Bowling, dancing and more......

It was my boss Fiona’s birthday yesterday and she took us out bowling. It was good fun and at the end of three hours I had chipped off the nail of my thumb and my right hand was aching. It still is, as I type this….
Having fun is the new mantra so I didn’t want to decline an invitation to go dancing with my colleagues last Thursday night. Since I have two left feet and cannot move more than two body parts at the same time I was terribly conscious of everything I was doing on the dance floor. I wouldn’t dignify the action by calling it dancing! I’d stepped into a discotheque after about two years and had almost forgotten the ‘moves’. It was fun eventually….
And then there’s my neice Aditi, all of two years and four months, learning to dance and not self-conscious at all. As her Mom says – Dancing is her newest thing. I got these photographs today. My sister labelled the photographs 'Pillu-dance' :-)

Heidi's angels....

While on the subject of miracles here is the photo of my cousin Sheela's dog – Heidi’s pups. They were born on the 27th of december last year. 9 of them, all adorable and most of them have already got homes they’ll be going to soon. Saying bye to them is going to be tough for my cousin’s family.
Presenting Heidi’s angels (from left to right) –
Tike (Bully amongst the males)

Kiara (The princess)

Simbi (The athlete)

Honey (The babe, perfect in all ways)

Spice (The naughtiest of the lot)

Sugar (Sw-e-e-t, but loves to bully)

Simba (The lion, an apt name for him)

Kovu (The obedient one)

Apollo (My sister’s darling...he was born in the car, youngest of the lot)

Eat, Pray, Love

I’m reading Elizabeth Gilbert’s Eat, Pray, Love these days and can’t seem to be able to put the book down. It is simply written and so profound and heartfelt. I love the bits where when troubled, she writes to God and gets a reply!
I’m a complete believer in God or the Supreme Presence as I prefer to call It and I’m going through a phase of deep gratitude these days. I’ve heard so much about the Universe conspiring to give you what you want, if you just ask for it. I experienced it earlier this week when my Mom had a bit of a panic attack regarding the state of my parents’ finances and how they would manage their bills and other expenses. I told her that the money would come when needed and sure enough the next day I got a very decent bonus from office, as part of the quarterly commissions. Decent enough to wipe my Mom’s worries away. This is not short of a miracle for me, considering I’m still on probation and get confirmed only later next month.
This made me realize, yet again, the power of prayer. I’ve altered my prayers slightly these days. I’m asking the Supreme Presence to help me realize the purpose of my life and to give me a sign that tells me – This is the purpose of your life, now do your best to serve it.

Myths

The other day my colleague Rashmi sent me a forward on interesting myths and facts that she felt would have been a good read on my blog. They were great and got me thinking about all the myths I’ve grown up with and how they got broken eventually. The truth, they say, is painful and in my case I would say they were part of ‘growing up pains’. Anyway, here goes –
Myth 1
Santa Claus exists – For the first decade of my life I truly believed that he did. I blame my Mom for this. Every Christmas Eve, from the late seventies to the early eighties, my parents made us hang stockings near our bed, and we used to wake up next morning thrilled to see our gifts and sad to have slept through Santa’s arrival. I was shattered when I found out that Santa does not exist, that was one of the first rude shocks that I got!
Myth 2
Using Carefree or Stayfree makes you a happy person – Granted the advertisements did not say so specifically but as a child I remember watching these mighty happy and chirpy Carefree/Stayfree using women on TV and used to yearn for their state of mind. The myth was broken the day I gained ‘adulthood’. Grin…
Myth 3
The sacred fire gives you your babies – This is probably the mother of all my myths, but with all the emphasis on the ‘pavitra agni’ (sacred fire) in our good old Bollywood movies I actually thought that once the couple finished the ‘pheras;’ the bride got pregnant, and I thought it was a miracle the fire performed. When a seven year old watches a marriage scene followed by a ‘mein maa banne waali hun’ scene, what else would she think?
I once embarrassed my Mom at a wedding by asking her if the bride was pregnant now that the pheras were done. Little did I know then that getting pregnant is a different ball game altogether (pun intended)
Myth 4
There is a God saying ‘Tathaastu’ all the time – My parents forbade me and my sisters from saying anything bad about anyone/anything. Why? Because there’s a God saying Tathaastu (So be it) all the time. Is this one true? I’d like to think that it is, but my colleagues laughed at me when I told them this. So I still don’t know….
Myth 5
Soaking yourself in sea water makes you lose weight - In December 2005, I went to Goa with my colleagues from Zoom TV. I love the sea and those were the days when I thought that soaking in sea water makes you lose weight. So the minute we got to the beach I used to run in with my back to the sea, hoping to lose some weight off my ample backside. My colleague Mansi noticed me do this and told me that there were no shortcuts to losing weight.
Exactly a year later my husband and I went to Goa on our honeymoon. Imagine what my new husband would have thought of me had this myth not been shattered…Thanks Mansi - you don’t know this, but you saved my marriage!

