A Mommy and A Wife Trying to be Myself

I listened to two podcasts while walking this week. Two completely different topics, but parts of each seemed to connect with the other, in my mind. The first podcast I listened to was #AirbnbWhileBlack on NPR's Hidden Brain. This one was about claims that Airbnb users were facing discrimination on this "rental" platform - based on what their name sounded like and what color they may be, and how hidden biases play a role in The Sharing Economy. It was a very interesting listen because this is an ongoing struggle not just for Airbnb users, but people everywhere. Discrimination can be based on so many factors, is so wide spread, and can be so subtle that we may have seen it (or may have even been part of it ourselves) without realizing it! It is nothing new, and every country in the world has it. The caste system in India is still prevalent in so many little ways (and big ways, if you are in rural regions). Racism is becoming a big issue again here, in America.The list c

A little over 15 years ago, in August of 2001, I got to visit New York City with my mom, who was visiting from India. My uncle, who worked (and still works) in the City, took us around to do all the usual "touristy" stuff. And, yes, we checked The World Trade Center off our list, along with the Statue of Liberty and other iconic sights of NYC. Little did we know what was to come just a month later. Shocking, unbelievable, devastating, heartbreaking - these words cannot even express the emotions of that day 15 years ago in September. I know that so many people, including me, can attest to the fact that they will never forget the moment they heard about the attacks on 9/11. I remember turning on the TV at home in North Carolina when I heard about the first plane crashing into the North Tower, and watching in complete disbelief as the events unfolded. I just remember thinking that it felt unreal. While my classes at grad school weren't canceled that day, students an

Another post about self-introspection. I know some people feel like growing older is a scary thing. While I agree that it is scary in a way that time is passing by so quickly when I still have so many things I want to see/do/try, I do feel like growing older has brought a lot more positives with it than negatives. I think teenage years are filled with angst for a lot of us. I had a pretty good childhood compared to so many others, but I don't have many fond memories of being in my teens. Acne prone skin (which still hasn't changed, ugh!), awkward body, immature mind - don't miss any of it! I did not really know myself and felt very inadequate. Those were not happy times for sure! My twenties were a turning point for me. I moved to the United States at age 21. It was the change I so needed. Moving away from family and everything that I knew was hard beyond words, but thinking back about it, it was the best decision I could have made for myself! I cannot say enough ab

I am an over-thinker. There. I have said it. And, I'm already thinking about what will happen now that everyone knows my secret! Ha ha! For as long as I can remember, I have been an over-thinker - one of those people that agonizes over every decision, a person that second guesses themselves at almost every step, someone who reads more into everything. If you are someone like me, you will understand how difficult it is to function this way. **  "I don't know what to wear"   Picking an outfit for a simple trip to the mall can become an hour long ordeal - should I wear comfortable shoes because I will be walking a lot? Or should I wear something more "fashionable" since I'll be going to some nice stores? Oh wait, it looks like its going to rain at 5pm today (it's 9am now), maybe I need to wear rain boots .. hmm, but those won't go with the outfit I've picked, so I guess I need to pick another outfit.. and so it goes!!  ** Ind

This is certainly not a new topic, and I'm sure others have written about it more eloquently than I have. I just felt like this was something I wanted to talk about. My intent with this post is just to share my experience and it is  not to prove the superiority of stay-at-home mothers vs. working mothers, or vice versa. All mommies are full-time mothers, whether working outside the home or not. If someone had asked me 10 years ago whether I would ever consider being a "stay-at-home mom", I would have laughed in their face.  Coming from a family with a working mother, I had always assumed that I would continue to work after I had kids too. I went to engineering school, even got a masters degree and was making great progress in my career once I started working. I loved going to work, interacting with people, having deadlines and goals to work towards and actually achieving them, having the structure that goes with getting up every morning and having a plan for the d

I know I have had this discussion with my friends a number of times. This subject is really close to my heart. My 9-year-old daughter, S1, is one of the sweetest and most considerate children that I know. She is also smart and very creative. But, she is  always  one of the quietest kids in her class - shy around her teachers and peers. Don't get me wrong, she gets along with everyone, and has a few good friends that she loves to hang out with (she tends to pick and stick with the same set of friends). But she is not one of those kids that everyone knows, nor is she one of those kids that will know everyone. She flies under the radar most of the time. Add to this the fact that she is a perfectionist.  This means that she will never voluntarily step into the limelight. And I am not talking about her being the lead character in a play, or being the star of a show. I am just talking about day to day instances where she will not voluntarily step forward to do something that she thi

I finally pulled the trigger and created my own blog spot. I have been toying with the idea of a blog/page for years, a place where I could share random thoughts and musings, where I could share longer posts than I do with friends and family on FB (gasp! longer posts- is that even possible?!). So, what held me back, you ask? A number of reasons like... - will anyone want to read about what I think? - will I have enough topics to write about consistently? - given my borderline-ADD tendencies, will I keep up with something that needs regular attention? - when there are probably hundreds of thousands of blogs available to read, will I have anything new to add that will catch someone's interest? Since I am the queen of over-analyzing any and everything (my dear husband can attest to that), I did some serious "analyzing" and figured that it wouldn't hurt to give it a try. I may get 0 views, or 10, but, it will give me a place to express myself. My posts may be a