Of book-reading and crafts exhibition- a satisfying weekend

We had reason to smile a lot this weekend. I had planned on attending a book-reading/launch session by Arthi Anand Navaneeth, also known as Artnavy of The not-so artful dodger. This was being done a second time in the city and since I missed the previous one, I was keen on attending it. I am glad we made it inspite of the horrible traffic which made an anxious me grate on the husband's nerve and also causing us to miss the introduction. But, the fun we had compensated us for all that.

The book "Have you seen this?" written by her (published by Tulika publications) is an imaginative read for children aged 3+. But, am sure, most parents present there would agree, it was a hit among us adults too. The book just piques on the curiosity and imagination of children who at that age are never afraid to imagine and dream things which may seem ridiculous to the logically trained older (in terms of age) brains.

The illustrations (by Roomani Kulkarni) are colourful and just apt for the interesting and breezy book that was narrated just as fabulously by the author herself. She kept the children (and the parents) in splits and engaged through the session. The ideas from the little ones that came out in the open as a result of imagination that was left to run amok during the hour spent was something that left me smiling long after the session was over.

The book comes as a bilingual (in 8 language combinations) with English being the common language along with one other regional language. By the time we got around to buying the book, the Tamil-English combination were sold out. So we ended up buying the English-Hindi one, also personalised for R by Arthi. Thanks, Arthi. It was a pleasure meeting you. Wish I'd remembered to take my camera along, I could have treasured the experience even better!

Needless to say, R loved the book and the entire journey back home (a long one at that) was spent going through the book over and over again.

That was Saturday evening. Another reason to smile was the famous Dastkar exhibition. Each year it comes up at Palace grounds which is way too far for us but this year it is being held at a place very near to where we stay. Obviously, I had no reason to stay away. So, I hitched up with my friend, to have a go at the exhibits on Sunday morning. Although, I hear that the entire spread this time is at a much lower scale owing to the last minute change in the venue, I completely loved the gorgeous display. Only, wondering how much better it usually is. We had a lovely time wading through the stalls that stocked everything from lovely hand-made jewellery to exquisite pieces of home decor to beautiful fabrics. We made some happy purchases, lapped up the visual treat and returned satisfied, albeit with a lighter wallet.

Do visit, if you get a chance. It is only upto the end of next weekend.

Read More

A roller-coaster ride

Oh! what a weekend it has been. I  landed at the parent's place in B'bay yesterday and boy I am glad that it was nearly uneventful. It has been a test of my nerves since Friday last.

Like any other evening, I was at the play area with R on Friday evening. R was his usual self, running and scampering around, with me close at his heels. It was nearing time to head back home when R wanted to play a little extra on the standing merry-go-round. No sooner did I place him down back on the ground than he shot off in a run. My friend N and her son V (around R's age) were a feet away and she beckoned him. It was that split second's delay that decided the course of the rest of the evening. I waited just that much time to see if R went to her before rushing off to run after him. By then it was little too late. R dashed off from underneath the slide and darted towards where some older kids were rocking pretty fast on the swing. He missed getting hit from one on coming swing only to get hit by the next one. I was almost there to hold him but was unable to save him from the blow. Oh! how this scene replayed later in my head several times and how I wished I was swifter.

R let out a cry immediately and I covered his head at the area where he got hit. My head was already swimming. Someone told me to sit on the bench nearby. As I sat down, I noticed the blood on R's head. My friend N told me to rush to the doctor's and offered to accompany me. I gladly accepted her help and we rushed on her two-wheeler to a clinic that was nearby. I could have taken the car. This was precisely why I wanted to learn to drive- help myself during emergencies. Of course I had not taken into account another important factor that is needed during such times. Enormous control over one's emotions and a cool head. I was not prepared in this faculty. I was just thankful for the friend's presence and hoped to God desperately that nothing was serious. R had meanwhile stopped crying but the blood was still oozing. It was not profuse but enough to scare me.

