Diehard!

Yesterday was a real adventure day...Or to say how an ordinary day becomes extraordinarily adventurous!!!!!!
First thing in the morning,my roller gets stuck in my hair..So badly that i have to rush to a parlor next door(thankfully next door!) to take it out where two women work for half an hour non stop! After half an hour of excruciating pain, the roller comes out not before sacrificing couple of my lovely silk strands which i am so fond of:(Nd out of some shame i have to get a haircut also in the salon.... I manage to rush home,get ready,start for work and nearly get hit by a truck on the highway(it was trying to overtake from left..luckily i saw it while trying to move left!).....

At work at the end of the day, i end up attending a meeting which was again a nerve wreck... After my release from the meeting i head home and on the way find a colleague trying to get an auto or a cab..I stop, give her a lift only to realise that she has to go to a different destination than mine and that i will have to take a detour on one of the fastest roads in the city!(I am just a three day old driver!) My car stops five times on a traffic signal, i drive painfully slow(20km/hr) on the rightmost lane and somehow manage to get to left lane to drop her at her place..only to get lost in the area with low oil in the fuel tank! Roaming around to find my way i realise i am driving with my headligts off in peak hour!!!!!!!!! People tell me a shortcut to reach my place(which includes crossing a railway line!)......I take the route to halt at the crossing as trains were passing(which happens to be on a slope!)....And worse urchins are jumping around my car least aware that my car slides back when i start on a slope..I scream and ask them to get away from my car...The more i start n stop, the more they flock me! Somehow i manage to push ahead..into winding crowded up and down gliding lanes....And just when i am out of that never ending lane and getting onto main road, a lorry tries to overtake me on the extreme slope.Since applying a brake on 45degrees slope is a question that is completely out of my mind, I do not slow down and the lorry presses onto my backlight! And thats not enough..Those people follow my car, come to my side and make a pass at me, saying stuff..I choose to ignore them..Didn't even give them a look, i have had enough for the day by that time....
After landing at home, i ate a chunk of plum cake and wound up my day by watching Diehard3 !
Today people joked that i must be finding today quite boring and that the person whom i gave a lift yesterday should have watched 'Die another day' last night!

Bravery

Today during lunchtime, one of my senior colleagues mentioned that her daughter and her friend went to Colaba on Sunday and went on the trail of the recent attacks...They walked from Metro cinema to Colaba, went inside the Cafes where shootouts occurred....
I was impressed..I had met her daughter..One normal frail looking girl...But how extraordinary attitude! Am sure most of the youngster in Mumbai have done the same.Been there, visited the same places just after the attacks..To show camraderie and let out the message that 'No one can bring our morale down!'....
Just one day after attacka, when my Mom wouldnt let us go out to work, I could not say anything to her..But my brother quietly explained to her saying"We cant sit at home in fear of anybody'..And it was then that i realised how ordinary people turn into bravehearts when situation arises.Being a sister I was conerned about his well being too, but I couldn't agree more with him..Needless to say I asked mom to let him go out...He even joked that "the post of ATS chief is vacant, so I am going!"
We also had loads of discussion on how thethree senior officers died in the combat..I was of the opinion that it was not good that teh ATS chief lost his life in such a way..My brother said "he is valuable in his death because he did not wait for the entire police force to deal with the situation. He went out the moment he sensed serious situation with whatever manpower he had..Thats what counts.He was a true son of the soil."
I am also planning to go on the trail.I have not been to Leopold Cafe before..But its on my hot list now..One trail is already scheduled on VT station in January...

Terrorism can go to hell..We will turn it into bravery generism.... People also say that the bullet marks are going to be a tourist attraction just like 'Jallianwallah bagh'! Let us see how the attacks boomerang on their perpetrators....

Life after ordeal

Before I write anything, I want to pay homage to al those who lost their lives in the Terror attacks in my city….may their souls rest in Peace… My only wish is that their death is avenged…And that this should never be repeated in the history of this country. In fact any country on this planet.

Mumbai is scarred permanently. And so are the people…You walk down the road, there is some sound and the first reaction is a chill down your spine. People shake up at once. Expecting anything any moment. Quite sad for a city where everyone is busy just rushing to their destination…Four five days after the attacks, trains were still running empty…I for myself am having second thoughts about using public transport. We feel like sitting ducks…No idea from where the next bullet will come to hit us!

My mother is scared.She doesn’t let me go out in the evenings.Doesnt let us spend much time outside home. I very much want to go out, watch movies and hang out. But not without a war at my home.

