Free Write - Amms in Bangalore!

"Free Write" was the  prompt for the week at WT.

What is a free write? It is essentially writing without conscious thought.
Most free writes go like this: You write down whatever comes into your mind for 15 straight minutes either as a word purge (no topic at all) or on a prompt. You could read more about it here

Now writing without a prompt would have been disastrous for somebody as fickle-minded as me! So while I was clear I would be writing about my niece, I let the words flow. Here is the final draft with not much of editing. Tell me how you liked it!

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 Last week was dedicated to my little niece who was here on a short vacation. Through her, I lived my dream of  a complete family - “Ma, Pa N the little One”! Just drove home the fact that am more than ready to start a family ~~ Hoping it’s a day soon!

Another facet that her visit reaffirmed is my love fo weaving stories and I couldn’t have asked for a better audience than the little one. We spent a day each at Thar Desert, Ooty and even experienced the bitter Chicago winters. We woke up to morn yoga on Goa beaches, had a nice continental breakfast, sunbathed with Mr & Mrs. Adam before flying down to London to meet the queen ;).  And when all this traveling was getting to us, we had a career makeover and became a fisherman and farmer in turns :-D. Her incessant question of “So where\What are we today” even when she wakes up in the middle of the night is all the ego boost I needed :-D.

A Day in Thar!

Today after she’s left, I miss the daily thirty mins late night session in the park – just her and me swinging gently, weaving these stories and getting lost in far far away lands … bliss!!

Now for all that she enjoys this story telling sessions, I wonder why she hasn’t yet taken to reading - this when her house is filled with Amar Chitra Kathas and many others. Is it cause nobody has taken the pain to read it to her? Maybe she should have started with something simpler – something she enjoys and then slowly upgraded the reading standards! Her frustration when I insisted that she reads “Charlie and Chocolate Factory was obvious – does she feel reading is a chore and so doesn’t really enjoy it?

Amms, I miss you darling… muah!

A PJ Party...

... the effects of which continues to the next day morn.....

Me n my niece - pic courtesy Sabs!

Linking this to May photo a day challenge for the prompt - PJ

7 o’clock....

N 7 o’clock it is!

Hv been looking for sometime to share this Cuckoo clock at my house! I hv been wanting to own one from the time I heard of the uniqueness of these clocks(v sheepishly lemme add that I knew of this tidbit only seven years back!)

This was gifted by a fav cousin who lugged it all the way from Germany to UK to Dubai to Kerala n then to Bangalore for yours truly :-). N knowing how efficient I n hubbs are he decided to get us battery-run one as against the traditional mechanical ones ;).

Linking this to May Photo A Day challenge for the prompt "7 o’clock"!

Smile with me.......

... as with this post I finish the 500th post in my blog :). Here is something yummm to make the celebrations complete....

Now this was baked by hubbs to bring in my sisters Anniversary! Loooks yummmm doesnt it :). So here is the catch - the cake 'sunk' in as soon as it was out of the oven but we aint the ones who gets discouraged by these minor details. So with a v calm elan, the ugly depression bang in the center of the cake was filled with 'Gems' n lo ;)

Speaking of smiles, here is a pic that sure brings a smile to my face  - the simple pleasures of childhood....

Sabs Says "Similar yet different"!

 Linking this to May Photo A Day Challenge for the prompt "Smile"

Thankful.....

... Is how I felt at the end of the day yesterday!

Yesterday(Apr 22) was my B'day (That's ur cue to go ahead n wish me :-P). The day started on a ominous note with the news of Husbands 85 year old grand mom being hospitalized! This coming close on the heels of uncles death made my mind go into a overdrive n  jump into worst of conclusions :-/. Everytime the phone rings, I would literally have butterflies in my stomach. Goes without saying that my Bday was the last thing on my mind...

Late eve, slowly things turned around with the news that grandmother was in no mortal danger! Haa the sigh of relief when I heard her voice on phone.

What made the day complete thou are  friends n family who took the effort to go the extra mile to ensure that  my frown is not upside down! From a friend who on knowing that I hv no plans for dinner took the effort to whip up a spl chicken curry for yours truly to another one who managed to sneak in a small cake right under my nose - simply cause they knew that bday is incomplete for me without the mandatory cake cutting n a grand dinner! Not to forget the friend who was my agony-aunt thru the day - haa the pleasure of having somebody who will hear u out n reassure u that things will tide over. Of course there was the gift galore - From books to dresses to 2 wrist watches  (Each meeting my specs of Big dial to the 'T'). 

The best thou was reserved for the last - my 8 year old niece who's still not got over the death of the man in her life - calls me almost post 10 in the night n literally whispers her b'day msg into my ear! Must be the best B'day wish I received this year :)

Definitely a day to be thankful for - To God, to friends, to Family, to destiny for making my day :)

Linking this to A2Z Challenge - T is for Thankful!