At the clinic, we were immediately shown into a ER where some nurses examined the wound. R began to holler here. I imagined he was in pain again but in hindsight I gathered that it was probably due to the hospital atmosphere and also innate skill of sensing an abnormal circumstance that kids have. I was tense and it was showing. I kept asking the nurses several times about the seriousness of the injury.

"Its a cut, will require stitches"

"stitches??..oh that serious..is it very deep..how many stitches?"

"The doctor will have to see. The orthopedic is seeing another patient, he'll will come. Did he have any vomiting or dizziness after the injury?"

 "No. No vomiting or dizziness.When will the doctor come? Is it not an emergency?"

"He'll come. It is not very serious. We do deal with such cases everyday. Don't worry."

I had three glasses of water meanwhile and was struggling to calm R whose decibel levels were jangling my nerves further. My mind resembled a question mark and was unable to muster faith in the words of the nurse, all the time doubting the capability of doctors and staff because no one showed any sense of urgency in attending to the case. Just then a pediatric came in and explained to me that since the head region has multiple layers of nerves and cells, even a slight injury can cause blood to flow. The area is in that sense cushioned by so many layers and only if the cut was very deep or it was compounded by vomiting/nausea/dizziness/convulsions there was cause for worry. My mind regained a sense of calm after this and we waited for the orthopedic to attend to the wound. R was also much calmer than earlier and was even talking. The ortho arrived after a couple of minutes and he pronounced the need for one stitch. He explained that he would give local anesthesia and then stitch. R began to cry again and refused to sit still. I thought he was scared and suggested that I held him while the doctor did the needful. But this was not to be. R kept jumping on my lap and shaking his head and I, with all my might too, was unable to calm him and hold his head in one position. The nurses and the doctor decided that it was enough and the nurse brought out a blanket, wrapped R in it, placed him in a lying position and three of them held him tight on the bed. Phew! we were all glad when it was over. Bandaging seemed quite impossible after this and so the doctor just sprayed an ointment that would produce a thin film over the wound and asked me to keep the area dry.

Just as we got over this episode, R sprained his arm on Sunday evening. I had called two of my friends along with their family over for the usual navaratri "vettalai paaku". R was playing ringa-ringa-roses with A and A's dad. He sat down before everyone finished with "all fall down", so A's dad just gave a little tug to his hand to lift him up and R began to cry soon after. He generally doesn't cry without any reason so we were all concerned when the crying didn't stop after repeated distractions. It was not a non-stop cry of pain. He would whimper for a while and then accelerate for a while. Suspecting a sprain we took him to the ER of the hospital where he usually takes his vaccines. They took an X-ray to rule out any dislocation and thankfully when none were found, prescribed a gel for the sprain.

The weekend was packed with enough hospital visits, though I can't thank God enough that they were not grave. Only, it had me a little jostled and worried about the flight I was to take with R alone to B'bay on Tuesday. Well, let me say we came in one piece without any more drama. R seems to be missing the familiar surrounding and his dad. He is not even moving well with his pati whom he had just met and adjusted to well a month ago. He's unusually clingy, quiet and not in his elements but he brightens upon seeing my niece S who is just a year older to him. So, hoping that he would settle in a couple of days.

Read More

A lovely time and a blue Monday- weekend update II

Part one here.

Saturday evening, we went out for shopping at a near by mall. R is generally very restless during mall outings. He would keep running around the stores, trying to topple any stack of goods, generally creating a nuisance and not allowing me to shop. This time, though, we had two pairs of extra hands and legs. So mom and I shopped while hubby and dad kept a watchful eye on R. R anyway got his due share of fun- a toy train ride. These children rides in malls are out to loot you, I say. There were toy cars that ran on batteries and had attendants who maneuvered the vehicle if the kid was very young, there was this toy train and one huge bouncer. The rate for all the rides was Rs. 50 for a mere 3 minutes! We asked R to choose a ride and guess what, he said "aipain" (airplane). There was none around and it took us a while to understand R's gestures at the glass-paned lift which he referred to as airplane. Of all the rides, he chose the "free" one. While the amma appreciated the choice gleefully, the granny melted at the innocence and insisted on making him sit on one of the paid ones. What do I say! We decided on the toy-train ride for R. R got on to the train like a pro and happily sat through the entire 3 minutes, initially in a surprised daze and then consciously enjoying the ride, waving out to us as we did. We also went on the "airplane" too, many a few times. Hubby tutored R that it was a rocket and not airplane!

