Category: Uncategorized (Page 1 of 4)

If winning was easy….!

March 28, 2024 / / 0 Comments

This incident happened during the ICC World Cup 2023. I had been wanting to share it since, but I got too distracted and it was super painful seeing India lose in the finals at home ground!

I didn’t have a single tear to shed, as I was too shocked to understand how a perfect team lost its most important game! Nerves can do that to the best of the teams or probably just a bad day.

Anyway…

As I was crying dramatically, (fake wiping my tears and all, to show how I was feeling), GBee asked me why I was sad. I told him our desi team lost to Australia in the finals. When will we ever get the chance to host the World Cup, play with the perfect team and win again? The simple thought caused me buckets and buckets of disappointment!

Crocodile tears, the father of all fake tears and fake crying!

As soon as GBee confirmed with me that I was indeed talking about the World Cup 2023,  which the whole family had been watching with much fervour and enthusiasm, he had a simple solution!

New T.V. = New match result!

Thank you Sweety, for kindly reminding me how simple the brain of a 6 year old works. But no, the match result can’t be altered with a simple deed as buying a new t.v.! It can be only altered if we can successfully bring in the foreign Time Machine from Back to the Future or our own pukka local Time Machine from Adithya 369! Or better still, we can bring in Hermione to give a special lecture on the successful usage of Time Turners and complete the task at hand!

P.S:

  1. I had written this post way back in 2023, right after the World Cup Final, but I was as depressed as Rohit Sharma probably was, so I refrained from posting it!
  2. November, December and January brought in exams for GBee and we had a hectic time, getting on with the home fun’s, tests, reports and the likes. Gawd! He is a first grader, but he had exams in every month, from November to January.  Then came the finals in March, so, ya, a season of exams came to an end at last.
  3. I shudder to think what will happen to me once GBee is in higher grade and KBee will also be joining school in a couple of years! I will probably make my very own version of Sleepless in Seattle, called Sleepless in Hyderabad! (Although Tom Hanks was not sleepless because his kid had exams every month!)
  4. I will get back to blogging in April, thanks to summer holidays. Till the next post, cheerio!

Of Successful Landings!

August 24, 2023 / / 0 Comments

Firstly, let us congratulate the ISRO! Bravo!

We should pat our backs and enjoy the proud moment, even though we hardly had anything to do with the Chandrayan-3 landing on the Moon. It is momentous, next only to India’s Independence!

Even the schools across India suggested that we should watch the Chandrayaan-3 land on the Moon. GBee’s school sent us messages to watch it with our kids and introduce them to Space Magic, which the general public refers to as Astronomy!

Anyway,Mr.Bee and I were busy discussing the Chandrayaan-3 on our terrace, no less, while intently staring at the Moon, as if naked eyes can perceive the Chandrayaan-3 from Earth!

Incidentally, the sky looked spectacular, with orange hues on one side of the sky, thanks to the setting Sun and the light blue coloured floating beauties, the clouds, near the milky Moon! Awesome view indeed. I clicked a few pictures, but I couldn’t justify the beauty with my poor photography skills!

While we were deep in our discussion, GBee and KBee were entertaining themselves with their own chichorapan and mischief!

Talking away with sky forming a dreamy background!

I began to guess the spot where Chandrayaan-3 must have landed and Mr.Bee was laughing at that. Suddenly we heard a loud BAM.

Going from 0 to 100 on the Fear Factor scale in a jiffy!

For less than 2 seconds, we looked at each other and ran towards the parapet wall, where both the kids had been playing. They are shorter than the wall and that gave us a temporary sense of security. Before the incident had happened I thought, they can’t climb the wall, they can’t see what’s on the other side, so let’s chat with Mr.Bee. That is the reason behind leaving the kids unattended!

Play time means – using a rock as a ball

KBee had found a rock for himself, which was the size of half a brick. He had thrown it over the parapet wall, not knowing that, there is an AC outdoor unit on the neighbours sun shade! The rock had landed on the AC outdoor unit, before rolling off to the ground. Thankfully, no dent was visible on the unit. We inspected it carefully.

