MY STORIES

Friends,

I am excited to share with you that my stories in Hindi  are now available on "Saavn" app in Quisson ka kona in the magical voice of Neelesh Misra! please listen to them and give your feedback!

SAAVN

WEIGHTLOSS AGONY: A JOURNEY WITHOUT DESTINATION

Each morning I mount and dismount on the weighing machine repeatedly in a hope that it would change its stand and settle upon a little less (may be by 0.1or 0.2 Kg) than the previous day’s weight! But no! My weighing machine seems to be inspired by Salman Khan telling me” Ek baar jo weight maine bata diya to main khud ki bhi nahi sunti!”

This reminds me of my poor old analogue weighing machine which I bought two months after my daughter was born.  After weighing myself on it for the first time, I declared it faulty. I was pretty sure that after the delivery I had lost a lot of weight and couldn’t be weighing 8 kg more than the pre pregnancy weight! But when my mother in law said,” it might be correct! You are looking fatter!” I was shocked. I tried my best to prove the machine wrong by weighing myself at other places, from fancy looking machines with a colourful wheel fitted on top installed outside posh shops, to the street vendor sitting with a weighing machine at lower bazar Shimla charging one rupee, but after spending many one rupee coins in these fruitless rituals, I had to accept that it was not possible for all the weighing machines in the world to conspire against me and show excess weight simply to upset me. So I had to come out of denial mode and accept that I had put on weight! I decided to venture into the weight loss journey little knowing that this is a journey where you never reach the destination!

I made a routine of daily evening walk and was able to reduce 4 kg of weight in few months, but that was all! The weighing machine seemed to have stuck at one point with a vow to never go below that reading. When my son was born after few years, I got a greater shock by the machine (showing 10 kg more than the pre pregnancy weight) as this time I was on bed rest for three months preceding the delivery. Again, the same journey started with the only difference that the machine increased the threshold by 2 kg. By this time, I had also concluded that the machine might be showing zero error (one of the very few useful terms taught in science education) and kept on adjusting zero again and again till I got the desired result.

I never realized that this little adjustment had gone to the extent of misappropriation of 2-3 kg until once I took my weight on a digital weighing machine at a relative’s place and was shocked by the results!

I decided that it was time to buy a digital weighing machine as the analogue machine was  showing misleading results (not my fault, I simply adjusted the needle to show the zero correctly, I never forced it to show less weight)!

But alas! This “satyawadi harishchandra” digital machine has transformed my life in a manner where a difference of 0.1 can break or make my mood! Unlike the poor analogue machine, it never succumbs to the pressure of the person taking weight and sticks to the first reading irrespective of the number of times you weigh yourself! But may be the movement during mounting and dismounting on the machine or the breathing pattern makes a difference or if the machine is in a mood to bargain, it reduces the initial reading by 0.1 kg. Expecting a favour of more than 0.1 kg from it is a wishful thinking!

I suddenly realized that I was not the only one pursuing the machine to change its reading, as over the years; my husband had also gained more than 15 kg and joined me in weight loss journey. He could also be seen struggling in the mornings with the weighing machine! On the positive side, this digital machine inspired us to get up early in the morning and go for the walks. Yes, we did indulge in oily food many a times, but the next morning the machine used to take away all the joy of late night parties leaving us repenting. To my surprise, my husband reduced 15 kg of weight through one year of consistent efforts (copying me in every step I took), even though my weight still kept hovering in the same range! I can’t call my weight loss efforts as fruitless, as with tireless efforts there are times when I have been able to reduce up to 2-3 kg of weight, but even a week’s holiday is sufficient to bring back the lost weight!

Desperate to achieve the desired weight, I once visited a dietician who gave me a diet chart. I was delighted to find a section in this chart containing the foods which could be consumed in unlimited quantity, but was disappointed to note that to enjoy these foods in unlimited quantity; you need to take an avatar of either rabbit or goat!

First week went by and I was able to shed 0.5 kg of weight, but in the next week, rather than reducing, my weight increased by 0.1 kg. When I told this to the dietician on my next visit, she asked me if I had broken any of the diet rules. I honestly told her that the only exception to the prescribed diet was half samosa which I had eaten in an office function (that too outer layer only leaving the potatoes intact). She seemed to be relieved while breaking the whole theekra of weight gain on the poor samosa,” tabhi aapka weight badh gaya!”