Mom and I shopped for ourselves and for my sister, niece and aunt back in Mumbai. The usual bags and stuff but every such shopping escape is so fulfilling, never mind the drawers that are overflowing with similar stuff. We had ice-cream at Baskin-Robbin's. I went for the "Tiramisu" flavour and was hugely disappointed. It tasted like some powdered medicine. yuck! :-(. We wanted to check out one last shop before going home. But R had other plans. As soon we entered the shop, I went to the deo-counter to buy one and I must have taken just about 5 minutes, within which R managed to topple something off the rack and run underneath one table that stacked some kurtis. He decided to play a game of going under and sliding out of the table, not paying heed to our coaxing to come out. He even inspired another kid there to join him in this play while the other exasperated mom looked at me resignedly. I didn't know where to look. Finally, we made a show of leaving the shop leaving R behind and only when he saw us heading out, he came out! So, folks imagine how I must be shopping for stuff with such a cooperative toddler. I accept your sympathies, thanks.

We decided to go to Lalbaugh on Sunday evening. It was the last weekend of my parent's stay and we wanted to take them to some place other than the malls in Bangalore. We finished lunch by 2.p.m and decided to leave the house max by 3.30 p.m. Seemed doable, only that my mom planned to make some coconut barfis that afternoon. Still, we thought we could manage to squeeze in that part too before leaving. I looked on (that's all the help I can lend to such matters) as mother set out to make the yummy goody. By the time the barfis were ready and we got ready, it was 4.30. The entry to the park closes at 6.p.m. and the place is about 20 kms from where we live. It being a Sunday, we still garnered hopes of getting there on time. Now, people staying in Bangalore city would be familiar with its one-ways and more now because of the metro being constructed. We reached the Garden around 5.15 only to realize that the entry gate we were at was not meant for four-wheelers. We were told to go to "another" gate by some rickshaw guy which meant, we would have to go back the route we came from and again take a U turn. Some one else said that there was a third entrance if we went ahead on our path. Since that seemed easier, we decided to go to the third gate. We reached the gate to find only two wheelers parked afront the gate and the lady at the ticket counter, who was friendlier and more informed than the previous one, told us that there is another gate meant for car park and we would have to go further down the lane and take a few turns. Time was 5.30. I asked her in desperation if we would make it in time. She said we might or if we were so worried, we could park our car across the road opposite some hotel and it would be fine. But hubby was not fine parking the car on the wayside and decided to go to the other dammed entry gate. We finally reached the magical entrance, only to find some cars parked outside the entrance blocking the gate and also the only available car-park space (we later learnt that there are a total of 4 entry gates and we ended up at all but the one we were looking for. Systematic, you say? Ok. But how about having clear instructions maybe by way of an updated route-map at every gate, so that the first-time visitors do not have to depend on stray people for assistance?). It was already 5.40 and since we didn't want to risk overstepping the time, we decided to park the car in the lane opposite to the park. I grumbled to hubby that we could have done this earlier and saved a few more minutes. Anyway, we finally made it inside the park before time. R ran amok inside and although I was holding his hand, it was he who was dragging me along and deciding where to go. He kept saying "anga" , "anga" and made me run behind him. There was a rocky slope, atop which there was this Kempegowda monument-a temple-like structure. This fella, ran all the way up and down the slope with my poor mom trudging along behind and me holding on to the brat's hand tightly. Where were the other men folk..well, they went in search of the restroom. Convenient. Hmpf!

