Author - Jui Purohit.

 Here's me with my yet another Glose (40 lined poetry). I haven't counted the lines here, but will still call it a Glose, since it's a long one, but surely not redundant! "Girls let's plan something for the weekend ", the hurricane in my girl gang group, started yet again. Those several messages popped up again, Yes! Am in, No! I can't make it, If not this week, let's postpone it, Girls, it's now or never, I need a break, Please do me a favour... Just like 2 negatives make a positive, The No's were compelled to be productive, Finally it was decided, Flight was booked, the new protocol provided, RT PCR for one vaccination, Carry the certificates for two vaccinations, Some shopping here and there, new outfits tried, To stuff it all in, my bag literally cried, Was about to leave for flight, Dear Hubby, sneakily from the quilt late night, Do you need money? Or you already carrying it honey? Is this a question for last minute to ask? But I was shame...

 The pain in womb starts with your first period. It's the sign the universe shows you. I think the connect begins there, first with your womb and then with the tiny life that it's going to host there. The tiny dot that you see in that very first sonography after the pregnancy, forms an instant connect. You keep looking at that black and white paper report for days, until you hear the heartbeats in the next sonography session. And this new development puts you on cloud nine. When you try to stroke your hands over the belly, which isn't as big yet, you feel that connect more. You already know that your umbilical cords are connected, so you follow a strict diet, you don't dare to eat rubbish. Eating healthy doesn't bother you, for the first time. You'd been eating at road side chat stalls, vada pav thelas, drinking sugarcane juice at that open machine next to the flowing nala(gutter). But now all this makes you glance at your belly and your mind says No!. A slighte...

  "Control your temper, else you won't fit in your in-laws house after marriage", my mom's favourite line to nag me. "Why should I fit in? Why shouldn't there be adjustment from both sides?", would be my counter argument. "Learn some basic cooking dear", my mom's earnest appeal to me. "Will marry a restaurant-wala mom, don't worry, our tiffins will come from the restaurant's kitchen", my response. "This girl is Fire, hope she doesn't get a Rudra Avatar fellow", my mom's prayers. "Chill mom, there will be some Ice somewhere for this Fire", I would say, winking, to her. And finally, without any Hartalika Vrat, no Sola Somwaars, neither observing any Upwas, the embers in me cooled down, when I met this cool dude! Yah! He was a cool dude, his dressing, his thoughts, were quite modern, also he was cool and full of patience. I know, a total contrast to my personality, butas they say, opposites attract...

 The other day, my younger son was drawing something on a chart paper. I took a closer look and to my surprise he was scribbling on it...."Free hugs....anyone?". I covered my mouth and tried to limit my laughter to a smile, getting all inquisitive about it. "What is it dear?", I asked him with a straight face. He held the chart parallel to his head, raising his hands, and flaunted it to me proudly. "Hugs..Mumma?...I won't charge you, it's free!", he said with a grin. I hugged him lovingly, but still confused. "May be it's his school assignment or something!", I murmured. He heard it and quickly said, "No! Mumma, I saw this video on YouTube yesterday, a guy holding 'free hugs' board and random people coming and hugging him. Some people were reluctant, some made faces at him, some were least bothered. But some were so happy to hug him Mumma. They cried, they were overjoyed, they were surprised. It brought a smile to their f...

 Her value is priceless, her potential is limitless, she's a Queen! - Pinterest. Have you ever seen a queen crowning herself? Well, go through the blog and you will know..... Your blog on seasons made me teary eyed Jui!, my mom called up and said. My kaki (mother's co-sister) also said the same thing. They said, We are at that phase of life, where we could relate the pain!.... This appreciation means so much. My dad is metaphorically, my fan! He never misses my single article, he makes sure that I get my feedback, good or bad. My husband, who is my muse (for many of my blogs), who continuously inspires me and gives me carteblanche to write my heart out! My kids, my oh-so-eager audience, always willing to listen to what new I've written today! Their hugs are more than any accolades on earth! My sister, my brother-in-law, always let me know that I am doing a superb job, they motivate me time and again. My close knit relatives keep supporting me invariably. Ahh! That's my ...