While resolving to stop paying the lady for simply handing over a list of tasteless foods and at the same time making me feel guilty for eating even half samosa, I accepted the fact that the weight loss can neither be achieved through diet nor exercise, it can be achieved through will power only (which I lose on encountering my favourite food). The other gyaan I got in all these years is weight loss can never be a onetime exercise; it has to be a lifelong journey!

I have still not given up on this journey which has no destination. Morning walks and balanced diet are continuing, and so is the constant tussle with the weighing machine.

Our mood in the morning is determined by the weighing machine and my husband and I can easily guess from each other’s mood whether the reading is on the plus side or minus side. If one of us is smiling and gets up for the milkman without waking up the other, the other one asks,” bade khush lag rahe ho! weight kam ho gaya kya?” on the other hand if one partner is lying down on bed with an upset mood talking in sarcastic tone, it gives rise to the question,” kyon subah subah lad rahe ho, weight badh gaya kya?

Though I may curse my weighing machine for spoiling my mood, I have to admit that it has helped me maintain the weight within 10% of my original weight. Sometimes, I get a compliment that I have not put on too much weight (though only from the friends who themselves have put on too much weight over the years) to which I feel like replying, “You may say so but the fact is I am trying to reduce the same 2-4 kgs for the past 17 years!”

THE "SO CALLED" SURPRISE BIRTHDAY PARTIES

The last time I wrote about the surprise birthday party of my daughter, she said,” Mom, That’s not fair! We also give your surprise birthday parties and successfully manage to keep the surprise element. Why don’t you consider that?”

“Sure!” I thought, "Except that I am fully aware of the surprise!" I started recalling the surprise birthday parties arranged by my family for me.

 I recalled my birthday few years back, when my family was preparing for a surprise party for me and I was fully aware of it. How can a lady not be aware of the activity going on in the house? More so, it’s a simple guess when the “Jani Dushman” kids talk to each other in whispering tones and the irritated father is trying hard to abstain from scolding the children for stupid ideas! The kids demanded their long overdue pocket money to which I readily agreed. Even my husband demanded two thousand rupees, to which I thought,” only two thousand rupees! Can’t he bring a more expensive suit?” But the surprise dharma stopped me from expressing my emotions!

On the D day (sorry, Birthday), I had barely left the office rehearsing in my mind as to how to appear fully surprised on entering the home, when I got a call from my husband. On knowing that I had already started, he told me,” please don’t come just now!”

“Where would I go now? I am already in the car!”

“I don’t know, but please delay your arrival!”  

I asked the driver to stop at a departmental store and spent some time in unnecessary shopping. After buying some useless stuff when I headed back home, I again got a call from my husband requesting me to delay my arrival. This time I didn’t pay any heed to his request and told him plainly that I was about to reach. Upon reaching home, I was dragged into my room by my husband to gain some more time for preparation. Ultimately, when I was called in the decorated drawing room, I managed to show the expressions of surprise and thanked all. All the high calorie stuff was served with full excitement and the kids kept seeking confirmation from me again and again that I had no idea about the party and was totally surprised.

As kids grew up, the level of surprise also had to be higher, so the midnight surprise birthday parties came into picture! As a kid I always considered myself to be a great actor, but never got a chance to prove it, which I get on my birthdays now.

Now the tragedy about these birthday parties starts when the trio tries to manage all the things without my help. I am sure leave apart small stuff, if we even had an elephant in our house, my husband and kids would not be able to locate it without my help. So, its fun watching them struggle in an effort to manage things without my help.

This year, I was sure that they had forgotten it, until the previous evening, my son told that he needed some maps for his homework, which my husband agreed to bring without any fuss. “Thank God, they at least remember!” I thought. After some time, my son came and told me that Papa had called to tell that the maps were not available in the nearby market, so he had to go farther. “Perfectly normal!” I thought,” it takes time to go to Nick bakers, and I appreciate him for not being lazy bringing it from the nearby bakery!”

I made it a point not to step out of my room, though I noticed the sound of telephone ring followed by opening of door without the door bell ringing. After few minutes, the doorbell rang and my husband came acting being irritated upon being troubled to go to the market to bring the maps.

While acting to sleep, I noticed that it was already 5 minutes past twelve and there was no “hulchul”. I tried to feel the sounds but there was no sound except the sound of snoring of my husband. I felt confused whether my jaasoosi mind had failed and they actually didn’t remember. My fears were not false but were deep rooted from the past, as it had happened few years back, when actually all of them had forgotten my birthday! Though I was not expecting midnight party at that time but nobody wished me in the morning. It was only when my sister’s call was picked up by my son who was totally shaken on being asked whether he had wished happy birthday to Mom. All attempts for seeking my kshamadaan by the trio were killed by me as my mood was totally spoilt. After hours of pleadings, I had accepted their apologies and celebrations were made in the evening. I am not sure, but may be, these midnight parties might be the repercussion of the Raudra roop shown by me that day! “Do I again need to show the same Raudra roop tomorrow, if they don’t wish me in the morning!” I started thinking.

