Thursday, December 24, 2009

Merry Christmas

Wishing all of you a truly wonderful Christmas. Peace in your minds and laughter in your hearts everyone!! :)

Saturday, December 19, 2009

I do NOT understand

... why more and more people feel they cannot communicate effectively until and unless they use the eff word!!

Friday, December 18, 2009

Sigh!

What does one do with a boy who can identify a meerkat and a bushbaby but insists that a goat is a DOG???

Thursday, December 10, 2009

Writing on the wall?

Arjun asked me for the spelling of 'time' and 'cant'. After a while, i went to see what he had written and found myself looking at the first sentence he had come up with all by himself. It read :

"you all but i cantB goob all the time"

!!!!!

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Maid for each other

I couldnt wait to tell maddy about how my maid told me that i was the most hard working among all the women she worked for.

So i gushed to him about how she told me i cook and then i drop jun and then pick him up again and do the clothes....till maddy stopped me with an exasperated look.

"Arch, all she is saying is that we are terribly middle class..we dont have a cook, we dont have a driver....get it?"

Sometimes it helps to remember why i married this man ;p

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Movie Mania!

Been movie watching to my heart's delight, thanks to the new membership with a dvd rental place. Obviously am catching up but still thought i should share my deep and insightful reviews about the movies i have watched...so here goes :

Maqbool : Still kicking my self for not having watched it earlier. Brilliant.

Kaminey : Watched it with subtitles and all but still think maqbool is way better.

Star Trek : Awesome. Felt just like meeting old friends :)

Wolverine : X Men Origins : Loved it too...but maybe just a little less than star trek.

The Ugly truth : I was prepared for it to be gross but it totally lost its integrity by becoming a sappy rom com as it ends. Not even very funny

Ghosts of girlfriends past : Tolerable especially if you are watching it after The Ugly Truth

Duplicity : Disappointing.

State of Play : Not bad at all. Definitely better than Duplicity.

Harry Potter and the half blood prince : Very nice ... but movies that dont quite end when they end leave me slightly unhappy.

Arundhathi (telugu) : Amazing, considering the stereotype you have of a telugu movie in your head (ok, my head) but its not exactly a happy movie and had too many toe curling moments. Technically i guess its quite outstanding.

The Reader : Over rated

Revolutionary Road : Brilliant!! Loved it.

17 again : Yaaawwwnnnn....snoorrrrrrrrrrre

Angels and Demons : Too much left out from the book...i guess if you havent read the book its an ok movie. But felt a little disappointed for sure.

Transformers Revenge of the Fallen : OK, so we are suckers for action movies.... even if they show the same thing over and over again :p

The Bucket List : Really really nice, sweet, tender and teary

That does it for now.

Over and out from the really old movie review specialist :)

ps : old refers to the movie and NOT to the specialist. Just in case... you know...!

Monday, November 30, 2009

That time of the year again.

All fun in winter ceases
When you have a little boy who wheezes.

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

The Price of Happiness

Rs 89/-

The price of one hot wheels 'racing' car.

:)

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Right or Not ?

Arjun, name five vegetables...

Potato, carrot, onion, murungakka and pattani. Correct amma?

:) :) :)

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Deep!

Me : OK kiddos, time to go back to your homes... we are going out now.

One of arjun's friends : Where are you going?

Me : We are going out for lunch.

Him : Why? You dont have any food here?

!!!!! :)

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Dirty Dancing :)

And then there are some days when all you want to do is go dancing!!

Most probably the only thing that comes close to being something i am passionate about, dancing and me go a long way. I will always remember my first performance. I must have been around six years old when there was a wedding in the family. Hordes of cousins landed up at my grand father's house and somebody let it slip that i didnt think twice about dancing. Suddenly, there were clamours all around for a dance.

I insisted that all the doors be closed. (It didnt matter that everybody was already inside the 'performance room' !) And then i sang and danced - 'I am a disco dancer..ta na na na" My aunt felt the need to explain my 'steps' ocassionaly like - oh, she is shifting the 'mike' from hand to hand' which would always be followed by an 'ohhhh' that went around the room. I was least bothered by this continuous explanation because in my mind, i was right next to mithun chakraborthy, matching him step for step. Needless to say, i got thunderous applause that evening and relentless torture for the rest of my life as the cruel cousins would remember my performance and publicly describe it every time we met.

