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*.

Not a Post

The finals exams are going on in our household. You can imagine how it must be.....yup the kids are freaking. I play a very important part here…..I provide atmosphere. Thunderclouds and gloom. So blogging is out. I’d feel so terrible if I did,  like as if I’m enjoying myself when the kids are so hard at work. Like guilty pleasure. So this is not like a proper post……it’s a tag. No, tags are not posts, they are tags. U can torture me but I stand by what I say…..atleast till the exams are over.

Hitchwriter  swears this tag is called  Tag you’re it!!

I believe him.

Without wasting another minute….the Rules:

1. You must post the rules.
2. Answer the questions the tagger set for you in their post & then create 11 new questions to ask the people you’ve tagged.
3. Tag 11 people and link to them on your post.
4. Let them know you’ve tagged them!

So here are the 11 questions that Hitchy has posted 

1.)      If you could have any superpower, what would it be?

Right now I wish I had superpowers to find that perfect apartment. Yep we are apartment hunting and I wish so much I had the power to find an apartment where the kitchen is big enough for four  3 people to stand comfortably and work, bedrooms with cabinets, airy bathrooms with natural light, and enough space in the balcony where I can place 2 chairs & lots of plants.

2.)      What was your favourite childhood television program?

Different Strokes:-))

I’m not sure really. Back in the 80’s we didn’t have a lot of choice, we watched whatever we got[duhhh dont I sound like my parents;-/]. The Hindi movies aired at 6pm on Sundays used to be a treat especially if it had Amitabh Bachchan in itJ. Oh yes I remember never missing the Japanese serial ‘Giant Robot’ & another one which used to come on Sundays called ‘Different Strokes’.

3.)      Have / had any celebrity crushes ?  

By now most of you know that I have a soft corner for Salman Khan. I even blogged about it once. Don’t go looking for it. I cringe now when I see the post. Yeah well I’m not sure he was a crush…I mean he's my favourite and I love him but crush….naaah. The closest I can think of is Hritik Roshan in Kaho Na Pyaar Hai…….not Rohit, it was Raj who swept me off my feetJ. I also loved his act as a betrayed lover in Mujhse Dosti Karoge too. And that part in Jodha-Akbar where Jodha ogles him while he practices his sword-fighting……brrrrr I had goosebumps. Oh alright seems like Hritik Roshan comes close to a crush though I prefer to believe the characters he plays get to me.

4.)      If you could visit anywhere in the world, where would you go?

It used to be Switzerland for a long time.  It changed when I came across this ad in a magazine. Picture this: There is a make-shift shack set up in the middle of nowhere with a mindblowing backdrop. This shack is selling fresh fruit and vegetables. The price of each item is hand-written above each basket. There is nobody in the shack to monitor who buys what. There is a weighing machine & a money box kept on one side. And the tagline simply said “Visit New Zealand” or some such thing. Ever since…..

[Why do I get the feeling I’ve already mentioned this somewhere on the blog. This is what happens when one does too many tags;-/. ]

5.)      Name 1 thing you miss about being a child.

I don’t really miss it all that much. I had too many hang-ups as a kid which still has the power to bother me when I think back about them. I like my present.

6.)      Name the one comic/book character that you loved the most and why?

I remember wanting to emulate George of the Famous Five series……she wanted to be a boy, had short hair, she had a dog, was fearless,  was not afraid to say what was on her mind and never backed away from a fight. Oh yes I wanted to be like George so much.

7.)      What is the one thing that you are dying to try but haven’t had a chance to do so yet ?

I want to climb a mountain, any mountain even a teeny-weeny one but it’s got to be a mountain; I’ll climb to the summit, pitch a tent , sit outside  it, soak in the sunshine, drink in the breath-taking view, contemplate LIFE.

For my luck I'd probably get this sign ;-P

8.)     Do you have a role model – someone you want to emulate? Whom do you admire the most?

The go-getter. I’m a very laid-back….keep waiting for things to happen, stuff to fall in my lap. I know, I know….even I can’t believe people like me exist;-P. So yeah I admire the go-getters.

9.)      What do others make of you?

