Cock-a-doodle-do and other Sounds...

5 am...I hear the first strains of the morning call. It drowns into part dream,part reality, part drowsiness. I drift back into sweet slumber. 8 am it seems clearer. A lazier call this time to suit my mood but yet does not lose its identity of a 'wake up' call. I wake up. As I brush with the icy cold water fetched from the water tank I can hear activity in the kitchen which is in the backyard outside the house. My uncle is sweeping the verandah and my grandfather muttering and mumbling some displeasure about the sugar content of the morning tea. The three little pups are clear with their playful squeaks. By nine the familiar sounds of the bell from Govindaji temple nearby ring, ten times, I counted once. The ring of the bell has remained the same. Even afetr 15 years it is part of my morning and evening sounds, unchanged and undulating. At sharp 9 am when the prayers are offered and the Gods are cleaned and fed, one can hear the chants and the tiny gongs in musical unity. The 9 am Indigo flight coming fron Delhi flies above our red brick house bringing others back to their homeland, Manipur.
An occasional collection of young laughter I heard once as I was sipping the sweet milk powder tea and eating boiled cucumber. Like when someone cracks a witty joke in the middle of a speech. And it seemed as though the listeners were in rapt attention. My aunt told me that it was coming from a tuition class ( a succesful one it must be) right behind our house. After an hour I heard numerous bicycles clinking and carefree banter of young boys and girls( it became a commonplace thing to hear them)....it made me feel older...sigh..
11.30 and I hear it again. I wondered why it would shout out in the middle of the morning. Wasn't it supposed to be only in the mornings? However, it enforces the lazy and drowzy feeling. I like it so i dont bother finding out. By this time it is quiet. I can hear the whistle of the pressure cooker, which brings to mind what special food is being cooked on the second day of my visit. I am already hungry, and having nothing to do does not help contain my hunger pangs. I sit to read beneath the tree partly in the shade and partly getting warm under the sun. I read for a while...... then sounds take me away from the book- the squirrels, and the colorful birds chirping, the sound of thr poultry gurgling, the radio with a Manipuri ballad..... it's not long before I feel at peace and capture the moment in my being.

Mickey comes near me after having roamed the streets, wagging his tail, I call out " Mickeeyy.... Mickiiiccckkeeey' and he responds ... ' booooooooo'. It generates love.

The power of sounds is strange......:)

Faces in the Crowd?

Some faces make me happy...
My day is brightened when I see these faces. A muffin just got baked somewhere, warm and fuzzy..when I catch a glimpse of these faces!
The person sipping coffee at the table across, a face in the audience, a collegue, a senior, a junior, a passerby in the familiar corridors. That's how it all begins. It began...for me. A person sipping coffee...breeds a strange sense of familiarity and need. My eyes scan the many tables for that one face. There comes a time when the simplest gesture is exchanged- a smile. A smile that brings an undefined joy. A face in the audience..yes. The only face that was composed yet smiling. The same face seen in the corridors, the face is that of a senior.... Calm and composed as we cross and beaming after I cross the person. A chocolate walnut cake just got baked....
Temporary...the faces maybe temporary. We move away...they move away. I search...a day, a week..and a new face appears-the muffins..!
Today a Chocolate Walnut cake got baked somewhere for sure....!

Inspiration:Nigela

Generosity is a good word, and generous helpings of oft avoided foods sounds like heaven. At the thought and sight of it my stomach has a pleading smile and my face betrays my longing.
I was flicking through the T.V channnel's the other day(like when one really needs to 'get a life'), twice over already. Finally, I decided to watch Nigela Lawson's show. A neat lady who evidently has the passion to cook and savour what she cooks. And every bit of her accent sounds like chocolate truffle (bizzare eh?!). Sandwich. She was preparing sandwich that day. Yes, as simple as a sandwich..and I was mesmerised!
The whole grain bread-fresh and sunny, the black currant jam-dark and tangy, and the homemade cream cheese-rich and well...creamy!
Okay, I had to bite into this sandwich! The show over, I check my kitchen for possible ingredients that at least 'look' like what Nigela had used. So down comes the plum jam, the lid tight over it from a long period of not being opened. umm...I'm not much of a jam person, but anyway , next..yeah there you are, the plain cheese spread and finally the whole grain bread (woohoo! somethings the same..ditto).
So here we are, all the ingredients in front of me..and a delightful dish we are ready to prepare!( a dialogue rambling on in my head).
I slop on a generous quantity of cheese spread on the bread, not in a neat way but just a lot of it on every inch of the bread. Then the plum jam (mmm..smells good, right out of he farms), with the butter knife I spread it over the slice. One slice comes on top of the other and the sandwich is ready! The dialogue is still on in my head..trying to let chocolate truffle emanate through my words!
And there you go...mmm, this is really good. Almost sinful. Savour..mmm, happy...savour. Get a life?? No, go make yourself a generous sandwhich!
I felt the bliss of eating 'generous' that day. Liberating. Awesome!

By the way, just in case, don't try my cheese spread and plum jam recipe. And if you do think of trying it, do it after watching Nigela's show..it'll taste better!!