From the dark to the dawn

According to Hindu scriptures, there are three qualities (Guns) : Sattva , Rajas and Tamas.  Source : Google  Everything that has been created, including us, is made up of five elements  : Earth, water, fire, air & space. These elements have three qualities (Guns) : Sattva, Rajas & Tamas. All the creation is governed by these three Guns.  Source : Google These Guns are unique and display certain personality traits in us. We all possess these qualities (Guns). During a certain phase of life, one gun dominates & other two go in the background.  It is natural  to experience these three qualities from time to time.  Sometimes you feel peace, joy, no fear and pure energy around you. Your Sattva quality (Gun) is dominating. Sometimes you are moody, restless, insatiable and full of ambitions, your Rajas quality (Gun) is in charge. When you feel lazy, depressed, angry, relaxed and destructive, your Tamas quality (Gun) is driving you.  All Guns...

It is a hot summer Saturday afternoon in June and half-day at the office. Most of the staff has already left. Shalini is unhurriedly making a list of her unfinished tasks. A while later, she looks at the clock ticking at 14.10 hours and starts working again. She belongs to Jhalawar District and moved to Jaipur last May for the job she cracked from her MBA college. In Jaipur, she lives in a 3-BHK rented apartment with her two flatmates, Shikha and Rhythm. Both are working and amicable. On weekends, they party and go to pubs that Shalini is not very fond of. Shalini got engaged to Mohit recently. Mohit is working for an MNC in Bangalore and getting married in December with him. Her parents found him through a matrimonial ad. Mohit is soft-spoken, ambitious, and intelligent. He is perfectly tall and dark. Three months prior, she knew nothing about him. After talking daily for half an hour to him she knows he talks less, listens more and values time. No doubt he is so successful. He never ...

It was a regular monsoon day. It was raining heavily since night. It was 7.30 am in the morning and I was in the kitchen. I had just finished packing my six year old son's school lunch. I went to check on him. His father was getting him ready for school as usual and he asked me to bring his milk.  It was almost his bus time and I rushed to kitchen to bring his milk. We have electricity pole just outside our kitchen window which looks somewhat like this:  Source :  Electricity pole photo The window of the kitchen was open as usual. The moment I entered the kitchen there was a momentary explosion (short circuit that was, I think) on the electricity pole that looked somewhat like this: Source : Electricity pole explosion I yelped on this quick shocker. Though nothing happened (thankfully), my husband and son came running to the kitchen. My husband asked me  is everything alright? I told him, pointing to the pole, nothing happened, just something blew up there. He said i...

There was a girl,  who used to sleep deep, Now, the slightest movement in her room wakes her up. There was a girl, who did not care for her messy room, Now, carefully folds every piece of cloth. There was a girl, who spoke till her heart emptied, Now, focuses more on listening. There was a girl, who used to fill her up with chocolates for every skipped meal, Now, chooses healthy food for every meal. There was a girl,  who did not give a damn to speed limits and speed brakes, Now, drives her car slowly and avoiding any crates carefully. There was a girl, who dreamt randomly without caring to complete them, Now, adds meaning to her ambitions. There was a girl, who lived with on her own terms with no rules, Now, abides by every rule she sets for herself. She was a girl then, Now, she is a mother. She knows her actions have more effect than her words,  She learns to be responsible and mature everyday.

When I got married, many things changed and changed instantaneously. One of them was filling out forms. In India, most of the forms ask for information like: Src:  https://travel.stackexchange.com/questions/37233/why-does-the-visa-for-india-for-ask-for-the-name-of-my-father-husband Before marriage, it was simple! I would write my father's name in Father/Husband name column and be over with it. After marriage, this field of the form became annoying to me. In starting days of marriage, whenever I filled a form, I used to put a slash in between and wrote both names. Almost every form-checker would exasperate and ask me to fill the form again, enraging me. They also advised me to write my husband's name only. I understood that they were doing their job. It irritated me to fill the form with my husband's name only. Both my father and husband's names are important and irreplaceable to me. I still do not understand why I need to leave my father's name behind if I am marrie...

There was a girl whose parents gave her the chance to study and learn. They motivated her to choose her path and weave her dreams. She fueled her dreams with hopes and desires. She dreamt of ambitions, creating value and financial independence. She grew up. She loved her career. Of course, there were ups and downs, disappointments and dissatisfactions. Still, at the end of the day, she knew she could still live up to her dreams if she kept trying. She got married to a charming guy who supported her dreams and career. Eventually, she had kids. She never contemplated how much dedication her children required from her. She always thought of having kids and raising them as a temporary condition rather than a permanent one. She thought she could also sail this boat. Naive she was, she did not know it was easier thought than done.  For time being, she tried to manage everything - home, children, and work. As she still had a place for her dreams in her mind. But slowly, she started to fee...