True beauty lies in imperfection

This quote by Alice Walker just spoke to me! I can’t agree with her more. We strive to be more and more perfect everyday. Everybody around you tells you that you ought to get there, to the bullseye, you have to be perfect, that’s your goal. But, is that true? Do you really need to be something more, somebody else?

Look around in nature, you see some trees twisted and bent. You see some birds white and some spotted. You see long, short, fluffy, skinny dogs but they all are unconditionally loving. Do any of these elements of nature need perfecting? Is it really going to make a difference in their beauty? They are all magnificent and beautiful in their own way.

We are all beautiful in our own twisted ways.

Who wants a pet?

Today when my eldest daughter returned from school, she had an instantaneous request – Ma I want a dog, a puppy, please. For a second I was quiet and bit confused as to where it was coming from. But then it was always one of her requests, she loved dogs ( who doesn’t right?!)

But as always I told her, our apartment is small and we don’t have the place to keep a dog or take it for walks. Plus our apartment doesn’t allow keeping pets. She was sad for a couple of seconds and then immediately decided to settle for a cat to which I had to say no again! ( I hated this conversation, it was making both parties sad) Finally she said What about a fish? To which I said Yes! Fish in a bowl was something I could promise her even though it wasn’t my idea of a pet.

She was learning about pet animals at school and the whole journey on the bus she had prepared this conversation in her head. She had to have a pet animal.

I feel sad that I cannot have my kids grow with pets especially with a dog. In situations like these I wish we lived in a place that had room and a garden so that it could be pet friendly.

Pets are important for everyone, mostly for kids. They teach you a sense of care, respect and love for life. Pets teach you to be kind, to be selfless and they teach you to be accountable too. They are such mood lifters! They are perfect play pals for kids.

If you can please get your child a dog.

My most favorite memory of going to my grandparents for holidays was the unlimited time with the dogs. My grandparents even had cows, ducks and chickens. You can imagine the joy a city child gets with all these animals around. The dogs were my favorite. Their love and loyalty is worth learning from.

Now I want a dog!

The Liebster award

Starting to blog at WordPress has been one of the best things I did recently. Not only did it give me a medium to jot down my thoughts, I have been able to connect and get inspired from fellow bloggers. Therefore, getting a recognition in the form of this award is an amazing feeling!

So here are the rules:

1.  Thank the blogger who nominated you.
2. Display your award.
3. Answer the questions you were asked.
4. Nominate 5 other bloggers.
5. Ask 6 new questions.
6. Let your nominees know they were nominated and give them a link to your post.

Joyful Stephanie nominated me for this honor and I am so motivated and thankful for it. Thank you so much Stephanie.

 

As part of the Liebster award, there are some questions I must answer, so let’s do that first!

The questions and their answers that I have tried my best to do justice to:

1. What was a major turning point in your life?

I don’t think my life was that eventful to comprise of major turning points. I have had some bumps and breaks along the way though, some expected and unexpected. With the birth of my second daughter I was in a totally different place- I realized I was a homemaker and a mother of two under the age of 2. This was my new description. This brought a slight depression in me. This was not at all what I had pictured for myself. I thought I would this superb working mother who had it all together. Not being that image I had carved out upset me to a great extent.

2. What positive life lesson did you learn from this major turning point?

Getting out of this phase took some time and a lot of effort. A lot of people around tried to motivate me. They would compare my situation with people of worse situations but this unfortunately backfired. I would get very agitated. Slowly with time and mainly self contemplation I realized that my choice to be a stay at home mother was mine and I wouldn’t have it any other way. I wouldn’t want anybody else look after my children. On the other hand, my career that I wanted to build would still be there for me to pick up from where I left it. For all you know, life must be waiting to offer me something better and at a better time.

The main lesson I learnt is that life may not go as you hoped but life has great plans and hopes for you. Stay true to who you are. Never lose the individual you are whether you become a mother or wife or stay-at-home mom!

