Weird Psychological Disorders..

This article was published on Topyaps

When you met Norman Bates in the horror movie Psycho, who developed a split personality to erase the crime of murdering his mother and her lover from his memory, you thought how weird it was! Believe me, there are more weird and bizarre psychotic disorders affecting people in the world which are quite unbelievable. Psychotic disorder affect the mind and thought process of a person, causing confusion, interfering with judgments and changing their behavior, as a result of which they lose touch with reality.

Here I am compiling a list of 10 weirdest psychological disorders beginning with a mild and less shocking one so as to not scare you.

 Kleptomania

The term kleptomania does not sound unusual or weird anymore, what with news flashing about famous personalities caught on CC footage lifting petty things from shop. This psychotic disorder urges people to steal things of little value which they don’t have any need for. The act of theft is followed by a sense of release in pressure which was building up in them. Not many kleptomaniacs are even aware that they are stealing.

 Bibliomania

Next time you visit a friend who has stacks of books; just make sure they do not suffer from an obsessive compulsive disorder called Bibliomania. People suffering from this weird psychotic disorder is so obsessed with book collection, including several copies of the same edition, that their own lives and those of their loved ones are destroyed. Stephen Blumberg is known to have stolen books worth $ 5.3 million, whereas Sir Thomas Phillipps collected 160,000 books. Apart from bibliomania, people are identified with bibliophilia – extreme love of books, Bibliophagy- compulsion to eat books, bibliotaphy- urge to bury books and bibliokleptomania – stealing books.

 Bigorexia

You are familiar with the term anorexia, but did you know that there exists an exactly opposite of this disorder known as bigorexia? People identified with bigorexia, also known as muscle dysmorphia, are obsessed with their muscles. No matter how well they are built, they feel they are not muscular enough. They keep looking at their body in the mirror, stick to their gym and workout sessions and at times take steroids. Often their obsession with body leads to failure in job and personal relationships.

 Stendhal Syndrome

The person with Stendhal Syndrome may suffer physical and emotional anxiety, panic attacks, confusion, dissociative experience and hallucinations when they are exposed to something beautiful or artistic, especially a place like art gallery or beauty in natural world.

Synesthesia

Synesthesia is a genetic trait that causes confusion in perception of senses which is described as pleasant by synesthetes. In simple words we can say the people with synesthesia can taste shapes and see music where the stimulation of one sense leading to another is involuntary and automatic.  For them banana and tastes blue, letter A as red, letter  O as white or black and the city skyline tastes like blueberry. The perception may differ from one synesthete to other though there could be underlying similarities between them.

Trichotillomania

Everyone goes through the passing phase where they feel like pulling out their hair. Imagine having an urge to pull hairs out from scalp, face, eyelashes, ear, nose or even pubic area all the time, which is what the condition Trichotillomania does to a person. Some people are not just satisfied with pulling hair; they go ahead and consume it, leading to Rapunzel syndrome. 

 Apotemnophilia

In rare conditions, doctors have to remove a diseased body part of a person to save their lives, which is emotionally traumatic experience for a person. For people diagnosed with apotemnophilia, there is an irresistible desire to amputate their healthy limbs or other parts of their body. In extreme cases people are known to amputate their own limbs to satisfy their urge and are happy with their decision. 

 Alien Hand Syndrome

Those with Alien hand syndrome believe that their hand has its own independent life. Creepy, huh? Though they have normal sensations in their hands, they state that one of their hands has a will of its own and it is often errant, disobedient and defiant while the other hand is under their control.

 Capgras Syndrome

Capgras syndrome causes a delusion that one of their loved one or acquaintance, usually a spouse has been replaced by an identical looking imposter, or several people in some cases. This is not just the case where a woman complains “You are not the person I married anymore”, but a serious neurological disorder, in which the delusion primarily results from organic brain lesions or degeneration, identified more often in women than in men.

 Cotard’s Syndrome

Cotard’s syndrome also referred to as Walking Corpse Syndrome can be considered as the most weirdest and strange of all psychotic disorders. People who suffer nihilistic delusion from this psychotic disorder are convinced that they are dead, decomposing and they do not exist in the world. They often describe a loss of blood, organs and/or body parts. The syndrome is named after Jules Cotard who recorded the case of his patient who complained she had “no brain, no nerves, no chest, no stomach and no intestines.” So strong was her belief that she did not eat since she had no innards and finally died of starvation.  

