If this was someone else most probably they would have said "Oh, I Just went to visit my grandmother." That's it. For me, It was bit different. I have dodged visiting her for a while like more than 5 years. I was afraid of getting belittled, following ridiculous rules and literally nothing to do at that place. Having been gone to different happenings of the Chennai city and interacting with different new people has been a great learning. Figured, by now my own grandmother has become estranged and it would be interesting to meet her in person before it's hard to see her alive. No, she is not sick or in grave danger of leaving her life. She's healthy and fine. It's just I had a difficult time to accept my familial relationships and hesitant to meet or talk to them. I always had a hint of hatred, jealousy, pity, self doubt and many other unwanted negative emotions associated with people that share a sparse amount of my DNA. What happened when I met her is a huge spectrum of self realization within me. Sometimes we wonder or wander to do things for an adventure, expanding our social bubble, explore the unknown things the world has to offer and having that Chrysalis moment of your lifetime. But sometimes the breaking or exploring can be something that's very close and ease of reach to us. In my case that was meeting my grandma after years.
Aug 15, 2019: Chennai to my birthplace
The day apparently had so many significant events. How do I know? I came to know because of the abundant WhatsApp wishes and forwards my phone received. And the routine of acknowledging them by saying 'Wish you the same!!☺'
So the events were: *drumroll*
1. Independence day - Celebrated because India became free from British rule. Technically, celebrated by people from one side of earth getting freed by people from other side of earth.
2. Raksha Bandhan - Literally means 'Protection bond'. Celebrated between brothers and sisters using a decorated thread tied around each other wrists and occasional exchange of material gifts.
3. Avani Avittam - A vedic ritual widely observed by the Brahmin people.
4. The day I was travelling towards the place I was born after ages!
My brother did not join us. He even despised the fact I was visiting grandma for no reason all of a sudden. Dad dropped me and my mom at the bus terminus. Previously, Andhra Pradesh Buses used to be at CMBT (Chennai Moffusil Bus Terminus) near Koyembedu. Now they are stationed at the newly built Bus Terminus in Madhavaram. We went inside saw empty spaces, closed shutter stalls, almost alienated place. We came a little early and I made my mom explore a bit. She was annoyed that I made her walk around the terminus instead of obediently sit inside our designated bus. We finally sat inside and she started spurting out family drama that I hear on repeat everyday.
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| The Madhavaram Moffusil Bus Terminus |
The bus moved after a while. My mom wanted to call her mom (my grandma) to inform the bus has started from Chennai but did we had Ammama's phone number? Nope. We are those human beings who forgot to note down the phone number of the sole person whom we were about to visit. My mom has a habit of writing down numbers in her Diary and I don't even bother to save phone numbers most of the time. I called my brother and gave the phone to my mom. She was instructing him to search for her diary in the cupboards of our home. It was hilarious to see my mom direct him to find the diary like some sort of spy trail. He finds it and I pick a pen from my bag to note it down in a sheet of paper that I always have in my bag. What I did not expect was the pen I grabbed out of hurry was without a refill. Now we got no way to note that number on a paper. I told him to text me the number but he sent a photo of the whole page instead of spending time to type 10 numbers and hit send. Trust me siblings are never alike in lot of ways.
It's been a while I had a long distance bus travel. The bus almost took an hour to come outside the Chennai suburbs. I have to say it was refreshing to see plain nature instead of concrete buildings. It wasn't amusing to see same things for more than 3 hours though. I put my headphones, with favourite music in the background and awaiting for the bus to reach quick. Below photos are what I saw from my bus window!
