It is strange how social standards and morality evolves .It happens so gradually that you never realize how change has taken place unless it stares in your face .Once upon a time it was considered very crude and ill mannered to wash dirty linen in public and now people are being paid to do so in the garb of telling the truth .The rising TRP of these programmes show that people love watching the skeltons in other people's cupboards .I can understand the pleasure people take in watching the programme .There are two reasons ,one is being superior than thou and the other is plain and simple vouyerism ,the peeping tTom tendency .What I can not understand is what prompts people to come on such shows and bare their secrets?I suppose the lure of money is a great motivator .But than money at what cost ?Or may be the social change is the beginning of the acceptance of a person with all his faults and follies .May be the age of hypocrisy is over and people are learning to love unconditionally .Or maybe it is living at the moment is what counts now ,What happened in the past is gone and the future is not known so I am what Iam now .Love me or leave me !But than again is it so simple -loving as well as leaving ? I am totally confused .

It is amazing to see a child grow and a great responsibility also .As someone once said all children are born genius ,they grow up to be mediocre. Well most of them any way .Most never realize their full potential as they had never got the opportunities to do so .A baby as young as few weeks learns to use his five senses .He learns the touch of his mother,s breast ,the sound of her voice and the warmth of a cuddle .As he grows older he learns to distinguish different voices ,different touches and also his own body .He is fascinated by his own hands ,palms .fingers and feet .At this stage it is very necessary to provide him with different stimulations .He should be encouraged to see ,touch and feel different textures and things and enjoy it also .The process of learning has to be interesting and not forced. The other important thing is to help a child grow into a happy one .Of course children are born with some traits but nurture is as much as if not more important than nature .Many a times one has to keep aside our own problems ,prejudices and egos for the sake of the child .To bring up a happy ,trusting ,friendly and outgoing child one has make a lot of adjustments in one,s own nature .There are sorrows and heartbreaks one has to hide so as to provide the child a happy home full of laughter and fun .This often is easier said than done because an adult who has not had the benefit of a happy childhood or has been raised in a prejudiced environment will find it difficult to provide the child what he does not have .So a concious effort has to be made to bring up a healthy and happy child .The rewards are of course much much greater than the effort .
There is no achievement ,no fulfilment and greater happiness than looking at a person and being proud that we nurtured him to the best of our capabilities and no greater failure and misery to look at a mean selfish person and know that we are to a great extent responsible for his failings.

Sometimes I wonder what do we read newspapers for !The front page is full of suicides and murders, lootings and cheatings or dirty politics .I am sure in all 24 hours there must be some news that can lift our spirits and prove that there are still people who care for each other and are kind and compassionate to others .How would it be that a news paper changed its format and the first page was devoted to news that warms the heart and puts our trust back in mankind .All the frightening and depressing news should be on the last page so you do not have to see it the first thing in the morning .

Unable to find good books to read I decided to become a member of Delhi Public library .I managed to find one in the Tihar Jail Complex .It is a pleasure to visit it .There is a thrill involved in visiting a jail even though the library is in a housing complex and probably meant for the residents .There is a very good collection of books new as well as old classics .The children,s section contains all the books I yearned to read as a child .I wish I could have read them than.The librarian is very sweet and is very much impressed by the fact that I am a regular visitor .Some books have never been borrowed at all and rest too very infrequently .The books are issued for a fortnight so I have ample time to read the four books I get issued .
Of the four books the two I selected are old classics 'Wuthering Heights ' and 'The Tale of two Cities '.After reading the former I have decided not to reread any book which I have read as a teenager .(So I will give a miss to the other one ).When I had read it before I had found Heathcliffe to be incredibly romantic, his love for Cathy to be really divine and wondered whether such a love could really exist.Now I find Heathcliffe to be a devil and his love for Cathy
really obsessive and cathy to be a thoroughly spoilt brat .So the lesson I have learnt is that do not read the books you have loved as a child but reread the books you did not like .The chances are you may discover that you have missed out something and the book is really great .

Why is it that every thing has two sides a positive and a negative .I am thinking about this as I manage my household with two full time servants .Of course there is much less work to do and logically I should have much more time for myself and things I love to do like reading ,writing and painting but this is not so .The time saved is spent in giving instructions instructions and instructions and than being angry when they are not followed .It requires the patience of a saint to deal with servants and I find myself lacking in it.Also I find I am gaining weight and the family is missing out on the delicacies I used to cook ,the expenditure has tripled and there is no saving of time at all. After listing all the negatives let me dwell on the positives It is easier to entertain now and also in the mornings there is no pressure to get up .So all said and done I would prefer to shout and be angry and also have servants .

This is my first post in this year .I must admit to sheer laziness because however busy I have been I could certainly found time to write a post .The greatest news is that I am a grand mother now .So how do I feel ?Well I feel blessed .I thank God that my son is responsible enough to look after his child ,that my daughter in law is a wonderful mother .Another thing I realise is that a grandchild turns a daughter in law in a daughter and a son in law in a son .
Being a mother is a lot different than being a grandmother .You are more of a spectator than a participant .It takes time to sink in but when it does you realise it is a better option .You learn to wait and watch and let the new parents learn from experience and ofcourse internet .At times it is difficult but than you remember that in your time it was Dr.Spock you trusted and no one else so it is just history repeating itself .When the baby smiles there is sunshine and you wonder whether there can be anything sweeter than this and than it suddenly dawns that to hug your child is also as sweet as ever and to hold all three of them together is bliss .

In my lastpost I had wondered about the maxim that whatever happens is for the best and I had tried to rationalize by saying that since we can not see the future maybe some good would come out of any unpleasant situation .After the terrible terrorist attack in Bombay I am again preplexed .There have been too many tragedies to recount .The two year old baby of the jewish couple ,the young son of Ats chief performing the last rites ,father of Major Unnikrishnan carrying the heaviest load for a father are some images that refuse to be explained rationally .Around two hundred people have died and hundreds injured and every one death or injury affects a large number of related people .
Another thing which has always bothered me is the suddenness with which death can strike .I hope there is no one regretting the hurts caused or the love not expressed or an apology not made to someone no more .This can be the most terrible burden for the living .