I took these pictures but they aren’t very clear as you can see. We bought this new house shaped feeder along with the peanuts, seeds and worms and now the birds are flocking! I was trying to capture the Great Tits here
And here are the early reading books that I had ordered for my son – which came in two large boxes 🙂
So these are my photos in response to The Daily Post’s writing prompt: “A Moment in Time.”
What was the last picture you took? Tell us the story behind it. (No story behind the photo? Make one up, or choose the last picture you took that had one.)
So it was a normal Monday morning. There was the normal rush for getting to school on time, pack the lunch boxes, get the breakfast done etc. We were well within time when I asked Son to change into the uniform.
Me: Come on S, let’s get ready, where’s your uniform?
S: It’s okay, we have time. Please help me with the clothes.
Me: a bit flustered, … Okay come on hurry up now!
S: Okay okay don’t get angry.
Me: more flustered – Am not angry!
S: Yes you are. You are always angry.
Me: (Angry but hiding it.) Am not angry, maybe I am. That’s my thing – being angry! Like your thing is to watch the iPad all the time and dad’s thing is to….. (wondering what to mention here)
S: (in a very quiet voice) Dad’s thing is to calm you down.
Me: !!!
Hubby smirking in the background having heard all this talk!
I just realised that it’s been a month and I haven’t updated my blog. The in laws are here and we have been super busy. It started with the assault on the senses – with all the Indian delicacies that they got from India. We are still enjoying Summer and the weather in last month has been amazing with many bright sunny days. Princess Street and Royal Mile is buzzing. First things first, food!
Biryani in the making…all set to be layeredLayering and adding dry fruitsModaks!
We went to the Extreme Stunt show and Shantanu had a great time there with all the tractors crushing cars!
For the FIL’s birthday we went to a place called Linlithgow. It’s a 15 minute train ride away from Edinburgh.
There was some wnid but the spot was amazing. 🙂
There was a canal nearby and on this particular day there was a boat race…not any boat race, but a cardboard boat race. It was very interesting and entertaining. Groups of kids came up with artistically built cardboard boats. It was great fun to see them all toppling over each other.
The Edinburgh International Book Festival deserves a separate post altogether!
I have lots to say but can’t pen down a proper post.
So the heatwave in UK. It felt really good a couple of weeks ago to be out without wearing kilos of overcoats! My tops and dresses were finally seeing the sunlight after a long time. Two weeks of warm sunshine and now am miserable. It’s 25° today and it’s so completely still. I can’t see a single leaf moving. Nothing stirs, not a single breeze. Weather warnings are issued and then there is the danger of roads closing down if the tarmac melts.
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School’s out and holidays have started. Am busy planning, organising and chauffeuring my son around for play-schemes and summer classes. This is one of the things I like about living abroad. There are multiple activities for kids to enjoy and be occupied with instead of going to movies and malls. I know there are many activities even in India, but commuting here is just so easy and comfortable. It’s also a big relief to know that I can now drop off Shantanu at the classes and he will stay there and enjoy. I dreaded the first day thinking he would cry and wouldn’t stay without me but I guess improved English language has given him quite a confidence boost. Now I get pronunciation lessons from him! It’s a “khaar” now “kaarr” he tells me. And sometimes if am lucky, he even allows me to teach him a few words.
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I have finally taken to housecleaning a bit more seriously. It may have something to do with husband calling it a “kabootarkhana”. But I have a feeling that a new vacuum cleaner, IKEA and shopping (even if it’s storage) may have pushed me off my butt the edge. Shantanu is delighted to know that I can use the vacuum cleaner and he almost fell of the chair when he saw me ironing. The husband, though, is still on the fence and is scared to break this streak of wilderness in me. He is afraid that if he so much as makes a comment, the spell will break and I would be a vegetable again. On a serious note, it was triggered by moth attack, and in no way was I responsible for it.
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I have been reading a lot but have no time to review. Will get back to that now.
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The other day we had a scary seagull incident. A couple of seagull chicks got out of their nests and we moving around in our society’s parking area. Every time someone passed them by, the mother seagull would screech and attack. After watching the scene for some time, we decided to call animal rescue. Sadly, it seems seagulls are not that important to them. They told us to be careful and carry umbrellas when going out. It would take a couple of weeks for the chicks to fly. Luckily, we didn’t have to wait that long. One the second day, we saw the chicks walking on the rooftops. There were no more screeches after that.
