tell me your dreams

We are the best!

2011-07-31T21:48:00.000-07:00

Yet again I found the bucket in the backyard, the maid forgot to put it back in my bathroom after washing the clothes. While I could not help getting irritated I also realised there was no point in getting irked over the same everything everyday. You need to just live with it!

There are list of such things which irritate you or are to your dislike and yet you cannot do anything about it as they are bound to happen everyday. It is interesting to go through the daily list of such things :) In a regular day I live with-

1. Missing out on having a relaxed morning tea as some or the chore stands waiting

2. My hubby leaving the bathroom lights on

3. Dishes half laid on the table for lunch

4. The car not cleaned from inside

etc...etc...

Well the point is that there are so many nitty gritties in our everyday lives and its so amazing how women manage everything and that too so well! Men will surely be in for a disaster if women go on a strike! What will they do if they have bathed and find there towel is missing, they sit to have breakfast and see that its not served, they sit in their office and recall that the morning medicine was not taken...

We work, we care, we love, we give and yet we make all efforts to stay fit, dress up well and look good!

Yes we women are the winners all the way :)

Shalu's fantasies

2011-04-23T10:08:00.000-07:00

Nidhi was playing with her 3 year old son and waiting impatiently for her maid. It was her husband’s birthday and a lot of cooking was yet to be done before guests arrived for dinner. The door bell rang and Shalu walked in. Nidhi noticed her dark lipstick, dangling earrings and new salwar kameez. “Anything special?”, enquired Nidhi. Shalu smiled and replied, “No you have guest coming , so I thought I should dress up for the occasion!” She laughed and went in to the kitchen.
At night Nidhi told her husband of how fashion consciousness and an urge to be at par with the world had penetrated even in lower middle class. Her husband was in agreement. As kids we never saw children of the house helps getting any education and today every person be it a daily wage labourer ensures that his child goes to school. It is a different matter what quality of education is received to these children or whether they work and earn for the family post school. Yet it is reflects the positive development of the community to seek education and hence seek a better life.
Nidhi started noticing that the maid tried to ape her in every possible way be it dresses, jewellary or make up, needless to mention the numerous phone calls she got. Shalu got increasingly difficult to cope with. She asserted that she could not cook any more as it hindered her evening “freaking out”. She kept demanding for increase in wage and Nidhi kept succumbing to her as she could not manage her little one and the household alone.
One fine day Shalu turned up and announced that she was leaving for “Dilli” with an acquaintance. She was extremely excited about her new life waiting for her- the big city, the lavish life, the salary etc. Nidhi let her go with a heavy heart but had no other option. With passage of time a new maid arrived. However Nidhi always thought of Shalu and wondered how she was doing.
The new maid one day brought news which almost choked Nidhi. Shalu was no more…………
The news was heavily reported in the media. She was yet another victim of trafficking from poor performing states like Jharkhand and Orissa. Abused, tortured and exploited on a regular basis the girl was made to work long hours. One day her owner beat her up on the pretext that “she had not worked enough for the day”. The beating was so severe that Shalu succumbed to her injuries. Today her parents can do nothing but lament her death.
The issue is not as simple as the want of a teenage girl to live a good life and experience all the joys that any well to do girl does. It is far more complicated which has led to a vicious cycle of such instances in the country. The poor states having very little to offer coupled with the big money and false promises are able to lure parents who send away their little children to far off cities from where they are never able to come back. Many work as bonded labours. The Government is struggling to handle the situation and yet finds itself ill equipped. The department of labour conducts raids and rescues these children but have no facilities of keeping these children in transit homes of their own. In many cases they have to let go of these children who ultimately return back to their employers and all the effort goes in vain.
It is time when we open our eyes and report any suspected cases of abuse and torture of house helps. In fact a recent survey has reported maximum cases of child labour in the form of domestic servants and we can make our contribution by reporting such cases.
Lets pray for justice to Moin, a 10 year old who was beaten up to death by his employer recently in New Delhi at a bidi factory…..

Girls this is for u!

2011-04-02T02:20:00.000-07:00

Today being the world cup finals and seeing the excitement all around I wished to invite all my friends over and enjoy the match over snacks and drinks. This made me think that how lucky I am to have so many good pals when the world today lives behind closed doors..... have been working with this NGO for the past 5 years. Have made several friends all these years but the “girl gang” that we have here today is the best part about working together under roof. I call it a “girl gang” though 70 percent of us are above 30 and married with kids! Our enthusiasm and flair for fun makes us as young as a 20 year old college girl :) When I had joined CINI, there was a group of young girls freshly passed out from TISS and XISS and I had come back home from Delhi after working with Centre for Science and Environment (CSE). At CSE I had made friends for a life time and am still very much in touch with them and never lose an opportunity to meet them. Back in Ranchi I was not expecting the kind of crowd I actually across in my new office. Ranchi had also changed a lot (see my post- The changing face of Ranchi) and by the way Ranchi has come a step further from the time this post was written with a Five Star Hotel (Raddisson), a 4 star, International food fests, Dominos, the National Games complex, a new mall with 3 screen multiplex, 2 exclusive outlets of Satya Paul and many more… Well I love to see my town progressing! Coming back to the point…so I was having a nice time in my new office at Ranchi with the girls, shopping at Delhi and Bangalore and organising trainings at resorts in Puri. Then there was a lag phase, the girls left, I got married and then pregnant, and then my little one came like a spark in my life. As he grew up gradually changes kept happening on the office front with new people coming in and many leaving (we have a very high turn over rate). None of the new faces were exciting (specially the men!) and then like luck would have it suddenly the office was bubbling with girls! They were from Bangalore, Kolkata, Ranchi itself and from varied backgrounds with strong qualifications (Cornell & Columbia alumnus too :)). As we got to know each other better we found that we may not have much in common yet we all gelled along very well. Then came this idea to us that we should get together beyond office and have fun (of course getting out kids with us). Since then we periodically try and break the monotony in life with our outings and get togethers. Everyone in the gang has her own specialty from good cooks, to bakers, to homemakers, to singers, to number queens, to community workers and yes all of us are good dancers :) This girl gang too is destined to split some day, the process has already begun but I also know for sure that we will always be in touch and good friends. Isn’t it girls?

We human beings

2011-02-18T01:21:00.000-08:00

Human mind is the most complicated of all. Had heard this but now as years are passing by and the mind is gaining �maturity that comes with experience� this fact has been vindicated by so many real life examples! I have also realised that females are much more complicated than men (sorry girls!!).
This is probably because of the social structure which permits men more space and freedom of speech as well as actions. A woman has to curb her thoughts and this suppression further leads to resentment, envy and negative thoughts. The best part is that its mostly a fellow woman who is responsible for curbing another woman�s thoughts!!
Getting to the point, there have been certain instances which makes one wonder why? I know of a female who is seemingly normal, pretty, has a good career and family life and yet there is something about her which makes me always think that she is not normal! I remember when I was going around with my current hubby and he had bought a bike. We used to go on his bike for long rides. Isn�t this something normal? Now what is abnormal is that this girl I mentioned started dating a guy and then came one day to specially mention that she went on a bike ride with her sweetheart and that the whole world was looking at them and marvelling at the perfectness of their togetherness and how happening they looked in the bike.
Another incident- while talking to a friend I happened to ask about A and B who were ex-colleagues and were about to marry. The friend said they never married. A had got arrested at the wedding venue as a girl landed up with the police and accused A of using her sexually in the pretext of marrying her. Today B lives a life of seclusion while A walks free. Today when I think of A I can never get myself to imagine he was capable of doing something so horrible. What kind of a living being would be that? Definitely not human!
Another one- this dear friend of mine sent across her pics from a wedding. She was looking just perfect, saree, jewellery everything and that too sans make up! Another girl C told her that she was looking okay and that her saree was outdated. Again one fine day C called my friend to ask where had she bought her jewellery from. My friend didn�t give any details and said that all her stuff is outdated, so don�t bother! And then here it comes.....a posting of pics that show similar saree and jewellery and an email of self praise to my fnd describing how C had stolen the show! Isn�t that weird? Would any normal person ever do something like that? Self praise and declarations of a happening life are only indicative of something more complicated and fake. Alas the world today is full of such people and their lives ROCK (though I am not sure how much is the reality)!

online shopping?

2010-09-07T08:42:00.000-07:00

I might sound outdated but a few days back i "introduced" myself to the world of online "window" shopping as I never trusted or cared about what was making it such a big thing today. A friend of mine sent me a link www.fashionandyou.com. I was getting worked up with a project proposal and thought of unwinding briefly with this link (as there was no friend online to chat with and no interesting updates on FB!). The site was interesting with a lot to offer specially all the stuff thats not available in a small town ranging from designer perfumes to fake jewellary to western wear to lovely phulkari duppatas...
Chatting with my best friend I asked her if these sites were safe and whether its okay to shop online. She being a part of this communications business and being very well versed with the advantages and risks recommended to go ahead. She also suggested many new links like www.99label.com and burntsienna (the latter has lovely silver jewellary which are not available in my city at all).

I finally decided to buy some cosmetics from one of the sites but I dont know what went wrong with the payment gateway, it simply vanished after I hit the pay tab! My transaction was not approved. Then a few days later I tried buying books from flipkart and besides numerous attempts my transactions always ended with error messages. I have been browsing and window shopping but nothing has actually moved from the wishlist to my wardrobe! I wonder if my location has something to do with it or may be its some server issues. However I must say that I am amazed at the deals offered online and at the ease with which one can access all the stuff in the world with the click of a mouse!
Its really fun to be shopping sitting on my bed, doesnt exhaust me at all :) yet I wonder when my wishlist will turn in to real stuff that I can actually use.

