Can you help my little Tinker Bell - Gallant story towards water conservation and rain water harvesting

This is the story of a little village. Picture it!!

Once upon a time, there was a small village, situated not too far from a beautiful capital city of palaces. People from near and far came to visit this beautiful city. But our story is about the village and not the palaces!! Now this village was not anything special, but was quite happy and content. A small brook provided water to land, helped the locals get by and also supported local agriculture. The village artisans were no less than magicians, weaving their magic on cloth and pottery. A rustic railway line connected the village to the city and allowed for easy trade of the handicrafts.

All was well, till this village was surrounded by the dark clouds of progress. The palace city was swelling beyond its means, so the brook was diverted to provide water for it. Now for the water to reach the city, the roads had to be rebuilt, and so the railways tracks were broken up, leaving the village now devoid of both water and means of transport.

However this did not put the village down.  The village people, lead by a beautiful fairy – Tinker Bell, decided to build a small lake to take care of the water problem. She rallied before the king, who agreed to support their cause.  But it was not to be!! The corrupt ministers did not let their endeavor go on. Thanks to their “push” the village would not get the support for about two decades to come.  

My little Tinker Bell has however not given hope. She is down, but she is not out. She is out there trying hard to bring water to her arid land, respectable livelihood for her people and eventually smiles for all those around her.  She needs help. She has been let down by the leaders of the land, by the system .She does need help; my Tinker Bell needs all the help she can get. Can you help my Tinker Bell??

Dilemmas of a Working Mom

I am not a greedy person, never have been, however I wanted little of everything in life- a good job with a progressive career, family life, children, lots of friends etc.

From a distance it appears that I have achieved that goal. Was recently blessed with a baby daughter who completed our family ( have a 4yr old son before her!). Working with a progressive and fun team. An exciting cum challenging role awaits me at work. So it does look like I have ticked a lot of boxes. However given the fact that I am in the place that I wanted to be, instead of enjoying the moment, I am daunted by the challenges of the balancing act that lays ahead of me.

I love my work, I just do. But I love my kids more. So how do I manage the responsibilities of a demanding job along with homework, feeding, playtime? Add to this the not always successful attempts at cooking, the desire to have a spic and span house and the everlasting battle of the bulge. Its easy for the Chetan Bhagats of the world to say that one does not need to be a super mom and prioritise your tasks. But please tell me what do I leave out and how. Will I be able to manage my sanity and my budget if I become a “ Stay at home mom” or should I accept the bhenji look and embrace the joys of cooking & housekeeping. Which of these things can be put on lower priority.... I am not sure.  

For anyone reading this, if you think I have answers to any of these... then buddy sorry to disappoint you. YES, these questions do daunt me day and night and NO I don’t have answers to them, not as of now. But I plan to put my best foot forward, learn from every mistake while cheering for myself for every task done right ( even if no one else is ready to do. I know the road ahead is not smooth, there will be more challenges than I can anticipate right now, but hopefully I will get by with a little help from my friends and family.

Cheers!!