Bombe Habba-Happy Dasara

English Vinglish - Review

This Saturday me and S had been  English Vinglish. Sridevi's acting superb. The casting excellent. Direction and editing is worth giving 5 stars. Its a story of a housewife fighting for her identity.
I saw many a women shed tears during the  movie. Frankly even I did :). Its a very simple story or almost no story. But the concept and presentation  excellent.

 Any wife can identify herself with Sridevi in this movie. Especially those times when you call up your husband to tell  him something exciting and he cuts your call. S if u are reading this, you have done that to me so many times.After  8 years  of marriage and 2 children now you at least ask me if its urgent. I am glad for this change in you. I had shed few  tears here .

Another moving scene was when , she has to leave her kids and go to New york and the kids and husband dont even understand what she is going through. No I dint  shed tears here.

All together its a lovely movie. Worth a watch. The acting by everyone is restrained and controlled which in itself is a welcome change .And the movie gets over just when it has to. Just when you start thinking what else is left it gets over. Which is the most important point  his movie.

Sridevi's body wow! sari's worth stealing ,  only sore point is I wish somebody had dubbed for her. Her voice and accent is so bad.

Letter to my Kulli

Dear Kulli
                  You turned 5  on July 30th. And this letter  was due for almost 3 months now. You seem quite grown up to me now. You have finally mastered  washing your bum, brushing your teeth and taking a bath. You have toilet trained your brother. Just bcoz  you do susu in commode, even he copies and he is almost toilet trained and wears diaper only at night.

                 I love you kulli for your adjusting nature. You dance like a professional already and you are finally attending classes. You have started Karate also,this year. And your teacher told  me that I am blessed to have a daughter like you. And I agree with her totally.

              Kulli I am so hard on you sometimes, bcoz I know what you are capable of. When I push you  to do something , you cry and create a fuss but probably some years down the line you will realize that it was for your own good.

             Kulli you have started reading small books and I am immensely proud of you. I  am waiting to share my world of books with you.

             You eating has not yet improved and you look  under age for a 5 year old. You have taken my love for cooking and help me in almost everything. And at school also they call you a little helper.

           You are my sunshine, my love and my dream. You made me  the mother what I am today. While I am typing , I can hear you talk in flawless English talking about Giraffe and I cant help but thank God for giving you to me.


With lots of  love ,
From your mother who generally kisses you more when you are asleep than when you are awake.

Who will teach Manners

Kulli and her dad go to the bus stop every morning , stand in a line waiting for the bus and board the bus. This morning I went  with Kulli. We were third in the  line. In front of us there was a high school kid and first in the line was Kulli's classmate. After 2 minutes. There was another high school kid and he joined the one in front of us. Then 2 more kids joined the line. I told these boys, that we are in line , so and stand in the line. The boys though unhappy went and stood in the line.

But what bothers is, we as parents always tell kulli not to break the line, and wait for her turn. Did  the parents of those boys miss out in instilling this basic manners in them or did they just  decide to ignore?

I have often seen big kids push my kulla when he is trying to slide down . But there are few kids who are compassionate and they  actually help him.

The question is did the parents of unruly , ill mannered kids are themselves like that? Or  they forgot to instil values in them? Or the kids  rebelled against the values that their parents taught? It bothers me to even imagine my kids acting rude and bullying  other small kids when they grow up. I keep wondering how will my gentle kind kulli turn out  as   a teenager?

Kulla Kulli

I am trying hard to instil some of my own beliefs on Kulli. I told her that God help those only who help themselves. So if  you  do things on your own like washing your bum, taking bath, then God will help you. And also I told kulli that in times of distress just call God, he will help you.

Scene: 1
Location: Play Area in apartment.
Kulla  has climbed a huge slide through stirs. Instead of coming down the slide he  is standing on the landing and trying to bend down and see whether  the audience that's me are clapping.
Me: Kulli , please come here , quickly go climb the stairs and ask Kulla  to slide down.
Kulli: Chanting loudly Vakra tunda Maha kaya and climbing the stairs of the  slide.
I am amazed, and everybody is looking at us.
Kulli: Climbs the stairs gets Kulla to slide down.
Me:I asked her why are you telling the shloka?
Kulli: I am asking God for help.If I pray in my mind, how will God listen?

