Monkton Mondays!

Here we are again…another Beginning! Aren’t we lucky? 😉

The weekend has been one of spring cleaning and planning ahead…getting ready for a new school year, a new financial year and very soon on Gudi Padva – the Hindu New Year! And with Easter being a symbol of rebirth – there’s no escaping a fresh start it seems! It is of course also April Fool 😛 although I’m not sure how that ties in with new beginnings. Perhaps it means we are fools for believing in them 😉 Or perhaps it means we would be fools not to!

I believe in the latter…I love a new beginning, who doesnt? I like the way it smells and tastes and feels…ephemeral like snowflakes on the tongue yet ethereal like the stars. And although I’ve stopped making resolutions (coz I never can seem to stick to them :P), I found one from Mr. Monkton that is rather perfect for the solemn occasion 😉

 

I hope you find countless opportunities to be Silly this week! It’s a wonderful way to live – Trust Me 😉 Or don’t! Trust Mr. Monkton 😛

Happiness always People 😀 May you find what you need!

Have a wonderful week ahead!

Monkton Mondays!

Have had a lovely weekend 🙂 Friday night at the Jehan Numan Palace Hotel in Bhopal…a wonderful place to rest your head after a tiring day! Saturday evening at Van Vihar, Bhopal watching a couple of lazy tigers and busy birds (this time I carried my zoom!) and back home on Sunday, spent the entire day having a ball with the family 😀 Oh! And as I type – the doorbell rings and my driver is back from a week-long vacation that turned into a month-long sojourn!! It’s nothing short of a Miracle! Hallelujah!!

Life is good except of course for the heat that is worsening and makes me want to hurt someone, anyone 😛 Perhaps I’m overreacting but I think not! I blame it on The Hitman’s Guide to Housecleaning – my 4th e-book (Go Figure ;)), a darkly hilarious, brilliant book that I’m having a hard time putting down – digitally speaking 😛

And so since the heat still continues to set the tone for my week…I’m satisfying my need for the cooler climes vicariously as always through the excellent Mr. Monkton. 

Uh huh!! And that’s where I’ll be ending up soon, if the heat continues 😉

Happy Monday People! May it be cooler than mine and remember there are worse places than the Bonkers House 😉 So if counting snowflakes is your thing – don’t let anything stop you 😛

Have a wonderful week ahead 🙂

Monkton Mondays!

I’ve had a fun weekend – Saturday I attended my first Bookclub and met a lovely set of women and Sunday was restful – lounging at home, trying to cool down, escaping from the muggy, oppressive heat that has taken over Bombay 😦 I shudder to think of April & May – still to come, before the Monsoons (if they are on time!), bring us some much needed relief. If all goes well, won’t be here in May 😀

Weather like this makes me lazy, as in lazier than I already am 😉 I feel rather British now, seeing as this post is going to be almost all about the weather 😛 Well, “In for a penny, In for a pound!” so why stop now? Anyways, it makes me lazy and languid and somnolent – the perfect combination for thinking deep thoughts! No?! You sure?! I can imagine Mr. Monkton being in just such a state when he wrote this little pearl of wisdom 😛 What do you think?

I’m feeling rather like a chicken myself right now! One that’s being rotisseried to a golden crisp for others to enjoy 😉

I hope the weather’s better where you’re at!!

Have a cool week ahead People!

Mr. & Mrs. Koel

I wish I had another Avian Love Story to share! But unlike parrots, Koels (from the Cuckoo family), are shy and these were very hard to spot! I heard the male calling first – his distinctive ‘Koo Koo’ piercing the stillness of an early morning. I ran around the house peering out the windows trying to get a glimpse, but all I saw were silent Crows 😦 Then, after a while, I spied him perched on the large, leafy Ashoka outside my kitchen window. Praying silently that he would stay I ran to fetch my camera, and had to stop (just my luck!) to change to the zoom. Miraculously, he was still there, his blood-red eye surveying his surroundings for…well I don’t know, worms, fruit, Mrs. Koel?!! I thought I spied a flutter higher up in the branches and caught a fleeting glimpse of what could have been a spotted feathery body, but it was too far away to see clearly and the leafy branches obstructed my view. I got a couple of shots before he flew away and then I resolved to watch the tree for any signs of Mrs. Koel and a courtship in progress 😛 

