NaBloPoMo Day 30: Mission Accomplished !

And, just like that, the 30 days of November are over. The NaBloPoMo blogathon is ending today. While I do have the option of continuing writing every day – as I was doing on my Facebook page until NaBloPoMo started - I doubt if I will get back to it with the same level of regularity immediately. 

Maybe because I diligently wrote each day’s blog post, trying to make each one count, with something of value, but now, I feel like a small break is necessary to recuperate from this loquacious onslaught on my own psyche, not to mention the one on people who’ve been reading my blogs 😉

To all those whose topic suggestions I took up and wrote about – cheers! You got me to say what I feel about things that matter to you although it may not have been exactly what you were looking for, in some cases 😉

To those who didn’t find their topics covered in this blogathon – take heart! I have your requests safely in a Word file, and will definitely write about them in the days to come, and send you the link, too, so you know I’ve kept my word 😊

I’m expecting a few things to happen from tomorrow –

· The chores I’ve neglected to devote time to writing will get their due attention

· The tidiness coefficient at home will inch upwards

· My laptop will finally find its way to the service centre to get its faulty hinge mechanism repaired

· The Sanskrit study will get greater attention, hopefully boosting my chances of doing well in the Sanskrita Bharati exam that’s due in February 2017

· The new nickname I’d earned at home – “Bloggie” – will gradually fade away

When I first invited myself to join Swathi Ram in this blogging initiative, I didn’t realize it would lead to such a huge learning experience.

I met many new bloggers, read what they wrote, had the opportunity for some wonderful insights from their writings

I picked up a few skills in commenting on others’ blogs

I learned how it feels when people you don’t know at all read and comment on your blog, and you realize you share the same perspectives….

Overall, it was an enriching experience that I wouldn’t have missed for anything.

Thank you Swathi, Priya, Rekha, Deepti, Shilpa, Varsha, Tara, Rajitha, Saritha, Ashwini, Ashwathi, Uma and all the others on this journey 😍😍😍

Thank you, dear readers – friends and family, commenters and non-commenters-but-silent-readers…

I hope to get back in a few days time, rejuvenated, with some more of Anu’s Words..God Bless! 

NaBloPoMo Day 29 : May Our Brave Martyred Soldiers Attain Sadgati

For the first time in these 29 days, I find myself too drained out to write a blog post. Probably, I should have written it earlier in the day when I had some free time, instead of reading a long-pending John Grisham novel that needs to be returned to the library. Or maybe I should have even got it done before the news of 7 of our Army men being martyred in a terrorist attack in Nagrota today got me all upset. 

Just a few days back, a friend expressed surprise that I hadn’t written anything about 26/11 (yes, I have somehow built up that kind of an expectation) and I’d replied saying a cold, heavy-headedness and mild fever had left me with no energy to write on ‘involved’ topics that raise strong emotion. 

But there had been a few thoughts I had put down subsequently on how we – the common public who can’t give ourselves to fighting the enemy on the border – can work for our country to see better days. The news of today’s terrorist attack with so many of our brave hearts sacrificed moved me in such a way that I spent about an hour writing about this, and combining it with those other thoughts, to prepare an article for Post Card News for whom I write occasionally.

Somehow, now, writing about anything else seems to be superfluous. I know – life has to go on, and we can all only do that which we’re equipped to do. But it seems so unfair – us sitting comfortably here, talking of this and that, reading books, watching TV, sharing jokes on WhatsApp and Facebook, while our men’s lives are snuffed out so cruelly by a rogue state. How many more must we have to lose before it is brought to book???

I don’t generally allow negative emotions to spill to this blogging space, so I guess I’ll just stop here with a prayer to the Almighty that may He grant Sadgati to the brave souls who sacrificed for our nation!

NaBloPoMo Day 28: Of Twitter Trends and Kindness

The latest trend of the day on Twitter is #ShilpaShettyReviews and looks like many Indians on Twitter have suddenly turned into literature experts. Wait, let me explain.

A few days ago, there was a piece of news about a change in the ICSE syllabus to make it more contemporary by including Tintin, Asterix, Amar Chitra Katha, Harry Potter and so on.

Who’s likely to be affected by this decision? Teachers, children and parents, right? So it would have made perfect sense to stick to getting the views of this target audience. Okay, you could have asked eminent educationists, those into educational policy-making and school principals for what they thought of this move.

But one of our oh-so-bright newspapers in Mumbai with stars-in-their-eyes thought it made great news to ask a celebrity for her opinion on the issue. 

On being asked what she thought about this move, actress Shilpa Shetty praised it because of how it would help improve children’s imagination and creativity. Then, she is reported as having commented that "Even Animal Farm should be included as it will teach the little ones to love and care for animals.”

It’s not sure how she picked that book to comment on. In the sense that if she had known what it’s about, she wouldn’t have ever said what she did. Was the book on a random book list that the journo provided? Or did the journalist himself or herself propose the name of that book? Whatever the process, the end result was a gaffe. Because this is what the book is about – which is far, far away from teaching kids to love and care for animals.

