A return gift with thanks

The house that we currently live in, has been quite 'fruitful' literally. It is a colonial era bungalow which has a huge compound with so many trees that we keep getting some or the other variety of fruits, vegetables, flowers etc around the year. Beginning with Amla in January, we had fruits like lemons, plums(ber), mulberry, drumsticks, mangoes, jamun, bel(wood apple), guavas till now, one after the other in a series (Remember the 'ber' post some time ago?). Apart from these, there are other plants and trees that keep giving us much more, like peepal, neem, palm tree, groves of curry leaf, hibiscus, roses, Jasmine, bottle brush, sheesham, imli and many more that I don't even know the names of! The flower beds are full of decorative plants, hedges and crotons. Oh, and did I mention Holy basil? There is so much of holy basil(tulsi) growing in and around the flower beds and kitchen garden, that we could call it a commercial crop. All of this is unbelievably in the middle of a bustling city.

All this while, we enjoyed the fruits and distributed some too, and kept thinking about the selfless souls and the blessed hands who planted these decades ago. And we decided to add a few before we leave, to be planted preferably in the holy month of Shravan, when we get plenty of rain and a very conducive weather for growing new plants.

So here we go. The occasion was also special as the little pie turned one month old. Coco amd co. planted six saplings which consisted of good varieties of mangoes, pomegranates, lemons and custard apple. I am looking for an opportunity to bring Copper pods(amaltas) and parijat and plant them too before rains are over. Those trees are heavenly when they flower.

This was second such occasion. A few years ago, during our Himalayan foothills days (mmm..😍) we planted mango, jamun, guava and papaya in the compound on Makar Sankranti. It just feels amazing to think that someone will one day enjoy the fruits and wonder. And we might visit that place years later to find those trees and reminisce nostalgically.

Close The Gates!

Past few days have been difficult for Army Cantonments. The defence ministry has ordered all the cantonment roads to be opened to general public and all of us fauji wives can't stop worrying since then.

I found the following post on fellow army wife and blogger Neha's facebook wall: 

In the last 7 n half years of my married life to the man in uniform I have

- lived in 8 houses.. temporary and permanent, some good some bad
- my kid, just 4 and half years of age, has changed 3 schools in 2 years of schooling
- everytime we shift she cries for her school, for her house, for her friends
- I have learned to be brave and take every moment as it comes, learned not to get attached to things but just love the people
- I have lived in 6 states with varied climates and temperature and diverse cultures
- I have forgotten about my career and decided to stand for my family while he is away

All this to provide support to the "man in uniform" and help him serve the nation..

But if the nation cannot take care of us .. I think it all goes in vain..

It may be Neha's post, but the story is same for me too and for almost all the army wives, only the numbers may change depending upon years of marriage. The sentiments ring true for most of us.

Somehow, I find myself on both sides of the cantonment gate. This is a matter of deep concern for an army wife as well as a civilian.

Amid scorching Indian summer, this burning topic is keeping fauji wives uneasy (though 'uneasy' is an understatement!). If you are a civilian reading this, you may not be aware of the turmoil that we are going through, 15 to 20% of you may even be in total bliss, enjoying a little detour through the scenic cantonment in your city, now that all the gates are open. I am saying unaware because, none of my civilian friends, not even my family members are talking about it. There is a complete absence of any activity in this regard on social media, nobody seems for it, nobody seems against it, whereas every army wife is talking about it on all the platforms.

I am not saying all of these things as an army wife who wants to save her idyllic garden from prying eyes of people. Trust me, this is coming from someone who has been a civilian throughout her life and still is. Me and my sister studied in a school situated inside a high security Air Force Station 5 kms away from home, and we never faced any difficulty going to school, along with scores of other civilian students from neighborhood. The cantonment in our city is an open one, which means all the areas that a civilian needs to visit are open. A cantonment may house both faujis and civilians. This is true for most of the open cantts. It is a matter of common sense that sensitive areas should be kept closed for non concerned people in national interest. Here are some of the reasons why certain areas should be kept closed:

Opening all roads effectively makes army facilities and families sitting ducks inviting terror attacks, unwanted attention of miscreants, weakening the spirit of the soldiers who guard the frontiers without worrying about their family's security and safety back home.

I hope you understand that this is not a fight between army and civilians, this is an issue between policymakers and public. If the lawmakers want to compromise national security and peace, citing lame excuse of public inconvenience, then its their failure, their poor urban planning and execution, showing their lazy and corrupt ways and their shortsighted vested interest. They cannot make us (public) suffer for their failures.

