Threshold

Think of yourself as on the threshold of unparalleled success. A whole, clear, glorious life lies before you. Achieve! Achieve!

Andrew Carnegie

Public exams in the Indian system of education. The first major educational milestone that lays the foundation to what lies ahead. A starts his tomorrow. Here is wishing him the very best.

I have toggled between relaxed to a typical middle class Indian parent through this year. Stressing over his marks and wondering what would happen if he doesn’t score. Every test he had leading up to this set me on that yo-yo path. I believe that he definitely has a whole, clear, glorious life ahead! I have no doubt of that yet, these trivial exams and scores set me back a lot!

A is a wonderful child, caring and understanding comes naturally to him. My friends who know him ask me…hey what are you saying? when did he grow up to face board exams?? Seriously, when did he grow up? He is such a sweet kid. Still loves to be cuddled, would stretch out his arms any time for a hug. He does have his teenage grumpiness, moodiness and above all laziness! I am blessed to have him in my life who has been a rock to me through really tough times. I am very aware of how it should be the reverse but he has truly been the driving force for me.

He is putting in the effort, studying (Indian parent head saying he should study more!). I have no idea what scores he will get but a great life he sure will have! He deserves it!

Do send in all your best wishes, thoughts and prayers to him and all his friends. May they have a calm, cool and collected mind!

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Reminder!

It has been 14 years since I was handed this bundle of joy ! A second year teen now!! He had never been trouble. Not the whiny bawling baby. He was a friendly kid. He showed signs of empathy even as a wee baby! Many occasions to prove just that.

As years went by there were times friends used to kid saying wonder who the parent is!! I wonder where I got this mature understanding young man! He loves hugs! He takes care of me!! When I am unwell he is there making sure I have my medicine, giving me hot packs, bringing my food. Yeah I wonder who the parent is too!!

So why is this post titled “Reminder”?? Well just the other day I was in my room working as usual and A was right in the living room watching a movie. Happens to be the old “Baby’s day out”. I had to scream out asking him to keep the volume down. Then I noticed through the closed door. Laughter. It was a child’s laugh. The joy of innocence! He was laughing out loud & that reminded me that he is still a child. He acts very mature but he is a child. One who loves being cuddled, pampered, loved. As much as I wish he always retains this in him, I know that it will be his maturity that will be cancerous.

This birthday of A’s I wish for him to always retain this child in him which can let him laugh , let him trust a little more, let him love with all his heart. I wish all the pain he has endured and hurt he may have to face( yeah I know he will) doesn’t affect him too much. I hope he realises he always has a few of us right there for him come what may! In his corner pushing him & wishing the best for him!

I will not say don’t grow too soon! I will say never let go of that child in you! I may not say it so often or so loud – I do love you

PS: I keep kidding with him saying “hey A! I don’t like you”. He has his watch engraved with a little correction. It says “I don’t like you I love you ~ Amma”

Thoughtfulness

A went on an excursion organised by his school. Left on a Thursday evening and back on Monday morning.

Thursday evening, he says “Amma they will give us chapati & potato for dinner…my friend is getting burger but I don’t want either. Can you make me some lemon rice?”  Told him yes if he got me lemons from the shop. He goes and gets tomatoes & potatoes. There was no lemons so he says make tomato rice with potatoes fry! Done as I was working from home and could make time for that (made him go check the tomato gravy cooking now and then! 🙂 ). All excited, he is packed. Checks & rechecks if he has taken everything. Thanks to Suks , he had a camera too!!

We get to the pick up place, wait for the bus that would take the kids to the station. All the children show the excitement comparing their bag sizes, sharing notes on what they are bringing. I was the only parent standing among the boys laughing away!! The other moms were huddled amongst themselves. Now and then A’s friend’s mom would come and join in to talk to me. I whispered into A’s ear asking if I have to go and huddle with the mom’s instead?! His answer just made my day.. “No amma you are the cool mom!” God knows how long this phase will last!! Off they all went.

