Day 36 – Overwhelming Moments

100 Happy Days – Day 36

Happiness is watching your younger sibling grow

People often mistook my little sister to be a boy. For starters, as a child, she liked pants and shirt, she played with guns, she had boy cut, she was very very naughty and lots more. I do not think that these ‘should be’ boys’ traits. But that was how they took it.

As she grew, she took after our father, and was interested in playing the drums. She learnt Taekwondo. She behaved in such a way that any outsider would say, “She is more like a boy.” Only we know the real her. I, being her best friend more than her elder sister, know her better then she does.

Even so, when she started knitting, I didn’t expect her to get addicted to it. Normally, she starts drawing or some other things like these and get bored halfway through. But, once she started knitting, she was on fire. She kept pestering Ammamma (Grandmother) and within two days, she had made admirable progress.

How a shirt became a bag

Her intention was to make a tiny shirt. That changed into a not so tiny sweater. She had no idea whom she was making it for. After some conversation, she decided that she will make it for her stuffed cat ‘Poochie’. She kept knitting until the sweater was almost done. At the last moment, she had second thoughts. The knitted thing, could also be made into a cute bag. But should she convert it into one? Or will the sweater do?

She kept asking this question for a while until she found another piece of knitting she had made last month. It was a strip which, when arranged well, could be made into a huge flower. She placed it on one corner of the piece she was knitting. There was no question of what she would turn it into. That flower just made it look like one hell of a gorgeous bag! With Amma’s idea of giving a white stone touch and a little bit of help from her, my baby sister made a magnificent bag.

My little princess made this

I kept telling her that I felt so proud. That I never expected her to complete it, leave alone making it so appealing. I made it my whats-app profile picture and many of my friends told me that they loved it! I know the joy of creating things. But this was the first time I felt so much happiness to see someone else create something.

About being flexible

Don’t you see? Many times in life, we start some things without any clue. Some times, we have an idea of what we want. But they don’t always end up as we planned. Most of us find ourselves lamenting on how ‘It did not go as planned’. Instead we rarely think about, ‘ways to turn things around’. For instance, if you are trying to draw a cow and it turns out to be different, try to turn it into a goat, a deer, a donkey or a horse. Why insist on drawing a cow itself when you have the option to draw anything? Good that you tried. Think of something else while you can. Be flexible. 🙂

I know that things may not be this easy always. But there are many situations when things aren’t complicated, but we make them complicated. Here, D started off with a shirt. Her flexibility is what helped her create this beauty.

PS – I said, be flexible, not manipulable. There is a huge difference. 🙂

Day 35 – Watching Harry Potter Movies Back to Back

100 Happy Days – Day 35

Happiness is a Harry Potter Marathon – Sisters only!

How many of you have things that you do with your siblings only? Have you done them together any time recently?

It took me a while to realize that my sister won’t be with me forever. When she was 6 years old, I left for my higher studies and we were apart for 5 years. I came back and slowly we started bonding. We couldn’t do many things together because either of us were busy. We made lists and plans of things we should do together. Now, as we started doing them, the tables turned.

She completed her schooling and in another 18 days, she will leave for her college. It does make my heart sink. But we decided to make the maximum use of the time we have. This is where the Harry Potter marathon enters the scene.

Not exactly the marathon you think. It will not be possible for us to do a 19 hour Harry Potter marathon, watching all the 8 movies in a row. Mainly because, we are not alone at home. It becomes difficult when there are other people. But hopefully someday, we will do it.

Right now, we are watching the movies continuously but not strictly in a row. We stop when we want to, and resume the next day. I had gone to the supermarket, bought drinks, nachos, biscuits, cup cakes, chips etc and filled our cupboard. After midnight, we began watching the movies. Yesterday, we watched until half of Chamber of secrets.

Harry Potter – both books and movies – is an important part of our lives. I was the one who forced my sister to read the books. Needless to say she loved them. We went for some of the movies together. We often talk about all the characters, the unfortunate events. We share the fan fictions that are really touching. Sometimes, we go hours and hours, discussing Harry Potter, the characters, the plot, some revelations. There was one point of time when we kept talking and both of us were moved to tears as though we were talking about a close family.