3. Who is your greatest inspiration and why is this person a greatest inspiration?

It is so difficult to pinpoint on a person and say he/she is my greatest inspiration. There are some influencers in my life though. One such person who had a great influence on me was my maternal aunt, who I affectionately call Kunjaunty (the literal translation meaning, small aunty). While I did my post- graduate studies, I briefly stayed with her and that stay changed so many of my views to life, to people, even in my Christian Faith. She is the one who taught me the practicality of life.

4. What is your favorite book and why is this your favorite book?

A thousand splendid suns by Khalid Hosseini.

This book is such a well- written and moving book. The thought of the book itself gets me all emotional. A must read for all.

5. What is your favorite movie and why is that your favorite movie?

Picking a favorite movie is so difficult for me! I have so many favorites and I’m sure to have another favorite tomorrow. So just to make myself happy I’m gonna mention a few, sorry!

• On an autobiographical line : Pursuit of Happiness & Blind Side
• Animated : Ratatouille
• Drama : Shawshank Redemption

I’m a big fan of feel- good movies and movies that has the protagonist move forward with hope and perseverance.

6. Potato chips or chocolate?  Which one would you choose if you had a craving for a snack?

This is so difficult to choose! But I’m a more chocolate person I guess, so here’s me picking chocolate for my midnight snack! Yum!

Nominate 5 Bloggers:

1. Effie – Efi soul 63

2. Savitha

3. Mathew Philip

4. Golden Bird

5. Thoughts for Change

I love these bloggers for their wonderful content and their views. What’s more, they are such good constructive critiques and motivators to their fellow bloggers.

So now it’s time for some new questions:

1. Why did you start blogging?

2. What is your favorite quote and why?

3. Which one would you prefer – a walk in the park or a stroll on the beach?

4. What is the greatest gain and loss of our current generation?

5. What is your comfort food in times of gloom?

Thank you once again Stephanie for the opportunity! This was indeed so much fun and your questions were amazing and challenging to answer.

Hope to keep our blog-friendship on for long!

Happy blogging everybody!!

Anitha 😊

The Gesture

Little Tom was excited today. It was not everyday that somebody entrusted him with responsibilities that matched ones of an adult! He set out from home with the grocery list and the money safely in his pocket. It was a fifteen minute walk to the market and little Tom enjoyed every moment of it. While he neared the market, he saw a lot of familiar faces smiling at him and congratulating him on his venture! To get to the grocery shop he had to cross a bakery, and little Tom couldn’t help but notice the pastries and the other confectionery. He had to literally drag his feet from there towards the grocery store. Once he reached the store, he gave the list to the man at the counter and waited till he got his bag. In two minutes time he got his bag and a change of fifteen rupees back. He left from there carefully carrying his bag. The unavoidable distraction appeared yet again and succeeded in gluing his feet right in front of the bakery. The old man behind the glass shelves of the bakery smiled as Tom’s little eyes run through each shelf and sweet without missing any! After glancing through them all and a moment lost in great thinking, little Tom asked, “How much is this?” The old man looked at the eclair with the chocolate icing the little finger pointed at. He smiled and said,”Twelve rupees”. Little Tom placed the bag he was carrying down and took out the change he had. He took some time to sort out and count the money. After fishing through, he successfully handed over twelve rupees to the old man, who instantly packed the eclair. Happy, little Tom walked out of the bakery carrying a smile on his face nothing else in the world could give.

When Little Tom reached home, there was nobody in sight. He walked into the house and placed the grocery bag on the kitchen table and went looking for his mom. She was at the terrace putting the washed clothes to dry. Making sure that there was nobody around,he walked into his granny’s room. She lay on her bed and smiled as soon as she spotted him. She sat up on her bed and Tom went and sat beside her. He opened the little box and placed it on her lap. “This is for you granny, I saw it at the bakery.” Her face lit up just like those previous times she saw something sweet. She immediately asked,”There is only one sweetheart!” He knew she would ask him that and was prepared with the answer, “I already ate one at the bakery, this is for you!” Though not very convinced, she ate the eclair and enjoyed every bit of it. Little Tom always loved to watch her relish sweets. It was a priceless moment! Once she was done, she hugged her little one and kissed his forehead and said “Thank you baby, thank you so much!” Little Tom was on top of the world, he could not think of anything more to say, “Love you grandma”

This first appeared on my blogpost on blogger.