The Drama Queen

Physical fitness and exercise have always been a rage. We generally see a spike in this activity around the New Year time. There is no parking space near the gyms and yoga classes, for the first week at least. The running tracks are crowded like flea markets. People are hustling and bustling like there is no tomorrow. This is all, thanks to the outrageous New Year resolutions made by three quarters of the world population. They hog throughout the year and keep postponing getting back into shape till the next year! To overcome this rush and for the sanctity of the Runners’ Association, some kind people keep organising runs throughout the year. So, any weekend you feel the urge to get going, pull up your socks, tighten your shoe laces and get going, literally. There is no dearth of the number of races that one can sign up for. There are several support groups, to promote this noble cause. Thanks to the social media, it feels like every third person is running. And running and r...

Well, as couples, or parents-to-be or parents, we have always gone through this dilemma.... how many children are ‘good enough’, if at all we are planning to have any. You are always under the pressure of family and extended family and neighbour’s family and family of family for when are you going to have the baby. Sometimes, it is almost to the extent that it is the only purpose of their lives. I am sure we have always seen parents either judging others or have been judged themselves for having the number of children that they have. Having none will get you tagged of not being the maternal types; which is considered to be the sole reason for a woman’s existence by some. One offspring is too less, even though it is helping in the cause of controlling the world population. Two is just right, even though ‘it is not really required’. Anything beyond that would have been welcome in the by-gone era but is totally frowned upon in today’s world. Basically, you will be tagged.... no ma...

Having just come back from the ‘Mother of all Religious Visits’.... a dip in the mighty Ganges... I am feeling all pious and invincible, myself. I was told that all my ‘sins’ have been washed away. My interpretation: I am ready for a new stock in my new pot of sins!  I am totally sentimental when it comes to being religious and all. Religious, yet flexible. The customs whose logic I find irrelevant in today’s world and have the sanity to not pass on to my kids, I try to peacefully and respectfully discard them. At the same time, I am not judging someone who is still blindly following the age-old superstitious traditions. My reasoning says that the other person is yet to be enlightened. I also have the utmost respect for all the religions with ‘Live, and let live.’ being my ultimate mantra for life. I have been to various Churches and Gurudwaras and Dargahs and Jain and Buddhist temples, all in a hope to find calm. It is present everywhere. It is present inside you. We just ...