That’s the title of S first interactive book. Its about a boy getting ready to go and play outside in the rain and S has to help him with his belt, zip on the raincoat, tie up the cap, button the sweater and so on. Its one of S favourite books. And now rainy days have started here…and S will soon be buttoning up her raincoat to get ready for school (lazy mommy has still not bought a raincoat for her though!)
Its been pouring continuously since morning and usually one of the advantages of such heavy rain is that you can take a day off from work saying it’ll take you too long to reach (traffic is really terrible during the monsoons) and by the time you reach you’d need to leave since many offices declare half day on days when the rain is very heavy as trains/buses run late/sometimes cancel services. Now since I’ve moved next door to my office I can’t make this excuse and have to drudge into office.
Schedule has been very hectic for the last few days and I’ve got a tummy upset which does not help matters. Mornings its rushed as S has to be ready for school by 9 which means a rushed milk and then breakfast and I need to be ready for office by the same time. Then drop off S at school at 9 and get into office. 10:45 pick up S and drop her home. Back to office. Then 1 pm again back home to give S her lunch (one of the maids had to rush off home on an emergency), grab a quick lunch and then back to office. Then again leave office at 6:15 to get back home, give S her soup, bath, take her to the park, then dinner and then finally rest for me! But I’m happy since S is settling down in school by and by. She cries when I drop her off but I believe she is ok after and when she comes out she seems happy- earlier she used to be sobbing. She brought home her first coloured picture the other day- it was a cut out of a girl and she had coloured the frock red. Am thrilled!
Getting back to rainy days, its so difficult to imagine hot tea, pakodas and a nice book which is what a rainy day should be all about while you are stuck behind your laptop at office. But remembering other rainy days this may not be as bad. My first experience of the monsoon in Mumbai was in 2000 when I first came to this city on my first job. We were staying in a chummery about 1 hour from the office and used to come by private bus. That day due to the rains it took close to 3 hours to reach office. Then I had to go for a meeting to town which took another 2 hours. The meeting lasted all of 30 mins and then it was the long journey back- we luckily had a car but there was so much traffic and flooding on the roads and we had to drop off various people on the way that I finally reached home around 10 p.m. And then I get to know that office had declared a half day around 12:30 and my flatmates had come back home in the afternoon and lounged around playing cards and eating pakodas!! So unfair!
Another rainy day which I’ll always remember is July 25th 2005, which was a terrible day for Mumbaikars. There was a cloud burst and extremely heavy rain in the afternoon coupled with high tide and by late evening the roads were completely flooded and traffic was standstill. I managed to leave office early that day around 5:30 and got a lift to about 1 km away from my place. I trekked through the waters home and reached home around 7:30. By then the telephone networks were down and I couldn’t get in touch with the hubby. Every half an hour I would try and get no network coverage. Finally around 2:30 I went to sleep. The hubby was driving non stop for 6 hours and reached home early morning. But he was lucky, some unfortunate people suffocated in their cars/drowned in the water which could have been easily avoided if the drainage system was more efficient.
This is the first monsoons that I am back at work full time after S was born. Am keeping a watchful eye on the rains, the housing complex we stay is low lying and easily gets flooded. I really don’t want a situation where S is stranded inside and I’m outside unable to get back into the complex.
On a separate note, the mountain drive is supposed to be very beautiful in the monsoon season and this year I’m quite keen to try it out over one weekend. Hopefully sometime soon!!
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Monday, June 22, 2009
Settling down
Touchwood, S seems to be settling down slowly in school. First two days she cried non stop for 45 mins, the next day she cried for half an hour and then was quiet, then on the last day of the first week she cried for twenty minutes and then the teacher took her on her lap and she was okay for the rest of the time (never mind that she sat on the teachers lap throughout). Today morning I was tense again, after the weekend I thought she would be very unsettled in school. She cried as soon as I left her at the gate, but then settled down quite ok (we could not hear any crying for sometime). The center in charge came out after about 45 mins and said that S had settled down and was actually moving around looking at the toys. Then the wailing started and I could hear S cry- it seems she wanted to touch the music system and they would not let her and this led to a new burst of tears. But I think she settled down ok after that because when she came out (after a long 11/ hours) she was not crying and seemed ok.
