My Love for Ceramics

I have a passion for collecting ceramics (especially tea sets). So much so that my husband has said that the next ceramic item that enters our house entails we buy a new apartment, since our current home has no further space to accommodate it!! I, of course, beg to differ. If he can find enough space to store his new books, Cd's and suitcases (my husband has a strange fetish for buying suitcases), so can I!

For the past 10 years I have been collecting bits and pieces of ceramic ware that range from decor items to teapots, various types of cookware to dining ware. I am especially partial to white ceramics that have small roses (or any other flower) patterned on it, and not too overtly fond of transparent glassware. I absolutely hate anything to do with plastic and thanks to microwave cooking and heating, have managed to get rid of almost all plastic (my husband for some strange reason loves to buy plastic jars and bottles) in my house.

Just a minor part of my collection, showing a monk bearing a candle, a Wedgewood jar and a German beer mug

A cupboard full of ceramic ware

 A Turkish teapot

In my collection I have four antique tea/coffee sets, which are very close to my heart. One is a silver plated (on copper base) Sheffield's tea set and another is a silver plated Leonardo tea set. The other two are demitasse sets, one by Royal Albert and the other by Bengal Potteries (now closed shop- a very famous maker of ceramic ware, in colonial India).

The Sheffield's tea set. In front are a pair of ceramic teacups molded in pure silver. These antique teacups made in Japan  are very rare (since they are very difficult to make).

The Leonardo tea set

My next aim is to acquire a Wedgewood dinner set for 4, which will take some time for sure, and a look at the prices confirm the same. I would also like to buy a very expensive tea set from Rosenthal, Royal Albert, or Noritaki, just for the sake of acquiring a collector's item. Despite my husband's constant protests about lack of space in the house, I have decided not to lend him an ear and move ahead in my pursuits for acquiring more ceramic ware! 

Rains

Heavy Rains.What picture does it bring into your mind? Water logging? Traffics snarls? School children splashing through the puddles? Common sights in any Indian city. However, being a freelance writer and working from the confines of my home, I tend to view rains from a more a romantic perspective. A rainy day invariably sees me away from my writing table, sitting on the window seat with a  cup of tea in hand,  looking at the raindrops falling persistently on trees outside and viewing traffic splashing through puddles. I enjoy listening to the sound of  raindrops falling on rooftops, a constant pitter-patter that often continue whole night through, and I remain awake to hear my favorite music or rhythm.

Rains in Gurgaon as viewed from my balcony

Especially beautiful are the mountain rains, where a thin mist like curtain formed by rains seem to create an aura of mystery, which beckons me, often forcing me to move out of home confinement and revel in the magic that lies beyond. A feeling that is almost diametrically opposite to the one I enjoy while I am at home in the city (Gurgaon) where I prefer remaining indoors while it rains.

Mist prior to rains in Himalayas - Dhanaulti

Smell of  wet earth after the first spell of rains is extremely enchanting. I have grown up in a place where there are  lakes (right in the middle of the city) and a great deal of foliage. After the first spell of  monsoon showers, the air would be redolent with smell of wet earth and wet leaves. This has been a part of my growing up years, and even today when it rains I unconsciously slip back to my childhood, carefree days that carried no sense of responsibilities.

Today when it rains and I sit sipping my tea while looking at the rains outside, my mind often remains burdened with work that I must finish, duties that I must carry out, and issues that I must sort. Yet, the first showers, somewhere within, still manage to awaken the child in me, where I want to get drenched and feel blessed as waters fall on me from the heaven above.

The Rain by William Henry Davies

I hear leaves drinking rain; 

I hear rich leaves on top 

Giving the poor beneath 

Drop after drop; 

'Tis a sweet noise to hear 

These green leaves drinking near.

And when the Sun comes out, 

After this Rain shall stop, 

A wondrous Light will fill 

Each dark, round drop; 

I hope the Sun shines bright; 

'Twill be a lovely sight.

