A mother's B'day!

One of my friends' Facebook announcement made me postpone my lunch today.
"...is celebrating a decade of motherhood...my son turns 10 today..."

The post caught my attention, it stirred something within...but could not define
what exactly. No, not because my little one (that's how I love calling my girl)
would get into the doubles soon.

It is strange that time flies...we all have used this line so very often that we
forget its significance. Can't imagine kids around growing up faster than you
would probably want them to. But it was not that. 'Cos of late have been
interacting with moms of teenagers (let's call them teen mamas, sounds better).

But it is more to do with the selection of words, the order in which they are
beaded together and the tone. Yes, even written language does have a tone. But 
it does depend on the readers' frame of mind, too.

Men, most of them, would read the sentence with punctuations introduced
variantly. Motherhood would definitely be the opening word and decade stressed
upon. 'MOTHERhood!, clocks one whole decade!' Did I hear a sigh, too? Unless, of
course, they're inquisitive enough to check the photo gallery, with a 'chalo,
dekh lete hai approach!'

Young mothers would definitely congratulate. Whole-heartedly. Some may feel a
tad sad thinking of the digits adding on their scale, nevertheless, they would
love her spirit. They would see only two words in that announcement - motherhood
and celebration.

Sober older mothers would bless the duo, active old mom's would jump in with
cheeky liners of making it seem all fun and the so-called I-know-it-all old
timers (if they are on FB, that is) would give her a piece of advice on bringing
up the boy and to stop frolicking around for he is stepping into the danger
zone.

But mothers-to-be, the younger, I-wanna-enjoy-life-before-I-get into...girls
would scream out 'congrats'; 'OMG exclamtions! coupled with beautiful adjectives
more on mom's beauty than the son's looks and something else on the page would
catch their attention even before they could finish with their so-called
enthusiastic replies.

Am checking the comments to the post tomorrow. Just curious to know if I know my
mind!

When in love, say it loud!

When in love, just say it loud
Colours of rainbow cannot yell
Your feelings for him only you behold,
No, the reds and pinks even cannot tell!

Notice, the city you live is the same everyday
Men, women and students always at rush,
So prejudices and inhibitions must not weigh
When your heart pleads with you to blush!

Do not wait for Valentine's permit
To be kissed and lifted off your feet,
Remember, love is not a seasonal flit
Rather a feather in your bosom you need to treat!

When in love, just say it loud
Once a year is sheer betrayal of self,
Mesmerise all year through in Valentine cloud
Else no matter how great, at heart you remain an elf!

How do you feel about Mr Serpent's entry?

The serpent tamer's powers have got astrologers as well as astronomers across
the world up in arms. In their desperation to defend themselves they have only
added to the cosmic clutter and banter leaving all those always-practical-
yet-a-bit-superstitious-at-all-times-mortals more confused about their beliefs.

If you are wondering what I'm speaking of, it's the new zodiac sign, Ophiuchus, which
has now seemingly surfaced somewhere on the horizon. The Babylonians had thrown
it far away but seems like the serpent has managed to crawl through the centuries and
at last peep into the 21st one. It is said they wanted only 12 signs to match the 12
months of a year. Fair enough!

But then the moon wanted to make its presence felt. Whoever said ego dwells
only in humans! If astronomers from the Minnesota Planetarium Society are to
be believed then due to the moon's gravitational pull on Earth, the alignment
of the stars has been pushed by about a month. That leaves a creek just wide
enough for the serpent to creep in, shoving up all others, lest it crawls up
your leg.

Until now I had thought most Asians would stay put for they believe in horoscopes -
calculated by the position of planets and stars at the time of  birth, and that the
stampede would be concentrated only in the West. But I now hear some western
astrologers have been using tropical zodiac, which is based on seasons. So why this
hue and cry? Let anyone walk in to sqaut or snore.