That, however, did not douse my passion one bit. Fast forward to sometime when i was in the seventh or eigth standard. Most of the dancing i got to see was in the movies. I knew i was not pretty enough to be the heroine but i was quite sure i looked better than all those ladies behind her who also danced when she did. So i did not think twice. I walked up to my dad and said, "Daddy, i want to join the movies and be a dancer" My dad, being the sensible person he is, did not react at all. He just nodded and smiled. But that very summer, my dad called somebody who called somebody who called somebody and who called somebody else and it was all arranged. We were going to see 'movie shootings'. I was so excited, i could hardly breathe.

Since we were living in Andhra Pradesh then as well, i got to see a few south indian movies being shot. I saw Venkatesh at his prime doing a fight sequence. I saw Amala and Srividya and just missed rajnikanth in a movie they were doing together. And finally, we got to see a dance sequence - one which i will never forget. It was the actress called Ramya Krishnan dressed in something like a bharathanatyam costume but minus the sleeves and a whole lot of other parts. So, ok, i swallowed a bit. And then, in the forty five minutes that we watched them, they did a small 5 second step over and over and over again. Which was also ok. But the last straw was that between each practice, this small, dark, hairy man would walk up to the actress and actually wipe her sweat off her back.

My movie aspirations came to a grinding halt.

I still love to dance though and have gone for a class or two and had the best time of my life. Jun and i freak out quite often in our living room while maddy wonders why he couldnt have married some nice quiet girl who will just cook and look nice for him. Luckily in this one respect, Jun totally takes after me. Amazing energy and fun but slightly lacking in the talent department.

But when did THAT ever stop a dancer ? ;p

Friday, November 6, 2009

Little Ram

Today, i realized that one of arjun's classmate's dad actually drives the auto rikshaw that he brings his son in. I was at once both happy and sad. Happy because we put him in this school and not in any of the other fancy international ones for precisely this reason - that a classroom should be truly representative of the society that it exists in, as opposed to a classroom that caters to just a particular class of people.

I was also sad because now when i think of that little boy, i see not just him but all those hopes and dreams riding on his little shoulders and i wonder if they will give him wings or god forbid, weigh him down.

I have not struggled. For anything. My parents have and my grandparents may have, but my sister and i were brought up not lacking anything. We honestly dont know what it means to have to sacrifice something. There was absolutely no pressure on us to do a particular course or try for a particular subject. We did what we wanted and what we liked and i know that not many people have that much of freedom.

But it nags me. Are we lesser in some way because we have got it easy? Or are the challenges we face today just less basic and more complex? I just heard arjun boasting to the kid next door about our new tv and i could not help but cringe and try to shush him. I wonder if little ram whose dad drives the autorikshaw will be impressed by our new tv? Arjun has not really done anything to deserve all that we buy him but then, did we?

My heart goes out to the poor for sure. But it really feels for those who are not poor. Who cannot and will not beg. Who try to make ends meet. Who try to put their children in the best schools possible so that atleast the next generation will make it to the next level.

After twenty years, it is highly possible that like all telugu kids, little ram will find his way to america and rake in the dollars while arjun might be a struggling artist or something because we are going to encourage him to do what he loves best. Whatever the future holds for both these kids, i hope they find happiness and contentment. I also hope that we as parents, dont have any regrets about the way we did things.

I sure as hell hope my parents dont!!

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

The scary lady i call amma, says...

" Children are bringing up such obedient parents these days"

gulp!

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

The killer kids!

All the kids in our floor somehow land up in our home.

According to my very wise landlady, it means that lady of the house is a very nice person.

Result, while i feel like lifting each one by the scruff of their necks and throwing them out, i glare and then smile and turn a blind eye to my terribly messy living room.

Maddy thinks we should just get access cards or something for all of them so we are atleast saved the trouble of having to open and close the door every ten minutes!

Why did my landlady have to say that and force me to be this nice person i really am not...at all!!!!!

But junjun is happy. So we may curse but we smile.

And ok...lets face it...they actually are good fun :p

Monday, November 2, 2009

When two planets collide...

She : What a pretty vase!!!

He : Doesnt it look like a spittoon?

***********

He : I live with you and you want me to 'connect' with you on some site????

She : I dont like you one bit. (Especially when you make sense!)

***********


And then they turned six !!

Happy anniversary maddy!

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

The little racist

Watching the Vaseline 'White' Ad

Jun turns to me and says "You can't use that no, amma"?

Me : " Why not?"

Jun : Because you are brown!

Me : "(Sigh)yup..i didnt think of that."

Double sigh!

