Nimi's Blog

The very mention of the word 'Magic' fills my head with varied, enchanting images. Here I make a conscious effort of segregating them. 1. My son, who just stepped into his teenage went through a phase of being exceptionally fascinated with magic tricks. It started when a magician performed at his fifth birthday party. Fueled by certain TV shows that, he would keep pretending and practicing to be a magician. Image Source I have this vivid memory of a dinner we had with some friends and my son had everyone glued to his magical ways throughout. 2. Next image is from the movie 'Stepmom'. A mother, dying of cancer, makes a magician' cape for her son. The cape has pictures of mother and son on it. In a wonderfully emotional movie, it is one of my favorite scenes. 3. Then, there was the magic show at Goa. A few years back we stayed at Heritage Village Resort in Goa. One evening, a magic show was performed by a man, who needed none of the magicians props - n...

My first password consisted of my nickname and some digits from my birth date. Anyone who knows me could have easily guessed it. This was back in the times of dial-up networks and no internet at home. The nearest 'internet cafe' we had to our house was a small grocery shop, which also had a photocopier, a fax machine, and a computer. This computer was always covered. The monitor, the CPU, the keyboard, the mouse and the modem each individually protected from the dirt of the outside world.  This password lasted for years. Somewhere along the line, I realized a better password was needed.  I was sitting in front of the computer at home (yes, this was years later when there were PC and dial-up internet at home). This time the password was the brand name of the UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) lying near my feet. This idea lasted for a while. The word on the mouse pad, the brand of the office bag, etc. combined with some digits (usually birthdate of some fa...

He was lonely, new at boarding school. No one cared and he had no friends. 'I am not staying here', he thought. 'Hey there, you mom's on phone', someone called. He smiled and thought, 'Things are not so bad'.

I am not a staunch supporter of either Aam Aadmi Party or Arvind Kejriwal, not that I am completely opposed to them either. I find it important to clarify this, in the beginning, because I am not writing this to campaign for the individual or the party. It is just that I feel may be 'The East Winds are coming' (Reference from a quote by Arthur Conan Doyle ) It's a major problem (or benefit) with me that in most cases, I see both sides of the coin. This leads to a situation where I am usually seen discussing the pros and cons in an argument/discussion, debating from both sides it seems. In very rare cases do I see things as black and white? I had certain apprehensions against the Anna Movement too. I couldn't see how, constitutionally, the Lokpal Bill could be passed in the deadline that Anna Hazare had provided. And it was not. But the movement that Anna Hazare started went on to change what India expects, it seems. Another problem of mine, is my cynicism whic...

This is my second blog about Role Model. The first one, The Dilemma of a Role Model , had me looking within, trying to name one person as my Role Model. I look around me, I am confused. There is not one person I know, personally or from a distance, fictional or real that I aspire to be like. Let me have a mix of, maybe, 15-20 people and I may identify different qualities. Then, I started wondering if there is a problem with me. I guess, there is. I cannot just say that someone is my role model - after all who is perfect? But as I kept pondering over this whole 'role model' thing, my thoughts took a spiritual turn. According to Guru Granth Sahib ji, the final destination of each of us humans is to become like God, or to become one with God. We will continue to be in this vicious cycle of one rebirth after another, as one species or another, till we become one with God. This ultimate destination can be achieved only as a human (not as any other lifeform/species) and ...

Oxford Dictionary defines Role Model as "A person looked to by others as an example to by others as an example to be imitated". Image taken from here Now, I start racking my brains, thinking of past and present, real and reel and books... to come up with that one name, that one person, who I want to imitate... that one person I want to be like. I had a teacher in middle school - Bhupinder Ma'am. Her sincerity and honesty and caring nature had me wanting to be like her. I admire her still, but I no longer see her through the eyes of a child. From the perspective of a grown-up, I cannot name her as my role model. Then there's Mrs Rani Kultar Singh who taught me history for a year. In all my student years, that was the only time that not just did history make sense, I loved it too. And she had an enthusiasm towards life and such knowledge of interesting trivia that we would be spellbound throughout the class. As for my family, I know I take them for g...

I grew up in a home where I was expected to be back home before dark. In Delhi, during winters, it can mean as early as 5 pm. And then there was the issue of not being allowed to stay the night at a friend's place or a relative's place (without my parents) for most of my growing years. I rebelled against this... but my father would be willing to pick me up late at night rather than let me stay there. Now when I read about young girls being molested by uncles or friend's father,etc., I can understand the reason behind this 'strictness'. Being home at night before dark speaks of the danger outside. The second part is about dangers within the supposedly safe four walls. My parents tried their best to protect me from the evil hidden within the many seemingly normal, happy families. I, at times, wonder about the benefits of Joint Families. Whenever one discusses the pros and cons of joint families, no one brings up how unsafe a young girl (even a toddler) is sur...

Dear... I just realised that I have no idea how to address you. So I will try to keep it simple to begin with. Dear Surya ji, I have an uncle, a 'Maama', who gets its light from you. He gets to be the cool dude, and you never openly take the credit.  We gaze lovingly at the cool dude and admire it. The fairer sex even gets compared to it... it's supposed to be flattering. I am talking about the moon here, the one that actually has no light of its own. But moonlight is a word, which I think, is used more often than sunlight. You, on the other hand, seem to have the reputation of the angry, unapproachable one. No one dares look you in the eye. I like to think that it is a matter of respect though, more than fear. I do 'Surya Namaskar' every morning... alright, not every single morning, but as often as possible.  And, I might as well be honest about my reasons. The primary reason is exercise. But I like the idea of doing 'Namaskar' to you,...