On a Mother's Day..

Somebody asked me today , "Are you a good Mom?"
Though puzzled, I said "Yes, I am."
Seriously, is this a question to be asked to a mother on Mother's day?!
Is this a day for all mothers to ponder whether they are good or not!
Or Celebrate the day and cherish being a mom without needing to assure anybody or oneself
that you are a good mother.
I am sure that all the moms in this world would have asked this question to themselves atleast once,
doubted her abilities to manage her kids.
A mother is born, from the moment her child is born. Everything is new for her like the same way everything is new for the baby.
She is afraid to hold her baby the first time in her hands but the baby is always safe in her embrace.
She is in pain when feeding her baby during the first days but her pain vanishes upon hearing the baby burps.
She is scared to give her baby the first bath but feels calm upon seeing the baby slip into a nap after the warm bath.
She is tired after the countless night time feedings but gets delighted each time the baby weighing scale skip to the right.
With each day, she is also learning the new world of motherhood and exploring the myriad possibilities and ways to keep her child happy.
As time pass by and the child grows, it is always a different set of challenges she has to face..
In this journey, She might make mistakes but through each day, each struggle, she learns to win and the reward she get is
seeing the smile in her child's face no matter how old the child is.
Being a mother is a wonderful feeling whether it is on a special day made for her or even when the day is over.              
There is no way to be a perfect mother..but a million ways to be a good one.
And you know it better than anybody, that in your own special ways you are indeed a WonderMom!
Happy Mothers Day..
-R.

Happy 12th Anniversary!

"What! You two are getting married ?!!
 Really, How come ? I mean ..well...but.. You Two!! "
This pretty much sums up the various responses we both received when our marriage was announced 12 years back.
Those people who knew both of us from our childhood through our adulthood did not even consider the distant possibility or probability of we ending up together .
Nobody even cared to gossip about us during the time we were together on so many occasions, oh..well..it was not their mistake, how could they possibly imagine this considering how different we  both were (or so they thought) , until one fine day , when somebody pulled the strings and set the events in motion(The ownership of the same is still in dispute between the two of us).
From the near and dear  surprised reactions, congratulations ,delight and enthusiasm followed because it was a wedding were the bride's side and groom's side were one and the same except for few. Some even teased me  that I gifted myself a good Mother In Law by agreeing to marry him ;-) Yes, I got lucky in the whole 'In-Laws'  package here..

On looking back , I can only say that we were destined to be together.
Yes,  we were very different in  lot of things, still are in many things,  however it is the differences that kept our balance and we have crossed 12 Years of togetherness.
We learned our differences first.  We loved ,we fought ,we cried , we laughed. But through all these  we understood each other a little more than the previous day.
He never tried to change me from the person I am  and that is one thing I value in our relationship and is one of the reason I respect him even more. He let me be 'Me' and supported me in my decisions whether it is personnel front or career front. He gives me time and space I deserves. He may not say he loves me in so many sugar coated words. But I know he loves me when he get angry at the things that makes me sad and get happy when I feel happy.
One of the most important thing in life is able to look back at your life and feel happy about what you see. And in those happiest scenes  I could see the magic of fate that has brought us together , gifted us with our most precious daughters and the wonderful moments we lived and celebrated in our own small ways and called our family..

And for that reason , Today, I love you more than Yesterday. Happy Anniversary..

A Bedtime Story..

Today during bedtime when I was tucking in my daughter ,she told that 'she' will tell a bedtime story this time.
The bedtime story as told by my daughter...
--------------------------------------------------
"There were two hearts. A Mommy heart and a Daddy heart. Both were walking.Then Mommy heart got lost. Daddy heart was looking for Mommy heart.He could not find her. He saw a magic chamber and the chamber had lots of keys in it. Each key will open a room in the heart" ( however the keys don't have a part in the rest of the story).
I got very curious by this time, and prompted her with "what happens next?"
She continued " a snow man had kidnapped Mommy heart" (! She is watching way too much of Frozen and Olaf I guess:-))
I asked "Did Daddy heart find Mommy heart?"
"Mommy heart was in the middle of a river. Daddy heart went to Mommy heart and kissed her. Then Mommy heart and Daddy heart walked together chatting. They talked and talked and talked.....The End."

Oh my...I am so so surprised by her imagination. I couldn't sleep any more and thought to pen it down before I forget. Rather than imagination , I think kids observe many things that we take as granted. Though Mommy heart and Daddy heart may fight at times and seems to be lost, her little heart is so damn sure that Mommy heart and Daddy heart love each other so much and no matter whoever kidnaps Mommy heart, Daddy heart can bring her back with his love coated warm kiss!!

And I guess that assurance is the best gift parents can give to their child..

-R.

