The cricket obsession

 
Brathraaya shaishave,

Puthraaya yauvane,

Praputhraaya vaardhakye -

Na sthree swaathanthryamarhathi..||

Translation:
(To your brother, in childhood
To your sons, in youth,
To grandsons in old age -
The life of Indian women will be lost throwing balls to aspiring cricketers)
( Reporting from the field as the cricketer is taking a power nap )

PS: I am as poor in Sanskrit as i am in English ( hope there is some language Puritan in the friend list who can correct my Sanskrit "vibhakthis" and/or my English grammar ) 

Bangalore,
7 Aug 2021
#thelittlebuddhaseries

Playing the game of Chess

 

"Checkmate!", said Sid

"Fine!, i lose my King", said the 5 yr old, "let me make the next move".

"No!, the game ends when you lose the King", screamed Sid

"Why..?, i have others ", said Gau.

They both looked at Amma for a resolution.

"Yes, the game ends. That's how it works", Amma said

Gautham is too young to understand the socio-political affairs in India in 2021 - so he believes the mother when she says that the game ends when the King is killed. As he grows older he will realize that India survived 2021 because the subjects continued to fight even when the King failed - that Amma was not right. Until then, I am safe

Bangalore,
4 May 2021
#thelittlebuddhaseries
#StoriesFromIndia2021— feeling energised.

Maths Vs Justice

 

The father teaching fractions to the son - "Imagine we got 15 chocolates and I take 10..."

Bud : " We get 15 and you take 10..?! - THAT WON'T WORK, ACHA !!!"

Lesson - teach maths before the children learn about justice or they may forever low score in maths


#thelittlebuddhaseries

Leafy vegetables

Teacher : "What's your favourite food, Gautham "

Gautham : "Pappadom, ma'am"

Teacher : "What's your favourite healthy food, Gautham"

Gautham : "Banana, ma'am "

Teacher : "What's your favourite green leafy vegetable, Gautham"

Gautham : "I don't have a favourite there, ma'am "

Teacher: "But still.., name one.."

Gautham: "Mother's bamboo plant, ma'am "

Teacher: "Bamboo plant..?- but we don't eat bamboo leaves, no, Gautham"

Gautham : " That's why i love it, ma'am, because mother doesn't ask me to eat it".
Ma'am swallowing the lump in her throat, said : " That's because bamboo is not a leafy vegetable, Gautham "

Gautham : " But you said Panda eats bamboos. Isn't it Panda's vegetable then. I don't like my vegetables ma'am, i love only Panda's "

Listening to the confessions of my little boy shoots up my BP- Montessori education may be good for children, but a torture for the teachers and mothers definitely


            

Bangalore,
8 Oct 2021

#thelittlebuddhaseries

Disillusionment

 

Bud: "Amma, why are you lying on the sofa.., i am afraid that you will roll down.."

<< Amma had dozed off trying hard to overcome a reader's block >>

Amma:"No baby, big objects don't roll easily"

Bud:" I am worried, Amma, please shift to the bed"

<< Amma stood perplexed.. Seeing that level of emotional quotient in her eight-year-old made her motherhood to waltz >>

Bud continued :" We took hours to put up this castle that you see on the floor, Amma - if you roll down, a hand or a leg of yours is going to bring damage to it, so please Amma, shift to the bed ".

Amma was quick in swallowing the lump in the throat and picking up the book again to work on the reader's block

Bangalore,
14 May 2021
                                                            

#thelittlebuddhaseries
PS: Adding a photo for attention - the dwindling readership is indeed a cause of worry

Lava on the floor

 

"Amma..", Gau was screaming,"my pencil has fallen down, get it to me please", he hollered

"Why can't you get off the chair and pick it up..?", she asked annoyingly.

"Not when lava is flowing on the floor, Amma", came the listless answer.

 lethargy, imagination or delusion - what is it..?!

