THE NUMBER 8 MAN

A week back, on a lazy Sunday, I was sipping my Morning tea, as usual seated in the Drawing room of our flat. I normally avoid Morning walks on Sundays and generally prefer lazing around.The weather had improved after the recent rainfall, the sky was overcast with dense clouds, visible from our balcony windows. Having finished with the tea session, I walked up to the balcony, to get a birds eye view from our fifth floor of the Sunday early morning activities in progress, by the other members of our society.
As expected, everyone else seemed to be relaxing, well almost, except for one old man. This person had placed two of his slippers far apart and was walking barefoot around these, in a pattern resembling the number 8. He continued to do so for some time oblivious of his surroundings. Having watched this man for some time,I lost interest and returned to my normal chores.
The next day, I proceeded for my morning walk, as it had rained during the night, the grass was wet and I didn’t find the Number 8 man ( as I had now decided to call him by this name) at the society central lawn. On my way back I again crossed him at the roadside, following his number 8 routine, this time around two broken twigs spaced apart at the same distance. This activity further evoked my interest and throughout the day I was wondering why this individual was walking along a number 8 pattern.
I then surfed the net to find an answer. I found numerous reasons, justifying walking regularly in a Number 8 pattern. Articles by various health care professionals and videos on You Tube, explaining its benefits.These recommended, that the 8 exercise be practiced in the morning, evening , in the open or in a room in the N-S direction clockwise and S- N anti-clockwise,15 mins each.Even indiamart is selling 8 shaped walking exercise mats.As per their inputs, Yogis have identified that this form of walking helps to favourably impact various organs, resulting in a host of health benefits.
Having by now learnt about the number 8 walk, I decided to meet up with the No. 8 man the following day.
After having finished with my daily morning walk, I located our man following his daily ritual at the society central lawn and mustered the courage to walk up to him.
After introducing myself, I asked the Gentleman (whose name is Mr Nair),since when had he been practising the 8 walk. His response was, for the past 15 years, for one hour, each morning.He had learnt about this figure walk, having read about it in a South Indian daily, and had been exercising like this, ever since.My next Question was, whether he had experienced any health benefits.He responded by saying that he was not aware, but the exercise had no negative impact on his health. He was 78 years young and still going strong. I was definitely impressed by his youthful appearance as he looked like a person not beyond 60.
Well would I attribute the health and general well being of Mr Nair ,to his Number 8 walk. My answer is perhaps, yes, because he has faith in what he is doing and that is his motivating factor. So no harm done in the Number 8 Exercise.Why not give it a try.Go ahead.

-GS

Mastaan: How I convinced my parents to extend a water purifier AMC

I am now fast approaching my 42 nd year (7 Doggy years equivalent) and I have now realised  with time comes knowledge , you get older and wiser. During our last visit to my vet, she advised my mom , on the positives of providing me ,with sufficient quantity of potable,fresh drinking water at least four times a day, I was of course attentively listening on ,as I can now understand whatever she says.Here is my take.

On returning home, I immediately informed Rajesh, my caretaker about the advice given by the vet, and asked him to comply accordingly.I however observed the coming days, that he was not following my instructions, in fact ,on numerous occasions,he would conveniently forget to replenish my bowl with fresh water, each time I had my fill.To reinforce my point of view,I would then lie down in front of the bowl and refuse to drink the water.So he had no option, but to fill up the bowl with fresh drinking water each time. Now apparently he had understood the daily routine.A few days passed by smoothly without any problem.One day, I again observed that the water was not clean enough. On further enquiry, I got to know that the water purifier was giving us some problems, and hence needed immediate attention by the technician. To cut the story short, we were required to enter into an AMC with the equipment supplier,extension was held up as my father was of the opinion that there was no need to extend the AMC , as it was an uncalled for expenditure ,whereas my moms view was to the contrary.Now , since Dad had to foot the  bill, which he refused to do so, it was a no go ,and I of course was facing the brunt.