Ten minutes past twelve and I even considered of checking the refrigerator for the cake. After all, why stay awake if there was no surprise party? (Later, it was revealed that all of them had actually fallen asleep while acting to sleep)

Suddenly the sounds of snoring stopped and my husband went out of the room proving that there still was hope for the surprise party. But he came back after few minutes and lied down. Then there were sounds from the kitchen making me believe that the poor girl was assigned the task of arrangements for cake cutting. I felt like going and asking her if she needed any help. Suddenly there was a big sound and I  feared what if she had dropped the cake? My Blood pressure started rising as I imagined the scene of messed up floor. I wondered if the surprise party had to start with the scolding Mom and weeping daughter! I even felt like telling her where the half lit candle was kept, which had been fulfilling its duty for the last so many surprise birthday parties( during these surprise parties, though one of the most important things, the last thing we remember to bring is the candle)

But I kept on playing my part and asked my husband,” go and see if there is a mouse in the kitchen!”

“The sound is coming from the top floor flat” he assured me.

I kept on killing time by rehearsing my lines until finally at 00:30; the discordant chorus singing happy birthday song entered the room and woke me up (????)

During cake cutting ceremony, all of them boasted about how perfectly they had planned without giving me even a hint of what was in for me. The situation started getting tense as now all could talk openly and started blaming each other for the delay.

The party ended happily with cake cutting ceremony followed by vote of thanks by me. While delivering vote of thanks I told them,” I agree that I feel upset if you forget my birthday, but it is equally difficult to lie down guessing about the party! Also watching you people committing mistakes after mistakes and still keep silent! So, from next year, make me a part of your plans and tell me if you need any help from me for my surprise birthday party!”

IT'S YOUR FAULT

“Oh my God! I am having severe headache!” I said to my husband, getting up from the bed. He was quick enough to jump to the conclusion,” It is because you were reading till very late last night! How many times I have told you to sleep early!“ Now, this was not what I was expecting from him. I was just sharing my pain, and even though he was generous enough to investigate and point out the reason, it was in no way going to relieve me from pain. I started thinking, why this happens? When we share our pain with someone, in return people start analyzing the cause of suffering, mostly concluding that it’s our own fault.

My mother is a glaring example of this. Whenever I complain of some illness, in addition to getting worried, she is quick enough to find the reason and prove that I am the one who should be blamed for it. In my childhood days, I was very much prone to throat infection. Every time I had throat infection, Mummy would attribute it to the curd or ice cream, which I might have eaten even one week before.

When she visited us last year, I had a throat infection. Reaction of my mother was as usual; putting the entire blame on me for eating ice crème the previous day. To save myself from this unbearable blame game (yes, I am still scared of my Mummy, though at my age, she had become a mother-in-law), I visited a doctor, and when the doctor told me that it was viral infection, I jumped with joy.  I returned home bubbling with enthusiasm, “Mummy! The doctor said its viral infection, nothing to do with the ice crème!” she paid no heed to my reasoning concluding that the virus had attacked me because of the ice crème!

Few days back, I developed severe backache and the doctor advised me to refrain from walk for few months. When I visited the park after long time, an elderly gentleman asked the reason for my long absence. After hearing about my backache, he announced,” I knew that this was going to happen to you! It’s because you used to walk too fast!” His confident tone made me appreciate his capability of going to the root cause of my pain, which even my doctor could not do despite having so many unpronounceable degrees on his name plate. I thanked the gentleman for his words of wisdom while cursing myself for my habit of wishing good morning to the elderly persons walking in the park. Now I was paying for this habit by having to explain all the elderly gentlemen and ladies about my absence. But, not in a mood to be blamed again, when a lady asked the reason for my long absence, I replied with a smile,” Oh, nothing much! I was just feeling like taking rest for few days!”

“Not a wise thing to do! You should always be regular with your walks! I can see that you have put on weight during these days!” came the expert advice in the most serious tone.

I sat on a bench watching people walking at fast pace wondering whether all of them were going to develop backache like me!

