When Silence Speaks...

This is not the first time when someone told me that they wanted their daughters to be like me when they grew up. I have heard this genuine feedback from quite a few people in my friends circle and relatives. I am not much of an appreciation taker; I have always felt that it's their goodness to see me as someone they can present as role model to their kids.  I know I am not perfect, but I also know who I really am, and I very much love who I am ; no doubt! But when you hear a parent say that they want their child to be like you; that's way more than an appreciation. It's a respect you are given; and I am always humbled when I hear those words. But I never wrote about it before. Then why today this post? All the previous comments were made by Indians belonging to similar culture. Not that it wasn't important or close to my heart; but being from Indian culture I can relate to what are the goods and bads I bring to table; and can weigh in as to why they say what the...

कुछ ख्वाब ऐसे थे जो हकीकत को गुमराह कर गए कुछ साथी ऐसे थे जो राह चलते अकेले छोड़ गए कुछ मंज़िल ऐसे थे जो अपना रास्ता बदल गए कुछ मोड़ ऐसे थे जो माझी से जुदा कर गए कुछ लम्हे ऐसे थे जो यादों के शीशे में कैद होते गए कुछ जश्न ऐसे थे जो अपने पीछे आँखों में पानी छोड़ गए कुछ फासले ऐसे थे जो अपनों को दूर और परायों को अपना कर गए कुछ लफ्ज़ ऐसे थे जो बस आखों से बयान कर गए कुछ उम्मीदे ऐसे थे जो आज जीने का सहारा बन गए - सरिता  Dated - 25th February 2017

ए वक़्त अपने कुछ लम्हे यहाँ भी बिखेर दे तनहा खड़े है कुछ देर साथ तो चल ले कभी डूबे तो कभी तैरे है तेरी लेहरों में किनारा तो आज भी दूर तक नज़र कहीँ आता नहीं मझदार में फसे तो है पर मुस्कुराना अब भी हम भूले नहीं तुझपे या है खुद पे इतना भरोसा की टूट कर ही सही मंज़िल तो पाएंगे हम ज़रूर ... - सरिता  Dated - 25th February 2017

Have you ever felt an instant connection with some as if you have known them forever? You chat freely about anything and everything without any filters on. This week was a week well spent for me, because I met 2 such wonderful people and it was an amazing experience.  One of them, my colleague with whom I have been interacting for almost a month now. But yesterday night, when we came back to hotel from the client office and we just sat in the lobby for a round of tea, the conversation made its way through our pasts, our families, life in general, philosophical analysis, our struggles, hardships and what not. There were a lot of similarities in our upbringing and we were able to relate to each other's situations much better. When we paused and looked back at that 1 hour, we realized how much we had opened up to each other. She and I kind of felt that bond of comfort, that we could share our pasts and thoughts without any hesitance. I cannot be more thankful for getting to know he...

Earlier this week, an incident rocked the little world of us ex-infoscions. A female employee was strangled to death by a security guard on duty at around 5 PM on a Sunday evening in Pune Phase II Infosys office. Infosys being our first company, holds a special place in all our hearts. We were not ready to believe that something like this has happened in what we considered one of the safest place on earth. And it was. We used to happily roam the abandoned streets of Mysore DC at 3 AM; the feeling of being out so late and not scared made us feel proud to be part of Infosys. And we still feel the same. A friend sent a message; about one of the reactions to this incidents - of course by all the so called Feminists; that women should be allowed to Work from home; should not be forced into night shifts etc..etc... He asked me - "What do you think?" And here's what I think. "What happened in Infosys is unfortunate. Both for the company and the girl's family. But...

It's the second conversation in one week, where I had the same response for movie Dangal. " Oh, You know I am boycotting Aamir Khan's movies. So I am not watching Dangal in theater. Will watch at home on TV when I get it online" . ( If you want to know background of why they said so, you can check  http://saritahere.blogspot.com/2015/11/whats-wrong-with-aamir-khan-i-guess.html   ) And I was simply awed by the kind of stereotyped folks I was surrounded with. How can one ignore the effort of hundreds of crew and cast that went in making of a movie, just because of one actor? And in Aamir's movies, most of the ones, he is never a lead actor eating away entire screen space. Dangal - A movie to be watched for the storyline, the cast, the acting, screenplay, and a good sports movie. And yet, we have people having trouble thinking straight. I watched Dangal movie in theatre the day it was released. A great movie, like always Aamir Khan does a great job, a perf...

