What happens when there is a massive power cut and Mumbai’s trains stop running? The buses are jam-packed and cabs are at a premium. Can one walk three hours to the suburbs? On a dark and rainy night, nameless people become friends and it’s all about the kindness of strangers. Guest Blog post from The Chatty Divas.
Author: Sulekha Rawat
Sulekha Rawat
Sulekha aka Lucks. She's 18 with 28 years of life experience,out of which 22 years have been spent trying to master Home Engineering. You can read her at www.sulekharawat.com
“In India, traveling by air is no longer a monopoly of the elite, but has instead become an affordable and convenient way to travel for all. When we were younger only the rich and famous could afford air travel. The average, middle-class Indian citizen had only one option: the train, and that too either the sleeper class or the third AC.
Thanks to the low cost airlines in India, now everybody makes a beeline for the airport, and many have forgotten the way to the railway station – including me.” GUEST BLOG
“My mother hasn’t forgotten how to bake a cake but she sometimes doesn’t remember all the ingredients, missing out a few in the process. She recounts funny incidents making us laugh heartily with her but she repeats them again after a while, forgetting that she had already shared the same with us a couple of hours earlier. It kills me to see her uncertainty and confusion. However, the only consolation is her lack of awareness of this condition.
I fear forgetting basic things like reading or writing; the mere thought of losing my memories is terrifying. What if one day I wake up and don’t recognize my family members, forget their names and how much I love them?” Guest Blog – Chatty Divas
The Chatty Diva on the special things in life that we take for granted until we almost lose them – such as a devoted pet which asks nothing in return and the empty paper which gives you the power to write anything you want – and yet we go for the easy, safe answers.
“Stories of extramarital affairs are a class apart, especially in India when penned by Indian authors. Majority of protagonists end up going back to their husbands or wives, leaving the poor lover in the lurch. Nobody wants to cross the Laxman Rekha drawn by the caretakers of morality.”
Guest Blog – Chatty Divas
” One of the Hindu temples dedicated to the Goddess Shakti, Vaishno Devi’s Mandir is located in the hills of Jammu & Kashmir, India, close to the town of Katra in the Reasi district. In Hinduism, Vaishno Devi, also known as Mata Rani and Viashnavi, is a manifestation of the Mother Goddess, and the temple is one of the most revered places of worship in India.
There’s this saying that unless the Mata (mother) calls you, none can visit her shrine and receive her blessings. I think I’m living proof of the truth of this, as my attempts to visit this holy place have been met with delay time and time again.” Guest Blog
“I look down at my hands and admire the intricate pattern of henna applied on my palms for Karva Chauth, the social and seasonal festival for the welfare of one’s spouse.
On the evening before the big day, women were getting their hands hennaed for the big night. Those who couldn’t pick up the snacks and eat due to the wet henna on their hands were being fed by friends whose hands were dry. Rima popped a potato wedge in my mouth and came back a while later with a rasgulla to feed me. I had never been fed by strangers but it didn’t feel like she was one.”
Guest Blog – Chatty Divas
“I remember my mother’s cooking and how the entire house used to smell like a culinary heaven then. She used to wash our clothes by hand because we didn’t have a washing machine; the only help she had was a cleaning lady who used to sweep and mop the floors daily. Rest of the chores were her responsibility which she performed lovingly and without complaint.
Fast forward to me now, I can’t think of managing the house like my mom and need a lot of help from a lot of people to survive. I have a lot of like-minded friends who are as hopelessly inefficient as I am.
But the domestic help has also evolved with us, and are no longer the docile, simple kind. Their lifestyles have undergone a transformation too and sometimes they are even more advanced than their employers. It’s now all about cell phones and designer labels!”
Guest Blog – Chatty Divas
“It seems my tongue has two black strips, like a runway’s tarmac, running along its entire length. It’s an old Indian superstition that people who have black spots on their tongue are capable of predicting things and what they say or wish for comes true. I am the queen of predictions and the mirror of the future.”
Can words spoken in jest come true? Is there such a thing is a ‘black tongue’? Sulekha Rawat explores this less traveled road and wonders whether she is really psychic and whether words spoken without thought can actually come true.
Guest Blog – Chatty Divas. Photo: TheAlieness GiselaGiardino²³
Living in New Delhi, India, Sulekha Rawat tries out various roles from housewife to ‘domestic engineer’ to career woman and finally entrepreneur. In the blog ‘Chatty Divas’ she recounts the ups and downs of a woman’s world, and the realization of what’s really important in life.
Photo by Harry Scheihing. GUEST BLOG
A thoughtful essay which bears re-reading: International Women’s Day is a farce, eyewash and a blatant attempt by the men of this world to flatter the women and lull them into a false state of security. No singIe day is a woman’s day; it is a man’s world and men are the judge, jury and the executioners.
8th March is no different from any other day for a mother of a teenaged daughter; she worries about her going to school/college even on this great and historical day. A bride is set ablaze irrespective of the date, a rape occurs every day, somewhere in the world. What women’s day are we talking about?
GUEST BLOG
“‘What do you do?’ This question has always elicited varying responses from me at different stages of my adult life. There is a misconception that women who don’t work outside of their homes, in actual offices, don’t do anything in society’s eyes.” Guest Blog
“Youth today love trendy topics and catchy tunes, a lethal combination. The song passes off as an English song though it is sung in a Tamil accent. People who don’t know the lingo also can understand this song. I don’t know the Tamil language but I love this song because of the laid-back, charming and fun way it has been sung. Language is no barrier here and it actually bonds people who speak different languages.”
“When I am sad, I gorge on bitter chocolates, dark ones to suit my dark mood and thoughts. The darker the better, this time. They soothe me, make me brave enough to face the day and help me stay afloat in the turbulent waters of emotional upheaval, chocolates help me survive.
Chocolates beat men hands down; if only they could talk, we women would never need anybody else ever again. I can’t speak for others but I would be completely satisfied with just my chocolates for company.” Guest Blog.
No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new.
~Steve Jobs
(Guest Blog by Sulekha Rawat)
“My ‘Me-time’ is my evening walk in the stadium, come rain or shine, I am out there walking. It’s raining in Delhi nowadays and my trusted umbrella is out of the closet, it accompanies me out there, and on a few adventurous days, I leave it behind and truly enjoy myself.
The rain soaks into my soul and rejuvenates me. I forget everything else when I am out there walking and break into an impromptu jig, startling the other sedate and serious walkers around.” Chatty Divas GUEST BLOG
GUEST BLOG: “I have a lot of friends in the writing community and ‘Love’ seems to be the favorite topic of a majority of blogs. In fact, I am referred to as a ‘romantic’ by my writer friends, and it pleases me no end. I am in love with love. What is not to love here – I love life, I love writing, I love reading, I love music, dancing, my family, my friends, and love is everywhere. So what is this thing called ‘love’?”
“Ink to paper is thoughtful
Ink to flesh, hard-core.
If Shakespeare were a tattooist
we’d appreciate body art more.
~Carrie Latet”
On a hot summer day a stranger intrudes into an air-conditioned private home in Delhi and leaves food for thought about old age, pride and the dignity of labor.
First blog post on The Chatty Divas.