Stone Soup

This one belongs to my 'Nostalgia' series.
Its a short story named "The Stone Soup". I studied this story as part of the school curriculum. Back then,the idea of making soup out of stone, fascinated me no end. In fact,inspired by the lesson, I had even pestered mum to make some for me!

Cookery shows that promise scrumptious meal using umpteen spices,dry fruits and other savories, propel my memories (& mum's) back to the *stone soup*!
We tell each other : " A dish prepared from so many delicious ingredients has to taste good despite the recipe! ;)"

So here you go - enjoy this simple,cute story :)
The Stone Soup

Do you post?

Yes, do you post? Not scraps or blogs silly! Do you post letters (not mails / mail chains) ?
When was the last time you actually posted a letter?
With due credit to this *Internet age*, I must say, people have almost forgotten how to write letters.
There was this interesting conversation at the lunch table today - My friend mentioned that she'd dress up her kid as a post-box for the fancy dress event at his school! Reason? Well, so that the kids are aware of a thing called 'post box' existed once upon a time :)
We talked about our school days, when we kept in touch with friends/cousins in another city, through letters.
I remember waiting for the postman to deliver that day's letters. He would make his rounds on the cycle of his, going house to house, every afternoon at around 3 pm. Nothing stopped him. Not the rains. Not even the sultry heat of the coastal city.
I dint receive any letters on most of the days. But on the day I got one, it'd fill me with an unusual sense of joy - something you feel when you get a surprise gift. My cousin and I wrote letters to each other. Every letter had the same opening & closing lines - "Hi, How are you? I'm fine" / "Bye, ta ta " followed by some stupid hand drawn cartoons saying "bye". We both treasure those letters as precious tokens from our childhood.
Going through those letters now makes me fall out of my chair, laughing! They seem absolutely hilarious now.
Do e-mails/facebook/orkut have the same feel? Can one treasure one's childhood/adolescence years through these community sites or emails? Can the 10 year back scraps bring me the same joy as a 10 year old handwritten letter?

Take me to your heart

It was a nice,cool November evening. I got into the bus after a tough day at work, plugged in my phone radio and tuned into a local station, for some respite. Back in 2005,Hyderabad dint offer the variety of radio stations it does now. We had only a handful to choose from!

As the bus began to move, chilly winter breeze greeted me with gentle tingles.Soon it grew darker and the sky wore a lovely blue hue, only to be lit by a bright full moon. Then it happened. The local station started playing this lovely song after a ton of irritating commercials. But yes, the wait was worth it.Till date, this song scores high on my list of favorites.I fell for the lyrics, almost instantly. The ambience seemed magical, transporting me to a romantic world. All these memories froze in time for me and playback whenever I listen to this song, filling me with pure ecstasy.


The song is : "Take me to your heart" by ML TR.
Listen to the song, here
Lyrics
Hiding from the rain and snow
Trying to forget but I won't let go
Looking at a crowded street
Listening to my own heart beat

So many people all around the world
Tell me where do I find someone like you girl

(Chorus)
Take me to your heart take me to your soul
Give me your hand before I'm old
Show me what love is - haven't got a clue
Show me that wonders can be true

They say nothing lasts forever
We're only here today
Love is now or never
Bring me far away

Take me to your heart take me to your soul
Give me your hand and hold me
Show me what love is - be my guiding star
It's easy take me to your heart

Standing on a mountain high
Looking at the moon through a clear blue sky
I should go and see some friends
But they don't really comprehend

Don't need too much talking without saying anything
All I need is someone who makes me wanna sing
(Chorus)

No time to stand and stare!

I had this tea-table conversation with friends at office, the other day. There was a mention about my blog & a casual inquiry "Mind not idle?" . Pat came my reply "no time to reflect!".Its been a while since I last wrote. There were many things that kept me busy. I prefer not to digress now. I may write them out in a separate blog.

I'm sick and stayed away from work yesterday and today. This gave me a lot of free time. I preferred to stay in bed yesterday, owing to my weakness. I'm a lot better today and was thinking,re-thinking about my reply "no time to reflect??" Yes! its so true. I haven't had time for myself (solitude). Though its nice to have something to do, keep you busy all the time, I believe its also equally necessary to have these moments of solitude, where you are just lost in your own thoughts and have a chance to connect to / rediscover yourself.

Coming back to what I wanted to share through this blog... "no time to reflect", quickly brought back verses from a poem I studied at school - " no time to stand and stare" . I still remember how pissed I used to be for having to study these poems, which at that age, never made any sense and seemed a total waste of time. Ironically, now, I keep recollecting verses from different poems I studied, every now and then! They make absolute sense now and I'm really glad that I got a chance to read the work of some great poets.

So here you go, this is the poem that came back to me today. Its called "Leisure" by William Henry Davies, a Welsh poet.

Leisure by William Henry Davies

What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.

No time to stand beneath the boughs
And stare as long as sheep or cows.

No time to see, when woods we pass,
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.

No time to see, in broad daylight,
Streams full of stars, like skies at night.

No time to turn at Beauty's glance,
And watch her feet, how they can dance.

No time to wait till her mouth can
Enrich that smile her eyes began.

A poor life this is if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.

F.R.I.E.N.D.S

No! This is not a blog dedicated to the super famous TV show.

Last Sunday we watched the movie "New York". Though the film predominantly belongs to the 'serious movies' genre, the first one hour revolves around the lives of 3 friends & their happy college days....

The movie brought back many memories of the free spirit of college life & the fun/laughter filled days at moto.

I remember how sad we were when leaving the college and hostel. How I imagined all my good/care free days to have come to an end. How much all of us (my friends gang) wished to get back to that life - those yapping sessions till late in the night, those walks in the campus , those birthday celebrations & bumps! :) , those 'combined study' sessions just before the exam! Wow, those were great days and will be cherished for the rest of my life.

I should say I have been fortunate to have a similar phase in my life, again! The last few years in Motorola were college life - part 2 for me :) At moto, what started as a group of 3/4 people hanging out for lunch/snacks soon became a big gang of 10-12 people! There were funny bday celebrations ( I still rmr how we've put up Suman's photo with Chiranjeevi in the cafty, on his bday), great bakra-banao sessions, TT/Cricket/Caroms wars, Outings, 'Get-to's at homes, Movies,Temples & finally interview preps! "Hang out together and have great fun" was the motto.......Time moved on, and so did folks in the gang.

Friends come and go, but the mark they leave on you is indelible. That's how life is.

This post is a celebration of the wonderful friendships I had and is dedicated to all my friends! Thank you guys! :)

Nostalgic memories!

While searching for something, I stumbled upon some of my old mails today. One of them is from my cousin and the other from a friend. Both of them wrote to me while I was at WIPRO,Bangalore, undergoing fresher's training.

The content of their mails is pretty much similar - inquire about my well being and convey that they missed me. I remember how these two mails ( sent on the same day, coincidentally) made me feel so nostalgic, five years back! They brought back the same memories today, when I read them once again! :)