The Wonder Woman

 

This post is dedicated to Joyce….. Yes, this was the name given to her by the American Missionary friends of her family. Today in the twilight years, she often sits alone with a cup of tea and reminisces of her bygone sixty-five years.

“She has hated this woman. She has not loved herself and has allowed others to tell her she wasn't good enough.

She allowed herself to be broken. She let others treat her disrespectfully. She fought battles for others, knowing they would never stand for her.

She bungled up many times as a friend, a daughter, a wife or mom because she has a smart mouth who doesn’t always say nor do the right things.

She goes without makeup; she doesn’t dress up half the time nor would pretend to be someone she is not.

She has learnt lessons from her failures, trials, and disappointments with sheer grit and faced the challenges boldly. This has made her brave.. proud of who she is. 

She puts up a brave front yet she is afraid. She’s broken but standing gracefully. She is a warrior woman, who may not be perfect but she’s a woman of substance… 

Some people love this brave woman, some dislike her; people, on the whole, find her difficult. But nobody can ignore her and one thing is sure if she loves you, she will do it with her whole heart, she would be committed to you.” 

The above summary of Warrior woman fits Joyce very well. She has come a long way, two failed marriages, trust betrayed, criticized …..

But wait, was she looking for trust in the wrong places?

Didn’t she believe in herself?

Why she felt guilty when she was told she wasn't good enough?

Why she was devoid of the emotion called LOVE or sex, a physical need was that mistaken as love?

Why she couldn’t free herself from her shackles? 

These questions loom large in front of You…Me...n…Us. We often come across such troubled women. Every person has a story to tell, we all have our share of heaven and hell to live.

Are they jinxed??? Why are they compromising??? Is it for the sake of kids or the fear of society?

Mind you they don’t break in one day….. It takes years of mental n physical abuse to break somebody by constantly reminding them that they are worthless. 

They suffer silently while their spirit is crushed; dreams are taken away, confidence is broken. 

Yet a spark n hope is hidden in some corner of their heart which whispers, ‘stand up, dust yourself …. Life is not unfair, it’s beautiful…. Live for yourself. Don’t believe what others have been telling you.’  

Life is not a bed of roses… true, everyone struggles for survival. But breaking away…. it’s a tough decision.

When they finally decide that enough is enough and step out of their cocoon, the whole world is new to them. They feel naked without a shell around them.

They regret how much time they wasted living in fear…while time and years just flew away….

But better late than never…. more importantly, they forgive their abusers and move ahead taking those years as learning lessons to improve their souls. 

What a hard way to learn the lessons?

They may smile or laugh but they hide the pain, insecurities…tread carefully ahead not trusting anybody, that’s the saddest part of life. They have miles to go before they discover themselves.

I wrote this post taking Joyce as an example because ours is a patriarchal society where men, be it a father, brother, husband or son, play a dominant role.

I have seen women being ruled by male counterparts. Families put in more faith in strangers to marry off their daughters rather than educating them and help them to become professionally.. financially independent.

Women are forced to hand over their earnings to their fathers, husbands or in-laws. This I am quoting from my experience, seeing educated, professionally qualified women around me in my circle.

I have always felt that women are very strong personalities, despite facing all the opposition and adverse situations they come out strong. If a woman loses her husband she prefers bringing up kids singlehandedly but when a man loses his wife he needs another woman in his life to take care of his family.

In my earlier posts, I had mentioned that I strongly feel that God has not abandoned us on this planet. We all are here with a support system; in fact, we are part of that system.

Knowingly or unknowingly we become supportive to someone….. bring smile on someone’s face, restore somebody’s confidence, help people to heal up emotionally. The list is long…

Look around you… one doesn’t have to look far. You may bring a smile or sunshine into someone’s life.

Be somebody’s sunshine!!!!

LIfe after Death of Internet and Smartphones

What would be lifelike without internet and smartphones? This very idea is frightening…

The life would come to stand still for a few minutes, with stunned bystanders not knowing what has hit them?