I glanced at my wardrobe a several times. I fended for the yellow salwar-kameez, then the green saari but finally decided to wear the pink saari, yet again, thinking of you. Not a single day had passed, without me being astray, absorbed, brooding about you. You always dominated my thoughts, then and even now. Vikrant likes me wearing pink, my wardrobe becomes full of pink hues. Vikrant loves coffee, my kitchen smells of coffee, early mornings and evenings, I pour out all the tea leaves down the drain. Vikrant doesn't like me tieing my hair, I dispose all my hair srunchies and leave those long tresses open, even if weather's torrid or muggy. ''Stop living in the past, Soumya, before it gets more painful'', my friend had warned me a hundred times. But this ache now, had grown into a sweet pain that eventually felt comforting to me. I knew it wasn't the right thing to do but my heart insisted on doing the wrong thing, over and over again.  I dressed up to leave...

 "Have finished with lunch and all the chores, time for a Siesta!", I thought to myself, as I took my phone and lay on my bed. I do that invariably. I arrange 2-3 pillows, to make that comfy, perfect angle for my head, so that I can surf through my phone, without hurting my neck (TMI right? But don't most of our blogs have TMI😜). I caught on some missed stories and blogs by my wonderful friends on Momspresso. And with a smile, closed my eyes to enjoy that siesta! I heard some giggles, slowly they turned into uproars. Could hear screams now! Wow! I can fall into a sound sleep even in the afternoons and I am dreaming too!...I must be dead tired, I thought (still in sleep). Hey! It's not a dream, I opened my eyes. I could really hear my kids shouting....Mummaaaa...Mummaaa.... come downstairs quickly! I snapped out of my so called siesta, for a second I thought Is it an earthquake happening? But the floor wasn't shaky at all. I put my hand on my chest and said to my ...

 "Motherhood is messy and challenging and crazy and sleepless and giving and still unbelievably beautiful!" - Unknown. Who doesn't love the beautiful part of being a mom? She must've adored the thought too.  Woman is a quintessence of motherhood, no doubt about it. She knew all that and felt the same, for sure. She wasn't petrified of the messy part, she collocates with systematic behaviour. She wasn't nervous for the challenging portion too, she had been a fighter, always. She had never given up on anything, before moving heaven and earth. She had toiled her way up, to succeed.  The crazy part of being a mother wasn't alien to her, either. She, although balanced in nature, wouldn't mind, to have handled, being crazy, once in a while.  Sleepless nights weren't novel to her. She had studied through wakeful nights numerous times. Her sincerity never allowed her to sleep soundly, unless her work for the day was completed and that too in her sight. Wil...

 It was never a crammed location nor was a fast paced town. It is a city for that matter, but far from the hustle-bustle. Even though the pace is slow, the people are quick, quick enough to lend a helping hand, quick enough to navigate you through....What's the place you ask? It's my hometown, a district place in southern Maharashtra. The smell of the black soil is just like any other, but the food there tastes the best....Why? Obviously, because, it's the love of my hometown that's sprinkled generously! It still has two sides to it, a city with buildings, big hospitals, schools, colleges, playgrounds, parks. And there's this townlet side to it too. Lush green wheat fields, standing so tall sugarcane crops, swaying with the wind are harvests of bajra, jowar. While education and medical aid is top notch there, so is the quality of farm-fresh food items. You would be surprised to get a bag full of veggies from a Thursday, Saturday or Sunday market within your budget. ...

