The Wind, The Chimes and The Beast

Indifiction Workshop is a story writing workshop for bloggers interested in fiction. This was initiated by 'The Fool' who blogs athttp://luciferhouseinc.blogspot.in and C.Suresh who blogs at http://jambudweepam.blogspot.in

The 6th edition of this exercise revolved around retelling of the fairy tale 'Beauty and the Beast' in a contemporary setting.  The winners of the previous edition Medha Kapoor, Prasanna Rao and Janaki Nagaraj have come up with the plot for this round which can be found at http://indifictionworkshop.blogspot.com.au/2013/03/exercise-for-edition-6.html.

My version of the plot:

Story Title: The Wind, The Chimes and The Beast

Story:

Boochandi: 

The sun should have disappeared by now at the horizon behind the vast expanse of the sea. I cannot see it from where I am lying but I catch the azure hue of the evening sky from the corner of my half closed eyes. I can hear the sound of the waves hitting the shore a few yards away from my seaside mansion. The palpitations in my body seem to be rocking me with a tremendous force. I feel sticky with sweat and something is trickling down my left ear, blood perhaps? A strong gust of wind blows and gets the wind chimes swinging. My wind chimes! They are hanging on my balcony right above me. Despite the shooting pain I feel near my heart, I let myself immerse in their musical noise. Then I hear that! Like it’s almost real! Laughter! Her laughter that used to dance with them every time I shared a joke with her!

The searing pain emerges as muffled growls from my mouth. I have sent the servants away and not a soul can hear me. I can feel my lips forming her name – Karishma. Again! And Again! My eyes drift into darkness and images of my past and that specific day keep flashing rapidly. The day I became what the locals call Boochandi, the beast!

Please continue reading at http://indifictionworkshop.blogspot.com.au/2013/04/the-wind-chimes-and-beast.html

Would love to hear your comments. You could leave them here or at the link above.

The Woman on platform 10

This post has been published by me as a part of the Blog-a-Ton 38; the thirty-eighth edition of the online marathon of Bloggers; where we decide and we write. To be part of the next edition, visit and start following Blog-a-Ton. The theme for the month is "The Woman on Platform Number 10"

The sun had just risen from its overnight slumber and was sneaking his rays everywhere with a rejuvenated vigor.  "Hot News!East Pakistan becomes Bangladesh" a newspaper boy screamed at the hurrying passengers. 'Kaapi Kaapi Kaapi',  the coffee seller bellowed. The aroma and vapors arising from his can blended with the morning air drawing the crowd like ants to a sugar hill. Porters in bright red attire scurried their way through oncoming loads and people, eager to start a new day.
The Trichy express was expected only in another two hours on platform no 10. Due to the same and the fact that it was at the fag end of the railway station , it was relatively less bustling compared to the other sections of the railway station.
A few people were curled up on the platform on stretched out newspapers or blankets, some still asleep, some awake and aware of the surrounding activities yet reluctant to open their eyes. Hardly discernible among the stretched out men and bundles was an infant, seven months old. He was cradled between his parents, his mother's guarding hands resting around his diminutive physique. A year of trying their luck in the city had proven futile. They were now headed back to their native village. The child slightly moved his hand, whimpered and then broke into loud wails. Like a switch turned on, his mother rose with a jerk. Adjusting the folds of her sari, she gathered him in her arms, drew him to her bosom and gently brushed his soft hair with her slender fingers. His sobs now disappeared in the feeble sound of his suckling. A few minutes later, his hunger satisfied, he started staring at the lights above and giggling. When he broke into a wail again, she knew what was wrong. She gently removed the white cloth tied around his waist, now dripping wet. After wiping him with a damp cloth, she wrapped another cloth around his waist and made a neat knot. She woke up her sleeping husband, handed him the playing child and went to a tap nearby. After washing the cloth well, she spread it on her iron trunk suitcase to dry. 'Chella Kutti'(darling little one) she spoke in baby tones when her son looked at her.

Around four decades passed.

