Tuesday, February 24, 2015

The magic of spring!

Spring arrives loaded with yellow, orange and brown....

In the last few brown leaves
I’ve found my shelter;
When the world’s too busy
To stand and stare,
I rain upon them
dry leaves in sudden shower.


After a year I’ve arrived
The new year I’m here to ring
in; celebrations all around -
I’m the much-awaited spring!

Draped no longer with greenery
The trees had withstood the wind so cold
When winter left, the flowers blossomed,
and a new story is about to unfold.

Rich is the blue sky above
Pouring out sunshine so bright
Fragrant is the breeze blowing
All around waits beautiful sight.

I’m here around you and everywhere
Only if you care to stop and see
The festival of flowers is back again
Pleased are the butterflies and every bee!

Cold winds no more keeping home
the animals; many a happy bird
bursting with full-throated song
Across meadows and fields they are heard.

Scorching rays would arrive to tire the Earth
and she’ll begin to moan in pain
The sky would relent and hide the sun
and down would come the fine light rain.

Harbinger of the monsoon it is
-       the sudden spell of rain
Winter, spring, summer and monsoon
India’s seasons are all bound in a chain

Behold the numerous hues in falling leaves
And celebrate the welcome changes in everything
Celebrate the buds and flowers
as lovely moments roll in with spring!


Dreams.....

How often do we dream? DO we really need to run all the time? Cannot we think of dreaming as a way of unwinding? Did you know there's a poet in each one of us?

Dreams....

I had wished I could dream
I’m glad now I carry many a dream……..

A long morning I’d have with our daughter
Away from the routine
Giggling and exploring gardens
Where we’ve never been….

An afternoon of tea with memories of the years
That we’ve left behind as the calendar had to change
The ‘cell’ and the phone kept on ‘mute’
As stories with my husband I’d love to exchange

Evening would slow down
With our son holding the oars
Our boat rowing in dark blue waters
Before night opens her doors….

A long letter to some childhood friend
To wipe off the decades and the miles
My heart will be poured out, wounds shared
with words wrapped in tears and smiles….

A night I’d be under the moonlit sky
As stars would twinkle and shine
Constellations I’d watch and count
and click the silver mine!

To search for a meaning in life
I dive deep into my mind
More dreams keep cocooning there
With time, wings they’ll find!




Friday, February 20, 2015

Swimming Saga

Would he give up? Or would he continue?
If you are mulling over sending your child for swimming classes, then this is for you!

Swimming Saga

Summer came visiting again and this time it was the swimming class that caught my son, Dev, and his father’s fancy. Our neighbour’s son, Dev’s best friend, swam superbly well without any training and had impressed my husband with his swift moves in water more than once. It was not only him, but me too who secretly wished our son too would swim equally well, given a formal training. I still don’t know how to swim, and Dev’s father knows a few tricks, but has a lot more to learn. Secretly we wished Dev would make up for that.

My eight-year-old rushed down the steps in his swimming costume, a mass of energy and enthusiasm, my husband in tow. After an hour, the father returned, looking happy and satisfied. In three days the smile vanished! Within a week, his face had knitted eyebrows and my son began coming home with a glum face. What was going wrong?!

“You’re not following Sir’s instructions properly,” the father grumbled to which Dev said meekly, “But I am.”

“He is not concentrating during the class,” my husband complained the very moment I opened the door to the duo next day.

My little daughter Vini had been keeping me busy and so I didn’t really know what was going on in the pool. Forever patient with his children, I had no reason to doubt my husband was wrong in judging Dev’s efforts to learn the art of swimming. I didn’t take it very seriously though, and said some words of encouragement. But I thought he didn’t really need that because he was most likely not focusing enough but would be compelled to do so by the trainer soon. There wasn’t any significant change in the next few classes though. Time was running out, because there were to be around twenty classes in this session. Now I felt I had to be a little firm.

“Why aren’t you observing Sir’s movements?...............

Grab a copy of my book 'Rays and Rains' from flipkart to find out if Dev could tackle the unsavoury situation.....

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Wednesday, February 18, 2015

Have you ever thought of yourself as a 'BAND-AID'?

Have you ever been a 'BAND-AID' to your child?

More importantly, has your child tried to forgive and forget? Has she or he been successful?


“Why did you leave me and go to her house?” My son sounded devastated as he came up the steps, his friend following him.
“They called me for snacks. My mom was there too. So I went.” Dev was not convinced. That his friend alone was invited and he was forgotten obviously hurt him. He picked up his recent most acquisition, a tool set, complete with hammers and spanners. Dangling it right before Ravi’s nose, he triumphantly declared – “My papa got it for ME from U.S.. I’m never going to share this with you!”
Not to be outdone, Ravi promptly took up his long-forgotten badminton racket from Dev’s toy basket, retaliating, “This is MINE, not yours!” So the battle had begun…..it was almost time for adult intervention.
Dev and Ravi are next-door neighbours and soulmates….well, almost. Their families stay in the same apartment. The kids’ screams and laughter on every holiday they share keep our building alive.
Ravi’s mother rushed in, blissfully unaware of the latest in the series of hot-and-cold sessions of the two pals. Giving me a hurried account of their busy day ahead, Sona coaxed her son away for lunch. Her timing could not have been better.
My four-year old looked up at me, his eyes two small pools about to overflow. He has always refused to accept that he too has been equally disloyal to Ravi in the past, leaving him alone during peak hours of their play sessions to attend birthday parties, armed with full knowledge that cute return gifts’ awaited him there. The issue of why his bosom friend had separated from him voluntarily on a holiday lay unresolved. And the risk of Saturday lunch slipping away from being the usual family event loomed large. The occasion demanded that I help my son through this heart-breaking episode. Taking up the challenge, I said…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………....................................................................................................................................................................................
"A crestfallen mother had to reluctantly accept the truth – I was only the hurriedly put “band-aid”. Dev’s “cut” actually healed with the magic word “Sorry” from his buddy.
As I leant back in my armchair, peals of laughter of two happy souls from the lawn came floating up to me. I smiled at my
selfishness (How could I be pleased with their fighting!?) and my foolishness (How could I even think of replacing Ravi!?).
I took up my long-pending book, relieved that my son is finally learning to forgive and forget, but staying prepared to serve as a band-aid once again, just in case he felt the need for it anytime.
As long as mothers existed, there will never be a dearth of these special “band-aids” in this world!


You can grab a copy of my book 'Rays and Rains' from flipkart to find out how you too can be a BAND-AID.....
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