Who said life is simple??

I think its time I convinced myself that I’m not needed everywhere and that what I have been doing has been ok…and that life gets by …no matter how hard I try…it’ll still remain the same.

If I have to look at life’s gifts to me…I’d consider my sons the best ones amongst them. They just make my life so simple….just a plain circus. Isn’t that simple enough…

Well consider this.

My older is a stickler for details and ….
His books are always so neat, I wonder if he even opens them to use it.

The younger :
I remember wrapping the books in brown regulation school sheets….clean, neat and light brown. 2 months down the academic year…I can’t see the brown…its just plain black and ..I insist he’s a dirty kid, but he insists he had nothing to do with it…

And they both go to the same school??!!!!

Older: Its been 3 years since I gave him pencils and erasers…each exam I ask him to take a new pencil and eraser, but his is still brand new. (He was a lil upset that his teacher had borrowed his eraser and taken off the plastic wrap around it…hmppfff so much for cleanliness..!!

Younger. I’ve raided Metro , the wholesale place…but I’m always running short of stationary…what does he do with them???? 3 erasers and all gone in one day?? Don’t even ask about his pencils…he’s sharpening them so often, I don’t think he even writes in them at times.

Storage better get better in days to come…
Older: His things are always in its own place. He’s a very outdoorsy kind of boy, but his stuff always gets back to the same place…and they are looked after too…sometimes to the point of my frustration…

Younger : He is an organizer too…his things just organize themselves into bad, sandy and broken. And trying to ape his elder brother , he borrows all my boxes from the kitchen…sometimes…even the expensive Tupperware ones…to keep his stuff. After a few days…I find all his things in one jumble in one huge bag…Where did all the boxes go?? Search me??!!!!


I’ve tried to maintain a little bit of tradition in my family. Love celebrating festivals and following customs. Its fun if one were to look at the brighter spot.

We lived our childhood celebrating Ganesh Chaturthi, Ramnavami, etc, community style…and they have taught me huge lessons in bonding and teamwork.

This Janmashtami, as is tradition, I made all the sweets( some I bought of course) and true to our custom, while offering naivedya ( offering to the Lord) I kept a small bit of buuter on the Lords’ idol. Bang on!! Came the first question…

Younger : Will Krishna eat it?

Older: So dumb!! As if he can..

Father : Of course, if you really pray hard for him to, maybe he will..with a wink .

Me: silence…

Next morning..the blob of butter as expected still remains in its original spot.

Younger…He didn’t eat?

Me : Maybe he was full with so many sweets..

Older: Hmpff…so dumb!!

Younger : ( after some thinking) How can he, Ma…he’s playing the flute, how can he eat and play at the same time …!!!

Time for me to change the idol I think…next time, I’ll look for one laidback Krishna maybe….eating butter ????

I am now convinced that whoever said that as they grow, their vocabulary increases, just don't pay attention. But I can show them its not how it is…it just gets down to simpler words, and then by the time they marry it gets to become monosyllables…and we still wonder why our husbands don’t answer with anything more than Haan!, yes! OK, maybe….?!!!!

But life is one big gift, like I said…and I’m sure a few years down the line when they are away from us…I’ll be grasping at these memories and all they would do is make me smile..

Tomorrow is yet another day!!!

2 weeks of hectic madness…some made by me, some made for me…but I was in the center of it all, not able to organize my slightly crisp mind into thinking. Reasons were plenty. Most of them silly. And some, more like whining.
But most important was the sight of so many unpacked boxes, because the umpteen nagging issues in a new house, and added to it the presence of so many workers, most who assumed they were entering an empty house and not one already occupied. So for want of permission they would just walk in with either a paint brush in hand or a wrench more ghastly than the previous one to replace a leaking faucet…but I am enjoying it all actually…it reminds me that I have that much of time to think about action…all that is going on and have fun at my own expense…and then again to blog too….

But since the brain is still a bit on a mute mode…thought I’d handle a tag, so something which needs to be just answered and no thinking up a topic to write about…how’s that for brilliance…
So picked up this one, tagged by Sahana on Kal , Aaj aur Kal

The details of this one….Two questions in each category answer them and then tag your friends from the blog-o-sphere. (Simple enough right) Leave a comment on their blog letting them know they have been tagged and you are all set.

Yesterday
Your oldest memory
What were you doing 10 years ago?

Today
Your first thought today morning
If you built a time capsule today what would it contain?

Tomorrow
This year ….
What do you see yourself doing 14 years from now?

My oldest Memory..


I knew this one would get me…
Well, being a very helpful kid at 7-8 years, and having a terribly flexible body…I could go through rectangular grills the size of 6” x 9”. So each time a resident locked himself out of his flat , the door –opener would be called…ME!!! I would squeeze myself through those rectangles and walk in and open their doors, and of course be rewarded for this brave act with a handful of raisins…yes!! Raisins…and I would be all happy and smiling…
And now when I find my lil one climbing pipes up to the first floor and to the top of the balconies, I just say! “ history repeats itself!!”

But I do remember the time when I used to put pieces of paper torn from my grandfather’s old books, into the mailbox that would be fixed to his house compound., way before, soemtime 35 years ago I think…Don’t even dare ask me why I did that???

