Puck and all that.

I'd been returning home from office, when on the stairs, I bumped into a kid A who looked like he'd be in the 4th standard, running to hide before his friends could seek him. Smilingly, I heard his friend call out his name and say that he'd been found. Kid A grimaced and brushed past me, grinning at being caught. And then a stream of profanities flew from his mouth.

B words and F words and A words and God-only-knows-what words! Words I wouldn't have anybody hear from even my mouth, and definitely not shouted out loud for ALL to hear. And this was a kid I knew by sight. Who thankfully was older than Sonny boy, but who was still friendly enough with him.
What zapped me even further was that no one who heard seemed to object or take the kid to task. I mean, if it was one of Sonny boy's friends who I'd caught doing that, I'd have scolded them and definitely made sure their parents knew. But then again, none of the other kids turned a hair either. Which means that they were used to it.

I was totally shocked and commented on the same to the husband. He shrugged his shoulders and told me that there really was nothing much that could be done about it. The school bus apparently was a source of more information and knowledge than the school itself.

Sigh! I swear it almost made me want to ditch Bangalore and get Sonny boy schooled at home, which might have been a small-town comparatively, but it was a place where kids were kids. Mischievous and naughty, with all the kiddish stuff, not adult stuff.



And so today, when I'd had to hound an upset Sonny boy away from his toys and get him to get into the bathroom for his bath, when I heard a loud "PUCK", I rushed in and glared at him.

"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?" I demanded angrily.
Sonny boy knew that I was mad. Though he didn't know exactly what for.
He lowered his eyes and mumbled something "-uck".
"WHY did you say that??" I asked again, not really sure of how to react and take him to task.

"Because the scooter made that noise, Amma when I threwed it into the water."

And he proceeded to show me again how his toy scooter made a PUCK sound when he threw it into the bucket of water. Phew!

Of showers, and birds and bees...

Sat was a beautiful day. Made all the more so by the baby shower.
For which a group of women from far corners of B'lore got together and planned and schemed and organised and surprised and DELIVERED!
It was a tough thing suprising this Mamma2B, cos having been part of a couple of recent baby showers, she was naturally expecting us to give her one! But the shower got postponed because of M's trips abroad- we needed a fellow conspirator didn't we? And she almost thought we'd forgotten.

But finally it got underway and the planning express gathered momentum and the excitement built up to its zenith just before Abha was due to enter the house.

M had thoughtfully taken Abha and Cubby out for a romantic drive at 2.30.. LOL! (Kudos on managing her till 5.30, M!)
Usha reached first, and the security guys told her that the houseowners were out and she had to wait!!!
She called us - (DDMom, Monika, Preethi n me) and Monika smsed M and M smsed some others and finally, Usha and Starry managed to get in, somehow and all the rest of us too reached and gathered in the Jain home.
Frantic decorations and setting-up-the-place later, we rushed to hide so that we could SURPRISE!! her.
The door bell rang, all of us hurried to hide, and Rajamma (the maid, who was beside herself at seeing our excitement and preparations)scurried to answer the doorbell, only to find,
first Bangalore Mom!
and then Poppy!!
and then just before Abha was to come in , Art!!! Aaarghhhh!
It all but added to the fun and laughter and bonhomie.

Finally she reached and we screamed and SURPRISED and laughed and hugged and felt so good all around! and then it was time for the games!

For all the worrying in the morning, that the power supply was off, and she couldn't melt the chocolates, Preethi came up with some beautiful chocolate potty in diapers, for the expectant second timers to taste and guess. Ewwwwwwwwwww.....went Abha and ewwwwwww..... went the onlookers.
M duly shared in the diaper tasting and even got the taste correct. Way to go M!
And then , we played Dumb Charades, where we divided ourselves into M's and Abha's teams. We had to guess, of course, stuff related to the baby.
Pictionary followed, which was truly hilarious at times, for what had to be picturised was nursery rhymes. Only Monika knows what she wanted to draw for Wee Willy Winkie! ROFL!
But what makes it even better is that her team managed to guess it!!

we handed Abha the gifts-a lovely lovely booklet, printed with all good wishes from bloggy friends, a gift voucher from CWC, a cute onesie for 2B and also some books and CD's for Cubby.
D and Co had made some Playdoh trinkets for all the kiddies. Its still treasured by Sonny boy, tho' the colours have merged by now.
Usha had brought some beautiful flowers. I had gotten her a teeshirt, which was supposed to have some maternity lines on it, but which, owing to the time lag, was finally convertd to a Frens shirt.

