An experience of a lifetime!!!

I started on the trip to Chennai - a field visit to the various NGO’s as part of our Management of Non-Profit Organizations course – with a light heart, buoyant spirits and a promise to myself that I would have fun these 2 days away from the humdrum of MBA with its assignments, presentations and lectures… but instead what I experienced was the stark reality of life… a 2 day crash course on how the other half of the world lives…

We visited 4 NGO’s in the 2 days… The Banyan – a home for the mentally challenged women, ANEW – an organization that provides training for women in non-traditional employment, Sri Arunodayam – a home for special children and The Kuthambakkam Village – an initiative by Mr.Elango Rangaswamy. All 4 were different yet all were similar..!!! They all worked at the goal of providing services to fellow human beings either by empowering them or by taking care of them!

When we visited The Banyan, I was gripped. The most admirable thing about these people was that they were so courageous to face up to life after the cruel blows it had dealt them. They had suffered so much at the hands of life and society and yet they were looking forward to the future instead of wallowing in the misery of the past. The confidence on their faces, the way they spoke (and that too in English – I found that very surprising!), their ever-smiling faces, they were so friendly offering us tea and making us talk about ourselves, putting us to ease etc.Hats off to them!! :-)

At Sri Arunodayam, We were told many stories about the children who are now a part of this organization. Their own parents abandoning them because they are ‘unhealthy’, family members using them for begging by mutilating them, women conceiving after the age of 35-40 and then abandoning them because they weren’t as they had expected them to be,… I would have loved to have had more interactions with the kids there; now that they have touched my life they will always be a part of me even if the interactions were only for a short period of time, it is the substance of the encounter that matters!!

The trip changed my outlook towards life completely… I have heard people say that “You’ll never know what you have been missing until you get it, you’ll also never know the value of what you have until you lose it..!!!”. This trip was something like that… till now I have been taking so many things for granted that I have never even given a second thought about how many times my parents have given up so much on something just so that I could have it? How many times I have cribbed or complained because I have not gotten something or because things have not gone my way? How many times I have though of myself as the person who has only problems in her life and that her life is a failure? How many times I have only thought about myself for that matter not even thinking how others would be feeling, or putting myself in others’ shoes in certain situations? How many times I have hurt my parents for something so inconsequential that it didn’t even matter at the end? How many times I have picked up fights with my bro’ which were so silly, stupid and immature?The trip just made me realize how little importance we give something in our life like our relationships for instance… it only when you see the brutal reality of people who lack them, you are thankful for what you have..!!!

This trip has been a real eye-opener in more than one sense. It has made me realize the kind of person I am and the kind of person I want to be. It has helped me understand better than before, how rich and beautiful life is in every way, and that so many things that one goes worrying about are of no importance whatsoever!!!

It taught me that.....
“Where you end up isn't the most important thing.
It's the road you take to get there.
The road you take is what you'll look back on and call your life.”

My Life Ratings..!!??!?

This Is My Life, Rated
Life:	8.9
Mind:	8.6
Body:	8.4
Spirit:	9.2
Friends/Family:	6.8
Love:	8.5
Finance:	7.6
Take the Rate My Life Quiz

Got this quiz from one of my blog links...!! and thats exactly how it rated my life...!!
not bad i guess ;-).. lolz.. :-)

Ambitous me ;)

When I was young there were a lot of things that i wanted to become...
like in the 7th-8th standard i wanted to become a journalist (don ask me why..) and i always had this image of myself wearing a long kurta and a shoulder bag, wearing spectacles and holding a notepad and a pen - thanks to the movies;)... in the 9th-10th standards i wanted to become a newsreader(i think this is one thing that all girls aspire to become)..gone were the dreams of a journalist but atleast i was connected to the media world ;)!! i actually wanted to become a newsreader 'coz i loved that bearded guy (i later found out his name was Prannoy Roy) and i wanted to read the news alongside him... :)...

i gave up on science(or rather science gave up on me) after my tenth standard and i waltzed into the world of accounts, commerce etc and then i wanted to become a CA(chartered accountant)... thanks to my dad who also was one...!!! and then i chose to do B.Com after my higher secondary. but my ambition to become a CA was still going strong... i enrolled in the CA foundation course and then promptly flunked the exams... reality struck and i realized that CA was not my cup of coffee :(... then i found that a group of girls in my college were busy preparing for CAT.. at that point of time i didn't even know what that meant... i soon found out all about it and MBA beckoned... it was by chance that i decided to do an MBA and even then i wasn't too sure... i was thinking about courses in event management, company secretaryship, public relations etc...

however with my abysmally low cat percentile i joined ASB for my MBA and here i am now about to finish... 2 years have almost flown by and its been a wonderful time...!!! MBA has given me so many things and i have learnt so many things from here that these will be the best years of my education..!! :)

but hey MBA is almost over and i have also gotten a job now... but there are still lots of things that i wanna do... and lots of things that i wanna learn... and now that i have also found the perfect person to do them all along with... life is gonna be a breeze ..!!! :)

What Life's all about...!!!!

