Hi All,
Here’s your weekly dose of “5-Bullet Tuesday”, list of things I’m enjoying or pondering.
What I’m reading –
I am reading Against the Wind the recently released memoir of her life by Mrs Rajni Kumar.
Mrs Kumar, now 96, is the lady who’s been an inspiration for me for many many years. She started 
the Springdales school, a school with enviable reputation, which has now expanded to a total of four branches including one in Dubai!
Ah, great it is to believe the dream,
As we stand in youth by the starry stream.
But a greater thing is to fight life through,
And say at the end, the dream is true!
(Mrs Kumar ends her book with this quote by American poet Edwin Markham.)
Well, I was not a Springdalian myself but my fascination for the school was such that I’d sometimes even lie telling acquaintances that I was from Springdales instead of my own school which was the adjacent Salwan School. Not that I had anything against my own school, but then I used to spend a lot of time playing with Springdalians and had a natural affinity towards everything Springdalian!
I guess I never really outgrew my fascination (or was it obsession?) and when time came for me to get married, I would dream of getting married to a Springdalian.
That elusive dream of mine, after all, did become a reality and today I’m married to a Springdalian (who I love for many more reasons than just that!) and both my children study at Springdales! Thanks to the point based selection system in Delhi for School admissions, which gives due consideration to the School alumni.
That’s a bit of my own memoir there and in case you didn’t know, here’s the difference between a memoir and an autobiography:
By the way, did you notice, Mrs Kumar’s quote fits so well in my own journey too!
What Movie I watched —
Imagine if you unexpectedly find a bag full of crores of rupees one fine day. What would it do to your principles and values that you have been carrying over the years?
No one’s watching. Would you pick the bag or leave it and carry on with your life as before?
If you choose to pick it, what would it do to you, and your relationships with your family?
“Chappar Phaad Ke“, is the movie that is a tell tale of all that, with realistic performances by Vinay Pathak and others. Although it is a bit slow, but it’s pretty thrilling and keeps you hooked till the end. All in all, a good, one time, family watch.
Every time after she’s heard a story or watched a movie, I ask my six year old daughter, Sohana, what the moral of the story was. And, no matter what the story, her answer is always the same, “लालच बुरी बला है” (Greed is bad!).
This time, however, she was right!
Memories I’m Making –
It was John Maxwell who brainwashed me (well, in a good way, of course!) into believing that I can create great memories with my loved ones.
This Diwali, we as a family agreed to get one family picture clicked that we’ll
forever be proud of. In a world where smartphones click a gazillion pictures a day, we decided to get just one that spoke volumes of our chemistry.
Everyone put their best foot forward and a day which would have, otherwise, filled itself watching videos of Sis and Bro, exchanging Whatsapp messages, or playing Brawl Stars mindlessly, found itself a purpose. We all nicely dressed and posed well for this picture.
A picture that will indeed make memories come fresh timelessly.
If there is one thing I have to tell you, it would be – Don’t wait for memories to happen, get up to create them yourself.
Because, you and only you can! Read this article to find out how.
Happy Diwali!
Quote I’m pondering—
Hold fast to dreams
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly.Hold fast to dreams
For when dreams go
Life is a barren field
Frozen with snow.
– Langston Hughes
What I ‘m impressed with–
Festivity is in the air. What if crackers are banned in Delhi, creativity is set ablaze all around. Have you seen chocolates in the shape of rockets, anaars, chakkari and sutli bombs? You name it.
Risking coining a new term here, cracko-lates. Now would that make me famous?
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