Movies!!!

Last weekend, I went for a movie, to a theater, and..., with no kids. Jignesh looked after them while I went giggling with my 'girl-friends'. You probably are thinking why am I making such a big deal out of it. Well, first of all, it has been ages since I went to a theater, and another thing, its been eons since I went without any kind of interference, ANY, whatsoever. I have got to do this more often. 3 hours of 'me-time' got me all rejuvenated to go running back to my kids and take them on.

I remember the time, back in college, when my preferences to choosing a movie were different. We have such a platter available to us. Artsy, mushy, bone-tickling, alien-y, dishum-dishum, cartoony, ghost-y and drama.

Of em all, the ones that I would totally avoid are:

Sci-fi: I kinda suffer from some intelligence deficiency. They go right above my head.

Horror/Suspense: I can't really have the demons and the monsters and the pyschos haunting me day and night. Bit of a scaredy cat here. Whats the point in watching those terrible, gut-wrenching atrocities? I still remember the theme music of 'Laal Killa' on DD. I would run away to another room when that started.

Action: Blood and violence, makes me nauseous. And obviously, the feats they show are totally impossible.

Extra-romantic: By which I mean the ones super suffused with extra sugar and unbelievable co-incidences that bring the hero and the heroine together. (yawn)

The ones I like and beginning to like:

Comedys including romantic comedys including chick flicks: Light, airy, fluffy, and funny, in that order. Can keep my serious side of the brain aside and switch the mode (read mood) to ...ummm unserious. Laugh through it and come out feeling literally lighter.

Artsy: By which I mean movies dealing with more real and factual issues, or even fictional but in a more real way. Something that touches the heart and makes you feel the world as is.

Cartoony: Wasn't Nemo and Lion King and Shrek so delightful and amusing?

Anyways, one thing I must add that reading the book first, and then watching the movie makes it more sensible. Like Harry Potter, or the Kite Runner, or even Namesake. It just made it so easy for me to understand. I'd highly recommend that.

Well, movies are stories. Stories that help keep our hopes alive. Stories that help keep us dreaming. Stories, that plain make us smile and laugh our hearts out. So always try to find some time to catch a nice one and let it stimulate your imagination.

Most memorable ones: Not Without My Daughter, Birdcage, Life Is Beautiful, Forrest Gump, Matchstick Men, I am Sam, Masoom, Slumdog Millionaire, Nemo, Lion King, to name a few.

Rakhi ka bandhan

I am not talking about Rakhi ka swayamvar if that's what you have in mind. I don't blame ya coz this new reality show on the Indian channels is as melodramatic as it can get and a good source of 'put-your-head-aside' entertainment.

I am talking about our good ole festival, Rakshabandhan. Come to think of this. We celebrate a lot of days based on relationships. Mother's Day, Father's Day, Teacher's Day, Valentine's Day, Children's Day, Friendship Day. So a Sibling's Day becomes more than just appropriate, doesn't it? Though most of the other days are 'amrikan' and not completely acceptable to our society (how can we forget the passion with which our beloved Shiv Sena loves to destroy any 'foren' culture invasion), Rakshabandhan, however, is greeted with honor and tradition considering its mythological origin.

Is Raksha bandhan still celebrated traditionally? Well, apparently, the rakhis are getting more and more traditional with every season. The silk dhagas come with beads and stones well accompanied by the choiciest mithai boxes, puja thalis or even chocolate hampers. Yes, there are designer rakhis embellished with pearls and gems, but they tend to showcase the most conventional form of our culture. The zardosi and meenakari painted rakhis come with an ethnic scroll that dole out sanskrit shlokas and poems on the love between a brother and sister. And mind you, they are not without an English translation to make them more comprehensible. With the invasion of technology and in the new era of E-commerce, we have all this available online. Beautiful rakhis and gifts are just a click away. Talking about gifts, not only do you have perfumes to microwaves for your sisters, there are also gift packs for brothers that include the latest gadgetry and spa gift certificates. Talk about a reverse trend here. In fact, I also send my rakhi to my brother with a gift pack. And yes, lets not forget the entire array of shinchan and doremon and spiderman rakhis and goodies for the kids.

Well, some say we have marred our tradition. I don't agree. Marrying the technology with tradition is I think the spice that'll enrich our lives and enlighten our souls. Changing times have made us geographically apart, but doesn't facebook and orkut keep us even more updated than ever before? So let the siblings who live overseas get their rakhis and gifts via fedex, it does definitely bring a smile to our faces. And for the locals, though the rakhi celebrations becomes a strictly Sunday affair, atleast you get to enjoy it without any work hurdles.