The Chandrayaan-3 had successfully landed on the Moon and this weird rock has landed, albeit temporarily, on the AC unit. A historic moment indeed, both for India and KBee respectively! KBee got an earful from both Mr.Bee and me. He has an avid supporter in his elder brother, GBee, who pleaded his case, saying that KBee is still a baby, which is TRUE! Case closed! Khel Khatam, dukaan bandh! (which loosely translates to Game Over)

P.S:

  1. What happened next? Did the neighbours scold? Did they fight us? These questions will not be answered! This is an open ended thriller!
  2. I tried my best to draw the beautiful sky, but it was difficult with little time and little resources. I use ‘paint’ in my laptop! (I previously had a drawing tablet Wacom, but I couldn’t maintain it properly and it died on me.)
  3. This disclaimer is for all the good people who find fault with anything. I didn’t compare Chandrayaan-3 landing on the Moon to a rock falling on an AC. I am just drawing parallels. Some situations remind us of completely different or eerily similar stuff. It can go either way.
  4. If you find a mom, who looks like hell, it means she has had a scary moment recently. So don’t judge her and let her live in peace. She doesn’t need more stress in her life. Even a kid sleeping for an extra hour can cause stress!

Wait for the next post, till then, cheerio!

For the Love of Pizza!

May 24, 2023 / / 0 Comments

*** Post written just after the lockdown ***

Firstly, let us give a classy Chef’s kiss to the Italians who brought Pizza into the world! Thank you! (I would also love to thank the inventor of pani puri, but that is a post for another day!)

My earliest memories of Pizza are from my schooling days, when all of us, a bunch of more than 7 kids (give or take, at each instance) would haunt our favourite Global Bakery, order a small pizza, eat a slice each and smile like Cheshire Cat!

Birthdays, meant parties at our adda, the Global Bakery! (It is still busy and thriving. The Country Oven, just opposite to Global Bakery never had similar luck. It failed to take off from the start and eventually, closed the shop, forever.) That started my love for Pizza.

Once we ended our hectic +2, pizza became a routine, which later increased manifold, as soon as I started earning on my own! (Go Midland Bakery!)

I also love the fact that, the girl gang in my workplace, would visit Pizza Hut and eat pizza to our heart’s content. Ah! Who can forget all the beautiful memories I have with my friend SV and RR who would eat pizza with me, once in a while, during our training at Infosys, Mysore. In-fact, my friend SV managed to hurt the pizza hut guy at the Food Court-2, by calling him an uncle! (He looked like a 30 year old and we were a couple of 20 year olds, he was hardly an uncle, but it was just the case of a slip of the tongue, aadat se majboor!) He took offense to that and refused to serve pizza to us (others would serve us), till we stayed at the campus for all the 5 months of training. Those were the days!

Even though I have been in love with Pizza since my teens, this post is not about me!

Na-uh!

Later on, once Mr.Bee and I moved to Charlotte, Pizza was our go-to lunch and dinner during our lazy days. We would order in, laze on the couch with remote in our hands, binge watching Netflix. I introduced some dramas to Mr.Bee like Switched At Birth, Gilmore Girls, Cheers, Fraser,Fixer Upper by Chip and Joanna, Love It or List It and he introduced me to Avatar: The Last Airbender, Heroes and also Fast and Furious films,(which I loathe by the way)

I remember eating Pizza filled with mushrooms, from Mellow Mushrooms. (I am not a fan of mushrooms), the particularly soft Papa John’s Pizza with a pickle on the side, the usual favourite Pizza Hut and Dominoes. But the taste I have always admired and begun to miss is the Garden Fresh Pizza from Fuel. The friendly atmosphere at the pizzeria was a plus. I love my pizza with a topping of Basil, accompanied by the yummy Garlic Knots and chilli flakes with more than a sprinkle of oregano.

Mr.Bee had ordered Fuel Pizza on the very first lunch we had, after landing in Charlotte, so ya, Fuel has a special place in our hearts. (The Korean eatery Emzy was his first choice, which was apparently closed on that day, since it is in the Business district of Charlotte, where everything remains closed on weekends!)

Office parties for Mr.Bee always meant eating pizza, which is the best option for vegetarians in the USA. You can always add toppings according to your taste.

Even if Mr.Bee loves pizza and had eaten more pizzas than me, he is not what this post is about, either!

