ABC Wednesday Archives - Page 5 of 8

28/01/201415/04/2017

C is for Clock Towers

That’s the clock tower in my hometown Lucknow. Isn’t it magnificent?

In Lucknow we call it the Ghantaghar. Literally translated it means hour (Ghanta) house (ghar).. pretty apt, I say. Ghanta also means a ‘big bell’ in Hindi and that fits in well too, bell-house, since it must have tolled to tell time.

A few facts..
Height: 67 meters – It is the tallest tower in India.
Built in: 1887
By: Nawab Nasir Ud Din Haider
To: mark the arrival of Sir George Couper, the first Lieutenant General of the Awadh Province.

As a kid I remember the grounds around the tower where we’d accompany our dad for his morning walk. I love it’s old worldly feel and deep red colour. In case you want to read more about clock towers of Lucknow you can go to An Indian Muslim’s Blog.

Back then clocks and watches were a rarity so it must have been a structure of some importance, specially for calling out people for prayer. How lost we feel now without a clock! Come to think about it not being driven by time wouldn’t be such a bad idea, right? Of course only if you don’t have angry bosses waiting for you, or the school bus to catch each morning. Life would have been amazingly laid back and relaxed.

Linking to ABC Wednesday

21/01/201415/04/2017

B has to be for blogging

Today I do a ‘listicle’ (yeah that’s a legitimate word for an article written out as a list) on

5 reasons I love blogging

1. I can write anything I please..
…absolutely anything. That’s a freedom I never had in my job as a journalist. I can write at my whim in my time, or not write at all if I so please. Interestingly, it’s this freedom that pushes me to commit to a certain deadline and stick with some kind of a schedule. Paradoxical isn’t it?

2. It kept my passion for writing alive
… and made me better at it. Over the last few years I’ve tried my hand at fiction, flash fiction, even a tiny bit of poetry. How cool is that!! I find myself trying to think out of the box, to look at things from varied perspectives. I feel I’ve grown as a writer.

3. It made me more observant
I find things and people more interesting. I listen more.. after all there can be a story anywhere. When I’m out waiting – at the dentist’s or in the supermarket queue I consciously do not reach out for my phone to while away time. I look at and interact more with people, strangers. It’s made me a friendlier person. Also, I find myself reaching out for the camera more often.

4. It got me friends
..on the Net, lots of them. Some are smart, some emotional, some super organised, some completely scatterbrained but all very very creative, supportive and warm. Mercifully I’ve been spared the Net trolls. I haven’t met a single one of them! And you know the best part? I carry my friends in my iPad.

5. It makes me a happier person
Can anything beat that? I started blogging after I had kids. Stuck at home, overworked and harried, blogging helped me retain my sanity and sense of humour. It brought me friends and advice and support. I wrote about it earlier here. When I blog about something happy it remains with me longer. When I blog about something not so happy I find understanding and that makes me feel better too. And then there are the comments. Only a blogger will know what a high they bring.

So keep blogging friends and keep dropping by. Oh and do not forget to leave a comment.. remember 5 (above)? 😀

Linking to ABC Wednesday which is in it’s 14th round.

14/01/201415/04/2017

A is for anger

Once upon a time I used to be an even tempered, ever smiling person. I got along with almost everyone.. at office, with the maids at home.. everyone. I remember one of my nephews was quite a fan because ‘Chachi (aunt) is always smiling, mama,’ he would tell my sis-in-law.

And then I had the twins.

One day my two-year old was throwing a tantrum and I remarked, ‘Gosh! what a temper, she has!’ ‘Well she’s your daughter, isn’t she?’ shot back my maid. That’s not true, thought I even as I felt the anger bubbling up. How cheeky of her, I thought. But I let it pass thanks to the years of training of not being rude and also because she was years older than I was.

Then a few days later I was having a specially bad day. All my maids were on leave (I had three and one point of time) and the husband was travelling. All alone with the twins who were well into their terribly terrible twos it had been a harrowing day with the cooking, cleaning, feeding, bathing. Finally late at night dog tired, I walked into the bedroom with the two bottles of milk. There were the kids with their beach baskets pouring water on the beds. ‘Pool…’ Lisped my daughter.

