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Wednesday 16 March 2016

Thank you Mom for being with me and for me always

Dear Mother from the time that I was born you have always been there for me and with me. Cuddling me when I needed your love and assurance .Holding me when I needed your support and showing me the way when I needed your guidance. I am a live example of the fact as to what an amazingly comfortable life a child has when he has a mother like you by his or her side. You always took extreme care of me and fulfilled all my needs.
Taking me to school and walking back holding an umbrella over me to protect me from the blistering Sun was a daily chore for you and despite having so much work you always took time out for me never complaining. You were there for me in happy times and even when I fell ill you spent countless nights sitting by my side as you tried to make me sleep.
I still remember my efforts to ride a bicycle were not leading me anywhere and I had almost given up. It was you who took the responsibility to teach me how to ride a bicycle. You would hold the bicycle from behind and prevent me from falling.
You walked with me step by step supporting me always. You taught me to see the silver lining in every dark cloud.When I did not get good marks you showed me short cuts to remember and understand. Even tough office situations could be resolved with your sound advice. You are my Mentor,Guide and Inspiration who showed me how to find my path. You have always inspired me to find my own path and set my own goals and achieve them. You are the one who has always inspired me to lead rather then follow. Whenever I am in a tight spot and do not know how to handle a situation. I ask myself as to how you would have resolved the situation and Bingo the issue gets resolved in a jiffy.
I still remember when I could not make it to the class cricket team I got really disappointed and thought of giving up the sport. You on the other hand advised me to follow my passion and keep practicing and prove my mettle in the next selection. You were so confident about my ability that even without knowing if I would get selected you baked a cake to celebrate my getting selected and I got it as a pleasant surprise on returning home after being selected. During the days when I used to have my exams you would stay up awake all night with me . Giving me Tea,Coffee,Milk and snacks so that I may be able to study well.
Now it is time for me to look after you and take care of all your needs. This would be my way of saying a thank you for being always with me and taking care of me.

This is what I feel about my mom


“Share your #MemoriesForLife like I’ve done at BlogAdda for HDFC Life.”

When Kanha Came to Play Holi

Is Holi a festival played only with colors? Think again. Here are the images of Holi celebrations with flowers.
"Phoolon Ke Sang Holi"  Maha Raas Natya Leela of Radha-Krishna

    When the beautiful Radha comes calling Who can refuse the call of Divine Love?


     She is not alone the Gopi's sing and dance along waiting for their beloved Kanha to come


    So Krishna Decides to come and join the Divine Dance -Hare Krishna


    So the divine message is you may be Radha or you may be a Gopi as long is your Love is pure and Divine you will get your Kanha- Hare Krishna.
This is Holi Celebration @ Mandakini Enclave Alaknanda New Delhi
Celebrate the Cheer of Holi and Spread Divine Love as you share this Post with family & Friends
                                                ~Happy Holi
                                                       



Tuesday 15 March 2016

Let our inner Child Live it up This Holi

As students we began to believe that the world consisted of two sets of people one set being that of simple fun loving souls like us children who would look forward to the festival of Holi and indulge in playful fun and revelry and on the other side would be the set of people who were against any kind of carefree living and fun. These were the adults who stopped us from having so much fun. Had it not been the case then why would these so called adults schedule our exams just around Holi time. It is the ultimate torture for any student having to study on the Day of Holi when the rest of the world is celebrating the festival of colors. Perhaps the adults got some sadistic fun by trying to keep us away from all that carefree fun. In those years of innocent fun our free spirited souls were in no mood to bow down or tied by rules and restrictions and we invariably devised ways to escape the mundane life of a student and had a good Holi celebration. I remember playing prank on teachers who were strict and did not permit us to play Holi. There used to be a friend of mine who would buy a lot of colors and throw them on us and when we used to go to play Holi with him he would simply Hide or start complaining to his parents about our attempts of trying to play Holi with him. To get even with these tactics of his we worked out a plan. Firstly we took away some of his own colors when he was not looking and put them in his water tank. We made it a point that none of us friends went near his home and remained clear of the range of his balloon shots. Then we started playing Holi amongst us friends giving him the royal ignore.At some point he would have decided to go in and have his bath then emerged our friend all colored in a deep shade of blue. Looking at this state of his we could not stop laughing. It was our sweet revenge. Then we invited him down and he joined the fun and we played Holi till late evening. Holi is the day that one should let loose the child like innocence and surrender to the spirit of Holi. Unfortunately in the fast paced life of the current times we are getting lesser and lesser opportunities to relax and have fun times with family and friends. This Holi we are planning a get together in our colony where one can indulge in playing Holi with friends and neighbors so the theme this year for our Holi celebration is #KhulKeKheloHoli so that we may be able to relive the childlike innocence of yesteryear's rather then becoming those set of adults who were against any kind of fun we youngsters always wanted to have.

