Hues of soul

The Friend  Streaming on Netflix  What happens to a dog when the owner dies? He doesn't  know how to process the pain of loss or share his feelings with someone. Instead he whines and pines for the presence, that is forever gone.  Iris, a writer, dealing with a  writer's block is a solitary New Yorker. Her mentor and best friend, Walter commits suicide and Walter's Great Dane, Appollo, is thrust upon Iris. Iris's life and her cramped apartment become chaotic with the arrival of the grieving beast. Nothing but being read to, soothes Appollo. Along her journey from a reluctant dog owner to fighting many battles to retain him, she finds out herself, adresses her own grief and overcomes the writer's block. The grieving, past- his-prime, arthritic Appolo melted my heart with his saddened eyes. The Friend is a heartwarming flick about human-canine bonding.  The movie directed by Scott McGehee and David Siegel i s an adaptation of the book by the same...

Miss those evenings spent there... In that balcony overlooking periyar.. The meditative silence... Blissfully peaceful... Watching the clouds pouring into the river... Birds crossing the river in a hurry.. A lone determined fisherman with his boat.. The small garden on the banks.. Leaves-strewn small steps leading to a tiny gazebo... Mangooses making love in the lawn.. A snake slithering into the river from the thickets... The red and orange glow of the setting Sun..

The Mahatma  You can laud or  criticise him You can hail or  insult him But you can't ignore him nor can obliterate him No bullet can silence  or suppress his existence  Because  He lived here in flesh and blood  He was truth Celebrate the Mahatma His life is our legacy  Preetha Raj

As smooth as can be!! A surgery and recovery! A week in the hospital donning the role of a bystander. Expertise and warmth of the surgeon and  competence of other doctors of the department boosted confidence and the journey of recovery was  smooth. Life as a bystander was made a lot easy by the luxury of devoted nursing, food delivery, cleaning and helping staff.   I must say nature plays a role in the business of healing in this particular hospital. Periyar on one side , backwaters on the other. Beautiful landscape and aesthetically kept interiors.  From the fifth floor room, I could see the various moods of the sky, sunny, sullen and sad, drizzle and downpour..Is the sky reflecting the moods of the people down under? The cross of a church stood high amidst trees and buildings..I knew the crowded busy road beyond the walls, leading to the cross..I used to go to work by that road. It was tough to drive through the road full of haphazard bicycles, str...

The Covenant of Water Abraham Verghese  " The water she first stepped into minutes ago is long gone, and yet it is there, past and present and future inexorably coupled, like time made incarnate.This is the covenant of water: that they're all linked inescapably by their acts of commission and omission,and no one stands alone. She stays there listening to the burbling manthra, the chant that never ceases, repeating its message that all is one.  What she thought was her life is all maya,  all illusion, but it is one shared illusion. And what else can she do but go on." "Every family has secrets, but not all secrets are meant to deceive" " What defines a family isn't blood but the secrets they share." Secrets that can bind them together or bring them to their knees. Entering into Parambil as a young bride of 12, Big Ammachi became the pillar of strength for all of Parambil, negotiating difficult waters of life with exceptional competence. ...

  Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine  Gail Honeyman Eleanor, a thirty year old finance clerk in Glasgow, finds herself socially misfit.  "It seemed , no Eleanor shaped social hole for her to slot into." She holds onto life with a routine of lunch time 'Daily Telegraph' crossword, evening  tv and books and vodka boosted weekends She struggles to solve the puzzle of herself. Eleanor carries  some grandiose ideas instilled in her by her mummy. Such ideas which are expressed in the form  of her formal interactions  even during casual settings add to her social awkwardness. But her witty social observations make the book a stimulating read.  Socially isolated, unable to shuffle away the engulfing lonliness and enui, she tries to flush out her traumatic past  with vodka. But, the "thoughts of past would not be drowned- like ugly, bloated corpses, they continued to float to the surface, in all their pale, gas-filled ugliness." She belie...