Me and my holiday confessions

Ah back from my wonderful vacation and suddenly everything is beginning to look lovelier. That’s what a good holiday is really meant to do, leave you with warm fuzzy memories and a smile isn't it? On my way back home, I spent most of my travel in thinking of this post. Pondering what is it about Paris and Rome that I could write that has not been written or said before.  Well everything has been pretty much said and written, but the memories we made were new, fresh and here to stay with us for the rest of our lives.

While I must admit the trip was far away from what I was anticipating and here's how it all happened:

1. Paris was really cold: the initial choice of destination was Hong Kong, which is what we should have stuck to considering it was really cold in Paris. The idea was to enjoy the Disney holiday in a pleasant weather, rather than in hot and humid one. However the weather in Paris towards the end of March is still far away from being pleasant. It was rainy and cold at 5 degree Celsius and the hubby left no stone upturned to make me feel guilty!

2. McDonalds was our saviour in this trip too! It’s not like we were in China but we had little Smera with us and nothing better could have come to our rescue! A dose of McDonalds happy meal made the little one extremely happy. Though I must confess the French desserts at the local patisseries too worked like wonders.

3. We had not taken a holiday in 2 years and had almost forgotten how naïve tourists frequently get taken for a ride. Case in point was our first day in Rome – our first stop was Vatican – to recharge our batteries before the long wait to get to San Peitro, we decided to get something light to eat. We asked the waiter for his recommendation and that is where we exactly went wrong. The lunch was neither light on the stomach nor on the wallet. A total rip off, but on a positive note I still got a very appetizing picture for keepsake!   

4. Even if you are not a history or an art enthusiast, the city of Rome will turn you into one for sure. Everyone knows that St. Basilica and Sistine Chapel are strikingly beautiful, but the spectacular work of art enchanted even our little Smera and the story behind the art and history made her appreciate the Easter celebration even more this year.

5. This was officially the first trip where we spent most of the time soaking ourselves in holiday fun rather than clicking picture! And now when friends and family ask us to share the holiday fun, I have no pictures to share! All I have is a few 

6. Also I must admit the French were nice, much nicer than my previous trip but the Italians stole my heart! I particularly thought that the Italians people were a happier bunch than any place I have ever been. Especially the random people we met walking on the streets, in fact I loved it so much that I could actually imagine myself living in Rome. 

And the holiday came to an end with little Smera singing “let it go” in full throttle, while watching the movie on our way back home in the middle of the night! Go bless all those passengers who were sitting around for having the courage to bear her through that night! 

Fit in or Stand out?

We all live in comfort zones and find it really difficult to part away with it. But such is life, it will bring challenges and will expect you to raise yourself above the petty things and aim at the goal that is set higher. If you are a regular at the blog, then you would know that I love looking for inspiration from people in my life, everyday people like you and me! And so today it’s going to be my eldest niece, Mariah but I love calling her Ammu.

Ammu until this June was studying at the Indian School grade 5, one of the most prestigious CBSE schools in the Oman and was in the CBSE (I) curriculum, which is far more relaxed and than the regular CBSE. However when we decided upon putting Smera into an international school known for strong academics and extra-curricular activities, Ammu seemed excited about this new school for her.

It wasn't going to be a task as she just managed to clear her entrance test in Math and the second challenge set for her was French as opposed to Hindi was going to be the second language and she would have to catch up on her French. The third challenge for Ammu was to make new friends and so far it was easy for her as she joined and grew up from a toddler into a confident and popular 10 year old girl. Now it was going to all back to square one and at 10 it’s a bit more difficult to fit in.

But in all of this she had an advantage as she had an extra month of vacation which she utilised very wisely and got herself enrolled for Math and French coaching. As a result of the challenge that was set in front her, she pushed herself to the limits and in the very first test in French she scored a 100/100 and in Math she scored an 87/100. Since the first week her academic scores have been getting better the ever.

