Sleeping beauty!

There was once a little girl, let’s name her A, who was quite the worrier. Among the many things she kept thinking about, she worried about not being beautiful enough.  She fretted over the size of her feet and her unruly curly hair. She was much loved in her family but she still suffered from low self-esteem. Why oh why did she not have her sister’s natural grace, she often thought.

One summer holiday, in the lethargic mood induced by the heat, she watched her grandma wash her face with soap and water. After smoothing talc on her face, she dipped her finger into the red kumkum powder and made a perfect red dot in the center of her forehead. A thought that her grandma, must have been the most beautiful looking person on earth.

“Ajji” she said adoringly, “you look so beautiful”.

“Child”, Ajji said, “Beauty is in the mind and heart. As long as you nurture a healthy mind, you will look lovely on the outside too. Always remember that.”

She paused.

“Of course you must grow your hair, oil it and plait it tight. Eat healthy and laugh lots. Live your life well and believe in your dreams” She hurriedly added, not wanting to waste a rare teachable moment.

Having said that, she called A over and expertly put the eyetex (kajal as it used to be called in those days) on her eyelids.

“That’s confusing“ the little girl thought, as she widened her eyes to avoid the stinging which followed.

As A grew, she slowly understood what her grandmom must have been trying to tell her. It took a few unpleasant experiences to drive home the point, but she understood. She now knew what Confucius meant when he said, “Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it. “

She realized that beauty had so many interpretations. Life was so full of beauty. She just needed to open her eyes wide.

It surely was present in a face lined with wrinkles and laugh lines, each one sharing a tale.


It must be in those folds of cellulite too, perhaps the scars speak of the life nurtured inside?

It could be the first rain on a dry parched land.

It could describe that scene where a bird carries a morsel of food for the newborn chicks in her nest.

It is definitely that moment when the butterfly emerges from its cocooned existence.

It is evident in the uninhibited laughter of a child.

It is in that nurturing spirit with which a 6 year old adopts an 80 year old great grandmother, pampering her making the latter feel loved and wanted.

It is in living healthy and enjoying life.

Beauty was within A too. She just needed to know that. It is in the laying of a strong foundation of positive attitude, self assurance and inner peace (yes, Panda Po is quite influential). 

It does not matter who A is. It could have been me, it could be you, it could be the girl next door.

Beauty is how YOU look at the world, not how the world sees you.

In a society, which lauds a pencil thin figure and perfect face and hold pageants glorifying the same, it is easy to forget the value of the beauty within.

But, to me,

Real beauty is living life on your terms, with a smile, spending time with the ones you love, and living every moment, like A fortunately found out.

It is not a crime to look beautiful.  Go on, pamper the outside you with those gorgeous smelling creams and oils. Perhaps they do work. But age is just an increasing number. The challenge is to be beautiful inside. 


So wake up that sleeping beauty within and go charm yourself.

Now that would be real beauty, wouldn’t it?

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This post was written for Yahoo! Real Beauty - 'what does real beauty mean to you?' contest.

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What's up?

What's up? the sky of course...

Poor joke, i know...but then if I've been hearing jokes of this calibre (courtesy my 8yrold and his friends) for the past few months, who says i can't inflict the same on you all? There is also a potentially hurtful one he's learnt...there are these letters written all over his body and you read it to one by one, and then WHAM! you get a slap...why? because the letters read HIT ME!!! Yeah, there's a flaw in that one, but try explaining it to an 8yrold!

So getting back to what's up? I've made the big move back to India. We had an anxious month waiting for school admissions to be finalized. It is always tough moving house, more so as the children grow up. This time it was more difficult because the kids had settled in well, but then the reasons why we moved? That's another post, another day!

A lot has happened in the last few months. I played Holi and convinced myself that i liked it. We won the World Cup and it was worth getting back to India just to savor the win on home ground. The apartment complex had put up a special screening for the semi finals and finals and we screamed ourselves hoarse, egging Dhoni and his men on...

In other news, my pint sized censor board is convinced i wear his tee shirts...somebody please tell him i couldn't fit into it even if i hold my breath and suck my stomach all the way in. He's having a better social life than I do. The phone calls are for him, the doorbell rings for him! I've resignedly donned on my secretary's hat in addition to the other hats I've collected so far.

And I'm seriously considering disconnecting my doorbell, it seems to be the most used, from 8 in the morning to 7 in the night!

That's around 10% of the news on hand...This post was long overdue and thanks to the few who keep enquiring. I seem to have got a severe case of 'the empty thought' syndrome, but I'm working on it.

Let me answer that doorbell while you guys be nice to me :)

Erm...

