This and that

2010-08-05T20:48:00.001+05:30

And I celebrated my 35th birthday yesterday with a baby- finally!

Kids, they say the darndest things!

2010-03-10T21:20:00.002+05:30

So we are sitting in a restaurant, my 3.5 year old niece is perched beside me on her chair. She suddenly decides she wants to go to her father. I tell her there's no space. She looks at me and says "Mami, he has two legs and one lap, that's enough space for me".
Gosh, kids,they say the darndest things don't they?? :)

Amma-in pictures

2009-08-07T17:59:00.001+05:30

They say a picture conveys a thousand words. I've put together some photos of my mother. I think it encapsulates her essence, a warm-hearted fun loving individual, loving wife,devoted mother, dedicated teacher. My brother and I were lucky we had such amazing parents. They didn't live long enough but I think they managed to instill their values in us.

Feisty, feisty Amma

How she loved dance and music

Innocence, Love, Hope

Amma

Karlsruhe and Hannover

Christmas in Oxford

Hey 50 is the new 20!

Animal rights issues were very close to her heart

Check this out!

Back with a barrel

2009-08-06T11:14:00.017+05:30

Well here I am again. I've had a looooooong break. I know. I am going to try and be a dedicated blogger again. I also hope that I have happy things to say from now on. I want to thank ALL of you for your concern, your encouraging words, your affection. It meant a lot to me, although I might not have been too vocal about expressing it.
I've quit my job and I think that was a wise decision. I feel so much lighter now. I've had time to do so many other things (except blog, I know :)).I've managed to meet and catch up with several friends and relatives. I've started the hard,hard process of shedding the adipose layer- aerobics, yoga... I certainly feel much better. Must be all those endorphins coursing through my body. I've actually started dabbling with paint.Art is supposed to be therapeutic right?Thing is,I'm no artist People who know me will laugh loudly. Growing up in Germany, I was called "Tollpatsch" which essentially means clumsy klutz:). We had a grading system in school, 1-6 where 1 is outstanding and 6 obviously the opposite. My grade in art or Kunst as it was called, was ALWAYS a 5 or 6- that's how bad I was. During my PhD, I was the one who broke all possible types of glassware, inexpensive, expensive, it didn't matter,I wasn't the discriminating sort, I just had to see the shards. My guide is known to have said discreetly, "well you know her, she has butterfingers"-that's how bad I was. I am a right handed person with two left hands...that's how ba...well,you get the drift :) And then I saw "the barrel" or "peepa" as its known in tamil. My brother and I were clearing up our home in Chennai. It was a tiring affair. We didn't have too much time and we had so much to do. While clearing the attic, I came across two barrels. They were cream coloured, ancient and rather dirty. They belonged to my paternal grandmother. When she became a bride at the ripe old age of twelve (seventy three years ago), her mother gifted them to her- to store rice. I sat on the bigger barrel and found it rather comfy. That's when the idea came to me "hey why don't I paint it and use it as a stool, anyway I don't have much to do these days". I brought it home and it sat there disconsolately for a month. I looked at it and wondered what on earth I was going to paint on it. Considering my non-existent artistic skills, I wanted to choose a very simple motif. I lay on the sofa (which belonged to my parents- you can see I haven't let the brother take too much :))and ruminated. Eureka!I had this pen stand with Worli stick figures.I decided to copy the design. Easy peasy, or so I thought. I spread out several newspapers in the balcony and began working on my master piece. I spilt paint everywhere (The stains haven't come off yet, my maid is NOT amused). Ladies and gentlemans,I present to you, my piece de resistance " The Worli peepa" Please be kind, I have an artistic temperament now :)

My grandmother is happy it isn't dirty anymore and its ideal to store all my letters, lock, stock and barrel (sorry, I couldn't resist that one!).
I want to thank the Mad momma , she told me she was actually interested in seeing what I had done, THANKS :)

And now, since I am on a roll, I want to thank Tharini of Winkie's way. She came up with this lovely post on painting onesies .

