So my Grandma was right all the way

"Girls should NOT speak loudly" rebuked my grandma every time I started a conversation. I accused her of being very partial and unfair. She shook her head wisely and said "Your voice is bound to shoot up by several decibels once you have a baby, so practise speaking softly" she declared emphatically.

Maybe grandma is right is what I thought when I, along with another friend went to meet H.
////Now, permit a little digression, dear reader-
H is a friend from college. She is one of those soft natured and gentle girls, whom one could turn to when in need. Only, one needs to have a really sharp ear, when on a phone conversation with her. "The handset wouldn't complain of aches and pains if you be a bit louder" we all used to tell her. But on or off the phone, hardly audible she remained.////
So, few years later, when we went to meet her, we had forgotten the block number of her aptmt. There were 4 blocks, all similar. Just as we were about to call her mobile, there came a deafening THUD. Followed by a loud, angry voice asking the child to behave and giving a huge explanation about how expensive things are. Though dumbstruck, we instantly recognised the voice, followed it and knocked at H's door.

Cut to present. This morning I stepped into the elevator with my little one gaily smiling at the only other person in the lift, and trying to reach for the elevator buttons from his buggy. I was using the oft-repeated, famous-word-of-late "NO" to him. And we got out on our floor. Few minutes later, I heard a knock on the door. It was none other than the man on the lift, flaunting a little shoe which I've seen not rarely. "Guess he kicked his shoe off!" he said, and much to my displeasure, added "I knew you got down this floor, so I came back down, and heard you the minute I stepped out of the lift and followed your voice."

Ofcourse I was not flattered. My flat is the farthest one from the lift. Tips for speaking softly, please!

Enna Kodumai Saravanan idhu

Time:10.00am
I realise that there's less than a pint of milk in the fridge.
I wrap myself with the hooded coat, scarf, gloves, boots what not. Plus wrap the child with all mentioned, and force him onto the pushchair.

Time:10.20am
All set to go.

Time:10.30am.
Back from the shop with the milk can. Found panju sleeping, so quickly gave it a thought. Because I'd like to spend more time out, than getting ready to go out whenever possible, I decided to shop for a ball for the child, something I wanted to do, ever since he started walking. How simple does that sound? So I first went into the local supermarket. They turned me down and suggested toysrus (exclusive toy shop). At toys r us, they only had basket ball or football, which even I found it hard to lift. I showed my child and told them I'm buying for him. With a big grin she said "I know what you're looking for" and went in and brought a huge packet full of blue and green, pink and orange balls. "I'll have the orange one please", I said. "No darling, they come in packs of 100.. we don't sell them in singles!". I don't need 100s of them cluttering my house. Thankuverymuch. So I went straight into this corner Chinese shop, and bought this one monster of a ball. Hope its not too small for a 15 month old;)

What crossed my mind

Just like every other peron, on the last day of 2009, I was contemplating on the happenings in my life, when few childhood reminiscences brought a smile on my face..
...I used to dread the thought of someone asking me what my New Year resolution was. (Why was it was an unwritten rule that everyone ought to have a resolution?)

...I thought saying "same to you" was unfriendly when someone wishes you "Happy New Yr". Wish you the same was slightly better, but I was happier with "Happ New Yr". And being the wicked guy that my brother was, he used to chase me throughout the day with "same to you".

...Dec 31st is a close friend's B'day. So few of us, friends, used to gang up in the terrace of her house, and have a blast. (If nothing, we just used to talk the whole evening. Girls can never run out of topics to chat).

...I used to join granny in giving long lectures about how people throng temples on Jan 1st, while there's only less than half the crowd during Pongal/Varuda pirappu.

...On New Year's eve, I used to strictly tell dad not to rebuke me even if I forget to switch off the motor when the tank overflows, and to mom not to take it out on me if she missed the ladies spl bus, and had to board the already packed to capacity bus. This, as I felt if I bear the brunt of someone's anger, on the 1st day of the year, I would face with similar situations every other day. The senti idiot that I was!

