Dil hai chota sa..

I am so intrigued by my little one..she makes me think about things I have never given a second thought.Some days back we watched the movie "Juno" where the female lead is pregnant and A had a barrage of questions, some interesting ones were like did you have toys in your tummy, if not what did i do all the time and if there were food stores in my tummy..where did she get her supply of food from??Another night when she went to bed she wondered why doesn't her teddy close its eyes while sleeping..i had to explain it doesnt have eyelids.There are more scientific questions like why does it rain why does it get dark when it's night why does it get brighter during day?She doesnt always buy my story...sometimes i like it..because i'm apalled by her inquisitiveness but not when she's driving me up the wall.She is one person who has taught me to be patient....because of the obvious reason that I can't reason with her!

Why do clouds move along with her?She came home hitting her friend and when asked why did she do so..well, she felt like.yes how audacious!I asked her how would she feel if someone hit her...she kept wondering and asked how would she feel, not good and she beleived me(I thought so, atleast).There have been no further hitting cases.

My little Michelangelo has been an art lover..yes it shows on the walls.& Now she has started with MS paint.Sometimes, it looks to me like a briliant piece of art, bears a distant resemblance to a caterpillar or ballon or dog.Proud Momma!I am happy and proud in my illusions, what so ever.

I have it firmly ensconced in my mind that she needs her space to grow just like a plant, I as a mother can provide her with sunlight, water and oxygen(does it sound like out of a science book?there's more..) she can produce as much cholorphyl(!!!!) as she wishes to.But i guess, kids are like swamp they absorb everything....just let them be, like the ad-aaj khelne do.Pressurising or living the parents dream throught them is killing for the child's individuality.I can see my 3 year old has her own personality(it'll change over the years) and she is clear about her preferences(which drive me crazy READ LUNATIC)-be it clothes or food.But there has to be a balance between her preferences and mine!It does feel good to have someone to boss over and not be bitched behind.She has started rebelling..she asks why should she listen to me, what would happen if she didn't, why does Mamma make the rules???No wonder she has taught me patience..

The views and ideas expressed above are solely mine and I'm no expert on parenting!

Yeh dosti..

I am sure I am not only one who goes into moaning from Sunday afternoon, because Monday is just a few hours away.But the last weekend i had was so much fun, in a long time.Friday welcomed, my new and much younger friend to my "new" home.S is bubbly and lot alike me...birds of the same feather flock together.
I was in no mood to display my culinary skills to the best of my abilities and I better not do that, victims of my cooking catasprophies have warned me!So we let our hair down and had "ghar ka khana", chai, topped it with rosgollas.Well, in this foreign land anything remotely resembling rosogollas are a welcome treat so i leave the size, shape, texture and taste to your imagination...
My 3 yr old kiddo A was overwhelmed to see a homosapien, co existing in the same house(apart from 2 of us i.e., we are not apes)!I had a feeling that people ought to have friends same age as them but for sometime now, i have had friends ranging in various ages.Some as old as my mother some a little younger and some 10 years younger than me like S.S taught me some salsa moves too.
There is something about us, Indians.I love the cameraderie, the informality, the joy we derive by sharing things...dissecting mithunda's movies over chai.I have found another friend R.He again is out and out fun and both us beleive in same religion-Mithunism!People with great sense of humour bring out the best in me(best by my standards).Recently we had a get together at my place, I was maybe the hostess but poor R was the chef of the evening!He certainly needs to be applauded for the dexterity with which he served us naan and kadhi-awesome!The very fact that R cooked while the rest of us had fun, I think will be considered rude in most civilized parts of the world, where a dinner would mean a table well laid out with forks & knives placed equidistant from the dish and the radius of the main course dish should be proportional to the radius of the dessert dish in some way.We, on the other hand can eat off each other's dish.If this is uncivilized so be it....everyone involved is happy.
Hope R & S will be more than happy to read this and looking foward to many more such days & evenings that I can remember and pen them down!!!(I am trying to make R happy so that i can taste lots of his "haath ka khana" ).
Jhakkas dosti...apun ki dosti jhakas bole to apun haar tu moti,
apun sabji tu roti, apun pani tu tanki..bura mat manna...apun tarzan tu monkey!Hurrah hurrah hurrah!!!!

