Independence Day 2022 @ Sobha Palladian!!

 Part 1

 The Preparation:

Over the last 5 years, every
year from mid-July to mid-August, the Sobha Palladian Security team gears up for the Independence Day Parade.  And it’s a big day for them.

 

Around 8 AM each day, a loud voice ring with ‘Saav Dhan !!!’

followed by hob nailed boots stomping on the paved pathway.

And for the next one hour this small squad of 15 security guards go thru a grueling marching session.

Saav - Dhan!!   the troop commandant shouts.

Parade, Veesh-ram!!

Parade - Dahiney Se Tej Chal !!!  Stomp Stomp Stomp Stomp …  from exit gate to entry gate .

Parade - peechey mud !! and

pmotS, pmotS,   pmotS, pmotS,   

Stomp Stomp Stomp Stomp

continues up and down this small stretch of pathway.

and the exercise continues with serious and earnest intensity for an hour.

 

 Hira SIngh in his ceremonial attire with Captain Appasaheb, Madan (Security Supervisor) and the security team.

Finally, the parade assembles in front of the flagpole and sings our national anthem – in a subdued tone as the squad is pretty much exhausted by now. 

And then with renewed vigor they shout “Bharat Maata ki Jai” three times before the  ‘visajan’ and back to their positions!

And I have watched this every year!!

 

The Independence Day Celebration:

This year the residents of Sobha Palladian celebrated our Independence Day with such gusto & enthusiasm that can only be matched by the World Cup finals between India and Pakistan! 

Check out these proud beaming faces!!! 

 Extremely Proud to be holding the Tiranga 

Absolutely wonderful participation !!

Jayashree Srinivasan welcomed all the folks assembled for the flag hosting ceremony and passed on the mic  to Ardra who did a wonderful job as a compere’ for the event 

‘Do you see a person with a big camera clicking photos??

I am his (Manoj Janardhan) daughter - is how she introduced herself. Kudos!! 

And as Ardra announced the occasion of 75^th Independence Day, I could hear a murmur correcting her – ‘its 76^th Independence Day’.

So let me set the records straight.  We are celebrating our 75^th   year of independence.  However, if we consider 15 Aug 1947 as Day 1 , then 15 Aug 2022 is the 76^th  Independence day  for us !  QED ??

 The Marchpast and Flag hoisting:

The parade was led by Hira Singh and command given by Madan Darjee.

Veterans Group Captain Satish Chandra Mehta, Colonel Jagdish Narula, Colonel Dinesh Prasad Mathur, along with Corporator Ramesh, Anil Bajpai and Captain Appasaheb jointly hoisted our National Flag.

The National Anthem & and Shanaya giving live accompaniment on her keyboard.

You were great, Shanaya!

 Note: On Independence Day we hoist the flag. We pull the flag up the flagpole and then unfurl it!  The Prime Minister hoists the Tiranga. 

On Republic Day the flag is already up on the flagpole, and we just tug it to unfurl it! The President unfurls the Tiranga !!  https://newsonair.com/2022/08/14/flag-hoisting-vs-unfurling-know-the-difference-between-15-august-26-january-flag-ceremony-2/#:~:text=On%20Republic%20Day%2C%20the%20President,some%20differences%20in%20the%20ceremonies. 

 Address by Chief guest N Ramesh, Corporator Marathahalli.

Though his schedule was tightly packed Corporator Ramesh made time to attend our event as he has religiously done for each and every Independence Day & Republic Day that we have celebrated.   Thank You, Sir!!

In his address Corporator Ramesh recognized and praised the steady progress India has made over the years. He said that we were subjugated by the Europeans, the Dutch , the Portuguese and finally the British for a long  time and how a once wealthy India became a poor nation .  Now we are on our way back to reclaim that glorious past.

