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...

How I’m waiting for February to end...! After reading my trip blog, you’d imagine it was a fun 4 weeks for me this month. In reality, I’ve had a rather difficult time this month with my health. It began with having to endure walking with skin tears next to my wound/site of amputation on my weight bearing area. during the early part of my trip in the first week of February. I powered through with most of my plans because I’ve had an unsaid rule since my childhood. Never say never. The minute I decide to give up on doing what I want to because I’m in pain, I’ll be over. The first time I may give up and decide to take rest indoors for something very painfful or serious. The next time it may be something I can put up with and I may end up feeling why should I when I can avoid it. This will then become a way of life because hey! As an amputee you're never really expecting a time when you’re devoid of problems entirely..  So that’s my golden rule. Don’t let anything stop yo...

When I told my 3 year old a story of a mommy and child going out, she quickly asked ‘Does the mommy have two legs?’ I said ‘Yes’. She remarked, ‘My mommy has one leg when at home and two when we go out. For her that is normal. As a teenager there come a time when she thinks less of me because of my physical issue. But I hope that by then we normalize these physical differences enough for people not to make an issue of them. I have never met a child who has found me ‘different’. They are only curious to know what the difference is. Never to weigh it down. Let me also mention in the same breath that most adults I meet are quite unlike that. The first thing that people notice is that I walk with a limp. In a few seconds they’d have formed an impression about me in their minds. I can feel the vibes. And as our initial conversation progresses, I can also sense how the other person slowly begins to see the person behind the amputee. While I am quite used to this and do not find it unn...

All parents go through a whole lot for their children. Many many struggles.. some physical, some mental and some emotional. As a Mother of a soon-to-be 3 year old, my trials have only begun.  It all began for me the day I realised I conceived. The visit to the gynaecologist to confirm pregnancy was the last time I wore my prosthesis before I abandoned it for more than 10 months. As a hip disarticulate amputee, the socket of the prosthesis covers my abdomen and the pressure when I walk would be way too much on my tummy. Until then I was a very independent individual who has lived alone in a city, travelled alone and managed everything myself. I depended on my prosthesis for most of my work and had hardly ever used any other walking aid. I used to hop about at home if I didn't have my prosthesis on. I am so comfortable using it that I have gone many many days wearing my prosthesis all day and all night taking it off just to shower when I was a bystander for my parents/in-...

For the Easter long weekend at the end of March, we decided to visit Malacca, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. I've wanted to visit it for its history and food trail. We decided to brave the Easter crowd on the highway and visit anyway.:P Day 1 We took a luxury coach from Concorde Hotel at Orchard at 8am after having our tickets and visas verified at their office. The seats were very comfortable. They offered us a bottle of water each and they stopped for breakfast on the way. It was Maundy thursday but the coach had only 2 empty seats. They had free wifi and also an individual entertainment system with inbuilt speakers on the headrest. My 2 and half year old 'N' watched a bit of a movie familiar to her, 'Bahubali' after her nap. We got to the Tuas immigration pretty quickly. As we had a toddler, we had to stand in a longer queue for foreigners at the Singapore immigration. The Malaysia immigration was very quick despite us having to scan our luggage. From there,...

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's been 25 long and eventful years today since my near fatal accident due to drunk driving by a truck driver and my amputation. Being a little girl then I would never have thought about the future but if my parents were to be told that this is where their daughter would be 25 years later, I guess they'd take it. There's no better joy in the world than making your parents happy. As a mother myself, I cannot fathom the pain a parent goes through when faced a situation of their little child having to undergo an amputation. The only positive then was that the infection didn't spread above my leg and amputating it at the hip meant I could still be alive. Today I’d like to appreciate the wonderful life and the amazing people I have been gifted with.  Having lived a fair share of my life in the cosy comforts of Dubai, moving to India gave me a cultural shock. The roads didn't have proper sidewalks, bathrooms weren't easy to use, monsoons were torrid cuz my ...

This is a term that most people around me began to use by the turn of the century in place of the age old term 'housewife'. I have always had a strong dislike towards the use of this term. I guess I felt that each member of a household is a homemaker; what home without each of them. But of late I have realized there's actually so much truth in calling the lady of the house 'The homemaker'. Yes, she makes it a home. She is home. Everything keeps changing. Our lifestyles, our attitudes, our priorities. The only one thing that does not change is our dearest homemaker. Whether she is working outside of home or not, she is what holds the family together. Come what may she is our guiding force. She is our source of strength. Since September last year I been trying to play this role and I guess I have been failing miserably at it. How do our mothers do it??? It is such a responsibility to be the focal point of the house. Amma, I'm sorry. I haven't done just...

Jennifer was warming up for the 200m sprint at the finals of the National Athletic Meet. Running had been Jenny's passion ever since she could remember. Initially, she would effortlessly outrun her classmates. Gradually, with guidance from her school coach she would win most track events that she enrolled for. But now, this was one of her biggest challenges and she wanted to win this like never before. She took her mark, closed her eyes, said a silent prayer and focussed her entire concentration on the next few moments that would turn out to be the most consequential seconds of her life. As soon as the signal went off, she felt herself lunge forward and felt herself collapse to the ground. When she opened her eyes, she was at a hospital with her mom and dad at her bedside. She asked to be told what happened. The look in her father's eyes told her to expect the worst. She learned that she had had a stroke that left her paralyzed waist down. They would try to bring her back to as...

Oh well... I've been having this itch to post something here since the past few days but things haven't going very well for me on the health and as a result on work front. And if I had to write something, it wouldn't make anyone feel good. So much negativity isn't really required. After all, we all go through bad times. And though we know (read: believe) that this is only a passing phase, there are times when you feel awful. There are times when one would swear by Murphy's law cuz as you drag yourself through your day, you realize that anything that could possibly go wrong actually does. Well, this was actually what was happening to me since the past two weeks. Every morning I'd have a new issue popping up out of the blue; as though everything else wasn't enough. Time and again I'd just grow tired of the ordeal and tell myself that I've reached the threshold and that I just can take no more. And just when I'd think that no more could go...

Wondering what the title's all about? Just look at the number of people around you who say that Life sucks. Oh well, it might be easier to count people who don't say or think so. We have so much negativity around us that keep a positive attitude is rather difficult these days. Everyone seems to be having a lot of problems and the worst part is many of them say they face only problems in whatever they do. There are some people who keep finding faults with everything around. Aren't we responsible for most things that happen to us? Look at children themselves. Say a decade back we had the spirit of competition and yet we were happy that our fellow mates won a prize over us. But today children begin to despise their friends for the very same reason. The spirit of healthy competition has metamorphosed into a feeling of selfishness, an anger. Then there are the ambitious young people. They aim high in life. There are tough times and they struggle to achieve their aims. At ...

A cool breezy winter weekend, a warm cosy restaurant. An elderly couple sitting on the couch right behind excitedly discussing their children's visit and how their grandchildren will soon come to spend the winter break with them. A little girl coaxing her dad to buy her ice cream as her mom does not approve. A bunch of teenagers celebrating a birthday. Just then I notice a couple walking in. The girl is literally hanging on the guy's arm. They take the table next to mine and do not even realize the waiter standing beside them. The Menu cards are handed to them; she closes hers and shares his,warm shy smile on their faces. I notice the look on his face and it instantly makes me happy. He insists that she order for the both of them and she gracefully obliges. Once the order has been placed and they are left alone, she picks up her phone and chatters away while his eyes are fixed on her. He watches the way she is giggling in the midst of the conversation. He smiles as ...