Happy Rakhi!!!

Strawberry picking

There is nothing more natural than being on an actual farm. There is nothing more organic than going down on your knees and plucking your fruit right of its stem. There is nothing more delicious than eating it right thereafter. 

We went strawberry picking last weekend, something that I had not done in a long time. The last time was a decade ago in Mahableshwar. The farm was luscious. Even the air smelled wonderful. The rows of the strawberry plant were perfectly parallel. The red shining through the green was a visual treat. More than the kids, I was super excited. I immediately got to work. I went about the plants looking for the most red and the biggest strawberry and I wasn't disappointed. It was almost thrilling to find a big one. While Anushka ran in the fields with a stick in her hand, I was not only plucking, but eating them as well. And boy oh boy!!! were they delicious!!!! I knew I had more than I wanted, more than I could finish, but what the heck!!! I just blended up a nice cool strawberry milkshake at night. 

Strawberry is indeed a very beautiful-looking fruit, isn't it? I would like to think of it as a royal fruit. Here are some fun facts about strawberries that I was amazed at:

• Strawberries were originally called 'strewberries' coz they lie just strewned across the leaves of the plants on the ground.
  
• They are the only fruit with seeds on the outside skin. Each fruit has about 200 seeds on it.
• Belgium has a whole museum for strawberries.
• Strawberries belong to the family of rose. 
• Big source of vitamin C and folic acid. And totally fat-free.

I would say that this is a really cool fun outdoor summer activity that every family should plan. June is the only month the strawberry harvest will last. July will be the month for blueberries. So get going you guys!!! Just google up the nearest pick-your-fruit farm and scurry away this weekend. 

P.S. Don't forget your sunscreen lotions.  

Cleaning fairies

I have a fairy who visits me once every month. She does magic too. She squeaky-cleans my house and transforms it into this lovely bright, extra-hygienic abode to live in. She is my cleaning lady and I do call her my fairy. How I wish I had another fairy who would visit my body once every month and clean it all up. Well, lets see, what would these body-cleaning maids really do. 

BRAIN-ATTIC: Lets start from right above. Clear out those cobwebs, dust those memory cells and make them shine again. Afterall, memories are our precious treasure. 

CONTROL ROOM: I'd like to imagine this as circuit board, with pins and chips. And since this is the most functional nerve area of our body, this needs special-care cleaning. The maids will use perfect little brushes to squiggle out the dirt on those boards and end with a nice moist layer of an antiseptic solution to keep it sparkly and 'well-oiled'. 

EYES: Coming down to the face, clean those eyes, with its lenses and leave it with a good spray of an anti-glare liquid given the fact that most of us are either facing a computer or a tv during the max time of the day. 

ENT: Then enter the ENT area which is sure to be all gooey with its mucosy and waxy secretions. Suck it all up with one of the heavy-duty commercial vacuum to leave it free of any dirty saliva or cough. 

LUNGS: Moving on to the lungs, check the little air bags and the right proportion of the oxygen and carbon dioxide leaving the body. Of course, in case of any discrepancies noticed that cannot be tended to asap, make notes that will be reported to the owner of the body. 

HEART: Check the chambers. Check the valves, check the good blood, bad blood. Check the flow. Check the pressure. And well, give the ole guy a nice big hug before making way to the tummy. 

TUMMY AND BOWELS: Check acidity levels. Check the walls. Pay special attention to any swellings, inflammations or similar if noticed. Make notes.

KIDNEYS: Yes, they have special masks and gloves to wear before descending into this bean-shaped organ. Check accumulation. Check flow. Check for any calcium built-up. 

As soon as all this is done, we get to review the cleaning maids' notes. Any special notes or tags can be discussed with the doctor and the necessary treatment or precaution can get under way without no further delay. Wouldn't this be revolutionary in the world of healthcare? Wouldn't it make us more prudent as far our health is concerned? And the healthier we stay, wouldn't we be happier? If only.....

Follow-up by Bhavesh

As a follow-up of my previous post, on the topic of parenting, my friend, Bhavesh, wanted to add his story. Here it is.

The entry on your blog reminds me of one of the episodes in my life, and how our perceptions and thinking changes as we grow.

