A CHERISED VIP WALK DATE

We often tend to think of a date in our lives as a passing affair, but ever wondered if what if that one date was taken out of the sequence of your life (hmmm...deep thoughts..... Here's mine):

Date 1 : 5th April 1990(about 5 years old):

The grand events of this day have been told to me in several witty-familial versions, but the central idea has been the same - how I was a tiny chaos agent!

Since I was the first(read: 'special'..yup !!) grandchild, Grandpa used to take me out as his evening walk VIP companion(I would flaunt this to my siblings and cousins that I was the favorite one !!). Close to where we used to walk, there were coral wood trees, which showered its red seeds like a carpet all around the walking area. This, to a five year old, is the equivalent of viral plush toy collectibles of the current Gen A - but FREE and lying in the dirt !. My eyes always focused on those and I always made it a point to bring home as many as my tiny fists could !

 That day, I decided to put one of them in my nostril to see what happens - now, at five, you have the curiosity of a NASA scientist but the risk assessment of a lemming !! I shoved it in my nose and it went up there. Chaos ensued : I panicked, in turn, my grandpa did too and I was rushed on emergency basis to the ENT specialist. Without much fuss, the seed was removed and I was given clear, stern instructions on how dangerous things might have been. 

Date 2: 18 April 1990 

All said and done, I went back to the VIP walks. 

My 'genius' brain whispered: 'Hey, remember that thing that almost killed us? Let's do a sequel' !

I shove the seed up my nose(again),panic(again), run to my grandpa(again)-but, this time around he's calm - turns me around like a clogged ketchup bottle and Thwack ON MY BACK!! The seed whooshes out ! My grandpa turns into a professional seed launcher !

Years later, as Grandpa neared the end of his life, he didn't want to talk about life lessons, his pick was the date of my nasal adventure(s). Now, I tell this story to my own kids. If this date hadn't happened, they’d think I was a responsible adult instead of a child who tried to turn her nose into a seed-dispenser. It remains the reigning champion of "Mom Was a Menace" stories -starting a laughing riot at every family gathering. It turns out, of all the things he did in his life, his favorite achievement was successfully launching a seed out of his granddaughter’s nose !

 

This post was created for the Blogaberry Creative (Monthly) Challenge with theme word DATE. Visit at https://www.blogaberry.com/miscellaneous/the-blogaberry-creative-monthly-challenge/

The child of diversity!

We live in the land of unity in diversity', but are we really united in this diversity? Are we willing to  closely accept a diverse person on the lines of the divisions of the society? Give it a deep thought !

Even when the country is several decades past the freedom struggle, we still remain divided( perhaps,together in mind, when the Indian cricket team is playing against Pakistan !!! Period!!) Anyway jokes apart, this is the story of ' Two States', our story !

So,like a typical love story, my husband,Ravi and I met i n college. What started out as good friendship, turned deeper and we were convinced that we were meant to be together. Now the difficult part- we introduced about each other at our respective homes and families.

I belong to a Christian Orthodox family from Trivandrum, Kerala with no history of as anyone marrying outside the religion. My parents also were together in college, but both from Christian background,so there weren't major hiccups for them to be married. So my relationship was a piece of disastrous news to them,quite naturally!

Ravi, my husband on the other hand, hails from an all Kayastha family from Bokaro, Jharkhand. However, they were on a fairly modern mind,as they had come across similar relationships in distant family ties. So, not stiff- not soft reaction from their end.

So summing up, the news erupted like a volcano and led to rebukes and sessions of "what will people say, there is a religion barrier, we don't know their culture, how will we conduct the marriage, what customs your kids will follow" and many more!

Now time played a vital role in our favour, as, when our parents saw us going stronger through four years of graduation and while in job( though,we were in different states initially), they might have realized, that there is a good shot here, that these two maybe meant to be together after all.

Fast forward to the wedding ,with basic Indian traditions,reception and a registry, and in few months, we were ready to give them the 'happy news' !! We were pregnant! The amount of happiness and joy and blessings from both ends was overwhelming ! It is true, that the grandchild makes the grandparents as happy as they can be!!! Our families truly accepted each other's diversities!

In November 2012,we were blessed with a beautiful baby boy and we named him - Abeer! He is the perfect blend of two religions, languages, customs and traditions!

We, as parents, have taken him the responsibility of teaching him the best of what we've inherited from our parents and we feel blessed and proud ! Our very own - 'unity in diversity'!!

Super-parent : Seeing mom,being mom

Sacrifice- a word we often hear in the context of a mother, she sacrifices her time, energy, career, health- in short, her life-  for her family and children. Give it a deeper thought and SACRIFICE has lot more sense and depth to it.

We've all seen our lovely mothers toil through the day at home or work or both to make our lives easier. Right from keeping track of where we place our belongings, to being a reminder of assignments and exams, cooking our favourites and what not! She's an all-in-one package, who's most often taken for granted, not knowingly perhaps, but that's the ease of life she's provided us with.

My mother, Amma for me and my brother, senior officer in state government service is a super woman in herself, just that she was missing the flying cape of a super hero! She took care of everything through our school days, and now the circle of life has put me in the Mom shoes, I am ever more aware of the little words of advice or rebuke she gave us in those days.

Every small thing from waking us up in the morning (though we'd go back to sleep several times, till she resorted to switching off the fan!! Ha-ha, sorry for troubling you amma!), to preparing our breakfast and lunches ( our favourites taken care almost every other day), finding our socks and ties under the pile of clothes or in the cupboard in the nick of time and still making sure we'd not miss the school bus. I am sure she'd have heaved a sigh of relief when we were packed off to school on time, or some days, when Pappa had to rush us to the next bus stop literally racing like on Super bikes! ( thank you Pappa 😊).

