Yes, I am afraid!!

 

Yes, I am afraid,

That when my daughter-in-law will come,

My son will not give enough importance to me,

And he will listen and be defined by her.

 

Yes, I am afraid, 

That my thoughts and my beliefs, 

Will never be taken ahead, 

In the precise manner I do or believe in.

 

Yes, I am afraid, 

That I would not have enough money,

As a result, things would not be in my control,

As it is there today when I am earning it.

 

Yes, I am afraid, 

The taste of my son would change, 

And it would be different from what he likes today,

And worst he might not even like what I make. 

                     

But, If I believe in these things and be afraid, 

Would not I be denying the happiness a person brings,

Would not I be giving too much importance to me, 

My beliefs, My thoughts, my culture, my desires.

 

Yes, I would be doing exactly that, 

Then why not chill and relax,

Wishing that whoever comes in his life, 

Treats all of us with Love and respect.

 

More than this values him,

And together they build a beautiful path,

And walk hand in hand forever... And ever,

Taking care of each other throughout.

                             

By 

Tulika Jyoti Vardhan.

12/11/20

Why?

Why are we so bitter,
Why are we so annoyed,
With small things,
Surrounding our day to day life.

When we all of us know,
One thing for sure,
When you eventually die,
Nothing almost nothing can come with you.

You won’t even remember,
Who said what!
Who accepted you with open arms,
Or who criticized you every single day.

You won’t even know,
Whether you were a success or failure,
Or how much money you added in the wallet,
Or simply spent every last penny.
(1)

You won’t even know,
Whether you gonna die,
Is it in the corner of your room,
A hotel or any super specialty hospital.

Yet, we walk through life,
As if we know it all,
Assuming our belief/rituals are perfect,
And it is above every other person.

Yet, we want our children to learn,
Keep our traditions alive even if they are reluctant today,
When all of us know for sure,
That once you go, you simply go..

You simply go!
Leaving memories behind,
Friends/Family who would recall your words,
And feel the empty space you would create.

So all you can do while alive is “TRY”
To fill each moment with countless memories,
That brings a smile on people around,
And make stories worth sharing with others.
(2)

By,
Tulika Jyoti Vardhan.
5/4/20

COVID 19 Impact

How COVID 19 will change our thoughts/beliefs forever.

COVID19 A New Normal | Work From Home | Digital Work Space| Home Schooling

I would not be lying if I say that I am totally consumed by COVID-19 and every small news affects me in one way or another. Never in my life I ever seen a situation where everyone is trying to maintain a distance as much as possible and staying home. Despite having all the freedom in the world. People are ready to give up maids/household helps just to stay safe. For those who can’t avoid going out are taking all necessary precautions.

You will have people walking wearing a mask on roads and there was a time when even in peak of pollution chaos in Delhi NCR this was not taken up. Avoidance of mass gathering is considered, and families are avoiding birthdays/parties/Puja/creative classes etc. I have a kid who is 6.5 years old and he also understands that he is not supposed to play out till month end. Hopefully!

Even if it goes off it will leave an impact in more possible ways we can imagine.

• First and foremost, we all will learn and appreciate the work done by our house helps/society helpers/security guard etc even with the money we pay them. If they don’t come for a day or two, we panic. With a lock down of weeks slowly we have adjusted to this routine and learnt to most of the work by our self. Things will never be usual self again.
• Ordering food from outside or eating out was common once or twice a week but now we are all eating inside and making most of it. Social Media is flooded with videos and post with respect to cooking. Especially with easy to make snacks items for kids. From baking to Dalgona Coffee everything is being tried at home with all available ingredient.
• This curfew like situation which has come up without any political mess up or any war. It’s unbelievable how things have unraveled over the past few days. You go to a grocery store and you don’t see any items used in your house on a regular basis, you get scared of things to come. From hand sanitizers to surf to fresh vegetables etc. This is much more than shortage of onions and salt which we had earlier.
• Prices of all essential goods will increase, transport cost etc.
• Wearing a mask would seem to be a new normal and instead of looking with a surprise we would be more considerate towards the person. This would be more like a norm as some would wear it against pollution and some would for cough and cold. Whatever is the reason we won’t be surprised if this becomes a part of uniform. 
• If we come to know that someone is sick the easiest thing to be done would be call up the person first and check on the person rather than visiting the person. Sad, but now I don’t think if someone falls sick, would be getting the level of personal attention we got from friends outside our families.
• Home schooling, will come to limelight and you never know in India also there would be a process and acceptance of students who are home schooled. Very recently I was inquiring with a teacher for my son. She said, she would take a web based or skype call to teach. Ofcourse at that time I refused to do the same. Now I think this would be a norm. As video call gets more accessible and cheap to people this would be very easily done. This is already working well in U.S.A and other developed countries. Would soon be very much possible and affordable. Kids will adjust to this video conferencing studies through Zoom or any other channels.
• We would keep washing our hands , avoid touching face as much as possible. 
• Any cough/cold or fever would be checked immediately to avoid any complication or issues. Even now I had to go through a CT scan and what came out was a cough due to Pollen allergy and season change.
• We would not be able to eat street side food with the same zeal and enthusiasm as we used to do earlier.
• Work from home is now a necessity as going to office is extremely difficult and may not esquire any questions hence forth. Neither it would be looked with anxious with a claim that your life is so easy as you have wok from home. We must understand that work from home makes you do more work than a normal day. Plus you don’t get a half hour lunch break/coffee break etc. No one to talk to and discuss the issues. No personal touches. 
• Going forward we would all think twice before touching any one or shaking hands. Hugging would be out of question apart from near and dear ones.
• More respect for people who clean your house, your roads to places you work at. This is required more than ever especially with so many diseases roaming around just to grab a host. 

More than anything else we must change our behavior and thoughts to support each other in good or bad times. May not be in person but through phones/emails or videos. Doctors/Medical industry would make lot of money as anxious parents would rush to them for consultation. I vividly remember when I was growing up no body bothered to take you to a doctor unless you are really sick. Hence, I have grown up avoiding medicines. Post pregnancy and two c-section I am more prone to pop up a medicine than endure the pain. Also, I believe age gets you as well. However, for kids it is totally different scenario one day of sneezing and coughing we take it to the doctor. Even if we know the medicines. Don’t want to take any chance.

Sincerely praying for us and everyone around that we are able to beat this and many other diseases that will come our way. Amazingly, so much of technology and machine learning is still not enough for curing this. God only knows what future beholds for our children.  However, we must appreciate every day that passes by. 

Thanks,

Tulika Jyoti Vardhan

(19-03-2020).

How I wish!!!

How I wish for time to wait,
Wait for me so that I can slowly sip my tea,
By turning pages of a crisp and fresh newspaper,
Skimming through Politics,
Through BIG words of Editorial to sports and to Page 3.

How I wish time to eat,
Without flipping through channels,
Or waiting for some work to be done,
Or trying to ensure kids eat well.

How I wish I had time to read,
With no disturbance and sound,
Binging into the words written in books,
Rather than watching or hearing it online.

How I wish I had time to talk,
Just sit in a group and conversation would begin,
No botheration about background/caste or culture,
Not just talk but listen to what others view and journey.

What amazes me is,
When we had the time to do these things,
We never bothered and valued,
What small things like these meant?

 By,
Tulika Jyoti Vardhan
(27/2/20)