With a spring in her feet , a smile on her face she is - #madeofgreat

I have encountered so many people who have left a lasting impression in my life, there are many from my family, my friends circle, from public life, my acquaintance, bloggers, online friends....so many….. I was finding it difficult to narrow down on one person and was thinking whom to write about…. Just then my house door opened and in walked my house help Lakshmi. As she walked to the utility area, it struck me that I should write about Vasanta.

Vasanta was my ex- house help some 7 years back. Before that, I had known her ever since this housing society came into being  9 years ago. She was then my neighbours help. We would use the services of each other’s maid when one of them was on leave. But Vasanta was the one who would often be on leave and my neighbor would ask my maid to pitch in those days. This was very frequent. And Vasanta had a reason for this.

Vasanta’s story was not a common “maid story”. She was not married to  a husband who invested time in drinking or other wayward activities. Although from a lower economic background, he was a hardworking man , the  difference was he was fighting terminal TB and she would often take him to the Government hospital for treatment and attending to him, that was the reason for her taking leave. Her family of her parents and in-laws were living in a remote village in Orissa and  near Vijayawada respectively. With two Kids aged 3 and 1, she would tend to her husband, work in our society and look after her kids all single handedly and all this with an eversmiling face. I have never seen her rant, curse her fate or indulge in self-pity even once.

Very soon, her husband succumbed to the disease. She borrowed money from us and took her husband in an ambulance to Vijayawada. After a month, she came back with a smiling face. Out of wonder, I asked did she never cry? She said she cried and relieved her traumatic days and it was done with. She had to move on...... I and my neighbour advised, she should go back to the security of her in-laws or parents. But she said, that there was no work in village and she would not be a burden to the family where she had young siblings. She herself was around 19 at that time.

She rejoined work with us, She admitted her son in a  boarding school for under privileged boys and would bring her little daughter to work who was two years then and had a walking disability. The daughter would lie in the balcony. Her love as a mom would ooze out when every now and then between her work she would go to the lying daughter ,cuddle her and massage her leg diligently.

She also ensured her employer had a clean home and she was also trust worthy. Atleast, I never entrusted my house keys with her, but my neighbor would entrust an open house with keys to her. That was the trust she had gained. That is another secret of her success. She does not work looking for money alone, but works from her heart and there were times she would do the necessary work without even we telling her .There was no shirking of responsibilities or half-hearted measures. Money is an automatic by product for the good services she rendered.

Life went on for her. After some two years, She  decided to put her daughter  in a girls boarding school. She moved to stay with her and work with in the boarding school which offered her shelter too. She was gone  for two years.

Again one fine day, she landed at my place with the same smiling face. She said, Now, that her daughter is big, she quit the hostel and has started working in one of the pent house which offers a one room home for her and works as a cook. In her free time, she brings work  from a garment company on a weekly basis and does tailoring work. In the evening, she seeks permission from her employer and makes bondas, samosas and earns selling them to the nearby construction workers. Tailoring and cooking  dishes, she said she learnt while at the hostel. Although, her children study in a funded school, she has to spend an yearly amount. Many of us help her. She saved amount to conduct her sister’s marriage. She also helps her in-laws financially. I was amazed at her learning and entrepreneurial skills. She even picked/picks  up few phrases of english and tries to communicate with us. When I and my neighbor meet we don’t stop admiring her courage, determination, learning and entrepreneurial skills and think  this maid of ours  is a perfect example of #madeofgreat and  empowerment.

Where did she learn all this? Which university did she go to? Did she attend any self-development program or read personality development book  on how to live life and apply them practically? I think she is a classic example of what happens to us may not be in our control, but what we do with what happens to us is completely in our control.

Married at around 14( she can’t say this correctly, she says "maybe 13 or 14") widowed at 19 with two small kids and she is now an empowered strong entrepreneurial woman at 28 and a dedicated and loving mom, she corrected her daughter’s defective leg with medical advice and her persistent efforts of massage has put her daughter back on strong foot. Last summer vacation, It was a pleasure to see her daughter walking perfectly, she brought her son and daughter to show me and my neighbor.

