Ban on the Ramayana

Yes, we banned Ramayana in our house after we received a concern from Chotu's school.
The concern was, he is not concentrating on the work and is always lost in his own world. While I am discussing this issue with Chotu's teacher, Chotu runs to me and asks:

chotu: Mom! Can I fly like Hanuman?

*Tada* it struck me now, why he cannot think anything else other than Ramayana characters.
He has taken it too seriously, and trying to relive it everyday. We thought it was cute to hear him say Sanskrit slokas and few telugu words in his sweet accent. Now it bothers me. I need to erase/dilute his Ramayana episodes from his neurons. His teacher said, "3 year old's brain is like a sponge it will take whatever you pour into it". I need to squeeze out Ramayana and pour some real life / practical stuff into it. I wish there was one straight manual to raise kids.

Is Christmas Really here?

The snow is here, school delays are here, Christmas lights in the yards are out with deer, elves, Santa and many more figurines. The City hall parking lot trees are lit, shops are filled with Christmas decorations and seasonal gift items in colors, salvation army bells are here. Starbucks Christmas special (mint coffee ) is here, snow balls fights at the school bus stop are here. Kids Christmas projects are home, bright red Poinsettias are here. Candy canes are here, trinkets in different forms and shapes are here. Have a wonderful holiday season.

Phasing

Blog writing must be a phase to me or just don't have enough to write or just don't have time to write.
Updates:
Vin is busy catching up with his older class mates mostly on the terminology. Yes, "S" words are included. Parenting is the toughest job.
Chotu is growing to be boundaries less, fear less and mostly being a brat of the house. DH complains that Chotu's only qualification is "he is just cute" and chotu is taking advantage of that.
Vin and I are taking a long vacation trip to India starting next week( how wonderful is that?). Chotu and DH will join us in few weeks. I need to slog like a slave before I get my freedom to fly :).

Che Che Kule

Myself and Vin drove to Olympia to my sisters place for the Veterans day long weekend and had tons of fun. On our way back we stopped at a famous Photographer's (and writer) place to meet with her family. I got to see the original prints :) - some of you might have seen them on her blog. The cute girl described and portrayed in her blog is even cute in real life. She and Vin got to bake cookies which were awesome. We had to leave (all good things need to come to an end) and while driving back home , I asked Vin:
Did you know they were speaking Afrikan language?
Vin: No! I thought they were speaking Indian.
Vin: Ok, I learned this cool song from Africa, do you want to learn Mom?
Mom: Yes! (do I have a choice)
Vin: Ok, repeat each line after me.
Che che kule
Che che kule

Che che kofitsa
Che che kofitsa

Kofitsa Langa
Kofitsa Langa

Elachi Langa
Elachi Langa

Hu Amande , Hu Amande, Hu Amande Heyy!
Hu Amande , Hu Amande, Hu Amande Heyy!

Mom: Cool Kanna , where did you learn this?
Vin: Music Class, I will teach you the dance once we go home..
Che che kule... off we drove back home after a wonderful weekend.

Bings

I gave Vin his own blog wings which means I don't get credit for his art and writings anymore :(

Vin's Art

Bed Time Humor

After the "Shy little Kitten" , "Good Morning Mickey Mouse" and "Little Ducky" books Chotu has to hear the Ramayana (which we all know by now)before he goes to bed.

Mom: What does Soorpanaka ask Rama?
Chotu: Will you please marry me?

Mom: Yeah.
Chotu: Mom!

Mom: Yes kanna.
Chotu:Will you marry me?

Mom: With a smile on her face - No Kanna, I already married Nanna (dad).
Chotu: Disappointed! Mom! Will you marry me?

Mom: Chotu, I cannot marry you.
Chotu: Mom! Please Marry me.

Mom: Chotu, you are so small and I am tooo old for you..
Chotu: Pulls his two hands straight out of the blanket and stretches out and says Look mom I am big.

Mom: Could not stop laughing:)) and said Yes kanna.

(We don't take 'No' for an answer in our family)

Net Savings

My Savings account (not much) + my blogs worth :). Thanks to Vivek for sharing with this tool.

My blog is worth $3,387.24.
How much is your blog worth?

