Are you flexible enough?

   

     In the wake of new trend of gyms and physical fitness, you may assume this post will talk about your fitness regime. Or it will be about little kids and adults who dance flexibly on various reality shows. Or it will be about various sports and flexible activities that ensure you stay strong and active all lifelong. 

   

    Do not worry, there is enough awareness and buzz about physical fitness around you; there is no need that my blogs should venture into that space. I shall save you from additional doses of age-old information on fitness or modern styles to achieve it. Then what do I mean when I question about flexibility? If I am not targeting physical flexibility, what am I hinting at?

    Well, the idea behind this blog is to ponder about flexibility of our mind. Again the question arises, what does it mean? As bizarre as it sounds, can your mind be flexible? Think about it for a short while and answer it yourself, before you listen to my long chain of thoughts. (after all, you have no other option!) 

      On a serious note, when I first thought about it, my idea moved towards the concept of ‘adaptability’. We all have heard about ‘adaptation’ in our primary school lessons which talk about changes and adjustments made by living things to survive in a given environment in a successful way. While that form of adaption was inclined towards biological features and activities for survival, I wanted to explore adaptability of mind.

   Since childhood, we all are programmed to live in a certain way. As we ascend the ladder of life, we learn various aspects in a step wise manner. Parents and teachers play an instrumental role as they help us in building a strong foundation for the future. They teach us about acceptable form of behavior and introduce us to the world of good manners. Slowly and steadily, as we grow along the way, we become matured enough to put these theoretical lessons into practical assignments. We deal with wide range of people and react accordingly to survive within a competitive platform. 

    Though we have a strong system of thoughts and values in place, we must be able to display flexibility to move ahead with the latest trend. Holding our traditional values is essential, but marching ahead with modern thoughts is equally important too. It does not mean, we compromise our beliefs, but it also does not mean we stay away from an opportunity under the disguise of our ‘age-old’ customs.

  There is a thin line behind compromising our values and accepting modern trends

     Understanding this can lead to prosperity. With changing times, it is necessary to change certain aspects of our lifestyle, but definitely not at the cost of hurting our values and sentiments. Being flexible is opening doors to new progressive ideas without pushing away the good old ones. Flexibility is an open minded approach towards positive changes. 

     It is knowing what is good, what is bad and what is avoidable under the manner of ‘being modern’. Just because you want to fit into the society and be flexible, you cannot do so at the cost of making major life alterations.

     Experiments and experiences reflect the concept of adaptability in our routine life. There is no harm in trying out a new cuisine or wearing a new outfit that you may never have thought before. Grandparents who try out burgers and noodles look cutest as they participate in new trends for the love of grand-kids. Or parents who try out modern outfits after being forced by their kids look amazing with shying smiles. Elders with smartphones and social media apps appear cute in a tech savvy way as they want to be one with the wide global world. These examples are picked up from my own set of people as my family is flexible enough to try out various things.

    Breaking stereotypical attitude is extremely essential to ensure progress and development. Just because certain things were followed by our ancestors does not mean they were foolproof in every way. How else would you explain the progress made by women in today’s world or justify the trend of global progress? If we were confined to our houses to follow the age-old practices or if we refused to change our traditional food habits; would it be possible to achieve happiness in today’s setup? Flexibility with changing times ensures the joy of living in the present.

    This concept of adaptability is all about understanding what is essential and beneficial for us in a balanced manner along the contemporary period. Extreme rigidity is detrimental to progress, while extreme flexibility may show signs of instability. If we understand these ideas for our own good, we can sow those seeds for children of tomorrow. 

 Though I have come to the end of this post, I am tempted to share the root idea behind this article. While listening to an enthusiastic grandfather on a television show, I was amazed as he spoke about his first foreign trip and various preparations done by his family. It made me realize the value of flexibility as we all must try out something new.

  Think about your own experiences and share your comments here. It is fun to be a sport sometimes. Break free and be flexible, after all life is all about experiments and experiences! Capture yourself with something trendy and preserve these memories for your kids and grand-kids down the line.

P.S: Try this concept of flexibility at your own risk. I am not responsible if your family members refuse to identify you in your new trendy ‘avatar’ or demand exotic fast food every single day!! 

The battle is real….so is the struggle

    No, this isn’t a battle of genders in light of growing feminism. It is not a battle between relations, lifestyle, present, future, innovation or principles. It is my own battle against a tiny little monster who chose to enter into our lives in a rather unexpected way. It is said when everything goes smoothly, we may start taking life for granted. One big blow and you realize there is more to life than sailing on safe waters. 

   

    When everything seems to be going as per plan, life has something unusual to offer. And that is exactly what seems to be on my cards, when those unwanted words hit my ears. For a science graduate into words and knowledge, confirmed diagnosis from the doctor was all I needed to initiate my battle. A battle with Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a battle with cells of my own body who chose to misbehave, this post is my way to express everything settled deep within.

      Two months into the treatment and still a long way to go, my idea of penning such a blog was to express what I felt so far. The idea is not to garner any form of sympathy or hope for miracles to work, the idea was to speak my heart out through a form that has been my best friend all this while. Even amidst all the uncertainties and chaos in our routine lives, one thing remained the same always and that had to be my love for words. This entire phase of close to six months so far has been nothing less than an undesirable dream, yet it has taught me so many things about life.

   I have never been more close to the thought ‘Necessity is the mother of invention’, as I started approaching positivity and happiness with open arms. I realized there is more to life than postponing the joy of present. As I savor every single moment with a true heart, I understand the need to live one day at a time. Supportive family, amazing doctor, caring staff and team of wonderful friends is all I can ask for as every single member has been instrumental in keeping me happy and happening. 

