Honesty is d best policy

I was in kitchen and heard a loud thud of something falling down. When i rushed to the living room, i saw the big flower frame (that was once part of our wall) is now on the floor in various pieces. And Sid is just beside it standing on top of his study table. Any lame man could have guessed what had happened. And at the same time, somebody knocked on the door. So Sid was escaped from the instant sprout of my anger.

In the evening, we had this conversation:

Me: Tell me sid, didnt u touch that frame in the morning? Isnt that the reason it fell down?
Sid: no mumma, i didnt touch it.
Me: tell me honestly. I swear i wont scold u.
Sid: honestly mumma, i didnt touch it. I only swayed it.

Midway

18th November. I love my birthday. Well, who doesn't! The feeling of being remembered by friends and dear ones, and they taking some time off from their busy schedules to call or drop a wish --- Aaah.. so affirmative and content.

This birthday was a special one --- I have completed 30 years here on Earth. 30 years. If you see it as a span rather than an age, you realize it is a big period of time. I don't agree to the saying, "Life starts at 30." Nor do I think that it ends here. And, nor do I get a "mid-life-crisis" kind of feelings. My life till now has been very rewarding and my present stature is the result of these 30 years that I lived. Yes, the thought-process changed, priorities changed, perspectives changed, yet I am the same girl within.

Midway on my life journey (or so do I hope), here's some gyaan on how typically a 30-year old birthday girl feels:
* By now, you know yourself much more. Like what you are good at and what you just hate doing... Career-wise, hobby-wise, chores-wise, and everything-else-wise.
* You now know things might be difficult but not impossible. You start going with the flow.
* You don't just love your parents, you have started to empathize with them. Need I say more? Haha, They are no longer a different generation. But somehow, you can't explain this to your next generation.
* You are now working on some strategies on work, finance, and family. (And you sometimes laugh at your past attitude.)
* You start valuing time.

Cheers, Life!

Gandhi Jayanti special

Sid's (pre)school is doing a good job on getting the kids aware of all the festivals and other celebrations.
The last one I could remember was that a day before the Ganesh Chaturthi, he was given a paper with Ganesha printed on it and he had coloured it well. Today I found a paper with three monkeys (bura mat bolo, bura mat suno, bura mat socho types) and he had coloured them as well. 

In the evening at home, he came to the kitchen and we had this amusing conversation:

Sid: Mumma, do you know it's Gandhiji's birthday tomorrow.
Mumma (impressed): Vow.. who told you? Your teacher?
Sid: Yes.
Mumma: Ok, who's Gandhiji?
Sid: Those monkeys that I coloured.

:-0
:-X

Mumma has work!

My dearest Sid,

Over the last few months, we have been having conversations similar to the following:

Sid: Mumma, let's play hide and seek.
Me: Mumma has to cook.

Sid: Mumma, let's go to the play area.
Me: Mumma has an evening call, dear.

Sid: Mumma, let's play badminton.
Me: Mumma has a huge pending laundry, can you wait for a few minutes?

Sid: Mumma, I don't want to go to school today. At least, no day care?
Me: Mumma has to go to office today.

The list goes on...

And finally, when I somehow manage to get some time off from work and come and sit with you, your delighted eyes sparkle and you say this with enthusiasm:
Ammakyu ippum oru jooliyum illa? (Mumma has no work now?)

Yes, I confess, you have been receiving this reply a lot --- "Mumma has work!" I know that and I am so sorry for that. It's been almost 3 months now that we (both of us) are managing with day care, mumma's increased workload, and (especially) without ammamma. You have amazingly grown up to realize the need of the hour and let me do all the chores peacefully... Well, most of the times.

This letter is to mark my gratitude to your understanding and patience. I realize how much you enjoy my company. I do too. I can spend the whole day just snuggling with you. I am sure we are going to exchange our roles when you grow up. You will get busy with your daily life and you might not get enough time to spend with your mom. At that time, just remember that "I understand".

Yours ever loving,
Amma

Unni Krishnan

This is my unni in a krishnan get-up. And that was to celebrate krishnaashtami in his school. The accessories and make-up credits go to his mom.

Sid was super duper excited for this event. Here's a list of adventures that he said he would do in this avatar:

* He would kill all the rakshasas.
* He would call me yashoda.
* He would tuck his flute into his waist knot than playing it.
* Last but not least, he would go to school daily in this avatar as he likes being krishna.

