Missing Exams

I had never thought that I would miss my exam days so much after I finish my studies. When my younger sis said that she was having her exams that’s when all the melancholy memories of my exam days comes back to me. The study leaves before the exams when I used to sit and stare into the notes and dream on. Then the guilt feeling at the end of the day that I have wasted one whole study holiday doing nothing but dreaming off and with the definite resolution in my mind that the next day would be different with me definitely studying the whole day. Study holidays also was the time when I used to have three square meals a day, cleaned up my room, had long luxurious baths, went off for long evening walks.

But then it all remains the same till the day before the exam when all of sudden the mind gets sharper and all things read gets into the mind. It is like the brain has taken a definite turn in one day and amount of thing you can remember and understand becomes tremendous. The day before the exam I will be seen eating, sleeping and drinking the notes for the exam, it is really a sight to see the girls would all have their notes with them when they come down to the mess to have dinner or breakfast and they would be seen studying from the notes and simultaneously eating their food. We do multitasking from quiet a young age I should say. The wardens are happy on the day of exams as the mess hall has pin drop silence during these day as compared to other days when we make such a racket that it can be heard on the fourth floor in our rooms when the mess hall is located in the basement.

Another thing that I miss of the exam days is the precious five extra minutes of sleep when I hit the snooze button on the phone. During exams it used to be just 2 or 3 hours of sleep. There are days when we feel that you have got it all in hand and can afford another half an hour more of sleep Oh!! That half an hour of sleep and the quality of sleep is something I haven’t enjoyed yet after having completed my studies

Then there are the guys whom we have to wake up at odd times like 11 in the night, 12 in the night because they feel like sleeping for an hour or two while studying and the next day before entering the exam hall there is this plea “Hey please tell me what is the most important portion for today’s exam as I have not learned a word as I slept of too soon”

Then there is the last day of the exams when you have plans to just sleep so as to compensate for the past 10 to 15 days that you haven’t slept but somehow sleep evades you. You feel so wide awake and so excited about the fact that exams are over that no matter how hard you try, sleep never comes. The end of the exam makes up for all the silence that was enjoyed by the warden as it is not only in the mess but the whole hostel would be in an uproar and when the silence bell rings the level of din doesn’t decrease by any level and hence there would be an additional 2 or 3 bells rung so as to bring to the note of the hostel inmates. This is the day when the warden just gives up on going on rounds to pick on people from room as she would definitely end with the hostel as none would be in their room but be seen lurking the corridor and the veranda’s

These memories want me to go back to the student days but the memory of getting back the papers I could relive by excluding that part. :)

Hostel

I have made all my good friends through my stay in the hostel, life in the hostel opens up the whole new family away from home. The friends you make here are for life and they are there for you all through. I have lived in 2 different hostels in my 5 years of college life. The kind of friendship and relationship you have with your roommates and hostel mates is very deep and they know you really well. They have been with you through your up and downs in life and they too are going through pretty much the same turbulences that you are facing.

Hostel life also makes you become really independent and take care of yourself as you don’t have your parents or guardian by your side guiding your way. You make your own decisions and gain or lose from it. I can definitely say that I became the person that I am today only through my experience of being in the hostel. Student life in itself is fun and staying in a hostel only adds to the memories.

When in hostel in Bangalore there used to be the rules that there was silence hour from 9’O clock every night where we had to be our in our respective room and not seen in any of the other rooms. Till 9’O clock none of us feel like talking or going to the other rooms but as soon as the bell rings indicating the start of the silence hour that’s when you want to visit the other rooms across the hall or even another floor. There have been many instances when I have been caught by the warden in other room during the silence hour and there been times when I have hid behind doors, cupboard and underneath beds just to avoid getting caught.

Hostel also helped me in my academics when there is an exam approaching the whole hostel gets into the exam mode and you naturally get attuned to it. So when in hostel we study hard and party harder.

Now that I have finished my tryst with hostel I am missing it a lot. Though initially I was sad and was in the belief that being away from home and staying in the hostel was the worst predicament that could ever happen to a person it is only now when I look back to my life in the hostel that I come to know that God had planned the greatest life I could live. He had added all the spices of life in proportion so that when I look back in life I come to know that it was the most perfect way I could have lived and it couldn’t have been any better.

Moon

The moon has always intrigued me especially when it is a full moon; it is as though there is some magnetic power which pulls me to it. Whenever there is a full moon I would be found lurking in the terrace for hours just gazing at the moon. During my childhood days in Kerala on days of full moon I used to slip out to the terrace during midnight just to gaze at the moon. There is a mystic power attached to the moon which just mesmerizes those who gaze at it and you never get tired of gazing at the moon. The time just flies when you admire the beauty of it.
The most wonderful spectacle is to see the light of the moon getting dispersed in the thin veil of cloud that passes it. It is magical and heavenly and a treat to the eyes, something which you would never forget. I was lucky enough to see this on Christmas Eve I was at my Dads ancestral home which is on top of a mountain and the moon looks bigger from this altitude. And I guess there was a thin veil of cloud because the sky above suddenly had four or five big rings around the moon and it was supernatural. A spectacle which cannot be explained in words and cannot be replicated by man thus reaffirming the fact there is a greater power up there who knows to make all things beautiful for his people.
Moon has been something on which writer and poet have written lots about and it is like a mystery which we all want to know about. All around the world people have different stories attached to the moon. In the Chinese mythology it said that there is a white hare living on the moon according to the Hindu mythology the moon is a store house of elixir from which the Gods drink thereby leading to the phasing of the moon. Many more myths are attached to the moon from the different cultures across the world showing that moon has been intriguing mankind from ancient times.

Circus...Play of Poverty

On the insistence of my friends I agreed to watch the circus which was running in the grounds near to where we stay. I have been to the circus when I was a kid and I have not enjoyed the act then as well.

Because of the ban imposed by Maneka Gandhi on the use animals in circus the whole of the acts for two and a half hour is put up by humans since there is no activist who speaks for this species yet. The only animals that were used in the act were dogs, horses canary and elephants. What I felt most depressing is the fact that almost 90 to 95% of the acts are done by young girls who are barely 18. And many of the daring stunts which usually get our hearts thumping hard into our chest are done with little or no precautionary measures. And what do these girls get in return for the work that they do very minimal I should guess and I am sure they do get lots of harsh words and severe beating if nothing else.

This act made me wonder in India there is a law against child labor. Would these innocent girls be covered under this law?

The lives of these girls are really pathetic these girls go on touring with the circus and hence not getting the opportunity to study. Even if they want to do something else in life they won’t be able to do anything decent as they know nothing more that these acts that they learned in here. The life of the people who work in circus is a virtual circle as I see it those who are part of the circus troupe more or less marry within the troupe and their children in turn become part of the act put up by the troupe and this circle goes on and on. What is most depressing is the poverty that can be seen and felt when we go to the circus the condition of the humans and animals are pitiable the props they use are old, the dresses that they have to wear is dismal all in all there is very sad feel to the whole act and atmosphere.

A very depressed me was what got out from the circus feeling sad and useless of not being able to do anything to better the condition of these girls and these people in whole.