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| Good bye, Chennai! |
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| The same scenery continued throughout the journey |
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Same tones of sky, grass and road
(And the manmade litter) |
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| If you squint a bit you will see a temple Gopuram |
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| Trees |
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| Muddy trail |
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I don't see this view often in Chennai
So bear with me to see the same imagery in different angles |
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| Clouds |
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| Meadows |
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| Farmlands |
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| Rayalaseema - The land of stones |
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| Broken Roads |
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| Hills |
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| Boulders |
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| Nature resurrected |
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Bespoked
(Am I the only one that sees an elephant on the clouds?) |
After a while, I couldn't take it. Same scenery for hours made me asleep. After a small nap, I realised we are yet to reach the destination. We were crossing south-west towns and villages of Andhra Pradesh. Me and my mom were making jokes about how there is a flex banner for every guy's birthday or death day at every street corner. Literally every banner had pictures of people and extraterrestrial level graphic designs all over it. And the nick names written on it were hilarious, people added bullet, lion, fire and many more irrelevant nouns and adjectives to their actual names. After few more hours of watching the sun set down over the same scenery, we finally reached the destination. I quickly took the maps on my phone and checked how far Ammama's home is from the bus depot. To my surprise it was only 1.2 kms away. I was super hesitant about taking an Auto for such a short distance. My mom was repulsed by the idea of walking a kilometre with luggage after 8 hours of bus travel. For some unknown reason, I was able to convince her and she obliged. Probably to save the left out energy from arguing with me. Truth is people who know me better, knows the fact that I am an ardent lover of long walks no matter what.
So, we walk for a while. On the way, I observed a mix of new houses like the ones in the cities and old buildings like the ones you see in historical dramas. The streets were narrow as usual even after two decades. I was navigating through these streets till we came across a busy main road. My mom was super afraid to cross it and just when I was about to cross, she pulls the hand we were holding together and almost got us killed. Sometimes I wish she wasn't this petrified of crossing roads. Few twists and turns down the lane and we reached Ammama's house with sweat and tiredness. Ammama was clueless and worried why we reached her home so late. My mom had to tell her that I made her do a mandatory long walk. I never forced her to come along, she could have taken an auto. I do understand that I went a little overboard at making her walk but it helped us to revive the lost mobility from our eight hour long bus travel.
Oh wait, the complaining didn't stop there. My mom had to pin point it to all her sisters who called her from America. She had to boast how her daughter can be detrimental to her well-being by enabling her to do something as atrocious as a long walk. It really sounded like as if I pulled out the ventilator cord out of a coma patient and watching that person struggle to breath with some sort of wicked gratification. "Exaggeration - A skill my mom excelled." Later, Me, my mom and Ammama gathered together for the usual talk session that every Indian family do together with newly arrived guests to share about "What's up! In Real Life". Now this is what I call as a chance where some family members gets wicked gratification by asking uncomfortable or sad or annoying questions. It was more like a fireside chat about our lives, followed by some pretentious unwanted advice.
Advice 1: Why don't you wear braces for your teeth? They seem to look so front. Isn't it bothering you? (Mindvoice: It didn't, until you pointed out my teeth is too ugly to be true)
Advice 2: Why don't you try working at USA? (Mindvoice: If you are so interested why didn't you stay there and get your Green card for American citizenship)
Advice 3: Why don't you study further like PhD, M.Phil? (Mindvoice: I am still clueless about why the heck did I do a Masters and where to use it)
Advice 4: Don't use mobile phones all the time (Mindvoice: I should have listened to this advice while booking the bus ticket with my Mobile)
Later the conversation developed into rants and gossips about people. My mind started to fade away into the aesthetics of the house. Nothing changed. The furniture, photos, items on the cupboard, mindsets and everything was same. Probably the electronics mutated into current version. After some more time I was wondering how my mom and Ammama were talking nonstop without any hints of energy loss. This lady complained I made her walk a lot yet can talk for hours. My people are hard to understand. By now, the talk shifted to some other topic. Next TV serial opening music blared and the talk of the hour was... (creating anticipation but you are gonna figure it out in the very next sentence anyways.) Yes, you guessed it! (or you were too lazy to think that you procrastinated the thought) Their talk was on character assassination, trolling and sympathy for the people portrayed in the Telugu TV serials.