What were you doing 10 years ago?

10 years ago …well!! I was frantically running behind my son who was then 2 and a half years old and in his most terrible two’s . He was so restless, he never would sit in a place for long.. ( he never does that even now! L ) All that I remember from that time is his “ Amma beku” (I want momma) cry….for an hour, when I had left him at his play school gate…his tear filled eyes and his face wedged between the railing…still come back at times. I smile at those memories now…but then I was sure I was not fit to be a mother….and had to be reassured many times over by his favourite teacher then, that he would be ok…and he was…much to the point of telling me to come back after a few hours L so much for feeling sad! Hmpppffff…

Today:
Your first thought this morning

After returning from a very exhausting trip to Tirupathi… and just crashing out to having a very restful sleep, all I could think of this morning was “ Did I keep the milk coupons??? , I don’t have any energy to go out and buy milk!! “

If you built a time capsule today what would it contain?

Contain?? Let me see…my whole world…huh!! So boring am I not???
Maybe I’ll think of it in peace and then decide…so until then ….patience and please wait!!


Tomorrow
This year ….

Well this year gave me a lot of bumps...some good and some real bad. But i've picked myself up and tried to carry on...am trying to build a life centred around acceptance. Praying that things will go right .

What do you see yourself doing 14 years from now?

14 years???? Are you crazy…I don’t know what I’ll be doing 14 seconds from now??? Absolutely no idea….considering I would have hit the half century button on my clock….I think I’ll stop the thinking bit for now and just enjoy every moment for now..

Well to tag a few….
Preethi from Just a mother of two

Suma from Aaalochane

Madhumita from One true thing

Veens…from Rum’blinks’

Misssing blogging :(

Like Sahana said...beta stage for some connections...my life seems to be there too...all on experiment mode.Thought once I shifted to my new home, life would be blissful, unpack, arrange, get on to blogging... yes!! I always dream BIG...and thats whats been happening...I'm right now, juggling between setting up a home and trying to put names of profession ( read! plumber, carpenter, homecare ) to the faces...
Its all so confusing that today while in the lift, one of the residents who happens to be moving in , in the coming week, stepped in, and another worker seeing him, said " Sir!! the cable tv is not coming properly""The cool dude, from the US freaked out....I was having my first bit of smile forming on my lips...What fun to watch confusions and the people involved in it...
One day i'm afraid I might just walk up to the next door neighbour and ask him if can come and fix the tap, cos its spurting out water from the shower instead of the wash basin..and all because he walked out from the maintenence office :(

PLease, please, be patient ...

I checked my Google Reader and find a huge list of unread posts., and it looks like a mela...and its going to take me a while going through all of them...and I am going to.
Until then...
don't forget I exist...

And then....

The beautiful orange streaks across the sky beckoned her thoughts, and so did her gaze look yonder. She had just come back from a beautiful play, one which she had initially refused to go for. Her friend had insisted, saying she had not stepped out for ages, and she might need the change.She had finally given in and had also enjoyed every moment of her day out. She had felt one with the breeze, the green of the lush trees and also the nip in the air reminded her of the lovely monsoon winds.
She stared out of the window, trying to catch the silver line bordering the dark clouds in the orange sky. It was a fusion of colours, just like her innermost thoughts. She knew in a few minutes all her smiles would dissolve. She had tried talking to her friends about him. But then he was a different persona in front of them. How could she convince them , that what they saw in him was not what he was. He turned into a monster , a person, who couldnt handle negative criticism, someone who wanted repeated assurances that he was good, even if it meant it was a lie. How could she tell them, that she walked on egg shells while he was around. Not knowing
which action of hers, or words would anger him? She hoped he worked late, tonight too, she could sleep peacefully knowing there would be no arguments seeping into the night. She prayed for courage , strength and the guts to voice out her feelings.
But then " “things are not always as they appear”, and she knew only too well the repurcursions if her efforts backfired!
She looked on and on, into the grey of the night!

Written in response to the prompt at Matinee muse.

Nerd alert!!

Nerd is a term often bearing a derogatory connotation or stereotype, that refers to a person who passionately pursues intellectual activities, esoteric knowledge, or other obscure interests that are age inappropriate rather than engaging in more social or popular activities. Therefore, a nerd is often excluded from physical activity and considered a loner by peers

Obscure?!!!

Does that mean, I am one? :( Oh oh!! and all the while I was thinking I was being a very caring mother, one who answers the doubts unanswered by the school teachers ( wonder , how that issue will ever get solved?? ), felt very elated when I solved the math problems...i've had to study the chapters too before I let out my tirades...All the tarzanish yollering, all come to an abrupt end... :( :( :(

My son called me a 'nerd'

I was sure, being social ( I can talk to walls too...but thats the issue of being a chatterbox...) , I sometimes do dumb things like walk into walls or furniture...not always pursuing intellectual activities...I still push a door that says pull...yeah...I can be dumb too..., I stop myself from jumping and touching the branch of a tree on the roadside, ( thinking it is not age appropriate..( the auto drivers might just die narrating the incident to the next 100 drivers along the street :( ...). And I take part in some of the popular activities like watching movies or television ....I'm not a loner...I have friends too...and love each and every one of them , and keep in touch with them too.
But then why do you think I am a nerd????
Well , unit tests are on now...and somehow, my elder son assumes, the way to solving math problems are just getting the answers right...which of course the school and all their clan frowns upon...they need the steps ...and I very smartly told him that...
" How can you just write an answer, how will they know how you got to it??. When I was in school ( wrong call....totally...should have just shut up) we used to always write each step and didnt think of arguing like this"
"Huh!! You were a nerd , ma!!"
Nerd?!!!!

