The Raven...

God is in the details....

Jackfruit skin...

The Poster City...

Madurai ... the undisputed Poster city of India! No family function, occasion or event is complete unless its publicized with posters!

The Antique Boats...

These two antique boats have come to my possession from my grandma's showcase. I have no idea of their age or origin. My mum has seen them from her childhood so one can imagine.

The Little Boy Blue Mug

It was in this vintage mug that my grandma Anne used to give me milk when I was a kid. She had quite a collection of ceramic wares and I loved this mug for its cute picture of the little boy blue! During my college days, the mug slipped my hand and broke down to smithereens..but I didnt giveup. I collected every broken piece and glued them up and put the mug in my showcase. It has stayed there ever since as a beautiful piece of nostalgia...

Little boy blue is a famous English nursery rhyme first published in Tommy Thumb's "Little song book' in the year 1744.

Chella Aachi...

This is a vintage black & gold carioca 10 color ballpoint pen from Italy. Its probably from the sixties. It was a gift I had received as a kid from one of my aachis (grandma) Mrs Chella Albert ( my grandma's elder sister). Chella aachi is no more but few of the gifts she had given me whenever she visited us have always been special and bring back lot of fond memorise...She was the one who introduced me and my brother to Enid Blyton, Tintin and so many other adventure books. It was always story time in the afternoons whenever she visited..A large part of my philately collection is her contribution. Receiving her letters were also as much fun as writing to her. She was a big part of my childhood memories. Thank you Chella aachi..

Another gift, Bible Quiz- a pack of cards from the 80s

Her letter that came along with my birthday card!

The Red Boot house

This beautiful red boot house toy once housed a scented eraser inside , that could be accessed from the bottom sliding opening. It has survived almost three and a half decades and is one of the regular hangings on our Christmas tree.

The Yellow Duck

Another cute remnant from my toddler days. This yellow duck used to sit as the driver in a delivery toy truck. The toy truck was a gift from a relative abroad and used to be a favorite of mine. Sweet memories!

Vintage toy - The Matchbox 44 Passenger coach

This vintage 1978 passanger coach was one of my favourite toys from my toddler days. Probably gifted by a relative who visited us from abroad, this single coach has somehow survived for the past four decades and sits cutely in my showcase. The toy was made by Lesney productions,England under the brand name " Matchbox ". This series was called the Superfast with some amazingly smooth wheels in competition to Hotwheels.

Covid comeback

Its been a tough one month for me and my family. But the worst is past now, thank God. It all started with me taking my first dose of Covishield vaccine on 4 th April. I started getting a mild fever the same night. A slight temperature for one or two days post vaccination is expected and so I took Dolo and went to work. When the fever didnt abate even on the third day , I took off from office and checked with a local Doctor who asked me to take antibiotic and continue with Dolo. But the fever didn't stop. So I got myself admitted in a Hospital on 9th April and tests came positive for Covid-19. This is the first time in my life Iam getting admited in a hospital. My home was quarantined by the local administration as per Covid protocol and hence my wife could not visit me. Luckly I was the last person who got a single room in the hospital. It was almost a 10 day stay as my lungs got infected with severe pneumonia and my oxygen levels were erratic. i was put on a Remdisever course along with other steroids and medication. More than the medication, staying alone without seeing my family was a mental stress. My sleep was disturbed by hallucinations effected by the steroids. By Gods grace I recovered and got discharged in 10 days. Even though the virus had left, the after effects of the strong medication and weakened lungs have kept me in complete rest at home and away from all social media for the past few days. As the Covid second wave in India has peaked now, many relatives and friends are down and a few have lost their life aswell. The situation is grim as hospitals have run out of beds and oxygen supply in many parts of the country. Even critical medicines are in short supply. The government is clueless and have ordered a full lockdown. I just hope and pray this too will pass away soon.