Jigsaws - Inspired by Rajk

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Rajk's jigsaw puzzle brought back lovely memories. I too have always loved jigsaws though I don't remember having any when I was a kid. Later on I am sure I enjoyed my nieces' and nephews' puzzles as much as they did. One delightful memory is of racing my nephew as we both worked on two different but same numbered jigsaws.

Then there is the memory of "Shakku". My dear niece visited me in Singapore in 2003. We had a delightful two weeks of sightseeing, shopping, eating out and so on. And then there was the outbreak of SARS. Holidays were declared, schools were shut and we were advised not to go out too much. So we were stuck at home. V received daily home work from school on the net. causing Shru and V both turning whole heartedly against modern technology for a while. I had recently bought a 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle. It was the painting of a pretty Chinese maiden in ancient dress standing in a forest surrounded by deer, hares, birds and even a couple of monkeys. Someone commented that it was the Chinese Shakuntala. Soon she was affectionately being called "Shakku". You could hear "I will start assembling Shakku, will you join me?" Apart from the small worry of SARS, the three of us spent some relaxing and enjoyable three or four days piecing together Shakku.

Of course H, having just returned from Hong Kong will also vividly remember sleeping in the drawing room for a week on self imposed quarantine.