My son

To say I love my son very much would be an understatement. I don’t have words to explain how much I love my baby boy.

You, my baby,

are my sunshine..

the one who makes me smile so bright..

When you look up at me and raise your slender hands

needing to be within my warm embrace,

When you pull me by my hand

to where you desire to go,

When you hug me around my neck,

and cuddle up to me in bed,

my heart fills up with an elation that knows no bounds.

Your giggles upon being tickled,

Your high-fives and flying kisses

are all so adorable.

You complete our small family..and make us feel blessed.

Sometimes I may feel the need for me-time.

Other times I’m too tired to run around the table with you.

But at all times, I love you with a ferocity that runs real deep.

My heart beats for you.. my child,

And I am always going to love you, my little baby boy..

This curry came out so fabulously that we felt as though we were dining at Nandhini in B’lore!!! We thought we could share the recipe  so that you can taste this excellent dish. Though it is spicy, you’ll still find it finger-licking good!

Kodi Kura – Andhra chicken curry

The recipe goes like this:

To marinate the chicken:

Chicken – 1 pound

Curd – 2 tbsp

Chilli powder – 2tsp

Salt  - 1/2 tsp

A pinch of turmeric powder

To prepare the gravy:

Onion – 2 large

Tomato – 1

Ginger garlic paste – 1 tsp

Coriander powder – 1 tbsp

Cumin powder – 1 tsp

Pepper – 1 tbsp

Oil – 3 tbsp

Fennel seeds – 1 tsp

Cashews – 6 or 7 soaked in 3 tbsp warm milk

Cinnamon – 1 inch

Cloves – 3

10 curry leaves

Salt to taste

Cilantro (Coriander leaves) for garnishing

Few curry leaves

Method:

1. Wash chicken well and rub with turmeric powder. Wash again (This removes the raw odour of the chicken.) Marinate chicken, with the marinade for half an hour.
2. Soak the broken cashews in warm milk for about half an hour and grind it to a fine paste.
3. Dry roast the cinnamon, cloves and curry leaves separately,without burning or blackening it (If so, the curry may taste slightly bitter). Once they are cooled, grind into a fine powder in the mixer grinder.
4. Take a pan, add oil, splutter with fennel seeds and few curry leaves. Add the sliced onions and saute till it becomes pink.
5. Add the chopped tomato and sprinkle some salt. When the tomatoes are mixed well, add the ginger garlic paste and saute till it looses its raw smell.
6. Add the marinated chicken, and saute till it is cooked 80%.
7. Once the chicken is cooked a bit more than halfway, add coriander powder, cumin powder, pepper powder and mix it in. Add enough water to the curry and bring it to boil.
8. Now add the ground masala powder (Cinnamon,clove & curry leaves). Close the pan with a lid and allow to cook.
9. Once the curry is cooked completely, add the cashew – milk paste.
10. Turn the stove to low and cover the curry with the lid. Cook for 10 minutes more or until the chicken is tender.
11. Garnish with cilantro and serve with roti, naan, parotta or rice.

Kodi Kura – Spicy Andhra chicken curry

This is a very spicy preparation. So those with a fragile tummy, beware!!

It was the first time I was taking my baby boy to a kids play area so that he could mingle with other babies his age. I remember the unexplainable catch in my heart when I let go of his tiny little fingers and he ran excitedly into the crowd of kids – of all ages!! There were kids who were almost 4 feet tall!! And my son was just a little over 2 feet and such a cute darling at 1.5 years! There were older kids who simply pushed him out of their way and when my lil one fell down I was right beside him, furious as hell that someone else would do this and I was helpless!!! I stared dagger eyes at some kid who was surprised that someone dare cross him!! But my baby just got up with a smile on his face and ran to play again.. My heart just melted and I knew at that moment that my baby boy, who had my heart in his hands would have to mingle with other kids and would encounter heartbreaks and disappointments someday..and that letting him ‘socialize’ would be one of the hardest things I would ever have to do!!

I knew then that I would do Anything to keep my baby happy..to give him the best and let nothing or none else come in my way! I believe that ALL children MUST be taught manners at home.

I remembered this poem on my way back home. I remembered reading this letter in English class at school. I had thought all this while that Abraham Lincoln was the epistle of this masterpiece. However, it is considered, by most if not all experts, to be something not actually written by Honest Abe himself. Surprisingly, it is impossible to even trace this letter back to Lincoln as, to quote one particular expert on the man “These phrases are not 19th century phrasing and definitely not Lincoln’s language patterns.”

