Words Zahra K.
Digital Art Fatema D (cosmicweavers).
Happy Homemaker, Bibliophile, Reader, Writer – in that order. I am very Tea-motional and I love to dig in the little details of everything that catches my attention♡
It is a given for anyone who knows me well (or who has been privy to my social media posts) that most of the things I do in a day are done sitting by the edge of my French windows. I wonder what it is that attracts me towards them each time I do something that’s close to my heart. My life apart from the everyday household chores is driven by tea, Quran, books, my laptop and more tea – in that order. I always – always – have my tea sitting by a window at home, it is a match made in heaven. I read and meet deadlines for those stalled writing assignments (like this one) in the company of the stars. The morning Quran and hafti routine is with the pigeons that come to have their food and water from the trays and bowls installed. Breakfast is had looking at the athletic performances of the parrots on the grills. Procrastination and daydreaming come as natural gifts to writers and I’ve just the right spots to dwell on them.
So, what is it that draws me to combine these activities with the one constant in my life? The landscape must be dynamic and may waver each day but I wonder is it the brick coloured kavelu roofs down there that allure or the buildings that make a massive concrete jungle in the name of progress? Is it the eagle nests on the deciduous trees next to the roofed houses or the soft demeanour of the coral sun an hour before it sets? The periodic hustle on the crossroads around the corner or the sweet little kirana shop that stands there below an age-old banyan tree, its long roots hanging over it. To be honest, it is all of this and none of it at the same time. Maybe it is the feeling that cloaks me with the mere sight of this entire package.
We often overlook and take for granted all that we are blessed with in abundance. The availability of it all forms a bubble around us and we hardly think of popping it to come out and really see what the world offers us.
Well, where I live we are blessed with a window in every direction. When up early I have the opportunity to see the sunrise from my kitchen with the calm sea ahead of it. I can see it is maghrib time from my bedroom window without having to see the clock. The sun snuggled between two rising storeys is a sight I can capture over and over every day of my life.
The window in my hall faces the south and interestingly grants a view of road, water & rail. There’s a harbour line railway track passing behind my building from dockyard station. The eastern freeway passes parallel to it while the enormous Arabian sea sits in the background. Very often I beam at cranes at the edge of the docks without any purpose, sitting on the ancient cane sofa in my balcony. If you don’t find me anywhere in the house, this is the place to look out for first.
At least for now, I have a view of a distance and the good fortune of listening to sounds that keep me close to nature and relatable stuff like the occasional blasts of a ship horn. I am happy as long as it isn’t just the buzz of the Mumbai traffic. There’s a building under construction right in our face that’ll soon block the southern view from home. But until then I want to enjoy and appreciate what I get to see. I take deliberate efforts for digital detoxes and go sit by the windows, do nothing and just stare at the world outside. The sea, the birds, the construction, the trees, the fog, the smog, the calmness, the rain, the lightning, the shades of blue and orange, and yellow and purple, and black and indigo, the winter skies, the moving cars, the freeway traffic jams, the night lights, the sunshine, the crackers and the kites, the choppers and the passing planes, the clouds and the changing weathers… All of it.
I am grateful to God for these bounties he has bestowed upon me apart from the thousand others.
May his grace remain upon us forever!
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