My morning raaga

I had never seen the rising sun till a few years back. Having grown up in Bangalore I was allergic to the early morning mist and would end up in wheezing attacks, So my parents would never insist I wake up early. Even during my college days, when I had to be present in my college 12 kms away at 8'0 clock, i would miss the first few minutes since I never woke up early. Marriage did'nt change me much either during the initial years.

 What changed me was the book " Who will cry when you die?" by Robin Sharma some 7 years back. I initially bought this book for my husband's nephew on his birthday but did'nt gift him due to the title. I realized later the title did'nt suit to be gifted to a birthday boy. Instead, me a RS fan started flipping the pages and with every page turn, I must say the book was an eye opener and altered my life completely. Even today, it is my "Go to book" when i feel low. Not that I absorbed and followed everything from that book but one sure thing i did was, I changed from a late riser to an early bird. 

Work or no work , I am up like a lark at 5.15 with the help of a few snooze buttons......even the snooze buttons are to alert me to pray to god, meditate and take deep breaths from my bed. Thankfully all these yogic breathing exercises has kept me away from wheezing problems. That apart, it is such a pleasure to connect with the world during those early morning hours.

“There's a sunrise and a sunset every single day, and they're absolutely free. Don't miss so many of them.”
Jo Walton

I could'nt agree more with Jo Walton especially I am partial to Sunrise. During the early dark hours, I am still at home taking deep breaths consciously and going about my basic cooking of putting the cooker on the stove( takes time to cook rice,Isn't it?) and boiling milk etc. Switching off the cooker coincides more or less with the sun rise at 6 and  I am in the front balcony which faces the historic gunrock and it is such a visual delight to see the rising sun and the natural colors of God's palette splashed in the back ground. To complement this would be the twittering birds which flies all around in beautiful V formation or some fly haphardly making such delightful sights. Drinking in these views along with my cup of elixir is such a prayerful feeling. When time permits, i.e  mostly on weekends we would drop my son at the football grounds and would go for walk in the nearby huge lungspace wooded cantonment area and would be greeted with the cries of peacocks.

But all these changed with time.....that is till i took to gardening. I still wake up early, only now it is not the front balcony that frames the sunrise that is my morning raaga. Like many things that change with time, my morning raaga too has changed. Now, seated on a jute moda, drinking tea and catching a  glimpse of my jugaad ( read vegetable garden)  is my morning bhoopalam. It is such a pleasure to feel the green leaves, the new shoots, the touch of the lively soil made soulful   with the compost that I have created from waste. And when all this takes the shape of the beautiful harvest in my upcycled containers, it is a great feeling,very therapeutic and almost alien, the moistness of the compost, the smoothness and color of your harvest is so real. It is this morning sun rays that subtly shifts my work and efforts to create something so beautiful, It is an amazing thing to experience. Pure magic. This is when i believe in the adage-

   One is nearer God's heart in a garden,than anywhere else on earth- Dorothy gurney 

 My front balcony frames this sight in the morning....the small hill you see is the historic gunrock where Britishers( and later the Nizams)  stored their guns and gun powder.

                   
                                                        And that is a glimpse of my jugaad - my carrot saplings takingoff in hide'n'seek biscuit containers, thai basil in a paint can, raddish and methi in strepsil's containers . My yellow capsicum in a terracotta pot and coriander in a karachi bakery cardboard box. Not in picture are my chillies growing in atta bags:) More terracotta pots  in my sunlight starved porch.

        That's the view from my drawing room sofa, another place from where i catch glimpses of my jugaad.

This pretty raddish flower greeted me Happy morning today:)

Below are some humble harvests from my jugaad

                                                             Coriander and methi

                                          My harvest sometimes makes me an inventive cook, added the above lettuce to the bhelpuri and the mint and chilli went into the hot-sweet-sour homemade bhelpuri chutney  (only the lettuce, chilli  and mint are my harvest). There are days when i use my thai basil to make pasta sauce. Tastes delish...

                        I have to narrate that green paprika tale in a post, the tale has its origin in  my Grandma's kitchen

and this beautiful red green orange beauties on some days steal my heart

The green journey and the raaga is on..i will share more for happiness shared is joy doubled:)

*Morning Raaga is one of my favorite movie too starring Shabana azmi, prakash  rao and Perizaad

Reflecting on his school graduation day

It was his graduation day (farewell ) at school (Feb 14) and he was to be dressed in formals. In a blazer and tie he looked dapper - my son. I could’nt resist uploading his pic on my whatsapp profile and my status read “ The other man in my life” …and a few minutes from then I got whatsapp messages from friends and relatives complimenting him and a few more said they refuse to believe that he looks so grown up.

And my reply to them “Haan, patha hi nahi chalta, bacchein kab badein ho jaate hain” ( yes, don't know when the kids grow big)

Seriously, this is one sweet bitter moment in any parents life. I did’nt relate when many of my young friends were lamenting that their babies were becoming “big” and going to kindergarten. I would think the young parents were over reacting and fussing.

But now, suddenly seeing my son in a formal suit and when he said today is his last day of high school( Class X) , I turned wistful. Even going by the facebook posts of his friends parents who turn emotional with “sniff” and “awww”, Like all, I too wonder where the time has gone.

It seems like just yesterday we sought admission in Carmel School Bangalore where his elder sis was studying UKG. At two years and 4 months due to underage he was refused admission. ( 2 years and 6 months is the admission age for ICSE )

Months later when we shifted towns we thought we were lucky and saved our admission amount and we remember asking the CBSE school in Hyderabad to admit him to LKG. The Principal, a visionary and child educationist said, even two months can make a difference in the motor skills of the child and so she said, if we insisted she would take him to LKG but it would be better if he were in nursery and thus started his education in this school at 3 years.

Yesterday, seeing him in suit and boot, i suddenly recalled the firstday of his school and the rocking horse that I have related here. 13 years have gone by since then....where during every PTM he has made me only proud and the previous class teachers would say " I miss him in my class" and it is more heartening to see his teachers who have been transferred to different cities( most of them are naval officer's wives and so get transferred)  wish him on FB  even now.( He has not been a topper in class but his teachers would acknowledge his intelligence and as a parent, I am so proud he has never been to any private tuitions so far and has done well in his studies and sports. 

sports day in UKG(left) 

All of them have been instrumental in chiselling  him into a fine young man and although wistful that he is growing big, I am happy he is only growing to  build bridge towards his dream. All set for his class X boards next month( he turned 16 on jan 26th)  and he his more than ready and excited for his next school and his next stage of his life as a secondary school student.

 I am so lucky to watch my kids grow and record every meaningful day of their life….even if that means growing away from me.... but it surely is a mixed feeling.