August 2025 Gratitude

“Gratitude during hardship doesn’t ignore pain, rather it helps carry it.”

August is ending today, 31 days of the month is passing by; we are completing 8 months of 2025 – I am overwhelmed with gratitude for God’s mercy and kindness. I am happy to write this post as it’s easy to focus on what is missing in life and forget what is already there in our lives, for we often think of what we lack and what we are missing out in life, thinking about our past with regrets or worried about what the future holds, which does not allow us to live life fully and joyfully in the present moments of our lives. 

This is main reason I have learnt over a period of time, to be always grateful and live a life of gratitude, for Gratitude shifts the lens of our eyes and lifts the weight of regrets and discouragements of the past and insecurities of the future.

I want to pause and acknowledge every small little thing I have in my life – from the roof that I live is secure and there’s a comfort that allows me to rest and  my heart that kept beating all along, breath filling my lungs, food that is on my table, friends who care, family that supports, all those who serve, to make my life easy, the domestic help, the milk supply, provisions that comes home month after month, the garbage collectors who ensure to empty our bins, the medical shop, the mechanic who takes care of my bike and so many of these  moments that look so ordinary in  life, but they are actually miracles that I am blessed and favored  everyday.

Gratitude is not my weakness but it’s my strength – an energy that keeps me going, not just allowing me to stay positive, but also setting my mind in the right direction. Some people have called it toxic positivity, as it appears that I am blind to the challenges of life and living in a delusionary world. But I don’t see that way for I am fully aware of my difficulties. I do feel it intensely and even acknowledge those emotions – as life has taught me that Feelings are not FACTS and they are subject to pass. Gratitude is not just an emotion when life feels easy, but it’s a choice, a discipline and a way of seeing. When we choose gratitude we don’t deny pain rather declare that God is still faithful in the middle of pain. As I begin the new month I want to be grateful for the whole month of August. Here goes my gratitude list:

 I am grateful for:

Aparna’s birthday, we (friends) celebrated her at a joint that we have never gone before – it was another part of the city, almost 22kms - a Dhaba.  She treated us with delicious dinner, we cut a cake, brought small little gifts for each other to celebrate friendship.

The next day was friendship day and it perfect time for us to affirm and appreciate one another for the gift of friendship which has lasted more than a decade that we have become family.  It warms my heart to be surrounded by friends who care and are in touch almost every day of my life.

Surprises in this month- I had my neighbor who had made mango pickles and generously sent it to us, there was another friend of mine who visited her home town and she brought one big bottle of pickle, another colleague also sent me some snacks and pickles. I am thankful that I have people who add spice in our lives J

Dorothy is getting adjusted to her college – and happy to teach the college students, it’s a blessing that she found something to be busy with, and I love to listen to her classroom stories of her students and how they admire her and acknowledge her efforts. I was glad to accompany Dorothy for a wedding of her college mate at a beautiful place called the Paigah Palace in the city, this gave me a sense of the history of the Nizams, which is one of the oldest palaces and well maintained. 

The wedding began at 10 p.m as it was a Muslim wedding, Dorothy was happy to meet the bride and other friends; we were moving around this place and had a lovely time, good food authentic Hyderabad cuisine features iconic delicacies with rich Biryani, slow cooked meat mutton stew, chilly curry, kebabs, tangy egg plant curry, a lot more of rotis, buns, plenty of salads, apricot dessert, ice-cream, cakes with custard.These moments are beautiful as I and Dorothy also enjoy spending time together, taking selfie’s and enjoying the irani chai which was unlimited beginning as a welcome drink, as the weather was cold after a heavy rain and the chai was available till the end of meal.

Glad to have spent some time, volunteering to be with the YWCA staff, as we were marketing the products made by our community women. I also loved playing a couple of games at this FETE, me and my friend Indira won the game of holding the brick with three fingers for 70 seconds...  we tried guessing the weight of the cake, and we played a game wherein we targeted to hit with 6 balls which needs to fall in at least 3 Glasses out of many, and we joined in the tambola.

