Wednesday, October 31, 2007

A caring son

Today as I was leaving for work, my son asked me: Amma, have you taken your phone? (He and his sister are at home since they have viral fever). I said yes, remembering that in the past couple of days the maid has been asking me the same question as I leave for office in a hurry. And I did forget a couple of days back to take my mobile phone to work. Not having one makes you feel handicapped these days. I cant bring myself to use the office phone or the not-so-ubiquitous STD/local phone booths in the city.

He next asked me: Amma, have you taken your umbrella? He then brought an umbrella for me. I opened my bag and showed him my 3-folder umbrella. The maid took the spare umbrella and kept it back.

Amazing the things kids observe. Both try to be very adult-like as they pretend to cook and serve on the teapoy, a favorite game of theirs.
And Ash is talking more. He is able to make meaningful conversations with us. "It is sunny" or "I dont want idli as I will puke" or "Close the windows, or mosquitoes will come in" etc etc. I know other 3-year-olds might talk like parrots but my son has been a late starter. I only hope he will be able to understand and reply when he goes for the school admission in a couple of months. School interviews could involve questions as simple as 'What is your name' to more complicated ones about colors and shapes. And Ash, despte being made to write A to K and 1 to 14 in his present school cant distinguish blue from green.

Monday, October 29, 2007

Comedy of terrors, Act 1, Sc. 4

Alight Boy and Girl out of a car at a shopping mall's parking lot. The girl is in the arms of the nanny, while mommy has just set the boy on to the ground from her lap. The boy lifts up both arms to the mother.
Boy: Amma, please carry me.
Mommy: No, you are a big boy. You may walk.
Boy (looking around worried): Noooo. (S)piderman will tweak my ears.
Mommy: I will handle Spiderman when he comes.
Boy: A vehicle might hit me on the head if I walk.

Mommy, forgetting her backpain, laughs and lifts him up. She wonders where the Boy heard about Spiderman. She has only seen him watch Tom and Jerry and Scooby Doo and Popeye on Cartoon Network. When did Spiderman enter the picture? Whatever, Spiderman seems to lord over the little boy's life now. He will whack him, pinch him or bully him if the Boy does anything he doesnt want to do.

Sunday, October 28, 2007

Garden in bloom

I got Mani the watchman to set my garden in order. He not only filled the pots with soil but spruced the place and arraigned it the way I wanted. Some of the new saplings are in bloom. I hope they survive and dont wither away after a month.
A very wet day today, with the sky opening up itself in an incessant downpour since yesterday evening.

Saturday, October 27, 2007

Small talk

There is something interesting going on at home, beginning sometime in the middle of this week. My kids are talking to each other. I mean actual conversations in a language that sounds like Greek and Latin to us adults. At the end of it, they guffaw while we parents look at each other baffled.
I guess they are trying to imitate our talk. Until now, they just called out to each other. At the most, Ash would say: Vaava, look. Or see this. Or come here. Etc. Etc.
There is more bonhomie between them. They ride the tricycle together, with Ash in the pillion mostly. They eat, drink, play together. Quite different from the earlier days when sibling rivalry reigned supreme.
But that doesnt mean the fights are over. At least, not yet.

Friday, October 26, 2007

Terracotta wonders


Terracotta horses and Ganesha, procured on our drive last Sunday, adorn our parlour now. The seller called it a computer Ganesha. I love the half man-half elephant Hindu god, just as my brother does - he has a varied collection of Ganeshas back home.

I also have a Nataraja (the dancing Shiva) and Sivakami (his wife Parvati in a dance pose) in some black metal.

Thursday, October 25, 2007

A hospital day

Taking advantage of a 50% discount at Apollo hospitals, Chennai, I went for a mammogram late in the morning yesterday - I could in fact call it noon. Apparently there is some campaign at the hospital to spread breast cancer awareness this month, hence the discount.
Dr. Uma Krishnaswamy who recommended the mammogram when I went to her two weeks back on the advice of our clinic gyneacologist had said that an ultrasound was not enough to detect any malignant tumor or growth. The routine ultrasound scan I had done a couple of months back had thrown up a harmless cyst or whatever, which turned out to be just a fat lobule in yesterday's scan.
It must be common to go for routine tests to detect breast cancer or ovarian cancer in the US but here it is yet to catch up. Maybe a few paranoid ones like me goaded by company doctors would take it.
There were quite a few North Indian patients at Apollo, which surprised me since Delhi has an Apollo too. The mammograph technician told me that the Chennai Apollo especially Dr. Uma had a reputation in cancer treatment.
I cant be sure, since a family friend had gone through hell in a dingy single room at the same Apollo and incurred an expense of about Rs. 5 lakh before he bid goodbye to all the suffering and gave up the ghost.

