Boys!

Urvi: Mamma, why do boys always like to chase girls?


Me (feigning ignorance): Oh, they do?


Urvi: Yeah...don't you remember? In my French school there were J and P who would always run after Emma and me, screaming 'Je t'aime, je t'aime' (I love you, I love you). And now in this school there is this boy M, who is always running after me saying, 'Will you be my girlfriend, will you be my girlfriend?' C'est embettant (Its irritating)!


Me: Hmm..


Urvi: Mamma, what's a girlfriend?


Me: A really special friend...


Urvi: You mean like me and Aishwarya?


Me: Not exactly... I mean when a boy and a girl have a very special friendship..


Urvi: Special?


Me:You know, when they really, really love each other...More than they love other friends..

Urvi: huh?

Me: When they are 'in love' with each other...

Urvi: Oh you mean when they are 'amoureux'?

(Honestly, I don't know why I waste time explaining in English, when there exists a perfectly good French word that apparently needs no explanation)

Me: Yes...amoureux. Are you amoureux with M?

Urvi (making a face): Eeeew!

Me: Well then, you can tell M that you are only his friend and not his girlfriend.

Urvi: Yeah, well I tell him that ...what more does he want?

Me: What indeed?

Urvi: M told all the boys, Urvi is my girlfriend. Its a secret. Don't tell Mam I said this.

Me: I see...

Urvi: But why do boys do this? Chase girls, I mean..

Me: Umm...I don't know...may be you should ask Bapi.

Urvi: Why??!

Me: Because he is a boy...or rather he was a boy...

Urvi: Bapi! (sigh followed by rolling of eyes - This is her usual reaction to anything concerning the dad, complete and utter exasperation. It seemed to say, Now what does he know about chasing girls?)

Mamma?

Me: yeah?

Urvi: Are you Bapi's girlfriend? (giggles)

Me: Let's talk about your situation here...

Urvi: Its complicated.

Me: How?

Urvi: Well A and A (the girls) don't like M(the boy). They keep telling me, Don't be M's friend, don't be his friend. But M(the boy) has told all the other boys that I'm his his best friend and girl friend. So now A and A (the girls), who thought they were my best-friends are not happy. They say 'Don't be M's best friend'. Thing is, M is really nice to me, so I don't know how to tell him, I don't want to be your friend anymore. But then, M is friends with W, who I don't like very much. But if I'm friends with M I have to friends with W...

Sigh! God help me when she hits the teens...

Swans

Beautiful swans, yellow, white and gray
Where do you come from, where do you fly away?
Won't you stay with me a moment or two
Tell me of lands, far and new?

Have you met mermaids, fairies and elves
Wizards, sorcerers and charming princes
Chivalrous knights and fiery dragons
Druids in forests brewing magic potions
Flying horses of my favorite dreams
Magicians that turn milk to ice-creams?

Beautiful swans, red, golden and blue
Won't you please take me with you?

I'll dance on the clouds, I'll touch the stars
I'll drench myself in the rainbow colors
I'll pluck the Sun rays to play you a song
I'll teach you the melody to sing along

If I get thirsty I could drink from the rain
We could play 'Catch Me' and then again
Hide-and-Seek in the clouds, night and noon
And if I get tired, I could sleep on the moon...

Suparna 24/10/09


Urvi has recently developed a fascination for origami and swans are her favorite right now. Together with her father, they have made these beautiful swans, and she plays with them for a long time before going to bed...

Happy Diwali!

Diwali is the Festival of Lights! In India, homes are decorated with diyas (traditional oil lamps), children burst fire-crackers, and sweets are distributed amongst friends and relatives.The lamps signify the light of knowledge, and in Bengal, Diwali also co-incides with the worship of the Goddess Kali, remover of all darkness in the form of ignorance, evil and inertia.

Most Hindu festivals require conforming to a rigorous ritualistic mode of worship (and this is where most people get hung up--- was the timing of the Puja right? do we have the single long-stalked white lotus? Or the exact number of whole fruits as dictated by the scriptures? Were the hymns sung in the right order and by a person of the high Brahmin caste? etc etc)

Yet true worship is something else...

