Little bit of steam

Allergies are what haunts me daily morning when I dread to get out of bed. The endless sneezing and the using of many hankies which I often misplace all throughout my house, which off late has become a nuisance. Specially, when my nose drips and GRRrrrr!, there is not one handy. AWWWWWRrrrrrrr. Now I have found a nice remedy thanx to some friend's advice. A little bit of steaming in the morning is of big relief to me these days. It has done wonders.

Sweet Conflicts !

G has become so chocolate crazy these days. The more we give her, the more crazier she becomes. She is soooo fond of it, that the moment she enters any friends house, the first thing she asks any aunty, is for chocolate. She ends up getting some 4-5 chocolates, starting with 1. She tries all her tricks, to get as many as possible. Now its becoming more embarrassing for me to visit friends. I earnestly hope that they don't get ideas, that G doesn't get chocolates at home, that she goes round asking everybody for one. After every Spicy meal she wants a chocolate. She will do all sorts of drama like sticking her tongue out, fanning it with her hands etc.She's got so use to that habit that even after tea she pretends she had chillis....hehe

Today morning she got a chocolate from a Birthday Girl just before going to school ,while waiting for her bus. Immediately she starts whimpering...I give her mine to avoid creating a scene. But she doesn't stop with it. A friend of mine sees her crying and gives her chocolate to G. I tell her that she should keep the chocolates and give L (and me) when she returns. Now she gets another idea. She makes a bigger scene with loud crying saying she wants to keep one for Dad. I told that she can give mine but she simply refuses to agree. Seeing her loud cries another friend of mine gives her one more and so she happily eats one and goes to school with 3 more. My Motherly Instincts tell that she would come back after having all of it.

She comes home after school with a big empty cover of another chocolate that her teacher had given her. We asked her why she didn't bring back the other ones. We also asked her if she gave it to any of her friends although we fully knew that she wouldn't part with any of hers.
She cooks up a story and tells this to us : Mama.. teacher told me "Do not give chocolate to the father, do not give Mamma and do not give to L" and so I ate all the chocolates.
We all had a good laugh to hear her talk in English. It was very "Sweet" to hear her sugary talks.
Dad and me think that, its better not to give any sweets in the first place coz the problem starts when she gets only one.

Goofed Up !

Hello December.
I was just waiting for this month and yet I goofed up on the very first day of this month.
L is having her exams this week, a continuation of last week. Due to some mistake in my preparation of her timetable, I made her study EVS (Environmental Science) today early morning, instead of Hindi. Although she did revise a little during the weekend, yesterday the whole day we had gone out, only to return by Midnight.

The funniest part of it , is that I realized it only after L came from school today evening. My heart stopped for a second,when L told me it was Hindi and not EVS. I was sad that I couldn't prepare her well because L had always found Hindi, a little more difficult than the other subjects. I called up my friends to confirm and I discovered that my timetable with the dates ( which i had proudly stuck and displayed on the wall ) written, were all wrong. On top of it, because of VP Singh's death last week, Friday was a holiday here . That was the day of her EVS exam. So somehow, it caught on me , that only after EVS, were the rest of the exams.

This is the second time that it has happened to me. A similar situation had happened last year too. Thought I would learn from that incident, but seems like this is a part of me, that makes me "ME"....hahaha. Since L had revised Hindi a few times at home and in class, I was a little releived. My friends too comforted me, saying that after all, it was only a small exam.

G too was very cranky today and she was spitting a lot in her anger, trying to irritate us to the maximum. But we pretended not to pay her too much attention, as she would be stuck to that habit forever. I've never seen her like this.

The good thing that happened today, was that a very old friend of mine got in touch with me, after many many years. So it ended as a happy day after all. :)

Salutations

I salute all those Heroes who fought the War on Terror and help save the lives of many and in return gave up their own lives. May God be with their families and be a source of comfort to them during this Difficult time. We r proud to have such heroes.

Call of my land

Hello Bloggy,
Feel like ages since i've written. Hardly knew that October went by so fast.
Hello to November. The feeling of November is exciting for me coz I know Christmas time is soming soon....Wow!!...Goosebumps when i think of it!

