A magical weekend

Last sunday my husband turned 34. While 34 is not a milestone year in most people's calender I decided to throw him a surprise birthday party..complete with a humongous cake, decorations, lunch and a bunch of his 'long lost' college friends(he hadn't seen most of them for the past 10 years, so that justifies' long lost')

Well, deciding that was the only easy part in this whole exercise . What followed was a week of lying, scheming, hushed whispers, deleting the call log on the cell phone and more lying!!!!
what amazed me was the enthusiastic response of the "long lost" friends. Each one of them had to spend almost half of a precious sunday just to reach my place (I happen to conveniently stay at opposite side of the city) The big day had all the makings of a masala bollywood movie. It started off early in the morning with the case of my missing wallet with all credit cards safely tucked inside. After a desperate one hour of frantic calls and memory jogging we got it back from an honest shopkeeper..may god bless him!!!

Then it was the turn of the chair and table rental guy to do his bit by switching off his cell phone at the eleveth hour;when finally after swallowing my ego and being mentally prepared to serve the guests food off the floor,
 he made grand entry complete with free table runners for good measure!!
The look on my husband's face made up for all the running around I had done. This birthday was extra special as he had never had a birthday party ..even as a kid.
The conclusion of the story is that my carefully planned birthday party turned into a reunion of sorts for all the guests and the hostess was the only one who didn't know any of the guests and had to be introduced to each and every one of them by a beaming birthday boy!!!!

Happy birthday Anoop..you deserve every bit of your special day!!!!

A cupful of happiness

        What makes you happy? something that makes you forget everything else for the moment and just compels you to enjoy and savour the moment for what it is..

 

I am constantly surprised at the small packages which gives me my 'happiness dose' for the day.

   Happiness is

                 ...a steaming cup of cardamom tea in my favourite mug in the middle of the day.
                  
                 . ....watching my husband blissfully tucking into the biriyani I made.


   

                        ...holding a card which says "Nachikaet luvs moter (mother) and not  wanting to correct   

                             any of the spellings.

                          ..... getting my  favourite magazines delivered with the morning newspaper.
                      

                          ..... getting a foot massage.

What made you happy today?

   

Preserving summer

Its the last few weeks of summer holidays and here are a few bottled sundrenched memories to come back to and savour when summer seems a distant dream.....

 

 
                                        flowers at my feet





crocs and racket..ingredients for a lovely summer evening

 




berries on plantain leaf


  



nestled in love




a splash of yellow


  



Mr green thumbs

           

For amma

This mother's day, a little note to amma to let her know what my sister and I have never found the "time" to tell her

Thank you amma

Today we two
are going to tell you,
somethings which ought to be told
which are worth their weight in gold.

Thank you amma for being there;
always showing us how much you care.
Thank you amma for dolling us up like queens;
through our childhood and through our teens.

Thank you amma for teaching us  to pray;
it has always helped us to find the right way.
Thank you amma for the countless lovely meals;
we can't make it like you even if we turn cartwheels.

Thank you amma for the bond between Juju* and me;
its so much easier to face life when "I" becomes "we".
Thank you amma for never giving up on us;
through all our tantrums and fuss.

Thank you amma for making us whowe are..'cause;
how a daughter is, her mother was.

Here is wishing you a wonderful mother's day!!!!


* ps: Juju is what we call my sister Amritha at home

Here is a picture of us with achan and amma

Leaving Kindergarten... memoirs of a five and a half year old of his "youth"

