Madurai

Got back from my trip to Madurai and further south. Acres of flat disconsolate plains, with no rolling hills, no meandering streams, no greenery followed me throughout. So did the scorching, relentless sun, burning, draining the energy. The black "karisal" soil, sometimes ploughed, seemed to wait with infinite patience looking upto the sky for the saving rains. I could not identify the emotion that overwhelmed me. There was a certain bleakness about it, something very pitiable. Yet it seemed vibrant.

Madurai is just the same. The village pretending to be a town. The temple gopurams are completely hidden amidst taller hotels. Everything has layers of dust. The marvelous stone scultpures still remain callously neglected or worse, lustreless by the oil and holy ash smears. And I noticed the fingers of my favourite sculpture broken. The useless rage that shook me concluded in a solitary tear drop.

Bus

I was chatting with a friendly salesgirl in a shop I frequent. Somehow, the conversation lead to me asking a question about where she stayed. When she mentioned where, I said, "So it takes what.. about 15-20 minutes to commute?" She smiled a serene smile and said "one hour. I commute by bus". I felt stricken.

Soiree

Attended a soiree on saturday. Much more smaller affair than I had expected, but just as enjoyable. Pleasant evening. Time and space gallery, a charming extension to an old fashioned bunglow, with its low green trees against the grey skies, terracotta horses with bright pebble eyes, with art-work tastefully placed was a delightfull backdrop. Towards the end, for an encore piece, the Cellist picked what he called background music. He asked us to feel free to chat, have a cup of coffee, drag the chair... He settled down with the other two and then smiling at the resolute audience said, "We havent practised. please chat". cute.

After the soiree, on the way back, I met a doctor who does volunteer work for the upliftment of the female child. I told her that my home town is close to the infamous usilampatti. She told me about the research she had done on the subject and the various statistics. We bemoaned the horrors meted out to the female child and sighed about our inability to change the world.

Wants

radhika nathan wins the oscar. She says something very witty as she collects the award. Tom hanks smiles. cut. radhika nathan finishes the New york marathon. Crowd cheers. cut. radhika nathan gets up wearily from her system. She has just tracked the latest virus to a guy in a yacht in the south pacific.

radhika nathan finishes cleaning the piled up dishes of the last one week.

Chores chores

Did a lot of physical work. Nothing exciting. Just back breaking household chores that had piled up alarmingly since I moved to the new house. Reminded me of the days in US without a maid. I dusted, swept, mopped, did the dishes, the laundry till my back and my hands started hurting. I feel a certain exhilaration after physical exertion, a sense of triumph. I wish it were something better though - maybe a long run, planting a flower bed, carpentry, maybe etching glass.

Late in the night after finishing up, I unrolled my long forgotten yoga mat on the now spotless floor and did some yoga listening to Jazz. Then reclined on my favourite chair and listened to the rain lashing on the deserted street. Peace.