Splinter-Ed

A couple of days ago, Tejas got a longish splinter stuck into his finger.
It looked tiny when I first saw, I actually thought it is a dead skin sticking out but it was hard and so I pulled it out slightly. To my horror it came out a little bit and I could see that it is actually a tapering piece - flat and broad that ends in a needle point. It was deeply embedded and tightly so and Tejas wasn't allowing me to even touch it.
I was afraid I would split it if I pulled it out while he was struggling so much.
For almost 2 hours I chased him.
Finally I checked the internet.
Here's what I got.
Soak it in warm soapy water. It will allow the skin to loosen.
Pull it out.
If it doesn't, stick the sticky side of a bandaid over it. That will keep the area moist and losen the splinter.
Well, the soapy solution part was easy. He sat there comfortably watching TV. But everytime I touched it he would wriggle away.
Then I decided to use the sticky plaster. Now that was an opportunity he would not miss out on.
He was engrossed in watching TV and gave me his finger to put the bandaid. Using this opportunity, I just yanked the splinter out.
Here's a link on the various methods to remove splinters.

Grey Matter

Studies say that those who are easily distracted have more grey matter.
I quote
new study by the scientists at the University College London has found larger than average volumes of grey matter in certain brain regions of people whose attention is readily diverted. That means people who are easily distracted may have 'too much brain'.

Is that why Ojas is always distracted?
Is that why men can't multitask whereas women can?

How to Give an Impression of Being a Smart Homemaker

Ah well, if one were to drop in unannounced in my mom's home, she could always dish out a quick halwa or yummy pakauras or sometimes even some sinful maalpua...
But alas, self has no such talents and if some one were to drop in unannounced at my home, I would be calling my grocer for juice and biscuits and snacks.
Until I discovered that I could do some tricks that could save face and project that I am a great homemaker.
I list down my quick & not-so-quick, face saving ideas...

1. Weekends are for preparing for face saving during the weekend. I mean there are only so many number of times that you can pretend that since you are working you have absolutely no time and therefore no snack to serve at home (read, whatever was bought has been eaten up already)
2. I usually bake cake, caramel pudding (believe me both are very quick to do), make some kheer and retain it to ride over for the next few days. What is good about a kheer is that it can be cooked while you are cooking other stuff. The jaggery and rice kheer stays even longer and according to my taste buds- they get better as they age in the fridge.
3. Anther good idea is to stock some icecream at times. Add fruits and voila- frut salad can be unleashed on that unsuspecting guest
4. Did you make some dhokla using the aashirwaad or the MTR mix this morning? Keep a few aside and add curd, mixture, chutney, pickles etc to serve dhokla chaat.
5. Popcorns anyone? Get your ActII ready...Quick and voluminous...
6. It helps to have some watermelon deseeded and stored in the weekend. Nothing as jazzy as serving a watermelon juice. Or for someone who wants to do more labour- fresh lime soda, mousambi juice or mango/ banana shake. *ah i can hear them saying wow...such a talented homemaker*
7. Make your chutneys in the weekend... tomato/ coriander/mint/ raw mango...nothing like serving them as sides if your husband gallantly offers dinner/ lunch without consulting you first.
8. Keep peanuts handy... very quick to fry and serve
9. I ensure I have bread handy on weekends. Simple logic...weekends, I make chicken so if someone comes over the weekend I can easily serve an awesome chicken sandwich naa.
10. Finally have a trusted grocer's number who will send stuff at 5 minutes notice.

