Another week and this week brought hope to much of the world with the inauguration of the 46^th American President and the first vice president who is not a woman, but also someone who is a minority, being of Indian and black parentage. Let’s hope this new president who is the de-facto leader of the free world is someone the world looks up to, though early signs are very positive.

As for us, last weekend was super hectic with a wedding in the extended family with multiple functions and it was a nice chance to catch up with family members whom we had not seen in a while and also wear our gorgeous Indian clothes which, because of being home for pretty much most of 2020 was stuck in the cupboards.

Singapore is seeing an upsurge of locally transmitted cases and with the Chinese New Year coming up soon, more restrictions have been placed on visiting relatives. The news world over is also not very good with the total number of cases in the spitting distance of 100 million, with the current cases standing at over 98 million with two million people dead. The USA has 25 million cases till date while India has over 10 million cases and Brazil at number three with nearly 9 million cases.

The children are at the end of their second semester of school and have started worrying about university admissions. BB screwed up his first semester and needs to really get his act together if he wants to get into university to a course of his choice after he completes his national service. I really hope this is the kick in the butt he needs, but we’ll know when the results for the semester are released.

And to reduce all the negativity floating around us, here’s today’s positivity thought

Anyway, stay safe and masked people and enjoy your weekend!

I read somethere this week a quote which resonated with me very strongly. The quote said, “You are not rejected, you are redirected”. This came the same day when I was rejected for a job I bid for. I knew then this was the universe sending me a message and I know there is something really special lined up for me.

Because of a wedding in the extended family, this week was super busy with lots of traditions and celebrations. The wedding was between two individuals of different communities and to see traditions from each community being followed was very sweet and showed us what a diverse melting pot India is.

Yesterday’s newspaper headlines said the world has hit the 2 million mark in terms of COVID-19 deaths and it was a very grim reminder of the crisis we are currently in. The current number of positive cases is slightly more than 94 million with the top three hit countries of the United States, India and Brazil accounting for more than 45% of the total cases worldwide!

Next week also promises to be a busy one and though this week I was very unproductive, I am determined to do as much as I can next week so I can make up for this week’s lack of writing. And here’s this week positive thought. This quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson really spoke to me when I first saw it. It tells us that when things are ready, they will appear in front of us, so there’s no point in hurrying. There’s a similar saying in Hindi which says “jab jab jo jo hona hai tab tab so so hota hai” meaning when something is meant to happen, it will happen and not a moment sooner!

Stay blessed, stay safe and stay masked everyone! It’s being said that 2021 will be harder than 2020, so stay as safe as you can, especially when you are outside the house.

The world looked in horror this week as scenes from the storming of the Capitol building in Washington were flashed across television screens and social media. The bastion of democracy was being stormed and this does not bode too well for the world. Hopefully, the incoming administration takes cognizance and action and arrests and sentences the perpetuators of this assault.

The week for us was the start of the work week for 2021. BB started school and will go pretty much every day for in-person lessons while GG still is on home-based learning and will go back to school only once a week. She is pretty frustrated and hopes that when the new semester starts in April, she also will get to go back to school on a daily basis.

In the latest COVID-19 numbers, the world has now seen nearly 90 million cases and as in previous weeks, the US leads with more than 22 million positive cases and India comes at number two with 10.5 million cases, followed by Brazil with 8 million cases. As with last week, Singapore had quite a few days with double digit cases and days with more than one case in the community, though the dormitories are pretty safe these days, due to increased testing.

To distract us from all this negativity in the world, here is today’s positive thought.

Take care people and stay safe, stay masked and get vaccinated as soon as you can!

Happy New Year! May 2021 bring to you and your loved ones loads of happiness, abundance, prosperity and good health!

I decided to start this year with the week 0 because this week was split between 2020 and this year and so it’s week 0 according to me.

It was a fairly quiet week at home and Singapore had a very rainy start to 2021. With such a weather, a warm bed with a book and some hot beverage sounds so appealing, but this year because I have decided to finally take my health into my hands, I couldn’t just sit and chill, but had to make sure I walked my targeted steps for the day. I have also decided to read more this year because in 2020, social media and OTT shows took quite a bit of my time which I want to reclaim back. There are other resolutions for the year, but let me see if I can actually keep to them before I share it.

The world is reeling with more than 84 million positive cases and the United States leads the pack with more than 20 million cases and India following behind with 10 million cases and Brazil at number three with close to 8 million cases. But there is a silver lining because many countries have started vaccinations starting with their medical and frontline workers before moving on to their elderly and the vulnerable. In the past week, Singapore has gotten double digit cases more than once and though most of them are imported cases, we also now have at least two local community clusters which are most likely to be cases within a household. Hopefully this gets contained soon and we go back to single digit numbers. Currently there are about 150 active cases in the country.

This year, in my weekly updates, I have decided to spread some positivity and so here’s something I made. I hope to share a new positive thought each week which will brighten up our week. Have a wonderful 2021 and stay healthy!