Bits and Bobs
This is basically a blurpy blog..its bits and pieces and excerpts from emails and random things i wrote or spoke to ppl about today inspired by various events/thoughts...wanted to blog abt it but now that im actually putting pen to paper (fingers to keyboard rather!) i cant be bothered to write it all over again...hence i'm cut & pasting.
Those who find this all too familiar, bear with me or this is ur cue to take the escape route!
:p
Sound of music
I love carnatic music (Basically any kinda classical music)..but more so fr carnatic...the whole morning and evening raagas thingi...i dont know the names and every technical detail and im certainly no candidate , but i like listening to it..its so relaxing...Have always been taken in by the gentle stumming of the tambura...Luv meera bhajans...the nasal whining sounds of the violin....and the whole ghazals and sitar music on a calm breezy evening just does it fr me...They play carnatic music on the local radio channel..somewhere between 5-6am....Sometimes when i stay up all night, i end up sleeping arnd that time, and its almost the most beautiful experience in the world/one of - when its just becoming light otuside, the air is still cool, and theres this gorgeous music in my ears (literally, coz i attach the earpiece to my handphone to listen)...falling asleep to the music while watching the sky...u know.. theres soemthing very satisfying abt coming to bed when u know others are just starting their day,waking up getting ready fr work etc.
I do NOT like the sound of alarm clocks going off... rude awakening..cant think of a worse way to wake up to a new day.
I luv the sound of bells...any kinda chjime..on the 1st of every month at 12 noon the church bells wld ring all over singapore.Its divine.
I remember waking up to sounds of the carnatic music playing in my own house in those good old days when my grandparents were around...its so vivid..there were always 2 radios playing..the carnatic music 1st coz grandma was the 1st to rise - infact i doubt she ever really slept...evne if u happened to pass by her room at some bizarre time of the night or wee hoursof the morning, ud hear her talking with my grandpa..they werent the most lovey-dovey couple..the kind tht makes u wanna coo 'awwww' or makes u wanna puke at their affection either...in fact they hardly talked during the day and argued a lot! But hearing them just lying there, him on his bed and she on a mattress on the floor (they belonged to tht era tht u dindt sleep tog when ur kids grew up...i know...) and they would acually talk,albeit abt the most mundane things...but i donno..it gave me a warm feeling inside and..i miss it, as much as i miss them both coz its so intrinsically part of my memory of them.
Well i digress - so there wsa the carnatic music frm grandma's room and my mom went thru this phase where she felt it was educational to hear the BBC - she kinda took it too far too coz i remember the last thing we heard at night and the 1st thing she wld put on in the morning wld be the BBC channel!!I spent the better part of my childhood and my early mornings plotting ways to destroy that entire network!The period of the civil war was particularly memorable and traumatic fr me!it got seriously morbid and depressing starting the day hearing about oil spills and war in iraq - every morning! So all my dear friends out there, if ur wondering waht went wrong along the way that has made me this way - now u know..i have unleashed the secret!
Walk down memory lane
Been thinking alot about my old house in gardens...so many memories come flooding back.. so many echoes of stuff frm my childhood (guess thts just normal coz tht has such an impact on us). I wld love to live in a very simple single cottage style terrace house..the kind ud find in the remote depths of serangoon gardens..its sad coz those lovely houses are practically becoming extinct due to the way too many multi storey high rise metallic bungalows springing up all over the place. I grew in up in one of those simple humble little houses .... in gardens - spent nearly 18 yrs of my life there and i loved it..such a simple,quaint place though its changing at a rapid pace and not umch of its essence is left save the chomp chomp and the really old houses in which the original occupants still happily dwell...living contented lives almost oblivious to the 'modehrn' urban village (pseudo holland village) its being transformed into. There was a time when all the houses were uniformly small and humble, rockstone walls, and identical gates,windows,lay outs and almost every house had a tiny garden with bougainvileas (bet i spelt tht wrong) alamandas...and we had jasmine too..and the streets had such nice old fashioned british names...mine was worthing road...ive always liekd the sound of that..kind of has a ring to it. There's kensington park,huddington avenue,burghley drive,corfe place (one of my favourites),chistlehurst...and so many more..and the whole place was so pleasant and friendly..ud know practically everyone in ur street and the others too..esp among indians (needless to say!) and there was nothing pompous or glam or formidable about even the relatively grand houses...things have changed considerably now.
Ok so dragging us back to my point...a house like that wld be nice..after my grandma died adn stuff happened..we had to move..and i was really excited abt moving into a flat where we cld decide our own interior decor adn there dindt have to be a trace of linolium or ceramic tiles anywhere (worthing road was ceramic EVERYWHERE...i still am allergic to tht look!!!)..but 7 yrs and 2 flats on..i do miss the space and a garden and if i cld live anywhere in the world when i have my own home, it wld be in serangoon gardens.
