Rekha's Ramblings

  On this Christmas day, filling a void & missing my family dearly.  Christmas wasn’t the same as it is here,there was no wish list,no gifts to exchange,no Santa clause, no cold dreary winters but just happy times with family, a feast of food that we won’t see again until Easter,new set of clothing to go to church for the midnight mass, with may be a new pair of shoes.  My mom, grandma & aunt would be in the kitchen from 5 AM cooking the many items that they would put on the table by noon, us children having nothing to do would be just singing some Christmas carols swinging on our front porch, munching on some of the delicacies being prepared in the kitchen that morning or would watch TV if we were lucky enough to have electricity on that day.  By noon, we would gather around the table, men with the beer in their hands. We were just thrilled to have all the meat such as chicken, pork & even fish, all at the same time. Later, would gather as a community, t...

  This year the children are demanding an American Christmas dinner, I have never cooked traditional American Christmas dinner that includes ham and different casserole etc., that’s because either we aren’t home for Christmas or if we are home, husband is vegetarian and prefers Indian food. I went to Kroger this morning, yucky rainy day, traffic jams, and packed store. I have ordered turkey for Thanksgiving meals from Kroger in the past so secretly hoping that they would be open on Christmas day; sadly they aren’t, so no readymade ham, I will have to make my own, I don’t blame them, they want to be home with their families so what if my husband has to work. I go around the store looking for ingredients to make the meal , Sweet potato casserole too demanding , too many things which I will never use again, crossed it off my list, made the children agree to scalloped potatoes instead (comes in the box), corn casserole check, green beans casserole check, ham check (evidently it’s alrea...

  Once again, it takes the “bad” for the” good” to come out in people. Chennai, a major city in India is experiencing major floods, many have died, and many are still stranded. I read a few posts about how people are helping each other despite their race or religion, people from all walks of life coming forward to help in whatever way they can;  heartwarming posts; but I wonder how mentioning people of different religion helping each other  was even an issue. The issue is the safety of the people, meeting their basic needs, for food and drinking water, who the heck cares about their race or religion? Why is it even worthy of a mention? People helping other people, is that not enough? I also wonder if people in real life really think about all this before helping the person who is stranded, who needs their help or even vice versa, person who is stranded thinks about taking the help being offered to him. I have never experienced a situation like this myself where I either h...

Reflections: I love reflections and reflecting. Reflections because they are just beautiful and reflecting because it allows me to be a better person, to better understand others, other situations and prepare myself for the things that I cannot change, change the things that I can change. I have come to do this a lot lately and I think have come a long way from where I was a few years ago. I always saw things as they were, as they appeared and said what came to my mind, I only knew black or white; there was no room for gray. But a few years have been added to my age, more experiences, some good, some not so good and have learnt to find gray areas, not everything can be black or white. I don’t blurt things out as I used to; have learnt to add a pause , think about what I am going to say . In most cases, I still revert to my old self but in some cases, I end up not hurting their feelings, I guess you could call it a victory. So, every time I see a reflection of something, I pause and...

Planned Parenthood is in the news lately and I am wondering, what exactly is Planned Parenthood ?  Is it really as the name suggests it is? Can one really plan and be prepared for parenthood? Certainly, you can plan their arrival into this world suitable to your needs but can you really plan the situations or circumstances they would be born under? You could probably plan which school they would attend, where you will take a vacation with them but can you really plan a parenthood? You can teach them right from wrong , teach them to respect other human beings, make them aware of all the existing world problems;  after that they are on their own. You would think and hope that you have given them enough tools to face the world, taught them the skills they would need to survive. But once they are out in the open world, they will make choices, decisions based on their own experiences, those experiences will teach them more and make them equipped for better or for worse to face more...

It’s thanksgiving, this is my twentieth year, and I am pondering rather sort of reflecting. We didn’t have this tradition of “thanksgiving” when I was growing up in India. I am not a religious person; I don’t celebrate festivals, religious holidays but this is one holiday we do celebrate. There is so much to be thankful for and I am glad that we have allocated a separate day just to do that, just like Mother’s Day or Father’s Day. Agreed you couldn’t celebrate a “mother “or a” father” in a day but we try to thank them at least on those special days.  We get busy in the routine, take so much for granted and then forget to be grateful for simple things that we take for granted ( I myself am guilty as charged ),not for just a roof over our heads and food on the table but for things such as freedom that many don’t have , 24/7 water or electricity, or the ability to see, walk, to go on Facebook and write what you want for that matter …just consider this my ramblings part whatever …take ...