I lost my threshold to listen. Took my excuse from this exquisite knowledge sharing session about TV serial plots and went inside grandfather's room to take micro naps. My grandfather died when I was a little girl. I still remember hating his death ceremony which made me miss my 5th class computer science exam. I was that much brainwashed about school exams as a child. I don't have any fond memories of Thathaiyya (Grandpa). He used to stay at our home for his hospital check ups and my mom for some reason glorifies him. I bet it's possible my mom would go to the extent of saying there is no god like my dad. The only clear memory of him I got was whenever he sense the very presence of me, he showed a frown of distress that sort of denoted his disgust upon me. Don't know if it was out of his anguish or he didn't aspire for a granddaughter like me. I wonder what was going on in his mind to feel unpleasant about his Manavaralu (Grandaughter).
Ironically, he died out of a head injury in an accident. He arrogantly went out under sedated state, without informing my Ammama, destined to hit by a car, slip his foot in a sewage canal, hit his head to concrete and lie injured on the road for a while. He didn't die on spot, his karma lead him to suffer for a while at hospital in Bangalore, get a pharmaceutical allergy which is a rare skin disorder called Stevens-Johnsons Syndrome (SJS) which is an amalgamation of Flu-like symptoms, painful rashes spreading across the skin followed by blisters leading to death. The very medication he considered sacred and mandatory sort of killed him with slow painful suffering. Sounds straight out of Garuda Puranam right? Nevertheless, I was the happiest person when he died. There was end to the clueless suffering on both sides. In my little brain I thought he was the evil eye and finally the agony of feeling annihilated vibes are put to an end. Funnily the little girl who grew up now knows that she had to deal much more people like that at every phase of her life.
After few naps, I was checking online posts and messages. Perks of being an adult is unlimited usage to mobile internet without any inhibitions. Until my Ammama called me to eat Dinner and put my phone away while eating. Before going I took a few snaps of the surroundings for aesthetic purposes (That's what we say when we are bored and got nothing to do). Ammama showed us her garden where she grows interesting plants. She also jokingly said not to come near her because of my height. I am so tall, that I make Ammama look like a midget it seems. (This is the desi version of Do you play basketball? / How's the sky up there?)
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Parijatham/ Night flowering Jasmine at Ammama's place
(It's okay to showcase bad pictures) |
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| My Ammama |
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| Woven baskets and carry bags |
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| Century old luggage boxes and bed sets |
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| Ancient Teakwood furniture |
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| Another set of age old suitcases |
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My grandfather was a Forest Range Officer
The house is filled with souveniers like this |
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| Psychedelic Flooring at the Hall |
We three generational girls came together for dinner at the Hall. By this time the talk session converted to who died and who didn't in our family, friends, acquaintances, people we know but we avoid them categories. Then the conversation travelled to this girl eloped with that guy, that guy is a jerk and the plethora of sad societal stories. An hour passed by, another TV program music blared from the speaker. Now the talk was about exuberant flashy make up and flawed portrayal of relationships in reality shows like Bigg Boss. Also a discourse on interesting concerns like Ammama's maid family spending on expensive travel lifestyle instead of buying a home or better investment options. I used to wonder how my Ammama stayed alone at her place without internet and getting out of the house. Now I know how, she spends most of her time talking with whomever visits or calls her. I would be so exhausted to spend whole day with talks alone. Ammama is truly strong in that aspect.
Ammama now started talking about her early years and how life has been in those days. She described that the place she was born was surrounded by hills. They had letter and post cards instead of phone calls when people travelled. There were no MBBS doctors to treat illness. Allopathy came when her daughters were born and now there are too many english medicines available everywhere. When Ammama was newly wed, she stayed in houses made of dry coconut leaves called Kottams and sometimes in Burujulu (which I totally forgot what they are made of). My mom's sisters from America called to check in with my grandma on her well being, etc. Ammama joked about how daily getting calls from her daughters and the need to attend it immediately gives her more stress than not speaking to them for days. And she also gave a profound advice on not to talk much with neighbours or anyone who will not do any good to us. It's always better to avoid the small talk of no use. Luckily the Introvert genes in our bloodline is strong.
