Bappa Moraya

Ganesh Idol - 2017

Its that time of the year again! Whatever the circumstances, I cannot stop but feel the excitement about it. I agree things are going to be a bit different this year, but that is no reason to dampen our spirits and vigor. Each year we plead for Him to return again quickly and each year we set about doing the preparations for His welcome with equal gusto.

There are a lot of memories connected to these 11 days. Be it visiting our neighbors for the nightly aartis as part of the melee of kids excited about what will the prasad be on offer in each house or going around town watching in awe the huge idols and scenes erected by the Ganesh mandals. There were so many emotions invested, that on the 11th day when the idol was immersed we felt that somebody from the family was leaving us. The absence of the aarti and prasad on the next day left an inexplicable void for a few days.

This year there have been restrictions on community celebrations and rightly so. I do feel disappointed about it but it is what it is. I think we should take this time to pause and look within and realign ourselves to what these 11 days really signify. When Tilak started the practice of community celebrations of this festival it was with the intention of unifying us, to find common cause. Over the years we somehow deviated from that. Commercialism became rampant and somewhere the true essence of these celebrations was lost. Maybe this year affords us time to rethink and reapply ourselves to the ideal of community and togetherness if not physically then in our thoughts and actions.

My only wish is that this year on the 11th day as we immerse Him with our pleadings ,inviting him again next year, that He alleviates everything that ails us, makes us whole again and most importantly makes us realize that what humanity faces today and forces us to distance from each other is actually something which is bringing us together in more way than one.

                                                             Bappa Moraya!!!

Aatmay's 1st

This post took me the better part of 2 weeks to come with.

Its common knowledge amongst the folks who are in touch with us and who invariably end up liking my activity on ‘social media’ that Aatmay celebrated his 1st birthday on the 21st July.  However here I attempt to pen down what went into making the day memorable for us. I do say ‘us'. The first birthdays are more a celebration of the first year of parenthood than anything else. Heck, the kid wouldn’t even remember what his first few birthdays were like. So in effect the first birthday to put it bluntly was more like making sure that we as parents did everything to ‘pat’ ourselves on the back. Ohh, and I think we sure did a good job.

The monthly birthdays are an integral part of the first year birthday celebrations. A picture is captured on the day of the month the baby is born each month of the first year. The Mrs, month in and month out meticulously planned for this picture, adhering to a theme each month. A few examples below:

3rd month : October – the picture had a reference to pumpkins

4th month : November – the picture had a reference to turkey

5th month : December – any guesses? Christmas, Santa, gifts

6th month : January – Kites. Sankranti

7th month : February – Valentine’s day

8th month : March – Gudi Padwa

9th month : April – ‘Stay at home’ – no points for guessing

11th month : June – International Yoga day

More efforts were needed to pull off the poses appropriate for the themes. In my opinion the pose for the 11th month (International Yoga day) was the most challenging to capture.

Much closer to the big day, the prep started in right earnest. The theme for the birthday celebration was to be 'Nautical'. A sailor's dress was shortlisted and ordered from Amazon along with some accompanying decoration inline with the theme. The Mrs took it onto herself to bake the birthday cake trying her hand for the first time with fondant and what not. Before you say I seem to have done nothing, let me clarify that I did take 2 days off work to be of use.

As a curtain raiser of sorts, we had a cake-smash. A small cake with lots of cream was made and placed in front of Aatmay who was dressed in his diapers only. The idea was to record Aatmay simply attack the cake and make a mess. He relished the cake and enjoyed it to the fullest.

On the day of the birthday, a couple of Zoom calls were lined up for folks back in India to wish Aatmay and also become a part of the celebrations. The Zoom calls made us realize that going virtual actually enabled more people to share in our joy. The evening was spent with a few friends who attended in person and was capped off with the Hara Bhara kabab and Pav Bhaji which the Mrs whipped up.

In summary, I would say that the day itself was exhausting but it was totally worth it. Another blog is needed to talk about my personal experiences of parenthood/fatherhood in this past year. I leave you with some glimpses of the birthday. Hope you like them.

