Tulika, Author at Obsessivemom

12/07/201215/04/2017

On the trampolin

Thursday Challenge : “MOVEMENT” (Dancing, Jumping, Running, Falling,…)

That’s baby Hrit on a trampolin at Mahabaleshwar

… and that’s an older Naisha on the same trampolin but so much more sure footed.

05/07/201215/04/2017

Bottoms Up

Thursday Challenge : BEVERAGES (Tea, Coffee, Wine, Beer, Water,…)

BANTA… Yum..

I stumbled upon the ‘banta’ after ages during a recent trip to Mussourie. I’m not sure how to describe it and so I’m letting Wikipedia do the needful… (I’d never imagined I’d find it on Wiki).

Banta is a lemon or orange-flavoured drink popular in India. It is available in a Codd-neck bottle, a heavy glass bottle in which a round marble seals the mouth of the bottle by the pressure of the contents, instead of a cap. The distinctive bottle has led to the drink also being called goli soda in some regions (goli = marble).

NJOY!

13/06/201215/04/2017

Back home

Dear blog,

Last we met I was packing my bags for Dehradun about a month ago. Yes I understand your concern at my long absence. No, I haven’t been in Dehradun all these days. I do understand how lost you would have felt with no one to look after you and get you your dose of posts. Now don’t be dramatic, you really weren’t in danger of imminent death.
Come on you know how it is in May and June.. what with the holidays, the reunions, the shopping, school reopening and the kids’ birthday I really did have my plate full. Those are NOT plain excuses. Give me a break. No, I wasn’t just shopping and chatting all the while. Even if I were, I’m in my city with my family just this one month each year. Yes of course you are family too but I really have been busy. Come on you know you’re important to me. Now stop sulking. Really, The Husband bears my absence so much better than you. What? He couldn’t have been celebrating. That’s a mean thing to say.
Will you stop smirking !!
Yes… well I’m sorry too. And I promise to you more posts… plenty of them. Thanks for being there. Muah!

Love
OM

27/05/201215/04/2017

When did they grow up?

When I got home late evening the other day……. the bed covers had been folded and put away
…. the sheets and pillows were laid out
…. the mosquito repellant had been switched on
…. the AC was switched on
…. the kids had changed into their nightsuits
and finally two pillows and a book were kept out ‘specially’ for me .. where I could sit and read.

… a surprise planned by the kids. Surprised I sure was … theyre growing up.

That’s Hrit demonstrating how I’m supposed to sit and read

14/05/201215/04/2017

Mountain rain

Among a host of other things, summer at Lucknow has come to mean a trip to Mukteshwar. Like I’ve said before, Mukteshwar has none of the glamour of its closeby cousin Nainital, but is ideal for a laid back vacation. The BIL and SIL, both doctors dealing with rather morbid branches, desperately need breaks to keep themselves sane. They were the ones who discovered the place for us. While the BIL loves driving, the SIL braves a bad case of road sickness over twelve hours for her bit of peace. After more than a dozen trips they decided to invest in a tiny cottage. And so we were super excited this time round.

The journey is a bit irksome but holds a wealth of beauty. Fields stretch out on either side of the road, golden with ready-to-be harvested wheat, while others are laid out with neatly tied up wheat stacks. Scores of brick kilns fly by with chimneys spouting black smoke and thousands of bricks lined up in various stages of baking. Towns, villages, bullockcarts, tractors, tea shops, dhabas… it’s not so bad.

Braving a small car breakdown ….

and a minor jam

we reached the mountains.

　
36 degrees to 13 degrees. Bliss.
The cottage, right at the top of the mountain was a dream with a super view of the hills.
And then .. it decided to rain.

　
That made it really cold. I have to add, that though born a Lakhnawi, I’m more a Mumbaikar where the cold is concerned.. 17 degrees and my woollens are out. While the BIL reveled in the ‘pleasant’ weather I shivered in my borrowed jacket. Then we had a hailstorm to the complete delight of the kids. They couldn’t stop themselves from grabbing the bits of ice, despite our attempts to keep them dry.

The rains ensured we stayed indoors. Nobody really minded. We downed endless cups of tea and played rounds of dumb charades and the kids watched ‘Bhootnath’ for about a hundred times (since that was the only available film) then gave up and joined us.

From then on the game went a bit haywire with Naisha miming Cinderella (pretending to look at her watch and running away in horror) and Hrit miming ‘crying’. Films, fairy tales, books and plain words were all included. When we drifted off chatting, the kids scooted off to the small resort close by for a turn at the carom and TT tables. The resort was also where we turned to for lunch and dinner when we didn’t feel like cooking.

When it stopped raining we made ‘shopping’ trips to the quaint little Bhatelia market. Oh we can shop anywhere no matter that all we did pick up were tomatoes, potatoes and some not-so-fresh coconut burfee.

Now, it’s back to the plains. Lot’s remains to be done.. remember the food list! Besides, I’m off to Dehradun this weekend for my second tryst with the mountains with the other side of the family. I have to keep everyone happy, you see.