Vaccination and me – Yay!! India is polio-free

Child receiving polio vaccine. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 India was once the epicenter of Polio. Polio was carried on from India to even many African nations. In 1985 there were 150,000 polio cases and in 2010 it was at a historic low of 42. But today, as of 2012, India has been declared Polio free with not a single case of Polio having been registered in any of the Health centers. It really is a major task in a nation like India, which boasts of not only the nation with one of highest GDP ratio, but also of the second largest slum in Asia, which is a hotbed of so many known and unknown diseases. 

Immunization, commonly referred to as vaccination is a great wealth we can give our children as parents. Give them good physical health and mental health and they have the capacity to access the greatest wealth in the world. 

When I was asked a year ago by Jennifer Burden of the World Moms Blog if I would be interested in vaccination advocacy as part of Social Good, I said, ‘Why not?’ But ‘how,’ I thought. So, here I am writing about it as one of the first steps. Advocacy is easy. I firmly believe in protecting my son against certain killer diseases. More than a year ago he contacted Dengue fever and little did I know Dengue is life threatening until a fellow blogger’s daughter succumbed to it. It was shocking! I have no words to describe my feelings.

So, for those killer diseases for which there are vaccines protect your child. Give him a future where he is strong, has the capability to fight diseases. Give him that investment where his health is ensured. Vaccination advocacy is easy. The only requirement is your passion, your power to move people.

At GAVI, I was awed to see so many people so enthusiastic about this cause. The success rate in developing nations was stupendous. Check out the new vaccines they have rolled out in many African nations. I am so honored to be part of this passionate cause of securing the future health of a child.

Organizations like GAVI and Shot@Life rock! I urge more people like us with the power to write, with the power to influence people both with their presence in the virtual world/media (Social networking and blogs) and also through their field work to be part of such movements.

Who would have thought one day India would be Polio free? That is the only boost any Indian ever needs to start his pro vaccination campaign.

What are you waiting for? Voice your views

P.S: Ok, my next step in this would be to film a movie with the help of Jennifer Burden, Founder, Chief Editor, World Moms Blog, advocating vaccination . Yay!! Watch this space for more updates on that. If you want to be part of the movie in any way, drop us a note through the Contacts Page.

My passion won’t rest for now!!

 

Related articles

• India removed from WHO list of nations with polio (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• Polio in India: How They Defeated the Virus (ibtimes.com)
• India Removed From WHO List of Nations With Polio (abcnews.go.com)
• Nigeria, Pakistan, Afghanistan nations with endemic polio (vanguardngr.com)
• India Celebrates First Year Without Polio (newsy.com)

Motherhood and being Cultured!

        

This post is dedicated to the one year Blogiversary of one of the most happening parenting communities, World Moms Blog.

I was asked to write about Motherhood relating to our Indian culture and link up with the World Moms Blog . In India I would say there are at at least 50 different cultures for every aspect. And the same and more apply to motherhood. Having said that, this post has nothing to do with any of the  specific 50 different cultures of India.

For me motherhood simply means worshipping my mother’s motherhood. I should say I have not much vocally appreciated her as much as I should be not only for bringing me up, but doing everything else and more for my son, her grandson.

Sculpture - "Motherhood" at St.Anne convent in northern Kentucky.

This is where it began. When I was pregnant I contacted Hepatitis-A, a viral infection and was down with jaundice. It was not specifically life threatening or problematic for the baby in womb (because of the placental barrier), but we all were so stressed mentally and emotionally. This was approximately during the 22^nd week. I was working 12 hours a day, designing the supposedly love of my life, car electronics. During that period I was living, 350 miles away from home.

The gynecologist and gastroentrologist advised complete bed rest until the day of delivery. I was very upset hearing this. I pleaded, I coaxed, that I work at least after a month’s rest. I was feeling completely fit and fine. But for whatever reasons God chose, I was back at my parents’ home relaxing and enjoying all the remaining 5 to 6 months of pregnancy. I was eating home cooked food by the world’s greatest cook (mom), being pampered and cared and just plain killing time reading books, researching pregnancy and stuff over the internet. The DDH used to visit me over the weekends at my parents’ place. [**I have not really thanked him enough for letting me stay on at my parents’ place indefinitely**]. And life was benevolent indeed.  

And then, one fine day I delivered a healthy happy crying baby boy and all was fine again in this mama’s world.

And I went back to work when DDS was 6 months old.

