Happy Februaries :-)

 

Here comes February again..                                                        
a streaming feel of success
follow thoughts of those tough days
A single day fixed for a date
made it so easy to pass prior weeks away
Blessed I am to have your love for me
Unbelievable it was when I was called your "wife-to-be"
Not a single valentine day, we met all those years
Spying eyes on us...added to our fears
But soon did we realise
we don't need a day
a day fixed by others to make us feel special
be it in a week or in 2 months
the day that we meet ..is the special one!!
Then, was the fine day..when my prayers were heard..or I better say
the fine day when our faith worked wonders...
Couldn't believe myself until I was with you
Near and dears blessing and clicking pics...
I felt..ohh Lord..its such a lovely dream
Plz let it turn true if we are the couple meant to be!!
That February...brought the first valentine day
when we met..we met for always
That 14th, the whole family was blessing us
with the first rituals at my place, such a Happy February it was
Then and now, by Almighty's grace
has been no looking back.
Our love grows like AGE...
Happy Februaries...we celebrate !!

It was wonderful !!

Sam was keeping busy with her annual day practices at school.... she would sing and dance each day at home leaving me kinda puzzled as to what is she exactly performing in??!! There comes the D day and on a sunday my baby has to wake up at 6am...get ready and rush to school. Its her annual day today. Beginning at 5.40am, I come and go..kissing her..caressing her...touching her so as she preferably herself wakes up. No use...awww... she's in such a sound sleep...Whatt man..a few minutes performance..why cant she sleep...rofl. "Sammie...today is your annual day na..see mumma has kept evrything ready...your lehga...bangles...makeupkit... wanna go?!!" There she moves, yawning with a smile...mumma is it my annual day today? Yes it is..come here my sweety pie. And she lands in my lap, SOOOO excited. Cum'on mumma lets not waste time, then you have to do my makeup also na!!! By 7 she's done with her milk and getting ready and loads of instructions from mumma for the day...

We put her in the car and drive to school. Its quite cold for kids at 7.10 in the morning and I could see many of them with red cheeks...pink lipsticks..kajal and eye liners...but no warmers!! I happen to ask one of the mums whos daughter is in the same performance as Sam and she says..it'll get warm in the bus and at the audi..Kids bcum cranky whne they feel hot. A double-minded Mum creeps up within me but I somehow push her down and drop Sam at school....and keep wondering -would she be feeling uncomfortable wearing a half sleeve top under her choli?!!

And there we reach the Siri Fort Audi at 11, expecting her item to begin anytime. Next announcement tells us that her item is after the next 3 to come and relaxed we sit...my mind restless though - would she be feeling suffocated waiting at the back-stage?!! BUT ALL MY RESTLESSNESS washed off when li'll presidians performed...aww..all that was so very cute..the wonderful hosts at stage. It was surprising to see how kids of that age rembered when to speak WITH EXPRESSIONS and when t o halt and again continue. One of the best was a 3rd grade student who stood on stage for the oath taking by all who were present there. I have always loved the efforts put in by Presidium...performance of the special needs children from Savera special school. Amazing it was to see kids aging from 4 yrs to 10 yrs rolling on their skates on stage ... the taekwondo..pyramids....the Impressive ten academies of the school present their items with a theme....a message....ANd then comes RAMAYANA...and we bend forward on our seats - We have to locate Sam now !! The lovely dialogues by little Rama...Sita and not to forget Surpnakha..she was so sweet chubby..and the way she spoke...why would any Rama or Laxman feel like chopping her nose...lolz!! The chubby Ravana :-) The vanvaasi Rama..who's wig strangled itself in the bow and got removed and he was busy setting it whilst speaking his dialogues...that left the audience into laughter filled with love for the innocence. Dhan-tan-tan...comes Sam's dance :-) she looks cute and much younger with kids of her age as to what we feel her to be at home !!

