The Green Fingers!

Every once in a while, I rue my lack of green fingers! No plant (not even a money-plant) has survived under my TLC! But I have a trooper of a friend who despite the bout of failures gifted me a Tulsi sapling nurtured by her mom.

Maybe cause of aunty’s green fingers, this sapling soon grew tall, bushy – though the lack of new flower buds even after weeks disheartened me!

So imagine my surprise, when today I was unexpectedly greeted with the sight of my Tulsi brimming with flower buds :-D. A small achievement but something am definitely delighted about!

This post is in response to the 100 word prompt "Every Once In A While" on WT.... A "Shady" post for my fav "shady" gal who contributed this prompt ;)

My savior in her small balcony that she has converted into a mini forest now :)

Save Begur Lake!

To be honest, I am not one of the v socially conscious types - so v rarely will u see me posting about social issues. Now approximately 1-2 kms away from my apt is this huge natural lake - Begur Lake. But with the surrounds being hardly developed, I would give it a cursory glance when we happen to take that road.

Before - Complete with Coracle; Image courtesy FB Begur lake page

Imagine my surprise when a couple of weeks back, we drive along the road only to see the lake completely parched n dried! Supposedly a Lotta unmindful draining of water by Private tankers resulted in this. The residents around the area have now waken up and are trying their best to restore it ~~ Only time will tell if we can undo the damage You can read more about it here.

 

(After)No more water for the Coracle to move on.. Pic courtesy Begur Lake FB Page!

This coupled with the dire water shortage I have been seeing around means that one thing I really have started caring about is "Water"! N errr cause I complicated the contest for myself  by promising to put only pics I clicked - here is a pic (for the sake of it)

Water water everywhere - But not a drop to drink!

Linking this to May Photo Challenge for the prompt "I care about this"

7 o’clock....

N 7 o’clock it is!

Hv been looking for sometime to share this Cuckoo clock at my house! I hv been wanting to own one from the time I heard of the uniqueness of these clocks(v sheepishly lemme add that I knew of this tidbit only seven years back!)

This was gifted by a fav cousin who lugged it all the way from Germany to UK to Dubai to Kerala n then to Bangalore for yours truly :-). N knowing how efficient I n hubbs are he decided to get us battery-run one as against the traditional mechanical ones ;).

Linking this to May Photo A Day challenge for the prompt "7 o’clock"!

All I Need is.......

......Will let the pic do the talking!

This curio by the way was bought by Sabs cause supposedly the stance of this lady reminded her of me! Nee it doesn't represent maternal love or such jazz ... her interpretation of the expression  is "of a mother who is bored lugging around the baby n cant wait fro him-her to grow up" :-O Now u tell em with friends like this, who needs enemies ;)

Linking this to May Photo A Day Challenge for the prompt - Need!

Living on the edge....

.. Hubbs gives a new meaning to it by indulging in his hobby of 'Knife Collection'. Here have a decko of Knives in all sizes n shapes that he has collected till date....

This I know is a v modest collection - but yea its a start! The longest one (err should i call it a sword) was picked from around Amristar golden temple n then lugged around to Chennai, Hyderabad before reaching bangalore(Can u imagine the security checks he must have had to pass!)! The eagle shaped one is a gift from his mom on his bday. In the last row, the right most one is from Africa while the other two are "Kukri" from North-east(commonly carried around by the Nepali Gurkhas) picked while on a hol there!

So which of the lot did u like the most?

Linking this to May photo a day challenge for the prompt - shapes

@Vensa

"Vensa" - The apartment were we own a flat that we have made our home for more than three years now.

Pic during a Diwali Celeb!

Narrowing down on an apartment was perhaps the easiest or rather the fastest decision we ever took in our life...perhaps faster than choosing the flavour of ice cream. We accompany friends to see a flat that they were speculating on...hubbs falls in love with the huge corridors as we walk in saying they are ideal to put TT tables and the rest as they say is history :) Needless to say we booked a flat here even before our zapped friends did :-D

Looking back, Vensa has never given us a reason to regret our decision.It may simply be cause this place stands for what we essentially are – no-frills - read no swimming pool, no jogging track, no club house -  we have never had cookery competitions or fashion shows like the apartments around.K err I agree it must be the most staid, non-happening place :-P.