No day care, said the DDH. No nannies. No nothing. I was devastated. Apparently the DDH was a great fan of attachment parenting, and well, neither did I have the heart to send him to a day care to strangers. I mean, yes, I know there are so many wonderful care centers and I am not being judgmental. Having said that, I just felt I needed my little boy to be with people he knew, he was biologically related to.

So, super woman aka my mom, aka my son’s grand mom stepped in to the rescue. She traveled 350 miles away from her home, stayed with us, away from her husband and her son and took care of DDS while I worked away ‘happily’ at the car electronics typing away software codes for the automatic power steering.

Now, my dad visited us during the weekend to be with his wife, my mom and with all of us, his family. And oh, my brother sacrificed being with his mom too, because he was just entering college, and needed her emotional support. But the neediest was the baby, so my mom devoted her entire time, energy and thoughts to baby. We stayed in this arrangement for at least 5 years when we decided I would quit work because mom had to go back home, for her own personal reasons.

But the point is, my mom put up with a 25-year-old, grown up, pregnant, moody, lazy, physically unwell woman (me) for half a year, an ignorant mom (me) for another half-year and then she stayed away from her family, her husband and her son for 5 full years. I can not really thank my father and brother enough for letting me have her fully. She did all this for her grandson. Her idea of motherhood which can not be defined in any words except by retelling this story is just my idea of motherhood.

Culture is also refinement, culture is also being civilized, culture, my father always says, is doing what is best and correct for the moment and living life the way, God would later say, Ah, I am proud of you, my child. Isnt that how culture must have evolved in any society?

So, I am blessed to have parents who are cultured and who tried their best to imbibe that in my brother and me.

And this post celebrates that woman, who is the best mother in the whole world.

Some day, I hope my son says that too.

 

This article is part of the World Moms Blog Link-up

Go ahead, click the above button and view all posts written by mothers all around the globe participating in the World Moms Blog link up! I encourage the reader to also participate by writing your own post under the topic, “Motherhood, culture and myself” and show your support for the most celebrated feeling, “motherhood” by ‘liking’ and commenting on my and all posts.

Quality, Quantity, Compromise and an Anniversary

I was speaking to my ex-project coordinator yesterday. Well, technically, not speaking, but chatting up on the virtual world! Something he said, stuck out from the conversation and that was, now you are earning quality money, writing.

Well, I actually earn only about less than ten percent of what I used to earn working as a software engineer, designing car electronics. I used to crib the whole day. But I cribbed at work, I cribbed at home, I even cribbed here at the blog.

Now, I quit for various reasons. Maybe if you want to know why, read this post later. So, now the extra income is missing. But we as a family are having a quality life. Quality care for my DDS, Quality care for DDH (though he never admits it), I mean I think of him at least eighteen times more often now, than I used to one year ago. So, isn’t that quality remembrance? And it is with fondness. (Ok, he won’t ever believe it, but anyway, there, I said it!) 

So, the point is, now I earn quality money, enjoying what I do, enjoying my work, admiring the product of my efforts, and actually loving it. I love what I write and I hope the readers do too. So, quality money (but well, less).

And a huge compromise it is! I can not really afford to not have the money. But there, I have gone through one year of existence without my income. I have learnt to be dependant on the DDH. I have learnt to be frugal to some extent(Ah, the DDH wont believe this either ). I have learnt to compromise on things and not feel bad about it.

I have learnt to live the purpose of my existence.

And happy one year anniversary to myself for making it. (Technically it is one year and one month, but you can all wish me anyway, because I am announcing it now… lol )

 And thanks PKAdka, for reminding me of the memories .

P.S: The irony of the image is that I wanted to symbolically say that one (the keyboard which I used as a software engineer) was my earlier cake winner and the other (pen as a writer) is my bread winner. But ah, well, in the digital age, gifted to us by ex-software engineers like me, I sadly use the keyboard now like earlier . Perhaps, later sometime, I would elucidate the joys of writing something using the pen .

Photo credit to http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Keyboard_and_pen.JPG

SAHM vs. Working-Mom

INDIA: My Decision: SAHM vs. Working-Mom.

Please click the above link. Oh yes, that is my next post at WMB.

Ok, go ahead, read it and leave your comments there at WMB 

Thanks guys!

My brush with fame

 

INDIA: Interview with The Alchemist.

The Alchemist and her son

So guys, I am almost a celebrity. Well, not really. But, my interview got published there on WorldMomsBlog.com.

It actually feels good. That is one place I really love. Writing about being a mother and the parenting sagas is really a wonderful way to keep up a memoir.

