When I meet people and the discussion shifts to their hometown, I have noticed that invariably there is that one place which makes them nostalgic. Of course the mention of hometown evokes that special feeling in one's heart ... but there are some places in the hometown which transports oneself to totally different world.
My dad was born in a very small village in Karnataka. He moved out of the village before he entered teens for his studies. But even today when someone mentions about his village, his eyes brighten up and one hint of that temple on the banks of the river and he is just re-living his childhood in his mind.
For one of my good friends it is the college mess ... she lived in a hostel and says that she had her best days in the college mess.
I was born in Mysore, but spent a good 10 years in a small town before moving back to Mysore again. There are various spots in my hometown which I am proud of ... be it Dasara exhibition or Kalidasa road, or my engineering college or the small temple close to my grandma's house ... each of them have special memories associated with them. But one mention of Chamundi hills and my heart skips a beat ... I have had some wonderful memories associated with the chamundi hills like the time, I pleaded my parents to let me trek to the temple with my dance friends, and then having lunch and breakfast on tree tops with the friends, rising early to go trek to the temple with engineering friends and returning back just in time for the 8:30am class, experiencing absolute bliss looking at the city of Mysore late evening from hill top ... locating our home, school, palace from hill top, having a blast with family every time we visited the temple... the list is endless and the details are crystal clear in my mind.
I would love to hear about your special locale in your town... that special spot which holds a special place in your heart.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Hi Milestone ...
Hi people,
Mom has a history of not posting about me regularly. Remember she forgot to announce my arrival
So fearing she would repeat the same about my 6 months update, I decided to do the same.
OK at 6 months ...
* I am a "Roll Over Champion". My family kept checking me regularly if I 'd roll over for the first few months. I decided it was time for them to bite them on that and now I roll over as soon as they put me down. (sometimes much to their frustration)
* I can move around in circles ... I am attempting to crawl ... but the carpet flooring is really not helping me make much progress.
* I can coo so loud, I hear the alarm clock sales in the neighborhood has fallen steeply. I wake up exactly at 5:30am, to help out poor office going souls. Of course I promptly fall asleep around 9:30am (hopefully all those people have gone to office by then)
* I tried communicating to my folks to help me sit up, but they wouldn't get it. Finally dad realised and help me sit. Of course I could sit by myself. Duh !!
* I recognize my family. Mom, dad and of course akka ... my grandma, chikki (aunt), chikkappa (uncle) and my cousin. Any body else is stranger to me and their sight just makes me sad. I scream at the top of my lungs if any stranger attempts talking to me. Hey ... I have heard my parents talk to my sister about running away from strangers. I am smart !!!
* I am at 50 percentile on all 3 counts .. height, weight and head circumference. Doc gave me 4 shots during my 6 month visit. I shrieked for the first 2 shots and was in shock and hardly could react after that. But mommy soon soothed me and I forgot about the shots and was a happy gal for the rest of the day.
* I respond to family with my coos and seek attention when required in my own sweet way as well !
* Once fed on time, I am a happy gal ... if I am not fed on time, I start sucking on my hand. If its night time, I yell as if to bring the roof down ...
I love my family ... I am glad to be part of this mad bunch !
Mom has a history of not posting about me regularly. Remember she forgot to announce my arrival
So fearing she would repeat the same about my 6 months update, I decided to do the same.
OK at 6 months ...
* I am a "Roll Over Champion". My family kept checking me regularly if I 'd roll over for the first few months. I decided it was time for them to bite them on that and now I roll over as soon as they put me down. (sometimes much to their frustration)
* I can move around in circles ... I am attempting to crawl ... but the carpet flooring is really not helping me make much progress.
* I can coo so loud, I hear the alarm clock sales in the neighborhood has fallen steeply. I wake up exactly at 5:30am, to help out poor office going souls. Of course I promptly fall asleep around 9:30am (hopefully all those people have gone to office by then)
* I tried communicating to my folks to help me sit up, but they wouldn't get it. Finally dad realised and help me sit. Of course I could sit by myself. Duh !!
