Happy New Year (ABBA)
LOOKING BACK AT 2006

When I look back at the year 2006, my first thoughts are that it went by too soon.The children have grown older, passed many milestones , some of them I could not take part in because I was ill, but it still was a wonderful year. The good outweighed the bad. I am here alive and doing so much better than when the year started.

Even though the whole year was spent just staying home,it still was meaningful.I got to spend a lot of quality time with members of my family. The time otherwise would have been spent either doing household chores, shopping or work, instead the time was spent just talking to them.The children got to know a lot more about the grand parents they had never seen, went down my memory lane and learned what it was like growing up as a child in India.And I think it brought J and me a lot closer too.

I missed both graduations but on the brighter side I was able to see the videos and got a better view than if I was physically present.I got to see a lot more family, who otherwise would not have made it to our home because we live so far from the rest. (Thats one good reason to be ill), I missed a couple of weddings,Birthday and Anniversary celebrations.But sometimes the whole party came to me and I could not have asked for more.

The best thing that happenend was that I started to blog.I just registered in order to leave a comment and then could not help having my own blog.I would not have met so many wonderful people from all over the world. All of my blogger friends have stood by me through all my difficult times, seen me through my surgery and are helping me during my recovery phase.I have had nothing but positive feedback and I owe it all to you.It improved my writing skills,gave me courage to even pen a few poems.Something I had not done before I started to blog.

January 2007 makes one year since I started to blog.I have learned so much from each one of you. I took back something positive from every post that I read. You have lifted my spirits when I was down, helped me be strong when I felt weary, made me want to try out new recipes when I am better, and most of all you made me smile.Thank you for being with me through 2006.I hope you will be with me through 2007.Thanks to all of you for being my friend.

WISHING YOU ALL A WONDERFUL NEW YEAR

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THE USUAL HOLIDAY SCENE
Written by Maya at age 11

Busy,buzzing mothers cooking up delicious,tasty culinary delights.
Fathers sit around their cups of egg nog plastered to their hands.
Little children whine and cry, tired of parents constant no-no's.
Big kids play board games till the sun goes down, living on the sweet
holiday treats.

Plates of cookies, cakes and pies decorate tables.
Soothing christmas carols play softly
Among the chatttery christmas gossip.
Smells from the kitchen lure peeking heads
To see what's brewing for hungry mouths.
The jug of egg nog gets passed on from hand to hand,
Sometimes landing clumsily on the floor.

Sprigs of mistletoe accent the tables,
Smelling of sweet greenery.
Cookie ropes dangle from the ceiling,
Tempting kids to reach out and grab a cookie.
Popcorn strings hang around the tree,
The buttery smell contrasting with the minty spice smell

Anxious hands shake brightly-colored packages,
Wondering dreamily what's inside.
Big sisters play mini-mothers
Keeping the little kids away from the collectibles.
The snow makes a pure white sheet on the yard,
Enchanting the family.
The christmas Spirit lurks around the room
Getting everyone into it.


WISHING ALL MY FRIENDS A MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A BRIGHT NEW YEAR

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Book Reviews...

Read two books this week. The first one is called "The Sari Shop" by Rupa Bajwa.Set in Amritsar, India, The Sari Shop is the story of Ramchand, a poor shop assistant at the Sevak Sari house. The novel begins with Ramchand stuck in an empty stupor and follows him on special assignment to bring saris to the wealthy Kapoor family. With a renewed sense of possibility, Ramchand embarks on a course towards self-improvement, beginning by learning English. As his perspective broadens, his newfound clarity gives way to painful revelations about how cruelly society functions.
Though the story includes theft, rape, and murder, Bajwa renders these traumas with simplicity.
The Sari Shop is most successful, most tender, when it centers on Ramchand's inner anxieties. Unfortunately, Ramchand is the only character that pauses to see “two sides to every coin.” Other characters in the novel are familiar types; both the poor and the rich function as mouthpieces for particular positions in a moralistic class argument. The wealthy women, for instance, are one-dimensionally materialistic and self-interested.
But, perhaps this panoramic satire of social types highlights the very point Bajwa is after, that characters who live without seeing themselves implicated in the plight of others are living one-dimensionally, are more like types than human beings. The most hope comes from wealthy Rina Kapoor, who allows Ramchand to attend her wedding. Ultimately, she too uses Ramchand only to advance her own agenda, to write a novel about a sari shop assistant.
The Sari Shop calls attention not to colorful aspects of Indian culture that might draw Western audiences but to India on its own terms—problems, pain, and all.

I really enjoyed reading this book, it took you into the lives of other people and how they live and what they go through. Sometimes we fail to realize that behind every person's face is a family and a story. It also touched on a very important social issue like domestic violence and also the struggles of one family when there is no income .

