I have a life too….

Getting married? Let’s consider it a Yes!! So, what thought flashes you when you think about this? Two people one life, bonding for life, Togetherness, Love, excitement and more? I have the same thoughts too. 

I was really excited when my wedding was fixed. Life started changing a bit and the change was good. I became we, single cup of coffee became 1 by 2 and a sense of share came in, without even noticing. I started enjoying this change in me.

From my childhood till date, I have been a person who welcomes new in life. I like making friends; I talk to lot of people unknown to me. So, getting adjusted to my new life was not so difficult. Still, being a girl who is brought up very independently I faced many funny hurdles which I tackled in a clever way. So ladies, fasten your seat belts to hear my way of tackling things, this might help many of you out there reading this post!!! If these ideas of mine work out for you, then you can make your valuable contribution to my fund. (Contribution accepted in the form of your joy of reading only).

Let me first begin with few thumb rules which I follow:

• Never say no to what others tell. (means, do whatever you want to do, after all its your life)

• There are many who talk nonsense. (means, act deaf, your skills will improve)

• There will be advices and suggestions from many. ( means, be selfish, take only those which helps you)

• Try not to bother your guy with all the nonsense you are facing. (means, he is used to these kind of nonsense and he cannot make out any difference. Suffer in silence and learn dealing with it)

The Requisitions:

1. Pre wedding requisitions: These are the days where you will have to accept maximum requests from many, be prepared. It starts from head and never think toe is the ending point!! The list goes on and on. Few of the requests I got were: Pierce your nose; I am okay you wearing whatever you want, BUT……, following this god would seem better than following the one you are following now, you look good when your hair is tied etc. ( Beware: All these requests are meant to be treated as ORDERS). Listening was the only way out for me and I heard voices in my mind answering like this. 

• HELLO, I am planning to pierce my navel!!

• Thank god, I am wearing!! 

• I am Spiritual, not Religious!!

• I have been looking myself since I was born; I know what looks better on me!!

Smiling at all the voice-overs in my head, I nodded for all the requisitions and till date I follow my thumb rule- Listen to what others say!! Do, whatever you wana do, after all it’s your life.

2. Post wedding requisitions: These are those orders which you will be forced to follow. But, try and workout to minimize your efforts in following these. Few out of many requests (orders) which were enforced on me were: Try and visit all the relatives whenever you find time, Wear the attire what I tell, early to bed and early to rise etc. Again, listening was the only way out for me and I still hear lots of voices in my mind answering like this.

• I get only two days in a week, I prefer spending it for myself. I don’t like spoiling others time too; even they have the same amount of time what I have.

• Again, thank god, I am wearing something.

• Even I am a workaholic like the other person with me. When you understand him, understand me.

Again I continued smiling and till now I follow my thumb rule- Listen to what others say!! Do, whatever you wana do, after all it’s your life and the requests/ orders have never stopped and it will never be!! The more requests/ orders I get, the more I improve my skills and patience.

Few things before I conclude:

• I thank all those who improved my skills and patience by requesting/ ordering me. Don’t worry, I’ll never change.

• The attitude of mine is not negative towards those who tell me something. I am always open for new and good learning’s. 

I conclude with lots of smiles, positive attitude and I am always welcome for more ad-hoc requests/ orders. But, please keep in mind, when I don’t bother you, don’t bother me!! Coz, I have a life too…..

 

A Silent Journey

I bustled to a nearby crowd and exclaimed!! Excuse me, is this where the Bus stops…?? After I got a satisfying nod from the crowd, I settled down.  I looked all around and realised, oh dear!! How well I have become a slave of luxury. To be precise, after my 10^th Class I had never travelled in a bus. I dint know how many bus routes had changed and how many buses itself changed. I can never forget the days when me and my friend walked hand in hand till the bus stop and felt sad to part from there for our respective homes daily…

I dint know when luxury started bossing me or I have no idea when all this fun of travelling in a public transport ended. The reasons might be many- tuitions, college, traffic, time management and many more but I am not proud to say I don’t use public transport any-more  This day in my life bought me back all those lovely memories and courtesy for the same is my bike which broke down this morning.

