Mother (Haiku)

gentle as a dove

fierce as a tiger

Maa

Shared with Haiku Heights/Sep Heights Day  29 Mother 
Image credit here

Nest (Haiku)

built on dreams

colored with vows

our love nest

Shared with Haiku heights/Sep Heights Day 25 Den

Strive (Haiku)

head down voice meek

being dead but alive

an attempt to survive 

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work through the day

study under the lamp

struggle to move up

Shared with Haiku Heights/Sep Heights Day 24 Strive 
Image credit here and here

Sunday (Haiku)

hot cuppa in bed

stack of newspaper

a lazy Sunday

                                                       

good morning in afternoon

lunch for breakfast

a lazy Sunday

Shared with Haiku Heights/Se Heights Day 22 Sunday

Only Yesterday

I look into your eyes

And see the days gone by

Has it really been that long?

Since we met

Since we held hands

Since we first danced

How many years have gone by

Since that first glance

It was only yesterday when you I saw you laugh

And you took my heart away

It was only now when you winked at me

And together we swayed

All our firsts are still firsts

Million steps taken,

Million dreams dreamt

Zillion rules broken

Zillion lives spent

Only yesterday

So many songs still to learn

So many stories still to write

So many nights still to burn

So many fights still to fight

How have we already spent years together?

It was only yesterday when I didn’t know you,

When I wondered if you were there,

When I thought I would never find you

When I was a lost soul clobbered in a queue;

Waiting, wanting, lusting and rotting

I don’t remember

all the steps we took

all the bridges we crossed

all the pains and tears

all the panic and fears

I do remember

Your hands tightly around me

Your eyes always on me

Your hug and its warmth

Your words and your laughs

I do remember you

Always there for me

Just like it was yesterday,

The first time we were we

As we grow old together,

I see our shadows getting longer and longer

Our memories stronger and stronger

May our today be as long as yesterday

May our future be as together as today

(C) Juztamom 2013

Shared with Real toads Harvest Moon 

Image credit here

Wine, Women and Wonderland

Me to Ar: I am going out. You and Ay will be with dada. Okay na?

Ar: Okay but come back in 3-4 days please.

Me [Shocked]: 3-4 Days???? You will be okay if I leave you for 3-4 days with Dadda?

Ar [Very Casual]: Yes, Dadda also goes for 3-4 days all the time na, like that only you are going na?

Me [Sigh..relieved but sad]: I may next time but today I will be back in 3-4 hours.

Ar: Okay bye [Runs off]

I leave the house alone [Without Ar] almost after 2 years. I have left the younger one [Ay] alone a lot of times with his dad but Ar is always with me. So while leaving I waited to feel sad, to miss him etc but as soon as I left home..I felt liberated. No sadness, no heavy heart infact I felt extremely happy, relieved and free.

I had left home for a bloggers meet at a spa and saloon with expectations of some fun and some good pampering. The afternoon that followed didn’t disappoint the free me , it was a blend of a wonderful set of feisty women, tons of laughter and blissful/heavenly pampering at a wonderful place JCB [Bandra].

As usual I reached before time [But only few minutes before, my record of reaching an hour before the time remains intact J ]. After looking around for a few minutes I was greeted by wonderful and charming Amena from Fashionopolis our event organiser. After a chat of few minutes, I went head on..rather feet on for some pampering. The pedicure was awesome. I was in seventh heaven.

The place and staff looked warm and welcoming. I loved the ambiance and the interiors. Products were arranged with utmost care, style and class.

For me personally when I visit a salon I would want their staff to be well informed about their products and services but yet would want them to give me space to enjoy the pampering. JCB was spot on. The staff was not intrusive but friendly enough and they knew what they were doing.

Slowly and gradually other bloggers started trickling in. A quick round of introductions and soon enough all of them were enjoying the pampering. 

Janaki enjoying a glass of red with her manicure

Kajal looking blissful 

Vinita and Piya enjoying their head massage

The glasses of red and Champagne added to the magic. And before my stomach could grumble after few glasses sumptuous array of finger food arrived.

The conversations, laughters, gossips, food and wine went on for eternity [Atleast it seemed so; to my drunk to death brains]. But soon came the time to say good bye, again not before some goodies from JCB. What can I say we were pampered like queens.

I left the place with a bagful of goodies, phone full of new friends, mind full of bliss and a brain buzzing with wine, women and wonderland.

