Kann Vizhithu Soppanam Kanden - Part 2

 Well, out of the blue, I got this inspiration to revive my blog from its hibernation after 8 long years. All because I heard this song on my drive back home, and it triggered my train of thoughts. There's this line (in the title) in one of my favorite song, which made me think about my blog, which I wrote all those years ago for my anniversary. Which in turn made me think about my upcoming anniversary, and to think we have spent 19 years together. In a year, we would have spent two decades together. Almost two decades of bickering, fighting, travelling, parenting, husbanding, wife-ing, and what not! (I know the last two are not proper words, but hey, whatever!) I have purposely left romance out of the list - not an oversight. I guess I have come to terms with the fact, that our once-in-a-while movie nights is all the romance I'm going to get in this life. 

Dear husband, when we got married on Teacher's Day, I never expected to learn so many things from you, like, how you need a special skill to let the milk overflow, even in a milk boiler. Like OCD, you can also have OTT-disorder - never leaving a single movie or series unwatched. Good or bad, hit or flop doesn't matter. Or how, irrespective of 4-wheeler or 2-wheeler, the fuel tank always remains empty for me to refill, especially when I'm taking the vehicle out. You could also say the same things about me, and I'm sure you will. But you don't write. Only I have the power of the pen, so I get to write my version of the story. So suck it up, as I write about our crazy marriage. 

In the midst of all our work, family, life, we have somehow matured more, where we no longer ask about the importance of each other in our lives, but in spite of all the hustle-bustle, I also know that:

You never sleep until I reach home however late in the night. Even though, I attribute it to OTT-mania, I know deep down you will wait for me - always!

In all these years of marriage, there has never been any function, or gathering, where you eat without me, no matter how late. 

Even though you know that I know that you are lying, you still continue to tell me silly lies - straight to my face, and then bursting into laughter when I counter them.

And that I'm always your first priority in your life. ALWAYS!

Thinking about all of these as I drive, makes me realize one thing - that I have been an amazing wife all along, and how lucky you are to have me as your wife. And so I continue daydreaming about our past 19 years as I drive, listening to this song. 

Kann vizhithu soppanam kanden - Unnale - Kann Vizhithu soppanam kanden. 

Happy anniversary to us!

05.05.2016

Dear Swathi,

There was this time,when I felt so happy, and blessed to be a mom of a girl-child, who was awesome, affectionate, and everything a mom could want in her daughter. I bonded so well with my girl, that I didn’t have the heart to part with her cute little dresses, or her toys, or anything of hers for that matter (except the used diapers, of course). Life was so peaceful.

Suddenly, out of the blue, what did I discover?  I was expecting again! Right at that moment, I decided that I would be having a second girl only. Led by expectations of having your sister, I believed that life was only going to get better with you coming, who I also wanted desperately to be a girl – More girls, more awesomeness. Or so, I thought!

That is when karma came into picture.  Out you came with a bang, and imagine my joy, when you also happened to be a girl! I thanked all my Gods so much. Little did I know, that all these Gods were watching me with a sarcastic smile on their faces, waiting to watch my pathetic attempts to raise you like the calm, and well-behaved child that I was used to having so far! You do try to be all of these, as long as I’m not within your vicinity. Whenever I’m around you, it’s a different case all together.  Obedient? What’s that? Well-behaved? Where do you get that? Calm? Ha HaHa!! Stop kidding!!! That’s how you are, around me. Leaves me wondering, if I’m the problem. Really?

For as long as I’m your mom, I’m sure you will fight with me, counter-attack me, get on my nerves and drive me insane with all your pranks, logic, and temper.With your naughtiness, your constant questions about everything under the sun, and your non-stop activity around the house, you are like a tornado in full action. So, much so, that the moment you go silent, I tend to become cautious. As long as you are around, silence is never golden, only suspicion. You have taught me, that if I can handle you, I can handle any challenge in life :)

Having known all this, will I want to go back and change my wish? No. I wouldn’t have you any other way. Why??

• I get to hear you hearty laugh and funny come-backs and watch the happiness on your face, when you try to counter me for everything I say.
• The moment I say, ‘Stop talking to me’, you apologise and will not relent, until you make me smile and talk to you again.
• Even though you make me struggle to get everything done, right from waking up and brushing your teeth in the morning, till getting into bed at night, as soon as you are asleep, you naturally cuddle with me in the bed. The contentment I feel, when your head gets tucked in the space between my hand and shoulder, during your sleep, and your sub-conscious kisses, makes every single struggle with you worth it.

No! I would definitely not have you any other way. Not now, not ever!You have shown me that the only thing that can be better than having a daughter is having TWO daughters!

