Small little travelling buddies

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Now that the kids have their vacations, we went on a short two-day trip to Matheran. My mother, my daughter Sia, my 7-year-old nephew Kris, me and the maid took off for the nearby hill station about 2 hours away from Mumbai. Throughout the journey I was apprehensive about how I would manage with two kids and a mother with weak knees as Matheran does not allow cars beyond a certain point and the only mode of communication is either hand rickshaws or horses. But the kids laid to rest all my fears. While I cribbed about the clumsy hand rickshaws, the kids were super excited as the men pulled it along. For Sia it was the most awesome ride she had ever had. She screamed and shouted in excitement and the whole experience left her super thrilled. I was amazed at her sheer delight. Ditto at....

Expanding my 4 am friends list

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Over the past 3 years or let's say after the birth of my daughter Sia, I have made quite a set of new friends. That's quite surprising since I am very choosy about who I call real friends and I have left college more than a decade back, probably the last place most of us make friends in. So I surprised myself the other day when I went through my phonebook and thought of the ones who would qualify for that late 4 am call when the world is crashing around you and you want someone to speak to. It was quite a number and yes the new set I have added to my speed dial list comprises of all mothers. There is a strange bond which unifies mothers. I mean one moment you are strangers and then two lines about your babies or pregnancy or motherhood....

Blowing hot, blowing cold

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It's vacation time and my daughter's looking out for kids to play with and in the process throwing up a lot of extreme revelations. One day she will be repelled by a child, the next day he or she will be her best friend. Sometimes she will shriek and scream on seeing a kid, at other times she will be hugging and kissing her. It's amazing how children go through varied states of affection in a matter of a day. As a mother, I am extremely concerned about the fact that my daughter doesn't have too many kids in the building to play with. The ones who live here are not her age and even if they play with her they are too aggressive in their games as their age demands and rightfully so. School days are easier with fixed routines and the playtime at school with kids....

When protectors become hunters

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I am afraid this week though I have far pleasant topics to speak of I am still writing about this one. It's because as much as I try to push away these thoughts, I can't help but think about the same and it enrages, angers and saddens me at my own helplessness or inability to do anything about it. Falak and Afreen are two young flames doused out even before they could grow and light up this world. And doused out by the very ones who were entrusted the job of keeping these flames burning and alive. As a young child, my mother often told me that since God couldn't be everywhere or with all the kids he made parents. Each child was given parents who were God's representatives themselves and had the duty and responsibility to care for, nurture and protect the child. So what happened to....

Three generations and a birthday

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My mother celebrated her 62nd birthday last week and co-incidentally was staying at my house then. My mother, Sia, my 5 year old nephew and I went out for dinner to celebrate. As the kids rambled amongst themselves and played with the food, my nephew whispered to me to call the restaurant guys and tell them to sing a happy birthday song for grandma. He did it as secretly as he could and even tried his best to curtail his excitement of not letting grandma know what we had planned. Imagine his delight when the restaurant owners did his bidding. He had a proud look and a smile which never left his face as he subtly signaled to grandma that he had arranged this while she tucked into her Chinese food. I found myself looking at the three generations with a lot of nostalgia. It was many years before....

Finding her own limelight

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Two days back my little star went on stage for the first time. She was completely unaware of what lay in store or the excitement I had been feeling for the past one month. Everyday for the past few weeks she would come from school and show me the steps she had learned and I would marvel in delight. How cute she looked performing those dainty steps! The day the teacher sent her costumes home I couldn't wait to see her in them. I tried to have little expectations of the D-day but couldn't stop myself from thinking what if she didn't perform, what if she cried while on stage, what if she tripped and fell. I imagined a thousand other situations which I knew would never play out but nevertheless they kept me awake for most nights. So imagine my plight when the day of reckoning arrived. I....

Nah Nah Nanny!

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So Aishwarya Rai has refused to keep a nanny for her baby! That's quite something, I must say. For when you cannot hire a nanny due to monetary reasons, the decision comes easy. But when you have all the money in the world to hire ten nannies, it sure must be a difficult choice. Hiring a nanny is a very recent phenomenon in India. Sure we have had dais and masseuses and other such staff since olden days to help new moms to cope but hiring a nanny who specifically will look after the baby and attend to all his needs is a recent phenomenon. With the growing force of working women, hiring a nanny has become more of a necessity than a luxury few could afford some years earlier. Earlier the baby would happily pass from one member to another in a joint family and....

A mouthful of dietary woes

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If you are the mother of a young child, the above topic must be your favourite after baby sleep and diapers. What your baby eats and what you want him to eat can be as a big a difference between the north and the south. When I was pregnant, my hubby and I spent hours discussing how we would always eat healthy so that our baby would imbibe healthy eating right from day one. No chips, no colas, no burgers, no processed foods etc etc. I am sure someone must be laughing every time we discussed this and calling us fools for thinking it would turn out exactly like this. In the first year it was easy. Sia would eat everything healthy. Pureed carrots, avocado, pureed banana, soups, mashed potatoes, khichdi, whatever I gave her she was grateful for it and ate it happily. She did not know....

The tribe called 'parents'

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It is the baby boom season. Many babies are being made, many are born and so happen many visits to the new parents or parents to be. I love visiting pregnant and new mothers. The pregnant ones are excited, apprehensive, looking forward to holding their babies in their arms soon while the new mothers are full of pride for creating such a beautiful piece, one that no sculptor or painter other than God or a mother can create. New mothers particularly top my priority list. I know how daunting a task it is to be handling a baby that is few days old. Add to it the self confinement it brings within the four walls of your house. Nothing brings a smile to a new mother's face than the phone call which says you are visiting her. It works on two counts. She can show off her baby to....

Mamma 'Me' time

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My yoga teacher said to me the other day that mothers were weird. They don't like their kids' school vacations and can't wait for their children's schools to re-open. I smiled as I knew the feeling. I have often struggled to finish my work on weekends when my daughter is at home while on weekdays, I manage pretty well with the four hours she is at school. Toddlers are pretty high maintenance. When they are at home, they want to be played with, fed, bathed and put to sleep, all by their mothers. Then there are the stories to be read, dancing sessions to be fulfilled and mall visits too. Probably that's their way of making up for the time when they are at school away from their mothers. I cherish the four hours Sia is in school. It not only helps me work on my....