Twenty- five Seven

Personally speaking

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  • 5 Golden tacks and a lesson for life#MondayMusings

    Life has strange ways of teaching you lessons. I learnt a valuable lesson the very first day of school.

     5 Golden Tacks

     

    It was my very first day at school and I was excited. Transitioning from a Kindergarten to the big school is a thrilling feeling for a 5 years old and I couldn’t stop grinning as I left home in my new uniform, new shoes and new water bottle. I felt very grown up as I settled down in the front seat next to my dad and gaily waved goodbye to my mum who was standing at the door . She looked a bit apprehensive and that worried me.  I was quiet on the way to school and looked out of the window as the world sped by. I clutched on to my dad’s hand as he walked me into class. Would I like this new adventure?

    But Mrs. S was a kindly old lady who patted my hand and reassured my dad that I’d be fine and led me into the classroom.  I took one last look at him walking away and hung my bottle next to the others along the wall.I stared in fascination at the colourful charts pinned to the boards with shiny brass tacks and  sat at the desk the teacher assigned to me. I don’t remember much of the day but I do know that I was fascinated by the golden tacks that held up all the charts along the wall. They glistened every time I looked at them and I kept imagining how they’d look stuck up inside my cupboard, or perhaps on my headboard or may be even a felt board on which I could stick things, if I could persuade my mum to get me one.

    When the bell rang at the end of the school day, I looked once again at the charts on the wall and said a silent goodbye to the golden tacks while intoning  “Good afternoon and Thank You Mrs. S” with the rest of the class.

    I gathered my things and was joining the line to go down to the school hall where we’d be picked up by our parents, when I saw something glistening in the corner. I couldn’t believe it when I realised it was a tack and it wasn’t just one but five of them: 5 Golden Tacks!

    “Don’t take things that don’t belong to you,” my mother’s words rang in my head as I reached out to pick them. But I ignored that little voice and buried the tacks in my pocket.

    I was pleased with my little secret and hid the tacks in my cupboard as soon as I reached home.

    That night, I felt a sharp prick in my foot as I was getting into bed. I turned my foot over and saw a golden tack gleaming maliciously at me. I quickly pulled it out and watched the blood ooze out. The pain was killing me and I flung the tack into a far corner. The next morning I put the 4 tacks inside my pocket and quietly took them back to school.

    I’m linking this post to Write Tribe’s #MondayMusings

  • Colour it Blue

    This October, Mumbai’s seen the hottest temperatures for this time of the year with daytime seeing us boil in the high 30s (almost touching 40 degrees C) .  But I suppose this was to be expected with the denudation of Bombay’s leafy canopy when it became more concrete than jungle in its transformation to Mumbai.

     

    The skies have been a pale blue with a distinct haze that makes it impossible to see anything across the harbour so I decided to add a little blue and make the picture more interesting.

     

     Here’s the original untouched picture which looks dull and gloomy with a distinct haze hovering over the buildings that look grey and miserable.

    And  here’s the touched up picture with more blue.

    What do you think? Isn’t the blue sky better than a pale one?

    For more skies from around the world go visit SKYWATCH FRIDAY  Skywatch Friday

  • Walking down a leafy street in Mumbai’s Art District 

    There are very few leafy streets left in Mumbai these days particularly wide ones with old trees and old buildings. Rampart Row which was so called because it was once the rampart of the fort that was Bombay, is one such lovely road. Of course the name has now been changed to K. Dubash Marg and the equestrian statue of King Edward VII that marked the beginning of the road giving it its name Kala Ghoda has been shifted like many British statues to the zoo.

    Lots more has changed too and Bombay has become Mumbai bringing with it an Indianisation that has detracted from its original charm. Always a business district, it has for many years fallen to disrepute particularly after dark when the streets would come alive to shady drug peddlers and fancy hookers.

    But of late , things seem to be getting cleaned up or so it seemed when I visited Concern India Foundation yesterday morning. I was pleasantly surprised to see a new Ritu Kumar store and a Gallery 7 , a  new art gallery come up. This neighbourhood has already seen a renewed gentrification with eateries, boutiques sharing space with the iconic Jehangir Art Gallery , the Museums and the existing  old yellow stone buildings being given a good scrub down.

    I used to think it was a bit facetious to call this place an Art District or Precinct , but yesterday ‘s walk convinced me that it was indeed worthy of its name.

    (more…)

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