I love mountains, I love snow and I love snow clad mountains, of course...and I invariably accompany D on at least one skiing trip every year...not for the love of skiing, though :-)
One of the reasons I accompany D on his annual skiing adventures is because I really hate hearing him crib and hold me responsible for being a deterrent to the growth of his adventurous spirit by not encouraging him to ski …any discussions on this issue always end up with us engaging in arguments about him not having enough space in the relationship to get involved in activities which he enjoys whereas I don't…well, well I am sure that would sound familiar to a lot of girls who are either married or in relationships and they would definitely vouch for the fact that “ the space in a relationship” issue is the basis of many an argument in most reasonably “normal” households …
Anyways, now coming back to the point…so the other day, while I was asserting my dislike for adventure sports, specifically skiing, a friend asked me something to the effect of why I couldn't or rather wouldn't allow D to go skiing alone with his friends…that got me thinking...there is definitely no real compulsion for me to accompany him on his skiing trips …after all I do give him the “space” and let him do a lot of other things on his own without being clingy…tennis, golf and not to forget most importantly I allow him to sit on the couch and gulp down can after can of beer while watching football, basketball and all those 'n' other sports, season after season after season :-), while I sacrifice watching many of the 'oh so entertaining' episodes of the “Desperate Housewives” in the process …
As a matter of fact, we did explore the option of him going skiing alone with his friends this one time a couple of years back…the plan was that while he was away, I would catch up on some chick flicks and some reading…but you know the kind of tricks the female mind plays in such scenarios…throughout that 12-14 hour period that he was away, I was distraught with scary speculations…my mind was clogged with horrifying thoughts and “what ifs”…'what if' he fell down and seriously hurt himself with no one around him to help him…'what if' he needed to make an emergency call and there was no cell phone signal on the slopes…'what if' he decided to break the promise he had made to me and graduate to those dangerously steep and treacherous “Black diamond” slopes….what if…what if…what if…I was scared…so much so that like the proverbial 'nag' I couldn't resist the urge to keep calling him every 10 -15 minutes to just check on him…needless to say, the day didn't go off as planned or as well as we would have liked for either of us…after this episode, the consensus was that for the peace of mind of both of us, we would either venture out on skiing trips together or wouldn't go at all …
As far as I am concerned, I have never been a fan of any form of adventure sports,whatsoever…so I always knew it was highly unlikely that I would develop a real passion for skiing…however I realized that to be able to make these skiing trips with D enjoyable, in addition to my skiing gear, all that I needed to be equipped with was the ability to laugh at myself (an absolute essential if you want to survive among those toddlers whizzing past you with such dexterity while you fumble,tumble and fall all over the place ) and an ability to chit-chat with “like minded” strangers loitering around at the base of the beginners' slopes….fortunately I have developed and nurtured both these abilities over the years…when I say “like minded” , I mean people who would much rather be cuddled up on a couch in front of the tv sipping hot chocolate rather than be on the ski slopes…:-) and believe it or not, you will them aplenty at the ski resorts...
Anyways, so the first time D and I went skiing, after the above mentioned episode, was supposed to be a two night “ romantic getaway” at the Show Shoe Resort in Virginia…I went out on to the snow all geared with skis and poles but without ear warmers and a hat…and as you can imagine, after slipping, sliding, falling and getting up a number of times, I was numb with cold and ended up spending the rest of the day getting pampered at the spa :-)….the second and third times we went skiing, I was in the company of like minded girlfriends and ended up spending the day at the base without venturing out on to the slopes, choosing instead to chit chat about our lives and catching up on all the gossip that was doing the rounds :-)...