It has been six months since I last posted and the reason for that had to be something phenomenal.

Right?


Sigh...

How about 'The wordsmith in me was on leave and forgot to get back?"

The only reason I've rushed to post something is because a reader who obviously does not know me too well, sort of  asked if i was expecting some 'good news'!

GULP!!!!

The only good news that I can expect right now, is that my 7 yrold who acts as if he is 13/14/15 goes back to acting his sweet 7 again.

As for me, after the great spring break, days flew and soon it was time for "The Grand Summer Break".

70 days of premier-quality parenting sort of broke my routine permanently!

India and Istanbul have been seen and raved about, the boys have been STILL behaving angelic, perhaps it is time to take out the keyboard.

Now to entice that wordsmith back. Any ideas?

The great spring break...

boy 2: "What's for lunch?"

boy 1: "Parathas? Thank you...!!!!"

boy2: "Why parathas, why not maggi?"

boy1: "You made burgers? you always make his favorite,'

boy1: "Pasta? wow, amma thank you...erm..can you put less veggies next time?"

boy2: "Can we buy this baguette? for garlic bread?"

boy1: "Not rice again!!!! can we have at least 1 ricefree day!"

boy2: "I'm hungry, not the fruit kind of hungry!"

boy1: "can you tell him to stop smirking!"

boy2: "he's kicking me under the table"

boy1: "he's bugging me'

boy2: "no, i didn't! i just stood in the doorway!"

As you can see, everything is revolving around food and the nerves these days!

Yes, the great spring break has arrived and with it, the endless arguments and comments on the lunch/dinner menu, and the snack items and the temperature of the milk. Next time remind me to print a menu!

Having a 12 yrold and 7 yrold at home the whole day, is good exercise to the vocal chords, theirs and mine. They spend their day practising their sarcasm or getting on each others' nerves. I spend my day, deciphering the insults and practising my unruffled, serene mom act.

One wants to go swimming, the other wants to chill out. One wants to watch cartoon, the other wants to watch his IPL! One uses his words and the other one his tears!

Where was i? yes, the hols! You would think that i would get the luxury of sleeping till the birds came knocking at my windows.

I thought so too!

It turns out that my 12 yrold has been selected for his school's basketball team for which he has to attend school practice during his holidays. (They have tournaments when school reopens, hence the practice during holidays) Which in turn means that i still have to get up at 5.45 in the morning and wake up the birds and then my son.

Then this week he was given a 5 day break.

So now i have a 12 yrold sprawled on the sofa reading, eating, playing, arguing, reading, eating and yes playing. Of course he is taking it easy, very easy. Extremely easy in fact! So much so i want to join him on that sofa and just stretch out my hand, for that juice and snacks, but then I'm the only candidate at the moment for the coveted post of '24 hr do whip up something tasty' cook!

I also have a 7 yrold sprawled on the bed since 8.00, looking at the clock ticking away , because for some reason he has made up his mind that he wants to wake up at 11.00 today!

So I contemplated aloud on what could be done with 5 glorious days of vacation - museum, football in the park, a beach run?, library, ice skating, swimming!? So much to do in 5 days, right?





Museum?

swimming!






Park anyone?







beach?



A very unamused 12 yrold voice threatened, "If you continue, i'm going to start counting days for my basket ball practice so that i can get back to school asap! I just want to stay at home"

And the 7 yrold excitedly exclaimed: "oooh, ice skating? beach? YES!!!"

Oh!

Welcome to the lazy, crazy days! Lazy for them, crazy for me!


But either way, i'm lurving it! :) :) :)

When the unimaginable happens!

I have a 12 yrold who has to be reminded that he is a part of this family and therefore needs to pitch in with chores, not add to them by dropping towels in dustbins and plates in toilet sinks, thankfully not toilet bowls! He is after all my boy, a master in the art of absentmindedness, something in which i excel in!

He does what he is told to do, the key word emphasised here is told.

So what do you do when the above mentioned 12 yrold breezes into your room, and asks:: "Can I vacuum my room?"

You try not to fall. You do not pinch yourself to see if you are sleeping. You do not look at him suspiciously, trying to figure out a hidden plot.

But you very calmly say, "Yes, you can,..." in just the right tone, else he realises his mistake.

After 10 minutes, the same 12 yrold says:: "There i've cleaned my room."

What do i do?

I empty my luck quota for the whole month, and milk the opportunity. I say, ' How about doing the whole house?"

He says yes!

and does it well too, even the balcony. Throws the trash too...

The result is:

I think it will snow here in Dubai.

