Happy Thanksgiving

Time marches on inexorably each year: from flailing new year's resolutions via valentine's day (and the mad rush for a date or alternately, a good byline denying that valentine's day even matters - depending on where the year finds you), past spring flings, mother's day and father's day, the fantastic promise of summer which somehow never seems to reach it's full potential, winding down with the mad leaves fall dancing, traipsing through Diwali & Nav Ratri, just to get to the deliciously spooky creepiness of Halloween and then moving onwards now with the confidence of a sure thing to the crazy cluster of holidays - Thanksgiving (and Black Friday & Cyber Monday its unlikely cronies) where the final push to gift/shopping/visiting insanity is our constant friend all the way to Christmas and another new year's eve.

Each one of us sprinkles on important dates for garnish on this ratatouille dish of days and months - a birthday here, an anniversary there and if you are like me umpteen concerts all across the genre board.

Inexorably, we progress  this business of living and being. Each day we show up. Reinventing , learning, adjusting, changing and hopefully improving.

But today is Thanksgiving. And in this mad merry-go-round that spins us every year from one end of the diameter to another, the memories that stand out the most are the one's about giving and being grateful (even without cause).

There are people struggling with poverty, natural disasters and dictators.

There are those who are seeking: marrow donors, organs, blood transfusions, love, jobs.

There are those who have almost given up on finding an helping hand, a glimmer of recognition, an acknowledgement that they too exist or matter.

There are those who are attempting to be heard.

This planet is sure getting more and more crowded everyday. And our needs keep growing as well.
The question is, what are WE going to do about it?

May this holiday spark the giving & gratitude in all our hearts.

 ( On a personal note, I'm glad I actually cooked a Thanksgiving dinner this year - it took me only 25 or so years since the time I first got here (US) as a graduate student! )

Written by:  Miss Gitanjali Gulve Sehgal AKA Ms. Gitanjali GulveSehgal AKA Miss Gigi Sehgal 

Copyright © 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 Gigi Sehgal a.k.a G G Sehgal a.k.a Gitanjali Gulve Sehgal  All rights reserved.

November 6th

OF the people
BY the people
FOR the people

Today's giving idea is simple enough:

Give yourself a voice, give yourself a choice.

Vote.

Voter information: http://voterguide.sos.ca.gov/propositions/30/

Written by: Ms. Gitanjali GulveSehgal AKA Ms. Gitanjali Gulve Sehgal AKA Ms. Gigi Sehgal Copyright © 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 Gigi Sehgal a.k.a G G Sehgal a.k.a Gitanjali Gulve Sehgal All rights reserved.

Be a lifetime superhero !

Sometimes we choose what things to vivify in our lives and sometimes, things choose to appear and bring us to life.

I've blogged often in the past many years, about my favorite cause - signing up people to the national marrow registry in an attempt to help people suffering from leukemia and worse diseases fight and conquer them.

Seeing your own young sibling battle something like this unsuccessfully at an early age, is an experience which will stick with you for the rest of your life. And so, this cause has chosen me from my childhood (which was a long long long time ago :-) )

This past weekend, in the midst of the usual costumed merriment I managed to stop over at the Asian American Donor Program's charity Halloween event. And I'm so glad I went!

I caught a marrow donor speak about his experience and a survivor talk about her experience.
And listening to these two brought home yet again, how important and critical this cause is.

To hear the young man who was a marrow donor speak about his experience and put the inconvenience and any temporary pain in perspective  by the benefit (a life saved) ought to help allay the fears faced by typical registrants and donors on the mechanics of marrow donation. Quite frankly, most of the time, the procedure does not require invasive techniques and can be managed via peripheral extraction (similar to the process used for blood donation) executed in an out patient procedure.

 On the flip side, to hear a young survivor speak to her experience of how her life was saved by a marrow donor and to hear the full thriving life she leads now, indeed rounds up the story of why this cause is so important.

To put it plainly:

• The need is great. There are 1000s of critically ill leukemia patients awaiting a matched donor in bay area alone. 
• Chances of a marrow match are one in million (unlike blood donations, marrow donation requires HLA typing match which is far more difficult)
• Average potential registrants and donors are scared of the perceived pain. Any donor can share with you their story and put your concerns to rest - just ask them!
• People wonder if marrow donation does work - yes it does. Just ask the survivors!
• You. Yes YOU can be a superhero too. For real. 