Growing Pains - Vin's short writing - unedited

Dear everyone I know that you like to run away from other kids when you are scared. But let me tell you how to use your brain in the olden days. then we will learn how to use the part of the brain in these days. Ok is that ok with you? good beacuse we have a lot work to do. the organ inside your head controls your body and allows you to think and have feelings, just if i could play a trumpet, and a tuba and a french horn and a trombone and a cornet, even toching a flower that would be great, even toching a chinese dragon bowl would be great to . your brain makes you do stuf like actifities and lots of other stuff, like playing baseball, soccer, basketball, te-ball and that's how you use your brain in these day's actually I forgot to do how they use your brain in the olden days, but it's ok ok. now lets review what happens here in our days.

Less Intelli-Gent

In one of the festive gathering recently, one of my good friend out of the bloom said "I am glad this is all ladies get together, we don't have to speak intelligently". I was taken back for a moment and thought of contradicting her, but smiled it away. What's this notion about when men get together - they converse intelligently. This is not the first time I am hearing this, I have heard flavors of it from a range of age groups.

Are stock market, work politics, football, political opinions signs of intelligence? as opposed to kids school issues, in-law troubles, low carb high protein recipes. My grand mother knows all this intelligent shi*, because she reads the news paper from top left hand corner of the first page to the right hand bottom corner of the last page. I think all this hype is trained into your blood/genes from generations - if you are guy you cannot talk or think about family issues, recipes, kids hws, shopping list etc.,

I bet y'all can tell I am in a feministic mood today :))

Roop.. Pratiroop..

Caller1: Hello Mrs Saripalli
Moi: Can I take a message?
C1: No Thank you. Will call later.


C2: Hi Ritna
Moi: No, she is not home, can I take a message?
C2: Are you allowed to take household decisions?
Moi: No. I am the baby sitter (wat, I am baby feader, cleaner, everything)
C2: Ok, Thank you


C3:Hello Mrs S.. We are from .... and We are doing so.... this is a survey...
Moi: Sorry, no englisss
C3: Oh thank you


C4: Hi Ratka
Moi: Sorry, she is not home can I take...
C4: Hangs up on me

C5: Hi Ratna (If some one pronounce correctly)
Moi: Yes, this is she.
C5: This is a survey etc....blah....
Moi: (shoot, it is a telemarketer, huh why did I say yes, this is me) How long will this take?
C5: 10 minutes
Moi: Sorry, this is a very bad time.
C5: Hangs up cussing probably.


C6: Mrs Saripalli
Moi: Can I take a message?
C6: Yes. This is Mrs. T , Vin's teacher......
Moi: Oh, Mrs T. Sorry, I thought it was a telemarketing call.
C6: Oh is it you?.....


I worked for about a week in a friends telemarketing firm in Austin while searching for a real job. I could not take it very long. People hanging up on my face or verbally abusive tone of voices etc. It was a very depressing job. From then on I never hang up on telemarketers or be rude to them- Just politely avoid the call. Sometimes it is very inconvenient to take such calls during weekends while we are busy with kids.

Gandhi At Gandhi Jayanti

We had a pleasure of hearing American Gandhi last weekend at Gandhi Jayanti celebrations. Mr Meyer dressed up like Gandhi came down to Tri-cites for this ocassion. He was the show stealer of the evening. He started of his interactive speech with quite a response from the audience (all the kids from the front row).

Gandhi (Mr Meyer): When I was your age .....

Kid A: I am four years old now, and this is my friend he is four too..

Gandhi: Oh I see, yeah I was about your age..My mom took a vow not to eat until she saw the sunrise ...Cont..

Gandhi: I made vows not to drink alcohol ..(interrupted by a kid)

Kid B: what is Alcohol?

Gandhi: It is like beer..You should talk to your parents after you go home..(gigles) (Continuing) ... I made a vow to be faithful to my wife and also to be a vegetarian

Aish (Vin's friend): Were you faithful to your wife? (is the question misunderstood by the audience and Gandhi)

Gandhi: Yes. I was faithful to my wife and continued...

Later when he said, today is my birthday, kids spontaneously sang Happy Birthday to you....