Time for the cake. An awesome one, shaped like a baby rattle, which tasted even better than it looked. But for eats, we also had
DDmom's pasta. With a green sauce and a red sauce, both equally delicious.
Preethi's totally yummilicious muffins, that sadly, she'd made only for the kids. Two were leftover, which the adults shared even more greedily than the kids. Yummm, Preethi, you'll have me visiting quite often now.
Chips- there was an overload of, both Bangalore Mom and me having got them.
MM got the drinks, and there also were some Dharwad pedas, which we found only at the end.

It was also Poppy's B'day and we got out the second cake of the evening.

The assorted kids had a gala time, playing with Cub's toys, and generally having a good time.
Little big sisters (D) told littler big sisters (K) how to raise good younger sisters!
Some of them gathered to feel 2B kicking a greeting.
And all the kids had a lovely time while their mommas had a ball!

The 'official' shower over, no one felt like leaving, which says much for M and Abha's calibre as hosts. Besides, we all wanted to have a look at the booklet to which we had all contributed! And so we chatted and chatted....oooh'ed and aaah'ed
But it was getting late, and all of us had a long drive ahead of us.

And what a drive it was!
At the fag end of it, Sonny boy suddenly had a doubt.
"Amma, how do babies get inside the stomach?????"
Not satisfied with being airily told that when Acha and Amma had been in love with each other for some time, a baby would come into the stomach, he still wanted to know, "HOWWWW?????? "

LOL! This's the third baby shower he's been attending and Sonny boy is getting curiouser and curiouser. 2B's kicks were the ultimate for him!
It will be a pleasure to introduce 2B when he/she finally pops out, as the owner of those kicks.
Happy Delivering, Abha and M! Three cheers for Cubby n 2B!

Odds and ends

The other day, I brought my lunch back un-eaten from office.
While I was putting it away to give the hungriest member of the family (the dog, who else?)the husband saw me and frowned at my skipping lunch.

Before I could tell him that I'd had a late breakfast and other stuff from office, a pair of ears perked up and up piped the little preacher.

"Amma, you should not waste food."

"If you don't eat it, you will not grow up. You won't grow old and you won't die."

"And when I have children, my children won't have a grandmother. You will still be my mother only." *accusing look*


******************


These days Sonny boy drives us both up the wall with his dawdling and dreaming in front of his food. The once-upon-a-time-patient Acha has also lost it.

Yesterday was a particularly bad food-and-drink day. Where he had to be yelled at for every dratted sip of his milk and then later on for every darned bit of his idlis. The school bus was already on its way, and Sonny boy was still chewing as peacably as a cow. At the end of his tether, the Acha lost his temper and shouted extra loud at him.
An equally fed-up Sonny boy, mutinously: One day I will eat the whole house! And then I will stay out!


***********************


His upper left tooth is also out. It came out after much hopping-on-toes-in-excitement, hugging-self-around-stomach-in-anticipation, face-splitting-grins-in- expectation and last but not least, grimaces. It made us both laugh to see his antics and to go over it all once again.


**********************


No offence to dear Valmikiji. But why o whyyyy should schools have a holiday for Valmiki Jayanti?? And if schools have it, why o whyyyyy not offices??
Its just not fair!

Long time no see....

Have been away from the blog for quite a while, being caught up with work and holidays and conjunctivitis, not necessarily in that order.
Last week, I'd seen a post from Monika on FB, saying there was a contest on Womens' Web. On the heroine that you liked the most. And that took me back to something I'd written a few years back. After I wrote this, a whole host of other heroines crossed my life. But still Jennifer holds a special place in my heart.

****************

This was back in my teens- when it was the INnest thing to be reading a Sidney Sheldon...I just wanted to see what was so great about him and so started off with Rage of Angels which was my intro to Sheldon.
I just LOVED Jennifer.

Vulnerable, yet strong, stupid and naive to begin with, going on to heights of brilliance in her career as an attorney, Jennifer had all a lady needs- beauty, brains, power, men to love her and a man to love and have a child with...

The novel starts with a young Jennifer just out of law school, with dreams in her eyes, dreams that are shattered when just hours after her entry into a promising career in law, she is booted out on her backside after she becomes a victim of a trick.
But Jennifer evolves... from a young , gullible, naive fresher to a poised, sharp, extremely brilliant attorney, pitting her wits against the DA and winning all the way, almost...

In between exciting courtroom battles, Jennifer finds time to fall in love. With Adam, who loves her back, but who also, unfortunately, happens to be married. On the threshold of becoming a Senator, Adam has to choose between a bright career with a wife he does not love and Jennifer whom he loves more than anything. Jennifer makes the choice for him.

With the fading out of Adam, comes Michael into her life. Michael, whom she has to thank for the sabotage of her career and also, for the life of the most precious thing in her life- her son, Joshua. And thus begins a relationship born out of strife, but which endures and emerges a winner, until.. Adam comes back into prominence in Jennifer’s life.