Bangalore,
22 Aug 2021
#thelittlebuddhaseries

Cats and 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 ”, the Mom said
“They are clearly not happy around people” , Sid said
“ 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! ”
===========================================

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.

Bangalore,
19 Oct 2020

Only believe what you see

 

Gautham coming up with his regular Teacher-Student game, asks Sid, "Tell me Etta, which among these jump the highest : Panda, Cheetah, frog"

Sid : "Is there even a doubt that it is not the Cheetah"

Gautham :"No. One more chance "

Sid went bonkers, "I want no more chance. It is the Cheetah "

Gautham :" No, Achan says to only believe what you have seen. I have seen a frog jumping. It jumps high. From the wall to the lily pond. Have you seen a Cheetah jumping..? "

Bangalore,
13 Aug 2021

#thelittlebuddhaseries

Amma - the fount of youth ?!

Something was evidently wrong - the five year old Gautham was storming out of his room and was prancing towards the mother angrily - "why don't you let Ettan lock the door..?"

Motherhood being an endless test ,that you never anyway pass though , you have to be a wall when there is a storm - the mother said calmly , "not until twenty years of age" (read it as, not until you reach twenty)

The doe eyed monster had a startling look on his face on hearing this, clearly he had not got the logic behind the (stupid) reasoning.

"Fine!, when are you turning twenty?" , came the next question.

That startled Amma as well for a minute -these guys are setting more mountains than she can ever climb


Bangalore,
12 Aug 2021

#thelittlebuddhaseries

Little Secrets

 

Bud : "Ammomma, isn't there a book in which if you write nobody reads it, but you."

Ammomma:"Yes. That's called a personal diary "

Bud: "Can I have one of those Ammomma. I have a secret to write in it"

Ammomma :"Secret?, Mind telling me? "

Bud: "I saw Amma entering the password to her iPad. And i want to write it down secretly somewhere before i forget "

Bangalore,
12 June 2020

#TheLittleBuddhaSeries

Play the situation

From the online classes of the second grader :

While teaching Environmental Sciences , the teacher asks "Who knows about blackholes ..?

Sid says quickly : "I know ma'am, i know"

Teacher says : "Who said that..?"

The 5 year old brother who is standing by the side and watching all of this, jumps up and down, quite excitedly: "My brother Sidharth, my brother"
<<The elder brother blushes with pride.>>

From the maths class:

The Teacher asks : "What do you get when you multiply zero with any number .. ?"

The 2nd grader says : "The same number ma'am"

Teacher : "The same number?! - who said that ?!"

And the little one again jumps up and down and says :"That's my brother Sidharth, my brother Sidharth"
<<The elder brother slid out of this seat not to be seen>>

#knowyourfriends
#thelittlebuddhaseries

  

Bangalore,
07 March 2021

Walk the talk, mother

Two species of gigantic animals were strewn all over the house - one, the extinct dinosaur and the other one matching in size and which wished if it were extinct like the dinosaurs too, than coexisting with humans. I donot know what is the imagery that you created by now - but i was talking about two set of jigsaw puzzles that were strewn all over the house - one, of a herd of elephants and the second , of a pack of dinosaurs.

"Pillere, clean this up, you are testing my patience , if i clean it up, you are not going to get them again", the 'benevolent' mother in me screamed

Gautham gave me a suspicious 'don't -you-dare-touch-my-things' kind of look, but Sid looked at me and said in a gentle voice :
"Amma, I know you will not throw them away"

The angelic Amma spoke again : "What make you think so, you little brat ?! , i will , i will, and i will throw them all away "

Sid again : "But Amma, you always say that you know the value of money, don't you ? ; did this not cost Achan money..? "

********************************************
The meeting point of your child's playful childhood and logical reasoning is a dangerous time in a parent's life ; with one child on either side of the said confluence , this mother can only pray :D


#thelittlebuddhaseries


                                                       
Bangalore,
24 Sep 2020

Who is Gandhi ..?!

