Wintry Winters..........

As a bright sunny day comes to an end and the weather department predicting rains tomorrow and for the upcoming days, i am kinda getting mixed feelings. Winters are all over. A brief stroll to the nearby mall has given me a perfect image that people have indeed pulled out all their wollens and are happily flaunting. The chill in the evening air has added more spirit to wearing those vibrant colors.

Winter season has always fascinated me. I remember my childhood days when my mother used to lovingly make those dishes which she found it difficult to make on summer days. The colorful veggies, the rolls, the deep fried stuff which i still savor and pine for. This particular season always holds a soft corner in my heart which is inexplicable. Sitting on a chair on a bright sunny winter day and peeling and sharing oranges with family is one such memory which is very close to my heart. The family get togethers comprising of family and close relatives, the occasional picnics, the elders of the family playing cards or debating over any current topic, and the kids creating hullabaloo running across are a part of those treasured memories. These are not the sole reasons for my eternal love for this season. There is always a strange magnetism between me and this season.

Lot of people do not appreciate winters. The trees wear a barren look. Your skin feels all the more stretched out and applying layers of moisturizing creams doesn't seem to help either.They coax this weather for curtailing their trips, heightening their allergies, inability to move freely minus any woolens and....and...and...You know it better than me. A kid recently said she hates winters because she has to wake early, wear those blazers and go to school. Well, i second her that in this regard. But all of us have been through these and we all want them to go through the same because until you go through austere circumstances you cannot be strong. If that little kid goes through these lines the next time she would think twice before saying that sweet 'hello' to me.

Well, much to your pleasure or displeasure this season of this year is here and we have to live our lives through this. Even if you have to go back to your old boring office/school/college or are excited about joining a new venture do not forget to wrap yourself properly before the winters hit you hard...Enjoy!!!!!

Welcome Home Maa

Hurray...As Goddess Durga embarks on her short sojourn for her paternal home, her devotees all over the world are busy preparing for her short stay. Durga/Sati/Jaya/Bhavaani/Bhavya call her by any name but she is popularly known as 'Maa' to everyone. She is the ultimate power, the destroyer of sin and abettor of morality. In Sanskrit the name 'Durga' means 'the invincible' and she exemplifies power, strength, morality and protection. Hence Durga stands as a symbol of all the divine forces and she protects her children form all the negative aspects of life.

As a mother's love for her child is lucid, serene similarly Maa Durga loves all her children and protects them from adversities. As per mythology Goddess Durga is the epitome of energy, force, power and she was created to demolish a demon 'Mahishasura'. Upon conquering the demon she is also known as 'Mahishasurmardini'. Goddess Durga has hundred and eight names and her children can call her by any name, but perhaps 'Maa' is the easiest word for any child to address their mother.

It is also believed that the Goddess comes to her paternal home for three days along with her four children. Her home coming is celebration for her children who wait all throughout the year for her arrival. Celebration begin pretty much in advance. People buy new clothes, exchange gifts worship her for three days and forgetting all sorrows of life, immerse themselves in the three day long celebration. It's that time of the year when people try to forgive each other and worship the power. The fourth day is painful for her children as she leaves for her home which is believed to be 'Kailash'. With tears in eyes her children appeal and pray to her to take away all the evils along with her and leave peace behind. Another year of anticipation begins for her children before they can welcome her again on this earth.

Be a part of this stupendous celebration. Feel the divine power. For those people who are away form their homes, always remeber that you are away from your home and not from 'Maa". She is omnipresent.May Maa Durga bestow you and your family with peace, love and happiness always...Amen!!!!!

Pangs of Separation

A friend of mine's world recently came crashing when her husband declared that he wanted a divorce form her. This came after a few cases of altercation between them even though she emphatically says that nothing major has happened between them. The couple is blessed with a two and half year old son and this unwanted decision came in the wake of their child's upcoming birthday. Initially my friend persuaded to amicably sort out their differences and even wondered if infidelity could be the cause but her thoughts were proven wrong. This wasn't a case of infidelity.

