In Quest of the Exotic

My mom keeps a plastic container filled with water outside our window. Her hope is to see a few of the cuckoos,bulbuls,parrots,golden oriole and  the copper smiths which nest on the surrounding trees come and take a few sips of water.  When she first kept the container out, no bird paid any attention. But, now the word has spread amongst the crow population and the plastic container is regularly emptied by them.

Initially, we were disappointed, the more exotic birds did not grace our window sill by their presence. The first few crows who visited were shooed away. After all, they are too commonly seen and not exotic at all. Just plain and black and for some ugly.  But then one day we happened to witness one thirsty crow come and take a few gulps from the container. The way he dipped his beak and then held up his neck to gulp the water and then cocked his head to see if anyone was going to shoo him away, we fell in love with this commonly found bird. Sometimes in the search of the exotic we fail to notice & appreciate the beauty in the everyday and then stumble upon it!

My World has changed

18th February,2012, 2.42 PM IST...a mother was born. Every time I look at my daughter, I feel a sense of wonder.  I guess every new mother feels this way, but this is something you understand better when you experience it for yourself. Each passing day, each passing moment brings a new experience though I seem to be doing the same thing day in day out...

My little one  has arrived in this wonderful world just two weeks back.. and has given new meaning to all that I knew. My daughter has given a new definition to love at first sight. Timelessness is something I have got to experience as time suddenly seems infinite as I change nappies, feed my daughter and watch her sleep while one day merges into another. There is no sense of hurry. There is no sense of "I". I exist just for her and my world is "Her".  I never thought that I could loose my"Self" so completely... but I have.

With Her in my world... I know the world is not going to be the same...Welcome to a New World!! New,joyous,selfless,wonderful :)

An Inspirational Little Tale!

I do not remember where I have read this little story or who has written it.  But, this little tale is amazing and inspires me till date. I wanted to share it with all of you. So here it is!

A little girl's mother loved to embroider. The little girl enjoyed playing at her mother's feet. She used to sit on the floor playing while the mother sat in her favorite chair near the window embroidering. Normally the little girl used to be too busy with her play to pay attention to what her mother was doing. But, one day the little girl had hurt her hand and was finding it difficult to play. So she started to observe her mother embroider.

From where she was sitting at her mother's feet, all she could see were lot of knots, jumbled threads criss-crossing, generally a mess. The little girl then asked her mother, "Why are you taking so much time and care creating something which does not look nice at all?" The mother said "Be patient my little one, you will see when I am done".
Soon enough, the mother lifted her daughter on to her lap and lo behold, all the messy little knots and jumbled threads had transformed in to a beautiful embroidered rose.
The mother then explained "Dear daughter, I was just following a pre-drawn design. From where you were, you could not see what I was creating. So what you saw was just a jumble and a mess! But, what was getting embroidered was a beautiful rose."

I always try to remember this little story, when life seems a bit dull and dreary.

We cannot see the big and beautiful picture which God is creating for us. So what  we should do it,we should be patient and allow God's design to unfold. And in the meanwhile, we should trust and believe that a beautiful rose is emerging from the jumble of our life!

A pat on the back!

This is a self appreciation post.  When I decided at the end of 2011 that I will be really giving my interest in writing a chance, I had not known whether I will be able to do it. I have done quite well, I have more than ten posts here and I had not known whether I will be able to publish even one! I have been able to consistently post once a week. I feel good...I know it may seem too early to say how far I can keep this up but I definitely deserve to give myself a pat on my back! I have come this far and that means I can go further.

Good job Ashwini, Keep up the good work!

I know that appreciation,feedback and encouragement from others is important but I believe it is more important to appreciate ourselves. It is important that we acknowledge the progress that we are making each day. It is not always possible for others to understand how far we have come from where we began or how far we intend to go....

