The news! - part 1

She was a 24 year old female.. just out of the college

doing things the right way.. doing good things... doing good to people and every second moving towards improving oneself was her philosophy.

She had a good job in the Human Resources department of a big company. She was always appreciated for her crisp talk and superb performance and slowly everyone had started feeling that she would be a superb asset to the company.

Her boss who was already married and had 4 children.. started to act creepy.. she was ready to work no matter how hard it was but working with someone who was constantly on the prowl to molest her or take advantage of her in some way.. was something she did not wish to stand.. 

and she left her job. 

She preferred to keep things to herself and thought she should do so because she was woman of strong character! After sometime she got married.. it was a proper arranged marriage.

10 years after marriage, staying with in-laws having 2 beautiful daughters...changed her life entirely...

she was now a homemaker..

Taking care of her daughters, her bed-ridden mother-in-law and husband and father-in-law into the family business barely gave her any time for herself.

She observed that off late her husband had started going on out-station trips a little more than usual and they lasted for 4-5 days instead of the usual 1-2 day trips.

She always wanted to join the business and do good value addition on her part but the conservative mindset did not allow her to do anything apart from being a care-taker.

One day after dropping her daughters to their Karate class..

she was waiting in the car reading her magazine.. her husband called her up.

(she usually kept a few magazines piled up in her car, so that she could read something good while waiting)

By the time she reached out to answer the call.. it got disconnected...It happened twice.. she got worried..

When she tried calling back ..the call got disconnected.

She kept thinking what might have happened.. because it was very unusual of her husband to call her up in the middle of the day ... and then not talk!

After winding up her day's work when her daughters slept.... .. she tried calling up her husband...

He said he was in town and was sending a vehicle across to pick her up..

A thousand bright lamps lit in her mind..

She started talking to herself..

"Oh my God... Look how foolish was I to keep thinking bad about my husband.. poor thing.. he has a lot of work to do.. lot many responsibilities.. how would he get the time to be like a romantic bollywood movie hero..?! Stupid me.."

She put on her best saree... 

In her super hectic routine.. she had almost forgot to dress up very well.. like she used to do when she was a newly married bride.. she couldn't stop smiling..

she noticed a few wrinkles and a few freckles on her face.. and smiled and said to herself 
"This is my work experience and I look beautiful with this" 

[ The news! - part 2 ]

The bus journey - 4

[ The bus journey - 1]
[ The bus journey - 2]
[ The bus journey - 3]

The next day while going for work
she had decided.. today she would give it back to him

While winding her work she was mentally prepared 
When she reached the stop she found the young chap standing in the queue..
They exchanged a few expressions..

When they boarded the bus Mr.Creep was on his way to molest her when she lifted her right leg and put her wedge heels on his shoe..and stamped it with all her might... till

Mr.Creep raised a voice - Mam your sandal is hurting me ...

And then she responded with a victorious smile -
Oh Is it! Then why don't you take a step back..

Her response made a few faces turn back and look at Mr.Creep and it did not take much time for them to understand what must have been wrong... they gave a disgusting look to him..He gave an embarrassed look..

Today she was feeling much lighter and much happier!

She and the young chap got down at the same stop today.
He smiled and said - Well done Mam.. Goodbye.

They never met again...
it wasn't needed!
She had learnt to respect Herself!

But are all females doing this.. or are able to do this?

And what about the Males who do this?

The bus journey - 3

[The bus journey - 1 ]

[The bus journey - 2 ]

This groping had become a daily affair for the next 3 days..
She started getting uncomfortable and started winding her work early..

But to her surprise the Creep was already there..
Perhaps waiting for Her to come and get his rush of Adrenaline and having the sadistic pleasure of groping a female..who couldn't react!

The 4th day 
When she started winding up her work the next day .. she got this awkward feeling....
what if I face him today also..
Why is he doing it..

With all sorts of thoughts in her mind she left for her stop.. 
when she boarded the auto-rickshaw she kept looking around if the creep was somewhere ..
when she reached her bus stop ..she caught a glimpse of him standing there on the bus-stop .. he looked uber cool.. totally unaffected ..

When the bus came, she got into the queue and to her surprise there was another guy who came just behind her in the queue ..
he unknowingly acted as a blockage between her and Mr. Creep
When they got into the bus.. thankfully it was not very crowded.
She noticed this young boy ..he must be a few years younger to me (she thought)
While Mr. Creep tried to come near her, 
this young boy was busy on his earphones..

When he saw Her getting uncomfortable, he tried to nudge the space between the Creep and her and stood in between.

She was so relieved!
She couldn't imagine someone younger to her could acknowledge her issue and also take a step to help her.
The creep got down without getting his work done today..

She and the young chap got down at the same stop..
But what the young chap told her .. 
stunned her 
" Mam, why didn't you react! Don't you respect yourself?
I totally get what he was trying to do, but I did not get why you kept quiet...
I don't travel by this bus daily.. but You do. 
Ensure your safety yourself"

The last line of what he said kept ringing in her mind....
and then she slept.