Each time I attend any of the get-togethers at Presidium, I feel elated and proud parent of a Presidian, a school thats winning laurels all over the world and nurturing our kids with love, affection, truth and facts of life yet preparing them to face the actual world. I hope Sam excels and our faith keeps making us proud!!

Mumma...why didn't God make us perfect ?!!

As all kids, my li'll one who's 5 leaves me ahem ahem wondering many a times. I find myself usually good enough as per her anxiety towards the surroundings and I think I give her satisfactory answers most of the times...thanks to my parents for inculcating this into me...But these innocent minds put up some such questions, which even if I answer spontaneously for her, leave me myself wondering and wandering for the right answer.

Today while bathing her, I was just trying to remind her of a mistake she did the last day and was trying to give her valid reason for why do I call it a mistake, because my NOT SO LI'LL one says that she isn't sure most of the times that what she is doing or saying is right or not..then she's deemed to do mistakes and should always be forgiven...smart one haan!! So a one-to-one talk one fine day and a deal between us both that mumma softly reminds you and tells you that this is wrong and you would listen and try to follow WITHOUT CRYING AND TANTRUMS!! So now, back to the bathing....on my reminder, she says mumma daily you have something or the other to tell me...something new for me to know...something old that was wrong as per you...till when will I keeplearning learning learning....I am 5 years and I still don't know...how do I know whether you are right or I was right?! hmmm...Dear...elders are better experienced thats why mumma always asks papa...papa discusses with grandpa and grandma..you see that na...and you are the youngest so we all want you to be the best baby so as all would love you. 

Mumma are you all still learning?? Yes baby....don't I say sorry to you when I get wrong somewhere, be it having scolded you hard at times...Hmmm....comes her nodding head...with her mind thinking aloud. 
Mumma, you say God is our Father...our Mother..he made us all..he is the Principal of all Gods...then what are we and why are we....why did he need to make us all?? Sweety, just like you play with your dolls...make them different characters each day, scold them, teach them, love them, dress them ...like mumma does all this to you...so does God , our parent!!
Mumma..but you want na that your baby should be best...and God has all the power..why didn't he make all humans best??

This was one that made me go TOIIIING...What do you mean to ask sweety?? Why aren't we born big?? BIG means what baby....?mmmm...BIG means ... mmm... that I would have known what is wrong so as I never go wrong...no one needs to instruct me...no one would scold me..whole world would be my friend....i would not make anyone sad....and you all would not need to keep after me all the time...for all my works!!

I hugged her wet....my darling...we all love to do this to you...just like you get bored of a dress...a doll..same toys...just like when you learn an alphabet and you want something new to learn....all mummas love to dress their kids...have fun with them and then see how we sit and recall what we did on some day and rolly polly laugh over it..isn't that fun??!! Yes mumma..comes back a hug!!

Mumma...nani also did all this with you? Yes  and when you will grow old you too will become someone's nani??sho shweet a question...yes baby I will !! and whoosh came the next - yuhuuu...then there will be a new baby in our house who will callyou nani and I will have a new cousin to play with....  

Hmmm....How I learn whats life everyday from my 5 yr old. How she yearns to always be happy and loved, keeping aside all her bad feelings, always willing to be friends with everyone...how she wants not to make anyone sad...whatever may be the true reason...might be wanting to get excused from being corrected for her mistakes....How she managed to challenge the CREATOR, for not making all humans perfect and loving!! 

Very rightly said Rabindranath Tagore - 
Every child comes with the message that God is not yet discouraged of man. 

God bless all kids , the pure souls.

The hourglass !!

The more sand that has escaped from the hourglass of our life, the clearer we should see through it.
Jean Paul

And this one quote speaks much about life …. The ‘hourglass’, our mirror…mirror of experiences, mirror of victories and failures, mirror of pride and guilts, mirror of accepting and relenting!! Just yesterday, did I say for some reason – life is so short…I look back and feel there have been countless moments that I wasted, I lost.  Was it that I wasn’t humble enough to accept my fault…. Was it that I wasn’t mature enough to understand at times, was it that I didn’t have enough space to spread my arms… Its greed, greed to live more, to love more, to do more…for the ones I care for ….. greed to be loved more, be wanted and there goes hand in hand, FEAR, of being loved more, expected more from, fear of the sand escaping…sweeping alongwith it…the precious time, leaving memories behind, Fear of the same feeling standing affront me – Life is so short.