I don't remember what I had for dinner but every meal is incomplete without rasam at Ammama's place. Ammama's rasam is the best, I can vouch for it. I tried asking her recipe for it but... futile attempt. She got distracted and started talking about different topics. I guess Ammama's rasam recipe is destined to be a secret. The non secret part is it's yum, tangy and makes you feel the meal is complete. Some more taking pictures and exploring the house continued.
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The toy cupboard
During my childhood, me and my brother used to go to this cupboard and
watch in wonder about the collection of things displayed in it
We used to discuss and select things in it for keepsake after our grandparents die
Meh, I have better things to aspire now |
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Embriodery curtains from local artisans
Ammama has this inquisitive taste for local art stuff |
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The forbidden steps
When I was a kid, me and my brother used to try entering this mysterious
yet small tunnel of steps just because the adults in the house told us not to go there
In our tiny brains we must have thought there will be something as grand as Narnia |
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Eventhough it's not forbidden anymore, I entered the steps once again
to find same old nothing but the abyss of darkness |
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| The hall that accompanied Ammama's talks for years |
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Utility / Pooja room
I have no idea what the gold decorative hanging signifies for
(Okay, I googled. They are known as Thoranam used to
show any festivity or happy ocassions happening at home for the guests) |
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Pooja stuff
(My people are theists and I am agnostic, Just to be clear) |
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| Hoardes of Parijatham Part 1 |
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| Hoardes of Parijatham Part 2 |
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When you want to photograph secretly
Blur pictures Ahoy! |
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That small steel utensil is of the size of thumb yet
belongs in the kitchen cabinet as a functional item
Ammama's kitchen had diversity way before it was a thing (Kidding) |
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The toy cupboard
Still got dibs on them |
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The kettle of no use
Fancy but imprisoned forever |
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The Grandparents
Thathaiya and Ammama |
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| In our household, we hang photograph of deceased person with vermollion dot on it |
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Behold the China of the house
In those days, too many guests used to visit the house,
even these many glasses were not enough to serve them all it seems.
Grateful that my mom's an hardcore introvert and we don't receive any guests |
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| So much glassware that it has a cupboard of it's own |
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Ammama's walker
This one time when ammama was walking on the street, a random girl on her scooter hit and went away
Ammama got fractured hip and used this walker for a while. Now she's back to normal
(What's with my fam getting hit by vehicles on the road!?) |
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Fancy metal gate
Reason, why I admire old architecture |
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| My grandparents looking dapper on their wedding day |
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| Their four daughters/ My mom and her sisters |
After some more wandering in the house, I settled back to hall. Each side of four walls had a framed couple potrait of ammama's four daughters and their husbands. It's like whichever wall she sees, there is a picture of her child staring back at her. Also there are pictures of her grandchildren near the window sill.
Aug 16, 2019: The day we actually roamed
Woke up, went to the backyard and saw Ammama collecting some parijatham flowers to put in the pooja room. Began the day with few captures and went along with morning routine - brush, bath and breakfast.
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| Crossandra Infundibuliformis/ The firecracker flower |
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Apparently this plant appeared in Ammama's garden
out of nowhere |
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| Blooms of this stray plant |
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| Ammama finished picking the Parijathams |
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So the plant is... I don't know
If you know let me know |
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| Coriander and Dumb canes (Actual Plant name!) |
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| Compost pit and the firecracker flower |
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| Parijatham bud |
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| Plant heaven |
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| Fallen flower |
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| A plant that gives white blooms |
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Cracked Cement floors
When me and brother were little,
We used to run and play on these very floors till the elders scolded us |
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The back door I have never seen opened, because ammama wanted to avoid
listening to gossips of people's personal lives (Not because it was haunted. Meh.) |
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Hot water geyser powered by fire
Coal or wood logs inserted and burnt to make the water warm |
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Inside the water geyser
Straight out of ancient technology |
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You see that metal dabba?
