..everytime we hug our little one a bit too tightly, she screams--"Bachao.. mujhko bachao!". Ever heard of toddlers seeking protection against their own parents? And she screams almost like a Hindi movie heroine playing the damsel in distress.
I am washing her bottom after the big task when she snaps at me--"Don't touch buttoo, it is Pari's". We..ll, offcourse it is, but how else are we supposed to keep her rear neat till she grows old enough to scrub it herself??
The husband has a slight tiff with Pari, and she comes to me complaining --"Papa is fighting with me". She is yet to turn 3 and he is already past 30.. Fighting is so not acceptable..
Her Chachu who dares to ask her some trivial question while she is putting her blocks together, is sternly chastised--"Excuse me, I am busy".
The maid is trying to open her mouth to feed her, only to get scolded -- "Don't touch face. It is a very bad habit!"
The family seriously needs to mend its ways and learn some good habits.
Monday, December 28, 2009
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Lost and found!!!
I misplaced my wallet last fortnight.. and faced with the fact that it has been persistently missing since then, I have finally deigned to accept that it is actually lost for good. Now, being the extremely closeknit and warm family that we are, we make light of incidents of even this magnitude and stand by the victim in rain as in sun. Like here, I am not sure of how mundane families react to such situations but we definitely wasted no time mourning the loss, being overly busy in fighting and bickering. The husband proudly recounted all the debit/credit cards, cell phones and other such trivia that I have lost till now, so many times, and each time before a new set of people, that I have lost count. I obviously took it in the right spirit, and fought back with zest.. It began with name-calling and innocent blame-gaming but went on to become a full fledged war. Both of us tried to prove that the spouse had lost more stuff than self, and skeletons tumbled out of closets. In hindsight, the debate did serve an important purpose.. we both now have sufficient insight to prevent us from questioning our not-so-great financial state.
The wallet was not the only thing missing. While looking for the wallet, we realised that my passport and pan card were also missing. This made me as good as a newborn, actually worse, since I don't even have a birth certificate and more importantly, the flawless baby skin. I had no identity proof left on me, no credit/debit cards and no cash. Thankfully my Driving license was due to be issued the following week! I started with getting the bank cards blocked. Anybody who has an experience of banking over phone would vouch for the royal pain that it is. The 'customer care'-- all it cares to do is frustrate the customer to the hilt, till the poor man pulls his hair off his already troubled head. They usually begin with asking for the credit/debit card number to be blocked. Now, in my humble opinion, whoever is meticulous and careful enough to note down his card numbers and keep them safe for contingency, would be the last person to misplace them or his wallet as a package. If somehow you manage to get that right, they test your patience by asking endless personal details, like your date of birth, mother's maiden name, billing address and so on. I usually am able to answer most of these satisfactorily, except for the addresses.. what with having switched 4 jobs and 5 houses in the last 6 years, which provide me with 20 'workplace+house address' combinations to try on the telecaller. I ususally take 4-6 tries to scrape through. And then comes the showstopper-the last 3 transactions, which I cannot remember to save my life. Moreover, these cannot be approximate. The amount has to be accurately stated to the second decimal place, along with the exact date of transaction. Getting the cards blocked is no mean feat, sometimes you can spend the entire day on the phone and still not manage to get 5 odd cards done away with. However, this time, it turned out to be different. I accomplished this seemingly impossible task in less than hour. Thanks to Yodlee MoneyCenter! Yes, I work for Yodlee Infotech, and that is the whole reason why I ever added my accounts to the aggregator. Disclaimer: I don't work for the sales team and I do not get a promotion for promoting the product. It helped me during a real crisis, and I am acknowledging that.. plain and simple. I got all my card details from the MoneyCenter, and I literally floored the telecaller with my quick and accurate replies :-) And yes, stunned the husband the same evening, by recovering the passport and pan card, hold your breath, from the dear man's own and super-personal drawer. Ahh.. the sweet taste of revenge ;-)
The wallet was not the only thing missing. While looking for the wallet, we realised that my passport and pan card were also missing. This made me as good as a newborn, actually worse, since I don't even have a birth certificate and more importantly, the flawless baby skin. I had no identity proof left on me, no credit/debit cards and no cash. Thankfully my Driving license was due to be issued the following week! I started with getting the bank cards blocked. Anybody who has an experience of banking over phone would vouch for the royal pain that it is. The 'customer care'-- all it cares to do is frustrate the customer to the hilt, till the poor man pulls his hair off his already troubled head. They usually begin with asking for the credit/debit card number to be blocked. Now, in my humble opinion, whoever is meticulous and careful enough to note down his card numbers and keep them safe for contingency, would be the last person to misplace them or his wallet as a package. If somehow you manage to get that right, they test your patience by asking endless personal details, like your date of birth, mother's maiden name, billing address and so on. I usually am able to answer most of these satisfactorily, except for the addresses.. what with having switched 4 jobs and 5 houses in the last 6 years, which provide me with 20 'workplace+house address' combinations to try on the telecaller. I ususally take 4-6 tries to scrape through. And then comes the showstopper-the last 3 transactions, which I cannot remember to save my life. Moreover, these cannot be approximate. The amount has to be accurately stated to the second decimal place, along with the exact date of transaction. Getting the cards blocked is no mean feat, sometimes you can spend the entire day on the phone and still not manage to get 5 odd cards done away with. However, this time, it turned out to be different. I accomplished this seemingly impossible task in less than hour. Thanks to Yodlee MoneyCenter! Yes, I work for Yodlee Infotech, and that is the whole reason why I ever added my accounts to the aggregator. Disclaimer: I don't work for the sales team and I do not get a promotion for promoting the product. It helped me during a real crisis, and I am acknowledging that.. plain and simple. I got all my card details from the MoneyCenter, and I literally floored the telecaller with my quick and accurate replies :-) And yes, stunned the husband the same evening, by recovering the passport and pan card, hold your breath, from the dear man's own and super-personal drawer. Ahh.. the sweet taste of revenge ;-)
Saturday, October 24, 2009
What would you do..
..with a 2.5 year old, her mouth stuffed with food, her nanny chasing her all over the place with the dinner, and her father blaring at regular intervals- 'Finish karo', when she lovingly places herself between the laptop and you and screams-'Mama, mujhko bhookh lagi (I am hungry)!!!
Or the same little one, who scampers off to fetch her dupatta and drapes it religiously around her neck when you take her out to buy vegetables.
The child who pulls a chair all the way from the far end of the dining table to sit next to you, and after all the hard work, plonks herself in your lap.
Who screams 'This is very bad' in a matronly manner every time the husband is sighted within 5 feet in your vicinity and strategically places herself between the two of you. And corrects you every time you call the maid by her name--'Shaila nahi bolte, didi bolte hain'!!
Who snatches away the calculator from you and complains angrily-'mera alligator chhoo raha hai'.. God knows, I wouldn't have touched it had I known it is an 'alligator'.
The imp who observes you curiously while you dress up gaudily for Karwachauth, before asking- 'Mumma, aaj tum ka saadi hai kya'... aargghh.. not again..
The greedy chick who peeks into the tin of Haldiram Gulabjamuns and squeals with delight -'Laddu swimming in the water'!!
And finally, the little Ms. Know-it-all, who looks at you with disdain, when you try to trick her into eating pasta by calling it noodles, and dismisses you - 'ye spaghetti hai, noodles nahi'.. If only the earth opens up now...
Or the same little one, who scampers off to fetch her dupatta and drapes it religiously around her neck when you take her out to buy vegetables.
The child who pulls a chair all the way from the far end of the dining table to sit next to you, and after all the hard work, plonks herself in your lap.
Who screams 'This is very bad' in a matronly manner every time the husband is sighted within 5 feet in your vicinity and strategically places herself between the two of you. And corrects you every time you call the maid by her name--'Shaila nahi bolte, didi bolte hain'!!
Who snatches away the calculator from you and complains angrily-'mera alligator chhoo raha hai'.. God knows, I wouldn't have touched it had I known it is an 'alligator'.
The imp who observes you curiously while you dress up gaudily for Karwachauth, before asking- 'Mumma, aaj tum ka saadi hai kya'... aargghh.. not again..
The greedy chick who peeks into the tin of Haldiram Gulabjamuns and squeals with delight -'Laddu swimming in the water'!!
And finally, the little Ms. Know-it-all, who looks at you with disdain, when you try to trick her into eating pasta by calling it noodles, and dismisses you - 'ye spaghetti hai, noodles nahi'.. If only the earth opens up now...
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Dussera Celebrations..
Pari had Dussera celebrations in her school last week. It is actually a playgroup, don't know why I keep calling it a school. Anyways, a note came from the Principal inviting all moms for participation. I was not so keen on going. I had some work planned for the day, and couldn't take it off. Moreover, I somehow always feel out of place in Pari's playgroup, nervous and naive. The other moms look so confident, and so grown up. Of late, I have been cursing my small built a lot. And the school gathering always triggers it. Actually I am not so small, Google tells me that the average height for Indian women is 5'1'', which means I am just 1'' short of the average. But then, I did not google the average weight, which might provide more clues. I have lost a lot of weight during the last year, and struggling to get to the 40 kgs that I was for most part of the last 6 years. No significant health issues other than the allergy, no drop in appetite and no increase in work load -- no reason that I can think of.. and still I am losing weight like there is no tomorrow. The last 3 months figures stand at 34.2, 36.7, 35.. and I feel just miserable. This is turning out to be a weight loss update more than an account of Dussera celebration. Excuse me for the digression, but this has been bothering me for some time now. Coming back to Dussera, the husband was more than eager to participate, but he wasn't invited. So finally, I decided to apply for a leave for the first half and work from home for the later half. Pari was required to dress up in ethnic wear, and we had a new lucknowi kurta/pajama just waiting for the occasion. The pajama was rather long for her, but you can always fold it and make do. As it turned out, the neck of the kurta was too small for Pari's head to pass through and the maid got it stuck there. It never occured to me that a dress which is clearly oversized for Pari can have such a small neck. I admit Pari has a rather big head, but still.. Anyways, we settled down for a lehenga. I wore a suit, counting on it to make me look older.. and off we went.