The New Eatery In Town!

Thts my pretty little chef in action whipping up her fav Jelly! Now that she has up her sleeve the tricks to whip u up a delicious meal - read jelly\pudding from ready-to-make-mixes, tea(which is more milk than chai) nof course assortment of cookies, cakes from the next door bakery - She's decided to start in collaboration with two other partners(her aunts - me n my sis) a small "Next-door eatery"!

On the menu are of course all the usual suspects listed above( jelly-cakes-biscuits). But the entrepreneur that she is, she already foresees a problem of not being able to cater to all sections of crowd(read - people who don consider jelly-cakes-biscuits as a meal) and so has decided to rope in her uncle(ma hubbs) to whip up any fried rice, nong-veg dishes of your choice! So there u hv ur complete meal.

But due to logistics issues(of the entrepreneur n partners being in different cities) this eatery will be operational only during X-mas-Summer-Dussera vacations! As a freebie, the first 100 customers would be provided a free personalized signed photo with the chef (photographer is ma BIL)


So the next you in vicinity of B'lore, U know where to drop in for a complete sumptuous meal :).

Linking this to Color Deckors and ABC Wednesday(P is for Pretty litt Chef!)  

PS: Now u know what I did last weekend - conceptualizing n freezing up on this entreprening idea of my litt niece :)

Look whos visiting this weekend...

...... This little imp of mine :-D
 

Bliss of childhood!



Haa the pleasure of looking fwd to a out-of-the-blue trip from one of ur fav nieces... promises to be a fun weekend **anti-jinx**

Linking this to thursday challenge - FEELINGS (Love, Hate, Sadness, Anger, Joy, Contentment,...)

Zest!

Thats Ma Little Niece Up there!

Reaching upto the skies, riding way up the tress, letting the wind caress your face........Now if this aint zest for life than whats :)

Linking this to ABC Wednesday(Z is for Zest)

With This I end a successful season of ABC Wednesday! U can look them all up here........

You bet, I had soopa fun doing them! At a time when life was crazy this was my only anchor to blogging. The fun of trying to weave a story around a pic n the joy when u happy with the end result.... Priceless!!

Thank You ABC Wednesday!

A is for....

 ....Ammu my little niece! A is for Aunt! N 'A'  the herald(er) of alphabets is in a way symbolic of New beginnings

So will kickstart posting this year with a pic that captures the little Ammu  with her not-so-litt-anymore-aunt(:-p). The smile that u see in these face is courtesy the the new beginnings.... A new year, A new facet of life.......

N speaking of Ammu, here ARE new names that we hv christened ourselves with ~~ Bagunda(BAda GUnda** ~~ yoursTruly) and ChoGunda(CHOta GUNda** ~~ Ammu)! U see one area that peop cant blame us abt is lack of self realization.... he he he!


** Gunda - A hindi word that means Brat; Bada - Hindi word for Big; chota - Hindi word for small; So in effect our chose names are "Big Brat" and "Small brat" :-D

Linking this to ABC Wednesdays(Letter A)!

Thursday Challenge - 3

Theme of the week ~~ "MOVEMENT" (Shaking, Falling, Bouncing, Jumping, Curling, Sagging,...)

How did this go with the theme u asked! Well well cant u c those bean-balls (what else do u calls the balls tht fill in the bean bag??) "Bounce"!

Haa a pic of the happy times spent with ma little niece... **TouchWood**  Here is sending  a prayer up that this precious bond with ma niece never ever ceases ** Anti - Jinx**

If u still wondering what the pic was abt ... U heard of Pillow-Fight rt... well well this goes on v similar grounds... U jus gotta substitute the pillow with the 'Bean-Balls'..... no prizes for guessing the mess that followed (N the ear full we received ) ...Imagine a bedroom filled wth the bean balls :-D n then of course the pain of picking those kutti-putti balls which amanged to make their way to every damn corner!! But 100% Fun guarantee I say .... So now u know what to do the next time u r bored of ur wits.... ROFL!

N so they quip.....

Ma little niece all of 5 yrs tells ma mom tht she gotta relocate to kerala - N why not blore asks the poor unsuspecting me!!! The brat quips "Ammama.... This one will wake up at 9 in morn n come over to kitchen with Paper in hand N say - 2 teas please"!!! Man! She is all of 5 n visits me like what - 2-3 weeks in a year!!!!!! Sheesh! These Kids I say are gonna be ma bane!

N well when I talk of smart one-liners can ma hubbs be far off!!

This is his new profile pic in FB...  Whats this u wondered... So did I n a few others too!

N ma dono-what-modesty-means quips "Hiding my face lest the world fall in love :P"!!!! I should hv by now learnt not to open ma mouth in public........

The week thts Been!

Hmm been quite a week - atleast at the work front (translate to no personal time ~~ Hmpf!)