 

SPOA President Dr Raghunandan Kumar:

Raghu, in his address recalled the sacrifices made by all the freedom fighters and thanked all the armed forces for protecting and keeping our country safe. He specifically mentioned that India is a peaceful nation and we have never invaded any other country, but we will fiercely defend every inch of our homeland! 

He then specifically called out his appreciation and thanked all the armed force persons residing in our society for their dedicated service to the nation.

 

Folks, we are very fortunate and blessed to have amongst us nine (9) senior veterans living in Sobha Palladian!!

1001 – Colonel Dinesh Prasad Mathur, Kirti Chakra Awardee

1021 – Group Captain Satish Chandra Mehta

1023 – Colonel Jagdish Narula

2013 - Group Captain Chennakeshu

2023 – Air Commodore Ravish Malhotra, Kirti Chakra Awardee

4003 - Group Captain K L Kanwar

4003 – Colonel Rajiv Kanwar. Sena Medal Awardee

4025 – Air Commodore Akshay Thakur

5035 – Colonel H S Walia.

What an impressive array of role models for our younger generation!

And I sincerely hope that an equal (if not more) number of Sobha Palladian children join our armed forces and make our families & our nation proud!!

 

 Ravish Malhotra served as backup for Rakesh Sharma on the Soyuz T-11 mission which launched the first Indian Cosmonaut into space in 1984.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ravish_Malhotra

Colonel Dinesh Mathur  fought the Indo-Pak war in 1965 in the Kargil sector. He served in 6 Assam rifles, in Mizoram from 1966-69, when he was awarded the Kirti Chakra  for bravery shown during the counter-insurgency operations ( got a congratulatory DO from Gen Sam Manekshaw! ). He was instructor in the IMA from 1970-73 and then panel shifted to 14 Guards, posted in Kanpur with the unit. He participated in quashing the 1973  Provincial Armed Constabulary ( PAC ) rebellion.

 Janani: A tribute to our Motherland. 

A soulful song sung by Harsha.  

Let my forehead glow with the touch of your rich soil, let your incredible and glorious history be my Suprabhatam. Let the sky resemble the eruption of a hundred explosions, let the roar represent the ruination of all enemies and let the resonance of the sounds of your victory sooth me as they make a beautiful lullaby.’

Janani song was composed by MM Keeravani, from the recent movie RRR.

  Baje Sargam Har Taraf Se:

Harsha back on stage with a delightful & graceful dance performance invoking the spirit of National Integration !

Baje Sargam har tarf se goonj bankar desh raag - The notes sound everywhere the music echoes as desh raag).

The lines that are said in different languages but echo the same meaning. And Harsha danced, expressing the raag through various forms, including Kathak, Bharatnatyam, Manipuri, Kathakali, Manyatta, Kutchipudi and the folk tradition of Kaalbelia.

Baje Sargam was released on the morning of August 15, 1989.

And the other song ‘Mile Sur Mera Tumhara’ was released a year earlier on 15 Aug 1988.

And nearing the end of the event Colonel Jagdish Narula presented best performance awards to Daktar Behra and Prakash Dorjee.

 Stay tuned for the Children's special Part – 2! 

A tremendous amount of planning and work has been put in by the various resident, the Cultural committee, the Management committee, and the staff.  I can imagine the amount of effort that went into practicing, coaching, and performing for this event.

Thank You folks, and the enthusiastic children for putting up such a wonderful show.

You are rockstars!!

And the man behind the camera – Thank You Manoj for the wonderful pictures .

 

Jai Hind!

Krish//

Sports Day 2021 @ Sobha Palladian !!

 

The Palladian Sports Day returned with a bang. 

After the inaugural event in 2019 which was a grand success, the Sports Committee and Cultural Committee came together to plan, design and execute the 2021 edition knowing that we were all living in uncertain times with various restrictions that could get imposed at any time. 

And Shoba Palladian was ready for action !!