Am about to travel in train sometimes this New Year. From the same station and platform where the shout out happened and where a live bomb was found in the luggage room! People ask me whether I will be safe traveling alone. (I am a supposedly a well turned out ‘young woman’-again a sitting duck I guess!) I jokingly reply to them I would be fine as long as there are no bombs in the bogie I am in!”

Also now I can empathize more with the Sri Lankans.Now I know what is it like ti live in the shadow of terror. And the mental agony you undergo while it happens around you...Its nerve wrecking..And my nerves are not soothed as yet…

Erin Brockovich

Julia Roberts is one of my favorite actresses..Not because she is a good actor, but because of the kind of movies she has acted in..Strongly feminine..You watch her movies, and you realise the meaning of being a woman..Most of the times the characters are ordinary women..but with a space and sense of self worth of their own. Needless to say, off the screen she is green and humanitarian too..I have watched her on Discovery cuddling chimpanzees..

It so happens that yesterday i watched Erin Brockovich which is based on a true story..I also visited the real Erin Brockovich website today morning too..The real Erin is equally a goodlooking woman..But i am blogging today morning because ever since i have watched this movie, one question is roving my mind-"How do you technically define a woman?"

Is it in terms of her biology? That she is an assemblage of such n such different organs? I find that weird, because a woman is more than he organs she posseses.Or is it in terms of in relation with a manTthat she is the opposite sex of a man!That straightaway puts her in opposite with a man in everything.Which again is absurd as i find lot of commonality between men and women on most of the points.. Or is it in terms of virtues she posseses? Doing that restricts certain virtues specifically to women..Which again won't be a correct thing to do!

So the question still remains? What makes me a woman? My body? My soul? Or is it men who make me feel like a woman?

[I recommend this movie as must watch for women!!!!!!!]

Plastics and savings!

My debit card has gone spoilt and the horrible bank that i bank with has not reissued it as yet!!!!! Result?I have made considerable savings since last two months!!!!!!!!! Cant go to ATMs and can't swipe my card for shopping anywhere...Blessing in disguise..

Plus i refrain from keeping too many credit cards! Since i have a natural aversion to being charged a high amount of interest for being lazy and imprudent, it so happens nowadays that i do not have any plastic money but am getting richer on real money part! What an irony!

When it comes to financial planning i must be the dumbest lass around! Am trying considerable nowadays to make up for this part of myself..I hope i will do something good to myself...
But on second thoughts when i look at the wall street management i get some solace for my dumbness too !!!!!!!!! If the so called most of the efficient and sharpest financial managers in the wprld can land up in such mess, is my dumbness that big a shortcoming at all!!!!!

Spanish movies and lazy lasses!

I had a couple of holidays due to diwali! And i have come out of it liking Spanish movies and reading fairy tales and lovequotes!

Spanish movies-thanks to the UTV s World movies channel, i saw some real good movies..With my favorite being one on Gay marriages! Although i also saw some nice family dramas on Zee Studio(Both are my favorite channels nowadays)... Workouts have been a little slow and lazying around on the couch has been more frequent!

Happened to bump into a book fair recently and have picked up amazing books on dream deals!!!!!!! Got pretty good number of fairy tale books (I am still not over them!!!!!!)..As well as nice little books which are anytime a collector's item!
Am almost done with reading them all, barring one by Tagore and another a collection of quotes on beauty! Its always interesting to have a different perspective about ourselves once in a while by famous thinkers and philosophers !

I have a very bad habit of leaving books in between and coming back to them after quite a long time..I have left The Great indian Novel two years ago in between and A suitable boy one year ago in between..Maybe I should pick up the former first now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! High time to finish an unfinished job!

Happy Diwali ******

I wish everyone a very happy Diwali!

I was supposed to travel during this time but thanks to the Diwali rush during this time, couldnt get a reservation(In fact i was dumb enough not to contact any travel agent if i may say!)....But nevertheless am glad to be celebrating it at home with my family :)

Am surprised that i am not feeling that tired this festival time around! I guess it has to do with a long holiday i have got plus i had completed all the shopping and everything quite in advance.....Also nowadays i also do not stress myself and take rest in between tasks instead of working non stop!Long ago i had seen a poster with a dog in it saying"Rest a while, run a mile"..and it works!!!!!!!!!!! Works quite well....

I guess i will have to workout a bit more to kick out all that i have gorged during last two days......From tomorrow on its yoga, weights and world movies for next three dyas !!!!!!!!!!!!!