Am keeping fingers crossed that she settles down this week in school (and the crying stops). I feel really guilty for sending her at such an early age, and was quite upset after hearing some other mothers comment that she is crying because she is so young- not because I take what they say to heart- I know every mom has different views on bringing up children , and unfortunately nobody keeps their comments and thoughts to themselves, but passes on their words of wisdom to others and pass judgement on others who act/think differently from them- anyway I am digressing, why I was upset was that I had exactly the same thought- S is too young to go to school and by forcing her to go I am making her sad. But some of the elder kids also were crying, there is another boy in her class who is 21 months old and he cries as much as S. But I think he understands that if he cries, the teacher will send him out ( he points to the door and cries and makes vomiting sounds), whereas S cries because she doesn’t really understand what is happening and why she is in a new place. We’ve started talking about her friends in school to S - 2 other girls who are in the same playgroup. One of them went into school with her one day and S was quite happy holding her hand and walking in- though she wailed as soon as I left her hand at the door. When she comes out she says “Babus babus” which is her word for children so she understands that the children are inside playing (she’s usually the first out since she’s one of the two-three most unsettled).
S has started talking quite a bit now- she repeats some things that we say, so we need to be a lot more careful of what we are saying. Some new additions are ‘boo’ for blue, ‘nahin’ for no; ‘dat’ for duck, ‘abbu’ for hurt, ‘bhaiya’ for brother, ‘bow wow’ for dog. S has also become a lot more friendly towards other people. During the weekend we had gone to a hotel for brunch and S was on her high chair. The lead singer of the band which plays there came near our table, and S saw her and started waving enthusiastically to her. So much so that the lady came over to our table and played with S for some time. After that it was bye bye to that lady continuously for the next ½ hour.
S has also become much more adventurous in the playground. At the park she climbs up the small slide steps, walks over to the bouncy bridge, walks across that, climbs up the next level, and comes sliding down the big slide. All the time I keep running behind her trying to ensure she doesn’t fall down. The other day the hubby had taken to the park and when he came back told me matter of factly that she had climbed up the spiders web on her own and come down the spiral slide- which is meant for much elder kids. I had tried to stop her from doing this the other day because she would fall quite far down if she missed a step, and was quite zapped that the hubby was so cool.
The hubby keeps insisting that we give her the same food that we are eating since I still give her only baby stuff/mashed food, so last evening I enthusiastically prepared tomato rice (a cheese, tomato, rice dish) and that took me more than an hour since I’m terrible in the kitchen, and S absolutely hated it and after I spent ½ hour convincing her to eat it and entertaining her with all sorts of distractions she proceeded to throw up the entire meal. She did enjoy the Cerelac afterwards- so that puts paid to any plans of my starting cooking anytime soon.
Am keeping fingers crossed that she settles down this week in school (and the crying stops). I feel really guilty for sending her at such an early age, and was quite upset after hearing some other mothers comment that she is crying because she is so young- not because I take what they say to heart- I know every mom has different views on bringing up children , and unfortunately nobody keeps their comments and thoughts to themselves, but passes on their words of wisdom to others and pass judgement on others who act/think differently from them- anyway I am digressing, why I was upset was that I had exactly the same thought- S is too young to go to school and by forcing her to go I am making her sad. But some of the elder kids also were crying, there is another boy in her class who is 21 months old and he cries as much as S. But I think he understands that if he cries, the teacher will send him out ( he points to the door and cries and makes vomiting sounds), whereas S cries because she doesn’t really understand what is happening and why she is in a new place. We’ve started talking about her friends in school to S - 2 other girls who are in the same playgroup. One of them went into school with her one day and S was quite happy holding her hand and walking in- though she wailed as soon as I left her hand at the door. When she comes out she says “Babus babus” which is her word for children so she understands that the children are inside playing (she’s usually the first out since she’s one of the two-three most unsettled).
S has started talking quite a bit now- she repeats some things that we say, so we need to be a lot more careful of what we are saying. Some new additions are ‘boo’ for blue, ‘nahin’ for no; ‘dat’ for duck, ‘abbu’ for hurt, ‘bhaiya’ for brother, ‘bow wow’ for dog. S has also become a lot more friendly towards other people. During the weekend we had gone to a hotel for brunch and S was on her high chair. The lead singer of the band which plays there came near our table, and S saw her and started waving enthusiastically to her. So much so that the lady came over to our table and played with S for some time. After that it was bye bye to that lady continuously for the next ½ hour.
