Some of my favorite things... Chai and more

My Thursday morning began with a big mug of Assam chai and me filling my journal. Everything about it was special. The chai and the journal have been gifted by two of my besties.

I have always loved planners and have had some gorgeous ones during college life,  diligently bought end of December to begin using from January first. Once upon a time, I did attempt to keep a diary but it got too emotional at a point and I stopped writing. This December when I was gifted this 5 year one line a day journal,  the little girl in me was thrilled to bits. I have been diligently noting down about my day,  what happens, sometimes what am feeling. Suddenly, those few lines seem little but I can't wait to look at it five years down the line to see how every May 18th was for me in the last five years. Given the paucity of space,  I jot down what seems most important part of the day and when I look back at the last five months, it's a motley mix of things. This journal will always have a special place in my heart, like forever.

My love for chai began at Mounts thanks to the 'Ditchers'. Our night out conversations were interspersed with mugs of chai. We girls could drink chai anytime anywhere. From there, the love only grew and I had chai partners at IISc. Friends with whom you go for that chai break and who can almost take a chai break anytime, the hour of the day being inconsequential. This love deepened further when I visited Assam and the Nilgiris for work and 20% of my baggage would be chai, brought home much to the delight of the significant other, who also is a chai lover. With Prashant, I discovered the earthiness of makaibari green tea, the golden colour of the darjeeling tea and the beauty of a white tea brewed perfectly. My favorite ofcourse is adrak wali chai because nothing wakes your senses like that. So,  grateful for beautiful mornings like this and everything else too.

#someofmyfavoritethings #gratitude #besties #friendsknowyou #beautifulmorning #assamchai #happiness #bliss #chaipartners #significantother #ditchers

'Joy'fully Yours

There are many people in life whom we love and whom we take for granted.  Top of the list has to be our siblings. I am grateful to have a sibling. My Bhai is one of my greatest support and someone who never judges me ever(at least I think so) . I can share the most bizarre and controversial thoughts with him. He tolerates my OCD,  all my quirks, even those rare times when he gets the brunt of my anger. He is one of the first person I will crib to if am upset with ma baba. And he understands my thoughts behind all the cribbing. I don't expect reaction or action but I know he is listening.

My fears, even my miniscule joys,  my hyper excited moments are all shared with him. He has seen me weep over losses, seen me fight for what's important to me and has been beside me all that time. He is my strength in more ways than one. And the bonus is he of course likes almost everything I cook.  From bossing over him, thanks to the fact that am almost 8years older, to becoming confidante and friend, we have come a long way.

I look forward to growing old together,  to witnessing all the wonderful things that life has in store for him and for us. Life at times gets so busy that you need a breakfast date to spend time with your brother. What is important is that we have this space and we make this effort. I am fiercely protective of him and yet I am the first one to tell him if something is amiss. He is a young man today but he will always be my baby brother. And now of course, he is Joy to Ira, in all happiness. To the years ahead, gratitude. 

#gratitude #siblinglove #grateful #breakfastdatewithbhai #bhai #joy #emotionaldidi #microblogging 

A year of Montessori and a befitting Gratitude List

This is a gratitude list that I write as Ira completes her first year of Montessori today. 

                                                    Final Day of Montessori Today

We are grateful for all the wonderful things listed and more. 