October: Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Dedicated to all the beautiful women... to let them know that they are pretty -- both on the inside and the outside - and that they are loved and cared for.............

THIS POST IS TO REMIND LADIES TO BE INFORMED, AWARE AND BE CHECKED FOR THEIR HEALTH'S SAKE. TO TELL THEM THAT NO ONE WANTS TO LOSE THEM - AFTER ALL, THEY ARE PRETTY LADIES WITH KIND, WARM LOVING HEARTS.....

• Breast Cancer is the is the second leading cause of cancer death in women (after lung cancer).

• One in eight women or 12.6% of all women will get breast cancer in her lifetime.


• Breast cancer is much less common in men:women are 100 times more susceptible to breast cancer than men.


• Breast cancer risk increases with age and every woman is at risk.


• Every 13 minutes a woman dies of breast cancer.


• Eighty percent of women with breast cancer are over 50.

• Ninety-eight percent of women who find and treat breast cancer early will be cancer-free after five years.

You are never too young to develop breast cancer! Breast Self-Exam should begin by the age of twenty.

http://nbcam.org/index.cfm

Mumbai

Am enjoying a holiday today..Should i say a forced holiday....
This morning when i started from my home, the streets were deserted and i could not find an auto rickshaw! Strange for a city where its hard not to collide with people when you walk outside.At first i thought it was some local strike..And then i received a phone call from one of my family members saying Raj Thackerey has been arrested and i should get back to home immediately..
So here i am..... tracking the situation live on tv,talking to friends and family on phone and with some time on my hands to blog and write how i feel about the whole situation..Kind of an input right from the middle of action!
If anyone would ask me honestly i am indignant. Indignant at fingerpointing to a place where i can trace my roots. In a sense its true that states in the north are backward and they ought to do something about development very badly.And it feels bad when someone else brings home the point in such a humiliating way......
But what is it about discrimination and political vendetta regarding the same? What has Raj Thackerey done for the development of the poor of his own state so that they do not have to migrate to the cities to find jobs? Instead of their socio economic development, he incites them to an anti north indian drive to achieve his own political ends! The unemployed play to this appeal to their own insecurities....They do not find any other way to vent out their own frustration..Their own administration and political leadership doesnt provide them with any...

But what do they stand to gain from this? No one gains out o f this except for the vested political interests.
Nobody succeeds by suppressing and oppressing anyone. Neither we northindians(we oppress people on caste..one of my south indian friends recently mentioned because of his dravidian looks, he was denied food in canteen when he was working in Lucknow..i did not like that either) nor anyone else can.
I do not want a backlash either.I just hope north indian leaders would show some maturity and instead of flexing muscles would do some retrospection so that such a situation should not occur..

After all its all about balance....If Maharashtra had a significant amount of investment and workforce in U P and Bihar, Raj Thackerey would have had thought thousand times before uttering a word against northindians!
And if some marathi actor was a superstar in U P, Amitabh Bachhan would have had a more peaceful existence in Mumbai !!!!!!!!!!! Amen........

Eves and Divas

The Eves had it easier than the Divas!
At least they could be themselves and not bother about whether they look like a pumpkin or like a daisy........They could look like a pumpkins and still live their lives comfortably...The adams were not concerned about the apparels or inches she would put on, and neither judge them about their manners and lifestyles....And neither the Eves would get into a "my horse is bigger than yours" catfights!!!!!!!!! Am pretty sure Eves were always beautiful..Always their ownselves.....Free from any pressures...any prejudices................

I have been down terribly since last few days.... feeling terribly sick in the bed.....and worse was scared to death going out lest somebody would spot me with dark circles beneath the eyes, oiled hair and the sick look!!!!!!! And surprisingly i was fine the day i found some courage to go out and gorge on the 'mahabhog' at the durga puja pandal near my housing society!!!!!! Freedom from self persecution is the remedy to all the ills that the Divas possess.......

Beauty comes from an inner radiance...In being healthy...In the self assurance that i can take care of myself..With some sweating out..And a self confidencethat i am only as good and bad as all other humans in this world!!!!!
I am backto my old self again....(With a little kickassing myself and into kicking the butt now!!!!!!!!!! )

Delhi blasts and reliving Gandhi

My weekend has been going on much better than i had planned!!!!!!!!!! Sometimes i think that maybe i should stop planning! But it also maybe that because i had planned,something more than the plan has happened....goals, dreams and ambitions lead you to things that you would never have imagined before...I have started playing badminton, have already done a collage work(already put it up on the walls!), have managed to take out my mom for a shopping spree, already got a dandiya invitation and have managed to register for a Walkathon in memory of Gandhi on 2nd of October......I could not go to Dandi with him, but maybe the walk would be a little bit experience of how would i have felt had i been in the march..........But thats not all..I am angry about something too...

