Getting bigger with you, lil one

It’s not surprising how you are getting bigger inside and I am on the outside,
Both of us are trying to find our ways, you in the womb, and me from the bed-side,
There are a lot of movements, flutters and you trying to learn your swimming lessons,
You are doing a great job with the day and night sessions.

I definitely need more space now to move between two tight spaces,
It’s fun to ask people to move ahead and see the reaction on their faces,
There have been times when it was hard to go through the revolving door,
Who knew this would be the start of the third trimester with legs sore?

You are protected inside me, growing from the size of lettuce to squash,
It’s hard to keep track of the veggies but I can feel you growing like a bush,
Sometimes you come up to the chest, making me feel packed,
Those are the days I want to lie down like a potato sack.

I need to remember that I am always with you and you are with me,
It soothes me when I am anxious thinking about how the due day will be,
I just saw the picture of the bump on the camera and my face lit up with glee,
Love experiencing and exploring the world together, even if you can’t see.

Waiting for the ride, lil one

We are excited to learn together with you,
The early days are going to be figuring out a lot that is new,
I believe that we will get through with grace and smiles,
As life is too short to panic, and we need to travel many miles.

The start is soon, can’t believe its next month,
When this new chapter of us will begin with the first touch,
I am keen to see how you will fill the blank slate,
It’s the hard work that will take you far along with fate.

You will teach us patience and how to nurture a new being,
While you observe our actions to see how we are reacting,
We will support and be around you throughout all phases,
Be it your first pee-ka-boo or you are stuck solving a maze.

What will we learn together, lil one

The constant reminder of this is so new as it is for you,
Comforts me each time when I think a lot and have no clue,
We will get through this together, as we are a team,
Learning from each other in each situation, to flow as a stream.

As time passes by, I am excited to show you the different things that I enjoy,
Exploring around, taking up DIY projects, and going on adventures are what gives me joy,
It will be fun to introduce you to skills and choose hobbies of your own,
To be around you as we figure out the next step when we are in the zone.

Someone asked me what am I excited for us to be doing together,
Starting with gardening, volunteering, hiking, the list can go on forever,
They told me you are learning and listening to it all even if you are inside,
That is the reason I talk to you, tell you stories, and sometimes sing a song or lullaby.

Working with you, lil one

I did not realize until today that we were working together all this while,
You have been getting all the skills and are almost part of each file,
The kicks in between those meetings give me a warning,
The amount of attention you will need from the beginning.

You definitely have your mood swings during early morning calls vs evenings,
I can say for sure the movement is like a swoosh, gives me a chuckle, pretty thrilling,
As you are growing bigger each day, I need to change my position from one way,
The frequent visits to the pantry and the restroom is here to stay.

How fortunate are we that we are in this together,
Throughout pregnancy and after, I can’t believe the time is coming nearer,
I would love for you to see the wonderful people around me,
Some at work, some outside, who have been throughout the journey!

Date with you, lil one

It is interesting that our dates and timings are pre-set,
When we see you we feel life is just at its best,
We have seen you grow from a sack full of water,
And this time we could see your eyes in the digital picture.

The first heartbeat on our 2nd visit to the doctor was special,
We did not know that you would beat so fast like a bicycle pedal,
In all the sonographies, we have seen you being so active,
We are surely going to make dad run around during the parties.

I wish we could keep staring at you to see what you are doing inside,
It might get a bit uncomfortable the next time as each day goes by,
We will cuddle you soon, and love you like no other,
Because you are the love of our life, the one on whom we will shower all the care and power:)

Gratitude with you, lil one

This goes out to all the brave women around,
Who sacrificed their sleep at night and were awake with the slightest sound,
The different struggles that they went through for nine months,
Some spent nights in a reclined position and some had nausea till the seventh.

This goes out to a new relationship that a girl had with her own,
The one that started as soon as the bundle of joy was out of her womb,
An individual she could never imagine a couple of years back,
She was now responsible for a human, which changed her priorities and track.

She became the one to pause and care,
Life was never the same and definitely a new dare,
There were many challenging situations with the unknowns,
Even if she spoke to dozens of people, the experiences were differently shown.

This is a gratitude poem for every grandmother, mother, and aunt out there,
Amazed by the times they have shown immense love and care,
Here is remembering each of your hardships and saluting them,
As sometimes we take this relationship for granted and never acknowledge the same!