When there is constantly someone's voice hammering my ears on those endless meetings, w hen there is not much to multi-task; when there is nothing productive out of those ALT+TABs, when really I don't have much to do and neither can escape those calls - is when my creative mind takes over.  Generally I end up writing blogs or reading articles about travel/art/photography etc..; but last couple of days; I resorted to something new and well, interesting :) Like they say, you really don't need a lot of stationery to throw your creativity on the table; just a post-it notes and a pen!! -Sarita Dated - 4th January 2017

Its been a year, since I got my Jeep, Arohak!  You know how it is when it comes to buying a home, a vehicle, switching jobs, higher education, vacations etc.. all of these, attracts attention and people around you start throwing their advice on your table. I have always stayed away from discussing my interests with people around me. My attitude has always been to update them with my decision, and not to involve in decision making as much; whether friends or family. When I was looking for a jeep, I still had friends pick up the topic and be like; "Why Jeep?", "No Mileage", "High Maintenance", "Very Rough", "For same price, you will get a better car"..etc..etc.. I just smiled.  And bought a 2015 New Jeep Wrangler Sport; 2 Door; Hard top; Sunset orange color (Well, being in Denver, home of Broncos).  My mom was kind of mad at me; she was worried because she felt Jeep was less safer compared to other luxury cars. I did no...

Bidding farewell to another year, another 365 days spent out of my life's account.  This year went fast, although quite a number of days rather months were very slow; painfully slow. But yet an eventful year, with a lot of high tides; well I sailed through just fine; like every other years that passed by.  It's amazing how at a given moment you always feel you are shattered within or it's just way too much to handle. But things fall in place seemingly without effort; yet in the process you would have drained out so much that you feel there is no bit of strength left to even live another second. But what the heck, we survive and not only that we come out stronger than before.  I learnt a lot this year, about myself, about people, about the rights and wrongs, about law, about betrayal, about cowards, about good luck, about simple happiness and about many other things. This year I continued my painting, poetry, running, boxing, hiking, driving. What I did new this ...

Have you ever felt the helplessness when you have to pay for someone else's mistake? That anger, that frustration - it's a feeling one can't put to words. A kind of suffocation. When you are being punished and you go through the punishment, but you really don't know what your mistake was? I don't mind making my mistakes, and burning my hands during the course of it. But what I cannot handle is to pay for some coward's mistake. Well the irony of life is, you will have to do it. So you give it the name of fate - things that you cannot control falls into the boundary of that someone who oversees everyone.  At times I wonder, what's the meaning of all these events that have taken place in my life. Why what happened ever happen if it was to end up in a phase as it is today? You do your best to take right decisions; and because you are not smart enough to see through people's mask; your decisions fire back on you very harshly. But truly friends, I s...

अरमानों का गला घुटते कभी देखा है तुमने  न सिसकियो की आवाज़ आती है  न घुटन की तड़प दिखती है  जनाज़ा ज़रूर उठता है उसकी इस दुनिया से  पर इतनी ख़ामोशी से की उसके जाने के गम में कभी मैखाने में तो कभी किसी हंसी के पीछे बेहते है आंसू !!  -सरिता  Dated - 19th Dec 2016

This one won't be a long post. It's just a bookmark to separate an end of another chapter of my life and beginning of a new one. I am a person who has evolved a lot over last few years; and one of the trait attributed to this evolution is my attitude of celebrating life. What happened today, does not deserve to be a milestone in my life. But it definitely does deserve a slot in my memory box; for what it's worth; it reinforced my belief in self, and appreciate my personality.  When I shared this with a friend (who I am thankful to for many other things in different phases of my life); he made a statement during the conversation; which I have captioned as my post title.  Courtesy - Google Images Yes. I have the  freedom  of living this moment independently. I have the freedom of expressing my independence. I have the luxury of enjoying this freedom of my independence. Yes, as my friend rightly stated; I have the freedom of independence. And, like e...