Evening I once again went, this time to the children's hospital, to get Mira vaccinated against typhoid and Hepatitis. With the monsoons setting in, Chennai will soon be the hotbed of epidemics like cholera and typhoid.

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

The real mutton soup

I find - thanks to sitemeter - that many people googling for mutton soup recipe end up on my post Mutton soup for the mommy soul. So here's a recipe (courtesy my previous maid) for a very Kerala style mutton soup for the body - for both mommy and baby.
You will need:
Half a kg mutton (even legs and bones)
2 and half mugs/2 litres of water
1 tsp Jeera (cumin seeds)
3-4 garlic pieces
1 tbsp pepper powder
cardamom, clove, cinnamon stick - 1 each.

Boil the above stuff together for 1-2 hours till it thickens.

Season with curry leaves, mustard, chopped onions. I mean heat ghee, throw in some mustard, wait for it to crackle, then add onions till it turns light brown, and then curry leaves. Add the necessary amount of soup. Keep the rest in the freezer for later use.

p.s. Ta, I am off for an afternoon siesta. It is my day off. I will tell you what I did today tomorrow.

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Brushing time

Two sleepy heads...

Mira is easier to manage in the mornings though when I am about to brush her teeth, she coquettishly call out for her Appa to do the honours (you can see him in the mirror getting brush ready for a still sleeping Ash).

Ash refuses to open his eyes after all our efforts - sprinkling water in his face, then forcefully lifting him off the bed and on to the drawing room diwan - sometimes he rushes back to his cot with his eyes shut tight. Or announces half asleep that "Achacha is sick/ Achacha has fever/ The teacher will beat me/ No pool (school)".

Ditto about our efforts to feed him breakfast and milk. The past two days I have been pushing a crying Ash off to school. He somehow seems to detest the school now. I dont know what it is. I check with the women-in-charge and they tell me he is fine there. Maybe I will pull him out in the next term after Xmas, after I get him formal admission in a big school.

My garden

The balcony garden in my flat.

I got a few pots for the new saplings I got from the Prarthana nursery on Sunday. Some are still in the black plastic pouches, since I need to find more soil to fill the pots.

Apart from jasmine, a whitish pink hibiscus, bougainville with orange petals, I got two ixora dwarf plants with pink and red flowers, verbena with pink and violet flowers, and lantana and some others I dont know the names of.

Monday, October 22, 2007

On the East Coast Road

A Sunday on the ECR route...

The first was taken at the Cholamandalam Artists' Village near Injambakkam, where we went after the Sunday mass and Mira's vidyarambam. Cholamandalam, an old village shot to fame after some artists decided to set up camp there. Once upon a time, people dreaded to take the lonely stretch but now you have people streaming to that area. Like an American couple (judging from their Embassy car) before us. Who came out of the art gallery looking surprised and disappointed. We found out why soon after - the prices of the paintings on display ranged between Rs. 10,000 and 60,000.

We couldnt meet the artists nor visit their studio since it was a Sunday and also lunch time. I had hoped to see artists living in romantic looking huts, but instead saw many gated bungalows in that serenely quiet colony. Some new houses were coming up. We spent some time at the open space with a few sculptures, amphitheatre and many tamarind trees (see pic).

The second pic was taken at Basera restaurant nearby where we went for a lunch of mutton biriyani and raita. The kids enjoyed themselves in the play area.

The third is a shot of the Prarthana drive-in theatre, which had a plant nursery in the premises. Leaving the kids and maid to stroll in the parking bays, we shortlisted saplings of jasmine, hibiscus, bougainville and other flowering plants which I hope will enliven my drawing room balcony.