Confusional Consequences!

So its house hunting time, yet again. And this time, Husbd has carefully said, "its your choice"! Well, I didn't feel flattered, as that was just a tactful way of saying that he's too busy to take the strain of house hunting.

I got my details and requirements registered with every other letting agency that I came across. This way, I wouldn't be missing out on any suitable property, I thought. I didn't spare the few websites where you get email alerts on rental properties as well. So I was happy that I've taken the first step in a very organised fashion. O N L Y , I didn't make a list of whom I've contacted. That wouldn't have mattered much.. B U T, I realised that the requirements which I've given to some have been inconsistent and contradictory.. that also would have been sorted out, U N T I L, this guy called up my husbd's mobile and asked him if we'd like to view a one bed apmt for £900.. husbd has said that's beyond our budget for a one bed apmt, and the guy has said your wife said its fine as long as its near the shops and tube station. Would I have said that? Well, I may have!

What was more interesting was this conversation over the phone:
Me: Hi there! I have an appointment to view properties this Saturday at 10 in the morning. D'ya think I could come in today instead?
Agt:I'm sorry, but we haven't booked any appmts on Saturday. Whom did you speak to earlier?
Me:I didn't get her name.
Agt: Was it Dan?
Me:Sorry, I didn't get her name at all.
Agt:Wait. You said its a she?
Me:yeah, it was a lady that I spoke to.
Agt:Guess you've called the wrong company. We've never hired women at all in this company.
I could only be thankful that I didn't indeed go in person. Spared the strain of picking my jaw from the floor.
I racked my brains. I already had to keep the 12 noon appmt on Saturday with another company as well. Although I had not taken her name, I remember jotting down the address. So I sought dear mr. google's help yet again. A N D, I stared at what I saw on the screen for a sec and laughed out loud. As it appeared it was the same company which I was to make it at noon time. I had double booked! I'm just over worked you see ;)
BTW, this is what happens when you T H I N K you're clicking, whereas all the while you've been video-ing :D

Just about this and that

How exciting would it be to get back in touch with an old friend?

This Saturday,I received a call around noon time. It was the excited voice of my mother : "do you remember that friend of yours? Her dad..." and then I lost the connection. Sitting thousands of miles away from home, only triggered all negative thoughts on what my mother was about to say. She called again within few seconds and thankfully put a fullstop to my wild speculations. Apparently my friend's dad had visited my house to get my contact info, as I had lost touch with the girl. This girl was a close buddy from school days, got married quite early, shifted places a dozen times eventually losing contacts with me. She had very sweetly sent her dad to my place to know how I've been. Numbers were exchanged, calls were made and we sank into sweet memories. I felt cared for, and happy.

x----------x----------x

How exasperating this could be?

Couple of hours later, I signed into the few social networking sites that I am a silent member of. While browsing through the ever interesting friend suggestions, I happened to see couple of names that I had already added months ago. Some have ceased being friends with me probably, as I've been deleted from their lists, and the poor software, innoccently prompts them as suggestions! Seriously, things couldn't get more kiddish. I felt bad; for maybe around 5.5 seconds.. (Thank you Almighty for the busy life that you've given me). Not responding or acknowledging is EVEN more kiddish. I'd rather someone add another as a friend, only if they want to know and want to continue to know them. But hey, that's just my 2 cents.

A cute knack

I recently switched over to a new mobile service provider with better features. The old provider had sent a cute card with very cute hand written messages.. Some of which are
"Don't forget us. It's been great, and if you ever fancy coming back, our arms are open."
"It won't be the same without you, but we wish you the best of luck if its really time to move on.. If you're not sure, ring us on ****** and we'll talk it thru. No pressure!"
"Was it something we said?If we went wrong somewhere and disappointed you, tell us what happened and we'll do our best to make it up to you."
If its a money thing, we can work something out. We could add a juicy credit to your bill or switch to a lower tariff. The lowest tariff is only ** per month."
:)

Of phone calls

BEFORE
Me : Amma, how are you?
Amma : You tell me first.. How are u doing? Are u eating well?
Don't have oats or cornflakes for breakfast.. don't be lazy to make idlis..Don't forget to check if the door is locked properly... Don't read too much and strain your eyes.. or sit in front of the laptop for a long time.. ETC.

