Wo(a)ndering thoughts!!!

I noticed that I cannot tolerate nuisance in movies these days.  Some movies show emotional threats, manipulation and stalking - all the things that are RED flags are packaged as a family drama. Don't get me wrong, I love watching movies and drama. But I lost patience with movies that show this toxicity like it's NORMAL.  Yes, I don't have to watch them, it's a choice - I get it. But it's so normalised that you cannot avoid them in a good movie. Thank God for the skip button. I was watching a comedy movie last night. It was during the last 30 minutes of the movie, when lil A came and sat with me for a cuddle before going to bed. I remember a scene in which the hero blames his dad for not saving enough wealth to pass on to him. He mentions that he can't marry the girl he likes because of a certain financial status his dad didn't provide. I usually skip these kinds of melodramatic scenes, but I was busy on Instagram and didn't bother to skip th

This is my first Open mic- spoken segment at the Victorian Public Sector- Women of Color Network(VPS WoCN) - 5 year anniversary celebrations. I'm honoured to present my work in a topic that is very close to my heart.  25th July 2024//Innovation centre Melbourne

I often have interesting conversations with A that would force me to think deeply and reflect on my life. Some of them are enlightening, some of them are reflections, some are lessons, some are silly, and some are stories. In my recent convo with A on the topic of nightmares <  don’t ask me how we got to this topic, it is one of the things he does before he goes to bed. Come up with questions – love his curious mind >.  I don’t know how he has time to think about these things, let alone list them in some order and give them ratings. I'm in my 40’s – I don’t think I can rate my favorite food 😊 <Mama trying to BRAG > Here it goes in his words and it is ordered by worst nightmare to least worst :)  Being chased by a 10-foot metal robot – A green pig controls the robot Time traveling to the age of dinosaurs - wasn’t an ideal dream A world with just vegetables – A world without chickens, steak, pork, or fish. What would I add to my noodles!!?? Being chased by a l

Recently A and I went on a surprise trip to my hometown to visit my parents. It was sudden plan that made my parents disoriented a bit. They couldn’t believe their eyes for a few minutes. I wouldn’t do it again, but it was worth it. The timing of this trip was also aligned with the annual village festival. I hadn't attended it since my last year of high school. That was a few decades ago, met family/cousins/ far relatives/childhood friends too. I didn’t remember some of them, they looked familiar and I’m sure they felt the same.   To top it off, my aged mum fell and broke her rib – that sums up the rest of the trip trying to make the house elderly-safe. My mum was not happy that me and my sister had to spend the whole week tending to her, but we were ok with it. It’s a shame she fell and had to stay in bed for a few weeks, but my mum wouldn’t sit down for a bit to chat. She would keep walking anxiously trying to make/cook something for us. This fall made her rest,

My dear pre-teen,  Part of me wants you to stay young and innocent, but life gets to us all and you grow, and I have to grow as well. First, I want to thank you for putting up with me and my parental demands. You take me by surprise every single day with your patience, focus, attitude, and how you face challenges that are thrown at you. I’m so grateful to watch you grow the way you are growing with kindness, satirical sarcasm, to-the-point-arguments, your excitement to be involved in every adult conversation, and your logical and strategic thinking- you are the best ‘IDEA’ man I know in this world. Thanks for teaching me how to reach for the moon and stars.  This is going to be a big year where you are going to face your first breakups and first ‘goodbyes’ to the wonderful community of friends you grew up with. I don’t know how much you can understand that now, with some of your friends- this might be it. I hope you appreciate their presence in your life and the impact you

Recently I had an interesting conversation with a friend over lunch. The conversation only got interesting when we started talking about cultural differences between the East and the West. I grew up in the East but spent all my adult life in the Western world. She on the other hand grew up in the Eastern-infused Western world. What I mean when I say Eastern-infused is when the first-generation Eastern migrants like us move to Western countries and raise their children in a mix of both worlds. For example, I pick and choose the festivals and customs I could do given time permits. Celebrating Holi and Dandiya is not part of my upbringing but is practiced now. Since these celebrations work well in connecting with my friends. I have seen some strong Eastern and European families holding on to the traditions and culture for generations after migrating to Western countries.  One of my Italian colleagues makes her tomato passata for the entire year every Feb and it’s a family event with