We walked down to the school, it is hardly 400 meters from our house. And it took us almost 20 minutes to reach there. It is always the husband who takes Pari for walks. I prefer taking the car even for small distances, like her school. So, I had almost forgotten how slow she walks, especially when there is so much distraction. Every parked car was noticed and its colour was reported diligently, umpteen attempts were made to pick all fallen flowers and all stray dogs were attended to, with extremely useful comments that provided deep insight like 'This doggy is hungry, ye dudu peeyega', and so on and so forth. It was almost like that sequence in Amelie where the heroine helps a blind man cross a street, all the while providing him with a rich description of the surroundings, that which was also reproduced in Ghajini. Honestly, I might as well qualify as a blind.. all these petty things gain significance if you look at them through a child's eyes.
The function started with some prayers, and then there was a dance performance by the children. They were all made to stand in a big circle, and given dandiya sticks to dance. Now, the kids did it fairly well, striking the sticks and dancing in the circle, all except Pari. She is actually the smallest in the group, looks the tiniest, and could only hold them sticks and jump all along. Despite a not so bright performance, she looked completely at ease and very excited. And suddenly, I felt my eyes well up... I really don't know why, I mean I am really not one of those sentimental moms but still. Before I realised, tears were streaming down my face, and the other moms were gaping at me. I guess babies do strange things to your psyche. On my way to the school, I had spent most of the time thinking of an excuse that would let me return home as quickly as possible and resume my work, but once there, I just didn't have the heart to leave early lest Pari missed out on one moment of the fun. So we ended up staying for the whole duration. Now, that was a pretty long account.. and to reward you for your patience, I'll leave you with a picture.
We walked down to the school, it is hardly 400 meters from our house. And it took us almost 20 minutes to reach there. It is always the husband who takes Pari for walks. I prefer taking the car even for small distances, like her school. So, I had almost forgotten how slow she walks, especially when there is so much distraction. Every parked car was noticed and its colour was reported diligently, umpteen attempts were made to pick all fallen flowers and all stray dogs were attended to, with extremely useful comments that provided deep insight like 'This doggy is hungry, ye dudu peeyega', and so on and so forth. It was almost like that sequence in Amelie where the heroine helps a blind man cross a street, all the while providing him with a rich description of the surroundings, that which was also reproduced in Ghajini. Honestly, I might as well qualify as a blind.. all these petty things gain significance if you look at them through a child's eyes.
The function started with some prayers, and then there was a dance performance by the children. They were all made to stand in a big circle, and given dandiya sticks to dance. Now, the kids did it fairly well, striking the sticks and dancing in the circle, all except Pari. She is actually the smallest in the group, looks the tiniest, and could only hold them sticks and jump all along. Despite a not so bright performance, she looked completely at ease and very excited. And suddenly, I felt my eyes well up... I really don't know why, I mean I am really not one of those sentimental moms but still. Before I realised, tears were streaming down my face, and the other moms were gaping at me. I guess babies do strange things to your psyche. On my way to the school, I had spent most of the time thinking of an excuse that would let me return home as quickly as possible and resume my work, but once there, I just didn't have the heart to leave early lest Pari missed out on one moment of the fun. So we ended up staying for the whole duration. Now, that was a pretty long account.. and to reward you for your patience, I'll leave you with a picture.
Sunday, August 30, 2009
How do you spend your Sunday??
Preparing the list for Sunday grocery shopping..
Applying lipstick to buy groceries..
Applying lipstick to buy groceries..
.. and reviewing the effect so very carefully!
Reading Sunday Times huddled with Papa..
and joining him later for some serious Xbox gaming.
Taking pride in cleaning the house..
...and celebrating a job well done!
Reading magazines..
and finally.. levitating!??
Monday, August 24, 2009
कुछ और ज़माना कहता है
कुछ और ज़माना कहता है
कुछ और है ज़िद मेरे दिल की
मैं बात ज़माने की मानु
या बात सुनूँ अपने दिल की...
ये बस्ती है इंसानों की
इंसान मगर ढूंढें न मिला
पत्थर के बुतों से क्या कीजे
फरियाद भला टूटे दिल की
कुछ और है ज़िद मेरे दिल की
मैं बात ज़माने की मानु
या बात सुनूँ अपने दिल की...
ये बस्ती है इंसानों की
इंसान मगर ढूंढें न मिला
पत्थर के बुतों से क्या कीजे
फरियाद भला टूटे दिल की
A bad hair day!
I had a haircut last Friday, and now, its like the shortest hair that I have ever had. So much that if I pull it together and try tying it, it behaves spunky, and the poor rubber band is expelled in a matter of minutes. Did I tell you how much I hate keeping my hair loose, I am now forced to do that. Thankfully, it is too short to even reach the nape of my neck so I am still sane.
And yesterday, less than 30 hours after the bad bad haircut which has the husband still steaming, I got a call from Dove. They said that I have won a free hair make-over at Lakme. The phrase 'hair makeover' had me in splits. Literally. The poor telecaller got really confused and hung up quickly. He probably thought that having never won any freebie in my current and past 7 lives, the news has shocked me crazy, and I am already jumping with joy. Well, the first part is actually true. I have never ever won anything free, never been a 'lucky winner' as they term it. And there lies my agony. Damn, I cannot even celebrate my first win, or bask in the new found glory. Its just so ironical. I have a cool voucher worth some 800 bucks, but no hair left to use it, sigh! If my hair is cut any further, the husband will certainly file a divorce. That is if he could resist shooting me at sight. On second thoughts, he doesn't have a gun, so it could be smothering, strangulating, poisoning, pushing off the terrace.. anything.. it matters little as long as it kills me.
To think of it, I have not had my hair cut short since almost 2 yrs. First, it was my b-i-l's wedding in Feb, 2008 for which I had to maintain a decent length. Then came my cousin's wedding the following December. Again, I just got it styled, but not at the cost of length. Yet again, last month, my brother decided to take the plunge. So finally, after important occasions had been attended, and all pics taken, proof enough that I did look pretty and feminine once upon a time, I got this haircut. What a perfect timing!
The voucher expires on October 31st. Please please suggest me some magic concoction - lizard's tail, frog's tongue, fly's artery, husband's nails.. any potion that can help me grow my hair to a respectable 'make-over'able length by then. You will have my eternal gratitude if that works, else you can walk away with the wretched voucher itself!
And yesterday, less than 30 hours after the bad bad haircut which has the husband still steaming, I got a call from Dove. They said that I have won a free hair make-over at Lakme. The phrase 'hair makeover' had me in splits. Literally. The poor telecaller got really confused and hung up quickly. He probably thought that having never won any freebie in my current and past 7 lives, the news has shocked me crazy, and I am already jumping with joy. Well, the first part is actually true. I have never ever won anything free, never been a 'lucky winner' as they term it. And there lies my agony. Damn, I cannot even celebrate my first win, or bask in the new found glory. Its just so ironical. I have a cool voucher worth some 800 bucks, but no hair left to use it, sigh! If my hair is cut any further, the husband will certainly file a divorce. That is if he could resist shooting me at sight. On second thoughts, he doesn't have a gun, so it could be smothering, strangulating, poisoning, pushing off the terrace.. anything.. it matters little as long as it kills me.
To think of it, I have not had my hair cut short since almost 2 yrs. First, it was my b-i-l's wedding in Feb, 2008 for which I had to maintain a decent length. Then came my cousin's wedding the following December. Again, I just got it styled, but not at the cost of length. Yet again, last month, my brother decided to take the plunge. So finally, after important occasions had been attended, and all pics taken, proof enough that I did look pretty and feminine once upon a time, I got this haircut. What a perfect timing!
The voucher expires on October 31st. Please please suggest me some magic concoction - lizard's tail, frog's tongue, fly's artery, husband's nails.. any potion that can help me grow my hair to a respectable 'make-over'able length by then. You will have my eternal gratitude if that works, else you can walk away with the wretched voucher itself!
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Need Help!
This has been a terrible year for me in terms of health. So much that I have started dreading the day my company hands me the pink slip stating 'Medically unfit', on the sheer basis of the number of sick leaves that I have availed so far. Its only the 7th month, and I have nearly exhausted my quota for the year. Try comparing that with 2 sick leaves through the whole of last year. To set the records straight, I don't take off from work at the drop of a hat, which means I do not if I can stand unsupported for 10 minutes together, sufficient time for me to get dressed and get going. In case I cannot garner enough strength to carry the laptop, I work from home. The only exception to the said rule is made when the child or her father are unwell. However, this year, it has been the husband's turn to play the nurse, and take off from work to ferry me to the hospital twice a week. Its been futile so far, the only effect I see is probably the new section coming up in the Manipal Hospital, in all likeliness, funded by the money we have shelled out over the last few months.
I have been diagnosed with Autoimmune Urticaria, which, going by the statistics on the internet is a pretty common ailment. The doctors tell me it is due to my own antibodies acting against me, and has me breaking into hives every other day. The more painful part is the swelling that occurs in different parts of the body like the head, hands,lips or cheeks, which has me looking extremely weird for days together. Unfortunately, I do not know anybody who has had any experience of this sort. Do any of you know about this? I solicit advice, experiences, treatment.. anything. This is what my sidebar looks like.
With so many hits, I do feel hopeful!
I have been diagnosed with Autoimmune Urticaria, which, going by the statistics on the internet is a pretty common ailment. The doctors tell me it is due to my own antibodies acting against me, and has me breaking into hives every other day. The more painful part is the swelling that occurs in different parts of the body like the head, hands,lips or cheeks, which has me looking extremely weird for days together. Unfortunately, I do not know anybody who has had any experience of this sort. Do any of you know about this? I solicit advice, experiences, treatment.. anything. This is what my sidebar looks like.
With so many hits, I do feel hopeful!
Friday, July 24, 2009
Hot cuss bunzzz..
..Hot cuss bunzzz
iffofofo daughtenz
givevavava sonz
one-na penny two-a-penny
Hot cuss bunzzz..
Pari sings the rhyme with the 'cuss' word as I try to put her to sleep. The old man glued to the TV outside has no idea what he is missing!
iffofofo daughtenz
givevavava sonz
one-na penny two-a-penny
Hot cuss bunzzz..
Pari sings the rhyme with the 'cuss' word as I try to put her to sleep. The old man glued to the TV outside has no idea what he is missing!
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Things people say..
At home, a random evening..
Pari: Machhar aa gayi
Nani: Fan chala dete hain *supposed to drive off the mosquitoes*
Pari: Hmm...(Thoughfully), Machhar ko garmi lag rahi hai!