Flying with you, Lil girl

Never thought the feeling of flutters from your moving will be so special,
It is not that easy to travel when you are bloated and trying to settle,
As you are growing bigger inside my little tummy,
I think I am ready to become a mommy!

A bit of poking from the right and on the left,
I feel like teleporting myself straight back home, onto my bed,
The third trimester is never that easy is what I have heard,
There are a lot of changes happening in the body, I bet.

You lil one have been really good till date, listening to us,
I know this journey feels long, but this phase too shall pass,
12 hours in this journey together we will chill and make merry,
Cause the next time you will be on the bassinet, giggling and eating berries 🍒:)

5 long years

I can’t believe we completed the milestone of not seeing each other for 5 years. It’s strange and I don’t feel that you are not around, in fact, I feel your energy around me. It got me thinking what are the things that send me your energy and I realized, I am always looking for opportunities to practice your favorite hobbies. I can see myself inculcating the habits that you had, especially gardening, making beautiful objects from scrap, making sure the expenses tally organizing things and re-organizing things. Sometimes I do something or speak your “typical phrases and words” and smile to myself, thinking about you.

There would hardly be 5 days of not getting a mail from Papa. This is back during college days when calling was super expensive and I still remember waiting in the line at the telephone booth near my hostel for an international call. The call would connect and the bill would start from 20 Rs. Before I could talk for a minute with each one, I could see the amount increasing to 75 Rs. Thus, my usual mode of communication back home would be via email. The email by Popsy could be the shortest saying “How are you, we are fine here”, but it would always be there when I opened my inbox. I still have all the emails and I love reading them whenever I miss him more. I frequently read his messages too, and smile how most of the conversations included “I am picking you up at 6 or when do you get done from work and we will pick you up accordingly”. I remember him sending me a note by APJ Abdul Kalam which said:

This message will always stay with me as I exactly know how it feels if someone close to you is no more and all of it happens very unexpectedly. For us, it happened in seconds, it was very difficult and hard because I saw him till his last moment, and him disappear after his last rites. Time doesn’t heal when you have seen your favorites leave you. The void always stays forever.

A few ways I handle my grief, of not seeing him, not being able to talk with him is I read his emails, messages, look at his video, and smile at his actions. The next is definitely writing, which helps me pin down how I feel, and I have been doing that since 14th January 2017.

All this helps but by the end 5-year equals 1826 days of not seeing him, not being able to share my experiences, not being able to get his scolding on doing certain things, esp on coming home late, not being able to plan trips with him, not being able to help him, not being able to play badminton, and our favorite Ludo, I really miss him. When I write this, I think how I could be the one instead of Popsy that morning when he just went out for his normal morning walk and never came back home. Thus, maintaining a balance in life is super important, which Popsy did so well. I can’t be grateful that I got to spend so much time with my Popsy after my college days. I along with Surbhi cherish being daughters of this gem of a person.

Ways of remembering our favorites whom we will never see again

Yesterday would have been Papa’s 60^th birthday. As much as he didn’t care about birthdays and always smiled saying it’s just another day, we always got excited for his birthday. While I couldn’t wish him yesterday, I thought of writing this blog, which is my way of connecting to him. I was remembering all the memories that we have had when he would make sure to pick me up exactly on time from work the day, I did not have a bike/car to come back home. We would decide on our trips and I would be his advisor throughout our vacation, the way he would give time to each member of the family.

While I was in my memory lane, it just struck me that how less do I speak of these memories to anyone which made me actively call my aunts and ask them what was their favorite memory with Papa.  I was sure they had many but it was so good to listen to their stories, especially their chosen ones. Both of us smiled as we fondly spoke about him for 15-20 minutes. This exercise definitely got me closer to him and realizing once again how grateful I am to be his daughter. I have always felt closer to Papa, even if he is not around, his teachings and guidance have always and will always stay with us but just talking about him was the highlight of my day.