This year, we decided to host the event between August 7th - 15th 2021 coinciding with the country's 74th Independence Day. Keeping in mind the ever growing resident population at Palladian along with the demographic divide and popularity of certain sports, we decided to hold competitions across badminton, tennis, cricket, football and basketball. We also had an obstacle race specially planned for our youngest members in the community. 

 Previous editions of Sports Day were efforts that came together with donations and fees charged of participants. This year we were able to attract 2 mainstream sponsors in the form of Analyttica - the AI and ML platform and HDFC Bank.  

Thank You Satyamoy Chatterjee & Jovial. We appreciate your contribution .

 

Palladian has always been a sports loving community and our sports facilities not only provide us the much needed exercise but acts as the social network that fosters new friendships and strengthens existing bonds.  This year we also witnessed a quantum jump in the quality of performances and performers.

The Sobha Palladian kids were in their peak form !! 

Cricket :   The highlights included young Pranav Hari almost single handedly taking his cricket team to victory when his team needed over 60 runs to win with one wicket in hand.

The future India  - XI team

Badminton :  The Men's doubles badminton final which was exhilarating in spirit and audacity, .

 

Krish:  I can vouch for the intense action and excitement in the badminton court room. Each time a point was scored after a keenly fought rally , the whole room would erupt with a thunderous roar. And I could feel that mild earthquake and rattling of the glass panes of the library book shelves on the second  floor above !!

 We also unearthed the brilliant talent in the Sundarajan household where father, son and daughter won gold respectively across the men's, mixed and ladies doubles events.  

 

Basketball :Kaustubh waltzing his way on the basketball court.

 

Tennis : The young turks on the tennis court who made the usual adult tennis players look like amateurs.

The Future Wimbledon Champs !!

 Children’s Obstacle Race :  The goal of Sports Day was to drive maximum participation across the community. We added a children's obstacle race which turned out to be a brilliant spectacle thanks to the ever smiling faces of all the children who ran with great gusto and spirit and wonderfully supported by all the parents around. 

Lemon & Spoon Race !!

  

Quiz !! The grand finale turned out to be the Block level quiz expertly hosted by our inhouse master quiz host Bipin Shetty.

And many of the quiz questions literally went over our heads !!

It was a fitting end that brought together the community once again for an evening of laughter and ribbing. 

We wrapped up the 2021 edition of Sports Day with the prize distribution ceremony that followed the flag hoisting where we were lucky to have the decorated veterans in the community garland the winners with their medals.  

Here is the Quiz for the inquisitives ... Sports Day Quiz 2021

The Flag hoisting ceremony :

                            And finally the medal tally !!

 And those behind the camera!

Armed with their lens and ready to shoot !!

    Signing off till the next edition of Palladian Sports Day!!! 

 Arjun .

 And a ton of thanks to the sports committee, the cultural committee, the volunteers, the cheerleaders and enthusiastic audiences.

And finally to all the participants and the young sports persons who displayed such wonderful talents!!

 Krish.. 

PS:  Two years back we had a memorable  Independence day event . Check it out ??

Independnce Day 2019 @ Sobha Palladiann

         oooooooooooooooOOOOOOooooooooooooo

Romance with my Radio !!

 

I was browsing thru my online folder where I had downloaded a few WhatsApp attached files.

And I came across this sound clip which many of you would also have got sometime or the other – The All India Radio (AIR) Signature Tune !!

And hearing this haunting tune once again brought   a wave of nostalgic memory of my ‘tryst’ with my Radio (Transistor radio).  

I have listened to her every morning after I woke up and brushed my teeth. I enjoyed her music in the afternoons, spent many evenings with her by my side – she playing soft instrumentals or singing gazhals while I nursed my drink and spent many a late night with her next to my pillow.

To all folk of my generations (mid sixties), the radio or transistor radio was one of our most prized possession. We all bought one the day we could afford it. And some of us in college built our own radio sets– bought chassis with 5-band piano keys, transformer, Valves (Vacuum tubes) rotary dial, large 8 inch speaker  and filter and choke and other components including the greenish magic eye tube (remember?? ) ! And a 5-metre thin wire for an antenna!!!  And we patiently wired it up after suffering quite a few painful shocks as well. 