While many women in the world everyday live with the constant fear of infidelity, and in many cases they are they are true yet a larger community of women can hardly suspect their husbands. We all want 'our' lives and in the clash of a couple its the poor child who bears the brunt. As a corollary to this harsh truth the child often grows up neglecting or disparaging the institution of marriage. The tender mind of a child needs to be shaped with love and respect so that he too can give the same.In my friend's case the child may be too small to annotate his chaotic surrounding yet he deserves the love of both his mother and father.

There are perhaps many children who grow up in a tormented home, dividing their time between their parents. As a reparation to the lost time both the parent and the child want to enjoy every minute of their allotted time. Isn't it a bit unfair on the child's part who deserves all the time and love of his both the parents? Ahh, now you will tell me about your difference of opinion, tales of misunderstanding, career choices, different lifestyle, suspected stories or infidelity. Even though it becomes increasingly difficult to live with your partner who has cheated on you, yet the preferences of a child cannot be put on back burner. A couple makes a home and child completes a family, so how can the interest of a child be neglected when the home comes in a dilapidated state.

My friend's plight has certainly moved and forced me to think about her predicament and my mind is boggling with lots of questions. My heart goes out for her toddler and wish i could provide my shoulder to my friend...My request to all the couples who are considering this austere decision in their lives to contemplate about their children's interest. Join me in my prayer to God to grant my friend and many such couple who are facing this situation, the patience to walk through this crisis of her life....Amen!!!!!!

Flower Power

As snappy breeze is flowing across my window where i have cuddled up in a chair, the laptop is all the more extending its warmth. It's been a mixed day and strangely i haven't spoken to anyone in the last couple of hours. Too many ideas are getting clogged so thought of channelizing my ideas and energy into something constructive. You may wonder what? I knew!!!!

Women mostly love flowers and i am no exception. So i decided to visit the local florists to check the stock. The mesmerizing fragrances and the blooming flowers caught my imagination. To me perhaps every flower was saying a story. The delicate petals, the velvety roses the soft and supple carnations, orchids and what not. For a few moments i got lost in my virtual paradise...

The weather outside is changing. Leaves are about to fall. In a few days from now the strong winds will ruthlessly wither all the leaves from the tree giving it a barren look. Everything will wear a plastic look and then perhaps flowers will will be the savior to cheer us....My mind was constantly fiddling with the flowers until i decided to buy a bunch of roses and an assorted bouquet. Without a word i paid for my purchases since the lady at the counter too did not utter a single word. As i walked towards my home, i tried hard to protect my tender flowers so that the winds do not rob the delicacy of my pretty flowers.

My next task was to arrange these flowers. What better way to spend my time. I tried a lot of styles as per my mood swings but none could appeal my senses. I let me imagination rule my mind and after a lot of dabbling completed my task. Well this wasn't certainly the first time that i bought flowers, but yes it was the very first time that i made a bouquet of my own rather than just placing the flowers in the vase. I know you might say, this isn't a herculean task but for an amateur it surely is.

Well my job didn't end here. I thought of exercising my photography skills (which according to my husband is nebulous) as a testimony of my hard work. If you ask me about job satisfaction it certainly relaxed my nerves. In life sometimes doing something just to maintain equanimity of life soothes our mind and senses. Trust me!!!!

Janmasthami....

We all have probably heard about 'Janmasthami' which is widely celebrated in India. 'Janmastami' which is also commonly know as 'Krishnasthami', 'Gokulasthami', 'Sri Krishna Jayanti' and many such names. Its is said in Hindu scriptures that Lord Krishna has one hundred and eight names hence he is known by various names and so is his festival.

Janmasthami marks the birth of Lord Krishna who is said to be another form of Lord Vishnu, at midnight. According to Hindu mythology Lord Krishna was born to Princess Devaki and her husband Vasudeva but grew up at his foster parents Yasoda and Nanda's house. The birth of Lord Krishna marks the end of evil who exclusively took birth to end the evil reign of his maternal uncle and to free the people from his evil deeds. Hence till to date people observe 'Janmasthami' with great pompous.

