sachin's corner

our ganesha this year

2011-09-01T20:17:00.008+05:30

We made our Ganesha at home this year. Using the clay we saved after the visarjan of last years clay Ganesha. Our first time, so we did not know drying time, and other such details, so the idol is still wet.

of a warm meal on a cold afternoon, cooked with all heart

2011-07-27T00:39:00.009+05:30

In Paris, on a cold summer afternoon. A special day it was, not just because it was Freedom Day for Parisians and there was festivity in the air. But also because we made new friends that day. Who cooked for us with great affection and made sure we had a homely meal. Far away from home.

Allow me to introduce Mr & Mrs Koneswaran. Who opened their restaurant and their hearts for us on a public holiday, and made it a memorable day for us in more ways than one

It was fascinating, to hear how, twenty five years ago he set out from Sri Lanka with just a yearning to study and a few dollars in his pocket. And his journey, from Germany to Holland and eventually to France. From waiting on tables to starting a small restaurant of his own. Of the stolid support of the family and his wife and how together they make sure the children study Tamil on weekends to ensure that there is still the common ground of a shared language and culture among cousins , now spread across continents.

Two meals on two days and two new friends. Whom we're now expecting to meet in Mumbai when they visit India next. It will be our turn then, to cook for them!

another one in the truck art series

2011-07-27T00:14:00.003+05:30

Loved this truck back. So I took the help of a colleague to put this together to print on a Tshirt.

another silhouette

2011-01-15T12:23:00.003+05:30

i liked the way this one was naturally framed on three sides with the doorway, and the mud plaster wall making for a nice background

new passion: silhouettes

2011-01-15T12:18:00.002+05:30

i've been getting more interested in silhouttes and the break provided some opportunities with the regular subject - now rare opportunities, since he moved cities to study

window study 2

2011-01-15T12:12:00.001+05:30

the cottages in poovar had this lovely clay/mud plaster. very soothing to the eye.

obsessed

2011-01-15T12:04:00.002+05:30

this insect seemed to be obsessed with this bud. for two days, and over half a dozen occassions it was there - and there i was, photographing it.

hanging out to dry

2011-01-15T11:52:00.003+05:30

the water crow that you'll see everywhere in the backwaters. and this is a common form in which you will see them, perched with their wings held -like open arms, waiting to get dry

window study 1

2011-01-15T11:41:00.003+05:30

doors and windows. an interest that rubbed of from two associates subrata bhowmick (who has also published a coffee table book on the subject) and rajesh sonwane.
here's one with an interesting play of light

reflections in the pool

2011-01-15T11:37:00.001+05:30

early morning. serene sky and the water in the pool was still. see the reflection of the palms in it. if you look carefully, you will see the pool tiles too.

which flower is this?

2010-12-19T10:49:00.004+05:30

you will never give this flower a second glance unless you happen to look at it closely. it is the flower of the corriander plant. very beautiful indeed

the oxalis flowers!

2010-12-19T09:27:00.005+05:30

wonderful surprise this morning!

the oxalis we've had for the last eight months or so flowered for the first time. it was very exciting as i got this sapling after looking for it at several places and trying to propogate it from a colleagues plant. the sapling gave me lots of tense moments as it looked very unhappy and didnt grow well for a couple of months.

after changing spots, for different levels of sunlight and watering finally it looked happy with new leaves et al a month ago. so seeing the flowers was a great feeling.

packaging censored on mumbai shelves

2010-12-10T12:37:00.003+05:30

noticed cans of tango, known for its sharp and quirky communication on the racks at a suburban mall. i was amused to see single words on the cans individually censored!

light beneath my wings

2010-12-10T12:32:00.002+05:30

as we passed behind some clouds, the sun lit up the under carriage of the aircraft making for a rare picture

take off from mumbai

2010-12-10T12:27:00.000+05:30

Performance

2010-12-05T08:05:00.003+05:30

Saw this wire organiser on Sona's desk that she is using to hold some writing instruments. A few snall adjustments in the form and looked like an artist was deeply engrossed in the performance.

ganesh chaturthi 2010

2010-09-11T12:29:00.003+05:30

our first chaturthi in the new house.

