New Life or Old?!?!?

This blog is towards "my expression of style for the ‘A Style Of My Own’ blogger contest by Women’s Web and Trishla emart"

Who has ever said that a new life starts only once you get married or once you come across a critical situation? Life has no particular definition except what webster says "A certain way or manner of living with respect to conditions, circumstances, character,conduct, occupation, etc.; hence,  human affairs; also, lives, considered collectively, as adistinct class or type; as, low life; a good or evil life; the life of Indians, or of miners. That which before us lies in daily life."

Every time you want an solution to your problem or situations your family, friends, social circle, etc, come back to you giving an alternative along with an additional sentence saying "if it does not work then thats the way life is!"

Is it really that? We being social animals who have excelled in every sphere of existence be it towards making our survival the best or worst do not have an answer or definition for a four lettered word? When we say that we are starting a new life or our lives have become stagnant or old, we are talking about our perception towards survival. Our style of interpreting every single moment, action, human being around us. This style is unique to every individual and is ruled by the basic fundamentals learned in the early ages of growth through our surroundings and family. 

Every day is a new opportunity to change our perspective towards a healthy and happy sustenance be it through food for our body or the food for thought. Each day gives us an opportunity to clean the slate clean of previous day's thoughts and start fresh with new ingredients. It is tried and tested that a healthy mind leads to a healthy body. but why is it that I am sharing all this with you who is worldly and has loads of people around to guide and advice you? A simple reason that every single day since my engagement was fixed, there were tonnes of people around parting with loads of advice on how things would & should be after marriage. And that was the moment I decided that my life would not be a stereotype one. It would be different and would suit my style of thinking. I would never wait for a crucial situation to do introspection and take decisions for change, instead would wipe the slate clean every day and start afresh. But does it make me sound too mature or childish - also would it matter to me as to how people analyse my actions from their glass panes? The only thing that matters is that there is peace, happiness, joy and tranquility around me. Any amount of compromise or bending is not bigger than my ego or the happiness which the results get. Only Mount Everest can be big than a human being not his/her's ego. 

This is my style of living and dressing and eating! I dress casual as per the circumstance or dressy as per the occasion but that does not mean that i do not dress down. I eat as per the circumstances hot and sizzling wok or my preference of cold food as per the situation. 

I may not be a philanthropist or a saint, but being a social animal living in this world and observing every move through an objective lens, can today say that LIFE IS nothing but ENDURANCE. And  my STYLE is my Life's Perception!!!!

The Known, Unknown

There is so much that needs to be said,

yet very difficult to voice,

Emotions are such that makes one laugh and cry at the same time.

What is the path ahead? Where does it lead to?

Heart is full of joy and mind laden with worry.

Its a journey known and yet in the unknown....

Enchanting Dream

“Hey guys hurry up! I want to reach the lodge soon!” I yelled at everyone. Climbing the jeep at last, next to the driver my father turned and said “Joanna, we are going to be there for 10 days and you have enough time to do your hearts content. So shut up and sit down!”

I turned with impatience, stowed my hat on my head and stood on the jeep floor to look out longingly at the gates of the wildlife park. It was a beautiful scene, green trees and colorful flowers bordering the gates. Finally we moved.

I took the camera I my hands and kept clicking away. The climate was cool; with a smell of rain in the air after all we were in the midst of a rain forest. The driver took us in the jungle following a well used path that later took a turn and branched next to a flowing canal. The scene before my eyes took my breath away. I saw a baby rhino 3 feet tall grazing. Huge colorful birds chirping on the trees, No one was disturbed by our presence and also by the rumbling of the jeep. Monkeys on the trees watching us pass by; the group of deer’s and sambhar’s feeding on the grass spread and leaves of the shrubs. The canal 40 feet wide was dazzling with the golden-pinkish hue of the sun consisting of a variety of colorful fishes; the variety in growing numbers. We moved further beside the canal following the road towards our destination – the forest lodge. After an hour we reached the lodge. All the way I was in awe looking at nature’s beauty.

We unloaded the luggage and checked in to our rooms. After dumping my luggage I ran upstairs to the balcony facing the canal with my camera. At that moment, it started raining and what happened next was something not to be seen even on television documentaries. There was a flurry of activity amongst the animals. On both the sides of the canal they were running in different directions in packs. Deer’s, zebras, sambhar’s, bison’s, wild buffalo’s, giraffes, elephants and rhino’s and on the other side of the canal monkeys and deer’s moving upstream. All of a sudden out of the blue there came a wild boar charging upstream with a monkey on its back; all running towards shelter. There was movement in the canal as well; fishes were seen moving downstream as fast as lightening. Schools of fishes of all colors and sizes, big a small weaving their way in the water, one in particular had me stunned; it was a 2 feet long fish in black and red diagonal stripes. Unbelievable!

The trees swaying in the breeze, wind howling and animals kicking the earth to move fast, the whole scene had me so enthralled that I forgot that I was soaking in the rain. The canal was filling with water at a fast pace. Then a hand caught me and shook me out of the trance and I saw my mother asking me to walk in.

