Encounter with first white hair

This is relatively an older write up. I have written this five-six years back.

My grey cells are overflowing, so much so that they have started to appear on my head. And it’s worrying like anything. I mean I am just 22 and I have started to get grey hairs so soon. One fine day while getting ready for office I noticed one grey hair. I screamed, hey Bhagawan...nahi…yeh kya ho gaya(Ekdam  Bollywood IShtyle). My roommate Sapana rushed to me wondering what is making me so sad. I showed her my grey hair which was spoiling my neatly made office look. She offered to pluck it off. Which I agreed instantly. I am not married yet and don’t have even a boyfriend, I am just out of the collage and this injustice to me. Why God? Why? Sapana was laughing loud and said  “Kato, Gholo aur Lagalo” (This is a famous hair dye add on Indian TV). Hair dye.No…Not so early in my Lifetime. From this day I started to take advices from my mother and all aunties,grannies and started to read beauty magazines on How to avoid grey hairs in early age. Common feedback topping the list was“Tel lagaya karo”. But I regularly oiled my hairs once a week still I am getting grey hairs. May be once a week is not enough for my scalp.  Now it’s time to increase the frequency and I started to oil my hairs twice a week. I used to oil my hairs on Saturday night, leave it overnight  and shampoo my hairs on Sunday morning. Now I stared to oil hairs on Tuesday night as well and get a hair wash on Wednesday before going to office. But Now Wednesdays were getting hectic, had to get up early in the morning, wash my hair then blow dry so that they won’t be wet when I go office. But sometimes I got up late and rushed to Shampoo my hairs which resulted in not taking oil completely out of my hair and I was left with oily hairs like those yesteryears school boys having oiled and neatly combed hairs.  On top of it I didn’t get time to wash my hairs till Saturday as I was really busy on Thursday and Friday. In addition to this sometimes, I didn’t get time to blow dry my hairs so I was forced to walk into office with wet hairs which will take lot of time to dry due to AC. Soon after this experience I gave up the idea to wash hairs biweekly and started to explore better options.

Now the second most popular advise was “Apply Henna once or twice  a  month”. This sounded good to me as I heard Henna also works as a conditioner for hairs. I applied henna on Saturday. After washing my hairs were so dry, No matter how tight I tie them, even the slightest wind will make them come out of the Rubberband and frizzle over my face and head. This looked like I am carrying birds nest on my head. Then I was advised to oil my hair after washing henna. I did so, still situation wasn’t getting better for me. At last I gave up all the trials and accepted my grey hairs as a sign of maturity and intelligence(This is how I learned to be positiveJ). Now sometimes I color hairs with my favorite colour or I flaunt my intelligence boldly on my head.

Keep Moving

Life is like riding a bicycle, to keep your balance you have to keep moving!       

                                                                                   - Albert  Einestein

While browsing net I came across this true and inspirational quote from this great scientist. I was wondering what exactly Mr. Einestein mean by “Keep Moving”.  We are moving all time, When we are in school we moved to college, from college to Job. In personal life also we have a girlfriend or boyfriend we broke and we move on:).  We find that right person to spend our life with, get married again we have moved on. Have beautiful kids and then we are engaged in there upbringing. If we suffer any personal or career loss we try to forget and move on. We think we are moving on. But is this what Mr. Einestein meant? I thinks He wants us to move our spirit, to move thoughts, our thinking and stretch our limits  to keep the balance. Balnce between life,work, exercise and hobbies. Which can be achieved by giving away negative thoughts and move on. Ingnore those who don’t believe in you and move on. Keep learning. When we grow we stop learning. So don’t grow up just keep moving and keep learning.

