'' Simple living and high thinking''....that was my father,BABA..!

  That was my father...Not only he quoted this often..., but also practised   this...Simple living and high thinking..!We called him BABA....!
So much so that today  being  fathers day... when I wanted  to describe him  to myself....the first few words which I wrote was this ,which came out  with out making any effort to find words..!

       Yes, he was an epitome of simplicity...which was alluring......!   Though he was not very expressive of his love,  like most of the loving  fathers.these days  do, showering kids with presents.... little he could do even if he wanted , with his small  pay packet and six  children to shower his love..!
        But a doting father he was  ,, no doubt ..... i  remember..my share of a spoon full of ' egg flip ' ..he used to call it  .that was his morning routine...to beat the white of an egg or two, poured carefully.  .. to the last drop into.. a white porcelain .bowl  and beat it....tuk tuk tuk....the sound for which  we kids woke up.......

     I also remember  how he used to cut the big bananas into half and keep it ready for us...a fruit after lunch...
a habit that has followed me up to this day that  i am very  uncomfortable.. even if they are missing on my dining table...for a day! but believe me.. i  gulp the whole banana..!!!!  But it was my youngest brother...DEVI
whom he called Toot . Toota.. ... got a big piece out of the whole banana Baba, my father ate daily without fail.....!
     We, children owe our good voice and ear for music to him..(mother also)...the good singer he  was... we
used to enjoy his singing sessions...while shaving in the morning..,.some times with the  shaving soap on his chin.....
..some times in the kitchen...when we lined up on the bench.....waiting for mother to finish with the last roti.\If at all  i know few stories within  the  story    in   Mahabharata and Ramayana  i owe it  to him.. ..Baba..!
     Now i   realise, how well-read  he was...,.as   i  flip through pages of Ramayana and MAHABHARATHA.....that i had heard about Karna's sacrifice. Kunthi's, predicament,  parasuramas.  anger.... he used to enact..them all...!
Remembering his  student days.. he would tell us   about.  the good old times,.when he came on stage as ' krishna'..that. the  good looking    boy he was;....the audience  would shout. ONCE MORE ! ONCE MORE....    !    oh.....         we  would enjoy  the scene with so much of thrill and wait for more..! ''AMMA nimma  manegalali. namma krishnana. kandirenamma......"he would go on,and    sing how  mother YASHODA.....went searching for..BABY KRISHNA   in her neighbourhood !
  Some of my memories include....how he used to  offer us four annas.,...to who ever  gave him some special service.... like frying some dry fish for him, his favourite,  waiting for him, to open the door and serve food for him when he returned late from  the club ....,! ! have also earned  some money  by  copying some of the office papers, arriving at the summery of accounts....while he used to bring his office work .. home.  Then. . an Auditor ,  retired as Asst\ Registrar for cooperative societies  in coorg!
!...Later i  was also posted as auditor in the..bank..and that   brought back the memories.... of my first stint with my father!
     I thank him for  teaching me the value.of.  money...the pleasure of earning by offering your labour,for creating an interest   in mythological   stories..etc at that young an age.
A noble man  and a thorough  gentle man   indeed!
.But  it is the way he lived - it is,  simple living and high  thinking. that   has  stood by me...to this day!
  I am afraid   i  may go on and on as the memories are pouring out of me.... but  i will save it for another time!

Kids at home...

MY MOTHER A TOWEROF STRENGTH !

My mother is a very strong women.who survived the odds ups and downs,

showing great strength,in withstanding them,proving herself a lesson ,

a lesson to to learn and follow. yes I thank God, that I have inherited

her grit and strength mentally, but yet times not the physical strength,

oh no, It is not true, have I not learnt from, that you have to get up ,

and run every time you fall, with out waiting for any body to help,

, , and you are your own strength, find it in yourself!

Pray for her blessings for ever !

HERE IS THE POEM.....Forgive them anyway..by Mother Theresa.

People are often unreasonable ,
Illogical and self centred,
FORGIVE THEM ANYWAY...!

IF you are kind, people may,
Accuse you of ulterior motive.,
BE KIND ANYWAY...!

If you are successful, you will,
Win some false friends,and..,
Some true enemies,
SUCCEED ANYWAY...!

If you are honest and frank,
People may cheat you,
BE HONEST AND FRANK ANYWAY...!

What you spend years building,
some one may destroy overnight,
BUILD ANYWAY...!

If you find serenity and happiness,
They may be jealous ,
BE HAPPY ANY WAY...!

The good you do today,
People will forget tomorrow,
DO GOOD ANYWAY...!

Give the world the best you have.,
And, it may not be enough ,
GIVE THE BEST YOU HAVE ANY WAY...!

You see in the final analysis ,
IT is all between YOU and GOD ,
IT WAS NEVER BETWEEN YOU AND THEM ANYWAY...!

FORGIVE THEM ANYWAY...!

HERE IS A POEM, I CAME ACROSS EXACTLY WHEN.....,


At a time when i was most hurt in my life,
At a time when my mind was in a turmoil,
At a time when i had lost my peace of mind,
At a time when i was in a dilemma..,
AT a time when i had lost faith in people around ,
And a time when i was in the verge of losing my SELF CONFIDENCE ,

which is 'ME' in me alive ,
which is my breath to live...,
which i had guarded so closely..,
which was with me through thick and thin..
which, i never wanted to lose come what may..,


That was the time I turned a new leaf in my life,
that was the time when i turned the page to read the poem ,
That was the time when the realisation dawned on me,
THAT WAS ALL NEVER BETWEEN ME AND THEM ANY WAY..,
THAT WAS ALL BETWEEN ME AND GOD..ALL THE TIME...!