This time around however, the couple of friends who were accompanying us on the skiing trip were all revved up about mastering the “art and science” of skiing…so I really didn't have much of a choice…
As soon as we reached the base, while D set out to ski on his own in the intermediate slopes, the other three of us took beginner ski lessons…to cut a long story short, I tried skiing down the beginners' slope a couple of times with my friends with little success to boast of ...I was never able to complete the whole ride downhill without falling …I would either fall while getting off the lift at the top of the hill or while trying to stop at some point on the slope while skiing downhill…
Close to the end of the day,while D was busy negotiating and skiing down dangerous terrains, a second friend of mine had graduated from the basic beginners' to the mid level beginners' slope while the third friend had reached the conclusion that as far as skiing is concerned 'you either get it or you don't' and he very wisely decided that he was better off sitting at the resort sipping coffee and watching a football game rather than venturing out on to the slopes again...so that left me…I decided to go back to the basic beginners' slope alone this time around…needless to say, I was scared…
The first time I came down the slope, I had a bad fall while trying to stop…there was this sweet little 5 year old girl, Sarah, who had taken the beginners' skiing lesson with me, who adroitly stopped near me on her way downhill and gave me a helping hand to get back on my feet...she egged me on to accompany her to the top of the slope and skii down again…and though I was still shaken after the bad fall, I didn't really have the heart to disappoint this little toddler…so I reluctantly decided to give this whole skiing thing another try …this time when I got off the lift at the top of the hill, I was still on my feet and didn't fall…that was one winner, for sure…I let Sarah ski down the hill first and thereafter started my venture downhill…as I gained momentum on my way down, I began to panic like I had the earlier times…I desperately wanted to stop …and in an attempt to do so, in skiing lingo, I “edged”, “wedged” and “turned” and to my amazement there I was in the middle of the hill at a complete standstill and very much on my feet …whoa….another winner here :-) …with renewed confidence I was prepared to negotiate the remaining part of the terrain downhill…and I think I did pretty well this time….'cause I reached the base of the slope in one piece and most importantly ,on my feet…and there they were Sarah and two of her little friends skiing up to me and congratulating me with 'high fives' … and I sure had a ear to ear grin on my face…after all this was my first successful skiing venture in all these years…whoa…I was in fact ecstatic…
Funny, embarassing, touching, exhilarating…if any experience could be all of this at once….this was it …a teeny weeny accomplishment in the big picture of things…but an accomplishment for me, nevertheles!
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Another year goes by...
2008 has whizzed past... just seems like the other day when D and I, on Jan 1 2008, were pondering over the achievements and failures of 2007 ,over cups of coffee, while nursing New Year's Eve party hangovers ...today, it’s already more than a year since then…
All said and done, by God’s grace, 2008 was a reasonably good year for both of us on the personal as well as professional fronts( touchwood)…
On the personal front, we set up our home together, had both sets of
parents and my brother visit us , reveled in the much awaited wedding of the family (D’s elder brother finally decided to take the plunge after years of self induced commitment phobia :-)), had some great times with friends and extended family…memories we’ll cherish forever…
On the professional front, both of us have progressed in our careers like we had hoped, albeit in small steps …
Not to forget, we’ve witnessed history in the making with the election of Barack Obama as the 44th president of the USA…not just that, it’s been a fun and enriching experience being gripped by phases of ‘Obamamania’ and witnessing a reinforcement of peoples’ belief in the enormity of the difference they can make with simple choices in a democratic nation…
As far as resolutions for the New Year go, on the personal front I never really make objective/measurable resolutions for myself…my resolutions are always hazy ,more in the likes of read more, sleep less, write more, weigh less, dump the piano, pick up the guitar, work hard, party harder…you get the gist …none of my personal resolutions are such that I can look back at the year gone by and objectively declare their fruition/failure…it’s great that I at least have ‘SMART’ (in managerial lingo, 'Specific Measurable Achievable Realistic Timebound') professional objectives for 2009 …that will keep my life balanced as far as resolutions are concerned, for sure…a complete dearth of objectives for a new year could potentially deem life directionless :-) whereas too many ‘SMART’ personal and professional resolutions can make a year of life end up becoming one helluva marathon with no finish line in sight …robbing life of its charm , of course, in the process … I do however hope that D manages to take his New Year resolution to fruition i.e. to quit smoking for good…we’ll see how that goes …keeping my fingers crossed…
As for what the year 2009 has in store for us…only time will tell…like D says, at the very least , all of us have a challenging year ahead ….with the uncertainties that define corporate America, the meltdown of it’s financial system and the repercussions of the same being observed in the global markets, the best we can do is hope and pray that we are able to ride out the storm and come out of the crises unscathed…or if not unscathed ,at least we have the resilience to come out of the crises stronger as individuals …we’ll see how things go…hopefully at this same time next year, I will have more good things to write about than bad ;-)
But for now…here’s a toast to the year gone by…to all the good times and beautiful memories shared with family and friends in the year 2008…no significant life events or changes, but good times nevertheless…
We ended the year 2008 vacationing in the beautiful US Virgin islands of St. Thomas and St Johns, basking in the warmth of the Caribbean sunshine…in the land of black beards ale, rum, conch fritters, rum cakes and blackened Mahi Mahi…in the land of beautiful, laid back, lively people…where lush green cliffs and hills, dotted with quaint Caribbean homes, lead on to white sands and the turquoise blue waters of the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea…here are a few photographs , our amateurish attempts,
