Santhosh's ramblings

I am back to my homeland, the land of rains and coconuts. I love rains, because it reminds me of many things. After a hot summer, the rains bring down the temperature and the sweaty humid climate turns to one with 100% humidity, but pleasant because the temperature has dropped too. The heat which evaporates the ground water, the water raising up as water vapour, and this water vapour condensing inside a cloud to form these dark clouds. And as the clouds become too heavy, it releases the water as rains. And this rains, cools the temperature, washes the dusty dirty earth and bring life to the drying plants and other vegetation.   A picture of life too. As the heat in our life becomes unbearable, we sublimate our pain and discomfort to heavens. And when this becomes overwhelming, it pours out as tears and these tears refresh the soul, cleans the heart and brings life back to us. The clouds that are dark, seems threatening at times, but the assurance is that this too will pass. When ra...

As I wrote in the previous blog, (A good cry,  https://santhoshsramblings.blogspot.com/2023/08/a-good-cry.html  )  children who cry, cry for simple things, as per an adults perception. For the child it is not simple, but significant enough to break their heart. A small hurt, something they want but not available immediately, something their sibling has which they too want etc. For us adults, these are not worth crying over.     We adults, though look down (in our mind) on such silly things, but on a deeper level we are broken by similar things too. Things that generally break my heart are desires unfulfilled, a relationship soured, a position not received, an appreciation that did not happen etc. These are important for me and need to be received, and acted upon. But there are other cries I need to hear too.    Recently I came across this song, by Michael Card.   https://youtu.be/EycG6kFtj8s?si=d86i-28fiKROsBkc   In any split second of a mome...

After being an “empty nest”, for more than a decade or so, recently we had a young family staying with us. With two small children. It was interesting to see how children cry. Especially the younger one. For small issues (as per adults perspective) she would break out into tears. And one good cry with a cuddling by the parents would soothe her and soon she will be back to her bubbly joyful self. And the mother had the special ability to discern if it is crocodile tears, or tearless cries or a real broken heart, but her response was generally same, a cuddle and soothing words. And that worked all times! But the elder one cried very infrequently. Because she had learnt to think through issues and decide what is significant and what is not! But the picture of a good cry soothing the soul was refreshing to see and the added picture of the mother cuddling even when tears were crocodile!  A friend who has been going through multiple personal and larger issues told me recently, I keep awa...

My laptop has been giving me some challenges these days. Gadgets are lifelines and a malfunctioning gadget is like dysrhythmia (irregular heartbeat), which gives palpitations and severe inner discomfort till it is sorted out. Not wanting to spend much money immediately, I send the same off to a friend to check it out. After a few days of carefully observing the function, his diagnosis was clear and concise, and treatment also was to the point. “The laptop has become old, the machine is heating up, the hard drive can not handle multiple functions together, and so, this machine does not have too much life. It might implode soon. Diagnosis – malfunction due to age, overuse, and multiple tasks being done at the same time. The treatment – short term – use only one or two applications or windows at a given time. Long term – get a new machine.”  I am thankful for my friend, who diagnosed it well and gave me options, both short-term and long-term. But then, I realized the “overuse” “mu...

I got up from the study to go to the bedroom to pick up something which I urgently wanted. By the time I reached there, I had forgotten what it was. I used to call this “senior moments” and ignore it. But a recent personal review leads me to believe that the senior moments are not too infrequent.   But the question is when does one become senior enough to have senior moments? With life expectancy increasing and as per some reports WHO redefining old age (I am yet to see it!), would senior moments definition also change? WHO does say in its facts on aging - Fact 4: When it comes to health, there is no 'typical' older person. 10 facts on ageing and health (who.int) This is helpful and hope giving. Which means that I should not be talking about senior moments. I may not be a typical old person. Maybe I should say, I have a goldfish memory. But the facts regarding goldfish too are changing!   Scientists have found that goldfish have good memory. Oxford University: Goldfish do ...

The most beautiful part of the beach is the cove. Protected by the rocks, there is a stillness in the water and the colours mesmerise you. Water is transparent and one can see the sand and what is in the water clearly. The safe space created by the rocks, the cove, is a reminder to me, to create such safe spaces amid the busyness of my life.   Life is not always in these spaces or coves. At times it is like the turtle we watched. One that was trying to catch the right wave, to swim into the vast ocean of life. Caught in the wet sand but trying to swim into the ocean, it was being washed back by the waves, struggling to find a way forward in life. Despite coaxing and gentle prodding by a well-meaning friend it still was caught in the cycle of three steps forwards and two steps backward , at times even 5 steps backward. But then the next day, it was not there, possibly a wave lifted it into the deep sea, to grow into the full potential for which it was created. Because it persevered ...

Taking a flight on a rainy and cloudy day can be challenging. Turbulence is expected, and for some, like me, the imagination can run wild with worst-case scenarios as the flight navigates through clouds and turbulence, creating a disorienting experience. However, a skilled pilot knows how to fly amid all conditions. Most of the time, pilots try to take the plane above the clouds. With instrumental flying, they don't need to see the earth to fly; they only need to orient themselves towards the destination. As a passenger without access to the instruments, it becomes a journey of faith, trusting in the pilots' abilities and technology to guide me towards the destination. Flying above the clouds offers a beautiful sight of non-turbulent white clouds below. Yet, the challenge arises when the plane needs to descend and fly through the clouds to reach the destination. I often wonder how the pilots manage to fly with clouds clouding their sight and experiencing disorienting turbulence...