* I recognize my family. Mom, dad and of course akka ... my grandma, chikki (aunt), chikkappa (uncle) and my cousin. Any body else is stranger to me and their sight just makes me sad. I scream at the top of my lungs if any stranger attempts talking to me. Hey ... I have heard my parents talk to my sister about running away from strangers. I am smart !!!
* I am at 50 percentile on all 3 counts .. height, weight and head circumference. Doc gave me 4 shots during my 6 month visit. I shrieked for the first 2 shots and was in shock and hardly could react after that. But mommy soon soothed me and I forgot about the shots and was a happy gal for the rest of the day.
* I respond to family with my coos and seek attention when required in my own sweet way as well !
* Once fed on time, I am a happy gal ... if I am not fed on time, I start sucking on my hand. If its night time, I yell as if to bring the roof down ...
I love my family ... I am glad to be part of this mad bunch !
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Cinderella has a moral to teach me
I was in a mood to just irritate Cantaloupe ... you know one of those times you want to just have fun with your child.
She was pretending to be a princess and insisted I pick character as well.
Here is our conversation went:
She: Amma I am Cinderella and what shall Junior be?
Me: She is your sister chinni ... you tell me what do you want her to be?
She: Cinderella had jealous step sisters ... (looks at me from the corner of eyes and predicts that jealous step sister is not a good idea) but I don't my sister to be that ... let her be snow white
Me: Hmm ...
She: What about you?
Me: I don't know ... (lets see if she gives me wicked step mother)
She: Fairy Godmother ... that what you are.
Me: Uh ???
Now I want to tease her ...
Me: Putta, Cinderella did not go to school ... she never learnt anything from her teacher / mother ... I don't think she was a good girl.
She: But amma ... she was a very good girl. She played with the mice and squirrels.
Me: Yeah ... all she did was play ... when did she learn ..
She: Of course she did ... she learnt to play and be happy from the mice and squirrel.
WoW ... those simple words did the trick on me ... isn't that what is most important ... to be Happy !!!
My baby sure knows what her priority should be :)
She was pretending to be a princess and insisted I pick character as well.
Here is our conversation went:
She: Amma I am Cinderella and what shall Junior be?
Me: She is your sister chinni ... you tell me what do you want her to be?
She: Cinderella had jealous step sisters ... (looks at me from the corner of eyes and predicts that jealous step sister is not a good idea) but I don't my sister to be that ... let her be snow white
Me: Hmm ...
She: What about you?
Me: I don't know ... (lets see if she gives me wicked step mother)
She: Fairy Godmother ... that what you are.
Me: Uh ???
Now I want to tease her ...
Me: Putta, Cinderella did not go to school ... she never learnt anything from her teacher / mother ... I don't think she was a good girl.
She: But amma ... she was a very good girl. She played with the mice and squirrels.
Me: Yeah ... all she did was play ... when did she learn ..
She: Of course she did ... she learnt to play and be happy from the mice and squirrel.
WoW ... those simple words did the trick on me ... isn't that what is most important ... to be Happy !!!
My baby sure knows what her priority should be :)
Monday, November 17, 2008
8 years of togetherness
Dear BP,
I still remember the first email you sent me and my response to the same. You had sent it to my then office email id ... my official id has changed atleast 10 times since then and I yet I continue to save the email. Infact I have saved all your emails before marriage, though they were just one liners "I will call you at 10:00" or "Lets talk" or "Miss you" and the like much to my disappointed. I remember the time we talked for hours over the phone ... and then you mentioned you had coughed 1500 dollars on phone calls .... "Why didn't you think of using the damn phone cards??" is what I say now to you ... but back then I was proud of you for not caring about your phone bills and talking to me at leisure. I know it meant a lot to me ... we were getting married without seeing eachother and you had taken it upon yourself to put me to ease. Thank you for that !!
I also remember our honeymoon .... the snow-trek we took, the bison rides, the badminton game, our visit to the local temple, the rappelling and the "Hot and spicy veggie cutlet" we shared in bed ... every detail is still fresh in my mind. This is still one of the best times we spent !!