V promised us that we will come for a movie some time later. The first show starts at 7 p.m. The last I went to a drive-in theatre was in Tanzania.

Before heading home, we also bought a pair of terracotta horses, a sungod to hang outside the door and an agarbathi stand - all in terracota.

p.s. I had written a wholly different post, which I lost probably because I gave a wrong html link. Anyway I have spared you all the boredom of going through a very lengthy post. Not that this is any less short.


sunday vidyarambam

Sunday, October 21, 2007

Mira writes...

Mira had her first brush with the world of letters when the vicar of
our church helped her form letters in a plate of rice grains, as the
custom is.
The first thing she was made to write was Daivaithinu stuthi (Praise
be to Lord) in Malayalam. She then wrote the first letter in Malayalam
(aa), in English (A) and in Hindi (aa again).
Though she started crying at the sight of the priest in his black robe
at first, she calmed down once she started writing - she enjoyed the
writing business.
I hope she will continue to enjoy writing in the years to come.

Friday, October 19, 2007

Kiddie milestones

*Today as I was leaving for work, my son told me: "Amma, get me medicines for my ear and my hand." A departure from his request for chocolates and icecreams.
* Mira has got a nose picking habit now. That's pretty early, I'd say.
* Ash can form sentences combining 3-4 words now, though some are not too comprehensible for a layperson - but only to his parents.
* He has nicknamed the new maid Leelaala - but that's a variation of the name of her predecessor, Leelamma. He probably overheard us mentioning the name. Both kids officially call the latest nanny Annie {Aunty!!}. I detest this auntifying of maids or anyone else other than my own aunts. But nowadays maids like to be called aunties. ugh! I am wondering how to get them to call her Ammamma III.
Me and V call her chechi, like we did all the previous maids except one who was younger to us.

p.s. Tomorrow being Ayudha Pooja, when tools and machines are worshipped, many parts of the country observe a holiday. That means I am getting a proper weekend holiday plus an extra day for doing a late shift. Three days in all! I hope I get to brag about some place we went to - if we manage to do it at all - when I get back to bloggie land.
Mira also needs to be introduced to the world of letters on 21st, Vijayadasami day. If we cant get the Reverend Father of our church to do it, we will have to be satisfied with her own father helping her do it in a plate of ricegrains.

Thursday, October 18, 2007

Ash and his ear

Ash robbed us of our sleep much of yesterday night. I fell asleep a little after 12 midnight hearing him say: 'Chocolate ants biting me.' Every night, once lights are off, he realises that his eczemic body is itching - until then he is too busy to realise it. And nowadays he classifies it with 'icecream ants biting me' or 'chocolate ants biting me'. We have come to beleive that it is a tactic of his to stall sleep, his and ours, and dab a bit of Anthical lotion in the dark on him and drift to sleep ourselves.
But at 1.30 a.m. I woke up hearing him complain to his irritated and tired dad of pain in the ear. He went on non-stop about the pain till 2.30 or so. We gave him crocin and put Soliwax in the ear in case ear wax was causing the pain. He drifted to sleep then, but woke up again at 4.30 a.m. With the car away for servicing we couldnt rush him to the children's hospital emergency at that hour. We all got some sleep, god knows when and until 6.30 am when he starts beating his head, his ear and kept asking things like: 'Where is my ear??!!' He couldnt express himself better about the excrutiating pain, I guess.
So we called the ENT, who said we could come to his place after 9 am and prescribed ear drops and a painkiller to lessen the pain until then. Ash had also started puking. Anyway he was less miserable once we applied the drops.
The ENT couldnt be sure if the pain was because of the earwax, or the phlegm from his chest infection and nose congestion. The puking on an empty stomach too got worse, which made us worry if he had fallen and hit his head somewhere.
Ash took his medicines but not his semi-solid food, so I had to feed him in a bottle after he fell asleep listening to rhymes. I caught a bit a sleep too until Mira returned from school. And yesterday she had been indisposed - an upset tummy.
I guess as parents of two small children, we still have many more days of sleepless nights to come.

Monday, October 15, 2007

The insect lovers

Yesterday after church, V took us vegetable shopping. Leaving me to manage the two brats, he went in to the shop with the maid. I was also asked to buy fruit juice for the lil ones to keep them quiet.