I must say that was the longest weekend ever!!! Without kiddo around, it just didn’t feel ok. I did go out Saturday evening with friends from work but nope it just was not right!! He called in using his teachers phone and checked in now and then. Saturday he calls to say his best friend was down with high temperature and that the teacher said he was going to be brought back to Chennai. He sounded worried. I texted that boy’s mom to hear he was alright and would be returning with the kids on the train back. He was at his uncle’s place there. Next day when I told this to A, I could hear his sigh of relief! Each call he was all stories of where he went. I listened with a grin plastered on my face soaking in the happiness of the child. Rainy Monday morning he called me as the bus left the station. Timed my trip to his pick up point. As the bus came in, the parents went in to crowd the exit as the kids got down with their bags. I stood at a distance. Shame on me, I could not spot the tiny kid that A is among the bigger classmates of his! (yeah he is one of the tiny kids….). He came rolling his suitcase and that impish smile on his face and hugged me! With that came the query “Amma can we drop A & S at their home??” Those kids were right behind him smiling 🙂 . Of course we dropped those boys off and headed home.

He is talking a mile a minute!! I shake my head and then think damn this is what I was   missing all weekend.

He lands, starts unpacking. Amma this is for you, and this and this  (pic)…. then runs out and gives my mum a set of beautiful green bangles [“ammamma every other bangle was very jazzy and you wouldn’t wear those”], my dad a box of biscuits. Tells my dad there was nothing else I could get you.

He makes me wear the ring, admiring his own choice. Recounts his shopping experience on how he bargained. Oh he was so proud!! The mom in me was telling him ok now go have your shower and change for lunch!!

He could not stop talking about his trip! He has written a journal too! (bad mom: am yet to read it! 😦 ) He said on the way back on the train, he kept checking on his friend every hour for temperature spikes all night! He said he was warm around 11 but it came back to normal later. His friend didn’t know!

This post has been sitting in drafts since Tuesday morning! Life is back to normal now, yelling at him to get ready for school, the usual rigmarole! This trip has memories for him and a note for me on how thoughtful this child is. It was not taught – no I don’t think I ever did anything towards that. I hope he always remains this kind & thoughtful and not get jaded/bitter by life! – A proud parent 🙂

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Ping!

Today is awesome!! And today is not so awesome either!! Yeah yeah roll eyes and say oh boy this Libra!! 🙂

How many of us make the effort to stay in touch? How many of these friendships last? I am almost OCD in trying to stay in touch. I can’t not ping just to say hi. Over the years, age,ego have come in the way many a times! 

I have even called a close friend told him I will not call or text him ever saying I am done putting in the effort all the time. He is still my friend and am in touch with him! This outburst is like shaking him out of his stupor.

Then there are those you put in the effort for a while & decide ” well guess I am not worthy of the other person making an effort to reciprocate”. This fizzles out. Today is not so awesome a day for this reason. I decided I am not making the effort any more to ping a friend of mine who was really close. The last time I interacted I had mentioned that it was always me who initiated a conversation with the response saying “hey I always respond”.  This was a couple of months back. I pinged recently and well no response. So today I decided enough is enough! If I don’t even deserve a response, then why do I have to put myself through the effort??? 

Today is also awesome!! Friendships you make when you are a growing up do mean a lot! Out of the blue a wonderful friend pings and says hey! Saw pics of you & others in a meet you had. Jealous I am not there. Felt great to catch up. I said I was feeling bad and the response was so heartwarming saying that our friendship was special & treasured. 

Makes a whole world of difference to know that you mean something to someone indeed. The balance is swaying not ready to settle right now. 

I will just endeavour to be happy about those who are present in my life. ( even without my knowing they are there even 🙂 ). I will try not to delve in anguish about those who may not have time for me in the hope that they too might be cherishing the time we had spent together. I also hold dear those friends who I have not even met in person (yet…) but have been great! 

Here is to friendships!! My source of strength in life 😊. Thanks!! 

I keep coming back!

I thought I would stop blogging. Never return to this space and pen my “Random Ruminations”… but I just keep coming back. I remember way back when I started blogging, had a BlogSpot then. It was just to record events or thoughts….this transformed to a place where I poured my heart out. Eventually moved to WordPress. Journey continued. My blog has been a place where I vented/ ranted/ shared a lot. It has given back too – Friends and fellow bloggers like Nikhil, Sharada, Praddy, Vino, Scorpria, Bhargavi, Aparna, Imp’s Mom…actually a really long list…. (note to self: when time permits, add their blog links 🙂 ). Was lovely to have met quite a few of them, form friendships beyond the web.There are some who have become friends after reading all that I have written!! (God! you do have patience 🙂 ), have egged me on to continue posting. Thanks to all!

