Ripples in the sky

This week's theme for the Thursday Challenge :

Have been struggling all day with blogger. It just wouldn't let me log in. Finally got through on The Husband's laptop. Whew!

Rainbows on the ground



Picture courtesy google pics

It was the morning rush hour. I was hurrying down to the gate where we wait for the school bus. I was trying to hang on to the mobile phone, the house keys, two bags (which the kids begged me to carry since they wanted to race to the gate) and two sweaters (which they refused to wear, it really is cold in the mornings). All the while I have to have one eye out for incoming vehicles, another one at the gate looking out for the bus and at least two more are required to keep track of the kids as they race through their preferred short cuts ... no wonder I was feeling light headed. It's at times like this that I envy the Gods with their multiple arms and Mad Eye Moody  for his eye. Anyway .. I digress.

In the middle of all this chaos "BHAI! RAINBOW" yelled Naisha. I got just as excited as the kids (rainbows do that to me) and looked up at the dull grey sky but all I saw was a thick mass of black clouds. I looked back at Naisha. She was jumping excitedly and counting.. ".... four, five, six rainbows. Mama look so many rainbows".

"But how come they're on the ground?" wondered the pragmatic son.. "Maybe it's a shadow of a real rainbow," he reasoned squinting up to find nothing. He then looked around wondering aloud, "Where did they come from?"

"I think it's just magic," said the daughter, eyes shining.

Feeling like a bit of a spoilsport I told them about oil spilling on wet ground and breaking up into colours.

Still wondering if I did right in taking away the magic from those rainbows.

A summer project

Hrit Naisha are hugely into story-telling. They have been making up stories since when they were a little above two.. from simple tales to long winding complicated ones. Most children do that, I think. Naisha's are full of prince and princesses and evil witches while Hrit sticks with aliens and monsters and scary/friendly wild animals.

We decided to turn one story of each of them into an illustrated book. What fun it turned out to be.

The stories were entirely their own... including the characters' names! I wont tire you with the stories but they were very much in character with both of them.

I typed and printed them out and the kids stuck them on with the relevant pictures on sheets of paper. Finally I stapled the sheets together to make a 'story book'. Pretty simple.

Hrit wanted to star in his book as the protagonist. He manfully sat through my amateur efforts at the 'photo shoot' after which I printed out the pictures. That was easy. Naisha decided to illustrate her books herself. It took me weeks to get her to make all of them. How many times do I have to make the prince? She'd ask. She did a pretty decent job in the end. The pictures were a bit crooked and the sticking a tad sloppy but the kids were thrilled.

Check out some pages from their books.

Hrit's story first ...

Kaku and the leopard

  

Once upon a time...



Hrit the actor

And now for Naisha's tale. I was just so relieved it wasn't about a damsel in distress.

Aurora and the prince

The evil witch trapped the prince on a tree

.. and then the evil bird flew away with the prince

Finally Aurora rescues her prince and then
it's happily ever after

It turned out a great summer project.

Never two much

Here's something I stumbled upon at momofrs' blog and couldn't resist sharing here. Thanks momofrs for letting me.

There’s two to wash, there’s two to dry,

There’s two who argue, there’s two who cry.

One’s in the mud having a ball,

The other holds a crayon, another marked wall.

Some days seem endless, my patience grows thin.

Why was I chosen to be a mother of twins?

The answer comes clear at the end of each day,

As I tuck them in bed and to myself say,

There’s two to kiss, there’s two to hug,

And best of all, there’s two to love!

~ Anon

Beautiful isn't it?

Angel Day

Today has officially been declared as an 'Angel Day' by the kids. In case you're wondering .. it's a day when everyone tries their hardest to bring out the angel in them. Put simply, everyone has to be good. Remember the Angel Devil concept?

