Something else

So here it is, instead of doing things from my ToDo list, these two boxes happened.
Or as i want to call them  dump-all-mess-hiding-boxes :).

Things to do this week

In my spare time this week (lol) I wish to complete the following:

- prep tomato seeds for planting (doable)
- plant mustard for mustard greens (doable)
- DIY seat covers with fasteners for the wicker chairs (def. doable and is fun fun)
- Make another kurta for bubs? ( ? do I need to buy fabric? thread)
- figure out what to pair the yellow-orange kurta with (perhaps doable. Might need to visit market)

I hope posting the TD list on the internet will make a difference and for a change I will actually finish off everything on the list.

Will post results at the end of the week.

Love & Music

The truly gifted one among us have the power to move us with their music. 

For us lesser souls though, being able to appreciate music is good enough.

Appreciation for music is not a learned behavior. It is inherent, inborn. Some unfortunates do happen to lose this ability as they grow, because of one reason or other. 

May God bless them. 

The (not so) Jaunty Saunter of Monty Panther

Once upon a time there was a little baby panther named Monty. Monty was a good baby who loved to play with his father - papa panther and mother - mama panther.

One bright Sunday morning papa panther had a brilliant idea. He said, “Monty, let’s go for an adventure”. So they went to the local café and tried to order a cappuccino. Like all adventures go, this was pretty difficult. Understandably, it is indeed difficult to hold the attention of the barista when he is shaking so hard with fear. And then, the adventure proved particularly challenging for Monty and his father because they did not know how to speak English. All they managed were a few growls, which were mistaken as a prelude to pouncing by the barista (as well as a few customers). One gentleman started making very weird noises. All this hullabaloo started making Monty very upset.

Disheartened, Monty and his father came back and had a hot chocolate at home. It was not a very jaunty day. 

And caffeine is not really recommended for kids anyway.

Not about ants

When I was young (younger??) we used to read. And by "we", i mean everybody, all the children. Even the non-studious ones had a collection of comics (case in point - my hubs. And if "T" is all grown up and is reading this blog, "beta, your father loves books. Bahut padhai karte the school mein. Aur college mein bhi. Sacchi.") My point is books were a very important part of our childhood. I wish my baby to fall in love with books too. Its a very rewarding relationship.

Ants

Have you ever observed ants ? 

They are always in hurry. Always going somewhere, carrying something too large and heavy. Scurrying along in a line, following orders, following each other. 

It is mesmerizing no doubt. But after a while my curiosity turns into some kind of pity. Although it is wonderful to see them being a part of something much much bigger than each one of them. But also seems sad to wonder that these ants spend their whole lives not enjoying the fruits of their labour. Well in a way they do, like they remain safe from predators and such. But yet, working incessantly is all they do while being safe.

Is that what we do? Does the Big one see us from above and wonder why we spend our lives working like the ants? They say life has never been easier for mankind with fewer wars, better medical science and such. But is it? 

Do ants have such thoughts too? 

Lets make pigs fly,

yeah! I am working on the sly

:D

Toddle tales

Time flies.

Our little baby is officially a toddler :D
Now that he has mastered the art of walking, our days are spent playing an endless game of hide and seek. Its a game neither party gets tired of. He has also discovered that he can open and close stuff. So boxes of all sizes and shapes, tubes and water bottles have become the toy of the week. His preferences keep changing. Last week was bang everything together week. The week before that was lets-hit-papa-with-this-thingie week :)

Earlier, we had thought of recording his every action, taking snaps everyday, making a note of his every new development. Well, this particular resolve of ours has somehow slipped down in the priority list. So many cameras in the house, and yet we resort to the handy camera phones. :) Just as well.

Touchwood.

Oh Joy !

Life has never been so much like a roller coaster ride. We are no longer masters of our lives, with the controls in the hands of a baby so eager to be a toddler. No amount of books or well meaning advises could prepare us for the antics of our naughty minion. Most of the times it is endearing to watch him. But other times it is a pain to see him refusing to eat food, running away at the sight of bowls and spoons. Nothing works !


