A BIRTHDAY WISH FOR A FRIEND WITH A NEVER DYING SMILE

If music had friends,
You would be one of its closest.

If laughter and fun needed an engine,
You would supply most of the thrust.

If friends required a lynch pin,
You would be the natural choice.

There is much more inside you,
Although your modesty wraps it beautifully.

Nobody would judge the amazing depth inside you,
Because you always sport a casual wrapping.

Happy Bday Dear Friend.

May destiny continue to preserve you,
As you are today,
With all the fun, love and smile.

A SCHOOL BAG FULL OF REMINISCENCES - JOURNEYS TO HOME FROM SCHOOL

Last week this time, my classmates got together on the occasion of our 30th year out of school. I could not make it, even though I tried my best to plan some time for it. Even though I am tied up with multiple tasks in my hand now, nothing can stop my mind rewinding its way into the past and bringing back those different moments from the archives.

Sometime last year, the HINDU reported on the canopies that still remained fresh in the city and the Constable Road in Chennai, connecting Ayanavaram to Perambur, featured in it. This road belongs to the Southern Railways. This was the road that most of us took to go to school. Looking back, I still believe, that we were gifted with such a beautiful canopy to tread through. The British presence in India has given its landscape a lot of organization and beauty. Although its oppression is that which always hogs our mind first and was what our forefathers strongly opposed, I doubt whether each of us in our school, thank the British for the organization called the Railways and the facilities that it opened up for its employees like the Railway Mixed Higher Secondary School, the Railway Headquarters Hospital, the Railway Quarters, the quiet roads like the Constable Road that further led into the inner quieter roads and the beautiful canopies that adorn most of these places even today.

Any batch will have its tiny clusters where a set of friends within it, find more comfort in being together. Our batch too had such clusters and some of these still remain intact. The journeys that took us to school and back to our homes, were what made school days so special. So let me try and recall some of the instances that we as clusters encountered while on these journeys. As always, anonymity gives me the freedom and comfort to write better and also puts my friends, in positions of comfort too.

When I started cycling to school, sometime in my 9th standard, I had a cluster of friends. Journeys to school were mostly solitary and we would get to meet classmates only by chance, as each would eject out from our homes with such speed and try and reach the school on time for our morning assembly. But, on the contrary, the return journeys were more relaxed, pleasurable and at ease. We drove together but the sad part was that we would reach home earlier, and so we had little time to wander around, primarily because, parents would be expecting us to get back in a certain span of time, unless some other schedules that they would be aware of, came in between.

But with the cycle in our hands, we had a different freedom, in that we could choose the route we wanted to take, while going back home, be it through the Perambur bridge, the Loco Works bridge or even the Carriage Works bridge although the last one involved some arduous times. But still we knew it was worth it. Our school was very close to the Carriage Works station and there was not a single day that we did not get to see a train whiz past. The Railways was very much a part of our daily life. That was the time that the steam locomotive was getting phased out and the diesel engines were taking their place. Watching the engine was like watching a beast, in all its roaring glory and domineering stature.

Through the Perambur bridge route, Pranav and Guna were the two with whom I would get together while Anarkesh, Ilu and Jammy would be another pack. When Anarkesh was not there, Ilu and Jammy would join our pack. The batch had students whose parents were at different income levels. So this had a bearing on how the clusters were getting formed. But still a few would be so modest and unassuming with all of us. Guna would be into his tricks with the cycle, trying to drive it with his hands free. I remember an incident where he got pretty close, trailing a bus, and when the bus stopped suddenly, the sharp point of his cycle’s front rim hit the bus and made a hole there. I could not believe a cycle could do that, but it happened. No one in the bus noticed though.

With Ilu, I had a company to discuss songs and we would sing some numbers while driving. Jammy and Pranav were humourous individuals and they kept the journey alive. We also had the female folk going as clusters alongside. Suni and Heera were in one and Nimi and Vidhu were into the other. Females were beautiful and adolescence kept eating into us, but the call of duty and responsibility, always kept us awake and oblivious of romantic encounters.

While on the Loco Works route, I had the company of Kandha and Ganapathy. With Kandha, the discussion would be mostly on study strategies. This really helped me a lot. Sometimes, I would stop at Ganapathy’s house for a while before moving ahead. He would mostly be answering my random questions but I liked his company. He was the Jackie Shroff of our batch. Have a look at him today and you will be stunned that he is all bald. To experience the Carriage Works bridge route, we have many times, even carried our cycles up and down the bridge. We took this route to experience more of the quiet canopies as the other routes had regular city traffic invading into them.

