Deep Ties

  Dreamstime stock photo December begins with a tug of the heart, my favourite month especially since it happens to be my birthday month as well. Not for nothing do we call ourselves Sagittarius, (I recently discovered that the word ‘Sagittarian’ does not really exist.) However, it is like the word ‘awry’, which for years, many of us mispronounced till we realised that it was ‘a-wry’ and not ‘awwry’!   Awful, really! I haven’t lived that down yet. Montages flit by on the television of Christmas being celebrated around the world – green pine trees, shining stars and angels on top, stockings hung, glittering gifts galore, holly, mistletoe and tinsel – and just the hope that Santa will come down one’s chimney!  Pixabay Delicious Xmas feasts and the sound of fun and laughter as families gather to spend the festive season together! The sound of carols being sung, the story of Joseph and Mary and their miracle baby, Jesus, who was born in a manger add on to the aura of Christ...

       Pixabay The little match girl looked wistfully at the beautifully decorated window of the departmental store, was bathed in light. “Oh, it looks like Paradise!” she breathed, as she blew on her frozen hands. The willowy mannequins stood in gowns that would have cost a fortune. The little girl stared, entranced, at a smaller mannequin clad in a dress covered with silver and red flowers, along with a tiara. “Shoo, girl, move from that window! You will keep away our customers!” The loud voice startled her. It belonged to an overweight gentleman in the business of opening the store door to opulent clients. The girl cast one last, longing glance at the dress. She melted away in the darkness. Her tattered bag held a few more match boxes which she had to sell to make enough money to buy a sparse meal. “Matches for you, Sir, Ma’am?” she quavered as a couple sauntered by, They gave her a disdainful glance. The lady moved away, gathering her gown around her. The girl si...

                                                                   Pinterest William Blake  (1757 – 1827)  is one of the renowned poets who lived during the end of the 18 th century and the start of the 19 th . His poems mainly deal with themes like religion, the plight of the downtrodden and poverty. They use deceptively simple language, but if one delves deeper into their layers, their imagery is often complex and structured. ‘A Poison Tree’ is a poem written by William Blake in his ‘Songs of Experience’ in 1794. He writes about two varied experiences to illustrate how dangerous it is to suppress anger.  I was angry with my friend;  I told my wrath, my wrath did end.  The poet uses simple language to describe how he was once angry with his friend, but he spoke to him about his wrath. Once h...

                                                              Happy Quotes As a child, one of my pet peeves was Mathematics – a subject that turned into a mystifying jumble of numbers, shapes, fractions and problems (pun very much intended!) While I had always loved subjects like English, History and Biology, I did not warm up to numbers for a long time. When I was in the ninth, my Army parents were posted in an obscure little station with not too many good schools. At that time, I was transported to a Convent school in Shoranur, Kerala, in a town where my grandfather was known as a revered and renowned educationist, having founded a Boys’ High School through which many illustrious students had passed out.                                     ...

  Hallmark Ideas A few months ago, a venerable gentleman passed away, having lived a full and wonderful life imbued with joy. He had his entire family around him, including his children, who were themselves grandparents. He went peacefully, which is considered a blessing in itself. There was a gathering of family members, friends and admirers who thronged to the house to pay their last respects to the benign soul. They came, offering their condolences to the bereaved family members, who were dignified in their sorrow. The deceased gentleman seemed to be merely sleeping, so peaceful was his face. Since the grandchildren and the great grandchildren were abroad, they had asked for a video call so that they too could have one last glimpse of their beloved one before his mortal remains were consigned to the holy fire that would take his soul to the heavens. Visitors kept walking in in a continuous procession. It was evident that the gentleman had been much loved and revered. They ...

  Pinterest “Oh, I used to read so much when I was younger. I have no idea how I got out of the habit!” “I try and read every night, but my eyes refuse to stay open!” How often have you heard people say this? How often have you said it yourself? Pretty often, I am sure. The fact is that as we grow older, and life catches up with us, we become busier and busier, till we are dashing around like headless chickens. (Where did that gory expression come from?) As William Wordsworth once said so aptly (the Romantic poets did know a thing or two!) “The world is too much with us, late and soon, Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers.”                                                                        Pinterest Life does have a habit of coming in the way of our passions, forced as we are to e...

Pixabay   At the moment, we in India are over the moon with the success of Chandrayaan 3 and Aditya L1. Our scientists have proved that they are amongst the elite in the world, repeatedly.  English is a quaint language. There are so many phrases and idioms connected with the moon that add flavour to the language we use. Here are a few of the commonest ones. When we are ecstatic about something, we describe it as being ‘over the moon’ which reminds us of the old nursery rhyme, ‘Hey diddle diddle, the cat and the fiddle, the cow jumped over the moon…’. Of course, this has nothing to do with the present meaning of the phrase, which means being ‘extremely happy’. “When I heard that I had come first in class, I was over the moon.” Earlier, most fairy tales started with the phrase ‘Once upon the time...’. A synonym for this phrase is ‘many moons ago…’, the word ‘moons’ referring to ‘months’. For example, if I were to say, “I last drove a car many moons ago” (which is the truth!)...