I went around with my friends to  the food stalls we tasted chicken lollipop s which was yum, some chicken kababs, chicken cheese rolls, brownie and lemonade with Jaggery. We clicked some photos moving around and yes ! It was Independence Day as well as the feast of Assumption of our Lady at St Mary’s Cathedral, Secunderabad.

Dr Beena my Director at Sahayam Counseling centre decided to host a lunch to celebrate some of the scholars who submitted and completed their PhD, still others who have been actively involved in the Prison work and all the other projects taken up by Sahayam. This lunch was special as we not only had our lunch but we took time to our share our individual journeys and our association with her for many years of our lives. 

It was inspiring that all of us had unique experiences, some were scholars, the others were established in the different aspects of life, some in the corporate world, still others in teaching, and me as a consultant had a long journey too … it was a 14 years journey when I walked into this centre as a Psychological counselor feeling inadequate, depressed (I had just lost my 7 year old son in 2011).

As I look back with gratitude I had so much to share about my journey – I completed two Post graduation programmes in Psychology & Philosophy, and got certified as Master Trainer for HIV &AID as a part of the Global funding project, Counseling Supervisor for ICTC(Integrated Counseling Testing centres) for a 3 Centres in the city. I constantly updated myself in order to be relevant, and recently completed my certification in YOGA and a Diploma in Nutrition and Health Education.

I am grateful to my work place for I had enough people coming for counseling, there were some very difficult cases to deal with, which I refer to others who can handle better and continue to stay in touch with them for offering support counseling.

I am also grateful for the opportunity for  I did a session on Adolescent Mental health to the Staff of Little Flower Degree College in the city . It was part of the Faculty development programme.  I enjoyed the session interacting with the staff and sharing my experiences of working with adolescents.

I am grateful that I could connect with my cousin Maria Bambina -  I recall so many holidays spent at my aunts place, and I and Bambi used to visit the Golconda fort as it was walk-able distance from their house, we watched movies together and used to have a lot of fun. My aunt was good at cooking, baking and bambi inherited some qualities of knitting, doll making, stitching embroidery and also good in language, she studied Hindi and taught Hindi as she qualified to be a Hindi pundit. 

Once they built their own house and shifted beyond Golconda it became difficult to stay in touch, then our lives changed due to marriage and children. This month was her birthday on the 17^th, so I decided to visit her one day before as it was a holiday for me to celebrate her; for she was not keeping well, had asthmatic attack, she had a knee replacement surgery. I felt deeply for her and took time to spend the day with her and family. 

The end of the month I am glad to attend a first birthday of a child by name Hayden, along with Dorothy as it was one her friends nephew-surprisingly the child was so happy and smiled away all the time cutting cake, enjoying the music and posing for photographs.

I am still smiling completing this posts, being Sunday I am glad to attend church and listen to the sermon which was all about humility and doing good to others. As the new month unfolds I pray to the Lord Almighty to bless all of us and grant us good health especially with the current weather here a lot of people are falling sick.

Thanks for reading my post; hope you had a great month.

Be Happy & Be Blessed.

June 2024 Gratitude

“Life is a puzzle and every experience you face is a piece that eventually forms a bigger picture.”

The month of June was welcoming– I am glad to post today as it’s a new month and my pleasure to reflect on the past month, a reminder that not just 30 days of June but  6 months are gone  never to come back.  It’s a new month and I feel overwhelmed with gratitude for everything I experienced, in this month – some moments of happiness, sadness, discomforts, pain, learnings, all together that kept me alive, moving and grateful. 

Here are some of the highlights of this month.

I started riding to my work place, after my cataract surgery I was not riding for some time, now I am happy  that I could use my bike for attending work; regularly meeting clients, addressing different issues, helping some of them with referrals and some just motivating and encouraging and maintaining the records at the centre.

I am grateful for Dr Beena, in charge Director of our centre, for visiting the centre; it’s a blessing to have a mentor who can constantly guide and inspire. A person with a vision  who understands mental health and is passionate about helping students and enthusiastic in making a difference in the lives of those around in the campus.

