Memorable people.....

2009 has largely been an eventful year to me.

J - My daughter... had her first annual day at her play school..(whew), joined a good school during "Dashera" , enjoyed her first "Kolu" and has started taking interests in books specially Indian mythology like Ramayana and Kri shna Leela.
N : My son... he came into our lives in the first half of the year and by the end of the year he has slowly transformed into a brat.
and I completed my PG and have started taking interest in blogs and blogging.

But more than the above incidents, I will remember 2009 as the year I had met and discovered some very interesting people. I particularly will always remember this mother whom I met at J's school. Irritated with the fact that in spite of the lump fees that we shelled out for our children, the school was not able to handle the children as well as we could at home, this young mother went overboard with her negative emotions about the school. Upset with the fact that her child wasnt able to settle in school even after 2 weeks of schooling, she saw no reason to give the school more time to set things in order. Finally one day her son got adjusted to the school and started enjoying it and thats when she was calm. The next time I heard from her was when the school displayed the activities of our children and called the parents to the school to have a look at them. Like typical parents, My husband and I went and saw and appreciated, spoke to their teacher, got J's report card and returned home. However, this mother of J's classmate, made more efforts to find out how much is allotted for which activity so on and so forth and above all shared that info with all fellow parents. At first I thought WOW.... it never struck me to ask all these questions, but later I thought how does it matter how much time is spent in what as long as J is happy at school and enjoyes it....!! But, when I look back at these incidents, I feel, what else than the heart of a mother and its constant quest to keep her children happy, would have made her behave like that!!
Second person is a close relative of mine. Well read and working in a fortune 500 company, she has also managed to make a mark in her professional life and lives away from her parents in foreign shores. Her parents have been trying to get her married for almost 4 years now... but things dont seem to be happening yet to her. This time, on her visit to India, we had a small chat on this issue, and I realised that her idea of perfect man is too perfect to be real. She is a fiercely independent woman who doesnt want to be dependent on any person for anything. She wants someone, who can give her freedom and let her be independent, yet when she speaks to potential grooms she doesnt like the idea of them being too forward or too backward in their thoughts. Though, I believe women should have the freedom to live life on their terms, I also understand that a marriage is a bond for life, where the husband and wife are invariably dependent on each other for everything. She makes me realise, how imperfect I was when I was getting to know my husband through those innumerable calls and chats before we tied the knot, yet the fact that my comfort level with him was so high that the dependency factor never became an issue. That makes me ask myself ... in the name of women's rights are we really making ourselves too perfect to be real and co exist with men.....!!

The third is my maid. She is this inquisitive, talkative and probing woman who can spend 2 hours just talking and finish her work in half an hour. Now... you may think.. why will I always remember her... well... ! I realise that she comes from a background whose luxury items may be items that are basic necessity or desirable objects for us. Being a sole bread winner in the family of three (her husband daughter and she),she realises the importance of smile and a smiling face. With soaring prices of basic items like rice,pulses and veg, meeting ends have become difficult for each one of us. Yet, I have never seen her sulk... I have never seen her cry..... never seen her losing hope on a better tommorrow.... never seen her losing hope on the almighty! I dont know what power drives her to be what she is ... but something is... may be thats the power of the almighty!

There are many more fascinating people that I have met... but these three will always be on the top.
I wish them a happy new year and all of the people in this world a happy new year and a content year in 2010.