A Blank Day

A blank day. The best I would call this 23rd of August 2012! A day when my mind decided to remain a complete blank, despite me coaxing it to show some signs of efficiency. A lazy day, where despite having work at hand, the mind refused to cooperate!! It refused to help me in my writing work and it refused to help as I tried doing housework. Even watering plants seemed a difficult task at hand (something akin to climbing Mt. Everest).I simply felt like lying down and go on looking at the fields in front of my house, not a particularly clean or a beautiful place to keep on gazing, nevertheless that was exactly what my mind preferred doing the whole day. And it did not help matters that my doctor cum nutritionist had given me only boiled beans to eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner (maybe that is why my mind went a complete blank). Eating boiled beans for one meal is bad enough, but eating them for three consecutive meals calls for serious introspection. It makes one wonder what life is all about, and it also makes one want to eat only  food that has been strictly marked as a no-no by the doctor! Now as evening is finally setting in, my mind has finally awoken from its state of stupor and is thinking of various possibilities of a good dinner (no boiled beans, even if it damns my soul!). Maybe a plate of delicious tandoori chicken will cure this mind of its blankness , and bring it back to where it will no longer need to stare vacantly out of the window and sigh at the nothingness there....

Picture courtesy: Blank_mind_by_inz_feelgood (downloaded from the internet)

A trip to Bharatpur

The last weekend was a long drawn one and on spur of the moment we decided to take a short 3 day trip to Bharatpur, a 4 hour drive from our home in Gurgaon. We started early morning at around 6 am, and reached quite before lunch, so had the luxury of checking various hotels before deciding on one that was located very close to the bird sanctuary. The name was Birdie's Inn, an apt one, taking into consideration its close proximity to the park, and the constant chirping of birds one heard all day long as he or she sat in the pretty terrace garden, sipping chilled beer, tea/coffee or reading books. As we relaxed here, the call of the peacocks intrigued me the most, as I listened to their shrill, mysterious and sometimes positively eerie cries, wondering how a bird so beautiful could utter such haunting notes.

The opposite wing of The Birdie's Inn from our terrace in the evening..looking eerie and mysterious and coupled with it were the peacock calls from the sanctuary

The terrace during the day

Neelkanth (Indian Rollers) and Jungle Babblers

Indian Grey Hornbill

Himalayan Bulbul

The Green Bee-Eater

Our trips to the park were rewarded with rich sightings of birds, pictures of which are given here (only a few, since it was really difficult to take photos as the birds kept flying/hopping from one tree to another). The birds that we sighted were mainly park residents. Migratory birds were few and the water birds were busy nesting. Peak season for the bird sanctuary are the winter months, when the migratory birds arrive from various parts of the world. We had gone during monsoon (a lean season), hence enjoyed tranquility and peace, but saw less number of exotic birds. We hired two cycle rickshaws and a guide, and roamed the sanctuary lanes, with the birds providing us plenty of entertainment, especially the Neelkanths that almost seemed to pose for our cameras. Once inside the deeper areas in the park, thick foliage, marshy lands, and a persistent cacophony of different birds reminded us that we were now inside their domain, hence the interlopers here.

There are various ways one can roam here in this park. The first option is to walk, provided one can walk long distances without getting tired. The second option is to hire bicycles, and the third option is to hire cycle rickshaws. Though the rickshaw-wallahs claim that they know  names of all the birds, it is always better to hire a guide (whichever way you choose to roam around the park) from the sanctuary gate, since they are well-trained and are excellent bird spotters. 

Kingfisher

Besides birds, the park also boasts of huge turtles within a temple complex, Nilgais, Sambars, monitor lizards, pythons and most certainly the omnipresent Indian monkeys. The city also has a fort, which we did not visit owing to time constraint.

As we decided to drive around the city, the shining mask however did lose some of its glamour and Bharatpur (as a city/town) did indeed disappoint us. It appeared as a crumbing city and extremely dirty. It is a wonder that we boast of India becoming a super power in the near future, yet a look at our own backyard would show us that we still belong to the Middle-Ages, when it comes to issues related to health and hygiene. What I fail to understand is how people can accept to live under such circumstances, and be happy that the interior of their homes are clean (which i sincerely hope ARE clean), while the outside world can go to hell. How much individualistic as a society can we get, yet we blame the western world for following individualism! It is a pity that nature has given us so much, yet we do not take care to assure that we preserve it in its original form, leave aside adding to the beauty!

The overall trip was wonderful, owing to the Sanctuary and its beautiful residents. The hotel was also good which added to the charm of the entire vacation. Maybe I will visit Bharatpur bird sanctuary in the near future once again, and go to the fort, which I gave a miss this time. Hopefully then, when i explore, I will find a better and cleaner city. Keeping my fingers crossed until then....