   Experiences like these make you strong and urge you to find the spark from deep within. I shall not complain over my destiny or cry over my story. There is no one to validate my end of experiences and change the output on the basis of my previous deeds. All I have is one life to make it all right. It has made me look into precious aspects such as present happiness as that seems to be permanent. Every single day is a new story in itself as I encounter diverse moments. It unfolds as a bag full of surprises and returns back to its usual clock for a next day in succession.

   Today, as I look at the journey so far or ponder about the path ahead, I have urged myself to focus on the good aspects and one such good aspect that has steamed from it is ‘stay away from future.’ For a mind that always pouched at the first opportunity to run away from the present and dream about the future, this habit has made me value the current moment that I live in. It has made me focus on what I should do today rather than plan about tomorrow that is uncertain and hidden in its own way.

    I do not want this experience to change any relations with my set of people or alienate them in any way. I only wish to pump more energy, love, emotions and warmth in every experience that I encounter along the way. Medicines will do their wonders, while thoughts and prayers will do theirs. It has opened my eyes to the true meaning of life. While I am sure this experience will not transform me into a flawless individual, it will definitely change my perspective towards it in a huge way.

     While I continue this battle with a long struggle that follows, there is so much more to explore, experience, enjoy and encounter. Positive and healthy thoughts are all I need to continue the battle. A battle to emerge victorious over the dark clouds of that dreaded ‘C’.

P.S: Though I conclude this post, there is so much more I wanted to write about but words seem to fall short. I shall definitely follow up this post with more experiences along the way. Till then live in the present and spread love, smiles and laughter!

They came, they saw, they conquered…

 …..and left us with loads of memories for many more years to come.  Wondering who are ‘they’? What am I referring to as I appreciate their presence? Well, this ‘they’ stands for my family who visited us in the US of A. As my sister, brother-in-law and little nephew made their debut appearance in our home away from home, every single moment was precious to the core. While their version of story will describe the experiences and adventures in a foreign land, my version shall talk about the happiness of spending time with them. Suddenly as me and husband switched roles from being NRIs to local folks for their guided tours, this stay blessed us with varied experiences and interesting memories.

     From converting our ‘some-what’ bachelor pad to a child-proof apartment, from hunting for a child car seat to watching videos to fix it well, from planning trips to managing time, as we geared for their arrival, we realized that the preparation was much longer than their actual stay.

     With a cute toddler of 22 months and loads of luggage, as my sister and brother-in-law crossed the Pacific Ocean in a long air voyage, their efforts, patience and courage definitely deserve recognition. Writing a blog to their name will be my little way to thank them for such an exciting experience as it gave us the happy opportunity to be ‘the hosts’. While it will be unacceptable to call ourselves as the best hosts, I hope my sister will get into action soon to praise us well! As I look at their stay as one long enjoyable dream, I feel it lasted only for a few hours.

     Memories of their preparation are more loud and clear as we exchanged messages about what to bring, what to plan and what to expect. Soon as their arrival day approached and the fun started, it was time to bid them good-bye! This short stay of few weeks was exciting to show them our side of life in a foreign land. Every single moment was loaded with facts, information and data as there was so much to share. Presenting the happy, sad, memorable, not-so memorable and difficult shades of life in a different country seemed to flow as a movie, as we kept them occupied all the while.

Confession:  This post may tend to get too personalized, but I promise to stay away from such a temptation!

The cutie pie: Coming to the little toddler who was the hero of the entire event, I believe his glory will demand a separate post! While we always wondered about what must be going on in his mind, our curiosity was directed towards does he realize that he is almost 8000 miles on the other end of the globe? His excitement of watching airplanes from land was totally evident, but does he realize he too sat in one such plane, up above the ground?

    While he is too small to understand any of these things, we enjoyed every single bit with him. From enjoying free rides on his stroller to see the world around to sitting in a special seat inside the car, from exploring the toy section in every mall to enjoying home cooked and outside meals whenever and wherever he wished, the little guest was undoubtedly the king of the trip. His enthusiasm, support, smiles and interest added life to the entire experience as he joined his parents in the adventure. His unique language, broken words, mischievous acts and cute demands shall stay alive in our house as he added life to our apartment walls and floor.

The elder hero: No wonder my nephew is a cutie pie as he grabs his looks from a handsome father (and yes, a beautiful mother!) An enthusiastic member who showed interest in every single adventure that we planned, my brother-in-law brought energy to the trip. Be it trying out novel cuisines or making delicious food for us, he was the culinary star of the tour. Our appetite and taste buds will definitely miss him a lot as he introduced us to some amazing new dishes. After leaving my sister and brother-in-law inside Walmart for some peaceful shopping, the outcome was delicious dinner for several days in a row!

The gorgeous queen: I cannot dare to finish this post without talking about my sister who was the gorgeous care-giver of the entire experience. From planning meals for the little kid to organizing travel bags for our short trips, from making home-made meals as we demanded to taking care of every member, my sister was the backbone of such an interesting experience. The credit for successful accomplishment of a long journey with a little fellow in hand goes to my sister as she planned every bit to detail. With enthusiastic eyes and excited mind as she explored all the places and experiences with us, it was amazing to feel the energy.

   As these memorable days came to an end quickly, we truly enjoyed it to the last bit. While it was impossible to prolong the happiness, we are only left behind with valuable memories to cherish for a lifetime. It is during such times when you realize – wealth, ambition, career or assets will never be able to replace the joy of spending valuable moments with loved ones!

  Till we create more such memories, I wish each one of you also create several memorable moments to last a lifetime!

P.S: Dear Sister and Bro-in-law, you should be grateful that I did not reveal any deep secrets about your excessive shopping! Well, you are welcome!