I realise that he has used his study time (he has his final exams going on) for an unscheduled long break

I wish they have exams all year through :p

He is a sweetheart, because i do have a clean house

and

I'm still searching for my house slippers.

Happy weekend, folks :)

Going international!

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so here's around six thousand words worth....

Ah well! I fell a thousand short. :)

So last week my 7 yrold got to travel to 36 countries, as you can see from his passport :). Their school had an international day, where most countries are showcased. Since the schools here have a good mix of students from different nationalities, it is a common event in most schools here to host an international day. It is similiar to a mini global village, the difference is that the non-profit stalls are put up by the parents.

A lovely concept of introducing different countries and getting to know from which place their classmates came from! Even if most of the kids were more interested in getting their passports filled with all the flags! i could see my 7 yrold flitting from stall to stall, trying to get the flags at breakneck speed! He took great pride in telling me that his friend was from Macedonia, and that his teacher came from South Africa.

Unintended humor came as usual from my side. Twice my boy rushed to me asking for idly, and when i shoved a plate of mini idlies in front of him (we had lots of yummy food, contributed by teh parents), he exasperatedly yelled "ITALY, amma, Italy, I want to know where ITALY is"

Oh!

I'm sure you appreciate how diligently I must have been doing my job of representing my country and the food!

India was quite well represented by flowers, food, colours, henna and diyas and us. The children loved the bangles and bindis that we gave them. The henna was a hit, as were the flowers.

When the school had announced this event two months back, asking for representatives to lead their respective countries, there were just three of us for India. I wondered whether we would even pull it through but then after the initial hiccups, we got rolling. Most parents came forward towards the end, helping with contributions in the form of money, food, artefacts and decoratives. A few hubbies did their bit too, by going where no one could reach, notably the highest places on the fence.

It was nice to see so many in their traditional attire, the sarees were a hit and we, ahem! ahem!got photographed quite a bit! In the end, we must have got something right, because we did get the 2nd place and more importantly everyone had fun!

These were our 9 kids dancing to 'Jai ho', which was well received.

All in all a lovely day indeed! School is so much fun this way, don't you think?

Then i thought to myself "What a wonderful thing to implement in our Indian schools as a way of introducing the different states in India. It would break a lot of stereotype notions and bring out a lot of awareness as far as culture, cuisine and languages go"!

But then you know what, knowing the competitive spirt in which every thing is taken these days, it may not be such a great idea after all!

(psst...this post's for you, tara )

This and that...

It seems like ages since I wrote here! Even though I did peek a bit every two days to read the comments.

Thank you all for the warm wishes/ecards sent on my birthday. This particular birthday was quite special because my parents , grandmom, uncle and aunt were around. It was extremely touching to see them try to surprise me with gifts and food.

(For those who missed wishing me, don't you worry...I celebrate my birthday the whole of February :)...just saying!)

The past 15 days have been very hectic but satisfying. My parents, my grandmother came a-visiting and were joined by my aunt and uncle (my mom's sister) for the last week of their stay It was fun having them around and now I miss the daily chitchat and hustle bustle in the kitchen. Everyday I would want them to sit down and chat while they would insist on evicting me from the kitchen. And so it happened that we would get out of the house by 10.30 every morning, be back just in time to pick my 7 yrold from school and then head out again in the evening after my 12 yrold returned from his school. We've gone to beaches, parks, malls, the tallest building, and a whole lot of restaurants!

This was the first time my grandmom was visiting me and there were times when i could not believe that she was actually here, with me. Ever since my grandfather passed away, 15 months ago, she's been a shadow of her old self. This trip did her a lot of good, she smiled more and she enjoyed herself, even though she missed having grandpa around.

And of course the school also thought it was a perfect time to schedule projects. The 12 yrold had to make a waterfilter. It had to be natural, it had to be different and it had to work. My son had a 'Eureka' moment in the bathtub, and rushed out, (thankfully fully clothed) to tell me his brilliant idea. Ofcourse i did what i was good at...i outsourced the project to my father. Grandfather and grandson bonded over a water filter which actually did work.

The 7 yrold had to learn about puppets. I suggested he take me along as an example, since that's what i do everyday...dance to their tunes! He was not amused and we made a pair of sock puppets instead.

Currently, we are supposed to demonstrate how lungs work using balloons, straws and a bottle. I casually told my son that the reasons my lungs worked well everyday, was solely due to them and due to the deep breaths taken and the shouting which goes on. Maybe I should go to school to demonstrate? He too was not amused!

So you take care while I brush up on my science and also try and decrease the obscene number that my google reader is currently showing.

:)