Today is a new day!

As soon as I boarded the Hyderabad-Rajdhani express, tears welled-up my already moist eyes. I could see my mom’s sad face through the train’s Pyrex glass, it spoke of emotions untold. 

For an instant I wanted to run to her and then run back to my home. The train started moving inch by inch and I closed my eyes ever so tightly to not let any emotion, not even a thought get into me for a long time.

 When I opened my eyes, the train had picked up speed for a destination which was soon to be my destiny.

“Why on earth, life bestowed me with such a big change?” I thought to myself.

Although I had always secretly desired to live alone and experience the satisfaction of being on my own. “oh! What a pleasure it would be to do everything according to my moods and whims” I used to say. But today when life had finally given me a chance of liberty and freedom, I so desperately wanted to undo this change. Yes, we homo-sapiens are wired that way. Never content with the current situation.

Days passed and I still couldn't admit this change of being away from family and my city.

My training had already started and I was thankful for that. At least half of the day passed pleasantly at work. 

Whenever my mom or dad called me, I would find it so hard to swallow my tears and hide the hoarse voice, crying in the middle of every sentence.

Back in those days I felt that my misery would continue for an entire period of 2 years and it had started to affect my training too. When I was in Delhi, I had underestimated the hardships of living alone and now I was regretting that very thought.

Time continued to pass at its own pace. I finally made some friends, all of them from different cities of India living alone like me but certainly not anyone seemed as miserable as I did. So that was when I decided to let change seep in through me. To accept it and let it walk besides me in life. Not just today or in this city but all through my life.

I began enjoying roaming about the city on my own, company of good books, pleasures of cooking and eating on my own and above all enjoying my own freedom. Each passing day, I was thrilled at how much life could offer if only we kept this internal resistance to change at bay.

My training is over and I am finally going back to Delhi in 2 weeks but these 2 years at Hyderabad will be etched in my memory forever. They have taught me a million things and made me learn the eccentricities of life in infinite ways. I am no more a shy, imbecile girl who took months to accept a change in her life. I am confident and ready to face life head-on.

I now truly believe that if we have the optimism and courage to #StartANewLife each day, I am very sure that life would be generous enough to grant us with not just one but many hundred reasons to do so every day.

Housing.com helps people wanting to start a new life. Check their website -https://housing.com/in and also the video below -

Emily,my love!

Children are God’s most delightful as well as delicate gift. Mere sight of these angels can brighten anyone’s day and their smiles are the most powerful stress buster in the entire universe.

Blessed was the day when Emily was born. My little, fluffy bundle of happiness. She is exceptionally beautiful. Big twinkling eyes that speak love, arched brows, a tiny nose and even tinier lips. I could spend my entire life just by looking at her. She was a part of me and that made my beam with pride.

Time passed quickly and Emily is now almost 2 years old. She is a bagful of naughtiness I must say. Keeping me on my toes round the clock. My Emily is growing into an intelligent and smart little darling and she loves doing all things new.
Everything that seems unique and different catches her sight and she would make these frantic hand and leg movements to get it. Bright and lively colours are her favourite.

Emily also loves to play pee-a-boo and as soon as she catches me behind the curtain, I can hear her happily jumping and exclaiming “boo-boo-boo”! She loves listening to stories too. As soon as I fan a book in front of her saying ‘Emi baby, its story time!” She immediately adjusts herself and lies down still. Oh! My cute attentive listener.

But her favourite activity is watching cartoons. Yes! She seems to never get tired of them. She gets so crazily excited seeing Tom and Jerry fight or Pingu-the penguin play that she won’t let me switch it off even after almost an hour.
 Pink panther is her favourite show and no wonder; it was/is my favourite too. So watching pink panther is our most enjoyable moment together. 

But about a month back, I found Emily restless. She was whining every on and off. Didn't seem to enjoy her stories, not even cartoons. I was quite upset and worried. Emily has been a very cheerful baby up until now.

Then suddenly while pink panther was buffering on you tube, I chanced upon this video advertisement of pampers-

Then it incurred to me that maybe she was wet and irritated. Immediately I checked her for any leakage and found it to be totally wet and soaked. My baby’s moist skin was almost peeling out because of the acidic wetness.
 I had made my darling wear something which couldn't even keep her comfortable. How foolish and stupid of me, I thought. 
The very same day, I switched to pampers.
 Emily was smiling again. The whining and wetness were now bygones!

