Juzt a mom!

Tuesday, 3 September 2013

7 Things Mumbai taught me

When I stepped in this magical and glamorous city called Mumbai I was a naive small town girl chasing after her dreams of a bright future. I landed here with my bags and dreams. Like many other I struggled through a lot of things, more than that I was scandalized with the change in culture, I would literally stand on road wide eyed and gape at people. But thankfully professionally my struggle ended quite quickly and gradually I learned to look beyond the veils of lights and glamour. Almost 10 years here and I can proudly say I am a Mumbaikar by heart now. This is my home and I owe it a lot. It did change me but I would like to believe, it changed me for better and taught me things that I still carry with me.

Below is a list of few things that I learnt in Mumbai. Some are quite obvious and some are quite unique, part of an experience that only Mumbai can give you.

1) Spirit of Mumbai: I am a part of this spirit. I walk, work and progress. I have learnt to never break down, never give up even in the face of the most difficult situation always carry on. Always move forward, always progress. I swam through floods, have hung on local trains, have traveled through riots and shoot outs and have survived, worked and progressed. It was not easy, there were times when I was ready to give up like after the bomb blasts [I was trapped in a riot and I survived by begging with folded hands to let me go] I saw people going back to work the next day and I really felt that they were heartless running after their careers and money. When I shared this sentiment with some of them, they told me that if you stay at home, you are giving more power to terrorists; you are telling them we are hurt and unable to move on. Ofcourse we are hurt but each hurt, each attack, each dent gives us more strength, makes us more powerful, makes us realise the value of life and how much we love the city. Isn’t it true? Yes it is. If we continue to live in the moment of our sorrow, we give more power to the person who has hurt us. Giving up and breaking down is more easy but moving on is more difficult and I learnt to do the more difficult thing.

2) No personal space: If you live here you know what I am talking about. Everyone is at everyone’s face. There is no personal space; every free space is free for everyone. Like a true Mumbaikar I have picked up the trait inspite of being claustrophobic I don't mind sitting within centimeters of a complete stranger.

3) Privacy: There is no personal space but there is enough privacy. Even if you are sharing the same sq.meter space; the other person gives a dam about your personal life. You can easily go on about your personal life, fight, cry, laugh...no one will interfere.

4) Lend a hand: If you ask, everyone is willing to lend a hand. They may not have the warmest face but they do have their hearts at the correct place. But you need to ask.

5) Never say no: Really no one says no here. If you ask for help especially directions people will always help, even if they don’t know. They will never say no. And neither do I but I try and not lead them to incorrect information.

6) Measure distance in time and not in Kms: We talk time and we walk time. Distance is never measured in kilometres. It is always measured in how much time you will take to reach a place. So Thane to VT is not 60-70 kms, it is about hour and a half.

7) Walk: We walk a lot. Most of us do and we walk fast. Walking is like second nature. Anyone who uses public transport here would easily walk around 4-5 kms daily and would walk fast. Sometimes it does get to me and I really feel if just for few minutes all of them could stop, and breath.

These were some of the things that Mumbai taught me. What about you..where do you live? What has your city taught you?

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

Monday, 2 September 2013

Silver

lines of wisdom

stories of growing up

silver and grey strands

Shared with Haiku Height/Sep Height Day 3 Silver

Image credit here

7 Things My Parents Taught Me

Growing up like any other child I was taught a lot of things, some were taught forcibly and some I picked up consciously and unconsciously. A lot of these things are a part of who I am today. These lessons shaped me, made be better, made me wiser and may be miser but I am grateful to each and everything that they taught me. So many lessons from so many chapters of my childhood, each different but each paved a new way for me. I have tried to summarize a few that I think are the most important things my parents have taught me.

1) Independence: Since as long as I can remember, I remember being independent. I don’t remember anyone telling us to be independent, we were independent. Even during my early childhood I remember doing all my chores on my own. There were times when I hated doing it but for some reason I never thought there was anyone else who would do it for me. And not only physical or financial independence, my parents taught me to be emotionally free. To not be dependent on anyone for any kind of support even in my toughest days. I will confess that I am not as independent emotionally as I was earlier; I tend to depend a lot on my better half but that is only because I can.

2) Hard work: There was never a short cut for hard work for me growing up. Any short cuts were noticed and we were made to do things again. So I learned hard work and I soon enough realised I was the type who needed hard work. However I do think now that hard work has to be clubbed with smart work but every time I take a short cut even now I could sense my mom looking at me with a not so happy look.

3) Fun: We were a house full of non sense. In our daily life there was so much fun and drama that we never needed television. There were numerous hours of fun and games. No restrictions and no forced timetable.

4) Accountability: We were accountable for our own actions. I remember my mother checking my bag and asking me to do the homework but that’s about it. I do not remember her running after me for anything. We were responsible for our things. I do remember a lot of times not doing the homework and then getting wacked in school but that taught me to be accountable for my own actions.

5) Speak your mind: Three of us [Me, My bro and My sis] were always asked to speak freely, ask questions. Questions were our best friend. We were never scared to speak our mind in front of anyone. This continues even now, I wear my heart on my sleeves and I am not scared to speak my mind. It does back fire sometimes but I can’t mince my words and I don’t see the need also.

6) Listen: As much as speaking your mind is important, it is also important to hear others. There are times when you do have to shut up and let others speak. I have a very patient ear and the credit goes to my parents. We were encouraged to debate a lot and one of the traits of a good debate is to listen to the other point of view; with an open ear and mind.

7) Budgeting: Like every child we also had pocket money; till we grew up.But along with that we were also exposed to prices of different things. I knew the price of everything I wanted and I would save and purchase. It not only gave me immense thrill and pleasure; it also taught me financing and value of money.

These are a few important things that my parents taught me and I hope I am able to pass them on to my children. What are the things that you were taught? Which one affected you most?

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