As we waited for our sathukudi (sweet lime) juice, Ash spotted a dull, brown butterfly on the strawberry ad plastered outside the juice stall. It had him all excited and he kept shouting 'Buttepy, buttepy' drawing the attention of most of the patrons there. He then noticed two black round patterns on its folded wings and cried excitedly: "Amma look, eyes". I tried to join in his enthusiasm though the dull-looking butterfly didnt appeal much to me, used as I am to myriad-hued butterflies and dragon flies in my place back in Kerala.

Once upon a time, there was a shoeflower tree in front of our family house. (It is not there anymore.) It lit up the whole place with its pinkish red big flowers. The mornings were the best - sparrows and butterflies swarmed to the tree to drink nectar. This would go on till about 9 am.
flowers cflowers5654.jpg

The backyard also had wild flowers growing amongst tapioca and banana plants. Dragon flies, some with needle-thin tails, of all possible colours playfully flew from one flower to another. During vacations, we caught some dragon flies but always let them go after examining them. I loved the sky blue ones the best. There was also these dragon flies with flaming red tails which we called the Onam thumbi (maybe because they were most visible during the harvest/Onam season). They always eluded capture and were too fast on their wings for us.
We also watched caterpillars weaving their nests in a swinging motion on the leaves. We would go each day to check if the coccoon had been formed or the butterfly had left its coccoon shell.
And here was my son, who didnt have the luxury of enjoying nature the way we did. Who got all excited about a dull brown butterfly.

He then spotted a lil black yellow rimmed millipede rapidly making its way to a hideout in the wall. "Look Vaava," he called out to his sister who hadnt been all that enthusiastic about the dull butterfly. She is a bit beauty conscious. However the millipede interested her a little more. I told him we call it an atta, so he shouted atta atta and watched its progress on the ground. He showed the two insects to his father who had by then finished his shopping.

I was glad I could show a bit of nature to my little ones instead of just watching other shoppers or the jasmine-lotus sellers at the entrance to the shop like we usually do. I think when they grow a little older, old enough to be separated from their parents for a while, I will send them during summer vacation at school to my beautiful little village in Kerala with the many insects, birds and animals.

Saturday, October 13, 2007

Comedy of terrors, Act 1, Sc. 3

Enter Papa, a middle-aged, good-natured man with a receding hairline. He has bouts of fleeting bad temper but otherwise a kind-hearted fella.
The boy is eyeing the refridgerator. The subject of interest is a box of cadbury butterscotch nuggets gifted a day earlier by a visiting relative.
Boy: Papa, I want that (pointing to the freezer).
Papa: I can give you both only one each. They are tablets.
The boy finishes his chocolate pellet and asks for more.
Papa: I am sorry, I cant give you any more as it is to cure illness.
Boy (beating his head) : I have headache.
Papa: That is not for headache.
Boy: Tummy ache, papa.
Papa: That wont cure tummy aches.
Boy: Ants biting me. Itching.

The father relents and opens the chocolate box to give him another. No use telling the little boy that cocoa products will make his itching worse. It is something the parents have been trying to cut out of his diet but chocolates that fall like manna from visitors into the hands of the Boy cant be avoided.

Friday, October 12, 2007

Lurkers, listen!

Every day as I check Sitemeter, I wonder what all my regular readers look like. I know some faces but there are many I dont.
I know my brother reads it. He encourages me to keep writing. His wife too reads often.


My husband is an ardent supporter of my blog (but not my blogging at home) though a reluctant reader.

My cousins Renjith and Reeba read it whenever time permits. My parents have read it on a couple of occasions, but they dont have net access now.













My friend Usha is my most loyal reader, I would say.














My old pal Bino would have still been reading it regularly if she didnt have to help her sons with school homework this year.












There are friends reading from Saudi, Dubai and Romania. Or colleagues across the desk...
But I wonder who reads from Gujarat, or from many States in the US - Minnesota, California, New York, North Carolina and so on. I know who reads/comments from Fort Worth, Texas - spreading joy in the blogworld with her comments is her goal. Or Bombay Girl. Or Rustic Notes.
So if you dont mind, I'd be happy to see a picture of all of you in my inbox. Please email me at ashwindan@gmail.com. This may sound Pioneer Woman-like, but I cant contain my curiosity. But then I am the kind who reads a book from the end to the beginning.