My blogging on a Sunday morning has lot to do with what i have read in the newspapers this morning...

There has been a blast in Delhi yesterday...I am enraged.... I feel disgusted......And i feel aghast..Aghast at how come people can become so sick as to leave a live bomb in the hands of a kid and still have the liver to run away to leave him to die...If these people think they have a reason they are fighting for, they should be ashamed of themselves....How come you kill innocent and still claim to have a value left in you???? I am sad for the kid and its family....One can look at the virtue of the child who died..He ran after them to return their bundle thinking they had dropped it by mistake....And look at how base these people were..Left him alone to die running after them on the road.... Knowing very well that there was a time bomb in it ticking away.

I have lived in Delhi...At the places the blasts that have occurred,I have been there..Sometimes shopping, sometimes visiting...Each of these incidents make me angry....They shock me too...
Violence and acts of human life destruction are no means to achieve a goal....I hope these people understand and give up killing innocent lives....especially the virtuous lives like the kid who returns a bundle to a person who has dropped it..We need more people like the kid and no one like the terrorists who dropped it...

(The white flowers above are dedicated to the memory of the boy who died in the blast yesterday....To the innocence and the virtues he represents.....)

The web of technology

My computer nowadays seems to be under some malware attack....am wondering is it some kind of bliss or not!!!!!!!

I tend to have lot of time in the evenings...no obsessive compulsive disorder of replying to mails and spending time on social networking sites. Am saving time to read up books that i left unfinished since years!!!!!!!!!!Nobody would believe that i am reading The Great Indian Novel by Shashi Tharoor since last two years!!!!!!!!!Now thanks to teh hackers and pranksters of the cyberworld, loads of my unfinished jobs are going to be finished...And since i am not working on my desktop at home, i do not carry any work from office to home too...So soothing for the nerves....

Am going to enjoy totally net and computer free weekend...The itinerary includes a morning walk, movie, workouts and some groceries too :((

Am finshing up at least one unfinished book too!!!!!!!!

Sunday afternoons

Sunday is my favorite day of the week.


On sundays, i can pour loads of oil on my head and dive deep into books and magazines i am fond of....And i am glad i have been able to do that again after a really long time. Maybe you have to miss few things in life to realize how precious they are.....

What a bliss it is have some time to quietly spend by yourself.........

Am realising this after hectic last two weeks full of travel, overload of pending work and the balancing acts of loved ones and relatives. I am rejoicing the bliss more so because am able to give my back some rest too....the couch seems heaven!!!!!!!!!Especially when you have a cousin who is in Air Force and takes you out to jog and workout for for full one hour the first thing in the morning!!! More so when i am just back from a gruelling one week sport event in the gruelling deserts of India!!!!!!

For the time being i am grateful to just be leaning against a comfortable seat......

TODAY I AM GRATEFUL TO THE ARCHITECT WHO DESIGNED THE SOFA.Bless the soul who designed such a comfortable seat for the mankind ! Much more for beings of my kind!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(This image has been photographed by me)

Distances

Am just back from a week long trip....and have absolutely no energy left to blog...


I have travelled from scroching rajasthan to a place where its pouring cats and dogs! I absolutely love the weather here..Clouds, rains and the soothing coolness...have taken few nice pics along the way from my new digicam..From now on i can use my own pics for my writings..am feeling quite happy about it....

I have withstood the heat and the rigors of the sands.The challenge of great Indian railways....Got few nice paintings (My brother keeps on saying i have turned the house into a museum!!) Have developed quite an amount of tan also i guess...

But for the time being am quite glad to stand on a ground which is not moving ! :D

Anger Management !

I am almost brewing today!!!!!!!

So much so that i have to blog to take it out of my system.I am supposed to write my CV today evening and the last thing i want is my mood to reflect there!!!!!!

I have two very good reasons to steam inside...There is lot of garbage being dumped just right behind my scenic window to soar up my temperatures every time i look out...And the most irritating part of it is, it is done by my own housing society!!!!!!!! I have been trying to request the concerned people to remove it since last one month..And finally i had to resort to putting up open letter in the premises everywhere appealing to the residents to get it removed...that gave me some solace. But bang!!! I hit upon one more discovery.Enough to destroy my peace once again!

