Change

It was a Friday evening, a few evenings ago, and my kids were home, ensconced in their rooms. I walked around the house, clearing and putting away stuff, room by room. I suddenly looked out of the window, and was stopped in my tracks.

The late evening sky was a breathtaking sight. Trees were silhouetted against a canvas of pinkish-orange; a shade that defied description. I felt transported to another world. Time seemed to stand still. How did I miss this, all these days? Did this magic happen everyday? I was sure it did.

Sometimes work pressure and chores take over your life; where there is simply no choice except to run this race and get things done.

Cut to a few days later, another Friday evening. Mother Nature gets busy, she is racing too. She has no time to show case her verdant beauty. The skies open up and heavy rain lashes all through the week. Rumbling thunder and lightning take turns to make announcements.

I watch this spectacle from my bedroom window. Lashing rain that splatters forcefully on the windows; raindrops who seem to surrender all their energy to the window and slide weakly down the glass in thin streams, joining their brethren in rapidly forming puddles.

I realize that nature has her busy and calm periods, her emotional and peaceful moments too!

Soon, my husband walks in; a spring in his step simply because it is the weekend. He asks if we can go out for dinner?

I am game. The kids…..they want to order-in and do their own thing. The rain has stopped, and the rays of the late evening sun are draped across the sky.

So, it is just us in the restaurant, the kids have ordered pizza at home. We laugh incredulously. There was a time just after marriage when we went out like this, then came the phase when we stayed home and ordered-in for ourselves and cooked healthy meals for the kids at home.

Then came the phase, when we went exploring the world with our kids, from insects to animals to the sky to toys to the movies; when we took them to restaurants and helped them try new foods. We learnt more about them, their preferences and their behaviour and likened it to ourselves and genetics.

Then, now, this! Where the kids are ordering-in and we are out. We talk about this and laugh, we also know deep inside that this will be the norm a few years from now. We talk about our day and the conversation veers back to the children. We laugh and joke about it, but that’s the truth. Because that’s what gives us meaning and purpose.

When we walk out, the skies have opened up again. There is a steady downpour, and lightning streaks illuminate the sky in bursts – now here, now there.

The wipers in the car work overtime to give us a clear view, but the raindrops continue to fall relentlessly.

Everything is constantly changing, the rain, the sun, the children, their parents…..!

We head back home. The evening quickly flies away.

My pedometer shows 10500 steps, but when the clock strikes twelve, even that will change and will be reset to zero.

Another day will begin, filled with hope, possibilities and more changes.

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Magic in the sky

One of the first few things kids are taught in kindergarten is about rainbows and their colours. I am sure every child has at some point coloured rainbow colouring sheets or drawn a smiling sun with a colourful rainbow!

It was just another day yesterday, a busy Friday, with the promise of the weekend looming. As birds flew back to their nests and people wound down at work to head home, there was an ‘oh so gentle’ drizzle, when I turned my face to the sky.

In a few minutes, traffic slowed down, people stopped in their tracks and children paused their games – to see two absolutely stunning rainbows across the sky. Wow…there was magic in the air. The excitement in my children’s voices was palpable.

Why this fascination with the rainbow? What is it that it does to us? 
For me a rainbow is a rare thing of great beauty, which appears when certain conditions are perfect, and combine to create this spectacle. Rainbows bring out the child in each of us, filling us with joy and hope.

Each time I look at a rainbow, I check for the VIBGYOR colours. Sometimes the colours are blended in, sometimes they are distinct and clearly visible.

I still remember seeing twin rainbows in the sky in the Maasai Mara, Kenya, as a herd of African Elephants walked slowly across the grassland, the calves seeking shelter under their moms.

Every rainbow is a moment, a moment of possibilies, childhood memories, colouring sheets and sheer magic.

Look up

We are so busy these days that we don’t have the time to look up at the sky and enjoy its splendour. As we go through our day, the sky above is also changing. So much is happening up there, clouds are lazing about or seriously gathering to bring us some showers. The sun is busy travelling across the sky, silently casting shadows, both short and long. The sky is a kaleidoscope of colours through the day.

We only seem to have time to bend our necks downward and keep texting,  or to keep inclining our heads at odd angles to answer calls on our mobiles, while trying to complete other chores.

We never ever look upwards.  Because, if we do, we may actually get to see the absolute deep violet of twilight or catch a few twinkling stars that are almost invisible in the cities, where skyscrapers grab the skyline.

Or like I did, one may get to see something like this –

A merry jet streaking across the morning sky, hints of pale yellow reflecting off the clouds.

Another day to enjoy the simple pleasures of life.

Pit Stops on my morning walk

I usually head out for my long, morning walk, after the kids have left for school.

I take a long walking route, about 6 to 7 kms. The sun is usually quite hot by then, and the sky a nice cornflower blue.

As I walk my first kilometer, the chaotic sounds of ‘morning madness’ at home, before everyone’s on their way,  slowly evaporate from my head.

The sounds are slowly replaced by the twittering of lots of birds – mynas, orioles, sparrows and pigeons.They flit about from bush to bush.

On my walk, there is a stretch of about 1 km, which is along a long canal that winds its way across town.  Here, there are lovely bushes and shrubs of small flowers.

I don’t know their names but enjoy stopping and looking at them. Small orange-red flowers, milky white ones, baby pink ones, bright orange ones. Such pretty and small flowers. The bees are busy collecting honey, and I usually stop to take pictures of these beauties.

I am truly amazed at their beauty, gently swaying in the breeze, sharing their beauty for all to see, expecting nothing in return!

These are my pit stops, where I recharge my batteries. My walkometer on the phone shows that on this stretch my pace is very slow. But the walkometer doesn’t know that on this stretch, I regain my energies and enthusiasm to meet my

day.

The flowers make me smile and give me hope. They make me believe that all is well with world.  Sharing some pictures of these beauties. Hope you enjoy them.

So what’s your pit stop? What makes you recharge? Would love to know.