Aish's mom clarified later in the evening at Round table Pizza, she asked were you faithful in not eating meat? But audience (the whole crowd enjoyed the misread lines) misinterpreted.

The joke of the evening was, one person (non-Indian) thought Mr. Gandhi came from India for celebrations.

Mental Protein

An unknown anxious uneasy feeling has been haunting me since weeks. The more ambitious one becomes, the queasy feeling proportionately increases. Does anyone know how to put an end to wanting more? It is not like I am forced to do many things, on the contrary I enjoy doing more things. It is like the cascade effect of Glucose production in your body, the more carbs you eat the more you want to eat. So you eat protein to prolong your eating frequency. Is there any mental protein, that is available to stop your ambitious hunger? Must be time for caffeine, just blabbing away nonsense or the "FlightPlan" seen in the evening.

Naive naivety

While driving to gym..

Vin:Mom can you tell about naive? We talked about it today at school.

Vin: What does naive mean?

Mom: ummm some one who is just learning things and don't know about many things..

Vin: uhh oh.

Mom: After we go home we can check the meaning in the dictionary.

Vin: We all are naive.

Mom: I used to be naive but not any more.

Vin: Do you know how god makes kids?

Mom: yeah ( with confidence)

Vin: Do you know how sun was formed?

Mom: ummm ya.. (not that confident look any more)

Vin: aha see, you don't know some things

Mom: True- I don't know many things yet, but I know many things now than before.

Vin: We all are naive mom.

Short Story Tag

Tagged by M for a short story under 55 words:

While watching the rain drops slide down the green grass, a cute kitten under the lilacs got my attention. Prasu is immersed in his book. Prasu..Prasu ..Um..come look at the cute kitten..um. Pch! dragged him to the window, to our dismay, the kitten disappeared with the rain.

I am tagging:
Vivek, Rahul, Ideasmith, Soujanaya and Sarath

Sivani beats me ;)

Look at her map boohuhu..




Thanks to this

Bad data day

After scripting /scribbling in perl finally slept at 5:00 AM. Woke up with Chotu's :
Power rangers SPD dyno-thunder bishoom bishoom - a thud on my head at 8:30AM. Chootuuu, mommy is sleeping, pls don't disturb - psh pshhh my laser is making you awake mommy.Huh- I can't beat it, not because I don't have power ranger suit or the laser, but he will not give up until I wake up. Chotu, what did you have for your breakfast - - dooosaaa. DH (Nanna) already fed the boys and himself. Sunday, my turn to cook, yeah weird to many folks, we have cooking turns in our house like in graduate school days. Finished up with some work while kids are immersed in 'sponge bob sq pants. Now and then Chotu comes to me and says 'Helo Patrick' and I give a blank look. Chotu says "say Helo Sponge Bob". We (Chotu) have out grown, Barney, bob the builder, toy story and now into "Sponge bob..." I can't stand him (the sq pants). DH invited Ash - Vin's friend over for a play date. Three of them started playing in the yard and I sneaked into my closet with a pillow and got an hours worth of uninterrupted nap. Hour is a lot for those of you who gets more than six hours - you are lucky. Finally Chotu found me, that is his hide out and revealed it to the gang and I had to join the party.

2nd grade Name Math

This was Vin's home work (mostly I worked) for Wednesday. Alphabets are assigned 1-26 numbers beginning with A and ending with Z for e.g., A= 1, B = 2 ......Z = 26. Now add your name with these numbers assigned to your name. Phew piece of cake ey! Ok, how long does it take you to figure out a name with exact 75 ? If interested post a name that adds up to 75 and also post how long it took you. I will post my answer and time later :)

No cheating : no using software, calculators or PDA's or any other gadgets.. just a pencil and a paper and a clock .

A Walk in the Clouds

Errr! Actually drive through the clouds through Mt Ranier was our last weekend's adventure. We planned for camping at Little Naches River with Vin's friend's family. We ended up going there early expecting them to be there. They did not show up. There is no sign of life within 5 miles radius, so decided to go to Tacoma (basically chickened out) via scenic route. It was amazing drive.

