Swamiye Sharanam Ayyappa!

|| Shubh Deepavali ||

எல்லோருக்கும் தீபாவளி நல்ல்வாழ்துக்கள் !!

Wishing all the readers of my blog a very safe, happy and prosperous Deepavali !!

This is the lovely design I made on my palm today :) 

Some more mehndi

I applied some henna after many months :)

Felix gets lauded but Malala got shot?

In a world where a MAN like Felix Baumgartner gets lauded for creating a record by breaking the sound barrier; a little GIRL like Malala gets shot by the Taliban (who mainly comprise of by the way: MEN) - just because she chose to speak her mind and campaign for what she believed in firmly. And it all happened within the span of a few days!

Both Felix and Malala took a step forward to reiterate their commitment towards their goals - and both believed in pushing the limit.

Except for what happened next. HE received laurels and SHE nearly got killed.

Taliban and related groups of MEN who think they are in any way superior to women :

Get It Straight.

No matter what you do - try as you might, you can never daunt the spirit of a woman. 

Malala is just an example and in fact she is just a trial version of what lies ahead.You guys tried to kill her but guess what - she is a survivor and she will come back!

You can use all the weapons in the world if you care but nothing will stop IT from happening. The world is going to see a major uprising soon where hordes of women will come out to speak their minds and mark the advent of a revolution. It is already trickling in as a small stream and the time is not far when it will take the form of an ocean.

So Taliban, stop targeting one woman here and there; and instead, focus on shaking the dust off your pea-sized brains. Watch out for what is coming soon, be prepared to be shaken from the very roots.

I've been reading!

I've been utilizing the post delivery period to catch up on some reading. I had the awesome foresight to order some books for myself and it's been sheer joy to immerse myself in one of my favourite hobbies.

Ever since I got home from the hospital on August 26th 2012; I've read:

1. The two books in the Shiva Trilogy
2. Another Man's wife by Manjul Bajaj

Both the above are EXCELLENT reads..

3. 'Devil in Pinstripes' and 'If God was a Banker' by Ravi Subramanian
4. Fifty Shades Darker (overdose of the kinky stuff, not very interesting)

Didn't find these too great


and now..

I've finally started reading Chanakya's Chant and I am mesmerized to say the least :)

A mother's struggle for her daughter's bright future

The maalish bai who comes home these days for massaging baby Sumedh, is one helluva woman. She shares a lot of stories about her life with me as she is giving me the postnatal massage - and each story is special in its own way.

This woman has been so strong even when life was so cruel to her. When her daughter was 3 months old, this woman found out that her husband already had another wife hidden away. She immediately divorced him and moved out to her parents' home.

She left her daughter with her father [the baby's grandfather] while she took the decision to move here to the UAE to eke a living as a postnatal masseuse. She talks fondly about her daughter's childhood, the moments that she has missed out on. About how she has struggled in an alien land just so that her daughter can have the best education and won't ever need to face the same struggles as she did.

Her daughter till date feels bad that she never got the love of her parents. No dad of course; and mom went away to another country to work. Of course mom wanted the best for her but at what cost? Life can be unfair - very few people can have their cake and eat it too.

From her life story, I am reminded of how much parents can sacrifice so that their children can have a cozy life. Parents always want the best for their children, they always wish for comfort levels and happiness for their children, which is a notch higher than what they have experienced.

When my maalish bai talks, I can hear the glint of hope in the slight quiver of her voice. I can see the dreams she has for her daughter shining in those little black beady eyes.There is something about motherhood that turns women into ferocious tigresses, so immensely protective of their child. There is no limit to what a mother can do for her child and there are no horizons on the sky of her hopes.

 A mother's heart never gives up dreaming for her children.

We have a new member in our family!!

Please join us in our happiness as we have welcomed our newest family member :) Our second precious little baby boy arrived via scheduled c-section on 23/08/2012 - he is now a part of our little world! Older bro Samarth is super thrilled!

Clay again! :) Samarth's creative pursuits :)

Fruit Basket

Flower Basket

Chair

Table/Foot stool

Mr. Crazy Bee

Candle

Mr. Smiley Face

A lovely little Carrot

This was made by me, a dolphin

August!

Happy Avaniyavittam!

Feeding my beloved pigeon friends :)

Makes me very very happy to put crumbs of bread out on my kitchen sill, which is not too wide but enough for my little birdie friends to perch and gobble up some food :) 

Playdoh-ing with Samarth :)

Recent kolams :D

Basket woven with recycled material

I used the basket weaving technique and made this one. Isn't it so colourful and pretty? Surely can be neater...but I think it's fantastic for a first time effort :D

Bubble Investigation :)

We made a bubble blower using this link

http://www.ehow.com/how_2383687_make-bubble-blower.html

It was so much fun as you can see!! Samarth loved doing it together with me and we shared lots of laughs! :)

Your child, your responsibility - Keep them safe on the road!!

Picture this scenario.

It's a bright sunny morning and it's the weekend. You leave home with your family including children, and you have planned lots of exciting activities for the day at the zoo and the park. All of you get into the car, you wear your seatbelt and so does the person sitting in the passenger seat next to you - Of course because it is mandatory. You've heard a lot about how children should be safe in cars as well, so you start to buckle up your children who are in the seat behind you. But of course they refuse and throw tantrums. You waste a whole 20 minutes coaxing and cajoling them but to no avail. Resignedly and rather unhappily, you go back to your seat as you don't want to ruin everyone's mood - and you let the kids do what they want i.e bouncing around at the back of the car as always.