 

The inattentive 5 year old was half-dozing in his online class when Achan interrupted

Achan: " Listen to what the teacher is telling you, Gautham, don't sleep now"

Gautham half raising his face , said ,"I am not sleeping"

Achan: "Aren't you ..? - ok , then tell me who is Mahatma Gandhi..?"

Gautham got up , stumbled for a few seconds before Achan asked the question again . This time he was

quite confident while answering Achan, "Mahatma Gandhi was the King of India"

At that moment, though it was Oct 2nd and the birth anniversary of Gandhi, we thanked God that 
Gandhi was not around to hear about his renewed status

Bangalore,
07 Oct 2021

#thelittlebuddhaseries

Mosquito - is it a Zen master ?!

( A child's rhyme )

Bzzz….. Bzzz.... Bzzzz…

Here comes a mosquito 

in its fine tuxedo 

Strutting its tiny beak,

that’s by no means weak, 

Dropping in sans warnings

flapping its tiny wings

Enjoying a sip without a care

From all beings unaware.

Dodging clapping hands,

dancing to its own merry bands

"Of what use is this tiny insect

That looks of the harmless kind

And doesn’t wait for you to inspect 

But’s never swept away in the wind?" 

you may complain

once and twice and 

time and again.

But mosquitoes belong 

to a certain Zen sect,

I now confess, I suspect . 

They distract you from the sorrows 

of your mind's creation and harrows

you to focus your energies on the present 

in a meditative, calculated vent

while they extort a chase from you,

and they duck you 

until you give up trying 

or they fall dying.

Edited by the husband, Mr. Kurup

Aparajitha - a wild blue flower

She is a little blue flower that
grows in the wild

and not in any garden
for she is born to a lanky vine,

whom no gardener plants

for she is an untamed one,
a hippie ,
who awaits no care -

from anyone ,

still 
lives with passion and rage -
making unbridled love to the sun by day
and the moon by night.

She is a little blue flower that
finds no place in a garland
for she doesn’t fit 
into what the world calls as beautiful
"Why, she doesn't have
the form of a flower
but turns out shamelessly
in sizzling blues -

nothing but an object of lust

Keep her away,

our men are unhinged ,

around this enchantress,

who even intoxicates the dewdrops

that seeps into her",

condemned the world

They are right -

the solitary flower, 

is more sensuous 

than 

any pretty rose can ever be 

She is a little blue flower

unwelcome in parties -

a daughter

born out of wedlock 
to an unchaste plant, 

who loves wildly ,

without a care for the world

that looks on ,

furtively

PS: Thanks to my editor friend ,poet Ravi Shankar N , for editing the poem purely out of goodwill , seeking nothing in return (https://www.facebook.com/ra.sh.581)

Date with a chemist

I once went on a date with a chemist
I did not know what to talk about,
and so I carried a box of cinnamon with me,
to talk about cinnamon
lest we didn’t find a thing to talk about.

I did a good thing by carrying the cinnamon
he told me stories about cinnamon, and
how to find real cinnamon,
how it must taste,
and the aftertaste it leaves.

I gifted him the best cinnamon stick in the box,
it was 3 inches long
he honored me by accepting it
and I came back chewing on one of the rest.

I did not fall in love with the chemist
but I fell in love with cinnamon
and this, I know, is a bond to last
though I may never meet the chemist again 

******************************************************************
Chemical composition of the poem is as follows:
40% anecdotal
30% poetry
10% imagination
9% idle time
1% attention seeking behavior of yours truly :D

The Eyes

( This poem was written by a dear friend - my dear friend is now buried deep somewhere - I don't care much about the body, but the spirit - I worry if that would have rotten too - the cruelty of deadly viruses - known or unknown, recognized or unrecognized, identified or unidentified, owned or disowned, immune or vulnerable  - may the afterlife does not disappoint him - bless his soul! Here is my tribute to one and all of the CoVid victims! )


