Flavours of my day

Today. Made up of all the emotions I thought. I had left behind a few years.

Dreams of hills today. With some sadness. Some memories. Some hopes and some envy. Oh how I have dreamt.

The overcast sky. Beautiful. Made a perfect backdrop. A cup of tea and pages full of words. In front of me on the table. And inside me, gurgling away in confusion.

Deep inside my chest. Inside my eyes. And inside somewhere else where I cannot reach. I close my eyes and hope to escape. Them.

A semblance of a resilience from inside somewhere. Very shy. Very still.

And. Pineapple, hazelnut, ginger.

Flavours of my day.

Unexpected melodies

An unexpectedly chilly night
At the start of summer
Windy
Noisy
With the dry leaves
Running around
Chattering away
As they ride the balmy waves.

Then a faint sound
Of a stranger on the road
Singing a melodious tune
The voice
Beautiful
As he pedals against the
Balmy waves.

And the dry leaves
Stay quiet for a moment -
Listening.

The more loving one

If equal affection cannot be,
Let the more loving one be me.

- W H Auden



Thanks to Alexander McCall Smith for the discovery of these beautiful lines.

Reminders

Yesterday evening, at a traffic light, I saw three street kids having the time of their life in the middle of all the vehicles. As soon the the lights turned red and the vehicles stopped, they shouted 'start' and ran between the vehicles playing hide and seek. All the time laughing and giggling and completely uncaring and unaware of the world passing by on wheels. One of them hid next to my autorickshaw trying to avoid the little boy tracking him. Another one bent low next to a black Honda salon. A few seconds before the light turned green, they were both 'found' by the boy tracking them, and all three erupted in laughter, slapped each other on the shoulders and walked off chattering away.

The world on wheels careened its neck to catch one last glimpse of the trio. A brief reminder of bliss, friendship, childhood, laughter and a niggling feeling of guilt. A few seconds later the lights turned green and with a silent sigh and a loud squeel, the world on wheels rushed on.

This afternoon

Today I want to write about this afternoon.

The kind of afternoon which comes about only between the winter and the spring. The kind of afternoon when the sun borders on being too strong and yet is missed dearly when one escapes into the shade. The afternoon which burns the cheeks incessantly and yet comes with a sense of relief and pleasure.

This afternoon I sit with my left cheek turned towards the sun. The head tilted to one side to avoid looking the sun in the eye. This is the kind of afternoon built for dreaming about Africa and Jaipur and journeys and landcapes and authors and books and incidents far far away.

The afternoon made for sitting amongst grass and twigs and yellow buds about to unfurl into unruly maroon flowers. The kind of afternoon which just for today, is perfect, for dreaming and day dreaming and imagining words and worlds.

As I sit with my left cheek turned towards the sun, I am satiated and happy, with just this one afternoon.

This New Year's Day

Winter Rain
and chill in the air

warm food
besides snug heaters

Family
reminiscing
and
building new memories

Friends far away
Cozy blankets
around Books
new and old

Cafetieres and decanters
Among cups of tea
with cardamom and cloves

Ghunghroo, forever in our thoughts and conversations
Rocky snug in his chair, chewing his way to happiness -
chairs, seats, blankets and today - a pair of woolen gloves

Resolve, hopes and a little bit of practicality
Tiptowing its way in.

with lots of Plum Cake
one ripe Fig
and more and more food.

Plenty to be thankful for
this New Year's Day.