Tiffin at Cafe Madras

2010-07-24T13:29:00.003+05:30

SBI (sudden brilliant idea) in the morning - to ensure that we could continue chatting.
Really proved to be brilliant

drenched

2010-06-13T18:09:00.003+05:30

finally the rains are here. after weeks of stifling heat and drying plants, this is one of our pointsettia plants drenched in one of the first showers.

our happy shamrock

2010-05-08T08:45:00.000+05:30

we first sighted a shamrock plant a couple of months ago, we called it butterfly because of how it looked. the guy at the nursery didnt part with it as it was his last one and he needed it to propogate more saplings.
we found one in a nursery on the way back from karjat, it is and looks very delicate, and so we were a little worried when we repotted it.
we noticed some buds a couple of days ago. and now our shamrock flowers are blooming. positive sign that it has settled and is happy

lift off from ahmedabad

2010-05-07T16:44:00.000+05:30

wet morning

2010-05-05T19:52:00.000+05:30

colourful weapons

2010-05-05T19:48:00.000+05:30

sons holi ammo was being stockpiled, when i got this picture

first attempt

2010-05-05T07:12:00.000+05:30

here's my first attempt at playing with clay. done at the pottery workshop one sunday afternoon. the idea -currently farfetched, is to some day make an idol for the ganesh chaturthi pooja myself.

view from the sky

2010-05-05T07:06:00.001+05:30

low tide at the creek

2010-05-04T11:06:00.000+05:30

it was low tide and we were waiting at the creek , looking for flamingoes, who come to mumbai for their stopover annually.
the stillness made every second longer , and the palette andtextures of this visual made it look like a giant water colour painting stretched across the horizon. all i had to do was to click.

approaching ahmedabad- emerging from a cloud cover

2010-05-03T13:16:00.000+05:30

another one fron the sky- from an aircraft window that is. this one was when we were approaching ahmedabad and the cloud cover was lifting. it gave the picture an ethereal quality

bhanvre ne khilaya phool,...

2010-05-03T13:11:00.000+05:30

it was just the right mid morning light on a clear day and i got this picture of the bee and the flower.

both popular metaphors of hindi film songs.

serene countryside at bylakuppe

2010-05-02T21:19:00.000+05:30

there is something very serene about the countryside at bylakuppe-on the bangalore coorg road. it probably has to do with the tibetan monastery there.

one recurring theme in truck art

2010-05-02T20:58:00.000+05:30

someone is waiting. this is the theme that you will see again and again, in various ways on truck backs. probably due to the lonliness that is the one constant companion of truckers.

never ceases to amaze

2010-05-02T20:47:00.000+05:30

the thousands of years old temples at angkor, cambodia. there are sculptures carved out in huge size on blocks of rock piled one on top of the other- but the shape, perspective and proportions are perfect despite and across the various blocks. how they managed it without all the sophisticated programs we have today is a wonder.
then again, maybe the availability of all these programs today just makes our brains lazy-so we get amazed at something that we would have been able to do today. naturally.
we'll never know.

newfound passion for gardening: our cactus

2010-05-02T20:39:00.000+05:30

have discovered gardening. and its been a complete revealation. you're likely to see and read a lot about it , and frequently. begining now. here's a top view of the cactus, planted in our old buttermilk jug. its happy and reaching for the stars

the cute donkey family

2010-04-30T16:11:00.000+05:30

nidus- the store at nid has some lovely things you can buy. here's the family we put together

the ceramic house from holland

2010-04-30T12:57:00.000+05:30

here's the ceramic house that sangu sent from holland. placed in the corner it makes for a striking picture

the inspired pizza

2009-11-26T13:41:00.000+05:30

ran out of the makings with the exception of the base, and the son was still hungry. here's what i drummed up with some ketchup, veggies and cheese slices heated on a tawa. it looked good, and i was told was good enough to eat.

got this pix before dishing it out.

memories of summer holidays during school

2009-09-06T12:00:00.000+05:30

pix from an ad film shoot some time back. i took if cause it reminded me of summer holidays during school where amma made all kinds of pickles and stuff and we helped drying it under the sun.

fields in angkor thom seen from a hot air balloon

2009-09-06T11:55:00.000+05:30

cloudy sky at dadar chowpatty

2009-09-06T10:56:00.001+05:30

reached dadar chowpatty at eight in the morn for an event zaheer had put up. the crows perched on the scaffoldings made an interesting visual

ganesh chaturthi at home

2009-08-24T12:31:00.000+05:30

on an impulse we decided to get an idol and celebrate ganesh chaturthi at home this year. it was great fun since there was a very short time to put everthing together.