Two days and no luck, until this morning I spotted Mrs. Koel, on the same tree, on the same branch, reaching for a fruit!! I almost fell over with excitement, but had to rush again to fetch my camera and when I was back, she had retreated into the leaf cover 😦 Those times when I don’t Love birds, I Hate them!! Uuuuuuuuuuuugh!! I hung around for a while leaning out the window, eyes stuck onto the view-finder, but then Junior was up and it was time to get the morning routine started. Mrs. Koel though was never far from my mind 😉

I watched for her intermittently while going about my chores and suddenly there she was again, just as I was frying fish for Junior’s lunch…still hidden but revealed in her brown-grey spotted plumage when the branches swayed in the breeze!! 🙂 It was rather like playing Avian hide & seek 😀 I got some pictures, and although they’re not as good as I wanted, I’m just glad I managed to capture her on film so to speak. She was rather plump, beautiful and reticent, and I can see why Mr. Koel would be interested 😉 It’s a wonder I didn’t burn the fish 😛

When I told my Aunt about how I spent most of morning chasing birds, she thought I was Nuts! You need to get your priorities right she said laughingly – Children before Birds 😀 😉 I know where mine are 😛

I wish Mr. & Mrs. Koel all the best 🙂

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• An Avian Love Story 

Monkton Mondays!

What with Women’s Day just gone and Mahashivaratri celebrated yesterday, I thought I would keep the whole Man/Woman theme going for another day 😉 It’s always an interesting…mmmm, lets see…is ‘battle’ the word I’m looking for? 😛 Maybe I should be polite and say ‘encounter’ 😉 Oh whatever! Who cares?! It’s yet another Monday and time to roll up our sleeves and deal with the week ahead!

Here’s a little Monkton Magic to set you off on a great start 😀

To all the ‘silly little men’ & ‘magnificent women’ out there…Have a good week People 😉

To Goddesses Everywhere…

My favorite poem on women is ‘Phenomenal Woman‘ by a truly phenomenal woman herself, Ms. Maya Angelou 🙂 Every time I read it – it makes me sit up straighter, my held held high, my gaze clear and my heart thumping! How lucidly she gets to the core of us women – ‘WHO’ we are and ‘HOW’ we are, amazes me.

As I’ve mentioned several times before, I don’t go for the frantic ‘Day’ commemorations that have mushroomed over the years. It seems like there’s a ‘Day’ for everything these days – probably even a ‘Doing Nothing Day’ for all I know 😉 Still although we women are awesome as I said in my Facebook status today, 24/7, 365 days a year – I don’t see how a little more adoration can do any harm 😛

So here is my homage to all you Phenomenal Women and also to you the Magnificent Men who recognize and cherish these women in your lives 🙂 You thought I forgot about you guys didn’t you?! Didn’t you?!! And to go with – a collage I made of Indian Goddesses that to me live in every woman on our Planet. They symbolize the many incarnations women undergo at various times in their lives and shed some light on the ‘GODDESS WITHIN’ 🙂 The artwork is by animator Sanjay Patel – whose books I came across and instantly loved, while browsing a while ago. I love the illustrations for their originality, although the high ‘cuteness’ factor only adds to their appeal 😉 Hope you like!

“I’m EVERY woman! It’s ALL in ME!”

And here is the poem!

Phenomenal Woman

Pretty women wonder where my secret lies.
I’m not cute or built to suit a fashion model’s size
But when I start to tell them,
They think I’m telling lies.
I say,
It’s in the reach of my arms
The span of my hips,
The stride of my step,
The curl of my lips.
I’m a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That’s me.

I walk into a room
Just as cool as you please,
And to a man,
The fellows stand or
Fall down on their knees.
Then they swarm around me,
A hive of honey bees.
I say,
It’s the fire in my eyes,
And the flash of my teeth,
The swing in my waist,
And the joy in my feet.
I’m a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That’s me.

Men themselves have wondered
What they see in me.
They try so much
But they can’t touch
My inner mystery.
When I try to show them
They say they still can’t see.
I say,
It’s in the arch of my back,
The sun of my smile,
The ride of my breasts,
The grace of my style.
I’m a woman

Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That’s me.