Those days many electrical appliances gave nasty shocks – like radio, room heater, water heater rods, toaster, grinder and even the fridge !

Radio was our life line in college (hostel). It was our I-Pod & news channel & Wikipedia all rolled into one !!

And today, sadly, even the word ‘Radio/Transistor’  is forgotten.

Today’s kids will call it ‘Car Stereo’ & ‘FM-Tuner’, which is also a feature in every Smart Phone, MP3 players and in BT headsets. And the only time people hear a radio, oops FM station is  when they commute between office & home – listening to nonstop chattering of Radio Jockeys, RJs,  like Loveleen in Delhi and RJ Sayema hosting Purani Jeans on Radio Mirchi !! and RJ Balaji from down south.

With the current state of lockdown and zero commuting, wonder how many of us still tune in to Radio One or Radio Mirchi, Fever or Vividh Bharati.

And I wonder what happened to Loveleen. She had that typical nasal twang and Punjabi accent that belted out her script at 150-200 words per minute. 

And I had listened to her for 60 minutes every day / 5 days a week for 7 months while I used to commute between my home in Kalkaji to my office in Global Business Park, Mehrauli, on MG Road in Gurgaon !!

 

Switch back to Radio .

Today one does not see a Radio.  Its extinct!

In my younger days the Radio occupied the prime spot in our living room, which today is usurped by the 56-inch 4K Ultra Android Smart LED TV.

Our Radio in Dehra Dun  stood on a stand-alone table on top of a bright coloured tablecloth. The radio was also protected from dust by a white embroidered   napkin.  

In my granddad’s house in Vellore, a huge 5 band radio with polished teak wood cabinet sat on a specially fixed shelf five feet above floor level so that we children could not tamper with the knobs.

 

The Radio brought our family together. And it was the one time when dad was in his best mood and would not ask me about my homework. And I would patiently tolerate my three sisters piling on top of me to be nearest to the Radio.

On  Wednesdays, we would have an early dinner, I would help mom clean up the kitchen, my sisters would lay out the cushions in front of the Radio for us to sit comfortably while dad would slowly and very patiently tune to Radio Ceylon (catching the AM signal from Ceylon, now Sri Lanka,  to our home 3,400 kms away in Dehra Dun!) . 

And from 8 PM onwards we would listen in rapt attention, listening  to Ameen Sayani  and the wonderful songs he would play for us !!  Yes. The Binaca Geetmala !! He would rate the songs depending on how many times it was aired and declared the top ones as ‘Sartaj’ geet.  And these were chosen for the Year end Binaca Geetmala Grand Finale !!

Wonder if you still remember some of those 1966 hits  - Jhumka gira rey & Ley gayee Dil, Gudiya Japan ki & Gaata Rahey mera dil and so on…. and many of those wonderful  Shammi Kapoor hits !!!

 

And when TV toppled our Radio on the prime spot,  Tabassum took over from Ameen Sayani with her Phool khiley hain Gulshan Gulshan and Chitrahaar replaced Binaca Geetmala .

 

And the airwaves in south was dominated by Elangai Vanoli where  crisp Sinhalese voice would read out the news in Tamil.

And remember ‘Ungal Abdul Hamid !” ?? and Elangai Vanoli Nilayam – Tamil Chevai Irandu would belt out popular Tamil hits.

 

We had just one broadcasting entity , the All India Radio (AIR). Each morning when dad would turn on the Radio it would start with a monotone until the AIR signature music would come followed by Vande Mataram.

Akashvani  would start with Suprabhatam each morning  followed by a short session on appreciating classical Hindustani music. And then the news and then film songs !

