Oh no!

I'm a bit forgetful.

I remember people's faces but not the name attached to the face. There are few who take extreme delight in calling me, and continuing the conversation animatedly, without introducing themselves, while i'm pressing 'ctrl Find' in my brain to figure out who they could be - meena?, teena? ya madhu!

There have been occasions when i've talked to someone for quite sometime, totally convinced that he/she was someone else!

I forget people's names, especially if i've just met them. There is this parent at my son's school who i very sweetly smile at and talk inane stuff. Yesterday, she asked me for my phone number, just in case she gets late to school, so that i could reassure her son.

Me: My no's __________. and the name is Suma.

She: Of course, i know your name. Besides, I never forget a name .

I think furiously, my name filing system in my head has gone haywire and so I flash my pearly whites at her, hoping she forgets to give me her number.

She: and this ***** is my number

Me: okay, and how do i spell your name? (smart, am I not?)

She looks at me and says slowly: "A.N.U"

Oh!

i feebly say: "not a.n.o.o?"

She laughingly replies: "You forgot my name, didn't you?"

Aiyo!

The first one to say that i deserved this

is so ....right!

So who's been missing me?

"How is Dubai? How are you?" ask many when they spy me online.

The problem with moving to a new country is that whenever someone asks you how you are, you are so tempted to tell them "how you are". The downside is that it may take 15 minutes and then that poor gal may say erm..."i just remembered i gotta go!"

The good so far:

• I like the place we've moved into.
• The kids have their own group down and they play cricket/soccer every evening. The elder one is the star of the group, that's what he so modestly told me. We asked him about his friends, the ones who give him a high five after every goal, and he shrugged his shoulder (that shoulder of his is sometimes the most communicative part). He just knew their names, why would he want to know anything more?"
• why indeed! uncomplicated and simple, that's my boy!
• and the younger one has been given a nickname - Bob! Noone's telling me why.
• The house is just five minutes away from the supermarket, 3 stops away from the nearest mall and a 10 minute walk from school. and it has quite a bit of greenery around. and birds!I like that a lot.
• I found an art center nearby where they have all sorts of shortterm courses...I plan to join whatever's available.

Now the not-so-good.

• I miss the easy accessibility of Singapore.
• I try to take the bus when I can but i dislike the staring that happens when i'm at the busstop.
• Every Saturday night, i think"oh great tomorrow's Sunday" and then it strikes me that Sunday in this place means a working day and then i go 'Oh GREAT!!!!! tomorrow's Sunday! sigh"
• I had three families over for a pre-diwali gettogether and i cooked a huge spread, all the while wishing they were not acquaintances but people i really knew and liked! and to think they were close to nice people. Making new friends is not as easy as it once used to be.
• I think with age, i'm getting to be the opposite of social.
• And my blog! The less said the better. The wordsmith in me has suddenly taken temporary retirement. The only phrases which come to mind regularly are 'eat your food' don't scream' get up, go to sleep' wash your hands' and shhhhh!
• I think i have the Dubai blues!

Let's just call it fiction?

She had walked her son to school, waved brightly to two friends' husbands, walked to the local supermarket and met a lot of friendly people. A wonderful morning!

And then, she glanced at the mirror.

She had done it again, walked all over town wearing her shirt inside out with the label flapping merrily away!

Will you be my friend - 2

Two years back, when we moved to Singapore, I had apprehensions. Mostly about how my elder boy would take to a new school. My own 'first day at a new school' experiences would always flash in my mind and i worried a bit about how easy/difficult would it be for my boy, to make his place in a new environment.

Two years back i had written this:

Now the situation is the same, even though the location differs. I still worried. He had loved his school in Singapore, was quite popular with teachers and students and was on the school sports team. Would he compare, would he able to adjust? what if? what if? what if...?

And then he came back with a smile. He had a helpful boy sitting next to him, the other kids were friendly, he's shown off his socccer skills, sprained his wrist on the field, caught the coach's eye and he likes the place. And I'm proud of him.

Like i always tell him, never underestimate the power of a friendly smile.

We are finally moving into our new home with NO internet access, the 6 yrold has passed his entrance test, and looks like i'm back to breathing normally.

Sometimes i feel i need to worry/brood intensely for something to work out out just the way i want it to. Wish i could apply that logic to my internet access.

If folks in Dubai see a woman with a mop-head with sunglasses perched on it, clutching her laptop, searching for a socket in a mall to plug her laptop in, please say hi and guide her to one. (that's what may happen when i get desperate).

or maybe i'll be de addicted by then!

Catch you soon!

Psst: thank you, all for the lovely comments in my last post. Would have individually replied, if it were not for the fact that i'm actually supposed to be packing my bags, so that i can leave this apartment that we called 'home for a month'. Just to take those suitcases to a place two blocks away to unpack again and mess up a new place that will be home.

Double Psst: Glad to clear the confusion about my blog name...but considering i could have named it "Aiyorama, so much drama', i think the current name is way better!

