15 Marbles

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

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  • Reality shows,really?

    So, most evenings after Sanj comes home,dinner etc done with,we cuddle up on the couch..me with a book in my hand,he with the remote in his..and Aadya just playing around..sometimes,pottering in the kitchen,bringing out pots and pans and pretending to cook..Anyway,not to digress..So Sanj channel surfing and almost every other channel has some reality show on.

    I remember when so many years ago..I think 11-12 years ago,when Javed Jaffery started “Boogie-Woogie” it was a novel concept and we used to wait to watch it. That and there was “Saanp-Seedi ” with Mohan Kapoor as the host.These were the first of this new genre of TV shows..The ones with real people participating,acting spontaneously in front of the camera.Then,there was Antakshari..which was a popular show..but it deteriorated over the years.These were shows that people used to look forward to,because there was no continuity-you could start watching from any episode and enjoy it.

    After Boogie-woogie,the next talent hunt show I remember watching is “Zee Cine stars ki Khoj”.My neighbour’s best friend was a contestant,and she asked us to watch it and root for him..So, we watched a couple episodes and started following it..staying up till late to watch the Grand Finale! Then SaReGaMa followed,Indian Idol,Voice of India..blah blah blah..I am not saying that these people who participate are not talented..Sure they are.. but the publicity stunts and the sob stories in each show.. that is getting too familiar.

    These shows were a welcome change from the Saas-Bahu Sagas,which run interminably,but really,how much of drama and emotions can you take. Its so funny..I am sitting and typing this here,when about an hour back, I was sniffing away tears for a contestant on Zara Nachke Dikha, who was abandoned on the penalty bench by his team mates.We regular viewers get so involved in these reality shows,that we don’t know where reality ends and drama begins.No really I am not kidding..after the show ended, we ended up having a long discussion about how it was not right, who could be responsible for this decision..blah blah.. yeah we are that jobless.. And we are just two people..imagine the number of people back home,in India watching this.And surely there are millions of people..because how else can you explain the number of votes,pouring in ALL these reality shows.

    Each talent search show, be it SaReGaMa or Voice of India or any others..( there are so many,I don’t remember all the names) claims to have received so many million votes. So, who is doing this? Who are these people who are voting,regular people like you and me,right? But,these people have the interest and dedication to take it one step forward and actually send in that SMS. We all have our favorites after watching a couple episodes,but do you really take the time to send out your vote,by SMS or make that call?

    And speaking of talent shows, how can I not speak of the talent search for kids and the amount of pressure on the little participants. The pressure from parents, judges, viewers..the pressure to excel..is it really necessary? I remember watching one of the episodes of the children’s special SaReGaMa,where one girl,refused to perform.Her reasons being,she didn’t want her dad to fall sick,if she got eliminated. Why?Because,another girl got eliminated the previous day and her father suffered a heart attack! Its sad,but is a competition,any competition so important?? On the same show, in one of the other episodes,another participant’s father got up and challenged the verdict. He refused to believe it that his princess had not made it in the next round, based on audience voting..Why? because he claimed to have spent thousands of rupees to have people vote for her!! What kind of morals are such parents giving their kids?Aren’t they teaching them,to just win..even if by cheating?

    And what about a code of conduct? Recently watched on Headlines today, how the contestants, of yet another such show,took pot shots at each other, cussed and even got into fights, pushing and shoving each other..on national television. That is surely uncalled for.So where do they draw the line? Where? Sadly, the more controversies a show has, the more popular it is..

    What do you think about this new genre of reality shows and game shows thats come in? How real are they?

  • Of Boo,Baby and Black Cheep.

    Do you know what is common between these three,other than the obvious B? Well, these are some of the words that Aadya says..most commonly.

    Baby is anything or anyone who can be her friend.For example her toys- her teddy,her dolly and her Angie, another toddler,another child.Anyone. Anything or anyone,which is in the same height range as her!well,her dolly is small,but it is called Baby too. She picks up the dolly,pats her,puts her on her shoulder and calls her Babee..We see some little girl in the grocery store,she points at her and says,Babee.. A little boy,seen running around in the park,is pointed at and called Babeee..It really doesn’t matter,if the Babee is a good two years older than her. When we put her to bed,she puts the teddy next to her,pats it and says Babee Aaa aaa. Angie,is another story though..She is like her friend. My friend,Vidya gifted it to her.Its a pink and white poodle from Build-A-Bear Workshop and she loved it from the moment she saw it,even when it was not stuffed. So,she has fights with Angie,wags her finger at her and scolds her. There was a time,when she was almost inseparable from Angie.. That phase is over,for now.

    Boo is when she gets hurt. Whenever she fell down,I used to say..”Ohh Boo ho gaya..” Now she comes to me and says Boo Hua and I have to kiss it to make it better. The first time,I kissed her Boo,she was surprised and stopped crying. I kissed her finger and asked her is it OK? and she just said No..I kissed again and again..till she smiled. Now,I need to kiss her Boo twice only then she says YAS iss OK,with a shy smile.Oh and when kissing the Boo,utmost precision is required.If she presents her hand,to show the boo,you cannot just kiss the hand.If you do so,she will go on to put her finger at the exact stop where the BOO Hua,getting frustrated if your big lips,cannot kiss the tiny spot her little finger points at!

