Thru my heart

O what a cute baby, so pretty! So fair, so beautiful!  Yes babies are cute and we all adore them but as they grow up into little girls and boys, can we look beyond their being just a pretty face? Or is it too difficult?   I read this on a website and it's so profound that I made a resolve that I will never use the word pretty as is- ever for my child or that matter any other child.  I quote "the word ‘pretty’ is unworthy of everything you will be and no child of mine will be contained in 6 letters. You will be pretty intelligent, pretty creative, pretty amazing but you will never be merely pretty". This awesome quote is by Kate Makkai, a poet. Wow is the word! I have always believed that young minds are very vulnerable and what you teach them at this age is something their tender minds will grasp and etch it in their memory and this will be very difficult to shake off. The unrealistic beauty standards these days, defining beauty in terms of fair...

A visit to the shopping mall and all kinds of people dressed in varied shades and type of clothes is what catches the eye. While the guys longingly ogle at pretty girls and women check out each other from top to down- right from how has she done her hair to her toe nail and the shade of nail paint, one cannot fail to notice some middle aged aunties all dressed up in a pair of jeans or a skirt, some of them look around awkwardly, adjust their dress and try to look comfortable but it’s apparent that they are not. How could they possibly be? For around them are so many eyes scanning them, some are whispering to others and guffawing. It is quite evident that people find it amusing when a fat lady wears jeans.  She's your regular woman who has those tires around her waist and some generous dollops of flesh on her thighs. She is the one always trying to hide these so called flaws by wearing an ill fitting salwar for hasn't she heard time and again from everyone- “you are FAT, you...

A short story. So where are you working?  Umm, I am not working. Oh!! then what to do you the whole day? Smile sheepishly. Well there's housework and cooking, cleaning, taking care of my kids. Oh ok yes yes I know, there's so much to do.  They would give an artificial smile and move on. But I could hear the smirk in their voice, their words were screaming at me in their silence "She is a housewife, she does nothing". I walked back silently to the bus stop to get my kids. Their school bus would arrive in 5 minutes. As they alight, their water bottles swinging side to side and they see me, a smile spreads across their face and they run towards me and we all immerse ourselves in a bear hug.Then as we trot home, they recount the day's events about what happened in school and I listen in awe. I always missed this when I was a child. As my parents were working, I used to board the school bus, get down and walk aimlessly, open the door of an em...

Cooking and you?  What did you say you mop the floor and wash utensils? Really?  That's so not like you.  You are not that homemaker kind at all.  The corporate honcho, Career woman, how can you possible do all this? This was what I have been hearing since ages. From colleagues, friends, to unknown random people. In fact when I was still young and at high school I used to help at times with household chores like cleaning utensils and I would often receive that look of unbelievable surprise from people. The girl who stands first in class, who is always immersed in books is washing vessels. That's surely made up.  Years passed but people's attitude did not change. I had graduated from school books to CA books and was now working with a reputed Investment Bank as a qualified Chartered Accountant. What would u think would have happened?  Eye balls popped out, people almost choked on their breath and some opened their mouth like a fish - I was married one...

Only death can do us apart -say those in love but in their case even death had to accept defeat. Such was their love. Ever heard of re incarnation. Some may say this is only imagination and something we choose to believe in just to keep ourselves at peace, but could it be true?  This is the incredible love story of my grandparents (Mom's parents) with whom I have always shared a great camaraderie and have heard all about those days when they fell in love, married, went through the struggles of raising a family while keeping their jobs and then seen them enjoy their twilight years in the arms of each other. Lets start right from the beginning. Long long ago (I can say that I guess as this is more than 60 years ago), Rohini a young and pretty girl barely in her teens had just landed in Bombay, the city of dreams seeking her destiny just like so many others who set foot here looking for something better. She had just moved from Mangalore (a coastal town in Kar...

A short story. "We couldn't save him we are extremely sorry ma'am your son is no more". An eerie silence crept all over. I was so shocked that I stood rooted to the spot. No tears, no sobs, no loud cries just a blank stare. Staring into oblivion. It was just this morning that I kissed Rehan good morning, gave him a bear hug which is our morning ritual, whispered in his ears " Mumma loves you baby", lovingly packed his sandwiches and stuffed the chocolate bars and chips into his bag. He was all excited about his school picnic. They we're headed to a resort which had a lake and my boy loved water. What an irony.It's this water which made him pay the price of his life. Yes it took him away from me forever. When a child loses his parents, he is called an orphan. A wife who loses a husband is called a widow, a husband who loses his wife is referred to as s widower. But what do you call a parent who has lost his child. Is there a word? I guess not....