Ooty

My major motivation to go for a holiday was the cyclone Thane warning. Just head away to the hills.
However day 1 of Ooty gives us mist, fog and ice cold rain.
So there is no other option but monkeying away inside the hotel.

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Yelagiri

First stop at Yelagiri, hotel Landmark. The drive was uneventful except for us getting stuck at the last hair pin bend at midnight, just 15 minutes away from the hotel. A truck breakdown right on the bend. We waited for an hour with Ojas snoring away and Tejas cribbing constantly in my ears ....mosquitoes, pillow that is dirty etc with the ultimate larger objective of climbing on my lap and sleeping.
The good part was that this being a not so high hill, the drive was not scary. The narrow road had barricades on the edge and the city twinkled
beautifully from the track.
The hotel is basic but clean and well maintained.
And the best part apart from the hot water were the 2 double beds. No need to ask for extra beds!!
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Height of Maa ka Tyaag

Deliberately keeping fruit ninja scores low enough so that Mamma's scores do not cross Ojas' highest score so far.

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PTA

A 5 minute PTA meeting today each with the recommendation that I get them to improve their handwriting.

Tejas scores 20/20 in nearly all papers.

Ojas had some silly mistakes which pulled the scores down!

Keep it up babes! I am proud of you.

By the way my handwriting is terrible and I honestly believe your is better than mine especially Ojas.

They have decided that they do not want to do theatre which is boring so they want to continue with Western Dance! 

Thieves

Ojas...why is the watchman whistling.
Me..he s chasing thieves away
ojas- bahut saara thieves hai andar?

Tejas- don't tell this secret to anyone in school
ojas- how about A
Tejas- ok I will tell only A
Ojas- how about B
Tejas-ok you can tell B... And so on the secret gets shared

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Just Thoughts

And before we knew, we are already at the end of 2011. Last year around this time, I was anticipating something to happen and not at all betting my money on it. However, before I realised, I am already 8 months into the old new job. Time flies and all that.

This year has been extremely busy for me. First was the book reviews that I got myself into. Suddenly I realised that the reviews were hijacking my personal posts and just to be a little more professional about it, I recently launched The Reading Corner and moved all the reviews and author interviews there. Do spend some time and check it out for reviews of new book releases.

While on one hand it fuelled my thirst for books, it also came with the responsibility of putting my thoughts into reviews. And oh the variety! In the last 9 months I have read a range of genres...murder, thriller, romance, fiction, detective, classics like Tagore, Saratchandra, Indian writers, Foreign writers, award winners, first time writers, self improvement, kiddy books, boring books, interesting books, short stories, terribly long stories...

Then the new job. It kept me busier than I imagined and there has been no time to breathe or even think of relaxing. For the first time when the parents were here, I did not take even a single day off and as a result I have leaves lapsing for the first time in my working life.

I have multitasked, hoped to generate a couple of self clones to help me cope better, and have done late sittings...another first in my working life, just to get rid of backlog so that the next morning is easier. It never is, is another thing altogether.

Simply speaking I have not had time to blog properly so I have switched to email micro or mini blogging so that atleast my thoughts are posted on my space. Which is why the kid's birthday post never came up because for that I need to put the photographs and the best ones are in the camera and not on my mobile.

The one battle that I lose everyday is the battle with weight. I gain, I lose and gain it back yet again. Time famine is making me less regular at the gym than I would like to and every day I look at myself in despair.

We did a lot of home redecorating. The husband fulfilled his long time dream of putting wooden flooring and I am yet to post photos of them. Yes, we are still struggling to keep a movie style clean, spic and span home but realise that is not really possible with my two monkeys and with he limited floor space we have. I am learning to live with this realisation and trying hard to make up for lack of space by decluttering more often than needed.

I do want to do more with my life. The reading for instance. I want to do more of it with the kids yet I do not seem to find the time or their attention. Even though I know it is just a matter of starting and they will get hooked on. Now that they know how to read. In the new year, I promise to be a different person.

And of course the travel. We did very little of that this year not counting the several official trips I did and the Gurgaon holiday we managed to take and without Dadda....another first...travelling alone with the 2 bandars...it turned out to be easier than I expected.

