Music is my Life !

My life is so much intertwined with all the beautiful songs I have heard ; sometimes I think I can make a graph out of them.

Last year , I had done some song quotes on computer with so much effort and I lost them while I imported and deleted my old domain. To tell the truth I lost many photos also which I could not find any where else . It is a difficult thing for me to get over my loses , however small they may be.

Yesterday while cleaning up and sorting out my desktop I accidentally found that I had  saved some of them . Vow !!!



When we were kids , me and my sister had a lyrics book in which we wrote lyrics of all the songs we ever heard . When we grew up , I converted it into a quote book .

Where is that book now ????

Gone with the wind!!!

( Once in a while I do some compulsive purging and almost always end up losing things I treasure most ) .

But the lyrics are embedded forever in my mind .



To do these I had downloaded some Malayalam fonts and all and some photos were edited in picasa and adobe .

The down side is now I don't remember any thing about it .

I will have to learn it all once again if I want to do the lost ones !!! The Dyscalculia Devil Reigns :-(



That is why I like this poem from Orkut communities very much . It is so true . I can't Remember Me

I don't contemplate the future
I can't recollect the past
Lost in the land of limbo
In a time that may not last

The days now pass before me
In an alternating blur
Confusion reigns within me
For a past thats lost somewhere

I know I am, for I exist
The photographs don't lie
Pictures of a life now lost
But I don't remember why

I see a new life every hour
In a place thats not the same
No hint of recognition
For turmoil is to blame

I write these words upon this page
For others now to see
But don't ask me if I wrote them
As I can't remember me.

- Courtesy Orkut Neelam's Communities .

Sweet Sweet Vacation

This is one of the songs that reminds me so much of our vacation at our mother's place.

Last year this time I was longing for mangoes  ! This year with the drought I haven't seen any mangoes and I think this vacation will pass on with out any of them . And I can think only of beaches !!!!!!!

Siva's classes will be over today and Swetha's tomorrow. And we are going to have a vacation welcoming party.

Yesterday night , I asked them both what they would want to do for the vacation. And they have given me a big big list.

When I see both of them playing and running around , I can also see myself as a kid running along with them. Now their favorite is hide and seek.

Siva is slowly getting into cricket and foot ball. And Swetha is catching up fast . They are busy setting up rules of the game and sort . Discussing in detail about the programs and ads they see.

With all this I can feel that the toddler in the house is also growing out of it. And life is going to get serious.

I just found some old photos from my vacation days .



How I got these photos , I don't know. But I am such a  hoarder of old odds and ends , some times even I find it wierd :D

We were a great group. Always planning new games . On move from 7 in the morning to 12 in the night. And this was our base. Our neighbour's house . There were no children there . But the doors were always open to all the kids .

It was a great time. Nothing to worry about other than the game rules and latest movies!



Give me some sunshine ...
Give me some rain .....
Give me another chance .. .
I wana grow up once again ...

The Best All Rounder !

Right from the day she was born , she has been the joy of our heart, and as they say the 'lamp of our house'.

Describing Pearl is as difficult as describing Ruby , but for different reasons. Spoiled to the last bit by every member of the family , she is her father's pet .  The Granma of the house , she decides what every body else  should do.

When she started to go to school I wondered how life would change for us. After all most one year , we are here. All set. Pearl has grown into a responsible student.

Nobody has to ask her about her home work. If a work is not finished she will do it the first thing after coming home. ( though some times I have seen her doing it only minutes before the van arrives :-D Even then she remembers and does it herself. )

She is crazy about projects. For LKG they have very few compulsory projects. But she made me do umpteen number of them. She wanted to make a chart on anything that has been taken. She will not go to sleep unless her chart is finished.

If teacher asked for an object with an alphabet she would take a whole collection. If she cant write down a list for her father she will draw down what all she wants to take to school.

Whenever I ask her, her bag would be packed and in order. She is well organised and knows exactly where is what . She  is the exact opposite of her brother  . Her specialty is spellings . She has a great liking for letters and craft work.

She takes notice of every single thing that happens in the house . Recognises it the minute if some body is moody or not well. Helps me in the kitchen ( even though some times it back fires :-D )  and with other chores. In any given subject she has her say.

I cannot say that she has gone after me as none of these are my good qualities. All my weaknesses are her strengths. It is only a matter of time when she will over throw me and become the Lady of the house. I wonder!

She helps her dyslexic brother and dyscalculic mother in every way, as much a 5 yr old can. That is why when she came home from school with this , I was dumbfounded! If there was an award giving  at our home I would have given her the same . The Best all rounder :-)

Dyslexia and reading

I want to share with you that reading is not  easy for  a dyslexic kid. The word ' dyslexia '  itself means difficulty in reading and writing. You will wonder what is wrong with your child. It is not at all something you can compare with a normal child.

