Thursday, September 27, 2007

What it takes to get a bite …

6:30am – wake up – I am hungry … I need tea … but BP is asleep and both he and I want fresh tea. So decide to wait.
7:00am – BP still sleeping … cannot control hunger any longer and decide to wake him
7:15am – Sip a cup of tea – hunger satisfied temporarily
8:00am – Hot idlis ready for breakfast … but have a conference meeting… so cannot afford the meal.
8:30am – Conference ends – Cantaloupe has to leave for school at 8:45 and she has not had breakfast yet. Motherly duties – Cantaloupe fed breakfast and sent to school.
8:45am – Put idlis on a plate – Call from office for a quick discussion.
8:55am – Swallow the 3 idlis on plate … want more … but haven’t prepared them – No time to prepare either – another meeting at 9:00am
9:00am – Noon – Meetings / Office work
Noon – Cannot tolerate hunger anymore – put the rice on my plate when I get a call from Cantaloupe’s school that she has got an eye infection and that her eyes have swollen and are teary.
Leave my plate and rush to the school, bring back Cantaloupe, pacify her. Wash her eyes … help her rest on my lap for a few mins.
1:30pm – Finally get to sit with my plate of rice. As I am eating, Cantaloupe wants to share a bite … sure enough, share the food with her. One of those rare days, when there is no extra rice. So half meal!!!
2:00pm – Cantaloupe is sleeping and I continue work.
3:45pm – Leave home for the doctor appointment. Just want to be sure nothing is wrong with Cantaloupe.
5:45pm – Thanking God as there was nothing seriously wrong with Cantaloupe and then thinking about the food I would eat as soon as get back home.
6:45pm – Reach home. Turn on the tava and mix the batter for some yummy uttappa. One Uttappa poured on the tava when Cantaloupe wants to go to the rest room.
Attend her and come back to find a burnt Uttappa. Pour a second one … when I hear Cantaloupe tripping over something. This time, I am wiser and set the stove on low heat. Attend Cantaloupe and save my uttappa from being charred. Pour my next Uttappa when Cantaloupe has spilled the oil … clean up the oil and put my dosa on plate.
7:15: Finally settle down to eat.

One of those days when a hearty meal never seemed possible !!

Thursday, September 13, 2007

Numerous names of Cantaloupe

Moppet's mom wanted company in her embarassment ... boy has she found one !!!

I am always known for the nicknames I give ... be it a kid in the family, a friend, a professor etc. Some of them very appropriate (say Brainy for an intelligent friend) and some hilarious.
So when Cantaloupe was born, it was natural that I nicknamed her... but my Nickname innovations have far exceeded my own standards with Cantaloupe. She gets a nickname almost every week !!

It all started when she was born ... she was chubby, little girl and without much effort in trying to find a name, I came up with "Gundu Samosa" (gundu meaning chubby ... don't ask me why Samosa ... you will see many such silly names) ...also, by end of week 1, I had already come up with a little song ..
"Sona Masuri ... aha Gundu Samosa" ... hey "Sona Masuri ... Gundu Samosa" ...

Gosh ... this is so embarassing .....

I have addressed her anything but by her real name ... and 99% of the cases, her nicknames do not remotely sound like her real name. When I call her by her real name... it means, I am extremely angry with her and she knows!

Ok, back to nicknames ... she has been called Gopi (now, thats not too bad), Chikita, Nikita (thats a nice name. .. isn't it??), Soma, Gopala, Ghatika, (after her friend Ghatu), Soapika, Dunna, Vamana (credit to BP), Vamanos , Doreshwari, Stulambika, Shuntita .. the list is endless. I will stop embarassing myself.

The most often used of them all is Moosika / Moosamma ... (Moosu in kannada means to smell) She got that name, because she was always holding her blanket and covering her nose.
So, I came up with this song:
"Mangalarathi .... Moosu Maruthi ... hey "
The worst part, she thinks its a real song and the other day, when some friends came over to our place and asked her to sing a song, she instantly began "Mangalarathi ... " I could die of embarassment !!!

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Time sense

“Time and tide wait for none” … this is something I really believe in. So, if there is a party I am invited for and the time indicated is 6:30pm … it truly means 6:30pm, and I am at the party venue at 6:30pm. It embarrasses me if I am late …
But unfortunately the above importance to time is given only by me in our house. And this is the most cause of an argument between BP and me. When it is work related meetings, BP is dot on time… but he does not hold the same time regard for other matters.

Like for eg: The other day, we were supposed to go for a family outing over the weekend. The night before, BP and I were talking and he mentioned that we could leave after breakfast and spend the day at the zoo and the beach close by. So the time freak that I am, I got up early on a Saturday morning, prepared tea/ breakfast, packed snacks / juice / fruits for the picnic, cleaned the house and got dressed by 9:30am. That’s when I realize, BP has just woken from bed!! Already I was a little upset … BP then sipped his tea for an entire 30 mins (how can one do that? Isn’t tea supposed to be sipped when hot??? 30min of sipping !!) Once done with the tea, he went to the patio to water the plants. By then it was close to 10:30 … I was starting to get hungry too. (Since we get a chance to eat breakfast together only during weekends, I usually wait until all 3 of us are at the table) By noon, BP was finally ready and I was fuming … BP knew clearly why I was upset. So when he said “Relax … its just a weekend trip … the idea is to spend time together … whether we spend time at home or the zoo … how does it matter?” … I just could not take it. I mean, I could have very much relaxed and slept hugging my warm cantaloupe for longer … I needn’t had to rush all the chores … anyways, all I ended up remaining silent and gave a stern look … BP understood it all!

Come to think of it, most of my family members are pretty sensitive about it… atleast my parents are. My sister used to be, but is soon loosing out. But in BP’s family, no one really cares about the time factor. I was in for a rude shock the first time I went to their house after marriage. Dinner was served at 11:00pm !!! In my house we ate dinner at 8:30pm … sharp! Their disrespect of time really has no bounds … the other day, they had invited people over to their house. The invitation was for 4:30pm … but then nobody cared to clean up or get dressed or prepare snacks even when the clock showed 4:15 … I could not take it any more and asked them why they were just not getting ready when they said, “Invitation says 4:30, which means no one will be here before 6:30 …. Who comes at 4:30??”. I did not know what to say. Atleast BP gets ready on time when we are expecting guests, I thought.

Is it really wrong to be punctual? If we are invited to a friend’s place at a certain time, is it wrong to be there on time?
 

My circle of life with BP, Cantaloupe and Junior and much more | Desenvolvido por EMPORIUM DIGITAL