A hilarious encounter

2010-08-20T02:49:00.000-07:00

The other day I had a meeting with a very senior IAS Officer at his office in one of the departments of Government of Jharkhand. He wanted to the review the project for which I had been a short term consultant. He asked me and the nodal officer for project to wait outside for 5 minutes. That was when his PA “introduced” us to him as he has been newly appointed. The PA asked whether we had been asked to wait for 5 mins. and added that "you wont be called before an hour." He gave us a lot of extra information alongside like there has been no work happening since this IAS has joined and that he is an embarrassment as he does not take phone calls even of senior officials.
Everytime the man inside rang his buzzer we thought we would be called in and after a long wait we were finally called. As I entered I saw a man buried between loads of files and writing on a green note (government office speciality!) in a particular fashion with his fingers twisted at a certain angle. So horrible was the hand writing that even doctors would take pride on their handwriting. We were asked to sit and we waited in his cabin for another half an hour. It was in this half an hour period that I noted all the peculiar actions of that man and battled with myself to control my laughter. He gulped glasses of water in one go and then picked one phone after the another to fire someone or the other and the receiver somehow always refused to sit at the right place! At one point of time he got up and pulled his trousers up along with himself almost up to his chest (a la Boman Irani from 3 idiots)!
He suddenly looked at us and asked if I was the consultant named so and so. I said yes sir and then he was back in to his files. He tore off several pages from some of them and deposited them under his table. He shouted at his typist for poor Hindi language skills and then suddenly asked us, “yes tell me what is your business here.” Taken aback I wanted to tell him at that moment that its you wanted to have a review! However, I had to refrain from opening my mouth while the nodal officer took out another ragged file which was our project file. The IAS officer pulled out an ancient diary in which he had scribbled 1000s of numbers in his ugly handwriting and asked us for contact details of the project donors.
Then he perused the file and folded some pages to be photo copied for him. He then shifted his attention to me and asked where was I working since my consultancy period had expired. I gave him all the details. He then declared that the meeting was over (and so was the review!!!!).
I turned towards the door and he asked me to stop and interviewed me on my education, work experience and family background. He noted my number and asked me to leave. I was greeted by the PA outside who quickly asked me if I had been asked for my mobile number and provided free advise that I should now keep my cell switched off at all points of time (whatever it implied)!

a quick update

2010-08-04T08:17:00.000-07:00

I am back after a rejuvenating trip to Delhi. It was official work mixed with some unwinding (and of course loads of shopping!). Got to meet friends who are more than just friends and the best people I have ever met. The biggest surprise package was my ex-roomie landing up in Delhi at the same time for office work. Our get together needs special mention because it happened after a number of "adventures" like changing of the venue at the last hour and me not knowing about it!, standing in queue for getting entry in to the mall (ever heard that before? i hadnt!), escalators not working, lifts taking ages but finally we got together and I m sure all of us cherish every moment of it. This time our kids were with us and they enjoyed too!

Back in Ranchi my deputation to the government has ended and I am back to CINI. The biggest learning is the apparant difference in working with a good NGO and the government, the former being enthusiastic over every encouragement recieved from the latter while the latter waiting for the former to make things move for them!

my love

2010-06-24T07:33:00.000-07:00

Being a mother is one of the biggest gift God has entitled a woman to.

This is something that had heard and read several times but never related to it till today. Being "mamma" of a 2.7 yrs old is definately more fulfilling than anything else in the world! The little soul makes you feel so special (and he enters the room while I blog :)).

The first words uttered every morning is mi mi, mi mi which means mamma I am awake, come and hug me :) and noone can bathe and feed my little one besides mi mi. He proudly perches himself next to the driver's seat in mamma's car wearing his sun glasses and raising his head slightly with loads of attitude. The best part is the way he greets me when I am back home after work. That look on his face, the glitter of his eyes and the hug he gives me rejuvenates me totally.

Now I know how important a child is to his mother and vice versa.. and that the labour pain, sleepless nights, weakness and exhaustion all hold no place in my memories today.

Let me also take this opportunity to share what my little one is up to these days. He observes and records all minute details of things and people around him and in case he "misses out" on any piece of information or does not understand something he will quickly shoot a precise question and the resultant information will be stored forever with an "ooh"!

The latest joke in this context is - Ansh went visiting his Nani. He asked her to play a bike and sat on her back. Poor Nani after sometime gave up and said "Nani is tired now. All petrol is finished!" and the grandson quickly retorted waving at someone "500 ka petrol dena...NORMAL"!!!!

kids of 21st Century eh!

Babus rule!

2010-05-22T22:44:00.000-07:00

This is not about the Bihari Babu or the Bengali Babu but our very own babus who rule our government offices - the sarkari babus. Noone can ever win a prize for locating a sarkari babu in a crowd.
Now that I am a part of the system (though temporarily) I am getting a "hands on" experience of why things move at a slow pace. While corresponding to a donor agency is as simple as clicking the send button on your email, its not easy when you are a part of the system. On one hand the funding agency is always in a hurry and on the other the sarkari babu is just not able to move! You can very well imagine the state of someone sandwiched between a donor agency and the "system". The letter that you could simply send through the "send button" still follows the centuries old route of sitting in files and moving from table to table till the issue dies its own death! An example is a letter sent by my funding agency on May 5 and reaching me on May 22! So even if you are prompt and sincere and particular about meeting deadlines you are "not required" to the same under the "system".
The babus "work" from monday to saturday (a day extra as compared to any NGO or corporate) yet things are the same from monday to saturday. Its not that all babus are the same. There are many who actually work and are prompt but are marred by the weight of files and number of portfolios they are supposed to handle.
The bottom line is that before talking about globalisation the government should go back to the office where it sits and globalises it first cum first! Some of basic capacity building issues are:
Computer skills, introduction to the world of internet and email, introduction to the choice of language be it hindi or english and last but not the least, some sense of "fashion" and "whats in". Now the last one is tooo much to ask for yet we can try for the best!
God bless the system!

Menacing with mosquitoes?

2010-04-10T08:41:00.000-07:00

This is about a hoard of unwanted intruders who are found everywhere in my household! They are in the bed room, they are in the kitchen, they are in the verandah, they are in the living room and most importantly they are the bathroom too. No amount of baygon, HIT or any other pesticide is of any help. They seem to be increasing in numbers everyday to the extent that a late evening chit chat in the lawn becomes a dancing session trying to avert the irritants. You cannot concentrate on anything but the head of the person you are talking to over which hover hundreds of them. Well someone told me that these dancing mosquitoes in groups don’t cause malaria as they are all males trying to attract the female anopheles. Don’t know about the anopheles but that dance definitely causes the worst form of distraction to me.

They gaze at you while you lie inside your mosquito net reminding you of what could have been your state had this wall of net not been there. One or two of them manage to get in once the lights go off. Suddenly you are awakened by the most annoying song on earth, a humming sound which is enough to drive you crazy when you are in a “half alive state”. This annoyance turns to anger in my case when I realise that the creature has bitten my little son and I turn on the lights and don’t go back to sleep till I “hunt it down”.
Surprisingly every morning all of them are found sitting on the nets, installed on the windows to keep them off, trying to find a way out. Guess they prefer a morning walk and outing in the day only to return back and transform our evenings in to hell. A few days back a brilliant idea struck my brain. The window nets were sprayed with ample amounts of Baygon and wow every morning I found all of them dead on my window. I know this sounds bizarre as marvelling at a mass murder is not acceptable but this is being done for the safety and well being of family and guests. However they still keep coming and coming and coming, hundreds and thousands of them. I get bewildered when I see some people carry on with their work undeterred in a crowd of mosquitoes. They can even sleep in their presence and I cannot even slice a lemon! I don’t know what stuff these people are made of.
There is an urgent need to do something about these unruly creatures as no research has been able to produce a fool proof solution against them. I often get to read sentences like this - Of the 5 million confirmed cases of malaria reported each year from countries outside Africa, nearly 3 million are from India and Pakistan. There are so many huge programmes to combat this disease like the WHO’s Roll Back Malaria programme. I don’t know how successful these are but my life has definitely been made difficult with the mosquito menace

For now, I have already smashed atleast 6 or 7 of these menacing creatures while writing this up! God Help Us!

long weekend?

2010-04-01T02:15:00.000-07:00

Long weekend with no exciting plans.... well this can be very very detrimental to mental health specially of a woman who works 9 to 5 and does monotonous and tiring household chores the entire week! Me being one of these "women" is deperately planning to avoid a bad mood swing.

The first good news at this end was a call from a friend who has come visiting Ranchi from Hyderabad. So that will mean a few hours of nice chill out. This is what I am envisaging and hopefully it will be executed as desired. Another day might be spent at a movie hall watching "any god damn movie"just to spend the day differently. Now you must be wondering whats wrong with me. Why is this such a big issue? So let me clarify, hubby dear does not subscribe to my idea of entertainment and would prefer watching TV or a nice nap any day. So I make these individual plans to break the monotony of life.

But on the third day hubby dear's nap or TV is surely to be sacrificed for another outing and that too at his expense! He being a lawyer has been warned of keeping divorce papers ready if the third day is not executed as per instructions! lol.....

There is another proposition that gives me some excitement and its called cooking. So a delicious spread of chole bhature has been planned and hope fully will be executed well.

So here is my list for the long weekend -

1. Freaking out with a friend

2. Watching movie

3. Freaking out with hubby

4. Cooking

Shall get back on Monday on my report on this check list! Till then enjoy the weekend everyone and pray for my mental health!!! lol..

Earth Hour?