But Ho what we lack in Infra, we more make up with the variety in people - the boring corporate types, adventure seekers, the health conscious types who motivate u to move ur ass - the more ambitious ones even stealing out the gym equipments to their houses, the dignified and quiet elderly types who stay with their children, the boisterous ones who behave like the apartment is also part of their ancestral property, the retired elderly who are now a bit cranky and feeling displaced in the new set up, few wannabees, dreamers, desperate housewives,possessive husbands  n My- Husband-my-lord types, the Amway- herbal life ambassadors who will have no qualms telling u first thing in morn that u are 10 kgs overweight just to sell their products!

what makes Vensa special thou for me are friends who are more than just neighbours, they are family...people I  blindly leave my home or cars or kids(Well when I have them!) with.  Friends you can go door knocking in the middle of the night with no second thots, friends who will drop everything n accompany you just to be your pillar of support!

Linking this to A2Z Challenge - V is for Vensa

PS: This post was ghost-written by my best friend n neighbor - Sabs. N she made a desperate effort to write it in my style - she did a commendable job I should say :)

R is for Resourceful!

N this pic is the epitome of it.... Lemme explain


The steel vessel u c in the pic, is the one that we use to draw water out from our matka. Well it so happened that one fine day the long handle went kaput n I was **this** close to discarding it(my policy of collecting zero junk u c). Thats when my frnd(Sabs) father set his eyes on it n then lo-n-behold ....

The old handle was discarded, a hollow bamboo shoot was then inserted into the nook and then fully cello-taped to hold it all in its place! But not happy with its "Cosmetic' value, disappears into his house and comes out with that black button u c at the end(in case u interested to know what it is ~~ Its the end of one of sabs hair clips..lol)

So there my almost-thrown-away vessel gets a new lease of life and is now drawing out glasses n glasses of water everyday :-D

If this aint resourceful then what is!

Linking this to ABC Wednesday (R is for resourceful)

Home is where our Heart is......

The scroll u c here was a gift from my friend when we moved into  our new home. Now lemme confess that at that point in time it was jus that ~~ yet another accessory in my home :).

These lines never had any special meaning for them ~~ I almost brushed them off as lines penned by one of those stars-in-my-eyes kinda writers!

But today, a good 2.5 years later I know that there is at least some ring of truth in them! Especially the lines.....

Every Corner of our home is beautifully decorated with special memories if days gone by and aspirations for good times to come.

A house becomes 'Our Home; when its four walla are made with love, care, concern and affection, with a firm ceiling of everlasting protection made strong with the bond between our family!

Linking this to ABC Wednesday(H is for Home) and to Color Deckors weekend wrapup(I know theres nothing weekend(y) abt this post... but home decor is almost synonymous with  Color Deckor for me :) )

A Family Heir-Loom

In this post written a good two years back, I grieved about not having a hand written letter from my father... Here are those lines from that post....

Today when my dad is no more, all the memories I have are in my heart and may be a few pics that will speak for themselves. Isn’t it sad that my child will never have a chance of knowing him better especially considering what a beautiful writer my dad was........

But what I do have is this souvenir (this plank was stenciled and laminated by him) in which he had engraved the principle that truly governed his life and was a permanent resident at his office table!  Today it deckos my home, at a place where I set my eyes as soon as I wake up in the morn..... My Kitchen window. A good piece of wisdom  to take in as I brew my cup of morn tea rt :)

Click on it to view betta..

Linked to Thursday Challenge.."WRITING & WRITING TOOLS” (Pens, Pencils, Notebooks, Journals, Calligraphy, Graffiti,…)

Books Reviews And More.....

Pic COurtesy ~~ Google

One of the initial first-person opinion I heard of "The immortals of Meluha" was from my cousin  ~~ quoting her words ~~ "Shiva is pictured as somebody who smokes Ganja and then lolls around calling Sati pleasantries like "darling" ~~ Now to imagine our Gods indulging in such pastimes seemed letta jus say a little too much for our delicate(!) sensibilities to digest ... Lol!

