Waste to Wonder theme park

 

We are long aware of the seven wonders of the world, as we have been taught about them since childhood. It feels different from what we read in books and how it actually looks in reality. It would hit differently when we witness with our eyes. Before witnessing the real wonders it would be amazing to witness the representation first.

This theme park is called "Waste to Wonder" and has a representation of all the wonders of the world made with waste materials, mostly metals and other spare parts. It's amazing how real it looks if not for the metals being used. It's a great place for children as they feel excited about identifying what they saw and knew only from books.

The theme park also has models of different types of dinosaurs, which we are very much known from books and movies. There were recorded sounds being played which felt as if it were the dinosaurs' growls. There also was a representation of two dinosaurs fighting, causing destruction through the portrayal of damaged cars.

The entire walk inside the theme park feels like a mini forest where there are different dinosaurs in the territory, whether land or water is present. The end of the walk leads to a huge dinosaur which has a slide attached to its tail where children can slide from its belly till the end of its tail. It was a fun walk to refresh our knowledge.

Sports day

Sports day is always athletic, but it only starts at the venue, but for me, it started from the bus stand. It was a foggy winter morning, so I thought the whole day might be dull, but thankfully the sun shone brighter than most days. As I left home at a slow pace, I did not expect to run for the bus.

After running after the bus, it took me quite a while to calm down, but still, all's well that ends well. The event started by 11 am and carried on till 3:30 pm. We had a march past followed by the pledge to begin the event.

We began with the 100m race, and it was tough. It's been years since I ran on a track, so it felt so unfamiliar. We also had games like kabbadi, relay, three-legged race, lemon and spoon race, etc. It was fun, and time passed by quickly.

As the day came to an end, none of us could feel our legs. It was a fun and tiring day. We all sat in a circle basking in the sun in the winter afternoon chatting and relaxing. A fun sports day bringing the child hidden somewhere within jumping and running around the ground.

A winter goodbye

A chilly morning is what I have been waking up to after coming back from Kerala. The contrast in the weather is huge in the northern and Southern states. 

It was surprising one day when the sky was filled with smog and nothing could be seen on roads with only headlights flashing here and there. The cold wonder mornings were terrible, but people still traveled from place to place with public transport being filled with passengers. It was a struggle to leave home as it still felt night even at 6 am. 

It was a relief to bask in the sun, but there's a catch, that is the cold windy weather. Sometimes winters felt good, but other times it was torturing. We often burn fire with coconut shells to keep ourselves warm. It's only momentary, but it's like a small campfire with all of us surrounding the small fire.

Now as winters are leaving, its getting slightly better. It's not foggy anymore, and the sky gets dark early nor the sky brightens late. Even though this harsh weather was terrible, it still reminds me of the poems that describe winters, and its association with sadness. Winters are beautiful as well as terrible, but still it's one of those beautiful seasons that shows all its colors.

Happy new year

 As a year ended and a new year began, all the reflection of the past year ended. We all made many resolutions at the beginning of last year; some may be fulfilled, some not. We began the year with loved ones around us, and some lost their loved ones during this year. Many started the year alone but at the end smiled looking at their life partner.

 It was a year of blessing for some and vice versa. As we step into a new year, a lot of resolutions need to be made, and those need to be fulfilled. 

 Being in the rural area seems different than in the city. In cities we find crackers being burst to welcome the new year. 

 This new year was celebrated by visiting the beauty of nature. It was a breath of fresh air being close to nature. The beauty of the nature is different from the busy city life. Time moves slowly, showing how every minute is beautiful and eventful. The presence of children makes you feel young when we go back to playing games like antakshari or stone, paper, scissors. 

 I wished that time slowed down, giving time and space to breadth. Our grandparents lives show the beauty of simple life when they still bicker with each other just to make the other person respond in a positive way. It's fun to watch them tease each other. 

 Life is beautiful, but we sometimes forget it in our own rat race. This year let's pause, wait, and stop just to appreciate the gift of life that is offered to us.

Celebrating meaningfully

Finally the month of December is almost at the end and this year too will be leaving soon. The excitement to decorate homes and to have various celebrations remains year after year.

 We had decorations, celebration and performances including carols in our college. How did it go? No idea but the process was wonderful. The board decorations and the practice were fun and it got over today. All dressed in red with our little Santa friend made our day.

I realised that we decorate our houses evey Christmas but do we know the meaning of all those symbols we use to decorate our Christmas tree, be it bells, lights, candles, wreath, gifts, or a star. Every decorators has its beautiful meaning that makes it more special.

The star represents guide that led the wise men towards the baby. It shown brightly on the sky showing the arrival of a king.

