My Experiments with Time

It was her fifth birthday, and mine too, as a mother. The motherhood journey has been nothing short of an exciting package deal, which throws up surprises and shocks alike. But I have only emerged wiser and happier after each experience. When you have a pair of eyes watching you all the time, a pair of ears listening to every word you utter, and a little clone who is ready to do anything you do, you'll learn not to mess around but behave yourself; and to the best of your abilities. Motherhood is a special experience (I'm sure fatherhood is too!), we all know it all too well because we have seen and heard this all our lives from Bollywood to Kollywood, to M or T or Whatsoever-wood. I'm not gifted though like the Bollywood mothers; I don't seem to sense the special breeze when my daughter's van reaches home. Nevertheless, any mother will tell you its a life changing experience, where you learn to live a more meaningful life, just so you set an example to your little

I was reading an article written by an economy-expert-cum- friend on where to invest. The article, a pure economic outlook concluded with a food for thought, 'Should we not be investing in relationships, feelings and friendships.' That was truly the takeaway for me from this article. We all read and listen to umpteen talks on where to invest, where not to invest, and when, how, why, why not, which, whom, whose etc. Now that's a lot of interrogatives (Remember Wren and Martin's English grammar lessons!); but that's what the media is all about. They want to answer all the questions that the nation wants to know. Clearly the tangibles are taken care of by the media. Now the Intangibles I'm referring to are not investments in tax havens and Swiss accounts. I am talking about intangibles that are truly invaluable like time spent for loved ones,  treasured friendships, kind gestures, humble deeds and social responsibilities, and emotional accomplishments in the for

Disclaimer : All characters in this blog may have names similar to real life characters, but their characteristics are purely fictional. Any resemblance is coincidental and unintentional. I was busy with the usual routines at night before putting my little one to sleep. If you lived in Chennai, and specially during the rains, you would be familiar with the mosquito bat exercise, which was my last ritual before putting my kid to sleep. Just then my 5 yr old came in and asked what I was doing. 'I was finishing the mosquitoes' I told her. "But Mamma, grandpa said not to kill any living things, how can you be so cruel to kill those tiny mosquitoes. And what if you kill the baby mosquito by mistake, God will punish you. " My face went white. I had no answers. She was waiting for a justification, and I didn't have an immediate convincing answer that would also retain the values she had learnt from grandpa. "I'll tell you the story behind why we can kill onl

The word 'Doordarshan or DD’ will no doubt strike a chord with the 80s and 90s kids. Doordarshan was not just a television channel, it was an inextricable part of our childhood. Of late, I have fond memories of the once most-hated channel. I was watching a recent video where a 90s kid, now a stand up comedian, narrated interesting facts about his DD memories. It's amazing how much most of us remember of what we saw years back. Unlike today, we were not spoilt for choices. To explain in the modern lexicology, we had the DD 1, the primary national channel which was the basic template with an extraordinary ringtone and screensaver. I bet most of you are reciting the DD signature tune by now. Not to forget the melodious ' Mile Sur mera tumhara' which really gave goosebumps and instilled the spirit of unity in diversity. And the alternative entertainment channel DD Metro, the secondary channel that sought to add a little spice to compete with the new private TV channels, b

It was a Saturday morning on a hot summer May day in Chennai. I picked up my cup of tea and Robin Sharma 's The 5 AM Club to fill my solitary morning moments. The idea behind buying this book was to inculcate the habit of early rising and to achieve the benefits asserted. It says' Own your morning, elevate your life'. Thankfully the election drama had died out and peace was restored at home. I had a tough week, alternatively listening to Arnab on Republic TV and Budh and Badri on Discovery kids, both equally annoying throughout the day. I settled into the brown chair in the balcony with my book, wishing I had a cozy sofa instead. But nay, this was no time to read; it was time for a long-due randezvous with nature. I stared at the skyline, the far away hills and the match box- sized buildings. They all looked like a high school project model. The irony of life is that all seemingly big things look miniscule if looked from a different perspective. I could see Lillip

