Creative Musings

As many other people around the globe, I too, was saddened by the news of Apple founder and former CEO Steve Jobs death last Friday.... not only because he has been one of the most successful entrepreneurs of this century but also because it hammered in a very painful but truthful fact about life and death..... when it is time to go , you've got to go . Unfortunately, the best of resources, wealth and fame along with the finest of medical advancements in the world cannot change what has been destined. In 2004, Steve Jobs was detected with pancreatic cancer and given 6 weeks to live but after a surgery he survived and went on to do some remarkable things in the communications industry. In his address at Stanford University in 2005, while recalling the near-death experience, Jobs expressed hope that he would not encounter death again for many decades. But sadly, 4 years later doctors discovered that the rare degenerative cancer had reappeared with a vengeance and was literally gna...

Dear blog, I promised to let you know when the stork visited my humble house again and so here I am sharing the good news with you....yes I am expecting my second child and am currently in my 15th week .........oh you ask why I took so long in sharing the good news with u ? don't be angry dear blog, I can explain. The last 2 months I have been either miserable or sick.....now don't get me wrong ....I am very happy, in fact ecstatic about my pregnancy ( had been planning for quite sometime but our vagabond life & my back injury had forced us to keep the plans on the back burner for long ). However, spending most of my waking hours holding the bathroom basin either throwing up or waiting to throw up is not my idea of bliss if u know what I mean!!! Of course I keep reminding myself that it is all for a good end and that this too will pass....but still the nausea does 'nauseate my senses' and when the cardamoms, the ginger, the diversions and the anti-vomit...

Needless to say, mothers go through myriad emotions through their incredible journey....there are the obvious highs ....the first smile, the first word uttered, the first uncertain step, the time when they return with their first medal from school or simply the time they embrace u and tell you how much they love u :-). But as much as we hate to admit it there are many lows too.....the 'unable to sleep- unable to shower' state of early motherhood; the bawling of only your infant in public transport while other kids on board are blissfully asleep; the throwing of tantrums in the middle of a shopping mall; the obstinacy of a teenager and the defiance of your kids ( all ages ) against any rule-setting. I faced a particularly low moment a few nights before, when I was patting my 4 year old son in bed, asking him to calm down and sleep as it was getting late. After many failed attempts at getting him to stop talking, trying to climb the wall like a superhero and hopping like a frog...

An article I read recently inspired me for this post - aptly called Benefits of Soul Crushing Boredom , the article published in the Online Wall street Journal is a tribute by its author, Scott Adams ( the creator of the Dilbert series ) "to tedium" and the "heady thrill of having nothing to do!" I agree totally in letter and spirit to the thoughts conveyed in the article...and have often wondered the same myself.....is the amount of stimulation, exposure and constant barrage of information that our children receiving every day - good for them? is it necessary for them? were we without the luxury of gadgetry diversions better off or worse off than kids of today? Kids apart, I also wonder if the phenomenon of multi-tasking and overt stimulation/ flurry of constant activity has made us adults forget the beauty which lay in nothingness....the sweet joy of doing nothing; the tedium which let us value the surprises in life; the boredom which made us look forward to int...

As Season 7 of the US series Desperate Housewives drew to a close in Asia ( in the US the season had concluded in May ).... the hour starting at 9.50 p.m has started seeming a bit incomplete and desolate! I am already looking forward to when Season 8 will be aired ( which sadly is being tipped as the last season of the series ). Every weekday night for the past many weeks, I have looked forward to that time of the day when I am through with all household chores, my son is asleep and I can just wind down with a glass of cold water or a hot cocoa ( depending on the weather and my mood! ) and allow myself to be transported to another world- a world situated at Wisteria Lane, a world where any thing can happen, where fantasy meets realism, where tears can mix with smiles and grimaces can turn to guffaws in moments! I am hardly a TV buff, I can actually go through a week without even a backward glance at the Television and not miss it! My only other constants include Castle, Frasier...

