Life's Mixed Bag

Finding Mr. Right ….I never had to assay for this search. I was served by destiny. We met through common relatives and friends and the journey began. I was not on a hunt for Mr. Right.  Still in my final year of post-graduation, at the age of 22, I was in a transition phase….outgrowing the tipsiness of romance inflicted by Yash Raj movies. ..A cute looking hero without a moustache who is a successful man, has great sense of humour, travels across the globe and is too romantic to squeeze time to dance around Swiss mountains with his beautiful wife. …A rosy dream that most of the girls of my age grew up with. But in real life, I met a tech savvy man with a bushy moustache. He had a great sense of humour but lacked all the other qualities of a typical Yash Raj hero.  He had a busy work life and messed up all my whims of romance. He was a stark contrast to me…a man with few words, but I felt a “comfort” with him. I shuddered the fantasies of reel life sweet coated husban...

The sound of children playing boisterously in the play area, zooming cycles and skateboards, young boys and girls with their shuttle, rackets, football and basketball—this is how our apartment campus is in evening on most of the time of the year. I am attuned to the hustle and bustle and enjoy the spirit and vitality of life during my regular evening walks.  I relish watching the different age groups engaged in play…..each age reflecting the stage of development and evolution. Younger ones engaged in self paly, pretend n play and imitative play. The little older ones from 7 to 14 (my favourite group, a stage which is the playground of soul and feelings) engaged in more rule based games, structured pretend n play, indulging in manipulations and negotiations, exploring their black, white and grey shades. I love to overhear their conversation while pretending to be lost in my thought and in my walk. The young teenagers engage in more intellectual talks and competitive games w...

“Mama loves me more than anyone”- the shrill and agitation of my younger one’s voice indicated an overture to another sibling combat. “Sibling rivalry” must have some evolutionary significance and the law is that it patronises the house more on a long weekend. But this weekend, the conciliator mother wants her own peace of mind and is reluctant to wear the peacemaker cap every hour. She is overwhelmed by the brimming over bullets on her to-do list for the weekend. So I opted to control my itch to jump into the role of a referee. I continued with my cleaning of drawers while the verbal spat between my two angels continued.. “She loves me more than infinity”- yapped my younger one, beaming with pride as she could use the biggest quantity to her knowledge. “Infinity! Infinity! Infinity!”- she kept yapping with her cherubic laughter. My elder one started with “Infinity raise to the power of infinity! Infinity raise to the power of infinity..!”-validating that her knowledge is s...

Donned in a casual white tee and brown knee length shorts with a ponytail neatly tying his shoulder length blond hair, he stood in the queue at the billing counter. I got the side glimpse of his fair face and blue eyes. I felt the strong pounding in my head.  My heart thumped wildly with million emotions pouring in. He loved India and had a plan to visit India-- Is it real ‘him’ or just my imagination?? A strong adrenaline rush tinged me and my lumbering steps with a heavy cart festinated at the speed of light. The items on my shopping list were dropped and I rushed to the billing counter. Standing behind him, I said an enthusiastic “Hi” with my voice and tone expressing a cocktail of emotions. He turned back and responded with a friendly “Hi”. It was not him.. All the emotions evaporated and what sublimated was an embarrassment. The blonde youth sensed it. Though he did not verbalize it, his bewildered eyes conveyed the message-“Are you Okay?” Back home while arranging the g...

Here is one more from my treasured memory. This piece was published in an online magazine in 2008 on Father's Day. They are Daddy’s girls inheriting most of his features, taste and attitude. Time spent with their Papa is a like a Disney ride- full of fun with no or minimal restrictions. Their whims are welcomed and answered and sometimes even promoted, as Papa loves to pamper them. Time with papa means wrestling on sofa and bed, going for fun activities and getting all their wishes fulfilled. Papa cannot see those melodramatic tears in his angel’s eyes. I am relegated to an ogre in their presence. With me, their treats are limited and their tantrums are unanswered. I have developed a thick cuticle for their melodramas. I am playful, but have to be strict and sometimes even go against my parental ethics and spank them lightly for their misdeeds. Papa has long working hours, a lot of demands and pressures at work and those frequent business travels that makes him stay away fr...

“Love for the child can move mountains.” All the moms would unanimously agree with the above statement. Every mom is a hero whether she has a biological child or an adopted one. As a mother you strive to do the best for your children as you feel that your children are precious and the best of the world is just good enough for them. We go through the “joyful” pain of motherhood with love and pride of being mom. Once a mom always a mom- Life goes on a track from where you can’t take a U turn. If the days, weeks or years since you became a mother feel like one big blank, give yourself a break. You can forget everything in this world but not the things that are precious: your baby's first smile,  first word, your toddler's first walking step, your 3 year old's first tricycle ride, the adorable look of your 7 year old when he lost his front two teeth, the troubles of teenage….. and the utter joy of being a mom. When all set for the journey of motherhood, everyo...

Comes March and everything around gets soaked in the flavour of “Women’s Day”. Hoardings hang around with quotes, citations and commendations to celebrate womanhood, events organized to honour them and not to forget sales and offers targeting the rapacious shopping appetite of ladies!!! All of a sudden we as women feel to be an esteemed creation of Nature. There is an universal unanimous stand that woman is a paradigm of love, beauty, sacrifice, courage, patience…………… all packed in to one!! A woman epitomizes the creation by Almighty!!  We know that. But in our mundane day to day life, while twiddling and juggling between the various roles- homemaker, career woman, mother, daughter, sister, wife and friend, we tend to underrate ourselves. Such celebration adds a seasoning to the soup of life and rejuvenates you to continue with the flair of womanhood. WhatsApp, Facebook and other social media are flooded with messages, articles and wishes about Women’s Da...

This piece was published some seven years ago in an online magazine. Still plastered in the spirit of "Women's Day", this story needs to reach every women in this country.  A Wonderful Mother-in-law. A mother-in-law and daughter-in-law relation has been the most talked about relations in our society since ages. It has got too much of hype and our Bollywood and media has cashed it to the fullest. It is a sweet and sour relation and it depends on one’s luck whether they get more of sweetness or more of bitterness. But without any doubt, this relation makes an important part of a female’s life and effects it profoundly whether she is a mother-in-law or a daughter-in-law. We have heard a lot of stories about this relation from media and from other sources. We have stories of torturing mother-in-laws and mother-in-laws setting their daughter-in-laws on fire because of dowry. We do have stories where daughter-in-laws exploit their old in-laws. But here I am going t...

Written on 31 st July 2013 Here is one more from my treasured memory bag.. She is getting independent and I do not need to accompany her to the play area anymore.  Well, it was a tough decision to let her go and manage all alone. I could confidently leave my older one alone from the age of 4 in the play area. But I have always been overprotective with my younger one owing to various issues- her language delay, slow social development etc.  But after holding her hand constantly for long 6 years, I realized that she is sufficiently equipped to be left alone. She knows the dos and don’ts, can express herself and can sense danger and react. Children might be rude and bully her. But I have to withdraw myself to help her grow the hard way of life. The sooner, the better.  She can’t be a hermit crab walking around with a protective shell all the time.  The decision was made. And it has been one month and yippee! It was a success. For the contentment of my mothe...