Following these heart-racing activities, she'd rush to complete the other chores of the house, prepare hers and papa's lunches and get ready for the office time.  As we grew up and we're lesser dependent on her, she'd still be with us through each event of life- college, job, marriage and children.

Today when I am mother to a lovely boy and do my bit for him and my family, I look back and realize the immense roles our parents have done for us and are still doing. And the best, we can do is to keep them happy with our love and presence. Though I live in another state, I don't miss any chance to fly home with my son and husband to meet them and let them enjoy with their grandson.

One particular incident, is when she had to undergo hysterectomy, gave me the sense of my presence with her. Like a child needs her mom to help her to take care, I did my best to take care of her. Stayed with her through surgery and post that, helping out with the house and her requirements ( my father too was the stronghold through this time and did a lot).

Each day now makes me more aware of the shining example my parents have given me to run my family and take care of them.

I salute you for the SACRIFICE !

Love you Amma and Papa !!

Being the Vasovagal stronghold !

Being just a regular day can be so common,but with a hyperactive kiddo like mine, there's injury lurking behind every corner. My partner and I deal with his falls and cuts in a way which does not make our son aware of the depth of the matter until it really needs our attention; contrary to pouplar doing, that parents make a fuss out of the injury. We belive and have experienced that this makes the child strong and helps him get back on his feet without the support of his mom and dad. Unless, there is a extreme situation like the one which happened last day at our home.

Our son loves to jump and dance (he was happy to put on his swimming costume and get ready to go the pool) and that was what exactly he was doing when the incident happened; the floor mat on which he was dancing, slipped from under his feet, causing him to fall backwards. The horrible part of that was he was standing so close to the door that the fall landed the back of his head to the edge of the door frame. For a couple of seconds, I didn't realize the impact of the fall, until I saw blood oozing out from the back of his head. PANIC !!!!

That would have been the obvious reaction as a mother, seeing the child writhing in pain, but, bless my stars,I got the mind to be composed and deal with the situation. His constant cries of "Amma, its paining" was an alert sign to me to get the first aid done. I rushed him to the sink, ripped open the ice cubes from the over-frosted freezer and put it to his head ! Thank heavens, the bleeding stopped in a couple of minutes. My husband rushed in from his office and we were off to the hospital.


Soon enough we were in the surgeon's office, getting ready for the suturing and I was preparing myself mentally for the  malaise mediated by Vagus nerve - in simple language - giddyness at the sight of blood(wonder why it happens only in the hospital !). As I have read in the past, i tried breathing in heavily as possible and look away from the scene of the surgeon, four nurses and my husband trying to hold down our boy for the procedure while he was crying his lungs out. The comprehend-able words were - " Amma, where is my Amma, I want see her face , I want to hold her hand" and struggling to free himself from the big party holding him down.

Eventually, the Vasovagal syncope took its toll on my senses, and I had to go to another room to regain my strength, I came back to hold his hand - to be his stronghold ! Each situation like this makes our bond stronger and makes me realize I am his rock and he looks upto me to be his source of resilience.

Loosing my other half

I believe this thought would have crossed every woman's mind atleast once the their lives, mostly in their motherhood phase. Just as being a mother is a blessing of nature, and you feel like the chosen one to cuddle those tiny hands and legs, there's also a price that comes with it - your weight gain!

Pretty much the same scene with most of us, this haunts us post the settling down period with the baby. Those initial few days give away to hours of thinking-"how to get back in shape ". I also went through a whopping weight gain and looked almost double of myself, and got myself a horrible double chin. My clothes had to be stashed away in the cupboard for what seemed like an eternity. Still I went on postponing any exercise regime till my younger brother's engagement two years post my son's birth. When I looked at the pictures post the function, I was aghast, I looked like a heavyweight drum!! My heart broke but my mind said- let's break some fat !!

A couple of days, and we were back in Bangalore, I went to enquire at Vivafit, a European women's only fitness centre, who offer circuit training, zumba,body vive,body balance and Pilate's. The moment I stepped in and saw the trainer, I was pumped up to join and get back in shape. She was pretty and slim and toned like a model, even when she was Mother to a 11year old boy! This thrilled me, that if she could do it, I could too. She still remains my inspiration!

I signed up for the circuit training classes with multiple trainers and with eating healthy diet,pretty soon I was loosing weight and inches. Within the first month, I was getting compliments from kith and kin. It was exhilarating and it boosted my confidence. After moving to an apartment after a year,I couldn't continue at this gym,but I picked up swimming. And now, close to 4 years post conceiving, I can finally fit into my pre-pregnancy clothes! This feeling is so amazing and rewarding that I can't put them in words. The most recent and the best one was from a dear friend who said- " Niny, where did you loose your other half ?"

I try to keep up a good diet and exercise along with juggling my household duties and jump into the pool for a workout, now with the company of my 3year old son !

Food for thought

Words are music to the ears- they can be like a symphony of nature or ground-breaking like a construction work machine. Just that the reins of which lie in your thoughts and actions and the verbal conversion of both.

It's amazing how the English language has perforated into our daily lives and what a difference in creates in the mere expression of it. A few tones up and it's soothing and way down, you're hurt for eternity.

This maybe the reason for the phrase-' one can never recall a spent arrow and a spoken word '. And as far as nature's intervention is concerned, she gives us the toll of time, which heals all wounds, be it for better or for worse.