Moma - Daughter Painting duo

Pearl had been sick and at home for a few days . And she wanted to watch TV the whole day . So we came up with some instant games .

One is this painting competition where two of us painted our pictures .

[caption id="attachment_3050" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Daughter dear's 'Rabbit in the forest'"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_3051" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Insane Moma's 'chick & snail'"][/caption]

In her opinion her painting is very professional and lively while mine is a bit plain and childish ! :D

 

Does love get drowned in the noise of V-day ?

" Happy Velentine’s Day, belatedly…But I wonder if love gets drowned in all that noise of the day we make these days. "

This is a comment I received from Neena for my post 'Valentine's day thoughts'. Frankly I have been also thinking about it for a while , I thought I will ask what my other friends think .

Here is my two cents . I would like to know what you think !

I believe in a ‘ Valentine’s Life’ than a ‘Valentine’s day’ . Don’t we all live for the one’s we love ?

If we start thinking of it as a waste of time , money and culture intrusion ,  what is the point of all the other celebrations and festivals ? They were also started at some point and then became a part of our culture . Don’t we spend a fortune celebrating all those festivals ?

What is important is we should not let ourselves carried away to a point that the days become more important than the life or what it is celebrated for  . Even when drowned in the noise we can take our stand , Can’t we Instead of joining the shopping spree and the hullabulla we can give a hug or a smile , or do something that make the ones we love happy or we can have a quiet evening with the family


But it was nice to celebrate the day in a naive and girlish way too , I would add

May be world is moving into a global festival culture . Isn’t there some good in it ? The world coming together to celebrate a festival not for the sake of religion or caste but for love , for nature , for planet earth , for peace , for brotherhood , for mothers , fathers or other happy moments in life . I am loving the idea.

Thanks for the comment Neena . This part was also there in my mind as a tail for the post . Thanks for helping me find the words to put down my thoughts :D

Thursday Challenge : trees

Have been tracking this Banyan tree for a while .

[caption id="attachment_3033" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="December"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_3034" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="January "][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_3035" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="January"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_3036" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="February"][/caption]

Valentine's day thoughts

Remembering the pink dresses , lovely cards , cuddly bears and my two friends who generously planned to give all the boys in the class red roses and then skillfully managed to buy yellow ones for themselves and red ones for me .Downside of being a day scholar.

Remembering the effort to prepare for the last and final exam with a newly married - hubby missing - friend while you are yourself starstruck and could think of nothing but your fiancé waiting  outside the exam hall .

Remembering a friend who took the effort to get to the flower shop at midnight in the midst of his exam preparations so that his friend can gracefully gift a red rose for her fiancé.

Remembering the blushed face , apple cheeks and starry eyes of a boy who has now grown up into a dynamic husband , a loving father and a successful man .


Remembering the ice creams and the canopied pathways and the wrench to take leave .

They say Love has no language. But if the Valentine fairy could let me have a boon , I would ask for the skill to decipher my sweet heart's ' language of love'  and then sleep in content forever :D

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Image courtesy : Google search"][/caption]

Happy Valentine's Day !

What happens if you react to eve teasing !

Inspired by Shail's and Indian Homemaker's posts .

We have always heard from the elders that it is better to leave the eve teasers to themselves and we have always heard from the enlightened women , and police and social workers that you should react . But what really happens if you decide to react ?

I am ashamed to admit I usually don’t react because  I will lose my temper to such an extend that I will lose myself.

Once I was hurrying with my kids dragging them all along to their weekend classes when a worker wolf called a song . The song is a very good romantic one . But words have double meaning . And he had been using it intentionally .

He had been doing this for quite a few days . I got hooked off to such an extend that I stopped in midway to give him a piece of my mind . I was so angry thinking he has the guts to tease a mother who is trying hard to manage two kids and is running mad with her chores . ( One part of my mind was also mad at the fact that he has distorted one of my favourite songs. )

He came up with the excuse that he is singing on his own . Why did I listen . and such craps !!

What made me really sad is that the other men who were along with him were just smiling to see all this and he was working in the house next to ours and the people there just peeked from inside and went back .