It all started with the Corona Lockdown, which made it hard for pizza lovers like us to eat out, the solution was to make pizza at home. Luckily, we don’t have a heavy duty oven good for baking! (Lucky, because, we would have piled on many kilos in weight, if not for the absence of the said baking oven!)

So, making pizza is how we spent the weekend.

Before and After!

Credit goes to Mr.Bee for making pizza, he was the Chef in this case and I was his Sous Chef, cutting the veggies for him and guess who liked it the most, GBee!

Yup, this post is about our new fan of Pizza, GBee. He loves pizza, but hates all the toppings, he removes all the veggies and gives them to me, very respectfully! So he is just eating a thick crust with tomato sauce and black olives on it and nothing else, not even cheese!) Can we really say he loves pizza? I am not sure now!

Mr.Bee was happy, he has a fan in his pizza cooking phase. Since then, we made pizza one more time. He also tried his hand at sandwiches too. (Mr.Bee discovered his love for cooking during the lockdown. Now that there is no lockdown, we don’t see him cook, as regularly)

GBee was so happy about pizza being made at home, he ran out to the main gate, shouted at the top of his lungs about pizza, surprising the guests of our top floor neighbours!

Announcing the pizza being made!

Confused strangers!

We have managed to fool GBee into thinking sandwiches are also pizza! Guess who loves sandwiches now?

P.S:

  1. I have recently come across the diary I had been writing during the lockdown, so I am posting them here now, before they turn too irrelevant and old! I also have posts during toddler years of GBee. I just need time to get everything on the computer!
  2. Now, almost 2 years after this incident, GBee is still not interested in eating veggies on the pizza, except black olives and he has completely stopped eating sandwiches!

Till the next post, adios my friends!

Among the Dragonflies!

May 18, 2023 / / 0 Comments

*** This post was written in during the Corona Lockdown of 2020***

How to spend time during the lockdown?

Well, GBee and I spend our mornings chasing after dragon flies.

It all started when it was decided that all the terrace space was going waste, so pots have been installed and seeds sown. Luckily for us, Rain God blessed us early on and with regular watering by Mr.Bee, the seeds have sprouted and plants grew in size.

We have climbers of cucumber and bottle gourd, plants of ladies finger (okra) and beans. Little coriander stalks with a couple of florets at the top, wave at us, with the slight breeze that lingers on the terrace, always.

The result of a dozen potted plants is, we now get to see a minimum of 10 dragonflies flying about our terrace at any given point of time, mostly the early mornings. Some 50 dragonflies already zoom around the bigger trees in our vicinity. (Almost all houses have huge trees.)

QueenBee and GBee discussing the dragonflies!

The impromptu meeting of the dragonflies!

To kill time, one fine morning, I showed GBee a dragon fly, resting on a random plant. Boy, was he hooked! Our daily routine now includes selecting a dragon fly and stalking it (out of its wits!), till it escapes from our line of vision by zooming away, above into the sky, probably for a peaceful life!

I, sometimes hum my favourite song, ‘thuneega thuneega’, a Telugu song, about two childhood friends running after dragonfly! (I am into situational songs!)

Now that we see dragonflies on a daily basis, we have discovered there are many varieties of them, which differ in colour, size and also texture. (Some look like they have been polished and some look rough, like they were chiseled by an amateur artist!)

Sadly, we are nowhere near Harry Potter’s amazing skills as a Seeker. He has keen vision which makes its easier to see and snatch a snitch in almost all his Quidditch matches.

GBee and I tried stalking a young dragonfly, which was hardly visible. It was a difficult task, because the fly was so thin and grayish in colour, matching the cement flooring on the terrace. It flew at a height of 5cm from the ground (low flier), and was difficult to perceive. I, now admire Harry Potter even more!

Nope, I and Gbee are not meant to be seekers, but we may get there soon, with practice and a little hardwork, stalking the dragonflies, that is!

P.S:

  1. This was before KBee was born.
  2. I hated the lockdown, because that made GBee a silent kid. Luckily, once the lockdown was lifted, we would regularly visit maternal grandparents, because, we didn’t trust any other place during Covid and slowly things came back to normal.
  3. Incidentally, during PP-2 graduation ceremony in March 2023, all the parents of GBee’s classmates had similar stories to share, about kids being affected due to Covid lockdown. (Parents were asked to speak on stage during the ceremony, impromptu!)

