There are some of my elderly relatives, supposedly my distant grandmas, in India, whom I would meet once in a while, on some occasions. They would make me sit by their side and talk about something, which eventually would take them through their memory lane and continue telling me their flashback. The first time I would listen to every bit of it with utmost interest, but my next meets with them would make me listen to the same stories again and again, as though the flashback was that of my own. Yet, I would sit and listen to them, like my favorite song replayed umpteen times. It gave me a weird satisfaction as though I achieved something.
To my disappointment, two among these people hardly recognized me on my last visit. They are dementia patients.
I somehow feel good for having listened to them, then. I am guilt free that I dint avoid them or make them feel like they were boring.
Thursday, September 4, 2014
Monday, September 1, 2014
one minute friends
On a crosswalk I met this Indian girl..
Indian girl: are you from India?
Me: yes! (With a smile) which place are you from?
Indian girl: Hyderabad.
Me: me too (smiles)
30 sec passed...
Indian girl: how long has it been since you are here?
Me: a year and a half. What do you do?
Indian girl: I finished bachelors in dentistry in India, i came here with my uncle three months back and now I am doing an internship here.
30 sec passed..
We crossed the road and posted or ways.
Few days later coincidentally we meet the same way.. On the crosswalk, I was late for my bus and she was late to her clinic. 45 sec we knew each others fav. Restaurant in Folsom, my career goals, her career goals. It's was funny that we spoke so much in one m minute, and yet don't know each others names
Indian girl: are you from India?
Me: yes! (With a smile) which place are you from?
Indian girl: Hyderabad.
Me: me too (smiles)
30 sec passed...
Indian girl: how long has it been since you are here?
Me: a year and a half. What do you do?
Indian girl: I finished bachelors in dentistry in India, i came here with my uncle three months back and now I am doing an internship here.
30 sec passed..
We crossed the road and posted or ways.
Few days later coincidentally we meet the same way.. On the crosswalk, I was late for my bus and she was late to her clinic. 45 sec we knew each others fav. Restaurant in Folsom, my career goals, her career goals. It's was funny that we spoke so much in one m minute, and yet don't know each others names
Wednesday, August 20, 2014
year long craving, not yet satisfied! :(
Since my first experience of the Sacramento's scorching heat, I have always longed for anything cool.. Like my hubby, the cool guy around me ;) taking showers for an hour or more (it's only on peak summer days i stop being a water conservationist) Smoothies, cold coffee, ice tea and of course sharbats like roohafza or the rose syrup coolers. And yet I haven't quenched my thirst which is beyond just the taste because I have lately been craving for one such sharbat that I tasted almost 10-15 years back and which still remains one of my favorite (Ok may be that's an exaggeration that a person might consider something favorite by just experiencing it once in life) but right now my craving being at its high, has made me go to all the Indian and middle Eastern stores around in search of it. But all in vain :(
Of course I did try the online store where their shipping charges is five times the price of the product. Looking at which I tell myself "No! Do be a despo. Control your cravings, you don't have to waste your buck on one bottle rather than buying the shock enough for a lifetime to enjoy"
And I'm here still craving for this long forgotten taste of the green sharbat made from vetiver roots -khus syrup
Guys, if you know where I can get this amazingly good product to quench my year long thirst, I would be grateful and would also share its refreshing recipes with you. Please, please help me!!!
Of course I did try the online store where their shipping charges is five times the price of the product. Looking at which I tell myself "No! Do be a despo. Control your cravings, you don't have to waste your buck on one bottle rather than buying the shock enough for a lifetime to enjoy"
And I'm here still craving for this long forgotten taste of the green sharbat made from vetiver roots -khus syrup
Guys, if you know where I can get this amazingly good product to quench my year long thirst, I would be grateful and would also share its refreshing recipes with you. Please, please help me!!!
Friday, August 15, 2014
What do you do for your country?
I am quite impressed by India's new PM's agenda through his independence day speech. May be we can look forward to a positive 'corruption-free' development for the next few years under the new govt. here are the highlight of Mr. Narendra modi's speech.
What caught my attention most was his talk about the issues of rape, development of villages for the over-all country's development,integrating the poorest of the poor with bank accounts and also giving an insurance through debit cards for upto 1 lakh rupees.
"I want to ask every mother and father, you ask your daughters 'where are you going, who are you going with'. But do you ever ask your sons these questions? After all, those who rape are also someone's son."
