In Vacant or in Pensive Mood

When he first told me he loved me, I made him a list of all the things I consider as flaws in myself. I had warned him that I am not perfect - that I was probably not who he thought I was. He had a choice to take back what he had told me. His answer was a pleasantly surprising, "I know", amidst contagious laughter. He was going to stay and love me anyway. Even though we ended up laughing off the list, looking back, I think it was important that I set the record straight at that early stage. Because I didn't want him to come with the perception of finding in me a perfect human. Because I'm not. And I know it. What we often see in this world are couples who mask their real selves to win over each other. But alas, for how long can one hide? It is true that some day your partner is going to see you for who you are. Will they continue to love you then? Oh, to be loved for who we are is a wonderful feeling! Simply knowing that someone loves us, despite our sho...

Counting down the days to my wedding, I've been experiencing the jitters like every other bride-to-be! However, I have something I like to call 'the Bible advantage' (although how often I use it is quite a question). The Bible advantage simply means that I know the Bible (ok I know 10% or maybe lesser) and have access to its wisdom any time. When I am have worries or doubts, I can turn to the Word for peace and assurance. One of the biggest challenges that any couple will have to deal with, whether it is in the days leading up to the wedding or after, is the problem with "lies". No, not that the couple will be lying to each other (that is a different challenge), but that there will be voices in their heads that try to confuse them about the decisions they are making, making them question the love they receive from their partner, and making them jump to conclusions when they see (or hear) their partner do (or say) something. Most often, it is difficult for th...

Two months ago, on 20 th February 2014, Alan Joash Samuel, our dear friend and classmate, passed away due to Rabies. The weeks that preceded it, and those that followed, have been the toughest phase of my life, emotionally. I tried to write, but I wasn’t in a state of mind to blog about it. Now that I am back here after a long break from blogging, I feel that it would be unjust if I don’t record the event that impacted my life in such a big way. So, I’m putting together here what I wrote at different points during the last two months. It’s been over a week from that dismal day, yet our hearts refuse to be comforted. His sudden and unexpected death has left us all shattered. We didn't get a chance to tell him how much he meant to us, how precious his role in influencing our lives. W e didn’t have the time to bid him goodbye. Even though my mind is still fogged by the sorrow weighing my heart down, I now recollect the events of the past few months. In late October 2013,...

One weekend, I was trying out a feature I didn’t quite understand in my computer, and so I clicked the ‘Help’ link. A popup help window opened, and as I was reading through it, I found myself constantly thinking about the technical writer who must have published it. The faceless, nameless author of the Help content would have put in several hours of research, relentlessly pursued the developers and SMEs (subject-matter experts) for information, made over a hundred calls, and sent an equally overwhelming number of mails to clarify details. At the same time, this technical writer would have also had to deal with a pushy project manager from the developing team who believes that technical writing is the simplest job in the world, pressing deadlines to the writer’s face without giving a second’s thought to the fact that he himself couldn’t, if he tried, write to save his life! While the usual claim is that the Help document looks simple and understandable, and so must be easy to write...