From the right side of the law to the wrong, from Adam to Michael, the narrative goes without losing steam, building up to a climax where Jennifer has Adam and Michael and she again has to choose....

The novel is all about the choices Jennifer is forced to make, its about loss and gain, about pain and joy, about victory and defeat, about togetherness and sheer loneliness. You can laugh with her, love with her, celebrate with her and weep with her.

A mix of Grisham and Steele, with the best of both, the book is classic Sidney Sheldon with his motif of a strong, feminine WOMAN. Racy in its narrative, leading from one thing to another, it leaves you wanting to know more about what happened to one gutsy lady.

Getting started with the second R

Dear Daddy,

Are you watching and listening up above?
I’m sure you are. I so wish I could see you too tho’. See that smile again.

I got the mail today telling me that they’d liked me and my writing enough to consider offering me a job on contract.
Do you hear, Daddy?
I have not felt so much of a sense of achievement at signing up any of the corporate deals I have in my career so far. While all of that has been my effort too, and some of them have been particularly praiseworthy, that has been using my company’s (whichever I happened to be in at the time) products. This is ALL MY OWN.

So- I can actually write and make money. Not much. Actually peanuts, if you consider that I won’t have much time at my disposal to send them too many articles, but what the heck- it’s a start! And then, if I have enough peanuts, I can make peanut butter!

I feel like writing and writing and writing to you …as I used to do. But I shall stop here for if I get started on everything else, it would be difficult to stop.
I rang and told Mummy that I had some good news, and the contained excitement in my voice made her ask- have you got another job?? LOL. I told her its even better than that.

I just wanted to share this so with you, cos my love for the language is something that you inculcated in me. I wish you were still on this earth.....

after a loooong gap...

got my paints out once again..
the paints had all got thickened with non-use...
but finally it all turned out ok.
Yes?

Mr. Know-it-all!

When he said, "I'm not too young to know everything", Oscar Wilde must have been looking into the future. Into my house. He must have known Sonny boy very well.

Sonny boy, this is....
I know, Amma/Acha!

Sonny boy, that is...
I know, Amma/Acha!

Sonny boy, you should do it like this....
I know, Amma /Acha...

or in case it is very obvious that he does NOT know,
You can do it like this also, Amma/Acha!

You name it, he knows it.
My only consolation is that his teacher must be more irritated than me. Ha!

to gym or to shake.

Knew that I'd been bloating up over the years, when my trousers went from a 30 to a 32, to a 34 waist size. My waist is still a waist, but I need 34 to lug the damn thing over my hips. Its the one place where I can claim to look like Sreedevi!

Have been meaning to exercise, but.
Morning walks are out, cos I'm too lazy to get up. 6.30 is early enough for me, thank you.
Evening walks are out, cos I'd still be stuck to my desk/client's desk in the evenings.
Nightly walks are out, cos the mad dog wants to pause here and there and everywhere to sniff. So its a nice (for her more than for me) stroll rather than an energetic swinging walk.
If I were that focussed a person as to drop her back and then come down again for my exercisewalk, I would never have gotten into the shape I am now in.

But then, my husband offered me an alternate career option.
A belly dancer.
He said I'd give all of 'em a run for their money.

Hmmm....
I can either divorce him.
Or join a gym.

He's been at me to join one for ages now.
But knowing me, I'm afraid it'll be good money gone down the drain.
Pliss to advise, bloggy friends.

Thou shalt feel Guilty...

Mommy guilt didn't exist when Sonny boy was small. He was an amazingly sweet baby and never gave me any sweat. From potty training to feeding to sleeping, he was an utter sweetheart!

But with the school years, entered the frequent trips to Guiltyland.

Firstly, I joined back to work once he was old enough for school, so number one guilt was how can I leave my baby to cope on his own?

This was definitely reinforced by the fact that his teacher at the time told me that children of working parents all had problems in adjusting. Despite the fact that I thought Sonny boy was adjusting beautifully well. She told me that I needed to spend more quality time with him and that there was no substitute for that. True, that, but where was the time?

And then that monster made his appearance- Homework. Brrrr. I have never dreaded my homework in the way I dread Sonny boy's. I still do. Bad enough that I could only give my son whatever time was leftover from office hours. Those couple of hours, I had to make him do something he disliked, had to yell at him and make him cry. The 'quality'time spent with my son on some days made me feel truly wretched. I spent more time on it, because I didn't want the teacher generalising that his working mother had no time for him.

And then, as he grew, the reasons for guilt grew too.
I was/am always bad cop. While the Acha was/is mostly good cop. This is because he has wayyyy more patience than me, but also because he doesn't even NOTICE some things that simply glare at me.
Like making his T's go over the line and his Y's go below. If not neat, at least correct handwriting?
Like putting away his stuff after he's through with it.
Like being more careful with his toys and stuff.

