Four Clover Life- By Namrata Shailendra Singh

I was 24, and he was 53. I wanted him to hug me and perhaps love me- a love that could be an emollient to an aching heart and a disgruntled soul. I was sick of being unloved for long.  A 6'x6' cubicle of a sales office on the 20th floor of the DLF building in Gurgaon is hardly a place for a 'relationship', and I was looking for someone, anyone, to stitch my heart. The wound I got at 16 had maggots growing on them, and heartbreak at 23 was the last straw on the camel's back. It broke me into innumerable pieces, and I didn’t care which piece fell where.  It refused to heal. My world had become small, lonely, and apocalyptic.    It was just another cold, foggy morning in Delhi, and I was in a rush to get coffee from the vending machine- a ritual I followed every morning, stepping into the white LED-lit office with ash grey carpet that looked more crummy after a morning vacuum, and cobalt blue swivel chairs reeking of stale perfume. Every day, every interaction, e

  As an Indian American mom, I struggle to teach my daughter the right values, and my parenting has sometimes been questioned. But motherhood in America changed it all…so much so that I am surprised at the cosmic shift that can happen in life when a baby pops out of the womb. As if all the alcohol inside the body dried up, the hormones vaporized in thin air, and all the morality, values, and traditions of India have one door to knock on – MINE. Thanks to the population of the Indian community here, I have fodder for my eyes and ears, to reinforce how we must preserve the Indian-ness in us, in our children; otherwise ‘times are bad’ and ‘anything can happen, you see’. Phew! To read the article, click on The Indian American Mom Image courtesy-Pixabay

Can I change or redefine parenting to create a meaningful upbringing ?  Or is it just a matter of chance? Do parents play a role in shaping the habits, attitudes, and personality of a child? Or is it no big deal ? But why meaningful? Because parenting cannot guarantee happiness to the child  every time . It can assure is 'meaning' so that the child feels worthwhile and  purposeful, both  falling and flying high. I worked for Xerox India Ltd back in 2006-2010 in various roles. From corporate HR to Regional HR Manager N & E and later S & W. It was during this time that I had the opportunity to meet Mr. Princy Bhatnagar, the Sales Head for Xerox India. It was one of those regular days at work where I heard him talking to his colleagues about family and children, and he said: Parenting is the most challenging yet most gratifying experience of one's life. I left Xerox India in 2011 and went ahead, traversing my own life. I wasn't a parent then, but his words st