Freedom - 2015 Independence day

Who doesn't like to rekindle one's hobbies! I was reminded of my poetry days (as I call them) in school when I read about the poetry and painting contest at office for the occasion of Independence Day. The theme was "Freedom". I got super-excited and enrolled for both. Don't expect the results here --- Since we didn't have much participation, it wasn't considered as a competition. ;)

Here's my entry for the poetry. (My hubby read it and commented that I may hit the first prize if it were a short-essay contest.) OK, I still want to have it posted here:

I am so free in my independent India
that I can spit, I can pee wherever I like,
that I can light up a cigarette whenever I might,
that I can whistle the tune of my favorite song to any random girl,
that I can drive, hit, and run away from justice in a fame-whirl.

In my free country, I have full liberty
to think thrice before stepping out of the house in the dark, alone.
to negotiate with an auto-rickshaw driver on a double (sometimes triple) fare, on my own.
to condemn a person, just because he is a man, without hearing his explanation for flaws,
to torment the mother of a deceased on how she feels for the loss.

I am so used to independence that
If not demand, I can still pray for a son than a daughter.
If not ask, I can still expect some dowry after.
If not practice, I can still complain about rules.
If not bribe, I can settle with gifts.

Why is it that
"Your 3-year old kid is very cute" is no more a compliment?
Why is it that
"Chalta hai, yahan aise hi hota hai" is still acceptable and not a punishment?
What is it that holds me back to ask
"What, how, why, why not" --- some simple basic questions?
Why do I not question myself?

I can either be grumpy, or lay back passively.
Thinking of all the things available to me freely.
But the real freedom would be
to challenge my own capacity.
to do my work perfectly.
to raise my kids as good citizens.
and to involve in all the good things happening around me for once.

And here's my entry for the painting contest:
I know, it is nowhere a painting. I sketched this up just before the contest since I had enrolled. I wanted to represent "Zentangle" (recently got to know about it) --- where you are free to draw anything that comes to your mind. But it didn't matter since I was the only participant.

Testimonial from Dad

I am super-excited to publish this post. We (Mumma and Sid) got a testimonial from Dad. Can I back-date it to a month (or two) ago because I have a long list of pending posts and I "have" to start with this one.
So, I get this following message on Whatsapp from my hubby. I started reading it, thinking it would be another forwarded messaged that he thought I would be interested to read. But as I read on to the details, I realized it is me. And my son. And my husband himself. I realized my dear husband has penned down his feelings and gifted me such a wonderful present. He can be a wonderful writer I tell you.

I so wanted to record it here. More for me than for Sid, to cherish forever. So, here it goes:

Mother-Son bonding:

I had always been wondering why boys are very much attached to their mothers. Well now I get my answer when I see a "Maa ka chamcha" growing up in front of me.

This relationship is very special and very different from any other relationships.

Well, to begin with, she is the best friend and first option for my champion: He would want his mother to do everything for him if there is an option for that.

While going to school, if I am going to drop him then he takes commitment from his mother that she will pick him up in the evening and when the assurance is received, the wrinkles on the forehead are substituted with a heartmelting smile.

He also believes that his mother is capable of fulfilling his every wish and his mother does everything to prove his belief right all the time.

What he gives in return is worth watching - The renderence of his unconditional love at frequent intervals, saying "Enikku snehikkanam" and the intimate hugging to follow the statement.

Well there is much much more worth scribbling here - The naughty smile he gives when he knows that he is committing a mischief, the way he hides behind his mother when the big mischiefs are made and his dose is due from my end, The occasional statement "Enikku Ammene bhayankara ishtaanu " and a lot more!!!

Like a typical Indian mom, I was close to shedding those tears.

Concluding here with a note to my soul-mate: Thank you so much for this treasure. A reassurance that you really appreciate. I would still have nurtured Sid if you had not sent this. But since you sent these words, I shall always try to better myself.

My kid and the day care

Sid has been going to the school day care for more than a month now. So, it's like 11 am to 2 pm is his classes; and then on, day care. It took him one week to get settled in this new setup. Finally, when he did settle, he is happy to go there and meet his friends --- on one condition --- "mumma, u will come to pick me up, right?" Awwwwww, heart-melting for me.

The initial guilt in me subsided and transformed to happiness to see him mingle with friends, learn more English words, learn discipline (he wears his own clothes now), and occupied in social learning. 

Sid, the conversationalist, volume 2

Sid is 3 years and 3 months old, and he has already mastered Malayalam. He speaks semantically and grammatically correct Malayalam. He is working hard to get his English working these days.

* Sid wants to know why is Kannada language and kannada (Malayalam for spectacles) are called the same way.