Smart Homemaker Tips

Someone asked me how I manage the morning rush...
So here's my list
1. Prepare prepare the night before itself-
- wash the daal/ rice etc and keep in the fridge
-mix the veggies that go into the rice in a bowl and keep aside in the fridge
- morning just dump them into the cooker
-if the morning menu is to be toaster sandwiches- prepare the sandwiches and leave in the fridge- morning just put them into the sandwich toaster
-I even keep the aataa ready to make rotis for the morning
- if the snack box has to have fry items- I pack them the night before- cake, fried snacks, grapes, papaya.
-water bottle filled night before
-kids' & my clothes ironed, shoes ready & bags packed- leave the clothes ready in the bathroom if you wish
2. Have the quickest menu options for the morning - sandwiches, pasta, curry cooked in pressure cooker, dosa, idly, upma, poha
3. Ready to mix items- always available in the fridge-
- ginger/ garlic paste
-cut onions
-cut and frozen vegetables (I do them all the time, dunno what the nutrition people say)
-washed green chillies/ coriander leaves
-pre roasted sooji/ vermicelli
4. Easily make-able stuff- always available for those days when you are slow and the minutes are whooshing past you-
-eggs
-bread
-jam
-beaten rice for poha
-sooji
-pasta/ noodles
- frozen peas
-may be even sprouts if you are a regular eater
- dosa batter off course
-boiled potatoes - just put in a few extra for next morning incase you are using them today
5. breakfast for kids- have to be such that they can be easily pushed down the throat with minimum chewing- all soft and gooey, fed by spoon

Basically- a minute invested the night before saves more than a minute the next morning!

Tidbits

A few days back we were browing in the video library and a lady of about mid twenties walked in. She asked the guy behind the counter- has it come? and made some actions in the air with her hands. The guy behind the counter nodded and began to take a VCD from under the desk to hand it over to her. The cryptic exchange got me interested and I almost fell over the counter in trying to look at what movie she had asked for. What I thought I saw almost made my eyes pop out.

After she walked away with the movie, the guy enlightens my hubby that the major seekers of XX and XXX rated movies in his library are women! These are not just one off seekers but repeat buyers. These are not a group of youngsters getting together to have some "cheap thrill" and merely trying to see what is in it but a general mix of married and unmarried women. Given that we are the nation that gave Kamasutra to the world, the popularity of the S word should not come as a surprise.

I do not want to stereotype and normally nothing surprizes or apalls me, but ladies being so bashful that they did not hesitate to walk up to the counter and ask for these movies on a regular basis did make me gape.

Adult chatrooms too are populated by women. But there the anonimity offers security. In a video parlour, you have to register your name and address and there are days when the boy from the parlour even comes to your home to take back an overdue movie.

On a different vein, I have discovered a wonderful way of setting curd. I place the curd dish on the lid of the vessel in which I have boiled the feeding bottles. The curd sets in record time, brilliantly. (TIP- for those who don't have bottle fed babies, you could place it on another hot vessel- milk/ vegetable etc or may be in contact with the cooking range while you are cooking)

It just dawned on me that the right way of cutting musk melon would be to simply slice it along the striations and as each slice is cut the seeds separate on their own. Only the last slice has all the seeds which needs to be scooped out.
Someone teach me how to peel and slice a pineapple. I do not buy pineapples because of the difficulty in the job.
I am sure Nature would have had in mind the right way of deseeding a watermelon. Anyone?
I have watched the juice guy hit the pomegranate shell with a knife and the seeds fly off on the work table. But according to me it is too messy.
The apple corer works wonders on peach too. I love that tool.

I have been well branded in Ojas' eyes. The moment I come home from work, he stands near the snacks cupboard in the kitchen and points at it for Haldiram aloo bhujiya and puffed rice.
Is it observation/ programming or training? He has observed that it is the first place I go to when I get home from office.

Notes to myself

Roses from hubby for valentine's day early in the morning

Applause at work from regional director on my work in Marketing. In his words- "if the culture allowed, I would have got up and kissed you"- come a long way from New company update posted here

All in all a worthwhile day

Watch Out For…

KideX 2006 was organized by CII at Chennai Trade centre on 22-24 Dec’06. It was a 3-day exhibition of products related to kids- right from Alphabet Blocks to X-Box. A conference on Friday concluded the event. There were delegates from various organizations like Britannia, NIIT, Star India, Pidilite, Lowe, The School- KFI, to name a few that spoke on the theme- Child is the Father of Man. A few students represented their schools and spoke on the theme too mainly referring to what makes them tick.

