The enterprising reporter

In an interview to the Times of India earlier this week, Nobel laureate Dr Norman Borlaug, father of India's Green revolution, said there was still plenty of upside to food production in India and there was no need for panic

This report in the morning paper today took me back to an incident that flummoxed my dad. This must have been sometime in 1973-74. The Nobel laureate Dr Norman Borlaug was in our city and he was attending a conference at the University. My father was to have received him there. My brother was doing his course in journalism and was working as a reporter for a small newspaper . He desperately wanted to interview Dr Borlaug and tried hard to convince my dad to set it up. My father was known to be a stickler for rules and ensured no favours especially to anyone in the family. He refused and did not give it a second thought. Was he not in for a surprise when Dr Borlaug reached the venue (where my father was waiting to receive him) and the car stopped , the door opened and Dr Borlaug stepped out followed by my brother!! Our man had managed to meet him before his journey and my father's colleagues who recognised him had allowed him to travel with the Nobel Laurette in the car so that he could have his interview!! That was my brother those days. I wonder whether he is as enterprising and aggressive now!!

Shankranti aka Pongal

Pongal/Shankranti was fun. We had this colourful rangoli that was made and we had the kids and friends at home. Having active youngsters at home is the best thing to happen these days ( despite the mess that invariably follows). The traditional pongal was prepared. I FLEW A KITE TOO!!. Of course the art of kite flying was thanks to being the only girl in the family and also the youngest, so I got to tag along with the two brothers and picked up these skills. It was a lot easier now flying from the rooftop of the building. There is definitely more wind power and flying a kite is not too difficult. As a kid I had the experience of flying a kite from an open ground where we had to use a lot of hand movements to get the kite flying. And of course being able to manouver was another thing since there were more trees around. ( these days there are more buildings and wires that we have to contend with). And making the famous manja at home with glass powder and the sticky sap of a cactus to bind the glass powder on the string. Thank You S-I-L for the happy moments of kite flying.

Brave Heart

When my head hurts I cannot do anything at all. Just bundle up into a room, switch off all the lights, pop in a pill and wait till it subsides. Which brings me to my nephew who had a serious head injury. Yet amazed the doctors with his rapid recovery. And in my brother's words has retained his sense of humour. Is it not amazing? I should take a lesson from him in trying to cope with these insignificant aches.