Mother Nature

The marvels of Mother Nature show the handiwork of God the Almighty. When the last rays of the setting sun peeps in through the cloud cover it is a spectacle which shows the great hands of God at work. When these rays fall onto the still water there is twilight like mystical effect that is seen. Everything in nature is original, innovative, breath taking and a treat to the eye. Mother Nature is the original innovator in the universe and what man can do is to only replicate what we see in nature.

The best thing about nature is that it is a treat to the senses that is the eyes, ears, nose so on. If we are atop a cloud touching mountain peak the feel that we have when we are there is unique as we are enveloped by the mist on all sides and we won’t be able to see the person right next to us. I was fortunate enough to have experienced this when we went atop Rajamalai which is home to the Nilgiri Tahr near Munnar in Kerala. Just after climbing atop mist started descending on us and what we could do was to wait for the mist to lift and go. Truly speaking it is an experience of a life time a feel which is never going to be forgotten till I die.

Another spectacle of Mother Nature was seen when I visited Yercaud which is a hill station near to Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu. Here what I saw was play of sunlight through the clouds on the Coimbatore town that is spread down as a valley below the peaks of Yercaud. The day we visited there were bits of rain cloud and the scene of the sunlight streaming through the small gaps in these rain clouds cannot be explained in words.

I have always felt that beautiful spectacles like these can never be captured by any camera or video and can never be replicated. Also if we don’t see these at those specific moments of time we wont be able to see it again because changes in nature happen very fast what we see one moment might not be there the next moment as the effect of light and the wind changes within minutes or rather seconds.

But today we are too busy to enjoy and see this marvels we have to take a vacation to some hill station to see these spectacles. For this I envy my grandparents who are lucky enough to see this every day of their life. My Dads ancestral home where my grandparents live is atop a mountain and the front view we have is the neighboring mountains. It is a vision to see the mountains to be hidden by mist which looks as though the cloud has come down and enveloped the mountain when there is heavy rain and how that lifts up after the rain is over. On the other hand my Moms ancestral home has another kind of natural beauty to it. They have paddy fields and streams in the backyard and the number of various birds and small animals that you can spot here is countless. There is calmness which is experienced by me when I go to both my grandparent’s place which just soothes the mind and relieve me of all the stress that I have. The greenery that is seen here is more than enough to relieve us of any stress that we have

Onam

Onam bring in a lot of memories, the floral carpet competition, the song competition, at school.

In school we used to have the floral carpet competition and it used to be between the respective houses. It was a grand affair during those days a lot of things had to be planned and decided like the design, the amount of flower that need to purchased, for the floral carpet. There used to be an allotted time period within which the floral carpet had to be made and only a specific number of people were allowed to be there in the auditorium when the floral carpet was being made. The teams had to make sure that only the allotted number was there in the auditorium near the floral carpet or else the team would get negative marking.

Oh it was so much of fun getting up early in morning and getting ready in ‘Pattu pavada and blouse’ the traditional attire worn by girls in Kerala. The tension filled moments before the prizes were announced. I can still remember the first floral carpet made by me during school and the prize won for it. It was Sherly madam who was our house mistress and she was very competitive in these things and made sure that her house won the entire event taking place at school and get the overall trophy at the end of the year.

In college also there are great memories with regard to onam during my graduation in Bangalore the malayalees in college used to celebrate onam buy wearing the traditional saree and having floral carpets put in the corridors. During my Post Graduation in Kochi we used to wear the traditional saree. Then there used to be some competitions and also the ‘Sadhya’

On the day of onam all my uncles, aunts and cousins used to get together and used to celebrate onam. The uncles and all of us cousins used to be preparing the floral carpet at home and all the aunties used to busy in the kitchen preparing the Sadhya. It is a joyous occasion with loads of laughter and fun in the house. This year I am in Hyderabad far away from the warmth and colors of Onam and I missing home Kerala a lot :(

Atlas Shrugged

Atlas shrugged is an exceptional book written by Ayn Rand where people who do exceptional work are credited. The story revolves around the central character of Dagny Taggart who is the Vice President of Taggart Transcontinental and how she does everything in her ability to save the railroad been taken over by the looters and become extinct.

The beauty of this book lies in the fact that there are many characters in this book whom we look up to like Francisco‘d Anconia, Hank Rearden, Ellis Wyatt etc who have this exceptional characteristic to them that we fall in love with these characters. But the best loved character in this book is John Galt who is really the protagonist of the book in a way. The character has been portrayed in such a flawless manner that we expect people to have these characteristic in them. The brilliance, the arrogance, and the attitude it is like a gem in the pool of human characteristics.

The philosophy advocated by Ayn Rand in her books is the fact that only those who do honest innovative work in this world need to live and prosper. Her books fountainhead and atlas shrugged are as tribute to the great mind s and character in human race. People like Howard Roark, Dagny Taggart, John Galt, Francisco’d Anconia are not seen in the real world but people hope that they do.

Saree

Saree nine yards of clothes which can be draped to such perfection that we often wonder how they do it….

The elegance achieved by the women when they adorn this attire is not found in any other attire worn by them. There is a class and sensuality that exudes from a person after wearing the saree. Saree in an attire which is worn by everyone in our country old and young, rich and poor, North, East, West or South of our country. It is worn in different styles in the different states in our country according to the traditions of that state and the religions. It is worn during festivals and important occasions in one’s life like wedding etc and also daily by millions of women in our country. How much ever sophisticated an Indian woman might be they wear this at least once in their lifetime.

Earlier saree was the only attire among women in our country and over the years the prominence of this attire has decreased with the introduction of salwar khameez and other western forms of attire. Today wearing of a saree by the young Indian women is considered special and they often look forward to the first time that they will be able to tie the saree and it is worth the anticipation.

The draping of the Saree can be an occasion in itself for first timer because getting the nine yard of silk or cotton draped around your body would require more than one helping hand and long hour of one’s day. In addition there is the absence of that comfortable feel which is often found while wearing other attires.

Saree, a traditional attire which is embraced by even the youth of our country, an attire which exudes elegance and sensuality. An attire which is synonymous to our motherland India.

Maternal Instincts

Maternal instincts a feeling which every girl is inborn with I guess, don’t we see two year olds mothering their younger sibling or the dolls that are their playmates. An adaptation of this feeling is seen when the little girls play house having their own imaginary houses and family with kids. Girls love pampering and taking care of the stray kittens, puppies and other helpless young creatures found in the neighborhood.

These angels when they grow up this instinct in them also grow and you can see college girls cooing and cuddling over the kids in their own extended families or over the ones in the neighborhood or even the ones they see in the malls or cinema halls.

From personal experience if said, when Mariya and I go out for shopping we always spot the kids in the malls and go crazy on them. Another place where we normally go crazy over kids is when we go to the church if there is a baby in the vicinity of where we are seated, then the mass that day is dedicated to watching that baby, no prayers flow out from hearts to the Lord on that day.

When we see a kid fall we miss out on a heart beat or our heart reaches up to our throat, also the natural instinct of bending forward to avoid the kid from falling even though we would be no where within the reach of the child. A reaction I guess by almost every woman on this planet world. When we see a baby or a kid cry it tears our heart and our only instinct is to pick up that little bundle and hold it close to our heart and make it feel safe in our bosom.

The sweetest, purest and most powerful feeling in this world…………………

Friendship Day....

Friendship day during school reminds me of Neet, Mariya and myself weeks before friendship day making friendship bands with wool of different colors. The weekend gathering at trinity corner used to be avoided when friendship day used to be near. Instead we used to sit at our home with our bundle of wool trying out different patterns in the bands being created by us.