Ramdan Kareem (Dubai Stories -2)

Ramdan. The holy month of charity and reflection will begin tomorrow. In office (Yeh, office is the only place I socialize with locals), everybody is excited. Today all the local girls ordered their favourite food as they will be fasting from tomorrow. Iftar(The evening meal served to break the fast is called Iftar) deals are bouncing around. The office timings are reduced by 3 hours for Muslims and by 2 hours for non-muslims. Yes! In the month of Ramdan I’ll be home by 4PM. This is one of the reasons I keep waiting for Ramdan every year. As Muslims are fasting during day, we are refrained to have food in office at public places. People are advised to have water and food only in pantry. This is in respect of the people who are fasting.  Also most of the restaurants are closed during the day time. And whichever are opened have to put curtain to cover the food and people eating  food  from the sight of those fasting. The Ramdan guideline are issues by office for both Muslims and non Muslims like how to keep energy up in the office during fasting time. If you are non muslim then you should be considerate your fasting Muslim colleagues. People have got their kitchen cleaned up for the Ramdan preparations. Everyone is very excited tohave delicious Iftar for whole month. Some prisoners are pardoned by UAE government on account of Ramdan. It’s a month of charity. People usually donate to those who are poor and needy , worship and thank Allah for his kindness. Dubai will now transform into night city. Restaurants and shops will be open for longer in the night. The supermarkets and malls are decorated in Ramdan theme. “Ramdan Kareem” is the phrase to wish Muslims happy Ramdan. This is similar to wishing somebody “Mary Christmas” or “Happy Diwali". This is my third Ramdan in Dubai, I love Ramdan for the sense of spirituality and calmness it brings along. The whole environment gets magically peaceful and soothing.  Though I am a non Muslim I can feel that. So its rightly said Almighty is one but in different forms. Wish you all Ramdan Kareem.

Momemts and Memories

Every moment we are living will be memory after few days or years. We do not realize the worth of a moment till it becomes memory. So many beautiful moments spent in childhood and during school, collage life which were irritating or sometimes bit painful(like completing assignments or workshop jobs) at that particular time are today's beautiful and funny memories. We never realize the zest of Mansoon like getting drenched and shivering in cold till we are placed in Dubai :) where rain is like "Eid ka Chand". When I look back to find the most cherished memories, it takes me to my childhood. I remember having everyday fights with my little brother, trying new recipes shown in "Khana Khazana by Sanjeev Kapoor" on ZEE TV when aai(mom) is not around and messing all kitchen. Getting hot oils Champi  by Aai. Granny making my favorite dishes after returning from school. And Baba(papa) cutting and cleaning our nails forthnightly.
                 Hostel days were the funny days where I lived my life to the fullest. I cannot forget those dances on bollywood songs. Having Maggi and Upama at 2AM. Washing clothes at 3AM. Waxing each others hand and legs. Also I fondly remember the magical days to prepare for campus interview and that restlessness till results are declared.
                 First day of office is a gem to treasure deep down in heart. We were all new to corporate office culture. First 3 months we had training. We used to address every person entering our training room as 'Sir' or 'Madam'. Today being away from my home country and family sometimes I miss them so terribly that I feel like flying to them. But when I ponder over the point, I feel, I will miss these Dubai days afterwards, so let me enjoy this moment before it becomes a memory. Yes! Yehi hai right choice baby. Ah ha!

