Meena Mangalathil:

          Yesterday my kids missed the kiss of death by a hairline. They were saying that a tree fell just behind the autorickshaw they were travelling.   If they had come a second late then the tree would have been on that auto and ultimately on them. So it was a hairline escape.   Who is responsible for this –   the grand escape, Fate? or Destiny?           This last 12 months I had to witness many a deaths who were very precious to me. Seeing the simplicity of life’s end, sometimes I too feel like death is on my doorstep. But what is death? Do yuall have any idea? Where do they go after death? In the bible we have heaven ( a place for the good) and hell(a place for the bad). But it is also said that there would be no relationships in the other world. And I say the prayer “I Believe” everyday, so I’ll have to believe of heaven and hell. And that is where my title comes to play, “ Death Do Us Part ” we won’t be meeting them again as father, grandfather or uncle or aunty but as another

                     Sickness is one of the worst fears man has had to face from time immemorial and in India we are very much sympathetic for the sick, the poor, the needy, the old, etc... The Indian beggars have this trend of becoming sick and exploit the softness of Indian housewives. But last day I met a lady, who came begging for her mother-in-law while she slept. And the request was for sarees. Well, that was innovative. I asked her what will happen when she wakes up? And you know that there sure is an answer.           But the most funny experience came when my house owner, a very devotional and generous person gave a lady beggar a very good saree fit to wear for marriages, another cotton saree and Rs. 100 as part of the help extended to marry off her daughter. She was glad that she was able to help a poor girl to get married off. One month later, a lady beggar came to me with the same request, but I didn’t feel like giving anything. I just said, “Sorry, I don’t have anything”.

          Today we had the best rains after a long wait, bringing in the most awaited coolness, quenching the thirst of all living beings and non living things. The first smell of wet soil, the dripping of water from trees, the scampering of animals, birds and humans for shade were the immediate physical response I saw while staying in the safety of my portico. And my first response was - a steaming coffee in hand   on a comfortable seat where I could watch both flora and fauna of the area.           For me the best experiences of life happened in the lap of the Western Ghats – Idukki district during rainy season. I have felt it is the best place to while away the rainy season and their coffee is the best and for me at that time, it was the most untouched place in the sense of no technology – with a battery operated radio, transportation – three buses a day, beauty – the craggy mountains, and Periyar flowing with the gurgling noise and above all very naive people in their outlook, in t

          My mother-in-law is the most conservative person I have ever spoken to. She is 90. She speaks only of the days past and she narrated one of her experiences of a boy aged 28, meeting her in a market place when she was 60. He was her friend’s son. When he saw her, he immediately recognised her and came to her and held her hand and talked to her openly in front of all the people there . She felt very odd, she was saying to me, “Just imagine what would the people think about our relationship? I know I’m old but still I’m a girl isn’t it? For me I felt funny, actually I had a real hard time to keep a straight face but for her it was a very humiliating experience.               Just imagine if she had openly said to my kids or the kids of this generation, it would be a cool party joke. But think about the fear she might   have had for sometime and even to speak about it too now she feels odd. But there is nothing odd if we hadn’t had the advancement of technology, the multimedia, t

            Today I had the oddest gift of all I have ever received – a belated birthday gift. And the gift was simply superb, a gift which no one would be aware of. But a loving gesture. And a techy gift too - My own website.             There are some moments as time passes doesn’t diminish the expectations and   anticipations of bringing something special, its the day we celebrate as our birthday. Though I’ve not set foot in the greying (hair) territory, I have been taking care of elderly people for some time. Their attitude, their tranquillity, their slow responsiveness, kind of set a trend in my heart too.             I thought, this year, I would just skip my birthday and lie low, with no cake or parties or new dress or gifts. But as the days neared I wished that someone would remember my birthday, or someone would give a surprise gift. But usually as a mother of the family, I do the organising of celebrations, but what about mine? Anyway I knew for sure, my birthday would be im

            Today I happened to read the poem “ Stopping By the Woods On a Snowy Evening ” by Robert Frost. The poignant moment and the stillness of the atmosphere could be felt so tangibly, that I too was aroused from the jingle of the horse the poet was riding. Actually I too often do the same thing as sitting idly (not on a horse, eh) when I have loads of work to finish. Its a break moment, where just our Self is watching the stillness of the inside (might be), we are not where we are, we are miles away from reality. After this elopement of the present, we feel a bit refreshed with a bit of yearning. And again falls back to our commitment.             Commitment is one thing, that we can’t forego. Its a mantle we have to wear from birth till death as a son/daughter, brother/sister, husband/wife/ascetic then as a father/mother/grandfather/grandmother,in profession, as a friend. Its a long list. But in real life we are not aware of this mantle, we just take it for granted. But is com

                As I was watching the movie “The Sound Of Music”, there is a scene where, ‘The Captain’, the hero introduces his children to the governess, ‘Maria’, the heroine. She was expecting the normal way of introduction, but to the contrary, the captain summons  his children with a  whistle  and the ensuing clamour and the fright that Maria gets , is so hilarious that for me it just stuck into my soul. Seeing the whistling part felt odd. But those who have had to rear kids, with or without mother would know the difficulty of bringing up kids, would find nothing odd in it.                 Seeing others children, we feel they are sooooooooooooo angelic and I was so happy, when I too had one. But as predicted they too were soooooooooooooooo angelic children until 4, from then till date I feel and like I have been transplanted in a hornets’ nest. And if you are a mother, then don’t bother to even think about maintaining the social code of conduct at home with kids. I really wanted t