S has also become much more adventurous in the playground. At the park she climbs up the small slide steps, walks over to the bouncy bridge, walks across that, climbs up the next level, and comes sliding down the big slide. All the time I keep running behind her trying to ensure she doesn’t fall down. The other day the hubby had taken to the park and when he came back told me matter of factly that she had climbed up the spiders web on her own and come down the spiral slide- which is meant for much elder kids. I had tried to stop her from doing this the other day because she would fall quite far down if she missed a step, and was quite zapped that the hubby was so cool.
The hubby keeps insisting that we give her the same food that we are eating since I still give her only baby stuff/mashed food, so last evening I enthusiastically prepared tomato rice (a cheese, tomato, rice dish) and that took me more than an hour since I’m terrible in the kitchen, and S absolutely hated it and after I spent ½ hour convincing her to eat it and entertaining her with all sorts of distractions she proceeded to throw up the entire meal. She did enjoy the Cerelac afterwards- so that puts paid to any plans of my starting cooking anytime soon.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
A terrible day 2
Today was S’ second day at school and the first day without her parents around. I dropped her off at the door at nine and she immediately started crying. The assistant teacher took her inside where the other children of her playgroup were and asked me to wait outside with the other parents. I felt extremely sad to let her go inside the school crying but they were quite insistent that parents were not allowed in and I guess she would also need to get adjusted to the place.
After some time I moved to the back of the school premises where we could hear the children from the window, but could not see them. I could hear S howling loudly, her cries much louder and longer than the others. Then the teacher came out and informed us that some children had stopped crying and some were still crying. I paced up and down from the main front door, eagerly awaiting for more information on my S and to the back of the school to listen if S was still howling. Sadly, S kept up the howling throughout and I thought my heart would break when I heard her shouting “nahin nahin (no no)” and mama and howling even more. Another mother told me to relax and this was expected, and while I had expected S to cry a bit, I surely did not think it would be for 45 mins non stop- that’s the most she’s ever howled, except the day when her first tooth came out. I also reminded the teachers to call me if S threw up, she has the habit of throwing up whenever she cries too much and I was worried about this as well.
Finally the teacher came out and said they were letting the children who were crying the most out while the others could continue outside. And who should be out first but S herself- she was sobbing while she came out and clung to me continuously after. Some other kids also came out crying loudly and their parents looked as distressed as I felt. But I believe the other kids had been ok for some time and then started crying on seeing others cry, unlike S who cried continuously. I wonder if this is because she is youngest in the class, and others may have known what to expect while she could not understand what was happening.
S was very clingy all the way home and even cried when I left for office- usually she does not do this as she is quite comfortable with the maids but I guess she was feeling insecure today after I left her in a strange room with new people. When I went back home for lunch also she clung to me and would not leave my lap even when I was eating.Keeping fingers crossed that S settles down at school and enjoys the experience. Am feeling bad for pushing her into playschool at such an early age- she is only 161/2 months old and I think most children are between 11/2 to 21/2 years of age when they go to playschool. The reason I am sending her so early is that I would prefer her to spend some time in playschool in the company of children of her age, learning new things and enjoying herself rather than being only with the maids for 9-10 hours a day. I know it is selfish of me, since I’m doing this to feel less guilty about working and being away from S, but I will not push her too much if she continues to cry/be unsettled. As of now my timeline is a week to 10 days and if things are not working out, I will seriously consider pulling her out and enrolling her for the next later batch
After some time I moved to the back of the school premises where we could hear the children from the window, but could not see them. I could hear S howling loudly, her cries much louder and longer than the others. Then the teacher came out and informed us that some children had stopped crying and some were still crying. I paced up and down from the main front door, eagerly awaiting for more information on my S and to the back of the school to listen if S was still howling. Sadly, S kept up the howling throughout and I thought my heart would break when I heard her shouting “nahin nahin (no no)” and mama and howling even more. Another mother told me to relax and this was expected, and while I had expected S to cry a bit, I surely did not think it would be for 45 mins non stop- that’s the most she’s ever howled, except the day when her first tooth came out. I also reminded the teachers to call me if S threw up, she has the habit of throwing up whenever she cries too much and I was worried about this as well.
Finally the teacher came out and said they were letting the children who were crying the most out while the others could continue outside. And who should be out first but S herself- she was sobbing while she came out and clung to me continuously after. Some other kids also came out crying loudly and their parents looked as distressed as I felt. But I believe the other kids had been ok for some time and then started crying on seeing others cry, unlike S who cried continuously. I wonder if this is because she is youngest in the class, and others may have known what to expect while she could not understand what was happening.