The bell represents the proclamation of joy and it tells us that God is watching over us and protecting us at all times.

The lights represents the hope and joy we have by lighting up our homes creating joyous  moments. Candles are also lit up to brighten our home.

The wreath represents the crown of thorn on Jesus's head. The red colour represents His blood that was shed for the mankind. The wreath being in a circular shape shows us that God's love is infinite as it does not have a begining nor an end.

The gift shows the wise men who brought various gifts for baby Jesus and the bow at the top shows unity among us.

The Christmas tree represents the birth and resurrection of Lord Jesus. The triangular shape of the tree represents the trinity i.e father, son and the holy spirit. The tree pointing upwards shows our relationship with God.

May this Christmas be celebrated meaningfully with all the symbolic representations.

The Exorcism of God

 

A title that attracted me towards the screen, making me curious to know what it was all about, and finally succeeded in taking two hours of my time unexpectedly. I did not plan to watch a movie today but I got curious to know what it meant.

The title of the movie is  "The Exorcism of God". Isn't it quite an unusual title, as we all know about demons or spirits being exorcised, but here God is being exorcised, which was unusual and new for me and piqued my curiosity to watch the movie?

The movie talks about temptation, sin, guilt, and choices. It made me think how fragile the human heart is when it comes to our loved ones. We know the consequences of our wrong choices but our love on Earth sometimes turns out to be much more greater than our love towards heaven.

We tend to be tempted by our desire and, later on, regret it, which remains in our minds with a huge sense of guilt which cannot be erased. It plays in our head like a broken tape recorder again and again which can weaken us.

The movie was portrayed beautifully, making me think about the strength our faith carries and how we tend to believe evil to be stronger when we are put on trial. 

The movie showed how the slightest quake in the man's faith caused him to give up all the strength he gathered. He ruled the earth at the cost of losing his soul. And it reminded me of a quote that says "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?"

It was very much the same as Dr Foster, a character created by Christopher Marlowe, where he willingly gave up his soul to the devil. Here, the context is different but the result is the same. At the end of the day, he still gave up.

This movie was wonderful to watch, with some horror mixed with a lot of reflection. It's always good to enjoy the movie before putting my opinion into thought.

 

Just cold

 

Is it okay to normalise cold and cough?  A few days back my friend caught a cold and was a bit distracted and when the listener understood she had a cold it was dismissed quickly as if it did not matter. There was a time when even a small cold was the reason for us to take leave but now we need a medical certificate to prove "Yes I am sick". This seemingly tiny illness actually disturbs a person's normal functioning. 

A few days when I was in masks being careful so that others won't catch cold. I was funnily asked that "Did you wear mask because of the pollution." My reply was " No, I caught cold." But the reaction I got was so lenient as if it's not a big deal " Acha cold" with a no need for a mask for that look.   

Has common cold been so common in just ten years. In school days a slight cough will freak out the teachers and we were send home because we are 'sick' but now "oh you got cold, no problem everyone catches cold". 

Is it really not a big deal because I don't want to catch cold again. A simple cold tires you out with dark circles and tired eyes without doing anything. It might lead to fever and body ache disrupting the daily activities completely, but still it's just cold. It is said that you get well in three days but it's not. It gives you the illusion of "I'm gone" but after some time you still feel it's presence. It just stays with us as long as we don't push it away, doesn't it sound romantic.

Hope no one falls sick even 'just' cold in this changing weather and remains healthy as anything that's hindering the regular functioning of the body is considered not good and the person is not well. 

Bus: a gaming experience

Bus travels are crazy with people pushing and pulling for a spot within the bus just to stand steadily without being carried away by the crowd. In an extreme case, we can even see 'musical chairs' being played on the bus. When I was in school we had small games like musical chairs where if there were even-numbered players, odd-numbered chairs were kept in circles and vice versa. Music is played and when the music stops we have to find a chair and sit if not sat then the player is out. The chairs decrease as the game progresses. I used to wonder where that would even be used and now I understand why we practised that game.

Playing musical chairs on the bus is just ordinary and we do not even have a second thought as it is mostly part of our daily life. And the second crazy incident would be trying to get on a full bus because you are late. I always wait for a less crowded bus as it's rare to see an empty bus towards my route, especially in the morning. Even at 7am the bus would be overflowing and I almost believe that people do not travel by metro as all are on the bus and that's a myth as metros are also overflowing just like buses.