Vasanta,true to her name renews herself, has a spring in her step and sports an ever smiling face-  she, to me is an achiever and #madeofgreat in her own way, and these are the kind of people)  we should learn about in schools to create confident gennext!

This post written exclusively for tatamotors #madeofgreat

The #madeofgreat campaign is the first time Tata Motors is undertaking an overall brand association campaign with a brand ambassador. It rides on a strong consumer motivation of ‘Seeking Excellence’ and ‘Self Belief’ which is showcased by the confluence of two global brands-Tata Motors and Lionel Messi. The campaign builds upon Tata Motors’ DNA of trust, authenticity, reliability, simplicity, as well as its commitment to innovation.

The best comment on this blog post which answers the question  "What do you think of Tata Motors' association with Lionel Messi?", will receive an amazon voucher worth rs 750. ( this is for the readers here)

A healthy child makes a happy family

I live in a city where most homes have atleast one NRI in the family and  also  in  this  city  most students from class 5 go to coaching institutes or tutorials for professional studies. Many even go to tuitions from PP1.(nursery)

Most kids who go to IIT/medical coaching get down from their school bus, refresh themselves and then hop onto a regularly hired auto or the Institute's van to travel to that most advertised and famous coaching( read by rote learning) institute which claims to qualify children in the entrances to premier institutes and there are plenty such commercial coaching institutes in my city which compete with each other. The children  travel in the traffic only to  return back like Zombies in the night. Many a times, they miss their regular school next day due to overwork and health issues like lack of sleep or improper diet. They absolutely have zero physical exercise in the form of games or sports.

In such a city, there are few families like mine which does not believe in private tuitions at such early ages. Those parents  have even asked whether we don't intend to educate them in the premier institutes subjecting us to peer pressure  or some want to know if we tutor them at home.

To be honest, we have never had the necessity to tutor them (may be on occasions) but yes we have guided them.

First, as parents we have never believed in the rat race and we are not preparing them for it. Secondly, our idea of education is not just scoring marks and ranks although we don’t tell  our children  this. Thirdly, thankfully till today we have never buckled to peer pressure and admitted them in any of the tuitions. Fourthly, we have reasonably traditionally intelligent children who can manage on their own with their  systematic regular school tutoring and mentoring.

 A healthy and energetic child which goes to school regularly has an alert mind, concentrates in class and comes home to recall all that is done through homework, correlates it with real life and visualize wherever necessary, the concepts gets embedded in their memory. The application oriented homework further strengthens the concepts.

  As parents, we have always believed that  apart from values, general problem solving capacities, decision making, analytical & logical skills, thinking skills, communication skills, life skills, etc are the results of a good education and that is learnt through school, home and external exposure  and not through the money spinning coaching institutes.

What is important is to have a healthy child and as a parent it is our duty to nurture and nourish one. 

That is the principle which has worked for us  but to keep them healthy was quite a task initially. As children with just 2.6 years apart, both of them have been cross infected many a times during their infancy. Those periods were easily the tough times as a parent, especially when both the children fall sick.

Thankfully, those days,  I  had experienced elders in the family who have raised many children to advice me. They guided me to help build their immune system through time-tested practices like weekly and monthly administrations of kashayams( herbal teas) like “inji sorasam”(ginger), “oma sorasam”( ajwain), home made regular food which had immune boosters like vepampoo( neem flowers), haldi, mustard, cumin, jeera, nellikai( gooseberry) etc, Apart from that, good rest, exercise in the form of games, seasonal vegetables,fruits and good hygiene helped them to keep fit and healthy during their early years(0-8).