55 Fiction - Whore Woes

She tried hard to please her affluent client, hoping for extra bucks which could feed her family for the next two days.

Her first break from soul selling in 8 months! She sighed in relief as sleep overcame her.

She woke up to find him gone with her new set of clothes, watch and purse.

A Fuel for Your Time Machine

Nostalgic memories are wonderful time machines that allow us to travel into our own past. What best fuel to drive this time machine other than smell, fragrances and pictures? Land on that old, crumbled and dirtied old picture or inhale smell associated with your past, there you are on a ride which many scientists have failed to build.

The wonderful baby smell!

 One of the very assuring and pleasing smells is that of the baby powder and baby body cream, which makes me feel safe, secure and protective at the same time. I am not sure how others feel, but that is how that smell makes me feel. I do remember holding my fragile new born in my arms, smelling sweetly of the baby powder and creams. I wanted to lay down even my life to protect them, when I realized it must have been the same way my parents felt about me when they held the tiny me in their arms. That is the reason for the secure and protective feeling I think.

I grew up not in apartments but a cluster of nearly 50 houses owned by a single owner and rented out to people of all communities and regions. There were lot of Keralites and Kannadigas. There were people from Andhra, Tamil Nadu, followed by Rajputs. There were some Punjabis, Sindhis, Marwaris, Maratis, and Gurkhas also living there. It was a great place to grow up watching different people, eat different food, dress in different attire, speak different language and celebrate different festivities. It was also wonderful to watch them celebrate the same festivals like diwali, holi or a national holiday in their own unique way.

Those were the days of celebrating our unity in diversity. Back in the 1980’s we did not even know which caste or community we belonged to. We were muslims on the day of Ramzan, Hindu’s on diwali, holi etc and Christians on the day of Christmas. All those great days with history behind them did not have any significance to us.. they just meant fun and entertainment. My parents were liberal enough not to stop us from having fun with our friends on the special occasions.

Kids enjoying chicken on Eid

Every festival had its own smell which spread around our house. During Ramzan and Bakrid, the aroma of the kheer Sheer Khurma would wake us up. This was the time when most of the relatives and friends visited us. All the aroma of food and festival was lost once people came back from eid namaz as the smell of attar spread around the homes; well at least it lasted until the aroma of Biryani would take over.

During diwali it was the sound of crackers burst by our dad that would wake us up which brought the odd but delightful smell of burning crackers. We would fight with dad for enjoying crackers without waking us. We would not touch the breakfast cooked by mom as we had a big stash of sweets to finish off. Dad used to purchase raw materials for his factory; therefore he got many sweets and gifts for diwali from the people he did business with. We got the taste of Gujarati, Marati, Sindhi, Bengali and many other local sweets. His boss would send a huge pack of crackers and sweets too. Diwali was a grand festival in our home. Our neighbors would treat us with payasams and kajjayas.

Holi brought the smell of colors mixed with the dishes being prepared in homes around us. Food was ignored on this day as most of us were either trying to escape being drenched in color or went on attacking spree to spray colors on friends. It was the day of hiding for me until evening when I would slowly come out to taste the great Gujiyas.

Ugadi was one of the biggest festivals celebrated where we lived. All doors emanated the smell of mango leaves as they were decorated with the thorana. We would run from one home to another to watch people eat jaggery with bitter neem leaves. It was fun when our friends refused to eat neem but were forced by their parents to have them as it was an important ritual. The afternoon lunch on Ugadi was a feast and we would be invited by many of our friends. We had tough time deciding whom to visit. Every home would have a lavish spread consisting a special palya, kosambari made of cucumber, moongdal, channadal etc, mango pickles prepared at homes, Sandige, pakodas, rice, special curry, sweets, kheer, hulianna, chitranna and of course the king of the day Obbattu. My sister and I would love having this special treat with our friends.

Christmas was a very special festival as we went to St.Joseph’s convent where it was celebrated in a great way. The smell of hot cross buns, Christmas tree and the ambience of the church always took my breath away. I loved the way the nuns smelt, very mild and pure unlike the strong smell which came from artificial perfumes. We used to get gifts on the Christmas day from our school which meant a lot to us.