* Some GK session: 

father of d nation: prajeth

capital of Tamilnadu: kozhikode

biggest land animal: elephant

biggest water animal: water elephant

* Some words that he uses in his daily vocab: changala (metal chain), kalippu (rage), teerumaanichu (decided), chelleppum (sometimes), aakramichu (attacked), adipoli (awesome), pakshe (but), just, already, prayasam (problem), sutrakaaran (cunning) and the list goes on.

* His imagination: We were reading a story of a beautiful forest from magic pot kids magazine. He happened to disclose the secret of his past life to me. He said that he was in this forest before he was born.

* One more for his imagination: He says he has a baby inside his tummy. And that it is a girl baby. That's why he is getting stomach aches these days.

Not that the list ends here, I am just tying the end knot here. To be continued as time goes...

Sid’s first day at school

I had to write this down before the freshness of it fades away.

Sid has entered the schooling phase. June 4^th, 2015 was his first day at school. Kids Castle Pre-school. Nursery.

Sid was very excited to go to school. After all, this is what he has been hearing from a year now. The school had conducted a parents’ orientation programme a week earlier to make the parents aware of the do’s and don’ts for the child to get settled in the school. I was so confident about my child that I had only half-listened to them. So I drop Sid to the school and he got so excited to see the slides inside that he rushed inside and before we could realize the gate was closed. He couldn’t even say bye to me and off I go to my home. After one hour, I come back to pick him up and I see an all-weeping Sid shedding tears from every hole on his face. I was so very surprised to see him crying for me. He saw me, he hugged me, and he repeatedly kept saying, “I was looking for you mumma, I didn’t see you mumma, I got so sad.” A thunderbolt struck me with a message: My child is still a kid. Somehow, with all his conversational skills, I had assumed that he has grown up now and can understand things at a more matured level. This was followed by a couple more days of I-don’t-want-school monologues. God must have given this for my over-confidence. 

I am happy to say that Sid is well settled in to his school now. However, he doesn’t like the idea of going to another school, college, or office when he becomes a “big boy”.

May God bless him with an enjoyable and worth-remembering school time!

Grahapravesham

One of our biggest dreams has become a reality. We moved in to our home. Our own home in Bangalore.

20^th May 2015

The day when we got our house registration done. Legally, we became the owner of a house in Bangalore. But this fact didn’t settle down on my senses yet.

25^st – 27^th May 2015

I simply loved this time. Choosing the paint color of the walls, drafting the furniture looks, zeroing in on TV/geyser/etc brands, checking on the progress, pooja preparations, shopping, and a lot of roaming around with my husband.

28^th May, 2015

We shifted our stuff to the new house (thanks to the professionals of a packers and movers) and tried to transform the house into a home.

29^th May, 2015

The day we finally started living in the house. Started off with a Ganapati homam, followed by a milk-boiling ceremony. Lunch for near and dear ones. Bhagavat-seva pooja in the evening. And, then a much-needed sleep after a long day. Our home turned out to be spacious, nicely ventilated, bright, cozy and friendly place that welcomed us whole-heartedly.

The Malayalam phrase, “uppu thottu karpooram vare” (from salt to camphor), signifies all the important-unimportant, big-small, useful things that you might need for a living. Our journey of moving in went as apt as this phrase for us. Mom had said that the first things to be taken to our own house should be salt, rice, and tulsi leaves. And, we had done so even before the actual shifting. On the day of Grahapravesham, during the Ganapati homam, we found out that we had purchased all the listed pooja items except for karpooram (camphor). Somehow we missed it. Just imagine, a pooja without karpooram. The priest managed with some incense sticks. But since we had another pooja in the evening, we bought two loads of camphor – both for the pooja and to stock at home. So, I guess that was when we finally bought “everything” for our new home. 

Cheers! Here’s hoping a happy home for us!

Sid's 3rd birthday

Late, but finally here it comes. 

My Sid turned 3 in April. So, recording some snaps for my future reference:

The birthday boy when asked to smile.

The elephant birthday cake

One of the least-blurred snap of cake-cutting

The decorations and the balloons

So sad that none of his friends' gang turned up; thanks to the vacation time everybody is off to their grandma's home. But we still rocked. :)

Sid, as always, was very excited for his birthday. He liked the decorations. And needless to say, the balloons. We also had a birthday bash balloon full of glitter and sponge balls above the cake table that I had told him will be burst after he cuts the cake. We kind of forgot it completely. So he took the responsibility to remind us to burst the balloon so that it snows.. :)

My dear Sid, so soon three years passed off!!! You have filled so much of happiness to our lives! Read responsibilities too. I have learned so many things from you. Thank you so much son, for coming into this world as our child. May God make you a good human being!