R.I.P ,Steve Jobs

So,its not about how long you’ve lived.Its how you’ve lived that matters.

And ,when you’ve a deadline called death hanging over your head,thats when you give life your best shot.

R.I.P,Steve Jobs.I’m not an Apple fanboy(girl.Whatever!).The only Apple products I’ve used so far are the Ipod shuffle(free gift) and the Ipad (that too was free ). And its not like I can’t live without either of them.

I personally find Apple products way too expensive for my liking.

But,the passing of Jobs saddens me deeply. I’m trying to figure out why.One man ,who changed the way the world lives,I guess.A life well lived.

R.I.P,Jobs.Yours was a job well done .

I kinda feel very puny.What am I doing with my life ??!!!! Maybe I need to know when my deadline kicks in .

Never say Die :-)

Pippa :Amma,Parts of the body!
Me [Stunned that the kid is actually learning something at school and proud that my little offspring is actually not just up to no good all the time] : Yes,baby,go on!
Pippa [Touching head] : Head !
Pippa [ Touching shoulder] : Shoulders !
Pippa [Touching eyes] : Eyes
..And so the story goes on in this manner,till she reaches her ears.She touches her ears and gives me this blank look.Apparently,she has forgotten.
Me [Giving her the raised eyebrows as though they can tell her the right answer] : Yes…??
Pippa [ After a minute of two of trying to find out the right word] : Thirugaani ! Kammal !

I’m so proud of her.I know this girl is going to be street-smart.She is never going to say “I don’t know”

Time flies.

And the first term holidays are going to start for Pippa.I can’t believe the little thing grew up so fast ! The last time I saw her,she was crawling around in her diapers.Now shes in school and already done with the first term.Time does fly.Especially when you really don’t want it to.I made this grand resolution to learn driving at the beginning of this year.We’re almost at the fag end ,and yep,you guessed it right,I’m still stuck in first gear. How does one find Time ? There are a million things I want to do .But Time eludes me.Looks like I’m going to grow old and die before I tick even a few off my list of 100 Things to do before I die.There is actually even no time to blog anymore.Rather,no time to think before I blog.Which is why this so totally meaningless rant.Anyways,something for the record ,something to just remind myself that this blog exists.

Stop judging us.

Why’re people so judgmental of mothers? Do they’ve any idea what it takes? Have they been there?Any idea how huge it is to be physically, socially, financially and morally responsible for another human being?

 I was so judgmental (especially of mothers), before I became one.

The role is overwhelming and at times, it takes utmost will power to just scrape through.

There are times when I look at other mothers,and think that I’m better than them.Then I suddenly realize that I’m not in their shoes,and I shut that thought out.I really think its not at all fair to judge mothers

So, people, especially other mothers, stop judging us .We’re giving it our best shot.Honestly,I’m sure every woman would.

The Conspiracy Theory

It is true.When you wish for something badly,the whole universe conspires to make it come true.Two days back,I “lost” my cellphone.Or so I thought.Yesterday night,I found it in one of the zips in Pippa’s baby bag.So,Universe,you gotta try harder for me.

That one week.

This week (ending today) has been one helluva ride.Moving into new home,setting it up, picking up Pippa from school,cooking,and working from home and managing untimely visits from the electricians and plumbers and carpenters ,its been overwhelming,exhausting and my legs are almost giving up on me.One more day of this and I’m going to jump off the balcony.That seems like a much simpler solution.

But ,then ,playing with Pippa,I realised something even better.Bursting bubble packs.Who needs therapy ? Bubble packs are cheaper,a whole lot more fun ,and well ,just imagining every bubble to be every person you want to spank,there is quite nothing like it.Love it .

Deep thought : Definitely going to get ourselves our own home soon.The next time I’m moving will be the last time I’ll ever move in my whole damn life.

 

 

Pre-school

Where do I start ? One small step for the child is one huge leap for the parent.Pippa just started pre-school.And,if I can survive the first two weeks of her schooling life ,I know that now I can survive just about anything.Like Dhanush says, swimming in a Tsunami is more preferable than going through that again.

And the things that I’ve learnt ?

• All that stuff about the parents being graduates,the home being within a radius of 5 km,the childs age being 3 yrs and above,all those criteria for school admission in Chennai are hogwash.The only real two criteria are recommendation and donation.

• The kid will hate school for the first two weeks.She will bawl as though you’re sending her off to concentration camp.She will develop all sorts of  weird  pains.I remember her clearly telling me that her stomach is aching and when I asked her to point out the place,she pointed somewhere near her right shoulder. Learn to live with that albeit a short while.Its all going to miraculously disappear once she resigns to her fate.

• School is heaven.For the parents.To whoever invented school,I’m eternally grateful.Thankyou for the daily brief respite from parenting little monsterrs…er..angels.

When it rains,it pours.

Yesterday,it poured in Chennai.And when one thing goes wrong,everything else does.Late night,heavy traffic,flat tyre. Finally,we did manage to reach home safely.Set me thinking ,though.Not for once,did i bitch about it.Funnily,sitting inside the car,and staring outside at people in two wheelers,getting drenched,yet just waiting it out in the heavy traffic,I felt blessed. I think I just got lucky in life.And it would be criminal to complain about it.

Carpe Diem

The human mind (or more,my mind) is wired to eternally worry.If its school admission today,then its house hunting tomorrow,then its how-is-she-going-to-adjust-to-school worry later on,and then its college admission,then adolescent worries.Sigh,I can’t see any light at the end of the tunnel.So,yesterday ,when I found myself nearly breathless and totally panicked out from worrying about something that hasn’t happened yet,I decided to do something about it.I got hold of “How to stop worrying and start living”.I’ve just finished about a fourth of the book,and I must say,its quite a good read.I’ve always stuck to my opinion that self-help books are full of stuff thats good to read,but can’t really be practised.But, I beg to differ ,now.

Listing down a snippet from this book.So totally true with most of us.Don’t we all put off living the moment ?

One of the most tragic things I know about human nature is that all of us tend to put off living. We are
all dreaming of some magical rose garden over the horizon-instead of enjoying the roses that are
blooming outside our windows today.

Mid-life crisis

I think I’ve just hit mid-life crisis.I’d rather be anywhere but here right now.

 I want to stop living my life in a hurry.I want to take time off to smell the roses (or the garbage or the bad air in chennai.Whatever).I want to stop living on Chennai roads (Every commute is an eternal nightmare).I want to spend more time with Pippa .Pippa sounds just right for the little terror.The little princess.Pippa is the daughter I’ve always wanted.The daughter I wanted so badly that when I was told that it was a boy in my very first scan, I was so disappointed I cried for a whole day .And also prayed for a miracle.

 A week back, Pippa bungee jumped from our bed, hit the floor and broke her front tooth. So,there. Thats the miracle I prayed for