Photo credit Twinkle Dalal

Butter (Haiku)

a broken pot

tears and big kiss

buttering works 

Shared with Haiku Heights/Sep Heights Day 19 Butter

Image credit here

Carnival (Haiku)

sweets galore

lights, songs and dances

Ganpati Bappa morya 

Shared with Haiku Heights/Sep Heights Day 16 Carnival 

Image credit here

Wilted (Haiku)

wilted meadow

thirsty birds

a  sweltering Indian summer

Shared with Haiku Heights/Sep Heights day 15 Wilted 

Image credit here

River (Haiku)

absorbs all sins

womb filled with ashes

The Ganges

Shared with Haiku Heights/Sep Heights Day 14 River

Image Credit here

Superstition

a black cat

a harmless sneeze

fear of unknown

Shared with Haiku Heights/Sep Heights Day 13 Superstition

Image credit here

Tradition (Haiku)

veils and covers

mark of tradition

symbol of repression 

Shared with Haiku Heights/Sep Heights 284 Tradition

Image credit here

Orchids

curved and tall

like a sultry goddess

exotic beauty

exotic beauty

pure and pristine

like a child's laughter

Shared with Carpe Diem #294 Orchids

Image credit here

Kitchen (Haiku)

glistening with love

flowing with flavours and aroma

my kingdom

my kingdom

dancing in sweet and sour

Singing in cracklings and whistles

Shared with Haiku Heights/Sep Heights ~ Kitchen

Image credit here

Dove

bleeding and dying

lost in hands of diplomats

a dove

Shared with Haiku Heights/ Sep Heights Day 7 Dove
 Image credit here

7 Things My Better Half Taught Me

Being in a relationship [Married or not married] is a lot of hard work? Yes and No.

I initially thought I would not write a post about my better half, too personal..too private..too many emotions and may be words may not be enough to describe what I feel about him, what I have learned from him but if I don’t write about it I would miss writing on one of the biggest lessons of my growing up, of my life, of who I am. Hence I am going to give it a try, though I will try and not make it too emotional or sappy.

Before I write about him, let me share a few details about him and how we met. We have been together for almost 12 years now. We met through some common friends and as they say sparks flew [May be sparks didn’t fly...I just like to say that J ]

I think I literally grew up with him because the most have changed, I have adopted, I have grown up, I have progressed, I have seen the world..is in last 12 years. When we met I was in my early 20s and he was in his late 20s [Okay Okay may be not..he is 3 years older..so he was bang in the middle of 20ss you can say] but we were as naive as school children. Never been out of the house, never lived on our own. We came out of our shells together, we learned together; in process we taught each other a lot.

I am glad where we are today. He is a good friend, may be not my best friend because I don’t want him to be. I like not sharing everything with him and vice versa.

I have tried to summarise a few things I believe being with him has taught me:

1) Love thy neighbour: No not literally but he is very sociable , talks a lot, mingles a lot so as his better half I also have to. Though I am more sociable now but I was very moody initially and would talk when I would want to talk but since he talks always....with everyone, I have learnt to atleast be polite, smile, nod and sometimes be a more vocal part of the discussions.

2) Patience: He is the epitome of patience and I am opposite. He is one of those guys who would never honk when stuck in a traffic jam even though the passenger seat lady is fuming and verbally cursing everyone in their wayJ. But it rubs off and I am glad I picked up patience from him before he could pick up being impatient from me.

3) Smile: We are a smiley family and he and my son lead it. He smiles a lot, laughs a lot and I accept I frown a lot rather I use to. But more or less I have become like them. We always smile..ear to ear..big flashy smiles

4) Dirty is not uncool: I still can’t say dirty is cool because in all fairness it is not cool but I have learnt from him that sometimes just sitting and having chai is also okay, even when you can see a huge mess around you. You can ignore unclean sometimes and that is cool [But unclean is not cool!! Period!!]

5) Say no: He doesn’t say no to anything, to anyone. And because he doesn’t I have learnt to do it. And now I am not even hesitant to say it...I say no when I can’t do it. Simple.

6) Earn respect: Well he doesn’t respect anyone basis their age, caste, creed, gender, color etc etc. This use to annoy me initially because we are taught to always always give respect to elders, certain gender, certain animals etc even when the other person or animal doesn’t behave in a civilized way but my better half has a simple logic, you got to earn respect. Don’t do anything disrespectful I will not disrespect you. This simple logic has really simplified my thinking and my life

7) Cricket: I hate cricket..hate it. Infact hate is a very small word. If I could I would kill cricket. Like any other Indian I use to like it a lot before I met my husband. He is fascinated by the game..we have watched every cricket game possibly played on earth. From college to county, national to international, blind cricket, women’s world cup...we have watched everything and he still watches everything. I don’t. I just can’t. In our home love and hate for cricket co-exist happily.

These were some of the things I learnt from my better half. What about you? Anything you would like to share with me about your someone special?

I am taking part in The Write Tribe Festival of Words 1st - 7th September 2013. This is my sixth post written for it..

Children

tiny hands strong holds

little legs big steps

biggest teachers in life

Shared with Haiku heights/Sep Height Day 6 Teacher
 Image credit here

7 Things My Friends Taught Me

Like anyone else I have a long list of friends, some real, some virtual, some I rarely talk to and to some I bare all when I talk to. There are some I have lost touch with through time but I really loved them, there are some who are in touch but are annoying. And then there are some....who are still there...after everything I did....after everything I didn’t do. They are still there and I am sure they will always be there for me. Ofcourse this happens rare and I have few such friends. But I am lucky enough to have them. This post is dedicated to all such friends...and a special mention of someone very special..my bestest friend. [You know I am talking about you and I hope you read this]

A list of few things that my closest friends taught me:

1) Stay positive: I think a lot and have been through difficult times in past. And I have a habit of living in those moments but I am thankful to those special people in my life who are there to infuse positivity in my life. Who again and again remind me of all the things that are beautiful and all the things that are right.

