Reshmi 's memoirs jotted as events- to be refreshed by the writer if required

The sugar bowl when left exposed on the kitchen table only invites more ants and flies. Both being individually despicable (ants & flies) as a species, why blame the sugar? One hardworking the other an opportunist but Sugar as usual laidback and melting itself for attention from some do-gooder. Cuba of the Antilles Speaking of sugar, only one country comes to mind –Cuba- the sugar bowl of the world. Won’t you spare a thought  for its erstwhile President, who ruled the country for nearly half a century (1959 to 2006) ? Fidel Castro? The country  is also known for its cigars which lured many distinct personalities. They let the cigars ‘waltz’ on their lips till the smoke blurred images and thoughts got clearer. Tobacco may block the lungs but clears the brain so people say, no personal experience. Cigars also adorned the silver screen for heroes and villains. Alas! Two big villains still waltz on the largest island of the Antilles even today. Russia in the pa...

Discrepancies in society occur due to the names and the food we eat but these are thrust on us as embellishments, to project our physical selves as ideal packages. My sister and I have more differences than similarities despite the concerted efforts of our parents to present us to the world as similar looking sisters. We were(are) different in mentality. Although there is a difference of 29 months between us by birth, we dare not look similar under any circumstances especially out of school because to school we had to be in uniform. C.E.M Joad puts it 'Uniformity is a danger' but my uniform means the garment to be worn at school. May be this rebellious feeling dawned in my sister’s mind first because to be out of uniform was a tremendous relief. Whenever mother shopped for fabrics to stitch clothes for us they were always similar. Later when the tailor took down measurements between us asking for the designs or patterns , you could see my sister(being elder to me) making ey...

To be nameless is not to be shameful. So what, a rose does not cease being a ‘rose’ if called by another name. So said the Bard “ A rose by any other name   would smell as sweet" is a frequently referenced part of William   Shakespeare 's play Romeo and Juliet, in which Juliet seems to argue that it does not matter that Romeo is from her rival's house of Montague, that is, that he is named "Montague." In most of my blogs, my characters are either nameless or have fictitious names. The flesh, bones and blood inset in them makes them remarkable. Who knows, one day I may talk about myself with a fictitious (fictional?) name, no, not a pen name. Huh! I know they will not spend a ‘penny’ to sue me. Hereafter, even when these characters (named) flow down my pen, I will not spare them my frank outbursts in a stingy way – a word, a line (140 characters), a paragraph or a page. So beware. At times, I can be panegyric. The human race began with Manu, Adam or a ‘t...

Avarice, indulgence or habitual fascination can run alongside a track that initially appears to be a trend. This trend grows to a phenomenal proportion that anybody withdrawing from it is MAD. This is apparent in a luminary, could be a tycoon, a porn artist, a singer, a musician or anybody who has appealed to your eyes or ears. At times this fascination can be attractive to the sense of palate or touch. We, as humans, do not revel in tickling our senses. Basically it is a swing / hop / leap from one fascination to the other. Knock Knock “your social duty” My ‘virtual’ interest in drawing a virtual audience is not for soul-searching but just slapping the reader to tell him who he is or where he is. Basic preoccupation aside, the youth today prefer to chat about ‘trending’ matters to measure how many ears he can prick (pick). The chat prolongs to cover most consumer products from shoe laces to hats. Misleading Ads Sometimes the chat meanders to pick human pre...

Om Sri Ganeshaya Namaha.  A great start to my new blog .A baby step to define Avadhani. An Avadhani is a scholar in subjects like grammar , prosody , multi-tasking skills......who faces an oral test (special to Telugu Litt). This test analyses his memory power, his prosaic rendition, his ability in multitasking based on his knowledge of  the religious scripts.Of course the story mentioned below has no link to the real Avadhani except nomenclature. Avadhani, in the story by Tilak is skilled at speech...whatever it was; he was expressing softly, smoothly, solemnly, blending it all with special pity and tenderness. Avadhani ....a manipulative man ( Before speaking about the man let me tell you how this character has grown in my mind though it was created by another Indian writer) He said," With fruit, flower,leaf or even water"--ancestors said - God is easy to please.Then why ask for cash donation". To build faith one needs a temple, to secure the temple on...