On friendship day Neet used to come home in the morning to go to church along with us as was usual on Sunday’s and be the first one always to tie us the friendship band as Mariya and I always forgot about it. I still don’t know how both Mariya and I used to forget that it was friendship day and how every single year Neet used to be the first one to tie it on both our hands.

The whole week after the friendship day used to be celebrated as friendship week at school and for the whole week friendship band used to be tied across. And the bands were not removed until the end of the week .There was also the process of counting as to how many band each of us had got and who had got the most number of bands?

The person who suffered the most during this week had to be my Mom, who in addition to getting us ready for school had the additional job of tying the friendship bands on each of our hands...... :)

Sweet Solo!!!!

This is an article which came in the 'Times of India' Hyderabad edition dated 13th July 08. The subject 'Loner' is one which I relate to very much and hence I wanted to share this article with the rest of you. :)

"I’m 13 now, don’t you think it’s time I got my own apartment dad?” is a teaser from a film currently running on a prime time movie channel. Walk in alone to a restaurant, and the maitre d will ask, “Table for one, Maa’m?” without batting an eyelid. As Oprah Winfrey once put it, “Nobody’s manufacturing any more space. I’ll take every bit I can get”. Loners echo the sentiment.

People across age groups and professions are finding their invaluable sense of personal space, urging them to live on their own at regular intervals. Space issues are cropping up within homes, and children are moving out even in the same city. High-rises are getting higher, cities more crowded, and suburbs stretching to their outer limits, as the great Indian Individual marks his personal territory.

Delhi-ite comedian Vir Das now lives in Mumbai. “I have an apartment slightly bigger than my body. Thanks to my work profile, I always see crowds around me. Hence, I need solitude back home. Here I don’t need to perform. I am just myself, doing what I want to do.” Self-indulgence does not necessarily make you a bad person. “On the contrary, I have become more disciplined, caring and responsible. But the best part is that I have begun to discover myself. Self-revelation has its own high.” Das is 29 and a new-age Loner. But you don’t have to be single to be a Loner. Successful online art dealer Aporajita Pal Mukerji has been living on her own for at least 20 days a month for the past 13 years. Her husband, a marketing professional, is out of town for the most part. But she wouldn’t barter it for anything else. “I love the time I have to myself. I work out, read books, connect with my friends… I know couples who have separate bedrooms and bathrooms too,” says Mukerji.

The trend has gone from joint families to nuclear ones; from nuclear families to Loners. And Loners are no longer stereotypical sad, isolated individuals who can’t make friends. Many are in healthy relationships, have bustling social lives, are part of clubs in their neighborhoods, and are constantly in touch with their families back home. Look at the girl or guy next to you in the train or bus. Prod a little and you’ll find a Loner.

The Loner is financially responsible and independent. Paying guests, rentals, and hostels are as much in demand as family homes. Actress Neena Gupta explains “financial empowerment is walking the talk when it comes to enjoying the option of living alone.” Those who’ve caught on to the expensive ways of the city have wisely invested in suburban apartments.
Spiritual teacher Neena Dandekar points out that “the urge to find one’s little nest is seen even among today’s teenagers. It’s easier to do away with the curfews parents impose.”

The Loner is also keenly focused on ambition and career, migrating to build the demographic with a dipping age-profile. “Now more people are flocking to different places at an impressionable age to study or work, which has given a whole new definition to the concept of happy loners,” says creative entrepreneur Preeti Vyas Patel. Rising incomes have allowed personal space to unfold. Spaces for family and for self; personal studios for creative artists, two-car homes, and separate vacations are not rare. Connecting with one’s self is all-important. Singer Sonu Niigaam feels his best indulgences happen during a long flight. “I read, watch movies, create melodies…” And he has a future vision of peace, he says. “When I turn 54, I’ll live alone in the middle of a forest, by the sea, or on a mountain, meditating or farming!”
Consultant psychiatrist at Mumbai’s Jaslok hospital, Shamsah Sonawalla says “Living alone out of choice can actually rejuvenate one’s mind, discipline one’s self and makes one very attractive to others as he/she is perceived to be self-reliant.”

The Loner is also not a stop-gap to living a complete life. Banker Arindom Chatterjee is happily married and a successful professional. Yet, he is most content when he steals few hours of solitude every weekend. “I either go for a long drive or curl up in bed and read or listen to my favorite song. I insist on this personal space as this is the best way I unwind,” says Chatterjee.

Even senior citizens like Arati Gupta, who has the option of moving in with her son and daughter-in-law, prefers to live alone in Delhi. “I share a beautiful relationship with my family, but I prefer my me-time. I gave up a high-profile job to enjoy things one talks of doing someday. Three years later, I have yet to ask myself if I’ve felt lonely. I live by the motto — ‘Enjoy life, employ life, it flits away and will not stay’. I plan my activities such that each action is satisfying. I travel to my ‘wish-list places’. I enjoy being with my grand-daughter. At home, I’m comfortable with my music, books, internet, friends and above all, my fitness routine.”

The Loner lives in her own space. Alone, but no longer lonely. She has found her own space, her calling, her self.

Hugs

Hug an expression of love, a way of greeting among humans and many other living creatures. Common sights of greeting in the western countries but do so in India it is considered to be a taboo. A hug, a touch among friends is considered real taboo and not often seen in our country except maybe in the metros where now a day it is becoming kind of ok.

During my days in Bangalore I got to know how much these hugs from friends help. All of us staying at the hostel used to miss home big time and when one of us used to feel low and homesick a hug from friends helped a lot to go on forward with our lives.

A touch from our fellow being is something which is required by every human being, it is something which means lots in his/her life. It is often read that a baby needs to touched and cuddled so as to make it fell more secure and protected and so as to help bond with the people around it. And I believe it is not only when we are babies that we require it but also as we grow older we require it or we crave for it but we are not aware of it.

When one of our loved ones is sad or has been affected by a tragedy and has broken down the best way to console is to just hold that person close and tight thereby letting him/her know that you are there for him/ her through their tough times. No amount of consoling word would be more comfort to that person than the hug you give during their time of sadness.

Hug an expression of love, care and support so very important in human lives, an expression which says much more than words, an expression which makes us feel whole.

Friendz

‘Friends’ a sweet name given by someone to the greatest relationship that can exist between 2 people. ‘Friends’ you have them by your side wherever you go and whenever you need them. They become more important to you than any other relations that you have, they will be there for you during your times of sorrow and distress, they lend you their shoulder when you cry, they are there during your days of happiness, and they multiply your joys in ways unknown to you. There is some way known only to them to make the ordinary days most special for you. Friends come to know you better than your own parents and in some cases more than we know ourselves. They know what hurts you and see to it that you avoid those things that hurt you.

Though we make a lot of friends over the course of our life not all are friends made for life only some of the special ones are for life. They would be there for you always just a phone call away any time that you want them. Some of them are with you only for a little time and then you leave them and they leave you behind and go ahead with life. And in our walk of life memory brings in them back to us and we remember them fondly like a sweet chapter that we love to revisit again and again. Always wondering what they would be doing now and how they have fared in the journey called life. :)

Speed! It thrills but kills.....