Till the next post!

The ‘Pallu’ Holder!

May 7, 2023 / / 1 Comment

*****Disclaimer: This was written way back in 2014 and I brought it out of the archives to post here*****

 

The pallu-holder that I was, my people believed I would pick up the nuances of household chores (or at the very least,cooking!) from my mom, which is far from truth.

I had always been very ignorant about anything worthwhile! (I enjoy talking more than listening, you see)

And last week when I decided to give mom a break from her cooking duties, I had a mini-test! (almost like an internal exam)

So after making rotis in shapes of all the continents and I ended up inventing a few shapes of my own. Say, wait a minute, may be I should apply for a patent for all those innovative shapes! Feeling proud…itni khushi! (The only dialogue I love of Bollywood hero Govinda is this, Itni Khushi, from Partner. I like simple dialogues the most. Just like Devvvvudaa from RaceGurram, a Telugu movie.)

But even though I make rotis in new shapes, I can’t replicate the same shape again! (Innovation is a talent you see..)

I ended the day with a happy face, you ask me why,…see the cartoon below.

Cooking is an important life skill, for survival. So both boys and girls need to learn the bare minimum. Men who cook for their spouses, now and then, will surely be appreciated.

P.S:

  1. Time and again I prove my cooking skills are as bad as a kindergarten kid’s. But who cares, as long as your family loves you for trying. I got a pat on the back, yippeee..! (Now my cooking is a little better, thanks to marriage and motherhood!)
  2. ‘Pallu’ holder is the term I coined to indicate all the kiddos in every family, who are closer to mom, a mama’s baby (As a kiddo,I always had my mom’s pallu in my hand. Hence the title). Younger kids in a family are generally closer to mom. I am a self-proclaimed ‘Pallu-holder’ and proudly so! (Now that I think about it, I am closer to dad too. We have always been a close knit nuclear family!)
  3. All younger kids are not pallu holders and all older kids are not closer to dad, exceptions always exist.
  4. Kids these days hardly get the chance of being a pallu holder, what with moms like me hardly wearing sarees except for special occasions like festivals.
  5. Pallu is the Hindi word for the loose end of the saree worn over the shoulder. (This little snippet is for the little audience that I have overseas!)

Zumba Rumba!

April 30, 2023 / / 0 Comments

We are now on the last hobby post and why not dance with joy at the prospect of completing a challenge, the A-Z Blogging Challenge 2023!

Let’s start some music and enjoy dancing Zumba!

So, for Z it is Zumba Dancing!

Compared to all the other hobbies in the hobby posts, Zumba dancing is the youngest! Zumba was invented in 1990s, by a Columbian dancer and choreographer Beto Pérez. It is a fitness program developed using cardio exercises and Latin based dance moves.

Did you know that Zumba dancing is trade marked by a gym?

Well, Zumba is popular around the world, thanks to it being a full body aerobic and cardio workout. It combines the dance styles of  salsa, flamenco, chachacha, hip hop music and tango.

A Zumba dancer can burn 300 to 900 calories, which is a good number, considering we take in more than 2200 calories with just a single 14 inch pizza! Although it is advisable to eat only 2 slices of pizza in one sitting!

Thanks to the popularity of Zumba, we can enjoy the workout from the safety of our own homes through Youtube videos or can even subscribe to the Zumba DVDs, if you are up to it.

It is a good thing to take up Zumba, because, not only will it be a good hobby with the added advantage of fitness, but also reduces the chances of heart diseases.

Incidentally, Zumba is also banned in Iran and Israel! If you stay out of both Iran and Israel, why not go ahead and learn Zumba dancing? You will be both fit and happy! Give it a go, chalo Zumba!

P.S:

  1. The other hobbies starting with Z are Zip Lining, Zulu Dancing and Zoology. (We already saw two hobbies related to Zoology, entomology and ornithology. So I have refrained from Zoology in this post).
  2. Zombie Hunting comes under hobby with a Z, if it really was a thing!!
  3. Rumba roughly translates to Party!
  4. So, today on April 30th, we have come to an end of the Blogging Challenge. I will be back within the week with my regular posts. Do watch out.

Till the next post, adios amigos!

Yodel – Ay – EEE – Oooo!

