Starting 2015... With a Thank You

“Thank you” is a simple but an impactful word. A "Thank you" from the heart conveys a message of deep gratitude to the person who made a difference in your life!

It is the 1st of Jan 2015 today.  A holiday for many offices including that of my husband. It isn't a holiday at my office and I decided to hire a rick. It is a dull, cold  and foggy winter morning. The kind of morning which makes sipping a cup of tea seem heaven! I walked to the rick and conveyed my destination details to the driver. They seem to have turns ferrying passengers and the one who was supposed to drive me to work, was away. We drove to a nearby tea stall where the swapping of drivers was to be done. I was busy on my phone when I saw my designated driver pass the tea cup he bought to the driver who just drove me to the stall. Before I could ask him to have his tea, he jumped into the driver's seat and started driving.  It is a half an hour ride and all through the ride I felt guilty of denying him his cup of tea! After reaching office, I paid him his fare. I paid him some extra money and asked him to have some tea and topped it up with a "Thank you". The smile on his face wiped away the guilt from my heart.

As I walked to my desk, this incident made me think… What would I have done, if there was no such drivers to drive me to office when needed? Life would have been so difficult without them. Even if I have all the world's money, will I be able to sustain without their services? Sure, money can buy everything, but what if everyone had money and there was no one to provide these services? With these thoughts I decided to thank all those people who play some or the other role in making our life simple!

Let me start by thanking God for all the wonderful moments that captured my heart in 2014. It was a happening year full of  first time experiences. My baby crawling, blabbering, sitting and walking. Celebrating my baby's first birthday  was an achievement in itself… I am now a mom with 1 year experience… wow

A big Thank you to all my wonderful Family and Friends. Life would have been so boring and monotonous, hadn't it been made colorful by you. It was wonderful to have the family get together for occasions like Birthday, Engagements, festivals etc. It was nice to get a peek into each other's life through the groups on WhatsApp! Those hilarious group chats with cousins, or my friends back at CA were amazing. The physical distance from home and friends never felt so huge due to this. Having a loving family and few close friends to support you is the best thing that you can ever ask for!

I have always been thankful to all these wonderful people surrounding me year after year. This year I would like to make some addition to the people I'd like to extend my gratitude to!

The domestic help I hired, helped me to devote some time for myself. I would not have been able to do justice to my role as a full time working mom hadn't it been for them. The fruit and vegetable vendors and the shopkeepers deserve a word of gratitude.

The housekeeping staff at our office, the canteen boys... the gardeners.... the list goes on... A special mention of the people like doctors, farmers, soldiers... looks like the list is endless. Our life would be incomplete if at all these people did not play the roles they currently do!

With that in mind, the one thing that I decided to do in 2015 is to Respect the dignity of labour and be grateful for the services provided by people. So the next time I pay my domestic help her monthly salary, I will not forget to say a Thank You...

Fallen in love... again!

I have fallen in Love again! Exactly like someone had told me... and this time, I am in love with my adorable 7 month old baby Shourya. Life has changed so much for the better ever since this angel has come to my world.

It was a difficult start to a 2012. With 2 miscarriages to back it, I'd say my life was miserable. It seemed like nothing made sense. I was one amongst the few cases in which the best of doctors could not determine the reason for the repetitive miscarriages! Dejected over the incompetence of medical science to give me a valid reason, I resorted to my belief in God to attain some strength to face it and for some peace of mind!

I travelled to Rishikesh at the end of 2012, where I spent some time in the sanctity of the Ganges. The pristine waters of the Holy Ganga, and the sacred chants everywhere invigorated my mind and I was ready to take on life with all the challenges it laid before me! Sadly, in the middle of 2013 this place was devastated in a flood.

At the Parmarth Ashram, where the Ganga water level rises during and after the Aarti... Found it mysterious though!

A further stay at the lovely lush green hill station Mussoorie brought about a lot of positive changes in me!

