Notice the change?

Back in this space after a really really long time. Hola,there!

These days a thought, a saying may be.. often comes to the mind.
 "When a butterfly crosses your path, you are about to witness a change". Being the romantic that I am, I took a liking to it, instantly. And, it definitely did bring about a change in me. 

For starters, I notice more butterflies now! :) . Then, the thrill of anticipating what change you are in for today.
Over a period of time, I realized that this is indeed helping me get more in touch with myself! 
So, may be theres some truth in the saying? Or, may be it holds only for believers? May be, may be not! Go figure!

A new beginning...

Hello my beloved blog! I'm back here after a long time. Want to give us one more shot, you see! 

On the eve of New Years' , heres wishing you a very Happy New Year 2015!

Is it the time that has flown or the age catching up? Or, are you cross with me and not want me to share anything here? Why am i struggling with this ice-breaker? 

I guess we need a little while to warm up to each other...

So, let me leave it here for now.

Catch you in the new year ..Hopefully we shall have a more fulfilling time, this time around.

love you!

A ray of hope?

That was a long hiatus. But anyways, I'm back now. The reason for my absence? Blame it on the laziness,yet again!

Just when we concluded that there is no hope for this country, nothing is going to change, there appeared a silver lining in the form of Anna Hazare. His fast unto death for Jan Lokpal Bill has united the country like never before and turned into an overnight revolution. People from all walks of life, from the length and breadth of the country declared support to his movement and participated in candle light marches held across the country. To an extent, media can be appreciated for drawing the attention of common man to the right cause, at a time when the nation is so caught up in a wild Cricket fever. While it is heartening to see many of the celebrities endorsing the cause, there is a gaping absence of the recent cricket warriors! One wonders why?

I digress.
So what is the reason for this overnight revolution? ...Anna never appealed for mass support!....

It can only mean one thing - everyone is extremely frustrated with the wide spread corruption. Then again, why wait for somebody to take the plunge to declare your frustration and anger? What stopped us from taking the imitative, I wonder. Is it apathy?

I can talk for myself. In my case, it is lack of hope and faith in the administration system. I never believed that the Government can respect a valid cause and fight for it.
If it were to succeed, the Jan Lokpal Bill & Anna would forever change this thinking in many people like me.Anna has successfully ignited a spark in every Indian - a spark of hope! It is now time for us to take it forward and display our solidarity.

- Awake,arise and stop not until the goal is reached.

Go for it!

I'm elated! I'm on cloud 9!

Well, of late, I have been pursuing something that is really close to my heart. And, thats what kept me away from the next best thing, this blog. Whats so special about today? Well lets just say, my effort has been acknowledged and I feel on top of the world. All thanks to the support and encouragement from the loved ones.

When was the last time you did exactly what you wanted to do, when you wanted to do, despite the usual stresses at office and home? Go pursue your dreams,folks!..chase them now while there is still time.
Go for it!

Mumbai local

A gratifying shopping trip & lip-smacking snacks later, we decided it was time to head back to the resort.Inspite of constant nagging from hubby dear, we managed to lose time in shopping and loafing around. By the time wisdom dawned upon us and we decided to head back, it was already too late. The city is Mumbai, the hour, 6:30 PM on a Friday and our mode of commute? The local (train)! ....

Boarding the train at the originating station helped us grab a few seats. As the train started to move, we slowly drifted away into a tired drowse - only to be awoken to shouts from somewhere behind us “Aage Badho, aur aage badho bhai” . Shockingly, the entire compartment was crammed within no time!
I noticed an elderly gentleman navigating through the crowd towards us. He wanted to place his bag on the storage area over our seat. On placing the bag, we expected him to move away and find a place to stand in somewhere in the crowd. But no! He never budged! He stood riveted there - between the row seats facing each other,right in front of us! Very soon, there was a request from an elderly aunty to make place for her, since she was unable to stand. She was supposedly ill. That made four of us on a seat meant for 2 adults.Half-an-hour into the journey and another to go, some of us struck a conversation with the elderly gentleman trapped infront of us. Casual inquiries revealed that this was his daily routine. Apparently, he commutes to work the same way - one hour of standing between people! ...I thanked my stars for not having to go through this ordeal.

From the announcements and billboards in the station,earlier,it was clear that most of the trains were either nine or twelve boogied.I furiously noted that the one we were in, had only nine compartments.As is obvious,my first thoughts were - why couldn't they add more compartments,atleast during the peak hours? What kind of life is it, if you had to stand for an hour to commute to your workplace, in an extremely crowded train,day in & day out? And then, return the same way? Later that day, I learnt that though Mumbai is supposed to be the financial capital of the country, it gets very little attention - in terms of improvisation of infrastructure, unfortunately. Sad, really! I digress,though.

