Monday, November 22, 2010

Tuesday Twitters....Haikus galore!

Its great to be back...!! Today I am inspired by my friend Deepak's Instant Words blog which
specialises in Haikus. Todays clue is the word ' stranger '. A small token from me.....



Entwined together
In rapturous splendour..
Strangers no more!


An intimacy lost
An old love dies
Strangers once more..


Strangers in the night
An exchange of money
Empty, desolate sex for sale.


Whither goest thou
Stranger in our midst?
Come, a new world beckons!


Stranger miracles occur
When clones and anti-matter
Modern science creates!


A bright blue sky
No stranger to the slashes
Of pregnant grey clouds!


The stranger the thought
The deeper the madness
Will sanity prevail?


Truth is stranger than fiction
Sometimes, an amalgamation
Who will separate the two?

Sunday, November 14, 2010

Monday Meanderings....

Am having great fun blogging....I did not know how much I would enjoy doing this!! Thank you Deepak for constantly egging me on to blog!!

Today I will talk about my love for animals, a love that was never discouraged by my parents. As a child I was fascinated by animals...I remember chasing butterflies, especially the yellow and the tiny blue silver ones, catching them, feeling them and studying them. And dragonflies, how I loved to catch them and tie a string on their entrails and fly them like kites!! Today, I cringe at the thought of the unintentional cruelties I perpetrated on these poor creatures...

At school, we had a small rock grotto, which was always overflowing with all kinds of snails and slugs..I would pick up the snails, just to see them get into their mobile homes at the first sign of danger, and slowly ease out when they thought it was safe! And, I can't get over the number of strays I would be always be feeding, caring for injured birds...even babysitting rabbits, parrots, dogs, whose owners wanted to go on a holiday! In all that time, my parents never threw a fit at what was obviously, a pestilential habit!!!!

When I decided to marry, I made sure my dog Caesar came along with me to my marital home...that was one of my conditions of marriage!!!! My orthodox in-laws not only accepted this but themselves got to love Caesu so much, that soon he became their pet, rather than mine!!! And he became totally vegetarian...after being a carniverous soul most of his existence!! My husband still jocularly grumbles about how my father gave him a dog as dowry!!!

Thankfully, my husband and daughter have inherited my love for animals. I have had a succession of dogs, now a number of stray cats, who have adopted my home as theirs. My family's support has been invaluable as that of my beloved domestic help, who never complain of these additions!!!

I consider myself lucky to know what animals feel like to the touch, to experience their love, their unconditional acceptance of us and our foibles, of the de-stressing they provide in a life that is so fast paced as to be killing. I hate it when people ill treat strays or abandon their pets when they are old and sick. As a family, it has been a rare holiday that we may gone together, because we cannot leave our animal children unattended or at the mercy of strangers.

I am often asked, that how can I keep another pet after I have lost one of them. My answer is ....I cherish every moment of their existence and accept that the joy they bring into my life as priceless. I consider myself blessed to have had the privilege of their lifetimes in my life. And I feel sad that so many, many people and children don't have a clue of the experience of knowing what another species of God's creatures feel like.

Friday, November 12, 2010

Friday Footnotes...

It has been a tentative, yet challenging beginning! Am slowly finding my steps in this maze of words....giving a coherent shape to my thoughts!

Returning late from work tonight, the taxi I was travelling in, lay idling at an inordinately
long signal. Just outside, very close to a bus stop, my attention was drawn to a couple of women standing there, in the shadows, with a very hyperactive young boy of about 12 years. Something in the boy's behaviour struck me as peculiar. Peering close into the darkness, I could see the child tugging away at one of the ladies, who seemed to be his grandmother...violently escaping her loving clasp. She gave a tiny chase and grabbed him back towards her, tenderly and sweetly scolding him. At about this time, I realised that something was wrong with the child. He was obviously differently abled, probably autistic, creating a scene, and yet, here she was, along with her daughter, cooing with love and getting him to calm down.

The tender love and acceptance of an obviously difficult situation that I witnessed, overwhelmed me. So much compassion and patience is required to deal with these special children of the Lord. And so many folks do it, unflinchingly and willingly, day after day, year after year.....without bitterness and rancour. I am reminded of my own uncle and aunt, who have three differently abled children, all girls and all in different stages of disabilites. Yet, more God-fearing and more cheerful people I have not had the privilege of knowing. If at all there is any concern and anxiety, it is about who will be there to look after them when they themselves are too old, sick or even dead.


This compassion does not limit itself to humans only. I have seen people do the same to animals in distress too, looking after them with the same dedication. A family I know, has adopted a dog with a short lower jaw. The pet has to be fed every meal because it can't pick food and eat by itself. Yet, they do it daily as they would any other child.


Human beings are so filled with compassion, and when this is exercised in the right way, miracles happen. People and animals who would have been given up for dead, have a chance to live, whatever the quality of life may be. It is all about commitment. And when I think of the things we take for granted, somehow they seem so small and petty in the larger scheme of things.

We really have a lot to be grateful for....and maybe it is time to spread some compassion around. in any which small way.