I wish the Creator had given me a man's mind while at it. Amazing how little they notice things!! Bad enough when it comes to the house, but worse when it is with regard to Sonny boy. The 'mistakes' are left to me to correct.
If I correct, I am the non-fun mother. If I don't I am the un-bothered mother. Guilty either ways.

I also feel guilty that I don't 'network' enough with other mothers in the complex. I am the last one to know of the dance class, the karate class, the yoga class in the clubhouse. When he was a baby, Sonny boy had a lot more friends cos I was friendly with a lot of the mommas. We tended to get together in the evening, and naturally the kids bonded too. Not so nowadays, when once I get back, I have work and a little bit of me-time as well ( books, FB, blog), without which I think I would divorce the husband!

I have not the leisure to know his friends, whether to approve or disapprove. When my Mom comes, it is she who tell me the little tidbits about them that are so invaluable in knowing them. I heartily disapprove of one particular kid who GETS ON MY NERVES. But then, I don't have the time to introduce Sonny boy to other 'better' kids. Introduce because Sonny boy is bad at going out and making friends. He tends to stick to the few he knows and then makes them the axis around which his world revolves.

It is my Mom (or my maid) who knows whether he finishes his snack/lunch at school. Who gets first chance at hearing what went on in school. If at all they manage to get something out of my clam son.

Come to think about it, almost ALL my guilt centres around me being a working mom. But then, I know of at least a few mothers who wish they were in my shoes and could contribute to the family finances, or have an extra piggy bank to dip into for the luxuries. And then I read about this lady who felt bad about not DOING something and BEING somebody.
On the one side, there's her who feels like that, and on the other, there's a me who IS somebody other than a mother, and DOES something other than mothering, but wishes she didn't have to. Incidentally, that post of hers so resonated with me. I could empathise with every guilt she mentioned other than the doing and being somebody. Even that, except that she felt guilty for not, and me for.

She's made her peace with her guilts, I am yet to.
Mothers in blogosphere (fathers too), if you want to get that guilt off your chest, let the words spill out and take part in this contest for Mommy guilt initiated by Apu.

english o english.

Sue handed me a big red marker quite some time back. I'd been lazy to sit and make make a note of all the bloopers, but then here goes...

Mails written with the intent of sounding official more than communicating whatever quite make me see red.
Not the perfect example, but something like this- where....
instead of asking the person - could I know your name?
you go to the extent of asking- I wonder if your honorable self could do me the great pleasure of letting me know your good name? .....
makes me go aaaaarrrgghhhhh!
I don't know if this is the accepted mode of writing in officialese, but it gets my goat that simple English is disallowed when you are writing to an official in a bank/PSU.
They don't TALK a different English, then how come they're supposed to READ a different English??


Again, its ok if ordinary people can't read/write or even understand English. Its just another language after all. But then, after you've been educated a whole decade in the language, and you hold a senior position in a respectable organisation, you better mind your spellings/grammar.
I LOVE it when my dear 'superiors' send me mails that are supposed to be a sample of the perfect way to comunicate to clients, with these mistakes-
did you recieve my mail? (recEIve is the correct spelling)
don't loose it (lose, not loose)
pls advice (advise, not advice)
revert to me (revert to is repetitive)
I enjoy the few times when I correct the mails and send it out, with a copy to the person who made the original mistakes.


I dislike officialese, but SMSese gets my goat more than officialese.
In our days, alphabets were English, and numbers were Math. But these days' kids seem to have it all wrong.
Dey cm 2 thnk engls n mth put 2gethr is gr8 and d way 2 go 4wrd!!
Gauri is yet to enlighten me on what exactly she meant to convey by the alphabets towards the end, in the post which was her contribution to the blogathon.


By a weird coincidence, I found this forward in my mail last week, that I'm copying here, cos it goes so perfectly with this post.
Enjoy, folks, especially all you MOPS out there. :-D

ONLY THE BRITISH COULD HAVE INVENTED THIS LANGUAGE

We'll begin with a box, and the plural is boxes,
But the plural of ox becomes oxen, not oxes.
One fowl is a goose, but two are called geese,
Yet the plural of moose should never be meese.
You may find a lone mouse or a nest full of mice,
Yet the plural of house is houses, not hice.

If the plural of man is always called men,
Then shouldn't the plural of pan be called pen?
If I speak of my foot and show you my feet,
And I give you a boot, would a pair be called beet?
If one is a tooth and a whole set are teeth,
Why shouldn't the plural of booth be called beeth?

Then one may be that, and three would be those,
Yet hat in the plural would never be hose,
And the plural of cat is cats, not cose.
We speak of a brother and also of brethren,
But though we say mother, we never say methren.
Then the masculine pronouns are he, his and him,
But imagine the feminine: she, shis and shim!

