Skip to main content

The Dark Lord, elephants and other things !

The early morning drive to Guruvayur is always a catharsis for me ! The long road that traverses across the countryside , often reminds me of Goa. The dawn breaking through the misty morning and reflecting on the tranquil backwaters , the charming churches co-existing with  the temples and mosques ....the morning calm and the anticipation to meet the Dark Lord again. ... !
The temple always humbles me , ensures that I am patient and in many ways it reins  in the myriad thoughts and wishes that flash across  as I sing "Achyutam Keshavan " silently in my head ! My many wish fulfilments and pacts (I always ask the Lord about wishing in Bangla....and then I am sure by now he understands :).......and finally the culmination at the sanctum sanctorum that never fails to invoke awe and amazement at the 
same time !

My visit to the elephant park always has a story ! This time I met Nandini a 40 years old who is actually a lady and "an experienced elephant" according to the trainer !
However Madhavan turned a little angry and decided to throw a bit of sugarcane at my direction when he found me taking picture of a sign board that talked about the unpredictable behavior !  Absolutely my fault again !




Of course my fascination continues as I watched them bathing like humans , being scrubbed cleaned and pampered with the pedicure and looking as pleased as punch ! However , my favorite Padmanabhan has grown old and senile , and needs treatment worth 40,000 a day ! His fall from grace is sad as he has been  banished to a remote corner after "killing" 5 people !

My batch of students this time is an interesting bunch! There is an actor's wife , who is humble and down to earth....and really sweet! Another, who absolutely adores me, in fact at times I have to remind him to take the notes down and not be lost  :) ( the adoration boosts my ego though ) ! A writer ,  teachers and a  fun bunch of young trainers I usually hang out with and end up having lovely time at Fort Kochi ! Having dinner and seeing  the ships sail by ! And then there is a handsome Scott who finds my "being waited upon" hilarious ....and calls me "Elizabeth" ( must say I love the name) !!

A far cry from home really ! But in the end I am missing Kolkata....as in my heart I worry about "Baba" (father in law) who is bed ridden for a while now...and another pact with the Dark Lord and I come back again.... soon !

Comments

  1. Abhishikta20 April 2013 at 11:01

    Ma'am Elizabeth!
    Kolkata calling :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. amrita20 April 2013 at 11:17

    I know ! Missing home and hearth and all that's connected !

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Being an eagle mum!

I always told this story to my trainees. About being the Eagle mum. An eagle mum prepares the nest in two layers, first downy feathers and below that,the thorns. When it is time to fly she removes the downy feathers so that the fledglings who refuse to fly fall on the thorns and that makes them flap n fly away! Bhaskar always calls is cruelty, the bojjat mommy! But to me its a way to push one out of the comfort zone, for the world waits beyond! My kiddos moved out to their own place today. And despite being an eagle mum, I kind of miss the chatter. I knew in my heart I would miss having them around... But they need to find their wings!
Post a Comment
Read more

A holiday with self :)

A long overdue blog about the path that I was seeking , or did the path seek me out ? Over the years the sheen of belief was wearing off and I was beginning to question the master about the magic - about faith becoming commercial, about what Bhaskar stated, "This is all about money".  Packing my bags off and going solo isn't very uncommon in my life, but this time I was not on work per se. Checking-in into the Ashram, was on my bucket-list for ever-since, and it was an amazing experience. Despite the crowd, the ambiance just reverberated with a mix of reverence, energy , faith, hope, prayer - and questions too ! Like I mentioned before meditation was not about spiritual pyrotechnics, but a metaphor connected to life. Like the corner I chose had a vantage view of the stage and despite a stench that started emanating from the corner, I just could not leave that place, for the view that corner offered got me stuck there. Life is like that, we are often stuck in the rut , ...
13 comments
Read more

Sepia times

 In recent times FB has come up with a new challenge that has everyone posting pictures in black and white- The B&W challenge had everyone using some app and changing the DP to that era. Cleaning my parents apartment, is always a voyage on a time machine  for me - Strange how the people are gone and the objects remain- like that arm chair , once my grandmother's  favorite then my father's ! I recently remodeled my grandparents double bed, more out of sentiment than anything else.  And then, this was Victoria Memorial in an original two colored snap. Of course it is now a fad to Prisma or Photoshop or play with an app to bring back the sepia days. Among the many memorabilia , I discovered Dadu's MB certificates - Dadu was sauve, westernized and very social. The story goes that when he went to see my mother for the first time, he wanted fork and spoon saying that at home they used cutlery at the table, and my Didi actually had the table laid out accordingl...
8 comments
Read more