Cousins

In the cookie of life,cousins are the chocolate chips!
 Come July and it's time for remembering  the birthdays of two special cousins- Priya[Pawrna] and Shyama.

 

Those we love don't go away, they walk beside us every day.
Unseen, unheard, but always near; still loved, still missed and very dear.Annonymous

Mummy and Daddy

There are moments  when I wish I could bring Mummy and Daddy down from heaven ,spend a day with them just one more time, give them one more hug or hear their voice again. Just one more chance to say I love you. Just recently I came to know of this nursery rhyme-Mummy and Daddy. This is a new one to me and so apt  now when I'm missing mum and dad and remember them on their anniversary tomorrow.BTW,how 'manyth'  anniv is it for them? Daddy would be aghast and ashamed of me-a daughter of his not knowing how many years it is from 1941-2012 when he could reel off in a jiffy in terms of the number of days since that eventful date!   Mummy and Daddy

Mummy and Daddy I love you Come to me when I call you, Give me a kiss when I ask you, Mummy and Daddy I love you.

                                                                                           

   

A Joyride With Daddy on Memory Lane

 

Birthdays were red letter days in our family calendar. So when daddy’s came along a few days back I remembered him and made an offering of a few of his favourite snacks and food. Missing him, my eyes welled up with tears and through misty eyes I looked at the little items I had arranged on the sill below the oil lamp I light daily. Strangely, as if by the wave of a wand by daddy, I was whisked off to Memory Lane! My eyes dried up and I could feel myself beginning to smile…

Daddy’s must-have morning cup of coffee. He always got his way with mummy drinking his ‘bed coffee’ without brushing his teeth, arguing, “Do elephants brush their teeth?” As tots we were fascinated by the froth that stood high up to the brim of the cup and how we vied to sip the coffee froth while daddy propped himself up with The Hindu on his Dunlop mattress!

A slab of Cadbury’s [of course, not the big slabs daddy munched on and heaped us with. Just a finger-size one but ,all the same,power-packed with mammoth-size memories!] Another Cadbury we knew was Richie Rich's butler. One thought led to another-butler's English-the term we used for broken English.Daddy had us guffawing quoting his relative who said, "Sitting on the koppu upon the pulliya maram."

Marie Biscuits. Daddy was the unofficial brand ambassador for Marie biscuits ! In exasperation we would tell him in vain for the nth time that it was Marie and not Mary. So also,our boarding mistress was Marie Ange and not Mary Ange.

Bananas.Daddy did go bananas over that fruit! I laughed at daddy many a times for scraping the inside part of the peel and eating that too [not just eating but relishing!] Many years later only I heard and read of the goodness of including fibre in the diet. How stupid I was to have laughed  at him when he was being wise.

Bowl of Oats. He told us the British [he never said the English as we were more used to saying] called it porridge .So as a tiny tot when I first read of Goldilocks eating the baby bear's porridge this little girl was able to imagine what that little girl ate. Daddy topped his bowl of oats with 'Christmas palam'. To  daddy who was always coaxing us  during our holidays "Talk in English." this little fish would try to impress him by saying that dry fruit  was called raisin or currant. Not to forget the 'bowl' aspect. All of us tried but never succeeded in getting him to say  'bowl' [to rhyme with coal] and not bowl[as in owl]

I had only dates that day .Nevertheless, that didn't stop my train of old memories.I recollected the other exotic and expensive  nuts and dried fruits daddy had introduced us to -walnuts,pistachios and apricots.He even had mummy pack them as tuck to take to school. Miss Colette would ask me for the  walnut shells to use as a baby's bassinet or a tub for water or whatever the theme of her 'rock garden'[it stood on a wooden frame ]demanded. That was an age when kids beamed with pride about giving something to their class teacher.

Bombay Toast. Yes, that sumptuous delight was given that city's name. Only many years later did I come to know that it was actually called  French toast !Anyway, the new knowledge didn't stir up any 'french revolution' . It continued to be Bombay toast and we devoured it just as greedily! As the bard wrote,"What's in a name? That which we call a rose By any other name would smell as sweet."
My train of thoughts was sidetracked by 'Bombay'.I thought of mummy-daddy's Bombay honeymoon and the home movie which overlapped dad's cousin's wedding. When I mentioned that to my friends in school they laughed about our parents' honeymoon when their last child had begun school. They didn't know that to our mummy and daddy everyday of their marriage was a honeymoon and their love didn't wax and wane like the moon,even on days they argued and screamed at each other in a rage.I was always amazed at how daddy could calculate and keep track of their milestone anniversaries -not in terms of years but days !He taught us that the best gift a father can give his children is to love their mother. Good God, what a gifted bunch my siblings and I were!!!

Candies. We youngest three siblings often competed who could eat the most number of puris. Daddy would hush us up and tell us to stop counting and to just eat well. Well, we all followed that principle to eating gulab jamoons as well-we could  gulp down a countless number of mum's specialty with such ease and speed !Daddy practiced what he preached in eating candies !The number of candy wrappers that would be strewn on his bed always infuriated mummy and amused us but that never slowed down daddy's sweet tooth!