By now , having becoming wise to  Dads financial stringency measures, in the past seven years,I thought of convincing him to extend the AMC through Mom.Since Dad firmly believes in facts and figures,I started gathering the relevant data to convince him.On checking with Rajesh , I got to know that we were consuming almost 20 litres of drinking water daily, of which four litres were my share.The  filter kit  which cost approximately  Rs 2700, had to be replaced each time after purifying almost 6000 litres of water. Thus, even if we changed the kit two times in a year, we would have to pay at least Rs 5400 per anum. The AMC would however cost us Rs 4850, with at least two free replacements . Overall a saving of at least Rs 550, along with allied servicing facilities.Now fully equipped with the relevant data ,duly supported by Rajesh, I organised a presentation by Mom for Dad to understand the factuals. Needless to say, he was convinced, and the AMC extended the same day.Ultimately, I realised that you do become a wise Dog, with 40 years of experience under your collar.Bye for now, as I have to relax my grey cells for the day.Signing off Mastaan.

-GS

God’s Strange Ways

I always feel God has strange ways of acting, he gives us pain but also gives us a way to handle the pain..He gives us happiness but then gives us struggles to remain grounded..

His ways may be in anything – some hints, some people or anything else for that matter…

The pain caused by a loved one when he/she leaves the world is unexplainable and can never be eliminated. But God helps us in his ways!

Many of us have wondered after leaving this world where do they go? Some people say that our loved ones become a star and watch us, some say they meet God in heaven and so on. As per me, they never leave us and a part of their souls always remains within us….

Within us to get a shoulder to cry on when we are sad

Within us to share our happiness and achievements

Within us to get a warm hug when lonely

Within us to get encouragement and motivation to stand up when tired or demotivated

These souls meet us time and again when we call out to them in our dreams. Make us relive our important moments in life through these dreams. By leaving their soul within us, I feel it’s God’s way of relieving us from the pain of going physically away from our loved ones.

Don’t we wish that before our loved ones leave this world we get to know about it or we get some indication.

Some indication so that we are better prepared

Some indication so that we spend more time with them

Some indication so that we can just hug and sit with them

Some indication so that we can pray to God for protecting them

I still remember the day when our dog(Sahiba) left us, I was in Bangalore and my mother put the phone on her ear so that she and I could hear each other..after few hours she passed away..I didn’t speak to her but I somehow knew this was probably the last

I still remember the day when I was leaving for college and waving at Dadaji, while he was standing, gazing and smiling..My heart knew that this could be probably the last wave, the last smile I will see..

When I look back and see about my loved ones I think I always got an indication or a hint from God. Of course there will be no good time or enough time for our loved ones to leave but God in his strange way gives us these hints. Subtle hints which we do not get at that point of time but somehow they still remain etched in our minds and hearts through our lifetime..As per me that is again God’s way of helping us in dealing with this pain, so that as we move forward in our life these memories remain with us throughout and give us the strength.

God has and will always have his strange ways in life. Ways which are hard to understand sometimes but if you close your eyes and listen to your heart you can surely understand!

-Jyotsana

The Holi Bee Story (Part 2)

I was stationed at our college at Jabalpur again after a gap of around 17 years. Both our children had outgrown their clothes and were advancing towards their future careers.I had also by now been promoted as the HOD. Holi was just around the corner and preparations had started at top gear. The staff officers and especially students eagerly looked forward to celebrating this festival as  it enabled them to have an informal interaction and an opportunity to exchange pleasantries and meet each other’s families.

Food and drink stalls were set up at the venue, which this time was huge lawn surrounded by trees, along with the usual seating arrangements and the music system which would be playing Holi songs. Since water would be required in plenty, so tubs and buckets of coloured water were placed at prominent points around the lawn. At the entry point trays filled with assorted coloured powder were kept to enable the invitees to help themselves to colours of their choice for participating in the Festival. Children of course came duly prepared for free goodies and would invariably arrive with empty containers and replenish their stocks from these points.The older lot being more enterprising, would invariably fill up their pockets with the coloured powders. The first lot to arrive were the students along with their families, followed my the staff members and their families and finally the Chief Guest who was our Vice Chancellor, along with his wife.