I can recall some wonderful memories of listening to Bhooley Bichurey Geet . My mom would crank up the volume and sing along with Noor Jahan – Jawan hai Mohabbat, haseen hai Jamana ….  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VvErsLMURU

 

And Aapki Farmayish  in the afternoon. Here is when we would hear the following announcement each day ..

Naya Jalna sey Pinki, Bittu, Rajesh, Amin aur Sita,

Jhumri taliyya sey Deepak , Abdul, Nisha, Babli , Tejas aur Diya

Shekupura Pakistan sey Arshad, Juhi, Tasleem, Javed, Tikku aur Nimmi

Aur ab hum suntey hain - Majhrooh Sultanpuri ka  likha, Shankar Jaikishen key sangeet  sey sajaya aur Tatat Mehmood  ki awaaz mein yeh geet …. (did I get it right ?? )

And so on…

And have you listened to ‘Fauji Bhaiyon ki pasand‘ ??  And I have heard some soldiers sing pretty well too in this program. And heard a few emotional anecdotes as well. And during the times when we had skirmishes and battles with Pakistan, this program would go on an overdrive with patriotic songs. Manoj Kumar’s films would monopolise most of them !!

 

On Sundays we could not miss the Cadbury’s Bournvita Quiz Contest!!

We would mug up that week’s ‘Competition Master’ or ‘Competition Success Review’ and try to answer the questions .

And Derek O’Brien was our supreme hero!! And I strongly suspected he favoured Don Bosco, Calcutta.

Then Sidharth Basu took over the TV version .

 

And the News in English by Lotika Ratnam.

And the Hindi news from that awesome gravel tone  of the legendary Devaki Nandan Pandey !!  I can still recollect their pronunciation and diction.

and Akashvani seitheegal vasippadhu Saroj Narayanaswamy !

Later the TV version saw a sober Salman Sultan & Tejeshwar Singh taking up prime time  …

 

Listening to cricket commentary on the Radio was a wonderful experience.

And I can bet that no amount of AR/VR can replace the experience one can feel when your ears are glued to the radio speaker and your brain is on overdrive imagining and visualising 13 players in whites plus 2 referees @ the Brabourne Stadium .

Here is an instance when Hanumant Singh scored his first century in his test debut against England (1968 ?? ) . A small bunch of us were huddled near our radio, tension mounting as he neared his 100^th mark. We were all sweating and imagining what would be happening in the Delhi stadium. We could also note the rising excitement and tension in the commentators voice as the fateful ball was being tossed . And all of a sudden the huge roar  and static noise blanketed our senses. We did not know if he was bowled out or hit a sixer.  And it took a full 60 seconds before we finally realised that he scored a century .  Those 60 seconds our imagination went wild !! And then we erupted with joy that I have not experienced in a very long time.  The present day action reply in slow motion is nothing compared to those instances.

And I am sure some of you would have listened to our own Ravi Chaturvedi in his rapid fire Hindi tongue, Bill Lawrie’s Australian drawl, Omar Qureshi who got upset every time a Pakistani wicket fell,  and the clipped accent of Tony Greig.

Now its Harsha Bhogle all the way !!  We also saw Mandira Bedi in her noodle straps on some occasions.

 

Cricket season, people would bring their radios near the front door or balcony, turn up the volume so that people in the street could also hear & follow  the running commentary !!

 

And I have seen many folks carry their bulky transistors on the front basket attached to their bicycle handle and cricket commentary running in full blast !! 

 

And there are a lot more wonderful times  I have shared with my radio  .

Listening to Shastreeya Sangeet Karyakram wherein Gangubhai Hangal & Omkar Nath Thakur would render aalaap for torturous hours trying to squeeze out the last molecule of  Raag Malkaus !  

And in Vellore,  I would sit with my patti listening to AIR Madurai late night ‘katcheri’ when MS &  Venkateshwarulu Voleti  would deliver a similar treatment to Raga Hindolam !

