Thoughts of a Kiwi-Indian Woman

A week ago I wrote my blog about facing a challenge and coming to a crossroads in my life.  Many of you were kind enough to message me about 'just going for it' and not being afraid to take the plunge and do something different. This week I want to write about understanding change, understanding your fears, being able to overcome them, and being able to take the right action. It's very easy as a bystander to look across and think to yourself 'Oh she/he'll be alright,' 'What can I say to  XYZ (friend) ?' or 'Hell... I feel really sad for XYZ (friend) but how the heck do I help?' Let's examine it all... Understanding change As a younger woman - I was fearless. I was bold and daring, and I loved the buzz of a calculated risk. 'Change' was to be embraced. The old saying was that 'Change was as good as a holiday' meaning if you wanted but couldn't get that holiday buzz, then go do something different - simple! However, time tak

  And here it is... 'Menopause Madness; I Survived - You Can Too! The Outrageous Memoir of a Menopausal Woman.'  'What's this?' you may ask me. 'You've finally got your memoir written?' The answer is yes and after four months of getting my raw manuscript into a polished manuscript, acceptable to publishing houses, I spent an additional seven months sending the highly polished version (Edit 4) to various publishing houses in the hope of securing a publisher. Hell no!! Not to be for me, I'm afraid.  Every morning I would wake up and check my inbox for emails from publishers on the other side of the world; the UK and USA and Canada. Most mornings there was not a lot. But some mornings I was pleasantly surprised for 30 seconds and then ever-so-gently let down in 10 seconds, and all in the very same email - incredible!  Several publishers said 'Great manuscript and great topic.' One NZ publisher (who shall remain nameless), told me the topic was n

Well now, I must say... 'it's been a while'! Here we are at the end of 2022, the 30th of December to be precise, and my last post was literally donkey's years ago. In fact, it was a decade ago. So let me begin. COVID (our global pandemic) is still in existence here in New Zealand, and now we are seeing yet another surge in the  rising numbers. Both my husband and I managed to contract it over April this year but swiftly got rid of it. He had it for a period of seven days and I retained it for close to seven weeks. But now, in spite of its presence in the wider community, we are both keeping well and healthy. However, visits to see my eighty-year-old mum in Mt. Eden are less frequent, as I live in fear of perhaps being asymptomatic or a carrier, then sharing it with her unwittingly. This year with COVID still being a very influential factor in our lives, I was made part-time, which felt quite strange. I guess it was because we had come out of or through hybrid and onlin

My question to you......... Which holiday can we honestly celebrate as being our own? A good old 'Kiwi Day?' A day to be proud of - perhaps even celebrate and have some NZ honours........... fly kites of peace, eat food specific to our nation - roast lamb or a BBQ, pavlovas, ANZAC biscuits (and recently Chelsea sugar published a recipe for ANZAC tart), close the shops for good - for the day so no-one misses a day off - and more importantly we celebrate the brotherhood of our unique country and all its cultures. With so much animosity surrounding Waitangi Day - who wants to celebrate that? Waitangi Day was so long ago - in my opinion I feel we have paid 'some' of our dues perhaps not all - BUT how much more do 'we' keep paying out? And who's fault was it back then? The English for their mis-information? Or the Maoris for signing it and taking the easy option of guns, clothes and tobacco? Whoever's fault - It is a 'was' or a 'has

For those of you who know me - you will know that cooking is an integral part of my life. I am Food! Food is me - wherever there is food - not too far away will you find ME!! I eat food, I cherish food, I cook food, I love food and I have a deep respect for foods of the world!! Food is the life source that gives us our energy - it is also a necessity - it is our fuel. To me 'Food' is a measuring stick for 'how much a mother loves her children,' or 'how much you love the man in your life'..... it is the gift you give someone sick in hospital, or the gift you give to friends who are having a BBQ, it may be the gift of a surprise birthday cake or as my son's girlfriend made for me - cupcakes - little morsels of heaven, asking to be eaten - the gift of belonging! Food is designed to give pleasure to our senses and fill the empty bellies after a hard day's work. Cooking is my passion and often we have all our five children (plus partners)

Well here I am sitting at school - supposedly marking work, BUT if I look at what I'm REALLY doing - it's NOT marking!! I've just taken the ultimate step and created a blog for myself!!  WHY? - you may well ask. What have you got to offer........  I got the idea off the movie 'The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel' where Judi Dench's character Evelyn writes a blog every day about her experiences, thoughts and feelings.  I had an epiphany - and decided that since ONE DAY I am actually going to write a book about my own existence as a New Zealand Indian (of three generations) this was the perfect way to document what happens in my life on a day to day basis - this would be the 'note form' of my book. ......and as for what have I got to offer? I am a teacher - an ESOL teacher in a secondary school in Auckland: have been a teacher for rather a long time now........ So I think I have A LOT to offer: advice, wisdom, life's lessons, daily teachings, sharing