Garden Update :)

Another garden update! I got a tropical friend:

Banu

Yep, its a banana tree! Don’t worry, it is no longer standing squished in a corner by the bin (its not a trash-bin, but my garden supplies holder – you know how roomy these bins are!). My banana tree, lovingly called as “Banu” is now standing in the sunniest spot, soaking up maximum sun all day long.

The story of getting Banu was mostly a result of the long weekend, and us deciding to stay put. With the pandemic et al, it is best to watch plants grow at home, rather than in the woods, especially on one of the busiest long weekends with throng of tourists and hikers everywhere… So here we are, admiring the plant collection and propogation (yet again) in our balcony, helped by a little Yoda (my feeble attempt of creative spin on Yoga-dog).

Little Yoda 😉 – didn’t say Baby Yoda!

Speaking of the gardens, we have some tiny additions of flowers and blooms. The petunia are attracting hummingbirds, my peace lily is finally (!) putting out some blooms and the orchids have flowered :). All in all, a good week to stay indoors and watch plant babies unfurl.

I was thinking of making this post about propagating various plants, that I had success with. I am no gardener or garden expert, but if my advice/suggestions/journey into plant propagation would help anyone, please comment below. I will have a dedicated plant propagation post 🙂 That also reminds me how terrible I have been with documenting the steps while I propagate! Maybe because I start with a trepidation of whether of not that plant will make it! I will try my best to show that in the post anyway 🙂

My trusted pals – pothos and zz, on my desk

With hikes and promenades in the parks, I can certainly feel the endearing pull towards the natural world. I have always loved dogs, and my family has been enthusiastic with gardening, so all that probably converged into this weird (at times) feeling of being close to the nature – animals and plants, more than just an escape into the wilderness. Maybe that is something I could work on! But this love for outdoors is gladly taking shape in cute forms:

Blue jay rapid sketch – a gift for my friends, with mint and Zebrina pendula (of course, both propagated at home)

And a pondering corner in the balcony garden (sans Banu)

That’s a tiny garden update for this time 🙂

D.

Sharing hobbies

Since Kuro and I flew to California, we have been immersed in observing nature. Initially, as a California spring present a stark contrast to the frigid landscape in Calgary; and later as a hobby that slowly grew. I skimmed through some and devoured some books on natural world of California — the birds, trees, and flowers. And later wandered in the Tilden area, trying my luck at spotting birds. Well, the outdoor activities did not start until this weekend when the shelter-in-place orders finally eased.

And in addition to outdoorsy hobbies, we are trying to revisit our hobbies of the past. Past indeed, is a funny word that changes with perspective. Both Ro and I claim to be avid readers in the past, and this time at home afforded an opportunity to have a go at this “past” hobby. I jest the past so much for sometimes it is a matter of choice. Many of my elder family members have continued to practice a hobby for years together with sheer will-power. Not that they had abundant time at their hands, but they set aside some time to practice their hobby. And truly, hobby is for practicing, as opposed to indulgence, as for some. But I digress.

So there we are, sitting at home, planning to revisit the days of the past ;). We tried listening to audiobooks, reading individually, and making some accountability strategies. We managed to pull off some amount of miscellaneous reading (in addition to browsing through newspaper articles and work-related reading), but it did not seem enough. Both of us were making slow progress at reading a few pages a week. Also because video-games and stretched out zoom meetings were taking up a lot of our free time.

Finally, a breakthrough came along, when we realized we have some common “to read” books. Why not read them together?! Shedding the initial reluctance and consciousness around how one’s “reading voice” sounds, we started sailing off to the world of the text. Ro and I take turns to read a chapter or two each night and make it a point to set aside before-bedtime slot for combined reading. We haven’t yet ventured into the arena of philosophical treatises, but the land of fiction has uncovered an enchanting scape for us so far. My reading style is that of animating each character and putting on the shoes of the invisible narrator of the book, while Ro reads out each piece with a scholastic sternness. The plain voice sometimes helps see through the words and get to the meaning between the lines, which I am guilty of veiling under my preference of animation.

