Let Peace be the first option.

For the past few weeks,the issue that has been spiralling out of control has been the issue of Kashmir. What started as a small land problem turned out real ugly,now leading to the question of 'Azaadi'.
Having been a subscriber of the magazine 'The Outlook', it was saddening to read the views of a renowned writer about the issue and about Azaadi. Arundhati Roy has written an elaborate piece,expressing her opinion, but I wondered why I couldn't agree at all with her and I feel many Indians would not, considering the fact that we feel Kashmir is part of India as much as any other state in the country.
Arundhati's article from the Outlook Magazine.

And today,while browsing,I found another article which has a different view.
A point of view from an Army man.

After the army being in Kashmir for so many years, losing thousands of soldiers safe guarding the borders and fighting insurgency, its so blatant and tragic to blame the army for all its problems.

Whats more tragic is the fact that many of the leaders there have ulterior motives, and selfish benefits,gaining political mileage out of such a serious issue.
Why cant a few rational thinkers sit down, discuss and resolve?
Why should there be blame games and passing the buck on to the other?
Why cant PEACE ever be an option?
Why should we constantly lose so many innocent people in this?

All I pray for and wish for is for some peace for the people in Jammu and Kashmir and a speedy reolution to the problems there.

For my dear Mother-in-law on her Birthday.

Today is my Mother-in law,Smt.Annapurna's birthday. And whats so special about it is that she turns 70 today.
Being her daughter-in-law, I feel absolutely lucky. But what I did today was that I wished her in the evening, which was a very mean thing to do.
Although my husband and I have been thinking for a couple of days about her birthday, when it came to wishing her, we both just didn't. We were even planning a nice gift for her, but we felt since we would be going to Hyderabad in a few weeks,we'd give it to her personally.
But today, was really embarrassing,especially because shes such a simple person, and shes more a mother to me than a mother-in-law. In case I have to discuss something, sometimes, I take her advice even before going to my mother. she has always treated me like her daughter. She is one of the most kindest souls I've ever seen, never ever have I heard a harsh word or a rude comment from her.
In times when girls these days have so many problems with their in-laws, I feel absolutely blessed in her presence. She having retired as an Asst Director of Child and women welfare dept from AP state Govt, she has herself seen scores of women in trouble and has gone out of her way to solve their problems.
She has seen a lot in her life and has a very strong personality, raising her 2 children all alone since she lost her husband just after 2 and a half yrs of her marriage.
Hats off to her for being such a brave person during troubled times, and being a person of great integrity,filled with only love,passion and kindness for others and for being such an inspiration for all the youngsters in the family.

Thank u Amma for being with me always, for being so sweet and caring towards me.
When I become a mother and if I am even half the kind of mother u have been, I'll consider it my victory.
Thanks for always being there.
Wish u a very happy birthday,Amma. I want you to be healthy and happy and smiling like this always.Love you.

Yesterday was Mother Teresa's Birth anniversary. And that reminded me of the time I went to visit the Mother's house.
When my parents visited me in Kolkata, we decided we should go to the 'Mother's house'.
It has been more than a year, but I just can't forget the feeling I had on that day,which remains with me to this moment...a sense of calm and peace.

That evening,after a very chaotic traffic, we reached the street where Mother Teresa had lived. There were a few people sitting on the pavement, speaking in English and willing to take you the house where she stayed. There was nothing exorbitant, nor any huge sign, but a simple nameplate with Mother's name saying 'she' was 'IN'.