I decided to stop blogging because I did not want to keep venting or ranting. I didn’t want to be all positive either and not be me!! Since I could not do the balancing act (Libra in me?!), I decided to quit…..and I am back here (Libra indecisiveness?! 😉 )

What has happened since my last post?! Way back in October! Wow! I have stayed away that long!!!! I have been off Facebook completely. Deactivated my account mid-October I think. I confess there were certain days when I wanted to log in and check. Got over that urge in a few minutes and I have been away. Someone said that was brave of me. Don’t know where that stems from, though I do think it is quite an achievement for me for having still not gone back to that place! (I am not saying I won’t…..look where it got me here! :p ). I did complete my 100 happy days. Again an achievement (as a wonderful friend said a huge achievement considering the garbage that goes on in my head!)

Obviously there have been lows. Self doubt haunting me as ever. Times I wanted to totally give up. I feel I put A through impossible times! Situations at work. Lots of ups and downs – Downs always overwhelms a person like me into thinking when will this every end? I know the answer is never and it probably might never get easier despite all the clichés.

I am grateful for true friends who have stuck by me and my madness…some of them have even made it past a decade or two!! (I must not be that bad a person and hope I can remain good friend to them! 🙂 ). Despite loads of differences, the solid support I get from my parents is something that I must not forget. In a way I am also thankful for those “friends” who have let me down in more ways than one for the lesson they taught me – some doing way more damage than I can imagine 😦

It is easy to forget and stray away, delve deep into that abyss of depression. I have fallen into that way too often. Thanks to those who help me get over that – some of you are really patient and have way too much of endurance! (If you are reading this, you know who you are! 🙂 ). I must add this….I have a wonderful son! A is indeed a gem of a guy, a blessing – one who comes to hug me when I ask for one, smiles & laughs and endures my moods of anger, despair, doubt, depression, feeling of being lost! Love him loads!

If only!

As some of my friends say, my life since I finished college has been a constant drama. One after another making me wish enough is enough. Listening to advice to be strong while I know I have dealt with each in the best possible way I could, to look at my son & to live for him. Anything I said against this labelled me as being selfish, bad mother. I love my son but I will be lying if I said he is the be all & end all of my life. I breakdown more often than before – don’t know if I am tired. Nothing seems right.
All these years I always used to say be happy the age that you are. Enjoy it, each year as it is. Now I wish I were younger when it would be easier to restart life as it is ( with A). If that is not possible, I wish I were older much older so I would have gotten used to this & it would be agreeable, not much to look forward to then. I feel like I am now stuck in that age where am too old to renew my life, too young to give up. It feels easier to want to give up since I am not able to accept reality – which is I am being someone who is used, taken for a ride & left with a broken heart all because I trusted, loved with everything I got. Do I blame the one who did this to me or myself for having allowed this?! I think the latter.
I wish I were hard hearted & didn’t care at all but am still not there. I don’t want to be bitter but I can see myself getting there. No, I don’t have faith in God.
I just am lost, lonely & someone who cannot hate even when hurt a lot. I am not even able to dislike. I get angry – very angry. I yell/scream but I don’t mean to hurt or love any less. I hate losing people in my life but it seems like this has become a habit. People walking out of my life without a care knowing how much they mean to me! Makes me wonder if I would ever understand all this?!?
There are times I wish I didn’t have A… It is only out of frustration I say it. He is definitely the most important part of my life. So I wish people stop telling me that & making me resent him sometimes more the carrying of the responsibility alone than anything else.
If only life becomes bearable & soon. I am losing patience & fast!!!

Dancing in the rain :)

The day started off really well, just the kind of weather I like :). I got to know that I would be having a job for the next 9 months. That was great news!! I went over to spend some time with colleagues prepping for a halloween party. By the time we were done, it started to pour.

I love the rains!! I started to put my hands out and catch the downpour, ended up just going out and twirling around, getting wet. I did not want to ride home in the rain and this was the way I spent the time waiting for it to subside. People around me must have thought “Crazy woman!!!” but I loved every minute of it. Lightning, thunder and a heavy downpour. Enjoyed it.

The downpour came down to a drizzle. It was getting late, A was waiting at home!! (yeah I remembered I had a kid to go home to 😉 ). I drive down, the roads are flooded. Traffic everywhere!!! To top it all, my bike stalled every other minute. Was wondering each time whether it would just die. My bike’s headlights did not function. Icing on the cake, my fuel gauge was edging towards “empty”. I rode on. The thrill of what might happen felt nice.