The rules (made by them) are as follows:-

for me..
I can't 'shout' or 'whack'

for papa
He must get back early from office
He must get sweets for them (detailed instructions regarding their choices have been given)

And for them...
They can't get cranky
They can't fight
They'll eat their food fast
They won't do naughty things

The maid is also included in this 'angel family'. Hrit tried to explain the concept to her saying, "Didi you have to be happy today'. When my Maharastrian maid gave him a smile and a totally blank look he thought he should explain... 'aaj aap happy rahiyega, okay?' he told her.

It's been an hour since the declaration and already.. Naisha's spilled milk while Hrit tried to 'help' the maid with the dusting trying to get her to hand over the bottle of Colin (an obsession of his because it works like a pichkari).

God help me. Waiting to see how the day turns out.

Edited to add: We did have a good day. We needed to remind each other over and over, though.. 'Bhai.. Angel Day', Naisha would say and Hrit would stop getting naughty. Each time I thought they were getting too boisterous all I had to say was.. 'Okay so does Angel Day ends now?' and they would quieten. It was fun except The Husband came unusually late but since he got the stuff he'd promised he was promptly forgiven. I must remember to do it again.

In the boatyard

This week's theme for the Thursday Challenge :
WOODEN (Ship, House, Furniture, Carpentry Tools, Trees,...)

Fished out these pictures of boats. On our way back from the Somnath Temple we crossed this 'boatyard' (for want of a better word) where huge boats were under construction. The place I think was Valsad, Gujarat.




Love the tiny cabin like thing on the deck.




The men were using lanterns during the day





Got the chintus to stand here to get an idea of the size of the boats.
Aren't they just huge?.. the boats of course.



Pride comes before a fall

Another birthday invitation...
Another round of excitement (for the kids)
another round of worries (for me)... followed by
another round of brainwashing..  don't poke your fingers in the cake, don't fight over balloons, DON'T ASK FOR RETURN GIFTS... and
another round of bribery.. you get a star if you behave.. you get a gift if you do not ask for the return gift.

For once this time round Naisha forgot about chaniya cholis (Maybe she really IS growing up) and dressing them up was fun.. no arguments, no fights, no tears. We were done in ten minutes flat and the kids were duly deposited with the gift and a handmade card for the birthday girl.

I'm still not used to the whole idea of letting them be and so sat expecting a call from the hostess, which never came. (They are certainly growing up) When the call finally came it was only to ask me to pick them up.

When I went there the hostess handed me a gift saying, "Please take this, Hrit is refusing to accept the return gift." Just as I was begining to puff up with pride Hrit piped up, "Mama I didn't take the gift, now can you get me one like you promised?"

Time to shush them and go home.

The boy who made me cry

I'm not really good with reviews but sometimes along comes a book that makes me want to talk about it, read about it and so.. write about it, which is why The Boy in Striped Pajamas by John Boyne found it's way here.

Set during the WW II the book came out in 2006 and apparently was also made into a film. It tells the story of eight-year-old Bruno, son of a 'commandant' in Hitler's regime. When his family moves from Berlin to Auschwitz Bruno's world falls apart. Involved in his own life Bruno has no idea what 'Out-With' actually is. He is however intrigued by the tall wire fence that surrounds his new home and the people in identical striped pajamas, who live across it and who he can see from his window. The friendless Bruno finally befriends another boy from across the fence. Their friendship grows till one day the boy invites him to explore his world. That's when the book takes a horrific and sad turn.

The book is written from the perspective of Bruno and you can't but smile at his innocence. He leaves you to deduce who The Fury (Fuhrer) is and what Out-With is. He has no idea what 'Jews' are or even of his own father's role.

He offers no cruel descriptions of soldier atrocities nor gory tales of Gas chambers. Yet the horror and desperation of the War comes across palpably through the rare instances he witnesses or is part of. And the end is heart-rending.

Phew... that was some book... right up there with my favourites like 'The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time'. And now I'm moving onto something really light and fluffy... The Twilight Series... definitely teenage stuff, pretty juvenile but what the heck.. I need a break.

Talking of my juvenile side .. what's up with pottermore.com ? Come 23rd June and JK Rowling has an announcement to make. Here's hoping she comes out with some more HP books.

