The Life!

Once upon a time there lived a little girl,happily talking to herself,playing with colors,doing things that made her happy.As time flew by,she went to school that supposedly help her pave a way in this world.In order to stay at the top of the race amongst her friends,she was molded into someone else.The essence of “her” started mixing up with what she must become as sought by the world lead to new definitions ,dreams and desires in her life about what she would become in “future”,those places she will travel “alone”,how life would sprout beyond the daily scenes.

And then came the rebel days.Then the remorse days.Then the whining and cribbing days.Then the depressional days.Every single event made a deep impression upon her life,molding and modifying her thoughts about her life, society and family.The thoughts and dreams she had about life remained that way.She became so hard to even think about a possibility of life beyond her routines.The world around her changed,miles ahead but she is stuck,some place reminding herself of what she could have been,what she could have done to change the world.She has grown into a beautiful lady,fulfilling desires of her family,working as society expected,but inside,she is hurt,fearful,bolted up with emotions.She knows this way of life is not what she wanted,but still she is powerless!!

No,I never thought I will be doing what I am doing right now.Not even in my wildest dreams,coz I never really knew what I wanted to do with my life.I am just a follower,following those who walked before me,following some age-old instructions,following into some unknown outcomes of life.Never once did I knew or realize that I can move a muscle to make a change and figure out what I want in my life,with my life.Only today did I realize the true meaning of this quote ““Someone once told me the definition of Hell: The last day you have on earth, the person you became will meet the person you could have become.” Anonymous .And that is because of I feel a twitch in my heart or a knot in my stomach which constantly reminds me that something is not right,that I am living a life handcrafted for someone else!!

In response to the prompt from #FridayReflections  - “Did you think you'd be doing what you're currently doing in life? Write a personal essay.” 

Book Review : The Story of A Suicide

The Story of a Suicide indeed illustrates the circumstances of how an individual decides why he no longer wants to live in this beautiful world.I am totally against suicide,yes even in cases where a person has no longer a life,we proclaim fit to proceed.I believe we are one of a kind and the mere fact that we are alive and thinking,must help us overcome the thoughts of being dead.I feel that half the courage one has in oneself  to be able to choose death willingly is more than enough for him to face the world and live a life ahead.

And the real reason,I believe that one becomes forced to choose death over life is the weight of the burden of expectations that hangs as dagger above us.Only if we are able to break free the expectations set upon us,will we be able to rise and make a mark.If we are born poor,our society deems us unfit to be a part of it and taunt us.Even if get the right education,if our social status is different that their "superior" ones we get insulted.It's a truth that this sort of expectation kills,especially in our social set up.The ranks,marks,relationships, everything matters to parents.Their entire future is closely aligned to their children’s.So if the child deviates a little bit from their path of dreams aka expectations and if there is an emotional background to it,it's better to be dead that be alive and being taunted for their rest of lives.

Being said that this web-novel narrates the story of four people Hari,Charu,Sam and Mani and how fate had intervened in their actions that each one becomes a responsibility to the death of the protagonist,Hari.It was a final destination of how the entire chapters were set up for the final showdown.The characters are well thought of and important taboo topics of child sex abuse, homosexuality, love, betrayal, expectations, cyber crime, sex, passion are well described,connected and illustrated.

The crux of the story,I felt was the failure of expectations.Sam believes Charu is in love with him and when he finds out it never was the way he had expected,he sets out for revenge.He sets up Charu and stalks her,that she decides to catch hold of him while in the act. A twist in the tale makes the trap set up for Charu ends with the life of Hari.Hari is forced to take the decision of death,due to the burden of expectations his parents,his social status and the expectations he had in his partner.He expects to find solace in his partner,Mani but Mani's actions had his relive his most traumatized part of a life of his robbed childhood.And Mani,he expects Hari to understand his acts as his love,but Hari could not tolerate the same.

We need to be aware that times are changing so fast that our outlook towards life also needs to be changed.The social status or facebook status is no longer important but the life status, on finding what you are meant to give this world and how you can do it must be one's aim.Parents should help and guide children to find their passion and support them for what they need to win their life.No matter what  circumstances are parents must spend time with their children,make them feel comfortable in sharing their thoughts and struggles.

