That's Life!
Yes, if it were always a smooth sailing, happy going, it would have become boring eventually, yes, that is right. Life needs to be interesting, at every turn, and the interesting thing is you don't write a script for.
I had seen this ad long time back, on some website, which listed all the best commercials in the world in various categories. I clearly remember, it was Citi . This commercial goes, a father, an executive, is on the run to conquer his ambitions, and his li'l boy is growing everday. The message it said in the enwas, you don't want to miss the firsts of your son in the ambition of becoming first. It went right to my heart the very first time I saw that, in total agreement.
I need to decide my priorities, between my dearest li'l jaan, and make a living. I am never for climbing corporate ladder anyways. I do know my priority though. It's a real tough choice. No guarantee on my "Citi choice" for anything, very risky, am putting everything in the game for that choice, but, I know, deep in my heart, that, THAT is the "right" choice. Rest, will see as it comes.
God willing, everything will fall into place. As my hubby says many times, "Inshaa-allah".
Free Tibet
It's been a long pause between my last post and this one. My apologies, so many things changing so quickly, it's hard to keep up with the pace.
Well, I am back now!
The recent unrest of Tibetans which also made me thinking, The "Free Tibet" movement.
Unfortunate of refugee Tibetans, India does not support their fair cause. We went ahead and arrested these refugees to appease the Big Brother- China! We claim to be supportive by giving Tibetans refuge. Why India is not supporting their cause openly? What I can't understand is Why India has been chickening out? Are we lacking of confidence in our strength? economy? Is it because we have already been beaten by them once? Is it the sheer square miles of the country ? I feel, we are also backing out from protecting Arunachal Pradesh, the integral part of India! We are well competent with China in every aspect today.
Why such a low self-respect? Where did our pride go? It only shows up when Dhoni and Yuvraj beat Pakistan or Australia! or when Rich Gere kisses Ms. Shetty! Or when bachchans make a headline!
We could not protect Taslima from fundamentalists' lobby, we also could not handle the Goa nhomicide case well!
If we want to stride with the "first world" countries, we *MUST* become responsible, and take a firm stand. We can not solve anything by being "modest"or by being "neutral". that is not being modest or neutral, we are just proving our cowardice. Wake up India, Wake up!
still alive
my apologies to my dear friends, for not updating this blog for a while.
had been really very busy these days while..
releasing one by another releases
preparing for "the" India trip
preparing for "the" wedding
preparing for the uncertain j*b scenario
preparing for uncertain status scenario
preparing back up plan for above the uncertainities..
quite stressful days!
but, I am alive, sane and still happy :)
Happy 60th Independence Day!
"Long years ago we made a tryst with destiny, and now the time comes when we will redeem our pledge, not wholly or in full measure, but very substantially. At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom. A moment comes, which comes but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new, when an age ends and when the soul of a nation, long suppressed, finds utterance.... We end today a period of ill fortune, and India discovers herself again."
- Jawaharlal Nehru (Speech on the First Indian Independence Day, Aug 15, 1947)
The Land we Belong
The smell of the earth;
Like the thousands of stars in the sky;
The heights of the mountain;
Like the streams of the river that mingles in the sea;
This is the land I belong to.
This is the land we belong to.
The laughter of millions of children
I hear, I hear;
We hear, we hear;
Echoes across the sky;
This is the land I belong to.
This is the land we belong to.
There is a dream in every Indian eye;
A dream I see, I see;
A dream we see; we see;
A dream we believe, we believe;
This is the land I belong to;
This is the land we belong to.
The rain comes and washes the dry sand;
There I see a name;
In the wind I hear the whispers…
My India, my India;
This is the land I belong to;
This is the land we belong to.
A Happy Independence Day!!!
A Proud Indian
Vande Mataram !
(
Sanskrit: वन्दे मातरम्
Vande Mataram,
Bengali:
বন্দে মাতরম Bônde Matorom)
wisdom (tooth) blues
I had this tooth as a part of my one and only body since, last, I don't remember how many years! yes, it is the past tense I have to use now. The proof of growing wisdom, is not gone, puufff, no more..
The biggest tooth in my jaw, hovering over nothing beneath it, was my 30th. It was the connoisseur of every fine food and drink I have ever consumed until yesterday! There was something with any exotic or non-exotic food and my 30th. There was an inexplicable cohesion between these two, It was always so a challenging task to separate them. Ohh, do I miss my those royal battle after every meal I consumed! May be, I never understood the chemistry between them.. I was confiding to micro mint super tuffloss evermore! It was a love-hate relationship between us, couldn't live without, and couldn't live with.. after all, it was part of my own scaffold, which, now, is history, sitting in a glass bottle coffin leaving behind sweet and sour, hot and cold memories.
Let me give you little background on Dr. chopper puller, my maxillofacial surgeon. I doubt he can ever understand anyone's (to be specific, my) love for confirmation of my wisdom. My tooth had been going delicate darling for anything i consume, very out of it's characteristics, throwing tantrums for all fine foods and drinks it adored for years. My dentist had suggested me back in 2003 to get it removed, but my strong love for my 30th was not giving up though I had been noticing little black thingie forming up on my W tooth.
With growing pains, I gave in, and called up Dr Chopper Puller, to set up an appointment. The doc was out on vacation for 3 weeks, which gave me some time to breath, in case, I want to change my mind. And on Aug 1, I had no choice, I was trapped in my own trick. I took off from work a little bit work too, little nervous, I am driving to the Dr C Puller's office. Here, they treat you like, at a salon, for a hair cut, chop chop chop, and done!! I would say that your hair stylist is little bit more involved into you while giving you a hairstyle.