S was very clingy all the way home and even cried when I left for office- usually she does not do this as she is quite comfortable with the maids but I guess she was feeling insecure today after I left her in a strange room with new people. When I went back home for lunch also she clung to me and would not leave my lap even when I was eating.Keeping fingers crossed that S settles down at school and enjoys the experience. Am feeling bad for pushing her into playschool at such an early age- she is only 161/2 months old and I think most children are between 11/2 to 21/2 years of age when they go to playschool. The reason I am sending her so early is that I would prefer her to spend some time in playschool in the company of children of her age, learning new things and enjoying herself rather than being only with the maids for 9-10 hours a day. I know it is selfish of me, since I’m doing this to feel less guilty about working and being away from S, but I will not push her too much if she continues to cry/be unsettled. As of now my timeline is a week to 10 days and if things are not working out, I will seriously consider pulling her out and enrolling her for the next later batch
Monday, June 15, 2009
First day at school
Today was S’ first day at playgroup. Last week we had picked up her school kit consisting of schoolbag (with a big elephant on it), a cap and a T-shirt- which are to be worn on field trips. During the week S kept wearing the cap and walking around the house saying hat- she loves it when people are wearing hats and keeps pointing at them , so I think she was quite thrilled to have her own cap!
The first day was only for 45 mins and it was more of an orientation where we were shown the school facilities, met the teachers and the guidelines were explained by the center in charge. Both the hubby and I had gone and initially S was happy just to be sitting on her dada’s lap, watching the action on stage and drinking water from her bottle. Then another kid got onto the stage and started playing with the toys there- S suddenly got up, ran to the stage, climbed up and started playing with the toys, with the other kid. Then two more kids joined in. S seems to have become much more social after the US trip and I am keeping my fingers crossed that she enjoys the playschool and playing with other children. We saw the playroom where the children would play and the upstairs terrace which had quite a few interesting toys- cars for kids to drive, a box full of balls which you could climb into- S wanted to play in that and when we told her that it was getting late for our office she was quite reluctant to leave. There are 11 kids in her playgroup with 1 teacher, one assistant and one maid. They are all older to her and seemed quite big to me, am a bit worried that she maybe bullied by them, but I guess the teachers would be watching for that as well.
Today was a good start, the whole of this week is going to be shortened timing of only 1 hour, and am planning to wait outside. Tomorrow would be the real test, since I would have to leave her inside the playcenter and not show my face for 1 hour! Hope she takes to the new surroundings.
On a separate note, my brother and his family were over for the weekend and we really had a great time. S really likes her cousins and they can keep her entertained all the time. She sat with them and drew on paper with crayons , , played together with her toys (would not have been particularly interesting for the boys since they are much older), she watched them make paper planes and fly them, watched them bowl and so on. She even enjoyed watching Finding Nemo with them! We managed to do quite a few things- one evening was bowling , video games and one roller coaster ride for the boys at a shopping mall (S got to go on a toy train there); the next evening was rock climbing, bumper cars for the boys and small rides for S- we went to a kids complex about 1 hour drive from our house. We ate out far too much- my brother and his family are veg like me and the veg options abroad are quite limited, so they really look forward to eating out in India so we managed a Chinese meal, a South Indian meal, a Chaat meal and burgers at MacDonald (can you believe they do not have veg burgers at the Mac abroad) in two days- I must have put on at least 4 pounds!
The first day was only for 45 mins and it was more of an orientation where we were shown the school facilities, met the teachers and the guidelines were explained by the center in charge. Both the hubby and I had gone and initially S was happy just to be sitting on her dada’s lap, watching the action on stage and drinking water from her bottle. Then another kid got onto the stage and started playing with the toys there- S suddenly got up, ran to the stage, climbed up and started playing with the toys, with the other kid. Then two more kids joined in. S seems to have become much more social after the US trip and I am keeping my fingers crossed that she enjoys the playschool and playing with other children. We saw the playroom where the children would play and the upstairs terrace which had quite a few interesting toys- cars for kids to drive, a box full of balls which you could climb into- S wanted to play in that and when we told her that it was getting late for our office she was quite reluctant to leave. There are 11 kids in her playgroup with 1 teacher, one assistant and one maid. They are all older to her and seemed quite big to me, am a bit worried that she maybe bullied by them, but I guess the teachers would be watching for that as well.