I am thankful to God for the gift of friends who work in the area of mental health. We are happy to work, refer clients, share knowledge and update one another.  We celebrated Amina’s birthday at a Restaurant name Exotica, Hyderabad.  The weather changed and it was raining heavily but it did not stop us from coming together, as all of us waited enthusiastically for this meeting and we had a great time affirming and celebrating Amina.

This month I developed some infection in my ear and it caused a lot of problems; I had to consult an ENT doctor who gave me antibiotics for a week; and then another doctor as the problem was not solved. Then I found there was a swelling of my right ear, a small abscess outside on the top of the outer ear (Pinna).  Thanks be to God for my doctor who identified early enough to remove the pus and put betadine and closed it with a small plaster. This took almost two weeks to heal, this is caused due to multiple factors according to the doctor, and he says sometimes there is some imbalance caused in the ear. It could also be because of the sugar levels and thankfully I am healed now.

“Be strong; you never know who you are inspiring” Unknown

I am grateful for the experience as I have never had this kind of a pain, this experience made me reflect and take care of myself and also value everything I had in my life – my daughter Maria Dorothy was an angel taking care of me especially dressing the wound everyday both in the morning and evening when I came back from work. She was also attending college, writing her assignments and was also taking care of me.

David was ensuring that I get all the medicines and whatever I needed. My sister in law Anuja was of great help as she helped Dorothy in the kitchen so I did not have to bother about anything, there was no stress for me as I was provided with everything needed and I feel immensely thankful to God as to how I survived and got out this terrible pain. I stopped riding and took auto every day to the campus, grateful that I had this facility and was comfortable to work.

I am thankful for my classmates who visited me and spent some time with our family- it was nice to have people around especially when they surprise you. This month our class mates celebrated birthday of Saroj and we went out for a dinner –I felt good after all this experience of pain and resting at home, it was a good break to go out and enjoy with friends with good food, and celebrating the gift of life. Saroj is an old friend of mine, also my classmate, my family knows her well and we have been family friends for many years, we were happy to celebrate her birthday.

This month was the Father’s day and I felt like making a post- so I posted a picture of him and me and wrote 3 things that I liked about my father, he was a man of prayer and his simplicity and profound faith in God sustained him till the end of his life, he loved good food and enjoyed food with friends and relatives who visited us and he was very generous with himself – never saved anything for himself but gave everything for the family and thinking about him made me feel grateful.

I put this picture for this is special for me as I recalled when I had this hair cut he was so happy to see me look differently and affirmed me J I am also grateful for  he always encouraged and never stopped me from continuing my education.

My younger sister Leena was interested in trying out some Kerala cuisine at a restaurant near my residence. So one Sunday she just stopped by and we went to SWAD restaurant for lunch where they served us appam (pancake made of rice) and paratha (wheat chapattis) with spiced black chick peas and some chicken roast. I am grateful for this time and for trying out something different for lunch.

I am grateful to be connected with tree lovers group and managed to post on second Thursdays and fourth Thursdays facilitated by Parul who is an inspiration for me. This is the link for the tree lovers: http://happinessandfood.com/tag/treelove/

I am grateful for all those people who are part of my lives, my colleagues at work who are kind, neighbors, all the service providers, YWCA of Secunderabad where I get to be involved in project / community work, for all those people who inspire me.  I am happy to be reading a lot of content related to philosophy as part of my preparation for my exam in the coming month.

This month I am glad to have watched Mamla Legal Hai- its an Hindi web series light humor on Net flicks, also the Great Indian Kapil show for my entertainment and some laughter.. There are still a lot more things to be grateful for; I end my post here, hope you had a great month.

Thanks for reading my post,

Be Blessed & Be Happy!

May 2024 Gratitude

“Life is what happens when you’re busy making other plan.” John Lennon

Thanks to Dr Prakash for this click

May 2024 was magical for I had a new lens after the surgery – the world looked very bright, and it was a great feeling to see with such clarity. I loved the brightness around me; I followed the doctor’s advice to protect my eye from sun and flashy lights. I stopped driving my two wheeler; loved the luxury of travelling by auto every day to my work place.