A very close friend of mine in Germany had a baby boy in april so I decided to paint some onesies.I used fevicryl but I don't think its really washable.Anyway, she was deeply touched and decided that instead of letting her baby wear the onesies, she would hang them up in his room instead. Hmmm, should I be happy about that?:)I present to you my onesies, you can see that they are not nearly as well done as Tharini's but I beseech you to remember the artistic temperament and be kind :)

I know, the aum in tamil doesn't look right.In my defence,I haven't formally learnt to read and write tamil. I'm a language orphan and I want to change that.

2008-09-22T09:34:00.001+05:30

And so I get pregnant again, manage to last till the 7th month, develop the same complications and lose the baby again.

2007-07-10T10:04:00.000+05:30

Wow, my cup of joy can overflow no further. I have actually managed to pack in one more miscarriage. Someone up there must really love me.

Amma

2007-06-27T12:04:00.000+05:30

We were a happy family, an extremely happy family.

September 2004, my father passes away. January 2007, I lose my baby in the sixth month of pregnancy. June 2007, my mother meets with a road accident and passes away. I don't even have the energy to ask "Why us?" Whenever I feel the anger well up in me I try to think of the Holocaust victims or of some other situation more tragic than ours.

2006-09-12T22:06:00.000+05:30

WTC vs WA

The whole world remembers our wedding anniversary- unfortunately not in a good way. Yup, you guessed right- Sept 11^th- the day B and I were joined in holy matrimony. Our wedding happened a year before “The Day”. Cut to Sept 11^th 2001. I come home whistling for I am still young and madly in love :). I switch off all the lights, arrange the gifts our friends have given us in what I believe is an artistic manner, light a few candles and decide to have a refreshing bath before the beloved arrives.

I hear the front door being unlocked and wait expectantly…

B- “Shit I didn’t buy anything”!

Ouch! And I spent so much time and effort selecting the perfect gift.

I hear the TV being switched on, followed by a loud “Oh my God, oh my God!” By this time I am thoroughly annoyed and come charging out of the bathroom. I see B sitting in front of the TV with a horrified expression on his face. I am terribly shocked and upset too. Call me self- centered/selfish whatever, its still our first wedding anniversary and I want to go out. So after giving B a tongue lashing for not having bought me anything, I insist that he get ready to go out for dinner. He’s still reeling in shock and is in no mood to oblige. Me being me though, manage to drag him out of the house. Its pouring outside. We drive to this fancy schmancy restaurant that serves ridiculously priced salads and has a foreign sounding name for boiled potatoes. No matter, I am still grimly determined to enjoy my first wedding anniversary. We place our order and settle down. I look at B with what I presume is pure unadulterated love. No response. He appears to be staring transfixed at someone over my shoulder. I turn around and what do I behold? An absolutely humongous flat screen TV. No prizes for guessing what B is looking at. We silently watch the scene unfold again and again and again. I am shocked, saddened and filled with revulsion at the depravity of the human soul. Events over the past few years haven’t done much to make me change my mind. The day will remain etched in my memory for ever.

So, what has changed over the last 6 years? We have grown older and fatter together and…. yes I love you B! Happy anniversary (belated:))!

P.S And now Surya and Jyothika have the dubious distinction of sharing their wedding anniversary with us! :) Congratulations!!

2006-09-04T13:10:00.000+05:30

Appa

I see you in your mother's eyes

I see you in your brother's walk

I see you in your sister's smile

I hear you in your son's voice

I wish I could see you again

2006-08-17T23:25:00.000+05:30

All’s Mangalam that ends Mangalam

I love swimming. I’m no expert swimmer, in fact, I look ridiculous when I am attempting free style (I haven’t figured out yet when exactly you are supposed to breathe) but I do a mean breast and back stroke :) A bunch of us girls were practising baltis in the IISc pool. Flip - feel slightly nauseous- surface, that was the routine.

I came home, sipped my morning filter coffee and casually scratched my neck- my mangalsutra was missing.

Me (hysterical)- “B! My mangalsutra is missing!!”

B (complacently)-“ Oh? Its ok, it happens” (goes back to the Hindu).

Me (bleating)- “What shall we do? What am I going tell our parents??”

