sharda’s Blog

Ancient India, spiritual, religious India, modern contemporary India, be it in the form of worship, be it in the form of questioning, testing the moral fabric of society, to my surprise ethic and worldly matters still goes hand in hand here... Read More »

Tonight, at 01.50 hours, 23 may 2009, we are flying back to the Netherlands. Now that we really are returning, we feel that our heart is heavy, filled with many many good memories. Memories of our live in the Netherlands are starting to come back and i know that memories of our live here will start fading away slowly... Read More »

Since today is a festival called Rama Navami (birthday of Rama), listening to an old song “Itna Hai Tumse Pyar Muje” from the movie “Suraj” (1966), the love lines from this song so appropriately remind me of the perfect, pure and unsullied love between the Hero Rama and Heroin Sita from the ancient Epic Ramayana. This kind of perfect and forever love is only possible between these two...Maybe something to aspire for us as human beings? Anyway, last week Monday or was it one week before that… I can not remember anymore, but I fired both our driver and maid. My son, who at that time was at home, thought it was very amusing seeing mum firing all the people…. he and my daughter namely think that I am too nice with them; I should be acting with more authority…Right! First I will try to grow a few inches both in height and width, then automatically I will have some more authority over some people. Maybe I will consider transforming myself into a male…hmmm that will also add to my “authority”... Read More »

Since the franchising business in which I have interest in, is the retail sector, I have to be very cautious because of the recent economic recession; reaching break-even point will take more time, which means pumping more of your own money into the business to keep it going. Since last week news was that even the primary food items in India such as rice rose with 50% (!) I thought it is time to analyse how bad the recent economic situation actually is. Read More »

This weekend, the kids and I where outside the city to visit an Ashram, as we regularly do. So, there was a play, a musical drama being performed. At the end there was a song about patriotism, wherein the national Indian anthem was incorporated. I thought it sounded really AWFUL! That screaming, you could hardly call it ‘the art of singing or reaching a high pitch’…Later I came to know that it was from our Oscar winning composer A. R. Rahman… Since he has won this Oscar, there is no place you can hide from his name, his songs, the movie and the stars; wherever you go, read, see, listen, you are being chased by these Oscar winning people and their stuff. Yes, it is all about Slumdog Millionaires and A.R. Rahman nowadays in India and of course the elections... Read More »

Sharad means winter and mahotsav is festival. Though this is the month of Phagun, it was in Sharad on a full moon night that millennia ago in Vrindavan a dance of love was performed by Krishna, a child of seven years, and the gopis. This came to be known as raas leela... Read More »

The idea to move to India were slumbering in our minds; just last year August we decided to set our first concrete step towards moving to India. Just for one year to experience how it would be like living in India… Read More »