Changing times...for the worst.

I have always loved summers. I love the sunlight on my face every morning I open the curtains. Everything looks cheerful and bright and the yellow glow of the sun gets me going with the day.

Having spent most of my life in the sands of the Arabia – it does sound mysterious and exotic isn’t it? Like one of the enigmatic characters in the Arabian Nights. Returning to reality, the United Arab Emirates is a desert which has been transformed into a developed city with lush gardens, beautiful beaches and all those amenities or facilities that you would experience in any other developed country in the world. Before I dive into reminiscing the outrageous developments in the country, I wanted to tell you that never have I felt uncomfortable in the heat of the Arabia. Rather, I did not encounter an instance where I had to experience the sweltering heat of the summer. Air-conditioners in every place that you can think of – it was a basic necessity in that country when it was an item of luxury in most countries. So I would say I spent my summer years in Abu Dhabi in absolute bliss of the air-conditioners.

The summer in Bangalore is just as scorching hot and I need to find solace under the speeding ceiling fan. Though air-conditioner is not really a luxury anymore in India, people tell me the weather in Bangalore doesn’t really need one. Maybe years back, I would have agreed with them but not anymore.

Every year the summer is getting hotter and winter colder. This is sourced to the one and only ‘global warming’ – I have been hearing these 2 words for nearly 2 decades now and ofcourse, the threatening effect of it has been dwindling significantly. We all know the cause of global warming. We know the consequence of it, in fact we have been facing its consequence in many forms. Yet, we continue to fight against nature. It is not required anymore to state the ways in how we battle against nature. In the name of science and technology, we are not only destroying the earth but even us directly. Topics like deforestation and pollution have been discussed and debated for ages.

Let us look at the advent of cosmetic surgery – is there any part in the body that cannot go under the knife for a modification leading to beautification? If you have money, you can re-sculpture and re-define yourself.

Almost every other day, a new electronic gadget is born in the market. Children are far more advanced and tech-savvy today. The sight of a toddler playing with the parent’s mobile phone is very common. The pace at which those nimble fingers operate the phone maybe a proud moment for the parents. They puff their chest with pride and narrate stories of how smart their child is. Though it is fascinating to see the kid play with the gadget rather than the toys, I worry if the radiation from the phone would affect the child’s body, if the brightness of the panel would affect the eyes of the child, if the heat emanating from the phone would affect the delicate body.

There are many other everyday encounters where we come face-to-face technology that affects our life adversely. Being humans and with the ability to think, we need to draw a line on the usage on technology and science. We are dependent on technology and science and in fact, we are controlled by them. Our survival instincts are slowly deteriorating and I’m afraid it would be too late before we realise how far we have stretched to gain comfort in our lives and nature turns its back to hold us from falling over.

 

High over tea!

What is more refreshing than starting the day with a cup of tea!!!  

When I graduated from my days of drinking only milk, I found coffee to be my kick-starter of the day. I liked it strong and bitter and would grab a cappuccino from Starbucks at every opportunity I get. It has been more than 6 years since I discovered the magical world of TEA. I used to spend more time at the neatly stacked tea shelves in the supermarket than any other section, totally immersed in the world of herbal infusions, different flavours of green tea, beautifully wrapped packs of black tea and many more.

I remember being addicted to green tea at one point of my life, which meant I could not think straight without sipping on one. Then I diving deep into the ocean of tea and found the intoxicating aroma and flavor of different herbal infusions – my favourite still remains Strawberry and Cranberry infusion. I love watching the colour of water changing into a deep red tone when I dip the tea bag and the aroma that wafting out takes me out into a another galaxy!!! I relish every sip I take and make sure my cup is help just beneath my nose for a constant whiff.  Also, there is nothing like a steaming cup of freshly brewed black tea with sugar topped with some sprigs of fresh mint leaves. The scent of mint leaves and the tea will relax your senses and bring a smile to your face. How can I forget the chamomile tea - my savior during my monthly cramps. The flavor of chamomile is not very easy to describe but it soothes you and I’d say its equivalent to the feel of cool ocean breeze.

When I learnt about the tea ceremony of Japan I was completely fascinated by the special importance given to the brewing and serving of tea. Japanese culture has never stopped to amuse me and I am totally captivated by their traditions, dresses, art, mannerisms, language and many more except for the cuisine (I cannot get myself to eat anything beyond miso soup). The Japanese tea ceremony where the whole concept of having people over tea and the elaborate way of serving it by beautifully dressed dainty women sounds like such an exotic experience.

I was totally elated when I came across Infinitea in Bangalore – a tea bar in Cunningham Road where you get to drink almost all types of tea under the sun. Besides the oolong tea, black tea, infusions etc., there is a new variety called the flower tea where the dry tea leaf flower or whatever you call it blooms into a flower when you pour hot water over it. It is so delightful to watch and then drink the concoction over a tea-filled conversation.

Hey coffee-lovers, beat that!!!

The most uncomfortable discussion...Still??

