Dance, fun, and a new gang!

Life never stops to surprise you. In amongst my busy schedule of work, meetings, cooking, and daily chores, I found a haven of laughter and fun.

It was a usual evening when Sid was cycling in the basement of our apartment when my new acquaintance (Shruti) told me about a thiruvadirakali dance competition which she was a part of. Informally, she invited me to participate. Dance is my all-time-favorite-hobby, so I grabbed this chance with both my hands. I knew it was going to be difficult --- increased workload, no backup for Sid --- but I still pushed myself in. And thank God I did; how else would I have got such wonderful moments and friends!

Sid couldn't thank me more for opting in for this. He gained friends whom he longed for. Both sid and I would finish all our chores and be ready to go to practise. During the practice sessions, he would either be busy with his playmates (Nilanjana chechy and Krishna chechy), or bugging us in the middle of our dance steps. He even learnt a few of the steps himself.

The practice sessions were full of cherishing laughter and giggles, silly gossips and discussions, and some actual practice too. We would discuss anything and everything under the sun. The discussion topics were interesting too --- dance steps, dance costumes, dance jewelry, dance teacher, dance teacher's attitude, dance teacher's health, our health, our pregnancies and deliveries, our kids, our husbands, omg... what not! We even spent an entire day discussing what should be our lunch on the D-day. So, we finally zeroed in on pulav. :D:D:D (which was yummm!)

So, the D-day was on 28^th February, 2016. The green room was a vacant party hall. And, with the help of one-another, we transformed ourselves to beautiful swans looking all similar and off we went to the competition.

It was indeed a tough competition. There were 6 teams – all well practiced and groomed up. We got the third prize (although we had dreamed/expected of 1^st). Nevertheless, we cheered ourselves up for getting a prize at the first place. We would not have felt bad if we didn't get any prize because we all had gained such beautiful moments and friendship in the past few days that is definitely above the material prizes.

Here's thanking each one of the gang members for their company. Just for records --- Rashmi, Rekha, Radhika, Shrila, Malathy, Karunya, Smitha, Suchitra, and last-but-not-the-least, Shruti. Cheers to all of us! 

 

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!

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

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.

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!