Break

My Joy of Giving friends, I am taking a two week break from posting the cards as I am swamped with a personal issue that needs my full attention. So I'll see you all with a new card on 14th May... Love and luck until then and do co

Joy of Giving - Card 30 experience

So this is what they call "hitting two birds with one stone"!

I wanted to give my maid a paid day off as the 30th Joy of Giving card suggested during the week gone by. From Monday to Thursday, courtesy the fact that I was dropping my children off to a new school 20 kms away every morning and would go house hunting after that (I am planning to move locations within Pune) I would miss the maid. She has had a key to my home since I employed her about a year ago and she'd be gone by the time I'd get back home.

On Saturday however, the grand plan of this confusion came to light.

A friend, who lives one floor below me called to talk about something when I mentioned to her that I am moving homes. She said she has been looking for a maid for almost a month and asked me to send my good lady over to her place on Sunday.

Grabbing this as the best opportunity to follow the card I called my lady and asked her to go to this friend's place, instead of mine on Sunday. I would be giving her a paid day off and the new opening would help her fill the time slot which would fall vacant once I leave.

When I told my friend later that evening about it, she added to the 'joy of giving' saying that following this card also gave her happiness!

One card - three happy people!!! Can't get better than this, can it???

Joy of Giving - Week 31 - Card 30

We've hit T H I R T Y! A good number and a wonderful card too...one that encourages us to spread joy towards the 'helpers' in our daily lives!

Tough? Or easy? You decide!!!

New to the Joy of Giving? Here's what you can do:

Go to the page titled Joy Of Giving where I have posted all the cards selected so far. Those of you who'd like to start this exercise from the beginning, just follow the cards in the order they are posted!

OR

To join the Joy of Giving right away just follow the cards every week as they are posted on the blog.

Please REMEMBER to post your experiences in a public forum - your own blog, note on FaceBook - or leave your story in the comment section of this blog. Do remember to tag me in your posts...

To know how it started click here.

To track the Joy of Giving through the past twenty nine weeks, click here

DO spread the message of this unique movement. Encourage your friends to start following the cards and spreading joy...

Joy of Giving - Rahmath's Gratitude List

Rahmath went into Gratitude mode (Card 10) and wrote down all the things she was grateful for on bits of paper, every time something struck her. Such a wonderful post!!!!

I am sharing it here, but you must go to her original blogpost to see the pictures she's posted!

Joy of Giving Week 22-23 card that Ritu posted was to avoid plastics and clean out your cupboard and donate the clothes you don't use. I have recorded my experience on Week 22 card here and as I already had decided to donate clothes every Christmas Eve to Goonj as I have recorded in this post I thought I will follow an older card.

Week 10 card - Start a Gratitude Diary, seemed to be a perfect choice.

The times I have an organized form of prayer,(which means standing in one place , lighting agarbattis and reading scriptures sort of thing) it normally starts like this, 'Thanks dear God for all the happiness you have given me and my loved ones. Thanks for the food we eat, for the roof on top of our head and the love that you shower upon us through our friends and family'.

At this point my hubby always quips in saying "why have you forgotten the walls and columns, after all if there were no walls the roof wouldn't be on top of our heads". I have learnt to ignore that sentence. It's almost a family tradition now. I say that prayer and he says this sentence cheekily :)

So in March, I decided to start one. Whenever I felt thankful about something I just wrote it on any piece of paper I got my hand into. I wrote so for around 8 days. I wonder how does one write a gratitude diary everyday. Does it not start repeating??? that's a genuine question. But I loved writing it. Helped me stay positive. Just to sum it up

What Am I thankful for right now?
1. My husband.

2. Stability - the roof on top of my head and the walls and the columns :)

3. Financial independence.

4. Love from friends and family.

5. Health.

6. Education

7. Work that I enjoy.

8. Hope that everything will be ok.

9. Happy memories old and new.

10. Belonging to a Democratic Secular Country.

Joy of Giving - Updates

I have been trying my very best to follow all the Joy of Giving cards that I post here (recently with increasing irregularity - a condition I am hoping to change soon). I thought that a short update was due since the last experience I wrote about was for Card 25 after which we've been through 4 more cards.