As they grew older, they developed a taste for global cuisine and refused to follow the old ritualistic diet and drink the kashayams. Moreover, they had also grown old enough to overcome those cross infections. Now, I too allowed variety in their diet and so cheesy pasta, burgers,nachos, manchurians, noodles  etc., did make way into our house, in a way this also morphed them and me into great(?) chefs. It was also at this time when they were around 8 and 5+, I introduced them to a spoonful of  “Dabur’s Chywanprash”( especially winters)which took care of their immunity and strength. All these have kept them going healthy and strong. Thankfully due to which they have never missed their school sessions and so could avoid extra pressure in the form of private tuitions.

Our children are our pride and joy. Subjecting  them to constant study and competitive pressure does sap their energy and make them physically and mentally sick . It is important to nourish and nurture them with love and care because a healthy child is a happy child and a happy child makes a happy family. 

 Also, in this context i quote a poem which i followed in my parenting to raise my kids as healthy kids.

“Do not ask your children

to strive for extraordinary lives.
Such striving may seem admirable,
but it is the way of foolishness.
Help them instead to find the wonder
and the marvel of an ordinary life.
Show them the joy of tasting
tomatoes, apples and pears.
Show them how to cry
when pets and people die.
Show them the infinite pleasure
in the touch of a hand.
And make the ordinary come alive for them.
The extraordinary will take care of itself.”

William Martin

More Indian than you think

"India is, the cradle of the human race, the birthplace of human speech, the mother of history, the grandmother of legend, and the great grand mother of tradition. our most valuable and most instructive materials in the history of man are treasured up in India only." -American Author Mark Twain.

What many of them realize about Indian culture  now due to globalization, perhaps Mark Twain realized it much before.

 My husband was on a business trip to San Francisco last year. One of his customer who is an American had come to meet him. He greeted my husband not with a handshake but with his palms touching each other and said Namaste. That was not all, during his course of talk he mentioned to my husband how he adores and has taken to the Indian way of spiritual living. He practices yoga and applies its principles in daily life by breathing consciously(meditation). Today due to globalization, it is clear from instances like these and the news that the world has beautifully adapted some of our culture and lifestyle practices and one of them is YOGA.

My yoga instructor who taught me here has now migrated to the west coast of US and she says one need’nt look much further than the end of the road to see a yoga studio in many cities. My class mates in Denver & LA vouch for this and so does my cousin in Atlanta.

Apart from the people in my real life authenticating it, we know of celebrity practitioners like Lady Gaga, Singer Madonna, Oprah winfrey, Julia Roberts, Nicole kidman etc.,  and above all the first man of the US , President Obama himself promoting Yoga as part of school curriculum in the US.

Today, this Indian spiritual science and exercise form is a million dollor industry in the US. Although the traditional yoga has morphed and goes by many names like vinyasa yoga, restorative yoga, kathak yoga, therapeutic yoga, acro yoga, power yoga etc.,.All these styles are only adding popularity in almost every generation of fitness and wellness enthusiasts and this has also proved one thing. India is going back to the roots and leading the world too. Not just in US, Yoga Alliance has its network in Africa, Asia Pacific, Europe etc.,

There are also  many instances which shows that the greatest contribution by India to the world is not just material science and spiritual science but also in the field of arts, culture,food and cinema. The love for Indian classical dance has uprooted many foreigners from their own soil and brought them to temples of culture like Kalakshetra, nritya gram and there are many foreign researchers in the field of temple architecture. One such lover of Indian  architecture, culture, crafts and folk performing arts is Philadelphian Dr. Deborah who married an Indian Dr. Ram Thiyagarajan and set up the heritage village Dakshinachitra at chennai.

Indian food seems to be equally popular in foreign shores. In the US,  Obama's love for Indian food took him to Indian restaurant 'Rasika' in Washington for a quiet birthday celebration, David Cameron British Prime minister's fascination for Chicken rogan josh and Indian food has him hailing Indian food as  ' a Great British industry'  and so it is with many celebrities like Matt Damon, Tom cruise, Kate perry etc.,

The mention of Hollywood celebrities brings me to the popularity of Indian cinema. There are so many instances where there has been colloboration and where many foreign directors have moved to shoot in India like the 'Life of Pi' , 'City of Joy' etc,.   Recently, even Kevin spacey danced to the tunes of Bollywood song  "Lungi dance' at IIFA, Tampa.

