PAGES FROM NEW JERSEY
THURSDAY, 21 MAY
I follow my yesterday's resolution of leaving the bed after five. It is now 5.10 AM and getting clear outside. There is no wind today but the sky is cloudy and it is cold outside. Weather forecast says that there is a probability of rain in afternoon. Rain is a regular feature here. People always carry umbrella in their handbags. I remember the story of 'The Umbrella Man' by Roald Dahl. It was a nice story in the syllabus of class IX. Roald Dahl's stories make a good read. They are simple yet have a wry humour with an edge of irony underneath.
It remains cloudy and wet though without rain all through the day. I stay indoors and complete the diary entry of previous two days. There is some kind of motion on the terrace. I find a pigeon there peeping through the glass door. I stealthily pick up my camera, take it out of its case and tip toed across the room near the glass door. The slight motion by me makes the pigeon alert and I have to stand like a statue to let it be there till clicked.
Pigeons, here are different from the ones in India. They are of light shade of brown with dots on their wings.
There are less walkers today in the park. The quietness is broken only with the rumbling sound of the refrigerator at regular intervals or the sound of squirrels running over the roof top or the sound of the central heating system that automatically gets on to regulate the temperature. Even a drop on the slanted wooden ceiling is easily audible. It makes you feel isolated because we live amidst constant noise in India, especially in Patna where children have no parks to play due to mushrooming of apartments without any proper planning and so, they play cricket on roof top; where people keep on blaring horns on road even in traffic jam; where wives spend their time gossiping in hushed voice that usually becomes a painful noise...the list is long to become a noise in itself. There are times when silence become a noise and times when noise forces us to be silent. How strange are the ways of life!
I have a little afternoon nap after taking a tablet of Crocin which really help me get rid of that nasty body ache.
I wait for Yasmin's arrival from her work, completing today's page of diary with a tumbler of mushroom soup on the table. My throat feels good after every sip of it.
"It is raining", Yasmin says as I open the door for her. I go near the terrace door and peep outside the glass, "Yes, it is". "I think it'll be nice to have garmagrm pakodas", Yasmin loves pakodas. So, both of us make 'capsicum, onion, chilly pakodas' and settle down with a cup of tea before the screen of the laptop to enjoy the movie 'Queen'. Evening fills in with our laughter together at humorous scenes. Kangana has done an excellent job in the movie. I appreciate the scenes that set her free from the traditional boundaries imposed on women by the orthodox mindset of society.
It will be a packing day tomorrow for weekend tour to Niagara Falls and Thousand Islands.
I follow my yesterday's resolution of leaving the bed after five. It is now 5.10 AM and getting clear outside. There is no wind today but the sky is cloudy and it is cold outside. Weather forecast says that there is a probability of rain in afternoon. Rain is a regular feature here. People always carry umbrella in their handbags. I remember the story of 'The Umbrella Man' by Roald Dahl. It was a nice story in the syllabus of class IX. Roald Dahl's stories make a good read. They are simple yet have a wry humour with an edge of irony underneath.
It remains cloudy and wet though without rain all through the day. I stay indoors and complete the diary entry of previous two days. There is some kind of motion on the terrace. I find a pigeon there peeping through the glass door. I stealthily pick up my camera, take it out of its case and tip toed across the room near the glass door. The slight motion by me makes the pigeon alert and I have to stand like a statue to let it be there till clicked.
Pigeons, here are different from the ones in India. They are of light shade of brown with dots on their wings.There are less walkers today in the park. The quietness is broken only with the rumbling sound of the refrigerator at regular intervals or the sound of squirrels running over the roof top or the sound of the central heating system that automatically gets on to regulate the temperature. Even a drop on the slanted wooden ceiling is easily audible. It makes you feel isolated because we live amidst constant noise in India, especially in Patna where children have no parks to play due to mushrooming of apartments without any proper planning and so, they play cricket on roof top; where people keep on blaring horns on road even in traffic jam; where wives spend their time gossiping in hushed voice that usually becomes a painful noise...the list is long to become a noise in itself. There are times when silence become a noise and times when noise forces us to be silent. How strange are the ways of life!
I have a little afternoon nap after taking a tablet of Crocin which really help me get rid of that nasty body ache.
I wait for Yasmin's arrival from her work, completing today's page of diary with a tumbler of mushroom soup on the table. My throat feels good after every sip of it.
"It is raining", Yasmin says as I open the door for her. I go near the terrace door and peep outside the glass, "Yes, it is". "I think it'll be nice to have garmagrm pakodas", Yasmin loves pakodas. So, both of us make 'capsicum, onion, chilly pakodas' and settle down with a cup of tea before the screen of the laptop to enjoy the movie 'Queen'. Evening fills in with our laughter together at humorous scenes. Kangana has done an excellent job in the movie. I appreciate the scenes that set her free from the traditional boundaries imposed on women by the orthodox mindset of society.
It will be a packing day tomorrow for weekend tour to Niagara Falls and Thousand Islands.
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