The flower and the thorn

One day when the thorn pricked the flower, the flower said:

"
Admire me for the beauty within,
Respect me for the fragrance that lasts,
Love me and let me bloom entirely,

Remember, you are here to protect me,
Not to harm me and my innocence
So hold on and coexist with me here
Atleast till I wither.



"

Nodi Swamy Naavirode Heege

I remember watching him in "Nodi Swami Naaveerode Heege" and I liked him so much, especially in the title song. Even today I can sit and watch that song again and again. There was something special about him. He did not belong to the intense actors' calibre like his elder brother yet he captured the masses so well that he is remembered the most by the common man. Most of you must have guessed his name already. yep, I am talking about THE "Shankar Nag".

I have been a movie freak since my early childhood. So I was and am very knowledgable when it comes to movies.;) Anyways, I was in higher primary school when I heard of his accidental death. I felt so bad that I almost cried. That incident lingered in mind for a long time. I would watch all his movies on TV with more interest. At that age, I could just relate myself with his acting. But as I grew up, I started appreciating his directorial ventures too, especially Malgudi Days. I think that was one of his ambitious projects and I must say that he really brought R.K.Narayan's characters into life once again.

Why did think of him once again? The photo of Arundati Nag and Manjunath inaugarating the stamp of R.K.Narayan pushed me onto the memory lane. Both of them have been associated closely with Shankar Nag.

Arundhati Nag and Shankar Nag were one of the ideal couples of the industry. Both of them had the background of theatre and they probably had similar ambitions. It was a pleasure to watch them together. I have always admired Arundhati Nag for her courage and determination. This I saw when she went ahead in spite of difficulties and built "Ranga Shankara". Her efforts have paid off very well as Ranga Shankara is almost a synonym for theatre in Bangalore now a days.Kudos to the brave lady.

Manjunath, better known as Master Manjunath or Swamy from Malgudi Days, was an integral part of Shankar Nag's movies. They brought so much life to the movie whenever they starred together and they almost looked like a real father son duo. After Shankar Nag's demise, I don't think Manjunath regained the glory.

Shankar Nag has always been missed by the masses. Even today, once can see his photos on most of the autorickshaws in Bangalore. Even today, when the name of Sangliana is mentioned, the face of Shankar Nag appears first as he played the reel life hero onscreen. The songs from his movies, especially the ones from "Geetha" are played again and again in the request sections. Well, that is the greatness of art, isn't it? It defies the law of mortality very easily.

Yummmmmy!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now a days, there is one thing that I really enjoy doing. And that is - watching my daughter, Tunga, eat an ice cream.:) It has been almost one year now since she discovered ice cream. Every time we go to a restaurant, she looks forward to eating it. And probably it is the only thing that she expects to eat outside.

As we enter the restaurant, she gets restless and keeps uttering "ice ceam" in her own accent. And then as the ice cream arrives, she is ready with the spoon and the bib around her. With immense concentration, she starts gulping down the ice cream. She does not respond to any of our queries as she is busy getting the spoonfuls of that delicious ice cream.

It is interesting to note that she rarely spills any of that ice cream. I feel very surprised abt that coz she is a budding eater yet.( ;) ) Usually whenever she eats anything by herself, it is such a big mess. But, in case of ice cream, it is just the opposite. I think she eats it beautifully without spilling a drop.:) Her nose and lips are smeared with ice cream and then she utters one word inaudibly " YUMMMMYYYYYYY". :) And that makes my day.:)



And by the way, if you are feeling very depressed and if there is no child at your place, just go to an ice cream parlour and watch a child relish it. It is such an YUMMY sight and if possible why don't you try to do the same?:)

To al those nameless faces

Do you remember all your classmates and friends from your primary school, high school, college days? Do you have remember all your ex-colleagues? Do you remember your neighbours who lived in your old neighbourhoods? Do you remember those people whom we came across in our journey of life all this time? And even if you do remember all of them, do you recollect all their names?

There have been many people who might not have occupied specific spaces in our lives. They might be the ones whose faces you recollect but not their names. Yet, they leave long lasting impressions on your minds somewhere.