That's used to collect fresh milk from local Dairy people |
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| The neighbour |
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| I haven't seen such a plant seed before |
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| Potted plants & the Porch |
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This is an empty space where white powder is stored - In Telugu it's called Muggu Pindi
to draw Muggulu/ interesting patterns on the floor
When me and my brother were little, we used to hide here and make a mess upto to the level
our faces were smeared with white powder and played till we get tagged
as naughty monkeys AKA Allari Kothulu |
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| Jatropha integerrima flowers |
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Plumeria pudica
It has fancy spoon shaped leaves |
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| Close up of Plumeria pudica |
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| The neighbour got intrigued about me walking aimlessly |
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But quickly the neigbour got least bothered
Probably distracted by the TV serial sound from their house
And halt of my expedition at the outside corridors |
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| Look at all those glassware, still bespoked by the count |
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That tiny metal dabba that's unused
I am almost assuming it's purpose is to bring luck in the kitchen |
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| Stairs and curtains |
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These stairs are super polished that during my childhood,
me and my brother used it to play slide and raced each other |
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I always loved to enter terraces because my home doesn't have one
Sometimes it pains me to see locked terrace doors like this |
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| Ammama'a Faux teeth |
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The yum warm Breakfast on a cold morning
Dosa and the spicy side dish I forgot the name for |
We ate our breakfast in peace. No, that's a lie. Ammama had to talk. Her talk began with different kinds of flower offerings to different Hindu Deities. Then it shifted to Vaasthu and other stuff I had no idea about. I finished eating and went to wash my hands. Suddenly Ammama asked if I had food or not even though she literally saw me eating a while ago. I looked at my mom and asked if Ammama got memory issues? Mom did not say yes or no. She just replied that she suggested her mom to count 1, 2, 3 to keep her memory intact. I had no idea what to say to that. Then the talk was about how places in Andhra not getting sufficient electricity and other news. I took my phone and finished watching a movie "The visit" by M. Night Shyamalan and realised so glad my visit didn't turn out like that movie plot. Later I was so bored I started checking out the old stuff in the cupboard. My mom is the second one out of Ammama's four daughters. The first and third daughter became doctors, to be precise psychiatrist and pediatrician. So, the cupboard hones a range of medical equipments they used during their college studies and I started to check them out. There was a vintage Blood pressure checking box, Stethoscope and a modern BP monitor. Me and my mom started checking our BP but we could to find it. The rubber tube got old and the air was leaking from the hand pump. Nevertheless, the stethoscope works but me and my mom found our heartbeat after few trail and errors. Glad we didn't study medicine.
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| Medical memorabilia |
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| Then came the lunch ~ Chicken curry and rice |
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| Then had some black grapes |
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| And got ready to roam places other than Ammama'a house |
Because I was so bored, I was into going out. Like walk for a while, explore outside world and return back home. But my mom wanted to rest instead. I had to tell her if not now, then we will never reach the places to visit before dark. After a while She obliged, we went out, walked till the main road, took an Auto to bazaar area with a Hindu Temple nearby. I am personally an agnostic but hey, any place is good enough to explore for avid traveller in me.
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| Reached the Temple area |
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| Temple entrance |
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| No idea what it is |
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Gopuram
Each statue on it signifies a mythological story |
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5 out of 10 Avatars of Vishnu - The Hindu God for Preservation
The mythological stories about these avatars are fascinating |
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| Statue of Vishnu in his normal self |
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| Mom's mini pilgrimage |
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| No Idea what's this about |
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| Snake gods |
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| Snake gods in other side angle |
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Some more turmeric and Kumkum smeared
snake gods around the corner |
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| Because I liked the roof design |
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| Pond and the brass barricade |
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| Brassware of the temple |
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| Nearby to Sanctum Sanctorum |
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| Mom and the idol of worship |
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| Side Idols |
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| So this was on the temple floor |
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Temple visit
Done and dusted |
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| Bye Temple |
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| Hello Pond! |
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| Guess what that dark spot on the steps was! |
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It's a Star Tortoise!
Fun fact: Tortoises got short limbs to move and Turtles got flippers to swim |
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Temple Visit 2
Because visiting one is not enough
and the evening was still young |
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I can't read Telugu, but took help of Google Lens.