• A silent speech which imprinted the word “Love”- As I was waiting for the bus to come and as my creative thirst was looking for water called a story, I saw a couple beside me, they were talking non-stop but no one else in the crowd were annoyed or I guess, no one knew that there were strong conversation going on between them. I felt so sorry to see the couple who were deaf and dumb and couldn’t shout out their love. Though I couldn’t get to know all that they were discussing, the shyness in her, showed the colours of their love.  They departed as their bus arrived and this situation made me think that, though we are blessed with speech sometimes we never express what we want to express to someone who you really love. We unknowingly hurt them without expressing our true feelings.  People, make a point to express what you really feel… Many things could be sorted out and many more surprises will be on your way when you express…

• A silent nod which filled my stomach- With a “lesson learnt” feeling, I rushed in to the packed bus, a while later I managed to grab a seat. A famous saying says “Hunger can make you do anything on earth”. I was damn hungry and I knew the travel time would be too much to tolerate the devil inside my stomach.  Unfortunately my bag was empty. I was feeling terribly hungry. God!! A fragrance of a cookie bag hit my nose (you can imagine cheese fragrance hitting jerry’s nose in Tom and Jerry) and this was too tempting. I am a kid who is really scared and was trained not to ask or take food from strangers. That fear in me made me tolerate for a while but NO, I could not. As I turned towards the cookie bag and the way I was staring it by my killer looks my tolerance level decreased and I suddenly begged can I have cookies please??? At the same time, seeing my hunger popping out of my eyes she asked, please have some cookies!! Without much ado, I grabbed a few cookies and ate like crazy. Once my stomach was filled, we cared to introduce ourselves and I got an amazing person as a friend. I still owe you much more than cookies Anusha!! “Hunger made me beg” but I earned a true caring hand which always stays with me for life. Always share, Sharing is caring.

That’s how mesmerizing my day was. I saw a silent love, I saw a caring hand, I could speak to a special friend on phone for long hours, for that matter I could write this piece only because this travel made me concentrate on many such minute things which is impossible when I ride. Coz, only thing I concentrate when I am riding is the way I am going and my co-riders who often scare me.

Thank god my bike broke down or else, I would have never seen such a delightful day.

My Sponsored Wedding!!!

“If you’re born poor, it’s not your mistake. But if you die poor, it’s your mistake" – Bill Gates.

This saying of Mr. Gates always haunted me. I know few facts about me, which are difficult to modify. “I know I am Poor, I know my parents cannot afford a grand wedding for me, I know I am raised well not to find bad shortcuts to make quick money.” “I also know that I am extremely CREATIVE.”

Before reaching conclusion, let me draw my understanding of marriage. We all know marriage in our lives is a one-time thing (* excluding few immature, valid reasons). Marriage for me is an event which is part of my life and not a life in itself. By marriage, I mean as a celebration as I invite new lives in my life and get invited by others in their lives. 

In the view of national interest I insisted myself to get married simple and invite everyone over a single lunch or dinner.  Strong oppositions came from everyone in and around the family. Fact again, is I am weak to fight them.  But, to cut down my parent’s burden, I convinced everyone with my creativeness. Though opposition was constant, I had to execute the idea for my own reasons.

Alone I was sipping my chai at the office pantry and was a little blue thinking about my current situation. I am the only earner in my family and I have thousand things to pay at the month end which haunts me from month beginning. My parents were worried as their little girl was growing older and not getting settled with a companion. They were also worried about people talking ill about me as I was unmarried.

Suddenly my eyes struck into a hording outside which said “Artistic-I Performance hall Sponsors for your Artistic performances, all enthusiasts can register.” Artistic- I is a new performance hall which is open down town and it was inviting performers for whom they provided hall for free as its promotion activity. I slipped into my creative basket and thought “Marriage = Performance, Me and others involved are the performers”. Why can’t I get my marriage sponsored??

