The power of the word

The power of the word 

A Word is one of the most powerful tools of humans. It can  build or destroy. To know when to use the right word is a matter of wisdom !

A word of encouragement makes a child's day : 

"Mom , look I made it" the little girl excitedly told her mom. She had been trying very hard to practice some roller skating moves for the past few weeks. Mom beamed and said : "Amazing my love, you should be proud of yourself ! "

A word of reassurance turns around a situation :

" No ...no ...no ...no " the boy was in tears. He'd been working on his end of term science project and was seeking the help of his Scientist uncle to help with the last steps. Mom just told him that his uncle's flight got cancelled and now he'd not be there in time before the submission deadline!

He calls his nephew : " don't worry, we'll figure something out and make sure your work is completed". The boy takes a sigh of relief and connects with his uncle online to continue working on his project.

This post was created for the Blogaberry Creative (Monthly) Challenge with theme word WORD.

All things soft and lovely !

All things soft and lovely, each with it's own beautiful story! Read on! 

The storm is loud,
The rain pours down,

But under the wing,
The feathers are soft,
The little bird stays warm.

A happy day at the park,
Then evening comes,

The child looks forward
To soft ,swirly ice cream
With a twinkle in its eye!

She rests her head tonight,
On the  soft fluffy pillow,
She closes her tired eyes,
Her mind drifts far away,

To those dreams among the clouds!

The pods hang very high,
The sun warms the bark,
The seeds burst open wide,
Soft sikly strands spill out,
They drift into the wind.

The playful dog sits very still,
As he watches the front door,
The big school bus stops,
He wags his happy tail,
As little soft hands cuddle and stroke.

The soldier finally comes home,
He sees his lady love,
He pulls her very close,
His hands strokes her soft , lovely hair.
Their long wait is now over.

This post was created for the Blogaberry Creative (Monthly) Challenge with theme word SOFT.

The rainbow baby

She looked down at the device 

There were two pink lines

Her heart fluttered

As she started imagining

The little baby she'd hold in her hands soon! 

A visit to the doctor 

A cheerful one

There were thoughts exchanged

But the doctor was uncertain 

If this would bear fruit 

She said a silent prayer 

Kept her hopes up

But things took a tragic turn...

Alas ! It was short-lived 

There wasn't a heartbeat , the baby no more!

Her heart felt wrenched

Her insides ached

Her body shriveled 

Her mind wandered 

A lingering mistrust!

Time flew by, 

The past still haunted her 

About the  baby she never held...

Once again, she found herself

With the two pink lines 

Her heart gave a leap

Her mind hopeful of the future 

Days moved on, as did months

Until, at last ....

Her rainbow baby arrived!

This post was created for the Blogaberry Creative (Monthly) Challenge with theme word BABY.

EXAM JITTERS !

Exam.... You know that feeling when a single word makes your stomach do a somersault!

 The school and teachers had drilled the concept of 'board' exam into our heads so much that it felt like a one had to walk through a pyre of fire and either come out untouched at the other end or burn your fingers and toes and do the walk of humiliation.

It was madness at all levels - The "Board Exam" talk was everywhere. Every auntie and uncle had the same script: "Hope the pressure isn't too much!" (Spoiler: it was).

After all the time of prepping (read: huffing and puffing, ha ha ha), the exam time was upon us. I managed the first few exams easily, being my strong subjects and more so because the questions were straightforward. Now, the next exam was: MATH!!! On the eve of the exam, I was over in my head, memorizing theorems, solving problems, revising the syllabus - everything possible to get through the dreaded exam!

I was drowning in theorems when my brother dropped a bomb: it was the India-Pakistan match that day (Sharjah cup, if my memory serves me right). I was losing my wits , that match was 'the day' to be when my dad, brother and myself would sit in front of the TV, watch ball by ball, give our expert opinions (what's a cricket match without the assessment and comments of the viewers !!) and of course share the excitement of India's win ( the key words used to be : 'India has never lost to Pakistan in a final').

Now, I am confined to my study room, hearing muffled voices about the toss and the pitch report from through the wall. It was pure torture. My insides at this point were now chomping at the bit! My brain torn between the match and the exam!! This is no choice one should need to take!!! ARRRGGHHHHH !!!

I heard my dad call me - I walk to the living room, heavy heartedly and expecting a lecture on exam prep. He asks me if I have revised for the exam the next day. I mumbled something. And then, what I heard next was sweet music to my ears!!!

" Come and sit, see the match with us - it is after all and India-Pakistan final, and you can go back to the revision once the match is done". I hit seventh heaven!!

We watched. We screamed. India won!!!!!

 And the next morning? I walked into that Math exam with the energy of a champion and crushed it.

 

 

This post was created for the Blogaberry Creative (Monthly) Challenge with theme word Exam.

A CHERISED VIP WALK DATE

We often tend to think of a date in our lives as a passing affair, but ever wondered if what if that one date was taken out of the sequence of your life (hmmm...deep thoughts..... Here's mine):

Date 1 : 5th April 1990(about 5 years old):

The grand events of this day have been told to me in several witty-familial versions, but the central idea has been the same - how I was a tiny chaos agent!

Since I was the first(read: 'special'..yup !!) grandchild, Grandpa used to take me out as his evening walk VIP companion(I would flaunt this to my siblings and cousins that I was the favorite one !!). Close to where we used to walk, there were coral wood trees, which showered its red seeds like a carpet all around the walking area. This, to a five year old, is the equivalent of viral plush toy collectibles of the current Gen A - but FREE and lying in the dirt !. My eyes always focused on those and I always made it a point to bring home as many as my tiny fists could !

