HAPPY NEW YEAR !

Wishing you and yours a very Happy New Year.  For a while, It's been quiet on this blog. The silence has been intentional. Every once in a while it's important to let silence speak for itself.  

2013 was blessed and yet a very solemn year. The year brought forward altered relationships, changed friendships and life.  Life, a four letter word, that encompasses everything from our friends to our being, and yet we almost always take it for granted.  We assume that as long as we follow the rules and do good deeds, all will be well, but the year showed me how in a minute life changes its course and suddenly every little prized possession becomes meaningless. 

As I moved along in 2013, amongst all the chaos, I then saw those tiny toes and fingers.  The innocent smile, the random twitch of a nose and the blink of an eye, all reassuring me of the fact that life thrives. 

I would be a robot if the contrast of experiences did not force me to think of what really matters.  As the year ended, and the world shared the year in review with celebrations across the globe, I made my new year resolution - More humility and more optimism.  Humility for all the blessings that have been showered on me and my dear ones, optimism so I can forget the bitterness and learn to forgive.  

On a more personal front, besides the usual eat healthy, be a good parent, etc...my primary goal will be to work with myself and the family to not waste. Be it electricity or food, the goal is to reduce squandering. There is way too much being wasted in this world.  We talk about reducing our carbon footprint and yet we keep buying. Tangential to this is the task of de-cluttering. De-clutter both my home and FB wall :) Yes, 250+ friends on FB and there are a handful who visit, so de-clutter. The gamut of ideas brewing in my head about blogging, painting, cookbooks and so much more need some direction and I know I can take them to their destination, just need to figure out how ;) 

New Year's eve: time to romance, time to indulge, time to make resolutions and underlying all these modern day celebration traditions lie ancient spiritual resolutions. In Haridwar, India you will find folks jumping into the Ganges so they can wash off a year's worth of sins and take permission to repeat those sins in the new year. Parts of Italy, the locals are busy cleaning their houses to welcome the new year, while the Vienna folks are running after the pig, because if they can touch it, the new year will bring good luck.  

However you may choose to celebrate the new year, the underlying sentiment is the same, welcome the new year with happiness and positivity.  

Only the first 8 pages of the Book 2014 have been written, write the others so when the world reads them, it smiles. 

I wish that all your wishes are fulfilled this year. Happy New Year. 

When Life Stood Still !

Gone is the era when we hoped for some social life, looked forward to meeting long lost friends, or feel the joy of actually sitting down and writing a letter. 

"Life is busy, and busy is good," is the mantra now.  From CEO's to elementary students, we are all juggling our scribbled in calendars.  If you are thinking, this is one of those posts, where I tell people to slow down and smell the roses, you are wrong. I am not going to do that, because you have been told that before by one and all. 

What I am going to tell you is a little story, and maybe you have heard this story before too. But I heard it for the first time today. 

To make a long story short; the children had just come back from school. The older one was a busy guy, he announced that he had two tests and one quiz to prepare for, and also that he was really tired, he wanted a break. The younger one a kindergarten genie, announced that he was also very tired and wanted to rest. 

Their mom looked at them, thinking, she is also very tired, maybe she should also rest. It was one of those rare moments when all the planets were aligned perfectly and much to her surprise, she said "o.k how about we all sit down with some popcorn for a snack and watch a show or a short movie." The kids were shocked and gave each other the glance. Is she serious, they thought. A weekday and she is asking us to sit down and watch T.V, that's typically been a total no no with her. They just stood there, thinking she is going to laugh out loud and say "Got Ya!" But she did nothing of the sort, she picked up the remote and turned the T.V on.  

The kids excitedly jumped on the couch and took their favorite spots, really looking forward to their surprise T.V time. 

"This is so much better than a surprise quiz," said the older one, while giving his younger brother a high five.

And then it happened, suddenly there was silence and their mom had the frustated, irritated look on her face. "What happened?" asked the children worried. "I don't know, why isn't this thing working, why is it that when we really want to watch something, this  never worked," she continued to talk with  herself. 

She went and picked up the phone to call the cable company only to realize the phone wasn't working either. 

To be connected with OR To be connected to. Its a choice! 

She tries to log on to the internet to see if the cable company's website had any information, and of course, the internet wasn't working either.  Perfect! she said. "The one day, that I want it work, nothing happens."  

"Why don't you text dad and ask him?" suggested the smart 5 year old. She tried, only to realize the Wifi is dead too.  Great! There is no way of instant communication, she thought. She tried calling her husband, no answer.  

From the time she had picked up the remote to the moment she tried calling her husband, the time lapse was only 7 minutes. And they felt like the longest 7 minutes. She told her kids to go back to studying and their normal schedule.  "Why?" said the kids, "if we had been watching a movie, this would be a break, why can't we have a break and do something else.

" No! She said firmly, I have to figure this out. So off went the kids, while she stood in the kitchen wondering what to do. She looked at the time, 8 minutes now.  

She decides to have a cup of tea, and as she was filling up the kettle with water, she decides to go check the Time Capsule. It had a blinking orange light. That can't be good, she thought. So she got the manual out and read through. 

"Blinking orange" meant no internet connection. Great, so the internet was down, which meant no phone, no T.V no nothing. 

Her life came to a standstill. She looked at her watch 10 minutes. How does she solve this problem? She can't google anything. Deep in her thoughts, she dumped the water back and found the quick cheat sheet of the cable company. She read through it, nothing useful. She looked at her watch, 13 minutes. 

"Mom, what is the meaning of this word?" breaks her silence. "Why don't u google it?" she responds instantly. "I can't. Remember," quips the son back and "I don't have a paper dictionary," he reminds her again.  She walks up to her son and tells him the meaning of "archipelago" and comes back to the kitchen.   

It happens, she hears the humm, the humm of a new email on your smart phone. With alert ears, a racing heart and trembling fingers she picks up her phone. 

YES! she shouts out loud.  She quickly picks up the landline, it's working, she turns the T.V on, its back.   "What happened?" asks the 5 year old.  "Nothing!" says his brother "Mom got her internet back," beating her to the response. 

"Yeahhh! Now we can watch the movie, right Mom?"asks the little one.  

She looked at his pleading eyes and said, "sure, why not?" "Really!" The kids were so excited and super happy. She looks at them all smiles and says to her self, "this is better, I can post the blog later."

You guessed it right, and I will let you separate fiction from realistic fiction from non-fiction. 

But it's worth thinking, it was measly 13 minutes, did life really stand still for her. No! she chose and made "life stand still." 

It's yet again, one of those "Imperfectly Perfect" situations.  

Lesson Learned!