“Teacher, take my son by the hand. He starts school today. It’s all going to be strange and new to him for a while, and I wish you would sort of treat him gently. You see, up to now, he’s been king of the roost. He’s been the boss of the backyard. I have always been around to repair his wounds and I’ve always been handy to sooth his feelings. But now things are going to be different. This morning he’s going to walk down the front steps, wave his hand, and start on a great adventure that probably will include wars and tragedy and sorrow.

Take him by the hand…

After careful deliberation, I came to the conclusion that as it would be his first building block set, we should buy BIG blocks – easy to hold,  cannot be swallowed and cannot be lost. Hence my choice of  MEGABLOKS – First Builders. We bought this 80 piece set from Amazon.

MegaBloks First Builders

I was so excited waiting for the package to arrive, fondly remembering the building blocks of my childhood, the small bucket it came in and all those towers I built with my sister.. Little one was inquisitive when it first arrived. He checked the bag all around and when I ‘poured’ out all the blocks, he ‘investigated’ them and then put them all one by one back into the bag – repeating the emptying and refilling of the bag!! It was so surprisingly cute, I even got a video of it on my phone!!

Megabloks

But within the first couple of days, I realized that these blocks were an utter waste! I mean.. it Really did not live up to the glowing reviews that some of the Amazon users have given this product. Firstly, these blocks just would not stay  - they fell apart at the slightest adjustment/ touch!! And now, this as all of you know can be very hampering to the process of ‘building’!!! So, we returned this product (By the way, the Amazon customer service is just fab! )

However, before returning the Megabloks, we went to the Lego store nearby wanting to check out if it was really worth spending so much money to buy a LEGO set as a first blocks set… Frankly, I was not very impressed. The blocks were small – compared to the Megabloks. Plus, there wasn’t much options in the LEGO store and it was SO filled with kids aged I think between 5 and 10!!! We got out of there as fast as we could.

But, LEGOs are LEGOs… and we thought we would give it a try. I know some of you may think it is too expensive and others might Yahoo our choice, but we placed an order on the Lego website via eBates and awaited the arrival of our brand new Lego set!! All the while, little one was playing with his Megabloks (I build, he breaks it down ) and other toys in complete oblivion to my research and wait…

But when it came and I opened it for our baby…

LEGO Deluxe Duplo Set 5507 for 1.5 to 5 year olds

Ooh boy!!! Was he excited, or what?!! I’m sure any thought of Megabloks must have flown from his mind because there he was, huddling around with the new LEGO blocks..with all its fascinating shapes and extra colors and two human figurines!! It was WONDERFUL!!! I LOVEd the box the LEGO blocks came in (though once all the packaging was removed, the 102 pieces barely filled up half the box!!!)

LEGO Deluxe Duplo Set 5507 for 1.5 to 5 year olds – The baseplate

LEGO Deluxe Duplo Set 5507 for 1.5 to 5 year olds – The unopened building block packs

LEGO Deluxe Duplo Set 5507 for 1.5 to 5 year olds – The unopened building block packs all laid out on the table

The Duplo set is made for little kids. This deluxe brick box is for ages 1.5 to 5 years old – the blocks are not too small for little hands and neither are they too big for a 5 year old. It’s the perfect size and there are so many different shapes..and colors.. Ooh! The colors.. even transparent colors (Megabloks only had yellow, blue, green and red. But LEGO has yellow, red, orange, white, black, 3 types of blue, and 2 types of green!!!) There are windows and flowers and picket fences too!!! The boy figurine is however, much more friendly looking than the girl figurine who looks like she has an ‘agenda’!

Seeing me bent over the LEGO building manual ‘constructing’ their various ideas, my husband thought out loud that maybe I bought the building blocks for myself

My creation using the LEGO manual

Oh!! But all three of us LOVE this set!! Little one was holding the boy figurine in his hands all the time while breaking down what his dad built

My husband’s creation for our lil boy

I sure would recommend this set to anyone who is interested in buying a toy set for a pretty long period of time.. I mean 50 USD for something you can use till you are five and even afterwards as an addition to more blocks (if interested) is a good deal. However, if Shoprunner was activated on the Lego site, I would have been much happier!!! Just the S&H and tax made the total upto around 63 USD!!! Man!! That was a bummer!! But otherwise, its a good set.

