Morning life in B'lore

The daily morning activities I notice from my son's home in B'lore while standing on the balcony is LIFE at the early hours. I see parents waiting with children for the school buses, I see employees waiting for the staff vans, older students rushing past, ladies in nighties waiting with children or going to the shop across the street to buy household things. Across the street is a creche/daycare center where parent/parents are taking the submissive tiny tots to the classroom.
Looking down I can see a catering barrow doling out hot idlies and, dosas for bachelors surrounding the barrow and a few office goers ready to go to office.

Traffic is moving at a rapid pace. There is a vegetable seller shouting full throat to attract customers. There is the milk van delivering milk to the shops around and a few customers coming to buy. Often I go to the shop to buy household provisions as soon as I wake up and have my morning tea. Seeing ladies walking to and fro in their nighties, I too don't take the trouble of changing my nightie while going to the shop but make sure my nightie is decent enough. Since I don't see any surprised looks from people, I feel OK.
Temples too are nearby. There is a Saibaba Temple alongside a Devi Temple where I go on Thursdays whenever I feel, not always. I visit the Shani Temple on Saturdays (not all Saturdays). I go when I get the urge. As this temple is walking distance, it is convenient. All in all, enjoyable and no time to feel bored.

Also, the vanilla fragrance of freshly baked cakes wafting from a bakery kitchen above the provision store across the street is wonderful. I can see through the bakery kitchen window the team of bakers working busily doling out delicious cakes.
The bakery as its name Magic Oven is indeed magical catering to the needs of customers, also taking orders for online cake designs that are made to perfection.
There is a shop nearby that takes me to my days in Kolkatta. The shop sells authentic shingaras, (samosas) as also the famed Bengal sweets, and I was surprised to see parwal sweets, a dessert served at my wedding 37 years back, which I was trying to find in many sweetmeat shops.
There are the puchka sellers (pani puri)  at every corner.
Life is a pleasure in B'lore.

L

Human Nature

On the way to Koramangala by auto with a friend, saw an ambulance honking away after being caught in a traffic jam. Wonder when drivers have a heart to give way to an ambulance which may be carrying a very sick patient or dying patient who needs immediate care. Also, saw a serial in Malayalam where the heroine aspiring to complete her IPS gets stranded in a traffic jam created when two drivers are at war and an ambulance is got caught. In spite of having to attend a very important competition and being late, considers it service above self and gets down from the auto giving a piece her of mind saying it was everyone's prime duty as citizens to allow the ambulance to go as it may be carrying a very sick or dying patient who needed immediate medical care. Reel and real life!  Human Nature

Delhi Reminiscences

Two brats, staying at opposite houses and aged 3 and 5 years in the early 90's.
Had real fun listening to their conversations. One day, they were in my place stationed on the stairs leading to the other rooms. The 5 year old was heard telling the 3 year old, ' Pata hai, mera daddy gadi banatha hai' ( Do you know, my daddy manufactures cars), immediately, the 3 year old said, 'Aur pata hai, mera daddy tyre banatha hai'. Both their fathers were working for a car and and a tyre company. I could'nt hold my laughter.
The 5 year old soon had a baby sister. He invited the 3 year old to see the new born. Seeing the baby, the 3 year old said,' Tumahara bahen sunder hai'. The 5 year old immediately said, ' Sunder nai hai, bahut sunder hai'. ( She is not beautiful, but very beautiful).
A relative had come home to attend a friend's wedding. Seeing her dressed in her finery with mehendi on her hands, the 3 year old immediately burst into the song- Mehendi laga ke rakhna..
One day during a function in somebody's house in the colony, the cooking was taking place in an open space under the 3 year old's balcony.
The brat brought a stool, stood on it, looked down and started screaming, 'Bhook lagi hai,khana jaldi banau'. ( I am feeling very hungry, cook fast). His father panicked and had to come rushing to whisk him away from the place.
Another time, both the boys took away 2 lt soft drink bottles that was stored for a function and a supervisor had to come barging into their homes to take the bottles back.
The two boys are now adults and into jobs after completing their engineering degrees, but their pranks will ever remain fresh.