2010-03-28T22:26:00.000-07:00

Earth Hour, the WWF initiative is indeed laudable and innovative. However I dont know how many of us switched off the lights of our houses. In my case, well I had no choice, the Jhk State Electricity Board celebrates unnumerable earth hours in our state. So we do our bit everyday voluntarily or involuntarily. Interestingly, in Jharkhand you dont need to blame on anything for forced "earth hours" we have a special custom here unheard of in any other state! On festivals like Ram Navmi and Sarhul (tribal festival) we all are prepared for half a day long power cut which runs late in to the night. The reason? There are massive processions on the streets and such is the religious fervour that people dance and (are perhaps drunk) on the streets for hours not caring about live wires on their heads. Hence the electricity board snaps power for safety! Such is the uniqueness of Jharkhand!

Coming back to this Earth Hour. Seemed like a very glamourous event with Junior AB as the Brand Ambassador. Though the objective is deeply appreciated but I doubt whether it actually served the purpose. Why I am saying this is because I caught a glimpse of the "earth hour celebrations' in New Delhi. Please forgive me but I think it was simply hilarious! The India Gate lights had been turned off and in front of it there was Indian Ocean performing which meant lots of electricity being spent on sounds, lights and mikes. While 100s of people were enjoying the band it seemed ridiculous to blacken the pride of India and celebrate in front of it spending the same amount of energy! I really wish I could do the exact plus minus calculations!

Atithi come again!

2010-03-20T23:59:00.000-07:00

A nice evening on a weekend is something that sets your mood right for the entire week. So determined to have a "nice evening" I got my brother on the job of getting me tickets of "Atithi..." and he obliged. Me and ansh along with my bro reached the only multiplex that our city offers as of now. My only worry all the time was that after half an hour of the movie I would find myself standing in the lobby as my son just dusnt like it inside the hall. Well we went inside the hall and this was the first time my son was actually aware of this new ambience and he looked quite surprised. I told him we have come to watch a movie and the curious question was "to TV kahan hai mamma?" and that very moment the movie began. My son hid himself in my arms saying he was scared! I got so worried but the moment the actual movie began and he could see people around him laughing he followed suit and laughed with them! He even danced on his chair to everyone's amusement and loved the pepsi and pop corn.

The movie was good, you can always trust Paresh Rawal for a good laugh and I also liked other small players in it like the "watchman" (who always acts well and is incidently from my home town Bihar :)) and satish kaushik as well as sulemaan bhai. I think it was a well made movie and a litte "different". The songs were so so but then the movie's selling point was always the comedy and Paresh Rawal.

I am glad I went to watch Atithi.... and all thanks to my son I enjoyed it more to see him happy and enjoying. I guess we need doses of humour like this every weekend to rejuvenate ourselves. So go watch Atithi..... if you havent :)

so whats your song?

2010-03-12T02:02:00.001-08:00

While driving back from work I switched on FM and the song that was playing was one of my favourites. It amazingly changed my mood for better. On deeper thinking I felt that it was not just the song but the memories associated with it. This song was from a movie released when I was in school and instantly happy school days visions flashed in front of my eyes. I dont know if everyone goes through such pangs of nostalgia and may be being an emotional and over-senstitive CANCERIAN I was over reacting to a "mere song". But I could related my thoughts to how my mother used to start humming even though she was buried under household chores as soon as vividh bharti or DD played some black n white era song unfamiliar to me. I guess everyone has a list of such songs which lift their spirits.. :)

Its amazing how small things in life keep you going and give you the boost to go on and on. (like today morning my son waking up alone on his bed and calling me..."mi mi mi mi aa jao merey paas") :)

random thots

2010-03-03T06:16:00.000-08:00

I guess this is the most random blog I had ever written. Had been wanting to blog since long and yet again office, home and my little one kept me away. Everytime a particular thought crossed my mind I want to put it up on my site but loss of energy failed me (reminds me of the ad I watched in childhood- "ye bechara kaam ke bojh ka maara, inhey chahiye hamdard ka cinkara!!") I wonder what happened to this product!

Holi fever is just over and my son (now 2.4 yrs) enjoyed this day to the fullest and understood the colors for the first time. He went to his nanu and nani's place and painted their walls pink with his pichkari. But the best was the fervour with which he danced when passing by band walahs stopped to play at our gate. Every one was rolling on the floor with laughter! The naughty boy simply didnt want to come back home.

Its amazing how this little bundle of joy takes away all my pains and it gives me such a pleasure to hug him close to my heart and shower him with kisses.

Shall get back to my page with something more meaningful!

Jab We Met

2010-02-05T03:18:00.000-08:00

(To begin with...............
................Kanu I will NOT apologise for shamelessly lifting your tag line for our quick short meeting!)

This is about confusion turned to bliss!

I boarded the Ranchi New Delhi flight to get on to the connecting flight to Pune. As luck would have it the flight got diverted to Jaipur owing to thick fog over New Delhi. So 1 am in the morning we were sitting on our seats at Jaipur airport and surprisingly I was totally calm. We got to know that 4 flights were hovering over New Delhi and 11 over Lucknow.

Suddenly the captain announced that we were heading to New Delhi! The captain was lauded with claps as we landed in zero visibility at New Delhi. The plane stood on the runway not knowing where to go and voila a big bus with lights at the back reading FOLLOW ME took us to safe parking!!

And now comes the best part. The flight to Pune never departed and hence my sister's hubby Siddhant came to pick me and my son Ansh. We went to Noida to my sister's place. The icing on the cake was that Kanupriya my best friend coincidently was there for official work. I got to see her after 3 years. We had a lovely but vvery short time together though we lived it to the fullest.

I also met another ex-colleague Neha and her daughter, Mehar. Ansh played with Mehar and loved the swings and see saw! Sister and Kanu showered gifts and I got to hog on all the food that's not yet available in Ranchi :)

This was a much needed rejuvenating experience for me! Thank you God!

A strange dream

2010-01-20T23:05:00.000-08:00

Though my day today is as occupied as ever but I just could not keep myself from writing this account of my dream last night. It seemed so real and wierd at the same time that its still haunting me!

It began with me reading an email that talked about some box (may be a treasure) lying buried near a well at my in laws native home in Deoghar (a place near Ranchi).
Keeping abreast with the interesting facts that I have started with, I would like to add that this email was from a relative of mine. I forgot about this email totally (in my dreams) and after a few days this relative passed away. As per Hindu traditions the rituals for the dead last for 13 days. The same was going on in our house and every possible relative had come to join in. I was sitting among them and suddenly the entire email got printed on my palm! Then there was warning message which said that I was supposed to go look for 3 "link people" at Deoghar who had a clue about this box. I was given a time line to finish this job and then imprints on my palm vanished.

I then found myself sleeping in my bed in the room where I spent my child hood i.e. in Patna the capital of Bihar. I opened my eyes in the middle of my sleep and saw this dead relative standing in front of my bed with a look that scared me to no ends. Then I got kicked!

It was no one else but my toddler son Ansh who had "escaped" from his quilt and was sleeping with his feet on my face! I tucked him back in the quilt and went off to sleep again hoping for the dream to continue but it never came back yet haunted me till morning!

our world this year

2010-01-01T06:19:00.000-08:00

Yet another year has finally begun and has brought with it mixed feelings of hope, triumph, despair, uncertainty ....Coming to think of the focus this year I guess it would be the food inflation, industrial development, global warming, the increasing divide between the cosmopoliton and the rural areas..Wow god must have researched very well before creating this breed called homo sapiens who can effect the world so much with their actions! Its amazing how every other species however ferocious it be lives at the mercy of MAN!

An guesses where are we headed to this year?? I guess more price rise yet the urban man will continue his usual lifestyle and urbanisation and malls, pubs, multiplexes will spread their wings further. There will be more industries but no employment as the labour force today is slowly being replaced by computers and machines and of course I dont need to tell you how more industries can effect our climate and take us towards nostradamus's predictions.
Yet the whole point is that life is much better in many ways than it used to be decades back. Ofcourse everything has its own repurcussions but the face of the world has changed for better (ignore the negativities please!). Today people specially women have the right to live their lives the way they want and kudos all these women of the new age who juggle work, home and kids and are so full of life!
So lets welcome the fresh year with positive thoughts and try and make the world a better place. Amen!

obituary

2009-12-27T03:42:00.000-08:00

Office work was on after a long leave taken for wedding celebrations in the house. Seemed like work had piled up and the monotony of daily chores had started go set in. Suddenly the phone rang. It was mother in law asking me to come as grandmother (husband's granny) was very ill suddenly. I was home in 5 minutes and saw my son sleeping alone in mom in law's room and guessed what happened as Ansh was never to be left alone. He woke up and I cuddled him and climbed the stairs to dadi's room. She was lying in silence on her bed, a peaceful expression on her face....she had passed away peacefully after drinking a spoon of water.

Dadi was 84 years old & had been a widow for the past 33 years. Seemed like she herself timed her death. 2 weddings happened in the house the last ritual being just a few hours before she passed away. Seemed like she lived to bless us all.

Going through her old albums I could see how beautiful and royal she looked- perfect features, lovely complexion and lovely hair. She suffered from filaria and had swollen feet which disabled her walk. I never knew her well as the interaction was very less. But now I realise how her absence has left an emptiness in the house and in our lives.

We will miss you dadi...

fortune in your coffee!

2009-10-13T22:41:00.000-07:00

Worried about your future or want solution to something? Get your coffee cup "read"!! Sounds really strange and freaky. isnt it? Yesterday I chanced upon this entirely new thing of which I had never heard before and seemed to be the wierdest thing to know about!

A TV show on 9X called "Sambhav kya" introduced me to this concept. A woman on the show talked about reading visuals created by the dried froth on empty coffee cups. Her readings would identify and solve problems of people within minutes!

The process was simple: The concerned person takes 10 sips from his/her coffee. The cup is covered and rotated clockwise 3 times and then read!

The woman could also "read" dust collected from any household and identify the presence of something paranormal or an "evil eye"! This was totally mind boggling but based on a true incident which further bewildered me.

