Everything that happens in between...

'If you enter this world knowing you are loved and you leave this world knowing the same, then everything that happens in between can be dealt with - Michael Jackson' ...


This statement of his made me feel so sad for the boy-man who only ever wanted to be loved.

I hope he can feel now how MUCH so MANY people love him inspite of all his faults. A great way to be loved, surely.

RIP, Michael Jackson, RIP.

of football clubs and raaahu kaalams.

My Mom has these podikai's as we call it in Malayalam. These shortcuts. Some of them are quite quaint.

Like this one.

As you know, there is this concept of raahu kaalam, which is basically an inauspicious time to embark on anything good. Exams, interviews, joining a new job, going on a long journey, getting operated upon... for all these, raahu kaalam was looked into and avoided, as much as possible.

While we were younger, we used to consult the good 'ol Manorama or Mathrubhoomi calendar for the time of 'raahu kaalam' But looking up the calendar was not always possible, especially if we were not at home. Then, we used to make a call to good 'ol Mom and she never failed us.

Her method was simple- just a little sentence- eleven boys had a good football club. We would hear her mutter this seemingly silly sentence and fiddle with her fingers, and a few seconds later, she would pronounce the raahu kaalam!

It never failed to intrigue us. And when we were younger, she maintained that it was magic. But now she's let her grown daughter into the magic.

And I'm giving it to you guys- for the fun of it, as well as for you to put to good use if you want to. For, eleven boys have a good football club never fails!

Here goes..

Eleven boys have a good football club.

7 days of the week, stating with Mon, and 7 letters in 'eleven boys have a good football club'.

Today being Wed, lets take it that you want to find the raahu kaalam on Wed.

Wed is the third day of the week.

Third word in 'eleven boys have a good football club' is HAVE. Take the first letter of the word, which is H.

Count up to H on your fingers.

You get 8, right? Halve it. You get 4, right?

Add 8+4. You get 12.

Bingo! You have the start of raahu kaalam. It lasts for one and a half hours, so you have raahu kaalam on Wed from 12 noon to 1.30pm.

Try it guys, and have fun!

And OFF it came!

For an update on my pore ol' toe nail that was....

15th dawned bright and beautiful.
Packed Sonny boy off to school with his new Ben 10 bag and Ben 10 water bottle and Ben 10 lunch box, and old Ben 10 socks.

Mom said 9 was raahu kalam and to leave only after nine. So presented ourselves at the Dermatology Dept of one of the reputed medical colleges at 9.30. And we waited and waited and waited till about 11.30 outside OT. Turned out we'd paid the fees for the surgery, but the lady omitted to tell us that we also had to pay a nominal amount of 40/- for re-registration!!! So almost 3 hours after we reached, my Doc got involved and tore a strip off the nurses at the reception and asked for my file to be sent in pronto and a bed to be vacated in the OT as well.

The waiting was eventful. Had gone with the husband and my nephew, Mom staying back at home to collect Sonny boy when he came back from school.

Said nephew being a normal 18 yr old, started feeling famished (this after a hearty breakfast of puri sabzi at 9) half an hour into the waiting. And fidgeted and fidgeted, till we sent him off to fill his stomach with whatever.

I kept getting EMERGENCY calls from my client and my boss, regarding a) negotitations on a deal that HAD to be closed that day and b) some muck-up that had occured in the creative of another client. This being two of the 3 ripe apples that I had been waiting for, I attended all the calls and went mad co-ordinating Blr and Delhi and Mumbai all from outside the OT.

Husband got mad at me raising my BP! (I think he was tenser than me at the prospect of having my toe nail off) and we had a hot quarrel over my not switching off my mobile. THAT raised my BP more than the office calls. Husbands!

Nephew came back and wondered that I had still not gone in. Turned out he was waiting for me to go into the OT so that he and the husband could go off to Forum mall in the meantime!!! After he gets married and his wife is pregnant I HAVE to tell her this!
Nephews! But since it was his first time as a bystander, I forgave him.

Finally one of the beds was empty and I walked in, giving my toenail a last look. The Doc (he was an associate professor) came, accompanied by a couple of junior students (very earnest and big eyed) and a relatively snobbish senior student (must be doing her MD in dermatology)
The doc cheerfully asked me if I was alright, I smiled at him in affirmation, and he set in to work.

Cleaned my foot, and started quizzing the girls conversationally. I was almost enjoying it if not for the fact that it was me on the operating table. Gave my toe two injections one on each side beneath my nail. These stung like mad going in. After some time when the doc pricked my little finger, I could feel it; and he did the same (he said he did) to my toe, but I couldn't feel a thing. Just a big numbness.
So he said he was going to start. I smiled. And in my mind called upon all the Gods and Godessses I knew.

