Sun was on its way to sink deep in the western horizon. My other half offered to make a cuppa tea, to which I happily agreed.

Then I heard him call my name, in such urgency, that I left everything I was doing and ran to the kitchen.

I looked at him in horror, to only find him pointing out to the garden through the kitchen window.

“Look what is out there,” he said.

For a moment, I was disappointed at the view, thinking, “Oh my God, how are we going to deal with this?”

I was terrified by the thought of having rodents in the garden.

“Don’t worry, that’s not a rat,” hubby said as if he read through my mind.

Out of curiosity, I went out to see the little visitor closer.

“Oh, It’s a Hedgehog”, I said, squatting down.

I only saw them in pictures, and I was fascinated to find a real one, that too in daylight, well, not so much light, but it wasn’t dusk yet.

He was a bit scared in my presence. It looked so gentle yet very protective. It didn’t run away but stayed there without moving.

I realised I was invading his space, and I walked back to my home, however my eyes didn’t leave him.

“How did he end up here?” I wondered.

And as though he knew my query, he slowly hopped through the little space below the broken fence to my neighbour’s garden.

And I stood their watching the whole scene with amusement evident of my face.

https://youtu.be/NWIO3M1ydCI

Much Love,

~ Chinchu Gibu

ഉത്സവങ്ങളുടെ നാട്ടിൽ ജനിച്ചു വളർന്ന കൊണ്ടാവാം, ആഘോഷങ്ങൾ എന്നും എപ്പോഴും നമ്മൾ മലയാളികൾക്ക് ഒരു ഹരമാണ്.

ഈ കോവിഡ് കാലത്തിന്റെ പരിമിതികൾക്കുള്ളിലും, ബഹളങ്ങളൊന്നുമില്ലാതെ ഇതാ ഒരു പൊന്നോണം കൂടി വന്നെത്തിയിരിക്കുന്നു.

സന്തോഷത്തിന്റെയും സമൃദ്ധിയുടെയും നിറവിന്റെയും ഈ പൊന്നോണം വരവേൽക്കാൻ ഞാനുമൊരു പൂക്കളം ഒരുക്കി, എന്റെ tabletop പൂക്കളം.

മോശം പറയരുതല്ലോ കാണാൻ ഭംഗിക്കുറവൊന്നുമില്ലെങ്കിലും, കുറച്ചു pathetic ആണ് സംഭവം.

സാരമില്ല ഇതൊക്കെ ഒരു രസമല്ലേ എന്ന് ഞാൻ തന്നെ ഒരു ചെറുചിരിയോടെ എന്നെ പറഞ്ഞു സമാധാനിപ്പിച്ചു.

എവർക്കും എന്റെ ഹൃദയം നിറഞ്ഞ പൊന്നിൻ തിരുവോണാശംസകൾ

നിറയെ സ്നേഹത്തോടെ,

~Chinchu Gibu

India: is not just about being my motherland that nurtured and nourished me to who I am today, but an emotion that every Indian holds, including myself, no matter who we are, where we reside or what we’ve become.

There is a part of us that longs to be home to celebrate with family all those festivals that solely belongs to us;

There is a part of us that extends our ears to every bit of news that we hear about our land in the midst of what we do;

There is a part of us that rejoice and proudly hold our heads high in every victory of our country, be it sports or science or anything;

There is a part of us that trembles if anything goes wrong, be it an accident or a calamity; our hearts go way above and beyond to be there.

India is not just an emotion but an experience too. It is indeed a miniature version of the world outside. Spending years in the richness of its diversity itself, be it the cultures, languages, costumes or cuisines, is just enough exposure to embrace the rest of the world wholeheartedly.

As India is celebrating its 75 years of Independence, I would like to remember the people who made it possible. Indeed, the freedom we enjoy is a thing beyond words.

Happy Independence Day ..

Much Love,

~ Chinchu Gibu

I rose from bed this morning thinking about my tomato plant. The weight of the growing bunch of tomatoes were putting pressure on it’s shoot. I supported it with a couple of stakes, but it didn’t seem enough when I looked at it yesterday evening.

As soon I woke up, even before brushing my teeth, I rushed to the garden with a bamboo stick, a pair of scissors and twine. I trimmed the unwanted bits and gave another bit of support to the plant. Looking proudly at my work, I took a deep inhale of the freshness that surrounded me. Indeed a beautiful way to start another morning.

As I felt the warmth of the morning sun rays on my face, a cool breeze blew, making me think of the comfort of the blanket and the hand that wrapped around me earlier in bed. I was reminded of my forgotten chores for the morning when this beautiful visitor flew by and sat on the polystyrene box placed on the ground

—a beautiful peacock butterfly.

I squatted down, watching it flutter; I enjoyed what I saw. It flew away after a while, not that it was scared of me or anything, but probably felt intimidated of feeling closely stared at and filmed. I laughed at my thought and stepped into my house, feeling up to face a brand new day.

https://youtube.com/shorts/ubWyIN39Bx4?feature=share

Much Love,

~Chinchu Gibu

I dream, I chase, I fall, I cry, I give up..

Then again, I look up, smile, and repeat myself until I reach where I am supposed to be because you keep reminding me of your presence in my day to day dealings.

Thank you, God, for keeping me in line and constantly feeding me with that teaspoon full of motivation that I require time and again.

I do wonder, where would I have been if it weren’t for you.

Much Love,

Chinchu Gibu

 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life.

(Matthew 6:26-27)

Like many of you, I too have regular bird visitors in my garden. I see them everyday, and I started recognising them,(well, some of them). For some reason they seem to believe that there is food in my back garden. At least that’s what I think they are thinking, and hence gives me a sense of responsibility. And there are weeks when I work a couple of long days together and I kind of forget them. But as always I do remember to scatter some seeds in the grass as well, just in case, my schedule gets busier and that I don’t want them to go hungry.

There are days when my road gets a bit rough, my heart feels a bit low and my support system gets a bit dissociated. And when this happens, I look up to the sky and say, “Lord, don’t know why, I am not up to it today, but I know you are there, and I know we’ll make it”. Sometimes I think I kind of put pressure on God by burdening him with faith. And I guess it gives Him a sense of responsibility to keep me going, the same way I feel for my birds.

Well, why not leave it to him when we surely know that by worrying, we can’t add a single hour to our life anyway? And, Why not just believe, and leave it up to him, and let him deal with the rest?

It was a day off for both of us. We went to see our friends’ newborn. We spent some quality time after a long while. It was an hour and a quarter one side drive, but through the summer greens it was indeed an amazing experience.

On our way back, we had alternate spells of sunshine and rain, and sometimes both together.

And, do you know what I saw?

“…a beautiful double rainbow.”

I love rainbows and I see them often these days. But this one was an awe moment for me, as I have never seen one of this kind before.

People believe that rainbows are a good sign, especially double rainbows. I don’t know much about it.

However, it reminded me something else; indeed the covenant of God, the promise God made to Noah and all the living creatures on Earth:

And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come:

I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth.

Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds,

I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life.

Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.” (Genesis 9:12-16)

Much Love,

~Chinchu Gibu