Camping

Spent last weekend pseudo camping. Its pseudo because there was a farm house nearby. RT and AK from work had suggested this idea of a camping trip - trek, tent, cooking outside etc. only we will do all that in AK's farm house.

This was the first time I did anything like it and AK and RT had a great time pulling my leg about the tigers from Bannerghatta possibly visiting my tent. At one point I was seriously doubtful but decided to do it anyway.

AK and his dynamic wife SK are such gracious hosts. After a leisurely lunch, we relaxed for a while. The windy patio, the sun beating on the young trees, the hues of the afternoon mountain made me feel drowsy.

RT set us to work before sunset and we put up our tent.s. RT and his wife AT are ace trekkers and campers. While pitching the tents we were treated to many interesting camping stories from all over the world. Later RT served delicious corn and burgers from his grill.

I rediscovered how bright a gibbous moon would be and heard the night sounds that I had long forgotten. AK treated to us to a melodious rendition of 'Poomalai Vaangi vandhal'. Even his mis-pronunciations were sweet.

The next morning we trekked up the hill. Another first for me. I thought I wouldn' t make it but it was a moment of intense satisfaction to finally go up there and sit on the rocky surface and survey the land below.

I thought I was going to be out for a week or so but I did not feel a thing, except of course a sense of calm.

Sunday afternoon

I need more than two days for the weekend.. By the time it is sunday afternoon is when I am really ready to unwind. I have finally finished all my weekly chores and I am about ready to decide the music I want to hear and the book I want to read - but it is already time to go back to the weekly grind.

Letters

There was an interesting article in Ananda Vikatan about letter writing. The author after sharing fond memories of letters- , had listed those friends names wondering whatever happened to them, puzzled why there weren't letters anymore. I could immediately identify with it - having written and received hundreds of letters during the course of high school and college. And these letters were not one pagers. Some of them would require extra stamps. I remember writing letters - sitting on a lonely train compartment once on a journey to Madurai, getting up earlier than usual and writing when the rest of the house was asleep still, scribbling a page in the back of a bill on a rainy afternoon and mailing it as is... Is it the sheer lack of time that has prevented me from writing or the fact that my friends have moved on or perhaps that I use the phone more often?

Or perhaps it is more ominous than that. Even if I were to think while I used to write letters when I wanted to share something and instead now I blog, none of my blogs seem to be more than a page, heck not even a paragraph most of the time! Perhaps I have lost the ability to ponder and have settled for capsulated one liners.

Or perhaps I have discovered finally that brevity is the soul of wit.

Schools

This Republic day I had a chance to visit two schools.

The first one was a school upper middle class children go to. I sat through an extended assembly. This school had a nice prayer - a poem by Tagore - which could be neutral in terms of religion and could actually also satisfy the atheists if a few lines were dropped. The Pledge, news for the day, thought for the day, the national anthem all brought me back memories of school days. I don't remember ever enjoying the assembly, nor do I remember ever learning anything from it. The kids often speak in a hyper speed, highly nasal voice and half the words are swallowed by the amplifier anyway. Things didn't seemed to have changed much. Except may be the parents with their high tech camera and video equipment capturing that prize winning moment.

The other one was a government school in one of the outskirts of Bangalore. A bunch of us brought some shoes for the kids. This school just a few miles away had seven grades with four teachers and five classrooms - there was no playground and the building was a bit old. It was clear they got their news from kannada movies. There were no parents hanging about - the children dispersed merrily walking home by themselves. [There was the old man who came and promptly took all the empty cartons - talk of entrepreneurship.] There were a couple of computers though I wondered if the kids were really exposed to them.

But at the end of the day - one thing struck me - there wasn't any difference in the brightness in the children's eyes.

Fatigue

Some of the blogs have this pithy single word update on one's moods. Is one happy, peppy, sad, etc.etc. I wonder whats the right word for my mood these days - probably fatigue - kind of an emotional fatigue - making microwave popcorn for lunch seems such a chore . Makes me wonder if I have finally crossed over and become a bitter, cynical woman who doesn't think anything is worthwhile. -

2007 is the worst in terms of my writing output - no stories. Not even one blog a month!

Finally got back to my one unknown author a month plan. Maybe I'll fare 'better' in 2008.