Orange Seas

Taking up the Thursday Challenge after a long time.
This week's theme.."LIQUID" (Splashes, Pouring, Dripping, Waves, Wet,...)

Lucknow's Big Tuesday

"Click".. the light went on. I squinted at the clock.. 4am. "Just papa," mumbled I to myself and turned over to catch another 4 hours (at least) of sleep. Well it was Lucknow and I was on vacation.

While waking up at four is my father's routine.. today was special. The noise level was half a decibel higher as he bathed and readied. Though not a very religious person (he leaves that for the mother), today he will make it to the Hanuman temple before the crowd kicks in. It is 'Bada Mangal'.

Later in the day I stepped out for a mall-date with my SIL and I was in for a surprise. I had forgotten how Lucknow comes to life on this day. Bada Mangal in Lucknow is a bada deal. If Pune has Ganapati, Lucknow has Bada Mangal. Four Tuesdays of the Jyeshtha month are 'special' Lord Hanuman days... that much I knew but I had forgotten the festivities.

First, the food is to die for
The celebrations are something to watch out for. They spill out onto the roads. Bhajans drift on the air from temples big and small. Streets are dotted with pandals every few meters with people distributing the yummiest of foods. We stopped to click some pictures were promptly handed a dona of aloo puri.. hot off the kadhai. Had I been a food writer I would have done better justice to writing about that aloo puri.. all I can say is..eat it to believe it.
There was halwa for dessert and rose sherbet to wash it down with.

No one goes hungry on Bada Mangal

Wish I had a better picture.. the puris are actually being made here

If you've been anywhere near Lucknow during the summer you'll know what a blessing a simple water stall is

According to the Times some even served chowmein while some offered orange squash instead of the traditional rose or khus sherbet. Moving with the times.. eh? But seriously, no one goes hungry on Bada Mangal. Young boys take along carry bags and the organisers gladly filled those up to.

The mela

And there's more. Roads leading to the main Aliganj temple for kilometers on each side are taken over by stalls selling everything from toys and trinkets to ceramic ware and cutlery. Banglesellers, mehendi wallahs, idol makers, tattoo men line the roads. The crowds are unbelievable. I wish I could have taken the kids but I don't think I could have handled them with all those goodies on display. Maybe when they're older..

The story
The Bada Mangal has an interesting story to go with it. Actually there are more than one stories but this one's my favourite. Apparently the Nawab of Awadh, Shuja Ud Daulah's wife, Aliya Begum had a dream. Lord Hanuman appeared to her and asked her to build him a temple. When she woke up she directed the Nawab to the site in her dream. The site was excavated and a Hanuman idol was found. The Nawab put in on an elephant to transport it back to his palace. However after a few steps the elephant refused to move and that's where the temple was built.. that's the Aliganj temple of Lucknow. Celebrations end today with the concluding Tuesday of the Jyeshtha month.

You know what the most interesting part of the story is? The Aliganj temple has a crescent right over its dome. How's that for Hindu-Muslim unity?
What's more, most abattoirs are shut on these Tuesdays and Mutton/Chicken sales hit an all time low. Many Muslims too take up the task of setting up water stalls on Bada Mangal. This really is what Lucknow is all about... what it is famous for -- its Ganga Jamuni tehzeeb.

Didn't I say Lucknow was the best.

No end in sight

Since the kids turned five I was kind of expecting some grown up behaviour from them. However, nothing seems to have changed. They are still refusing to sleep on their own, insisting I put them to sleep, taking hours over their food, nursing grudges like Kane and Able over who got the bigger piece of mango.. and on and on.

Hrit, specially, has been on a naughty trip.... not cute naughty.. naughty naughty.. worrisome naughty.
First, days before his birthday, he chopped off his hair.. here's proof. See that bald patch??

