Mahalaxmi Devi

Kolhapur famous as a divine destination – residence of Shri Mahalaxmi (Ambabai). One among the ‘Shaktipeethas’, Kolhapur attracts the pilgrims of the world. They visit Kolhapur to pray goddess Ambabai (Mahalaxmi) for a peaceful & healthy life. It is considered that the darshan of Shri. Balaji of Tirumala is incomplete without visiting goddess Mahalaxmi of Kolhapur….They dress up the goddess so beautifully at Kolhapur…

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Sea at its best…..

The wonderful hues of the sea….

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Update: A choice to make and a friend in need, a school reunion and my new movie buddy

Sometimes it becomes difficult to make a choice. However, one has to decide. I had been so busy filling up forms that if someone asked me what I was doing the past month. I would say form filling, complying with the needs of institutes. Phew what an arduous task. Sometimes I wonder what I am moving towards. But atleast it is a step in the right direction. I don’t want to share many details and hope to post an update as soon as good news is received.

Moving onto a friend in need. I used to wonder that Reputed institutes carried some brand value. But lately I got a reality check. According to a Hindi proverb “Door ke dhol Suhane lagtein hai” I can’t state but I feel relieved that I was saved an investment of almost 25lacs. Actually speaking I was going to apply to the institute where my friend is presently studying. But looking at the bad economy and the job scenario, I thought otherwise. I could sense a feeling of depression, a loss of hope. I am trying to help my friend in all the possible ways. My heart reaches out to my friend. All I can think of is after investing 26lacs is the ROI going to be less than that…Phew..My mind goes bonkers thinking about such things. Hope my friend gets the desired job…

Now moving onto my school reunion. We 7 girls met up at the school. The watchman did not let us into the school as we late latiffs reached at 11.30am post the school closing down. Now to make the best of it, we went till the school nursery, clicked pics, caught up on the girl gossip and ate loads. Everyone shared their issues. Most of them married with kids, a few trying to have kids and a few like me who are not even near the thought of marriage…Post the school venue meet up, we went to China Grill. As cautious citizens we told the restaurant manager that we had met up after 12 years. We are going to be pretty boisterous..He underrated us and within minutes started staring us. We continued to ignore him and chatted away in glory. Then came the time to depart. Apparently girls can never say a good bye. The good bye session lasted for like 4 hrs…Finally at 6pm we bid adios. The meeting was fun, refreshed old memories and made us remember that school friends will always be school friends.

Lastly, me and Utpala went for the movie “Midnights Children”. A very slow movie indeed. I don’t know how it fares in comparison with the book written by Salman Rushdie. All I could gather was that boy meets girl. They fall in love, get married in like a month, girl gets pregnant, boy divorces girl, second marriage takes place, etc. Finally four different boys and girls got married in like the first hour, women were over fertile and kids were like everywhere. Indira Gandhi was malnourished. They introduced a touch of magic, but nothing comparable to Harry Potter..I wish it was a bit well paced…But overall not a bad one time watch….I ended up telling Utpala, women were so productive in the movie and how many weddings…he he….

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Unbelievable

Sometimes you become a part of things that one would like to turn one’s blind eye to..but sometimes it is not possible. She simply ran away, hired a cab and ran away. All I knew is she ran away..I simply had no clue what happened?? so when he called he said “Tell her to come back” I said whom are you speaking about and he said “***” Holy crap..I said does she have her cell phone with her. He said “Yes” I remembered that an iphone has a tracking system. So I messaged my friend “Do you know how we locate an iphone?” he helped out. Thank god I am blessed and have very good and helpful friends. 

We located her in Mumbai and then we called her sister. She confirmed, that **** was with her. Thank god she was safe. Who leaves their house in a sudden fit…Simply unbelievable. At least we confirmed that she is safe. Now let me find out why did she run away..what did he do again??? Phew!!!

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Writing after a long time

It has been a very long time since I updated my blog. I sit down today and just thought of writing a few lines. It has been 2 months since I quit my job. Typically I should be bored and willing to go back to work. But the weird part is I don’t miss work, I remain so busy with the NGO and catching up with friends that I don’t have time to scratch my head.

I have also taken out some time for my self in terms of continuing my dancing sessions – belly dancing, sustaining running and walking, reading up books on my to read list, watching movies and sitting all by myself and thinking on lines as to what I want to do. These are a few self fulfilling activities, something I like to do.