It's been more than a month since Mr Serpent (this is how I prefer calling the so-called
13th zodiac sign simply because I cannot pronounce Ophiuchus) was introduced and
most of us feel the same as we felt prior to his entry. But if any of you feel any
different then I suggest you look up how you are placed rather than where. Just
because someone says you're no more what you thought you were and so you feel
wierd or elated or depressed, then you need a thorough look-up anyways.

On th brighter side, at least now you have a choice to choose your sign. Select the one
that makes you feel good on a particular day and go about your activities...this is
called taking destiny in your hands - and you gradually learn to become more practical
in life, too.

 

Moon and star romance

The obedient thing cried at the precise second. It doesn't care if we are up after
a two-day weekend or a longer holiday. It makes for the lack of a dog...faithful to
a fault... sun or rain in sickness and health, the nasty thing is the only body in
this whole universe who gets away by yelling at us each morning.

We let it cry, then scream and later screech...before the husband drags himself out
and I prepare to follow.

My routine began with no change in script on January the 30th. I tossed, turned,
kicked away the blanket, upped my senses to feel my back...'yeah, I'm here', I felt
the sore swear. Got up, stretched, waited to hear the other...'yes I'm here', it
creaked. My neck, thankfully, alive over my shoulders I decided to get on with my
robotic early morning activities...before I dash off to work.

To my surprise, I felt energetic for a change. Dismissed it as first week-day
blues, I set about packing breakfast for my little one. But the morning was
determined to indeed surprise me...warm thoughts of my family began surfacing, then
quickly established themselves within me.

Soon I felt like exercising, usually the urge hits only after a heavy meal. Never
in my lifetime did it visit me early morning. Wow! I was amused and began humming.
It was only a little later when the clock stopped ticking, or so I thought, did I
realise my rendering was pretty loud... a song!

Anyways it's just the early beginning of another long five-day week, I cautioned
myself before stepping out. And lo! I found a spring in my steps. What's
happenning? I wondered. I let the weather take the credit and hopped into the car.
There my driver, who usually picks on me for being a sleepy head, quipped 'you look
fresh'!

Now, this was more than I could comprehend. Nevertheless, I thanked him for the
compliment and decided to mentally compose a poem -  'An ode to myself'.

Lost in my verse, at first I thought I was imagining my lines. Then looked without
blinking...and it still was there high up in the sky...a celestial wonder! A bright
dazzling star very close to the crescent moon. Incredibly lovely a couple!

The captivating serenity I could not hold for long as I had to walk into my office.

This is the first time I've seen anything like this - a divine romance. Does it
hold any significance? Probably, I heard them whisper.

Republic Day is on 26th - The Friday

"Tomorrow is a holiday," announced my nine-year old as I returned home from work
yesterday. "So I'll watch the new Rapunzal DVD."

"First watch the morning news to see the parade," I started off enthusiastically eager
to tell her all about the floats, awards and the rest, only to be dismissed with a casual
"but we are going for the Republic Day celebrations on Friday, then why do you want
me to wake up at 7?"

Alas! she's a product of the weekend-paranoid Gulf culture!

It's almost two decades since I last saluted the tricolour, but each time I hear the
words Independence Day or Republic Day I break out in goose bumps. Watching the
parade on TV was the morning ritual on the 26th. Then off to school... march past,
flag-hoisting and sweets distribution are all so fresh still. We never waited to return
home from school on such days when there were no classes...pelting stones at
tamarind trees and attendants shooing us away, staying in the loo until the driver tired
of honking left us behind, and then taking the longest of routes to reach home,
walking down by the level crossing, just because of the don't-take-the-railroad-route-
if-you-miss-the-school-bus warning...the only part we hated was rewriting the
previous year's essay.

The significance of hating some things in childhood is only beginning to see light
now in the desert. Sad, kids here do not have a chance of doing anything different in
school. All school days are just school days.

Teaching them to sing the National Anthem while hoisting the flag is, indeed, great.
But the pride is missing. Little ones should get that chill down thier young spines
when they see the tricolour go up. In the absence of the pratriotic mood that engulfs
the streets of India on the two historic days, educational institutions here must make
this a working day and offer students a different experience. One that will over the
years turn them into proud Indians. Hold competitions, stage plays on patriotic
themes, dress different, prepare for this day in advance which will help them get into
the mood... rather than an adhoc flag-hoisting session.