Every morning I open the newspaper to a minimum of 2 sexual assault articles in some part of the world and occasionally an article about sex education. I do not want to talk about the former mainly because it is very disturbing and demonic and it would make this blog look very dark.

I have been hearing about sex education in school for more than 10 years now. I never had one in school though and the closest to this topic we had was a session of menstruation and how babies are born (where the intercourse part was cleverly excluded). This session was specially arranged by the school where girls of 6^th to 9^th grade were asked to attend. Since, the Biology teachers were shy and I still cannot imagine why they have to be in front of a bunch of silly girls, a doctor was invited to talk. It was definitely an educative session and I felt the school did an excellent job of getting a doctor to explain the process. But what I cannot forget was the atmosphere created by the teachers – I recollect how everybody looked grave and were staring at each one of us. Some of us had the jitters and we felt we were going to be beheaded.

I do not want to generalise all the teachers or parents in this world – but I strongly feel that the parents and teachers need to relax some of their muscles and not make a big deal about sex education where they scare the hell out of the children. They manipulate the children’s mind in getting them to think it’s a taboo and a topic which cannot be breached upon. Even today, not all parents are comfortable in talking about this to their children. Quick glances are exchanged, unnecessary clearing of throat, sudden recollection of something important and hence, disappearance act are some of the common reactions from parents when children pose any sex related question. It is totally unfair to blame the parents because they would be in a dilemma on how much detail to disclose without blemishing the child’s innocence. But is a child’s innocence stained when they know about sex?  

I am no psychologist or counsellor to give tips or advice on how to educate your child on sex, but it would be easy if we start to look at the forbidden word in a new light. It is definitely not shameful and it is the nature’s way of procreation. The concept of right and wrong can be broadly explained only until the children reach a certain age – which would obviously be what the parent’s think is right or wrong. It is essential, however, to teach the children to think on their own to make the right decision – giving them the freedom to make the right choice. It is important to have sex education in all schools. It is very important to educate the children at a very young age about their body and the ‘good touch’ and the ‘bad touch’. The world is most certainly not a safe place and it is not an easy task to have the children under our wings all the time. Hence, be aware and be approachable to not just your child but others’ as well.

The Taj

The other day I was browsing through my Delhi-Agra-Jaipur photographs and came across the picture of the Taj Mahal. I was still amazed to find out my level of admiration did not decrease. I have never been taken aback by any structure ever in my life except for the Taj Mahal.

Having lived in the UAE for more than 20 years, I have seen numerous sky-scrapers, building of various shapes (well one of my favourites in Abu Dhabi is the Aldar Office – you could google for it), mosques, malls and many more. But I was never fascinated or never stopped in my tracks to give it a second look.

I have also visited many museums, palaces, churches, cathedrals and other historical structures in the UK. I have also seen the Eiffel Tower, one of the other wonders of the world, and other beautiful buildings in Paris. The Eiffel Tower was definitely a pretty sight in the evening, but it failed to make a deep impression in my mind.

A year and a half back, my husband and I made plans to visit the Taj Mahal. I wanted to find out what was so great about it to be considered as one of the wonders of the world. I have seen pictures in books, shots of it in movies and it looked like just another mosque made of white marble. It has a touching love story behind it – was that one of the reasons to make it so popular?

So, we take a train from Delhi to Agra, early in the morning – all excited. The train journey was uneventful. On reaching Agra, I was so disgusted by the foul smell and garbage piled up all around. People were oblivious to the nastiness around and were hurrying up to the taxi stand. I was struggling to make my way between the piles of crap and being careful not to step on anything squishy.

After our visit to Fatehpur Sikri and lunch, we headed to the Taj Mahal. We entered one of the gates and I was shocked to see throngs of people swarming all over the place. Few minutes of walking and we reached the arch and it was again filled up with people either posing for or taking photographs. We snaked our way between them and finally, the sight of IT emerged! For a minute, I was rooted to my spot. I am not exaggerating - I had goosebumps. I was awestruck by the massiveness of the Taj Mahal. As we walked towards it, I started wondering, just like anybody – how the hell did they manage to build it without any of the technology that we have now? The beauty of the Taj Mahal is beyond explanation. It has to be seen and experienced. Taking a closer look, I was spell bound by the perfection it was built with. I could not spot anything that was out of place. The science and art that has gone into the construction of this divine structure is truly admirable. I, then realised why it was considered a wonder and it more than deserves to be.

I was exhilarated by this experience and the smile on my face remained till we got back to Delhi that night.

Pyramids of Egypt is yet to be struck-off from my list of must-sees.

 

The end of a life...

Is there another emotinal pain worse than losing someone at the hands of death?
Death is inevitable and unexpected most of the times, but life goes on. When you lose someone you love and care, the intensity of the pain is the maximum for those who are really close to him/her.

How would you feel when you see a person struggling for life on the hospital bed? Your heart goes out for the person and all you can do is pray to the Almighty to show some form of miracle and allow the person to survive. Or you beg and plead with the doctor to do eveything he can and make the person better.

