Monika Suri

 Today is Sunday ,  May 1st 2022 and yesterday i was invited to my daughter's school to witness a small function.  My daughter Suhani was born in 2007 and the day clearly flashes in front of my eyes when she got on to the auditorium stage for her first annual function during her LKG class . I had dressed her up in a beautiful purple frock . The auditorium echoed  with the sounds of claps as the team LKG stepped on to the stage and took their positions as couples . Their teacher had blushed  everyone's cheeks pink and golden. The song started 'Zoozoozoo......we welcome you ......' and the kiddos started twisting their hips and legs holding on to their partners . Awww...it was such an adorable performance that a mother couldn't control her tears .  Watching some  kids who forgot their dance steps and wanted to just run here and there on the stage was fun too !  Yesterday was the day when she again marched  on to the auditorium,  this time raising the  school flag in h

It's good to analyze yourself to  know about your positive points as well your limitations So why not take a random  test today ?   Here are some questions which you should try to answer to yourself only and i request you to do it mindfully. 1. How are you feeling today ? Energetic , Stagnant or bored ? 2. Right now , are you thinking about today , yesterday or tomorrow ?  Remember today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday . Yesterday is gone . That was past . Learn from your past but don't let the past disturb you in the present or hinder your growth in the future . 3. In the past few days did you talk something good about yourself ? Daily you talk a lot about others but do you talk about yourself too ? Sometimes we  have a tendency not to boast or talk good about ourselves even when we have accomplished something . The way you talk about yourself makes an impact. Always speak  empowering words about yourself, "Whenever you think of beautiful things , count yourse

 In mathematics there is a topic of statistics where we make frequency distribution  tables , work on probability and plot graphs using X-axis and Y-axis . I loved this chapter when i was a student and i even love it today being a teacher also . Let's make a graph of our lives using these X-axis and Y-axis . Ok , let me take a graph paper and choose 15 important moments of my life , both positive and negative . I am going to plot them and see how my life graph looks . Happier the moment is , higher it goes on positive side and sadder the moment is , lower it goes on negative side of Y-axis . Got it ??? Let's go !! How does my life graph look ? Good that there are more of positive moments than the sad ones . What else do i need ?  In previous BlogchatterA2Z i wrote a post about  X-factor which is still close to my heart . You may want to read it here    XFactor I am writing this post as part of # BlogchatterA2Z month long writing festival

 I have been writing a blog for the last five years and many times people question me why do i write . Well ! I don't have an exact answer . But whenever someone has asked me this question ' Why do you write ?' i have answered in the form of some question only like 'Why do you go shopping ?' or 'Why do you love to  go  on vacation?'  Actually the basic answer is that it feels good . It makes me happy , contented and also a little proud of myself . The feeling when i boasted about being an author is incomparable . May be you don't read me but I keep writing for myself - to reflect on my life experiences and learn from them. Earlier i used to feel depressed when people didn't read me but now it's just between me and my blog . Writing  helps me connect to my creative side and helps increase my vocabulary also. Writing provides an escape when reality becomes too complex. I like to write because it allows me to focus on a subject  and helps me relieve

When sun shines after the rain , the tiny water droplets create a beautiful VIBGYOR in the sky.  The different colors come as different strengths in our lives to make us shine and create a vibrant VIBGYOR in our lives . Violet is to Value yourself  The moment you value yourself ,the world starts to value you .  Indigo asks you to be as cool as Ice  Just don't get fired up at what shit people talk of you .  Brown asks you to face the world Boldly To face with courage what the ordinary fear Green reminds you to never forget Gratitude Grateful people find many blessings from the universe. Yellow is the color of sunshine enriching you with sunny side of Life  But remember  To shine like sun , u may have to burn  like sun! Orange symbolises the freshness of  Oneness  Stay connected with your friends as Oneness is the thread that binds us together Red denotes to  refuse and Roar  When it's high time of meowing , let your success make the roar. Let these colors of strengths carve out

