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The Matter of Happy Holidays!

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The Matter of  ‘Happy Holidays’ ! Only nine days left for 2024 to end, but the good thing, they bring Christmas with them. Whether Christian or just a Christmas enthusiast, we all flow with the spirit of Christmas - rewarding the good, giving and sharing, lots of bright lights and decorations, great food and drinks, not to forget presents? I remember how as a child I looked forward to my parents’ Christian friends including Bishop Rego, bringing square, round or loaf-sized rich fruity plum cakes with that distinct fading smell of alcohol. Even now most people I know, and non-Christians at that, get scraggly green plastic decorations, tie bits and baubles on them, call them Christmas trees, and place brightly packed packages under them as gifts. Clubs, offices and residential societies organize variety programmes and lunches. Office parties end with Secret Santa-a ritual that can either bring joy or dismay to the recipient when they open the gift. Like Diwali, Christmas has al...
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Pause for a smile!

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Pause for a smile! The string of festivals has come and gone, there is a nip in the air in the early morning, the days are getting shorter, it is time to take a breather and smile at some things we notice around us before we lock ourselves indoors to avoid the cold.   Very clear instructions indeed, I must say.  Top photo:  Those who do not trust scans and doctors' scalpels cutting open their precious cranial box, can perhaps visit this shop. Isn't he claiming that he repairs all kinds of heads? Photo: Hansel Aubert I have yet to understand if these are two different pieces of advice. Is it that one should generally stay away from God who lives beyond this wall or simply that God is watching, so one should not park their vehicle there? Why? I do not see God's chariot parked there. One thing is clear that the bravehearts whose  scooters are parked there,  like an open challenge either way. Is going to the loo otherwise a public event? Was the applicant shipped f...
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Awesome? I hope not!

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  Awesome? I hope not! I hope all of you celebrated Diwali with your family and friends- you lighted diyas, candles and strings of shining tiny electric lights, ate your favourite mithai, symbolically fired some crackers, shared your blessings with the others, exchanged thoughtful gifts and prayed to Goddess Lakshmi to visit your house. Did you have a great time? Did Diwali bring happiness and satisfaction for everyone? Did it reignite old memories? Will the festival qualify as ‘awesome’ for you? Let me tell you why I am asking this. I do not consider myself a language prude, but sometimes the wrong/strange use of some words annoys me and awesome is among the most dreadful ones on this list. Yes, you read it right, awesome is now the cliche used inappropriately in almost all situations unworthy of any measure of awesomeness. The dictionary explains awesome as something inspiring awe, something extremely impressive or daunting . Awesome is what generates among one dre...
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Handle her with caution

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Handle her with caution If you have any plans for tomorrow, I would suggest - change them, postpone or cancel them because Sunday, October 27 is ‘Mother-in-law’ day. You might tell me it is not (yet) celebrated in India. But who knows with commercialisation of every relation, this could be the next one to catch the advertisers’ and sellers’ attention. Do not tell me later that I did not warn you. It is easy to remember too - the Sunday before Halloween. Forgive me for my ignorance but I have zero idea about who were the first in-laws on our planet. A friend says they differ from outlaws because most of them are not even wanted. They are a tricky relation, and mother-in-law tops the list. As early as in the first century Roman poet Juvenal had written in Satire VI, a collection of his poems: ‘ Give up all hope of peace as long as your mother-in-law is still alive. ’   Cartoons- Top L: Indian Art History Top R:Mythindia Bottom: Cartoon Genie A rather harsh Korean prover...
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Making tea, coffee time special

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Making tea, coffee time special For a long time, I have collected mugs, those larger-than-cup containers with a handle, from which you drink your tea/coffee/hot chocolate. They are made of ceramic, steel, clay, glass, plastic and even a wooden and an enamel one. Some are hand washable only and others dishwasher and microwave-safe. They are monochromatic, multi-coloured or colour-blocked, some insulated or with lids, normal or odd in shape and appearance. Photos Left: Arquitecasa                     Right: Bunzlauwinkel.nl I am told the belief is that gifting a mug is a sign of love and friendship because the recipient would think of the giver whenever he/she uses it. I have been given mugs as gifts on my birthday or some other occasion, with hearts, flowers, cute animals, landscapes, cartoons, happy birthday/sentimental/motivational/funny messages printed in various fonts on them, or there are themed ones. Occasionally frien...
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Stalin - a saint or the Devil’s messenger

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Georgia Diary 5 last Stalin - a saint or the Devil’s messenger L: Stalin's statue at Gori R: The house where he was born Last week I mentioned visiting Jvari monastery and Uplistsikhe rock town. It was evening and the sun was moving towards the west when enroute Tbilisi, we stopped in Gori, a small town marked on the world map because it was here that Joseph Stalin, Soviet politician and revolutionary, was born and spent the first few years of his life. There is a museum in the Central Square which was officially dedicated to Stalin in 1957. The complex consists of the main building with the exhibits and the two-storey-house where he was born. The railway carriage he used for travelling in his days as a leader, is parked outside. As you enter the large building, you see marble stairs with a red carpet and Stalin’s statue on the landing. On going up further you pass through six halls to watch a permanent display of the Bolshevik leader’s photographs, letters, battle plans...
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