Everything nice and not so mice

It's been ages since I wrote about the kids. On the surface there is nothing much to write about them…nothing worth noting down anyway. Yeah they are growing ….too fast in my opinion and behaving like teenagers even though they have more than a couple of years to reach there.

If you ask me ‘what are they doing right now????’ I don’t have to look to see what they are upto…..I can tell you just like that. They are arguing.....most of the time they are at it……

You did.

I did not.

I saw you.

You did not.

Mamaaaaaa…….

Tell-tale.

I am notttttt.

Cry baby.

Stopppp ittttt!!!!!!!

STOP IT BOTH OF YOU!!!!!!!!

Similar phrases in varying tones can be heard throughout the day. And it continues into the night. They are at it even in their sleep. Honest I heard them.

I’m so grateful to the Great Sages who invented schools.

But most schools here wind up before 1pm.

I threaten them with boarding schools.

They suggest Malory Towers and St. Clares and look at me very hopefully. 

I know I’m rambling but thats because I desperately trying to recall some worthwhile things to write about them. 

Meanwhile posting some pictures about ‘things’ they do in the little time they are not sparring with eachother.....

Background for a science project

Nikita's class were divided in groups to make models for a science project. Her group was given the subject 'Sustainable energy' and it was Nikita's job to provide the background. We were not pleased that she had to do this when her unit tests were going on and so she did it all very quietly so as to not aggravate us further. Secretly her father & I were impressed, we hung around waiting for her to ask for help & very 'reluctantly' helped her stick it all on the board with super glue. I deliberately flattened those windmills down so that you could take a good look at it;-P.

They draw very rarely nowadays;-(

The kids got diaries with locks from their aunt. They were very thrilled and spent a lot of time decorating the first page with their names and such. I could see Nikita writing in it and keeping it away carefully. Then one day she asks.....

Nikita: What exactly is one supposed to write in a diary???

Mama: Anything you want.

Nikita: Should I write everyday??

Mama: If you want.

Nikita: Can I write about something what happened 2 years back???

Mama: What happened two yrs back????

No, nothing I’m just asking.

Yes you can write about anything……time doesn’t matter.

Can I write about sad things????

What sad things???

Nothing happened*exasperated* I’m just asking whether I should write only about the happy things which happen to me or also the sad stuff.

I told you, you can write about anything…….happy, sad, ordinary, special, feelings, anything…

Okayyyyy.

Mama[cannot help herself]: What sad things?????

Nikita: Nothing Mama, I was just asking*walking away*.

Mama[calling out anxiously]: Or you can also tell Mama about it.

Nikita*wearily*: That’s what I do…..I tell you first and then write in the Diary.

Then why do you need to lock the diary*finally voicing what was troubling me*

“To keep Naina out” says Nikita grimly.

Naina[8yrs] who was following the conversation avidly grins unrepentantly.

Mama[irritated]: Naina, its bad, BAAD manners, why don’t you write in your own diary instead of reading other peoples’???

Naina[mournfully]: I lost the lock.

Periwinkle Plant

Naina plants a plum seed in an empty pot and waters it diligently everyday.

After a few days Mama brings a small sapling of a flowering plant from the park, plants it in the same pot.

“Oh shoot, Naina planted a seed in that, she's going to make my life miserable" thinks Mama tiredly.

Naina comes back from school and “Mama, Chechi LOOOOOK………my plum seed has sprouted….YAAAAAYAYAAY”.

Mama gets a few months reprieve.

Fridge magnets made by them & an old poloroid picture

[Last night at the dining table]

Naina: what is the meaning of ‘seer’????

Mama: Sear means like burn or scorch.

Naina: No not tht sear, s-e-e-r seer???

Mama: Ah ok, that seer is a person who can prophecy, who can tell what's going to happen in the future.

After a minute….

Naina:  I think I have got all the makings of a true seer.*

Nikita[under her breath]: Ohhhh puh-leeese.

Mama[looking impressed]: Really!!!!

"Yes, I can tell the future" Naina waves her fork grandly.

Father: Can you forsee the punishment you’ll get if you don’t finish what’s on your plate in 5 minutes????

Nikita guffaws.

Mama looks reproachfully at Papa.

Naina who took a few seconds to understand the nuances of that statement, prudently decides to use the fork to finish her spaghetti.

Click & enlarge to read a newspaper report

Please ignore all grammatical & spelling mistakes.....Nikita is not usually so careless, the only explanation I can offer here is that I think she wrote it very fast. Now one word…..one particular word on the board, referred to Naina in a manner she found offending. She pleaded with her sister to remove it but Nikita didnt budge. Finally Naina resorted to sneaking into the room when Nikita wasn’t there, rubbed out the offending word and substituted it with princess/ beautiful girl/ intelligent human being and such-like, then tiptoed away. When she went back into the room later, it would have magically reverted back to the original word. Then she would repeat the process all over again. This went on till the father came back from his trip & put Naina out of her misery;-D. 