 My evening today was not good . I was doing all domestic chores in a  burdened way. I tried watching some  movie but it couldn't interest me . One of my colleagues called to intimate me of  some upcoming duty. That further pressurized my bad  mood . I wore my shoes , put on my headphones and got ready for a walk . After walking for around half an hour and listening to old bollywood , my feet took me towards the splash pool where children were enjoying . I removed my shoes and sat there at the edge of the pool dipping my feet into the water. Watching me , one of my friends also came and sat along . Both of us sat for quite  long on the edge of pool - chatting and dabbling our toes in the water. This cooled my mind and uplifted my mood .  You need to find  your own ways to uplift your mood as and when required . Music , Dance ,Good food , Laughing , shopping ,picnic ,  playing any sport you like , painting , talking to someone , chanting a mantra for few minutes - any of these may w

 Two years ago I had written two posts about mindfulness on my blog . One was about what mindfulness is and other exclusively  about food mindfulness. Food mindfulness suggests that one gets conscious of one's food plate - check if the ingredients are high in carbs or low in proteins , check if you are consuming more sugary foods , keep a check that your breakfast plate should me fullest and dinner plate the lightest . There's lot to be checked you know . But point is that if i keep checking all this stuff ,how do i enjoy food ?  What's the harm if my cheese is  served as paneer butter masala ? Won't chole bhature mind if i have only dry chapati with moong dal ? And why these sprouts and salads  feel egoistic in being on top of food mindfulness? Kya gunaah kar diya humne agar cream salad kha liya ? After all it's a salad only .   And you know my breakfast plate just does not obey the rule of it being heaviest.  Instead the dinner plate gets jam packed. Actually in

 There are some days when I feel low , feel like just to keep lying in the bed , not doing any domestic chores or even go for my daily walk . If i try analyzing myself what is it I am going through , i don't reach any conclusion what exactly is causing me to feel like that . Once it happened that I was feeling so low and depressed and to divert my mind I started watching a movie . That bollywood movie had some emotional scenes to which i somehow connected and my eyes got filled with tears . Within few minutes I observed that i was relaxed now as if some stress was  wiped away with those tears.  May be my mind was over burdened with stress and I hadn't tried any hacks to beat the stress . May be i had overbusied myself with routine job , family responsinbilities and the 3 meal decisions in the kitchen .  Stress and Anxiety are  mainly caused when we start living too much for others ignoring ourselves . Focussing on ourselves  is what we need to learn and work on . I even  tend t

 Last week on 13th April 2022 , I and my friend Sunita joined an adventure group to go for a trekking to 'Kareri Lake' in Himachal Pradesh , India . Sunita brought her 6 years old son also along . So we three packed our bags and reached the Chandigarh bus stand . The group consisted of 6 people from Chattisgarh and 6 from Punjab including us. The journey started at 11 pm with three  cheers , hip hip hurray and 'Bole so nihaal' shouts . Getting to know new people and singing along was so cheerful . After having dinner at a dhaba on the way , it was a non stop journey and early  in the  morning we reached 'Kareri village' . It's around 10 kilometre from the famous place Dharamsala in Himachal Pradesh.  Early morning at Kareri was giving us chilled waves so everybody opened his bag and wore jacket . The beauty of that small  village having population of less than 500 people was speaking for itself . The hot masala tea at Mohinder cafe freshened us up and during

  When i was a child I always used to say that i would never become a teacher when i grew up . But destiny pushed me into the teaching field only and today it's been around twenty years that I have been teaching maths and physics to students . But somewhere at the back of my mind it's still  there that I am in a wrong line . I think it happens with many of us . I asked one of my engineer friends if he that was the exact profession he was in and he replied " It's ok , I am earning good ....but how lucrative it would have been if i was into a travel industry" . One of my cousins who is a doctor has a passion for photography . May be you too had a love for something else but are doing something else . Yesterday only I and my daughter were together watching a movie and suddenly I questioned her 'What's that thing that you don't know yet but wish to learn , something you think would make you very happy' .She said ' I wish to play guitar' and to

