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Monday, April 27, 2015

It's summer time

Absence makes the heart grow fonder “– I dont know the origin of the quote but I do believe it, to be true.  This quote is applicable to so many things 'under the sun. ' We'll, and this time, Im actually talking about the 'sun' , which is the star at the center of our solar system and is responsible for the earth's climate and weather. 

I did really miss the sun during my first long and cold winter in Canada.  They say you only really appreciate happiness once you have experienced sadness. The same is true for sunshine. I know it now.

I come from a country that is near the equator and I, like many other people from that part of the world took the bright sunshine that we got all year round for granted.  You only really appreciate the spring and the summer once you have been through the harsh winter like the recent once I experienced in Canada, my first Canadian winter.

Last week the temperature rose to double digits of around 18-20 degrees C and people were out in their shorts and driving around in their convertibles with the tops down. I thought to myself if I were in India, people would be all covered up in this temperature. 


Such are the winters in Canada, that the first sign of moderately warm temperature and bright sunshine, people are out there making the most of it. You probably heard the expression make hay while the sun shines.  I am really looking forward to my first summer in Canada and I hope it is as memorable as my first winter. 

Monday, April 20, 2015

I'm ok

The general response to the question, hi, how are you? Would be Im good. How about you? That is how we have been programmed to respond and that is how people expect us to respond. I also get asked that question a lot. And my general response to that is ,Im doing ok. And then people would ask me in a surprised manner, 'why just ok, and not good.' And I have no response to that.

This then got me thinking, is something really wrong with me? Why am I not good? Then one day it occurred to me. Im doing ok because life is not that bad to complain about and its not that good that I have anything to boast about.

Can a person really be good and happy all the time? I dont think that is really possible in this day and age, with so many things happening around us.

I read an article the other day, by Tim Lott, a British author, in The Guardian where Tim says, Disappointment, Fear and Loss are much a part of life as Achievement, Hope and Joy. But this intermediate state no longer seems to be socially acceptableThere is plenty of unhappiness. We shouldnt dwell on it but we shouldnt refuse to acknowledge it either. Thus, giving meaning to the phases of one's life.


So the next time someone says to you, Im ok. Just let them be. Maybe they are content with being ok and there is nothing wrong in that. Let them have a day, after all making it through one is all that matters. 

Thursday, April 16, 2015

Not what it used to be.

I joined the social media bandwagon way back in the early 2000s when I first registered on Orkut. The younger generation will not have heard of Orkut which is long in its grave now. The popularity of Orkut started to decline with the advent of Facebook and so did my loyalty towards Orkut. I eventually switched to Facebook. Over the years many other social media sites came up but Facebook still tops my list.

Facebook is a good way to keep in touch with people across the globe. If you hadnt seen someone for years, you could just go on facebook and browse through their photos to see how much their bellies have grown horizontally or shrunk or the places they have been to and place they have settled in. Those were the good old days. 


The reason I say those good old days, is because the other day, while surfing Facebook, I realized that there wasn't a single update of a friend but random videos, inspirational quotes, tips on life etc.  This got me thinking. What then is the purpose of all this? The whole point of me logging on to Facebook was to catch up with friends and see what they were up to in their lives.  If I wanted fitness tips or tips on life I would have just Googled it.

I may sound a little old fashioned when I say, I wish Facebook would go back to being the way it was. When it was only about the people I followed. Don't you sometimes wish you could get rid of the clutter?

Thursday, April 2, 2015

6 Things every kid will love doing this summer..


Here is the link to a little something I wrote for www.lilbluvan.com

http://lilbluvan.tumblr.com/post/115286843198/6-things-every-kid-will-love-doing-this-summer