When I talked to my sister about this double tragedy of suffering from pain and being blamed at the same time, she told me not to bother. “If I would have developed this pain, people would blame it on my not going for walks at all!” she consoled me. As she is a sedentary person, all her health problems are blamed for her not exercising at all.

Why can’t people just show sympathy and leave the rest to doctors who are being paid for analyzing the cause and offering remedy?

About 10 years back (when we were posted in Himachal), on the way from Shimla to Kullu, my family met with a fatal car accident. I still thank God for saving our lives though the car was badly damaged. When the news spread, many well-wishers from my office called to sympathize. What surprised me the most was after normal haal chaal, the question most of them asked was, “Who was driving?” I thanked God again, each time the question was put to me for I was not driving at the time of accident. The way that truck driver was driving, the accident was bound to happen even if the car would have been safely parked on one side, but my negative answer disappointed the well-wishers by not giving them a chance to lecture me on how driving in hilly areas is not something ladies should venture into.

It is not that this blame game is played for family and friends only. While, people blaming the government for the wrong policies are not uncommon, even the film stars are not spared after giving a flop. But worst sufferers are cricketers, who are never spared after a defeat.

I am not a cricket fan, but I pity the Indian team after every defeat, as leave apart the experts on the sports and news channel (including many retired players who could not do anything great in their career), even the gali cricket experts discuss how the captain made a wrong decision by giving the falana over to the falana bowler, and how the falana player wrongly played the falana shot while he should have played safe. Are bhaiya! Wo waise hi haar kar dukhi hain! Ab unki galatiyan bata bata kar to mat maro! (They are already sad for getting defeated! don’t kill them by counting their mistakes!) But the cricket fans sipping coffee in their drawing room seem to be more expert than the players as they know what went wrong to make the team lose. Sadly, the skipper does not keep the phone number of any of these cricket experts to take advice before taking any decision on the field. Though it is not unusual for my 9 year old son to bore me with the analysis of defeat of Indian cricket team, I was more surprised when after India’s recent defeat in world cup semifinal, my daughter (who is not so interested in cricket) came up with a readymade blame card of the players, provided to her by her cricket fan friends! Not wanting to be left behind, I also started blaming Virat Kohli for allowing Anushka in the stadium despite her proving to be unlucky for him; a fact he should have known after he got out at a score of 3 after watching NH-10 and praising her! Later on, I learned that my family was not alone finding defaulters; lakhs of Indians analyzed the reasons (most of them blaming Anushka and Virat Kohli) for the defeat and posted them on social media to help the Indian team for future matches! After all, playing cricket (and reaching up to semifinals) is a layman’s job; the skilled job is to analyze the faulty players and accuse them!

One morning I got upset on noticing that the gold chain in my neck was missing. I got tense and started looking for it. Fortunately, the housemaid found it lying on the floor in the kitchen. My husband, who had been finding it hard to refrain from lecturing me considering my upset mood, immediately started with his ever ready lecture blaming me for carelessness which had nearly cost me the gold chain. I put on the gold chain again and requested him to press the chain hook properly. “can’t you do it yourself?” asked my husband to which I replied,” I can! But I have an added advantage if you do it. If it goes missing again, though I would be sad, but I don’t have to listen to your lecture for carelessness! Rather, I would prove that it’ your fault!”  

LITTLE PLEASURES

I was in an extremely bad mood. As I entered home after a bad day in the office, I found the kids fighting; and acting as an arbitrator in their fight was the last thing I wanted to do at that moment. While I was fuming at my kids, the housemaid came with intimation for two days leave which acted as a catalyst to my anger. Since the maids enjoy certain privileges, and cannot be scolded, I started finding faults with my children and husband to give vent to my anger.  When I returned to my room I was considering myself as the most dejected soul and the most stressed person on earth. To show everyone that I was not in a mood to talk, I picked up the magazine section of a newspaper, in which an article about happiness caught my attention. It said that one should try to derive pleasures from little things in life. So how can one get little pleasures in day to day life? I started to recall the instances that give me pleasure. Here is the compilation of few such moments, which have given me little pleasures in the past (and continue to do so, whenever they reoccur):

1.     In a Parent Teacher meeting at my son’s school, we (my husband and I) were sitting quietly, vowing not to speak anything for fear of opening Pandora’s box (of his complaints as always) , feeling like a prisoner waiting for the award of (death) sentence. But to our surprise, when we asked guiltily to his teacher about his performance, she replied,” Oh! He is a very bright boy! I agree, he is very naughty and talkative, but all the children are naughty at this age!” we thanked her enthusiastically and left before she could change her opinion.  Coming out, we prayed that such good sense prevail on all the teachers so that parents could return from PTM without losing their self-esteem!