Speed thrills but kills a phrase often seen on the highways asking us to slow down on the highways. But speed does give the thrill which makes us forget that it might also lead to our death if not careful.

I love zooming on my Honda Activa through the highways in Kochi. It is a great stress reliever for me and I did not realize how much I missed the rides on my Activa until I rode it two weeks back after a gap of 6 to 7 months when I had gone down to Kochi for a few days. It is so exhilarating to zoom on it through the highways in Kochi as road are clear and congestion free and we can go up to an 80kmph for sure and need not go below a 60kmph for a major portion of our rides.

While on the Activa I love the wind blowing against me, sneaking my way through the huge traffic blocks, the stress ebbing out of me with the increasing speed ohhh!!! I just love this and more. I consider myself more a bike lover than a car lover as I just love the rides taken on the bikes be it a pillion ride on the bikes or just simply ridding it.

While doing my MBA whenever I felt bored at hostel I used to sneak out with my Activa for long rides through the seaport airport road (which is wide straight stretch which joins the airport to the seaport for transporting the cargo fast and smooth) as it did never saw much traffic. Zooming through this road was and still is one my favorite pastimes whenever I get the time to do it on my vacations in Kerala.

The Activa I think is the best gift given to me by my parents. The independence and freedom experienced while riding it cannot be explained. It surely is exhilarating to just zoom on it. :)

Three Mistakes of my Life

“Three Mistakes of My Life” a book by Chetan Bagat who is famous for his earlier works ‘Five Point Someone’ and ‘One Night at a Call Center’. This story is based on the three childhood friends Govind, Omi and Ishaan and how the communal riots that happened in Gujarat affect their lives forever.

The other major thread that runs through the entire story is cricket, how the passion for cricket affects their lives in a major way. Another protagonist in this book is the little boy, the cricket genius Ali an indirect reason for the crack in the friendship between the three and also indirectly a reason for the death of one of them during that fateful night. The story gives an insight into the communal tension that persists in Gujarat and also how it is flared up by the political parties for their own benefits.

I personally like the first book by Chetan Bagat ‘Five Point Someone’ which was great I have also liked the latest book by him ‘Three Mistakes of My Life’ though we ponder which the third mistake……is

Girls of Riyadh

This is a book written by Rajaa Alsanea about her four friends who belong to Riyadh’s elite class. The girls are in their early 20s and the book shows how they struggle to live a life of their own in a society where male dominates their decisions and how love blinds them in their path of life.

The story revolves around the lives of Gumrah, Sadeem, Michelle and Lamees their struggle at the age of marriage to find true love and hold onto it. The story depicts how the girls learn from their past mistakes in love. The story gives a glimpse of how the girls find it difficult to breathe and live a life which many of us take for granted. A better description of the lives women in such countries is depicted in the book “The Princess”.

Heights to conquer .........

I am on my way to Yercaud from Kochi, a trip with my family. On my way after the district of Palghat (Kerala) almost entering into the State of Tamil Nadu I see what I am guessing is the Western Ghats.

These peaks touching the clouds get me thinking as to whether it is possible for man to conquer these peaks and if anyone has made these lofty peaks their home. Just to know if there are any who have conquered it and made it into home I would travel up there to know this thus making me either the first one to reach it or one among the many who have already reached it and made it their home.

Man has conquered all possible peaks on earth; men have scaled the tallest peak in the world the Mt. Everest time and again so what is the Western Ghats for them. When I see these peaks which are always engulfed in the clouds it makes me want to conquer these lofty peaks and stand enveloped in the cloud giving me the feel of being on top and out of this world.

One of the many marvels of Mother Nature. :)

Future....

What does my future hold for me? Where would this life of mine lead me to? These questions often go through my mind and I am sure this is something that goes through the mind of many of you as well. We are confident when we have the knowledge of what is going to happen? The routine that we have if we go through the same path we are fine with it. When some major change happens in our life we are not so sure how to go about it. The unknown and the uncertainty of life bring about a feeling of fear in our minds. This uncertainty about the future may be reason why the astrologers and palm readers are successful as they claim that they can predict the future. An insight into the unknown future a sneak peak into the unknown this what they all claim to do and that is something most of us want to know.

Though most of us claim not to actually believe the zodiac forecast that come in the newspapers we all go through it just to know what is in store for us. The uncertainty and vagueness of future is what makes life all this exciting. The turns that future takes both planned and unplanned are what make it so interesting and worth going on. I am sure there have been certain periods in our life when it has been really difficult to move on through a few hours or days because of what awaits us at the end of those few hours or days.

Diary

I don’t know how many of you have tried keeping a diary or writing one. I used to write a diary continuously for a few years when I was in school and college. It is really helpful when you feel all alone and lost among your loved ones. The diary helped me go through the painful days in Bangalore (pursuing my degree) when I was too homesick. Writing a diary helps us to get a clear direction when we are facing a dilemma in life because as we write down on a paper our mind opens up and what we would have never told out aloud comes out in paper.

The diary is the best friend you can have as it listen to you patiently the only drawback being that this friend never speaks back to you which can get on your nerves sometimes (personal experience). My personal experience of writing a diary has been great I would still love to keep a diary given I have the time to write into it. Even today when I am depressed or in a dilemma writing it down on a piece of paper not necessarily in a diary has proved beneficial in those frame of mind.

Another benefit of the diary is that we can revisit the memories that we must have long forgotten. You revisit the things that you did, you revisit the frame of mind you had on that particular day 5 or 6 years back it is magical. When I go through my diary I go back to the days of fun I had at school the outings and the small incidents at school or college that I have long forgotten but when read through brings back those vivid memory.

The diary also help us in analyzing our own behavior when I go through my old diaries I find certain characteristics about myself which I am not aware of. I feel as though I am rediscovering myself when I go through the diary.

My grandfather (Dad’s Dad) has been writing diaries almost his whole lifetime and that too daily. He is over 95 years of age and still continues to keep a dairy. When we the grandchildren get together we often sneak into his old diaries to confirm birthdays of aunt uncles and other relatives.

The best known diary all around the world is a diary by a young German girl Anne Frank who died during the reign of the Nazi’s but she still continues to live through her diary. Her diary is a best seller which has been converted into many languages and is read by millions it is known as “Anne Frank - Diary of a Young Girl”.

The Wedding!!!!!!

This is a book by Nicholas Sparks which depicts how Wilson and Jane rediscover the love that they had for each after 30 years of marriage. The book shows how couples tend to move away from each other over the years of their married life and when the kids that have kept them going move out how it affects their relationship. The story is written as a first person narration by Wilson as to how he acknowledges his mistakes over the course of his married life.

The story deals with how he is trying to win back the trust, love and affection of his wife and in a way his kids. What I liked about the book was that Wilson is admitting that it was his mistake that has lead to such a state for the way their relationship has turned out. He is the one making the extra effort to bring back the romance into their life which had gone away.

Also what I like is the story of Noah depicted in the sidelines which is story not believable by many of how Allie found a way to come back to him as she had promised. To know why that storyline is important it is best if you read 'The Notebook' also by Nicholas Sparks which depicts the love story of Noah and Allie. Like all other books by Nicholas Sparks this one also has a sweetness to it. Another thing that I have noticed in his books is that he always depicts the love story from the eye of a man as to how they see a relationship.