Give it a thought.. does this issue only affect army wives? Should you be so quiet about an issue that might have serious implications on YOUR national security? Are we not a part of your society too? You, who change your profile picture and burn candles for women's safety, is your convenience suddenly more important than our lives? The ministry has issued a foolish order and you, blinded by the worthless sensation of a victory, are rejoicing, not understanding that this is a live example of how politics divides and rules! That a wide gap has been deliberately created where there was just a line, that this one order has brought out palpable hatred between army and civilian communities where there was none! This petty victory may cost you your future wars!

(Please excuse for a badly written post, there is so much to tell, I could write a book on this. Hope to share more on the topic soon.Thank you for your patience.)

Rainbows And Paper Boats

As we have settled in yet another cantonment with renewed enthusiasm, things are taking their own course in a much satisfying way. Craft is happening, Pink Pitari is going on and Coco is growing up to become smarter and sharper, with a million questions ready in his arsenal. Amid pouring rains, the lazy woman is making her crafting time worthwhile with lemon tea, the teabags for which were carefully packed back in April when we were moving from the tea-town. It proves that I can only plan in advance if it involves tea or craft!

It rained cats and dogs on his supposedly first day of school, and he was home, playing with his toys in the veranda, when I started telling him how we used to make paper boats during rains as children. He laughed at the idea that his mother could ever have been a child. And then it struck me...isn't it better to make a couple of boats for him rather than telling him stories of a time he can hardly imagine. Out came a few sheets from his old notebooks and the boats were sailing in the temporary lake formed outside our house within next five minutes, bobbing up and down, chasing each other.

While the usual bringing up Coco is happening, I always keep pace with my craft projects, and to be true, it is becoming quite a passion for me. Though it is difficult to find good quality craft supplies in the new town, the lazy woman has resorted to online shopping of the materials and is churning out heart stealers on a regular basis. 

To sum it up, life is good wherever you want to make it good, and it is good here too. Another house shifting is coming up soon as we will move to a nice bigger house, and the stories of crafting in the garden will resume soon. Like the old, old times you know!

I Like To Move It, Move It!

Hello from another corner of our incredible country!

Yes, we did it again.. I mean shifting to another station. Though, last time, we moved to a place that is famous for its scenic beauty and cool climate. This time, we are braving the scorching heat in a crowded city of North India. However, like all feisty army wives, I have made my peace with this place and already liking the fact that for the first time in so many years, I will be living in the heart of a bustling town, with markets and malls in close vicinity. You win some, you lose some.

In contemplative moments, I compare my life to a snail who carries her home on her back. The news that I just delivered in a sentence has a deep impact on all our lives. While Coco is enjoying an extended summer break, I have taken a break from my incessant crafting and Coco's father has his own gazillion things to chalk out. In the next few months, we will gradually settle in this new place, find a new school, meet new people and make new goals. But today, as I was going through my photo albums, I found images captured towards the end of our previous tenure and thought of sharing them here.

1. Missing the green views of tea gardens sprawled about us, covering the blue hills like plush quilts.

2. Remembering how the clouds tumbled down the adjoining hills to the lush green grass of the golf course, amid a pleasant drizzle.

3. Wish I could again have a window in my home that showed me the above view, of clouds surfing deep down the valley beneath the hill on which my home was, while I sipped my ultra delicious lemon-black pepper tea. Ahhh! Those were the days..

4. Also close to my heart are the many intermittent 3 day breaks during the year gone by when we explored South India. The picture above was taken at Dhanushkodi where Coco enjoyed playing in the sand and splashing in sea-water to his heart's content. Fun fact about this pic: He is standing at the land's end with his face towards Sri-Lanka. 

   

5. There is almost no chance that I can witness the sun setting beyond the hills of Ooty from my home again.

6. Holed up in a guest house during long summer days, while all my craft supplies are packed away in trunks along with the rest of my household things, all I dream of these days is how I will dance with joy when I will access them again. I can also be found watching entire seasons of  old comedy series (repeating for 10th time probably), sleeping for hours and lost in crafty dreams. 

7. A lot of those crafty daydreams include the plans of how I will make a neat and cozy space for my crafts in my new home. However these plans are highly dependent on what kind of house do we get and when. Above is a shot of the tiny corner where I sat and made some of my jewellery. Cute, isn't it?

