15-09-2020
It is now 8.30 in the night and it is pouring outside. We are now getting rains every day. From the 10th it has been either pouring or drizzling. Prior to that, for a few days, there was no rain and the days were very hot. People were worried that the monsoon season had ended. This year everything is not what it should be. Life has changed and slowly we are adjusting to the changes but the thought at the back of the mind remains the same, when is this going to end?
Sunday was clouded but it was not raining in the evening, we went for a walk around the lake. The water level had increased after days of raining. It was a pleasure to look at the birds on the two small islands. There are white and black coloured birds.
On the 8th evening Aravinda had arranged a talk by Prof Ubelekar Andrade for his MA students. Aravinda had met Max six years ago at a conference in USA, they met again at a conference in London and have kept in contact. I too listened to the lecture, it was very interesting. The topic was Don Quixote’s cartographic vision: mapping imagination and political identity. I am planning to listen to Don Quixote on Audibles. I read the book long, long ago. I don’t even remember the whole story.
On the 10th we performed a ritual connected to the last rites of my father-in-law. According to our customs we have to do these rituals every month till the first anniversary. We prepare certain dishes and invite a guest for lunch. In normal circumstances more people would have been invited for a more elaborate prayer. Our friend who comes as our guest had Covid. He was in quarantine in his house. He said he had fever for two weeks and during that time he lost his senses of taste and smell. But he recovered and is fine. He said it was not as terrible as he had imagined and he also said he was lucky. Moreover, he had no other health problems. Cases are increasing and now the quarantine rules have changed. But the effects of the virus are very unpredictable. One of our friends recovered in spite of having health problems and we heard a young doctor died in spite of not having any health problems. So, luck plays an important part.
On the 13th Todd Tyrtle arranged the international book club meeting. It was fun and I liked the interaction between all of us. Todd and Elizabeth are WordPress friends. Finally, I made the ‘tea masala’ which I had been planning for quite some time. The spices add a flavour to the tea. I have started listening to War and Peace on Audibles. I read it so long back that I don’t even remember the story 😊. All this seems so normal, yet it is not so. But life has to go on, we cannot put a hold on everything. Many have started saying we should learn to live with the virus.
If you don’t get everything you want, think of the things you don’t get that you don’t want. ~Oscar Wilde
Chai ka Masala, Chai Powder, Tea Masala, Indian Masala … – Tarla …
https://www.tarladalal.com/Chai-ka-Masala-Chai-Powder-Tea-Masala…
Sir M Visvesvaraya: Dreamer, thinker, man of action | Deccan Herald