True, when we talk about rape our heads do hang in shame. I totally agree with what Mr. PM said. But In this case I would even blame the girls who are also responsible for such a situation to arise. Not just that, one should be educated about sex - the good and bad about it from the age the individual reaches his/her puberty, or may be even younger. But one thing i notice in most Indian families is, there is always an embarrassment among the family members to even a mere utterance of the S word, which i feel would also lead a young adult to this situation of confusion on what is right and what is wrong. It might also be a struggle between his/her animal instincts and morality. Moreover, as far as my knowledge goes, only from the colonial era, many of these sexual liberalism (so many of the ancient sculptures show only nudity) in India got stigmatized later to a better establishment or rather colonization of the Indian minds with European values
Making the long story short, i would say, parents/guardians or any elders in the family should also take responsibility in talking about issues like child abuse, sexual abuse and rape seriously to their children.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVDAuevGq98
"If we want to develop India, we need to develop villages."
Having a goal of developing at least five villages by every Member of Parliament, by the end of five years is a big deal. It would be amazing if they do succeed. It all sounds good to the ears of every citizen, but are we all doing our bit of work to improve our society? Every individual's mentality is such that when there is a change in the govt., they will wait for a year and see if there are any good changes made by the govt. if they aren't the blame the govt., and even if there is a slightest change, they wouldn't be satisfied. People should realize one thing 'Rome was never built in one day'. In this case may be we can substitute it with "the Taj Mahal' ;)
Every individual should take responsibility in doing atleast one or two of the following thing a day to the society, it would not just give a personal satisfaction but also, others will see and learn from us.
What caught my attention most was his talk about the issues of rape, development of villages for the over-all country's development,integrating the poorest of the poor with bank accounts and also giving an insurance through debit cards for upto 1 lakh rupees.
"I want to ask every mother and father, you ask your daughters 'where are you going, who are you going with'. But do you ever ask your sons these questions? After all, those who rape are also someone's son."
True, when we talk about rape our heads do hang in shame. I totally agree with what Mr. PM said. But In this case I would even blame the girls who are also responsible for such a situation to arise. Not just that, one should be educated about sex - the good and bad about it from the age the individual reaches his/her puberty, or may be even younger. But one thing i notice in most Indian families is, there is always an embarrassment among the family members to even a mere utterance of the S word, which i feel would also lead a young adult to this situation of confusion on what is right and what is wrong. It might also be a struggle between his/her animal instincts and morality. Moreover, as far as my knowledge goes, only from the colonial era, many of these sexual liberalism (so many of the ancient sculptures show only nudity) in India got stigmatized later to a better establishment or rather colonization of the Indian minds with European values
Making the long story short, i would say, parents/guardians or any elders in the family should also take responsibility in talking about issues like child abuse, sexual abuse and rape seriously to their children.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVDAuevGq98
"If we want to develop India, we need to develop villages."
Having a goal of developing at least five villages by every Member of Parliament, by the end of five years is a big deal. It would be amazing if they do succeed. It all sounds good to the ears of every citizen, but are we all doing our bit of work to improve our society? Every individual's mentality is such that when there is a change in the govt., they will wait for a year and see if there are any good changes made by the govt. if they aren't the blame the govt., and even if there is a slightest change, they wouldn't be satisfied. People should realize one thing 'Rome was never built in one day'. In this case may be we can substitute it with "the Taj Mahal' ;)
Every individual should take responsibility in doing atleast one or two of the following thing a day to the society, it would not just give a personal satisfaction but also, others will see and learn from us.
- Not littering; throwing any waste fallen around, into the dustbin. http://www.theuglyindian.com/
- obeying the traffic rules, not jumping signals, make way for emergency vehicles. It makes a BIG difference. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZ1hCZtZyes
- Learn to live life selfless and trustworthy. I'm not say, you should donate all your earnings or property to some random person, but when you see some one in need, please help, may be not money, at least by uttering few kind words. You never know, someday a mere stranger you'd helped long time back,may return your favour. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N47HULidOY0
- report any kind of violence seen or experienced. ignorance will only aggravate the problem.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWouX49lGiw , https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=541868952609495&set=vb.426895610773497&type=2&theater , https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=540462819416775&set=vb.426895610773497&type=2&theater
Easier said than done, but we should at least not do bad, if we cannot do any good to the society or people.
Hoping for a better India. Jai hind!