This bit is from one of the books in the "Chicken Soup" series..!!! i liked it a lot and find it very meaningful..!! :-)

Life isn’t about keeping score. It isn’t about how many people call you or who you’ve dated, are dating or haven’t dated at all. It isn’t about whom you’ve kissed, what sport you play or which guy or gal likes you. It’s not about your shoes, or your hair or the color of your skin or where you live or go to school. Infact it’s not about grades, money, clothes or colleges that accept you or not. Life isn’t about if you have lots of friends or if you are alone and it’s not about how accepted or unaccepted you are. Life just isn’t about that.

But life is about whom you love and who you hurt. It’s about how you feel about yourself. It’s about trust, happiness and compassion. It’s about sticking up for your friends and replacing inner hate with love. Life is about avoiding jealousy, overcoming ignorance and building confidence. It’s about what you say and what you mean. It’s about seeing people for who they are and not for what they have. Most of all it’s about choosing to use your life to touch some else’s in a way that could never have been achieved otherwise. These choices are what life is all about.

Walk down memory lane!!!

The fun things we do…
The laughter we share….
Are a few things that show…
How much we care..!!!

One spectacular event… 120 minds… 6 forums… 11 mind blowing games…
10 colleges…one overall champion… 100 participants…
The maddening flow of thoughts… The rush of adrenaline…The high of winning…

PRAGATI – one of the most memorable experiences of my MBA!!!!
Hosting it was by no means an easy task!!! But the amount of fun that we had doing even the most mundane job was incomparable to anything..!! Looking back, the one word that pops into mind when I think of Pragati is “FUN”… total masti..!!
Endless meetings almost every day… Middle of the night presentations of the games and schedules in Skh… Frantic calls to colleges, estate office, godown etc… Frenetic activity in the labs till around 2 in the morning… Mess up’s over decorations of the entire building… all these and more…
Pragati was a mind-blowing experience in more than one way… it evoked a sense of pride in the entire batch.. it was like all of us working towards one ambition…to make Pragati the best that there ever was… it brought out kinship in people least expected….
it brought into the fore hidden strengths and capabilities of people…it showed us who was what and how having 120 minds working on one single thing for 2 months is not the same as “too many cooks spoil the broth”, instead it was the combined effort from the entire batch that made it the most spectacular event and one which kindles in us a fierce pride and bliss of achieving something so significant..!!
It’s true when they say…
“Memories are treasures that no one can steal”

Rehash#@#@#

there are actually a lot of things that i wanted to write in my last post..!!! :-/
somehow somewhere i think i lost the track and ended up putting into words something that doesn't feel right!!! atleast to me... i feel i could have worded it better..!!! hmm... !!! well... er... u-huh..!! whew!!!

My Amma :-)