THIS IS THE POEM WRITTEN BY,
MOTHER THERESA.....WHO IS A MOTHER IN THE REAL SENSE OF THE TERM..REMAINS A
MOTHER TO ALL ... FOR ALL TIMES TO COME.
HERE I AM SHARING THE POEM.. WHICH GAVE ME IMMENSE STRENGTH...AM SURE SO DO YOU !

YES,THAt WAS BIG DAY.....

YES,THAT WAS A BIG DAY IN MY LIFE

THAT day accompanied by my brother devi and vishnu my son in law ,I went.to a tiny beautiful place called

Birunani on june 5th,a small village in coorg.not very popularly known to people,

50 km s from Gonikoppa, bit of a known place, also where i went to school.
The place where my husband had dreamt of creating a heaven on earth for him
self and for his wife and children.That is the place he took me on his Bullet Bike,.covering me with his coat to save me from the red mud dust following us,from the
the roads which remained untarred and dusty until very recently we visited that place to invite people to attend my elder daughters, marriage!
That was a thick jungle...which he took 10 years to clear,which he personally supervised by travelling from shimoga, bangalore. mysore on weekends..from wherever. he worked . some times on his bike sometimes, in those red buses. ...car. after
a while.. those days we missed being togather during weekends. after hard week days...
yes, a small farm house came up, and we used to go spend some precious days saved for holidays when he worked relentlessly...to create that dream....little knowing that fate had its own plans as to where he will find his HEAVEN,..!!!
All around the place,he planted coffee, cardamom,lime.. Orange.. and all those plants available in Lalbagh, Bangalore...The dream took him so high that some times when he turned back he did not realize that...the dream would consume all his earnings..
savings,energy...and in the end his life..!
that was the time the place was looking beautiful and promising....the yields that he expected....but that was the time he was called may be to fulfil his duty
elsewhere,in the cycle of Births and Deaths leaving me alone to fend for myslf , and two kids whose future was a big dream for him togather with this creating heaven in earth in his village...!
During these nearly 20 years... while iwas busy making a life for me and
kids worthy of his dreams..i could not turn toward that village. and the spot where he dreamt his HEAVEN!. now that my kids are settled with their husbands need no
attention from me.. I reminded my self of the duty, i had to attend to..... not that i had forgotten about it all .these years.How could I ,when it is still a nagging pain with in me..!
Meanwhile over the years . the heaven in the making...vertually turned into a thick jungle again..in the absence of any helping hand to clear the weeds. or at least a watchful eye. My visits once in way only made my heart grow heavy..,with guilt of not being able to at least keep the place as it is, and maintain it. not that i did not try.. and i succeeded in only keeping the rights of the property with us. THANK GOD.. YOU HAVE BEEN KIND TO US.
yes.. I CALL IT A BIG DAY...5TH OF JUNE 2010... I WAS ABLE TO GO THERE...
THAT DAY I WENT TO THE SPOT... WALKED UP TO THE PLACE .WHERE THE REMAINS OF MY HUSBAND, his mother and brother are laid paid homage... came down , to find a place to sit, to save myself from leaches sucking my blood though it is not as difficult as to save yourself from the human leaches ..for those 20 years.

I sat on the rubbles of that farm house which had collapsed. hiding the big wooden cot on which we the family would spend the nights for two days on week ends we used to visit the place...where as the tiles and wooden slabs n other things which would fetch some money are..not left there. Made away with, by people who were sopposed to have an eye on them to watch. during my absence!!!!
But then , i sat on the stone piller fallen across, saving myself from the marching leaches.,After all i have not lost so much ..I had saved myslf from the,leaches,
sitting in my own land, my own place may be rubbles...! more than any thing else i had not lost my self respect, .. i spent some happiest moments thinking of the happy moments we had sitting on those rubbles.. sharing it with vishnu my son in law
who had accompanied me.. I was proud of my husband at that moment .. still am forever. a
After lunch i met some people who had invited me there,to discuss about a proposal . very dear to my husband.., That was a miracle happening. That day while i signed a .paper offering a piece of that land in memory of my husband for a social cause... i have sown a seed for realizing the dream of my husband.
By the grace of almighty i am confident that the seed will receive all the
sunshine, water.. manure... protection to sprout in right time and grow up..
tall and extend its branches to protect and give shelter to many more for generations. that was the big dream of my husband ACHIA...and that was a BIG DAY for me..!

KIDS at .HOME...

YEs the kids are at home.... after a long time now.I am surprised as to how it has brought out my hidden energy out! at the same time...the patience which I thought 1 have lost over the years now that both my "KIDS" are married...
Again my house was filled with fun and laughter... you will not believe that even my boogy.. my pet became very active.. running behind kids for bescuits...or after being chased by kids to catch her,
my thrill new no bounds when new books came home with lot of covering paper and labels and was dumped on the dining table.. bringing back my memories of I used to take pleasure in covering new books ..for lakshmi and tulsi.... ho.. the smell of new books!
now taking them for walks.. proudly that "dont think i have only dogs to walk always..."...may be i gave that look to onlookers.
All this in the midst of the mess..i had to put up with in my drawing room , her a cry... there a cry... But they are a bundle of joy..!
by the by we call these bundles of joy...by lovely names.. ARZOO and her little sister TAMANNA..some times i call them ZOOOOOM and TAAAM
They stayed with me with their mother muthu....for about 10 to 15 days....