R is for Rainbows on Table Mountain #AtoZChallenge

Dear Readers,

Welcome to the fourth week of the #Blogging from A to Z  April Challenge 2021. My theme this year is based on the Japanese concept of Ichigo Ichie which means--"What we are experiencing right now will never happen again. And therefore, we must value each moment like a beautiful treasure."

I've put together a collage of such moments which can be seen as chance occurrences, coincidences, pre-destined or random (depending on who you ask) for this month's challenge. 

I hope you'll enjoy being here.

Thank you.

Arti

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The last two days have been hard to sit and write and post and participate because of the dark and dismal news of Covid deaths and distress coming from India. There's been a deluge of  outpourings of grief and bewilderment. As if that wasn't enough, news of the fire on the slopes of Table Mountain erupted on the screen while the husband was watching cricket on Sunday.

Should I post? Should I carry on? Questions pop up.

The answer sits in front of me, spread out on my keyboard, waiting behind the sleeping screen. I see my own reflection in it as I sit and stare. Then the practice takes over. Fingers click and the screen flickers to life. I start typing and pour out my feelings. 

This  is the only anchor that's tethering me to my peace. Otherwise, I'd be fretting over things I can do nothing about. 

Like last year, the discipline of A to Z is helping me to carve out a routine that makes the sun and the moon and the stars rise and set in skies above me and in their rhythm, I see hope.

 

"If you cry because the sun has gone out of your life, 

your tears will prevent you from seeing the stars."

Rabindranath Tagore's words guide me towards this post.

I look at the draft I'd prepared a few days ago, and decide to post. 

"Beauty is simply reality seen with the eyes of love."

Without further ado, let's be led by Tagore's words and see the beauty of Table Mountain as we saw it in June 2019.

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Visiting Table Mountain is on everyone's agenda when they travel to Cape Town for the first time. I'd hoped for it too. The husband had travelled  to Cape Town for work a couple of times before and every time, weather gods had decreed that he would not get to the top of Table Mountain.

If you read the C post: A Cypriot honeymoon and other coastal curiosities, you may recall that our first day of holiday in Cape Town was a washout.  I hadn't put my hopes up. I was going to enjoy each day as it unfolded and that was that.

So, When the concierge at the hotel informed us after breakfast on Day 2 that a window of blue skies had opened up to let let in visitors to the Mountain, I was ecstatic.

But first, a roadblock.

There were two rainbows 

but the camera captured only one.

"The more one lives alone on the river or in the open country, the clearer it becomes that nothing is more beautiful or great than to perform the ordinary duties of one's daily life simply and naturally." Rabindranath Tagore

Listen and you will hear...

Clouds appeared out of nowhere. 

Within minutes, sky canvas drew dramatic art pieces one after another...

Yellow Margaret

sways atop Table Mountain

so clouds will bring rain

(a Haiku to highlight the water shortage in Cape Town)

The sky was blue within the hour.

For visitors like us, it was great.

But for the city, the clouds and the rain they bring would've been better.

"Let us not pray to be sheltered from dangers but to be fearless when facing them."

-Rabindranath Tagore

This year, I'm participating in #BlogchatterA2Z  powered by theblogchatter.com

 

All the quotes above have come from this link: Rabindranath Tagore

A Haiku and a Tanka (almost:)

Haiku #2

The bees came in May-

to drink honey only they could see.

Come, my dates are ready.

(~says the date palm tree)

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Tanka #1 

Erase my edges.

Soften me, O! Dragonfly.

Smudge me to oblivion;

where I can be you or me,

Frangipani or blue sky.

(~ say I as I attempt to write a Tanka but can't seem to whittle off the extra syllable in line 3!)

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Dear Readers,

The date palm trees in Doha are pregnant with ripe fruit now. The first photo was made in May when the blossoms were hosting boisterous parties for honey bees.

This year, dragonflies have been regular visitors--I'm not sure why. Perhaps all the quietness induced by Covid is responsible. I'm not complaining--I'm grateful for such good looking visitors who sit still on branches for hours so that novice photographers like me can click to our hearts' content.

Wishing you all a healthy and happy weekend.

Stay safe and enjoy nature and her bounteous beauty.

Warm regards

Arti

My first Haiku

A warm red flower

holding on to a bare branch

waves autumn good-bye

Dear readers,

I hope you've all been well and happy and healthy.

I've been away from this world of blogs and blogging for sometime now. In fact, being away has become more frequent than being here.

Why?

There have been a lot of reasons.

I've travelled a lot this year: some journeys were about getting on planes while others involved sitting on my mat and closing my eyes. Some journeys took me to taste new food and wine in wonderful places like South Africa and Bulgaria, while others required me to prepare food in my kitchen in Doha, pack it in large containers and drive to a hospital to share with friends I've made less than a year ago.

As an empty-nester, my life is sprouting new roots and shoots and nourishing the ideas that I had put on hold while I was raising my family of a son and a daughter. As an empty-nester, my home has filled up with ideas that were once lying dormant, wrapped up under layers of excuses.  They are now free to walk in the nude in any part of the house at any time without raising grunts of disapproval or ridicule or disbelief or lack of confidence. They're blossoming now. Some are higgledy-piggledy while others are thriving with a life force of their own. Life is being lived with gusto and pauses as the heart pleases.

Departing from a grid of routine or a matrix of people/situations/habits/compulsions can be challenging at first. But hang in there. Trust me.

The song that lies in between the lines of lyrics, in the space between the end of one note and the beginning of the next, will reveal itself to you if you let it.

Four decades of life lived, perhaps a couple more to go, I find myself needing less of everything. Perhaps, it's the blessings I'm thankful for: the blessings of having enough.

Perhaps, it's the age.

Perhaps, it's time spent on travelling within.

Perhaps, the Universe has presented kindred spirits in my circle because I'm ready now.

More and more, I feel, less and less is needed.

Less of talk, more of action.
Less of sharing my words, more of listening to others.
Less of accumulating, more of enjoying what I already have.
Less of planning for the future, more of loving the living of the now...this moment...right here...this exact one...this one ...when my fingers are touching the keys of my laptop and words from my heart are pouring out on the screen...this exact moment...it's here now...gone now...

And that is all.

Lesser, fewer distractions.

More and more of birdsong, poetry, hand holding, kisses, hugs, shared jokes, tears rolling down cheeks with gratitude and/or laughter.

Hence, this today: my first haiku: a form that uses the bare minimum of syllables to capture a moment in time.

Love

Arti

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Wishing you all joy and good health

jokes that tickle 

daal, chawal and pickle

to make your weekend restful, happy and spicy.

Thank you for being here today and for reading this post.

photo was clicked in Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden, Cape Town in June 2019