Guide me to light
Bring me peace
Shepherd of my soul
Shared with Haiku Heights /Sep Height Day 4 Shepherd
Image credit here
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..
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