Book-mice:-)

Book-mouse. Ever heard of this word??? I heard it for the first time last week. Nikita showed me a "How to make a Book-Mouse" article in a Tom & Jerry comic book and talked excitedly about making them. She launched into a loooong explanation which I listened with half a ear smiling at her enthusiasm. Book-mouse is a mouse made of clay with a long tail which served as a book-mark and....*didnt hear*.....and.you have to give me a string.....and...*didnt hear*...I'm going to make them. Is that alright with you Mama????

Sure, I'm okay.

Yippeeeee......you are the best Mama in the whole world!!!!

Children, I shake my head. It takes so little to make them happy. I hunt for a string for the tail. 

She comes back in no time with a book-mouse in hand.

"It's nice" I make all the right noises, very carefully not touching the mouse.

"Isn't it??? Now let's bake it." says Nikita.

"Whaat" I look up confused.

"Haven't you been listening to anything I said????" demands Nikita.

I fidget guiltily.

"We have to bake this mouse to harden it. I told you."

Realisation dawns. 

"No baking mice in my oven." I say firmly.

"Mammaaa" wails Nikita.

"I'm not going to waste energy for a little thing like that. Why don't you dry it in the sun. It may take longer but it will have the same effect."

"Okay then I'll make some more of them, I have to make some for my friends anyway. If I make say, 10 of them will you bake it then"

I stare in horror. I couldn't get myself to imagine baking 1 mouse let alone a dozen of them.

I know they are fake. But Urrrrgghhhh.......No Way.

After 1/2 an hour of pleading Nikita goes away in a huff & places them on the balcony. After she leaves, I go there and quickly click a picture. 

I may shrink at the idea of baking mice in my oven but have no qualms about serving it on the blog;-D

p.s: Some of the pictures and the incidents written below it have no connection with eachother. 


* I knew there was something fishy about that sentence. It came to me after a couple of hours.....it is lifted out of a Harry Potter book;-/.

Piece of Mind

The shifting saga is not over yet. I searched my mind for some other interesting story to tell you but the mind remains stubbornly blank. Well I can’t blame my mind also…..it has never in its life ‘shifted’ anywhere and the upheaval caused by the move cannot be glossed over.

See, my mind is a creature of habit.

It hates change.

Because it is a creature of habit.

I already said that???

I apologise, please go easy on it.

Who???

My mind, I’m talking about my MIND.

It’s still living in the past.  For instance as soon as we get out of the lift it persists in turning right instead of left simply because for the past 12 years it has been turning right to reach home. It[my mind, my MIND] also directs my hand to reach for certain ingredients in the kitchen at odd places, in short wastes so much of my time. It’s almost one month since we moved in but my poor little mind still lives in my old apartment.

Me, I’m beginning to like my new home now and see potential and possibilities.  The first 2 weeks were terrible but now I’m much more relaxed. Down to the last 3 unopened cartons you see.

You still have cartons to open?????

Yeah *shamefaced* but only 3-4 of them. See the problem with me is that I’m easily distracted…….for me each carton was like Pandora’s Box. One could never predict what one would find in them. Some of the things, I hadn't seen in years. And totally evil stuff. The carton with books were the worst….and it's not just me, each of us would pause on the books we liked, then slowly wander away from the unpacking scene to sit down and read. 

Once the books were given their due the photo albums demanded their share of attention. The kids were so thrilled to go through the pictures of their babyhood[I had stashed them away for safety reasons…like sticky fingers] and I had to explain the circumstances under which each picture was taken. Not a single picture reflected tranquillity you see and so couldn't blame them for demanding explanations. After we finished with that, came the carton with my puzzles.

Jigsaw puzzles.

It was like meeting up with old friends. I don’t know if I’ve ever told you but next to my love for reading comes my fascination with Jigsaws. When the kids are busy checking out the latest toys in a Toy Store I can usually be found in the aisle where the Jigsaw puzzles are kept. I’ll not be joking if I said I can spend hours looking through the choices the store has and finally even if the kids didn’t choose anything I would have picked up a puzzle pack. The more the number of pieces in the puzzle the more I am entranced. The better-half never understood my fixaton with them.  When I edged towards the cash counter he would give me that ‘Not another one’ look and I would pretend not to notice and march off with my jigsaw pack safely cradled in my arms.

Now interest is one thing and the ability to put them together another.

