India !! Champions!!

Today was the twenty20 world cup finals at Jo’burg, South Africa. A dream finals as some called it…India vs Pakistan…. Spent 5 + hours watching it on TV. It was nail biting and the match going either way in the last few overs…. India finally won by 5 runs!!! Congrats!!! It was great to see the team win. There were firecrackers burst in exhilaration here in Chennai on the roads….Cricket is a passion here. India- Pakistan matches evokes it like nothing else…..a win is remembered for ages!!!

There is one programme I watched which was featured in the run up to the T20 finals…it was on NDTV…cricketing controversies featuring Imran Khan, Ajay Jadeja, Sidhu and Mantra as panelists. The question asked was which is better the Ashes or Indo-pak match? Imran Khan answered that any match which is evenly poised is good and the Ashes have been tilted in the Aussies side for way too long….
My humble take on this…give me an Indo-Pak match to watch anytime….as I said it evokes something in the mind that gets the adrenalin pumping…but that is me being Indian. It made me think that had I been Australian or English….may be that would have made me feel so about the Ashes.
So, whatever the match, whomsoever the contestants….a good match is just a treat to watch for an armchair cricketer like me 😉 It helps if I relate to the players more 🙂

Advertisement

Super Juggler Mom!!??

I have been thinking of penning my thoughts about this topic for quite sometime now. As usual, an article in The Hindu has triggered me off. It has one statement “Ms. Super Juggler Mom (pardon the stereotypes, but let’s admit to the diminishing community of those going against the tide in our times)” which left me a bit piqued. I am one of those who is a housewife or home maker or domestic engineer or whatever the term used currently. I want to pitch in what my ideas or experience has been.
I find myself constantly defending my choice/circumstance to stay home.
People all around expect you to be “Ms Super Juggler Mom” if not you are a loser!! There have been variations of this thought conveyed to me directly or subtly whatever the other person’s style. If you still chose to stay with your choice, you are also a quitter 🙂
Such prodding does get to oneself after a while. I am not that strong a person and such comments heard in weak moments breaks me and I end up crying, venting out my frustration or just fume with anger or whatever is considered not right!! 😉 At such times, I so want to go get a job and do it all…be that mom that is described. Saner moments, I think I should give all the attention possible to my kid. I don’t want to miss out on moments with him. Make him delicious fresh food for every meal and snack.
I had all that when I grew up. My mother had a master’s degree and yet chose to stay home to take care of us. Nobody questioned her choice then….
On this note, I should mention that I was with women of my mother’s age recently at a family event. All those women were of the opinion that women should be financially independent and some followed with the comment saying may be that is why there are so many divorces too with the children suffering in the end.
Even if shows like Oprah say that the stay at home mom has the toughest job; it is definitely not a widely accepted opinion. Or characters in movies glorify the choice to stay at home (the movie Monalisa Smile comes to mind). May be in theory, it is great….but women like me are definitely pressurised to get a job and do the juggling act to prove if not to anyone else, to themselves that they can. I have quite a few friends who go through the same and vacillate between staying at home and working. They like me are also picked upon for being that ambivalent…sometimes with really rude opinions.
May be I just need a little more strength, self-esteem to stand by my conviction and not be swayed by other people!! As long as I don’t need the job for financial reasons, I hope I can devote my time to my son…and hope to God that I am not put in a situation where necessity takes over!