to capture the pristine beauty of these islands…
All said and done, by God’s grace, 2008 was a reasonably good year for both of us on the personal as well as professional fronts( touchwood)…
On the personal front, we set up our home together, had both sets of
parents and my brother visit us , reveled in the much awaited wedding of the family (D’s elder brother finally decided to take the plunge after years of self induced commitment phobia :-)), had some great times with friends and extended family…memories we’ll cherish forever…
On the professional front, both of us have progressed in our careers like we had hoped, albeit in small steps …
Not to forget, we’ve witnessed history in the making with the election of Barack Obama as the 44th president of the USA…not just that, it’s been a fun and enriching experience being gripped by phases of ‘Obamamania’ and witnessing a reinforcement of peoples’ belief in the enormity of the difference they can make with simple choices in a democratic nation…
As far as resolutions for the New Year go, on the personal front I never really make objective/measurable resolutions for myself…my resolutions are always hazy ,more in the likes of read more, sleep less, write more, weigh less, dump the piano, pick up the guitar, work hard, party harder…you get the gist …none of my personal resolutions are such that I can look back at the year gone by and objectively declare their fruition/failure…it’s great that I at least have ‘SMART’ (in managerial lingo, 'Specific Measurable Achievable Realistic Timebound') professional objectives for 2009 …that will keep my life balanced as far as resolutions are concerned, for sure…a complete dearth of objectives for a new year could potentially deem life directionless :-) whereas too many ‘SMART’ personal and professional resolutions can make a year of life end up becoming one helluva marathon with no finish line in sight …robbing life of its charm , of course, in the process … I do however hope that D manages to take his New Year resolution to fruition i.e. to quit smoking for good…we’ll see how that goes …keeping my fingers crossed…
As for what the year 2009 has in store for us…only time will tell…like D says, at the very least , all of us have a challenging year ahead ….with the uncertainties that define corporate America, the meltdown of it’s financial system and the repercussions of the same being observed in the global markets, the best we can do is hope and pray that we are able to ride out the storm and come out of the crises unscathed…or if not unscathed ,at least we have the resilience to come out of the crises stronger as individuals …we’ll see how things go…hopefully at this same time next year, I will have more good things to write about than bad ;-)
But for now…here’s a toast to the year gone by…to all the good times and beautiful memories shared with family and friends in the year 2008…no significant life events or changes, but good times nevertheless…
We ended the year 2008 vacationing in the beautiful US Virgin islands of St. Thomas and St Johns, basking in the warmth of the Caribbean sunshine…in the land of black beards ale, rum, conch fritters, rum cakes and blackened Mahi Mahi…in the land of beautiful, laid back, lively people…where lush green cliffs and hills, dotted with quaint Caribbean homes, lead on to white sands and the turquoise blue waters of the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea…here are a few photographs , our amateurish attempts,
to capture the pristine beauty of these islands…
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Mumbai..
I am depressed...have been for the past week or so...I have practically no direct ties to Mumbai...haven't lived in the city, haven't worked there either...just a couple of cursory, touristy visits in the past three decades...but the recent terror attacks in the 'city of dreams', as many choose to call it,have affected me in a way I have never been affected before...
Had never imagined starting off my blog on such a depressing note...have been having these endless discussions with D this past week about what could have, what should have, what must be done...all of course, from the comforts of our living room, thousands of miles away from Mumbai... having been fortunate enough not to be tangibly affected by the attacks,at least for now...
Perhaps penning my thoughts would just help me make sense of it all...make me feel less helpless or at least less guilty about feeling so helpless...I really don't know...
I have been haunted by the images of Major Unnikrishnan's mother reaching out to touch her young son's face for one last time...the Jewish toddler, Moshe, howling for his mom while folks around him prepared for his parents' funeral...the 11 year old kid lying on the hospital bed, sensing the void in his small world, even without being explicitly told that his parents had fallen prey to the terrorists' bullets...images that provide just a glimpse of the devastation and havoc wreaked by the attackers who held the city of Mumbai to hostage for 60 long hours...
Coming from Assam, it's not that I have not been exposed to the kind of devastation that terrorism causes...a close friend of mine lost her father to the bullets of Bodo extremists at the tender age of 9...terrorism had struck close to home and to my heart several times earlier...but on the 26th of November, while news was trickling in about the Mumbai attacks and as I made frantic phone calls to family and friends to make sure everyone was okay, it was with an extra bit of trepidation in my heart...10 near simultaneous attacks across one of the most populous cities in India ...all in places and at times where potentially any family member/friend could have been...
Depressed I am because of the lack of a political system that should have stood united in the face of this terror...
Depressed I am because of politicians willing to dole out crores of rupees as compensation to the families of the victims of terror when that same money could have been used to safeguard their lives ...
Depressed I am to read that lives of our bravehearts could have been saved if not for some corrupt officials deciding to reap monetary benefits by buying and selling faulty bulletproof jackets...
Depressed I am as I realize that our hospitality and humaneness as Indians, as demonstrated by the deeds of the staff of the attacked hotels and the likes of Sandra Samuels,has had to go through such a grim test...
