July 23, 2016

Ten to One: Get to know me better

Today while reading Shilpa’s blog I came across this prompt; and I felt like blogging; glad to have done this exercise.. here goes my response  from Ten to One… 

Ten How’s

How did you get one of your scars?
In the kitchen while cooking a drop of hot oil fell on my hand leaving a scar on my hand.
How did you celebrate your last birthday?
At home, with thanksgiving prayer, cutting cake and enjoying dinner with family and few close friends.
How are you feeling at this moment?
Calm and relaxed
How did your night go last?
End of the day tired and sleepy
How did you do in high school?
Not too well struggled with maths and science
How did you get the shirt you are wearing?
I don’t wear shirts
How often do you see your best friends?
There is no fixed schedule; it’s been some time.
How much money did you spend last month?
I did not spend much.
How old do you want to be when you get married?
Your question came in late, am married for 16 years now.
How old will you be at your next birthday?
As young as my heart

Nine what’s

Your mother’s name?
Rosemary
What did you do last weekend?
Attended church, cooked, washed clothes, and watched television
What is the most important part of your life?
My family and work
What would you rather be doing?
Volunteering and be of service but I need to be financially healthy too.
What did you last cry over?
Last week looking at my son’s photographs, could not control my tears as so many memories of him flooded me and was missing him.
What always makes you feel better when you are upset?
A walk in the park and a meeting a friend to vent.
What’s the most important thing you look for in a significant other?
Authenticity, Optimism and sense of humor
What did you have for breakfast?
Upma

8 You’s

Have you ever liked someone who had a girlfriend/boyfriend?
Yes
Have you ever had your heart broken?
Yes, so many times
Have you ever been out of the country?
No. Would love to, It’s my dream to travel and go around visiting different countries
Have you ever done something outrageously dumb?
Yes and was felt embarrassed
Have you ever been backstabbed by a friend?
Yes
Have you ever had sex on the beach?
No  but enjoy playing near the shores
Have you ever read an entire book in a day?
Yes in my younger days,  as a single  I was very passionate about reading, and could complete books in day eagerly. Now I am trying but not succeeding.

7 Who’s

Who was the last person you saw?
David
Who was the last person you texted?
My friend
Who was the last person you hung out with?
My neighbor
Who was the last person to call you?
Dhoordharshan channel, they wanted to know about Sahayam, our psychological counseling centre and its activities.
Who did you last hug?
My daughter
Who is the last person who texted?
A close friend
Who was the last person you said “I love you “to
My nephew

6 where’s

Where do you best friends live?
Hyderabad, Vizag, Chennai
Where did you last go?
Young Women Christian Association, Secunderabad to plan review the community programmes.
Where did you last hang out?
YWCA group
Where did you go to school?
Holy Family Girls High school, Secunderabad.
Where is your favorite place to be?
Garden full of trees
Where did you sleep last night
At home

5 do’s

Do you think anyone likes you?
Yes
Do you ever wish you were someone else?
No- I have moved out of that stage of wanting to be someone else; today I am glad to be me
Do you know the muffin man?
Heard the name somewhere, but don’t know
Does the future scare you?
Yes - sometimes
Do your parents know about your blog?
They may be knowing as they are no more in this world, must be watching from above

4 why’s

Why are you best friends with your best friend?
They help me be myself
Why did you get into blogging?
To inspire and also be inspired
Why did your parents give you the name you have?
My parents did not give me the name; my parents were very simple and devout Catholics, so every child born in my family was taken to the church and accordingly the nuns helped them to look at the church calendar, and they would chose according to the date and the feast of the saint. Since I was born in the last week of December, the nearest feast was of saint Genevive and Angela was added by the sisters.
Why are you doing this survey?
I was motivated to do this after reading Shilpa’s blog http://shilpaagarg.com and Roshan’s blog http://www.godyears.net

3 If’s

If you could have one super power what could it be?
To help me solve some my students psychological problems
If you could go back in time and change one thing would you?
Yes I would
If you are stranded on a desert island and could bring one thing what would you bring?
I don’t know what that would be

2 would you ever?

Would you ever get back if one of your ex’s ever asked you?
No, I had learnt my lessons and prefer to move on…
Would you ever shave your head to save someone you love ?
Yes
1 last question
Are you happy with your life right now?

Yes happy and content with a lovable family, meaningful work and motivating friends.

Happy to be linking here and thanks to corinne


July 22, 2016

Getting back to Practicing Gratitude

It feels good to write after a long time, especially when you don’t feel like writing, unwell for some time, no motivation to post. I felt the best thing to do is to count my blessings and write a gratitude post to focus on all the positive aspects of life, and keep myself happy. There is so much to be thankful for especially in the last month.