I think they think that I think differently....like outside the box. I don’t really fit in. For starters…not very conventional, kind of like witty but not very pretty. If she is in the mood to impress she can keep us in splits, if she’s not then heaven save us from the mistress of doom. Like I said…..they think I think that they think like that.

10.)  Have you ever gotten into a fight or punched someone ?

I have gotten into fights[small tame arguments in my opinion;-/] but haven’t punched anybody yet. Haven’t lost hope though. But I soo wish I had/have the courage to do something like that especially when roadside romeos behave crudely….u know just catch him by his collar and ram my fist against his nose. I sooo wish I had the courage to make sure that he’ll never ever do that to another woman ever in his life again.

11.)   For Girls – If you woke up tomorrow to find out you are Brad Pitt, what would be the first thing you’d say upon looking in the mirror???
For Boys – If you woke up tomorrow to find out you are Angelina Jolie, what would be the first thing you’d say upon looking in the mirror???

Angie daaaaarling, you’ll never guess*huge grin*;-D

So that’s it my 11 answers. Now I have to go…..remember I've got exams.

 I tag…

Bindu

Dhanya

Haddock

Lakshmi

Lilac

Sikha Arnav

soul speaks

Swathy

Tan

Uma

Vidhya

My questions are same as Hitchwriters, please don’t get mad at me for not putting up new ones. I'll give u permission to change the last question with one of ur own.....even I hated that one;-D.  EXAMS.  Gotta rush….I can hear the kids chattering away. Not a good sign.  You guys can make new questions when you are tagging others. Cheers.

In Muted Tones

Just imagine you are a normal human being.

Whaat???? You are????

Okay then you won’t find it too hard to imagine right???

Like I was saying, everything about you is normal. Maybe you are a little fat or a bit on the thin side but that’s not extraordinary that’s normal. U r dressed normally and nothing in your facial expressions indicates anything is amiss…..the smile is cheerful, u know like totally normal, the quizzical expressions which you give may be a bit more expressive than usual but still that also can be taken as normal. But when it comes to expressing your opinion or your wants in words, you use your hands to convey what you mean or better still whip out a piece of paper & pen to write what you want to say.

People who don’t know about your problem then mentally take a step back[yes you can see them do that if you watch carefully], attention which was half-hearted till then sharpens, they make an obvious effort to hide their curiosity and smile at you kindly. Oh the poor thing!!!! She can’t speak. Wonder if it is a birth defect?? An accident?? So terrible. Let me do whatever I can to ease her misery. My good deed for the day.

And from the back of the queue you are moved to the front. Your work finished in no time. I liked that bit anyway.

That’s what’s been happening in my life. I’m the you in the above scenario.

Remember the flu & other ailments  real and fabricated, I told you I had 2 weeks back. Remember I told you how I hate doctors and hospitals & that I rather swallow a whale than step into a hospital. Well I swallowed big-time. I swallowed my pride. And went to the doc 4 days back and got the required medical attention.

You see I lost my voice. Sometime last week there was a sandstorm in Dubai and I was smack in the middle of it. I guess I inhaled lot of dust that day and the flu which had almost disappeared came back with a vengeance and within 24 hours mY voICe wENt SQUEEEK somethEEEing like ThiSS.

And the next day….KABOOOM the voice was gone. Seriously, I open my mouth and no voice…..no noise…no nothing comes out. All I get for my efforts is a aaaaaah in a fierce whisper. The better-half bundled me off to the doc immediately. I didn’t put up much of a fight actually. "Oh my voice, my lovely voice what happened to you” I panicked.

The doc diagnosed it as “Laryngitis something something” meaning an inflammation causing hoarse voice or at its heights, loss of voice. I’ve mentioned earlier too[yep I love discussing my medical problems on my blog] that whenever I’m sick it’s my throat which gets affected first. During these phases I usually sound like a guy Usha Uthup but this time it went one step further. It rendered me voiceless.

Along with a bagful of antibiotics I was strictly advised by the doc to rest my voice atleast for a week. Nice doc, by the way. Actually cute doc. His wedding band had its wife’s name inscribed on it. And I was like…..awww…shooo cutttte. Beena, her name is Beena:-). 

Feeling a bit more cheerful now I emerge from the med-center with my mind buzzing with ideas.