Our read-aloud sessions have colored the horizon of reading with further depth. When I read Umberto Eco’s “Six Walks in Fictional Woods…“, I was fascinated by the analogy of being lost in the woods to be guided by the invisible narrator of the book. I relate to that role even more, now. The words also take on a layered meaning when you read and hear it. And since we take turns to read from the same book, the different approaches to reading text by the same author in two variant voices and attitudes renders an interesting mosaic of viewpoints too! “I think this he’s right,” sometimes I halt to voice my personal opinion as I am reading. And that lends a personal undercurrent to the matter being read.

Our first book was Nikolai Gogol’s “Dead Souls”. Right from the opening scene of a horse-cart stopping at a mansion door in the book, Ro and I had our perceptions of the various characters. Those perceptions colored our tone of reading and knit together a story through two different spectators. The current book we are reading deals with a retelling of mythology. Our thoughts on the book make for intriguing dinner time conversations. Let us see if we continue to hold our ideological camp or arrive at a similar opinion by the end of the book!

Although a small activity, we are exploring some fascets of enriching each other through shared hobbies. It is much rewarding to say “we read together” rather than “we read”. And not just in saying, but in experience, reading together is making our bond stronger 🙂 I am not sure if we will be able to continue reading together once working from home ends and we start traveling for work again. But que cera cera!

What are you bonding on during the time of quarantine?

D.

Making Home – 3

With all our anxieties, insecurities, and uncertainties about life, we are making a small virtual support bubble to get through this troubling time. This time is not “unprecedented” as some have called it. Humanity has been through much worse.

And in the struggle of making a safe space for you and your family, humanity has also resorted to coping mechanisms through time. It differs from person to person. I found it is spending time with plants for me. I know, I have mentioned plants in my blog posts a gazillion times. I have maybe reflected a bit on taking long strolls to tire my feet and satiate my mind. Or I have maybe mentioned the bit of greenery in a home that fills my soul. I have a hungry heart for plants. The pandemic bought time for me to start seeding and to watch my plants grow in the balcony.

Emily and I were discussing about aging. As we age, the natural world captivates us again. Older soul years for greener sights and natural smell in the air as that of a jasmine bloom. The sight of yellow bahava (Cassia fistula) decking the tree or wisteria hugging the roof seems more pleasant than a room full of gadgets. Maybe, the experience and preferences as one gets old are also very different for different people…

I sit in the balcony, looking at the green plants swaying in the California sun. I wait for the jasmine to bloom, and the lemon tree to have its citrus fruit. And also for the tiny cotyledons from the tomato plumule to drop, so that it grows into a big, healthy plant. The songbirds are back, and hummingbirds check-in every once in a while to see if my garden has bloomed. It indeed has, but it hasn’t blossomed yet, as the hummingbird would like it. Maybe I will plant some flowering plants that will please the butterflies and the bees…and also little hummingbird to dip its beak in.

My roommate, Rachel, is an avid bird watcher. Her casual rendezvous with birds and critters while on her long winter walks used to amuse me.  Her dog, Wren (no no, a dog really – a Springer Spaniel, just with a bird’s name), and she would watch birds fly and make nests, and the flowers bloom. She unknowingly taught me to watch the pace of nature sipping IPA on the porch – may it be Calgary winter or Missouri summer. I noticed her gift to me in the form of this appreciation much later after I moved to California. But there’s no time like today to thank her for this little gift of observing nature unfold before us.

In a tiny space of my potted plants, I watch nature unfold. From seed to sapling into a plant (and maybe a tree one day). I watch the uninvited squirrel try and check if I have any food or nuts buried for her in the pots, and Kuro waltzing around my plants as if to show who’s the boss. I killed some plants from the last season and lamented enough. Hardly did I know, that it was just a part of this tiny world unfolding on my balcony.

Across the globe, plants take root and wither. So many of them.  I have a handful of them, to remind me what is home that blossoms with love, blooms with care, and stays with you when you nurture.

D.

