Antara Echoes

Ask a mother of six, and she will have a unique story related to the birth of each of her child. Guaranteed. The experience of pregnancy and motherhood is so dramatic and life-changing that simple moments could remain eteched in your memory. I have this two unique tangible memories, associated with my the birth of my children, that I cherish like no other. Am making an effort here to paint them as true as possible to the sweetest memories I carry with me. Push — One sunny afternoon, while I was close to 8 months pregnant with my first son, I was travelling by car. I remember my, otherwise overactive, baby would remain still everytime the car was in motion. Our car stopped at a traffic signal and we were waiting for the light to turn green. Suddenly I could feel two tiny feet pressed against my belly and it was pushing me very hard. It seemed as though my baby was impatiently willing the car to move forward. It was so surprising I just kept staring stupidly at my large tummy...

With the arrival of the second baby life changes beyond recognition. Here are a few home truths that comes from experience: #1 You have already experienced pregnancy with your first born. So your growing frame is not going to make you wonder-struck again. That does not mean you would love your second child any less. And yes, every pregnancy is different. #2. Guilt - thy other name is motherhood. You start living a life of guilt- you feel guilty of robbing your first-born of his exclusive status, you feel guilt towards your second one for not adequately loving it, you feel guilty of renegading your husband to some obscure corner in your life, your guilty of not maintaining a spick and span house..etc The list is practically endless. Having an extended family makes life a lot easier. #3. You will forever be exhausted. Children right from inception are a drain on your energy. You will be depleted of all your patience, sleep, lif...

Everybody worth their salt are discussing what's in and what's not. Here is my personal list of  top social websites; tools  that are a must-know, must-visit for every marketing professional. Not in any order of preference. #1 Twitter : Much has been written and said about the power of a tweet. Everything still falls short of what it can do for a brand. Lurk around even if you don't get too many followers. #2 Linkedin - I am not yet a part of Linkedin and I have my own personal reason for it. However, it has its share of loyalist who swear by it. See you there shortly. #3 Pinterest - The latest toy in the market. Keeps your interest #4 Facebook - Learn to keep your professional and personal prirorites apart and it will work for you. #5 Plugged.in - A knowledgebase for entrepreneurs and the startup/geeky community, it says. Get to meet the likeminded. #6 Scrible - Online annotation tool. Every helpful for those ...

My organization offers flexi-timings and work-from-home options. Huge benefits, if you ask me, especially for young mothers. Some days I end up eating lunch alone at the office cafeteria,  Being part of a globally dispersed team does not mean not having colleagues but there are days when none of whom you interact with are around. Its might be unthinkable for many but I enjoy these occasional periods of solitude. It gives one the time to observe people around you, how each one differs in their dress, mannerisms, how they address one and other, the team dynamics and so on. And at times one inadvertently ends up being privy to amusing conversations, snippets of information that makes your meal-times fun. There is this team who lunch with their manager who has quite a formidable personality. It is really amusing to see them being led to the dining table and after a quiet lunch walk away almost like school kids. There is one vibrant boisterous attention-gra...

Children in their own inexplicable way end up teaching some of life's biggest lessons to us. The other day my son wanted me to play with him, while I was busy on my laptop. His pleas started getting persistent and I tried to shoo him away with different errands. So he got me a cup of water, arranged the cushions on the sofa and piled the day's newspaper and was back to ask me to play with him. Again he started coaxing: "Mamma, mamma come to play na." Me busy tapping on the keyboard: "Later, Avyukt" Avyukt: "Mamma, come now" Me (a little firmly): "Later. I said later right?" Defiantly he says: "Later is now, mamma" Those words struck a chord in me. We do postpone most of the things that we actually want to do to a later time. I will tend to my gardren - later. I will clean the cupboard - later. We'll watch a movie - later. Its never now. I guess we learn to postpone small things that bring us joy in the hope that onc...