No doubt I’m a passionate Jigsaw puzzle devotee but I lack the dedication to see it through. I certainly begin well; the initial 100 pieces are pieced together in a matter of hours. I would be at it whenever I had some time to spare and even manage to complete the puzzle say 70% of it within weeks. Then I get stuck. The main culprit is usually the sky or the sea and sometimes it’s both. Darkness and shadows are other terrible images to put together. Days stretch into weeks and weeks into months. Soon the pieces would find their way into the kitchen and onto the balcony. Some of them even hide themselves in the vacuum cleaner. The worst is that the better-half is the one who always finds them.

I would wince inside when he stood in front of me with a piece [which he would have fished out of don’t ask where and dammit how is it that only he finds them] and not say a single word.

After a few repeated confrontations like the above I would admit defeat and mournfully bundle up all the pieces back into its covers and pack it away safely.

You’d think I’d have learnt my lesson but no, within a few months I’d buy another pack and go through the whole ringamole once again. The thing is, everytime I pick up a new pack I convince myself that this time I’ll definitely complete it.

Truth be told I have completed many but the plain fact is that I have more incomplete stuff to my credit.

Like I said the sky and the sea just scramble my mind. After working on it for a few weeks my mind starts turning everything into a jigsaw. Anything I’m looking at sort of form into odd shaped pieces and start piecing themselves together. Just like how tetris blocks keep falling everywhere you look…ermmm tetris addicts will know what I’m talking about.

One fine day I made a decision to stop buying until I finished the previous. It was hard but I kept my word, to myself. I still went and examined all the new puzzles in the store and studied the pictures and dimensions very carefully but did not buy. Though I was totally convinced that ‘this one’ is something I can definitely complete.  

Aah well, old stories….

Wait, why did I bring that up now when I was talking about unpacking???

Because I’m back at it again. This time with a new purpose. See I got this brilliant idea, some of my walls were looking so bare so I thought I’ll piece together these puzzles, get them framed and put them on the wall. Howzattttt!!!!!

Here are a few I've been working on….

Flying

It all started when the kids took this puzzle to fix and asked me to help I ofcourse couldn't resist. I was so rusty initially that I mourned the loss of my jigsaw piecing skills. But like we never forget how to ride a bicycle I got back into rhythm after sometime. Together we fixed the puzzle in one day and were very thrilled with ourselves ‘Hmmmmm, haven’t lost my touch*pat, pat went my hand on my back*’. But it was just a 300 piece puzzle I cautioned myself.

The Road to the Sea

The kids then took this one out with the same enthusiasm but soon gave up as a 1000 piece puzzle was a different ballgame altogether. They compensated by picked out the edges, the sea and the sky and helped me a lot. I fixed the houses, the path and the greenery in 4-5 days and then took more than 1 week to put the sea and the sky together. Just look at it......the sea and the sky I mean, just pieces and pieces of light blue and dark blue. It was really tough but I made it. The satisfaction I got cannot be explained. Because this was one of the incompleted puzzles which I left half-way a year or so back, convinced that the sky and sea were inpiecable[if there is a word like that] by a normal human being. The better-half was impressed, not that he told me so in words but I could make out;-D.

Puppies in the wooden Box

Now this one is one of my oldest and a favourite. I have pieced it together more than once. I have this one memory of this puzzle. Almost 10 yrs ago when I first attempted the picture I started with the puppies first…..after a lot of trial and error I pieced together all the 6 puppies and found that I still had bits and pieces of puppy nose and paws and whiskers left. I simply couldn’t imagine why these extra pieces were there in the pack. I then pieced together the wooden chest and the fabric hanging behind the puppies. When I was nearing the end I found a gaping hole next to the 6^th puppy from the right. And what do you know, all those extra pieces came together to form a tiny 7^th puppy in the corner. It was such a lovely surprise and I still remember my excitement at piecing together something which wasn’t even there in the picture. 

Machu Picchu - 3000pcs

A few years back my brother-in-law was going to Singapore/Malaysia and I asked him to get me a puzzle pack from there. You see I had heard about and even seen some beautiful puzzle packs from there, especially the famous paintings from the bygone[Renaissance, etc] era which were promoted as puzzles. So I explained in detail what I wanted and he said he knew all about it. Then he comes back and gives me what I still think is the largest and the most complicated one. I took it out just once but kept it back within days. It was working out to be bigger than my dining table. And the bil got what he wanted, I never asked him for anything again.

The Castle - 2000pcs

I am now occupied with the above. Like the earlier one, I had attempted this one too a few years back and had given up half-way. I know it’s not going to be easy, for this one has double the pieces, the sky & forest are already giving me the creeps. But the confidence I gained after completing ‘Road to the Sea’ is something else. Makes me feel very optimistic:-).

