Bubbles...

"Are you sure this is a good idea? Hmm... I don''t think so... Aur kuch soch na (Think of something else)."
Raj paced the length of the conference room. He was more anxious than I was.

"Arre, you're the one who comes up with such great ideas and today, when you have such a big task at hand, kaise sad ideas de raha hai (What sad ideas you are coming up with)."

He gave me a hopeless look. I burst out laughing, more at the irony of the situation than my best friend. The situation, through Raj's eyes, is very grim. I am going to propose to the love-of-my-life, Diya, and Raj is more critical of all my ideas of what gift I should give her. In fact, this very moment, he is giving me a very disapproving look, at my outburst. He just won't let me make light of the situation. Raj, being him, needs to make meticulous planning, going down to the granular details of exactly what colour ribbon should be used to wrap my gift... Oh yes, coming back to the present (pun intended)... we are still yet to finalise the GIFT! He has mercilessly shot down roses (Forever type ka kuch dena chahiye - You should gift something that lasts her forever), jewelry (Agar usse pasand nahin aaya toh! - What if she does not like it?), greeting cards (Kanjoos!!! - miser), bunnies and teddies (Arre, kuch toh original sooch! - Think of something original), chocolates (Har time khaane ki hi soochta hai! - All you can think about is food). I was about to suggest my most wonderful idea of gifting 'Myself' but, seeing Raj's fierce face, I decided to keep quiet.

Hey, I'm the protagonist here but as usual, Raj is hogging up all the limelight. What was I feeling while Raj was making the Perfect Plans? I was in my own world - in fact, I felt on Cloud Number 9. I didn't want to come down tonight, just like Bryan Adams had crooned. And why should I not be happy? Diya was a wonderful girl. She was just I had always dreamt my girl would be - simple, full of life, witty, charming and understanding. I had known her for a little over a year and she had filled all those times with laughter and sunshine. In fact, that's what I called her - my Sunshine. And as I had started spending more and more time with her, I had started feeling I understand her as well. Her silences, her sudden giggles, her sparkling eyes on seeing gol-gappa, her shrieking when a cockroach dared to approach within ten feet of her. And there were those times as well, when all she said was 'Nothing' and my repeated asking / begging / pleading would not budge her out of her silences. Those were the only times I wondered whether I actually understood her or was she an enigma as I had heard all women are, to men.

But the best thing about her was her incessant conversations. She loved to talk about every little detail of her day. I sometimes wondered whether some one's day could really be filled with so many teeny -tiny days in them. When she would ask me how my day was, all I would say was 'Fine', 'OK', 'Great' or 'Lousy' depending on what mood my boss was in. I mean, what more is there to talk about?

And then there was the time we both were at Juhu beach, hand in hand, walking through the white, frothy waves. There was a gentle breeze blowing and the sun was about to set. If you have been to Juhu, you would know the large number of crowds the beach attracts. Suddenly, her eyes lit up. She left my hand and skipped towards this old, wizened man selling balloons and blow-bubble liquid. She bought a bottle and turned towards me, her eyes bright and the smile of a kid on her lips.

"Look what I found!", she said in a loud, excited voice.

"Baby, grow up!" I didn't know whether to give an embarrassed smile or laugh indulgently. People around us stopped to look at her and some of them smiled at her.

"Why should I?" Her laugh finally made me laugh with her as bubbles drifted up, towards the sky.

This was on our first date. Over time, as I said, I have started understanding her and her innocence. But, more than understanding her, I have begun to understand myself and my feelings. I now see myself responding to situations and later thinking about them. I may not need to share my boring work life with her but I know I need to give her a patient listening when she wants to speak. I need to show as much enthusiasm in her little joys as she does. I know she understands the fact that we are different and we need to work towards our relationship. I love basketball and know she hates sports and yet she doesn't complain when I disappear for my weekend games - the only real time we can spend together. But all she needs from me then is to know that she is in my thoughts and the one SMS telling her I miss her. I don't mind doing these for her. A few years ago, I would be very surprised if I were to consider changing myself for someone else. Today, it comes naturally to me.