Thursday, October 11, 2007

Cinderella crown

My husband's office comes up with some strange, nutty awards to pull employee's legs. For the person who slept the most on the job and some others. V was nominated for the least offensive of the awards - the Maths Wiz Award. He was given a certificate and a crown similar to the Miss Universe crown in recognition. Here's Mira wearing it (I need to get a copy of V in the crown):



V tells me that I am posting only pictures of Mira, so I plan to maintain an equilibrium after this.

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Q for what?

I was reading this column by Jon Stock in The Week when I was reminded of an incident yesterday at the Reliance Fresh outlet near my place. I had gone veg-provision shopping with the maid and the kids hoping to combine an evening walk with some business - a disastrous decision since the brats were lifting a chocolate bar each for themselves from the racks apart from cool drinks and snacks, and putting in all the unwanted veggies into my cart.
I was not in my best possible frame of mind or mood when I reached the billing counter. There were two people in front and I waited, keeping an eye on the trio that were my responsibilty. An elderly man queued behind me soon. He eyed my full basket and asked me if I'd mind if he went before me since he had only half a dozen stuff to bill. I relented and let him go before me considering his age. By the time his stuff was being billed, two ladies came and stood behind me. One asked me if I'd mind letting them go in front since they had fewer stuff than me. This time I put my foot down. I said I had already let in one person (who by then thanked me for my courtesy and went his way) and had no intention of letting in more people in a hurry and wait there the whole night.
As I put my basket on the counter, a guy popped in with a packet of wheat and thrust it at the cashier. I decided against making a fuss since the billing guy had already collected it, keeping my stuff aside. The ladies meanwhile cribbed in Tamil and considered the options of trying the other long 'Q's. They didnt. I collected my stuff and went in search of my wards causing a mini-havoc inside the store.
The store doesnt have a separate counter for shoppers with one or two buys, like some other supermarkets. But why on earth are people in such a hurry here? Whereever we go, people are jostling their way forward - to take possession of a just-vacated seat in a bus pushing you aside or to rush to make offerings at church sidestepping the main queue. And at church I find it is the women who are in a hurry.

My father tells me that Indians were most well-behaved during the Emergency. They lined up even to board a bus. I guess we need another Emergency/military rule to make people learn to behave.

Tuesday, October 09, 2007

Comedy of terrors, Act 1, Sc. 2

The two kids are ready to go out late in the evening with the parents. Mommy asks the Boy to put on his shoes. The girl searches in the shoe rack. It is missing. The Boy doesnt understand why the parents are yelling at him. He stands there looking lost.
Finally Mommy spots it under the cupboard in the bedroom. She calls the Boy over and asks him to retrieve it.
M: I cant bend down, be a darling and get it yourself.
B (getting on all fours, he peers under the cupboard): Achacha peediya (Big Bro is afraid). Lizard there.
M: No lizards there. Come on.
B (peers again): Paata (cockroach) is there. I am afraid*.
M: Dont be silly.
B: Afraid. Mambu undu (snake is there).
M (laughing): Little liar!
(She gets down on all fours and retreives it for him)

* The Boy is only not afraid of ants. He sometimes kills them and takes them over to his mommy for inspection.
The parents wonder when he learnt to be afraid. Fear was not in his list of emotions until recently. In fact they had been careful not to instil fear in him of things around - the way old women made kids eat/behave by threatening them that a policeman/beggar/wolf etc. etc will catch/eat them if they didnt eat/obey.
The mommy remembers that one of her greatest fears was being kidnapped and bundled away by a beggar, having her eyes gouged out and made to beg on the streets.

Monday, October 08, 2007

Maid in Madras

My mom, who was here the past 4 days, left yesterday night. We managed to do some shopping on the last two days - at Nalli and a new shop called "@home". She gifted Mira her first silk long skirt and blouse as a birthday present. She picked up a few Luminarc cocktail glasses and coffee mugs from the latter. I picked up a coffee mug too but to serve buttermilk! We shortlisted a few vases too, maybe later. The lifespan of such fragile stuff is not guaranteed at my home with two meddlesome brats around.