Accepting the fact that parenthood would be a distant dream, or might even be impossible, we decided to move ahead in life. And then it was in April 2013, by the stroke of Serendipity that I came to know I was pregnant. They say that the best things in life happen when you least expect them...and there I was... listening to and enjoying the sight of the mini heart on the ultrasound monitor for the first time... with tears in my eyes and joy in my heart!

The excitement didn't last long and the ghosts of my past issues started dampening my spirits... I had to be hospitalised after which I was prescribed compulsory bed rest and precautionary daily injections. Thus started my dissension with God... daily I found myself asking... Why me? They were the toughest 7 months of my life where every single passing day was a relief!
Needless to say, even with all the struggles I found myself enjoying every tiny bit of happiness I could extract from life... Probably motherhood teaches you to be more positive!

I must highlight here, the support I received from my parents, brother and my in laws, without which I would not have been able to tread this path to motherhood! With parents taking turns to be with me, it made me mentally so strong.
Sriman, always besides me in these testing times was a humongous moral support.
I should also thank my employers for providing me all the support during this time. I could work from home full time. Working energized me as I devoted my time not to think about unwanted fears, but to channelise my energy towards something more productive.

It was in August when I felt my baby kick for the first time. All my worries and apprehensions disappeared.
Amidst all the events, the major one was the 4d sonography... I could see the new life within me direct on the monitor. That was the time I actually cried.
Time passed at a snail's pace and it was mid of October 2013 when I moved to my home town... my beloved Goa... thus started all my pampering at home...
Amidst working from home, bed rest and alternate day visits to the doctor, time just flew and before I knew it, it was December.

Life was about to take a gigantic leap. The date of my C section was fixed on 12th Dec. I got admitted on the evening of 11th Dec for the formalities. The night was a one full of apprehensions. The surgery started. I had an epidural due to which I was conscious and I could hear the doctors talk casually. I just prayed for everything to go well and asked God to bless my child.
I remember the moment very clearly when I heard my baby cry for the first time. I didn't know how to react. The doctors told me it is a "Smiling dolly" as she started smiling within a few minutes into the new world. I could see and caress my baby on the operation table itself... and thus, I fell in love... again!

Baby Shourya: Day 2 at the hospital

Time just flew once she came into our lives. Days turned to months... It is now 7 months ever since... Recently we celebrated her 6 month birthday and I realised it would be only months before she would turn one! My little doll has started blabbering now and it is so exciting :)

Baby Shourya: 6th month birthday

The one good thing that has evolved from all the struggles that I went through is that I have become more positive and strongly believe that the right things come to you at the right time.
A favourite quote of mine is as follows:
God says 'yes' and gives you what you want.
God says 'no' and gives you better.
God says 'wait' and gives you the best!

So here I am, in love again with the most precious gift of my life.
Shourya, my baby... you have given me a million reasons to smile...

My Dad retires tomorrow!

Retirement marks the end of a an important phase in one's life, Should I say a beginning of a new phase? Well, I knew this day would come about 15 years back. That was the day I first thought my dad's retired life!

My Aunt had opted for a voluntary retirement and I remember thinking how would it be when my dad would retire. Being from a period in which job switching was a social taboo and being employed in public sector considered to be priority my dad is retiring after completing full service!

It was his penultimate day at office today. Tomorrow will mark a new beginning in his life. I recollect 10 years back I had though it is a long time before he retires. Days flew so soon and it would be 4 years before he retired. As days passed, it seemed like yesterday. Not before 6 months did I actually began to realize the gap it would create in his life.

My brother and me thought a lot about his retirement gift and about a month back thought that a Laptop would be the best bet. Being from a public sector banking background it would be days before he actually starts doing something constructive with it and of course, with his time.

Being a dedicated banker, his day would start with going to the bank on time, attending to routine work and returning back home tired yet satisfied. Such a simple lifestyle, yet so demanding. I wonder now, with so much time at hand what would his daily routine be?

So I suggested the following to him: 1. Stick to his routine morning walks schedule. 2. Start taking computer lessons and make use of the new Laptop! 3. Cooking! I am too fond of my dad's culinary skills. 4. Sleeping... Catching up with all the sleep he so so loves! Given a choice I'd say he would be happy with this option.