Now comes in my regular book review confidante ~~ Ma hubbs who letta jus say poo-poohed my sensibilities! He was of the v no-nonsensical opinion that Shiva is hardly  as a jewel adorning, polished(if i may use the word) Gods and so well he "Ganja smoking" avattar cant be v far from reality! So this opinion coupled with rave reviews by him n a couple of co-bloggers set me on the book ...

Pic Courtesy Google

My review... Well all I will say is I couldnt wait for part 2 "Secret of the Nagas" to release! Now now v truly it doesnt hold the attention as much as its precedor did...... But what it does instead is give u some good "Food for thought" ~~ The story of Sati-Kali does drive home the point of "Duality" ~ That good-n-evil are jus two sides of the coin and what you perceive as good may be evil to the other person and vice-versa! lemme not be a spoilsport n reveal the story to u ~~ Trust me bits of it has a  nice nail-biting feel to it...




Speaking of Kali,  heres a click of "Kaali ma" ~~ Clicked at ma MILs place in Chennai.... For all her ferocity isnt there a silent grace n power n love tht exudes from her....

Before wrapping up this review, here is a funny aside of how much the "duality" principle is driven into me.... One of the current books on ma reading list  is Nora Roberts circle trilogy  (The reason I set off on it is cause somebody gifted me tha part 3  of the book :) )~~ The story revolves around the man-vampire struggle to take over the world! Ofcourse no point in guessing that the villain in this piece is the vampire ~~ But but ma Fresh-from-a-dose-of-duality sensibilities was  coming up with jollifications as to why the vampire aint after all evil ... They jus are struggling to survive as much as we humans are :)

Happies The Diwalis!!!

.... So would hv read a typical diwali greeting from ma hubbs :)

Here is a pictorial walk thru of mine... N just in case u dint know its ma space.. so u r supposed to be only oooh n aahing!  N C'mon its ma first attempt at something like this... so be a sport :)

Ma Drawing Room

Couldnt Decide which pic is betta :)

Supposed to be B&W version of above

Ma Fav Table!

May God SPread Light in your life in all directions!

Ma shoe Case :-D

Like?

Like Like?

Ma or rather ma-cousin-ma Niece Joint effort at our first ever hands-On Rangoli!

Liked it? Plz say yes :-D N am so looking fwd to seeing ur pretty pics.. Makes ma day like nothing else does!

Tagging this to getting-v.Addictive Color Deckor's Weekend Wrap up.... N thank U ... Ur blog is surely an inspiration to make ma home beautiful :)

Cozy corners @ Ma home

Now Now all tht ma house has is 'Cosy' corners.... we tooo lazy to make the effort n buy proper co-ordinated furniture... N this just suits us fine :-P after all in variety lies spice of life.....

So below is the space tht sees us lazy mongers spending most of the time... na na not most but atleast our morn cup of tea is invariably had here .... So while this is a decent tidy pic,  in reality on most days tht nice table there is peppered with half empty tea cups, coasters n ofcourse laptops... its a sight I tell ya! No no no... no shaking ur head!

But I like the way this cute 'baitak' came over...  One fine eve we were expecting a few guests n then at nth moment we realize all tht we hv is a diwan in which 3 or say 4 can squeeze in... n then the rest??? So the 'smart' hubbs(yea! yea!) of mine decided to fold up a 'queen' size bed , spread a 'Fab India' sheet over it ,transfer the bolsters from diwan to here n zappp came the baitak!! Now now this is common sense u say! Hmpf!!

Hmmm now tht u dont seem to be finding this so v interesting Can I try n lure u with a few interesting accessories in this room.........

Right on top of baitak like a 'domiscius sword' hangs ma fav grandfather - clock.... isnt it regal :) Promise to publish its story sooon!

N on the two corners of the roof hangs the typically kerala thook vilakku...dont hv a decent pic now.... so adjust maadi with this! N yea beside it is a Udaipur - Keep sake from sabs-bins!

N right below it sits our shoe case...stuffed n stuffed with ma hubbs shoes :-D Na na am not treating u to tht sight.... here is instead wht sits on top of it! The odd shaped looking thingy there is actually a eagle-shaped sword.... Remember I said my Peter Pan is mad abt swords... this was his bday gift from his mommy!

