Musings

A very common sight that always tugs my heart is the side walks around any swimming pool where parents watch over their little ones learning swimming. I guess it takes tremendous patience and more importantly love to be there day after day, supporting, chiding and encouraging their children not to give up. My rough estimate is that over 90% of the parents do not know to swim(especially the mothers), yet the way they encourage the off-spring to learn it is truly astounding :) Which incidentally brings me to the concept of 'support' and how important it is for each one of us, as we try to swim along the tides of life. No matter, what kind of tide we are facing, it is heartening to see someone on the side walks trying to wave out to us and say "Go on, you can do it!" Advices come aplenty (since they are mostly given free of cost!), however I have started really appreciating people spending time and advising, I find great hidden 'support' in the exercise. So here...

It was a rare relaxed Sunday evening when hubby & I were taking a nice walk along a lake near where we stay. What a sight! Lovely weather, families out on their Sunday outing, groups of friends playing pranks and posing for group photos, so many young boys and girls (called couples in our world!) cuddling in the sylvan shelters of the trees along the lake, far from the madding crowds. It seemed like a perfect world. Love, caring and sharing all available at one place. If there is so much love energy why do people still hate, separate, abuse each other? Wondered my mind. Over the years of association with people around us, some of the relationships fade in to infinity, some are safely and conveniently kept away, some tag along as 'devoted followers' (generally most love to have a following that does not question our ability!), some seasonal 'coming and going' types and finally some who are sealed with us for life! So what are the different shapes and shades that ...

Sometimes we tend to just drift away in to the past tense without realizing and I am seem to be in that mode today. Thoughts go back to some wonderful days spent in Henley-on-Thames in United Kingdom. One of the first things that struck me was about the difference in food habits from India. Fish and Chips being the first to catch my attention. What a strange combination of eating fish with chips! But over time I realized it was quite a staple and accepted snack there. Years have rolled by from then and I have hardly seen any Fish & Chips stall in India even now. However, closer home there is a favorite shop of 'Hot Chips' which is frequented by better half to get his regular quota of munchies. I happened to notice a fish seller sitting close to this shop and the smell / aroma /stink (whatever we feel towards fish) often happens to waft the breeze and kind of overpowering the freshly fried chips. Strange, I thought that these two completely different fragrances blended with...

It is all about getting used to your presence, day in and day out. How lost I am now that you have decided to stay out of my life for some time! I have heard may be a thousand times over that we need to be the masters of our lives and not give in to dependency on any one, emotionally or otherwise. But how does one stay away from the 'attachment trap'? Your coming home everyday at the same time is almost taken for granted. I take pride of you when the others cringe about what they have in their lives. I have secretly even thanked my stars and the Lord for getting us together in this life. Your spick and span look, no-nonsense attitude and at the same time the caring outlook has many a times left me asking me for more. I wait with baited breath for you to return home soon. Your deft fingers have worked like a charm for so many years and I am sure no one else can create the magic that you do! In the mean while I must attend to chores at home needing my attention now that you are ...

We have entered yet another decade and it is quite interesting to see how we the people of India are taking everything in our stride and march ahead (be it morcha or marathon!) December is the time when many migratory birds (err..people) come back to India to spend "quality time" with their near and dear ones. Being a part of a global family is now a accepted norm of life at least in the metros (may be true for all of Andhra Pradesh considering the number of people going abroad from there). It is quite heartening to see these globalized Indians give up their comfortable life and experience the life in India to feel one with their roots. One such incident is when a friend of mine was trying to get his daughter learn the "Indian Potty Posture". I can never forget the sight of him sitting behind his little daughter in the loo and teaching her! It is a warm sight to see global Indians teaching local culture, values to their children and also relocate to India to ...

Let me admit the impression I have of my mother is still the the person who struggles with handling the mobile phone, no interest in knowing how the computer works, happy with handling things her way than how "modern" Mom's do. I secretly still wonder if Mom understands what a "gay" means! Yet she is someone who wants to be abreast with the latest happenings more in the people around her rather than the world at large! However, she does pleasantly surprise me often times when she uses fancy words like "download", "sent sms" or questions to someone like "which state in the US does your child stay in?" leaving me in a state of wonderment on how did she ever get to know the states of USA! Somewhere I can see that even our parents grow even after we have outgrown from their lives. There is a sense of pride in every recent thing my parents know and I am beaming with the feeling "Not bad!" I feel the same towards my dear Mother ...

It was yet another not-so-good decision I took the other day ( I am getting better at taking bad decisions with age!) by deciding to drop my niece at a peak hour. Considering the fact that we stay just 15 minutes apart, I never envisaged it would take more than an hour to get there. No sooner we hit the road I knew it was the worst time to get out. I looked at the road going back home longingly and even that was packed, bumper to bumper. No choice but to just continue on the road ahead that did not look inviting at all. One bad decision and I paid for it by spoiling the rest of the evening. The only good thing that happened was probably this thought the same principle applies to decisions made in life too. It is really a one way. Once a start has been made in a particular way you have no choice but to continue on the course, there are no 'U' turns on the roads of life. One may take detours, change the roads but never can we get back what is lost in terms of time, relationships...