Now you understand
Just why my head’s not bowed.
I don’t shout or jump about
Or have to talk real loud.
When you see me passing
It ought to make you proud.
I say,
It’s in the click of my heels,
The bend of my hair,
the palm of my hand,
The need of my care,
‘Cause I’m a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That’s me. 

Maya Angelou

A Happy Women’s Day to each one of you Phenomenal Women out there 🙂 

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Monkton Mondays!

This last weekend was so typical of how my days tend to be – a peculiar mix of chaos and quiet. Saturday was busy and chaotic – culminating in Ishaan’s Annual Day, at the Iskon Auditorium. It was a wonderful celebration entitled ‘Choo Mantar’, which is loosely the equivalent of ‘Abracadabra’ 🙂 and which focused on the things fast disappearing from the lives of our children today – healthy food, healthy habits, playing outdoors, family interactions. Through little skits, the children showed us guilty parents what they really valued and what is truly precious! From the mouth of babes 😛

There were dances too and Ishaan’s class danced to one of my favorite kiddie songs of all time, ‘Ladki Ki Kaathi’ from Masoom, one of my favorite movies of all time 🙂 They were so perfectly angelic and their innocence so palpable – how could I not cry? 😉 So I did and enjoyed the therapeutics 😉 That was Saturday. In contrast Sunday was quiet and except for a bit of grocery shopping and finally placing an order for an iPad (notice how I slid that in there so smoothly? ;)), we just relaxed at home. Hubby left late afternoon on a business trip, while Ishaan took a much needed nap and I lost myself in Wild by Cheryl Strayed – an excellent book to be lost in! The review will follow shortly on The Reading Habit.

And so that brings me neatly back to Monday and another encounter with Mr. Monkton. This week I was inspired by ‘Wild’ and I thought this gem from Mr. Monkton captured the essence of the book perfectly! The theme of the book is indeed ‘Anything is Possible!’

Have a wonderful week ahead, pondering those possibilities People! 😉

Monkton Mondays!

This Monday’s illustration caught my eye because I’ve finally finished reading the surreal, fantastical, Booker prize winner The Famished Road by Ben Okri. It’s a profound read, in some of the most gorgeous descriptive prose I have ever read, but it’s also overwhelming and at times overbearing, like Life itself!!

So it’s with a sense of relief that I read the final page and turned to Mr. Monkton who has his own take on Life matters and philosophy of the most import and thankfully doesn’t need close to 600 pages in which to present it 😛

Sometimes…a line drawing is all you need 😉

I rest my case!!

Have a good week ahead People 😀

Monkton Mondays!

It’s Monday again!! They do seem to come around with amazing regularity don’t they? 😉 I wonder how it would be if I fell asleep one Sunday and got up to find out it’s Tuesday morning!! Disorienting I know, but a refreshing change too? 😛 But I would feel bad about missing out on my daily dose of Monkton 🙂

And since Valentine’s just a couple of day’s away, I thought this one from Monkton especially fitting to the occasion 🙂 I’m not big on Valentine’s Day, but I am HUGE on LOVE, and as usual he manages to say exactly what I feel in a wonderfully humorous way! This one is dedicated to G…although our particular ‘Still and Settled Place’, will be regularly punctuated with painful yells from yours truly when he steps on my toes as we dance. 😛 He loves doing that 😉 Go Figure! 

 Enjoy the week ahead People and Happy Valentine’s Day to those of you who celebrate 😉

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Monkton Mondays

This is a sober start to the week. The week that was has been grim and life changing in a gruesome way. My family is battling to rise above a horrific tragedy and it’s going to take a long while before we can feel whole and sane again.

I didn’t think I would post today but then I realized that I have to make the effort myself. No one else can do my ‘getting over it’ for me. And so this is why, this picture from Mr. Monkton…The Penguin of Death. It’s a subtle reminder to not take anything in Life for granted, and most importantly Life itself…coz we don’t know what’s waiting round the next corner nor it seems what lurks in the hearts of the ones we love and trust. For all we know, they may be reincarnations of The Death Penguin!

 

I hope it’s a good week ahead – for you and for me.

Stay safe People.

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