4 years.... #MB2013

So, I did manage to find a gift for B which he seems to be hooked onto!

I feel very smug and happy when I do that. Its not too often that I can predict what is it that he would truly appreciate, but at times, I put some serious thoughts, or you might just call me lucky, and I do come up with something.

And this time he said, "You really know the kind of stuff I like!"

Now wouldn't that make you really thrilled? Yes, it did it for me.

 I got him Dad's the Word, a not so recent book by Soumya Bhattacharya. I came across this book while reading an ol' review on DNA. And then I started to look around to find where is it that I would find this book, because it was not something I had seen around for sure. I found that Westland books does sell through Ebay and I could order from the publishers. This was the closest I could imagine to getting a confirmed delivery. I did not want to order with the usual online stores as they would send it to me in a week's time, and I sure did not have a week. In fact I had just 4 days to get the book to me.

B loved the book after reading the Preface and has been with the book since yesterday night. This is the person who has not completed And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini in almost 3 months. He is not a very ardent reader, but some books do the trick. He has picked this up like it has done the trick, but it is yet to be seen what would be the final verdict.

When I picked up the book, my thought was that this is the true meaning of our wedding. The fact that we are parents and there is this small person who is just looking at us to play, sing and dance with. And that is when I thought that I should not go for any wedding anniversary celebration without her. It would just be incomplete. She is such an important part of the marriage, and I feel things would have been nothing like what it is if not for her. These thoughts left me with a feeling that this is the book which works the best for him, and this is not about the diaper changes, or sleepless nights. It is about a father and daughter, bonding over mutual interests. I felt it was a perfect gift.

I shall do a review of this book, once I do read it... this will come up in sometime.

What do you do…. #MB2013

...when your daughter does not listen to you?

And, I am not talking about every single time. It is about those instances when I know that she has heard me understood me, and yet defies me.

For instance, (Something which happened which has triggered this post)

Yesterday, T and me went to get some milk from the local shop which is a 1 min walk away. This is the place where I have been going to very often, and a place which she knows very well. Usually these places have jars of chocolates at the counter, which she invariably asks for and at times I get one for her. Recently, she started to ask the lady who is at the shop for the chocolate, and she used to give it to her.

Yesterday, when we were walking, she told me,
"I will ask aunty for chocolate."

And I said,

" T, you can not ask everyone for chocolate. You can not ask aunty for chocolate. If you want a chocolate, you have to ask only Amma."

This was all while walking to the shop. On reaching the shop, she spoke to the lady and asked her for a chocolate. I told her No, you can not take a chocolate.
The lady gave her the chocolate, and says, "It is fine. Let her take it, she is a small child." 

I did not want to create a scene and left it.

On the way back I told T, "I am not talking to her as she does not listen to what I say and she asked aunty, when I told her not to."

On getting back, I did not open the chocolate for her to have, and did not talk to her for quite a long period of time.

My question is, when you have someone giving something to the child, or letting them do something which you do not approve of, what is the best way to explain this to them? Without hurting their feelings? I know that, this  situation is bound to come up again, and I know that I do not want to make a habit of it. I want to be able to explain and assert myself that I shall rear my child the way I see fit.

A week away #MB2013

Two day from today and a week from today are two very special things.

This is the kind of ring B was looking for during our wedding. 

Two days away is my wedding anniversary, to mark another successful year of love and happiness (along with fighting and bickering). I believe that gifts are nice to receive and gift. There is a happiness associated with it, and if you are the kind of person who will treasure them and pick them up after years knowing when you got it, that is a really special feeling. So, I am yet to figure out what will be B's gift, but there will be something. Has to be!

And a week from now is the new year, and with it the new resolutions. I am not too much of a resolutions person, but I do try to keep things a little in control, and I do try to take up something which I will try to achieve through the year. I have not really thought of what I will be doing this year. Last year, was exercising and trying to keep fit. This year too I believe that has to be a core need, especially now touching on the 30s mark. Apart from this, I wish to learn Kannada. That is a need I see and I want to... I planned to do that I believe sometime mid 2013, but then with work starting, it became difficult. I need to figure out how I can pick this up again. Any leads? Is there anything online? I have not come across anything as yet.

