Punjab Bandh

All institutions, malls, markets are closed since Saturday. Encroachments cannot be seen anywhere. The roads are deserted, even the beggars are taking a day off . Police personnel is everywhere.
The reason for this situation is bad enough but still the forced changes that have been brought about in Ludhiana are very surprising. I did not know that my city's roads were so wide, the markets are looking actually spacious in the absence of encroachers, the police staff is polite and helpful. But on the flip side, the sewerage pipes of our locality are again blocked and ofcourse, nobody will bother to come here, after all Punjab is bandh, bhai!! If in normal circumstances, the administration chooses to look the other side , then now it is their right not to report for duty !!

Some people will actually go out of their way to disrupt the smooth flow of life, smash anything and everything which comes in their way, throw stones on even school buses, uproot trees, dividers and what not. I suppose these are those people who don't have family values at all. These are uniquely self centered persons who want to show us that they are not to be ignored. So what if they cannot work for our betterment, so what if their energetic and so called charismatic personalities cannot be used for making fruits,vegetables, atta, dal cheaper; roads better; schools donations-free;politics corruption free; so what!!
Punjab is also a land of babajis, maharajs and gurujis. Why should there be a bandh at all if everyone is so religious ? Surely, they can help us to fight drug addiction and the falling family values. Or are all the teachings meant to be followed by the over zealous punjabi inside the deras only ?
Anyway, children are getting anxious to go back to their schools , elders to their offices, ladies back to the kitty halls and I want to go again for window shopping in my favourite mall.

The ME time.

I have been going to this fitness class for the past four months now.
In the beginning , it was just a desire to look fitter and smarter.. a task which I haven't been able to accomplish even at the end of this fourth month (sigh!!) But I have started enjoying myself tremendously. Tremendously. Now that is a term which I haven't used for my enjoyment for the last I don't even remember how many years. But right through the first minute to the last 60th minute, I absolutely lose track of the outside world and am completely immersed in the sometimes tricky and sometimes sensuous dance moves. I am not a dancer but I sure do feel like one. You know what, I feel beautiful. A lovely involuntary smile on my face, a challenge in my eyes, a spright (literally) in my step. It sure is a magical world for me ,the most happiest hour of the day which leaves me charged up for the rest.

POWERS IN THE POWERLESS PUNJAB

Power.
Quite a powerful word especially if politicians are involved.
But a powerless word in the power starved state of ours in terms of electricity.
The worst time to be in Punjab is most probably the summer because to add up to the woes of the heat-struck residents, the Govt. insists on imposing 9-10 hours of power cuts ,sometimes even unannounced. Inspite of the tall claims made by almost all of them, the water and power supply remain elusive.the irony is that even if the rain gods choose to favor us, the power supply is still off due to maintenance, roads suddenly start caving in and those which do not cave in remain flooded due to bad(turning to worse) sewerage pipes.
Welcome to Ludhiana .But forgive me because I can't really welcome you here because I am a common man. My inverter and refrigerator are on a strike , they chose not to be left behind when the power itself is on a strike!!How can I invite anyone here when I, one of the voters, am not being provided the basic amenities? For the last 13 years now, my road has been continuously getting eroded , if at all it can be called a road now. No chances still of it getting recarpeted inspite of the fact that the Circuit House and the PAU (both places being regularly visited by the CM himself) are in the radius of 3-4 km from my house. But then I am a common man.
There is no dearth of money in my city. And I can safely say that there is no dearth of intelligence too , after all we boast of a University, an Engineering College, two Medical colleges and hospitals and a variety of other institutes .
Then why is it that we can't use the rain water properly for rain water harvesting ?Surely it will solve the problems of not only our farmers but the residents also?
Why can't we use the power judiciously and opt for a greener environment?
Why can't we speak firmly to the cablewallahs and the electricity guys to simply ban the loose overhanging cables which pose a live threat to all of us?
Is it so much to ask everybody around us,including the all mighty politicians, to be honest at least for one hour a day?
I think it can be done . It can be done by only the likes of me because I am indeed a common man and I want to have a better life.
I am paying the taxes for it and ofcourse, I am worth it.

