Jaadu in the Jhappi!

This New Year, I have decided to write a little more than I normally do...It could be some random thing that catches my attention on a particular day, or even something that annoys me infinitely...So, if there are folks who are likely to find frequent posts annoying, please feel free to unfriend/unfollow!

This holiday season was unlike any other! It began with a lot of hugs ! Hugs to wish one another a joyful Christmas and a fantastic New Year ! And, so today we talk about the "Jaadu in the Jhappi!"

The Jaadu ki Jhappi was popularized in the Munnabhai sequel where Munnabhai claims all of life's problems can be solved with a hug! I loved the concept then, but never practiced it! Simply because I have never been overly expressive of my affection towards anyone. And, I just couldn't hug anyone! I had created a virtual lakshman rekha around myself and I barely allowed anyone cross it! A handshake was the best I could manage! I used to tell myself that there was no need to display what I felt for someone. After all, one hug less doesn't mean I love them any less!

But a few things changed in the last few years and I have come to realize the power of a hug! But I still was resistant. I'd wonder what people would think if I just suddenly and randomly started hugging people :D:D

I was still a little hesitant honestly, but that changed once I joined the organisation I work for currently!! The lakshman rekha that I had drawn many years ago seems to have vanished...and I have learnt to hug, with gay abandon!!! A genuinely warm hug does melt a lot of our worries. It has the power to make the mind calm and to tell the other person "Hey, don't worry! I am there for you" !

A hug is a really powerful means to tell the other person that you are wanted,loved and will be taken care of !!! The other day as I was reading came across this article that said a 20 second hug is nature's antidepressant ! The right hug from the right person when you are down can elevate your mood like no other drug!

I wonder what took me so long to realize that a warm, genuine hug is one of the greatest gifts we can give someone...it's easy to exchange and the happiness derived is infinite!

The Jhappi indeed has a lot of Jaadu in it....!!! And, I am in love with the magic of the Jhappi!!

When Cancer is just for a zodiac sign ..

The other day I read Neetu Singh's insta post with her New Year message which also had a  line that said  "Hope in future cancer is only a zodiac sign"... And today, a friend sent a message about Breast Cancer Awareness and that I post a heart in support of the same. 

Both the posts struck a chord with me, for the big C has reared its ugly head quite a few times in our family...some battles we lost, some we won! The battles that we lost were bitter and the repercussions ever lasting...! 3 women, all equally dear, were diagnosed at different stages in life. My grandmother, when I was 9 or 10, my maternal aunt when I was 24 and my paternal aunt when I was 34. I was too little to understand the gravity of the situation when my gran fell ill and I had only heard stories about how bravely she faced it and lived for nearly 10 more years post surgery without any relapse! My maternal aunt was not so lucky. She was 33 when she was diagnosed and at 34, she lost the battle she fought with all her might! It was the one the that had a lasting impression on me and one which taught me about how fragile life is. It was from then that I slowly started to learn to value the little things that I had taken for granted until then. When my paternal aunt was diagnosed with cancer, we were petrified. But, awareness played a big role in early detection and the early intervention helped. During each time, the one thing that every doctor stressed upon was the importance of early detection and the course of treatment one opts for.

Cancer, if detected early, is very much treatable. It's only the later stages that makes it so deadly. We often ignore the signs that our body sends out, more so because of the "it can never happen to me attitude". Oh, we cannot be more wrong in that assumption!!! It can happen to you and me!!!

Respect your body, get your annual check ups done and even if its a cold, if its persistent, get it checked out! A few 100rs saved by skipping a doctor visit is really not worth the risk! There are various streams of medicine and a lot of us do not approve of the allopathy way of medicine...but for something like cancer, especially in the first stages, where it is curable, allopathy is the way to go for diagnosis and primary treatment. Many a time, people make the situation worse by opting for an alternate line treatment because someome somwhere benefitted with ayurveda or homeopathy! I would say that someone was just lucky! Not everyone has that kind of luck and the little time we have on earth is not worth any gamble!!!

So, this New Year, I wish all you good folks the pink of health! And these ♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️ are for my friend who asked me to support her campaign!