This bug hit me so hard that I could not stop thinking about it day in and out. Finally, the day came where I was all set with the ingredients of marriage such as Groom (main ingredient) his family and mine.  My parents accepted for all the preparations that had to be done for a marriage. Here I enter the war field and say “I have an Idea and I want you folks to accept it. This should be easy for you to accept as I have already spoken to the groom’s side and they are okay with it. I throw a bomb and it’s named as “My Sponsored Wedding”.”  My parents were cool enough as my in-laws gave a green signal to my idea.

I short-listed necessities for the marriage and searched for a potential sponsor who is new in the market.

1. Marriage Hall- Mangal Mantap, is a new convention centre which is placed in a remote place of the city. The hall is very good but did not get exposed due to location constraint. I spoke to the owner and convinced him to Sponsor one wedding of mine which can lead to many and I guaranteed of advertising it. So, Place for my marriage- Check 
2.  Decoration- Fragrance, is a new decorator in the city and fortunately my very close friend. She accepted to sponsor all the decorations (such as flowers, pendals etc) as she was eager to jump into the market with easy advertising. So, Decoration for my marriage- Check
3. Event Coordination- WE, an event management company were looking for a potential wedding to kick start their business. For my good fate I bumped into these people and shot my idea to them. They were okay to sponsor my Makeup, organise a performance in sangeet ceremony and coordinate all the important marriage events. So, Event Coordination for my marriage- Check
4.  Jewellery, Clothing- All Mart, is a new store in the market which has everything necessary for marriage such as clothing, jewellery, groceries etc. I spoke to the chairperson of the store and managed for the sponsorship of the above said with the assurance of easy and effective advertisement.So, wardrobe for my marriage- Check
5. Food- People might forget all the events in a marriage but food is the one thing which is always remembered. Swad, is a caterer who is new in town and I convinced him to put his first effort in my marriage. It’s generally believed that food should be served in a wedding to all for which we are blessed. So, I accepted to share this part where in I paid the expenses of the labourers. So, food for my marriage- Check

This covers almost all important things required for a good marriage. Hello, where did I forget   Photography..?? Okay, this was not sponsored, but all my friends gifted me the photography for the wedding. I don’t know whether to treat this as a sponsorship. (Inputs are welcome.)

And this is how “My Sponsored Wedding” concludes with a grand success. My creative head came to my rescue and bought joy to me and people around.

  

It’s now time to thank all the sponsors: and a big banner outside awaits which says-

“I Thank, ‘Mangal Mantap’ for their beautiful wedding space, ‘Fragrance’ for their extraordinary decorations, ‘WE’ for their splendid and energetic event coordination, ‘All Mart’ for their marvellous and exquisite collections in clothing, Jewellery etc. ‘Swad’ for their delicious food.

Without you guys I would have never seen this day.”

PS: The story and all the ideas above are imaginary; people are welcome to use this idea if found helpful.

I Thank my cousin Navya, for sharing the same thought as mine in this idea.

I came across a blog where much greater live ideas were expressed. Have a look and enjoy. Nice thought by “blog.nikhil.co.in”

Swear to DRUNK I am not GOD

What a beautiful feeling it is. Earth is above and sky under. I now Swear to DRUNK I am not GOD… and this tells you guys how stable I am!!

I was all decked up to go to an event in a seven star hotel. Satin top, formal skirt, elegant stilettos and perfect makeup. As Carrie Bradshaw says “I fell in love with myself”.

Oh boy!! What an amazing hotel it was. Words fall short to explain its beauty. The marble flooring, Golden ceiling, well dressed staff who gave a warm welcome to the participants of the event. “As I said, words really fall short to explain its beauty.” No wonder I fell in love with the wash room too.

