Kadmanivasi. My Blog. Geeta Ramani

 It's been months since I blogged! And boy...am I happy to be back!!! My work priorities kept me away for sometime..and I hope to be back...back with a bang, as they say! Let me begin at the beginning ...of my holiday! Our Dushehra holiday-plan materialized all of a sudden..and just like that! I called up Praveen to wish her on her birthday and there she was, asking me to consider a trip to Delhi/Jalandhar /Vishnavo Devi/ Amritsar. We had to get ourselves to New Delhi and Praveen volunteered to arrange the next  leg of the journey. It dawned on me that it would be the first of its kind…a holiday with friends, the joy of which we had started discovering recently. We have always traveled with family and this was something we eagerly looked forward to! It was an unforgettable trip, and Praveen’s two vivacious girls ensured that we remained happy and cheerful throughout the trip! Our holiday was too good to be true! Our first halt was Greater Noida. The place has to be seen t...

          How happy I am…to be back after a short and sweet holiday! I missed you very much, dear blog, because you help me put words into my thoughts and feelings! As I sit down to write, my holiday seems to me, like the pomegranate….. You peel the tough leathery skin and lo and behold, you find about 600 seeds – the sweet, juicy, deep pink edible aril! And as you savor the fruit, the juice runs down your chin, leaving behind a sweet tingling sensation! That is how I felt - everyday of my holidays, which opened up new and exhilarating experiences, and I wished to share each one of those overpowering emotions with you!           I looked upon the two commencement ceremonies with pride and joy! Both my daughters graduated this year, one received a Masters Degree in International Development from the School of International Service, American University; the other, a Masters Degree in Law from the ...

I have been mulling over several inputs for this blog of mine, which will be the last, before I get into my summer vacation mode. Let me begin with something, which happened today. I went to Apollo Hospital for a routine medical check up and my  gynecologist greeted me with this question, WHY HAVE YOU LET YOURSELF GO..? No one could have read my mind better! Yes, I have become lazy, my life style lackluster and my thoughts, listless.  Why did I do it and how did I do it are simple questions, the difficult question is how could I allow myself to do it? I had drawn up an honest resolution on New Year, 2011, and hoped by bringing about some qualitative changes in my lifestyle, I could enjoy a healthy and happy 2011.  I am 53 and whatever the reasons, I can’t let my life pass me by. I realize I am fortunate, I am looking forward to a second innings-I am going back to what I love doing, teaching. I am proud of the fact that both my daughters are graduating this year, in ...

A DATE WITH KATE: The wedding of Prince William to his sweetheart Kate on 29 th April, 2011, promises to be as spectacular and memorable as the wedding of his parents, Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer. However, it will be looked upon as another world event, not another fairy tale wedding, which can be viewed live on TV anywhere in the world. As more and more is written and said about it in the media, I remember two articles, both about Great Britain, which I had read almost forty years ago. I was young and impressionable and the articles aroused my curiosity. I have often thought about it over these years. How and where do I begin my story? Maybe with these words…… Once upon a time, long, long ago, when I used to live in Jamshedpur…… A DATE WITH FATE: We stored most of our things in three huge caskets, before modernization hit my family. They were humongous wooden containers, a little more than 2 ft in width, 3 ft in length and 4 ft in height. We used it sometimes, as a settee,...

..........................and words are all I have to take your heart away! (SONG : Words; ALBUM : A Different Beat (1996); ARTIST : Boyzone-Irish vocal pop group) The first change I noticed in my husband’s home was the presence of sound. All the members would talk animatedly; in fact, sometimes it was difficult for me to get a word in. The radio blared all day long, as if providing background music to all our chores. I wasn’t sure who was listening to what, but surely all did not sound music to my ears. That was because I had been used to the sound of silence in my home. I had a severe and strict upbringing, sadly bereft of music and laughter. I suspect my grandfather carried the Aurangzeb gene, he abhorred song and dance. We possessed a sleek and stylish radio, but it could be switched on only at nine, every night for the news. However, during the Indo-Pak war, we were allowed to listen to all the news bulletins. My mother would wait for my grandfather to leave the house, either ...

I am touched by what   Hip Hop Grandmom  writes, in her blog, T een Troubles-3. As a teacher, for more than 30 years, I have closely observed student life and found it to be rewarding and challenging. No doubt, there have been some very good moments in the class room environment, very special memories, which have sustained me as a teacher and motivated me, to do my best year after year. However, there are some other memories, so etched in my mind, that have filled me with despair. I wonder how much in despair these young ones might have been and wonder what goes on in the minds of their near and dear ones. Do they ever recover fully? I remember two shocking instances, when pupils, two young girls, from my class took their own lives. Both were in their early teens, pretty, lively, smart kids. Both were studying in co-ed schools. One jumped down a high rise residential block of flats, in which she did not live. The other, an only child, just tied the ...