Having said this, there are some of us who cannot talk about the person we have lost, as that makes us just feel weird and realize that the person whom we are talking about is no longer around or I should say we are just not ready for that conversation yet. That’s completely fine because it does take a lot of courage to remember yet not break down completely. I personally feel the best way to give tribute is to talk, write, communicate about your fun and amazing moments with your loved ones. Trust me, it will just make you happier that you were connected to the person and make you feel lighter from inside. Thus, my sister came up with this idea and has created a platform for people to pen down their fond memories with their favorites and cherish their lives. The Instagram handle is @memoiroflovedones , one needs to direct message for her to publish your story.

As I leave you with the thought of cherishing your lost loved one, what are the different ways you remember the important people in your life who are not around you anymore?  

Celebrating your life, Dadaji.

Dadaji, you have left us with so many memories and strong values that each one of us will always remember and we are where we are because of you. You have left the community with strong principles and morals; you have been an institution.  You have been a mentor for many, a successful entrepreneur, an active contributor to society throughout. You have been a strict father, a loving grandfather, and a caring great-grandfather. You were one of a kind, you were the beloved head of our Bahety family.

Your journey for 93 years has been beautiful. You adapted to technology so quickly, and when I think about it, you would not only use your phone for calls but reading news, short stories and also frequently supervising the production of factories remotely. You have been so sharp with your calculations and your memory was fantastic. You remembered minute details and only a few of us would know what you were talking about. The best part was when you said something like “Waha upar se yeh le aana” and expect us to understand – we were often left scratching our heads and clueless. I feel a lot of us (me included) have gotten this habit from you 😊

You were a social star, everyone knew you, you had a mark everywhere you went. The different places that you traveled and your experiences are inspiring stories for the next generation. It was because of your outstanding personality and your conversationalist nature; you could talk to people of any age for any duration. I can bet that people were surprised to listen to your fluent English. The TTE surely was when we were traveling from Delhi to Surat and you also told him sternly to speak properly as he did not believe you were a senior citizen.

It’s nice to recall how you stayed in touch with everyone, asked how they were doing, and specially made sure you knew where each one of your kids was, what time did they fly, how was their flight, when did they land and made sure everyone knew about it. You connected all of us in many ways, other than being the head of the family, you connected our happenings, encouraged us, and pampered in your own ways (by getting bhindi for our school tiffin, and that too, we had to wait for our turns).

You are one of the strongest persons we have known, you have seen so much in your life, from losing your favorites to building an empire, you have accepted different challenges and always stood firm on your rules. You have been an inspiration and taught us the value of savings. I smile as I think that you never owned a wallet, and you were so reluctant on getting a new pair of trousers. You loved the pieces in your closet and I am happy that the sweater I got from the school trip made it in the list after so much convincing.

You have been independent throughout your life, and seeing that was wonderful. You enjoyed picking up leaves from the garden (and you did it patiently), playing badminton with the youngest ones, basking in the sun and you knew exactly what medicines to take when. You traveled solo for work, climbed stairs till the 4^th floor on grandparents’ day to be with us, and made sure you gave us prizes if we scored well and during festivals and birthdays.

Home is not going to be the same, without you, and as much as we are going to miss your love, teaching, and scolding, we have a new challenge to fulfill and make you proud – TO LEAD A FULFILLING AND PURPOSEFUL LIFE AS YOU DID!

Grief lessons that no one teaches you:*

Grieving is hard, losing your loved one is difficult, it is painful to think about the moment you get the news that the person you loved is no longer there. The time that you let them go away was the day you will never ever forget in your life. I will not say you should let them go forever because you cannot, you are a part of them and they are a part of you. They will always be guiding and looking after you and you need to fondly remember them and get inspired with how they were.

I was not taught to grieve, neither my parents introduced this to us while we were kids. We never had a conversation on what if “I will die tomorrow”. As simple as it sounds that every person born on this planet has to go away, we don’t have these important conversations as kids and as adults. This does not mean that you need to have a detailed conversation every other month but introducing the idea of “Grief” which could be experienced anytime should be a part of growing.