I send out an SMS out to all my friends...

“Don’t call me, I’ll call you”.

Around 20 calls came in the space of 10 minutes.

Bad idea…….bad bad idea.

Sent out another SMS immediately…

Voice totally gone stop under medication stop 1 wks voice rest stop doctors STRICT orders stop available on email stop.

Atleast 10 of them called to check if it was true. Another 10 wanted to hear how I sounded when I couldn’t speak;-/.

Came back home to a sympathetic better-half and worried kids. The kids who giggled at my squeaky voice the previous day looked really troubled now.

I lapped up all the attention and practised mime.

From there it was dumb charades all the way.

And Pictionary.

And pretending that my vocal cords were connected to my limbs and hence will not be able to cook or do any other work.

That worked only for one day though;-(

Anybody who communicated with me said I reminded them of….

The lady who read news for the hearing impaired on Doordarshan[remember her]

An owl[because I got impatient when they couldn’t decipher my hand signals].

A toy with a run-down battery……squeEEeeek…….SCREeeETCH.

It was a novelty initially. My miming improved dramatically. 

But after 2 days I got tired of it.

My jaws ached because they were stationary.

My head ached because I was thinking so much.

My thoughts which were verbalised on a minute to minute basis were now going izzzzzzzz inside my head & giving me a migraine.  

I no longer could just yell from one corner of the house and get the kids at my elbow in the next minute. 

And for goodness sakes I lost my voice, not my hearing so please leave the miming to me.

For the 1^st time in its life I think my sub-conscious realised it had the upper-hand. It gently prodded me into noticing a few things about myself….

I noticed that I interrupted people while they were speaking to add my two-bits worth. I need to stop doing that. Like immediately.

I didn’t need to answer every question which was put to me and definitely not those which were put to others.

Sometimes a look can convey what a 100 words put together can’t.

And sometimes being not able to talk is not such a bad thing……just for little while though.

My voice…..it’s precious. It’s as important as my arm if not more. When it comes back, it's going to get the respect it deserves. 

Happy Valentine's Day!!!!!

How many of you didn’t give Valentine’s Day much thought and then suddenly got up in the morning and kicked yourselves in the….in the….yes there. I did. The kids came back home from school yesterday & went on & on about Valentines Day. Seems like Valentine’s Day is no longer just about ‘that kind of love’[and I never knew;-o], friendship is also celebrated on Valentine’s Day. So Nikita made friendship bands for her friends & Naina made cards for hers. They also wrangled 2 chocolate bars out of me, lovingly gift-wrapped it, wrote some fancy words on it and took it for their class-teachers.

At first I waggled my eye-brows, then patiently supplied all the material needed for their art&craft,  watched them indulgently as they talked excitedly…….and then it clicked. Ohmigosh it is Valentine’s Day tomorrow!!!!!!!

Even before I started out[in my thoughts] I knew it was too late to do much.

Forget it.
But…but….but…..

I’ll cook something nice.
Good idea but as a last resort....

Make a card….
Been there, done that.....

What can I do…..

I have some chocolate with me………hmmmmm
Yup, I always have chocolate with me….for emergencies u know.

The chocolate…..luckily for me was wrapped in red

And the idea grew from there….

I went all around the house picking up everything red….

A few Plums[again red]

Strawberries[heeeehaw red;-D]

A small bottle of Berry Juice[I’m pretending it’s wine]

Chewing Gum[flavour – wild berries…red, red, red……;-D]

I’m on a roll now…..

*_____*

Fished out a wooden basket from the kid’s toy bin [the original idea was to put them together in a shoe box].

Fixed the broken handle.

Lined the basket with silver foil…..

Arranged all the carefully chosen treasures artistically…

Borrowed a red ribbon from Nikita’s accessories to tie a bow on the handle.

Wrote a note in blue ink[no red pen;-(]

And voila……

The gift is ready.

And I've placed it in such a way it will be the 1st thing my hero sees when he gets up;-D

*__* - While rummaging around I also came across a cute ball of red thread, a small pack of vanilla in a red&white box, lays chilli chips, red apples and a red hair band.Had to omit them otherwise it would have been like overkill.....or shd I include them, tell me quick I still have time;-P