Each day, I teach my li’ll one to learn to peep within herself. Preaching her helps me peep within myself. What I would want her to be, makes me rectify myself for what I should have been….alas, I don’t always succeed but thankfully neither do I expect her to succeed always J

I keep my ideals, because in spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart.
Anne Frank

I strongly wish I keep to my ideals and I believe, what one’s heart and mind says should go hand in hand. At times, I know my heart is befooling me and at others I know my brain is trying to take advantage of me ! All I try t o keep reminding myself is that life is perfect , its all about a good, better or best combination of the similar kinds of hearts and brains under one roof….so, all in all, All people are good at heart!!

Home sweet home !!

Weddings...diwali..weddings... shoppings....outstations...fun...frolic...long-time-no-sees-get-togethers !! and then....PUNCTURED EXHAUSTED. Back to home and Sam runs to pick her dolls..snatches her kitchen set from her almirah, rushes out of her boots and when the clock is striking 12 at night, after a tiring travel back home...a smile she brought to me when I saw her talking to her dolls, asking them how they were and did they miss her. Ohh, you have bcum so dirty, didn't you bathe all these days..you could have helped each other na!! I could see how she was stealing my words and dealing with her dolls ;-) A glance at my face, a blush at hers - Mumma, why are you watching me this way. Sam , how are you feeling being back home? I enjoyed the wedding this much (tiny finger up), I enjoyed being back this much (index finger up), I am enjoying having my toys...books...dolls.. back after days this much ( ring finger up) and I will enjoy being back to school this much...(middle finger up). OKAY, she has learnt to prioritise :-) How happy she was , excited to have her toys, books and pillow back to herself.

Have loads of unpacking to myself, cleaning of the locked house, daily routines from the next day...but I am happy too....relaxed to have my room back...my bed...my kitchen...lol. Back from a vacation, each time, I feel, when I love my home so much...why do I need to go out for a vacation!! and each time I smile to myself when I answer back - Will ask you after a few months ;-)

Take off those flabs!!!!

Visit to Sam's doc came like a shock to me....Waiting room with a weighing scale..Mumma lets try out !! ghosh...I gained another 5 kilos!!! Where the hell is all my morning exercise going? What is happening to my day long physical work and what about my family always telling me to keep sweet items equally in my diet for the balance...After all this, I gained another kilos!!! hmmmpphhh...shocked n sad I turned back the pages and tried to see what went wrong. Am I gonna keep struggling to maintain myself like this all my life. How lucky are those who don't gain weight so easily and for me, be strict for a month as there's a vacation or wedding approaching and those 3-4 days cover up all I shed...more than that at times :-(

SO, here goes my search again and I find some more facts, some that I knew but were better reminded and some I better know now !!We all know that losing weight means eating fewer calories, and burning more energy through physical activity. It sounds simple. But I know how hard I find burning those 50-100-150 calories on my cross-trainer.I'd share some-

