Thus Spake...

It was his first ever formal test at school and Skanda was really nonchalant about the whole matter. He still does not know about the rat race you see?

I was reviewing his English answer sheet. I had to sign and return it to his school the next day. Below is an excerpt on the actual conversation.

I see a picture on the paper with questions related to that below it. There is a basket of apples placed on a table among many other things in the frame.

Me (reading aloud): How many apples are there in the basket?
Skanda (reads out what he’s written): There are many apples in the basket.
Me: Okay, your teacher has written six. Why did you write many?
Skanda (patiently explaining): Amma, this is an English test not a Math test.
Me (okay!): So you did not think you should count? The picture shows 6 apples.
Skanda (duh Amma): It shows that there are 6 apples on the basket, how can I count the apples inside the basket? So, I wrote “many”. Ma’am is wrong. I am correct.
Me: Yes. I agree :-)

Out of the box thinking isn’t it? He really does have a good perspective of things. We should let kids “think” more often.

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Here’s another interesting dialogue between an aunt and my younger one (Pranav).

Aunt: What will you be when you grow up?
Pranav: A Ghost.

Should I write what happened next? Aunt was scandalized; my mom reproached me for watching Supernatural when kids were around ;-). But I ask, could you please learn how to speak with kids aged 3 years? Is that a question to be asked? You asked for it!
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Well, I am thoroughly loving it with the kids in such form :-) !!

Recipe for a Heartening Lunch

There are days when you surprise yourself. Today is that day for me. Pondering throughout last night about what to cook for lunch for the next day, I finally decided to let creativity take over. I started putting things together with intuitive measurements. Amma told me that whatever I would prepare would be the breakfast for the day too…so there!



What I created was not only edible, it was beyond great :-). Had a wonderful lunch today! So lest I forget what I did, I am noting down the “recipe” here.


Recipe for Vegetable Pulav
Ingredients:


1. 1 1/2 cup basmati rice + 1/2 cup normal rice
2. Vegetables - carrot + beans + alu, cut like fingers
3. For the masala paste - 4 spoons coconut + 3 Lavanga + 2 elakki + 3 large pieces of Chakke + 2 green chillies
4. For tempering – Oil, Jeera , Gasagase (Poppy Seeds), Onion, Ginger garlic paste – add according to spice level preference
5. Tomato puree - of 3 large tomatoes
6. Garam masala powder – ½ spoon
7. Red Chilli powder – ¼ spoon
8. Salt to taste

Method:


1. Grind masala paste with little water
2. Wash the rice and keep it aside
3. Make the puree out of tomatoes
4. Pour 4 tbsp of peanut oil in cooker -> Add Jeera, Gasagase, Onions and G&G paste
5. Add vegetables and fry
6. Add ground masala paste and fry till the raw smell is gone
7. Add the washed rice and fry
8. Add tomato puree and fry for 2-3 minutes till it becomes gooey
9. Add garam masala powder (1/2 tsp) and red chilli powder (little) if spice level is not enough
10. Add water and salt
11. Cook for 2 whistles+1 minute
12. Pulav is ready to serve


And here is how it looked....

Life's Milestones - 2

It was a cakewalk really. The whole pregnancy and delivery thing second time around. Some friends asked me why I decided to go through the whole thing again, was one time not enough? The pain, the angst, the check-ups and the one that tops the list – the delivery. I did not want to give them the mushy answer of how the tiny person at the end of all that was worth it and how the first cries rejuvenates you to take whatever comes next head-on. But that was actually it. I cannot forget that scene – the husband, seated on the hospital chair and holding the new born in his arms with Skanda, curiously touching his little brother’s fingers. I even remember the smell of the hospital mingled with fresh flowers from a bouquet. It was picture perfect.


I used to miss being pregnant after my first son was born. I would miss the fresh smell of babies just bathed and whole lot of such things that came with new babies. I would even sit up most nights without complaining. I would not share these feelings with anyone lest they think I had gone mad! I always thought if I was born in another century or maybe even in another country, I would definitely have a gang of kids of my own! But practicalities are woven into our lives and there is no avenue of escape from them, isn’t it?


Time is known to fly at alarming speed. Yet, I am always amazed by it. So, my second son, Pranav, came kicking and screaming into this world three years back. It just seems like yesterday that I held him in my arms admiring the miracle that he was. He is a little person of his own now and his sunny personality is beginning to show. He is full of love and naughty to the core. He loves books and riding his bicycle with anna. The brothers have formed a strong bond of kinship which, I hope, will only strengthen with time. He loves dinosaurs too and rattles off names of the species! He has the cutest lisp - he cannot pronounce "s", "sh" and "r". He has the most adorable sulk when he is admonished and I have a whale of a time cajoling him out of his anger!


He insists he is only two years old because for him a birthday means cutting a cake, which we could not on his birthday. So I have promised him a cake this weekend and he has promised that he will turn three that day :).


Happy birthday, my dear child!

On a beaten to death topic

"I'm the one that's got to die when it's time for me to die, so let me live my life the way I want to."
- Jimi Hendrix.

Feeling stifled by expectations & rules. How long can one pretend to care?

Realization

Taking decisions seems so easy. Both small and large, personal and professional. When I look back on the past few days, months and years, I can recognize a pattern in my thought process while confronting a decision making occasion. I always stand out of the problem and have a third party view and take a decision which is right at that point of time.


Have I regretted any of them? Yes, I have. But has it stopped me from taking decisions in this method? No. Simply because I find it easy to detach myself and not dwell on regrets too much. I work towards forgetting the bad feeling that is associated with regret and learning from the process. Maybe this is my escape route and it works for me. It works because, all my life, with all the ups and downs, I have suddenly discovered that I have generally been a happy person! My light bulb moment for this year :-).