Random recollections on music, art, literature and memories…
Dew drops and cobwebs add a touch of magical realism to the paddy fields in Anakkara.
The ‘Athani’ (Porter’s rest) overlooking the paddy fields. The sight of this structure would have been a feast to the eyes , to those who had to walk miles and miles, carrying the heavy loads of grains. A quiet reminder of the struggles and sufferings of yesteryears.
Like Hortense Calisher’s words, let us also collect words to make our minds colourful.
I never get tired of looking at colourful bangles. Bangles are always associated with celebration and festive fervour. Let words bring cheer and excitement to us.
Collect colourful words and hang those in our minds!!
Words always puzzle me, especially when beautifully put together to make you feel connected with your life. A tryst with such quotes always stirs up my memory bringing forth a fond one. May be, an incident, a song or a photograph that is dear to me. Being an avid optimist, I consciously avoid unpleasant quotes not to let out any disagreeble memories. Why vex our minds ?
Quote credit : Pinterest
https://pin.it/5gxQ9YL
The Pinterest image about ‘creating new windows’ reminded me of the blue windows I noticed in Bangalore, wide open, inviting us to look through it. It is our choice to create new windows to look through and to select what to see.
This picture of the azure window against the white wall is one of my favourite photographs. The bright pink bougainvillea uplifts my spirits everytime I look at it.
Don't forget to look through your window to capture a beautiful sight!
‘Nature: A place where birds fly uncooked’ – Oscar Wilde. Did Oscar Wilde have Jarada in mind when he said these words? There can be an ounce of truth if someone tells this disappearing island that appeared in front of the Irish playwright, cloaked in her turquoise flowy gown with the black cormorants decked on its hemline, made him gasp out the above words.
Jarada is slowly gaining a lot of attention among the tourists in Bahrain. It takes around 45 minutes on a boat, speeding through the crystal clear blue water, cutting the waves and beating up with the winds, to reach this unspoilt stretch of island. She appears in the morning to attract her admirers before she goes submerged in the evening.
From the boat, we had to wade through the glimmering waters to reach the pristine sands of the island. Our boat driver was worried about anchoring close to the shore thinking of the difficulty in taking his boat off the shore due to low tide, later in the afternoon.
We were welcomed by the nonchalant morning inhabitants of the island – the cormorants who were enjoying the breeze, paying no heed to the mortal feet encroaching their island.
The island looks exactly like a winding marble road with its two ends being devoured by the blue waters. If you reach early in the morning, the whole island is going to be yours!
It is a long walk from one end to the other, with the cold, shimmering water tingling your feet.. But later during daytime, the water may be littered by boats of different sizes and shapes and this island can be taken by tourists. So make sure you start your day early to experience the peace and beauty.
By afternoon you can see the bluish green water blithely coming towards the shore, slowly taking it to an embrace. It is a marvel to watch how the shore enjoys being hugged by the waters! We could see the long stretch becoming two small patches with an aquamarine shroud coming in between as a partition!
No wonder why Jarada decides to hide beneath the waters! “Hear, ye mortals, you cannot ravish my beauty; I can give you a glimpse of my exquisite charm, but never try to stamp your seal on me.” Each sand grain and water droplet scream this to us! Is it a pact between Neptune and Terra to keep humans at a distance?
Let the pact be never broken! Let Jarada be never vanquished by Muggles!
There have been many discussions on the power of female intuition. Are women better than men in having a sixth sense? Not sure! However, we have heard stories about how this intuitive sense in women is proven right though it has been overlooked by men as mere ‘worries of a woman’.
The month of Karkkidaka comes with a lot of importance to Hindus. According to Hindu religion, reading Ramayana is considered as the best way to cleanse one’s body and mind. Recently, I was listening to the recital of Ramayana which narrates Bali, the King of Kishkindha, being summoned by his brother Sugreeva, to have a fight with him for the second time. And while Bali is getting ready to face Sugreeva’s challenge, his wife, Tara, comes to warn him about the dangers of going for a fight. What made her voice out her worries? The whispers of her soul. She lays out her concerns before Bali and tries to stop him from going. This explicit visual description from Ramayana tansported me to another setting in another country – from Bali’s palace in Kishkindha to Caesar’s palace in Rome. (Often my mind takes its own unexpected flights without waiting for my approval. Neither do I make an attempt to tame these adventures of my mind.)
The queen of Kishkindha and the wife of Caesar have the same apprehensions about their husbands’ life. Tara begs her husband not to accept the challenge informing him about the dangers she forsees. But Bali ignores her worries and says he could never say no to a challenge for fight. Is it the same unrest that Tara felt, caused by the stirring of the soul, made Calpurnia stop Caesar from going to meet the Senators? Calpurnia senses the premonitions and takes a decision that Caesar “shall not stir” out of his house. Like Bali, Caesar too brushes off his wife’s concerns and steps out into the dark night.
Why stories talk about women being more mindful of this so-called intuition? Are women more sensitive to the meek voice? – the voice that comes from within and then quickly dies off when heart and brain take control of our decisions. We all experience the inner voice. But we have become fonder towards the voice of our heart and brain. They enslave us and force us to follow their lead while the whispers of our souls are muted. Our own instincts look weak in the presence of the desires of the mighty heart and the logic of the brain. However, later comes a time, when we feel that it would have been wiser to trust our instincts. Those are the whispers of our soul. Those whispers are not tainted….
Trust your intuition. Don’t ignore the messages that this higher self gives you!
Silo- A Storehouse for Threshed Musings 