Searching for some publications and references, i hit upon a webpage where i see one of my writings copied word to word.Without my knowledge and consent..Am boiling absolutely over it...And its a handiwork of people i know..Had given it to them for typing.They claimed to have lost it..And i find it published on the website after six months and that too without informing me..Its infuriating. Much more because the matter was supposed to be dialogue for a video film and not to be published on a webpage!!!!!!!! Its almost 3000 words long and makes a horrible monotonous read on a single webpage !

Need to give them a piece of my mind tomorrow.

Till i do that, i need to manage my anger so that i can complete my personal work and can go to bed peacefully....

I very badly need to learn to switch off my mind. At least that would help me concentrate on few better things in life! Buggers will always be around!!!!!!!!! Shutting them out sounds like a better strategy now....

The Universe and I

I read somewhere once: 'The Universe is like a an ocean.It throws back to you whatever you throw into it." What you give is what you get.........

I always wondered whether it was true.But now i am slowly realizing that it does hold true. Otherwise why would i would get my friends back who at one point of time had been washed away in it!!!!!!! It is not just a mere coincidence that after eight years i find my childhood friend staying just at a walking distance from my house?????? I can start walking from my home and she is just 15 minutes walk away........Whenever i feel like having to talk, all i have to do is to walk down.....

It was quiet a thrilling experience to discover that most of my schoolfriends are in a city i moved in just one year ago...And then get togethers and all the grapevine followed......The best part of most of them was making fun of all the teachers we had.....especially a maths teachers who used to chase the students around in the class......

I relive my childhood again in their company...What is more surprising is that none of the emotions have changed.The equations are same till now. Friends have remained friend, foes have been kept at distance....And flames are still flames!!!!!!!!!!!!

Its a great fun to catch up with childhood buddies....Although friendships i made later on in life are more professional and mature one, the childhood ones are quite sweet and funtime kinds...

Tatas, Singur and Bengal

I am quite perplexed nowadays seeing Bengal for all the wrong reasons in the newspapers and the media.....

Not that i am not familiar with the leftist culture that exists there....The slow pace of progress that exists there....or that once you reach there, it seems as if time has stopped...What i am peeved about is that were these agitators sleeping when the land was acquired, when tata was building up the plant..Or they were waiting for their chance to attack once the investment of time, money and labor was ripe..So as to strike at a moment when it would hurt the industrialist most???????????

Am much more perplexed at the people who cannot see through the plot that a certain political party is trying to gain a mileage out of this at the cost of future of West Bengal..Tata will lose its capital for sure..But along with it will sink the industrialization and progress of the leftist state...I hope some economist calculates the loss in terms of money... Tata will lose some 1500 crores, and loss of credibility to Bengal would surely amount to some million crores down the line........

I also wish the leftist politicians would do some practical politics in line with the welfare of the nation and the state....... First it was the nuclear deal and now Singur.....Its high time they realized that progress requires moulding and reforming of ideologies instead of keeping it rigid forever.........If you don't, you always remain where you began.

Generation W

I am just back from a day's work and relaxing for some ten minutes before i go for yoga classes....And my mind is roving about a workshop that we need to conduct for orientation of my colleagues and peers for gender sensitization, equality and development.......

Had a quite fruitful day in that regard...A senior colleague of mine has already designed the logo for the cell which i am quite thrilled about.....Had a meeting with a senior expert in Women's studies(who happens to be from the same institution as mine! and instead of 15 minutes, the meeting went for more than an hour!!!!!!!!!!) She has agreed to come down and am quite glad about it too..........

Belonging to generation W is one thing!!!!!!!!!Being in the hot seat for doing something for the Generation W is quite another ! Let us see how we pull off this feat.............We still have to design the brochure, organize few more activities and rope in more people.........

I hope i can free my mind of all the thoughts before i hit the mat for pranayams!!!!!!!!

I belong to Generation W(women) obsessed with W(work) more than once in a while!!!!!!!!!!

Gadgets!!!!

I am fond of gadgets….a little more than that is expected of girls!

And I have received a gift of lifetime today! My brother has gifted me a digicam…Birthday and raksha bandhan all rolled into one…..And I am going gaga over it…Have spent my entire evening learning its function, connecting it to my laptop and planning all the photographs that I can share with my friends now!!!!!!

