lost it?

Everyday I think of updating my blog page but all i do is close the page after changing the layout and shuffling the elements. Seems like either my mind has become blank or it has lost the capability of logical thinking. My thoughts just run hay wire. I pick up the newspaper, read the headlines, then quickly shift to some other news item and within seconds I am done with the news reading for the day! Interestingly my job profile is that of a researcher- someone who is expected to read a lot, be updated and possess loads of "logical thinking"! I see none of these characteristics on the right track at the moment...

Now I am trying to get my mind to "focus" and "analyse" as to why this is happening-ummm...........a few reasons are coming to my mind.

1. 9 months back god gifted me my precious new life - my son, Ansh. I read somewhere that lactating women have memory loss problems. They are absent minded and cant focus on things.
2. I am sleep deprived! Dark circles around my eyes demand sleep sleep and more sleep..zzzzzzzzzz.............but mamma has to wait till the little one grows up :) Being half drowsy all day also dusnt let me focus!
3. All my thoughts go in to thinking about ansh, ansh and ansh..leaves no space for absorbing the latest health research! lol... (I guess this is common to all mothers and that too the 1st timers!)
4. Career wise I feel I am stagnated and my personal learning has stopped in my current organisation. This might be another reason of disillusionment.
5. ummm.....Now I am gettin restless and want to wind up here!

Shall try and get back with more meaningful stuff! Till then wish me happy reading and medidating on my thoughts!

Sitting all alone again I was reminded of a mail forwarded by a friend. It said dont wait for things to happen and dont think that one day everything will be all right. Live and enjoy today! This is something that I think about most of the time nowadays because it gave me a big realisation...Till now I have only lived on hope...hoping against hope that there is way to get things corrected and moulded your way. This is the biggest mistake anyone can make!!Everyone wants to mould everything around him including human beings to suit his/her comfort, failing to realise he/she has no right to do so. It just cant happen! This only leads to conflicts and worsening of the chances of "things to get fine"!

Life can never be prim and proper...yes it is for some but most of us have to live and be content with what we have. But understanding and incorporating this in our lives is the most difficult part!

While taking a shower in the morning the sound of a drilling machine digging deep down in search of water struck me..the hand shower i was using seemed to be such a simple day to day "utility gadget"!! A few days back my neighbour's well had dried up and they resorted to another deep boring to extract more ground water. This has become almost a routine incident. Every one around my house and for that matter we too have dugged deep into the earth and are extracting precious groundwater. There is no other way..the government does not have water to supply..and we need water for our day to day needs..
This thought process took me to another line of thinkin...how would this change our world in the coming years...Check this out -
1. There will be shower detecting squads hunting down those using them and fining them a hefty amount.
2. Using a cistern and flushing religiously would land you up in jail!
3. dry toilets and sand would be the rule of the day!!
4. Installing rain water harvesting systems at home would become mandatory and in case there is no rain one would have to migrate with bags and baggages to cherrapunji!
5. After every meal the plates will have to be "wiped" clean and not "washed" clean!!
6. westside, wills, provogue, allen solly, shoppers stop, etc etc will all launch a new range of Disposable clothes!!
Can you think of more??
Then add to this list ....:)

Deja Vu

Standing on my terrace and looking at people moving in their vehicles or on foot is a usual evening task..Suddenly a red maruti and a white ambassador missed a fatal collision and resulting in a road side fued...This sequence of rather irrelavant happenings gave me a feeling what we call "Deja Vu"!!!
It happens a number of times that a quick sequence of events seem to repeat themselves or may be happen for the 1st time in your life but you feel as if you have been a part of it...its not new to u!

I find this to be very intriquing specially when I relate it to beliefs like reincarnation. This feeling of Deja Vu always leaves me surprised and wondering whether what I am thinking and feeling is right. And the interesting part is that it has not happened once but several times since the time of my childhood I can recall!
Tell me do you sometimes feel the same? Do certain events/happenings make you feel that it is not happening for the 1st time and you have witnessed it before?

motherhood reckons!

