MOTHERS' DAUGHTER

She always has her eyes peeled, and transfixed on all things mine.
It is such a pleasure to know that you are "her model' in all things she does she always looks up to me, be it the eyeliner I wear or maybe she has her ears all around her, when a crucial decision has to be taken.
We are the mirrors to the childrens souls.
As a kid she would strut around in my shoes, and I did not ever have the heart to get her out of them, there was an old pair of shoes that were beyond use, and I had kept it for her.
Even this day she mirrors me, in everything,
Of course she has her own mind and thought process, that which one cannot ever follow the other.
I see a lot of me in her in my youthful days

Its wonderful to see that the clock has turned back the time.

                                          

                                               

HERD MENTALITY

It took tremendous effort on my part to just shut my "Big Mouth" as my mum always calls it.
He was screaming and yelling, and jumping and flinging his tiny arms in the air, mind you his mother was right beside him and she was in a different zone, she was so placid and calm, and totally disconnected from the Happenings.                               

The place was a holy one, and no sort of  noises were made, if it could be helped, and here she stood right besides this brat and let him have his way, leaving him to disturb a whole lot of people praying and meditating
My hands were itching me to get that 6-year old child to behave appropriately, that too in public.
Nothing happened, brat still yelped and mother still ignored. The service finished off, and a lot of people gave her tough stares, I wondered if I was a silent spectator to something wrong that was happening, and deep within myself I know I should have gently told the mother to stop that brat from disturbing,most of the times, its the parents who need the correction first.......  I too had joined the herd .

When I think of this particular instance, I do regret and would have liked to stand apart from the herd, which most of the times I do and of course I have my fair share of troubles for that BUT, that is a small price to pay for the peace within knowing well,  that I have excersised that what was  right.

SWEET MEMORIES ARE MADE OF THIS.

The Summer vacations have just begun,the sounds  of children playing excitedly, screaming and running, are really  music to my ears.

Love it that they enjoy the great outdoors, are passionate about building a tiny rock garden(all made with pebbles) and  enjoy the cycle races along the length of the compound, which we are very fortunate to have in a place where space is a huge issue.
                                               

Two tiny kids, were struggling to get together some mud to cover an small anthill, and did it well, only to discover that the ants have somehow found their way. the other end of the soil.

We as parents always have a dream to follow, but in all of this we must remember that the dream should be the childs and not ours alone,, in our eagerness to carve out a successful future for our child, we must not
 pressure them out, nudge them towards what they like, and kindly goad them in right direction


Let the kids enjoy their vacations and have their fun, no this and that for them,
My kids were really happy to have their vacations, as it meant going out with them to the places they enjoyed the most, the cinemas, just walking alongwith them and answering their innumerable questions, was a pleasure, I will always cherish.

The kids will always treasure the memories, we too have our share of wonderful childhood memories that we hold so close to our heart.

SLICE OF HEAVEN.

Definately not what you guys are thinking about the title, it isn't a moist chocolate cake slice, neither a gooey brownie, OH NO! not that delicious mango, but just a gratifying feeling that I experienced whilst stretching out my finger, just imagine, if we give ourselves to help out, it would mean the whole of heaven and not just a measly slice.

She was sitting all alone, lost in her thoughts, she did not know a thing that was happening around her, her body language told it all.. her tightlips, her fingers, pressing against one another, and her face, a total emotional mess.

What cold have been the problem ? Within myself i knew I had to answer my conscience and not let her go that way, all alone, so with a prayer on my lips I asked her "Are you alright? feeling well,?" the second part of my question just rolled out perhaps out of a fear, that I might be rejected, anyway which way I got my answer"A little unwell," from then onwards, the conversation was loaded with an emotional burst, a heart that was broken, and a trust that was trampled upon.

She was all of 23 years, and life was tough on her, she had learnt that a broken heart could not be healed, (Thats what she believed)

She had married much against her parents wishes, and left home and hearth for him, a blissful three years of marriage and she thought her world would never ever come crashing around her.
She seemed economically sound, and her tough exterior belied her tender compassionate self.
The first sign of mistrust was the cliched excuse"working late tonight" she totally believed him, until one day, the friends he was supposed to be  working with late at night,tried to surprise them, by asking them both out to the movies...it was then on things starting to fall apart, showed the cracks and very visibly.

Fast forward, to a year later and there she was faced with a abusive husband, many of her friends told her to register a complain, she had her own reasons for not doing so, nonetheless she survived the humiliation, pain, torture and with the help of her few friends, she left him for good.But did he bother to even call her once ?
She was living as a PG close to her workplace and tried many a times to get in touch with her parents, who chose to forget they had a daughter.

The few true friends she had tried to play peacemakers and build the burnt bridge between her and her parents, they managed to make contact and last known about her, she was living with her parents Happy? not too sure, Safe YES.

How foolish are we that we walk away from the very ones who brought us into this world ? how reckless are we to trust  our lives, even we have been pointedly shown what is not ?Heaven  came in the way of that feeling,  I had when I advised her how to go about her life, and she had tears in her large empty eyes, I had seen her around my place, and she found me familiar hence opened up her broken heart.
I loved it that she listened without interruptions, and told me "I was thinking that this would be the last sunset I was watching, until this moment    THANK YOU,"

That was my slice of heaven.