That is how it is for us. Our close family. Or rather, a friend that brought us close.

Many things reminds us of our siblings. In my case, Harry Potter will be one. This will be a memory she will be taking for herself and leaving for me. We also took an unbreakable vow. In future, wherever we are, we will meet every year to watch Harry Potter together.

I know many siblings who don’t even call each other. It might be ego problems or tiny misunderstandings or sometimes, due to lack of time. But if you were close once, you can be close again. All you need to do is relive those days. Pick those moments you had fun, do those things you did together, give a call, send a message, look at those albums for heaven’s sake. Time is flying. My baby sister is going to college. Our siblings are moving apart. Don’t let them go. Keep them in your heart and keep in touch.

Watching Harry Potter Movies will be our way. What about yours?

PS – I call her Rosta and she calls me Bisista 😀

The Women in My Life

I have been wondering for a while as to why do we have a separate day to celebrate womanhood and why did that happen to be on March 8th. I have heard people raise such questions on many occasion. I saw some rants in FB saying everyday is a day of love, why celebrate it on Feb 14th? Similarly, I see questions on Mothers Day, Friendship Day, Father’s Day etc. I see memes that say

I don’t have to post on FB to let my mom know that I love her.

I found my answers to all those questions and today, I found my answer to Women’s Day too. It is this; In every turn in my life, a woman has been there to support me and walk me through. You might have heard of incarnations of God. I would say these women were the incarnation of Goddesses. And I had to let them know how important they are to me. I am sure they know it. But saying it makes them feel more special. I wouldn’t have written this post, if not for Women’s Day. 🙂 So here is to all the beautiful women in my life:

1. My Ammamma (Grandmother) – Where do I begin? I have been writing a post about her. But it becomes way too lengthy and jumps from topic to topic that I keep it aside for modification. I am her favorite grand daughter. She has been taking care of me since I was a baby. She used to feed me, bathe me, take me to school, I used to show my marks to her first. I used to tell her first about all the prizes I won. She used to shield me when Mom hit me. She knows when I am sad, she knows when I have not eaten. She can’t sleep if we don’t have food.She is the fairy with the wand and fairy dust that I have read about in books. She has silver hair, beautiful wrinkles and a few fallen teeth. She is my home. 🙂 ❤
2. My Amma – Oh the famed Supermom who finds everything, knows everything, flies around and saves the day. From my childhood, I have had this notion that Mom could solve everything.For instance –

   

   Image courtesy: http://www.pak101.com

   This is the story of my life :o. Not once, not twice, but forever. My sister and I are hopeful that we would get that super power sometime soon.

   She could solve almost everything. If my sister and I can’t correct something, we say, “Let Mom get back. She will be able to do it.”
   If we don’t know a location, we say, “Let Mom get back. She will definitely know.”
   If we have a decision to make, “We will ask Mom. She will tell which is best.”
   If we have a pain on our neck, “Let Mom come. She would cure it in a jiffy.”
   And finally when Mom gets back, we run to the door, “Ammmmmaaaaa…!”

   Ohh! There is nothing like Mom getting home from work. And there is nothing like a Sunday when Mom doesn’t have to work. 😀