2.     Upon entering the kids’ room, I found out that both the kids were quietly doing their homework. I could not believe my eyes! This means no scolding at them, no arguments- counter arguments! Wow! How much time did I have at my disposal! Lucky me!

3.     One fine morning, after snoozing the alarm three four times, I was trying to open my eyes to get up for morning walk, when my husband went out in the balcony and happily announced,” It’s raining!” I felt like “man me laddoo foota! Such pleasant news in the morning! I could sleep without a sense of guilt. After all, I was ready to get up for morning walk; it was the God of rains who prevented me from walk!

4.     On the same rainy day, when I had lost all the hopes of arrival of my maid, no sooner had I stepped into the kitchen, than I heard the bell ring! The sound of doorbell had never sounded so melodious! Instead of scolding her for late arrival, I felt like hugging her!

5.     I telephoned my tailor to remind him to stitch my suits in time, practising in my mind counter arguments for the reasons he might give for the delay like, marriage in his family, kareegars chhuti par hain ( workers on leave) etc. but to my surprise, he said,” suit ban gaye hain jee, aap le lo kisi bhi time! (Your suits are ready; you can pick up any time!) Was I dreaming?

6.     While getting ready for an outing, when I told my son to go and fetch his clothes himself, to my surprise he returned with his clothes!( normally he stands against his wardrobe not being able to spot the clearly visible clothes and keeps on calling me)

7.     In a departmental store, the lady standing ahead of me in the queue who seemed to have purchased the whole store, suddenly realized that she could  have done with some more  shopping and left the queue saving at least 15 minutes of my waiting time. I felt so lucky!  

8.     My weighing scale, which seems to have taken a vow to move only in upward direction and never move below a certain reading, suddenly made me happy by showing a reading below my threshold weight! So what if it was due to the fever I had the previous day which didn’t let me eat anything? After all, it gave me the satisfaction of reducing some weight!

Recalling all these incidences, I realized that life is not that bad. After all, at times I too have my moments of happiness. So friends! I hope that rather than dismissing my happy moments as silly, you would add yours to the list and share with me! 

NEED A POLICY?

A man, having been chased by an insurance agent for months together, slapped him so hard that the agent fell on ground. The man got worried and rushed to help him get up. The agent got up, dusted off his cloths and came smiling to the man, saying,” mazaak chhodiye sahib! Ab to insurance karwa leejiye! (No more kidding sir! It’s time you got your insurance done!)”

I had read the above joke during my school days, but was able to understand it in its true sense only when I started with my job. Elders say if you work hard, you would get success, money, fame etc.; what they don’t tell you is that there is one more thing which comes free with a decent job, the ever-chasing insurance agents!

After marriage, boasting about my financial knowledge which I had acquired through financial columns in newspapers cost me a lot, as it made my husband believe that I would be the right person to face the insurance agents (or maybe he pretended so, to get rid of this ever chasing species)

Boasting about my half cooked knowledge backfired, as every now and then, I would receive a call from my husband,” Mr. X/Y/Z wants to explain something about an insurance policy. I am sending him to you. You know, I don’t understand much about these matters!”

The agent would come and start describing policy after policy. You reject one policy and he would be ready with another. Though I used to try my best to outsmart these agents by asking questions after questions, sometimes it seemed easier to buy the policy than to tolerate the agent anymore. We are still holding two such policies giving miniscule coverage and returns with huge premium (probably because of the high incentive to the agents); bought only to get rid of these agents.

But with experience (or the mistakes which are given the name of experience) I realized that it is not wise to part with your hard earned money just because you are not able to ask a persisting gentleman to leave. So I resolved not to let any insurance agent enter my home or office.

But I could not keep my resolution, as with the expansion of insurance business, the agents started entering homes in the disguise of friends and acquaintances.

One fine Sunday morning, we were surprised to see a gentleman on our door. On racking my mind, I remembered meeting him once or twice before but didn’t remember if we had ever talked to him anything other than the normal haal chaal. He told us that he had come to the city and thought of saying hello to us.

 As we could not be so discourteous to ask a person why he decided to say hello to us after so many years, we were forced to entertain him. The gentleman appeared in no hurry to leave even after breakfast, so he had to be offered lunch also. But after lunch, it appeared difficult to tolerate him, as it would mean spoiling the precious Sunday afternoon sleep.