Now with just about a week, I tried to apprehend how he felt about his retirement. I must say, I could not gauge his mind. All my banter could not make me feel his elation or pain! But I pretty am sure, it would be a bit hurting. Being associated with an organization for a lifetime! Your growth attached to the growth of the organization.

My parents keep on bickering over petty issues. And I visualize the bickering getting worse with ample of time at hand. So would my suggestions be a trick to keep their bickering at bay? Well time would tell!

Its his penultimate day at office today and I feel I have started having butterflies in my stomach. How would his last day at office be? Would be emotional? Would he be happy?

I would really love to be with him to celebrate his new phase in life... My Dad, the bestest person ever in my life! Cheers to a wonderful journey!

India is progressing, what about the domestic violence?

It pained me a lot today morning when my domestic help came to my house and told her tale about the violence that her daughter had to undergo. It made me fill with anguish. At one point we mention about India progressing and women being given due consideration and of women shattering the glass ceiling.

I know a lot of my male friends will have a lot to say against the point that i am trying to make, probably some of my female friends too. But the way I felt today morning, makes me believe that women in India have still a long way to go.

There have been lots of advertisements in the media about the age of marriage for a girl child. I was surprised to know that our domestic help had got her daughter married at the age of 13. child marriage is a crime. The parents did commit the crime. And since they knew it was a crime, the marriage wasn't registered. This is ridiculous. The guy remarried and her daughter was left with 2 kids and nowhere to go. She started earning her bread by cooking at other people's household. A brave female I can say, who got up despite of the harsh personal life and started supporting herself and her kids. Still the guy wasn't satisfied. The relatives beat her up and she had to be hospitalized. After knowing her personally for some time now, I was sure she didn't deserve this kind of a life.

I was shocked and pained. The feeling that I could not do anything about this made me feel worse. Thoughts kept pouring into my mind as to how people struggle so much with life. And if they take life as it is, why does life make them struggle so much.

I got to know from my maid that this is how it works in rural Maharashtra. I have heard about such cases in Andhra, western and Northern India too.
I felt proud of being born in Goa. My Goa :) The place where girl child is received with the same love as the male child. The place where the girl child is given equal opportunities of education and work. The place where marrying off girls at a tender age is looked down upon by the society. The place where marriages according to rituals do not take place without a marriage certificate in place. The place where even in its remotest place, there is no such biased conditions for women. Why couldn't the rest of India be like my Goa.

I came to know from some of my colleagues too that their marriage is yet not registered. I came to know about the dowry system in place. I came to know how the daughters and daughter in laws have to obey strict rules and regulations about the way they talk, they dress up etc.
i compare our lives in Goa with the lives of the women who have faced all this all over India. It makes me feel so so lucky.

After listening to our maid I was feeling bad. The Government of India puts up Advertisements about empowering women, their education, their marriage age, their health and the domestic violence. But when will Indians wake up and make a change themselves? Despite of all the awareness that the Government is trying to make, why has there been so much negligence when it comes to the women?

When there is a discussion about women empowerment, I get statements like we have had great Indian women such as Lata Mangeshkar, Kalpana Chawla, Pratibha Patil, Aishwarya Rai etc. But what about the rest of the women folk, what do we represent them as? Certainly not empowered.
I am longing to see this one change in India. And I strongly feel, this change will not come until we start thinking pro actively and make a resolution to make India a better place for women.

New year resolutions for 2011

I know its coming too late, but Life has become quite busy these days and I hardly find time for myself. Leave alone for blogging. So what did I plan for myself in 2011?

My year started on a bad note with a severe sore throat and cold. I had to spend my New year eve in deep slumber due to fever. So I thought its going to be another bad year. I recovered soon enough and yes, It needs a special mention that we got salary hikes and new job designations. "Not that bad", said the optimist in me and was happy that I made some resolutions this year. Probably this is the 2nd time I made some nice resolutions. The first time I made New year resolutions was in my 6th grade when my class teacher asked us to list down 2 new year resolutions. I don't need to mention that they were more of Essay topics and were never followed. Anyways... Here are some on the resolutions I decide to abide by this year :)

The first thing that I have planned is to update my blogs. Its my sincere desire to keep my blogs rolling. The blogs I write leave a trail upon which I stumble during the times i feel solitary. I plan to update this space at least once in two weeks. So here it is... My first blog for 2011.