We both now enjoy hours of story telling and cartoon watching without the worries of she being wet. I can feel her at ease, all thanks to pampers!

 Now a days, I am making her learn to speak new words and she is catching up pretty fast. Whenever she manages to make little progress, I kiss and compliment her and she jumps up and down frantically in excitement and happiness. There is no leakage and wetness. A dry baby is surely, a happiest baby.

Pampers can keep your baby happy and dry all day.Check https://www.rewardme.in/tag/Pampers to know more!

Right to imagination - A book in every child's hand!

"The stories of childhood leave an indelible impression, and their author always has a niche in the temple of memory from which the image is never cast out to be thrown on the rubbish of heap of things that are outgrown and outlived". - Howard Pyle

Books and stories carry in them a sense of ever lasting nostalgia. Reading and listening to the tales has been the most treasured and beautiful moment for most of us since childhood days. Isn't it? 

Cinderella, snow white and Rapunzel's dreamland, the adventures of tom sawyer, Panchatantra, Akbar-Birbal's tales of wit and wisdom, Nancy Drew's mystery missions- these and many more story books are my most prized possessions. They made me learn as I grew and gave power to my imagination and expression. Am sure your experiences are much the same. 

But don't you think that every child deserves the pleasure of experiencing the joy of reading a good book? Yet not all are fortunate. Stats shows that about 300 million children all over India have NEVER held a book in their hand. The happiness of sitting cuddled up in bed and enjoying the adventures of Arabian nights eludes them. Fairies don't accompany them in their dreams with any magic or miracles. 

This is not 'just' about right to education or literacy. The cause in question is simpler yet significant, that is a book in every child's hand. No matter which language or expression, how big or small, cheap or expensive - a story is all that matters. 

THE PROBLEMS :

1) Good books today are basically available in Hindi or English. but with 22 official languages and about 1600 dialects. How can only two languages suffice?

2) Cost- Big publishing houses sell books at expensive prices which cannot be afforded by most of the population.

3) Literacy rate is still low specially in the states of Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh , Bihar and Jharkhand so spending time or money on reading is out of question until proactive steps are taken to build and sustain interest among children.

4) Lack of quality education - Research reveals that 1 in 3 school going children cannot read fluently. Children who are unable to read are unable to learn, as they can't understand what is being taught to them. And that contributes to high dropout rates in schools.

5) Awareness - There is extreme ignorance about all such issues so the movement fails to pick up momentum.

6)Apart from this, the ever increasing population only tends to create a huge gap in the demand supply ratio.

With these issues in mind a non-profit organisation called Pratham Book was set up in 2004 as a part of Read India movement. PB was established as a not-for-profit public charitable trust to reach children whom the market ordinarily would not and, therefore, to democratize the joy of reading.
There are still very few publishing houses willing to provide affordable content and that too in multiple English languages.

Pratham Books logo

Pratham books have come up with some extremely creative and innovative solutions to cater the problems in hand. Some of these are :

1) Selling books in sachet form that is, a four page book for just Rs.2. An amount which any young reader across the country can afford. Around 8 million such cards have been sold.

2) Bilingual books - books in two languages at a price of one. They also help children to learn a second language, and in the non-English medium world, bilinguals are being used to learn English.

3)Creative commons - they have put up many books in several languages under the Creative Commons license. This creates a multiplier effect where the books get converted into new forms and many derivative works get produced. So there is content available for iPads, iPhone, e-readers, audio-clips and digital content for the visually-challenged. 

 4) They have also started a new venture called 'Annual World Storytelling Day contest' where readers can remix their illustrations to make new stories. This exercise has given them over eighty new stories. It works beautifully on two levels: by using the same illustrations to make new stories they have reduced the cost of producing content and for a single publisher, coming up with 80 new books would have easily taken a few years, not to mention the costs.

All these and many other innovative approaches have been welcomed and have received an enthralling response. In the last 6 years, pratham books have published over 215 titles in up to 11 languages and have spread the joy of reading to over 15 million children.

Their mission is simple -'Indian content for Indian children'. Proving books which are both linguistically and regionally relevant. 

Now coming to the most important aspect. WHAT YOU AND I CAN DO? 

1) Know and share - Beginning from the basics, this is indeed the most important facet for tackling any issue. Get aware and let people know. Be it verbally, through print media, technology like E-mails, social networking sites, blogs etc. 