Sunday, October 25, 2009

Dumb at thirty three!!

I thought it would be rude to call up people at eight on a sunday morning to enquire about the apartments they have advertised for.

So i call up at ten.

Most of the houses are taken.

Finito.

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Things I dont understand ... and cannot seem to change!!

How could Junjun, on going through our wedding album say,
" Amma, you look like a PRINCE" !!?

How could Linda Goodman make virgos sound SO stodgy and boring!?

How could people spend a fortune on an absolutely smashing car and then actually pay somebody to drive it for them???

How could a fragrance called 'strawberries and champagne' smell like beer??

How could arjun ask me when we are buying another baby???

and finally...how oh how could junjun tell the daughter of a friend who was throwing a tantrum about buying two toys - "Just choose one.Anyway they will leave one back at the billing counter!"

@#$!&*$#)(*& :)

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Thiru Thiru Thuru Thuru

Alls well that ends well....and this movie ended fantastically since one of the names in the credits belonged to my sibling!!

The movie too has its moments :p

Monday, October 12, 2009

Like Father Like Son - Oh dearie me!

Friday

Maddy : I got very confusing team feedback. Apparently i am a perfectionist and therefore, am a pain to have around!

Me : Hear hear!

Saturday

Arjun's teacher : He likes to be a perfectionist, so his work is always correct and beautiful but he is the last to finish

Me : Stare dumbly not knowing whether to giggle uncontrollably or look concerned.

Learning for the weekend : Perfection is a pain ;p

Thursday, September 17, 2009

On a high, getting higher!

Gloriously,

Deliriously,

Happy!!

Monday, September 14, 2009

The Humble Hunk

Another conversation at the same birthday party

Me to two very pretty little girls : Gosh, both of you are looking so very pretty!!!

One perky little thing, lifting her eyebrows in arjun's direction, "He is handsome too"

Junjun smiling KNOWINGLY : "Yeah....i am wearing my BEN 10 socks no, thats why"

Loud cackles from me unfortunately ended this conversation.

:)

Monday, September 7, 2009

Birthday bumps

Conversation before birthday party

Me : Junjun, when you give her the gift, pl dont tell her its a barbie doll. It is supposed to be a surprise, ok?

Conversation at the birthday party

Junjun : Here is a barbie doll for you. Its a surprise!

I almost scolded him then but i saw that a huge smile had enveloped the little girl's face on hearing what her gift was.

Maybe sometimes, kids know better :)

Friday, August 28, 2009

How????

Arjun actually chose to do his homework over having the breakfast i had made for him.

Devastated.

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Sigh...

Overheard junjun singing 'californication....' and i blanched coz it just did not sound right coming from him.

Post this i have been ODing on country music which i knew wouldnt have anything even mildly offensive.

Now i hear arjun sing " ....... pl dont take my man"

Cannot get rid of the frying-pan-into-the-fire feeling.

Sunday, August 23, 2009

He is already making plans

Amma, if you are tirty two and acha is tirty tree, who will die first?

...gulp.

Monday, August 17, 2009

My new friend :p

Since we see each other everyday, the one-handed man at the traffic signal selling car cleaning cloth and i have become acquaintances.

Today though, i didnt need to stop because i got an unbelievably green light but i saw him standing at the side. He saw me too and and as i drove by, he actually raised his hand to his chest in greeting!!

I couldnt wait to tell maddy about my new 'friend'. Maddy now says he is going to pay all the vendors and beggars on the road to salute me since it seems to make me so happy.

Actually i was kinda really upbeat....this is the closest i have come to feeling like some kind of mafia don :p

Time to go back to the real world.

Lunch making calleth.

:) :)

Sunday, August 16, 2009

I love my country

I went upstairs on the 15th to find so many people had turned up for the flag hoisting held by the apartment. We were a motley crowd and we were all there because we were Indians and proud of it.

I then went down to the little shop next door and found a huge crowd in the basti next to our apartment building....and as i watched, another flag unfurled to thunderous applause.

I think the chinese can go suck eggs.

Some deep stuff

A traffic jam is the result of two or three people refusing to believe that god has given them as much intelligence as anybody else!!

grrrr.

Thursday, August 6, 2009

Moms beware....

...of dads who suddenly offer to supervise sonny boy's homework....

Before you know it, suddenly homework is all done and two pairs of suspiciously innocent eyes wait for your approval as you scan the homework.

Ofcourse, you need only one - even partially functioning eye to see that doting dad has done a little more than just 'supervising'.

b-a-t and c-a-t and f-a-t are looking a little too good to be true.

