Packing up for the summers

You know how parents, once upon a time, used to prepare for their daughter's wedding, collecting her trousseau over years? Well that's how I prepare for my visit to Lucknow. I collect clothes over the year for this month-long trip.

Not that I don't have clothes. The thing is my mum like us to dress according to the weather, which basically implies pastels through the Lucknow summer. My wardrobe, on the other hand, is ALL BLACK for obvious reasons. If you're one of the lucky ones who needs to wonder why.. well then because it makes me look the thinnest. Fortunately Pune weather allows me to wear black for almost 10 months of the year.

When I do need a break it's all about bright colours - saffron, yellow, turquoise, scarlet, fuchsia, maroon. Oh I love pastels, but only when other people wear them. I seriously do not notice them at all. Sometimes I go out with a serious intention of buying them.. but come away with more blacks. Sometimes I've bought them too but they remain languishing in a forgotten corner of my cupboard while the blacks and the brights are worn thin and replaced over.

My compromise then is ... white.. I like white and mum should be okay with it too. So I build a 'Ma collection' around that colour as my Lucknow tryst nears.

Come to think of it clothes are 90 percent of my packing. Check out how...
1. Summer homewear.
2. Nightsuits.
3. Semiformals for outings.
4. Formal party clothes since Lucknow is teeming with relatives.
5. Warm clothes for our two scheduled trips to the mountains
6. Swim suits since we might go to a waterpark.
7. Gym clothes for me ... Yup I hope I can make it there a day or two each week.
8.. and finally socks, belts, towels....

Finally, sat on the bag to zip it up and I'm done. Meanwhile, others are packing as well. I was searching frantically for my lip-balm today and Naisha retrieved it from her bag where she had 'packed' it away.

So people we're off for the summer vacations. Postings will be a bit erratic. Bear with me.

Of Best Friends and Heartbreak

Hrit cried before he went to sleep today. Not wailed like a baby but cried softly like a grown up. It absolutely broke my heart. His best pal, Y, is moving. Yes, right he's the one Hrit wanted to marry and live happily ever after with.

When Y's mum first told me about the move I didn't worry. He's just a child, I'd thought, he'll forget. But now, as the day of departure dawns, I find myself worried sick.

The BFF
Hrit is not a gregarious child. He has always had just one friend. Each time we've moved he's made a single friend and stuck with him. All his emotional 'eggs', he keeps in a single basket and I'm beggining to think that's not such a good thing.

Digital bonding
Hrit and Y spend hours at the comp without a fight.. rare for any two kids and even more rare for two super active kids like these two. "They understand each other," said Y's mum laughingly one day. If Y gets upset Hrit runs after him calling him back.

Wired together
"Mama today Y and I said the same thing, together," gushed Hrit one day. "Funny na?" "I think there's a wire between us.. him and me," said Hrit touching his heart. "Wire?" I queried taken aback. "Yes .. the kind that are at the back of the computer," he clarified. Oh he knew exactly what he was saying. Never had I hear such a filmi line uttered with such innocence and such sincerity.

The FAQs
"Mama may I go to Y's house/call Y over?" are Hrit's most frequently asked questions. One day fed up with those two questions I said, "Fine, you go to Hyderabad with Y when he shifts," and regretted it soon enough when after mulling it over Hrit queried back, "May I? Really?" Of late his question has changed to, "May I stay in Lucknow forever?" At least he has his cousins there. Then today it was back to, "May I go to Hyderabad?"

Each time I've tried to prepare Hrit for Y's departure he has only said, "I know he's going but when is he coming back?" I've chickened out of saying, "Never" sticking with, "after a long long time."

As I write this, I'm hoping fervently and telling myself for the nth time, "He's just a child he'll forget."

Afterthought: MM (Mushy Mum) says maybe that idea of  not letting kids make 'best friends' wasn't so bad after all.

Rain on the mountains

“Spring shows what God can do with a drab and dirty world.”
― Virgil Kraft

Linking this to Thursday Challenge : "SPRING" (Rain, Puddles, Boots, Umbrellas, Sunny Days, Leaves in Trees,...)