I know I have cribbed many a times of wanting to know what is in store. How is this different? Well, for starters, I knew what I had to do. It is not like life off late where I did not know what is in store, had (have) no plans and even if I did have plans they did not work!!

Reached home and hugged A (who asked me to change cos I had wet clothes on!! Wonder who the parent is!!!!! :D). Felt like I loved life all of a sudden. Was it knowing I would be employed for the next few months? Was it just spending the evening and feeling free!!!??? Whatever it is, it felt good. It feels good to share this here! 🙂

To more such days!!

Caught!

For the past few days (more like few months! 😉 ), I feel like I am caught between two worlds of thinking – the conservative world & the not so conservative (can’t quite say modern)!  I guess I have been there all my life, and the realisation of this is dawning on me now.

My mum is an amazing woman – strong, pretty open-minded even though she was brought up in quite a conservative world and times. She did her masters despite lot of opposition from family & friends, thanks to my grandpa who supported her. She is grounded. She follows tradition, but is very practical. I must say that I am the way I am because of her -good  & bad 😉

So having her as a mother, I guess I have the same attitude – being grounded in values with a practical outlook. I must say that  I am a little more “modern” in my thinking than her. This is not a comparison between the two of us. It is just penning down how I feel off late.

I chose the person I married. It was not something of norm at least in my family where arranged marriages are the way to go. My family supported me (some of them reluctantly) They are devastated now that it has failed with a kid in tow. We do not talk about any of these now, just waiting for the legalities to end I suppose. This is the family front.

To my personal battleground – my mind. I took the liberty of not following tradition, chose a guy. Now since it is a failure, going back to the whiteboard – I wonder if things would have been different had I accepted whomsoever my parents chose?!? At least I would have them to blame if it had failed 😉 Is it weird that I expected the marriage to last forever?! I did hang on for quite a while thinking things would turn around.

Then, when I decided it was over, I started thinking that life is not over for me. I accept A is an important part of my life, but not the only part. There are days when I am made to feel guilty about that!!!! I also find myself defending my thoughts. There are days on end when I feel that this is it -this is all there is to my life now. I am amazed at how people are ever so ready to accept P moving on, finding someone else; but want me to be only a mother and nothing but. I find everything contradictory now. My mind is in absolute turmoil. Conflicting thoughts, feelings rule my life now. I am happy with A, scared/nervous/worried about future, depressed/angry about the past. How can one person feel all this at the same time is what even I wonder? How can I deal with all this? I know…live in the present – that is easier said than done.

Count your blessings my mum says. Hmm….?!?!? Anyways, this is what I was/am  and probably will be (for a long time) ruminating on. Conclusion now: My life is an absolute mess with only me to blame and no solution to anything ahead. All I see is gloom for myself with periods of insane happiness with A till he decides to leave (Hope I don’t hang on to him too much!!! for his sake!!)

PS: I don’t know if this post is even remotely coherent…I just typed in whatever. I am not even going to try look at it to make it sensible. Guess this is how my life is now!!!

I need my space!!

I don’t know if you have come across people who just have this uncanny ability to be annoying. They are nice people but still have that quality about them. They just suffocate you and make you want to just escape, hide, run away?! You know that they are well meaning but still want to make you scream – “hey leave me alone, I need my space. ”

In the name of being a “friend”, one has to stand the torture of questions like “where are you?” “what are you doing now?” “Why are you not responding?!” and the likes. How can one get the message across saying it is up to us to respond or not without actually hurting the other person? These characters seem to be easily offended, think that we are insulting them just by asserting our space! I have not got the hang of handling this. I also don’t know if I ever would. If any of you out there has the experience, suggestions/advice welcome!! I don’t want to be rude but I don’t want to get bugged like this either!

This also got me thinking, why are people who I want in life not there? 😦 When every incident makes you wonder – if that person were there. Have imaginary conversations wishing them to be real. You wish for that person to be present who knows just when to leave you alone and when to invade your space – just that right balance.

Life is unfair!! As I have said before, God (if you are there!! ) find another target. I am tired of being your punching bag. Now I really deserve a break with some rewards for all the fun you have had so far!!!