  I love taking pictures, of anything and anyone including myself. I took a few “selfies” using my regular DSLR camera (I don’t know if you can call them selfies if they are taken using a regular camera). It happened to be a sunny day, I love to take photos in the natural daylight, not a professional photographer in the sense that it’s not my profession, I don’t make a living out of it but have taken many photos and think that they are good photos, so if I want a photo of me, why can’t I take one of me by myself? When you see pictures of women, all dressed up, posing in front of the camera, some of them have a daily photo, some post on a weekly basis. A lot of things go through your mind. Some think and I have heard them say “losers, got nothing better to do, so self-obsessed, they lack confidence”…. No matter what anyone says, judgmental we are, at least in the first glance, the opinion can change once we know more about the person or the thing but everybody judges everyone. I mys...

  A couple of years ago when we visited Paris, I went there with a mindset that Paris is just another big city, overrated, what so special about it ... Little did I know that I would fall in love with this city like million others who have been here and seen it for themselves what it has to offer, vowing to visit this place again in near future ....ramblings, don't know what I am saying or doing.

 I read a friend’s post about a veteran suffering from an early onset of Alzheimer’s dementia.  I have been disturbed since then and all those patients I have seen over the course of the last 20 years, their faces flashed by; some faces easily remembered by their names, some easily forgotten.  Usually, I post photos of myself or children or something that takes my mind off but it’s not working and hence here is my little rambling.  My heart goes out to this woman who is taking care of her husband and two children, this woman who was once a wife and still is but now must take care of her husband as a mother …...  I am not an authority on how the US government treats its veterans but  after working in the nursing homes  as an Occupational Therapist for so long ( In the USA, nursing home is a place for adults 65 years  plus where they can get assistance if they can no longer  live at home  independently, meaning  if they  ...

  My children and I ran the color me Rad 5K race this morning.Well , they ran & I sort of walked or rather strolled. It was a lot of fun,stress free as nobody was keeping the time , I for one took my time ,taking lots of pictures and videos along the way. It was almost sort of the Hindu festival of “Holi” where they put color on each other to celebrate the arrival of spring. I am sure it has some  religious significance as well but I am not aware or rather not know. Today’s local charity partner was Newport News Green Foundation. It’s mission is to promote, create and preserve green space in the city. It was a very chilli morning with the temperatures only in the 50's with a light drizzle of rain but somehow all of us managed to complete it , my son finished it in 28 minutes versus I took my time of 42 minutes.Nice to see people walking in there in all white & finishing up in a rainbow of colors . Before we even left , the thoughts of making this into a famil...

  Photography isn’t as easy as it looks on the final product, this is what it looks like at my house when the children who are my first & favorite models see me armed with my camera. The first photo was taken by my husband while I am chasing them. After coaxing them for almost about half an hour , ended up with these two photos. Only got two  out of my three children though, the third one wouldn't cooperate. One frustrated rambling!  

  I have been wanting to take pictures of the Cherry Blossom in Washington DC.One year we went there too early & the next year, we went there a little too late.This year,caught this cherry blossom in my own back yard,all the pictures are of one tree from different angles. Enjoy! And I wouldn't say I am rambling today!!

  Photography  is my hobby, passion, no doubt. After years of taking photos with either a “point and shoot” camera or using the DSLR on automatic setting , I wanted to do something more ,wanted to take it to the next level but didn’t know “how”. I was neither ready to  give up my current job to go  back to school to learn photography, nor did I think I had what it takes to become a professional photographer. My husband, as always came to my rescue , this time by buying a Groupon to a “fundamentals of photography” class as a birthday present. He said, “take this class and see if you really want to have a career in it.” I took the same 3 hour class twice learning nothing but only 3 words; aperture, shutter speed and ISO. I was sort of overwhelmed by the whole thing really not understanding what each term meant. But Marilen, my photographer friend who was teaching the class told me to be patient, always keep the camera on a manual...