We just had about half an hour to admire the well-maintained garden, manage R who was scampering away in all the directions we didn't want him to go and also click some snaps for remembrance. It suddenly grew dark and we heard a booming voice asking us to vacate the place soon. No, the booming voice was not God's but some in-duty officer's, doing the final rounds of the park before closing time. We promptly retracted our steps from wherever we were to head towards the exit. Most people stayed on and seemed as though they never heard the voice. No wonder then that although the said limit is at 7.30 p.m., the patrol jeep starts making the rounds from 6.30 onwards. It takes time to shoo away people. Nevertheless, we had a lovely evening. Short but sweet.

Parents left on Monday afternoon, leaving a cranky R and me feeling more blue than I have ever on Mondays. We went to see them off down the building and R hollered, wanting to go along. It took my undivided attention to distract him and calm him down which, to my relief, happened fairly soon, although from time to time he kept saying, "tatha? pati?..B'bay..auto".

A long post indeed. Leaving you with some pics of the evening at Lalbaugh.

Hubby, R and my mom

Sunset

The Kempe-gowda structure atop the rocky slope where R chose to run up and down

Read More

The hunt begins- a weekend update I

Saturday morning, our friend-couple, whose kid is as old as R, called up to ask if we were interested in joining them to check out a particular pre-school for R.  We left around mid-morning, leaving R who was sleeping then in the company of his grandparents. We were confident that he would not miss us. I left without the preoccupying thought of "what about lunch? when and what to cook" as my mom took the reins of the kitchen that day to give me a break. Lovely mothers!

The school- the play home is affiliated to the main school that runs on the principles of a renowned spiritual guru- was located away from the main road which was a plus. The courtyard, unlike most others that are housed in a house bang on the main road, was fairly big with a small play area for the kids. The lady who attended us briefed us about the activities conducted, fee structure and also addressed our queries. The place in itself was pleasant, although it seemed bereft of the modern amenities that the others boast of. And I am not talking of air-conditioned rooms or fancy equipments. I am against sending my child to any such environment that encourages an attitude of "nose-high-up-in-the-air". Of the total three rooms, one was for the pre-schoolers (PS) and the other two for the pre-primary (PP)(i.e. from nursery to UKG) children. The one room meant for the PS had an old cupboard that stored some craft and sundry items and a few low wooden desks- the ones that are used for written work while sitting on the floor. I do not mind having PS kids sitting on the floor, but in that case I expect the floor to be smooth and the flooring that does not get cold in monsoon and winters. Sadly, that was not the case here. The flooring was like those kadappa stones (again am not sure, am not an expert in this area)  and also slightly unevenly laid out in certain places. Another major drawback, that actually put me off too, was the toilets.  They were Indian toilets located outside of the rooms at the backyard. The first thought was how will they manage the kids in the monsoon when it will be all wet and slippery. Also, it meant that the kids would be expected to be already toilet-trained in the first place. Thirdly, the basins had those brown stains that come with years of usage and did not look new to me. I already have a critical eye and in case of hygiene matters, again especially that which concerns kids, I can turn extra critical. So, this is what I meant when I said the place seemed primitive. I suddenly felt the burden of selecting the correct school, even if it meant "only" a playschool" for R weighing heavily on my shoulders. The multiple factors that play a role in zeroing on "the one", the sheer range of choices available today only makes the task much more difficult than it ever was before. The constant quest to achieve that perfect blend seems like the elusive mirage of water in a desert.

Although the play school was a let down, we decided to check out the main school which was the main reason for our initial inclination towards it in the first place. The school in itself seemed good, in the lap of nature, with plenty of open space and play ground. However the distance was daunting. It felt as though we were going on an excursion trip. What use of a great school if the child has to travel miles to reach it and get tired and cranky at the end of it. Uff! So many factors to consider- the location, the distance from home, the schooling board, the teaching methods, the amenities, the cost. It is just the beginning and am already lost.