• Her excitement every morning to go to school. 
• Her sharing the activity that she did at school that day- pink cube tower,  number rods,  tracing alphabets or even her favorite world map and the latest, spindle box and movable alphabets. 
• The immense pretend play and all us being characters in her play along with bonnie, snowy and even checkers. 
• Telling us how a friend of hers got his tooth to school and showed them all. 
• The need to be independent- I will eat by myself and use a fork for the fruits, I will wear my own shoe and then crisscross her feet to ensure she has worn them right,  choosing the sweater or jacket for the day, carrying her own school bag. 
• Looking forward to being picked up by dadu from school when Mamma and Papa are busy at work. 
• Hugging trees on every Cubbon Park visit and climbing mini rocks when we visit an adventure camp site. 
• Discovering the joys of nimbu pani and tender coconut water and demanding for the same. 
• Inventing stories 'because' who needs a reason and telling us sternly, "guys, follow me"  as we walk the Bangalore footpaths
• We are grateful for those non stop questions,  those teary-eyed filled appeals,  those high pitched screams, those moments of terrible twos transitioning into three soon. 
• When you ask,  why do you want this? Be it a  fruit,  a sweet or some random toy and she says,  because I love it. She almost won the argument because who says no to love. 
• When she says her thank you and gives that hug on her own. Even when she refuses to acknowledge the person across,  won't say namaste or won't smile. 
• When she constantly sings, "I am hombe kaamyaab ek din..." Also, makes up her own song where you first jump on the bed, then go to Mary's lamb and then the farm and then climb the water spout. 
• When the contents of the snack and lunch box are discussed every morning and she has a glint in her eyes. Strawberries and Muskmelon ensure certain grins and so does Carrot paratha and egg. 
• When she furiously scribbles on a piece of paper and declares she has written,  IRA PRAMADH. When she colours within, beyond and across the boundaries in a colouring book. 
• When she makes a car and Papa and Mamma get turns being the green figurine because she is the blue one. 
• When she stays with one of us, while the other travels and does serious phone conversations enquiring our whereabouts. We are either in a cab,  the room or in Ben the plane. 
• A grateful plus moment of pride is when she wants you to read books every day because that is like the most normal thing to do. Books at breakfast,  Books in the evening and bedtime stories too. 
• When she comes home from school with scratches on her face or bruise on herself and tells us that she didn't push or hit in retaliation (much to the dismay of her Joi). While we want her to be strong and stand her ground, we are happy she doesn't hit back. (this can be a whole new post) 

We are grateful for all that she has felt,  experienced and learnt at her school and we are grateful to have been part of this journey with her. 

As we prepare for her long summer holidays and the summer camps she will attend, we smile and treasure all the memories this past year has given us. 

Looking forward to the next academic year already. 

Or like Ira says, "I will see you,  okay?!?!" 

The Birthday Gratitude List :)

I love November. Why? Because am born in November and no harm in being narcissist once in a while. I am doing something new today. It shall be a Gratitude List. For the uninitiated, like me a few months ago,  what does it mean. It is a list of things or people or event you appreciate and are thankful for that have happened to you.
So,  as I ring in my birthday, I share 10 things am grateful and immensely thankful for. This is like that masterchart with multiple layers and hues.

1. The place I was born at. As a child, Batanagar for me was synonymous with summer holidays,  relatives and cousins.  But with time,  I associate it to a bond that I feel when I go there. I feel happy.  The visits are rare. Some relationships have stayed strong and some don't exist, and then some new. But Batanagar will always have some fond memories - the fruit cake my dadubhai bought me during our walks,  the mallik bajaar,  the chop near Bata theatre, falling off the cycle with my fulda, watching movies with my mashis, dipping my feet in the home ponds and the fish.

2. The parents I was born to.  We don't often get around to telling them how much we love them. But love them, we do. The banters,  the arguments, the disagreements as we grow are due to multitude of things.  But what matters is while we may crib,  parents will always be parents. They will be selfish about you and your wellbeing. We don't see it sometimes but there are times when it makes sense. My parents are my mentors,  my friends and the devil's advocates. What I am today is thanks to my ma's nagging,  which is I guess is a mom's birthright and my baba,  being my biggest supporter and my critique at the same time. They taught me to dream and supported my dreams all through.

3. 1.35pm, 6th May 1988 is a moment I will always be grateful for. Joy came into my life (selfish and possessive didi).  Over the years,  my little brother has always had my back and given me sound advice when I needed it the most.  He is my 3am friend and we both are equally senti and hopeless. I can fight and argue with him and know that he understands and always will.  Am proud of the young man he has grown up to be, though I don't say it often.