Let's face it - English is a crazy language.
There is no egg in eggplant nor ham in hamburger;
neither apple nor pine in pineapple.
English muffins weren't invented in England ..
We take English for granted, but if we explore its paradoxes,
we find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square, and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig.

And why is it that writers write but fingers don't fing,
grocers don't groce and hammers don't ham?
Doesn't it seem crazy that you can make amends but not one amend.
If you have a bunch of odds and ends
and get rid of all but one of them, what do you call it?

If teachers taught, why didn't preachers praught?
If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat?
Sometimes I think all the folks who grew up speaking English
should be committed to an asylum for the verbally insane.

In what other language do people recite at a play and play at a recital?
We ship by truck but send cargo by ship.
We have noses that run and feet that smell.
We park in a driveway and drive in a parkway.
And how can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same,
while a wise man and a wise guy are opposites?

You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language
in which your house can burn up as it burns
down, in which you fill in a form by filling it out,
and in which an alarm goes off by going on.

And, in closing, if Father is Pop,how come Mother's not Mop?

I WOULD LIKE TO ADD THAT IF PEOPLE FROM POLAND ARE CALLED POLES THEN

PEOPLE FROM HOLLAND SHOULD BE HOLES AND THE GERMANS GERMS!!!

its a new school year...

I didn't think much of the kindergarten graduation thingie conducted by his school earlier this year. Thought it was making too much of a progression that was only natural. Not exactly a mountain out of a molehill, but close to it.

But today when my baby was all dressed to go to first standard, I realised suddenly that it was indeed a big deal. He's no more a baby now, he's a boy! It IS a mountain!

He was still as thrilled (if not more) about his Ben 10 undies as his new school uniform.
He informed me solemnly that the elastic band of his tie had to go "UNDER the collar, Amma."
New uniform, new Cars bag, new Cars lunch box, new Cars water bottle... Cars seems to be new Ben10, if you get me. Tho' I can't understand why it suddenly seems to have found favour...
Trinity gave the new white Reebok shoes an assessing glance, but then decided not to push her luck.

And the books- phew- don't get me started on the books.
English and Math and Hindi and EVS and Computers and Moral Studies and Art and...this and that ...
I turned a deaf year to my Mom's well meaning advice on getting a tuition teacher for him all of the last year. I didn't want anybody else shoving their ideas of academics down my son's throat.
But this year, am forced to the conclusion that a tuition teacher just might be a solution for all of us. Or I have to quit my job. Teaching my son everything in just 1 hr - which is what I have left of the day after I reach home- is just not feasible.

And Sonny boy is fast growing up.
Just prior to school opening day, this weekend we were brushing up his writing skills and I was giving him dictation with this sentence-
His mother gave him a sock.
after writing h-i-s, up piped a voice- Amma, can I write Mom for mother??

The Amma gave the Acha a speaking look and told the son- MOTHER. not mom.

And yet, he remains a little boy.
While I was putting his folder inside his bag, he told me , Amma, it is called a folder because you have to FOLD it and put it inside the bag.
LOL. The last year, his bag had been a small bag and the folder had to be folded to get inside his bag. So.

I guess this is how the year will progress- a little big with a little small.

God bless that the year is a fruitful one. That above all else- career, housework, wife... I am a good mother to Sonny boy. Right now, that takes priority.

Mommy Bloggers List

For the upcoming Mother's Day, IndusLadies.com is coming up with a compilation of an elegant list of all Indian Mommy Bloggers and is sending it to over 1 lakh readers. In addition, this list would also be made avaialble to 6000 facebook fans and twitter followers of Indus Ladies. (Note: If you blog "exclusively" about Parenting your kids, or about Parenting in general or any special Parenting experiences, then your blog qualifies).

If you blog inside or outside Indusladies.com, this would be a good way to get the word out about your wonderful blog to the entire membership of Indusladies.

On Mother's Day, all you need to do is make a blog post requesting your readers to download this compiled list of Indian Mommy blogs.

If you would like your blog to be included in that list, please email (to partners@indusladies.com) the following as soon as possible and before 6th May.

1. Your blog URL
2. Your blog Name
3. A 5-8 line description about your blog (or about yourself as a blogger)
4. Link to 3-5 of your most popular blog posts.

Please forward to your fellow bloggers as well.


P.S - If you have any questions, please email partners@indusladies.com.
PPS. TODAY IS THE LAST DAY to send in the request for your blog to get included too, so HURRY!!!!!!

the week that was.

