

....you spend five minutes outside your front door rummaging in your bag for your access card.

Candid Camela

My 4-year-old nephew is amazingly sharp with a camera. He uses his mom's camera phone to take the most unlikely pictures - such as her eye, or someone in motion - and often borrows my digicam to take "only five photos" several times over.

I like this picture he took of my dad for a number of reasons:

My dad doesn't let anyone else take his picture.

This one's natural, not posed for.

The composition is arresting.

The other day my sister told him that he has too many toy cars (probably 700 of them) so he should switch to collecting something different. He promptly said "Camelas".

It's a sign!

What do the following words mean to you?
Thaba
Thanthuri
Pakoda (point)

I figured out the first one pretty darn quick, cos it was part of a hand-painted sign saying "Punjabi Thaba".
The next one took some thinking. Finally I put two and two together and figured it was Tandoori.
The last one - this is a concept! There were so many variations of this particular sign:
Pakoda Point
Pagota Point
Pakota Point
And finally, Pagoda Point. Phew!

All of these were sighted on the drive from Bangalore to Yercaud.
Every year an Indian kid wins the spelling bee?

Nothing to do with Bliss

A few weeks back, Bobby and I went to Yercaud (pardon the ghastly spelling, but that's how it is) for the weekend. It's a hill station 220 odd kilometers away from Bangalore, and a rather decent drive. The last hour entails the manoeuvring or 20 hairpin bends (blwack), but the route is scenic enough for you to forgive the nauseating climb, especially if you're used to chaotic Indian metros. Now, don't get overexcited; the view isn't spectacular. I've seen better in Shillong, etc., but like I said, it's such a welcome change from the city.

But the view gets prettier as you climb, and the air is clean, it's green all around, and so peaceful. Didn't hurt that the hotel was lovely. All I could say again and again was "It's so beautiful."

We had a day and a half there - the half was spent looking out over rain lashing the mountains, but Oh so beautiful. I took 156 photographs, including the one here, ate a lot of great food, counted the different shades of green I could see in the trees on the slopes - basically relaxed like I haven't in a long time.

When I came back, I asked someone if they've been there. They said No, cos there's nothing to do. And I thought, That's true. Isn't it perfect?

The Reading Room

When I moved to Calcutta at the age of 13, the only place I got any privacy was the loo. I used to take a book and seat myself comfortably - as often on the toilet lid as not - and stay in there for an hour or more at a time. My unsuspecting aunt thought I was the most retentive kid she had ever seen and regularly told my mom to introduce more roughage in my diet. Ha. How sweet.
Things have changed since then. I still take a book to the loo, but I can't stand being in there for more than ten minutes. Don't you want to know why?
I have a lot more space now; fewer people to bother me. I can read for as long as I like without being asked to run some errand, or complete a chore. I can read three, four books at a time and leave them lying around without fear of someone snatching them up to read themselves. Talking about reading several books simultaneously - I find it impossible not to do that. Unless the book is extraordinarily gripping, I always read at least two together: one before I go to bed, and the other at other times during the day. This is the book I carry with me when I go to to work; so if I have to take a lunch break on my own, I have words for company. (It's a different thing I don't read it at work.)
The reason I like to read two books at a time is that I like to feel that all aspects of my thinking and feeling are exercised. For example, if I'm reading a work of fiction (Lollipop Shoes - the sequel to Chocolat), I need to balance that with something like Eat Pray Love - real life stuff. If I'm reading Women Who Run With The Wolves, I need a nice little pot boiler to skim through on the side. It makes perfect sense. Ensures balance. I am a balanced person if nothing else. So balanced that a Libran looks contorted next to me! Ha, don't tell my sister!
OK I need to digress for a bit. That little problem my aunt thought I had....well I have it for real now. I'm buying a big fat book this weekend. I need it.

Trees

I've loved trees ever since I can remember, and when I'm away on holiday most of my pictures end up being of trees. It's a love I share with many women I know, but few men. Is the love of trees a gender thing? I looked up symbolism of trees - there's a lot of information out there about how almost every culture on the planet associates many meanings to trees and forests. The Tree of Life, for example, is a symbol of resurrection, and of a union between heaven, earth and the underworld. Whatever the deeper mythical symbolism, the joy and peace I feel when I am surrounded by the sight, smell and sound of trees is equalled by nothing else in the world.