8. One of the best things that we as a family experienced and loved here is the Nilgiri Mountain Railway aka the toy train that courses through the hills amid sprawling green tea gardens. The trips were planned to please Coco, though, it must be clear that we enjoyed it with equal joy, our hearts springing with each new wonderful view as we watched left and right.

9. While the entire tenure was about scenic beauty, picnics, outdoor barbecues and hikes, this particular bike ride-cum-hike to Pristine Valley near Ooty was a memorable one. It was fun, beautiful, adventurous, dangerous and tiresome, all at the same time, with Coco's father throwing his phone in the water for the umpteenth time, an incident that will be the told and retold for years henceforth, each time increasing in comical value.

10. Memories of blue hills can never be complete without missing each of my friends that I made here, and I made friends by dozens. A very small number considering the fact that the hills housed almost 400 of us. Here, some of them are seen pondering over deep questions that I threw at them. Don't go by this picture, each one of them is quite a fireball by herself. This morning of potluck breakfast and a mean game of Housie is etched in each of our memories. High five girls!

Obviously I am missing all this and much more, I am also looking forward to the days, months and years we are about to spend in this happening new place. A move is something that I am always okay with because this is one of the many things that I love about being an army wife. It keeps me engaged and interested, with ever changing scenes and scenarios. After all, change is the only constant in life, ain't it?!  

Picking Up Threads

Hello wonderful people,

After months of absence, I am back to blogland. No matter what I do, it never leaves my mind and always pulls me back. Whether I am mommying, crafting or holidaying, I always click pictures suitable to go on here. 

So, when Coco and his best friend (Let's call him Guru) came back from fancy dress competition in school and presented themselves for a photoshoot, I clicked a few shots to show to you. In the above picture, Coco is dressed as a pineapple and Guru as a traffic signal, because they insisted on being dressed so. Coco and Guru spend a lot of time together at school and home, eating and playing together, sometimes falling asleep in each other's home. They even exchange clothes when certain needs arise. Hence, Coco and Guru are true 'Chuddy Buddies'.

Meanwhile, life in Nilgiris is running fast paced. Dozens of things to do divide my time into such small fragments that I sometimes feel the day should be 48 hours long. So I prioritise my tasks, mostly ignoring housework, taking up the most interesting things first. As it is housework seems to be never ending, one thing leading to another, never leaving you free to pursue your own interests. Sometimes, I literally have to look for little pockets of time to do what I love most, because if I do not do it, my day seems worthless. 

And by now, you must be very well aware that I love crafts. So, after dropping Coco to school, I come back home, put evergreen hits on TV, and sit in front of it with my breakfast and my craft supplies. Then it is only me and my songs and crafts, till it is almost 12 o'clock, when I get ready, prepare lunch and bring Coco from school. In these few hours of the morning, when usually no one disturbs me, I do most of my intense work. 

Though, on days when Coco is at home, the routine is almost the same, only difference being him asking questions at the rate of  a million questions per hour or asking to 'share' some of my stuff. So much for teaching him 'sharing is caring'!   

Between all the mad rush of days, we take out time to explore the lovely hills, tea estates and picnic spots in and around the town. Though I still miss my previous 'forest resort' home in Himalayan foothills, it is apt to say that I am happy here, happy to be close to hills, happy to have a pleasant weather when North is shivering under foggy blankets, happy to see clouds descending down to enter my windows and rushing out the next moment to uncover the bright green tea gardens.  

The knowledge that the tenure at this lovely place is ending, and soon we will leave the salubrious climes to settle in some dusty industrial town, is also a reason why my affection with Nilgiris is growing, making me want to stay longer and absorb the beautiful feeling of being in the Nilgiris as much as possible.

Snippets

Time is speeding these days in Cocoville. The lazy woman is literally juggling a multitude of activities and loving it all! Add the festive season to the scene and watch her going crazy multitasking. 

1. Celebrating the wintry festivals which arrive like a train, beginning way back at Dussehra and going on till Makar Sankranti in January. To us, festive season also means all our birthdays and anniversaries. Both Coco and 'Bringing Up Coco' became 4 year olds, one a naughty preschooler and the other a creative outlet, both of them bringing oodles of happiness to me.

2. Going dizzy receiving orders at 'Pink Pitari', making stuff and delivering them. It is hugely satisfying to watch my craft dream grow. 

