Happy New Year

2014

Twelve months went by, four seasons too
Just a year went by that I am with you.

Nine months I felt you, before you came,
Like you were in my mind, exactly the same.

I was so unsure if at all I can,
Till I became a mother in this year Jan.

Feb to March, I was so scared if I drop you,
But you were like the strength I never knew.

April, May, June, you grew day by day,
You were a miracle my heart would say.

July and August were never so much fun,
I have been waiting so long and you are the one.

September to October, we celebrated together,
Festivals and feasts we attended here and there.

November, December, my dreams again grew,
When you inspired me to start something new.

Twelve month will come again, four seasons too,
I just can’t believe,
It’s already a year that I am with you.

Secret Santa – of the moms, by the moms and for the moms!

People say women cannot keep secrets, but this Christmas, the mommies of Momzspace Koramangala proved them wrong. In this festive season spreading joy, these wonderful mothers took a step forward to gift a smile to another mother they do not even know.

“Secret Santa launch poster”

Mothers have always been a Santa, a giver of happiness to their children and others around. But this time, Nidhi Pathak, the founder of Momzspace (www.momzspace.in) though to bringing a tint of merry in their lives with the Secret Santa (SS) endeavour. Mothers interacted, communicated; exchanged gifts and most of all engaged themselves in a wonder game of sharing and caring.

“I was enthralled and completely bowled over with the gifts from my SS.”

The game was kick-started on December 16 with each mom in the Whatsapp group getting the name of another mom to whom she had to be a Secret Santa. She was supposed to send a surprise gift of joy in any form to her angel without disclosing her identity. All moms in the group eagerly pondered upon their Secret Santa names on December 24, just to be surprised and overwhelmed to send them a note of thanks.

“Hand-made cards for Kavitha”

All the moms enthusiastically participated from day one till the end, ensuring they become the best Santa a mom could wish for. Their playful yet thoughtful, fun filled gestures in the form of sending gifts, daily messages and others brought back many childhood memories. The first mom to  receive a gift of joy was Farheen from her SS, Kavitha. Then the gifts just started pouring in. Nidhi single handedly took the responsibility to deliver the SS gifts to their angels. Kudos to her for the dedication and enthusiasm. Meanwhile, the SS was also sending anonymous daily messages via Whatsapp through Elf to keep up the spirit of the game.

“Bouquet and sweets for Farheen”

Secret Santa (From)	Angel (To)	Gift (s)
Anusha	Kanak	Nice Dress
Cynthia	Suman	Yummy Ginger Bread and a gift
Debarati	Swetha	Delicious Plum Cake
Farheen	Anusha	Chmbak accessory and bouquet
Kanak	Cynthia	Beautiful chocolate bouquet
Kavitha	Farheen	Nice bouquet and Sweet treats
Nidhi	Debolina	Beautiful hand-made note, goodies in a bag, Bengali song in her voice, a baby book for my lo
Preethi	Debarati	Yummy Plum cake and nice personalized video
Suman	Kavitha	Beautiful homemade cards and sweet treats
Swetha	Preethi	Beautiful Hand Bag

“Handbag for Preethi from Swetha”

“Goodies for Anusha from Farheen”

“Yummy plum cake for Swetha from Debarati”

Swetha, Nidhi and myself also received yummy plum cakes from Preethi as a note of thanks.

“Plum cakes from Peethi”

Moms met on December 21 and had loads of fun knowing each other and exchanging gifts. Nidhi received a chocolate gift from Kavitha. Kanak had also gifted goodies.

“Chocolate for Nidhi from Kavitha”

“Chocolate bouquet for Cynthia from Kanak”

I did not want to miss the fun of being SS and sent Nidhi a personalized calendar and a photo frame as her SS.

Initially, a winner was supposed to be decided for guessing respective Secret Santa, but with such an overwhelming response and the immense glee that this game brought in, everybody is a winner. It is difficult rather impossible to choose a single Santa who was at her best. Everybody had that extreme zeal to make other mommies happy irrespective if they are getting anything in return. Hence it was decided that the winner will be chosen by a lucky draw in the next meet.

Not only the moms of Koramangala, mothers from all walks of life and associated with Momzspace in any way had come forward with their generous help to fill the Santa Goody Bag for the winner.

“Santa Goody Bag – lucky mom”

The bag is not only full with goodies, but also with the love, care and inspiration of all these mommies.

We, the mommies of Momzspace, extend our heartiest thanks to all those who willingly associated themselves with Secret Santa. Finally, a whole lot of appreciation for Nidhi for conceptualizing, networking and giving an opportunity to spread happiness. Her ardor in every respect is unparalleled and commendable. Wishing her all the best in all her future endeavours.

I guess the secret is out, the secret joy of giving happiness to a fellow mom is a great satisfaction in itself.

“the joy of spreading happiness”

Hope you all had a great time and wishes for a happy, prosperous year ahead with loads of happiness!!!

Keep watching this section for the winner to be announced in the New Year!