How do they expect us to teach them anything if we don't know anything?? But if we know it, we are nerds...wow!!! Great isn't it?
The other day, I overheard a few students in my sons' school talking...( I know, I should learn not to eavesdrop on kids....). One of the kids while watching a match was trying to write down his notes, that he had missed..( I thought that was so cool and smart, he was so responsible) , when.....
"Saw that A, what a nerd he is..so dumb, no?!!..."
Poor child, and here we mothers were sitting and wishing all our sons would at least look at their books and not run around like monkeys, convincing the principal that their teams needed cheering , so he should give them permission to watch all the matches...huh!!!

Then I read this somewhere...

Nerds are also sometimes portrayed as having symptoms of obsessive compulsive disorder, such as by showing an extreme devotion to following rules.

I think I need a time out and go assess my skills at parenting and more of being a "non-nerd"...and I just need to find out what the hell this word Esoteric Knowledge means??

Door to door .....with freebies?!!

"MeyDum, ondhu pyaket thogonDre, ondhu spoon free" (madam if you buy one packet, you'll get one spoon free) Yes....and then 12 packets were bought...how else could you make a set of 12 spoons for your cutlery set?!!!
Remember those times...( i've lost out on that scenario, 'cos I moved into apartments) I dont know their skill , but all I can remember is them ringing the doorbell exactly 9 minutes after you dozed off into noon nap..ech....they would refuse to go away....if you didnt open the door and look at their plastered faces...they would keep their grimy fingers on that drasted doorbell of yours.

And then when you opened the door, they would erupt, spontaneously into their tirade of...."buy one take one free"....and even if you did open the door and bought something...they would furiously scrawl something ineligible in black nonwashable something on your neatly painted wall.. :( . Reminds me of Alladin and the 40 thieves.. gulp

How many badam packets has my mother in law bought..." Ille, spoon nalla irukku" (no, the spoons are of good quality) she would say and I would go....eekss....but what would I do with 12 badam packets???? I hate them......but 12 spoons it was.

The kitchen piled up on steel tumblers, 'eversilver' ( stainless steel) dabras( katoris , cups) , then one day, if you were lucky, it would also change into some fine printed handkerchief...yes....that the poor hanky would finally shrink to the size of the nose, is a different matter...

There was this set of ladies who would make their visit to our house regularly...naturally..they wouldn't miss out on their best customer, would they? And then my mother in law, would complain about the previous rusting plate that they had offered and to exchange it...but " NO....the offer had changed :D !!!!

It was now one packet of sanitary napkins free with the other...gaaawwwd....I have seen the whole room reeling under the weight of those blue packets....what with 3 women...grrrr one years supply...baaah bwaaah

I was absolutely sure that we were the only family who did this...but to my horror, my mother told me, that her neighbour also did the same. But her reasoning was different..." poor girls, if they dont sell something, they won't get commission( that was how it worked...commission on n number of products sold) "
So then the house would be decorated with the encyclopedia, the cookery books....those that were sold on promotional tactics ..." we are giving a 70% off, ma'm" in their very accented perfect english. Now I wonder...why was it that the guy would always be accompanied by a smartly dressed girl, and the girl would do all the yacking while the poor guy stood quietly lookin hopefully to see that promising positive look in our eyes?!!! Of course I fell into that trap too....books being my weakness....and each time they targeted me in the office...so I now have a collection of 'fruits for all occassion', 'potatos and their magic'...'world books', 'Saarus', 'icecreams'...no...i'm stuck with them...

It also reminds me of the pastime we used to have as kids....no tv then...Bangalore had not yet got its tv...so it was us sitting playing traditional games, chaukabara, drawing, reading books, and of course listening and aping the "steel paaaaathre saaamaaanyo" ( steel utensilssss)...and then would get that glare from the big man...who would turn around his head with all the steel utensils carefully, skillfully, placed and also hanging out of the cane basket, like the BTS buses with commuters spilling all over the door. Today when I see all the neat old clothes, sarees, etc and trying to give them away or donate them...I think back to those scorched afternoons when that man would go about screeching in his nasal tones...while his lil boy would hold one piece of that steel carrier with the handle...wondering if in the next house, the lady would give away some saree with Zari..( it fetched a better price, you see!!) or some hapless suit..

Thankfully now we get all the freebies stuck into the glossy sheets of the ever popular magazines...Sunsilk shampoo sachets, meera shikakai, the get children yantras, and cds too...no more doorbells ringing...but no more "MeyDum"..... too :(