Archive | March, 2013

CSAAM 2013

31 Mar

April is almost upon us, and it is time to turn our attention to child sexual abuse awareness. Yes, yet again. Today and everyday, to keep all our children as safe as we humanly can.

I’ll make this short, I promise:

Please head to http://csaawarenessmonth.com, where you will see personal testimonials, expert advice, twitter chats, information sources and resources, workshops, an iPhone app and plenty of posts across the blogosphere, all centered around child sexual abuse awareness.

You can choose to be an active participant in conversations, a channel of information through your own social media feeds, or a recipient of material you need–the choice is entirely yours–but any valuable input/support would be appreciated.

For more on how to contribute to this effort that is now in its third year, please go here.

Feel free to link to this post, tweet about it, put it up on Facebook, or email it to anyone you think will benefit from knowing more about CSA.

Thank you for reading. Spread the word. May we protect our young ones from this scourge.

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Automatic For the People*

28 Mar

I’m going to write a manual on newbie marriage.

I already have a title for it:

“Shut the Door, I Can Hear You Pee”.

Wide open to content suggestions, y’all!

~

*Title taken from one of my favorite albums of all time.

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The Wail of Trincomalee

25 Mar

Bring me fresh spices from Trincomalee

How can I, they be all dead there

Cardamom, pepper, and orange leaf tea

Only arms and torso and head there

~

Vetiver, sandalwood, tales of yore

Colonizers were led there

Rivers of tears are what’s left of the war

Savagely mothers have bled there

~

Orphaned children amass at the graves

Who will see that they’re fed there?

The peace of existence that everyone craves

Forgot to be born and bred there

~

Show me the signs from the paradise hills

Angels now fear to tread there

As dusk descends and bird-call stills

Spirits howl in their bed there

~

Pearls and ships and eastern winds

Vast fortunes lay spread there

What nature offers, man rescinds

No one will rest their head there

~

The flowers are gone from Trincomalee

To adorn the pyres, they said there

And those of us left by fortune’s decree

Must shortly depart in dread there

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Sasoo Na Aansoo

20 Mar

Contrary to what you’ve heard, I haven’t run off to perform item numbers in Bollywood (although refusing stampeding hordes of directors is tiresome, ohhh my throbbing temples!)  My online silence stemmed from an inconvenient brat called Life who sometimes demands our exclusive attention.  Posts will be skimpy for a while, so bear up, will you? But now that I’m here, and with Naurooz/Jamshedi Navroze right around the corner, let’s revive our Parsipanu section!

Today’s phrase, uniquely my community’s and one that amuses me most is:

“Tohri sasoo kanda khai”

Pronounced: taw-ree saa-soo kaan-daa khaa-y

Direct translation: May your mother-in-law eat onions.

Mrs. Kandawalla

[Credits: Picture by Robert Recker/Corbis. Located on Google Images.]

Why onions? Who knows. Perhaps we secretly love to see our mothers-in-law weep. Maybe the speaker wants all the eeda to herself and so wishes the humble onion on the sasoo. Or it could be that feeding one’s mother-by-marriage stinky bulbs is a legit way to stay away. Whatever the motivation, this phrase is used as an exclamation when one has done something foolish, best said while slapping palm to forehead.

For example:

Oops, I added salt twice to the chicken gravy!

Tohri sasoo kanda khai! Now throw in a few potatoes to absorb the excess.

 

So this Navroze, wish someone’s mother-in-law a mouthful of onions—but be sure to keep yours happy with a box of mithai. 😉

Navroze Mubarak, people. This Spring, may we look at life anew, and kiss second chances full on the mouth.

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