heere's how our idol looked

ganesh chaturthi 2009- idols being readied

2009-08-22T08:20:00.000+05:30

here's an image of an idol being readied. even without colour and finish, something about it is very appealing

ganesh chaturthi 2009- more pix

2009-08-22T08:08:00.000+05:30

ganesh chaturthi 2009

2009-08-22T08:00:00.001+05:30

the first in a few that i will post- every year i visit a few ganesh idol workshops a day or two before the festival and look for the smiling ganesha. this is from yesterdays visit- the ganesha in a kanha look

goddess tara at the bylakuppe monastry

2009-07-21T13:52:00.000+05:30

awestruck and humbled. two emotions that happened simultaneously when i entered the sanctum in the monastry at bylakuppe. the sixty foot idols, the serenity just makes you want to kneel down and pray. this is an image of the godess tara

goddess tara at the bylakuppe monastry

2009-07-21T13:43:00.001+05:30

wishlist

2009-07-21T11:26:00.000+05:30

Visited the Mount Mary Church this year during the festival and what struck me was the wide array of candles that were being sold in the stalls

I’ve heard of the Mahim Novena and the Velankanni Church, where devotees offer candles in the shape of affected body parts in the hope of a cure. But the range I saw on offer here was something else.

Baby girl and boy, man and woman, houses-from small to double storey ones, cycles, bicycles, autorickshaws, motorcycles and cars- not to say airplanes and entire ships! Pets, shops, offices – you name it and it was there.

When I was seeing all this, one of the stalls got more stock. ‘ baby, wedding, heart …’ he announced to the stall owner.

That got me thinking.

How do these people estimate what they need to stock? How does the manufacturer decide which moulds to use next?

How do they estimate demand? Or whats’s the wishlist order- the top 5 in the devotees’ prayer list?

I spoke to about ten of the stall owners and here’s the list in the order that I got it, with almost all concurring …

1. Health comes on top, and holds its place all year long: heart, limbs, and the like
2. Babies: yeah still more baby boys than girls
3. Marriage: more guys praying than girls looks like
4. Homes
5. Shops and offices
6. Vehicles: Motorcycles, Cars, Autorickshaws & cycles

The aeroplanes and ships I learnt were offerings bought by families for the safety of their kin working on board.

Ps: When I checked recently, almost a month later, I was told that there’s a spurt in 1 & 4. Would that be on account of people’s stress due to the market meltdown?

beautiful doorway

2009-07-21T10:55:00.000+05:30

chanced on this very beautiful doorway while zipping around goa on a rented two wheeler, with rajesh sonawane. there were many portugese doorways with seating etc, but this one stood out

grains of rice

2008-08-25T05:55:00.002+05:30

its that time of the year, when feilds are lush green and crowded. a drive down the country side will show you 256 million shades of green, and each one singularly beautiful.

have a look at this corn of paddy. i thought it looked stunning.

stray thought.

"as a kid, amma used to tell me how much effort goes through the making of a single grain of rice".

and how if i wasted even a grain in my plate, how it would nullify this veritable chain effort that went into making this grain of rice and bringing it up to my plate.

i wish i had seen this sight then.

mumbai from 7000 ft and climbing

2008-08-18T14:34:00.000+05:30

here's how a part of mumbai looks like when you're taking off from the airport, and at the point where the aircraft turns right, climbing further

buildings and more buildings till the eye can see

pop art- bullock carts

2008-08-18T09:34:00.000+05:30

across india you'll see examples of pop art everywhere.

truck backs, auto rickshaw backs, cabs and as i learnt joyfully during my visit to karnataka- even bullock carts

very colourful, featuring, deities, landscapes and sometimes insightful quotes. here's one example along with the proud owner

we are like this only-2

2008-08-18T09:17:00.000+05:30

visuals from NH 17 the highway to goa.

sighted these buffaloes out grazing along with a crane(?) bang in the middle of the highway at almost peak traffic hour

i added to it by parking on the side and taking a couple of picures- i swear the subjects generously held their stance till i snapped these

peacock on the next terrace

2008-08-18T08:56:00.000+05:30

here in ahmedabad (where i'm down for the long weekend) peacocks (and parrots, mynahs, langurs, camels etc) are very commonplace

our wake up call at dawn are the calls of this peacock who frequents the next terrace, you get up and look out of the window and the sight of this peacock in full plumage greets you. what a way to start the day

back in mumbai, there was this picture and story on page 3 on how everyone was excited when a peahen was sighted on the TOI roof- a rare occurence.

