Welcome to parenthood!

It is a magical feeling!  I was watching a sitcom the other day and what one of the characters says made amazing sense to me - 'everything in life becomes very clear when you hold the hand of a baby and look at its face'. True, even the worst of situations seems passable when you look into your baby's eyes and see him beam back at you. So, here are some of the things I realised after becoming a parent.

- sleep is not a necessity, it is a luxury you can have when your baby has it.
- you can be a complete loser to some people but to your baby you are the hero
- you know the complete meaning of responsibility only when you are a parent. Not because you have to keep them from doing bad things but because you have to be able to live upto the image your baby will have of you
- trust doesn't need words to express. You can see it in the tiniest gestures of your baby. One thing that always moves me is how my baby lights up when he sees me.
- it is OK to make mistakes. No matter how you screw up, your baby rewards you with a magical smile
- it is incorrect when people say you get to be a kid only once. I have seen my parents proving it wrong when they play with my son
- there is wonder in everything in the world, we take a lot for granted. Look at the world from a baby's eyes, you'll see
- contrary to the popular belief, you notice things about your partner more when you become a parent because you try to associate them with your child
- planning is fun
- it becomes easier to pose for photos because the love for your child becomes apparent
- you think of things you probably thought were obvious. Like for example how does a goat sound?  :)
- respect for your parents increases by leaps and bounds
- you find something to laugh about even in the most inane things like poo in your hand
- your observation power increases immensely
- essentially your point of view changes because you have to look everything from how your baby might be perceiving it. For a stubborn person like me, it is a novel thing but well learnt.

I haven't numbered the above list because I am only a four month old parent.. Looking forward to a life long roller coaster ride with our little one!!

Aamchi Mumbai!

Mumbai - the city where dreams come true! I have lived in this happening city, breathed in the air of nonchalance, took in the scent of hardwork, experienced the camarederie of the local folk for a couple of years. I never thought I would love a city as much as Hyderabad but Mumbai comes a close second.
It is the spirit of the city that draws you in. You feel it in everything you do. There is some nonchalance to your lifestyle in a foreign city anyway. But Mumbai draws out hitherto unexplored interests in you. There are so many things to explore that you can hardly stay put on a weekend. Couple that with wonderful company (I met one of my besties in Mumbai) and your sense of adventure, well you have a deadly combination there.
The city is a house to a melange of cultures and it celebrates them with a lot of pomp and gaeity. The city flaunts temples, cultural centres celebrating dying arts, concrete wonder malls, clubs celebrating the spirit of sport and the list goes on.  
You never run out of options when it comes to food because restaurants are open till wee hours of the morning something that I miss after coming back to Hyderabad.
Mumbai is by far the safest city I have stayed in judging by the fact that I used to go for midnight rides/walks with my friends without a second thought. You almost wish it was like that everywhere.
For a city that has its people thinking of an alternative lifestyle during the rainy season, it is unusually perky. The spirit which I speak of is bare-naked in the monsoon - no one stops. In such a compelling environment, the last trace of laziness is wiped out. You are ALWAYS on the move.
No wonder the Mumbaikers are such an active lot. For those of you who haven't been on a Mumbai metro, whats written in books about it being a second home to a lot of Mumbaikers is not an exaggeration. You HAVE to ride the Mumbai metro to know what it is like to live a lifetime in a ride of forty minutes.

The city that never sleeps; a land of opportunity; a place where dreams come true...Aamchi Mumbai indeed.

A final tribute...

Death - it has a finality to it. In the past two months I have lost two people in my life. The after events  could not have been more different.

If there is one thing that is sadder than death, it is an end not mourned for. It makes me realize that one of the most primal feelings that a human can undergo - love - is also a two-way feeling. In what way does that make us superior? It is easy to care for someone who is nice to everyone because you are just reciprocating the gesture. But, caring for someone otherwise - not for what they are to you but for what they stand for - is something that sets you apart.

I remember her as a person who was never happy. How is that possible? She had to endure a relationship in which she was thrust into at a very tender age which festered a lustful dislike towards life itself. Outright hatred is always better than ignoring a person because that shows that you have SOME feeling towards the person. She was lost in the sea of people who not only ignored her but also never tried to understand why she behaved the way she did. Maybe all she needed was a thoughtful gesture once in a while, a kind voice or sometimes a listening ear. But being cast into the typical role of a stepmother - which to everyone's acceptance she played very well - she could not be perceived anything but that. As Ra puts it, she probably always felt like an outsider and sadly she dint leave anyone of her own behind.