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Shantanu had a class picnic before the holidays. We went to Kinghorn beach by train. It was a brilliant day to be outdoors and Shantanu had a lot of fun. This was the first time he put his feet inside water. I had a flashback to the days when I as a kid went to Worli Sea Face. My cousin and I used to have lots of fun in the sand, trying to make castles. The highlight of those trips to the beach wasn’t the water or the sand or even the giant wheel. It was the scooter ride. In those days my dad had a scooter and my uncle didn’t. My parents and us kids used to go on the scooter and my uncle and aunt travelled separately. So my cousin and I took turns standing at the front of the scooter. There was still always a fight and a lot of crying on the way back. 🙂
It’s been more than a month now to our Paris trip and am still missing it. Never has a city or a place affected me in such a manner. I have resolved to go there once more….sometime! I still have to write an entire post on our Disneyland trip and I don’t know where to start. Five days in Dineyland and it was still not enough. 🙂
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So what’s the update on rains in Mumbai. Last I heard, it was still raining cats and dogs and the potholes are getting bigger. Mumbai does turn into Venice during monsoon.
I am back from our trip to India. And surprisingly I am sulking. For someone who has boasted all her life that she likes her solitude, here I am craving for people, chaos and mess. It wasn’t like this the last time. Tsk tsk.
As for our trip, things never go as planned. We had made grand plans – people to meet, places to visit, things to eat and do, in fact narrowed them down to weeks and days as we thought this was a short trip (yea we consider 4 weeks as short). I didn’t met half the people I wanted to, couldn’t even call some of them. Hubby was better off in that I suppose.
Kiddo thoroughly enjoyed Ganpati. He woke up early morning, had a bath and went with hubby and other relatives to bring home the idol. He was all excited to recite the aartis, perform puja (in his own way) and put flowers. He was also thrilled to see that Ganpati always had his one hand up to say “Hi!” He used to come rushing to me and say that Ganpati is saying Hi to him!
The other thing he enjoyed immensely was riding in cars and auto rikshaws. Every morning after he woke up, he would go to the balcony and look out whether our cars are still there in the parking lot. Going for a ride in Honda City was almost a daily event which was often followed by a ride in the auto.
And then there were the gifts he received!!
My brother gifted this jumbo ferrari car to kiddo. Their bond is surely getting stronger. Men and cars I tell you.
The food…!!!
My mum made these delicious modaks on the occasion of Ganpati. No wonder they vanished within minutes.FIL got this jumbo Pomfret a day before we were leaving!! Yummy doesn’t suffice!My sis-in-law made this scrumptious cake. From scratch. Yes. Even the flowers. How beautiful is that???
I have never thought 30 is a big deal and I won’t let marketing and media get to me. I never had a 30 by 30 list (but then I found myself nodding my head vigorously at this list) and I am not going to the store to buy my first anti wrinkle cream.
The last five years have been pretty exciting. This is my 5th birthday after marriage and out of these 5 I have spent 4 outside India (1 in Singapore and 3 here in Edinburgh).
So 30…yeah!
I know I am supposed to feel older and mature and wise (!) But in my head I still feel about 15. Who doesn’t?
Kiddo has made the largest impact on my maturity levels, if any. After you have a child your priorities are forced to change. Quite ironically, he has brought out the child like qualities inside me yet has managed to turn me into a responsible adult. Life has literally changed after him. The fact that I can cook a decent meal says a lot about my change and those who know me well will agree. I have also in fact, developed quite a liking for eating food and trying out new dishes. The credit for this goes to the Saint and it is going to be his fault if I turn fat. Now can you see how I tend to digress to the topic of food?? 🙂
Anyway, so yeah…30!
The Saint and kiddo have baked me a cake! No help from me. They even searched for this recipe on the net and didn’t use any of mine.
No big surprises and no extraordinary celebration to mark this supposedly important landmark. I believe that is good. 🙂
It was almost four years ago that my husband skilfully managed to make me watch another of Meryl Streep‘s movie to convince me of her great acting talents and this time he tricked me into it saying that there’s a character in it that’s just like me.
I was hooked.
The film was Devil Wears Prada and the character he was referring to was Andrea Sachs played by Anne Hathaway! I was very excited to watch this cute and hard-working girl until I found out that she was the target of much ridicule for her dressing sense and style. So that’s how my husband saw me – a girl with no sense of style.
I found a sad little corner of the house and secretly licked my wounds. Instead of frantically getting a makeover and taking a crash course in make-up, I adamantly stuck to my style – whatever that was.
Then we travelled to Edinburgh with a one year old in tow. Dressing and makeup were replaced with diapers and baby food. Having my hair in one place and no drool on my face was the best makeup. Living in perhaps the most beautiful city in UK and being surrounded by beautiful women did no good to my ego. Even the old ladies wore pearl necklaces for a walk in the gardens!!
