Padmaja's

Life is a constant struggle, a never ending journey and only way is forward. Deep within us, our soul is always guided by a force, sometimes nudging us forward and sometimes dragging us back. Recently my grandpa passed away. Walking down a memory lane spanning 25 years, I can say that my life had been an incredible journey with my grandpa. When I was born, the near and dear ones started speculating whom I resemble most in the family.It’s a family thing most of us have been through a lot of times in life. A face destined to grow with age comes under comparison and peculiar matchmaking right after birth, it’s funny. Speaking of my face, my grandpa was obsessed with my red birthmark on my left cheek. He used to apply olive oil on my face so that my birthmark reduces. So, every time I visited his place, he first looked at my birthmark and continued with his normal routine of oiling my face. I loved this ritual because it was during this time that I got his whole undivided attentio

Photo courtesy: Yatrablog.com Moving to a new city is always challenging especially when you don’t know anyone in the city. In this respect, I was lucky to have a friend in the city who helped me with everything from my first day in the maximum city. Now that he is gone, I feel that my days in Mumbai could have been colourless without him. I looked forward to weekends, as weekends became my happy days. More than being happy days, those were ‘my’ days.  I reconnected with myself and enjoyed the little things and small pleasures in life. Some of the good habits that I imbibed during those months now form a part of my larger nature.   He had eyes like that of a cat and he enjoyed scaring me with those magnificent eyes. But  those very eyes was my shelter during the storm.   He made me fall in love with Marine Drive . Even though it is more than 15 kms from my residence, it became my ‘go-to’ place to calm my mind. During such stormy days, we sat together in Marine Dr

There comes a moment in life when we realize we lack something in and around us and a change becomes imminent in order to succeed. I always believed that I could give eloquent speeches. Later, it dawned upon me that giving a speech in front of an audience and extracting information from an expert over the phone are poles apart. My work demands me to make multiple phone calls and extract information for my stories. Initially, it was a humongous task for me. Moreover, a stammering speech and nervousness compounded to a whole new level while interacting with industry experts.   The revelation that I was a rookie in this world with little know-how about the subject matter was never my con, but it was my fear of failing that was not letting me sprint towards success. This fear did not let me ask the next question as I thought that person at the other end will assume me to be a fool. It was only later that I learned that one of the key important traits of being a journalist is to b