just one of the small pleasures of life you trade off for the big city experience (?!). go figure

return to the flea market

2008-08-18T06:51:00.000+05:30

back in ahmedabad for a few days, and as usual i made sure it was over the weekend. spent a good while looking around and catching up with the shopkeepers i know

here's a toy cycle rickshaw that i found. whats more, one of the people there have found a few things i've been looking for and i've to go to his godown today to look at them. should be good fun

The benevolent one

2007-10-01T22:33:00.002+05:30

In the run up to the Ganesh Utsav, the city is full of temporary outlets where idols are being readied for people. A week before the big day, I spent a couple of hours clicking away at half a dozen of these places close to home.

The completed idols are covered with plastic sheets to keep them safe from the elements, and I wasn’t sure how they would react to me rummaging through the places. A lot of them are very small and narrow with hardly space for one person to get in gingerly.

I was surprised as place after place I was welcomed and my request for a few pictures was met with a lot of enthusiasm. Some even offered to move the idols I wanted to shoot out and into the sunlight.

Here’s a picture of one of them painted in bright luminescent shade of red. One of my best pix of the day.

Sign on the highway out of Bangalore

2007-10-01T22:24:00.000+05:30

Given the state of the highways, motorists have been know to have felt s******. But a formal warning, well that’s something.

Spot of colour

2007-10-01T22:20:00.000+05:30

On this partially bright day, there was this colourful bag, left to dry out of the window. I thought it was a nice dash of colour on an otherwise drab backdrop. What do you think?

SAM (solpa adjust madi )

2007-10-01T22:15:00.000+05:30

Here’s this guy precariously balanced, on a two wheeler, that’s transporting ducks to the market. It is common for truckers to take on some extra luggage, passengers for a bit of extra cash.

I got this picture on the Bangalore – Kushalnagar highway, when both our vehicles were doing 80kmph. Our man seems to be deep in thought.

we are like this only

2007-04-02T22:23:00.000+05:30

driving back from lonavala, on the western express highway, spotted this car ahead of us with a pair of feet sticking out of the front passenger window!

even before we confirmed it from the license plates, we knew that it had to be a gujarat vehicle.

gujarat or gujaratis rather, are known for riding a scooter with the right leg crossed on the left, installing a audio system on a scooter, and sitting in the front passenger seat as seen in this pix. talk about safe driving on highways, using seat belts et al...

reflections and more

2007-04-02T22:14:00.000+05:30

the setting sun reflects on the glass facade of the building opposite, and then on to the sea. making for a very pretty picture. as seen from our bedroom window

at the window

2007-03-19T19:24:00.000+05:30

Rajesh and me walked down the village bylanes, taking in the sounds and sights of the place and shooting pictures.

Here was a curious set of siblings, looking at Rajesh taking pictures of a stove outside the house (that is usually used to heat bath water). The amusement was because Rajesh spent more than a couple of minutes crouched near the pot and they were trying to find out what he saw of interest in this soot covered pot.

Here's what I got, while Rajesh was busy on the other side.

Off to Church

2007-03-19T19:12:00.000+05:30

She seemed all ready to go to church and was waiting for the bus when I saw her. A request for a picture was met with a giggle and a nod.

When she saw the picture, she remarked that she was caught laughing unabashedly (all my teeth are visible, she said- can you take another?). I took a few more, but the first was the most natural one

orange palette

2007-03-19T19:05:00.000+05:30

As we were leaving the flower market at Utan, this was the last picture I took. How many hues of orange do you see in this picture?

vegetable seller duo at utan

2007-03-19T18:48:00.000+05:30

Sunday morning at the municipal market at Utan. A fishing village barely an hour out of mumbai.