Wait, I have a point and I will come to it. Perhaps!
Summer’s here or it is supposed to be here and am eagerly waiting for the Edinburgh International Book festival to start next month. I am attending a couple of events and I don’t want to be Andrea Sachs with the blue sweater.
The Olympic Torch made its visit to Edinburgh last week. I was very eager to go and watch it but was down with fever and cold. My parents and son though did witness it and they tell me it was great fun to watch all the excitement.
It passed through our area at around 6:30 pm and the area was crowded and everyone was cheering. Kiddo came home and promptly got to work – he scrolled up a long sheet of paper and called it “holympi” and was running around the house “like the uncle who was running on the street”
My son just finished his second colouring book. He has shown patience to complete a whole a page before jumping on to the next, ability to keep the colours within the lines and has torn only 2 of the 15 pages – a vast improvement from the previous one which is lying in shreds somewhere in the dark recesses of and beneath the sofa.
When you are young life is so beautiful around you. Everyone appreciates you, motivates you and makes you think that you can achieve almost anything if you put your mind to it. You feel anything and everything is possible for you. You just need to walk out of the door of your house and there’s a whole world of possibilities out there for you to grab.
Such are the thoughts that I get when I look at my son.
Life is very beautiful for him right now he can turn it any which way he prefers.
In this last year he has learned so many new things and diverse activities that given the opportunity and infinite resources at his disposal, any activity of his can be considered as a serious career opportunity. This is another manifestation of our unachievable ambitions and dreams. Here are a few that are at the top of our minds:
Artist/Painter: The colouring book number 2. Just yesterday he coloured for an hour. Continuously. He was even humming to himself during that time. I agree he gets confused between light blue and dark blue and most often the clouds are red instead of grey but then he can always paint a modern art. Here are his masterpieces:
While we are talking about modern art, check out few of his samples. I mean do you really think he should give up on such talent?
Greeting card for Mother's DayPainting at playgroupClouds and sky - another painting at playgroup
He loves to draw on his erasable slate. From son, moon – sorry moon crescent to smileys, fridge, mobile, Tom and Jerry. He can even draw himself and my ma ki nazar can make out an uncanny resemblance. Once he even drew a fat dad and a thin mum who oddly resembled a long thin broomstick. My son is very talented I tell you.
The SmileyHeadphonesSelf Portrait
Travel and living: Not travelling in Mumbai and living in suburbs. That’s horrible. This is more like what they show on the Discovery channel. This one is also a secret ambition of my husband, an alternate career if you like. Since coming to Scotland, we have been on many trips – Amsterdam, London, highlands for short trips and many day outings and the son has enjoyed it. As long as he is outside the house he is happy. On weekends, when the kiddo wakes up and realises that Daddy is at home, he asks, ‘Where are we going today?’ He has his daddy’s genes. The husband can never stay at home for an entire day. He has to go out even if it is for grocery shopping or just to take a walk. The son is the same. The husband is enchanted with the Discovery channel and can watch it for hours specially the programmes in which the host travels to exotic locations. You get the idea.
Modelling: This ambition is nurtured by the kiddo’s grandpa, my Father-in-law. Bachpan se, the kiddo’s looks have been compared to that of Ranbir Kapoor. I don’t know what the connection is. He doesn’t look like Ranbir and I for one had a crush on Rishi. Anyway, I have been told that my FIL had this ambition for one of his nephews as well who he thought looked like some good-looking actor at the time. The FIL’s further secret ambition is to be his Manager. No comments. Here’s our model for you:
The model in a stylish camera friendly pose
Chef: Cause, let’s face it cook is just mediocre. This again I believe has been the secret ambition of my hubby’s and since the kiddo shows some excitement about what’s cooking, we now have daydreams about his becoming a Chef. Not SRK in Duplicate, more like Jamie Oliver. Oh how my daughter-in-law would bless me!
Singer: ‘The wheels on the bus’ has close to 50 odd versions if not more. Did any of you know that? It’s been more than a year now and this is still the kiddo’s favourite song. It is played on Youtube throughout the day and when it’s not playing on Youtube, the kiddo is singing it. At the top of his voice. The best part? I have to do the actions for round and round, beep beep beep etc etc every time he sings it! He definitely has the sur and taal.