Marriage

'Marriage' a word that bring nightmare into the life of most of the girls. The nightmare starts the moment the parents decide that their little girls have grown up and need has to be married of. Then starts the most complicated process of finding the guy for which parents depend on the broker and the endless myriad of family relatives and nowadays the internet as well.


The first phase consist of the girls being dressed up and get her snap taken, no snap taken is good enough as there would be some flaw or the other in these. A perfect snap never comes out and then when the eligible guys details comes in the girl is asked to make a decision which is often not wholeheartedly supported by the whole of the family. Either the Mom does not feel he is the correct one or the Dad or the siblings who have greater decision making power than they have ever had. This is a period during which a girls fights the most with her parents and when they feel they are not understood by any at all. What I don’t understand is how in the world is the girl going to decide who among the lot is best to become her life partner. On what parameter do we come to this conclusion after all it is a question of sharing our whole life with that person!!!


Then is the tradition of sashaying the girl before the proposed guy, his parents, and relatives which is a ritual in our country. The girl is the one who has suffer in this as she is the one being scrutinized and questioned during this entire ritual and the amount of mental trauma she goes through when finally the proposed guy rejects the girl for reasons like not being fair enough even though she must be as fair as the model in the fairness ad. Enough to get your self esteem low. I know that you would say that you need not take all those seriously and personally but how much ever you say that, they are after all human being and it would affect these gentle souls in a way or the other.


I am still in awe with my friend who got married recently going through this traditional method followed in our country. All I want to know from them is how did they know that he was The Right Guy or the Prince Charming?

Weirdoes I met in my job :)

My experience of first job has been quite different from what many of my classmates are experiencing in their first job and I am happy about that. The atmosphere at office is not very different from my days at college. The project into which I was mapped into was one where there were 17 of us management graduates freshly out of college. And since we are all operating from the client location the pressures of the real office is not present here. We enjoy working in between the loads of fun we have at office.

The weirdoes that I got to meet here are many and I will describe a few of them. The first weirdo is VJ whose only aim in life is eating. For him life is all about eating he is never full even though he has had a full chicken biriyani along with the starter like Nan and chicken. He considers himself as a bad eater as he finishes the last among the lot. He learned the art of speaking Hindi only after joining this project and now considers himself to be the guru making new word and new meaning to the already rich language. An example of his addition to this language is 'Jaane ki kona hain' which simply means 'I am hungry' this proves my points that he is passionate about food and start talking to him any language it will ultimately lead to food.

The next weirdo whom I met was Nishi, the first person in my life whom I have seen who can laugh non stop for half an hour straight and I am not exaggerating when I say this. He can talk nonsense for hours and can start of with his laughter at the drop of a pin. Talking about Nishi alone when talking about weirdoes would be left incomplete if the partner in crime is not mentioned and that is Viks. Viks was the original Hindi guru before VJ took over his position, Viks attains the position of weirdo only when he is around with Nishi when both of these get together it is laughter riot for the rest of us here in office sometimes getting us in doubts as to who is the crazy one those two or the rest of us around.

Though I have named them weirdoes they are great people to have as friends and they are the reason why my experience at work has become so memorable, fun filled, lovely and definitely different from what my classmates are experiencing in their first job. I am sure not many of us are lucky enough to have such a fun filled start in our career and I consider myself really lucky in this aspect :)

By the river Piedra I sat down and wept

This is a book by the famous author Paulo Coelho, in this book he has brought out the relationship between two people in a beautiful way. In this book he has given an insight into the devotion to the Goddess that is the Virgin Mary and it's lost prominence over the years.

The story revolves around the love of two childhood sweethearts who are meeting after many years. The story through Pilar shows how a little faith can help people find themselves when they are lost in their ways in life.

The style of writing by Coelho is not liked by many I too have only liked only two of his books from his collection so far one is 'By the river Piedra I sat down and wept' and the other is 'The Alchemist'.

Inspired

I was just thinking the other day that who are the persons who inspired me to start writing or blogging.... and I felt that two persons in my life are the reason for this blog.

The first inspiration being my uncle (Mom's younger brother) Rev. Dr. Fr. Joy, while he was getting his doctorate from Rome I used to write letters to him giving him detailed description about the happenings at home. After reading my letters he was the one who said that I had the makings of a writer and that in future I might end up being a great author. This encouragement from him was an inspiration for me ......way back in my mind even today I have this dream of writing a book which would be much loved by everyone.

The second person, the reason for me to start blogging is Ash my best friend, the period during which you finish college and wait for the joining into the job is a period when we go mad because you are missing college and all the actions and fun of college and want to get involved into something just to keep you going. As my date of joining got postponed I was literally going crazy with nothing interesting to do. That was when she advised me to start blogging as this would help me get engaged in something I would love. And she persisted in telling me this until I started this blog. I am not exactly sure how she knew that I would love this but then sometimes I feel that she knows me better than I know myself. And for this I am ever thankful to her.

My Uncle has been an inspiration to writing as such and my best friend has been the reason for starting this blog. Both in their own ways knowing that this is something I would love doing

Love

LOVE.........a word that gets me thinking.....this I feel is a word which has many meanings to it. In the different phases and relations in life it takes a different meaning or to word it differently this emotion takes different forms or faces in our lifetime.



The Love that we feel towards our parents is totally different from the love we feel towards our siblings. The love we feel towards our friends is not the same we feel towards that special someone in our life. The beauty of this emotion is that it can be increased to such an extend so as to envelop all those people held dear by us over the years and also those new people whom we meet over the course of our life....

An emotion so strong that it makes man go to great depths just to prove the love towards a person......it sometimes give you those queer aches in your heart when you feel an avalanche of this emotion..........this ache in the heart maybe the reason why the pictorial representation of this great emotion is a heart.

Love I believe is the food for the soul.........an inspiration for us to stay alive and probing us to do greater things in life. Love a word......an emotion which has so many faces to it... which makes the world go round..... :)

Save the Girl child!!!!

India was a country where the birth of a girl child was considered as the arrival of the goddess into the household. A country where women were respected and revered I am not sure when and where this country took the wrong turn and started considering this very gender that they revered as a shame and a disgrace. The birth of a baby girl led to the parents to be stigmatized in the society.

Empowerment of women and a change in this outlook against women would happen only through education, it is often seen that the illiterate women folk in the village are the ones who scheme against their daughter –in- laws and see to it that they are blamed and tortured in case their grandchildren turn out to be girls building up resentment in the minds of the coming generation against the girl child. If the literacy rate among women goes up then naturally the literacy rate as a whole would go up and this stigmatization against women would come down as a literate women would not want their kids to be illetrate and women who has knowledge would not stigmatize against the girl child.

Literacy would help in correcting the wrong notion of girl child being a burden to the family and not being useful in contributing to the family’s income. We can see that educated women are achieving great heights in every field they enter today. Now a day’s women who are well educated and getting employed are given the same pay as their counter parts. The reality that women too can earn as much as their counterparts if well educated would bring down the discrimination meted out to them and thus helps in the progress of the country.

All those who read this would say that this does not happen now and is a truth of the past, but I think no, still in those far flung villages in our country they still have this stigma attached against the girl child. Though I would say that over the years there has been a definite change in the outlook and there is still progress happening in this direction but for this to happen at a faster rate we need to see to it that the girl child is also educated along with the boys.

Ice age...Stoneage..... Evolution happening!!!