Finally the celebrations commenced and the various groups started inter mingling. Ladies formed their own groups,men did the same and children did likewise. As the celebrations progressed, the loud music came on, the children moved towards the dance floor, followed by some over enthusiastic parents, getting into the dancing mood having downed a few drinks . In short, each one of us was now in the festive mood.

No festival is however complete without an interesting episode and so this one could also not be uneventful. Since parents were too busy enjoying themselves, some children got together and gathered near a clump of trees.one of them noticed a bee hive and as is expected from mischievous children, this boy threw a stone at the bee hive. The bees who were apparently already disturbed by the loud music and now provoked by the stone, suddenly took off from the hive and attacked the merry making group of humans disturbing their peaceful surroundings. Suddenly there was pandemonium all over and people started running Helter skelter as the bees started stinging anyone who came in their flight path. The Vice Chancellor was now the first one to take off. Despite his age he sprinted towards the exit gate accompanied by a student officer, who had his wits about him, speedily took him towards his scooter and after seating the VC on the pillion took off towards an unknown destination, chased by a few bees, but unscathed. Meanwhile the bees were venting their fury at will stinging people all over. I was in the middle of the swarm as were others. I had of course received a few bee stings, when I heard someone advising people to stay still and to lie down. I followed the directions and was fortunate that immediately a few of my students rushed towards me and covered me with a bed sheet which provided requisite protection. My thoughts at that time were about the safety of our daughter and other children. My wife was not attending the Holi celebrations and was at home and escaped the ordeal. Meanwhile our daughter along with our friends had run away to the nearest house and took shelter there till the bees had settled down.Others were of course not so fortunate, and in bad shape due to the painful bee stings, in fact a few of our staff and students, had to be evacuated to the nearby clinic for treatment.

I am sure none of us will ever forget the 1998 Holi celebrations at Jabalpur, which are forever etched in our memory.

-Gs

The Holi Bee Story (Part 1)

Holi the Festival of colours, is just round the corner. I am reminded of our younger days when we would eagerly look forward to this Festival, and start preparing for it well in advance. We would begin by collecting assorted balloons and fill these up with coloured water, then store our priceless collection in buckets, out of reach of our friends and siblings. A visit to the market was a must, as it would give us an idea of the various products available. We would then pick up our choice of Pichkaris based on various factors like durability, capacity , reliability and of course the ones where the water spray, could travel the maximum distance, which would thereby ensure that we would could achieve maximum range, with minimum risk, of being subjected to a counter attack of equal magnitude, from our rival gangs. The most important activity was selection of colours, both dry and wet.

Bright colours being the obvious choice. I remember always selecting the Jamuni crystal colours, as these were almost indelible, once applied. Obviously, we had mischievous friends, who would mix the colours with various other elements ( even tar and kerosene) which would just not come off, for a number of days.

When Holi dawned, we would first dress up in our oldest clothes, to be discarded EOD.

Since our gang had already fixed up a RV, all the members would gather there for a briefing by the gang leader on the planned activities for the day. Each member was allocated his/ her responsibilities based on their age and capability. We had the younger ones on water and balloon refilling tasks. The older members of course, had to perform the main task, which was to cause maximum colour damage to the rival gang members. We had also strategically placed, well in advance, tubs filled with coloured water, and had created a team of the younger lot, to draw some of the rival gang members to these tubs, wherein, without expecting it, they would be lifted up, and immersed in coloured water by the older lot. Where tubs were not available, we had to improvise and immerse them in nearby ponds or water tanks, already earmarked for the purpose.

Having completed Phase I of Holi celebrations, the next phase was locating absent members of our gang ,who were either too squeamish to join the proceedings or had not been permitted by their parents. We would then head towards their homes, but this activity involved the support of our sporting parents .