In the market, at a baby shop..
Me: bachche ka sipper hai kya?
ShopKeeper: ??
Me: bachchon ko doodh pilane ke liye, cup jaisa.
Nani to Pari: Pari ki bottle crow le gaya hai na(to reinforce the crow-flew-with-bottle story on Pari)
SK: koi baat nahi Madam, hamare paas bottles hain(pulling out feeding bottles)
Nani: *highly amused, rolling eyes*
(This has a context. To wean Pari off the feeding bottle, my mom hid her bottles and said that a crow has taken them away. We were unsure if Pari would buy this, which is why we kept repeating it to make it sound true. The SK was incredibly credulous ;-))
In the husband's office, at a game of pictionary.
Husband:*Draws a cup*
Girl-in-the-team: uhhh.. some more please.
Husband:*draws lips a little away from the cup*
Girl: I got it! 'A kiss in time saves nine.'
Interpretations
Nani: Pehli nazar me aisa jadu kar diya..... oh jaane jaa dono jahan meri baahon me aa.. aa bhi jaa.. *Picking up Pari* 'Baby I love you, baby I love you so much'
These grannies, I tell you!
Teaching numbers to Pari
Me: Pari, ye kya hai?
Pari: 6
Husband: Nahi.. ye 9 hai.
Me: Achcha ab ye batao, ye kya hai?
Pari: Papa batayenge. Papa ko pata hai.*gets off the bed and walks away*
Btw, Pari turns two-and-a-half today. Why is it that babies' half-birthdays are so much more significant than our birthdays. Probably because we have had birthdays over 5 times as many as Pari's half-birthdays! Happy B'day little girl! or do I sing-'Baby I love you'..
ps. The post is in Hindi, I apologize for that. Send in a request, and I'll translate.
Pari: Machhar aa gayi
Nani: Fan chala dete hain *supposed to drive off the mosquitoes*
Pari: Hmm...(Thoughfully), Machhar ko garmi lag rahi hai!
In the market, at a baby shop..
Me: bachche ka sipper hai kya?
ShopKeeper: ??
Me: bachchon ko doodh pilane ke liye, cup jaisa.
Nani to Pari: Pari ki bottle crow le gaya hai na(to reinforce the crow-flew-with-bottle story on Pari)
SK: koi baat nahi Madam, hamare paas bottles hain(pulling out feeding bottles)
Nani: *highly amused, rolling eyes*
(This has a context. To wean Pari off the feeding bottle, my mom hid her bottles and said that a crow has taken them away. We were unsure if Pari would buy this, which is why we kept repeating it to make it sound true. The SK was incredibly credulous ;-))
In the husband's office, at a game of pictionary.
Husband:*Draws a cup*
Girl-in-the-team: uhhh.. some more please.
Husband:*draws lips a little away from the cup*
Girl: I got it! 'A kiss in time saves nine.'
Interpretations
Nani: Pehli nazar me aisa jadu kar diya..... oh jaane jaa dono jahan meri baahon me aa.. aa bhi jaa.. *Picking up Pari* 'Baby I love you, baby I love you so much'
These grannies, I tell you!
Teaching numbers to Pari
Me: Pari, ye kya hai?
Pari: 6
Husband: Nahi.. ye 9 hai.
Me: Achcha ab ye batao, ye kya hai?
Pari: Papa batayenge. Papa ko pata hai.*gets off the bed and walks away*
Btw, Pari turns two-and-a-half today. Why is it that babies' half-birthdays are so much more significant than our birthdays. Probably because we have had birthdays over 5 times as many as Pari's half-birthdays! Happy B'day little girl! or do I sing-'Baby I love you'..
ps. The post is in Hindi, I apologize for that. Send in a request, and I'll translate.
Sunday, July 5, 2009
The world's greatest wonders..
..are the things you end up doing for your kids. Any parent will vouch for it. As if carrying them around in your tummy for those never ending, counted-9-suffered-90-months is not enough, once out, they make you do stuff you wouldn't have imagined in your weirdest dreams. I must have been smoking something really crazy to deliver a baby, without being mentally prepared to clean the drool, the regurgitation and the mess that it made countless times a day. Thankfully, that dreaded phase is mostly over for me.. and just when I imagined there is nothing that a smart girl cannot manage with a not-so-smart maid, THIS came.
The story begins in May.. the last two months were pure bliss for Pari. You see, her grandparents were here for almost one-and-a-half months, and she was at her pampered best. Apart from the grand haul of new toys, dresses and trinkets, there was a huge variety of savoury she could gorge on at any given point of time. Dada-Dadi, and Nani immediately after, came loaded with laddus, mathris and sweets enough to provide one square meal to half the city. 'Half', because we live in Bangalore. And during their stay, anything that Pari showed the slightest inclination for, was subjected to mass production, the only constraint being the expiry date of the said eatable. After they left, I guarded them savory fiercely, ensuring they lasted as long as possible, depriving even the father of the laddus/mathri meant for the child.
It was smooth sailing for us till last night, when the last of the mathris was consumed. In the morning today, Pari demanded more of them. We offered her a laddu, and she was more than happy to oblige. However, after downing 2 laddus, she came back for the mathri thing. Now, I was faced with the daunting task of making 'mathri', something I have only 'eaten' for the last 25 yrs. I had some idea off course, like it is made of Sooji(Semolina) and needs to be deep fried. I have seen my mom making it like a thousand times, and it did look simple then. To give you a background, I got married almost three-and-a-half years ago, and though my tryst with cooking started only then, I like to believe I have fared pretty well. In any case, my take on cooking is same as on most such things. I really never found it challenging enough.. If half the world can cook, there is no reason why I cannot. The only edge which most people might have over me is practice, which I can compensate for by dropping in a little brains. I mean, I cannot qualify as a chef in a star rated restaurant, but I can fend for myself. I digress, but all I mean to say is that at that time, I did not find the task difficult, though now I do have different thoughts;-) The problem is, somehow the task did not sound right for me, I mean it sounds too elderly.. while I am still a comfortable distance from the big 30. I bake cakes for Pari, but Mathri doesn't fit in the picture. I think this is because I have mostly seen my grandmother make such things, and recently my mother, since she has also qualified for it with Pari's arrival, but I am nobody's granny. It just doesn't go well, with the way I perceive myself, and with the 24 inch-Lewi's Diva skinny jeans I am wearing. Probably, I should ask the husband to exchange it for half-a-dozen cotton saris which I can wear while making them mathri's for the dear daughter. All said and done, I did make Mathri's for Pari.. and for people who have the privilege of knowing me personally and are yet to collect their jaws from the floor, I not-so-proudly present you a picture of the same. What next, besan laddus perhaps!
p.s. I may not be proud of it, but am still open to any compliments which you may have ;-)
The story begins in May.. the last two months were pure bliss for Pari. You see, her grandparents were here for almost one-and-a-half months, and she was at her pampered best. Apart from the grand haul of new toys, dresses and trinkets, there was a huge variety of savoury she could gorge on at any given point of time. Dada-Dadi, and Nani immediately after, came loaded with laddus, mathris and sweets enough to provide one square meal to half the city. 'Half', because we live in Bangalore. And during their stay, anything that Pari showed the slightest inclination for, was subjected to mass production, the only constraint being the expiry date of the said eatable. After they left, I guarded them savory fiercely, ensuring they lasted as long as possible, depriving even the father of the laddus/mathri meant for the child.
It was smooth sailing for us till last night, when the last of the mathris was consumed. In the morning today, Pari demanded more of them. We offered her a laddu, and she was more than happy to oblige. However, after downing 2 laddus, she came back for the mathri thing. Now, I was faced with the daunting task of making 'mathri', something I have only 'eaten' for the last 25 yrs. I had some idea off course, like it is made of Sooji(Semolina) and needs to be deep fried. I have seen my mom making it like a thousand times, and it did look simple then. To give you a background, I got married almost three-and-a-half years ago, and though my tryst with cooking started only then, I like to believe I have fared pretty well. In any case, my take on cooking is same as on most such things. I really never found it challenging enough.. If half the world can cook, there is no reason why I cannot. The only edge which most people might have over me is practice, which I can compensate for by dropping in a little brains. I mean, I cannot qualify as a chef in a star rated restaurant, but I can fend for myself. I digress, but all I mean to say is that at that time, I did not find the task difficult, though now I do have different thoughts;-) The problem is, somehow the task did not sound right for me, I mean it sounds too elderly.. while I am still a comfortable distance from the big 30. I bake cakes for Pari, but Mathri doesn't fit in the picture. I think this is because I have mostly seen my grandmother make such things, and recently my mother, since she has also qualified for it with Pari's arrival, but I am nobody's granny. It just doesn't go well, with the way I perceive myself, and with the 24 inch-Lewi's Diva skinny jeans I am wearing. Probably, I should ask the husband to exchange it for half-a-dozen cotton saris which I can wear while making them mathri's for the dear daughter. All said and done, I did make Mathri's for Pari.. and for people who have the privilege of knowing me personally and are yet to collect their jaws from the floor, I not-so-proudly present you a picture of the same. What next, besan laddus perhaps!
p.s. I may not be proud of it, but am still open to any compliments which you may have ;-)
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
I am growing old..
Oh yes.. some people I know would be overjoyed with the confession. A reminder to such folks -- all of us are growing older with each passing day.. so are you, so is my little girl. She is 2 years,5 months old now against the 2 yrs, 4mnths last month. So much to wipe off the smiles! But I do feel old today, old enough to preach people the importance of honesty, old enough to disapprove the lack of integrity in the younger lot, and old enough make remarks like -"In our times.. blah blah blah!". Is it really so long back? It is less than 6 years since I graduated!