Yoga and me

I was into Yoga when I was  in engineering. But somehow pregnancy, motherhood and then work kept me away. But I was always hoping  to start again.
Finally when ,yoga classes started in my apartment community hall from 5.15 am to 6.15 am thrice a week , I signed up.The first class was extremely painful, my limbs ached and I felt I should never get from my shavasana in between my class.
But now after around 12  classes, I feel great. I can actually touch my toes, stand on my head and do perfect surya namskaras close to 25 in one sitting.But I still don't like my yoga sir actually correcting my poses, by touching me.


Am  I more healthy, I don't think so. But I am more flexible. I know that with practise I can even stand on my head.But what I am shocked is the price. My teacher charges 1250 for 12 classes. But I used to learn yoga from Vivekananda Yoga centre for a meagre sum of 200 Rs. Even now it seems they charge just 400 Rs for 5 days a week class.


So why has yoga classes become so expensive. I do normal yoga , not some power yoga or bikram yoga. I think, for some people teaching Yoga is life. It seems you can make a good living  now, by teaching yoga, since people want personalised classes, they want spot reduction and all kind of frills.Hence probably they charge more.I  just  saw  a website advertising yoga for children also.


But irrespective of the cost, the  benefits are immense.I hope I continue doing it as long as I live.

I can do this too

Letter to my Kulla who turned 2

Dear Kulla,
                     Amma loves you. You are my favourite boy, but please do not take advantage of that. You are just 2 and Akka is 5, so don't compete with her for everything.

• Stop telling, Love you  Amma and hugging my legs, when I  am angry on you. You know that I cannot yell at you after that.
• You have learned to talk almost everything. And I wonder after seeing you , who the hell said only girls talk more!
• I want you to be a good brother . Stop pulling Akka's hair to vent your anger .
• Your display of love is also little violent, u squeeze mine and akka's cheeks and shout you are good girl. But sweety you are really hurting us when you do that.
• Your hair is a constant mess, I just hope it soothes  down as you grow up.
• You have brought in the unpredictability in our lives.we never  know what you will be climbing next in our house.or whats the next mischief
• You are my sweety pie, I just hope I raise you well so that your wife and kids thank me.
• And please stop sucking your thumb.

Yours

Amma

I am in Love-Nook

S  surprised as well as shocked me this year on my birthday by buying me a Nook. And I cannot get enough of it .  Nook is basically a Barnes and Noble e reader.Now people might ask, why not a tablet ? A tablet has internet and O.S and everything. But Nook is just an e reader. For people who love books, Nook is perfect.If you are like me, who is reading 2 books at any given time, then Imagine carrying a John Grisham as well as a Kannada book in your bag. Your shoulders might just give away with all the weight.But Nook has 2 GB storage. It can store a couple of hundred Pdfs, I am having around 30 fictions now in my bag at any given point of time.

• Font can be increased or decreased as you want.
• It Book marks the page automatically . If u r reading book A page 25 and Book B page 57, both are saved, So next time you click on the name of the book , the exact page is opened.
• You can navigate to a particular page by just typing the page number.
• It has capacity of 2 GB.
• It has a huge battery life of close to 20 days once fully charged.
• It has ability to connect to wifi.
• Project Gutenberg is a wonderful site where you can download all classics.
• I am sure all of us know about torrentz for rest of the  stuff.
• It is very very light.In fact lighter than most of the books
• All major books are released even for e readers.
• It costs only around 7000 Rs on ebay.
• Has provision for attaching a memory card also.

It is worth a buy if you are a voracious reader and you are comfortable reading e books.

Cons

• Books cannot be borrowed or leant.
• Need internet to download books.
• You cannot build a collection of books for future generation.

Fortis Hospital, Banerghatta Road-Review

Yesterday I had been to Fortis on Banerghatta road with my aunt. My experience to sum it up was WOW.

