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.

Tip of the Day

Buy a combination of blue chips and mid caps which offers value.
Gold has had a great run from 2001 to the current year 2008 where the prices have gone from around 250$/ounce to break its previous high of 850$/ounce and peak at 1030$/ounce before correcting to the 900 levels.
The reason for gold prices to increase so much is the new demand for Gold Investment in this volatile market. Gold as a form of investment used:
As a hedge against inflation
As a hedge against a declining dollar
As a safe haven in times of geopolitical and financial market instability
As a commodity, based on gold supply and demand fundamentals
As a store of value
As a portfolio diversifier; gold can act as portfolio insurance
Different ways of investing in this precious metal in the order of preference is given below.
1) Investing in GOLD ETFs like Benchmark Bees or UTI Gold
2) Buying bars
3) Buying coins
4) Buying ornaments.

Neighbours

Being in an apartment means u r going to have plenty of neighbours. Some may have good neighbours and some may not. IF u have energetic kids at home and don't stay on the ground floor, it means u r not going to be a good neighbour to the one who stays below u. Kids could be a nuisiance to the neighbours below. Earlier when we moved in to this apmt,we didn't know the rules to being a friendly neighbour. WIthout my knowledge L threw banana peels out of the balcony which happend to fall on the extended balcony of my neighbour downstairs. She called us up and we had to make a friendly visit . She advised my girl who was almost 4 then about not throwing waste out of the balcony. L happily nodded. She just had to hear that to feel tempted to throw things out of the balcony all the time. I had to keep her away from the balcony initially. L did repeat it again once(again I was called up) but after she grew, it got solved. But then G grew up to take her place. She throws a few things even now ,however strict I am. But now I guess she's got used to it..We even have to keep the 9:30 PM deadline(as told to us by our neighbour, as her kids go to bed by then) after which we aren't supposed to let our kids jumping around in the house (which my kids r fond of till 11 at night). G specially, loves to jump (after 9:30) the moment I tell her that our neighbours kids are asleep. What to do ? My threats have deafened their ears.

Tip of the Day

Invest for long term and never trade unless you are an expert.

Small Surprises

Even the most itbsy bitsy, teeny weeny, smallest gesture of love can make a child happy. Talk of gifts and a child's face lightens up. Give ur child lots of small thoughtful gifts. Mention that u have a small gift for them and see the excitement. U can even use the old leftover giftwrappers to cover up small small things. Be Creative. It can be a chocolate,something special u have made out of paper or even a handmade card. Give it as a gift when they come from school to surprise them or give it as a reward for being good. They will cherish it and make surprises for u too.

Tip of the Day

Investing systematically is a good option but blindly putting in a SIP may not be a good idea. Invest on the days when the market falls heavily.

Play Time

My girls fight all the time never agreeing on the same thing while playing with each other, but there are few games that they play together...one is the house game...they build a house with all the available Pillows in the house making them as walls so that each one gets a room.

Another thing that fascinates them is dressing up. All my Duppattas have been used by them as i have a big collection of them. When i give away my old salwars, i don't give the Duppattas and so i have a large stock of it. My girls have fun using them as sarees or dressing up in any other fashion. 'G'(yunger one) always want to dress up just like 'L' and so i have to make sure that they both get the same colour dupatta most of the time. Sometimes I don't check on what they play as i think that they should have their own space and solve their own arguments. While playing ,there r umpteen number of times when 'L' bosses up 'G'.

The other day, after my elder girl(L) came from school, she saw a duppatta lying on the sofa.
Immediatly she told told 'G' to kneel down and pray as how they do in the church. L went into the bedroom with the Duppatta. I was continuing with my work as I really didn't understand , what my girls were playing. I even asked 'L' why she was giving punishment to 'G'. 'G' kneels down on the carpet happily and starts singing aloud in some unknown language as she ususally does when she pretends, as if she's singing in church. Around 3-4 minutes later(probably fedup of singing alone), 'G' calls out " WHere is the bride aunty"? L comes running out from the bedroom in her halfdress and Duppatta on her head as the veil of the bride....It was only then that I understood that they were enacting a marriage ceremony in church. I was amused watching my girls play the rest of the scenes.

Tip of the Day

Do investment in MFs by directly approaching AMCs, thereby saving on the entry load.

Keep Learning

Dear Friends,

thank u all for ur overwhelming response....i never thot that I would get such tremendous support from the time i started my blog.....thanx once again.

I will be putting in posts only on alternate days from now on....if i do have anything interesting ,i would break that rule too. ....:)

If any of u desire to learn something but feel thats its impossible......think of it once again!.....If God is with u, Anything is Possible !

I never thot that I would learn swimming fast, as I thot it was nearly Impossible!...in the same way, back in college..i had the desire to learn to play the guitar and i did that too...I had to put in hardwork too to learn playing (tho i do not know the basics even now). I managed to learn playing the chords with the help of a few friends( a big thanx to K and R) .

Life is so full of stuff to learn and I don't hope to sit idle. I do hope that all of u too, would learn something new or atleast try to.

I used to have a skipping rope with me for many years which i never used. Surprisingly,now my elder daughter uses it. One day she took it out with her to play and now she's learned to use it without any help.

So to all of u out there....Keep Trying and Keep Smiling!

Tip of the Day

Mutual fund is a not a place where returns are guaranteed. Their NAVs also fall with a falling market. Many times 70% of funds falls faster than the market.

Would You ?

If there's darkness

In the world,

All round you,

Would you be that Little light,

In everybody's view?

If there's a child,

In some sort of danger,

Would you run along,

Just to save her?

If there's a Poor Lady,

who lived across the street,

Would u help her

to meet atleast one need?

If there's an old man,

Who's just fallen down,

Would you go over ,

To help him up?

If there's a tree,

Thats just been cut off,

Would you plant another,

to save mother nature?

If there's a friend,

Who's done some wrong,

Would you point fingers,

Or forgive and resolve?

If you have loved someone,

And have been deceived,

Would you just sit and cry,

Or carry on with ur life ?

If you r in despair,

And left with no care,

Would you take time to think,

Of Someone up there?

Someone who has watched you,

All these years,

And taken you thru.

Shudn't u take ,

A little of ur time,

Just to thank Him?