Depressed I am because of the existence of political powers who refuse to respect and let the families of our martyrs grieve in peace...
Depressed I am at the thought that the events of the three days succeeding 26th November,2008 would soon be forgotten as a nightmare with nothing being done to prevent repeat attacks of an equivalent or larger scale...
Depressed I am because having chosen a career that's so distant from public service, a decade back, I feel guilty translating my grief into anger and helpless in trying to convert this latent anger against the system into positive activism...
Depressed I am because from thousands of miles away from India, all that I can do is attend candle light vigils and memorials to honor the victims of terror...
The September 11, 2001 attacks in NY were just as devastating and so have been all the attacks in Assam and other parts of India and the world before and after... but for some reason seven years back , I seemed to be a lot more hopeful and optimistic that the system would get sorted out...that things would take a turn for the better...then, in my early twenties,fresh out of college, single, just starting off my career, I felt I had the potential to take on and change the world...
Today, seven years later,happily married, established as a professional , I am scared and less optimistic...perhaps with stability in life, wisdom and age (of course :-)) dawns the realization of life's limitations...D and I have been talking about having kids in a few years from now...but I am scared....I am scared of bringing in a life I cannot protect from all these unknown elements,that seem to be spreading terror and growing stronger at it by the day.... scared of not being able to guarantee the pristine,calm and carefree childhood that every child deserves...
Had never imagined starting off my blog on such a depressing note...have been having these endless discussions with D this past week about what could have, what should have, what must be done...all of course, from the comforts of our living room, thousands of miles away from Mumbai... having been fortunate enough not to be tangibly affected by the attacks,at least for now...
Perhaps penning my thoughts would just help me make sense of it all...make me feel less helpless or at least less guilty about feeling so helpless...I really don't know...
I have been haunted by the images of Major Unnikrishnan's mother reaching out to touch her young son's face for one last time...the Jewish toddler, Moshe, howling for his mom while folks around him prepared for his parents' funeral...the 11 year old kid lying on the hospital bed, sensing the void in his small world, even without being explicitly told that his parents had fallen prey to the terrorists' bullets...images that provide just a glimpse of the devastation and havoc wreaked by the attackers who held the city of Mumbai to hostage for 60 long hours...
Coming from Assam, it's not that I have not been exposed to the kind of devastation that terrorism causes...a close friend of mine lost her father to the bullets of Bodo extremists at the tender age of 9...terrorism had struck close to home and to my heart several times earlier...but on the 26th of November, while news was trickling in about the Mumbai attacks and as I made frantic phone calls to family and friends to make sure everyone was okay, it was with an extra bit of trepidation in my heart...10 near simultaneous attacks across one of the most populous cities in India ...all in places and at times where potentially any family member/friend could have been...
Depressed I am because of the lack of a political system that should have stood united in the face of this terror...
Depressed I am because of politicians willing to dole out crores of rupees as compensation to the families of the victims of terror when that same money could have been used to safeguard their lives ...
Depressed I am to read that lives of our bravehearts could have been saved if not for some corrupt officials deciding to reap monetary benefits by buying and selling faulty bulletproof jackets...
Depressed I am as I realize that our hospitality and humaneness as Indians, as demonstrated by the deeds of the staff of the attacked hotels and the likes of Sandra Samuels,has had to go through such a grim test...
Depressed I am because of the existence of political powers who refuse to respect and let the families of our martyrs grieve in peace...
Depressed I am at the thought that the events of the three days succeeding 26th November,2008 would soon be forgotten as a nightmare with nothing being done to prevent repeat attacks of an equivalent or larger scale...
Depressed I am because having chosen a career that's so distant from public service, a decade back, I feel guilty translating my grief into anger and helpless in trying to convert this latent anger against the system into positive activism...
Depressed I am because from thousands of miles away from India, all that I can do is attend candle light vigils and memorials to honor the victims of terror...
The September 11, 2001 attacks in NY were just as devastating and so have been all the attacks in Assam and other parts of India and the world before and after... but for some reason seven years back , I seemed to be a lot more hopeful and optimistic that the system would get sorted out...that things would take a turn for the better...then, in my early twenties,fresh out of college, single, just starting off my career, I felt I had the potential to take on and change the world...
Today, seven years later,happily married, established as a professional , I am scared and less optimistic...perhaps with stability in life, wisdom and age (of course :-)) dawns the realization of life's limitations...D and I have been talking about having kids in a few years from now...but I am scared....I am scared of bringing in a life I cannot protect from all these unknown elements,that seem to be spreading terror and growing stronger at it by the day.... scared of not being able to guarantee the pristine,calm and carefree childhood that every child deserves...
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