The sun rose once again repeating his act of thousands of years , yet with the same rejuvenated spirit. Two porters hurried along, one of them engaged in a serious discussion with someone on his cellphone. The snack stall at the corner of the platform had vada, samosa, burgers and pizza slices arranged neatly next to one another.
The child now in his forties, moved through the platform, slowly. The frail hand of a woman was hooked in his, that of his mother. Her skin was pale and she was dressed in a light blue robe, something that resembled a nighty. He made her sit on a bench and sat next to her. Her eyes were looking at the sights around her but without any life. She did not seem to be cognizant of where she was or, for that matter,of the fact that the man who brought her there was her son. She kept tilting her head from one side to another. He bought a bun from the stall and put it in her hands. She quickly unwrapped it and started gnawing at it. He released her hand from his own , started walking ; first slowly and then rapidly and made his exit without looking back even once. The woman finished the bun soon. She was not aware that the person who had come with her was now gone. Her bladder became full and started leaking.  The urine made his way down her legs and wet her clothing. She was unperturbed by it or rather unaware of it. Oblivious of her condition the woman on platform 10 continued to stare at the unknown.

The fellow Blog-a-Tonics who took part in this Blog-a-Ton and links to their respective posts can be checked here. To be part of the next edition, visit and start following Blog-a-Ton. Introduced By: C.Suresh, Participation Count: 7

Soul Stirred

Yesterday evening I decided to take up a chore I had been procrastinating for quite some time. Its an apparently easy one but does require a lot of ones energy. Ironing clothes! Despite possessing a good quality steam iron from Philips and a really convenient ironing board its still hardwork.

I fondly remembered the man in a lungi and a colored vest standing in the corner of every street back home in Chennai with his hand-pulled cart and iron box filled with hot coal rendering his services to all the residents at such an affordable price! Ironing just meant gathering the washed clothes in a bundle and handing it over to him.

Yeah, things are different outside.Here I have not seen any ironing services so far and laundry can cost you a fortune. Best Solution: DO IT YOURSELF!

I have read theories about work being easier when its accompanied by music and yes, that's so very true. I have seen videos of women in tea plantations rendering some folk songs with gusto and the fishermen in some parts of the country singing some lovely tunes to the beat of their oars. Oh yes, these videos are from movies and I really don't know how far this is true.

Anyways I switched on FM Radio and it was the evening special compilation of Malayalam songs.

My mother tongue is Tamizh but the whole of my childhood i.e till I reached Std VIII was spent in God's Own Country. Hence I can read, write and speak Malayalam (There I go, bragging about it! Simply cant control myself on that front!). I am quite familiar with the movies and songs that were released then. But I would get a negative score if you test me on the more recent releases. I have kind of lost touch except for the occasional movie I get to catch on TV.

Coming back to the scenario, as I was ironing, a particular song was played. There are songs that you listened to as a child deeply implanted in some part of your memory. When you listen to it again, you realize you know the song but cannot recollect when and how. This was one such song. "Kanneer Poovinte " from the movie Kireedam.

There are songs which as you listen would enter your ears and then make their way quickly to the chasms of your heart, and stir your soul - gently , lightly yet beautifully. Once the song gets over, you start feeling bad that it came to an end. Yet, it leaves you with a nice feeling. This had that effect on me.

I am not sure how many of us actually have time to sit and listen to songs that touch our souls . We are caught in this world of work, chores, errands, run, run, run not to mention the dance and item numbers that seem to blare at us from every direction.

So, whoever managed to read all that I have blabbered above till this point - Go ahead. Take out your ipod, mobile phone, laptop or whatever source you have. Tune in to a song you really love and lose yourself in it. Now! Gift yourself five minutes of peaceful music. Do it immediately and rejoice. What is life after all without simple pleasures? :)

Para Sailing Experience and Langkawi - CableCar/Sky Bridge

When I visited Penang way back in 2007 my three month old pregnancy accompanied me. Para sailing was totally out of question. During our Langkawi trip, when I came across the same in Pantai Cenang beach it was kind of irresistible. There are things in life which you should try whenever an opportunity presents itself. After all , no clock - historical, biological or plainly logical is going backwards right?

