Kitna hain Hota hai na Sachchai mein

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=RvGOTeJsZb8

http://www.coca-colaindia.com/products/kinley_water.html


Very often when it comes to small things, we tend to lie our way through rather than disclose the truth. Sometimes it stems from the fact that one may have missed informing the other person about his or her whereabouts or perhaps the explanation would be so long that one may prefer to just speak a small white lie to avoid getting into the mess of giving a long explanation. And some may just feel that the truth may hurt so it is better to lie rather than take the onus of belling the cat and speaking the truth and being the villain in the piece. Sometimes it may just be a matter of feeling ashamed of the truth so it is easier to lie so that one's good image is not damaged.


I recall a small incident in school which comes back to me with great clarity, while on the topic.

I had always been fascinated by the chalkboard duster in school. The smooth manner in which it swished across the board erasing even the tiniest of marking on the smooth board was always a source of delight to me. But I had this unearned fear of ever touching that duster in school. Somehow I felt I shouldn't be touching the board and if I did, the teacher would scold me. I always imagined holding the duster in my hand and erasing the messy writing on the board all by myself. I wanted to feel the sense of erasing the board using the duster that looked so soft and efficient. And more than ever, I wanted to own one, since this was an object which was not widely available in ordinary stationary shops of those days and of course had I asked for it, I wouldn't have been granted permission to buy it anyway as what would be the use of a duster in a household?




Well one day, I happened to find my may inside the school store room where I went to look for my lost water bottle.

I noticed on one dark corner was a treasure trove of dusters, shining, new and squeaky clean, not a single fabric of the duster faded or worn out. I looked around and decided that I could appropriate one for myself and no one would be wiser.
I took one duster and then I had the problem of taking it with me safely till my school bag.

I stuffed it inside the belt of my skirt, grievously spraining my tummy as I pushed that duster in to hide it.


And I rushed to class and stuffed the duster into my bag.

Once home, the sharp eyed mom noticed that I had a duster with me.

I glibly lied that I found it fallen in the school ground.

It didn't take long for mom to figure out that a brand new duster would not be lying in the school ground unattended for me to pick it up and bring home. It must have been done stealthily.

I could have lied for some more time, but at that moment I decided to tell the truth.

Well I felt an immediate relief and returned the duster to the school, silently of course and mom got me a duster for me.


So well, all was  well in the end. If didn't have to bear the burden of a lie and I also got a duster for myself.

A win win situation.

This entry is submitted for the contest on indiblogger.in https://www.indiblogger.in/happyhours/purity-in-every-drop/#submission_requirements

Pun

• Ojas hit his skipping rope on his butt. Tejas quipped...arya butt. They have started punning.

Pets

http://www.yowoto.com/posts/a-mom-s-adventures-with-all-the-pets-her-twins-adopted
My yowoto column on pets

And It is Coming

Drum Rolls.....

 

By Yours Truly

 

 

Health is Wealth

I am participating in the happy hours contest for dabur chyawanprash.

https://www.liveveda.com/daburchyawanprash/

Truly said, a healthy child is a joy to behold and exactly opposite is the truth when a child falls sick.

Especially the first five years is the most testing period for parents because that is the time children contract diseases, fall sick and in the process even develop immunity.
Which is why vaccinations are done mostly during the first five years with a few that follow through at the age of ten.

Since I have twins, the problem that I face is both children fall sick one after the other. Both good and bad because then I can handle them together and manage with one doctor visit only.

Of course there are times when the other does not contract the disease and that means I spend time worrying about the fact the other should not contract it especially if it is some trouble some problem like hand foot and mouth disease that Tejas once got.

Nevertheless, it is important that we bear utmost caution with children especially during the first five years when immunity is low.