Another fun fact is walking is not necessary sometimes while boarding a bus. Our legs might even tell us "I will just go to sleep till you are off the bus" as walking is not necessary as we are flowing like a river. I remember once when I was waiting for a bus for almost an hour and unusually there were no busses available and finally when the bus came a group of people came rushing and I was stuck in the middle in the blink of an eye without a place to move. All I remember was being pushed to all the sides with me being pushed in one direction and my bag in the other direction. People were stuck outside the door as no one could enter and somehow I got pushed onto an empty bus, it took some time for the people to realise that "this method does not work we need to use a different strategy".

One thing seen would be horny men on the bus trying to touch a woman, even on mornings they are on fire and we see some women even screaming at them and throwing them out of the bus. This happens mostly in crowded buses, in the guise of a crowd men try to find pleasure. It's very disturbing with the fact that it's still prevailing in buses where women still find themselves unsafe while going out. Most of us use the metro because of this feeling of unsafe that runs in our mind. Another common thing in crowded buses would be stealing, they are so skilled that it would be impossible to identify them among the crowd as everyone is pushing and pulling, whom do we blame.

Every bus traveller might have experienced it, it may be successful or unsuccessful. Since Delhi buses are free for women we find a lot of female population and in the morning it would mostly be school children all lined up standing close to each other. It reminds me of the ants who have similar characteristics when walking on a single line till their final destination. For me, when I travel on the bus it saves time, it is best not to use the bus during rush hours as it is always too crowded, so it is best to use the metro as it provides a safe feeling while standing among the women. 

Diwali: A week that brought old memories back

A festival of lights celebrated in every households and institutions. It provides an celebratory atmosphere weeks before the actual day. And one such celebratory week was also held for us.

It started from last week were all of us were asked to decorate pots and diyas. I was lost as it's been too long since I held paint brushes. It reminded me of primary classes when we were excited about diya decoration with the surroundings exploding with a competitive spirits. Sitting on the floors with all the materials scattered on the ground mainly consisting of paints, glitters, ribbons, glass decorators of different shapes etc. After completed we would look almost the same colour as the diya.

This time I wasn't matching with my diya and pot but I found that I still am interested in crafts. Everyone was very much interested and invested during the work. There were smiles, jokes and laughter all around the art room. 

This excitement continued during rangoli making competition, where all of us were spread out on the floor trying to make different patterns. It's all the game of colours. I was always amazed by people who perfectly make a beautiful rangoli as I am not expertise in that area. The rangoli was given a final touch with lighting of diyas at every conner.

This diwali was celebrated with lights and decorations with all the excited teammates who equally contributed and lend a helping hand wherever it was needed. 

A visit to the dentist

A day at the dentist is not a pleasant one when you know something is wrong with your teeth. I personally do not like to visit a dentist because it gives me an eerie vibes with all their tiny equipments which seems small but does wonders. 

Even though since yesterday I knew about my appointment but still I was unprepared and all nervous about even entering that particular building which made me thinking how did I come and waited all these years, it seemed so far away.

Today as I went and sat at the waiting area and realised that I was the second person today my nervousness skyrocketed. The first person took a long time and I could hear the sound of one of his instrument he was using known as dental drill ( I usually call it drilling machine which sounds more terrifying than it actually looks). The sounds reminded me of all those horrifying bgm in those horror movies. As I planned to leave the building my turn came and the receptionist asked me to go inside.

The doctor was good and gentle explaining everything with patience but all that is forgotten when I see his instruments which include even the dental drill ( the name says it all) who turns out to be the villian to me here. I was there for almost an hour wishing it ended early but guess the process has its own time and pace. 

I hoped this would be the last visit but boy was I wrong? Yes I was, as I have to go to that very building again. My worries we soothes by the smooth process but my comfortable feelings are forgotten everytime I need to enter that building but still if there is something wrong with the teeth we are ought to visit a dentist.

I hope to know more stories and experiences about your dentist visits.

Community outreach

A day kept aside for the community outreach went amazing as we all had a new experience. The practice sessions as preparation for the outreach. As most of us lived far away one of us would always be absent but still in a day or two of practice our play was ready under the title "Swachta Abhiyaan".

The most interesting and fun part was the art and crafts work that included chart making. After a long time it felt good to be back to colourful papers, colours, glue and so on. 

On the final day we had one more person joining and we managed to include everyone for the play. We went a school along with our teachers and our destination was in a different route where I have never travelled leading me to explore a different place altogether. 

As we reached the gates of the school the students were so excited by our arrival.  The students were very enthusiastic as they greeted us "good morning". It reminded me of days at my school when all of us would be curious to know who the new faces are so we all would peak through the window.

As play was being performed the students were engrossed and also actively interacted with the performers which made us happy as they were able to grasp it and answer rightly. 

As the day came to an end, the moments recalled were wonderful as I got to meet new people and interacted with them, but moreover after the performance we departed after having a samosa and juice.