The prices however seemed double their actual worth. There is one floor for furnishings, lights, and a section for furniture - for the bedroom, drawing, dining, office etc. Sleek had a section reserved for its modular kitchens.

And for the first time, we left the kids in the care of the new maid. She managed without too tragic results especially as we left when the kids were taking their afternoon naps.
The new maid is a bit slow compared to the old one and not as efficient. But I hope she will cope though the kiddie tantrums are making her a bit nervous. Mom had been taking care of the kids the past 3 days and also helping her out in the kitchen. I had been doing some part of the kitchen chores including cooking, and laundry but today she managed without much assistance. Me and V took care of the kids' morning ablutions and feeding. I hope she can manage in the afternoon and until I reach.

Saturday, October 06, 2007

Random revelations

1. My childhood heroes included Karna (of the Mahabharata fame) and Horatio Nelson. Maybe I had a thing for fallen heroes.

2. I was a master story-teller for my friend and junior in school Reshmi. Everyday as we travelled in the bus to school I would tell her stories I had read in the children's Malayalam magazine Balarama and from the 101 tales for children. I dont think I have narrated tales to anyone after that. Unless you call blogging story-telling.

3. My father fed me with books on Greek and Roman mythology borrowed from the public library at Tanzania when I was 11 years old. I was enamoured of the Greeks and Greece until I had a Greek penfriend (probably when I was 12 years old) whose letters in English were hilarious. Not hahaha funny but the language was so bad and difficult to understand.
4. Around the same time, I got an American penpal named Sandie who sent me snaps of herself in ballet dress. (No, I am not in touch with her now.) And I liked the name so much then I thought I would call my first kid Sandie!
5. I am claustrophobic. My greatest fear is getting stuck in a lift.
6. I thought Phantom's wife Diana was the most beautiful creature on earth when I was a kid. The Ghost Who Walks fascinated me in a way Mandrake and Tarzan never did.
7. As a kid, I wanted to be an astronaut since I thought the stars and space was the right job for a dreamer like me.
8. But I was poor in Maths. I once got caned by my Math teacher for scoring just 29/50.
9. I still read Tintin and Asterix if I get my hands on them.
10. There was one point which had made me want to blog this random things, but I cant for the life of me remember what it was. I think I was standing in the boss' room when I had that brainwave. Maybe some day I will remember what it was.

Friday, October 05, 2007

Comedy of two (t)errors

Dramatis personae:
Mommy: a middle-aged, curly-haired woman with occasionals streaks of good temper. She walks around as if the whole world is going to collapse on her.
Boy: a puny little fellow who scuttles around like a rat but with an eye that doesnt miss anything even when he doesnt seem to be watching anything. Could be about 4 years, but doesnt look more than two years of age.
Girl: a short, round-faced two-year-old who seems as tall as the Boy. More stubborn than the Boy.
ACT 1: Scene 1
The phone rings. Mommy rushes to the room to pick it up. Two kids are sitting in the drawing room eating cakes.
Mommy spends 5 minutes at the phone grumbling about the kid's pranks and tantrums to the mother-in-law.
Meanwhile she notices that the kids have finished snacking, pulled a stool to the washbasin, turned on the tap and are washing and washing their hands like Pontius Pilate. The washing and lathering goes on for a good 3 minutes before she decides to end the phone conversation.
She rushes to the room, shouts at the kids who scamper away. She picks up the bottle of Lux liquid soap to find it almost empty. Nearly half its contents have gone down the drain.
Scene 2 will follow as and when time permits.

Thursday, October 04, 2007

White revolution

A milk revolution is on at home now. On Monday evening, a jubilant V called me at office to convey that both kids had taken their evening quota of milk in cups, not bottles. Mira couldnt withstand the temptation of milk and drand without much fuss. Ash whimpered for a while but V was adamant. So he took it in the end.
The next day, he woke up from his afternoon sleep crying for milk in bottle. He was told that all the bottles had been thrown away. Yesterday, as I babysat, I managed to do it too with some difficulty. Today Ash is on a rice-based (no milk, no sugar, no juice) diet, because of the tummy upset.
I hope he forgets the bottle business in a couple of days. To think that I was planning to buy more feeding botttles...
***
Yesterday evening, I also managed to take a bath leaving the duo eating fryums in my room. That was the first time I did that as I dont even dare to take even a 2-min break to the loo with the two around. I took the fastest possible shower though. I cant leave them to their devices for too long since they love to smother each other with pillows.

