The Delightful Doings of Dad

While the title of this post may not go down as my most amazing attempt at alliteration, I do believe it captures the spirit-of-the-thought-that-inspires-this-post most admirably.

It is just one of those things. You know, appreciating things that were, once they've ceased to be. And we had hardly noticed that dad wasn't the laid-back life of the party anymore. There was so much else to think about, worry about, get stressed about... parties and such like seemed to belong to another galaxy. And then we got a wake up call. The kind that really wakes you up.

Like all things in our otherwise humdrum life, we made the most of the big shock, and came to Bombay to fix things. The way things were unfolding seemed to have a pattern, but before we had danced to that tune for a bit, we were thrown by all the new razzle-dazzle that cropped up every so often. Really corny most of it, and yet unexpected, for who would expect bad drama in their own life on a daily basis!?!

Yes, indeed... there was the melodramatic (picture mom doing an Amitabh from Deewar... at the temple, you know) and the psycho-dramatic (mom again, dragging me to a corner of the hospital room, and showing me the glass slat in the window that she was convinced dad had tried to remove). Oh, but this is all about mom! Let us shift to dad already!


Milk!!!

So, Late at night, the night after his biopsy, mom and I were just about falling asleep in the rather depressing hospital room when we were summoned to the ICU where dad was spending the night. Frantic, we ran all the way to the other wing of the hospital, only to find dad sitting up in bed demanding coffee. The little nurse was at a loss. Oh, this is the time for a little dialogue.

Mom: What happened? Is everything ok? Should we call the doctor?
Dad: (cherubic grin) I think i haven't been fed anything. (pout)
Me: Hi dad!
Mom: Ok... you're hungry? Shall we bring you something to drink?
Dad: (imperiously) Yes, I wouldn't mind a cup of coffee.
Me: chuckle
Mom: (coaxing) Where will I get coffee so late? They don't have room service in this hotel, you know! Would you like some milk maybe?
Dad: (condescedingly) Ok, I could have some milk.

Nurse-ling ran around and managed some milk. Dad drank it all up and decided he ought to have a little more. Mom and nurse-ling huddled together frantically to discuss the lack of milk-at-hand. I hung around poking dad companionably.

Finally, it was decided that we should both go down and explore the by-lanes around the hospital to try and discover some milk for a hungry dad. And so we walked, late at night, asking at every shop that wasn't already shut, getting redirected by every shopkeeper, until we finally stumbled upon a dauntingly built man overseeing the boiling of a really large amount of milk in the largest kadhai I'd ever seen. Mom tried unobtrusively to push me behind her (just in case any of them happened to fancy me for their second wife, I suppose). Soon we were hot-footing it back to the ICU with a packet of newly boiled milk, praying that dad hadn't come up with any other demands in the meantime.

We really should have known better. He had snuggled into bed and was sleeping like a baby, barely deigning to open an eye to acknowledge our efforts.

Rooster-man

Some time later, we moved to the brother's little house, which is quite cute, and nicely located right next to a mini-basti. Just under the bedroom window is a little open space flanked by some kind of a shack on one side, and some tin sheets on the other. It is customary for a group of barely clothed kids to spend much of their time inventing games such as climb-the-shack and other such, which all involve much squealing and merriment. Dad rather likes it.

Apart from the kids, the little open space is also used to tether two goats who are rather quiet most of the time. But the star of this little circus is undoubtedly the rooster. When I was younger, I always had the impression that a rooster somehow always managed to cock-a-doodle-doo at sunrise or even at six am, and I always imagined people could set their watches by it. Was I wrong!!!!!! This rooster sings out at whatever hour of day or night it feels like, be it midday or two in the morning. Right under our window. Loudly!

I had managed to ignore it pretty successfully, and assumed the rest of the family did too. And then, one night, dad sat up in bed sometime in the middle of the night, looking concerned.

"I can't hear the rooster... They must've eaten it up!"in such a sad voice that mom and I could not stop laughing... To put his mind at rest, the kind rooster chose that moment to announce its presence.

After that, their affinity became more pronounced every passing day! Mom and dad were doing their little bit of healing, and throughout the rooster kept up a loud accompaniment to their voices. This prolonged the healing time of course, because dad would keep laughing everytime he heard the rooster, which was everytime anyone said anything!

Mom says we may as well adopt the rooster and take it home.

'The Happy'

Up and down
Round and round
Tra la la
Tum tee tum
Jig a jig

Hop hop hop
Swing swing
Skip and twirl
And hum to the tune
That vibrates through me

:)

Darkest night

A melancholy evening, spent in indecision and an excess of grief had taken its toll, and sleep eluded her. It wasn't entirely unproductive, that first night. She came up with the most lucid expression of the inner turmoil she was being put through... the latest in a seemingly unending list that fate had in store for her, she thought, sighing deeply. But oh, she liked what she had written... it had such pathos that she felt pleased. How well she expressed herself!