Even though the building blocks of my childhood were not of any particular brand, they were the normal shapes, colorful, sturdy and I loved them. But, I’ve never owned an original LEGO set before… so in a way, this is MY first LEGO set too

Which is your favorite LEGO set??

Sambica Christmas carnival

Heard of the Sambica Christmas Carnival in Bellevue, Washington? We hadn’t but we are glad we did! It was one of the things we planned to check out during the month of December (as part of our “2012 Christmas list“).

Entrance to Sambica christmas carnival

Sambica christmas carnival is held at the Sambica (Sammamish Bible Camp Association) conference center at 4114 W Lake Sammamish Pkwy SE, Bellevue from December 7 to December 21, 2012. The event sounded promising with free snacks, fun games and a free pic with Santa. We decided this would be a good opportunity to take our son to see Santa for the first time!

Sambica christmas carnival pamphlet

We reached there by around 3.30pm. It’s not a very big place but the organizers seemed to have put in a lot of hard work to decorate and squeeze in a multitude of games and stalls. On entry, we were greeted pleasantly and were asked how we heard about the event to which we responded “Bellevue.com“!. We then headed to a large concave mirror, which caught our son’ attention. There was a small stall where volunteers were making balloon animals for the kids. We requested and got a poodle made for our son.

Sambica christmas carnival – First attraction – Concave mirror

Unfortunately, our son was a little small to play most, if not all, of the games there so we were just watching other kids play and letting our son walk around and explore on his own. There was an inflatable family jousting area, a bounce house and about 5-6 other small games which would win you candy!!

Sambica christmas carnival – games

After some time, we caught sight of Santa and Mrs. Claus taking time out to mingle with the kids and that’s when we remembered that we needed to get a pic taken with Santa.

Sambica christmas carnival – Santa

Sambica christmas carnival – Santa with Mrs.Claus

We got into a small adjoining room where we waited patiently in line to get the pic taken. When our turn came, we were pleasantly surprised at how our son sat with Santa without making any fuss (in fact he seemed happy!) and posed for the pic.

Sambica christmas carnival – A beautiful snowy creation

We then got a few refreshments while waiting for the pic (a hot chocolate, eggnog latte, popcorn and cookies!). By then our son’ poodle balloon had popped and he was getting restless. One of the boys made a really cute giraffe balloon for him which brought a smile to his face We were amazed at how talented, patient and friendly the volunteers were.

Sambica christmas carnival – Complimentary snacks & drinks

Sambica christmas carnival – Complimentary snacks & drinks

When we finally got the pic, we found that it came out really well! It was the best part of this trip! They gave us a printed copy of the pic and promised to send us a soft copy too.

We had a nice time and really appreciate the efforts of the folks at Sambica. If you have kids, we’re sure they’ll have a great time there.

Wish you a Merry Christmas and a happy New Year! :)

PS: How was your experience? We would love to hear from you. Do let us know!

Osiris und Isis by Anselm Kiefer @ SF-MOMA

Anselm Kiefer is a German Neo-Expressionist artist. Both a painter and a sculptor, his works incorporate materials such as ash, clay,straw, lead and shellac. He was born in the final months of the second world war in the age that Lauterwein describes as growing up “in a climate of simultaneous amnesia and guilt with no personal experience or memory of the Nazi regime”. Calling Kiefer a landscape painter would be a stretch and yet his powerful works are based in and of the land. Kiefer continually focused on German culture,history and mythology as his source of artistic inspiration. Nazi memory is ever present in his works.

In the epic Egyptian myth, Osiris’s brother Set kills him out of jealousy and scatters his body parts around the kingdom. Isis, both the sister and wife of Osiris, finds her husband’s remains and ultimately resurrects him. By both the title and method of the painting, Kiefer clearly refers to the trauma and destruction of Germany and the hope for reunification and purification.

Now, this painting by Kiefer is an oil and acrylic emulsion with additional three dimensional media. According to the SFO museum, “The parable’s theme of destruction and renewal speaks directly to Kiefer’s interest in reassembling and reclaiming elements of Germany’s history and identity at a time when so many of his compatriots seemed intent on forgetting. The painter illustrates humanity’s quest for heaven through an immense, stepped temple that dominates the scene. A television circuit board connects copper wires and shards of a porcelain plumbing fixture, which, scattered across the vast canvas, allude to Osiris’s strewn body parts. By conflating contemporary elements with a mythological story, Kiefer connects the modern and ancient worlds, forging a new, universal image of reunification and synthesis (with scars still intact).