 After being a mom of two sons, sacrificing my sleep for years, finally when my kids sleep on their own....I start feeling insomniac. I wanted that sound sleep.... to stop that endless train of thoughts which kept the crossing closed for hours, not letting me move ahead to my dreamland, and me, every day, ending up sleep deprived. My face, in the mornings, with infinitesimal glow, hyper exhausted, dark circles widening their scope and trespassing the cheek area, making me throw awful expressions as I look into the mirror. "Mirror mirror on the wall, who is the most sleep deprived of all?", answer to this question would've been quite obvious. "Oh! I so hate being clicked", used to be my husband's dialogue, but I use it more often now. My husband's skin, inherited from his mom, always glowing, making our couple pictures seem like that of the black and white era (....Yes, exactly what, you are thinking!) I wanted to sleep early so that I could wake up early...

 "What should we buy this year?", my ajoba (grandfather) and aaji (grandmother), would ask my sister and me. "We want those shoes with that tok-tok sound", we both would shout in unison. Shinny shoes with heels that would make a crisp sound while walking, was our fancy that summer.  Every summer vacation my mom would take us sisters to her mom's place. Nani ka ghar, where those two loving (No! Actually overflowingly loving), caring (going beyond their limits many a times, happily splurging whatever they had for us), dazzlingly beautiful souls lived. Yes! My aaji and ajoba. So every summer they treated us with whatever we wanted, that floral dress in trend or that golden haired doll or those shinny shoes. I know we were totally materialistic, weren't we? But hey! We were too small to think of divine gifts you see. We were pampered, not only with such gifts, but also boxes of best quality alphanso mangoes, water-apples, all the seasonal fruits available out th...

 "Happy Women's Day!", my mobile beeped early in the morning. "So how are we celebrating Women's Day?", the obvious question of the day aroused, in my girl gang WhatsApp group. "I want to watch Gangubai, is anyone interested?", I texted. All voted a yes and we booked the evening show. As we reached the multiplex, in one of my friend's car, which she herself drove (Yes! Women have come a long way from turning the hand driven Atta chakki to turning the steering wheel). At the entrance of the mall were herds of women, all celebrating their day. Yes, I know what's so special about this particular day? Isn't it just like every other day? You get up, you cook, you send your kids to school, you get ready for your office, you go through the same routine as you did yesterday. But nevertheless, today you get another reason to be with your gang, be with women who are always there for you, who care for you, who are growing with you. Just another re...

 As the harsh winters end and mustard flowers bloom, our life sees no tough time nor any gloom....that's spring for us! In previous parts of this series I wrote about what spring means to me. But being an Indian there's a different meaning to this season. As I said earlier, spring isn't romanticised as much in India. Speaking of spring in movies or dramas, apart from spring blossom mentions in few romantic songs like "Gulmohor gar tumhara naam hota" and "Rajnigandha ful tumhe", there's not much romance around spring. The reason for which might be that spring in India known as Basant is related to harvest. India being primarily an agricultural country, farms are more of source of income as opposed to just running through fields singing songs. A Tujhe dekha to yeh jana sanam is surely a hit, in the mustard field, but the farmer gives his efforts and his yeild, more importance than a mere bollywood appearance. As they say, Way to man's heart is thro...

 Spring adds new life and new beauty to all that it is! ~ Jessica Harrelson. When the guitar strings are struck, when the birds chirp, when the camellias bloom, when the sun's rays warm the surroundings and when you ain't feeling sad anymore....that's when you know Spring is here! Love and Spring are as compatible as coffee and vanilla! So these dramas cash in on the pathways, laterals covered with cherry blossom, camellia trees. The roads masked with the petals of these blooms. The main leads walking over it, hand in hand, promising to be together for eternity. As cliche as it sounds, but the vibe does struck a chord in your heart, makes you long for such a companion or if you have one, makes you fall in love with him again! The heroine says If you stretch your hand out in the drizzle of falling petals and a petal lands on your hand, the person you are with at that instance stays with you forever. The hero stretches his hand out and a petal sways with the wind to land on h...