3. Creating marvels like 'Chinese Chilli Idli', an absolute makeover of these desi delicacies into something unrecognizable. These turned out well.

4. Receiving such pictures from delighted customers and feeling great that my absolutely rustic work is actually finding place into people's nicely decorated living rooms.  

 5. Doing Zumba, getting fitter by the day and enjoying the company of amazing army wives full of energy, inspiration and good vibes. Seen above is my incredibly motivated and awesome Zumba instructor who by the way is also an army wife. 

6. Completing craft courses one after another and crafting to my heart's content. This place has a dedicated hobby centre and most of us are making the most of it. Last week it was candle making which I did with a close friend and we totally rocked at it. Before candles, it was decoupage and mural art is lined up to be the next. Not only did we make all the candles in the course package, we also shared a lot of new ideas from the internet and the very talented instructor herself learned a thing or two from our brainstorming! She is a local woman who does not have much access to the internet for ideas, learning new skills or selling her handmade stuff, but she still has a room full of amazing crafts, a lot of which has been picked from army wives like us during instructing them, I think. The above candle is one of almost a dozen candles and all those flowers are handmade with wax. Reminds me of my wild roses!

7. Learning to take good pictures with my new digital camera, highly inspired by the friend who did 'Pink Pitari's' first photo shoot. In the above picture, I have tried to go artsy by using one of my candles as a flower vase. I hope to learn soon!

8. Exploring an amazing craft outlet in the neighborhood and amazed to find great stuff and superb yarns in a place where it is difficult to find even the basic craft supplies. Bought a few supplies and made a wishlist of the gorgeous yarns that Pony craft store have at their factory outlet in the Nilgiris.

9. Visiting beautiful places and getting lost in the amazement. Visited a tea factory last month and saw the journey of teeny tiny tea leaves from gardens to tea cups. Truly mesmerizing...

10. Meeting talented army wives and getting surprised to find that there are many like me. This Diwali, I made these two handmade purchases, a paper lamp by an army wife who is also a Madhubani painter and sells her work through Facebook; and a tea-light holder candle, also by an army wife who shared my stall and goes by the name Candle CRAFT on Facebook. Not only this, my surroundings are buzzing with creative energy from other entrepreneurs like chocolatiers, bakers, painters... you name it, I have them here!

Craft And Perspective!

The lazy woman is nowadays racing with time, trying to keep up with craft projects, writing assignments, Coco's exams, his coughs and colds and fevers, ladies meet preparations, Zumba classes, decoupage classes, welcoming guests, managing maids and combating severe water crisis, all alone while her husband is away on some official field area tour or locked away in his room preparing maps and writing assignments. 

 

So, it was a difficult choice when I was asked to accompany senior ladies to a nearby old age home and assist the old people with some crafts that they could sell and raise money. But the senior lady told me that I required to actually visit them only once or twice in a month, I agreed to accompany her. She also said that we needed to get something ready out of waste materials for the starters. So, after a lot of vague ideas, I used torn newspaper and comic strips on handmade paper to make the following cards and clicked them from every angle, praising my bright bulb of an idea.

But when we reached the home, all my sense of designer accomplishment vanished. We were greeted by a cheerful and old nun who beamed at everything that we showed her, but refused to accept cards made with newspaper, saying they would not sell. So I tore up all newspaper parts and replaced them with good coloured paper and other material upto the possible limit. I also threw in the pop up sunny card that was sitting on my husband's bar for almost a year now, and which is seen in this picture with all my re-decorated cards and a few others created by accompanying ladies. The old nun was incredibly happy to see the pop up card and I promised to make more of them for her.

After spending a few hours with them, we returned, clearly knowing that they did not want waste material crafts, neither did they want to learn anything from us. We could make crafts for them and they could sell it. Dozens of other crafts made by other ladies who visited previously made this evident. The home already had dozens of string lamps, cards, folders and flowers. We were now asked to make something different that would also sell well. The old age home people sell these crafts very cheap and we wanted to give them something that would still bring them a good amount.  

While other ladies attempted making lamps, flowers and wall hangings, I thought of using my old experience with paper crafts and utilized my Pinterest account to the fullest to get ideas. After going crazy pondering and wondering about what to make, I settled on making paper craft pictures. I also completed the above newspaper basket that I had started before my visit.  

I made two pictures, the picture above and the one below and sent them off to the senior lady who got them cheaply framed without glass. I also prepared two pop up cards pictures of which are at the beginning of this post. I had also intended to paint an Old Monk bottle to make a lamp like in this post, but could not do it and sent the blank bottle back along with all the ready stuff.