Those were not eyes
But unfathomable
Oceans
Of sadness
Still, dark, deep
Brimming over…

Those were not eyes
But the breaking
Of a Soul,
Grieving
Over the pieces
Of a broken heart…

Those were not eyes
But the flowering
Of Love
Awaiting
The moist breath
Of endless yearning…

Those were eyes
Of hope
And despair

Those were eyes
Of fullness
And emptiness

Those were eyes
Of light
And darkness

Those were eyes
Of passion
And consummation

Those were eyes
That held a
Mirror
To my Soul…

Those were eyes
That opened
Mine

Those were eyes

That's now 

Shut forever

Walking away

 

I dressed my best
to my sweetheart’s nest;
with roses on hair,
I cleaned the candle’s burnt-wick -
so you see me shine ,
like a diamond, rare.
While l lay like moonshine in a chalice

brimming over with yearning to reach your lips,

you looked away,
like there was more to say
about women faraway,
who shone better.
Later once,
You asked me,
“I had a blinded sight,
give me one more night.
will you shine bright,
for another night ?”
“No,” I said,
"There doesn’t remain,
any moonshine for another night;
the chalice broke- the same night ;
the nectar trickled away,
like blood from the womb of unconsummated love.
The longing sometimes, my darling,
is what's more beautiful,
than the union.
Let there be
no more night
with candle light,
to tell me that,
I don’t shine bright"

Fragments, unstrung

I am no musician,
neither did I want to be one,
until I heard somebody's music play,
on my way to death.
Not a famous piece,
to have reached me sooner ,
I heard it drift through
somebody’s windows distant,
on my way to death.
Maybe it did not mean anything to anyone else,
But it was an antidote to a dying heart - 

my young heart, that had given up.
I want to thank its creator,
But he might have long been dead.
How many musical pieces have died a death
on its climb to esteem, breathless .
Let me be a janitor ,
where musicians meet-
to pick up broken pieces of music ,
the ones they discard,
the ones breathless.
I am no musician,
but ,
let me dust my guitar and fix the strings ;
I’ll not let any piece of music die -
die an early death -
the music that its creator gave up on,
cursing to death ;
I’ll sing it by my windowsill ;
it may mean nothing to you,
but perhaps ,
it may reach someone ,
who is on his way to death -
that may even be a descendant of yours or mine,
born a hundred years from now.
what bigger reward,
than,
bringing someone back to life ,
though I may long be dead by then

A story of 3 eggs

 

Today was a day of great satisfaction, dear all, today was a day of great revelations and hope.


So while the kiddos were playing and i was looking on, our grocer Janaki came out of her shop with a tray of eggs. There must have been two dozens of egg in it. I got distracted by the unusual greenness of the trees around and my attention turned to the kids when they made some jubilant noise. "Amma, a crow 'flied' away with an egg"- they showed me evidence of the empty niche and also pointed to a far away tree to what looked like a squirrel to my myopic eyes . Very soon a Bali-kakka (the completely black crow unlike the Kaavathi-kakka ) swooped down to prove the kiddos right, patrolled near the tray, looked at the left and the right in a clean 45 degree shift of the head and in a gentle sweep, carried another egg in between its curvaceous beak and flew away again. I was too excited to respond - how many in their lifetime would have been blessed by the rare sight..?! Janaki's business was of lesser significance to me than the crow's - pardon me  We watched the third sweep of the egg as well in astonishment when Janaki came out and took the effing tray in giving the kiddos a suspicious look 

Dear homies, wherever u are now, whichever egg tray you are sitting in right now, have the belief that - at the meeting point of many coincidences, before u enter somebody's refrigerator, some crow may come to pick you up.  Now, don't you ask me how you'll be benefited if any crow picks you up. You'll at least not end up in a frying pan - crows don't cook their food :D