Perspectives : The Cats and the Dogs

( This is not part of #thelittlebuddhaseries , but rather is an imaginary conversation happening between a mother and a son - regardless, let me call the son as Sid)

“Mom , why is Roma ma’am’s cat always grumpy? ”, asked Sid , as they were exiting the neighbor’s house

“That is a cat’s neutral face, mone , not very handsome, but cats are born that way ”

“They are clearly not happy around people” , Sid said

Mom : “ But not that they don’t care - they intently watch you from under the cot or from behind the door”

Sid: “Why can’t it come out and be playful like Rohan’s doggie”

Mom: “Dogs and cats have a different mental makeup. Dogs reflects your mood. Cats don’t ”

Sid: “Rohan’s cat does not stay with him all the time, unlike his doggie - Rocky never leaves the house"

Mom: “You know what – it is a relief sometimes, the ones you live with are independent too ”

Sid: “What relief ?”

Mom: “Dogs are more silently demanding, which cats are not”

Sid: “Are cats not..?”

Mom: “They have lesser expectations ; like one who has a deeper understanding of life”

Sid: “Whatever you say - had that been me, I would have kept a dog instead of a cat ; how about you , Amma ?”

Mom: “More than someone to join in the happiness I would prefer someone to give me strength when life takes a downward turn”

Sid: “ Strength ? ”

Mom: “Yes. Immensely. The one which maintains a poker face whatever happens and walks in a straight line even when the sky falls down is the embodiment of courage. What better sense of security than returning home to one of them ? ”

Sid: “Walks in a straight line? - do they always ”

Mom: “Have you not observed a cat walking ? ; They call the straight line walk as cat-walk in fashion industry”

Sid: “So they never fall down?”

Mom: “Yes, they may fall down too. But on all four legs”

Sid: “Always ?”

Mom: “Always!”

Sid: “But they don’t protect you from your enemies”

Mom: “What if I don’t want to have enemies, but win people with love?”

Sid: “How about thieves ?! ; Cats can’t save your stuff from thieves “

Mom: “What if I don’t want to have things that thieves can steal?”

Sid: “Rohan was very upset when his doggie died – I don’t think that Roma ma’am will miss her Persian cat when it dies”

Mom: “A dog makes its presence known while living -yes!, but it’s its absence – that a cat makes known! ”

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This piece is a tribute to a very dear friend who is going through pangs of separation – wish children understood Dads better ; wish angels show children perspectives that they are incapable of seeing themselves

I dedicate this to all fathers , whose contribution – just like a cat’s - is rarely seen, appreciated or celebrated as a mother’s is – we mothers score well like a dog does , whereas the silent backing provided by fathers are often overlooked.

The Little Buddha Series - 5

An astronomical surprise !
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Gauthu : "Amma, Close your eyes. I have a surprise for you...!"

<< Based on historical data, the word "surprise" from the Little Buddhas freaks out Amma >>

The worried Amma asks : "Surprise ?! What surprise ?! Where ?!"

Gau: "Keep your eyes shut Amma, it may reach anytime soon" , and , " Our doors will go bang bang and the windows will fly away"

Amma , even more startled , asks : "Entha mone parayane ?! What are you saying "

Gau: "I have prayed to God for a typhoon ", and , "it may reach anytime soon" , Gauthu jumps up and down

<< Amma's home ministry is now seriously contemplating a ban on playing Hollywood movies at home >>

A Finnish Segue

All roads lead to Puhelin
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Back in July-Oct ,2014 , I was in Finland for work ; Finland is where our organization is headquartered in. My deputation was in our R&D labs in a small town in Northern Finland named Oulu. A quaint and beautiful, laidback town which had quite some old architecture to boast of ; a river named Oulujoki (read as Oulu-yoki) flowing right through the middle of town, that had made a nature reserve around the entire stretch of river and it was a protected area with entry restricted to people and bicycles. The river was home to wild ducks floating freely in them. Oulu was a perfect little town to live and dream in.

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Finland , Oulu especially, is in its summer best in the month of July , for it basks in warm sun for 14-16 hours in a day. The sun rises as early as 5am and does not set until it is 10pm or so. That means that the body’s biological clock is tricked into staying up longer than usual, allowing more time for daydreamers to be productive about.

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The inadvertent availability of excess time had made me soak in the beautiful environs and surrounding things – living or not. The cherry tree standing by the side of the Toripakka bus-stop , the Oulujoki river flowing silently but steadily like a characteristic Finnish man, the selfless Raspberry plants growing in the wild by the banks of the river, the wild blueberries that were back to life after a hibernation under the snow and were lush with deep violet fruits , the different varieties of wild mushrooms of various shapes and deep and vibrant colors growing underneath damp trees and vast grasslands – aw , Oulu was a fairy-land for a romantic.