Prior to this stage, I went to school by walk. I had a clear six kilometres distance up and down, to cover, and I had never felt it to be a burden anytime during those days. I think walking that distance today for me is a big thing, although I do it sometimes. Pranav, Guna, Jammy and Jogs formed the cluster of friends, with whom I spent a long time in this period, walking to school and back to home. As little boys, Guna and I have kicked stones right from school all the way on the road to our home. I am not sure what pleasure we got out of this :) Sometimes we just stood on the Carriage Works bridge, to watch the acrobatics of the monkeys that were on the cranes inside the Carriage Works workshop. Walking up and then down on this bridge gave a special feeling each time. If we spotted a train approaching from yonder, we would wait to feel the rumble as it passed under us, and then again, wait to see it disappear in the distance.

On some other days we took a deviation on our return journey and went through the Railway Headquarters Hospital and then out through a gate near the Joint Office that was the building adjacent to it. This was primarily to enjoy watching the snails around the fountain near the Cardio Thoracic Unit inside the hospital. We would sit there on the edge of the pool and get the water sprinkles all over us. Sometimes, we would go through the street where Jammy stayed on Brock Road, which is a road close to the Railway Headquarters Hospital and then head for home. This way, we would get to spend more time with him. During one of these stints on a windy day, my umbrella parted with me and landed into the Railway Canal that runs parallel to this road. I had to bid good bye to it that day and spend an hour answering questions from my mother. I miss those wonderful moments where nature literally took us in her cradle right through. Jogs was mad about cricket and we spent a lot of time on discussions regarding bowling techniques. This was the period when the West Indian team had toured India under the captaincy of the dashing cricketer Alvin Kallicharan, who was a major contributor for the West Indies during their dominating periods at the World Cup. Jogs had pictures of all the cricketers with him and I believe cricket was the major thing that inundated Jog’s mind always.

Rains brought in a different dimension as we had water puddles and huge stretches of water, all over the place on this route. Guna and I have tried pelting stones, where there were huge stretches of rain water, to see the ripples we could create with the stone skidding over the surface. I should accept that he was pretty good at it. I don’t know how much my shoes would have loved it as they constantly went through these watery times. We also spent a lot of time, watching a variety of fishes, frogs and tadpoles during these stints. But the stealthy water snakes were those who garnered our special attention.

The advent of every month end brought in another dimension. There were vendors who lined up on both sides of the roads that we took on the Carriage Works bridge route. They sold so many trinkets and food items for the Railway staff to buy with their purses that were in full cry. It was a real sight. I remember spending some real time observing the things being sold, although I never ventured for a purchase anytime. We even witnessed the snake and mongoose fight that some hosted on these days.

The whole Railway area had parts of the railway system used in some form, either as a fence or as a divider at some place or the other. And so, parts like the rails, the fish plates or the sleepers, always got registered into our minds. A few yards away from the Carriage Works workshop, Guna, Pranav and myself have stopped many times to see the gas cutting of old carriage wheels. It was fun to watch the huge wheel that stood like a rock solid metal giant, give in and fall apart finally into pieces. At that point, I never knew that the surface of the wheel had a certain profile and that a lot of engineering went into its design.

These are some precious memories that I can recall while we were on these journeys. I believe that very few school going kids in the city would have experienced this, because there is no life in getting into a car or a school van and getting out of it at school, as was the case with most of the students of some of the top schools in the city. I would even say, life is curtailed when we are pillion riders on a bike and we get dropped at school by our parents or anyone who is appointed by them to do it. We friends in our cluster were lucky that way. Our life was in the distance that we covered together as friends.

MUSICAL FRAMES OF MAGIC -1- THE MAGIC OF THE "SENTHAZHAM POOVIL" SONG

It's my deep interest in music and art that has driven me to dedicate this series "Musical Frames of Magic", consisting of pieces of writing,  in appreciation and awe of some songs created in various languages. This series will continue, not as a continuous flow but as posts that will come in between the potpourri that I normally keep posting.

It is my interest to take such beautiful creations to all my readers, irrespective of the language they like or use, as music has only one language. I have not put any focus on the lyrics here. But still, for the inquisitive minds, let me summarize, that the essence of the poetry in this song, is the beautiful comparison of nature with the features of the woman, with whom, the character who sings, is in love with. My focus here, is only on the music, the camera shots that have been taken and the performance of the characters.