In India this festival is almost celebrated at all the parts of the country. The people in Mumbai observe the 'Dahi Handi' with great fervor. The people of Mathura and Vrindavan too celebrate with pomp and splendor.

People observe fast on this day and offer their prayers to the lord. Various vegetarian delicacies are prepared and offered to the Almighty. The basic message of all the festivals is to spread love among mankind. Let us all be patient and compassionate towards to each other and let love and forgiveness rule our heats.

Happy Janmasthami to all...........

Maturity

While surfing the internet (which today for us is as normal as eating & sleeping) i came across an article which discussed in length about how mature women tend to behave. Well, it surely left me baffled as to how we change with time, environment and circumstances. I know you will say its obvious. Considering my age may be i found it a bit harsh to accept the comparison that some mature women are like books who need not be read but are like thought which can only be thought about.

The comparison between a man and a woman has been going on from the time immemorial. Now that when both the genders have started going to the moon we have become conscious of the fact that we equally need to respect each other. Respect comes naturally with age and deeds and in this regard maturity grows. Now how do we define a matured women? My answer cannot be a representative of the entire female clan but surely a certain percentage will surely agree with my views.

Maturity comes with handling situations, complications and the various predicaments of life. Problems are brain teasers which leaves us flummoxed and emotionally drained at times. But a mature handling helps us to ease our problems and gain a new perspective which seems invisible while in the midst of problems. At times problems are like quagmire where we easily slip into but a mature thinking can steer us away from drowning. To me maturity is handling your in laws tacitly, lovingly convincing your child to eat what he/she hates the most, assuring your self that you can lose your weight when you know its a Herculean task or keep on smiling even when you are in deep pain. Situations always helps us to grow. A teenager can be far matured than a lady in her late twenties. So depending upon circumstances and person to person can m,aturity be understood not by notion or judgment.

May be my perspective fails to refute you, but then at the end of the day these are my words, my thoughts which i just wanted to share with you. Your thoughts are welcome as well.... Cheers!!!

Web-tangle....

Hello there, off late lots of things in life have been keeping me hooked to the extent that i do not find time to visit my neighbors. Strange, ehhh!!! I know and if by chance you are a warm friendly candid person reading these lines i bet you wont have many good things to say about me. (Chuckles!!!) Such is the tenacity of the web world which almost keeps me glued to the extent that at times i miss my favorite serials which i myself find unbelievable...

Of course, my mother never fails to warn me about the damage that its gonna cause to my already poor eyesight but only to be followed by tumultuous discussion. The web world is such a huge platform where perhaps we all try to rediscover ourselves be it through the social sites where we discover our long lost friends, or floating our resume, portfolios, playing numerous games, blaring our opinion on any issue and what not. Irrespective of all the above mentioned good things, at times we fall prey to this world as well. We are cheated, fooled by fraudulent means and then perhaps we start cursing as to why this invention was made.

I know a lot of people will have their stories to share about how they were tricked to provide their personal details only to regret later. The irritating pop ups at each one of our screens at times deviates our minds from our works thus stepping towards the uncharted territory. Now you will tell me that there are ways to block those pop ups, but please spare a thought for those old aged people who use computers and internet to pay their bills which they find hard to pay standing in the queue or for playing some games. I recently came across an old man who otherwise looked sensible enough to handle internet and computers but made some unintentional error of entering his credit card number at some unreliable site only to receive a long receipt at his home after a few days for the purchase which he wasn't aware. Fortunately for him there were mentors who took some appropriate actions to stop further purchases.

We all have heard these stories from friend's friend or some one further than that, besides, reading about them in the newspaper & of course in the internet, yet at times we tend to get inadvertent.

As George Berkeley said, "It is natural for careless writers to run into faults they never think of". So my friend, look before you leap....