I gathered the following for future reference at the expo-
1. Chandamama – the magazine with a collection of stories that used to seem to go on and on. I used to love the Vikram and Vetaal esp but I vaguely remember that there were many ghost stories in the whole book. Price- Rs 180 for 12 issues. For subscriptions, mail to – subscription@chandamama.org, www.chandamama.org
2. Young Scientists- 60 page science comic magazine- on basic science in three broad levels for class 1 through 7. Price- Rs 500 for 10 issues. Mail to- subscriptions@theyoungscientists.in, www.theyoungscientists.in
3. Monster Club- Located at Abhinav Centre, No 4, Co-operative colony, Alwarpet, Chennai-18. Ph- 18004256786, 044- 32977482. - Library for kids between 1 to 14 years of age. Variety of books available and also special rates for purchase and even a buy back scheme. Mail to- info@bookmonsterclub.com, www.bookmonsterclub.com. Rates- Rs 1200 for 1 year
4. Geo Junior- Magazine for age group- 7-14 that captures the essence of earth matters
5. Disney Adventures- 100 page magazine for kids, talking of a variety of subjects- science, brain games, technology, details of schools, humour, art & craft, sports etc. mail to- disney@infomediaindia.com
6. Kiddoscope- Party Planner- mail to kothari.tanya@gmail.com, 9840051068, 044-42604468
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Currently Reading John Grisham's King of Torts. Half way through and the going has been good. Ihad bought a whole lot of Grisham's at the bargain counter of landmark and never got around to reading them. Expectations were high from my side after The Runaway Jury that I had read long time ago, the movie fails to do justice to the book though. After reading Last Juror, which was quite boring in parts, I really needed a break from Grisham but I am back on it.
Went to Odyssey to check the new releases and discovered that there is an offer of select 3 books and get the lowest priced one free. Did a chance discovery of books by Geoffrey Archer located just below the Jeffery Archer collection. I had never heard of the author. Any reviews on his books?

Festivals

Festivals give us a break from routine life along with the accompanying holiday, (Come to think of it, since every month we have some festival or the other to look forward to, the breaks are too often!)
Especially true when we are kids or not married. Once women get married, it’s a lot of hard work- they become accountable for making the entire thing work. They conceive the entire celebrations down to the last detail, starting from “spring” cleaning, making/ buying goodies and keeping them in a safe place so that the kids or the “big” kid in the house do not finish them up before the d-day arrives. And then there is planning for new clothes, decorations, pooja, inviting guests & deciding whom to visit and when. Of course the man of the house or the older kids are the one who do the errands but in true managerial fashion, “Home Ministry” takes the all important role of planning, organizing & financial control.
And the praises that are showered- the woman of the house basks in the glory with the modest- oh, it was nothing. So kudos to every woman who manages the whole show.

When I got down thinking why exactly we welcome festivals, these are a few thoughts apart from the “break from routine” that came to my mind-

1. Upholding & Cultivating Values, Traditions, Culture
2. Outlet to the creative streak & special skills- sweet making, decorations
3. Joy of giving- time for gifts
4. Shopoholics’ delight- you can never have enough of new clothes and what best excuse than the festival
5. Time to reach out- family & friends get together
6. Dress up for the occasion
7. The light feeling that comes after making the house sparkling clean and trash free
8. For old time’s sake & for future reference- especially once kids come into the picture, we want to make the day extra special for them. Memories that they would carry forward in their life and the hope that they will carry on the tradition that was passed on to us
9. Have something consistently to look forward to- like gamble on diwali, drink bhaang/ thandayi on Holi, play Dandiya during Navratri.
10. Use the occasion to do Social Work/ Charity and feel good about it.