Har taraf har jaga..beshumaar aadhmi...

Today, I felt like writing about all the different kinds of people I have come across in my life..and the changes in me(I'm no BIG shot to be talked about!).As a kid i was greatly influenced my baba and till date he is the greatest influence, in my life.My Baba being the simplest, kindest and innocent(est!)guy I have come across i beleived be good to everyone and everyone will be good to you.But life was quite contrary to this...there are bullys, bossy guys, morons, jealous, malicious, know it all types, weird, psycho and every other type except good guys, ALSO.
During school and college days, there weren't many fellow classmates who left me perplexed.My vocabulary of swear words burgeoned as i entered the corporate world.It is truely amazing how each person percieves things.Lots and lots of bullies who took the credit away for what i did...but i still beleived being good to them, i will be able to change them just like the triumph of good over evil a La Ramayan style.Although, I knew my stuff right and better than most guys i kept quite during meetings assuming my boss to read my mind.But alas, that never happened.Made me wonder..my baba's be good and everyone will be good to you-does it actually work?No it does not, not always, not in these times of cut throat competition.Not that you have to be a bully yourself but one requires tact.So i got it right i needed to be tactful...no that alone didnt work.I had friends who were extremely pally when there was no common interest involved but otherwise they showed me their demonous side and i gaped open mouthed...was that my friend back stabbing me?My misunderstanding(i thought)..he is so caring, only numerous such misunderstandings(in my mind) confirmed that no there are these kind of people who act friendly but backstab you.
Now trotted along into my life the know it all kind of people.Anything that I was doing, they had done it already and in a much better way..so i learnt to steer clearly away from such people.There were ofcourse the sinister people who never made an effort to hide their intentions.Then there were people who(in my vocabulary are non living things)are alive because they are not dead.The sycophants...if you are not grounded you maybe buy their story and start building castles in the air.
My encounter with all these kind of people has left me wiser.If they had not walked into my life i would still be my coy self...waiting things to fall into my lap.Yes, My baba is right be good, sincerity pays but along with being good one needs to be tactful, alert and protect onself.I matter(atleast to myself).
Just when i had categorized all the above type of (BAD) people along came another breed...they are polite, friendly, helpful, rude, jingoistic depending on their temperament of the day(just like today's special menu).I am not able to fit them into any category that i have defined, in my mind because they are not constant!
All the above types of people alone would have left me empty but my 3 year old kiddo, my husband, my baba and my friends make my life wholesome and help me keep my head over my shoulders(just like everyone else's!!!).

India!

Things we take for granted, make you long for them when they are not around.I have been pondering on this, ever since i landed in Sweden.The ad "hamara Bajaj" moved me to tears..so lively down to earth!The ubiquitous cows on the road the pani puri walas..they are so much a part of our life and traffic.Not that i miss the pollution and stench but i do miss the auto rides, the lip smacking pani puri,hot jalebis, the accessibility to everything, the knocking at a friend's door without having to take an appointment with him\her.
When my Maa complains about the rising temperature, i secretly envy, living in a cold place having to check the thermometer outside my window before I dress up every morning and decide how many layers of clothing do I need!I can not comprehend how you can complain about sun..I'm in dire need of it.Reminds me of people drying chillies, pickles and clothes in the sun.Yes, drying clothes too!
I wonder how was it to run around in BATA hawaii chapal..now it seems like FREEDDOM.
One needs to get out of India to understand the true value of India.When I see the foreigners in kurtas and embroidered bags, my heart screams thats Indian, from my India!
Chicken flavoured with mangoe chutney-Jai Ho!
Slum dog milllionare-Jai ho!
Never felt this sense of belonging to India, before. But now, away from motherland, my heart goes mmmm...mmmm..mmmm...
It is election time and I hope we Indians choose the befitting leader.Was so ecstatic to see sites like jaagore.com and bleedindia.com.
Indian youth is very much into it!Jai Ho!!!