 As we complete 31 day s of May – I feel immensely grateful to God for so many blessings. I am eager to write this post for it’s a great experience to review the month and see the journey and appreciate every little experience that has given me both joy and lessons.

 Here is my gratitude list :

 I am grateful for the gift of my eyes- while I moved around with dark glass to protect my eye and also ensured that I followed the doctor’s advice, went for a couple of reviews and got my reading glasses too. I feel blessed that everything went on smoothly; as I was frightened of the surgery, worried about so many things to handle – now I feel silly to have bothered so much, am glad it’s all over and it was just a matter of time, with God’s grace I had everything lined up for me for the surgery and within a month things fell in place and I am almost getting back to the routine.

 I am grateful for my family who took care of me, ensuring that I never enter the kitchen and made sure that I am comfortable, there was no stress and I never took the bike out, but used the auto to reach my work place.

I am grateful for the work environment and my colleagues – especially my Director in charge  who gives me a so much space; giving me flexible working hours, that  helped me recover faster. At the same time ensuring that work does not suffer and respond to what was required to be done at the counseling centre.

I am grateful for the long suffering that came to an end this month. My second brother Francis Viagula dass breathed his last on the 4^th of this month. He was suffering from Parkinson’s for few years and he was getting to the end stage – muscle stiffness and freezing, could also see the cognitive changes, psychosis and the last time that I met him, there was profound memory loss which was making it hard for him to remember people.

He was disoriented and this was a difficult experience for me as I had never seen my brother this way. I prayed for healing and death is a healing too as it puts an end to all the physical suffering. I am grateful for his family especially my nephew Sunny Emmanuel who took care of him till his last breath. I am grateful to God for brother Francis was part of my journey too and he was a prayerful person, always lived within his means; which I admired and he chose to live a simple life.

I am grateful for the celebrations too- There was a wedding too in this month, one of our close family friends, almost like an extended family, Dorothy was one of the bridesmaids.   She was busy with all the preparations,  practicing for the dance performances they planned for the wedding. I was glad that she was taking initiative in helping her friends, we were there for the pre wedding celebration and the wedding celebration too- I met some of our old neighbors connected with them and with good food and good old friends it’s always a pleasant experience.

I am grateful for my friends – Aparna, a close friend  had shifted into a bigger house, which was her dream to have her own specific area to work. We as friends were happy for her dream that is a reality now, we celebrated, re connected with one another. We made fun of each other, made some reels for our own entertainment, shared all the funny moments, laughed loudly, enjoyed delicious food and created wonderful memories.

I am grateful that this month was also voting month; which was scheduled for the 13^th of May in Telangana. I was glad to exercise my power to vote. I got up early hours and in the first hour went to the polling station with my voter id ensured that I voted, and encouraged those around me to cast their vote. I am also glad that for Dorothy it’s her first time voting experience and David took her along with him and explained the process to her, and they both voted too.

I am grateful to connect on phone an old colleague; we worked for many years in my previous organization. She was in the city for a short duration and we met her for breakfast and went around in the nearby area for shopping as she wanted to pick up some things for her daughter. I am happy for this was a surprise as I was meeting her after a long time; while   our daughters went around picking up stuff that they wanted. We were busy connecting with where we left behind our last conversation.

This month Mother’s day was special for me- as it brought in lovely memories of my mother, she was  a generous soul, filled with faith, trusted the Lord at all times, was regular to church and participated in some of the activities in the church, despite being so busy with household chores, we had no domestic help and she handled everything by herself and loved being with people around, glad for so many beautiful memories – that I couldn’t resist but post a picture of hers with mine, grateful for her in my life.

I am grateful for my association with the YWCA of Secunderabad – wherein I am involved in facilitating activities related to women empowerment. This month there was a visit from the South East Region to ensure that the standards are maintained as per the norms of National as well as the International YWCA. I was glad to be there interacting with the team, it was learning experience for me and was also opportunity connecting with the like minded friends.

