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.