Dancer: He also has the laya. Apart from jumping around in circles and some other dance steps, he has perfected Dev Anand‘s walk! Dev Anand style walking he says. Now Dev Anand has been my first crush ever since I saw Paying Guest. Husband doesn’t like him, never did and makes fun of me every time I sit down and drool over his songs. The son doesn’t know who Dev Anand is – but he vaguely considers Ganesha to be Dev Anand – it’s the Dev in it, I think. The husband doesn’t want Dev Anand to be his dancing inspiration and idol and I am just happy that he picks up the beat for ‘beep beep beep from Wheels on the bus’ and can clap 3 times on it. Perhaps I should show the kiddo the song ‘Khoya khoya chaand‘. I haven’t yet told my husband that I sometimes secretly dream of enrolling the son for Kathak classes. 🙂
Acting: He sure can act and on cue. He knows when to throw tantrums, when to make that baby face that makes us go awwww.. and has perfected the tear faced look – when his eyes are filled with tears but not a single drop drops and his face looks dejected and saddened. What else do you need – dancing and singing along with acting! He is a boy wonder.
Writer/Composer: This child prodigy of mine has composed a song of three lines. I mean that’s something. And no, he poem is not like Rosesh’s. He has even composed a tune for it. I have already started nudging him to write a story because let’s accept it, most people like to read novels instead of poetry. At bed time though he does compose some short stories to tell us so I have hope.
Footballer: This is another one in his long list of passions. He loves to play football. In the house. He cannot bend it like Beckham as yet but he makes it up in speed and accuracy. He knows just how to kick the ball in the air and aim it at the ceiling lights without breaking a single bulb. That’s timing and accuracy. He can even aim it at the TV without breaking the glass. Seriously football it is for him!
Cricketer: He already has the timing, you know placing the ball and all. He doesn’t play cricket with the huge football. He likes the small tennis ball. My only disappointment is that he is a left handed batsmen, I would have liked him to be a right-handed batsman but then I guess that’s too much of expectation!
Seriously, why would you want to be an engineer, doctor, teacher or an IT professional when you have such brilliant talents and glamorous career options. Besides, those are just jobs and these are careers, mind you. That’s why I have excluded them.
So, you have any unfulfilled wishes that you want to intimidate your child with? 🙂
2011…what a year it has been. I never expected I’d be where I am today. But I honestly couldn’t be happier.
My dearest aaji – my grandma or Miss Marple as I fondly call her, suffered from acute bronchitis illness in the middle of the year. I wasn’t with her at that time. She had recovered well when I went to Mumbai and we spent a few weeks laughing, chatting and even dancing until early one morning when she fell down and broke her hip bone. She was hospitalised for almost a week and when we brought her home she was very weak. This was such a shock. I have never seen her so weak and frail. She had always been my pillar of strength and she was always there. To see her lying in the bed and being dependent on others for even a glass of water was very unsettling. However, she is recovering well now and is looking forward to our visit to India next year.
Other losses are trivial compared to my aaji’s weak health. The first year of my life spent jobless. I did absolutely nothing productive except looking after my son and monitoring his progress.
Real friends are still around and have been by my side. Books, books and more books. I have read more books than ever in this year. I hope to read many more in 2012. Hopefully the library will grow its collection.
This year has also given me more than my fair share of amazing moments, great memories, lots of laughs, love, and friendship. It might also be one of the best years I’ve had when it comes to personal growth, finding out who I am, where I am going, and who I want to be. I still have those moments when I falter, when I let things get under my skin and turn into someone I am not proud of momentarily, but in general I am proud of the way I live my life.
I have missed my family and friends but I have an amazing family and friends in my life. I often take them for granted. The long distance relationship with my family has in fact made me realise how much I value them all and how important they are to me. They are a part of who I am and how I have made it through everything in my life. I wouldn’t be who I am without these people.
My parents have been supportive, kind, and caring. and yes they often drive me nuts, but they love me and are there for me when I need them. My brother got married this year to the love of his life and I haven’t seen him happier. My brother is a true role model although he probably doesn’t even realize it. He sets goals and he reaches them. He follows his heart over money. He knows what he wants to do in life and he does it.
My hubby has been a source of strength and support throughout this year. He has patiently heard me out through my vents, anger and other passionate outbursts regarding my job, family, friends and every other thing that I crib about. Anyone else would have given up by now but not him. He has amazing patience and will power and he sure does listen. He is a great listener.
And my son – who has taught me so much about love & life. He is my sunshine on a cloudy day. He sure knows how to put a smile on my face. This year his vocabulary has increased tenfold and so have his questions. Most of the evenings, hubby and I find ourselves laughing silly to all his talks, questions and anecdotes.
Looking back on the good times, the lessons, the hurdles, and thankful for how I got to be where I am.
I can’t wait to see what 2012 will bring.
Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and a Happy New Year to you and yours!
Maddie's Musings 