The Month of October went by traveling a lot and to tell u the truth , its more often to my native place , Kerala. And every time I go there , I long to be there more. Its like the rootsof my native are calling to my inner self, to go and settle there. Strange that me, who likes more of a fast townlife, is wanting more to go back and live a more peaceful village life. The feeling was more this time as I fell in love with the nature there. More vegetation, pollution free air (as my dear husband tells often), fresh fruits and vegetables from ur own land. Being near our loved ones and paying visits to relatives,etc.

The love of the hens being raised (hehe, seen them since they were chickens), that come to be fed all the time, was so endearing. L and G spent a great deal of time chasing and feeding them, learning to look after them and watching the hens way of living. The hens used to go to sleep up on a tree at night for protection, as there were no coops built for them. Collecting the eggs laid by them and making the laying of eggs comfortable for the mother hens in rag- filled baskets kept here and there. There was one particular basket placed in an old store room full of old wornout stuff.

Then we have small pond there too where they had put in some aquarium fish which have mulitplied over time. It was fun to watch and study the different types and feed them too. Close to it ,we have a nice big cage with a few Love birds were bought a month ago. The cage is almost like a palace with swings for them and food and water kept for them in plenty. Recently it had four new additions and it was so cute to watch them grow and see the way the moms were feeding the young ones. They would eat the leaves of a medicinal plant which L and G loved to pluck and give.
We were there only a week but were so happy to be there. Probably its more exciting now as we go there once in a while, don't know how it will be ,if by chance we plan to settle there, once for all.

A Sad Toddler

The Loud cries of a 2 year old toddler have been ringing throuout my Apartment corridor. Our front door neighbours(A grandpa and a Grandma) runs a creche and so we guessed that the new child's mom would have started working and wants her child to get accustomed to the creche for the first time in its life.
2 weeks back the mom just dropped the child just for 1 hour to check out her toddler's reaction. Since the owners of the creche did not want the rest of the kidsin their creche to get disturbed, they thought the new child could walk in the corridor with a caretaker while they keep their door closed to the cries of the new child. After hearing bouts of loud cries, I opened my door to see the sad child and thought of ways of comforting her but she just refused to be comforted. I noticed that the caretaker(a young woman) was making the child walk to and fro in the long corridor. The child would be murmuring some unknown language as (it was obvious that) she hasn't learned to talk yet and in between she would burst out loudly and cry. It even seemed that she had only recently learned to walk. I was wondering how a mother could do this to a young child. A few moments later the mom comes and takes her child home. It was releif that now the babe was with its mom. I didn't see her after that day.Yesterday I was returning after my daily swim and saw the same child in my corridor. This time the child was lying down in the caretakers lap in a sleeping positon almost tired of crying and also half sleepy. She would scream and cry in between after restoring some of her baby energy. I told the babe a Hi but she was not in a mood to acknowledge. Poor thing! In the past 4 years,I haven't seen kid crying so much like this child . Today too I heard cries, but with lesser intensity. Probabaly she'll get used to it and who knows even her Mom mst be feeling sad to drop the child the first few days. But its heartbreaking to see a 2 yr old baby cry loudly througout helplessly.

Hello October

First blog this month.
Today is a special day as it happens to be the Birthday of my elder girl L . Many Many Happy returns to L, my dear child who's been a blessing to me and I hope she be blessed throughout her life forever. Last year we didn't celebrate her BD in our apartment, instead we did it in our native. Mostly her BD comes during the time of the Puja and Dussehra hols...This year it happened to fall during the same slot, so we called her friends and had a small BD party at home before we came to our native place. She had a great time and got many good presents this time, mostly books....:) Today we plan to have a small cake cutting in the evening. She is already having a blast this holiday, travelling almost everyday.
I am also with my mom now, as I was not there when she underwent a surgery and so I'm happy to be with her for a few days. She's getting better and has improved a lot after seeing us. Its more exciting to get to hear all the Gossip of my near and dear and also meet them face to face.
Plus I am also doing some holiday homework, so that my girls get to enjoy their holiday....haha.. For the past 2 days...i did 4 activities.....Cotton work on Sheep , Dal Work on Sunflower, Hand painting (G's homework) on an old T-shirt , Flower mask to be made on a paper plate. Not bad !Have a few more activities. Mean while I am also reading the Autobiography of Agatha Christie in between....my favourite author. Very Interesting Indeed!

