Finding Life.....

 When I was asked whether I would love to join the expedition to planet Zubago, I was in a not in a dilemma. I had nothing to look forward on earth anymore, other than the stinking prison life I was given for doing what was right. Wouldn't you kill to protect the woman you loved more than your life? That is what I did when those strangers crept into our home catching Maria unawares. I entered to horrifying sight of her being attacked by two strangers and in terrible pain. I was no more a man but a monster who wanted to kill and kill even the dead bodies of those creepy things who called themselves humans. The kick in the abdomen proved too much for my love who breathed her last 3 days later.

From the sudden beautiful romantic life with the woman I loved, I was shut in the prison as a murderer. The prosecution did a good job of convincing the jury with the gory pictures of the dead bodies of those rapists. Anyway that did not make any difference after all whether I would be locked in prison or set free. The world without my love would be same everywhere. The helplessness of not being able to save the woman who trusted me, not being able to say sorry to her, hating myself for stopping to buy her that beautiful butterfly brooch and not being able to change anything tortured my soul. The walls of the prison which locked hardest criminals inside its bosom failed to lock away the memories of Maria.

I signed the agreement with a stoic face. I wanted to get away as far as possible from the memories which killed me every day but still allowed me enough life to live and suffer. The expedition did not have a definite outcome because this was a new venture undertaken by the private company. Everything would be managed by machines other than the human perspective which I was supposed to provide.  The strenuous journey would last for 70 years, which I would sleep away. 70 years without nightmares, haunting memories, regrets or pain! Aaahhhh! How was life when I did not have this pain of losing Maria to deal with? I had no clue. I was now just a blob of pain and regrets.

I looked forward to the new adventure. Or was it danger I was looking forward to? Confronting the unknown was not something that interested me earlier, but now it came as a relief. So I slip carelessly into the Statis in a cryogenic sleep capsule as I did not have anyone to say goodbye to. May be the suspended animation of sleep would be able to erase away my pain.

I woke up the next morning feeling groggy and nauseating. They said it would last nearly 70 years and here I was awake in a day. Did the mission fail? Will I be back to the prison, locked up there once again with my haunting memories? Wait! I see something quite different out there. A small sun, red in color shines over a completely white planet.

©Farida Rizwan

 Has it been 70 years and I was near the planet Zubago. I look up the log. OMG! I have slept for 69 years and woken up in the strange land. The strange fear of unknown engulfs me, and then the horror of the memories strikes me hard. There was no escape from the memories what I had seen 71 years ago even when I had traveled light-years to some unknown land. The emotions associated with the known and irreparable was much worse than the fear of unknown and what would happen to me here. I do not care anymore.

The spacecraft was self maneuvered; in addition it took care of everything I needed. All I had to do was give a human perception of his strange land and enter it into the log.  Even though robotics had advanced in leaps and bounds, they still lacked the human compassion, perception, keen observation skills and insight. If the planet was inhabited by intelligent species who did not want to be discovered, then all they had to do was use some manipulation to throw the smartest machine off tract. We the humans have distinction of owning very powerful visual cortex's, which may have developed in the past out of purely evolutionary necessity. They rapidly parse through any distortions in the data in order to identify abstract qualities like pattern and organization, in addition to the sensing things which are visible to naked eyes.  This was discovered when the bots failed to enter the verification code on websites. This was the only reason why I was on board of this spaceship which could do everything on its own.

The geologist in me was now fully awake, as I watched the icy planet in awe. It was nothing but mass of ice covering the whole planet. The appearance of the planet clearly meant that it had water, so whatever could survive in the cold temperature could survive on this planet. I slipped into the special Planet Storme Explorer vehicle and hover on the icy expansion. No sign of life, not even a tiny movement caught my eye. The sturdy vehicle withstood the rough terrain as it hovered steadily in the rough and chilly winds moving at the speed of 200 miles/ph. I peeped out the window to look at the expansion of ice below.

