My Experiments with Time

Yet another New Year is just a week away and I can feel the vibe all around. Like all others, I am excited too; anxious to know what lies in store for me in the new year, what I would achieve, what dreams would come true and where I would be exactly one year from now. December is a month that is close to my heart, as is the case with most of you. It marks the beginning of an end, and signifies a lot of things that we all adore - celebrations, vacations, shopping season, winter and much more. It is that part of the year when the whole world is all set to celebrate and welcome the New Year. It is also that time of the year to retrospect and plan for the New Year. I have always wondered if we are more excited about the New Year that is coming or the year that has just passed, because sadly all the ‘New Year’ excitement seems to die out once the year begins. I guess the reason is that like all other things, it ceases to be ‘new‘, just a week after it began.   That reminds me that l

Celebrating 3 years today-- You came into my life as a surprise gift and have stayed with me every single day… Sweetly waking me up every day and putting me to sleep with your sweet music… You are the first one I reach out to, be it in joy or in pain… You bring me closer to my loved ones… You are a store of good old memories and continue to charm me… You have always given me your best though I have let you down many a times; you are still one of the best assets of my life… How I panic when you are out of reach for a few minutes! My dear Sony Ericsson Aino, how I wish you knew you are more than just a mobile to me!

What do you call someone who helps you connect with your friends and family anytime you want, without expecting anything in return from you? An acquaintance? A friend? More than a friend? Let’s call them FFL (Friends for life), until you choose not to be friends anymore. ‘FFL’, that’s the way they will love it, in bits and bytes. They are always there at your beck and call; ready to take whatever you feed them with and give you whatever you ask for, if within their means. All you need is an internet connection, which is as essential to our life these days as oxygen. Don’t be surprised when I tell you that most of us have them as common friends (or mutual friends). If you still haven’t guessed, let me disclose their names; ‘Yahoo’,’Google’,’Facebook’,’Youtube’,’Linkedin’,……and so on. Twitter is still a stranger to me.  Yahoo, Google and Facebook are my best friends. Youtube and Linkedin used to be good friends, but not anymore. The dislike for Youtube erupted when I realized my

This note is dedicated to all Dominicans- teachers and students. “For in every adult there dwells the child that was, and in every child there lies the adult that will be” said John Connolly in "The Book of Lost things" .  Each one of us has a child within us. As we grow up, we lose much of our innocence and naughtiness, leaving back traces that shows up once in a while. With every growing year, we carry with us memories of our childhood, which is undeniably the most carefree part of our life. Think of your childhood days; and I’m certain it will bring a smile on your lips or a tear in your eyes. We were happier as children as we found joy in little things. Gone are the days when the sight of a butterfly, a new movie on television, the idea of a picnic, a rain holiday, a new dress, a chocolate or a small gift would make our day. All we had to worry about were the exams and surprise class tests and record books to be completed. Today is children’s day, and it n

The alarm sounded unusually at 3.45 on Monday morning; and as usual I continued sleeping while my over-anxious husband woke up just to make sure I was out of bed. I managed to lazily creep out of bed at 4 am, obviously cursing for the nth time the mastermind behind the early morning plan.  For the first time in my life, I was in my kitchen even before dawn making idli-chutney as we didn’t expect to find any good hotels enroute the Oman-Dubai border. Making idli had never been such a mammoth task. Like a bird in the wall clock, my husband kept reminding me that we would be late if I didn’t rush. We had promised to join our friend and family at their place at 5 am, and I knew right away that it was mission impossible. We finally managed to push through and reached our car at 5.10, only to find that we had missed one precious bag that contained the passport and resident cards. My superstitious husband was annoyed at having to return when we were about to go on a long journey; and appare

I recently realized, rather shamefully and sadly that the art of hand-writing is nearing extinction. I belong to the generation that proudly quit hand-writing at the time of exit from college, thanks to the advent of computers and mobile phones. Since then my fingers have enjoyed the luxury of just choosing from the many keys on electronic devices. With the exception of a few documents that require my signature, I have seldom picked the pen to write. I call it an art because good hand-writing is not something that comes easily to all of us. I remember the days when teachers used to pick out the answer sheets of students with neat hand-writing and exhibit them in class. Occasionally I have enjoyed the privilege myself, though not always, as my hand-writing goes from good to bad and bad to worse towards the end of the exam.  My sister still treasures the answer sheet in which her teacher had marveled at her neat hand-writing . May be she will have to frame it for the benefit of fut