 You can cut all flowers but you cannot keep Spring from coming! ~ Pablo Neruda I am a fan of Korean, Chinese, Japanese dramas. And the real meaning of the word Spring was introduced to me through these dramas. In India, we don't actually get to see Spring as a season separately. We don't have those appealing cherry blossoms, tulips, hyacinths, alluims etc... Yes, we do have gulmohars, bahawa, palaash, jarul....But then I guess spring in India isn't romanticised to a magnitude as it is in other countries. When you see those cherry blossoms, of white and pink, the petals swirling with the wind and elegantly descending to the ground....you know instantly that the unrequited love is going to find its way....way right through the bed of those soft pink, fallen corolla. Spring literally means to spring up. The flowers, plants, new beginnings...all of these opening up, bursting up, blossoming up, is Spring! As it's rightly said - It's a lovely reminder of how beautiful ch...

 "Should I come there to cut your sons' nails?", she still teases me on the phone. Who?.....Who else? My mommy dear. So here’s the story..... When my elder son was born, me, a new mother, or in my kids' language, a noob(newbie), had so many uncertainties in my mind. Apprehensive for everything happening around, was my state. How should I hold him? What's the right way to feed? How to make him burp after every feed? How should he sleep, lap or bed or cradle or rocker? Thankgod! My mom was around to help me figure out all this and much more. To ease out my ambiguity and hesitation, she was always there. "Mom, how do I do this?", and my mom, like a pro, would hold my son and do it for me. I really admired her for all that and with a smirk would think in my mind, "No doubt she has raised two lovely daughters with utmost sincerity".....(Yeah! I know narcissism...lovely is the highlighted word...but concentrate on sincerity more, here!) That day, I w...

*Click here for Part 2*  Gautam got enraged, but Gargi looked unequivocally into Gautam's eyes and continued, "I am the one who even chooses her lehenga carefully. I don't like to compromise on anything. If it's silver sequences then it ought to be. But I never was so rigid for decisions involving you Gautam. When you had asked me to hand over one of my clients to you, I gladly did it. When you had asked me to step down from making an important presentation, I happily handed over the documents to you. You took many such opportunities from me to jump up to higher post, but I didn't mind, because I loved you. When you had cancelled our dates on several occasions for attending meetings scheduled on eleventh hour, I appreciated your hard work. But when you had asked me to have coffee alone, with that client of yours, I shouldn't have agreed. I had told you that he wasn't respectful towards me, but you had brushed off the conversation. I trusted you and remained...

*Click here for Part 1*  Gargi walked down from the stage. Gautam couldn't contain his anger. His parents were startled. Gargi's mom was about to faint. Gargi's father joining hands, asked Gautam what had happened. He was already apologising without knowing the reason. Gargi looked at her father, shook her head in negation, while holding her mother's hand tightly. Gargi's mascara and kohl were smudged, tears rolled down her eyes, washing away the pink blush from her cheeks. This beautifully decked-up lady had turned into a vamp suddenly. "Is she out of her mind? What does think she's doing? Is this the way to behave?", such whispers in the crowd were making Gargi into a vamp. Gargi and her mother went into the dressing room. "What's wrong? Why did you do it?", her mother couldn't control sobbing. "His client, the one in navy-blue blazer, literally groped my bare waist when we were posing for the picture. And when I jerked away hi...

 Year 2016.... Meine breakup kar liya.... Meine breakup kar liya.... "What's with this song, Sir?", Gargi laughed as she asked her Zumba instructor. "This is the latest one....it's a breakup song....very catchy number....perfect for today's dance routine", instructor replied. "Oh really? A breakup song?", Gargi said to other girls in the class, showing her utmost dismay. "Didn't you watch this new movie? The song's a hit.....Chalo chalo, let's practice, one two three...", instructor clapped catching the beat. Later, in the evening, Gargi and her friends booked tickets for the movie's show. As she watched the song..."OMG! This Karan Johar has glamourised breakup too now....who goes to a club to celebrate a breakup ya? And what's with this headphones and dance, it's a breakup...If you love someone, shouldn't you be sad over a breakup? I wouldn't be so elated..... ", Gargi was in total disagreeme...

