What happens when there is a massive power cut and Mumbai’s trains stop running? The buses are jam-packed and cabs are at a premium. Can one walk three hours to the suburbs? On a dark and rainy night, nameless people become friends and it’s all about the kindness of strangers. Guest Blog post from The Chatty Divas.
“In India, traveling by air is no longer a monopoly of the elite, but has instead become an affordable and convenient way to travel for all. When we were younger only the rich and famous could afford air travel. The average, middle-class Indian citizen had only one option: the train, and that too either the sleeper class or the third AC.
Thanks to the low cost airlines in India, now everybody makes a beeline for the airport, and many have forgotten the way to the railway station – including me.” GUEST BLOG
“My mother hasn’t forgotten how to bake a cake but she sometimes doesn’t remember all the ingredients, missing out a few in the process. She recounts funny incidents making us laugh heartily with her but she repeats them again after a while, forgetting that she had already shared the same with us a couple of hours earlier. It kills me to see her uncertainty and confusion. However, the only consolation is her lack of awareness of this condition.
I fear forgetting basic things like reading or writing; the mere thought of losing my memories is terrifying. What if one day I wake up and don’t recognize my family members, forget their names and how much I love them?” Guest Blog – Chatty Divas
The Chatty Diva on the special things in life that we take for granted until we almost lose them – such as a devoted pet which asks nothing in return and the empty paper which gives you the power to write anything you want – and yet we go for the easy, safe answers.
“Stories of extramarital affairs are a class apart, especially in India when penned by Indian authors. Majority of protagonists end up going back to their husbands or wives, leaving the poor lover in the lurch. Nobody wants to cross the Laxman Rekha drawn by the caretakers of morality.”
Guest Blog – Chatty Divas
” One of the Hindu temples dedicated to the Goddess Shakti, Vaishno Devi’s Mandir is located in the hills of Jammu & Kashmir, India, close to the town of Katra in the Reasi district. In Hinduism, Vaishno Devi, also known as Mata Rani and Viashnavi, is a manifestation of the Mother Goddess, and the temple is one of the most revered places of worship in India.
There’s this saying that unless the Mata (mother) calls you, none can visit her shrine and receive her blessings. I think I’m living proof of the truth of this, as my attempts to visit this holy place have been met with delay time and time again.” Guest Blog
“I look down at my hands and admire the intricate pattern of henna applied on my palms for Karva Chauth, the social and seasonal festival for the welfare of one’s spouse.
On the evening before the big day, women were getting their hands hennaed for the big night. Those who couldn’t pick up the snacks and eat due to the wet henna on their hands were being fed by friends whose hands were dry. Rima popped a potato wedge in my mouth and came back a while later with a rasgulla to feed me. I had never been fed by strangers but it didn’t feel like she was one.”
Guest Blog – Chatty Divas
“I remember my mother’s cooking and how the entire house used to smell like a culinary heaven then. She used to wash our clothes by hand because we didn’t have a washing machine; the only help she had was a cleaning lady who used to sweep and mop the floors daily. Rest of the chores were her responsibility which she performed lovingly and without complaint.
Fast forward to me now, I can’t think of managing the house like my mom and need a lot of help from a lot of people to survive. I have a lot of like-minded friends who are as hopelessly inefficient as I am.
But the domestic help has also evolved with us, and are no longer the docile, simple kind. Their lifestyles have undergone a transformation too and sometimes they are even more advanced than their employers. It’s now all about cell phones and designer labels!”
Guest Blog – Chatty Divas
“It seems my tongue has two black strips, like a runway’s tarmac, running along its entire length. It’s an old Indian superstition that people who have black spots on their tongue are capable of predicting things and what they say or wish for comes true. I am the queen of predictions and the mirror of the future.”
Can words spoken in jest come true? Is there such a thing is a ‘black tongue’? Sulekha Rawat explores this less traveled road and wonders whether she is really psychic and whether words spoken without thought can actually come true.
Guest Blog – Chatty Divas. Photo: TheAlieness GiselaGiardino²³
Living in New Delhi, India, Sulekha Rawat tries out various roles from housewife to ‘domestic engineer’ to career woman and finally entrepreneur. In the blog ‘Chatty Divas’ she recounts the ups and downs of a woman’s world, and the realization of what’s really important in life.
Photo by Harry Scheihing. GUEST BLOG