A promise

This photograph is something I took some time back and had it in my drafts but never found the heart to post it. My nephew with whom I share a very unique and close relationship (he is my Godson) was born with only three fingers and an additional growth which had to be operated within a year of his birth and also the existing three fingers had to be spaced to help him use his hand well. In spite of only three fingers his hold and grip is strong. He wont be able to hold on to heavy objects the way he could with his other hand, but that doesn’t diminish the strength.
One day, during my previous visit, he and my 2nd niece were playing and she punched him during one their fights. He felt a little down that his punch wouldn’t be even half as strong as her’s with his left hand. I even spotted a few tears which he was too proud to shed. My brother and I took him and taught him a few tricks to make sure he uses his full strength and made sure to make him realize that having a few less fingers should not be cause of concern as long as his spirit is strong. He tried a few times and let out a cry of joy when he landed a good punch using my brother’s hand as his target. I definitely had tears in my eyes.

I hope in future he gets enough emotional and spritiual strength to compensate for those two fingers and dear Godson, I promise to help in any and all ways possible.

A fight is not always a Fight

“The first rule of Fight Club is: You do not talk about Fight Club” – Fight Club

“If you aren’t willing to fight for what you believe in, then don’t even enter the ring.” – Madonna

“Fight club wasn’t about winning or losing. It wasn’t about words. The hysterical shouting was in tongues”- Fight Club

“I have not yet begun to fight!” -John Paul Jones

“All things are ready, if our mind be so.” –  William Shakespeare

‘It is not the strength of the body that counts, but the strength of the spirit – J.R.R. Tolkien

“Fifth rule: one fight at a time, fellas” – Fight Club

“Your body can stand up to almost anything. It’s your mind that you have to convince.”- Anonymous

“The harder the struggle, the more glorious the triumph.” – Swami Sivananda

“If this is your first night at Fight Club, you have to fight” – Fight Club

“You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it.” – Margaret Thatcher

“Fire is the test of gold; adversity, of strong men.” – Martha Graham

“I survived because the fire inside me burned brighter than the fire around me” -Joshua Graham

“The most powerful weapon on earth is the human soul on fire.” – Ferdinand Foch

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We have a three day weekend because of the Ugadi festival, so I am visiting my folks. I am not sure if I will be able to blog over the weekend (I will try to, though) so I thought I will leave you guys with some photographs of the Kalaripayattu (Kerala’s age old martial arts…there is a discussion online as to which came first, Kung Fu or Kalaripayattu…but let us not get into that) performance we had the pleasure to attend during our stay in Munnar. This is my first visit to a Kalaripayattu and it was mind boggling. I was so much in awe of those people. It was an hour and a half performance. We were also able to go to the ring and take photographs with those warriors, posing like one (that is all I can afford to).  I had a tough time filtering out the photographs to showcase their talents, because there were too many of them. I made sure to take some video’s too, but that will take a lot of time to process. So you might have to enjoy the photographs for now. Until next time, Happy Blogging and Be Safe 🙂

Perfect People simply don’t exist

Totally agree!

For the women

This song might have been very apt for a Women’s day. But still would dedicate it to all the women. Chris Daughtry’s amazing voice adds more emotion to the beautiful lyrics. At first it might seem like they are talking about Superman. But then you might have to look a little closer or may be read in between the lines to get the actual message. And the interpretations do vary from person to person.

Here is Daughtry singing ‘Waiting for Superman’

Lyrics from A-Z Lyrics

She’s watching the taxi driver, he pulls away
She’s been locked up inside her apartment a hundred days

She says, “Yeah, he’s still coming, just a little bit late.
He got stuck at the laundromat washing his cape.”
She’s just watching the clouds roll by and they spell her name
Like Lois Lane
And she smiles, oh the way she smiles

She’s talking to angels,
Counting the stars
Making a wish on a passing car
She’s dancing with strangers,
Falling apart
Waiting for Superman to pick her up
In his arms, yeah, in his arms, yeah
Waiting for Superman

She’s out on the corner trying to catch a glimpse
Nothing’s making sense
She’s been chasing an answer, a sign lost in the abyss,
This Metropolis

She says, “Yeah, he’s still coming, just a little bit late.
He got stuck at the Five and Dime saving the day.”
She says, “If life was a movie, then it wouldn’t end like this,
Left without a kiss.”
Still, she smiles, oh, the way she smiles, yeah

She’s talking to angels,
Counting the stars
Making a wish on a passing car
She’s dancing with strangers,
She’s falling apart
Waiting for Superman to pick her up
In his arms, yeah, in his arms, yeah
She’s waiting for Superman…

…to lift her up and take her anywhere
Show her love and flying through the air
Save her now before it’s too late tonight
Oh, at the speed of light
And she smiles

She’s talking to angels,
Counting the stars
Making a wish on a passing car
She’s dancing with strangers,
She’s falling apart
Waiting for Superman to pick her up
In his arms, yeah, in his arms, yeah
She’s waiting for Superman…

…to lift her up and take her anywhere
Show her love, oh, and flying through the air
Save her now before it’s too late tonight
She’s waiting for Superman

Posting it for this week’s Song Lyric Sunday.

When I almost missed my dream

I am still getting back to the daily rhythm after the vacation and haven’t had time to start writing my travelogue, but I will take this week’s SoCS as an opportunity to write about something I almost missed doing but ended up doing it successfully. My first ever Sky Diving.
When I went to US I did have a few things in my mind that I really wanted to do. Never got to do any of those. Like visiting vegas or Point Reyes or doing the thing my mom wouldn’t approve etc etc. The one and only thing I had planned and I ended up doing was the sky diving. Even that was because I was very adamant to get it done.

Here is what happened. I was supposed to book my sky diving in Monterey with my friend. But then things didn’t go as was planned and my friend had to be somewhere else and I was left alone 😦 I found out the one place that was closer to Redwood Shores , where I was staying , and that was BayArea Sky diving at Byron Airport. I had it booked for Friday early morning 10 am so that I can go for my long drive mini-vacation to Fort Bragg on Sunday without any tensions and if I am alive by then. I was a little scared to go ahead and do it alone, to be honest. With my history of breaking bones and body parts I wasn’t sure if this was a recipe for another disaster and what if something goes wrong and I don’t have anyone near me to help me out. That was when they called me back to inform that the Friday bookings have been cancelled and they had to reschedule it to another day. I was wondering if it was the Universe giving me signs to not go ahead with it. But then I ignored my insecurities for that one time and asked them to book it for Sunday morning because Sunday afternoon I was about to leave for Fort Bragg and that was a 4 hour drive and Saturday was already full according to their schedule. I was this close to not getting my dream come true. Finally Sunday morning, got up early, packed my stuff for my 3 day mini vacation, went to the Sky diving area after an hour’s drive, got the sky diving done with as much strength I could muster, drove to Fort Bragg from there all on a high 🙂

One time, I was proud of myself and my stubbornness. No wonder I am a Taurean 🙂 This year’s Sky Diving was my treat for myself for my birthday that went by before I left for my vacation.

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Post for this week’s Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt.

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is: “almost.” Use it however you’d like. Have fun!

SoCS Badge by Doobster @ Mindful Digressions

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