Check out http://www.aadp.org

In my spare time, you will often find me working on some fun event to either raise funds for this cause, or register more people to the marrow donor registry. Interested in helping out? Message me. The more the merrier and the more lives we could save!

Written by: Ms. Gitanjali GulveSehgal AKA Ms. Gitanjali Gulve Sehgal AKA Ms. Gigi Sehgal Copyright © 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 Gigi Sehgal a.k.a G G Sehgal a.k.a Gitanjali Gulve Sehgal All rights reserved.

Blue Sky Holiday

Those who know me know my habit of walking outside with my gaze firmly trained up to the skies above. During daytime perfect azure skies bring an instant feeling of utter peace and bliss. At night time looking up garners a vision of million twinkling beacons and a moon which is in turns coy, grinning or just vanishing quicker than the Cheshire Cat. This is certainly not an affectation but a permanent chronic condition since childhood, and definitely not meant for any life actresses to now start emulating on the fly. (Walking around in high heels while simultaneously looking up to the skies can be hazardous to said model's health - I'm guessing)

Lately the skies around where I live are starting to force their attention on me even more than usual. There is a distinct feeling of something is in the air and about to erupt on the scene in a huge manner. As I said before, I am in love with inanimate objects. And the sky is one of the inanimate objects that enthrall me no matter where I am nor what I may be doing.

I am being fanciful. But I catch myself asking out loud to no one in particular -"AM I the only one seeing this?" Those clouds have been portentous to say the least, and extremely inspiring to say the most. After the heavy rain a few days ago the sky cleared up and all that remained of the solid-demanding-respect clouds up in the sky were fleeting nebulous fingers of the formally majestic clouds, chaotically pointing at no one in particular.

As I drove back home today from work I caught a shy moon peeking out at the bold late evening sun in its last dying golden glory. A doomed love from the start - since one fully rises only after the other fully sets, yet, it is a love so poetically fragile and dramatically marketable that I had to stop and catch my breath at both the whimsical beauty of my brain's synaptic misfire and the joy of having found yet another thing to make money out of, in addition to my full time job in the tech industry - (And that was sarcasm).

What am I even writing this drivel about? Well, drivel it is. But it is also honest drivel. This is how I felt and that is what I am recording here. If this somehow in some weird incredible manner matches something that is happening in one of my readers' life (Ha! like anyone reads this drivel!), I hope they realize that I don't even own a TV.

And the point of today's blog, if indeed there is any point to this blog, is about giving to yourself.
In all the giving you do, stop and savor a bit of giving to your own self. Give a moment's peace, a moment's mental vacation to catch a flight to whimsy (not as in Lord Peter Death ) and see what it does to your day. I for one felt refreshed and alive right after getting past the panic attack induced by wondering if clouds that were that seemingly low slung had any business being so, and if it meant that alien beings were hiding inside them ready to burst out and completely ruin my day.

They weren't. That happened in my non work email inbox. But that's a story for another day......

I post this really late in the night (2:11 AM PST My time) and to yes, this IS TOO real life.

Gigi=GG=Gitanjali


Written by: Ms. Gitanjali GulveSehgal AKA Ms. Gitanjali Gulve Sehgal AKA Ms. Gigi Sehgal Copyright © 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 Gigi Sehgal a.k.a G G Sehgal a.k.a Gitanjali Gulve Sehgal All rights reserved.

Believe in yourself

Life loves to throw us for a loop and like a boomerang we keep coming back for some more

I know what I'm looking for but I haven't found it yet and until I do, I'm going to keep trying
putting my hand into the water and praying for some fish instead of shark bites. It gets difficult when suddenly my hand turns into a paw or I change shape into a dude. I don't know, I don't have a mirror to peek into while I go fishing and the choppy waters don't make up the best reflective surfaces. Since I know I am the woman I am, it doesn't matter much what the fish think of me.

I've been disappointed before. You can say that in certain situations like right now, I've been tempted to give up. But hope keeps things afloat. Hopefully my goals and dreams are big enough for me to keep trying. Hopefully my goals and dreams are big enough for me to know when to quit to find another way.

Either way, I've spent too much time second guessing myself in the past. Since the past few years I've been focused and pursuing each of my dreams. It just doesn't show up on social media or online. At the moment, this is how I'd like to keep it.

Thank you world and life for the chance to keep trying. Thank you music for showing up to soothe and heal me each time. Thank you love for always being near. Thank you zen for always following the ire.