The gr8 news first ~~ Yeaa!! I cleared my examination!!!! Yippie Yippie Yip Yip!

The New facet Of Life News - Well if u remember the post, I went with the sexy mistress option :-P (Well shouldnt it read sexy mister ~~ Me straight U c .. Lol!) Well the option was kinda made simple for me bursting ma bubble..... The upper realm decide me no good for Option A... Yea I know its staid-n-Boring(Case of sour grapes... He He He)!


So here I am kick starting the new facet... Well a few hrs I hv spent there has already left me wondering what am I upto here! Me shit scared....  Yeah yeah sexy mister take a bow! Plzz wish me luck!!! I havent yet bid good-bye to ma wonderful team (v soon to be ex-team)... While it means a few more days of happy-faces (The new place seem to be full of serious morons!) it also translates to 10 hrs of work everyday for a month (Howl!)

N yeaaaa I hv ma little niece (hopefully ma sis too) visting me for the long weekend! Yippppeeee... Now I gotta get ma manager approve ma leave for tommo!

So incase I dont catch u guys b4 weekend here is wishing u a happy, colorful, Joyful Diwali!

An Guest Post......

N Guess who is the guest writer... My 6 year old niece :-D! This is a story straight from horse's mouth (The typos are courtesy her mom :-P)

Title: The Younger Sister

Once up on a time little girl lived in Hyderabad.Her name is Meenu and Meena.Her house name is Happy Home Appartments.Her sister is Manju,mother name is Nalini and father's name is Chandrasekhar.Meena is working IBM.her husband name is Pravin.He is working in IBM.They live in Banglore .Pravin's father is Venugopal and mother Anuprabha.Meena's elder sister's name is Beena and daughter is APARNA.She is studying in class 1 A Roll number 13.Her school is St Francis School.Meena's manju's and Beena's brother name is Ramdas and his wife is Jayanthi.Aparna's grandfather is K.Ramachandran and grandmother is M.Indira.Aparna's grandfather is President and grandmother is housewife.

A review of the post: Well than a story this is ma family tree.....  N points to be noted - My home is still ma house in hyd... my current home in bangalore is just a plce where I love n ma home is till hyd (At least as per her!). Not to miss the Mr.President in post her grandfather... yeah rt :-D! Anybody there who could link up the title n story... ma guess is I am her mom's sister n so the tile?? Lemme ask her highness tommo......

Edited To Add: This story is the second of the series of stories tht her highness is decided to publish... the first was abt herself... Havent yet caught hold of tht! The second is me..... Not bad he... lemme take a bow for the credits :-D

Love u sweetheart!

Haaapyy B'day AmmuKutti!

To Meeena Mema's dearest Ammuttii,

Happy B'day sweetheart! Hv a swell time at school today and a big cake cutting session post that! Sorry ammutii tht I couldnt the promise of being there with u today :(. Banes of a working woman :(!

So where do I begin.... 6 years back? I remember my first glance of u... u were a baby of 3 months then .... u were soundly asleep in ur cradle until the moment I n ur manju mema pop in...... we were a excited bunch who couldnt wait to see their dearest niece.... n 3 months was already too long a wait for us! N that moment is etched for eternity in ma memories......The baby who was asleep till then choses just that v moment to open her eyes n treat us with the most angelic of smiles......awwwww!!!

Ammuutti, U know how special n loved u r ! U r the apple of so many eyes! with ur innocent(n not so innocent) ways u hv so tightly wrapped ur muthu n babu maama around ur little fingers! The happiness u hv bought in all ovur lives n possibly the only reason of smile in ur mom's n grandparents life!

N u as a person hv grown into somebody with a definite personality.... no shooing u off thinking u just a 6 year old baby.... yeah right! U hv ur own v definite n clear set of likes n dislikes n there are no two ways abt it! Yeah probably u do need to get a little less tongue-tied b4 strangers ... but well tht is wht u r and prob as u grow older u'll grow out of it! But did I anyway hint tht u run short of words.... No dearie no, U speak 18 to a dozen... N at times the words that come out from there far surpass ur age :)

N the most treasured part for me? The v fact that I am ur fav-mema (Ho! U dont hv to tell me tht... I know it n declare it myslef... u given no choice in it u c :) Manju mena u say? I donno who she is :-D) ...... V imp to me considering the bond taht I share with ur amma n babu maama... thou we are first cousins the relationship we share is more than that! N its a happy sigh that I let out as I know that the bond is renewed for another generation with u... Touchwood N I hope n earnestly wish that it continues.....

Wishing u a life filled with happiness... grow up to be a smart young lady (like me :) ) n yeah go onto become a doctor or auto driver (ur current 'dream-job' is to study MBBS n drive a auto :-D) but just be happy n fill our joys with lots of happiness(latter part is V imp :-D)!

Love U Ammmutti!!!
Meena Mema!