In Sonny boy's absence, I

saw 2 movies at the theatre.
Both mallu movies- Janakan and In Ghost House.
The former was ok, with Suresh Gopi and Mohanlal putting in good performances.
Ghost House -I saw it only for the sake of the husband who whined me into seeing it. Four young bachelors were FUNNY in the original. Four middle aged men are NOT in the sequel to the sequel.
And what the husband had to say was that I should not over analyse comedy! Husbands!

made no dinner at all.
There have to be compensations for seeing movies like Ghost House, right?
No lunch either on most days. Breakfast however was made and eaten healthily.

read books.
Finished the whole lot of Mills and Boons borrowed from my sis, and which have to be returned this weekend when we go pick up the son and the dog.
Agatha Christie's The Complete Ariadne Oliver.
Compared to the Poirot and Miss Marple, Ariadne is boring.
Vikas Swarup's Six Suspects.
I liked this book of his too. The characters are well drawn out and Swarup entwined me beautifully in the ups and downs of their lives. How the people from different corners of the globe end up at Vicky Rai's farmhouse, with very different but equally strong motives the fateful day of the murder is a nice page turner.
Amish's The Immortals of Meluha.
This book was such a delightful surprise and the best part of it, is that there is more to come- part 2 and Part 3 too. If Part 2 and 3 go the way of Part 1, then we have a WINNER on our hands. The story has to do with the Neelkanth and how he comes by his role of the saviour of the Suryavanshis and the Chandravanshis. Amish has done a riveting job of combining mythology and religion into fiction and I'm really looking forward to the sequel which is supposed to be out at the year end. Happy writing, Amish.

And then I slept and slept and slept.
And made umpteen calls to Sonny boy.
And was miserable that only Trinity could not speak to me.

This weekend, we're off to pick them up.

Happy Meal toy. Check.
Remote controlled Helicopter (he took only the wires, he forgot the actual copter!) Check.
Book. Check.
Repaired scooter. Check.
Ben10 Tshirt- to be drwan and painted in the next 2 days.
1 more toy- to be bought
2 eagerly waiting parents. CHECK.

Missing...

Am not looking forward to this weekend.

Sonny boy and Trinity have been carted off to chez grandmother in Kerala.
To enjoy 2 weeks of the summer vacations. They may be enjoying, but the parents are finding the home to be unnaturally quiet.

The days pass by boringly in office, but the evenings are looooooooooong.

The Acha watches his News and English movie channels in peace, without a little hand snatching the remote away and putting on his precious cartoons. There is no fight between the big boy and the small boy over who gets to watch what, while the Amma watches from a distance and bangs her head against the wall and wishes she could just get her hands around the neck of the guy who invented tv in the first place.

There is no doggy foot pawing compellingly at our legs/hands the minute we stop our random rubbing of her doggy belly with our toes/fingers.

There no Sonny boy to holler at and threaten and blackmail into having his dinner in under 45 minutes. (I am NOT exaggerating- he takes a minimum of half an hour to get anywhere near finishing his meal- be it breakfast, lunch or dinner.)

There is no mad dog behaving, at the ripe old age of 6 (equivalent to 42!) like a puppy and running off with chappals, bathroom mats, and the like. And no Sonny boy quick to react to the mad dog's capers- jumping up and howling, "Amma, Trinity's EATING my shoes/chappals/sandals!" and running after her, which is exactly what she wanted in the first place.
And then the Amma would run after the pair of them and separate them, whacking the dog, and yelling at the son to stop acting like a fool, and then the Acha would berate Sonny boy the hundredth time for not being able to see thru a mere DOG's ploy for attention.
And all the time, Sonny boy and Trinity would listen with apparently submissive faces, but each planning to do EXACTLY the same the next time opportunity presented itself.



At night, there is no small figure in pyjamas trailing around.... and then waiting up in bed for me to come and read him his story. As I settle in bed with my book, it is when I miss Sonny boy the most. No little head snuggling onto my shoulder, pushing his book in front of mine, saying "my story first, Amma, this one!" And then, once the story is done, his leg comes flinging itself across my stomach and his fingers creep around to my ear... sigh..

Whe the Acha puts his hand around me too, the hand is firmly put aside, along with a firm order- "Acha, you don't hug Amma. I will hug Amma. YOU hug ME!" Even when the lights are off, any attempts by the Acha are inevitably foiled by an alert son.
The Acha says that as if contending with his son noticing and not approving of his attentions to me was not enough, now he has to put up with the dog's disapproval too!

Trinity is very watchful indeed, of not just the Acha, but also Sonny boy's attentions to me, quickly running up in case she senses any hanky panky. Its almost like - why almost- it IS - like having a second child.

In the car while driving down, I was in the back seat, with Sonny boy on one side, and Trinity on the other, cos like any two siblings, they would be all affection to start with, but soon, the one would start to play up with the other, resulting in a pow-wow in no time. So it was deemed better to keep them on separate sides- him looking out of this window, her looking out of that.
But inevitably, both of them would land up on my knee. And then a paw would find its way onto Sonny boy's hand, and then a yell would go up that she scratched him, and then I'd again push them apart, and the Acha'd ask them to SHUT UP...