The second thing that I have planned is to give lots of time to myself. I have decided to plan my time so that I spend the proper amount of time in office and give the rest of it to myself and my family and friends. Lately I have had my friends complaining that I don't call them or chat with them. Frankly speaking I get very little time now a days.
Mine is a strict 9 hour job. But sometimes due to procrastination and most of the times due to workload I reach home late. The consequence is that I reach office late the next day. so this has become a vicious cycle and I want to break it!
I have decided to reach office by 9.30 in the morning, finish off the days tasks as soon as possible and start for home at least by 6.30 pm. That way I get at least an hour and a half all to myself and my family. I can then utilize the post dinner time for friends! Hopefully this resolution will be revered and followed!

The third thing that I have planned is to stay healthy and fit. I have started implementing this from January itself and I feel nice about it. I have started going for morning walks 4 times a week. I try to eat all types of fruits regardless of the glucose content. and the most important thing I have been following religiously is the 2.5 liters of water daily. It feels so nice...

The fourth resolution is to reduce watching the stupid addictive TV serials which add no value to my life. Instead I plan to watch only 1 serial and dedicate the rest of the time to News and business channels. This works perfectly fine for me till now.

And the fifth resolution is "Early to bed and early to rise" Lets see if this makes me healthy, wealthy and wise!

So I hope I follow my routines properly and lead a disciplined life... So here I am logging off for today. For a record, M gonna sleep early again thus keeping with my New year resolution :)

So here I am...

Nostalgic!!!

Hi... am back again... Its been months that i didn't pen down anything. I was so busy with my work schedule, I just could not sit down and write down my thoughts. With my day starting at 6.30 in the morning and getting over at 12.00 in the night with a 9.00 am to 8.00 pm job, i find it extremely difficult to keep blogging... But yes, I make a promise to myself now to keep updating my blog.

It so happens that you come to a new place, start criticizing it, praise the old one and then start slowly loving the place and liking the people around you. I am going to write down about the same kind of feeling I found myself in the midst of today.

I left Hyderabad 2.5 years back and took a job at my hometown. I didn't leave a stone unturned to criticize the Goa office and the environs here. Always fussy and comparing things with my office at CA Hyderabad. Missing my group and friends and Hyderabad became part of my life.

I had an apprehension about the kind of group I would find here at office. I remember the first day I joined here, I went with Sriman since he worked here too. I hardly knew people here. I went to lunch with Sriman's group. That was the first time I got introduced to Saif and Sonal.

Saif, a Chubby, bubbly and talkative fellow and Sonal, very attentive, naughty and with a very sharp memory who is always ready to grill you with her questions. I just seemed to strike a perfect rapport with the group. Though i missed being with my group. Days passed by and we started getting along so well, I wouldn't feel missing Hyderabad the way i felt before.

It has always been fun ever since with this Group. Though it is not the way like how it was before with my group where we would go out for dinners and on weekends, it feels nice to be a part of it.

It was the last day of Saif in the Goa office today. He has taken a transfer to Pune. We knew about this for a month or so, but it didn't feel weird or bad about it until today. Today when we said bye to Saif, it felt real weird and sad. I started remembering all the past 2 years and the fun we had in the group.

The name calling, the silly arguing, the secret talks, the secret code names... It felt like the group was being ripped apart. I was remembering the day I left Hyderabad in tears. My group must have felt the same way when I had left. I could feel the same way how Sabita must have felt bidding me adieu.

It was a nostalgic feeling for me. People meet and people part, but memories remain forever. Wish we didn't feel the pain of parting and wish it was always full of smiles...