These enthusiastic parents, would then join us and urge the non participating ones to come out of their houses and colour them up.

The entire colony would now proceed to the Club, where separate arrangements had been made for the elders and children. The men would enjoy their hard drinks and ladies with soft drinks and pakodas laced with Bhang, without their knowledge, at times, by some bachelor friends. Of Course Holi is incomplete without loud music, the Dholl and accompanying Holi songs and dance. Amitabh Bachchans Holi number RANG BARSE, needless to say, had to be repeatedly played a number of times.In the club premises,various dry colours were available to continue with Holi celeberations. Finally after having had our lunch and jalebis, we would then proceed home totally exhausted, the festivities being over for the day.

We of course disliked, the final phase of HOLI ,which was a long bathing session to wash away the colour. The most difficult part being removal of the colour from our hair,eyes and ears.The bath was invariably followed by a long napping session. What a memorable day it was.

The next part will cover our experiences at Jabalpur, still etched in our mind.

-Gs

Bond with brothers

He was the brother who laughed out loud without caring about the world
He was the brother with whom I shared my childhood memories
He was the brother who showed relationships has no physical barriers
He was the brother who appreciated people without any inhibitions
He was the brother who lost to me in many games to make me happy
He was the brother who was fearless
He was the brother who was like an 8 year old even after growing up
He was the brother whom I lost to destiny
He was the brother who left a void in our hearts
He was the brother whom we all still miss
He is the brother who is in a far away land where nobody can go

He was the elder brother who was protective
He was the brother with whom fights happened over silly things
He was the brother who made me realise the love for food
He was the brother who was mama’s boy
He was the brother who taught me to be nice to others
He was the brother who worked hard
He was the brother who decided not to take things on the silver plate
He was the brother who laughed with tears in his eyes
He was the brother with a strong external appearance and soft heart
He was the brother who moved away due to career and profession
He was the brother whom I missed spending more time with
He is the brother who is in a far away land where the only thing that can reach is communication over phone

He was the brother who gave me back my the memories which I missed with my brothers
He was the brother who never made me miss my family
He was the brother with the bond as strong as blood
He was the brother with whom I could share everything
He was the brother who taught me to face life with a smile no matter what destiny throws at you
He was the brother who helped me in realizing about the love of my life
He was the brother who made my new house a home
He was the brother with whom time just passed in a fly
He was the brother who gave me a place in his life that nobody could
He was the brother whom I lost to personal commitments
He was the brother with whom I couldn’t connect anymore
He is the brother in a land not too far but with barriers which I can’t cross any more

I always said brothers are like umbrella, who give shade to their sisters on a sunny day and provide a respite from a heavy rainy day.I have had wonderful brothers with whom I shared my life and have memories at different stages of my life. Today at this point of time when I am not with any of them, I miss them and it just makes me realize how precious and valuable those memories were for me. As I stand now, I hope those times come back, I hope old memories are recreated ,I hope new memories are created…

-Jyotsana

U Me or Hum!

I have been wanting to write about this from a long time. The relationship between husband and wife is priceless and I wanted to write about it. But I wasn’t able to because I guess I was being judgmental by seeing others relationship and that’s what I didn’t want to do. I just wanted to look into my inner self and decide what I want and what I don’t want my relation to be with my husband.

I have always felt the meaning to a song lies in the lyrics. And it’s so often we ignore or don’t completely understand what it really means. Following are the excerpts from a song:

“Apne Rang Gawaen Bin, Mere Rang Mein Ghul Jao
Apni Dhoop Bujhaye Bin, Meri Chhao Mein Aa Jao
Oh Chalo Yoon Kare,
Tum, Tum Bhi Raho, Main, Main Bhi Rahoon
Hum, Hum Bhi Rahein
Oh Tum, Tum Bhi Raho, Main, Main Bhi Rahoon
Hum, Hum Bhi Rahein
Teeno Mil Ke Saathchale
Saathi Janam Janam, U Me Aur Hum.
U Me Aur Hum, U Me Aur Hum”

Well I always liked the song right before I actually got married or even fell in love. It’s strange how such songs you like and subconsciously you want it to be the same in your life. The song subtly explains what a relationship should be. I have seen lot of people getting married and changing, changing for good or bad that’s according to me perspective. But definitely changing to an extent.