 I had strict instructions not to set foot on the planet for another 3 days. I was tempted to touch and feel the snow. Was it the same as it was back on earth? The one which I played snowball with Maria throughout the winter? I tried to shut down the memories that followed the pleasant recollection. Here I could hear again Maria withering in pain and two men mercilessly brutalizing her limp body. I am late; the visions are haunting me again and sending waves of dark pain shadowing my heart. I hover over the planet for 7 hours. I come to the comfort and safety of spaceship once again. Tomorrow I go back there to explore some more.

I lie in my bed and look out of the window. Something catches my eye. A speck in the distant space was moving towards the planet or its star. The ship sets its camera’s ready to click the pictures of collision. The angle of the camera does tell me that the comet is going to pass close to the spaceship but not collide. It was on a collision course to the planet. Was this a co-incidence or had the spaceship woken me to be a spectator to this wonderful cosmic firework? I think of asking the spaceship the question, but then I cannot bring myself to talk to the machine. I sit near the microphone and start narrating the event as it happens.

The comet crashes on the icy planet, melting the ice around it. The burning comet forms a huge crater that covers almost ¼ of the planet. It was amazing that a small comet which looked just like a tiny speck a few hours ago now looked so huge immediately after the collision. It started disintegrating and seeping deep into the planet until it was one with it. The melted ice covered the gaping hole creating a huge body of water. Within an hour, everything out there had changed. Now I had a planet which was half covered with water and half with ice in front of me. I observed that the impact with the comet had changed its path and it was now moving closer to the star. The heat was melting the ice, creating streams on the planet. I could finally catch glimpse of some land.

I watch the planet for 3 days according to the instructions given to me. Then I get back into my sturdy Storme Explorer and finally land on the mysterious planet. I completely trust my companion which is a powerful vehicle built to be feared and respected by any terrain. This powerful machine with stunning gadgets and rugged accessories is a true explorer that hovers, cuts through and runs free, refusing to show mercy to the new planet.

Its robust turbos allow me to explore the planet without even landing on it, but then I want to touch the ground. I bring out its tires and start to drive. I explore the edge of the crater which had been formed due to the impact with the comet. The water looks exactly like it would back home, on our very own earth, but it is more bluish in color.

Some movement catches my eye as I look into the vast body of water in front of me. I see tiny specks in the water floating, no wait, they are not floating but they are moving. The planet is inhabited, though it is not by the creatures that I expected to see, it is indeed inhabited with life. They were smaller life forms that could withstand extreme cold temperature, or it may have received life forms from the comet that crashed into it 3 days ago. Did this planet just start its new life in front of my very own eyes? I collect the sample from the water along with the specks that were moving in it. I get back into my machine as the star Merrinatti goes down on the icy slopes.

It has been a month since the comet crashed into the planet Zubago. Everything has changed ever since. The planet is thrown off its orbit and has moved much closer to its star. The change in climate has seen the melting of ice into water which is already inhibited with small life forms. The mystery has not been answered whether the life forms existed on the planet, or was it on the comet that crashed into it. Seeing such a great cosmic event taking place in front of my eyes has changed me completely. I no longer feel the pain of the incident that happened in my past life. When seen through the space where even stars and planets are toyed with, we lose our own egocentricity and our importance.

Another long sleep awaits me as I travel back to earth, a changed man who is looking forward to share his experience and explore more unexplored lands. I had not only found life on a new planet, but had found back my own life. I am an Explorer. I welcome the future with a smile. 

This fiction story has been created for the contests I am Explorer! on Indiblogger by Tata Safari Storme.

The explorer pictures courtesy Animator Rayyan

55 Fiction - Child Labor?????

Tired and weary, walking with shaking legs, she sighed as her back broke under the weight. 
She eyed the slum girls playing around happily and envied them. 
Finally, there was the door that led to her home. 
She pulled herself inside, threw the school bag, straightened her back and sat down to finish her homework.

The WWVortex

I slept in my bed peacefully, keeping all my regrets, frustrations and anger aside. It was going to be a long sleepy night because I was at peace,finally. Tomorrow is going to be different, the day when finally the sun will shine on my face.

