Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Blossoms and blessings





"But listen to me. For one moment
quit being sad. Hear blessings
dropping their blossoms
around you."

~ Rumi

Sometimes it's just mystifying, how things fall into place out of nowhere, almost nothing. Perhaps even more so than how they had fallen apart in the first place. But they just do, one by one, fragment by fragment.
Going through some archived folders of photographs, I chanced upon the Qutub Shahi tombs and like always, inched toward that instinct to post-process some. Although I've already written about these magnificent old tombs last August, I hadn't seen a certain connection between some pictures, not even when I was clicking them - that of the bougainvillea trails and the tombs. From a series of clicks, emerges a grand, ethereal view - first the minaret, then the dome and finally the whole tomb unfolds from the gossamer embrace of the papery pink blossoms. Photographic epiphany, perhaps?

Also, it has been a time to feel blessed. A time to trust that old, feathered thing called hope. The last week was quite unexpected, choked with tumultuous emotions. My Aja, maternal grandfather, was suddenly taken ill and the doctors suspected something rather bad. I was afraid we won't see that surprised, foggy-eyed smile that greets us every time at the clank of the big old gate. I was afraid there would be no constant gardener digging away obsessively and marveling at his own hard work. I was afraid how a tiny yet significant corner of our lives would change forever. And the worst of all - I was afraid how my dearest Aai will cope with it all, after some fifty odd years of steady togetherness. But surprisingly, during all this, the eighty-year-old Mathematics professor who has already braved three massive strokes refused to bow down, astonishing all with his beaming optimism. So, after a series of tests and doubts, the results came yesterday - he is alright! A flood of relief washed away the accumulated fear from our hearts, and I could hear the blessings dropping around us, in soft, blossomy paws.

8 comments:

  1. First, a grand ALLELUIA at the news about your grandfather. Your relief and happiness sweep through the end of your post like a blizzard of cherry blossoms on a late winter afternoon on Government Streeet.
    Second - the photographs and your narrative unfold beautifully and give us a sense of the grandeur in the mating of the ancient building and fresh new blossoms.
    Thank you for the momentary escape from the everyday!

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    Replies
    1. That is such a lovely picture of the cherry blossoms, and now it suddenly reminds me of spring in Seattle and what all I'll be missing. Yet again.

      Thank you for the ever nice compliments you shower me with. Hope the days have gotten a little more sunnier there.

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  2. Hello Suman:
    This is such good news! Blessings indeed. We are so very pleased for you, for your family but, most of all, for your grandfather and, of course, your grandmother too. And how wonderful that you should appreciate and have joy in such news. Too often we reflect on the less good things in life and take the positive for granted.

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    Replies
    1. Hello Jane and Lance, couldn't agree more on that last line. In the quest of the grander things, one often forgets to count one's blessings. Thank you for sharing my relief and joy, for I know for sure such things get multiplied when shared with others.

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  3. Dear Suman
    It's a moving post!
    I am so glad for your grandfather, your grandmother, and for you and your family!!
    Fifty years of togetherness!! It's wonderful

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    Replies
    1. Yes, so wonderful it is! Thank you for sharing our joy, dear Celine.

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  4. Blessings indeed, dear Suman.

    May his spade dig away at the soil for a long time yet and may the blossom carpet his path.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you, dear Friko for your lovely wishes.
      Hope you are up and about, and writing the next post already. Take care.

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