The Moonstruck Mystique...

  24th August 1991. The day a lot changed for me and my family.  From being just another 8-year-old on an annual holiday to visit family in India, I turned into 'an inspiration' - I became an amputee who could probably not fathom what really happened. But 30 years later I must say that the accident and the amputation was what shaped the rest of my life in the best way possible. Because today regardless of what life throws at me, I have the strength of character, the will and the never-say-die attitude to see my through it. When I was thrown the biggest challenge, by far, in my life last year. It is only my faith and my attitude that helped me survive it. As always, I had to stay strong because that is all I knew to be. With all the love and support and prayers we received, my husband did survive and recover. We are on the path to a complete recovery and faith and strength is what will see us through. This post is not a grim reminder of what 'happened to me' and how I ma...

All of us tend to get busy with life, maintaining routines and rushing through the day. We yearn to be happy all the time. Yet we fail to remember that happiness is almost never a destination but a journey. A journey of happiness not a journey to happiness. Today a stranger made my day! I took the bus this morning to take my daughter to the doctor for her scheduled vaccination. When I left home in the morning I had lots of things on my mind. Some silly chores, some tougher decisions, some worrisome situations. But as I entered the bus, the bus captain (the lady who drove the bus) gave me the warmest smile I could receive this morning. I smiled back and wished her a good morning. But it was she who had made mine. In that fleeting moment I realized that whether or not I bothered about my little or bigger problems, I would actually get through them. But I could choose to tackle them happily in the meanwhile. If each of us could pass on a smile and make someone's day brig...

It is Independence day tomorrow and one of the two days of the year ( cricket matches not withstanding) when the Indian feels patriotic. We will have the tricolour flying all over and people greeting each other ( if at all ); the goosebumps and the blood rush while hearing 'Vande mataram'. But to be very honest I don't think most of us, including myself, are patriotic in the true sense of the word. Pinning a flag on your shirt or singing the national anthem out loud does not prove our love for the nation. First, let us learn to value a human life. Let us learn to respect an individual for the choices he makes. Let him have his right to make them; infact give him a choice to make in the first place. Two days back I read a news item in the newspaper that a tribal girl was paraded naked through the village and it was even videographed and circulated as an MMS clip. And all this for having liked a boy outside the community. The girl and the father are under police protectio...

Wish all of you a splendid and safe diwali.. and good wishes for the whole year.... This year I somehow feel the excitement and festive fervour is running low.. I thought only I felt this way but many of my friends feel the same..This isn't my first diwali away from home. Last year it was the first time but it was by far my most adventurous diwali!! I missed the train to go home (well... for those who want to know how read an earlier blog that explains the experience to the minutest detail.), felt heartbroken and, more importantly, felt like a loser, had my sis and jeejs surprise me by booking me a flight ticket the next afternoon, and finally making it home for diwali !!! But diwali for me has always been best enjoyed with SCARANUS - with a few pluses and minuses every year ... those were the best parts of childhood... We'd wear our best ethnic wear (well... at that point in time many of us didn't know how it really differed fro m our daily casuals, did we?) run off t...