ChirpyQuill

  Italy   Going to Italy was my life time dream or one of the very important things in my bucket list. I am a born dreamer with a heart of still ten years old 😉 . I had a vague idea of Italy from movies. I recently went to Europe trip and Italy was one of the main highlights of it.   We visited Rome, Venice and Florance.              We stayed about 10 days in Italy and spent about 3-4 days in each of the city. Just to know/visit these places we booked couple of day tours. We were lucky enough to meet very friendly people in each of our trip. I observed one strange thing that people around the world is not that different from each other despite their culture, language and skin color. In other words, their emotions are still the same. I personally think their strong family ties resembles with our Indian culture. Another thing I discovered that most people are nice but being nice should start from us. One Spanish word which I used there very often is “gracias”. It does magic spe

Oh! I did not get to run yesterday. I needed to. So today it is. I am glad I am here today. Let me do twelve miles or may be do a half marathon. No not half, I need to get back. Take Maya for her gym workout. I might get late. Let me start the watch. Oh no, it is 10:30 am already. I will just do twelve today. Tomorrow I have to take the car to the body shop. Insurance still needs to be sorted. They have not called back. Next weekend is the party. Have to put up the lights. Order food too. What? below nine? The first mile is too fast. This is supposed to be an easy run. Then there is elevation up ahead. I need to slow down. Let me slow down some. The man with dog just passed. It was just a blur. Neither saw the man nor the dog. what kind of dog was it? Don’t know. It is humid. How come I did not notice until now. I am at a mile and a half. I didn’t even know whether it was cold or hot, dry or humid. Too much noise in my head. I am running anxious. Like a car that is running hot. Burning

              It's that magical time of the year…. Christmas!!! The Christmas trees are all lit up, and Christmas carols are in the air. People are in a festive mood…. getting ready to end the year on a high note, and welcome the new year with a bang. The younger children all over the world are starting to wonder if they are on Santa’s good or naughty list, and what they would find under the tree on Christmas,  while most teenagers would have their Christmas lists ready to hand over to their parents, just like my 12 year old.  I grew up in a date and age when Santa Claus wasn’t an idea as popular as it is today. But, thinking back, I realize that I did in fact, have my very own personal Santa Claus in my life, my DAD, who was (and still is) there just for me. The very best part is…. I didn't even have to wait till Christmas for my Santa to give me any gift. I had to only THINK of something, and voila, I used to get it even without asking. My dad (Santa) was (and still is)  ther

The trill of the phone broke her reverie as she mindlessly prepared for the day ahead. She would later think that some days begin with no indication of how they end. Her mother was in the hospital, they told her. They are running tests now, they said. They would try to get her mother to talk to her soon. Endless hours passed as she waited. The all too familiar guilt of being 7000 miles away was burning a mom-sized hole in her heart and threatening to get bigger. After what seemed like an eternity, they called her back. The thought of her mother in the hospital many oceans away was twisting like a dagger in her heart. She needed to go. Mind-numbed, she started packing for the journey back home. Only this time, she did not grab the most enormous bags to engorge with gifts lovingly picked and carefully wrapped. Instead, she chose a modest bag. She wasn't packing for a celebration now, was she? She wondered what does one pack to be a caregiver instead of the one doted upon? As the

The history of the world is littered with tragedies big and small. Some have affected a few, perhaps like a lightening strike and some many, like an earthquake. Some were man made like the American Civil War and China’s Famine of 50s, while others were natural disasters. But none has surpassed this singular event that transpired a few decades ago in scale and depth of tragedy. It was metaphorically a giant, beautiful Tree that fell.   So how do you rate a tragedy? Let’s take the passing away of a person. It hurts in two ways. One clearly is the emotional trauma inflicted by the loss on those who knew the departed one. The other is the lost opportunity of life yet unlived, both in terms of experience the person would have lived through as well as what could have been. Hence a younger person passing is so much more tragic than a 90 year old, having lived and experienced their full life.  The other sad score to rate a tragedy is in terms of how many people it affected. A car accident with

  Mother, Mom, Mama, Mommy, Aai, Amma, Ammi…… So many names, so many emotions I don't think there are enough words to emulate what a mother does for her children. My mother, my life giver, is someone whom I not only love but also revere and idolize. I owe my very existence to my mom. She is a symbol of selfless love, sacrifice, forgiveness, and patience. When God created this world, HE knew he couldn't be everywhere so he created MOMS…. Dear Mom…..No words are enough to thank you for what you do everyday. From teaching me to walk and talk, nurturing me with your sumptuous home cooked meals, and healing me when I was sick, no words can describe what you have done for me and do for me till date.  As a doctor, you chose to give up your flourishing private practice as it entailed long hours of being away from home. Instead, you chose to opt for a job at the local hospital so that you could be there for me at home when I came back from school. At that time, I didn't think much

  My five-year-old child on our way from Karate class casually says, “Mommy, can we go to McDonalds and get a milkshake?” The immediate knee-jerk reaction for a mother with her protective instinct is to shield her child from junk food. So I said, “No, we just now worked hard to build muscles and get you stronger. Milshakes and ice cream are not for today; we can get them next week as a special treat.” His eyes gleamed with curiosity, and unintentionally, he said something I didn’t anticipate that he would say in a million years. He is MY baby. "Ma, you know what?" With a gleaming innocence that could melt glaciers, my boy chirped. "You're not nearly as cool as Anjana Aunty. I wish she were my mother." His remarks—an odd mixture of whimsy and unintentional betrayal lingered in the air. My possessive thoughts about how devoted my child would be caused my stirring spoon to pause in midair. "Anjana?" I asked, attempting to be as indifferent as possible. &q