Making Home – 2

Home is always in the making! We are plunging into the “home improvement” part of our living space with the time at home. Our evening promenades are getting a little lengthy, as we try and cover more ground – with our walking feet and chattering minds. I am enthused by adding new plants to my balcony garden and propagating some newer ones for my friends as gifts after the lockdown. More on that in a dedicated post 😉

And as I share all these slivers of my life with my friends (virtually, yes), I cannot help see that our homes are getting more connected. Through the tiny rectangle of the conference call video, so many layers of the persons like peel before you. And ultimately, it comes down to one thing: we’re all human, with a home in making 🙂

I have been talking to my colleagues virtually, sitting on zoom meetings, and dropping in for webinars for a month now. The painted faces and fine lines that hid behind makeup are now visible. Grumpy people with a three-piece-suit, now seem to have a humane side who really care and have a heart. Although you wear an ironed shirt, all know you are sitting in the meeting with your PJs as bottoms.

In a way, the pandemic has brought out the humane side of the professional world. Burping babies, screaming children, cats that decide to walk over the keyboard during the meeting, dogs that have an urgency to play “go fetch” right when you are about to present a concept to a screen full of people… all have strung us together with an indescribable bond. Apart, yet together 😉

In making the home, we are making a space for our distant contacts to peep into the world of living through a virtual medium. It is like many virtual spaces connected to the idea of home – together.

D.

Making home – 1

Our spirits ebbed yesterday when the stay-at-home directive was extended to May end. We had our tiny fanny packs packed and ready for a long stroll as soon as we could get out on May 3rd…or so we were thinking.

But I decided to recount the good things we have been doing for the past month indoors. Ro poked at me, saying this is probably a good chance to write something about “home” and make this blog a true home blog, rather than a space for penning thoughts from our travels and outdoorsy wanderings.

One of the things I was uncomfortable with, in our current house was the presence of bare white walls staring down at me. It was like sitting in a big white box with a fuzzy carpet. Slowly we added some color with furniture, chairs, TV, and some of my sketches framed awkwardly. It is always self-conscious for me to look at my own art hung in front of me while I work or laze around…but we did it anyway 😉

And this time provided an opportunity to dress the walls even further! We mulled over days to select a wall for the makeover, and then for the “ideal” wallpaper. Ro wanted something modern, I wanted eclectic. He wanted “masculine” colors and patterns, and I failed to have a concrete image in my mind with this description. I was tending towards blue, and he wondered if it will be “too much”. Oh, I should have totally documented the random discussions we had about wallpaper. Never in my wildest dreams had I thought that wallpaper will make us reflect on the phenomenology of the space that we live in!

Finally, a delicate balance of all our expectations from a wallpaper as if dawned on the horizon. The process of putting up the removable peel and stick wallpaper was easy, and oh, it makes this space feel more like home. And suddenly I started believing in the effect of material possessions and transformed spaces on the inner spirit…

My this week’s home read is “Homebody: A Guide to Creating Spaces you Never Want to Leave“. What is this week’s read for you?

D.

Screen Time

I have been glued to the screens – laptop, mobile, TV or tablet! My sense of being as if moves between screens for the past month… I blame the virus for this 😛

And I realized that we have encouraged our parents and grandparents to jump on this band-wagon of screen-time. In the past few weeks, my parents, uncles, aunts, and my grandmother have all joined various social media platforms to interact with their family more. I scroll through hundreds of WhatsApp messages every day in the morning – some of which are lengthy forwards that I conveniently skip – and then make it to the kitchen for my dose of caffeine. If I don’t catch-up with the piling messages, I feel an unsettling emotion of missing out on what is going on…and a tiny speckle of fear that I might miss something really really important. After I shovel through the pile of messages on WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Signal, Telegram, and WeChat, I am ready to poke my nose in others’ business on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.

The virtual world has so consumed me that it took a hard-hitting wake-up call for me to snap out of it! This weekend, I finally, finally, finally, took it upon myself to clean some shelves. And my “finally” might have communicated that I had been putting this off for I don’t know how long… So, I plopped on the floor with random boxes overflowing with papers, sheets, and pencils wanting to be homed well. And I discovered my sketchbooks, notes, and unused colors waiting patiently for me. I wondered why I had put it off? A silent answer echoed, “Because you were glued to the screens.”

But that wasn’t the biggest hit. I was talking to my friend who had called to congratulate me on our podcast (what a sly way to sneak in some advertisement), and she casually mentioned how she thought I would make it big in my adult life. Then she quickly corrected herself in saying that I would make big “as and ARTIST” in my adult life. Later following up that I am a good researcher now, so that’s even better. I have mixed feelings about this conversation. In any case, I realized that my friends trust I have the potential to do something big in life. Maybe I could actually do something if I don’t let distract myself in the crowd of screens.