The mind is a strange thing......whenever I'm doubtful it keeps spurring me on.  Like Buddha says "The mind is everything. What you think you become". But he wouldn't have ever thought it would get twisted this much out of context;-).

The Glass Window

The shifting went off eventfully. Long story, so I won't get into that. But the movers were good, everything was intact except for a broken glass but even that I can’t be too sure because I may just have had something to do with it.

I already am aware of the fact that I have no sense of direction. What I didn’t know was that I also couldn’t measure space. When I first saw the flat I got the feeling the rooms were small. And I had seen the flat twice before moving in. I kept cribbing to everybody & remember telling you also that there was not much space. Now that I have moved in and kept all my furniture in place I realise I am wrong. There is space, much more space than I anticipated.

The first day was a nightmare. I walked around the new apartment with a million things buzzing through my mind but did absolutely nothing. It felt like jetlag, this feeling of numbness which overwhelmed me. I have never experienced jetlag personally. But if I ever did I'm sure its just going to be like this.

When it was time to sleep I realised none of the beds had mattresses on them.

“I told the packers to dispose all of them.” says better-half casually.

I stare at him in disbelief.

So the first night we all slept on the floor.

That whole week we slept on the floor. Because the furniture guys took one week to deliver the bedding we ordered. Though we padded the floor well with blankets and flannel we all got up with aching bones everyday. The kids were cribbing big-time & I thought I was going to fall sick if it went on like this.

On the last night of this ordeal I got up in the middle of the night for something. It was then it struck me. I could sleep on the sofa. I lowered myself onto the soft cushiony foam and sighed in bliss. And kicked myself for not thinking of it earlier.

The better-half gets up as if on cue and orders me off.

I pretend to be deeply asleep.

He wakes me up.

I mumble "5 minutes" hoping he’ll nod off by then.

Exactly 5 minutes later he wakes me again and reminds me they are leather sofas.

A few minutes later I heard an exasperated intake of breath.

Again a few minutes later I hear him sigh ‘They’ll sag under your weight’.

Muttering uncomplimentary things about where he can get off with his precious sofas, I go back to the cold floor. Atleast I got uninterrupted sleep there.

The first week was terrible. We literally lived in a glass house. All the rooms have huge windows. But the living room window takes the cake. One whole wall is a window. At first we thought it had reflective glass. On the 1^st night I went out into the balcony to confirm and my heart dropped. It was clear as day. Every single thing we did could be seen from outside. And directly opposite were around 6 windows of the neighbouring apartments.

I suggested to the better-half that we cover the windows with newspapers till we get the curtains. The better-half disagreed. 

“We’ll buy curtains as soon as possible, until then it will remain bare” he remained adamant.

I shook my head wearily and placed the cartons I had already unpacked, in front of the window. After a few days we got somebody to drill holes for the bedroom curtain rods. I used the curtains I already had, so those rooms were ok.

Once the immediate requirements were completed we went curtain shopping. And came back home pretty pleased with ourselves. We went to a store who dealt with curtains and the accessories. We selected the curtain material, then the gauzy material to let the light through, then the blackout cloth which blocked out the light if we didn’t want it, chose the rods and the mechanisms to open & close the curtains. Then waited for them to give us the estimation.

The price when it was revealed shattered us. Let’s just say that for the same amount I could have brought the entire furniture in my living room. Well almost. For now it’s back to the drawing board.

Meanwhile we are all on our best behaviour, atleast in the living room.

In other news[related to the move, everything is related to the move], the kids come back home a whole hour early coz theirs is the first stop from the school. They were so thrilled in the beginning but now are complaining they don’t get enough time to bond with their bus-friends;-/.

I found a nice supermarket[nice meaning there’s lots of Indian foodstuff] tucked away in the corner. Just 5 minutes away. I’m so lucky. They opened newly around 3 weeks back. Imagine. I’m imagining that all Indians in the locality must be so pleased. 

An Indian family has moved in on the floor below mine. They are Malayalee Christians; I have not met them or even seen them but I knowJ. How??? When I open my kitchen window I can hear them. Especially when the lady is on the phone, I can hear her through the din the pigeons make. Her conversations are peppered with pullikaaran[an old-fashioned way of referring to the husband] and Ammaniamamma and Sunnychayans :-D. I’m not particularly looking to meet them, just content they are around.

My Mil sent duck roast all the way from Kerala through a cousin.

It was like manna from heaven.

I know what you are thinking??? You are wondering why this Nancy’s reactions are always OTT.

Well let me put it another way. You are bone-weary from all that unpacking, tiredly thinking of what to make for dinner when all you want to do is flop on the bed; just then the door-bell rings and this packet of delicious duck-roast is placed in your hands.