So here goes:

Card 26 -  This was a tough one for me. I read the card and pondered over it for more than a week realising that I am not really "attached" to material things. I feel sad when I lose something or something I use has got spoilt (just because I will have to buy another one) but I am not really fixated or attached to any sort of possessions. I don't have a favourite footwear, or lipstick (like some friends I know do), or a favourite outfit, piece of jewellery... Infact, I have the habit of saying "favourite" for everything I have... Eventually I gave something away that was perhaps "one" of my favourite things...a set of CDs to someone who I know would appreciate them too. And strangely I don't miss it. At all.

Card 27 - This one was accomplished quite simply, when on a trip to Bhutan, I travelled by public transportation in Kolkata instead of opting for the comfort of a taxi (and I must add that the bus was very comfortable too!)... Recently after dropping my kids at school, I gave away the saved money to a speech & hearing impaired person at a traffic signal.

 

Card 28 - NOT an easy card for most of us. I did eventually give a JKJ to the sweeper in my building and she was shocked and shy, all at the same time. Now she smiles ear to ear whenever she sees me... :-D

Card 29  - I did get the opportunity to offer my seat to a stranger - an elderly lady on the shuttle bus from the departure lounge to the aircraft in Hyderabad recently, travelling with too many handbags. This is a card I follow every time I travel. I prefer giving my seat away to a woman with a baby/small child, an elderly gentleman or lady... Often I cannot fathom why an able man or woman won't vacate their seat for those who need it - be it on a bus or the Metro. Doesn't hurt and costs nothing. Showing kindness is not THAT easy I guess. Which is why the Joy of Giving means so much to me... 

Happy Birthday Abhir

When you were just a baby, tiny and frail
I'd shed tears watching your travails

In one year you turned the tables around
As I spent one sleepless night after another cradling you as you howled

The terrible twos I thought would change the tide
But you traded a sleep pattern for "I love to cling to my mother and whine"..

At three you began hugging us but wiping away your cheeks when kissed
By four you discovered that cuddling was something you'd missed

At five your struggles found a new name - some call it dyslexia, some LD
We geared up for the battle as you struggled with your As and Zs

Six was a milestone year as you began opening up to friends
By seven you were a pro at social interactions

At eight we were elated to find that you had begun reading and enjoying it
And you began bowling us over with your intelligence, warmth and wit

At nine, my dear son, who I call "buddy boy"
You've beaten the odds and given us unsurmountable joy
You express yourself in words and actions
Your hugs, kisses and I love you's are miracles I bask in

As I wish you a Happy Birthday today, again, meri jaan
I can't help but marvel at the journey so far
And ask me if I'd change anything in the nine gone by
I'd say "No, I will do it in very much the same way, all over again..."

Joy of Giving Card 29 Week 29

I am late again! No, I am trying my best not to make it a bad habit but too many things happened... I hate giving excuses so won't offer any my dear Joy of Givers...but will plunge into the card for this week, picked out by my daughter, straight away:

I don't travel much by public transport but when I do, I automatically give my seat away to the elderly (men or women) and mothers with children, even women with too many shopping bags and such. To fulfill this card I will have to travel by bus. Hopefully I will find someone to give my seat away to. Tell me about your experience.

New to the Joy of Giving? Here's what you can do:

Go to the page titled Joy Of Giving where I have posted all the cards selected so far. Those of you who'd like to start this exercise from the beginning, just follow the cards in the order they are posted!

OR

To join the Joy of Giving right away just follow the cards every week as they are posted on the blog.

Please REMEMBER to post your experiences in a public forum - your own blog, note on FaceBook - or leave your story in the comment section of this blog. Do remember to tag me in your posts...

To know how it started click here.

To track the Joy of Giving through the past twenty eight weeks, click here

DO spread the message of this unique movement. Encourage your friends to start following the cards and spreading joy...

Low Cost No Frill Experience Served Hot...

I have been flying since I was 6. Not only on cloud 9, but flying, literally, on aircrafts, and it is only recently that I have begun loathing the experience.