Simultaneously she has been making friends too in her peers and superiors but it is a bit longer process than she had expected. She is trying to make friends without changing the person she is and believe me it’s a tough ask for a 10 yr old. I keep reminding her of all the good parts of her character, while some days are tough but some days are super cool. The problem with the kids at her age is they without realising end up hurting, or bullying their peers. But what is important is not to lose your identity to become one of them.

In life I've learnt that trials are a great way to progress ahead in our lives. Sometimes they may make us feel excited and enthusiastic, while others simply are meant to overwhelm us.  The key is to never to lose your confidence, you may lose everything and get it back with firm belief in yourself. My advice for you and every child would be not to hesitate in taking chances and appreciate whatever you've have learned from a tough situation and you must also understand that every step is necessary in this journey called Life!

I know you've always enjoyed Dr. Seuss, he once said "Why fit in when you were born to stand out?”.  Taking a cue from Dr. Seuss, there is wonderful song that I am leaving for you and I feel best describes your situation. I Love You and you make me very proud girl!! 

Sweet November !!

I love this month! Got god’s best blessing – my Ma, met my hubby for the very first time 11 years ago and also got the most precious gift of my life – my daughter Smera! They all celebrate their birthdays in November. All the scorpions in my life have been the best bunch of crazy rock-stars that make my life electrifying!  

Little Smera celebrates her birthday today as she turned all of 4 years! This year had been tough for her especially with us shifting countries, making new friends, to new schools, but she managed all of it with her charming smile and few tears too alongside. With each passing year, she is becoming crazier like me. I never thought I would say it this early but, “Smera your questions are way too smart for mamma to give you all the answers”.

You are my best friend and my partner in crime. We laugh n cry n tickle n dance sometimes all in the same hour! With you I am getting to re-live me childhood and that is surely the best part of having you! I love it when you give me your lap to sleep and scold your daddy when he troubles me. God bless you girl and here is just as I promised the Princess Elsa cake for your birthday.

You are also becoming naughtier by the day, however I will confess, I love it when you giggle after you have done something mischievous. While I have to confess I am not a perfect mum by any means but you have always made feel proud by just being yourself. However I am little worried about your future plans of wanting to become a fashion show girl, super-heroine girl and Barbie, I hope this year you would find something reasonable real soon. 

Here’s a little piece of advice for this year – be tough, don’t shy but never let anyone make you cry, spread smiles and always remember Mamma and Daddy will always stand by your side!

Say a little prayer

Every night as I put my little Smera to sleep, I say a prayer thanking god for the things he has blessed us with. Now that she has become big she has started saying her prayers herself. It goes something like this. “Thank you God for the food we eat, thank you god the playground we have, for cheese and chocolate milk Mamma gives and for the Lego that daddy will get me on my birthday. Could you also give me Queen Elsa dress and a big cake? Thank you for everything!!”

Much as it sounds funny, but she is god’s blessed child to have a good childhood for she has good health, good school, healthy food and a home to live in. There are so many who are struggling for their sustenance of the very basic called – Life!

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What angers me the most is that we humans are ready to kill each in the name of our religion. And I don’t believe in religions, I only believe in the existence of God and humanity for all. All these religious upheaval happening across the world makes me wonder what are becoming into. I am a Hindu by birth, married to a Christian, lives in an Islamic country but in all of this religion has no importance in my life. I do go to the temple, church, mosque or gurdwara only for one reason they give me peace.

The Quran says, ‘There shall be no compulsion in the matter of faith. Distinct is the way of guidance now from error.’ There is great wisdom hidden in this line, our actions defines our intention and we people will receive only what we intended. Then why not wish for good things for everyone, peace and happiness, wouldn’t the world become a better place then?

We humans fight in the name of Allah, Jesus, Ram, Krishna but have we ever thought what the god wants from us. Whether one believes in a religion or not, but we all appreciate true act of kindness and compassion. To truly understand the God we people should stop debating about scriptures and religious texts; this only lets down our faith in the almighty!