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But any fairy tale , as you know , is incomplete without a Prince Charming - isn’t it so ? That is where ‘Jakub’ fit in . Jakub Jackowski – a Polish man in his late 20s or early 30s ; he was a few inches taller than an average Indian man, and was in the lower end on the Fitzpatrick scale . I noticed a twinkle in his eyes and he was very chivalrous to this petite woman from the East. A slight wink was his way of acknowledging my presence and his facial muscles on the right slightly shifted further to the side - on seeing me pass by. Jakub easily took me off my guards of arrogance and haughtiness , quite effortlessly. “You have an intelligent looking face” , he would tell me on our short breaks together , “intelligence turns me on” , he would warn with a slight wink again. Jakub’s accolades took me onto the skies to levitate like a balloon cut off from its thread , in the clear Finnish blue skies hedged underneath by tall pine trees.

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Everyday , Jakub will board the 8 o’ clock bus to the office. I made it a point to board the same bus too , my plastic, consumer based life in the studio apartment there, allowed me that luxury – a few loaves of bread or a bowl of muesli with a glass of milk for breakfast and with cooked rice , fried salmon and vegetable salad for the lunch, it was not difficult for me - especially with the extra motivation that starting the day with meeting Jakub gave me. But the bus reaches exactly at 8 am, that is the point!, a minute late on the other side and it would be gone, yes, the 8 o’clock bus means that it comes at the bus stop at exactly 1 minute past 7:59 am. On the dot. And you can’t mistake the time because everything that operates in Oulu is synchronized to the GPS – ie to say, the time that your mobile phone shows, which as you know is the time sent by the last mile wireless network connectors , and the time of the bus operations , they are all synchronized to one common time, the time sent by one satellite , which allowed for no confusion about time. You are late by a minute means that you have to wait for the next bus that is exactly 30 minutes later.

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Needless to say, I ensured that I reached the bus stop a few seconds before 8 to ensure boarding the bus. And Jakub boarded it from the next , we would exchange greetings and a short glance which was my spring board to a productive day like getting your morning tea brewed with the right amount of tea leaves.

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Being a conventional Indian woman, I was never direct about my overtures of friendship or whatever you would call that. At the same time, I fantasized about riding on a white horse by the Oulujoki river with Jakub by the side and that goes without saying that I waited for the right opportunity to get to spend a longer time with the man

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On a certain Wednesday, I was making plans for the weekend to visit an “Automobile Museum” in Oulu , and after a fair amount of web search, I found out a small and cozy restaurant serving indigenous Finnish cuisine too . And incidentally , and they were both located around the same neighborhood which made strategy making easier for me, for they both pointed to a hamlet called “Puhelin” that I was given to understand from the addresses. It surprised me that the hamlet was not to be found on Google Maps. And, the pin codes were different , but the hamlets the same, I checked again – that baffled me a little, but I did not want to question a working system that is in place at a foreign land. To each their own! , I thought and left it at that. Then came Jakub, and I tried not to show my nervousness while asking him out. I asked him to join me while I visit Puhelin , and Jakub gave me a suspicious look. He asked me to repeat the name . “Puhelin”, I repeated with an air of superiority to be taking him to a place unknown to him. He still could not get it right and asked me to show the address. At that point , Jakub laughed out loud , forgetting all chivalry , and he told me that “Puhelin” is the Finnish word for Phone number . I was speechless at my own stupidity .

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Needless to say , I missed the 8 o’ clock bus on the next two days. And after I got off the white horse, I bought a copy of “Teach Yourself Finnish” and read it over the weekend.

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Now, when I go on foreign trips you can imagine what will be going into my travel suitcase first.

Let me be an olive tree!

Let my love stay silent -
for you never read it right 
to hold me tight.
Let my love stay silent –
for I can never sweet talk enough,
to fulfill your fantasies.
Let my love stay silent –
for my breath never -
smells like your favorite flower,
to bring you back for its nectar!
Let my love stay silent –
for the sight of my fluttering skirt,
or flowing hair,
never makes you levitate - oh, never!
Let my love stay silent -
for my touch never leaves you in raptures ,
nor do my life offer greener pastures .
Let my love stay silent -
for you never come close enough,
to feel my racing heart -
skipping a beat.
Let my love stay silent –
for the light in my eyes,
never lights up your life, to worry -
if I may wave goodbye.
Let my love stay silent -
for as long as I live ;
will you ever believe?,
my love'll guard you like a tree of olive*


*Olive Tree symbolizes hope, peace, wisdom, immortality and more..

