Thresholds

Thresholds are so symbolic, they mean differently to different people. They not only mean the partition between two rooms but also the act of stepping into a different world from a known world.

In the days of long ago women of a household, specially in villages were not allowed to step out of the threshold of their home on their own. We believe that this was in the past but unfortunately , even now, in places where people are still living in the last century, women are still chained. Their lives are still governed and controlled by the men of the family.

Early this month, our grandson, who has now completed eight months, crossed a threshold for the first time. He crossed into the prayer room while exploring the nooks and corners of his home. It was a time for celebration. There are many more thresholds to cross.

This makes me go down memory lane. I remember all the thresholds our son has crossed to become what he is now. He has had Retinitis Pigmentosa from birth. He is now doing his Phd in English Literature in one of the best Universities for Languages in our country. Just last week he crossed another threshold in his life. He has gone to the US, on his own, to attend a Conference and present a paper there.

Thresholds can either jail us within four walls and within our own mind or they help us to cross over and go out into the wider world to achieve our dreams.

Kahlil Gibran has rightly said, “The teacher who is indeed wise does not bid you to enter the house of his wisdom but rather leads you to the threshold of your mind.”

CEE’S FUN FOTO CHALLENGE

TEXTURE – These are beautiful leaves with a very nice texture.

SHARE YOUR WORLD 2014 WEEK 12

What is your most favorite smell/scent?

The smell of the flower jasmine 🙂 and also the smell of the earth when the first raindrops fall on it.

How do you write: computer, longhand or other?

First longhand then on computer.

Your favorite blog post that you have written? (add link)

I blog on http://www.cowbird.com.  I like all that I have written:)) One of my favourites is

http://cowbird.com/story/89979/Ships_That_Pass_In_The_Night/

What’s one of your favorite books from childhood?

There are so many books, it would be difficult to name any one:)) Enid Blytons were a definite favourite:

 Bonus question:  What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?

I am grateful for having a great last week:) and am looking forward to meet my son who is studying in Hyderabad, in the state of Andhra Pradesh. I am going there:)

Nice questions and it is nice to read the answers of others:)

Memories of Childhood, Fun and excitement of hobbies

I think hobbies are a very important , fun and precious part of our lives. There are those  hobbies which are the usual ones like collecting stamps or coins and then there are many unusual ones.

My father writes about his hobbies and all that he had to do. This was sometime in early 1940s.
“When I was young, collecting stamps and pictures
on the match boxes became a craze with me.  These were
pasted on used note books.  It was then the time for me
to show my collections to my sisters and friends.

Smoking cigarettes and bidis was quite common then.
Matchsticks from match boxes were used to light them up.
After the matchbox became empty, it was thrown on the
roadside.  When, in the evenings, I walked on these
roads, I could  easily collect these matchboxes.  The
pictures pasted on the boxes were taken out from the
boxes without any difficulty.

Stamps were difficult to collect.  The High School,
where my father was the Headmaster, got a large number
of letters and parcels daily.  The covers were thrown
into  wastepaper boxes after their contents were
removed.  A search of these boxes in the evenings
yielded a big harvest of stamps, both Indian and
foreign.

After the match box covers and stamps had been
collected, my problem started.  Used notebooks were
available.  But the problem was getting enough gum for
pasting.

Hospet was then a part of Bellary district and
Madras Presidency.  On the east of Hospet, we had a
road connecting us to Bellary and which continued to
the west till the end of the district.  Perpendicular
to this road, there was a major road connecting it to
the sugar factory and then to the river.  This road
crossed the two irrigation canals passing through
Hospet..  It was also close to our house.

There were many shade-giving trees  on both sides
of the road.  They were mainly neem, banyan and tamarind
trees.  If there were open scars on the trunks of
or you accidentally made some scars on the trees
gum used to slowly ooze out of the trees.  I walked
along the roadside for collecting the gum from the
trunks on the trees.  One walk up and down the road was
enough to give me gum a week.