I saw this grandmom & grand daughter duo selling fresh farm produce at the vegetable market. The light from the windows was making a nice pattern on the wall. The grand daughter had tagged along to the market as it was a holiday at school.

when the little one noticed the camera, she tried hard to look serious, albeit unsuccessfully

curio shop at behrampura

2007-02-17T21:48:00.000+05:30

lamps, shades, ceramic tiles with relief work dating back to the fifties and sixties and more. all at the first floor curio shop at behrampura

tony and me would go to this place every once in a couple of months to check out whatever new (old stuff) had come in. i remember once we went there to pick out a set of ceramic tiles for the hichka (swing) that he had picked up from Ashokbhai's at Khanpur, the other time was to look for those quaint old ceramic swithches with the brass knobs.

more recently we went there to find a green glass shade for the brass lamp, after the previous one broke in transit.there hasn't been even one occassion though when we've been there and not found something very nice and that 'you just had to have'

hopefully i will be in ahmedabad next month, and will be able to visit the place yet again

the colour factory

2007-02-13T20:35:00.000+05:30

this is a delightful place where you can spend several hours at the pottery wheel or even try your hand at ceramic painting.

i discovered that working on the wheel was amazingly soothing. there is a certain connection that you feel as you coax and cajole the wet clay into something so beautiful.

this was our drill every weekend for several weeks. we would paint/make a pot one weekend & when we went to pick it up (glazing & firing in the kiln takes 4-5 days) we would do some more.

heere i am at the wheel and one of the plates that i painted

inclusive of 'personality'

2007-02-13T19:59:00.000+05:30

another habit is to shoot wall posters, shop signs, rickshaw and truck back signs. these make for some very interesting and at times extremely hilarious reading.

there is this kirana-cum-general store-cum- deshi dawai outlet down the street that advertises their very famous and supossedly effective personality-yukt concoction.

any takers?

What all can you pack

2007-02-12T15:30:00.000+05:30

Less than 24 hours after returning from the holiday, the packers were in. Along with the excitement of launching into another adventure in another city and another job, there were also some downers.

Sunday mornings would not be the same again. With the languid couple of hours spent at the Ravivari, the weekly flea market in Ahmedabad, something that marked, a mostly on routine, for me for over a decade.

As the packers took over and dismantled the place that had taken us years to put together, I was trying my best to get pictures to remember the place by.

One lot of my curios was sprawled on the floor waiting for the packers to individually pack each item.

Missing Sona’s eye (who I had already irritated quiet a bit by my insistence on shooting pictures rather than helping out the packers) I quickly snapped the curios on the floor.

One thing that I rued then (as I continue to do even now) was that, because our new place was going to be sea facing, the curios would have to be packed and stored in the attic.
This was therefore the last time in a while that I was going to see my curios

Shooting a portrait of Nargis Dutt

2007-02-10T23:47:00.000+05:30

An avid fan, i've seen all notable movies of Nargisji several times over.

Guys from my genaration though will never ever get a chance of shooting a picture of the lady.

So I did the next best thing. I shot my composition from the pages of a film magazine.

With a sackful of salt. here's my humble portrait of the consumate actress.

lost and found

2007-02-10T22:42:00.000+05:30

a burnt down tea processing factory, down the road to Redhills the tea estate where we went to shoot an ad film.

the view from the long lost factory window was one to see.

later, using the remains of another window frame, i framed both ravi and rajesh, the director and my creative director - both dear friends

Holding its own

2007-02-10T22:06:00.000+05:30

I saw this condemned boat at the Sewri Jetty this morning. Grounded in the slush, paint peeling , rusting & rotting.

The only part of it that seemed to still hold its own amidst all this was the nameplate of the vessel.

here it is.

Sonu

2007-02-10T21:54:00.000+05:30

There, was two year old Sonu, perched on the top of the music system.

Sunil, his wife Priti & son Pratik were standing next to each other in front of the music system. Completing the formation were Sona and me.

The system was switched on and the sound was about to begin. Sonu, bent sagely, crooked his head to one side, waiting, focussed to listen.

Sonu, a two year old talking parrot is the fourth member of Sunil Kamat’s family, and what was about to begin was the playing of a cassette featuring, no prizes for guessing, Sonu’s chatter.

We spent the next two hours listening to Sonu & his antics.

Sonu says hello, and offers you a claw sombrely to…shake hands! He sings rhymes and joins the chorus with a lusty ‘moraya’ during Ganesh Chaturthi when people say Ganapati bappa..

He exchanges barks with the next door dog and even cries in chorus when the infant in the neighbourhood does!

Sonu’s day begins with wishing people good morning; he marks his daily spray bath with a high pitched ‘thandey thandey paani se…’ and stops abruptly as he does not know the rest of the song.

He chants prayers along with Priti when she’s offering the morning puja & waits for scraps of fruits and vegetables when she’s chopping these to cook the afternoon meal

Mealtimes both afternoon and night he has to be with the family at the table, where each of them regularly feed him titbits even as they eat their meal.

