It has been three long weeks since my sudden attack of the flu. The pampering was the BEST part of it. Friends sending loads of food, soups, stews, WOW ! quite a variety that was, and the pampering by my threesome, showed me how much they really cared.
Thanks to all my family and friends who remembered me during their prayers.

The World Cup, was something that kept my mind off the fever, and it was heart breaking to see Brazils' KAKA being sent off and subsequently walk off so obediently, Kaka a deeply religious person,with a squeaky clean image, realised that he should take the opportunity to train himself for the next game, as he mentioned in his interview the sweetest part of his protest was"Even my granny got very angry when she saw the refree(Referring to his red card)and I cannot tell you what she said here". That was really, really sooo sweet.

He sounded so vulnerable, and childlike..Dont we all like our near and dear ones to take our sides when we are in dire straits ? the only difference is that Kaka being a celebrity is just his simple self, no pretensions and no masks. He spoke straight from his heart. Something we all have to take a lesson from.
Wishing Brazil and the rest of the teams the very best for the finals....

"HAPPINESS IS A CONSCIOUS CHOICE, NOT AN AUTOMATIC RESPONSE"


The moment she entered the compartment of the Borivili bound local, I knew she was the "Decision Maker"her walk, her talk, and the way she held her family in her hold. Ladies, baby and men all happily together.
It was evident from their attire that they were on their way to a function, the hot, humid day in the sweltering, almost melting heat did not deter them from wearing their jewelery, and embroidered sarees.
The Decision Maker(DM) seemed to know who liked which seats, and she alloted each one with her choice of seats. She spoke boldly and brazenly, shouting across passengers and co-passengers faces without, as much as giving a thought to their ear drums.
What fascinated me was her husband who she had in the crook of her little finger, he seemed to be enjoying the responsibility that his better half had taken, and he was viewing, the outside from a sliver that was available to him between passengers.
In the meantime the DM was gearing up in full throttle for her function, she was re-arranging whatever she could of her saree in her seated posture, settling the flowers in her hair, and her jewelery.
She evidently was a grandmother as she asked for the little baby and the daughter in law obediently obliged. They seemed a very content family, seemed very close knit and the men in the family, were all very content with moms ways.
There she was passing the water bottle for all to quench their thirst, and then came the napkin to wipe off the pespiration, oblivious to the fact that there were so many passengers, some of the passengers were helping in passing her equipment around.
The last glimpse I got before I alighted at my stop was one of total bliss, where DM had the little baby safely in her arms, and lulling baby to sleep, leaving the babys parents to have some time together and who seemed to really look forward to their quality time.
I began thinking, when was the last time I saw such a happy family moment ? where the family was happy despite the circumstances they were in ?(the heat, the crowded local, and the cramped up space)
Indeed it is up to us to make a situation the way we want it to be, we do not have to depend on another to make us happy or unhappy, as was evident in this case...

Always in the same dress, sometimes clean but most of the times, stained. Her head always bent and eyes searching the street, randomly picking bits of paper and reading what is written on them searching for something that I guess even she does not know. I tried to meet her eyes once, nothing happened, another time, still the same.. and finally I managed to make contact and gave her a smile, wondering if she would smile back, and she did.
Another day on my way to the market bumped into her and smiled, tried to talk to her,kind of forced my question by asking her "Where are going?" her words came tumbling out, faster than she could control, I tried to comprehend, some I did but most I didn't.
She talked about matters that did not concern us, about nosey neighbours(Who seemed to be the bane of her life) I just moved with the flow, and got the impression through her talk, that not too many people wanted to say Hi to her,( maybe it was her reluctance to make eye contact or maybe just her antisocial nature.)
She talked about the price rise, and how difficult it was to make ends meet, at which I asked her very politely"If she was a working girl?" she was mighty thrilled with my question and gave me the widest smile, which showed me a set of teeth that needed a lot of care.
She said she did work for a while but gave it all up to look after her ailing mother who passed away a while ago, now she was living on her sisters charity, and seemed to be very content with that.She asked me very relevant questions"Are you married?" "I know you live here" she said and pointed towards the right direction and even mentioned my building, both of us walked towards the icecream shop and enjoyed icecream together.
"Oh Thank you very much for the icecream"with a wave of her hand she was gone.
A couple of weeks ago I met her again this time she just looked thru me, like we had not met.
I see her sometimes walking and mumbling something to herself and even managing to smile at her own jokes. At times she smiles at me, most of the times she just goes on walking, searching for THAT BIT OF PAPER, .......

Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself. They came through you but not from you and though they are with you yet they belong not to you.
Kahlil Gibran

I am at a stage of my life where my niece is a few months away from moving out , that is to say get married. Sounds so cliched .. she was so little remember the day we went to see her in hospital the day she was born, so tiny, so vulnerable so beautiful !, watched her grow to be a toddler, a young girl, with a satchel and a hairband larger then her head going to school, a teenager and finally a little adult, lots of interesting tidbits I have shared with her, her friends, her likes, her dislike and finally her prince charming. What a lucky boy he is.
And each time I see the brides mother on a wedding day, I know I too will have to be there,one day.My daughter is still a teen and will be a grown up "Little"lady.
I have always believed that it is in giving that you receive real joy. My heart all mixed up, with joy, and parting, and knowing well that she has to go, most importantly to see her Happy.
Kahil Gibran so clearly states this, And I am referring only to daughters,
Sons too at one point of life have to move on and get on with their own way of life, their happiness and we have to be able to let go, I must admit that I admire my parents who at this age have let us three with our own ways of life my brother in his and my sister and me in ours, they are always there to help us, whenever we need but NEVER imposing themselves on us, I am sure Mum and Dad are the living examples of what Kahil Gibran has stated above.
And as my husband and me draw closer to our empty nest syndrome may God grant us the grace and wisdom to be able to live and let live.....They belong not to you....