3. My Sweet Sweet Sister – She is a whole package of elder sister, younger sister, best friend and Mom(sometimes). We have this radar with which, we simply know things without saying them. In movies or in life, when someone says something awkward, our eyes just meet on time. If someone belittles, one of us, the other one is up to the rescue. When I am down, she tells exactly what I need to hear. She takes me out when I’m down and cheers me up. She tells me when I look ridiculous. she tells me when I look beautiful. She is as weird and crazy as I am. And though I never tell her this, I love how she idolizes me at times. Most importantly, even if I buy her a tiny chocolate, she looks at me as though I gave her some treasure. We do have our differences (and our wardrobe fights), but that is what makes us, US.
4. My twin sister – As someone put it, best friends are siblings you never had. She definitely falls in that category. Many times people have asked if we were sisters and we said ‘Yes’. We weren’t constantly in touch, but we could easily pick up from where we left it as though we just met yesterday. There is so much of effortlessness in our friendship and she is the only one with whom I have got that kind of bonding.
   She is an example of classy, strong and independent woman. I have seen her grow, I have seen her learn, I have seen her change and I have seen her turn from a timid little girl to this charming lady she is today.
   The best part is, everyone at home loves her and my sister adores her. 🙂
5. The Guardian Angel – I haven’t written about her before. She is like a second Mother. There were many phases in my life. She was the star that showed me the way. She was responsible for a certain beautiful phase in my life. For a while, when I got stuck in my life, she was the one who gave me that tiny push that I needed. She was my guru. Probably she had taught me all that I had to learn. Or maybe her part in my life was over. Like a passenger who boarded from a station, she walked into my life and one fine day, unexpectedly, she decided to leave. Well, the almighty is selfish that way. He wants all the good people around him.I never cried when she left. The pain remains there like an open wound. I refuse to accept that she is no more. She is around, somewhere next to me. If she could read this, I just want her to know that I love her a lot, I think of her often and though I never said it to her, I am very grateful for showing me the right path.
6. My Teachers –LKG – Pushpa Ma’am for simply being my first class teacher. She liked me a lot and still remembers me.UKG – When I was often teased by children because of my complexion, I used to feel so low. There was a class goon and she was supposed to be the ‘best child’ in class because all feared her. The only good memory I have is about one lunch time. Someone asked our class teacher who the best student was. She said that all were good. When they insisted, she asked them to guess. After many wild guesses, after around half the class was named, someone said my name. Our teacher nodded, pointed at me and I froze. I never saw Ambika ma’am after that. But I never forgot her either.Sanskrit teacher – Manjusha ma’am for sowing the seed of love for the language. I don’t apply my mind for any other subject. But that wasn’t it for Sanskrit. The language has so much depth and beauty and she helped me unveil it step by step. I still love the subject and intend to learn further.Bharti Ma’am – For all the love she gave us. She taught us social studies. The subject is very boring as you all know but I love that teacher. Whenever I go back to school, she doesn’t make me feel like any other student. She is genuinely happy to see me and her eyes twinkle. The kind of twinkle I see in very few teachers’ eyes. I go to school just to see her expression.
7. My friends from GJA – I could never forget the three years of article-ship that I completed. Thank you for keeping it united. There are a bunch of lovely ladies that made my stay memorable. For all the jokes cracked by Lays and Jenny, for Soathy & Lakshmi for being the partners in crime, for Niki’s share in all the madness, and for every beautiful girl there who is a part of ‘Ribbons and Tiaras’ 😉 Happy Women’s Day. 

Thanking you all isn’t necessary. I am glad that you constitute a part in my story. Each one of you make a difference to me.

I wouldn’t ask why we celebrate a particular day for love, for mother or for father. In this busy rat race, some reminders are necessary. Admit it. I don’t express feelings like this everyday. If we don’t have a particular day, many of us will never express these feelings. I love every woman I have mentioned here. But I don’t tell them that often. Now, they will know because of this day. 🙂

Last but not the least, my dear blogging friends, Kokila, Maniparna, Ritika, Parul, Rumadak, Nimmi, Nandini, Sruthi, Brunda, Preeti and anyone I might have missed out, Happy Women’s Day to you all 🙂

PS – Oops! Belated 😛

Dry Baby, Happy Baby

My sister was born when I was 9 years old. So there was a lot of prayer and excitement from my said before and when she was born. When I saw the little bundle of joy on the first day, I couldn’t believe that she was going to be at home forever. Since I was old enough and was so fond of her, I remember almost everything about her as a baby.

She mostly slept and was a very silent child. And, she loved laughing. She smiled, tinkled and laughed whenever she got the chance and she looked super-cute when she did. I always tried to make her smile just to see that fluffy face go all the more fluffy. There were many things that made her happy.

Seeing Dad topped the list. Her face invariably cracked into a smile whenever she had a glance at dad. Their bonding was that strong. She would get all excited and flail her hands and legs whenever she saw him. She never stopped doing that until he picked her up.