I took my first flight when I was 6, from Cochin to Bombay and was overjoyed at the attention I received by the airport staff (even though I was flying the (in)famous Indian Airlines - the only AIRLINE in the country those days), the bag of chocolates I carried back with me and the first row seat that was reserved for me! The most exciting part was to open the table from the handrest rather than a seat in front of you - which was so 'regular' and 'passe' to my young mind!

So technically I've been flying for over 3 decades (if you're good at Math, you'll know my age)...and many of these years have been spent flying the national airline Indian Airlines with its cantankerous air hostesses, its unpalatable food and its peculiar "Aeroplane" odour.

For the longest time, I'd squirm inside the aircrafts tottering between wanting to throw up after smelling the 'food' or even the canned orange juice they'd be serving, and trying to eat the stuff or ignoring it as the hostess slammed it down on the table...

Most often I'd give the whole package a miss because as a child, the food was not important, the experience was! Needless to say as I grew older, the food seems to have become more important than the experience....

As a child I flew IA because they were the only airline ruling Indian skies, as a student because they offered a student's discount and as a married woman because they offered an Armed Forces discount. After a few years, when economic viability was not a concern (for the shortest period in my life) I took to flying Jet Airways and loved it so much I would think "If I fly it has to be Jet, else I won't fly at all!"

Unfortunately for my 'flying' dreams, the economics of travelling took over my life as there were no more "discounts" I could avail (not being a student anymore and becoming a mere civilian), and as my presence in all the family weddings became essential and required me to fly up North to my erstwhile home and favourite city (saddi Dilli) more than just a couple of times a year. Add to that parties, and general get-aways, vacations to meet mom and dad, or pay a 'flying' visit when they were hospitalised or the like started to take its toll on our annual travel budget.

Soon we realised that I was spending more on travelling by air every year than on our investments and savings. This led us to quickly shift gears and thought processes (in that order) and I began viewing the so called "low cost no frill" (LCNF) airlines in a new light.

Heck! So what if they didn't serve any meals on board? "All I wanted to do was get from point A to point B. I could eat before boarding and after disembarking" I told myself secretly envying the Jet(airways)setters and the Kingfisher(s)...

Spicejet was the first LCNF I flew. Not bad I thought. Yes, they were not serving any food (only water and cookies on sale), the travelling gentry was well, lets say, used to travelling Haryana Roadways buses before their 'first flight' and the leg space was dismal (didn't matter much to me because I am five feet nothing). But...I was saving money and that mattered!

Over the years I've sampled them all - Indigo, Go, Air Deccan - now Kingfisher Red, Sahara - now Jet Lite/Konnect, can never figure which one is which any more and was quite happy that they'd managed to rise above (get the pun?) the LCNF tag and started serving free water and smiles (in that order), and also selling food onboard.

All was well in my Utpoic paradise even as I thanked God for my height (or lack of it - people like me seemed to be built for LCNF leg space), bought exorbitantly priced insipid sandwiches onboard and adhered to the 20kg baggage restrictions, until I flew Spicejet again, very recently on a long haul (by Indian standards) flight from Pune to Kolkata.

This is what I wrote in my diary:

"So its official now. After having given up leg space inside cabins, baggage allowances and hot gourmet (!) food I am also required to give up on FOOD altogether on low cost airlines. The flight I am on doesn't have any vegetarian fare and I have to make do with a lime juice (or have a cold spinach-cheese sandwich the sight of which makes me nauseous).

According to a Spicejet cabin crew member they carry very 'limited' numbers of food packets for fear of them getting wasted and because they are a low cost airline they avoid that!

It doesn't matter to them that off the 189 passengers that can be accommodated on their Boeing 737-800, 12% of who may have placed their orders online, the 80% may be HUNGRY for all of the following reasons:

1. It is a long haul flight (if you take into account 1.5 hours prior checking time, 5 hours of the flight itself and all the rest of the 'inadvertent' delays)
2. It is a "lunch time" flight
3. The flight IS late for crying out loud!

After fooling us into believing that we could have 'hot gourmet food' as 'buy-on-board' options, we will be denied that too just because they've decided that 150 passengers don't want to eat on a 5 hour flight!!!!

