Blinded Now

Some days back , i was just wondering .....that why don't i see any injured bird, cat , dog in the locality . Then i realise - from a long time i have never seen tender roots developing in plant pots , neither i have seen cheap candies and cola filled in plastic packs. I pondered on this thought and knew - why i don't see them any more- i am blinded now.
Now i am more busy to reach office on time - as a kid , i never wore watch and never kept time.
Now i am more health conscious , cheap things and cheap joints are dirty - as a kid, i never kept tab on weight . road side small shops had best offerings in rupees one or two.
I wear good clothes , i have to look good. apperance matters . - in childhood taking care of clothes , hygiene was an outsourced department to Mother. It never mattered that clothes might get dirty while planting seeds in mud pots.

In childhood - we see withering plants needing water , small puppies needing shelter , injured wings of sparrow wanting protection from crow. Now we really don't see such things. We have got into a different world- where at the end of the day our dreams are still loaded with reminders about pending tasks. But look at a kid - he/ she sleeps deeply because he/she has addressed a bigger issue in a day and has been rewarded in return by a joy in heart and tiredness in body for that peaceful sleep.

Punjabi born , maharashtrian girl married to Bong settled in South .

Which place you belong to ? ........i don't have a specific answer to this question. My mother side grand parents belonged to Pakistan (undivided India) and my paternal side hailed from Delhi - Rewari belt. My mother completed her eduction in Bangalore , while my father walked away with medical degree from AFMC- Pune. Coming to me ....i always had friends who were Gujarati , marwari, Tamil, malyali's, maharashtrians, catholics , muslim. I think i am an observer than a practitioner of any particular culture.
My husband on the other hand is a proud Bengali - i guess he and his family has any outside influence on them. People of West Bengal stayed within the state till late as 1990's. They have strong attachment to their soil and culture.
When i saw the community and the culture from such a close look or being part of it ...i then started looking at other cultures . I found maharashtrians, Tamils , north Indians , bongs have a strong superficial difference . Language , clothing style , customs all differing a lot .....but when you go deeper .....it all stands on similar values and beliefs. Evey state in India has beautifully got acclimatized to its geography , climate and resources creating a distinct identity but keeping the core of Indian culture intact . I wish we all could have seen the same rather than making a linguistic ghetto .

I think so because i had seen and been with people of different parts of country, i am able to respect each culture more than ever and think of myself as Indian first than calling my self Punjabi born , maharashtrian girl married to Bong settled in South.

7.45 am local train to CST - VT

I was just out of graduation college , six months had passed doing nothing but preparing aimlessly for next phase of life. 2001 was not the year where plain graduates were sort after.
Call centres ..now known more respectfully as BPO were new unknown venture . A graduate would only get a job through a reference , so i too got a job at khar by passing my one page resume through a reference . The salary was low , but i looked forward to experience and way to conduct myself in work environment. Days were long and journey to workplace was longer . Best part of the day was 7.45 am train to CST erstwhile VT. Regular train passengers became companion in joy and sorrow. One needs to be on a same train , from same boarding place to be included within the group .....i qualified this and was in Dombivili group . All ladies were in the age group of 40's and comfortably employed in PSU's, banks and Govt insurance companies. The gossip would range from movies, TV soaps, kids , bosses , husbands , train, neighbours etc. We celebrated haldi - kumkum in train , shared tiffins and goodies generously passed from one another. The day i travelled last on that train , my train- friends gave me a send off. They wished me luck, gave small momentos. A good train friend of mine, carried a camera loaded with film and shot few snaps ( in those days mobile phones were luxury and phone camera was unheard technology ) .
Today i am in Bangalore , have everything to term this life as comfortable . I don't have to rush to board any train, neither i have to keep standing for an hour to reach my office. Journey has got shorter, comfortable ...but ...only more .. lonelier and without companions.

keep wishing

life is all about wonder years sewn together to complete a picture. As a little girl , i stood up on house hold tables to feel - how it will be to look at world from 5.5 feet. In college , i watched young executives, busily working on their laptops and imagined how it will be to be working . Now that i am working , looking at my mother who is about to retire from services i wish - how good it will be to be not working , to have endless holiday , to sleep as an when needed :-) .
Going back and forth in years , makes you ready for that phase of life. All wishes come real only to give room for new wishes. Life is made up of all those wishes , which god is slowly giving you and just luring you nearer to him . Thats what life is , a well laid game plan.....keep wishing , he will oblige .