• Huge parking space.
• Squeaky clean hospital premises
• Friendly people at reception.
• Nurses well trained. They can very easily spot a vein for taking blood.
• Billing very quick. In fact , they gave me refund for a scan which was conducted  first,and was inconclusive .
• They told me that I was eligible for a  refund and gave it back within 5 minutes.
• Entire system is digitised.All the reports will be directly mailed to concerned physicians  directly.
• Rooms spacious and clean
• Room service efficient.
• Restrooms very clean, and dry.

last but not the least.

• Cost very high. They charge for the services they offer. But if u have an insurance cover, and u need a surgery then go to FORTIS.

Kulla Kulli

Me: Kulla , come here eat banana

Kulla: After eating a bite,  finish  it up yourself. You are my good girl.

Kulli :Amma my hair is soft silky and beautiful isn't it?

Me : Yes why

Kulli: Then I am also miss beautiful  hair isnt it?

A quick update

I have changed my job. This  company of mine  has banned accessing blogs from the office network , hence I have been away. But that is  not the only reason, I was just plain lazy , took a long time to settle down and ignored internet also. But there were posts always running in my head, so cannot keep my self away from my blog for a long time. I just hope to blog at least thrice a week henceforth.

S my husband doing fine. Kulla is getting more mischievous by the time. Kulli is the darling the cheese of our house, and Kulla the chalk. Together they have kept me more than busy.

Work as usual , I dont say I am the happiest, but pulling along.

I ran the  Majja run of 5.7 km within 50 minutes in Bangalore 10K. I am aiming for 10K next year.

Thats the update I have for my absence. Will continue with my normal programming henceforth.

Bye take care.

Stay @ home Day 2 and 3.

My Day 2 was spent looking after kulli, who want well. In the afternoon I told her all the stories I knew and fed her lunch. Tried to put her to sleep and slept for 3 hours, all the while kulli playing next to me, colouring , arranging blocks and what not I got up at 5pm, to see kulli and kulla all geared up to to play area.Took them to play area and went for a walk for an hour.Came back and slept at 9pm. My Day 3 , was good I visited the dentist, and grand mother.Came back and read a book and slept. Already missing office and friends:(

Being a Home Maker/Housewife/SAHM- Day 1

I just quit my current job after serving a long notice period of 3 months on Monday.I have some time before I join my next job. So yesterday was officially my first day @ home.Kulli is also @ home due to cough and cold. I got up at 8.30 am in the morning. I dint know that I could sleep so long.I prepared a grand breakfast of Oats:). Realized that I was running low on provision, hence went to the grocery store.Came back to find Fresh Palak sitting in the fridge, hence I made Palak Paneer and chapatis for lunch.After I made Palak Paneer, I thought about S (husband) who doesn't like to eat lunch outside, but still had to eat since lunch was not ready by the time he left. Hence on a whim, packed his lunch and drove the mighty 4 km to his office and gave him the lunch. S was obviously happy, and he relished the lunch. Had lunch with kulli, read a novel sleeping on the bed till 4pm.Made filter coffee at around 4.30 pm and sipped it very leisurely and walked for an hour from 5pm to 6pm. Came back home, practised music with Kulli, played with Kulla and went to bed by 9pm. Today is Day 2, will update you folks tomorrow.

Mothers are Universal

Source: sawdustcityllc.com via Caroline on Pinterest

Frustrating :(

I am getting root canal treatment done . So I  can hear the the dentist's drill even in my sleep. On top of that I am having bad cold and headache. I have not gone for walk nor to the gym from Thursday. Office sucks. People in next cubicle are talking at top of their voices, which is making my head burst.

The girly boy, who is more girly, than a 16 year old girl, is trying to show off by giving a lecture on Mutual funds , next to my cubicle

The idlies  , even after 15 mins weren't cooked properly in the morning. Dint realize it until  I served them.

Chutney spilled out of mixie jar, as I switched it on, since I had added a bit too much of water.

Kulli, created a ruckus for wearing a sweater , and went to school crying.

All that I want to do now is sleep on my sofa , reading a juicy fiction and gazing at the sky every now and then from my balcony.But I am in office


Finally 102.9 is playimg kaha se aaye badara, may be this will calm me down.

Leaving you with this link from youtube.

