Of Things big and small- a mostly picture blog

hmm,... i've tried and tried and tried.. and have fallen asleep on my efforts.
so i won't beat up my self about it , no no, i will only try and make it easier if it isn't coming on as it should have-we'll make it different won't we?


so -i think i should put out the mighty efforts i have made on sleepy nights after sweating away the whole day, i have to say,each night, my sleep is well earned and deserved. now that isn't something everyone can boast of :)

1st

 I am tired, i am sleepy. I am thinking of the placement of the rainwater pipe on the terrace of my current studio project,which is taking more time to finish than it should.

But i am no longer afraid, i love the work i have done, and they will probably find it alright.which is as much as you can expect from them anyhow. I am happy, though i still have one through section and one elevation to go, i am happy and i feel very blessed, and that is one feeling – if none other- which must be mentioned and the universe much be thanked for giving me that.

Who’d have known that i would know such wonderful people?  Am i not truly lucky to have a wonderful family, and the peace i know i can generate, even during the times of great distress only with a glance at the towering trees, isn’t that something very precious?

Why would men wish to make and live in huge cities?

Now,it is ironic and funny. I am an architect about to be made.

May be that is to rediscover good living. I am not sure i can ever fall in love with concrete alone.

Neither do i want to.

Diwali is on the 26^th

I am sitting in the fading light, the sun has set sometime ago and the western sky is  orange and navy blue, i have to go to college tomorrow, it is the first of the holy days of Diwali,the smoke and smell of fire crackers is very much distinctively there, it smells and sounds like Diwali but never mind, it is for my own good because the professor has got a whim,that she wants me to show up that day, no other reason,but she has to give the marks so i am going.

Let me drop the mundane problems , they are not of much consequence really. I am sitting out here, in this rather last century like dress with strawberries on it,and marvelling at the beauty of everyday life. My brother has gone to Savar Kundala, it seems i have all the time on my hand- or it is just that there is not a constant talk source around. So i am  the youngest in the house, that is good for a change. Though i do miss him, alot.

Winter is in the air, life will get more interesting as the cold increases, with hot food and new vegetables in the market, the dishes will be more lush and tempting. And of course, before that, there is Diwali to celebrate!

 

So let me talk of the big and small pleasures of splurging sometimes- of the pleasure of browsing and selecting, of liking and gifting.it is pretty much like how it is for Christmas in the western world.

So,here is one pleasant thing -i have been wishing to tell every one, that i DID NOT buy some amazing shoes that i saw yesterday in Ahmedabad.

Here is the pic

any wonder that i lusted after these?

ok so not very subtle or graceful,but it's high fashion :D

So of course i did try it on and told the shopkeeper to take me a photo, so please don’t be ashamed if i act rather oddly when shopping shoes with you, i am like that, i can not buy what is not needed, cause if i do i am usually  feeling the guilt of it each time i see the thing.

I have under taken a daunting task, that of writing a blog entry before it is 1 am here, it is 12 already, and as you know my posts are such long rambling accounts of everyday things.
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 31st October 2011

you know, failing at finishing my blog posts doesn't discourage me much, it happens and it is fine. it just means that i am a healthily busy person,who has a good appetite for sleep. it is 11:30 right now, than it will be the 1st. let me try and finish this as soon as i can, this is going to be what it comes to be really, i am not planning on any romantic flourishes and touches of literary genius,(supposing the i ever do get those) - i am just going to write,as nicely and neatly as i can, about my trip and life in general in the last few days.


so....we left on the 25th morning, Vidur wasn't with us,having reached Savarkundala before us with my uncle,it was a rather boring ride, one gets used to having him arguing and talking unceasingly about his games till your eyes hurt, and to have him to cuddle at all times. reached Bhavnagar, had a crazy- giggling and group hugged reunion with my two cousin sisters.gave the diwali gifts,had fun,explored the new macro lens, etc, than left for S.K. with my youngest sister, gosh, this description sounds so awfully silly, if i must say it all like this why do  i not just declare this the most boring blog of the world and be over with it?  
human limitations of a sleepy mind?


so..my stay there included some marvellous things, the precious time with my cousins,heart to heart talks,swims in the farm swimming pool with the trees overshadowing it,early morning walks and picnics in the near by forest frequented by lions and leopards, simple but delicious food, diwali celebrations,the famous ingoria (fire crackers) fight, giving an interview,new year celebrations,night safaris and star studded skies trying unsuccessfully to light our walks,( OMG i almost fell asleep)


i am officially making this a photo post, bite me!


we made some hugely brilliant rangolies 
one the night of Diwali,
(i know,very childish)

and this one is vidur's creation- original isn't it :D

and here is the one we made on the night of the new year

 

work in progress-initial stage

that's the finished design.