The next thing that made her happy was my voice. I had a strange sing song manner in which I called her. When I was back from school, I would her to get fresh and run to the baby. Before I reached her, I would call out her name and she would struggle to look towards the door with the same excitement she had when she saw Dad. Not only that, whenever she seemed irritated or began to cry, I would sing the song that I always sang for her and instantly she would calm down. She would be all smiles by the time the song got over.

My sister hasn’t changed a bit. Then and now, she is all ears for fast number songs. Her hyper activity used to be at its peak when we played fast beats. When she began walking, she would jump up and down and dance for the fast numbers. She is still the same.

Catching insects, specially beetles, in a transparent jar and feeding them rice was her favorite activity. Trust me! She did that every other day. From her toy box, she would take a transparent jar and put all the beetles. There would be around 8-10 of them. I don’t remember what happened to them. She would sit and watch them for hours together.

This wasn’t all. We used cover ourselves with a bedsheet in such a way that it looked like a tent that only fit us. I don’t know what we talked, but we did have so much to talk and giggle and spent a lot of time in there. She would always ask me to play that game with her. Other times, she would sit under the table and pretend to be Mani uncle. Mani uncle was our electrician. The table was her ceiling and there was an invisible fan.

She was generally a happy baby. Like any other babies, she cried when she was hurt or hungry. Some babies feel irritated and cry due to the wetness. But she slept through it which isn’t good for the babies. It is not only unhygienic, there are chances of rashes too. We used to use clean cotton cloth instead of diapers for the baby. For travels and stay in others homes, we used to use diapers. That was when we felt that diapers were the best choice. It absorbed the water content and kept the baby dry, hence preventing any illness. 🙂

Linking this to http://www.rewardme.in/tag/Pampers. This post is a part of Indiblogger’s Happy Hour activity.

I Can’t Keep Calm Because It Was My Birthday!!!

Happy Birthday to meeee…
Happy Birthday to meeee…
Happy Birthday to meee meee…
Happy Birthday to meee 🙂

It all began with the wishes at midnight. After which I finally slept, though with difficulty. There were so many thoughts passing through my mind – my previous birthdays, the surprises I got, how the next day will be, how sweet of my friends to wait until 12 AM and call etc. And the most prime thought was, ‘Yayy! It’s my Birthdayy!’ 😛

When I woke up, mom wished me with a cup of coffee, followed by the others. My baby sister gifted me a pair of earrings. And guess what!? It was made by her friend. 2 months back she gave the order, chose a color combo I would like and arranged it. Isn’t that sweet? Oh, I loved it! 😀

Here are the snaps 🙂

Dad gave me some cash & asked me to buy whatever I wanted.

My Anne Cherian Thomas 😉 did call me as usual. Yes, she is my bestie. No, there aren’t any midnight calls during birthdays between us. It was there during the initial years of our friendship. But later, it was alright without them.

Later I went to a Shiva temple nearby. Mr. Shiva looked majestic. The face made of Gold just emblazoned the Shiv-linga. It shone all the more bright and austere with all the lamps. I stood there drinking in the beauty, spoke to Mr. Shiva for a while & got back home.

Now comes the dull part of the day. Firstly, I felt sleepy because I slept late and got up early, on top of that, I had my Financial Reporting questions spread before me. For the next few hours I scratched my head, stared at the walls & doodled on my book wondering why on earth those stupid companies had to amalgamate. :O Even if they had to, why couldn’t they just add all the items in both the companies’ Balance Sheet together and form another company? Why complicate life? :O

Sorry dear non-commercialites. I got a bit carried off there. But still, I don’t get it. Why?

Then came the lunch time. My chweet Ammamma (Grandmother) had prepared many dishes to celebrate this angel’s day *blush*. She made rice, parippu, sambhar, potato curry, pachadi and pappadam. To start with something sweet, she put some sugar in my mouth. And then I had that sumptuous feast. But she was upset because she couldn’t make payasam. 😦
I know, right? She is so adorable you have no idea. The entire day went by with her telling how upset she was about the payasam not being there. *Choo cute!!!*

Courtesy: Google Images

 

Meanwhile, more calls, more texts, more whatsapp messages and facebook posts poured in. Oh! And I couldn’t attend few calls because of this & that. Sorry folks! I felt bad when I saw your missed calls. But the wishes have been accepted. Thank you. 🙂

Evening came & I had my music class. The rains, the cold & my birthday were all screaming at me not to go. But I pulled my raincoat over, rode my lavy, crossed all the puddles and went for the class. I was back by 8PM and after some loitering around, settled to study when the door bell rang.