Para Sailing

It costed us RM100 per person. There were more expensive options in other parts of Langkawi(nearly 50 to 100 RM more). I guess the slight difference lies in the amount of professionalism but we decided to opt for the cheaper one.

My husband and I decided to go together. They strapped a parachute to our shoulders and this in turn was connected by a rope to a boat in the sea.

The man instructed my husband "When its about to end, I will blow the whistle. Then you tug at this rope with both your hands and pull it towards your chest. Remember both hands!" Almost simultaneously he started yelling "Run, Run!" The boat was speeding away dragging us and we ran with as less clumsiness as we could muster. Our feet just touched the water when we felt ourselves being lifted and then we were in the sky clinging on to the parachute. It was amazing! There was a nice breeze, it was quite calm and we seemed to be gently floating. Oh Yeah! The view was breathtaking but we had decided to risk only our lives and not our material possessions on earth like iPhone, iPad or the digital camera. Hence no pictures, just lovely memories of that view.

After around seven to eight minutes , the boat completed a huge circle and started approaching the place on the beach where we had started.

By now, my husband and I were deeply engrossed in some conversation, I cant really recollect the subject now. A whistle distracted me and I slowly asked 'Are they whistling at us?'

The men on the shore were maddeningly waving their hands and whistling at us - Basically signalling us to pull the rope as instructed.

Now we forgot the 'Both hands' part and my husband proceeded to pull it with one hand. There was no noticeable difference in our stand! Then I remembered 'Hey both hands'.

This whole act is to maneuver the parachute to move it towards the land so that when we descend we would end up on the shore and not in the water. On using both hands we moved towards the shore and by now we were only around 10 to 15 feet above the ground. A man was seated at the beach and thanks to his stars that carefully guarded him my feet just managed to avoid giving him a solid kick on the chin.

When we reached the ground it was one of the best sights of the day for those at the beach. I toppled and fell, my husband toppled and fell over me and the parachute fell on us. Almost immediately the men came and helped us out of the tangle!

It totally lasted only around ten to fifteen minutes, but was an experience that I would cherish for life! As I said, don't have any images, just one of the beach.

Langkawi Cable Car & Skybridge

One of the major attractions of Langkawi is the cable car ride , a very steep one that takes visitors to a Sky Bridge atop the Mount Matchinang.

When we went the sky bridge was closed for renovation but we did go up the viewing decks. Beautiful views from there and a bad choice for people scared of heights.

Dataran Lang (Eagle Square)

The Eagle Square is a landmark in Langkawi in the city area next to the ferry terminal. A huge statue of an eagle stands overlooking the ocean. Nice place to take some lovely photos and a good view in front.

We went when it was very hot just before taking the ferry to Penang and hence did not linger too long but it one goes in the evening or so , it would be pleasant and more enjoyable.

Langkawi - Resort and Mangrove Tour

When we were residing at Kuala Lumpur, we never got a chance to explore Langkawi.Now my in laws have come here and we wanted to go on a family vacation. After some brain storming we finalized Langkawi and Penang.

IN SE Asia, Indians get VISA on Arrival in Thailand and Indonesia. But for Malaysia you need to get a social visit pass before arriving, Processing typically takes a week.

Langkawi is a group of nearly 99 islands and is well connected by flights(quite a few low cost carriers) to many parts of the world.

The Resort:

The best part of our stay was the Berjaya resort where we had booked a family chalet. Nestled amongst nearly 70 acres of thick vegetation bordering the ocean, it houses a variety of flora and fauna. The chalets are  made of wood and you need to utilize the 24X7 shuttle service to get from one part of the resort to another.

The board on our room door read 'Please lock the balcony doors before leaving to prevent monkeys from coming inside'. In addition to the room service menu, the hotel had provided each room with a booklet on the varieties of animals present in that forest and what one needs to do in case we encountered a monkey or a python.

During our stay we did spot a couple of hornbills , a few monkeys . One morning we saw an animal clinging to the trunk of the tree outside our room that looked a little like a squirrel and a little like a mongoose and at one angle like an injured bird. We even thought we were imagining things. When we returned in the evening it was still there, but the next morning it was gone. The hotel brochure showed us that it was the flying lemur.