Tale of a 17 yr old terrorist

I am sixteen going on seventeen
And I am ready to kill.

I can pull the trigger on my friends,
This is how I have been trained.

I can kill many innocent souls,
This is how they have set our goals.

I can blow up myself into pieces,
This is what my mentor back there teaches.

I have a lil sister and a old mother,
My death is their only food and shelter.

I am sixteen going on seventeen,
And I am ready to kill.

Two years back, I went to school,
I lived in a small house just beside the pool.

Then one day I heard a huge sound,
Armed men gunned down our entire town,

Killed my father, raped my mother, my books were burnt,
They took me off to a camp.

I was beaten, tortured and whipped,
Till I my entire body was ripped.

I gave in to their wishes,
I bargained safety of my family,
I was given a gun to kill and a mind full of hate,
They had chosen me to die and sealed off my fate.

I am sixteen going on seventeen,
And I am ready to kill.

This is my story in a gist,
The world calls me ‘a terrorist’.

When we look at the other side of the story, we see how young terrorists massacred the school in Peshawar but who are they and how did they they become one?

Educated masterminds kill innocence in every form and create instruments of mass destruction. My poem tries to capture the mind of one such misguided soul.

Yesterday, death of 6 terrorists gave birth to 600 more when I heard a school boy saying, “I will not leave them. I will kill them all.” This is breeding terrorism in a new way.

God save mankind!

Glimpse…

She was lolling aimless in the garden,

Her lazy feet made its way through the wild bushes, the pace was rather slow,

It was late, dusk was about to unroll its curtain,

She could not think of anything, she was not certain,

She had a pale gray look in her eyes, as if all her emotions were lies,

She felt tired physically, rather mentally,

Sickness was reflecting all over her,

Suddenly her eyes met something very soothing, something mesmerizing,

An enchanting sensation ran through her,

There was an instant spark in ‘them’,

‘They’ were pure, true, promising,

The ‘very’ eyes, she had been searching for so long,

Her speech became still slower,

As ‘he’ came closer, she could hear her heart pounding faster,

She could distinctly feel a strange change,

She was at the lack of words, her emotions seems vaguely amusing and puzzled,

Her eyes were still transfixed in ‘them’,

‘They’ had a blackish tint full of warmth, love and affection.

She cried…

She had so many dreams,

Twinkling in her eyes.

She wanted to be so much,

Nothing extraordinary as such.

She wanted to say so many things,

But her throat felt so dry,

Her eyes were so tired to dream,

She wanted to feel so much

But her senses felt so weak.

She has so much to share,

But, alas, nobody was there.

She tried to stop them, but they were gone,

Leaving her isolated and alone.

She felt so unwanted and pitied,

There was a deep pain in her heart.

She tried hard to hold back her tears,

And fill her heart with cheers.

But she cried till her heart ached,

She had no one to call her own,

To make them feel her sorrow,

To make them understand her pain,

To share her loneliness and helplessness.

Finally, she accepted her fate, there was no hope.

All her dreams shattered into pieces,

All her feelings were numb, everything was out of her reach.

Then one day…. everything changed,

She saw her loved ones gathered together,

They had all come for her, only for her.

She was there, covered in a floral white gown,

She looked beautiful; her unseen beauty was vibrant, serene and sound,

Everybody talked about her- emotions and things she longed everybody would feel.

Yes, things have changed, the day had come- she is dead.

Her corpse lying there, suddenly she was so important.

But today, she has nothing to reciprocate, nothing to emote,

All her feeling and dreams have become so remote.

Somehow, it seemed to be the happiest day of her life,

It was a new beginning with the end of her life.

5 ‘out of the world’ expression of babies

The article is available at: http://www.momzspace.in/2014/12/guest-blog-expressions.html.

Boyzone sang “Words and words are all I have to take your heart away…” I too believed in that till my daughter came into my life since this January. I never knew we could communicate so much without words but my daughter taught me how. But guess we will never be able to communicate the way babies do, not that we are expected to.

Picture yourself in office, blabbering ‘abbbababab’ in front of your boss. Unimaginable. But imagine this, getting greeting every morning with tiny fingers over your face and the same ‘abbbbabbb’, heavenly, don’t you agree?

Our little ones are the ‘cutest little creatures’ on earth with ultimate gift of extreme innocence and simplicity. They are like the brand ambassadors of life, laughter and love. They emote with simplicity yet such passion which seems unmatched. They are like the ‘miraculous mystery of life’, who keeps surprising you every day.

Since birth I am ever attentive to catch an extraordinary or first expression of my child- happy, sad, crying, overwhelmed or others. I tend to capture them in my camera- those are precious and memorable.

