Walking down the known path..
I can stand up against the old winds..
Awaken to new worlds
Its unknowns are too deep to even ponder..
While I wait for my destiny to unfold..
Its too long a time to not walk
Life comes back in a full circle
Just that its a longer way to the start..
Let me slowly arise and be a part
Of the revolution which I couldnt bring..
I may not be at the front but I am somewhere
Not standing but moving back and forth
Its a unending race and am steady..
A small step and a big leap ..
I may be the one to start a new circle
Friday, October 9, 2009
Saturday, May 16, 2009
For my daughter on Mother's day...
It was on the beautiful afternoon of July 16th 2007, that my daughter Myra chose to enter our lives. I could hear her cry in the OT and it was then that the nurse whispered it’s a baby girl. I thought, thank god I had thought of a girl’s name just a week before (Somehow we were not able to decide between Meisha and Myra). I was not the first one in the family to take her into my arms – in-fact one of the last ones as I joined her in the private ward after a couple of hours..and there I could see her neatly and nicely tucked in a white(with pink lining) cloth in the cradle..with eyes closed…so peaceful, angelic and godly. To be frank..a kind of aura which none of we adults have. It’s true that god resides in children.
First night with Myra was tough as we were by ourselves (ofcourse the efficient nurses were there to help)..call it lack of knowledge or probably first experience, we didn’t know what to expect..and here she was, no longer a silent infant, but screaming at the top of her voice…we were confused, tensed, tired and I was near to tears…nothing was able to calm her..My husband rushed for the nurse and like a true savior she handled Myra – I felt like an idiot, but I knew it was a long way to learn. It is strange but its love in the true sense that whenever Myra laughs or smiles its me who feels happy as though we are still chorded…all the other kinds or spheres of love look meaningless when compared to this divine feeling…
The five days in the hospital were ice breaking session for Myra with her family – the 'naankes' and 'daadkes' were proud and happy…everybody taking turns to take care of her as I was still weak after the surgery.
And then began one of the most important and talked about part of parenthood…giving up sleep at night. But somehow you feel so energetic as a mother that even when the clock struck the 24th hour to wake me up..I felt as if it was still middle of the day…and I could spare a few minutes having a cuddly talk with Myra..she seemed so tiny yet assertive as if telling her mom – “though I am little but I am the BOSS”
Her first smile, her first somersault…her first so many things - her giggles and the twinkle in her eyes..her first step..her first word and all her imaginative stories(the other day when we were driving on a flyover, she simply said “Mom we are going on a slide!”)..…My mother says she reminds her of me when I was a kid…good to be born again…wish she lives all the good moments of my life…and hers too….
First night with Myra was tough as we were by ourselves (ofcourse the efficient nurses were there to help)..call it lack of knowledge or probably first experience, we didn’t know what to expect..and here she was, no longer a silent infant, but screaming at the top of her voice…we were confused, tensed, tired and I was near to tears…nothing was able to calm her..My husband rushed for the nurse and like a true savior she handled Myra – I felt like an idiot, but I knew it was a long way to learn. It is strange but its love in the true sense that whenever Myra laughs or smiles its me who feels happy as though we are still chorded…all the other kinds or spheres of love look meaningless when compared to this divine feeling…
The five days in the hospital were ice breaking session for Myra with her family – the 'naankes' and 'daadkes' were proud and happy…everybody taking turns to take care of her as I was still weak after the surgery.
And then began one of the most important and talked about part of parenthood…giving up sleep at night. But somehow you feel so energetic as a mother that even when the clock struck the 24th hour to wake me up..I felt as if it was still middle of the day…and I could spare a few minutes having a cuddly talk with Myra..she seemed so tiny yet assertive as if telling her mom – “though I am little but I am the BOSS”
Her first smile, her first somersault…her first so many things - her giggles and the twinkle in her eyes..her first step..her first word and all her imaginative stories(the other day when we were driving on a flyover, she simply said “Mom we are going on a slide!”)..…My mother says she reminds her of me when I was a kid…good to be born again…wish she lives all the good moments of my life…and hers too….
