Twenty- five Seven

Personally speaking

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  • Mid-week Meanderings: dealing with change

    This is the last Wednesday of November, a month that marked major changes in my family.

    Change is always disruptive be it for the better or worse. Yes, even good tidings mean adjustments to the change that they bring. While a change for the good is any day better than a change for the worse, one cannot choose what the change can be. But one can definitely decide how to react to the change. The choice that one makes determines one’s destiny even though one’s destiny itself is pre-determined.

    This thought was reiterated in Gen Cardozo’s book ‘Cartoos Saab’ that I stumbled upon at Crossword. Always intrigued by the story of a mn who chopped off his own injured leg, I succumbed to the temptation of flicking through the book. And within pages, I was hooked . This book deals with more than that. It is the story of a young man who shows exemplary courage in standing up for his beliefs in a system that demands unquestioning obedience. It is the story of that rare breed of Gentlemen Officer that is unknown to many. It is also a brief introduction to modern Indian military history. It is that rare biography that is crisp, entertaining and informative. I particularly found many names that were familiar, names and places that took me back to the days of my childhood. And finally, it is an inspiring story of how to deal with change.

    Going to Crosswords itself was a lucky chance.

    My intention of walking out in the mid day sun was to scour the nearby shops for suitable gifts for the Little Ones. Now that Diwali is over and the Christmas season is upon us, our Little Ones will be joined by cousins from overseas and in January we will have four little girls running around the place whenever they come to visit. So it is always handy to have gifts picked out and packed well before the children actually come because last-minute shopping never really works.

    I went to my regular shop Funskool, a tiny little shop across the road which somehow has the pulse of the market. Oftentimes I get the best toys at the best price from this hole-in-the-wall. Buying gifts these days is difficult simply because of the innumerable choices. You can buy cheap gifts, expensive gifts, crafty gifts, playful gifts, gag gifts, useful gifts and the list goes on and on.

    To make gifting for children easier, I have a simple list of what not to gift.

    1. CRAFTY gifts or DIY Kits: These are an absolute NONO. No matter how clear the instructions and how easy the execution. Most little fingers need the help of Big fingers that also have an unlimited supply of patience.
    2. CLOTHES: Mothers these days are very fussy and particular about what their children are wearing and it is pointless to give clothes that do not fit in their scheme of things.
    3. SOFT TOYS & GAG TOYS: These are dust collectors or potential destroyers of peace of mind and property. A case in point is SLIME.
    4. BOOKS THAT ARE CURRENTLY POPULAR AMONG YOUNG READERS BOOKS. I find most modern books for little kids extremely unsuitable. For instance, the series of books called ‘The Trouble with DAISY …’ which is supposedly funny actually makes little girls into little whiners. Daisy is NEVER wrong and little readers soon learn to shift responsibility for their actions to someone or something else. Another series of books for boys about a boy called TOM GATES, the adventures of a little boy who I find more obnoxious than naughty is equally subversive. So you are left with books about mice and dogs and other animals ( Geronimo Stilton for example). Or then badly written books on Indian mythology ……

    But I still find gifting a book far more rewarding than gifting a toy so when I went to Crossword, I quickly gravitated towards the books and ……I was attracted by the title “Cartoos Saab’.

    Believe it or not, I actually read the entire book in the bookshop over the two hours I spent there. Finally, I came away with a copy which I thought would be a fitting Christmas gift for Wow Dinga who is all into superheroes in real life. I know the book is slightly difficult for him but apart from the Military jargon with which he will need a little help, its simple language and stories of derring-do will definitely appeal to him.

    So if you are looking for a Christmas gift do hop across to Amazon or the local bookstore and buy this book. I assure you it is a book worth keeping if you are interested in military history and stories of courage.

    And as for the changes that December will bring – embrace them however unwelcome they may be.

    “Destiny is no matter of chance. It is a matter of choice. It is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved.”William Jennings Bryan AMERICAN POLITICIAN

    Have a good rest of the week!

    Ciao,

  • Monday Musings : Breaking the Double Helix

    According to The National Human Genome Research Institute

    ” Double helix, as related to genomics, is a term used to describe the physical structure of DNA. A DNA molecule is made up of two linked strands that wind around each other to resemble a twisted ladder in a helix-like shape. Each strand has a backbone made of alternating sugar (deoxyribose) and phosphate groups. Attached to each sugar is one of four bases: adenine (A), cytosine (C), guanine (G) or thymine (T). The two strands are connected by chemical bonds between the bases: adenine bonds with thymine, and cytosine bonds with guanine.”

    https://www.genome.gov/genetics-glossary/Double-Helix

    And even though this sounds like Greek and Latin to some people, most people can recognise the two twisted ribbons as the ultimate iconic image in the study of human biology. And even if they ( me included) don’t know the difference in molecular structure between the various chemicals that make up the structure we all know the Double Helix when we see it. Even Ms Papaya who is all ears old knows what it is called.