If India food, dance, culture, movies has many lovers, can Indian music be far behind?

Indian music has had a big influence on music outside India. If In the past,The Beatles added sitar tunes to some of their recordings, George harrison learnt sitar from Ravi Shankar and  Yehudi Menuhin's  love for Indian music brought out the best of Ravi Shankar and him in "West meets East". In  recent times,  American clarinetist and music composer with the Indian name Shankar Tucker's  love for Indian music speaks soulfully in his musical compositions.  Needless to say about Musical maestro Ilayaraja's symphony orchestra and Madras Mozart AR Rehman who has teamed up with western singers. 

To top it all, recently the impeccable Sanskrit rendition of Rudram from Vedas  by Erhard brothers in The White house is another indication of popularity of our culture. 

 Erhard brother's impeccable rendition is viral on social sites.

 Even in India, it is a pleasure to see many foreigners in the premises of Ramanasram, Auroville , cultural centres like Nrityagram, Kalakshetra adapting to Indian values.  

Arts, culture, food, and cinema of India is now popular and accepted all over the world.  Thanks to globalisation, The world seems to recogize and  heart India.

 "If there is one place on the face of earth where all the dreams of living men have found a home from the very earliest days when man began the dream of existence, it is India."-Romain Rolland, French scholar 

This post written for Indiblogger and Lufthansa's More Indian than you think  .

Deepavali - From excitement to contentment

In  Tam-Brahm households like mine, Deepavali  is celebrated  on the wee hours of Naraka Chaturdashi. Although ritually it is only for a couple of hours before the sunrise,   the  preparations would begin  a week earlier. Uncles, aunts and cousins would descend on grand parents home and the Diwali fun would begin.  As a child, i have experienced many such getogethers which  has  forged stronger bonds and added many memories.

It would start with shopping for dresses, mostly readymade or if it is tailor made, then we would shuttle between home and  the busy tailor's shop wondering whether we would get our dress on time. Next, it was time for  the snacks, where the family elders would plan the festive menu, get together in the kitchen to make sweets,  savouries and a signature dish called  Deepavali legiyam( herbal concoction). We kids would try to sneak in to see if we could get something out of the kitchen, but we would be strictly told that we could not have them till Deepavali.  Next, the crackers would arrive only to be duly  placed in the attic, we kids couldn't take our eyes off the crackers. My dad though would get us only safe ones like  Ground whirls, flowerpots, sparklers, wires , pencils and not cracking 100 walas or atom bombs. There would be an air of excitement and anxiety to wear the new dress, eat goodies and burst the crackers that the eve prior to diwali most of us cousins would almost not sleep and  end up chatting.

In the wee hours of Chaturdashi, we would be up early with excitement, sit on the rangoli decorated wooden platform, Paati would slather the heated and treated gingelly oil on our head. What followed after the head bath was the Tamil way of Diwali Greeting " Ganga Snanam accha?" (Have you had bath in the Ganga?) signifying the purification, although Ganga flows nowhere near Tamilnadu. 

We would wear new clothes, have a spoon of Deepavali legiyam which would act as an anti-dote for all the sweets and savouries had during the festive season. The new dress, the various eateries, the crackers, the family get together all added up to the joy and excitement through the day, that at the end of the day, we would await the  next Diwali. Excitement and expectation -that was Diwali then.

                                  (pics are from my personal album taken last year)

Now, we don't wait to buy a new dress, eat sweets or no one has time for family get-together. We already have some new dresses piled in the wardrobe picked up during a discount sale. The sweets are mostly store bought or we make some for the sake of tradition. As  eco-conscious citizens, even the kids at home do not want to light crackers. Cousins are in different parts of the world and so call, Skype or whatsapp to wish.

There is no excitement, no enthusiasm  like before. That set me in contemplation mode.