Remember the night we left India to come to our house in the US ... I was sobbing and in deep pain for leaving behind my parents and sister. You were my strength and handled the situation in the gentlest way possible. We reached our home around 10:00pm and you were super excited that night. We freshened up and made our first trip to the grocery around mid-night ... came back home and I cooked dinner for the first time in my life. (Puliyogare) You loved it (or was it your love that you didn't realise the taste???)
You were a member of the local cricket club and played cricket over the weekends. I came with you to all your weekend cricket matches ... enjoyed cooking occasionally for your cricket team ... we travelled quite a bit and enjoyed ourselves thoroughly.
And then Cantaloupe arrived ... parenting came naturally to you. We saw Cantaloupe grow and grew ourselves too .... and then Junior came. Now I can see that we are a complete family.
We have completed 8 years of togetherness ... alongside we have learnt and are still learning to accept each other's negatives and positives. I can only say our love has matured with time. I hope our love continues to grow with time ...
Happy Anniversary Honey !!!
Yours lovingly
me
I still remember the first email you sent me and my response to the same. You had sent it to my then office email id ... my official id has changed atleast 10 times since then and I yet I continue to save the email. Infact I have saved all your emails before marriage, though they were just one liners "I will call you at 10:00" or "Lets talk" or "Miss you" and the like much to my disappointed. I remember the time we talked for hours over the phone ... and then you mentioned you had coughed 1500 dollars on phone calls .... "Why didn't you think of using the damn phone cards??" is what I say now to you ... but back then I was proud of you for not caring about your phone bills and talking to me at leisure. I know it meant a lot to me ... we were getting married without seeing eachother and you had taken it upon yourself to put me to ease. Thank you for that !!
I also remember our honeymoon .... the snow-trek we took, the bison rides, the badminton game, our visit to the local temple, the rappelling and the "Hot and spicy veggie cutlet" we shared in bed ... every detail is still fresh in my mind. This is still one of the best times we spent !!
Remember the night we left India to come to our house in the US ... I was sobbing and in deep pain for leaving behind my parents and sister. You were my strength and handled the situation in the gentlest way possible. We reached our home around 10:00pm and you were super excited that night. We freshened up and made our first trip to the grocery around mid-night ... came back home and I cooked dinner for the first time in my life. (Puliyogare) You loved it (or was it your love that you didn't realise the taste???)
You were a member of the local cricket club and played cricket over the weekends. I came with you to all your weekend cricket matches ... enjoyed cooking occasionally for your cricket team ... we travelled quite a bit and enjoyed ourselves thoroughly.
And then Cantaloupe arrived ... parenting came naturally to you. We saw Cantaloupe grow and grew ourselves too .... and then Junior came. Now I can see that we are a complete family.
We have completed 8 years of togetherness ... alongside we have learnt and are still learning to accept each other's negatives and positives. I can only say our love has matured with time. I hope our love continues to grow with time ...
Happy Anniversary Honey !!!
Yours lovingly
me
Monday, November 10, 2008
Everyday lessons
Cantaloupe came from school last week and exclaimed, "My friend A said my food is yucky". I was red in anger and wanted to shout at A at the top of my lungs .. how dare she labelled our food yucky?? Sanity prevailed and I instead bent down to meet Cantaloupe's eyes and said, "Never mind what she says or thinks. Be thankful to God that he has given you food and always remember to not waste the food. Food is precious and never say yucky to food."
Cantaloupe continued, tomorrow I will look at A's food and say "Yucky" ... though that would exactly be the way I would do things some 20 years back, I reminded her again that "Food is precious and No food is yucky". But she protested, "She eats meat amma ... that is yucky". I explained to her patiently "Chinni, never say Meat is yucky because it is food for some people. We are vegetarians and we don't eat meat. But there are other people who eat meat and they like their food. So remember to never disrespect food".
Cantaloupe stopped the argument at that point. But I could see it in her voice and expression that she was really hurt with her classmate labeling her food "yucky".
Cantaloupe is getting older by the day and she is bound to meet more people who may or may not share the same principles as we do at home. BP and I try our best to remind her of what is acceptable in our house ... but every now and then there are arguments as to how some of her friends are different. Like, her friend S. Her mom, is OK with her kids watching TV. The kids tell me that they watch TV all afternoon since they are not allowed to sleep. They ask me to switch on the TV when they come to play in our house ... of course I refuse the request and remind them of all the wonderful toys they can play with.