I am not sure of the authenticty of such practices but yes I personally believe that there are several things on this earth that are related to us but we can never get to know about them! There are so many unanswered questions and so many instances related to the paranormal and however smart and technologically sounds we human beings might become, we can never decipher these "secret codes" of God or whoever else is sitting there monitoring everything.....

2009-10-07T02:25:00.000-07:00

My phone rang and it was sis giving bad news of her not being able to come to Ranchi for Durga Puja..In low spirits I sat at my workplace thinking how to make the Pujas this year exciting for myself and I decided to check out flights to Patna......

Durga Puja time is always nostalgia time for me..brings with it strange feelings and remembrances of my child hood, the weather transition, the "smell of winter", not to mention the pundals and the cocktail of loud music alongwith the voice of an elated pundit chanting shlokas sitting in some pundal and getting to use the mike! Since the past 6 years I was missing out on the real fervour of the festivities as I used to experience it back home in Patna.

Now that my little one is a little grown up and ready to travel with me, I planned to go visiting my nani in Patna. The moment I was on the roads of Patna going towards nani's house my school days and times when we used to visit nani came back to me. My little one sitting in my lap was amazed at the "baaja batti" (lights and music) and "jai jai bum bum" (Durga ma). Nani was standing at her gate to welcome us ..while we settled in the house my little one went off to sleep. We chatted away and planned the next day which was a trip to "Patna market". For those who do not know about it, its the oldest "bazaar" in Patna and you get lots of interesting stuff there. The icecream and chaat was something that we never missed when we went there with our dadi :) However it was very hot and the shopping experience did not turn out to be very interesting. After that we kept indoors and ansh loved to walk in the nani's gardens. I slept away all the time and ate till I was stuffed with all my favourite "nani dishes" :)

Now I am back to work and back to business....but it was a relaxing experience and I had a lovely time....

where is the real news???

2009-08-05T23:20:00.000-07:00

After office while sipping my tea with kurkure I made another attempt (like everyday) to catch on some latest news. Like everyday could find any news channel that was airing news as such. Some went on and on with advertisements, some with detailed reports on some stale news and the best was 2 channels airing a detailed cover on the same news! Want to know what the latter was about? Well it was about a "swayamwar" to be aired soon. No No Rakhi is already done with her share of drama. It is Mr Rahul Mahajan this time. Who on earth wanted to marry Rakhi and now who on earth wants to marry Rahul!

Ofcourse such shows have very good TRPs as they are full of drama but I am sure Rahul will not be able create the effect that Rakhi could do. Her brainlessness, idiotic facial expressions, recently learnt few english words like Thank you and drama drama and more drama were enough to attract a lot of attention.

But I must say a lot of background work had been done for the show as Rakhi looked her best and turned up in awesome attires. But still I am sorry Rakhi I just cant get my self to say that you were looking pretty! You must thank all the news channels to cover your drama 24 hrs just before your "dday" (I am still not sure whether you actually intend to marry that Toronto guy. kya hoga us aadmi ka bhagwan!!!!!???)

Now let us see what Mr Rahul has to offer us. Is he calling Monica and that other item girl (Big Boss 2) for his "swayamwar"???

the changing face of Ranchi

2009-07-08T23:42:00.000-07:00

A researcher who was supposed to visit us and provide "technical inputs" declined to come down to Ranchi as she had her own reservations about the place and we had to re-schedule the meeting in Kolkata...

Additionally recently I have noticed the mention of Ranchi city in some bollywood movies (Bipasha a "small town girl"in Bachna ae Haseeno hailed from Ranchi) and Suhel Seth's surcastic takes on this "small town". All this categorisation and perception of Ranchi being some remote destination is saddening.. So I decided to put across some points. Please read on...

Ranchi in 1995

- The city slept at 7:30 pm. With not many options for a night life there ws no other alternative but to sleep at night!

- Brands: What are they?!!

- Eat outs: the famous ones were Kaveri,KRSNA, Punjab Sweet House (economy dining) and if looking for a better ambience the destinations were Yuvraj Palace & may be the Gymkhana Club

- Theatres: walls qouted with paan stains, strong stench of urine, an indisciplined crowd that would whistle at bizzare things and suffocating ambience

- the comfort levels of girls wanting to freak out: Firstly the city did not offer more than a crowded Church Complex to "freak out", girls in western clothes were usually ogled at & at times followed home after "boarding a rickshaw"

Ranchi in 2009

-You are standing at a busy take away counter and savouring chicken pita bread rolls from their lebanese menu..its 10:00 pm and the city does not show any signs of sleeping!

- Brands: ahemm...UCB,Wills Lifestyle,Reebok, Adidas,Woodland(all exclusive showrooms & Ranchites please add on to this list) besides a Big Bazar and Reliance Mart. Grocery stores like Spencers and Reliance Fresh, Beauty saloons of Javed Habib, VLCC and Loreal & last but not the least - Satya Paul's sarees...

- Eat outs: while Kaveri,KRSNA, Punjab Sweet House still rule the taste buds of Ranchites but this sector is the one that has transformed completely..the hospitality, the ambience, the menu, the food (even the bars) of these new hotels (Capitol Hill, Capitol Residency, BNR Chanakya) are really commendable..Besides these there are several new restuarants and 2 CCDs & the under construction Raddisson is very much looked forward to

- Theatres: gone are the days of walls qouted with paan stains, strong stench of urine, an indisciplined crowd. yes we have just one multiplex today but with several others being under construction movies will no longer be watched on pirated DVDs!

- As you drive out of your house noticing dozens of girls speeding past in their scooties is a common site..not only do the girls freely hang out, the scooties are made use of to even empower the mommies who do not need to hire rickshaws any more!

The best part is that people's purchasing & spending on entertainment has really increased even in this so called small town. So do not have preconcieved notions in your mind when asked to visit our city! (After all even our very own captain Dhoni has decided to build his house in his motherland!!!!)

Associating him & death..!!!!???~!

2009-06-26T02:20:00.000-07:00

Its a usual day, I have come to work at 9:30 am and have logged to email first thing & see this status message of my closest friend - End of pop era...am not able to make sense of it, then I login to facebook and am face to face with one of the most unbelievable things I heard (after Kishu's death)- MJ is no more!! Its truely bewildering and incredible! Not that I am a fan or possess a collection of all his albums but yet it strikes u as something very strange. I love his songs - heal the world, earth song, the way you make me feel etc...but this is what everyone feels about these songs.

Its just that you cannot associate death at all with some people & he is...err was one of them. But I guess the world feels the same as there are updates of media going haywire and sites like twitter and google coming crashing down with overflooding of updates on the news.

I remember the first time I had seen him in a newspaper snap when I was a kid and was scared to the bones! Yes he looked really strange and infact "paranormal". Then I read about him and came to know about his numerous surgeries and transformation. I also hated him at one point of time when he hung his newborn like a piece of cloth for "display" from his hotel balcony.

However it is disheartening to know that we could not witness his forthcoming comeback concert to be held in July after a long exile. Needless to say he will never die in the minds of his fans and also those who hated him for being a suspected peadophile. But the point is this death makes you think again that everything ends in one moment and someone with such a strature and popularity can not elude it either.............

for someone special...

2009-06-11T23:51:00.000-07:00

This is about a woman to whom I owe my very existence. I have never valued her so much or missed her so much as I do today when I realise how much she did for me, how much I owe to her, how much she slogged to make me comfortable and how much she loved me.The strength of education and self dependance that she has given me helps me survive and take on the world each day. In sad moments this is the only word that comes on my lips...yes its noone else but Maa....

I call her mummy and today the only interaction that we have is through brief telephonic conversations though I live half a kilometre away!Life has really strange ways... I pass through my own home at times as if it was just another house. The memories of childhood when she used to go out of the way (in a conservative) to ensure we wore the dresses we wanted to, ate the food we wanted, that our birthdays were celebrated and we scored well in studies. I feel guilty today to have declined her requests of helping her out with small chores and for arguing and complaining about irrelevant things.

After a certain period of time a woman becomes the care giver of the family and noone realises she also wants to be loved and cared and cherished and appreciated..I realise this today when I have reached this side of womanhood and yearn to be taken care of at times..

Mom you are really a super human and I am sorry for having hurt u at time. But you also know that I love you and miss you lots...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!!

the break

2009-04-24T03:10:00.001-07:00

Yes my absence has been a long one. Office shifting, holidays, personal chores and a temporary loss of interest in writing can be some of the reasons that I can think of immediately. The first one has been a major deterrant. I usually write when I am in office! After work its only me and my little one. I have no time and inclination to do or be with anything else in the world :)

Talking of my little one, he is growing up fast and has become virtually a parrot. He catches words from our conversations and repeats them. Its damn funny at times!

Coming back to my new office, its not at all comparable to any of the corporate ones in big cities but still I can say that now we have a better one! We work for women, children, adolescents and HIV/AIDS infected and affected and hence an arrangement that shall intimidate our target groups is not all desirable for us. Hence we have this house with a huge garden and all basic necessities like 24 hrs high speed internet, 24 hrs generator back up etc .etc . but yet nothing is on the face or intimidating.

I love my profession and now my new work station too (to which I have attached speakers and can occassionally listen to music from the internet!)

The fate of our priceless memoirs

2009-03-17T23:51:00.000-07:00

Very recently the priceless belongings of the Father of our Nation were auctioned. While the Ministry of External Affairs "struggled" to "procure" the country's heritages, Vijay Mallya, made their job easy. He bought all the items for a whopping Rs 10 crore (USD 1.8 million).

