Bookless in Bangalore..

..and other related/unrelated nonsense.

I’ve run out of books, and am trapped indoors because of the work that’s happening in the kitchen. Not nice, is it? Have to find a way of getting hold of a book, until then, I’ll have to keep myself happy, re-reading stuff. To add to it, even the newspaper did not turn up! Talk about everything happening at once. I should seriously not complain, at least the workmen turned up- that has to be my silver lining, don’t you think?

So in other updates, my kitchen is getting done. Hopefully it will make the house a wee bit more liveable, not to mention – organizable, if there is a word of that sort. It does mean that the next 1.5 weeks is not going to be very pleasant, but then it would all be fine if the end result is worth it. Fingers crossed. I’ve also come to the conclusion that getting work done while staying in the house is a complete no-no. Initially, we had planned to move into a rental place, get our flat done up, and then move in. Unfortunately, we did not get a flat of our liking, so I decided to just move in here. Well, its not been too bad, but its not been the easiest either. Especially when there’s work going on, and dust everywhere. I came down with flu-like symptoms which I think was dust-allergy related, so I’m taking extra precautions today to ensure that no dust comes into the living areas of the house.

I’m going to stop my interiors work once the kitchen gets done. Everything can wait until husband gets here, and then we can move into a service apartment or something while the interiors get done.

House doing up woes aside, Bangalore is such a wonderful place. It makes me feel at home. Of course, having my aunt and cousins nearby helps loads, and even some wonderful new friends who have asked me give them a shout anytime I need something – makes you feel very, very comfortable. Blessings which I am truly grateful for. Talking of blessings, daughter can ab absolute darling, when she wants to be. Yesterday, I was ill, couldn’t get up, and she was just a star. Entertained herself, kept herself busy, did her work and today asked me to go and get some rest while she is at school.

The only thing I could wish for is to be able to carve out some time to meet friends and family. Hopefully soon. And go shopping – for myself

Going back to the subject of house decor and stuff. I haven’t managed to do much elsewhere, but we do have plants in every balcony Daughter and I are both plant crazy. And we’ve also planted some seeds. Such fun it is to check how tall the saplings have grown – every morning! I know, I must be crazy, but seeing some green soothes me.

Enough of my ramblings, how have you been? I plan to blog hop today – if everything goes as per plan, and I don’t need to spend my day supervising people

Relocating..

.. is fraught with all sorts of unexpected trouble and is becoming a complete roller-coaster of emotions for me.

Heartbreak
- Finding hardly worn skinny jeans in your wardrobe, that you had kept away, in the vain hope that one day, you would fit into them. And now coming to the realization that its not going to happen in a hurry, not with the amount I’ve been eating Those skinny jeans will have to find another home.

- Finally giving away gorgeous hardly worn clothes of daughter – because she grows out of them so quickly!

- Throwing away winter coats that stood you through 8 cold winters, I don’t know why, but it makes me cry. Who would have thought that I could get all sentimental over clothing!

Physical Labour
- It is no less that hard physical labour to haul bags after bags to the charity shop. There is no decent place to park close by, which means I have a long trek with bin bags full of clothes to be given away.

Discovery

- When you find buried in the storage cupboards things you had completely forgotten about. A cake decorating set, for instance. And it makes you want to bake and decorate right away:)

Frustration
- Toys packed away for giving away to charity, toys which have been ignored for years, all of a sudden, become, ‘My favourite ones!’. And I, of course, am the evil one giving away all her things!

- When daughter finds it very funny to pop the bubbles on the bubble wrap that the packing company brought for me to pack. We have taken a complete pack and move package, but for some reason I thought that it would be good if I could do some of it myself. So I got them to drop off some packing supplies. I now realize that I had not thought things through. Someone is now spending her term break bursting bubbles on the bubble wrap!!!! I can only hope that they bring more supplies when they come around to pack.

Seriously, how do people manage when they have to ship everything across. I am not taking any furniture, and it is still driving me crazy. Moving houses in the same city or even in the same country was much easier. Atleast I did not have to make decisions on throwing away stuff, which I think I find the most tough.

While I might be oscillating between what to take, and what to leave behind, one thing I have certainly decided is that Daughter goes to school until the very last day. Having her underfoot while trying to wrap up things will certainly drive me mad

Thanksgiving and other randomness.

First things first, thanks all of you, for those wonderful ideas to the question in my last post. I don’t know what I would have done without you guys!