Our QT ma'am from MBA class told us about a topic one of her ex student was doing research on; it was the shift in the behavior of men and women. She said that the researcher felt that women are taking on the characteristics which were earlier seen prominently among men and the men were changing in their behavior which was earlier akin to women.

The example she cited was the change in the way men wore colors like pink and pastels which were considered feminine and never used by men. They give more prominence to their appearance by visiting beauty parlor for manicures, pedicures facials and so on, so much so, that companies have come out with fairness creams exclusively for men. They also take active participation in taking care of the kids; they babysit them and are comfortable taking care of their kids even if their wife’s are not around.

In women she said they prefer black and darker shades to lighter color which were earlier considered feminine. Also earlier the fact of women working and earning was not there but today she says the women are keen on pursuing career making them sacrifice marriage and family. Earlier the women used to get married early at an age of 20 to 25 but today we see that women are not ready to settle down until they 30 and then also they think a lot before having a family because they feel that it will dampen their career aspiration which was the way men thought a few years back. The men on the other hand have settling down earlier in their life.

There was a recent article in the newspaper about the fact seen in the matrimonial sites, the article mentioned that they found that the marriageable age of men has come down with most of the men getting registered and married as young as 23- 25 . They also highlighted the fact that marriageable age of women has gone up they found the women registering to these site the age has gone up to 25 -30. The article also mentioned that they find that the women felt that marriage would curb their independence a feeling which was seen among men a few years back.

This has got me thinking if there has been a shift? Or has evolution brought about a change in the behavior of the genders. I feel this research is worth looking out for and I would be definitely looking forward to the findings.

Thulavarsham!!!!! Nature at her best

I have stayed in three cities other than Kochi........Mumbai, Hyderabad, and Bangalore and in each of these cities have enjoyed the rains. But I miss wholeheartedly the beautiful rains of my home Kochi.

In Kerala it rain all around the year or almost all round the year and we actually have two seasons when we are assured of rains one starts with the opening of the schools in Kerala on June 1st (give or take a day or two) which is specific on drenching the kids on their opening day to school and the other is during the Thulamasam (a month according to the Malayalam calendar) around September-October and is named Thulavarsham.

I personally like these Thulavarsham showers as it has a special power to it…….it is nature in all her fury. The day begin as usual bright and sunny during Thulamasam.....it gets very hot by afternoon…. even though it is bright and sunny you could hear a thunder or two as though a remainder of what is in store further down the day. By mid afternoon the whole place darkens up with heavy black rain clouds it would be as dark as evening 6 by around 3 in the afternoon. The sky lightens up with the lightening the whole place echoes with the thunderbolt. The electricity office normally turns off the power before these thundershowers as a precautionary measure thus adding to the ambience. The power of the lightening is really known now when it is dark both outside and inside the home .

Though I am scared of the thunderbolt I love it…. the power, the fury I feel that this is when mother nature is at her best. The lightening and thunder would begin the evening performance the speedy winds would be added to this already powerful performance and the last addition would be the heavy lashing rains which is a treat to the eyes and is very soothing to the heart and soul. I realized the beauty of the rains in Kerala after I saw the rains in Mumbai, Bangalore and Hyderabad.

I can assure you that an experience of the thundershowers in Kerala is really worth it. Sipping hot coffee in the candle light at 4 in the evening with darkness all around…… the occasional lightening and thunderbolts……Oh how I want to enjoy once again this magnificent spectacle in Gods Own Country ....the moments we feel ourselves to be so insignificant before God and nature… :)

Weirdo....

A favorite pastime one summer vacations among all of us kids in the colony was cycling, most of us had our individual cycles and used to cycle in full speed in the colony lane. The younger lot who did not have cycles used to play the traffic police giving direction to us and so on. This pastime ensured that none of the uncles or aunties in the colony could walk down or come out with their vehicles when we were on the cycling spree. Not so frequently our parents fed up of the racket made by us would allow us to go out on the road (that is beyond the colony lanes kind of the busier road). Eventually so as to aviod being nuisance we moved into the church grounds to cycle. The church is a very old one almost a 100 years old which has lots of spare ground filled with trees making it shady even during the peak afternoons thus it being transformed into our new cycling path.

One evening when we were cycling in the church grounds there came a guy who was passing through the church compounds, it is a shortcut used by many. He seeing us kids play came by and asked one of the younger ones as to where do we stay. Seeing that he was speaking to the younger ones all of us who were cycling came to where he was speaking. Neets younger sister Geet who has never said truth in her life till then informed us that the man was a drunkard who was not from the neighborhood and was asking them where we lived. She said she was scared and asked us not to tell the truth saying that he might come in the night and may rob us and go (idiots that we are we believed it). We said to him that all of us kids (round to 10 of us)belonged to two families living in an area far away from where we were playing and that we had come to a relatives place on the other side of the church. He started asking us our names and we made up names and told him and we watched him till he left the place and even trailed him to make sure he left that area. To tell you the truth we were scared and the rest of the evening was spend in discussing about the guy and what would have happened if we had told the truth.

We have church family get together every first Sundays evenings in one of the families houses. In one such church family get together soon after guess to our surprise whom we ran into? The same guy whom Geet had told was the drunkard and was from some faraway place. He was a new person to the neighborhood an advocate a new member to the church. And during the entire get together he gave us odd looks because we were calling each other different names (obviously we had given him wrong names) and we who belonged to another part of the city were being introduced as sons and daughters belonging to different families in the neighborhood. I am sure he would have been thinking whether he was weird or were the kids weird. I am sure the reason for this is Geet the liar. Even today when we see this guy in church or on the road we giggle among ourselves remembering the day we all had turned weirdoes :)

Anne of Green Gables

This is a classic by L.M. Montgomery which is a favorite with people all over the globe. The beauty of this book is that young girls who read the story of Anne actually fall in love with Anne girl and taking example from the book try and imagine her as their playmate when they need one. The language of the book is simple and easy and that makes it endearing for the readers. This was a book I read during my school day from my school library.....later on I came to know that there are further series to this book which portrays the life of Anne further on... this lead to the quest of finding the remaining books in the series (thanks to internet and e-books free downloading) I got the full series through net and having read the entire series I feel it was worth the search. None of the books in the series is dearer to me than Anne of Green Gables but that does not mean that the rest of the books are not good .Maybe because I read green gables first when I was so young and became a favorite then it still holds the same place in my heart. One thing I am sure of is that if I have a daughter then Anne of Green Gables and it series is going to be one of the classics she is going to gifted sooner than later in her life. :)

Work life

It has now been almost 6 month since I have joined work, all those images and dreams during college days about work and life as a whole has given way to bitter truth.

In my dream I saw myself as the highly popular marketing personality working for an FMCG company ideally located in Bangalore as it was the city in which I did my degree and fell in love with (this was seen before the campus placements took place) . This dream of working in FMCG Company came to a screeching halt as soon as I got placed in a software firm through campus placement.

According to the placement talks and presentations given by the company into which I got selected. The dream took a bit of a deviation to fit myself into the software scenario. I saw myself as the jet setting lady who markets software solutions to the potential clients who are located all over the country...working on my lappy at airports and client locations .......not being able to see my family for months on end nor being able to contact my friends as I would always be on the move.

