Teaching shocks!

 The post sounds like a Physics one but believe me, the shock that I am going to share is something that rattled me out of my wits this morning. Well, we were informed beforehand that two senior gentlemen have taken admission and will be joining our college. Well, one never worries about things much that don't directly affect us. Surprise! The two 'senior gentlemen' were in my class, sitting right there - one with a mop of white hair and the other no hair but with a domineering effect! As soon as I beheld them, I was mildly startled. Well, one gentleman in question was one of the founding members of a well known elite college of our state - of course, he was retired and chose to spend his vacant hours in the company of students who possible could be fifty years younger than him and teachers who were thirty years younger than him!

Gasp!

Really?

Learning has no age, they say but a prominent gentleman chose our college to drive us nuts! This situation has put me in a dilemma. I find myself as an oject under scrutiny even though, I am imagining too much but that's the reality. All of us who have them in the class are a bit shaken but I do know that eventually we will get used to the sight of someone quite experienced and well read sitting amongst the 20 somethings.

Reader, wish me luck and watch this space for more tea from my classes.

Image courtesy: Internet

The most underrated aspects of life . . .

The most underrated aspects of life that we almost always take for granted are:

* Getting up without any effort in the morning

* Turning on to the side without pain

* Eating whatever you fancy without restrictions

* Making a plan on a whim

* Breathing without any effort

* Bathing whenever you feel like

* Having a drink of anything without much thought

* Planning an outing in the weekend

* Knowing exactly how you will feel the next day based on today

* Peacefully sitting by the window

Dear reader, what will you add to the list? 

I won't be able to write from the grave

 I won't be able to write from the grave 

So let me tell you what I love: 

Books, Smell of books, Skies, Stars, long drives with music, food, 
Pop songs, instrumentals, Crime thrillers, dressing up, silver, 
mountains, summer mornings and late evenings, bread, butter, smell of wet earth, 
windows with a view, walking, old curio shops, Christmas season, winters, lights,
slow mornings---

and drinking coffee without guilt.

Inspired by Bhumika's Boudoir who was inspired by Fanny Howe.

For the love and memories of Belfast . . .

 It's not quite often that you find a series that you might never notice otherwise if not for the striking name which has wonderful memories for you. How to get to Heaven from Belfast, a series streaming on Netflix caught my attention with the name Belfast. I along with two other research scholars had an opportunity to visit Queens' University, Belfast, Northern Ireland in the summer of 2010 as exchange students while we were doing our Ph. D. It was a lovely six-week programme where we interacted with many scholars, visited historical sites and generally soaked in the ambience of Belfast and some nearby places. We fell in love with the accent and the wry and straight faced Irish humour! We also observed many cultural nuances of the Irish and their strong community ties. Overall, it was a lovely experience. 

Now cutting back to the present . . .

Imagine my delight when while browsing through Netflix, I happened to see the word 'Belfast' - my mind immediately raced through the beautiful weeks of 2010. I started watching the series and discovered that it was a dark comedy thriller which was liberally sprinkled with Irish humour and local flavours of Belfast and nearby places. Listening to the accent was something that I enjoyed alongside the dark storyline of four friends, now three, attending the wake of the fourth friend. Until the fourth of fifth episode, one never actually catches the storyline but once you do so, it all perfectly aligns! in spite of the theme being quite dark and serious, the series is touted as a comedy series and so it is! I missed all my friends in Belfast and connected to some of them after watching the series. 

From 2010 to 2026, the memories and fun that Belfast had given me lights up my heart and mind and truly the series enabled me to revel in the wee time that we had spent in Northern Ireland!

Image courtesy: Internet

My blog through the perspective of AI

Today I paused to take note of the AI overview that appears whenever I run a search on Google. I thought, let me see what it says about my blog.

So here goes:

"Meanderings and Reflections "often refers to personal, contemplative writing, most notably the long-running blog by Susan Deborah featuring, thoughts on literature, daily life in India, and social observations. It captures a slow-life, observational style, covering topics like literature, rain, and personal anecdotes."

Key Aspects of "Meanderings and Reflections" (Susan Deborah Blog):

Literary Observations: Discussions on authors like Amitav Ghosh and Albert Camus.

Daily Life & Culture: Reflections on Chennai, the experience of rain, and social dynamics.

Personal Philosophy: Thoughts on happiness, the meaning of "simple," and the nature of memory.

Slow Life: A focus on reading, writing, and appreciating the present moment.

So I was grinning from ear to ear even though I know all these were gleaned from my blog. 

Well, what do you think dear reader?

Sundarban, Amitav Ghosh and love of novels

 My introduction to Sundarban in Bengal is primarily through the novels of Dr. Amitav Ghosh. His The Hungry Tide, Gun Island and the recent Ghost Eye has the beautiful forest as one of the main actors in the storyline. So. when one of my former students from Bengal visited the Sunderban, I wanted her to send some pictures of the forest and the rivers to me. She was gracious enough to send them to me, filling my heart and mind. Here are some of the pictures that she had shared with me. 

This picture is special because the red cloth is tied after prayers to the goddess Bonbibi, the deity who appears predominantly in Ghosh's novels. The deity is often invoked for protection from the tigers and other dangers which the local fisherman could face in the mangrove forest.

 

A crocodile

                         

                                         

       The vast expanse of the river which looks lovely

You might wonder that there are many pictures of the Sundarban littered all over the internet then why am I getting so excited over pictures that I procured from my former student. Well, one's lived experience is worth more than the many unknown photographers' pictures on the internet.

Thanks dear Aditi for the beautiful pictures.

Dear reader, I will pause here but leave two posts on the works of Dr. Ghosh which I had written.

1. Revisiting Amitav Ghosh's The Hungry Tide

2. Do you remember your WORDS?