As far as dancing goes, I have reached the third level where I am learning to dance with a veil. It is a new kind of dance. Managing a veil while bringing grace to the dance poses a challenge. But it is real fun, challenging yet fun.

Secondly, I go for a run everyday for around half an hour. It refreshes the mind and keeps me healthy. I used to run when I was in college. So I love the feeling when the blood rushes through my veins, as if it gives a new high.

Thirdly, I have read books like Life of Pi by Yann Martel, Story of My experiments with Truth by MK Gandhi, 50 Shades of Grey by El James and I am devouring through a lot others. I so liked Gandhi’s autobiography, the way in which he narrates his life and the honesty is simply remarkable. Sometimes I wonder the decisions he took were right or wrong. But his contribution to India was remarkable. Life of Pi was a bit drab in between, however, 50 shades was a trashy novel – it kind of gave me jitters. This is what is my take on the books so far read by me.

Thirdly, I watched a number of movies right from new ones to the old classics. I watched the new releases such as Talaash, Aargo, Hotel Transylvania, Student of the Year, Life of Pi, Son of Sardar, etc. I also watched old classics such as My Fair Lady, Sound of Music, How green my valley was, Gone with the wind, etc. I typically enjoyed watching the old classics as they involve old settings, big houses, women in gowns, the old buggies, etc – somethings I like 🙂  

Fourthly, on the NGO front, we began operating the libraries at the school we teach, plus we are going to hold a dancing and quiz competition at the school. So loads of activities planned in that area. On the teaching front I was rather glad that atleast 50% of the children remembered what we had taught around a month ago. So it was a morale booster. 🙂

Lastly, I am catching up with all my friends. Today I went to meet Utpala, it was so much fun, we ended up chatting for 3 hrs without interruption and it felt really nice. Although she is almost double my age it never feels so, I can discuss almost anything on this earth with her. We also decided on a cooking date with her where Utpala, me and her daughter Sunetra will cook together on a Sunday. he he.. it will be fun. Similar activities are planned with other set of friends. 🙂

To sum it all, it is fun undertaking all these activities. I really missed them while balancing office work with social work, leaving me no time for myself. The break is a well deserved one.

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A heavy heart and mixed feelings

With a heavy heart it is time to say goodbye to all at work. I have made some lifelong friends and a few acquaintances that will remain a part of my facebook friend list.

But the best part is that there are so many memories attached with VN from being my first job, to a lot of first experiences, to my first client interaction, to my first promotion, my first lunch buddy, etc. The list runs long and seems endless. I don’t have words to express what is going through my mind. But all I can do is to express to the best of my ability.

Recalling when I first entered the office, the first person I met was RRB (a stranger then and now a good boss, friend and a big brother). I worked across all the teams at office and eventually settled in the financial practice team headed by RRB. He has been a guide, a patient listener, sounding board, a big brother, a friend, etc. I fall short of adjectives when describing him. On the whole he has taught me very important lessons in my life and I can never forget these lessons.

Ratalogix- the gujju bhai and a rakhi brother at office is a good person but over emotional. Oh please I still wait when you will get hold of your emotions. I loved binging on the awesome food that his mom made. Stubborn as a mule and a big cribber as I always call him, he is the most dependable person one can have in your life.

Both these guys have been PMs but they never made me feel that I was out of place, we roamed together, ate together, worked late nights and even troubled each other. But the best part was that we have always been there for each other. I know I can call them in the middle of the night and they will respond.

An end to a beautiful chapter in my life and let us hope to begin a new one soon. With a heavy heart and mixed feelings I say good bye.

 

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Run baby run

Lately, i have rekindled the interest in running. Phew! how we let go of hobbies that used to give us immense pleasure and opt for things so sultry. 

I restarted running everyday for a kilometre and the first day I ran almost after 5 years, it brought back the pleasurable feeling. The feeling of your heart pumping blood throughout your veins at a rapid pace, as if every pore is breathing and you have nothing to care in the world.

For those 10-15 mins, you are in a different world altogether. It is the adrenaline pumping, wishing you to run more to make that feeling of freedom linger for a minute more and so on.

So run baby run. 🙂

 

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A light at the end of the tunnel

A force tugging you in a direction that is not tread on before.