2) Read 'them' a story - Just to create interest and open a world full of imagination in front and fantasies for them. Your single story can change someones life! In the words of B.F. Skinner 'we shouldn't teach great books, we should teach a love of reading'.

3) Gift a book to someone today - Words and actions should go hand in hand for a practically productive outcome. We all have children around us, identity those who need it the most maybe your maid's daughter or the rag picker on the road and just present him with the pleasure of reading and learning.

4) Go to a nearby village or areas which await the joy of reading and distribute them books. photocopied or picture or pamphlet books. They need not be expensive or with long stories.

5) There is huge content available on the net which means you have access to stories on your laptops, ipads, mobile phones etc. Download and share it around.

Or you can JOIN THEM DIRECTLY BY :

1) Read about them @ Pratham books

2)If you would like to be a part of Read India Movement as a writer, illustrator, publisher or volunteer, email then at info@prathambooks.org or click here or more details.

3) There are many other ways in which you can help like library in a village, fund a book, teach for India etc. Check it out here @ Engage

As I mentioned before its not just about the right to education but the right to imagination! 
Before ending I would like to leave you with a thought

children are like water

bottle them up and they stagnate

let them run wild and they make a mess

guide then and they

bring life to all they touch!

Franklin Templeton Investments partnered the TEDxGateway Mumbai in December 2012.

Hear Rohini Nilekani (founder chairperson of Pratham Books) talk on the same issue in the video clip below. Youtube link :http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHqFGA78sEU

They Showed me the right path....

When it comes to learning and growing not just in age but wisdom too, I think that my own suffering have been the greatest of all teachers.
As Charles Dickens said 'suffering has been stronger than all other teaching and has taught me to understand what your heart used to be. I have been bent and broken, but I hope - into a better shape'.
No pain we suffer goes useless. It teaches us patience, humility, compassion, faith, confidence. Its only after shedding tears that the road ahead seems clearer.

It is also true that in these moments of trouble and trials does our real attitude stand out. Being a medical student I come across tens of patients and their despaired family members each day as they are scattered throughout the hospital. Each one of them waiting to get rid of his agony and distress.

Last month I had been posted to a government hospital in Delhi as a part of my 3rd year curriculum. I was supposed to collect the blood samples of 'bed no. 12' - female ward that day. So with all the necessary instruments like syringe and collecting vials etc. I made my way to the ward. On reaching the bed to my surprise the patient, a girl of about 17 years was surrounded by other inmates of the room.She was narrating them something and they all laughed. And the wards which are usually a gloomy place was filled with laughter and zest.

As I took her blood samples I tried to strike a conversation with her. (We are even taught to do the same with any patient in order to divert their attention while pricking a needle).
She told me that she was a student of class 12th and had secured a good 90%. She aspired to be a doctor and had toiled hard for the entrances the whole year but this unwelcoming illness made her miss all the entrances which meant she would have to wait for another year to be able to get admission in a college.

After taking the samples I ordered her to take rest and not talk much. She spoke again 'laughter is the best medicine, isn't it? I am helping myself and others get well soon' :)
I was amazed at her spirit and determination. How subtly did she made me learn that not only being happy is indeed the best medicine but its our outlook to things that makes all the difference.

Life in the capital city of India is so fast paced and busy. There is no time to stop and stare. A slit- throat competitive atmosphere prevails everywhere. I travel by DTC everyday and undoubtedly catching a bus is an extremely tedious task. You are pushed and crushed.The drivers halt the buses way ahead the directed mark. People literally want to grab and kick you out to 'edge' a place in the ever increasing number of commuters.

It was amidst such a scenario one day that I saw a lady in her 60's trying in vain to clutch the bus door handle.
But then suddenly a guy in his 20's who was standing beside me on the bus stop ran and not only shouted on the driver to stop the bus but also climbed and helped the woman get into the bus. The lady was moved to tears as she blessed the boy and thanked him.

As I and many others witnessed this incident, not just today but almost everyday I held my head in shame. And realized that its easy to crib and point out mistakes but to see a change we need to create it.

As we walk forward to shoulder bigger responsibilities we should never forget the lines learnt back in pre-school days: 

 "little deeds of kindness

little words of love

help to make our earth an Eden

like the heaven above".

