Home Sweet Home!!!

We live in a country where parents are respected and taken care of after they get old. Serving them for the same reasons they took care of us when we were young and fragile. But time has changed the dictat of the ages. We have to travel to distant places for the need of satisfying a monthly income or an employment. Parents are left with themselves to bear the brunt of the world in their old age, the unaffordable living conditions in our city of residence makes things even worse.

Even worse is the life style we live in the hustling cities trying to make those ends meet at a equilibrium of comfort. Rising rent prices, food costs, travel and to top it all the pressures of work and the constant competition to be on top of the performance chart.

The home we left behind suddenly becomes a distant memory for us and the want to going there is just another need of the hour; a break from the regular routine of work and home. The change of the surroundings and the need to recollect the beauty of what was once the castle which we would have our way with.

The bed that would be our pal, the desk that took most of our weight during the study hours, the hall which was always filled with fights for the channel of choice with your siblings, the kitchen which had the aromas of heaven floating when we would come from school or college. The evening games we would play with our friends in the colony and then the old school which had all the mischief written in the walls and in the memories of our past. I am sure we all at one point of time had a Miss. Sandra or a Miss Lobo who would have taught us in the junior grades.

The beauty of the place which has now been transformed due to the modernization of the country is hidden in the secret vaults of our head and the smile that comes with just a visit to the old place is enough to keep us alive and gives us a reason for what we do with our lives in the city of life….!!!

The Beauty of G-W-L

The first sight of her is in the form of a mother, then if you are lucky you get to see her as your sister and then as your wife. All the three forms are packed with love, care and a fragile touch of comfort. There isn't a soul on this planet who would not have been touched by their presence at some point or the other in their lives. Most of the sons are closer to their mothers than their fathers. But still in our very great and progressing country there are episodes of infanticide and the killing of the GIRL child. The understanding that a girl is not lucky for a family without a boy.

I read about a couple who kept having kids but were so lucky to be blessed with girls and they had 4 of them but the husband and the in-laws were not happy with the girls as they wanted to have a boy in the family. The result was that the fifth time they got lucky. The irony of it is that when they grew old and wanted their son to take care of them, it was the daughters who came to their aid and supported them when they needed the love and comfort the most.

I have been among the few who has been blessed with two sisters, one elder and the other younger to me. Although, I was the middle one, I was pampered by both my sisters and showered with unconditional love and care all the time. I must state that I have been really greedy of it and have tried to reciprocate the same towards them when I could, but I got more than I gave!!

In the last few years, the bachelors states of Punjab and Haryana are facing a major crisis. There is a shortage of woman for them to get married to. I recently saw a documentary on one of the Indian news channels which showcased their plight. Apparently, they are going down south to find brides for themselves in Maharashtra and Kerala. The ironic part is that they are giving dowry to the girls side to get married to them and the same parents who would profess the boy is lucky for them are now treating the daughter in laws with a lot of dignity and respect. This is something that they have now started to realize and have initiated a drive of information to the literate illiterates the importance of the girl child.

World over, the most prosperous nations have been the ones where the Female sex has been given more or equal opportunities as men and the developing and third world nations are the ones that are still in the primitive age of treating them as a second to the Males. Look around you and see it for yourselves. Compare it and you will find the reasons for it is all inter-linked to the support of the people and its benefits. There are exceptions like the gulf states but yet they are progressing faster than most countries as far as equality is in question.