Ranting aside, I was recently asked by a (well meaning I am sure) lady if I were a "full time mom" or a "working mom". I understood what she meant, but was still offended by the question. What do you mean by asking if I were a "full time mom" or not ? Is there any other kind?

random

Every place has a palatte of its own. The shade and hue of the trees, earth, sky, grass and even the sunlight is distinct everywhere. So much so that just a glimpse is enough to reveal the place to the trained eye. And not just nature, even man made establishments are often colour coded. On a separate note, have you ever noticed how village folk are so fearlessly colourful - in the choices of their garb as well as walls.
Anyways, so this place here has one of the most exciting aquamarine palettes i have seen. Its a shame i am unable to soak up more while i am here.

My plans of doing something productive with my time have failed royally. I mean apart from taking care of bubs, i really dont do much all day. Not that it is easy though. Now that bubs wants to *walk* all the time, its literally back breaking job for us. Not complaining though, a smile, giggle or grin makes it all worth - many times over.

And yes, i did turn 30 last week. It felt a little stupid actually. I was waiting for some profound wisdom to grace me but nothing. Thankfully my search for any wrinkles on my face yielded zilch results as well :-) . Television and beauty magazines tell me i should start using anti aging products. But i dont really want to.

The "It" girls

I like to think that I have seen my fair share of the world. Been and seen plenty of places, situations etc etc. obviously these places, people and situations have taught me a lot. Well, one of these is the lesson that I will never be one of the "cool" girls - the hip and happening ones. This is not really news for me. But somehow it never fails to bother me.  I am almost thirty and a mother now, and yet the kindergarten memories just come back like yesterday when I wasn't invited to be a "gang member" because I was too dark. I have enough maturity now to know that I am better off being with real people but it seems I need more.

Anyways, so this was part one of my resolution to be a little more open, a little more vulnerable. God, it feels good. :)

On another note, phase 2 of ML is about to begin..yay.. I still have to pack, should start making list now.

The happy place

I see so many articles listing the "top ten happy places to live". Some are surprising (sweden? Really? Land of non existent sunshine??) and most are not..

But all the lists ignore the happiest place.. The place we all like to reminisce about.. Yeah, I am talking about "the past". Childhood in particular.

Human brain is amazing.

:)

As they say time does fly, or so it seems now. It's been more than 5 months and it seems like just yesterday. We call him Tanmay, one who is engrossed. I'll tell you what, he sure keeps us engrossed. All the time :)

Babies have incredible power over people. Let me ask you a question, a puzzle of sorts. There are some people standing at a bust and, waiting for the bus. There is an old man, a youngish businessman, a college going girl and a mother with a baby. Now the question is, who is the first one to start the conversation. And the answer is, the baby. Everybody wants to talk to the baby. Babies are conversation magnets.

It is true. I have made more friends/ acquaintances in the past few months than anytime before. :)

On becoming parents

No one is ever quite ready; everyone is always caught off guard. Parenthood chooses you. And you open your eyes, look at what you've got, say "Oh, my gosh".

- Marisa de los Santos

The best you can do is to conjure courage and develop a really really strong sense of humor. 

You will observe your lives go topsy turvy and wouldnt want to do anything about it. Basic comforts of life like a good nights sleep and showering will become luxuries(that will elude you for a long long time). You would (be forced to) become champions of multitasking. Stuff like poop, pee and spitup will stop grossing you out. So much so that if need arises you could leave your dinner in between, change a diaper, clean the baby, and resume your meal without batting an eyelid. Google will become your best friend (okay okay, strongly tied for best friend fine?) and will help you out of tough situations like "How to get my baby like the baby sling", "what is the correct way to put on a shirt on my baby", "how to get baby pee off my laptops keyboard". You would watch beautiful baby gear get wasted unused because your baby has outgrown them. You would only watch TV shows with sub titles because then you could put the tv on mute and still watch it. But dont get me wrong, you would truly and absolutely love each and every moment. 

