Our Christmas fireworks in Kerala

Soon it will be Christmas Day!

Christmas excitement has filled the air....the hearths and homes....the hearts young and old...

How time flies!

We celebrated our Mahi's 17th birthday on 28 October. It seems like yesterday that we had just become parents of a beautiful, bouncy baby girl who looked at the world with bright, wide eyes filled with wonder....we remember the first day...the day she rolled over.... the day she sat up... crawled...took her first step...spoke her first word which of course was 'mamamamama'......17 years have passed. To-day she is a vivacious, chirpy teenager brimming with confidence and cheerfulness. These pictures are spaced out 17 years in time. From a wee little babe, she has transformed into a young woman. You can see how the parents have changed too! May God bless our dear little one and give her many more wonderful birthdays to celebrate. May God bless all the children of the world and give them happy homes and loving parents....

Five Go To Disneyland!

Hey, did you hear that? The Famous Five team is getting a twenty-first century make-over. Disney is making an animated series of the adventurous five who kept us glued to the Famous Five books in our childhood. But this time it is their descendants that are going to take us on an adventure trail. Gone are Julian, Dick, Anne, George and Timmy. Enter their techno-savvy kids with laptops and mobile phones: Max, Dylan, Allie, Jo and Timmy-II.

Jo is the group's leader - she is the daughter of George and an Indian named Ravi whom she met on a mountaineering expedition in the Himalayas. Hmm...quite interesting. Could be the lead to an interesting love story between tomboy George and the conservative, orthodox Indian...

Max - the son of Julian – enjoys thrill-seeking activities including surfing. He is outgoing and athletic and has a shock of blond hair.

Dylan is Dick's son and lives in the city. He wears a hoodie and carries a laptop, video camera and mobile phone and is described as the "entrepreneur".

And Allie, the daughter of Anne has matching headband, T-shirt and wristband and is constantly on her mobile phone to her friends back home.

It is interesting to imagine that all the original Famous Five adventures would have ended differently if Julian and his team had mobile phones. The police would have been just a call away in most situations which had sent our pulses racing...

It's my birthday....

It's my birthday to-day and I am a year older than I had been yesterday. I must confess that much as I'm delighted about my birthday, I'm not all that enthusiastic about becoming older.

I woke up in the morning with a prayer in my heart and a host of resolutions in my head. Hubby darling and daughter dearest showered me with good wishes and gifts and I got a few calls from home too, which have made my day.

I'm alone at home now and find myself drifting off into a rather contemplative mood. I am reflecting on all the birthdays past and on the mysterious mechanism of growing older with each passing birthday. Wasn't it just yesterday that I went overboard with joy on getting a set of Famous Five books as a birthday gift? It was for my tenth birthday, I guess. How time flies!

This morning, I did not forget to read Psalm 103, which has become a custom with me ever since my tenth birthday. That was when I got a birthday greeting card from our church, in which the Vicar had written "You must read Psalm 103 to-day and meditate on it"

I looked out of my window in the morning and saw the sun shining brightly. Isn't it the same sun which shone brightly on my tenth birthday as I trudged along to school in an orange bellbottom trouser and polka dotted top with a box of Cadbury's Eclairs in my bag? Why doesn't the sun grow old? Why don't the Famous Five kids ever grow old? Tucked away between the covers of the book, Julian, Dick, Anne, George and Timmy remain frozen in time.

I just raided my daughter's bookshelf and picked an old Famous Five book and browsed through a few pages. I was immediately transported back in time. I became a ten year old with an enormous appetite for Enid Blyton books……..

I guess I have reached the conclusion that you are only as old as you think you are. It's all a matter of the heart and the head. So let me count my blessings, think positive and age gracefully as I raise my glass to toast the year that has gone by…………..

A Visit to the "Maximum City"

My Limericks

THE MAN FROM BRITAIN

There was a fat man of Britain
Who weighed almost a ton.
He went on a diet,
So little did he eat
That he reduced to the size of a button.


FRENCH BEARD

There was a Frenchman with a beard
That was too long and too weird.
People ran away
If ever he came their way
‘Twas the weird beard they feared.

THE AMERICAN

There was an old American
Who wouldn’t part with his beer can.
Awake or asleep
Or even on a trip
Till the can became part of the man.

MUSCAT GIRL

There was a young girl of Muscat
Who screamed at the sight of a rat.
But when a wolf passed by
She smiled and said “Hi”
Now what do you make of that?

- Geeta

The Kerala Monsoon (Haiku Poems)

Coconut trees sway
In the crazy monsoon winds--
Rain in Kerala!

***********************

It's been raining here
Since morning without an end -
Earth's thirst is quenched!

- Geeta

The Lucky Tree

We got this tree as a gift from someone. I guess it's a group of three saplings made to grow in this manner with their shoots braided like a maiden's hair . Does anyone know the name of this tree? The leaves seem like those of the Alstonia Scholaris (the ancient paala tree on which dwells the yakshi!).

A peacock in the desert...

This is the picture of a peacock I saw in the grounds of a hotel here. It was an iridiscent blue and it had a green tail with lots of "eyes" all over it. There were a couple of peahens and the peacock was trying to impress them, I guess, by spreading out its lovely plumage. I looked for my camera and found to my dismay that I had mistakenly left it at my cousin's place. So I couldn't get a picture of it but my nephew took one with his camera phone and here it is. The female species looked so plain in front of this majestic creature. In order to irritate the male folks with me, I quipped: Quite unlike the homosapiens, in all other animals it is the male species that's beautiful/handsome (whatever)!

At Taj Garden Retreat, Varkala

Last summer we spent three days and three nights in this picturesque resort tucked away amidst lush groves of coconut palms atop a majestic cliff facing the sea in a quiet little place called Varkala, near Trivandrum

At a cool resort by the Pampa

Nostalgia

This is Kuttanad with its old world charm...where time seems to stand still as the rest of the world whizzes past....where the Pampa flows gracefully through the Kuttanadan plains in quiet anticipation of meeting her Prince Charming:the Arabian Sea....where snake boats glide majestically on the Pampa.......Oh to be a part of that world again.....Kuttanad and the Pampa beckon me......

My dining table has different moods

The dining table is the heart of the home. It's the spot where we all come together, where squabbles and skirmishes take place, where decisions are made, where resolutions are broken.... My dining table dons a new appearance on special days...birthdays, Valentine's, party time....whatever.