Today was a good start, the whole of this week is going to be shortened timing of only 1 hour, and am planning to wait outside. Tomorrow would be the real test, since I would have to leave her inside the playcenter and not show my face for 1 hour! Hope she takes to the new surroundings.
On a separate note, my brother and his family were over for the weekend and we really had a great time. S really likes her cousins and they can keep her entertained all the time. She sat with them and drew on paper with crayons , , played together with her toys (would not have been particularly interesting for the boys since they are much older), she watched them make paper planes and fly them, watched them bowl and so on. She even enjoyed watching Finding Nemo with them! We managed to do quite a few things- one evening was bowling , video games and one roller coaster ride for the boys at a shopping mall (S got to go on a toy train there); the next evening was rock climbing, bumper cars for the boys and small rides for S- we went to a kids complex about 1 hour drive from our house. We ate out far too much- my brother and his family are veg like me and the veg options abroad are quite limited, so they really look forward to eating out in India so we managed a Chinese meal, a South Indian meal, a Chaat meal and burgers at MacDonald (can you believe they do not have veg burgers at the Mac abroad) in two days- I must have put on at least 4 pounds!
Thursday, June 4, 2009
A collection of random thoughts
Penning down some thoughts which occurred to me over the last week…
1. Policing drunk drivers. Over the last few months the police has stepped up vigilance on drunk driving, with frequent checks near pubs/major suburban roads /highways etc and penal action for drivers above the drinking limit has included a night in jail/suspension of license etc. I applaud this effort and it has had a direct positive influence in my life in two ways. Firstly the hubby has stopped drinking and driving now. Earlier he used to be drunk and still insist on driving (his claim was that he drives better while drunk). While I could still insist on driving if I was with him, in case of office parties/drinking after office this was not possible. This insistence to drive was ridiculous especially since he had a very narrow escape with a truck when he was driving drunk once, when the truck swerved into the car and smashed the windscreen. Luckily he and the two passengers escaped unscathed, but I think they did not take a lift with him again. After that incident which happened 4 years back, for a while the hubby would avoid drinking and driving. But memories fade with time …. Then the policing began, and we started seeing articles of pub going office people getting caught and being put behind bars and miraculously this bad habit stopped. Now either the driver has to wait and bring him back home, or it’s the yellow and black cab to the rescue. And this phenomenon has spread to all his colleagues as well- either they restrict their drinking, or else call a cab. For me also this has been a positive thing- last week I attended an alumni party and had to drive back. Usually I get quite sloshed at these parties (and behave quite stupidly-ranging from dancing in circles with an equally sloshed friend and causing all others to abandon the dance floor, or sleeping on the bathroom floor and refusing to leave), but this time since I knew I was driving back, I limited my drink to just one and am glad to report behaved properly at the party!
2. Attacks on students: As I write this we have witnessed a week of horrific attacks on Indian students in Australia. While these incidents may happen from time to time (and in some cases the victims have said its just being in the wrong place at the wrong time) it can’t be possible that 6-7 attacks on the same community, in the same district, would happen in a spate of a week. And what is the police doing- either they claim that its not a racist attack and just an opportunistic crime (well that it no excuse, why should there be such a large incidence of opportunistic crimes), or else they beat up people who have organized a rally to protest the attacks- http://www.breakingnewsonline.net/2009/06/australia-police-use-force-on-indian.html. Agree that the media may be overplaying the incidents, but I strongly feel that the Australian Government and police should take steps to contain these attacks and provide a sense of security to Indian students other than having the prime minister call up the Indian prime minister to apologize (how will this help the Indian students studying there) or a television speech by the Deputy Prime Minister. Having lived and studied abroad I can understand how some of the students would be feeling like foreigners in a country and culture quite alien to theirs- having people look at you like an alien/pass comments on your culture/sense of dressing/accent/food habits can be disconcerting to say the least. If in addition the Government cannot ensure a safe environment, then maybe you have to seriously consider if you want to stay in that country or not. I read somewhere that the education industry is the third largest revenue earner for Australia and with > 100,000 Indian students we are indeed a cash cow. The time may have come to consider other countries –New Zealand has already put out an article distancing itself from Australia (titled “ We are not like them”) and showcasing its universities. Its not that Indian students are exploiting the resources of developed countries (I read a blog which says these attacks are justified since these Indians stick together in groups and exploit the resources of developed countries)- the tuition fee paid by foreigners is often a high multiple of the fees paid be residents and mass movement by Indian students to other universities would probably be a good wake up call for the Australian Government. Or another alternative could be to send some of our MPs to Australian universities for a degree course- particularly the 150 of them with criminal cases against them. That would effectively kill two birds with one stone!