Two years ago

Since the time Shana had left me for a Cyborg, life had been filled with boring days, sleepless nights and anger seething through my heart constantly. Anger against whom? Was it towards Shana, myself or the world where technology had taken over the warmth of love and relationships? One of the famed child prodigy that I was, I had helped to create this technology 2 decades ago. It was mocking at me today. I can afford any kind of Cyborg I want, as they are easily available for online purchase, but I don’t want to buy a spouse. I wanted to fall in love like I did at first sight with Shana, even if it meant being hurt and torn apart once again. Unlike in olden days where people bumped into each other, we had met each other on the dating site. We virtually fell in love instantly online and decided to live together from the next day itself. All it required was filling up few details in the mating database.

How much the world had changed in the past two decades? Did I imagine I would have items delivered to me through connection pipes that connected homes to online shopping? No never. I thought it is always going to be the person at the door who is going to bring me the product I ordered online. Internet had taken over our lives slowly. Just 50 years ago, the Internet as we know today was in the process of being birthed by the National Science Foundation. Once people went online there was no stopping them. E-mails, eBay, and social media connects became part of human life and in no time. Without anyone realizing it, internet took over our lives. With the burning out of natural resources, people were trying to travel to work as less as possible. Virtual offices were being set up in place of real ones. Earn online and spend online and be safe was the new internet mantra.

When did the real change happen? I did not even realize when I fell into the vortex and fully lost touch with reality. Last year we celebrated our yearly holidays on the hills of Himalayas even without traveling out of our city. All we did was get in touch with the travel agency which put us in the cubicles to enjoy our holidays. It was so real, the cool breeze, the snow and even the touch of Shana made me forget that I was lying still in a box like a doll.

When people started becoming pale and weak due to lack of sunlight, no one woke up and went out to get some sun but instead got sunlight from the cubicles installed in their homes, which were ordered online. 

No more did anyone even think of trying to step out of their homes. Which began as simple “Be Lazy – Shop Easy” marketing strategies by online stores, had eventually turned into the prison for human kind.

Until Shana broke my heart and connected me to the human feelings once again, I was completely lost in the sucking vortex of the virtual world. I enjoy all the benefits that come to technical minds in our times. We were the rich and rulers. From the comfort seat of my home, I could get anything I wanted because I was important part of maintaining the web that was suffocating life out of the world. Today, I question my contribution to the downfall of the human race.

I pull the curtains from my windows to have a look outside. The once crowded streets, full of pollution and dust lay clean and empty. No more pollution, no more dust and no more people on the roads. I saw the robotic birds flying around the bird house of my neighbors. When the real birds quit the cities, people wanted the artificial ones to decorate their gardens, into which they rarely stepped. 

This would have sounded so shocking to me a few decades ago, but today this is way of life. Leave alone pets, people tend to order parents, children and friends online. The relationships were bland, as there were rarely any differences among people.

If they had differences, like I did with Shana, they quit and ordered a perfect Cyborg to fit in their place. The fight between spouses which was long forgotten had taken place between me and Shana. I wanted us to have a child of our own, born out of our relationship, whereas Shana like many others wanted to order our baby online where she got to predict its sex, color, features and other qualities. The wonder of parenting came with the surprise part. What is great about having a child made to suit your choice? I recall how much my mom loved me, though I was nerd and computer freak. The beauty of her town, my mom wanted a girl who she could adore like her little princess, but she accepted me, her nerdy son and loved me all through my life with all her heart. I know for sure that she would not trade me for the most beautiful girl in the world. That was the beauty of human beings. Though there were no more wars, this world so calm and serene that it did not belong to us anymore. The more we progressed, the more we felt free, the more bound we became.

I am not going to sit and brood over what has been lost. I am going to fight the vortex of internet to get back our life and our world. Though full of chaos, I wanted our world to be back as it was because that is what is true. Children were supposed to be born to surprise their parents, we need parents who would think different from us, we need friends who would be moody, and we need the dangers of the roads and the dilemmas or real world. This was possible only if could shut down the connections and succeed in bringing people out of their homes. 

