Discovering Life

There are always debates about ones favourite weather round the year. For some, it may be the monsoon and for some, it may be the chilling winters. What is yours? I love winters but only when I am indoors and well-protected from the freezing temperatures outside. I cannot enjoy the chill outside because no matter how many layers of warm clothes I wear, I can still feel the cold air running over me. What’s the point in shivering all the time and trying to give a fake smile. It would be rather better to be lost inside a thick warm blanket blocking any kind of air getting in. When morning arrives one needs to rise from the cosy bed. This is the most difficult part of the day. This transition is extremely traumatic. Rise in pollution, road accidents on account of heavy fogs, flight and train schedule delays and cancellations and last but not the least airborne diseases like cold and flu cannot be ignored. However, it is not always an unbearable feeling. The winter snow has its un...

Sports in India have been making history on the international map. Our performance at the Jakarta Asian Games this year is one such example. It is commendable to see so many young girls and boys from extremely humble backgrounds achieving such a great feat. However, one sport which interests a majority of Indians both on domestic and international grounds is Cricket. A few weeks ago, the finals of Asia Cup was being telecast on television. I started watching the game from the second innings. India was chasing a target of 223 runs against Bangladesh. Bangladesh had had a commendable first inning with good performance from the opening batsmen. The overall score did not seem to be much of a challenge for India with stalwarts like Rohit Sharma, MS Dhoni and Shikhar Dhawan. Guess the Indian spectators took the opponent’s bowlers for granted. The splendid performance by the fast-paced bowlers giving maiden overs one after another led to the fall of the crucial wickets of Shikha...

It is the auspicious season in India starting with the holy month of Ashvin . It is a feel-good period where you are emotionally charged and feel the divine blessings being showered on you as each day passes by. This period of Durga Puja was very special with my mother being there and carrying out the daily ritual of special puja during the auspicious nine days. With the morning Aarti after the puja, she would hand over the prasad and give us her blessings. On the ninth day, we went to the Community Center in Faridabad to take the blessings of Goddess Durga. The beautiful idol of Goddess Durga putting an end to the evil Mahishasur was installed on a stage. The other idols placed alongside were of Goddess Lakshmi and Saraswati and of Lord Ganesha and Kartikeya. There were a group of four people including both men and women dancing to rhythmic drum beats. All of them held an incense burner on their right palms and performed the ritual arti dance. If you are in Delhi during ...

In olden times, families would get together on a Sunday afternoon to go for a picnic to a beautiful place in their city. There were keen interests in visiting tourist locations to see the ancient architectures and understand the ancient culture back in those days. This custom does not hold good today. We have become mall addicted. In today’s world especially in India, there have been rapid mushrooming of shopping malls. Around two decades ago when the concept of a shopping mall was just cropping up it was merely a place to do window shopping with high-end designer brands. Today, these malls offer a one-stop family entertainment arena offering shopping delight, food delight, gaming delight, movie delight along with an indoor comfort from the external weather. This has been a go-to place during weekends. How many times in a month do you normally visit a tourist location like a monument, museum, a renowned garden, planetarium or a historical site in and around your city? You ma...

When you fall ill, do you immediately consult a doctor? Maybe not. Consulting a doctor requires that you invest a lot of time waiting outside the doctor’s clinic and also face the trauma of going through the consultation process not to mention the money involved which in most cases would surpass your expectations. I have had many such experiences of sitting on a chair outside the clinic waiting for my goddamn turn to come. There are so many people who happen to come on the same day to see the same doctor. It always astonishes me to see that medical agony among people in India always persists in large numbers. Then there are few who wait for a chance to get inside the doctor’s office without any prior appointment. The attendant stationed outside is unable to guard the door and when it opens for an inpatient, these so-called emergency case patients slip inside the door with a blink of an eye. If you are one of the obedient ones, you wait for your turn in spite of witnessing s...

What happens when you step out of your house casually dressed on a Sunday afternoon and through a sudden change in plans en route you end up in a highly luxurious mall like DLF Emporio situated in the posh Vasant Kunj area?. Well if I were you, I would remain in complete awe of everything around. On sighting the elite crowd who are dressed no less than celebrities, I would be extremely conscious about what I am wearing especially my footwear. The saying that a person’s persona can be determined through his or her footwear would resonate violently on my mind. However, on second thoughts this is a natural feeling which normally creeps onto most of our minds. One should not pay heed to such thoughts. Does it really matter what economic class the store attendants or the filthy rich perceive you to be belonging to? I recall visiting DLF Emporio about a month back and played witness to never seen before moments. Upon entering the grand building, I spotted Kate Spade and ...