Mornings, we no longer need an alarm clock. Promptly at day break a canine form stirs. And a head lifts impatiently at every single sound from outside... and then when she can stand it no longer, she's up and at us- poking her WET nose into our faces, wagging her tail nineteen to the dozen against the wardrobe making a louder racket than any alarm clock... "Wakey wakey", she grins good naturedly at us from beside the bed. And the Acha who hates that wet nose in his neck, jumps up promptly to take her for her walk.
Sonny boy loves to have that nose poking at his face tho' and every morning, she tickles him into getting up with giggles...

Its been a week of having a home without Sonny boy and Trinity. And tomorrow's Friday- a day we normally look forward to. But not this time. Something tells me its going to be a loooooong weekend.

what is it that You have in store???

In hindsight, I truly believe that God knows what's best for us.

In my previous company , there was a time when I was bored to pieces and depressed, because everybody but me seemed to be so busy...
I felt so ashamed of sitting jobless that I turned to the internet and started reading blogs at random. (at least people passing by would assume that I had SOMEthing to do and I wouldn't be seen twiddling my thumbs). I really enjoyed a few that I read, and felt inspired to start one of my own...

And now, thinking back, I realise what a blessing in disguise that job'lessness' was.. for it opened the world of blogging to me, with ALL that it had to offer. And I thank God from the bottom of my heart for that period in my life.


And now, I am totally utterly bugged with my current job.
I try to compare this frustration with my previous company's frustration and wonder which was/is worse.
There, I had nothing to do and my 'boss' was barely tolerable.
Here, I have plenty to do, but my 'boss' is so totally intolerable.

How on earth do I get into these situations at work? Right now, its like I have a Demntor in office- the joy is so totally GONE. I find no joy in doing a good job, cos ultimately the asshole gets credit for it, and I'm so bugged with the unfairness of it.

And I wonder when can I MOVE , O God? To a different job- any job, so long as I can quit this one.
Its fast reaching a stage where I don't care if I have another one lined up either. Because I'm damned if I 'll let HIM preen around as if he's motivated me to do whatever

Soon, God, please.

we're getting on in life...

For long, it had been one of Sonny boy's ardent desires to get one.
A had it, C had it, J P and M had it and S had two! Only he hadn't.

Every day in the school bus, those who had would flaunt it and leave Sonny boy longing for one of his own. It put him in the same league as the big boys.
When would he get one? he used to ask.
An impatient Amma would shoo him off, saying that he was better off as he was, and didn't he have anything better to yearn after.
A doting Acha would say, I think what you have is so much better than A, C, J,P M And S.

Finally this month- his B'day month, when he turned all of 6 yrs old, his parents thought it was getting time for him also to get the longed-for-thing.

Two weeks back, he got a hint that it was on its way.

Every day would be spent in checking if it was time yet for him to get it.

Finally last night, he got it.

His precious gap tooth.

Yes, Sonny boy's milk tooth is out! The bottom right one.

He pulled it out himself in the end. With help from the Acha.

Yesterday was when he came to me delightedly saying, "Amma, look my tooth is REALLY loose." And sure enough, it was hanging on by its last root. It was really delightful to see the tooth jutting out when he pushed with his tongue. The Acha and Amma were thrilled that Sonny boy was finally going to have it off. Was becoming a big boy, in Sonny boy's words.

The Amma kept up the encouragement from a distance. The Acha was all for yanking it out. He sat with Sonny boy on the stairs, on the first step giving little nudges to the tooth.
As matters progressed, Sony boy reached upto the fifth step.

Sonny boy was in a frenzy of delight that his tooth was finally going to come off. But he hadn't expected the pain!
Amma, its paining! he said in between excited grins and offended glares at the Acha.
No gain without pain, sternly quoted the Amma who knew the Acha's fingers were itching to do the job. Pull it up yourself, till you feel the pain and then yank!

Finally seated on the fifth step, with said tooth on its last legs, Sonny boy gave a pull himself and OUT it came!

Yay!!! Time for delighted smiles all around. No matter that one was a little bloody.

The Acha and Amma are gung ho that it came out sans any tears. Given that the Acha remembers his first was certainly not a happy experience (am sure that means that he brought the house down)and the Amma remembers howling her head off when her Mom pulled out her first loose tooth (as well as the adjacent tooth, no kidding!)

And yet, the Amma can't help feeling a little sad that her little guy is growing up. Don't grow too fast, son.

Oh! and the tooth fairy gave Sonny boy a Dairy milk and a coin.

random laughs.