A baby enriches your life in ways you couldn't have thought possible. You will finally be able to truly appreciate your parents (I wonder how my parents raised us with so little help). 

A baby will make you want to be a good human being. Even though it is a lot of work. And your priorities would change, maybe forever. 

The ultimate energizer

I have often said that K and I are complementary in a lot of ways. One of the more prominent ways is how we organize and clean. In a way that he organizes and I don’t. And then, I clean and he doesn’t. We have a good team J

In fact cleaning is the ultimate cathartic activity for me. Give me rags, brushes and cleaning products and I can happily spend hours with them.  It is such a mood lifting activity. The problem with it, however, is that people have very very weak memories. People notice filth, but not the lack of filth. That’s just normal. Nobody has the ability to juxtapose “before”/”after” pictures in their heads. So the results aren’t visible really.

Doesn’t matter so much, cleaning makes me happy. So here are some of my cleaning tips..

·         Lemon wedges clean most of the grime from counter tops, take smell off from old bottles and the microwave and when mixed with hot water, can clean oil containers like magic.

·         Fabric bleach cleans off any salt deposits from tiles

·         Mr. Muscle is better for preparing diluted solutions that you can use to clean counters every day, but for stubborn grime (like exhaust/ window sills etc.) cif is the only solution.

·         For cleaning marks off of doors (any painted surface), don’t scrub, it will damage the paint. Just use some nail paint remover and rub gently with cotton.

·         A wash with a weak solution of liquid utensil soap and baking soda will get rid of small mites from the house plants.

·         While dusting, use two rags. One completely dry synthetic one to attract the dust. And other cotton one to wipe off the surface with colin.

·         Use sellotape to pick up dust from hard to reach corners.

·         If your vacuum cleaner does not have a “blow” setting, you can use the hair dryer.

·         Water marks can be cleaned off of wooden surfaces by hair dryer. It doesn’t seem like coming off at first. But after about 10 minutes you’ll see the difference. Remember to wipe off with some light oil afterwards. But not too much.

Random

So, it has been really long and yada yada..

I "took care" of a pigeon the other day. "took care" not in the traditional sense or the lovely mobster sense.

Poor bird had somehow managed to enter our bathroom (maybe through the exhaust) and single-handedly (wingedly??) managed to wreck all of it. By the time it was discovered (when I reached home) i guess it had already spent all its precious birdie energy and was cowering over the geyser like an innocent lamb. Innocent or not, the bird sure was stupid. Trust me, I had to practically poke it with a broom to get out. "bird brain" is very very apt.

Anyways, now that the weather is getting better (finally!) the ambient happiness quotient has gone up significantly. Now we can begin with the great shopping marathon. Yay..

So time flies, some things change, most remain the same. We grow up, not realizing it a little bit. We struggle with some changes and we resist others. And we look forward to some. But most of the times we are really really clueless about the real meaning of any of this. In fact, the less we ponder over things, the more we truly enjoy them. But we think and we plan. And then we see that planning is a little futile. It just gives you some temporary peace of mind. So you replan. And attain some more temporary peace. Which gives us some temporary happiness. A succession of which turns into long term happiness. So we should keep on planning. Even knowing that its futile. Because not planning means giving up on life. And thats just stupid.

How to prepare for an accidental time travel in the past

Of course, the useful of all this depends on the time where (when ?) one ends up landing in.

Helpful skills:

• ·         Excellent physical fitness
• ·         Ability to run quickly, jump without hesitation and climb rocks and trees
• ·         Immunity good enough to survive without soap/ disinfectant
• ·         Basic knowledge of hand to hand combat
• ·         Enough common sense to build basic tools and weapons
• ·         Idea of what plants/roots/seeds/fruits are edible
• ·         Some basic skill that you can use for mingling in a community, like pottery, sewing, farming, accountancy etc. (providing that you encounter any human colonies at all)

There's a rainbow in my sky

And I love it...