I rest my case.

.........

If any of the neighbours were watching through the window, they would have caught sight of a fat lady clutching a newspaper covered package complete with strings close to her heart, sinking to her knees in slow motion and weeping tears of joy.

Now that is going Over The Top even by my standards;-D

The Glass Window 

A new lesson everyday

After the final exams the kids had a fortnight off before they started school again. I usually view holidays with trepidation but this time was secretly rubbing my hands in glee because I enrolled them for the annual VBS[Vacation Bible School] at Church. Which meant that they would be out of my hair for 3-4 hours everyday for 7 days.

What is it they say about best-laid plans of mice and men……

It all started when I was standing & talking with my friend in church. A mature member of the church interrupts our very important conversation.

Yes important. We were talking about world peace.

Seriously we were.

Anyways you can’t prove we were not.

Now the nice-looking aunty requests my friend to step in as a VBS teacher since they were facing a shortage. As soon as I heard the topic of conversation my gut instincts screamed at me to "get out of there Nancy....just get the heck out of there before...". My friend like I expected cried off because she was a working woman & the timings clashed. I in the meantime was trying to merge into the solid church wall behind me.

Why????

Because these two were blocking the exit.

When the heavy and suggestive silence became too much I peeked to see 2 pairs of eyes staring expectantly for an answer to a question I'm prepared to swear I didn’t hear. That was it. Before I knew it I was signed up as Junior teacher for the VBS.

I was not pleased. All that free time I dreamed of putting into good use evaporated into thin air ;-(. Teaching kids was the last thing I wanted to do in my ‘free’ time. If I wanted to do that I would have joined as teacher in some school long back and earned big moneys.

I spent the rest of the day kicking myself for not saying NO plain and straight out.

What is the big deal you ask????

"Very big deal" I defend myself.

To begin with I don’t like kids.

Nope, not even my own.

I love them, my kids I mean but ‘like’….I'm still not so sure.

It was always like that. Even during my teenage years I used to keep away from them. Anyways it was mutual, they didn’t like me too…the kids I mean. If any of them even accidently looked at me I’d contort my face into a grotesque mask and scare the freaking daylights out of them. Their mothers would frantically scan the vicinity to see what rendered their sunny kid into a blubbering mess.

I still do that[once in a while though] to reassure myself I haven’t lost my touch.

Coming back to my original problem, I finally came to the conclusion that there was nothing I could do but grin and bear it. And it was just for a week anyway.

The only silver lining……my kids were so thrilled about it.  So excited that it was ridiculous. Naina was building castles in the air. Like she was pretending that she was already in my class and I had made her the monitor of the class.

Huh….

“Naina, it doesn’t work that way, when they find out we belong to one family they’ll put you in another class.” said I, trying to let her down gently.

“But Mama they won’t find out because we have different surnames[well she has her father’s name and I have mine]” said Naina looking at me very hopefully.

On the first day of the VBS Naina’s dreams crashed. Not only was she not in my class she was not even in my section ie. Juniors. She was grouped under Primary. She was inconsolable. I pacified her in the limited time I had[I too had to reach my class right] & waved her off with another kid in relief. And Nikita was in the Intermediate Group.

Thank goodness both my kids were not anywhere in the nearest vicinity. I don’t think I could have concentrated on my work with these two trying to catch my eye every 2 minutes. As it is I was so jittery about taking classes after a long time.

I reluctantly make my way to the Juniors group leader who assigned me Section 13.

No. 13

Wonderful, now all I needed was a black cat to cross my path.

I found a tiny group of 4 patiently waiting for me when I reached my section.

Eh, just four kids???

I mugged up all that stuff in Lesson 1 to teach 4 kids???

Introduced myself and asked them their names. Made small talk. I taught the 1^st lesson really well; with lots of cunning examples and touching stories. Infact I drilled it into their heads so well that I doubt they are going to forget it anywhere in the near future. The lesson for the day was ‘Obey your parents’. Vested interests u see. I was also hoping that somewhere on the other side my kids were also taught the same by like-minded individuals.


As the evening progessed I realised I didn't have to do much. If I asked 1 question the 4 kids together had 40 things to tell me. So it was ok. And they were sweet kids. Seriously they really were. I mean they were irritating and all that but since I already had experience handling my two I was ok. Let's not forget that I was also on my best behaviour.

I cautiously declared day 1 a success.

But ofcourse all the way home Naina was acting like I gave her up for adoption or something. Huge accusing eyes followed me around for the next 24 hours. Luckily for me her teacher was a teenager who turned out to be a fun person to hang out with so she magnanimously decided to forgive me after 2 days. Drama Queen I tell u.