The last time my Mom was coming over, Sonny boy tom-tommed all over that his grandmother was coming to be with him.

Grandmoms being a favourite species with young kids, the day she arrived, in the evening, Sonny boy's best friend A,a Tamilian boy, came eagerly knocking.

"Sonny boy, where's your paati? Show me your paati".

Sonny boy collapsed in gales of shocked laughter.

"Amma!", he shrieked between the laughs. A's telling me bad things, he's asking me where's my POTTY!!!! and he rolled his eyes at me, guffawing.

An affronted A told me, "Sonny boy's being a very bad boy. He's not showing me his paati".

Sonny boy literally rolled on the floor laughing!!!

Amma hid her grin from the nonplussed A and explained to Sonny boy that Paati meant Ammamma in Tamil. Sonny boy finally got it, but it can still send him off into peals of mirth.

Farmville on an apartment balcony

Went away for the long weekend, and my dear tomato plant withered.













But the tomatoes survived.













And tasted yummy!

the love affair has begun!

He'd run for his life behind Ammamma's sari when she was loose...

He used to leap onto the sofa and then lift his legs also way out of reach of (offering a cute bum just in front, to) a delightedly seeking nose...

He'd fall down at a jump from her...

He'd always go to the other end of her mouth and pat her tail, automatically making her turn around enquiringly as to what exactly he intended doing near her backside!

He'd scream that she was eating him up, whenever she used to give an affectionate/mischievous nip/nibble at his bum (the most accessible part of him- you think its like how we humans pat a cute backside?)

He's come a loooong way!

Now when we enter the house, he longs for her to jump on him. She though, is ultra caring and never jumps on him the way she launches all 30 kgs of herself on us! So he jumps around saying, "Amma, let me stand in front of you.."

He goes around nosing her out, the way she used to him, once upon a time.

He discards the sofa for the floor beside her.

He puts his face near hers, and looks deep into her eyes.

He puts his ears to hers, and does googly-woogly-woosh with her jowls.

He just doesn't leave her alone!!!

They're in love. My son and my dog.

And they're a treat to watch!

2010

Well, its a brand new year again. Lets hope that this year, the highs are more than the lows.

The year is starting out with something I had wanted for long.... a dog in my home.

It had been one of my biggest guilt trips that every time I brought my Mom over to Blr to look after Sonny boy, another poor darling was left to stay by herself. That's our dog Trinity. She was brought by my husband from Blr on my insistence (pregnancy will indeed get you anything from the husband)for my Mom who after Dad's passing was left all alone in the big house.

She came and before I could train her, Sonny boy popped out. If you didn't know, in my parts of the town, a newly born mother has NO rights. She's not to sit, not to walk, not to read, not to do anything to amuse herself, in short. Only lie in bed, feed the baby. lie in bed, feed the baby. lie in bed, feed the baby. But I digress. So a newly born mother certainly had no rights where a wee little puppy was concerned. From being the sole occupant of my lap, 1 yr old Trinity went to being outside the house, for she was not yet toilet trained, and Mom wouldn't HEAR of her letting loose all those 'germs' on a newborn. Oh, she was looked after, but she was not fawned over in the way all puppies deserve.

Later whenever Mom came over to B'lore, Trinity was always left behind. We had a caretaker at home in Kerala who would give her her food and stuff, but again, it was only the basic necessities that were taken care of. Not my idea of how to bring up a dog. But beggars cannot be choosers, and my job did not leave me time to look after my baby the way I'd have wished to, let alone a dog in the next state.

And then, Trinity grew up into a fine adult dog, much more than Mom could manage on her own. I never got around to training her, and tho my BIL did a decent job of getting her to listen when he was around, the minute he vanished Trin was her mad self again- running wild with chappals, floormats, spoons- any odd thing that looked like it was wanted by us, and which would get us running ater her when she got it into her mouth. She used to create a royal ruckus and always get banished, but that didn't dent her enthusiasm for running-under-the-table-with-treasures one bit. If charis got knocked over in the chase, it only made her grin more widely. Gradually she grew maturer and Mom grew older and less able to manage Trinity. She found the strain of looking after a big untrained dog too much, she started thinking that it would be better to give her away to a family that would care for her the way she should be cared for. Maybe a family with younger members in the family.

To cut a long story short, I managed to convince Mom and the husband that I could look after her, rather than have her given away. Sony boy was old enough now to take care of himself around her (well, not quite! in her joy at seeing him when we went to bring her over, Trinity knocked him down to the ground and dampened his enthusiasm quite a bit) Luckily our current maid who looks after Sonny boy in our absence, agreed to look after her too. So last month, a 6 year old golden brown labrador made her way to B'lore.

Now there...














Now here!














Happy New Year to you, folks!