Christmas Cookies #MB2013

I have set myself to do something which I have never ventured into. I am planning to make over 7 dozen cookies for friends and my office and B's office folks. I do not know what has come over me, but I think I want to try doing something which I have always wanted to do, but have stayed away in the belief it is just too much work. Now being in the 'baking season' I thought… why shouldn't I :)

I am going to set myself out to make 3 different kinds of cookies, and make dainty little packs which I can hand over. That is going to be like about 50 cookies of each kind. I actually did sit and work out the details and have a made a list of the recipes which I will be following and how I am going to plan out the whole process. I see now how the professionals actually charter out their day and plan things. It is truly an effort.

Am I thrilled? Oh yes!

Am I petrified? Oh boy… you have no clue.

But, I am going to do it!

Captain Phillips #MB2013

Would I call this a review? Not really. I am not going to say what I liked or did not. I enjoyed the movie and the thoughts being fresh in my head, I thought this is something I want to put down.

Captain Phillips 

When I started watching the movie, I just knew that there was a ship which was hijacked ( had read it in the papers too) and the captain was eventually saved by the US Marines. This movie was based on the Captain's experience and also to show the adept, great work the US Marines did. These where the thoughts I started off with, and boy was I in for a surprise.

As the movie pans out, all I was thinking was what would the kind of fear these men must be facing. When you think of pirates, you think destruction, heartless and out to kill. That is the image I believe has been portrayed by far too many Hollywood movies. Here too there is shouting, and 'incite fear in them' attitude and a belief that being the only gun wielding folks, gives them every right to succeed in their plan. I can imagine the nature of talks, or rather pep talks given by the 'elders' to motivate the youngsters, some as young at 16/17, to join and show their mettle.

These pirates, the young blood, each trying to prove their worth, have conflicting views on what should be done, but we see how a trained specialist can break them down. Break into their hierarchy and make them start fending for themselves. How some are not conditioned well enough to give up their lives completely in view of their cause.

In the last half hour of the movie, one sees the fear and helplessness which engulfs a person, when faced with tragedy in your face. How hope starts to wade out of your self, even the strongest people out there do finally start breaking down. .

Death is something many claim they are not afraid of, but what about those last minute things which you would want to tell your family, things which you did not get a chance to ever voice?

What if you are plucked off the surface of this earth without your mental consent? This is what we see and how such a situation has a grown man gasping and shocked, beyond anything he has ever experienced ever.

One movie I would recommend to watch for everyone.
Rating: 5/5

Is it the season or just the end to another year? #MB2013

I have been trying to get myself into many things this month, and have not been too good at keeping up with it, but that is not preventing me from going on with my list of to-do stuff, which seems to have legs of its own!

Being part of a marathon bloggers group, aiming to blog every single day, which is certainly not happening. But, I am trying to keep it a little regular with at least 4 blogs a week, if not 7! I thought the photo posts would make things easier, but I realized, that is also something which still takes time on a daily basis. I must dig some of the pictures which I have. Some which were taken long back all the way in 2003/2004. The pictures would be of a different feel, but that would make things interesting right? So, that shall be coming up soon!

Also, this month, I am going to be a Secret Santa to someone. Love surprise gifts, and if I can go and shop for a person who I have not met... this is going to be fun! It is going to be something which will make things very interesting. Its going to be busy too with gifts to be send out in the next 3-4 days so that they reach on time in this peak gifting season!

