SOULspace

I have a sense of relief tinged with a little guilt now as I say this. My mother's mother is no more. I remember all that my sister and I have shared with this grandmother. Vivid memories of summer holidays spent in a small one room kitchen in Mylapore, where she stayed with my Uncle. Somehow the size of the house was not at all significant in my mind, and we spent many summers whiling away time playing PalanKuzhi, or Hopscotch, that we called Pandi. Over the years she has shared her story with us and it flashes back to me now. A by-gone era filled with stories of struggle and difficulties. (Yet they raised children so well, and we balk at minute and insignificant challenges thrown at us...let me not get judgemental here...) I remember the beautiful photo of Paati hanging in the tiny bedroom cum living room. She is sitting with a veena and looks like a movie star or a Raja Ravi Varma painting. What I cant forget is the look of confidence, self assurance that sits on her fac...

I realised today how much I miss dancing. Flash back: Five years old...or six, I don't remember exactly but that's the time we, my sister (who is a year and a half older to me) and I started our formal training in dance. I have vague memories of this time. But I remember going to class, sometimes dad would drop us with mom in tow. Yet mostly we would walk to class that was a good 2/3km walk those days. Come to think of it, I really amaze at the ease with which we used to get every where by walk or by cycle, while now my car and I are inseparable (in-spite of the lectures I give my children on global warming...hmmmm that's another story!). I remember getting there on cycle, chauffeured by our all in one helper...Ramasamy, if I am not mistaken... We used to spend quite a lot of time in class. That was also because our teacher was a friend of my parents and she also really liked girls....having two boys herself. It was our second home. Sometimes we would even have our lun...