A short compilation video of the monthly pics. We played this at the start of the Zoom calls to set the mood.

Aatmay's cake smash!

The Happy Birthday song!

The birthday cake!

The Zoom call birthday cake (this was cut in the morning)

The monthly bday pics were put up in a map documenting his journey to 1

Aai Baba and Aatmay!

Party People!

The journey to 108

The little one celebrated his 1st birthday last week. He isn’t much of a little one now, so have to rack my brains to come up with a new pseudonym. Until then there is something else to share and talk about.

A couple of weeks before the International Yoga Day (21st June 2020), I decided to try my hand at Suryanamaskar (SNM). The last I ever performed a SNM was way back in school. If I remember correctly it was in the summer camp when I was 10-12 years old. So after a gap of little more than 20 years I decided to give it a go again. By the time Yoga Day came around, I had the technique down and was comfortable doing 12-14 rounds of SNM and that is when it struck me. I could build my SNM practice to perform 108 SNMs by 21st July 2020 which would also coincide with the 1st birthday of my kid (the aforementioned ‘little one’).

I was surprised with the way my mind worked to not only decide this but the determination I felt when I set out doing this was something which I have seldom experienced in my life. Fatherly instinct anybody? Though the Mrs had her reservations as to how me doing 108 rounds of SNMs had to do with me being a father. However I digress from the topic.

Some research on the internet yielded a schedule which if followed would help me reach the goal in 4 weeks and so began my journey to 108. It was exhilarating to say the least. The first week where the schedule demanded that I increase the rounds daily was grueling considering my body was not used to the level of physical activity demanded. Soreness was a constant companion for the better part of 2 weeks. From the third week onward my body, now used to the daily rigor, was up for the task. Towards the end of that week, for the first time, I enjoyed the practice from start to finish. The 4th week was all about mind over body, where I just had to be present on the mat long enough to ultimately get through the 108 rounds. I achieved the feat on the morning of 18th July, 3 days before the deadline. There after I repeated the 108 rounds daily till the 21st July.

Every day through those 4 weeks I felt myself progressing both in the mind and the body. As I had read in the articles during my research about planning to do 108 SNMs, I could understand what was meant by peeling of layers from oneself as the practitioner progresses and reaches the said goal. However hard I try to express the precise feeling, I fail and only wish that you too undertake this journey and experience it firsthand.

Thanks are in order to Aditya Gund – a good friend who is a source of inspiration and dare I say peer pressure rolled in one; Priyanka Gadekar – whom I have not met in person yet, but is only an Insta chat away for anything yoga. Last but not the least; the Mrs – for the patience she showed when I complained non- stop about my sore body and how I would be able to do only so much with regards to helping out with the little one.

When in doubt, ask.

Just the other day, a friend forwarded me an audio clip of a conversation between a lady and a doctor. The lady had called up the doctor to enquire if one can contract the coronavirus over the phone by talking to a CoVid positive patient. Predictably the doctor could not control his laughter and asked her about the source of this information. The lady candidly confessed that it was her mother who said that, and she, having her doubts thought it best to fact-check with the doctor. The doctor told the lady that the virus does not spread over the phone and if that would have been the case, then he should have been dead by now owing to the fact that he talks to CoVid patients day in day out.

This clip did leave me in splits but when I gave it more thought, I ended up doffing my hat to the lady. The fact that she decided to call the doctor (a competent person) with this question (however stupid it may seem to us), instead of taking it at face value and maybe spreading (mis)information forward deserves a lot of credit.

In today’s age where information is being made palatable to suit our tastes, the line between fact and fiction has become blurry making it imperative for us to question. Often times we are bogged down  with thoughts like “Is my question intelligent enough?”, “Will I seem stupid posing the question?” etc. Our best interests lie in getting rid of these thoughts and forging ahead with getting the answer to our question. The worst that could happen is that you might not get an answer but you will still be free to ask again to someone else.

As a kid I was always encouraged to question and also to first try and find the answers myself. The rationale which later became clear to me, was that the added effort put in finding the answer made sure that I treasured it. 