3. Criminals in Politics: This weeks’s HT had a very interesting article on the criminals in politics- http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?id=6c8d6f9d-8c70-47bc-888b-22d4d9b75a4e
I’ll let the numbers speak for themselves. I wonder if such a study has been done in other countries to see how many of their politicians have such a distinguished history. Another interesting exercise would be to see the number of film stars in politics- while the South would win by a large margin (the film stars actually become chief ministers in some of the States) the trend seems to be catching on in other parts of the country as well. Off hand I can remember MGR, Jayalalitha in TN; NT Rama Rao, Chiranjeevi in AP; Govinda in Mumbai; Jaya Prada, Jaya Bhaduri, Vinod Khanna, Shatrugan Sinha …amongst others.
4. How safe are contacts: I’ve been wearing contact lenses for the last 10 odd years and am a strong proponent of them. They are comfortable, easy to wear and you don’t have to worry about them slipping off while you are doing any sport etc. I do know that high usage of contact lenses can lead to wear and tear of the eye and in addition to taking precautions such as frequent cleaning, proper storage, frequent replacement, the recommended usage is not more than 8-10 hours a day. I had got an eye problem about 2 years back where my left eye would continuously water. I tried various medications, got eye tests done and finally at the advise of the doctor switched to glasses only for a month. The watering stopped and I resolved to wear glasses at least twice a week. Then I became lax and recently have been wearing lenses everyday, 12-14 hours a day, and though they are monthly disposable am usually too lazy to change them as often. However recently one of my colleagues had a very bad experience with her lenses- she started wearing them only about a month back and one night her eye became very red. She kept rubbing it and the next morning when she woke up her eye was swollen and the vision from that eye was lost. As per the doctor a dirt particle had snuck between her contact lens and retina and when she rubbed the eye with the contact lens still in it the particle scraped against the retina and she ended up with an ulcer on the retina. Her vision was gone for about a day, came back about 50% during the next week, and not after 2 weeks it back to 90% (touchwood). In addition to the fear of losing vision its pretty boring to sit at home unable to read, watch TV or go out for even short bursts of time. I still cannot give up the comfort of wearing lenses, but I have now resolved to wearing glasses at least twice a week and trying to not wear lenses for more than 12 hours at a stretch.
5. And finally I’m still recovering from the busy weekend. Saturday morning was spent shopping, in the evening we went to a friend’s place for cards and Taboo, and after that to another friend’s place for a housewarming party- can you beat that- we rarely go visiting people’s houses often and we end up with two invites on the same day. The housewarming party went on till 1:00 in the night- S was awake till about 11:30 – there was another girl about 5 months older to S and much of the party went in both of them fighting for the same toys. The other girl had reached the party earlier and was playing with some cuddly animals in the house, and then S saw them and wanted to hold all of them at once. Initially the other girl was distracted by something else but when she saw S carrying away the cuddly toys she started screaming loudly. I tried to convince S to take only one toy at a time, but she wanted all of them. Finally the other girl’s father took her away to another room to distract her- while S got her way. I know am a lazy mother, I should have insisted on S sharing the toys.. but I took shelter in my wine glass and in the (misguide?) notion that the other girl was older and if there was a kid younger than S I would not have allowed her to get away with this. Anyway Sunday was another hectic day- in the evening we went over to a friend’s place –just to drop off a birthday gift and then the plan was to take S to the park but she enjoyed herself there, playing with all the toys (my friend has a kid older than S), eating the snacks and generally running from one room to the other that we stayed for some time there and ditched the park idea. Then my brother came over for dinner and we went out to a restaurant- its our favourite and S loves the fishes there. We’ve also started skyping our siblings (families) in the States every weekend- now that S had met her cousins and her aunty we want her to be in regular touch with them and even though she can’t grow up with them (I am very close to my cousin whom I used to meet for 2 months in the summer every year while growing up and I wish S also had such close relations) at least this would help her be in touch with them so that every time they meet, even if its only for a week every 2 years they would have some common ground. One of her cousins entertained her with a card trick last weekend and she was quite thrilled!! Coming back to the busy weekend and recovery therefrom- still not happened and its Thursday- S has started sleeping only for about 8 –81/2hours in the night (which includes getting up at least twice) and I’ve started this bad habit of watching TV for about an hour after she sleeps (supposedly to catch up on whats happening in the French Open but actually browsing through some random music and movie channels) so I end up with only about 6-6/12 hours of sleep at night. To top it all one of the baby maids didn’t show up yesterday and the maid cannot manage S along the whole day, so I had to rush from office in the afternoon, feed S and then rush back, finish my work and then rush back early in the evening. Hopefully this weekend would be more restful (I still have that Twilight sequel to read though and once I start reading those books I cant put them down which means no afternoon naps and very less night sleep!)