The whole episode was a complete mockery of the Indian Government. The moment I saw this news item in the Telegraph I was amazed & asked myself "What are bapu's belongings doing with some James Otis guy in New York!!!" Somehow all the priceless items from our country seem to end up in some museum in some other country (Britain or Iran), be it the kohinoor or the peacock throne or the sword of Tipu Sultan.

Gandhi ji's belongings - his trademark round eyeglasses, a pair of worn leather sandals, an inexpensive pocket watch and a simple brass bowl and plate were consigned by Otis, a private American collector who obtained them from the descendants of the Gandhi family to Antiquorum Auctioneers. To add to the humor of the whole episode, the government went about claiming that Mallya took up this cause on their behest which was completely denied by the latter. Mallya said he had, in 2004, bought and brought to India the legendary Sword of Tipu Sultan and this time again he was working from his own consciousness.

Its high time the government acts and prevents such episodes of embarresment in the future.

THE FESTIVAL OF COLORS IS BACK

2009-03-10T03:37:00.000-07:00

WISH U ALL A VERY HAPPY HOLI!

spooky but true

2009-03-05T22:35:00.000-08:00

I have been thinking of writing this up since long. Its a topic that deeply interests me and although more than 5 years have gone by when I heard about it, the account is still fresh in my mind.

Real ghost stories, near death experiences and paranormal activities are something that rouses interest of all quarters. I have come across several forums where people share & discuss their unsual and sometimes spooky experiences. The one that I am going to share here was narrated to me by someone who would never have believed and would have laughed off the whole episode had it not happened to him! This happened with my uncle who went to Hyderabad for an on job training. After he was back I visited him and my aunt and was horrified as they told me about the incredible incident!

Not dragging it further I shall get to the point. My uncle was assigned a room in the guest house of the institute where the training was happening. He went to sleep at night and though he was v ery tired he kept awake and felt uneasy. Suddenly he could smell incense sticks burning and the room seemed to be getting overpowered by someone's presence and smoke. He started to get up and to his surprise he just could not. Someone was holding his ankles in a tight and vicious grip!!!

The strong hold continued for sometime till it got painful and then he made an effort and went out of the room. He also felt some burning sensation on his back. The next morning he discussed it with a colleague who was occupying the adjacent room. The other guy jumped at the elucidation and said that the year before he had been occupying the same room. Something similar had happened to him and on returning home his wife noticed the scar on his feet and burn marks on his back as if someone had touched the skin with a burning incense stick!

On further probe it was found that the guest house was made on the grave of some nizam and probably his mistress was also buried beside him.

I would never have believed such a story but coming from this uncle of mine it felt very very true as he normally he would himself never want to relate himself with something as "silly"!

Integrated Child Protection Scheme: the roll out challenges in Jharkhand

2009-03-05T03:40:00.000-08:00

ICPS: what makes it different
Last week the Government of India approved the launch of a comprehensive centrally sponsored 'Integrated Child Protection Scheme' (ICPS) aimed at providing safe and secure environment for the children of the country. This is a welcome move as the existing child protection schemes are marred by poor planning and coordination, low coverage, poor Infrastructure, inadequate human resources and service gaps. This is also true in the context of the state of Jharkhand where the Child Rights Report which is a part of the UN Convention of Child Rights has not yet been tabled. Besides this the State Plan of Action for children has also not been drawn.

Child protection incorporates both prevention and care as well as recovery and rehabilitation aspects. The National Plan of Action for Children 2005 is the basis for planning for children in the Eleventh Plan which places Development of the child at the centre. The Central Government has provided an outlay of Rs.1073 crores during the XI Plan period towards implementation of this scheme.
The launched ICPS brings together multiple vertical schemes under one comprehensive child protection programme and integrates interventions for protecting children and preventing harm. It does not see child protection as the exclusive responsibility of the Ministry of Women & Child Development but stresses that other sectors have vital roles to play.
The scheme targets children in need of care and protection, children in conflict with law & any other vulnerable child like those belonging to BPL families or infected/affected by HIV/AIDS. The ICPS is based on the cardinal principles of “protection of child rights” and “best interests of the child”. Some of the key principles of ICPS are reducing child vulnerability, strengthening the family and promoting non-institutional care, establishing standards for care and protection and building capacities of the concerned personnel.

ICPS: the roll out challenges in Jharkhand
When one looks at the key strategies of the ICPS and relates it to the existing scenario and infrastructure in Jharkhand little convergence can be observed. An analysis of the key programme components on which the scheme’s success rests can throw more light on to it.

THE CHILD LINE: This 24 hour emergency phone outreach service for children in need of care and protection links them to long- term services for rehabilitation & comes with a toll free number 1098. The Government of India established this service in 2001 and it is presently operational in 74 cities of the country. In Jharkhand the Xavier Institute of Social Service, Ranchi is the nodal organization for Child Line in collaboration and support from a local NGO Samadhan, Ranchi. Samadhan reports getting around 35-40 cases of runaway, orphan & trafficked children every month. Dr N. K. Tah, Director, Samadhan indicated that more cooperation from the state telecom department was required for smoothening the service. The organization faced problems in getting the line installed and the erratic connection forces them to pool resources through other phone lines which may not be toll free and covered under the outreach activities to advertise for the service.

HOMES FOR CHILDREN IN NEED OF PROTECTION IN JHARKHAND

NUMBER OF VARIOUS CATEGORIES OF HOMES AND CAPACITY OF EACH CATEGORY OF HOMES
SL. NO. CATEGORIES NUMBER OF HOMES CAPACITY AVERAGE OCCUPANCY
A CHILDREN’S HOME 2 50 60
B OBSERVATION HOME 7 50 70
C SPECIAL HOME 1 50 10-15
D ORPHANAGES 7 ( GOVT. AIDED) 50

As is evident from the above statistics all the children’s and observation homes are packed to capacity and the state is badly in need of new ones who have not yet been brought in the purview of law. 20 organizations have applied for running new orphanages.

Drop in shelters: A vast majority of children, with or without parental support, generally end up at traffic intersections, railways stations, streets, etc. where they are vulnerable to physical, sexual, emotional as well as economic exploitation. For these children the ICPS would facilitate setting up of drop-in shelters largely in urban areas. Such centers shall provide space for children where they can play and indulge in creative activities through music, dance, drama, yoga & meditation, computers, indoor and outdoor games, etc. and use their time productively.
At present there is no concept of such centres in Ranchi. Samadhan, the local NGO running the Child Line is forced to give shelter to runaway or other children in their office before restoring them. This is primarily because of the complete absence of shelter homes and those being run by local NGOs like Karuna and Aanchal Shishu Ashram are packed to capacity.

Juveline homes: The State Government has formed Juvenile Justice Board, Child Welfare Committee, and Special Police.
Status of Boards and committees meant for children in conflict with law Number of Districts
2005-06 2006-07 2007-08
Number of Juvenile Justice Boards 7 7 21
Number of Child Welfare Committees 2 2 11
Number of districts having special police for dealing with Juveniles 22 22 22

However the CWC in the state of Jharkhand is still not functional as it has not received any formal training on its roles and responsibilities.
Promotion of family based non-institutional care through adoption: It is an accepted fact that the child develops best in his or her own family environment and thus adoption to an indigenous setting is ideal for his or her growth and development. The Department of Social Welfare, Gov. of Jharkhand has registered Missionaries of Charity as agency for adoption.
In Jharkhand State total number of registered orphanages is seven and total numbers of orphan children are 420. Central Adoption resource Agency, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India and Department of Women and Child Development are making guideline for extending the adoption rights by for extending the adoption rights by revising Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act, 1956.

After care for children from juveline homes: the ICPS proposes to provide funds to respective District Child Protection Unit (DPU) to identify suitable organizations to take up this responsibility. Such organizations shall formulate an after-care programme for every child and ensure meeting basic needs of the child, education and vocational training, counselling and life skills training and assistance with job placement/entrepreneurship development.

CONCLUSION: the Way Ahead
The scheme’s approach of bringing together multiple vertical schemes under one comprehensive child protection programme is indeed laudable. However the deprived and vulnerable children of the state of Jharkhand are badly in need of concrete implementation of these well thought of plans. The 4 basic rights of a child need to be restored to them viz. Survival, Protection, Development & Child Participation through appropriate measures.

For instance, to ensure better child survival the new births should be registered and the community made aware of the services available for them so that they are mobilized to access the same. A state wide mapping exercise to track all vulnerable children in need of care and protection and the resources that can be channelized for them is an immediate need with respect to the Right for Protection. Children infected and affected by HIV/AIDS need special care and support and must be mainstreamed to all programmes launched under the scheme. Fast track courts for speedy disposal of cases of juveniles and increasing the number of observation and shelter homes specially for girls in the need of the hour. Disabled children also need to be provided with education and mainstreaming. The State wing of the NCERT needs to be made functional to impart quality education and the vocations offered in homes should be more specialized and linked to profit making industries.
To ensure participation and equip children in influencing issues affecting their lives, by speaking out or taking action in partnership with adults, the foremost step should be to scale up the Bal Sansad (Children’s Parliament) to the entire state. The State Plan of Action for children which is not yet underway needs to involve children while making the same.

Last but not the least the humble request to the state and the concerned departments is that the prime duty of the state is to protect the each and every child and provide a safe and secure environment.

Ramchand Pakistani

2009-02-19T01:57:00.000-08:00

My 16 months old son was not well yesterday, so I was at home with him. Switched on the TV in the afternoon and saw a man being beaten up by a policeman. Taking it to be another boring movie was about to change to channel when the next scene showed a little boy, scared and confused. Since motherhood has dawned over me any child in trouble makes my heart go out for him/her. So I continued watching. It turned out to be a very well directed and enacted movie with some good stars like Nandita Das. The little boy was Ram chand Pakistani and it was about this 7 year old and his family's misfortune. He alongwith his father had mistakenly crossed the border in to India & held by the police. What followed was the heart wrenching agony of separation of the mother and the little boy, the experience of being in jail like a criminal at a tender age as there is no provision by law for such "criminals" to be kept in juvenile homes & how the family coped up and finally got reunited after several years.

