Never a dull moment

Time does not stand still. People do not live for ever. But time stands still and people live for ever in our sweet memories. I walked up to this building this morning three years ago and stood watching it for a few minutes ruminating. My mind went back to April 1982 – to my impromptu first ever visit to Bombay – and this was the place I went looking for after alighting at Dadar railway station. I know the address of a flat in this building by heart from the time I could pen postal letters in English. 5, BSES quarters ( opp BSES House ) Prabhat Colony, Santa Cruz East Mumbai -400055 While in college I used to write letters regularly to some families. And some of the letters went to the above address for the reading pleasure of Dorai anna and family ( though he was only a few years younger to my dad, we addressed him as elder brother- he was our neighbour from our village in Kerala ) Till I completed my engineering degree in 1982, our holiday travel w...

We are in the age of gel and ball point pens. They are utilitarian and long life is not demanded of them. Most of them are of "use and throw" variety. At school and collge , we used fountain pens. The pens as well as nibs had long life. More than the pen, its nib, on prolonged use developed a character of its own mirroring the writing style of its owner. The nib used to wear out with a "personal" touch depending upon angle of grip and pressure applied by is owner. As a consequence, it was tough to borrow a fountain pen and use it at one stretch for long writing work. I used to find my sister's pen "rough" and she also had similar feeling about my pen. Hence it was much easier for the pen to stay with the owner for long without "getting lost". With proliferation of mass produced gel and ball point pens, such attachment to pen is uncommon among students these days. I spent six years in high school from 1970 to 1976 with...

Is this the right bus stop? Yes. Going by your dress, it is ! My tayiji ( periamma) always wore nine yard pudavai ( long saree ) in conventional style. Tayiji's home was in Chalakudi, about 32 km from Trichur. Our village Venkitangu was on Trichur- Guruvayoor route, around 20 km from Trichur. They would change buses at Trichur on their way to Venkitangu. Though she and my cousins used to board bus to Trichur on the way back from the 'short cut bus stop', they were not confident of locating the 'short cut bus stop' while traveling into Venkitangu. They would alight at a junction further away and walk back. On one of their trips to Venkitangu, after their bus had traversed considerable distance, the bus conductor blew the whistle. After the bus stopped, he called out to my tayiji and asked her to alight. My cousin also got up but both were perplexed as the place looked unfamiliar. The conductor asked, " You bought tickets to Venkitangu, rig...

My kitchen skills - Corona impact In the sink I have mastered all aspects of kitchen sink activity starting with where to use ScotchBrite pad and where to use steel joona. Of course, non stick vessels have a softer pad. I can make the most tenaciously adherent left overs crumble and vanish in no time. My powerful arms ensure black and blackened vessels leave the sink shining. In the stacking rack: I know the space allotted for various vessels and cooking aids. I have mastered efficient use of space by stacking the right set of vessels within one another (like family of Russian nesting dolls ). "Square pegs in round hole" situation on racks is a thing of the past. I am sure the Japanese of "5 S system of shop floor management" started in the kitchen when a Toyota shop floor manager was asked by his wife to do kitchen chores. On the stove: I have mastered " the burning points" of all dals, rajma, lobia, kala chana and kabuli chana. In ...

Gathering dust and litter - any suggestion? "Brooming" is a good exercise- bending, squatting, moving from side to side- a welcome athletic excercise during Corona shut down. But over the shoulder performance appraisal while "brooming" paints a poor picture. The home is always in shut down - windows tightly shut to prevent summer heat. So no entry for dry leaves, dried flower petals or broken twigs. Nobody goes anywhere and no visitors. So no scope for footwear delivered dust or grime. And what is the measure of good "brooming" performance? A pile of dust, bits of paper and " tangled spring coils" ( you can guess where they come from ) of a normal day brooming output . Despite intense effort, I fall very short of 'target quantity' whenever I undertake brooming activity. I had half a mind to take some soil from a flower pot and sprinkle it to make the "target quantity". I do not want to do...

How to select a good water melon? Something I have learnt in the last four weeks. Hold the watermelon in one palm and knock with middle finger of the other arm around its midriff. If a hollow "dongu, dongu"sound emanates ( it is not musical. Hence I mastered it ), the water melon is a good one. Even if what I said does not make sense to you, do not worry. Take two or three water melons more from here and there in the heap and repeat "finger knocking" with a straight face and keep them back with a "chi, chi" expression on your face. The shop keeper will step in and select a good piece for you. Do not forget to say "Please fetch more good melons. Most customers can not make out a good one from an average one. You might lose business for no fault of yours." Next time you go, the shopkeeper will straight away give you a good melon and dispose you off lest other customers eves drop on your pearls of wisdom and spoil the ...

My silliest conversation which has stood the test of time. Mosquitoes have become ubiquitous and are slowly growing larger ( My prediction - they would become our national "ugly" bird in a five/six decades and aircrafts suffering mosquito strieks during takeoff and landing are distinct possibilities) At nightfall, as an occasional visitor, a comment on mosquito is highly likely whether it be Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi or Mumbai. General comment is, " How intelligent mosquitoes are.Aren't they? They always hum close to our e ars." My response, " I am not sure. We do not have ears on our hands and legs to check whether they keep quiet there." This wisecrack is a perfect kill joy. It ensures no "hum" topics for couple of days.