Today is a very special day in my academic life ..I have officially graduated from kindergarten. So I decided to pen down my thoughts on those "golden days". Like any hero worth his salt (they always start off  fighting with the heroine right? ) I started off, completely hating to go to school. It was my worse night mare come true, having to leave the safe confines of my home and venture off to an alien land filled with rules and teachers. My first year at school was filled with adventure ranging from attempted heroic escapades( I was caught sneaking out of the gate by the security and brought back kicking and screaming  to the class room) to being the only child posing for a class photo with my school bag on my shoulders!!!( my pre nursery teacher still remembers me as the child who refused to enter the class room and stood at the door with the school bag on his shoulders for the better part of the year) I refused to be parted with my bag even while being taken to the bath room!!!
  well, by the end of the first year, somewhere along the way i fell hopelessly in love with my class teacher ..Rekha Ma'am.  Every word she uttered became the gospel truth for me,much to the irritation of my mother(who until then had been the reigning queen in my life). In spite of all this I still hated going to school. It was only after I started L.K.G, that I began to be initiated into the beautiful world of friends. It was wonderful to be able to have little folks like me (who hated school too) to play with. The highlight of the year was the annual day where I was Michael Jackson(so what if there were 29 other Michael Jackson's all yelling "Just beat it!!!)
All of a sudden I became a "senior" in our little world, and   we "big boys" used to look scornfully at "little" kids clinging to their mother and crying. Slowly I began to look forward to going to school- to play with friends, share snacks, ask my teacher a thousand questions, do craft projects(though I still can't bear  copy writing!!!)
Now I feel I have  come a full circle...I have already started missing kindergarten. I shall never forget those wonder years which has taught me to savour life in all its colours.

PS: I thank my mom for letting me air my thoughts on her blog...

Sibling Revelry!!!!

This morning I chatted for more than 30 minutes with a friend from college days whom I've not seen for over 6 years. For all this time he had known me, he was under the impression that my younger sister and I were twins!!!( my sis and I did our MBA together -same year same college so i guess it justifies it) Anyway after 6 years he wanted to know whether we had married twin brothers  and whether we were finally living separate lives....So sweet of him!!! well, the point is it got me thinking as to what a big part my sister has in my life.
Now even though both of us are so far apart physically, we share a special bond that only sisters can share.... so this is for you Juju and a special thanks to my friend for inspiring me to write this post
My sister is 2 years younger to me and for the first few years of my life I was insanely jealous of her for usurping my position in the family!!!!
                                          Sister of my heart
                                         When we first met, my life turned upside down;
                                         I was the reigning queen, with a tiara and gown.
                                         When you first said "Anu chechi", my heart did a flip;
                                         I was the"big sis" with a stiff upper lip.
                                         When you first fought with your tiny fists;
                                         I lost, and my ego was forced to call it quits.
                                         When you first had your own pals;
                                         I had to act busy with various phone calls.
                                         When you first cried 'cause I hurt you;
                                         I felt the pain inside too.
                                         Now when we first part;
                                         my life once more turns upside down.

                          Now when you are ready to spread your wings;
                           may god bless you with all the best of things.
                          Anytime, any place you need something big or small;

                          I'm there ..you just need to make a call . 

                                        

                                  

Here is a picture of us with our grand parents.

A "normal" child

Last week at a parents teachers meeting, a lady sitting next to me was telling me how she was worried to death that her 5 year old daughter has not shown any signs of being a" maths whiz kid" even after a month of rigorous abacus classes . The poor lady was spending sleepless nights trying to convince herself that this was"normal". While i sympathise with her wholeheartedly ( i believe that to each parent his/her own..after all its their child!!!!) it set me thinking as to what would be the things which i would worry about in the case of my son(although only illness has the power to give me sleepless nights..i can sleep through a storm ;duly certified by my husband)
I would worry if my 5 year old son(as of now)

• did not give me bear hugs and slurpy kisses after coming home from school
• did not pester me to play with my maid's child as he pesters me to play with my neighbour's child
• did not believe that "Ben 10" and "chotabheem" can do "anything"
• did not daydream
• did not have friends
• did not think his amma and achan knows answers to "everything" (hopefully this phase will last for some more months..its such a ego booster!!!!)
• did not feel like"having something to eat" throughout the day
• did not know how to "live in the moment"

and most of all..
did not feel happy "just being nachikaet"!!!
Lets hope i can worry about the same things when he brings me(god forbid) a C minus maths report card!!!!