Unfortunately gone are those days of fun with festivals. With more progress of our country, people have drifted apart. No one has enough time or enthusiasm to celebrate festivals like they used to in the past. Fresh mango leaves have given way to plastic ones, traditional dishes been replaced with modern catering and we do not visit friends either. The natural fragrances have been replaced with pleasant home fresheners. My dad, sister and mom with whom I enjoyed those days are not with me anymore, but their memories brings smile on my face even to this day. At times when I chance upon a sight or smell the special aroma, I travel in the time machine to meet them and relive the days when nothing was more important than being happy and having fun.
This post is written for the contest on Indiblogger organized by AmbiPurIndia

The days when we were free birds are gone now :(

Happy Birthday Dear Son

I owe you son!

You never made me shout or give you advice

There was no need for me to ask you to be nice

You gave me freedom to let you go free

As I knew you would come back safe to me

You never made me worry, nor made me cry

You listened to me always without asking ‘why’

A son like you is the best gift a Maa can get

What gift from me can pay off the debt?
Farida Rizwan

I never exaggerate when I praise Rayyan, in fact I try to make it a little real by playing it down. He has been a blessing in my life, especially in bringing up Farheena. When I asked him today what he would like for a birthday present, my amazing son said he wants to take his sister out to Decathlon and buy her something to play with. That is Rayyan! Happy birthday Dear Son. May God bless you. 

A Sugar Free Minty Chill Pill

 

Mints have been my favorites since my childhood days. I used have a small container holding the peppermint chocolates available back then. They were quite cheap and were available in just two colors – white and pink. Later on came the mint candies with hole in them. Somehow, I still preferred by old pellets of mints.  As life went on, there were various peppermint chocolates wrapped in flashy papers, chewing gums, mint flavored biscuits and even ice-creams with a dash of mint available in the market. For some reason my heart lay with the original mint candies of the past which were not too sweet or mixed with other flavors. Unfortunately, they are not available anymore.

When Blogadda welcomed me to taste and review the sugar free Minto Ultramintz, I hoped that it would be something of a pure mint which would bring back the memories of the past. When the package arrived, I could realize that this product was going to be something special because of the effort put in the packing and personalizing it.

It even had my name on the package. Someone
who goes out of way to please the customer in such a way would sure make the product is awesome.

As I opened the package I could see a cool 60 extra strong pellets packed in a stylish black tin case which was something very special. It did not look like any of the mint cases I have come across so far. This is done by someone who knows that the first impression is the best impression. By reading about the product from Blogadda I had known that each pellet is made from peppermint oils from France (don't we get good peppermint oils in India?), finest quality menthol and is powered by special cooling component.  I prayed for all of those words to be true because I was tired of the sweetened powerless mints I was coming across. By now my children had gathered around the package and wanted to see what the new product was. We opened the tin case and brought out 3 pellets through a small opening created to let them out by shaking the box and popped in one pellet each. We just had finished some tasty Biryani and needed some mouth fresheners. My daughter saw the small pellet, made a face and asked for more. I told her to try it first and she can have more if she wanted.

Wonder of wonder the small pellet could erase the lingering taste of spice and onions in a moment and spread the cooling effect of mint all around my mouth. What topped the experience was the taste which was not extra sweet. I just hate sweetened mint candies. Off course mint is cool but Minto Ultramintz was just the coolest one.  I am not sure whether the package was done especially for the bloggers to review the product or the same is going to be released in the market. If yes, than it is going to add to the style. I am sure this product is going to gain lot of export orders too.  Priced at Rs.50/- per box(looks like a big chunk of budget goes into packing itself), I expect to see it soon on the dashboards of car, dining table and off course my computer work table.  My suggestion for ITC is – try to market refill packets of Minto Ultramintz pellets which would be money saver. 

"I am reviewing mint-o Ultramintz as a part of the Product Reviews Program at BlogAdda" 




Some cool entertaining pictures put up on the wall .. find more on https://www.facebook.com/Ultramintz

The Boy Who Refused to Copy

When the teacher said, "fold your hands and sit quiet", Rayyan obeyed
no matter what the children around him did.

I trust my son without a single strand of doubt bothering me ever. How did I develop such trust in my boy? It goes to the school days when he was in First standard. When I sent him school, I had told him few guidelines he has follow before he begins to learn and score marks in tests or exams.