Child sex abuse is very prevalent in any society and we all need to stand up against it.Status shows that mostly it is our family members whom we think we can trust, takes the chance to exploit the innocent kids.We must never turn away from what a child has to say and we must always support and help our child,cause these scars run deep and in turn changes their personality.By staying with them,helping them heal we can also forgive oneself.There are more ways of healing than ever before and I urge everyone to make use of it,rather than staying within themselves and being afraid of taboos.The website itself tells us more ways on how can one find a way out,it just a matter of reaching out.

Maybe I am too old for today's youngster's modus of Operandi in achieving instant likes,twitter shaming ,being bold by stating tales of vagina and penises.This novel also told me how I must help my child to channelize his talent to the welfare of another person.I as a parent must know that I can help my child build his world without comparisons,without hate but with compassion and love.It made me realize how the entire thing is relevant only in my head and not anywhere else!!

One of my quickest,deepest read of this year,this web-novel shows that we can easily mess up with a life.It is very easy to go into depression and thoughts of being insignificant emergences.It is a brutal truth of society we live in today.The tale ends with a death,not the sugar coated , the happy ending which we normally crave.The highlight of the web-novel is the illustrations.They were commendable and very apt to the chapters.It felt like Namboodiri's drawings. :)

Note : The entire team of The Story of Suicide,deserves a round of applause as I have never seen such a kind of amalgamation of gems in setting up of a story.Usually, when I read a book,I glance through the Thank you page and the names go into oblivion,but not in this case.Kudos to each one of you.

 

A Dream Vacation

What could be more exciting than being a carefree traveller who has access and means to travel all across the world,experience different cultures,cuisines and wonderful people.The mere mention of "travel" fills up my memory with days of summer vacations at my mom's place.That was the first of my travel adventures.Our home,chilly old town deep inside a forest is very near to Munnar.

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Though the charisma of mountains,forests and rivers are fading out,still the nostalgia holds it together as a grant picture.Travelling to my hometown means a lot of things.

Our home is surrounded by mountains on all sides.We have a small creek flowing through our land and reaches a river.Early mornings are mysteriously beautiful!We can actually wait to see the mist clearing and the mountains dawn before us while the sun rises!! And I wonder how many places can offer us such a sunrise in this world.Everywhere in this world,the sunrise is one majestic piece of Art,and the mere sight is itself fill us with a sense of belonging.I have felt this when I saw the sunrise at Kanyakumari or at Kanjenjunka :).

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Nothing beats the taste of the authentic flavours of my grandmom.Even if it is a simple pickle,her hand does the magic that not even my amma can replicate.When I was pregnant with my daughter I craved for her food,that's my Grandmom's magic food.I believe while we travel we must try out variety of food which is locally available.This really helps us understand the authentic taste of the food of that place.I feel,the authenticity loses its shine if prepared outside that particular area.When I was in Chennai,the small idlis in a bucket load of sambhar with a whole spoon of ghee...Yum...Sadly,nothing I did at home,could replicate the original taste.So there,food also adds to the experience of travelling.

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Being so near to Thekaddy Wildlife Sanctuary and Munnar,our place amidst the forest does have visits from wildlife.I have been in awe seeing the variety of monkeys,wild snakes,wild pigs,endangered species of ant eaters near by our home.And I have learned a lot from these encounters and it has also helped in gaining knowledge about the flora and fauna of my area.I still rememeber,how this had helped me with my science projects.This also reminds me about the fishes and corals I saw when I had gone snorkelling at the Andaman Islands.

We can all be tourists,but a few can be travelers who can actually get deep into the culture,learn them,understand them,be a part of them.It takes time,patience and caliber to be a traveller.These people have profound effects of travelling in their life.They are the ones who wonder,what the next destination has to offer them ?  They are travellers of lifetime :)

I am blogging about my dreams and passions for the Club Mahindra#DreamTrails activity at BlogAdda. You can get a Club Mahindra Membership to own your holidays!