I am grateful that despite everything that was happening around me and in – I was able to complete my assignments two weeks before submission. I am happy learning so much in this subject (Philosophy) while I was writing the assignments I was inspired to study on  Sikhism, Sufism and Shri Aurobindo’s” thoughts and theories. As I kept learning I am beginning to understand that there is so much to learn in life.  Some of the quotes that made me smile while reading western philosophy was as follows:

“Sometimes people don’t want to hear the truth, because they don’t want their illusions to be destroyed” Fried Nietzsche

 “There are no Facts but only Interpretation” Fried Nietzsche

I am happy to have watched a great movie in Hindi called the Laapata Ladies- thanks to my daughter for showing me this movie. The social messages were conveyed subtly and simply. The movie is positive, encouraging and humorous. You will smile, laugh and could get emotionally connected too.. its worth watching and happy to have entertained myself with a good movie.

These are some of the things that keep me grateful, there is more things to add but I stop here and just high light what is unforgettable. I am glad and grateful and look forward to the coming months with hope, faith and love, for I believe everything always works together for our good, especially for those who trust in the Lord.

Thanks for reading my post, hope you had a great May 2024!

Be Blessed & Be Happy!

April 2024 Gratitude

“I’m thankful for my struggle because without it I wouldn’t have stumbled across my strength” Anonymous

April was full of surprises from the beginning till the end of the month. I was wondering whether I would be able to make this post at all. As life keeps challenging me as I keep moving on with gratitude in my heart, knowing for sure that everything is subject to pass…  and I expect life to be tough, as it keeps me grounded allowing me to grow, in tough times and be healed while renewing my faith and continue to count my blessings. Thanks be to God that despite all odds I could find way to  write this post.

This month I had scheduled weekend classes for Philosophy; I was glad to attend a few of them, even though I desired to attend all the weekend classes, there were other commitments that took priority.

I was at the centre every day and there were not many students, but surprisingly I had some of the students bringing in elders in the family, already diagnosed and on medication for support counseling. I am inspired by their concern and care – there was one student who is studying psychology because of her mom who is depressed with Obsessive compulsive disorder, still I had another parent bringing his son with mental illness.

There were also student who could not come to the centre because of the distance but were depressed and suicidal. This month there were almost 2 to 3 cases related to suicidal ideations due to academic pressure, still others were due to situations they could not handle. My heart goes out to them and I tried my best to enable them to take help and a couple of them I referred to the doctor.

I am grateful for my classmates who are keep updating about what I am missing in the class and communicating and sending me the notes and assignments on whatsapp – so that I too complete all the assignments along with them for submission. I am glad to have people who are supportive showing concern for their classmates.

I am grateful for my colleagues from my previous office who met after a long time; Annie who worked with us for more than a decade had come from US for a short break and she ensured that all of us met together for lunch. I am grateful for these friends who celebrated me by cutting a cake and honoring me for the success of my PHD degree. I admired how Merle baked this special Rum cake for me and also made this beautiful crochet of the shawl with my favorite color. I am filled with thankfulness for the time she has taken almost a month to make this beautiful shawl. I appreciate her efforts and patience, the time she took despite being regular at her work place. 

I had a great time connecting with them and it was so much fun enjoying a sumptuous meal and also meeting the rest of the gang- some of the traveled from other state after their retirement. Thanks to Merle the admin of our whatsapp group who plans these events for the group.  It’s a blessing to stay connected with our old friends who are a joy to meet; for they bring in happiness and fond memories of our past.

This month I watched one Telugu movie DJ Tillu square, a sequel to the 2022 film DJ Tillu which I watched along with Dorothy, it was fun and entertainment.  Also watched an English movie Confessions of a Shopaholic on Television, enjoyed how the movie shows addictions can damage a person’s life, very relatable how youngsters can get into addictions with plenty of humor.