1.       Do not lie

2.       Do not cheat

3.       Do not trouble your friends

4.       Don’t call anyone by nickname even if others do

5.       Do not take things that belong to others

6.       Respect everyone

7.       Write what you know

8.       Follow school rules

9.       Be nice to all, especially the lesser gifted children

10.   Be regular with your work

These were the few morals along with others which I would tell him to follow. Scoring marks or topping the class did not matter much to me because not all children are made to stand first in the class. If he had it in him he would do it on his own. But the good behavior and principles can be adopted by every child.

On most of the days we would walk to school and on way he would ask me questions I would answer him patiently no matter what topic he picked up.

I am not sure whether it is the morals we taught him, or there was something absolutely good inside Rayyan, he turned out to be a gem of person. There is not a single person he has come to know who can tell that he has hurt them in any way or said hurtful things to them. In every school and college he attended, though not the topper, he was loved by his teachers for his good behavior and respect he showed for them.

Some incidences stand out in my memory and make me feel proud as a mom.

Once Rayyan was down with fever and could not attend class for few days. The monthly test was round the corner. The tired boy could not study much but I let him write the test. I told him not to bother about the marks. The class teacher who saw the tired child, who was her pet in the class, she decided to help a bit. She told him the answers and spellings of the “Fill in the blanks”. To her amazement Rayyan refused to write what she told him and told her that he will write what he knows because his Mom had told him to do so. He said she had assured him that marks do not matter much. The teacher was both shocked and impressed at the same time.

With his favorite teacher

I summoned to the school the next day. The teacher told me exactly what happened and how much she felt touched by not only Rayyan’s honesty but his trust in his mother’s words. She was worried that it would be difficult for the child to compete and survive in the world that did not follow those morals or principles anymore. She asked me to make him a bit of rough and tough for his own good. I felt proud of my child and it was really touching that his teacher had tears in her eyes when she was talking to me. I could understand her concern because there was some truth in what she said. I also realized that children need to be assured that you will accept them for what they are, so that they will not be under pressure to reach the goal by hook or crook methods. The single event had taught me more lessons about bringing up a child than hundreds of books I read on parenting. Rayyan could not pass the monthly test that term, but I knew my boy had done the right thing. For me he was the winner.

For the trust Rayyan placed in my words, I promised myself that I am going to accept him for whatever he is forever in my life without forcing him live my dreams for me. With the unquestioning trust children place on you, there comes a great responsibility where you cannot fail them. 16 years down the lane, I have kept that promise. It has also helped me in accepting my special needs daughter for what she is. With acceptance of our children for what they are comes a great joy of parenthood.

The perfect student!

Rayyan followed the rules of school and respected his teachers throughout his school days. Rayyan had always followed rules on road, school and office without fail. I realized the impact it has on others when I had to visit his school to pick him up for an emergency. My mom was sick and we had to travel to Mangalore from Byndoor. Rayyan was in school and we decided to pick him from there on our way to hospital. As I entered the school, I was in shock to see all students getting ready to enter the playground. It would take us some time to find him I worried as I entered the campus. Mr. Khan was standing and keeping a strict eye on the students.

As I approached him and mentioned our problem and dilemma of finding Rayyan quickly, he smiled and said, give me a moment I will tell you where he is. He scanned the students and immediately identified Rayyan on the third floor. Surprised I asked him how he did it, when all looked so alike in the uniform. He answered proudly, “I can identify Rayyan anytime anywhere because we have a rule for children to walk in the corridors holding their hands behind their back and Rayyan is the one person who follows that rule even when no is watching. If a student is walking with hands held behind even during the play period, it is definitely Rayyan”. I felt great pride that day, more than what my parents would have felt when I topped my class. Though Rayyan was mildly dyslexic and had trouble with his languages and spellings, he was always loved by his teachers for what he was.

Today, a young man of 21, Rayyan still follows the rules. He has found his career in animation and has been doing great with his new found passion. The short movies, his comics and other work reflect his personality and his way of life. Honesty, Kindness, Compassion, Respect and Integrity have blended into his everyday life naturally.

Being a good and obedient student was just the first step he took. He went to be a very helpful and lovable son, an adorable brother, a loving nephew, a very attentive grandson and trustworthy friends. He has been a blessing in life as without him it would have been tough to manage my special needs daughter and also my own cancer. He is my proud achievement and Medal of Honor!

