Feminine forces

Many attributes desirable in a woman are represented by Hindu female deities. They are worshipped as the embodiment of specific capabilities and powers.

For instance, Saraswati represents intelligence, consciousness, cosmic knowledge, creativity, education, enlightenment, music, the arts, and power. Hindus worship her not only for "secular knowledge", but for "divine knowledge" essential to the achievement of ‘Moksha’ (Freedom or Salvation), their ultimate spiritual goal.

Lakshmi is the Goddess of wealth, prosperity (both material and spiritual), light, wisdom, fortune, fertility, generosity and courage and the embodiment of beauty, grace and charm. She is believed to protect her devotees from all kinds of misery and money-related sorrows.

Durga, an embodiment of creative feminine force (Shakti), manifests fearlessness and patience.

This collection of brass statuettes are not from a mandir or puja room but have been part of this household for more than fifty years. They belonged to my mother-in-law M, a truly empowered woman of great determination, taste as well as beauty.

Women need to tap their own abilities and powers -- discovering the true goddess spirit within. Whether they have access to these goddesses or not they should take inspiration from them to elevate their self-esteem and empower personal growth and spirituality.

M more or less educated herself, got a job (in Bombay), participated in the Freedom Movement in a small way, married outside her community (at a time when such inter-religion marriages were taboo), took on the role of a Consular Officer / Ambassador’s wife, and then gamely fought through her husband’s terminal illness and then finally her own.

IS remembers that in the difficult times when his father’s condition deteriorated, his mother’s belief through these deities would have been a help in bolstering her strength and composure.

Today is my mother-in-law’s 91^st birth anniversary.

Rangoli

Rows of Petunias in vibrant spring colours adorn the traffic round-abouts (inter-changes) and parks of Dubai city, in patterns resembling Rangolis.

They look wonderfully attractive and fresh, and give everyone a feeling of being welcome.

These 'pettus' (as the girls have nicknamed them) will last only for a few more weeks, before the weather turns warm again.

Walk On......

I love walking. Not just walk around but go for long walks in forests, on mountain trails or on beaches, or anywhere where there is nature …. I remember some nature walks when in school and a few great walks when on family holidays in the mountains or at beach resorts. When you walk you get to see more …. as opposed to driving … so this what we did when we went to new places, especially when travelling abroad. One trip to Paris with IS, I had never walked so much in my life ….. we explored quite a bit of the city on foot.

I love nature and the outdoors …. walking gives the pleasure of both. Weather-permitting I’d much rather be outdoors than in, and love seeing greenery, the birds (the feathered variety, not the other kind that IS prefers!).

Back home in India I did not walk much, in fact hardly at all. In Chennai we were lucky to have our homes within a 5-min. walk from the beach, but the lack of cleanliness was a put-off, and worse, the sight of villagers squatting along the water-line to relieve themselves would totally take the fun out of it.

Then in Dubai for 3 years our apartment was again very close to the sea, so I started regular walks along the beach … no cleanliness issue here so usually barefoot, feeling the sand and sometimes the water. Mostly in the evening so one could stop, sit and gaze at the sea and the setting sun. And the fun of seeing people of all ages enjoying themselves in the water.

Just over a year ago we moved house to the Lakes area of Dubai, a residential colony with row housing surrounding some man-made 'lakes'. The streets along the water-bodies are lined with date-palms with a lot of green around. A paved walking path runs all along the streets. This ready-made track was very tempting …. I could not keep myself away from it long. So after settling into the house, in a couple of months I started setting out on my evening walks again.

After some days of walking … IS joked that I was not doing much exercise, walking more for leisure and just to enjoy the scenery …. I would retort that he was not even doing that.

A few years ago one suddenly woke up to the need to address health issues ... like stiff joints, lack of muscle tone, lethargy, weight gain; and the benefits of exercise. Both IS and I tried different exercise regimes. IS joined a gym for short spells, sprinkled with an occasional swim, all of which he soon gave up. I joined yoga classes at my sister-in-law’s home but when this stopped it was tough to continue alone and soon dwindled out. Keeping up any exercise schedule is tough.

