DEADLY VIRUS

"I AM WHAT I AM. ACCEPT ME AS IT IS."

This is one of the biggest problem that's spreading like a virus. This has more or less become a fashion statement. Especially those who cant or don't want to change and are struggling in their love life. You must all understand, if not for your loved ones then who the hell on earth will you change for? Especially when you know it hurts them. It is not sacrifice its a mild adjustment that you do to make your loved one feel better.

Doing unrealistic and immoral things has become fashion. Even if a person does not want to be someone he/she does not like, in order to be in a group they try to go against their belief and try to fit in (this is like a guy with dress trying to fit in among a set of nude people). People are scared to raise their voice against evil. If they do so they are called "Outdated or Nut-jobs".

Everyone has their own reasons for doing bad things. It's just our own personal guilt and the distance where we have drawn our line gives us the reasons.

We have already diluted our culture. Who we are and what we are no longer matters. Above all we give various names and reasons for not following it.

If we had stuck to our roots we need not be worrying about many things right now. 

A man who is indiscipline, not punctual, rude, arrogant, selfish says, "this is me".

A man who swears/talks adultery a lot says, "hey there's no harm in talking. As long as it doesn't hurt or harm anyone its fine". Well, bro, you never know when and how you can hurt someone (you can think, "in that case i cant talk to anyone!") Preventing does not hurt. And you are not asked to stop from doing something good for you to debate. Also, if you think talking like this is funny and it will spoil your fun level and people wont laugh at your jokes anymore! You can have fun the healthier way. And, by doing so your friends don't stay with u anymore, they are not friends. Better be alone than in bad company. What say?

A man who drinks occasionally says, "its OK its rare, its medicine."

A man who drinks often says, "its my money my health, its OK."

A man who smoke says, "its my health. If its spoiling yours go away."

A man who is a drug addict says, "as long as i don't influence you don't bother. In-case you are wondering why, try some you will know."

A woman who exposes herself says, "i ve the freedom to dress the way i want to. Why should men look at me? Why do you blame me as the reason for rape? Look at ladies from various other places" Well, honey, #1 when did we girls dress for ourself? In that case, why do we post our pics on fb and other media? #2 as of others, why should we be concerned about them? lets be who we are. If u like it there be there, don't be a plague here in my country. #3 when we are travelling by bus or when we go out why do we hide our purse or lock our house? Why don't we say: "its my purse, my house why do they steal it? Its their mistake to steal and not mine to take precaution!" Grow up.

A man who looks/eyeing (sighting) and numbering other woman says, "its just admiring the beauty. God's creation is so beautiful."

A man who displays affection in public says, "when we feel like hugging or kissing we do it. Why should law interfere?"Boss, had you known to control your feelings and followed a lil bit of decorum u would not need law to remained you. Did u know, there are rules in  countries like Singapore to not to spit or pee or poop in public? Else, they have to pay fine or face prison. What! Insane rite. Its their feeling. When they want they can, Why stop? You know wt, display your affection in public. Poor many people will have no job, guess that why they are in to acting these days! (You know who)

A man who is in relation sleeps with the woman before marriage (living together) says, "as long as we are fine whats it to you?"

A man sleeping with multiple woman (one night stand) says, "i don go after them, they come to me. And i am an opportunist."  

A man having extra marital affair says, "my life sucks. And i ve finally found mine." WHAT!?!?!?!?!?

A man who rapes says, "i m physically n mentally ill i cant control my feelings. Accept me the way i am."

A man who rapes a 6 yr old says......I cant think of it.

It sounds more like what actor Vikram says in the movie Anniyan. Everyone does mistakes to their level. Those who steal pennies are neglected. Only when it comes to bigger amount people care. Stealing countless pennies a countless times! Sounds big rite? Time to think.

I m not writing this post to debate or for arguments. I m posting this as a mother representing other moms.

Lets not dilute our culture. Let us have universal good and bad not individual good or bad. Lets stand by it and stop saying, we must all learn from our mistakes 

(people are very good in finding new meanings and not the correct one) and say, lets do mistake (booze, smoke, etc) and lets over come it. What if you cannot come out of it? May be, one or two can! Wt about the rest? A virus is still a virus and deadly as it can be.

