Need Prayers...

For my MIL who is not well....

For myself..the countdown to my exams has begun....

Ganpati Bappa

Ganesh Chaturthi was a hectic time for us. We had a chaturthi celebration for 1 day on the 15th at our home. This year the Pais celebrated 93rd year of chaturthi celebrations.

Our Ganpati Bappa


An interesting thing happened this year....
Radhika's friend from office, a Ganesh devotee Mrs. Radha, ALWAYS gets steamed modaks as an offering for chaturthi. My father in law kept one of the modaks on Ganpati's hand. After some time he noticed the modak had opened up and the filling too had leaked out a little.

Miracle? Or the heat from the diyas that made the modak open up? Or something else? Take your pick.


On the second day, Nagesh and I visited Kings Circle GSB Seva Mandal Ganesh. HERE are videos captured at Seva Mandal festival, Wadala Ganpati festival and even some videos from our home celebrations.

Matru Din

Yesterday was Shravan Amavasya (New Moon Day). This is the Indian equivalent of "Mother's Day".
So wishing all mothers A Very Happy Matru Din!!

In The meanwhile, this is the flavour I would be if I was an ice cream . Got it from Chocletluva's Blog.
Coincidentally, she is "Chocolate Chip Ice cream"...the one I would, they say, get along well with. Wow!

You Are Strawberry Ice Cream

A bit shy and sensitive, you are sweet to the core. You often find yourself on the outside looking in. Insightful and pensive, you really understand how the world works. You are most compatible with chocolate chip ice cream.

What Flavor Ice Cream Are You?

Anu again......

No Time
Anu: When mummy will come home?
Varsha Mami: She will come real soon.
Anu: But WHEN???
VM: Soon dear...She will be home in no time.
I realised the phrase was new to her only when she gave me a worried cum sad look,
Anu: In no time means she is not going to come home???

Full Name
Whenever anyone asks her the name of her school, Anu always says "Garodia", almost never the full name unless specifically asked for. So one fine funny day
VM: Anu whats the name of your school
Anu: Garodia
VM: Tell me the full name of your school
Anu: Garodia Academy Preschool
VM: oh...do you know what preschool means??
Anu: Mmm, I don't know...(after a moment of careful thinking) Is it the Surname of the school?

Dedicated to My Preschool.....

Ramabai Paranjpe Bal Vidyamandir, Vile Parle (E)

Long ago I had written a small post about my preschool here and a classmate Aniruddha saw it. I had promised him long back I would come up with more posts..... Sorry Andy I am quite late.

Now that I see Ananya go to school, I really miss my Ramabai days...And the lovely time we had there

1. They would teach us, apart from usual studies, to shell peas, to make imaginary "chaas" out of soap water (which would bubble up, a task I REALLY loved)
2. For one of the annual days, I was in some play and I remember how delighted I was to know that the "princess" costume which was tailor made for me was all mine after the gathering!
3. I remember faintly a day when we had gone to school with our parents. And there was an "exhibition" of sorts. Probably a science exhibit. Mom was showing me a pair of binoculars, a magnifying glass, and many things which awed me to no end.
4. I was always the slowest one to eat. I would finish my tiffin the last. And teachers would always be beckoning me to eat faster. My friend Srushti would be second lo last to finish. And she would alwasy tell me "Saavkaash kha pan Pat pat kha"(She probably meant bite your food well, but eat fast. Till date I'm not sure what it means, nor if she herself knew what she was telling me.)
5. We had a system in Ramabai; in case any kid by chance forgot to carry his lunch box, everyone would give a bit of their tiffin to him, like maybe a quarter chapati, a slice of your bread. Mom always packed my lunch in the 'Day care center bag' (where she droppedme and my brother Vineet before setting off for her work) and I would diligently take it to school. One day I forgot to do that, and I got to have a little bit of everyone's tiffin. Since the quantity in the surrogate tiffin would be small, that was probably the only day in Ramabai when I finished my tiffin before anyone else's!

Thats all I remember from my pre school days at the moment.....

Kids Say........

Firstly, Thanks Harekrishnaji for your concern. I am very much around. Just with my exams nearing, blogging has taken a back seat for the moment.

Snippets of some interesting dialogues I have had with my naughty 5 year old niece Ananya. This post is dedicated to my sis (sister in law, technically) Radhika, who is Ananya's mother and wanted to maintain a log of all these funnies.

Disclaimer: Some of the convos may not seem too funny to those who don't know Anu....some jokes could be situational, and difficult to put into words.
Most of the dialogues are Ad verbatim(as I remember) So kindly excuse the grammatical lapses.

Playing Games
Usually once she returns home from school, Anu has this habit of pestering me with "Play with me na for FIVE minutes". On the occasions on which I do comply, we are almost never done in 5 minutes.
One day, after I returned from my classes, I was in no mood to study and was dying to play with Anu. However she took no heed of my genuine requests.
Next day after she came from school,

Anu: Play with me no for FIVE minutes.
Varsha Mami: No dear I have to study.
Anu: How much you study!! Play with me no......only five minutes......
VM: Your 5 mins never get over.....And yesterday, when I was begging to play with you, why didn't you play with me?!
Anu: Oh. I was not in a mood to play na! And I was very busy. But today if you beg, I will play with you...promise.