A pril is the cruellest month - so said T.S.Eliot. And pray why was anyone born in April? Well, we did see the brunt of cruelty this month in countries like Yemen, Syria, parts of Iraq, Sicily, S.Korea and Nepal, with regard to humanity. Somehow Indians have no hand in it but we seem to be a lot inspired by Vasco da Gama, Christopher Columbus and Confucius. We seem to grow wheels on our feet, a new definition for explorers, and there is no stopping. These 20 th and 21 st century explorers, they can, or rather they will run, fly or sail to far off lands until an ethnic tragedy strikes the locals or a natural tragedy pounds the earth---earthquake. Then they have to run helter-skelter for refuge. Recently,  Nepal was not spared when an earthquake of high magnitude, 7.9 on the Richter scale struck the middle and eastern part of the nation. I was informed by some ex-Nepal visitors that 90% of the affected persons were Asian tourists of which most of them were from India. It...

It is often difficult to think li ke a man, though many a time I have wished to have been born a man, may be in my next life. Nick Dunne describes his (dead) wife in   Gone Girl  he loved , “the lovely angles of the back of her head………….where one could define a shapely head and imagine the skull easily “ (Nick’s words ). Now what ensconced the skull is the grey matter quite was mysteriously layered in a lump and  the jelly like thing could  be a storehouse of information, locked in a bony cage called skull. Read the book for more…. Article 66 A…Freedom of expression Article 66 A of the Information Technology Act curbed free speech on Social Media this has been scrapped but this freedom will not be misused. The controversial section on IT Act can jail you for mouthing unpleasant words/vibes/emoticons on cyberspace. Now that is the loop if you misuse it you could be behind bars for three years. What it implies is that freedom is there  & will re...

My Take on Talk or Speak up Scraping the seeds of a ripe papaya is the most slippery task while cutting the fruit. The seeds look so black like staring eyes that express anger at being ripped off the family clutch. Then slicing the fruit is tougher too, they keep slipping off the fingers as the fruit is in no mood to amuse the eater. All in all the despicable fruit which is offered to patients with less immunity to diseases is comforting and the only redeeming feature being its colour—yellowish orange. A tropical fruit  recommended for  tropical diseases from Malaria to eczema, is a wondrous creation of nature. This fruit was once served to my son recovering from Malaria made me wonder if the disease or the fruit made him reticent.  Did you like it ? I asked him…he replied,‘No’ and stopped there. The reticent nature in him is inherent, like his father but bears no grouse on the fruit. For me, as a teacher who has lectured 40 to 45 minutes at a stretch for years, a...

( Do post comments to reshmic@gmail.com) Cacophony ....  of electioneering should have the power to rattle,  then glide to sanity and ponder in silence. In Delhi after an expectant eight-month wait, a hectic period of electioneering followed all that unwanted and wanted noise that melted down to fine tuning and one voice emerged…AAP. That is poetic justice. Recalling a month that went by that was laden with apprehension about who would win the Delhi elections? Many kept ruminating like cattle, or forecasting that the party at the Centre will rule Delhi. Or pleasant longings and wishful thinking made an inactive Congress feel optimistic but the bristling Broom which kept feeling the city’s pulse reached the finishing line triumphant, puffing and panting to a thumping majority …. AAP win. They won and once again if etiquette permits, the Mango Man Party came out in flying colours to the dismay of a few who detest the term AAP, still walk with noses pointing to the sky. Yea...

Capital City The second fortnight of January was wrought with many developments, the most striking being the suspense of picking the right candidates for Delhi elections by the political parties. We seem to have a respectable lot but propaganda rings through every Delhiite’s mind whether any candidate can ever deliver. After all, quite well known outside Delhi that Delhi is a land of ‘thugs’ but now we can hopefully lay that to rest. Two Magsaysay awardees do make us feel proud. In the midst of all this we are also on guard for the Republic Day to be witnessed by no less a guest, a world leader, the US president. Of course do not fret over the fact that the President cannot sit with a national leader for more than twenty minutes - the protocol says so. The lax Indian will manipulate but will not let down President Obama. Literature Coming to the world of literature, very reluctantly the cream of  Delhi’s elite literary crowd, kept whispering about the Tamil ...

Flippant indulgences   A very Happy New Year -2015 to all my readers. At the outset I must mention about the political turnabout in Srilankan elections, Paris shootout at a media house, a pathetic but partially successful outcome as France apprehends future attacks. And the not- so- surprising an utterance from Sakshi Maharaj (India)---Hum do hamare chaar. Oh how I wish I was newly married and soon conceive twins in the first year then again a pair of twins next year. Wishful thinking, but age not being on my side I do wish many youngsters will think about it. A serious issue in Japan today where the birth rate is falling below par.  According to the Hindu scriptures if a man wishes to opt for Sanyasa yoga it is not wrong -but if he has gone through Grihaprastha yoga then a convenient escape from domestic responsibilities paves way to take up sanyas is a point to be noted.Once the man attains a self-imposed status in life whereby he dedicates himself to God then ...