As the cellphone rang I was back to the present and my eyes fell on  the brand name on the candy wrapper-Candyman. I chuckled to myself and thought,'' Well, Daddy was indeed a 'Candyman ' !!!''

''God gave us memory so that we might have roses in December.'' James Mathew Barrie

Happy Birthday, Mummy!

.A letter to my siblings It's hard to forget someone who gave us so much to remember! It’s mummy’s birthday today and I’m awash with a kaleidoscope of memories- childhood memories that celebrate our family life! For mummy every day was a day to celebrate and she did it with so much zest. She was aptly nicknamed Papa and when I think of that it brings out the child in me and I feel like giggling, remembering how she enjoyed nursery rhymes and fairy tales even in her adult life! Mummy considered a birthday in the family as a red letter day and a day to be celebrated. A celebration should have the accompaniments of food, frolic and fun. So on her birthday, in remembrance of her, let’s celebrate with a ‘mocktale’ of food[all those sinfully delicious sweets and savouries she so often made] with rhymes, just for some fun ….. Mummy Dearest’s Yummy Zest, Tummy Fest….. Globjarm, Halwa, Mysorepak You made us as happy as a lark. When our hunger pangs struck Down went your existence luck. Globjarm, Halwa, Mysorepak Pat-a-thattai,pat-a-thattai, mummy’s fingers Fry us a thattai as our greed lingers. Pat it and fry it and mark it with love and fuss, And put it on a plate for Daddy and us! One, two, give us rava ladoo Three, four, give us some more Five, six, slurps and licks Seven, eight, we relished and ate Nine, ten, a satisfied yen! Karachevu Ottupakada sat on the snack  rack Karachevu Ottupakada tempted us, a greedy pack. All of the rack’s height and all of our will-power Couldn’t keep Karachevu Ottupakada from us far. Muruku, Cheedai quite crunchy What makes you tasty so? Your refill requests and mummy’s culinary quests And her kids’ satisfaction all aglow!

HURRAH, MUMMY!

 Mummy, Papa [meaning baby in Tamil] as she was called by  daddy and her parents,cherished and enjoyed all the simple joys ,just like a papa -nursery rhymes and fairy tales, Christmas and Santa Claus, Jingle Bells and Papa Malar[remember that radio show on Sunday afternoons in the 60s?],magic shows and circuses,visiting and chatting,birthdays and anniversaries,song and dance,God and her Lord[Daddy dearest!],kith and kin, etc.She enriched our lives with her  simple effervescence making us the adults we are today. Sadly, in her days Mother's Day hadn't gained importance or popularity or else she would have happily  enjoyed another special day to be greeted by her kids and would have made a song and dance about it!!!
A little tribute now,to you, Mummy,this Mother's Day, from your brood. I'm sure you and Daddy will hear us from where you are because our hearts are still attached.

Happy Mother’s Day, we happily shout.

Unselfish was your love and uniquely you

Raised us like dignified royals.

Righteousness you instilled, respected our individuality.

Adroitness in us you appeased.

Holidays you crammed with harmony [and homemade treats!]

Mummy, we thank you manifold for your

Unfathomable love and unconditional care.

Mythologies and movies you explained,

Magic into our souls spun and merriment weaved.

Your motherhood was a yardstick of affection and care.

We thank you for everything!

Diamonds are Forever

Not many are fortunate to receive  blessings from an aunt and uncle [whom I respectfully call chithappa and chinnamma]who have together lived,seen and celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary. We had a little family gathering that evening,two years ago,  to honour and felicitate the family's DIAMOND COUPLE.

Toasting  you,chithappa and chinnamma is a

Honour bestowed on us.

Everlasting should be your togetherness.

Doubled should be your joys,

Ideally, with troubles subtracted.

Added should be your smiles,

Multiplied should be your lineage.

Offerings of similar good wishes and

Numerous other cherished desires we

Dish out to you in abundance.

Congratulations

Oh, dear chithappa and chinnamma!

Unique and loving

Pairs like you should

Live happily

Ever after!

Long live the King of Diamonds and the Queen of Diamonds !!!

Silver Shadows

A cousin had posted in...where else,yes ,facebook, a family picture. In the background the splendour of autumn was captured and it was so  eye catching. The leaves on the trees were colours of copper,bronze and gold.In the foreground happiness was written large on the faces of my cousin and her family which I thought must be more priceless than platinum! Copper, bronze, gold, platinum....my mind wandered to silver and then to the name of her home..Silver Shadows. To me, the name has such a becalming and poetic ring!Thus, these lines came to my mind.[Mind you,this is just my imagination of her home in my mind's eye!]

It’s a clear, chill night.

The moon shines bright

Shedding its silvery light

With its glorious might.

It’s a wondrous delight

To see on such a serene night

Silver Shadows’ beauteous might

Bathed in such heavenly light!