“I’m pledging to #KhulKeKheloHoli this year by sharing my Holi memories at BlogAdda in association with Parachute Advansed.”

An Invite to Play Holi Khul Ke



The biggest festival of colors is just round the corner. Yes you have understood it correctly; I am talking about Holi the day when colors run a riot. They can be found every where in every home, on all the by lanes and on the roads. You can see the little angels who have turned into Peter Pan coloring every one with colors red, blue, yellow and green. They are the messengers of love drenching their loved ones as well as strangers with equal fun and delight. No one can escape them or be out of their reach for they are to be found every where.
But who cares for it is the day when you let go of all your inhibitions and just let yourself go. It is the day of enjoyment, a day when you meet your old friends and even distant relatives consider it to be an opportune time to visit you. So do not hesitate. Simply soak in the fun as you get drenched with layers of love filled colors. These colors are not just streaks of colors but symbols of love and care. So Holi is the festivity of caring and sharing. The deeper the colors greater is the love that enfolds you. As you become more and more drenched with colors you feel on a high. The sweets like the Gujiya, the samosas and the Kanjivadas add to the euphoria.
I wish to invite you all to come and play Holi with me as it comes only once in a year. So lets celebrate with joy the festival of colors. No excuses will be accepted. Your shying away from playing with colors is not permitted. I have taken care that there will be no wastage of water which is very precious. Only dry colors will be used and that too organic Gulal. The biggest advantage would be that you will only be drenched with my love and not colored water. The Organic Gulal would care for your skin and your hair and save your hair from being damaged. So my advice to you all is to apply oil on your hair, your face and of course your arms as well because I am planning to play Holi not only DilSe but #KhulKeKheloHoli this year!
If you are still hesitant then just close your eyes and go back to those days of your childhood when you did not give it a second thought and just jumped in to join the color wagon. I assure you that you will have fun unlimited as you too prepare to #KhulKeKheloHoli this year!

“I’m pledging to #KhulKeKheloHoli this year by sharing my Holi memories at BlogAdda in association with Parachute Advansed.”

Thursday 10 March 2016

Men lets venture where few men have ventured before


The spirit of conquering the unconquered traveling to place no man has traveled before has been a part of human psyche. So be it go around the world or discover new continents or traverse the vast expanses of space men have always been fascinated by and eager to explore the uncharted waters however the irony of humans is that there are some bastions closer to home that still remain unconquered and unexplored by most men. Look no further check out your laundry room or perhaps your back yard where the wet clothes of your house are spread out to dry.
Had it not been the case then why would 76% of married men in India believe that not helping with Laundry at home still makes them a great role model for their children.
Then there are 81% of married men in India who agree that their daughters must learn household chores
That's not right as from early childhood the girls are made to believe that laundry is a women’s job and 78% of girls in India agree that they should learn Laundry as they will have to do it when they grow up.
The thought process that doing Laundry falls under a women’s domain the proof of which is the fact that
2 out of every 3 children think that washing clothes is a mothers job.


So when wearing clothes is not considered unmanly then what is it that men shy away from the act of cleaning the very clothes that they wear?