Dhanteras day (also check)
4. Attempt to make sweets for Diwali (with Mom & MIL doing most of the things)
5. Ganesh Laxmi Puja on Diwali evening- will set up a small gharaunda- mini house made of cardboard & do the Ganesh- Laxmi puja on it.
6. Visit the diwali night
7. Celebration- We plan to celebrate Diwali in our apartment complex with Laxmi puja, Bhai dooj – Will fall 2 days after Diwali. Hope my brother will be there that day for the bhai dooj pooja.
9. Check out with the nearby orphanage on what I could do for them- sponsor a meal or give cash or any other durable that they need.

What else can I do? Suggestions would be welcome.

Microwave- Which View to Believe

Read this interesting post by has to be me on microwaving.
While I do not want to negate the concerns but I have this article on exactly opposite views. We must choose therefore which to believe.

Geographic Spread

How good is our knowledge of geography of the world, or even our own country India?
What do schools do to make this topic interesting ? I remember geography as the most dreaded subject in school & today I simply cannot imagine why as I can see my overall understanding of the cities/ rivers of India and somewhat of the world is not bad. Infact I remember I used to be pretty dumb as I had once marked Allahabad in Maharashtra - supposedly confused it with Ahmedabad- which again is not in Maharashtra at all! Slowly, as I began to regularly travel in trains-back and forth from the hostels, I was able to commit to memory the various stations, rivers etc en-route. Things became much easier for me then.
Can we think of ways to make the subject easy to institutionalise in our mind? Geography is like General Knowledge and it is important that we strenghten this knowledge among the kids of today
A few years ago I had this conversation with a colleague of mine-
Me- Hey MS, why did you send the customer samples to Delhi office? It has to go to a client in Sikkim so you should have sent it to Kolkatta office?
MS- So what, anyway Delhi & Sikkim and Kolkatta & Sikkim are equi-distant, so it doesn't matter which office I send the samples to
Me - ???

Travel Tips for the Frequent Flier

Yesterday I went on a business trip to Mumbai. Was travelling almost after 1.5 years - thanks to high risk pregnancy and the delivery thereafter. Barely managed to reach the airport within few minutes of the aircraft gates closing. Not to forget the hours I spent the night before on the packing.
Thought I will just put together the good practices I used to follow during my frequest flier days

Even if you can tele-check in, it is always better to get your office travel agent to do a city check-in & collect your boarding card 1 day in advance. Get your choice seat- prefer the front so that it is easier and faster to get off especially at Mumbai & Chennai where aerobridge is more common (you can only get off the front then).
Set aside 1 bag only for travel purpose. Don't use that for anything else. Keep 1 toilet kit and a medium size towel (the thin cotton one so that it can dry faster),1 newspaper, 1 paper bag/ plastic bag, 1 small lock with key inside it always.
Toilet kit should contain your toothbrush, small size paste, soap in soapcase, soap strip booklet, 1-2 shampoo sachets, perfume/ deo, shaving equipment as per choice, small pack of lotion/ moisturiser, 1 leaflet of bindi for the ladies who use it., 1 lipstick in a standard brown/ maroon colour, 1 small nailpolish bottle, compact powder, eyeliner for those who use it. Remeber to replace the toiletries that would have expired.
Ladies please keep 1 hand bag/ purse strictly for travel purpose. my be your lipstick/ eye liner/ copact could shift to yoru purpose along with 1 small mirror, 1 comb. Leave some cash handy in your bag so that even if you forget to keep you will have some safety stock. For the real forgetful types - you could even leave 1 ATM card & 1 credit card inside- I mean I am sure we have multiple of those now with the umpteen no of free cards that we get.
Always better to travel light. anyway you need the space to fill in with stuff bought there. The rule should be 1 dress per day plus a few extra casual ones. Keep as many repeatable trousers/ duppatas/ salwars - 1 black & 1 off white should always be included
If you are travelling in the morning, then night before itself, keep your bags as close to the entrance as possible. Pre-make sandwiches and keep in the fridge. Morning straight away put it in the toaster . Or grab a fruit before leaving home. Keep your ticket, home keys, money the night before into your bag.
Leave home in such a way that you reach atleast 30 minutes before departure time. Add another 20 minutes for check-in baggage.