Tag: hindi

The Devil in the Empty Classroom!

June 18, 2024 / / 0 Comments

An idle brain is a devil’s workshop. My dad had written me an essay once, with the same opening line, during my school days and I even won the elocution. (He would write me beautiful essays to read and I would learn them to win elocution competitions. What a happy memory!) The particular competition I am talking about is when I had to talk about T.V.

Before I begin to tell why I started the post talking about the devil, let us get into flashback mode, with me as your guide.

I was a student of GSHS, a popular school in those days and later has changed its name to NHS!

Like in all schools, we had to elect our first languages. The whole class was divided into Telugu and Hindi sections only during our language period. I was part of the Hindi gang and that’s where this particular story starts.

Since our school was in a predominantly Telugu locality in Telugu state, there were less number of students in our Hindi class. Most of my fellow Hindi students were Muslims, so the Hindi I would talk in those days was a mix of Urdu and Hindi!

If you ever read the Harry Potter books, you would know that the Slytherins had their common room in the dungeons! Similarly, most of our primary classes were held underground, in the cellar! (If you ever wonder why some people have nightmares, this may be one of the reasons!)

Anyway, if you are in a Hindi class, then lucky you, you get the last classroom at the end of the cellar, the very dead end and the darkest room as your classroom. (We only move to the Hindi class during Hindi period.)

Even with lights on, I guess most army people would feel safe in it, since it resembled a bunker than a classroom! On top of the darkness and the silence, we even had rows and rows of iron benches topped with wood, piled on top of each other  in the corner of the said classroom and we Hindi class kids felt their ominous presence!

While the grade 1 me was getting used to this weird classroom, one fine morning there was a rumour in our school. The assembly was buzz with students talking in whispers, that there was a devil in the empty Hindi classroom, hiding behind the , you guessed it right, the benches!

YIKES!

Suddenly some of my friends even went as far as to testify that they had seen blood red eyes looking back at them from among the piled up benches! (I have always been a scaredy cat, so that scared the hell out of me!)

An idle brain is a devil’s workshop.  (Turns out that even an idle classroom is a devil’s workshop!)

Empty Classroom = Devil’s workshop! (pic courtesy : Google)

As the day progressed, the afternoon was given a holiday and we were all sent home! (I don’t know if it was a coincidence or it was to get to the bottom of the rumours, but we had an afternoon off!)

While I was coming out of the cellar, from our classroom, I heard the general chatter about how the devil had scratched the P.T. sir and how his face is now disfigured and that is the reason for the day off! Even the next day had been declared a holiday!

Even though we had an unexpected holiday, I met my friends at their house, only to gossip again about how the school watchman had seen the ghost at night and how students are scared of going to the restrooms….

Once the school re-opened, we began moving about in groups. I dreaded going to the Hindi class and I bet others were scared too.  Luckily, the Hindi students had some good news. We were designated a new classroom, with good lighting etc and we soon forgot the damn rumours.

Even now when I think back about the incident, I wonder if that is the real reason the Hindi classroom was changed!

Do you believe a devil or ghost can stay in an empty classroom?

P.S:

  1. This incident happened in my primary school days when I was in Grade 1. I remember it distinctly because I was so scared at that time. I remember talking about it to my friends and family too.
  2. I am not disclosing the name of the school because, even if our school was best at studies, who even has classes in the cellar, which is dimly lit? I even remember my first Hindi teacher, Ms. Shiva Parvathi mam.
  3. Couple of years later, the school had been moved into its own 6 flooried building. I moved to a new school after Grade 3, it was a life changing move, because I made friends for life and also met Mr.Bee.

Till the next post, cheerio!

To Ooty, at last!

June 24, 2023 / / 2 Comments

Day 2:

Originally we had planned on starting our drive from Bengaluru to Ooty at 6 in the morning but ended up starting little after 9:30 a.m. Inspite of that, there was little traffic. Thank Ram, Sita, Lakshman and their gang! (Just saw trailer of Adipurush and no wonder I keep remembering the said Gods!)

Mr.Bee rode us through the Nice Road, from Bengaluru to Mysore.  It was a good road and a drive on it felt like flying on the clouds! (I am scared of high speeds and Mr.Bee is a fan of speed racing.)

