Headstand

Last night, at yoga, we were practising how to do headstands (only partial ones, not the full ones where you literally stand straight on your head). And they were hard and tricky enough, never mind their benefits (flow of blood to the brain etc)

Doing that (partial) headstand took me years back into my past, when as a 8-year-old (guesstimate - I could have been younger than that) I watched my thatha (grandfather - mum's dad) do the complete headstand and jumped up and down with excitement of seeing someone standing upside down. He must have been at least 75 then. But I can still recall how effortlessly and for how long he stood on his head and how vehemently he opposed my desire to imitate him.
I can see why now - I would have probably broken my neck trying it.

I figure that in many ways they don't make them like that anymore. He and my grandmother had such a interesting, colourful and fraught life. Maybe it was a generational thing. ..
Maybe I should just blog about some highlights of their life. That would keep me in the blogging business for years...

Lost in translation

The other day, was trying to translate 'Kann kolla kaatchi' to a colleague. Messed it up big time I think, going by the fact that J was in splits with my random-as efforts.

Tell me, how can you do that one. What would you use - literal or contextual meaning?

Somethings will never change.

This morning, I saw an old man paying off a taxi driver outside the railway station. A gust of wind suddenly blew away a 5$ note from the man's hand. The note flew near the stationary taxi's wheel - and promptly, the old man brought his shoe down on the note to pin it, and then leaned down to pick up the money with a relieved laugh.

I physically cringed. I could see the practical side of it, but still, I cringed.

Somethings will never change.

I guess sometimes you can take the Indian out of India but you can' take all the India out of an Indian...