A few difficult choices and one knows the consequences

Ultimately, these choices are long due to be adopted

The heart is a bit scared but there is always a light at the end of the tunnel

That is what fairy tales tell

So how can one despair, when the moment of truth appears

Be brave my child and walk the path 

Be brave my child as all the problems appear to be small particles of dust and not a mountain high

Be brave my child there is a light at the end of the tunnel

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Expect trouble as an inevitable part of life

“Expect trouble as an inevitable part of life, and when it comes, hold your head high, and look it squarely in the eye and say, ‘I will be bigger than you. You cannot defeat me.” – Ann Landers

Sometimes one looks at this quote and ponders.

Can we really do that?

Is it possible?

Last two weeks have been the most tumultuous in my life, as if an earthquake just shook my life and the whole world came crashing down on me.

One would wonder what I am speaking about. Phew! Let me give a background to my incoherent gibberish. Around two weeks ago my aunt suffered a massive heart attack. She was rushed to the hospital and the doctor declared that she won’t survive. The ground beneath our feet seemed to have shifted. In reply to the doctors statement, my mom said here speak to my husband (My dad is a surgeon) and we can discuss if she will survive or not later. He delivered the emergency treatment and was shifted to the ICU. Her treatment continued and she remained critical for almost one and a half week, post which she stabilized slightly. At the moment, I can say she is stable and will be discharged from the hospital on Friday (3^rd Aug 2012). Although the doctors say that she has a month to six months of renewed life, not more. I hope she has more life ahead.

Now, moving to the part that brought turmoil in our lives were three aspects.

1. Running to the hospital

2. Managing her business

3. Managing the NGO

She is a fairly active lady and has loads of activities lined out for the year. Firstly the IT returns had to be filed, we had go and figure out what is kept where and then get the returns filed. This task was assigned to me. Since I have never filed a business return, it took me quite some time to understand the nuances of it. Finally with the help of the chartered accountant we successfully filed the returns.

In addition to that, we had to check her e-mails reply to her clients and so on. The list of work seemed endless but we somehow managed finishing it.

The second task was running the NGO activities on schedule. Most of the activities have been planned and needed execution. This had to be arranged for; three activities are planned for August itself. Phew! I have asked anyone and everyone whom I could get my hands on to help out. I kept reminding myself delegate and execute. On top of this, the inspectors from the FCRA committee came for inspection, in between the tasks we had to provide them with all the details for inspection. God save me has been the word on my lips..

The final part was running to the hospital, we adopted a shift system of sitting in the hospital. As we recruited a full time nurse and a maid, they need to be supervised. Leave them alone and they will play havoc. So in all it has been a troublesome one and a half week. Today is my last shift at the hospital, hope things normalize a bit over the coming period.

These are just a few of the activities in addition to my already hectic life. I have been on my toes and am a bit tired, sleep deprived and cranky at the moment. Hope this phase passes soon.

 

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A new hobby: Belly dancing

Recently, I was searching to renew life into my art (drawing) hobby. Something on the creative side, where I could use art as a form. After constant efforts to find a nice art teacher, I was unable to find one. I didn’t want to spoil my taste, as my drawing teacher had taught me well and I wanted an equally competent teacher. Ah! good old days, I had reached the stage of sketching human faces, animals, shadow drawing, etc. I want to revise that and go ahead. So owing to the failure to find a good art teacher, I decided to join something different. 

I decided, let us give a chance to dancing. I had joined a class when I was a teenager. So I have the basics in place, but wanted to do something different. After long deliberation, I joined a “belly dancing class”. Oh today was my first class. It was fun. The dance instructor is a lady and we are a batch of three students. Priya (Lakeesha), Moushmi (Janaa) and Me (Kazima). We had to choose Arabic names just to get into the rhythm. Then she gave us a brief about how Belly dancing originated and how it is an exotic dance form. Although it looks very easy. Trust me every part of my body is aching today with the 2 hrs session. 

We began with a warm up followed by the waist movement forming an infinity sign. This was followed by the point hip movement followed by the spot hip movement. Slowly we also had to do the hand movements as well. Coordinating all of them into a dance for 5 minutes. The waist rotation in circles is called the “Shimee” the hip movement is called the “Aumi”

It was real fun and a very exhaustive workout. We have to practice 15 mins everyday to get the flow plus grace.  Next week we get our Harem pants and the belt with coins. Will post the pics of our session. 😀

What seemed so simple is actually quite  a bit of hard work, but it is worth it. 😀

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