Sadly though - all of you never make it to the zoo and the play park. 

Instead you find yourself in hospital with wounds all over, and luckily enough the kids have escaped only with minor injuries. 

Did you ever think of all this when you left home today morning? Of course not. You imagined you would be lucky as always and everyone would be driving at a comfortable speed obeying every road rule. Not once in your wildest dreams did you think that YOU and YOUR family would be victims of road rage. 

So many people don't get this second chance that YOU just got. Their lives are wiped out in those very few seconds and that's it - it's all over.

Unfortunately we always wait until the day for some incident to happen which will serve as a wake up call. The truth is - we may not always be lucky to be alive to realize it. It is just a matter of seconds before it's all over.

For every story of survivors of road accidents; there are 20 stories of people and children who don't survive. Of recent, the statistics especially in the UAE are rather alarming. Every other day, there is one such story in the newspaper blaring out on the front page and the circumstances in which these accidents happen are horrific. Take a look at these links:

http://www.emirates247.com/news/emirates/dubai-car-accidents-up-but-deaths-drop-this-year-2012-03-17-1.448802

http://www.thenational.ae/news/uae-news/child-among-six-injured-in-dubai-road-accidents-in-five-days

And if that's not enough to wake you up, take a look at this video. It summarizes everything that I possibly have to say on this topic that is so very close to my heart.

We cannot control how other people drive and whether or not they go around obeying road rules. BUT what we can surely control is our safety inside our own vehicle. As parents - it is our main responsibility to ensure that our children are safe and protected NO MATTER WHAT.

If I had a coin for each time I have ignored my child's tantrums and buckled him up in his seat in the car - I would be a millionnaire now. I'm probably the mean mom for him, but my child's safety is more important to me than giving in to his tantrums and glorifying my image in his eyes. I don't care what he thinks of me at that point - because I know that as his age he does not realize how important it is for him to stay safe but I do.

Road safety campaigns have now been launched all over the UAE and people are being urged to use a car seat for their child. Let's be very honest, how many people actually pay heed to these awareness campaigns? Hardly. Most people just give random excuses like 'Oh a car seat is too expensive' or, 'Oh my child never listens to me and I can't buckle her in because she screams and cries until I give in'.

Really now? As my fellow college mate Christina aptly said - 'What's more important? Giving in to your child's screams and not buckling up OR never hearing them scream again?'.

As a parent what can you do?

It is indeed YOUR responsibility as a parent to drive safely and stay within speed limits. Of course, I don't need to reiterate that PLEASE don't use your cell phones even on a hands free as that is distracting as well. And definitely no texting or Facebooking whilst you are driving. Who needs blaring music? Not you and definitely not your kids. 

It is as yet not mandatory in the UAE for children to be buckled into their car seats. I truly wish for the UAE government to wake up soon and start imposing fines on such careless parents.

If you are reading this and you are guilty of not buckling up your child in his/her car seat - then DO IT TODAY.

Because remember, there may not be a tomorrow. 

Eco-craft: 'Wild Thing' project for Samarth's homework

Hi !! - I'm Rumpoo :) Here's a short introduction to who I am and how I came to life!!

Samarth got a homework project from school to make a wild creature using recycled materials. His mom and he conjured up some ideas, and voila - they created me! Let's now see HOW exactly they made me!

I was originally a plastic water bottle, whose head they chopped off!  Then they rolled a sheet of newspaper and stuck it through the holes they had punched into the bottle - to create my hands.

Now it was time to make a head for me!! They crumpled a ball of newspaper and stuck it on the top of the bottle. Samarth's mom had an old torn kaftan which was lying around, she snipped off a piece from it and fashioned an outfit for me, yaaaaaay!! . Luckily it was a batik print - ideal for the look I was aiming for!!

Oh and they used newspaper which was rolled and cut into strips to make me some hair - woo hoo so they ensured I wasn't bald any more!! I was beginning to look really cute now and very much like myself!

Hello Hello!! :D - and that's ME!!

Hi Everyone - look at me, posing for a photograph in Samarth's class!

Byee!! :D

Kolam Design - May 2012

Kumar Sanu ki awaaz main :) My top 7 faves

I was listening to a few songs the other day on the radio that totally took me back to the 90s when Kumar Sanu was the ultimate male romantic voice around in the Bollywood music industry. He, along with Udit Narayan, ruled the roost at that time - and what a melodious era it was :)

I'll list a few of my favourites from Kumar Sanu's voice:


1. Dheere Dheere se Meri Zindagi Main Aana from Aashiqui [1990]

2. Ae Kaash Ke Hum from Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa. I was amazed to see that I could remember 99% of the lyrics to this song :) No wonder it is on this list today - absolutely melodious and hum-worthy.

3. Mera Dil Bhi Kitna Paagal Hai from Saajan :) An all time favourite. I just love the line that goes 'par saamne jab tum aate ho' :)

4. Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga from 1942 A Love Story. 
Simple, simple, super simple melody; yet it touches your heart in a way that hardly any song can.

5. Taare Hain Baarati Chandni Hai Yeh Baarat - from the 1997 movie Viraasat

]

6. Yeh Kaali Kaali Aankhen - from Baazigar [1992]. Foot tapping beats and a zany sense of rhythm embedded within that made it a popular chart buster. I used to love dancing crazy steps on this song with my family :)

7. And............. Odh Li Chunariya from Pyaar Kiya Toh Darna Kya [1998]. Love how Alka Yagnik sings the 'Pyaar' bit each time with a variation :)

New Designs :)