Saturday 30 June 2012

Monsoon

One of the most eagerly awaited season by all of us. Instead of monsoon it should be come soon soon. After scorching summer everyone Welcome's this time. Weather is cool. The atmosphere becomes fine. Even the animals and birds show their ecstasy - Peacock's dance, and birds sing.

                        We relish garma-garam pakoras and tea in the evening, gossiping and laughing. Kids enjoy the showers by extending their small hands and letting rain drops wet their hands and dresses. Even grownups forget their seriousness and enjoy the moment of first showers.

                             Apart from the emotional happiness there is significant contribution of Monsoon to India's economy and wealth of a large population which works in the field of Agriculture. Majority of farmers depend on the rains for irrigation of their farms. Deficit of rains is direct contributor to inflation with less farm produce causing shortage of essential goods. It is a common occurrence that the janta does special havans/prayers to appease the rain God wishing abundant rain. Nature is strange and at some places excess rains cause flooding causing displacement of a large populace and large scale economic devastation.

It is long overdue when we work towards conservation of water that we receive through rains by using rain water harvesting techniques and also create large lakes which are maintained as water reservoirs supplying essential water to the cities.

I can ... but I won't

1. Pollution control is necessary  but still many government buses are emitting harmful gases in the environment.
2. All have dust bins in our house but still throw waste in the adjoining empty plot.
3. Many people sleep without eating and still we waste food.
4. In monsoon eating outside food can cause diseases, but still we eat from the bandi/laari.
5. We can slow down and drive carefully but still we race our cars.
6. We can make ourselves healthy by eating natural foods still we eat the junk food.

Obsession for some toys - why?

A part of kids earlier life is spent with the toys. Some of the toys like soft toys become there so hard favorite that they brush with them, walk with them, drink with them and sleep with them and so on. As a parent, I think that there should be some favorite toys of a kid, so that if the toddler becomes sad or cry, then it should  make him relaxed and soothe her. In the malls or airports we could see small kids carrying their toys mostly soft toys without which they cannot spend a single minute. When elder daughter was small she used to play with a small yellow chicken always. Even if we go to market, we had to carry it. No body else can even touch it. This continued till she was 3 1/2 years. So there are some things that kids also become obsessed to. If somehow the toy gets misplaced, then it used to be search time for everybody. Even if, I put it in front of the dryer, till the time it comes out, smiling to her I would say that your little chicken is taking bath.

    So it is nature of human beings to get attached to some things, in spite of the fact that these things are not talking and cannot show any emotions in response to our emotions.

Go - go - goat

Our watchman has bought 2 goats. They are now tied at the outer side of the main gate of our house. On asking his wife that why are these for, the response was a cool one - that these were for Eid. "Eid" is a festival celebrated a lot in Hyderabad. My kids on the other hand are very eager to know each and every thing about the goats. In 1 day I realized that I need to read an encyclopedia on goats. The questions put forward by them were - what do they eat? how goats sleep? where is there tummy? why are they eating all the time? How can they jump from such height? why are they not talking? do they drink bournvita milk?

                               Kids have an indefatigable appetite for knowledge and they are very curious about animals. They would like to know about our nature a lot however in today's urban world we see very less part of the Earth's zoology and botany. For them to know more about the nature and animals and plants they will need to make special trips to rural areas or zoos.

School chale hum

Remember that song from  Doordarshan - School chale hum, school chale hum. Kids are so excited to go back to school after such long boring holidays. Kids whose Mom's are homemakers have to stay under the diktat of their mom for the entire vacation period all day long. Do this, do that and don't do that. Even the kids whose Mom go to work have to remain confined with care takers in the day care facilities. They also go more disciplined and less social life.

                                             When it gets nearer to the end of the vacation the children start thinking of the fun time they will again have with their school mates, teachers after a long time. They are also very excited about the new items they have bought and would use in the new class - new pencil box, tiffin, bag, books, water bottles and so on. Every kid likes new things and also likes some time away from the nagging of their Mother and the tight environment kept in the day care. This is also the time when smart business houses catering to kids needs market new products with lucrative deals as back to school deals. Parents also fall into the marketing trap and try to get the snazziest latest things for their school going kids blowing away lot of money in the bargain.