First on my priority list is group photographs of school and my college…Few are just fun to see and reminisce……Also on list are preserving few heritage photographs of the family in a digitised form…..

Now I can give my creativity a free run for photography…With no restrictions……Technology empowers in innumerable ways…And few powers gained are truly exhilarating!

Am just bubbling over with excitement……..That also means I will be spending a little less time writing here…….will be preoccupied with my new gadget for quite sometime now….

(Well, i guess its not that a good idea to capture a print photograph on a digicam...scanner would have been a better option...i found out subsequently)

RACE

Ever since i have seen Usain Bolt bolting through the line, the nut n bolts of my memories are also creaking up a bit. Am reminded of the first race of my life.And it was a needle race!!!!!!!!!!! (Am pretty sure it was brainchild of my pretty ladies teachers!!)

I was in standard III.It was season of winters ,most probably January.Annual sports events. A 100 m track was set up. The needles and the threads were kept halfway of the track.We were instructed in advance to get our own needles and threads.Not to say that i was quite a thinking animal with a killer instinct to win, but its a pure coincidence that the shopkeeper gave me a needle which was quite big in size by normal standards( he had run out of stock with small needles, thanks to the cute housewives around!!!). And it so happened that i went to the race with a needle which had quite a convenient eyehole ;)

I stood on the start line, shot on at the count of three, grabbed my needle, put a thread through the eyehole-and here moved in my killer instinct!!! Without wasting time to pull out the thread full length, i just ran almost blindly and did not stop till i dashed into the teachers standing at the finish line!!!!!!!!

One after another, everyone came dashing in..And i had ample time to draw the thread full length to show to my teachers as a proof that i had successfully completed the race, satisfying all its criteria..And after a few minutes i was standing on the highest position on the podium!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Brings home the point: it takes a little trick to separate a champion from the rest!!!!!!!

(And there are lot of ladies behind my first successful race in life!!!!!Talking about lady luck!Luck has to be a lady for sure!!!!!)

About other races, later on.............

Phelps, Federers and Sachins

This is the season of olympics..And much more of champions creating history....This sunday i switched on television just to check whether Phelps won the eighth gold medal or not!

I still remember the last olympics when i was reading in the newspapers what the 17year old Phelps had to say:"Sometimes i have difficulty getting sleep.The adrenalin becomes too high." The quote remained engraved in my mind.I had a feeling that here was a champion who would stay and leave a mark on sports for centuries to come.

I am fond of very special kind of champions. The ones who are very focussed, gentlemen and in love with the game they play.The world might be fancied with Nadal but Federer still remains my favorite. Have attempted to make Federer as my scrensaver several times on my desktop(its another that it has been changed quite often to goddess Durga !!!) I just love Sachin Tendulkar and its a joy to see Sanath Jayasuriya playing and then enjoying his life in page 3 parties and looking out at you amongst beauties in gillette poster ads!!!!!!!!!!

I have been unable to follow Pete Sampras and Tiger Woods but i think they have my favorite struts too......And then there has been Steffi Graff...I think along with Andre Agassi they make a perfect champions couple...Its surprising how much journey a man can complete in a lifetime..from Rockstar to a spiritul and responsible gentleman...sometimes it strikes me men change more in life as compared to women..from completely reckless youths into responsible men full of character. No one signifies it more than Andre Agassi....

These champions are human.They do not brag about their capabilities. After the games, they go back to live their simple lives. To be with their loved ones. They love, care and cry............

Thats why i am so fond of these down to earth champions. They do not give me complexes that they are any different from me !!!!!!!!!

Raksha Bandhan

Am done for the day for raksha bandhan ....So much so that i feel as if somebody has given me a shot of sedatives...Feel as if am falling into a vacuum.

Rising up early, finishing up all the rituals, sneaking out time to complete the gayatri mantra template, lunch..and am all in a zero..........................very often happens to me during festivals....

Wishing all the happiness and joy to the entire world on this day.................

Phew !!!!!!!

I had a quite rigorous independence day !!!!!!!

Not because i i got up at 6 in the morning to attend flag hoistings!!!!!!!! ( I had both official and unofficial invitations!)Rather because i decided to get independence from mess and dust in my book shelves...And what a hard work it has been.....a natural consequence when you hardly work for the entire year to organise it anyways!!!!!! My bookshelf now looks fresh and the room has brightened up....