And Hear Alfred Hitchcock’s plays on BBC re broadcast

Tune in to Voice of America and sing along with Cliff Richard’s Summer Holiday and gleefully listen to Connie Francis singing Never on a Sunday. And Vividh Bharati  10 PM Listener's Choice .

And the whole family huddle late night to hear live commentary of Apollo-11 touchdown back on earth with Neil Armstrong, Edwin Aldrin & Michael Collins .

Hear the fateful declaration of Emergency and then the assassination of Mrs Indira Gandhi and the mass killings and riots in Delhi after that .

And the war we won in Bangladesh and liberated them from Pakistan and Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s speech after that .

And many many more …

And let me close with another wonderful radio progeam  . Hawa Mahal !!

Hawa Mahal was15 min radio program broadcasted by  All India Radio’s channel Vividh Bharti.

You can hear it on  FM channel 102.9 MHz where this program is played at 8PM (Mon – Saturday). Stories, Anecdotes, Snippets, skits, plays or natak, jhalki, vyang in Hindi are what Hawa Mahal deals with. The specialty is the  local stories that are close to us, our culture and stories of this land.

Here are two quaint ones that I recommend you hear .  Comes with its own unique brand of humour, over-acting, exaggerated expressions all generously sprinkled on top of a very simple and subtle storyline !

Bin Bah Ka Sweater – (Half Sweater)

Ataichi Case – (Suitcase)

Enjoy  !!

Krish..

Of Cats & Dogs & In-House Pets!!

 

A true story spiced with a dollop of exaggeration!

 

We are a ‘No Pets’ family.

And we have been like that for the last 38 years since we got married.

And even longer since my family   relocated from a sprawling country house in Dehra Dun to a 2 – bedroom flat on the second floor in Bandra, Mumbai. We had 2 dogs & 3 cats then. But they never entered our home. 

 

We like pets.  To be precise, we like ‘third party’ pets.

And we love dogs & cats at a 2 feet distance.

And if one of these inquisitive quadrupeds came near me and offered me a ‘Friend’s Request’, I just say ‘hello’ to them. And only in a couple of extremely rare cases I have bent down and scratched them behind their ears or given them a rub down under their belly.

 

And our house adequately reflects our attitude – that of a conservative South Indian Brahmin family to whom the only four legged animal that merits their love & respect is the holy cow (Pasum-Maadu or Gow-Maata)

And every morning and evening we welcome the good spirits into our home with a variety of different scented floral agarbattis - inside our house and outside in the lobby as well..

And Jayanti meticulously maintains a clean home & a cleaner floor – as clean as the synthesized white marble floor can allow. And our maid ensures that our house gets dusted each day and is   properly sanitised with Germisol & Lizol even before the COVID days!!

 

And then the weekend came. And the grand kids and the dog!

 

And coming to think of it, we were somewhat mentally tuned towards hosting a pet.

Six weeks back a stray cat, Miko, had adopted us. Each morning he would plant himself in front of our door,  and meow continuously - until Jayanthi hurried to warm half a mugful of milk in the microwave, or pour two ‘karandis’ (ladles) of freshly boiled milk into a pan and then cool it by floating the pan on a tub of cold water.

Then she and my son would carefully open the mesh door, shuffling in tandem so that Miko could not slip between their legs and run into our house. And this became a routine each morning and evening.

And in my enthusiasm, I also bought a pack of premium cat food from Amazon!!

I assumed cat food would smell, but I was not prepared for the first pungent whiff that assaulted my vegetarian nose when I opened the pack!  Quickly we emptied the remaining chana dal from a plastic airtight container and tossed the cat food into it.

Since Miko has a voracious appetite we need to refill his bowl 3 to 4 times a day! And each time we opened the container, our servant room would be flooded with the smell of Mackerel flavored cat food that is Enriched with Vitamins, Minerals and other nutrients promote the health benefits of cat

Prebiotics and Probiotics improve the digestive system and keep the immunity strong

The blend of organic minerals along with the essential ingredients help to control urinary pH

And so on….