Then it was worse. While at a dinner at the SIL's he got his head stuck in that round hole in the table. So what can go in can come out too.. right? Wrong. It just wouldn't. And he lay there his neck in the hole half in, half out of the table. What a hoo haa followed. Her in-laws fussed around while I tried to keep him distracted. Thankfully the table top was removable and then the ever resourceful SIL managed to hammer the sides off even as the BIL rushed to get a 'cutter' from the carpenter's. We were pretty shaken up. For him however, it was back to business as soon as he was let out making me wonder if it would have been better to keep him there for sometime... at least till we finished dinner in peace.

Grow up Hrit, please.... soon.

By the way their masi is keeping track of the damage they're inflicting. She has vowed to recover every bit of it from their first salary. I'm sure after this episode the Bua is considering a similar account.

In Lucknow

This is one post I should have done as soon as I got back from my vacation but what with the sister coming back with me and the kids' birthday... it had to be put off.

After Lucknow's dusty story I stepped out to the main shopping area, or maybe I should say the erstwhile main shopping area, Hazaratganj and Wow what a pleasant surprise. It is indeed new and oh so improved. Cleared of vehicles the roads look like a runway, shops have uniform sign boards, green patches, tiny fountains, awesome. There's hope still. Lucknow will always be special.

Given that almost a month has passed since I got back I find it easier to let these pictures do the talking.
Bear with the longish captions please..


STUNTMAN: If you haven't guessed already.. that's from
the torturous train journey.
Hrit provided edge-of-the-seat excitement with stunts
such as this one and was the nightmare for all tea/snack-vendors



TWO'S COMPANY: When Naisha refused juice he sorted it out for us by having both of them, simultaneously



DRAWING CLASS: That's one of Hrit's 'boy friends'..
only it turned out she was a she :-)
 Naisha found a friend in the neighbouring compartment which left Hrit alone in the 'boys' team'. And so he went around the entire coach looking out for boy-friends. Finally he found enough of them to make his team bigger (one of who happened to be a girl). So there I was almost running a drawing class in the train for lack of any other way to keep the bunch of them occupied.

 

THE BOOTY: To say that the SIL loves Naturals ice cream would be an understatement. So passionate were her appeals to The Husband and so heart-rending her tales of deprivation (since Naturals doesn't have an outlet in Lucknow) that he got about ten tubs packed in dry-ice so we could carry it through the 24-hour journey. And doesn't she look thrilled?

 

BREAKFAST AT LUCKNOW: Ever tried bread-jam and mangoes for breakfast?



TRIAL ROOM: Chaniya Choli gifted by nanima being tried on

 

HAND ART: Naisha's first proper mehendi ever



IPL ATTACK: The nephews, specially this younger one, is an aspiring Malinga.
Here he is with Naisha's fake hair for the perfect look.
He has for long debated 'Easy ways to get rich'. The two he shortlisted were to 'star in a film' or to 'play the world cup'. The first option was discarded because it had too many people involved and any mess up by any one could be the end of his dream. And so that left the second option. If I may quote 'sirf ball ki dhulayi karni hai'. What's better, reasoned he, by the time he grew up Malinga would be too old to really trouble him.. so the Cup is ours.

 

SARTORIAL WONDER: If Nanima got new clothes for Naisha
she couldn't leave out Shanti, could she?
Here she is cornered by Naisha into stitching up new clothes for her doll. Of course Mowgli got new clothes too.

 

CARD GAMES: Then it was Dadima's turn to keep Naisha occupied with a card game.

 

FURSAT KE RAAT DIN: Though the husband was there for just a few days he made the most of them. Here he is chopping up some watermelon while the older nephew bites in



BONDING: Hrit, Naisha play the hoop with their cousin

 

MORE BONDING: Apparently that's how boys bond.



MASI GYAN: This is something I could never do and so the masi took up the task of imparting
this crucial skill to Naisha. Take a guess..

... that's right.. she's teaching Naisha to whistle.
Now you know why masi is such a hit with the kids

POTTED: And finally these two pics are of a roadside shop that completely fascinates me.
I guess it's all about the colors. Love it

So which one's your favourite?

Next up.. Nainital pics.

They taught me..

So much to blog about such little time... Among a host of other updates was this tag passed on to me by momofrs. The tag was kicked off by two other mommy bloggers Kiran and Monica...

