Catch my Fancy!

Today was a very special day for Lisa and also for us. Her school organised a "Fancy Dress" parade for all the children, for Lisa, it was her first!.
That's her dressed as a yellow butterfly, and yes, she's on the ramp! I actually thought she wouldn't really like those wings tied to her shoulders but on the contrary, she loved it... Very very cute. Tamara was the Hawaiian girl, Sarah the angel, Sugandh the temple priest, Mrinal the king, Diya the newspaper, Nivedha the swan... I can't seem to remember all of them but it was fun and I'm glad we went. Let me climb on the soap box and say that I created those neat wings :). Vinod and his mom were there too. I'll post better pictures next week, this was the one sent by a friend.

Well, finally uploaded those pictures onto Photobucket. Here is one I love!

It's Thanksgiving!

The word Thanksgiving is everywhere! We don't really celebrate it here in India, well, because it's more of an American thing. But it did make me wonder about the "Real Significance of Thanksgiving".

Sure its about pecan and pumpkin pies, turkey, cranberry sauce and holidays but what more? Simply put, it is a day when everybody thanks God for what we have- Thanksgiving!

A lot of churches in India, celebrate something called "Harvest Festival". I remember my grandmom telling me how they actually celebrated it in Kerala. My grandparents stayed in a rubber plantation and the estate also had an orchard, a vegetable garden, and a whole lot of animals- cows, goats, turkeys, chickens, ducks, dogs, cats.....Every year, they would collect the produce from the estate and this could be eggs, fruit jams, pickles, fruits (jackfruit, papaya, sapota..), tapioca and a zillion other things and hand it all over to the church. On the "Harvest Festival" day, the church organises an auction of all the things "gifted" by the people in the area. It is also an opportunity for the church to generate funds, for the poor. At the end of the auction, there is usually a lunch organised and the whole community eats together! Fascinating isn't it.

However, these days, things have changed quite a bit in the cities. People do not bring their harvest, (for obvious reasons), instead "gift" stuff like clothes, paintings, food, anything and everything, to the church. A bottle of jam (straight out of the shelf in a supermarket), sometimes fetches thousands of rupees. Lordie, lord, it takes something to eat such an expensive jam!

So maybe, it's not entirely right to say we don't have Thanksgiving out here, it's just that it is celebrated in a different way, at a different time of the year!

Other news:

Iceberg spotting in NewZealand

Name the new 7 world wonders Contest

Snake bursts after gobbling gator ------- Gruesome!!!

How damaged eggs are weeded out.........Interesting!

Only 50 years left!

I just came across an article in BBC that says that there will virtually no fish in the seas by 2050! We have guys Only 50 crazy years left!

I guess sea food will be bourgeois food very soon! What a pity!

Read also "Planet under Pressure" to give you an idea about what's happening to planet Earth!

Food mania!

Food and cooking has always fascinated me, sometimes, I think it's unfortunate!
Who doesn't love pork spare ribs, beef steaks, fries, kerala paratas, fried fish, samosas, pasta, the list is un ending. Sadly, a lot of the foods that are really tasty are the ones that are really unhealthy, the world however, is becoming increasingly conscious about what they eat. Fat free, cholesterol free, sugar free, caffeine free, MSG free........Having said all that, I have always felt that Indian cuisine is the healthiest! Yes, the cooking is cumbersome, and time consuming but what could be more healthier than roti, dal and sabzi? For those of you who don't understand, roti is a kind of flattened bread made of whole wheat flour, dal is lentil and sabzi is nothing but a dish made out of any kind of vegetable! However, the calorific value does look scary when the frills are incorporated to the meal. Let's say you add a piece of deep fried chicken, or panneer (cottage cheese) curry or malai (cream) muttar (peas).......
Well, I think I'm deviating a bit here because I started out intending to post about the most tasty and sinful foods of the world (not really bothering about how it affects the waistline), maybe because although it's an over indulgent thought, I must admit, it's scary.
Instead check out : "10 Foods you should never eat" and "10 Super Foods for better health".
And for those who love egg: "An egg a day is OK"!!!!!
For the icing on the cake: "KFC's new face seen from space" - how bizarre!

The Little Angel

Kenadie Jourdin-Bromley is a little girl who has a rare form of dwarfism called primordial dwarfism, a condition that affects only around 100 people in the world. Amazing isn't she?
Subsequently, I happened to read about an amazing organisation called the "Little People of America" which is a nonprofit organization that provides support and information to people of short stature and their families.

The Lost Girl

I found this article in my inbox this morning: "Help Pooja Find Her Parents!". I'm not sure about the authenticity of the whole thing and hate spreading scams but I don't see anything about it being a hoax anywhere on the web, so I guess this is the least I can do. It's really sad isn't it, how children just get dragged into the quagmire of the beggar community? I see it every single day on M.G.Road, women dressed very shabbily (for obvious reasons), dirty, with truck loads of tears streaming down their faces, carrying children (sometimes babies),begging in the hot sun.
These are the heartless women of Bangalore city. I know for a fact that the children are not theirs, apparently, they "hire" the children for a day or couple of days and use them as their excuse to beg! Most of these children are drugged to sleep.
When these women approach my car, asking for money, the only thing I want to do is report them to the police but you know I don't do it because the police don't do ANYTHING about it. The government seems to be least bothered, I won't be surprised if they are bribed too.
Innocent, babies who know nothing about the world they live in, treated like rag dolls....

Not my Job!

This will never get you anywhere, will it? But sometimes, I guess we all have to learn to say "Nope, not my job :)"!

Children's Day!

