Survival stories,part 1 - Turia Pitt, what one woman has to teach the world...

When I first came across an article about Turia Pitt, I read it casually just as if I were reading any other news item on FaceBook. But as I read through her story, I began to wonder about the aspects of human mind which can be amazingly extraordinary. Life sucks big time, you and I  will agree to that, because we have a number of problems to talk about ranging from the tiniest of issues. Yes, that's what makes us human. To crib and complain. But what also makes us human is to be able to look up at life in the face and say 'Bring it on'.

Turia Pitt is of my age, a few months older than I (that's the only common thing between us). What makes her different is the fact that after facing a horrific burn accident which has left her - (see her image in the post of before and after). Instead of curling into a ball and hiding from the world, she is out in the open telling her story to the world.

Before

Below is an excerpt borrowed from a famous site in which Turia talks about her struggle and courage and also what she thinks we can do in our lives:

                 “I find it really bizarre that people think I’m interesting because I was burned when truthfully, I have always been really interesting! I’m not trying to diminish my journey because it has been so incredibly tough. I have learnt that the strength of the human mind — our mind — is extraordinary. I’ve learnt that happiness and success in life are not a result of what we have bu

After

t rather of how we live. Most importantly, I have learnt all of us here have so much more potential and are so much more capable than we could ever know.

“In a matter of seconds, the accident had taken everything away from me: everything I was ever good at, everything I had ever known, everything I ever thought I wanted.“But maybe it was the best thing that ever happened to me. It gave me the freedom to start my life again. It gave me a voice. It gave me an opportunity to be heard. It gave me the resources to put my time and energy into something I am passionate about, such as working for Interplast and setting up my foundation.

“When I was in hospital, I needed a ritual if I was going to get better and I chose the stairs. At first, it was just one, then two ... By the time I was up to doing a whole flight, I told my surgeon. I thought he was going to give me a pat on the back. Instead, he said, ‘So what? Why don’t you do all of them?’ I said, ‘But there are nine flights, 18 landings, 234 steps’. But a part of me thought ‘screw you, mate’. The next day, Michael and I walked every one of those 234 steps. That was when I knew I had the potential to set any goal and achieve it.

“We all have this idea that time is infinite, that there is always tomorrow or next week or next year. In fact, time is our most valuable resource. You can’t buy it, you can’t extract it and it is running out for all of us. We have no idea when our time might be up. We have a choice: do we wait for disaster to happen and then find out how amazing we are, or at this point in time, do you say to yourself, I am extraordinary and there is so much more I can give? Since my accident, I have done the Lake Argyle Swim, walked a section of the Great Wall of China ... am training for my very first iron man and organising a fundraising trek on the Inca Trail. I invite people to join me and you should hear some of their excuses: it’s too far, I’m too fat, I’m too boring, I’m too old.

“It is astonishing the excuses people use to keep themselves stuck. If you really want something, you will find a way to make it happen. In a way, I am trapped by my body — it doesn’t let me do all the things I used to.

“But a lot of people are paralysed by their mindset. We doubt we would get that job, so we don’t go for it. We doubt we can finish that fun run, so we don’t enter.

“When did we start thinking so little of ourselves? It is natural to want things to stay the same and, sometimes, we are scared to evolve and become something new. But it shouldn’t take a tragedy to remind us who we are and what we are capable of.”

Ivide, a new age thriller, seamlessly delivered.

When I first started watching ‘Ivide’, I found it coming out from a novel or a Hollywood movie. What with the actors trying hard to adapt the American slang with the movie shot entirely in Atlanta, US, I found it to be just like any English movie except that they were replaced with Malayalam actors. Throw in the usual mix, hero separated, has a daughter, shares custody with the heroine, heroine dates another guy, hero jealous… the same usual drama, but more like an English film.

As the movie progress with the protagonist, Prithviraj, playing an investigating officer in a serial crime case, things begin to get interesting where he narrates us in Malayalam. Though the movie has heavily borrowed the American lifestyle, there are traces of the kerala culture which makes the movie stand out.