Now I wonder if the journo and others who were part of the decision to carry that part of Ms. Shetty’s comment, themselves knew it was a no-brainer. Is that the reason why they didn’t find anything wrong in running that comment? Or was it that they knew and yet, deliberately chose to go with it because it would become a talking point and in the competitive world of journalism, grabbing eyeballs is what counts more than kindness?

Once the piece was published, someone commented about it on Twitter, and it set off a flurry of others tweeting with the hashtag #ShilpaShettyReviews. All India Bakchod prepared a set of quotes drawing similar parallels of what the actress may have said about some other books. Many others on Twitter added their 2 cents of would-be-hilarious-if-only-not-so-unkind comments. 

Not to be left out, news portals carried stories on how the hashtag was trending on Twitter. I’m not repeating those comments here because everyone’s 2 cents put together becomes a huge amount that can be damaging to the psyche of the individual who’s the target. Of course, being a celebrity, Ms. Shetty will have developed her own defenses to cope with such trolling, but I do not wish to compound the damage.

In my opinion, if at all anyone deserves to be trolled, it is the persons who rushed to seek a celebrity’s opinion on something that is not her field of expertise. It shows how star-struck we have become. By trolling the wrong person, we have revealed our depraved sense of humor that finds joy when certain stereotypes are reinforced. 

Indeed, it seems this episode drives home the reversal of that premise of the famous quote from Animal Farm: “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.” 

Irony, anyone?

NaBloPoMo Day 27: Change is Not Easy

A few days ago I met an acquaintance who has recently begun counseling. She recounted to me her experience with a client who obviously has some not-very-optimal responses to people and yet, is not willing to accept that she needs to explore different response patterns. My friend was quite surprised at this behavior, so I put her at ease by explaining that this is very common.

For example, let’s say a lady feels her husband and kids do not care for her. She complains that she is the one always busy doing things while they all have a jolly time, and expect her to wait on them. The angst keeps building up and turns into either irritability or feelings of worthlessness. Now, this lady has two options – either she continues doing things like before and not let herself get affected by the situation, or she learns to assert herself, and gets the rest of the family involved in the work, so she gets to relax a little.

Now this is exactly where people get stuck. We don’t want to appear demanding, we don’t want to upset the apple cart, we want everything to remain hunky dory between us and others and yet, we want them to somehow miraculously understand how we’re feeling and come forward to help us out. Which is never going to happen because people around us are not mind-readers. Sometimes, people genuinely don’t understand; other times, they may have an inkling and yet, they won’t venture beyond their comfort zone since you are not asking them to.

So, when faced with a situation like this, you have to decide which is more important to you. Your own long-term peace and happiness for which you may need to bear some short-term discomfort, or, not upsetting others.

Quite a few such people, who lack assertiveness, come to the counselor unconsciously looking for someone to reinforce their belief that they are a victim of circumstances. When you try to suggest ( in milder terms than the one I’ve used here) that they stop playing victim and start taking an active role in improving conditions, their visits gradually stop. 

There’s nothing much the counselor can do in such cases beyond praying that the client somehow gathers the strength to come back and do the hard work of working on one's own behavior.

NaBloPoMo Day 26: You Know You're Being Seen as a Writer When....

......at family gatherings, you notice a subtle yet significant shift in the dynamics of interactions with your relatives…

• Noticing me taking pictures of things that no one else was bothered about, I got asked, “Oh, is this for your blog post?”

• After the customary “how are you,” some people brought up something on which I wrote and the conversation turned into a mini-discussion on that topic.

• Someone asked, “So, what will you be writing on today? Will it be about this function?”

• Whenever he was in the vicinity, my son butted into the conversation, warning the other person, “Hey, be careful what you say…Amma is going to make a blog post out of it.”

• A relative said he’s sorry he hasn’t been able to keep up with the latest articles that I wrote, but that he would read all of them in a few days time.

• An elderly aunt, while leaving, told me, “Do keep sending links to your articles. I like reading what you write.”

• A relative who’s closer to my son’s age than mine said he’d just been telling my son that he likes my articles and talks because they are inspiring.

• Someone offered that I should come and stay in her house for a few days of undisturbed writing. She'd give me food and leave me alone the rest of the time to gaze out of the balcony or sit in the park, thinking and writing in peace.

• While introducing me to someone I was meeting for the first time, after establishing my main identity as “Ranga Mama maatponnu,” the next piece of information passed on was “She’s a lecturer, and writer too.”

• A cousin commented, “You must have got material worth 3 or 4 blog posts in this function, right?”

Ever since I began writing, on my blog and elsewhere, I’ve been putting out the links to my pieces through WhatsApp and Facebook. Not because I want recognition or praise as a writer, but with the hope that something I write may prove useful to someone, somewhere, at some time. Which is why ever since I started writing, I had never attached too much importance to whether people respond through comments, likes, shares etc. 

Quite often, it has even happened that my closest family and friends have not read some pieces that other readers have appreciated and found useful. Sometimes, there have been no comments from anyone, and judging from that, it looked like no one had read it. But now, I know better.

And seeing the enthusiasm and encouragement for my writing, all I can do is bow my head with humility and thank God and members of the Thatiampatty and Kashi families for standing by me as I cross the boundary of “Ramanna’s daughter and Rangamaama’s daughter-in-law” to try to don the mantle of “Writer.”