Onam Celebration in our apartment

Hello Bloggy

Been a long while since I've excercised my grey cells. Past 2 weeks were all busy,busy for all the ladies here.

We wanted to do a small Onam program in our apartment here and since it was exam time in almost all schools during this month, we couldn't make it extravagant like last year. So we decided to put up some games for all ages and as fillers we would put some groups songs(malayalam) of small kids and adults as well. Me and my other half decided to join for singing. I had the job of collecting the kids for practice everyday. Also I had to go door to Door in my block for inviting people personally to ensure maximum participation. We also had a Pookalam Competition. There were about 9 teams. Surprisingly there were Non-mallu teams who put up a good show. They even won prizes.

L and G were also there in group songs. Kids were excited and it was fun to see them learn the songs with actions. G wanted to participate(she was the smallest in the group) but she was too shy to do the actions. Few games included Picking the nuggets for the small kids....for bigger children it was passing water and filling a bottle. There was a Mythological Quiz for kids according to their apartment blocks. Couples had a grocery list game where the partners would sit 20 feet apart. One group had to called out the grocery items and their quantity...the other side would have to write out what they hear from their partner in the right order...this was all done simultaneously and so it was fun to watch one whole side screaming out their items. It would be a different list for all teams. Since dad and me were suffering from sore throat,neither of us sould scream. So I chose another friend who was interested in participating. We just missed the first prize coz of 1 item. Instead of Custard powder I heard Instant Powder...haha

The highlight of the day was the Vadamveli(Tug of War) for which even the small children wanted to participate. Finally there was team of equal men on either side. It was most anticipated event and we decided to have the best of 3. After the first attempt the guys switched sides and as everyone watched eagerly, on the second attempt the rope snapped off. It was disappointing. So they split the prize to both sides. Then there was Uriyadi(breaking the hanging pot with a long stick). Three people would be selected by a lucky draw. Age criteria was above 11 years of age. They would be blindfolded and have limited time to break the pot with the stick in their hands, meanwhile the children could splash water at them to their hearts content. The second boy won the prize. By the way the children were splashing water , I thought all 3 people would give up the game.

There were cash prizes for all the events. It was a fun-filled evening yesterday. G surprisingly sang with actions but her sound was not clear coz she had chocolates in her mouth and it was dripping out while she was singing. :)

Blasts in Delhi

Shame on those people who feel thrilled to kill their fellow innocent brothers and sisters. Why do they call themselves Indian Mujhahideen? Why do they attach the word Indian to their organisation when they r nothing but opposites of it?

Its terrible to think what the people must be going thru, fearing of Bomb Blasts day and Night. My deepest condolences to people who lost their near and dear in the terrorist attacks. May God be with all of them and help them go through this painful experience. My heart sinks just to read such shocking news.

Onam Fiesta !

I wouldn't be a Complete Mallu if I don't mention the Favoutirte festival of Kerala which is "ONAM". Onam Festival is celebrated with great joy and gaiety across Kerala, during a series of days in August or September. Many cultural events are also held on the occasion of Onam. Snake Boat races, Kathakali and Mohiniattam dance recitals and musical performances are organized to celebrate Onam in Kerala. Moreover there is a 10 day holiday in schools for even the children to enjoy.

What do people do throughout the 10 days??
Well there are lots of things!! First and formost People shop till they drop...u'll see sale sale everywhere from big shopping malls to even the smallest market shop. People buy new clothes and exchange gifts. Houses are cleaned and beautiful flower carpets and decorations are made at the entrances of houses and in courtyards. Traditional oil lamps are lit in the courtyard and women dressed in traditional Kerala sarees dance around the lamp, performing a dance called Thiruvathirakali. The main event on Onam day is a grand feast at lunchtime. Called sadya, the feast consists of a series of dishes served one after the other, including rice, vegetable curries, pickles and several varieties of payasam or sweet dish.