We made a brief stop near Mysore City Bus Nildana. I wanted to reminiscence the good old days of my life at Infosys, Mysore campus. My friends and I would come out of the campus every weekend to Devaraja Wodeyar Market and enjoy hours of retail therapy, called shopping by mere mortals! We would buy fresh fruits to last the week and I also remember buying a number of books by Agatha Cristie, along with clothes and accessories.

I showed one of our regular haunts to Mr.Bee, the Cauvery Emporium. He loved all the Rosewood furniture on display there. GBee refused to leave the Rose wood sofa set on display, whereas KBee was mighty impressed with the Rosewood inlay frames of Lord Ganesha on display!

Karthikeya(KBee) admiring the Ganesha Inlay!

The above pic is sourced from search engine, but KBee kept pulling at my kurti, to make me move towards this one frame of the elephant headed Lord Ganesha, all the while uttering the words, ‘It’s an elephant, it’s an elephant, mommy!’ (KBee couldn’t differentiate between my favourite God and an elephant. He is only 2 years old, so, Saat Khoon Maaf!)

I really really wanted to have my lunch at Das Prakash, since it was already late, we rushed to the Kamat  Madhuvan, Ittige Gudu, which was nearby. The Kamat Hotel at Lakdikapul, Hyderabad is a personal favourite, so we gave this Mysore Kamat restaurant a chance! (Next time Das Prakash!)

Although we had to wait a little while to get seated, I loved the food that was served there. We had the North Karnataka Thali. The menu had Jowar roti, methi leaves and cucumber salad, sprouts curry to name a few. It is a win win for health conscious people. We bought a paan at the end, to round up our meal. (I worried myself silly, that Mr.Bee may feel sleepy behind the wheel, what with such a hearty meal!)

The brief lunch halt turned out to be more than a two hour break, but never mind, who is rushing us? No one!

The Mysore to Ooty road is a pleasant drive.  We hardly met any traffic and the beauty was scenic. Just before entering the forest area, Mr.Bee and I bought Kala Jamun and Choco Bar ice creams respectively. (The kids were fast asleep in the car-bed and we enjoyed our ice creams!) We drove to Ooty via Bandipur Forest as well as Mudumalai Forest, saw deers, stags, elephants, monkeys in huge numbers. We also saw a couple of peacocks too. That’s when we woke up the kiddos, who were excited to watch the animals up close. In the middle of the forest, among-st the flora and fauna, I felt at peace! (in-spite of two hyper kids shouting at the top of their lungs!)

Since, all the deer are ignoring the camera, enjoy the scenery!

The Baby Elephant with its two legged friend.

The drive in the forest was the best. We took the longest possible route to Ooty, hoping to spot more and more animals and to entertain the kiddos. The ghat roads are a fun drive and after every 3 turns, there would be a tiny stall, selling boiled sweet corns, wild baby carrots, pickled Indian gooseberries (Amla in Hindi, usirikaya in Telugu) , jack fruits (panasa in Telugu) in varied sizes. The mountainous region looked over-populated, if the traffic is any indication!

By the time we reached our hotel in Ooty, La Montana it was already 8 p.m. and the temperature was 14 C. Since the dinner would be served only till 9, we rushed to our room for a breather and rushed to the in-house restaurant to have our buffet dinner.

La Montana – Heaven on Earth

The buffet was memorable because, there was a musician playing live music on his tiny piano. He was playing a recent hit song from the Tamil movie starring Dhanush and Samyukta Menon, Sir, to be exact. I even recorded it in a video, but it is not presentable, thanks to my kids running here and there, in front of my cell, trying to distract me!

Anyway, we reached the room, tried to watch a little t.v., but soon dozed off into a deep slumber, thanks to the cold climate, cozy bed and comforters.

Ooty, we will check you out tomorrow! That’s my last thought before sleeping away.