Lets draw our line closer to us. I m from an orthodox family. We have zillion things to

follow, being what we are (human) i follow v few of those. When i ve so many things to follow i don't follow 'em all, What about people who have v less to follow? They will find reasons to break it. 'Cuz its a cool thing to break rules, its the "in-thing". 

You can say, hey, you ve so many things to follow and that's why you cant follow all of it. I ve v few so it will b easy for me to follow and not break it. Well, in that case, m happy for you. And i wish all were like you. And you ve my prayers and wishes to follow your v few set 'o rules.

M not asking us all to go back to square one and ask women to stay home not go for work blah blah blah. And if men follow their culture and principle there will be no mistakes. There will be mistakes happening, not to this extent. My parents were not worried about me when i was 3 or 6 or 10 or to send me to school so that teachers could blackmail their students. They were worried about me when i started going out on my own, days when i knew whats good or bad. Days when i knew what to do when someone approached me with wrong intentions.

I ve no intentions in hurting anyone personally, emotionally, culturally, geographically or by any other ways. All i want is a safe society for my kid and other kids as well. I am a mom, who is scared and someone who cannot accept her daughter coming to her and say "MOM, I AM ME. PLEASE ACCEPT ME THE WAY I AM".

If you agree, pls share.

PS: The word "man" here is not MAN/MALE gender. Its common to both male and female. Both have equal influence in the society.

JOURNÉE MÉMORABLE – we don't remember days, we remember moments.

Times change, people change, attitudes change…the only things that do not change are Memories. They keep reminding us of who we actually were and who we have become.

Today, everyone knows me as a Clinical Nutritionist (SRMC), W/O so &so and M/O so &so. We are just like any other corporate couple who keep migrating from one place to the other, meet new people every now and then. When we think that we have made good friends in a place and plan to settle with the group, again, it’s time to pack-up and move on. Every relationship these days (except kith and kins) are like passing clouds. There is no special person apart from family with whom one can get close and slowly gain each other’s confidence to share our point of view. Today’s fast moving life can be termed as a “Move-On” life. I am sure, that this is not the case just with us.

There was once a time, a time to remember and cherish for life long. A time where I was Saranya V from a small place called Nanganallur in our Singara Chennai studyied in the best school.

We were 3 inseparable friends called THE THREE MUSKETEERS - Padma, Ramya and I. We were friends since 4th grade. We used to get dressed in the same color and ride our green colored lady-bird cycles all through the day. We just loved the adventure of taking a new route every day back home. There were no days when we had gone home from school without halting at a street corner for more than an hour to simply chit chat.

We spent a lot of time together at each other’s place, which were hardly 3 minutes apart. Watching movies, grooming each other, and shopping were some of our favorite pastime. I hope my friends remember our expressions after watching Sharukh run in the very first seen in the movie K3G.

The next major time we spent was at school. We all loved to go to school. We three were typically the earliest to school and the last to leave. Even our other classmates made the time at school more wonderful with interesting events.

Some of our classmates used to come early to school and hide under the tables and chairs. Once the other students started coming in, they used to pop out and scare the hell out of ‘em.

The next big event of the day was during lunch. We were all fond of each other’s lunch. We eventually made our mom’s to cook something special to share with the rest of the class. The highlight of this was the way food used to get distributed.

Apart from this there was gossiping, matchmaking, boys n girls fight, who will be the teacher’s next favorite, etc. keeping nicknames were the most enjoyable events. We were the “X D” students. All time any teacher’s favorite batch. I was called “scene party & Shakespeare’s vaarisu” (legal heir), I did not like it back then but thinking of it now brings a smile on my face.

We parted after the freshmen and sophomore years. The inseparable parted and went in their own tracks. Our houses are still in the same locality and yet we hardly have time to meet each other. We are now connected only through FB. Just like others, we ‘like and comment’ on each other’s photos and status messages. We are connected yet, disconnected.

Not many photos of us were taken, no orkut or facebook were there to upload to constantly remind us of the wonder years. Yet, it feels as though all these happened yesterday. My memories are so fresh with a perfect picture in my mind.

