-
The lost outline
At sundown to Walden.
Standing on the middle of Walden I see with perfect distinctness the forms and outlines of the low hills which surround it, though they are wooded, because they are quite white, being covered with snow, while the woods are for the most part bare or very thin-leaved. I see thus the outline of the hills eight or ten rods ( Read more... ) -
Priestly ambitions
For my daughter’s naming ceremony a few years ago, we had requested the presence of one of the priests from the Ayyappa temple, a genial fellow a little younger than me, to do the puja/homam. It is a nice ceremony though the religious element of the ceremony isn’t something I particularly care for either way. However, I am loath to impose my ( Read more... ) -
Elwise Priestly
Every morning, as I cycle down the road towards the tennis courts, I pass the Ayyappa temple, the principal landmark of my neighbourhood. I can hear the morning prayers on the temple loudspeaker - on some mornings it is Suprabhatham, other days it is one or the other Ayyappa hymn. It’s a good way to begin a morning, and I often think I should get ( Read more... ) -
A man in reserve
Some men make their due impression upon their generation, because a petty occasion is enough to call forth all their energies; but are there not others who would rise to much higher levels, whom the world has never provoked to make the effort? I believe there are men now living who have never opened their mouths in a public assembly, in whom ( Read more... ) -
Sleeping child
Her eyelashes still and clear
as a leaf in a windless morning,
breaths gentle, deep and rhythmic,
hairs rumpled and moist
two little arms upturned
beside her round head
like a sleeping saint's blessing
to watch her sleep is to sense
my own unbidden lingering smile
while I ruffle her hair, pull
her cheeks and pluck her nose;
take it from a doting father
in ( Read more... ) -
Blowing bubbles
The sun died and the white half moon
showed itself. With it came very many
honking cars and screeching buses, raising
the pale brown dust from the ground
to the twilight sky. As night fell
a hushed pall of dark brown gloom
descended on black leaves and gray flowers
The morning comes and magic like
the leaves are green,the ( Read more... ) -
This parenting thing…
Much as I enjoy music, I don’t quite understand it. I sing rather badly, and am probably tone-deaf if I were to go by some definitions of tone-deafness. On the other hand, A sings quite well, though she has never had any formal training. She has a natural ability to quickly “get” a tune, and if she had the inclination to, she could play a musical ( Read more... ) -
Weight loss and other weighty matters
Finally, broke out of the 79-80 kgs zone to get my weight down to 77 kilos. Lost 1 kg during the 10 days at Uttarakhand, which was a bit less than I had hoped for. The revised goal had been to hit 75 kgs by end August. Didn’t quite manage that, still the steady progress is encouraging. 75 kgs stays as the near term goal, let’s see if I can get ( Read more... ) -
Uttarakhand Update: Part VI- The return journey, with a detour via Khirsi
After a memorable week, we were finally nearing the end of our splendid vacation. I had decided on the night of the 19th that I would take the pony for the descent back to Govindghat. I was rather conflicted about that, silly as it may seem; having walked all along, it seemed a bit of a cop out to take a pony for the last leg. Still, with blisters ( Read more... ) -
Uttarakhand Update: Part V- Hemkund Sahib
We changed hotels on the night of the 18th, after a brief altercation with GMVN. The quality of the rooms in the hotel we had been staying hadn’t been up to scratch, and with the lack of towels, water and power, and random insects spotted in the room, a few in the group were at an edge and wanted to move to a different hotel. GMVN itself was fully ( Read more... )