Based on a true story during a period (June 2002) of extreme, war-like tension between the two countries by two members of a Pakistani Hindu family belonging to the 'untouchable' (Dalit) caste, this movie has won several accolades.

http://www.ramchandpakistani.com/

Either I am totally cut off from the entertainment world or this movie has been very poorly publicised as it was a pleasant surprise for me to watch such a nice movie after long.

Do watch it!

in grief

2009-02-11T21:35:00.000-08:00

His face used to lit up and would always make the surroundings bright. His presence always had a positive feel and whenever I think of him I picture him as the younger bro who was full of concern & warmth for his sis. We used to chat away for hours discussing his life, his problems, his achievements and sharing ways to deal with eachother's life. We also used to get a bite of chaat, momos or rolls while we conversed. Such was my interaction with the little bro of my closest friend.

Today he is no more......

My eyes get wet while I write this & yet I cant believe I will never ever see him again. A few days back my friend and me were discussing his marriage & how should the potential match be. Today I called up my friend & she choked while saying that the picture clicked for the purpose of matrimony was being used today to pray for his soul to rest in peace.

His face is always in front of my eyes -his usual cheerful self trying to cheer up those around him & today he is so far away that noone can reach him. This misfortune has left me speechless. Dont know who is to be blamed- the accident, god or the stars when he was born. It is unimaginable to assess the grief of the family who has lost him when this has left such a deep scar in my heart. I will never be able to overcome this loss & my eyes will always search for him in a crowd ...

God please do this much - help the mother, the sister, the brother come to terms with life without him.

Roadies: what makes it different

2009-01-20T03:02:00.000-08:00

Call it obscene, full of censored words, foul language, dirty bitching & girls who are nothing but bimbettes, but there is something about it that keeps you glued to the television set. Yesterday night I was watching a rerun of the last week's episode & though I was sleepy I didnt hit the bed till the show said good bye! I am never particularly interested in any show for that matter but yes never flip the channel when this one is being aired. An analysis of why it interests me is probably that it is one of the "most repulsive" things I have ever seen!!! In order to see how much it can test my senses I watch it again and again!!!!
I might sound weird but the show is wierder & its wierdness keeps you glued to it! Starting from the auditions, this time when I saw 2 Raghus I was taken aback and besides the loud abuses and "taking on" for nothing I wanted to find out more about these 2 absolute replica wierdos! Noone else but a lunatic can stand in a queue and travel from city to city to get himself/herself abused, embaressed and thrashed in public.
Sample this: a girl wearing the wierdest outfit, having the most irritating voice, covered with make up and trying her best to show off her "assets" was one of the selected ones the reason being she would add some spice to show!
The tasks given are equally ridiculous (but they make you wonder how, who and when invented them). The last one that I saw involved asking the bimbettes some IQ testing questions and any wrong answer would lead to hitting the boys in their team "between the legs" and no if the answer is even then the masculinity of the boys is not safe!!!! The members of the opposite team were then "bajaoed"!!! It was soooo gross, disgusting, sickening & you feel nothing but pity for these bunch of men whose drive to be on TV and get popular was more than their self esteem.
All the Raghus of the world might relish such language that is full of slander, such bimbettes who are shame to the 21st century women & such tasks which can only come out of a sadistic & loser mind!

Fighting the virus

2008-11-13T23:24:00.000-08:00

A usual weekday, the same daily grind, the same office and a workshop on HIV/AIDS. A team from Kolkata had come to capacity build us on HIV/AIDS. I knew everyone in the training hall except for one person sitting right next to me. He seemed to be a field level worker and I thought he must be a part of one our HIV/AIDS projects at the field supervisor level. But he was someone more than that.
The round of introductions began and while I was still wondering who this frail looking man was, he spoke out. Mohan (name changed) said he was a part of the Jharkhand Network of Positive People. This network is constituted by HIV positive people who have come together for advocacy of their rights as well as their affected family members. So this implied he was HIV positive. He added in this introduction that he would talk about his survival for existence towards the end of the training. Finally this part of the training came.
The confidence and ease of his discourse was truly impressive. He took us back to the year 1992 when he had migrated to Mumbai for work. He visited a brothel with friends and forgot about it as a passing event. Suddenly in 1997 he became very sick with stomach infection and had to go back home. He could never revert back to normal health after that. Frequent bouts of diarrhoea and vomiting marred his health. All medication failed. He became extremely weak and weighed around 30 kgs only. He once came across a newspaper article that mentioned the symptoms that he had and correlated it to the fatal virus HIV. That moment he recalled his brothel visit and was now sure that the virus had entered his body. Owing to the fear of being stigmatised he decided to keep this truth a secret and to never go for a blood test. But his family forcibly took him to one of the biggest hospitals in Ranchi. There he was tested positive.
His fears came true instantly. The staff of this so called reputed hospital instantly secluded him and along with his family he was thrown out in the middle of the night. His father was told that he may not see the light of the day. The fear of being ostracised by the society was already killing him. So once on the road madness engulfed him and he stoned his father and wife to go away and leave him to die. But poor people somehow brought him back to the village and arranged for medical care for him. But news of his positive status spread and his family was alienated from the community. Unable to get any medical help, he asked his family to get saline bottles which were badly needed to keep him going. He asked his wife to use her hair ribbon to block the blood flow and insert the saline needle in his hands. Soon she mastered this method and kept her husband going for another five years. His condition however did not improve.

He then came to know about a health centre of a NGO called Holy Cross running near his village. He went there for treatment and came in touch with the workers of a HIV/AIDS intervention called the ICHHAA Project. This was a turning point in his life and gave light to the lost hopes of his family. He came out of the AIDS stage and his CD4 count (white blood cells that give us immunity to infections) improved. Constant counselling, medication (Anti Retro Viral Therapy), capacity building on HIV/AIDS issues and policies and interaction with other PLWHAs (People Living With HIV/AIDS) has helped him regained his health and confidence to face the world. Today he is an active member and Secretary of the Jharkhand Network of Positive People (JNP+), a non-profit organisation registered under the Societies Registration Act.
Today there are several such PLHWAs who have come out in the open and declared their status, specially in Hazaribagh District of Jharkhand state where migration is the highest and so is the spread of this infection. People like Mohan are an inspiration for all who are fighting this virus and winning over it!

The joy of my life has turned one!

2008-11-11T22:37:00.001-08:00

Most mommies blog about their newborns, their activities and how they slowly and steadily climb the ladder of growth. I also think of including my little one’s activities in to my blog but 2 reasons always kept me from doing it.
I maintain his personal diary since the 1st month of his birth. So duplicating my writings does not make much sense to me.
Not many people would relish reading about the nitty gritties of my child’s development the way my family or close friends would do.
But now is a very special time in my life and a big milestone for Ansh (yes that’s my son’s name J). He turned one on October 30, 2008. We had been planning for his big day since a longtime. On the dday Ansh first went to the temple with his grandparents. He looked damn cute when he came backing wearing a lovely marigold garland :0
His birthday invitation was all emailed across the world and that too in style; courtesy his Kanupriya aunt. J She made a cutomised invite for him. Many friends called and told me that they loved it!
The party began at 7 pm. The guest list included family friends and colleagues of Ansh’s grandfather, dad, mom and aunt. Around 50 people came to the banquet hall near the station. The cake was a huge Mickey Mouse shaped pineapple flavoured one and the place was full of balloons.
Ansh loved these colourful objects and played a lot with them. He cut the cake but didn’t like the taste of it at all! Around 11 pm the party was over. Ansh came back with lots of blessings, good wishes and ofcourse gifts. The one that he liked the best was given by his nani nanu- a red car so that he could also drive around or rather paddle away on his own!

Mirch masala!

2008-10-20T23:44:00.000-07:00

Now I know what tempts the big wigs to abuse and manhandle the media! Not that I am celebrity or I know any of them. I live in a small town and work with a NGO as a researcher. One fine day this newspaper arrives and asks me if he could include me in one of his articles for which he needed to interview women in the development sector. I readily agreed and also handed him a snap of mine! He asked me about some memorable incidents of my childhood but I elaborated none and only talked about my work profile and qualifications. He thanked me and promised coming back with a copy of the printed article in “Hindustan”. Needless to say he never turned up. i also forgot about it after sometime. One fine day when I went home from office my mother in law told me that I was in the newspaper and I was surprised. As I was wondering my brother called up and his speech was taken over by laughter. I got irritated and was about to bang the phone when he asked me giggling “sis when did you cling to a rose bush?”..i asked what are you talking about? He told me don’t you know there is an article with your photo in this newspaper and its hilarious! Now my curiosity had no bounds and I asked him to relate the whole story to me. When he did that I didn’t know how to react but frankly speaking my laughter took over my surprise and disgust. Please read on…..

Now when you are done with your laughing bouts please think and sympathise with those celebrities who are linked up, blamed, tarnished, and spied upon and what not and they have to bear all that without reacting to it publicly. If they react, the reaction becomes bigger news & the 24 hour news channels have masala for almost 2-3 days round the clock! Like the above article which has no true facts besides the ones about my work, I am sure we all read lots of such on celebs with no fragment of truth.
Its high time the media becomes a little responsible and do their bit in spreading the “right message” and not look for “breaking news” while a man is setting himself on fire in front of the camera.

FRIENDS FOREVER

2008-10-10T04:58:00.000-07:00

The bus stop near my house was where I took the school bus and this is where I met her for the first time. It was my first day in Class 12th and so was hers. What followed was a brief introductory conversation and then a friendship bond that has been going strong since the past 13 years. Here I am talking about the girl I mentioned in my previous blog.
The second time we met was in our colony where she had come to stay with her maternal aunt and uncle to study. I still remember she wore a pink skirt and top and my first impression of her was that of a very mature, pretty and soft spoken girl.