This is my Autograph. I am sure that everyone will have their own story to share. Please feel free to share yours. That way you will live those moments and enjoy the pleasure just like I.

MY FIRST LETTER

My dear,

It was like yesterday I got to know that I was pregnant! Today, as I am nearing my due date, it feels like I have been pregnant forever, as I can’t wait any more to hold you in my arms and carry you in my heart for the rest our lives.

Till now, you have been at your best. I have not had any complaints or complications regarding my pregnancy except few acceptable symptoms which I don’t want to crib about. As days pass by, I get freaked out even with a small change in my system wondering if it’s something that is normal during the last stage of pregnancy or if it is something to be worried or concerned about! Each and every small thing concerns me these days. I wish I were a super-woman who could take control over everything that involves you.

After my marriage, the next great thing that happened in my life is YOU! We have been waiting for you for the past 2 years. Thus, the last 39 weeks has been the best period ever in my life; a period which is just the beginning of a lifelong journey! No sleepless nights or cramps or muscle pull can influence my anxiety or eagerness in looking forward to the D ‘day. Come what may! There can be no pain that can survive the pleasure of your kicks. I desperately wanted you before you were conceived. I have started loving you already even before you are born. Now, am ready to die an hour before you are here! No words can explain/express my feelings for you. And I don’t want to be successful in expressing it as I will spend the rest of my time in thinking and will stop feeling. I want to cherish each and every moment of you within me and with me.

Let the Almighty shower His blessings on you. There is nothing more I have to ask. Come soon!

Love,

Mom.

THE GOLDEN PERIOD

Why now, and not since the beginning? Ever since I wanted to write this blog I repeatedly ask the same question, why now, and not since day one?

I know that I am not a great writer. I write blogs just to share my emotions, feelings and memories. This blog is again a reflection of my feelings – the best feeling ever.

I have always felt that I am the most blessed being on earth. Having a great life before wedding is not a big surprise, as girls are the Princesses of a family. Having a beautiful “Happily Ever After” life is too rare. Only few will have the opportunity of tasting the heavenly fruit of both. I am one amongst the few.  My ‘Happily Ever After’ life is because of my wonderful husband who is now my everything and takes care of my everything.

Ever since my childhood I have hated being responsible. I have always been the youngest in the family circle (pre and post marriage). I have always been their pet - protected and pampered. Like anyone else or, may be more than anyone else, I hate to accept the fact that I am growing old, and  felt strange when I was called aunty from sister (didi or akka) by the kids around me.

It took me a while to accept the fact that I am in my mid-20’s and I need to be like one. While I was busy with this process, when I was mentally getting ready to be a responsible matured wife, I got a pleasant shock a.k.a ‘a surprise’.  

As mentioned earlier, I've always been the one to receive and never the one to give. From now on, I must start SACRIFICing my sleep, hunger, appetite, rest, travel and most of all - my profile pics, lol.

It all starts from DAY 1.

It took me a while to accept the mere fact that I was pregnant. Even after my home test, blood test and ultra sound, I always felt that I was looking at someone else’s result/baby. 

My Ist trimester went busy with morning sickness (not for long), dry throat, tiredness, light headedness, mood swings, etc. I felt like doing nothing and was doing nothing. Rather, I must say, it was a testing period for my husband. 

In my second trimester, it is now that I feel my baby. I can feel the movements, jumps and hiccups. I feel like my baby is talking to me – “Mamma, I feel hungry, it’s time for you to eat; Mamma I feel thirsty and you must drink;  Mamma you are straining yourself and I'm feeling uneasy; mamma, mamma and mamma…” Oh God!!! It’s the placental connection that’s doing these magic. I am now an obedient SERVANT abiding my baby’s commands. 

I must say, as my tummy grows my bonding with my mom grows more and more. The one thing that always comes to mind is her thunder quote… “When you become a mother, you will know”. I now know it mom. I am sure, that, I can be more responsible, submissive, polite, humble, sacrificing, can be a good servant, a doctor, a friend, a philosopher, a guide and whatever my baby needs from me, just the same way you were there for me.

