Why this blog is called "Gallimaufry".

gal-uh-MAW-free\, noun.

Originally meaning "a hash of various kinds of meats," "gallimaufry" comes from French galimafrée; in Old French, from the word galer, "to rejoice, to make merry"; in old English: gala + mafrer: "to eat much," and from Medieval Dutch maffelen: "to open one's mouth wide."

It's also a dish made by hashing up odds and ends of food; a heterogeneous mixture; a hodge-podge; a ragout; a confused jumble; a ridiculous medley; a promiscuous (!) assemblage of persons.

Those of you who know me, will, I’m sure, understand how well some of these phrases (barring the "promiscuous" bit!) fit me.

More importantly, this blog is an ode to my love for Shimla. I hope to show you this little town through my eyes. If you don't see too many people in it, forgive me, because I'm a little chary of turning this into a human zoo.

Stop by for a spell, look at my pictures, ask me questions about Shimla, if you wish. I shall try and answer them as best as I can. Let's be friends for a while....

10 January 2010

Only the knife knows what goes on in the heart of a pumpkin.


Yesterday, I spent a happy afternoon exploring temples in the vicinity of Theog. The sky was the most cheerful blue, the sunshine like molten marmalade. It felt good to be alive, and these lines by Willa Cather sprang to mind:

I kept as still as I could. Nothing happened. I did not expect anything to happen. I was something that lay under the sun and felt it, like the pumpkins, and I did not want to be anything more. I was entirely happy. Perhaps we feel like that when we die and become a part of something entire, whether it is sun and air, or goodness and knowledge. At any rate, that is happiness; to be dissolved into something complete and great. When it comes to one, it comes as naturally as sleep.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

The caption of the post is wonderful.

CHINAR SHADE said...

The title of the post is wonderful

varsha said...

I love this.Sunshine like molten marmalade-and the essence of happiness.Thanks.

Geetali said...

Thank you, dear anonymous person for stopping by.

Salaam, Autar-ji. Thank you and naya saal mubaraq.

You're welcome, Varsha :)

Ann said...

Belated Happy New Year. I don't visit your blog anywhere near as often as I should.

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