An all knowing, raised eyebrow look to the dad.

Dad sends puppy dog imploring look back to me.

I look at Jun and suddenly father and son look too much like father and son.

awww what the heck....and we left it to the teacher to handle the situation.

Parental diplomacy. Hear hear!

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Brothers and sisters watch out....

Amma, tomorrow is raksha bandar!!!!

:)

Thursday, July 30, 2009

My little genius

So what if we have done this together about 50 times before?

So what if jun took almost all afternoon to do it by himself?

So what if the chances are high that he had the pieces memorized?

My little four and a half year old just finished a hundred piece jigsaw puzzle all by himself!!!.

...and I think its a real big deal :)

ps : pl be kind and dont tell me if your kids have done the same or (horrors!) even more :p

Monday, July 27, 2009

That troublesome tattoo

So Hrithik is next in line.

Apparently the guy has tattooed his wife's name on his wrist!

I actually like Hrithik...i think he is the best indian dancer. Period.

But i genuinely feel a tad let down by this guy right now.

All the world was talking about his marriage being on the rocks and then he goes and tattoos his wife's name - not on more creative places..oh no...(whats the point if only the wife can see it???) but on the highly public ...wrist ?

It felt different when saif did it for kareena. He was and is not married to her so it was a brave thing to do methinks!

But Hrithik.....The lad doth proclaimeth too much (sorry mr bard!)

And here i have a husband who wont even wear the shirt-trouser combination i suggest.

I dont usually write this way about people but considering Hrithik was the love of my life (for one whole month after i saw kaho na pyar hai) ...couldnt he do something a teeny weeny bit more original!!!!???

sigh!

Monday, July 20, 2009

The number game

Jun, I love you!

Amma, i love you TOO!!

Jun, i love you three

Amma, i love you TEN

Jun, i love you hundred

Amma, i love you thousand

Jun, i love you ten thousand

Amma, i love you thousand three hundred

Jun, its time to go to school.

:p

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

The academic year starteth

Jun has started his UKG in the fourth school of his academic life till date. I suspect he thinks it is normal for everybody to move schools every six months.

Since we wanted him to go to a regular school and not an 'international' one as is the latest fad here in hyd, we smartly ended up putting him in a very reputed school that is ONLY about ten kilometers away!!! The School Bus takes more than an hour for a drive which is only twenty minutes so guess who gets to drive all those ten km back and forth twice a day for five days a week?? HA!

The good part is that since school starts a little early, and the roads are so beautiful, i love the whole experience. No sign of the infamous hyd traffic in this time zone...whooopeee. So the pick up is not so smooth but am managing. For now.

It is inevitable that we move closer to the school so i have blind dates with exciting brokers along the following lines : " pl come to x place at x time" At the designated time and place, my phone rings and i look around to see atleast five people have their phones near their ears and are looking around. So now, i very explicitly take my phone out and look around. Our eyes meet and a nod and i know - HE is the one!!

The HE(s) will invariably speak to me in hindi and then i enjoy watching their jaws drop as i respond in almost proper telugu. Cheap thrills, so what.

Jun still limps around but that doesn't stop him from doing anything. He still fakes illness when its time to go to school. Some day soon, he will figure out that maddy and i have been there, done dat. As of now, we have resorted to tried and tested bribery and corruption. As we suspected, it still works. Some shop is going to sell one of its remote controlled cars this weekend.

Money cant buy you love? Maybe, but it sure can send a weepy kid to school with a smile!! Who wants love when you can have relief!!! ;)

Monday, July 6, 2009

Boxer Babies


Dear Roxie's pups,

Welcome to the world!! Its quite a cool place...once you know your food and shelter are assured! You couldnt have been born to a more dog crazy family. Let me tell you something about your human parents. They are not all there:) But that hasnt stopped them from actually taking better care of you guys than i took of my very human son! Seven of you are no joke, you know.

Am so proud of your mom, roxie too ... pl treat her with a lot of respect as i suspect she is the most well travelled dog in your part of the world...her human parents never thought twice of driving all over the country with her. And her manners...i can go on and on but the bottom line is that although your mom and jun are more or less the same age, my son sure can pick up a thing or two on being well mannered from her!!!

Junjun by the way thinks roxie spat you out one by one. I hope its okay that i said that was exactly what happened.