2) Give and take: Yes...I tend to get selfless, have a blind spot for people I truly love and ignore my own life. There have been a lot who have used this trait in me and have never come back but there are few who taught me to ask, demand, and grab love for myself. Nothing wrong in that. Nothing wrong in being selfish sometimes. With time I have learnt that the most satisfying and content relationship would always be based on give and take.

3) Slow down/Take a break: My sabbatical is partly courtesy of a close friend who inspite of no social/family responsibility took a break from her job. She had guts and she went after something that she wanted from her life. When I was taking the plunge her life stood in front of me and gave me courage to do it

4) Get out: I am a frog in a well. I like being in a pajama and not going out. Really I do. But I do get out and I do that religiously. Again this is courtesy of a special friend who pushed me out of my slumber and who still does it when she sees me lazing around.

5) Take it easy: I have learnt to not overthink and worry about everything. Worrying is inbuilt in me, I am one of those people who always worry, always think and are always prepared for worst but thanks to a lot of friends I have learnt to let go, take it easy...worry a little less [May be still worry a lot but know how to curb it down]

6) Answer my phone: I don’t like doing that still in all fairness. I don’t like being reachable all the time but I know now there are people who would also worry for me and not everything or every phone call is about me. So I try and answer calls as many times as I can [Though I still don’t do it everytime but I have improved a lot]

7) Chat: Last but not the least. I am thankful to all those who taught me to chat on internet. I am glad I explored it though I initially hated it. Hence a special thanks to a special friend. She pushed me into internet world and I am yet to come out of it.

These were a few things my friends taught me. What about you? Who is your best friend? What have you learned from him/her?

I am taking part in The Write Tribe Festival of Words 1st - 7th September 2013. This is my fifth post written for it..

Marigold

Summery and soothing

Fragrance of an Indian wedding

Petals on Petals

Dancing together

Green submerged like a child in a womb

Filling the cavity, growing with a bloom

Layered like a sea wave

Each layer majestic 

Each wave poetic

Conjoined but separate

Woven in a sonnet

Growing out of brown

Stemming from a cave

 

Tiny green hands

Holding on to petals

Like a child attached to roots

Inspite of being a rebel

Orange like a sunset

All ready to wave goodbye

All set to drown

But followed by a rise

Promising like a dawn

Of a better tomorrow

Million flowers growing and blooming

Swaying through the wind

Dancing to the music

Tall and soaring

Proud and enthralling

Usual yet precious

Gold in a pot

Flaming and hot

My marigolds   

Shared with Poets United Verse first "Right under your nose"

Image credit here

Ballet (Haiku)

unjust unreasonable

questioned never answered

ballet of death

 

Written for Haiku heights/Sep height day 5 Ballet

Image credit here

7 Things That My Job Taught Me

I worked as a consumer researcher for 8 years before retiring 2 years back. These 8 years taught me a lot of things. I will shamelessly confess that they liberated me and my thought process a lot; may be more because I had never seen any other female work in my family before. I learned a lot from my job and from my professional life.  Following are my eight years encapsulated in few points:

1) Planning: I am a big big planner. I plan everything in advance and mostly this trait comes in handy even in my daily life [There are times when it harasses people around me also] . The credit for imbibing this in me goes to my profession. As a researcher there are atleast 1000 things at any point of time on your plate and you have to juggle all of them. There is a strict time schedule, so if you don’t plan, you can’t finish in time. I will always be thankful to research for all the excel sheets I have at home dedicated to planning different activities.

2) Punctuality: I was always punctual though I never paid too much importance to it. But soon after I started working I realised ; a lot of people’s schedule would depend on my schedule and hence it became a very important that I am on time and vice versa. I still follow it personally [Though my other half is not very happy with this trait J ]

3) Streamlining my thought process: I tend to get vague even now. I have a free mind and it keeps wondering and going off track quite a lot. But when you are working for others; you can’t afford that; so I learned to concentrate better. My mind still wanders a lot and I can somewhat afford to do it now however my concentration and focus is much better as compared to before.

4) Microsoft: I was scared of computers and its programs. Only thing I knew well was to play games. Now I am an expert in excel and power point, you name it, I know it. Even now I use them extensively and I am thankful to my job for it. [I was and I am still wary of MS Word. I just don’t get it]

5) Delegation: I was and I am a keen worker. You can even call me a labourer. I like working and I would rather work myself than spend time explaining others to do it. But again I learnt we cannot do everything on our own, delegating was an important part of my job and it is helping me even now. Else I would have ended up doing everything on my own.

6) Analytics: Analysis is a very important part of being a consumer researcher. It sharpened my analytical bent of mind and I still tend to analyse things more than others.

7) Negotiation skills: Again a very important part of my job and now I am not ashamed to say that I look at every price with a doubt and question it.This saves a lot of chillar for me 

These were a few things that my job taught me. What about you? Where do you work? What did you learn from your job?

I am taking part in The Write Tribe Festival of Words 1st - 7th September 2013. This is my third post written for it..