Now when I listen back to the audio clip, I am sure that the lady would spread the right information and at the same time encourage anybody and everybody to question. Just imagine the positive change asking a question would bring about then.

The Bubble

With the world looking to get to its feet, we in the coming days and months will experience still novel ways and means of restrictions. The word restriction sounds too constrictive. Re-inventing it with terms like ‘lockdown’, ‘stay at home’, ‘quarantine’ would make the whole concept more palatable. But wait, aren't these terms out of fashion now? I agree, they are. Then may I interest you with the newest term which would very soon do the rounds?. I give you the term 'Bubble'.

The global supply chain was among the first casualties of the coronavirus. This necessitated nations to look inward with the intention of creating and increasing capacity of life essential products to begin with. Be it ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ or ‘Make in America’, it essentially embodies the same thought. However in the short term everyone is trying to achieve normalcy in whatever respect possible. Once the process of reopening states and provinces within the country is on track, countries would like to restart air travel giving the airline, hospitality and the economy in general a much needed boost. Such travel will have to start within a ‘Travel Bubble’.

In a ‘travel bubble’ a set of countries agree to open their borders to each other, but keep borders to all other countries closed. So people can move freely within the bubble, but cannot enter from the outside. Travel bubbles are actually extensions of ‘social bubbles’. A social bubble is essentially an expanded quarantine zone which includes people you would consider safe. The social bubble is said to be an effective way to alleviate the social isolation brought on by a ‘home quarantine’. The social bubble we have created has 3 people other than us. These folks stay in our community and we are in regular touch sharing information about where we travel or intend to travel. All this is contributes to building trust which is essential when in a bubble. Maybe you can look around and try to form your own social bubbles.

Similar to a social bubble, the travel bubble requires a level of trust and commitment among partner countries involved. Trust in their ability to control, contact trace and possibly reverse the spread of the coronavirus. This trust though ideally concerned with public health in reality will be driven by economic dependency and may also involve political arm twisting in the coming months.

The little one celebrating his first birthday next month. While we had plans to celebrate it with a group of friends and acquaintances it is only rational for us now to limit participation within our social bubble. We can only pray that our friends would understand and still shower the bugger with blessings and best wishes!

As we move from home quarantines to bubbles and get used to changes in our day to day lives, the one thing which should remain constant are the unceasing endeavors to 'break ones own bubble' and reinvent oneself in these 'interesting' times. 

*Information on travel bubble : https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/five-things-know-about-travel-bubbles-180974983/

Dear Baba

Dear Baba,

Wish you a Happy Father’s Day! You can wish me the same. I celebrate my first Father’s Day this year. Ofcourse you know all this, but then a worthy salutation is needed to start off a letter, so there it is. It will be 7 years since we last spoke, though I like to think of them as close to 7 days (I distinctly remember the priest saying that 1 year for us mortals is just a day for where you are). Guess its the ‘Coping mechanism’ which makes me think of it this way.

I won’t bore you with all that happened in the 7 days since we last spoke. But rather tell you about the past 2 days. You are now a grand-dad, again, yes after 20 years! Aatmay (no, we didn’t come up with a nickname yet. You see chota-dadu,mini-dadu and micro-dadu were already taken so now its gonna be just Aatmay we think), your grandson, doesn’t know about you yet, but he will in the coming days. In the next month he will be all of 1.

I must confess that becoming a father has awakened a sense of responsibility in me. I somehow have a sense of been grounded, which has led me to a kind of satisfaction which is hard for me to put in words. As a father yourself, you can better appreciate this. I now realize that we never had a chance to sit, just the two of us, and talk about everything and nothing. I feel that when the time came for you to sit back, relax and have my ear, it was too late.

There are close to 25 years of memories which I have of you, which will last me for the remainder of my lifetime. The funny thing about memories is that they are not free flowing. They invariably need an anchor to survive.  Objects, incidents, references, even to words said and meant in a particular context act as those anchors. Once anchored, memories have this habit of coming back to you when you least expect them, surprising you. The sad part about memories is that they are way too personal in nature. You can try to share them to someone, but you can never completely convey what they really mean to you. They are both a treasure and a burden in that sense.