It says: Om Srimatre Namah |
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| Idol of Worship inside this Temple |
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I have no idea why they kept refined Sugar along with
betel leaves and flowers as an offering to Navagrahas |
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Apparently this area was black
Black walls, black pillars, black statues and black everywhere |
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Bats conquering the skies
Evening was not young anymore |
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| Charred lamps |
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| Bid Adieu to dual temple visit |
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Old architecture
Blurred because walking in a hurry |
After the temple visit, we were walking for a while till the streets became dim yet illuminated again with street lights. My mom suddenly felt like buying few things and came back to Ammama's home. This time we took an auto to come back home and mom was glad. During shopping my mom encountered with people who we know but aren't exactly welcomed at Ammama's house because of their monetary manipulation. They used to do maid work but sort of didn't help Ammama when her husband met with an accident. My grandparents are quite generous at offering money and helping people but eventually ammama felt helpless when no one were there for her during my grandfather's accident. So, she's reclusive of these people. Yet, they took an auto and arrived at our house just when were about to eat our dinner knowing that Ammama offers money when guests visit and vent out their problems to her. The funny part is hearing creative lies from these people and knowing the truth. For example, the lady's teeth are broken and she was informing about it in terms of old age but her daughter who is mentally ill started telling us that her dad punched her face and broke all her front teeth. As brutal as it sounds, it was similarly funny at that moment. After they left, Ammama stressed the fact that one must need to be careful with the people we acquaint with.
Aug 17, 2019: Lazy day
In Chennai, I check my phone atleast once an hour. But here, this routine was broken and I was wide awake at 2:45 AM. I was reading in my phone for a while, peeked into the hall, saw my mom and Ammama in sound sleep. The place was eerily quiet. In the city, there will be either truck or cricket sounds. Here it was pure silence. Maybe I got auditory homesickness which lead to insomnia. After few episodes of brief naps it was morning already.
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Petrichor
Better remedy for half asleep self |
I was bit tired, followed the morning routine of brush, bath and breakfast. The talk of the day by Ammama was about agriculture practices, human trafficking, early women education, health, nutrition, doctors, my grandma killed a cow accidently by tying a rope tightly around its neck during her childhood, young women getting married instead of career and education. The talks were intense. I was sleep deprived and went into deep slumber after that. Later saw some movies, played games and slept again. The day got over.
Aug 18, 2019: Bid Adieu to Madanapalle
It was end of our trip. We said our goodbyes and departed towards Chennai. During the bus Journey, I got this unusual spontaneous thought that my mom is 50% of my Ammama and I have 25% of my Ammama in me as per genes. My brain generates such useless facts at random ocassions. Anyways, I found out some more facts during earlier talks. Ammama grew up without a mother from a young age. She was taken care by her siblings and married off. Eventhough it feels exhausting to listen to all the tedious talks, you do realise life can be different after hearing the person's story. Guess what? Ammama and me share same birth month, what are the odds! Maybe we aren't that different afterall.
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| Bus Stop |
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| Got the window seat |
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| Ridges |
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| Farm lands |
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| Some more roads to cross |
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| Hills and rocks |
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| Parallel roads |
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| Hidden Sunshine |
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| Stray trees |
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| Bridges |
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| Rain |
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| Cascades |
By the time we reached Tamil Nadu, there was rain. It was beautiful. At the same time little gruesome, as the bus driver picked people on the roads on the way. The bus was filled with crowd congesting the place. I felt entrapped than a normal passenger. The trouble about road trips is especially for women, there are very few restrooms. In the mid journey I was praying for the bus to stop somewhere to take a loo break, luckily there was a good 30 minute halt at Chittoor. I wish they do attached bio toilets on buses, someday soon. If not the travellers will get UTI's and die. Anyways, the weather was super cool and an amazing time to reach Chennai. Meeting Ammama was interesting. Sometimes, meeting people you haven't met for years should be on your bucket list. But also at the same time be precautious about whom you meet again from the past. Like Marie Kondo says "Discard everything that doesn't spark Joy." Even if it's a thing or a person.