We spent the day of diwali at the farm, started off by an early morning hike in the nearby forest which is now inhabited by a group of lions and of course leopards, but encountered only an antelope, and an unidentified bird.had a picnic, came back, played with the dog, swum for hours , had simple but lovely lunch ,and lazed under the shade of trees.than when every one succumbed to sleep,but my cousin and i didn’t , we did a photoshoot. I rather like the results : )

Fireworks and Diyas or divas are the main features of diwali, i will give you an example of the most fun thing you could do with them, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HgE-rDJE_g

Though, only lumos seemed to work as it should, but i won!! See, i am meant as the most powerful witch of the Muni family.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7DJ-qmfxKLM

Here is the video we took off the tv screen of the interview- during the fire cracker fight in savar kundala- it’s been going on from almost 100 years, and it is nasty, but full of energy, adrenalin, burns, and obviously –smoke.it started as a friendly fight between the two towns on both the sides of the river navali, savar and kundala, now it’s a joined town, but the tradition continues, it really is like a war zone+ a gang fight- but fortunately, they don’t get agitated or start fighting with anything other than fire. their main feature is to spook away spectators, and they seem to derive evil fun out of trying to target any lady who’s been bold enough to come in their midst, as you can seen during the interview, they did manage to catch us on the backs –but to be truthful ,none of us screamed,we just laughed, as you can see from the behind the scenes video here- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RlKSUN3tx_w

We are braver souls than that,but we do mind burn marks, and ruined dresses, so don’t make me punch your nose in with your fireworks bag. So i ended up giving the interview in my night cloths,with smoke in my nose and my hair in utter disarray :P

Anyhow, it was fun, we were- for the most part, in the police station, it is not advisable to stand outside, the crackers even entered the room it self, but we got interviewed because we were the only ladies there, here is the video of last year, my aunt giving the interview and us all smiling behind her :D http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QzLKBlayok&feature=colike

The walk back to the car from the police station was strewn with missiles launched at our heads:P but i have to say the dodging was fun and can make you feel like matrix- lean back, side, that side, gosh it caught me  almost in my hair but burnt the back of my neck a bit.

I am thankful i bent down low enough.

view from inside the police station

Hmm so,enough of that,

Than there was the new year, so happy new year :)

The day after that was bhai bij, the day for brother and sister, we swam a lot in the pool that day, had a “ who does the most laps” competition,and i learnt a bit about how to dive, i always jump, diving freaks me out, but i learnt it. Not perfectly of course.

Than after almost 2 hours, when i floated – watching the pale blue sky framed by leaves, and the skylark swooping and swirling in the heated air, i thanked the universe for this life, and i said goodbye to the blessed place, for that particular trip, as i knew this would be the last swim before i went away. I had a habit of remembering special people on such occasions, what if we could communicate with our minds when we think of the people we want to include in that moment?

I love to float while staring at the sky ,it’s like sleeping, the water is so gentle and caring when you surrender fully. So relaxing.

Though, it does make me panic : )

Another mentionable episode, is our second night jaunt in the forest, the first one having been utterly disappointing, with only night jars and hares to add to the list, the second one was far more better, though it is a pity we had to be accompanied by some silly people without any jungle understanding- the kind who keep talking and walk slowly, stare in to mobiles and tell you not to take photos because the shutter makes a sound, assuming that you do not know anything at all,and they know everything- they also insist on seeming like the brave hearts and sit with you on the open part of the jeep, insist on keeping the search light in their hands, and always point at the passing tree tops because they are utterly freaked that something will jump down on them, while you despair of ever finding the lioness that you are sure has come somewhere along this road- because, naturally, she IS on land and not on a tree top. Though, not all of them were silly, just two. Enough to make me fume.

