SOME"ME"TIME

Seems confusing what i am talking about?we all live our own life isnt it?then why I am taking about this"me" time for ourselves?We all need this "me" time when we pamper ourselves and nurture ourselves,its good for our morale boostingJst try to remember, when did u do let ur hair down ,just to be urself,when did you last dance till u dropped dead out of fatigue or sang till ur throat as well as your neighbours started pleading you to stop.,similarly when was the last time when did u take out that dusty palette n put some colours on that framed canvas and thereby in your life too.it is not necessary uou need to be this creative only,any simple craft,just humming ur favourite tunes and feeling restful,finding out 60 min for urself out of 24 hrs Is it asking for too much??Go out and pamper urself .let me share my ideas of pampering myself.I write poetry when i m in good mood,then I read my fav works,I listen to my favourite music n sing along with it.then I go out for some window shopping.n yes, Cafe Coffee Day is my favourite haunt...for spending some time by my self.Then spending some time on beauty treatments is also a good idea.It truely makes me feel like queen.I have learnt importance importance of "me"time after going into depression and how ignoring oneself destroys one's own self esteem.So,thereby,i wanted to share this important lesson of life with all of you.I hope ,you all will spread the lesson further-the lesson of being positive.

FIGHTING AGAINST MONOTONY

Choosing to be a homemaker was my decision and in a way i have never regretted it.I am enjoying every moment of it,being at home,watching kabir grow,watching his antics,being there to offer my help when he falls n sharing his joy when he achieves something but somewhere when he is getting monotonous in his world of games,of animalworld and cartoons ,I m feeling ignored.I am not used to being ignored or being sidelined.from the day I decided to be an earning member for my family before marriage,then taking teaching as a profession....a profession where u get smothered with love,respect and affection....I was pretty good at my work in my school where I taught and so I got love,admiration in plenty and I m still getting it from my ex students...after getting so much, when I m feeling lonely,having no one to talk to at home,when i m free,it gets on nerves.
Is my life getting monotonous.?Am I getting tired of being at home?Is it the itch of getting back to work.?But I don't want to get back to usual teaching work then wat next?I m questioning myself a lot these days.Then above all,i dont want to compromise kabir's wellbeing at all.I dont want his growth and development to be compromised in lieu of my ambitions....I don't want my five years of hard work to go down the drain.perhaps my mental mindset will improve once adi is back..I have no complaints being a home maker but probably i need to find ways of being more productive wid my free time.Well,so it is a call to the creative Nalini to let her creativitity find ways to fight against this monotony which is finding ways into her mind and be her usual chirpy self.

THINK POSITIVE N KEEP COMMUNICATING N INTERACTING

Through the community I started on autism awareness on Orkut ...I have learnt so much jst by communicating wid mothers of special kids and one thing I have learnt most is that positive thinking is a must virtue for everyone but all the more so for "US" parents.I still remember the day, 2 years bck wen kabir's autism was diagnosed.. n within days my well cured n gone for years depression had bounced back,just becoz I didnt want to accept the writing on the wall...it took me almost a year,lot of treatment....but still I kept fighting it,going to extremes I don't even want to recall,but one fine day,I told myself that life cant get any worse...so it got to be better now n I started improving...but ever since I have started communicating more n not only on internet but wid kabir's therapist n many other friends too...I started realising the importance of positive thinking so much more.Today I even tell other mothers who interact wid me n especially who are facing the same depression as I faced 2years back,how important it is to think positive n let urself reach out to others that I keep re-enforcing it for myself as life doesn't get easy as days pass by but today I have got the strength to face it n I still believe that life will improve if I keep trying hard, for me,adi as well as kabir.:-)

LIFE IS TOUGH BUT ENJOYABLE CHALLENGE

life is very hectic n puzzling with a smart,intelligent autistic child.He is much more smart than me.
life for last three weeks has been hectic,difficult as well as puzzling for me.Kabir's hyperactivity has shot up n he is unmanageable.He doesn't want to go to school,doesn't want to board school van because it doesnt play music.He doesn;t co-operate in therapy,nor wid his favourite special educator.He created a big hulla-bullo at the hospital,when we went to see his developmental paeditrician.Everybody is shocked at his aggressiveness,as he is basically a very affectionate child,wid a cute enchanting smile.:-)
At home,either he wants to play with BEN-10 toys or watch t.v's silliest pokemon and dragon -z cartoons.But then he is a very intelligent child too.When he wants to see a particular prog,he will ask for his lunch or dinner,as I allow t.v only at these timings.Then he knows that me getting into proper decked up dress up means that I may be going out,at that time he knows he may be left alone,so no one can distract him.While going out,he may demand a simple thing which he knows that I wont deny,but as soon as we reach shop,he is ready wid his Big demands and funny thing is that he has charmed almost all shop keepers in 2km radius,so,no one listen to my NO,they pamper him,often without taking money for many things.He knows people's psyche so well.:-)
So with all this humdrum n un-certainities,life is a difficult task,that I undertake everyday but I look forward to see how kabir deals wid changes thrown at him.Trust me,I enjoy it n I m often surprized by the way kabir twists n turns situations to suit him.:-)