What if the doctor is trying to tell you that the situation is grim and diplomatically tells you that the person's survival rate is extremely less? You are grasping at the last straws of hope and again, hoping that a miracle does happen. You try to convince yourself and others that the Almighty will definitely listen to your prayers.

What would you do when the doctor firmly tells you that it's just a matter of hours irrespective of the life support? You are completely lost now. Time is unstoppable. You begin to question the existence of the Almighty. You refuse to accept the doctor's final words and begin to suspect if they have done everything to save his life.

You finally hear about the soul leaving the body. Some people are wailing uncontrollably, some are crying silently and pretending to be brave. The composed ones are busy making arrangements for the final rites.

Isn't it strange how one refers to a dead person as just 'body' once the soul departs? The body has absolutely no identity without the soul - though soul is not visible.

It may take days, months or even years to overcome the feeling of losing someone forever - to come to terms with the fact that you will never ever be able to touch the person, look the person in the eye or hear the person's voice.

Death is defintely cruel but it is a part of lifecycle and wish the Almighty had given a seventh sense devoid of all emotions and only extreme strength to face it.
 

New Beginning?!?!?

You take utmost care of yourself. Eat healthy (of course there would be few instances where you binge on ‘unhealthy food’), exercise regularly (of course, there would be some days when you would have slacked), get sufficient sleep (well of course, you couldn’t help it when you stretched it for a few more hours). Alright, I take back what I said in the beginning – not ‘utmost care’ but definitely you do take care and would fall in the category between a health conscious fitness freak and a couch-potato. So why does one get fever? Various reasons to be associated with it – the top rated being weather conditions, followed by many others like due to fright of some foreboding event, maybe an injury or whatever.

The state of fever is so dreadful because your body turns out to be your enemy. It refuses to read your mind and perform accordingly. You wake up in the morning expecting to jump out of the bed and face the new day with a lot of vigour, instead your head weighs a ton and your limbs feel like they belong to someone else. Your desperate attempt to get rid of the foul taste in your mouth by furious brushing turns out to be futile. You feel lethargic and want to bury yourself under the quilt and be pampered with hot soup and foot massages. You slowly begin to recollect the cause of this state and make some presumptions and mentally make a note to be more cautious about it the next time. Now, you are left with two options – rush to the doctor and get a laundry list of drugs prescribed or try to remember your grandmum’s home remedies. The former may seem to be more feasible in terms of popping the tablets at regular intervals after gobbling down some meal in any form; but the latter which is ideally a concoction of mystical herbs brewed with a dash of love has to be prepared and served preferably by grandmum or mum.

Over time, your head clears and you begin to sense the strength gradually creeping back in your system. You experience a new awakening – a cleansed body, mind and soul. You are all set to face yet another new day with a newfound spirit to enjoy life.

Disclaimer: This entry was written while I was recovering from a terrible fever – could seem nonsensical to many!

An undefined relationship...

Every night, before I get transported to my world of dreams, I lie on the bed and ponder over numerous things that happened on that particular day or maybe about something I encountered or read or saw a couple of days earlier. I recently read a book ‘One Summer’ by David Baldacci, which is about a guy who is on his death-bed counting the last days of his time with the family. Things take a drastic turn in his life where his wife, instead, dies in a freak accident and he miraculously survives his terminal illness. Then it goes on to tell how he gets his kids who have gone to stay their grans and struggles to be a good parent. It is a very touching and emotional book and there were few instances where I could not fight back my tears.

For a minute, consider the life’s truly amazing fact where a male and female sexually bond to create a new life on this earth. The child is then nurtured and cared for by the parents till they are strong and confident to venture out on their own into the world (which I now feel is becoming quite a dangerous place to live in). I still cannot figure out the relationship between the parents and a child, mainly because I have gone through different phases in my life involving my parents. Just like most other kids who look up to their parents for protection when they are really young, I did so too. Teenage was of course the most difficult, again just like most other teenagers, where you consider parents to be of a completely different league, an older league! This went on till early twenties, where we had major misunderstanding with almost everything in life. This phase was followed me discovering friends in my parents. I started to have lengthy conversations with my parents about various things in life. I told them my perspective of life and though there were still frowns and grunts from their end, they knew I could handle things on my own.

Recently, my mother made a statement during one of our casual conversations “You were never a difficult child to begin with. You were never like the other babies who cry all the time or were really mischievous, but later on you really went on to test my level my patience.” Now, that I look back, I can see myself as a very rebellious child. And yes, I was a very short-tempered kid back then. People still say I still am! I used to question everything that I had to do and I used to storm around the house if I did not get a satisfactory response. Looking back at how I was, I start to wonder what sort of a parent I would be. I most certainly would not demonstrate the parenting skills my parents had J mainly because I thought they were conservative in several ways. Bringing up a child is such a delicate act which needs to be very meticulous and I want to be a perfect parent, just like every other parent’s wish.

My husband and I, at times, differ in our thoughts about life and how a child should be reared. But I feel, we really complement each other and would go on to create a darling of a child and hopefully, not a hodge-podge monster!!! :-D