Initially i was a little jealous that her gestation period was SO much shorter than mine; but when she landed up with seven of you as compared to my one, i was kinda glad to be human ;)

Once you are about one and a half months old, you will be ready to go to your new homes where each of you will be the darling of your families so you sure have something to look forward to!

I am also hoping that you bring in lots of moolah for my poor sister and brother in law who have spent a small fortune on you guys. Considering that you all come with your own certificates and all that jazz, i suspect that shouldnt be a problem :)You never know, someone reading this right now, might suddenly realize that their life is so incomplete without a darling little boxer in the family and will come forward to take one of you. Your stingy human mom ofcourse, wont even give me a commission but well...if your new owners are nice people, i guess thats all that counts!

So be good and enjoy bangalore, its almost as nice as hyderabad :p and dont be too cute or your human folks will find it very difficult to part from you guys and then we just cannot visit them if they have seven pups in the house!! So vamoose!!!!

With all my love,
Your very human, allergic-to-animals aunt.

Friday, July 3, 2009

The new man in our lives

Conversation while traveling from known point A to known point B

Maddy : Now both of you will have to promise not to talk

Us : Hunh?

Maddy : Bowing in front of his phone : Tell me Master, show me the way...!

( I swear I could hear ancient Kung Fu Masters squeal and curl their toes in agony)

The Man : Take a right after three hundred metres

Maddy : Arch, how far is three hundred metres?

Arch : How should I know?

Arjun : I think its very far away

Maddy : *Dirty Glare at arjun*

The Man : Now, take the left

Maddy : Ah! HE knows !!! grins

Jun and Me : *Dirty Glare*

The Man : After 750 metres, take a left

Maddy : Hunh?

Me : Loud wicked chuckle

Jun Jun : He is saying all wrong no acha ?

Maddy : cough cough

The Man : NOW take a left

Maddy coughs some more and I giggle

Arjun : I think he likes lefts no acha?

The Man : Go straight for 900 metres and then take the second left

Me : Loud cackles

Maddy : Arch, when you first came here, did you know everything about this city?

No, right? Give him a break!!

Me : Louder cackles

Arjun : He will also learn slowly I think no acha?

Maddy : coughs…definitely arjun

The man : After 600 metres, take a left

Arjun : Acha!

Maddy : Don’t worry, I am not listening to him so we will not fall off the flyover!!!!!!! .

Me : Maddy, the most sensible thing you have done in your life is using this thing on a road well traveled!.

Maddy : I must not have set it right. It cant be wrong

Me : “Gosh, If you thought that way with me, we would NEVER fight!!

Maddy : glare

Arjun : I think he is tired he is not talking anymore

Maddy : That’s because I switched him off.

Arjun : Why????? I like him!!! He tells all funny wrong ways!!

And so it became two vs one for The Man

We didnt see Mr GPS Man in action for some time after that. But I was quite sure maddy was two timing the two of us.

My hunch seemed bang on when the other day, Maddy said, “ If you promise you wont laugh, I want to do something”. We promised. And repented.. as The Man took us on another wild goose chase.

Some time after that, arjun and I settled down to watch a movie called “The Golden Compass”

Arjun : What is a compass, amma?

Me : Its like a GPS arjun……………
….and I clapped my hand to my mouth…but I was too late.

Maddy’s voice rang out : What was that ? What was that? What was that?
(yup, three times!)

Arjun : She said it was like a GPS

Maddy : I knew it !! You like him too dont you arch?

Big groans all around….

Maddy : so where shall we go today?

Arrrrrgggghhhhhhhhhhh…..

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Some Junspeak

Watching Kareena Kapoor yell like a fisherwoman at shahid kapoor in jab we met.
" she is talking just like you talk to acha, no amma?"

While playing football
" no no amma, you should not hit a goal, i should only be the winner, THAT is the game"

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Happiness is...

Catching an episode of 'Friends' that you have actually never seen before!

Buying a beeeeg tub of your favourite ice cream and then getting another equally beeeeg tub free with it!

Waking up late and having mom in law give you a cup of amazing coffee in the next two seconds (how lucky am i!!)

Waiting for Maddy to come back from his tour

Being able to Finally carry and hug junjun and crush him and squeeze him up till he literally cries out in pain. Bye bye hip spica!!

sigh :)

Friday, May 29, 2009

Another one bites the dust!

I just read that Archie is going to get married....and to Veronica!!!!

Poor poor poor Betty.

Like most girls, I could relate more Betty than to Veronica.


BUT

I am thrilled for Archie. Really.