I should have done this months back but as we say "better late than never", I would want to share how life has changed drastically in the past 1 year...
October 30, 4:36 am, a new ray of hope, a new joy, a new life comes in to my life..with blurred vision instilled by labour pain I saw the tiny life which was a part of me. Its feeble wails had filled the room with happiness.
Now I could see my mom who sat through with me all night, my husband, my mom in law..all in high spirits! Next day we went home and then started the sleepless nights..the little bundle of joy was weak and needed constant attention and feeding. He recognised me by my smell. When alone I would cuddle him and tell him how important he was to me and how he had filled the loneliness and emptiness in my life. I came to know how demanding motherhood can be- sleepless nights, forgetting oneself, forgoing all that you are used to eating, forgetting all your pain, doing things you never ever imagine yourself to be doing (in my case being absent from my sister's engagement though it was happening a stone's throw away). Sis forgive me for not being able to participate in the biggest event of your life the way I should have done..But you still remain one of the most important parts of my life and wish you all the happiness in the world.
Now without digressing from the issue, after the initial very tough months it was tiem to play, to talk and to see my baby growing fast..so fast that it has become difficult to catch up with him! he is goin to be 7 months old very soon. since the last 2-3 days he loves to talk "tata, dada" etc..!! he loves to sit alone int he front seat of the car with the seat belt on and to watch and scream at the fishes in the aquarium!

the need of rural india

I had put up another poll on orkut but could not write on it since a long time. This may not be of interest to all as it is concerned with the development issues that the social sector is looking at. The “NGO community” members of orkut were the respondents to this poll. I took their opinion on what they perceived should be the highest priority of the social sector when it comes to rural India. The options to choose from were – mother and child health, livelihood, rainwater harvesting, HIV/AIDS & water pollution. The maximum votes went to livelihood (32 percent) while maternal and child health followed closely with 28 percent votes. HIV/AIDS was next on the priority list & water pollution and rainwater harvesting received least importance (10 percent).

My verdict on the poll results: They were very much up to what I expected.
Livelihood is truly the most important problem faced by rural India and all other issues mostly are interlinked to this aspect. If there is some source of income only then other issues in life can be thought about and dealt with. If there is hunger and lack of basic elements of life other issues always take a back seat. A mother and her newborn can be healthy only if they get adequate nutrition and follow good health practices. A man can notice the water pollution and unhygienic conditions around him only if his basic need of hunger and a respectable life is fulfilled. Several studies on HIV/AIDS have found out that its prevalence in rural India is again due to lack of livelihood only. Villagers migrate leaving their families behind in search of work and come back with the fatal disease infecting their entire family sometimes. Hence similar to the fellow NGO community members I also feel that livelihood generation is the most vital issue. I work on mother and child health related issues but always feel that it is best to integrate these components and adopt a comprehensive approach.

daily soaps: not that bad!

I have been thinking of writing on this since a long time..All of us (specially the housewives) are familiar with the "K serials" that fill up all the prime time slots everyday. Well let me confess after avoiding these soaps for years I have myself become a regular of atleast 2-3 of them. Thinking of what drew me to them I could come up with 2 v "feminine" reasons - one the get up of the females and two my own boredom! In between I always get to read how these shows are a real waste of time and how unrealisitic and vague is the story line of each.











The amount of critcism that these shows recieve should have successfully created a wave of protest and dislike for them. But the truth is these shows go on and on and on undettered and the list of "K" serials has increased so much that every channel you switch on you find some woman dazzling in a saree plotting and scheming and what not...but i have a different point to make..


I think there is indeed something positive about these shows that keeps them going. Atleast "something" has to be nice about them -

• They keep the women engaged - I guess if a survey is done among housewives who are alone all day, the prevalence of depression in them would be found to be reduced drastically as compared to the times when there was no Balaji Telefims or other such production houses!


• They act as reminders of our festivals- Now this is something I really appreciate about these shows. Even small festivals like teej (which is slowly losing importance) is depicted with such fervour and excitement that one feels like being a part of the festivities.


• Sitting at home you can know what is the latest fashion!! :))


• It has given employment to so many people who otherwise may have struggled and struggled and then got disillusioned with their lives.
• This is also a boon for the behind the scene workers who have guaranteed work and meals now.


• ???!! Can you think of more?

I am not here for some advocacy campaign FOR the "K" serials but the whole point was to make you see that nothing is without a purpose. If these soaps have been sustaining themselves for years there is definately something about them that keeps them going.