And lastly an incident which was the first one to come in my mind when I read the topic.
It happened about 15 years back when I was around 7 years old but as they say that some incidents teach us lesson of a lifetime and no matter what they remain imprinted in our memories forever.

My uncle was about 65 years old then. He was a man of great principles and a thorough disciplinarian.
He would often come to our house and take us for shopping or to nearby places. We obviously liked him dearly.
On one such day, he decided to take us to the nearby book shop.The shop was a 20 minutes drive from our house.
While coming back in the autorickshaw we got stuck in a huge traffic jam. Uncle had an appointment at 5 PM and realizing he was already late, as he had to drop us and then go to his place he paid off the auto and decided to walk us to the house for it was only a 5 minutes walk from there. Since mobile phone were not common in those days so he had no way to inform anyone.

As we walked, suddenly a large stone on the road made uncle lose his balance and he fell down getting severely injured. later that week, he left for his heavenly abode.
I still remember his words that 'what better could it be to die for those morals and principles on which you have lived your entire life'.And uncle truly did that.
Now whenever I am running later I remember his punctuality and make it a point to at least inform the person waiting for me. I strive hard to live on and sustain my principles and beliefs just like him. And I am sure that when he sees me from up there he smiles and is so happy to know that I learnt what I saw and inculcated it in my life too!

I am sharing what 'I Saw and I Learnt' at BlogAdda.com in association with DoRight.in.

For you, my friend :)

Cruel and harsh

Life is strange

promises of forever

in seconds they change

I fell apart 

like autumn leaves

down in the valley

dreams buried deep

and slowly but surely

life pulled me up

God seemed to hear again

faith re developed

I woke up again

to new beginnings bright

a stranger from distant land

caught my sight

in initial phase

I failed to recognize

our relation groomed

in its own stride

little by little

he touched my soul

his caring gestures

and ways unknown

I am healing now 

of my past pains

with your support

infinite strength I gain

You are a blessing

God's choicest gift

I will forget you not

even if our paths drift

you hear me steadily

night and day

you held my hand

in the summers of may

I can never repay

the unconditional love

its a heavenly bond

from paradise above

in you I trust

with you I fight

you judge me not

just suggest me right

I feel protected

a feeling divine

in your thoughts

I forever wish to be entwined

its true they say

life's ironical equation

you gain some. lose some

mathematics of relations

even miles apart

today or tomorrow

I can look up to you

in woes and sorrow

no words seem apt

no verse precise

which will explain

your place in my life

a promise eternal

I wish to make

never ever my friend

will this bond break.

P.S. This poem is a dedication for someone whom I can safely call my 'best friend'. He is also a blogger and when it comes to blogosphere I guess people know him better than me (specially girls;))since he churns out absolutely amazing love stories ! 

Apart from that he is a great person, the 'too good to be true' kinds. Even when I irritate him like hell with my absolutely random and at times mindless stories he will listen so very patiently as if he were genuinely interested. Remain the same and continue to listen to me :P

I know this poem depicts not even a tiny part of who you are but still can't write better so please accept it :)

And this post is special for one more reason - It is my 100th post...taaddaaaaaa *drum rolls* :D

A note of thanks to all those who read and appreciate, believe me every single word of yours matters. When I joined blogging I never thought I would be able to carry it for sooo long but the constant motivation and love encouraged me to share what all my heart embodies here on 'Embodying Emotions'.

THANKS A LOT FRIENDS :D

OK since its sounding more like a 'self proclaimed winners' speech (which are always so irritating AND boring) I stop here and now. Will be back with a new post soon. Till then hasta la vista dearies :* :))

Leaving you with few lines that I felt will some up all those 'genuine friendships' in the world....

Birthdays and celebrations....

The only good part about birthdays according to me are the in numerous calls and greetings. Unfortunately, with facebook colonizing our lives and minds this part too seems to be lost. Now all we see are mere half hearted 'wishes on the wall'!

Birthdays never excite me. Never got the feeling that this was 'my day' or anything remotely special. Not because I am traumatized by the thought of growing old but for a simple reason that what exactly be considered special in a day which comes again and again in each one of our lives? 
OK, you might defend me by saying that it marks our arrival into this world, in the lives of people around who consider you special yet I have my own beliefs which drag me to the other side.