April 30, 2023 / / 0 Comments

Once you try saying out the post name out loud, you will surely understand, what this post is about!

Today’s post is about Y for Yodelling!

Yodelling is a form of singing, which involves rapid change of pitch, mostly famous in Europe and highly popularized and immortalized in Bollywood music by singer Kishore Kumar da.

Yodelling is mostly associated and used by people in wilderness and is a shout to make themselves heard, over a long distance, mostly on mountains.

Even cow boys have their own signals in the Wild West, similar to Yodelling! The cow boys had huge herds of cattle which grazed on wide areas and which needed to be taken care of, were  controlled by yodelling. The cowboys sang yodels for their cattle as a signal.

These signal like cries later crept into music and folk songs in the Europe and America.  Once yodelling became a part of music, there were stage shows and theater performances of yodellers and  slowly found a place in Indian music too!

In the 1940s and 1950s, yodelling was popular kind of music, around the world, but has faded, with time. Yodelling was never as popular in India as it was in Europe and USA.

Are you interested in singing and play an occasional guitar? Why not strum a few strings along with flexing your vocal chords and yodel away!

Yodel – Ay – EEE – Oooo!

P.S:

  1. The other hobbies starting with a Y are Yoga, Yachting, Yo- Yoing and Yarn Spinning.
  2. Go through the song, to learn what yodelling is all about. Thanks to Kishore Kumar da, for such beautiful rendition. The original song had Super Star Rajesh Khanna and Tanuja in the lead. Sadly, the video can’t be copied, so I have attached the audio link here.

3. Sometimes, old really seems like gold. Olden days are always better!

Till the last hobby post, cheerio!

Eco Friendly Xeriscaping!

April 30, 2023 / / 1 Comment

We have already been through Gardening as a hobby idea. But if you are a lazy bum, who hates watering the plants and you prefer minimum maintenance as far as plants are concerned, then Xeriscaping is best for you.

For X, let’s go with Xeriscaping!

Xeriscaping is the process of landscaping and maintaining a lawn with little or no water at all.’

Little or no water was utilized here.

Xeriscaping is mostly practiced in places where drought is a common factor.

If you thought Xeriscaping is all about using native plants, then you are wrong. It is all about using plants which need less water to survive.

Cacti – Important part of Xeriscaping

By dividing the landscape area into zones, like the cacti zone, succulent zone, turf zone etc it is easier to plan the watering or the irrigation system, to reduce wastage.

Cacti is not the only variety used in Xeriscaping. The Bee Blossom plant is one such option.

Bee Blossom – Xeriscaping plant

Organic Mulch can be used in Xeriscaping to retain water in the soil. After some years, the organic mulch decomposes and is useful as a natural compost. Wood chippings , wood grindings, saw dust, coconut fibre etc come under organic mulch.

Sand and gravel come under inorganic mulch and they should be used in Xeriscaping sparingly because, they have the tendency to increase the temperature by retaining heat from Sunlight! It is advisable to use more of organic mulch than inorganic one.

The other Xeriscaping plants are different types of Sage, Lavender, Rosemary, Poppy tree and Shamrock.

Low maintenance , edible purple Shamrock

Our very own desi Gulmohar tree, tamarind tree and the colourful Bougainvillea (my favourite of all, since the flowers look like they have been made from paper) can be used in desi Xeriscaping projects. Watering the plants can be done through Drip Irrigation and it is advised to not water the plants during the day, to avoid evaporation losses!

So what are you waiting for? Go to the nearest nursery, buy the required plants for your home and get started in the art of Xeriscaping!

P.S:

  1. The other hobbies starting with X are X-Box gaming, X– Ray Art ( art form depicting animals and humans by drawing or painting the skeletal frame and internal organs), Xylophone playing.
  2. Did you know that some cacti can be cooked and eaten like a normal vegetables? They produce slime while being cooked, just like Okra (Bhindi/ Ladies Finger).

In Avatar: The Last Air Bender series, Avatar Aing’s brother in law,  Sokka drinks Cactus Juice and begins to hallucinate! In reality, the cacti can be slightly acidic in nature. So, consume only those which are edible after careful inspection.

4. Not only is Xeriscaping eco-friendly, but you will be helping the planet by being lazy! Too lazy to water the plants, but hero of the planet!