He plays elaborate games with his folks, insists that they give him a peck both on their way out of home and the first thing when they return home.

If Priti even mentions that either father or son are late, he quickly mimics a phone call, where he asks them where they are and asks them to come home soon.

Sonu has learnt these things, mostly from Priti, but it is very uncanny how he knows what to say when. And at the end of the day we spent with them, we could definitely not say without doubt that he was just a parrot parroting things

clouds from aircraft window

2006-03-11T11:14:00.000+05:30

rajabhai tower pix 1920 shot off a 4X6 frame in 2005

2006-03-11T10:52:00.000+05:30

all that glitters...

2006-03-07T21:45:00.000+05:30

a sample of the vessels on offer at the flea market at the riverbed under ellisbridge, ahmedabad every sunday. also called the 'ravivari' or the 'gujri'.

made it!

2006-03-07T19:52:00.000+05:30

sunset at 36000 feet. pix from aircraft window

2006-03-07T08:39:00.000+05:30

Never say die.

2006-01-24T16:26:00.000+05:30

I chanced on this sapling that had taken root in a dried tree stump in the middle of a tea garden in the upper reaches of Ooty. An example of how something new can start from something that has ended. One of the many lessons nature has for us, only if we care to look

The story that I never tire of sharing...

2006-01-24T16:21:00.000+05:30

I must tell you a story that the great Asha Bhosale told me. One that is so magical that I will never forget it nor ever tire of sharing it. She told me this in response to a question that I asked her. She has a singing career that has been ongoing for 55 years and more. Day in and day out, she's been out there singing and making people hum. She is one of the few people who can count three generations among her audiences. I wanted to know from her how it feels, to go on and do it everyday after being there and having done that thousands of times. Where does her motivation come from? What else is left to achieve?

She told me that she believes that it is not she out there. She is not special; she is not the singing sensation! And that there are thousands out there who are far more talented and melodious than she is who do more riyaz more consistently than she does and in her own belief; deserve success much more than her. Then how is it that she is successful and not they?

She then told me about a story that was part of her second standard syllabus.

In a small village somewhere is this tiny hut. It is mid morning and the grown-ups have left for the fields. A little girl is alone in the hut, and is busy trying to while time by playing with her clay toys.

A shaft of sunlight leaking from the thatched roof comes in and settles on the little girl’s frock. It is a frock with a floral print with butterflies. When the sunlight hits it, a butterfly from the frock comes alive and flits all across. As she looks on in wonder, the shaft of light moves to her toys. Her princess doll comes alive and begins to play with her, and the little girl is thrilled. Soon the Prince doll also joins in as the light moves on to him. As they are all engrossed in their games suddenly they hear a mighty roar. Another of her toys, a clay lion has just come alive as the sunlight moved to it. There is terror as both the dolls and the little girl realize this. The Prince doll tries with all his might to keep the lion at bay. The lion, by now furiously chases the three of them. Just as their legs become weak and it seems like there is no way they will make it they hear a gunshot. The hunter doll has come alive just in time and saved them.

Even before the little girl feels the great relief, shadows appear. The sun has gone behind clouds now and there is no sunlight. Almost miraculously all the dolls go back to their clay forms. The butterfly too comes back, settles down on her frock and once again becomes just a part of the print.

The little girl comes out of her reverie, a bit dazed. Did all of this really happen or was it just her imagination?

Ashaji told me that she learnt from this story (when she was all of six or seven years old) something that she has believed and practiced all her life. By herself she is just like the clay doll. It is the ray of sunlight that is special. It is that, that breathes life into a clay doll and animates it.

She said that she is just immensely grateful everyday for the light is still on her. So she strives hard to make the most of it. She believes that it is her duty to respect the light and that is her motivation to do her three-hour riyaz day in and day out everyday for over fifty years. It is the reason that makes her get up everyday and look forward to singing another song, and then another.

And since it is not she, but the light, where is the scope of feeling arrogant, feeling all-powerful and accomplished? Humility comes naturally.

Then again, since it is all about the light, she knows that one day it will move from her, since that is also an inevitable cycle of nature. And when that happens, she will gracefully accept that and fondly reminisce about the time when the light was on her, and when she did her best in her time in the sun.

Warm memories of a cold winter night

2006-01-03T09:59:00.000+05:30

8.pm. I get a call from Sona announcing that we might have got a new pet.