And then came the real wake-up call. A terrifying phone-call from my thesis supervisor about my work. And an email reminder about a pending article I was supposed to send out. And then a text message about a missed Zoom call. Oh! It was like walking on a tightrope and dropping all the eggs one after the other…which I was to carry to the other end. I recently used this egg metaphor here.

Maybe I will do better with little breaks from my screen-time. And so, I resorted to extensive to-do lists on paper. Someone would say that it is getting out of hand now, as I go about putting the lists up around the house – one in the powder room, one on the fridge, one by the stove, one by the medicine cabinet, a couple at my desk, one near the nightstand, and maybe a couple-of post-it near the plants! And I took to writing my thoughts instead of typing up and constantly peering at the screen!

And how has screen time fared for the family, you ask? I think they all seem to feel connected more with social media. However, every peep you make on social media now is open to more scrutiny from all possible angles because: a) people, in general, have a pronounced virtual presence, and b) ALL your relatives are now on social media and follow you on every site. I don’t mean to imply this as a ramification of family members on social media, but just an observation.

The screen time has done some marvelous things as well! I watched some of the excellent movies and short films from around the world. Our discussions on the short films and various aspects of cinematography, storytelling, yada yada yada have been very rewarding. And many of my friends and family members have now found common themes beyond discussing each other’s wellbeing.

Screen time also brought avenues to take some virtual courses that I always wanted to dabble with. So, learning Swahili is finally a go! 🙂 And I am finally taking up a dreaded task of digital illustrations. It is a steep learning-curve, but let us see how that pans out…

So I think, the screen time is a mixed addition to my life! And mostly here to stay with me after the lockdown is over. How is the screen time treating you?

D.

Heirloom

It has been a fortnight of being “sheltered in place”. I am gradually easing into my schedule of work and household chores. It is easy to let work bleed into your day when you are home, and I noticed turning myself into a workaholic in the first week of staying home. To avert that, some sketching and baking schedule was my “go to”. And as I turned to baking and cooking, I entered a whole new sensorium.

When I was little, I used to gorge on the sweets my grandma made. Her sweets and her cooking had a delicate after-taste of coconut. The curries with spicy overtones had a coconut tang, and the taste still linger son my tongue. The aroma of the spices she used, filled the kitchen. Although I always preferred plain rice and lentils, the aroma of the food roped me into the kitchen. I have a vivid image of my grandfather peeling and shaving the coconut for her.

Summers for pickling and making papads, winters for sweet and fatty food, and monsoons for fried delicacies! I traveled these seasons mentally, since the lock-down, and attempted to recreate some dishes to satiate my cravings and to feel at home.

My friend from Iran and I celebrated virtual Nowrooz (Iranian New Year). I cooked some sweets for her on the occasion (which I ate myself, later). It was also Gudi Padwa in that week, and my cooking acquired proportions of a feast. I think I have mentioned this over and over, that the food links me (and many others) back home 🙂

***

The lock-down also afforded me time to go through my wardrobe and trinket drawer to really see “what sparks joy”. I carefully looked at every piece of garment I own, and the stories came alive. I have a shawl from my other grandmother, that warms me on cold evenings in my balcony. The shawl carries a woolen smell mixed with the smell from naphthalene balls that peopled the trunk this shawl was originally housed in. My grandmother’s love for naphthalene to wick away the moisture left a distinctive smell on her belongings – especially the ones in her safe keep –  that I associate with her.

In my wardrobe, I also found some wooden boxes. The contents were not as valuable as the boxes themselves. A jewelry box made of wood sings when opened. It has been an item of curiosity in my childhood, that my grandmother later gifted it to me. Or did I just declare it was mine, when I was rummaging through old things at her place…? Another box made of paper mache is covered in delicate designs from East Asia. It was a gift from my great grandmother, who had received the box as a gift from one of her sons touring the world. The box had changed hands, and had carried their piece of story with it. I put my faux string of pearls in the box, to showcase my lady-like possessions.

