2013

2013

Another day comes to an end..another chapter added to our lives..another set of experiences which has enriched our existence!! I prefer to look at the year end like this. Not with a long sigh and alarm at the passing time. If the time hadn't passed we wouldn't have lived it, would we? The only way I can explain the year zooming past me this year is that I had my hands full. There was so much to do, so much to achieve, so much to give and so much to receive. This year has been special because I met with so many people, some of whom I hadn't met for many years. It was wonderful. Its been an eventful year with its share of ups and downs, unexpected twists and turns, hurts and healing hugs. In short its been wholesome. No complaints, no regrets.

The other day I met an old friend of mine. We had first met when we were both on the threshold of starting new and life altering phases of our individual lives. Our paths crossed and the connection was made. The naivety of our thoughts about life at that point of time forged a bond that has withstood the test of time. Our lives got busy with the grinds of home and family and we got lost in the maze of our own lives. We met several times over the years, with the growing brood in tow. It was fun to say the least. We met again now after several years with the kids grown up and individuals in their own rights, with their own minds and opinions. What struck me most was not how much the kids had grown but how much had happened since that first chance meeting. The connection was still there. The affection was still there. Then what was missing because something was missing for sure. As we all sat down sharing a hot cup of tea and heart warming conversations, I looked at her intently. It suddenly dawned on me. What was missing was the way we looked at life. It was no longer a beautiful love story, a la one of the Disney princess stories. We had experienced life in its various forms and flavours. Our experiences had taught us to relish each moment as it is and make the best of it. From giggly young girls we had become women.

This one unsuspecting meeting modified the way I started looking at the approaching year end. Each year is like a new chapter of our lives. The people and events in it enrich it in their own ways. What's life without its ups and downs? I loved every moment of the time spent last year. I look forward to the coming year like a child waiting for her Christmas gift. I feel blessed to be surrounded by the people I love. If my family has given meaning and purpose to my existence then my friends have made it worthwhile. So...three cheers to life..let the party begin!  

A Historical Legacy

Are we ashamed of our history or is it that we are just too indifferent to what is not directly affecting us? This question comes to my mind more often these days when I am teaching my children history. We as a family love travelling and have tried to go to as many places as possible, by road, rail or any other means available. Its always been fun (though it didn't seem like that sometimes!), educating and more importantly helped create memories. During some of these visits, we have gone to some historical sites and places. My husband and me would get the girls to read up on the place or the famous personality from there to help connect better to what we were going to see. We thought it was a fun and much more effective way of teaching them about our rich cultural and historical past. But I would always end up depressed at the end of the trip.

The reason, or reasons, for the sadness would always be the same. If you have visited any of our historical monuments or sites, you would know what I am talking about. The defaced walls, mutilated facades, deteriorating works everything screams for some attention and care. The hordes visiting them are just 'visiting' them, they do not feel for the place. Hawkers set up stall in every conceivable place possible. All the illusions about having a large portion of our population starving goes out of the window (broken or damaged, albeit) when you see piles of empty packets of Lays and Kurkure lying around. Let's not forget the empty water bottles too! The guides are most of the time clueless, just rattling out the details which they have been memorising from the first day at work. They wouldn't know the difference between a Mughal emperor and a Nawab. So instead of trying to educate the children about the historical significance of the place or getting them to experience the place, we end up trying to teach them the do's and don'ts when going out, the social responsibility of each of us to keep the place up. So are they wrong when the only thing that comes to their minds when we talk about a place we visited is how unkempt it was or how someone was defecating in the famous gardens while the security staff and others were standing near the chai-walla enjoying the hot tea and gossip?

Why don't we feel any kind of pride when we go to such places? Are we ashamed of our history? Why can't people be a little more careful and sensitive when visiting such places? Yes, I agree, there are a lot of things I am not proud of from our history. But that's my perspective. What's more important is that all this has already happened and is a part of us whether we like it or not. so why not just accept it and enjoy the good parts of it. Maybe Aamir Khan should be asked to conduct classes on TV as part of his job as brand ambassador for tourism in India. Our children will grow up as proud citizens of India only if they can see around them edifices of glory, bravery, ingenuity, grandeur and honour being respected for what they are. Maybe..maybe tomorrow will be a better day for these mute witnesses of our proud past! 

Good Morning

Its just one of those mornings when you wake up with a wonderful feeling, as if its all going to be fine. I woke up with a warm feeling in my heart. The morning sun was trying to break out from behind the cloud cover. The slits of dark red announced the arrival of another day. Its was a breath-taking view, and as I watched it from my bed I realised it was not going to be just another day. It was going to be different. I don't know how. And at that hour my brain was too groggy to figure out the details. But yes the feeling was pretty much the same. So here I am writing my first blog (thanks Sandy di) without knowing what's it going to be about or what I'm going to do with it later.

So here's to new beginnings.