The quizzing and explanations continued on procedures to be followed. And the doc told me to tell him if I felt the slightest pain. I intensified my prayers, and watched their faces. In between, I could see two of the younger faces swivelling around curiously to see my reaction. I guessed that the good doc must be pulling my nail off. But I didn't feel a thing. Good ol' local! I smiled at them and they smiled back.

Then the doc cauterized the roots on either side of my nail. He asked the MD girl to try, but she couldn't do something, I dunno what, and gave the instrument back to him. I think she held a grudge against me for that. She certainly lacked a bedside manner!

And then, it was over. The doc told the MD/nurse to take care of the rest of the stuff- to dress my nail temporarily, then re-dress it again after another 20 min when the bleeding would lessen, and walked out.

I limped out and was given a warm welcome by the husband and nephew. The white gauze on my foot grew progressively red with the passing minutes. After 45 min, I limped into another OT where the nurse pulled off the dressing gingerly. I appreciate her treating me like a person and not like an object. Ms. MD student, you have much to learn still.

And that was it. Things went off pretty much better than expected. I thanked all my Gods and Godesses from the bottom of my heart.




Today was when I was supposed to dress it again. My doc said I needn't go back there, but could get it done locally at any of the regular hospitals. So I went to one nearby. And Man!

All the stars that had been spared me during the actual avulsion (that was the medical name given the nail pulling out procedure)came out in their full glory.
Phew. Phew! and PHEW!

Suffice to say that I DREAD going in dy after to dress my nail again.
Please to send up a prayer. Or two. Or more. For the dressing to go smoothly, painlessly. Phew! Brrr!!

It was the most delightful surprise

bumping into a fellow blogger last week at Sonny boy's school.

Had to go to school to pay up the fees and stuff and also to meet up with Sonny boy's new Godess-Who-Knows-It-All/Who Can't-Go-Wrong- his teacher for the current year. She promises to be as nice as the earlier one. And while I was smiling and informing her of her Goddess status, she laughed and said she had to compete with the same thing at hoome- with her son's teacher.
We had a nice time talking, submitted all the things that had to be submitted, gathered all the things that had to be taken with us, and then it was time to leave.

Downstairs, I was waiting in line to pay the fees, when a petite, pretty Mom whom I'd noticed earlier too, while buying shoes, came up to me with a tentative smile and asked, "excuse me, are you 'my name"?"
I had noticed her, but I certainly didn't know her, how did she know me...? "Yeah", I replied confusedly, with a doubtful smile.

At that, the grin widened and she said, "I'm DDMom"
And the surroundings dissolved as we grinned at each other broadly!

I shoved the cheque book into the husband's (who was looking on perplexedly)hands, and we yakked and yakked.

It was so so nice to meet her so very unexpectedly.

I had not been reading her (and some other old favourites too- cos I mucked up bigtime with my blogroll, and lost their ids) for some time, but she was an old favourite and the name DDMom registered immediately.
You know, DDmom, Rbdans was more like how I thought of you!

Turns out she lives quite close to where I stay. Small world, isn't it?

She knew me by my grin, she said. (And to think I just did a post on that some time back!) And once she thought that it MIGHT be me, she just HAD to ask, even if she might be wrong. Am so glad you did, DDmom.

Inspite of the fact that I haven't read her in almost a year, and she said she's been pretty erratic too, we still got on so well. Unfortunately I had to get back to sign the cheque and she had already finished with all her stuff, so we had to say au revoir too soon.

So now, of all my old blogpals, I have met WIAN, Udtahaathi, ~Nm, MadMomma, Suki, Poppins, Bmom, Aargee, Swati, Kiran, Mama Mia, CoS, Compulsive Dreamer, Vidooshak, ... and DDmom.
14 of them.
I did meet Monica and Pixie at BMom's baby shower, but we didn't really yak.
Missed Art earlier this week, and Chox too.
Who next, I wonder?

Rolling on the floor in abandon...

is what Sonny boy does when we start to play with the ball.

This is an offshoot of IPL and all those cricket matches he's been watching with the Acha. Balls caught neatly as a matter of course are not applauded much even if it involves the taking of a wicket. Turns out he's seen the Acha APPLAUD WITH GUSTO when the fielders fling themselves to the ground and grapple with the ball.

Which is what he does now.
A perfectly decently thrown ball, perfectly catchable too... involves much of throwing himself to the ground. and rolling about. and getting up with grimaces/glee. and limping back to his place.

All this done with a secret eye to applause. Which he gets in good dose. He does not see, my dear clown of a son, that half of the laughter is in sheer mirth at his clowning around.

health issues.

There was an ingrown toenail
who lived in neglect for some years.
Decided he'd had enough of the neglect
and could do with some attention...

So it started-
an occasional prod, a poke
and when attention was still found wanting,
white hot needles were pressed into action...

Remonstrances and restraints were tried
Strong doses of them in vain,
the decision was made
TO DO AWAY WITH IT
If necessary.