B (complacently) “ We’ll think about it” (goes back to the Hindu)

Apart from the sentimental value of course, the mangalsutra was (1) REAL expensive and (2) had been bought by my in-laws. I was quite certain I had lost it in the pool so I dragged B there immediately. I tried jumping in right away with all my clothes on, B managed to restrain me. The cleaning lady and the life- guard (pathetic excuse of one actually) shook their heads disapprovingly. “What kind of girl loses her mangalsutra?!” The life-guard climbed delicately into the shallow end of the pool, swam a few laps and informed me that he couldn’t see it anywhere. By this time B was convinced that we were never going to find it and decided to head to work. He advised me not to do anything stupid or life threatening and departed.

Naturally I had forgotten to bring my swim suit along with me. I ran to ask my friends for help. One of them, a slight waif- like creature, who fit into the palm of my hand, offered to lend me her suit. I was too upset to think so I just squeezed into it. I jumped into the pool and…. “rip”, there was an ominous sound (well what did you expect??). Who cared? I dove right in and out popped my contact lenses. Now I must tell you, I am extraordinarily short sighted. So, there I was floundering around blindly, while people gaped. My guardian angel appeared in the form of one of our security officers. He had been watching my antics for a while and his heart simply melted at the sight of a half- blind young woman in a torn swim suit fighting so desperately to retrieve the sacred symbol of holy matrimony (mangalsutra, sindoor- they never fail to touch a chord do they?? :) ). The fact that he was an ace swimmer helped of course. He dove in gallantly and resurfaced empty- handed. Not one to give up easily he dove in once more. He disappeared from sight (at least that’s what I am told) for about a minute and HALLELUJAH appeared holding aloft the trophy triumphantly! I am not too sure what I did after that, but I am fairly certain I wept tears of joy and between sobs managed to get the angel’s name.

The next day I discovered (after some detective work), where the security officer lived. I reached his home holding a big box of sweets. He seemed embarrassed but touched. He told me gravely that I must not thank him but thank HIM for having helped me in my hour of need :) I am not a religious person at all but what can I say except- “ Thank God it was a swimming pool and not the sea :)”

2006-08-14T17:33:00.000+05:30

Ignoramus

Ignorance, I plead guilty to ignorance, ignorance is not bliss :( See, I went to blogroll.com and linked all of you guys but I don't see it anywhere! I also went to blogroll me. It appears for a second and then vanishes. What happened?? Somebody help me please (laugh all you want but after that HELP me!!)

2006-08-12T09:56:00.000+05:30

APOLOGY

A hundred, no a thousand, no a gazillion apologies are in order. I used to look at my blog everyday and feel so sad that no one ever left me a comment. Then a message by "the visitor" made me realise that it was all my fault! Blog ignoramus that I am, I hadn't even understood that certain trivial steps were necessary to view and publish comments. So now I've published all your comments and I want to thank you! Keep commenting and I will try to keep writing:) I am going to need lots of encouragement because I am an inherently lazy soul!

I am going to reply to your comments now, I hope that's ok! :)

@Sayesha- It was REALLY nice talking to you. I hope we meet next time I come!

@ Kroopa- Yup I am indeed Dinesh's much older sister!

@Kutichavuru- Thanks!! Great name btw!

@Priya- Thank you, I know, poor V, she was really upset!

@Why am I, Smiling girl and Balaji Rajan- Still haven't learnt the language :(

@ The visitor- sorry, sorry, sorry!

@Insane genius- yenna da, you are as insane as ever! :) I didn't go to Pune, no time.

@Twisted dna- "In my case it was intentional though" Why on earth???

@ Vidhya Rajesh- "especially the destinations on the bus boards" That's why I don't travel by bus! :)

@ Ekta- Think of the desi version when you want to call someone akka :)

@Shalini- its ok pa, you can continue calling me akka :)

@ perspective inc.- "rose by any other name......." Yes that's some consolation:)

@ the_girl_from_ipanema- "CANNOT wait to tell my sister that." What did she say ??

@ ashok- "hahaha" I am glad you found it funny!! :)

@anantha- Actually the witchy angel calls me yekkow :)

@ the chosen one- Please continue to love my moniker!

