A slice of childhood

Whenever I think of ammumma(my granny) , the first images that come to my mind are the balmy kerala nights when we used to lie down side by side, and she would tell stories..it would be the same story every night.. but the sound of her voice and the familiar fragrance of  sandal wood talcum powder(with which she doused herself after her bath) and the comfortable warmth seeping in from my toes, tucked safely in the soft folds of her Saree lulled me to sleep. Most nights after the story, she would sing lullabies ..songs she had grown up with... songs scented with fragrant sandalwood sachets of memories.
My favourite one was "omama thingal kidavo.."* The soothing sound of ammumma singing in her slightly out of tune voice, is one of my most cherished childhood memories...On some nights, when I put my son to bed; singing this evergreen lullaby I close my eyes and I can almost feel ammumma's plump fingers softly stroking my hair...
Here is a picture of ammumma with Nachikaet taken some years ago when she visited us. We speak almost daily on the phone!!!!

*Omana Thingal Kidavo is said to be composed by Irayaman Thampi for putting the young Swathi Thirunal to sleep You can hear the lullaby here

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPOLSSOfUGY

The pencil is mightier than the sword!!!!

After repeatedly reminding his father about his dwindling stock of "once in a while goodies' (biscuits, chocolates etc) Nachikaet decided to take matters into his own hands (literally)!!!
This is what my husband found in his lap top bag

It says"Anoop Anoop I want some biscuits please when this biscuit gets over..please Anoop"

It even has  a diagram showing the "generous" father handing over the goodies to a grateful son..with the mother looking on with a benevolent smile!!!

well a picture is sure worth a 1000 words!!!!

The world according to Ben 10

By his fourth birthday, Nachikaet had graduated from 'dinosaur mania' to' Ben 10 mania'. It is really amazing how a small boy with magical watch,pardon me...omnitrix  has managed to capture the imagination of kids across the globe. (For the uninitiated..Ben ten can turn into 10 different alien forms,each with special powers to protect the universe from evil outer space aliens) . Thanks to indulgent uncles, grandparents and friends amused by nachikaet's obsession with this character, he is the proud owner of all available alien forms.

At least two of them are our constant bedfellows( my husband and i have sadly resigned to waking up in the morning looking straight into a eerily grinning 'spidermonkey' or a spirit like apparition..aptly named 'ghost freak"
Then there are the lecture sessions where Nachikaet painstakingly dissects the features and skills of these alien forms and in which we are expected to participate enthusiastically..he has given up on me fortunately..muttering something about girls under his breath..well how the wounded feminist in me will deal with that is a whole different story altogether!!!
As of now Ben 10 has taken over our little world !!!!

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