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Learn more fascinating facts about your 13-month-old's development
Time to wean?
For some mums, weaning is a sad time because it marks the end of a special, intimate closeness with their child. Others are happy to find new ways to feed — and comfort — their toddler.
Weaning is a long goodbye - emotional, sometimes painful, and liberating at the same time. But weaning needn't signal an end to the intimacy you and your child have established...

Had to wean Mira when I left her behind in Kerala at about 11 months. The day before I left, I let her sleep with my m-i-l. Mira cried much of that night but I had to keep away. She searched for me the next few days and then slowly forgot about the night feeding. Though I tried to revive it when I got her back, she didnt seem keen. I realised I had to give up - though I felt a bit lost and sad about ending that special bond with my baby. Ash also had to be weaned at 8 months when I had to send him to m-i-l owing to the lack of a good domestic help. We have been so much at the mercy of maids!

Cookery special

All fine with Mira, said the dr. after looking at her tests reports. Her cold improved visibly after the tests were taken - waste of blood, money and time. Been coming to work late as a result, boss purposely looked at his watch when I came in the other day.
Lazed at home yesterday. The maid's specials yesterday included Karimeen (pearlspot fish, a kerala delicacy) moilee for lunch, and for tea kuzhalappam and Ethakka appam (ripe banana coated with maida or American flour as we call it and deep fried in oil, the maida batter can have a pinch of turmeric, a few cumin seeds, sugar and beaten egg [optional]. The banana can be cut into a few thin strips) .
The making of kuzhal-appam
Kuzhal means pipe and the snack is aptly named as it looks like a cylindrical pipe. She first made a dough using fried rice powder, grated coconut, grated button onions, cumin seeds, salt and sesame seeds. I helped her make balls from it and press it in to a disk (for that, she cut open a small plastic bag, oiled it, placed the dough-ball inside, and pressed it using a steel tiffin box). The flattened peices are then rolled into a cylindrical shape using your finger (grandma used to use the stem of the papaya plant's leaf to roll it) and then deep fried in oil. Yummy! I will post the pictures I have taken later.
This is an alternate way of making it that I found on the net.
http://www.hindu.com/mp/2004/12/27/stories/2004122700720300.htm

Heavens!

Former Republican congressman Mark Foley of Foleygate scandal fame says he was abused by a priest when he was a kid. Christ! what servants you have...
http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/10/27/foley.priest.reut

Mira
... had an xray of the chest and some blood tests today - she didnt cry at all when the lab assistant pricked her vein. I went and stood outside, not wanting to see her cry, and V held her. Otherwise she is the type who cries at the slightest instance. Kids are amazing! But the xray frightened her.
Tailpiece: Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie who are now in Pune for the shooting of a film, plan to adopt an Indian kid next.

Rain, rain go away

Heavy rains. Maybe there will be a flood like last year.
I missed last year's deluge as I was away in Kerala on maternity leave after the delivery. V said he found it hard to procure food - essential supplies had stopped, there was no power, the streets were inundated, shops closed and so on. And he fell ill after eating from a wayside dhaba. A colleague of mine had to be rescued from her first floor flat on a boat.

Mira seems to be catching another cold.

On the defensive

Kastam (pathetic)! former Kerala Chief Minister AK Antony has been made the country's Defence Minister. But will he act, that is the question bothering Malayalis in particular. He will most probably feel the portfolio is too devilish (paisachikam, using his own favorite words) for his liking and so the Ministry is not likley to clinch any deals - even a single gun bought would mean corruption and taint his Mr. Clean image.
But anyway it is a development for all Malayalis to feel proud of. http://in.rediff.com/news/2006/oct/27flip.htm