This came to a complete screeching halt when I faced reality, the project I got after joining was not exactly of the dreams and imagination I had...... it certainly did not need me to market any of their products (as the are still just making it).........the beautiful city of Bangalore in which my dream was always set in ......... got transformed into Hyderabad.......the thought of the busy lady who do not see her family for month at end got transformed into virtually being home every weekend (happy about this dream going wrong)....... the client location did not spread across the country but got fixed to a state and city..... Hyderabad. So much for dreaming and coming back down to earth with a thud face down ...... ;) OUCH!!!!!! tat hurts :D

Drink and drive.....Early death

This post is based on something I personally went through.... my roommates friend died in a bike accident the cause for which was drink and drive. My friend is still coming to terms to the fact of her friends death very painfully day by day....she still can't believe that she is not going to get a call from him or a message from him.....that she is not going to see him smile back to her ever again.....

Who stands to lose of your death in such instances where the blame for your death is solely upon you ...... you never once think of your father and mother who have loved you soo much whose every dream has been made on you.....you never think of your Mom who worries mad when you are down with just a fever or a cold what would go through her mind when she sees your lifeless body...nor do you think of your Dad who works day in and out just to be able to give you the best of everything in life.... what would be his state of mind when he see you broken before him...... ever thought of your brothers and sister who have only you to call their own how are they going to see you lying there .......you never once think of those friends who are going to be devastated when you are not going to be there for them...you never think about your wife and kids whose world revolves around you and for whom the world is you.

You for that one moment of happiness drink and in that state drunkenness you drive thinking you are the king and nothing is ever gonna happen to you but just round the corner one mistake just one mistake it takes away everything .... it cost your precious life.........the fact of which you might not even know but it is the rest of your loved ones who are going to be shattered ..they are the ones who are going to find it hard to accept that you are not going to walk back into their lives with your smiles and talks...that you are not to write back the scraps... you are not going to call back... you are not going to message back to them..... Please don't drink and drive....I would plead not to drink at all... because it is going to hurt all of whom you love and hold dear....also all those who love you....

Valentines day !!!

Valentines Day!!!! A day highly commercialized by the card companies, soft toys and flower industry in the initial years. Today it is commercialized by any business or industry who is in any way directly or indirectly related to this day.....just yesterday I saw a Valentines Day special offer by Go Air giving special discounts if traveling with your partner....How is air travel and valentines day related? we would wonder........but there is the relation put up by Go Air.... travel with your loved one and get a discount on the second ticket purchased (still not able to get the connection between air travel and love)

Valentines day gained prominence in India mostly over the past 10 to 15 years and this can be attributed to the opening up of the Indian economy and the FDI flowing in. The day is so much commercialized today that there are write ups and offers for the day lined up even months before the D-day. It has influenced the young minds of India so much that we see little kids at school too celebrating the day spending stupendous amounts on buying gift for the ones they claim they love (rather early I would say to have found their soul mates in class 1). They start their Valentines day by buying flowers and chocolates (budget constraints) and move on to buying jewellery, electronic gadget, diamond and other expensive as they grow up.

Instead of it being just a day long celebration ...recent years show that it has turned into a weeklong celebration and I am sure not far away is the time when the whole month of February would be celebrated with offers and special discount for travel, food and clothing and anything which can be related to this day dedicated to Love.

I often wonder if any other Saint in Christianity has attained so much popularity around the world....and if any other day other than Christmas in Christianity has gained such popularity among all faiths around the world. Also wondering if any of those who celebrate this day with great splendor know that 14th of February is the feast of St. Valentine and we are actually celebrating his martyrdom for helping people who loved each other.

Valentines Day.....

This is an entry which I have taken from the internet an entry by me regarding Valentines day will be posted shortly.

Every February, across the country, candy, flowers, and gifts are exchanged between loved ones, all in the name of St. Valentine. But who is this mysterious saint and why do we celebrate this holiday? The history of Valentine's Day -- and its patron saint -- is shrouded in mystery. But we do know that February has long been a month of romance. St. Valentine's Day, as we know it today, contains vestiges of both Christian and ancient Roman tradition. So, who was Saint Valentine and how did he become associated with this ancient rite?

Today, the Catholic Church recognizes at least three different saints named Valentine or Valentinus, all of whom were martyred.

One legend contends that Valentine was a priest who served during the third century in Rome. When Emperor Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers than those with wives and families, he outlawed marriage for young men -- his crop of potential soldiers. Valentine, realizing the injustice of the decree, defied Claudius and continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret. When Valentine's actions were discovered, Claudius ordered that he be put to death.

Other stories suggest that Valentine may have been killed for attempting to help Christians escape harsh Roman prisons where they were often beaten and tortured.

According to one legend, Valentine actually sent the first 'valentine' greeting himself. While in prison, it is believed that Valentine fell in love with a young girl -- who may have been his jailor's daughter -- who visited him during his confinement. Before his death, it is alleged that he wrote her a letter, which he signed 'From your Valentine,' an expression that is still in use today.Although the truth behind the Valentine legends is murky, the stories certainly emphasize his appeal as a sympathetic, heroic, and, most importantly, romantic figure. It's no surprise that by the Middle Ages, Valentine was one of the most popular saints in England and France.

While some believe that Valentine's Day is celebrated in the middle of February to commemorate the anniversary of Valentine's death or burial -- which probably occurred around 270 A.D -- others claim that the Christian church may have decided to celebrate Valentine's feast day in the middle of February in an effort to 'christianize' celebrations of the pagan Lupercalia festival. In ancient Rome, February was the official beginning of spring and was considered a time for purification. Houses were ritually cleansed by sweeping them out and then sprinkling salt and a type of wheat called spelt throughout their interiors. Lupercalia, which began at the ides of February, February 15, was a fertility festival dedicated to Faunus, the Roman god of agriculture, as well as to the Roman founders Romulus and Remus. To begin the festival, members of the Luperci, an order of Roman priests, would gather at the sacred cave where the infants Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome, were believed to have been cared for by a she-wolf or lupa. The priests would then sacrifice a goat, for fertility, and a dog, for purification.

The boys then sliced the goat's hide into strips, dipped them in the sacrificial blood and took to the streets, gently slapping both women and fields of crops with the goathide strips. Far from being fearful, Roman women welcomed being touched with the hides because it was believed the strips would make them more fertile in the coming year. Later in the day, according to legend, all the young women in the city would place their names in a big urn. The city's bachelors would then each choose a name out of the urn and become paired for the year with his chosen woman. These matches often ended in marriage. Pope Gelasius declared February 14 St. Valentine's Day around 498 A.D. The Roman 'lottery' system for romantic pairing was deemed un-Christian and outlawed. Later, during the Middle Ages, it was commonly believed in France and England that February 14 was the beginning of birds' mating season, which added to the idea that the middle of February -- Valentine's Day -- should be a day for romance. The oldest known valentine still in existence today was a poem written by Charles, Duke of Orleans to his wife while he was imprisoned in the Tower of London following his capture at the Battle of Agincourt. The greeting, which was written in 1415, is part of the manuscript collection of the British Library in London, England. Several years later, it is believed that King Henry V hired a writer named John Lydgate to compose a valentine note to Catherine of Valois.