                                    There is one more thing that should be part of the back-to-school events and that is the immunization shots. It should be mandatory for the schools to check the immunization record of the kids in the initial days of school opening. This should also be the top most priority item for the parents.

Recipe - Daal makhani

Steps to follow:
1. Soak the black daal and Rajama (red beans) together overnight.
2. Boil daal add a teaspoon of mustard oil to it.
3. For tadka, in 2 tablespoons of mustard oil, add chopped garlic, ginger, onion, tomatoes in this sequence. Let them simmer for sometime. Add some salt and garam masala. Let the whole mix cook for a while.
4. Mix the tadka in the daal.
5. Boil the daal and add some butter or Amul cream in it. Amul cream makes the daal even more tastier to eat.
6. Relish the daal with rice or paranthas.

Waking up kids in the morning

Even for me getting up in morning in winter out of my cozy and warm quilt was an uphill task.My dad and mom would call me, get up you are getting late for the school. I remember that I used to male excuses, just 5 more minutes and I will get out of the bed. My mom would say that you have slept for 9 long hours and still you are not satisfied, what if you sleep for another 5 minutes. But I remember that those 5 more minutes were much more jaan se pyare than 8 long hours of night sleep.

                                                                     This was my condition. Now that I am a Mom, I wonder how to wake up my kids. They also say "Mama give me just 5 more minutes". Their innocence reminds me of my childhood and those "five minutes".

Driving or talking?

How much can we talk?

Teachers in the class pass the order "Silence", there should be "Pin drop silence". In college Professors bang the wooden side of the duster on the table so hard that one could see chalk blowing up into the air. The clouds of chalk reaching the nostrils of the students, ultimately signalling to the brain and stimulating it to stop talking. Every chatter box in the class is stopped as if spluttering of the tadka sound suddenly stops when we add a cup of water to it.

                                   Nowadays, while driving, whether it is a bike, scooter, car, or bus we talk at the same time. The chatter box attitude at the back of the mind continues and propels to talk, talk & talk. And then there are traffic police another person who snaps and offers challans to people talking and driving.

                             

Shilparamam - A must see in Hyderabad

Shilparamam is located in the heart of Hi Tech city Madhapur, Hyderabad. Just at the entrance I could see rows of hawkers with balloons, toys. Some ladies sitting on the floor with the white beautiful flower garlands with charming fragrance selling to the ladies.

Shilparamam is divided into four sections. One section consists of the bazaar with variety of clothing, shoes, wooden toys. Lots and lots of decoration pieces for home, temple can be purchased at reasonable price but lots of bargaining has to be done. Some have remarkable pottery pieces. Decorative hangings made of clay are very popular. Antique pieces like Grandma's chair, wooden furniture with ancient touch can be seen here.
                                         Apart from this there is another section which is a lake. Boating is a common adventure people indulge in. Senior citizens, young couples and stroller pushing parents and children are seen here. Sculptors depicting village life are kept at different parts of the park and are marvelous.

        There is a bullock cart which also runs in the park. It goes around every nook and corner of the park. It's bumpy ride is very nice.

Third part of the park is a village. Wow, what a realistic touch. It has houses of different people working as Gold smith, Barber, Cobbler, Pottery maker, and so on in a village. There is a scene where lots of women and men and selling vegetables, fish, fruits. It's the market of village.

                                      From within Shilparamam there is a gate for the Night Bazaar which has lights and fountains. A feel of calm washes over as one views all this.

Overall a stress relieving experience and a nice weekend getaway!

Dinner Time

Dinner reunion happens every day. This is the time when family get together, good time to unwind and build the spirit among all family members be it adults or kids. Adults and kids discuss what happened in the whole day long.

                                        In the morning, everybody is in hurry. Kids get ready for school and adults rush for their jobs. So no body has time to sit together for breakfast without any hurry. Dinner time is the best time when the family members sit together, talk about how they spent their day and spend some quality time together. This is the time for relaxation, stress free laughing. Kids relax share their opinion.

                                          It's a fun time for the kids, sitting with parents and grand-parents. Parents have positive and calming effect, which can help kids tide over a difficult or tough situation in their school or college. Overall dinner time gives you happiness, satisfaction, fun. Dinner time gauge the pulse of all members of family. It's time to solve the problems, jolly, a fit of laughter.