P.S:

  1. My precious little gems, my chocolate filled muffins, GBee and KBee talk mostly in English, even if I talk in Telugu to them. Looks like the pink Peppa Pig is a bigger influence than the stay-at-home-mom! They even have Peppa Pig night wear, those little tv addicts!
  2. La Montana – The heaven on Earth, because, the view is to die for! From the balcony, we could see the beautiful estates, the rose gardens, people going about their business, the nearby mountains, the huge trees and far away valleys, look at the Sun Rise, feel the mild breeze and what not! If you don’t have your cuppa tea here, in the balcony, every morning during your stay, I don’t know why you even planned your stay there!
  3. I forgot the shop, but in the Devaraja Market, Mysore, we get the best asafoetida or hing. My uncle showed the store to me, but I have forgotten it with the passing of more than a decade of time! (Any Mysore locals reading this post can direct message me. Any help is appreciated.)
  4. While we were passing the Mudumalai forest, I remembered Oscar winning documetary The Elephant Whisperers which was shot here and wondered if I would meet the now famous duo! We didn’t, obviously!
  5. I wonder who named the jack fruit, it feels like cursing the poor fruit!
  6. This is not a sposored post. I am just naming the eateries and places, which I really enjoyed.

Wait for the next post. Till then, adios!

Passion for Pottery!

April 19, 2023 / / 2 Comments

Have you watched the 1997 film, Titanic, directed by James Cameron? What is the most memorable scene that comes to your mind when you think of the movie ?

Some remember the last scene of Rose on the wooden plank and Jack freezing to death in the ocean, some remember an old couple dying together in their bed,  some cheerful people remember the famous titanic pose! But what I remember is the 100 Yr old Rose making pottery, in her very first scene! That was the moment I thought, wait, I need to learn pottery! (Love at first sight!)

Bam! More than 15 yrs after watching the scene, I land in Charlotte and learn pottery for nearly 2 years, spending minimum of 24 hrs, each week!

My first love is, was and will be pottery!

So today, P for Pottery.

Pottery done by Queen Bee!

The above image shows part of the collection of pottery I made. I have nearly 60 pieces of pottery with me. (I, especially shipped them to India, thanks to Mr.Bee for understanding my passion for pottery. One or two pieces of my collection ended up broken, but its fine. I can live with that!)

Pottery is the art or process of making articles or vessels with clay. There are two basic techniques in pottery,  hand building and wheel throwing.

Let’s see what wheel throwing is about….

Firstly, the required lump of clay is shaped or kneaded, just like how we do with roti dough! This is the most important step. The air bubbles are pottery’s worst enemy. They can cause cracks.

There are different methods of kneading too!

Then the kneaded or prepped clay is thrown on the potter’s wheel, which is run through an electric motor and different articles of varied shapes are made.

A creamer pot and a cookie jar – Any external design is added at this stage.

Once the required shapes are made, they are let to dry and then fired in the kiln. There are many different firing techniques too. But I only tried electric firing. I wish I had tried the Japanese Raku. (I was expecting my first baby GBee when we were taught Raku firing and I skipped the class!)

Bisque fired Creamer pot and Cookie Jar

Once the pottery is bisque fired, it is then glazed with different colours. They look something like this.

Glazed pottery is fired and the finished pottery looks something like this.

That’s the process of wheel thrown pottery. But if are into creating something unique, then hand building is for you.

I tried my hand at hand building to make an elephant. It is a tedious process but very gratifying and satisfying! Even bowls , cups  and vases also can be made through hand building.

The Elephant – My only hand built pottery! 

So, did you like pottery?

P.S:
1. Pottery is an ocean of an art! More posts on pottery will be out in future. I can’t fit everything about it in a single post.

I miss pottery. Hope to get back to it. The couple of coffee mugs in the first image are the ones I made for me and Mr.Bee.  All the images except the one with the kneading of clay are my own.

2. Some glazes are not safe for food consumption. Proper warning is generally given, if the pottery is unsafe for food consumption.

3. The only advice I would like to give as a former potter, is that, if at all any or the porcelain or ceramic articles you have at your house is chipped or develops a crack(even a hairline crack), do dispose it and don’t try eating/drinking in those. It is highly dangerous chemically as well as a hazard if you end up consuming the chips of the articles by mistake!

4. The other hobbies starting with a P are Polo, Painting, Para-sailing, Para- gliding and Photography. (which is Mr.Bee’s passion!)

Till the next post, alvida!

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