Apparently, Shikhar and she were returning home when they saw, what looked like two from a litter of rats in the parking. Even before they could look at them closely, a cat ran past and grabbed one of them.

They tried shooing it away but couldn’t stop it. Without a second thought they picked up the remaining one. To realize that it was a baby squirrel, just a few days old. So tiny and fragile that it fitted in the palm of Shikhars hand with a little space to spare!

In the next two hours that it took me to get home, the following had happened:

- A call from Sona to the vet with detailed description to get a fix on how old it probably was, and what it could be fed.
- A detailed check on the net (this was Shikhar) to find out whether squirrel communities (like sparrows) desert their own if a human has touched them, how to keep it warm et al

When I got home, the baby was the centre of attention, or rather feeding it was. Sona was there, concentrating hard, spectacles on the ridge of her nose, one strand of hair across her forehead that she did not have the wherewithal to put in place. She was trying her best to coax the baby to drink drops of milk from a disposable syringe that had been turned into a makeshift milk bottle, while softly talking to it.

Alongside, a rather animated Shikhar was trying to tell me the long play version of his recently found squirrel knowledge and its application all at once and in the same breath.

The outer carton of my mobile phone (hope they kept the spare cords, manual & installation cd somewhere accessible) had now become a temporary home for the little one. Lined with a piece of an old cotton t-shirt worn out and soft.

My suggestion that an old sock could make a cozy sleeping arrangement was summarily dropped (‘avoid lining the box with synthetic fabric, their nails get entangled and since they burrow their heads to keep themselves warm the baby might even suffocate’ advised Shikhar)

The little one kept making sounds, probably missing the mother; the only way it would stop was when one of us nestled it in our palms. That warmth was something it was not ready to give up in a hurry. Any attempts to keep it back in the box would result in furious to pleading yelps and huge effort to cling on.

If we got it into the box, it would get frantic and try to crawl out, which was worrying, as we would not know where it would crawl at night.

After some fast thinking, and failing to find any shoe boxes (I can remember umpteen times when we had more shoe boxes than we wanted, here we needed one desperately and sure enough there wasn’t one in sight) , we hit upon the ideal solution. One that would be cozy, yet allow enough air, open yet something that would keep it from coming out, the old betel nut box that was shaped like the Beetle car.

And that was how it went to sleep that day, in the old car placed against the side of the bedside lamp.
We discovered the next morning that separately, all three of us had checked on the baby more than once in the night.

After another milk drinking session the next morning, we were ready. The vet had told us that the mother would be looking for the babies, and if we took the baby within earshot then she would probably come hearing its cries.

We began from 8 in the morning, kept the box in the sun, in Shikhars balcony, which usually is the thoroughfare for a whole colony of squirrels. It is a narrow balcony and to check on them, you need to lean out and crane your neck up. This levels your view to the exterior sandtex wall of the building. Once you are positioned in this fashion, you can see scores of squirrels rushing past on the wall. It can make you a little dizzy (it is just like getting on the ground at eye level to look for a fallen ear stud, except that this is vertical and you are leaning at an angle on a one foot ledge looking at a wall that extends 9 floors, and you are on the 5th)

At first look the thoroughfare was empty, no sign of a single squirrel. An hour later we tried again thinking that winter would mean the squirrels would set out once the sun came out good and proper. Sure enough there were about a dozen of them scurrying along squealing fast in the usual staccato high pitch.

The baby too took notice and started to squeal, first slowly, and then as the chatter increased it got louder. While they would make quick turns and look into the ledge, they did not venture ahead, probably because we were hovering around.

We retreated, to allow for the squirrels to become braver, yet apprehensive that they would harm the little one. At a few minutes interval, we’d check to see if the baby was still there. There was a minor distraction, someone at the door, which took us a few minutes to sort out.

Back for the check and the box was empty.

The baby must have been reclaimed by the mom or the other squirrels. Hopefully it would have clung as hard to the mom as she was rushing across the wall.

The squirrel baby spent a little more than 12 hours with us. Hopefully it is well and growing, safely amongst its own.

All we’ve got is some warm memories of a cold winter night and four photographs of the baby in the morning. I took these placing the box on the swing, since I did not want to stun the little one using the flash.

Here’s one of her yawning in the morning.

A new begining

2005-02-19T07:50:00.000+05:30

Finally, I've started on my blog. Will make it a point to post regulary.