Kadmanivasi. My Blog. Geeta Ramani

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 ...

With civil activism at its height, how could I not devote a few moments to it? In India, we have been generally respectful of authority and this has its pluses and minuses. Activism has not been a transforming element of the social fabric, as it has been in many other parts of the world. We have looked upon dharnas, bandhs, chakka jams, rail rokos as forms of protests and more often than not, it is always ‘their’ battle, the doctors, government employees, the truckers or the Jats, who from time to time have had their grievances addressed in such fashion.  Our activism has never been channelized, as in campus reforms in Japan or opposition to the Vietnam war in America. Reforms in Education and Health, badly needed in India, have not yet been taken up by activists and voices are never raised for changes in curriculum, working conditions for teachers, youth issues and of course, affordable health care for all. We even don’t protest against unsuitable and imported changes in wor...

I noticed the two trees, in front of my balcony, as soon as I moved into my flat two years ago. There were many trees all round our flat, but these two were similar, yet different from the other trees in the area. They appeared more geometrical than the rest, the trees growing upwards, perpendicular to the path, with branches extending outwards at sixty degrees!   My mornings would begin with a good look at those trees, and one fine day, I was surprised to see three nests, balancing precariously on its arms! They had been built with scraps and bits, which I had discarded after unpacking. Birds will use any available material that they can carry away to build their nest! As soon as I cleared up one carton and placed it out on the balcony, three crows would swoop down to retrieve all they could, pieces of broom stick, bits of cloth, and strands of plastic and coir.  And when I looked up, I saw all those ugly things hanging from the nests in the trees. As the days went by, t...