After bringing this gum to the house, I used
to crush it with stones and put it in a bottle.  Then,
I poured some water in the bottle.  After a week. you
will be surprised  that I got wonderful gum in the
bottle.

Using this gum, I pasted the stamps and matchbox
pictures on the notebooks.  This gave me a lot of
pleasure as I showed them to my sisters and friends.

( The photo is of my father among cashew trees behind their home. )

WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE

REFLECTIONS – Sitting on the beach, looking at the sea and setting sun, it is a beautiful experience to see the sun setting and its reflection on the sand and the waves:)

Share your world,2014 Week 11

If you were an ice cream cone how many scoops and flavors would you be and why?

One scoop and one flavour, to taste that single flavour instead of everything getting mixed up:) Many scoops would become a little too much.

Are you left or right handed?

Right handed

Before making a phone call, do you ever rehearse what you are going to say?

Very rarely:)

How many rings before you answer the phone?

If I am somewhere else, there are atleast five rings, but if I am near I pick up at once:)

Bonus question:  What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?

I am grateful for having read some good books:) I  am looking forward to a good week:)

Cee’s fun foto challenge

THE COLOUR PURPLE – We were walking along the streets of Sofia, when we saw these beautiful flowering plants, beautifully arranged in the park. The purple coloured flowers and the others too look so beautiful

Ships that pass in the night

 Sitting on the beach, looking out into the sea (the Arabian Sea), the waves and the fishing boats in the distance and of course the setting sun is one of pleasures of life. Whenever I see those boats and trawlers in the distance, the line ‘ships that pass in the night’ keeps coming to mind.  I had forgotten the other lines, when I found them they brought memories of those who had been ‘ ships that pass in the night’ in our lives.

‘Ships that pass in the night,

and speak each other in passing,

only a signal shown,

and a distant voice in the darkness;

So on the ocean of life, we pass and speak one another,

only a look and a voice, then darkness again and a silence.’   

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

A few years ago we had been to Pushkar in Rajasthan.  We had traveled from Chittor to Ajmer and then to Pushkar, we had planned on reaching Pushkar early in the evening but it was already dark and when we reached the bus stand there was no current. We did not know what to, a new place, completely dark and very few people about. A family who had been with us on the bus invited us to come with them to the choultry where they were staying. We accepted gratefully and went with them.  They next day we went out to breakfast together and then went on our own,  exploring the whole place. We left that evening  and have never met that family again.

 Then those  co-passengers in the tram in Sofia. We had purchased  tickets but did not know that we had to punch them in punching machine fixed on the sides. The inspector came and kept telling us that we had to pay a fine. She did not know English and we did not know their language. We kept saying that we had just purchased the tickets but she refused to listen to us. We were ready to pay the fine when  a gentleman and a lady came to our rescue and made the inspector listen to them. We could thank the lady but the man got down the next stop before we could thank him.

Many such people have come into our lives and maybe we too have entered the lives of others and have been ships that pass in the night.  It makes our lives so much more  richer.

WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE

INSIDE- Huge copper vessels are used for cooking during functions like weddings. This photo was taken about twenty eight years ago. My son was standing inside this huge vessel and enjoying the experience.

SHARE YOUR WORLD WEEK 10

Describe yourself in a word that starts with the first letter of your name.

Listener –  It is really interesting to listen to people.

If 100 people your age were chosen at random, how many do you think you’d find leading a more satisfying life than yours?

I an happy with my life:) I really wouldn’t think that the life of others is more satisfying. I guess I am lucky:))

If you were a tree, would you become a book or furniture? Please describe.

It would be nicer to remain a tree:) As it is trees are being cut without discrimination and concrete jungles taking their place:(

You are trapped in an elevator, who would you want to be trapped with?

With my husband of course:)

Bonus question:  What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?

Had been to the hospital with my brother-in-law and looking at all the patients , I am very grateful for my good health. Touchwood:)) Good health, mental and physical, always.

Thank you Cee:)  Lakshmi