Autism and need for awareness

Autism-a social disorder,whose cause is still not known,is largely misunderstood as type of mental retardation.In a recent interaction with one of my friend,who keenly watched AAPKI ANTARA,the t.v serial who has a autistic protagonist,even thought that it is a illness in which there is lack of mental growth.In the beginning I too had followed the serial quite keenly but when it started going off-track, I even stopped viewing it.Anyways,thats not the topic of discussion here.What I want to emphasize upon is need of high level of awareness regarding autism.There is general lack of awareness about it.Even in a city like Pune,which is hub of educational institutions,the awareness is poor.I still remember,hardly two months back,when I was desperately looking for a job,and was having talk with the Head of a very famous N.G.O,(I won't name it)when I mentioned that I preferred a particular time slot,as my son had mild autism and I didnt want to compromise my time with him,her first reaction was" excuse me,what is that,never heard of it."I was shocked,then faintly amused.I immediately pointed out to her that she should be aware of it as a must,since she was working for the welfare of the underprivileged.Even I realized while telling her that when the so called literate people haven't heard of it,then how will the poor people even know about it.Who knows how many autistic people must be suffering just because of lack of knowledge about it n without proper diagnosis.
Even amongst my community members,I came across a class xi th student who wanted to know if there was a school for the autistic in her city,a state capital.Her younger sister who is 14 yrs old is autistic n has never undergone any kind of therapy or schooling.People when don't even know what is autism,how can we even expect them to realize the importance of speech therapy etc for ensuring a qualitative life for the affected person.
Because of lack of awareness,there is a kind of social stigma attached to the autistic people n their family.I am member of a community of mothers of autism affected children and recently there was a suggestion by one of the mother that we should share our experiences so that we can learn few valuable lesson from it.Even I think,every autistic person is a case study in himself/herself.what works for one,may or may not work for the other.I initiated the discussion by sharing what I had undergone.But except for me and the other lady who had given the suggestion,no one else has come forwward to share her experiences,though a fortnight has passed.
I will keep sharing my views and experiences with a hope that it will schuffle a few feathers at least.:-)

MY NEW COMMUNITY

I created a new community on Orkut,regarding Autism.It was spur of a moment decision.I felt happy after that.All those who got invitations to join it, must be wondering why I chose Autism??Well,I am no longer afraid or ashamed to admit that my only child has Borderline Autism.He is still better than many other cases that I have seen.But that doesnt reduce my responsibility to ensure His wholesome development.I am trying all possible things I am supposed to-therapies etc but as a mother I know, it is also my duty to spread a word of awareness about Autism n thats precisely what I am trying to do through my community.It has to be improved a lot n I am looking out for people who can help in improving it and helping me to reach out to people more n more and spread a word about Autism.People need to know that it is not a illness,it is a social disorder.I also want parents ,especially, mothers to know that it is not them who are responsible for this condition in their child.Reason of this condition is still to be confirmed.But till then,lets all join hands to create awareness about Autism and to create a support system for families facing this situation.I dnt want to call it a pb.Lets join hands and work towards our aim.

POWER OF GIRL CHILD

My gud friend Alok put a question today-why still people hesitate to have girl child in India?More so,when we worship all forms of Mother SHAKTI to solve our problems and to bless us with knowledge n wealth especially?well,thought provoking question.But u knw this ques is now relative to different kinds of societies in india n our literacy level n how broadminded we are.Like when I was born,the first child of my parents,no one was unhappy or sad that a girl was born.Rather my parents and even my grandma celebrated ki Lakshmi has come.That has continued in my family till now.Thats becoz we were educated n my grandma was herself a freedom fighter,so she was a progressive woman.Today Iwant to adopt a girl child n my husband supports it.Its not so ki all educated people are so liberal bt then maybe thats their upbringing.Not only high literacy level but social awareness and lot of work will go in doing away with this kind of attitude.I hope with the way women are progressing and creating milestones that would be a evidence enough to create the kind of progressive attitude we need.dO U ALL AGREE?