THE SECOND BOOK IS "THE SPACE BETWEEN US" BY THRITY UMRIGAR
Each morning, Bhima, a domestic servant in contemporary Bombay, leaves her own small shanty in the slums to tend to another woman's house. In Sera Dubash's home, Bhima scrubs the floors of a house in which she remains an outsider. She cleans furniture she is not permitted to sit on. She washes glasses from which she is not allowed to drink. Yet despite being separated from each other by blood and class, she and Sera find themselves bound by gender and shared life experiences.
Sera is an upper-middle-class Parsi housewife whose opulent surroundings hide the shame and disappointment of her abusive marriage. A widow, she devotes herself to her family, spending much of her time caring for her pregnant daughter, Dinaz, a kindhearted, educated professional, and her charming and successful son-in-law, Viraf.
Bhima, a stoic illiterate hardened by a life of despair and loss, has worked in the Dubash household for more than twenty years. Cursed by fate, she sacrifices all for her beautiful, headstrong granddaughter, Maya, a university student whose education -- paid for by Sera -- will enable them to escape the slums. But when an unwed Maya becomes pregnant by a man whose identity she refuses to reveal, Bhima's dreams of a better life for her granddaughter, as well as for herself, may be shattered forever.
Poignant and compelling, evocative and unforgettable, The Space Between Us is an intimate portrait of a distant yet familiar world. Set in modern-day India and witnessed through two compelling and achingly real women, the novel shows how the lives of the rich and the poor are intrinsically connected yet vastly removed from each other, and vividly captures how the bonds of womanhood are pitted against the divisions of class and culture.

I enjoyed reading this book because it captured the lives of two households one of upper class and one of a servant. The dreams and aspirations the servant had for her grand daughter and it also showed how an education can lift one from poverty to middle class. It also touched on AIDS and also how the servant lost her job because she was strong enough to speak up .

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BECAUSE YOU LOVE ME...

You sit by my bed
You scrunch your forehead
Sometimes not knowing what to say
You hold my hand
You make me smile
You tell me that I am going to be allright.

You always tell me I am getting strong
You get me up and make me walk.
You tell me
We will visit Chicago in the spring
Go to India in the summer
The places we will see and,
The things that we will do
Because you know it brightens up my spirit.

Thank you "J" for being there
For giving me comfort
For wiping my tears and
For helping me through
I could not have come this far, without you.

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ALWAYS MY SISTER FOREVER MY FRIEND...

My sister stayed with me for three whole weeks, she left yesterday. Inspite of being in pain my days were filled with laughter and endless hours of talking. My sister took the place of my mother and did everything that a mother would do for her child. Every morning I would wake up and see my sister in the next bed, she always woke up with a smile and said something funny to make me laugh. we would spend hours talking about how it was when we were growing up , about her schooldays and also how it was when her children were young. There was never a dull moment, there was always something to talk about. I would read out to her anything interesting I found either in the newspaper of the magazines, she would patiently listen and appear interested even if it did not interest her. Sometimes late into the night I would still be talking and would suddenly realize that she was fast asleep.

I am going to miss all the nice home cooked food and all the pampering but she had to go back home to her family. They live about 90 miles away from me so its not too bad .I will get to see her on and off. Most of the time you dont realize how important family is untill you are in a crisis or when you are sick. Nobody in this world will standby you like family. I think even in the worst of families where there is a lot of problems, in times of trouble they appear to get along and help one another.

I am so thankful and happy that I got to spend this wonderful time with my sister, this may not have happened if I were not sick. I have to believe that everything happens for a reason. I will always treasure this time that I had with her and wish everyone could have a sister like her.She will always be my friend.

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HAVE A FUN FILLED WEEKEND

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ONE MONTH UPDATE... slow and steady wins the race.


Today makes one month since I had my surgery, I can definetly say I am on the road to recovery. Had my first post-op visit with the doctor.He feels I am doing well but I have a long way to go. Apparently the bone takes about 12 weeks to fuse. I have to have a CT scan done in February 2007 to evaluate bone fusion. Only after that will I start Physical Therapy and Rehab. I was a little disheartened about this, but I have to be strong and I am sure the next two months will go by fast. Right now I am like a turtle slow but steady , I am sure I will win this race. All of you have made me feel so special and loved, and have stood beside me.

I am up with the walker throughout the day, as much as I can. My incision is healing well.Not able to sit for long but am doing better every day. I had to add comment moderation on my blog because of unwanted stuff coming through.I do apologize. I have started slowly going through everyones blog , still have a long way to go. Will write again later. Happy holidays to each and every one of you.

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