Hello.
You've no idea how hot it is here- it's regularly over 43 degrees Celcius! I have an almost constant headache these days.
I have much to write about, but even more actual work to do, so I'm very sorry, but between my MBA prep, summer internship, and editorial board work (where we have to complete the work of an entire year in 1 month- don't ask...), I am busier than I like (It's 4.30 AM now, and I'm not even close to wrapping up).
Some holidays, these- I'm working more right now, than I do through out the academic year! (Shuddup Jerry)
Bye, and take care.
PS: Q, I haven't forgotten that post about the poverty- society- thing, I will get down to it when I have some more time.
PPS: To anybody from Sri Lanka- Congratulations! Enjoy your moment, reality will strike soon enough :D :P
PPPS: My Maggi noodles have become cold and inedible.
PPPPS: I really miss all of you *is sad*
PPPPPS:
All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by frost.
From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall be blade that was broken,
The crownless again shall be king.
Showing posts with label Summer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Summer. Show all posts
Monday, 25 May 2009
Monday, 13 April 2009
Redolence
I think mint smells of summer.
Not the mint that comes packed in little rectangular paper or cardboard boxes, but the fresh mint leaves you get only in the vegetable bazaars. I found this out a little while ago, and decided to investigate... the answer is that as a child, I was susceptible to heat, and that's not the easiest thing to cope with if you live in Delhi. My mother concocted a syrup concentrate whose main ingredients were raw mangoes and mint.
That's why mint smells like summer.
Long train journeys, with games of snakes and ladders thrown in.
Rain. Rain on dry, parched earth. The fragrance of quenched thirst.
Jasmine, roses, bougainvilleas, marigolds, carnations, freesias, gladioli, hydrangea... there's something about the oppressing heat of Delhi's summers that draws out all the perfumes of any garden, until all the disparate smells form one unique, heady, composite.
Hot curry and steamed Basmathi*.
Spice. Spice from the kitchen. Vegetables cooking in ghee** and masalas***. Chilli powder and cinnamon, thyme and lemons, curry leaves and ginger, cardamom, cloves, garlic.
Old books; new books; books.
Mangoes, grapes, litchis, watermelons, coconuts.
Hide and seek.
Curd and butter milk, heat and leafy shadows, water and flavoured ice.
Nightmares, for I rarely had dreams. Dreams, when I saw them with open eyes.
Incense, stories, laughter.
Crayons and swimming pools.
Neem trees.
This is what my memories smell of.
I hereby tag:
Q who is quite wonderful, and very patient, and who is not nobody.
Saim for whom I have no words, but many smiles.
Myprerogative who never ceases to surprise me. (I do remember your tag, and I'll do it after my exams.)
The whackster who always makes me think, and often makes me smile.
who is beautiful, and whose blog I have enjoyed, but not yet commented upon.
Bindhu who always manages to make me smile.
Arun who sometimes frightens me.
I want to know what you remember.
* A kind of rice.
** A kind of clarified butter used heavily in traditional north Indian cooking.
*** Spices.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Saim gave me an award.
:)
Good luck to everyone else out there who will also be joining me in my misery. Do well.
Not the mint that comes packed in little rectangular paper or cardboard boxes, but the fresh mint leaves you get only in the vegetable bazaars. I found this out a little while ago, and decided to investigate... the answer is that as a child, I was susceptible to heat, and that's not the easiest thing to cope with if you live in Delhi. My mother concocted a syrup concentrate whose main ingredients were raw mangoes and mint.
That's why mint smells like summer.
Long train journeys, with games of snakes and ladders thrown in.
Rain. Rain on dry, parched earth. The fragrance of quenched thirst.
Jasmine, roses, bougainvilleas, marigolds, carnations, freesias, gladioli, hydrangea... there's something about the oppressing heat of Delhi's summers that draws out all the perfumes of any garden, until all the disparate smells form one unique, heady, composite.
Hot curry and steamed Basmathi*.
Spice. Spice from the kitchen. Vegetables cooking in ghee** and masalas***. Chilli powder and cinnamon, thyme and lemons, curry leaves and ginger, cardamom, cloves, garlic.
Old books; new books; books.
Mangoes, grapes, litchis, watermelons, coconuts.
Hide and seek.
Curd and butter milk, heat and leafy shadows, water and flavoured ice.
Nightmares, for I rarely had dreams. Dreams, when I saw them with open eyes.
Incense, stories, laughter.
Crayons and swimming pools.
Neem trees.
This is what my memories smell of.
I hereby tag:
Q who is quite wonderful, and very patient, and who is not nobody.
Saim for whom I have no words, but many smiles.
