15 Marbles

Moments.Musings.Memories. ❤️Gathering little marbles from ordinary days and keeping them for our memory jar. ❤️

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  • Its all about getting your hands dirty :)

    There is a lovely contest going on over at Shruti’s called Artsy Craftsy Challenge and the theme is Hand and Finger painting.And it couldn’t have come at a better time.Before going to India,we had done a bit of finger painting and Aadi loved it.
    These days,she wants to learn how to draw and paint..”You teach me”,she says..So,my mind was full of fun things to teach her.
    Here are some of the paintings that we worked on-


    The Garden- The flowers are made by finger prints .For the stalks-I squeezed a big dot of paint on her finger and asked her to go ‘zoom-zoom’ like a car.For the tree on the side,I squeezed some red and blue and asked her to mix it and smear it!Ta da you have the stem.And then some more zooming around for the green parts.

    Come say hello to the Thumbkins..First we made the thumb prints-My thumb prints for Papa and Mamma Thumbkin and Aadi’s for the boy and girl.Then,I drew eyes,noses and mouths,followed by hats,hair,bows,etc.Then,she wanted them to have bodies..So we dabbed and smeared till we got them each a body!


    This one is really cool..My friend’s brother showed it to me,when I was a kid.
    Fold and unfold your sheet into half and then,dab huge dots of different color,along the line created by folding.Smear the paint along the line.Add some more dots randomly and fold the paper again,press gently with your fingers,going from the fold towards the center of the page and in any direction that you like.Unfold and see the masterpiece that you just created!:P

    While I was creating masterpieces,I asked Aadya to put some dots on another sheet of paper.Then we folded the paper horizontally,pressed side ways…unfolded,folded vertically,pressed again and then unfolded.And all done!

    Tip- For easy clean-ups,remember to keep some wet wipes handy.
    Editted to add-I entered this post for Shruti’s contest.The last picture has a watermark,as Aadi decided to make it better!

  • 2 States By Chetan Bhagat-A book review


    2 States is the story of a typical North Indian-South Indian couple.A Punjabi guy,Krish and Tamilian girl,Ananya meet at B-school,become friends and soon fall in love.Everything is hunky-dory till the convocation ceremony.Thats when their parents meet and all hell breaks loose.
    Cultural shock,sarcastic comments and hurt egos spell doom for the lovebirds.But,instead of taking the easy way out and eloping,Krish and Ananya decide to tough it out and convince their parents.They have a vision of “seeing both the sets of parents smiling on their wedding day”and set about to achieve this goal.
    The story goes from Delhi to Chennai,back and forth and the cultural difference between the two families is depicted very nicely.I just wished he had used atleast some Hindi dialogues,with translation.
    The story flows very fast and since its a narrative,its an instant page-turner.I felt like I was listening to a friend’s story,which brings me to the next point.The author mentions in the beginning that the story is inspired from his life,but urges the readers to treat it as fiction.This contradiction,makes it hard to distinguish Krish,the hero from Chetan the author.
    On the whole a good read.
    This is my first book review and so quite amatuerish..feel free to ignore it.:)

  • Craft Swap-1

    I am so excited.I was a part of a handmade swap on Ravelry.And then,came my surprise India trip.I asked the group moderator and my swap partner,if it was alright if I posted my parcel,after I got back and they said yes.
    I mailed my parcel on saturday morning.Then,we went grocery shopping and when we came back,there was something peeking out of the mail box ..and Lo!It was the parcel from my swap partner!
    My first ever Swap gift..I am so excited.
    Its a beautiful crochet hand-bag-its crochet shells,as you can tell from the pics.Thanks Battybp
    I am dying to write about what I made for her..but I guess I will wait till she receives it.

  • Life’s simple pleasures


    [Image courtesy- Google images]
    The last few days have been exceptionally hot..We have been indoors all day long..spending our time in air-conditioned living room.That’s the only room that has the AC.Sitting anywhere else is out of question,with temperatures soaring,reaching a high of 42degC.
    The heat makes it hard to cook and eat.So,we have been feasting on summer treats..cool cucumber slices,peach wedges,freshly squeezed lemonade,thin buttermilk(taak in marathi).Today was the same.We could barely eat lunch..but a plate full of cucumber sticks was demolished quickly by us.And when I was chomping down my share,a memory made me smile.
    Summer-time,usually meant a trip to Aaji-Ajoba’s place in Devlali.And when we visited,my aunt would come over with Sofi-Sahil too.And almost second day,Ajoba(my maternal G’pa) would go to the vegetable market and come back with two bags full of vegetables and fruits.And in those bags,among other things were the little cucumbers..similar in shape and size to the pickle cucumber,but white skin and green flesh..yummmmmm.
    We could each pick one of our choice and then Aaji would peel it and slice it lengthwise into four pieces and sprinkle some salt on it and give it to each one of us,in our own kiddie-sized plate..The first bite,when the cool sweet cucumber taste hits you,is bliss…Aah…just remembering it makes my mouth water.
    Watching Aadi savour her Kakadi(cucumber in hindi),saying yummm with some bites and just closing her eyes and enjoying the others..reminded me that indeed these are life’s simple pleasures.