Heaven Live!

It is all about a little time I got all for myself for spending it with the most loved people on earth- when mom and dad were with me. Believe me, staying with mom and dad all your life is a blessing that not all of us get. For the past nine years I have been visiting mom and dad in India only for short periods of time. Two months maximum. Even that has become a rarity for the past couple of years. Now kids having grown up, and going to school we have to wait for the time when we get holidays at the same time, going back to India and to stay there for many days has become difficult.

After I finished my standard twelve, I moved out of Ooty to do my Bachelor degree. I could go home to parents, only for vacations in between semesters.  Those days to stay in a hostel during study was really exciting, yet when it was time to go home for a weekend, the whole week used to pass by with me so restless and looking forward for the time to take the bus back home. Then again another three years of Master study in Madurai. Travelling from Madurai to Ooty  was really hectic and tedious. It used to take me nine hours to reach home. But when I was to leave for home- the tediousness never did any harm- coz at the end of the journey, I was in heaven- my mom and dad's smiling faces brought so much bliss.

But this time I parted them to go a longer distance. As soon as I got married at the age of 23 I moved miles away following my husband as is Indian tradition- taking the girl away from her parents. Getting accustomed to new ways of life, new family- is all but a journey in everyone's life. So was mine. Thanks to God Almighty so far the journey has been a blessed one. It has been 9 years complete since I moved out of my mom and dad's home to one of my own. The suffering of staying away from the woman who carried me in her womb, has lessened these past few years, because now we are busy with our own kids and family, whom  we have to take care of. Yet there was always this craving to eat mom's food, sleep on mom's lap, missing out times when dad gave me a long lecture, walking with dad to the market ......so many of them!!

After requesting mom and dad to visit me in Singapore and to come and see me here in my home, to get a glimpse of how I take care of my kids and family, they finally did make it here. Again thanks to God Almighty, he has fulfilled my long time wish. And I should say(i believe) that they had a wonderful time here. One month just flew past like nobody's business. And the day came when they had to return to India. My kids, my hubby and I miss them so much now, we are waiting for the time to be back with them again.

Love you mom and dad!

Should I or Should I Not?

All working mothers go through this mental struggle, whether to stop work and stay with their kids- we can never get enough of our kids growing up time!

Lately I have been thinking about this too often. One major reason why I think so is the timing of work. My work timing is from 9.30am to 7.00pm.So when I leave work at 7.00pm, I reach home in approximately  an hours time  The commutation system in Singapore is so reliable, that I can reach home in 45 minutes. Yet by the time I reach home, it is 7.50pm or sometimes later due to minor jobs at work place. This being the situation I miss tea time with kids, I miss being there for my daughter for prep time, I miss meeting my friends - and keep all due responsibilities for weekends. All I do, when I get back home is ferociously fight with kids, and also fight with hubby- because I  have this feeling that I am the only one at home facing dog-life. Thanks to almighty, I have a supportive family that can understand and accept me. 

I guess it the deprivation of time with family that makes me feel so grumpy when I am actually with them. So instead of enjoying the little time with them, I tend to be moody and am growling at every simple thing. Now readers might want to think I have some bi-polar disorder or something!!

Nope absolutely not- I bet it is the effect that my work is taking on me. So why is it I am not quitting.......sure it has got something to do with my passion for teaching. So until I find the right destination I will still have to hold on tight.......

It is still bearable! Isn't it??

Something that came more as the harsh truth than just a simple discussion.

Every one of us go through stress at some point of our lives, it is in each of our hands as to how well we handle it and don't let it mess with our lives. There are people who are extremely  happy at work, happy  with family and maybe everywhere their presence is. Even these people, may experience stress at some time in their life- could be while making a difficult decision, or when there is a deprivation of some kind. It is just that they are smart enough not to go into depression because of stress.

My passion for my job has kept me thriving. I am venturing into my tenth year of career as a lecturer- full time. All these years I have always enjoyed teaching. There may have been trying situations. But one session of lecture and interaction can make me  jump back to form. One of the subjects I love to teach my students is Project Management.

This trimester having started, on the first day of  class we were discussing about skills of a project manager- and when the point of stress management came into discussion, the class came into more lively interaction. The topic of STRESS made it more lively. Slowly we started complaining about this life that is so stressful. We spoke about Hong Kong where life has become so mechanical, with people busy with life that is so demanding at work and people have very less time for leisure. The quality time people spend with their family  has gradually diminished.

The discussion shifted towards the topic of major projects in the past, where we discussed mainly about Egypt Pyramids. Giza Pyramid- one of the Wonders of the World was built with so much tediousness. Heavy labor was involved because of movement of huge blocks of limestone over elevated levels, as the building moved higher and higher. There were no modern machinery like cranes and movers- rather it was  the work of men skilled to do the work. Though there are many theories agreeing and disagreeing on how the pyramid was built, we have to agree to one major fact that people of those times also  went through STRESS  - but physical in nature. These days however, modern machinery is involved in reducing the tediousness of labor, people still face the same STRESS- but mental in nature.It is quite hard to say which is worse, but it is time we realized the truth- STRESS is slow poison, a big time KILLER!

The duty of a flag Lowerer.

This is my first post for this year, and I was thinking for some time now, that it should be on Flag lowering.

Now more than I want to write about flag lowering, I want to write about Sukayna(my eight year old baby girl) the flag lowerer.

Rushing outta school!!

So what was  it that  was  urging me to write this article? A couple of weeks past I had been to school to pick up my daughter( a very rare happening- but managed as I was not working that particular day).

Sukayna was the first kid to be walking out of the gate, and I was quite curious as to how she was so keen in getting home early. But I did notice that the children who walked out were lined in a queue accompanied by a teacher until the gate, but Sukayna walked even ahead of the teacher.

To know why so- I questioned her, and then she told me, that every day she will be the first one to walk out because she was in charge of lowering the flag. Hence she does not have to queue up and wait for teacher's instructions to go out.

For a Primary two pupil -isn't lowering the flag a huge responsibility? Curious to know what she has to do, I was shooting away questions, to which my girl never runs out of answers anyday. Happy to answer she told me a few things that happen during the flag lowering.

Everyday she gets feedback from her teacher on her performance of lowering the National Flag. In Singapore schools,  every day before school disperses, students gather at assembly point and sing the National Anthem, while the flag lowerer, lowers the flag at medium pace- and that is what Sukayna has to do. Sukayna told me, that sometimes her teacher tells her she was fast, sometimes too slow - and yes of course there is a reason for everything they do. So the reason  she told me next was really funny.

She said that her classmates standing behind her during this process, keep prompting to her to either lower the flag faster, sometimes tell her to lower down at a slower pace- so she finally misses out what is supposed to be right!

Nevertheless  for an eight year old, I really consider this as a big achievement for her age. During our walk back home from school, this conversation with Sukayna brought back memories from my school time, when I was once in charge of raising the flag along with my captain. We had to get the flag up and ready to be hoisted by the teacher in charge of assembly for the week.

This was when I was in  std 9, and every monday used to be a nightmare- because a few time, we have put it up upside down! I know- What an Offense?? Thank God, our principal was kind enough, and did not chuck us out of school. I used to pray for Monday morning rains- when outdoor assembly would be cancelled, and hence flag hoisting too. But to think of it now is real pleasure. And for my princess Sukayna to be doing a similar duty at such young age is far more than PRIDE!!