We left the car and decided to walk, i and my accomplices walked at our pace, a bit ahead of the noisy followers- giving them over in the care of my mom,she can handle the annoyance, i can’t-and as we were going ahead,they wouldn’t need to fear anything from the wildlife, because, of course if we walked with them , we wouldn’t even see the night jars that evening, while to our horror they raised voices to make us go slow. But thankfully, only moments after that we spotted the gleaming eyes of a lioness on the little hill besides the little dirt way we were walking on, beautiful. Gesturing them to shut up, we showed her to them –blending so well in the landscape, with only half of her head visible, she did look rather awesome. There was one forest guard with us, and hurried in- may be just to get away from the noisy presence, you know, it does grate on everyone who’s sensible-s nerves. so, if you are ever walking with me in the forest, whisper or keep quiet. Which, of course was a wrong move, it made the lioness move back at a greater pace than we could cover, so when we reached the top of the hill where she had been, she had hurried down in the grass and i could just see her tail behind a big thorn bush.  We should have waited for her to relax and come out, but the “new bees” moved in with the confidence of the people moving near a dog, they seemed to find the lack of a mane a deterrent in her ferocity, and thought that ,ofcourse, if the forest guard with 10 years worth of experience in the field can stalk her, so could they, yey!! So they moved in,, and i had to move in behind them, with the children and mom- they were so unstoppable without a shout. It is always advisable to stay in a group when there are more people,and well, they were kind of our responsibility, and they were moving from one side of the bush – likely they’d annoy the lioness and than she would make a circuit of the bush and emerge from the other side, and make for the opposite direction,that put us and our retreat way, both in her line of retreat- that’s a big NO. You don’t put your self in that dilemma.

Thus, they made the lioness change bush again , she moved farther left , and they followed, now and than i’d spot her moving tail, her eyes flashing –judging us and forgiving. Though, people like these could get you killed, and through no fault of the lion or the beast concerned. I couldn’t make them fear her unless she growled , i almost wished she would.a growling lion would make most people shiver and stop breathing. Or do something else. But than,if she did, they’d be sure to run, and that’s the last thing you want to do, you don’t run unless you must, that is why i said that that kind of people could get you killed, they can not stand still if the lion gets annoyed, that is the basic part of on foot stalking, you have to have the heart of standing your ground, when the fire spitting eyes of the lion is pointed on you, when they twirl their tails in just that way, when their ears twitch like that, you hold your ground, you make them realise that you are not afraid, you look them in the eyes,and pray to God that you could fool them. It usually works, after all, if a lion wanted to kill you, you won’t make it by running anyhow, you’ll just make him sure that you are afraid, afraid is easy to kill. Believe me, standing like that is very HARD! You need discipline and self control, not only courage. Even if your eyes water. Even than, if you think it will charge, your only hope is a near by tree.

No question of them having any such qualities, i mean the new bees – they’d probably get us killed if they listened to the lioness growl, they’d flee like a flock of chicken- shocking her more.

Well- here is the video of the blissful night when we were unbothered by chance guests

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRNH-IIEulY

so.. the saving thing was when i spotted the bones of a carcass. I thought- yey! If you haven’t seen a carcass , the white bones gleaming faintly in the night, the flash having been gnawed by the sharp teeth of the lion, with the lion him self hiding somewhere near by – you do not know the cold fear that grips the most bravest of hearts. It gripped mine too, for a second you do stop breathing. So showing that to those idiots was like a treat, it cured them of their new found enthusiasm of lion stalking, made them realise that, it was not a stray dog they were following but a majestic animal that could easily turn them in to a carcass.. fun fun eh?

Then they hurried back behind us in the waist high grass back to the car.

But it did disturb the animal, it disturbed and stressed us.it put on the shelf every possibility of the leisurely lioness viewing i had been hoping for, which also mean i lost lots of potentially good shots.

I only have one to show : (

That was taken before that idiot put his hand in between to tell me not to shoot.

On our way out, we crossed a deep raving (in Jeep) with huge trees and dark shadows ,even darker than the moonless night, we sad the green gleam –potentially of a leopard, but that idiot was still pointing at tree tops, now more freaked than ever but still proving his maleness by staying on the open area of the jeep.

I am saddened that i missed it. 

But..... my dad took the flash light by almost force, than i got to take the wonderful pics (to my mind) of the posing fox, such a beauty. Thank you. That has to be the highlight of the trip. I love foxe.

Though we did see anelopes,spotted deer (i have a wonderful recording of them giving the distinct alarm call as the lioness moved – that was recorded later when we stood apart and away from the other group, contemplating the night, watching satellites and planes, and the milky way, oh so beautiful in it’s milky white glory, as the fireflies zoomed by, As we made out the constellations, as the horned owl gave it’s hooting call,as the chilly air and the thrill made Goosebumps stand out on my skin,as i remembered special people who would really appreciate the beauty of it all, the sheer wonder of it. The spotted deer started to bark and gave it’s alarm call –i have the clear recording of the still night : ) <3

The day after that, was spent in seeing a movie, the ninth gate, well  rather disappointing, though i did see- eat , pray , love. Better. Could be watched ones. Then , at mid day, we left for Bhavnagar, had a fun evening there with my other cousin sister, talked long in to the night, with the giggly girly way of ours, of things big  and small, we talked.