Decluttering and reorganising does wonders to life!!! So much so that i was thrilled enough to make a collage of my paintings, have already put it up on the wall and am already ideating on the next artwork............Am checking out how to correctly write 'gayatri mantra'!!!! (Yess!my next painting is to write the mantra in some old vedic tamrapatra style!!!!!!!) Am feeling slightly ashamed also that although i can recite it correctly, am not able to write it properly in devnagari!!!!!! Am also searching for few poems my father used to recite....There were few proses that were very close to his heart.I hope i can find them too.....

Its about time to wind up the day...Tomorrow is raksha bandhan, am done with my shopping and all..am eagerly looking forward to the day tomorrow.................

Letters to a daughter, from a father.......

I love writing letters.

(When i say writing letters i mean personal letters and not official letters which i write every other day !!!!!!!!!)

Its another that i have not written one ever since i lost my dad some eight years ago. I used to write to him almost every other week when i was staying in the hostel in Delhi. I remember I would rush from my school to the hostel during lunch time to catch the postman just in time(He used to come to the nearby hostels during the lunchtime at around 1.45 pm!).Ordinary posts we used to receive via our mesenger in the rooms only but registered posts were delivered only in person. And Dad always used to send me registered posts(he never sent letters without a DD to me!!!!!!!!!!!!! )

I have preserved his letters along with the envelopes till today.The yellow envelopes on which he used to write my name and address very elegantly with a green hi tech point pen.....and the long letters where he would write about every member in the family. Sometimes he would also write about what plans he had for us and our future.

Ever since he is gone, i have stopped writing letters. Much because of advent of emails, communication is fast and short now. And also maybe i have suffered a withdrawal of emotional intensity. The void that has been created is going to remain lifelong. As i look back, consciously and unconsciously, i have carried out almost all his plans. Sometimes i wonder, how happy he would have been had i written to him saying that i have done this, and i have done that...................and how happy i would have been just writing to him..................

Rainy Days and Self help books !

Maybe i need to give more odes to monsoons....I got a Rainy Day today at work!!!!!!!!! and its playtime......

It has been raining incessantly since last three days in my city..and it provides ample time indoors... I can indulge in my latest fad of reading self help books...Am already done on reading one on relationships. Right now i am gorging on a pretty good book on 'work-life' balance.Next i plan to take up one on managing personal finance.. need loads of help in that department !

Was also thinking about the fact that the moment i mention to any of my friends that i am reading a self help book, each person gives a different piece of advice on that. And everyone has something to say on it surprisingly, which ranges from"i feel psychic if i read them" to"they are useless","i find that i am already doing whatever is written there", "i have no patience to read them, they are so boring!" and so on....

As far as i am concerned, i am just loving them...They offer a wide food for thought, give us a lot of alternatives to pick up in lot of situations and expand our knowledge on number of solutions possible to a single problem...

I think as long as one can keep his/her ability to make the choice with oneself, its absolutely fun to read self-help books !!!

Mills and Boons and Sidney Sheldons

There are certain books that are must read for girls.

Not that i have read them all.... But i strongly recommend Mills and Boons..Have not read a single Sidney Sheldon till now..... Am sure it would be as good as M&B for keeping one's feet above the ground!!!

I think I did not grow up as other girls did. Instead of barbie dolls, i played badmintons and dodgeballs! In teenage, i read famous fives, Nancy Drews.TinTin and Archies. And graduated to Femina,Leo Tolstoy and Salman Rushdie quite soon.......Missed some soft fun in between. No wonder in the last one year i must have read up around three dozens of them !!! One of my friends said that "if you have not read Sidney sheldon you have not missed anything in life!". I am holding onto her words. I hope once i start reading them, her words would hold true..That would spare me reading dozens of them to make up the loss !!!!!!!!!!

Note: I do not read Femina anymore...Not that good value for money except for glossy pages and photographs.Would recommend New Woman anytime over it !!!!!!

Monsoons

I love the monsoons.

Not because they provide a respite from the sveltering heat or because I was born in the monsoons but also because it also throws your health out of gear to enjoy a day off from work once in a while to sit and blog!!!!!!!!

And then there is a rainy day concept! Whenever there is a fear of my city getting deluged, the best thing that the authorities and the so called administrators of the city can do is to advise people to not to get out of homes!!!!!!!! Am I surprised that none of the official warnings come out in the name of any political leader!