Imagine a person without the energy to run a mile getting the ability to run a marathon. After shying away from responsibilities, I now feel like a new person. What I tried for 20+ years without success has been achieved within the last “3 months” – The Golden period. I cherish our baby as a Gift from God and a symbol of our love. 

Come soon…. “Can’t wait to kiss those tiny little feet.”

WHAT A SONG!!

I have been stuck with this song since 2 weeks. There is some thing about this song -- is it Kishore Kumar or Rajesh Roshan or the lyrics of Anand Bakshi?

A really bad picturization and wrong guy to carry Kishore Dha's voice. All I can do is to close my eyes and simply listen to this song.

Dam!! I need to come out of it. Y not all these days and now all of a sudden?

DÉJÀ VU ALL OVER AGAIN:

My journey in the United States has been absafreekinlootely awesome. I enjoyed all the get-togethers, games sessions and the cookery sessions we used to have almost all the weekends. The rest of the days we will be outing, visiting places and site seeing.

After so many discussions and researches I have been to:

1)      Niagara on May 2010: A beautiful place for all the couples. Another Kutralam for the Indians. May be a bigger version. It is nature everywhere and looks beautiful wherever it is.

I went to the Maid of the Mist and the Cave of the Wings, but enjoyed the Maid of the Mist a lot than any thing else. One of the many places I enjoyed being in.

2)      New York Trip on May 2010: A city that never sleeps. It is another Mumbai. Crowded, jammed, busy, and yet beautiful.

a)      Central Park: A symphony well maintained. A beautiful place, with all statues, castles and gardens. My most favorite is the Shakespeare garden and the Belvedere Castle.  

b)     Rocker Feller: Just a view from a tall building and it looks the same from everywhere else. Say the Empire State or any other tall building. Waste of money, may be not for a single visit. Yet the view and the experience in the elevator are different. Going to the top most floor in the lift makes you feel like a flight that is taking-off.

Trust me not more than once anywhere.

c)      Madam Tussauds: It is more like your dream come true. Another favorite place of mine. You will get to see and be with all your lifetime favorites under one roof; there are politicians, sports men, actors, pop-stars and others. It takes approximately 2-2 ½ hours to completely finish the tour in this museum trust me it is worth the money and time.

d)     Statue of Liberty: An independent woman standing with torch. Looking at her gives immense sense of freedom (I don’t know how guys feel) and pleasure. Unfortunately, I was not able to go to the Crown as it’s booking has to be done 2 months in advance.

Still, the experience and the visit till the head were too good.

e)      Grand Central: It is a highly well maintained and a sophisticated form of our Egmore Central. The paintings on the roof of this building were – I don’t know, every one asked me to see it and so did I. I saw nothing great in it. May be a painter or an artist could have figured it out. All I remember seeing was, there were two images wrongly drawn which made them popular I guess. Lol.

f)       Times Square: Ah! A lovely place, especially during nights. There are lights through out. And it’s experience can only be felt and not explained.

2.1) New Jersey since May - June 2010: East Hannover is where we were living in the begining. It was a beatiful time. The place where we statyed was in the center of the city. It had all the malls and super market within 5 mi radius.

         a)      South Mountain Reserve: A very beautiful reserv/park for trekking. A very nice place to visit. It had a very small water fall, walking in it was a nice experience.

3)      Boston trip on May 2010: New England is a beautiful place. It’s roads and the curves of it has it’s own story behind it (google it if you want to know). MASS is another place where there are high taxes.

a)      Freedom Trail: We need to walk on the footpath where the great freedom fighters walked I think. I have been there as well walked on the trail but I still don’t know why I went there. May be I am ignorant of it. I don’t know if we have a trail left behind by our freedom fighters.

What are we going to do by walking? May be implicating that we will follow their path?

Any ways, a tick in my list.

b)     Quincy Market:  A huge market, more like a food court in any mall. Nothing great to see or say. Yes, their Freedom Fries are too good.

c)      Boston Harbor: Yet another place to tick.

4)      Trip to Connecticut on May 2010: Not many place to visit. Went to see a cousin of mine. It is the journey and the experience I enjoyed the most.