For images of the resort take a look at the hotel website here.

Mangrove Tour:

The day we landed we hired a local travel agency to take us on a Mangrove tour, a popular activity there. We were taken at first to a boat jetty by road and then in a speed boat from there.

The boatman skillfully maneuvered his machine as it waddled through beautiful mangrove forests. (Wikipedia:Mangroves are various types of trees up to medium height and shrubs that grow in saline coastal sediment habitats in the tropics and subtropics )

After stopping at a local fish farm , the boat proceeded to the next destination - Eagle feeding. 

The boatman threw some pieces of meat in some machine which scattered it in the water and the kings of the skies came charging down in flocks scooping them up with amazing grace and grandeur. In fact Langkawi gets its name from these winged wonders and translates to reddish brown eagle.

The boat went in through some caves and crevices and then stopped at a place called Gua Kelawar(Bats Cave).

Bats Cave:

One needs to pay an entrance fee(around RM4) to go in. At the counter they also rent flash lights as its pitch dark inside the cave. We walked along the path carefully and when we directed the flash light above us, the ceiling was full of bats! EIKES!! I wanted to scream out loud and flee but there were boards asking us to maintain silence.In some time we got used to them and they did not seem all that repulsive.We also moved away from the space directly under them. Can you spot them in the pic below?

The cave also houses some very beautiful stalactites and stalagmites. In some countries they would give each of them a specific name based on the shape and have a guided tour but here they left all of that to our own creativity. I felt the below one looked like a tiger. Or maybe a snake?

The area around the Bat Cave was teeming with monkeys. One has to be be careful around them as they can snatch your belongings especially if it contains food.  One succeeded in giving me a good scare by making monkey faces at me. How monkey of him!

From there the boat set off again and merged into the Andaman ocean from the swamp areas. Then it was half an hour of super fast boat ride. In the cool evening, with the sea breeze madly blowing our hair, it was a heavenly experience.

The mangrove trip lasts around 4 hours in all including the road journey and costs around RM300 per boat.

More of Langkawi and Penang in further posts.....

Curd Rice Lessons !

We are a vegetarian family and hence during every vacation, finding food becomes an activity that involves a slight amount of additional effort.

Within India of course its not a problem, but outside its sometimes a huge challenge. 

One thing we need to remember is, that just because a dish is listed under vegetables on the menu card, it does not necessarily have to be vegetarian. It only indicates that the main ingredient is not chicken or beef. It could have any prawn or shrimp flavoring.In most parts of South East Asia, anchovies get added to food like we Indians add coriander leaves. Its like the grand finale step!

Once in the US, I went to a restaurant and explained with all possible words and gestures that I don't take meat. After a long stare at me as if she were working out three hundred and twenty seven divided by thirty nine, the waitress suggested a dish. To make sure, I asked for the ingredients and she went on 'pepper, onions, garlic and fish oil'. Fish Oil? Excuse Me! "Well, you said you did not take meat, not seafood. Besides no one told me that fish ain't vegetarian" She did not say that, but I could hear the words in her mind with amazing clarity. Then onward I make it a point to explain 'No meat, no seafood, no fish, no egg' .

Additionally if the language spoken is alien to us then better learn the word for 'vegetarian' before setting foot on that soil.

We had gone to Langkawi with my in laws and hence we were on the lookout for food that was Indian in addition to being vegetarian.

Just before we left for Penang from Langkawi we asked our taxi driver to drop us in some Indian restaurant. Every corner in the world has an Indian restaurant that serves Naan, Rotis , Dal and Dahi. We just need to find it. In most cases the name is usually Taj or Maharajah :). Antartica may be the only exception !

The driver stopped in front of a restaurant and the board outside proclaimed 'Arabic, Western and Indian cuisine'. That indicated that they did not serve Indian cuisine exclusively! Above that, our home food was third on the list. THIRD!!! It was actually a Middle Eastern restaurant that also served Western and Indian food. 'Ah-ah-Aaan' the alarms in our brains chimed in symphonic harmony. "Is there any other place nearby?" we asked the driver with caution. He had found the place after umpteen number of calls to some knowledgeable friend of his. This question had a high possibility of triggering violence in the afternoon heat.