I am sharing my Do RIght Stories at BlogAdda.com in association with Tata Capital.

Fishy Memories of Romance and Love

One thing I love about contests is the topics I get to write upon. It often takes me back in time, unfolding parts of my life which have been forgotten in the busy routine of daily life. So when Smelly to Smileycontest said “Tell us about the nostalgic memories you associate with different smells or fragrances in your home to win!” I went down the memory lane and started smelling fish and feeling romantic. It is kind of tricky that fish smell should be associated with romance but life sometimes makes impossible happen.

There is nothing fishy in my feelings when I tell you that the smell of Fish (fresh, cooked, rotten or any kind) reminds of my husband and our initial married days of coziness. Though born in the coastal village of Byndoor, I was brought up in Whitefield, since my parents had shifted there earlier for many reasons. I was out of my native village even before I saw my first birthday. Most of the people my parents were associated with were vegetarians; therefore, we grew up eating fresh vegetables and fruits more than the non-vegetarian dishes. My mom was great cook of Biryani, but it was reserved only for the special occasions or when guests came home.

Fish was something which was cooked just 2-3 times in a year due to its unavailability in the place we lived back then. There was just one Malayalee guy who would bring fish on his bicycle. On most of the days my Mom would find it not fresh enough or too expensive to buy from him. I did not care much for fish and avoided it during meals. I did not eat much of any non-vegetarian dishes as they were too hot and spicy for my palate. I was used to eating bland food without much spice, salt or chili.

When I got married to a guy from my native village (believe me, my Mom had found him eligible for me when I was Byndoor and not yet a year old) and shift there, I had no idea what a cultural shock it would be for me. After all I wasn't even moving out of my state. But the place was totally different, especially the food, people and the smell. Though I had been there earlier during summer vacations, we stayed with my Mom who took care to meet all my needs and also cooked the food I loved. Now, I got the taste of real coastal India with all fishes, prawns, mollusks and other weird sea food. There was no telephone connection, cooking gas or running water in the house I was supposed to live in. Though for people living there it was just the way of life, it was shocking and very scary for me. On the third day itself I was regretting what I had gotten myself into and was seriously thinking on deserting the person who had faced opposition from his family, gone against everyone and married me. Somehow, I was pacified by various means and then slowly settled down in the house.

My husband had no idea that anyone could dislike fish or sea food, so he went out of his way and bought all different kinds of sea food for me taste. That was the best he could think beside collecting all kind of yellow things for me, like suitcase, saris and mugs because I had once told him I like the bright yellow color. His enthusiasm, my newly wedded status and also the newly married wife’s love for her husband made me keep quiet and not tell him how I hated the smell and the sea food. Too much of Yellow was getting on nerves as well.
The wedding rituals were done; guests had gone back home and my cruel parents left me behind at the in-laws and went back to Bangalore. This is when the real married life at the in-laws would begin for me.

My husband sensing my desperation and fear of the new environment made sure that he would not upset me. Wonder what he did? He went out and bought some good fish for lunch. BTW buying fish was not all he could do. He also pulled out a carrom and some cards for us to enjoy along with the stories he narrated of some adventures from his life. Those were days without internet and TV, in case you wonder why he did not hook me to internet if he really wanted to express his love. Lucky him, he could get all the attention he wanted from me back then which is so difficult now with tough competition given by daughter, son, blogs, facebook, work and internet in general. According to me, a man is at his best during the initial days of marriage when he ignores all the flaws of his wife and loves her unconditionally which makes it so easy for the wife to love him back.  Those were the good times when I did not have to deal with problems which entered my life later on and those days of initial love were filled with smell of fish all around me. No wonder I do not hate the stink of fish anymore.

First day after everything was settled; we as a newlywed couple were left alone to do whatever we wanted. We decided to listen to songs and play some card games in our free time. I had always been a loner kind of person who enjoyed books more than company of people. For once I was very happy to have company of a person and spend some alone time with him which was kind of shocking. So, there I was not an abnormal woman after all and I could fall in love too. After spending some cozy times playing cards while listening to some soulful bollywood oldies, I was feeling a bit hungry. I did not know what to do in the kitchen because the set up was completely different. There was a hired woman who was managing cooking,  so I was shooed off by her until everything was ready. 

It was all about fish, fish and more fish....