I am sure most of us haven’t spoken about this at our homes but I learned 5 Grief lessons after I bid my “Papa” goodbye on 17^th January 2017. This post is for people who have never experienced loss and also for folks who have. The first lesson that I learned was: –

1. Try talking about people who have left you. Even if they are not around physically, it is nice to get a smile on our faces as we remember their dialogues or their favorites. I know that can get a lot of memories and many people are not comfortable with it. But trust me, it helps, it helps to stay connected, to remind ourselves about their smallest habits and laugh at their jokes. We might need to be very strong while speaking about it, but if we don’t, we will stop mentioning them in months and then years. I would highly encourage them to initiate conversations about them.
2. The second one is let yourself feel what you feel. Do not compress your emotions. Each person has different relationship, and you know yours with the person whom you are never going to meet. If you miss them and you want to cry out loud, please do because you miss them and it is okay to miss your favorites. They have always had a special place in your life, and no one else can fill that void. If you want to write to them go ahead. Do what connects you to them.
3. For me one of my biggest ways that I could keep myself together during the month of January 2017 was by writing. I wrote every day, how I felt, about my experience going to the Ghat and performing the last rites, I wrote letters to Popsy from myself and one from the family, about how I missed him and still do, how I thought it was too early for him to leave us, about how will HOME be home without him, on who would ask me to write his messages and play badminton with. I would write about everything and I would just do it for myself. Writing could not be your way, but try expressing in any form that you can, because it helps a lot.
4. Everyone has a lot of questions during these times, why him, why now, how did it happen, all of us go through the process of DABDA(Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, Acceptance), the different stages of grief. I had them too but there are no correct answers, in fact for some situations there are no answers at all. Losing my dad suddenly at 52 without any medical illness and chilling with him the previous day is as difficult as someone losing their dad because of a disease when they are 75. During this time, only one thing will make you feel better, spiritual talks. I did not get answers to my questions from my talks but it eased me out. I would tell myself on what happened could have been way worse and started becoming thankful that it didn’t. For example, Papa did not suffer in the hospital for days, it was a cardiopulmonary arrest for him. I would not say it helps completely, it just distracts you from your questions which has no answers and I started going towards the last phase acceptance. Spiritual talks are not a one- time conversation but a constant discussion that gives a different meaning to relationships and life.
5. The last is we need to understand that life is uncertain, and how my dad left all of us, I could leave too. Just the realization of life being very uncertain can change the way we see life. This doesn’t mean you need to feel sad and take short term decisions, it only means that you cannot control your life all the time and you need to realize it, which a lot of us forget in our everyday busy lives.

I never thought I will be writing about grief 5 years back, but here I am trying to share my experiences and lessons. You can never be prepared for it and you will experience it when it happens to you. You might not be able to relate to this post while some of you might be, but remember grieving is a dangerous discussion and its worth it.

Grandparents love:*

We are surrounded by so many people in our lives. With some, we have lasting relationships while some come and go from our lives very quickly. Each person is different but there are qualities of each one that we can pick and add in our day to day activities. We take the opportunity to tell some people how they inspire us and to the others, it is too late by the time we can tell them because they are no longer around us.

I want to introduce you all to my Chote Dadaji. Chote Dadaji was super jolly and both my grandad’s have different personalities. Chote Dadaji loved to know what each kid was studying, in which field they were working, loved learning new things and trying new experiences. He was very particular about his timings, be it food, exercise or a walk, he was very disciplined. He would take care of his diet since the early days and always follow his restricted diet. Chote Dadaji loved helping people and did a lot of charity work. He would wait for us when we visited Delhi and ask us on how everyone was doing. He cared, loved and with his jubilant aura, he would interact with everyone with a smile on his face and loved playing Ludo. He and my grandad visited the UK before a few years and they had a splendid time. It was always fun to see them tease each other for their smallest habits.  They would care about each other like brothers do and when Chote Dadaji wasn’t well, Dadaji immediately knew something was wrong even he wasn’t doing well. After suffering for a few days, he left us on 31^st December 2019. We have his learnings and blessings in each step of our journey and his void will never be replaced.

I have been so blessed to have stayed with my grandparents for the longest time. There were times when we got to stay with all three grandparents for months. All kids had to juggle between different rooms to sleep because each one of them would have their own individual rooms. Our grandparents have very interesting preferences and choices in different things even if they were from the same generation. They followed their own routine and eating habits.