@Ravi- Hello and please keep coming back!

@ 30in2005- "One never does know what ones name or anything dear means in a whole new language!" Tell me about it!

@ Ketaki- isn't it???:)

@ Smiling girl- "In Telugu, Tamil, Kannada and Tulu, it means Sister." Thank God for Indian languages!:)

@Megha- Thanks for finding it so insanely cool!!

@Mosilager- Hmm well I found it when I was googling around so I suppose it might be right. I would be happy though if it wasn't!! Maybe there is more than one word for excrement :) You speak Afrikaans?? Wow!!

@Dinesh- Darling bro, there's no way I am writing about our beloved nephew!!! :)

@kiwimyl- Well I do have a blog and I can honestly say you inspired me!!!

@hari and kannan raman- am gonna make a serious attempt at writing!

@ myadventures- Oh yes I know who you are!

@drastically me "ps: I felt the same way as your friend did. Maybe, I was naturally expecting a kucci rat..." Actually speaking, me too!

@ravi- "weighfully' wrong". Ha ha ha!!!!

@smiling girl- Louise Brown's latest pic appeared in the king of all tabloids- The Times of India! Yup she was born in 1978.

@the chosen one- "I'd be 20 pounds lighter" me too, me too!

@visitor- errr letter no. 7?

I want to thank all of you for wishing me on my birthday!!!!

I am tired now! Please keep commenting, I think it will inspire me to write!!

2006-08-04T17:38:00.000+05:30

Am a year older today and not necessarily wiser.

2006-07-20T12:48:00.000+05:30

Akka aka what???

Googled around a bit and discovered that akka means excrement/dung in Afrikaans! Sheesh!

2006-07-14T18:30:00.000+05:30

Just you weight!

My colleague saw a recent picture of Louise Brown and asked "How did SHE come out of test-tube???"

When will we ever get over our obsession with weight???

2006-07-14T16:12:00.000+05:30

Kan-'nada'

We've been invited to a wedding. We live in Bangalore. The beloved and I have lived in this city for 16 and 10 years respectively. We get by with broken Kannada and cannot read the script. (I know, I know, we should have learnt by now.) Our friends, a Punjabi couple, are accompanying us with their six year old- V. After driving round and round endlessly (traffic jams, one- ways- in one word- Bangalore!), we finally reach. There are about six to seven festively decorated mandaps on this particular street. Surprise! Everything, absolutely everything's written in Kannada. Apparently weddings bring out a deep love for the language. Can't blame them of course. After staring uncomprehendingly at the squiggles, we turn towards V. She's just started learning the alphabet in school. Four pairs of eyes bore into her.

The mother- "V, what's written on that board there?"
V (stares at it for 5 minutes) - "Mummy, that looks like a Sh."
Us- "Wrong place."
Next stop
The mother- "V, what about this one?"
V (10 seconds this time)- "That word starts with a Ra" (beams with pride) .
Us (look at her admiringly)- "This is the place!"

Adjust sari, reapply lipstick, put on a smile and march inside.
Come outside immediately, red- faced.
The mother- "V why do I even pay your school fees? I have told you SO many times to pay attention in class!"
V (lower lip begins to wobble dangerously, voice begins to quaver)- "But mummy...."

We finally saw the bride outside one of the mandaps and figured we had reached the right place :)

Moral of the story 1-The Karnataka government must ensure that all schools start teaching children the Kannada alphabet from the age of 3.
Moral of the story 2- Don't be embarrassed to ask someone for help.
Moral of the story 3- Tell the law- abiding citizens of Bangalore that they must write everything in English or else!
Moral of the story 4- Learn Kannada

Note- I have finally decided, after reading lots and lots of blogs, to start writing something myself instead of just leaving comments in other people's blogs. Constructive criticism will be greatly appreciated!

2006-05-19T17:17:00.000+05:30

Gosh, its been six months since I started this blog and I haven't made any progress at all. I wish I had something interesting to share but I can't think of anything.
Maybe I'll come up with something soon.

2005-11-12T20:55:00.000+05:30

Well hello everyone. This is my first attempt at writing a blog so all your comments are most welcome!