Parents... our first teachers!

Parents... a child's first teachers, first friends, best guides, mentors, real confidantes, saviours and all that you ever need in life. With changing times, people are forgetting the importance of parents in their lives. The reason for a person's success has its roots in their parents.... I got hold of this picture somewhere and it describes best the contribution of parents in a person's success:

This is so aptly put! I chose Teachers' Day (5th September) to write about parents. Teachers' Day in India is celebrated on the birth anniversary of the second President of India, academic philosopher Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan. 

When he became the President, some of his students and friends requested him to allow them to celebrate his birthday. He replied, "Instead of celebrating my birthday, it would be my proud privilege if 5 September is observed as Teachers' Day"

His birthday has since been celebrated as Teachers' Day in India - Wikipedia

Parents are our first teachers. They are there for us though thick and thin... then a day comes when they grow old... they need us. I believe this time is the test of one's character. People usually forget what their parents went through to bring them up... some people pass it as 'it was the parents' duty, we dint ask them to bring us in this world'. These same people expect their children to take care of them when they grow old. A person with real character will never disrespect one's parents, will love them all the more when they grow old and will treat them as one's child as they age. 

India is progressing but the family values are deteriorating... 'Padhega India tabhi to badhega India' (India will progress if India is educated) ... a tagline being used a little too often sounds hollow when I look at the state of the old people (not all but a large number!). I believe education should build your character, should enrich you with values and make you more empathetic. In contrast, the educated youth (again... not all but a large number!) take false pride in being educated and think anyone else who is not as educated (or not as educated as they are) is inferior to them... be it their parents! They forget that it is their parents who provided for their education. Such people are always complaining that their parents did not provide for something or the other during their childhood and they would provide a better upbringing to their children. I pity such educated people!

I wish more people realised this!!

I wish we continued to believe in building character rather than wealth. 

Oh! and for all those who believe that parents can't be your friends, remember when you could not even speak, your mother played peek-a-boo with you. When you grew up a little, your father played stupid games with you when he returned from a hectic day at work. When you started going to school, they listened to endless repeated stories about your school and teachers and friends. Those were your first friends and probably the only ones who will last!

Our new apartment

Everyone agrees that moving to a new apartment is a big task! All the packing, unpacking and setting up becomes so tiresome that one tends to avoid. 

Recently, we were subjected to this task. Dev was living in a one-bedroom apartment which was quite small, suitable for his bachelor days. With me joining him, the wardrobe seemed to be overflowing. The dresser was no different and I was always hitting some furniture while walking from one room to another. Bottom line, we needed a bigger apartment! 

Hence, the search for an apartment began. We did this in a very organised way - making a checklist of everything we needed in our new apartment and tallying it with the available amenities every time we visited an apartment. It was tedious but finally we did find an apartment we liked!

We were moving from a furnished apartment to an unfurnished one. This was good news plus bad news - good because I had full control on the style of the furniture and bad because we had to put in a lot of effort selecting and ordering the furniture. I chose to take it as good news. Then came the packing, moving, unpacking and setting up. It took us about a month to finally set up the whole apartment to our liking. 

Now that we are settled, I really love the place. My favourite place in the apartment is our balcony where I can spend hours. Just sitting and reading or writing. In the evening, when Dev comes home, we sit in the balcony and sip tea - sometimes a cold coffee. On Saturday nights - our Biryani night when we are home - we have dinner in the balcony. 

Our cold coffee party 

I keep looking up for ideas to decorate the walls of the apartment. I have used some mirror work and photographs to decorate the living room walls and am planning on using some wall art for the bedrooms. 

Though the whole exercise was tiresome, Dev and I are really enjoying our new abode! Welcome home!! 

Pursuing hobbies

Two things always amazed me: tasty food and life-like photographs!

First, the food. I am not too much of a foodie so when my Mom asks me to name the dishes I want to eat when I am home next time, I am at a loss of words, in contrast to my brother who would name them without taking a moment's break. Despite not being a foodie, I loved what my Mom cooked. How does she do it??? I would often wonder! How can someone make the simple ingredients taste so good! 

Going on to my history in cooking, Mom tells me when I was 10, I once prepared food for the entire family as she was unwell. I do not remember this incident but since she is sure, she must be right. I have enjoyed baking and making continental food since I was 16. However, I could not imagine myself making delicious Indian food ever. During our pre-marriage conversations about food and my motivation for cooking, my husband was almost sure that he would have to continue to cook post-marriage. Even I was pretty sure that I would probably cook once or twice a week! 

And then, marriage happened! Marriage brought a lot of change in my life. Since I decided to join my husband, Dev, in another country, I quit my job and took a career break. I had quite a bit of 'me' time in which, I read, watched documentaries & movies and decorated our apartment. But there was much more I could do. I started to experiment in the kitchen. And viola, we were both in for a pleasant surprise. I started to enjoy cooking! It is so satisfying to experience how the ingredients turn into a tasty surprise. 

Next, the photography. Came spring and the world became colourful. Starting from the Cherry Blossom festival, I found various opportunities to practice photography. I would click pictures of flowers from various angles and then analyse them. This helped me click better pictures. Dev, who is not very fond of getting pictures clicked had to become my subject at various instances. I started enjoying it, especially capturing natural landscapes, flora and fauna. I used my iPhone camera as well as my point and shoot. Seeing my passion, Dev gifted me a DSLR recently. Last Sunday was my first day out with my DSLR and I thoroughly enjoyed playing with it. Slowly I will learn and hope some day I will have captured shots that are worth sharing with the world!!!