I AM BACK after a long hiatus!!!

My last post was in 2015, well that was just an intended post to keep my blog page alive. A well meaning post written by me was way back in 2012. I had put this blog page for a brief halt after that (ironically, the brief half turned to a long hiatus here) and turned my attention towards my cooking blog. 


Life has changed a lot since 2012. Moved to a new city after my marriage. Started a family. Had to take a forced break in my career. Devoted my wholehearted attention on raising my kid. While I enjoyed this dedicated family time, slowly I realised I am relapsing into the mommy brain zone, without taking time out for personal development. I started taking steps to get me out of this comfort zone. 


As a first step out, I fulfilled my long standing dream of pursuing my MBA studies. Initially, pursuing post graduate studies in a new city with a young family to take care of and without much financial backing felt like an impossible goal far from reach. But with the unwavering support from my husband and my determined spirit, after months of relentless preparation, finally got admitted into one of top ranking universities in Australia. Well soon I realised that I have not reached my destination, but that the journey into the whirlwind of personal and professional life has just begun. 


The following two years were tough mentally, physically and emotionally. Managing a growing toddler, household chores and sometimes gruelling study schedules had my energy drained out on most days. But I have a fighting spirit in me and I manage to bounce back to normal even after the most difficult and pressing situations. This whole study experience did not only help me put a step forward in my professional development, but also enhanced my personality development taking my personal confidence to the next level. 


I passed my MBA studies with Distinction. Taking my graduation photo with my husband and my kid by my side was one of the life cherishing and triumphant moment:)


More on my life journey, to be followed, in my next blog post...:)



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I Wanna Feel Alive




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Awesome Twosome!!

(This post is written for the Indiblogger contest “Love Marriage ya Arranged Marriage”)

Let your heart speak out honestly.

Do you envy the couple in the below picture?


My imagination travels out of boundary and makes me think and feel the love between their hearts. The smile which they have on their old wrinkled face communicates lot of unspoken words. How blissful they are, laughing together and talking endlessly about the precious times they had together.

How many times have we seen old couples like them leaning against each other and walking hand-in-hand in beach? For them life is an eternal bliss.

What do you think is that which has wired their marriage and binds them together even at that age. It is love - PURE LOVE, selfless and giving. They know to love and hence nothing in life is so hard to them. Everything has freshness and reason and all is as it is. Love enables them to see world in a whole new light.

If you want to live 100 beautiful years with our love, then think of love.

And we (me and my husband) made it a point to have this picture in our wedding invite.

In the picture you could see the couple walk around the sacred fire, the bride leading, and take solemn vows of loyalty, steadfast love and life-long fidelity to each other. It is called Pratigna Karan and this is one of the rituals in almost all Hindu weddings. During this sacred fire ceremony called Viva-Homa the bride and the groom walk slowly around the sacred fire seven times.

And ya, we also made a vow to have a life of sharing, caring and eternal love to create a beautiful life.

And wait ours was not a love marriage but a purely arranged marriage. But no, we were not bound to love each other forcefully. The mutual admiration for each other made us show the real care and love.

And here is the lovely start to our tale…

In one of the initial letters he wrote me he says, “One fine evening when my mom told me she has a girl for me and told me your name, my instinct said, she is for you. It was unbelievable for a guy like me. I didn't sleep that night and was just thinking aimlessly about your name, talking to myself, wondering what’s new with me.

God, I was waiting for that instinct to happen only after seeing a girl, but how come that happened to me just by hearing the name.

You were stranger to me till that moment, falling in Love with a person without seeing her is the crazy thing, and deciding to marry her without even speaking a word is even crazier. All I felt was a bonding much beautiful like a breeze, like a rain, like a child’s smile which made me travel past the time and see me inside your eyes.

My thought on arranged marriage was that, Mom will get a girl for me, elders will get together, I will see a girl, she will see me, we both will be forced to like each other, formalities done, marriage and then after marriage we as couple will start to like/love each other given that we have no other choice.

Truth was other way round, I fell in love in first place, to be frank and I was praying and wishing that you should like me too.”

And the moment I saw him my instinct told me ‘He is the guy for you’. And I gave a quick YES. And we are happily married now for a year.  

Marriage is not about getting the tailor-made person and the perfect fit for you. No one is ideal. It’s about seeing something beyond the imperfections and seeing a whole new world through their eyes, it’s about that one spark with a particular person whether you meet or parents arrange.

I agree marriage is bliss only when you are with the right person, otherwise marriage becomes a living hell. So how do you find the right partner? Should I choose myself or let it in the hands of my parents…

I strongly believe that marriages are made in heaven. Sounds cliché but very true. Two people who are meant to be with each other will unite and get married and have love in their lives no matter what type of marriage they undergo.

First of all couples getting forced to get together in an arranged setup is all on old farce. Gone are those days when a girl returns home from school/ college on a fine evening and to her shock sees her prospective groom and family waiting earnestly for her. And quickly she is made to dress like a bride, ordered to give tea and snacks to them. The fearful and shy bride dares not to see the grooms face and is forced to give a quick consent. Gone are those days. (Eventhough they may be happening in some rare situations and very conservative communities). 

Now-a-days even in an arranged setup, parents give their children a free choice.  And give time for the boy and girl to know each other to see if they are comfortable. They spend quality time knowing each other before getting engaged. No one is forced to get married according to the wish of elders and parents. Parents have become more liberal now. And girls and boys have become more matured, shrewd, independent and they take wise decisions.