Notes from a perplexed mum

How should I teach the kids to ....

... fit in but stand out

... be disciplined but break the rules

... speak their mind but not be rude

... be smart but not be cheeky

... be active but not naughty

... help people in trouble but stay away from trouble

... be generous but watch their interest

... make new friends but not talk to strangers

... grow up fast but retain their innocence

... be independent but never stop needing me

Upside down

Thursday Challenge : SILLY (Smile, Faces, Laughing, Playing, Things,...)

For a different perpective of the world..

A miracle

Quick ... what comes to mind when I say autodrivers?
Rude, cheeky, rowdy, dishonest.. right?

-- They're the ones who are almost never available when you most need them
-- When you do spot one, he won't go because you're not going far enough
-- They'll take the longest route possible while convincing you it is the best one
-- They'll declare their meter dead and charge an exorbitant flat rate
-- In fact they'll never go by the meter unless it is fudged

That's why I call this a miracle. Read on..

We went shopping - the twins and I. Of course that was miracle no 1. Yes the kids are growing up. What with their busy social lives they just do not have the time to go shopping in the evening with their ma -- even if it's for their own stuff. This time round, however, I squashed all protests and refused to do multiple rounds exchanging their clothes. They agreed grudgingly, specially Hrit who hates any time at all that is spent without his best ever chum, Y.

We shopped for shoes and swimwear in a matter of minutes and headed home. Hrit whined all the way about the 'wasted' time while Naisha drowsed off amidst complaints of having missed playtime. And so it was that as we arrived I was at my flustered best squinting at the auto meter, hunting around for change, telling Naisha "yes you may go to the playground" and Hrit "Yes you may call over Y". In all the craziness the shopping packets lying quietly at the back of the auto were quite forgotten.

As I was unlocking the door to my flat my empty hands reminded me of my blunder. I sprinted to the building gate but the auto was long gone. I wish I had the words to explain my frustration then. It was not so much about the money but the HUGE effort that had gone to waste.

I was coming back deflated, cursing the side effects of old age and there I saw Naisha standing with all the bags. What was this? A miracle? Well yes sort of. Apparently the auto driver discovered the bags, came back and having overheard Naisha saying that she was going to the ground he went there, found her and handed over the bags. How's that for a surprise!

Thank you dear auto-driver. You didn't simply return me a few clothes and shoes, by your small act you reaffirmed my faith in humanity, reassured me that goodness and honesty are well and truly surviving. You have inspired me to look for the 'nice guy' in everyone around me. And that, my friend, is worth a million bucks of shopping. Wish there were more like you.

.. and so they graduated

First here are a few things you must do at ALL school functions:

1. Do NOT sit back, relax and enjoy the proceedings. Remember you are a smart proactive parent.
2. Make a video of the ENTIRE proceedings. Don't bother about other parents struggling to get a snap, after all you're the only one who needs memories of your child's growing up years.
3. Make sure all family members attending the function are out of their seats, clicking. If your hifi handycam misses something it'll surely be caught by the camera phone of one of the other family members. If one makes a video the others can click pictures.. of course you need both. Nothing is too much for your child.
4. Do not move away after you finish clicking pictures of your child. Don't worry about blocking other parents' view, after all their children aren't half as special as yours.
5.  Don't forget to smile and wave at your child. So what if that makes him forget his part or spoils the formation, after all it's just a small school programme. Exhibiting love for your child is way more important.
6. Do not bother to clap for other children. Their parents are there for them.
7. Do not bother to listen to or follow instructions that the lady at the mike is reiterating. Use the time  to marvel at the pictures you've clicked and the video you've made.
8. Do not remain seated a second after the proceedings are over. You need to be the first parent to take your child home. It's through small initiatives like these that you teach him/her that winning has to be the cornerstone of one's existence.

Whew! Now since I've got all of that out of my system, onto happier things. Finally, after four years of school, the kids qualified for class 1. Though calling it a 'graduation' sounds a bit strange to my Indian ears I have to admit the ceremony was the sweetest ever.

Naisha gets her 'degree'

Don't they look sweet?