Kulli & Kulla speaks

Kulla has to see his Akka as soon as he gets up. Kulli will be getting ready to go to school on most of the days, by the time he wakes up.But still she runs to him and holds his hand and bring him out of the room.

Kulla: Still rolling sleepily on the  bed  shouts Akka , Akka
I am combing Kulli's hair in the  hall
Kulli: Wait Kulla, I am getting my hair combed
kulla: Akka, Please
Kulli: Amma I have to go, he said please.
Then I let her go, and sent a prayer to lord to keep them close always.

Kulli is singing
Kulli: krishna nee begana
Kulla: Baro
Kulli Very good kulla

Had taken both kids to republic day function in the appartment.
Me: Kulla come, lets go home
Kulla: No beda (dont want)
Me: Why? Yake?
Kulla: Bore

Dear Treadmill

 source

Dear Treadmill.


                         I know you can not read this but I would look stupid if I spoke to you , hence this letter to pour my heart out.
                       Why is that, you do not have some kind of auto sensor? See in the  morning, I was  running at 8.5 km/hr at inclination 1, but after 2 minutes I felt I could not run, so I expected you to slow down to say probably 7, so that I continue, catch my breath , but you being the mean guy you stuck on to 8.5, I being the stubborn  one, continued to pull my fat self for 20 more seconds and then just pressed the  stop button when I felt that my heart would explode. We dint have to create this scene, isn't it?You could have done something slowed down and make me look graceful to other inhabitants in the gym.
                     Why treadmill why? Why don't you do some magic make me burn say 300 calories , without much effort, and make me lose weight in a jiffy. Why should I struggle so much to burn just a meager 200 calories? Don't you like me at all?
                    Why did you make me trip on my lace and  fall, like  a heap, in front of that thin lady of 35 with two kids and her trainer?Couldn't you just stop or just beep, so that I could pause tie my lace? Do you have to be so mean always?
                   Last but not the least, I hate you as much as you hate me. But what to do I need to lose weight , and so I come every morning.



Yours Unlovingly,
Lady with black pant and Grey T  Shirt.

Slap her , her kids go to Day care

I was going for a walk around my apartment, when I met this aunty who is MIL of one of my friend. Find the conversation below:-

Me: Hello aunty Namaste, so when did you come ?
Aunty:Namaste beta, came on Sunday
Me: So uncle is all right, has he also come back?
Aunty: Yes, he is at home. By the way how is your son, he must be almost a year. And your daughter , badi payri bachhi, she must be going to school now, you must be having some time now.See I was telling you everything settles down. So come home tommrow at 11 am, lets have tea at my place.
Me: Thank you Aunty, but I have started working, so please do come home on saturday , lets have tea.
Aunty: So what about bache ? Who is taking care?
Me: They are going to Day care.Thank god we found a good one.
At this point aunty stops walking , hold my hand
Aunty: See you have finance problem? loans are more? husband ke kammai kam hogaya kya?
Me: No aunty, nothing like that in fact S got a promotion why?
Aunty: Phir why are you working, as if u have less to eat and wear.
Me: Aunty , I work becoz I like to work, I have enuff to eat and wear.
Aunty: Jab bacche bigadjayenge, then you will know. Then you can do nothing. A child will always need its mother.If u dont want to do that job of looking after kids, then who will do it.
Me: Phone rings, ok aunty bye bye

So  Moral of the story is I am branded a vamp who is working in spite of 2 kids , not because I have nothing to eat and drink ,but becoz I want to.


Now coming to the point, this Aunty always watches T.V right from Sanskar in the morning till late night serials. Her DIL hates her, since she plays T.V at loud volume which disturbs her kid's sleep as well as study time.Her DIL is frustrated every time she is here.Wish I could tell all this to the Aunty.:(

I have stopped  reacting to all such sundry comments from a long time.I just shrug and feel sorry for the Aunty who is probably full of negative thoughts about everybody. I will do what is good for me and my kids. I don't want to end up as a  frustrated mom, staying at home, who plonks her kids in front of mindless cartoons to get some rest, which her DIL does.