In this digital era, none of us can come to the terms of life without the INTERNET. This is an unheard term….. The normal reaction of an internet addict would be …. What the f….!!!  Have you gone crazy????

But let’s visualize life without internet. I would not go into the technicalities of digital era….. Yes, the impact would be disastrous to some extent but let’s see the funny side of it.

It won’t have much impact on the bygone generation, which grew up with books, landline phones, playing games, climbing trees and watching Doordarshan. Life was simple for them. They toiled and worked hard to survive in life.

In this era the knowledge, entertainment, studies…. everything is in the right click of the first button.  The books are a rarity with Kindle, Goodreads presenting digital books for bookworms. 

But with the changed scenario, the tables would turn. No more digital book, just a blank screen.

To state in the simplest words, the world would go into shock mode especially the present generation. They are growing up with these latest technologies and are totally dependent on it.

With Google disappearing from the scene, our youth of the 21^st century would be literally paralyzed without spellcheck, grammar check and other writing tools.

Today variety of information, knowledge, from every field, comes ready-made, on a platter from these search engines. Their only effort in getting the assignment ready is to cut n paste and rephrase it with writing tools.

Their life would be like “a Fish without water” it would suck……

In the absence of social media …… what would happen to the 24/7 active subscribers of Facebook, who love to post regular status updates and selfies from every possible angle n pose? Imagine their plight; they would go berserk with inferiority complex with no thumbs-up sign.

The tweets ….. Where would Twitter be if birds stop tweeting???….. No more nonsense. Their chirping presence would be welcomed out in the open space.

Well, it won't be a depressing scene for everyone……. How???

Everyone is not dumb, the world is full of street smart people. This sudden crash will prove to be a boon for some opportunists; many would eagerly try to cash it.

With internet crash, the e-commerce, online sales, communication would come to standstill, total lockdown minus COVID 19. The rat race, to be first to grab the possibilities would begin……..

No line of communication without email…… that obsolete postal services would make a comeback along with it our old habits of writing letters.….. The e-companies definitely would line up to own the rights of postal services and create their own delivery channels.

Online digital entertainment crackled and blank screen staring back at us….. No problem…. Prime, Netflix, Hotstar, would change their business strategy. 

They would start selling CDs and DVDs. Every city would be having its outlet. They are back in business with record sales in their share…

 Video parlours which were on the brink of closing down would be back with a bang!!! CD/DVD players would be sold like hotcakes.

Wait, did I miss something?????

Yes, the hackers…. Scammers… people with remarkable abilities, working successfully from the darknet. What about them?

Time for them to surface in human form from “incognito’ presence and offer their services in some productive work.

Well, these are just hypothetical situations. Technology has advanced by leaps and bounds. The Human race has survived against many odds and it would come out from this hypothetical catastrophe too. So smile…… Cheerio!!!!!

PS - While I was busy penning down these lines and was about to upload it, to my surprise my laptop almost crashed and I was staring at the blank screen. That was the moment of realisation, yes, life would be boring without the internet. This little window opened the whole new world for me. I met so many people and shared experiences, learnt so much about our interests, hobbies... I would definitely like to stay connected to this beautiful world through the internet. 

A New Beginning in Twilight Years !!!!

I always wanted to pen down my thoughts. My retirement plan was to devote time to my ‘Me time’ to do two things in my bucket list….. Road tripping across India, and online work (teaching n content writing). 

I did go for a Mobike trip to Uttrakhand for a week on Royal Enfield Himalayan with my son. It was a road trip to remember. 

                                              

I enjoyed it thoroughly. I was young once again at 64. It was an experience to remember.

Unfortunately, the Covid-19 pandemic stalled my plans to travel, so I decided to switch over to writing.

While browsing I came across ‘Work n hire, site. I created an account and landed with my first Content Writing project meant for freshers.

I grabbed the opportunity; it was an entirely new experience. The handler was very supportive and guided me through 30+ assignments.

