Luka

Luka, has settled down well. He's brought the rains with him.its raining today, as it has been for the past few days.The sky is grey, the earth wet.The walk in Jahanpanah is just beautiful.the yellow flowers of the spring are faded to a pale paper yellow, falling in the wind. hundreds of millipedes crawl the soil.The forest sounds of insects & birds.
Luka walks well.dignified, just by your side, as much a part of you as the leash arm.He's brought us change.Amit walks with him in the morning.The exercise does him good.we fight less, do more things together.are happier!
So guess its true that you ask & you will recieve.

A black dog on his way

A black dog on his way.Ayesha the lady with the spaniel is getting him.poor thing does not have a name! wonder how we will have a conversation! 

Ask & you shall recieve

Today has been a lucky day. It is not often that you find somebody like Shilo Shiv Suleman. Look her up here and it would definitely be worth your while. Apart from all else - the work & the fame - a considerable bit that too, the 22 year old writes beautifully.
Have to thank H for sharing this article today, I doubt I would have found her myself.The caption & the illustration was striking 'Ask & you shall recieve'.But what I found there was much more than merely striking.
Call me vain but I do not often find people to look upto, even more unlikely if that person is a decade younger than I (Talk about the tradition bound east).But Shilo was something else altogether.she made me feel empowered,showed me endless possibilities in a bright sparkly world and left me a little freer in my thought.Come to think of it I did ask for it! accross the universe right here

A day at Delhi Blue Pottery

A fruitful day, Went to the Delhi Blue Pottery studio ambitiously hoping for a free wheel to work on, The security person on the phone was extremely accurate with the directions. Just before
the flyover, after Safdarjung hospital, the second building of the three was bang on & anyways the signage was large & we got there smoothly.

After a short wait on the steps we were directed to Rajeshji, the studio incharge.He calmly

Trip with Sam & Mom

Flight. Pigeons at Lotus temple, New Delhi

Lotus Temple, New Delhi

Met Sam & her Mom today.Took them to see Delhi, The regular Qutub Minar,Lotus Temple, India gate route.Was hot, but could have been worse I guess, clicked pictures, heard the lovestory. was a fun trip.  

Rajesh Khanna Amul ad

Amul ad, remembering Rajesh Khanna

Did wonder if there would be an Amul butter ad for Rajesh khanna too,(like for Dara Singh) found it only today.Though I do feel Dara Singh was much more of an Amul personality.

A busy day

Its a busy day, way too many things to do, including buying stuff for an engagement reception to friend meets to actual work to friend meets.also too many things to plan, from a trek (Valley of flowers, Uttarakhand) to a visit home. Limp, in sweat clothed am a little worried. my blog traffic is falling.will I make a living out of blogging?

The heat is back again!

The heat is back again, Is hot like hell.Gone are the dark & cloudy days &

Rajesh Khanna passes away

Rajesh Khanna

Dara Singh & now Rajesh Khanna.This July seems exceptionally unlucky for bollywood, having lost two of its veterans.

The lost wall cabinet & Jilly Cooper

Map, Putney Common, Source :  http://www.wpcc.org.uk/

Life has been a bit dull.The sickness (flu) made me sleep through 2 days! no work , which means I dont make much money either.The holiday not planned - The valley of flowers trek next month. disoriented, don't know where to start, need to get back into schedule.Hoping to do so with this post.
To add to the misfortunes the beautiful wall cabinet I planned to buy on sale from a lady moving out of Delhi grabbed by a faster somebody else.

The good part is re-read Jilly Cooper's 'The common years'. Picked it up a few years back from a roadside vendor for 30-50 rupees (less than a dollar) in Bombay.Did not even know the lady then. But I should say has been an amazing buy.I have a feeling it is better than her novels too.
The Common Years is based on Cooper's diary entries for about a period of about 10 years starting 1972!. In those ten years she walked her

sick :(

Quite sick with cold & fever.not able to concentrate on anything.....The rain's gone too..:(

Dara Singh passes away

Dara Singh passed away yesterday.He was 84 & died after a brief illness, at home.The first action hero of Bollywood! India's very own Arnold Schwarzenegger.He did not save the world again & 



again. But then Bollywood was never really into saving the world, mother, sister & lady love occupied the coveted position, not necessarily in the order though. Amul commemorates Dara Singh, on thursday, 12 July 2012.