Thank you self for keeping on keeping on. Thank you sky for always being up there. You know, I do believe the trees, leaves and puffy clouds, the wind are flirting with me. I am in love with inanimate objects. Sometimes I get upset with living beings. But I find a way to get over it. And THAT thought is belief.

So finally, thank you whoever / whatever it is that gives me access to such a strong belief. And thank you to the perfection that is perfect and imperfect all at once.

Life can be an incredible adventure, let's make it so. We can lend our voice to a cause (it's election year!  have you registered?) , we can help those in need, we can do anything we want. As long as we don't hurt anyone we are adding back to the bank of good karma.

So ask this to everyone around you, just as I ask you all - How may I be of help?


Written by: Ms. Gitanjali GulveSehgal AKA Ms. Gitanjali Gulve Sehgal AKA Ms. Gigi Sehgal Copyright © 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 Gigi Sehgal a.k.a G G Sehgal a.k.a Gitanjali Gulve Sehgal All rights reserved.

Believe in abundance

I tend to use the word "abundance" in conversations with my daughter as a way to represent a state of mind which enables one to access optimism and the ability to see options or choices in everything we encounter and do.
       I am an Indian American woman in her downhill slide towards mortality, who strongly believes in abundance. Perhaps I find it easy to believe in it because I grew up in India, surrounded by extreme contrasts. While extreme disparity in living conditions is not a pleasant thing to view, I believe that it was this very study of contrasts (skyscrapers near large slums, extreme wealth and extreme poverty, etc.) which gave me an easy assurance that all things are possible in life. Rightly or wrongly, I've come to believe that often, achieving a mental state of abundance is an internal job. No amount of external help: money, friends, well-being or lack of stress will magically lead you to the abundant mind set. At any given moment you either possess it, or you don't.
       I've also noticed that the simple yet powerful belief that: no matter the situation a solution exists, is enough fuel for an abundant mind. What kept the Wright brothers from giving up? What made M. Gandhi take on one of the most complicated freedom fights in the world? What keeps dreamers from stopping? Do they have access to more money or support than others? No. The key ingredient appears to be a simple belief that the problem is inherently solvable and with ample tries, they will be able to solve the problem they encounter.
       An attitude of optimism keeps the seeker seeking. And a motivated seeker will eventually access all the creative, far out, out of the box spaces. Thus improving their chances of success. An optimistic person will eventually attract all the support he/she requires to be successful. The glue to success is the belief that something is possible.
       I've often used the water metaphor before to demonstrate this tenacity of belief. I've gotten mocked about it. But I think this metaphor is apt. In nature, water manages to slip through any crevice no matter how narrow. Water always finds a way. An abundant mind is like water gushing through the tiniest crevice. So, be it a technical issue or a humanitarian one, one could be like water.
       Be abundant. Believe there is a resolution, believe that you will have access to whatever resources you need and be tenacious looking for every tiny opportunity. Be abundant. Believe that a solution is possible. I say this because I live this, each and every day. I may lose my belief occasionally but I always revert back to optimism sooner or later.
       There's a saying in sanskrit "वचनेशु किम दरिद्रता ?" - Why exercise poverty in our thoughts and ideas? Everyone is free to exercise their imagination as long as we intend nor commit any harm. Imagine the possibilities.


Written by: Ms. Gitanjali GulveSehgal AKA Ms. Gitanjali Gulve Sehgal AKA Ms. Gigi Sehgal Copyright © 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 Gigi Sehgal a.k.a G G Sehgal a.k.a Gitanjali Gulve Sehgal All rights reserved.

I already am

Who are you to tell me
who and how to be?
I already am.

Who are you to abuse
passwords and accounts
to portray
who and how I ought to be?
I already am.

Who are you to judge
my wishes and dreams?
They already are

and I already am.

I'm not your girl friend,
nor your ex
I don't know you or her or her or him
So who said you had permission
to creep and listen
and make up things to tell all your friends?

I'm not your shitty battleground
I am
I already am
much bigger than the thieves could ever be.

Who said I was dead
and to be treated like a seat?
Before you lower your significant weight on me,
you better realize there's room for only one human here
and
I already am.

There's an invisible line
that divides the dead from the living
the dead are dreaming, pretending, chasing in an effort to seem alive
the alive are living, being, struggling, out here - in the real world.

Don't tell me to truly live
I already am.
Are you?

Written by: Ms. Gitanjali GulveSehgal AKA Ms. Gitanjali Gulve Sehgal AKA Ms. Gigi Sehgal Copyright © 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 Gigi Sehgal a.k.a G G Sehgal a.k.a Gitanjali Gulve Sehgal All rights reserved.