 It was an exciting journey but the payment was pathetic. No doubt the plus point was I learnt the writing skills needed to become a content writer.

I had joined an entirely new field ….. I learnt about plagiarism, SEO/keywords, writing strategies….. The list is long.

After a few more experiences it was evident that I must train myself in this new field to be a successful content writer.

About a week back an ad flashed on my Facebook wall, ‘ContentVidhya - Learn Content Writing!” https://www.facebook.com/contentvidhya

Unlike other intimidating, boring corporate ads on custom made templates, it had a simplistic approach.

Something clicked ….. Firstly it was a very client-friendly, simple and straight forward, a professional approach with a personal touch and secondly affordable.

pic courtesy:https://www.facebook.com/contentvidhya/

It was a God-sent opportunity and without giving a second thought I enrolled for the course. I waited excitedly for the classes to begin.

I was a bit nervous in the starting but overcame my fear of unknown. Our Guide UmaMadhavi connected with us immediately. She has come up with sheer grit and hard work. 

The workshop dealt from basics to a higher level. I knew I have a lot to learn.

Assignment guidelines, introduction to different types of writing styles, use of power words n key words, choosing our niche, developing writing skills, the power of social media in promotion of content writing.

  All the possible strategies were discussed and apparently, my stumbling steps were getting firm ground. I was on my way to improve the skills a content writer should have.

Each day assignment was given. Voila!!! I successfully submitted it in time. It proved true that ‘start writing and work towards perfection, don’t wait for perfection to start your journey.’ ContentVidhya

Last but not least the 5 step portfolio guidelines, to announce our entry on the different social platforms, was the ultimate. I was unaware of this side of the strategy.

Above all, I loved the shrewd business strategy when we were asked to write about our journey of the last 6 days with Content Vidhya and post it on our blogs.

Undoubtedly it’s a smart move ….. We divert our subscriber’s attention in our trainers and get them interested. This is how the business is generated.

My journey of the last 6 days was an informative experience and remarkably exciting.

In my future efforts if mistakes are committed, no problem “we learn from our own mistakes as there is no readymade package for success." I feel to establish myself as a Content Writer, there is a lot more to learn.

Thank you Content Vidhya for giving me a chance to polish my writing skills.

You, Me.. n Us we all have to keep learning to enhance our skills and knowledge.

A new beginning always waits for us around the corner. All of us are gifted …. We just have to find a little ‘Me Time’ to devote to ourselves and find that gift!!!!!

Premonitions, the extra sensory perceptions

Premonition or Precognition is a strong feeling of knowing that something is about to happen. Generally, we observe that animals can perceive any mishappening or natural disaster well in advance and it becomes very obvious from their behaviour.

There is no scientific explanation for this but yes they do happen. If animals can sense it then it is evident that humans are also born with this extraordinary sensory awareness system. But very few of us have the power to sense it and develop it.

But if we allow our perceptions to help us they are useful in facing the premonitional experiences. A revelation that something inevitable, is bound to take place and we can only comment that forewarned is forearmed.

These psychic bonds are evident in very close relations… be it friends or relatives. These are not mere coincidences. I have tried to document these experiences and would be sharing them here………….

May 2002, it was extreme summer, dusty… hot winds….temperature rising…. I was at my school and since morning I was tense, restless… didn’t know the reason why? I wanted to go home.

By 12 o’clock I walked up to my boss to ask for permission to go home…. I informed him that I was free in the last 2 periods and I would be grateful if he allowed me to go home early. Amidst all the arguments of why and why not…. I was so upset that I told him to mark me absent for that day or deduct my one day salary but he should allow me to go home. He saw my desperation and gave me permission to go.

In that scorching heat of 45 degrees, I started my scooter and headed towards home, almost 20 km away.

Just before 2 km from home, the terrain was very bad. The road was being constructed…. … dust all around, high winds… poor visibility, but I could see some distance ahead, an accident had taken place.

