Celebrating "May"- Nostalgic Rewind

Holidays,sweltering summer,ice creams,curd rice-pickles and visiting grandparents, all best portray the month of May for me. As a kid my summer holidays were never complete, without visiting my patti and thatha's place. Growing up as a single kid, the prospect of seeing my uncles,aunts and cousins kept me eager and excited. Days were packed with lot of indoor and outdoor activities. TV watching was sporadic and internet was unheard of in those days. Grandpa encouraged us to play carom and chess, grandma had her own tricks to keep us occupied.She ensured we recited our daily prayers, taught us to draw kolams and always kept our tummies happy, with her delicious cooking.The sounds of banter, sharp hum of the carom striker,trying to keep up with my grandpa's passion to "clear" the board , recurrent creaking of the gate signalling the arrival of a visitor, lingering aroma of the day's lunch, humid afternoons had a remarkable way a of working its magic and often lulled me to sleep.However long i spent my holidays here, it was never enough. The longer i stayed, the more difficult it was for me to return home and my parents had a tough time with that. I was so smitten with the place and people, i literally had to be dragged out of the house.

Though there is a lot that has changed, the charm and appeal of this place has never faded, it has lived with me while i traversed various stages of my life and now into my adulthood. Reminiscing my past, i cant help feel a bit of nostalgia and also wonder what makes this place so special until this day..Is it the people, the house itself or simply the memories..Well, whatever it is, it has never failed to make the month of "May" memorable.

Eureka!!

It's become impractical to spend some time "thinking" on your own. The tv, internet and the cell phones are full time companions, constantly bombarding us with tons of information and ideas. We compulsively seek out to them, quite often when we are alone. I cant think of any part of my day spent quietly, without these distractions. Learning to live with invasive power of technology has become an ordeal. They cloud your mind with sometimes useful, but invariably useless thoughts, that we struggle to come out of this net to engage in some "active thinking". Completely shunning them, is not a feasible way out. But we can consider, cutting off some time away.

It's difficult to make a conscious decision to choose a place to isolate ourselves, but one ideal place i can think of seclusion from the triplets ( tv, internet and cell phone) is the bath room ( well, i'm not talking about people who carry their phones with them when taking a shower)..As ridiculous as it may sound, it's with fresh burst of water from the shower, i do my planning for the day, uninterrupted. The thoughts flow seamlessly, sans intrusions and when you step out, you realize that the entire day's work can be smoothly planned out. Working out a routine day's work at home, preparing a mental task schedule for your work place, or simply indulging in some creative thinking can all be done in the serene confines of the bathroom. It could well be a hub for origin of brilliant ideas and discoveries. So, next time you take a bath, put on your thinking cap and watch out for the "Eureka" moment.:)

And The Award Goes To...

Movies can be a refreshing experience, provided you pick the right one. I used to be a big fan of horror movies as a kid, though i did not get to watch many of them. The sudden screams and the scary faces used to thrill me and never did i have dreadful dreams in the night. It's all a different picture now. Horror, murderous crimes , psycho movies are a strict no. The after math of seeing such movies is indescribable.So, i'm totally into the friendly animation and comedy flicks these days.Animation movies bring out the marvels of technology and as they evolve, they are closer to portraying the characters in flesh and blood.Every time i watch these movies i'm "wowed" by them. For me, it's movie entertainment at its best.As for the comedy flicks, what can be better than enjoying a good belly laugh that can keep you going for the rest of the day. It can be a mindless babble, still you can credit it for making you laugh or bringing in that smile on your face.

We don't need murder movies anymore, its shown on TV all the time. The terror attacks and killings are enough to keep us spooked..May be that's the reason i no longer enjoy the horror movies, because we get a load of disturbing and eerie happenings, real-time from morning till night.To counter this unnerving effect of scary events, the best bet will be to catch a comedy flick/sitcom/animation, which can simply be healing.:)

What's next?

These days i find myself writing out a big list of "Things to do" in an effort to getting my life organized.When i look at it i can't help, but feel a sense of pride and naivety that it's all done.While i make one list, my mind wanders off to "more things to do", i reserve that for my "Tomorrow's to do list". By the end of the week, with lots of stationery, wasted i realize i still have past week's work to do gaping at me..Weekend goes by and Monday morning it's time for review, so i sit comfortably in the couch with a hope of clearing out the entire pending work. I work my brain to prioritize but in vain, my thoughts scatter and i'm browsing the net to find places to visit for the next weekend. And so, the list remains unattended, as i make "weekend plans" not to mention the vigorous planning for this month's long weekend. My afternoons go by contemplating about dinner plans and when i'm cooking dinner, i strongly resolve to do something about my career and so i jump to browsing the net again for courses i can study.

Juggling browsing and cooking, i'm exhausted, i grab a packet of chips as i munch and revel in the soothing effect of the fried potatoes in my tummy, a wave of guilt hits me as i look at my walking shoes unused for a long time. I convince myself, that i will go for a walk in the weekend. But now, i'm forced to to think of cooking a nutritious meal and i make up mind to introduce salads and sprouts and to give up the fat loaded food..So its recipe hunting time and this goes on not for long, my eyes stray around my neighborhood and what now, i see the rose beds in their full bloom and i dream of making my porch colorful with plants and flowers..I'm back to my good old list of things to do and i put down the plants I need to buy, the fruits , veggies for the nutritious meal that i will be cooking soon and so on..With a fresh list in my hand, i parade around the house beaming with a smile and in the belief "Tomorrow never dies", only to find the "To Dos" growing exponentially.