The next day's lesson was about Forgiveness. There were 8 students[a bunch of 8-10yr olds] in my class that day. One kid was in my class by mistake. I decided to forgive him. 8 was a decent number and I needed him to make me look good.

The next day was about Sharing; I got all of them to bring a coloured imprint of their hand on chart paper which I stapled around a decorated paper-plate[denotes sharing, get it??]. After lessons & games we all shared the donuts, samosas and mini pizzas we brought from home.

Then Humility, Faithfulness....and so on it went. All too soon it was the 7^th & the final day.  There were no classes on the final day; every class put up a play or a song or whatever they could usually with a message. Juniors group was large….there were atleast 150 kids if not more. And we were given just 20 minutes to perform whatever we wanted on stage.

We decided to go with a Malayalam song and a small play enacting it. The song was about a small injured sparrow seeking shelter from the rain. The banyan tree, the mango tree and the palm tree refused to give shelter. Finally the banana tree welcomes her into his shade. Then there is a storm and all the bad trees are destroyed but the humble banana tree survives. Good wins over bad kind of story.

Considering the fact that we started practicing only the 6^th day and ALL the 150 kids took part I thought we did a decent job. We managed to fit in around 50 kids on the stage…….around 5 kids held main parts, the rest were all trees, shrubs and flowers. The remaining 100 kids stood just below the stage and sang the song. What do I say??? It played out awesome. We felt a bit like frauds accepting all the compliments which were pouring in;-D

It was time to say good-bye. All my kids were really very sad that it was ending. Making me wonder if they lead boring lives or what. And I felt guilty that I was glad it was ending. I mean I was sad too but it was too much work. Once I decided to go ahead with it I had thrown my heart and soul into it but my h&s wouldn’t have been able to handle the strain if it went on much longer. 

I hugged them all and sent them off with loving & encouraging words. One of the boys stayed back to talk. Remember the little boy I told you who was in my class by mistake. The one I decided to forgive. Yes that one.

His name is Milan. He said something like this “Actually maam I came to your class by mistake. My papa showed me the correct class the next day but I didn’t want to go there. I loved your class very much and wanted to be here. You are the best VBS teacher I ever had”. He didn’t look old enough to have attended more than 2 years of VBS. But seriously, he said all that.

Ask Naina, she was there when he said it. She puffed out her chest in pride and beamed, like as if he was complimenting her.

And me I’m weird I tell you because I’m actually considering doing this next year too.

Aaah well, I'm hoping good sense will prevail sooner than later.

Home Truths

We’ve been apartment hunting for the past 2-3 months now. Found one finally. The better-half is satisfied, thinks he got a good deal.  Kids are thrilled because there is a nice little park just behind the apartment. 

Me, I’m ok…..not on top of the world or anything just ok. It’s a nice little place. Almost like brand-new. I stress on this bit[the brand-new bit] particularly because the place we are staying right now is an old building almost falling apart. My husband came to this apartment when he was 8 years old which means he’s been living in this very place now for 3 decades now.

Three decades……thirty years & more……seems like a lifetime huh; now can u just imagine the junk accumulated inside this old apartment. There are certain cupboards in this house which I don’t open at all. These cupboards are stuffed with junk…..stuff nobody needs but can’t be bothered to throw out or things which they[esp the parents] hoarded because they believed that they’ll need it at a later point……like old ceiling fans, an old VCR and the cassettes, bits and ends of electronic fittings, shower fittings, old, old books, old & broken photo frames & mountains of photo albums…….and….don’t ask…..there’s even an old school bag of the better-half. Seriously, its there. It’s not like the school bags the kids are lugging around now. It’s like a tiny hard suitcase covered with red & black checked cloth material. In these past 12 years I have taken it till the door atleast 3 or 4 times to throw it out along with other garbage. But somehow at the nth minute it disappears from the trash and if I made an effort to search for it I would find it back in the same place I had taken it out from;-/.

I may not be looking forward to moving to a new place but I’m certainly looking forward to throwing out all the junk. You are wondering why....about the former I mean??? Yeah for some reason I’m not so thrilled about the moving. The apartment itself is nice…..it’s a bit smaller than my present one and comes with all facilities especially maintenance; the living room is spacious, it’s got central-AC which will be a huge relief in summer, the bedrooms though are a bit box-like, the kitchen which I was obsessed about throughout[apartment-hunting I mean] is spacious with natural sunlight which is like a miracle. You’ll be surprised at how many apartments I saw which had super rooms & facilities but had dingy kitchens with little or no natural light coming in from anywhere. I couldn’t imagine staying in a place like that. The bathrooms again are small but like the better-half told me I take comfort in the fact that there’s less area to scrub;-P

The new apartment is in a good locality but there are hardly any Indians in the building. I’m not so sure I like that. I got used to the colony I’m living in. it has old shabby buildings but it is a mini-India. And I feel right at home here. It is also centrally located……all amenities like the metro, bus station, taxis’ all were available in 5 minutes distance. Whether it was the grocery[Indian], laundry, tailor, the parlour,  the kids’ Arabic tuition or the money exchange, nursery[plants], recycle bins, they were all here within comfortable reach. Whereas the place I’m going now to shift to has just a Baby shop closeby, a huge supermarket 10 minutes away. And an Ethiopian restaurant nearby;-/. 