1. Policing drunk drivers. Over the last few months the police has stepped up vigilance on drunk driving, with frequent checks near pubs/major suburban roads /highways etc and penal action for drivers above the drinking limit has included a night in jail/suspension of license etc. I applaud this effort and it has had a direct positive influence in my life in two ways. Firstly the hubby has stopped drinking and driving now. Earlier he used to be drunk and still insist on driving (his claim was that he drives better while drunk). While I could still insist on driving if I was with him, in case of office parties/drinking after office this was not possible. This insistence to drive was ridiculous especially since he had a very narrow escape with a truck when he was driving drunk once, when the truck swerved into the car and smashed the windscreen. Luckily he and the two passengers escaped unscathed, but I think they did not take a lift with him again. After that incident which happened 4 years back, for a while the hubby would avoid drinking and driving. But memories fade with time …. Then the policing began, and we started seeing articles of pub going office people getting caught and being put behind bars and miraculously this bad habit stopped. Now either the driver has to wait and bring him back home, or it’s the yellow and black cab to the rescue. And this phenomenon has spread to all his colleagues as well- either they restrict their drinking, or else call a cab. For me also this has been a positive thing- last week I attended an alumni party and had to drive back. Usually I get quite sloshed at these parties (and behave quite stupidly-ranging from dancing in circles with an equally sloshed friend and causing all others to abandon the dance floor, or sleeping on the bathroom floor and refusing to leave), but this time since I knew I was driving back, I limited my drink to just one and am glad to report behaved properly at the party!
2. Attacks on students: As I write this we have witnessed a week of horrific attacks on Indian students in Australia. While these incidents may happen from time to time (and in some cases the victims have said its just being in the wrong place at the wrong time) it can’t be possible that 6-7 attacks on the same community, in the same district, would happen in a spate of a week. And what is the police doing- either they claim that its not a racist attack and just an opportunistic crime (well that it no excuse, why should there be such a large incidence of opportunistic crimes), or else they beat up people who have organized a rally to protest the attacks- http://www.breakingnewsonline.net/2009/06/australia-police-use-force-on-indian.html. Agree that the media may be overplaying the incidents, but I strongly feel that the Australian Government and police should take steps to contain these attacks and provide a sense of security to Indian students other than having the prime minister call up the Indian prime minister to apologize (how will this help the Indian students studying there) or a television speech by the Deputy Prime Minister. Having lived and studied abroad I can understand how some of the students would be feeling like foreigners in a country and culture quite alien to theirs- having people look at you like an alien/pass comments on your culture/sense of dressing/accent/food habits can be disconcerting to say the least. If in addition the Government cannot ensure a safe environment, then maybe you have to seriously consider if you want to stay in that country or not. I read somewhere that the education industry is the third largest revenue earner for Australia and with > 100,000 Indian students we are indeed a cash cow. The time may have come to consider other countries –New Zealand has already put out an article distancing itself from Australia (titled “ We are not like them”) and showcasing its universities. Its not that Indian students are exploiting the resources of developed countries (I read a blog which says these attacks are justified since these Indians stick together in groups and exploit the resources of developed countries)- the tuition fee paid by foreigners is often a high multiple of the fees paid be residents and mass movement by Indian students to other universities would probably be a good wake up call for the Australian Government. Or another alternative could be to send some of our MPs to Australian universities for a degree course- particularly the 150 of them with criminal cases against them. That would effectively kill two birds with one stone!
3. Criminals in Politics: This weeks’s HT had a very interesting article on the criminals in politics- http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?id=6c8d6f9d-8c70-47bc-888b-22d4d9b75a4e
I’ll let the numbers speak for themselves. I wonder if such a study has been done in other countries to see how many of their politicians have such a distinguished history. Another interesting exercise would be to see the number of film stars in politics- while the South would win by a large margin (the film stars actually become chief ministers in some of the States) the trend seems to be catching on in other parts of the country as well. Off hand I can remember MGR, Jayalalitha in TN; NT Rama Rao, Chiranjeevi in AP; Govinda in Mumbai; Jaya Prada, Jaya Bhaduri, Vinod Khanna, Shatrugan Sinha …amongst others.
