learnings

The news hit me in my solar plexus as if a boxer had. Anger raged and then sadness engulfed. I went about my daily routine in a haze. I went to the gym. Songs were blaring. Today in my heightened senses I actually listened to the lyrics of a very popularly loved song from the movie Alaipayuthe. The song is yaarodi, ....unnode purushan, un thimiruku arasan. If loosely translated it means dear girl who is the guy who will be your husband, who will be the king to your stubbornness rather who will dominate/rule/subjugate you dear stubborn girl. A dam broke within me. I left hurriedly and burst out into tears in the safe haven of my vehicle. A song sung by a female for a female teasing about a man subjugating, dominating, about a girl who cannot be assertive- because being assertive is equalled to being stubborn and aggressive in my culture! So look at the body language of women in my country- shoulders never brazened out, chin down, eyes down, cover with stole or a bag while in public. T...

On reading AG KK Venugopal’s submission in court that being an MP is not a full time job, I am endorsing that being an MP and an advocate is the best career in India. As an MP you get the best pay, best benefits without being accountable. As an advocate you can argue your way out. Both in tandem is a dream job.  Both vocations need you to be a good communicator. Hence polish your public speaking and language skills. I offer Public speaking at a throwaway price. When you become an MP + advocate do be on my side. 

My bambino grew up And left home He has two of his own now Our conversations Punctuated with the unspoken... Amused he asked If the end of the conversation we had reached How do I convey that in my mind he Occupies the central role Dialogues I have, chats I filter As if talking in person That when the virtual reality happens I am at a loss I long to be in real fondling his head, call him by nickname Time leaps by.. He laughs at my home remedies I want to say.' I told you so' A pause , a moment Time has jumped by He has to make his own choices For he is a man my son.

My mother's generation has friends who came into their lives after marriage. School and college friends hardly existed. Thanks to social media my generation rocks. We have searched and brought our friends back into or lives. Today my college mates and I had met up over lunch. The lunch stretched into tea time. We are all at a wonderful stage of life, some of us single, some grandparents, some remarried and some parents to University children or just about to be married. We giggled, laughed uproariously so much so that we felt sad to part. Yet when we had to part we parted with promises of having more meetings and chats. Over so many topics that we shared the topmost discussed was our menopause. It was a relief that we were going through most of the common symptoms like hot flushes, sweating, raging anger etc. Today we felt more bonded. I also realised how important it is for women to have women friends. We are lucky to have our school/college friends for we can truly let our ha...