Monday, July 28, 2014
My Pet Plant? !! :P
I have always had a close connection with dogs, and have always had one as a pet from my childhood. Even now in my parents place in India, they have a Labrador named snoopy, the youngest and the most adorable family member.
But since i have relocated to the US two years back, i have never thought of having a pet here, for certain reasons. But I have started gaining interest in gardening, which is a common one for both, my husband and me.
Though we live in an apartment, we managed to grow a couple of ornamental plants, and just started trying our luck in growing some veggies and herbs, out of which the Curry leaf plant is doing the best,having survived the winter last year. Usually the summers and winters go by almost 10 degrees higher in Sacramento when compared to the weather in the bay area. This amazed many of our friends who have been unsuccessful in growing the same and hence we were also motivated to take extra care of the plant.
Now, the plant has grown double its height from what it was in January.
My husband would even go and check on the curry leaf plant everyday before he goes to work. And everyday I just go and stand in the patio admiring the plant closely for sometime. My mom and dad, would even ask me to show the plant on the Skype calls I have with them every week, for seeing how big its grown. I know this must sound weird, but this plant has also become a common topic to discuss with my loved ones. My silently growing, green pet :)
But since i have relocated to the US two years back, i have never thought of having a pet here, for certain reasons. But I have started gaining interest in gardening, which is a common one for both, my husband and me.
Though we live in an apartment, we managed to grow a couple of ornamental plants, and just started trying our luck in growing some veggies and herbs, out of which the Curry leaf plant is doing the best,having survived the winter last year. Usually the summers and winters go by almost 10 degrees higher in Sacramento when compared to the weather in the bay area. This amazed many of our friends who have been unsuccessful in growing the same and hence we were also motivated to take extra care of the plant.
Now, the plant has grown double its height from what it was in January.
My husband would even go and check on the curry leaf plant everyday before he goes to work. And everyday I just go and stand in the patio admiring the plant closely for sometime. My mom and dad, would even ask me to show the plant on the Skype calls I have with them every week, for seeing how big its grown. I know this must sound weird, but this plant has also become a common topic to discuss with my loved ones. My silently growing, green pet :)
Saturday, July 26, 2014
cynicism everywhere
Unfortunately, I see the world is full of cynicism! :(
Not just a stranger, but even a close family member or a close friend can be very cynical.
I am not a very out spoken person who would talk openly about a lot of things, but now that I am married I try to open up conversations with this new family and the relatives. Having had a chat with distant relative in my new family few weeks back, the call ended up making me sad in some way. Though the conversation was mostly the general, how are you? What are you doing? And stuff like that, having remembered this last talk about her husband who doesn't help her around in the house hold chors, I asked her in a jovial way if her husband has started helping her (not minding her husband who was also a participant in this conversation) now that she is carrying a big bump. She shunned my question in such a way making me feel shameful for asking the question. Eventually she abruptly cut the call while i was going to say something.
There were some strangers disguised as friends who had made me feel bad before, but this was the worst i have come across with a family member. I feel very insecure to talk freely to some of these people who have become my relatives
Not just a stranger, but even a close family member or a close friend can be very cynical.
I am not a very out spoken person who would talk openly about a lot of things, but now that I am married I try to open up conversations with this new family and the relatives. Having had a chat with distant relative in my new family few weeks back, the call ended up making me sad in some way. Though the conversation was mostly the general, how are you? What are you doing? And stuff like that, having remembered this last talk about her husband who doesn't help her around in the house hold chors, I asked her in a jovial way if her husband has started helping her (not minding her husband who was also a participant in this conversation) now that she is carrying a big bump. She shunned my question in such a way making me feel shameful for asking the question. Eventually she abruptly cut the call while i was going to say something.
There were some strangers disguised as friends who had made me feel bad before, but this was the worst i have come across with a family member. I feel very insecure to talk freely to some of these people who have become my relatives
Friday, July 25, 2014
curious minds leads to redesigning and engineering!
Unlike the cats, being curious, i think, is the last thing that can kill us, humans.
My li'l cousin became fidgety with the new toy he got, may be just five minutes back. He, not listening to his grandma's advice of not breaking that, my cousin continued doing his job and finally tried splitting his new toy into as many pieces as possible (of course he din't break anything). My brother and I kept watching the fun, apart from hearing to the grandma complain to us, not to buy him new toys. My brother remarked, this is the way one can redesign things and develop the interest for engineering new things. Eventually, this little boy tried fixing this toy back to its form. Indeed he did it. This amazed all of us, and so did my brother's remark.
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