OR
id love to live in a sort of villa somewhere by the sea!The sea is a non negotiable!!Too influenced by 'rebecca' perhaps, and this place we stayed at in mendera, south of perth - it was a HUUUUGE BUNGALOW with the indian/pacific (no idea whch one) ocean at ur doorstep...ok not doorstep but u had to walk like 10 steps out that house...and u cld see the sea frm every room...its a DREAM.
Room with a View
Oh well...a girl can dream! But wherever im gonnalive, i must have at least a room with a view..be it the sea, lots of greenery or the sky at least!
Was reading 'The dark room' AGAIN...just felt like reading bits of it...its one of those books u could read over and over again.I love RK Narayan books and the way he describes indian living is just amazing...its all so wonderfully and uniquely indian - the way he writes about Malgudi, the carefree childhood of the swami & friends..the school life,the women draped in indigo saris - elegant adn distinguished...the smart young man in his chocolate coloured tweed coat, cricket matches and jutkas and tiffins - yea yea im a theeni pandaarum but those scenes where the kids come home fr tiffin and coffee...or for the rice and curd adn mustard potatoes...still makes me drool!!its so tempting!Do u remember they used to have the 'Malgudi days' series a loing time ago..they used to show it on one of the local channels and it was simply beautiful...the music still plays on my mind, very disturbing nad nostalgid...its this haunting,sad humming which goes " thaa naa neh na neh na neh naaa". i remember loving those half an hour episodes...'the postman' one of my all time favourites, then there was the one on leela;s chain which eventualy is foudn in the tamarind pot while her innocent servant/playmate is unjustly accused and punished..RKN is such a born story teller.Not just in terms of plot..but there's so much culture in his writing...rich, authentically indian flavour..He's such a fantastic writer.
Almond Milk Handwash
That smell will always mean something special to me...
That cozy warm house always smelling of spices and various delicious treats...the garden groomed with much love and dedication...the tea...warm and soothing...the people..words wldnt do much justice.
The long winding dimly lit road..the long walk to wolfson - we had to pass a room with a light on.
A light in the attic.
Cobblestone streets...The swans, the river, the canopy of creamy roses,
Dil Chata Hai and the ghazal music in the gorgeous house, freshly painted walls...colours - rich beautiful hues..bro boru..baileys.
The man on the rocking chair...with a book, soft music playing...his rosy cheeked,crinkly-eyed grin..ever so genuine and lovable.
The sea....
Blue...green....clear and glistening...
The waves....
Jellyfish..
i dont want to remember jellyfish...its starting to hurt.
I dont know if i dont want to remember, or i dont want to forget.
It Still hurts.
Those who find this all too familiar, bear with me or this is ur cue to take the escape route!
:p
Sound of music
I love carnatic music (Basically any kinda classical music)..but more so fr carnatic...the whole morning and evening raagas thingi...i dont know the names and every technical detail and im certainly no candidate , but i like listening to it..its so relaxing...Have always been taken in by the gentle stumming of the tambura...Luv meera bhajans...the nasal whining sounds of the violin....and the whole ghazals and sitar music on a calm breezy evening just does it fr me...They play carnatic music on the local radio channel..somewhere between 5-6am....Sometimes when i stay up all night, i end up sleeping arnd that time, and its almost the most beautiful experience in the world/one of - when its just becoming light otuside, the air is still cool, and theres this gorgeous music in my ears (literally, coz i attach the earpiece to my handphone to listen)...falling asleep to the music while watching the sky...u know.. theres soemthing very satisfying abt coming to bed when u know others are just starting their day,waking up getting ready fr work etc.
I do NOT like the sound of alarm clocks going off... rude awakening..cant think of a worse way to wake up to a new day.
I luv the sound of bells...any kinda chjime..on the 1st of every month at 12 noon the church bells wld ring all over singapore.Its divine.
I remember waking up to sounds of the carnatic music playing in my own house in those good old days when my grandparents were around...its so vivid..there were always 2 radios playing..the carnatic music 1st coz grandma was the 1st to rise - infact i doubt she ever really slept...evne if u happened to pass by her room at some bizarre time of the night or wee hoursof the morning, ud hear her talking with my grandpa..they werent the most lovey-dovey couple..the kind tht makes u wanna coo 'awwww' or makes u wanna puke at their affection either...in fact they hardly talked during the day and argued a lot! But hearing them just lying there, him on his bed and she on a mattress on the floor (they belonged to tht era tht u dindt sleep tog when ur kids grew up...i know...) and they would acually talk,albeit abt the most mundane things...but i donno..it gave me a warm feeling inside and..i miss it, as much as i miss them both coz its so intrinsically part of my memory of them.
Well i digress - so there wsa the carnatic music frm grandma's room and my mom went thru this phase where she felt it was educational to hear the BBC - she kinda took it too far too coz i remember the last thing we heard at night and the 1st thing she wld put on in the morning wld be the BBC channel!!I spent the better part of my childhood and my early mornings plotting ways to destroy that entire network!The period of the civil war was particularly memorable and traumatic fr me!it got seriously morbid and depressing starting the day hearing about oil spills and war in iraq - every morning! So all my dear friends out there, if ur wondering waht went wrong along the way that has made me this way - now u know..i have unleashed the secret!
