The Yellow Butterfly

G of #AtoZChallenge Ganpati's Aaji-Aajoba, Parvati's parents, are Earthlings.  Every year Ganpati visits Earth twice and lives as a fellow Earthling.  Aaji Aajoba make sure to invite all their relatives and friends over to the house to meet Ganpati.  Then all the family friends sing and dance around Ganpati and entertain him thoroughly.   Just because they know how foodie Ganpati is, Aaji-Aajoba lovingly make 'special Ganpati meals': modaks, shrikhand, different sorts of bhaajis and pulavs every single day!   Every year Ganpati goes back to his parents chubbier and fluffier.  This year while Ganpati and Parvati were underwater and were on the way back home, Parvati playfully cupped and squeezed his chubby cheeks and chuckled, "Your fitness freak Baba is going to freak out more than ever!"   Mushak giggled, "Kheeekikheekii.."  Parvati looked at him crossly, "You too are looking fluffier than usual!"...

'E' of #AtoZChallenge I never figured whether I started loving elephants because Ganpati was (and has been) my favourite or whether I loved Ganpati because he is Elephant-headed.  OR  Whether I started loving elephants because I had my own little elephant since I was a year old.  His name is Appu, he is around thirty-one years old now. He is from Dubai and was given to me by my Surekha maushi on my first birthday. He is soft and grey and has black beady eyes and he has a tiny, cute, flat tail. Over the years he has had multiple surgeries because I would always tuck him in my arms and take him around everywhere I went be to the doctors, to the dairy, while visiting the relatives; and also because I always hugged him and slept every night for the longest time! He has sock-made-tusks stuffed with cotton (which have been stitched over and over by my mum through all these years).  Appu was not just my playmate and a companion, but he was my brother!...

This is the story from the times when Tigers did not have stripes and when they were just plain bright orange.   Once upon a time, Mr and Mrs. Tiger and their son, Little Timmy were travelling far and wide in search of a new home. They came across a big forest. The forest had lush green trees, tall and soft grass, fresh blue water, cool breeze and delicious food to eat.  In it lived many animals-little ones, big ones, not so little and not so big ones, short ones, tall ones, not so short and not so tall ones, long ones, stout ones, not so long and not so stout ones, slow ones, fast ones, not so slow and not so fast ones, wriggly ones, crawly ones, winged ones and scaly ones.  The three Tigers loved the forest and decided to make it their new home. When Little Timmy went to the forest school all the other kids marveled, “Wow. You are so bright and so orange!” Soon Little Timmy had made friends in his class-Jim the elephant’s kid, Henry the Giraffe’s kid, Zazoo ...

Long winding roads, Little yellow and white flowers like daisies, Laughing and swaying and playing with the wind. Serene, pristine blue lake water, Cute chalets on the fresh green grasslands, The cows grazing and the cow bells going, Tang-da-dang ta-dang.  A dream that i dreamt, I read and I imagined But this time I travelled, And I saw,  I touched, I felt, And I lived :)