There are so many dimensions to each one of us, but none is more divine than the dimension of a “Mother” that we all carry within, if we are fortunate. Motherhood is a trait, not a person. A potter, holds the clay like a mother does a child, and then gently spins it, shapes it, even allows it to bake in life’s oven and presents it to the world. So the clay becomes a pot that can hold water for someone. It becomes useful to the world and can take pride in itself.  A teacher, becomes a mother for her students, imparting them knowledge, discipline and even testing them. The student gets strength to carry his own weight and gets shaped, to in turn shape the world also.  A great leader, like Bharat’s current Prime Minister, takes on the identity of a mother towards the entire nation of 1.4 Billion people and protects them from harm coming from outside, nurtures and nourishes them and most of all, like Modiji has continually done, breathes the purifying fire of self confidence and pride in o

My dear Maa, I know you might be surprised yet again to hear me call you maa instead of the regular mummy...Ever since I heard the "taare zameen par" song "Maa", the word "Maa"  sounds more suited to my style...I mean the bollywood ishtyle ...Tujhe sab hai pata,hai naa maa..... Remember all those melodramatic maa dialogues("mere paas maa hai..".) of your time... Wonder why don’t they write such heavy-duty melodramatic dialogues anymore....I guess all these dramatic writers are busy scripting daily saas bahu never-ending sagas...   Talk of Bollywood and Melodrama and I still get so carried away...  So Coming back to addressing you "maa" this time...As you know it's not something new to me ...When Leena Waghmare was my friend in class 6th  I started calling you "aai"  then...When in 7th Nisha Josson became my buddy you were "mummy"  again...Then next year Sajini Reddy taught me to call you "amma"  and in

 ਕਿਥੋਂ ਲੱਭਾਂਗੇ ਮਾਂਵਾਂ ( Where will I find mother)  ਬੋਹੜ ਬਣ ਕੇ ਜਿਸ ਦਿਤੀਆਂ ਜ਼ਿੰਦਗੀ ਦੀ ਧੁੱਪ ਵਿਚ ਛਾਂਵਾਂ  ਜਗ ਸਾਰਾ ਲਭ ਜਾਣਾ , ਕਿਥੋਂ ਲੱਭਾਂਗੇ ਮਾਂਵਾਂ,  ਟੋਟਾ ਟੋਟਾ ਆਪਣਾ ਜੋੜ ਕੇ ਸਭ ਦੀ ਜ਼ਿੰਦਗੀ ਦੀਆਂ ਤਸਵੀਰਾਂ ਬਣਾਇਆਂ,  ਆਪਣਾ ਆਪ ਤਿਆਗ ਕੇ ਸਭ ਦੀਆਂ ਤਕਦੀਰਾਂ ਬਣਾਈਆਂ, ਮੈਂ ਕਿਸੇ ਹੋਰ ਪੀਰ ਦੇ ਦਰ ਤੇ ਕਯੋਂ ਸਰ ਨਿਵਾਨਵਾਂ, ਜਗ ਸਾਰਾ ਲਭ ਜਾਣਾ , ਕਿਥੋਂ ਲੱਭਾਂਗੇ ਮਾਂਵਾਂ,  ਅੱਜ ਉਡੀਕਦਾ ਤੈਨੂੰ ਤੇਰਾ ਚੁੱਲ੍ਹਾ ਚੌਂਕਾ ਮਾਂ, ਤੇ ਸੱਖਣਾ ਪਿਆ ਤੇਰਾ ਵੇਹੜਾ, ਇਕ ਤੂੰ ਹੀ ਸੀ ਦੁੱਖ ਸੁਖ ਦੀ ਸਾਥੀ, ਤੇਰੇ ਬਿਨਾ ਮੇਰਾ ਹੋਰ ਕੇਹੜਾ, ਕਿਸ ਵਿਲੇ ਮਿਲੇਂਗੀ ਹੁਣ, ਤੈਨੂੰ ਕਿਵੇਂ ਸੱਦਾ ਪਾਂਵਾਂ,  ਜਗ ਸਾਰਾ ਲਭ ਜਾਣਾ , ਕਿਥੋਂ ਲੱਭਾਂਗੇ ਮਾਂਵਾਂ,  ਬਹੁਤ ਹੋਈ ਤੇਰੀ ਜ਼ਿੰਦਗੀ ਦੀ ਜਦੋ ਜਹਿਦ, ਜਾ ਜਾ ਕੇ ਹੁਣ ਸੌਂ ਜਾ ਮਾਂ, ਤੇਰਾ ਹੱਥ ਰਹੇਗਾ ਹਮੇਸ਼ਾ ਸਾਡੇ ਸਿਰਾਂ ਤੇ , ਪਰਛਾਂਵਾਂ ਬਣ ਕੇ ਰਹੇਂਗੀ ਸਾਡੇ ਨਾਲ ਹਰ ਥਾਂਵਾਂ, ਜਗ ਸਾਰਾ ਲਭ ਜਾਣਾ , ਕਿਥੋਂ ਲੱਭਾਂਗੇ ਮਾਂਵਾਂ, ----------------------------------------------- Like a Banyan tree, you provided the shade in life's harsh sunlight, I will find the whole world, where will I find mother Putting your own pieces together you made everybody's picture, With your own sacrifices, you built the desti