My Lady of the Lantern

My parents were here this past week, and mummy taught me a few exercises before she left. So far, I have consistently managed to do it on alternate days ( shhhh....nobody tells her, okay? ). -- I bought maternity wear for myself ( quite some while ago )...few mix and match pieces that were looser/ oversized and so far I have been comfortable in my old clothes...I did take out one from the maternity gear, but it was only because I wanted some novelty. No surprise however is that I am 'showing' clearly now. So the next pearl from Office TV is a suggestion by colleagues to wear my clothes such that the bump remains covered. Another one elaborated that this way I could save myself from evil eye. Bwahaahaaaaa! -- I am sleeping better. -- If I keep my hand on my belly lightly, sometimes I do feel some sensation. It is evanescent, and that is why I wonder if what I am feeling is actually Kaiser doing his/her jig inside. But I am still confused, because I do not know if what I am feeli...

So there are times when I am what I theoretically say that I am not. Like what I would not want to say that I do but I actually do. This relates to a 2 1/2 year old girl I recently met. I had my small bit of contention about the way she was behaving. In one word, she is stubborn. The other thing is that she apparently has a sweet tooth. So her pediatrician asked her parents to take her off sweets, because she was overdoing on sweetmeats. Well, so if you do not give your child items that essentially qualify as desserts, one would have to certainly give items that taste non-sugary right? So, this one day, I looked at all that she had...the one non-sweet thing she had was an egg, but otherwise the little one had let's see, Cashew biscuits, raisins, cake and a mixture of curd and rice. The last item could have been counted non-sweet, but mom dear mixed three teaspoonful of sugar in it! Am I being wrong if I think that her parents are not really helping the 'eating habit'? I als...

I have so many thoughts I want to jot down, and the past week and a half that I was posting my Flying Thoughts series, there were incidents and issues that went flitting. But, I did not want to disrupt the tempo and so I withheld myself. However something so happened that I would like to speak it out, before everything else that I planned to document. On Tuesday ( as in May 18th ), my parents ( who are currently in the US, spending time with my bro ) phoned up. My brother and his girlfriend have finally decided to get married, and the date would be fixed in accordance with their winter vacation. My heart sank. Of course, I am happy for my bro. Do you remember I had once spoken of a tradition where the toddlers of the family ride the mare with the groom ? Well, my child would miss the ride yet again. I do not have anybody to offer for that ride. My own brother would not be seating my child on the mare. How can this be? I missed out in the wedding of my DH's two cousins last year. I ...

This is one of the oldest family snaps - Me, Parents and bro J as the infant. I was 5 or 6 years old when this pic was taken (sometime in the early 1980s). For a long time I have felt that this photo is a portrait of what I and my brother became as adults. My brother became independent only when he went away to US for pursuing higher studies. I was always the break-free. Being the elder one, all the discipline and control tenets were tried and tested on me first and then experiences with me led my parents to suitably modify their techniques for the younger one. I went to a movie with my friends (I lied, was caught, and was slapped; but I had lied coz I would never have been permitted) when I was 17. My bro went to the movies with his friends at 13 (with due permission)! Anyways, the picture is from a family picnic organized by my father’s colleagues in the Anaesthesiology department. These picnics were annual affairs and filled with fun and laughter and a lot of chances at making good ...