As the debate on same sex marriages rages in the Indian courts, it’s not just the nation but the world that watches with baited breath, on what the outcome and the aftereffects are going to be. But more than this, what is really evident is that the world is a truly diverse place, and every individual has a right to live a life of dignity and safety, experience love, and joy. What role then can we as parents play in ensuring that our children who will come in to this world a decade or two down the line, don’t have to fight for basic rights but will thrive where there is mutual respect and love?! This thought plays in my mind every time I watch or read the news these days. Moving into a role at work that focuses on diversity, equity, and inclusion has only made this a more pressing need for our family – how can we raise our child to be more inclusive?
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I’ve never been a morning person. Early morning school when I was a kid was a nightmare. Even as a grown up, I found that I was at my best in the evenings. My energy levels suddenly went up, I had blazes of creativity (like now at 11 pm) and work would be great quality and super quickly, especially if it involved creative writing (like now, at 11 pm)
Even when we had babyT, he was never the one who would rise and shine at the Crack of dawn. Both of us would lay in, till the sun warmed our cheeks and crinkled our eyes. I would slink away from the bed and he would follow in no less than 10 minutes. Somehow, they know when you’re bodily warmth slips away from them.
So this past year when Tasmai started full-time & in person school I knew my days of that late morning start were over. Kaput, vanished into thin air just like that. Now I would have to wake up even before the sun had risen to cook up 2 meals, a snack and a treat. It gave me the shudders.
But wake up I did. Cook up elaborate meals I did. I mean freshly made pesto for pasta. Who was this woman? Salad, roti sabji, Dal rice – a full thali meal? In fact the teacher sent home a note saying, can you tone down the elaborate meals you send T, as he struggles to finish it in time. Oops!
How? I don’t know! Has my wiring changed? Have my poles interchanged? Not at all. I’m still the night owl that i am. Awake after all the lights are out. I now survive on very little sleep on weekdays. Weekends are the time to lie in.
Question to be asked is why? And it’s not as simple as just love for my child. Well mostly it is. But it’s also purely practical – T cannot consume food outside until all eating places became more conscious of food allergies and started learning that dairy free needs to be a thing. And food for kids needs to rise above cheese and butter, the so called nutrient powerhouses. That or T has grown up enough to understand the ingredients that go into cooking the meal and asking pointed questions. “Yes this is vegetarian but does it have milk cream or butter?”
Utopia is still far away, but until then, I shall wake at 530. I shall waft sleepily to the kitchen. I shall rack my brain to think of creative ways to make fun meals, and I shall wait for the weekend to laze in bed till the sun warms our cheeks. Good night!
Do you remember the time my toddler destroyed my laptop, right at the onset of a month long blogging challenge earlier this year? Well, when I look back now I can smile, because I persisted and finished the challenge. But back then, that kind of destructive behavior in kids, signaled the end of my world, my dreams and aspirations. I thought I had learnt an important lesson that night, but NO! Yesterday, he did something which broke my stupid heart once again and sent all my emotions helter-skelter.
Snip Snip… Snap
My son’s latest obsession are scissors. No matter how hard I try to hide the adult scissors from the kitchen or craft set away from him, he manages to find a pair. He runs around with them, menacingly, snipping papers, loose threads, flowers, leaves and my memories. The pleasure he derives from cutting things off.. that creak of the screw holding the two blades together and the ensuing slight clink of the steel is very evidently satisfying to him. I see it!
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Living in a Marathi household ever since my marriage, I have been exposed to many Marathi serials. In fact, it was one of the ways how I picked up the Marathi language so fast. And today when anyone hears me speak Marathi, they are surprised that it is a second language for me. I am quite proud of this accomplishment, all thanks to Marathi serials.
I wanted to share about some really amazing Marathi series on TV right now which are lighting up the televisions in millions of Marathi homes. Continue reading
My love for food is well known in social circles. And to top that I married into a community who also love their food. In our house, the most common discussion is “Aaj jevaila kai karaicha?” Marathi for “What should we cook today?” We think of food in our waking moments and in slumber mode too. And the icing on the cake or the Kesar on our gulab jamun is that we don’t just love to eat, we love to cook it. So when people called us, all out of the blue, and said “You guys must watch this Marathi film called Gulabjaam” we knew we shouldn’t miss it for the world. Continue reading
Hi there, It’s not really my birthday today. But it is the 1000th day of my life in the real world, outside my mommy’s tummy. And that calls for a celebration. Well, at least my mom thinks so! And I’m just going with it. After all, who can say no to a celebration with balloons, gifts and pampering? So while my mom stays up late at night and blows air into those very balloons, I thought I’d pen down a letter, to all those who think it would be interesting to hear a baby (my mom refuses to call me a toddler still) share his thoughts on what it is like to be a 1000 days young. A 1000 days is a long time and I have already been through a lot. I am a curious little man and I love to talk all day long, so why not review this interesting life I’ve led till now.
So, here goes…
The story of how I learnt Kannada is quite interesting. When I was a child my parents would speak in Kannada to each other whenever there was a need to say something which I was not supposed to understand. First I picked up a few words and soon the entire language. No more secrets were shared under my nose. They probably did that when I was away from earshot. Then I spent two years in the state of Karnataka which only sharpened my Kannada. It was here that my interest for Kannada television and movies blossomed. I started with cookery shows, then serials and even some Kannada movies. Since then, I am hooked to Kannada movies.
The Kannada film industry is the fifth largest in India after Hindi, Telugu, Tamil & Malayalam. It churns around 150 Kannada movies every year which is released not only in India but also abroad in countries like USA, UK, Europe, Singapore and the Middle East. Continue reading
Most schools in India are just weeks away from the start of school. While in Europe and America where babyT’s cousins live, the holidays are just around the corner. Yesterday we moms on our family Whatsapp group were discussing how the summer means absolute freedom & fun for the kids, but for us parents, it can be quite exhausting. After a messy year at the school where you are still learning how to remove ink stains from clothes (find out here) and keeping on top of feeding the hungry mouths & other housework while trying to find the right carpet stain remover to get stains off the carpet, you have to find a million ideas to entertain the kids too. All in all, it can get pretty tiring. We decided summer does not equal to fun for us moms. That’s when I decided to put together this list of 10 summer holiday activities that the whole family can enjoy.
One of the biggest side effects of parenthood for our family, if there can be such a thing, has been healthy eating. And at that, eating home cooked food. We didn’t resolve the moment we had a baby to do this but it has happened by way of us following many principles of new age parenting.
It all started when I was pregnant. The moment I broke the happy news to my mother she shipped me off to her house and home cooked 4 meals daily for me. All wholesome, with freshly bought vegetables & meats and hot off the gas to my plate. My father played his role by going to the market twice a day to buy the day’s special. My mother ensured that the crucial first trimester of my pregnancy was spent under her directive i.e. to eat right and healthy.
Then along came baby. Continue reading
For some funny reason, which I have failed to understand, most of the big changes in my life have happened almost overnight. From having no job post the completion of my MBA to finalizing a very reputed organization within walking distance from home almost in 2 days after arriving back home from B-school. From having no luck in the arranged marriage market to finding the man of my dreams at work and getting married to him in less than 6 months of our first date. From having a tough time conceiving to finding out we were pregnant the moment we went off all fertility treatments. You get the drift… everything has happened almost suddenly for us. No time to think or blink given. Continue reading
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