Being Humble
Anu: Please put on the fan
VM: No way. I am not feeling well. And I am feeling verrry cold.
Anu: But I won't feel cold...put on the fan.
VM: No I said.....I am running a fever. Sorry, no fan
Anu: (standing next to me, holding my hands, with a forlorn expression) Please put on the fan. Very please, verry please. I am saying very please no...put on the fan.

Babies
Anu: When will you have a baby?
VM: After I finish studying.
Anu: Why can't you have a baby when you are studying?
VM: Arrey, If my baby says "Play with me" I will have no time na...
Anu: Then I will play! I am also alone na, I get bored.
VM: But small babies need a lot of their mother...to clean the, feed them...
Anu: I will play and look after your baby. I will come from school and play with your baby. (after a moment of thinking) No, I will come from school, wash my hands, eat food and play with your baby, OK?!
VM: Hmnnn...OK. I will have a baby when you are old enough to look after him/her.....
Anu: OK.

There is a lot more to come.......

Wedding Photos and Video

Some of our wedding pictures and video's thanks to our dear friends Uma and Abhijit

Abhijit's Photo Album

Uma's Album

Videos from Abhijit

Mehendi

HelpAge India

I need not say more.

I pray nothing like this befalls anyone I know, lest at my hands deliberately or unwittingly..

My Boli....MaayBoli....

Is speaking in your mother tongue such an "unhep" thing to do? I fail to understand why many people, especially my long lost Maharashtrian batchmates almost never speak in Marathi, even if I speak in Marathi. Or is this the fate of all Indian lingos?

I speak Marathi at home with my parents, with my Americanised brother (who also speaks shuddha Marathi with me), with any Maharshatrian I meet....and I find is sad that people speak English at home with each others, with parents.

We were discussing in my school community on orkut about how many of our batchmates have changed for better or for worse. There I found a so called "hep" Marathi gal speak about another one "...she so different now, she is slimmer, etc etc and hardly speaks Marathi"
I was wondering if this was magic or tragic.....

Maas and Sasumaas......

I know, its been a real long time since I blogged. Mostly these days its switching on the PC, doing some work and running back to the books. Ok...I am not studying as hard as I sound I am, but how I wished....
So today, although my stipulated time online is exhausted, yet I turn the PC on again just to blog....coz I'm getting many a shocks...I need to write myself out!!


Heard from an old friend today, who tied the knot recently after a long engagement. I was very happy. Then she shared her plans to move abroad. Her hubby will join her say after a few months or an year. Will he stay alone till then? I asked. She said he will move in for a year with her parents. Uh? well since her parents (who are in their fifties, max) will be all alone. Will his mom like it I asked? Now her reply was a real shocker. She doesn't know what his mom will feel and they are not sure how long his mom will live since she's almost 70!!
Ok they might be having some adjustment issues or anything she doesn't wish to share. But the reason was offerred?! Shocked the hell out of me.
We speak loudly of how mothers in law must treat their betis and bahus alike. But how about treating your husbands mother like your own? Considering that the lady is a 70 year old widow?!


Then the story of a couple we have known for a long time. They got a raw deal from their builder and to cut a long story short, have to live in a rented house. They had to move to a place much smaller than the one they have paid for and as a result, they had to junk a lot of their good strong furniture they made decades ago...with great planning, great wood...and many dreams in their eyes.
Since their son who left USA for good also stays in Mumbai, they asked him if he could accomodate their good stuff in his quarters (Which is a decently huge flat by Mumbai standards). Poor parents: the son told them "I have all Italian furniture, this won't fit in my home. I am already claustrophobic here , now I have no room for your stuff in."
Logical question...why do the parents need a rented place at all..they have a son to move in with! Well the son does want his mom to live with him, especially if she leaves her job (and 10 good years of service). In short, he wants an educated nanny for his daughter and a maid for his pregnant wife. And whenever the mom does stay with him to ease her bahu of work during her pregnancy, the guy has the cheek to tell her "Don't do this, B doesn't like that", or "Make this stuff for her, her mother says you should make this for her".
How I wished he was man enough to tell his wife once in a while "Let my Mom make this for you...she has been through childbearing too" or maybe "Let Ma have her way too once in a while, after all she wishes us well too, like your mom does"

One Fine Day....

..they were travelling on the bus. She asked him, out of the blue,

"If you had to change one thing about me, what would it be?"

He said, "Nothing. I love you just the way you are."

She, "No but still, change one thing......"

He, "Ok. I wish I could make you little less sensitive than you are"

She, "Hmnnn"

After a long wait she asked,

"You didn't ask me what I would like to change in you. I was expecting that question.."

He, "Ok...what ?"

She, "I wish I could make you a bit more sensitive....."



No prizes for guessing who "they" are. They are getting married on June 22nd 2007.

PR Giri

I know I should have introduced you all to Radio Idli, Nagesh's Brain child long ago....Sorry Nagesh, I owed you that one.