Anyways the point is , its very easy to pass judgment on a working women with kids.And people some how assume that they  have a right to make you feel guilty.

Happy Shankranti

Card made by Kulli:)

Tyagaraja Aradhana

• Today is Pushya Bahula Panchami

• Today is Tyagaraja Aradhana at Tiruvayur . Miss seeing it live in apna DD.

• Tyagaraja  Aradhana was started by a Kannadiga named Nagarathnamma .

•   Tyagaraja's deity was Sri Rama

•   Tyagaraja worshipped Rama nama  91 crore times in 21 years and is believed to have seen  Rama .

•  Madras Music Academy was inaugurated by Mysore maharajah

Pause and think

   During the last week of December we had been to Mangalore. The entire ghat section was filled with huge lorries transporting  petrol and gas. We got stuck behind them, could not overtake them since the  roads were very narrow and this increased our driving time by an hour or so.
Today when I was driving to work I was thinking that all  lorries should be banned on the roads of Bangalore, since I was stuck behind a huge lorry transporting iron rods. Now that I have reached office, and I am sane, I have realized that all these are essential services.

The BBMP guys who pick up waste, without them our dustbins will always be full. And one day they dont turn up, U can see overflowing dustbins on the  roads, with dogs fighting over the garbage. They are doing us a service.

The truck, lorry drivers who have a bad reputation of spreading AIDS, deserve a Sashtanga Namaskara . They leave homes, live on roads, transporting essential stuff like milk, petrol, veggies, fruits , cars and what not. Our nation will come to a standstill without them.

Then the construction workers, who are actually paid a mere sum of 200 Rs a day, risking their lives to build flyovers, apartments, drains. They are  underrated and under paid.


The maids whom everybody complains about  zero loyalty, not punctual doesn't work properly blah blah, she is also a human being, who does all the dirty work which we ourselves don't want to do in our houses. How do you expect her to give 100% everyday, when she might have got beaten by her husband the previous night.


The Traffic/  Police, I know they are fat, corrupt lazy etc. But think of standing in the sun for 8 hours a day,drinking carbon monoxide you realize their worth. But yes corruption is not an excuse for all this.

Then the sales people at Big Bazaar, Central, Total etc , they fold and refold clothes seen by us, arrange things pack things , bill things for us , amazing amount of patience is required in their job.

Lastly our BMTC drivers, conductors,  driving monsters , without  power steering, rock hard brakes and clutch, with full capacity and within time limits in such bad traffic everyday with just one day leave per week.How many of us want to be in their shoes?

And finally here we are software engineers in A.C offices, driving 2/4 wheelers eating pizzas, dining out  every week, watching latest movie every now and then, changing jobs, buying houses and in general doing everything   we want to do .
Apart from helping the economy by spending  on stuff, and employing support staff like maids, day care, hous e keeping we absolutely do no service to nation or society.Have you paused today to think about it.?

Types of Drivers

  I spend good 80 mins on road while commuting to  work and back . And I thought , I will classify and list the  kind of drivers I meet here:). Note the drivers are classified based on the  available sample .

Type 1: I am busy, I am in  a hurry 

You can find them on 2/4 wheelers. They honk all the time. They switch on the ignition when the timer reads 10 secs to green light By any chance you don't start your vehicle when the timer reads 5 secs to green, they start honking. They drive with purpose., and can rest only when  they reach the destination.You can find them squeezing through small places, in between vehicles when there is a traffic jam, so that they  get to move first when the jam clears.They drive as though, they are in a race and they have to come first. They drive with 100% concentration, without talking to co passengers. They act as though they are doing dome Yagna, and not just driving.I suggest you drive behind this driver not ahead, since he will always make place for you .Just follow him but maintain a safe distance.

 Type 2: Journey is important, not the destination.

This type of driver is generally a jolly good fellow. He might drive at  30 kms /hr even when the  road is empty
and he is on flyover. He will be  happy to give anybody and everybody  space. He will drive at his own pace , and will get irritated if people honk at him to move faster. This driver generally is admiring the road, reading the boards of shops , talking to his co passengers. Just sigh that he has all time in the world and overtake him.