Myprerogative who never ceases to surprise me. (I do remember your tag, and I'll do it after my exams.)
The whackster who always makes me think, and often makes me smile.
who is beautiful, and whose blog I have enjoyed, but not yet commented upon.
Bindhu who always manages to make me smile.
Arun who sometimes frightens me.
I want to know what you remember.
* A kind of rice.
** A kind of clarified butter used heavily in traditional north Indian cooking.
*** Spices.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Saim gave me an award.
:)
My first :)
I'd like to pass this on to:
The boys at MATHAWAADA
I'd also like to pass it back to Saim.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I have exams again. Isn't my life fun? Yay. Not.Good luck to everyone else out there who will also be joining me in my misery. Do well.
Sunday, 18 May 2008
A Rainy Day!
Yesterday, it rained in Delhi, and after weeks of temperatures in 40(s) degree Celsius', there was finally some relief... until late afternoon yesterday, any place devoid of air conditioning felt like an oven. It was stiff.
But then, this happened (by the way, the shining circles are the rain water droplets reflecting and refracting water. Nice, no?):
As afternoon progressed into early evening, the skies turned a delicious purple:
A picture of the Amaltas trees heavy with flowers and rain outside my back- balcony:
And then the Sun was setting through the hazy rain filled evening.
After that the rain settled a bit, and even stopped for a while before there was a proper storm again a little while later, with the wind- lashed trees swinging in wild angles, straining to uproot themselves.
These pictures are my experiments with different camera settings, once the storm had subsided a shade:
It started raining again at around 9 O' Clock.
The typical Delhi night sky:
They say Delhi doesn't have anything of it's own...
The red sky is due to the winds which blow in from the Indian Thar Desert carrying the reddish sand from the ever dancing dunes of Rajasthan...
At about 10. 50 PM or so, the winds picked up again, howling at about a 100 kilometers an hour. From my place on my parents' balcony, it sounded like two evil, cyclopean air- suction machines were positioned at either end of the street competing with each other to sway the will of the trees towards themselves. It was awesome. And humbling.
I kept trying to catch a lightening on my camera, but was always a few seconds late... until I got the tail end of this one, which went on for about 35 seconds, or so I think...
It's good that Delhi has so many trees (it's one of the greenest capital cities in the world), otherwise such wind- and- rain storms which happen here at this time of the year would have lead to a far greater death toll than they have, over the years. The trees slow the wind down somewhat, resulting in fewer people getting blown away.
Due to the storm, the electricity supply was sporadic last night, one of the reasons I couldn't get this post up yesterday. Before going to sleep at around 1 AM, I went around checking every door and window in the house. I don't do this on normal wind- and- rain free nights, but I had to last night... you see, what if some entry was unbolted, and someone fought through the savage blast of suction- machine induced air currents to break into the house? It wouldn't have done at all... don't you agree?
But then, this happened (by the way, the shining circles are the rain water droplets reflecting and refracting water. Nice, no?):
As afternoon progressed into early evening, the skies turned a delicious purple:
A picture of the Amaltas trees heavy with flowers and rain outside my back- balcony:
And then the Sun was setting through the hazy rain filled evening.
After that the rain settled a bit, and even stopped for a while before there was a proper storm again a little while later, with the wind- lashed trees swinging in wild angles, straining to uproot themselves.
These pictures are my experiments with different camera settings, once the storm had subsided a shade:
It started raining again at around 9 O' Clock.
The typical Delhi night sky:
They say Delhi doesn't have anything of it's own...
The red sky is due to the winds which blow in from the Indian Thar Desert carrying the reddish sand from the ever dancing dunes of Rajasthan...
At about 10. 50 PM or so, the winds picked up again, howling at about a 100 kilometers an hour. From my place on my parents' balcony, it sounded like two evil, cyclopean air- suction machines were positioned at either end of the street competing with each other to sway the will of the trees towards themselves. It was awesome. And humbling.
I kept trying to catch a lightening on my camera, but was always a few seconds late... until I got the tail end of this one, which went on for about 35 seconds, or so I think...
It's good that Delhi has so many trees (it's one of the greenest capital cities in the world), otherwise such wind- and- rain storms which happen here at this time of the year would have lead to a far greater death toll than they have, over the years. The trees slow the wind down somewhat, resulting in fewer people getting blown away.
Due to the storm, the electricity supply was sporadic last night, one of the reasons I couldn't get this post up yesterday. Before going to sleep at around 1 AM, I went around checking every door and window in the house. I don't do this on normal wind- and- rain free nights, but I had to last night... you see, what if some entry was unbolted, and someone fought through the savage blast of suction- machine induced air currents to break into the house? It wouldn't have done at all... don't you agree?
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