Event had begun with the big music and the hot hosts had arrived on the ramp with their sweet and witty talks. They had a plan for the evening and the competitions were conducted to give away the best and expensive prizes.

As the admirer in me was admiring the hotels beauty, I entered the venue a tad late. Because of which I had my table at the end. Yes, I was a back bencher again.

All my life I was a back bencher and this was not a big deal for me. I sat on my table which was surrounded by beautiful ladies. Not pushing myself to a corner I started speaking to them socially and I discovered that they were all ‘Beauty with Brains’. I hate underestimating myself so; include me in this list please.

The hunks on stage conducted competitions and the best in that particular competition got an expensive prize and that was a phone which easily costs 50,000/-.  To be precise there were three competitions organised for this evening and of course I was aiming at the big prize.

To be frank, I am not a fan of expensive phones but I am a biggest fan of expensive phones. Confused?? Hmmmm “I am a biggest fan, when it comes for free of cost.” I would plead my husband to buy gold rather than an expensive cell phone but again my life’s thumb rule “bag those which comes free of cost”. Stop judging me guys; it’s good to be selfish.

Two competitions down the back benchers were not at all concentrated. My hope of winning the bigge was deteriorating. Nevertheless, I was happy. Happy because, I could taste most lavish wines here. I was already two red wines down. Excitement was still on; I badly wanted to go on stage.

I behave better, when I am drunk that’s what my fellas say to me. I just did it after my third glass of wine, grabbing all my courage from within, I directly walked near the ramp and stood there raising my hand to pick me as a contestant. And guess what? I was on stage.

The handsome host announced my name. Here she is the last eager contestant of the evening for our last competition and for my good luck it was a Quiz. Ha!! Wonderful, happier I was coz, I suck at quiz. This was divided into three segments again where first round will be a food+tech round, second round a complete tech round and third round a complete food round.

Intelligent me, scored a big zero in first two rounds and again my hope was killed. Happiness still remains because of the three red wines inside me. Final round was a food tasting round and I was all enthusiastic to eat at least. It was a segment where we had to taste the soup and write the ingredients of the soup. All the wine inside me made me write fifteen ingredients.

The chef was shocked to know the extras which were not even put to make any kind of dish in this world. But because of the big listing, I got many ingredients right in it. I won the competition. I could not believe myself. I had to believe the thing which gave courage to me. Thanks a lot Red wine.

I was the proud owner of the most expensive phone. I hate myself sometimes for being drunk on that amazing evening. But again, I did not even guess in my wildest of dreams I would be on stage winning it.

The cameras flashed and I was crowned. Still, damn I was drunk.

Next day pushing my hangover aside I see a ravishing expensive phone beside me. I was angry and yelled at my husband. “Hey, you know I don’t like expensive electronics. Oh! Dear, why do you waste your money on these? Instead buy me gold.”

He Laughs aloud, hugs me and tells “My Drunken Monkey, Last evening you won it in the event we had been to.” This head spinning win of mine ends with a big laughter.

Now, it’s time to discover my new phone.

Statutory warning: Drinking is injurious to health; this is a fiction and please don’t try this. Let’s keep fun for fun sake. Get high in a comfortable way!! Hick hick!!

PS: Title courtesy, my new Fastrack Teevirus watch.

A gift and challenge of being creative :)

Being Human = Salman Khan, Being Creative =Me, You, Anyone!!

Yes!! Being creative is not owned by anyone. You are the owner of your creativity.

A Picture says many stories. You see a picture and imagine many many stories behind that. A happy picture of a bride might seem happy to me but, sad to the girl who is leaving behind everything for an unseen future. Likewise, this is a post where I am gifted and challenged “of being creative” and “to be creative”. I thank my lovely sister “@Ramya “http://ramya-chitrana.blogspot.in/” for this gift and challenge.