So I am leaning towards Alice in Wonderland. Mainly because I am lazy – this seemed the simplest to put together. Secondly, I am also cheap – I don’t want to buy a costume, nor do I have the creativity to put together something spectacular. So I decided to be creative in my interpretation of Alice in Wonderland. Most of the costumes have a blue dress and a white apron over it. I remembered that Poohi has this apron.

It is blue, and has a rabbit on it – remember the White Rabbit.Please ignore the bad quality picture(phone camera) – I was too lazy to get the camera out to take the picture. Yes, it is not a White Rabbit – but that’s where creative freedom comes into it So she could wear this over a dark blue dress – because that is the only shade she has. Now all I have to do is convince her. Or she can wear her witch costume. Lets see.

They have a travelling book fair going on at school, I had to literally pull daughter away from school this afternoon. We had to go to ballet lessons, and there was no time to go to the book fair. Luckily it is on tomorrow as well, but daughter is extremely worried that all the good books will bought, if we don’t go and buy them today. I have somehow managed to convince her, and am now hoping that the books she wants, is still available..

I think I mentioned earlier about how much daughter was looking forward to learning about dinosaurs. She even read up about them, and was delighted when they started the topic at school. Yesterday, they had a dinosaur workshop, where somebody from a museum came and brought with him, parts of a dinosaur skeleton, a fossil of a dinosaur footprint and a dinosaur egg. I have never seen her that excited ever! She was in seventh heaven, and still can’t stop talking about it. She even told her ballet teacher all about it!

The days that I have here, makes me realize how much I have got used to the life here. Suddenly it dawns on me, that I will have a very different life in India. Different, mainly because it is going to be a totally different place, and secondly all the things I take for granted here will change. Not that it will be a ‘bad’ different- just ‘different’ different. Somehow all the times I moved cities, countries, this seems to feel the most unsettling. Probably because daughter has a life of her own here as well. And maybe because I have too much time on my hands to worry.

Although I have a feeling that I will look back on this and laugh at my worries

Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin

Sheils recommended this book, and on reading about the book, I found it very interesting, and was delighted to get hold of it so quickly.

Here we drink three cups of tea to do business; the first time you are a stranger, the second time you become a friend, and the third, you join our family, and for our family we are prepared to to anything – even die.

In 1993, after a disastrous attempt to climb K2, Greg Mortenson ends up in an impoverished village in Pakistan. He is touched by the villagers kindness and shocked to realize how tough life there was. The children had no school. He was appalled to see eighty two children, kneeling on the frosty ground, working by themselves. They shared a teacher with a neighboring village, and he taught here three days a week. The rest of the days, the children would practice the lessons he left behind, in the open, in all the harsh climatic conditions.

Seeing this, Mortenson resolved and promised to build a school for the village. The book is his story of how his personal conviction and efforts resulted in schools in many of these marginalized villages. He started off with the promise to build one school, but ended up building fifty five schools. Understanding how educating girls can change the lives of the villagers, he tried to make it easier to educate the girls. He wins the locals’ confidence, becomes one of them, understands the difficulties they face, and does whatever he can to help them. The story of how one man can make a difference, if he really wants, no matter what obstacles he faces.

It is the story of one man’s determination, and grit to overcome it all, to make a difference. He has risked his life, gone into dangerous territory, gotten kidnapped.. All for the purpose – his purpose to get the people of Central Asia education, a means to better their lives. The story, of course, is not just about him. It is also about his family. His wife who understood and supported his passion. Who made do with the fact that her husband would be away for months together. In places where it would be impossible to even reach him by telephone. Not knowing when or if he would be back. And yet accepting it, because that was the man he was. It is a riveting read. Very inspiring, and very touching. I would certainly recommend it.

Disclaimer: I did read some allegations of fraud and people contending that this book is actually more fiction than fact. So I am not really sure what to make of it.. Even if it were inaccurate, it would still be a very interesting read, albeit a fictional one, rather than a non-fictional account.

Just a little randomness..

Just as the title says, this post is full of random nothings.. Please feel free to skip!

- I was suddenly reminded(out of nowhere) of the time when we were first introduced to Statistics. My Maths teacher told us that we are going to start Statistics the next week. He made it all exciting by telling us that with Statistics, we could figure out the probability of India winning the next one-dayer. In those days, when I was cricket mad(I must be the only wife who wishes her husband watched cricket!) – that was all that registered and I was waiting with bated breath, to figure out this amazing subject Needless to say, I was a tad disappointed – but still ended up loving Stats

- My thoughts seem to be going back to my school days quite a lot these days! I am reading Gavin Menzies’ The Lost Empire of Atlantis, and couldn’t help be bemused. Twenty years back, I was so happy to see the last of history lessons.. I would have never imagined that I would enjoy reading history so much!