Let me tell you what happened today, so that my rant starts making at least some sense. As I already mentioned sometime back, my company is recruiting these days. For me, that translates to a couple of interviews per day, out of which few are held over the telephone. The intent is to perform an initial screening and save the candidate the trouble of having to come over if we do not see much promise. I did one of these telephonic interviews today. The profile of the candidate was good, a fresher from a premier institute and I went in thinking that this is going to be easy. We would be calling this person for a personal interview in any case. We exchanged niceties, and I asked him about his academic interests. He mentioned something about OS and logic. Fine, I said, we shall start with some puzzles. I gave him a question, and waited patiently for him to come up with an answer. He talked out loudly while working on the problem. I understand that, some people talk to themselves rather loudly especially when they are trying to concentrate hard. Then I heard another voice.I felt the phone line is playing tricks.. Again, I heard 2 voices at the same time. I grew confused, and asked the candidate if he had somebody with him? No Madam, pat came the reply. I blamed myself for hearing imaginary voices. But then, it happened again. I started hearing very keenly. There were at least 2 more people on the other end helping the candidate solve the puzzle. I could have done away with the interview there itself, but just to be sure, I asked him some more, similar questions. The hushed voices kept filtering through his voice. The interview ended in around 20 min, and I was already fuming by then. This is so not done! How badly can you need a job to fall to such levels? And how optimistic can you be to believe you could get away with this? He is a fresher with 2 placement offers already made.. I would have called him over for the next round with eyes shut. God knows how badly we need good people, but to qualify as 'good', you need to be honest first. To cut a long story short, I just returned to my place, gave him the lowest rating and sent the feedback across. Do you think I did the right thing?
Let me tell you what happened today, so that my rant starts making at least some sense. As I already mentioned sometime back, my company is recruiting these days. For me, that translates to a couple of interviews per day, out of which few are held over the telephone. The intent is to perform an initial screening and save the candidate the trouble of having to come over if we do not see much promise. I did one of these telephonic interviews today. The profile of the candidate was good, a fresher from a premier institute and I went in thinking that this is going to be easy. We would be calling this person for a personal interview in any case. We exchanged niceties, and I asked him about his academic interests. He mentioned something about OS and logic. Fine, I said, we shall start with some puzzles. I gave him a question, and waited patiently for him to come up with an answer. He talked out loudly while working on the problem. I understand that, some people talk to themselves rather loudly especially when they are trying to concentrate hard. Then I heard another voice.I felt the phone line is playing tricks.. Again, I heard 2 voices at the same time. I grew confused, and asked the candidate if he had somebody with him? No Madam, pat came the reply. I blamed myself for hearing imaginary voices. But then, it happened again. I started hearing very keenly. There were at least 2 more people on the other end helping the candidate solve the puzzle. I could have done away with the interview there itself, but just to be sure, I asked him some more, similar questions. The hushed voices kept filtering through his voice. The interview ended in around 20 min, and I was already fuming by then. This is so not done! How badly can you need a job to fall to such levels? And how optimistic can you be to believe you could get away with this? He is a fresher with 2 placement offers already made.. I would have called him over for the next round with eyes shut. God knows how badly we need good people, but to qualify as 'good', you need to be honest first. To cut a long story short, I just returned to my place, gave him the lowest rating and sent the feedback across. Do you think I did the right thing?
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Today is the big day!
Pari starts school today. I generally do not record daily activities, or development points over here like first steps, words or teeth. But this had to be an exception, probably because I attach far more importance to the said milestone than any physical achievement. The thought of my little girl embarking on the life long journey of learning gives me goosebumps. And I wonder, where did my teeny-weeny baby disappear.. this classic mushy momma woe always reminds me of the Calvin cartoon where he performs magic with a toaster. Calvin puts in a bread and it disappears. What comes back is the toast! Bad comparison? I know, sigh! Guess I am too excited to talk sense.. lets just do with some pictures.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Random thoughts on recession, hiring and firing..
We have a recruitment drive going on in the office. Now, me and the husband, both of us generally carry our work home, but not our offices, meaning we hardly discuss official matters at home. This, despite the fact that he was a colleague before he transitioned to be a spouse and we still work for similar organizations in similar capabilities. But when it is things like hiring and firing, we do spill over the beans. He expressed surprise at my company hiring so soon after doing away with some 10% of the employees, barely 4 months back. This has got me thinking. Somehow, I had not put things in perspective and considered it a general activity till I discussed it with him. How do I feel about this hiring.. Strangely, I have almost the same feelings as I had at the time of firing. My general feelings about most things are a little mixed. There is no extremely happy news, and no absolutely sad tidings, which means I am never jumping with joy, and not shedding buckets of tears ever. I guess I have been conditioned to think in this manner by my parents, and I cannot thank them enough for it. When the company was firing like crazy, I did not feel scared, and not that disturbed. I would agree that circumstances vary, and I might be better off than some other people who faced the music. I mean I have a husband who earns as much, some savings to keep us going for a few months, probably an year if we behave responsibly. Our parents can still support us, for sometime at least.. we have no loans, the flip side being that after working for so many years, almost always with a decent pay package, we still live in a rented apartment. The only *liability* we have is my little daughter, and I hate to call her that. She is an asset to me, and I have put the best years of my life in order to earn her. Women prime at 25, isn't that the saying. I digress.. but I seriously think that a correction was required in the IT industry. People have been taking a lot of things for granted. This served as a rude reminder that your job is not meant to be one of those things. It was really unfortunate for the victims, they were penalized for no obvious fault of theirs but at the same time, it did a hell lot of good to the others. It makes me sad to see people not giving half their potential to their jobs. Now, this is a personal observation I made during my years in the software industry, it might be entirely different for other people. Post the job cuts, we did lose resources, but the ones still employed came out so much more responsible and matured. Now that the company is recruiting again, we will get additional resources but it is only when the current ones keep the momentum going that we shall benefit from it. Also, recruitment at such a big scale means loads of interviews and extra effort on our part. For me, it will be trying to squeeze more in the already hectic schedule. All the same, I feel it is a healthy sign of recovery from recession. Here's looking forward to an eventful week.. Resumes anyone?
Friday, June 5, 2009
I wish to be..
..fifteen again! I have been in a strange mood for a couple of weeks now, feeling like writing a lot of nonsensical, not-so-pleasant, unhappy-with-life stuff. At such times, I really regret having shared my blog with people I know. I mean I had managed to keep it under covers for over an year, and then someday, suddenly I had this feeling of well-being, the feeling that everything has finally fallen into place and I would not need to sulk in a dark corner ever.. read, put up an anonymous post, that my life is in a shape good enough to be shared with the world. Also, I was inspired by the way people use their blogs to log and share their experiences, their pictures and their babies' antics. Yes.. that reminds me, it was when I started writing about Pari and posting her pictures that I shared the blog. And now, I know that the family follows. My little cousins do, even though they never comment. And I cannot write things that could potentially scandalize them.
The last paragraph was a digression, if you can call it that, considering that my whole intention is to ramble. Today is one of those days, when I feel lonelier than Eve and miss home immensely. I wish to be 15 years old again, and sit by the window in what used to be my room, overlooking the garden, some random book in my lap, our National-Panasonic radio playing old Hindi cinema music in the background. I wish it would be an afternoon in July, the surroundings all green because of the shower in the morning, the sky still overcast, and the wind flipping over the pages of my book while I look out from the window. I wish to go back to the days when I had no job, no financial concerns, no husband, no baby, no excess baggage, and no worldly wisdom.. just my parents and my grandparents, people who love me unconditionally for what I am. And yes, my little sis who would be 2 years old and worships the ground that I walk. She would be my daughter's age, but mean much more to me than her. My baby sister was so unlike Pari. She was much more innocent, had large eyes and threw no tantrums that I can remember of. Being the third child with siblings 10 years your senior, makes you different. But it surely doesn't make you any lesser. Pari would never know what having an elder sister means.. Vatu always looked up to me, and with far more reverence than I can ever expect out of Pari. Here here.. I always get carried away when I talk of Vatu. However, wishes are not horses yet, so I guess I would wait some more to fly.. and sleep through the night with an aching heart..
The last paragraph was a digression, if you can call it that, considering that my whole intention is to ramble. Today is one of those days, when I feel lonelier than Eve and miss home immensely. I wish to be 15 years old again, and sit by the window in what used to be my room, overlooking the garden, some random book in my lap, our National-Panasonic radio playing old Hindi cinema music in the background. I wish it would be an afternoon in July, the surroundings all green because of the shower in the morning, the sky still overcast, and the wind flipping over the pages of my book while I look out from the window. I wish to go back to the days when I had no job, no financial concerns, no husband, no baby, no excess baggage, and no worldly wisdom.. just my parents and my grandparents, people who love me unconditionally for what I am. And yes, my little sis who would be 2 years old and worships the ground that I walk. She would be my daughter's age, but mean much more to me than her. My baby sister was so unlike Pari. She was much more innocent, had large eyes and threw no tantrums that I can remember of. Being the third child with siblings 10 years your senior, makes you different. But it surely doesn't make you any lesser. Pari would never know what having an elder sister means.. Vatu always looked up to me, and with far more reverence than I can ever expect out of Pari. Here here.. I always get carried away when I talk of Vatu. However, wishes are not horses yet, so I guess I would wait some more to fly.. and sleep through the night with an aching heart..
Thursday, May 28, 2009
After a long time..
..I am back to blogging. The last few weeks have been terribly hectic leaving me with little time to blog, which I shamelessly flick from the already insufficient hours spent in the office, and then end up spending it gleefully, catching up with all the blogs in the world, save mine. Over the last month, I have logged into the blogger only to go to the dashboard and check the reading list. Now, it is said we should listen twice as much as we talk, the classic 2 ears and 1 tongue adage.. does it apply for blogging as well? In that case, we have 10 fingers to type and just 2 eyes to read, should I be allowed to read a post only after writing 5 of those? Trust me to pick up the most insane, senseless arguments.. And ramble.. That was surely not the intent of this post!
Last night, we met some of the husband's batch mates from college. One of them, AS, happens to be our ex-colleague as well. I have always found this particular person very inspiring. He has done some very unconventional things which require much more courage than I can ever hope for, but that is yet another story. Over the dinner, we recalled this little incident from the days of yore which I would like to share here. This goes back to 2005 when I was committed but not married. We were in the same team, and sat around 50 feet apart. On the messenger-
Me: I am getting engaged.
AS: Congratulations! So many people getting married these days...
Me: Is it?
AS: Oh yes. A friend got engaged just last week.
Me: Do I know him?
AS: You might. He is employed here. Would you know AJ in the XYZ team?
Me: ??
AS: Wait, let me send you the engagement pic. They make a nice pair.
Me: *Scampering off to his place despite a minor heart attack*
I reach his desk in a split second, he has the picture already open by then. It has me and the then-fiance-now-husband sitting in Pizza Hut. He grins sheepishly, too embarrassed to even apologize.