Now IS and I walk regularly almost every evening. Seeing the serious, professional-looking joggers who pass by prompted us to increase our pace, so we started inter-spacing our walking with short jogs. It has now become our daily fix … by the end of the walk which lasts about 35 mins. ... about 3 kms … with the warm, very humid weather in Dubai we end up soaking wet with perspiration, and can feel each pore open … and sweating!

IS says his English teacher at school had to regularly correct them in class with a stern 'horses sweat, humans PERSPIRE!'

Getting back home is a real relief, where would we be without air-conditioning?! And water … there’s really nothing like water, period. More so on a very hot day. And in Dubai it can go up to 48 Deg. C, so we've been there!

Then we read that jogging can severely strain our feet and knee joints, and that jogging does not help lose weight anyway! Well, we continue our walks and jogging, and promise to tread carefully!

As long as my legs have the strength and I have no major aches and pains I will continue to walk and run!!!!

No Fool’s Day: a birth date to remember

Today is IS’s father Sulaiman’s 101^st birth anniversary (April Fool’s Day!). Since I’d never met him I asked IS to write a piece for me, which is below.

Considering he passed on over 42 years ago (when I was 15), memories are few and far between … more so since I was in boarding school from 13 so we were not even together much of the last 2½ years. The last year he was in any case mostly in hospitals with cancer. Anyway, I’ll try and steer clear of biographic details and keep this tight, here goes.

My Baba. At least until Vietnam, where we heard of a gentleman named Mr. Hui! Both of us were so tickled by the sound of the name that we promptly re-named each other ‘Buibui’.

His love for the ‘hots’ in life was legendary … while much was whispered about the loves in his life (before he met my mother, I hope!), his penchant for taking on the hottest food / chilies were legion, I’d bet he could have set many World Records; Tabasco sauce on the dining table was more normal than a salt cellar.

Watching him tackle a fried egg on toast at the breakfast table was a life-changing experience … carefully arranged sunny side up (with soft yoke), topped with slices of the most fiery chili peppers available. First thing in the morning you’d be treated to the sight of his face getting redder and redder, his grin getting wider, tears streaming from his eyes, and sweat from his scalp! Priceless. Driving hard with knife and fork for his next mouthful. A final sweep with a piece of toast, mopping up the spillage, yolk/chili from the plate.

A really handsome man. Ambassador of India. Full of life and the good things. Work hard, play hard. Great values. His lovely circle of strongly loyal friends (who knew him as Suli). His wonderful sense of humour. His laugh. Amazingly contagious. At full throttle it would work up into a series of wheezes so hilarious that to hear him would be to start laughing yourself even if for no other reason. With him jokes sounded so much funnier …

His whistle. He had a couple of favourite tunes, the one I recall most being one I managed to put a name to just last week through an web search; Terry's Theme from Limelight, one of the top tunes of the 50s. Turned out to be titled ‘Eternally’, composed by Charlie Chaplin, with first line of the song: "I'll be loving you eternally ..." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pk0mdW-j9VQ. As someone said, Music is a connection to people who’ve gone ....

He wrote a lot, mostly regular long-hand, but there are notebooks filled with lines of symbols looking like Greek! Seriously, like Ø, Ω. As soon as I get a chance I intend sitting down and going through them, and hopefully break his code!

His famous long-standing brush with babudom and the peculiar politicians in charge of External Affairs in Delhi who he was answerable to … and eventually forced to bow to, resulting not only in his own sad, funny (unfinished) musings titled “The Straight Saits in Dire Straits”, but I feel sure, also in his illness and untimely death at 58. Fought and laughed through all his pain, all the way till the end.

They truly don't make many like that anymore. He must be out there somewhere, I really hope I can meet him again and get to know him better in the next phase.