Thru my heart

She opened the trunk to search for a saree, the beige one with the golden border. It was gifted to her by ma’am, the Principal of the school where she worked as a coordinator. They shared a bond much beyond the official one of a school principal and the coordinator. She fondly recalled how the 3 of them, principal ma’am the primary school coordinator Shobha and herself would have lunch together daily talking about the school, their lives in general and share a laugh. They bought the same sarees in pairs of 3 to celebrate occasions like Onam, Red Day etc at school. Ma'am had gifted her this saree for Onam. As she took out the saree from the suitcase, she looked at the 50 or so sarees lying in the trunk. Unworn, untouched. They evoked so many memories of the past years, sarees gives as gifts by teachers as a mark of love and respect, those that she had bought on an impulse, the 3 saree pact with Ma'am and Shobha. Tears welled up in her eyes. She missed those days of...

As I bid adieu to 2016- looking back at the highs and lows -this year will bring such drastic changes is something I could have never foreseen. A year of tumultuous change it was. A big decision professionally which resulted in an even bigger personal move. Fighting through the guilt of the consequences of a decision that worked wonders for me professionally but was no smooth sailing personally. Happy to have seen my blog grow and forge some memorable friendships with fellow bloggers. Looking back at the highlights of this journey and taking sometime to introspect and think about the course of my life in 2017, here is what I want to tell myself 1) The big decision which I have spoken about and which was the most significant aspect of 2016 is my job change -after spending close to 7 years in a company where I kick started my career, it was time for me to move on. I always knew that this was not the place for me, but something kept me back. Was it the familiarity of the pl...

Clara a middle aged Mum of two juggles working in a stressful corporate job plus managing her two young kids. Things were still manageable with just one kid but after the birth of her daughter, she finds it very stressful to give her best and is often left with a feeling of utter deject unable to do justice to her kids or job. She wakes up early cooks breakfast lunch and snacks for her kids and then leaves home by 9 after entrusting her kids to the nanny. At work with a well-paying and highly demanding job, there is hardly a moment of rest. Coffee time breaks and browsing the net or mindless gossip is something she steers clear of. Her main goal is to finish her work most efficiently within time, do the best at her job for she is not someone who is working just for the sake of it or to make some money- NO. She loves working and wants to give her best shot at what she does.  She is also perceived as someone who is good at her stuff and this credibility is something she has ear...

Now let me confess- I am really NOT someone who loves watching daily soaps. I know reading the tile you thought- what the heck, if it’s a daily soap on TV it is bound to be stereotypical, full of nonsense and drama and if you watch such stuff why complain, and if complain why watch?  There was a time when I was in college, all naive, and this was when internet was all about going to the cyber cafe and getting all excited about entering the chat room and typing asl (age ,sex ,location) and talking to strangers. At that time, the only source of entertainment for young people like me was the idiot box so I won’t lie- I used to watch the Ekta Kapoor soaps and probably even like that at that point, that’s why I use the word Naive. As I grew up, met diverse set of people, read and experienced new cultures, my thought process changed. With a hectic job, I hardly found time for any TV watching. My Mom who is also a working woman used to watch a few Marathi soaps. She always told m...

LOVE- something that has intrigued me since I was a little girl and watched Bollywood movies of the hero romancing the heroine and running around tress and thought- Is this love? And when I had my first crush at the age of 10- he is the one I thought, though I hardly knew him and I can't even recall his name now- and I then thought - This is love. Then I grew up and had innumerable crushes and butterflies in my stomach- this was in the 90's and we were far behind the generation today. It just meant looking into each other's eyes and then quickly shifting gaze, laughing shyly and sending Archies and Hallmark Greeting cards. Was this love? And then I met someone who was a good friend but I thought we could be much more, we hit it off so well, belonged to the same profession, we had different interests but don't they say opposites attract? This was surely love. But, alas it wasn't. It was a heartbreak that took too long to recuperate, but today looki...

Dearest Angel,                                         The love of my life, the one who gave me a new identity, who made me realize that I can love so much and just when I thought I had given all the love I had in my heart to you, you showed me that I can give much more. You are a tiny bud now, a day will soon come when you would bloom into a lovely flower all ready to bask in the sun. As eagerly as I wait for this day, there is a tiny voice in my head which is asking me "have I equipped you well enough to face the world, to be a strong girl at the same time be humble? To have the courage and conviction to chase your dreams at the same time be firmly rooted and not lose sight of your principles.  All the qualities which I consider vital in leading a h life- have I passed them on to you?" So here goes my tidbits Angel on things I want to teach my daughter     ...

Please note -This is a piece of fiction.  I looked out of the window and repeated to myself “everything is under control, everything is fine, life is perfect". I looked at the picture perfect photo frame lying on the mantel piece. Our wedding photo- we looked just perfect, made for each other as we looked into each other's eyes and held hands. Yes everything is fine this is just some silly notion stuck in my head. My husband can never do such things. He is such a gentleman. We have a perfect life together. Let me not ruin it by doing something silly. Repeating these words to myself I dozed off in the chair. The dream came again. I could see a little boy running in the meadows, he threw up his head in the air and laughed. He looked so happy, full of life. All of sudden dark clouds loomed over. He looked up and frowned. Someone called his name - a man in a sweet singsong voice. And I could see a shadow emerge. The little boy cowered with fear - no please don't ...