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Across the wall of IIMA
Recently I got the privelege to stay in the IIM-Ahmedabad campus. The temperature was bearly bearable with the mercury touching the awful 44 degree mark. But to adapt is human and that's what I also did. I have been staying in Bangalore for quite long now to be thoroughly spoiled by its weather. However much we complain about the rising temperature in the Silicon city, but we surely are lucky to be living here.
The IIMA not only boasts of the achievers getting the most sought for education and exposure in its MBA program - but it also has the state of the art campus. I first stepped into the area in the dim hours of evening and could surely see some street dwellers resting against its outer-wall. Surely, its not an uncommon site in India - we know there is a huge percent living below the poverty line. And then after all the homeless need a place to rest in the evening. I surely felt sad seeing their plight, but soon realised that these people just stay there always - even in the burning hours of afternoon.
The divide is so clear across the wall - There is the youth of our country getting ready for bigger jobs spending lakhs of rupees on the education in the finest Management institue of India. And so are there the children a few metres away - who just stay there not knowing if the heat wave will let them survive till the next day. While the one inside the campus worry if they will be able to get their dream job in finance or sales etc, there are those ouside who are still dreaming about a place to stay in or may be they have even stopped dreaming...
The IIMA not only boasts of the achievers getting the most sought for education and exposure in its MBA program - but it also has the state of the art campus. I first stepped into the area in the dim hours of evening and could surely see some street dwellers resting against its outer-wall. Surely, its not an uncommon site in India - we know there is a huge percent living below the poverty line. And then after all the homeless need a place to rest in the evening. I surely felt sad seeing their plight, but soon realised that these people just stay there always - even in the burning hours of afternoon.
The divide is so clear across the wall - There is the youth of our country getting ready for bigger jobs spending lakhs of rupees on the education in the finest Management institue of India. And so are there the children a few metres away - who just stay there not knowing if the heat wave will let them survive till the next day. While the one inside the campus worry if they will be able to get their dream job in finance or sales etc, there are those ouside who are still dreaming about a place to stay in or may be they have even stopped dreaming...
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Losing Bangalore's Shade
It’s been really long, in fact more than a few years since I have been planning to visit LalBagh, the central park of Bangalore. I have been somehow postponing it because of one or the other chore that kept cropping up unexpectedly or not so unexpectedly. The Lalbagh visit always used to take a back seat because of two reasons. Firstly I am not located close to Lalbagh and have to beat the notorious B’lore traffic to get there. Secondly but more importantly, Lalbagh wasn’t going anywhere, so I could have made my plans any day. But to my horror, I realized that even Lalbagh was not supposed to remain the same!!
I am a lazy citizen so all I do is follow news and sometimes if time and energy permit, pen my views. I have been following news articles here and there – the petitions and protests – the misquoted number of trees to be felled. To me it really paints an insensitive picture of our sensitivity towards our heritage.
There are many ‘fors’ for the trees to be cut, be at Lalbagh, KR Road, Nanda Road or any other place, now that Bangalore needs infrastructure(years after the IT and real estate boom!) .After all the trees have to pave the way for human development. We need wider roads, flyovers and we need metros and monorails…but probably we don't need clean air, water, rains! Why is it that as the number of roads in Blore has been increasing so has been the number of pot-holes and bad, broken roads? Why is there a mindset that only flyovers everywhere will result in smooth traffic? Yes flyovers may be necessary probably at some places, but what about all the other places that one has to travel through to reach one’s destination. Is the government planning to cut all the trees lined up on the road side? – After all the whole city is congested.
Just stating the obvious - the government has let the city grow in a highly unplanned way. Bangalore, the land of opportunities, has been growing disproportionately for years now – but it still continues to do so - that’s the sad part - of course not the ‘growth’, but the ‘proportion being wrong’! It’s all haywire. I go to a residential block and all I find is a few houses in the midst of software companies and shops and not to forget cafes and eating joints. Vehicles parked everywhere, autos blocking most part of the roads and as if that was not enough, buses blocking the rest. And then there is huge line of daily commuters honking profusely to go from one part of the city to the other.