 R is for Reflect I thought of reflecting over the last few years gone by and converting it into a blogpost. 2010 was the year when my daughter had turned 3 yr old and I admitted her to a playway school near our home . The name of the school was ‘The Big Apple’ and the owner/coordinator of the school was Dee Ma’am . I have forgotten her full name but that’s how everyone addressed her . I remember how I also spent an hour daily at the school during the initial 3-4 days , just to make my daughter comfortable . Slowly she fell in love with the pigeons , sparrows , rats , rabbits which Dee Ma’am was nurturing  as pets .It was an exciting phase to watch my kiddo scribbling zigzag lines on her notebooks ,  dressing her up for fancy dress competition and even taking part in mom-baby duo race on sports day . Along with all this 2010  became the year when I once again detected those  two pink lines but couldn’t sustain . "Life is a mixture  of happy and sad moments"  The next 2-3 yea

 Recently I calligraphed one of the quotes by Maya Angelou - an american author , poet and a social activist. It's an excerpt from her poem 'Still I rise' Still I Rise She emphasizes here that you should  be free and rise above with confidence inspite of all the hurdles you face in life . I am writing this post as part of #BlogchatterA2Z month long writing challenge .

 I have stopped spending too much money on clothing or accessories......... I have stopped thinking too much about pleasing others....... I have stopped looking daily into the mirror ....... I have stopped cooking those time consuming delicious meals for my family ...... TV doesn't excite me as much now ....... My fingers can't scroll for long on facebook....... I don't feel like keeping longer nails - file or paint them....... Am i getting older day by day ? Travelling, Cycling or small get-togethers; I love to spend money and time  on experiences now...... Only the fitness goals push me to  look into the mirror ..... I am able to overlook others' reactions when it comes to listen to my heart.  I recently denied a loved one's advice because my heart was unable to  accept it..... I cry easily now when i relate to someone's emotions , even watching a movie ...... Am i getting older day by day ?  or  Am i getting freer day by day ?  I wish to be dressed in a cotto

 Everyone has very loving memories of his  childhood and grandparents . I also have very beautiful memories of my Nani Nanu i.e. my maternal grandparents . It was very painful  when my Nani passed away two years ago and few months ago my Nanu also said a goodbye .  That little house of my Nani Nanu still perfectly flashes in front of my eyes where the whole family used to unite in summer vacation , play cards , ludo and dumbcharades . That little kitchen always brewed  tempting smells of rajma , chole masala , kadi , pakodas and even golgappe . The one who lost ten games of cards was given a punishment of making tea for all or cutting the salad for lunch .  Those family times used to be an energy booster for the whole year ahead with everyone laughing , loving and caring for each other .  Seems those were ancient times , as that kind of  loving bonds have lost somewhere in today's times . Today everyone ( a child or an aged) is busy in his self and his online social circle . I with

 I came across a Ted Talk by Sam Berns , a patient of a rare disease known as Progeria , in which he talks about his philosophy for a happy life . I wish to share something out of that talk with you all . If you wish to listen to the Ted Talk this is the link  Philosophy for happy life  1. Be okay with what you ultimately can't do, because there is so much you can do.' Often we have a tendency to think more about negative part of our lives - what we don't have or what we can't do . Why don't we focus more on what we have and why don't we try to put the things in 'CAN DO' category ? May be i am not rich but i am not poor . May be my house is small but i have a loving family . May be i am not feeling well today but i am not suffering from a big disease . A big change happens because of  change in the  attitude .  2. I surround myself with people I want to be with.’ Surround yourself with quality people who have a positive influence in your life and you al

