My lively sister-in-law's booster methods (now in shortened form)

My problem-    
 "Come on, Anni,  just write something,"  my sister - in - law  (husband's sister) went on
  urging me as my hand  kept going to my head in desperation. "With your brains  you  just can't go wrong,"she sounded much more confident than I.






  www.Free digital photos.net

 I was trying to complete my' notes of lessons'-the teacher's weekly homework before going to the theatre to see the film,'Aendhran' (the robot) with my sister-in-law (we call each other anni).

 My  smart sister-in-law
Tickets in hand,she got  everything else ready to get me leave the house in time.
We are truly opposite in nature : she confident and bouncy,I am quiet and worry about every single thing.Yet we get on well.She, a + 2 passed stunning beauty,a housewife settled in Kerala;.carried away by a modern Prithiviraj Chauhan ( a 12th century king famous for his romantic elopement ).  She looks after him well and he keeps her in style and dignity. But I struggle in every way.She would  chatter untiringly and I would just listen and nod.

  .All free downloads.com
The movie


Ice cream and popcorn during the interval  and we came back in high spirits.But in the course of the household chores,I got to  thinking and  was immediately spotted by my Anni."What is it?"she asked.
"Nothing serious, really,but perhaps people like me could do with a robot, "I said.
Who wouldn't like a robot to help?" she said .
."Oh, writing notes of lessons is such a simple thing but see how it gets on my nerves! I'd even like to do an M.Phil but I don't think I can manage it," I said.

Her example - her sister-in-law

She pulled a chair opposite me,shook her head to throw back her hair and started,

"Anni, why do you think like that?" she asked.Do you remember my sister- in-law  Leena - the one who lives in Hyderabad?.   (Vaanmathi Anni was never short of examples and incidents with 7 sisters- in- law and 5 sisters On her list).

"She wanted to do her M.Phil in English literature. But she was a cross major and her guide just didn't think she'd do it. So she kept on grumbling. But Leena Anni  didn't give up. She  asked her guide for help  only now and then.And did lots and lots of reading herself.The author she had chosen from her latest 'story book' become the latest 'hit' even among the guide's friends.

Things had finally turned in her favour. The guide's voice, her tone,her expression began to change.She began to appreciate Leena's hard work and sincerity,her creativity.Together they formed a good team.
The guide finally told Leena," I've only given 65% as the highest mark so far. But to you I have alloted 75%".

Today she stands at the threshold of getting a job in a good college.If you had predicted this to Leena four years ago she would never have believed you. Aren't you better off than her?"
And I nodded as usual. And applied for my M.Phil.


My happy ending

Today is my graduation day. I am dressed up in my coat and hat.I just clicked a photo with Vaanmathi Anni. We looked at each other and
                                                                                                       www.Free digital photos.net
said,"Remember?" at the same time and started laughing.                
 Neither of us mentioned what we remembered.
 It wasn't necessary.

                                                            (  As told to me by a friend)

  .

                                                                     www.Free digital photos.net

Which is more powerful - Love or Hate ?

Ask even  a small child this question and you get an immediate reply,"tell me kindly and I will do it.Bully me and I won't."


Love opens all the doors that hate practically closes.Love builds people,spreads good will and good health.

Hate,on the other hand destroys people,separates them and brings tension and diseases.
Known facts, aren't they?

Yet what do we enjoy doing in real life?                                               www.free digital photos.net
Watch hit movies of villains troubling people to the maximum and then falling  suddenly to a befitting end.
A proof of love or hate?
We spend hours and hours, weeks, months brooding over what we missed in life.Do we spend at least half that time calculating our blessings? Our joys?


As individuals,
 when our loved one joins the opposite group say in marriage, don't we see people rejecting  even their own flesh and blood just out of hatred for the other group?
We may even understand the cases where their children deceive them  or turn away unmindful of the parents' feelings.
But what about the cases where  the parents themselves gave away their children to somebody they disapprove of later on? Doesn't hate override love for their young  ones?

  www.free digital photos.net

What to say then of Communities,States,Nations, all acting out their policies on profit and  gain, destabilize to win, threaten and rule.
Mesmerize, publicize, distract attention ,exploit, mis-define, mis-match examples of some words...aren't these part of our daily lives?
When we place family status, caste, colour or religion above the human beings themselves,where is our humanity,our superiority over animals, our super-computer brains?



Love takes years and years to build, needs to be studied and understood in order to be fruitful.
Hate destroys in a second.                                                                                                                                                        www.free digital photos.net

But whom  do we fear? Whom do we readily obey?
Who is more powerful?

Whose slaves are we?















                                                                                                                                                                                                 www.free digital photos.net                                       

An Old Mother's Will

The eldest son's wife says,"I see it."

The eldest son says,"I'm calculating it."


The first daughter says,"I'll ask for it."

Her husband says,"we'll take her out for it."

The second son's wife says,"I know about it."

The son says,"I'll win it."

The uncle says,"I should have got it."

The aunt says,"I will have it,"

The second daughter says,"I'll fight for it."

