Husbands and TV

Husbands have a powerful affinity to the idiot box, much to the chagrin of wives. Earlier, I used to feel that its a personal exasperation but after talks with my peers, have reached this conclusion that its a worldwide phenomena. This affinity is a great affliction on the latter community and a cause of worry as the statistics of viewers increase by the day. With the influx of dish tv, cable tv and thousands of channels, the wife has intense competition at hand. She waits up all day for him to come back from work with hair done and wares like none, but all she gets is an inattentive glance and a customary hi. The remote becomes the most sought after item in the household and she feels like a piece of furniture or a prized possession, relegated to the background. Even if she gives up her nagging and reconciles herself to this unacceptable fact, its only to realise that their tastes in TV channels are vastly different. While he is hooked to car racing, sports or watching the news for the n'th time, she is inquisitive to know what ensued on last night's soap. And the battle goes on. Remotes have become tug of war in every household and research shows that their sales have increased considerably. This addiction has caused great distress to women, and I as one, commiserate with her plight. Someone should take it up and work on it.

If one visits certain relatives and friends, one might notice their tendency to always talk of the past, sometimes repeating anecdotes and stories so many times that one's attention starts waning and one looks to change the topic or to slide into a dreamworld of one's own, with the buzzing of the speaker relegating to the background. Only to be roused into reality when the monologue gets over. This is especially with respect to elderly people and ladies in their mid years whose children have grown up and there is lot of free time.
Being a happy and positive person is a foremost prerequisite in order to be a good conversationalist.Here are some notes to remember-

# One should remember that his toothache is more important to him than another's famine/fever/headache etc.
# The past is over and finished and no amount of reliving it will make it change; it will only make one fatigued and depressed. Do not travel excess baggage, be light.
# To do something creative or completely unrelated at hand, will make one feel immediately exuberant rather than brooding on one's misfortunes.
# That, its virtually impossible to change another or what he did. What is possible, is however, to decide what you can do and excercise that choice with discretion.
# Moreover, a genuine interest and love for people not bordering on inquisitiveness and an ability to listen.

Education

I had thought that my blogs had had an untimely demise.People asked me why I was not blogging but alas ! everything had dried up.Nothing was flowing.
I was thinking in that vein, when the other day, my daughter who attends Moral Sc classes was asked by her teacher ‘ What is the purpose of education?’ and she, in turn asked me this question. That set the ball rolling and me thinking. I was sifting through all the answers in my mind- to gain knowledge about the self and the world. To distinguish between right and wrong- not quite what I wanted to say .There are many who intuitively know what’s right and wrong but were not educated, eg. Ramakrishna Paramhansa. Moreover,concepts of right and wrong are relative, not perfect.
To acquire skills like analytical, rational, mathematical, linguistic and work skills. But this might not encompass qualities like kindness, humility, non-reactiveness, humaneness and magnanimity.

To impart what we have learnt to others-but that might at best, make us a good teacher.
Suddenly, I thought that a little girl’s question had made me think and look for an answer.In that sense, my daughter was the teacher and I, a student. And I realized that the purpose of education is to understand that in the classroom of life we should always be a student, learn and move on to the next class. With the enthusiasm, discipline and grit of a student , we can learn invaluable lessons from life.

The Bathroom - A Sanctuary

The bathroom is a utility area as such but if one sees it from another perspective, it is a sanctuary.
It is a haven where one can relax and unwind with a warm shower to soothe one's frayed nerves after a long hard day's work.
It is a refuge for people, who want to vent out or cry which they are unable to do in front of the general public or a house full of nephews, nieces and folks.
It is a hiding place of sorts, where one can hide things from their wives, mothers etc. Its only during the monthly cleaning that these are retrieved and all hell's loose but at least on other days, peace prevails. Its also a hideout for children on report card day or for husbands when their spouses are screaming at such decibels that are dangerous to eardrums.
It is a stage , where amateur singers can find expression with the hand shower acting as a make believe mike. A wanna be actor can mimic appropriate expressions in front of the mirror and get into his fantasy world without the prying eyes of a critical audience.
Nowadays, it serves as a library too, where many books and periodicals are stocked and many ingenious ideas born.
in fact, for many its akin to a sanctorium and the sole place where they can be themselves.

The sari

The attire has become almost extinct in today's world and has been dismissed as being most impractical and cumbersome. Its the age old six yards- the sari.
With the mall hopping culture and the glut of brands like Guess,Esprit etc being easily available off the shelves, the poor sari has lost its importance and finds no space on the counter shelf. The reactions one invites on wearing it are the puckering of the nose and the raising of an eyebrow. However, there are number of reasons why the sari can be termed an extremely useful garment.
# It accentuates feminity and tradition.
# It is a good camouflage for all the tyres that get accumulated due to lack of exercise and overeating.
# It is airy and quite suitable for tropical climates.
# The folds of the pleats can be used to hide things effectively when your toddler throws a tantrum on seeing a chocolate.
# The pallu can be used as a good substitute for a kitchen cloth to pick up hot pots and pans off the burner ( provided the cloth is cotton and the wearer has years of experience). The above feat should not be tried by amateurs for fear of scalding.
# The pallu can be easily torn and used as a bandage in event of a minor accident. ( filmi style)
# The pallu can also be used to wipe the sweat off one's brow in sudorific temperatures.
And such and many are the advantages of this raiment which doesn't buy many takers in today's world.

Take a break

For many, creating a blog may be inspired by their children. But for me, to tell you the truth, it was getting away from them, into a time zone that is totally mine. The most important prerequisite and also a hitch for a parent is to find a niche for herself as a person where she can be herself. Uninterrupted, by the countless questions of her little toddler, undisturbed by the loud bawling of her little baby, every mother must take a time out ,for herself, to recharge her batteries. This makes her plunge again into the duties of a mother with greater gusto and enthusiasm.

My encounter with a cockroach

It was this morning while I was in the bath that our gaze met, though we can't see eye to eye, and we both froze - in fear. It was the six legged brown apparition that suddenly appears on most indian household walls at odd hours - the cockroach. I inched towards the corner of the wall and tried to shoe it away with the waive of my hand but to no avail. Perhaps, it took my waive to be a friendly hi ! I looked around for a weapon to protect myself- shampoo bottles, feet scraper, shower gels but then realised that the creature had wings and if I threw something at it, it could just take off and come too close for comfort. So, I skipped the idea. Instead, I stretched to the further end of the counter to retrieve a tissue paper. I squashed the creature with a tissue (ha!) without an iota of remorse.But it deftly slipped away and I was left squashing thin air and feeling like a fool. I don't know how they can preordain our gestures but I am convinced that these creatures are sharper than me. As if, sensing my feelings, it disappeared on its own volition into maybe, one of the crevices on the bathroom walls and I heaved a sigh of relief.