 Year 2000 - "What should be the theme for this year's Fashion show Sups?", I was discussing with Supriya. "Hmmmm, let's do the 3 ages - Stone, machine and Jet age, What say?", idea struck my mind which I instantly blurted out. Supriya and me finalised the theme, standing on the railway platform. Every year, the Government Engineering college in my town hosted an event 'Lamhe' for all degree colleges around. Our engineering college participated without fail too. Dance, elocution, beauty pageant, Jam, fashion show, singing and many such fun competitions were held. Supriya and me, along with our friends set on to perform on stage with also our gang helping hands off stage. We all got busy with preparations. Staying up late at nights ( we used to call it Night Marna, in engineering language), we all designed dresses from scratch. Jute bags, khadi, silver foils, hand-painted internet home page, headphones, cables and what not, came to our rescue. 'Ha...

 Sometimes you will never know the value of a moment until it becomes a memory ~ Dr. Seuss The pandemic, for sure, made us all realise that memories are priceless and so is freedom. That particular evening spent with your family, over a dinner at your favourite restaurant. Cracking jokes, enjoying the sumptuous delicacies, These are the best crystal prawns on earth ya! This dessert here is just so amazing....such small things adding to your treasure trove of been here done that. Suddenly all this came to a halt. Our prerogative of manoeuvring around was confined within the walls of house, cooking day in and day out for the entire family without a break and craving for that dessert at that restaurant for days. That brunch, the pot luck, at your friend's abode, with your gang. Tu kaise banati hai pancakes? Icecream mei CMC dalti hai kya? .....Sharing recipes of yummy menu prepared, over heartfelt laughters, gossips, chatting, venting out, group hugs and so much fun together. The time...

 We never had any pets in our house after that stern announcement. But I forgot to mention that we have a farmhouse. The farmhouse is uphill and a stray dog had lost it's way, it happened to come there, few years ago. And now it was already, a pet. This was when my younger son was just shy of 3. We were all celebrating New Year's eve there, along with our friends and family. So this Tommy(the pet dog, named by caretaker of farmhouse), was strolling around. I had already warned to tie him up as there were kids and strangers around him. "But dogs are lovable, they don't bite", such misconceptions of so-called dog lovers, aided Tommy on being legs free (if I can say so). We were having dinner in the patio. After the dinner was over, I collected the plates to take them inside. And I heard a loud scream. I rushed outside, only to see the worst. My younger son's forehead was profusely bleeding. I grabbed him and under the basin tap, cleaned his wound. It was a deep ...

 Budgerigars were gone, so were the parrots, another round of budgerigars happened not so far later. They were given away too, ofcourse by me. Somehow, since childhood, I never had liked pets as such. No animosity, but the rancour was evident, apreś. I never enjoyed, how my friends used to go on telling stories about their pets, mostly dogs or cats. "Pepsi sleeps with me, Raju tags along wherever I go, Milee barks non-stop(is it even a thing to boast about?), Marshall eats only home-cooked meals, Boxer licks me when he's happy(Eewww!)".....so on and so forth... Nothing of this really excited me or made me even once think about having a pet. Now, it was the time for some fish at my place. We had already had a fish tank, prior to budgerigars, but when we had floods in here, the tank had spilled and fish had already washed away. This tank was already there when I got married, so technically for me budgerigars were first pets brought in, after my marriage. In the meanwhile, m...