I turned around and entered the room, and could hear a voice asking me to wake up. Everything went black for a moment or two and then I opened my eyes and could see the sunlight streaming in my room through the open window and my mum shaking me awake. It was time to get up and get ready for a new day. But it had me thinking for days on end about the enchanting scene……………..

- Garima Bubna 3rd Feb, 2009

Don't Know

I wish you could see the life that I am leading
What is being at nature’s beck and call
To know about things and yet pretend to be unknown
Yet shamelessly chasing the time ahead

The world full of dark secrets
And shadows everywhere
The hidden treasure and the mysteries to be unfolded
By a grey hand

The dark hood and the shadowed face
And the frightening silence of the dead
Restless wind and the cloudy night
And the shivers down the spine

A long way to go
On a rocky hill ahead
The valley so deep with unknown creatures
Will I see a light on my way?

- Garima Bubna

Journey of Life

Its been an entertaining journey so far,
the road has taken so many turns,
never know what would happen next.
There have been barren lands and also trees laden with fruits and flowers.

There were famished children playing on
the roadside and plump ones sitting on the pub seats.
A light of hope would be kindled in ones heart
and on the other side the journey to the dark could be seen
with the son's dead body.

These twists and turns of ife
has been an exceptional journey.
The days are grim and the nights are dark,
we don't know where we are.

Have come to a dead end,
the valley is very deep and dreary,
every step is unknown,
But, I have to go on........

- Garima Bubna, January,2008

Thoughts

The valley so deep and green
With the mud and the streams
For years and years
Endures all the fears……

The clouds and the sun,
Autumn and the rains,
Soft breeze and the scorching heat
Yet its there and always will be.

You have one in your life,
Whatever happens, whatever comes
It will always be there for you……
Waiting ……………………………….

Garima Bubna, June 20, 2007

WOES OF WORKING WOMEN

Gone are the days when office work for women was a taboo. Today’s corporate world is decorated with women executives and employees right from bottom to top levels.
Women and Office work never went hand in hand in India till 1980’s. However, the scenario is totally different in the 21st century due to a rapid growth of the country’s economy and an influx of foreign investment in different sectors.

Recent surveys suggest that women are better performers than their male colleagues in many fields. They rub shoulders and stand as equals. "A working woman" is the trend of the era.

The urge to excel in the new opening in the society has changed the female count in an organization. The ratio of women employees has gone up from 1:75 to 20:75 (approx.). Females are proving to be better than males in the working world today. Any field it may be IT, manufacturing, banking, telecommunication, pharmaceuticals, human resource etc. They are present everywhere. Especially, HR field in almost any organization is ruled by women nowadays.

Even with all the changes that have taken place in the society, an overnight change in the mentality of people is not to be seen, India being a secular, religious and an underdeveloped country.

In the rural areas, the conditions are still not conducive for the female sex. Literacy rate is poor. They are underpaid and overworked.. They are driven by the social constraints and dharma, wherein the life they live is that of ignorance. Their lives are that of a frog in a pond that thinks the world is only as big as that the pond.

A vast majority of women, in rural areas, go through the medieval pattern of minimum education, early marriage, families to take care off and kids. Their lives revolve around their families, society and dharma. They do house work and in some places they even work from their homes in the form of part-time jobs on a day-to-day basis. They have been blindfolded towards the practicalities and the real world. They are not allowed to peek outside the window at the real world - the fast pace it has taken up, changes that the country is going through in terms of technology, goods and services and trends. And it is rightly said that "Ignorance is bliss".

Conditions for women- working and non-working- in the urban areas too cannot be dubbed as ideal, however they are improving gradually as a result of growing economy and dearth of workforce.

Unlike men, women have to prove themselves at every step as not merely their work but their living style is also judged. For them it is a dual challenge of making something out of their lives and even shaping their family members’. They become perfect in time management and training. They are performers from every angle.

There are various award functions organized for the business women in today’s date like "Women in Business Awards", "25 Most powerful women in business awards", etc. which portray the levels a women has achieved. And at a time like this why forget Parmeshwari Godrej, Swati Piramal, Punita Lal, etc the living epitome of a successful business women.

Even after all these achievements a woman is not granted the same respect in various work places just because of her sex. Her credentials do not matter while they are being put down in comparison to the male species. Quotas along with a code of conduct have been put in place for women in the constitution in various fields but yet sexual harassment cases are not less in the work places. Women have to go through a lot of loops to get their personal and professional lives in order. Because they are not expected to work by the society, only run the household, raise families and pretend that they do not have a mind of their own. The drive to prove this thinking wrong has brought the women out of their shells to the stage where they are the best professionals in the community.
India is in the phase wherein it is moving from the medieval era to the new ear, where women stand and rub shoulders with the men in all fields. But the question is When will the quest be over to prove that all are equal and talent is what counts the most?"
Women have the right like every human being to use their talent gifted to them, will we acknowledge it as a society about it?

- Garima Bubna