My first Irish Vishukkani, and its pains & pleasures!

I really didn’t realise that Vishu(the most important agricultural new year for Keralites), was on 15, till my father reminded me about it on 14 April. Back at home, he always used to make ‘vishukkani’ and here, in Ireland, this was our first Vishu, and that too in our own new home! I had no idea where to start with. First of all from where am I supposed to get ‘kanikkonna’ ( a kind of bright-yellow flowers aka "Golden Shower Tree") which were the main thing used for vishukkani .

Then about vegetables! I couldn’t even think using parsnip, carrot, potato and lettuce as part of ‘vishukkani’!! In Kerala, we usually use jackfruit, banana (not the small ones, but larger ones!), mangoes with leaves, coconut cut into half or tender coconuts (‘karikku‘) along with malar and pori (i dont know its english names!) all placed in a long banana leaf!

But ‘kanikkonna’ flowers were the most important thing, in a vishukkani..

Kanikkonna, in Ireland!! That would be like trying to get tulips or daffodils in Kerala.

So, I thought that we would use the wild gorse flowers seen here, at this time of year. At least it almost looked like ‘kanikkonna’.

ahhhh … now came the biggest problem! Those innocent looking yellow gorse bushes are full of thorns with at least 2 inches long.

Anyway daffodils were almost out of season. And all the flower shops had only off-white flowers while we needed bright-yellow ones, and of course WITHOUT spending 20€ !!

So the wild, gorse flowers seemed the only option, left. But the thought of seeing 2 inch thorns as ‘kani’ made my husband wondering aloud “Does that mean that our new year life will be going to be filled with 2 inch thorns?” Now ‘that thought’ worried the hell out of me. Already my ‘disc’ and my health were in deep trouble. I really, really didn’t want more troubles in this new year!

So, I decided to put my college days ‘athappoo’ (floral arrangement for Onam) skills into action! Yea, I was always there to separate out flowers from their stems (but sure, they didn’t have 2 inch long thorns!!)

After two long hours and very thorn-pricked, almost bleeding sore fingers …..

can you see the length of the sharp thorns?

…and the final result???

OK, I used green apples, oranges , pomegranate and lemons…so what!?

I had a mango and a cucumber too (though it doesn’t look like one!)

Above all, I STILL had thornless ‘’vishukkani’ with gorse flowers…

And a husband to wake me up at 4 am , to close my eyes till I saw the the kani first and then to me give me a 20€ “kaineettam”, even though I first gave him a 1 euro coin.

And I could only thank God for such a blessed life and to pray that let this may last forever and ever.

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Beautiful Easter!

I am so thankful to all my friends (y360 and others) who prayed for me,who cared for me, who inquired about me, who missed me alot, who send me wishes, and finally to all who thought "thank God, that finally she is off!". **winks**

Its not for the first time that I am realizing that ‘bed rest’ is NOT at all a R-E-S-T. it is a mental torture! I should have known that better, when I was literally strapped to the bed, for nearly 5 months, staring at stark white walls above me, 4 yrs back. But this time it wasn’t that horrible. (thank heavens!). Still, it was never a piece of cake or for that matter , even a ginger biscuit, for a hyperactive mind like mine. It always puzzles me why my body and mind never work in harmony.

As it was Easter, we had the longest weekend ever, after Christmas. From Friday till Monday, it was 4 days long. And the weather was heavenly. So sunny, up to 13-15 deg C. I shouldn’t have asked for more.. err.. except for my ‘bed rest‘. But it was ok. I had plans to visit Ring of Kerry, and had even took all the print out and stuff and enquired about the B&Bs. But my GP was adamant that I shouldn’t sit for more than one hr continuously, and Co. Kerry was 3.5 hrs drive long from our home. Finally, in my hubby’s promise that we will take annual leave and visit Kerry later, I found solace.

But the medicines I took were too strong. Non steroidal anti inflammatory thingies, muscle relaxants and ulcer-preventives(because of the anti inflammatory stuff). It made my pain disappear within 10 minutes. But it also made me drowsy like hell. First 2 days, each day, I watched three DVDs I bed. It made me sick. Saturday, I begged my husband to take me out. Thankfully, it was very sunny then, that finally I could feel my cheeks burn, after months.

It was just the start of the spring. But every single bush, tree and shrubs had flowers.



Rii, told me this plant is called "Gorse" (I didn't know that!)



We just went to town, which is just15 minutes drive from our home(not considering traffic blocks). River Shannon separates our home and town centre aka Irishtown.






On the right side is R.Shannon.


Shannon river flows through the centre of Athlone town, may be that’s why all the swans over there are very friendly with humans. As far as I know, those swans are not protected by government. They are just like the wild ducks and gulls. One of my friends told me that she and her granddaughter used to feed old bread to swans regularly that finally they started feeding directly from the kids hands.
So, I always take bread with me, to them.









And do, I get tired of wide open fields and sheep grazing? Never.. never.. never..


And those winding lonely paths? Never!



And that is me by R.Shannon in twilight...



he he he.....don't be deceived... I am still under prescription drugs to numb pain...

But to feel happy, pain is not at all a hindrance!!!

note: my GP just told me that I need one more week of bed rest.... so till then...byee..

It happened to be like this....

Dearest friends, the last blog was one written one month back, when I had time. And I don’t think I will be blogging for a while. I can’t sit and type, is the main reason. 4 yrs back, on 27 Sep, 2003, I had a chronic disc injury, on my left side. My mobility was less than 30% then. Actually I was in terrible pain for 1 week even before that, but my parents didn’t think that it was that serious. They thought that it was just a sprain. When neighbors came to my house hearing my screams , they took me to an orthopedic surgeon who told them that I had my 5^th and 6 th discs completely injured with repetitive minor injuries, which might have started years before...he could actually see the bulge even through my skin.

Now, after 4 years, 5 doctors, 2 spinal injections, I haven’t done much better. But now, I have adapted myself. But there are at times, when work (office and home) demands more, my mind races faster than my body’s pace and push it so hard that it finally revolts. My inflammation gets worse, when I sit, when my upper body weight presses against the injured discs. That’s when the inflammation doesn’t even get a chance to cure.

In my last 2 offices, I used to lie down after every hr of sitting. Here I haven’t told any one about it. So, I use lumbar support belt, (which may cripple me, in the long run).

I have to reduce time sitting and standing and spend more time, lying down in a flat surface, in order not to make things worse. I can blog later, but if I ignore this cry of my discs, then from experience I know that it will cost me a lot.

So, until I can sit and type and read without ‘much’ pain….

a short good -bye…..

praying that it will be only for a short time…

Love you lotsssss,

Swathi

latest: on bed rest for 1 week.

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