Grandparents in the house meant a different kind of order with food, half an hour of Bhajan every evening and if we weren’t seen for an hour or more, they were curious to know where we were. It is super fun to teach grandparents new technologies on their digital phones. Each of my grandparents uses their own WhatsApp and love to stay connected with family members. They have changed so much with time and trying to adapt to new ways. A lot of times, I am guilty of expecting them to change the way they think completely like many of us do, and I can’t even imagine myself in their era. There is so much that can be learned from our grandparents and growing up listening to their experiences, stories come to a few fortunate ones. I consider myself super lucky to be one of them, growing up with both maternal and paternal grandparents.

The Unusual times:*

This past month has been something that we haven’t seen EVER in our lives. The whole world is in lockdown and all of us wonder how will things be after this is OVER, whenever it is. Will we be comfortable to go out to restaurants where there are hundreds of people around us, will we be ready to explore the world again? Many of us might be fearless and will not mind carrying on with our lives with the normal activities that we used to before the pandemic started but for most of us, the fear of being in the public has already crept in.

COVID-19 has made us realize once again that we do not have control over a lot of things in our lives. I have experienced a similar feeling a few times in my life. Growing up in Nepal, when I was a kid, there were a lot of curfews and riots. The nation was closed for weeks and sometimes we would come home walking in the middle of the day. I still remember weeks of lockdown, when the Royal Massacre on 1^st June 2001 occurred, I was woken up when my grandad called everyone in the living room and told us the sad news which he got to know from the milkman who would deliver milk in our house every morning. At first, he thought this must be a rumor, but then after seeing the news, it was confirmed.

The second one was when Nepal experienced the earthquake on 25^th April 2015. I can’t and will never forget this day. Me and Nimesh were going to the differently able center to give kids their wishes that they had asked for, and we felt that the tire of his bike was punctured. Little did we know that the earth was shaking and in no minute big buildings in front of us started falling down. I wanted to get back home and prayed that everyone I knew was doing fine. The aftershock still haunts some of us. After experiencing these I know that this too shall pass.

I heard a very interesting saying by one of my best friends, he mentioned that there are three ways that devastation can happen, one is a natural calamity, it could be local or in a global scale, the second is the virus in thinking, an example to this would be Hitler’s thinking and the last one is a fast-spreading disease. The most uncontrollable seems the natural calamity and the least is the virus in our thoughts. What will be your thoughts on this?

The whole scenario is scary, very scary as the cases are increasing day by day, but at the same time there are some positives to this, people have started to connect to the small things in life and started exploring their inner self. It is an indication from our Mother Earth and could be a warning for the future as we do not respect and take care of the planet, we are living in.

Papa’s girl!

Popsy, it has been a long time we have had a call, It has been 1095 days that we have tried knowing it all, What we have realized is that your blessings are always with us, Be it at home, while making a decision and on the other side of the world. There is not even a single time that we don’t miss you around, Be it celebrations, conversations or just some dialogues, profound, From the person who has been trained from you, or the other way round, Each member has sweet memories of you and keeps thinking about you at each bound. A lot of times when I think of the Saturday, 14^th of January, I wonder how you felt and there must be so much to say, And then I tell myself it would have been hard either way, To let you go to the good place, bid farewell, and send you this far away. P.S: We miss you and wonder where you are, how you are even if we know you are always with us.

As we celebrate each day

Time passes so quickly, it feels way more than a year, 

With memories, endless laughter created in top gear, 

These will double as we grow with each other, 

Who knew a single conversation would move this further.

 

Preparing meals, and struggling to find a deal,

It has been a crazy ride as we put the #moonpeak seal,

Inspiring each other to achieve one’s dream, 

Fulfilling cravings, not letting one another loose steam.

 

It is all about camaraderie, as we build this companionship, 

So much fun to discuss various topics, being the flop to your flip,

As we learn, teach and become better,

At the things we never thought were sweeter.

 

Basketball games, theatres, experiences together,

Has made you one of the most fun room-mates ever, 

Couldn’t find an amazing person to be with,

Paying gratitude to this life that I am blessed with.