I opened the door. But no one was to be seen. I took a step forward and people just sprang at me from both sides ‘Happy Birthdayyyyy!!!’. I first jumped, then stood there open-mouthed & gaping when my sister came with an all knowing smile.

Ashwin, Godwin & Blissen came in, unpacked the cake and placed it on the table. It took me some time to register what was happening. Slowly I came to my senses while they gifted me a bottle of wine. This was followed by a Bournville sent by another friend Varna. Both have a backstory.

The wine: I had mentioned a month back that I badly wanted wine. Earlier, we used to have it for Christmas. But it has been quiet sometime since I had. So a craving had begun for the same. I said it, forgot about it & here it was; my birthday gift. 🙂

The wine 🙂

Bournville: I love Chocolates. Like crazy! Most of my friends know that. My favorites are Dairy milk fruit & Nut and Bournville (Also any other dark chocolate). Just before I left office, many of my friends either lost a bet with me, or they had to give me a treat. Every time, I insisted on a Bournville. So, sure enough she knows I like dark chocolates.

After the gifts session, as usual, pulling each others’ legs went on. Should I mention that I was the scapegoat most of the time? I’ll skip that part 😛
Apparently, those guys were really hungry and there was nothing at home to eat. I made some delicious tea (Oh yes! They said they liked it.) and tried to keep them entertained. Soon, all sang the birthday song & clicked some snaps while I cut my cake. I hurriedly gave them some cake to appease their hunger a bit.

My Birthday Cake 🙂

Meanwhile Amma swished her wand, converted the lunch’s potato curry into masala (Guess they didn’t know that). You should have seen those faces when I announced they will be having Masala Dosa. I swear I saw someone punch the air & say a triumphant ‘Yes!’ 😀 They relished the food while repeatedly saying that the sambhar was awesome & the Dosa was superb.

From somewhere my sister appeared and smeared some icing on my face. And I was like :O.

After a few more sessions of pulling legs (mine!) and some laughters and chit-chats, they left.

When I checked my phone, I had a voice message waiting. My friend Sharu and her parents (Yes, her parents :D) sang the birthday song for me and wished me!!! 😀 Isn’t that lovely?

That was one of my special days folks. Whether it is typing that message, ringing me up and telling me how much I mean to you, appearing out of the blue and ringing the doorbell, recording a birthday wish with the entire family, singing the birthday song while handing me the coffee, ringing me up at 11.30 PM with an intention to talk until 12 AM and be the first one to wish me, cooking my favorite dishes or getting a custom-made gift for me. Love you all for this love. 🙂 :*

 

Once again, Happy Birthday to me. 😛 Love myself too for this love! 😀

PS: Next time you’re planning to come home unannounced, let me warn you in advance. All the snack items here, finish in a jiffy. So ensure that you’re sufficiently loaded. 😛

Heaven is here – find yours.

Heaven is the familiar sweet smell of your mother
when you lie on her lap
and she hugs you.

♥♥♥

Heaven is when your stomach grumbles,
your grand-mom conjures up her handmade food
without your asking for it. 🙂

Your grumbling tummy automatically texts her. 😀

♥♥♥

Heaven is when you successfully fight back your tears,
your sister comes, takes one look at you & says,
‘You were crying, weren’t you?’

♥♥♥

Heaven is when a  friend says,
‘Don’t switch off your phone the day results’re out.
You will be one of the first persons I’d want to tell’ 🙂

 

Or when you cut all contacts & feel lonely
 a close friend texts you, ‘Where are you?’
You say ‘I’m home.’ & she says, ‘Just asking. ‘

♥♥♥

              

 

Image courtesy: inspirationaldaily.wordpress.com