I have been wanting to write about this for a long time now… somehow till now never got the right words… I hope I get them now..!!!
There is this well-known saying that,
“God Created Mothers Because He Knew He Could Not Be Everywhere”
So true na…
I had never given much thought to the relationship I shared with my mother. Being daddy’s little girl and all that, amma always used to be this woman who would make me sit and study, make me clean my dirty room, make me eat all those yucky veggies, give me stern warnings for spending too much time on the phone, not let me watch TV especially when there is an interesting movie, tell me what to do, how to do, what dress to wear for special occasions, how to tie my hair, everything,,, every single thing about me she had an opinion regarding it..!!! Well not that appa didn’t offer his opinion on the things that I did, but somehow amma’s interference (u can’t actually term it that.. I hope u understand what I mean) was a lil’ bugging!!!
Oh yes!! I loved her a lot and all that even when she projected the “strict woman” image…!! But I never gave much thought to the relationship…
Early in my schooling days I used to listen to her meekly, do everything that she asked me to do; basically I was this obedient, goody-goody daughter… but once I entered into my teens, I imbibed a rebellious streak and somehow in my mind she turned into this “enemy” who never used to let me do anything I wanted… she had an opinion for anything and everything that I did and whatever I did was not the right way..!!! We have had a lot of fights on a lot of issues ranging from the minutest things to the biggest things ever..!!! After my high school was over with I cajoled, begged, reasoned and fought with her to send me to Coimbatore to study for my higher secondary. She wanted me to stay at Palghat and do my studies there while my dad was okay with me going to Coimbatore … I won the fight!!! After that came college where she won this time… I wanted to join Victoria College which was a co-ed but she wanted me to join Mercy College which was a girls only!! I didn’t argue with her because somehow I realized that it’d be safer and wiser for me to join Mercy…!!
Anyways I joined for my b.com at Mercy and then started the same old story… same old fights about every single thing under the sun..!! I know I have hurt her ‘n’ number of times with my words and actions and have made her cry loads of times too… I have given her so much of tension and worries and somehow in my mind “very little happiness”… but if u probably ask my mom this she’d deny it..!!!
And then one fine day appa got transferred to a small quaint little town about 5 hrs from home and he was forced to stay there and work. My brother Ashwin had joined for college in Chennai and there we were… Mother and Daughter all alone for 5 days of the week (appa came home on weekends).. But somehow those days (close to a year) were an eye-opener about the kind of person my mom truly was… she is amazing..!!! Truly mid-blowing!!!
Now I start telling you about this wonderful woman I call “amma”…
She is the best person I can ever find on this earth… truly the finest human being…
She is my biggest support in whatever I do and however I want to do it… though she initially opposed me going to Mumbai for my internship, in the end she was the one who stood by me throughout those 2 months apart from a couple of other people!! She is the one who encourages me to do things in life and to be independent in my own stead… she was the one who encouraged me to learn dancing and pursue mba when she realized that I was keenly interested in them… she is the one who takes my side every single time when she thinks I have done the right thing irrespective of whether its against her husband or the family… I will probably run out of words if I start telling about all the ways she has been my constant companion and support all throughout till now..!!Amma is this very talented woman… she is the best epitome of a home-maker that I have ever seen.. the way she juggles her school work, house work, her interests and still finds time to take care of me and appa and achu and our tantrums etc is something that is very difficult to put into words… she sings well…she sketches well…she paints well.. She cooks extremely well…she is interested in a whole lot of things ranging from saas-bahu serials to slokas…!!! She tries her level best to keep up with the latest trends and gizmos though she is not too interested in them.. She has an eclectic taste when it comes to sense of dressing and a damn good humour sense if I say so myself… her laugh which I rather call a guffaw is something which fills the listener with laughter too.. she exudes a feeling of warmth when u see her and the way she envelopes you in a bear hug makes u feel as though u could stay in it forever..!!! There are a lot of things that I could say about my mom… go on and on and on….
Somehow today I regret all those days I never realized what a great companion she was… suddenly she has changed from the demure lady that I knew into this hip and trendy, even to an extent cool mom..!!! earlier even when she used to be a little hesitant about my friendship with guys today she is pretty cool about me being friends with more guys than girls and even takes an avid interest in the happenings at college… you know..The gossip and stuff ;-)!!! :-).. Lolz..! Today I can relate to her much better than I do with any of my other friends and somehow am at more ease talking to her about anything and everything that’s on my mind..!!
As I grow older she has started gaining this very important place in my life…!!!
That of a mother, best friend, mentor, guide, philosopher and sometimes this loony chilled pal that I can hang out with…!!! :-)… there have been times in the past that I have missed her a lot… times when I needed to open up to her about a lot of things… times I was ill… times when I just wanted the comfort of her hand on my head… times I just wanted her presence with me..!! For I know that just the fact that I could sit with her or have her comforting presence somewhere close will make me feel better..!!
I have heard from my mom’s friends about how much she misses me and how much she talks about me and what all I am upto in college and my achievements… and somehow it makes me feel all the more proud to have a mom like her..!! I don’t know in what sense I mean proud here..!!! Its just feelings!!! I am somehow unable to explain it..!!I am sure all mothers are as great as mine… motherhood is a blessing in that sense… I don’t even want to think about how we or rather I’d have survived without my amma…
I can go on and on and on and on about her …. And fill this whole blog with only things about her…!!! You never know.. I might just end up doing that ;-)…
I have made a start and I intend to tell you what wonderful beings my parents and brother are…. atleast to me :-)
But for now..
Amma I love you a lot and I’m so glad that you are my mother!!! I thank God for making me your daughter I hope I can give you all happiness that you deserve and make you proud..!!!I am so proud that you are my amma.. :-)… love u ma…
This is a poem by Howard Johnson ………
“M” is for the million things she gave me,
”O” means only that she's growing old,
”T” is for the tears she shed to save me,
”H” is for her heart of purest gold;
”E” is for her eyes, with love-light shining,
”R” means right, and right she'll always be,
Put them all together, they spell a word that means the world to me - "MOTHER"