 That day, I decided to put one of them in my nostril to see what happens - now, at five, you have the curiosity of a NASA scientist but the risk assessment of a lemming !! I shoved it in my nose and it went up there. Chaos ensued : I panicked, in turn, my grandpa did too and I was rushed on emergency basis to the ENT specialist. Without much fuss, the seed was removed and I was given clear, stern instructions on how dangerous things might have been. 

Date 2: 18 April 1990 

All said and done, I went back to the VIP walks. 

My 'genius' brain whispered: 'Hey, remember that thing that almost killed us? Let's do a sequel' !

I shove the seed up my nose(again),panic(again), run to my grandpa(again)-but, this time around he's calm - turns me around like a clogged ketchup bottle and Thwack ON MY BACK!! The seed whooshes out ! My grandpa turns into a professional seed launcher !

Years later, as Grandpa neared the end of his life, he didn't want to talk about life lessons, his pick was the date of my nasal adventure(s). Now, I tell this story to my own kids. If this date hadn't happened, they’d think I was a responsible adult instead of a child who tried to turn her nose into a seed-dispenser. It remains the reigning champion of "Mom Was a Menace" stories -starting a laughing riot at every family gathering. It turns out, of all the things he did in his life, his favorite achievement was successfully launching a seed out of his granddaughter’s nose !

 

This post was created for the Blogaberry Creative (Monthly) Challenge with theme word DATE. Visit at https://www.blogaberry.com/miscellaneous/the-blogaberry-creative-monthly-challenge/

The child of diversity!

We live in the land of unity in diversity', but are we really united in this diversity? Are we willing to  closely accept a diverse person on the lines of the divisions of the society? Give it a deep thought !

Even when the country is several decades past the freedom struggle, we still remain divided( perhaps,together in mind, when the Indian cricket team is playing against Pakistan !!! Period!!) Anyway jokes apart, this is the story of ' Two States', our story !

So,like a typical love story, my husband,Ravi and I met i n college. What started out as good friendship, turned deeper and we were convinced that we were meant to be together. Now the difficult part- we introduced about each other at our respective homes and families.

I belong to a Christian Orthodox family from Trivandrum, Kerala with no history of as anyone marrying outside the religion. My parents also were together in college, but both from Christian background,so there weren't major hiccups for them to be married. So my relationship was a piece of disastrous news to them,quite naturally!

Ravi, my husband on the other hand, hails from an all Kayastha family from Bokaro, Jharkhand. However, they were on a fairly modern mind,as they had come across similar relationships in distant family ties. So, not stiff- not soft reaction from their end.

So summing up, the news erupted like a volcano and led to rebukes and sessions of "what will people say, there is a religion barrier, we don't know their culture, how will we conduct the marriage, what customs your kids will follow" and many more!

Now time played a vital role in our favour, as, when our parents saw us going stronger through four years of graduation and while in job( though,we were in different states initially), they might have realized, that there is a good shot here, that these two maybe meant to be together after all.

Fast forward to the wedding ,with basic Indian traditions,reception and a registry, and in few months, we were ready to give them the 'happy news' !! We were pregnant! The amount of happiness and joy and blessings from both ends was overwhelming ! It is true, that the grandchild makes the grandparents as happy as they can be!!! Our families truly accepted each other's diversities!

In November 2012,we were blessed with a beautiful baby boy and we named him - Abeer! He is the perfect blend of two religions, languages, customs and traditions!

We, as parents, have taken him the responsibility of teaching him the best of what we've inherited from our parents and we feel blessed and proud ! Our very own - 'unity in diversity'!!

Super-parent : Seeing mom,being mom

Sacrifice- a word we often hear in the context of a mother, she sacrifices her time, energy, career, health- in short, her life-  for her family and children. Give it a deeper thought and SACRIFICE has lot more sense and depth to it.

We've all seen our lovely mothers toil through the day at home or work or both to make our lives easier. Right from keeping track of where we place our belongings, to being a reminder of assignments and exams, cooking our favourites and what not! She's an all-in-one package, who's most often taken for granted, not knowingly perhaps, but that's the ease of life she's provided us with.

My mother, Amma for me and my brother, senior officer in state government service is a super woman in herself, just that she was missing the flying cape of a super hero! She took care of everything through our school days, and now the circle of life has put me in the Mom shoes, I am ever more aware of the little words of advice or rebuke she gave us in those days.

Every small thing from waking us up in the morning (though we'd go back to sleep several times, till she resorted to switching off the fan!! Ha-ha, sorry for troubling you amma!), to preparing our breakfast and lunches ( our favourites taken care almost every other day), finding our socks and ties under the pile of clothes or in the cupboard in the nick of time and still making sure we'd not miss the school bus. I am sure she'd have heaved a sigh of relief when we were packed off to school on time, or some days, when Pappa had to rush us to the next bus stop literally racing like on Super bikes! ( thank you Pappa 😊).

Following these heart-racing activities, she'd rush to complete the other chores of the house, prepare hers and papa's lunches and get ready for the office time.  As we grew up and we're lesser dependent on her, she'd still be with us through each event of life- college, job, marriage and children.

Today when I am mother to a lovely boy and do my bit for him and my family, I look back and realize the immense roles our parents have done for us and are still doing. And the best, we can do is to keep them happy with our love and presence. Though I live in another state, I don't miss any chance to fly home with my son and husband to meet them and let them enjoy with their grandson.

One particular incident, is when she had to undergo hysterectomy, gave me the sense of my presence with her. Like a child needs her mom to help her to take care, I did my best to take care of her. Stayed with her through surgery and post that, helping out with the house and her requirements ( my father too was the stronghold through this time and did a lot).

Each day now makes me more aware of the shining example my parents have given me to run my family and take care of them.

I salute you for the SACRIFICE !

Love you Amma and Papa !!