The E-Gov, the one single power that ruled the world with the help of internet will have to come down. We human beings should to be ruled by the kind of our own and not robots that were so perfect that they made politics boring. People have to elect their leaders, make mistakes and suffer because that is what true life is. What a great relief it was when the corrupt politicians were overthrown by the Cyborgs who were later replaced by perfect political robots.  But today, I yearn for those politicians who made wrong decisions, because we human beings are not meant to be perfect. We are us because of those flaws we have. Today we need to fight and win back humanity from the perfectness of organized world. I am going to do it.

Today

After working for two years, finally I have found the answers. Today I release the mother of all viruses into the system which will shut down every single Cyborg, robot, computer and internet connection in the world. The web is going to break into threads for the first time since its birth. The genius I am, I have made a foolproof plan which no E-Gov could stop.

I sleep knowing that tomorrow I wake up chaos as to how to manage my life without being online. I am so excited to finally have a challenge of living day to day ahead of me. I sleep peacefully. 

I am submitting this fiction story for the contest on Indiblogger organized by eBay.in

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A bubbly young entrepreneur with a dashing smile - Anjali Ajaikumar

I first met Anjali Ajaikumar, a young woman in her 20s with impressive smile, in the cancer support group, The Pink Hope. I wondered what could be the connection of a dynamic, lively, sparkling, and bubbling young woman to cancer survivor's group. To my amazement, I later learned that though only 27, she is the director of the HCG Foundation. Though many people of her age are just beginning their careers, she has already worked in USA, London and Spain. Unlike many NRI’s who love working in foreign land, Anjali found the life monotonous and boring there. She came back to India to work in her father’shospital. 

Not being satisfied with just giving the best treatment to the cancer patients who throng the hospital, she has found innovative ways to make the hospital a better place for survivors.  She is the young lady, who under able guidance of her mother Dr. Bhagya Ajaikumar has used art therapy to bring cheers to the hospital premises. HCG organizes various art exhibitions around Bangalore which involves biomedical industry giants like General Electrics, Siemens and Reddy’s who join hands to raise funds for cancer patients who are economically challenged.
HCG has a permanent art exhibition in their premises - Swasti Contemporary Art Gallery is a fundraising initiative started by HCG Foundation in 2006 from which the profits go to provide financial assistance to cancer patients struggling to meet their medical expenses.  The hospital hosts Music Mondays, every alternate week where musicians perform live. Anjali believes that music and art go a long way in healing people. Her enthusiasm has created a happy and lively atmosphere in the place which usually is dulled by pain and sickness. Bubbling with innovative ideas, she designed the dress for the staff of HCG, keeping their comfort in mind and yet giving it an Indian touch. 

Her fervor has seen a play titled ‘The Bend in the Road’ which tries to create awareness among the mass through humor becoming a hit. It was organized by The Pink Hope Support Group and HCG Foundation, in association with Movenpick Hotels & Spa Bangalore. The play is wholly scripted and enacted by cancer survivors and the funds raised is used to treat cancer patients at HCG.

Though she appears like a pampered kid, the entrepreneur in her does not lay hidden for long. Born and brought up US, shegraduated from Massachusets, USA. She further has a degree in politics and international relations.  She speaks fluently in Kannada showing us that she has not forgotten her roots.  

Being a breast cancer survivor, I find the work done by Anjali in both supporting the cancer patients and creating awareness about cancer very commendable. She sure deserves to be in the list of WEII.

Written for the Indiblogeshwaris Ladies Independence Special Contest in association with http://womenentrepreneursinindia.com/

A peep into initiatives of HCG Bangalore

Improve Your Parenting Skills IV

This Article is published on Topyaps

 Good parenting may be the toughest job in the world, but fortunately the reward is a healthy and happy child, which makes the tough task worth it. Though the area of parenting has been extensively researched, there is no sure way to tell what is right or wrong. Every child is a unique individual which makes their needs different from others. Here are the 10 ways that works for good parenting universally.