But you know it and when you see yourself taking the steps in the right direction, do take some time to encourage and acknowledge that progress. A little self appreciation can go a long way :)

Baby Steps

So we know we need to make some changes.. splurge less on impulsive buys, start exercising more often,eat out less,spend more time on things that matter most, or maybe something bigger like getting rid of a harmful addiction or a toxic relationship. But, then though we know that making such a change will make a great difference to the quality of life we are leading, we just cannot bring ourselves to take that first step.

In reality, it is the first tiny step towards change which matters. What stops us from taking that first step? I think, as we grow up we start fearing failure, the unknown, the discomfort that any change initially brings about, sometimes it is just that we start expecting perfection in just one step.We have forgotten that it is OK to falter, to not be successful in the first attempt! We have forgotten that when we started walking as babies, took the first step,we did stumble, even fall, maybe got hurt,sometimes went back to crawling but we did not stop trying ! As babies we did not expect perfection at the first step, we did not even spend too much time thinking about the fall, we just took one more tiny step, though shaky; it was the step in the right direction.

I wish to capture this art again,  I want to be a kid again, learn things,pick up new habits;without fearing failure or expecting perfection in the first step.. I will stumble, I will falter, I may give up for sometime but I will get up and walk again....

My Feel Lucky List

Well, today I got up feeling a bit sorry for myself. My back was hurting and I did not get a good night’s sleep. So, instead of my usual smile I greeted my mom with a frown when she got me a nice hot cup of tea. Fortunately, as I was sipping the tea, I realized how ungrateful I was being. Not only was I ignoring my mom’s sweet gesture, but in general I had no real reason to frown. Life could not be more kind to me than it is at the present moment and I was letting a slight backache come in the way of my appreciating this fact.

Sometimes I think we are so focused on the little things which are not going our way,that we fail to appreciate all the things which are! 
So here is a ready reference list for all the times when I feel like creasing my forehead with a frown instead of smiling. Here is my list of all the things which were given to me unasked,which I take for granted, and should not, this is my “Feel Lucky List”

1.     I am perfectly formed: I do not mean my size or shape or height or weight, whether that is perfect is debatable. What I mean is that I have no physical impairment. I have two legs to take me where I wish and when I wish, two hands do the work I want to do, a perfectly functional pair of eyes with which to see the world, ears to enjoy the sounds of my surroundings, all sensory organs doing their job well.  How lucky is that!

2.     I am surrounded by family and friends whom I love and who love me:  I have been blessed with wonderful people in my life,people who make my life special and give me unconditional love. I am sure there are many people who find themselves all alone especially when life deals them a tough hand. But, I have all these awesome people who have been with me to share all the ups and downs in my life and give me the confidence to keep moving when that was all that was needed.

3.     I have all my basic needs fulfilled and more: I do not have to worry about where my next meal is coming from, whether I will have a bed to sleep in tonight or a roof over my head. In fact, I take these things for granted. But, just a walk down the road in a city like Mumbai should make me realize that for many all these worries are part of their daily life. So, I acknowledge today that I am grateful that I do not have all these worries.

4.     I am educated: There are many people in this country who have not been given the opportunity to get introduced to the basic alphabet, forget getting the chance of acquiring a professional qualification. I took this right to education as my right and sometimes as a kid wished that there was no such thing as schools, but today I realize how lucky I am. Education has allowed me to experience beautiful things in life, to earn a living, to share my thoughts and so much more!

5.     I have been gifted this life: The gift of life is something I have been bestowed with, to cherish, to treasure, to experience and savor, to just live to the fullest. I intend to make the most of it and I rather do it with a smile on my lips!

Morning Revelation!

Today I woke up at six am, quite early by my standard. As I peeped out sleepily from my bedroom window, for the first time in many years, I got a chance to observe the world outside at this time of the day. I was amazed that so many people were awake. Further, what I was seeing was the fag end of their morning routine, their day surely had begun much earlier. Our night watchman had almost finished washing all the cars in our apartment’s parking lot. The milkman was busy stacking empty crates for the milk van to pick up later in the day. He had finished his daily delivery of the milk pouches to each apartment door.  The Newspaper delivery boy was also arranging the undelivered papers on his cycle to be taken back. As I observed them, immersed in their tasks, I suddenly became conscious of the fact that for the past twenty five years the same milkman and the same newspaper vendor have been delivering the milk and the newspaper to my doorstep. What I was observing today has been their routine for so long.