It was an awkward moment when the empty rum bottle came out of their bag when the ladies visited the home on their next turn and were taking out their crafty stuff.  

Last weekend we had a 'Linen Fete' organized at the local club where the old age home also had a stall and the senior lady informed us that all the stuff made by us sold off quickly. She specifically mentioned that my two pictures were sold in her presence. This got me thinking, who would have bought it and for how much? Who has a piece of my soul and what did it bring to the old people? 

Making cards on our visit, listening to the old nun's endless stories..

I did not need to wonder a lot, because a sweet sweet friend of mine came home to meet me and told me it was her who had bought one of the pictures. Though she wanted the one with roses and lamp, another lady was already clutching it dearly. I promised my friend we would make the roses-and-lamp picture again together. FYI Each of the pictures sold for Rs. 100 each which is a good price by old age home standards. 

It is needless to say that visiting places like an old age home can be an immensely enriching experience. If only young people were nicer! 

Love, Shove And Blue Hills

Loving It: 

1. Tea: This incredible place has so much to offer to tea lovers like me. The fact that I have a tea lover neighbor increases the charm manifolds. I had swore off green tea, even for health reasons. She introduced me to her super tasty green tea infused with black pepper, ginger, lemon juice, sweetened with jaggery and now I am addicted to it. Then she went off to the local market and bought these ultra delicious flavored black tea bags and kindly gave me samples from each flavor. Now I am crazily in love with these and have declared Peach flavor tea the love of my life. I gifted one pack to my sister who confirmed that they tasted amazing.  

                            

But since the pack has four different flavors, I am saving trying to save the peach tea bags, having them very occasionally, because, hey, that's what you do with the things you love most. You keep them. But there are days like today when it is just me and my peach tea. So Peach tea it is! Cheers!

2. This Weather, This Place:  The weather here is amazing and while the rest of India was burning under the scorching sun during June and July, we were curling up under cozy quilts and sipping the above mentioned beverage, clad in sweatshirts and woollen socks. The incredibly picturesque blue hills and the green carpet like tea gardens spread about us create a magical scenery together. Though I am busy in other activities so much that I rarely find time for a walk these days, the knowledge is enough that I can take a walk in bright green tea gardens under swirling steamy clouds whenever I wish.  

Shoving It:

1. This Weather, This Place (Again!): While the list of lovely things about this place can still go on, the only thing that is enough to spoil all the love is the prevalence to common cold and cough in this environment. Cold, gloomy and damp atmosphere and sunlight playing peek-a-boo are the usual weather details here which make people, especially children susceptible to viral infections and once the illness starts, it spreads like a wave in the entire neighborhood. A couple of weeks ago, almost every human being in sight, man or woman, adult or child was coughing and sneezing, harbouring germs and passing on the legacy to others who were not sick. All this becomes overwhelming and unbearable after a point and one wants to run away to a sunny and cheerful place. And if you are someone who reads this blog regularly, you would know the exact location I am talking about. Oh, how I miss those sunny days that I spent nestled in my bean bag!

To add to the gloom, sometimes the wind starts howling unpredictably. It goes on for many days at end and the noise makes one go crazy. It is louder than an ocean and gives us sleepless nights. On the second (also the topmost) floor of a building which stands high on a hill, this howling and growling wind is even more noisier and makes me feel like a caged bird. I would not have mentioned this noisy wind if it would have stopped only at that. Take a look at the following picture.

The broken tree as seen above was standing in front of a window which also provided me an awesome view of the town spread on the hill in front of our neighborhood. One windy morning I woke up and thought something was missing in the entire view from the window. After a few moments I realized that the green foliage that framed the scene was missing and my jaw dropped as I peeped outside. The tree had broken into half vertically and then had fallen on the road, incidentally on our car boot, scarring it minorly. My sweet tree which was also home to many birds was gone, and my car was dented, all because of this unsettling and utterly noisy wind. 

When my maid told me that the weather was going to stay like this for a couple of months, I was heartbroken, Thankfully, it got over after a week or so and it is not windy anymore apart from an occasional cool breeze. At least we are sleeping comfortably. Phew!

The blue hills have been a mixed experience till now. It is taking a lot of effort to like this place, quite different from Himalayas, which are effortlessly adorable and feel like home. I cannot say it enough that I miss those Himalayan days!