The highlight of this season is where u make Pookkalams(Flower designs).
Pookalam is an intricate and colourful arrangement of flowers laid on the floor. The tradition of decorating Pookalam is extremely popular during ten-day-long Onam celebrations. Loads of flowers, lot of dedication, creativity, technique and team effort are what makes a spectacular Pookkalam. Pookalam Competitions r held in schools and associations during this time too. Its a real feast to watch all the designs and creativity. They have become extremely popular and witness huge public participations. Big prizes are also kept in these contests as they have turned up to be extremely competitive events.

The Legend behind Onam Festival in Kerala:

Onam is celebrated to welcome King Mahabali, a legendary ruler of Kerala, who was renowned for the justice and goodness of his rule. According to legend, people in his kingdom lived in prosperity and harmony and loved their King so much that even the God's grew jealous of him. King Mahabali had conquered all the land and sea and the heavens, making the Gods even more disturbed. Vishnu descended on earth in the form of a dwarf Brahmin, called Vamana. He went to King Mahabali's palace and found the good King distributing alms. When Mahabali asked Vamana what alms he sought, Vamana replied he would like as much ground as he could cover with three footsteps. Mahabali looked at the tiny feet of the dwarf and agreed to his wish. Lord Vishnu covered the land and seas with one step and the heavens with the second. Mahabali recognized the presence of the Lord and offered his head as the ground for Vishnu/Vamana's third step. Mahabali was thus subjugated and sent to the underworld. However because he was a good and just king who loved his subjects, he could return once a year to check on the welfare of his people. And it is during Onam time that He comes to visit his people.

Onam Sadhya(Onam Feast)
A proper Onam Sadhya is what the people long for during this time.It consists of the dishes given below served in small quantities with white rice on a Big Banana Plantain Leaf. Totally Vegetarian and YUMMY! The dishes include Parippucurry, Injithair, Sambar, Avial, Kalan, Olan, Thoran, Puliinji, Pineapple Pachhady, Erissery Koottucurry, Sarkarapuratty ,Kaya Varuthathu, Pappadam ,Payasam, Prathaman ,Bananas

Payasams(also known as Kheer) r the best part of this sadya.
I love payasams.There are several varieties of 'payasams'. I have included a recipe of a simple Semiya Payasam which is my fav.
Semiya Payasam
Ingredients:
Vermicelli 1 cup

Cashew nuts handful

Raisins handful

Water 3/4cup

Sugar a cup

Saffron a pinch

Milk a cup

Cardamom two or three pods
Method:

Heat the ghee and fry the vermicelli till light brown. In the meanwhile, boil the water. Add the vermicelli to the boiling water and cover it. Keep stirring occasionally. Once the vermicelli becomes soft , add the sugar and continue to stir. Put the saffron in the milk and dissolve it, add this milk to the vermicelli. Powder the cardamom and add it to the mixture. Then fry the cashew nuts and almonds in ghee and add these. Mix well and boil for about two minutes. Your payasam is ready and can be served hot or cold.
By now I hope u all got an idea of what Onam is .

So wishing u all a Very Happy Onam!

Happy Teachers Day

Today is the day teachers should be proud of. A day in memory of all teachers who work hard and spend their life being selfless and who impart knowledge to the younger generation.The gift of teaching isn't a talent u find in everybody. I always fumbled when it came to teaching somebody and i certainly don't have the knack to rack brains through word of mouth and so I admire all teachers and their gift to teach. Me always loved literature and most often my fav teachers would be my English teachers.Lately I found 3 of my English teachers on Orkut who happened to teach me English during 3 different phases of my life. I am really fortunate to have found them. Does it mean that only English teachers seem to be keep in pace with the modern Social Networking system? I don't have any answers to that but from my experience ,I feel its very true. My English teachers have really done well in keeping in touch with all their old students. The latest info now is that,years later, My teachers have become my friends ...:)

My Sweet Mom

Hello friends...