Even otherwise, I am sure there would not have been any parenting tips forthcoming from you. The only thing I intend to do in that regard is to ‘be the best that I can’.  I can only hope that I am afforded the time to sit back, relax and look back at a life well-lived.

Cheers!

Dadu

To Take - Out or Not to Take - Out

The ongoing CoVid-19 situation seems like a never ending test to me. The first few weeks of the 'stay at home' order was a test of getting used to well, 'staying at home'. The indefinite 'Work from Home', blurred the lines between a work day and home life. Grocery shopping ceased to be an activity of leisure and instead turned into something which required razor sharp intent and military like attention to detail. Heading out (except for essentials) turned into a strict no-no.

Over the past 3 months, I have adapted to the 'new' normal rather well. However one thing which I am still unable to get over with is 'restaurant food'. The restaurant industry has been hit hard in the ongoing crisis and while the dine in services are closed (for good reason), the restaurants are still offering take outs. And this is where the conflict begins.

CDC guidelines clearly spell out that there is no known evidence of the virus spreading via food. Add to that the incessant marketing emails from DoorDash, Grubhub etc advertising 'contact-less' free delivery from select restaurants and top it up with the Mrs who understands the science but still wants to err on the side of extreme caution. What you get is a perfect storm!

The last few weeks have started with me declaring that I will be ordering take out this week and then it petering out as the week comes to an end. To nip the argument in its bud the Mrs dishes out some awesome stuff either for lunch or dinner with the dishes landing figuratively in my lap for washing. The technique of providing evidence of friends who have started getting take-out and yet seem to be relatively healthy has been met with such disdain that most of the times the case is dismissed even before my opening arguments are complete.

Jokes apart, I do understand where the Mrs is coming from. But 'Yeh Dil Hai ki Maanta Nahi!'. So until its safer out there or the Mrs has a change of heart, the question will remain - 'To Take-Out or Not to Take-Out?!'

Walk in the Park

The Memorial day weekend afforded me some courage to venture out and about in the prevailing coronavirus situation. It was to do with the weather and the fact that the numbers in the state of Illinois were going in the right direction.

These days company is not a question when it comes to doing things. The Mrs is seldom amenable however the little one just doesn’t have a choice. So each evening I bundle him up in the stroller and the two of us set out to the park which is a block away from us.

I must admit that in the initial days it did feel weird. You see that for past 2 months the only time I had been out was to pickup grocery and that too at intervals of 2 weeks. The very first thing which caught my eye (and rightly so) was the signboard proclaiming - “Please ensure 6 ‘ social distance. Enjoy your walk“. Subconsciously I drew a circle around me with a radius of 6 ‘ and started devising ways of how I would make it through this without anyone violating ‘my space’.

As I started my stroll I observed that the other folks walking around also had their own ‘circles’ in place and lo and behold each one of us was part of this ‘Avoid the circle’ game. Vision - of what lies ahead with respect to the people or ‘circles’ coming your way and Trust - that the people will not make abrupt changes in their paths seemed to be attributes to get out unscathed. Guided by these I , together with a handful of other folks who found themselves in the park at that time continued to navigate the path.

The one thing that struck me in all this was in the melee of ‘social distancing’, we were too busy to acknowledge each other. Whatever little comfort the quick meeting of the eyes or the quick nod of the head would afford was most definitely lost. However, as the days have passed, I seemed to have fallen into a routine and believe it or not have been mostly seeing the same people in the park at the time when I roll in. I can sense that our confidence in each other has grown and though trying to keep our ‘circles’ apart some of us have also started to acknowledge each other. 

I am aware that its going to take a lot more than a ‘Walk in the Park’ to get things to normal but hey its a start, won’t you agree?

Chores

I am lazy. Every now and then I like to procrastinate. As long as I was by myself, I did not have anybody question me but since the Mrs has come into the picture ( >  6 yrs), I have had to get my act together. It has been a journey involving subtle nudges to warnings to outright rebellions which has made me yield significant ground.