This is no easy task and it is going to take us a couple of  more weekends to exhaust the plethora of playschools around our area. We came home with such thoughts playing in my head to find R not in the least bothered by our absence. He had had his bath, breakfast and was busy playing. Wow! the luxury of having grand parents around. This was supposed to be a weekend update, but considering the length of the post already, I have decided to cut it here and continue the remaining in the next part.

Read More

A different weekend- breaking the mould

I generally do not post an update about a weekend spent because they pretty much follow a typical pattern. Half or more than that of Saturday goes about ticking off some mundane checklist related to home stuff. The next half and part of Sunday is spent meeting either set of friends and the remaining part is spent wondering and moping about where the weekend went and dealing with Monday blues. Actually Monday blues hit me even before Sunday ends. It has always been so, whether I was working or not. I am happiest on Friday night, with the merry feeling making a descending curve as the weekend passes flies.

So, what was different was this weekend? For starters, I wasn't looking forward to it at all. Hubby was going to be out of town for both the days. After sulking over the arrangement for a while, I just decided to get through with it for anyway my sulking wouldn't change anything. Hubby left on Friday night and that night was the toughest in terms of putting R to sleep. Although I kept mentioning to him about Hubby's trip in a way of preparing him for the husband's absence, he probably was at unease and just didn't sleep for over an hour of however patiently and painstaking I rocked him. I just collected enough wits to keep myself from screaming in frustration. I myself had a disturbed sleep with R getting up a couple of times in between.

However, things brightened up the next day and also something happened that had never happened before. I baked a cake!!!
R had finished his quota of nap in the morning which meant I had to forego my afternoon siesta. Since I would have nothing better to do, I thought I might as well make use of the eggs that had been lying for a week in the fridge. I had been contemplating baking a cake for quite a while, stacking up the ingredients in piecemeal. It was like preparing for an exam. I had always broached the subject of cooking as one would probably a History or an Economics -- only enough to pass. Baking was like doing a Masters in cooking, so quite out of my league. But having friends who cooked up non-regular dishes with passion and panache had probably somewhere deep down sowed the desire to break this mental block someday. So, with all the necessary ingredients, I scouted the net for a recipe that suited my requirements which is when I realized I lacked the basic equipments like a whisk or egg beater and even a proper microwave cake bowl. But I also knew that if I didn't use this time, it might be long before I again gathered the ingredients and the interest to bake. So, I decided to substitute the deficient with an electric blender and use the cooker to bake.

Thus, with the recipe in hand, I proceeded with the preparation. With the dry ingredients sieved, I started to beat the eggs and the butter but mid-way I was suddenly taken over by a overwhelming feeling of having been caught in a cannot-get-out-without-completing kinda panicky situation. The whisking and beating needed persistence and loads of cool-headedness. R was making a total nuisance by reaching out to every damm thing on the platform and opening all the cabinets and basically getting between my feet and the platform. So, keeping a cool head seemed a distant probability. I decided to use the electric blender I had- not exactly the kind you would use for such things. Nevertheless, it would hasten the process I thought. And viola! it did the job in a jiffy, albeit with a messiness I would have liked to avoid. But as you know, beggars cannot be choosers. So, I counted my blessings and went to the next level of mixing the dry and wet ingredients. From hereon, the process seemed to get simpler and I heaved a sigh of relief. The batter had to be beat thoroughly well. It was exhausting but since the product seemed like it would work, my spirits were high. Phew! it was time for the final part, that of baking and the waiting!

The cake turned out quite OK. It was spongy and soft. The only flaw was I forgot to add vanilla essence, hence there was a hint of the smell of the eggs and also maybe I could have baked it for a little longer- one part of the cake seemed a little raw and also perhaps to get a light crusty layer at the bottom. But other than these, I would say I passed with decent marks :-)

I leave you with an image of my efforts. I took the photo after I cut the cake into pieces. Let me warn you, it's not a very flattering one.

Wishing you all a Happy Friendships Day!!!

Read More