THE DIARY OF A HOUSEWIFE

DARK AGES! WE HAVE ENTERED THE DARK AGES! No, that’s not what I believe, I got that from the social media. While the majority of India exulted in NDA’s victory in the Lok Sabha elections, a TSUNAMO, most called it, there is a percentage of Indians who were plunged into mourning at the tragedy that had befallen them. Now, normally, I refrain from commenting or posting anything related to politics. How can I participate in debates and discussions about the said subject when I don’t know much about politics, politicians, governments, their policies except for what I read in the newspapers and hear on media? I have never even met a politician and don’t follow any one of them on social media or otherwise. More and more, as I advance in age and hopefully wisdom, I realise I know nothing and understand even less.   However, my newly acquired wisdom has made me privy to one very obvious fact. I – we are surrounded by hate, resentment, hostility, ill-will – whatever name ...

AM I REALLY HAPPY? ARE WE REALLY HAPPY? IS MY FAMILY REALLY HAPPY? ARE MY FRIENDS REALLY HAPPY? IS THE WORLD REALLY HAPPY? Or are we fooling ourselves! Some days I am forced into believing that most of us are just going through the grind, toiling our way through days, which soon turn into months and months which before you know it, turn into years. We wake up, rush to work, whether at the office or home, the children are pushed to attend their schools and colleges, meet the same people, do our jobs, get back home, get busy again, with phones and the idiot box and then off to la-la land, looking forward to...what...what is it that we really want from our lives, what is it that really makes us happy? Material success? Fame? Family? Friends? Worldly success?  What, I have been pondering, for the last some days, makes me and others around me happy? Have I reached a conclusive answer...no...because there isn't one.  It's easy to be sad and depressed. All we hav...

"I never regret anything," said a friend the other day. And I thought, "Wow, a life without regrets, beautiful!"  There are moments in my life where I feel immense shame and guilt at some of the things I have done in my life, doesn't this person, I asked myself?  Is there such a thing as a life without regrets - lying, cheating, fighting, hurting, gossiping, wrong choices - I didn't think it was possible.  Everyday the news is full of stories of people, young and old, who take their own lives, fighting demons we know nothing about, believing they have disappointed, displeased, hurt, made bad choices, or just because they have let the monster of regret overwhelm them. They live in their space all alone unable to let go of the regrets, the shame and the guilt. Life is tough as it is without us making it tougher for us by letting remorse crush it and regret becoming our master. A few lines from the song by Live Like You Were Dying by  T...

इतनी नफ़रत, इतना द्वेष, क्यों और किस लिए? क्या चाहते हो, क्या मांगते हो, जो दे नहीं पाता भगवान और यह देश? हज़ारों शहीद हुए, हज़ारों की जाने गयीं, रह गए पीछे सिर्फ अश्रु, रह गयीं पीछे सुनी कलाई, हज़ारों अनाथ हुए, हज़ारों बेघर किये, रह गए पीछे सिर्फ अश्रु और बुझे दिए, क्यों लाना चाहते हो यह सैलाब, जिसमें रह जाते हैं पीछे सिर्फ सुने दिल और टूटे ख़्वाब! इतनी नफ़रत, इतना द्वेष, क्यों और किस लिए? क्या चाहते हो, क्या मांगते हो, जो दे नहीं पाता भगवान और यह देश? धर्म के रखवालों अब बस करो, क्यों करते हो इतना बैर, हम सब एक नहीं, पर हम सब इतने अलग भी नहीं, क्यों नहीं पहचानते, क्यों नहीं समझते, यह दुश्मनी, यह नफ़रत अपने दिल में जो समाये बैठे हो, तुम्हें और तुम्हारों को भी ध्वस्त कर जाएंगी, आंसू छलकते रहेंगे, ज़िंदगियाँ बर्बाद होती रहेंगी, कुछ न मिलेगा द्रोह से और विद्रोह से ! धर्म के रखवालों अब बस करो! इतनी नफ़रत, इतना द्वेष, क्यों और किस लिए? क्या चाहते हो, क्या मांगते हो, जो दे नहीं पाता भगवान और यह देश? देश के रखवालों तुम न रुको, बस चलत...

Ok, now this is something I just don't understand. Or maybe that's because I am soft in the head just like the foolish Pune Police force who has many-a-times tried but horribly failed to enforce the helmet rule. What is it with the Pune public refusing to don helmets when driving their 2-wheeled chariots, for their own safety? Are their heads as hard as their hearts, providing them protection from all kinds of injuries, physical and psychological? Or has God bestowed on them a boon, a few fools such as me are unaware of. Wearing helmets leads to spinal problems and hair loss they say. These brave hearts are also unable to drive properly because the helmets are heavy and do not let them hear anything. According to most, if people ride slowly on local roads, they negate the chances of accidents, and the need for helmet laws. The logic is indisputable. Hair loss, hearing loss, spinal issues can destroy a person, his family and his happy life. So, when experts say ...

      As somebody who has never known any life other than the life in the Defense Forces, The Indian Air Force, as a daughter first and then as a wife, the news of the Mirage 2000 crash where we lost two of our best pilots hit me hard as it has done many-a-times before. They were young test pilots, the finest of the fine, looking forward to a rewarding career and life. Snatched away too soon, it is only their families who can wholly understand and comprehend the loss of these young men doing for the country what most others are afraid to. Every time my husband doesn't call or text after he has supposed to have landed, listening to my thumping heart, I call him to check if he has touched down. As the wife of a fighter pilot, a test pilot and now a corporate pilot, I have trained myself not to worry about what could happen each time he soars off into the skies, his life in the hands of a machine, I have never really understood. ...

CELEBRATING 23 YEARS OF TOGETHERNESS!  Here we are... With lots of ups and downs and many things in between, Here we are... after years 20 and तीन. We met when I was just nineteen and you a dashing young pilot I had just seen. Life together a blessing and what a blast it has been, Like a never ending romance, melodrama, thriller and fantasy scene. We have endured many a wrongs, hits and losses on the chin, But afresh we have always let life again begin. Many an unforgettable seasons together we have been, Through it all our family stands tall today bearing an ever widening grin. BIRTHDAY WISHES FOR A DEAR FRIEND So many people you meet But not with all your heart will beat, Some become so dear That losing them is something you fear, Funny jokes and laughs out loud Always the rowdy me will be one of your crowd, Our friendship was built in the most remarkable way Hope it will grow stronger till our hair turn grey, As...