Ojas and Tejas have got more smacks this year than they ever got so far, and this despite several promises to self that I will not smack them today. They are really becoming naughty and out of control! However they have crossed two milestones that made us all very happy and relieved...they began to wash their respective bums and learnt to cycle in 3 days flat.

The next year, I need to find a keyboard teacher for the kids. And that is a personal task I have set. I need someone who can come home and teach. That cuts the commute and the variables because I do not expect to be around most of the time To ferry them to and fro classes.

Wish you all a very happy 2012. So what did you do this 2011?

Cycling

On December 7th we removed the balancing wheels and started training the kids...I guess I was more scared to leave them rather than them. I was more worried because they did not know how to prevent a fall.

Ths first thing what I taught them was how to prevent a fall... just place your legs and brake.

The next step (usually this is the last step people learn) was how to start the cycle by yourself.

and of course, there was the mandatory running behind them holding the cycle while they attepted to balance.

Another thing what I did, against common practice was to remove both balancing wheels at the same time, instead of removing them one by one. I always felt it caused more problem in learning to balance by giving them a false sense of security on one side and they sort of compensate by leaning over that side and when they fall, they fall badly.

So as of yesterday, they are cycling. Tejas is more of a pro than Ojas who has serious focusing problems methinks!

The Krishna Contest

Thank you for the overwhelming response to the quiz. Here are the answers that we were looking for. However we make exceptions because the Goddess is ultimately one form so Laxmi is Maya or Kali and so on and Drumila was the form Kalanemi took as per the book Slayer of Kamsa.

May favourite part of the quiz was the answers I got for the favourite name of Lord Krishna. some of the answers we liked we're


Balagopala...because it reminds me of the child Krishna, and those are the stories that warm all our hearts

Yashodanandan...because He is referred to as Son of Yashoda...what more could a mother ask for

Kanha...because it conjures up the image of a mischievous brat. The name tugs at the heart strings...

Gopala because it pertains to His childhood

Krishna...for a girls name....Krishna signifies excitement...

Anandsagar...for the love He gives the devotees

Sarang...

Kanna....a term of endearment

I rejoice in repeating Govinda..

Hari steals my heart with its beauty and brevity

And now for the answers...

1. What is the meaning of the name 'Krishna".

The dark hued one, dark blue etc.

2. Where was Radha born?

Barsana

3. The Dances Garba & Dandiya are believed to have originated from Krishna. What was the form of dance that Krishna performed that became the precursor to Garba & Dandiya

The Rasalila
 

4. Who was born in Nandagokula at the time of Krishna's birth?

Goddess Lakshmi
 

5. Who was the real father of Kamsa?

The demon Drumila who was a form of KalaNemi
 

6. Who was riding the chariot after Devaki's marriage with Vasudeva?

Kamsa. 

7. Name the two jewels of Jarasandha's heart as depicted in the "Slayer of Kamsa" – Kamsa eventually marries both of them.

Asti & Prapati 
 

8. Who stopped Kamsa from killing Devaki when the prediction for the cause of Kamsa's death was rendered.

Vasudeva 

9. It is said the Parijaat tree was stolen by Krishna. Where did Krishna steal it from?

From Indra's garden, Amaravati. 
 

10. Krishna's wife Rukmini was originally promised to some one else. Who was he?

Shishupala.
 

Winners will be informed by separate mail

The Nose

Mamma...why don't you try this mango lassi. It is like mango yoghurt

Ojas...nah

Tejas...wait let me smell and tell you. Yaa... It is your mango yoghurt.

Err...as if one was not enough there is another nose in the family getting ready
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After 8 years

The cycle repeated. We got married on kartik deepam day and yesterday again was kartik deepam.

I am richer by a pretty gold bracelet with a design of tiny birds and the husband gets an anti glare night glasses for driving.

We spent a day in leisure, blogging, reading and lazing around.
We went for a meal at Fortune ..just the 2 of us after a long time.
Took the kids to kfc ...spent the evening teaching them to cycle and ended the
day with a grand kabab meal at Copper Chimmney where the kids were half asleep with exhaustion, as you can see in the picture.
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