My journey towards helping

As a kid, if anyone asked me what I wanted to become, my answer varied each year, or should I say each quarter. As I grew, I did not have a concrete answer, but I knew I liked basketball as a sport and accounts as a subject. In no time, I started pursuing Chartered Accountancy. I completed the course with a lot of determination and perseverance while working at an audit firm. I realized this was not my calling and I was still trying to figure out what was. I transitioned my field from Accounting to Advertising, which was a huge step, and I never looked back and regretted any of my decisions. In fact, I had the opportunity to learn about two different industries and starting my own nonprofit. I had immense satisfaction and joy connecting different people to the act of giving and helping out organizations with resources and volunteering time. This led to the regular events at The KTM Drive. Having said that, I was still figuring out my calling all these years. The move from K-town to the Bay area made me realize a lot of options I could choose from. My experience in radio, the unconditional bond with the kids at the nonprofit, my role as an account executive, there were all these options I could try and explore. I applied to radio stations and advertising companies, but something did not fall in place. I thought to myself that I should explore the sector of Corporate Social Responsibility too.

Little did I know, there was so much in this zone to discover as I spoke to more and more people. It was very different than what I had seen in The KTM Drive. The non-profits had set volunteering slots and for some of them, there was a background check requirement. Yes, that’s right, check for volunteering and helping. I was surprised as you guys are but I gave my documents and went to the nearby police station to give my finger-prints for teaching computers at the Mt. View Senior Centre. I wanted to help more and that’s when I started working with Goodera. With Goodera’s technology platform, corporate businesses increase and track their social impacts and volunteering engagement. This was great and I got the opportunity to build relationships with different nonprofits. I volunteered for 150 hours, and realized there was so much help needed this side of the world too, probably not in terms of resources but definitely time. I went to different non-profits across various cause areas and onboard the nonprofits in our platform so more employees could volunteer.

The concept of soup kitchens, food banks were new to me and it felt like there was help for food until I read that one in four people in San Francisco struggle with hunger. This is when I started questioning what could go wrong. I started talking to more people relevant to this area and came to the conclusion that there is no one thing that causes homelessness here. People are not born poor they become poor. It is a mixture of various elements. There are so many areas that need help, homelessness just being one.

As I go forward in this journey and explore more, I believe that each person reading this blog or anywhere in the world wants to give, in any form. And the world would be such a great place if everyone did, and there was a power which allowed them to. When I say this imagine yourself to be of help in any part of the world and know that you are making a difference in someone’s life. I can say we all want this because we are the ones who have enough.

Uber Stories

I have always enjoyed conversations with unknown people, be it waiting for my flight at the airport or meeting a new group at a friend’s wedding. I feel everyone has a story to share and each one of us have various perspectives on life which are super interesting. I remember my mom telling me the other day that as a kid, I would start conversing with foreigners and end up trading coins with them for my coin album. I was not surprised to hear that as I am still in touch with some of my travel friends. I believe each person can teach us a lot in such less time and some individuals have pretty crazy/hilarious stories. Since I moved to the Bay area, I have been using public transportation a lot, which essentially means I have been taking Uber and Lyft rides frequently, as the train frequency is very less to the city. However, the day I own a car, I will miss all my fun Uber stories. So, here, I am presenting some of them.