The Little Buddha Series - 4

Here's your share of the booty, Ma!
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Gautham is very enthusiastic about visiting grocery shops with Amma , for he believes in his own ability to influence his mother to do a last minute buy of an "imli muttayi" ( tamarind rolled like a candy and sugar sprinkled over it ). He walks around the aisles with hands in the pants' pockets.


On a certain day, Amma and Gautham went on shopping and returned without Amma budging to Gautham's tantrums for an "imli muttayi". But unlike other days, there was no emotional breakdown which gave a silent hope that the boy is learning to control his emotions, finally. But controlling pelvic muscles was still not within his control that Amma had to take his permission to change the trousers. But Gautham was unwilling to part with his trousers. He was ok with walking around in peed pants but would not change them


It took a long time of persuasion ,and a long line of swears and threats to make him part with the trousers and on one condition : what is in the pockets were Gautham's and that Amma should not claim them - from the past history, the pockets were likely to have broken pieces of random plastic stuff or a few Hotwheel cars. The condition was ok with Amma. That is when Gautham took out his possession from the pockets with a gleeful grin - an imli muttayi and Amma's eyes popped out. "Baby, did u ..?" , to which Gautham answered , "Amma, Don't be upset, I know you love it too , here! have it! - I have taken one for you !, how tasty! - isn't it Amma ", he said innocently


Edit : before you judge my child, he is only as tall as our longest umbrella ; I will later attach a picture of him

The Little Buddha Series - 3

A story of betrayal !
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Gautham comes crying, says, “Amma, is it true that Ettan came first ?”

Amma: “Yes darling”, “Ettan came first”

<< Crying intensifies >>

Gautham: “How long after did you decide to get me?”

Amma: “3 years”   ( months did not make sense to him ; so I truncated the actual number to years)

<< Crying continues >>

Gautham : “3 years?! , had I come with him I would have got more birthdays” ; “I would also have gone to school with him” ; “I will be saying ABCD with him” ; “Amma don’t you know that I am afraid of sleeping alone ?!”

<< Crying continues ; speech slurring ; nose running ; mouth drooling >>

Gautham: “Amma, Ettan says that you decided to bring me to play with him ?”

Amma: “ No, we all wanted you here, we asked God for you , and God granted the wish”

Gautham: “Ettan says that you got me because he prayed for me” , “And, he prayed for me because he wanted somebody to play with”

<< Still crying inconsolably >>

Gautham: “ I am done playing with him, Amma, he does not share the cars ”, Gautham falls face down on the sofa ,  “Let me go back to where I came from ! Swallow me back, Amma! ” , “Swallow me , now!”


<< Achan was called in to settle the matter >>


The brothers! - United by food ; divided by Hotwheels*




*Hotwheels : a brand of toy cars

Erotica 2:

My Love - a raging wildfire

Have you heard of a wildfire ,my darlin',
A wildfire no man can control
The elements cannot change its course
Pouring raindrops only intensifies the force
Groping up like a tempestuous high tide,
it spares no atom of your existence untouched
A wildfire that does not choke a man,
with anything in anticipation, my love;
it neither burns, nor it harms,
but only satiates a soul's flaring desire -
to melt into its missing half
A wildfire in which blooms magnolia trees,
with flowers smelling of your bodily scent,
whose branches are home to chirpy birds
and wild mushrooms of a hundred colors ;
in its shade i lay in deep meditation
while soaking in your unearthly attraction

Thanks to Indran's art for the inspiration 

Misery of a Claustrophobic Woman

Written during the Corona contagion time of 2020 when streets were desolate and people were confined to their homes to contain the spread of virus

Sitting at home, I notice,
that -
the floor needs scrubbing,
the plants need pruning,
the walls need painting, and,
the children, defo, spanking,
the cobwebs - removal,
from all the folks - approval
what this claustrophobic woman needs now,
is an whole tall glass of *Royal Arrival

*Royal Arrival: a cocktail

Some uncensored thoughts

Dear I&B Ministry,

You clearly have run out of ideas on how to run the ministry; so let me make some recommendations for you for the welfare of our people

1)           Censor the programs run in main stream media during the prime time from 6-10pm. The vile family dramas , with special emphasis on the bond between mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law are highly insinuating in nature. These family dramas run for years together making women addicted to it , and this is the source of entertainment of most Indian women. Think about that - Time that can otherwise be spent on getting some physical exercise and/or social networking is spent on TV because they have no idea of how important being physically active is. Mega serial programs do to women’s minds what alcohol does to men’s. Moreover , since our government do not spend enough on the social security of its senior citizens, it becomes highly imperative that we sensitize them on the importance of being physically active which is for the body and being socially active which is for the mind. This will in turn nurture good relationships among neighbors , which may in the long run help avert embarrassing communal issues and help raise the quality of people’s lives.