Today, the 14th of November is celebrated as Children's Day in India. It's interesting that the Universal Children's Day is actually on 20th of November, so why do we celebrate it on the 14th? Read on..."The story behind Children's Day".

Today is also another special day, Lisa was baptised exactly 2 years ago on this day in Saint Marks Cathedral. This picture was taken back then! Shes clueless isn't she?

While driving to work today, passing by the school where I studied, I saw a signboard that said "No parking till 3.30pm" and as strange as this might sound, it stirred up myriads of emotions within me. My school timings were from 8.30am to 3.30pm and I must say that I am who I am today because of what I learnt in FAPS. It doesn't sound real but its a fact. The teachers, the book seller (I saw him this morning, he's really old now) in Cambridge Book house, the ayahs, the Principal, the Headmistress, they all had some role to play. I remember walking into Cambridge Book House, (possibly when I was around 6 or 7) and asking, "I want a map, Uncle" not realising who was standing right next to me. Mrs X (I don't remember her name although she was a dear old petite teacher) looked at me and said "Don't you know when to use the word "Please" ?". I was ashamed of myself and it was almost like a slap on the face but yes, that taught me, never ever to let my guard down when it came to manners and politeness. The book seller deserved to be talked to with respect, didn't he, like any one of us? Our Headmistress, taught me how to sew and embroider when I was really little and I cannot thank her enough. Mr. Browne and Mr. Boye were my Math teachers, we were all terrified of them but I loved the subject in school and even in college and I owe it all to these wonderful teachers. Mr. Browne is now the Principal of FAPS, Bangalore and Mr.Boye the Principal of FAPS, Calcutta!

Looking back, I wonder if I would be able to expose Lisa to all that I learnt when I was growing up, probably not. I walked to school, with a bunch of my friends and I simply loved it. I was barely 7 and was occasionally scared of getting lost but that made me braver and stronger. Now, we don't have safe roads anymore, it's too dangerous to let children walk to school. The atmosphere is not fresh anymore, polluted and congested! We don't find too many Jacaranda, Gulmohur or Rain trees anymore! None of the kids play hide and seek, or fly kites, or play with marbles, or say stories to each other. And who's to blame? Are we really leaving anything behind for them?

All about Lisa

Lisa is slowly but surely getting into the playschool groove and I'm just simply thrilled. When I accompanied her to school, the first week, she was excited and all enthusiastic. I guess it was a change from her routine, lots of kids, lots to do, different food, different furniture, toys, and plenty of unrestricted activities.
It was then time to handle it all herself and that's when it broke my heart to see her screaming when I drop her off at school. The lovely teachers ensured me that it lasts only for a couple of minutes. Yesterday, she agreed to wear her little yellow bag on her shoulders and walk into school without crying, today, she had a smile on her face. I am a proud mom.
As parents, we have been told about the various activities the school has been planning. We already had a talk on "How to prepare your child for big school" a couple of weeks ago. Mrs. Angela Roye, has had over a decade of experience and it really shows. In a few weeks, we'll have a fancy dress event, not a competition, just an event. I already have her costume ready- she's going to be a butterfly :). So yes, raising a child is a lot of work and patience but I'm enjoying every bit of it.
It also turns out that Mrs. Roye is the mother of Suhneel Roye, who was my classmate in FAPS. It sure is a small world.

Road of Death

I received these pictures by email, and apparently the road is called Stremnaya Road, Bolivia. But I've been reading about it and there seems to be some confusion as to where exactly it is. Where ever it is, it sure is scary. Would I drive on these roads? Probably not!

The complex word

"Relationship" is a very complex word and our world revolves around this very powerful word. It could be the relationship we have with our friends, parents, partners, children or even God. If it weren't for relationships, we wouldn't exist.
This is something I've never pondered over as a child or even as a teenager who didn't have a care in the world. Being a daughter, sister, mother and a wife made me look at things with a whole new perspective simply because it's not the easiest thing.
A friend of mine mentioned about an article called "The Power of Ten" she read in a magazine. It basically talks about how you should evaluate your relationship (that could be with your parents, friends- anybody) on a ten minute, ten day, ten year basis. Look ahead and see how different your life would be in ten years without that relationship that matters to you as against ten minutes and ten days.
And come to think of it, it is a powerful thought. There are lots of people in my life and each one of them has something to do with the kind of person I am. And a few of them, matter to me so much, I would be proud of myself if I could not only sustain but nurture the relationship I have with them for the next ten years or even forever. On the other hand there are a few people I'd be happy to get rid off for 10 minutes, (for instance, the loud mouthed colleague at work) but in 10 years...?
Here's a good article I came across: "10 Minute Relationship Rituals".

Hip hip hurrah!

HURRAY! We are done with the puzzle!!! I actually found the picture of the puzzle on the web here it is : "Our Clementoni Puzzle". We sat up till 10.45pm on Tuesday night, determined to finish it and we hadn't even had dinner! Well, yes, we are completely insane, however, we are planning on framing "our" piece of art in a gold frame with extra embellishments and the works. Pat on our backs!
For everything else that's happening:
We were returning home at around 11 pm last night and were able to catch half an hour of fireworks at Chinnaswami stadium, where the celebrations of "Suvarna Karnataka" (marking the 50th year of the integration of Karnataka) was just wrapping up. I must say, I've never ever been that close to fireworks and it was simply amazing. The whole of MG Road was lit up and Lisa just loved it, yes it was extremely late for her but I'm glad she got to seeing it.
On the other hand, yes it was wonderful but the government actually spent a whopping 10 crore on the celebrations and I personally think it was a super waste considering that we are not exactly a country where we could just splurge on stuff that does not really matter to the deprived.