A Knotter's song

When we had sunshine in Darjeeling during the monsoon, the school would declare a sunny day holiday! That was many moons ago. Perchance, I happened to be in Darjeeling in the thick of this monsoon. And while my last two evenings were spent indoors with the storms displaying their might of lightning and thunder showers, this morning was different. Clear blue skies, sunny, and bright. As I gazed at the well washed valleys below, the brilliant green tea-estates, I could not just keep myself from wanting to go outdoors. I also wanted to try the bike-taxi service which I had heard of called "Ju-Ju" or "lets go-lets go" in the local language. The biker came within 10 minutes of my call and I asked him to suggest the perfect nice, sunny and warm place to visit that was offbeat Darjeeling and un-touristy. Jamuni! he said, and off we went. After forty minutes or so of winding ride, across a series of tea gardens, we reached the valley below! Jamuni was quiet, serene and ever...

 A heart-wrenching week just went by. Two young lives were lost to epic battles with deadly diseases.  The first, an eighteen-year-young boy. I dare call him a man. He had fought valiantly with years of drug addiction in a hideous locality known for petty crime. When he was finally admitted to the rehab center, he caught the ominous tuberculosis. When I met him, the disease had spread across his lungs and into his brain. My last-moment diagnosis and advice to rush him to the hospital was help too little and too late! The second, a young man, just in his late twenties. A software engineer, with a plump job. A very eligible bachelor. Handsome, tall, fair, and full of life. Till colon cancer got him and drained every bit of life slowly and wickedly from him. The last unit of my blood did little to save him, as I witnessed his final breaths and last heartbeats on the monitor. The families were heartbroken. The mothers were incessant in their cries, unable and unwilling to comprehe...

Meghalaya was an unlikely choice for a family vacation in the middle of winter, around the corner of the new year. Yet, with all the usual clouds, rain, and mist swept away, we got to enjoy the sunniest side of the wettest places on Earth!  Well known for their natural beauty, the twin hills of Khasi and Jaintya, folded like a thick skirt of mother nature, soaked in embellishments of lakes, creeks, streams, gorges, valleys, plateaus, and cliffs. The most amazing were the refreshing waterfalls, the ancient caves with fossils, the knotted living root bridges, and the crystal clear Umngot river in Dawki as it meandered from between the twin hills into the plains of Bangladesh. Here's my list of top picks from the wonderful short trip to Meghalaya.  The amazing sun-rise and sun-set views, a heady cocktail of sun's warmth with the nip of the crisp winter breeze.  The views from the tops of trees which could be climbed through a maze of narrow bamboo walks.  A humming tree...

Mr. Shashi Tharoor, an Indian parliamentarian famous for his overwhelming vocabulary and mastery of the English language, may have (as there is no way I can confirm) posted the following tribute to the letter "T".  It is a clever ballad of the "Tongue" and I got it while it was doing its rounds in WhatsApp groups. So here it is: A tribute to the letter "T"                 The tongue’s terrible tendency to tell tall tales totally tarnishes traditional transcommunication theories. The tempestuous tirades traceable to the tongue testify to the traumatic tactics of this tiny tab of tissue. Thousands that take the time to think, try to tame the tumultuous torrent of the too talkative tongue. Temporarily, the tide turns. Towering tempers turn to tenderness. Then, tragically, the trend tapers. The tongue trips, teeters, then takes a tumble; the temptation to trifling twaddle triumphs. Take time to tabulate this timeless truth: to train the tong...

 "Philip Bhai ko Garage", can be found in Kalimpong, at the intersection of pathways famously known as Bar-Bot, Bong Bustee. Our own life intersected with Philip's when he was a small child. Since then, he has been our brother. He has a remarkable story of survival, fortitude, and resilience.  Today, surpassing his challenges, he has found a space of his own. He is popularly known in the town of Kalimpong for his motorcycle repair and makeover skills.  Catching up with the "You-Tube" fad of sharing skills and advice, Philip has a "Tutorials for two-wheelers" channel, which I came across by chance! He embellishes some of the tutorial videos with songs and music of his own, and the roar of engines gets tuned to the melody of the guitar. Sharing this as my own bookmark and for my readers!

In India, the best appetizers for food are the variety of spices that are used in cooking and garnishing. For a change, it is time the bland discourses around nutrition get a special zing. What better than Chatkare Zindagi Ke..to spice up your life. Keep watching!