Vocal Mama

I entered 2023 with totally different aspirations but 2023 had other surprisingly interesting plans for me. Like most other years, it was full of ups and downs but here are few things that it taught me: 1. JOMO: have you heard of this term? JOMO stands for joy of missing out. Though I never had FOMO but this year I started enjoying my own company; being in my PJs, watching TV, reading in my clean house and doing some self care instead of socialising, wandering in malls, and eating out. I felt less bad about plans being cancelled and rather felt thankful for it. Well, it all might be because I am in my 30s now but ahhh! what a joy!  2. Change is good: I happened to change my job in the last quarter of 2023. It was overwhelming to take that decision out of the blue and my mind was full of ifs and buts; anyhow I ended up taking the plunge and well, so far, it seems that I took the right decision. Change is scary and risky but so worth it. It is okay to be scared of the change but we g...

 I started working in 2012 and was office based till 2019. After my son was born in 2019, I took a break from work and then joined back while covid was on peak and the world was forced to function from home. I started my work from home journey in November 2020. Earlier days were tough. Although I had support, it was too much to work and take care of a baby concomitantly. I remember breastfeeding while working or taking calls as in when required. Over all that, 1 month into the job and I had to search for other work opportunities. Now, within a month of my exclusive WFH journey, i was working, tackling a baby, and preparing plus facing interviews. Some days were tougher than others but we sailed through it and emerged only stronger.  I did end up getting another job which was exclusively home based. I was happy about it because I wanted to be there for my son and I wanted to work so it was a win win situation but I was least aware of the challenges that continuous WFH can bring...

Last weekend, I had plans to meet friends for shopping. Initially I thought to leave Y back but then at the last minute decided to take him with me. Y had seen the metro many times from the car, but it was his first time riding it. S dropped us at the station and then Y and I started his first ever metro ride. Y was thrilled to get on the huge escalator, he was also scared to look back (haha!). The metro station looked like a small mall to him. He was curious about everything and kept asking me what is this, what is that? I got him a metro card and then helped him cross the ticket gate. We then took another escalator and got inside the metro. Y was elated to see the insides of the metro. He kneeled on the seat and looked outside the window most of the time. He also kept asking me what the various signage meant and why can’t he stand next to the gate. In 20 minutes or so, he got comfortable and then started talking to the fellow travelers. He was not really using his seat, but he did no...

I recently had an argument with my mom. “I do not like you being antisocial”, she said. She herself is a very social person, loves to hang out in groups with her siblings, extended family, and friends. My dad was extremely social too, he loved gatherings and outings and people loved him back. I am not as social as them. I grew up as an extrovert and social person but now I am more of an ambivert and as I like to call myself, I am ‘selectively social’ which means I like to hang out with selected people. Human is a social animal but does that mean we necessarily need to have a large group of people to share our feelings with? I don’t think so. All we need is someone who cares, who is attentive, and who won’t judge us. This is the perfect reason why our circle shrinks when we grow up. We start with dozens of friends in school but end up with 2-3 friends in adulthood. But again, there is nothing wrong with having a small group of people to vibe with because quality over quantity. Talking a...

I like watching Bollywood movies and the typical rom-com which depicts that you find just the perfect guy/girl, get married, and then live happily ever after. But well, is that true? I guess not. Based on my experience, finding the seemingly perfect guy/girl is only the first step of the relationship, dating and getting married would be second and third but the saga does not end here, the happily ever after takes a LOT of efforts from both sides. When I met my husband for the first time, I loved everything about him. When I started dating him, I still loved most things about him and then when we got married and were on our own, I realized that I like some things about him, and I hate some of his habits to the core but knowing the things that I did not like about him did not really affect my love for him. Love is and should be irrational, crazy, and unconditional otherwise its whole idea is defeated. The maximum arguments that we had in our marriage were within the first year. Even thou...

Birthdays have always been a huge deal to me. I will tell you why. As far as I remember, starting from my third or fourth birthday, in the morning, I used to get up to birthday music getting played in the background. My papa had made a customized audio tape to play on my birthdays. I remember that tape being played each year on my birthday till I turned around 15 and moved out of the home. Later I used to get dressed in brand new clothes to go to school and in the evening, we used to have a party at home. My mom used to cook all the delicious food and my papa used to decorate the room for party. He even used to craft a crown for me to wear sometimes. My parents raised me to treat birthday like festivals. I remember asking papa why we celebrate birthdays with such zest; he said, “it’s a way to be thankful for all you have achieved last year and to enthusiastically welcome the next year of your life.” Once I grew up, the method of celebration changed but celebrating birthday in full swin...