Love you sweetheart - to the moon and back, just as you are!!! No changes, no updates. JUST.AS.YOU.ARE!!!

Happy birthday darling!

With Love,

Amma

PS: You successfully had your third set of stitches in your forehead this year! You made your dad proud!

Me and My thoughts – Random musings!

Along the path of life, we meet many people. Some irritate us, some entertain us, some inspire us and others ignore us. We learn how to be from some, and how ‘NOT’ to be from some. Wherever we go, we need to create our imprint as a token of our presence, in that phase of life (In the good sense, ofcourse). However, there are only very few people, who reciprocate the way we want themto – understand, care and really miss us, when the time comes to part. And its even fewer people (read as one), who would call our companionship as ‘the experience of reading a good book’. When life brings in such characters, value them. We may not be able to be in touch with them forever, but we can cherish their memories, and hold onto them dearly. Hopefully, some day, when they too look back on this phase of life, they will also feel equally happyto have known us and say ‘ adhuoruazhagiya full moon period’.

Happy meeting them and happy knowing them, as I enter another new phase of my career – another new phase of my life.

How lucky I am to have something that makes saying good-bye so hard!!! 

Tooth-in - Tooth-out

 In the kg3 household, it is the life mission of one little person to consistently compete with the other person born before her.  Whatever good things happen to her sister, needs to happen to her as well, even if it’s a natural process. Unfortunately for me, the growth and fall of their teeth also comes under this category. While her sister has lost and re-grown more than 5 teeth, all of the little one’s teeth were intact. The fact that she was born 27 months after her sister doesn’t matter. All she wanted was a shaking tooth, and she’s been tirelessly checking her teeth for the past six months. 

Finally, her wish was granted last month. Whether the shaking tooth was natural or a result of her self-torture, we would never know. Once the shaking started, every morning, noon and night, the tooth would be re-visited in the mirror checking for the level of uproot. During all the times not spent before the mirror, the tooth would be subjected to the whims and fancies of her tongue. As the days progressed with no signs of the tooth falling, the patience level was running low. She was so eager to lose her teeth, that she was this close to pulling her tooth out of her mouth. Thankfully, on the auspicious day of Onam, as I was cooking, she duly bought her tooth in her hand and proudly displayed her ‘oota pallu’ which only she has the right to call so. To say that she was excited would be an understatement, and madam was all smiles the whole day. She could  hardly wait for the weekend to end, to go to school, and see, which one of her friends would be the first one to notice. The little joys of life!

Bed-time stories: Of old-ages and after-lives...

It was another one of our bed-time talks, when suddenly the topic of human evolution is raised by Swathi. After a vague explanation of the first man and woman, mankind coming from monkeys and all that stuff, the next question hits me “So, you mean to say...since we are your kids, when we have kids and they have kids, this house will be full of kids?” Oh.My.God! Whoever coined the term, “terrible twos”...sixth year is the worst, I tell you. These kids and their curiosities!!!

So, coming back to the question, as I was silently wondering as to how best to answer this...Smruthi jumps in and says (her exact words here)”No Swathi...It’s not like that...Let me explain (yeah, she said exactly that!) Humans are born from their mom’s tummies, grow up, get married, have kids (thank god, she has the order right), grow old and then die one day. If humans don’t die, there won’t be enough space on earth. So, they die, go to God and God makes them to be born again as a baby through some mother’s tummy”. Yes, she delivered this entire speech in a single flow. Without a moment’s pause.

As always, I was dumb-struck and speechless. Now, she turns towards me and says “Ma...next time also, will you be my mother?” Ok, now, I’m officially freaking out. I have seen and heard this “Adutha jenmam-nu onnu irundha...” dialogues so many times in movies, but this girl delivering the same dialogue, trust me, it didn’t sound one bit cheesy or filmy. Since I didn’t know what else to say, I nod and hug her and kiss her and then realise that this is one of those very rare moments when Swathi is being silent. No arguments, no interruptions, nothing! Just silent thinking! Then, she blurts out, “Aiyoo Amma, will my kids be calling you paati then?” Trust my little girl to come up with such an observation with such a timing. I don’t understand why, but the thought of some-one, some-day calling me “paati” sends her through a fit of giggles, and she laughs, not just some sarcastic laughter, but a non-stop, hugging-your-stomach and tears-in-the-eyes kind of laughter for the next five minutes, till I get annoyed. Never a dull moment in life, I tell you!

Ad...Bad...Sad...