Sometimes I wonder if Cantaloupe thinks we are uncool parents ... rather strict parents. Perhaps she does ... but I hope she will appreciate us some day.
How do you parents tackle questions like "Why can I not eat chocolates / ice cream everyday when S can eat?" or "Why do I have to write my alphabets everyday?" or "Why do I have to clean up after playing by myself?" (I insist that she clean up the toys even when we visit her friends and they end up spreading toys all over the place ... but I have seen very few parents doing the same with kids when they visit us. Obviously Cantaloupe wants to know why she has to clean when other don't do it in our house. And the answer I give is well, if you let your friends go back without cleaning, YOU will have to clean all by yourself... so better get help from friends)
Cantaloupe continued, tomorrow I will look at A's food and say "Yucky" ... though that would exactly be the way I would do things some 20 years back, I reminded her again that "Food is precious and No food is yucky". But she protested, "She eats meat amma ... that is yucky". I explained to her patiently "Chinni, never say Meat is yucky because it is food for some people. We are vegetarians and we don't eat meat. But there are other people who eat meat and they like their food. So remember to never disrespect food".
Cantaloupe stopped the argument at that point. But I could see it in her voice and expression that she was really hurt with her classmate labeling her food "yucky".
Cantaloupe is getting older by the day and she is bound to meet more people who may or may not share the same principles as we do at home. BP and I try our best to remind her of what is acceptable in our house ... but every now and then there are arguments as to how some of her friends are different. Like, her friend S. Her mom, is OK with her kids watching TV. The kids tell me that they watch TV all afternoon since they are not allowed to sleep. They ask me to switch on the TV when they come to play in our house ... of course I refuse the request and remind them of all the wonderful toys they can play with.
Sometimes I wonder if Cantaloupe thinks we are uncool parents ... rather strict parents. Perhaps she does ... but I hope she will appreciate us some day.
How do you parents tackle questions like "Why can I not eat chocolates / ice cream everyday when S can eat?" or "Why do I have to write my alphabets everyday?" or "Why do I have to clean up after playing by myself?" (I insist that she clean up the toys even when we visit her friends and they end up spreading toys all over the place ... but I have seen very few parents doing the same with kids when they visit us. Obviously Cantaloupe wants to know why she has to clean when other don't do it in our house. And the answer I give is well, if you let your friends go back without cleaning, YOU will have to clean all by yourself... so better get help from friends)
Friday, November 7, 2008
Sarabhai Vs Sarabhai
Sarabhai Vs Sarabhai sure is a great comedy serial. The plot, dialogues and situations are simple. There were serials like Tu-Tu Main-Main and Ghar Jamai which had similar settings (though not exact) ... but this one with stands apart for its sheer dialogues. Of course, the chosen actors could not have been any better. Satish shah as Indravadan Sarabhai and Ratna Patak Shah as Maya Sarabhai were just awesome. Rosesh (Rajesh Kumar) and Sahil (Sumeet Raghavan) were highly competant.
I don't mind viewing the episodes of Sarabhai Vs Sarabhai repeatedly. One of the nicest serials in recent times.
Which is your favorite comedy serial? Which serial tickles your bones?
Do let me know.
I don't mind viewing the episodes of Sarabhai Vs Sarabhai repeatedly. One of the nicest serials in recent times.
Which is your favorite comedy serial? Which serial tickles your bones?
Do let me know.
Monday, November 3, 2008
Trick Or Treat - 2008
Halloween mood has been prevalent in Cantaloupe household from the beginning of October. Now that Cantaloupe is older and can read the Calendar, she understood that month of October meant Halloween. Of course, the school teachers told them stories, sang songs ("Spooky Songs" in her words), taught them crafts... in Halloween theme. So everyday her bag check revealed pumpkins, witches, ghosts art works. So to keep up with her spirits, we promised her a "Pumpkin Patch picnic" if she behaved for one entire week without throwing any major fuss over anything. And she did ... so we went to the pumpkin patch and bought couple of pumpkins. The rides there seem to scare her (for no reason, if you ask me) ... so we wasted some money in buying coupons for the ride only to be let down by her.