 When a virus hit and  the world had to be locked down in 2020 i had wriiten a post which i want to share again today with few more thoughts added.   **** Lacs of  people infected  and lacs of deaths,  Breathlessness and helplessness is filling  the whole world with tears . A common grave for the ones who left ,  for social distancing not at all matters there.  The pandemic virus is giving many fears. In this critical time,   God has kept  me in good health ,  along with my near and dears. Shouldn't I be thankful for my health ?  **** Hungry stomach and Zero  money , Some people walked   hundreds  of kilometers to reach  their shelter  , there’s immense  panic among the poor. By HIS grace , I am away from the worries of hunger, which many others have to bear. Shouldn’t I be thankful for my food ? **** Everything is locked down . And in the silence around,  I do  hear pigeon’s coocoo but never see peacock’s tail quivers, He just screams in kaakaa , as if nature’s future plans he hea

 Being a woman i also spend lot of time in my kitchen whether full heartedly , half heartedly or not at all heartedly . But in any case i have to go in my kitchen off and on . Today I feel like writing a letter to my kitchen. Dear Kitchen    Hope you are living a fulfilling life with all your jars filled to the brim with wheat , rice , pulses , sugar , tea ,coffee and cookies . I also hope that your sinks are now empty and clean unlike the last month when maid was on leave . Those days ,your sinks used to be piled up with utensils and it stinked so badly .  Dear kitchen , it's been around seventeen years that i am taking care of you . Now you are grown up as a teenager and so you should learn to be responsible and maintain your hygiene .  It feels good when my family agrees on khichdi and your cooker does the job   in  just one whistle . But you just don't cooperate when they demand Chole Bhature and you also start giving me tantrums . Remember how i  had to bear my daughter

 J is for Jump and today i am here to share my jump in the world of calligraphy .  2020 was a strange year for all of us . A strange virus engulfed the world and we all witnessed lockdown in our respective countries . It's back to normal now and we have got used to it but that was the time of real fear all around . To overcome that stress we all tried our hands on many new things with cooking on the top . I and my husband also tried to make something new and i remember how his samosas turned out much tastier than my burfi. Sorry ! got a bit off the topic . So Lockdown was the time I wanted to utilize and learn something new . Just by chance while  scrolling through fb and insta i didn't come to know when i jumped into the world of calligraphy . I was fascinated  watching  Instagram full of reels and posts of calligraphic works . People were using so many different tools , brushes and inks . But all i had was pen, pencil, eraser and few of my daughter's sketch pens at my hom

Feels like yesterday when i was in hostel . That was the best period of my life when we friends used to shout and rap the mess tables with  our plates  , dance like mads in hostel room, whisper loud 😄in the library and what not . But today it's been 22 years .  Feels like yesterday when I got married But today it has been 17 years . Feels like yesterday when I held my daughter for the first time in the hospital , but today she is a teenager and stands taller than me. No moment or stage of life lasts forever;It moves on.  I transformed from a girl to a woman to a mother and now slowly aging like that Aunty next door.  Forty years of life have passed and i saw many near and dear ones  who passed away in these years , some old some young.  Same way Fifty years will pass and same way Sixty Seventy ( is there any guarantee that I will reach seventy? )  Daily a day starts and it ends giving me  nothing special on my plate ..... So let's start making our days special, beautiful  and

 In December 2021 we went for a holiday to Rajasthan . We covered Udaipur , Jaipur and Kumbhalgarh out of which I found Kumbhalgarh the most gorgeous  . We were short of time otherwise it was worth spending more days there.  We took a direct  train from Chandigarh to Udaipur . After the two days' sight seeing like City Palace ,  lakes , boating , Sahelion ki baari and enjoying the street food , the third day we planned to visit Kumbhalgarh . Kumbhalgarh Fort is situated on the westerly range of Aravalli Hills, in the Rajsamand district near Udaipur of Rajasthan state .The fort is also known to be the birthplace of Maharana Pratap . It has the second-longest wall of the world after the Great Wall of China and this fort is a World Heritage Site included in Hill Forts of Rajasthan. It was built during the 15th century by Rana Kumbha. We enquired about the ways to reach the fort but the taxi service was very expensive . So we asked local people how to reach there by bus . Daily 3-4 bus