I could think of 5 such expressions on her face which completely mesmerized me. I could bring out five different traits in my daughter.

the ‘ohhh-I-had-no-clue’ look: I call it the observer. She is an avid observer of things and keenly listens to conversations, sometimes our fights or at her doctor. Strangely she makes this round gesture with her lips and keeps scanning across the room. An expression she had mastered quite early and used it whenever she saw something new, which was quite natural for a 2 month old. But then it was wonderful to see those eyes eagerly looking for answers.

the ‘I-am-about-to-cry’ look: This is a very a very common look for any baby. To be frank, sometimes they really look cute in this expression (don’t take is sadistically..he he) and even cuter just before crying. My little one does this small eye expression with a humming noise and we know something is bothering her. I call it her melancholy side, a prelude to the outburst ahead.

the ‘I-am-on –the-top-of-the-world’ look: This is her ‘happy self’, extreme expression of joy and laughter when her father lifts her high, or her favourite song is paying, or when we play peek-a-boo or roll the ball of break the towers. She would laugh so much at times that she ends up having hiccups. These occur mostly in her late night playtime when rest of the world is sleeping but it’s her wish to keep herself and us wide awake.

the ‘I-am-dumbstruck’ look: This expression has many forms and each time she amazes us with a new look. Either when she is lost or in awe of something or just disinterested. I remember the first time I captured this was when she was a month old and loved listening to the song ‘Pehla Nasha’ and made all kinds of weird faces. There are expressions with I really can’t put in words but they wonderfully tickles our funny bones and brings a smile in the hardest of times too.

the ‘what-are-you-talking-about-dude’ look: And the most favourite expression of hers which she can bring up anytime, anywhere and to anybody. We call it the ‘WTH’ (pardon my usage), it’s her ‘I give a damn to the world’ attitude which we simply love. As in we love the simplicity and innocence in this audacious look from an infant. She can give this look anytime whether we disturb her while she is trying to pick up a dirt point on the floor or sometimes after listening to all the ‘koochikooing’ which might have been doing or if we try to distract her from her current work. Simply Amazing, how simple and easy for her to emote her feelings which we sometimes struggle to put across our point. This look can also be like ‘I-was-thinking-types’ as if her opinion is the last thing which matters. But we just enjoy every moment of her expression.

These are few of those many wonderful, thought-provoking emotions I get to see from my little angel. I am sure all of you have ‘my baby’s special expression’ moments especially in their infant year which you simply can’t get over and reminisce over and over.

I am not sure whether she will keep finding those unique expressions but guess things change when they start talking. So keep decoding, capturing and enjoying those special looks!!! You don’t want to miss them. Keep them safe in the treasure chest of your heart.

For my daughter on her rice ceremony…

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens
I am so small that I am still wearing mittens
I love those hands in cute little mittens

Brown paper packages tied up with strings
I want to play around and explore new things
I love those lips trying to say cute little things

Cream colored ponies and crisp apple strudels
I think of so much and make so many doodles
I love those fingers making cute little doodles

Wild geese that fly with the moon on their wings
I want to dance on my feet when the cuckoo bird sings
I love those feet dancing when the cuckoo bird sings

Girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes
I love those eyes blinking with cute little eyelashes

Silver white winters that melt into spring
You are my one and only favourite thing

If my back hurts and my legs sore, If I’m feeling sad
I simply look at your smiling face
And then I don’t feel so bad…

Summers are hot and waiting for spring…(he he)
Seeking the blessings and happiness you bring…

What is India’s slogan? – “I Need Democracy and Independence back Again”

Now-a-days the television screens keep blaring about how ‘acchey din aane wale hai’ slogans from our politicians, or how our country is economically advancing or how we have excelled in our participation in various games or events worldwide. We also see debatable slogans about security issues, women defamations, rise in crime rates, national and social degradation of our country.

But in this piece of mine, I have tried to bring out what India’s slogan is as a country, as a nation and as a motherland. It doesn’t have heavy words or it is not impregnated with idea ideologies which are ‘just good for chatting or debating’. It is just a simple voice which remains unheard, un-noticed and unimportant. But till when? When will the sons and daughters start listening to this mother and be more responsible? When will sons of this mother start respecting her as a woman? When will be daughters of this mother take every breath of freedom? When will they stop destroying their mother’s wealth? When will they stop eroding her dignity?

How long does India need to keep screaming for the ‘right democracy’ and ‘right independence’ of her children? Guess we do not have any answer to this question.

These things have been talked about and discussed over and over again but they just seem to vanish in oblivion. India, as our mother land, first needs its simple democracy and independence back- the very essence of her existence and of the people residing in her shadow.

I won’t talk about how things went bad to worse or what someone is doing or not doing to rectify it or what we can do, I am just here as a mute spectator like my motherland, waiting for ‘achey din’ to come.

I am awaiting a day when independecne does not mean freedom of crime, independence does not mean freedom of shame, independence does not mean freedom ofabuse.

I am awaiting a day when democracy is by not of people who are are mute and weak , democracy is not by the people who are corrupt and shameless, democracy is not for the people who put themselves above the law or even above humanity.

I am awaiting a day of ‘true independence’ of a mother in the ‘true democracy’ of her children.

I am waiting and listening to my motherland shouting for freedom.

HOPE SOMEBODY IS LISTENING?