4. The man I met,  married and am living my life with. We are opposites in many ways and very similar in few ways.  We met while volunteering for an NGO.  Prashant has taught me to be resilient,  adventurous (still not as mad as him) and accepting. He has taught me how sarcasm works, though I still don't get it.  He has been a friend and a participative partner every moment, been my critique and confidante. Today,  my heart swells with pride as I see him being a fabulous parent. The last few years, we have taken unconventional decisions and have had the courage to live it together. It is this courage and madness that I will always be grateful for. And ofcourse, the fact that he is a fabulous cook.

5. Friendships happen to us (this needs a whole new blog, I swear). I have friends whom I know for almost 30 years now and some friends, I made in the recent months. My life would be incomplete without them.  There is the family friends, school, college and insti friends, the ditchers, the chai partners,  the movie friends,  the bus stand besties,  the karmic sisters, the chrysalis friends, the random discussion friends, the foodie friends, the mommie friends and also the friends, who are family (You all know who you are). Each of them are wonderful and accomplished men and women. I am proud to have them in my life and despite geographical distances with many, time has only brought us closer.  Discussing the most bizarre thoughts and aspirations,  talking about our fears and hopes,  sharing our joys,  crying over our pains... Life is colourful and tolerable in the difficult times, thanks to friends.

6. a. Grateful to all my teachers.  They have taught me some of the most valuable lessons and most of all to be a kind and loving person.  Academic accomplishments are just one chapter in your life.  Without humility, hardwork and perseverance,  education doesn't have much meaning. I will always be grateful for the institutions I studied in and I strongly believe,  we must all as alumni, give back to our educational institutions in whatever capacity we can.
6.b Grateful to all the doctors and other people in my life, who have made my life comfortable. Grateful to the household helps I have had who have helped maintain my sanity.  Grateful to the support systems around. Life would not be the same.

7. Grateful for all the interests I pursued. Drawing and sketching,  writing poetry and prose , English and Hindi theatre were some of my strong interests growing up. In 10th, I actually wrote a poem dedicated to my classmates, with a line for each and recited it proudly.  Doing a project on radio,  participating in national fests, organising events at school, college and later at insti. At IISc,  I often told my friends,  that along with the PhD, I must get a degree in event management. I will always be grateful for the opportunities I got, and ofcourse emceeing all those events during the centenary year attended by the then president and prime minister. The work we did and the people I met at Voices,  the IISc Student Newsletter will always hold a special place in this list. My current interest that keeps me sane is blogging ofcourse:)

8. My career has been a motley mix of research based work,  teaching,  working with newspaper in education,  NGO, being a founding partner of a start up and now an independent consultant. I am grateful for each of these experiences because they have made me stronger, taught me skills and taught me to value myself and the worth I bring to the place of work.  We are too busy criticising ourselves or gloating in small victories. But while we build our careers,  we are also working to build our character. Often the most rewarding experiences are intangible. They have been some happy experiences and some hurtful moments , but am glad that every time, I have learnt, picked up the pieces and I have moved on to newer experiences.

9. The friendships,  relationship and bonds; the decisions,  the struggles and the choices that didn't work. Yes,  am grateful for my failures because they led to the successes. Am grateful for things that didn't work because they keep me grounded and treasure the things that worked. The fact is when we're make a choice or take a decision,  we do it because it seems the right thing for that time and place. So,  regret and retrospection while can help us learn, should never take up too much mindspace . Am also grateful for all my accidents and falls. They always remind me how precious life is and how we need to love and live it every moment. This suddenly sounds like a Dear Zindagi hangover.

10. The thread has to close with my most life changing moment. Being a parent to Ira Pramadh. I will always be grateful for this. Motherhood has been a rewarding roller coaster ride and I look forward to the years to come because I know that in that smile, those naughty eyes and inquisitive questions; our world will always rejoice.

So,  I guess Happy birthday to me!