Keep walking :)

The reader can interpret whatever they wish to looking at this picture...:)

Two Women

   It was the month of July and I had gone there for a short summer course. The place was beautiful and to add to it, we were a group of thirty odd people who were keen on exploring what the city had to offer. I became friends with this girl instantly. She was my age, and our wavelengths matched well. We did crazy things together, learnt about each other's cultures and had a great time partying and dancing. Many evenings were spent talking to each other about "women" stuff. Cant really explain what that consisted of, but it always felt so much better to talk about it. Being from different countries, we still had so much in common. I got to know from her about her little sister who is a differently-abled person. I was so inspired and amazed at how people have to face so many obstacles and challenges in life and yet they manage to do so much. The rest of us, who are a little more fortunate, complain about the smallest of the problems. Anyway, getting to know her was a blessing really. To think that two women from such different backgrounds can bond together so well as friends is really nice. Life is funny, exactly when I needed some perspective on certain things, help in some matters, I happened to meet this person who guided me accordingly. Destiny and its weird ways...

मी

मी म्हणजे नाइंटीस मधे, पुण्यात, एका सध्या मराठी घरात वाढलेली. आई-बाबांची लाडकी लेक. बहीण-भावाची मोठी ताई. मैत्रिणींबरोबर सोसाइटी मधे लपा छापी,चोर पोलीस खेळून वाढले. दूरदर्शन वर चंद्रकांता, शक्तिमान, रामायण, आलिफ-लेयीला पाहायचे. शळेतून घरी आल्यावर दोन मिनिटात बनणारे मॅगी नूडल्स आणि कार्टून नेटवर्क. दर शुक्रवारी आणि शनिवार संद्याकाळी भरतनाट्याम चा क्लास. त्यामुळे उंची चांगली वाढली आणि आजोबा मला "लांबू टांग" म्हणायला लागले. आमच्या घरातला तो एक मोठा विनोद होता. दिवाळी, दसरा, गणपती म्हणल की आमच्या मॉडेल कॉलोनी मधे धमाका. पण इथे मात्र पेठे मधले राहणारे पुणेकर कसे एकमेकांशी खूप आपुलकीने वागतात तस नाही. फ़क्त कामापुरत आणि सणवार असला की एकमेकांशी बोलायच. लहान असताना बरेच लोक वाढदिवस असला की "आज तिचा हॅपी बर्थडे आहे" अस म्हणायचे ज्यावर आम्ही इंग्लीश मीडियम मधले मुल खूप हसायचो. पण वाढदिवस म्हणल की आई खूप लाड करायची आणि घरी पार्टी असायची. मे महिन्या मधे अजोळी गेल की आंबे, जांभुळ, पेरू, इत्यादी फळ आणि आजोबांनी बांधलेला झोका. मग सगळे जण बसले की म्हणायचे, "रेवती आता डॅन्स करून दाखव बर". मग माझ खूप कौतुक व्हायच. काही दिवसांनी शाळा संपली. दहावी संपली. आणि फर्गुसन च कॉलेज लाइफ. तेव्हा मैत्री काय ते समजल. त्यानंतर यूनिवर्सिटी मधे मास्टर्स. आता सर्व काही बिज़ी आणि हेक्टिक झाल होत. लहानपणापासून परदेशात शिकायचे स्वप्न (जे बर्‍याच तरुणांच अस्त). रिसर्च साठी जर्मनी मधे जायचे होते. तर बाबा म्हणायचे "जर मनात असेल तर जर्मनी". हा त्यांचा प्रिय विनोद. आता जर्मनी मधे बसून हे लिहिताना थोड चांग्ल, थोड वाईट वाटत आहे. चांगला कारण लहानाची मोठी होताना जे स्वप्न पाहील ते पुर्ण
झाल आहे तर वाईट वाटत आहे की लहानपाणाची "मी" आता खूप बदलले आहे.

Mind the mind

Its the mind that I am scared of. It thinks a lot, fears the future and takes rash decisions due to overwhelming emotions. Its all in the mind, the wrong and the right. It forces one to believe or disbelieve. Maybe having a good control on the mind is the key to a peaceful life. I recently read somewhere - "when the chaos and confusion in the mind stops, the truth appears."

Today

       Most days are similar to each other. I wake up every morning and say to myself - 'Wonder what today has to offer me :) Will I meet someone interesting? Will something great happen today? Will it be a memorable day?' While traveling in the bus that takes me to office I think about the things I have to accomplish during the day. I make mental notes about what work remains pending, or what new ideas I can come up with to solve problems. The same charade everyday. Sometimes even during the most monotonous of days - beautiful things happen - a stranger behaved very friendly or kind, someone told me a funny story, or sometimes I helped a person. At times at the end of a busy day I feel satisfied thinking how productive the day was. It is these little things that break the monotony. Maybe I should start finding happiness in these trivial things because not everyday is going to be a party, but these 'normal' days are definitely going to lead up to a 'BIG' day. After all, even one day can change life completely.....!

When all you can do is-

Dear friend,

Its funny I am calling you that. It has not been very easy for me to accept the reality that we cannot be friends anymore. I hate to think what effect it must have had on you, given that we spent some really special moments together. I wish I could capture those moments in some sort of a film and could store it in my memory forever. With time these memories will fade, but what will always stay with me is that happy feeling of being with a friend you love, feeling safe in a place where you can be yourself. I have wronged you. I am to be blamed for the situation we find ourselves in. Will 'sorry' help? Probably not.  But what I want you to know is that I pray for you. Everyday. I hope you remain a happy person in whichever place you are in this big, big world. It is through these prayers that I redeem my mistakes.

Good luck,
R

Dear Mom..

Dear Mom, 

       I am writing this letter to tell you how much I love you and how much you mean to me. I feel blessed to have you as my mother. As I grow older (and hopefully wiser) just like you do, I get to know you better. When I was a little girl, I thought you were perfect. "All mothers are perfect and they never have or will do anything wrong in their life.." This is what I thought.

        Then I grew up a bit more. As a college going girl, I thought you were my best friend because I could share everything with you (well most things). This continued until recently, when an unpleasant incident completely changed my outlook towards our mother-daughter relationship. You expressed some of your opinions about the incident, which I totally disagreed with. "How could she say this?" I thought. You suggested I should come home earlier than I usually did, you were very curious about which friends I hanged out with and where I went. I was angry and sad because I thought the both of us had very similar mindsets, opinions and philosophies regarding different aspects of life. One of the most hurtful things is to be mad at and disagree with someone you love. I thought about this for a very long time and my mind was confused because on one hand you mean so much to me and on the other hand you said things that infuriated me. After some thinking, a realization dawned upon me. They say circumstances make a man. How could I expect you and me to be like-minded when there is a difference of twenty four years between the two of us? Our struggles have been different. And hence our opinions and notions. You are my mother and worrying comes naturally to all mothers. I realized I should love you and respect you for what you are - my mother. Friends are different. You are not my friend. You are someone who cares excessively and hopes that I be safe all the time. No one is perfect, neither you, nor me. So I will stop expecting you to be "more like a friend rather than a mother" and to have the same perspectives about everything in life. Loving your folks without expecting them to be perfect all the time gives true happiness.

Yours, 

R