Its not enough to have a full wallet. You'll still go empty stomach when you fly LCNF!"

Joy of Giving - Rahmath - Card 22

Rahmath has been following the Joy of Giving cards and has written about her experience with the 'Avoid plastic bags for 7 days' card 22. Its a sweet post reminding us of the way our own parents used to shop before the plastic bag replaced the cloth bag as a shopping bag... Must read.

You should visit her blog for more insightful posts on life... Thank you for this post Rahmath and for being such an ardent Joy of Giving practiontioner...

Avoid Plastic for Seven Days.Use Cloth Bag Instead.

The sewing machine in my parent's house has helped my mother (and me) sew a lot of things. One of the things my mother used to sew was cloth bags. She used to recycle my father's old pants into durable and strong cloth bags. And my father used to take these bags whenever he went for groceries. I guess he still does.

Theirs was a generation in which nothing was wasted, even the free flimsy plastic covers. Father used to take a plastic cover for milk packets and the egg dabba for buying eggs. Very very rarely did my parent's house ever have too many plastic covers. In fact i don't remember if it ever did. Infact as a child, I remember scouring the house for the bubblegum type plastic covers to make plastic flowers and hardly finding two or three.

How easy it is to forget such subtle lessons. That's why I like Ritu's en devour for Joy of Giving. Truthfully speaking, most of the cards are nothing new. Come on, Let's give our parents some credit. They have already taught us many of these lessons.

Then why follow these these Joy of Giving Cards?

Well my dears, it's because they are reminders,extremely important reminders. We have to go through these reminders again and again and again; Else it's so easy to forget.

Nowadays I try a bit harder. I try to CAB (Carry A Bag). Please visit Ritu's page and go through the video she has composed.In her video she has emphasized the importance of not using plastics or paper covers for our environment. It's worth it. I am still trying to CAB and am not 100% CAB - ing. I am still trying to make it a habit.

Now, I have two three small plastic cover's in my handbag and a cloth bag which we bought for 5 rupees from spencers retail. Instead of home delivering, nowadays we try to get groceries when we go for a walk or while we come from office and use our plastic covers or cloth bags.

We refuse bags, plastic or paper from shops as far as possible. I give my hubby a plastic cover or two when he goes grocery shopping or vegetable shopping and thereby, trying to reuse the ones already in our house.Sometimes Yes, we forget or we feel lazy and indifferent but the habit is slowly kicking in. Hopefully, soon we will kick out plastic covers and paper covers from our lifestyle completely.

By sharing this, I Hope to inspire you too the way Ritu has inspired me.

Let's do Mother Earth Proud.

Hope!!!! Such a sweet word...

Farewells

Intermittent giggles. A screech here and there. Gossip - who is 'hooked' with whom; boy friend chatter; who likes whom and who can't stand who. Laughter - full throated, loud and effervescent. Music, Dance, Karaoke. Food. Ice cream. Fun. Happiness.

When a bunch of the daughter's classmates threw her a farewell party (she's moving to another school), along with the sentimental video and the cards they'd made for her, they also spent a major part of the day having unadulterated FUN, the way all young, on-the-threshhold-of-teens should.

They clung together and shed tears, sang songs of friendships, dedications to their classmate of five years who is moving on, reminisced about the just-concluded exams and the idiosyncrasies of teachers...

I watched them my heart filled with an indescribable emotion. Perhaps I was recalling my own school days. Perhaps my friends. Perhaps lamenting the loss of rock solid friends in my here and now. Perhaps rejoicing in the knowledge of friends I know will remain mine forever. Perhaps hoping that my daughter forges such beautiful friendships where she goes next. Perhaps sad that she will be closing this chapter in her life. Perhaps sad also with the knowledge that she'll probably never meet the same bunch of girls again.

Life has a way of helping you cope. We all have a recovery process that kicks into action the minute we are faced with a situation. I know hers kicked in as soon as we closed the door bidding the last of her girlfriends good bye. "Now I am happy mom..." simply meant that she is now ready to move on, having officially bid goodbye to the bunch she'd known since she was 7.

I need to learn to let mine kick in too. Its high time.