Chores by definition are typically household in nature and have to be done each and every day. Its the routine-ness of the charade that gets to me really. It would take half the effort to complete the chore than avoid it. But then I am not one to shy away from a little tete-a-tete with the Mrs every now and then.

As long as I was WFO (working from office) there were some chores which being time sensitive never came my way. However with the current situation necessitating us to 'stay-at-home', there are no chores off limit. Infact in the initial part of the 'lockdown', I was enthusiastic to take up some, not only for a  change of scenery but also with a view of earning some much needed 'brownie points' from the Mrs. I think I can do another blog on the 'brownie points' sometime in the future.

The one thing which you never realize about chores is that they tend to grow on you. They are like that creeper which before you know it engulfs you and boom, what started with "Let me help you out with this!" quickly becomes, "Hey, don't forget that you have to get that done..". Within the first week, my WFH (working from home) had transformed into WAH (working at home).

Social media wasn't far behind. Memes started flying thick and fast. I consider memes to be a salve especially if they tell your tale. They afford you a chance to laugh at yourself. They make your 'ordeal' socially acceptable, almost.

Research shows that it takes 21 days (3 weeks) to form a habit. The stay at home order has already been more than 21 days old. I wonder if some of my chores have become habits which I no longer question. Some food for thought, dare I say.

The Office Space

It didn't take long for a few weeks to turn to a 'few too many' and now even those seem 'too few'. Terms like 'Social Distancing', 'Flatten the Curve' became a mantra almost overnight and people wherever possible were asked to 'work from home (WFH)'.

In the not so distant past WFH meant that you had only to appear 'available'. Nobody really expected you to move mountains on that day. The heavy lifting could always be left for tomorrow when you were to go to office. Considering this, setting up an office space at home was never a priority.

3 weeks sitting awkwardly on the sofa, with the laptop placed on a low rise coffee table I realized that this was not going to work. 'Necessity is the mother of invention' and I went about transforming a corner of my abode into an office space. 

I considered 'Work from Home' to be an oxymoron, but I must admit that I have been enjoying it these past few weeks. I do miss the office banter, quick lunches even my second monitor but on the other hand I have been able to 'dress as I like' and most importantly better manage work so that I end up spending more time with the family. 

Even if it seems that I have more than adjusted to this new norm, I hope it does not continue longer. The implications, if it does, would be far worse.

I leave you with a pic of my office space. Its a work in progress. I am still dilly dallying about getting myself a monitor and a spare keyboard mouse. Its not much but its 'The Office Space'.

Mother's Day 2020

This Mother's day held a bit more significance for the family. The Mrs celebrated her first Mother's day. The little one did his bit by letting us take his hand and footprints, which ultimately led to this :

My contribution in the above work of art apart from holding the little one's feet, so that his footprints don't smudge the canvas,  was to suggest the text you see on the artwork.

It has been an incredible journey so far. Without doubt the Mrs wasn't flying solo through all of this. It would be gross injustice if I say that we shared the burden equally. There is no shame in admitting that my contribution in the journey so far as been about the same as that in the artwork you see above. 

As I post this blog, I really do believe that mothers are special. As a father to our little one, I have seen his Mother do things which my wife would not have been capable of. It's as if the day our child was born, he was not the only one who came into this world.

Don't worry, I am not beating myself up for letting Mommy take all the credit. You see I do have until June 21st to show what Fathers are really made off!

Savings Galore

Our most recent visit to Kohl's, probably a few weeks before the Illinois 'stay-at-home' order went into effect had a lot of firsts. A few which come to mind in the increasing order of importance are as follows :

• It was the first visit to a retail outlet by the Mrs in over a year*.
• For a want of a stroller, the little one still in the car seat was accommodated in the shopping cart**.
• Our shopping receipt showed us 'SAVING' more than twice the money we spent***.