For the above said reasons, we highly recommend censoring of TV programs as we do for films

2)           Secondly, you should put a curb on the promotion of junk food , in TV channels meant for children. Give me one nutrient that is provided by the convenience food that is ready-to-eat that are heavily advertised in our TV channels for money. They help nobody except the manufacturers and the sellers. In addition, do you have any idea about the plastic waste that they leave behind – which unfortunately are not even recyclable. Who gains from such products ? Not our children for sure. And many women , do not even know the harm caused by such store brought products. Let us not capitalize on the ignorance of poor women, who are easily lured into buying the packets of junk food that comes in  small packages which are easily affordable. Providing food that are lacking nutrition is denying opportunity to good food that are a little more difficult to prepare for working women laborers and other working women alike. Remember , our primary education does not include lessons on good nutrition.

3)           Considering the reach of the regional channels , you can use them to spread awareness on the harmful effects of air pollution and how people can take small steps to tackle it. Corona has been successful in achieving what air pollution could not – making people wear masks. That is the power of awareness campaigns. I fail to understand how lesser important air pollution is – which causes slow death to our biological systems on prolonged exposure. Our biggest bane is people who are rich enough to buy diesel vehicles and careless enough to idle the engines in public areas with windows rolled up because their air conditioners are ON, and the general public who is unaware of the direct effect of inhaling toxic vehicle exhaust fumes. Both the parties need awareness – one of them need to be more careful and the others need to be lesser careless. However good, the sale of automobiles be for the economy, their exhaust is bad for the planet. Remember, economy does not matter if there is no planet to live in

4)           You can use your powers to instruct our media channels to not broadcast the same regressive pseudo macho movie more than 1 time in a month , which they always do 😊

5)           And the fifth, and the most important, you can use the same TV channels to address the length and breadth of nation that has been deeply hurt by the Delhi riots, 2020 – for they  are in our hearts and thoughts ever since we started taking the Indian pledge that “All Indians are our brothers and sisters” , and they really are.

6)          Recommend to the government to give Y-category security to our journalist brothers and sisters who faces occupational hazards and face big risks to bring news to our secure private rooms. It is that voice that you are trying to quieten.

7)          And, I request you to not use your powers to perform visual policing by shutting down our visual media when you have failed to control inflammatory speech under your nose against whom no charges have been made whereas a 11 year old school child’s , helpless , single mother is subjected to sedition charges , thus psychologically marring their lives for ever.

These were our expectations when we voted you to power. Please don't fail us everyday!

Sincerely,
A Bharthiya Nari


PS: I wrote the above with the conviction that there is no offense non-bailable in it and have written it in good faith- hope the fate of the Bidari mother doesnot await me

The Little Buddha Series - 2

The master manipulator
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All hell breaks loose when it is Gautham's bathing time


"Acha, Acha, no Acha, why do I bathe everyday Acha ? , stop disturbing me Acha " - Gautham cries at the top of his voice

He runs hither and thither

"Water is cold - i don't want to bathe" , he screams

"No! , it is not, may be we can set it more warmer today" , Achan says

"No!, still I don't want to bathe" , Gautham doesnot relent

<< Achan goes to the bathroom to fill the bucket >>

"Gautham!" , Achan calls again , "Come and feel the temperature for yourself"

Gautham doesnot oblige , still runs around crying

Gautham comes to Amma who is cooking in the kitchen

"Amma, please tell Achan that I don't want to bathe now"

Amma, whose focus is on the simmering Sambhar echoes what she hears

"Acha, Gautham says that he doesnot want to bathe! ", Amma cries out, to be heard

All Achan understands is that his wife is shouting from the kitchen which is not a new thing anymore after 8 years of marriage

"Gautham, what did Amma say ? ", Achan asks

"Amma asks me not to bathe!!!", Gautham answers from under the cot

He is an absolute darling at all other times

Erotica: Let me make you a meal

Two heads of broccoli,
One cup of mushroom,
A few pods of garlic,
And a pinch of salt.
Top it with two dollops of sunshine
And a spoonful of tenderness.
I’ll then throw in a few seeds of love,
While cooking you a meal.
My food will arm your body with protection
And feed your cells with nutrition.
Alongside, my love will travel -
to lay dormant in your blood.
Dormant until the next rains fall.
Rains breathe life into my love -
to fill your arms with hope,
body with warmth , 
and, heart with sunshine. 
My love will then take you towards the sky,
To walk with you on the farthest clouds