Santhosh's ramblings

Gardening for me is to plant, water and wait. I am not very knowledgeable nor keen to replant, prune or do any active engagement. The result, wild growth of plants that grow on their own, premature death or stunting of others, plants that could have had much better growth. I am okay with this since gardening is not a passion but a time to dissociate from other engagements for short period of time during busy hours. But I learnt something yesterday. The touch that transforms! We have close family staying with us for a few days. Yesterday I went out for work and when I returned, the two small gardens inside the house had been transformed. I thought there was a beauty in the wild growth of yesterday, but the pruned, replanted, repotted, and repositioned was a different site to behold and enjoy.   The handiwork of two close relatives, one a retired agricultural technocrat, who has a breathtaking garden in her house and a senior lady, who has spent all her life caring for plants. This c...

    I get up in the morning and my mind is buzzing. Pump to be switched on (water comes only for an hour), clothes to be washed, coffee to be made, the morning ablutions to be completed, bed to be made etc before I sit down for a my set aside quiet time.  But then the WhatsApp is waiting  - the muted beeps have been beckoning me for some time – the multiple personal and group messages, though many archived, waiting to be read acknowledged and replied to. What will WhatsApp app feel if I ignore it and of course my friends too! Now that they know how to check if I have read it – I do not want them to think that I ignore them.  But since I opened the WhatsApp, might as well go to Instagram and see who has responded to my pictures and ‘smart comments’! And the blog I had put up – has it been seen, in my WhatsApp status and Instagram. I might as well check it while I am on my mobile.  I also need to know what are things I have for today in my calendar. Sinc...

There is a tree outside our window. Today morning I counted 6 different species of birds on that tree. There is a large bee hive on that tree too. And all this in the midst of Delhi, an urban concrete jungle. One can spot peacocks and peahens sitting in these trees, finding refuge from the noon tide heat.  Yesterday there was a wind, storm and rain. The tree was a haven to many of these birds in the midst of this winds and rain. These birds were protected, preserved and provided for by the foliage and the branches. A beautiful sight to see.  Some of these trees might have taken years to grow. To reach such height and breadth and become a refuge to so many birds, is a refreshing sight to see. Some time in the past, someone had the dream to plant a small sapling or put a seed and nurture it. A few decades down the line, it has become a tree that is life giving.  Not only life giving by the size and strength, but the sheer beauty too. Beauty of the different hues of green, b...

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...