Never Say No

My mother says that. Let me start with this...in movies, there will be this hero or heroine who will keep quoting his or her mother/father and I have always wondered about such "quotable" people.

I was thrillled that I could start with this quote. "Never say no, for that is what you will get," meri maa kehti thi...truly. Though she said it only in one context which I won't get into here.

But it applies so well to certain things in my life. I said: I will not study literature, become a journalist, learn to type or use computers, or become a teacher.

Graduated in BA Literature
Second job onwards, been in a journalistic set up.
Have to use computers to type in stories, and am pretty fast with typing.
The only thing I managed to achieve till last year was not become a teacher. This year was a dance teacher at my kids' school.

Each has been a satisfying experience. On Mar 12, when the annual day happened, the applause to the show my six kids put up was heart-warming... Will do it again, and again, and again...

Glad that you sometimes get what you don't want. Or else, how will you know how satisfying an experience it can be?

Like is not to love

In the book Hearts in Atlantis by Stephen King, a man in his 60s tells a 11 year old boy - your mother may not like you, but she loves you.

Love does not preclude like?

And yet, we want our loved ones to have the behaviour we like...or else, that love gets clouded by anger, disappointment, contempt.

One size fits all, what's right for me is right for you, or else...

Is this why relationships get strained - because we can't distinguish between love and like, because we don't know that love is above likes and dislikes?

Shrinking world, longer distances

Aeroplane, train, bus, car, bike.
Wired phone, mobile phone.
Internet.

All have shrunk the globe. Today, a person living across the globe knows what's happening here within the second. One can travel to the other side of the globe in a max of 48 hours.

And yet, the distances between our hearts have become longer. The sense of belonging is much less, and we have but a few minutes to spare for our friends and relatives.

Is this what growing up is all about?

Is it worth it - this growing up?

To leave people behind, to leave friends behind, to leave family behind, and think only of the self?

Cartoon of the day: A 2-yr old sits up in the bed and says, "I discovered a truth today. I am the centre of the universe."