This month I was due for my eye check up- I am grateful for the Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS) wherein David has a provision for the family, we have an access for health care. When I went to the dispensary, they gave me a list of hospital where I can get my eye checked. I chose Maxi Vision which I had gone earlier in 2019 and they said this hospital is not covered under the CGHS. 

I found this hospital is covered under this scheme now which made it easy for me as they had the old records and details of my check up –I am grateful  that everything was lined up for me and I did not have to think much about anything as the process has been made much easier. Just with a permission letter the hospital begins the process and it’s a blessing that all the tests were done, some nine of them and everything was normal.

I am grateful to God for the good health, and one cataract surgery was done for my right eye on the 17th April and another one was recommended within a week, so I got my left eye cataract was done on the 25^th April 2024.

I am grateful for my place of work that gave me the required time to get both the surgeries done and as per the doctor’s check up and review I am responding well and still in process of healing I am wearing the dark glasses whenever I need to go out especially to the hospital.  I can’t believe that that I had gone through two surgeries with a span of week in the same month. I am grateful for every person who encouraged me, helped me. When the first surgery was done I had two of my friends along with me in the hospital like angels waiting for me to come out of the operation theatre, along with David and Dorothy.

When the second surgery was done I had Arushi my friend’s daughter with Dorothy and David. I believe that these angels were sent from above and the right time of my life; and I was overwhelmed with gratitude as I believe that God’s timings are perfect.

I feel blessed for my daughter Dorothy who was so particular in following the doctor’s advice and she was with me every day putting eye drops every hour, she timed on the cell phone and ensured strictly that I don’t enter the kitchen and  along with Anuja my sister in law who was great help. With David around and my friends regularly visiting me I am able to recover fast. The next appointment with the doctor is in the last week of this month.

The eye drops to be continued as per the doctor’s instruction – and I am able to work from home, talk to my students. I am able to help them out with referral services and still others I did tele counseling session.

I am gradually allowed to wash my hair and also get back to work, and to my regular routine…but with a lot of precaution. I continue to   wear the dark glass when I come out in the sun and keep walking at home, listening to worship songs, sometimes to pod cast, and still at other time I listen to academic lectures related to philosophy.  I miss riding my bike and attending church too, I  attend the  online mass and keep listening to inspiring videos.

I am grateful for the gift of  David in my life, and this month was his  Birthday on the 30^th April, we cut a small cake at home and he celebrated in the evening with his friends. I did not want to take a chance to go out in the night. But David ensured that I got my share of biryani J in the evening, as he knows, I  prefer early dinner so  he ensured that my dinner reached by 6.30 p.m and I enjoyed my dinner along with my sister in law who gave me company.

I am grateful for every person who I met in this month especially the doctor’s team who treated me with so much gentleness and my friends who stood with me holding my hands assuring me that they are praying for me. I am blessed to have people at my work place who kept me updated about the centre. My daughters friends too came home to see me and my nephew and sister in law were always there checking on me and praying or me.

 I am thankful, grateful and blessed for everything that has gone by.  I am looking forward to this new month with my new lens the world is looking much brighter and beautifulJ

 Thanks for reading my post, hope you had a great April 2024!

 Be Blessed & Be Happy !

March 2024 Gratitude

“The Secret of happiness is Gratitude”

The month came to an end with Easter Celebration, an important festival for us that reminds that there are no short cuts to salvation and we have to walk the path of Jesus of taking up our own cross and walking the Calvary road. I am happy to remind myself that life is tough, challenging and it will this way till the end of our lives; what is important is to walk in faith, finding our purpose, enjoying the journey and finding meaning and fulfillment as we reach our destinies.

So here are few highlights of this month that I am grateful for:

I am grateful for the community program of the YWCA of Secunderabad that focused on creating awareness on substance abuse in this community. I am inspired by the resource persons from the AA (Alcoholic Anonymous) group who came and shared their long journey of how they struggled with alcohol and now they are sober for more than a decade, and they are here to sensitize the community in helping them understand that alcoholism is a sickness and that needs to be treated. I returned home inspired by the women who never gave up and now making a difference in the lives of so many families who are devastated because of alcohol.

