I’m adjusting to the time difference (this weeks excuse for inability),
But it’s not easy ..
It’s the second morning I managed to drag myself up early for yoga, I’m waiting for the teacher at the gym with three other women when another male student walks in to speak to the women in Kannada. The local language.
Our gentle giant then leaves.
After a few minutes they get up to leave, and when I ask they tell me it’s cancelled.
I was obviously too pale and linguistically ignorant for him to tell me.
Later that morning is my next challenge.
Billet-Doux clambered through the hall (lounge) window, jumps down and drops the rat which scurries away. A gift?
Sowbaghya shrieks so she doesn’t like the surprise.
I tolerate the louder and louder squeaks coming from under the divan.
I have to take action with the help of a lathe stick .
…
But then Facebook brightens my day. The Donald —whilst destroying the US fabric — entertains.
PS in the middle of the night Bullet-Doux who’s supposed to be sleeping but she’s faffing around. Next I hear squeals and investigate under the bed.
I bought the moon, water (aka as Earth) and sun a few years ago from Etsy. Since then I’ve been looking for the full family group, to make my imagined set. It’s small but to get them all together and with such detail, particularly on their faces, is great
They’re for use as props for an adapted story.
I’ll adapt another tale with this Ashoka Column. An unplanned purchase.
The storyteller in me is happy, as is the shopper and the gatherer of clutter.
Manjula’s Mysore continues to provide accommodation by sharing our home to guests visiting Mysore, together with our guided cycle tours.
We’re also experimenting with how we can support the learning of young people through reflective space events at Mysore Bed and Breakfast.
As all good businesses should, we also find ways to help the wider community, as part of our Corporate Social Responsibility.
To this end we have supported, in the name of MAnjula, the education of a young girl and boy, gifted bicycles, arranged holidays, provided meals, and more.
We continue to keep our eyes and ears tuned into future opportunities to do good in Manjula’s name.
We are not affiliated with any other organisations but have collaborated with others to find and serve our local communities. This has included Polar Bear Ice Creams, Aroma Bakery, CAVA, and community organisations.
We thank them for their invaluable help in reaching out to our communities.
Their latest event on 11th July focussed on the monsoon . The event was wonderfully entertaining with participants from throughout India and a rich mix of contributions from storytellers, musicians, lyricists, singers, poets and polemicists.
For what it’s worth here’s my contribution.
I have much experience of rain in the ‘land of grey” as I’m from one of the rainiest parts of England, and even though I moved to live in Mysore I still have little experience of the extremes of the monsoon phenomenon. Life is so easy in so many ways in Mysore
This is unapologetically raising broad challenging questions
…
I can feel it at the end of our noses
It’s no poem
A serious story the message is not hidden.
It’s a wake up late at night.
…
I’ve moved to Mysore in India, its my first time out on my Enfield
I’m new to this.
I wonder why are all the two wheelers stopping under the bridges, or the flyovers or the riders finding shelter at the shops?
Because I’m new to this
but realise why, as the rain falls
It is the monsoon, I’ll know better next time.
Did you feel a spot of rain?
We got our brollies out and opened them just in time
We knew it was the monsoon.
We had torrential rain for weeks
…..
The rains have broken the roads
no one expected the monsoon
the construction site sand has run away after a heavy shower
and escaped down the road blocking the drains
no one expected the monsoon
water seeps into the tarmac cracks and pushes them open
no one expected the monsoon
…..
fires devastated the forests in Australia and California
we didn’t expect that
the heatwave killed people in USA and Canada
we didn’t expect that either
..
Had anyone expected that
or does no one care
We stumble through life being uncertain about what will happen and
how to deal with the challenges we face.
its part of life and how we learn
we hear whispers,
our gut sends messages
its in the papers,
the UN discusses
but do we listen and if we do
can we act?
We knew all about the monsoon, the fires, the heatwave, the pandemic, wave one two and three, so why didn’t we act?
Were we Breathing Lethargy Air?
or
Following the submissive path? Who knows?
Check them out nd join in, as there’s all sorts of different events like celebrating art.
I’m sitting at my work station listening and reflecting, when a Beatles track, sung by Rufus Wainwright fills the house ….. ’Nothing’s gonna change my world”…
Well guess who it reminded me of? someone who did — dramatically, initially slowly and gently and later, in an instant — change my world
The words fit perfectly.
I’m, here in Mysore, writing draft two (there will be many many more) in the midst of chapter nine (of ‘full full’, which is the working title of ‘our story’). I’m thinking of our nine years together and how Manjula and her love and shining personality transformed my life.
The song continues…….
Words are flowing out like endless rain into a paper cup
They slither while they pass they slip away across the universe
Pools of sorrow, waves of joy are drifting through my opened mind
Possessing and caressing me
Jai guru deva, Om
Nothing’s gonna change my world
Images of broken light which dance before me like a million eyes
They call me on and on across the universe
Thoughts meander like a restless wind inside a letter box
They tumble blindly
As they make their way across the universe
Jai guru deva, Om
Nothing’s gonna change my world
Sounds of laughter, shades of love are ringing through my opened ears
Inciting and inviting me
Limitless undying love, which shines around me
Like a million suns and calls me on and on across the universe
Jai guru deva, Om
Nothing’s gonna change my world
Jai guru deva
..Manjula my muse, the moose, my guru 🙂
Except my written words aren’t quite flowing as described in the song.
Next up on the playlist, ‘you have a friend,’ I ask you.
I’m one of those that can bore for hours on neoliberalism
Ah, there it is: wellness. “Wellness” is part of a class of words unified by the fact that only the most dreadful bores on Earth know what they mean. See also “neoliberalism”. Celebrity Cruises itself adds that the fitness kits will enhance “self-care and collective wellbeing”, with Gwyneth’s role expected to focus on “wellness programming” and something called the “Women in Wellness initiative”.
I recently discovered that Stardust, one of my favourite films is written by an author I’ve only just discovered: Neil Gaiman. I know, I know, I’m behind the times.
Here’s the author’s original outline for the book.
Well now I’ve read the book and strongly recommend both.
Already people are beginning to help. There’s an appeal here or Manjula and I will be making a direct donation. Contact me if you wish to join in, tours@mycycle.co
Me and MYCycle 