>From God with Love..... Read this beautiful poem and the last two lines, say it all, how as a family we have to always be there no matter what, no matter where.and the values we teach our children will always come back home to us..... read on ...

~Author Unknown~

Children are a blessing sent from God above
For us to care and nurture and most of all to love.

God calls us to be parents and gives us all the tools
And when we feel like giving up, our strength He will renew.

Children are a gift from God that He so freely lends
To make it through the childhood years, on Him we must depend.

He must have a presence, you see it must take three
The parents, child and Christ at the center to be a family.

From childhood days to a child full grown
Their joys and hurts are a parent's own.

Times of joy and laughter and those times of tears
The times spent raising a child are surely the best of years.

There comes that time in life when a child will leave the nest
We must send them off with love and a prayer and leave to God the rest.

We've have shared the Word of God, we've taught them right from wrong
Now it's time to let them go and let them write their song.

The faith instilled, the examples lived, and the lessons taught
All gifts that we've given our child, which will never be forgotten.

There are many paths a child can take, right or wrong will remain unknown
But rest assured that in the end, they all lead back to home.

______________________________________________________________________

Frequently remind yourself that God is with you, that He will
never fail you, that you can count upon him. Say these words,
"God is with me, helping me."
- Norman Vincent Peale
I have read two of his books "Power of Positive Thinking" and "The Amazing Results of Positive Thinking", In his writings he us teaches how to live life,despite failure, to look beyond the ditches and pot holes to train ourselves to think positive not as a means to fame or power but as the practical application of faith to overcome defeat and live a full and happy life.
Many of us believe, we are invincible, indestructible and along the way we forget-GOD that we have to remind ourselves that if not for HISpresence, we would be nothing.
Whilst we are having goodtimes, nothing matters, like an advertisement jingle that goes..let the goodtimes roll. It is only when dark clouds gather and we see a storm brewing that we turn to HIM, bribe him, pleading to give in to our way. But things do not happen as we wish But as HE does.
Back to the above quote, We must keep reminding ourselves that God is with us and he will always be by our side, so many heartaches may seem much smaller than one really sees them. In my own life I have witnessed several such wonders, an"Angel" comes along telling you something that you would realise later that saved you from something grave, and all the time knowing well. HE was there, walking side by side, Believe in him,acknowledge HIM, and have faith, as little as the mustard seed, and you will see wonders before your eyes, doors opening, and seas parting to let you pass through.

Nora Roberts
If you don't go after what you want, you'll never have it. If you don't ask, the answer is always no. If you don't step forward, you're always in the same place.

There I was sulking away, and the mother was in no mood to ask me why, I guess with having to look after three kids, who were just two years apart, was a tough task. My brother who is the youngest and my sister the eldest I was the " middleman",shall we say middlegirl, besides I was always seeking answers to orders that the "Authorities" gave out, which in most of the cases, I got a telling off or sometimes just a case of the wind blowing on their ears kind of a situation.
I remember my sister and brother coaxing me to go and ask for the permission to go to the party.We nearly always lent support to each other, I was mortified. Not so much at encountering my mother who in turn would ask the "Higher" up my Dad in this case, but it was my inability to hear a "NO" from them that was pulling me back.
After so much of debating and brooding ... I mustered the courage to ...ask,
I tried strategy at first went around the house and cleaned it up dusted, folded placed everything in an order and then was step two..wow ! this surely was looking good"Why oh, why did I go through so much when all this was so easy?" was the thought that came to my head.
Like all mothers, mum saw thru my ploy and asked me straight off"What is it you want? ( " "'Here, here quickly open up mother earth swallow me" )I stammered and fumbled "Oh nothing Mom, just doing my share of good deeds," she went about her business like she did not know anything, but was it so ? Mothers have that uncanny sense and a million eyes placed all over them so they "see" every wince of pain, or every snigger, that happens, it was no different here with my Mum, a truimphant sign of victory to my siblings, signalled that I was drawing closer to my goal.
Just then the phone rang and Mum picked it up "Hello, blah, blah blah, more blah blah and there I was my ears placed to get the maximum coverage of the sound waves, 'Ah thank goodness it was the opposite neighbour and her regular downloading on Mum about the milkman and the paperboy and ... and .. and she was gone for a long while.Mum looked at me and said,"Can you please give a hand to Aunty S, she needs help with her shopping," before mum could finish I had dressed up and thought this is the moment ... "You know mum I wanted to know if I could go to M's party on the week end ? She turned around like she had been struck by lightning and said "Why not ?" "Oh, er.. I was taking your permission," "Surely you can but I have to ask Dad, if it is fine with him" ... do you know what it feels like to be an inflated balloon thats just got pricked by a pin? well I did......
To cut a long story short, I did get my permission and I did enjoy myself ... and so many years later now a mother myself, I know that if I did not ask the answer would have been No , and if I did not go after my goal, I would have been just there sulking and brooding, This is a simple example, but many a times have applied to the larger picture in life.