Ciao!

Weld Away!

April 28, 2023 / / 1 Comment

I don’t know how many of my readers are engineering graduates, from Telangana, but we have a Workshop Lab in our first year Engineering, where we are taught Carpentry, House Wiring, Tin Cutting, Welding, Fitting (Iron Work) and also Foundry Work.

So, W for Welding!

Welding is the process of joining materials, using high heat, where the metal melts and joins after cooling. Welding is mostly done in metals, but thermoplastics can also be welded together.

Welding in Progress

In olden days, welding was done only through Forge Welding. It is the process of heating the metals to high temperature and then hammering them together to form a joint!

Hammering the metal when hot – Forge Welding

Thanks to the advance in technology, many different technologies are available. Welding through gas flame, electric arc, ultra sound and laser are some of the newer methods.

Welding is a hazardous work, so proper precautions are necessary.  There is a high chance of burns, vision damage, exposure to ultra violet radiation and exposure to some poisonous gases.

So how come it gets a place in the A-Z Hobbies post?

Well, welding can also be used to create sculptures, using scraps and automobile wastes or even e-wastes.

Fish made from scrap materials – Recycled Art

 

‘Metal’ Black Beauty

So, what is stopping you? Go ahead and get welding (with proper precautions, that is!) and recycling.  Who knows? You may end up resigning your job and start an environment crusade through recycled art, like this guy!

P.S:

  1. The other hobbies starting with W are Weaving, Wood Carving, Web Designing, Weight Training, Writing , Wrestling and Water Colour Painting.
  2. I remember watching such recycled art in the POGO program called MAD, where Rob would teach new stuff. I and sis made art by joining metal parts of an old clock using powerful adhesive, instead of welding! Those were fun days. We still have the miniature sculpture somewhere. I will surely find it (we have down sized the shelves and stored some of the stuff away like Marie Kondo!) and post the pic soon!
  3. If at all there is a welding scene in a movie, almost always, Forge Welding is shown! Like how Thor, the God of Thunder helps Eitri forge the StormBreaker! I really enjoyed watching the scene from the Avengers: The Infinity War.

Till the next post, cheerio!

Ventriloquism

April 27, 2023 / / 0 Comments

I remember the good old days of Doordarshan, where we had interesting shows, like talented people showing off their skills at magic, puppetry and ventriloquism.

Let’s go with Ventriloquism for V!

Ventriloquism is the art of speaking in such a way that the sound seems to be coming from another source. A ventriloquist creates the illusion that the doll or puppet in his hand is the one actually speaking.

Ventriloquist with his puppet

Ventriloquism means speaking through the belly! Since the voice is muffled and seems distant, this helps in fooling people that the source of the sound is not the speaker, but is farther away!

Ventriloquists have also featured in movies.  Edgar Bergen, the American Ventriloquist performed on radio and acted in movies, along with his dummy, Charlie McCarthy. He was also awarded a Honorary Oscar for his creation of the character called CharlieMcCarthy. He was also inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame. (I know very little about the other famous ventriloquists.)

In India too, ventriloquist Ramdas Padhye, second ventriloquist popularized ventriloquism through t.v. shows. His famous puppet Bunny the Funny is part of the Lijjat Papad Ad.

Do you know that a puppet played the villain in a Marathi movie? ( I remember watching a scene or two of this movie, but since Marathi is NOT a language I know, I didn’t watch the full movie. I continued surfing the channels!)

Tatya Vinchu – from the movie Zapatlela

If having a puppet as a villain is creepy, did you know that a ventriloquist once used his own son’s body as his puppet, in his acts of ventriloquism?  (Yes, the post suddenly turned creepy and chilly, isn’t it?)

Do you like playing with puppets and surprising people with different voices? Then, ventriloquism is for you. Go ahead and do it for fun. (And try not to scare people or creep them away!)

P.S:

  1. The other hobbies starting with a V are Volleyball, Playing Violin, Video games, Vaulting (ornamental work on ceiling and roof), Pole Vaulting, Vacuuming (if a husband has this hobby, he will have a happy wifey!) and Videography (art of making videos, similar to ‘tik-tok’ers and ‘reel’ers!)

Till the next post! Ciao!

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