The change in our case would have been almost a must considering the fact both of us are completely different. Difference arises right from cultures, religions, views, personalities etc more or less like 2 states 😛 and being a girl it’s mostly expected that she needs to accept, adapt and adopt religious customs and views which she doesn’t believe in. In fact everybody around you including the girls parents tell that you will have to do this after marriage and don’t do this, be social etc etc and etc. I wonder how many boys are told this. Talking about religion, I must say being an army child, we really don’t understand the difference in religions. All religions are equal, all religious customs are equally important. So in my family we celebrated Lodi and Diwali by going to gurudwara, went to mandir during ganpathi puja, prayed during eid in mosque and heartily ate plum cake and went to church during Christmas. And this I never wanted to change. Religion according to me is a matter of belief, which cannot be forced upon and can’t be definitely looked down. When I entered my husbands family, I didn’t know what to expect. I knew his family was traditional but the question was what if they asked me to do something I didn’t really want to? What if I am expected to forget my beliefs? I know I am not wrong so will I be expected to change? Well I didn’t have to. Even after 7 years I am not expected to. I follow what I want to and what I don’t I don’t. My husband and in laws respect my decision. Even if sometimes my in laws expect certain things my husband takes a stand and puts across what I believe in. In fact, our Diwali celebrations are an altogether different thing, we make Prasad and get sweets,  then do one prayer his style and one prayer my style. Well that’s what it is. We both follow what we want to and respect each other’s decision. Regarding views, we both are very strong minded headed. Mostly are views match except on political issues 😛 but even though we disagree on few things I want him to talk and not just end the talk with “you win”.

But saying all that, according to me in every relationship we still need to make few adjustments, rather we want to ourselves make these adjustments. Adjustments have to be made in terms of accepting and loving his relationships as they mean a world to him, respecting his views and his personal space. Just highlighting the point of accepting your hubby’s relationships, it is a difficult task not only for me but also for him. How can it be easy to call somebody else’s parents as Mom and Dad, when Mom and Dad were only “one” for you for 25/26+ years. Well it isn’t that’s where we need to work on in terms of adjustments and bind the two families with the love we have for each other. Well now it’s seems relatively simple!

But there is a fine line between adjustment and changing your personality. Well when I got married I wanted to adjust but still maintain my identity, personality and views. And I am happy to say that I haven’t changed. I still hold the same views which I held 7 years back, may be I have become a bit calmer but again that may be because of age 😜 On the other hand I wonder if my husband has changed, well not really. He has become happier which I like to believe it may be because of me 😛  But anything else nope and frankly speaking I am happy that we haven’t even after 7 years. Well I fell in love with what he was 7 years back so why should I want him to change?

Another parameter 😛 important to a marriage or love is trusting each other and standing by next to each other and holding hands through those dark clouds. I remember one instant in my life when I was all alone as nobody trusted me, even the closest had turned their heads..Physically ill, mentally shattered and probably close to a breakdown. There was one person who stood by me, trusted me and that was my husband. I realized after this incident that my husband and I can pass anything dark clouds or sunny clouds, anything impossible as well if we are together!

For the past few days, I am losing hope on any relationship which is not of blood but one thing I forgot, the most important relationship for me in this world “which is non-BLOOD” is with my husband! Finally, I just want to say the relationship between husband and wife is about US and not just me or him.

-Jyotsana

A day of hope! A day full of happiness!

In the middle of broken relationships
In the middle of me losing hope on all relationships which are not of blood
In the middle of conditional love and relationships

God give me a different perspective!