My first pick is the Senthazham Poovil song from the Tamil film Mullum Malarum. Singing while I drive is something I enjoy, but I won't recommend that you try it out, unless you have a very good control of your eyes, so that you don't take them off the road, while you sing :)). And I end up singing this song many times when I drive.

This song is the result of an ensemble of great artists like the high impact director Shri. Mahendran, the God sent poet Shri. Kannadasan, the natural musical genius Shri.Ilayaraja, the excellent supporting actor Shri.Sarath Babu (see him singing in this song and we can clearly understand how he subtly fits in so well), the breathtaking cinematographer Shri. Balu Mahendra, the actress who could don any powerful role, Shri. Shobha and the celestial singer who mesmerized many, with his heavenly voice Shri. K.J.Yesudas. All except Shri. Sarath Babu have garnered National Awards, sometime in their career. It could be because he was really unlucky. The great superstar of Tamil movies Shri. Rajinikanth, is also a part of this movie, but not this song.

When many greats come together, there is a large probability of a great outcome and this is very much seen in this song. I believe if Shri. Rajinikanth was the character singing this song, the visual impact of the character on the whole song would have been different and not so subtle, considering the weight he carried in the industry. And that positioning by Shri.Mahendran made this song all the more beautiful, as the viewers have no superstar or hero to get their eyes locked on to, but just the overall beauty of the screen and the song itself. I strongly believe, that even if Shri. Mahendran, tried to recreate this song, some beauty of the original would get lost. Such is the art that has got captured. 

When the song takes off, we have the initial humming which is  so melodious and mesmerizing. I have heard many singers trying to match this, but never being able to reach the purity of this rendering. The flutes take over and we are shown a narrow path through which the jeep travels...really breathtaking impact. 

Watch the facial expressions of the characters in the first chorus..it's so natural...there is emotion and a "let go" of ego by the character who sings, who is actually holding a respectable job and forgets his position and sings while in the company of working women of the estate where he is the officer. Of course there is a romantic inclination that he has for one of them and those inclinations travel between them through this song, like fine subtle threads. This makes the song all the more beautiful.

The shenayi takes over in the first interlude. Please keep your eyes glued to ensure you don't miss the beauty of art here. The shenayi ..watch the moutains...and then the flutes..through the canopy ...the chirps of birds...and then some great momentum in music as the jeep takes those sharp turns. This is simply mind blowing. Some scenic patches come through in the first paragraph as the character sings.

Watch the second interlude..where you see the jeep encountering a herd of sheep. We hear a combination of flutes and the violin while some beautiful landscape scenes slip by...so well crafted. In the second paragraph as the character sings, there is a beautiful bend that the jeep takes on a road that is at the edge of the mountain....breathtaking.

The song continues and the third interlude and third paragraph has more focus on the heroine. This is the only patch where art sort of takes a small backseat.

The finishing chorus again has such a beautiful crimson red sunset with silhouette of the heroine beautifully shot.

Right through, the celestial voice of Shri.K.J.Yesudas keeps us enthralled. 

I would drop my busy activities any day to listen to this song, anytime it gets played anywhere. Hope you all will take five minutes of your time to enjoy this mind blowing master piece.

VELANKANNI - ANOTHER TIME

I like tower lights. They give a different perspective to the photograph when we shoot a distant structure while they stand tall close by.

A SPECIAL VISITOR

The white and black shade was a real fascination. This is the best I could capture though.

MY TRYSTS WITH ATHEISTS

Anonymity has been maintained for all characters in this article.

It was just another normal day at the College of Engineering, Guindy at Chennai. This was sometime between the years 1987 and 1989 and I was making my way from one building to another to attend the next class. I thought I caught the glimpse of a 100cc vehicle go past me from my back and heading for a small junction ahead. The visibility of vehicles approaching from the left or the right, at the junction, was pretty bad, because of the low lying tree branches. And then, in a flash, a jeep appeared from the road running perpendicular to the one on which the bike was on and suddenly, all I heard, was a loud crash. It was a vehicle that belonged to the University that had collided with the bike and lying there writhing and groaning in pain was my batch mate Sarvesh from the C and D batch. I was then part of the A and B batch. I was not one of those gregarious characters then and I don’t think am so different even now. I had just been passing smiles at Sarvesh till then, like I kept doing with many other classmates whom I had come to know at college.