-Holidays off and on might be good for your stress levels, but they could be bad for your weight. Eating out?? keep in mind to have foods in smaller portions because its usually the visible quantity in number that satisfies our satiety level :-) Have a pizza cut into 8 slices rather than 4 and you know you need to have 4 slices or may be 5 of THOSE 8 !!It takes up to 20 minutes for your body to let you know that you’ve eaten enough, so eat slowly and you’ll have a better chance of avoiding that over-stuffed feeling.
-Foods labelled low fat - They may be lowering fat but increasing upon sweetners...“Read the labels,” says Lisa Miles. “You need to look at the overall energy and calories. Remember, although a food may have a reduced amount of fat, it may still have the same amount of calories.”
Exercise n stress !! Both inter-related...
-“Snack on fruit and veg, and other low-calorie options such as plain popcorn, crackers and rice cakes,” says Anna Suckling. Try to find ways to cope with stress that don’t involve food. “Exercise helps promote mental wellbeing through the release of endorphins which help to combat stress," explains Anna.
-Telivison and weight - You have time and love to watch soaps or movies..DO so but not with popcorns or chips in hand but by placing your exercise bike in front of the TV !!
-Weight gain is a common side effect of many drugs. The most common drugs that can cause weight gain are steroids (taken for many conditions including arthritis, eczema and asthma), antidepressants such as amytriptiline, anti-epilepsy drugs and antipsychotic drugs.So, make sure you follow a healthy diet plan, good for both getting better faster and weight control.
- Dr Neil Stanley, sleep expert at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital, says,  "There seems to be a strong link between lack of sleep and putting on weight." A recent study from the University of Chicago found that lack of sleep increases levels of the hormone ghrelin, which makes you feel hungry.
-Table manners... Learn to say “no thank you,” and stick with it. Get used to the idea that it’s OK to leave food on your plate.

So far so good !! I'm so grateful to google. Its no less than a stressbuster when I hunt and find convincing answers ;-)

ThankYou God for the World so sweet !!

Few such lines which I somehow keep humming , almost,always...are much more just the prayers from my childhood. They touch my soul and bring with them bright scenes of learning. Sam was so tired after her skating yesterday that she just wanted to get home....no marketing !! Sleep time and the bed and room was damn messy....SAMMIE..... time to sleep, pack up all your stuff..look at the room and the bed..why don't you take out one thing at a time to play..there's no space to step inside....and her beautiful eyes were following my words with a question - SO WHAT MUMMA!! I FELT LIKE PLAYING!!

Okay, I'll clean up the bed and you do the rest... Okay mumma....and there she goes sitting on the floor as I arrange the rest of the room. 5minutes...10minutes...All set except the floor and she speaks up - Mumma you just said na that the messy bed was IRRITATING you...now plz dont look at the floor until I say its done!! Okay ..make it fast....5minutes...10...15...20...My episode AXE ur EX was over..Cum'on sweety time to brush your teeth...Ohh Lord!! Wats this?? Half an hour and she was still busy playin and now she says - I'm too tired cos of skating..plz help me clean up mumma....

All done and we in bed chanting our daily prayers ..... I kept on instructing her to close her eyes n sleep..my hands go to her li'll feet massaging them as we lie together. There come a sweet voice and li'll fingers on my eyes - Mumma...thoda upar tak daba do na, achha lag raha hai :-) I just couldn't resist telling her - You know Sam when mumma, chhoti mumma (masi) and mamu were kids na....nanu used to press our feet daily like this for few minutes before sleep and in winters Mumma used to feel tooo cold, so he cuddled me in his lap and used to sit in my place and put me in bed when it was warm!! Sam - Mumma just like Papa does it for me...:-) Yes Babu. And nani used to give us milk, first thing in evening as soon as she reached home from office... Sam - just like you do when I wake up?? Shining eyes opened wide - Mumma when you were not a mumma but had chosen to have me, Did the blue fairy come to you to tell you to do all this?? mmmm.... Then howcome, all parents do such things, my friend also told me her parents do the same to make her sleep...DO you all discuss this on phone and do this to us kids??Me - Baby ask dadu dadi and nanu nani about this :-)

She gave a sweet smile and went off to sleep, again, leaving me wondering ..... TIME IS SO STRONG!! It makes us learn all thats needed. Some things come in only with time, age and experience....no words can teach all this. I don't remember mumma papa having sat with us to make us learn any prayers or bhajans and Sam too is learning just as easily :-) How I realise ITS NEVER LATE TO LEARN. I'm just as old as a mother as she is as a daughter, we both are just 5. I learn a lot from her about having been a daughter and about how to raise one !!

HAPPY DAUGHTER'S DAY DARLING !!