A year of writing

I start off on the year long editing assignment! I am hoping to do good amounts of reading , putting out monthly e- news letters and also involve my community of readers to write  too. There will also be a printed souvenir to be released along the way along with a  fundraising for the same . 

Writing has been and will be my mode of creative expression and am just delighted that I have a forum to engage in writing with a purpose  .

The proverbial "butterflies in stomach" feeling is definitely there .The deadlines and the frequent output that will be needed does seem daunting but  am determined to enjoy this as best as I  can and do the  best I possibly could .

Just because , this is so much up my street !

Getting away

Just as we gradually get out of the Lockdown of 2021 following the second wave.. a brief get away.. 

25  few kms away , My friend , Dr S and I  arrive at Chittanda ,a  hamlet of rice fields and a beautiful Kathyayini temple. Dr S owns a piece of land here which she is converting to a vegetable patch with the help of a local farmer . The land is now all cleaned and primed for the farming and we have the happy task of planting  fruit tress in the fringes and see the sprouting in the various patches. The land over looks a vast expanse of paddy fields and the sky stretching every where beyond the hills...

The quiet of the area is soothing .. just the rustle of the wind ..darkening clouds announcing rain ..  egrets and king fishers pecking at the soil and snooping over the temple pond . and a flock of ducks finding their way back to the water.. mom led by a few tiny ones ...

So happy to be soaking in so much beauty ...

Curtain Raiser

Its May and the stage is getting for the annual monsoon festival ! and the curtain raiser are the pre-moosoon gale and showers  which may being any  time in April and appear till the monsoons set in  . growing up in Calcutta these were a phenomenon. They go by the name 

" Kal-Baishaki.. wreakers in the month of Baishak. 

In Kerala , they are more benign .They arrive mostly in the evenings cooling down the place , bringing much need relief from the blazing summer sun. 

They also have an interesting name .. "Mango Showers" as they help in the early ripening of mangoes ...

One such beauteous evening .. 

Colour Pop

I saw this TED Talk recently and it delved on something that brings instant joy to people. Joy as in a momentary experience of positive emotion that makes us smile. Feeling good in that moment. 

Pops of colour as per the talk can do that ! Bring about feelings of joy ,, My experience too .. I have always been drawn to rainbows, pinwheels, patch work quits  with multiple colour patches , the madras plaid fabric , colourful tapestry, prayer flags , sprinkles , stained glass windows and anything that pops colour !

One such moment , when I saw this fuchsia pink lily , all abloom in the office fish pond .Joy.. there and then..

A working woman now

I read a short story years back in a magazine which went by the title " A working woman now "  and it has just stayed with me . It captured the excitement of a young woman starting work /All her plans and preparations , buying a bag and getting ready to join the workforce. My young impressionable mind was so enamored by this young woman's excitement of finding a job and getting ready to take it on. It also marked the first step of this woman at earning and financial freedom . A chance to become responsible for her own spending and build wealth for herself. 

After a few  years of free-lancing and doing this and that , I have accepted a accepted a full-time assignment that will need me working at an office .The  story of the young woman came to mind as I enter the full -time work force yet another time !! Good luck to me !

Bangalore Days

Travelling again.. to Bangalore  this time to hang out with my favourite peeps A and S. The agenda is to just be , talk  , eat, sleep and repeat . A is my own personal therapist and over the years and over many conversations , she has driven home much truths about myself...So its lovely being back in the couch with her .. of course we have to do the very fun things she has lined up.. eating out at soulful spaces , experiences only she can think of and set up and meeting more lovely people !

Then I go and hang out with S at her  newly redone-up  colorful home .. more conversation , more laughter and more good food and drinks ... and some retail therapy :). Her 13th floor home overlooks this amazing view of the skies .. offering breathtaking sun rises and a twinkly bright night sky line . 

and then there are the long walks we always end up going on , when ever we meet up .....

Much need restoring !

To the Hills

 An unexpected trip with the visiting S .. to Ooty no less !

S arriving was a happy happy in itself and we taking off on a road trip .. double nice ! almost 6 hours of driving we are at Ooty with a tight time frame .So get to business of ticking off Ootacamund  delights in double speed as it is S's first time here. Botanical gardens, Boat club and the lake  seen  we are huddled up at the Nahar Cafe for some steaming  hot chocolate and oven fresh garlic bread .  Then trudge off some more till we are at the  Rose gardens walking  up a eucalyptus trees lined avenue as the full moon comes up ! Mesmerizing ...

With a plan to catch the Sunrise , the next day on the Dottabetta peak , we start the  day early .. to discover it is not open to public at that hour . But we find a vantage and catch a breathtaking sunrise in the hills and drive down the tea gardens to a sumptuous brekkie.

I head off to the conference I am supposed to attend while S takes in local shopping. A happy event for me , the conference , as I land a writing job that will last a year !

Pleased as punch , we head home :)