Looking around me at the women whom I came into contact with through my high-powered work, so many of them seemed, like me, to feel dissatisfied deep down within. They were working in a male orientated world and had adapted male values and attitudes to make it. They denied and suppress their innate femininity, killing off what was most precious in them. Worst of all, they had lost not only their self-respect but also that of those they worked with.
I realised the answer was not for women to leave the work place. Instead we needed to regain those qualities that made us womanly and integrate them into our daily, domestic and working lives. It was all upside.
Around this time I met a very powerful woman in Indian politics. She commanded respect in a way no other woman whom I had met did. She was successful on her terms and never compromised, used or abused her femininity. Each time I met her she would tell me stories about how she got things done. The first one went like this.
The past four days we had Thanksgiving holidays so I had a chance to relax, eat lots of yummy food, celebrate Guru Nanak Dev ji’s Birthday, and do some of the many house projects that are always there. If you are a family person…you know what it is like always being busy with work and taking care of the family. My wife Arjan Kaur always has a list of projects for me to do on the weekends, though I don’t normally get to them on a typical weekend. So this weekend we had four days and I was able to do a few things around the house. Plus, we had our first snow storm and it was perfect for doing inside projects.
Thanksgiving morning was a day of giving thanks for the clean carpets (which I cleaned after renting a carpet cleaner). When you have small kids carpets get dirty fast. Always something spilling or "leaking out" …hahaha…if you know what I mean! Naked babies always tend to drop things around the house.
My next project was cleaning through our garage. Garages in America which are meant for cars most of the time just become huge storehouses for all your junk/old stuff that you don’t have time to deal with. We don’t have that much junk, but there are always those many things that you hang on to, thinking that one day you might use it.
I have been taking pictures for over 20 years since my early high school days and have accumulated quite a stash of photographs from over the years. Many of my older pictures have been piling up dust in lots of different boxes. My task this weekend was to go through them and throw away lots of them. I successfully trashed about three huge trash bags of photos and related stuff. It feels good to clean out! I still have more to do….but this was a huge step. Back in my early photo days I wasn’t as good at taking pictures so had a lot of "junk" photos which I weeded out this weekend.
Below are a few of my older pictures from my high school days in India with the theme of "Reflections".
This is a picture that I took a long time ago, back in the "film" camera age when I was in high school. This was back before photoshop when it was all done in the dark room.
I took one picture of a friend through a pipe…and then another picture with a friend who had flash light under his chin. Then in the dark room put them together.
This is another old picture from my high school days at GRD Academy (Dehradun) of my friend Hari Narayan. This was on Holi after throwing colors at each other.
This picture is a double exposure. The first exposure done through a pipe and then taking the second exposure with his full faces wearing the sunglasses. You can see me in the left glass and him in the right glass.
This was back from my high school days at GRD Academy in Dehradun, and before photoshop….when you had to either do these types of things in the camera…or in the dark room.
This is a merging of two pictures that I took of friends at the swimming pool. Then in the dark room put them together. Keep in mind…this was long before we had photoshop to do this digitally. This is pure analog.
Reflection from my sunglasses high in the mountains of Dharamsala. We went hiking pretty high up and this is a picture when we stopped for a break. We were so hot we took off our shirts, even with the snowy mountains…haha…(not that I have any big muscles to show or anything)
Earlier this week I got a copy of the film "Amu" which just came out on DVD and Commemorating 23rd Anniversary Of Genocide Against Sikhs. Every night when I came home I have been wanting to watch it, but each night it was too late or I was exhausted and had to get some sleep. Finally tonight, (Friday) I had the chance to watch the film for the first time. It’s about 12:30AM and I just finished watching it so wanted to jot down some thoughts before I head off to sleep.
"This is a film about a 21 year old Indian American women visiting from India to get in touch with her family and learn about her roots. She is then blocked at every turn when she begins asking simple questions about her past. She embarks on an unstoppable journey to seek the truth. She soon learns that a genocide in New Delhi from 20 years ago might hold the key to her mysterious origin."
Looking around me at the women whom I came into contact with through my high-powered work, so many of them seemed, like me, to feel dissatisfied deep down within. They were working in a male orientated world and had adapted male values and attitudes to make it. They denied and suppress their innate femininity, killing off what was most precious in them. Worst of all, they had lost not only their self-respect but also that of those they worked with. 
My next project was cleaning through our garage. Garages in America which are meant for cars most of the time just become huge storehouses for all your junk/old stuff that you don’t have time to deal with. We don’t have that much junk, but there are always those many things that you hang on to, thinking that one day you might use it. 
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