Trees are probably proud of their sourest fruits too.

The List

It's been a while since Sangee tagged me with this one, and finally I am in just the right state of mind for it!! The tag requires that I list out my favourite Georgette Heyer Men(GHM)... characters from books who actually made us go starry-eyed and weak-kneed and induced us to spend some appreciable time spinning pleasurably exciting dreams about them... You get the picture...

The one thing that I did realize as I got thinking about the Men-In-Books(MIB) that I liked, was that I actually didn't like too many after all. In most of my all time favourite stories, it was the heroine who made all the difference; the men were usually either not as entertaining, or just not distinguishable from the rest of the vast gang of MIB..

Even so, some of them rose high above the rest...

First, I just have to have Heathcliff on the list... Wuthering Heights always affects me very deeply for some reason, and he is one of the biggest 'some reasons' around. This was one of the few books where the female characters really didn't leave much of an impact on me!

Then of course, Pride and Prejudice gave us Mr. Darcy(swoon, swoon...) who was typical in many ways, but had everything necessary(and in just the right proportions) to turn young girls' heads and put their hearts a-flutter.

This list is getting horribly typical I think, but how can I not add Mr Rochester to the list? He was one of the most interestingly believable characters in Jane Eyre, and I don't think I need to go on about it, except that I thought I'd mention that I loved that conversation between Jane and him where he said that thing about a cord linking the left side of his body to a corresponding area in her anatomy, or some such.. I found it a fascinating thought.

Ok, now for some hard-core GHM, of the GH variety... Many enjoyed These Old Shades a tad more than Devil's Cub, and while I agree that Justin was a much more interesting personality, he was , I feel, a bit overshadowed by Leonie! Hence, he gets an honorable mention here... Vidal however, I found somewhat cool!

Then there was my all time favourite, Sylvester(or the wicked uncle ;) ) who was just so ... everything that he should be, plus he and Phoebe complemented each other perfectly! And ahem... Ridicklus Gudgeon!!!!!

But I was most partial to Sir Tristam Shield, who refused to ride 'Ventre-a-terre' to the possible deathbed of Eustacie, but agreed to do so for Miss Thane! I really never got over that ridiculous bit about the balmy night air... even in November, for to lovers all night air is balmy!! (and all lovers barmy, presumably)

And oh, I also have rather a soft corner for Joss P. Weatherby, who may be found amusing himself in the pages of Quick Service, and while he shares traits and such with some other Wodehouse characters, he definitely appealed most favourably, I almost know-not-why!

I am not going to write too much about Aragorn(book or movie), because after all, it's almost a given! But while on LOTR, I have to add Gandalf to the list (Gandalf of the book, not the movie!)
And I thought Faramir was one sadly underplayed character!!!!

Ahhh.. no more for today, I am somewhat fatigued!

Etc..

Classic hai na!!

I was feeling unsettled today, so I wasn't up to posting anything deep/ meaningful/ marginally longer. The next post will, I suspect, be the tag about GHM(you'll know what that is when it's up... or when you check out Sangee's blog, whichever is sooner).

However, I've been thinking of how sad it is that I don't let myself post some rather amusing pictures that I've taken over the last year. Every time I go to Bombay, I keep going back there and taking another few. There happens to be this amazing lingerie shop.. 'Glorious'...

Ignore the fact that the shop is nothing fancier than a stall in a tiny by-lane; they actually manage to provide a trial room/stall/box. And more importantly, they have the most horrifyingly fascinating displays. Or maybe they just have a special 'something' that makes them catch my eye, ignoring the scores of other (possibly) equally hideous displays slugging it out for my horrified (but undivided) attention. I have still not been able to forget the black-leather-glove-and-string concoction.. I almost regret not having photographed that!! But there are so many more, each worse than the last... even the wire-and-feather... or the glitzy electric blue thing... The most striking thing of course, is that since they continue to display this kind of stunning 'creation', it probably means that someone actually buys some of this stuff... I wouldn't have believed it possible.. I always thought it was humanly impossible to even try to don one of those things(specially the ones with all the string and ribbon... you'd get entangled faster than you'd know, and then what would happen to all those plans, eh?) but apparently one of my resourceful friends overheard a conversation between shady-man and his girlfriend (we presume) where he actually asked her to find out how much one of those would cost!!!! Erm...

Three Empty Cups

Three empty cups
Disposable
But tastefully arranged
To artistically evoke some deeper truth
That may exist only within them
What could it be
But that they were and are
Empty
And hence entirely
Disposable

:)