Open ended questions-
1. The entire office knew about us, why was he so blissfully unaware?
2. Even if he couldn't recognize me in the picture(though there is really no reason for it), does he expect a North Indian girl to get engaged in a Pizza joint, dressed in jeans and an almost off-shoulder red top?
3. What qualified him to comment on the pair, calling it 'nice', when he did not even look at the girl properly?
4. Why did he offer to share a picture with me in which he had, in all probability, no genuine interest?
These men can be really weird.. stay warned!!
Edited to add: Oh I know the answer to the last one.. he was sharing the picture to help me recall who 'AJ' was!
Last night, we met some of the husband's batch mates from college. One of them, AS, happens to be our ex-colleague as well. I have always found this particular person very inspiring. He has done some very unconventional things which require much more courage than I can ever hope for, but that is yet another story. Over the dinner, we recalled this little incident from the days of yore which I would like to share here. This goes back to 2005 when I was committed but not married. We were in the same team, and sat around 50 feet apart. On the messenger-
Me: I am getting engaged.
AS: Congratulations! So many people getting married these days...
Me: Is it?
AS: Oh yes. A friend got engaged just last week.
Me: Do I know him?
AS: You might. He is employed here. Would you know AJ in the XYZ team?
Me: ??
AS: Wait, let me send you the engagement pic. They make a nice pair.
Me: *Scampering off to his place despite a minor heart attack*
I reach his desk in a split second, he has the picture already open by then. It has me and the then-fiance-now-husband sitting in Pizza Hut. He grins sheepishly, too embarrassed to even apologize.
Open ended questions-
1. The entire office knew about us, why was he so blissfully unaware?
2. Even if he couldn't recognize me in the picture(though there is really no reason for it), does he expect a North Indian girl to get engaged in a Pizza joint, dressed in jeans and an almost off-shoulder red top?
3. What qualified him to comment on the pair, calling it 'nice', when he did not even look at the girl properly?
4. Why did he offer to share a picture with me in which he had, in all probability, no genuine interest?
These men can be really weird.. stay warned!!
Edited to add: Oh I know the answer to the last one.. he was sharing the picture to help me recall who 'AJ' was!
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Tagged again..
This time by lostonthestreet. It is again a nice tag about books but not so intuitive for me at the moment. I have hardly read anything significant in the last 3 years or so, and most of it in Hindi simply to stay in touch with my mother tongue. Even Pari has some little Hindi books, quite hard to find here, thanks to her mother's obsession with the language. Anyways, I'll do this tag mostly with English books except where it can't be helped.. like the first point itself :)
1) What author do you own the most books by?
Premchand, Bill Watterson(if you count CalvinnHobbes as books).
2) What book do you own the most copies of?
Three men in a boat - three copies : my mom borrowed mine before I could finish which is why I bought another one, my husband also has one.
3) Did it bother you that both those questions ended with prepositions?
No.. I hardly noticed.
4) What fictional character are you secretly in love with?
This has to be Calvin! Rhett Butler comes second.. And yes.. Mr.Darcy remains the childhood fantasy :)
5) What book have you read the most times in your life?
Totto Chan.
6) What was your favorite book when you were ten years old?
Love story :P Belonged to my parents, and I got hold of it somehow.. Officially, it is Jane Eyre.
7) What is the worst book you’ve read in the past year?
5 mistakes of my life.. I made my biggest bothering to read it..
8) What is the best book you’ve read in the past year?
First They Killed My Father
9) If you could force everyone to read one book, what would it be?
To Sir, with love.
10) Who deserves to win the next Nobel Prize for literature?
Can't comment.. Wonder why Premchand did not win it ever..
11) What book would you most like to see made into a movie?
Rebecca.. there is already a movie for it, but I haven't seen it yet.
12) What book would you least like to see made into a movie?
The fountainhead, they have already made a movie out of it, sigh!
13) Describe your weirdest dream involving a writer, book, or literary character.
Mila 18 : I had horrible dreams while reading it
14) What is the most lowbrow book you’ve read as an adult?
Sidney Sheldon's - so many of them.
15) What is the most difficult book you’ve ever read?
A Suitable Boy - simply because it was so huge! Technically there was this book, with Bathsheba as the central character, can someone help me with the name please?
Edited to add : Far from the maddening crowd. Thanks M-I-L!
16) Shakespeare, Milton, or Chaucer?
Milton.
17) Austen or Eliot?
Austen.
18) What is the biggest or most embarrassing gap in your reading?
Harry Potter.. my little cousins consider me illiterate because of this :(
19) What is your favorite novel?
The Fountainhead.. did I hear people cry 'ewww'? I still like it.
20) Play?
Arms and the man.. seriously, I don't remember many except off course those by Shakespeare, as part of the curriculum.
21) Short story?
Somerset Maugham - All
22) Work of non-fiction?
Totto Chan, again!
23) Who is your favorite writer?
Now now.. this has to be Premchand.
Okie.. now I tag Sundar, Banno,thirtysixandcounting to do this. Tell me your taste in books.
1) What author do you own the most books by?
Premchand, Bill Watterson(if you count CalvinnHobbes as books).
2) What book do you own the most copies of?
Three men in a boat - three copies : my mom borrowed mine before I could finish which is why I bought another one, my husband also has one.
3) Did it bother you that both those questions ended with prepositions?
No.. I hardly noticed.
4) What fictional character are you secretly in love with?
This has to be Calvin! Rhett Butler comes second.. And yes.. Mr.Darcy remains the childhood fantasy :)
5) What book have you read the most times in your life?
Totto Chan.
6) What was your favorite book when you were ten years old?
Love story :P Belonged to my parents, and I got hold of it somehow.. Officially, it is Jane Eyre.
7) What is the worst book you’ve read in the past year?
5 mistakes of my life.. I made my biggest bothering to read it..
8) What is the best book you’ve read in the past year?
First They Killed My Father
9) If you could force everyone to read one book, what would it be?
To Sir, with love.
10) Who deserves to win the next Nobel Prize for literature?
Can't comment.. Wonder why Premchand did not win it ever..
11) What book would you most like to see made into a movie?
Rebecca.. there is already a movie for it, but I haven't seen it yet.
12) What book would you least like to see made into a movie?
The fountainhead, they have already made a movie out of it, sigh!
13) Describe your weirdest dream involving a writer, book, or literary character.
Mila 18 : I had horrible dreams while reading it
14) What is the most lowbrow book you’ve read as an adult?
Sidney Sheldon's - so many of them.
15) What is the most difficult book you’ve ever read?
A Suitable Boy - simply because it was so huge! Technically there was this book, with Bathsheba as the central character, can someone help me with the name please?
Edited to add : Far from the maddening crowd. Thanks M-I-L!
16) Shakespeare, Milton, or Chaucer?
Milton.
17) Austen or Eliot?
Austen.
18) What is the biggest or most embarrassing gap in your reading?
Harry Potter.. my little cousins consider me illiterate because of this :(
19) What is your favorite novel?
The Fountainhead.. did I hear people cry 'ewww'? I still like it.
20) Play?
Arms and the man.. seriously, I don't remember many except off course those by Shakespeare, as part of the curriculum.
21) Short story?
Somerset Maugham - All
22) Work of non-fiction?
Totto Chan, again!
23) Who is your favorite writer?
Now now.. this has to be Premchand.
Okie.. now I tag Sundar, Banno,thirtysixandcounting to do this. Tell me your taste in books.
Monday, April 20, 2009
Around the world in 80 clicks...
Sundar tagged me to do this one, originated by HBM. I know its rather late, considering half of the world is already through with it. However, it is my first tag(thanks Sundar!)and a really nice one at that, so I don't want to miss it for anything! 5 things that I love about being a mother.. hmmm...now this has me thinking. I have been a mother for a little over 2 years now, and so many thoughts come rushing to me as I write this post. Like all moms, I love motherhood for all the hugs, kisses and warmth it brings. However, for this post, let me dig deeper and try listing things that are more specific.
1. Motherhood has brought me closer to my husband's family(they are my family as much but I really don't know how to put it in words). With Pari, I get a feeling of greater belonging, to the extent that I feel more a part of his family than my own! At the same time, the husband no longer takes me for granted, since motherhood ensures he does not get much of me.
2. Having a baby has made me responsible, alert and disciplined. I can no longer afford to spend time randomly browsing websites or gossiping around, nor do I forget little things or sleep like a log. I love the sense of control, the confidence that motherhood has given me.
3. It is an instant image booster! Among my colleagues, most people my age do not have babies, and to make matters worse, I don't even look my age. Pari is my trump card, tables turn the moment I mention her. It is funny to see shocked faces, especially when they belong to overzealous men.. ha!
4. An unfair advantage that I get out of motherhood is being judged by my daughter's looks. My mom had my pics replaced with Pari's the day she got born. Now, whoever has not seen me in the last 15 years, imagines that I am extremely pretty :P
5. And last, but not the least.. it is things like these that make having a baby absolute fun. Who else, other than your own baby would allow you to give her a hair cut :)
Needless to mention, the biggest reason for which I love motherhood remains my little, sunny daughter, who has brought so much joy and sunshine in our lives. I tag Banno, Asaan and Blink and miss to do this.
1. Motherhood has brought me closer to my husband's family(they are my family as much but I really don't know how to put it in words). With Pari, I get a feeling of greater belonging, to the extent that I feel more a part of his family than my own! At the same time, the husband no longer takes me for granted, since motherhood ensures he does not get much of me.
2. Having a baby has made me responsible, alert and disciplined. I can no longer afford to spend time randomly browsing websites or gossiping around, nor do I forget little things or sleep like a log. I love the sense of control, the confidence that motherhood has given me.
3. It is an instant image booster! Among my colleagues, most people my age do not have babies, and to make matters worse, I don't even look my age. Pari is my trump card, tables turn the moment I mention her. It is funny to see shocked faces, especially when they belong to overzealous men.. ha!
4. An unfair advantage that I get out of motherhood is being judged by my daughter's looks. My mom had my pics replaced with Pari's the day she got born. Now, whoever has not seen me in the last 15 years, imagines that I am extremely pretty :P
5. And last, but not the least.. it is things like these that make having a baby absolute fun. Who else, other than your own baby would allow you to give her a hair cut :)
Needless to mention, the biggest reason for which I love motherhood remains my little, sunny daughter, who has brought so much joy and sunshine in our lives. I tag Banno, Asaan and Blink and miss to do this.
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Recession Updates!