There’s no doubt that we need a concept of self-contained and self-sufficient satellite townships to beat the activity buzz at one central place. And then connect all these satellite towns using the much hyped metro. I think the structure and the culture of our city don’t ask for a metro cutting through the MG road, Ulsoor, CMH road. These places are already connected well – short distances well suited to travel by auto/ bus and for the more enthusiastic, on bicycles. Moreover, these are not just ‘places’ such as AIIMS/Lajpat nagar/Sarojini Nagar that Delhi (which now boast of the word class metro) has. These places for Bangalore are its culture, its identity, its way of giving that warm welcome to people under its shaded pathways. These places make the city alive - those leisured walks at the MG road arcade, the buzz of the city at CMH road and the dust-free Indiranagar… all compromised for the time being and also long times to come(we all know how the government works). What we could have done was let the heart of the city remain the same and cut those commuters who travel across the city. Connect the far flung areas through the metro. Such fast public transport should be like a ring supported by the short-distance public carriers. Of course I am not qualified enough to give an expert’s comment…but I need to voice the thought process which keeps on getting triggered seeing the plight of our flora.
Marring nature or disturbing the ecological balance has long lasting and quick effects. We Bangaloreans know that and we cant deny that as we are already experiencing the effects. After all trees that are mute can be felled but the effects will be way too loud for us!
I am a lazy citizen so all I do is follow news and sometimes if time and energy permit, pen my views. I have been following news articles here and there – the petitions and protests – the misquoted number of trees to be felled. To me it really paints an insensitive picture of our sensitivity towards our heritage.
There are many ‘fors’ for the trees to be cut, be at Lalbagh, KR Road, Nanda Road or any other place, now that Bangalore needs infrastructure(years after the IT and real estate boom!) .After all the trees have to pave the way for human development. We need wider roads, flyovers and we need metros and monorails…but probably we don't need clean air, water, rains! Why is it that as the number of roads in Blore has been increasing so has been the number of pot-holes and bad, broken roads? Why is there a mindset that only flyovers everywhere will result in smooth traffic? Yes flyovers may be necessary probably at some places, but what about all the other places that one has to travel through to reach one’s destination. Is the government planning to cut all the trees lined up on the road side? – After all the whole city is congested.
Just stating the obvious - the government has let the city grow in a highly unplanned way. Bangalore, the land of opportunities, has been growing disproportionately for years now – but it still continues to do so - that’s the sad part - of course not the ‘growth’, but the ‘proportion being wrong’! It’s all haywire. I go to a residential block and all I find is a few houses in the midst of software companies and shops and not to forget cafes and eating joints. Vehicles parked everywhere, autos blocking most part of the roads and as if that was not enough, buses blocking the rest. And then there is huge line of daily commuters honking profusely to go from one part of the city to the other.
There’s no doubt that we need a concept of self-contained and self-sufficient satellite townships to beat the activity buzz at one central place. And then connect all these satellite towns using the much hyped metro. I think the structure and the culture of our city don’t ask for a metro cutting through the MG road, Ulsoor, CMH road. These places are already connected well – short distances well suited to travel by auto/ bus and for the more enthusiastic, on bicycles. Moreover, these are not just ‘places’ such as AIIMS/Lajpat nagar/Sarojini Nagar that Delhi (which now boast of the word class metro) has. These places for Bangalore are its culture, its identity, its way of giving that warm welcome to people under its shaded pathways. These places make the city alive - those leisured walks at the MG road arcade, the buzz of the city at CMH road and the dust-free Indiranagar… all compromised for the time being and also long times to come(we all know how the government works). What we could have done was let the heart of the city remain the same and cut those commuters who travel across the city. Connect the far flung areas through the metro. Such fast public transport should be like a ring supported by the short-distance public carriers. Of course I am not qualified enough to give an expert’s comment…but I need to voice the thought process which keeps on getting triggered seeing the plight of our flora.
Marring nature or disturbing the ecological balance has long lasting and quick effects. We Bangaloreans know that and we cant deny that as we are already experiencing the effects. After all trees that are mute can be felled but the effects will be way too loud for us!
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Electing a change!