It's the monsoons

The North-east monsoon has made its entry in water-starved Chennai. I guess we are in for some non-stop rains this week and next.
Played truant from work yesterday as I had to take Mira to the dr. in the morning for her cough and attend a rain-soaked wedding in the evening.
The wedding was a blend of Roman Catholic rites with Hindu (Telugu Naidu) traditions. Conversion to Xianity being not as ancient a phenomenon as in Kerala (with Apostle of Christ St. Thomas having set foot in Kerala first, Christianity in Kerala is more established and less in conflict with the other religions), the two families stuck to their Hindu customs - right from the two uprooted banana plants adorning the gate to the colorful kolam to the manjal poosu (turmeric anointing) ceremony for the groom (he being our neighbour) to the nadaswaram-drum concert accompanying the priest's recitations. I wasnt seated near enough to watch the marriage ceremony, so I cant comment on the Hindu aspect of it.
The groom's father told us that the dinner would be veg fare as they were originally Naidus and would not have any non-veg food until a day after the wedding. But the food was pleasant enuf that even V praised it - he had been disappointed to hear there wont be any n-v at the wedding feast. The guests were all given a bag of coconut-fruit-turmeric-kumkum as compliment.
We didnt take Mira along - for one, I didnt want to spoil my sari carrying her around, secondly, I couldnt have enjoyed my dinner with a baby wriggling in my arms. Would have taken Ash if he were here.

Things to do

Happy Ramzan, everybody.

1. The maid has a rasping cough. She says she wants to quit and go home if it doesnt improve!

2. I need to plan my Xmas holidays. And book train tickets 2 months in advance. Chennai- Trivandrum Mail always runs to full capacity, being the lifeline of central Travancore passengers. The Tamil pilgrims to Sabarimala, most of whom alight at Kottayam or Chengannur to proceed to the hill temple of the bachelor god Ayyapa, add to the rush. The train was the protagonist of a Malayalam movie starring our superstars Mammooty and Mohanlal - "No. 20 Madras Mail".

3. Need to buy a PC/new bike for V. His Bajaj Chetak scooter is better suited for the museum. Diwali being the time for management magnanimities, working people can afford to be extravagant.

V is at home today - Ramzan holiday.

Mira is getting v. naughty and pampered in Ash's absence. She whacks and pinches our faces, and cries if we put her on the floor. We were being a bit lenient since she was ill.

I went on a shopping expedition to T.Nagar yesterday after work. Hadnt expected the Ramzan shoppers, the rains added to the din.

Diwali

The festival of lights Deepavali was on 21st. I guess it is wrong to call it festival of lights now - it is more a festival of sweets and crackers, unless one takes into account the light from the crackers... By evening, our ears were all numb with the constant noise, the air was smoky and had a burnt smell about it and the roads were all littered with the remnants of the fireworks.
Mira had a good time - the neighbours' kids were bursting crackers on the terrace and we went to see. Mira got to hold a poothiri, she was not in the least frightened by the light and sound of the fireworks. Ash would have had a great time if he were here.
Otherwise, Mira has been giving us sleepless nights with her lingering temperature and cough. Looked better today though the cough needs another examination by the paed.
We have been getting some rains. The northwest monsoon which brings rain to Chennai is setting. Kerala is pouring cats and dogs. But then June to December is monsoon time in Kerala. Nothing like sitting and watching the rains at home - if only one doesnt have to bother about food and laundry.

Srividya continued...

What is amazing is that the audience never realised that she was so ill. She looked just as cheerful in one of the last TV serials of hers I saw. Her doctor says that she had told him that she be not given any treatment that will spoil her looks as she had to continue acting. (That's her in the last work she did, Amma thamburatti)
She was cremated with State honours near Trivandrum. The huge crowd that gathered to pay their last respects to her showed how much the audience in Kerala loved her. She happens to be, inspite of being a Tamilian by birth, Kerala's own tragedy queen - a young girl who was forced to stick to tinsel world on her famous mother's wishes, a woman who had to abort her baby on her husband's decree because it would spoil her career... She has set aside a part of her fortune to be given as fellowships for upcoming/struggling artistes.

Obit

A sad day for Malayalam cinema, nicknamed Mollywood.

Actress Srividya passed away yesterday after a long battle with cancer. She was 53. She will be sorely missed by the Malayalam film and television audience.

I think the first film that I saw of hers was Idavazihiyile Poocha Mindapoocha (alley cat, silent cat) in which she plays a woman who is deserted by her husband for her infidelity. She cuts a sorry figure and she won the State best actress award for that. I think it was one of her powerful performances, though I was a bit too young and naiive to understand much of the story then. I also liked her in Ente Suryaputhrikku (For my daughter of the sun) and in Pavithram.

I found her breathtakingly beautiful - she had the kind of face that could launch a million ships, a la Helen of Troy! However, her personal life was a tragedy - a director-husband who used her, divorce, the legal battle for her fortune, and in the end breast cancer - and not even an offspring to mourn her. Like many of the successful people who were caught in the trap of fame and money, she lived a tragic life.

