Tulika, Author at Obsessivemom

05/02/201115/04/2017

Spade is a spade

You know what’s really scary? When The Husband takes it upon himself to impart gyan to the kids. It’s just not his area really. Believe me I’ve thought of all the scenarios before I say this. Of course there will be times when the Son will need his man-to-mans or when he and the Daughter will need to talk to The Husband after their run-ins with me. Yes I know all that is certainly on the cards and I hope those times don’t come anytime soon.

Pic courtesy Google Images

In my defence….

The other day we were out with friends and we walked into Landmark. ‘Just one gift each’ I announced before the kids went berserk. They complied with amazing alacrity. Hrit picked a car and Naisha got herself a pink Teddy (stereotypes, stereotypes). On the way back Hrit commented, “Mama we are very poor, aren’t we?” Poor? “Well no,” said I, “Poor people don’t go to Landmark and pick out gifts randomly.”

“We are very poor,” he maintained. “Papa said so. We don’t buy expensive things and don’t even have a car. We are poor.” Now we do avoid getting expensive toys for the kids and are also ‘carless’ for the moment so I had nothing to say that. “Main sas (sach) bol raha hoon,” he persisted when he overheard me talking about it. The Husband of course confessed to having done the convincing to get him off his back when he was being pestered with one of Hrit’s innumerable demands. So now my son is growing up with skewed perceptions of poverty quite the French Queen Marie Antoinette.

Then there was the time I found Hrit almost in tears because The Husband had told him “We are all going to grow old and die one day.” He followed me around asking me when that ‘day’ would be and whether we’d all die together or one by one and how he’d manage when both the Husband and I would die… *sigh* When I confronted The Husband all he said was, “Well we ARE going to die one day”.

You get the picture?

So that was when I forbade him from talking to the kids about the facts of life just yet. The tactless soul is safest when he sticks to the Sharks and Dolphins. When the kids grow up (and I type this with fingers crossed) they will learn to take his a-spade-is-a-spade conversations in their stride and maybe even appreciate his candor. For now they just have to make do with me.

03/02/201115/04/2017

Gimme Red

Thursday Challenge: RED (Fruit, Vegetables, Flowers, Clothing, Hair, Makeup, Wine, Toys,…)

Hey not fair.. Now the theme turns red after I put up enough reds already.. those strawberries, beetroots and flowers at Mahabaleshwar.

Anyway here are some more …

Flowers in a shop in Amsterdam: Pic courtesy the sister

Wine for two, Florence : Pic courtesy the sister

Those two would make for a great memory if The Husband had the sense to organise them (Are you reading this dear Husband???)… and this third one is already a great memory when the kids set up a choir on Christmas last year.

A red and white Christmas

28/01/201115/04/2017

Dressed all fancy

I’m not really a competitive person at all. Yet of late I’ve enjoyed participating in a number of contests. There have been some writing competitions which I enjoy because they make me write about things I might not take up instinctively. Besides, they take my mind off the kids for a change. Some have taken me down memory lane back to my own childhood which is a great feeling.

And so now I take on another one. Shruti’s Artsy Craftsy Challenge .

This is my second time at Shruti’s. I enjoy her challenges most because I know I can never win these ones since I’m not really a ‘crafty’ person, so there’s no pressure. This one is about Kids’ Fancy Dress Costumes.

Here’s their first one. Hrit as Sher Khan and Naisha as Mowgli. The kids were in the Jungle Book phase and loved dressing up. I found these really easy to do.

For Sher Khan I got a yellow Tee and Tracks and painted on the stripes. The tail is made by twisting a clothes’-hanger in shape, wrapping newspaper to give it body, then putting on yellow paper and painted the stripes. I made a loop at the end and inserted a regular belt through it so Hrit could just tie it on. The headgear was a bonus.. I borrowed it from the local toy-library. Hrit refused to let me paint his face so this had to be it.

He just doesn’t look menacing.. a happy Sher Khan

Mowgli was a cakewalk. I simply used an old asymmetrical animal print skirt and tied it on. One can use any animal print cloth. It works just great.

No animosity here: Sher Khan and Mowgli cuddle up

Last year they had a theme.. insects. Hrit had these black overalls so I got satin ribbons stitched on and got black stockings on his hands to hide that bit of white. Some wire was twisted into wings. Dustbin bags went over the wires and I painted on yellow stripes. A readymade hairband completed the look.

The Bee

.. and the ladybird

Naisha was a Ladybird. She had a red dress on which I got black rounds stitched on, black stockings, red band and wings similar to Hrit’s with spots instead of stripes. That’s it.

27/01/201115/04/2017

Out in the cold

This week’s Thursday Challenge: “COLD” (Ice, Snow, Windy, Beverage, Food, Ice Cream, Cold Weather Clothing,…)

Man and his best buddy

The picture is clicked by my sister who refuses to have her own blog.

25/01/201127/01/2025

This one’s for India

Dear H and N,

We were early at the bus stop today and I was struggling to while away time with the two of you as you ran around bubbling with your early morning energy. Then along came Tanu with his Dadu. He takes his bus from the same stop as you and over time has turned into a friend. He joined in the ruckus till his Dadu suggested, “Let’s sing songs while we wait for the bus”.

Tanu went first and he sang ‘I salute the flag’ then launched into ‘Chhodo kal ki baatein’. “I am preparing for tomorrow’s Republic Day function,” he explained. As his Dadu took all your little hands in his large ones and explained to each of you the right way to salute I looked on filled with guilt and regret.

Yes, tomorrow is Republic Day. However, you think it’s just another holiday. I am so sorry darlings I forgot to tell you that tomorrow is no ordinary holiday. I could of course blame it on the relief of not having to wake up early to a super chaotic morning or the excitement of having Daddy home all day (he’s been working the last two weekends and we’ve barely glimpsed him all this while). But I won’t. I will make a promise, however, of telling you about the wonderful country you were fortunate to be born in…

— a country where you can light fireworks at Diwali, tuck into seviyans on Eid and and get gifts for Christmas – a triple whammy

— a country where you, Zaheen, Jennifer and Gunraj can share tiffins at school without a thought

— a country where mama can wear what she wants, go where she wants.

— a country where you can say exactly what you want because everyone, yes everyone, is allowed to have their say

— a country that that gives both of you equal freedom and equal rights

And when you grow up ours is a country that gives you the power to make it what you want. That’s a huge power and a huge responsibility. Use it well when you have it.

Tomorrow is special. It is our country’s real birthday and we shall celebrate it in style.

Meanwhile listen to this, our National Anthem. I get goose bumps and misty eyes when I hear it. I hope in time you too will learn to look beyond it’s melody and will stand up in pride and love to salute your country just like Tanu’s Dadu taught you.

Love

Mama