Well well some treat to eyes... cmon be nice n agree :) Right below is possibly the most fav piece of furniture @ home where we are plonked the max time.... a futon right in our TV room... the first piece of furniture which ma hubbs bought even b4 marriage which thou his father thinks is the most useless piece of furniture ever made..... well truth is once u sink into it gets so cushiony n comfy tht dragging urself out can be a task :-P

So how did u like this corner of ma home? This is my entry for Cozy corners @ Color Deckor

Corner Of ma home!

ea! Yea! Me kinda jobless n hv nothing much to write of... so put up with me as I show u another corner of ma home....

The wall just beside the fav corner of ma hubbs in entire house - any guesses?? Yea Yea what else but his bar-unit :)

N as with other corners its the knick-knacks collected, the memories that they bring which makes them spl...... The bottom most cask is from what I know the traditional Fenny holder bought on our visit to Goa! The knives above been picked - one from sikkim, one from darjeeling on our Honeymoon(Our home has this big collection of knives thnx to hubbs dearest - Will do a knives spl post soon :)) N the pic at the top.... A gift on our house warming.... But doesnt it kinda go so well beside a bar unit !! Hope u enjoyed this corner :)

Ha on another comp diff note - u in B'lore then drop in @ Dastakaar - A exhibition happening in Palace grounds, a notch diff from the usual arts-crafts exhib tht usually populate the city! I picked a pretty skirt, a tie-n-dye kinda kurti n then there are these interesting puppet shows n not to forget some yum-yum chats n kulfis :)

My Table Top!

Rather my 'Breakfast Counter' top!! Ofcourse there is a catch here!! Strictly speaking its no table... its a granite counter... But well it doubles up as ma dining table, breakfast table n even ma Laptop table :-D!

Does it look pretty?? All my pickle pots(picked on a trip to Kerala)  neatly lined up .......I love its reflection!

Na Na me not on a house showing spree!! Was on my usual blog hopping spree, when I cam across this interesting post! A simple but fun post... isnt it??? Do go ahead n take up this tag!

Ha ma mom was grrrr when she saw the size of the pickle pots n the price I paid for them(exhobriant as per)! The ones used traditionally at home are at least 50 times bigger n cheaper :). But well doesn't the diminishing size of something so very traditionalist so much reflect our changing times.......

PS: All pickles in ma house are courtesy ma hubbs for whom food is synonymous with spicy food so much tht he has raw chillies with his food daily!! Mr. Hot he :-P!

N we are Draped!

Or rather my home is...Almost a year after we moved in :-D!

Speaks something of our domesticity doesnt it :)

Ps: All tht I meant is we put some curtains in our new home...LOL! Hv a quick decko.....

Lemme now show off a corner of my home - A small corner but something I love(This is a pic as in month of may - theres been additions n subtractionns since then...  but well as they say lets start somewhere)

Did u like this corner? N if u wondering what spl abt it.... lets start with each of the artifacts....

Lets start with the lamps there,,,,, The big n small both were gifts from ma fav people.... One from my mom's sister n other from my dad's bro... Both v spl people! The former for well lets just say shes been around for me from the day I was born to till date... for each small or big momentous occasion in ma life :). N for my dad's bro... Now tht my dadu is no more around.... My velachan who resembles him closely brings along the dearest memories tht I hold v precious :)

The Dholak(Did I tell U that this one was transformed from an simple wooden casket to a Dholak right in front of our eyes), Chillum are collectibles from our trip to Gokarna en route to Goa, from where we picked up the Devil Sticks at Anjuna Flea Market(yeah Yeah remember the Peter pan in ma house :))

N the Wooden Toys - picked this up from Chennai - Only later did we know that they these are the first collectibles gifted to a newly married couple as they build their set of dussera Golu

N how can I forget the small bamboo shoot(sadly dead now :( )  sitting majestically atop the elephant stand in a urli!!! All except the urli gifted by dearest Sabi... The bamboo shoot was her gift on our first anniversary while the elephant stand was one of the many gifts she is peppered ma house with :).

N the urli is the one in which the milk boiling cermony was done as we entered this new home :)

Now u know why I love this space n b4 I conclude don't miss the background... Thts is ma front room wall... did u like its color?