AFTER
Me : Amma, how are you?
Amma : let that be.. You tell me first.. How is panju doing? Are you sterilizing his feeding bowls & spoons properly? Don't bring the porridge anywhere near him when its too hot.. Don't be busy reading while he's playing, or he'll put something in his mouth... btw what's he doing now? sleeping?? then why did u call now?u can take rest only when he's sleeping...

Ok. I am still being cared about.

I'm overwhelmed

Two posts, same day? That's not like me, is it? And I'm not any less busy for goodness sake!

Here I prepare dinner, (which is rasam, rice and potato fry for records sake heheh), come here and pour out the trivial taxi talk in the form of blog, and then get back to have dinner. I ask if all others are done with dinner, my father-in-law says "I'll eat after ur done". Yet again. And even without peeping into the kitchen, I could foretell that he would leave few potatoes just in case someone is tempted to have some more. Yet again.

As I was attacking the potato curry (unmindful of the baby bulge which I'm still fighting to get rid of), he asks me to come and join him to watch the Chelsea Flower Show on the telly. All because I once remarked very casually that I like gardens. Honestly, this might be a tiny gesture, but I'm touched. So though the show was more on some boring seeds, fertilisers and manure, and less on the blooms, I watched the show.

ps:Other than b/f lunch and dinner, I snack on ...err, fruits! My fil has just lunch and dinner and NO BREAKFAST!! people who could give their meal a miss, please please share how ur able to cope! as for me, I explode like a volcano out of anger

pps:I'm back to my pre-preg weight, which is... ok, let's just say not too bad! Guys, treat yourself to low-fat icecreams on my behalf!!

Lan-guage-s

So the snail is back again. Yeah, me... Just when I was thinking of one post per day (!!), I slacken.

Today's conversation with the taxi driver triggered this post.. Taxi drivers are either too grumpy or too chatty.. How I react depends highly on my state of mind, how good my lunch was etc. Today I boarded the taxi with the baby, and this driver was a cute wrinkled 50 something. ( Wrinkles DO look cute on some!). He had this cheery air around him, as he asked me if I speak to the baby often. To my reply in the affirmative, he asked with huge curiosity if I baby talk in English or my own language. I found this funny. I mean, isn't there something called mother tongue? I told him any baby could only understand his/her mother tongue for the start.. and other languages need to be taught! The driver was relentless.. He emphatically said, the language that you guys speak at home is easily grasped, and its not that the baby's got some innate knowledge of the same. (This got me thinking and I made a mental note that I need to google this out. Any idea people?)

I told him you Britishers are lucky in that you'll have the same language at home and school. And I was reminded of how some Telugu girl struggled with Tamil being her second language at school. But, hey she got to learn and excel an additional language. As the taxi arrived at my destination, I paid and told the guy with finality "maybe u guys aren't that lucky! you seldom get the necessity to learn an extra language and that sounds boring!!". He chose not to respond..rather I chose to get out of the car before he got a chance to respond. I had barely stepped out, while someone announced the clinic is closed due to a suspected gas leak! I had to make a detour in the same taxi. I kept my big mouth shut. So did the cute old man.

As for the lump in the neck, something which could wait for 5 months, could wait a month longer, no? India, here I come!!

The Colour Question

When it comes to clothing or any accessories for babies : Pink for girls & Blue for boys. Its almost like an unwritten rule, eh? atleast in the west?

I did a li'l research on why it is so, this colour allocation. None of the theories seem THAT very satisfying. All this its-there-in-the-genes thing.

Bored of seeing rows and rows of pinks and blues I now cautiously avoid both colours.