The daughter's husband says,"we'll seize it."

                                                                                                                                                                               www.free digital photos.net

The third son says,"I'll get it."

His wife says,"we'll conquer it."

The handicapped mother says,

"I have written  a fair portion of  it ( my wealth) for these maids who deserve it

and ...um ...The rest will go to those suffering like me."

                                                  www.free digital photos.

The Bubble Called Life- [ 2 ]

'University Gold Medalist,all rounder, handsome and
well built enough  to challenge any Mr. World.'

Sounds tempting enough to be envious?

 Add 'born and brought up  in  a rich   family.'

Too good to be true?          
Of course it's true and yet,

Alas!The bubble has burst and he is gone for ever.

However, it was not his physical death that hurt.Nor that it was untimely.

It was the miserable life he led that made us accept even his death.

Rejected and insulted unfairly,he lost his way.

 www.free digital photos.net




 Like a top that ceases to spin on its nail and  awaits its elimination.





www.free digital photos.net


Another friend of mine was so belittled at home that she feared to marry.(based on the saying that known devils are preferable to unknown devils.)
Finally she married below her, expecting great respect.But she was in for major surprises.


Her new extended  family indulged in and glorified whoring to the extent that when she called for some discipline she  was put down  as 'dumb and outdated'.

To them education  was not a part of daily life.Yet with her own limited education and skills she was expected to help support both  families.

She still suffocates with disgust and shock,unable to take normal decisions,unable even to guide her own children firmly through the  various paths she is familiar with.



What do you think is common in these two cases? I think it is some  kind of mistrust between the two generations.Tragic,isn't it?


Parents,dear Parents who hold precious lives in your hands, do guide your children ( your heirs, your representatives to the next generation) clearly as to what you expect from them. Belittling  them only hurts and shatters them.Ultimately it will boomerang  to you.



Children, dear children, believe me.Even if you do not like  your parents's approach,most parents mean well.What they may lack is the skill of expressing themselves. Do have patience till better times start.After all in your welfare lies their welfare too.

The bubble called life

For seventeen years before my marriage I lived with my parents and sisters at a beautiful hill station.Now and then they'd take us to visit the gardens where we'd run about the trees and bushes and eat packed lunch and snacks that we had carried all the way from home.






The way to these gardens were lined with small shops where vendors sold their wares.Warm Tibetian woollen clothes, cuddly toys and  'home-made' chocolate.

Which school girl wouldn't like to taste the 'homemade' chocolate at least once? And so everytime we passed by the shops,I'd look at my father pleadingly."That's too costly for us.We can't afford it" was my dad's stern reply. With four children  depending on his measly pension,he used to calculate and budget every paise meticulously.

Four of us studied, married and went our different ways.
My ma-in-law seemed broad minded enough, so it was easy to fit in.
Her household help's daughter was interested in studying. So we showed her the green flag and off she went-8th public exam,10th and then a diploma in Fashion designing.
.During the course of her training, they took her on a 2 day tour.On her return, she placed a small brown packet in my hand.'Homemade chocolate,"she said casually.And lo,there was enough for everybody.

.

Do I blame my father? No,not at all.He provided all our necessities.
All the same,I think that once or twice in a lifetime one might indulge with one's family
 in some small luxury
 while the bubble of life still lasts.

photo :google images

Poem-Something Passes Under the Table

                                                                            www.free digital photos.net

When a person is in power

And some Lords want a favour

When some feeble voices rise

Opposing      

Something passes

Between hand and hand

Under the table

or 

Over the table

or
 Beside the table.

 www.free digital photos.net
When greed overlooks facts
and an accident occurs 

Killing people

Which could have been averted

Voices are hushed



Something passes
Between 

Hand and hand

Under the table

Over the table 

Beside the table.

 www.free digital photos.ne

When a doctor   misses 

A case 

The very urgent

While attending to a VIP

Voices rise 

Then 

Something passes

Between hand and hand

Under the table

Over the table

Beside the table

  www.free digital photos.net

When the broken hearted   

Approach the court of justice
The ultimate replica of 
Heaven on earth
 And something passes 
Between hand and hand
Under the table
Over the table  
Beside the table,

Then Kannagi is defeated

   Today's Neduchezhian  unrepentant
   The fragrance of  Mankind is lost

    And deserves to vapourize

    Into smoke
.

 www.free digital photos.ne

Come, then tell me

Some  immediate idea, plan

To rope the guilty

Before

Anything more  passes 

Between hand and hand

Under the table

Over the table

Beside the table

While we still passively look on.              

NB-According to Tamil literature,Kovallan, a merchant was accused of stealing the Queen's anklet and executed hastily. Kannagi, his wife hears of it and rushes to  King Neduchezhian, her own anklet in hand.She asks for the 'stolen' anklet to  be brought to court and broken. Rubies rolled out as they did from the other one she had in hand.The King was shocked.The Queen's anklet had pearls inside it. Injustice had been done.The King clutches his heart in pain and dies. The whole place reverberates with Kannagi's words,catches fire and  is burnt down.