Says Kiran
it’s been a while since us Mommybloggers came up with something to celebrate, well, mommyhood, so the lovely Monika and I came up with this. A tag that has us list out five lessons of life that Mommyhood has taught us, these could be sweet, bitter, funny, touching, whatever. These could be survival tips or cooking tips, or something as simple as the best thing to get puke smell out of hair.


So, the rules are simple. Put the badge up. Write out five lessons that Mommyhood taught you. And tag five mommybloggers.

Here goes



Old dupattas, earthen pots, dried leaves, bits of ribbon, driftwood, pine cones, pebbles and stones... these are a few of their favourite things. Not the most expensive Barbies, nor those slick Hotwheels toys hold their interest for long. While Naisha can play for hours draping and redraping dupattas, painting pots, collecting leaves, Hrit runs around brandishing the skeleton of a dried up Tulsi plant or his trustee gada. And so here's the first lesson motherhood taught me.. Happiness comes cheap


I am a SAHM mom. I enjoy spending a lot of time with my kids.. talking, doing craft projects, dropping them, picking them.. all of it (Oh well not ALL of it.. most of it!). Many of my friends have however chosen to keep working, my SILs for instance and their kids are doing fine too. I like the kids in bed by 9 and I know of mothers who like them awake for some 'dad-bonding'. I am a 'schedule' person who has timings for everything and I know of mothers who function best when they go with the flow. If the basic lessons of life are in place... other things really do not matter.
So lesson number two then ...
When it comes to mothering -- different things work for different moms


Before the kids came along I'd watch moms staying up nights, waking up at ungodly hours to get them ready for school, calmly cleaning puke and poop and I was impressed. Never, thought I, would I be capable of all that. But along came Hrit Niasha and everything just fell into place. When Hrit coughed I'd wake up every few hours to nebulise him without an alarm, when a colicky Naisha threw up on me at a mall I just wiped myself and headed home. I've been known to faint at the sight of blood yet when Hrit needed a blood test I was there holding him and the queasiness just didn't show up. Of course it's another matter that Hrit felt completely betrayed (because I was there and didn't stop the evil doctor) and didn't come to me for two days.
And so here's my lesson number 3
You are capable of much more than you think

Naisha's weight was always on the lower side of the scale. "She's so thin," is the general refrain even now. I used to get worried and would try to push her to eat more, she would oblige only to throw up all of it. Finally I gave up. As long as she's in the 'normal' range I let her be.
Then there was the time when Hrit went through an aggressive phase. "It's a boy thing, he'll outgrow it", said everyone. I was, however, at a total loss on how to handle him and consulted a counsellor. The change was almost miraculous.
Each day brings with it decisions.. small and big.. should I give them this medicine or that one? Is this school better or is the other one more suitable? Should they go for Taekwando or elocution? Should they watch television or not? Is a gun the right toy for my child?
Listen to everyone but make the decision on your own, specially if you are handling the kids by yourself. Remember the story of the man, the boy and the donkey ? Don't do that to yourself. You know your child best. So go with what you think is best for them.
And there's my lesson number 4
You are the best decision maker for your child

I have had two left feet since the day I was born. Add to that a terrible self consciousness and you have a person who won't shake a leg in public even in a 'do or be shot dead' situation. Then along came Naisha. Not only does she love to dance but also 'dance with mama'. On my first dandiya night with them I handed her the dandiyas and took up my normal position at the periphery. But hey she dragged me in. I tried to hand her over to my dancer friends.. oh I've got plenty of those and they've always been grateful for my presence for who else would click pictures if all of us danced? But getting back to Naisha, she did a couple of rounds and came back to get me. Not only was I supposed to dance but also I had to be right there in the centre circle.
That was a nightmare. But her happiness was priceless. And so I made a complete fool of myself, injured a couple of women (who immediately widened the circle) to hoots of laughter from my friends. But I did stick it out there. This might seem like lesson number 3 but after a while I found myself laughing too along with my friends...
and my kids taught me lesson number 5...
Sometimes it's fun to let go

Here's my list of five mommy bloggers.. take up the tag guys. I know you're busy but I'd love to hear your take so write even if it's just 5 lines each.