As I was folding my t-shirts, an interesting mix of thoughts crossed my mind. The days I had played in the sun, days I had spent traveling, days of holi festival, all in various t-shirts… As if the t-shirts were the mute spectators and friends who were with me. Getting too emotional about clothes, are we? After I sifted through my belongings, I realized once again how little we actually need in life! I selected my choicest clothes, gave them a proper home and packed the rest to give away. Unfortunately, the clothing that I have decided to give away, is still occupying a corner in my room. It is because all the donations for clothing and other articles are closed indefinitely due to the virus. But nonetheless, I “Marie Kondo”ed my wardrobe!

As I sink in my chair after a long day of peering at lit screens, the importance of legacy, childhood memories and and stories occupy my mind. I am connected with my family virtually in this lock-down, and often draw upon the collective memories we have, as we speak over the phone or video-chat. The common threads span across years and places. My generation is plagued by the feeling of loneliness ( and I am no exception), but anchors such as these reassure me that there is an entire trove of memories, places and people that I can fall back on 🙂

This is my heirloom.

 

Food – food – food

Since flying to the Bay Area with its “shelter in place”, I have a renewed sense of appreciation for food. My otherwise “no-food-wastage” stance has just gone up a few rungs higher – which I pride on, but poor Ro has to face the brunt of the obsessive food scrap recycling. After looking around, reading and following the news, it became clear that hoarding is akin to ushering in a greater storm of artificial food scarcity, etc. Hence, we decided to work with a week-by-week plan.

Today’s post is not another serving of “what to do in the times of Corona Virus”; but a gentle reminder that “do-at-home” things still hold their value. I imagine the households with young kids to be under much more pressure with adults working from home across the globe, and maybe DIY is not an option for them… (oh wait, or maybe it is – with the kids also involved!?).

And so, I started saving seeds and vegetable cuttings to have a tiny kitchen (or balcony) garden. The fenugreek seeds that Ro’s mother has left for us, have been our constant supply of fresh fenugreek leaves for salads and curries. Our plantation-in-a-pot technique for spinach failed miserably, but radishes, baby carrots, and green onions seem to be doing very well. More than anything else, the tiny vegetable garden has significantly reduced our anxieties around running out of food.

Today, our building had some urgent repair-work, which we were told, will lead to some power outage. We had planned our meals, food storage, and activities for the day with a four-hour outage possibility. I was pleasantly surprised at the meal plans we had for the day, which were planned around food storage ideas. The perishables were our breakfast, slightly tough vegetables were for lunch, and dry grocery items were reserved for dinner. This arrangement allowed for the consumption of fresh produce before it goes bad in a refrigerator without electricity for four hours. We would have normally done it too; but this time, the added level of not being able to step outside and the reluctance to order food played well for us.

I finally took some time to detangle the overgrown roots in my potted plants. The time I spent in snipping off the dry roots and freeing the clogs of mud between the fibrous roots of the spider plant, were the moments of sweet nothings. NOw the tiny garden looks manicured and pruned, which is not much of my wild vibe, but I am going with it – for I see a part of me in the process. I realized the same with my tiny planting experiments. I had initially averted the idea of sowing something, nurturing it and then plucking it to eat. But in the process, you insert yourself, and it becomes more of an exercise that brings you in tune with oneself, rather than a site of destruction. Well, I can rationalize my actions this way for the vegetable garden. But there’s no way I can practice animal husbandry and come telling you the same.

The time that I have now, I can look closely at what I eat, and mainly; “how” I eat it. Amon all bad things with the virus, it reinstated the creative potential in me. So I am planting away  – not the kisses, but no-contact seeds ;)!

D.

 

 

Crossing borders

Whoa, what a ride it has been!

I had a feeling that Kuro and I *almost* fled a war-like zone. Actually, to be fair – Calgary wasn’t that locked down as some of the other cities in North America. But with the international border between the USA and Canada closing indefinitely for travelers, I was panicked.

The evolving situation with the virus had significantly altered the facets of routine life such as working from home, less and later no socialization, and so on. Calgary weather with revisiting snowstorms did not help with the spirits. And after all, it was better to be self-quarantined together rather than across the border.