This has happened with me many a times. I remember many faces whose small kind gestures, infectious smiles, hilarious acts, exceptional talents and unique characters have lasted in my mind forever. My java class mates, my neighbours in Tumkur, the auto grandpa, my school aayah, the nurses in the hospital, the not-so-naughty classmate- I try hard to recall all their names in vain. But yes, I do remember the faces very well. I am sure my life's journey would not be the same without those faces. I have wondered some times if I should have stayed in contact with many of them. But then, probably they were destined to be short-term visitors in my life.

If I happened to meet them in future sometime, then I am sure I would be elated. But I am not sure if all of them would remember me. Anyways, as mentioned before I am glad that they were all part of my life. I have definitely learnt something or the other from them. And I have always wanted to dedicate a post to all those faces with no names and thank them. This is it.:)

You have mail

I open my mail box eagerly to see if I have any new mail. Yep, there are many new mails in my inbox. I am ecstatic but all my exhilaration comes down when I see that those new mails are either ads or from mailing lists. Well, my inbox was not like this before. One would see plenty of mails from the huge network of friends of mine in my inbox, even though most of them were forwarded mails.:) and in turn, I would enjoy forwarding them to others.

So I sit to analyse the situation. Of course, the main change that has come about now is that I am a full-time stay-at-home mom and my whole day is centred around my kid. Obviously , I have not kept in touch with lot of my pals. And even if I am in touch with them, it is mainly through phone calls. Well, there goes my analysis. Hmmm, so I need to get in touch with all my pals and request them to flood my inbox with their mails ( ok, atleast forwards). So here I go, to begin working for the "YOU HAVE MAIL" message.:)

Today I had been to a grocery shop with my daughter. Of course, the terror of "H1N1" has been spreading at a rapid pace. So I have been receiving lot of advice about trying to avoid all possible public places. But somehow, I feel very guilty if I do not take Tunga on her regular trips to her favorite park. So no matter what, we usually make our evening trip to the park.

Sorry for that diversion in the topic. So both of us had been to a grocery store near the park. Because of "H1N1", now a days it is not unusual to see people in masks. I noticed a couple of kids in masks in the store. From their tone, I recognized them to be a bro and a sis duo. They had their masks on and they also wore gloves. And then, I saw their mother. The sight somewhat shocked me. The "mother" did not seem to be from a well off family. Her blouse was torn and she had draped a saree with half-faded design. Her hands were not the cleanest and her hair was ruffled. She kept checking on her kids' masks and ensured now and then that they had them on correctly. She did not have a mask or a pair of gloves herself.

No, I donno if those masks and gloves were given to those kids by the school or if she spent her savings on them. But I found the whole scenario very touching.

There were two points in that whole situation that got my attention.

- When it comes to selflessness, no one can reach the zenith of a "mother".

- The panic and the terror "H1N1" has been creating everywhere. Lot of credit for this should go to our news channels. Thank God, these channels were not there when plague was around. Else the whole of the population would have fallen sick not because of plague itself but by panic. I really wish our journalists, especially TV journalists would focus on the number of people who are getting cured and going home safe.

Come, let us go to school:)

The tiny tot slept peacefully on my hands. She fitted in there perfectly. And at that moment, I thought that time had stood still. But obviously that did not happen. Today it was her first day at play school.:)

My tiny tot turned two a couple of months ago. At that time, I managed to read an ad about a play group. When I inquired about it, I found out that it was actually a playschool and that the kids were supposed to be in the school for two and a half hours. Somehow we could not convince ourselves that Tunga was ready for it. So we decided to postpone her school life.

But as days passed, I observed her wanting to meet kids of her age. I also observed that she grew restless especially during mornings. The fact was that she was ready for the school but we parents weren't ready yet.:)

So after a lot of thinking and talking, we finally decided to put her into a playschool. And guess what? She refused to come back home on the first day of the school. :) All of us expected her to cry on leaving her in the school. Instead she waved "tata" happily while hubby dear and myself put on a sad face.:)

It has been a week now and she has been enjoying her school life thoroughly. Glad that we took the right decision at the right time.:)