What are the odds?

That you someday find you have a namesake who also has a blog with the same exact name as yours! True story :) Rochelle Liang is another 'Little Rock' who found to her pleasant surprise that there was my blog 'Ramblings of A Little Rock' staring back at her when she Googled to find her own. Whats more we had named our blogs this for the same reason!! Truth is stranger than fiction even in the virtual world it seems. And how a small coincidence can connect two people on opposite sides of the globe amazes me.

RL lost no time in emailing me and sharing her surprise and I'm glad to have found a new friend with the same name. A couple of emails later I have found that she has removed her old blog (Ramblings of a Little Rock) and started a new one to showcase her extra-ordinary talent. She makes mouth watering pastries so go to her page and check out her stuff! https://www.facebook.com/alikklesliceofheavenjm

Whatever the odds ...I'm glad to have met RL all be it via the waves of the cyber network :) All good wishes from one Lil Rambling Rock to another!!

Only in India

Strolling along a typical Chennai street on one of my evening walks around the block where I live, the two way traffic is a tight jam :(. With no 'foot path' dedicated for such strollers like moi there's nothing to do but gingerly press along the compound walls of the buildings whilst dodging on-coming cyclists and bikers. Suddenly from out of the blue this cyclist comes straight at me and says 'side walk please ma'! meaning please step aside. This took my mind rambling to the many instances of chennai-ites and Indians on the whole using English words and phrases woven into the vernacular to convey meaning that makes perfect sense to the local listener. So only in India you have phrases like : 'nadu-centre' meaning bulls eye, 'aana-but', 'backside entrance', 'cooling glasses' meaning sun glasses, 'loose motion' (lol) , 'one tight slap' and 'time pass'!

Only Indians will get what 'wheat complexioned' is, or that the bridegroom 'purchases suitings and shirtings' while the bride 'itself' wears loads of jewelry around her neck though it may be 'paining' her but still pose with their 'batchmates' for an album pic. They also 'take the blessings' of their co-brother' and 'co-sister' who present the bride with a 'nose-pin' all the while 'ragging' the newly weds about their 'first night'!

Yes don't be surprised to hear words like 'godown', 'gully', 'mugging', 'tiffin-box', 'vote-bank', 'dickey' and 'flyover'. It is only in India that you will find people who 'cheat like anything', students who 'bunk' classes and get pulled up by the 'Princi', who will send for the 'lab ass' (laboratory assistant for those of you 'scratching your heads' wondering what a lab ass is) to buy her 'samosas' filled with spicy 'masala' while she thinks of a way to punish those playing truant.

Only in India going on outings with the extended family can be 'pakka' fun, 'chaddy buddy's' are 'childhood friends' and you may not like being called an 'enthu cutlet'! MIL's (mothers in law) are the real terrorists even in an 'arranged cum love marriage' and you call your friends mother 'aunty'.

Sigh! only in India while I stroll along I pass the 'puncher shop', near the corner 'bungalow' with its 'gurkha' keeping watch, I quicken my strides as I find 'pye dogs' sniffing at my heals while my nostrils are assaulted by the overpowering smells from the 'chaat' shop that's just a stones throw away from the 'bus stop' where 'traditional girls in modern dress' wait to get a ride home. Finally I reach home...sigh! only in India can I expect hot dinner waiting for me! freshly cooked steaming rice and curry courtesy my 'ayah'! If you are not a local reading this blog please google 'samosapedia' for the meanings of all the phrases you dint get! :)

Be Yourself, Be Happy, Be Blessed, Be The Best!

Most often I have found myself looking at the wealth of talent around me and subconsciously comparing my strengths with people I meet. In the almost 40 years I've lived, I've been good at many things and yet there have been times when I've not been quite good enough in my own eyes! Over the years I have consciously weaned myself away from comparing my lot in life, my situations, my achievements, who I am with peers, colleagues, friends....all & sundry. And yet the subconscious pulls constantly towards doing just that.

Until recently I thought I was the only one having to deal with an over comparative subconscious, however I did realize there were others who also dealt with the similar predicament. This struck me when a friend commented: ' I really wish I had your youthful looks ya, how d you manage to look the same as you did when we used to hang out years ago'! We got talking & that's when it really hit me, Eureka! There were others on the planet who also had over comparative subconscious's that looked at my life, situations, achievements and compared these with their own. To all such and to myself I say : Be yourself, Be Happy, Be Blessed, Be The Best! You can only be what you are created to be - Unique.

What I've learned in life

The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, the education, the money, than circumstances, than failure, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company... a church... a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past... we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it. And so it is with you... we are in charge of our Attitudes

Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust

Its that season of the year again - LENT - the spiritual air filled with talk of fasting and praying and abstaining along with the hoo-ha of sacrificing, alms giving and the wearing of sackcloth (really??) and ashes! Makes me wonder what Jeez (that's how I usually address Jesus - to all those rolling their eyes in disbelief - yes He is my friend and God & yes He doesnt mind so why should you? :)) would say if He were to listen in on some very animated arguements on the rules - what should and should not be done during Lent. And 'btw' not just during Lent, there are some who cant not live without these superfluous, ridiculous all be it 'man-made' rules. Who go a step further and try and pin their fanciful opinions and silly rules on poor Jeez himself!

Reminds me of the Pharisees who questioned Jesus when He looked the other way instead of reprimanding his disciples for not washing their hands (a ritual requisit back in the day) before consuming food. At this point strains from an old hymn come to mind: 'Lord Jesus you know if you're looking below, its worse now than then'!

I really dont get these pseudo-spiritual gooblygoonks and the fuss they kick up over trivial matters. For Christ's sake isnt Lent more a period of fasting from saying a harsh word, praying an intercession prayer with a friend and abstaining from feelings of envy, hatred and anger that eat up your peace and damage your soul? Why then do people think it is a time to lay off the food, pray for an hour and a half more at exactly the same time everyday and abstain from consuming meat or pork - as if doing all of this will get you heavenly brownie points or have a bearing on the well being of your SOUL!!

So to all those who propagate their extremely hypocritical opinions and expect others to agree and follow suit, I have this to say : 'I have a personal relationship with Jeez and am quite capable of forming my own opinions thank you'. Why dont you all go get a life, develop a spiritually fulfilling relationship with your creator and discover the things that really matter in this journey we're on to Eternal Life!! Afterall the only thing you carry in your backpack to eternity is your own SOUL!!