Guys, HALP!
Going to see the doc about my toe nail, which is come off on one side, digging into for dear life on the other.
My toe hurts, but am sure the hurt will be nothing compared to what will be if it has to come off.

Pls send up a prayer. Or two. Or MANY.
Am sure in need of it. Brrr!

Edited to add:

Saw two docs. Both said to remove.
But right now, its inflamed and infected, so have to wait for that to subside before they can remove it.

On Mon, 15th June, Sonny Boy starts school and I go off to hospital to have my toenail removed. The doc was a good guy, explained the procedure very concisely.
Yup, they will give me local. They will poke one needle into the right and another into the left side of my poor big toe.
Then when its nice and numb, will pull out the nail and cauterize the roots on two ends so that whatever grows back will grow narrower.
Apparently my nail was too big for my nail bed, which is why the problem arose. (So now you know that not only should you not grow too big for your boots, you should also not grow too big for your beds. Else- OUT is the way for you.)

Also, please to not cut your nails into a curve. CUT IT FLAT ACROSS THE TOP. Will ensure that the nails grow the way they are supposed to - straight and not curving inside.

I will have to rest my toe for 4-5 days, after which the good doc says I 'll be fine. I sure hope so too.

Thanks for the good wishes, guys, and keep my pore ol' toe in your thoughts on the 15th.

Of Diana and the Phantom

The other day, my husband's gmail chat status message read: "I know a woman who drives the Phantom"

It evoked fond memories of the handsome Phantom and the curvaceous Diana and dear Devil and the kids and Rex, and Guran and.... Both of us love the Phantom comics, and there are hardly any available today, except dog-eared ones with pages missing or untidily drawn upon..
Sigh!
I wondered what had made the husband suddenly remember Phantom....

Was rudely shaken out of the misunderstanding today. When the Acha slobbered over a BMW and a Cayenne we saw on our way to work today. When I realised that he meant he literally knew a woman who 'drove' a Phantom. From the Rolls Royce stable, I think he said.

Bah! Cars do NOT set my blood on fire.

Men!!! Do they ever outgrow their toys?

from there to here....

I remember, in school and college, I was often identified as the girl with a perpetual smile on her face. I was genuinely a very cheerful, optimistic person and it showed on my face too.

In University, I was dubbed the 'Cheshire Cat' by my husband-to-be (though neither of us knew it then) for the ever-present smile of course. Also the fact that I was almost never to be harried by anything.

In hostel, during those semester exams, bowing to peer pressure, I too would burn the nightlight way into the wee hours of morning. But only the light burnt. The eyelids would be shut tight, and dreaming about an easy paper, only rarely succumbing to the nightmare of a question paper that was totally Greek and Latin to me.

Not for me the pressure to be top of the pack. I would be quite happy to be somewhere among the top 5 or 10.
Not for me the last minute frenzy of rushing around for most likely questions and last minute mugging. Tho' I WOULD have my mental antennae up for any little word or two that I could catch, which could easily be elongated into 2 or 3 pages in the answer sheet. (That's the charm of marketing- puh-lenty you can digress on...)

I was bent on advertising as a career, and started off quite promisingly on that road.. I was enjoying my work, my colleagues, my boss...No huge targets..
and then the road curved.

Unwittingly I was dragged into the hairpin curves of a job in sales. And while the highs were HIGH, the lows could be TROUGHS!

Looking back, I think it the height of irony that the girl who had nary a care in the world, should now live her life ruled by numbers and the pressure to reach a certain number by the end of the month, by hook or by crook!

The smile still is on my lips most of the time, but in my mind runs the thought- you dratted fellow/felly, why can't you SIGN the damned deal?!!!
And certain days, when the pressure mounts sky high, can you believe it- I start having nightmares about my bete noire in school and college- Math! I dream - never that I'm flunking- but that I haven't studied one bit and my exams are tomorrow. And I toss and turn thinking about a way out.

Whew!

I remember, while I was about to join up for my graduation, an astrologer family friend advised my mother to enrol me up for Maths, cos he could see that I would 'shine' in Math. We were very polite to him, but once he left, all of us fell over laughing at the joke! Me and Maths! and shining!

"hahahahahohohohehehehe" That's Uncle having the last laugh. For shining or not, numbers sure have ruled my life for some time now.
I admit Uncle just MAY have had something in what he prophesied. Though I still have my doubts about why I'm doing what I'm doing, and whether I'm going to go anywhere with it.

And in addition to this, I have to juggle the balls of motherhood and wifehood and housekeeper-hood.
Little wonder that I think I'm going crazed!

This post is provoked by the fact that I have 3 bloody deals that have been pending for SO long and have been tantalisingly going from small to medium to big, falling just that little bit short of getting signed at each discussion. Just one of them will almost meet my targets for the month, BUT!

Man!I wish I could turn back the clock......
In the meantime, pliss to keep your fingers crossed for me and for those deals to get signed. Immediately!