    So last week when Prima Donna came home with an Industry award, everyone remarked how it resembled the Double Helix. So did Ms Papaya who was happy for her mum.

    We were all thrilled when she received an award for marketing her brand and we were gazing at it with admiration bordering on awe, thrilled that her work was recognised by a national professional body. Since I’ve always been a Stay at Home Mum for most of my life, to me this was as significant as winning the Olympics.

    By the time she can home, the award had tilted to one side and me being me, found it irksome once the thrill of seeing the shiny trophy sitting on the dining table. Having grown up in a military home, discipline was something that was dinned into my head and even inanimate objects had to be just so. It didn’t matter how insignificant it was, if an object was meant to be straight, it should be. Similarly, if it was meant to be crooked. It had to be crooked.

    So in my typical way, I tried to straighten it out. And just as it became straight, one supporting rod popped out I wanted to put it back in when the other end came off and the rod fell.

    Taking some Fevicol, I tried to stick it on but it didn’t. “Try Feviquik”, suggested Akshata, the house help, who is good with art and craft projects. I ended up sticking my fingers and dropped off two more supporting rods

    I then took some Gluetack but that didn’t help either. The more I tried to fix it, the more unfixed it got.

    Finally, Prima Donna snatched it away before I could crack the base on which it was mounted.

    It is no wonder I never got a trophy for anything ever!

    Have a great week all

    Ciao

  • Mid-week musings : Behram’s Boat and the Buttery Bum

    I am 64 years old but if you were to ask my mother-in-law or my mother, or even grandmother, she’d say I am actually running 65. And in my last lap as it were, because by the middle of next February I will have completed 65 years and begun running my 66th . In our community , you are as old as the year you are currently living and your actual birthdate marks the end of the year you were ‘running’ in.

    All this is too complicated for my brain which refuses to grow beyond 5 for as Prima Donna once told when she was 5 year’s old, those were all the fingers she could count on her hand. That probably explains why my sense of humour hasn’t developed beyond 5 and the inane jokes of susu and potty leave me in splits.

    So when I read Adi Pocha’s novel ‘Behram’s Boat,’ I was in splits when I came to the part where Pilloo who was riding pillion on Behram’s bike decided he needed a really quick and effective solution to his sore bottom. Pilloo was accompanying Behram, on an absolutely absurd mission to build a boat as part of a wacky solution to increase the diminishing Parsi population.

    And indeed, he is right about that because the Parsis are dwindling at a faster rate than other demographics are rising ! And that is something no one really wants – a world without Parsis. That is like cake without icing.

    Undoubtedly, the Parsis who are known for their entrepreneurial spirit, their wild and wacky sense of humour, their willingness to laugh at themselves and make others laugh and their passion for life ought to be preserved if not for their own sakes , for the sake of humanity . So I am all for saving the Parsis.

    So Behram in the twilight years of his life ( at 65 is the end just round the corner ?) he embarks on a unique scheme to encourage or stimulate a growth in their numbers .

    Behram Rustomjee is a Parsi who lives in a Baug, one of the many housing colonies made by benevolent rich Parsis for their less fortunate brethren. And there are many baugs scattered a around the city of Mumbai – bearing names like Rustom , Kushroo, Ness and Godrej . Neat orderly well kept communities , well maintained roads and gardens, possibly a little grocery shop selling eggs and Dukes Raspberry soda, a fire temple sometimes, and of course lots of Parsis sitting out in the sun or polishing their already shiny motorbikes or old fashioned cars. On Sundays the smell of dhansak from every home will assail your nose and you can see the curtains part, ever so furtively as you, the stranger, enter their world.

    He wants to build a boat, similar to the kind his ancestors came on and populate it with single, Parsis men and women of appropriate age and disposition and send them off on a trip from Sanjan to Iran. With this backward integration program. Behram hopes that the young people on board an old fashioned ship with nothing much to do will do the obvious out of boredom if not attraction and come back with a few Parsi babies in the making on the way.

    However, the scheme is not without its opponents in the community who think this is just a hair-brained scheme of a dirty, old pervert .

    Does Behram succeed ?

    And is a the humour geared for 5 year olds ?

    Find out for yourself . Arm yourself with ‘Behram’s Boat’ this weekend and chuckle away as you jump into Behram’s world .

    Ciao

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