Places where Prithviraj narrates his story of how he landed in the US, being an Indian orphan, and his interaction with American parents work out brilliantly. As he investigates the case, his scenes are majorly developed with American actors and officers which he has carried flawlessly. Slipping into the role of an American, he has worked hard on the slang which doesn’t look artificial (which is not always easy).

Bhavana and Nivin have played their roles well. Bhavana, being the ex-wife of Prithviraj and Nivin being the new love interest in Bhavana’s life along with his involvement in a major IT company work out well. The murders of IT employees followed by police investigation is what forms the crux of the story.

It’s an entirely Prithviraj movie. And the background score cannot be ignored which has a noticeable place in the film. It’s a different movie which has tried to pick a simple storyline but the hard work is where when they tried to adapt Indian actors living the American lifestyle. A definitely new age cinema delivered to perfection. The climax is filled with bittersweet surprise.

4.5 stars for this one.

My salted tea

Sometimes, being with a baby, can get overwhelming. Now that I am a stay at home mommy, my only company is a baby who demands constant entertainment most of the times. And this gives me little breathing space for my own. Of course, after my husband comes, I can hand over the baby to him. But that’s the only time I can get any cooking done.

Today, when I noticed a cool breeze on my patio, I decided, no matter what happens, I will make myself a cup of tea and enjoy nature for a while. What’s the use of having such a huge patio then? Wouldn’t it be such a waste? After playing with the baby nonstop three hours (phew, so much energy they have), he finally dozed off to sleep. Without wasting a second, I sneaked into the kitchen and set upon making my tea.

As I made the tea, I noticed the dirty dishes in the kitchen, the toys scattered all over the floor, various other things messed up the living room, the kitchen table top screaming to be cleaned….there was so much to do. And the baby was sleeping. It was the perfect time to get things done. Putting up a strong front, I choose to ignore the chores that screamed for attention.

This was ME time, I said myself as I noticed the milk boiling with steam. I will not be one of those women who never make time for themselves and become miserable. Instead, I will ignore household duties for a while and enjoy a cup of tea. If I don’t enjoy, what’s the point in living? I reasoned with myself marveling at the fact that I had managed to squeeze few minutes for myself.

As I seated myself in my patio chair, with a carefree feeling taking over my mind, I set upon enjoying my tea (which was the whole idea). I frowned at the first sip. My tea was salted. How did I manage to put salt instead of sugar was beyond me! So much for a cup of tea!

Today is not my day, I thought as I threw the tea down the drain. Perhaps, another day will come, unplanned, undecided to surprise me with a cup of tea. Until then, you dirty dishes, here I come marching to fix you.

Miracles

“Every day, God gives us the sun–and also one moment in which we have the ability to change everything that makes us unhappy.
“Every day, we try to pretend that we haven’t perceived that moment, that it doesn’t exist–that today is the same as yesterday and will be the same as tomorrow.

But if people really pay attention to their everyday lives, they will discover that magic moment.

It may arrive in the instant when we are doing something mundane, like putting our front-door key in the lock.
It may lie hidden in the quiet that follows the lunch hour or in the thousand and one things that all seem the same to us.

But that moment exists–a moment when all the power of the stars becomes a part of us and enables us to perform miracles.”

How I fell in love - Again

It’s said that a person can fall in love more than once. But people who have loved deep and once, would say that true love happens only once. Having grown up in the fairytale world of love, I chose to believe that deepest love thrived only between man and wife. When I met my husband, I believed he was the only person I could love all my life. But God has his own ways of letting us fall in love, sometimes again and again.
Having a baby has changed a lot of things in my life. It’s probably the biggest change in my life. To think that this change occurs in almost all of our lives which is considered a perfectly natural experience baffles me beyond explanation. After all, people have been having babies ever since humans were created. Pah, there is no surprise here.

Though it’s human evolvement to grow from 2 to 3 and so on to create a family, I have found the whole experience to be life altering overnight. I have scared myself asking endless questions about how I would face a small tiny human being. In fact, even after holding my baby in my arms, I was alarmed at the reality that my days and nights were now mixed up, in a way I was not prepared for.

What followed next took my completely by surprise – which I should have foreseen (given that I had been pregnant for a whole 9 months). I lost sleep, I lost my days to nights, I woke up at wee hours to a high pitched wailing baby, I spent hours confused, fighting the hormonal mood swings ( which my friends like to refer) until I asked myself – whoa, do I really want this? Can I really handle this?