We had different subject combinations in the science stream and hence we were in different sections. From our first meeting to several subsequent meetings we always gelled in well though nature wise she was more like my sis. But still conversation flowed spontaneously and we could (and can) talk any thing under the sun. Our bond strengthened and so did our closeness with each other’s siblings and parents. In fact her mother and mine share the same birthday and are very much alike! Also she was born 2 days after me J

Besides complimenting each other on our clothes, achievements etc. we could always comfortably point out our shortcomings and this is actually what friendship is all about.

After class XII she went to BHU for graduation while I pursued it in my home town. Till then we kept in touch through letters and cards. (Internet was not common in those days). Then fate brought us together again. This time it was in BHU where she pursued MBA while I did my masters. She stood by me and I by her through several trying times in our lives.
Fate brought us together again at BHU itself. She enrolled there for MBA while I pursued MSc. Those were such beautiful days- our long strolls and chats after dinner, our cycling to the swimming pool in the morning, our visits to Lanka, our shoppings and visits to the famed Banaras ghats.

She was always very focussed and ambitious- these 2 traits completely lacking in me J she always advised me to make the right career and education moves and this is where I followed my heart and not my mind or anyone’s selfless advise.
So today she is climbing the ladder of success very fast while I am content with my job and life in a small town. Life goes on and we continue exchanging our happiness, worries and sorrows. I wonder how incomplete life would have been without this precious bonding.

The tricycle

2008-09-09T00:25:00.000-07:00

A black and white pic. A tricycle. Two little sisters starting their journey of life..

....these vivid images flashed across my eyes when someone asked me to talk about my childhood memories. It was a newspaper reporter whose news peg was women of Jharkhand working in the social sector. For moment all I could think of was this pic and then one after the other images flashed across my eyes like they do in our very own "sabse tez" news channels! Me going to school wearing my grey uniform, sis and me enjoying nani's delicacies, my mommy making "pua" for me, sis's birthday cake, grand ma's jam, grand pa's lectures and the hustle bustle of a joint family.

Coming back to the picture (I wish I could put it up here but sadly I dont have a copy of it). This was taken probably when I was not more than 1.5 years old n my elder sis 2.5 years old. We were like inseparable twins wearing similar clothes most of the times. Sis was the "driver" while i was seated comfortably at the back probably after a "hearty" meal as I looked very stuffed :))

Sis was always the smarter and mature one and me the good and the funny girl:) Graduating from black & white pics to colored ones we bonded more and more though nature wise we were always poles apart. I remember going to "East & West" our montessari school where I had beaten up a boy as he had "harrassed" sis by eating her tiffin! Being a "mamma's baby" I used to start wailing "mummyyy mummmmyy"from the staircase itself once I was back from school while sis used to look at me annoyed! Strangely I can recollect that sis had started going to school (I was only 2 at that time) and I used to miss her like crazy at home(...dont know if anyone knows this but I used to even cry till she was back)! Then when I started going to school, this cry baby used to cry for momma :))

As we grew up our outlook to the world took its own shape with the circumstances and choices that we made. Slowly our world changed.....she went out to pursue her dreams while I stayed back waiting for my dreams to fall in place..Guess that was the first error I made in life. She was always there to tell me that I should rethink my decisions. I will not dwell in to the plus and minus of our decisions on this platform but there is one lesson she always tried to teach me - Assert yourself and always remember that it is YOU who is the most important.

Today we are lakhs of miles away and we have our own lives but the connection remains. I am a mother now but still feel like a baby when I talk to her with all the motherly advice coming from the other side of the phone line :)

.....there is another person whom I met later in life & like you she is also far away today. However we are far closer to each other than with any of the people who surround us all day..God really has an amazing way of telling us that he is there!

lost it?

2008-08-14T00:15:00.000-07:00

Everyday I think of updating my blog page but all i do is close the page after changing the layout and shuffling the elements. Seems like either my mind has become blank or it has lost the capability of logical thinking. My thoughts just run hay wire. I pick up the newspaper, read the headlines, then quickly shift to some other news item and within seconds I am done with the news reading for the day! Interestingly my job profile is that of a researcher- someone who is expected to read a lot, be updated and possess loads of "logical thinking"! I see none of these characteristics on the right track at the moment...

Now I am trying to get my mind to "focus" and "analyse" as to why this is happening-ummm...........a few reasons are coming to my mind.

9 months back god gifted me my precious new life - my son, Ansh. I read somewhere that lactating women have memory loss problems. They are absent minded and cant focus on things.
I am sleep deprived! Dark circles around my eyes demand sleep sleep and more sleep..zzzzzzzzzz.............but mamma has to wait till the little one grows up :) Being half drowsy all day also dusnt let me focus!
All my thoughts go in to thinking about ansh, ansh and ansh..leaves no space for absorbing the latest health research! lol... (I guess this is common to all mothers and that too the 1st timers!)
Career wise I feel I am stagnated and my personal learning has stopped in my current organisation. This might be another reason of disillusionment.
ummm.....Now I am gettin restless and want to wind up here!

Shall try and get back with more meaningful stuff! Till then wish me happy reading and medidating on my thoughts!

2008-06-11T03:06:00.000-07:00

Sitting all alone again I was reminded of a mail forwarded by a friend. It said dont wait for things to happen and dont think that one day everything will be all right. Live and enjoy today! This is something that I think about most of the time nowadays because it gave me a big realisation...Till now I have only lived on hope...hoping against hope that there is way to get things corrected and moulded your way. This is the biggest mistake anyone can make!!Everyone wants to mould everything around him including human beings to suit his/her comfort, failing to realise he/she has no right to do so. It just cant happen! This only leads to conflicts and worsening of the chances of "things to get fine"!

Life can never be prim and proper...yes it is for some but most of us have to live and be content with what we have. But understanding and incorporating this in our lives is the most difficult part!

2008-06-11T03:04:00.000-07:00

While taking a shower in the morning the sound of a drilling machine digging deep down in search of water struck me..the hand shower i was using seemed to be such a simple day to day "utility gadget"!! A few days back my neighbour's well had dried up and they resorted to another deep boring to extract more ground water. This has become almost a routine incident. Every one around my house and for that matter we too have dugged deep into the earth and are extracting precious groundwater. There is no other way..the government does not have water to supply..and we need water for our day to day needs..
This thought process took me to another line of thinkin...how would this change our world in the coming years...Check this out -
1. There will be shower detecting squads hunting down those using them and fining them a hefty amount.
2. Using a cistern and flushing religiously would land you up in jail!
3. dry toilets and sand would be the rule of the day!!
4. Installing rain water harvesting systems at home would become mandatory and in case there is no rain one would have to migrate with bags and baggages to cherrapunji!
5. After every meal the plates will have to be "wiped" clean and not "washed" clean!!
6. westside, wills, provogue, allen solly, shoppers stop, etc etc will all launch a new range of Disposable clothes!!
Can you think of more??
Then add to this list ....:)

Deja Vu

2008-06-11T03:00:00.000-07:00

I find this to be very intriquing specially when I relate it to beliefs like reincarnation. This feeling of Deja Vu always leaves me surprised and wondering whether what I am thinking and feeling is right. And the interesting part is that it has not happened once but several times since the time of my childhood I can recall!
Tell me do you sometimes feel the same? Do certain events/happenings make you feel that it is not happening for the 1st time and you have witnessed it before?

motherhood reckons!

2008-05-26T04:20:00.000-07:00

I should have done this months back but as we say "better late than never", I would want to share how life has changed drastically in the past 1 year...
October 30, 4:36 am, a new ray of hope, a new joy, a new life comes in to my life..with blurred vision instilled by labour pain I saw the tiny life which was a part of me. Its feeble wails had filled the room with happiness.
Now I could see my mom who sat through with me all night, my husband, my mom in law..all in high spirits! Next day we went home and then started the sleepless nights..the little bundle of joy was weak and needed constant attention and feeding. He recognised me by my smell. When alone I would cuddle him and tell him how important he was to me and how he had filled the loneliness and emptiness in my life. I came to know how demanding motherhood can be- sleepless nights, forgetting oneself, forgoing all that you are used to eating, forgetting all your pain, doing things you never ever imagine yourself to be doing (in my case being absent from my sister's engagement though it was happening a stone's throw away). Sis forgive me for not being able to participate in the biggest event of your life the way I should have done..But you still remain one of the most important parts of my life and wish you all the happiness in the world.
Now without digressing from the issue, after the initial very tough months it was tiem to play, to talk and to see my baby growing fast..so fast that it has become difficult to catch up with him! he is goin to be 7 months old very soon. since the last 2-3 days he loves to talk "tata, dada" etc..!! he loves to sit alone int he front seat of the car with the seat belt on and to watch and scream at the fishes in the aquarium!

the need of rural india

2007-09-26T04:31:00.001-07:00

I had put up another poll on orkut but could not write on it since a long time. This may not be of interest to all as it is concerned with the development issues that the social sector is looking at. The “NGO community” members of orkut were the respondents to this poll. I took their opinion on what they perceived should be the highest priority of the social sector when it comes to rural India. The options to choose from were – mother and child health, livelihood, rainwater harvesting, HIV/AIDS & water pollution. The maximum votes went to livelihood (32 percent) while maternal and child health followed closely with 28 percent votes. HIV/AIDS was next on the priority list & water pollution and rainwater harvesting received least importance (10 percent).