In the same kind of morose mood, I thought of penning down these thoughts and guess what, I hit Sabita's blog wherein she just was missing Hyderabad after joining at Kolkata.
I just happened to login into Facebook and there goes Krushna's status... "Missing Hyderabad".
And it continues... I thought.

Wow I say to myself, today should have been declared as "Nostalgic feelings day". Jokes apart, I'm sure Saif will not life the Pune environment for the first week or so and then slowly will start adapting to it, and finally he will fall in love with the place. It always happens that we start liking the place that we stay for long and we get attached to the people we spend time with.

So here's wishing Saif a very eventful and happening new life. May his wishes come true and luck follow him where he goes. All the best Saif!!!

Vacation 2010: Nainital and Kausani

Nainital And Kausani



I somehow am very fascinated by the North Indian places to visit. My favorite being Himachal Pradesh. I had a long pending vacation which i had been planning some 10 months back, literally since my last Vacation to Kerala. I make it a point to visit 2 far flung places in a year... one being a place in the North India. My heavenly abode where i leave back all tensions and become one with Nature.

Sriman and Me had been thinking of Shimla and the places surrounding like Chail and Kufri etc. The start date being subject to the leave permission allocated by my client back at work. Luckily she did not make me cancel my plans, but we had to pay a hefty flight price from Goa to Delhi. Cribbing aside, I am quite relieved i went ahead with the trip.

Ok. Let me describe where we went and how we got there. Due to commercialization of Shimla, one of our colleague suggested to go to Chopta and Auli(had never heard them before). Auli happened to be costly for us and we decided against it. After taking some reviews from colleagues and tour organizers, the place for the Vacation was decided as Nainital and Kausani. wow... I was finally going to Nainital, the City of lakes... the place i had been longing to go since Childhood. The city nestled in the Kumaon range of the Himalayas...and yes.. the one thing that we had decided to walk rather hike most of the time to enjoy the beauty of nature ...

The dates had been decided 10 months earlier... as usual to coincide with my Birthday and Valentines day clubbed together. Earlier we decided to start on 12th of Feb 2010, but 13th(My birthday) happened to be Shivratri and Sriman had to perform some religious rites at home. We started from Goa on the 13th of Feb by flight to Delhi. We took a train to Kathgodam on the same night to reach there in the wee hours of the morning. our destination: Nainital was 35 Kms from here. We hired a cab to take us to our designated hotel, Hotel Welcome Park in Nainital.( I still have to write some nice reviews of this hotel. It was a wonderful place.)


It was chilling cold in the morning and the jackets we took from home started falling short of its designated duty... to keep us warm.
Tired of the journey, we just rested for some time and went to explore the beautiful Naini lake in the evening, the exotic lake which gave Nainital, its name. The calm serene waters of the Naini makes you forget all your tiredness and makes you feel relaxed in the vicinity of nature. We did boating at the Naini lake.

The boat rower cum guide told us all the tales in the folklore of Nainital. After the boat ride was the time to go to Naina Devi temple. We walked up to there in the cold. After taking the 'darshan' we roamed in the nearby China market. We bought some warm clothes for ourselves to supplement our already existing stock; jackets, gloves, monkey caps etc.
We walked back to our hotel in the night. Naini looked so pretty...

On the 2nd day(15th Feb) we got ready at 9.00 sharp after a breakfast of Aloo Parathas. We had a designated driver to take us around all the points in Nainital.
The first point we saw was the place from where Naini appeared to be perfect 'Mango Shaped'. The second point was the China peak(snow view point). We had a nice view of the Majestic Himalayas... the Himalayas i go mad for... We were also told that on the other side of the Himalayas is the China border.



We were then taken to the Suicide point and lover's point. I just dont understand why its called lover's point... but be it. the place was beautiful though.The next point was the rock climbing institute which we were not very keen on visiting and hence we moved on. We were taken then to the Cave gardens. various caves belonging to porcupines, tigers, flying foxes, bats etc were shown.

we could traverse right through some and make it to the exit, but some were too creepy and small for us to enter...


