SOULspace

My Mother is 60....so what does that make me.... Yep...thats right...you got it...OLD!!! Now this is not about me, it's about her all the way. As I flash back, I remember many incidents...some funny, some sad, some thrilling, some mundane, and mostly that she was always there.... Most of my memories of my mother is of her diligently working at something or the other, either at the kitchen, or in the garden, or in our rooms. No wonder she could maintain our spacious house single handedly! I remember our first house, a huge sprawling one, with an even bigger garden. That's probably why she developed a passion for plants, perforce having to tend to such a big garden, the natural nurturer in her took over! I remember the wallop my sister and I got when we got wet in the rain one afternoon!! Now I have to constantly remind myself that, when my son insists on running into the rain.... I remember how my mother took one look at my brother and the hanging arm, broken while ...

Elif Shafak What a powerful speaker, sensuous, inspiring, and so rooted. The message she gives us is that of breaking barriers within our minds. Please do watch the entire presentation. It is mind blowing.

A few words spoken in consolation, a reassuring hand is all that I can extend. A stranger facing an extraneous situation. I observe the reddened eyes, misty with tears that refuse to fall. Head bowed down, a tremulous smile.... A smile on the face...I look closer. How does one smile through what she has borne? She left with Him on a holiday, but returned with only memories of Him. Like in a dream...or a nightmare... Heart Attack they said. They had barely boarded the train when he laid down in unease, never to open his eyes. Youth and age has no mercy with death. The inevitable hand does strike us as and when it pleases. The young boy who smiles shyly from the couch knows... yet does not know what has befell him. Does one really understand at any age? When age and time is sufficiently endured, the death knell doesn't sound so ominous. But what does one do when the youthful are snatched away? We see the pain in their loved ones. The smile on her face and her ready w...

Women... We must look good. We need to stand out. We need to be seen. We need to be different. Our clothes must be unique for the occasion, matching accessories. This doesn't "suit me", that outfit is not to "my taste". Stripes or vertical lines...("Oh, stripes make me look fat, vertical are so out of fashion...") I cant possibly wear "studs", I can only wear danglers. Colours.... Shades.... Fitting.... Texture.... Contrast.... Match.... Drape.... Fashion.... Looking Good... Feeling Good... Women... Being woman is so complicated. It's a serious occupation! And you realise that much more here in the forces. Every gathering is taken seriously and each person adds her bit in terms of quality and detailing. We have to do the back drop for the stage: there is some one who points out and insists that the banner should be lined with silver...??!! That makes it stand out you see. ...Ok.... We need to decide on accessory:...

I realised today how much I miss dancing. Flash back: Five years old...or six, I don't remember exactly but that's the time we, my sister (who is a year and a half older to me) and I started our formal training in dance. I have vague memories of this time. But I remember going to class, sometimes dad would drop us with mom in tow. Yet mostly we would walk to class that was a good 2/3km walk those days. Come to think of it, I really amaze at the ease with which we used to get every where by walk or by cycle, while now my car and I are inseparable (in-spite of the lectures I give my children on global warming...hmmmm that's another story!). I remember getting there on cycle, chauffeured by our all in one helper...Ramasamy, if I am not mistaken... We used to spend quite a lot of time in class. That was also because our teacher was a friend of my parents and she also really liked girls....having two boys herself. It was our second home. Sometimes we would even have our lun...

The unexpected happens unexpectedly!! We go through some parts of life thinking that some things are quite impossible or improbable, and then life goes right ahead and proves that anything can happen at any time, and we are not as much in control as we think. Mind waves or thought waves have immense power to change or alter the process of life. I may appear to be saying two completely different things. One talks about Indian attitude of fate/karma and inevitability of events and the other a Western attitude of ownership and accountability and the power in us to effect change. In my mind they co-exist. Many aspects of living doesn't occur on a unidimensional plane of activity. Every thing is a culmination or amalgam of different processes and life and living is about an individual effecting change in his environment consciously while at the same time investing immense unconscious energy as well. A unique spiral dimension where energies from within and without interact dyna...