President's Call

My friend Krishna Mohan called from India today morning. After my call ended:
Vin: Mom! Did the President of India call you?
Moi: My eye brows raised and asked - Noooo Why?
Vin: I thought you said Mohan, so I thought Mr. Manmohan Singh called you.
Moi: (Can't stop ROFLing , but thought What would I talk to him, if he really called)
This reminds me of a similar incident with my DH (Dear Husband) in his college days.
He visited his friends house once (who happens to be of African American Origin). When the friend introduced her Grandfather. My DH said, you look like Mr. Martin Luther King. The witty Grandfather, took the compliment and said, thank you and you look like Mr. Gandi (Gandhi).

5 Minute Bedtime Ramayana

Chotu is watching Barney and refuses to go to bed.

Mom: Let me tell you about Viswamitra
Chotu: (Is on his feet) OK..

Mom: One day Viswamitra was doing a fire pooja in the jungle..
Chotu: um.
Mom: What is fire pooja called?
C: Yagnam
M: Good, then some monsters came and started bothering him..
C: um.. Who is it momy?
M: Maaricha and Subahu
C: and Tataki
M: Yaaaaa and then he went to Ayodhya
C: oh!
M: Who is the king of Ayodhya? (It needs to be interactive .. you know)
C: umm ... Dusharada!
M: Yeah! (With a lot of surprise) How did you know (and a lil encouragement)
C: I remember you dady, mama telling me
M: Ok, how many kids and wives does Dusharada have?
C: 4 and 3
M: What are their names (here's the cutest part- the way he pronounces)
C: Rama, Laksmana, Barrata and Shatunaya
M: Good job, you are awesome did you know that?
C: um. ya
M: Viswamitra asked Dushrada to send Rama to protect him and the pooja
C: um.,
M: Dusharada said, oh.. how can I send my poor babies to the forest?
C: oh.
M: What did Viswamitra say?
C: (anger in the voice) Send Rama right now... Or else
M: Then they go to the jungle and Rama gives time out to Tataki, Maaricha and Subhahu
C: What happened to them?
M: They learned a lesson from Rama
C: Oh!
M: Ok now sleep
C: Nooo Tell me about Soorpanaka
M: Yeah, Rama goes to Mythila and Marries Sita and they go to Jungle (he must be thinking- she is fast forwarding)
C: Lakshamana too
M: ya and then Soorpanaka comes and asks Rama to marry her
C: um.
M: What does he say?
C: Sorry! I cannot marry you.
M: Go ask LakshamanaM: And then Lakshmana says no go away
C: and he cuts her nose off
M: ya.. then she runs home
C: She cries - anna Ravana...
M: Ok now you need to sleep.

Bedtime Humor

After putting Chotu (my 3 year old) in bed, just ckecked to see if Vin (my 6 year old) is asleep.

Vin: Mom! is that you? I thought you were a Ghost.
Mom: Yes Kanna, its me, Mommy - worst than a Ghost!
Vin: Heheeee Goodnite Momy

Anonymity

Has it own price to pay, I am unable to write a single line without the names and incidents. It's like a huge writer's block, but a challenging one. Writing for writing sake is boring. Anyways, completed half of "Catcher in the Rye by J Salinger".
Memoir from the past (~15 years ago).
I stopped a city bus at 'Fourth Town Police Station'
I walked to a constable and said, "there is a guy sitting in a ladies seat who refused to vacate".
Poor guy disappeared and nobody dared to sit in that seat until I fought my way through the rush.
With the same arrogance, another day walked to couple of guys in a city bus and said, this is ladies seat, can you please move?
One of the guys, pointed to the lines above the seat that reads "Please do not sit in seats that are assigned to Ladies" and said, this is not a ladies seat, it is just an information.
I got down the bus and took the next one out of embarrassment.
Sometimes our arrogance overtakes our common sense.

Sky

A little hand let go off of me and joined the crowd of its own. GoodMorning! Come in - The Teacher led by his hand and took him around the class room. Everything is new and every one is new. Who is this? asked the little voice. This is Sky, pointing to a cute little blue bird in a cage in the center of the class room, the teacher paused. He is blue as a sky. While some are busy with counting beads, some are busy washing dishes, some are writing and few familiar small heads looked up and smiled a hello. The teacher introduced the new kid to some older kids and led him to a small desk and a chair. I walked away thinking he is in better hands.

