Random Musings

I was never one for pets, probably, the practicalities of bringing up a pet weighed more heavily than emotions. Also, the nomadic lifestyle we led was, I thought least conducive to bringing up a pet. But as luck would have it, we didn’t have to adopt a pet, we got adopted. It was not what we had bargained for, but that is how love enters one’s life isn’t it, when one least expects it! I can’t really recollect the day that our little kitten came into our life, it is a bit hazy. All I remember, is that one fine day, I had this little brown kitten looking with the most doleful eyes at me. How it got into my lap and how for days afterwards, she would jump up on my lap as I was reading the newspapers, is not so clear to me. But, I remember, how my routine subtly changed at first, to accommodate her in my lap and how it would cuddle and look for maternal comfort with me. Slowly but surely, she made her way into my heart, so much so that slowly my routine revolved a lot around he...

It is another routine day in the life of the man as he dons his uniform, gets ready, gears up and belts down to offer succor and support to his fellow countrymen. At the first break of dawn, as he wakes up to the call of duty, she is awake too, along with him, alongside him. As he gets out of bed, so does she. And yet, she dons no uniform, she wears no medals, no badge, no rank, no title, yet, she is the woman who is as much a part of the Services as he is. It is not her job, not her duty, nor her calling and yet she is as much a part of the Service as he is. The woman who steadfastly stands behind her man in the uniform. A woman, a lady, who knows that her love and commitment, her strength and tenacity will offer an anchoring to that man in uniform. As you watch these men in the uniform, you wonder what is it that separates them from the others…what is it that gives them the courage to lay their lives routinely on line to help others, to save others, to rescue others. With w...

In a new place, yet again...and the whole circle of trying to make it a home...to give something to the new place...to take away something from it...the attempt to create a bond... and the hope that the bond sticks...The vicious circle starts all over again... Somehow, the number of new places we move to, seems to have finally taken a toll...there is a weariness...a sense of detachment even before i've become attached...aware that this too shall pass...that this too is not permanent...What all the spiritual gurus and guide-books have been teaching us, seems to have finally dawned on me! In all this distancing and detachment there is also a 'touristy' sense of freedom...The reason why going away to new places are a great way to de-stress, is that they are new ...we don't know anyone there and somehow that liberates us from our own shackles of how we talk, behave and are expected to be in a familiar setting...This anonymity is what we crave for on holidays...to let ...

It was just another evening, i was whiling away my time in front of the TV, mindlessly watching some random program...when i heard my 'pet/stray' Raven calling out...yeah, actually, he does let me know, by cawing very loudly, when we have visitors/stray dogs, whatever...Whoever said that only dogs can play the role of guards... I go out, expecting to shoo away either the raven or the dogs, whoever seems more agreeable to listening to me...the shooing away is always a game of egos for them, i think...for they refuse to budge and try to shout each other away...But, lo and behold what do i see when i step out, a stray cat, with endearing eyes and lost looks...I have had an affinity, and undeniable love for cats somehow, not the Persian variety but the stray ones...and to think that this little cat wandered to our house which is generally the home turf of three regular stray dogs, a couple of ravens and a few squirrels, all of who try to protect their territories fiercely... Just a...

I am a housewife and i am not bored. I know, this sounds like the cliched lines from a famous Bollywood movie, where the hero keeps reiterating his name and that he is not a terrorist. I can totally empathize with how he must have felt, about people being judgmental. When people ask me what i do and i say, that i am housewife, the assumption is that i must be bored. I have been a housewife for almost past two decades now. It is a 'job' i've taken on whole-heartedly, out of choice, not because i lack the degrees or the requisite intelligence for a 'regular job'. Perhaps that is another reason for this assumption, that if i have the qualifications and the intelligence why am i not 'working'. Why am i wasting my time? I am sure, this question was never posed to my mother or grandmother...and i think in my grandmother's time, such a question would be even seen as a sacrilege. Anyway, coming to the point on hand...are housewives bored? Infact, the poli...

I always think that putting any major incident into words, limits it, somehow has drawn boundaries...somehow can be only as much as the writer can convey and no more... The 2004 Tsunami was, I think beyond words for those of us who were unfortunate enough to experience it and fortunate enough to be alive to recount it... At that time we were in Carnicobar, an island, in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The place was breathtakingly beautiful and the turquoise blue-green sea and the white sandy beaches always made me pause and think how beautiful the surroundings were. More often than not, we tend to get caught up in our day to day activities and forget to enjoy the beauty that surrounds us...luckily, we didn't fall into that trap. Every evening we'd go out and enjoy the blue sea and the white beaches, which were just a stone's throw away from our quarters. I always found watching the waves very enjoyable, ...very serene...something very calming and soothing about their ba...

To truly love and then to let go...how difficult that must be, i wonder. That leap of faith i think only a few people can boast of taking...Parents for generations have been doing it without regret or remorse. Like a torch that needs to be passed on from one generation of parents to the other... From being the protective parents looking after every need of the child to teaching the children to stand on their own, physically, mentally, morally and spiritually. A couple of my friends have recently sent their teenage daughters for studies abroad...continents away. I know that the world is just a click away, but to send your 'child' however old for the first time away from home, i don't know what worries it entails... If my time comes, i wonder if i can pack off my daughter with the resilient fortitude that my friends displayed. A smile on the faces, a tear in the eyes and a prayer in the heart...What courage to love and let go...