It was world health day yesterday . So  first i  thought of writing about being grateful for my health . As #BlogchatterA2Z writing challenge is going on and it's the turn of letter G today so G for Grateful pretty goes well . But then i found the 'Grateful' idea to be boring for today so after a lot of speculation  the idea of writing about a special Gift elated me . G for Gift is quite exciting . Isn't it ?   So here's my story :  Actually It has been 17 years of my marriage and for the last 16 years my hubby has never gifted me anything on my birthdays or anniversaries . No doubt i ask for it everytime and you know what he replies everytime ' Abhi to diya tha itna mehnga gift ! '    To chalo kuch saal peeche chalte hain ....when i was doing my postgraduation . I used to see some of the the girls spending lots of time on dresses and make-up ; I also used to see their boyfriends waiting for them outside the hostel to take them out for an evening . And

 I am not a soft spoken person; But my heart tends to melt easily . I haven't done much GOOD in life ;But i never keep bad intentions for people .  I am not that gorgeous and slim-trim kinda personality ; but i accept my body curves and wrinkles as i am aging . I am not in a perfect health ; But i keep taking small steps daily for my good  health. I am not very rich ; But i am grateful for all that i have . I just can't follow any  spiritual practices daily  ; But i believe in that divine power.   I have big dreams and  i am not working on all of them  ;But still i love to dream .  I have seen many ups and downs in life;  But i have always tried my best to bounce back .  My life has many Flaws but still i find it awesome . That's why it is 'Flawsome'  (Flawsome is a word i learnt 3 years ago while reading someone's blog . The word means something which is  awesome inspite of many flaws. ) No failure can stop me from being Awesome;  because i am Flawsome   Is you

  Baat koi 22 saal purani hai .. ...When i newly  learnt to drive a car , i could not well manage the constant juggle among clutch , brake and accelerator . Sometimes the car would give sudden  jerk and stop because of wrong clutch timings and sometimes it would give shhhhhhhuuuuuu sounds on putting wrong gear . I used to be reluctant to park in crowded places or drive on narrow roads  . Toughest was the use of reverse gear . Point is that i was not perfect in driving .   Baat koi 10 saal purani hai .... .i wanted to learn swimming but i was afraid of water . When i decided to send my daughter for swimming classes , i also took the plunge to learn along with her . It took me 10 days to leave the corner of the pool and gather that courage to float . It was hell lot of a job to sync the movement of hands and legs . I am still not perfect at it 😊😊.  Baat sirf 2 saal purani hai .... ..i started learning calligraphy on my own . I never had an idea that it was such a vast subject . Knowing

 Lockdown 2020 was a blessing in disguise for me as i developed two new interests - Cycling and Calligraphy . Initially i doubted myself how quickly i would get bored with these and try my hands on something more exciting . But it's been around 2 years and both these Cs are flourishing . Thankyou God !  Let me talk only about cycling today . It all happened when the times were quite  fearful and we all were practicing social distancing strictly . I dusted off my bicycle , checked its air pressure and dared to step out of home as it was becoming very stressful being 24*7 within those walls . Starting from tiny 4-5 kms ride to market and then daily one hour rides ; i didn't come to know when my stamina increased and it started turning into a passion . And then i joined a local cycling whatsapp group which is a great motivation ever since . Now when life has come back to normal  i don't find the time to ride daily but i eagerly wait for Sundays . Pedalling with some friends ev

Ever since I started writing a blog ( it's been around five years) Blogchatter has been a companion to me , a friend , a guide and a motivation .  I have participated many times in the writing festivals #A2Z and #myfriendalexa and everytime I have enjoyed  writing . Writing daily gives a churn to your mind and churning brings out the best in you !  Under the support of Blogchatter I could write two ebooks and proudly call myself an author . I would like to share about my last  book that I could publish in 2020 . The book is  titled 'The silver lined mommy' which is a self help book for all the women ,especially the ones going through their middle age , as Me . The book is still in the library of Blogchatter and you can read it from the below link if you want  Download 'The Silver Lined Mommy' Here's an excerpt from my book : The glow of the face  that is gradually fading  , the hair which are turning silver and the fine wrinkles who have started smiling near the