'SAVINGS' are the cornerstone of the American (Non)Immigrant Dream. With the road to permanent residency a long winded one, it's the SAVINGS which make the journey worthwhile. Ever heard of making hay while the sun shines. These SAVINGS more often than not tend to be life changing considering the dollar-rupee conversion rate making a strong case for immigration to begin with. However, the SAVINGS which tend to be tricky are the ones encountered in the retail space.

The 'SAVINGS' in the retail space are a mind boggling riddle. They are a twisted tale of either straight off the bat reduction in prices, loyalty points or the store-specific cash which is earned on pre-defined spending intervals like $10 store cash for every $50 spent in store purchase, all leading to a singular goal of making the customer comfortable parting with his money. It's this savings which obscure the line between 'Needs' and 'Wants', in my personal opinion.

Having mouthed off such profound knowledge about the nature of SAVINGS, you would imagine me to be one of those retail gurus complete with a halo over my head. Well, fret not fellow mortals for I too share the same compulsions. Did I mention that we have some Kohl's cash to spend once the 'stay at home' order is lifted. Wonder what SAVINGS that shopping trip will drag in.

* - With the Mrs pregnant for the better part of 2019, she prioritized walks in the park compared to aisle shopping.

** - Yes, we took the mandatory photograph and no we didn't share it on social media.

*** - I would have thrown the receipt the moment we stepped out the store, had it not been the for the check-out clerk who announced this fact as if I had just won the Powerball.

Sweet Nothings

“Here, you can hold him.”, the Ob-Gyn said enthusiastically in the labor room. The Mrs’ had only a minute ago held the new born briefly and now looked daggers drawn at me, clearly indicating that I better be careful. I politely said, "Not now. Maybe after some time?" The Ob-Gyn smiled. She had not missed the fact that my hands were still trembling watching this spectacle of life play out right in front of me merely a few minutes back.

Its been more than 9 months since that day my hands are not longer trembling. I am more adept at handling the little bug now. There are still quite a few things to learn, none more urgent than  the art of the 'Sweet Nothings'.

'Sweet Nothings' in this situation means the non sense you utter to the baby which should invoke either a cute smile or a guffaw from the little one. Only when you succeed at it are you certified to be 'baby-approved'.

This 'talk to the baby' thing doesn't seem to be working for me. It gets embarrassing on video calls with the family back in India, when the dude locks eyes with you and then you go blank as if you are addressing a stadium full of people. The Mrs makes it worse. When faced with the same situation she makes light work of it leaving me to fend for myself.

The success of the 'Sweet Nothings' are rated invariably with the reactions they invoke. While an immediate smile or laugh is met with instant gratification over the Whatsapp or Facetime video call, a turn of the head and worst still the pursing together of the lips leads to calls of banishment atleast for the remainder of that video call. Its a cruel world out there.

I am now convinced that its a conspiracy hatched by the Mrs in which the little one is equally involved. Because the other day when I uttered something sweet, he did manage a half-smile before getting a hold of himself, turning to the camera and letting out a big bawl.

So much for not holding him at that precise moment, I reminisce.

The Cheapest Vacation

Let me be frank, I consider lounging in my cosy living room sofa undisturbed to be vacation enough. I like to travel, but vacations are not only about traveling, are they? There are so many things which go into making a vacation. The planning, the bookings and then the actual vacation itself. Needless to say that all this costs money. It just doesn't make sense to me.

However that summer was different. I somehow couldn't get the thought of taking a vacation out of my mind. When I think back, it must have been the sudden lull at work pushing me to let my hair down. The team had only last week delivered a high value project after months of work and everybody on the team felt that some time off was well deserved.

I chose the upcoming weekend for my vacation. There were still 2 days, so time enough for me to get my act together. First up, the destination - I spent some time researching online - looking up places which were scenic, and also not too far off. I was not too bothered about pre-booking accommodations and thought I will just check in wherever. Having short-listed a few destinations, I reached out to a few friends who had taken similar vacations not to long ago to some of my short-listed destinations. "This will surely be the cheapest vacation you will ever take.", said one of my friends and I couldn't stop smiling. Patting myself on the back for a job well begun, I called it a day. 