Monju

Have a new cleaning lady, Monju. Strangely comes from the same place as Protima (my legendary cook & cleaning lady from DB).About the same age 55+, tiny as they come, cotton sari clad, smiling with pan blackened teeth. Not as wisely & beautiful as Protima, a bit sillier maybe with a childlike smile.

The rainy weather is holding up! not much rain though...works with me as long as it looks like it might rain in the near future.Its all about hope..ain't it.

Worked with the new DSLR a bit.its a Canon 1100D learning the ropes.18-55 & 55-250 lenses.walked to a CR Park park, a tiny one with a few flowering plants.wasnt too bad, found the manual focus button, I seem to work much better with manual focus rather than auto focus.check out some pics below

A rainy monday morning

A rainy monday morning! beautiful, as the met department predicted rains was a bit worried it would not.They always manage to go wrong somehow, even the laws probabilities don't work uaually, but today seems one of those rare days when it has.

Neighbourhoodwoof

Ayesha, the lady with Gudiya the vegetarian spaniel has started a group on facebook. Neighbourhoodwoof. She works for the betterment of doglives in the capital, strays to be specific but really all of them. She sterilises & vaccinates street dogs & probably much more that I am not aware of.

some shopping

Temperatures have dropped. Just 30 degree celsius of maximum temperature is heavenly weather in Delhi.

Yesterday was a good day.drove down to janpath, shopped for t shirts & shoes, unplanned but extremely fruitful.a beautiful pair of sneakers from north star, extremely light weight with an elasticated back & export surplus tees in lovely colors. Delhi is definitely a good place to shop, probably the best in India.Only you need to know the right kind of places that fits your taste as well as pocket.

After the rain

Ha! its a new world, gone is the dust & the heat, I can hear the birds (am sure they were there before, just that it was too hot for me to hear them :) ).the sky is still a pale grey..thank god! there is more to come.the leaves clean & sparkly, the air cleaner & clearer.

Finally rain!

Finally the blessed rain, for the first time this summer! Temperatures have been upwards of 44 degree celsius in Delhi. Scorching temperatures aided by no summer rain.we are in a monsoon deficit of above 30% this year.

Homes specially the topmost floors (like mine) have turned into microwave ovens. Dust winds seeping through every opening. Plants in the balcony dying of heat, pets huddling themselves into the coolest corners if the Air Conditioning is not on. Simba holed up in the AC room, keeping a long distance eye on me in the kitchen.

Of this for more than a month and finally....the blessed rain, cool rain water pouring down, drenching the soil, washing down the dust.The scent of wet earth in the air, water drumming down  the roofing sheet.......could there be anything more wonderful on earth than rain!

Adhocness as an attitude

The cleaning lady moved on to a better job.so been cleaning today.The dishes mainly.

Its amazing how ad-hoc home fixtures can be in Delhi. A tiny kitchen sink placed far inside the L corner of the platform. Me with my above average height find it difficult to reach across it to do the dishes. Slopes of the platform designed to ensure all the dirty/soapy water trickles down on to your feet & clothes.It is truly a nightmare. And to think if it was built with even minimum care & a vague idea of usability lives could have been so much better.

more on the sugar levels & the old lady with the dalmation

Whew! the husband sugar levels down to almost normal. Is not easy to feed a diabetic, have been nose deep in diabetic recipes.Did discover some good sites & recipes in the meanwhile.

The boxer baby did not come.May be the shelters had an internal disagreement or whatever.Actually is difficult to keep large dogs in flats! wonder how people manage labs & dalmations.