Yesterday I received an email from a friend that reminded me that the Thirteenth month of the Hindu Calendar has begun . This brought back memories of another Adhik Mahina or the month of Purshottam which is a mechanism by which the Lunar and Solar calendars are brought on par. This year I won’t be celebrating this month but wonder if I will make the trip to Dadar to indulge in some Anarse, the deep fried cookie that has a unique taste…….
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For those of you who have been following me on my old blogs my prolonged silence in the blogosphere must come as a surprise – well it’s partly because I am in the process of re-vamping my blog, realigning my internet presence and starting afresh. It took quite a while to identify the right person to help me and thanks to Corinne and Vidya’s advice, I am in the right direction. They had both directed me to The Strategic Mama and I would have gone there but for the fact that Vanita is really busy. She did explain things really patiently to me – emails that were flying between a wedding over two days and two destinations but eventually directed me to Blogelina. Thanks you wonderful women for your help. So everything was decided with Blogelina and the blog would have been up and running by the middle of next month were it not for one tiny glitch – my credit card can only make domestic payments and I now have to wait for an International credit card as Blogelina didn’t have any other way of accepting payments save PayPal………….So, now once again my blog launch is delayed because we all know how banks work and how “easy” it is to get any work done these days!
So that’s the story of my blog and I’ve been keeping away from posting regularly but have been keeping up with all the other Write Tribe Bloggers and couldn’t resist joining the wonderful activity that you folks are participating in. So here are my Monday Musings.
After a wet and miserable weekend I feel pretty much like the man in the picture – looking out at a blue, rainy sea. Much as the rains were welcome, I always wonder why it rains on Saturday morning? And it rained and it rained all through the Brunch celebrating a friend’s 60th and it rained all the through the morning this Monday!
Luckily the first Monday in June was dry and we could enjoy airing our best saris while we celebrated the wedding of my nephew. Apart from the fact that we welcomed another new member into our family, it was special because all of us cousins got together for the first time in 50 years! Indeed with scattered families, family reunions with each and every member of a clan getting together will be harder and harder to achieve. Perhaps a WhatsApp group will help so that we can keep in touch regularly…..
The second Monday was a sneezy wheezy one spent combating a vicious ‘flu virus. Unfortunately, the only real cure for a viral infection is sleep and rest but how does one deal with the sneezes and wheezes? I did try catching the sneezes before they actually ripped a whole through the tissue, but eventually succumbed to the temptation of NoCold by Cipla which dried the drip but also left me dozing most of the time. After a dose of NoCold, I went for the tried and tested Brandy and honey too soothe me at night time but have now finally gone in for a course of antibiotic as I want to break the cycle of infect and reinfect. Lest you think I’m advocating self medication – I am not, all medication is taken under the supervision and prescription of my daughter who is a practising medical doctor.
So this Monday which was a wet and grey filled me with dread. It was only little P’s fifth day in pre-nursery and after a weekend break, was like the very first day all over again. Luckily, he didn’t make too much of a fuss and I hope by the time he welcomes his new sibling into the world (which is sometime next month) he will have settled in.
The nursery that he is going to is close to home and is very easy going but going to school is a big change for a little one. Suddenly from being the Centre of Everyone’s Universe, he becomes just a drop in the ocean and even though the transition is done with love and care, it comes as a shock. When you first hear your child cry you can recognise his voice but when the whole school is drowning in a cacophony of wails, they become indistinguishable and you only hope that your little one is not the one crying the place down.
The one thing I noticed in school though was the presence of grandmas. With so many working mothers, grandmas have taken over the task of ferrying children to school especially since the school discourages children coming with staff. Another thing that struck me was the fact that despite the readiness of the children for peer interaction and learning, at 2.6 they were still finding it hard to say good bye and funnily enough it wasn’t the little girls who were reluctant to leave their moms but the little boys who made no effort at all to be like ‘a big boy’ but readily gave in to their inner fears and bawled with uninhibited abandon.
With all of us anxious carers sitting outside trying to identify the wails, watching the rain pour down, I wondered why school has to begin in June? Why can’t it begin after the rains instead?
