My Experiments with Time

It was 9.20 pm, the time of the day I cherish the most. That's the only time of the day I give my undivided attention to my little one and vice versa. Her heavy eyelids told me she would doze off in a few minutes. This is the only time the busy bee is still and quiet and actually hears every word that I utter. She loves to listen to fairy tales, supernatural stories, tales from the jungle and her favourite story of how she was born. When God appeared before Vivek and Remya and gifted them a little angel. I could see the sparkle in her drowsy eyes in the dark. This is again a challenging moment when I have to squeeze my brains and creativity to tell her new tales. Sometimes, on lucky days I get to hear tales of how she met her fairy Godmother (yes that's me). One of the many bonuses of being the mom of a drama queen is where you swap places and she plays the mom, grooming me and putting me to sleep, and of course chiding me for being disobedient. I must say I thoroughly...

We all live life with a purpose, or in pursuit of something. It is this pursuit that keeps our spirit alive and keeps us going. But how many of us are clear on our life goals, or to put it simply, what we want in life/from life!? I had this feeling that kids had a better idea on how to keep themselves happy. I made a simple survey among 16 parents, through WhatsApp requesting them to ask their  kids in the age group of 4 to 14 what they wanted in life. I received interesting answers; some said what they wanted like books, chocolates, colouring books etc. While few others said what they wanted to become (cook, sportsman,engine driver etc). Interestingly, 2 kids said they wanted intelligence, happiness and success. My own 4 yr old said she wanted animals story books, beach kit and continued thinking for more. What I didn't tell her was that I was already tired of the 25+ odd toy animals scattered around the house and the Animal planet which is on throughout her waking hours. ...

It was 5.50 am, and today being third Saturday , was my day off. My biological clock though seemed to be oblivious to the fact and woke me up on my normal routine. It was the 'I, me, myself' time I hardly get these days, and I decided to get pampered. Sitting in the balcony of our 7th floor apartment in Chennai with my morning coffee was my idea of pampering myself. The smell of wet sand and the cold breeze after the late-night showers is something Chennaites always yearn for. And when all this comes sans the crazy honking of cars and smell of petrol, it's a tempting luxury package. I stared at the far away sight of miniature aeroplanes moving in the airport, that was my way of assuring my eyesight was intact. Its amazing how nature can be a source of meditation. My mind went blank as I stared into the morning sky, slowly unveiling itself. I suddenly could feel the rush of thoughts. It's been eight months since I moved back to Chennai. And Chennai as always, ha...

Today, the 5th of March 2017 was a special day; not least because it happens to be my birthday, but because it was my little one's first step into the big wide world, all by herself. I mean it was her first day of pre-school. Many of you might think 'What big deal??'.. But it was indeed a big deal, atleast for the kid and more so for the parents. The preparations started almost a couple of months back, pondering over when would be the right time to put her to school, followed by strategic decisions like which school, analysis of various other factors like timing, transportation, references etc etc. And then the week-long preparation of getting uniforms stitched, alterations, shopping for black shoes and white socks, purple bag, Spider-man water bottle. You just can't afford to neglect the choices of the show stopper. On the eve of the D-day, while mamma was pondering over anything that might have been missed out, papa is staring down at the little busy bee, wondering...

Madras (now Chennai) is all set to celebrate its 375th birthday on 22nd August. As the D day is around the corner, there are celebrations and festivities galore, everywhere and for everyone. I have been following the Times of India ‘Namma Chennai Chance-illa’ campaign for some time now and here is a list of some of my chanceilla moments in Madras. Having spent the first 25 years of my life in this ancient city, I have witnessed things and activities unique to Madras. Madras is a place for all and has something to offer for all, whether you are extremely conservative or ultra-modern.Irrespective of whether you were brought up in the urban hifi part of Madras or did your schooling in a convent, you couldn’t possibly have missed the Tanglish words which are an indispensable part of the Madras vocabulary. Just adding a ‘la’ to your English or a ‘fy’ to your Tamil qualifies you to pass off as an undisputed Madrasi. Words that you will never find in the dictionary like chanceilla, mokkai,...

On Saturday morning, at 8.20 am I reached the venue, not quite sure what to expect. I was welcomed by the warm Huma Gailani, who handed me a sticker bearing my name and directed me towards the main hall. I carried my canvas and other stuff and marched in the direction. “Gailani Art Retreat” read the colorful signboard displayed at the entrance, with a lot of cheerful people posing with their creative renderings. I stood there staring at the paintings, quite uncertain what I would end up with. As I entered the room, Ibrahim Gailani came forward to greet me and asked me to settle down wherever I was comfortable. I looked around to find about 20 odd easels spread across the room, a chair beside each easel and a table which had to be shared by two people. As there were only two other participants, I had the opportunity to look for a nice place and settle down. I chose a position for no particular reason and exchanged pleasantries with the person positioned opposite me. The witty Pe...

Yet another New Year is just a week away and I can feel the vibe all around. Like all others, I am excited too; anxious to know what lies in store for me in the new year, what I would achieve, what dreams would come true and where I would be exactly one year from now. December is a month that is close to my heart, as is the case with most of you. It marks the beginning of an end, and signifies a lot of things that we all adore - celebrations, vacations, shopping season, winter and much more. It is that part of the year when the whole world is all set to celebrate and welcome the New Year. It is also that time of the year to retrospect and plan for the New Year. I have always wondered if we are more excited about the New Year that is coming or the year that has just passed, because sadly all the ‘New Year’ excitement seems to die out once the year begins. I guess the reason is that like all other things, it ceases to be ‘new‘, just a week after it began.   That reminds me th...