Got this in the mail today, and found it amusing.. So, sharing it with all.. Whoever thought of it, please do not sue me, I am only bringing appreciation to your work :)
1. Ali Baba and the forty thieves are now Ali Baba and the thirty thieves. Ten were laid off..
2. Batman and Robin are now Batman and Pedro. Batman fired Robin and hired Pedro because Pedro was willing to work twice the hours at the same rate.
3. Iron man now "air-pooling" with Superman to save fuel costs.
4. Women finally marrying for love, and not money
5. Q: With the current market turmoil, what's the easiest way to make a small fortune?
A: Start off with a large one.
6. The credit crunch is getting bad isn't it? I mean, I let my brother borrow $10 a couple of weeks back, it turns out I'm now America’s third biggest lender.
7. Q: Why have Dubai real estate agents stopped looking out of the window in the morning?
A: Because otherwise they'd have nothing to do in the afternoon.
8. Q: What's the difference between an American and a Zimbabwean?
A: In a few weeks, nothing.
9. Dow Jones is re-branded as "Down Jones".
10. Quote from a Wall Street banker: This is worse than divorce. I’ve lost half of my assets and I still have my wife…!!!!..
ps : On an unrelated note, I have enabled Adsense on the blog, which effectively means that I would be paid some amount if enough people click on the advertisements displayed on the right side and bottom of the post. Since I have a very selective readership, in order to make up for the numbers, request each of you to be kind enough to click at least 50 times on each of the ad's. Every penny counts in these times of recession..
pps : First thing in the morning, I wished the husband a very happy 'Husbands' Day'. Also, promised to cook a grand meal to celebrate 'his special day'. Poor thing, he is spending the day dreaming of the dinner at night. For people still wondering why, A Happy Fools' Day to you :)
1. Ali Baba and the forty thieves are now Ali Baba and the thirty thieves. Ten were laid off..
2. Batman and Robin are now Batman and Pedro. Batman fired Robin and hired Pedro because Pedro was willing to work twice the hours at the same rate.
3. Iron man now "air-pooling" with Superman to save fuel costs.
4. Women finally marrying for love, and not money
5. Q: With the current market turmoil, what's the easiest way to make a small fortune?
A: Start off with a large one.
6. The credit crunch is getting bad isn't it? I mean, I let my brother borrow $10 a couple of weeks back, it turns out I'm now America’s third biggest lender.
7. Q: Why have Dubai real estate agents stopped looking out of the window in the morning?
A: Because otherwise they'd have nothing to do in the afternoon.
8. Q: What's the difference between an American and a Zimbabwean?
A: In a few weeks, nothing.
9. Dow Jones is re-branded as "Down Jones".
10. Quote from a Wall Street banker: This is worse than divorce. I’ve lost half of my assets and I still have my wife…!!!!..
ps : On an unrelated note, I have enabled Adsense on the blog, which effectively means that I would be paid some amount if enough people click on the advertisements displayed on the right side and bottom of the post. Since I have a very selective readership, in order to make up for the numbers, request each of you to be kind enough to click at least 50 times on each of the ad's. Every penny counts in these times of recession..
pps : First thing in the morning, I wished the husband a very happy 'Husbands' Day'. Also, promised to cook a grand meal to celebrate 'his special day'. Poor thing, he is spending the day dreaming of the dinner at night. For people still wondering why, A Happy Fools' Day to you :)
Friday, March 20, 2009
In the bedroom, Thursday evening@10.30 pm...
Don't expect too much! The title was only to draw attention :D
1. Pari is reading out numbers. She flips one page of her board book at a time, and calls out the next number from memory--
One
Two
Thee (No, I did not miss the 'r', this is what she said.)
Phone (Oh really?)
Five (Correct for a change..)
Sick (how sad:P)
Semen (yuck.. enough!!)
2. Husband is groggy, more due to the 2 cans of Fosters downed during the evening than sleep. The light in the bathroom is already switched on. He puts it off, goes inside, slams the door shut, does his stuff and returns.. and yes, turns on the light once again before crashing on the bed. Thankfully, he remembers to flush!
3. Me, in a state of pure bliss, listening to 'Arziyaan' from Delhi 6 for the nth time. God bless ARR! Also, absent-mindedly reviewing some code which was apparently written in a stupor, like after a couple of tequila shots and does not deserve any more attention..
1. Pari is reading out numbers. She flips one page of her board book at a time, and calls out the next number from memory--
One
Two
Thee (No, I did not miss the 'r', this is what she said.)
Phone (Oh really?)
Five (Correct for a change..)
Sick (how sad:P)
Semen (yuck.. enough!!)
2. Husband is groggy, more due to the 2 cans of Fosters downed during the evening than sleep. The light in the bathroom is already switched on. He puts it off, goes inside, slams the door shut, does his stuff and returns.. and yes, turns on the light once again before crashing on the bed. Thankfully, he remembers to flush!
3. Me, in a state of pure bliss, listening to 'Arziyaan' from Delhi 6 for the nth time. God bless ARR! Also, absent-mindedly reviewing some code which was apparently written in a stupor, like after a couple of tequila shots and does not deserve any more attention..
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Shunning anonymity..
After much deliberation, I have finally decided its high time I make an appearance on the blog. Most people who visit this do not happen to know me personally, and I guess a picture will help them relate better to the blog, and me. So here am I, this is me.. in flesh and bone, and some colours :)
Just to confirm that you got it right, I am the one in the center, with funky orange hair, blue eyes and very 'rosy' cheeks, wearing green and pink (3.5K raw silk suit, "sobs"), trying to call the husband to my rescue(the cellphone in the right hand). I am surrounded by my colleagues, who caught me while I was trying to sneak out of the office. And this picture was taken and circulated through the company, proof of the triumph of evil over innocence, notice the grin on their faces, specially the ladies. Happy Holi!
Just to confirm that you got it right, I am the one in the center, with funky orange hair, blue eyes and very 'rosy' cheeks, wearing green and pink (3.5K raw silk suit, "sobs"), trying to call the husband to my rescue(the cellphone in the right hand). I am surrounded by my colleagues, who caught me while I was trying to sneak out of the office. And this picture was taken and circulated through the company, proof of the triumph of evil over innocence, notice the grin on their faces, specially the ladies. Happy Holi!
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Mumma Barber
Here is one who doesn't take the slightest offence at being called a 'Barber'. If somebody upgrades it to 'hair-stylist', my eyes would surely mist with overflowing gratitude at this undeserved honour. I know absolutely nothing about styling hair, and neither am I interested in knowing. What I like is the snip-snip of it. One of my darkest, deepest desires since childhood has been to cut somebody's hair. I had once secretly cut my baby sister's hair, and mom couldn't stop wondering why she started looking so weird all of a sudden. The opportunity came knocking again yesterday, after 15 long years in the shape of another little girl, only this time I wasn't scared of the subject's mom, so it needn't be clandestine. My golden girl happily provided me with the ideal client - agreeable, enthusiastic, and non-critical. If only she had been less excited, more still, and not so keen on picking up already cut hair from the floor while more was being cut, she would have been a barber's dream! But then, that is too much to expect at her age, and I am not complaining. For all those wondering why and already jumping to conclusions, giving her a hair cut at home was not to combat recession. VLCC does it for a measly 100 bucks, for babies that is. But Pari hates hair cuts at salons. The moment the woman with scissors touches her hair, she has a major meltdown. And each time, for those 4 snips, she cries her little heart out. It is simply not worth the pain, which is why we keep defering the cut till her hair crosses over her broad forehead, drips into eyes and crawls into her ears, and she has to literally peek from behind the mop to watch 9XM. Yesterday, while I was clipping her nails, she took away her hand to scratch her head. It was then that it came to me, if I can do this, I can do that as well. So as soon as the nails were done, I took her for a quick bath, and washed her hair. Then, while it was still wet, I gave her the hair cut. It was fun, and both of us enjoyed it immensely. Pari laughed heartily when she saw hair falling from her head. I tell you, cutting hair is easy, and safe as long as you spare the ears.. The pics follow, just in case you wish to appreciate my effort :)
Before
After
Before
After
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Monday, February 23, 2009
Monday Blues...
..what are those? This is the advantage of working over the entire weekend. Monday becomes just another day, and I don't feel bad about it at all. I remember the weekends that started friday afternoon and were so much fun, they made the following Monday appear an impending calamity with an effect similar to PMS on me. Not anymore, I have successfully conquered 'the Monday Blues'. Attaining Nirvana suddenly looks so much more feasible, hmm... next on the list.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Isn't it remarkable..
..how some things remind us of so many other completely unrelated things, places, people and times.. Ever tried tracing back to find why, how? I do it a lot, and the association brings back so much more in terms of memories.. like this song. I heard it today after a really long time, and in one shot it reminded me of a mostly out-of-touch friend, my ex-roommate, my M-I-L n bro', my previous work place, the first day of our Malaysia trip and an ipod that I did not even remember possessing. Its rather interesting to relate them all to this vintage, classic gem of a song. To begin with, my friend S, who was just a colleague then, caught me humming it over a coffee break, and corrected me with the tune. He left me stunned, to say the least! Firstly, he is a South Indian, born and brought up in Bangalore, always talks in Kannada/English and I did not expect him to know a rarely heard, Hindi devotional song back from the 50's. And then, what surprised me even more was his rendition of it. I had no idea that he could sing so well, that he has such a beautiful voice and a keen sense of music to top it. For the uninitiated, it is not an easy song, mostly in the lower octave, and climbs only in the second stanza. Needless to say, I was completely bowled over. We soon became friends, courtesy an exceptionally common interest in Hindi film music. Even now, whenever we meet, which is only about once an year, I don't let him off without singing this one for me. Ok.. I got carried away a bit.. With the other people it is rather simple. I sang this song on the first day after my wedding, and my M-I-L liked it lots. She still asks me to sing it at times. And my roomie made fun of me for singing such an outdated song, that too one that is devotional. Brother actually went to the extent of saying that I did not deserve the Ipod if this is what I put in it. I downloaded this song from the internet after a vigorous search the day I joined my previous organization, since I hardly had anything else to do. Therefore it also reminds me of my first day there. And finally, the Malaysia trip.. the husband caught me unaware, absent-mindedly humming this and recorded it on the handycam. So our VCD for the trip opens with 'Darshan do' in yours truly's voice :)
p.s. I have been trying to upload the song to esnips since last week.. never occured to me that I could find it on YouTube. And surprise surprise.. the comments there tell me that Slumdog Millionaire has an adaptation of it!
p.s. I have been trying to upload the song to esnips since last week.. never occured to me that I could find it on YouTube. And surprise surprise.. the comments there tell me that Slumdog Millionaire has an adaptation of it!