NaBloPoMo Day 25: Inheritance

He sat in the portico in the mild morning sunlight to ward off the chill that seemed to settle over him quicker these days. 
As the stiff joints relaxed in the welcome warmth of the sun, his thoughts drifted away to the past as they often did nowadays. 

Several images appeared in front of his mind’s eye. 

An elderly, respected Sanskrit scholar – his father. 

An affectionate mild-mannered lady who left this world early – his mother. 

Young boys who trudged long distances barefoot to school in their knotted-where-torn dhotis – his brothers. 

Young girls who took on early the mantle of mothering the motherless lads – his sisters. 

The young woman who followed him into an unknown land to raise their family, bearing more than her share of difficulties – his wife.

Then, he thought of his kids, feeling a little sad that unlike some of his peers, he had not been able to give them any great material comfort or inheritance.

Towards late evening, he sat silently watching as they all gathered around him for the customary bhajan session. 

The only person missing was his first-born who was, right then, at a temple far away, praying for his good health - Dynamic M with an ability to attract people and soothe them with some timely help.

Next, he looked at - Hardworking Vi who always insisted on doing what was right even if it was difficult or caused discomfort.

His gaze lingered fondly on - Enthusiastic Va whose infectious positivity made people comfortable.

He couldn’t help smiling watching - Leader B who specialized in getting things done effectively by managing people well

Then, he contemplated silently on - Even-minded A who stayed calm always to support others.

His face had a wide grin as he looked at - Smart K who had a rare farsightedness and a keen judgment.

As several voices sang in unison on H. S. Rama Iyengar’s 86th birthday, each of his daughters felt an immense sense of gratitude to their father for the qualities they had imbibed from him, along with his sense of deep devotion. Could there have been any inheritance bigger than this?

NaBloPoMo Day 24: Boatman and Pandit - New Age Version

Jaya stretched her legs in the cramped space, mentally berating herself for not booking her tickets in the AC Chair Car. She’d put off her travel decision to the last moment and had been forced to settle for the ordinary seats-meant-for-2-but-allotted-to-3-people in the D3 coach of the Intercity Express that now sped on its way to Bangalore.

Opening her newspaper, she settled down to read of the latest happenings. A piece caught her attention because of the callous attitude people had nowadays. A kid had lost his life following an accident, because no one had come forward to rush him to the hospital. What a world we live in, Jaya rued.

Her reverie was broken by the arrival of a young girl who seemed to be having a giggly conversation on the phone. Yet another of those mindless chatterboxes, Jaya found herself thinking. How modest girls used to be in our times, she thought, looking with faintly concealed disdain at the girl, who was anyway too busy talking.

As the train chugged along, Jaya gradually slipped into a light sleep; only to be rudely awakened by the same girl’s voice again as she tried to get her words across to someone over what was obviously a poor connection. These girls and their banter, Jaya silently fumed. Such a ruckus over a bauble – a key-chain that one of those traveling hawkers try to sell on the train. 

After a loud conversation, the girl finally settled on one piece. A few minutes later, she did the same with the lady hawking those fancy dangling earrings. What a fuss, Jaya thought, for someone who’s not even wearing a small stud in her ears.

After a while, a woman passed by with some books that teach beginners the alphabets, fruits, vegetables and numbers. Much to Jaya’s irritation, again, the young girl spent some time with someone over the phone, describing the books and asking which ones she should get. Why couldn’t people just take their friends along while shopping in their own place instead of making a dance and song of it while traveling by train and disturbing others? And how impulsive these youngsters were, wanting to buy everything that they saw!

When the train finally reached Bangalore, Jaya was relieved to be rid of that young girl’s conversations and non-stop buying. She hurried home because she wanted to get enough rest before the seminar she had to conduct the next day.

Morning dawned bright and clear and luckily, Jaya made it to the venue without getting stuck in traffic. All the coordinators and participants had already gathered in the hall, and so, the seminar started on time. During the introduction, Jaya noticed the same girl from the train and was intrigued. Later, when the participants were divided into groups with specific topics for discussion, she lingered around the one with this girl.

The group coordinator was asking people to share their experiences of how something they have done has caused someone joy or pain. Inwardly, Jaya smirked, thinking that she had a good example of how that girl had caused her pain. 

But something made her pause as the girl began speaking. “It’s not anything big, but I can’t remember anything else to tell here. Whenever I go on a train journey, I try to buy some small things from the people who come selling on the train. They are at least trying to earn a sincere living rather than begging. So I buy something from them so that it’s like encouraging them. Even if I don’t have any use for those items, I try to buy things which I can give someone else. Like just yesterday, I bought a key-chain for our flat watchman’s wife whose old one had rusted; I also bought some colorful alphabet and fruit books for our maid’s little one. In this way, I get to help some people at least in a small way, and make them feel happy.”

To Jaya, it suddenly seemed like there were two people that day who needed to exchange places in the “Joy of Giving” seminar………


***A fellow-blogger's post of a few days ago was the inspiration for me to pen this...you can read her piece here