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| Sunsets are such a cliche in photography but that doesn’t take away one bit from their beauty. They are fascinating in their beauty and splendour every single time. |
Linking to ABC Wednesday
O is for an Orange sunset
A good morning!
Some days are just happy days. Today seems to be one such. The kids woke up on their own a good half hour before I even start waking them. They then decided they wanted to get dressed ‘all on their own’ and they did. Some half an hour before time they were dressed and ready. N sat reading a book while H took to the juicer and made some Mosambi juice with ABBA’s “I have a dream’ for the background score. Bliss! Contrast this with a regular day when we go down to catch the bus with N’s cheeks bulging with breakfast and H running back home to get his skating kit.
Moral: Early to bed and early to rise starts your day with a happy surprise
(See that? Even the rhymes are happy today).
(See that? Even the rhymes are happy today).
While on music — H has opted for it at school and comes back humming each day. Last week it was ‘Give me oil in my lamp’. This week it is ‘I have a dream’. Brings back happy memories of my school days.
In other news…
We got our TATA Sky upgraded and H wanted the empty carton to play with. Trying to put him off I told him, ‘Papa wants to see the box before you can play with it so wait till he comes from office’. Pat came the reply, ‘Why don’t you click a picture and send it to him on his phone, and he can tell me if I may have the box?’ Seriously the kids are getting too tech savvy for comfort.
Moral: Trying to put off kids with excuses works no longer. A simple ‘No’ is best.
And some more news..
H had been pestering us for a Playstation. Not a great fan of gadgets, we put forth a seemingly impossible task. H had to get a perfect score in ten consecutive tests and we’d get it for him. Yeah, you guessed it, he went ahead and did just that and now we’re in a bind.
Moral: Never underestimate the power of a play station.
I’m off to the gym for my daily dose of endorphins! Have a great day everyone.
Pet peeves
‘May I have a pet’, asked H the other day. I knew this was the beginning of a long long debate which would stretch through the years because I was completely sure my answer would never be a ‘yes’ and my son is tenacious if not anything else.
“Please mama may I have a dog?” he persisted. “And I want a cat”, chimed in N.
I steeled my heart and reeled off my list of objections..
Our house is too small.
Who will walk it twice every day?
Who will look after it when we’re on vacation?
What about dog/cat hair all over the house?
And the doggy smell.. yikes.
After some time of back and forth.. we’d eliminated dogs, cats, lovebirds and fish.
‘May I have a salamander, at least. He doesn’t need looking after. He’ll eat up insects, he doesn’t need to be walked and and we can take him on a holiday in the car with us,” that was a tough one to tackle.
But “I don’t know where to buy a salamander?” Said I. Simple.
A disappointed H then said in a very small voice.. Can we at least adopt two children then – a boy and a girl for N and I?
Still figuring out how to handle that one.
Lesson of the day: Children are lower than salamanders on the pet-desirability list!
On the move
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| One reason I love road trips is the wonderful sights you get to see.. like this one – an entire family on a bike |
Linking to Thursday Challenge : BLURRY (Unfocussed, Moving, Foggy)
N has to be for 'Navratri'
.. the nine nights of celebration. Few other festivals can match this one in colour, music or the sheer energy of it all. What I completely love is how the same festival is celebrated across India in so many different ways. The message, however, remains the same – ‘A clebration of the victory of good over evil’.
In North India:
where I was born – Navratri meant nine days of fasting. At night we would go to see the Ramlila where scenes from Lord Ram’s life would be enacted culminating in Dussehra and the burning of the effigy of Ravana on the tenth day. What fun it was.
In North India:
where I was born – Navratri meant nine days of fasting. At night we would go to see the Ramlila where scenes from Lord Ram’s life would be enacted culminating in Dussehra and the burning of the effigy of Ravana on the tenth day. What fun it was.
In Western India:
specially in Gujarat Navaratri is synonymous with dancing. Over the last decade since I’ve been shuttling between Bombay and Pune I’ve come to realise that no written word or pictures can match the energy of a real live dandiya dance. It has to be seen to be believed. Can there be anything more colourful that the traditional garba dresses? N specially loves Navratri for this reason alone.
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| Dandiya… |
Down South:
people put up the golu. The first time I was invited to one I had no clue what it was. Idols are displayed in a typical step fashion and friends and relatives are invited home. This one is from a friend’s house this year. Strange, isn’t it.. how we keep on discovering new things about our country?
I love the add ons she did just for fun – a village scene
and that cricket pitch – her son’s contribution.
And in the East:
There’s Durga Puja. Maa Durga is believed to visit her ‘home’ during these nine days and what a welcome people give her! Majestic idols of the goddess are put up and worshiped. On the last day they are immersed in water. Bengalis all over the country celebrate it but I guess it’ll be something else in Calcutta, I’ve yet to experience that.
I’ve talked about just four versions of Navratri. Apparently there are many many more… in Goa, In Andhra Pradesh, in Himachal Pradesh… Seriously India is a hundred countries all rolled into one.
Linking to ABC Wednesday