Getting interviewed by WorldMomsBlog sure was fun. Go ahead, click and read my interview.

You are welcome to leave your comments and thoughts on WorldMomsBlog site.

INDIA: My “It Happened” Moment

INDIA: My “It Happened” Moment.

Thats my latest post at World Moms Blog. Go ahead, click it, read it and leave comments at World Moms Blog.

Reminiscing on a summer evening..

There is an IT park coming up next to my very peaceful, calm and lonely house. I thought I was lucky to be out here in nowhere. But now I am not so happy about this huge ugly squarish building next to my home. So, this week new supplies for the personal mobile units had arrived up there for software engineers to occupy in their cubicle. I thought maybe I won’t look. Maybe I would feel nostalgic about my own cubicle, my own mobile unit, my testing laptop, my hardware and I would remember it all and feel emotional and whatever. But then I thought, WTH? And I looked. And I looked. And I felt empty. I dint feel nostalgic. I felt empty looking at these tall ugly buildings. What a farce they play out there?

I averted my gaze and looked at the skies. There were a few stars sprinkled in the grey sky. Some were just peeking out. It was not yet completely dark. The sky was bluish grey and there was some light and there was the moon shining there brightly. Half a moon. I felt the moon was very bright, perhaps still in its super moon mode. The sky was so beautiful. I tried to find pink and peach traces. My son decided that blue looked better. We argued some. And I let him win that blue looked better on the sky.

I now sneaked a peek at that mammoth structure. There was a time when I used to sit inside my cubicle and be hunched over a grotesque machine. They called it a computer and I punched my fingers on a rectangular board. They called it keyboard. And I punched away lines of code to make car wipers work, fuel gauges move, and micro controllers to fire. It seemed like a dream and eons ago. A very fast tolerable dream. I felt neither pleasure nor emotion reminiscing it. I just could not believe myself having done that.

I uneasily shifted my eyes skyward. I think HE beckoned me to look away and gaze at HIM. I did not find HIM there up above.

My son wanted to go back downstairs from the terrace because it was time for his favorite cartoon. I sighed. I gave up. What was the use of waiting for grief, anxiety, nostalgia and yearning to come when I knew it would not? I really don’t regret getting out of that strange world.

Maybe watching moon rise and stars wink suits me for now. Oh, I can hear DDH muttering, “Lazy bum” or perhaps “unproductive woman”. I won’t say I am contented to be this way. But, I don’t want to go back there. And I will live zestfully in other ways.

I dont blog, I write.

I dont blog, I write

You know, there are so many different reasons for a person to write out stuff in a personal page and make it public. I also have many, reasons that is. Its almost similar and almost different from just about my fellow blogger’s page in the neighboring server.

So, here I go…

My Diary – I like to think of it as, a personal diary at times, and those posts go into password protect, otherwise it gets published to the world. I like to record those things in my daily life which touch me deeply, life like things I wrote here and here and here. Oh, otherwise, I live a very boring existence out here in mumble-land.

My fantasies – Like the other day I posted about Krishna being here and alive in the 21^st century. I also posted a few other things which have been under password protect, and I am contemplating tweaking it slightly and posting it publicly, well, shortly.. You know, I am just trying to build up the suspense in this paragraph  lol 

Fame and Name and Vain – Oh yes, just like the next door guy, I like fame and name(we will come to the vain part in a while). But who is not? I just try to let it not get to the top of my head. When I receive a lot of comments, I become happy and reply to them all painstakingly. Sometimes I write back to the people who comment thanking them and requesting them to visit again. So, being famous is not that bad, I try to be a famous nice person. And coming to the last part, vain - defined as exaggerated sense of self importance by the word web . So, whether I am important today or not, I strive to be worthy of the pride I aspire to touch lol… I think I muddled that up. Anyways…

Meeting people – I meet people I would not meet otherwise. I am not going to spend money (in this economy) and travel half the world to meet an Illustrator in the USA. I love reading what she does and draw inspiration from her. I have also met amazing people from so many places. I am not a compulsive traveler, so I wouldn’t dream of meeting all these people by really traveling. … … … … Ok, you want the truth, I was not born with any spoons made of precious metal in my mouth, hence I make out my daily living from the monthly salary… err DDH’s salary. So, uh travelling? Well, maybe to the beach, since I live in coastal India… lol..!

Good friends – I am still a very positive person who thinks this world is filled with a lot of nice people and lot of positive people like me. The other day I met one of my very good friends in person for the first time and I wrote about it here. She is one amazing woman. We became great friends over the internet and then decided to meet. This avenue opens up possibility of rich friendships. I know, I owe you a call. Coming up shortly.