To be honest, I freaked myself out. I tried to talk to people endlessly to understand the concept of parenthood. Some said it’s the most toughest and craziest phase, some said you have to sacrifice whole of your life, some said you won’t know how time flies, some said it’s a beautiful experience and some said, you’re doomed for life. You won’t have a life anymore. (gee, that’s so encouraging)

I realized that people could have different perceptions on how they treated having a child in their lives. As I tried hard to make sense of my life, eventually but slowly, I began to fall in love. It happened gradually, without me realizing that my heart was opening up to another human being. And it didn’t happen the night I held my baby (which I thought was odd cos the movies show people being all emotional and cheesy once they see their baby).

But I did fall in love again which I had always thought wouldn’t happen. I did fall in love again with the tiny little human being. And I know that’s what all mothers do – they eventually fall in love with their children that lasts for a lifetime. I know that mother’s love is nothing to be surprised at – it’s all over the world. Despite being a mother, I became aware of the fact I could love another human being despite being in love with my husband which I think is a truly dreamlike experience.

I am simply baffled by nature’s ways. I know there are thousands of opinions about having children just like how we have opinions for almost everything in this world. I would simply like to call it magic.
To be able to fall in love again is magic.

James Cameron's DeepSea Challenge ( From Titanic to deep waters)

James Cameron's contagious passion from the end of the ocean.

Fear is such an integral part of our lives that we spend almost half our lives being scared about the next thing that's to happen in our lives. Then there are those people who look fear in the face and sail beyond and far. These people also face the same fears. Being scared is natural, which humans cannot live without. Yet, how we travel past the fear is all that matters towards the end.

One such man who has been courageous enough to explore the world of his dreams is James Cameron, better known as the director of Titanic. His documentary, Deepsea challenge talks about his dives into the deepest of waters on his submarine, DeepSea Challenger. For us, the ocean is just a world of water filled with fishes and mammals. But for this man who calls himself a curious monkey, looks at the ocean as the world of his dreams. His dreams are expensive, challenging and life threatening.

Who dreams about travelling 35,000 feet into deep waters all alone in a submarine, trusting on instinct and technology to keep you safe out there? James Cameron did seem crazy to me when he spoke about this dreams on the documentary. Yet, he has been able to make them true no matter what heights he had to drive to. It takes courage to be able to dream big, it takes bigger courage to be able to set them true.

While we live our mundane lives, doing the same thing over and over, because we have been told that living normal routine life is safe, content and acceptable, there are people out there who are breaking the taboo, letting us know that lives can be completely different if we allow ourselves to be courageous enough to dream big.

James Cameron's courage has definitely made me wonder if people could really set dreams true and create a change for human life. I am enthralled by his quote when he says , "Never compromise. Not with the stuff that keeps you alive".

How many of us compromise with our dreams?

That moment when I turned into a messenger!

Each month, I eagerly wait for the next issue of Reader’s digest because that’s the only magazine I have managed to be regular at. That’s also the only magazine I never grow tired of reading. I always end up finding something interesting.

This time, in the February issue (yeah, it comes way too early), I flapped through the pages skimming through my favorite sections first and then coming to the detailed ones later. There is an interesting yet short section called ‘Finish the sentence’. Reader’s digest publishes a prompt to complete a partial sentence each issue after which responses are published in subsequent issues.

In this issue, one response that caught my attention was this, “For one day, I would like to trade places with….. my autistic child, just to see the world through his eyes.” For some reason, I felt that the writer whoever had sent the response must have had her share of pain in life. And simply wanted to see the universe through her autistic child’s eyes to understand his world better.

I found it to be thoughtful, filled with plain love. The next instant, I reached out to the writer on Facebook to let her know that I liked her response. She was surprised that she had been published (she had probably sent the response months ago and forgotten all about it). She sounded excited when she learnt that she was published.

After exchanging our goodbyes, I wondered if I were chosen to be a messenger to her in that particular moment just to give her the news. It made me think that we all are, probably, messengers in some way to each other. It’s just that we don’t really know it all the time.