At Dr. C Puller's office, handing out my insurance card to the lady at the front desk, I was filling up the forms. She got quite excited, she kind of shouted delightfully after reading my employer's name at my inusrance card, "Ohh, it's XYZ company!" I can see her calculating a big fat incentive she is soon to get by charging my insurance. Here, I am worrying about my tooth, with which, I am parting for good, and there, she had already started day dreaming about spending her perks at hawaii.
The most disconcerted wait period was over. A lady dressed in a ight blue net like gown over her dress lead me to a small 12X10 room assisting me to sit on "the chair". This was the last destination for my wisdom tooth. She tried to push an x-ray film in my mouth from all the possible angles, to take a last picture of my last loved one in the row. She could not succeed, got another lady with a different clip to bite on with an attached film in my mouth. Finally they accomplished the big job.
Again, I was left to spend few last minutes with my 30th alone.. Meanwhile, on the other side, both the ladies were setting up the doc Chopper Puller's tray with pliers and injections, and many more handyman's instruments which I don't even know the names of. I saw a big long injection of the length about 8 to10 inches. The masked man enters finally, lowers my back-rest and my chair to have my head in tilted position looking towards a ceiling. The nurse wrapped a bib like thingie around my neck. I obediently opened my jaw to the Dr. Chopper Puller displaying proudly and nervously my dearest tooth. He rubbed an anesthetic swab before he mercilessly poked a 3 inches long needle in my gum line, on my soft pallet surrounding my wisdom tooth. Again, I was left to witness / experience fading sensation of my tooth. The doc came in again, now all set for the action.
I opened my jaw as wide as I can. I closed my eyes from this moment on. The last picture I remember of seeing was of nurse, holding a suction tube, and doc with plier like instrument in his hands, both masked, wearing safety glasses. That was it! He was pulling my teeth out of my mouth as if a carpenter pulling a nail from wooden log. This struggle lasted for 3-4 minutes. Then, I saw him putting gauze in my mouth, asking me to bite hard on it for at least next 30 minutes. I was done! 5 minutes, and the surgery was done! I don't know what emotions I had, but it definitely was not a happy feeling. I walked to the front door after prepaying the amount they were to charge my insurance, with a post-op instructions in my one hand. and I was dragging myself to my car, gettting ready to drive in the rush hour bumper-to-bumper 5 miles an hour traffic for next 30-40 minutes holding blood and saliva mixture in my mouth , not letting it go down the throat. I just had a "surgery"...
The only good thing I remember about the whole episode is that the dr. chopper puller called me at home later in the night, asking me how I was doing while I was stirring soup in a pan on the stove..
I miss my 30th tooth, the WISDOM tooth...
Who Is Responsible?
I was surfing through TV guide for a comedy show, and then I saw something India, and caught my attention. I was curious about what is "Slave Girls of India", which was supposed to be one whole hour show, and I swapped to the Oxygen channel. I assumed, it might be about child labor, and forcing girls to work as a laborers.
Even WORSE!!
It caused an acute pain in my heart when I saw what they showed. I started crying as the show was progressing:
Slave Girls of India. They are trafficking 11-12 year old nymphs into the world's oldest trade, the trade of flesh-prostitution!!! Picking up girls from poor families from a villages which we have not even heard of, and trading them into brothels, at the age when they are supposed to play learn and have fun. These girls have no idea what is happening to them, they have no idea what are their rights, they have have no education, neither their parents have any education. These girls are from villages, where they have not heard of any machine yet.
It is our, "educated" mass of India's responsibility that these criminals be tried with law and executed. In this documentary I saw on Oxygen, they mentioned an organization called "STOP" which is rescuing and helping such underage girls from these evil establishments. I could not find any reference of this institution online when I thought of donating this organization directly..
This is such a heinous crime, and our corrupt government and cops are nourishing this slavery, it is well revealed in the the undercover video camera clips. When will my India stand up to these criminals???
Labels: Flesh Trade, Girls, India, Oxygen, Slave
agony or bliss ?
How confident we feel to think that we are the makers of our own future!
I have realized in past and also realizing it now, that there is nothing in this world that we can control, except our own attitude.
I live in a loft style apartment, really cool one! it is sort of a separate unit, sharing one wall with my neighbor. and now, something happened that I will have to vacate it.
I am in love with this apartment. I have a patio, right on a small man-made pond. the so called bed room is upstairs, gives a feel of a house! I love this apartment during summers! I can sit on the steps at the pond in my patio, sipping through watermelon juice, that's one of my rituals during summer. handing out candies to those playing kids, chatting with neighbors while walking past the common entrance. I have two private entrances for my apartment! There are lesser amenities here, but the patio on the pond and slanting roof, huge windows flooding the whole place with sunrise were making up for it. I will have to give this up next week.
I then thought that I have two choices, either be in agony of leaving the apartment i am in love with for last 4 years or be optimistic about bigger kitchen, more amenities, and possibility of getting satellite dish for Indian channels!
I am more leaning towards the second choice :) , bit expensive though, I am realizing the cost of owning big screen tv, furniture, etc. It is expensive to move with all these stuff! thank god, I did not go for a couch yet, and got just settled with a futon!
this might also be symbolic, I am ready to welcome big changes in life, anticipating many more changes to come along the way.
I'm moving out on the memorial day long weekend, which starts on May 25. Ironically, this is also the date, my grandma passed away last year... may her soul be at peace. remembering her, I will start moving out...