'Why don't you take a look at the menu first?' he suggested.

We were greeted with a very warm welcoming smile by the person in charge. 'Do you have N-a-a-n, Cha-pa-thi?' we asked with some hesitation. Somehow whenever we talk to someone under the assumption that he would not understand us, we tend to say it very slow; giving a kilometer space between each syllable! How on earth would the speed in which a word is uttered make a difference? Anyways that's what we did as well. After all we are also human!

When he said "Yes we do" we thanked Mars, Venus , Jupiter and the whole family of planetary objects who were now spinning slightly tilted in our direction.

 "Curd?" .

"Yes" and then he uttered something which would sound like soul stirring music to the ears of any TamBrahm(Tamil Brahmin) "I can make curd rice for you if you would like that"

We were almost singing "Yankee Doodle went to town" when we entered the place.

They had a nice cozy family room that was secluded and gave us much needed peace and privacy for the meal.

There was no tomato soup in the menu card but he was ready to make it for us. We gave the situation a thought.Curd Rice was no big deal but a never-before-attempted-tomato-soup? We politely declined and stuck to the menu.

Masala Papad, Vegetable Pakoras, steaming chapathis, Dal, Mix Veg Masala - arrived one after another . The taste was heavenly and the aromas had us drifting into a meditative state of inner peace! Impeccably done with everything in correct proportion, the room was reverberating with the blessings that our satisfied souls were subconsciously sending in the man's direction.

Finally when the curd rice arrived we were spell bound. With the mustard, urad dal and curry leaves tempering, it appeared very close to perfection. When a spoonful of that went into our mouths we closed our eyes and uttered 'Ummmm' like the models in Gulab Jamun advertisements. It tasted close to perfection as well.

The basic purpose behind this post was to point out the business attitude and salesmanship of that person at the restaurant.

The effort that went into the curd rice preparation may have been minimal but that was what we needed at that hour. Knowing the need of your customer and going a little bit out of your way in satisfying that will go a long way in the success of any business.

We left the place happy and I am sure if we go to Langkawi again we will definitely pay him a visit. That sort of lasting impression would decide who stays in the run and who does not.

Boy! I never knew that my darling "Thayir Sadham"(curd rice) would get my simple mind to think about such topics like business, sales etc .   (Of course it proved the age old saying that appearances could be deceptive!)

Problems - Challenges

Update after my previous post on license hunt - I received my license by post last week :) (Alls well that ends well)

Just back from a nice trip to Langkawi and Penang in Malaysia, shall blog about it in later posts.

For now just want to share something I came across in a Child Enrichment center notice board. They were providing assurance to train the kids to "face problems as challenges"

The phrase triggered my interest. As we often hear 'Who does not have problems?' But do we all face them as challenges?

Mostly we sulk at them, put the blame on time, fate and the planets and then spend a whole lot of our energy lamenting about them. If we start taking every problem in life as a challenge say like a video game where  we need to get to the next level no matter what, wouldn't our energies be channeled towards a much more meaningful direction?

Actually kids dont need this sort of training. They naturally are like that. Nothing deters them.
One just needs to observe a child with fever. When the temperature shoots , he would lie curled like a ball on his mother;s lap. The moment it subsides, he would be back on his toes and start running around, his cheery self back in place. What would we adults do, proclaim to the whole world that we are not well, make a hue and cry about our physical pain, curse the pollution around and keep magnifying every small discomfort that we have.

Observe a child learning to walk. No matter how many times he falls or whatever problems he faces in doing so, he will find a way out and he will not stop attempting no matter what!

How would life be if things happened all the time without any hassle? Level 1 of the video game always? Problems pose challenges and with them we grow into better, more mature persons.

Next time we are in the middle of any problem, lets consciously analyze how we are dealing with it. Perhaps it would be a lot more easier to face and solve!