What it makes me do

This blog-athon is getting tougher by the day :( But it does make me do a lot of things :-

• Makes me think more, look at things closely and feel things more intensely so that I get some material to put up. Its tough, but then I am not complaining, because the grey cells are having a good workout.
• Makes me read more and read with speed. Now I am a very very slow reader.I wish I could read faster way faster and gobble all the books in the world. 
• Makes me want to give more time to watch some meaningful stuff so that I could put up my expert comments
• Makes me take better pictures and skim through the pictures and remember the stories behind them

Today started nice and sunny though cold. K had to start off for an exam. It felt weird. As in, every day, K goes to work and I am with Chiyaa, but today he had to travel to another city 40 mins away. I don't know why, but it felt as if he went a bit far. Its all in the head I know, but think about it, there is so much in the head! I ventured and got some groceries. I wanted to prepare something fancy for the baby of the house (that's K, the original baby :) ) I was having a mega craving for coffee today, and I did not shy away from it. The cold weather makes the cup of the bitter brew seem tastier. 

K passed the exam which somehow made me feel so relieved :) Having had my share of the special dinner, I am waiting to savor dessert and end the day with a flourish :) 

The dinner andddddddddd the the dessert :) 

10

10 more days for the blog-athon to get over and I am seriously running out of fodder. I was thinking of posting yet another picture today but then the kiddo should not feel like an unpaid model and this blog should not look like a picture blog . Reasoning all this I thought I might as well put up my din charya :P I know very un-interesting read but who cares? ;)

The baby does fill up the day but there are some bits of it which are different everyday and some bits which are just the same yet oh so delightful.

Every day at 0815 there is customary call with Chennai granny over cups of coffee, breakfast and morning diaper change. At around 1100 it's time for some maalish which I enjoy as much as the baby does :) I try to plan at least half an hours walk for some grocery, the library or just like that at least four times a week. It does need motivation and will power to get geared up for the trip and especially to get the Munchie ready but then the rejuvenating feeling if having some fresh air does not have many equals . 1630 marks the time for my after noon cup of coffee/cocoa/tea depending on my mood and a Skype call to mommy dear.

As these bits of routine lend the stability to the day , there are bits of unknown which add flavour . Trying a new recipe ,making something for Chiyaa , ironing K's clothes , catching up with a friend, reading some pages of a book - they are the lovely unpredictable aspects in the day I could not do without.

The long and short of it - I am simply loving the joys of maternity . Touchwood .

Khali dimaag :(

Yes blackout :( again :( totally empty :( what should I put up here today ?

They say na girls love shoes well my lil one loves slippers with a passion :) she sees one and she s gotta have it, hold it touch it and even try to lick it :( Things were just getting out of control so I decided to make a pair jussssssst for her

Sunday ke mukhya samachar

I never gave the high points of Sunday this week so here's my list

• Started the day with some solid retail therapy got a coat for myself :)
• Tried a new recipe ridge gourd cooked with chickpeas
• Cleaned up the stove which was screaming for attention
• K did not go to office though he had plans to :))

This one was easy again :)

Reflections asked me a lot of questions in my last post :P  So give her a better picture, I thought of uploading some pictures :) 

This is a view from our balcony. Its covered in fog, but out in the distance there is a train track too :) 

The other side

A bit more area in perspective. Now you see those fields out there, during nights many predators prowl. As I said jackals and hyenas. One of them bit our lil Kinu and he succumbed :( 

A baby Rani :)

Fancy them?

I simplyyyyyyyyyy loveeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee dogs.Loveeee them. We used to adopt quite a few street ones. After we moved to our own home, we adopted 2 puppies. Unfortunately one was bitten by a big jackal and another was poisoned. :( It was too heart breaking, and ever since, we stopped taking up any more. 

It so happened, our tenants ended up taking up Rani - a Labrador. She ended up having them :- 

Follow the leader 

Tired of following the leader :) 

Where are my brothers and sister? 

Rani thinks my kids are quite a handful

Does 'nt it look like a seal

Rest time

Where's my food?

Cuddle time :D

The Pregnant King

I had first heard of Devdutt Pattanaik while watching Business Sutra on CNBC India. I googled up his name and bumped a across quite a few of his works. Of them The Pregnant King somehow caught my fancy.

This is a story based on a character from Mahabharata Yuvanashva who accidentally drinks a magic potion meant for his wives and conceives a child. What follows is the debate over what is he? A man? Or a woman? A mother? Or father? If he is a mother does he have a right to the throne? And does his child have a right to the throne? On the intangible level there is the debate over what sounds sweeter ? -mother or father (He also 'fathers' a child)  As he meanders through this conundrum the reader is brought face to face with many instances where the lines are blurred.

• Krishna being Mohini for a day and experiencing marriage and widowhood
• Ila being man and woman by the waxing and waning of moon due to a curse of Shiva
• Uruvashi who has two fathers and no mother
• Shikhandi who is born a woman but made to behave like a man because of his father
• The goddess Bahugami who must be seved by men who feel like women
• Shilavati who is an able and just regent but cannot become king just because she is woman

These all seem so topical now given the raising awareness about homosexuality and transgender. The book opens a whole realm about how these contentions exist in the Hindu mythology as well. Some of the questions thrown are very perplexing where even the line between Shiva and Shakti is blurred. God himself is pulled in this eternal strife.

The book is an interesting read. The layers in Mahabharata never fail to amaze me. In the book too as the knots in the rope of cause and effect are unravelled it makes for very enjoyable experience. The only thing that leaves an unpleasant taste is the language :( it is very basic so much so there are minor grammatical mistakes as well. It is a very very big negative for me :(

Otherwise full marks for handling a very current issue with such dexterity!