Cat on the prowl! The Warning calls galore!

Constant tweeting made me open my hall window and check out and amidst the foliage of the peacock flower stood this little imp making a racket of sorts, it had actually spotted a little cat in the bushes below tending to its three little ones and this one had decided they were all threats and kept on calling all and sundry!

Jumping up and down, screaming for attention!

Which it got plenty from me, thankfully hid behind the curtain of my window it didn’t see me and allowed me to get a few close up shots!

Handsome na???

Once all others were called, the babblers, mynah’s and bulbul’s he then quietly stood displaying the fact that he had poise too, he then just looked about as the bigger birds got to the job of warning all others about the cat and the kitten! He spotted them and relayed the message to the others. Job well done I say!

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Hut on a ledge!

In Dalhousie, we stayed at a humble homestay named birds and chirps, true to its name, it had a lot of birds around it, apart from the birds, there was this house on the edge of the mountain which really caught my fancy. I didn’t manage to go around to the house to check out what sort of views they got of the valley as their house seemed on the bend of the ledge. Regardless the house made for some good pictures especially with the sun setting behind it in the evenings and the clouds deciding to make unique patterns in the sky!

Every evening, the residents of the house would all get together around this cot and chit chat and gaze around. I can seriously assure you, these guys although they live here are not at all bored of the view or perhaps never get enough of it! The thing about not going there or not interacting with them I can actually keep imagining what all they were thinking, doing or loving about the place.

Here are some other hues of the same hut! 🙂

Junior falls in love too!!

Remember exactly a year back, I had posted about the start of a new love affair. I had promised myself I will surely visit the place again, I did, this time with my son.

We were skeptical for a bit whether our son will like the place as much as we did, he suffers from the modern kid syndrome, plus he is hyper active so he is always like what next to do. Raju’s Guest house has a lot of activity to do if you choose to, but then on most of those activities your 10 year old will need some monitoring and plus no TV was a sort of a challenge we wondered how will the kid take.

To tell you the least, when we left Raju, the kid was quietly sitting in the back of the car. After a while I just turned back to see what was he upto, the kid was weeping, I stopped the car and I had to ask why!?

In the three days we spent there, the kid loved the place so much he was utmost sad to leave the place, he almost kept at crying for more than half an hour quietly weeping and remembering the place. The air of the place is such that we just can’t help but mingle with the other guests, he got extremely attached to two other guests in their 60’s who were staying there, we even took them with us for a trek which they gamely tried for a while then decided to sit and wait till we exhaust our lungs and come back, afternoons would be spent playing pick up sticks with uncle and aunty sipping on Rhododendron juice and evenings after dinner would be relished playing UNO with the lip smacking ‘Sevaiyaan’ cooked up by Raju’s wife.

Sometimes when all the adults had ate too much and wanted to sleep, the kid would happily spend his time plucking cherries or spotting a different bird or simply patting the four lovely dogs that Raju has! We were amazed that a kid that was petrified of dogs before this trip was all of a sudden hugging them! He would chase the cats, which were shy and kept distance. On on dinner occasion he infact didn’t sit with us for dinner and sat with his favourite Uncle & Aunty and actually gobbled up three roti’s!

Most of the time we had difficulty getting him to finish one and half. To say that he loved the place would be the understatement of the century. Like me when I returned back from Raju with a promise of surely returning again, this kid has probably made his own promise to himself!

I say, our family has all but fallen for this beautiful haven!! The hospitality of Raju Guest House is stuff of legends, I can never thank Karan and Varun enough for the wonderful job they do.

Little Yellow Flower!

Ah
says the
Little yellow flower
looking at the sky
yearning,
perhaps
floating in the wind

I love winter rains! 🙂

Puppywise!

Dude! What is it? I can’t laze in the sun? Whats your problem really!? Sigh… 🙄

Yawn!! Mom! Your gardener won’t let me sleep in the lawn. Whats his problem!?? I just pee-ed there, thats water to the grass!!! I swear I never pooped! 😛

Guess, I will wait here on the kitchen door till lunch is cooked! Sigh..

This is how they have lunch!

No talking while eating… these fella’s have their priorities right! 😀

After lunch! This is how we again snuggle in!

zzzzzzzzzzzzz! 😀 😀 😀 😀

Do they resemble the Re-cycle signal!?

the first week at home…

Before I start rambling off let me first solve the quiz …

The only guy to guess it correct at the first go was Karate Kid errr Brat and I have been rewarding him enough already !!! 😉

Monu guessed it correctly too but in her third try ! The last pic was actually clicked by leaving the shutter open for a while and then in the balcony we were using the mosquito killing racket for about 2-3 minutes and all the lights are the number of mosquitos that were killed during that time… !!!! 😛 😛 

So finally I have a sunday today after two weeks, last sunday was in training and so didnt get a weekend off… but finally its a day to relax and chill and we have a plan to go to Valia (40kms from bharuch) to have some lovely home made chicken masala served to us… !!!!!! 😛 😛 😛 😛 😛 So looking forward to tonight’s dinner ! 😀

The last week has been eventful and have been rushing by… having to travel, train, settle, meet new colleagues and so many hours spent observing, understanding things and getting ready to put thoughts into action… ! Largely life has been rustling and bustling and thankfully everything has been good and no mishaps… well none but one…  when in over slept in the volvo while returning from Bharuch and travelled another 60 kms… ! 😐

It so happened my bus was late, instead of 9.30 it came at 10. My travel agent had told me it would reach Bharuch at 7 so the half hour delay meant 7.30. The bus conductor said 7 too ! At about 6 I woke up to see the highway and no hotels were visible… and I thought in my mind that I had to stop the bus as I had this huge urge… as I prepared to get down, luck, which has changed it seems for the better (touchwood), the bus turned into a hotel, we stopped !!