The kids school-bus stop which is almost below the building will now be a 5-10 minute walk away depending on the traffic signal we have to cut through;-(. And not the least, the rent was very reasonable here but now we are going to be paying more than double the amount. And that’s also going to take some getting used-to.

I bet you are wondering why I’m moving if everything is soo goodJ…….like I said the buildings are getting old and shabby. The roof leaks & there are cracks in the walls; just last week an entire section of a terrace wall of another building crumbled and fell damaging 3-4 cars parked below. And not the least, it’s no longer a colony for families anymore; bachelors are making their way in. Everybody in Dubai knows what that means. Men who are not married or can’t afford to bring their families to Dubai will take up a flat together and stay. Sometimes 6 to 10 stay together in a single flat. It’s gets really messy. Cigarette butts all over the place. Paan stains. You’ll find them loitering near the entrance or lolling on the terrace. Womanfolk no longer feel free to walk about. We don’t feel very comfortable sending the kids out to play on their own. Get what I mean.

Actually our situation is not so bad but the better-half wants to get out before it becomes like that. I agree with him but it’s sad to leave behind everybody we know. Like my husband’s, most families have been here for a long time. The kids have made a lot of friends who they play with in the open spaces available. And I for some reason feel worst affected…….I’m going to miss the only home I’ve known in Dubai for the past 13 yrs.

When my sister-in-law called to wish for Easter I was telling her how gloomy I was about the whole thing and how I hadn’t the 1^st clue about shifting. And she was like “It’s awesome, I’ve shifted 14 times in the past 10 years and made some really good friends”. I couldn’t help but laugh. She somehow manages to put everything into perspectiveJ.

My Last Post on Blogger???

I know it’s been like 2 weeks since I blogged last. But this time it’s not my fault. Blogger is once again giving me problems big-time.

What problems????

Oh don’t ask, alright you can ask but ask what is not a problem with Blogger;-/??? Seriously once the ‘one-to-one reply thread’ was in place I thought all my problems were over but I guess I’m jinxed; I mean there is no other explanation for this;-/.

It breaks my heart to leave here but….I have no choice. Just have no idea how I’m going to adjust to a new space after being used to Blogger for so long……;-(.

I had registered with worpress long ago when the Hitchwriter, Deeps, Swaram, Masood, Rakesh, Sakshi, Smitha and so many others had moved from Blogger to Wordpress. The reason I particularly mentioned all their names is because they all have at one time or the other advised me to move but I like always dilly-dallied. Now they are all going to laugh I guess;-(. Won’t blame them if they do coz I called them a lot of names when they left[like rats and traitors n stuff.......should have known, what goes around comes around;-/]

I’m still full of doubts but have decided to take the plunge. 

The only thing I'm sure of.....I’m still Reflections and will remain so.

Anyways here’s the new address: www.konnotations.wordpress.com

Goodbye Blogger, I still love you;-((((((((

Take care,
Nancy

A Horsey Weekend

I thought once the exams were out of the way I could write a post or two in peace…..me and my grand plans I tell you. Have been so very busy…….will put up a newsy post sometime next week. Just posting a few pictures of what we did this weekend. I had already posted about it[the same event] on my picture blog last year……and honestly same stuff, just different year. So skipping the detailed explanations, just adding a few more pictures......ofcourse I don’t need to stress do I that I’m no photographer, just showing you bits & pieces of what’s happening on this side of the world:-). 

Convention Gate, Trade Centre

The Horse Championship & Exhibition was held at the Trade Centre, same venue as last year. Looking at the outside one will never guess the huge amount of space inside the building. The area where this Championship[which was a huge auditorium] was held just occupies one corner of it.