I rushed to the spot and am not sure who else was there from our class. I don’t know what made me volunteer to join the others in carrying him and placing him into a vehicle. I accompanied him to the hospital and while he was there on the bed, the police came in and they took the statement from me. I don't think he had noticed my accompanying him to the hospital, in all the pain that he was going through. I came to understand later, that the damage was so bad that some part of his feet had to be amputated. It was a shocking happening for me. Much later, I saw him get back to college and we still kept exchanging smiles and nothing beyond that happened. College got over and decades slipped by and we got connected through Facebook, but still it was just a “Hi” and nothing beyond it.  I could not make it to the grand re-union of our batch for the 25 years completion that happened in August 2015 and one evening, just after that re-union day, my friends got me into the college WhatsApp group.

I found it like a breath of fresh air, primarily because I could see a huge list of people bubbling around. I had had very little connect before with many of them, but I got connected with them quickly. Besides, it was a nice opportunity for me to share whatever I was experimenting with, be it writing, singing, painting and other pursuits.  I have to mention that the group gave me lot of solace during the challenging period when Chennai was battered with heavy rains. But right on the first day, I noticed Sarvesh hog the limelight. There was a debate on the existence of God that he was leading, right on that day I joined and I came to understand that he was an atheist. I thought, that would just be a small part of the whole, while talent pursuits and other healthy discussions would form the majority. But as time slipped by, I noticed that it was not so. Yes there would be discussions on several topics, and they were really good, like those on children's education, social issues and how as a group we could address them, value of certain types of education and their relevance today and so forth, but finally the roads would all lead to the same God topic as Sarvesh would intervene and take over. Well, I thought, nothing wrong. As a group, we could discuss anything as long as we never crossed the limits.

In the same group is another classmate Mike, whom I had known much more closely. Songs had been our common interest and continues to be so even today. He too is an atheist, but there is a suave approach to his arguments. I have to agree that I have gone through most of his points that came through as part of his discussions. It is not whether I agree or disagree that matters, but his approach drew me into reading most of what he shared.  Sarvesh was on the obnoxious side but as long as the discussion was based on valid data, it went good.  Sarvesh also has this habit of picking up specific individuals and taunting them on their religious sentiments. He is adept at bringing out travesty and cheap humour on religion. Although he would declare that all should be careful in forwarding content that are not to his liking, he took the freedom to create or forward travesty and cheap content. He liked seeing friends wriggle with discomfort and then gave them space when he chose through his domineering moves, as part of his condescending mercy. One of my classmates Krant, a great body builder, had to leave the group because he could not stand the onslaught of Sarvesh. It is sad that a person with such a great body was not strong enough to take the mental onslaught of Sarvesh.

Next in line was me and he enjoyed taunting me with his questions on Christianity. This happened especially when I made it a point to be out of the WhatsApp group during the long Holy Lent period. That was the time Sarvesh took the freedom to add me into the group and taunt me with a few challenging questions on Christianity. There were many other friends whom I had known closely and who were really polite, but Sarvesh was quite the opposite. He was taking liberties even though we were not close at all. I began explaining to him very politely a few times but finished pretty rudely every time. It’s not that I felt good about it, but it was spontaneous.  I had made several sudden exits from the group during these times of altercation and the last was before the Lent. This disturbed the rhythm in the group.

I joined back again after the Lent and the same climate continued. After the last altercation that Sarvesh and myself had, where I very successfully managed to provocate him, I realized that the group was always into helpless stress situations whenever we went head on. It was not my intention to provocate, but it was out of an involuntary move, that it always happened. Nobody likes a taste of their own medicine, and that too when we force the mouth open and serve it like nice polio drops. It was funny, as the group hesitated to tell him like how I told him. So they would message me separately and tell me how to deal with him. At one point, it was like the matador and toreros in a Spanish bullfight. But then, I thought, silence from my side would really help the group. Till today, Sarvesh has been trying his taunting methods and I have remained aloof. There is a style to his taunting that I like. I believe it happens only when there is a slight variation in a human’s hypothalamus, which again, could be because the human was born when nature went through serious anomalies :)). Well, I was just kidding. Actually I would love to have Sarvesh as a friend and I wish he soon realizes how much better he can be, while sharing the information on God and religion from his point of view.