One scooter was lying in the middle of the road and somebody was injured. He was trying to get up and a small child was hurt and screaming in fear. As I approached the scene, I was appalled to see it was my husband and my little four- year- old daughter.

The contractor building the road had cordoned off the area with a very thin, almost invisible nylon rope with no caution board. At that very moment, another accident took place.

I helped my husband…. picked up my daughter and immediately left for home. The thin nylon rope had grazed a wound around her neck, it was bleeding.

Reaching home I wanted to clean the wound but she was so scared that she wouldn’t let me touch it and kept screaming in pain and fear. So I just picked her up in my arms and stood under the shower to wash off all the grime and dust.

After she calmed down I sat down and sobbed but thanked God for helping me.

*************

U, Me n Us... LIfe is Beautiful, Be Positive !!!!

I have always felt that we human beings…. u, me and us are here on this planet with some kind of support system. We are not abandoned on this planet. 

Consciously we may not be aware of this fact but if we just analyze any situation we have experienced or endured, it would become evident that either we are lending support to someone; however trivial it may be or it may be the other way round. 

It can be an emotional, financial, moral support but it goes a long way to energize a person. It is not necessary that we go out of our way to show kindness or support, a smile, an encouraging word, a pat on the shoulder, a helping hand in tough times.

I always like to reminisce at the end of the day and often it brings a smile on my face remembering it or the anger at some unjust behaviour of somebody. 

But it confirms my belief that we may be treading on our own paths but we all are not aloof or lonely. We just have to look around and be sensitive to experience it.  I am sharing one such incident …….

One cloudy evening, in Kanpur city at the Mall road...

Darkness was thickening and evening advanced. My car was parked at the roadside while I waited for the street vendor to bring snacks (chat) I had ordered. 

Indian roadside eating joints are not considered a very clean or hygienic but they do serve yummy snacks called ‘chat’.

 Nearby other vendors were providing food to tired, weary daily wage workers. I sat there watching them sitting on the pavement and eating…..

Suddenly a tiny hand knocked on the passenger side window. I turned and saw a little urchin face, I lowered the window and asked him what he wanted?

“I’m hungry”…. uttering these words he moved ahead, not sure of my reaction. I honked the horn but he kept moving. I got out and walked quickly up to him and stopped him.

 I saw a ten-year-old, frail little boy…. Tired, sleepy and a little irritated. “What are you doing here at this time? You should be at home.” I inquired. 

He just looked at me and then took my hand and walked to a shop across the road and said, “I work here. The owner promised to pay my wages today but he did not open the shop. I waited for him for the whole day.” He was visibly irritated and felt betrayed.

 “Right now go home and come tomorrow.” I reacted

“How can I go home? I promised my grandmother to buy the ration. She must be waiting for me and it is now 9 o’clock.” 

On enquiring, he told me there was no one in his family except his grandma, who was too old to work.

“So what do you want from me?” I asked.

“Do you see that vendor in the corner? He serves food.”

 I gave him money but he refused……  “Wait here, I’ll go and ask him how much it will cost, then you can pay.”

What simplicity and honesty…… I was floored by it.

He went up to that vendor. The man looked suspiciously first at him and then at me……. I waved to him assuring that I would pay and moved towards my car.

“Wait, where are you going, let me finish eating otherwise you will think I have taken the money from this man and gone away.”

I was speechless and just sat in my car while he finished eating. After washing his hands he walked up to me and said, “If you doubt me then tomorrow or any other day you can come and see that I work here.”…….

 Hesitatingly he asked, “I can clean your car while you eat chat (snacks).” I firmly refused the generous offer, I don’t like kids working.

“O.K. go home now.”

“No I cannot.”

“Why?” I was taken aback and was a little suspicious. 

“How can I go home ……. You paid for my dinner; maybe somebody else would give me some money, so that I can take something for my grandmother.” 

“God, why do you test such little kids, what misery!!….” I wailed silently. Two innocent eyes, I wanted to wrap my arms around him and give him a tight bear hug.

