Kadmanivasi. My Blog. Geeta Ramani

The process of decluttering is painful .  I undertook a marathon decluttering session which lasted over a couple of days. It is heartbreaking to discard personal possessions, many of which are just keep sakes, mementos and reminders of people and places. They are of immense emotional value. Some papers and files find a place to stay,  for you might just need them on a rainy day. Clothes you hope to get into, jars that you might re-use, documents which remind you of things you once possessed and so on and so forth. Over the months I had saved so many things,  not  really out of necessity. I have also realized that clearing out cupboards and shelves, once in a while, helps you remember the things you have and the places in which they have been safely kept. On one of the shelves I found a small slim book of short stories and as soon as I held it in my hand, it started to give way. It was not very old, I have books from a much earlier period, may be this one was...

Over the last few days a lot has been telecast about the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) or the Common Man's Party. Every time the spectre of AAP is aired, I am reminded of Baba Bharti and his majestic horse Sultan; from a story titled, Haar Ki Jeet , I had read in my Hindi text book in primary school. It is the story of a mendicant, named Baba Bharti who used to lead a pious life in the outskirts of a village. His only worldly possession was a grand horse named Sultan. There were many who coveted this horse. One of them was a dacoit named Khadag Singh. When he heard about the horse, he wished to possess it. He was told that Baba Bharti would never sell it or part with it. So if he wanted to own that fine horse, he had to steal it.  One   morning , as Baba Bharti was riding on his majestic horse, he was stopped by a pitiable man, begging for alms. As Baba Bharti slowed down,   the beggar overpowered him, and revealing his identity, the   dacoit said that all he wanted wa...

During the years I attended school, we carried home invitations for our parents, inviting them over for the Annual   School Day or the Sports Day. Our teacher would painstakingly write neatly on the board, ‘ Mrs. & Mr. _______ ’, ask us to take it down on the envelope and complete it by adding our father’s name and surname. She would also specifically mention to add ‘Dr.’ where applicable. One was very particular about spelling for ‘ Dr. Chakraborty ’ would not attend if he was addressed ‘ Dr. Chakravarty’ ! We seemed to have little problem those days as we did not have any other title to worry about. An army unit came much later and I often heard my friends remark how careful they had to be while addressing army personnel! Personally, I have never had any issues for I was used to seeing my mother’s signature which included Smt. (Srimathi, for short) her name followed by my father’s name. When I started signing, I gave up the Srimathi part, writing my own name and my hus...

Another New Year! Happy 2015! Each passing year has its own milestones. 2014 was special, personally. The littlest member joined our family, my sweet granddaughter, Samyuktha. And in 2015, she is already a year old!  What I seem to miss most are hard copies  of photographs! The photo album! How does one preserve those wonderful memories and refresh them from time to time, alone or even with friends?  I felt the same after my holidays. Well, as they say, you need to change with the times for fear of being left behind! So here I am rfreshing those wonderful months in a foreign country with my very own ones. Here is one way I tried reliving  those days and I reproduce another of my earlier attempts, at savoring all those moments again!  A-Z in Washington D.C.!  Are you ready to journey with me … On a virtual holiday to Washington D. C.? A dream come true. For me it is! It begins with a drive to A nnapolis! You hear about it….all too often So...