Anyways, my mom and I patiently carved the pumpkins and I must say the Jack-o-Lanterns turned out quite well. (the neighbors complimented our art work ... thank you, thank you) One of them was a simple triangular eyed Jack and the other was a little more skillful "Skull". We lit and placed the Jack-O-Lanterns along with our Diwali candles in our patio. Some of Cantaloupes' art work from school was also used to decorate the door bell, door knob and the like for some "Halloween" feel.
And since I believe in "Do it Yourself" concept, I decided to make the Halloween costume for Cantaloupe as well. Carved out the wings, attached lace and elastic to form wings. Bought feathers from the local crafts store and stitched it on the wings. Also stitched the feathers on one of Cantaloupe's cap ... made a beak and stuck it on the cap. Cut out two black circles and glued it on the cap for eyes. With all this and some feather to go on the body, Cantaloupe was all set to be transformed into a bird for Halloween. She was super excited from the time everything came together. Atleast once a day she put on her costume just to feel good about it.
So the day of Halloween arrived. Her class parade was to start at 10:45am .... BP and I both wanted to go and cheer her. BP has been busy at work for almost 2 weeks now ... but for him to take time off and come for the Parade was a very sweet gesture !!! Anyways we got to the school around 10:40am .. Cantaloupe put the costume in a jiffy (all her practice had made her a pro now :) and rushed to her class. All her other classmates were ready for the parade. She was on time for the parade. The class merrily walked around the school campus before they arrived at the auditorium. 3 other classes gathered there as well. The kids put on a musical program. It was a cute program :) Cantaloupe sang all the songs and kept looking at me and BP every now and then just to be cheered by me :)
It was very cold in the evening and Junior had to be taken care (bad cold) and BP was busy with some office work ... so we decided not to go out for trick or treating. But she had fun interacting with other kids who came home.
Cantaloupe loved her costume so much she declared she'd wear the same next year as well ... that will save me some effort ... but we'll see how that goes.
Anyways, my mom and I patiently carved the pumpkins and I must say the Jack-o-Lanterns turned out quite well. (the neighbors complimented our art work ... thank you, thank you) One of them was a simple triangular eyed Jack and the other was a little more skillful "Skull". We lit and placed the Jack-O-Lanterns along with our Diwali candles in our patio. Some of Cantaloupes' art work from school was also used to decorate the door bell, door knob and the like for some "Halloween" feel.
And since I believe in "Do it Yourself" concept, I decided to make the Halloween costume for Cantaloupe as well. Carved out the wings, attached lace and elastic to form wings. Bought feathers from the local crafts store and stitched it on the wings. Also stitched the feathers on one of Cantaloupe's cap ... made a beak and stuck it on the cap. Cut out two black circles and glued it on the cap for eyes. With all this and some feather to go on the body, Cantaloupe was all set to be transformed into a bird for Halloween. She was super excited from the time everything came together. Atleast once a day she put on her costume just to feel good about it.
So the day of Halloween arrived. Her class parade was to start at 10:45am .... BP and I both wanted to go and cheer her. BP has been busy at work for almost 2 weeks now ... but for him to take time off and come for the Parade was a very sweet gesture !!! Anyways we got to the school around 10:40am .. Cantaloupe put the costume in a jiffy (all her practice had made her a pro now :) and rushed to her class. All her other classmates were ready for the parade. She was on time for the parade. The class merrily walked around the school campus before they arrived at the auditorium. 3 other classes gathered there as well. The kids put on a musical program. It was a cute program :) Cantaloupe sang all the songs and kept looking at me and BP every now and then just to be cheered by me :)
It was very cold in the evening and Junior had to be taken care (bad cold) and BP was busy with some office work ... so we decided not to go out for trick or treating. But she had fun interacting with other kids who came home.
Cantaloupe loved her costume so much she declared she'd wear the same next year as well ... that will save me some effort ... but we'll see how that goes.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)