been a few days since i have filled in my blogbook. My mom had a surgery last week and I didn't get a chance to be with her due to some circumstances. So i thought I would take a break,pray and think of everything related to my mom. She's on the road to recovery and I was very happy to speak to her yesterday after her surgery on thursday. She sounded tired after the whole procedure and also in pain too. BUt I know she'll be well in a few weeks time. Its only when we go thru such times that we realise the importance of people in our life whom we take for granted. I know I haven't been a good daughter to her but she's always been the best. My mom and me r just 20 years apart in age but she looks more like my elder sis than my own mom. She's always clad in a saree and carries herself real well. Mama's very sensitive and a shy woman unlike the modern mothers, probably due to her conservative upbringing. I remember times in my life whenever I used to disobey her, she would tell me that I should be a mother to understand. Now after being a mom of 2 kids I understand well. I've realised now that mothers cannot explain all things to their children while bringing them up but we realise them later in life when we go through similiar situations.

Toys

Whats with children and toys? Will there be an end to the number of toys piling up inspite of not buying for our own?

My house is overflowing with toys...toys here,toys there,toys everywhere...i need not take any toys to my native ..coz i have toys for my kids there too...toys at my in-laws house and toys at my parents. Toys r something that keep pouring into our house as gifts from friends and relatives. Particularly after a Birthday celebration, u will end up with many toys. Every year we donate some old ones to SOS and few old ones goes to my maid but still they come from nowhere.

All the cleaning was done by me every day...the most annoying being pieces of pieces of bricks, pencils, crayons, bangles(specially for girls) and puzzles scattered everywhere. I clean them up after they've gone to school and hide them, only to take them out again when my girls request innocently with false promises of cleaning up after play. When they r done, they go their own way which makes me the last one left in the room to clean up. Grrr...

If this goes on I think I will have to do it till they grow older. I have been thinking about it seriously these days. Better now than later. My girls have to take responsibilty atleast in the matter of cleanliness. Therefore I have adopted stringent measures for cleaning up after play. No more outdoor play until ething is cleaned up. Anything taken from its place has to be returned after use, at once. All cleaning should be done before going to bed. Although its impossible to keep monitoring, I am trying my level best. I don't know how long I have to be the monster figure in their lives. But judging by my own character, its likely that I will forget about it sooner or later, me being very softhearted to my girls. :)

Olympics 2008

Its the opening ceremony of the 2008 Olympics on 8th August at 8:08 PM. I feel excited for all those who r going to participate and try to win a medal for which they have been working for years and years together. For that medal which will bring honour to their country as well. I always used to daydream when I was small, that if I were to participate and win an Olympic medal, it would be an "Out of this world" feeling for me. And I also guess its going to be the same feeling for all those who r going to be a part of all the events. My Prayers and All the Best for all the Participants in this Years Olympic Event. Hats off to all of them for their competitive Spirit and Hardwork.

Gimme a Break!

Past few days we were all busy with guests and travel. Days just fly when these 2 things r clubbed. Donno how fast the last 5 days passed. But am glad to take a break after it. All the cooking and arranging home etc. On top of all this ,I am down with a nasty cold and body ache. A BIG RELEIF! that my kids have gone to school today. Again we have planned a 3 day trip this weekend. Tommorow we have the "Lunch klatsch" in our Apartment. So according to the menu I have to prepare a dish. Most probably its a "Vegetable Stew"(kerala style) which has to accompany the "Appam". The last time I prepared the stew for a gathering it was a partial disaster so I have my fingers crossed this time. But I am bold enough the take on the Mission again. ;)

So many things happening so fast. Today also happens to be the First time L is doing Bible Reading in her school Assembly. I hope it turns out to go fine as she had mentioned that she wanted to do something like that for a long time. When i met her Ma'm for the Open House I spoke about L's interest. And so she got her chance today. She didn't want to make it perfect tho when I wanted her to rehearse well yesterday. I wonder how it went today?

