INDIRA LAISRAM

It is Durga Pujas. And the beginning of a festive season, when the smell of incense sticks, dhoop, candles wafts through every town and city and the Durga pandals are decorated with fierce competition and grandeur, each wanting to outdo the other. Not a whiff of the air here in Melbourne, hence the nostalgia. Going down memory lane, it was one of the most enjoyable time of my childhood. New clothes, new toys and gifts. What more could one ask for then?  My parents, avid Hindus, would tune to the radio six days before the Pujas to listen to Mahalaya. I never understood anything but I did know it was an auspicious moment heralding the onset of Durja Puja. The chants would blare from the radio in the wee hours of the morning. It did something to me, there was an unexplained feeling of happiness in the house as I would cover my head in my quilt and rejoice in passive participation. For the next four days, we would be busy as a family visiting various pandals in our new clothes and return

What happens when you see a lizard or any other creepy crawly things? Your gut feeling is to kill it! But for the first time, I am surrounded by ardent fans and supporters and I am a lone protester. The other day just as I stepped outside my door and down the steps, what do I see, a big lizard with a blue tongue and, ufff, I can't describe it further. Of course, I yelled out a loud scream which had my neighbour asking after me later. Lolo is used to my screams by now. My paranoia stems from everything including spiders, you know those daddy long legs! He walked behind me and I was explaining in plain hysteria the size of the lizard and so on. More livid was my state when I saw his non-plussed reaction. "Oh, it's a beautiful creature and it is harmless." Harmless? So what? I can't stand its look! I wanted to kill it immediately but thankfully it escaped from my sight and went into a hole it has dug out for itself underneath my steps and behind the flowers. The ne

I likes. This is a joke Nats and I share and only we understand. It's the sum of happy thoughts and something that has us in splits because it comes from something funny, too personal to air! So we likes. And the reason why I likes today is because Lolo is home sipping coffee, reading the papers and doing the normal stuff. His mere presence makes me happy. After saying hello to death from a near distance, we both feel this is a now a new life for us. And it is just the beginning of Spring, so significant like we are starting afresh, almost. Everything looks beautiful too. The days are pleasant, the flowers are beginning to bloom and I am weeding the garden too. I am learning to appreciate this gift of life even more. And if there is one thing that kept me going, it is the amount of love and good wishes from friends, (the family you take for granted :)) who emailed me regularly, called me, visited me and were there by my side. Thank you is a small word for it all. But I will treas