1. The most Generous driver:- I saw a tip box as I entered from the back gate of the car. I wondered what could it be since there is a system of tip for all services in the US, I was not sure if it was expected for me to give a tip for my ride. My curiosity rose and I asked the driver about the box, he told me he bought sandwiches from the collection of the tip box and gave it to the homeless. This touched my heart and I asked him why does he do this? He said the look and the smile on people’s face when I give them to eat or provide them with a kit cannot be compared. He is such an inspiration. He is a boy from Brazil, driving in the US, and he sends his money back home so his parents can build a house.
2. Addition to my currency album, the giver:- It was a 15-minute drive in Seattle, I asked the driver on how was his day going, and then our small talk began. He told me he was from Morocco, as we passed a Moroccan restaurant and showed it to me. We started talking about the visa system and he told me that he received his PR in a few weeks that he was here through a diversity visa. I was amazed and I asked him if I could see what the card looked like, he showed it to me, and at the same time, a Morrocan bill slipped from his wallet. I remembered it was a currency I did not have in my currency album, I asked him if we could exchange it. To my surprise, he said why don’t you keep it. As I answered his question, I arrived at my location. All of it happened in a hurry, and I got down with the bill. I wondered how could I send him the exchange and I ended up sending him a tip a little more than the exchange rate:)
3. Learning Languages:- A common question asked by the Uber drivers are “Where are you from?” When I say Nepal, some think of it to be a part of India, while some know that it is one of the countries that Britishers never ruled. The man who was my driver that day was the latter one. He studied and taught different languages and asked me how many languages could I speak. My answer was three but I added that I would love to learn more. It was a long drive so he proposed to teach me a bit of Spanish. He asked me to repeat after him and I learned some basic Spanish words by the end of the drive:)
4. The Philosophies Of Life:- Sharing the same principles towards life, builds connection fast. We started talking about the weather and were smiling how people around us complained that the day was super hot. We discussed how it has become a habit to whine even if there are so many beautiful things that we are surrounded by. In short, both of us were giving gratitude to the beautiful day and the healthy happy life that we were living.
5. The Podcast boy:- Our conversation started with the podcast that was being played in the car, and it was followed by a list of different podcasts I should listen too:)
6. Lessons on driving:- Before I got my driver’s license, I would notice the skills of the person driving and ask questions if need be. There was this one time the uber driver gave me some tips and tricks of passing the test and also proposed that he could drive me to the farthest DMV which had seats available for the driving exam.
7. Visa problems:-  There are many people going through different visa problems in the US. I met a driver from Nepal, and he was telling various stories on how people want to settle in the US and the different approaches they try. He is married but his wife and the entire family are in Nepal. Their visa hasn’t been approved yet.
8. Mexican girl:- I met Briana at the Caltrain station at Hayward. She is from Mexico and she is the founder member of the app called Signamy. This app translates Sign Language using Ai and ComputerVision, combined with animation to help understand sign language. She is such an inspiration to be starting something for a set of people who she doesn’t have a personal experience with. You can watch the videos for the product.
9. The Vent Out session:- Usually all uber drivers are experienced and know how to use Uber/Lyft applications. There are only a few who are new and struggle to add a passenger. This happened once when I was the first passenger on a Shared Lyft ride and the driver mentioned that it was his second day as a driver. He then started telling me his story on how he worked hard on his dad’s business, and it never worked out for him at the end. He said how he wanted to take his life in a relaxed manner and he chose driving to interact with different people.
10. The Afghani boy:- There are plenty of good things in the US, but what are the things that you miss about your place asked the Uber Driver. I did not have a list as he did, but I  said, I miss my work and the people. To this, he started with his list of how he did not like being here. Even if this place has opportunities, he missed riding his horse to fetch water from another side of the village. He was from a village in Afghanistan.
11. The Smart One:- One of the constant discussions is how expensive living in the Bay area is. This Uber driver was intelligent to give his home for rent, and move to an apartment a little farther away 20 years back. The rent from his previous home paid the mortgage of his new home and today he lives in his second home.

These are some interesting stories, but there have been times when the driver has left without any reason after I waited for 15 minutes after calling for a shared car ride. Just recently I was asked to lower my volume by the driver while I was speaking on my phone as it distracted him. These are all part and parcel of these Uber rides.

 

Some Dreams

Last night, I see you in my dreams, 

There are no long conversations and our face lit up with glee,

The whole place is so happy to see you,  

One time that we thought we would never do. 

 

You mentioned you are around all the time,

Taking care of us as always, without a sigh,

You say you are guiding us in every bend,

Been there since the first one till the end. 

 

After the quick talk, you are about to leave, 

I get up to find that I was in a deep sleep,

With the sweetest thought that I get up to, 

I have a tear in my eye with a smile too.

 

It seemed like confusion in the beginning,

I did not try to reason the feeling, 

Since it was so real and true, 

This power of unconditional love can only be from you. 

#365GIVE

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Letter to our angel, our guardian, our popsy:)

We know we make you proud each day,
Even if we cannot hear you say,
We know you are guiding us in each stage,
You taught us to lead a content life, not to follow the maze.

Your teachings were simple as you were,
Your virtues so strong, we try to follow the bar,
You were an example to many, and loved by all,
Your nature connected elders to the kids in the block.

Perfection in accounts and recycling the items which were old,
You spent time being creative in the garden during the cold,
You could hardly say no and make our wishes come close,
It is an honour to be the daughter of a man whose heart is of gold.

As we remember you each day and smile at the good memories,
A part of me still wants to drive you around, handle the car keys,
As we know you left all of us with happy health and life,
A part of me still questions that ending which would have never felt right.