Foresight

Over the weekend I volunteered with Foresight - a Dubai based organization helping to accelerate a cure for blindness, caused by hereditary eye disease - particularly Retinitis Pigmentosa. Foresight was participating in the Standard Chartered Dubai Marathon and had a team running for them, but more importantly they were there to support Katy Newitt, Foresight’s Chairwoman, who aimed to be the first visually impaired person to complete the full Dubai marathon (a whole 42 kms)

Foresight had a stall at the venue and was selling T-shirts, caps and pins for charity. My job, as a volunteer, was to sell as many T-shirts as possible, encourage people to donate and to give out Foresight brochures. This was the first time that I was working with the Foresight team and I loved the way they embraced a new volunteer. There were no questions asked – you just had to put on a Foresight T-shirt, quickly learn the rates of the items being sold and begin.

Being a person with passive interests I have stayed away from marathons so far, not knowing that it can be a place of great activity even for a bystander for me. There were so many people, from all over the world, who had gathered there, despite the rain, to cheer the runners. There were lots of people stopping by our stall hoping to get some freebies but there also were many who bought T-shirts or simply stopped by to put money in our charity box. We sold out the caps and had few T-shirts left by the end of a few hours. I had interesting companions in the form of Alison, a teacher by profession, who was now freelancing so that she can volunteer for such causes more often. Also Joyce, who had got her ten year old son along with her and he seemed to be having a great time. Like me, it was her first time too with Foresight. There was Joanna, a working woman wanting to do something meaningful in her spare time. All in all it seemed like one large family getting together for a common cause.

Katy finished the marathon in four hours, forty eight minutes, a commendable achievement and a record of sorts. We raised approximately two thousand two hundred dirhams from T-shirt sales and donations - money that will now go to Foresight's new research project.

I often think of how difficult it must be to have to live without one of your senses. My father, now 74, has lost 70% of his hearing and my heart goes out to him when I see him try hard to lip read, or intently try to catch every word we say to him over the telephone. It’s not easy to have hearing aids in both ears and to worry about whether the batteries will last till the end of the day. My mother complains of exhaustion because she has to almost shout to communicate with my father, at times.

It’s not very often that I thank God for giving me all that He has. Just being born with all faculties intact and to parents who are so wonderful and nurturing is a thought enough to give me the confidence to do everything I intend to do in this lifetime.

Believe it or not it’s been raining in Dubai the last couple of days. Mild, short showers – they pass before you’ve even realised that it’s rained. But last evening it rained so hard - we could actually hear the raindrops on our rooftop. My colleagues, mostly Brits and Indians – both countries blessed with ample rain, ran to the window to try and smell the rain too.
It’s funny how some sounds and smells can take you back to another time and place. The sound of the rain took me back to my growing up years in Pune, more specifically in Chinchwad. My sisters and I used to make paper boats and send them down the tiny streams that flowed outside our gate. They were enjoyable times, despite the frequent and long electricity cuts. I remember reading my Enid Blyton books by candlelight and fantasizing what it would be like to study in a school like Malory Towers and play lacrosse. We used to get thrilled watching muddy water come out of the taps and we almost believed it was tea.

I watched the movie The Jane Austen Book Club two nights ago and it reminded me of Trishna - the Indian televised version of Pride and Prejudice, telecast on Doordarshan many years ago. We used to look forward to Sunday afternoon to catch the next episode. We are four sisters and used to draw parallels with the serial, in which it was a family of four daughters instead of five. I remember getting disappointed when I finally read the book and found that the Bennet’s had five daughters. Since I am the second born in my family I secretly hoped to find my Mr. Darcy, in as interesting and dramatic a manner as Elizabeth found hers.

