Enter the Nachikaet!!!!

My husband is an ardent fan of movies related to martial arts. As a result Nachikaet knows his Tony Jaa's and Jet Lee's from his Jackie Chan's and Bruce Lee's. So when our apartment began conducting karate classes for kids in the club house, both father and son decided that it was time to "enter the Nachikaet"

 He has started classes along with 15 other "black-belts-in-the-making"..all eager to try their freshly learnt moves on each other!!

It is so heartening to see the little ones so eager to learn  the new moves being taught, each without the slightest sliver of doubt  that they are "god's gift to the world of martial arts"
Here  is wishing the little group many more lovely hours of  middle punches and upper punches...

Here is a picture of my little samurai in action

A fiery start to the new year!!!

This "event" really set me on fire. My "mommy-alert" button hit the panic mode and I quite literally let off my steam!!!
The saga unfolded in the underwater world, Sentosa island in Singapore, where I had gone for a vacation with my husband and 6 year old son Nachikaet. One of my pet phobias is the "fear of anything which remotely resembles a snake" So you can imagine my plight, when my son casually announced that he wanted to take a photo with a python draped  around  his neck (one of the attractions being offered in the underwater world)

To say that my mind was on fire is to put matters mildly. To add fuel to the "fire", my husband was all smiles beaming proudly at his "macho" son. The theatrical display of navarasas* which coursed through my face, would have put a seasoned kathakali* artist to shame!!!

I had by this time, managed to attract quite a decent number of interested audience- ranging from giggly pigtailed girls to wonder mommies who looked as if they had just stepped out of the salon, balancing a perfectly behaved baby on one hip  and typing furiously on their I-phones!!!

My son and husband were by this time ready to disown me and get on with more important things ...like getting a python draped around their necks!!

The rather tragic end of this epic drama was that I was left howling and screaming and trying  to explain to a concerned security guard that I didn't need to go the first aid station; while my son went and got himself the coveted picture!!! Here is a copy of the controversial picture..it sure fired up my day!!!!

*navarasas..refer   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rasa_(aesthetics)

* kathakali  refer   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathakali

This post is written for the indiblogger and KFC sponsered contest  "Sets you on fire"

God's in his heaven - all's right with the world!!!

There is always some thing magical about the ' end of the year' couple of weeks that lulls me into a comforting feeling that  Robert Browning so aptly put in his "Pippa's song" ...even though spring sounds like a distant dream at this point!!!! Its that time when the old year gracefully takes the last bow, giving us another chance to start afresh, another chance to be the best person we can be every single day.
Here is wishing every one a lovely year ahead and may every thing be right in your world!!!
...logging off for the year 2011!!!
Happy new year!!!!!!

Pippa's Song by Robert Browning

THE year 's at the spring,
And day 's at the morn;
Morning 's at seven;
The hill-side 's dew-pearl'd;
The lark 's on the wing;
The snail 's on the thorn;
God 's in His heaven—
All 's right with the world!

Juju- my own custom made "fairy god mother"

Marrion Garrety was so right when she said that "A sister is a little bit of childhood that can never be lost"

Juju my younger sister gifted me an amazon kindle yesterday. To say I was shell shocked is to put matters mildly.

 A little thank you note for the person who knows me inside out and still loves me unconditionally just because I'm "Anu chechi"

Thank you Juju for being there for me when I needed you and even when I did not..

Thank you Juju for spending sleepless nights because I was sad...

Thank you Juju for  being ready to battle with people who hurt me..

Thank you Juju for loving  Kannan much as Keshav..

 and thank you for being the person that you are....I love you... 

ps. Keshav is my nephew and Kannan is my son

For matrimonial purposes only!!!!

For the past 6 months, I have been receiving phone calls from  what can be defined as the "mother of all wrong numbers". The callers range from dignified old gentlemen to over anxious mammas, all  for a single reason...for matrimonial purposes only!!! So countless are the times I have rushed to pick up the phone with the dishes on the stove getting burnt beyond repair, being rudely woken up by the persistent ringing in the middle of a heavenly siesta, only to be treated to detailed descriptions of  prospective brides and grooms.
    
By the time I manage to convince the caller that they have called the wrong number, in my broken kannada, (I can understand when its spoken but can't speak the language to save my life)  I would have gleaned enough information about the caller's family to qualify as his official genealogist!!!
 My house is as of today the "official head office" of "Krishna matrimonials" and I'm seriously contemplating
running a matrimonial agency as an alternate career option..I seem to have a natural flair for "attracting customers" ..We seem to be a match made in heaven.

Anya collections- own a slice of the world

 Anya collections is an online clothing and accessories store for women, stared in 2011 by the very talented Rajni Menon, who is based in the US. Anya collections is a unique store where the products are inspired by the culture, colour , fabrics and art of different parts of the world. The word Anya in sanskrit language means "foreign" -browse through their online catalogue to get a whiff of the  hand crafted  exotic products on display.

What makes this store special is that, each collection has an underlying theme, which is primarily inspired by a distant and exotic locale. Their first collection draws its beautiful lines and  gorgeous colours from the vibrant and colourful regions of north india.

Their collections currently include tunics, blouses and accessories for women. All the products displayed in the catalogue can be ordered online. The store is also planning to come up with customised wardrobe solutions for its clientele

Check out their webspace http://www.anyacollections.com/ and  get a taste of some global inspired fashion
Find anya collections on facebook at . http://www.facebook.com/#!/AnyaCollections

Thanks uncle elephant

Today, Nachikaet gifted me one of the  most wonderful gifts he could ever give me. He started to read for pleasure!!!!  Although he has always enjoyed being read to ever since he was very little, he rarely read by himself untill forced, cajoled, bribed etc depending on my mood. 
Uncle elephant changed all that. Its a book he has always enjoyed reading.  I asked him to read the first page for me; after promises for an action packed "kannan 10" story at bed time and a chocolate, he reluctantly started to read,  but when he did not stop even after the second page I kept quiet. I watched with sheer delight as my son laughed at uncle elephants's antics, was on the verge of tears asking me never to go on a voyage on a ship without him (the little elephant's parents get lost in the sea) and wanted to know if he had "uncles" whom he could go and live with just in case his parents were lost!!!
I loved the fact that that he was seeing the book( which I had read to him a dozen times before) in a whole new light; when he was reading it himself..that is the power of imagination.
 Welcome to the wonderful world of books my love.

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