I love pink. But I'm weary of seeing baby girls mercilessly invaded by pink accessories! Especially I find the pink prams a tad uncool. Seriously.

The other day I attended a Baby girl's b'day party, and the gorgeous little one was in a cute blue frock with pretty laces. Unable to contain my emotion, I lauded the girl's mum for buying something non-pink. And was ready to get into a row with anyone who'd remark why she's in the supposed-to-be-boy's-blue colour dress.

Sometime back I decked by little boy with hat, mittens, booties and babygros all in pink. The mother gets to decide what her baby would wear. huh.

Sinful Saturday

Saturday's are grocery shopping days. So hubs, baby and I went to the local supermarket. I meticulously start jotting down the list on a Monday, so the list would be comprehensive on a Friday.

We had bought everything on the list, and as hubs was wheeling the shopping cart towards the till, he told me to just hang on, as he had forgotten something. To the "what" question mark in my face he replied "cookies". I gave a "I'm on diet, don't u remember look"... He replied with a "well, I'm not on diet" look.

He came back with this Assortment of Cookies box. Bubble's resolve crashed 1500 meters below ground level :(

After reaching home, I usually prepare tea. But hubs didn't feel like, and somehow I too didn't feel like. He placed the cookies box in the most visible and frequented place. It was lying there, unopened and beggin for attention for around 3 hours. (Frankly,it didn't slip my thoughts for evevn a sec) SIGH!

I asked him if he forgot to open the box. He said let it be, I don't want to tempt u by having one. (poor hubs, didn't realise that bubble's brain was corrupted the minute he blurted out the word cookies)

So I opened the box.... er, actually with the intention of givng one to hubs, and closing the lid immediately. But I couldn't just overlook the crunchy biscuit enrobed in milk chocholate with a dark chocholate decoration, could I? (okay the description was taken from the back of the box, so?)

So I decided to just have one from each assortment. MIND YOU - JUST ONE.

ps:There were not much, just 14 varieties

END OF STORY.

After effect :- Guilty conscious mind couldn't let me sleep for a long time.

Ah! Those Lovely Days!!

WIAN lovingly asked me and few others to dream, and that too about the time of life for which one would do anything to get back - CHILDHOOD. While at school, one of my close friends used to envy all parents. "They have no History or Geography to put up with" she used to say. Little did we realise that with age comes responsibilities and reading about Indus Valley Civilisation and Latitudes, Longitudes are MUCH easier! Atleast we used to have choice to omit some questions during the Social Science exams :D.

Without further ado, here goes my Super Seven childhood memories :)
1) Childhood times immediately reminds me of the much anticipated summer vacation! In most of the schools using the red ink was not allowed (for the students ofcourse). Now, aren't forbidden colours very attractive!I used to wait for the summer vacation, to pull out all my noteboks, circle here and there for typos, mark a huge tick and do something which gave me utmost satisfaction - signed my name!!

2) I was in std.VII and almost all my friends used to cycle their way to school. Daddy dear either didn't trust ME with the cycle, or maybe he didn't trust the OTHER speeding motorists.. so he used to drop me at school daily. That was the time when the Ladybird BSA cycle was SO famous. But learning to balance myself in the cycle was such an uphill task for me :( My friends were fed up training me and almost gave up. I turned to my Big Bro for help. He very affectionately took me and the cycle to the nearby play ground, made me sit in the middle of the ground, and cycled around about 10 times and said "my lovely sis, this is how one should cycle!". I did settle scores by splashing ink on all his white uniforms. :D.. Alas! Cycling & two wheeler-ing are still unfulfilled dreams!

3) I always look forward to celebrating festivals with all pomp and splendour.. As a child, purchasing for Diwali was in itself a kind of celebration! One full day used to be allocated for the purchase. And it also meant holiday for mom's kitchen! And ofcourse we (mom and me) greedily allocated more time to choose clothes for ourselves. There have been times when I've worn matching bangles, chain, hair clips and earrings during most festivals, thinking that was SO cute! eeeeks!!