Today is Makar Sankranti and I remember carrying Tilgul to school and sharing it with my class-mates. Also the excitement of finding out whose mehendi was the darkest during Naag Panchami. Or for that matter, shopping for expensive soaps for our ‘Abhyang Snaan’ in Diwali and the very colourful, but brash games we played with kids of our colony on Holi.
I rarely think about these things, it’s as if they happened to another person in another place and era, but then something happens and the gates open and these happy memories come flooding back.

Is it so difficult to change?

Last night I got into an argument with the security guard at a supermarket close to home because I wanted to recycle used plastic bags of the same store. After much discussion and head shaking I was finally allowed to enter with them. I realized that the words ‘environment’ or ‘paryavaran’ were totally lost on the poor chap. He just didn't understand why I wanted to enter with old plastic bags when the store could give me as many new one's as I wanted.

I have come to the realisation that any change for the better needs to be in the form of a movement for it to actually happen. If you do it as an individual the process is long and daunting. Often times I have been made to feel guilty about requesting women, in the ladies compartment, of Mumbai locals, to pick up the many groundnut shells they shove beneath the seats. I have heard men snigger when I have requested college boys to get up from the seats reserved for ladies and for senior citizens in our public buses. I have been stared at when I offer my seat to a pregnant woman or a senior citizen. I have been laughed at by passers-by when I ask people to not spit or at least to look before spitting.

I wonder - is it so difficult to remember the endorsements we have seen umpteen times on TV or in the newspaper? Is it so difficult to try and put into practice the things we have been taught in theory? And more so, is it so difficult to look at our habits and acknowledge that some can be replaced with better one’s?

Is it so difficult to change?

My parents were in St. Ingbert, a quiet town in Saarland – Germany, in October to visit my sister’s fiancé and his family. They loved St. Ingbert and their days were full with long walks in the neighbourhood and frequent trips to the city’s centre square. They went to a local park one evening and loved it's picturesque lake. My Mom noticed a swan following them around in the park and was told that his name was Ingo. Ingo had recently lost his wife Bertha in a road accident. It seems theirs was a happy marriage and they had also had a family, but now Ingo was a lonely swan after Bertha’s death. He longed for company and followed people around to make sure he was not alone.

The citizens of St. Ingbert decided to do something for him and wrote to various animal support groups and soon arranged for a partner for Ingo. My parents had already left St. Ingbert by the time the new bride arrived. They named her Bertha. It seems there was some apprehension about whether Ingo and Bertha would get along and be happy. Luckily they seem to have hit it off and Ingo is no longer lonely. St. Ingbert is hoping to look forward to many swanlings soon.

Hats off to the residents of St. Ingbert for their compassion towards the needs of a swan. I guess the need for a companion is a basic one, it need not necessarily be in the form of a life partner but one does need a friend to be with at times.

My parents and sister went back to India last night after a wonderful ten day visit to Dubai. Each day was a whirlwind of activity and they absolutely loved this place. Their flight left at midnight and I spent the whole of yesterday being painfully aware of every passing minute - willing time to pass slowly or just stand still for a couple of hours, trying to grab as much time as I could with my family.

As somebody who works in a radio station I am acutely aware of the significance of a minute, we tend to be obsessed with time in radio. We try to fit in as much as possible in an hour and I struggle to find a song of the right duration to ensure that the next top of the hour jingle plays out at the right time. Before you know it the moment has passed and you start all over again for the next hour.

As I write this I cannot help but think of Patrick Swayze who is battling pancreatic cancer and who, in his recent interview told Barbara Walters that he is praying for a miracle but knows he does not have much time left. I wonder what that must be like and if I were in that situation I wonder what I would do to make the most of the time I have left.

Slumdog Millionaire

I got the opportunity to watch Slumdog Millionaire during the Dubai International Film Festival that concluded about three weeks ago. I’d heard a lot about it and was keen to watch a movie shot in India, but directed by an English director. I liked the story and the concept of every question of KBC going back to a story in Jamal’s life was something I could relate too.