Ruby had difficulty in writing from the board and complained of letters disappearing and blinking on the black board. His copied notes were full of spelling mistakes and he would strain his eyes while reading as if he can't see. I took him to the ophthalmologist almost three times. And the results were the same.  6/6 vision. No problem with the eyes.

Even now it is difficult for him to read . When he was in first and second  levels , I thought he would never be able to read by himself.

He cannot connect the phonics and spellings as we do ( almost automatically ), unless he is familiar with that word. No matter however he wants to. No matter how much he knows. Our only option is to improve his vocabulary and make him familiar with the words . And that means almost every word in English literature.

But thankfully now he has taken up reading as his hobby. It took a lot of  effort from our side. It was a slow process. Now almost always you can see him with a book in his hand. He has finished with the first book of Harry Potter all by himself. And he literally sleeps with books. Every time we see him poring over a book our heart swell with pride.

My eyes  fill up with tears when I hear him reading aloud. It will be full of jargon . And I look away so that he doesn't see me. Now with great difficulty,  we have learned to overlook it , as reading is something he really enjoys and is proud of.

A stranger who listens to him reading and who doesn't know him close may think he is a dumb child. And I have to alert them before they make some off hand comments.

I have to give him confidence and support . It is a tricky game to keep the balance .

Abacus Training: A mom's view

Being a Maths phobic Mom ( I am a Dyscalculic ) , it was very difficult for me to teach my son , even the basics of mathematics. When he was in 1^st std we both had a tough time learning maths. He was not able to do even simple sums and tables and I didn’t know how to teach him.

By the time he finished counting on fingers he forgot what he was counting and where to write them. And messed up with the answers. Anybody would say he was careless. He was a very slow writer. Couldn’t complete his notes often. He had problems with mirror writing and spellings also.

It was at that time I heard about abacus classes. ( If you don't know what is an abacus click here )The word brought to my mind images of kids who can do the most complex sums with great speed and accuracy. My son was far behind when compared to that and I was afraid to send him for fear of failure. Then Priya Mam explained to me all about the benefits of Sip Abacus and Brain Gym . And to me it was a boon. What I needed was something to comprehend the brain functions. The maths skills were an added benefit.

From the first day of class itself Siva got very much interested in it. The teachers were very friendly and jolly yet professional and competent. He is always enthusiastic to go to Abacus classes.

The first change came with writing. Practicing left and right hand writing improved his writing speed . I never had to worry about his notes again. Visualisation games helped with his mirror writing problem. Practising Brain Gym improved his concentration and memory.

And most of all by doing Abacus his maths skills improved very much. Now he beats me when I try to check him with a calculator. He is now in third standard and I am not at all worried about his Maths lessons. I just have to brush him up for the exams. That is all.

One thing you have to do as a parent is , You have to see that the child does the brain gym and abacus regularly and consistently to get the maximum benefits.

[caption id="attachment_1543" align="aligncenter" width="200" caption="Sip Abacus"][/caption]

To wind up I asked him what did he gain from the Abacus classes and these are my son’s words “ It made me a speed writer , helped me to improve my hand writing , improved my maths skills, concentration and memory. “

My special thanks to his Abacus Trainer Ms.Priya and her team. They gave him confidence, support and freedom to evolve.

Women’s Day

All these years I tried to defend myself for every single thing and almost gave up . I was afraid if any body will think bad about me . Or will they realise that I only mean good, if I did not explain.

For me the world has always been black and white. Either I love people or I hate them. It is the same for me with every thing . But I can see most of the mankind is happy in the comfortable zone of grey.

As long as I can remember Amma has always tried to teach me this, but in vain. I like to learn every thing the hard way

Then for the last one or two years I concentrated on being myself and didn try to explain to any body the reasons. Didn try to draw line for others as well.

With lot of restraints I learned ........to keep myself calm and neutral,not to let others' words or deeds hurt my mind , to Keep going with my style, not to let any body else's off hand comments interfere with what I know for sure is a fair decision.

And I can see a lot has changed around me.

What I learned is while trying to defend ourselves or trying to make every thing clear we are boosting the other person's ego and giving them reasons to think that we are the real culprit .

By that we are actually lessening their conscience prick and taking the guilt upon ourselves. Let everybody carry their own burdens. That is the message I have for this Women's day .

I realised its Women's day only when I logged in. And I was thinking what I would want to do. I want to freak out. But now I am so caught up with my responsibilities as a mother and a wife I cannot think of anything to do for myself.

Does anybody have some cool resolutions ?????

May be this is also Womanhood !