In Great Britain, Valentine's Day began to be popularly celebrated around the seventeenth century. By the middle of the eighteenth century, it was common for friends and lovers in all social classes to exchange small tokens of affection or handwritten notes. By the end of the century, printed cards began to replace written letters due to improvements in printing technology. Ready-made cards were an easy way for people to express their emotions in a time when direct expression of one's feelings was discouraged. Cheaper postage rates also contributed to an increase in the popularity of sending Valentine's Day greetings. Americans probably began exchanging hand-made valentines in the early 1700s. In the 1840s, Esther A. Howland began to sell the first mass-produced valentines in America.

According to the Greeting Card Association, an estimated one billion valentine cards are sent each year, making Valentine's Day the second largest card-sending holiday of the year. (An estimated 2.6 billion cards are sent for Christmas.)

Approximately 85 percent of all valentines are purchased by women. In addition to the United States, Valentine's Day is celebrated in Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, France, and Australia.

Valentine greetings were popular as far back as the Middle Ages (written Valentine's didn't begin to appear until after 1400), and the oldest known Valentine card is on display at the British Museum. The first commercial Valentine's Day greeting cards produced in the U.S. were created in the 1840s by Esther A. Howland. Howland, known as the Mother of the Valentine, made elaborate creations with real lace, ribbons and colorful pictures known as "scrap". Special thanks to American Greetings.

Summer vacations!!!!

We three the "Troublesome Trio" had the best childhood days anybody could have dreamed of. Onam, Christmas and summer breaks were eagerly looked forward to.........the first reason being no classes and second being loads of fun and play in the colony. The Onam vacation was filled with days full of games.........some time putting up floral carpets in one of our houses. Christmas was dedicated to the choir practices for X'mas and New Year mass...hence mainly in the church and the rest of the time practicing these song so the X'mas vacation was dedicated to these.

The long lazy summer breaks were ones eagerly looked forward to.... getting up early so that we could play shuttle before it became too sunny......visiting the houses in the colony after that ...... climbing walls and mango trees ....... plucking the unripe mangoes and having them with salt on the terraces.... ripen mangoes when they were available. Lunch’s in one of the houses in the colony........cycling, small picnics in places near our colony....... pickle tasting sessions(Neets mom used to put delicious pickles and we saw to it that they did not last more a day or two) birthdays, evening get together .....Oh those carefree days when the only tension was when will we be called back home :)

There used to be lazy days as well when we used to end up sitting in one of our homes talking nineteen to a dozen and emptying the kitchen of the home we ended up being......

I still remember one of the vacation not long after we shifted into the colony all the kids in the colony were bored and hence came up with an idea of helping the aunties and uncles in the colony...... we planned to get the daily grocery what they required every day from the nearby supermarket... of course we expected a fees of Rs2 (cheap nah but think of it divided between like 5 of us) for every delivery made... the sweet uncles and aunties that they are they used to give us a daily order of milk and bread just to humor us... we even had this initiative named 'We Help'..... we who were lazy when our mom used to ask us to go for errands were ready to get grocery for the whole of the colony.....remembering those days brings a smile on my face ... what all we end up doing when we are kids.....

These vacations hold nostalgic memories of both happiness and sadness.......these are memories which are treasured in my heart and bring back a smile whenever remembered fondly.

Introduction to the Troublesome Trio

I have added a new label 'troublesome trio' to the already existing labels. Now let me introduce you to the trio... first and the youngest is Mariya who also happens to be my sis who is three years younger to me....the second and the middle one is Neet who is two years younger to me... the third and the eldest of this trio is myself Anne...

We became friends when our family moved into the colony.... though we call it a colony it was not really designed to be a colony....... the manner in which the hous got constructed lead it to becoming a natural colony.....the straight lane leading into the colony led to the church compounds and from where it forked to the left and the right where they meet dead ends and thus the colony being created of closely knit group of ten families.... the three of us were ones who in age were similar with just an age gap of two or three years amongst us ..... the rest of the kids in the colony were either younger or elder to us.. and the remaining who were in our age slot were boys... added to this we were together as part of the choir....leading the three of us to getting together scheming plans against the rest of them ;)

Friday evening after class and weekends in the colony were fun... in the initial years when we had moved into the colony the people in the colony and believers going to the church had a hard time walking down our lane...... as we used to play cricket, football, rugby and all possible games and created great racket.... as we started going on to higher classes these game filled Fridays slowly turned out to more peaceful Fridays when the three of us would stand at the "Trinity corner" that is what we had named the point where the straight lane leading into the colony forked out into three.......the corner where it forked there is a lamp post which was christened as 'the Trinity Corner' by the three of us. It was these Friday and weekend meetings along with the choir practices that strengthened our bond

The three of us had our usual meeting at the Trinity corner till we, that is my family shifted back to Mumbai five years back :( Even today on Friday evening and weekends when I am free I long to go back to the old days and have our meetings at the Trinity corner where we used to talk for hours on end on God alone knows what all subjects......... and kept on talking there till our moms gave three warning until finally they had to come to literally drag us home :)

We have grown so close over the years that we feel that Neet is also my sis ....... so much so that when I went to Bangalore to pursue my degree I told my friends there that I have two sisters younger to me Neet and Mariya....... and it continued to be told like that till the day she got married :)

Christmas in Kochi after 5 years !!!!! :) :(

Christmas of childhood in Kochi was the tension of whether we that is Neet, Mariya my sister and myself in the choir would be able to sing well or not for the midnight mass. The days preceding the day of Christmas after the school closes for Christmas vacation was spent in the church practicing for the choir on Christmas day midnight mass. The church would be a place of great activity with the youth members from the church setting up the crib, the Christmas tree and the light and audio arrangement for the nativity play which takes place during the mass. Christmas this time was a nostalgia of all these memories.... the choir practices where we had so much of fun, the thrill we got after having finished the mass and parishioners congratulating us on having sung well....the sipping of hot ginger tea at night before the mass so that our voices came out loud and clear...the sleepiness we had to fight off when the priest gave the sermons.....mostly it was the thrill we got when we sang the songs which we had been practicing for days and literally singing every waking moment till the Christmas mass.

This time too like old time Neet, Mariya and myself attended the mass together......just like the good old days the only difference being there was new set of young girls as part of the choir singing instead of the three of us. :) And we went and congratulated them after the mass as we knew that these would be the beautiful memories of Christmas for them in the years to come.

At times like these I always wonder why did I have to grow up..... :) :(

Thousand splendid suns!!!!!

Thousand Splendid Suns is a book by Khaled Hosseini of two women in Afghanistan, the story shows the struggle that these two women face in their lives. The story flows through a time period when there is so much unrest happening in the country including the recent attack by the US on it after the 9/11 attacks. Thus making us relate to it in a better way.

The story is about Mariam and how her life changes when Laila enters into her life and finally how her life ends. The book is a reality which many unfortunate women have to go through in their marriage not only in Islamic countries but all over the world. But the vulnerability for these women lies in the fact that the laws in these countries too do not help them because they too are male oriented and are partial.

Though I had heard a lot about this book I still like the other novels mentioned below because I feel they have more reality towards it maybe because they are real life stories. This story is beautifully written and does depict the miseries faced by women in their marriage and the miseries of being born as a woman in an Islamic country.

The story is yet another window to the lives of women living in the Islamic countries. Other books which give similar overview of the lives of women in Islamic countries are Princess and its series by Jean Sassoon, also another good one is Not Without My Daughter by Betty Mahmoody.