Mango blossom time..

Mango blossom in one of our mango trees...

How I miss the fragrance? The tiny fruits...the tiny leaf hoppers will mob you, if you dare to reach near the tree..the spring frenzy!

Assamese vocabulary.....

I lived in Guwahati for three years, during my study in IITG...picked a few Assamese words during that period..

Poita bhaat: Watered rice
Bhoja: Fried
Saru maas: Small fish
Aloo pitik: Mashed Potato
Dailor bor: Lentils Fritter
Bota:  Chutney
Baah Gaajor Achar:  Bamboo Shoot
Bhut Jolokia: chilli
Mitha Tel: Mustard Oil
Nimokh:  Salt
Koni: boiled egg
Aamor Achar: Mango pickle

The suffering of widow old lady in our neighborhood...

Humans can be selfish beyond mention..

I remember this old widow in our neighborhood...

She was married to a landlord and had two daughters..

Unfortunately, her husband passed away young..

The greedy kith and kin of her husband's family grabbed her land and other properties within no time, thinking she had no sons..the wealth will ultimately go to other people...

In exchange of the lands, they agreed to give her meager yearly allowance of money and rise..

I had seen her misery..

While her tiny, dark, lone, corridor-like house was sandwiched by large , spacious, kid-filled houses of her husband's brothers....

I have visited her place a few times..no electricity....she would a simple meal by the evening and lit a kerosene-lamp...I wonder how her nights passed...

She lived on her own...for her daughters now married were housewives as well, and she is not welcome for more than months in their marital homes...

Her last days were particularly difficult...She was in her younger daughter's house..She got bed-ridden...even her lesions got worm-infected...

She died after long suffering..

I wonder, why destiny is particularly harsh on some while it favors some..

Carambola flowers.....

Most of we have seen and tasted the tart and fragrant exotic tropical fruits carambola..
But, have you seen the blooms..
They appear in late summer in India..
Look like redbud flowers...in colors and shapes..
Its clicked at my in-law's backyard..

When I used to socialize more...

Time an duties have made me more confined..but, not long before, I used socialize...
Some memories..all of these are from North East India..

Reminiscing happy childhood.......

I did not have luxurious childhood.............but sure had a happy, loving, stable one...

Among other joys...one joy was abundant and variety of foods...mostly fruits, nuts, tubers, veggies..

We had our own orchard  and vegetable patch..with dozen varieties of produce..including those ever-present crunchy guavas..

Also, our relatives would there harvests like sugarcane, peanuts, peas, mushrooms etc...

The tribal ladies will fetch truffles and other forest products like honey, East Indian ebony fruits (locally called kendu)..charoli nuts (which  were used for sweets)...

Myriad other wild fruits which I remember but can't tell their proper names....if only I knew them and can give them ttheir due popularity...

Village kids will roam on summer noons with basketful of plump date palm fruits...also palmyra palm fruits... sometimes, Spanish lime (mamoncillo/ kusum)..

Mother would dry the dates and kendu fruits and keep in clay pots, for us to enjoy in rainy season..

Village men would scour the ponds for water chestnut....we used to relish them raw or boiled...

In Dusshera times, custard apples were abundant....the sweet, fragrant flavor takes me down the memory lane..

I am sad to realize, most of the plants have been victims of over-exploitation...

Ignorant of their value, tribals have cut them for firewood and timber..

The happy days will never come back...

Overpopulation have ruined the world...

Kamakhya temple in Guwahahti...

Kamakhya temple dedicated to the goddess Kamakhya is located on the Nilachal Hill in Guwahati ...

All ten forms of the Goddess such as Kali, Tara, Sodashi, Bhuvaneshwari, Bhairavi, Chhinnamasta, Dhumavati, Bagalamukhi, Matangi and Kamala are worshiped here..

The dome of the main temple...you will find lots of white pigeons perched on the dark, bee-hive-like dome..

Sad, but these pigeons are kept for sacrifice...
Even once I saw two severed goat kid heads, just near the sanctum sanctorum...
Why don't people understand that no God likes killing..

Myself in front of  a fig on the path to the temple...