I am challenged to write a creative post/poem/incident about the picture below:

As kids, making us sleep was the hardest task elders faced. Amongst the lot my uncle was a very creative person who put a seed of imagination in our minds with his short+sweet stories and told us to put our thinking caps on. He gave us situations to imagine and asked us the moral. The picture above reminds me of a situation he told.

"Queen of Kindness”

In the land of Kindness there lived a Queen, A queen who’s Grace- which matched a dancing Peacock, Elegance- which matched a noble Horse and Humbleness- which matched a holy cow.

As the Queen, so the people. People here were as humble as their Queen was. They never knew what cruelty was. They were the most beautiful looking people. They were known for the charity they did. They were the only ones who were first thought of, in good or bad situations.

As a kid the above situation made me imagine following things:

Land of Kindness: Mother Earth.

Queen of this Land: Nature.

Subjects who looked pretty: Flowers. (Though nature includes many beautiful creatures, I could imagine flowers as a kid.)

Flowers are nature’s gift which caters us for all occasions of life. Be it marriage, birth or death we use flowers as we use water. I feel they are the ones which live with a purpose and die for a purpose.

They give us pure air, a landscape to see, serve us with their blood which we eat as honey, they are born to help us and they die by helping us.

This is a small effort to write a thought about flowers:

"You make me smile"

You make me smile, you make me smile

You have always travelled with my life’s mile.

You were the one; I saw when I opened my eyes

You are the purpose for my surprise.

You are the teacher of love and care

You always spread happiness which is rare.

You made me shy, you made me cry

You have a reason to live and die.

You are so beautiful and so pure

You are such a sacrificer and a giver.

You are called Flower

You are the nature’s power.

A flower teaches us many things which we never imagine. Let’s hop and learn things from our natures nest and make this a better place to live.

PS: Hope I have completed my challenge of being creative by writing a post, an incident and a poem. Now, it’s your turn to taste your creative food.

Delicious creative meal a day, Keeps pains and sorrows away.

Women and Death

Women are emotionally weak is what we all know. But, one important thing what we have to learn is, women have great power to live up to those strong emotions.

We see our men proposing us, I becomes we when we are married to them, we see them becoming Husband and Father, we see them in all joys and sorrows; we see them growing old with us. We always fear their sudden disappearing from our world.

This is my closest friend who went through such a rough patch and who now lives in memories of her loved one.

________________

There was silence spread all over, as we walked towards his grave. Minister read the holy book and finished all the rituals. The gathering left feeling sorry for her loss.

This was the most shocking death scene for me, as I witnessed it. I just recollected what had actually happened just few hours before. “Suzi and Mike were happily chatting on their porch. A man loaded with gun arrives in a posh car, points at Mike and the next moment Mike’s over.” All I could do is, see this pathetic scene and cry for help.

________________

I held Suzi’s hand as we walked past his grave. She was not ready to accept the death of her husband. She wept like a baby, a baby pleading for her Mothers attention. She spoke her heart out. She made me realise many things which I had to accept. I mean, which we all have to accept. Why accept? Is because, we all have someone or the other in our lives who travelled that extra miles with us and supported us  to clear-out our baggage by extending their love, whose love makes us not to accept their loss. Indeed!! We have to accept.

Wiping her tears, Suzi started her conversation about her past life with Mike and her future life without Mike. Her voice was choked. “I always told Mike not to die before me coz world is boring without him. He smiled at me and said- Do you know what Jack Lemmon has told? ‘Death ends a life, not a relationship.’ I am always with you here and everywhere Suzi.” Should I trust Mike? Is he with me now? No answer from my end. I stood speechless.

Suzi recalled about Mike’s funeral arrangements and said few words which were touching. “I did interiors to his dream home, now… I select design of his coffin. I chose his wedding suit and now… it’s his funeral and his last suit. I dedicated a song on radio for him on our anniversary and now... I pick songs to be played on this day which I dint think about, even in my wildest of dreams”.

________________

All these words of hers hit me like a sturdy storm. I asked Suzi this pain of hers means not to be close enough to anyone and is it a mistake to love someone from bottom of your heart and ultimately suffer their loss which nothing on earth can compensate?