It’s that time of the year which comes after every five years – sometimes earlier though – its election time. We are getting bombarded from all directions for one thing that is good – to exercise the right to vote and the other that is not so good - hearing our politicians roaring all over, going ga-ga over their not-so-visible achievements. May it be television, newspapers or road-side hoardings – they are there everywhere like weeds in an abandoned garden.
So how do we contribute to elections – the obvious answer is by voting! I still remember the carefree days of childhood when elections meant a lot of movies along with the election bulletins – just covering the counting of votes and announcing of results.
Yes we need to vote undoubtedly – after all we are a part of educated India – so we need to at the very least vote-for if not get voted-by! How we have to be reminded to exercise our duties (infact it's a right!) while the onus on us is far more than that. But we are too lazy or say just ignorant of the change we should be bringing. Or are we Indians averse of taking risks? I don't think it falls in the class of being lazy – it’s being cautious probably. Cautious of what we might land into if try to bring about a change – if we try making people hear us – because we are not sure of the people who will be listening to us.
So, the question is do we know if we as people are listening to the right people? Do we have the correct choice to choose from? Or is it that ‘if not this one then that one’. Of course, we can always complain that we don't have good leadership we can rely on. But what did we do the past five years – we were so busy either earning money or paying taxes or going through the daily grind of traffic/road congestions/rising prices/loan interests/sky-rocketing school fees/melting economy to top it all. So the past five years just flew by and we never gave even a slightest thought if we can bring about a change! And because the five years just went by – we are not sure of the upcoming five years. Voting is no doubt the thing to do – but does it end here? Just by voting we may not ‘ensure’ a difference – as we are the elite educated India – and obviously elite means less in number.
So how do we contribute to elections – the obvious answer is by voting! I still remember the carefree days of childhood when elections meant a lot of movies along with the election bulletins – just covering the counting of votes and announcing of results.
Yes we need to vote undoubtedly – after all we are a part of educated India – so we need to at the very least vote-for if not get voted-by! How we have to be reminded to exercise our duties (infact it's a right!) while the onus on us is far more than that. But we are too lazy or say just ignorant of the change we should be bringing. Or are we Indians averse of taking risks? I don't think it falls in the class of being lazy – it’s being cautious probably. Cautious of what we might land into if try to bring about a change – if we try making people hear us – because we are not sure of the people who will be listening to us.
So, the question is do we know if we as people are listening to the right people? Do we have the correct choice to choose from? Or is it that ‘if not this one then that one’. Of course, we can always complain that we don't have good leadership we can rely on. But what did we do the past five years – we were so busy either earning money or paying taxes or going through the daily grind of traffic/road congestions/rising prices/loan interests/sky-rocketing school fees/melting economy to top it all. So the past five years just flew by and we never gave even a slightest thought if we can bring about a change! And because the five years just went by – we are not sure of the upcoming five years. Voting is no doubt the thing to do – but does it end here? Just by voting we may not ‘ensure’ a difference – as we are the elite educated India – and obviously elite means less in number.
Thursday, January 1, 2009
A New Year
It’s just a matter of a second passing by…and it's a whole new year to welcome. Goodbyes and cheers all in one chorus…crackers for some and a noisy sleepless night for others. Dividing time in past and future…good-riddens for some and sweet memories for others. The welcome song is sung and we greet the coming year more than any other guest – the changed date might bring in changed times for us all. ‘Change in anticipation’ is always thought as towards the better. It's a new calendar, a new date and a new list of holidays…
We have been forced to move a few steps backward while we step into this new year. After nearly a decade of merry making, using without thinking and touching new heights…we have finally realized “slow and steady wins the race” and that we need to preserve our fuel for long races. Our fuel – may it be the fuel in literal sense or energy from various resources in the more abstract one.
“SAVE” – that's the ‘saving mantra’.
Save ourselves, our resources and our nation…it’s that simple if we have the wish to…
We have been forced to move a few steps backward while we step into this new year. After nearly a decade of merry making, using without thinking and touching new heights…we have finally realized “slow and steady wins the race” and that we need to preserve our fuel for long races. Our fuel – may it be the fuel in literal sense or energy from various resources in the more abstract one.
“SAVE” – that's the ‘saving mantra’.
Save ourselves, our resources and our nation…it’s that simple if we have the wish to…
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