Monday, August 17, 2009

Prayer heals!


I look at my hands and I can hear them begging to me..." stop it please... do not abuse us so much"... I open my vaseline jelly and apply it on my palms to make them feel better .
Earlier my hands used to smell of masalas, spices or incense, but for the past one week they are smelling only of dettol.
This is not the story of just my palms ....
My home smells of dettol and lizol ; I have already exhausted this month's usual quota of all disinfectant floor cleaners, toilet cleaners and even hand washes.I have stacked up my cupboard with enough of medical soaps. Our medicine cabinets have been updated with surgical spirits and many homeo medicines.My kids smell of dettol or eucalyptus oil.I even gave off a bottle of Lizol to the maid who comes to sweep the corridors of our apartment complex . I have agreed to sponsor dettol hand wash to my kids school.

Do not mistake this for a marketing portal for disinfectants .... what then?

Yes , you guessed it right ! Something is terribly wrong with me! When I am trying to make hand washing our home culture I just feel like Lady Macbeth trying to wash away the imaginary blood from her hands always in a state of hallucination. When I am always in the look out for a sneeze or running nose from my two little boys I feel insane.I used to take things so lightly . Never have I rushed my kids to doctors for a small rise in temperature , a cough or cold. But today my heart beats faster each time I think of my kids away from me in school...... ... are they washing their hands... with soap? Are they digging their noses , or biting their nails ?

I am after all a mother ....!!!

The scare of the pandemic H1N1 virus spreading like wild fire globally, the heat of its virulent flames burning life's of people close to our residence....just sprouted fear is many of us ...A month or so ago , I remember reading about this viral infection called swine flu affecting life's of people in Pune... but then I read it like any other news and never thought twice about it ....Today I feel ashamed !!!
Why am I feeling connected when it comes only to people close to me? Last few days were also days of reflection and introspection.With a baggage of thoughts dancing in my head I just sat down to check what I felt about the whole situation.

The answer I got was fear! Yes! I was overwhelmed with fear....! Fear of death , fear of the unknown , fear of future , fear of anticipation , fear of loss , fear of the unexpected...
I was imagining the worst , I was trying to live in the future "ifs". I had just forgotten the beauty of the present ... and the moment I realized this, prayer arose ! I could send prayers to not just my near and dear ... the spectrum of it embraced humanity as a whole !

Along with all the precautions we are taking to control the spread of this pandemic , the aura of our deep consciousness should expand ....!!! Prayer heals ....

Thursday, August 6, 2009

An on the road saga - part 6: after a hiatus!

Many a times I had an intense urge to continue blogging and I would even make up my mind and sit in front of my lap top. The long break I took, was posing a starting trouble and every time, I would just procrastinate and distance blogging to the further most priorities. I got a couple of mails from some of my readers, motivating me to continue writing and my dear husband PP would be always after me to start pursuing my hobby (a good relief from my nagging!)...
But most importantly, all these months I missed out on a lot ... the bond I shared with my virtual friends ....! The joy of having friends who closely follow your blog was felt most when a month back I bumped onto one such very dear blog pal in a newly opened restaurant. I still treasure the moment when we both recognized each other ... two individuals who became friends through the blog sphere!......Both of us couldn't hide our joy on this unexpected encounter...and that did convince me to restart my blogs.

Before I write on anything new, I have to quickly wind up a series I started long back "An on the road Saga"............

"This is just ridiculous... how can you drive without a state license?...
Meet me at the police station before 4 in the evening with the state license", saying this he just marched away...

I tried to keep a brave face when the officer in front of me spoke these words ....Holding back my tears I dailed my husband's number with my fumbling fingers...The sighs on the other end of the phone made me more pale .....After dropping my son to school I went directly to the Secreatary of State office to give my written test. But I was rejected even the chance of attempting the test on the pretext that my husband's name in the passport did not match with the name in our marriage certificate.The expanding of the initials in front of his name .. the name had become too long that it did not fill in the visa page in the passport ....that they just ignored the end part of the name which was the real name in the marriage certificate.
confusing right?........
Sure to be remanded in jail in a foreign country ,with a heart full of prayer and helplessness I entered the police station, only to be greeted with a warm smile .....The officer was kind to me and understood the situation and asked me to speed up the process immediately before venturing on the roads.....The next few weeks was tough in getting the bank accounts and electricity and telephone bills in my name so that I could get a license without the fuss about the marriage certificate . After passing the initial written test ,I was waived off the 30 days wait to take the operator's license due to my Indian license. The day I got the Michigan license was a day of celebration for my family and friends ... I drove on the roads with an extra pride and confidence ,,, still the alarm in my head went on whenever I saw a police car in the vicinity.
This joy also did not last long .... A sudden news , of my husband's project coming to a closure and a sudden re location to India , selling off our road companions ,,,in no time we found our selves at home in Chennai.....I still , look at my Michigan State Operator's license... to make sure that all the tensions I went through was not a dream.
In India my on the road saga continues ....we don't own a car yet .... but we travel as a family in our 2 two wheelers... its fun and thrilling for the kids too ...to fight over which scooter they would ride .... who is the first to reach the destination ......! Our Indian roads , which add much spice and adventure to the drives... our on the road saga continues.....................!!!