It was Galaxy Hotel, the name sounded familiar, the dining area etc too.. and I thought I had eaten Bhajiya’s here once.. I asked one fellow,

“Bharuch ketlu ?” (meaning how far is Bharuch)

“60kms” pat came the reply

I relaxed and did my stuff and took out a cigarette and was just enjoying the cold morning mist and breeze on the highway puffing & thinking of the training days gone by and the implementation to be done… when I noticed that if I were going from Surat to Bharuch I should be on the other side of the highway… I turned around and tried to figure this side or that side and it seemed I was on the side which would be right if I were going from Bharuch to Baroda… so I went to ask a guy at the counter of the hotel,

Where is this hotel situated ?

“Por” came the reply to my horror !!!!!!! I had crossed Bharuch by a good 60 kms and phew… I suddenly rushed and asked the conductor why he didnt wake me up and he said I screamed so hard… 5 people got down at Bharuch… Sigh… I still cant believe he drove from Pune to Por in 8 hours !!!!!!!

thankfully there were many buses going towards Bharuch on the same hotel and I did my changing but in that I forgot my Biwi’s shaawl in the bus sigh !!!!

The first week has been busy and hectic, the colleagues in the new office are quite nice, most are young and very energetic and quite co-operative I must say, the environment seems positive and it should help, now for me to work really hard… !

Also have started playing cricket in the mornings and the first day involved a finger injury and one ball decided to just jump as I bent to field it and decided it liked my Ear more than my hands… it was painful to say the least and the ear was ringing… Remember the doordarshan “teeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee” before it starteed….. yes, I could hear that same sound… thankfully no bleeding ! 😐

Feels good to sweat it out in the morning and the body is now quite well, after the first day’s play I was locked, I walked almost like a ROBOT !!!!!! but now its getting used to bowling 4-5 overs daily and that should help get the belly in…. ! 😀 😀

Another blasphemy happened when one of my bro’s colleagues (I play with my bro and his colleagues) pointed at me and asked my bro,

‘Pela kaka kaun che ?’ (who is that uncle, kaka is gujarati for uncle ! ) 😐

SIGH ! 😐

Talk of giving fodder to my readers … but what the heck… I have been away and I want my legs pulled… Lol…

I will now be rambling for sure… hang on guys and I am now starting to read blogs and make my reader lighter… !!!!!!

Life is happening … ! 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 😀

THE TIMES OF FATHERHOOD

 

Being a father is a rather challenging job. At different stages there are different challenges, these days, my son is near his 5th birthday and has well and truly entered his question anything & everything phase and yes, question all the answers TOO ‘phase.

 

No matter what is happening, there always is a why ? When you reply there can be a WHERE ?, WHAT ?, HOW ? or a WHY again. When you are not able to reply again, or you don’t know there is again a WHY ? &  than when you refuse to answer you are told,

“Adha tamne to kai khabar nathi.” (dad you don’t know anything in Gujarati)

When you say Yes, I know nothing,

again,

WHY ?

and than

more questions ..

Didn’t you go to school ?

Didn’t you ask your dad questions ?

Didn’t your mom teach you ?

 

Impossible to beat him eh !

 

Than suddenly the attention will shift to lets do homework. This is one job that somehow I am blessed with, he writes his stuff very very neatly without stopping or pausing, even drawing keeps him occupied and he gets lost in it.

 

 However I am one father who never has any ambitions that my son would become a champ in his studies, I have hated studies all my life and I shall be more than happy if my son also dislikes studies. I don’t want him to come first in the class, ever. I think the first rankers are snobs and no arguments on this.

 

My inner wish is he become India’s fastest bowler ever, and he bounce each and every batsman of the opposing teams, injuring them and giving them the scare of their lives. I have had enough of opposing teams always bouncing our players and hitting them. (however the pitches these days scare me if taking up fast bowling is a wise option).

 

However so far I have not forced him to play cricket, it seems he doesn’t like it, coz when cricket comes he cannot watch his cartoons. This is one area where I and my son cant seem to agree. We fight over the remote, while he used to win always earlier, slowly but surely now he has started to allow me to watch cricket !

 

I at times am sure he will not become a cricketer as my Mom wanted me to study all her life and I never did, she wanted me to be a ranker but never after 5th grade I could manage being in the top 20. However whether he becomes a fast bowler (please son, India needs you) or a leg spinner is not in my hands but to fantasize about it is surely my right !!

