Reflections Of A Desi Mom

N turned 9! I don't know if its just in my head or more moms resonate with me.. But the number is ringing for a couple of days now. The last single digit Birthday. Next year it will be 2 digit and that's driving me anxious! :-D Nevertheless, thanks to the stupid Corona virus, she knew her b'day was going to be a relatively small affair this year.   She had given up hope to have any friend too on her special day. And she had started looking forward to her special day  with 'Cooking' as the main theme! Oh ya.. she loves to eat.. and in the last cpl of months she has been getting equally  fond of cooking.. So the menu was set daaaays in advance. Aam Ras Poori, Maggi and Biryani and if possible a little cake  that we can make at home. Yes little - She was confident about my culinary skills :-D  Days passed and our countdown started. I and J were feeling were very proud of her and equally sad that she cannot see  even her BFF's on her birthda...

#GoCorona and #Lockdown and #StayHome  These hashtags are is all that we eat, see, like and follow pretty much every day.  And then there are some other hashtags that have jumped up in the line.. #homecooking #dalgonacoffee #homemadebread #cookingincorona #homemeadpanipuri #foodgram are the current and happening hashtags doing rounds amongst people stuck in their homes all over the world. People are going above and beyond experimenting in their kitchens with minimal as well as fancy pantry items. And I have some of those in my family and friend circle too. Daddy-Daughter combo in my home has been making interesting stuff from Corn Chivda to Rasgulla to Maggi Omelette to variations of chicken! They can spend hours slogging in that hot kitchen. The non-foodie me is often at awe but never motivated to gear up my cooking skills.  Another series of hashtags going around in the world of moms of  young children is the art and craft. People are creating ...

CoronaVirus has hit. CoronaVirus is REAL. CoronaVirus is difficult to deal with. Stay In. Wash hands. Be Safe. Yes. All these things are all over the internet, newspapers, WhatsApp, maid-talk, grocery stores, family circle - literally - not just the talk of the town but the whole world. And rightly so. Finally, we have become united in fighting off just 1 enemy and not making enemies out of each other - YET.  People are going crazy over hand-washing techniques and stock-piling not just food supplies but also sanitizers and of course Toilet Paper and maybe making an enemy or 2 on the way! But more than that the world around us is full of notions and horrifying images of being stuck at home with our better halves and off-springs. Its been more than a week that I had started feeling the pinch of the virus coming to India and the panicky person I am - I stopped sending N to school. It was only after few days of our state and later city being the worst hit, schoo...

So, with the change of winds and change in perspective.. I had wowed last month itself that I am going to make the changes I want to see within myself starting now. This included being positive about a lot of things.. Even if the ugliness keeps creeping up every now n then! 😄😄 And what better day than one's birthday to boost up that determination?!! On the eve itself I knew the dress shopping that I so enthusiastically did for this Birthday is not going to be fruitful as J had fallen sick with a bang. But It was alright. :-) A beautiful necklace gift by a very dear friend pepped me up just! And of course my sweet mom was the 1st one to wish me dot at 12'o clock! With the chirpy, happy wishes of papa, sis n BIL - I put myself to snooze just like any other day.. However, N was excited and couldn't be more chirpier on 5th :-D She woke up quickly unlike every day.. and gave me a hand-made birthday card. Before I could ask how come she managed to make it in 5 minut...

Ok. Hello again! After weeks.. umm months!  Yes. People take sabbaticals when they are not ready for something. This was mine.  I essentially started this blog to share happy, healthy and a joyful journey of motherhood with my readers. But with the last 2 blog posts - I  only vented. Which wasn't healthy. Then other stuff happened, and then some more ugly stuff happened.  Not getting into the gory details of the ugliness, let's come to the point! LOL Have you ever experienced a lull and then it gets on your nerves so much that you want to change that? Not just get out of the lull but ...... also change your entire surrounding... surround yourself with only positivity... cut the crap of the negativity that has been engulfing??  Perhaps you do.. and Perhaps you don't. Perhaps its an on going process for most. People keep detoxing their bodies, mind and surroundings. Unfortunately, I have been an extremist. And I...

It has been a long long time I wrote a happy, cheerful post.  Not that I am continuously being unhappy or sad about things.. but more often than not, unpleasant things keep coming my way.  Yes, absence of ample sunshine and exciting activities derails me from my happy-go-lucky sense in this season... but positive things keep me going usually.  A couple of years back I fought depression just around about this time. The factors that helped me wade my way through and back to sanity are the same factors that are so unpleasant this time around.  Impossible? No. I have always felt life is very relative. What is Ok to 1 person can be horrible to another and what is slightly uncomfortable to 1 being can pose profound sadness in another person's life.  Sometimes I feel, I was just happy being ignorant. Happy that there was so much positivity around. Happy that problems were there but I was willing to deal with them head-on. And for more rea...

Kem Cho? Kevi gayi chokrao ni rajao??  Didn't understand? Its simple Gujarati. If you cannot read Gujarati ..sorry you cannot read further.  Puzzled?  Don't be! It's coming from the bitterness that I experienced this week.  I took almost a month long sabbatical from blogging, I had thought when I write after school re-opens it will be fresh and  energetic just like I was feeling.  But this experience not only hurt me as a Mother but also a resident of this prestigious society I am living in.  Since the time we came and lived here in Pune, I experienced caste discrimination.. Yes in a metro city like Pune!!! After  living abroad, you tend to get into the habit of greeting people in public places, even if you don't know them. I used to  unknowingly do the same. But I was often answered by stern glances and worse tilted necks. Slowly I gave up. Gradually  I understood, it was not me. It was my NON-Mahara...