My kids got so upset and wouldn’t let me take that path until they went away finishing their work. They used to say it will make me upset . Even now after almost a year I feel like giving him a good blow .

This is the society we are living in .

The eyes of a mother

I was reading Swaram's post and thought of sharing this . At Pearl's dance class there is a mother who brings her child for the dance . Her eyes are so spiritless and sorrowful you would think it is a photostat of her real self.

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="176" caption="picture coutesy - google search"][/caption]

Then I learned she was divorced recently by her husband on his mother's advice as  she had a girl child . This is not common in here actually .

She has been haunting me in my thoughts . Cannot think how she is finding the courage to move on with life . And they say the husband actually likes her but is not ready to go against the words of his mother .

Now she goes for a job and lives in a flat .

The little girl is a sweet heart but very calm and quiet . And they cling to each other for their life . While we mothers  yell to our kids to bring them on line they communicate with silent gazes and nods and whispers .

I shudder thinking what all she would have gone through that it took all the life from her eyes . And I wish a strong gush of wind comes to put it all back in her and give her a life to look forward to .

On Makravilakku

Since childhood I have heard 'Makaravilakku'  is the Adivasi (tribals) conducting their Pooja . My earliest memories of Makaravilakku is listening to the live radio commentary while at my Father's place in Harippad . I can feel the kitchen bench where I had sat with my father and I can smell my Grand mother's curry in the air .

As a child I had thought of the place or "Ponnambalamedu "  as a calm dwelling place of the tribals whose grand fathers might have known Ayyappan in person . But surely as there are no tribals there now somebody else is doing it now . Even though we would like to believe it to be the tribals .

It is true that now with LIve telecast and all it has been commercialized . ( We even got a call from a channel to place an ad for the 45 minutes for a huge amount . )

I have also heard that the ' Makara Nakshatram ' or the star can be seen from the near by districts during this time of the year . Sirius is the brightest star in the sky . ( something I learned while at 6th or 7th std along with my friend who was a space enthusiast )

I am not an authority . I am just a common Hindu . The point is information is available if you look for it and if you want to know the truth and if you don’t fall for the gimmicks and superstition .

People should have the wisdom to understand your beliefs and religion rationally and to respect others’ .

Anyway I believe and pray to the Supreme power which dwells inside me and is present every where . I would be gratified with praying at the temple any day . Makara Sankranti is just a change in the sun’s path . And was important when we were predominantly a agricultural society.

If at all this happens on its own ( which by now I know for sure it is not ) I would be interested to know the science and phenomenon behind it . Just like I am fascinated by the Garuda ( eagle ) which accompanies the ‘thiruvabharanam’ every year and then goes away. I am keeping my eyes and ears open . If anybody know the secret please do share.

I agree that it should be disclosed in public. Actually , the first thing that I said after knowing about the dreadful tragedy was that ‘ it is high time they make it public what goes on there ‘ . But it is also important that people accept it is endorsed for common good and not to scandalise a religion or belief.

People should accept the ritual as a part of History of Kerala . ‘That some tribals who lived there used to conduct a pooja at the time of Makara Sankranti and it could be seen from Sabarimala.’

At this point I can’t help remembering the rush and stampede and fight that occurs in front of the shrines and temples or public functions or queues where no magic is involved and the only point is ‘to be the first’ . I think it all comes down to self discipline and that includes me.

May the bereaved families find the strength to survive and peace in life . Nothing would change what they have lost .

Note : This is a comment thread which I posted on Lekhini's post 'On the Makara Jyothi hoax in Sabarimala' . It almost took the shape of a post and I thought I would post it here , on my blog. Yesterday I was listening to Rahul Easwar's explanation on the difference between Makara Vilakku and Makara Jyoti on You tube. I like the way how Rahul represents the young thinking Indian and Hindu. You can meet him at  rahuleaswar.com

What will you do ?

Friends , what will you do if some stranger comes and asks if he can take a snap of your child in his mobile ?

The side lines are : any way he can take a snap from a distance . Our consent doesn't have any relevance . May be he already took one . May be he will turn into a rebel if you deny.

What will you do ? Or what you think we should do ?  Is there a way to convey what you have to say without offending them ? Or we should just let it go ?

I am confused . Enlighten me !