 No excitement, no enthusiasm, but....... there is a sense of contentment and we are making different set of memories. I am happy with what I have, cherish and don't hanker for more. There is the "been there, done that" attitude and perhaps like a child I don't wish for material things  or chase them any more, Instead I am grateful for all the big and  little things in my life. 

This is Diwali mood now - a happy and contented diwali  :) 

This post is written for Indi-happy hours and Gharwalidiwali

Fragrance from heavens - Jasmine of the sky

A few months back I walked out of my lift and crossed path with a friend who was enjoying the fragrance of a flower. She immediately brought the flower close to me and said “ Smell this flower, it has a lovely fragrance" .  I smiled back at her on inhaling its ethereal fragrance. I told her this flower is not strange or new to me and I have known it since my student days and  walked away but the lingering fragrance sent me to my pre-university days.

Among the many trees that adorn the avenues of Bangalore, this flowering tree (Indian cork tree) adorned my walkway to my pre-university college in Malleswaram. All along the pathway, the trees that were tall and giantly had clusters of fragrant blossoms hanging from the top that  almost spread its perfume into the whole neighbourhood and even maybe heavens. The beautiful flower clusters which were pristine white in color were called by so perfect a name ‘Akasha mallige’ or ‘Jasmine of the sky’. With even a slight breeze, the flowers would shower on you like  scented  blessings from heaven. 

The sweet smell would tingle your nasal senses and spread its beautiful fragrance all over in no time. I and my friends would enjoy walking past it to get lovely whiffs of its ethereal fragrance. We have tried to put them between the pages of the book but the waxy sap of the flowers would leave a stain on the page and so we avoided that. So,  I and my friends would pick them from the ground and smell it on the way to our  college or back home.

                                       PC: google
I’m still  so in love with this simple unassuming scented wonder of nature called "Jasmine of the sky". It's scent is subtle and pleasant that it can linger on you long after you have passed through the stately trees. Sometimes, like  Pooh  said of (Winnie the pooh fame) " the smallest things take up the most room in your heart" and many times,  creations like this sweet smelling ‘akasha mallige” takes up a lot of room in my heart .

 This tree grows in my neighborhood now and during spring season I walk over to the place just to catch the lovely whiffs of this heavenly fragrance. I also pick some to float them in urulis and the lovely fragrance fills the whole room, cloaking me with warmth and tranquility. 

Written for Indiblogger's " Inspire a fragrance"  in association with www.Godrejaer.com 

Nature - some memories, fun and some lessons

 I was  fortunate to grow up in  good old  Bangy town which had many sobriquets like air conditioned city, pensioners paradise, garden city etc.,. All sobriquets earned were due to its salubrious climate and greenery all through the year.  The woody canopied avenues which were  floored with blooms like jacarandas, gulmohars, laburnums, tabebuias etc. and the 300+ shimmering lakes of the city offered all the coolness that an air conditioner offers.Fans were never switched on even in summers. Today of course, Bengaluru's sobriquets could be contested.

My early years were spent near the botanical garden Lalbagh and the lush green banks of Sankey tank(lake) which had sandalwood trees and huge meadows as playground. The green lawns would end up at the rim of sankey tank which had a picket fence with a small locked gate. The many outings with my parents and relatives were to these natural surroundings. The iconic Lalbagh (west gate) nurtured by Tipu sultan was less than a km away from home while my uncle’s home at Forest Research Institute( FRI) on the banks of Sankey, was my weekend home.

Walking through the green and serene wooded trees which had their botanical names plastered on them introduced me to their botanical names. I could recognize and read the names of the various birds that chirped in the mini enclosures. Everytime there was a horticultural show in lalbagh, my floral vocabulary quintupled. The flowers, fruits and vegetables plants that were exhibited in the Horticultural show of Lalbagh exposed me to the variety. I caught sight of cockscomb, michaelmas daisy, gerbera, aster, gladioli, magnolias, geranium , gerbera, orchid, the different variety of roses, ferns,crotons while many children would have only seen in glossy picture books then. The beautiful flowers were piled up in mountains and pruned into monuments and animals.The dense bushes would be sculpted and trimmed into elephants and other figurines in what is known as topiary. Lalbagh even had a floral clock, a gift from the Japanese watch maker citizen. (don’t know if it still exists)