4) TV times : There have been times when I used to watch ONLY the advertisements aired. My top favourites were Le Sancy bath soap (which kept us wondering what the product was, and then was swept away from the market days after its lauch), Rasna, Rin soap and Robin liquid bleach :)Other than adverts I used to be super fascinated by Ramayana and Mahabharata! So much that I used to ask my grandma, would I have been a part of either epics in my previous births.. Too much that was, I know!!

5) Play Times : When in std VIII, PT period was the last hour on Fridays. We used to quietly sneak out of the school premises if there was no PT teacher around, and this gave us a HUGE thrill, a kind of college class bunking feel!

6) Worshipping Times : There was a Chapel in my school, and I used to frequent the place, though I'm a Hindu. The differences in praying to God in both forms of religions have perplexed and amazed me to no end. I used to pose 'n' number of questions to elders at home, and they had a tough time explaining. I have inadvertently stepped into the Temple without removing my slippers, just as how I used to visit the Chapel with my shoes on.

7) Home-made icecreams : Well, I am referring to the Bournvita and Ragi-malt kept in the freezer and nothing complicated! But I was SO crazy about relishing this Bournvita ice cream. Every Sunday afternoon, I used to allow the hot cup of Bournvita to cool down to room temperature and freeze it and have it as I used to read books. This used to give me the satisfaction that not even a feast that I cook these days give me!!

I am glad that I was tagged for this. Reminiscing childhood days gives immense pleasure and growing up was indeed fun!!

Its a small world afterall!!

There is this lovely aunt of mine, who advised "College days are meant to be fun.. You'll never gain back those days.. I was all studious and know how much I've missed... tk my advice and enjoy every minute". Its almost unnecessary to say how I found this advise to be the only sane one of all the numerous lectures that my poor ears had to tolerate, and WHY I refer to her as a "lovely aunt".

So right from the very first day of college, (err.. ofcourse after all those ragging ceremonies were over) me & my friends took an oath to have fun, in every possible way. And to make it more challenging, we decided to occupy the first 2 benches, and create a racket right under the nose of all the dutiful lecturers..

Don't we enjoy a thrill in irritating people who could lose their temper given the mildedst provocation? There was this lecturer, whom we named "Ms.Finicky". She was a guest faculty and we were bad "hosts". We just loved to rub her on the wrong side to get that stare from her, followed by clenching of fists, fast breathing, red lines forming in both eyes and what not... We were SUPPOSED to behave ourselves subsequent to this display of emotions. Her classes were the ones which we looked forward to.

Time passed by and we missed her presence in the subsequent years. But God and His Angels in Heaven had different plans for me!

It was the day of my betrothal, and as every other person I was ecstatic. From among the crowd, this close friend of mine, (who was enjoying a cup of juice when I was starving in the dais), hurriedly came towards me with an angry look and asked me why I've invited Ms. Finicky to the function. I gave her a blank look, and she understood what to do next. Ms.Detective's quick enquiry revealed that she is my spouse's aunt, and that she very well recognised all of us. Such turn of events are not-so-welcome!!

With a sheepish smile, minutes after the function, I had to pose with her as with all others, for photo sessions.. We (me, my friends and Ms.fini.. err, my spouse's aunt) had a small chat about those "good old days".. She didn't seem to have taken to heart of all our pranks.. Maybe we weren't all that bad;)

This day... That thought...

I am excited!! There's a first time for everything, and that first time brings with it a bit of child-like enthusiasm and nervousness.... And yes, I am having that kind of feeling right now... I have been meaning to try my hands on blogging for sometime now, but today seemed to be THE day for the kick off!! There, I've given an explanation for the title!!This is the day to give shape and form to that thought!



No-rules-to-adhere is so very encouraging :D.... How cool it is to just pen down what crosses your mind! But conscience wouldn't permit me to just go blah! and blah!! Afterall, I need to respect and feel proud of myself when I look back years from now!!



Just stay put... Bubble is ready to come bouncing!!