[The bus journey - 4]

The bus journey - 2

[ The bus journey - 1]

When she got down at her stop, which came 2 stops later, she realised that her legs behaved like some sort of a jelly.. she took few sips of water, standing at the stop.. and then slowly started moving towards the hostel.
On reaching the hostel.. she washed her face multiple times.. as if something dirty had stuck to her body..
After her bath, instead of having her dinner, she lied down and kept thinking.. what made that person do so...
why is she feeling bad about it..
was she wrong in some way.. 
did she give some sort of an indication that she was wanting it?
what if he comes in the same bus tomorrow ..and tries to do the same thing..
should she have shouted at him..because her parents had taught her don't keep mum.. raise a voice..why didn't she do it?
numerous questions filled her mind..

She got up and to stop the trail of thoughts that was going on in her mind... drank almost half a litre of water and then switched on her radio.. 
In those days pocket radio was very much in trend..the music of -'Kajrare' made her feel a little lighter..she moved on to the dining table to have her dinner.

After dinner, she discussed this with one of her room mates and she told her - You should have shouted at him..
This filled her with some sort of courage from within.. and she told herself...
If I meet that creep tomorrow.. I'll slap him or at-least shout at him!
But what if he shouts back or argues or worse.. tries to hit back! Because he who doesn't have even the slightest respect for a female approximately 20 years younger to him.. would not hesitate to do something cheap again..

[The bus journey - 3]
[The bus journey - 4]

The bus journey - 1

With the sexual exploitation and harrassment hogging limelight in almost all forms of media I thought this story needs to be published !

The story dates back to 2005

She was new in the City of dreams.
She was a 21 year old girl. 
It was her dream to work in Mumbai and by her luck and her efforts..she got a job just after finishing her post graduation! How happy she was!
The 10-12 hours of work did not tire her at all. The office provided  healthy and wholesome meals.. which was all the more good. The hostel was good, the hostel mates were good.

She never bothered with the hard work that she had to do, instead found out new ways and means to find something new to do and to understand something even better.. 
She was tired of the constant nagging and criticism by her seniors at the workplace but her mother insisted.. This is how you learn, take every criticism as an opportunity to correct yourself and she tried to implement it..daily... but sometimes she was happy and sometimes she was unhappy and kept thinking.. Oh God I should not have taken this job.. its too tough..

She commuted daily by the bus. 

She was very well aware that if you travel in a public transport things like - groping pinching etc might happen.. 
(Sad but true, our daughters should know that this is something very rare and people who do this should be publicly condemned for their act.. but does this happen? NO)

One day when she boarded the bus, as usual it was super crowded and there was barely a space to breathe - she felt someone was trying to grope her very badly....
But when she turned to look at him, the person acted as if nothing had happened..he must be in his forties..
she somehow managed to move forward to go away from that Creep, but he moved with her and groped her again... It was around 7:30 pm and she couldn't see his face clearly.. but she could for sure smell and sense his dirty and stinky mind!

This was happening for the first time with her in Mumbai. The city which was known for its people spirit.. the city which was known for the discipline that its people practiced...
She started perspiring.. became breathless and looked around to see if there was someone who could help her. everyone was busy.. either in the newspaper or listening to radio on their phones or looking out of the window...
thankfully she got a seat and the Creep couldn't get a place to come near her..because of some old uncle who had a frown on his face and ...who refused to move even a millimeter from where he was standing.
In her heart she thanked the old uncle a million times..

She caught up her breath and kept quiet..and was heavily relieved when she saw the creep getting down at the next stop.

[ The bus journey - 2]
[ The bus journey - 3]
[The bus journey - 4]

The chashma - Part 1

Everyone in the class made fun of her spectacles...3 decades back having spectacles at the age of 6 wasn't normal!

She used to complain everyday on coming home, saying Mummy "I could not complete what teacher wrote on the blackboard, because I couldn't see it"
And the mother kept wondering what could be the probable reason? Mother even tried telling the class teacher that - Please make her sit on the front bench so that it becomes easier for her to note down things from the black board..but sadly even that didn't work!

Then she started complaining to her parents about a bad headache.
It suddenly occurred to her mother a visit to the doctor might help. A visit to the Opthalmologist confirmed the fact that their daughter was myopic. And not just that she had -2.5 number in the spectacles which were then until sometime back referred to as 'coke bottom glasses'.

And then the ordeal began.. there were only 3 children in the class who had spectacles.
She started feeling low in confidence which was badly aggravated by class children teasing her for having specs! She was good in her work had an excellent memory.. was good at public speaking.. but all her qualities started going in a shell that she had created for herself!!

She often used to wonder - Why do other children do so?
Are they not told by their parents to help and support other children?
Sadly 'bullying' was not a much known term back then. The children of the class who used to tease her never realised it and also her friends could never ever fathom what pain was she going through!

Her goal in life was to get rid of the spectacles ..any how any way..
but till then.. those spectacles took away her confidence for a considerable number of years.
Were her spectacles a measure of judging who she was and what were her capabilities?

[Read on in the next article...]

Motivation

She finished picking up clothes from the clothesline on the terrace and was climbing down the stairs when the phone rang.
She called out to her sons, to come out of the room and hand over her phone.

