World From My Iris

Dear Anika (aka baby bump, aka Vimi, aka Angel ) At the beginning of this year , you were a little caterpillar in my womb and your Dad and my favorite outing was to the doctor to hear your heartbeat. This year started with you in my womb and me counting days to see you, feel you in my arms. While in the womb you were a very active child. You used to sleep when i listened to the garbhasanskar but you kicked and danced every time I heard Bollywood peppy songs. Your favorite song was "Fevicol se ". Your Daddy was worried that I will make you a total filmy like me so he used to play firangi rock bands for you every night and you used to rock n roll inside. Every night your daddy used to talk to you, tap on my tummy and call your name "Vimi" and you used to tap back from the inside of me. Did I tell you that your Dad danced and did Hi5, and screamed and shout with joy in the hospital when he heard you were a girl?? oh, you should have seen your old man. The entir...

The best of me are not the pictures you see on Facebook Or the designation that I get paid for Or the roles that I play as daughter or sister or friend Or my intelligence and ability to forecast a trend The best of  me are not the clothes I wear Or the way a lip liner defines my lip Or the house I live or the car I drive Or the smile that gets produced when you meet my eyes The best of me are not my mother’s skin or my dad’s smile Or the frequent fliers club or those extra miles Not even my man, his love that I receive and cherish The best in me is all that and nothing at all Because the best in me is only within me The best in me is my soul that mirror cannot captivate My dreams that are exclusively my own The faith that I have in me and my hopes The strength and spirit that shows The freedom to be as real as real me.. The best in me is my inner world..Which only I CAN See… (I wrote this in December ,2011..still resonates the be...

The pain, the success, the yearning, the hard-work, and the sense of achievement of being granted an Omani driving license cannot be understood by my friends and family back in India. But the Asians who go through the process of getting the Omani driving License know what I am talking about. You will see people who have failed 7, 10, 15, even 25 times and still going. There are also those superstars who crack it in less than 3 times and they are respected and revered. Mothers want their kids to grow up like these rock stars! Anyway, my friends here (in Oman) understand my emotions, the core of my achievement . They have congratulated me and have felt the happiness back again that they felt when they earned theirs.. something what a mother feels when she hears the tale of some other mother's brave delivery of her child without an epidural.  To all those who come here in Oman with a glee on their face and the confidence that they used to drive like a boss in their own homelan...