No doubt patriotism in India is painted in new colours every year, thanks to some
fanaticians, but children there get to feel the vibrancy. Or at least have political
commotions that erupt with clock-like precision to remember when they grow up,
unlike expat kids who believe only in two days and no dates.

Well, can we blame them? All their birthdays by default fall on the weekends.

P.S. Got an invite. A regional association is celebrating Republic Day on Friday,
January 28th.

It's time baby boomers moved on

Latest survey doing rounds on the net (OMG! why am I mentioning where...Old habits hanging on) say baby boomers aren't optimistic about the prospects of their own
retirement.

Now let me get this right. A baby boomer is a person who was born immediately after
the Second World War, ie, all those born in 1950s and early 60s. Hey, I've got a
new name for my parents...let that be.

Apparently the survey has found that majority of these boomers are unhappy today
because their expectations as teenagers have not yet been achieved. And wanna know
what their expectations were?

Thirty per cent thought flying cars would be a reality; 23% expected human robots
to be common by the time they retire; 40% expectd a cure for cancer; 21% believed
poverty and hunger would be eliminated...Gosh, how foolish!

Guess it's not their fault. 'Cos their parents would have been busy fighting, no
not the war, I know, its after-effects and so probably would not have been in the
right frame of mind while creating them. Imagine the anxiety and confusion of
grandpas and grandmas becoming a source of income for 21st century employees! Need
to unravel this one...but later.

Who, in the first place, asked these boomers to let their imagination run riot?
Worse still hold on to them for six long decades and expect youth of today to
postpone their career plans for them? Now I understand why they are called the
self-indulgent generation.

Cooked up crazy ideas in their heads and waited for decades to see them
materialise. Weren't they told teenage is the craziest of periods in one's life?

But yes, I need to be fair...18% of them expected an end to war. Which war? Did
they foresee (given that the mentioned survey was conducted in the US) all the wars
that followed in other continents subsequent to the World War II? If so, let's ask
them about the next one...I need to have my bag ready.

Genes progenerate... Did I read something about it somewhere? I'll look up this
one, definitely.

Three amazing women

Caught a few minutes of Screen Awards last night and it left me wondering how I'll
be a few decades from today. Definitely not like them, nor do I want to be like any
other for sure...too individualistic an I is inside me. You know? I(t) will rebel.

But we both agree mutually and honestly that the three ladies impressed and
inspired us beyond words can express.

Rekha, Hema Malini and Shabana Azmi - wow! simply amazing!

All those critics who talk of Rekha's eyes being pulled and forehead being shot or
was it short of Botox, whatever, and tucks being hidden behind yards of
Kanchipuram...can take a walk. She's the ultimate diva of Indian cinema! Shayari or
verse, in English, Urdu or Hindi, the lady speaks the way each needs to be spoken.
Glad the zealots accept that. No more do we hear of the South Indian actress tag
spat in ugly glue!

But wonder how many lifespans Hema Malini will need to learn to twirl her tongue!
Couple of lines were Tamilish for sure, the rest was Hindi wrapped in something...I
need to Google it. But who cares, at 60-plus she continues to be the dreamgirl of
Indians. She is the only Bollywood old-timer who seems to have maintained her
figure, so effortlessly shall I say? Definitely it's all those classical
performances she's passionate about that keeps her a class apart.

But classes apart and zillions at that is Shabana Azami. Beauty she never was nor
is; but she is one woman who has aged gracefully. Think of her body of work, no
ugly thoughts here... more of those sans grease paint...doesn't it reflect her
inner radiance? Am a bit partial here for I love women who speak their mind and
fluently at that and in polished dialects and on most subjects... well, I'll
mention no more. Am not an opiniated person yet, you see...

However, Rekha's magnetism is awesome! Just speaking my mind.