It comes from a fullness of heart, from gratitude for all the blessings received, from a silence within that does not feel the need for words to be 'spoken' to the Divine.

In most parts of India, the Goddess Lakshmi (the Goddess of wealth and prosperity) is worshipped during Diwali, especially by businessmen. But can businessmen be spiritual and vice-versa? Read this insightful article by Bawa...not only do they complement each other perfectly, they are married to each other for life!

Urvi made some 'diyas' from paper-plates. Take a white paper plate, cut it in half, decorate with paint and glitter-glue, stick a 'fire' , and your paper-diyas are ready.

p.s: We also have real diyas, this time :)

Moong sprouts dosa

Dosas are like French crepes, and very popular in India. They are made from rice and lentils, soaked overnight, blended in a mixie, and then left to ferment. Its time consuming...but this particular recipe from my neighbour Nitu is easy to make, and is as tasty as it is nutritous.

Soak overnight one bowl each of whole moong (also called green gram or green soy) and rice.

The moong will have sprouted by next day, and this is what it'll look like.

2. Blend the rice and the sprouted moong, adding a little salt. If you want to make it hot and spicy, then add to this green chillies and sambhar masala.The mixture will be thick and slightly coarse.

3. Heat a little oil on a shallow pan, and pour some batter. Spread it out evenly with a spatula. Cook till evenly brown on both sides. Enjoy the dosa with Onion-coconut chutney.

Onion-Coconut chutney

1.Mix in a blender half an onion with 1 cup of grated coconut, salt, green chillie and corriander leaves(optional).

2.Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a pan, add mustard seeds and curry leaves. Once the seeds start to splutter, pour oil over the chutney.

Sprouts are considered the meat equivalent for vegetarians. They are an excellant source of fibre, vitamins and minerals. For more information see this site.

Happy Birthday, Bapi!

K turned 39 last Saturday, and by his own admission is fast approaching mid-life...highs!!

After a decade of drudgery he was finally able to kiss corporate life good-bye! His work now involves reading and thinking, both of which he was doing since birth anyway, only now he is actually getting paid for it. Two of his papers recently got accepted in top academic journals, giving us even more reason to celebrate. He is completely at ease with his rapidly increasing girth, and has no qualms whatsoever about gulping down laddoos and skipping gym the following day. If this is not bliss...what is?

We baked a chocolate cake, and Urvi decorated it with MnMs. We had every noble intention of feeding him whole-wheat carrot cakes baked with cane sugar and fat-free oatmeal cookies...but what the hell?! It's not everyday that one turns 39. Urvi also drew him a lovely card, but K took it to his office before I got a chance to scan it.

When asked how he would like to celebrate his day, he replied,"What's there to celebrate? It's just another day...I celebrate LIFE." I suppose such profound wisdom comes with (old) age...

Nevertheless, we cooked his favorite dishes and went out for a movie (Shorts). I suggested 'Dil Boley Hadippa', which got completely shot down by father and daughter. Urvi protested she wouldn't understand the Hindi dialogues, and apparently she has now reached an age where she can no longer be impressed with music, dancing and colorful costumes, and K said he was not in the mood for another 'Singh is King'.

Shorts is the story of a small suburb in the US, inhabited by families with weird mannerisms. One fine day, a wishing stone lands in their midst and all hell break loose with everyone wishing their wildest fantasies into reality. The storyline was trite, but could have been made interesting with more creative writing. For e.g., in one scene, three boys are chased by snakes and crocodiles. They wish the snakes away, but try to run away from the crocodiles! The villain wishes that he be the'most powerful thing on earth', and is converted to a huge robot capable of anything, so his daughter wishes herself into a wasp(!) to counter her father...could she not have simply wished that her father come back to his senses? Never-the-less, the movie did have some funny scenes. Oh well! As long as my kids (yes, I have two) are happy, that's all that really matters...