Life is easy kya karein

Blank paper seems difficul  to start writing on. One needs a blank paper to write and to me a blank paper seems like 'Now where do I start from?'Actually I know, I can start and write all that I want and what I want to create or plan, but I am not used to total freedom. I live by rules. I am proud to say I follow the law almost always. I feel society has norms which one must accept to make the running of the society smooth. I don't know what I would do with total freedom. My family and friends think I have a lot of freedom and in the strict sense I am not answerable to anyone. But I have lots of self imposed rules. When I write, there is a fear that if I have had a conversation which now I am penning down, I hope I am not hurting anyone. I definitely do not want to encroach on someone's private space but my writing for sure reflects my thoughts. The thoughts , views or opinions about certain things , area, people etc. None of this is sacrosanct and the final truth. Its...

Its that time of the year when Shivaji Park fills up completely. No its isnt another funeral or a visarjan. This is for Ambedkar death anniversary. I have written about it earlier. Have taken children in the crowd to see what it is all about. Never got too scared of the crowds as my Granma always took us to lot of religious places. Baijnath temple in Devghar in Bihar to Kashi Vishwanath temple in Benaras to Srinathji, Nathdwara in Rajasthan to The Mahakumbh mela at Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh , we have experienced all as children. I never saw my maternal Grandparents or my paternal Grandfather as they had passed away many years ago. My Dad's Mother, my Dadi, made up for the absence of all the three Grandparents. She gave me so much love that I never had a chance to miss the others. She showed her love in many ways. Apart from being an amazing storyteller, she cook produce wholesome tasty meals really fast. She had great knowledge of the religious scriptures and she was afraid of no o...

In most Indian families, as soon as the daughter of the house turns18 or 20, the family starts looking out for a boy for her. The trick is to catch them young or the proverb of the Early bird catches the worm. So if the man hunt starts early , you will get a good groom. Financial security and good family are two main criterias for a good groom. The groom's grooming, the woman can handle later. When I kept saying No to the boys my parents were showing and a couple of boys rejected him, the family went into a strategy meeting. Two things came out of it. One that my hair was too wild and it made me look modern. So it was decided that I had to tie my hair and put two hair clips to keep in place for every meeting I went for. Secondly, I was too thin. Size zero was not fashionable that time. Solution to that was to take medicines to put on weight. We had gone to Ahmedabad to see a guy and he rejected me. There was a lot of heartbreak within the family as their daughter lost out on yet...

I had been for Balasaheb's funeral. Could see all the swarming crowds and the cortege at Shivaji Park and Shiv Sena Bhawan the full day. Went on impulse. The experience was powerful. I know all of us have read a lot since his demise. There are pics and articles praising him and debasing him and his ideology. Some newspapers who support the Congress Goverment have tried to put his funeral as a family rift story. But you saw the pictures and a picture is worth a thousand words. In our times, we have never seen a crowd like this. In the morning, I thought this was the party workers and each reaching to please his immediate boss in the party. Alas, I was wrong. This was not the crowd of slum dwellers or goons or villagers. This crowd was of Mumbaikars. People like you and me who wanted to see him. There were no celebrities in the crowd so the throng of people was all for Balasaheb. My Dhobi said he feels like the protective umbrella is ripped away from his head. This is the loose tr...

I want to make the world green. I want the world to be a safe place. I want food, clean water, electricity for all. When I have more than 20-25 guests at home, I immediately switch to throwaway plates and glasses. All the veggies I buy whether from roadside or malls come in plastic bags. I carry my own cloth bags but I dont want to separate the French beans , green chillies and lady finger at home, so I ask for small plastic bags. In a supermarket, they seal the vegetable in a plastic bag before weighing it. Yes, I do save on the big plastic bags. The garbage bin is lined with a plastic bag which is thrown everyday. I want to grow plants on the terrace but the water consumption will go up by watering them. The building is as it is buying tanker water as municipal water is not enough and I dont want to add more tankers. The washing machine consumes so much electricity and water and the maids wont clean clothes as well as the machine does. I want new cell phone e...

This morning the weighing scale said I was heavier by 2kgs in a month. Don't worry, the Skyfall didn't happen. Much as I wanted to feel like dirt and blame my eating habits, I was quite okay. Disturbed for sure, but not killing. The pain, if any, was quite bearable. The first thought was as far as people can't make out, its okay. My life seems to revolve around people's opinions.  I think about them,what they said, how they behaved etc. all the time. Maybe I should finally listen to my yoga Sir and start meditation. Its something I have completely avoided without appearing to be resisting it. The class gets over after Shavasan or the sleeping pose. Post that the women are totally agitated about reaching home and push each other to get out of class. The calm effect of the aasan has worn off completely. Since most women are sixty plus, they look at me and comment on my children. Comments vary from 'Your kids must be keeping you on your toes' to 'Are their exa...

The festive navratri is over. Learnt a lot and loved a lot in these nine days. In my mind, I still relive my Dhanbad navratri days. All good private garbas were organized by the Rotary club , Jain Jagruti etc post these nine days. the festivities continued till Sharad Purnima or the full moon post navratri. We would not want to repeat clothes. just borrowed Mom and Aunt s sarees with the three blouses maroon, black and green we had stitched before Durga Puja. Women danced, men watched. Then it was our turn to watch while men danced to Garba tunes. Later there was a round of Dandiya where men and women danced together. We almost never got to participate in that as it was way past midnight and our men cousins wanted to drop us home. This was usually at a place called L.R.D in Shashtrinagar, Dhanbad. How much ever the late nights we had, we rarely slept late in the mornings. This time of the year, all my Bengali friends were in Calcutta  for Durga Pujo. No facebook those days ...