Before today, I had not really spared a thought for these people. They ensured; that I get to sip my morning cuppa in the company of the crisp pages of newspaper; that I step into a gleaming and clean car every time I drove out. In fact, I had given them thought only when this routine had been disturbed. I had complained, when after groggily opening the door, the milk pouch was not there or the newspaper was delivered late. I expected their service to be on time, every time; braving the vagaries of the weather, their personal problems; that they were as human as I was. Unfortunately I gave them thought only when they failed to deliver. So I am grateful for “today morning” for the realization of how these unseen, unacknowledged foot soldiers work daily and make my life comfortable. I am sure that the next time the newspaper arrives late on my door step, I will not be complaining.

And  maybe, I should get up early every day!

Ready for Pregnancy?

Pregnancy is the most wonderful phase in a couple's life. But, I am not sure if it is so, if it has not been planned for. I am no expert; but if you have answers to the following questions, then you will surely know whether you are ready to welcome that bundle of joy!

First and foremost, Are you ready for all the changes to your lifestyle?

Second, If required, can you take a break from work?

Third, Are you mentally prepared for all the physical changes which pregnancy is going to bring about and willing to embrace them?

Last but not the least, is the Dad to be ready for the new arrival too?

Being an Architect's wife!

I have been married to an architect for almost four years now. It was not a studied decision to marry one, as with most marriages, it just happened.

When I got married, I do not think I dwelt too much upon the fact that I actually had never come across an architect in my life. I am a chartered accountant and my parents are doctors. So till marriage,my social circle mostly consisted of doctors and finance professionals.So it turns out that my husband is the first architect who I  met,married and am living with since. And wow how things have changed since then, suddenly I know more architects than I ever knew existed.

Anyway, this post is not about why I married an architect, but how being married to one has introduced me to the various facets of this profession and professionals.

So here are a few of my observations,

They are an interesting lot of professionals, albeit underpaid.Compared to the years of training they put in and the amount of dedication the execution of a design idea requires, their work is undervalued,under recognized and under compensated. And though I have heard all architects complain about this, the fact that they enjoy their work seems to keep them going. In fact, they are by far the most jovial set of professionals I have come across. They do know how to enjoy life!

With an architect in your life, shopping gets a whole new meaning. When earlier in my marriage, my husband mentioned that he needs to go shopping with a client to "Commercial Street", a popular retail therapy destination in Bangalore; I was keen to join in. For till then, I had never realized that  shopping  could involve things like faucets, hooks,tiles and bathroom fittings, which is what he was going shopping for.

They also seem to share a love hate relationships with their clients. The love seems to last till the architect presents his invoice for payment.

Finally when you spend some time with an architect, you realize that they are first artists who want to express themselves through the structures they design. But, as professionals they are constrained by more mundane demands like time lines,cost constraints and client expectations.This is why most architects want to design their own homes ; for then they have the freedom for their artistic expression. And that is why most of the times their homes are always work in progress :).

Setting the Tone for 2012

Be the Best of Whatever You Are! By Douglas Malloch

If you can't be a pine on the top of the hill

Be a scrub in the valley - but be

The best little scrub by the side of the rill;

Be a bush if you can't be a tree.

If you can't be a bush be a bit of the grass,

And some highway some happier make;

If you can't be a muskie then just be a bass - 

But the liveliest bass in the lake!

We can't all be captains, we've got to be crew,

There's something for all of us here.

There's big work to do and there's lesser to do,

And the task we must do is the near.

If you can't be a highway then just be a trail,

If you can't be the sun be a star;

It isn't by size that you win or you fail - 

Be the best of whatever you are!

Today is my first post for 2012 and  the following poem by Douglas Malloch has been an inspiration since childhood. So, this is going to be the guiding beacon, the North Star for my blog this year!