Chickened out..


Too much personal info on the web, so removed all my previous posts

Young India

This is an informal interview with Vivek Kumar whose ratings have risen in the last few weeks with his famous UPSC interview post on his blog and the featured article in The Week by Jon Stock.

Q: How do you feel about this whole blog/The Week fame?
A: It feels good to see one's name in a magazine of good repute. Thehits on my blog have increased too. But apart from that, I know that Idid next to nothing to deserve this short-lived fame. So, it feelsgood, but I'm not over the moon, if that is what you mean.

Q: Could you please give a brief introduction to yourself? (Schooling,college, university, places you lived etc...)
A: I've lived in too many places to name them all. My father was inthe Rajasthan Police Service, so we moved wherever he was posted (allover Rajasthan). He died (on duty) in 1992 when I was 11. After that,my mother and I moved to Pilani and stayed there for 4 years (Classes9 to 12). Then, I went to do my B.Tech. in Chemical Engineering fromIIT Bombay, so Mumbai was my home for 4 years. After that, I've beenmoving around Jaipur and Delhi for a while. I went to Mussoorie for afew months in training. And now, I'm based in New Delhi.

Q: Why did you not follow the brain drain trend? Reasons
A: Reasons.. firstly, no love for lots of money. Secondly, not muchlove for Chemical Engineering. Thirdly, lots of love for India and itsfuture.

Q: Can you briefly describe you work for our readers? (If it issensitive, we can eliminate the details, but most of the people don'tknow what you exactly do)
A: The job of an IFS officer is to further India's foreign policy. Weare the people who implement the foreign policy. Our broad guidelineis to safeguard our national interests. As you can see from thedescription, our goals are often intangible and "success" in diplomacyis a very loose term. Broadly, the work can be divided in 3 parts -Political, Commercial and Cultural. Within this brief, we get a lot ofspace to do things the way we want.

Q: ~50% of the population in India is below 20's. What does this meanto India's future?
A: It means that India has (and will continue to have) a large workingpopulation. Combined with the fact that population in this age groupis decreasing in the developed world, it should be a good opportunityfor India in terms of growth.

Q: You are at a stage where many people dream of; what are your dreams?
A: I've come to a stage where I wanted to be. But obviously, this isnot all. This is more like a beginning. Right now, I'm just looking,listening and learning. There are too many dreams that I have and theyare all tangled right now. I haven't set myself any goals for the nearfuture. Right now, I am content to sit back and learn for a while.

Q: What do you think about India Shinning etc..? How do you see Indiain the next 10 years; 20 years; 30 years?
A: I don't know. There are things I would want India to achieve in10/20/30 years, but I have no idea if we'll get there.

Q: Philosophy! Not many youngsters of your age are into Philosophy. What are your views on life and spirituality?
A: My father named me after Swami Vivekananda. The basement in my homeis full of books on all religions and philosophies (Eastern/Western).There is a lot of material on Swami Vivekananda, of course. When I wasa kid, my summer vacations were spent almost entirely in thatbasement. I was crazy about the written word. So, I managed to readmost of those books before I turned a teenager. I think that is whatgave me a philosophical outlook. One of my friends thinks that Ishould become a spiritual guru :) My views on life and spirituality..it's difficult to say. I do have a lot of views, but being a sciencestudent for most part of my life, I am always in a state of doubtabout metaphysical matters. So, I really don't know.

Q: Who is/are your role model?
A: Lots of them. Firstly, my father, for his honesty and bravery.Arundhati Ghose for being a great diplomat. Tendulkar for being levelheaded. Kapil Dev for being a fighter. Douglas Adams for his sense ofhumour. Kiran Bedi, for taking the unknown path. And lots more.

Q: Any words of advice for people who look up to you?
A: I don't really believe in words of advice. I'm sure smart people(all those who are reading these words) can figure out things bythemselves :)Vivek, excellent! Thank you for taking time to answer these questions. All the best in your future endeavors