Humour apart, I have had a few atheist friends and all of them have really been helpful in some way to me. Over the last few weeks, I have stopped reading or participating in the college WhatsApp group and that has helped me save a lot of time for the family and for my avocations. The more the unread messages in a group, the more I consider it as an achievement. I was very far from the smart world until 2014 February, when I first invested in a smart phone and joined WhatsApp. Although I am good at managing my time, still participation in WhatsApp messaging requires an amount of time. So, if am away from WhatsApp groups especially and back to my primitive days, spending more time on important things, it’s because of Sarvesh. He has helped me that way. On the other hand, Mike has been instrumental in inspiring me to take up programming again, a craft that I had abandoned almost a decade back. So that is another benefit from an atheist.

During the floods last December, my friend Moja, another atheist, was a great help. He kept me informed in advance, what the weather had in store and that really helped me take my decisions well. He gave me company through the November 23rd encounter on the roads through the rains and traffic jam that ensued, even carrying a part of my luggage. We have had many bus rides together and talked many subjects at length. My previous boss Beven, with whom I have had several rides in his car, while going back home, is a friend with whom I have shared a lot from my life and my pursuits. He is a strong atheist too and a very good man. Since my meeting him in 2008, there is not one career decision I have made, without consulting him. He has been an inspiration for many aspects at work.

On a rainy morning in November 1982, I was waiting outside the Railway Hospital mortuary at Chennai, to pay condolences to a close family on the death of an elder person.  In those days, it was difficult to get a hospital assistant at the Railway Hospital, to clean and dress the body before taking it out for burial. Moti Uncle, who was known to our family since I was a child, was already into it all alone and he was cleaning the body and dressing it up. Imagine touching a dead body after it has been in a mortuary for days, leave alone cleaning it. Many other family friends who were religious bastions, just stood there witnessing this great atheist in action. When my mother had gone on her heavenly abode in 1979, our family had food served from Moti Uncle's house for a few days. He was always one of the first individuals to offer any kind of help. Moti Uncle was a great motivator too for me. I was a diffident character while into the early years at school and if I overcame that and started speaking on stage in several functions, it was purely because of his persuasion and the belief he had in me. He many times took the initiative, to position me for giving a speech at several functions we had had in our prayer meeting groups. I tremendously benefited from this association with him.


All these atheists other than Sarvesh, behaved like normal humans. They approached atheism, without taunts that made other people think, whether they were facing an animal, that should in turn be given animal treatment. Other than Sarvesh and Mike, I never saw the other atheists engage people in discussions on atheism and religion. Again Mike was good in the way he presented, with a very polite and urbane approach and he has always been a great friend. It was not like what Sarvesh did, where the same topic was taken and discussed with such a crass approach, repeatedly for months without reaching any conclusions. On the other hand, what was special about Moja, Moti Uncle and Beven was that they never got into any discussions on religion, but they just demonstrated goodness in their daily life. They just lived their life and co-existence was always what everyone looked for with them. After all, a quiet demonstration of goodness through one’s life, is the best way to inspire, rather than plain parroting.

THE BATTLE WITH SEEMINGLY STILL WATERS- THE FINAL BOUT

This article comprises of a series of four posts. This is the final post. It begins with

http://cherryspace.blogspot.in/2016/04/he-led-us-into-and-through-still-waters.html

We could not hold on for long at our makeshift place, leaving my father and sister at our home. Panic, banging on the thresholds of paranoia filled within us. We were not sure if the bore and sump water was contaminated as the authorities and the television news, did mention about sewage having leaked out and mixed with the water supply in a few places in our area. Magesh kept dissuading me from going back to my home and wanted me to talk to my father and sister to get them back to the makeshift place as the next BIG rain was coming.  The building had taken a huge brunt of the rain and the walls were all having wet patches. The very thought of school and having to operate from the make shift place for the same, which was at least 12 kilometres more by car and my daughter having to be alone post school time at the makeshift place, till either me or my wife came back from work, made us take a decision to move back to home. Necessities many times force us to take decisions which really may not be the best ones.

We moved back on Nov 25th which was a working day, in the evening. We had to spend hours on cleaning of the first floor including that of the refrigerator and the cupboards, before we could start life. It really took time. I was really scared of my daughter's health as her immunity had always been low. So we had to be careful about the water being used. The sump was fully contaminated and we had decided not to venture into cleaning it until all the rains were done. The bore water was what was being pumped up to the overhead tank and that had a very distinct smell and a light yellow colour too. My father and sister had already started using it. Cooking and drinking was of course with the canned water, but the bore water was being used for everything else. Me and my sister, spent about 5 hours, pumping out the water from the bore, until 2 a.m. in the morning. The water had seemed to be getting better then.

