The blue sky

By next Thursday, there would be festive atmosphere in many parts of India. Maharashtra, Karnataka and a few other states celebrate the Ganesha festival where people bring home the idol of Ganesha and worship it for anywhere between 1 and a half days to 11 days. There are lot of sweets which are prepared at home and then friends, relatives come over for the celebration. There is a lot of positivity in the atmosphere and I just love this season. From the time I moved to Bangalore, I see a different picture of celebrations here. They might not seem as grand as the ones in Maharashtra, but the fervor is no less. Everybody is charged up, people are busy cleaning, decorating their houses, children have holidays and they get new clothes. People have so many ideas for decorating the pandal for the Ganesha to sit. It ranges from mere Rs. 100-200 to Lakhs of rupees. Off late, people have addressed social issues in the decorations for the Ganesha festival and when people throng to visit that G...

Nothing happens in life as we want. You would find every single person complaining like this. Is it always so? If I ask 10 people, 9 would reply in affirmation saying yes, that’s right! Nothing happens in our lives as we had expected. I am also one of those 9 people who would happily agree to the fact that they are challenges in every walk of life which we lead and not always things happen as we want them to. But then what will be the fun if life was predictable and we knew all that was coming our way or saw in advance what was going to happen in our life? We would lose all our strength and vigor to fight it out and just become a character which just follows the script of a serial! Though many of you might argue with me on how we are mere puppets in the hands of god and destiny and how we just come and play our parts here. But also while playing your parts; have you given your 200% to that role? Do you believe in yourself and that role so much that God would be compelled to say, arr...

I got to know this interesting story from my best friends' mom, which is a true story. Someone amongst her relatives is sad and depressed from the past 1 yr. That is exactly from the time, a pet in their family died. Her relative (let us call him grandpa) is almost 75 yrs old and has lot of complications in his health after that. Yes, it was a dog, a Pomeranian by breed, but grandpa wouldn't call him a dog, he felt it was an insult to call the dog a dog. The dog, Kittu was very much a part of their family and it stayed with them for 9 yrs, which is quite a bit for his breed. Kittu ate all things which were prepared in the kitchen. He loved coconut and tomato very much. He also loved milk, rice, biscuits and all types of sweets. Grandpa invested in Kittu emotionally to such an extent that now its void cannot be filled by anything or anyone in this world. His relatives, his family have tried so much to cheer him up, but he just doesn't respond an...

Friend This word has so many meanings. 1. A person known well to another and regarded with liking, affection, and loyalty; an intimate 2. An acquaintance or associate 3. An ally in a fight or cause; supporter 4. A fellow member of a party, society, etc. 5. A patron or supporter All I know and understand is.. A new me and a confident me is a result of efforts of all my friends who have been there with me in all the walks of life and I would like to take this opportunity to thank them all. I am the only child, always missed a sister/brother, but not after I started teaching German in the Mumbai university. That was a turning point in my life. I changed into a dynamic and confident person from a very depressed and a sad person who had a negative self-concept. Interacting with my students and seeing the joy of learning a new language on their brightened up faces gave me a new found happiness and changed me to what I am today. I want to thank my first set of students ...

Yesterday was the birth anniversary of the legendary singer Kishore Kumar. 94.3 Radio One was celebrating this occassion with great enthusiasm. All day through they played his songs and also what other people had to say about him. There is hardly any music fan in India who does not adore Kishore Kumar. He was a versatile man. An actor, director, singer, composer, producer, lyricist. But I always liked his singing better than any other quality in him. Yes, he was an eccentric man, married 4 times, was very concerned about being paid for his singing, but he was responsible for creating magic in the Bollywood music. He rendered his voice to many actors. My personal favorite is the combination of Amitabh Bacchan and Kishore Kumar and also Rajesh Khanna and Kishore Kumar. Who can forget the ever-green song of the movie Don, Namak Halal, Silsila where Amitabh was the hero on screen and Kishore Kumar the off-screen hero? Or the soulful songs of the movies Aradh...

Mother, Maa, Amma - Let the language be different but meaning is same... I want to dedicate this to my mom who is world to me. There is a saying - “A good mother is better than 100 Masters". Yes mom you are my master. They say the first school starts from house & the first teacher is MOTHER. YES it is very much true. You are my consolation in sorrow, my hope in misery, and my strength in weakness. You are the source of love, mercy, sympathy, and forgiveness. Mom your hands were always open when I need a hug. Your heart understood when I need a friend. Your gentle eyes were stern when I needed a lesson. Your strength and love has guided me when and gave me wings to fly. Thanks for giving me this wonderful life. You made a decision to have a child – “It’s momentous. I feel it is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body.” As I grew up with your unconditional bounding, love, care, affection, Mom I stopped seeing you with the eyes of a child, I saw...