Rambling on... again..

Recently as a part of Women's Day celebrations in office, we were asked to think and share about our biggest challenges we face in our lives currently. It struck me very strongly that a lot of the women were struggling with the whole work-life balance aspect in life. I truly caught myself thinking why's this such a big deal - felt truly snobbish for a short moment and then sent up a very very thankful thought to heavens above that i could afford to think like this. In my almost 21 years of working, I have gone through my own phases of - Work is life - Work takes away from life - Work comes in the way of life and then kind of settled at - Work is a part of life My life journey i guess was determined more by the way i used my work to get what i wanted out of life - rather than being a mute spectator of life because work was so overwhelming. This of course is different for everyone just simply because all our life journeys are different. But i do want to share my lear...

What makes a house into a home… Personal pictures on the walls? Self-chosen bedsheets on the beds? Nameplate on the door? Ever since we shifted into our own place 4 months back, this question or rather self-test has been on my mind. It’s like some part of me has been watching out for the moment when I start calling it my home. More than calling – catch the moment it starts feeling like home. From what I observed – I went through some stages in my ‘settling in’ -  Initial couple of months were the most disorienting. From turning towards the older home to not knowing who I would find in the house working on some small niggles. It felt like I was living in a space that was mine on paper but maybe a pit stop till we shifted into ‘our’ own space later. Like a waiting room of sorts. Lots of sentences were concluded with – “when we settle down finally”  By the time the labour finally left us alone, it was already 2 months since shifting into the house. By now we kind ...

Mere pyaare Cheeku, Another year has flown by and we have created so many memories together!! Hopefully now you are old enough to remember some of them yourself. What a year we’ve had together… Your Scottish experience has taken firm roots, you’re such a teachers’ pet in all spheres (its quite funny to watch btw), you talk dime to a dozen – sometimes even making sense (!!), you’re such a fabulous traveller too and above all else – you’re a very very sweet and nice boy. I am sooooo relieved to see you turn out like this. I don’t know if I would have been able to manage if you were a snooty brat or a dumb sissy! Sorry to be biased – but I am certainly a satisfied mom. Maybe even a bit proud – ok ok… a whole lot of proud mom J I was thinking about what all I wanted to write in this letter for you this year… in fact various themes have been running around my head for the last couple of months now. But in the end – like always – I decided I shall write what comes to me in a f...

I remember asking my husband what two values he wants to see our son portray as an adult which will make him think that he’s done a good job as a parent. He had said – Hardworking and honest. My two values had been – Caring and respectful. It had really gladdened my heart that as parents we were thinking of similar direction of values for our son. Hopefully this will over the years translate into becoming a similar set of inputs and encouragement that he gets from us both. This was some 4 years ago I think. Sometime last year while reading an article on yet another case of teen suicide, it struck me to re-visit our wishlist. Maybe its not enough for him to be honest and caring. Maybe he needs to learn empathy instead. What about developing a calm nature? Are any of these values going to be enough to ensure that he at least understands the repurcussions of his actions before taking them? This is how I concluded that more than anything else – my task as a mother is to ensure I ...

Having grown up in a fairly financially-constrained environment, this topic seems like a total case of wishful thinking. But its not! Seriously. Truthfully. Painfully. What are these problems you ask? Well they range from how to invest the money you earn to what to buy as a gift for friends and family. Let me attempt to explain these. Investing your surplus earnings is a normal and natural cycle in life for most Indians. Where this enters the problem zone is when you’ve built a decent base in MFs, have a property and own the jewellery you would like to wear. After this, what to do with the extra salary every month is a VERY painful decision to go through. Before this, there are simple goals to aim for. But what when your goals have been achieved and you’re not willing to expand your lifestyle just to accommodate the surplus. Happened to me a few years ago – when I paid off the loan against the property investment I had made. I remember asking a friend of mine – extremely s...

कहने को सब कुछ है और है भी सही फिर क्यो लगता है की कुछ है नही जैसे कटरा कटरा में है मेरी ज़िंदगी और कर रही हूँ मैं किसी की बंदगी   मॅन करता है कही डोर चली जाऊं शायद तब दिल की गहराई में सुकून पायूं पर दर्र लगता है चले जाने में कही खो ना डू सब सुकून के पाने में   ख़ालीपन दिल का अटूट सा एक हिस्सा है   शायद ये बेकरारी का ही बस किस्सा है बँधे बँधे से लगते हैं क्यो ये दिन जैसे अपने बारे में सोचना हो एक ‘ सीन ’   खुला आसमान , खुले दिल , खुला दिमाग़ प्यार का जज़्बा और कुछ पाने की आग कुछ प्यारे लोग और कुछ प्यारे पल आज में हो जीना और उमीद में हो कल   सोच शायद बहुत छोटी सी रह गयी ज़िंदगी बस गिरह गिरह में बात गयी कैसे कहूँ की मुझसे प्यार करो मेरी टुकड़े में बटी ज़िंदगी को एकसार करो   कह कर ...

"Any man can be a father.. It takes a special man to be a DAD" Even though he's not on FB to see this - and this is something i swore i would never do - I still want to today. The man who was born in the British rule, saw the Indian flag raised for the first time at the Red Fort - today turns 80! He has remained madly passionate about cricket, politics and being an entrepreneur all his life. His favorite quote in life i remember used to be - Whats worth doing, is worth doing well. He taught me Passion.  He is such an avid foodie that he pushed all of us to learn to cook and try out different kinds of food from a very young age - I learnt how to make Chinese food before learning daal chawal! He taught me experimentation .  He used to make all the kids eat up whatever was served for food on the table. No excuses. Gulp it down with water if needed. Cannot be choosy. He in fact remains a terror to most of our extended family. But he never cared for his image. He taugh...