Once we entered inside, we saw that the Sisters were busy with their daily chores, some were cleaning the place where Mother rests today,her Tomb, and some were busy carrying water,washing,claning and doing other things. One Sister came up to us and said she would show us the place. There was complete silence inside, with everyone doing their work with utmost dedication. She took us up a flight of stairs, and showed us where Mother stayed and it was a tiny little room, with basic furniture and is kept the same way as it was when Mother was alive. Simplicity reflects from every part of the House. There is another room, where Mother's things and notes are displayed and later the Sister took us to the Tomb,where one felt a strong sense of peace. We were all standing in silence and and there was no way anyone was going to break it, because one just couldn't. Thats what amazed me that day, silence was so powerful.
Even after we came out of the 'House', we were all silent for the rest of the journey back home. The sense of calm,silence and peace prevailed for a long time and we defnitely felt her simplicity.
A person like Mother Teresa had come all the way from her country to help the poor and the dying in our country. Shes a great lady and the work started by her is being followed and carried out by her missionary. But, what one needs to learn is the selfless personality she had and the care and love she had for total strangers.
Do the people today have time to stop and think of a poor man or an old lady on the street?

Last week, we decided to go out, and since there were quite a mumber of new malls in the town, we thought we'd visit one such mall.
Being a Saturday,we did expect a few traffic problems,parking problems and ofcourse a huge crowd at the mall.With the heavy rains, it has become a nightmarish experience to travel on the roads of Kolkata. And moreover with the tram lines being repaired and relaid in most places of the city,it has only added to the woes.
My husband had a wonderful time driving, trying dodge the water-filled potholes, trying hard to avoid the eccentricities of our favourite, reckless taxi drivers(who by the way consider they own the roads and all the other vehicles on the road, since they dont care if they brush against a few while they drive hysterically),and at the same time the tram lines which are in the middle of the roads,all this while its raining outside.
One might wonder why we chose such a day to go out,but the point is any day at any time this is the situaution in Kolkata,especially during monsoons(and yeah, we have rains here even in winters sometimes).
After about one hour on the road,for a 10km stretch, we were still about a few 100 yards from the mall and then there was this huge traffic jam completely halting all the vehicles. A few cars,including us were lined up for a U-turn,some had to take a right turn, some had to go straight and a few had to take a left turn. But the traffic constable chose to consider the traffic on the opposite side, completely ignoring this side bringing all the vehicles to a grinding halt for more than 40 minutes.
After all this chaos, we finally made it to the mall's parking lot and managed a spot faster than we expected. The moment we entered the mall,for a minute I felt I was in 'Kumbh mela' with people everywhere.The main motivation for us to go there was the huge book store we had heard about, but everything else was dampener.Every corner of the mall was occupied including the food court with each counter having serpentine queues and thats when we decided we should head back home where one can breathe and eat in peace.
What had to be a nice outing ,left us frustrated.

Congratulations to Abhinav Bindra!!!
He has indeed made us all very proud!! Incredible!!
This win at the Olympics will help us shift our focus to more deserving sports and athletes who can be big achievers if they have the right training and encouragement.

It has been 9 years since the Kargil war, which was in 1999.
Every year Vijay Divas is celebrated to commemorate our victory and to salute our brave soldiers who were wounded and have lost their lives for their country.
But for the families of those soldiers who have lost their dear ones is an everyday battle since theirs is a personal loss.

My husband was injured in the war, and even today the scars of the injuries remain.

I am posting an article from Hindu,which was published in 2000, with the interview of my husband, Major Shyam vijay Simha, who was then Captain.

Click here to read the article

I guess, we as a nation must be proud that we have soldiers who risk their everything for our country.

Khel Ratna for Dhoni??

Today's news headlines screamed about Dhoni being honoured with the Khel Ratna Award.
He is the second cricketer in our country to be awarded after Sachin Tendulkar.

What makes one wonder is, if he really deserves it more than others.....when some legendary bowlers and batsmen (who have contributed in many more wonderful ways making us a proud cricketing nation) ,were either not even nominated or were simply denied.

Dhoni might have won us the first T-20 World cup (It was a trial version,u rememeber,whereas Kapil Dev won us the Prudential World cup in the approved format) ,he might have appealed to the masses because of his attitude, and might have been in every possible advertisement that can afford his huge price tag, and he might have even denied going on tour to Sri Lanka because hes simply tired.
Probably Dhoni has all the stars in his favour. Good for him.