Lunch was served. The rice was different. It was the boiled rice with big brownish grains. I loved white rice :( . There was fish curry which was called Khatta Salan, fish fry and spiced fish.  My husband watched me as I ate my lunch, and he must have felt proud that he bought all that fish so I could eat it as much as I want. I was in a dilemma whether to please myself or him. For some reason I decided to please him and pretended to relish the fish. Wrong move! True love makes you blind, dumb and stupid. The dinner was served and we had fish again for dinner. Shocked, but still not finding my voice, I ate a bit of it. Next morning I could see they were cooking Dosa. I heaved a sigh of relief. Breakfast would not have fish served. Only if I knew how wrong I was! Dosa was supposed to be dipped in the famous fish curry. I gulped down the dosa carefully touching just its tip to the fish curry. Afternoon the lunch was served with fish, dinner was with fish and another day began with breakfast which was served with fish curry. 3 days went by and I suffered in silence, which was very unusual for me. I am one of those people who cannot suffer, and even if they have to suffer they make a lot of noise about it. Newly wedded brides do change a bit for those initial married days I think. At least I was behaving differently from my usual ways and eating fish day in, day out without making noise. The time between eating fish was strewn with some love, romance and games with my husband. We did not go out anywhere much other than places nearby and in hotels the good food meant fish dishes. By the end of the first week of our married life I could feel a burning sensation in my tummy and I started to throw up.

My worried husband asked me what was wrong. I said I don’t know and that is when people started throwing suspicious look towards me. OMG! Couldn’t a woman vomit without pregnancy? We went to a doctor who told me that I suffered from tummy upset and asked me whether I had changed my eating habits. OH YES! I said. The excessive use of red chili, coconut and other food had played havoc on my digestive system. With some medications and advise from the good doctor, the problem was temporarily solved. I started eating light food and took it easy after that but there was no way I could escape from the smell of the fish. Everyone ate fish, fish and more fish there. Every home sent out the smell of fish being cooked through their chimneys. Thus was life in Byndoor.

Now I do cherish eating fish and also do not hate the smell of it because my heart (or mind) has got it associated with those happy married days of my life which was filled with new clothes, carefree days, new people to meet, new places to visit, new found intimacy with another person, fun, love, games and loving husband who attended to my needs. Even to this day, I cannot eat fish day in day out like many people do in my native place but I do not hate it either.

Life is never a smooth ride always. Things began to change with birth of children, cancer, work in another country for husband and other problems in our lives. The carrom was stored away in the attic, the cards were dispersed and there is not much alone time for us now. No more do we sit together and listen to old melodies from bollywood, share jokes, make future plans and just talk and talk without arguing or debating over topics. I cook the food I want to and I am not forced to eat fish every day. Unfortunately with the absence of fish curry, there has been loss of those good moments of our lives too. Those moments were something I cherished back then and to this day they do bring back kind of soothing feeling in my heart.

Whenever I cook fish at home I do find solace in its stink. Even though Ambi Pur can chase away all the fishy smell from my home, I do allow it to linger on for some moments as that takes me back to the happy times like some kind of time machine.

This post is a part of contest Smelly To Smiley Contest on Indiblogger by Ambi Pur 

www.facebook.com/AmbiPurIndia

Hitting Two Birds With One Stone...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQiJRwZYFiw

Odd title for a post? Yeah! But that is what Shree Bose has done. As I watched the video, I fell in love with the young and enthusiastic person over and over again. Shree Bose talked about two topics that are close to my heart. Listening to her, my admiration for her grew in leaps and bounds.  One was the topic of cancer which is matter of life and death to me, as I am a survivor of breast cancer, stage III. I would not have survived if doctors had not found a way to treat cancer. Cancer has been a part of our lives as four out of six members of my family (Dad, Mom, Sisterand I) have been through it. A young smart girl who speaks about finding a cure for cancer instead of boyfriends, movies, parties and lipstick gives me hope. Dedicated work from smart young people like her are our best hope of wiping the traces of cancer from our planet.

Another topic she won me over with was about the education system and attitude of teachers towards children with different needs. She mentioned how her brother, who was gifted kid, was asked to be dumb down by his teacher. Good, her parents made wise decision of allowing him to reach his full potential instead of holding him back just for the sake of acquiring a label of being normal.