                                 
                                         Drawings by my daughter at age 14

All that attracted me at that age were the colors, smells and the unstructured play with the natural settings around me but the memories are vivid. As a young girl, i remember running bare foot on the green lawns with friends, hopping, skipping, playing in/out with the rope, ducking away from those buzzing bees, chasing butterflies and holding them in our hands till the color of their wings stuck to our hands, looking for the pupa in those leaves, throwing stones into the lake just to watch the ripples, the ganesh visargan at the lake, boating and so many more experiences with nature, mostly happy ones.

 One happy memory is of unearthing the mica sheets from the earth in the campus of FRI , crushing them and dusting them on our frocks. The mica dust would sparkle in the shining sun giving us joy. But there are a few not so good ones too. One worst experience was when we plucked colored printing flowers in a garden near National college and were chased by the mali(gardener). We ran as fast as we could, but we were caught and he twisted our ears, warned and let us go. One experimental thing we friends did was bring home a fat green caterpillar and we put it in a box, we threw in some leaves and waited for it to metamorphosize into a butterfly. It is another story that we all ended up with rashes and itches on our skin.


                 
                             drawings by my son at age 11 and 9(right)


But all these experiences were playful and I was not keenly interested in nature then as I am now. But I believe these real experiences are what has inspired me to be a tree hugger, nature lover and an eco warrior today. The memories overwhelm me now, to think how those bowers, colors of flowers were bliss to my senses and could shape me. My husband and I wanted to give such real experiences to our children and so have often taken them to vacations which were not exotic destinations but nearby natural and rustic places like farms, fields, eco spots, hills, mountains, beaches, forests etc.,


           

  

                                All photos taken by my son and dot


My children too have caught onto such experiences and they find connecting with nature invigorating. On our many nature trails, apart from their fun times like the ones I had, they observe nature and capture them. They go on nature treks to find the new variety of birds. They carry binoculars and the joy they experience when they are able to identify that blue bird as tickells blue fly catcher in Anantgiri ! ( courtesy: dad's mobile phone) And yes, they were disappointed when they could not capture the passerine through their lens. Before they could adjust the lens , the bird flew away.

  
                             bonding with earth, air and water

During their recent exam time, it was heartening to see the teens come out for a whiff of fresh air and watch the birds build the nest, they found it invigorating to go around watering the mint stems and with each new sunrise , the stem sprouted and finally the matured broad leaves of mint ended up in their watermelon sorbet, just when their exams ended.




( in the above pics, notice the birdie taking a leaf stalk to build nest in the ac duct. and in the next photo don't miss the yellow butterfly sucking nectar from the pollens - we observe such  micro joys when we slow down in our life)



But, what touched me most and the best was their recent experience.

3 baby squirrels had fallen off a tree in the nearby forest area of the cantonment. My daughter and her friends found them and took each home. My daughter bought it home, knowing that we were against pets at home ( we don’t hate, but it is a huge responsibility to grow a pet in a home), she pleaded with us that she would take care for two weeks, by then he would be able to run and find a place for him under the sun. The whole week the sister- brother duo tended to it. They called up a co-resident who was a vet doctor and found from her that it needed a warm home. So, they housed him in a shoebox with lots of cloth paddings over a warm water bottle and rolled him in cloth. They fed him for 4 days. The baby slowly attempted to move out of the box. By then, I was not sure if we could have it for another week. Meanwhile, we also got mixed inputs like squirrel is a wild animal and should not be kept as pets. Its natural tendency is to run away from humans and grow only in the wild, while tending him at home would change his qualities and later he may find it difficult to adapt to the wild life. We thought we should release him in the forest. But we also realized it would not be safe to put him in the forest since he would be feasted by some dog or cat.