Son comes home happily in the evening. Mom tells him that his supposed-to-be dad is not his true father. Son is shocked, ponders for a moment, and asks his mom why she hadn't told him earlier. Reason being he could have used his true dads' formals as well in an exchange offer of a leading shirting and suiting. Head-Bang! Bang! Bang! It was all I could do to not hit my head in the steering wheel, before changing the radio channel. How much more crappier can these ads get? Don't the ad agencies ever replay their ads once before formally releasing them? I mean, they can't just say whatever comes to their minds and release them with the product name just tagging along in the end, right? These products would seriously sell better if they don't have these ads to 'promote' them, would be my not-so-humble opinion.

Some ads are supposed to be so creative, that it takes a super-imaginative person to grasp the idea behind them. To me, they just remind me of a childhood joke, where the kid goes to an essay-writing competition having prepared to write about a cow, but he is asked to write about a tree instead. Being the creative kid that he is, he still continues to write about the cow and adds a final line to the essay stating that such and such a cow can be tied to the tree. This is the feeling I get on watching some of the ads these days. Either the ad agencies and the brand marketers don't review these ads AT ALL or my iq is so pathetic to understand them.

And I don't even want to get near the deodarant ads, where all it takes for a woman to follow a man is his deodarant, which is apparently strong enough to even attract the ladies from deep inside the amazons. God! No wonder, people start channel-hopping as soon as the commercials begin.

There used to be a time when I waited for the commercials, just to see the infectious happiness in this dairy milk girlfriend and the complan mother. I seriously miss them, not to forget the washing powder nirma and the 'kudikka venam....appdiye saapduven' horlicks kid. If I can attribute one good thing to these ads, its just that they are so completely irritating to get me started to write again. Who would have thought, these ads could be so damn powerful to revive my blog from hibernation!

Its ma b’day!!!

Yeah! Its me Swathi and I’m celebrating my b’day today! My fifth one at that! Because my mom has grown too lazy these days to write a blog post even for my b’day, I’ve decided to spare her the guilt of not giving me a b’day letter, by writing it myself! (She has the nerve not to sit and post a blog even after me reminding her to do so.)

In this last one year, I’ve played much, irritated (and have been irritated) much, fought much, and have also studied much. Unless you count the fights over the pencils, eraser, labels, water bottle, hair clips, bands, shoes, socks, window-seat, mommy, daddy, racket, mobile, chocolates and everything else under the sky, this year, I’ve been a very lovely and lovable sister, sharing almost everything else not listed above, with my sister. My mom, would say that I need to be more caring and share everything with my sister. I agree, but I can’t just give away these things, so what if they are hers, in the first place? She should learn to earn these things from me. Nothing comes free in this world, what say you?

I like to dress up, and carry myself very well, in almost all the costumes – with matching accessories, footwear, glasses, et all. And coming to costumes, I prefer wearing my sisters’ dresses more. So, what if they are second-hand, they are still new, and most importantly, they are still my sisters’ favorite. That single point is enough to make me wear them. Not because, it irritates her, but, because I love everything my sister loves. I don’t find anything wrong with this, but somehow, others don’t agree. Anyways, who cares! I get to do, what I want to do – most of the times. (read as ‘always’)

I’ve become more technology-driven this year, and have taught my dad to use his mobile, and my mom to play subway surfers and temple run. Not that she has become an expert yet. Forget about collecting the coins, she still can’t manage to run even a simple 100m without getting caught. Ask her to read a book, she can go on for ages and ages, without food and water, but can’t manage to play such simple games, I tell you. And the same goes for the physical games as well. While she has been a book-worm all through her education years, I’m more hooked to games – my favorites being badminton and basket ball. Just because I call her to play with me, she thinks she can teach me all about the game. Ha! As if already don’t know the game, all credits to my dad. None like my dad to teach me sports. My daddy always the best :)

I’m being labeled as not-so-sentimental by my mom, and I agree with her, and I don’t regret it. I love her, and she knows that. Then, what’s the point in saying the same thing again and again, and this means ‘practical’ and ‘not-so-sentimental’ in her terms. Its ok. Let me be me! Not only me, but my poor dad is also suffering from her not-so-practical behaviour.

You see, unlike my sister, I’m not much into this reading and writing stuff, so, having written this much of a post is really a huge accomplishment. And moreover, I believe in being humble. So, signing off for now, yours favorite, Swathi. Wish me happy b’day folks! Oh, I forgot to mention, mom, its not only dad, but I love you too :)

Yeah, that's me!

PS: Dear Swathi, my lovely and best birthday wishes to you! As always, you fill our life with so much energy and fun, that there’s never a single dull moment in life with you around. Thanks for coming into our lives, and may you get the best of all that life has to offer. Once again, wishing you the happiest birthday darling!