മഴ

മഴയെ ഞാൻ ഏറെ ഇഷ്ടപ്പെടുന്നു..
എന്തെന്നാൽ , മഴ ഒരു ഓർമ്മപ്പെടുത്തൽ  ആണ്
ആർദ്രമായ  ഒരു സ്നേഹ സ്പർശമാണ്
സ്വപ്നങ്ങളിലെ നിത്യ സൗഹൃദമാണ്
പക്ഷേ ,
മഴയ്ക്ക് എൻറെ പ്രണയം അറിയില്ല
എന്നെ പോലെ എത്ര പേർ മഴയെ ഇഷ്ടപെടുന്നു !
മഴയ്ക്ക്‌ ഒരാളെ മാത്രം സ്നേഹിക്കാൻ കഴിയില്ല .
മഴയിൽ നനഞ്ഞ ബാല്യം
ചെളി മണ്ണിൽ പതിഞ്ഞ കാല്പാടുകൾ
ഇടവിടാതെ പെയ്യുന്ന മഴയുടെ ശബ്ദങ്ങൾക്കു കാതോർക്കവേ
നനുത്ത ആലിംഗനം , സ്നേഹചുംബനം ..
ഒടുവിൽ , തിരിഞ്ഞൊന്നു  നോക്കാതെ
നടന്നകന്ന കാൽപാടുകൾ നോക്കി നിന്നപ്പോൾ
കാലവർഷം കുലം  കുത്തി ഒഴുകിയത് കണ്ണുകളിലൂടെയാണ് .
മനസ്സിന്റെ തേങ്ങലുകൾ മഴയുടെ ശബ്ദത്തിൽ ഒലിച്ചു പോയി
പിന്നെ ഇടയ്ക്കിടക്ക് , ഓർമ്മകളിൽ ,
കോരിച്ചൊരിയുന്ന തുലാവർഷമായി ..
അപ്രതീക്ഷിതമായി പെയ്യുന്ന വേനൽ  മഴയായി ..നീ വന്നു പോകും
എന്നെ നീ ഓർക്കില്ലായിരിക്കാം .. എങ്കിലും
എനിക്ക് നിന്നോടുള്ള പ്രണയം തീരുന്നില്ല.
ഞാൻ സ്നേഹിച്ചു കൊണ്ടേയിരിക്കും , കാരണം ..
നഷ്ടപെടാനായി എനിക്ക് ഞാനേ ഉള്ളൂ ,
എന്നിലെ പ്രണയം അനന്തമാണ് ..

A time well spent ..

When you are exhausted and can't complain, when there is none to comfort you or lend a hand, the best way to de - stress is to treat yourself well! Really well.
So today, I made myself a special dinner(Hot and spicy capsicum omelette, my version of chipotle style fajita rice,some apples and seasonal mangoes and chilled pineapple crush) ,arranged the platter, served myself and ate all that myself, sitting alone.I didn't expect it would work when I started,but it surely does..
I used to tell my lady friends that  its important for all of us to have some 'Me Time' apart from all the family/work routines .If nobody else appreciate your time,at least you will learn to do it for you. You are special. If you don't value yourself,who else will ! Alone, go for a movie, travel,read , write about how you feel, treat yourself with a little shopping..just enjoy being yourselves. And most importantly do keep your girlfriends close. Because ,your joy doubles and sorrows halves when you share it with your true friend.
Good night ladies..
Love you all my girl friends..

Silence...

I have read that "Silence is the most powerful weapon" ..but against whom!? 
I have also read ( which i felt more appropriate ) that "Those who don't understand your words, won't understand your silence either".
So usage of the "weapon" does not guarantee that ppl will come and look for you/ try to understand you.

If you are in a situation trying to prove your own worth to somebody, that's just NOT worth it!
" People will act as if nothing is happening when they don’t want to face the reality of the situation by pretending to be unaware or unsure despite being presented with the evidence" (quoted)
As the old proverb goes
"You cant wake a person who is pretending to be asleep ! "

So don't wait for others to understand you, or waste your energy trying to wake up the person, rather wake your own inner strength, believe in yourself , there is light at the end of the tunnel..

-R.

Hope is born when all is forlorn

Plants have life processes like humans and animals. They are sensitive to the changes in their surroundings. But looks like they can hear us as well !!?
Well, joke apart, here is an interesting thing that happened in our home.
We bought home a jasmine plant almost an year back ( from a flower nursery) . It had full of flowers and my small porch was filled with its lovely fragrance . Sitting leisurely in our swing, quietly enjoying the beautiful lake view , breathing in the refreshing fragrance of the jasmine flowers... We hoped a lot ,but that was not in store for us.After bringing it home and the flowers it already had withered away, it never blossomed again. We were kind of disappointed abt it however did not pluck the plant away. We had also purchased a Rose plant at the same time which turned out to be an over performer and used to give me consistently 30-40 flowers at a time! The Roses were an overjoy and the Jasmine, disappointing. Still I watered it everyday. My Jasmine plant just stood there bearing the heat and dust all this time, providing nothing more than a little greenery . Last week , we have decided to bring in another plant instead of the Jasmine. Due to space constraints in the porch, I would have to take away the Jasmine if I plant a different one. Me and my husband debated on which other plant to substitute it. Finally I have agreed up on his wish to have a Tomato plant over my wish to have a Periwinkle.
Last two days I also din't bother to water it as I always did.
Yesterday I went near the plant to check and see how to remove it, I couldn't believe my eyes ! There ..there ,at the end of the long stem , I could see few tiny tiny buds smiling at me !! My Jasmine has flowered again after more than an year!
Today , the first bud has blossomed in to a full flower , I just sat there in my swing admiring the single beauty, I couldn't help but wonder- Dear God.. just when we were going to write it off, give up on it , you have showered your blessings!
Some things in life are also like that..pleasant surprises comes in when we least expect it, disappointment give way to smaIl joys, and "Hope is born when all is forlorn" (quoted)
Keep Faith...

-R.