Canvas of life

The sky and its various moods always inspire me. I look up and I am reminded that my life is my canvas. I get to be the artist and paint whatever I wish to. The good news is, each life is its own canvas. The picture is made up of your truth, actions, experiences, family, friends and whatever else is going on in your life at the moment.

In this moment there may be pain or euphoria. But eventually, when you look at it through the lens of time and perspective it will all come to seem only beautiful. Somehow the reds that pain painted near the momentarily serene blues and the occasional victorious gold will blend into something far more interesting than you'd have ever intended. Only death can snatch your brush away.

I wrote this without any intended euphemisms.

 Gigi = Gitanjali G = GG

Written by: Ms. Gitanjali GulveSehgal AKA Ms. Gitanjali Gulve Sehgal AKA Ms. Gigi Sehgal Copyright © 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 Gigi Sehgal a.k.a G G Sehgal a.k.a Gitanjali Gulve Sehgal All rights reserved.

The gift of honesty

I recently got into a random conversation online with someone I don't really know. Just one of those random chances where someone says something and it strikes a chord or hits a nerve, and you end up exchanging notes on different perspectives on the same situation.

As far as I'm concerned, this was a blog that was waiting to be written - the online random conversation served as a great catalyst.

The big questions about the practice of honesty always have been- is it always possible to be honest? Should one be honest in any/every scenario? Do the intended recipients cause blockage of honesty by their attitude and/or woolly eyed expectations of the real world? etc.

My thoughts on this - utterly based in my personal experience and point of view - are as follows.

Whether it is business or personal life, I would require honesty from others on matters that relate to myself. I also demand the same from myself, and I am happy to say, I haven't failed my principles so far.

Truth avoidance is a mighty exhausting activity: Often, it takes the same amount of effort to hide a fact as it does to state it clearly. In business situations: I'd rather know right away if I have a design flaw, or a huge bug or am about to slip my deadline significantly than find out after the fact. Finding out later usually entails greater pain given that the product may already be in the hands of the customer  or the product roll out gets significantly delayed. In personal situations, honesty becomes even more important. Truth eventually gets out and relationships suffer or, in some cases end. I don't know of a single relationship that has survived trust issues.

Truth avoidance delays solutions: Knowing as early as I can, that I indeed do have cancer, could help me kick it. Knowing about a schedule slip or a design flaw or bug at the earliest prepares a team to fix the issues satisfactorily before they get to the end user. Knowing earlier on, that the laughter I think sounds cute to others is really annoying my date (or vice versa) could move our conversation to a higher (and more promising) plane sooner.

What's the intention? Often times we speak a few little white lies here and there.
"No, that dress doesn't make you look fat".
"Yes, you sound great when you sing that note".
"I'm sure that your husband does love you even if he forgot your anniversary and decided to extend his Europe trip - by himself".

If you examine it closely, the intention to keep someone from feeling hurt often masks our own discomfort in the potential awkward situations speaking the truth can create. Sometimes the intention can be to avoid retribution. For example, children often lie to parents about events where they know they've broken the rules. Con artists lie habitually to their victims. Holding back the truth isn't always caused by noble intentions.


Oddly, all of the above reminds me of the attitude of parenting. Often times as parents, we are forced to choose a hard path - give a timeout to a three year old for instance. We dislike seeing them cry, we dislike being the "bad cop" but we know that without consequences and doing the right thing, our children won't grow up to be the individuals we know they are capable of being.

By withholding truth from someone, I'm keeping them from learning and growing. No matter how horrible the truth, the consequences of not knowing the truth and being conned over and over again, or being oblivious while everyone else passes meaningful glances or talks over your head, can hardly help the victim feel better or help themselves.

There are times when facing a hard truth head on enables the hero within to come out. Hiding the truth only brings about the feelings of self suffering martyrdom in those who'd keep it from you. Perhaps that's what *they* are seeking - to feel important and noble instead of seeing their friend/dear one battle it out with honor and self esteem.


If I have toilet paper stuck to my shoes, my friends better tell me about it. In fact, I believe I'll use that as a test of friendship and trust from here on out.

Written by: Ms. Gitanjali GulveSehgal AKA Ms. Gitanjali Gulve Sehgal AKA Ms. Gigi Sehgal Copyright © 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 Gigi Sehgal a.k.a G G Sehgal a.k.a Gitanjali Gulve Sehgal All rights reserved.