My aalochane, right here and right now

I sometimes wonder whether people come here thinking this is a food blog. Perhaps they go away disappointed that i cannot even spell my 'aaloo' and 'channa' right. I contemplate changing my blog name but then that means racking my brain for something and right now the heat of Dubai has fried it to an irretrievable state.



So coming back to the blog name, when blogger sat there waiting for me to key in my blog name, all i could think of was 'Aalochane', (aalochanay) which in Kannada means 'thoughts'. And i thought i thought a LOT! Never mind the fact that most of them never got translated into posts.

So, thanks to me, you now know a new Kannada word.

But, right now I'm thinking that


the elder one has started school and went with a smile, considering he had to get up very early (which means by default i had to get up even earlier!), though I'm wasting my whole morning thinking that he's going to get lost in the huge campus.

I hope he remembers he has a nice smile.



my 6 yrold thinks all this moving around means he is never going to school (Yikes!!)


he has an assessment test day after. (*i'm going to faint)


my shipment arrives today (more YIKES!)

we will then move into our house, which means no internet for 3 weeks (yikes raised to the power of infinity!!!!)



Considering i'm guzzling cups of coffee and tea in anticipation of chaos, do be kind to say a hi if you drop by here.

Bringing up mom - 1

Many many years back, there was a wee little boy who made his way into our hearts even before he was born. We first saw him when he was 10 months old,. He was my sister's son and the first baby in our house. He was the most fussy and tempermental baby i had seen but we were his willing slaves and he knew it. We still are, even now that he has grown into a smart handsome 18 yrold and he knows it :).

My sister was an awesome parent. I would always notice how well she handled him and later on his brother. One technique which intrigued me was her counting till 5 . She would ask them to do something. As usual they would take their time getting to it. She would then start counting 1, 2, 3, 4. By the time she reached 5, the job would be done. MAGIC! i did wonder what would happen when she reached 5 and they still ignored her.

The other technique was clearing her throat! Whenever she saw any of her kids doing something they shouldn't, she would clear her throat. This was most useful especially when she had company. It was a discreet way of telling them something. and it worked like magic again!

So when i had my kids, it was but natural that i should try it out.

The counting worked fine, if you ignore the fact that it took half an hour for me to reach 5 from 4. I managed to divide that 1 unit into 50 or more subdivisions. Sometimes for variety they would hear me say 4.1, 4.23, 4.67...sometimes i would go into fractions.

The clearing of the throat was disastrous..I had to have a coughing fit for any one boy to know that i was trying to attract his attention. It is true when they say practice makes us perfect. I'm an expert cougher now.


So now i've devised my own parenting tool. The decibel level, the tone of the voice, the intensity of the glare, mix them up just right. It works well most of the time. Sometimes i overdo the glare bit and my eyes feel like they may pop out. The times it doesn't work, you can find me in the bathroom cooling off.

Now they've grown a bit and the only one who has temper tantrums is me, so life's good!

It has been ages since i've practised my 'hand me down' parenting technique. The last time i tried doing the counting thing for my 6 yrold, the 11 yrold asked me 'so what happens when you reach 5?" You wouldn't want to know what i retorted but it kept him shut!

The other day i was in the kitchen, when G, who was in the study and therefore deaf to the world, hollered: "do you need anything? did you want something?"

I was puzzled by his asking, for this guy needs a megaphone to get his attention.

I screamed back a NO! (i've learnt somewhere that every action deserves an equal reaction)

Then the 6 yrold appeared by my side. 'did you call? we were just playing?'

Now seriously flummoxed, i asked him "no i didn't call you! not unless my thoughts can magicallly reach you. Why did you ask?"

He replied airily " oh, anna sent me to find out why you were coughing"

The dim bulb brightened! I had cleared my throat a few minutes back.

I had finally got everyone's attention! after 11 years of parenting! even G's!

And i wasn't even trying.

Sigh!

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Thank you BlogAdda, you made my day :)

spreading sunshine

This is a story of a little boy with his sunny ways,

A little boy i know, six years young and full of life.

Has a smile on his lips and his feet on springs,

Sunshine is most certainly his other name

It was hot that day as it had been for so very long,

He was grumpy in the taxi, a tantrum brewing strong

His mood was black as the sun shone bright by his side.

He declared: "I hate the sun! why is it always on me?

It is too bright, it makes me hot and i cannot see!"

The mother 'who knows everything' said,

"You are our sunshine, I think the sun likes you,

though you can sit on my side if you wish to"

A minute later, a little hand waved out to the sun

'Ofcourse", he said, "that's why the sun always follows me,

Even when i cross the road, or just still

It likes me because i'm a friend, because i must be fun"

The 12 yrold giggled because he knew too much,

The mother nudged him into silence because she knew better

This was a moment for her to savour,

when faith and innocence, her two great friends

Joined hands to make a little heart believe

A little boy made friends with the sun that day

All because he had faith and innocence firm by his side

and let's not forget, a little help from mummy too!