Tuesday, December 13, 2005

An Interesting Day

I had a very interesting day the day before. Predictably, I had a million things that I had to do but somehow, ma sweet-talked me into helping her with the garden. The last time I was home, she made me redesign our garden, which was earlier more of just a few rows of withered plants. It looks good now. There is a big mould in the middle with roses and little rows leading away from it like the rays of the sun. On one side is a little lotus pond, two huge trees stand guard at the entrance around which we placed flowering plants.

The other day, ma, my maid Shailaja and I did some landscaping. There are now terracota horses, a small house, shells... The best part was the new sitting arrangement. There is a history to this.

One of my ancestors was a very good administrator, the Parpathigar, at the Omkareshwara temple that I have written about. The king was once very pleased with his work and asked what he wanted as a reward. The man was so stupid and so content with his life that all he asked for was a cot to sleep on and a grinding stone to help in the kitchen! Can you believe the absurdity? I mean, there was so much he could have asked for!

Anyways, the grinding stone was chipped off after many years and ended up in the corner of my frontyard. It was overturned and I spent many an evening there reading and getting bitten by mosquitoes. The day before yesterday, ma and Shailaja decided they wanted it in the garden. They and a few others huffed and puffed and it is finally in the garden now. I was clever enough to stand at a distance and give directions! ;-)

The moral of the story is that there isnt one. I hate gardening. i mean, i love looking at beautiful flowers, smelling the roses but there is no way I want to get my hands dirty. The other day, I got caught up in the mood and was literally in the dirt and it felt good. That is not to say that I am going to turn in into a habit ma!

2 comments:

San Nakji said...

That's a cool story. I think your ancestor was a very smart man. He only asked for what he needed, nothing more. Make sure you look after that stone!

(oh yeah, I hate gardening too!)

Deepa Bhasthi said...

I would hate to be ever content in life. i believe that if you are content, you lose the urge to live. one of my philosophical ideas!
ma called me today to, but i wasnt gonna get into the trap again!