Then we were taken for the Lake darshan... which included Bhimtal, Saattaal, Naukuchital etc. No wonder Uttaranchal is called the land of lakes. the lakes were calm and peaceful. I would if possible sit on the bank for hours ingesting the beauty. But we had to move on...


On the way was another point, Hanuman mandir with a too too big Hanuman idol...








We moved on to see the Nainital Tea estate. Reminiscences of my Vacation at Munnar... I love the Tea gardens... We were then dropped back to our hotel. We had food and rested for the day. We had clicked some nice snaps by now...

Our hotel was on the hill from whose peak we could see the Himalayas. There were also the sky trolleys. We decided to hike our way up till that point. We started in the evening at 4.45. We had to start late as it rained that day in Nainital. The Naini looked pretty with the rain clouds above it. We hiked and reached the top of the hill. Took a break for some hot Tea at a local Tea shop high up there. I sweated badly in the Chilly weather!!! We reached there at 6.15. But the trolley service had already closed by then. We saw the Himalayas though. Climbing downhill was much more fun... We reached back in just half an hour while it took us an hour and a half to ascend.

After a quick hot water shower, we had nice food at the hotel and slept for the day. We had to start for Kausani-The Switzerland of India on the 17th Feb morning.
We checkedout of our hotel at 10 in the morning of 16th Feb. It is a 4 hour journey to Kausani. We reached Kausani at about 2 in the afternoon. We had light food and relaxed. The hotel: Hotel Sagar had arranged for the best view room for us, the room had a full view of the Himalayan range. We could see the Nandadevi range along with the Trishul parvat, we were told. but hard luck had its way, The Himalayas had been eclipsed by the thick clouds. So on Day 1 at Kausani, we couldnt see much of the Himalayas.

I had this excitement to see the Himalayas during the Sunrise, I got up at 6 the next day(17th Feb), but that day also we were given a partial glimpse of the Majestic Himalayas.
There are not many points to see in Kausani, and the hotel staff suggested the Kausani Tea estate. But we were too used to seeing Tea gardens by now, decided against it. The hotel we stayed in served only Veg food. So we climbed down the hill to find a local eatery which served the Non veg food that Sriman so so liked. After the lunch, we again decided to hike up the hill to get a better glimpse of the Himalayas.



We started ascending the hills, the point we came across was the Anasakti yog Ashram where it seems Gandhiji had stayed for some time. It was about 4.30 pm that we reached there. By 5.00, many people had started gathering there. We came to know that people come here for a view of the Himalayas at sunset.

So we stayed back till Sunset. and what we saw was marvelous. We then decided to go to our hotel from where we would get a full view. The Himalayas had changed its color by now. It had a dark pink to reddish hue and it was a wonderful sight to see...

After the Sunset, we had come nice hot French Fries and Coffee to give us warmth in the extremely chilly climate. We waited till the sun was totally down and there was the last bit of Himayalas that I could see... It felt as if I was thirsty to see them...

After downloading the snaps to the computer, we watched TV till dinner was served. We had to start our journey back home the next day with loads of memories of the wonderful vacation that we had had.

The next day 18th Feb, i got up at 6 in the morning to see the clear Skies and the Himalayas in the backdrop as clear as crystal. That was the moment i had come to see at Kausani.



We then Checked out of the hotel. the Cab we hired earlier to drop us to Kausani dropped us back to Kathgodam. Kathgodam is a common entry point for Kausani and Nainital. We stayed at the Government rest house at Kathgodam which is in close proximity to the railway station. On the way to Kathgodam, at Almora, we bought the 'Baal mithai', the famous sweet of Nainital. We took the Uttaranchal Sampark Kranti train to Delhi on 19th Feb. We had an overnight stay at Delhi.

The return journey started back with the Goa Sampark Kranti on 20th from Delhi to Goa... thus ended our wonderful vacation, though not from out memories. It was a wonderful, much needed and much awaited trip for me. It made my mind refreshed, so that I could start the next day in office with a much more relaxed mind...
I would like to thank Sriman for the most wonderful moments that he spent with me on this vacation. I already have my next vacation place in mind...