In My Hands Today…

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The World We Found – Thrity Umrigar

As university students in late 1970s Bombay, Armaiti, Laleh, Kavita, and Nishta were inseparable. Spirited and unconventional, they challenged authority and fought for a better world. But much has changed over the past thirty years. Following different paths, the quartet drifted apart, the day-to-day demands of work and family tempering the revolutionary fervor they once shared.

Then comes devastating news: Armaiti, who moved to America, is gravely ill and wants to see the old friends she left behind. For Laleh, reunion is a bittersweet reminder of unfulfilled dreams and unspoken guilt. For Kavita, it is an admission of forbidden passion. For Nishta, it is the promise of freedom from a bitter fundamentalist husband. And for Armaiti, it is an act of acceptance, of letting go on her own terms even if her ex-husband and daughter do not understand her choices.

In the course of their journey to reconnect, Armaiti, Laleh, Kavita, and Nishta must confront the truths of their lives—acknowledge long-held regrets, face painful secrets and hidden desires, and reconcile their idealistic past and their compromised present. And they will have to decide what matters most, a choice that may just help them reclaim the extraordinary world they once found.

2015 Week 41 Update

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The last week was one of the sorts I like – a fairly busy week! When I am busy, I don’t over think and the day at work zips by. I love such weeks! When I am free and don’t have much to do, I tend to snack often and then have to find things to look busy. I hate such days! I am actually underworked here, so these days are more often there than busy days….

Since it is Navratri, people have been inviting us, but what with work and the holidays, I could only go to my inlaws place on Friday. She does this every year and so after work, I dolled up in a saree and went there. Spent a pleasant evening chatting with people I see only once a year!

Then Saturday was the day when BB & GG, along with others performed at a nearby temple. They are learning South Indian classical music or Carnatic music for a few years now and every year during Navratri, the teacher puts up a performance at a local temple where her students can sing. This year, their class, which mostly has PSLE students didn’t have enough practice as most of them didn’t go to class in the month before the exams. But in spite of that, the children did a great job. I am really happy that both GG & BB, especially GG, enjoy singing!

We’re in Penang for a few days, taking a well-deserved break part 1 after the grueling year that was the PSLE. I’m taking loads of pictures and will post more about these later on!

Have a great week folks!

PSLE Week 41 Update

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Even though the PSLE is over, both BB & GG have been busy quite busy in school. They have to work on their class yearbook as well as prepare for the year-end concert. Each graduating class is expected to put together a song and dance performance (either together or separately) and every child is expected to contribute. GG is taking part in her class dance while BB who hates dancing is joining the song routine.

We also got a note from the school on the learning journeys they will take from now till the end of the school year. The school plans to bring them to the National Museum, The Arts Science Museum as well as the Discovery Centre. They are also going to bring the children to a secondary school which has an Aviation programme. As expected BB is most excited about that trip as this is the school we are targeting if his grades are not very stellar. If, by some luck, he does brilliantly, we’ll try other schools, the main one being his dream school where he did not make the cut for the DSA. We can always dream right!

We also received the huge book from MOE which tells us all about how we can select schools (merit before choice) and that we need to choose 6 schools for both of them each. Once the results are declared, we need to go to the website and indicate our school choices. If our scores are below the school cut off point (COP), we get in, otherwise, they will go down the list. If none of the schools meet our COP, we get a nearby school which still has vacancies and which is within the COP. So it makes sense to choose real carefully so that we can get into our first choice school….

Singapore from the air

From tomorrow, for the next four days, teachers across Singapore will come together to mark the PSLE papers. I am tense about this, but also realise nothing is my hands now! So schools are shut for the next four days which means we’re off today for a holiday! Normally this period is a time for children to hunker down and study as usually after this holiday is when exams start, but this year with the end of the PSLE, we decided to use this short holiday to go around the region. I’ll post more about the holiday later!

In My Hands Today…

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Of Marriageable Age – Sharon Maas

A spellbinding story of forbidden love, spanning three continents and three decades. Set against the Independence struggles of two British colonies, Of Marriageable Age is ultimately a story of personal triumph against a brutal fate, brought to life by a multicultural cast of characters:

Savitri, intuitive and charismatic, grows up among the servants of a pre-war English household in the Raj. But the traditional customs of her Brahmin family clash against English upper-class prejudice, threatening her love for the privileged son of the house.

Nataraj, raised as the son of an idealistic doctor in rural South India, finds life in London heady, with girls and grass easily available… until he is summoned back home to face raw reality.

Saroj, her fire hidden by outward reserve, comes of age in Guyana, South America, the daughter of a strictly orthodox and very racist Hindu father. Her life changes forever on the day she finally rebels against him. … and even against her gentle, apparently docile Ma.

But Ma harbours a deep secret… one that binds these three so disparate lives and hurtles them towards a truth that could destroy their world.

Positive Thinking

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If you have been reading about me for a while, you’d know that for the past few months, I’ve not been very happy at work. My boss changed and the new guy who came in is not as positive about me as the previous one. I’ve been feeling very demoralized lately and in the past few weeks have been starting to look for newer positions.

In the midst of all this, I realized I needed some words of encouragement and started searching for some nice quotes to cheer me up. This one popped out and resonated with me.

I am one of those people who want to think positively, but immediately start thinking of what is the worst that can happen. It can be any situation; I veer between 100% and 0% with 100% being best possible outcome and 0% being the worst possible outcome. I really want 100% to happen, but am scared I will jinx myself, so start planning for 0%!

Reading the above quote made me think maybe my thinking is all wrong – what if I only had positive thoughts, will it make a difference? I read a couple of articles on the Power of Positivity and well, they all say the same thing which is that when you think negatively, your thoughts and emotions narrow your mind and focus on these negative thoughts. They do not allow you to see other, maybe better options which are also open and available. This is a basic survival instinct which has stayed on over the years, even though most of us don’t need it in day-to-day life these days.

On the other hand, having positive thoughts opens up your mind, allowing you to see more possibilities in life which actually allow you to have a broader view of life, one filled with more positive options.

For someone like me, who is not normally a positive person, to cultivate and increase positive thinking in our lives, you could think of anything that sparks these feelings. Or things like meditating daily for a few minutes builds mindfulness and a general sense of calm which will help with bringing forth the positive emotions when you need them. Writing daily, especially a positive experience daily will help reinforce that feeling; a daily gratitude book where you look for things that you are grateful for will also help. Another thing that helps is doing things you enjoy – whatever it may be – this helps you zone out and kick up those positive endorphins!

I’m glad I saw this quote and read the articles. I am going to seriously do this and what better day to start this than next Thursday which is Dusshera, the day of good and auspicious beginnings. I’m off on a holiday in the next two days and will spend the next 4-5 days mulling about this and when I am back the day before Dusshera, I will start by meditating a few minutes daily and also start a gratitude book. I am also going to talk BB & GG in trying this. This transition from Primary to Secondary school is the best to start such good practices which they should be able to do for the rest of their lives.
Hopefully, over the next few months, I will have a better mindset and my brain does the rest!

Here are some nice positivity quotes (more for me than you :-))

I like this one – I will choose happiness everyday!

Another great attitude to have in life!