Celebrating life!

Today’s blog entry is about a woman I never got a chance to meet. I wish I had been able to meet her more than anything coz’ whenever I go through a difficult period (like right now) I realize that if she had been by my side, things would have been so much easier. Don’t think too far – I’m just thinking about my grandma, my mom’s mom, the woman who died before I had a chance to be born. My grandma was a very special person. In our times we would have called her a genius, but in her times women were never allowed to study nor do anything progressive. Mom tells me how my grandma received an award from no less than the king of Travancore for excelling in academics. This would be like receiving an award from the president of India, and how often does that happen? But she was forced into marriage with grandpa in her 12th year I believe. Life with my grandpa was tough coz’ he had had a terrible childhood. And no he wasn’t educated. But grandma was a saint and pulled through. She even got my ...

Intense. A word that has figured so prominently in my life. I know I’ve talked about this before, but I wanna do it again. It all began with my discovery of the extent of god’s presence in my life, or more precisely with Swapna Chechy’s album Intense. I discovered how intense a presence god can be in your life. Then I heard about living life with all it’s intensity. So that’s what I tried to do, to see if ‘maza aayega.’ Later down the line I realized I had myself in turn become an intense person. And I’m not talking about my habit of philosophizing. I realized after several heartbreaks, that I was one of these people who loved and lived most intensely, so much that some people couldn’t handle it. At least a lot of men couldn’t. I then began to ask myself – am I wrong in doing this? Then I began teaching. And you guessed it – I taught with intensity (am on my Onam break now if you’re wondering about the past tense). And that’s ...

Some of you may wonder why I chose the orkut id warrior princess. What connection has this obscure teacher got to do with such a fabulous title? You have heard of warriors, of princesses and even warrior princesses. What have I to do with this? Very simple and yet very complicated. I chose to name myself so coz’ I identify with the concept of a warrior princess. A warrior is someone who is destined to fight, maybe even the whole world. A warrior is a person who has to show courage in the face of fear. A warrior must be able to stand strong and face all challenges whatever the physical or mental condition. Warriors fight for what they believe in. Warriors must continue with their task undaunted, despite the odds. A true warrior will fight to the very end. It is for all these reasons I consider myself warrior. And now how do fight? With life itself, for I have found I very often have to fight tooth and nail, in my own quiet way of course, to get through something, and at the end, people ...