Petals!

Last Friday, it was Holi, the festival of colours. Guess what I wanted to do? Sleep!  [ MUST READ: A Dad's Advice to the Daughter he loves ] I know what you are thinking, ''What kind of mother wants sleep on Holi?"  I do. Yup! But what happened is the opposite. That's life, isn't it? [READ:  Why Parenting is Important to Child Development ]                                 FOLLOW MY BOARDS ON PINTEREST During Holi, I was busy  cooking, washing the dishes, moping the floor that had messy footprints.  Yup, welcome to the Working Mom's home life on a 'Holi' day:) Now I have put together a few things which helps me to stay focused: 1. Start the morning with something that perks you up Anything that lifts your  dormant energy (remember, you woke up from sleep, right?) can work to get your morning rocking. What perks me up is the view from my ...

The month of June was crazy busy and I had recently shared with my friends on Facebook that I have shifted to a new home. You can imagine how hectic that process can be when you also have a busy working schedule, a house to manage and a child whom you are responsible for, especially during the school holidays.  Shifting one's home is not as simple as it sounds. Yes, there is a lot of packing and planning involved but there are no ''rules'' when it comes to tackling the emotional journey of shifting from one home to another, especially for a woman and a mother. Fifteen years ago, when we first bought a tiny home of our own, we had no idea there would be so many challenges and struggles coming our way. Maybe not knowing is a good thing. Or else we would have dreaded it. Letting things flow the way it is meant to be is a better way to grow and navigate through testing times. [ MUST-READ: How to NEVER EVER give up on the spiritual path ] At the time we moved in, ...

Before I became a mother, I was a busy, successful party-hopping editor. I came home only to crash and I didn't have a single boring 'at-home' weekend. And I kept FAR away whenever I saw kids....just as I did from domestic pets ....not that the two are fair comparisons.  And when I was in the process of becoming a mother, I went cranky with worry.  Kept asking myself questions like: Will I be a responsible, loving mother? Will I feel that my baby tied me down to a routine that bogs me down? I remember the exact moment when my baby, Adi was placed in my arms.  When the doctor placed Adi in my arms, I saw a red face that was shrieking in a way that would have made anyone wish to be tone-deaf....but the emotion that I felt at that moment was one of ocean-like love, may be much more.  I loved this tiny being with a fierceness that I didn't think could have existed in me ...no wonder, it is said that when a baby is born, a mother is a...

I have to confess this to you but you have probably guessed it anyway...okay, let me just take a deep breath before I say this..... Motherhood & Parenting Blues I am not a natural, hands -on mom.  Okay, I've said it and I feel better already. But I guess you already guessed that ages ago. Get ready for more. I am not done yet. I almost never wanted to become a mother in the first place. Not because I am a feminist or that I feared I would put on weight (which happened anyway) but because I feared that I wouldn't be able to love my baby like other moms naturally do. Even while growing up with girls, all they could talk about even in Std 4 was about getting married and having babies. That sounded disgusting to me. I believed then that I had greater things to do, or so I told myself. And the books I constantly read threw open a more expansive view of the world.  As I grew older, the prospect of motherhood didnt evoke any interest in me. What's the bi...

As a mother, my happiest and most peaceful moments were when my baby used to sleep. I loved watching him. It felt like watching a dream come true. A miracle unfolding.  Once, in an interview to a famous magazine, Indira Gandhi had once stated that no matter how turbulent or busy her day was, she had always peeped in to watch her sons sleep because just looking at their innocent faces told her that her world was this and not the political dramas that constantly swept her life apart - she said that she could never resist the temptation to kiss her sons while they slept because they looked like angels...too good to be real.  I think I understand what she meant now.                                                [Image: Kin Li  @ Unsplash] Because I am a mother and in a way, like her, I felt I wasn't ever there for my child. When I w...

The wise people in my life have always advised me to be organized and making lists is the best way to get started. However, I don’t make lists and when I do, I lose them somewhere and end up spending more time and effort searching for it and finally, it leads me to tears.                                                        [Image: Pixabay] Before marriage, I never understood the value of time. My father's  formula was  'Time is God' but I didn't understand it. Of course, watching MTV and reading books and wandering out with friends is how I spent most of my time. Now, I realize that if I had been more time-conscious, there is so much that I would love to do with my time. I have a lot of shortcomings as a person but I am very proud about the fact that I work very hard at everything that I do and I utilize my every hour of every day an...