Hobbies

Hobbies are so important for one's well being. They not only keep you occupied but also give you a confidence. It is an exclusive time you spend with yourself. We are always busy doing something or other or nothing. Sometimes hobbies become passion and you can get excellence in your hobby taking it beyond. I know people having different hobbies. Sometimes hobbies are periodical, like when I was a kid I had hobby to collect the cricketers photos and game records they have made. But I no longer find it interesting and it’s been couple of decades that I have left that hobby. My brother was having a hobby of colleting small toy cards. He has got nearly 200 cars with him. After we grew up, he gifted those toy cars to our younger  cousins. As we grew up things change largely. This is a phase of transformation from a teenager to Adult. We take charge of our own life. Then comes career, marriage, children, etc. We get too busy in our life we totally forget our hobbies. I know many people complaining they don’t get time for hobbies. Is it really the case or simply we are lazy to continue our hobbies. Or are we wasting our time in doing some other time consuming unproductive stuff like watching TV for hours and hours, spending lot of time on FB and twitter.  
I feel proud to continue my hobbies which excites me like reading, painting, dancing. I am a working women. Here comes my typical day, I get up at 6:30, prepare breakfast and lunch Tiffin for me and husband, pack Tiffin. Get dressed for the office. I reach office at 9 AM and get back to home at 6PM. I take some time to have a cup of tea then after that it’s me and by hobbies till 8:30. Either I paint, go for exercise, read, dance or put an extra effort to prepare and learn some new recipe for dinner. After 8:30 I cook and have dinner by 9:30. At 10 go to sleep. Weekends are also spend with my hobbies and house hold chores like clearing home, going to glossary shop and a nice dinner outside or preparing any special recipe at home or exploring Dubai’s unseen sites or vising or hosting a friend’s party. When my parents or brother come to visit me. They always question “Why do you need to be so hard working? Just Chill and Relax.” But that’s how I am. And the fun is I don’t feel tired. May be that is because I am changing my work and that gives me a rest. As it is rightly said “Change in work is rest”. And keeping away from TV and FB has added time for my hobbies for sure.

Dubai Stories -1

From past couple of months my office location is changed because of the project requirements. In my new office I got opportunity to work with some local girls. No matter what country you come from or what language you speak, girls mostly get connected to each other easily. No wonder in past one month I have become their good friend. All of them are unmarried and are of the same age as me (hhmmm...This does not mean I will let you know my age). We bond over many things like Indian food (particularly Chicken Biryani, Pani puri, Chhole bhature, etc.), shopping, make up etc. They watch Indian movies and ask me so many questions about India. They all love India.  After some days the bond grew stronger and we started to share so many thoughts with each other. They appreciate my cloths and fashion as they have to wear Abaya all the time. Also I could realize they feel bad that they are not married yet. they keep me asking about How do I feel being married. How marriage has changed my life and me.
One of my local friend told me her mother got married at the age of 11 and her father was then 38 years old. I thought she must be kidding but no she was serious and I was shocked to hear the life of her mother. She had six children by the time she was 25. At 25 her husband died and she got married to other man. From the second marriage she got three kids. All her 9 children are living with second husband.  My jaws dropped after listening her story as this was very new to me. I have read such story in one of my favorite book "Thousand splendid Suns" by Khalid Hussaini. I thought such things happen in books and novels only. At least this cannot happen in a place like Dubai. I am glad the things are changing slowly and girls are trying to be independent and trying to live there life.

Away from FB

Human nature is strange. We always count our happiness relatively. May be this thinking leads us to desire for more and more. Facebook makers have captured this thread of our thinking to make money for themselves. First I joined FB in Sept 2010. Initially it was more of a curiosity as by that time FB was talk of the town, city, country, world. I was uploading my photos, chatting with old friend,  but as days passed I was getting addicted to FB. Soon I realized I was using FB as a platform to peep into others lives. But here the fun is you can get to know only those things about people which they are willing to share with you. Everybody has ups and down in life. But Everyone is posting happy thoughts and jolly photos on FB. May it be international vacation or marriage or weekend outing. But slowly it was dragging away focus from my own life. Did following others activity helped me anywhere? I think no. I do not have internet on my phone, still I used to spend 20-30 minutes a day on FB. 30 minutes a day means 15 hours a month which I could have affectively used to learn new recipe, learn drawing. From Sept 2010 to June 2013 I have tried many times to be away from FB, I deactivated my profile but the temptation to be connected ( With whom? and for what? are the questions I ask myself now.) was restricting me.  Finally this time my conviction and my hobbies helped me to keep myself away from FB. Now it’s been 7 days I have quite FB. Really, life is so simple without hi fi electronic gadgets and FB. I am not against the electronics gadgets but one should draw boundary on where and when to use them. Believe me that saves lot of time which can be invested in other priority and important stuff like calling a friend instead of chatting on FB or making a nice recipe for dinner or clearing up you home or exercise. I am sure most of you would have also tried to keep away from FB. So Please share you stories of regular attempt to leave FB :).