“How much would that cost?” He looked at me silently, trying to weigh me …..” I think Rs.10/ would do”

I gave him much more than that and warned him to not to waste it. “You still think I would do that? With this amount I can buy one weeks ration.” 

He just touched my hands before running towards a grocery shop which was about to close……

I just sat there looking at him from a distance, saluting his spirit. His twinkling eyes certainly made a big difference in my life. 

He had grown beyond years in a short span of life, burdening the responsibility at such a tender age. Such people are hard to find.

Most of the time we think it as a trivial incident... but No, these are testing times when the invisible power around us is testing us... our intentions. So always be vigilant, nothing happens without a reason... 

Bring a smile in somebody's life, it costs nothing but just a helping hand... mere support to help someone to move ahead in life. Be that support!!

I am, Who I am..

(Post is dedicated to my brother Anand…… lost him in 2005)   

“Invictus” by William Ernest Henley

I thank whatever gods maybe    

for my unconquerable soul…….

In the fell clutch of circumstance

I have not winced nor cried aloud.

Under the bludgeoning of chance

my head is bloody but unbowed.

And yet the menace of the years

Finds, and shall find me, unafraid………

I am the master of my fate:

I am the captain of my soul.

Sums up beautifully, what we become after facing the harsh realities of life……Am sure many more can relate to this. Are u also one of them?

The span of the majority of struggling people’s life has been truly worded here. Life is never a bed of roses…. still, we love life. Treading ahead confidently, learning lessons and laughing at the end of the day.

Folks, it took sixty long years to practically understand the true meaning of this poem. Anybody reading it will definitely comment... “What a dumb wit of a person”

But we are so caught up with the doll drums of life that we just don’t have time to stop n look back or search for answers.

We all face situations, experiences in life which change us for good or break us….. Are you inclined to share it on this platform? I know it is very difficult to open up and come out of your cocoon. Least we can do is to try……..

Cheer Up !!! Make a Headway Towards New Horizons...

“Daring and courageous have a fan following.... they are the trendsetters. I salute them cuz they dare to dream and to achieve them, they break all the barriers, shackles and cross all the boundaries.”

Well, this truly describes U, Me.. n.. Us…… everyone who tried to live an honest life… persevered … faced life courageously.

After retiring from an active n hectic life of a teacher, when I looked back the realization dawned that it has not been a routine, boring schedule for 35 years but rich in experience….. Fond memories to smile at, all the difficult turbulent times of yesteryears are mere memories 

Mountains surrounding Bhowali......

My carefree childhood was spent in Bhowali Sanatorium, Nainital, a hill station, a famous British settlement in India, where my parents were doctors. Lovely pine forests, chestnut trees, wild animals, orchids growing in wild……What else a child could ask for?

Pine trees

Amidst all the ups n downs and twists n turns life has been interesting and eventful but rich in experiences, lessons learnt….. Surprisingly, I have no bitter feelings for anyone.

My passion for driving, mobile photography, trying to grow plants in water, being a Pencileer (addicted to colour pencils) and the most important of all to be internet savvy…… a beautiful virtual world which has opened a small window to the entire world, surfaced after retirement and life became interesting again.

Mobile Photography

With my Miss Maruti 800

                                                             

Colour pencil sketch- Calla lilies

Believe me, life doesn't stop at retirement. It's a phase of life circle completed and time for a new beginning where we have to pay attention to ourselves... dust our memories and find out what we  always wanted to pursue in life.

                  

Life is complex… complicated… not easily understood but one thing is for sure that everything is destined…. nothing happens by chance. It is all about learning lessons from your experiences to transform you into a better person.

Life is beautiful!!!

But keep learning new things in life. It keeps you mentally and physically young. This is the most important lesson I have learnt in life, it has helped me to meet like-minded people and life again is interesting after retirement.

The reminiscences of yesteryears and the lessons learnt are common in everyone's life but with slight differences. I will share my lessons of life with you all and I am sure you can correlate with them and share yours as well by commenting on the posts.