Summer Holidays

The mere mention of summer holidays transport me to those long long days which we used to spend giggling,munching and playing with friends, unmindful of the scorching heat, unmindful of Ma's stern stares and reprimands.
How I used to love licking the sweet tamarinds,ice lollies and candies, following my cousins all around the house like a tail - that was the best I could manage since nobody gave me any particular attention,I being the youngest of the lot.
So it was kind of reliving those magical moments when I went to my masi's place this time.My young ones were thoroughly pampered and so was I.
Taking some time out of our schedules is a must , if only to remodel our perspective, if only to let our children too get a taste of that magical world found only in our extended families. We should really drop our inhibitions and complexes (however high or low they might be) and take time out to be with our kin.It is therapeutic. It is for me.
My children are happier,they have enjoyed themselves thoroughly with their cousins.
I am happier and more positive towards my life.

Introspection

Are moral values passed on to us or instilled into us by our parents ? Does the peer influence play a significant role in strengthening our outlook towards morality?
I am one of the lucky ones who got honest parents and siblings, I certainly look up to them whenever I am in distress.
I am still luckier that for almost 8 years, I was a part of the teaching fraternity. I had a chance to influence young and vulnerable minds and was able to mould them into IT professionals .Indeed , the compliments of some of the students transfer me to some alien world where I feel loved, respected and admired. It is almost embarrassing to feel so good. I have resigned voluntarily but twinges of remorse are there.
Glimpses of that alien world come rushing to me now and then leaving me sad and wanting for more.Though I have my family and well wishers around me but there is this emptiness which encompasses me at times,refusing to go away and often finding home in my soul. I want to teach again. I want to lose myself in those magical moments of teaching again.
There are yet more times when I wonder at how well I've fared through these 36 years of my life.
Again, I am lucky that I am able to not only retrospect but introspect too.The bad moments torment me and I refuse to let destiny take the blame.
I have never been able to take good decisions and sometimes I feel, I might have even let my parents down.
Why couldn't I have been more restrained? Why couldn't I not empathise with my mother's problems when I was just on the threshold of crossing my teens?
I should have looked deeper inside me ,I should have been able to find my own solutions. Instead I chose to drift away to meaningless values of all those around me .I should have listened to that tiny voice belonging to me, so lovingly reared by my mother.
Now I do and that I do, people find it difficult to bear me.Only my children and students find me fit to follow and emulate. And these very values which have been instilled into me by my parents,which have not been influenced by my peers make me feel at peace with myself.

Chilren's Aptitude tests

I passed out of my X in 1987 .As far as I was concerned , my career stream was chosen according to my marks. I was very good in PCM and even Biology ; got an amazing rank in JET (I was 9th in Punjab) and therefore landed in a prestigious engineering college in the department of Computer Sciences. But inspite of being a good teacher today in my Department , I am not satisfied with what I did , I always keep on thinking about what I could have done .I don’t have the aptitude for being an engineer but I am a good listener , a good adviser and a good lecturer ( at least my students say so). Life has been kind to me but would it show the same kindness to my children? What kind of training should they get to get the best out of their personalities? If my daughter is a bit absent minded but still good at her studies , should I pressurize her to score more? I often think about this predicament of mine , how should I introduce her to the gift of enjoying life without wasting her talents? Because that is exactly what I have done at times : wasted my talents and precious time too.

Admission of my child to L.K.G.

My daughter is already in the prestigious Sacred Heart Convent School and an 'O' grader throuhout - she is in std. IV right now. I, myself am an educationist and my husband is a second officer in the Merchant Navy , in short , both of us are well educated. So I was pretty confident that my son too would get admission in the same school. Moreso, it was one of the basic needs for me since in the absence of my hubby , it becomes very ough on me to run between two schools , not to mention various other chores. Therefore it was a shock when the respected Sister refused admission to my son and would not listen to any of my pleas , this despite the fact that many other people were flaunting late admissions in the same class on the basis of jacks and what not. I kept on wondering for many days and I still wonder what exactly is the criterion that these prestigious schools follow to select students for classes which are bursting at their seams with a ratio of almost >60 students : 1 teacher and where sometimes the teacher doen't know what to answer if you ask about your child's shortcomings / merits ; they have a standard answer that everything is fine . In retrospect , I think any good English medium school would be fine for me which has a reasonable student teacher ratio , where my child would not be just another cute face and where the presence of an intelligent sibling would ensure that my other child would get admission also.
I, myself being a teacher can very well appreciate the anxieties of all those working mothers/parents who have to rush about to make each day a success and I must say that I was very much disappointed when a good school and no doubt a good Sister failed to understand and appreciate the same.