I am grateful for the sudden surprise of my younger sister who just came after the women’s day celebration at her office. At the same time the last brother in the family also came; even though we live in the same city, its not easy to meet as each of us have our own lives to live, so this was a pleasant surprise and I am glad that she took time to meet us.

I am grateful for another surprise lunch treat with a friend and her daughter; our daughters are friends too, glad that we connected with each other for lunch and our daughters too had a great time as they wanted to  try out some Chinese food. To have people who care for and enjoy a delicious meal is a blessing.

I am glad that my guide called me to attend a programme in the University – it was the NAAC(National Assessment & Accreditation Council) visit for higher education are graded based on certain criteria developed by the UGC.  (University Grant Commission). This was an opportunity for me to show my gratitude to the institution wherein I gained so much knowledge and completed a PG as well as my PHD too.

This was a meaningful experience for me as I listened to the other alumini’s who shared their experiences as to how facing all odds they rose up to shine in writing books and some of them have got even National award from the President of India for the Telugu literature, still others who excelled in some field. I was impressed with Dr Sajidha Khan who is the only Audio Engineer in the country working in the film industry and is into dubbing voices and other technical work. She was also a National award winner for her contribution in the Telugu Film Industry.

This month I am glad to be attending  birthday parties – a 60^th birthday of Neomi Nayak a very old friend of mine and I have great memories of her in my life; she was the God mother to my son and she was always kind and generous in her time with me. I was happy to attend with my family, to express my gratitude towards her; and it was a memorable day wherein we clicked pictures with her and also with family and friends.

I was glad to meet Dr Evita Fernandez – who shared an important part of my journey while giving birth to my first child Maria Dorothy.  She is one of the best n a top Gynecologist in the city and very friendly and helpful. I was happy to meet her as I had so much to be thankful for her in my life. I had been to her for both of my children and she was such a wonderful person who helped in the birthing process.

I am grateful for the birthday of one of my college mate, we have a group and we try as much to be in touch and regularly meet and celebrate one another. This month was Kasturi’s birthday and we planned for a lunch programme – as we had last met for my birthday in the month of December, hence we decided to meet have some fun. We played some quiz about knowing the birthday girl’s likes dislikes, favorite food, movies etc and it made us realize how much more we need to know about each other, and its always fun to bond with games like this; we cut the cake and had a delicious lunch and also took beautiful pictures for our memory.   I thank God for friends who are just a call away and we are there for each other giving company like the extended family.

I am also grateful for the different opportunities I get in academics, glad that I am now completing my Post graduation in Philosophy, an interesting subject and I feel that every one must understand the philosophy its origin and how it influences our lives. There is so much to learn and more I devote my time, the greater I realize that I know very little.   I am happy with the class mates who are studying, helping one another sharing notes and updating so that we do not miss out on anything.

I am also glad to be part of an interesting exercise which was to look at the interventions and see the impact that it has created in the government institutions. I am happy to be surrounded by people who are involved in meaningful work and looking at them I feel motivated too.

I am grateful for my centre wherein I get to go to work everyday- and there is always something to do, counseling, updating, reporting and connecting for referrals. It’s a blessing to be working in a helping profession as I listen to others, my challenges look very insignificant, and I value and appreciate what I have in my life – family, work, friends, academics, well wishers, praying people and all the service providers at home and outside.

These thoughts fill me with gratitude and give me a boost to move forward. There is so much more to add on like the holy week and services at our parish,  we could be together, meeting our friends at church, and having people around us to go for the midnight vigil mass, renew our faith in the Lord and continue our journey.

There were some discomforts too, some days were tiring and sometimes dealing with pressure at work and still other times meeting deadlines, attending meetings, making reports, updating my head and ensuring that everything is smooth at workplace as well as at home. Hope you enjoyed reading my post as I relived all these moments with gratitude.

I am happy to wind up this month with Easter Blessings!

Happy Easter to all who are reading my post,

May you and your families be Blessed!