A PINCH OF THIS AND THAT....

Have you often observed the body language of people at social-dos ? One of the best places to see the fakes from the reals....including their bags.

There is he Mr.Tight Pants, struggling so hard to keep up with the grip the pants have on his personality, and trying OH, so subtly to hide it, notice he tries to sway his legs, in a hope that the grip would loosen.

There he is Mr.Rubber Man, on the floor and zoom, that was two flips he did in one beat.I wonder if he has any control over his body, Oh no, there he goes again, doing the snake dance and he does it well, he seems to have a large audience, and seems quite pleased.

The Eternal Fool, who seems to think that wearing the deo, that he sees in the ads, he will draw the ladies, watch him chat that PYT   she has just walked away,  poor man, has to pick his jaws up.This man, would do anything  for a lady, just anything and watch him now... he has managed to latch on to another pretty one, and yes, she is all smiles, I wonder if he has met his true love,

Miss beautiful, and it stops there ! she cant hold a conversation, all the time, nodding her beautiful mane,  suddenly the hero has asked her a question, and she is still nodding ..sic..sic.

The Gossip Queen, she has her eyes on The beautiful one, seems to be envying  her curves,  her looks give her away, talking in hushed whispers to her  friend,  they seem to be regulars at these events,..Thank God for her dormant mind,she knows nothing.

.The Drama Queen is Oh so attention seeking that the more eye balls she attracts, the happier she is "Oh dear Ravi, havent seen you in ages," shouting above the crescendo of the music, and a hundred eyeballs are on her...Happy  is THE QUEEN.

Watch him gulp his drink, in a blink of an eye he has gulped one too many, and he seems to be telling the bartender ,"Its one for the Road,"he is The Bottomless Glass

The Butter pot  she seems to be quite an experienced hand at this, latches on to anyone who she thinks would give her career a zoom !, this one is known to be a small time model.And at any given time at any given party she has oddles of butter.

A whole range of characters make up this world,Life surely would not be the same without them.They add the zest to life..love it..... live it....Life Likes That.

HAPPY PEOPLE,HAPPY PLACE.

The happiness people find is amazing in whatever sphere of life, one always finds their  HAPPY PLACE.

My visits to the vegetable market is an experience in itself, besides the exotic vegetables and fruits and their country cousins, it is with awe that I watch the happiness on the vendors faces, the light flirtations they have amongst themselves and the connect with each other is a little lesson I have learnt

They tend to the baskets of their produce with utmost care and love, wiping each and every one with a cloth, polishing the apples, till they can blush no more, the glow of the red and yellow peppers makes a sunny day even brighter, the humble green pumpkin (humble no more, check out the price!) has a lovely shade of green to it.

The vendor knows his flock, ask him if his produce is fresh, he kind of gets offended"What did you say?"

He is always willingly to chat with his regulars, and make new ones too, The push and shove are part and parcel of this morning rush in the bazaar, but the way the vendors are connected to each other is a story in itself, just a scream or a shout and a wave of a hand to the other side of the bazaar and he knows he has to transport some carrots quickly to this end to give the waiting customer.

Its always a 'Changing' story they are ever willing to lend out all the notes of loose change to help out their brothers who are haggling with a customer.

Very rarely do you see impatient ones, I had the experience of one such person, I picked a bundle of kotmir, as I was searching in his basket for a non flowering one, vendor saab flew into a fit, and asked me to take what he gave me, naturally I was upset and just walked away, but not without saying my bit to him, telling him how impolite he was and how he should allow his customers to choose, not that vendor saab cared too much with my walk away, I choose not to buy from him, my silent way of protesting.

The happiness that I have witnessed is really wonderful, wonderful to know that whatever place they maybe, (I have written about this in my previous blogs), in a bus, in a train, or even in the saabzi mandi, people find their HAPPY PLACE

MISSION POSSIBLE.

“There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.”

- Paulo Coelho

So many motivational thinkers have always said the same, Our minds can be made to do just anything we wish.We just have to will it, and think we can, the moment we think we cannot ...from then on it is downwards.

How do we do this ? we must visualize the end result what 
 we really want, and train our minds to look in that direction. 
 As easy as this ? No, definately not so easy, but not impossible

How do I begin to follow this exercise ? we all know how are minds are overloaded with information that we do not really
 need, some of this information, maybe negative thoughts that we have stored.
We have to empty our minds, rid ourselves of this trash, clear the cobwebs and leave a clear, free space for our fresh positive thoughts.

Most of the success stories that we read of are people, who had BIG Dreams, and nearly always started from scratch.
Leave the opinions of others alone, look within yourself, and the answer will be there within you.

My mother always told us as kids, whatever we do, do it to the best of our ability. I was acting in a play as bunch of flowers, the main part had gone to the pretty girl, At that time, I was upset, and that was when she said"Be the best flower that one has seen," this has always stayed with me, and always, worked for me.

You could ask the people who have been on that journey or ask people coming from that road that you want to go,  ask "How did you do that ?"

Be clear in your thinking about what you want, clarity gives  you the power to step towards your goal. There may be times, when nothing seems to be happening, do not be dismayed, do not despair, mainly do not give up your dream,  instead remember,

"Whatever the mind can conceive and believe it will achieve.the more you think about it, the more you focus around it...IT WILL HAPPEN."