He was clearly more besotted with Veronica then he ever could be with anybody else. He is marrying the woman of his dreams AND his fantasies...a good thing for anybody!!!

BUT

Betty ?

Betty will most probably hurt for a while, then will be too sensible to spend her life doing that so she would pick up, move on and would, in all probability, do better than an Archie.

Because, lets face it - as lovable as he is, at the end of the day, Archie is and always will be, a bit of a wus..

Give me single minded Jughead ANY day!! ;)


.

Thursday, May 28, 2009

Glad i didnt give up midway!!

Margaret Atwood - The Blind Assassin - WOW!!

Thursday, May 21, 2009

The genesis

I am back to using diapers and wipes for arjun and it got me thinking that a big part of the jun story was actually missing since i started this blog only after his non stop big mouth started functioning. So for the record, here it is - The genesis.

We had decided to open it together. So we did.
Then we read and re-read and then read it aloud to each other just in case one of us was hallucinating.

“What the hell did that mean?” We thought

"Mildly Positive"

We had paid good money for a report that told us that I might be having a baby? I am having a little bit of a baby? My neighbor is having a baby? We just didnt get it.

The gynecologist did her own test the next day and said “You young lady, are very definitely going to have a baby. Congratulations!! "

Oh? I thought.

“Thank you” I smiled at the doc.

Walked out in a daze.

There was another living creature inside me?

The only visual I could get was that part in the movie called aliens where you can see the alien move inside the lady’s stomach. I quickly tried to think of more pleasant things as I saw maddy waiting to hear what the result was.

“We are going to have a baby” I said.

Oh? He said.

We both smiled uncertainly at each other, now having one thing undeniably in common.

We were BOTH shit scared.

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Grow Up!

Growing up is finding out
That things are not just wrong or right

Growing up is finding out
That life is not either black or white

Growing up, is one fine day,
Discovering, the colour grey

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Thank you.

Dear God,

Thank you for giving me a little boy who is the most co-operative and cheerful patient ever!

Thank you for ensuring his bones are growing back just fine. Just wanted you to know that I wouldnt complain if it took less than the next three weeks for the whole cast to come off.

Thank you for the doctor who seems to have done a good job and who also made me feel so nice by saying that arjun's was the most well maintained cast he had ever seen.

Thank you for a mother-in-law who is managing my home completely, ensuring i spend all my time with arjun.

Thank you for ammamma's visit...i felt like i got a recharge...am ready to take on the world again.

Thank you for all the concern shown by all my friends and family. Its nice to know there are so many people who really care.

And thank you for all my blogger friends...pl help them write more often as they are my only source of entertainment :)

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Wanted.

Slightly distraught mom with four year old bedridden child (fractured femur) seeks ideas to keep erstwhile overactive child occupied when all he can do now is lie on his back for the next six weeks.

Ideas already covered are : television, gaming, reading, playing the mouth organ and 'changing hairstyles game', the last of which was evolved by the patient himself. " amma u close your eyes...now look at my hair" "Now close your eyes again..." and so on and so forth.

All ideas will be rewarded with tremendous good will from mother...and also from the child when he is old enough to know what good will means.

Thursday, April 23, 2009

My Life Savers


I woke up yesterday looking like a relative of will smith as he appears here. Obviously, something i ate did not agree with me. I suspect the reactions of the men in my life are the reason i did not lock myself up in the bathroom the whole day

Junjun : You look like my amma...you are my amma only no?

Maddy : Arch, it is SO exciting to wake up with a new woman every day!!!

:) :)

Friday, April 17, 2009

Observation

It is strange how so many mothers seem to have ensured that their children loved them, needed them, adored them, even worshipped them....but somehow left out 'respect them' from the deal.

It is not so strange that so many men can love, adore, need even worship their wives but somehow leave out 'respect' from the deal.

What then is the difference between a pet and a wife?

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Junspeak

- Watching my dad excuse himself from the table while the rest of us were still eating :

"Why thatha said 'excuse me' when he did not burp?"

- When i made the mistake of showing him my freshly pedicured feet :

"These are your same feet?"

sigh....

Monday, April 13, 2009

Holiday horror?

A holiday at your parent's home.

Makes you feel like a child again.

You become lazy, pampered and reckless.

You get your hair streaked violet (yes, you read right.)

And while you secretly think you look totally cool...

You hope when you go back,

Mr husband will still have a place

In his heart and home for you!

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

The Unholy Shopping Expedition

I am not sure how to write this.
But write, i must...
or i will bust...
sorry... burst.