                       
                                         ( the baby squirrel was named giggler)


Meanwhile, my daughter suggested she will contact the blue cross and ask if they would offer shelter. Thankfully, they were happy to take him but they suggested we bring him there, since their vans were  all occupied. We waited for the week end and then finally Giggler went to blue cross 14 kms away. It was heart warming to see, how beautifully they took responsibility to take care of the orphaned baby, tend it for a week and then handover it to the right people for further care. This incident has even motivated them to volunteer at Bluecross.


Nature has also inspired them to make lovely drawings, paintings, click photos etc. It is very obvious nature supplies them with multi  color visuals which they translate into many shades and colors using their creativity into greeting cards, bookmarks, photographs worth gifting. Some of their paintings, drawings and photography below.(click on it for detailing)



                                  



   



  

                         






I wasn't that wise their age, but now i look at nature in a new way.  I sit and wonder, contemplate, reflect and admire nature.  While standing atop a mountain and looking down the valley or while the bubbly sea waves surfs up to my feet. I wonder who disciplined or trained the birds while they fly in a V formation. Who aligns, scales or designs the leaves and flowers to perfection.

 And, one of my favorite past time is lying on the terrace and watching the star spangled sky. Many a times i wonder at the working of the solar system, they are suspended out there in the galaxy and yet everything is in perfect order and they work like a well oiled machine. When observed closely nature is a great teacher without being a preacher. So many life lessons from nature. It teaches you about discipline, perfection, punctuality, determination, adaptability, compassion and many more . It would make you wonder about the miracle nature is, Ain't It?

All we need is to slow down, observe them, feel them and have fun. Like Lao Tzu says

                  "Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.”

This post is written for Indiblogger's  and http://www.kissan.in/  "Nature's friends"

Yo, people! Whatcha doin?

Have you ever come across teenagers speak? or Do you have any teens on your friends list? If yes, you will relate to the post, if No, then you will know why people of my generation"roll our eyes" and "scratch our heads" when we hear them speak.

"Kirrak" " whatcha doin?" "Yo" "thope" "requestion" "hayloo".and many more...

       Do the above words sound familiar to you?

Those are familiar words to me which I keep hearing often, sometimes in my society or on my social networking site where I am connected to many teenagers.

I once read aloud a comment by a teen on my FB page which read " Kirrak Picha" and my daughter chuckled and said "Mom, that's not the way you say" and corrected me with the right pronunciation. Even before i could gather what it means, another comment pops up"WUU2". There are many such instances like these where I am left rolling my eyes or SMH (shaking my head) when these teens speak or txtspk(text speak) missing their vowels.

A few years back, I would always respond to their " Hey mom/aunty, wassup?" and other teen talks with a confused look and go into a thought bubble " Have these Gen Z descended from another planet?". Their talks never made any sense to me.
But now, I hv jnd d kewl klub( i have joined the cool club), I do'nt want to be known as an "unkewl aunty" in my neighborhood, you see.

So now, when they "wazzup"? or "sup?" i cheerfully answer in good humor without showing my confusion " it's the sky" or " roof" or whatever is above me at that time.

Now, the teen vocab adds to a 'kinda' 'chillin' moments at home too, which we moms and pops of 'Gen Z' take with a chill pill.

It so happened on my latest train journey, I was sitting on the lower side berth and my son was above me in the upper berth. Out of the blue, my son darted across his berth with a cheeky smile "Hey mom!, sup?" and I as in practice was about to say" roof" or "sky", suddenly i realized his cheeky smile and changed it to " yo sonny, it's you who'z up".

At times they greet their dad with "Yo Pops",as in Hello dad and the husband too would answer with a drawling "Yo-oo-oo  ma-a-a n" or "Yo dude".

Now, "We the not so young" momz and popz easily figure the missing vowels, hanging apostrophes and comatose comma in "Yo! whag'wan ere?"and we don't think  English ka "condition serious hai" anymore.

We pretend to simply chillax, but,  Shhhhh....don't tell these Gen Z' that we are allergic to this teen and txtspk, okies? Lest they think we are unkewl.