Thanks Google for the lovely pics :)

A Tale of Growth!!

"Growth",a very special term in a parent's dictionary, especially if they are new to nuisances of parenthood.I am one such parent who has the faintest idea about what to expect next in the life ?! Right from the day my girl was born, I always wanted to make sure she grows into a strong girl,immune to common diseases and always be active,to the extent that I become tired of answering her queries :)

I was happy that "N" used to have her food without much trouble.As long as she is full,she was happy and playing.Then the terrible-twos came by and my girl, "N" has become this stubborn lady who simply shouts "NO" to every kind of food we try to feed her with.I tried everything from rice-dal mixes to vegetable soups to fruit juices to milk to fish.I had exhausted every item in my list trying to feed her.Adding woes of being a working mother,I literally cried trying to make her eat anything at all.!! The lack of proper and nutritious food she became much more prone to common diseases like cold and fever which made our evening plans rather easier.Instead of going to a park to play,we started frequenting the medical clinics.And those medicines have made her appetite fly away into the clouds.

Sigh!

Not having any idea about what to do the next ,I on a whim bought Horlicks Growth +.I knew she would definitely say a big "NO" ,thus I gave a small spoonful of the same.You guessed it right,"N" spat it all out! Being a mother,your kid teaches you everything about being patient.I tried to give her a spoonful of the same next day.And after a couple of days, she came in and asked for a spoonful of "black Horlicks",in her cute little voice when I forgot about the same.She finally liked it.Slowly I tried to mix it up with milk and was able to feed her the same somehow!![No words to explain the process here].Anyways,the trick worked.Mama happy,Baby happy.She even named it as "Black Horlicks".Kids,I tell you!! Though I was apprehensive to give my girl anything which might sound artificial,I was more than happy that I could find something that can eventually make a way to her tummy and supplement her with the lost nutrients.I have seen that my girl has visibly become less tired and irritated.She now gets enthusiastically involved in various activities at her playschool.She learns,understands and try out new things at home as well.She also sleeps well and grown back to my old happy child :)

I already knew that steady and proper growth at the right time is a very crucial to the overall development of a child.A good plate of healthy and nutritious food in the early days of childhood helps kids grow into the later stage of life without any major lifestyle / health issues.But the most overwhelming task is in making kids eat the nutritious food which aid in their growth.The least we can do is to provide supplements as in the form of health drinks to the kids who refuse to eat a morsel of food in any other way.

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And Horlicks Growth + is very much recommended product,right from my experience!

Connected

It was my stupidity to suck in that gush of filthy air into my lungs.It made me very sick.I have been now warned never to disconnect from my air filter device, if I needed to breathe ever again !!

Note : A  reality(?) in many years to come ! :|

In response to the Daily Prompt : Connected

Monday Blues...!

 

There is no meaning in comparison of any forms.Every individual who has born is unique,with different capabilities.It is "us" who wants a routine,a rigid-ness or a normalcy in this chaotic world bring up the social norms of being similar.From the day a child is born,she / he has to follow certain unsung rules put forth by the society.There is no escape from it as we all have adjusted to confine our minds in the box.The box of being mediocre."Its all we need,a life of being mediocre".The society tells us and we are conditioned to believe it.We are made sure that fire of survival is being drained away.And we force ourselves as well as our babies to it,in the due process we kill our purpose of being born :)

And it takes years again,to find the "true calling" most of them ignore that as they have been taught to.Others,who try to follow their life purpose is ridiculed to such an extent that most of them simply give up that spark the "soul" or "gut" have been trying to give them.But then there are a handful of the people,who are able to find the magic.They had held on , persisted until they found that light at the end of tunnel...

Be that persistent fellow,who define the real strength,who display the true courage,who discover their life's purpose.

A little piece of my mind.

 

 

Happy Women's Day!

Women - what a phenomenal creatures are we ?

We all have a spark in us.

The desires,the happyness,the sadness,the courage,the strength,the choices,the talent,the guts.But we also have a heart,which at most of the times it melts away or make us go weak!