Jun and i went shopping. His underclothes were beginning to resemble a rare shade of greyish white and it was just time to throw them all out and get the poor guy some decent ones.

So there we were. I was looking through the various options that the shop had for size 55cm and arjun was wandering around the shop when i suddenly heard an 'aai'....i turned back and arjun and the shopkeeper were glaring at each other. I didnt see anything on the ground or anything broken so i told jun not to stand so close to the door and went back to my all exciting job of choosing under wear for my four year old.

About ten seconds later, the guy who was showing me the options started laughing out loud and i heard 'aai aaai' again. I turned to look at the cause of the furore and froze. There was my innocent little four year old, and a mannequin with a brassiere whose straps and cups seemed to have suddenly discovered gravity. ...everything was hanging down the arms and waist and for all intents and purposes the mannequin wasn't wearing anything any longer.

On my left i had one sales guy laughing his guts out and next to him the cashier glaring at arjun. Behind me, were two grinning lady customers who i could have hugged and kissed for just being there and not letting me be the only woman around when this happened.

My brave little one glared right back at everybody and looked at me questioningly.

I dragged him back to the counter and reprimanded him. Apparently i was not very effective. Barely had i turned my back on him when he rushed back to the re-dressed mannequin and put his hand down her cleavage. I was so stunned and must have looked it because arjun took the trouble to explain to me 'this is a pocket i think amma'.

Amma and son who then rushed out of the shop, had to be called back by the cashier to pay for what we had kept aside to be taken. Money and goods hastily exchanged hands.

As we tripped and stumbled out of the shop a second time, i couldnt help but glare at the busty mannequin and found much to my amusement, another little boy raising his hand to touch it.

As i crossed that shop, shouts of 'aai aai' rented the air and i had to double up with laughter and tears.

Arjun still has no clue what the fuss was about :)

Sunday, March 22, 2009

Repercussions - They knew a sucker when they saw one!! ;)


Boy, am i going to think twice about bursting into poetry
At every little thing that i see
Look at what the flirty pigeons did to me!!
I now look forward (a little anxiously)
To the flitter flutter of little wings in my balcony!!

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

How to kill a crossword

1. Settle down with the newspaper and a pencil in plain view of a four year old

2. When questioned, explain patiently how a crossword works

3. Smile indulgently when said four year old says 'i know numbers
also and alphabets also'

4. When he says 'can i do?', think 'wow! a perfect balance of education and entertainment!!'

5. Then watch in horror as four year old takes ten minutes to write 'axis' as 'axjs'

6. Watch all hope die as enthused four year old says 'now what number i must find?'

7. Take half an hour to spell 'deception'and get it written in the correct place

8. Mourn the demise of the erstwhile enjoyable crossword.

9. Make crosswords a highly classified activity - done only when the four year old is in school - hopefully getting his alphabets right!

Monday, March 16, 2009

The very well mannered child

Maddy had to go for a wedding with his colleagues and at the last minute decided to take arjun too. Since it would be the first time his team meets arjun, both of us gave jun a short but loaded refresher course on how he should talk sweetly, not make faces, hide behind maddy's leg, say his name when asked ...blah blah and some more blah

The two men went and when they came back, maddy tells me, 'i think we overdid the good manners part a little bit.'

Apparently, somebody said 'Hi' to junjun and he responded with 'Thank You'!

:)

Friday, March 6, 2009

Sample Hyd

The bakery next to the flyover is called 'Flyover Bakery'
and a lingerie shop is called TITU'S !!!

how can anybody not love this city :)

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Its official

Jun : Amma, here...for you (he extends a bowl from his cookery set )

Me : For me? wow! thanks...what is it?

Jun : Vomit


Me : eeeyyuuccckkkkkk

Junjun laughs and laughs


....i hereby declare my son officially beyond redemption.

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Love all!

I watched two pigeons
As they courted and flirted

They looked, they teased
They played in the breeze

They circled each other, and actually 'necked'
Then things got serious and they began to 'peck'

My heart filled with laughter
That rushed out to be heard

As i prayed there was no Muthalik
In the simple world of birds

Saturday, February 14, 2009

Footsie

Jun : amma, your new sandals are nice but ....

me : But what?

Jun : They dont have picture on them.

me : Picture?

jun : See my sandals has popeye and garfield is on my home slippers, no?

me : oh like THAT. . .hmmm.... ok, maybe next time?

him : yes . . then you will also look smart like me.

