HelpAge India

I need not say more.

I pray nothing like this befalls anyone I know, lest at my hands deliberately or unwittingly..

My Boli....MaayBoli....

Is speaking in your mother tongue such an "unhep" thing to do? I fail to understand why many people, especially my long lost Maharashtrian batchmates almost never speak in Marathi, even if I speak in Marathi. Or is this the fate of all Indian lingos?

I speak Marathi at home with my parents, with my Americanised brother (who also speaks shuddha Marathi with me), with any Maharshatrian I meet....and I find is sad that people speak English at home with each others, with parents.

We were discussing in my school community on orkut about how many of our batchmates have changed for better or for worse. There I found a so called "hep" Marathi gal speak about another one "...she so different now, she is slimmer, etc etc and hardly speaks Marathi"
I was wondering if this was magic or tragic.....

Maas and Sasumaas......

I know, its been a real long time since I blogged. Mostly these days its switching on the PC, doing some work and running back to the books. Ok...I am not studying as hard as I sound I am, but how I wished....
So today, although my stipulated time online is exhausted, yet I turn the PC on again just to blog....coz I'm getting many a shocks...I need to write myself out!!


Heard from an old friend today, who tied the knot recently after a long engagement. I was very happy. Then she shared her plans to move abroad. Her hubby will join her say after a few months or an year. Will he stay alone till then? I asked. She said he will move in for a year with her parents. Uh? well since her parents (who are in their fifties, max) will be all alone. Will his mom like it I asked? Now her reply was a real shocker. She doesn't know what his mom will feel and they are not sure how long his mom will live since she's almost 70!!
Ok they might be having some adjustment issues or anything she doesn't wish to share. But the reason was offerred?! Shocked the hell out of me.
We speak loudly of how mothers in law must treat their betis and bahus alike. But how about treating your husbands mother like your own? Considering that the lady is a 70 year old widow?!


Then the story of a couple we have known for a long time. They got a raw deal from their builder and to cut a long story short, have to live in a rented house. They had to move to a place much smaller than the one they have paid for and as a result, they had to junk a lot of their good strong furniture they made decades ago...with great planning, great wood...and many dreams in their eyes.
Since their son who left USA for good also stays in Mumbai, they asked him if he could accomodate their good stuff in his quarters (Which is a decently huge flat by Mumbai standards). Poor parents: the son told them "I have all Italian furniture, this won't fit in my home. I am already claustrophobic here , now I have no room for your stuff in."
Logical question...why do the parents need a rented place at all..they have a son to move in with! Well the son does want his mom to live with him, especially if she leaves her job (and 10 good years of service). In short, he wants an educated nanny for his daughter and a maid for his pregnant wife. And whenever the mom does stay with him to ease her bahu of work during her pregnancy, the guy has the cheek to tell her "Don't do this, B doesn't like that", or "Make this stuff for her, her mother says you should make this for her".
How I wished he was man enough to tell his wife once in a while "Let my Mom make this for you...she has been through childbearing too" or maybe "Let Ma have her way too once in a while, after all she wishes us well too, like your mom does"

One Fine Day....

..they were travelling on the bus. She asked him, out of the blue,

"If you had to change one thing about me, what would it be?"

He said, "Nothing. I love you just the way you are."

She, "No but still, change one thing......"

He, "Ok. I wish I could make you little less sensitive than you are"

She, "Hmnnn"

After a long wait she asked,

"You didn't ask me what I would like to change in you. I was expecting that question.."

He, "Ok...what ?"

She, "I wish I could make you a bit more sensitive....."



No prizes for guessing who "they" are. They are getting married on June 22nd 2007.

PR Giri

I know I should have introduced you all to Radio Idli, Nagesh's Brain child long ago....Sorry Nagesh, I owed you that one.

Radio Idli is a new "audio blog" a unique concept by Nagesh. Its a GSB Community Radio on Blogger. A mix of Konkani humour, various songs in many lingos by contributors from all over the globe and variety of amazing featured programmes that will entertain you.

DNA has done a story on Nagesh's this effort in their edition today. Here it is.

Do tune in to Radio Idli and leave your feedback.

Hearing Impairment Awareness

This post on "Awareness On Hearing Impairment" has been written by my sis Priya Nayak-Gole, an Audiologist and Speech- Language Pathologist.

Awareness on hearing impairment

Anmol was a bubbly 3-year old, except that he wouldn’t talk. On consultation his pediatrician assured his parents that he would talk some day. Relatives said, it ran in the family and that many of his uncles were late talkers. All was OK till one day his nursery teacher complained that he was not responding to name call and did not seem to be following instructions. She concluded that he either could not hear or was retarded. The distraught parents immediately got his hearing tested and to their utmost dismay, Anmol had profound hearing impairment in both his ears. A year down the line, after being fitted with hearing-aids and intensive speech-language therapy, Anmol speaks a few words though not very clear, and can fairly manage to follow commands in classroom. However the progress could have been much better had he been intervened early. Three vital years of his life were wasted due to lack of awareness.

In case of hearing-impairment, “a stitch in time saves nine” holds utmost significance. An alert parent, family member or neighbor can prevent a lot of misery by early identification of symptoms in children.

Following is a guideline for parents and child health practitioners.

Early response to be looked for:

1. Birth – 2 months → startling response to loud sounds
2. 2months – 6months → eye movements to sounds
3. 6months – 12 months → head turning response to sounds, human voice
4. > 12 months → child babbles mama…baba… etc.
5. 1½ years → single meaningful words
6. 2½ years → 2- word phrases (“mama give”; “give ball”)
7. 3 years and above → meaningful simple sentences (“mama give ball”)

If the child

• Has been a high risk baby at birth (e.g. Neonatal jaundice, premature baby, birth asphyxia, prolonged labor, birth trauma or any other observable disorder) or
• At any point of time, doesn’t respond to sounds or
• Is delayed in speech-language milestones or
• An older child (i.e. >5years) has unclear speech,

Contact your nearest ENT surgeon and Audiologist for screening of hearing loss and further rehabilitation if required.

For querries contact,
Mrs.Priya Nayak-Gole (MASLP,Mumbai)
Audiologist and Speech-Language Pathologist
CBD Belapur, Navi Mumbai
Ph. 9892068386

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You must dream....dare to dream high, dream big.....and be prepared to see some dreams crash.