Fun Fact: I started writing this around August 2019 and completed in March 2020. Why you may ask, some of the prime reasons are it was super personal story and some even told me why share something so personal to the world? I believe stories with value are meant to be shared than kept hidden and vanish over time.
Also bit eager to share some notable activities, things I saw and happenings post this trip:
I now have a new birthday resolution to watch one movie a day and post a brief review or reflections on it as Instagram stories (@d.sunayanareddy)
I am now a long term volunteer on weekends for educating shelter kids and empowering school girls. As part of my work, had fun facilitating STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Maths) activities for kids. Finally braced myself and got driving license for scooter after lots of government hassles. Certified to do career counselling and Basic Life Support (BLS). Rest of the incidents in photos below!
(P.s. Too many photos ahead)
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Rise & Shine
My phone camera surprises me at times |
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| The cat I never saw again at home |
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The temple door knob at Nungambakkam
that often goes unnoticed |
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| Home is where the plants are! |
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| Cirrocumulus |
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| Door to Nature |
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| Sunset |
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| Shadows |
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| Personality appriasal be like |
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Just what my dad does
Babysitting and unnecessary community service
(That sometimes lands him in trouble) |
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| It rained at my office |
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| Office work got promoted from desktop to laptop |
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| Mandala painting workshop that did not reduce my stress |
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Vertical garden set by dad
Sometimes I believe his true calling was plantscaping |
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| Sneak peak on vertical garden plants |
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| Met this puppy in our neighbourhood |
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| Stairs at Chetpet Railway station |
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| Wonder what's that? |
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| This was that |
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| At an event, they gave an activity to write or draw things that makes us happy |
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| Wrote some poetry |
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| Did some scribbling |
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| And some more peoms |
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| Found old paintings while cleaning my college books |
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Deepavali happened
My mom literally dragged me to burn cracker
eventhough I wasn't eager about it |
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Unplanned solo trek
to St. Thomas Mount aka Parangi Malai |
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| Some more scribbles |
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Got dew drops on your hand?
Write your name on the gate. Because why not? |
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| Attended Japan film festival which had a whooping queue line of 500+ people |
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| An online quiz told me this |
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| Theosophical society |
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Found these unusual leaves there
and took hell lot of nature pictures there |
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| Argiope and the shadow |
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| Adenanthera pavonina seeds |
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| Path to broken bridge |
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| Ipomoea pes-caprae |
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| Random skeleton on the way |
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| Patterns of the Beach |
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| Sunset |
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| Hidden Architecture |
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| Oldest library in Chennai - Since 1818 |
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| Streetside poultry eating biscuits |
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| Pristine place in Broadway, Chennai |
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Me and my dad went for a heritage walk at Brodway
as part of Madras week celebrations |
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| We saw old architecture |
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| Burma Bazaar |
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| Indo Saracenic Architecture |
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| Chennai's first Post office |
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| Beautiful Windows |
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Inquisitive door knobs
And the tour ended |
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Solar Eclipse
So excited to observe this phenomenon for no apparent reason |
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| Played a german card game called Set |
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One person's madness is another person's treasure after a while
Went to an art exhibit where the life story of the artist was sad
and his art was only appreciated after several years post his death |
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| Heliconia Psittacorum's shadow |
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| Lights of Pondy Bazaar |
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| Tried light photography |
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Community service - I painted that at a school
I know it's creepy |
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| Green Bottle Fly |
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| Sprouts at Home |
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| Handrail Design |
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| Lots of windows |
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| Visited St. Fort George |
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| And the church nearby |
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| Napier Bridge |
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| Tuberose at home |
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| Beach waves under the sun |
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And the legendary Ammama of mine
without her this blog wouldn't be possible
(She's still alive, stop assuming old people to be dead) |
And! Belated Happy 2020!
When will I write my next blog? I myself don't know. I guess when I get inspired to write one.
When will I stop writing? When my soul dies.
So, you either fast forwarded to check the end or genuinely read fully. Either way thanks for taking your time to check my life story! I genuinely hope we live to the fullest even at our ups and downs.