Promote that I am a writer – What good way to promote myself to be a writer than to write itself? All my posts are inspired by my love to write and I am planning and dreaming on becoming a novelist and publicizing it here. So, there, I said it again

Be passionate – I am passionate about certain things and people. So, when they affect me in different ways, maybe happily or with sorrow or which should make me vent, I blog, not necessarily about them. I write about just something or the same thing or about beautiful things in Timbuctoo. Writing is a very wonderful stress buster as well as a pleasure buster for me.

So, I write, because I like to write and the geeks nowadays call it blog. lol .

A career woman turned homemaker.

Do you remember the day I quit my job? The day I actually officially gave my resignation letter? I wrote about it here. And the day I wrote about my feelings about the trigger? Well, I have come a long way from there.

There were a lot of people who judged me, who said I was right and some who said I was wrong. I do not know if I was right or wrong, but well, in time, this would not matter. Any decision would have been almost the same philosophically. And these judgments would prove inconsequential. In the larger scheme of events, what does it matter? But what about me as an entity? As a person and as a mind and soul with a heart?

I know of women who have the greatest attachments and pride in their career, their financial security and their title as an independent woman. I don’t for a moment think they are wrong to be that way. In fact it is their personal choice and their frame of mind which makes them think so. But I am not that and I don’t intend to be so too. But I also know a few others who are very fiercely independent and high in the rungs of their career but are forced to be there for any number of reasons. I know of an ex-colleague whose husband told her that he wanted a wife with a high profile career and that at no point in her life should she feel she can let it go for the sake of ‘family’ or her ‘child’, though she said she would do anything to be in my current shoes of a happy homemaker. I can only sympathize with her. I at least have a generous husband than that who thinks I can do what I want with my life, but it is entirely my responsibility to do so.

But my priorities are very clear. I need to give the utmost attention to my toddler, to his formative years, to his upbringing and no one can take up that position and only those who think similarly would really understand my thoughts.

You know, I have never really understood feminism in the words of the world. What reason a woman has to prove that she is equal to a man?  Sometimes I feel a woman is superior in many different other ways and it really belittles a woman to prove she is equal to a man. The men who are reading this blog, please don’t get me wrong. I am trying to say that nature bestowed in woman the physique to be fertile, bear and allow progeny and care for young ones. It gave women a softer heart. It gave women more power to tolerate. I say tolerate here, because the pains and pleasures of nine months of child bearing, laborious process of birth, patience in upbringing, love, bonding and lessons of the heart are all better understood and taught to future generations by a woman alone. And doing one’s duty, one’s intuitive duty in fulfilling womanhood, in being truly feminine, is her first priority.

So, for me feminism is all this, rather than trying to say, I can be a CEO too or I can be a Prime Minister too, though if you can do all this and not compromise on any of these and still hold the flags of respective positions, so be it. You are highly skillful, multitaskable and almost god to be omniscient.

But what about money? What about a career at a later stage in my life? What about the cost of this break? I understand I cant have the same career I had. But do I really want to? When I think about it, I feel that chapter in my life is over and I have evolved beyond the stressful life of a software engineer who slogs for twelve hours a day for money and social pride. I mean, I needed the money back then, I got it. I would still need it as long as I keep getting it. Know what I mean? As and when we are dispensed of certain resources, we lose their use. I don’t say I have no use for money. But I have learnt to be more frugal than I earlier was. I don’t eat out. Maybe, not as much. I don’t splurge money on the demons called “auto-rickshaws”, we travel wisely and avoid it mostly, which is good, we have also become innovative with using just one car and traveling only when it is available and walking the other times. It is not that hard, really. I don’t buy as much clothes. I also don’t buy so many clothes and toys for my toddler. I really don’t understand why I bought so many things which I really did in the past. It is like I have stopped spending money from my bank account which is really not there. I am not an advocate of any “stop consumerism” group. I am just trying to say that to live simply is a very satisfying thing at the end of the day. You know, like reinventing the wheel again and again.

Of course the DDH has a job and he provides for his wife and child. But you know, the concept of second income is welcome, but if it has to be forsaken, it can be done so happily too.