The largest democracy in the world,.. That is how the country and the leaders boast of themselves! But do we understand the true meaning of democracy? The term is derived from the Greek word ‘ demokratia’ meaning ‘rule of the people’ . But in our country the people play a role only during the election campaigns and while casting their votes, thereafter they are forgotten, until the next elections. The so-called leaders of the nation seem to know what their people need and when these needs have to be met. They treat the country like a natural mine which is so rich in resources, the only change is in the political party that mines it. I wonder what will be the plight when the mine is completely depleted! India is a rich country, which is evident from the umpteem scams that are being exposed each day. The Prime Minister was so right when he said there is no magic wand to end corruption in the country, but are we asking him to put an end to it overnight? As citizens of the largest

After almost a month of repetitive packing, travelling and unpacking, I have finally settled in my new abode. Now that it’s been a week of staring at the ceiling and appreciating the craftsmanship of the person who designed the lights and door handles in my flat, I ponder over the many things that happened during the past two months. As I have anyway decided to run a flash back, let me go deeper into the whirls of flashback like in old Indian movies!……. It’s November of 2009 and my wedding has been fixed to ‘the NRI from Dubai’. Till then Dubai was just another country in the ‘Gelf’ that I get to hear a lot on my vacations to Kerala. As a kid I had always thought that as a rule, at least one person in each Malayali family had to be in ‘Gelf’. Suddenly Dubai became the most important word in my life with anyone and everyone I came across talking only about Dubai. From the aunty next door to the CEO of Saint Gobain, everyone had their comments to offer on Dubai. ‘How do you feel abo

I would say it is another of those “ Days ” which holds very little relevance in our country. Corporates and institutions celebrate the day with competitions and parties for their female employees, women who consider themselves free and independent may indulge in partying too to celebrate womanhood. But can you actually look around and swear that India is a safe country for women? I quote Jawaharlal Nehru who said you can tell the condition of a nation by looking at the status of its women. If that is the case, India is in a very sad state. I don’t deny that a large percentage of women have actually achieved economic and social independence over these years, and most of you women reading this note belong to that fortunate category. I am not writing here about the unfortunate unborn females or the illiterate women in our villages or the many other injustices that are meted out to women. I write here about an issue that concerns all women, for the simple reason that you are one.

As I step out of my house, I find that there is a festive mood all around and I am flooded with offers wherever I go, be it a hotel or a department store. There are heart-shaped cushions and balloons, all in red hanging everywhere, and I realize the Valentine’s Season has begun. I wouldn’t call it Valentine’s Day, it’s rather the Valentine’s Season, as the preparations for the D day begin almost as soon as the New Year celebrations die out. Valentine’s Day means a lot; I mean it means different things to different people. If you are to classify people on what Valentine’s Day means to them, here is what it will look like. To some it is a very Special day; the day that symbolizes love, the auspicious day to propose to their loved one(s!), a reason to hang-out with their sweethearts and shower gifts. To yet others who are fond of surprises, it is another day to express their love in the form of gifts and cards. To some, it is just another day in their life. Either because they lo

“May we seek truth to find God in all we do and reach out in love to everyone in need,..” I was surprised when I realized what I was humming in the early hours of the day. I was busy packing lunch for my husband and it was only when I reached the school motto “Towards Charity by Truth” that I realized I was absent-mindedly humming my school song. I am sure all Dominicans who happen to read this would have started humming it too, to check how much they remember of the song we used to sing so often. I am indeed proud that I could sing it till the very last word, though I find it difficult to recall the definition of “market” which I have been memorizing sincerely every term since 11 th Std. This brought me memories of the good old days of school and morning assembly. It fills me with nostalgia as I remember how we used to run towards the assembly ground as the bell goes at 8.30 am, making sure we carry our song books along. I can still recall the day when I had left my song book at