More chemical than elemental...

Birthmother often quotes her favourite and only Uncle..
When discussions turn towards the other world...

We are made of the five elements.....
Earth, air, fire, water and ether...
He told her..
When she was all of 11 years old and had by then...
Lost both her parents....

When we die, we turn again into the elements and go back to that elemental state
He is supposed to have explained..
Now, I wonder if that is a comforting thought!!!
But she felt comforted...
At least it meant no ghosts!!!

Now..
I rather prefer the garbage about ..
Wandering around for a while in another level of being..
Followed by Rebirth...
And getting a second, third, fourth or fifth shot at things!!!!

Anyway...
Seems like I am not made of the elements alone...
Last week..
A stiff frozen leg...
made me moan and groan...

Birthmother suggested a course of something called Met-neurobion...
One tablet later...
My frozen leg slowly unfroze...
The tablet rectified some chemical imbalance...

Madrasgirl it seems..
Is made of more than earth, air, fire, water and ether..
She is made of chemicals too!!!
Hmmm..
Ciao!!!

Searching for Sanjeevani....

I was cleaning a bunch of keerai... aka spinach or greens...last week...
When Birthmother..
Seeing me ready to throw away the last of the bunch said with a smile:
"Don't be in a rush and throw it all away...
They say sanjeevani may lie hidden among the last leaves of the bunch..."

That set me off...
On my search for sanjeevani.....

Fortunately....
Unlike Hanuman...
I do not have to go to Mount Sumeru...
Or bring back that mountain....

To find this magical herb of Hindu mythology...
Which is capable of curing all maladies...
And can even bring the dead back to life!!!
I only have to look in the next bunch of greens...that I clean!!!!

What a clever ploy to prevent lazy ones like me...
From impatiently throwing away the tiny leaves...
But who knows??
Maybe there is something in these old wives tales!!!!

Searching for sanjeevani then...
Brings a smile to Maid's face...
As she watches me...

Sanjeevani?? she asks me and laughs!!!
Yes..I smile!!!
As I finish going through the bunch!!!

Searching for sanjeevani...
Almost made me late for work yesterday!!!

Maybe I will find it one of these days...
Only just like Hanuman....
I do not know what it looks like!!!!!
Just hope I do not toss it away!!!

Ciao!

The mantra for success...

The mantra for success..
Seems to have taken a paradigm shift in recent years...

To succeed...
If you are a woman...
Especially in Sweatshop-like places..
Is simple...

You have to be...
Between the ages of 30 and 42-45...
Fair-skinned....since Indians are really the most racist people in the world....
Dress in FabIndia clothes.....
You could also be color coordinated...but that is an option!!!

Is this the new Indian Corporate mantra/reality??
Or am I getting wise to it only now??
Not to mention cynical and distinctly bereft of humor....

Well!! Well!! Well!!!

The Internet helps relive a memory...

A few weeks ago...
Father got into a chatty mood....
We talked about the past...

He recalled a journey he had made from Madras to Rangoon by ship....
In 1935..
As a young schoolboy..
In the S.S. Rajula...

Grandfather had just taken charge as Chief Inspecting Officer for The Reserve Bank of India...
And was posted to Rangoon...

Father recalled traveling by first class with his younger sister...
On a three month break...

No..
It wasn't the summer vacation...
Just French leave....as he put it!!!
Or just chumma leave...

They were accompanied by their maternal grandparents....
Who traveled on the deck!
He still wonders why Grandfather did not cough up the first class fare for them...
He could well have afforded to...

Father still recalls the visits of his maternal grandfather to their stately, spacious well turned out cabin...every morning...

I used to feel so bad that I was traveling in such comfort...
And Grandfather was not!..he said...
And this was his favorite grandfather too...

Soon they reached the Burmese shores...
The ship chugged up to the mouth of the Irrawaddy...
And cast anchor there...

Grandfather came to pick them up...
Standing at the head of a sampan...
As ships could not make it up to the docks...
I can imagine Grandfather standing tall...in the sampan...
His head wrapped in his trademark turban!!!

The little boy and his sister had to be lifted down into the Burmese long boats...
And taken to shore...to their home in Rangoon...



The next day...
Madrasgirl did a net search and found images...
Of the SS Rajula...
And also..
The SS State of Madras in which they made the return journey!!!

Father was pleased to see the pictures of those old ships!!!

I have the image of the SS Rajula here for you to see...
Happy Memories!!

The New Age Woman...

A wedding over the weekend...
Made me realize that it is time I shelved old images...old stereotypes..
Especially of women!

The bride was all of 26...
In the throes of completing her PhD...
From a premier US University...

In that gathering of Chettiars..
She fitted in very well...
Smiling.....friendly...
She could have been my daughter...
Which to me would be the height of 'normal', 'ordinary' or what you will!!!

Yet she had shared the same home with the groom ...
For the last three years or so...
In distant America!!!

I am not commenting on the rightness or wrongness of the action..
It is their own business..as I would be reminded by those round me...
And thankfully so!!!

In my youth...
Those who opted for such 'live-in' relationships...
Adhered to a certain image...
Usually they were very Westernized...
Or very 'bold'....
The girl next door....
Very rarely ventured forth to break societal codes of premarital behavior....
For fear of being jilted etc...if nothing else...
Not so any more...

In this case...
Blessing came from Thiruvannamalai to the beating of drums...
So too from the Shirdhi Sai Baba Temple in Mylapore...
And the couple became man and wife...
Thankfully..it had ended well for these two!!!