Tiny update

Hello people,

I am sorry for not reading your posts regularly these days. I have some deadlines at work and some wonderful update too

The two most important people in my life (no awards for guessing who Read this post to know who ) are coming to spend some time with me. But unlike in that story, I am going to pick them up from the airport. And I also need to make sure I do not stay “Busy” for them and spend all the free time with them So I will be taking a break from blogging for like a month or so. But will definitely try to read and comment on all your posts. I may not be very regular in reading them since I am busy planning for some trips here for weekends But if there is some wonderful post written by any of you, I will definitely read it. I will try to post once in a week or so. I am not sure if I will be able to take part in the blog-a-tons since the last week/first week of Dec and Jan, I will be out of town. But I am so addicted to blogging that I am sure I will keep making some appearances in the blogosphere. I cannot completely forget my blog buddies, of course. But I promise I will make a full proper comeback after Jan. Please don’t forget me and my blog

Okay now it is time to clean my house else they will run away or tell me they would prefer to stay in a hotel

Take care everyone,

Keep blogging,

A very happy Avada

Revisiting Blyton

A Summer holidays’ afternoon and there I was sitting silently on the bed with a Famous Five in hand. My mom slept in peace for a few hours since her naughty girl sat quietly in a corner, for a change. If not for the book, she would try to cook and make a mess in the kitchen or try to cut her hair or make her doll take bath some 5 times in a day and apply powder to the doll. She would put loud songs and wake the whole neighborhood or just bug her mom to play with her. I suddenly went into a flashback mode, when I got hold of some of those old books, courtesy: Mith (thanks so much girlie ) Back then, I used to borrow those books from a public library and later on, exchange for some new ones. But at a later point, I felt that I should have collected these books since they can be read again and again. I started collecting the hard copies of these books, but before I could succeed, I had to leave home

I am not sure how many people have read this “Famous Five” series but it was/is and will be my most favourite book series. No other book (not even Harry Potter) can replace this. Famous five is about 4 kids, Julian, Dick, Anne and George and of course, Timothy the dog. George is the cousin of Julian, Dick and Anne. Julian is a responsible elder brother and Anne is a kiddo. But my most favourite character was always George. She changes her name from Georgina to George since she always wanted to be a boy. She is a perfect tomboy and I always wanted to be like George. She was so bold and was never afraid to tell the truth, even if it meant scoldings from her short-tempered scientist dad. Each story was filled with adventure to the core. Timmy is such a helpful doggy. One place I wanted to own was an island like the one George’s father gifts her. When I was a kid, my dream was to become a detective and solve mysteries like this gang. I wanted to go picnicking in a forest like them, next to a stream sleeping in tents. But I did not want to take care of cooking food like Anne did. Instead, I always wanted to become an accomplice to George and Timmy

I liked this series much more than Hardy Boys or Nancy Drew (even though I have read them).

Malory Towers was another most favourite series of mine. I really loved this series because this was only about girls. This was the story of a school girl Darrell, who is sent to a boarding school. It is completely a girls’ school story and about her friends in school. I have not been able to find copies of these books so far. I also liked the Secret Seven series. It was again a detective series. Enid Blyton will always remain as the best children’s author. Nobody can replace her.

But I feel sad for today’s kids. They have no idea what they are missing as a kid. They are glued to the TV all the time, watching Pokemon or Scooby-Doo or Spongebob. They have no idea about the role such books can play in a kid’s life. It stimulates our imagination. No game or cartoon can replace books. I can re-read Blyton’s books again and again, even today. That is the impact those books made on me. Even though I remember the story, I do not mind reading them again. One of my most favourite Famous Five book was the one in which George’s dad loses some important document, right under his nose and the team investigates it. I still remember the story even after sooo many years. But I don’t remember Angels and Demons’ story properly. Do you see the difference? Wish I could go back to those days Now I hardly find time to read books and I miss books the most in my life, currently. Those of you who are unaware of these books and have never read them, you are seriously missing something in life!!

I always find the writings of British authors better than those of any American author. I like the British English more than the American. Probably, this was the reason why I did not even feel like re-reading Twilight series again. It was not a literary masterpiece, the way Blyton’s or Rowling’s was.You would not believe this, I found not a single book written by Blyton in any American bookstore. There are all kinds of silly, stupid books everywhere, but not even a single book written by her anywhere. Kids really are missing something good. These days there are so many books on Vampires, werewolves, witches and other magical creatures, that I feel like tearing them down.

Other than these, my most treasured book was Pinocchio. I had re-read it atleast 100 times and it used be one of my favourites. Even before Blyton’s books entered into my life, I would read stories from magazines like Champak, Gokulam and Chandamama. I had once sent a story to Champak and they had even published it. My happiness knew no bounds then.

Do you have any memories of a childhood favourite book, which you cherish even today?