The next day was spent in getting supplies for the journey and packing essentials for the trip. It was going to be a 4 hour drive followed by a night's stay. Not much to bother about you'd say and I'd agree. I was so looking forward to this vacation, that I had to will myself to sleep the night before just to be sure that I wake up fresh and ready.

Finally the day arrived. Within no time, I was all but ready to start off. With a final flourish, I brewed myself a strong coffee for the road, made myself comfortable and ...

... turned to Page 1.

Here's to books, the cheapest vacation you can buy! - Charlaine Harris

A little piece of the sky

"...and this extravagant living room opens seamlessly into a spacious balcony. The plot right next to our site is going to remain vacant in the foreseeable future. So the view you see here is going to be guaranteed. Your own little piece of the sky!" The site rep had just launched into his well rehearsed pitch mere seconds after we entered the sample apartment on the 10th floor. The Mrs looked suitably impressed - (she was getting good at faking it. After all it was the fourth such site we had visited that day).

The remainder of the tour was unremarkable and we exited promising the rep that we would call back with a decision in a day or two. 

"So how did you like the floor plan?", the Mrs inquired post haste. "Did you realize, he was selling us our own little piece of the sky?" I remarked. I am not sure if the Mrs heard this because she was already on the phone informing the next site rep that we were on our way there. She had decided, when we set out of our rented house that day, that by sun down we would have zeroed in on our dream home.

To be honest I never looked upon a balcony with such meaning.The apartment I was born and grew up in, did have a balcony, however I don't seem to have many memories of it. In an effort to maximize space and increase utility of the said space, the balcony was 'closed'. A wall was erected to close the opening of the balcony and a neat row of windows were fitted in to provide ventilation and light as needed. The closed balcony transformed itself into a room which served the dual purposes of being a prayer room for my mother and a study room for me. Later when I moved into rented spaces where the balcony was like the balcony should be, I viewed  it more as an inconvenience - a gateway to mosquitoes and other insects in the night or direct sunlight in the morning - both going a long way in disturbing my sleep. Isn't it amazing how...

"Now will you tell me what you are thinking about?", the Mrs interrupted my train of thought. I turned to her and said, "How about we make a U turn and buy ourselves our own little piece of the sky?"

Perspective

per·spec·tive

/pərˈspektiv/

noun.

• 1. a particular attitude toward or way of regarding something; a point of view:

Its been more than 5 years since I posted anything on my blog. As you would have guessed the current 'stay at home' situation has me finding 'new' things to do or has me wanting to do 'old' things in a new way. It is the latter that has me finally get on my blog page.

A lot of Life has happened to me in the past 5 years and if you ask me to name one thing which I have gained in the last 5 years then without blinking my answer would be - 'I think I have gained a Perspective.' I am sure that some of you who have known me over the years will be surprised at my response and I don't blame them either. If I would have been asked the same question some time back I would have definitely replied - 'I think I have gained weight!' and that would have been the end of it.

Come to think of it - Perspective is the progeny of Circumstance and Intellect. The circumstances which present themselves in our life coupled with our intellect shape our responses and viewpoints which is nothing but a Perspective. Even if we cannot control circumstances, intellect is something which we can definitely shape ourselves.

In today's world of the social media where instant gratification and sensationalism are the buzzwords - it feels as if we have given up the power of shaping our own intellects. With Whatsapp messages/forwards, Facebook posts relentlessly bombarding us it is as if we have given someone else the power over our intellect. Whereas enough has been said and written about this already, it is something which still continues and I think will only get worse as time passes.

My initial response to this 'shaping' was by shutting down and withdrawing. I withdrew from social media. However over time I have realized that going into a silo is not the solution for this. Infact  the opposite seems to hold true. If we open up ourselves and give ourselves a chance to experience diverse streams of thought including the ones we outright discounted or despised earlier only then we can give our intellect a fair chance to decide what is right and what is wrong. Only then can we really claim to have an honest perspective of looking at things.

So with this new found perspective I intend to re-new my blog journey and hope to enrich myself. I am sure that along the way I will have found a lot of my old readers and a few new readers as well.