thaumaturgist

There are days when standing in the kitchen and stirring a ladle in a pan of curry( I do a lot of that these days) brings back memories of my mother from more than a decade ago. My parents would go to the grocery (bajar) every sunday morning. It was my fathers department to buy the vegetables and my mother would buy fish and meat. There were some sundays when I accompanied them mainly to get my sunday morning treats from a Mithai shop for their bundi, shingara and kochuri. After getting back... my mother would squat on the kitchen floor keeping the veggies in the crisper, and deciding the menu for sunday lunch. My sister and I used to make coffee and wait for my mom to return to the sunny bedroom for a cuppa. She used to be so busy instructing the maid that we incessantly screamed 'mommy' from time to time till she would scream back "ufff ki?". The coffees almost always had pieces of chocolate or bourbon biscuits accompanying them and we'd have nice late morning ...

So I did return to delhi a married woman.. to spend a week visiting old friends and family. To my utter surprise nothing had changed as my treatment was concerned, the only thing different was my view of the city. I did not enjoy as I would've as a student. I was testing the city in terms of safety, long-term settlement and realized that delhi was not in my list. So my state of being has completely change my perception of the world around me. Delightful memories, shall go with me, of my mentor city... but it was time to move on, I realized. Now its time for another 'return', this time to the US of A. Visiting family is always fun and this time we will be together again like it happened during my wedding, minus my husband. The good thing about these situations is that somewhere deep inside the excitement of a reunion abates the pain of separation!

I have been out of touch for a while. I got myself married off and went on my honeymoon to Venice then lived in Trento for 3 months. Visited Calcutta during the pujo and enjoyed myself thoroughly although I had to run around for my german visa. Had a beautiful time with friends and family, now I am in germany. Settling down takes a little time but we are getting there. Dresden is a beautiful city and stealing someone else's expressions... it really is more like a village with all the physicalities and logistics of a city. Initially I was pretty scared that being a stay-at-home wife could be strangling but I am pretty surprised at myself for secretly enjoying it ... in 6 months I have seen so many beautiful places around the world and all the credit goes to good luck and a travelling husband. The only thing missing are friends... At this juncture of life (which many may consider is not a juncture at all) I have come to realize the importance of friends around me. Lucky to have close...

With so little time left in the city that turned me into a woman, its a myriad of emotions that fill me today. I had heard people say they have a love-hate relationship with Delhi, never really quite understood the sentiment till now. Next time I return to the city I will be married, a state of being as opposed to a state of mind like virginity. And how I perceive the city may change with my changing state of being. It has more to do with the people I have encountered in the 5 years of my stay here that made Delhi(How often your Re-volution has proven but E-volution Roll’d again back on itself in the tides of a civic insanity!.. Tennyson) so special. The songs have come to me here. It is here that I have danced for myself. It is here that I have learnt to be true to myself even when I was unsure of who I am. And now when I am moving into another beautiful city of my life, I can only hope that the season finale will be what one wishes for. Sunshine, I love you I always will Can I be fai...

Sitting here today in this bright spring afternoon, when there is a perfume in the air, the sun shines bright and the blowing wind announces the arrival of hope and joy... why do I think of the night and the dark deserted streets? I am reminded of Eliot... and a line springs to my mind 'Have known the evenings, mornings, afternoons;I have measured out my life with coffee spoons;' Thank you, Devapriya for introducing me to Eliot, it sure was a turning point in my life. LET us go then, you and I, When the evening is spread out against the sky Like a patient etherised upon a table; Let us go, through certain half-deserted streets, The muttering retreats Of restless nights in one-night cheap hotels And sawdust restaurants with oyster-shells: Streets that follow like a tedious argument Of insidious intent To lead you to an overwhelming question … Oh, do not ask, “What is it?” Let us go and make our visit ... For I have known them all already, known them all:— Have known th...