Its raining Life!!

We are in the midst of a downpour today. The rain gods are indeed pleased with mankind I guess...I was scared of the news about SIRUVANI dam water level going down..and stuff like water cut in the offing, if it doesnt rain...etc


Talking of rains....

A funny thing happened last year..
My friend asked me, if we get a special umbrella in Kerala,(which pioneers in the latest model umbrellas-strong ones.)which has a button to close the umbrella. I mean we have all seen umbrellas with a button to open it...she said she has heard that there is this umbrella which has a button to close it..
I hadnt heard of it, however promised to get it for her.
It so happened I went to the shop and asked the shopkeeper I want an umbrella with a button to close...and he gave me..
I happily brought it back to mumbai and gave it to my friend..
No one felt like checking it ....
One day my friend took this umbrella and went shopping. It started raining suddenly.She started pressing the button to open the umbrella and it didnt open..in that confusion, she got drenched fully. She came to know later that this particular umbrella doesnt have a button to open....it has to be opened the manual way, it has one button only to close the umbrella...
Even to this day she teases me about the umbrella...

Living with Elders!!!

I have had the good fortune of being always in the midst of elders. The children as they were growing, were brought up in the lap of love and care of their grandmothers. Be it paternal or maternal. They were there to take care of them when we were busy pursuing the jobs to earn the hard to be found moolah.

yesterday I happened to go to a friend's house for dinner. What I saw there made me very happy. My friend is the only bread winner there. The wife is a housemaker. There were three elders in the house.All of them above 65years.
My friend has a daughter who is about 7 years old.I know it must be really a strain for him with 5 adults and a child, with the kind of salary that a nationalised bank officer draws.But put that aside, there were so many positive things happening in that house..
I was told that all the five adults spend the morning getting the kid ready and send her to school. There is always the grandfather to take her to the danceclass. The grandmother to tell stories, and to take her to the park.
The kid is very smart and well brought up. No tantrums of anykind.

The parents happily take care of the elders and the elders take care of the youngone...it was really wonderful to see the comraderie..

My old mother was there for me to set up the house when we came here...

I love the seniors, I value their contributions to our lives and wish and pray that each elder feels loved and respected in every home.

GOD BLESS THEM

GOD IS GREAT!!

She called me from the far away land, may be hoping for comfort! I could hear the distress in the voice...The experiment wasn't going right as expected. As a last resort she was trying something to save it...
As she was walking to college, fearing what was waiting there, she called me...

I started singing the HANUMAN CHALISA..and she joined in..we both recited the prayers on phone over the seven seas....I am sure she felt good after that, very confident that someone is watching out for her.

Two hours later, I heard a happy voice saying, IT WORKED!! MA...

I thank god! for the small mercy!!!!

I truly believe"there's light at the end of the tunnel"

Problems come and problems go...they are here to stay,
what is necessary is the strength to tackle them.
The outlook to understand them,the need to solve them
and if it persists, to learn stay with them

God can't save those who cannot save themselves!
why blame someone else always for your sorry state

Geetha(my namesake! my friend) in my bank was crying today.
Her grownup daughter is confined to home, as she is partially paralised, due to a brain surgery. Her husband is no more. she has no sibling support and is alone. She locks up her daughter and comes to work.
she is fighting to keep her daughter alive.

I was very upset to see her in that state. But I am confident about one thing, and feel that the girl is going to be alright..I told geetha to visualise that the daughter is VERY HEALTHY AND MOVING AROUND WITH HER IN COIMBATORE & EVERYWHERE"
This I told her is the first step towards recovery...
I told her to have a strong faith and believe that the recovery has already started and she is going to be fine in no time! and it will happen.

I saw Geetha smile then, wipe her tears and with a confidence hitherto unknown leave the bank...
I pray and wish too that her daughter girija gets well soon....

Amidst simplicity!

I observe the people around me in coimbatore, be it on the roads, in the neighbourhood or in the bank, I find that there is lot of simplicity around....They are very unassuming. Simple people living a simple life in a simple neighbourhood...
I learn a thing or two from them.
They have eager ears to learn about far away lands...which in this case happens to be mumbai...They feel its a big deal to be in mumbai. I feel like laughing when I see the awe.. Only once you are in mumbai will you know the hardships one has, to start with reaching places in the crowded locals..
The distance, the climate the crowds, and the langauage! all this can intimidate the small town person..it did to me too...I was like a small mouse when I entered the bank as an officer in 2004.
I was scared like hell...
After a few days, I found to my good fortune, there was nothing to be intimadated about...coz no one bothered about you ..everyone was on their own, there was actually no time for them to think of some mouse from coimbatore...I was relieved beyond any words...I realised that the indifference was not because of any superiority complex they had, but due to their own problems...It was good enough for me...
I took over from then on becoming a lioness taking care of my friends, the cubs...and everyone easily let me..
They looked lost when I was bidding them farewell.
In coimbatore I find it very easy to relate to people, first of all they are my own from past, secondly they live without a mask.
Am I glad I am back??
I answer this question again and again and again in the affirmative...

A mother in law...I became

Wow! It feels great to be back, after nearly two months...I feel like a bird, flying free in the sky..

The wedding on 21/5/2007, monday at guruvayoor was great!!! I gave away a slice of my life to santosh. As I did that, there was a lot of confusion, about who will give the hand of the bride as there is no father...( a small doubt crosses my mind as I write this...is the mother a good enough person to hand a daughter away to her love, or you need a breed of any random MALE, to do that). Have I committed a big crime if I defied their dictates of not letting me give nimi's hand to santosh..at least the priest who performed the wedding didnt mind..he told me to do just that and I did.
Now dont tell me I am making mountains out of mole hills...no I am not..atleast I dont think so...
Mohan was everywhere then...I had him with me...I have saved a bunch of his hair and nails which I carry with me where ever I go. Nimi held on to it fast, as the mangalsutra was being tied...what little we have of his physical being we carried with us...and we shared the moment with him thus.

Back in coimbatore, I feel like a new person...time is a great companion...reading is one of the lost hobbies, I found somewhere in one carton, I carried from mumbai.

I dont miss mumbai at all...that is a great comfort...and am thriving in all the love that awaited me here.

It feels great to know I havent changed a bit...had lost myself somewhere in the crowded mumbai locals...