- ensure that children wash hands properly and often especially before eating.
- inculcate clean habits especially once they start their bum washing on their own.
- ensure that they learn to wash fruits before eating
- make sure they do not lick the packet or bottles of any snack item as they ae stored often in not so clean conditions in the store,
-wipe all dust off any snack pack before giving to the children
- deworming them on doctor's orders every six months.
- give them some immunity building food. My brother would eat dabur chyawanprash and that did wonders for them. So does pepper, tulsi, honey etc for building immunity against cough and cold I am told.
- ensure they participate in one me physical activity like playing sport, swimming etc to build strength
- make sure to give balanced diet because that is the first step to build immunity and strength.
-at the same time, making sure they expose themselves to the elements and not be too much mollycoddled also build immunity. Many parents swaddled the child in woollens at the slightest feel of chill weather, especially in chennai. My kids' doctor advices to remove the sweater even though they are having fever and asks to allow the body to breathe.
- allowing circulation of clean air every day in the home and the bedroom also helps in bringing in freshness in the home and keeping it disease and dust free.
- have greenery around so that it maximises cleanable and pure air.
- make sure change bedclothes very often and dust them everyday.
- vacuum occasionally to remove dust mites.
-especially in cases of small children, make sure their soiled clothes are washed separately so that no cross contamination happen.


Ultimately of course it is not easy to always keep disease at bay but we can do as much as possible to reduce the severity and frequency of the same.

Gharwali Diwali

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQ7lMDWJOXA

Seeing the lovely video on gharwalidiwali from Pepsi / Kurkure,
https://www.gharwalidiwali.com/ brought back many sweet memories of Diwali.

And aside, I loved the add. Brought et ears to my eyes.

Diwali is precious to me for many reasons. Honestly while I always loved the entire ceremony of Diwali, it became much more precious festival to me because my children were born on a Diwali morning, amidst the crack and pop of various crackers as Chennai celebrated Diwali on the exact moment when my kids came screaming and perplexed, into this world.

My oldest memory of Diwali is that my mom would make a model of a home, typically the one where we lived, out of a cardboard box.
She would wallpaper it with white sheets and paint the various structures like doors, balconies, windows. She even put transparent polythene for window glass and tiny curtains for the same. Even detailing of door knows was done using chocolate foil. Totally best out of waste.

She even made a garage with corrugated roofing using biscuit tin sheet.

She and Dad would then put a bulb inside and connect the same to a plug point and lo and behold,


our home had electricity.


We children would decorate the same with our dolls, cars, make mini garden, place a flower pot for giving a tree effect and make mini scenes using our toys.

We would do Pooja in the gharaunda as we call it and then ought the lamps, candles and fairy lights all over the house.

Then there would be the goodies that were made and we compulsorily had yam curry and poori for dinner.


Diwali was a time when our extended family would meet up and therefore there was a lot of merry making in general.


In fact today, I don't leave my home for Diwali as I do like to deck up the home, light a lot of lights, variety of lamps, and decorate using flowers and floating lamps in the urli. I totally enjoy the entire ceremony that entails Diwali and of course I have the believe that this day brings prosperity and is therefore symbolic that the family stays together. And considering that my children's birthday fall around Diwali, I often have my parents here with me.




I have bought a little house made of wood from Kolkata and that is my gharaunda that I use for the puja. The children decorate their toys and cars and make a merry scene around it.

We also distribute sweets to some neighbours and light crackers together in the complex. At least we are not alone during Diwali.

I am not so fond of crackers and neither are my children too brave about lighting them. I sincerely hope they will one day think of making their Diwali more meaningful instead if spending money on crackers which do nothing for the environment.
However I do not want to impose that on them and I wait for them to think about the same and become ambassadors of green Diwali and focus more on fun and togetherness and of course lots of eating, especially the kaju barfi that they love immensely.

Outdoor play

http://www.yowoto.com/posts/switch-off-that-tv-and-send-your-kids-outside-to-play

My yowoto column on outdoor play, benefits of outdoor play and what to take care of when children are playing outside.

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