Mosquitoes...

are having a field day across the country. Chikun gunya, spread by the Aedes Egypti mosquito, is giving everyone a scare - people are dying in Kerala's mosquito capital, Cherthala in Alapuzha district. Chikun gunya is characterised by severe joint pain and fever, apparently chikun gunya is a Swahili word meaning that which is bent - referring to the stooped posture of those affected.
Dengue has also entered the fray. Viral fevers of varying intensity is claiming lives across the country.
Took Mir to the Dr. today morning . Took her to Emergency ward of SMF yesterday too but since tehre are only junior doctors there, we decided to take her to the main Dr today - since we didnt have an appointment, had to try walk-in and wait till 12ish. He said she will be fine - just viral and the cough. Gave a syrup to prevent wheezing.
Reached office late.

Be positive

	Type B
	People with B type blood are shy, calm, clear-headed smart and quiet. You have a few very close friends, but overall, you prefer to be alone. You are definitely shy but loving and caring.
'What" does your blood type say about you?' at QuizGalaxy.com

Guess that is pretty right about me.

Had a piece on the health insurance scheme for the poor in Kerala to edit. The scheme proposed by the previous Congress government has been dubbed irregular by the present Marxist govt. For one, the tender was awarded to a private insurance company flouting the Central govt norm that it be given to a public sector insurer if it is to enjoy subsidy. Secondly, the Centre doesnt beleive that GOd's Own Country has 25 lakh people living below the poverty line - just 10 lakhs. And so on... The LDF might come up with a new scheme now to outwit the UDF.

Anyway the story has been dropped - lack of space. But I dont mind - I enjoy editing Kerala stories and also, the reporter writes well.

V is at home today - fever. Mira keeps running a high temp at night. Maybe we need to take her to the Dr. again. I have got the 3rd set of tablets and syrups from our office clinic - they are so willing to give but many of us here dont use the facility at all. The Dr. who hasnt seen me after the kids were born was surprised to hear I have 2 toddlers at home. She said: Hats off to u for managing 2 babies!

Huh.

P.S. MIRA STARTED WALKING ON HER OWN YESTERDAY. SHE CAN MANAGE 3-4 STEPS WITHOUT FALLING.

Abstract images

A friend emailed me some images yesterday.

"Dear All, These are some pictures"

That was all the message said.

I couldnt make out what they meant to convey - she probably got the wrong angles, or it was a tester, or it was an attempt at modern abstract photography.

One has a potted plant and one some cars on the street, and in one I thought I could see her baby's cradle.

Anyway, thank you my friend, you always gave me a great laugh.

Flu

All of us are sick, except for the maid. Mira has viral, said the paediatrician in the emergency ward of SMF when we took her there on Saturday night. Her eyes had turned red and V was worried it was chikungunya, which is running riot in Kerala and Chennai.
Dr. said she should be better in 2 days' time. But yesterday night we had to sponge her to keep the temp down.The moment she feels a bit better she crawls around the house on her knees (nowadays she has learnt to crawl without her knees touching the floor). Unlike us adults who make a hue and cry about our illnesses, kids take it pretty cool and lie low only when they are really unwell.

This age of ours

I didnt come yesterday as I was feeling sick. Bad cough, sore throat, temperature. Wouldnt have come today too but since I had a copy to edit for today's pages, decided to come.
Slept much of yesterday but had to go out for a mini-Manjal Neeratu ceremony in the flat below. The young girl there had reached puberty or "attended age" as the local parlance is. Tamilians find it a big occasion for celebration. Apparently they will have a big function a few month later - almost like a wedding with lots of guests and the girl decked up in wedding-like finery. In olden days, it must have been a way of announcing that a girl had reached marriageable age but today it looks embarassing. In many parts of India it is still a big affair and one to look forward to.
Anyway I had to felicitate the kid like a few other married ladies there - another neighbour, the watchman's wife and 2 servant maids apart from the girl's mother and great granny (who thought it was a matter of luck that she was alive to take part) - by applying on her face and forearms sindoor, sandalwood paste, and sprinkling rosewater and jasmine flowers on her head. The girl looked irritated as she made her appearance in a yellow silk sari and maroon blouse (I guess it was her first time in a sari) with water dripping from her hair. She was made to circle the lamp and assorted puja items before being allowed to sit.
The guests got tea and snacks after the function, while the girl was shooed back to her room. Seems she wont be allowed to step out much from there for the next five days. She will also skip school - since these things are the norm here, teachers take to it kindly, I guess. The folks did explain some of the rituals including the stuff she will be made to eat in the coming days, but I didnt exactly follow much of the conversation in Tamil. I came off with a dakshina of betel leaf, banana, turmeric and supari and jasmine flowers.

