In the course of my web ramblings, I chanced upon this piece of work by Amruta Patil:

Click the image to get to the website with the actual illustrations.

I keep seeking...
Knowing not, where the search ends...
Knowing not, what it is that I seek...
I sense a void , not of something wrenched out,
But of something, unborn...
A hidden someone, who preys on my thoughts and seizes my heart sends me on a voyage...
I travel through mystical lands and witching climes on a frail gossamer train...
And when I arrive at the fork , I slip out of my reverie and wonder what lay beyond.

Snippets from the news- Asia

The loss of so many children is particularly poignant in China, where the government's family planning policies, aimed at curbing population growth, mean that most have lost their only child.

- ExpressIndia, reporting on the earthquake in China.

Bunkered away in the centre of the country, the secret and reclusive generals who rule Myanmar fear all foreigners. Rather than alleviating the suffering wrought by Cyclone Nargis, the top generals' primary concern at present is to preserve their power and protect their families' future position and wealth.
For decades, the ruling military regimes have kept Myanmar isolated, fearing that opening the country up would impact both its businesses and culture, and still worse, foster subversive thoughts like freedom of speech and democracy.
-AlJazeera.net

The Cricket Premier League.

The IPL has changed my life as it was - and not in a nice way.
The surfing spouse, is a changed man. Am I glad for twenty over games ? I am not sure , anymore.
Evenings are occupied by the IPL games and mornings by re-runs. And yes, the quality time in between, is spent in avidly following on-field/off-field cricketing shenanigans and silly post- match, pre-match commentaries and cheerleading morality.
Any movement - real or imagined, towards the remote , is swiftly quelled by yelling, whooping, mild threats and angry gesticulation.
A physical barrier of human limbs and entire humans sprawled across the expanse between the couch and the TV seeks to thwart potential trespassers.
Don't get me wrong here. I used like cricket, a good deal, in the one day fifty over games; my affinity being driven by a strong sense of nationalistic pride. You see the problem now? I dont care enough for any of the states / regions to firmly support one. To add to the disarray, my tiny brain finds it hard to process that MS Dhoni from Jharkhand plays for Chennai, Harbhajan for Mumbai and Sreesanth for Punjab (I could be wrong about one or more here). The Southerners don't play for the South and vice versa. Yeah,yeah! IPL goes beyond boundaries and all that - Bah.
And what's with the uniform -I mean, Hello, how does one correlate . There are no GLARING visual identifiers - as they'd assert in marketing, I am the consumer, they lost to the brand association/identity lacuna.
I, in all earnestness, have tried to the follow the damn league games. I pride myself on being a thorough 'start at the grassroots' kinda girl and I find myself stumbling right there at
Stage 1: Identify the team. :-(
The spouse draws huge laughs from this Q & A session , we have
He: So honey, who is playing- DON'T LOOK AT THE TICKER!
Me: Uh....uh... there's Yuvraj, must be Delhi Daredevils!
He: Sweetie ( feigned patience) we went over this ten minutes back.
Me: Ok Ok! There's Parthiv Patel cute boy, so I'm sure Baroda's playing.
He: BARODA's not even an IPL team, OK.
Me: Ha... I know Chennai is playing - (Source: visual association- yellow {color of summer= only season in Chennai}= Chennai uniform)
Yaay ( whooping) , I was right!

I am actually beginning to enjoy IPL myself, especially during the endless Vodafone 'Happy to Help' cute pug commercials and the Pepsi -MS Dhoni- Rajinikant commercials.

One cannot weep for the entire world, it is beyond human strength. One must
choose.
~Jean Anouilh

I choose a friend in lonely lands, a friend in a loveless relationship, and a friend without a real family, to call her own. Am I overstepping the allowed ?

Two days in a row, my flowers bloomed ebulliently. They pranced around in the breeze and gaily animated my landing. They seem rather blue this morning. Maybe they just slept in. Or maybe, I liberally dispersed my blue contagion and they just picked it up.

Early today , I woke to a dark gloomy sky, a tiny nip in the air and the still lingering smell of wet earth from yesterday's sudden shower. The air hung heavy with the imminent promise of a wet gloomy day. And then I noticed my tiny hibiscus bud, trembling under the dew...

I made a mental note to not douse my plants in water today.

Eventually the clouds drifted along to another land and the sun shone- nice and bright.

And lo and behold, my tinny bud had blossomed into a youthful Hibiscus rosa-sinensis.

I think I would recommend "The Savages" to anyone, who'd appreciate the need to forgive, especially a parent.
"Jon, he cared, Dad did-he possibly forgot all about us, because of the ...(dementia)."

I have 'dog -eared' my copy of Kari, by Amruta Patil.
Its doing its rounds among the community of feeful , who were sucked up by it, at first glance, on a certain evening at 'Nivedita'.
I hope it leaves a happy ache in the heart of all you devourers.
I get all misty-eyed and achy when I think of the book.

To be continued, it says , at the very end, when Kari seemingly bobs out of her sewer.

I will wait...

Of a haunting late evening at work.

I have always loved her with a reverence bordering on obsequiousness. I always chose her over compatriots as the only object of my intense affection...
But today, in the quiet of the office at 7: 00 pm, I discovered him.
Ah the "but" - the beautifully worrying harbinger of a dark something to come.
He smelt of a faint burnt something, tingling the inside of my head. The redolence that hung in the air, drew me to him almost like a smooth slithering fluid movement in space. I closed my eyes, felt around for the source and urged myself away. He was no good, for my clingy self. I did not need him, to latch onto - not when I had pledged my allegiance to her, through solemn oaths, serious money and passionate research.
What do I do? My heart draws me to the forbidden, while my mind wills me to stay with my faithful paramour. She was this warm brown subtle concoction - ever delightful...
Tea, I am sorry for doing this to you.
Damn the new roasty beaned coffee machine! You, I will briefly indulge and wait to pooh-pooh away.