Thoughts

Written for my son To be recited on the tune of "You are 16, going on 17" song from Sound of Music You are 17, going on 18, Waiting to be a man You think and you write, your future is bright And I am your greatest fan! You are 17, going on 18 Future plans on your mind Eager to drive a scooter and car and Leaving your childhood behind Sensitive, loving and kind are you You are a handsome dude, Intelligent yet humble are you, And always hungry for food! You are 17, going on 18, God bless you with health and joy, We'll always love you,always support you World is your oyster my boy!

 (लोकमत ‘ऑक्सिजन’ पुरवणीसाठी लेख) तीन देशांतल्या चार शहरांतल्या आठ जणींची एक अविस्मरणीय सहल “म्हणालो होतो की नाही आपण की लेख लिहायला पाहिजे आपल्या ह्या अनुभवाबद्दल? आज संधी आली आहे तो लेख लिहिण्याची”. मला आमच्या स्पेन च्या ट्रिपबद्दल लिहायला सांगितल्यावर मी सगळ्यांना मेसेज केला, सगळ्या परत ३ वर्ष मागे गेल्या…. कल्पना सुचली आम्ही सगळ्या म्हणजे अनू, शलाका, आरती, अदिती, नंदिता, शिल्पा, हेमा आणि केतकी कॉलेजमधे BCS ला एका वर्गात होतो. कॉलेज संपून २० वर्ष झाली तरी आधी ई-मेल, yahoo group आणि नंतर whatsapp आणि facebook वरून जास्त मैत्रिणी झालो. सगळ्या वेगवेगळ्या देशात विखुरलेल्या पण पुण्यात भेटत राहिलो. आणि अशातच एकदा अदिती कामानिमित्त U.K ला गेली असताना शलाकाकडे गेली होती. त्यांच्या बोलण्यात विषय निघाला की आपण सगळ्यांनी मिळून कुठेतरी जाऊया. हा धागा पकडून ती परत आल्यावर आमच्या गप्पा रंगल्या आणि आम्ही खरंच ह्याचा विचार करू लागलो. दोघी जणी अमेरिकेत, एक U.K मध्ये, बाकी पाच पुण्यात. कोणालाच फार जास्त प्रवास करावा लागू नये म्हणून युरोपला जाण्याचा विचार केला. बाकी काही देश काहीजणींचे बघून झा...

     A tempting offer came from my friend Aditi to accompany her on a tour to North East of India with Foliage Outdoors! But... the dates were 22-30 Nov and that meant leaving my husband to manage everything from both the kids' school and classes etc. for 9 whole days! Tough decision, but Sumedh being the sweetest person and husband, agreed immediately and I did the flight booking and started daydreaming, especially after getting to know more at the pre-camp meeting about the places we were going to visit!     And then, Aditi had to cancel due to an emergency and I had a really bad back sprain and a minor fracture in my foot! But thankfully I recovered enough in time to travel and with some encouragement from Aditi and other friends, also managed to overcome my anxiety of travelling with a group of strangers.  Day 1: Tuesday, 22nd November 2016     Reached Guwahati by flight with some of the co-travellers and our group leader Bishwaj...

A 2 yr old girl was watching her grandfather wash his dentures. As soon as he put them in his mouth after washing, she cried out, extremely surprised by his action, "No, don't eat them!" . Then she added , explaining to him "We should eat food and not teeth". A small girl was watching a pregnant woman, and asked her mother why the woman's tummy was so big. Her mother replied "Because there's a baby in her tummy!" Shocked, the girl asked "What! Did she eat it!" We were planning a trip to Mahabaleshwar with my parents. The day before, my daughter asked my mother whether she could come to her house to sleep. My mother said , " You can come and sleep in my room when we go to Mahabaleshwar". My daughter immediately asked, very surprised , "Are you bringing your room along with you, to Mahabaleshwar?"