P.S. Mira is catching a cold too. Ash skipped school on Friday as somebody hurt his cheeks (from his gestures) and he was finding it difficult to take anything except milk. Mom said he was sobbing after we called one night recently. He doesnt sleep until very late in the night, missing us more when we call at night.

Sicker

Hot as hell outside.
Chilly in here (office).
Stuffy nose.
Inflamed sinus.
Shant write.

Ill, Illness

Took a compensatory off from last week's yesterday. Had to take Mira to the Dr. as she seemed to be suffering from a urinary infection. Got the Dr. to advise maid that she should give more water to M. The maid seems to think she is more knowledgeable on these matters and doesnt listen to us. She doesnt clean the baby properly either.
Been feeling a bit drowsy with all the cough medications I have been taking of late.

Reviewing The Collector
Fowles' narrative was absolutely great - first from the perspective of the kidnapper Clegg and then the diary of the kidnapped Miranda and then back to the kidnapper. Fredrick Clegg is a young clerk who lacks social skills. A butterfly collector, he secretly admires a beautiful art student. Clegg buys a house in the remote countryside with the money he wins at the pools. He then kidnaps Miranda and keeps her prisoner underground. He sees to all her needs but rarely lets her out.
Miranda's philosophising in her underground prison is fabulous.
"I am one in a row of specimens... I'm meant to be dead, pinned, always the same, always beautiful... He wants me living-but-dead."
"I could never cure him. Because I am his disease."
"I am older and younger. I am older because I have learnt, I am younger because a lot of me consisted of things older people had taught me. All the mud of their stale ideas on the shoe of me."
"I hate beyond hate."
She compares him to Caliban, the half-beast half-man in Shakespeare's The Tempest.
" The pity Shakespeare feels for his Caliban, I feel (beneath the hate and disgust) for my Caliban. Half-creatures."
"But love is beautiful, any love... The only thing that is ugly is this frozen utter lack-love between Caliban and me."
She yearns for sunlight and life and keeps hoping that he will release her. She even tries to seduce him but it only kills his respect for her. He is also angry with her for exposing his impotency. "Why am I here if he cant do it? As if I'd lit a fire to try and warm us. And all I'd done was to see his real face by it."
She dies of pnuemonia, Clegg decides to court death too until he sees her diary and realises that she never loved him. "He is not human; he is an empty space disguised as a human."
He buries her and the story ends with him speculating about his next catch.
The starkness and utter despair of Miranda's situation coupled with the clinical precision with which the maniac goes about life shakes you. I must read it again to enjoy the beauty of the language and the ideas. Need to see the movie on the book too.
http://www.fowlesbooks.com/novelsof.htm#1

Sunday chores

Another Sunday whirred past - we did not go to church as V was not feeling well. Got up late. The new church wants all its new members to give a family photo to publish in their souvenir - the minimum fee for advertising ourselves is Rs. 2000.
Went veg-fish-beef shopping in the afternoon in the scorching heat, and for a stroll at Loyola college in the evening. Nowadays it gets dark by 5 pm., so we had to grope our way back at 6.30 pm - the street lights on the campus roads were not burning. The campus makes me want to go back to college life again. Those carefree days, when we didnt understand the value of it. Unlike our college, MCC, which resembled a mini-zoo with peacocks and deers and monkeys, Loyola looks like a nice big park. I told V that we should get Ash to study here if we are here till then. India Today rates it among the 10 best colleges in India, and I think, it was considered the best college for Commerce last year.
Ash clearly called me Amme when I spoke to him on Saturday and jabbered a bit. Mom later called to say that he was looking for me under the bed and under the stairs and running from room to room - he prolly has no idea where I call from!
Mira had a haircut at home by V the Barber and me the assistant. She sat obediently and patiently through much of it. WE have managed an amateurish mushroom cut.
p.s. I am reverting to the old template as V expressed a preference for it. As an obedient Indian wife, I thought I should value his suggestion. Sorry Usha!