- Sometimes, husband starts experimenting with the camera, and comes up with shots like this Sure makes my everyday cooking seem exotic

- While on pictures, I love the way my house looks Far prettier and neater than in real life. If only I could pretend that that is how it looks in reality

- I had a first today – my car refused to start! Thankfully it started when I tried it again after 2 hours. It did have me in a state, I have to admit. The thought of not having the car made me feel – more than a little helpless.

- I love reading Daughter Roald Dahl books – they are so much fun! We are on ‘The Witches’, and me, being the evil mother, I am, have been scaring her while reading it. If you have read the book, you’ll know why If you haven’t go get the book – it is so much fun!!!

- I am now in a quandary – I ‘m not sure if I should publish this post, or the review of The Lost Empire of Atlantis’. Yes, I completed it by the time I reached this part of the post.. And now want to declare how great that book is

So publish, it is!

The Swallows of Kabul by Yasmina Khadra

I came across this book during my weekly haunt of the neighborhood library. I remembered reading about this book somewhere, and decided to pick it up.

Lets just say that I certainly did not regret the choice.

The Swallows of Kabul is set in Afghanistan, controlled by the Taliban. Where a man and woman cannot even talk to each other in the streets, even if they are man and wife. Even laughing in the streets can result in punishments from the regime. The books main characters are Mohsen and Zunaira, and Atiq and his wife Musarrat. Mohsen is a middle class, educated young man, who in the madness of moment, stones a prostitute to death. After the event, he is wracked by guilt and shock to see the depths to which he sunk. Carrying his guilt home, he goes home and bares his heart to his wife, who finds it tough to understand what made him behave the way he did. His wife, Zunaira, is a former magistrate, who is now forced to remain indoors, cover herself completely if she wants to step out. The whole situation frustrates her so much, that she prefers to stay at home, and be the person she is, than step out,covered up in such a way that it takes away her identity.

Atiq is a jailor with a terminally ill wife. He is wracked by confusion of what he should do. His colleague advises him to divorce her and marry again. He protests that he can’t possibly do that – she has nobody else and she had once saved his life . He is told that he was the one who saved her – after all he married her – what more can a woman ask for. ‘She is a subordinate. Furthermore, it’s an error to believe that any man owes anything at all to a woman’. His wife is a woman who tries to do everything for him, even when she is so ill. There is nothing she won’t do for him – for him to be happy, and therein lies her tragedy.

By a cruel twist of fate the lives of the four of them intersect.

It is a sad, heartbreaking story. One that will stay with you for a while. One that I certainly can’t forget in a hurry. It also makes you think of the people who are actually living lives like that. People who have had their liberties taken away, who have had their identities taken away. It made me scared to see how easy it is to brainwash people, to make them react as a mob, in situations where otherwise, they would have walked away from.

A very thought provoking read. Something which will stay with me for some time to come.. 4/5

Edited to add: Just a little piece of information. Yasmin Khadra is the pen name of the author, Mohammed Moulessehoul. Apparently he was in the Algerian Army and used a pen name to avoid military censorship. 

Write – the right way?

In a comment to my previous post, Ash asked me to write down my list! Write, the old fashioned way? Goodness! It has been so long that I have written anything more than my name – while signing it that too, I get horrified if I have to write anything!

I remember taking up some certification in 2002. It was just 3-4 years since I graduated, but I had already forgotten how to write. While studying for the certification, I never practised writing. On the day of the exam, I struggled. It was one thing knowing the answers, writing them down, was just another story! My fingers ached at the end of the exam – I had totally lost practice with writing on paper. The next time I took a certification, I checked first if it was a written paper- there was no way, I was going through that ordeal again. I can study, prepare, stay up nights, wake up early, everything but write another exam!

I used to envy people who come to supermarkets armed with handwritten lists. I find it so cute! Once I found an abandoned list in a shopping trolley. I stood there admiring the handwriting. Gorgeously formed letters, lovely words – almost felt like an ancient, forgotten art. In my previous house, we had a nice board in the kitchen, where we could pin up shopping lists. I always planned to do that, but ended up making lists on my phone in the end, after forgetting to take those lists when I stepped out. At least with my phone, the list is sure to be taken with me. Also it is much easier to use.