After my husband repeated 10-20 times, “aur kya haal chaal hain?” and “aur baki sab theek thaak hai?”, the gentleman also realized our apathy and finally gathered the courage to reveal the noble cause behind his visit: a lucrative policy which would give us return higher than any other financial instrument in the market (and of course a great incentive or probably promotion to him)!

But by this time we had mastered the art of dealing with insurance agents like saying that we already held four insurance policies and the EMIs of home loan barely left us with any investible surplus etc. etc.

So now when we get a call from an old acquaintance that we have not seen for many years, we become suspicious and start brushing up our skills to lie to save ourselves from some newly launched insurance policy by a newly launched insurance company.

When my nephew was born, I visited my sister with my one and a half year old daughter. Tired from the overnight train journey, I went to sleep straight upon reaching there, leaving my daughter to be looked after by my poor sister. At the same time an insurance agent also arrived to convince my sister to take a policy for her new born son. This agent fell into the category of agents disguised as friends and relatives. My sister asked him to take care of my daughter, probably hoping that the agent would quit the idea of selling the policy and leave rather than chase the little girl running around the house, in the garden, jumping from the stairs and running up and down the ramp. But an insurance agent in true spirit, he set another example of perseverance by running behind my daughter for many hours until he succeeded in his goal of selling the policy.

Even if you don’t allow the insurance agents to meet you in person, with the boom of call centres, you cannot escape the offers of policies even on the phone. One day I got one such call and upon telling the caller that I don’t need insurance, he asked me in an enthusiastic tone,” madam! Aap ko apni zindagi se pyaar nahi hai kya(don’t you love your life) ?” I replied before disconnecting,” hai na! lekin agar zindagi nahi rahi to paise ka kya karoongi?  main chahti nahi hoon ki mere marne ke baad mere husband ko kuchh mile(of course I do! But what would I do with the money if there is no life? That’s why I don’t want my husband to get anything after I die)!”

So friends! Like me, you should also accept that with the boons of success, fame, a good job etc., you also get a bane of ever chasing insurance agents. To get rid of them, simply practice a monologue: before they start speaking, you start stating that you are already insured for itne-itne crore rupees, half of your salary goes into paying the EMIs etc. etc. Be persistent, but don’t even think of slapping him, otherwise he would come back to you saying,” mazaak chhodiye sahib! Ab to insurance karwa leejiye!”

little moments of happiness

Different people have different perceptions of happiness. People often think that they would be happy upon getting a certain thing, but what they fail to realize is that in pursuit of bigger happiness, they abandon thousands of moments of little happiness, which when added together are going to make them happy.

In addition to our share of big moments of happiness, life also showers upon thousands of small moments of happiness, which we often fail to appreciate.My little moments of happiness are as below:

1.     When I was posted in Shimla, I was wondering how I was going to survive the freezing cold weather there. In Shimla, once the continuous rain throughout the day forced me to go to bed early. Upon getting up the next morning, when I glanced out from the window casually, I was mesmerized. All the things in sight were covered with snow. Flakes of snow were falling silently adding to the beauty. The first sight of snowfall filled my heart with a happiness which is hard to describe in words. After that I have witnessed many snowfalls, but each time I see snowflakes falling from sky slowly and silently, my heart is filled with happiness.

2.      When my daughter was born, I kept on extending my leave till she got eight months old. Even after joining, I found it difficult to be away from her for the whole day. In the evening, the journey back from office to home appeared too long and when I used to press the doorbell after returning from office, the sound of her giggling coming from inside filled my heart with enormous happiness. When the housemaid opened the door carrying my daughter, I used to hide on one side. My daughter would seem to be  disappointed on not finding me on the door. When I would step in her sight, the million dollar smile on her face filled me with a happiness which cannot be brought even with the largest sum of money. I still feel that after a long day at work, being greeted by smiling children at home is one of the biggest blessings in life.

3.     Though it is for quite some time that I have been striving to express myself through the amazing art of writing, each time I write something, I am apprehensive as to whether anybody would read it or appreciate it. A word of appreciation on my writing fills me with happiness.

4.     Yes, we all have our own tastes for movies, but there is a certain class of movies, which is liked by people of all generations. Yes, I am talking about animation movies! On a Sunday, sitting relaxed with family at home, watching an animation movie like “Kungfu Panda”, “Madagascar” or “Ice Age” gives me immense pleasure.

5.     In the age of facebook and WhatsApp, it is very rare to get a call from your friends. But whenever I get a call from a school or college friend without any specific purpose, I feel too happy.  Talking to a friend for hours together about everything under the Sun fills me with happiness.