10. Adapt Peacefully To Changes in Life

Parents are often frustrated with the changes they have to make due to the entry of children in their life. Parents at times have to sacrifice their flourishing careers to take care of their children. As babies, they change the sleeping pattern, followed by terrible twos, and nothing beats the teen years. Preparing yourself for the change is the best way to deal with the frustrations that come with a child in life.

9. Accept Your Child for What S/He Is

Accepting the child for what they are is the first step on the road to peaceful parenting. When parents try to change their children into something they cannot be, it is not just tiring and exasperating experience for the parents, but also wears out the children. Every individual is born with some inbuilt talent and potential. It is for the parents to discover this talent and unwrap it slowly for success of the child.

8. Give Loads of Love

You can never spoil the child with too much of love. It is when you try to replace your love, attention and companionship with material things that you will spoil the child. Loving a child unconditionally is the right thing to do. Some parents confuse pampering and indulgence with love, which is unhealthy for the development of the child.

7. Spend Quality Time with Your Child

Just being with your child, while you watch television, surf on net or think about something is not counted as giving attention. Be there physically and mentally with your child, so that they feel connected with you. If there are more children at home, don’t make anyone feel left out. Keep in mind that being with your child does not mean you hover over them all the time and smother them with your presence.

6. Rules are Not Meant To Be Broken

Do not be enthusiastic with setting rules in your home which are bent or broken for convenience. Have few rules which are supposed to be followed strictly. Many parents worry that their children will not love them for setting limitations and boundaries. Research has found that children like the rules as it makes them feel cared, protected and loved by their parents. Do not give in when children cry or try to manipulate you to break the rules just for once.

Do not fear the temper tantrums

5. Improve Your Communication Skill

Communicating with children is easy if you say exactly what you mean to say. Often parents try to beat around the bush, drop hints or use sarcasm which does not work well with children. Communication need not be always talking, as listening to your child and being approachable is another form of communication. Your response, body language and tone talks more to than your words, as children have keen sense of observation.

4. Be Part of Your Child’s Life

Take interest in not just the studies or achievements of your child, but be a part of their interests, hobbies and friends. Do not ridicule if they show interest in something which you are not interested like music, movies, books or even friends. Respect their choice, though when you feel your child is not safe you can always create awareness in them. Never criticize or be judgmental about your child’s leisure pursuits, passion or friends as that will give vent to rebellion in them.

3. Be Patient and Check Your Response

Even a very loving and affectionate parent drop their guard and respond with a loud “WHAT?” to a confession of less marks, broken vase, spilled bottle of jam on carpet and many other such incidents. The fear of wrath will lead the child to hide things and lie to the parent. Being patient and responding calmly but sternly will have positive effect on the child. Staying calm when the child has broken the precious gift your Mom gave you may be very difficult, but then being a parent is not an easy job. Try to explain the consequences of their action to the child and it is not bad to tell them how hurt you are.

2. Say Sorry and Admit When You Are Wrong

Just because you are the parent and have more life experience than the child, it need not mean that you are always right. Many times children catch their parents on the wrong foot. At such times it is best to say sorry and apologize. You do not lose respect of the child by saying sorry, but you surely will when you do not want to admit your mistakes but try to give reasons. Know that the child will learn the same and pay you back with same coin later in life.

1. Trust and Respect Your Child

Though children need love, care and affection, not many realize that they need to be trusted and respected by the people they love and respect the most, i.e. their parents. Giving them responsibilities, involving them in decision making, listening to them and allowing them privacy when they need it is showing respect and trust and not doing what they want you do. Respect and trust is successful in disciplining children than punishments, criticism, bribes, threats or rewards. 

If you like this, you would like 

Improve your Parenting Skills

Improve Your Parenting Skills -- Part 2 

Improve Your Parenting Skills – III

What Do We Want From Our Children?

What Do We Want From Our Children? II

Parenting.. the role of father

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