Walk down memory lane
Been thinking alot about my old house in gardens...so many memories come flooding back.. so many echoes of stuff frm my childhood (guess thts just normal coz tht has such an impact on us). I wld love to live in a very simple single cottage style terrace house..the kind ud find in the remote depths of serangoon gardens..its sad coz those lovely houses are practically becoming extinct due to the way too many multi storey high rise metallic bungalows springing up all over the place. I grew in up in one of those simple humble little houses .... in gardens - spent nearly 18 yrs of my life there and i loved it..such a simple,quaint place though its changing at a rapid pace and not umch of its essence is left save the chomp chomp and the really old houses in which the original occupants still happily dwell...living contented lives almost oblivious to the 'modehrn' urban village (pseudo holland village) its being transformed into. There was a time when all the houses were uniformly small and humble, rockstone walls, and identical gates,windows,lay outs and almost every house had a tiny garden with bougainvileas (bet i spelt tht wrong) alamandas...and we had jasmine too..and the streets had such nice old fashioned british names...mine was worthing road...ive always liekd the sound of that..kind of has a ring to it. There's kensington park,huddington avenue,burghley drive,corfe place (one of my favourites),chistlehurst...and so many more..and the whole place was so pleasant and friendly..ud know practically everyone in ur street and the others too..esp among indians (needless to say!) and there was nothing pompous or glam or formidable about even the relatively grand houses...things have changed considerably now.
Ok so dragging us back to my point...a house like that wld be nice..after my grandma died adn stuff happened..we had to move..and i was really excited abt moving into a flat where we cld decide our own interior decor adn there dindt have to be a trace of linolium or ceramic tiles anywhere (worthing road was ceramic EVERYWHERE...i still am allergic to tht look!!!)..but 7 yrs and 2 flats on..i do miss the space and a garden and if i cld live anywhere in the world when i have my own home, it wld be in serangoon gardens.
OR
id love to live in a sort of villa somewhere by the sea!The sea is a non negotiable!!Too influenced by 'rebecca' perhaps, and this place we stayed at in mendera, south of perth - it was a HUUUUGE BUNGALOW with the indian/pacific (no idea whch one) ocean at ur doorstep...ok not doorstep but u had to walk like 10 steps out that house...and u cld see the sea frm every room...its a DREAM.
Room with a View
Oh well...a girl can dream! But wherever im gonnalive, i must have at least a room with a view..be it the sea, lots of greenery or the sky at least!
Was reading 'The dark room' AGAIN...just felt like reading bits of it...its one of those books u could read over and over again.I love RK Narayan books and the way he describes indian living is just amazing...its all so wonderfully and uniquely indian - the way he writes about Malgudi, the carefree childhood of the swami & friends..the school life,the women draped in indigo saris - elegant adn distinguished...the smart young man in his chocolate coloured tweed coat, cricket matches and jutkas and tiffins - yea yea im a theeni pandaarum but those scenes where the kids come home fr tiffin and coffee...or for the rice and curd adn mustard potatoes...still makes me drool!!its so tempting!Do u remember they used to have the 'Malgudi days' series a loing time ago..they used to show it on one of the local channels and it was simply beautiful...the music still plays on my mind, very disturbing nad nostalgid...its this haunting,sad humming which goes " thaa naa neh na neh na neh naaa". i remember loving those half an hour episodes...'the postman' one of my all time favourites, then there was the one on leela;s chain which eventualy is foudn in the tamarind pot while her innocent servant/playmate is unjustly accused and punished..RKN is such a born story teller.Not just in terms of plot..but there's so much culture in his writing...rich, authentically indian flavour..He's such a fantastic writer.
Almond Milk Handwash
That smell will always mean something special to me...
That cozy warm house always smelling of spices and various delicious treats...the garden groomed with much love and dedication...the tea...warm and soothing...the people..words wldnt do much justice.
The long winding dimly lit road..the long walk to wolfson - we had to pass a room with a light on.
A light in the attic.
Cobblestone streets...The swans, the river, the canopy of creamy roses,
Dil Chata Hai and the ghazal music in the gorgeous house, freshly painted walls...colours - rich beautiful hues..bro boru..baileys.
The man on the rocking chair...with a book, soft music playing...his rosy cheeked,crinkly-eyed grin..ever so genuine and lovable.
The sea....
Blue...green....clear and glistening...
The waves....
Jellyfish..
i dont want to remember jellyfish...its starting to hurt.
I dont know if i dont want to remember, or i dont want to forget.
It Still hurts.
posted by Kumari | 2:44 AM
1 Comments:
Just got back from a easter party. Ended up touring london on a saturday night looking for a bar after the party; got chased away cos i was wearing my sneakers and even ronald macdonald stopped serving, so got rejected by that as well. Landed back in a friend's house and watched LOTR 3 for a massive 4 hours and walked into my room and now i'm typing you a comment at 6.00am sharp. Ha! Loved your mail! Will reply soon! And thanks for the comment on musings...hoping to get a therapist to work with me on that one ;)
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