The last maid told me some time back that she took a shower when Mira was alone with her. She switched on the TV for Mira and left the bathroom door ajar, just in case... Mira saw it, went to the bath door, closed it properly and returned to her TV watching. Kids!

Lucy Locket...

A new maid has landed home from Kerala today - Lucy, her name is. My mom has come along and will be here till Sunday.
She looks like a nice person though her work is in slow motion. I helped her generally in the kitchen and took care of the kids' needs too today. I hope she gets the hang of things soon and works faster.

But I doubt if she can be as fast and efficient as the previous one. In fact I began missing her more. She called us yesterday to hear Mira's voice.
The new one has worked in the Gulf as nanny but I am not sure if she can handle two mischievous and hyperactive brats like mine. Let me see. As of now, she is supposed to take care of the cooking, babycare, laundry, sweeping and swabbing and other minor chores around the 1035 sq ft apartment. Since she has asked for a higher salary, I have fired the partimer for now. Division of labour had been tricky for me - since both say certain chores are not in their domain, I end doing all the finer cleaning at home.
The partimer had been getting too greedy of late - asking me for freebies almost every other day apart from financial loans. She had also said she was not free for babysitting, for a fee, in the past 2 weeks. She was probably expecting a higher fee for a 12 noon to 7 pm job.
I am feeling sleepy. Ash, who was down with food poisoning (after having an Arabian delicacy called shawarma the previous day) and fever yesterday night, robbed me off my sleep. He did not go to school today though it school reopened today. He is still feverish; the dr chided us for eating out often. It is the season of sickness in Chennai - chicken pox, fever, diarrhoea following the rain and change of weather.
Mira returned to school after a week's convalescence.

Monday, October 01, 2007

A day in the life of ...me

5 a.m. Wake up hearing the azaan from the mosque and V's mobile alarm. He gets out of the mosquito net, switches off the alarm and goes back to sleep. I regain my sleep too.

7-15 a.m. Wake up again hearing Ash crying in his sleep. Prolly a dream that has upset him. I pat him, coo to him and he quietens down and falls back to deep slumber. I spent a moment in prayer.

7-20 to 8.30 a.m. I brush, collect the milk packets & the newspapers, make tea and gets busy in cooking breakfast and lunch.

8.30 a.m. A balloon seller goes past, rubbing his hands over the balloons to produce sharp, irritating (to other adults) sound effects. Ash jumps up and runs to the window shouting: "Bunoon, bunnoon". He then scoots to the balcony and shouts: 'Mani, watchman, bunoon. '

8.40 a.m. Mani the watchman brings a balloon and V pays him.

8.50 a.m. The balloon forgotten, Ash demands his TV time. (It's a holiday, so brushing teeth and bathing can wait.)

9.30 am He has had enuf of TV and wants rhymes. I insist on the brushing. He takes his milk and proceeds to the computer. Mira sleeps blissfully - she hadnt had much sleep the previous day.

10 a.m. Mira is up. She sits like a hen over her potty - sometimes she remains perched there for a good 20 minutes. Brushing is tricky - some days she is cooperative, on others she like to eat the paste and brush on her own. I employ my Indian police tactics then - put her on my lap and brush from behind, a tip I learnt from Babycentre.

10.05 am Ash comes to give her her bottle of milk and I say "breakfast first".

10.20 a.m. The idli fed, I search for her bottle of milk over the oven. It is missing. I find it empty on the computer table. Ash had prolly handed it to her while I was fetching the idli, I vaguely remember her chewing the nipple of an empty bottle.

10.30 am. I hear Mira screaming. I run to her to find Ash deodorising her with V's deodarant. I put it at the top of the shelf and pull back the footstool they used to reach the shelf. The fish in the frying pan gets burnt out meanwhile.