5)      Skiing during March 2011: It is not a place to discuss about it’s appearance. It is a place of experience. Had a gala time in there. It was too good to see others a.k.a. our friends falling than to experience myself falling.

6)      Laser Tagging on March 2011: Another experience to be experienced. We were a group of 10 adults who went in a place where there were kids all over. The sight of it made us all feel --- puppy shame, lol. We waited till all the kids were gone so that only we 10 can get in and play. Else, we will be sent in with the kids. The worst part is when we get to loose with the kids. We got to know about it from a couple of already experienced people in our group.

Once we went in we were given laser guns and suits. All we need to do is to run in and around the maze and shoot the maximum number of people the maximum number of time. The highlight is that those whose were wearing white dress were glowing/illuminating in the beam of laser light.

I enjoyed it to the core. And at the end of it we were given a score sheet as in how many hits we got and how many hit us. I was last but one. Because I was laughing aloud and every one were able to figure me out from where ever they were. Dam you guys. Especially my husband.

7)      Washington Trip on April 2011: The capital, a beautiful place on its own. The journey to this place was awesome. We were 9 of us in a mini van – Kia. Had a gala time driving all the way from Waltham to Washington. The group was a total fun to be with.

a)      Bartholdi Park and the Conservatory: A garden and a green house. All well maintained. The atmosphere and the temperature of the area were maintained depending on the habitat of the respective plants.

In the beginning it was Wow!! Later it became; yey, it’s the same everywhere. We took pictures and came back.

It was nice.

b)     The Capitol: The parliament. We were taken on a general tour of the Capitol. They showed us an empty place that was supposed to be the monument of George Washington. It is not a monument because it has been so many years since his death and his relatives were against the fact.

Then they showed us the statues of many who were involved in some freedom act. And some paintings that were drawn up on the sealing about which they were explaining and the same which I was hardly able to see.

They took us on the first three steps where the presidents from G. Washington till Barack Obama after taking their post. I did not feel any thing while walking on it. It is jus any other step.

I was happy that it was a free tour and not happy because we wasted so many hours on the same.

c)      The Supreme Court and the Library: These were located just behind the Capitol. We did not want to waste our time going inside rather we decided to take a picture of us with it and gave a satisfying tick mark.

d)     Fire Works on April 2^nd: During the Cherry Blossom festival each week will have some event or the other. We were there on the fire works day. I did a lot of research and found the apt. spot to see the extravagant fire works.

I was not sure if it would be beautiful or not. We were on the roof of the Arena building from where we saw the whole event. It was an event that lasted for about 10 minutes. The last 2 minutes was splendid. It was as of we were watching a 3D show. The fire works started from one place and seemed to advance to us.

We all felt as if the Americans were celebrating the victory of India winning the World Cup 2011.

e)      Spy Museum: Another experience, rather an amazing experience where we were the spies and we were given a mission to solve with our teammates. Each of us will be split in to groups and there will be a different task assigned to each team. We will be given hidden cameras to follow some person. Radio tracker to listen to what people is speaking. Scanning machines to scan the files of the President secretly. We will escape in trucks, use lie detectors, etc.

Amazing experience. There were three to four experiences, we chose Operation Spy.

f)       Cherry Blossom: Man!! An amazing site to look at those flowers. Was looking dam beautiful. No words can explain. Another place where I thoroughly enjoyed.

g)      Monuments and Memorials: All the same again and again. Just going to that place visiting all the statues saying a Hi, taking a picture and leaving. Nothing great to discuss about it.

h)      Smithsonian’s Museum: We did not intend to go there, as we had no time. But, some how we managed to go. It was a nice place and can be visited once.

8)      New York Again in April 2011: This trip to NY was awesome. We thoroughly enjoyed the journey. We were 5 of us in our Mazda. We started from our place at around 6 am. I carried breakfast for all of us. It was 8 am and there was bell ringing in all our stomach. We took an exit to halt somewhere and have food. This exit took us to some national park and beach. Our guys named it “The US pallikarnai”. There were marshlands all over the place and looked good. We did not plan this out and did not expect it to be so beautiful.