Updated 18/11/2009: My mom bought all those Famous five and Malory tower parts that I did not have. So now I have the entire collection. Still need to get the rest of the Enid Blyton collection.

A trip of a lifetime

This is my first attempt at fiction. Any resemblance of the characters to any person, living or dead, is just a coincidence.

My husband, Ramesh and I were waiting at the New Delhi International Airport to board a plane to US. Ramesh has deteriorated so much and he looks so weak. Our neighbor’s daughter Gita who had been there, gave us some information about the flight. She said it will take almost 22hrs for us to reach there. I would have never wanted to fly to the unknown land, but my son, Sonu is there. Sonu went to US when his company sent him on a job there.

“Ramesh, Do you want some coffee? Wait, I will get it for you”.
“That’s fine. Dont take trouble.  I know how your joints in the leg pain whenever you walk”
“No wait. I will get it”
He was right. My legs are losing their strength. I am getting old.
“Bhayya, can you give us two cups of coffee?”
The prices I tell you, these days everything is so costly that we can hardly survive with Ramesh’s pension. So recently, he joined as an accounts officer for a truck company near our house. But I keep getting worried about him since the job is so demanding. At the age of 70, how can you expect some one to work like a 25 year old?
“Have this coffee, Ramesh. You will feel better”

We boarded the flight. It is such a long journey. Ramesh dozed off as soon as the plane took off. He must have been so tired. He was working for this whole week. Whenever I am alone, these thoughts keep crossing my mind. Our son left to US six years back, saying he was on a project for 2 years. I did not approve of it, initially. I asked him why he could not continue with his job in India. He is our only son. But he told me that it was the question of his career. Now how could I say NO? Initially, he would call us every weekend. Then it became alternate weekends and now he talks to us, once in a month. Once when I called him, he scolded me “Just because you have nothing to do, don’t keep calling me like this. I am busy at work. I will call you when I get time”

We have just flown for 7 hours now.
“Ramesh, the lunch is here. Eat something. I am sure you must be hungry. Oh! looks like you have fever. Why is your forehead so hot?”
“Let me sleep for sometime. I don’t feel like having it. You have it”
“Here, take this paracetamol. You will feel better”

Our only dream was to search for a nice bride for my son. I had bought jewelry for my daughter-in-law, when Sonu was just in school. Since he is our only son, I had lot of dreams about his marriage. Not all dreams get fulfilled. Sonu has married some girl, from a different caste. He told me after 6 months of his marriage with this girl. When I asked Sonu, he said “If you trust me, you will trust my choice ma.”. We had no other choice, other than to accept her. We cannot severe our relationship with our only son. Can we?

Here comes the air hostess.
“Can I get some water beti?”.
“Here it is. Can I be of some more help to you?”
“When are we landing at the JFK airport?”
“It will be another 10 hours ma’am”
“Oh. We are very old beti. This is too long a journey for us”
“Are you visiting someone, ma’am”
“Yes. Our only son. He went to US, some six years back. He did not come back even once to see his old parents. He does not want to make a single trip to India. He says – India is polluted and populated. But tell me beti, he spent his 25 years in India without any complaint. This was the country which gave him food, shelter and education for 25 years. Now he does not like this country? But we cannot stay without seeing our son. I miss him so much. When I told him this, he asked us to come to US. Ramesh missed him more than I did. He talked me into going to US, to meet Sonu. We had to spend almost all our savings to make a trip to US”
“Oh. Please tell me if you need any kind of help, while on the flight Ma’am. Please don’t hesitate to ask me”.

My neighbor’s daughter, Gita got so much for her parents, when she returned from US. She kept asking me what our son sent from there? He sent nothing. When I told him that Gita brought so many things for everyone in her family, he said “Ma, there is nothing available here which is not available there. Everything is so costly here. Do you have any idea?”

Finally the plane landed.
“Ramesh, we are in US. I cannot wait to see our son, Sonu. Where did he say he will be waiting for us?”
“No. He will not be waiting. Your son is a busy man, Lakshmi. You cannot expect him to stand here for hours. He has given his number. He will be here, as soon as we call him”
“Let’s call then. But this coin phone looks so weird. How do we operate this?”
“Excuse me sir, can you help us call our son. This is the number”

Some gentleman helped us call Sonu.
Ramesh said “Sonu beta, this is your papa here. We are at the NY airport. We landed here at JFK airport”
“Oh is it beta”
“But…….”
“Okay.”

Ramesh turned towards me. “Lakshmi, your son is busy again. He asked us to take a train from here. He does not have the time to even pick us from the airport”
I was shocked “But we are new to this country. We don’t know anything. How are we supposed to go to his place?”
Ramesh said “I know where we should be going to. India”.

Inspired from some real life incidents I have seen actually happen here. Your parents sacrifice everything in life to make sure you get good education. But funnily, people find it hard to extract time from their busy schedule for their own parents.