4. How safe are contacts: I’ve been wearing contact lenses for the last 10 odd years and am a strong proponent of them. They are comfortable, easy to wear and you don’t have to worry about them slipping off while you are doing any sport etc. I do know that high usage of contact lenses can lead to wear and tear of the eye and in addition to taking precautions such as frequent cleaning, proper storage, frequent replacement, the recommended usage is not more than 8-10 hours a day. I had got an eye problem about 2 years back where my left eye would continuously water. I tried various medications, got eye tests done and finally at the advise of the doctor switched to glasses only for a month. The watering stopped and I resolved to wear glasses at least twice a week. Then I became lax and recently have been wearing lenses everyday, 12-14 hours a day, and though they are monthly disposable am usually too lazy to change them as often. However recently one of my colleagues had a very bad experience with her lenses- she started wearing them only about a month back and one night her eye became very red. She kept rubbing it and the next morning when she woke up her eye was swollen and the vision from that eye was lost. As per the doctor a dirt particle had snuck between her contact lens and retina and when she rubbed the eye with the contact lens still in it the particle scraped against the retina and she ended up with an ulcer on the retina. Her vision was gone for about a day, came back about 50% during the next week, and not after 2 weeks it back to 90% (touchwood). In addition to the fear of losing vision its pretty boring to sit at home unable to read, watch TV or go out for even short bursts of time. I still cannot give up the comfort of wearing lenses, but I have now resolved to wearing glasses at least twice a week and trying to not wear lenses for more than 12 hours at a stretch.
5. And finally I’m still recovering from the busy weekend. Saturday morning was spent shopping, in the evening we went to a friend’s place for cards and Taboo, and after that to another friend’s place for a housewarming party- can you beat that- we rarely go visiting people’s houses often and we end up with two invites on the same day. The housewarming party went on till 1:00 in the night- S was awake till about 11:30 – there was another girl about 5 months older to S and much of the party went in both of them fighting for the same toys. The other girl had reached the party earlier and was playing with some cuddly animals in the house, and then S saw them and wanted to hold all of them at once. Initially the other girl was distracted by something else but when she saw S carrying away the cuddly toys she started screaming loudly. I tried to convince S to take only one toy at a time, but she wanted all of them. Finally the other girl’s father took her away to another room to distract her- while S got her way. I know am a lazy mother, I should have insisted on S sharing the toys.. but I took shelter in my wine glass and in the (misguide?) notion that the other girl was older and if there was a kid younger than S I would not have allowed her to get away with this. Anyway Sunday was another hectic day- in the evening we went over to a friend’s place –just to drop off a birthday gift and then the plan was to take S to the park but she enjoyed herself there, playing with all the toys (my friend has a kid older than S), eating the snacks and generally running from one room to the other that we stayed for some time there and ditched the park idea. Then my brother came over for dinner and we went out to a restaurant- its our favourite and S loves the fishes there. We’ve also started skyping our siblings (families) in the States every weekend- now that S had met her cousins and her aunty we want her to be in regular touch with them and even though she can’t grow up with them (I am very close to my cousin whom I used to meet for 2 months in the summer every year while growing up and I wish S also had such close relations) at least this would help her be in touch with them so that every time they meet, even if its only for a week every 2 years they would have some common ground. One of her cousins entertained her with a card trick last weekend and she was quite thrilled!! Coming back to the busy weekend and recovery therefrom- still not happened and its Thursday- S has started sleeping only for about 8 –81/2hours in the night (which includes getting up at least twice) and I’ve started this bad habit of watching TV for about an hour after she sleeps (supposedly to catch up on whats happening in the French Open but actually browsing through some random music and movie channels) so I end up with only about 6-6/12 hours of sleep at night. To top it all one of the baby maids didn’t show up yesterday and the maid cannot manage S along the whole day, so I had to rush from office in the afternoon, feed S and then rush back, finish my work and then rush back early in the evening. Hopefully this weekend would be more restful (I still have that Twilight sequel to read though and once I start reading those books I cant put them down which means no afternoon naps and very less night sleep!)
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