Talking Pictures

There is an old Chinese saying- 'A picture is worth a thousand words.' 


I remembered this quote when one of my colleagues at school brought some old photographs of herself and her family.She was getting nostalgic on showing us the photographs and I could actually see her get lost in her past memories. This was when I went with my parents on so and so trip , this was when my daughter was just born , this was taken at my first school.........and so on she reminisced .


On further prodding , she revealed that she had taken these photographs from an old long forgotten bag that had not been opened for years . She was glad she did now as a flood of memories came flashing back.


In fact , then and there we decided to have a 'Picture Day' wherein each one of us would bring a few pictures from our albums and have a nice time talking about them.Just for laughs , we also decided upon the criteria for the pics.We will all be getting a childhood picture,a picture of our school days,a picture in a sexy pose and one in which we look really funny.What fun it will be to go through the yesteryears of our colleagues! What a way to bond!


I am constantly in touch with my memories.I sit with all the photo albums I have before me and leaf through each one of them with my daughter for company.It is a great feeling to revive all the wonderful moments we have spent together with family and friends.It is interesting and funny to see how things have changed over the years.


It is sad that during those days it was not so common to click photographs , so there are hardly any photographs of my childhood days and maybe that's why my childhood memories are just a blur.My daughter is lucky to have her life unfold before her in pictures as we have so many pictures of her, right from her birth to this day.


Really,these photographs talk.They tell us so much about those glorious moments that have gone by.In fact, this is exactly what made me so fond of photography in the first place-the thrill of seeing these pictures and reliving the moments that can be cherished forever.


As it is said in the song  ,' बातें भूल जाती है,यादें याद आती हैं.'


Truly , pictures really do talk and how!!!!!

Ties That Bind

I was at at Goa a few days back for my nephews thread ceremony.I was amongst my extended family members.I was so glad to be with them, albeit for a few days.It revived so many childhood memories. All the uncles and aunts and cousins galore brought back some a memories  that time cannot erase.


It is a shame that though we all live in the same city we rarely get to meet up with our extended family due to our hectic schedules.

We are engulfed in the cycle of the daily grind.....home,work,home,work.............it is never-ending.We are busy with our own lives and hardly have time to inquire about our extended family members - neither close nor distant.


What a change it was from all that daily routine! We ate together , visited different places and shared anecdotes of the past and introduced our  little ones to them.What a joy to have all those memories of the good old days !
I realised that all my relatives are not as young as they were earlier.Time has taken its toll on them and I realised that we too are growing older.These little moments of togetherness brought so much joy to them.They were happy to regale us with the past happenings and were excited to know what progress we had made.


We cannot tell how long anyone is going to live.We take life for granted and give importance to petty things.It is time we learn to value the people we have with us before it is too late.In spite of our busy schedules we need to take time to maintain our relationship with our extended families.


It is time to hold on to the ties that bind............before they break and cannot be repaired.

Special Sound Effects.

I thought about writing on this particular topic last week but then I did a rethink as the topic has always  been a taboo.This morning I read an article about it in the Mumbai Mirror today and thought , why not?


So here goes..........


It is a natural phenomenon.We all have done it at some time or the other though we may deny it.Why do we shy away from accepting it then?


I am talking about farting or flatulence.When we hear the perpetrator making those special sound effects,we try to find the guilty one and give strange looks of disapproval."How could he do that!" we seem to say wordlessly.


"Was it in his hands?" I plead to know.Is it possible to curb the on-coming fart ? Even if it is possible to curb it at times,  though with much difficulty, I am sure we all have been guilty of farting at some time or the other.


An upset stomach or too much of flatulence-inducing food may be the cause of our woes.This natural calamity can strike at any time, be it a meeting at the office,get-together of friends or a family function.The consequences are more or less the same.