That's Hrit raising the flag of Egypt in a song they performed

... and he gets his license for class 1

Picture quality's not too good because I didn't get down to doing this post until after the ceremony. Will post super-class video next time. Watch out.

The Raincatchers

Picture clicked by my sister, en route to Nainital with her favourite niece

Linking this to the Thursday Challenge : HANDS (Sign Language, Finger Nails, Hand Decorations, Rings, Gloves, Holding,...)

Matchmaker matchmaker

Thanks to a challenge thrown by a blogger friend, Pooja aka Princess Poo, on Indiblogger I am taking a break from obsessive mothering to give some thought to my marriage. And this one doesn't even involve The Husband. Exciting or what?

Her challenge: If you had the chance to MARRY anyone in the world. ANYONE. Then whom would you marry? And why?

Yippppeeee.... Shah Rukh Khan ... is my first thought. Corny, I know. However, SRK and I do go back a long way. I've loved him longer than I've even known The Husband. He IS the most romantic person on screen, you have to admit. He's cute and he seems like a good guy. SRK in glasses with a powder-blue sweater flung over his back, SRK with his sexy dimpled smile and S-shaped eye brows, SRK running in slow mo in the mist covered Swiss mountains... Mist.. or errrr... is that smoke from the cigarette perpetually dangling from his lips? Ugh.. .. a man who smokes is SUCH a let down. He smells awful, brings on the cough in me and would make Hrit wheeze (That's the OM - she just can't keep quiet). No thank you sir I'll pass.

Maybe Miss Garewal can help. She's the one who made that list right, India's Most Desirable? Let's see there's Ranbir, Ranvir, Yuvraj, Siddharth .... No, no, no and no again. Some are party animals, some mama's boys. And, they're boys.. the whole crowd, way too young.

Hmmm.. the world of glamour's not for me. Let me look elsewhere. How about .... Baba Ramdev? Weird? Well, I may not be able to decide whether he's a crusader or a crook but we do have the fitness thing in common. Picture this... early morning, cool breeze, chirping birds, rising sun... there we sit, Baba and I, in perfect sync, doing our kapalbhatis, with our concave abs showing to perfection. Did I say 'early morning'? Ruled out then. Nothing can get me out of bed early, nothing ("other than sending the kids to school, of course," chimes in OM). So excuse me Baba, it's a no.

A yogi's really not my style. Surely 'love' needs to figure somewhere. The man has to have a heart.. bingo.. got it. Healthcliff (of Wuthering Heights, NOT the cat, in case you were wondering). Heathcliff's all heart. Romantic, intense, passionate.  Life with him would be ... tempestuous. Umm.. would it be just a tad too stormy for a gentle Capricornian? I mean I do want the guy to love me and all that but I certainly do not fancy him chasing me around the moors at night driving me to my death. *Shudder, shudder* Won't do.

A gentler soul then. Someone who watches from a distance and steps in quietly to ease away your troubles. Fitzwilliam Darcy. He's rich too and gorgeous to boot. We'd walk around Pemberley hand in hand while he'd tell me "the pleasure which a pair of fine eyes in a pretty woman can bestow". Ooooh how he made my heart beat in my teens. The strong silent one.

Ummm... 'silent'.

Well... just a thought... if I HAVE to go for silent what's wrong with The Husband? He's silent when he watches the tele. He's silent when the kids are creating a ruckus. Heck he's even silent when I'M creating a ruckus. I mean 'silent' is what describes him to the T (unless you talk about things on wheels).

He'd rather get me fruits than flowers and prefers his kachoris to the kapalbhati, but better a known devil than an unknown one. Right? Besides, not for nothing have I spent a decade and a half training him. He's getting there. He hasn't forgotten my birthday for the last two years and even remembered to get me a gift. Another few years and the flowers shall follow.

Did you guys notice how he crept up quietly into my post? That's exactly how he's wormed his way in my life.... and there he'll stay. No space for anyone else then... sigh!

The Husband it is. He's the one I'd choose.

Edited to add: Happy April Fool's Day. No, this has absolutely nothing to do with the post above.