 Even if I had succeeded in my pet hostility mission, my hubby(who is passionate about having pets, alike my kids), this time, got a pair of parrots for kids.  Once again, our house was filled with bywords, YAY! Hurray! etc etc.....But akin to previous case, I wasn't a part of their celebration.  Again, parrots are intelligent birds. They too have the ability to imitate human speech. So 'Mein Kampf', with teaching them to speak, was on going for my kids. I hadn't taken so much pain in teaching my kids to speak. And more so, my younger son himself wasn't able to speak many English words still, yet, he was trying to teach the parrots how to speak! Guavas, chillies, tiny apples, pulses, now, had to take the inventory check on these, more than often. Swing was made from scratch for them, in their lavish cage. Parrots have strong zygodacty feet(2 toes facing forward and 2 back) with sharp, elongated claws, which they use for swinging. They enjoyed the oscillations so muc...

  The first pets that made their way to our home were the budgerigars or lovebirds as we know them. Blue, yellow, green, white, the shades and hues were amazing. Max, Piggy, Piggyot, Margo were the few names that I can recall, given to them by my kids. They are beautiful birds, blessed by nature with colourful appearances. They are popular pets around the world due to their small size and ability to mimic human speech. The aviculture of these is on a large scale. They are social animals and require stimulation in the shape of toys and interaction with humans or with other budgerigars, hence are tamed along with few others.  Well, well, I know alot of encyclopedia here....but all this research work was done by my elder son who was not even 10. He loves animals and birds and is crazy about pets. But I wasn't keen on it, at all. Because I knew that in the spur of moment, my kids will agree on all the conditions to have a pet. But later, all the care and work to be done will event...

 "Have you seen Sharmaji Namkeen?, It's an awesome movie. Every retired person should have some hobby. They should have a life of their own. They should seek happiness in whatever they want. I am with it ya, they deserve to be happy", Rekha was all praises for this movie, at her kitty party, in a cafè. She was chatting with her friends and she noticed a familiar face four tables across,  "Oh! It's Papa", she screamed aloud, but in her head. "Just a minute dearies, will be back", she excused herself and went to the washroom. Hurriedly dialled husband's number, "Sameer, Papa is having an affair, he's with a lady in this cafe. They both are smiling and chatting", she spoke in a hush-hush tone. "What rubbish? Are you having alcohol at your kitty brunch now?", Sameer countered. "No...Wait will send a picture of them", Rekha rushed outside and quietly clicked a picture. She sent it to Sameer. "Let's talk whe...

 Their bus arrives at the school and students alight. As Gaurav reaches the assembly, 10 students gather around,  "Buddy, share your homework na, Math wala". Geeta's bag drops from her shoulders to the ground with a thud. Her tiffin falls open and water spills from the bottle. "What is all this mess?", she shouts in bewilderment. Everybody laughs aloud, pointing fingers in L shape (depicting a 'Loser'), at her. "I am topper of my class, how dare you call me a loser", Geeta shrieks in angst, cleaning the mess. "Take a chill pill Miss.Nautanki", someone taps her shoulder. "Oh! Preeti", Geeta's eyes are filled with tears, she can see a blurry image of her best friend from school, whom she has seen after ages. She hugs her tightly. "Bas bas, tera drama band karde drama queen", Preeti says. "And since when are you a topper of the class. Keep your voice low, if Gaurav hears it, you will be more embarrassed in fr...

 "Get up, get ready it's already time for your school bus", Geeta shouts, early in the morning. "They are just having fun for two years now, no proper school, no submitting their homeworks on time, just the monsterous screen and the clicking sound of keys month in, month out. I am fed up". She continues to murmur to herself, "They are just like their dad. He never studied in our school times. I used to tutor him so he barely passed. And he boasts about how he didn't study and still made it big. What example is he trying to set? Noone is bothered to take cognigence of how I am behind our kids daily, so that they study, be qualified enough to be self-supporting, unaided, capable of doing something on their own. I am doing it for their own good.......", continues her soliloquy. Geeta packs lunchboxes and water bottles for kids and her hubby, stacks in their bags. Her husband leaves for office. She manages, somehow, to reach in time for kids' schoo...