Yet, I cannot say I enjoyed the movie. As an Indian, I am aware and conscious of what is not right in my country. I know there is poverty, corruption and filth, the list is long, but I also know that my country is rich in culture and history. It is an intelligent, hard working and progressive nation and my problem with Slumdog Millionaire is that the movie showed only what was bad or sad without once showing the other side of India and more particularly of Mumbai.

Coming so soon after the Mumbai terror attacks it might seem strange to say anything good about Mumbai at all, but having lived in Mumbai for twelve wonderful years I vouch for the fact that there is no city like Mumbai. I have not been to a city that welcomes you, cares for you and makes room for you as much as Mumbai does.

Slumdog Millionaire was extremely well received by the audience and so many of my colleagues have loved it. A colleague was surprised with my reservations about it and thought I was being sensitive about my country. I believe in the power of cinema and I feel that it is the responsibility of the director to perceive accurately and express correctly what he/she wants to. I guess I am being sensitive – it’s my country and I love it and I wasn’t particularly thrilled to watch some of the things shown in the movie. Or maybe I’m just an old fashioned believer of every cloud having it’s silver lining and I didn’t see the silver lining in this case.

Meet Coco - she's at K9 friends and I've taken the responsibility of sponsoring her for a year. I hope to continue to do so for many years to come. Isn't she cute?

K9 friends is a non-profit dog rescue organisation, based in Dubai, and the people working here are passionate and true to the cause. If you are a dog lover, but cannot adopt one you can sponsor one. More details on www.k9friends.com.

How much is a kind word worth?

Something really touching happened to me a fortnight ago. A supermarket was due to open on the 22nd of December, at 5 p.m. just a few blocks from my house. The frenzy of activity there increased as the 22nd approached and my husband and I saw people working there round the clock. A day after the launch I went there to see what the place was like and was impressed with some of the offers they had.

After my shopping I thought of stopping by the manager’s desk to congratulate him on the launch. I saw him watch me approach with a very worried and pensive expression on his face. As soon as I reached him he asked if anything was wrong. I told him that I wanted to congratulate him, especially because I had seen how hard his team had worked to ensure that all went well. It was nice to see relief all over his face. He promptly gifted me with a bag of five kilos of Basmati rice!

I was touched by his gesture and realized that it took so little to bring a smile to his face. I couldn’t remember the last time I had not gone out of my way to say a kind word to anyone. It took just thirty seconds of my time to make someone feel better and make me feel good about myself.

Fear of driving....

I am in the midst of my driving lessons in Dubai and have already finished my first 20 lessons and have recently signed up for the next 10. I have a good teacher but my biggest challenge is getting over my fear – a fear that is so intense and irrational that it scares me at times. I wish I had learnt to drive earlier – I cannot even cycle and have somehow convinced myself that I am incapable of moving more than two body parts at the same time. I’ve read up articles on the internet about the fear of driving and am glad to know that it is fairly common and if one works on it one is able to overcome it eventually. I wake up every morning telling myself that I am learning something new and it is going to great fun.

As I write this I am reminded of the Dragon Boat racing competition my radio station (Radio 2, 99.3/106) took part in about two months ago. Part of the team was made of our listeners who’d signed up for this event and the other half of my colleagues, who like me, were interested in trying their hand at something new. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d tried doing something new, and the whole experience was truly worth it.

We started our training sessions in Abu Dhabi, a fortnight before the competition. We had a fantastic view of the Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan mosque, which is probably one of the biggest and a national landmark in Abu Dhabi. The Radio 2 team was a lively and noisy one and our’s was a wonderfully diverse group, with probably the most number of women in it. Cheers to woman-power!

We were told to focus on getting our rhythm right. “Put in the best you have in the first five strokes and then chug forward in unison”. The term Dragon Boat originated in China and is a long and narrow human powered boat. It requires team work, power and rhythm to get that thing zooming ahead. I can’t say our boat zoomed ahead, but we managed to keep it afloat and move forward without incident. (read accident) We didn’t do particularly well in the finals, we came last, but we laughed through the whole competition and came out feeling good about ourselves.

I’m going to go for my driving lesson tomorrow thinking about all the fun I had during the dragon boat race. Maybe it’ll help….maybe…….