Eh?!!!!!

Monday, February 2, 2009

Sorry Mr Boyle!!

Junjun on the phone to his ammamma

" Yesterday we went for slum doggie movie"

:) :)

Friday, January 30, 2009

Just another day

Jun getting ready to do his homework - "amma, this time can you be the writer and i can be the eraser?"

Watching me go at some sugar cane with all i got : " amma you have very SHARK teeth no?"

During breakfast " amma, the sugar is very tasty . . . did you make it?"

grrrrrr :)

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Kite 'Flighting' and Zooing

Kiting part two turned out to be surprisingly more challenging than the first time. For some reason, the kites wouldnt take off. But we tried and tried and finally our little dream was soaring in the sky.

Now here is the funny part...we cut three kites that came to cut us without actually trying to do anything of the sort. We just used the smarter thread in self defence ;)

Then ofcourse, we cut two of our own kites with bad flying.
Salman just wouldnt take off and actually tore.
I prefer to think he just did not want to leave my side.

We did not beg but we borrowed and we stole!!!
Oh yeah...when our kites first refused to take off, a kind expert- kiter neighbour told us to try one of his. So we borrowed.
Then we even picked up a kite that had the misfortune to be cut and land on our terrace. What a delicious thrill THAT was...flying somebody else's kite....
MAN it felt so good to be bad!!! :)

As we finished kiting and were on our way down, we saw another family making their way to the terrace.
'See how well equipped THEY are' said Maddy. So i looked and lo and behold...the wife was carrying about half a dozen kites and the husband was carrying about half a dozen beer bottles!!
Now we know how to go kiting the next time.

Then came zooing.
As a birthday treat, we took junjun to the zoo

"The tigers are nice acha but where is the pink panther's cage?"

It was a lovely day indeed :)

Sunday, January 18, 2009

:)

...and then he turned four!!!

:) :)

Monday, January 12, 2009

Blue who? Happenings in the new year...

We brought in the new year watching the Dark Knight in IMAX. Late night show... i will skip right to arjun's verdict. The guy actually stayed awake through the movie and even discussed it for about an hour into the new year!!!

I thought it was quite good especially since the previous movie i watched in a theatre was something called 'Dostana' Nobody and i really mean nobody told me how absolutely crass and crude and un-funny it was. In fact everybody said it was an enjoyable movie. WHAT WERE THEY THINKING????

But that was in the last year so let me come back to the present and why we are not at all blue anymore....a new maid has made an entrance into our lives and she does not expect to be called 'Your majesty' like the other hyd maids. Only if you are a woman and run a home will you understand the gravity of this event.

And then we went KITING!!

Atleast that is what arjun told all and sundry as we trudged our way to the terrace with two precious kites and a roll of thread. Leading the troop was Maddy who apparently was 'world-famous-in-his-locality'kind of a kiter in his younger days.

Over the years,I have learnt that the few claims he makes are not to be taken lightly and he proved it yet again as he expertly threaded the kite and in no time, our little silver rhombus with a tail was sailing in the skies with three sets of adoring eyes following its every dip and rise. Then arjun got to hold the thread and so did i.

It was like a dream we never actually had came true. The wonder of it all was fantastic.

And then came the villain. A jaundiced yellow kite with manja thread (thread coated with glass pieces) came closer and closer and our white thread was no match. We were too brave to quickly lower the kite so we fled till we couldnt any longer and in one neat cut, the dirty yellow kite had cut our silver rhombus and we were left just holding a limp white thread.

Maddy was so wild that they came after the kite that arjun was actually flying that he turned to the group and showed them THE finger. I thought that was mighty brave of him considering those boys were just FIVE terraces away ;)

Anyway, the net result is that day before yesterday, Maddy prepared for war. He came back with around six kites, lots of white thread but lots more of manja thread. Tomorrow will be show time and we have never been so excited before.

Love this city!! :)

ps : Love is . . . getting your salman-khan-fan-wife a kite with his picture on it!!!

:) :)

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

New Year Blues

Maddy saw me reading 'Good Housekeeping' and just couldnt take it. He took one look at our not very neat and tidy premises and promptly banned me from reading the magazine.

To add injury to insult, he insists that since he does most of the cleaning up anyway, HE will now start reading the damn thing. Apparently, he can do a much better job than me.

The scary part is that he is most probably right.

sigh...

:)

Monday, January 5, 2009

old is gold? naah....

Junjun to very un-amused ammamma and thatha :

Your hair has become older no?
:)