 

So, my routine was to fill Miko’s bowl first, then run the fan @ full speed for 10 min then light a Mogra agarbatti. And I did it 3 – 4 times a day.

 

But this procedure had its side effects too.

We store all our fresh fruits in this room and very soon all our bananas & papayas started smelling & even tasted like Mogra & Mackerel flavored cat food – enriched with Vitamins, Minerals …..

 

And the saga continues…..

 

Come Friday evening, our daughter landed.

And she brought along her 2 daughters. And they were accompanied by a 2 year old, 30 kilo grossly overweight & hyperactive Golden retriever.

And our home was transformed.

 

For a starter, the ambient noise level rose by a few tens of decibels, and regularly punctuated by excited barks. The meticulously laid out bed sheets in all our rooms were constantly rumpled, toys all over, paper and color pencils & Crayons on all flat surfaces.

And our home looked ‘lived in’ and ‘alive & bustling’ with kids.

The sanitized look of a ‘homestay’ in a typical hill resort was gone.  The regular morning serene atmosphere was gone. You could see action everywhere.

And some in a continuous action – like the continuously “ON” TV with cartoons running and my large screen monitor blaring with ‘Matilda’ & ‘Sing’ videos on Amazon Prime.

And we bore all this chaos with some well-practiced patience. We had gone thru such ordeals before and were mentally programmed to this chaos.

 

But we were not prepared for Fuzzy, the 2 year old 30 kilo Polar Bear of a Golden retriever.

And since we never had a ‘live in’ dog or any pet (except lizards), it was a challenge!

Fuzzy came in with that typical animal (dog?) smell. And she has long hair that kept shedding everywhere she went. And very soon our whole house was smelling like a SPCA shelter.

And Fuzzy left her footprint (literal & figurative too) everywhere. Her paw marks, her hair on the sofa, beds, floor mats and in the kitchen as well. And we made it a point to wipe eery utensil carefully before we started to use them. And wherever she sat or lie down, she left a spot of drool.

And now you can guess what a challenge we faced.

And no amount of Dettol Blue nor Lizol nor Kohinoor agarbatti / Sugandi Sambrani / Cycle brand  3–in–1 Chandan  & Mogra & Champa could clear the air.

 

And soon we got used to the chaos and smell as well.

And 2 days zipped by like a wink.

The kids kept us busy. Talking nonstop, eating nonstop, playing nonstop. Taking frequent walks with Fuzzy nonstop, watching the screen nonstop……………

And we did the same – talking nonstop, eating nonstop and watching them nonstop..

And Fuzzy also ate nonstop, followed us everywhere nonstop and barked a few times to register her presence!

And every time I dropped Fuzzy a piece of biscuit , I also helped myself with a generous portion.

And we went on an overdrive, playing chess, going around the campus shooting pictures many times, playing with Lego blocks &  toys, browsing thru old family albums, Printing out coloring sheets and clearing the floor and putting the toys back into their boxes. And petting Fuzzy, rubbing her belly, scratching her ears & cleaning the floor wherever Fuzzy sat – nonstop!

And we started enjoying every bit of such nonstop activities until we crashed on our bed in the night and fell asleep instantly!!

 

On Sunday, post lunch, my daughter with her daughters and Fuzzy  returned back to their home !

 

And today morning we did a ‘ctrl-alt-del’ to our home and reset ourselves!!

The indoor plants, the crystal glass vase, my huge quartz trophy, and other articles returned back to their original positions. The large bronze Guruvayoor Krishna Idol got back to its place on the side table. And so did the well-polished 20 inches high ebony ‘thin people’ African art pair.

The hall had a bowl full of ‘Sungandhi Sambrani’  dhoop sticks billowing thick fragrant fumes.  Every room had a slow burning floral agarbatti stick.  We also had a lemon grass oil vaporising lamp on the corner stool.