He gave me hope again
He made me realize there are so many things which give me happiness
He gave me unconditional love
He gave me all this in the form of dogs as a gift 🙂

I had one of the awesomest days after a very long time
It was like what I wished in my heart I just got it!

A house full of dogs
A house full of people
Not gossiping or talking about weather, politics or traffic
Just talking about dogs..Their behavior, nature, fear, food liking, celebrating doggie birthdays etc.
And yes bonding with each other in-spite of no blood relationships
And all this because of God’s best creation dogs 🙂

My urge to spend sometime with a dog
My heart’s emptiness on entering a house without a dog greeting me
The missing feeling of warmth
The non-superficial and boundary-LESS love
Seems to have all been fulfilled to an extent till the time we get our own dog

The perfect finish to the evening by having discovered my favorite bake house has opened close to our place and my longing for a cheesecake is finally fulfilled 🙂

Just love this day 🙂 🙂

-Jyotsana

JS Style Karvachauth!

So it was my 3rd Karvachauth..I have been keeping this fast for the last 3 years. And considering the fact I am one of those people who accepts religious beliefs only when there is a reason or a logic, lot of people asked me why did you keep this fast? Well frankly I didn’t have an answer and I was confused 😐 So I decided to think over it and then write this piece.
To start off thinking over this confusion, I had to clearly put my religious beliefs. According to me, everybody has their own sets of beliefs and as long as you are okay with it follow else ignore and follow what you believe in. Nobody set the rules, God didn’t so why human beings set them, is far from my understanding. Nevertheless, I follow some traditions mainly when I believe in and sometimes also for my loved ones. For loved ones I follow with only one condition, as long as it doesn’t hurt my self respect. My self respect is the most important to me and anybody hurting that, is absolutely not acceptable to me even if it is my loved ones. Another thing to add is I don’t have a problem with other people following their beliefs, again the same condition it should not affect my space. Well a simple logic which I follow. You may call me anti social, pessimist or whatever I don’t care..That’s what I am and will be always..
Now how do I celebrate karva chauth other than fasting…As my basis of religious beliefs are very clear, unlike a lot of women I don’t dress up or put mehendi or do anything special to look nicer or make anything special. Well that’s not my way, I like to keep this my way, I call it my customised way. Well after a days heavy work at office I am not ready to do all this 😜 I go to office, I work, come back and pray. My style, my belief 😜 That’s how my celebrations are every year. If I am home because of a holiday I may do all this 😜but not when i am working 😬
So after a lot of thinking I came up with these 4 below reasons why I keep karva chauth..
1) I saw my mother keeping this fast. According to me a lot of your thinking comes from your parents, the way they bring you up. And my religious beliefs mainly come from them. So when I saw her keeping this, I felt somehow felt it’s the right thing to do..
2) Fast according to me, is a way to see how much endurance you have to stay away from things you love. And it’s good to fast for a day, it cleanses your system. Some people would say if this is the case, then why on this particular day. Why not any day in the year? I have a simple answer to this. Do you celebrate holi on Diwali? Nope..never..so my day for cleansing the system is the karva chauth 😊 and it’s always good when there are others who are celebrating with you as well. Celebrations are meant to be together. So fasting together makes it fun 😜
3) Then the confusion occurred to me, isn’t karva chauth like a celebration, then why fast on this day? I had an answer to this as well😜like my husband says I have an answer to everything 😜😬the answer is, for me giving up food or water for a day isn’t really a big deal. So, for this festival it means fasting it’s okay. As I said earlier, it doesn’t hurt my self respect I am fine with it. And my husband keeps this fast with me every year, so frankly speaking I don’t sacrifice anything, we celebrate together.
4) I find another day to pray to God. Pray for my family, for my loved ones. It’s another special day to pray.
I must admit, I am still a bit confused. But it’s okay to be little confused 😜 happy belated karva chauth, till the time I find a better answer to why I keep this fast 😊

-Jyotsana

Right or wrong

Between right and wrong there is a fine line, which you realise only after crossing it…

-Jyotsana