And at the end of the day, I am happy, and yet again, some say I am being childish saying I am happy being a homemaker and what about all the education, the post graduate engineering degree? Well, what can I say? I thought I wanted a high profile career, I worked for it. I almost got there. But somewhere along the journey, I decided to switch lanes because my heart belonged in the other lane. A certain friend on FB had posted sometime ago the difference between the heart and the mind. I mean, my mind would still be working as a project leader in some leading American Vehicle Design company. But the heart belongs very much physically near to the heart of DDS, at home right now. Perhaps, when he has to go to school full time next year, I would think of ways to keep myself occupied and pine meanwhile.

But for now, to quote DDS, “Be at home with me because I like you”. What simpler reason could there be for this decision and I am glad I am here now than later.

What’s in a name? Click, find out!

Would you retain your maiden name, after your marriage? I am just curious as to how many actually click ‘Yes’ on the poll at the end of this post.

My name is 'The Alchemist'

In ‘olden’ days this was not even an option. Women just changed their surnames to their husband’s as soon as they got married. There was no thought to it. It was just like that. But I would like to share a secret that my paternal grandmother retains both her maiden name and her married name in all her legal documents and also social network. So, does my grandmother’s sister. I am proud of them both. But my mother, paternal and maternal aunts don’t. They all have their married names.

I personally am more inclined to retain my maiden name and DDH apparently does not mind. DDS takes his father’s name though and I definitely don’t mind. There needs to be a balance in all things and I am bestowed with my paternal surname not maternal. Oh well, anyways, read on…

I have had lengthy discussions about this for so long with a few of my friends. The discussion never ends. We only disperse. Of course it’s actually a non-issue if you look at the world in a very broad way with global warming, deforestation, pollution, plastics and whatnots. But us, the highly evolved species are identified with a name and it’s the most essential and predominant part of an individual’s personal heritage and identification.

Oh yes, professionally, it is just easy to go along with your maiden name. It reduces so much of legal work. End of discussion!

But, I cannot write a short, simple blog. I just cannot. So, here goes.

Out of the women who resist this change, the most predominant reason is surprisingly not the cumbersome activity of changing your passport, driving license, credit cards, etc, but it is vastly psychological. Many of my friends confided to having bouts of sorrow after they changed their name, though they did not expect it. It feels like closing the most favorite chapter of your life book. It feels like your birth certificate does not matter anymore. Face it, childhood is the best part of anyone’s life and everyone is nostalgic about it. And changing names from that of your childhood name feels so different, not good different, but sad different.

Certain women are born in a very rich heritage and would like to still feel belonged in it though married. Come on, marriage cannot mean to break all familial ties in which you were born. Some women feel loved and cherished to be identified with their maiden name because they are proud of it. Whats wrong in being proud of a very nice thing?

Suppose, an English woman with a surname of Smith married an African with a surname of Gueyeah she would feel strange taking up his surname Does Jane Smith sound good for a blonde or Jane Gueyeah? Or an Asian with a name of Ching changing it to John? I mean, if you have looked and felt a name for 20 to 30 odd years, you would prefer to retain your feelings. I somehow do not feel like naming a baby with a very huge name. It feels heavy on the baby. This is quite a similar feeling. Changing your name just does not feel you.

But most women feel that changing your surname after marriage is a sign of love, commitment and belongingness towards your husband and his family. The couple is lucky in this case. In the other case too, the couple is lucky, because the second category does not need any material, emotional or intellectual action to symbolize their love and commitment. Oh, the discussion in either case..!

Nowadays, the trend is this, FirstName MaidenLastName HusbandSurname. You retain your maiden name as your middle name and append his last name as your last name. It avoids so much confusion, feels good psychologically on you and him and makes him feel having possessed you. This is a very simple and easy approach and is gaining popularity. It’s a win win situation in many ways.

But you know, socially, whatever you decide to do, you would have to smile and politely reply to comments like, “Oh, you retained your maiden name. Are you so insecure that you need this statement of independence every now and then”? Or rather, “You changed your surname? Are you not the liberated modern woman”?

And then, there is this huge activity of naming the children and choosing surnames for them. I do not even want to think about the options, discussions and implications. There is a huge list to choose from … Mother’s maiden name, Father’s surname, Mother’s Maiden Name-Father’s surname, Mother’s maiden name as middle name, oh the list is just endless… The easiest thing is for all to have the same last name. Looks good on the passport, doesn’t it?

While discussing names, we all eventually, remember the bard’s famous words, “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet” ironically from the play, “Romeo and Juliet”.

And a woman or man is definitely herself/himself no matter what she/he is called. Can I conclude without these clichéd words?

And here comes the poll… Being a woman, what would u do?Being a man, what would you prefer your better half to do? Change or not?