Type 3: Don't challenge me by overtaking me

This kind of driver is generally going at admissible limits. But his ego is so inflated, that you overtake him and he will get pissed off and not rest until he overtakes you and gives u a maniacal grin. Stay away from such divers, they are half psychos already.

Type 4: I am itching for a fight

This kind of driver drives closer, breaks rules, jumps signals, and is ready to abuse  you with filthiest words at slightest pretext. He is sick , stay away. Give him way.

Type 5: I am super man

This kind of drivers generally  drive autos. They will drive zig zag, slip between two buses, mount on foot paths. Overtake  and give a taste of roller coaster to their passengers. They think they are actually incarnations of super man. Give way, he  will never grow up to face the  reality.


Yours truly falls  into Type 1 and Type 2 based depending on the  mood of the day.

An apology to Kulli

Dear Kulli,
                    I am extremely sorry for what happened in the morning. I know you have holidays and you have a right to sleep in, but sweety I have to go to office. And I really need to leave home by 8am or else I will be stuck in endless traffic and my knees might just give away doing the endless dance of break, clutch and accelerator.

                    And also since u kulla, anna all of u got up late I was in soup this morning.Hence when u  refused to help me by wearing your clothes, and also accused me of never helping me with your clothes, I snapped at you , coz I felt  miserable, bcoz every morning I am the one who dresses you up.

So kulli, do forgive me ,for yelling at you and making you cry, that was not my intention in the first place.

Feeling secure

       Every morning I  call up security desk of my apartment at around 4.50 am and ask him to open the gym. Last week I had called at around the  same time, when I went down to the gym it was closed, I had to again walk to the  security desk and ask him open it.Which wasted around 10 mins of my precious morning time.
       Hence this morning I called him at around 4.50 , got dressed and called him again at around 5 am just to remind him in case he has forgotten. As soon as I asked him if the  gym is open , he started yelling that how many time do I call him ,his supervisor has gone to open. I did not anyways back down and shouted back at  him saying what is his problem, why cant he just answer and shut up. I hung up, wore my shows and went down.

    In the Gym , his supervisor was switching on the lights , which means he must  have left after I called. I did my stretches, and was on the  treadmill, this supervisor  switched on the T.V and switched to  the  Ind vs Australia cricket match. I finished walking  and started running and he was still watching cricket match, it was 5 mins since I had started running, and he was just watching T.V.

  I was scared , I was just wondering what will I do since folks at home  would be sleeping, and there is no network in the Gym, I was preparing an action plan of kicking him in the groin and then hitting him with weights.And then run for my life.

   But he just changed the  channel to NDTV news after Shewag got out, that s like around 10 mins since I started  my treadmill and India won the toss and  he left the Gym.

   The point is I felt  vulnerable in my own surroundings becoz I am woman. Bcoz my mom, keeps telling me every time I call, don't go to Gym alone, go only if there  are ladies around. And some where in my subconscious mind, I was scared that her worst fears might come true.

   I have a 5 year old daughter of my own, do I warn that you need to be careful, not do anything alone and invite trouble. Do I warn her that you just cannot talk rough with a man, even if you are  right and he is just a small time employee? Do I tell her its better to be safe than sorry?

 I was thinking through this while driving to work and decided that I will tell my daughter to be careful, in terms of keeping a close watch and be alert when she is all alone. But also teach her self defense skills and probably Martial Arts also so that she can protect herself.

I am not blaming mom, she is still worried about her 30 year old, whom she considers as probably 13 year old. And also she belongs to a generation where in a woman is safe with her husband/father or brother. But I don't want my daughter to depend on somebody to feel safe and secure but depend on her instincts and her own skills.

By the  way , did u read what our Honble minister CC Patil said, that women need to dress up and cover themselves to avoid rape. Who the hell he thinks he is?

Happy New Year

Happy New year to you all.

    I  spent last week  of December in Mangalore , rolling in the beach and stuffing my face with food. Kulla kulli  had lot of fun, after escaping from Bangalore chilly weather.

New year resolution:
                                         To become a better Mother.                                                                   

Will end my first post of the year with this prayer

    " Sarve Janaha Sukino bavanthu"