Silly Saturdays: Baby talk

Smera loves to talk these days. She likes to make big conversations, absorbing all that we say and things that she observes. Sometime you will be amazed and sometimes it just cracks us up.

Her class teacher Ms Afsha always has something interesting to narrate to us when go back to pick her up. And so one day as I went to pick Smera, Ms. Afsha mentions about this funny conversation between Smera and the teacher assistant (TA).

Smera: I will get a baby!

TA: Oh! Is mommy having a baby?

Smera: No! She will buy it for me from the sukamarket (i.e. supermarket)

Another day her ex-class teacher thought, I was having a baby. Thanks to my lovely daughter who keeps talking about her mama getting her a baby from the sukamarket! 

Living through the midweek crisis

I use the word crisis a moderate term to explain my frustration.  Dubai has been invaded by horrendous weather and the summers have just started. Yes they are here to stay and so is my irritable mood. Not just that, I have been having this harassing headache for more than a week.  Well it’s not as big as I am making it sound, but my sinus troubles are back.

Image: gettyimages

Well that’s not the end of it. Nope it was just the tip of the ice-berg! I have put on a kilo that I had lost with great difficulty. The best thing would be to do some extreme cardio – sprinting or brisk walking. That sounds easy right, not really when you have no stamina to do this any more than 10-15 mins.

That again is not end to my sob story. Sigh! I still had one more problem – uncontrollable hunger pangs. Whenever I fall sick or am depressed, I end up hogging on a lot of food. And so even in such a terrible state, I managed to visit Bikarnerwala and Puranmal to gorge on chaat and kachories.

I am sure I can go on cribbing for the rest of my life, but I have decided not to ponder over it too much as little Smera is ready to head out. With hubby away for a day, I have planned an exciting day out for today. Starting with - breakfast at Sarvana, hair-cut and painting toes at the parlour, afternoon siesta, evening swim and then finishing the night with our favourite movie – Lion King!

Once all this is done, I am going to cuddle her and sleep off this disastrous .  And if for some reason that too does not help, I will eventually sort to some retail therapy thanks to hubby’s credit card. 

Silly Saturday: An Australian mystery !!

Question: Why does Matt Preston have a neck scarf on, all the time?  

Image: randomhouse.com

Answer: I think he likes to be ready always. 

Image: savvydaddy.com

On shaky grounds

By now everyone would have known of the 8.0 magnitude earthquake rocking Iran. Sending little panic parcels to the nearby countries that includes us in here Dubai and back home in Delhi. Well that is really the factual description of what happened. And if you go by facebook or other news source you might start feeling a little dizzy.

On ground the situation was entirely different. After a tiring workout session with the trainer, I was catching on some sleep. A few minutes past 2 in the afternoon, hubby calls in to make plans for a movie. Thankfully since it was for a movie, I eventually didn't mind taking the call at all.

Then shortly I receive another call for the hubby, “Sangi there is an earthquake, the building is shaking”. “I can’t feel anything here”, I said to him. “Well then maybe you are earthquake-proof”, says the darling hubby, slowing treading on dangerous grounds.

Image: gettyimages

Telling myself it was nothing I thought of getting back to sleep, just then I hear messages flooding on Whatsapp. Most the messages were coming in from neighbours in the community and some of these messages read as below

“I felt the earthquake now!”

“Yes, offices in festival city evacuated”

“My bed was moving”

“My sofa moved”

Another message read as, “my lights are swinging”. Ok this one really scared and made me got off my bed.

Then the message from my very thoughtful neighbour’s, “what if something happens to the nuclear plants?”.

With this thought, my sleep went away and slowly peaked out of the window. The office-goers in the complex bang opposite to my house was on the road. Then the next message on the phone was, “watch out for the after shocks, it would be wise to dress up and be ready should we need to run out”.  

Thinking to myself, maybe I really am earthquake-proof, I got ready to pick-up the hubby from the metro station. He turned up unusually early thanks to the earthquake I never felt. And then sipping a cup of tea and discussing the earthquake story, the hubby with a smirk on his face says, “Since you are shaking things up all the time, maybe the earthquake had a calming effect on you”. 

Silly Saturdays: Politely impolite

I feel particularly strong about manners, especially when it comes to Smera. We have been guiding her on how to be polite and making sure she understands the concept of words like ‘Please’, ‘Thank you’ and ‘Sorry’. She sometimes needs a little reminder, but even then she has now completely mastered the concept of using these words.

Image courtesy: Gettyimages

Yesterday she got a little upset with my mum over a petty issue and I suddenly find myself as a spectator to this conversation

Smera: Go away Ammamma!

Mum: That’s not a nice thing to say

Smera: Pushing my mum, she repeats once again “Go away Ammamma!’’

Mum: Now that is really rude darling!

Smera: trying in her best polite voice “Go away Ammamma PLEASE”

With no other option my mum had to give in to the argument as the conversation no longer was impolite with a gentle use of the word ‘Please’. 

Perspirer turns Inspirer !

I think every person is blessed to do something great, it’s upon us find what our goal would be. I love to find inspiration in everyday life. That’s the time when I look around myself, for people who are central in my life to seek inspiration. That’s what keeps me going! It can be rather difficult to search for optimism especially when the chips are down.

I have been feeling extremely lazy for the last few weeks. Blame it on the weather turning it’s course or just me. I have been shying from the gym, blogging or anything social for that matter. All I want is to sleep! With this on my mind, today I am going to write about a dear friend who is my current inspiration.

We go back really long. Childhood buddies, studied together from 2^nd grade in the same class. Though I moved to different, school, cities and countries but none of that changed our friendship. Anika or meri wala Mickey as I love to call her has really inspired me this week. She currently lives in Hyderabad, miles away from Dubai and we have not even spoken for good 5-6 months. Even then she has inspired my lethargic soul this week.

Instructor @ Zumba Fitness with Anika 

My bestie used work in the journalism field but now she has chosen to move away that and follow her passion Zumba.  With some rigorous training and driven by her enthusiasm, she is now a certified Zumba fitness instructor. She takes Zumba classes along with some freelance editing work. 

What makes the story really special is that Anika and I have struggled with our weight since childhood days. While the problem for her was a little heavier than mine. I have always seen her wanting to look slimmer in life, forgetting the fact she was prettier than all of us. As life got busy she found no time to take care of herself and she became a bit chubbier for her liking.

Everyone including her parents, siblings, and friends would ask her to lose weight, but none of them understood one thing that it was not as easy as saying. To be frank no one can understand how difficult it is getting started until they are themselves in that situation. Once you get the start, it’s more challenging to keep the momentum going on.

And then came time when all girls want to be in love and get married, the weight and long working hours would become a big issue. That’s when even with a super-hectic schedule she decided to push herself for walks and gym. Her dedication to challenge herself and her working schedule, made her achieve in goal. She got married to a wonderful man, who accepts her just as she is and encourages her to choose the healthier life.

Basking in her found love with her hubby Nikhil, she is dancing her way into a fitter and happier life and inspiring lazy souls like me sitting miles away in a coffee shop. 

Do show some love and visit Anika's facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/ZumbaFitnessWithAnika

For those reading in Hyderabad please do try a free demo class!