Radio Idli is a new "audio blog" a unique concept by Nagesh. Its a GSB Community Radio on Blogger. A mix of Konkani humour, various songs in many lingos by contributors from all over the globe and variety of amazing featured programmes that will entertain you.

DNA has done a story on Nagesh's this effort in their edition today. Here it is.

Do tune in to Radio Idli and leave your feedback.

Hearing Impairment Awareness

This post on "Awareness On Hearing Impairment" has been written by my sis Priya Nayak-Gole, an Audiologist and Speech- Language Pathologist.

Awareness on hearing impairment

Anmol was a bubbly 3-year old, except that he wouldn’t talk. On consultation his pediatrician assured his parents that he would talk some day. Relatives said, it ran in the family and that many of his uncles were late talkers. All was OK till one day his nursery teacher complained that he was not responding to name call and did not seem to be following instructions. She concluded that he either could not hear or was retarded. The distraught parents immediately got his hearing tested and to their utmost dismay, Anmol had profound hearing impairment in both his ears. A year down the line, after being fitted with hearing-aids and intensive speech-language therapy, Anmol speaks a few words though not very clear, and can fairly manage to follow commands in classroom. However the progress could have been much better had he been intervened early. Three vital years of his life were wasted due to lack of awareness.

In case of hearing-impairment, “a stitch in time saves nine” holds utmost significance. An alert parent, family member or neighbor can prevent a lot of misery by early identification of symptoms in children.

Following is a guideline for parents and child health practitioners.

Early response to be looked for:

1. Birth – 2 months → startling response to loud sounds
2. 2months – 6months → eye movements to sounds
3. 6months – 12 months → head turning response to sounds, human voice
4. > 12 months → child babbles mama…baba… etc.
5. 1½ years → single meaningful words
6. 2½ years → 2- word phrases (“mama give”; “give ball”)
7. 3 years and above → meaningful simple sentences (“mama give ball”)

If the child

• Has been a high risk baby at birth (e.g. Neonatal jaundice, premature baby, birth asphyxia, prolonged labor, birth trauma or any other observable disorder) or
• At any point of time, doesn’t respond to sounds or
• Is delayed in speech-language milestones or
• An older child (i.e. >5years) has unclear speech,

Contact your nearest ENT surgeon and Audiologist for screening of hearing loss and further rehabilitation if required.

For querries contact,
Mrs.Priya Nayak-Gole (MASLP,Mumbai)
Audiologist and Speech-Language Pathologist
CBD Belapur, Navi Mumbai
Ph. 9892068386

Random

You must dream....dare to dream high, dream big.....and be prepared to see some dreams crash.

My Visual DNA

Inspired by Aditi

Read my VisualDNA™ Get your own VisualDNA™

The Finger

I spot her in the crowd...run to her.
"Kitni umar hain bacche ki?"
No reply....she just showed me the finger.

I spot him in the crowd. His eyes meet mine...he nods...and shows me the finger.


Ahh....thats how the days are in the life of a "Pulse Polio" intern.

[For the uninitiated, any kid who has recieved the Polio vaccine on the immunisation day gets a mark on his little finger, to identify the unvaccinated ones.]

Faith

She was deft at dumping work on the world....she behaved as if she was the only one who had exams....I did my work sincerely. Never shirked. I was eager lo learn.

I don't deny she studied. And I don't deny I didn't.

She cracked the exams...I didn't.

I know ONLY hard work pays in the end...but somehow I still believed in natural justice.......


Disclaimer: This may not really make much sense.....leave it

I'm Back

Done with my entrance exams. On 14th jan and 21st jan. The chances of me getting through in this attempt are slim, slimmer after I know what I have done in my papers. Anyways for some time I am back to dedicated blogging......

Happy New Year

Long time no blog.....I know, have been trying to study, plus a vacation with mom and brother. S0 on the ocassion of this new day of the new year let me pen some of my thoughts..

Resolutions

1. Will work harder for my exams this year
2. Will keep my room neater and get organised in general
3. Stop judging and start loving
4. Exercise regularly and work especially on the weak muscle groups pointed out by my physiotherapist (Ya I know I am too yuong to have one....sigh)
5. Take care of my health and appearance...... :))
6. Stop procrastinating

The Eve
Nagesh and I met after a long time since I had been on a vacation for a the last week of December. He had been out on office/personal trips on the rest of the weekends in December. We went to a CCD at Dadar TT hoping to sit there and catch up. And I was overjoyed to see it less populated than usual for the given hour of the day. But to our dismay for just the 31st CCD had doubled the rates. So we walked out in defiance of this (Paying 80 bucks for a cup usually priced at Rs. 30...even when 30 is a high price to pay for the amount of coffee is absolutely criminal) only to realise that we didn't have a nice place where we could sit with just a drink or so. Then we grabbed a bite and I lightly mentioned that I wanted to but Geeta Press Bhagwad Geeta. So we went to Giri Book Stores at Matunga to buy that. We were probably the only couple in Mumbai who spent the eve discussing Shrimad Bhagwad Geeta as printed by different book presses.

The Vacation
Had this lovely vacation with my mom and brother form 24th through 30th December. Visited Banglore, Mysore and Coorg. Photos and travellogue will follow shortly.