There were so many PJ’s and funny conversations, we were listening to music and had a madly fun time. It was the best gang to be with. We had our lunch in Pomona temple – Ranganathar Temple by the Ahobela Matt. And then drove to Central Park as the rest of us had not been there.

Dam it was so different to see the place back then and now. It was summer when I was there last and now, we were just at the end of winter. Then I told the guys, it is not the right time for you guys to judge this place.

Then we went to Times Square and spent some time there. And had dinner in some pizza store in one exit at around 11:00 pm. And got back home at 2 pm ~

The whole trip was about $2 per head. The cheapest trip ever made by any one to NY.

9)      Prospect Hill Park during April 2011: A park just 0.3 mi from our place. We have not been there since our time here. We had nothing to do on a weekday and decided to go there. 4 of us. Unfortunately the park was closed for the vehicles after 7:00 pm. So we thought of walking for a while. We did not walk longer, but it was again a nice experience to be with our close friends. We came back as early as possible as these people had to go to work the next day.

10)  White Mountains in April 2011: Dam it was summer everywhere but there were snow all over this place. It was 2 months behind other cities. We went for trekking. We had actually planned to cover some 3 – 4 places. Unfortunately the trekking in the first place took us ~4 hrs. It was 3 mi to and fro to the waterfall. We had our lunch and then went to the other places where we were supposed to go for trekking but went till the board gave attendance, took some pictures and came back.

11)  Salem visit in May 2011: After so many discussions and researches we decided to go to the Salem Witch museum. The museum experience was not that great. But, the city as a whole was dam beautiful. It was not like any other city. It’s appearance and the people and their dresses every thing looked as if they were living in the 18^th centaury.

Even the shops, they had all the spells, crystals, the potions to be taken – for those who are not married, those who had to buy house, those who need love, etc.

I suggest, no need to go and visit any museum. Just go to that city have a long walk on the roads observing the surroundings and doing window-shopping on those shops if you want. Will be a wonderful experience on it’s own.

This place is just ½ hour drive from our place. Not to forget to mention an old lady we came across, we were on our way to parking lot to go back home and came across this lady. She said, “ Welcome to Salem”. She was beautiful, her dress was old fashioned and elegant. We were discussing whether to take a picture of her or with her. By the time we discussed and decided she was gone.

12)  Boston Aquarium and Whale watch in May 2011: The Aquarium was not quite as I expected it to be. But, it was nice to see all different types of sea creatures. May be just for once.

Unfortunately the day we went to see the Whales the sea was spiky and harsh and so we returned with a voucher for seeing the whales some other day. And we are yet to see whales till now. There has been bad weather reported since then.

13)  Cape Cod Trip in May 2011: The end of US. It is another scenic area with beaches and landscapes. To our amusement there were sand dunes everywhere. It looked as if we were entering a dessert. It was too good to see water, sand dunes and grasslands.

The beach water was green in color, clear and so beautiful. The sight of it was too good. Bikers, surfers and others came to this place on weekends.

A very very nice place to visit. Unfortunately, we thought it would be cold there looking at the weather forecast and got dressed up accordingly; it was not cold but hot. Good thing we had spares and substitutes to cope up with the heat.

I do not know if I will be back or not. But, the journey of my life, a part of my journey in this country as said earlier is unforgettable. I will not say, I love this place and I want to stay permanently. But, I will miss it.

As always said, “It’s the journey and not the destination.”

Well my journey is to be continued and not end with this. My destination is destined. Destined in India.

There is nothing like my country. Here I come.

WHAT THE HELL?

“ALERT EVERY ONE,

TORNADO WARNIG in ………,………….,……….. and ………. Areas.”

A message came once in every 10 minutes between the programs in television. I was not sure what it was. Seems like it is yet another calamity in the vast list that occurs in US. This tornado is seasonal and occurs least 100 times a year especially in the month of April and May in the central US like Oklahoma and the areas surrounding it.

To hell with it.

I can promise to not to complain about the weather in Chennai. It is the safest place I have ever known.

I love HOT, HOTTER and the HOTTEST. Well!! I was talking about Chennai.