Or is it just a coincidence that none of major political outcries and hullabaloos are created in the season of monsoons? Monsoons provide a respite from politicians too in my city! But it is the police force and the municipal commissioners which are at the receiving end.. It is the busiest season for them…..Poor folks! Terrorists and drainage not only physically drain them, they are also at the receiving end of all the flak received for mismanagement…..I sympathise with them wholeheartedly.

Nonetheless I still love the monsoons….the sound of lightening, the tip tap of falling raindrops,

The greenery around, chai and pakodas!!!!!!!! And then the bhuttas round the corners…..it’s a season to indulge……

An Indian August !!!!!!!!!!!!!

August is a month when i am overworked!

First of all is the freindship day mania!!!!!!! whom to wish and whom to not....translates into how to take care to not to miss out people so that they don't feel ignored...am glad that now its a 'friendship week' celebration, so i still have time and scope not to hurt sentiments....

And then there are series of festivities......and my work extends from purchasing rakhis to drawing images of the king of serpents on the walls of my home on a certain festival to keeping awake all the night on the birthnight of a very popular indian God!!!!!!!!!

and the icing on the cake is the month ends with my birthday....so add hosting parties to distributing cakes and sweets to that.........

The only silver lining is that i tend to get few gifts for all my hard work!!!!!! This time i have made it a point to let know my friends and family what i want as gift...so that at least when the month ends, i come out of it with few goodies and few less inches on waist to fit into my old jeans!!!!!!!!!!!
Inches off would really be a hard work well earned!!!!!!!!!!

PACE

All along life people run after one thing or another- wealth, health, beauty or power. Especially in a city I live, no one just even turns their head sideways to notice who is walking along their side. It is automatically seeped into their psyches that others are also running somewhere or another. In fact if you start looking sideways, people start staring at you as if you have some mental problem or they will be irritated that you are breaking their flow of rush to wherever they have to reach !!!!!!!

Not that I am an exception to the same. I start feeling bored if I have some time to sit idle…….. but deep down I have sense I have already lived a cycle of life of mad rush. Its time to begin another cycle, which is more relaxed, where I have more time for myself, can live life idly and be the laziest bone in the universe………

Disclaimer:The images used on my blog are sourced from various websites available in the public domain.Under no circumstances i claim them to be my own creation.

We, the Birds!

Sometimes I wonder what are the similarities between birds and women?

Both are beautiful creatures created by nature. Weak, susceptible to predators, predators to their own kinds…… love to build nests to nurture their own kinds… like to take flights……..and perch on branches they like…….migrate to any lengths to survive and procreate……………….

I like to take flights too……literally and sublimely….staying indoors even for a single day makes me feel restless. So do curbs on freedom of any kind…………I am happiest when I can soar in the skies at my will, land to take rest, feed and drink water………..my energies are highest when I am roosting with my own kinds in a social gathering and am immensely satisfied when I return to my nest at the end of the day………………I never return home without something in my beak……..create noisy scenes in my nest with my siblings….play around with my parents……go to sleep under warm covers of feathers of love and affection ( loads of times I have seen my parents pulling warm blankets over me in my sleep).

Each day I get up, flex my flight muscles, prune my feathers, spread my wings and take flight to soar the skies again………

Squirrels

As a kid, whenever i would goto my hometown, i would have a very interesting thing to do in the mornings. After breakfast i would head straight to the gardens to see squirrels running up and down the trees..I would surprise them and chase them but would never be able to catch them. With beautiful bodies and big eyes, squirrels are one of the most beautiful animals found in rural india. i would be so much intrigued by their beauty and keep chasing them on and on.In my fun, i acquired my first athletic training running barefoot on the grounds chasing squirrels which bore me fruits when i started my schooling.................When i moved to the city first time (in my memory,i was born in a city as a matter of fact), although there were squirrels, i would not chase them................i would find them unhealthy and emaciated in the cities........

after so many years i wonder....was it beauty that attracted me? was it their speed? or was it that i had so much of time spare at my hands that i could engage in such a fun pursuit ? or was it because of my childhood that i would have engaged in one fun or the other without being adjudged of propriety of behavior at that time?

As a woman i want to move unfettered, without the pressures of proving myself to anyone, without the worries of pleasing anyone and without the dangers of being pryed upon by anyone................ Do i have to close the doors of my mind to achieve that ? Become oblivious to everybody else? or just do what i like in this world?

I very often find myself passing in the oblivion and then coming back into this world..is it same with all the women in this world? I do not know. Maybe for few oblivion is luxury......Maybe for some oblivion is habit......For me its a break and journey into myself............