As our flight descending on the Bay, the marvelous colors and organic veins of water shimmered in the setting sun. The streets looked relatively empty from above, lined with trees around. It felt as if the earth had a facelift 😉

Kuro and I were truly home 🙂

D.

Aai

It was Women’s Day today.

And I realized that I have not thanked the important women in my life. Not that I did not have a chance, but because I thought all of them are in my life, I will thank them someday. And this is the cruel trick that time plays on us –  that it runs out abruptly sometimes. And because I am older and wiser today than the last women’s day, here is my “Thank you” note for the 20 women who shaped me. It probably comes as a very typical, sappy thing to do; but I am going with the flow!

1. Aai

The streams of indebtedness and affection for mothers flows across literature and the arts, and many pages of poetry attempt to grasp the warmth one feels with their mother… however, something just remains to be said. In spite of the universal bond and experience of the mother-child relationship, each mother and child has a unique story. These layers are like perfume – easy to recognize, but almost impossible to describe. And, like fragrance, these memories, experiences, and stories cling to you, reminding you of moments in the past and guiding you into the future.

My mother would probably not like a public display of gratitude. For she sometimes forgets (or doesn’t make much of it) her role in the family and the society. When I moved to Pune for further education, Aai was standing with me like a rock. She is a strong proponent of independent living and seeing the world through your own eyes as a student. Her experience of meeting new people, making new friends and navigating through the world on your own helped me transition from my nest (home) to the world. It is not an overstatement to say that she is the wind to my sails.

I have seen her buried in books in my childhood. Both my parents share this love for books and that was my initiation into the world of reading. I remember sitting by her side as she leafed through the books or sometimes mark the exam sheets. Her vocation of being a teacher intrigued me at first, and then irritated me. My constant complaint would be that she cares more for her students than her kids! My dream was to be able to read the finely printed books that she read and be able to put “tick mark” with red ink on somebody’s paper. And lo, I indeed followed her footsteps!

Aai and Baba are the bridge to many other people for me. I grew up with my paternal grandparents, but I always saw and tried to understand my maternal grandparents through her. When I would visit my grandparents, I had an image of them as my mother’s mother and my mother’s father. This qualification was enough for me to assume they must be like her (not the other way around). We often huddle up and discuss who’s doing what amongst the family members when we are all home. And Aai is our trove of stories. She does what all mothers do: convey our regards to all family members, wish everybody on special occasions for us, and often nudge my sister and me into contacting family members to keep in touch. I sometimes underestimate this process of building networks that thrive.

Her affection is the same for everyone. Like the waves of the sea that come to the shore, no matter who is standing; her care extends to everyone. We have a continual battery of guests – some unannounced – at our home, all round the year. It is the ongoing compliment to her hospitality. Even with this, she maintains individual space and gives all a freehand. You will not feel anxious in her presence. You can be who you are! You can choose not to tidy your room on some days too! Being her child, it is indeed great to say it out loud, that she was okay with me keeping my room messy. And she was also right, that I will learn to have a structure in the chaos I create. The method to madness part of me is the biggest gift from her 🙂

In her many colors of being a professor, mother, reader, writer at times, and a positive human being, she continues to give a little part of her to each one who meets her. I recall having a serious conversation about my teenage years with her. And her words impacted me so much, that I hugged her tightly. The warm moment froze for me, and I still vividly remember the soothing scent of her “odhni” as I wrapped my arms around her neck. Of my favorite foods, I try to replicate her dal (varan), that I still fail at. There is that right amount of water, turmeric, and love.  The taste lingers on my tongue and my mind, and these five senses have different safe keeps of Aai’s influence on me.

Aai is known within the family as a big movie buff. We often pride ourselves at her ability to guess a sing or a movie correctly, based on the tune, a short clip, name pf the character or some obscure details such as a fashion popularised after a certain movie. Her love for entertainment probably tricked down from her father, who was a movie enthusiast and would rent out video-cassettes for Hindi films (yes, that long ago). My sister and I recently introduced her to Asian series and movies, and oh, the love skyrocketed! She actively blogs about Asian entertainment here.

Love is difficult. And mother’s love is like hugging the cactus – the mother gets hurt until the cactus matures and blossoms

…2-20 to be continued.

D.