Fresh out of college, upon being picked up at the campus interview by a small tech firm, I couldn't stop dreaming about my first paycheck on my first job. It was a trivial amount but it was important to me. But, little did I know that I was in for a rude shock of my life. My father, military-minded that he is, announces that I could use my first paycheck the way I want, but the subsequent ones will go into a savings account and I will be entitled to a monthly stipend to take care of my expenses. That was certainly a big blow to me as I watched my friends getting to enjoy their fair share. But it is now that I realize how the actions of my father affected me.  

A disciplined enforcement by him, that I hated at the time, made me clearer in my priorities that have truly been a blessing in disguise. Since money wasn't as important, I focused on honing my other skills, like my communication skills, PR skills and of course technical. The most important lesson I learnt, or realized, was money is not optional. Money is a necessary by-product of hard and sincere work. So while my friends changed jobs for better pay packages, I stayed in the same company for 5 full years, growing professionally, along with a super hike in my salary too, but on a gradual basis. I opted for a career than just money.

The moot point about this is as parents, we make choices. We pamper, yell, guide and support. We know each one comes with his own destiny and in the battle of life, each one fights his own war. We just try to equip them with the values and morals we deem are worthy. My father did what he thought was best for me, not what I wanted. Even if things hadn't gone the right way, his conscience would not have bothered him coz he knew he had given his best. And this is what I will strive to do as well.

I am the most beautiful person in the world!!!

No, I am not an egoistic, bragging, self-centered girl (I refuse to be called a woman) who thinks she has just won an international beauty pageant. These are the words of my daughter. Here is what happened verbatim.

Anushka and I have some argument, she gets her whiny self and is mad at me. 

Me: You don't like me, do you Anushka? Go find yourself an another mommy. A mommy who will listen to you, give you juice when you want, give you icecream when you want, lets you watch tv all the time. I am a bad mommy.

Anushka: Nooooooo. You are a good mommy.

Me: But I don't listen to you everytime.

Anushka: Thats okay mommy. You can say no sometimes.

Me: Are you sure?

Anushka: Yes, I love you. I think you have the best face in the world.

Me: Best face?

Anushka: You are the prettiest in the whole wide world.

Hallelujah!!! So there we go, I am the most beautiful person for my daughter. 

This reminds me of this chapter that we had in one of our school textbooks. It was about this village that was celebrating harvest time and all the people were out in the fields picking their crops. One of the villager finds a little girl crying. She had lost her mother and was hysterical. A few older men gather and ask her to give them something descriptive to identify her mom. Was she tall? Was she short? Was she fair? The girl then speaks, "My mother is the most beautiful person in the world." The men gather all the beautiful women and ask the girl if any is her mother. She says no. They are baffled. Then comes this little stout dark-skinned woman from nowhere and runs to take this girl into her arms. She was not what anyone would call beautiful. Then the men realize that for this girl, her mother is the most beautiful. 

Its a wonderful feeling how important you are for your kids at this particular time of their life. How long this 'importance' will stay, I don't know. And its understandable. As they will grow, they will have  other priorities to achieve. And I will willingly take a back seat in their life. Fore-seat, back-seat, doesn't matter, as long as I remain in their thoughts .....forever.

Coupon craving!

Conventionally, craving is associated with food. All sorts of food. Usually the time one is pregnant. Infact, pregnancy is the greatest excuse to express your weirdest craving and have your husband running around looking for it in the middle of the night. Anyways, I am out of my food-craving and am into coupon-craving. 

Call it coupon-craving, deal-craving, freebies-craving. All I try to do is get my hands on my laptop and look for the bestest deals of the day. And once I get it, I say to myself, whoaaaa, look at the money I am saving. Of course, there are things I wouldn't go looking for consciously, but c'mmon, the perks are always good. Perks are ego-boosters. Perks are exciting. Perks are thrilling. Perks are inviting. Perks are most welcome, aren't they? 

Over the past month, I have got myself a free pizza, free movie ticket, free 8x10 prints, free slippers, free cards, and have spent pennies on Anushka's dresses. Got a box of 100 paperclips for 19 cents. Who can beat that? Yes, I didn't need it, I know, but what the heck, its a deal you can't beat. And yes, I have been sharing it with friends. Sharing it around doubles the craving I have to say. Its hard to describe the sheer thrill you get out of getting things for free or just pennies. 

Anyways, I have to curb my enthusiasm before I become a laughing stock of my friends and people around. This has certainly changed the way I shop now. I would NEVER EVER pay full price for anything. I won't step out till I am convinced I don't have a coupon for my target store. I will hunt the net but it will be controlled. I promise. Cross my heart. All I need is some other addiction.....hehehe. Maybe I can just come back to my dear ole bloggin. :)