I’m linking this to Write Tribe’s #Monday Musings where you’ll find other interesting views this grey Monday!
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“I am blogging for #SmellyToSmiley activity at BlogAdda.com in association with Ambi Pur
- The blog
Bedtime was special while growing up and my brother and I looked forward to the tales my folks told us before “lights out”. Growing up at a time when there were distinctly girl stories and boy stories, my mother made sure my brother and I got our fair share of gender specific stories. My brother’s favourite was “Jack and the Bean Stalk” and he used to wait for the giant to roar “Fee Fie Fo Fum I smell the breathe of an Englishman.” His anticipation was palpable as Jack clambered down as fast as he could and chopped down the beanstalk in the nick of time!
Indeed, smells are dead giveaways and like the Giant, I could tell a mile away what was cooking in whose house. I could also figure out who was the last person to have used the lift and always tried to guess the name of the perfume I could smell. Infact I used to have a sensitive nose – such a sensitive one that even clean water had a strange, clean smell – almost metallic and would go crazy with certain smells – like the smell of fish that came in with low tide or the smell of diesel fumes from the neighbouring bus stop. But strangely enough, after my babies were born, my sense of smell diminished and now only really strong smells affect my olfactory receptors. Perhaps this was nature’s way of protecting me from the natural odors of pee and poo that I had to deal with while washing baby bottoms and I used this opportunity to upgrade my personal perfume preferences from the mildly fragrant lavender, lily and rose to the stronger and more robust musks and oriental jasmines.
Luckily (or unluckily as the case may be), this deadening of odour receptor nerve cells hasn’t completely killed all sense of smell and there are some smells that leave me on a positive high –
the aroma of rice cooking – Basmati or Ambemohar that wafts through the house just before meal times,
the sharp smell of toast burning or chapati as it browns on the gas,
the clean smell of Lyzol for swabbing my floors,
the gentle smell of baby while my grandson is bathing,
the citrusy smell of aftershave that my husband loves to splash on, after he leaves the bathroom scented with Mysore Sandalwood soap,
the scent of lit incense stick mingling with the oil wick lamp comes from the pooja room,
the smell of freshly ironed clothes that are piled up on my bed,
the crisp fragrance of green vegetables, coriander and mint,
the smell of ripening mango that cries “Come, Eat me Quick!”
the smell of wet earth with the first shower of rain,
the smell of clothes whirling clean in the washing machine,
the smell of vanilla when the cake’s getting done ,
the smell of cheese melting, of sausages sizzling, of garlic and ginger and all kinds of spice, of saffron and cinnamon and everything nice.
But what about the few times when the smells in my house are horrible too?
like
the yucky smell of toe jam when socks are removed
the unmistakable “eau de toilet” of an unflushed commode
the damp smell of clothes in an endless monsoon
the head splitting stench of a freshly painted room
Or furniture polish that just won’t go.
the strong smell of ghee as it bubble on the gas
the eye smarting smoke from a red hot tandoor
the smell of burnt egg left to boil in a pot
A rat that’s been dead or a stinky blue cheese
of prawn shells and fish bones and over ripe bananas
Jackfruit and guavas and other fruit that do stink
The odour of mothballs and musty carpets
On the rare occasions that these awful smells do permeate the house, I have a very simple remedy – open up all the windows, turn on all the fans and generously spray a room freshener that leaves the house smelling nice. Then I tackle the offending smelling object and empty out dustbins and garbage that’s rotting , I sun the blankets and carpets and throw out the fruit, and as for that dead rat………he’s out like the cheese.
Before a party, I make sure that I have a can of Jasmine Air freshener to spray in case I can’t find fresh jasmine and mogra in the garden. I love leaving platters of these flowers to infuse the air with their refreshing fragrance. Apart from flowers, I like to use scented candles that add a special magic to the celebrations at night when there flickering flames dance on the walls. My cupboards have cakes of ODONIL, my linen cupboards sachets of pot pourri and for the bathroom I always use electronic air freshener dispensers
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As for smelly socks – I soak them in hot water and washing soda before washing them out and sun drying them.
- The blog
Twenty- five Seven 
