My Experiments with Time

"She is as happy-as-a-lark", I told my friend who enquired about how my daughter was coping with the lockdown woes. "What do you mean by lark, Mamma?" "Lark is a bird, baby". "Oh I didn't see that in my Birds book. How does it look? What colour is it? Is it big like vulture or small like sparrow? And why is it happy, like me!" Now that was like a surprise Biology test. I had no clue what a lark looked like; lucky me I remembered it was a bird. "Let me finish this call and I'll show you how the lark looks and answer all your questions." I bought some time to update myself, thanking Google God for the umpteenth time. Imagine if Google did not exist, where would I find answers to all these questions, and my daughter would easily think I was so dumb. We found basic details about the lark, and took a look at the pictures too. A drawing of lark was added to her daily sketch book. I told her that the lark, like her...

It's Week 4 of Work from home (WFH). I'm now senior to most of my friends who are about a week old at WFH. I also had the advantage of preparing myself (only partially though!) for this contingency, as it was self- imposed unlike most others. In March, I started on my venture after quitting a full time job, with the primary objective of doing something worthwhile without having to go to office every day. It started off well, with a proper plan of working 10 to 3, with umpteen unconditional breaks. But the thought that the credit to bank account will happen, only if I really do something brought me back to my seat. I had set up a table and chair in the least distracting room, which had the luxury of a fan, a window-side seat and chargers. I read blogs written by several startup founders who claimed they started in a garage or store room. I took breaks to attend to chores and when my daughter came home from school, and she bestowed kisses upon me for my presence. It was ...

Exactly a year ago, I had one item added to my Bucket list. Today I'm proud to tick it off my list. My earlier blog "The Run" was about a dream, and this one "The Walk" is about that dream coming true. For the past few months I had been silently cherishing and nourishing my dream of taking part in the Chennai Marathon. The seeds had been sown last year, and friends were nurturing through words of motivation. But my excuses of getting home late and fear of hurting the already damaged knee took over the desire to run.  A week ago I got an offer to run in the place of a friend who had injured her leg. I accepted the offer, but was not quiet sure I would make it. I was no athlete, nor did I have any desire to run. But I wanted to experience being part of such a major event, the second largest Marathon in the country that witnessed well over 10000 people running or walking.  On D day, I was wide awake waiting for the alarm. I kissed my little champion, who had gone...

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...