So it was after years- 12-13 years of only signing my name, or at the max, filling up forms in capital letters, or signing a card, with a few words, that I realized that I would have to learn to write again. Thanks to daughter. Try as I might to avoid writing, I would still have to write sometime. Sigh! And to add to that, I am used to writing in cursive, while daughter’s school still teaches the other style. So now, I have to learn to write letters without joining them! Can you even imagine it? And when I do write, I realize that daughter has far better handwriting than I do! How on earth can I ask her to work on her handwriting when mine is a scrawl! There was a year, I think it was when she was 3 and in nursery, when I had to write out 35 or so Christmas cards – not easy! Thankfully now she is old enough to write them, so that is one piece of writing I don’t need to do. At least the rest of the mums will not figure out that I am the mum with the worst handwriting!

So maybe, Ash’s suggestion, is after all, a good one.. Writing down lists might actually give me handwriting practice Or better still, maybe I should borrow a few of daughter’s handwriting practice books and work on them. And maybe give myself a nice sticker for completing it too

Some days we just like to take it easy…

The last few weeks have been busy. For all of us. Husband has been travelling, daughter and I have been busy with our own schedules during the week, and the weekends have been a mad rush with birthday parties, dinners and shopping. I can’t believe that once upon a time, when we first came to this country, I used to complain about the lack of social  life. Now, all I want is a quiet weekend, when the most I do is laze around doing nothing.

Today is a school holiday- thanks to the public sector strike today. I asked daughter what she wanted to do today, and pat came the answer, ‘Can we just stay at home?’. I could hug for that

So all we have done since morning is laze around, read a couple of books in bed, together, ate a leisurely breakfast, played hide and seek together… All I want is more days like this – when we choose to do nothing, when we can just laze around, read, and eat The weather is perfect for us too – cold, grey, sad, making us so happy to stay indoors, warm and snug.

We still will have a busy evening, but that is alright, isn’t it? After a morning of lazing around, the least we can do is have a busy evening? What do you say?

 

 

I wish I could..

..bake this cake. And check out the blog, the way she writes, makes me want to make everything that makes..Coming back to the cake, doesn’t it look just delicious! But I can’t, can’t bake it, because I need friends to share it with Can’t even take the chance of making it and eating it all by myself… And all of us are just too busy this week. Plus, we are off on a short break – I can’t afford to look any fatter than I already am

..sleep during daytime. I never can I can count on my hands the number of times I have slept in the afternoons! I envy people who can, like my husband, who can sleep anytime, anywhere I wake up at 6:00 even on weekends these days. What is the matter with me!!

… Control my appetite. How, how, how do people diet? I can’t stick to anything for even a meal! As I was saying at R’s Mom’s place, forget about fasting, I can’t even skip a meal! How sad is that!

…I wish I could go a for a spa day, and just relax, or read a book while they pamper me.. Husband has been asking me to just book it and go for it, but somehow I never seem to be able to figure out when I will be totally free. Like today, I had an appointment for some fancy cleaning/waxing my car which was to take 4 hours. And it was in the city centre, so I had plans to go shopping in the 4 hours. Right on schedule, daughter fell ill, and I had to cancel it all. So how is that spa day going to work, I wonder..

.. Lose a few extra inches, and gain a flat tummy, in 2 days time! I bought a dress yesterday, only to realize that there is no way I can wriggle into it( I tried, but had to give up) unless I magically lost a few inches.  Just as well that I am not baking that Tres Leches Cake, I guess!

.. Clone myself. To get the extra hands to finish off sorting the laundry, vaccuumming the carpets, cleaning the kitchen, helping daughter with her ‘work’ and one of me gets to curl up and read.. That would be so perfect, don’t you think? If only wishes were horses……

Gyan from a five-yr-old

Poohi: ‘Why are pink, red, purple called ‘girlish colours’. What if some boys want to wear pink? That is not fair,Amma!’

Me:(Open-mouthed, and delighted)! I can direct her to IHM’s page as soon as she is old enough to see how men can carry off pink beautifully

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I cuddle her sometimes and call her ‘my baby’. One day, she extricates herself from my arms and says,’ You can call me a baby at home but NEVER in school’.

I pretended to be crestfallen,so she concedes, ‘OK, you can call me a ‘baby’ at school, very softly, but only when nobody is around’.

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Poohi:’ We think God is everywhere, but some people think that God only lives in the sky’.

Before I could say anything, she goes one to say, ‘But that is ok, because everybody thinks differently, and that is ok, because everybody is different’.

Am I glad or what