We certainly have come a long way from stepping out of our home and celebrating our day,but most of us still try to get back to that social norm as soon as the day the over.We need to bring forward the ideas in us to the mainstream and help built a better place for our children.The struggle taken up by our grandmothers and mothers is what has given us this space to talk and act,which we must carry forward for our children.

Now,how to make things work ,depends only us and our attitude!!

 

 

 

MJ-The Legend

Michael Joseph Jackson!

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Now,back to my story!

I never had an inclination towards music,even though my parents are avid lovers of songs and my dad is quite a good singer himself.I,on the other hand, had a kind of aversion to music.Though there are some film songs which I like,and some keertanams that I often listen to.I absolutely hated those album songs,the ear splitting rock music or the english songs.I only knew a handful artists like Britney Spears ,Celine Dion(thanks to Titanic) and then MJ.Without even listening to any of his masterpieces,I chose to dislike and ignore him.

Now,my husband is totally a divergent of me.He is a music junkie who has gone so far to get the latest of gadgets for listening to music with all its clarity and loudness.He was "flabbergasted and disgusted" to know that I have not heard his favourite musician of all time.Now,he had taken up the pledge to make me understand what I was missing in my life :P.He started driving me crazy by repeatedly playing MJ songs.All my pleas fell to his deaf ear,he never listens to me but only to MJ.At first,I was forced to listen to the legend.Then slowly  his magic worked out.At some point of time,I started to like those beats,the lyrics,the song,the mood he created and then after some days,I started to hum those songs and occasionally tap my legs.You see,I wanted to show my hubs,I still disliked him.But later on,I started to miss his energetic songs :),it was then I truly understood what I had been missing in my life,"Music"

I have this weird habit of reading up everything about anything that I am hooked up before I actually start using it.Say,if I am about to read a book,I devour  all about the author and even read the reviews of the book that I am about to read before even reading the book. :D.Before I had a chance to watch an MJ performance,I started reading all about him.I read about his start of career,his vocals,his family,his  illness,his changes,the allegations against him and mostly everything.But what I felt was that,none of this denies the very fact that he is indeed the "King of Pop"

I still remember the awe,I was in when I watched his stage performance "Michael Jackson "Billie Jean" 30th Anniversary Madison Square Garden NY" in youtube for the first time.It was unbelievable!!!.From the moment he enters the stage he conquers them.OMG...I have never seen another person do that.Only he can up his performance.Never once can we feel a drop in his energy!.He is simply Fantastico!!

Music is what had made him "King of POP".It is the music he created,that resonated with the people around him.Its his soul rendering music which have made all of us give away a piece of our hearts.Every single syllable out of his throat,shakes you,feels for you, eventually drifting you to another world.And his subtle ways of hinting against the various problems and atrocities in this world ,through his songs.His songs are all different but every single one of them has that stamp of MJ,that Navigates us to a whole new world.

Oh,I was again floored by the knowledge that all his dance moves are his own creations just like his music.And he defined the dance moves.They are always new, different,Peppy and mind boggling.And the most amazing thing,it still remains so.Always peppy!! I don't think,there is anyone this planet who would not have tried or at least heard his famous MoonWalk?

Or his gravity defying stunt! Or his robot dance..Uff!! He is always full of energy doing the thing he loves the most.Thats passion.Thats dedication.And when we do something which we love,I think we will never be tired.Ahem!!

And boy,talk about the deep Impact he has created and still creating,on the people of this world!.It is something very difficult to achieve.His "Thriller" released in 1983  is still the best selling album in the world.That is like 33 years and counting!!!.

Now he is what a true performer is,One who has the capability to touch and change lives through music.One who is original.One who is a visionary.One who is truly is a legend.

You will always be missed MJ.

 

This blog post is inspired by the blogging marathon hosted on IndiBlogger for the launch of the #Fantastico Zica from Tata Motors. You can apply for a test drive of the hatchback Zica today.

 

Images Courtesy : MJ FB Page Photo stream