Bringing Peace

Today is Akshay's third anniversary and Akshay's mother is in Germany today to train as a peace worker as part of AOL and IAHV's peace building initiative in war zones. She says this is all Akshay's plan to keep his mum happy on this day, so that she has no time to be sad. Post the training she will work in conflict zones and help rehabilitate war victims.

Guidance from an angel!

Up Above, From Somewhere There

As we get closer to Akshay's third anniversary we scan the starry night skies for that bright spark of energy that was a part of our lives for ten years. Perhaps he too gazes through a looking glass at the Earth below from up above, somewhere there. How far does the shine of our city lights reach? How does the Earth look from up above? Quite stunning, especially at night as these pictures show. This is the aerial view from a high rise building of Bahrain

Now let's go a little higher and see how things look through some satellite pictures taken from the Internet. That tiny island there is Bahrain and that of course is India at night.

Throwback to happier times

Someone has said only a pillow knows how much we cry. The flood of memories peaks when we settle down to rest our weary selves.

The Akshay and Archy throw cushion, to hug tight every night, to soak up the tears, to calm and comfort, to fall asleep on, to remind us of happier times

Keeping it Alive

When we lose a very dear person, there is a huge black hole in our lives that's forever hurting. Love is Forever by Casey Rislov is a wonderful book that helps children make sense of death and I stumbled upon it by chance in this incredibly intelligent woman Maria Popova's blog. There is this owl family wherein Grandfather Owl engages the little Owls in many wonderful activities. When he passes away, the Owl children are inconsolable but they come up with a wonderful yet strikingly simple idea to convey their love to Grandpa who is up above, there somewhere. They fly a heart shaped kite to show how much they love their Grandpa and how much they miss him.

These endearing illustrations by Rachel Balsaits make our pain a little less.

All Things Martian

Akshay had a thing for Mars and even wrote a small poem about it, hence this post. Mangalyaan, the Indian Mars Orbiter Mission has completed one month in orbit. The spacecraft successfully entered the Martian orbit on September 24, 2014, a historic day for all Indians. The spacecraft has traveled a distance of 680 million km, according to Indian Space Research Organisation. It was launched from Earth on November 5, 2013. That makes a journey of 323 days! The distance between Mars and Earth is not fixed as both planets have an elliptical orbit. At the closest approach they are 57 million kms apart ( that was in July 2014) and the farthest is 225 million kms.

This is the first picture of Mars captured by Mangalyaan.

Will it find signs of life on Mars? Who knows what lies in the Great Beyond...maybe a planet where a race, far superior to man exists and where all things pure live!

Wimpy Kid beats Harry Potter

Diary of a Wimpy Kid, is the best selling fiction book for 5-10 year olds and Akshay was reading it in his vacation break.

The book has been awarded the Blue Peter's Book of the Decade Award proving that real life is any day better than magic wands, broomsticks and spells. JK Rowling usually tops this list with one of her Harry Potter books. The Wimpy Kid is about the games-obssessed boy Greg who has trouble with his family and friends and has difficulty fitting in, so very easy to identify with! He laughs at himself and has a ready eye for the brighter side of things, whether it is the bullies in school or the disastrous sleepover. Akshay would regularly have sleepovers at Roshan's place and would have enjoyed reading about the midnight adventures, specially when Greg and his friends try to dig the linoleum floor with spoons to make an escape tunnel! I can hear Akshay laugh at that.

Akshay_Fur Elise

I had made this small video for Akshay in 2012 for his birth anniversary but never went public with it on You Tube. He had learnt to play Fur Elise in his piano classes when he was eight or so, apart from Yankee Doodle and other songs. The music of Fur Elise is so mesmerising it defies words...parts of it are melancholic and parts of it joyful. After listening to it you feel as if all those tight knots inside have loosened up and you can relax. Did you know Beethoven never played Fur Elise in front of an audience during his lifetime. What a pity! He had composed it in 1810. It came to public notice long after his death due to his illegible handwritten notes. Today Fur Elise is a must-learn piece in every piano class there is. That's the world's way of showing gratitude to a musical maestro!

The Last Airbender

This was one of the movies we all watched together at a multiplex in Bangalore with Akshay. He had watched the movie keenly, paying equal attention to the action scenes as well as the spiritual side of the plot.

The story is wonderful. Air Nomads have amazing quality of bending air. Since air is the element that stands for freedom, the Airbenders free themselves of the worldly things and become seekers of peace and spiritual knowledge. When you see preteens doing this it makes for a good story...yeah! The Air Benders are pacifist by nature and avoid confrontation to achieve their goals.

These sketches of Aang are from Deviantart, a social networking service for art display.

FIFA Memorablia and a Doodle a Day

Akshay was following FIFA 2010 closely and had pictures and posters stuck on the wall next to his bed. He would cut out Messi's pictures from the KFC boxes. He would scan the Gulf Daily News for match details and other memorablia. His passion for the game was no passing fancy and he was keen to be in Brazil for 2014.

Google's doodle a day for FIFA 2014 would definitely have regaled Akshay. According to Ryan Germick, the doodle team leader at Google, interactive doodles can take months to make but this time they are doing it in two to six hours! They have an Inspiration Room at the office and entire walls are plastered with football memorablia.

One doodle celebrated Paul the Octopus who correctly predicted eight matches in 2010. He died in his aquarium in October that year at the age of four. That's supposed to be a long life for an octopus!

The Mexican wave was another interesting one. The letters are for the audience that support their teams in a Mexican wave. Letter L is the odd one out, as he is always late to catch the wave. The Mexican wave concept originated in 1986 in Mexico.