Smitha
Whiny mom
Archana
Moni
Nisha

On a rainy day

The Carpenters got it all wrong when they sang 'Rainy Days and Mondays always get me down'. It's grossly unfair to club rainy days with Mondays... more so when they are not playing spoil sport with
birthday parties. :-)

When the rains came down this time the sister was here with us and decided to take a walk along with the kids. The kids were of course thrilled and masi immediately shot up many notches in their estimation. So there we were.. the kids in their raincoats splashing in the puddles, masi sans raincoat and I with an umbrella trying to keep myself and her dry even as I balanced the camera and tried to get some pics. Finally I gave up on masi and here's what I got.


They began a bit cautiously...

 

.. still trying to figure it out

Then they raced in the rain with Naisha leading

Hrit found a puddle

Post the shower..
don't miss how Hrit has turned a pair of socks into mittens.

They're five

I've been away too long. Meanwhile much has happened. But all of that can wait. First the most momentous event of them all .... the kids reached the ripe old age of five.

And we decided to have a party. For the first time ever we went in for the regular rigmarole complete with tattoo guy and magician.

First there was the guestlist

Most of the kids' friends were still vacationing including Hrit's favourite buddy. After a careful tally he realised there were very few boys and was terribly upset because the 'boys' team was smaller than the 'girls' team.

However that did not deter him from distributing invites with abandon, even to girls and also to girls he didn't know the names of. Along with the invites he gave clear instructions that they were supposed to carry gifts for 'me and my sister'. I swear I never taught him any of that. Mercifully the absentees balanced out the new invitees.

.. then the big question "What should they wear?"
We found Naisha her dream dress.. a pretty pink party thing she fell in love with at first sight. She preened till I lost patience and locked it away. (Thankfully she didn't bring up the question of the Chaniya Choli). Hrit's clothes took forever but finally got sorted.

Less than a week before the party Hrit decided he wanted to be a 'hair cutter' when he grew up. And what better place to hone his skills than his own head? Two days in a row he chopped off his hair -- once near the parting and then right above his forehead. The hairdresser I took him to refused repair work advising me to simply cover up the patches with what was left of his hair... and that was that.

Then there was the question of the venue
The house was ruled out. (The cooking I might have managed but the post party cleanup... yikes no). After much deliberation and checking and rechecking that the monsoon hadn't progressed beyond Kerala we decided to have the party in a semi open space at a neighbourhood restaurant.

D - day dawned..
.. sunnily enough. But we'd tempted the Gods and they didn't disappoint. They made sure the monsoon hopped skipped and jumped to our city and opened up the skies precisely half an hour before the party.

We had to settle for a tiny room in the same restaurant. It was a bit of a crush.... but the kids didn't notice.

The decoration guys had to give up half way through and hastily put up some balloons at the new venue... and that was all the kids seemed to want.

The husband was called upon to ferry the guests to and from the venue.... which meant the party started and ended bang on time.

I tried to dress up for the occasion too. While I stuck to my jeans I ditched my trustee canvas shoes for a pair of heels and also, a first, I got my hair done. The rain however banished both my vanities in a moment. The downpour flattened my hair in a jiffy and as I waded through the overflowing drains the sandals gave way.. so it was back to the trustee shoes. I ended up as the most relaxed though dishevelled hostess.

With the sister and and SIL by my side (Couldn't have done it without them) we managed to pull it off. We had fun as did the kids. They sat through the magic show, got all excited at the pigeons the magician conjured up, played Queen of Sheeba with gusto and burst balloons with a vengeance.

Learnings for next year

1. Kids do NOT need fancy venues.

2. Kids do NOT care for decoration as long as it is fun to destroy.

3. Kids can dance to ANY music.

4. Kids can eat ANY food as long as it's not spicy.

5. KIDS DO NOT LEAVE WITHOUT RETURN GIFTS.