Dalai Lama once said, “Our prime purpose in this life is to help others. And if you can’t help them, at least don’t hurt them.”

If we have lost our feeling of peace and harmony, it is because that we have put out of our minds that we all are a part of the very same god. I was reading something Bulleh Shah, the great Sufi philosopher once said,

“Break down the mosque, break down the temple

Break down whatever there is besides;

But never break a human heart

That is where God himself resides.”

Let's keep our eyes and ears open, help those who need us. Stand for what is Right and I am sure our good intentions will somehow find the right path! But if this to happen it has to start with me and my family! 

Changing a habit a bit !!

It’s very difficult to change a habit overnight, especially when a habit makes you the person you are. For the past 2 weeks I have been on the line of fire with my family and when I start to reason it out with them, I end up sounding silly!

I haven’t been keeping well for the past few months and even after good 5 doses of antibiotics the problem would refuse to go away! I could have long come back home to either Delhi or Kochi for a second opinion instead of suffering for so long. However being the self-reliant person I am I didn’t want to bother anyone else. Now I know just as I wrote that line it sounded really Foolish!

Nonetheless there are blocks that we tend build these in our heads. We shouldn’t trouble anyone, try to manage everything ourselves as we stay so far away from family. I have always preferred to do things on my own particularly with an extremely busy husband who has just jumped into a new line of work. Who wouldn’t like an self-reliant wifey and daughter? Right!

Wrong! I over did it! This self-sufficiency habit has landed me into trouble when I just couldn’t take it anymore. I was given a choice to decide over my preferred home. So Delhi it was, I decided came down to my parents place. After a little procedure and day at the hospital, I am finally feeling better and have finally got a fit certificate too. Yay!

My habit made my mother and husband most angry. This thought process of not troubling anyone, solving my own problems is somewhere is influenced by them over the years. These two people never stop! Especially my mum she can be unwell but not a soul would know in the house. Somewhere secretly I imbibed that from my mum. My husband has always lived out of home and is the most independent person and so even somewhere even I become just like them.

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But what I tend to forgot is, we need to shout out for help when in need. It is only in times like these that you can fall back on your family and friends for help. I love to be there for everyone, but I must ask them for help too. That’s why it’s called a support system.

I have understood that, while I must also admit it is not easy for me to change. I am still struggling to get over the guilt of troubling others. I will try my best to speak to mind more often, stop feeling guilty about opening up to them.

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In all of mind over matter conflict I got to celebrate at home after 8 years, didn’t get to meet any of my besties but I tried to calling most of them, pouring out my woes whilst taking a dig at myself. I am feeling loved thanks to my support system and I promise to work on overcoming my weakness. 

Staying positive amid a persistent bacteria

Continuing from where I left last time, I finally decided to make some me time for myself and yes it made a huge difference to me and to my habibi. Felt great as I sat down at the coffee shop and had de rigueur break from routine. While for the habibi turned out to be a rather expensive affair! As a dutiful wife I also indulged in shopping to give myself extra dose of contentment to please my humble soul.

The coming back home a friend of mine sent me an email, a usual chit chat after many months on the emails. We did our usual gossiping and then I am mentioned about my recurrent infection situation. To which she mentioned something that she read long back “life challenges us with the fact that everything can be done better.”

In our entire conversation this line left me with a  great impact, of course the shopping too had made me feel real good.

Just as was planned the UTI report came and confirmed it was yet again klebsiella pneumoniae. Now here’s the problem even after three courses of antibiotics this naughty bacteria has resisting, and these notorious Klebsiella organisms are often resistant to most antibiotics available.

So I thought to myself whining is not going to solve this Klebsiella problem. With a little pain and with lots of love I have been spot around the building grinning and sporting of my cannula. It’s day three now and still have a good possibility it might continue for another four more days but we’ll take it as it comes.