And there are also people who are lucky enough to find their life partners on their own. And couples who are able to sustain and blossom their love are even more luckier.

But remember, love during courtship days is delusionary. Couples give in to each other’s whims and fancies. They are free spirited and independent at that age and rarely become judgemental of each other’s actions in fear of losing them. They think they are made up for each other.

Only when you enter a marriage setup and when you are bound to be with each other for life you get to know the harsh realities of your partner. He/she may no longer seem to give in to your ideas, views and opinions. High expectations, need for independence and ego are leading to more clashes. As much as the young gen has become decisive, they have also become more fickle minded.

What do you do then? Do you break away or make a few compromises on the way for your loved one.

Ya, everyone has their own likes and dislikes, and in marriage, it's all about understanding each other's feelings. No harm in making a few compromises, no harm in being imperfect.

So if the couple is understanding of each other, love can blossom in any kind of marriage – love or arranged. Hatredness and hostility can also creep into our lives in any kind of marriage – love or arranged. There is no magic formula for an ideal life together. Be it a love marriage or an arranged marriage by elders its all about arrangement between two individuals. Self respect and mutual admiration of each other’s qualities is what needed for a successful married life.

And finally, be it love or arranged marriage; in an Indian setup its all in the family. You cannot cut the family ties altogether to lead a stray life. That destroys the marriage bliss. You were the apple of your parent’s eyes and all they foresee is a happy life for you. And you suddenly go astray and leave them with weeping eyes? What a pity. Now-a-days parents have known the importance of a blissful married life and are more forthcoming, ready to give a quick consent provided you are decisive and open to them about your love. And I am also seeing more of love marriages and inter caste marriage even in conservative communities with the consent of parents.

So what more now…get ready for your big D-day with the blessings of your parents. And enjoy your courtship days!

The feelings of goosebumps and excitement you get when your partner ties the mangal sutra with the nadhaswaram music played at the background is unexplainable.

Ya those are magic moments and I am able to recall them - it was such a blessed and magic moment in our lives with every near and dear ones wishing us a happy life ahead. Those are moments to cherish – with a beginning of a special bond of love.  

And ya, we’re going to talk about all these things and all finest and beautiful things which are yet to be come up in our life after 50 years; walking together, hands holding each other and other hand holding walking sticks, with grandchildren running just ahead of us on a sunset evening, in a beach:)


This post is written for the Indiblogger contest “Love Marriage ya Arranged Marriage”. If you like this post, do vote for it here. And also check out the facebook page of the serial ‘Love Marriage ya Arranged Marriage’ here which is being aired on Sony Television. 


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Dare to be imperfect and be ready to embrace change

DARE TO BE IMPERFECT

One day I saw a lady wearing a shirt with the caption ‘She died of perfection’.

The other day I saw a movie titled ‘Black Swan’ also on the dangers of being perfect.

Sheer coincidence.  

In the film the protagonist, a ballerina is a very committed dancer and a true perfectionist. When other ballerina competes for her role in a play the pressure to retain the spot causes the protagonist to slowly lose grip on the reality and she had a living nightmare every day. She however retained the position in the play on the show day. But without realizing apparently, she slowly killed herself in the process. After the play the cast gather together to congratulate her, only to find her severely bleeding. Her last whispers were “I felt it. Perfect. It was perfect.” and she died.

All this kept me thinking.

Many a times I am a tough nut to crack. I may seem soft and docile on the outside but it is very difficult to change me when I have a point of view. My close ones know me best. And they have been stunned by my strong retaliations. This tough stand has proved to be good many a times, sometimes bad, sometimes worse.

These tough stances have made me make the great and best choices (which may have seemed to be stupid wait to others). But many a times when I want things to be done a certain way and if things don’t go the way I desire I become neurotic. It takes the better of me.

I've learnt the lesson now. Don’t be tough on you. Dare to be imperfect (or rather be accommodating) and bring out something new in you.

CHANGE – are you ready to brace the unknown

How many times have we heard this adage ‘Change is the only constant thing is life.’

But do we embrace change fearlessly.

My best laid plans have burst apart. In such times I fear a part of me is losing myself or that I am not able to control the situation in my hand. Do I burst apart now?

What has happened cannot be erased or changed. Atleast I can embrace the present and be more accommodating.

Your power not lies in steadfastly controlling the situation. You only become domineering, neurotic and become blind to the options around.

In tough times your beauty lies in letting go off the plan/ situation, see what new unfurls in front of you and immediately grasping that idea into your life.

Even trees enjoy their process of change or to put it aptly the process of revelation and renovation. It does not crib but responds immediately to the various changing conditions around. Ultimately it enjoys the bounty and the change it sees in it after every season. Yet it lays strong in its roots and remains unshackled whatever the condition it is in. It stands TALL, STRONG and PROUD.

I've learnt a lesson or two from the bounty tree. Not to fear changes as death but rather see it as a new birth and a possibility to see something new in you. If you consider like that life will be better off in the end.

So I've let things to sail on its own terms. It puts your life at ease. You are able to appreciate yourself more and also enjoy the beauty and bounty around you. 


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I presume I've come to a point of life now to accept things as they are and not ramble too much about the things around. (A part of evolution in me?) Hence there's no serious thinking involved as I've let things to sail on its own terms. And hence the empty blog for a while...with nothing to update to. I'll return to this little space of mine (my blog) very soon. 

And during this time, I've only been aimlessly scribbling on the other blog (another comfort zone of mine)....and it has been fun too! 


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