So, yesterday when I saw the drama unfolding in front of my eyes, I could not help getting away from it all.  A 5 minute wail from a sister who refused to take care of her in her last stages - was that all her life was worth? People unabashedly discussing mundane matters in life just hours into her death, somehow all this was adding insult to the injury. No matter who she was and what she did or did not do, she deserved respect.

I will always remember her fondly as a someone who always asked me if I wanted a cuppa coffee. As someone who demanded a saree whenever I got a raise. As someone who was always there for every occasion in the family. As the only grandma I ever knew.

Will miss her! 

Man of Steel(?)

How can anyone make super man look super boring??? But "Man of Steel" did it! Even Russell Crowe couldn't save the film! Half of the movie I was wondering when will the actual action start? And start it did in the second half and lasted as much - a few seconds. All in all a very poorly made "Super-hero" film with no power or punch - err pun intended :)
PS: I actually dragged three of my friends to the movie and dint hear the end of it for a week!

Innocents and Wordkeepers...

"The Sea of innocence" is a moderately good read...The writing style in itself is not so commanding as the atrocities that are portrayed in the book...Goa- for many still remains as an elusive picture of a paradise lost has in fact a darker and murkier side to it...The story speaks of a middle-aged investigator who gets pulled into the case of a missing 16 year old by her ex-boyfriend of a cop...The things that the girl had to experience at sweet 16 leaves a bitter taste in the reader's mouth...

The narrative is far too predictable and the characterization is pretty weak..I mean you can't just tap into a drug-mafia and come out unscathed...Still, the story of the missing girl keeps you hooked onto the book to know whether she is still alive or not , if not for anything else...While the atrocities are unbelievably true, the characters could've been given some more meat to make the investigation and the conversations believable...

All in all, even though the book was not very well written, "The Sea of innocence" captures you with a temporary spell and leaves you heavy hearted imagining the kind of law-less, corrupt and incorrigible society we live in...


Speaking of Society, I also had the chance of reading another surprisingly well written book - "The Wordkeepers"...Keeping up with the recent trend of bringing mythological characters to life, "The wordkeepers" is the first of a triology that speaks of the last avatar of Vishnu and the Kali Yug...Although not a believer of Kalki, I fell for the book - hook, line and sinker...

There are places where you can make out the nascency of the author (this after all is her first book) but the overall narrative is riveting...Can't wait for the next book!

Of words and oleanders!

Just now finished a couple of beautiful books and my journey which started in Nazi Germany has now ended up in the crowded streets of Kolkatta...

I am so happy reading some meaningful books after the sorry excuse for a book - "Revolution 2020"...It was like cleansing myself raw after a long week of selling fish...

"The book thief" from which the phrase word shaker is borrowed is a beautiful, lyrical narration of the magnificence of human nature...It is amazing the depths to which people go to uphold the honor of their word...It is true sometimes, the worst of the situations brings out the best in people...It is heart wrenching to see the love story unfold amidst the uncertainty that Nazi Germany brought about to the millions of people who were neutral to the anti-Semitic movement....But most of all my favourite character of the book was the fair skinned Jesse Owens...One kiss that's all he asked for...*sigh*...

Then there was this sudden jolt and I woke up in a royal mansion in which the oleander girl is dealing with her uncertainties of impending nuptials and the incompleteness that has filled her life....I usually shy away from the works of Indian authors for the simple fact that almost all of them revolve around the intricate web of emotions that every Indian faces...My simple explanation is I have enough of that in my everyday life, I don't need to delve into someones else's to understand that...But surprisingly and refreshingly "The Oleander girl" takes me with her in search of her identity...The book is very well written without the usual mushiness and has strong characters that hold the fort on their own..Now that I reflect, I guess I liked the book so much because every character in the book is unabashedly themselves without any pretense...All in all a good read...

I have a stack of books waiting for me and cant wait to start them! Till then ciao!

Conversations...

I've always been in a dilemma as to whether to confront someone with something or to let it go simply because you know that it doesn't change anything. As one of my dear friends says I have always been kind of a pushover- a passive person. But dint mind it so much until lately I realized how important it is to actually communicate rather than just letting it go to avoid a confrontation.Conversations left unfinished remain stories entangled and be sure they will come back to haunt you. At some point in your life you will sit and reflect as to how things would've turned out if only you had spoken your mind. Can't change what has happened,have no regrets either. But here's to a new beginning and hopefully a better one...