"So, what are you going to get her?" interjected Raj into my thoughts, "Yaar, I think I know what you should buy her." I smiled. I know Raj would say it but it didn't matter. I no longer wanted to know. This special occasion would be ours. Just Diya's and mine. I was going to propose to her. The setting would be perfect. And I was going to take a bottle of blow-bubble liquid for her.

An Ode to Mothers

A Jewish proverb states that “God could not be everywhere, therefore, he made mothers”. The importance of a mother in a child’s life cannot be over emphasized for the hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that rules the world. What a mother sings to the cradle goes all the way down to the coffin. A mother is a person who, if she is not there when you get home from school, you wouldn’t know how to get your lunch and even if you did, you wouldn’t feel like eating it.

Mother…the mere word brings to our mind’s eye, a picture of a woman - so perfect, so serene, so calm that she seems incomparable to anyone else in our little universe. A mother is a source of strength, a powerful source of confidence and an ideal to all of us. She is a multifaceted jewel in our world. She radiate confidence and beauty in all that she does…

We refer to her with different names depending on the language we speak at home. Some call her ‘ma’, some ‘aaee’ while others call her ‘mummy’ or simply ‘mother’. But no matter by what name we address her, she still remains the woman who carries her unborn child from the egg to the foetus and brings the child into the world. She bears and rears the child from the cradle to perhaps the grave. This may be an overstatement but it is an overstatement of truth! Do we ever stop learning from our mother? I think not. She is always there – a child’s best friend and harshest critic – who guides her son / daughter all through life. She praises our achievements and reprimands our faults. Sometimes she allows us to commit mistakes so that we may learn from them.

She is there all through our growing stages – from infancy through our adolescence till adulthood – watching over us. No comparison can be made to the love and affection that a mother showers on her children. Her smile lights up the face and warms the heart. Take away the beauty, the talent, the personality of the child and the mother will still love her child as much as she loved him / her with the qualities because the child is a part of her being. She is the one who brings out the latent faculties in the child, who gives him / her the will and confidence to stand up for what is right, to give it the best shot and be ready to face the consequences, to take each day as it comes but to be ready for the future, to hope for the best but be prepared for the worst.

But a mother performs a number of roles in her life. She is a daughter to her parents, a wife to her husband and a daughter-in-law to her in-laws. She is an epitome of virtue, an example of the various roles that an individual plays in the family and society at large. She retains her inherent femininity and asserts herself when the need arises. She is responsible for the physical, mental, spiritual, psychological and emotional growth of her child. Her maternal instincts are always alert and she is always ever ready to sacrifice her comforts and her desires for the well being and welfare of her child.

But as is the case with all creations and gifts of God, we fail to appreciate the goodness, the beauty and the loveliness of His gifts. We, more often than not, tend to take them for granted and either ignore them or misuse them. The beautiful gift of a Mother is no exception. Ask yourself and be honest, how often have you been grateful for this gift of God? How often have you done things on your own, without being asked and hankered for? How often have you told your mother who, so selflessly slogs for you the entire day, that you love her and appreciate the things she does for you? How often have you held your mother’s hands in yours and kissed her? How often……….?? If you are true to yourselves, you will find that you can count these times on your fingertips. Isn’t it shameful that we cannot give a mother, who does so much for us without even a murmur of protest or a hint of irritation, even a little bit of our time, even a bit of our love or even the smallest of sacrifices? Recall the times that you have said that you love her and care for her and you will invariably remember the sudden, endearing smile, the twinkling of her eyes and the tenderness on her face. Are we so busy with our schedule, which we call ‘hectic’, that we don’t have time for the small gestures and little things in life that makes a world of a difference to someone else? Think about it….and if you feel the same way that I do, get up this very minute and hug and kiss your mother. The smile that you will see on her face is worth all the treasures and all the money in this world. It’s a mother’s smile and believe me, it’s PRICELESS!!!!!!