[Source: http://www.sfmoma.org/explore/collection/artwork/171#ixzz2CHQqw9dE San Francisco Museum of Modern Art"]

Descript for Osiris und Isis by Anselm Kiefer

All those 9 am to 3 pm school days sitting in the front seat of the class attentively, so as to not miss any of those precious words my teachers say. Taking down notes, underlining and color coding important sections, weekends rushing between the best tuition teachers and entrance coaching classes, shelves crammed with the thickest guide books and latest sample questionnaires, the daily glasses of Bournvita I drank, to help me grow smarter and reach an IQ where Einstein would hang his head down in shame! Studying under candle light not because of the lack of electricity but just because the newspapers wrote about a poor boy who did and scored 93% – And I thought that would motivate me! Days ruined because I lost that one mark which prevented me from being CLASS FIRST (Oh! The utter shame and disgrace!). And finally, the medals and hard earned certificates which at last got me the report card that said “PASSED WITH DISTINCTION”!

YIPPEEEE HERE I AM WORLD, I AM READY FOR YOU!! BRING IT ON!!

And bring it on it does like a huge splash of puddle water on my beautiful innocent face. Something you were not prepared for or taught about all your blooming years, “REALITY.”!!

The reality, that from now on, you are on your own. From now on life is your teacher. No classrooms, no walls, no report cards or pats on your back. No medals! You want it, you go get it. Nothing comes in a silver platter anymore and you know what’s worse? There are another 10 million like you running their own race, wanting the same things that you want.

How I struggled with differentiations and integrations and those frequent nights when the neighbors wake up hearing the repeating algebraic formulas a+b2=2ab=2cd*4bd (or something of the sort) like a mantra. Futile.

Bernoulli’s theorem, Boyle’s law, Ohms law and Charles law are just names of my ex-boyfriends now.

All I can really remember from lessons learned on World War 1, The Battle of Waterloo, the battles of Panipat, The Boston Tea Party, Huna invasions, Battle of Plassey, treaties signed and resigned, the French, the British – allies…enemies…… – is that Columbus got it wrong, sailed across an entire ocean and thought he reached INDIA. (POOR MATH BROTHER …!)

English poems read and recited passionately did not help my stammering when I wanted to declare my love to all those handsome hunks who other girls snagged away right in front of me year after year..

Learning how an amoeba reproduced surely did not come to my aid when it was my turn. Even when we excitedly reached animal reproduction all we were taught was that a whole bunch of sperms would go in and the egg would select only one lucky sperm and BOOM! After nine months, lo and behold – A baby. I remember my biology teacher answering an inquisitive boy’s question of, “but how does it actually happen as ‘It just happens.’!!!

So then again the whole process had to be learned from Google and other unmentionable sites and some amazing friends who were willing to clarify my doubts. (I take this opportunity to thank them on behalf of my future children)

What’s left of 3 years of French is ‘Bon jour’ and ‘Parle vous France?’ after which anything further asked would be met with a constipated face.. Or now, was it ‘Parlez-vous français’?!

Learning bharathnatyam did not help me when I had to go for parties and visit clubs. Synchronized dancing also did not come to my aid when I had my drunken friends doing moves where judges would have banged their heads on the table.

Economics, social studies and knowledge about democracy and finance management has not helped my feelings when I see my account balance or reading the newspaper about various political parties, elections, corruption, uneducated leaders strikes and bandhs. After 50 years of freedom the ‘rural’ and the ‘urban’ still remains the rural and the urban and the poverty line has decided to stay put.

Twelve years of education did NOT teach me that there are more types of people than just plain good and bad. Twelve years of school did not teach me how to handle a heart break, a cheating boyfriend, spoiled relationships and the death of a friend. The very famous saying, ‘First impressions are the best impressions’ has been disproved more than once now.

I was not taught how to hold on to my values and principles and morale despite the invariable pressures of life – Deadlines, unpaid bills, families to take care of, troublesome bosses, back-stabbing colleagues, people who will do anything and say anything to get what they want. Seen it all survived it all. Now, after a full circle, I realize that the only true people you can rely on are your family and friends.

Reality check! What I did not learn in twelve years, reality taught me in two. REALITY BITES!

So is schooling preparing you for the reality??

I leave it to you to decide.