Pre-scooler

Ash has been enrolled in a pre-school near my house. It is run by Catholic nuns in their convent. Apparently Ash was fascinated by the nun-in-charge's attire and went and plonked himself on her lap. Yesterday was his first day at school. He immediately started riding the tricycle there and dad came off. The school timings are from 9.30 am to 3.30 pm (which we felt was a bit hard on a toddler) Yesterday dad went to pick him up at 1 pm. A little boy complained to him that Ash had bitten him! I hope the casualties dont rise in the coming days.
Here too he was pinching and biting other kids, and whenever we went the ladies running the school were carrying him in their arms - to prevent further trouble, I guess.
He has slightly reformed his ways, mom says. He signals when he wants to pee, sits in his potty (provided dad or mom sits beside him), eats in dad's company etc. Nowadays he doesnt have time to talk to us on the phone and doesnt come when called. He is busy watching dance sequences on MTV, Ktv, Sun TV (must be the Tamil Nadu influence), Cartoon network, Animal Planet and above all National Geographic! The other day he watched a chenda melam (drum beat) for 15 min on NG. The downside, for mom, is that she cant watch her Malayalam soap serials.
IT is raining in Chennai. And I am catching a cold.
p.s. We might bring Ash to Chennai only after Xmas since he has started school there. I think dad wants to keep him there longer - he is their main source of entertainment. It is like the Malayalam movie Oru minaminuginte nurunguvettam starring Nedumudi Venu and Sharada, who play a childless retired couple (teachers, as a matter of coincidence). Their life becomes meaningful when a college student (Parvati) comes to live with them as a non-paying guest. Soon she becomes like a daughter to them. Later Parvati's young son (after she dies in childbirth) is entrusted to them by her husband (Devan) and the much of the story is about how they look after him. In the end, the kid's father comes to take him away and the old couple's lives goes back to the old routine. The film, directed by ace (late) director Bharathan leaves a pang in your heart. One of Malayalam's evergreen classics.

Ash & the world of letters

Ashwin had his first brush with the world of letters on Vijayadasami day today. Vijayadasami is dedicated to Saraswati pooja, and Goddess Saraswati is the goddess of learning.

Ash's initiation was done at the local Orthodox church at Chandanapally. In fact it was the first time the church organised it. Dad and mom took him to the church before the Raahukaalam (inauspicious time, which is from 7.3o am to 9.30 am on Mondays) and he apparently was the first to be inititiated by the priest. Ash was made to write Glory to God and Jesus in Malayalam. Mom said he was awed by the priest's robes and demeanour and looked as if he would cry. But he made it without fuss. (That's Ash at Connemara Library & Museum a few months ago. We missed capturing yesterday's function on film)

Quite a coincidence that Ash would be initiated here. His baptism was held at the same church. He happens to be St. George's little boon to us.
Later at home, dad got him to write in a plate of rice 'Jesus' and 'aa' (the first Malayalam alpahabet)

The Hindu Staff Reporter from Calicut writes: Temples, public places, educational institutions and newspaper groups made arrangements for the initiation ceremony. The Vidyarambam ceremony mainly involves the master (guru) inscribing the invocation to Lord Ganapathi (Hari sree ganapathaye namaha) on the tongue of the kid with a golden ring and make them write with their right index finger the invocation in a bed of raw rice.
The Vijayadasami day signifies the triumph of the good over evil and light over darkness. The Vidyarambam ceremony underlines the power of knowledge. Children in the age group 3-5 are made to participate in the ceremony.

http://www.hindu.com/2006/10/03/stories/2006100318250300.htm

blogging personality

Your Blogging Type is Artistic and Passionate

You see your blog as the ultimate personal expression - and work hard to make it great.One moment you may be working on a new dramatic design for your blog...And the next, you're passionately writing about your pet causes.Your blog is very important - and you're careful about who you share it with.

What's" Your Blogging Personality?

I found this quiz in Brandy's blog (Crochet nut) and the results are not too different from what I feel it is. And I take this opporunity to thank her for making me a blogaddict. It was her comment to a post of mine that made me realise there can be absolute strangers reading my blog. It made me take up blogging more seriously. Bless her!