Dressing Time

Many moms go through difficult times when selecting a dress for their child(specially girls) . Usually I allow them to wear according their own tastes but when the child wants to wear the same dress all the time then we have to find a solution. Me and G argue a lot, when the time comes to select a dress after G's bath. For a very long time(about a year now) she likes this one particular dress every day after her bath. It is a beautiful Shiny flowery dress that I got stitched a year back. I stitched with the same cloth for both my girls. With the remaining cloth, I made 2 duppatas(shawls) out of it for them. G never gets fedup of wearing that frock with the additional setup(Duppatta) everyday. Even though her shelf is full of pretty dresses, she insists on wearing the same dress. Tho I liked it when i bought the cloth the first time, now i don't like the sight of it. Sometimes I hide it from the shelf and make excuses for the missing dress. For about a month i had to tell her that i left it in our native. Just recently I put it back on the shelf but i misplaced G's duppatta..So now the trend is, sharing L's duppatta. When L came to know that G's duppatta is missing ,she wants to wear it the same day G wears it. Now I have to make sure that L and G wear their dress on different days so that they get the duppata to themselves on the days either of them wear it. This is the biggest disadvanatage when they both have the same dress.

A few days ago my yunger one starting wearing her clothes by herself.Wearing the T-shirt and her skirt by herself really made me a proud mommy.

Gloomy days

After swimming i have started playing basketball from just yesterday. Today i really feel worn out and my mind feels numb. I guess there r days like these in ebody's lives. Probably I overexerted while playing the game. On top of it there was also a BD party which ended by 9:00PM. The climate here in Bangalore these days is cloudy and windy(don't like it this way) plus the bomb scares everywhere these days, makes me feel down. I am also having a slight cold and body ache...WHERE R THE SUNNY DAYS?? I am just longing to see a little sun? I decided not to go to the pool td and instead did some Cuboard cleaning which i always put off for the following week and it gets postponed for days(me really a lazee mom sometimes).

Ah! So there...finally I did some cleaning! Even the sun has come out now....Good!!..am feeling a little better.

Moral of the Story....If u feel down ,do a little cleaning! ;)

Tiring!

G usually sleeps in the afternoon everyday after school. On the day she doesn't sleep in the afternoon she goes off to sleep at 7 in the evening and gets up at 8 the next day. One morning ,with her eyes hardly opened she called out"Mamma" like she does every morning.

Me: G, sleep for some more time till i keep ur milk ready,ok?

G: I slept,slept and am feeling tired,mamma.

Ladies Day Out

We have been having a common ladies getogether every month. This has been going on for about a year. Yesterday it was at my place. It takes place during the afternoon time when all kids r at school and a lunch is what we all gather to have together plus some Gossip and Chit chat. It is not a kitty since there is no money involved. I was pretty occupied with making the house clean and preparing the menu for the gathering ,for the whole of last week.

I was little tensed since I was having it in my place for the first time. But then yesterday, ething turned out fine by God's grace. There was no powercut like everyday in the mornings and so me and my friends could prepare lunch wihout any inconvenience. Everybody liked the food which me and my other 2 friends had prepared for the whole gang. The cheese pudding which i made( my friend M's recipe) was a hit thanks to my friend M. We had even arranged a game of Dumb Charades. It was lots of fun. The whole event got over within 3 hours from 12-3(after noon). It was only when all of us returned home that we came to know that Bangalore city witnessed a few bomb blasts in 8 places totally and it was shocking to hear that. Throughout the fun time we all were having, we didn't have a hint of what was going on. We are thankful to God that nothing happened closeby but sad for the people who died and got injured. May God be with all of them and be their source of comfort.

PHEW!!Exam time Over!

Ah! finally L's unit tests r over. I can get some rest atleast till the next unit tests start. She's only in Std 2 but has loads to study. They follow the ICSE board like i told earlier. They had 8 test papers to attend.

ENglish, Hindi, Science, Social Studies, Environmental Science, General Knowledge, Computers and Mathematics which got over in 8 working days.

This is a Question which she had to study in computers

WHat is a program?

A program is a sequence of instructions or commands. I had a hard time teaching her the spellings first but she managed to learn it somehow.

Well! this is just one ...there are plenty of questions and answers in the rest of the subjects too.

For example in a chapter in Social Studies they had to answer questions like

What is a family?

What is a large family?

Name the types of families

What is a single parent family?

What is a joint family?

This is just from one chapter of Social Studies, so u all can imagine the rest. The marks r coming in one by one. Even tho she hasn't scored well after all my hardwork(and a some work from her too) ,I am not going to let her spirits down. I hope that I will keep encouraging her to do well the next time.