Let me take this opportunity to officially welcome monsoon too ( I am a little late though. It has been raining since last week). But then who doesn't like a welcome, or welcome a welcome..

So anyways, the rains have succeeded in prettifying everything in sight, specially the trees.. oh oh and the sky too.

Hmm and now its time for random updates..

I have moved up in the corporate ladder.. Figuratively at least. :P I now work at the top most floor at my office.. And my new desk has a view to kill for. 


And I have had the privilege of crossing out another item from my "Must visit in this life" list. Yes, the valley of flowers.. It was everything I had imagined and more.. Oh so beautiful. *sigh*

Oh and another first.. I slipped and fell on a glacier.

arid versus sultry

If i had a choice, i would always, always choose sultry.

Now that that's settled, lets move on to more realistic topics.

This 6th of june is the last chance for us (and i mean all of us, unless they are planning to live forever) to see venus passing by the sun. Dont miss it.

Human beings like to be in contact. We are happy when we know everything about everybody. In my opinion the fourth ego state in addition to the Parent, Adult and Child, is the Stalker. Dormant in most, but very much there. (yeah go ahead, deny it. You know its true).

What is the optimum sanity level to keep one happy forever? When does sanity start bordering boring? How does one keep tab of it? Has there been a study seeking correlation between incredibly sane and extremely boring?

In praise of romantic idleness

As I have always maintained, I regard Gulzaar as one of the finest artists that God ever blessed us with. In addition to producing some timeless gems, he has also touched upon works of previous maestros and somehow made them more beautiful. Let us delve in two such examples:

Amir Khusro, is regarded as THE pioneer poet of khadi boli. Every kid, at least in the northern part of India, is familiar with his timeless riddle, “ek thaal moti se bhara…”. His series of “kyon sakhi saajan, nahi ____” riddles are a fine example of utilizing the internal syllabic rhythm of language to highlight the playfulness of the two protagonists in these riddles. But that is for another post.

It turns out that Khusro was much more than a Hindi (khadi boli) poet.  Behold an excerpt from one of his poems:

Zehal-e miskin makun taghaful, duraye naina banaye batiyan;

ki taab-e hijran nadaram ay jaan, na leho kaahe lagaye chhatiyan.

Source

This is a masterpiece in its own accord. Apart from the obvious beauty of rhyme, the true brilliance of this poem is that it has been composed in two different languages. The first half of each line is Persian, or Faarsi, while the second half has been composed in Braj bhasha.

Taking the initial phrase out this poem of Khusro’s, Gulzaar has created a different couplet, somehow preserving the original idea of interweaving two languages as well as the emotion of romantic anguish. Here it is:

zihaal-e-miskeen mukon ba-ranjish,

bahaal-e-hijra bechara dil hai

(A song from movie Ghulaami)

Now this is called inspiration. It’s like a true artist paying homage to another true artist. Legend saluting legend. Brilliant.

Let’s look at another such example. This ghazal composed by Ghalib is in praise of romantic idleness..

jee dhoondhtaa hai phir wohee fursat,

ke raat din baithe rahein tasavvur-e-jaanaa kiye huye

                                                           

Gulzar borrowed the ghazal, re-punctuated and changed the meaning a little and added some more lines beautifully illustrating his idea.

Dil dhoondta hai, phir wohi fursat ke raat din,

Baithe rahein tasavvur-e-jaanaa kiye huye…

Jaadon ki narm dhoop aur aangan mein let kar

Aankhon pe kheench kar tere daaman ke saaye ko

Aundhe pade rahe kabhi karwat liye hue…

Gulzar somehow made the verse more romantic, by singing about the times of enjoying the elation arising out of oblivion, being satisfied with the nothingness and cherishing every moment of it, being aware of your surroundings but not bothering to notice anything in particular…

(Disclaimer: I am no expert on ghazals or any form of poetry. I can barely recollect a couple of them. I am just a common admirer. And this is only admiration.)