Coming back to the local. Those who have commuted by a Mumbai local during peak hours would have known how hard it is to get into or get out of the train. For this reason, we decided it was impossible for us to get down at our destined stop. Hence, feebly resigned to our fate and made up our mind to alight at the last stop.At that point,the gentleman trapped infront of us, who was listening to our discussion intently, pitched in to help. Luckily, he was to alight at the same station.He suggested we should start planning our exit one stop prior to the destination. That was the trick!

As planned, the elderly gentleman started wriggling his way through the crowd, one stop prior.One by one, all of us followed him, forming a line in which the ladies were sandwiched between the men folk. It seemed as if we were preparing ourselves for a bungy jump!As we inched forward, we could sense some sort of excitment building up in the people around us - who by now, know every minute detail of our "mission disembarkment". I noticed a few keen eyes watching our every move,with bated breath!Soon we heard the train slowing down and then screeching to a halt at our destination.We were somewhere close to the exit, but still not out. That is all I remember. Before we knew it, we were all on the platform and were continuing to move with the human current towards the exit of the station. A sense of achievement engulfed us. We made it! Hurray! We survived the Mumbai local!

We thanked the gentleman who helped us and that is when I asked him his name. Prakash, is his name. The whole experience is going to stay with me in the years to come. Prakash is a living example of the Mumbaikar spirit. Inspite of his daily ordeal,he managed to have pleasant disposition towards total strangers on the train and even helped them! Three cheers to that human spirit! On that note, I bid adieu for now. Merry Christmas!

Our friend - the sparrow

Every morning, at around 8, we have this tiny visitor who drops by to say hello. The little guy is almost punctual every day. He would fly onto the window sill and spend sometime trying to converse with us ... fearless and extroverted, unlike his fellows! Over the time, we started leaving crumbs of biscuits and a little bit of water for this little fella and he made visiting our house, his routine. Our friendship continues...

A while ago,I came across an article that listed the common house sparrow as a soon-to-be endangered species and requested its readers to do their bit in preventing it.Discovering that the sparrow would very soon join the list of endangered species was horrifying. Where are we headed? Rapid deforestation - ruthless felling of trees to expand roads, to create new infrastructure, to build extra luxurious apartments,office,commercial spaces meant very minimal greenery around. The result? Well, drive the most common bird, close to extinction!!
Is man becoming so selfish that he thinks he can very well do away with the other species? Isn't there beauty in balance? Thats what Nature teaches us,doesn't it? Then why are we so overwhelmingly selfish? Why are we bent upon protecting and nurturing just our own species, at the cost of everything else?.....
How would it feel if our kids would have to visit a zoo to get a glance of say a sparrow, cow, goat or a crow! - all them which we could so easily spot around us while growing up?! Think about it...
Habitat loss is a major reason that is driving many species towards extinction. We can do our bit in protecting and nurturing our environment by planting more trees and protecting the existing ones.

Nine nights

Brightly decked up shops screaming out 'SALE' , streets filled with incense fragrance, exotically decorated pandals at every community park and a slight nip in the air - this is the charm October brings in. Come October, one of the biggest Hindu festive season sets in - Navratri followed by Diwali. Navratri (Nine nights, literally) has a special place in my heart. The kind of cheer and happiness this festival spreads - one has to experience it, to truly adore it.

While in school, Navratri meant 10 days of break from waking up at 6 a.m. every morning. It also meant shopping, new clothes, visiting friends , eating delicious food everyday in the name of God. The meaning more or less remained the same to me over the years, except that the 10 day breaks are replaced by a long weekend. An article I stumbled upon recently, threw open a different perspective on Navratri.While reading the article, I told myself to blog about it without fail. So here goes! A few excerpts from the article: Navratri is observed to celebrate the victory of spirit over inertia,pride,shame,craving and aversion. The first 3 days of Navratri are attributed to 'tamo guna',signifying depression,fear and emotional instability; the second three to 'rajo guna' characterised by anxiety and feverishness and the last three days to 'sattva guna' that pertains to calm, peace and dynamism. Though Navratri is celebrated as the victory of good over evil, the actual fight is not between good and evil.It is the victory of spirit over inertia and negative tendencies... Navratri is the time to reflect on and renew the inner depth of our lives. I shall leave you with that. May the true meaning of Navratri sink in and may we all rediscover a humbler and more peaceful side in us. Dussera Subhakanshalu!