 

However I sincerely hope he can be something that he will enjoy doing. Earn while doing something he loves & not something he loathes and I am sorry but it is beyond me how can a person enjoy stiching patients, or making audit reports, or fixing bugs in the computer or machinery or making presentations on excel sheets or by hosting dinners to sell cotton.

 

I am sure fun is in what Sachin, Veeru & Ishant do, in what Bryan Adams or Rehman do, in what Sonu Nigam or Kay Kay do, in what Zakir Hussain does, in what painters or photographers do. Surely fun is in jobs of Rajdeep Sardesai or that guy in the series Man v/s Wild on National Geographic. Surely Chetan Bhagat’s or Veer Sanghvi’s enjoy their work more than me, fun surely is in lives of travel writers, movie critics but it surely is not in offices where you reach after becoming a Doctor or CA or an Engineer.

 

God, I have a tendency of veering away from the subject. However, coming back to some of the few other challenges :

Son : Lets say ABC (alphabets)

Me : Ok, ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ (that’s easy we say it together)

Son : Adha, A says Apple. Me : rite. Son : B says Banana, C says Chikoo, D says… Adha, which fruit starts from D ??

Me : mmm Dry fruits !!

Son : That is not a fruit, there are so many dry fruits…

Me : Oh… who told you ?

Son : I know

Me : well D se…. (scratching my head) [ Wait dear son, so many people reading my blog, yes readers, will you tell me what fruit starts with a D and a E and a H and a Q and X and Y a Z please…. Urgently needed. ] I am at wits end. No dear readers, its not a for apple, b for ball, c for cat naah not so easy, its fruits starting from each alphabet… these new generation kids I tell you.. All we used to say as kids was  mango, orange, banana, papaya… we didnt even know kiwi fruits existed !  

 

You think a father’s life is easy, think again !!

 

& hey dont you think it ends with just fruits !

No no no…. its not just this…. You also have to name 5 animals/insects/birds with each alphabet. Fruits and vegetables starting with each alphabet.

 

Then ofcourse in between there is translation, wanna know what ???

 

 Ok

 

Son : Adha, What do you call a Hyena in gujarati ?

Me : Zarakh.

Son : Hindi ?

Me : Lakkadbagga.

Son : Kutchi ?

Me : Hriday, I don’t know. ( sometimes he takes, I don’t know as an answer )

Son : Adha what do we call a platypus in gujarati ?

Me : Platypus only, its not an animal found in Gujarat so it doesn’t have a gujarati name.

Son : Don’t just say anything, you don’t know anything.

Son : Adha, what do you call a Dinosaur in Gujarati ?

Me : Hriday, lets stop this, we will sing poems.

Geeee, my life is in an intelligence crisis. Dinosaur in Hindi anyone ?? Platypus in hindi anyone ?? There are more… Walrus, Dugong, Hedgehog ….

 

My parents were really smart to not introduce me to any other animals other than cat, dog, cow, goat, buffalo or lion, tiger, fox, cheetah, elephant… but those damn animal books me and my wife brought thinking of educating him…..

 

We forgot we weren’t qualified enough to get such books.

 

Than suddenly : Son : “Adha, when will we go to see Dinosaurs ?”

Me : Hriday, dinosaurs don’t exist, they all died years ago.

Son : Don’t lie.

Me : Really, one meteor came from the space on the earth and there was a big explosion and the atmosphere got very hot and they all died, now they don’t exist !

Son : waaaaaa….. sob sob…. I want to see Dinosaurs….. (weeping)

 

Boss is this a reason to cry ? Dinosaurs died years ago, what can I do ?? (no matter what, he has to see them he won’t stop wailing if you say the animal is dead.) I am going to kill this Steven Spielberg for making that silly Jurassic movie…. And the channels who keep showing that movie and all the dinosaur cartoons, the kid is obsessed with dinosaurs !!! I don’t know whats with this new generation kids and dinosaurs, can’t they be like us as kids just be happy with the puppy on the roadside or a cat ! If we saw a pet rabbit somewhere we would be as pleased as punch.

 

This new generation wants a T-rex as a pet !!!!!!! No matter what you tell him he will not stop, eventually ok ok, they exist in Africa and we will go to Africa and see them.

 

Son : When will we go to Africa ?

Me : Son, we don’t have a passport so we cannot go now.

Son : When will we get a passport ?

Me : Son, we have to go to Bharuch for that, our residence proof is there.

Son : But we live in Indore ! Me : But we have no proof that we live in Indore !

Son : Our Chowkidar will tell we live here !!

Me : Ohh… okk… we will get the pass port soon… ok…. Ok

Son : Dad… now we say Ka, Kha, Ga in hindi… Nahheeeeeeeeeee…… geee….

 While I learn Hindi Barakhdi….. its ta ‘da until next time buddies…. Like I said its really really challenging !!!! But I am going to overcome the challenges surely !

Btw how many of you can say Ka, Kha Ga fluently by heart ??? just to make me feel a lil better !! perhaps !!