11 a.m. The duo proceed to the other bedroom. They sight the laundry basket empty, pull it down and Mira gets into it head first. Ash sets it back in position, with Mira standing on her head inside the basket. I rescue her and chase both away from the room.

11.05 a.m. They sight the maid putting clothes to dry on the line, and help her - hand out each piece after an effort at squeezing out excess water. I am amazed at what children observe and imitate.

11.15 a.m. Ash pretends he is a fish-monger. He takes a toy, pretends to slice it and hands me 'the fish'. I pay and he widens the waistband of his shorts and 'put' in the money there. He must have seen hawkers stashing away money in the fold of their lungis/mundus. He gives me some change and tells me to put it away in my blouse! Women hawkers do that - they safekeep money inside their blouses. My! the things kids notice.

11.30 a.m. He procures a vessel from the kitchen and walks from one end of the flat to the other 'selling' flowers. "Malli, malli", he drones the way the jasmine seller does it in the evenings. He also imitates the ice cream/kulfi seller - providing us parents variety entertainment.


11.40 a.m. I leave for office. Both have a customary parting shot: "Amma, bye. Ice(cream), bunoon, patta (kite), bomvita (bournvita), Horlicks vangichiyaa (buy)." They used to say the same when the maid went to her room after she joined us for night prayers.

p.s. I dont think I have the patience to list a whole day's events nor would you have the patience to read it. There is more mischief than harmless child's play when the two of them get together - such as Mira climbing up the grilled enclosure of the balcony right up to the ceiling, aided by Ash. Or Ash throwing a ball/small teddy bear into the ornamental, seldom-lit lamp shades - and one which burnt and emitted smoke as we were about to cut the birthday cake last week. We thought it was a short circuit in the new AC unit until, much later, it dawned on V that the lamp was source of the smoke and lava.

Kerala fest

A Kathakali artiste and a mohiniyattam dancer, synonymous with Kerala's art and culture.

No, we didnt witness them performing; these were only posters at the Kerala fest in Royapettah and which V effectively captured on camera.

We had some fun company as we went for two Kerala shows yesterday - V's colleague and family. The lady was great company for me and their 7-yr-old son and 2-yr-old daughter kept my kids company. Mira hasnt really warmed up to the kids, she needs time for that.

The Kerala fest had a lot of stalls - from real estate agents selling Kerala's new "flat culture" to Chennai Malayalis to Paragon slippers to Medimix soaps and ayur care to those selling palada payasam and unniappams. The kids loved it as they had a lot of space to run around though we had a tough time keeping tab on them - counting every now and then to see if all four were around. Some of the stall wallahs were amused and gifted them candies and paper fans for free. Our men were hooked to the apartment sellers and both had almost decided to buy one each in Cochin by the end of the day at the Avanipoovarangu 2007 stalls.

The latter venue wasnt exactly my idea of a relaxed evening. The police shooed us off to the nearby Pachaippa's college to park our cars since the Tamil Governor was about to come and tehre was tight security. We had to jostle our way through the crowd for a security check. The slushy ground and many a drunken men spoiled my mood. The 12 clockwork elephants were a dampener too. That they had a mahout atop each with colorful umbrellas and venchamarams didnt enliven them much.

I think the crowd of over 5000 (or 10000?) was only a fraction of Chennai's Malayali population and an "entry free" meant that it wasnt the best of gatherings. I got to see a largely Kerala Hindu crowd, used as I am only to a Christian crowd at our churches here. We didnt stay there for over an hour. I glimpsed only Governor Barnala's white flowing beard on the faraway dais, he was eulogising about Keralites when we left. Film stars Jayaram, Kavya Madhavan and Kalabhavan Mani, whom the posters claimed were coming, were not to be seen. Maybe they came earlier. The opening song was apparently by Kerala's own nightingale Chitra - I heard it but I didnt see her.

We bought ethaakka appams (bananas slit, dipped in a dough of flour and fried in oil) and sukhiyans (made of green gram) and went home. Just as the paalada payasam at the Kerala fest, these snacks were mass-made too and didnt taste good or special.

On the penultimate day of reporting duty at the photography festival, the boss of the English writing dept, came and told me: When we both a...