If this is the struggle of a smart kid, then anyone can imagine how tough it is for children with challenges.  Being a mom of special needs girl and dyslexic boy, the education system that tries to dumb down children by not allowing them to reach their full potential is something I feel very passionate about. Shree’s attitude and handling of this topic along with her passion for the work she does was very touching for me.

So, twice Shree Bose won my heart over with her video. Though held tight on time and having urgent work to attend to, I just could miss the opportunity of sharing my thoughts and promoting her cause here today.

As a survivor of cancer, the word recurrence is something I dread very much. The post I had written a while ago "Soak Us No More in Fear" tells very much about the way I feel. I know it is the same with almost every survivor. After fighting cancer with all you have, going through chemotherapy, losing a part of your body (breast in my case) and suffering the after effects - it is sad to know that you are not even cured. Cancer is just put to sleep and rest. It can come back any day stronger and more deadly to claim your life.
Losing my Mom and Sister to Cancer was devastating for me. I suffer from the guilt and often ask myself the question Why not me? Why only them? The emotional trauma was much more demoralizing than anything else. One of the reasons why I decided to get into Counseling and Psychology so that I can reach out to cancer affected people and ease their emotional pain. Cancer is a disease that affects not only the sufferer but all the people around them.
Shree Bose, who has experienced the death of a loved one to cancer, will have more passion into her work than those who have not experienced the pain. Kudos to Dr.Alakananda Basu, who took her under wings and allowed the young lady to develop wings to soar out and reach the skies.  I wish her all her best in finding a solution to the menace of cancer that claims so many lives world over.
The second issue she talks about is as important for me as finding cure for cancer. So many young children are forced to dumb down due to our theory centered education system which forces them to read, memorize and write down the answers dumbly on answer sheets; whether they understand the topic or not. Hats off to the parents of Shree who refused to allow the teachers to cripple the mind of their child. Every child is born with different gifts which are neatly packed away. As parents it is our duty to find this gift and unwrap it carefully. We cannot destroy the gift they have in them...

If Newton never told anybody about the law of gravity, if Edison would not have lit the houses but instead if they had found the cure for cancer, I would still have my Mom and Sister in my life. I would not mind lighting a lamp or not knowing about gravity if I could save them from succumbing to cancer. Wishing Shree Bose all the success in her venture. 

The post is a part of contest organized on Indiblogger by Franklin Templeton Investments partnered the TEDxGateway Mumbai in December 2012.

Refreshing Tour of Coastal Karnataka with My Lovely Children

I was born in a tiny coastal town with endless beaches named Byndoor. Though my parents moved to Bangalore and we grew up in the city, we used to get occasional glimpse of our native village during the summer holidays. After watching the towering mountains and vast waves of ocean, tours can never be in city for me. Though I like to reside in Bangalore and love the city, my idea of the perfect road trip in a car would be among the coastal roads, jungles and hills surrounding my birth place. The national highway that runs from Kundapura to Byndoor can boast of the most enthralling nature's beauty you will ever come across. The pictures from my past journey's clicked by Rayyan should prove a point there, though I have to say that it is very tough to capture the real beauty in camera.

Provoked by AmbiPur India, our usual gang of three (Rayyan, Farheena and I) choose Renault Duster 1.5 RxL110 to embark on ThePerfect Road Trip to get savor of the refreshing air and eye catching sights along the route of Bangalore to Byndoor.  We have been teased throughout our lives by the wonderful glimpses we catch as our bus climbs the Western Ghats and runs on the NH 17 (now NH 66) to reach our town. We have dreamed of stopping our vehicle to enjoy the beauty of nature to the fullest, instead of peeking at it through the windows of the bus; but, that never happened. Today is the day when we are going to live that dream.

On mother’s day my son Rayyan had captured our life in his simple drawings which tells everything. People come and go in our lives, but I and my two kids have been the constant factor among the change. We eat, travel, watch movies and play games together. We know the needs and requirements of each other very well; we also have come realize our own personal space and privacy. We are very happy together and love to share every adventure of our lives in each other's company. No wonder then the perfect trip would be when we three get on this dream journey.

We leave our home in J P Nagar at 1 a.m. in the night. The odd hour of starting from our home will allow us to reach the Sakaleshpur just before sunrise so that we can watch the sunrise on the jungles of Western Ghats. Rightly so we reach Sakaleshpur around 4.30 a.m. and start our climb up the ghats. The straight road now starts to twist and turn like Sridevi from the film Nagina.  As the light slowly starts to peep in through the hills and clouds, the jungle wakes up and starts to welcome the new day with various sounds. 

