She Should Be Special... Everyday...

Well life is such that all of us get lost in the daily rigmarole and tend to neglect the dear ones in our lives. And then some wizards come into the picture. The created these special days, dedicated to the ones who are an integral part of our loves – mothers, fathers, daughters, sons, sisters, brothers, wives, husbands, friends, bosses and the list goes on.

I’m guilty of not reaching out to several dear ones in my life and telling them time and again – how special they are to me. On the other hand, I would also like to believe that I feature in a similar list for few people (wink). 

What I don’t understand is how only a single day dedicated to these special people, can make a difference. Come a special day, my Facebook page, WhatsApp gets flooded with dedicated messages and I frankly can’t relate to any of them. 

Something similar happened on this 8th March. People, who would not have greeted me in ages in person or on phone, bombarded me with Women’s Day greetings. I politely thanked all.

But here’s what I feel. Only one day dedicated to Women across the world is not enough and does not do justice to the special eves in our lives. Our mothers (and in law), aunts, daughters (and in law), sisters (and in law), wives, nieces, grandmothers, lovers, friends etc deserve far more attention than on just one day.

We are nothing without them and thus we should not leave any opportunity to tell them how special they are to us.  

We should make every day a “Women’s Day” for these special ones…

We should celebrate them every day…

If we know eves who do not have anyone to make them feel special, then we should spread joy in their lives. We can go a step further and associate with organizations who dedicate their operations to betterment, upliftment of women and girl child.

It is now or never. Come forward and make this small change in your thought process – it has to be every day instead of just one day.

These ladies may grace your lives today but maybe in the very next moment they might not be there and then you would be left pondering – “Oh why did I miss out on loving them, caring for them, being there for them, making them feel special, being there in their times of needs?”

Call your mother right this moment and tell her you love her from the bottom of your heart and your life is incomplete without her. How about ensuring that she has that much needed health insurance coz she is ageing. 

Hold your partner’s hand and whisper in her ears “you complete me”. Be her partner in the daily chores too coz she might be working as hard as you or even more.

Tell your sister that no one’s a better soundboard than her. Be there for her when she needs one.

Call your friend / girlfriend and tell her – without her wackiness, days lose fun and how her being your 4am friend makes you overcome all your troubles. Be there to wipe her tears, when she is down and out. Call her to ask how she is doing, when she least expects it.

I could go on and on with what we should be telling them and how often, but I will take a pause here. I can only tell you. At the end of the day, it’s you who has to take this step forward and celebrate them.

I also want to tell you that even we women should celebrate the special Adams in our lives in exactly the same way and one day would not do justice to them as well.

So what is it going to be for you? On a lighter note, let’s see how many dear ones of mine reach out to me after reading this note (wink, wink)…

Fade Away...

Every year I think that the memory would fade a bit, the tick tock of the clock would stop reminding me of what transpired and I would somehow get over it.

But here we are ... fourteen years and still going strong. Not an iota of change. Guess that's how it's going to be forever. I keep missing you dad and ever so more, with each passing day. 

Wherever you are, I know you're watching over us. How I wish you were right next to us... today and forever...

Hoping that you are at peace...

Litmus Test...

This post should have been my last post for 2016 but it's horribly delayed. I was wondering whether to even write it or skip it. But then I thought, how do I not write about the learning that the year left in my lap as it walked towards the sun set. 

Well the year gone by ended on an unexpected note. I have often talked about things that have troubled me and ended up becoming life lessons for me. Well this one became the latest addition.

Some say that every person who you are close to - personally and professionally would dissapoint   you or let you down, at least once. I leave it up to your fair judgement - whether this time it was personal or professional. 

Relax... I won't bore any of you with the sordid details of what went by. I will only talk about the lesson that it taught me.

It taught me about the Litmus Test...

Life is all about these litmus tests. You never know when, one is waiting for you right at the corner. 

I learnt that -

 "When the litmus test uncovers what's around you...

   What do you do?
   Keep your head high, do what you do the best... persevere..."

And when you pass it, with your chin up, you move on... determined, maybe a bit scarred but hopeful.

Until the next litmus test greets you...

Ek Dafaa...

For me music is the way to my soul. What I sense around me, what I experience, music helps me absorb it better. It's my saviour when I hit rock bottom and it's my budddy that adds that spring in my stride when I am happy or excited. 

It is amazing how suddenly while driving, when I change FM channels, a change in the song makes me squeal with glee, my eyes pop with pleasure and my heart says - "Oh now that's a cool song". If  it happens to be a song I would be hearing for the first time then I would go about looking it up.

While driving back tonight, as I was lost in my thoughts, ruminating about all that has been happening in the last few days, I unconsciously changed the music channel and voila. I heard the last few lines of a song and it woke me from my reverie. 