Suzi looked deep in her Son’s eyes and told: I see my future in him. I know, he has been raised so well that he will become an inspiration as his father was. Death might be forgotten but Memories wont. I now live with his memories.

________________

Death leaves a heartache no one can heal, love leaves a memory no one can steal.  ~From a headstone in Ireland….

PS: Inspired by an episode about Death and Women’s feelings from Desperate Housewives.

Charity Begins at Heart!!

August!! Also means Noble. This month of the year brings with it a lot. By lot I mean, Prosperity, Purity and a month which carries lot of meaning and purpose.

This month bought many surprises, which made my friendship stronger, which taught me to give and which helped me pray for others.

I always want to relive this month of the year and for me, this is possible only when Charity begins. Obviously, the way to do something good begins from heart. I accept the phrase “Charity begins at home” but my parents recreated it and told me that “Charity begins at heart”.

I started doing charity when I was young by giving away my food to an old and hungry watchman beside my home. I thought charity was to feed the hungry. Each time the man thanked me, I felt good but was guilty from within as I also felt the sense of escape I had towards the home cooked food which was filled with mom’s love and care.

Thief had to be caught someday and I was caught by mom when I was doing my daily deed sincerely. She saw me giving my food to the watchman and she kept quiet by not complaining at the very moment. Everything which happens in our lives will be discussed in our family at the dinner table. That night when I was about to eat, mom said a single sentence which made me poor and proud at the same time. “To teach someone how to earn is more important than to self- sacrifice”.  

Realisation will come to all of us someday or the other. From that day till today, I have made an oath to myself to help others to help themselves.

Not deviating from the topic let me get back to what actually happened this month and why I love it the most.

5^th of August: The day I will not dare to forget in my life coz once I did, I had to see my best friend Manjula weep on her Birthday. My first blood donation was on this day. I always backed up on my mom’s saying and wanted to do something great which bought a sense of honour to my friend on her birthday and which helped others when they were in need. This might sound selfish as the charity I did was to uphold my friendship but at the same time to save a life with a good deed was my vision. When I discussed this with Manjula, she was totally convinced and it was too good to know that even she had pledged her eyes the same day. Convincing my friend could have been in different ways but I chose this. On this day and forever, I thank all those who have made their effort to save a life.

15^th of August: Independence Day!! Day filled with patriotism, day that bought Freedom to our Country and Happiness to its people. On this day we can see a festive environment in our surroundings. Cheerful Kids holding Indian flag, Parade by our great Soldiers etc. I had been to a school near Kanakpura to distribute school kits and this great deed is done by Aapatsahaaya Foundation (http://aapatsahaaya.org/). This cause is a clear example of charity with a purpose which distributes knowledge to the kids in the form of school kits and sees divinity in their smiles. On this day and forever, I thank Viswanathan and his team for considering me amongst them and also thank all those who have made their effort to distribute knowledge.

25^th of August: Besides my friend’s birthday this is another day which I won’t forget as it is my result day. This day brings out many successful Company Secretaries and also makes many others sad because of unexpected results. From the day I have joined this course I have done extra prayers on this day. The extra is for all my friends who have opted this course to see themselves and others happy. Hard work coupled with sincere prayers make many things happen which we thought would never happen and praying for others brings a satisfaction. On this day and forever, I thank all those who have made prayers for me and for others just to spread happiness.

All the time in this world is not enough to thank people who have helped us in many ways to come up in our lives. May it be our Parents who gave birth and an identity, may it be our Gurus who gave us knowledge, may it be our Country and its Soldiers who always protect us, may it be our nature, friends, culture etc. which makes us learn many important things.

The way which I always depend to thank the entire above mentioned is to work towards helping others to help themselves and I wish each month is as noble as this month is.

PS: Image Courtesy Aapatsahaaya Foundation.

Ranju….