 

And those folks who passed by our balcony today   would have noticed that every centimeter of our overhead clothesline & our two aluminum clothes stand, and the balcony grill was packed!

With 3 double bed sheets, plus a ‘singles’ one. Four pairs of pillow cover.

3 comforters and one light shawl.

All double washed & double spin-dried.

With extra capfuls of blue liquid Dettol!!

 

Yes folks, we are back to normal!!

 

Krish..

Miko Adopted Us !!

 

It all started a month and a half back.

Our neighbor opposite to us found their Akshaykalpa milk packet missing one morning.  And we saw no suspicious activity in our SureBell video footage either.

And there were no visible traces nor any spills too.

Another packet disappeared the next morning as well!

And we had an long, sustained & intense ‘Who-dun-it ??’ conversation on our WhatsApp chat group.

Someone suggested the cat must have ‘dun-it’.

Others said cats ‘drink milk’. They do not ‘walk away with milk sachets’.

 

Two days later I caught a healthy brown ginger cat licking milk that was oozing from a leaky packet from our milk basket.  On closer examination I realized that this cat must have pawed its sharp claws thru the thin slits between the plastic ribs of the milk basket. It had punctured the milk packet and enjoyed its fresh milk for the day!

Smart cat – I thought !

But unacceptable behavior we concluded.

The same day the housekeeping staff reported some milk sachets under a bush.

And we all concluded  it must be this brown-ginger cat. By default, as there were no other stray cats in our campus at that time .

 

We adopted a ‘Shoo-Cat’ approach.

Every time we saw him anywhere inside or near Block 2 lobby, we vigorously Shooed him away. And he got the message loud and clear !

Every time he saw us, he would immediately jump out of the parapet or from the lobby sofa & he would scamper away, quickly.

 

He knew my face, or my scent. Even when I passed by him near the children park, he would quickly avoid me.

Smart Cat , I thought again.

 

A week later, this cat followed my son as he was returning home one late evening. And he sat on our front door-mat & started mewing. A melodious but soulfully sad mewing. And he continued on and on until it became quite unbearable to us.  

Jayanthi warmed half a cup of milk, unearthed an empty plastic cheese packet tray and my son offered it to him near the lobby entrance.

And Miko instantly accepted his ‘friends request’.

And thus the ice was broken with small tub of warm milk – no better way to describe the start of our relationship!! 

And our attitude also switched from a ‘NO Cat’  status to ‘Cat OK’ status

And Miko got accepted as someone whose presence we could tolerate. Nothing more !

Some milk now and then. But strictly, No lying on the doormat, No touching, No petting & No entry into our home .

 

And as days went by Miko slowly started taking some liberties.

He visits us twice a day, for his morning milk and evening supper. And we relaxed our rules as well.  We let him slide in between our legs, rub his body on us and sometimes I even sit down and let him slither all over me.

And I even bought him a bag of premium cat food from Amazon with the foll specs…

Enriched with Vitamins, Minerals and other nutrients promote the health benefits of cat

Prebiotics and Probiotics improve the digestive system and keep the immunity strong

The blend of organic minerals along with the essential ingredients help to control urinary pH

And so on….

And now we supplement his milk diet with Mackerel flavored premium cat food!!

 And if all this was a ‘cat vs krish’ match, then he is leading all the way 40-love !

 

About Miko..

The kids have named him Miko. Some Elders call him Ginger.

But he responds to neither of these names!

He appears to be a house cat (not wild) who has been abandoned. Very healthy, very clean, always well pruned and enjoys lazing in the sun.

He is tame, sober and lazy and loves to be petted & cuddled – especially by the kids.

A good Samaritan (and cat lover) has vaccinated and neutered him.

 

And he is ready for adoption !

Any takers ??

I can offer an     attractive packaged deal

Take One Ginger Cat, get a bag of premium cat food absolutely Free !!

 

Krish #2001.