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Getting crafty..
It is our wedding anniversary tomorrow.. and as always, I have been racking my brains for the past 10 days, for what might be the ideal present. I like to work towards a present, and do not go for off-the-shelf stuff unless unavoidable. Now, this makes the otherwise simple job really complicated, especially since I run low on imagination and creativity. For the record, this will be our 3rd anniversary, and we could not celebrate the first 2. So just to make up for the lost occasions, I wanted to buy the spouse a platinum ring engraved with our names, with a solitaire if the budget allowed. Such was the plan till last week, before my organization axed some 10% of the total work-force. What followed were extremely low spirits and a drastic drop in my budget, from INR 25,000 to a meagre 500 rupees. I was more than willing to slash it further, but for anything less than that, the present would have reduced to a flower plucked from the neighbour's bush.. and they don't even plant roses! To cut a long story short, I decided to get crafty, pun intended :) I had wanted to do some glass painting since when I forget, and used this opportunity to fulfill that longing. After much deliberation, I decided upon a personalized calender with 'glass paintings' on transparent plastic sheets. Its come out looking rather childish, especially because I have done the calendar part manually. It would have looked far better with a printed calendar, there are plenty of cool options available on the internet for that but I just wanted to give it a more personal touch. Come to think of it, I could have got this whole personalized calendar thing made up with no effort, very little time, and markedly cheaper by placing an order on any of those websites and uploading a few family pics but I prefer it this way. No more rambling, here's presenting some pics. I know they are not impressive, but just want to share :)
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Pictures : Pari through the second year.
Better late than never.. So here we have Pari's pics taken during the last year, in reverse chronological order.
Pari: The second year: III
Continued from the previous posts here and here.
This year has been a roller coaster ride with my little fairy, and we have had lots of fun with some troubles. Pari fell sick a little too much in the last 6 months, has lost oodles of weight and most of her chubbiness. The worst was the chest infection she caught around 3 months back, and she took 15 days to just get rid of the bug, the recovery took much longer. And then the stomach infection which started the day following my brother's wedding, and got cured only after we returned to Bangalore 2 weeks later. Compared to last year, she is much thinner, lighter and just a little taller. I guess she is falling in line with her parents, both me and husband are slightly built and have been underweight all our lives. Again, I shall not dwell on unpleasant subjects tonight. We shall talk happy. And Pari is by all standards, a healthy, active and happy toddler. I use the word for the first time ever in her context, it was very recently that I realised that calling her a baby might be misleading. I mentioned her to a new colleague who replied that she also has a child. Then, she proceeded to add, that her daughter is not 'so small', since she is 2 yrs old. Well.. so is mine, but I still call her a baby. Sorry, I digress again.. Lemme recall some things that Pari did/still does. One of my favourites is the way she had trouble combining syllables. She could say Papa, Mama but not 'Nani'.. that will be either 'Nana' or 'Nini'. In the same vein, she was reading her rhymes, when I heard her say 'Humpta Dumpta wall'. Or the time when she wished somebody a happy birthday with 'Happaa to you'! Now that she has started saying 'Happy', I miss that 'Happaa' sooo much.. Btw, my mom just called up to wish her an early Birthday, and she just replied with 'Happy Happy'. Probably she wants to wish happiness to all on her birthday.
Pari loves dogs, from the time she was 3 months old. Her favourite toy is still Paltu, who she carries along every where all the time. On top of that, our neighbours have 4 dogs, 2 Great Danes, and 2 Pomeranians. She calls out to them all the time through the window and even talks to them by woofing. No wonder 'Bho-Bho' was one of the first words she uttered. Btw, the first was 'Papa', sigh! And Pari is crazy about children. She calls them all babies, and some kids take it really personally. Like this little girl, around 4 yrs of age that we met at a party, she got so hurt at being called a 'baby' by a 1.5 yrs old. She retorted in a haughty manner: 'Why don't you look at yourself first'.. Off course Pari couldn't get it, she just got a little scared and retracted, but we including the girl's parents had a nice laugh. And then, this concept of temperature that is developing by the hour. I seriously regret the times I said 'hot' before her. And now she knows 'very hot' too.. I give her milk, she says 'thanda', I look curiously at her, she says 'heat'. I go and put it in the microwave for some 15 seconds, and come back with the bottle. She takes the bottle, and says 'very hot'. Can somebody please tell me what is the ideal temperature for milk? And what calamity to expect if it is one degree below or above that?? It is not just milk, but everything, bath-water included. She tests the water before getting into the tub, and invariably finds it hot. Offcourse it is hot, that is precisely why we've got the geyser, but it is what we need to take a nice bath. Probably we need to introduce 'warm' to her as well. She usually goes on with this 'hot' business till I really get hot in the head and dunk her in the tub. Once inside, she forgets all about the temperature and starts enjoying it. Bath times are Pari's favourite. Even in her worst temper, you mention 'nai nai' and she romps to the bathroom. But the endings are always teary.. she never wants to come out of the tub and screams when I pull her out. At times, she wakes up early in the morning, and while we are still sleeping, quietly slips out of the bed and goes straight to the bathroom. We often wake up to the noise of running water. The love of water doesn't end here. The water from her sipper is also used for a mini bath, she drops it all over her little body, with clothes still on. And this leads me to another of her oddities. She hates dressing up. I have heard so many people complaining about their kids being choosy about their dresses, but here I have a baby who chooses "no clothes". The little nudist likes her undergarments though, and doesn't want to take off her vest at any point of time. Apart from that just a diaper does her fine, or more recently shorts. Oh yes, there is this one thing about Pari for which I can't praise her enough. She has been practically diaper-free for the last 6 months or so, except off course at nights. I must have done something really good to have her develop this sense at such an early age.
I don't think I am done, but 3 parts was what I promised and so be it :)
This year has been a roller coaster ride with my little fairy, and we have had lots of fun with some troubles. Pari fell sick a little too much in the last 6 months, has lost oodles of weight and most of her chubbiness. The worst was the chest infection she caught around 3 months back, and she took 15 days to just get rid of the bug, the recovery took much longer. And then the stomach infection which started the day following my brother's wedding, and got cured only after we returned to Bangalore 2 weeks later. Compared to last year, she is much thinner, lighter and just a little taller. I guess she is falling in line with her parents, both me and husband are slightly built and have been underweight all our lives. Again, I shall not dwell on unpleasant subjects tonight. We shall talk happy. And Pari is by all standards, a healthy, active and happy toddler. I use the word for the first time ever in her context, it was very recently that I realised that calling her a baby might be misleading. I mentioned her to a new colleague who replied that she also has a child. Then, she proceeded to add, that her daughter is not 'so small', since she is 2 yrs old. Well.. so is mine, but I still call her a baby. Sorry, I digress again.. Lemme recall some things that Pari did/still does. One of my favourites is the way she had trouble combining syllables. She could say Papa, Mama but not 'Nani'.. that will be either 'Nana' or 'Nini'. In the same vein, she was reading her rhymes, when I heard her say 'Humpta Dumpta wall'. Or the time when she wished somebody a happy birthday with 'Happaa to you'! Now that she has started saying 'Happy', I miss that 'Happaa' sooo much.. Btw, my mom just called up to wish her an early Birthday, and she just replied with 'Happy Happy'. Probably she wants to wish happiness to all on her birthday.
Pari loves dogs, from the time she was 3 months old. Her favourite toy is still Paltu, who she carries along every where all the time. On top of that, our neighbours have 4 dogs, 2 Great Danes, and 2 Pomeranians. She calls out to them all the time through the window and even talks to them by woofing. No wonder 'Bho-Bho' was one of the first words she uttered. Btw, the first was 'Papa', sigh! And Pari is crazy about children. She calls them all babies, and some kids take it really personally. Like this little girl, around 4 yrs of age that we met at a party, she got so hurt at being called a 'baby' by a 1.5 yrs old. She retorted in a haughty manner: 'Why don't you look at yourself first'.. Off course Pari couldn't get it, she just got a little scared and retracted, but we including the girl's parents had a nice laugh. And then, this concept of temperature that is developing by the hour. I seriously regret the times I said 'hot' before her. And now she knows 'very hot' too.. I give her milk, she says 'thanda', I look curiously at her, she says 'heat'. I go and put it in the microwave for some 15 seconds, and come back with the bottle. She takes the bottle, and says 'very hot'. Can somebody please tell me what is the ideal temperature for milk? And what calamity to expect if it is one degree below or above that?? It is not just milk, but everything, bath-water included. She tests the water before getting into the tub, and invariably finds it hot. Offcourse it is hot, that is precisely why we've got the geyser, but it is what we need to take a nice bath. Probably we need to introduce 'warm' to her as well. She usually goes on with this 'hot' business till I really get hot in the head and dunk her in the tub. Once inside, she forgets all about the temperature and starts enjoying it. Bath times are Pari's favourite. Even in her worst temper, you mention 'nai nai' and she romps to the bathroom. But the endings are always teary.. she never wants to come out of the tub and screams when I pull her out. At times, she wakes up early in the morning, and while we are still sleeping, quietly slips out of the bed and goes straight to the bathroom. We often wake up to the noise of running water. The love of water doesn't end here. The water from her sipper is also used for a mini bath, she drops it all over her little body, with clothes still on. And this leads me to another of her oddities. She hates dressing up. I have heard so many people complaining about their kids being choosy about their dresses, but here I have a baby who chooses "no clothes". The little nudist likes her undergarments though, and doesn't want to take off her vest at any point of time. Apart from that just a diaper does her fine, or more recently shorts. Oh yes, there is this one thing about Pari for which I can't praise her enough. She has been practically diaper-free for the last 6 months or so, except off course at nights. I must have done something really good to have her develop this sense at such an early age.
I don't think I am done, but 3 parts was what I promised and so be it :)
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Pari : The second year: II
Continued from the previous post..
