Babel Chronicles

 When does a building become dear to us and why does it feel so??

Babel Towers  and Majaz 3 holds really special memories for me.

When I took the key from Raghu , our MSO on 27th August 2019  for the flat no 1505 in Babel https://meet.google.com/rxs-aqas-din, little did I think that the flat ,building and the area would be so dear to me . I have had attachments before to the buildings I stayed before in Abu shagara because of the fond memories .

Babel towers is more special. It was not the building or area , It was the company of colleages turned friends who were there for each other through difficult times and how we survived them.

The walk to the bus stop, calling other colleagues who had not reached the stop, covering for them in the bus, requesting  the driver to wait and the marathon we all run to catch the bus all were such beautiful memories which cant be recreated.

The loud discussions in the bus ranging from the LC to SLT to teachers to movies to in laws and maintanence issues and what not to the extent Pampa the bus attendant had to tell us to shut up . Our kids grew up in the area . We could send them safely out alone because we knew the area was safe for our kids.

The long walks to Expo centre for the book fair , for the Liz exhibitions and the walk to Lulu for the groceries every week with my friend what not , to the simple act of having a cup of tea from the cafteria down , each experience gave us a feel of fun and joy.

During the pandemic, going to the centre to get the covid test, even going for vaccinations and the mandatory quarrantine and the wait at the doctor all added to the tapestry of memories. Those were extra ordinary times and we all were there for each other.

And how can I forget , how each one of them rallied around me during one of my worst crisis , morally supporting me and my daughter. I could not have pulled through the challenge without the support of each one of them. 

All good things come to an end and so did the life at Babel. However the Babel Yuvathees still remain strong. 

Miss you Babel and Al Majaz. You will always remain my favourite.

Invest in Myself

Invest in Myself

We all play different roles in our lives . And we try to be perfect in those versatile roles . We try to be the perfect mother , perfect daughter in law, perfect employee ,perfect wife  and what not.

We also have been conditioned by the society that woman lives for others to the extent that they even dress in the way their family wants and cook food what others like. Their desires are not even taken care of.

She should be sacrificing , looking after others interests and give up her dreams. Her dreams have an expiry date often till her marriage or till she bears a child. 

A time comes when her children leaves the nest and there are no in laws to take care of. And then she feels left out because she does not have anything to do . With the coming of nuclear families , there is no support system to turn back to . This often leads to middle aged depression which often results in an emotionally stressed woman which often reflects outwardly as different diseases.

This can happen to men also . They often forget to connect with family as they rush to fulfull their duties as a son, father , husband . Life just becomes a circle of responibilities. 

It is time that each individual whether man or woman invests in their own selves. We should take time to develop or nurture our inner mind . In Asian societies, it is often taken as a crime if we adults take time to unwind, to meet friends or cultivate our hobbies. But why ?? We often fail to realise that a happy individual contributes much more to the family and society because they are positive and active.

Life is about investing. Investment of love, care , friendship and most importantly in ourselves because ultimately it is our life. 

Take time to love ourselves as much as we love our family, friends and work. Take time to indulge in our hobbies . Take time to listen , read and just unwind . Take time to do what you want. Even cook and eat what we want because we have our individual love.

It does not mean we neglect our responsibilities towards others. But at least a few hours a month to look after ourselves and do what we like and want so that we fulfill our individuality and have a life that is not chained to people . At the end when everyone flies out of the nest , we have something to fall back on.  Just like we invest in money for retirement , we need to invest in our health both mental and physical , in our hobbies and in our dreams .