Our Headlights Cutting Through the Darkness

First sign of Dawn

Is that a sun ray peeping through clouds?

Finally the sky brightens up

Seeing the day break through mist

We hear birds, monkeys and other animals all making sounds but can see nothing. It looks as though the jungle itself is talking to the skies.
We stop the car and wait for the light to brighten up the world before we start savoring the beauty of nature that is abundantly strewn across our way. Through the mist, the green trees start to show up slowly.

Roads of ghats that twist and turn like bollywood Nagins

 After traveling some distance through the jungles, we reach Yettinahole reservoir. The eye catching beautiful waters beckons us gurgling happily through the mountains. We stop there and forget to breathe as we get lost in the beauty of place. Both side of the road is covered by thick foliage of trees, some of them towering as though they want to reach the skies. We see birds and butterflies starting their day. No matter how long we gaze at the running water or swaying trees, we still cannot get enough of it. With heavy heart we get back into the car and start to drive once again.
 As we continue to drive on the Bangalore –Mangalore highway, the stream accompanies us on our journey happily, telling tales about the happenings in the jungle. All of sudden we are blessed with the glimpse of peacocks running near the stream. They soon disappear among the trees, but that momentary glimpse of our national birds spreads smile on our faces for some miles.
Sometime later the stream bids bye and moves away from the highway. Within minutes we begin to miss its gurgling sound which accompanied us for more than an hour.

We meet another river which crosses our way near Uppinangady. We get down from the car once again to breathe the freshness that is so elusive in the city we live. Though the air outside is cool and fresh from the rains that has lashed the hills moments ago, we have to travel with windows closed as the rain water and cool air makes us feel so uncomfortable as the car moves. As we get back into our car, we feel the refreshing air inside too as Ambi Pur spreads in the freshness through the AC that has been switched on.  We travel and reach Mangalore in the morning for refreshing ourselves and having our breakfast. The aroma of the coastal delicacies invites our hungry stomach which has digested everything we had gulped down the previous night as we passed through the Ghats. We eat the steaming idlis and uddina wada. I wash it down with hot coffee as my children drink hot milk.  

From here the road takes turn and starts its journey on the coastal region. The NH 66 runs very close to the sea shore. We can feel the salty air of the beach and smell the fish as we run across the vendors on the road side. We reach Udupi, a town with history of its own. We move around the town and watch various temples and historic places that make it special. Later on we again move towards our destination Byndoor running across Kundapura and a wonderful place called Marvante. This is considered one of the most spectacular sights in India where the river Suparnika almost merges into the Arabian sea, before changing mind and turning away. At some point, only the NH and a small stretch of beach separates the two water bodies. We get down and enjoy the sight of the sea and beach. Our tired bodies demand we get back on the road and reach our destination.
We pass through the familiar scenes, yet we cannot take our eyes off the natures beauty that keeps us spellbound throughout our journey

Marvanthe is a place where a river runs very close to sea

Soon we reach our native village which boasts of its wonderful Someshwara Beach. Here people can wade into water up to quite some distance safely as the shoreline is pretty shallow up to nearly a kilometer or so. It also has an ancient Saneshwara Temple, beautiful sights of sunset point on Ottinene hills, Holy Cross church perched on hill, Beach Resort, and our own antique home. By now we are tired and want to crash into our bed and sleep the day off. We do that after having lunch. It is amazing that by evening we are ready to run to the beach and enjoy the sunset. This is paradise, where we watch the sunrise in the jungle and then enjoy the sunset on the beach. If there is a Perfect Road Trip we can ever embark, than this is it.

Beautiful Sunset on Someshwara Beach of Byndoor

This blog post is a part of The Perfect Road Trip Contest organized on Indiblogger by Ambi Pur Car
This is my Idea of the perfect road trip which is yet to happen. The pictures have been collected through the times we have been travelling from Bangalore to Byndoor.

Byndoor as seen from Ottinene Hill

Endless Jungle

Tall and Handsome

Mist on Western Ghats

Tiny gurgling stream 

Off road adventure

Passing through fields

Rain Drops on the windows

All Pictures belong to www.chaptersfrommylife.com