But, nevertheless, I think I am happy pushing in all this positivity in me :)

A kind of marathon #MB2013

The past 10 odd days, B has been travelling and I have been quite a bit on my own once T is off to bed. I sit about, read, do some crochet and then maybe watch a movie. It does feel lovely to be sitting with some crochet in hand and watch a movie. It is something I believe I did last when I was sitting at home while I was expecting. I watched movies, worked a bit and did lots of new born crochet then. But, now I make a indoor pair of socks for T which would be great during travel and just plod around inside the house, mainly during the morning hours at Bangalore. I shall soon post a photo of the socks once I am done with it. I might even be able to get T to model for me!

So, back to movies, which is what I had intended to write about in this post. So many movies have been watched and individual reviews are too much of a hassle. I shall just put down a few lines on what my thoughts were about each.

Keith (2008)

This was an interesting movie about high school and how an odd boy changes the path set out for the straight A girl. I would call it cheesy for sure, but the story revolves around more on the emotional aspect rather than the high school kids. This worked for me, but it was very predictable and in a way felt a little kiddish. Maybe just me!

Rating: 3/5






Blow (2001)

 This was a movie which I thought of watching solely based on the cast. Jhonny Depp and Penelope Cruz. I knew I would be watching some offbeat movie, but personally I enjoy the stuff.

This is a story about a small town boy making it big in the drug mafia by bringing in Cocaine from Mexico directly, selling it and finally trying to get out of it with not much success. It is based on a real life story of George Jung. The movie proceeds in a narrative mode, with not too many great dialogues, but the story pans out well...giving a peek into how things move in the underworld. Its not great cinema, but I enjoy such offbeat titles.

Rating: 3.5/5


Layer Cake (2004)

I am sure you know why I did end up watching this movie... Daniel Craig! I am not a huge actor crazy person, but I do have some people I like to watch on screen and I end up looking out for movies by these folks. They can be old titles, or new. Like, I love to watch Sean Connery old old movies. Absolutely love them... very little technology, but great cinema.

So, this movie didn't quite cut the mark for me. It again involves the drug mafia and their ruthlessness. It has quite a few twists and turns, but the whole movie lacked good dialogues, and this ended up me just trying hard to finish it rather than enjoy it.

Rating: 2.5/5


Hunger Games (2012)

 Oh well, when the second part was released was when I decided I shall watch this one. And why? I am not a sci-fi person, but still I thought I should as some folks from work were planning to go for the movie, and I needed to know what it was all about. I had read about it, and I knew this was not the Star Trek or X- Men kind of Sci - fi. So, there was still some hope that I shall be able to enjoy this one.

I was completely happy with this selection and thoroughly enjoyed the movie. It had the right amount of story, fantasy, emotions and all. Now I wait to drag someone to watch the second part with.

Rating: 4.5/5

And, that draws the end of my movie marathon which has been ongoing for the past week. I enjoy this alone time and like the less household duties too, but yes, I do want someone to talk to about my day and spend some time with relaxing, instead of being all by myself.

So, I await B's return tonight!

Day 80 - Another Sunset

A sunset as I experienced it at Kanyakumari

Kanyakumari, Tamil Nadu

And she came along....

Every time I get angry, I mutter and then go quiet.

Image Source

This was before T came along in 2011. B says that the first time he heard me scream was in the labour room. Well, be damned if I did not scream. I think I did a lifetime of screaming in there... for all the quiet persona I exuded, the delivery did show a completely different side of me.

And from there, I think I have found my voice. There are matters which have started to matter to me, and I voice my opinion, be it accepted or not. I do not take it after a point and give whoever a piece of my mind. I used to be so meek that I could not even get angry with a maid for coming in late every single day. But now, I make myself clear, and heard. This keeps me sane I must add. The muttering is still there when I need to vent out the small angers but when it is something big, my voice is heard now.

And that is all thanks to my daughter :)

Day 79 - A wish

This is a picture from my parent's place in Cochin, taken all the way back in 2008. Its practically on the backwaters, and this is the place I always wish I could just spend a whole week sitting out at the balcony and reading watching the small boats go by for their daily fishing.

Cochin, Kerala

PS: I am planning to revive my Project 365 through this month long blogging marathon!