Tulika, Author at Obsessivemom

01/10/201315/04/2017

In Goa

While in Goa…
Naisha: Mama may I have bread-Nutella for breakfast?
Me: Yes
Naisha: May I have just one slice?
Me: Yes
Naisha: May I have breakfast with TV?
Me: Yes
Naisha : Why are you saying ‘Yes’ to everything?

And so in Goa I turned from a mean mum (In case you’re wondering what a true blue mean mum is go here) to a cool one. But aren’t holidays about breaking rules?

Coffee (their first) on the couch with Doremon

Pepsi, Sprite and Iced Tea … to their hearts’ content.
Of course they asked to share my mocktails without fail and ended up
finishing it, happily abandoning their drinks proving
yet again that their soft drink hankering is only because it’s such a ‘no’.

Getting wet in the rain… such a NO on school days!

Maggi for dinner

26/09/201315/04/2017

Good morning

Early mornings are so not my thing..

We’re in Goa and The husband got the strange idea of watching the sun rise from the sea… Yeah I know, it would be a wonderful sight, but the catch is one has to wake up before the sun.. On a holiday… Why that’s blasphemy!

But so contagious was The Husband’s enthusiasm that we did wake up – at five. And then it started to pour!!!!!! The ever accommodating Husband promptly collected the kids, snuggled together and three of them went back to sleep.

There I was on my own with no desire to get back to bed. Silently berating The Husband for his weird plans I wondered what to do with myself. I reached out for the I-pad to find it needed charging. I sighed. The ticking of the clock seemed unusually loud. Listlessly I wandered around our resort suite. How come it’s so small? I wondered. It had seemed so roomy when we arrived.

I walked out onto the tiny balcony and instantly felt better.. The warm, balmy, rainy breeze felt much more friendly than the artificial cool of the AC. It was quiet but for the rain. Even the birds were asleep.

I watched in the hazy light as the rain left fleeting imprints on the surface of the pool.

I watched as the water splashed off shiny leaves that glinted even in the semidarkness of dawn. It slid silently off deck chairs, off the concrete tortoises at the pool and the red tiled roofs.

I watched as a conscientious worker came out in a raincoat and began to clean the pool.

I watched as the sun, dulled gently by the clouds, showed up far in the East and spread silently all around.

I watched…….. Enjoying.. Yeah enjoying, as the peace of the moment stole over me.

I might have missed the sunrise but I did catch the morning. Maybe I should do this again – this early morning thing!

21/09/201315/04/2017

If only you were here

The signs
are everywhere. Red, white, yellow, green… They pop up on streets, at roadsides.
They stare at me out of magazines and newspapers and even from the television.
They inundate malls, flood stores. I switch on the Internet and there they are tempting,
beckoning, begging me.

Take a look,
they say, come on in. What are you waiting for? They ask.

I turn away.
I cannot answer their call.

You dear
sister sit far away in another city. All these signboards shouting out SALE are
no fun without you, the best shopping partner ever.

If only you
were here!

Linking to “100 words on Saturday” at Write Tribe for the prompt “If only you were here…”

20/09/201315/04/2017

The Ganapati story

Ganapati is gone but I need to do this post as a final goodbye till next year. After many many years in Maharashtra this year finally I caught up with Ganapati in as Maharshtrian a way as I could.

If you want to experience the true flavour of a festival, any festival, you should head for the old city area. And so it was to the city we headed when Chaturthi came around. Since the SIL brings home Ganapati we had tons of shopping on the agenda. Yes it’s dreadfully crowded, yes it’s noisy, yes you have to walk and walk, yes it’s hot and sunny and sweaty and utterly chaotic. But amidst the chaos you’ll find some of the best bargains ever. The streets are crammed with merchandise as colourful as the wares of Sarojini Naidu’s bangle sellers. A true treat for the eyes. And you have the added pleasure of haggling shamelessly till you’re blue in the face. Can it get any better?

Take a look…

All things glittery…

This is what we started working with.

And this is what Ganapati’s seat finally turned out. We were pretty proud of our handiwork. Check out that toran – done entirely by the SIL out of handmade paper even while nursing a mother of all colds.

And now for the modaks. We saw so many kinds ….

Check out this mega-modak..

Pick your size here!

…and your colour

The hottest favourites ‘ukadiche modaks’ The ones I tried to make a failed pretty convincingly at.

Look at those wads of notes. I do hope they’re put to good use.

19/09/201315/04/2017

Rainbow in a box

A few years back during the monsoons, Naisha discovered the magic of rainbows on the ground. Even as I struggled withe the science of oil and water and sunlight she was barely listening dancing excitedly around the miraculous sight. Now, two years later, the thrill hasn’t faded. As the kids make their way to the bus stop, jumping over puddles, they just have to linger around those rainbows, oblivious to the arrival (or departure) of the bus.

Then one day I found Naisha in the washroom pouring hair oil in a box full of water. Even as annoyance bubbled up her teary face stopped me. “Mama I’m trying to put a rainbow in this box for you but it just won’t come,” said she.

And then it was time for a hug.