When I read these stats I feel really bad about these numbers as I really feel left out and in the minority suddenly. I find I am not in the league of the majority of men who do so many things in their lives like conquer mountains and scale the depth of the deepest oceans yet they do not do their own laundry.
Alas when I was a child, right from that time there was a culture of sharing the load. Be it doing the Laundry or other household chores the gender divide never entered our household.
We used to get together on weekends and do the laundry together. The process started with the separation of the colored clothes from the whites. Then we used large buckets and tubs to soak the clothes in detergents and soaps. Then after leaving them to get soaked well and get cleaned up we would take them out, wring out the excess soap and wash them in clean water. Then it would be time to spread them out on the clothes line to dry. Do you thing this was boring? Not at all we sang songs and asked riddles as we went about our job of washing our clothes merrily. Ones we had the clothes drying on the clothes lines it created the perfect opportunity for us children to play a game of hide and seek .The elders by now would have settled on easy chairs sipped some tea and chatted happily as they kept a watchful eye on us kids These were some memorable times we had while doing the laundry. Then when we got our first washing machine the schedule got modified a bit as there was no more soaking of clothes in buckets but we still continued the practice of drying the moist clothes on the cloth lines and our playing together and merrymaking continued as a family . Looking at these stats I wonder as to the fun and the family bonding that we enjoyed as we went through the ritual of washing our weekly laundry as a collective family chore without bothering about the fact that the rest of the country around us was being divided over gender lines as to who would and would not be doing the laundry



I am joining the Ariel #ShareTheLoad campaign at BlogAdda and blogging about the prejudice related to household chores being passed on to the next generation.

Join me in share the load campaign


Dear friends I am part of a rat race where everyone is in a race to outrun one another. I chase endless deadlines some of these I make it and some I miss. Either way they add to the day to day stress of my daily life. Yet every day I start my day with a new vigor, energy and vitality.
Now before these lines begin to appear like the brief of a energy drink that I may be working upon let me clarify that it is not the case at least not at this moment. I am going to talk about my mantra to fight stress, its simple and works for me so it might work for you as well but why am I telling you about it after all you could be belonging to the group of people who believe that Laundry is a woman’s job as 81% of married men in India agree that their daughters must learn household chores
and there are the 78% of girls in India who agree that they should learn Laundry as they will have to do it when they grow up
When 65% of married men in India agree that their children replicate their behavior at home then how can the children be left behind as 2 out of every 3 children think that washing clothes is a mothers job.


So if you fall in this group of people then not only are you being a person who treats the women in his life with a sense of inequality but also treats your laundry with disdain. So much so for feelings now that you are part of the set of people who believe in the school of thought that laundry is a woman’s job you are depriving yourself of my ultimate relaxation technique and the best stress buster that one can think of.
So what is that technique that I have been harping about since the beginning of my post?
Well it’s called washing your clothes or doing the laundry. To begin with when I feel really sapped and stressed I pull out a pile of dirty clothes and make a list of all the negative things that I have experienced that day or the things that have been bothering me for some time. It could be the behavior of a colleague who robbed me of my due credit for a presentation or could be the boss almighty who has bypassed my right to get a fair appraisal or a raise. I fill up a bucket with water or if I am really mad at a person I could chose hot water. Then I gently drown my clothes one by one in this bucket. I visualize that instead of the clothes going down it is the person who has been so nasty that I cannot bear them any more. As the detergent added to the bucket acts on the dirt on the clothes .the slippery feel of soap also allows my troubles to slip away. On days I am feeling really nasty I could wring the clothes a bit harder. As the cool water works on the palm of my hands and the swirling, scrubbing and splashing of water works on all the pressure points located in the palm of my hands. By the time I have finished my washing the problems don't seem that big anymore and if the next day I find some one trying to get under my skin, instead of losing my cool I chuckle and say to my self, I will seen you in the laundry room . I am proud of the fact that I share the load and do not believe it to be a women's job. The fact that it is a great stress buster is only an additional perk.



I am joining the Ariel #ShareTheLoad campaign at BlogAdda and blogging about the prejudice related to household chores being passed on to the next generation.