My verdict on the poll results: They were very much up to what I expected.
Livelihood is truly the most important problem faced by rural India and all other issues mostly are interlinked to this aspect. If there is some source of income only then other issues in life can be thought about and dealt with. If there is hunger and lack of basic elements of life other issues always take a back seat. A mother and her newborn can be healthy only if they get adequate nutrition and follow good health practices. A man can notice the water pollution and unhygienic conditions around him only if his basic need of hunger and a respectable life is fulfilled. Several studies on HIV/AIDS have found out that its prevalence in rural India is again due to lack of livelihood only. Villagers migrate leaving their families behind in search of work and come back with the fatal disease infecting their entire family sometimes. Hence similar to the fellow NGO community members I also feel that livelihood generation is the most vital issue. I work on mother and child health related issues but always feel that it is best to integrate these components and adopt a comprehensive approach.

daily soaps: not that bad!

2007-09-24T02:36:00.000-07:00

I have been thinking of writing on this since a long time..All of us (specially the housewives) are familiar with the "K serials" that fill up all the prime time slots everyday. Well let me confess after avoiding these soaps for years I have myself become a regular of atleast 2-3 of them. Thinking of what drew me to them I could come up with 2 v "feminine" reasons - one the get up of the females and two my own boredom! In between I always get to read how these shows are a real waste of time and how unrealisitic and vague is the story line of each.

The amount of critcism that these shows recieve should have successfully created a wave of protest and dislike for them. But the truth is these shows go on and on and on undettered and the list of "K" serials has increased so much that every channel you switch on you find some woman dazzling in a saree plotting and scheming and what not...but i have a different point to make..

I think there is indeed something positive about these shows that keeps them going. Atleast "something" has to be nice about them -

They keep the women engaged - I guess if a survey is done among housewives who are alone all day, the prevalence of depression in them would be found to be reduced drastically as compared to the times when there was no Balaji Telefims or other such production houses!

They act as reminders of our festivals- Now this is something I really appreciate about these shows. Even small festivals like teej (which is slowly losing importance) is depicted with such fervour and excitement that one feels like being a part of the festivities.

Sitting at home you can know what is the latest fashion!! :))

It has given employment to so many people who otherwise may have struggled and struggled and then got disillusioned with their lives.
This is also a boon for the behind the scene workers who have guaranteed work and meals now.

???!! Can you think of more?

I am not here for some advocacy campaign FOR the "K" serials but the whole point was to make you see that nothing is without a purpose. If these soaps have been sustaining themselves for years there is definately something about them that keeps them going.

September 9, 2007

2007-09-12T03:35:00.000-07:00

It was like any other day...just that 2 days were to go before the much talked of 9/11 day (not that it is related to the contents of my writing :)).

I was sitting on my bed watching TV after lunch..the little one inside me moving slowly as if rocking itself to sleep after a nice lunch with momma :)
Suddenly the movements got vigorous and I looked at my tummy ..what I saw was the most amazing site I had ever seen.

I could see my tummy swaying with the baby and could make out the patterns of movement!
Having discovered this it is always so much fun to look at my little angel move within me as if wanting to connect to me and to tell me how it is feeling in its "protected area"!

Now as time goes by and the dday gets nearer my eagerness to tuch and hold this magic of god increases by the day....

Deja Vu...

2007-08-23T04:22:00.000-07:00

Standing on my terrace and looking at people moving in their vehicles or on foot is a usual evening task..Suddenly a red maruti and a white ambassador missed a fatal collision and resulting in a road side fued...This sequence of rather irrelavant happenings gave me a feeling what we call "Deja Vu"!!!
It happens a number of times that a quick sequence of events seem to repeat themselves or may be happen for the 1st time in your life but you feel as if you have been a part of it...its not new to u!
I find this to be very intriquing specially when I relate it to beliefs like reincarnation. This feeling of Deja Vu always leaves me surprised and wondering whether what I am thinking and feeling is right. And the interesting part is that it has not happened once but several times since the time of my childhood I can recall!
Tell me do you sometimes feel the same? Do certain events/happenings make you feel that it is not happening for the 1st time and you have witnessed it before?

Azim Premji's take on reservations

2007-08-22T03:59:00.000-07:00

Wipro chairman Mr. Azim Premji's comment on reservation:
I think we should have job reservations in all the fields. I completely support the PM and all the politicians for promoting this. Let's start the reservation with our cricket team. We should have 10 percent reservation for Muslims. 30 percent for OBC , SC /ST like that. Cricket rules should be modified accordingly.
The boundary circle should be reduced for an SC/ST player. The four hit by an OBC player should be considered as a six and a six hit by an OBC player should be counted as 8 runs. An OBC player scoring 60 runs should be declared as a century.
We should influence ICC and make rules so that the pace bowlers like Shoaib Akhtar should not bowl fast balls to our OBC player.
Bowlers should bowl maximum speed of 80 km/ hour to an OBC player.
Any delivery above this speed should be made illegal.
Also we should have reservation in Olympics. In the 100 meters race, an OBC player should be given a gold medal if he runs 80 meters.
There can be reservation in Government jobs also. Let's rec ruit SC/ST and OBC pilots for aircrafts which are carrying the ministers and politicians (that can really help the country...)
Ensure that only SC/ST and OBC doctors do the operations for the ministers and other politicians. (Another way of saving the country...)
Let's be creative and think of ways and means to guide INDIAforward... \
Let's show the world that INDIAis a GREAT country. Let's be proud of being an INDIAN...
May the good breed of politicians like ARJUN SINGH long live...

sad but true.....

2007-08-06T23:21:00.000-07:00

Verbal autopsies are done to reach to the root cause of deaths of infants. Well a knotty thing to do! As soon as I came to know that this is going to be a part of our regular activities in the villages we are working in I chose to avoid it! But its said that the more you avoid a particular situation the more you are destined to be a part of it. I was assigned the task of field testing the newly designed verbal autopsy forms. This was not the same as any other field tests we conducted in the past because it involved instigating (in a way) the mother or whoever would be the respondent to relive the moments they must be trying hard to forget.
On my way to the villages I kept thinking how I would be able to break the topic. How would I ask a mother that I wanted detailed information of her child’s death? Finally I reached my destination and our field workers took me to the houses where infants had recently died. All around me I could see only females and they were so poor and malnourished that it made me wonder how they survived child birth! I asked the field worker to brief them on why I was there as he could communicate with them more easily in their language. Meanwhile I sat there feeling nervous and preparing myself for the denial and anger of these mothers who would ask me to spare them the agony of thinking about the recent tragedy that they had gone through.
But I was wrong….
I found myself surrounded by all these women the next moment. I could not believe they were actually looking forward to this session! One of them said her baby died 21 days after it was born. It just stopped taking feed and was dead within hours! She had a girl happily playing in her lap oblivious of whatever was happening around her. An extremely anaemic woman was sitting by herself in one corner and I was told she lost twin children within 2 days of their birth. Extreme poverty and malnourishment were written on her face. How could she have given birth and that too to twins and survived it all! The reasons for the deaths seemed to be directly related to the mother’s health status, her workload and rest patterns and nutrition intake.
While asking questions to her I realised that I was surrounded by many women now and they were very excited about whatever was going on! Many of them came forward and told me that they had also lost newborns. “madam mera bhi interview le lijiye. Iskey baad kuch honey wala hai kya? Sarkar se kuch milega ya aapke project se,”said a woman. I sat there totally numbed by the insensitiveness of the people around me.
On my way back I thought it was wrong to say they were insensitive. Actually life had been so harsh on them since they were born that nothing stirred them any longer. Facing troubles and sadness is a daily routine. They know they have to go on living bearing these hardships every moment. Sad but true…

a new life

2007-07-23T00:17:00.000-07:00

25 weeks into my pregnancy everytime my mood goes off I think of the new life inside me and it lifts my mood instantly! I had always heard that this is a wonderful feeling and now I am actually experiencing one of the wonders of God!

Feeling it grow day by day and cuddling inside me brings me closer and closer to this angel whom I am dying to see and hold now. I wonder is it asleep? is it listening to what all i say? does it already know I am its mom? Does it recognise daddy's voice? & sometimes I also get curious to know if its a boy or a girl!

It is also a huge responsibility which I shall shoulder ..Its much bigger than my first job or staying all alone to pursue a career. My baby will be my strength and the reason to live...

Waiting for u my love...

My poll

2007-07-06T04:45:00.000-07:00

Hello Friends,

Just like millions of us, I am also an orkutian :) I liked this new idea of posting polls on the communities and promptly put up one poll..

It said -

Will the malls coming up in Ranchi be at par with those in other big cities?

I see several malls comin up in Ranchi..But will they actually be good n provided a good place to freak out for the entertainmnt starved city?

Created by: t Voting ended: 02-Jul (4 days ago)

Ranchi is a small city (for those who dont know..its the capital of Jharkhand state of india)

This city does not have much to offer to the younger generation though its bliss for the oldies! :) However the city seems to be fighting hard to catch up with the development all around. Once I drive out of my home, I come across several construction sites and big hoardings talking aloud about the lavish apartments to be built there or some mall to come up...Now that major cities around entire India have several impressive malls which attract loads of crowds specially on weekends, wht should Ranchi be held back?! :)

I was wondering how it would be to have malls n multiplexes in this city..I feel they will not be the same as in big cities like delhi and mumbai and will not draw the same kind of crowd for sure...

Well here are my POLL RESULTS -

43 percent of the people feel that the malls will be at par with those in metroes while 33 percent are of the opinion that Ranchi's crowd is never going to change! Just 5 percent feel that the malls would not match up to the standards of the renowned ones..

what do you think?

I feel the malls mite be nice but the crowd will make it a place not fit for weekend freakin out..

the beginning

2007-07-05T22:20:00.000-07:00

The world of blogging is not new to me but yes this platform is new..hope i am able to add substance to the google blogs!

CHEERS!