the ‘chicken corn soup’ story

Shaam’s surgery went well… but I wasn’t allowed to stay with him at the hospital. I swear I did not pull up any insane act to make them decide so- they just don’t let ‘relatives’ stay. Well… that’s what I was told.

Today was nerve wrecking though. We waited in the waiting room… from one, to another, then another. I stayed with him till he was given anaesthasia- then I went to the first waiting room and waited again to know how the surgery went. All I know- before drowsing off he asked me if he could have that chicken corn soup when he comes back home tomorrow and that’s what I am making now.

I hope he is sleeping now and is not in too much pain; and I hope I can make a good chicken corn soup that he’d enjoy tomorrow.

My house is still standing. It’s stormy and the sky is white- even at this hour (8:19pm). I tried to find the sun today, but it was nowhere to be found. I’m not sure how the bushfire situation is now- it’s very hot now, so can it be because it’s coming near? Yea, I guess it can be so. I’ll do some research and see.

Anyhow, back to the kitchen to make the best chicken corn soup EVER!

the historical day…

We have extreme weather warnings today in Melbourne: Strong wind, thunderstorms, more fire…. Text messages were sent out by the Police to get ourselves fire-ready. Oh well…

It’s also Shaam’s surgery today: cornea grafting- nothing less.

We have dropped Sherkhan off to a temporary cat boarding yesterday- as we will not be home the next two days. I’m hoping he will be safe there. We will not be home to keep him safe.. and we thought it would be good for him. Missing that little ‘pawpal’ already, but it was the right thing to do. Some important belongings will be dropped off to Ron’s- passports, certificates- the proofs of achievements of the lifetime.

But other than that, my house is hardly prepared for the fire. I had so much to do that I could hardly do half the things I should have done…. The backache does not help either. Only time will tell if my house stands at the end of the day today… and more importantly… if my man is okay.

Gawd, I can nag!

*deep breath*

red sun

the sun was red yesterday evening- it looked like the red circle of bangladesh flag. shaam speculated that it was for the smokes in the air for the bushfires. he was probably right.

we kept staring at the red sun all the way through to our IKEA visit. it was setting, the sun. it was that time of the day. like- you see it going down… down… down… down… and then drop- ‘off for the day, see you again tomorrow!’. reminds me of the bay of bengal- no sun sets on water as prettily as it does there !

i am biased. i know. been a while i have seen sun setting on bay of bengal. it’s my favourite bay in the whole wide world. one of the many reasons that makes me want to go back to bangladesh… one of the days, this may outweigh some negative events that happenned recently- which are making me feel quite the opposite. but oh well…

to continue about the smokes and bushfire- today is just a slight bit smokey… and the morning smelt of burnt trees. as the day grew older- the smell went less intense, it’s still smokey- but it’s a sunny day- so not as smokey anymore.

the fires are still there… it’s improving, they say. death toll is not as rapidly rising anymore, the area- i hope- is evacuated… fingers crossed for things getting back to some amount of ‘normalcy’ soon.

the bushfires in victoria- on a personal level

yesterday while walking to the station from work to catch the homewards train- shaam called me to say that there’s been another bushfire, sort of close to where we live, in a park where we had gone for his niece’s birthday and had loads of fun a year before the last.

the area is in the same train-line that we take every day- and he was worried that the train may get cancelled… or roads may be closed (as it is usually the case when fire breaks in) and i may be stuck at the middle of nowhere- and let’s face it: i am totally navigation-challenged. example? i have to look at my hands for a few minutes long and hard before ‘they tell me’ which one is left and which one, right. unfortunately, i am NOT kidding this time. yea- i am a loser like that when it comes to navigation and direction- and probably a few more things too; but let’s not go there .

as i was saying, the news made me very sad. all sorts of questions kept flooding in: why is it getting worse? why THAT park?! what if fire breaks in one of the days and burn our house down while sherkhan is home alone? the last question literally gave me shivers- considering how many pets are dying in this bushfire- stuck at their homes when the fire broke. each time i hear it, i feel so so sad.

anyhow- this fire is detained now. the fire-fighters did their job well (thank you guys!). i got home yesterday in time, the train did not get cancelled, i was not lost. in other words- life is going on as it does. all we had to deal with is the smell of smoke in the air as the wind blew in our direction from there; and something else too- a reality check, perhaps, that no matter where you are in melbourne now- you may not be too far away from the fire. you are bound to be close to at least one of the 40 fires that are burning in victoria. we are close to 1, at this point of time. yesterday, however, till the fire was detained- we were close to 2- for a few hours.

everything else aside- what is important is that we are safe; considerably so if we sit and compare situations with many others. we were probably in no danger- even yesterday, but i guess it’s just human to feel some amount of ‘uneasiness’ when forests burn and you see images of distress in every possible news media.

i want this to be over. but obviously saying that does not change a thing .

after how many deaths would he finally admit- ‘too many people have died’?

a lady in the office burnt her feet while trying to save her husband from one of the bushfires that is burning is australia at this time. the husband is in intensive care now- recovering from the burns. she is in hospital too. her pets are all dead; her home and the lifelong possessions are gone. it’s almost like as if the fire monster came and ate a big part of her life- parts of past, present and part of what her future could be. her life, without a doubt, will never be the same again… what is even sadder is that i know this is just one of the many stories.

i know victoria is burning. it’s hard to avoid the splashes of news of the bushfire these days- they are all over the place: television, newspapers, internet- you name it and it’s there. you see its effects in photographs of distress, helplessness and pain and you feel fractions of their pains in your heart too…. you will have to be made of stone to not to.

today at work, my work-mate proby- while waiting for pekky and i- at the lunch table was close to tears skimming through the newspaper. it’s just too depressing. and i- while taking a walk to the market with pekky, looked up at the sky… it’s been dark since morning due to the dark heavy clouds; and i know if i believed in god- i’d ask for rain (and unlike all other times in the past) not for myself, but for those who are in the line of fire.

about god, though- why won’t god figure it out for himself that ‘rain’ is what needs to be given now? why would a being as great as god (their claim, not mine!) wait till somebody PRAYS for rain and then process it through long rolls of bureaucratic tapes to get it approved? i heard rumours about god being the most merciful of all- but i guess that’s all they are: rumours.

now the ultimate question that i seem to ask a lot- i ask again anyway: isn’t this proof enough that god simply does not exist or, worse, does not care?

oh well… the ‘blind faith’ chip is missing in my system and i like it this way.