It was a humid Thursday morning. I stood at the metro station staring at the back of the missed train. It was one of those self realisation moments, when you miss your train and the true meaning of minutes and seconds dawns upon you. If I had skipped the article on Ranveer-Deepika over breakfast, I would have probably made it. Now it was time for some morning gyan. I sat on the shining steel chair, and scrolled through the notifications and alerts on my mobile. I had reached a point of saturation where best buy suggestions from Amazon, reminders on Facebook, Gaana, WhatsApp were swiped off screen in one stroke. I was not going to fall for these. Yeh dil maange more!! A blog was long overdue now, but my brain was preoccupied with other things. I stared at the winding tracks, when a gush of wind blew through my hair. A shining metallic object (not sure if its steel or aluminium) came to a sudden halt on the other track. I was awed at the beauty of its exterior. The colourf

I read an interesting article written by a woman, in the same lines as the thoughts that were running in my mind. She spoke of the insecurity in the minds of men today about the women who surround their lives. The fear among some men about their genuine words, actions and gestures that may be misunderstood or misinterpreted as harassment. So today's blog is dedicated to the men who sincerely feel and treat women as equals. (I know this comes as a shocker to those of you who call me a feminist!!) When I look around and open my eyes, what I see is that there is an equal or proportionate number of women (as men) everywhere, going to work, running a trade etc. This would not have been possible, but for the men in their families. When I see fathers and grandfathers taking care of kids in parks, while their mother's away at work, I can't help acknowledging that times have changed. The TV ads that depict men changing diapers for babies and husbands clearing dishes from t

The place was eerie quiet. I put my mobile on silent mode and looked up at the wall, there were beautiful faces with Closeup smiles, Colgate white teeth and a lot of quotable wordings about the need for a perfect smile and bright white teeth. There was a long list which looked something like this: Porcelain veneer Ceramic crowns Zirconia CROWNS... ('I couldn't register the other fancy names') For a moment I wondered if I had wrongly entered an antique store, while I was supposed to accompany my dad to the dentist. But wait, no I was at the right place. Until then, I thought dentistry was itself a medical specialisation. But I was proved wrong, there was a list of specialities in dentistry like orthodontist, paedodontist, endodontist, prosthodontist, maxillogacial surgeon! (This time I was wise enough to take a picture of the list). I was reminded of my 11th Standard English teacher. Had she seen this list, she could easily make a note for our challenging daily

Nine years ago, I wrote my first blog titled 'Alma Mater'. It was an accidental attempt at blogging, stimulated by an absent minded humming of my school song during the wee hours of the day. Today after so many years, this one comes as a sequel to the first blog, this time stimulated by a visit to my alma mater. I owe it to my school for this one too, apart from the many many other things. It was January 26th, the 70th Republic day celebrations were going on in full swing all over the country. I was excited for two simple reasons, one that it was a holiday and two because it was Alumni meet at school and I was going back after almost 15 years, and that too with my little daughter. She was equally excited, as was visible from her actions, she seemed to be on a trampoline all day. 'How will your school look like? Does your class have small tables and chairs? Does it have a play area? Do you have a ma'm? Will she scold me if I talk to you?' There was no time

It was 3pm, the final mail regarding ‘the Run’ had just popped up. Like any other major event in the company, there was a mail from the Admin stating bus timings for pick up from Kancheepuram to Chennai. Boarding at 1.30 AM! I pitied the ones who would board the bus at 1.30 am to start the run around 5.30 am. The Chennai Marathon was the most talked about event at office for the past few months. Training had started almost four months earlier. The trainer could easily win the award for ‘the most pronounced female name’ of the quarter, thanks to my good friend whose day would never pass by without once thinking of the trainer. The Marathon was close to my heart (or rather head!), not because I was passionate about running, but because I was releasing the PRs. I felt proud to be part of an organization that took health and fitness so seriously as to sponsor the registration fees, training for runners and arranging transportation. The energy and spirit of the health freaks at office w