This post exclusively written for condition serious hai in association with the cadbury 5 star facebook page.

The teen dictionary for this post
Kirrak - awesome
thope -flop
whatcha doin? -what are you doing?
picha - picture/photo
WUU2- what are you up to?
kinda- kind of
chillin - relaxing
chillax- chill+relax
chill pill- be cool as in 'don't get tensed'
kewl- cool
yo- hi
"Yo! wha'wan ere, mah"- Hi, what's going on here"
requestion- request+question

Youngistan!!! - Design the destiny of your nation

There are a millions of problems in a developing country like ours. Apart from the population, unemployment, poverty there is host of problems like total lack of transparency, rupee slide, accountability, steep rise of prices, human safety and security especially for women, communal politics, corruption and other problems.

To put the country on the path to success and build our nation, we need to elect good leaders who can take the country forward. For this to happen, as a common man,  we need to exercise our franchise and give a democratic shake up.

In the recently held Delhi polls, many 18 and 19 year olds have not enrolled to vote and nearly 65% of youngistan did’nt  bother to visit the polling booth to vote says another headline.

They seem to be disillusioned by the political system and seems to have lost faith in our democratic system. Otherwise, how else would you explain the same brigade which fights for Nirbhaya  and holds fire torches for "anna uprising'  or august kranti turn cold feet  when they have to vote. The same brigade seems to be very active and patriotic when they have to voice protests over social media apps.

On the flip side, when it comes to voting, we hear them say “ I see no hope for the country”.  “All politicians are the same”(in a negative tone), “ I don’t see any change, all of them are corrupt” , “ we are finished”,” kuch nahin hone wala” “ sab ke sab bekaar”  etc.,.

Not just youngsters  we even hear many elders being cynical and pessimistic.

We need to inspire these youngsters with successful stories.

 Perhaps I feel here is where Indian history is of value. The sepoy mutiny, the Dandi march, the quit india movement,the vellore sepoy mutiny, the rationalist acts of many like Lal, bal, pal and INA of Subhash Bose would not have helped us free from colonial rule if  the "aam aadmi" did not support the leaders then.  Also, marketing and  advertising the rich glorious cultural past of our country  will  instill pride in them. I think no other country can match us in terms of rich ancestral culture, a 10,000 year old history  and modern technological innovations.

Apart from my own country, which won freedom from the hands of The British through non-violent methods, another country whose human spirit inspires me is Japan.

The country which  has seen the worst catastrophes during world war and is periodically destructed by nature has risen like a phoenix each time their enemies strike them, even nature does’nt spare this island nation . The numerous earthquakes and natural disasters crush the country into a debris but not the Japanese spirit. Had they said “ We are finished”, we would’nt see Japan as one of World’s super power today. Every citizen seems to have taken it upon himself to build his nation.    Anybody who knows Japanese history will know that the riches of a nation are not just natural and material resources but human resources.

 And, when it comes to human intelligence , there is no disputing that we Indians are second. Our intelligence infact is best utilized by the developed nations especially through brain drain. We need to work on our nationalism,  responsibilities and discipline to put our country on the path to success and emerge as a super power.

So, apart from  arm chair criticizing and being cynical, Youngistan,  take up the responsibility of building our nation. And as a first step to this,  exercise your franchise. Project the proud spirit of an Indian and build the destiny of the nation.  Whom you vote, how you live can make a difference not just for you but for the coming generations as well. Pessimism does creep in and sometimes the negative incidents around us makes us  wonder that If anything is going to change; but fortunately optimism being the stronger of the two reasons that “Rome was not built in a day”

 Those would be my inspiring words for the youngistan to vote in the Indian general elections of 2014. And the best way to mobilize them or  reach them is through Social mobile apps like Wechat . Almost most youth have cell phones today and have internet  access. So,it would be easy to reach to the urban youth to vote while the remaining illiterate rural youth have to be reached through TV and other media.

This post exclusively written for Indiblogger's "Indian General Elections 2014 With Social Mobile Apps"