When Pari was around fifteen months old, my husband left for a month long office trip. I was all settled with had a comfortable job which payed less, but allowed me to maintain a healthy work-life balance. Also, in January, we got lucky and got a trust-worthy live-in maid who did all the household chores, including excellent cooking and also looked after the baby. This effectively meant that I had absolutely nothing to do apart from my office work, and with the husband gone, all my time and attention post work belonged to my little girl. Now, this led to a major turn in events. It might interest you to know how it all began. The night he left, I sat with the baby and probably because I felt so low, for the first time talked to Pari like a person and not just a baby. And boy, was I in for a surprise! To my astonishment, I realised that she had developed a reasonably good understanding of things around her and was so eager to grasp all that she got exposed to. She already knew so many things that I never thought she could.. That 45 minutes of talk with her was my moment of revelation. She was no longer just a baby, a pretty pink thing who just had to be fed, cleaned, entertained and taken care of, she actually had so much more to offer. I feel compelled to admit that I had not been a good mom all along. How could I be, if I knew so little of my own baby.. and the bonding was seriously lacking. There were many reasons, no not excuses, but actual reasons for this, but I shall not recount those on the eve of her birthday. The only reason I would care to give now is that I could not relate to her. There wasn't sufficient communication and all I knew her to be was a doll, unaware, unintelligent.. I loved her, I played with her, I had breast-fed her for almost 10 months, but it was only her charm, her cuteness, her innocence that attracted me to her. Now, I saw a personality and a very beautiful one at that. Within no time, I fell head over heels in love with her... Those 5 weeks just flew off with her. I bought her small books and would read the names of the objects in those. My heart would burst with pride when 2 days later she would recite them back. I would sing and dance with her, talk to her. The husband came home to find a smarter kid and a wiser mom. She learnt the body parts as well, and could tell her forehead, elbow, knees, palm and feet too. This process of educating her bought us so much closer. English and Hindi alphabets, numbers and rhymes followed. She did not talk in full words, she just said the first syllable, but that was enough encouragement for me. And then her 'game' came into picture. My husband got it from the USA but I am sure it would be available here as well, and in all likelyness at a lower cost. I am elaborating on it a bit because I found it so useful and nice. It is marketed by Fisher Price under the name Laugh and Learn, it has this keyboard, one which fits over the desktop keyboard and then all you need to do is install a software. It has 3 levels to keep 1 yr to 3 yr olds engaged and learn in the process. I would recommend it to everybody who has a child in this age group. It is worth every penny spent, and better than most other learning toys and kid laptops put together. Coming back to Pari, she is completely hooked to it. Our little scholar has already spent many productive hours on it.
To be continued..
When Pari was around fifteen months old, my husband left for a month long office trip. I was all settled with had a comfortable job which payed less, but allowed me to maintain a healthy work-life balance. Also, in January, we got lucky and got a trust-worthy live-in maid who did all the household chores, including excellent cooking and also looked after the baby. This effectively meant that I had absolutely nothing to do apart from my office work, and with the husband gone, all my time and attention post work belonged to my little girl. Now, this led to a major turn in events. It might interest you to know how it all began. The night he left, I sat with the baby and probably because I felt so low, for the first time talked to Pari like a person and not just a baby. And boy, was I in for a surprise! To my astonishment, I realised that she had developed a reasonably good understanding of things around her and was so eager to grasp all that she got exposed to. She already knew so many things that I never thought she could.. That 45 minutes of talk with her was my moment of revelation. She was no longer just a baby, a pretty pink thing who just had to be fed, cleaned, entertained and taken care of, she actually had so much more to offer. I feel compelled to admit that I had not been a good mom all along. How could I be, if I knew so little of my own baby.. and the bonding was seriously lacking. There were many reasons, no not excuses, but actual reasons for this, but I shall not recount those on the eve of her birthday. The only reason I would care to give now is that I could not relate to her. There wasn't sufficient communication and all I knew her to be was a doll, unaware, unintelligent.. I loved her, I played with her, I had breast-fed her for almost 10 months, but it was only her charm, her cuteness, her innocence that attracted me to her. Now, I saw a personality and a very beautiful one at that. Within no time, I fell head over heels in love with her... Those 5 weeks just flew off with her. I bought her small books and would read the names of the objects in those. My heart would burst with pride when 2 days later she would recite them back. I would sing and dance with her, talk to her. The husband came home to find a smarter kid and a wiser mom. She learnt the body parts as well, and could tell her forehead, elbow, knees, palm and feet too. This process of educating her bought us so much closer. English and Hindi alphabets, numbers and rhymes followed. She did not talk in full words, she just said the first syllable, but that was enough encouragement for me. And then her 'game' came into picture. My husband got it from the USA but I am sure it would be available here as well, and in all likelyness at a lower cost. I am elaborating on it a bit because I found it so useful and nice. It is marketed by Fisher Price under the name Laugh and Learn, it has this keyboard, one which fits over the desktop keyboard and then all you need to do is install a software. It has 3 levels to keep 1 yr to 3 yr olds engaged and learn in the process. I would recommend it to everybody who has a child in this age group. It is worth every penny spent, and better than most other learning toys and kid laptops put together. Coming back to Pari, she is completely hooked to it. Our little scholar has already spent many productive hours on it.
To be continued..
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Pari : The second year
Prologue: This post was written 10 days back, on the eve of my daughter, Pari's 2nd birthday. Though I had asked everybody to call us before 10.30, way before midnight which is the common thing done since I wanted to sleep early, this post kept me up well past midnight. And yet, I could not post it in time.. There were 2 things that I wanted to do before posting: 1. Break this up in 3 parts to keep the length reasonable, I hate long posts. 2. Go over it in leisure, and edit it to make sense, at the same time, remove parts that make me sound a mushy, carried-away mom.
So here is the first part. I'll schedule the posting of the following parts for tomorrow and day after.
Pari turns 2 tomorrow... and I intend to do a picture post for this birthday too on the lines of the first one. But that shall be later, so that we get some nice budday pics too. For now, I would just list down the progress through the year, more for my remembrance sake than to share. The year began with my brother-in-law's wedding, and Pari, just a-month-over-an-year old enjoyed it lots. My mother joined us a couple of days before the wedding, and thereafter the baby was all hers. She slept with nani, ate with nani, played with nani and was generally an angel. This is in stark contrast with my brother's wedding last month where Pari was literally as attached to me as she was 2 years back, only it wasn't the umblical cord this time. It was the baby's strong will! I must admit, her behaviour did not make me particularly proud. But then this is how most kids her age are. The extremes being marked by this paradigm shift in attitude, there has been so much progress in all spheres. I would try to put things in chronological order, as far as I can remember. Pari took her first wobbly steps shortly after her first birthday, but after a nasty fall the same day, she just gave up. She did not as much as attempt to walk for the next two months. People back home grew concerned, she was labled a slow starter and umpteen suggestions flowed in including that to buy a walker. We were not too concerned though. Firstly we had seen her walk for 15 short minutes before the fall that had her so discouraged. And then I saw no reason to hurry this up.. I mean, I just thought that later or sooner she would start walking and will continue to do so for the rest of her life, but the cute cute crawling would be gone for ever. I love the way Pari crawled, she would at times do it so vigourously that she actually resembled a frolicking puppy and then there were variations, the most special being crawling backwards. I have it recorded on a DVD and if ever I am able to rip it, shall definitely share it here. It is truly precious. And mind you, it is not easy. Just get on your fours and try crawling backwards, you'll know why. Finally at 14 months, Pari started walking and she walked well. Probably since she started late, she picked it really soon and there was hardly any tumbling. Again, a blessing in disguise. I hate it so much when my baby gets hurt.
To be continued.
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Rambling at midnight...
I have slept through the day. Firstly, I was not feeling too well, and secondly, I have been slogging this whole week and was super tired. So there was a bit of role reversal today with the husband taking care of the baby, ordering food and watching over the maid while I snored snuggled in my mink blanket. Yes, I use one and enjoy it in an afternoon when the outside temperature is 24 degree Celsius, and the husband and his daughter sweat under the fan. Either there is an issue with my body thermostat or I am married to a weird man whose oddities have passed on to the baby as well. And it is not just them, there is this office of mine which is nothing short of a cold storage. They run the ac on full throttle in this pleasant weather, wasting energy during these uncertain times of recession in an effort to freeze the employees. What do they think we are, cut-chickens, who will rot if the temperature is raised to a slightly bearable level??? Anyways, I am really pissed off with this, and it is a topic which warrants a full post, so I shall not dwell on it further and come back to the current issue. I am now fully awake, its been only around 4 hrs since I woke up after some 8 hours of sound sleep, with 2 half-an-hour breaks for lunch and tea. The baby is already asleep and the husband is drowsy, his curly Minnie Mouse lashes looking even longer as his eyes grow smaller, indicating that he may drop any moment. Why does he have to sleep?? I don't watch TV, and have no true, sympathetic friends who would entertain a casual call at this hour. A high risk of getting bored, hmmm.. I get down to what I do the best, irritate him in an effort to keep him up. That again is a role reversal, it is him who does it most of the time, though he lacks the required persistance. One rude stare and he lets me alone. But I am more determined. I tickle his feet, he tells me he wants to sleep. I mutter sweet nothings in his ears, he says he is already half-asleep. I try thinking of something that might interest him, and go on to discuss Pari's birthday plans. He starts breathing heavily. In sheer desperation, I put on the radio. The music gets drowned in his snoring. The man is really serious about his sleep, I guess... Well, what do I do? I write a post on my midnight misdemeanors!
Friday, January 2, 2009
Bubye..
Don't get jumpy yet, I am not closing down the blog. And in any case, I update it so sparingly that even if it gets closed, I would need time to notice it myself. This 'bye' is from my daughter. We are just back from a month long vacation beginning with a family wedding and my little girl is bewildered by the sheer number of people she has met during this period. Pari was off course a real special guest, with many people meeting her almost after an year, and most seeing her for the first time. She has been terribly busy greeting so many people and then waving them good bye. Now, she is missing the limelight sorely. Poor thing, she is so starved for company with just us and the maid around that she has started greeting inanimate objects. Not just her stuffed toys and dolls, she even says 'hello' and 'bye' to the eggs in the fridge. The high point came in the afternoon today. I was going through some website which had a picture of a horse. Pari was sitting next to me, she immediately pointed out, "Hos, mumma hos" to which I casually replied, "Yes baby, thats a horse". Next minute, as I scrolled down the web page, the horse got scrolled over, and I heard Pari say, "Bubye Hos".
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