The show had already started when we reached. Here's how it goes....the horses are paraded one by one and the marks are recorded on the blue screen above for all of us to see. They looked beautiful, the horses I mean....and not to forget, worth millions. Here's a funny fact...as each horse is guided into the arena by its jockey the crowd erupts in cheers and applause; many even banged on their tables, stamped their feet & made lot of unwanted din. For a very elegant and posh do, this was like OTT. When I expressed surprise the better-half enlightened me that they are not cheering but booing....trying to rattle the horses into making mistakes which inturn will help[supposedly] their own horses win more points;-D

Can you see the blue sashes on the neck of those 3 horses??? They were the winners....I would love to pretend I know more but seriously I was more concerned about where the kids disappeared to and so took off to check on them.

Fodder

There was also an exhibition happening side by side which advertised and catered to all horses and horse owners needs. For instance, exhibited above is the different kinds of fodder for their daily needs.

Different kinds of supplements for their diet

Branded Salt for Horses:-)

Most horse feeds are low in sodium and chloride, so salt is very important for horses, actually all animals....earlier horses just licked salt blocks now they come packed, the salt I mean. 

Sculptures

Paintings

I stood & watched this man paint for quite sometime.....and started eyeing him suspiciously after sometime. He concentrated on a tiny area at the bottom of that painting for the entire time I was watching him . How does he manage to complete them if he takes so long over every inch I ask.

I know....am a complete Neanderthal when it comes to art;-P. Now you'll say there is no need to act like you are proud of the fact....I'm not, I'm like very ashamed but facts are facts.....the artist wasn't really doing much. I went back after 2 hours and he was still at it, but this time on the right-hand corner. I just threw my hands up & gave up after that.

Riding surfaces[tilt head towards left to see clearly]

Something's wrong with my picture editing software. Portraits turn into landscapes and then refuse revert back. The above picture is an example of different riding surfaces......don't ask me more, I myself have doubts how the horses manage to ride over that black terribly uneven surface;-o

If one was bored with all the horse-related programs there was a section where UAE's heritage was depicted. I have seen it all before but half-way through my aimless wandering[I was trying to catch the kids remember] it occurred to me that you guys maybe interested, so then back-tracked and took pictures.

Tools used for pearl-diving

One of the main occupations of the people of UAE in the 19th century was pearl-diving. There was a very interesting write-up on it fixed above this cabinet. I read the entire thing but now can't remember much. Check out those huge shells...they've got multiple bump-like thingies on them which makes me think that one large shell can give upto 5-6 pearls[click image to zoom] instead of what I always believed, courtesy animated movies[one tiny closed shell gives one shiny pearl;-/]. Anyways don't believe everything I write here...I just told you what I thought;-P.

Below is one of my favourite pictures....an idyllic scene where an old man is working. The two beside him are chatting and drinking Kawa[Arabic coffee]. Another man is taking his young son to task for running around aimlessly. A woman in traditional hijab, walking past. Click to enlarge.

Basket-weaving

There was a stall which served hot dosa-like dish and dumplings in a caramelised sweet sauce. I remember trying them last year but this year I couldn't get anywhere near the stall as there was too much crowd. See, the entrance to this do is free...so quite a few people mainly locals & europeans wander in to check out what's happening. And free food is free food & if its tasty then there will be a long queue;-P.

Emarati woman making traditional delicacies 

We had VIP passes and so were treated like royalty......well almost like. Seriously, the only difference I noticed was that Royalty[they were seated across us, I heard Sheikh Hamdan[crown prince] was there but didn't spot him anywhere but then I didn't really look] got gilt-edged velvet couches...and we got elegant chairs. Service-wise everything was same....unless they got champagne but then they don't drink, so....;-P

Every 5-10 minutes bearers floated around with dainty hors d'oeuvres[no main dishes, only nibbles throughout] and how can I forget the delectable desserts.....everytime the waiter brought some, the kids magically appeared out of nowhere and gobbled them all up. Nikita openly claimed to our host that she was there only to eat the desserts embarrassing the life out of us. See that empty plate in the corner, I got our waitress to get me those dumplings I was talking about earlier;-D. No picture of desserts for obvious reasons.

There was plenty to keep the kids occupied…unlimited horse rides, henna painting, vibrating floors, falcon show and ofcourse the eats. They disappeared with their friends immediately after we reached and I stopped looking for them after sometime. Because they kept turning up at intervals with complaints, hunger pangs and to show off their tattoos & the freebies they accumulated:-)).

The kids:-))

A totally random picture taken after the event. While walking out of the auditorium they gathered all the fresh flowers they found and kept busy refreshing them in the water from the fountain, to keep them from dying[a 10 minute walk to the main entrance took 25 minutes;-/].

p.s: If the post didn't make any sense and you really want to understand what I'm talking about then please click on the link I gave in the first paragraph. 
p.p.s: If you feel too lazy to scroll up but still want to check the link out, then click here. The extremes I go to, to get people to read my posts...*Nancy rolling her eyes*.