Saregama is a reality show I watch regularly .There are some really good singers and it is a pleasure to listen to them .The sex ratio was skewed ,fewer girls than boys .As soon as the audience voting started the number of girls reduced dramatically .There remained only three girls to seven boys .Am I being paranoid when I feel that girls lost out as the majority of mobile users are males ?Anyway the three Mauli,Sumedha and Poonam are really good .Than the parochial voting began .I hated it when the contestants appealed to the people of their states .(In the Sony show this parochialism reached such a level that the chief minister appealed to the people to vote for their candidate irrespective of the talent so ultimately the competition was about which State could send more SMSs )Mauli lost out because she is an NRI .Than Sumedha and yesterday it was Poonam .The other thing is that all five were so good but than there can be only one winner .Poonam sings beautifully and the more important thing is that she is a beautiful person .It had been told that she belonged to a very poor family but till we saw her mother yesterday we did not realize how poor !Poonam was born after the death of her father .single handedly the mother brought up the child ,recognized her talent, had the courage to dream of higher things for the gifted girl .It is so easy to think and dream big when every thing is fine but it requires guts to try to fulfill a dream in such a difficult situation .It is so easy to give up and so difficult to carry on the struggle.Also it warmed my heart to see Poonam acknowledging her mother,s contribution publicly and not feel embarrassed by the abject poverty .Once a person is successful it is very easy to forget the people left behind.The person worthwhile is the one who always remembers his or her roots .And so even though Poonam is not in the final I salute her as a winner in the game of life .

We visited an old relative yesterday .She is eighty plus ,fragile as an albaster statue and yet she manages to stay alone in a two bedroom flat at the second floor she had shared with her late husband. Theirs is a love story with no dramatic twists and turns but heart warming and enlightening .It is unique in the sense that they needed no company except each other .There was a sense of fulfilment which surpassed all other desires .I suppose it is this sense of fulfilment that allows her to remain alone after her husband,s death The bonding was so strong that it's strength carries her along even now and adjust all her needs so that she remains self sufficient .Such a sense of commitment,fulfillment and love over awes me .

I made a promise to myself that I will write at least once a week .Well I have broken that promise but the reason justifies my folly .I am now a mother inlaw my son got married recently.We had lots of fun and frolic The
.family came together for the first wedding of the second generation ,There was much bonhomie ,affection and enthusiasm that justified my faith in having a large number of siblings .At the risk of being categorised as backward I must say large families provide a network which simply can not be replaced by anyother social structure.I suppose in this age of small families of two kids the cousins will learn to bond with each other .But than it would certainly require special effort on us elders to help cement and stregthen the bond .At times it may require special effort and also some sacrifices but we would be giving our children a gift that they would appreciate later.
I am constantly being asked how I feel as a mother in law .Certainly neither a lalita Pawar (the wicked Maa in law of Hindi films ) or Nirupa Roy (Thr ever suffering one ).I simply feel it is like having another child without undergoing the birth pangs .As I have already said I love children and to have one more is indeed a blessing .