It is one of the most well-known facts of history -Great Britain colonized more than half of the world in between the 16th and the 20th century. Amongst others, America won its war of independence in 1783 after a bloodied battle and India managed to push forth its independence almost two centuries later-in the year 1947 after years of oppression and failed rebellions. But what is the one common factor in these two erstwhile British colonies – now the largest democracies of the world which are miles apart - the one legacy that the British left behind for all its colonies- their language- English.  Do we really need to discuss the importance of the English language? I gather not, as everybody is aware that English is THE language used in most businesses/ trades and official matters across the world. The importance of English has grown manifold with the opening of boundaries, freeing up of trade between nations and even more with the advent of the Internet. But in the...

I have been proof reading and copy-editing articles for online publications for the last two years. In these two years I have gone through myriad emotions while at work- anger, frustration, pride, fascination, amusement -not necessarily in that order! Yes, the writings can make you cry, laugh, shake your head in disbelief and drum your fingers with impatience as you try to make sense of randomly arranged words/ loose sentences. But there is the undeniable satisfaction of reading through a corrected article - pride at my own handiwork! The joy of having made an article readable and error-free always manages to satiate me and perk me up despite the definite tedium of the task. I have always had a critical eye ever since I remember and am quick at spotting errors - a quality which did not always go down well specially with people who were close to me! It irked them why I was always tracking mistakes, constantly trying to critique and improve things around me. Thankfully, a critical eye ...

It has been two months since we returned from our trip to Yogyakarta (Jogjakarta) in Indonesia but the memories of the place don't seem to fade out. In fact my husband and I have already started our research and are planning to combine the spots we missed out in Yogyakarta or those which we did not get enough time to capture in our memories with another trip to Java. It is strange but we cannot exactly pinpoint what was the one thing we liked most....maybe because it was not something tangible.....yes the mountains, the volcano, the river, the temples, the palaces and the people have all made a huge impact but it was something more.......... the intangible allure- the smell of nature, the hint of danger, the folklore and beliefs....all which create this magical aura about the place and makes you yearn to go back! Resilience in the Face of Adversity- Mount Merapi Maybe this is the reason why hundreds of people still choose to live on the foothills of the active volcano, ...

''Bless you John Gray'',  "Is your soul a woman's?" -my Venus heart has been exclaiming ever since I started reading the best-selling book, "Men are from Mars and Women are from Venus," written by author and counselor, Dr. John Gray. In all probability most women out there would have read this book- & the men??? Well, who said Martians ( men from Mars ) can READ? Yes, I know my review comes too late in the day- its a 19 year old best-selling book, published in 1992 which has sold millions of copies worldwide and has attracted comments and criticism alike. But then I was a tad too young for this- could not have been bothered by self-help books, did not understand how grown up relationships could be and hated studying about planets and the rest of the solar system! To come to think of it, nothing much has changed now .... I still find self-help books a drag ( but find MAFMWAFV a useful exception ); even after being married for 7 y...

My 4 year old son's school re-opened today after a month long vacation. To my utter embarrassment I was as teary eyed as him, ( though I tried to cover it up with a smile so wide it hurt my jaw! ) as he waved me bye from the yellow bus plying him to school in the morning. Once I could no longer see the bus even after straining my eyes and neck to the fullest, I turned back. I could not get myself to go home, so I walked around aimlessly for sometime before slowly trudging up the steps to my 4th floor apartment. I turned the key in the lock and with a sigh acknowledged the emptiness and the silence. My mind was still not at ease and I could not forget the sad expression on his face asking me not to leave him, to stay with him pleading that he did not want to go. I sent a text to the bus driver and only when I received his reassuring reply my frayed nerves settled a bit. Of course, I reasoned with myself - this was hardly unexpected. Most young kids are not eager to go back to schoo...

What do people do when they are trying to find a new meaning to the mundane routine called life? What do they do when they seek inner balance within? What proffers an orgasmic high to some; is the spiritual connect of celebs and is purported to be the panacea for all ills these days? The answer is not really so difficult if you think of how many times you have read or heard of the words MEDITATE and MEDITATION every day from celebrity interviews to health and fitness magazines to spiritual talk. Everyone talks about meditation and the miracles it bestows on us vain people. I too have been enamored by the promise of tranquility and mental happiness that meditation for a while. So after toying with the idea for some time and reasoning with myself on why I should pursue this path towards self-actualization, I decided to take the plunge. A back injury that left me grounded for six months definitely helped the cause. The obvious questions arose; how to meditate, how much to meditate, w...