Category: just a point of view

Who’s taken them?

SFLeave a comment

We have a pomegranate thief.

Just as they ripen on the branch someone comes and steals them.

We don’t believe anyone is taking them from our side of the wall or that it’s anyone that works here or relatives of the owner that live on the roof.

No strangers have entered our property. We do have CCTV.

They are however easily reachable from the neighbours path.

It’s a recurring theme. People help themselves to flowers from the public parks. We’ve challenged people with their discreet plastic bags filling them not least from Manjula’s memorial garden.

This morning, Sowbhaghya came across one of the workers in the park who accosted a little girl who was collecting flowers for Pooja. she shouldn’t.

A lesson for Kaveri to learn.

Information

SFLeave a comment

You decide

A mish mash, some might say eclectic

Useful sources of information to help us think things through

They’re videos, personally, I need a rest from reading books.

Posted 20th March 2022

The first featuring a British comedian, is about the pandemic but I’m not a believer in conspiracies. That doesn’t mean that we’re not manipulated. The pharma companies are bleeding us, should be regulated and their profits limited.

His videos are about sharing information to help us form our opinions and realise how the world works.

..

I’m really impressed by this writer. His book Sapiens helped me rethink the development of humans and to realise how significant storytelling is in how we lived in our earliest days, and now, how integral stories are to our identities, to our collaboration, which affects every aspect of our lives

.

This video is about the Ukraine but reveals his thinking about what the current situation reveals about all our societies, being both positive and hopeful.

Philosophical thoughts

SF2 Comments

India stimulates all sorts of reflections like …. What’s the purpose of the line?

a boundary, a border, between in and out? Here and there? Normal and abnormal? The limen … an important guide, the threshold, between one world and another.

If India is anything to go by, it may have no use, other than helpfully creating ‘purposeful’ work.

I pity the poor guy — with his trusty leaf blower and a hanky round his mouth, — who momentarily shifts the dust from the road and into a cloud to probably help the paint stick,

On both our trips to England, Manjula was amazed and intrigued at how the traffic stayed within the lines that marked the lanes.

Wedding part two

SFLeave a comment

The morning after the reception.

Timings are followed exactly (9.00 to 9.30 am) unlike the night before when things hadn’t started almost two hours after the advertised time.

The knot is tied and I’ve poured milk, gently thrown rice and had tiffin.

Behind the scenes in the choultry or wedding hall is the sort of place where Manjula started working.

The bride’s proud father

Poppy’s School

SFLeave a comment

My friends in India often ask what things are like in the U.K. so here’s My granddaughter’s school.

I’m here to collect her at the end of the school day.

It’s probably a school from the 19th century when ‘board’ schools were introduced.

I love the old building and it has a great feel.

It’s managed by the local government

Here’s one or two great additions to help improve safety.

Routes to walk to discourage driving children to school and Manny tries to limit the parking.

Manny is overseeing the renovation work at the school.

Playing on the way home and essential exercising.

I’ve stayed with Poppy and her parents Ben and Alice in north London.

We’re losing so much

SF2 Comments

There are signs everywhere of the man-made environmental damage resulting from not anticipating the consequences, concentrating on short term gains and our lack of care.

Even seas go missing. Due to all the above combined with local and global pressures.

All around the world, including in our backyard in Karnataka with the Kaveri river, there’s conflicts about water being taken from rivers and little being left for the communities further down.

Found them

SFLeave a comment

Today’s panic was that I’d misplaced shirts, shorts and especially trousers.

I fly to the U.K. next week, my first trip for over two years. Here I wear shorts and T shirts unless I’m formal when I wear kurta and pyjama.

As it will be variable weather and much cooler moving to really cold in the U.K. I need shirts and trousers but I couldn’t find them. We’ll know I have.

Next shoes.

Things I’ve learned from Manjula

SFLeave a comment

A first cycle tour after a loooong gap and what a lovely couple Diana and Josia, from Mexico and the US respectively, currently working in Chennai.

In my attempts to be the wise owl I passed on the two key pieces of advice of the many things I’ve learned from Manjula.

Be there for your partner, we’ve heard so much about presence there’s a risk of overkill but when I read this (see below) it seemed so pertinent. Our love means we should be present for the other.

The second piece of advice is to prepare for the end. In terms of helping each other plan and as part of that decide if you want to be resuscitated. It doesn’t matter how old you are.

Article here about older people and their plans for ‘letting them die.’ How young is too young?

An insight from earlier this year.

Ganesh goes for a swim

SF2 Comments

Preparing to take Ganesh and his mum Gowri to the river.

So where’s the Ganesh we bought last week?

  • In the Ambassador
  • Met with Satish and got the supplies

The Ganesh we first bought and fell in love with has been added to the extensive home collection.

Naveen’s very first time, didn’t he do well?
Can I come too?
Each year we usually bring guests to do the honours. Last year it was the old man, the year before we didn’t do the puja at all, as Manjula had left us.

Here’s more details from five years ago

We’re big on Ganesh throughout the year and found a workshop carving wooden statues from three years ago.