Out of the 2 naughty children the elder son came and gave her the phone.
It was her Mother. "Mamma you exactly know when shall I be free, tell me whats up which wedding are you people supposed to go to today?"
Mother : " Oh well, that's why I am your Mum! Today your father is not feeling well hence we will not go to any wedding. 
The doctor has advised him to go for a morning walk daily, but does he listen.??
By the way I called you up to remind you that you have also been advised by the doctor to start regular exercises and keep yourself fit, when was the last time you took out time from your schedule to workout for yourself?"
She : "Mamma you know I have been keeping crazily busy with the household chores,studies of these both and lot more.. but yes I'll start it today itself" and hung up the phone.
She kept thinking how will she take out time from her busy schedule, it had been 3 months since her friend and her family doctor had advised her to start an exercise regimen.. How When ..Will it be convenient...and so on.

She was used to making fresh snacks for her children before they left to play. 
Today she checked in the refrigerator, luckily there was enough kheer to be served to both her sons.
When they announced that their daily work was complete and they wanted something nice to eat before leaving for their play, they saw  bowls of kheer kept on the dining table and saw their mother hurriedly trying to bolt the kitchen and the bedroom door.

Both of them exclaimed : "Kheer, but why... we had it yesterday, why not some new snack, something interesting like you do it everyday! And where are you going?"

She smiled and told them - Kheer is something which you both like right? Both her sons nodded in affirmation. You remember during our last visit to the doctor aunty she told Mummy to start exercising regularly to become more fit? Again both of them nodded in affirmation.

So from today when you both go to play, Mamma shall take 5 rounds of the park.
Both of them sounded excited!
"Oh great - From when will you start running with us and win the running competition held for the mothers at the school on Sports day?"

She - "Very soon, now finish your kheer fast, we should not get late right!"

All 3 of them had big smiles on their faces when they left their home.

See..Motivation can come from anywhere, it all depends on how you prioritize things!

A small gesture of courtesy

Courtesy is a word which automatically brings a faint smile on our faces, the moment we see someone passing on that gesture to us.
And since it has become a gesture very rare these days.... 
I couldn't help sharing a few lines about it.

I have recently started my channel on youtube "Mydietchart"
Today there was a meet of all Youtubers in Bhopal city at Motel Shiraz.
The meeting was fantastic.. quite a learning experience in itself and it was full of surprises as I did not know that people in Bhopal were also having more than 50,000 subscribers and near to 1 million page views!

I always become happy on seeing small acts of display of good manners or basic etiquettes.. and today there were 2 such incidents that caught my attention..

I was accompanied by my son to the meet.. which is almost always the case :) thanks to Bhopal city for being so accomodative about it!

First incidence 
For the initial 1 hour of the meet my son was conveniently sleeping in my lap. During this time the CEO of DB Digital Mr. Gyan Gupta was giving his inputs on a new Digital platform that they are going to develop.. In the meantime I was getting a little uncomfortable and was shifting from one position to the other to help my son sleep well and also so as to not let any part of my body go numb because of the confined posture and parallely lend an attentive ear to the important discussion going on.

The gentleman observed this, stopped in the middle of his talk, and asked his team "Madam ko ek aur chair lake de do" - the sentence though very small carried a huge weightage.. atleast for me! His team did it within a fraction of a second.
While you are engrossed in your speech about a new product that your company is going to launch.. and during all this if you are able to observe a female getting slightly uncomfortable in handling her child and give the requisite instructions.. its not an easy thing to do!
I was super impressed by this gesture, rather his entire upbringing.. these are the traits of a true gentleman! And of course the family would get the credit for that!

Second one happened when my son got up. Once awake he started to nag me to take him out of the room..firstly because he was hungry and secondly because he is not comfortable sitting at one place for a long time (a typical behaviour exhibited by a 7 year old). I tried to pacify him by telling him he would get some good snacks.. and just then the plates of snacks started making rounds in the hall. 
It was our hard luck that we were placed in such a way that none of the waiters had an easy access to our chair. And my son was getting impatient .. so much so that he actually started looking at all the waiters very anxiously.. (I was getting embarrased ) and just then a waiter who was in the next end of the line behind us.. saw my son and his anxious eyes.. which were almost screaming "Uncle yaha leke aa jaiye pehle please!"

The moment he saw my son he came with the tray to our table and asked my son to pick a plate .. and the look that he had on his face was thoroughly positive and full of happiness!
He must be in his early fifties .. and the happiness of being able to serve a child just when he wanted it.. was clearly evident on his face.. This is true hospitality.
Again a true trait of a gentleman and a good upbringing for sure! And who else but the family to get accolades for that.

Small small incidents in life teach us so much.. 

In rare cases I forget to do so..but today while taking out my vehicle from the parking lot of the venue, I made sure that I responded with a big smile and reciprocated the 'Thankyou' in a slightly better way than what the security guard said to me !

Finding good things is so easy but following them is tough indeed! But once you do it.. your heart swells up with joy!
So today was in total a good day :)

Hranite pozitivno! (Slovenian)
Keep Spreading Positivity