This year however it was slightly different. As soon as the clock stuck 12, there was this episode of calls and wishes which lasted till 1.30 a.m.
As I hit my bed, pretty tired and 'least' excited sleep was no where in sight. Usually its my habit whenever sleep eludes me on a night I either sit up with my diary and pen, scribbling and rambling or if am too tired I simply lie down and introspect on mysterious paths of life. I chose the latter on this day too. My mind was conspiring with my heart of how to feel special about growing up or rather 'the day'.

It was quarter to 4 now and suddenly a thought hit me. (yes, such are the occasions when this phrase exactly fits in coz sometimes certain thought literally 'hit you up' !)

 I realized that our birthday is the only day which is FIXED yet TRANSIENT in our lives. Fixed not because it comes each year (all dates do) but fixed for it will always be a benchmark of all that I learn and become. Like a ray, with a fixed beginning but no ending
.
 And transient for it makes me realize that age IS time. It comes and goes and never comes back again. We can never so accurately and fairly take account of time and age as can we do on this day- our birthday.

It may sound contradictory to some. It may also appear as bickering to some.
But for me I don't celebrate my growing up instead I celebrate the fixed and the transient moments embedded in this day.

What do you celebrate on/about your birthday? Do let me know! :)

'Tryst with a night'

This is not the first time that I sit under the open sky admiring its vastness. Stars like dew on delicate petals attract me ever since I learnt to recite 

'Twinkle, twinkle little star

how I wonder what you are

up above the world so high

like a diamond in the sky'

Back then and even today I genuinely wonder what they are? Keeping aside the elaborate and complex explanations presented in the physics textbooks, that's not alluring in the least!

I visualize them through the depth of my eyes and the window of my soul. I trust them more than the complicated and ever changing theories of physics. However it still is a mystery. A mystery that unfolds every night. Night after night.

To me its a different world. A world so serene, a world so secure. Why can't the stars and the mushy breeze stay with me, within me forever?

They say that after every night comes a bright day but it never sounds pleasing to me.Instead I want to be blanketed in the laps of this night. Caressed by the winds and protected by the sky.

This tryst with the night is ever so beautiful, so fascinating and so mysterious.

Plunging into the colossal sky I experience freedom and let my mind wander with those mysteries. hugging them tight.

Walking over the known and the unknown together is a passion infinitely pleasurable.

Gossiping into the ear of night those little words of joy and sorrow, the turmoils of the sun.

I have trusted this tryst with innumerable songs. The soft winds press upon me kisses so enchanting that I touch the divine and the divine swathes me.

PS - Written on one such night....this tryst continues till the suns ray breaks my reverie....

The ugly side of beauty....

When God created humans, he did his best to be fair. Sprinkling carefully and wisely equal proportions of attributes so that each one of us can feel 'exquisite and beautiful'.

Man however has been in a habit of complicating things. Simple and apparently easily comprehensible things tend to distract him and he takes a path of complications. And so he deviated from this simplified version of God's granted beauty and confined it to merely a 'visual delight'.

This crooked definition of beauty has slowly been transformed into a necessary evil and humans today struggle mindlessly to grab a 'portion' while carelessly overlooking what was originally granted to them.

From Botox to liposuction, fairness creams to laser treatments we have senselessly been try to possess something that has been already thrust upon us. And to top up the insensibility, we gullibles 'demand' and 'desire' the same artificial and altered beauty in others too. Dumping away the real radiance.

He aspires to be tall, she dreams to be thin, his ambition is to get that athletic built and being fair is her desire!

We are vainly running to pick out an ingredient knowing little that our recipe of beauty is not just faulty but tasteless and ugly.

Endless advertisements with almost perfect faces, endorsing products to transform you into something which the creator himself did not feel fit to grant you. Sounds bizarre. isn't it?

When the artist or a writer decided NOT to bestow a certain trait or colour in the protagonist or painting, how can we as a reader and an on-looker 'artificially' apply them later?

But the social milieu and its hollow expectations have clogged our reasoning and logic to sheer opacity.

I doubt if much can be done to revert back from this track we have been walking blindfolded yet with 'élan'.

Alas! The botox beauty has occupied our minds and only serious retrospection can drain it away.

It might appear pessimistic on my part to end this post on a negative note but even after a lot of reasoning I couldn't come up with solutions that can be helpful for this is not a community or country issue, it rests with generation gone, the present one and the ones that shall live after us.

If only the actual beauty of each individual can be unveiled. If only we try and search that radiance within and around us those things of beauty would truly be joyous forever!

What do you think?!