Attended the wedding of Pierre Patrick, who is my friend Theresa’s son. Theresa and I have been great friends for the last 3 decades. We have stayed together in the same hostel in Chennai and part of a prayer group in our younger days.  We have always stood by each other and have kept in touch even after we have been married. Theresa worked as a school teacher and retired a few years ago, she and her husband worked very hard, educated their children helped them to graduate, built their own house and they were helping  their son to settle down with the girl of his choice. 

Theresa invited me two months in advance ensuring me to book my travel tickets to Vellore (Tamilnadu) to attend the wedding. I booked the tickets for all three of us, and David too was happy to take a small break as he could not accompany us to the north east trip. In the last minute David had to drop out as his mother was unwell and so I and my daughter attended this wedding.  I was happy to connect with my friend and stayed with the family, had a nice time and also took chance to go around Vellore.
Christian Counseling Centre


Church at Vellore


Vellore is one of the districts of tamilnadu and is very prominent for institutions like the   Christian medical college (CMC) which is supposed to be the second best in the county and Vellore Institute of technology (VIT) is one of the best private engineering college. I have heard about the CCC – Christian Counseling Centre that conducts full time counseling and was inspired by the founders. I took time to meet Dr B.J. Prashantham who is the director of this centre and was touched by his hospitality. He not only welcomed me and my daughter to this centre but also facilitated a meeting with his staff in sharing about their activities.
Dr Prashantam, Director, CCC with me and my daughter

I felt blessed by his gesture for he also took us for lunch and sightseeing in Vellore. I am grateful and inspired by his simplicity, warmth and generosity. He also gave me copies of Indian Journal of Psychological Counseling which is published by the CCC.  The research articles published in this journal was enlightening and inspired me to also look into contributing some articles related to the area of my work.
Vellore Golden temple

After the wedding my friend Theresa took us around Chennai and took care of us; till it was time for us to travel back to Hyderabad. Soon we got into the routine, my daughter school reopened and I got back to work at the campus and was glad to meet my students.
South Indian Restaurant, Vellore

This year as the word I chose for myself was “Explore” and in so many ways I felt I was exploring myself in being healthy and fit one on side, renovated our home this summer which was a dream come true and brought so much of happiness to our family. 
St Thomas Mount, Chennai

Airport View from Thomas mount

Having family and friends praying, affirming, helping and encouraging us made a huge difference and we are grateful to God to have given us the right persons to work, who went out of their way in suggesting and helping us decide in choosing the material, buying and getting it done, sometimes working late hours and completing the work even on a Sunday. 

There is a lot more to be grateful for and I shall continue to do so in my next post, gratitude keeps me healthy and happy as well.

Be Blessed and Be Happy!

July 1, 2016

Guwahti – Gate way to North East!

It’s always nice to take a break and come back to my space to relive my pleasant experiences and as I keep writing and expressing myself, there is joy and gratitude for everything that has gone by and it only makes me thank God for every opportunity and experience. 

This year truly as I declared for myself is a year of exploration and so far I am glad for the last six months for so many experiences of visiting new places, makes small changes in my thinking patterns, life style and also gave a new look to my house with making the required changes.  I have still so much to share about my North east trip and today I want to share about my visit to Guwahti. 



Guwahti, as rightly called is the gate way to the North east. If you want to travel around north east, we have to go via Guwahti. So we travelled by road from Guwahti to Meghalaya and enjoyed visiting all the places in this state by road and came back to Guwahti. We spent one day in Guwahti and visited few places within the limited time that we had.

Guwahti is very popular for the temples and I visited two very famous temples, one is the kamakya temple which is built  Kamakhya Temple is pre Aryan situated atop the Nilachal Hill. The foremost shrine of Assam, it right on the top of a hill and we can the whole city of Guwahti from here.We also visited the Umananda temple which is in the middle of the Brahmaputra River. We need to take a boat ride to this place, which is supposed to be the smallest riverine island in the world. It was interesting to see this place which had very few in habitants; there were shops and lot of greenery.




I took opportunity to visit one my very old colleague, with whom I have worked for 13 years and now she is settled in this place. It was a pleasure to spent time with her and relive beautiful memories, had lunch with her and stayed on till evening hours and returned back to the hotel.   I felt so energized and happy for having met my friend and also for going around this city, travelled by rickshaw after so many years.


The last time I travelled in rickshaw was with my mother, almost 3 decades ago… as I don’t get to see any rickshaw, we have autos and cabs now in Hyderabad. I enjoyed sitting with my daughter, also took some pictures. I was missing the south Indian breakfast and found a nice place in Guwahti and enjoyed my favourite masala dosa in this restaurant. I went around window shopping in the evening hours picked some Assam tea leaves, for David as he enjoys making tea in the morning. 


Being Sunday not many shops were open and so we moved to another friends house and enjoyed Chinese noodles for dinner, came back to the hotel with gratitude to get ready to pack for the next morning flight to Calcutta.

Memories are the timeless treasure of the heart J

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