Chupke Chupke...Shhhh..

The first day of the last month of the year 2025 is here! What a year this has been! When we started the year, GenAI had not shot up in fame yet. We were still writing a lot on our own, yes, I did stop posting here as frequently as I did earlier too! I am an enthusiastic user of all things AI, but that has also prompted me, ironically, to start writing once again. I am more inclined to write for fun. I am more incentivized to write original stuff to stay close to my core self. I used to write for the fun of it. I used to write because I loved it. I still do, unfortunately to my work colleagues and clients only. Well, I do write up interesting prompts too and get very original outcomes as well. There's just something about writing that is liberating. For the last 5 years, I have been writing in my journals. I have been able to express emotions which I cannot do on an online platform. I have poured out my feelings of betrayal and abandonment as much as my joys and achievements. I h...

I still remember not being able to fall asleep on November 7th 2020. I usually crash and sleep almost the instant I decide to call it a day. But that day, I closed my eyes and was tossing and turning and I just could not sleep. It was almost 1 am the next day when I just about started to doze off when I got a call. A call that late into the night from a family member is always dreaded. I now knew why ! I was told that my Amma was not well and we needed to go to see her immediately. 5 minutes after we started, we heard the news that she was no more. The ride took 40 minutes and still felt like a terrible nightmare. Once I reached where she was, we decided to wait for a couple of more hours before informing our family and friends. At 4am, I started making the calls. Reiterating to each one that Amma was no more. It was the toughest to state it out loud like that when no one ever saw it coming. Just 12 hours back we were making plans of what sweets each of us would make for Deepavali. Sh...

Travelling is not my favourite thing in the world. I dread every time I need to take a train or a flight. I feel physically sick every time i need to take a flight for work. I do it eventually, but before that I have to play every scenario in my head. What if I miss the flight, what if it is delayed, what if it is cancelled, well, you get the pattern. Once I play out every possible way it could go horribly wrong, I also play out what I would do in such situations. Helps me ease out my nerves because then I have thought through all scenarios and know exactly how to react to each one of them. I should also add now that I do not like to check in my baggage and wait for it at the baggage claim. Not for the lack of time, I always go way ahead of scheduled departure that I could check in and complete security check 10 times before I board my flight ! It is just because...well, no apparent reason. So for a 1 day work trip, I obviously will only pack one bag with my laptop, charger, wallet a...

I am a techie. I love exploring new technology. So it was inevitable that I play around with GenAI and explore all of the tools available. I use Canva,Picsart, Adobe Express, Claude, Perplexity and some tools available at office. It is wonderful as a writer to see your ideas take shape exactly the way you want it to within a matter of a few minutes. So the question is no longer whether or not we should use it, it is more about where, when and how. I love writing. I enjoy expressing myself through words. When it comes to this blog, I am trying to keep it AI free(except for images that I generate for the purpose of thumbnails). Infact with every office email that I write using the AI tools, I feel the urge to compensate for it by writing something original over here. That probably explains 3 posts within 4 weeks ! It is always fun to learn something new, look at how it can make your life better and use it well to make your life better. Simple. Also the fun part of usage of these to...

It is Friday morning, post the Navarathri holidays and Gandhi Jayanti. The lunchbox is packed, kiddo is woken up. He hesitatingly gets ready, ofcourse, you understand it is difficult after 2 weeks of holidays. He puts on a brave face and leaves with his dad. They see a spot closer to the school that was available to park the car - very unusual, they silently think to themselves. They walk towards the school and notice the gates are closed. They still think it is just not opened yet because they went in too early. Then, they call me up, asking me if there was a change of date for reopening date. I firmly said no, absolutely 100% sure it was reopening on 3rd. Kiddo proceeds to open up his school diary, just to spot the calendar clearly calling out that the school reopened on a Monday, 6th ! We all had a good laugh about it and we had a nice day at home and 3 extra days of holidays. It ended up being a bonus of sorts, unknowingly. Do I feel bad that I am that mother who does not noti...

My Father-in-law was not the typical FIL who was distant and would not interact with his daughter-in-law. Well, initially he was like that and then he warmed up to my presence and opened up to me. Over the last few years, as we spent a lot of time together, as we were all living in the same home, he became my close friend, mentor, guide and my biggest cheerleader. He was born in Shimoga, grew up in Amrutur with his aunt, started his family in Sagara and eventually retired into Bangalore. 80+ years, he has had the most enviable life. Don't mistake it for a rosy life or a life with no issues or problems! He was one among 11 - 6 boys and 5 girls. He was the 2nd child and as his mother had more children, she needed help raising the kids and so she reached out to her sister in law to take care of him in Amruthur - a farmland. He grew up under the care of his aunt and love from his cousins, who were all girls. He would eat fresh food from the abundance of the farm and also drink milk so...