HAPPY HOLI!!!

A Very Happy Holi to the beautiful ever colourful world. I am spending HOLI on the couch while S is taking his sem finals. No mandir or colors for me. But thats alright because some day I will have have a wonderful holi celebrations with colours and gujias, like old days. In the mean time I am happy with a long chat with my loved ones first thing in the morning!! Love you ma, baba, Tinks and his beloved. I know this Holi brings you all a lot of love and happiness.
I would always read wonderful posts done by Boo and how her family loves to pop surprises to the joy of others. Surprises seem so special and I tend to believe that it brings people closer. The raw emotions that you are able to witness on the target-subject is priceless.
So when my father narrated how my brother and my sister- in law surprised my parents it brought me to tears of happiness. I am overwhelmed with love for my brother and my sister-in-law.
Friday morning my brother called my parents to wish them a Happy Holi and convey his regards. During the course of conversation my brother told my dad that he was standing on the balcony and drinking tea. In reality he was on his way to Lucknow to visit my parents. And in after an hour or so later when my father got the best surprise when he saw a cab pull up in front of our house and my brother jumped out of it. That was a wonderful surprise but that was not the end of it. In the evening after a quick siesta my brother took my father for a drive and drove all the way to Amausi Airport. My sister-in-law who is posted in Mumbai took a direct flight to Lucknow to spend the Holidays with my parents. The surprise was not yet done because all of them reached home and gave my mother a wonderful surprise. My mom was so just as surprised and excited as was anticipated and that made the whole efforts taken by my brother and sis-in-law every bit worthwhile.
I was able to feel the happiness and love in the voice of my parents. They were so happy to have my brother close it them. My father had a beautiful ring to his laughter as he told me how my brother had surprised him and how my mother reacted. My sister-in-law sounded just as excited and happy because she knew and understood how much both of them mean to my parents. I was so happy for them and I miss being with them as I write this. I hope baba and ma always remain happy. On this auspicious occasion, I pray to God that baba-ma's children always make them proud and happy.

Unity in Diversity: with many faces.

21st March: Today is an auspicious day religiously and for celestial reasons. God from all the major religions in the world had their plans. Most of India is celebrating their favourite festival, in one form or another. Hindus are celebrating their colourful festival of Holi which celebrates the inset of spring with colors. Muslims celebrate there Id-Ii-Milaad (Birth annivesary of Prophet Mohammad).
While Chistians practice their solemn holy Friday or as popularly known as Good Friday.
Inspite of varied reasons and sentiments its an important day in each of the religion.
The Hindus all over India will celebrate the festival of Holi for the whole weekend as the Christians celebrate their Easter Sunday. To me its like a merging and sharing of ones happiness.
why can not life be just as simple. Lets just find a reason to be happy even if we have diffrent reasons to smile lets just be happy and enjoy our happiness and share it with everyone.

I have always have this urge to pen down my sentiments when I feel deluged under my emotions. In the past couple of years my life has changed drastically : From being a Graduate student one day, to a college lecturer, and again back to being an international graduate student, to my current status as a married house wife, and constantly being asked if I plan to join the work force. The last five years have been like an awesome roller coaster ride, that I have enjoyed immensely. I had a wonderful envious life being revered by students, a couple of years younger to me following me constantly to know how I had landed such a prestigious post so early in my career. Even in the comfort of the job, I wanted to pursue my higher studies in America. I took my GRE and TOEFL as I searched for universities that met my educational needs. During my stay in JNU as a Masters student of English I took interest in Immigrants Culture. SFSU was an excellent choice because it has one of the best faculties in Ethnic and Asian American Studies that concentrates on the lives of Asian Immigrants. Since my course was inter- disciplinary I was able to take course from other departments, namely, Women Studies, Anthropology and Sociology. The whole experience was enlightening for me since I was able to compare my experiences as a student in JNU, as a lecturer in Delhi University and as a Graduate International student. Reading academic books and writing weekly book reports was as staple as breathing. And then I meet “S” and all that I had mapped for myself took a back seat for a while, or at least that's what I believed it to be. But things happened with such speed since then: I graduated with my second Masters degree last summer and completed two years of marital bliss. While “S” received an American passport, I received my driver's licence and green-car.

And as I settle down in my new role as a housewife, I intend to chronicle my daily happenings that catch my attention and trigger my thoughts. Writing has always been an outlet for my sentiments but to be a part of the internet gives my personal journal a whole new dimension. The internet medium helps to expand my interests, thoughts and in the process meet like minded people with varying perceptions, who may be thousands of miles apart and whom I would never know in normal circumstances but here in the cyber world of personal journalism . I am looking forward to many sessions of wonderful conversations.