Sickness slowly found its way in. My father who was mostly confined to bed with liver cirrhosis, was the first to get high bouts of fever and next was my sister, but with anti-biotics, they got back to normal. I had decided not to venture out and to just work out of my make shift place, after the November 23rd road adventure and now I continued in that mode out of home. By the time we hit the weekend, my daughter fell sick and I too went into the same mode with diarrhea and vomiting. We had to spend some time at a hospital's emergency wing and then a day at a ward, before we got back home. Mahesh had called me up while at the hospital and told me to move out as soon as I reached home, back to the make shift place, as the BIG rain was coming and that it was really unsafe to be at our home.We had a real paranoia now for the types of water we used. The following Monday morning which was December 6th, the sky looked ominous.

The rain started and I called up Jeeva uncle, one of my family friends, to get help to clean our overhead tank once again, as lot of dirt had settled in its walls and base and it was showing up in the water flowing down from it. The several attempts at cleaning done earlier was probably not enough. He came with two men and they started cleaning the tank. Heavy rain started and my wife had just left for work. He advised me to leave the place and go to Ayanavaram. I took his help to convince my father and sister and we quickly decided to move out this time. We had the time to take all we want  and the time to pack, as the rain water was yet to rise on the road or within our home, and we could take out both our cars.

We left before afternoon and the rain was pouring down as we drove. It was difficult to drive as the visibility was poor and the roads were full of huge pot holes. We reached the make shift place and resumed our stay again. We were continuously viewing the television to get updates. The next day's rain hit South Chennai mercilessly and several reservoirs had to be opened with no notice at all. The city's total landscape changed and most of the places were inundated unlike the first bout where only some low lying places like ours were under water. There were places now where even the first floor was under water and this time the water there was pretty aggressive with strong currents. Our neighbours informed us that water had got in after we had left our home. We were pretty lucky that the water was seemingly still and just under the knee level. During the previous big bout, the people at Ayanavaram had been confident that water would never invade them, but with the rains ravaging at this rate, even their confidence was shaken now. However, the place still remained dry and the canal was still in full cry.

My hunt for food and water continued. The mobile recharges at shops were all down as the network towers of many providers were in bad shape due to the rains. The supply of canned water was getting choked in the different shops that I tried. I kind of got desperate at one point and entered a Nilgiris super market. My eyes scanned the 2 litres bottled water cartons having ten in each. In one flash decision, I wiped clean all the 6 cartons that were there and loaded them into my car. It cost me a bomb, but I had actually bought some peace for my mind with that. So long as the canned water was there, the bottled water was kept intact and used only for my daughter. While at the super market on the first day, where I had grabbed bottled water, I had also grabbed noodle packets. The second day, the noodle shelf was empty. Milk was never there and every other day when I went there, biscuits, cakes and other bakery items slowly disappeared one after the other. It was an alarming situation as we did not know what the weather had in store, to offer next. I noticed that people from ten or fifteen kilometres away, were coming to Ayanavaram to buy medicines as their places were all under water.

My wife had no option but to go for work at the hospital after being at the make shift place for a few days. A van picked her up from there and I packed water and some food for her anticipating that she would not be able to get back from the hospital, as no one would come to relieve her. She had to stay for two days at the workspot, just as I had anticipated. I continued to work from the make shift place. My sleep was less through the nights as I kept vigil, often looking out at the garden outside, to see if water had invaded.

The rains continued their decree with the same merciless and domineering demeanour. We prayed like we had never ever prayed before. The rains stopped some time in the second week of December. My father and sister returned home first and all the cleaning had to be done all over again. We moved in just before Christmas and had a very simple Yuletide celebration. We had missed out retrieving a huge collection of photographs from the lower pane of our wooden shelf. The whole bunch had got soaked in water and I found it difficult to come to terms with the damages on those fine memories. 

Peeping out of the windows, we almost had the same feel of seeing the Christmas snow as bleaching powder was all over the place. The administration did a good job of ensuring that bleaching powder was put at all places. Psalms 23 says "He led us beside the still waters", but I believe God led us into the still waters, gave us an experience and then led us safely through it too. We are thankful to God for having led us through the still waters.