Download "Delhi Yarns" for FREE on 25 and 26 March 2015 from Amazon
Download "Delhi Yarns" for FREE on the 25 and 26 MARCH 2015
Tuesday, March 24, 2015
Delhi Yarns!
"Delhi Yarns" by Nabaneeta Dangwal released on Amazon...
Heartwarming urban short stories based in the enigmatic city of Delhi. A doctor who understands true love's calling, an adolescent who comes face-to-face with the reality of her life, a gay individual reflecting upon his choices in life and death, an interesting encounter with a homeless vagabond, a career woman seeking a place in the city - five stories five lives and their moment of realization!
Watch this space for book promotions and updates!!!
[Pledge - 10 percent of the royalties I receive from the sales of this book will be donated to non-profit organizations who do incredible work for the community]
Friday, March 13, 2015
Safety for School
One of the most remarkable traffic rules in the US refers to School Buses. When a school bus stops to pick up or offload children, it flashes its various lights and pulls out a mechanical arm that has the "STOP" sign on it. Traffic on both sides of the road has to come to a complete stop at least 300 m away from where the bus is. Violations to this rule are not given traffic tickets or fines but carry severe penalties including but not limited to revocation or suspension of the driving license.
I have forever been fascinated with this rule. Rush hour, no rush hour, busy roads or not, there is not one vehicle that does not stop. And I see children run to the bus or alight from it, safe.
And I think of children who do not have this right to safety. I remember my days as a child. And I remember the horrible accident I had once been witness to. Mom was late by a few minutes, the child alighted from the school bus and ran across the road without paying heed to the traffic that had no obligation to stop.
There are no similar rules in India or if there are, I have not seen any vehicle taking note of it. All I hear or read of in this respect, are young lives snubbed out under tires.
Children need protection. Children are the future. Children have rights. And yet, the largest democracy in the world cannot ensure the right to safety of a child in the simple scenario of her getting on and off the school bus.
Monday, March 9, 2015
You can't afford her!!!...
Some years ago, we went to a wedding ceremony and were introduced to pleasant middle-aged guy. A little small-talk later, he asked me what I did...Having quit work with a brand new baby then, I sheepishly replied..."Housewife"
He smiled and turned to my husband and said - "You know, if she billed you for all the work she does, you would not be able to afford her."
That guy, I learned later, ran a reputed multidisciplinary super-specialty hospital in India. No surprises there...only someone who thinks right can do right, right? smile emoticon
Monday, January 12, 2015
Living in Minnesota – Mummy’s the wor(l)d!
Subway’s a favorite with the four-year-old which is where we
headed for dinner the other evening. It’s exciting for the tiny tot to see the
array of vegetables that are put in the bread and even more exciting are
the high stools where they can be consumed with relish.
A sandwich and salad later, we perched ourselves with our
picnic atop those round things which do give me a bit of a vertigo so to speak.
What’s that Mummy? – the little one points to the box of
salad. It looks different from the six inch bread that he has his hands and
mouth full with, and therefore the curiosity.
It’s salad. You can try it but I don’t think you will like
it as much. I say.
A minute later when Papa joins us in our high perch he asks
if the sandwich eater would like to try some of the salad.
No, thanks. Mummy says I won’t like it.
You know, there are some perks of motherhood that surpass
their worth in gold. And that moment was one - when Mummy knows everything.
I am guessing in about ten years or less that statement
would change to – Mummy you don’t know anything. I already have trouble telling
one Nicki Minaj from another for crying out loud! (No offense to the pop icon,
or is it hip-hop?)
But right now, Mummy’s the world. And I am deliriously happy to be it. J
Wednesday, December 31, 2014
Happy New Year !!!
But December gets help, if not from nature by way of
tsunamis or earthquakes, then from us when we bring out to the fore that which
should reside forever in darkness. I shudder to think of what more we are
capable of.
We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it
from our children - thus goes a Native American saying. I think we have already
borrowed too much of it in every which way and all that we have left to pass on
is a legacy of bloodbath.
And yet I cannot give up on hope. It bursts forth like a
little sapling from within the depths of a stained soil. I want to nurture it.
I need to nurture it.
Now that the calendar has turned its leaves, discarded a
year gone by and heralded in the brand new sunshine of January, I can breathe a
small sigh of relief and say a little prayer.
Of Hope.
Of Change.
For Children.
For Us.
For Safety.
For Prosperity.
For Peace.
For A Happy New Year...Thursday, November 13, 2014
Living in Minnesota - A Watery Question!
Accents speak louder than words. As the husband and I found
out one fine evening in a MacDonald drive-in. It had been a long day out and we
had depleted most of our energies and all of our water as we pulled into the
drive-in for replenishments.
As the lady handed us our bag of burgers, I asked her for
some water.
A what?
Water, please.
I am sorry, what was that again?
WATER
I make sure the T is heard.
Could you spell that for me?
W A T E R
The husband adds his very Indian accent to the confusion. I
decide to resort to signs.
You need a drink?
Now, I am afraid to say yes lest she misses what I might be
saying.
Waaatttteeeerrrr
I try it in slow motion with brilliant emphasis on the T
again.
She looks at us like she would probably look at aliens.
Which we were, technically speaking. And as aliens we have a secret language
which we use to communicate in silence. We decide to let the matter of water
go. The Coke will have to do.
I reach for the empty bottle of water to try to squeeze out
a few drops as the husband thanks her politely for nothing. I believe she
spotted the odd habit of the aliens and realized what they wanted.
Oh you mean wa..er!
The ‘t’ was almost not there and whatever was in its place
sounded like a d…Very pure American H20.
We nod, a bit skeptical, because now we don’t know for sure
what she thought we needed. Turns out, she understood alright and soon I was
sucking ice cold water wa…er…whatever…through my trunk.
I thought I had left the complications of accents in the
drive-in until yesterday when I asked my four-year-old son if he wanted to have
some water.
He squinted at me for a long second before he nodded.
Yeah.Wa…er!
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