Of books and stories

There is truly NOTHING like the smell of papier that gets me all happy and charged up. I attribute this to many hours spent in "lending libraries" of yore with their peeling, yellowing books and that peculiar musty smell that I still associate with books. These libraries were my safe haven during summer months from the Madras heat and all manner of trouble plaguing the teen mind.


I have my dear amma to thank for this particular gift. She is seldom without a book in her hand...be it either English or Tamizh. She opened the doors for what will be a lifelong love for all kinds of books with a special attachment to the fictional kind. Many Enid Blytons, Nancy Drews, Hardy Boys, Agatha Christies, Sherlock Holmes mysteries, P.G Wodehouses, abridged Shakespeare, Charles Dickens, Louisa May Alcott, Jane Austen, R.L Stevenson, and Baroness Orczy novels followed and I was officially hooked. Many hours were spent in commiserating, rejoicing with or participating in the many adventures of the protagonist(s)....there never was a dull moment. Poetry found way into my reading list and  Blake, Frost, Tennyson, Coleridge, Shelley all weaved magic into my life. How can I forget the short stories? Dahl, Asimov, Chekov, Shaw, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Greene, Hemmingway, Kipling, Hawthorne, Twain, Saki all proved to be wonderful companions.


When a book was not age appropriate, amma used to give me a gist of the story in such a colorful fashion that I was in raptures. Two other family members deserve special mention in this category...my amma's oldest sister and youngest brother, both avid readers and both patient with children. I still remember with vivid clarity the day that my mama told me the story of "If Tomorrow Comes" by Sidney Sheldon. I was enthralled and to this day, Tracy Whitney is one of my favorite protagonists.


The annual book fair at Chennai enjoyed pilgrimage status in my family. We used to wait fervently for the date and leave early for the fair on the day of. A long bus ride later, the scouting would begin for good books. Always on the lookout for a good bargain, amma used to pick and choose from piles of books and comics at the fair. Once home, comics were sent out for binding and only after they were bound, was I allowed to read them. I was always taught to care for books. Even today, I physically cringe at abuse directed towards books.


Also unforgettable are the many long train journeys that my family took, all of which auspiciously began with a visit to the Higginbotham's kiosk in the departure station. Once a book was bought, I would open the pages, take a deep sniff and settle down in my berth to read. Between the exotic sights and sounds that accompany a train ride and the book in my hand, the journey of 2/3 days would pass in a jiffy. If I close my eyes and take a sniff out of a brand new book today, I can relive those train journeys in an instant. Pure bliss!

What to name it?

In the four years or so that this blog has been in my mind, my one big struggle has been what name to give it. There were certainly no dearth of ideas ranging from "Who am I?" on those especially confused days when I literally did not know which end was up, to "Mommy Cow" on those endless days of breastfeeding,  to "From Microbes to Motherhood....the journey" on the days that I felt crushingly depressed about my stalled career, or even "Music Mama" on the many days that I have marveled at the unique rejuvenating effect of music in my life. There were serious contenders like "Kayyil Karandi" on those days when it seemed that one meal cooked led to the next without any break, "Raising Hell" on the days that offspring started disagreeing at 7 a.m and continued up until bedtime and beyond, and "Priya...Oru Kelvi Kuri" on the days that I couldn't decide whether to be a wife, a mother, a daughter or daughter-in-law. Then there was a time when I thought that I should stick to one subject like world politics or cricket (aptly titled "World Politics....a worldly view" or "Cricket for Crazies") but since my knowledge of either is rather limited, I decide to let the professionals handle it. Also, for as long as I can remember, world politics and Cricket have been the sole domain of "gents"- to be discussed over many cups of coffee or bottles of beer as the case may be. Opinions about the same by "ladies" is simply looked upon indulgently or ignored altogether. I also thought of doing an agony aunt thing (Priya's Advice for Free.....FREE, FREE, FREE, ABSOLUTELY FREE.....) then I thought to myself that there is plenty of that in real life, so why bother. My present title "Eternal Groundhog Day" was also one of the contenders on the days that felt like I was on a hamster wheel and whenever it stopped, I found myself either cooking, cleaning, doing laundry or shopping for groceries. It felt as though each day was exactly the same as the next, just like in the movie. Though I have already named my blog, I cannot shake off the feeling that the title is not at all apt for my present state of mind. I have successfully broken out of the cycle thanks to positive thoughts and a group of adventurous friends. So dear reader, I have decided to change the title to "365 Musings....many days many moods". I am not ashamed to admit that I have consulted an astrologer/numerologist to arrive at the present title. Like "K" is to a certain "K"apoor, "M" is to "M"ad and "M"oody" "M"e.

Confessions of a sleepless mind

After a long long time, I did not sleep fitfully. For the uninitiated, this is also known as sleeping soundly, not waking up at random times in the deep of the night to solve complicated mathematical problems or ponder upon the mysteries of life or both, having so many of those elusive things called dreams that you actually remember a few of them when you wake up (much to your embarrassment) and not having out-of-body experiences where your body is sound asleep but your mind is busily awake, solving the afore-mentioned mathematical problems and pondering.........well, you get the drift. So, naturally when I woke up, I went into panic mode. I had new-found energy and even better, a sense of purpose coursing through my veins. Why panic-mode, you ask? Quite simply, I did not know what to do since I was so unfamiliar with this new me. After greeting my offspring and spouse with (shudder!) civility, I went about the business of actually composing a post for my blog for the very first time. What's so great about that, you ask? Well, only that this blog has been in my mind for oh, about four years now complete with imaginary followers, crisp writing and numerous awards for "most insightful blog", "most humorous blog", "most popular blog", "most grammatically correct blog" and the likes. For me, creating the blog was a victory of sorts forget writing a post. So, while marveling at my ability to remain civil to family members, I continued to write and lo and behold, the post increased in size. In between, I fed offspring various meals during the day and cooked (shudder!) a full meal which was also quite palatable for the spouse. I completed many small errands that I had saved for the day when people stop giving out free advice or Judgement day, whichever came later. If various soothsayers and my good friend K are to be believed, the latter will be some unspecified day in 2012, so I now have the advantage of an year and a half at least. I could not be more thrilled. I also engaged offspring in educational and mind sharpening games such as book cricket, showered before 6:00 p.m (if you are a tambram girl like me, you know that 6:00 p.m is a highly regarded time of day. I'm not sure who put this curfew time in the minds of my esteemed elders, but it stays and is fodder for a different post)  and spent the rest of the day in this new-found highly energetic state of mind. I also started thinking about what had led to this amazing night of sleep. Was it the fact that I had finally succumbed to elder offspring's badgering and signed him up for guitar lessons? The simple hug and joyful expression on offspring's countenance at the end of the first lesson was truly tear inducing. Was it the fact that I had finally gotten to sleep in my own bed after being unceremoniously thrown out of my room because offspring and spouse wanted to spend quality time together? Spouse has recently returned from vacation time all alone (seriously, what Gods must one pray to for such good fortune?) Or was it simply something that I ate? Rawa uppuma with thayir and oorga, for those who are wondering.  I could not think of a single scenario that might have affected this rare phenomenon. I decided to chalk this up as a random event all the while hoping against hope that it will be repeated tonight. Even if the Random Gods decide to rule in my favor again, I am pretty sure that tomorrow will not proceed as fruitfully as today did.....there are too many bad movie sequels out there for me to think otherwise.