Why did she commit suicide? That beautiful, bright,bubbly, quick to smile young woman, who was my student fifteen years ago; A last bencher, who was nevertheless attentive and respectful in a real way, that, over a period of time, her memory remained sharply etched in my mind, many years after she left the school, till she found me on facebook; and spoke to me at length about her teaching experience, and made me feel so proud and important?
What are we teaching our young people that a young woman with a son she adores, a job she enjoys and a life she flaunts about, constantly uploading posts on family trips abroad, trips to her hometown, weddings she attended, her new skates, her son's spelling bee, should all of a sudden feel she cannot face the world anymore?
Whatever be her reason for suicide, on our part, we adults are making a big mistake by making our young ones believe that life is a bed of roses.And that we should have perfect lives! We don't fight unpleasant realities and hedge around them, pretend that terrible things such as child prostitution, kidnapping and murder for organs, embryo harvesting, political murders, caste based carnages do not happen. We do not let our children work, and turn them into pampered pigs, who never realize that happiness has to be earned and can elude the best among us.
That life goes on no matter what you do and don't do and no matter who lives and who dies.
If you wanted to shatter someone's peace of mind..you sure did it, my dear....but if you had survived whatever shame was swallowing you, you would have got a lot more, and given a lot more too..Are you  resting in peace????

I remember how I lacked  career focus and didn't really care if I had a job or not, in my twenties.. I once quarreled with top  management loudly and rudely, and walked out on my job. I couldn't stand there when someone was shouting, "Get out!", could I? 

Momentous though that sounds, it was not earthshaking or shocking to me. I came home, went on about my work and at around two thirty switched on the T.V and started watching "Basic Instinct:" with rapt fascination. My dear friend Bhooma came over and tried to rehash the day's drama with me.I just nodded and tried to look serious every time she made a comment.But all I was thinking about was...Who dunnit?? How is the film going to end? 

Finally I could take it no longer. I told Bhooma." Listen. I want to see  how this film ends. Please let's talk later" But my assertion proved to be an effort that went in vain. Because of a Power Cut. No words can describe how disappointed I felt.But Bhooma started chastising me.."Here I am, rushing down to your place to console you and tell you not to worry...and look at you!" And we giggled so much over that.

Actually, I never got to watch the end. I am jobless today. May be I can catch up!!!

We need people and relationships, and yet can't tolerate many of the first and don't feel satisfied with most of the latter. We know the importance of relationships but fail to invest in them. Most people who claim to be in relationships just seem to be playing nasty games with each other.Why do people keep trashing their own lives?
A young woman aborted her foetus, because she had been selected to join the team taking a trip abroad for official work.She had not informed her husband, parents or any one of it.The doctor who did the abortion spoke about it to another woman from the same office. News spread fast and she was terminated from service. People in her office believed she had committed a murder.When her husband came to know of this, he filed for divorce, and got it too.
While everyone I discussed this with in and outside my class believed that the woman had to be fired, some questions keep popping up my mind.
1. Why did the doctor let the girl abort the child, if she did not think it was the right thing to do?
2. Why does no one think the doctor did something wrong in aborting the child?
3. Why did the doctor not inform her family, but told someone from the office?

Wonder where the girl is now?

limericks in class

Here's a limerick I wrote with a ten year old student from my online class

There was once a young boy called Sam

Who was allergic to ham

He checked his sandwich everyday

 Although his mom wouldn't give it anyway

She always made them with jam

Cool huh???

An energetic young girl named Molly

Tried to do a rolly polly

She did it in the end

Her body she had to mend

So it wasn't that jolly

Not bad!!!