Football Frenzy

Things are getting serious at FIFA as the knock out stage approaches. It is evident when players start biting at the shoulders instead of snapping at the heels! I had shared this fun mail about the game plan of different countries with Akshay during the last World cup. Does it hold good for 2014 as well? Figure it out!

The French are a Beauty! Love the noodle map on the Brazil board! Akshay would probably have drawn out the game plans for the different countries himself this time

Mesmerising Messi and Other Animals

The football fever has gripped the world and Akshay's favourite Lionel Messi is at his mesmerising best.

Some of Akshay's friends are probably in Brazil to watch their favourite heroes live in action. The craze for animals guessing the match winners continues this time also. After Paul the Octopus in 2010, this year every country seems to have an animal of its choice. The Chinese have a panda and a turtle. In Ukraine there's a psychic pig. In the deserts of Dubai, Shaheen the camel has made four correct predictions so far.

The Germans have got Nelly the Elephant as a soothsayer. Roo the dog does it for the football fans of England. Flopsy the Kangaroo and Big Head the turtle completes the animal list. We Indians have our feathered friends who do some astro stuff. Surely, someone will have found Polly the parrot to help them with their bets! Nico the macaw is popular with Africans as is Newton in England!

Furry Friends

One of the interesting mails that I had shared with Akshay.We have all read the story of the lion and mouse as kids. This real life version of it, is with a leopard. The little mouse has come to lunch with the leopard!

Four Legged Fun

Archy was Akhsay's best friend. Akshay loved taking care of his dog. Giving him a bath and brushing his teeth were a routine on weekends. There was a phase when Archy's digestive tract would indulge in random acts with sound effects. This prompted Akshay to break into poetry which he had sent to us.

Hush little Archy don't you cry, if you fart we'll all die!!!

That fart humour is such an essential part of boyhood was evident in the 2010 break in Bangalore, when all the toot jokes prompted even Nanima to recollect a short poem in Telugu on toots that her father had told her. She made Suchit write it down in a notebook. It was really hilarious! By the way did you know there are almost 150 words for fart in usage!

This is Archy after a long hot bath

Pictionary Pictures

Shekhar, Carolyn and Reuben played Pictionary last month on Akshay's birth anniversary. Shekhar mama fondly recollects the regular Pictionary sessions and Akshay's drawing skills .

These sketches are from the office where we used to play and had great fun. Akshay was always anxious about Pictionary. He used to take it quite seriously. Some of his drawings used to belie his age. He made a great team with Carolyn who used to guess all his doodles. And he used to get sour if he lost or didn’t get a word. But he was as always great fun.

Little Stone People

Akshay would have loved this. He loved the little men in the Lego toys and another game that I had gifted him. What a wonderful summer holiday project for children! Ideal paperweights to gift to parents and others.

Uncle Akshay

March 25 turns out to be a special day for Akshay's cousin Binni in New Zealand. Swapna gave birth to a baby boy. This is probably the best birthday gift Binni has ever got. Both son and dad share the same date of birth. History repeats itself and the first of the next generation is here. God advanced the baby's arrival by a few weeks for some good reason - we welcome the new energy, new hopes and new happiness. Congratulations!

Happiness Walkathon

Akshay would have been thirteen today. March 21 is a special day for it was the day Akshay was born.It is also a day of many days. It is celebrated as Mother's Day in most of the Arab world. It is the Spring Equinox, as well as International Forestry day, World Puppetry Day, World Poetry Day and International Day for Elimination of Racial Discrimination. March 20 was declared by the UN as International Happiness Day and to mark the event, the Art of Living Foundation has organised a 'Happiness Walkathon' and a Go Green Bahrain initiative on March 21, where the parents and friends will participate as we remember our little Akshay. Akshay brought happiness into so many lives it is so apt to walk for happiness on his birth anniversary.

Mysteries of life

The Malaysian airplane has been missing for a week now. Many possibilities are being suggested. Isn't it surprising that an airplane as high tech as the Boeing 777 should vanish without a trace despite all the high tech gadgetry that runs our lives? All this tells us that we are not as invincible as we make ourselves out to be. There is still something that can outdo us. Many things are still beyond our ken...the mysteries of life and the secrets of death. And when the pain is unbearable, we take recourse in the cycle of life and rebirth and hope to meet those we loved and lost.

This is how Akshay looked when he came to Bahrain and joined The New Millenium school

He would find many things in India different and amusing. I'll never forget the way he would ask,"What's that?"

Tiger Tales

Here's something really interesting I want to share with Akshay's friends. As part of the Onam celebrations, men dress up as tigers and leopards and dance on the streets in Kerala...imagine a road full of big cats! The dance is called Pulikalli. They look for men with big pot bellies so that the face of the tiger can be drawn nicely!

In other places during harvest festivals people dress up and have fun. This year some people took inspiration from the Hollywood movie and dressed up as Avataars and took part in a pantomime parade.

Interesting isn't it...happens only in India!

Eye for Detail

Akshay had a good eye for detail and showed immense patience in painstaking jobs whether academic or otherwise. Here's how he helped Carolyn in the kitchen to make some sweets in 2009 when he was just eight years old.

Before Christmas I got ready to make sweets, and I tried these things called kal-kals. You make a dough and break it up into tiny balls, which you press on the tines of a fork, roll into a small worm like shape and deep fry. Loooong boring work. I enlisted the help of Reuben and Akshay. Reuben began to bargain for an exit from the job in some time, but Akshay patiently sat and meticulously helped me.