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The Kitchen Visitor

I was in the kitchen when I noticed this weird looking insect more like a beetle on the window net.
Wanting to get rid of it, I took the kitchen cloth and tried to free it with the cloth when I received a sting and a burning sensation. I left the cloth with the insect in it and ran to my mom.. She came and gathered the cloth when she too received a sting and the sensation. Being brave, she gathered the cloth in spite of the pain and threw it on the service area.
I told her not to kill it but allow it to go free. She said it might sting someone else.
She then took a big spoon just to move the cloth to see what kind of insect it was and found something black that immediately took wings. Luckily, it was not a scorpion whose stinging pain remains for 24 hrs.
Mom immediately took some hot water , put some haldi and salt and both of us had ourselves treated. There is no pain only a small swelling on the stung area. Wonder what insect it was?

The frame

One day Venu and I decided to go to the neighborhood market.
He took the car thinking there will be lots of provisions and it would be difficult to carry all.
On reaching Venu parked the car and we went across to the store. We did a lot of purchases and as usual my husband went to the car with the packets and waited for me.
After my usual practice of window shopping, I decided to cross the road and went through an iron frame that two men were carrying. I thought it to be a short cut to get to the car.
I did not expect what was to follow. I tripped on the base frame and found myself hurtling to the ground in full force. The portion above the left foot had hit the frame badly and was smarting.
It was dark, so I could not make out how the injury was.
Meanwhile a crowd started collecting to see what had happened. My husband oblivious to everything sat in the car waiting for me.
Realizing that something was wrong, Venu too joined the crowd to see what the matter was and was shocked to see me being helped up by a few men.
After having given me a piece of his mind ( he was shocked to hear that I walked through a moving frame), he took me to an ortho( the dyspensery was close by). After a titanus injection, the doctor examined my foot which by then was looking like a range of hills. He prescribed some pain killer pills and told me to meet him the next day and take an Xray if the swelling did not subside.
The next morning much to my pleasure, the hills had given way to plains. There was no swelling or any pain. It seemed as if I did not have  any sort of accident.
An apt  example of the proverb 'Look Before You Leap'.
The Frame

Witty moments

I have a friend whose husband is witty to the core.
This friend who I know for the past 37 years and her husband, friends with my husband for more than 54 years cracks jokes with a straight face. Wonder how he can hold back laughter with the jokes he cracks.

The Jokes:
One day it so happened that a soft toy, a cute monkey with a long tail which my husband got from Dubai stopped functioning. When it was keyed up, it used to roll up its tail and make small cute sounds.
I was very upset and waited for a chance to have one more like that. Since my friend's husband was a marine engineer and went to a lot of countries, I requested him to get me a similar toy.
With a straight face he said, "Give me 500 rupees and I will behave like that monkey". His saying made everyone burst out laughing.
Till today, no one has found that toy in any shop.

Once I read in the paper about a gadget that attracted dust and made the house dust free.
When I told my friend about it, her husband immediately said that if anyone applied oil and sat in a corner, he can be a dust buster.

My friend wanted to buy a diamond necklace. Her husband pointed out that he was always sailing and  their daughter was away in the US. Some robbers may enter the house when she was alone and make off with the diamond necklace, so it was best she did not buy any diamond. But he did buy her a diamond necklace after all the statements.

Cups and Saucers

This rib-tickling incident took place in Chennai at an exhibition venue.
My husband and I went to many stalls having exotic Bone China and ceramic crockery.
Since rates were exorbitant and we did nor buy anything, I was quite upset.
Coming outside, I chanced to see beautiful cups placed in an orderly manner and wanted to check on them.
My husband pleaded with me not to do so and tried his best from making me go there.
Finally, he left my hand and told me to do whatever I wanted to do.
I walked up to the neatly stalked crockery stall and picked up a cup.
My husband who had followed me asked me to put it down and told me to read what was written above.
The writing made me squirm. It was written- Refreshment Stall.
Should have followed the saying "Look before you leap".
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