Khatte Mithe Pal Jeevan ke, nostalgia, experiences, family, humour

My sister was telling me how her neighbor was in fits of blues, as her daughter’s name did not figure in the draw of lots for admission in nursery class, held by the most prestigious school of the city.   She told me that the mother was literally in tears cursing her hard luck and was now on a wild-goose chase for some powerful approach to secure a seat for her daughter.   But as my sister told her, these days it is almost impossible to secure admission in a good school through any approach, and it is purely your good luck that can get your child’s name selected through lottery.   My sister said, “Now it is very difficult to get a child admitted, earlier times were better, when the child was judged through an admission test.” This reminded me of my experiences during the admission of my children.   Were those times better? I began to recall. For the admission of my daughter, around 11 years ago, we had applied for two of the best schools of Shimla, the city we were pos

I cannot forget a scene from a short skit on TV, which I saw years before. An old lady is lying on deathbed and doctors have lost all the hopes. At that very time, her daughter-i-in-law whispers something into her ear. The lady instantly gets up, puts her shawl on her shoulder and moves out. When asked about the miraculous words, the daughter-in-law reveals that she had just informed her that there was a sale in the biggest store of the city. Such is the magical power of sale, that one can forget all the worries and run ahead on hearing about a sale. I remember that in my childhood days, “sales” were not so ubiquitous, as they are now. May be, because those were the days, when the middle size cities had not caught “brand fever”. I remember that in my city there was a unique craze of “Garden Saris sale”, which was organized in a hall rented by the company. My aunts waited for this sale for months together. When the sale was on, it was talk of the town. Ladies finished their house

As a little kid, I always thought that when I would grow up and start earning, life would be all fun and no worries. I would do whatever I want without any bindings. But what I didn’t know at that time was that all the good things in life come in packages. When you start earning, you cannot have a long leisure time due to responsibility towards work, and when you have a happy family you cannot spend all your earnings having fun time with them, as you have to secure the future of your loved ones. Though it appears like a dream, but if I had a life without constraints,  the following are the top 5 things on my bucket list that I would do if I were  BefikarUmarBhar : 1.         Ever since I visited Switzerland, I have been mesmerized by the natural beauty it possesses. Though I spent two weeks there, exploring the beautiful snow clad mountains and lush green landscapes, I still lounge to go there and enjoy the beauty of this heavenly land. If I would be befikar umarbhar I would

Once upon a time the celebrations of my daughter’s birthday were so simple! Ordering a cake cooking few dishes, decorating home and entertaining the tiny guests! That was the time until this bug of surprise birth day party bit our family! Few years back I axed my own feet by deciding to surprise my daughter on her birthday. Yes, we had a blast at midnight. I brought the cake in the evening, and was able to hide it behind loads of utensils and vegetables in the already overloaded fridge. At 12:00 AM sharp, we entered her room playing the happy birth day song! She was surprised!   We brought her to the drawing room where the cake was waiting along with a pretty dress as a birthday gift! In short, the surprise birthday party was a great success and our daughter was very happy and thankful to us as evident from her face. But wait! The story does not end here; rather what followed this party is what I want to tell you! After this surprise party, my daughter (along with her fat

“Gossip is good for health.” says a study! But why do they need to conduct a study for it? I can say so just by looking at my Chachis, Mausis, buas etc. who spend lot of time gossiping around happily, leading a long, healthy life. Gossip can always be healthy and enjoyable for all, except for the one who has to leave the gossip meeting in between as he/she then becomes the most vulnerable target of gossiping. Otherwise also, gossips can upset the person being made the object of gossip, like  Hrithik Roshan got upset over the rumours of his wife Suzanne demanding an alimony of 400 crore. But, why was he so upset over this? Doesn’t he know how a gossip travels? I had been reading the news about the alleged enormous alimony demanded by Suzanne, but was never surprised as I know when a piece of gossip travels from one person to another; it is the moral duty of the receiving person to do some value addition and pass it on further with the remark, “Don’t tell anybody!” Gossipers a

अजगर करे न चाकरी पंछी करे न काम,  दास मलूका कह गए सब के दाता राम! The literal meaning of the above saying is that “neither the python does any job, nor the bird does any work. Saint Maluka has said that the God takes care of all!” The moral of this saying is that even if one does not do any work, God is there to feed them. Now friends, before you bombard me with endless questions and infinite logics such as even the python has to make efforts to catch his prey and the bird has to get up early morning to catch worm etc., let me remind you, that the above words are not mine, they are said by Saint Maluka! The reason I am sharing this with you is because they help me console myself when I encounter some person being paid (especially by me) without doing anything and I am sure that these words might act as a consolation to you as well. I am sure, if the Saint would have been alive today, he would have taken his words back on seeing just how many people are desperately trying to s

  I agree that times flies, and happier time flies faster. So much has changed during these seventeen years… . From a little bundle packed carefully in warm clothes, you have turned into a tall girl, smartly dressed with matching accessories. As a two year old, you chose a sandal for me in a shoe shop and kept on insisting that I buy it, now I prefer taking you along to help me shop. As a three year old you cried so much as you wanted to wear the newly bought night suit while going for an outing, now you never step out of the house in a clumsy dress. On my birthday or marriage anniversary, you presented me cards made with your unskilled, little hands, now you surprise me with your beautiful post on my Facebook wall. You used to serve me imaginary tea and snacks in your kitchen set, now I cherish the ginger tea you prepare for me. I used to bring books for you and tried hard to make you read them, now you suggest me the books I should read make sure that I finis