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Now good thing about being A+ blood group person is, that we naturally are a very positive set of people. And going around the hospital smiling and sweet talking to the administration staff has definitely gotten me some good discount :D

But there is another problem when you fall sick one gets advice from all corners, some might be good or bad but that has definitely given inspiration for my next post.

Cheers! 

For my eternal love - Peraty !

Everyone has some or the other fond memories of growing up.  I also have many and still living up some of them even though I am an adult now. It’s these memories that keep the child in you alive. In my real life research I have also noticed that it helps me connect better with friends.

I used to love Amma feeding me lunch and dinner. Now that I am mum, there’s a role-reversal and I miss Amma. Last night as I went to sleep I was thinking of days when I would spend time at home and Amma making my favourite food. Of course there are many more memories but today I plan to write about my love for Peraty!

Peraty is what we call it, but which I am sure most of us would relate to eating from the bottom of the pan. Especially on days when would have Amma made my favourite like Aloo gobhi or chicken fry. Peraty – literally means coating. Coating little rice into the lovely masala stuck at the bottom of the pan, rolling it into a ball and eating it. Eating Peraty used to be a pure bliss moment.

When I was younger I used wonder why Amma always ate from the pan and not in a plate, until one I realised the about the joy of eating Peraty. Once you've tried it, I am sure you would be hooked on to it for life. This is something that also has a special relevance in my hubby’s life.

He grew up in a hostel and once a week there would be meat served to them. At the end of the meal there would be kitchen in-charge walking with the big pan and rice and she would roll Peraty for whosoever was interested. Of course they all were and so they would call out raising, “Miss please Peraty” and so the poor ended up with a ridiculously but cute name Miss Peraty.

We still enjoy eating Peraty and just the thought of it makes our hearts go all mushy and take back in time when life was so simple.

My girl turns 3 !!

Three years ago, this exact day I was blessed with a little baby girl. As she turns three today, the best part of being her parent is seeing her smile everyday in the morning. This year has been yet another spectacular roller-coaster ride for us and Smera and through the year many milestones were achieved this year too.

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She can talk, make full sentences, sometimes even scold us or publicly embarrass (more on that in my next post). She can now successfully somersault, strike a couple yoga poses and peddle tricycle without falling down and fracturing her hand. Breaking her wrist was the toughest part of the year, I think I must have cried more than her. Even through all that pain and irritation she showed us how brave she is. At least she was much more than me.

She has become more social and loves talking to the ladies. She would love to look at their dress, touch their earrings, if she is lucky might even get them put her some lipstick. While she is still a little vary of the men, actually to be honest she can give dirty looks to men and scare them off too. I kind of feel secure that way!

Another milestone she reached that now she is fully potty-trained and has been diaper-free for the last few months. Infact this was one of the milestones that got delayed a bit, as she was scared to sit on the pot. I had to bribe her with lipstick, to get her sitting on the potty throne initially.

Yes you heard it right, a potty throne that is what it is called – a separate miniature toilet, designed for kids to be trained. But thanks to her cousin sister Amy, she has finally been upgraded to big the pot. Thank god I don’t have carry her throne anymore now. Phew!

Above all this year we have become more of friends, we fight, we kiss and make up. Love to snuggle into each other and then when daddy comes home complain about each other. Now I enjoy when the husband is travelling and it’s just the two of us alone at home, doing all girlie things together, watching her favourite Cinderella or Peppa pig.

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Our relationship reminds me of mine with my mother when I was growing. She has got all my bad habits, keeps calling me Mamma all the time, whether there is a need or not. However the funniest bit was once, she says, “mamma you look like my sister!” It’s something I always tell about my mum that she looks like my sister and the little one must have picked up this somewhere from one of our conversations.

I am a very strict parent and maybe you might even find me scolding her all the time, but that is because I want her to be world’s best child. When you grow and read this one, I want you to know mamma loves you a lot. Thank you so much for making our lives so special. God bless you, may you grow up to be a wonderful girl and I am sure success would follow you.

Happy birthday Smera!