This one is pop, groovey yet haunting and touches every emotion that you go through when you are far away from your dear one... far away in person, in thoughts... just far away...

Reached home, googled it, found it and placed it on loop. 

It seems that this one might help me sail through...Ek Dafaa...

Suno Na...

सुनो  ना... 

चाह के भी आवाज़ तुम तक नहीं पहुच पाती.  ... 

सुनो ना. ... 

ये अजब सी दुरी समझ नहीं आती  ... 

सुनो ना  ... 

साथ है या अलग है  ... ये पहेली समझ नहीं आती  ... 

एक दूजे के लीये हो के भी नहीं है. ... 

ये कमी खलती जाती  ... 

कही ऐसा वक़्त ना आ जाये कि जहान को भी लगे   ... 

कि इन दोनों में वो बात नहीं, जज़्बा नहीं, वो प्यार नहीं. ... 

बस चन्द दिनों का साथ था  ... 

रेत पे लिखे नाम की तरह  ... 

जब हवा का झोखा आया  ... 

सब मिटाता हुआ चला गया  ... आंधी की तरह. .   

अगर कुछ दिल को कचोट रहा है  ... तो बताओ ना  ... 

ऐसे चुप ना रहो  ... मुझे सताओ न  ... 

अगर वादा सिर्फ आज भर के साथ का था  ... 

तो निभा के चले जाने दो  ... 

मगर चाह ज़िन्दगी भर के साथ की है तो  ... 

मूझे रोक लो  ... जाने ना दो  ... 

जो भी है. ... मेरे सामने रखो  ... 

ऐसे मत हवा में लीन हो  ... सुनो ना. ... 

जो मन में चल रहा है  ... कहो ना  ... 

Welcome 2017...

Though a little late but neverthless, here it is - My welcome note for 2017. 

With renewed fervour, a string tying the pearls of hope, dreams as colourful as the balloons above and a pinch of nervous excitement, I welcome you 2017 with open arms.

2016 was crazy, happy, mad, sad, numbing and shocking, all in one go. I don't expect you to be any easier but I do know, as I stand on the 8th step out of the 365, that you are going to be different, exhilarating and crazier than the year gone by.

Firstly, a heartfelt thank you to all the guardian angels who stood by me in my times of need. I could not have sailed through without you guys and I hope that you bless me with your gracious presence in 2017 as well.

A break from the unending tests would be welcomed but that doesn't mean I ain't up for them. Don't tug away people dear to me - personally and professionally. Give me the passion to follow my vocation seriously than ever before. Make me take the first step towards my dream of being able to spread the joy in whatever ways I can. Push me to travel solo and with dear ones to places I have never set my foot on. Amidst the daily chaos, no matter what happens, always make me remember that I have to always be by side of my dear ones in their times of need. Take punitive steps if I repeat same mistakes again.

There is so much more that I want to see happening in 2017 but all I would like to mention is - keep me grounded and keep me humane, as I rise too high or I fall flat. 

Raising a toast - to the new beginnings...cheers!!!

Who Am I...

Well what would life be, if not unpredictable? Sweet this moment and sour the very next. It keeps us on our toes and laughs back at us when we try and plan how our coming days would be. 

(Fingers crossed) I am currently in a phase where life has been kind to me after a phase of toil and madness. And so, I was looking forward to the weekend gone by, to share my happiness with my dear ones. It indeed was a lovely evening with partners in crime. Reminisced about college days, picked places for a well deserved and pending vacation, talked about cars, some friendly banter, pulsating music and much more. I couldn't have asked for more.

But before the evening came to an end, something changed. A partner's acquaintance gate crashed my evening. Being an extremely private person, who is also very picky about her dear ones and spends time with only those who matter, it somehow didn't go down well with me. 

The gatecrasher not just tugged at my partners' attention, IT (want to keep it gender neutral) meddled with how I had wanted my evening to conclude. I did not like it...not a single bit. From then on I had to use every ounce of endurance I had and eventually, the evening ended abruptly. 

My dismay slowly turned to the partner who had allowed IT to gatecrash. I wanted to talk about it but don't know when will I get the chance. 

I wonder, what would it take for people to give time and attention to folks who matter and sift away the riff raff. In today's times, do we really do right by the ones who matter to us? Then suddenly a question pops up - am I even the one who matters? 

May be..... or may be not....That's a tough one to tell right now. 

I don't know about any of you right now but here's what I believe in. 

"If you my friend, matter to me then you will get all of my undivided attention...all the time. And if I matter to you, then you better give me the time and attention that I deserve. There is no room for gatecrashers".