Being a foster parent: An inter-caste marriage

घर से मस्जिद बहुत दूर चलो यूँ कर लें

किसी रोते हुए बच्चे को हंसाया जाए

My dear world,

What is wrong with you? I am a dog lover, all right. You do not have to be hater at that! With your profound love (!) for mankind you have already spread so much propaganda about caste, creed and religion.  Do not spread it to them dogs, eh.

The story started when Chiku decided to adopt a stray. Those who do not know who Chiku is – he is my absolutely spoilt Pomeranian brat. Dare you call him a dog…He has this irritating but beautiful habit of opening up his home for other dogs. My job is to get them checked, get those injections and other precautions and of course cleaning up after them.

I have had a fair share of criticism because I decided to adopt Chiku. Now I have opened a fresh can of worms. My intention behind fostering this adorable stray was pretty simple – she is cute, homely and affectionate. She deserves a chance at a better life. I am trying to help her with that.

Meanwhile the unthinkable happened. The pup in question is a female so she had more pups. Unfortunately only one survived. My struggle doubled. Please don’t be mistaken. I love all parts of it. The only problem is – howsoever cute a domestic pup is; it has no high rank or pedigree to support those qualities.

This experience taught me something I already know. When there is little hope for humans with inferior pedigree, for these pups it is nearly hopeless. Who is going to look beyond the criticism and believe in these wonderful adorable fur balls?

I look into their eyes and see the fear of being abandoned on the streets evident in them. But one thing I can assure – unless and until they get their forever homes, they are free to live under my roof. I am trying and soon will find a home for them. In my heart I know, someone somewhere is waiting to give them the prefect opportunity to have a loved and happy life.

On top of that, they are both females. Need I say more?

What a wonderful world! - An open letter to the new age man

Dear God

Just as I was about to give up on good men or men altogether, I got your message loud and clear. There is hope, there is faith, there is love and understanding right in front of me. In the world of misguided attempts to protect us, the words below by my best friend’s hubby tell us that a few good ones are still out there and counting. Take a look:

          

Way to go, Dr. Raja Appuswamy! Thank you for putting it so aptly and wonderfully. I have no words to describe this feeling. Victory!! Yay!

I simply fell in love with these lines:

‘It’s Ok for old books to be wrong. It’s ok if God is wrong.’

In that one moment, every struggle I ever came across has just become worth it. Many times I have been judged for my choices and today one sentence just shuts all of them up ‘I don’t care what selection she makes. SHE IS ALWAYS RIGHT. The job of a parent is to NOT TO DECIDE WHAT IS RIGHT FOR their girl or boy. It is to help them decide on their own.’

Or this:

Women dressing well due to lusty desires – This is the exact logic used in work place for sexual misconduct.

Women like me are so tired of explaining why without a man in my life, I need to look so good or happy for that matter. Thank you for saying out loud – men want to look good too and women do so for themselves. Not to attract unwanted attention.

So much has been written in support of woman empowerment but these spontaneous words are easily the best. The most wonderful thing about this post is the loud and clear acknowledgement that a woman is a person first of all.

From woman empowerment to personization of women – the new age men are redefining feminism and beautifully so!

And Nimz – great choice, Gal J

Disclaimer: This one is also true