The victim does his very best to prevent it but sometimes things go beyond his control and he/she farts.We always undermine the sound made in this method.We assume it is too soft for anyone anyone else to hear,but we are mistaken there. We hear it loud and clear and so do the others. The perpetrator  acts as if he is trying to find out who did it and looks around for the source of the sound effect.


Some times the sound is muted but yet the guilty one is embarrassed  as hell as HE knows and he thinks the others have heard it too!


It is quite a difficult task to control an urge to fart.But yet each of us must have tried to do that to avoid embarrassing situations.such a minor matter but something of grave concern.


There was an article about a book release .The name of the book was Padduram.It was a book about the protagonist , a little boy who farted all the time.I do not know the other details, but at the press conference there was a person who came up on the dais and expressed that he felt it was not wrong to fart as it is not under our control.Wonder how that book will be.


That book release inspired me to write my thoughts about this


After writing all this I am wondering ,"Did I actually write this?"
But then,we all have farted some time or the other so why shy away from the truth?


Can you think of your own tryst with this malady called farting?

Me Time!

Each day in our life is chock-a-block with the 'To Do' things.There is so much to do in the given hours that we find ourselves stretching ourselves to the maximum to get thing done as planned.But then ,at times,everything does not go as per our plan and we feel the frustration seeping in, making us miserable.


We have high expectations and are overly enthusiastic about what we can achieve and in the bargain we fail to enjoy the little moments that make life.At times things do go as per plan but in the bargain we have lost touch with ourselves and our loved ones.


Life is not all about setting goals and achieving them .What is important is living life with minimum of stress in spite of all the stressful situations............makes any sense???


In spite of all the to do lists we have , we must make it a point to dedicate some time for ourselves.keep some minutes of the day aside for 'Me Time'.Make this time specially for you. Do the things you have always wanted to do,something that makes you happy and brings a smile on your face.It may be anything from reading a storybook,watching a cartoon,painting your nails,writing a blog,having a body massage or just lying on your back ,day-dreaming and lazing around without a care.


This Me Time can also be complemented with We Time where you can enjoy and share a few moments with your family.With all the busy jam-packed schedules of parents and kids alike, it is a must.


It is important for you to take this breather in the race of life.This will rejuvenate like nothing else can.So,take it easy and make life's moments count , for you and for those around you.
Take a walk, meet up with friends,dance or sing aloud........do what makes you happy.
Happiness is also contagious, like laughter.

Dig,Dig Karne Lage!

Here a dig,there a dig, everywhere a dig-dig!!!!!!!!

That is the sad story of Mumbai and Thane.Anywhere you go at any time of the year ,you will see some digging going on at some place at the other for some reason or the other.It may be the telephone walas digging to lay new telephone lines or repair the existing ones, or it may be the road constructions in progress,digging the newly made roads to make newer ones! If not them ,then it is the piped gas people who dig and if not them it is the ones who look into the drainage system that dig away to glory.

After the digging it is never the same again.The job is done shoddily and the debris remain long thereafter,a morose reminder of the digging that was.The debris are a hazard to vehicular and pedestrian movement alike but no one seems to care. It has become so routine that if there has been some digging done it would be a miracle if there were no debris lying there.This digging creates an utter nuisance in this city which is already bursting at its seams.It causes traffic jams and accidents and ruins the beauty of the city (Not that there is anything like that left any more )

What I do not understand is that why there is no proper communication between the different units that go on their digging sprees?It would save so much time ,effort and money if there was some system followed wherein all the digging in any particular area could be done within a certain time period and then care is taken to see that the job is done well and within the stipulated period.

So, this week I have seen a lot of digging taking place.There is some road work in progress near my school and on many of the inner roads and main roads in Thane,there is digging going on at Mulund for repair of telephone lines and there is also simultaneous digging going on near my building for the widening of a road.

I know that it is inevitable that digging is done to conduct repairs and the like but there should be some kind of system to it.The work should be done well and at a steady pace instead of being dragged on for ages.And most importantly,after the digging is done,please can we have all the holes filled up properly?

Am I asking for the impossible?