And I exploded.

I don’t think I’ve talked about this incident but the look on my daughter’s face after that hard whack on her backside remains with me even today. She didn’t cry.. not at all. She just stared back, uncomprehending. I cried then.

Oh..the regret!

That was the day I realised I had a temper and that I had to do something about it.

The first thing I did was to start yoga. I am still not sure whether it was truly therapeutic or whether it was the simple idea of doing something about the problem, but I felt better. The fight was not over though, is not over. It’s been a continuous struggle.

In this struggle I was directed to The Orange Rhino by friend and blogger Shailaja who successfully completed the one-week no yelling challenge. They have some very useful tips to offer harried mums out to conquer their rage. Do take a look.

The twins are almost 8 and anger is now a familiar feeling. It still wells up suddenly, without warning, in a flash. However, often I find myself prepared to meet it. I have learnt to recognise the red flags, so to say, and begin to prepare to not yell when I spot them. Spilt milk, broken crockery, the early morning rush, even the continuous noise when they’re simply having fun are all red flags.

That’s the positive change I like to dwell upon. Not everytime do I succeed but I’ll get there someday I hope.

Linking to ABC Wednesday, which is starting it’s 14th round. Isn’t that Absolutely Amazing! Do join in.

04/12/201315/04/2017

U is for Unperturbed

… by the mess, there she sits.. reading and playing a flute.. playing a flute for godsake. Amazing, isn’t it.. how some things just do not register with kids, let alone bother them.. while they can drive the adults completely crazy??

If you’re a busy mum like me, here are two pointers that might help..

Get the kids to clean with you rather than on their own.
Break up the whole cleaning exercise into smaller tasks.

I mean look at that room.. it’s daunting for an adult let alone a child even if she’s messed it herself.
On the days that I’m too tired I simply pull a chair and sit and bark out instructions like a military Sergeant..
1. Pick up the books and put them on the shelf
2. Deflate the float and put it in the cupboard
3. Put away the clothes.
4. The flute goes in the toy basket.
… and so on.

It works.

And if you don’t have time for this, simply shut the door to the kids’ room and chill. After all there’s always tomorrow.

Linking to ABC Wednesday

28/11/201315/04/2017

T is for Trying

I stood there, adamant, tears of frustration in my eyes. For days now I have been locked up alone with this woman. Day after day she pushes me, forces me – to see, to listen. ‘I CANNOT’, I want to scream. Try as I might I cannot. I cannot be part of this world. I have not been a part of this world ever since I remember. This woman refuses to believe, to understand.. How does one see without eyes? Listen without hearing? ‘You will’, says she.. ‘I cannot’, say I.

We stand in an impasse.. Both angry, both frustrated, both determined.

Suddenly I feel something cold sloshing on my hand. She takes my palm. W.A. T. E. R. She writes with her finger. Water.. That cold thing on my hand is ‘water’. ‘Water’ I repeat in my head tentatively.. Water – that deliciously cool thing sloshing on my hand is water. And I’ve learnt a word.. Water. Jubilant, thrilled, excited I run to the ground thumping it with my hand. My teacher takes my hand gently and writes G.R.O.U.N.D. Ground. Another word! Then another and another and another. I am delirious with joy running around, feeling things, making her write them out, trying them out in my head, tasting them on my tongue… I am alive, finally. I am part of this world after all.

A scene from the film The Miracle Worker on Helen Keller’s life

***********

Note: That is an imaginary recreation of an interaction between Helen Keller and her teacher Anne Sullivan – two of the bravest, most inspiring women ever. For days Ann had been struggling to make Helen relate objects with words and failing. She asked for both of them to be left alone in a cottage where she continued her struggle with Helen. Finally, that day she made a breakthrough. Helen learnt 30 new words by the time the day was through and never looked back.

Linking to ABC Wednesday.