    And lastly,Black Cheep- This little girl loves her nursery rhymes and sometimes sings them for us..Well not the whole thing,but she knows how to prompt mumma to sing…So,she toddles up to me and sings in the sweetest voice..”Baba Baba Back Cheep”…Excited mumma,tells her go on..sing more baby..sing like this..So, mumma sings the whole rhyme and then,baby applaudes and kisses!!Oh and kissing,has to be loud and clear..UUUUUUUUUUUUUMAAAAAAAAAAH! like that! She starts saying the UUU from a distance,comes towards you with puckered lips,gently touches the face and says..Uuumaaaaaaaaah!Oh and now, she showers me with kisses..ummm..I make her,every day at nap time, we lie in bed,I point at my cheek,saying,”ek kissie,aadi..” and she does..then the other cheek and the eyes, and so on. Its fun 🙂 these toddler years.
    Oh..I digress..not that it matters,its all about Aadya..So,another song that she likes listening to is..ABC..So,she starts it..” A B cee dee…” and points at me..Yeah Yeah I oblige..always!

    The funniest thing happened today..we were putting her to sleep- These days, thankfully,she always wants the Papa to be around too.I am happy,I am not the only one,getting frustrated when she is not sleeping.So, first she just didnt want to settle down,she just kept pointing at the bedroom door.Wondering,if she may be hungry,I went out with her and it turns out,Madam wanted a bath.So,I gave her a quick bath,while Papa got her bottle ready. That done,we were back in bed.The dudu was drunk and the sippy put away..and she refused to sleep! I got really angry and told her,”Aadya I am going to count till 5 ,if you dont sleep,That’s it!” So,I started, “One”….”Two”… she puts up two fingers and grins “Thee”… We both burst out laughing..And she jumped right in..And no she didn’t sleep right away,we played some more,we let her stay up past the bed-time,because we were hungry.We finished dinner,by then she was ready to sleep..Happily came to bed with me. Its so funny,I always have to sleep with the bedroom door closed.Now,when Aadya is sleepy and wants to sleep,she pulls me by the hand and makes sure,the door is SHUT behind us!
    Isn’t it funny,how certain things you have been doing almost unconsciously,but the little one picks it up ?

    On a totally different note,I am going to enable comment Moderation..Only because,that way,I am regular in replying to your comments 🙂

  • Mother’s instinct

    In case you are wondering,where we were last few days,let me tell you we were right here..cooped up at home.The Viral monster was visiting and had all of us in his grip. What started as a normal cough-sneeze routine,turned into a full blown viral infection,even before we could say,”Bless you”..We had a bit of a scare,when Aadya’s fever refused to go down,even with regular doses of tylenol and the cough kept getting worse. Two trips to the ped’s office, countless doses of tylenol administered and she is still recuperating..the fever is on and off and the coughing still the same..hoarse,deep throated. Anyway,when she feels fresh,after her nap, she just plays and plays and then,she gets tired and wants mumma to carry her around.Which is fine on normal days..but when Mumma herself was fighting off fever and infection and dealing with so many health problems, carrying her around can be difficult.
    So,we were generally in an irritable mood,both of us snapping at the father..well me snapping,she scratching..So,I decided to just watch some movies to cheer myself up. And I have seen,that Aadya wants me to carry her,only when I am on the phone,or trying to cook or clean.So,I decided to just take a break.Be a couch potato and stare at the idiot box. I am not a big TV fan,so there are not too many things that I like watching.But sometime back,while channel surfing,I saw the trailer of a movie on Lifetime and that seemed interesting. The name of the movie was Little Girl Lost. I was intrigued,and had saved it on DVR. This was one of the movies that I watched,in the last two days.
    Little Girl Lost is based on a real life story. Its the story of a mother,who has been told that her newborn daughter didn’t survive the fire that burnt down her house. But she is not convinced.Infact,she is sure that her baby was still out there somewhere.Its the story of a mother’s conviction and her strength,her willpower and determination to fight anything and anyone and to just find her daughter.Its a beautifully made movie. It moved me to tears.The mother finally reunited with her daughter after 6 years. But not before fighting with the person who had kidnapped her,as a baby. Even after it was proved that this little girl was indeed her baby,the mother had to wait till the child was emotionally ready for the change.
    The most touching part of the movie was..when the mother is told by a social worker,how upset the little girl is..the mother says,”Its so ironical,the happiest day of my life,is the saddest day of her life,” Oh..its a beautifully made story..I had my heart in my mouth till the little girl didnt get home and I wanted to reach out and hug the mother.
    This movie is based on a real life story-The details are here
    While I was watching the movie,I dont know when,Aadya came and cuddled up next to me..And then ,as I held, her,she fell asleep. As I breathed in her sweet baby smell,I realised how lucky I am to be able to hold her,watch her grow…Delimar’s mother, missed all that.She couldn’t rock her baby to sleep,she couldn’t watch her sleep..She had to find out her daughter’s likes and dislikes,by asking her questions,not know it instinctively..So many things we take for granted,so many things need to be treasured.
    I think at the moment I forgot about my aching arms..putting her down,just didnt seem like an option..I just held her closer and stayed that way,for the longest time.

  • Waterbabies

    WaterBabies-Day one
    Once upon a time,there was a little girl.She loved the water but she was prone to ear-infections.A day at the beach and she would catch an infection.So,her mommy and daddy decided to keep her away from water. No swimming for her.She grew up to be a rebellious teen and took some lessons,from her friend. Now,the little girl is grown up,and has a little girl of her own.Yes you guessed,it,Me..who else!
    I still love the water.One hot day,I decided to see if Aadya liked the water too.We went to the pool in the community and tested hands first and then feet,in the small warm pool. Aadya was so excited,seeing that,I rolled up my Capri and and sat on the steps in the shallow pool,she was so excited,squealing and kicking.I was enjoying it too,but I was nervous.You see,I had never taken formal lessons and the few lessons that my friend gave me would be enough to save myself,but I wasn’t confident getting into the water with Aadya.But she loves the water,more than I do.
    So,I started looking for swimming classes..and found this one for babies. It said age 6 months to 2 years and there were going to 6-8 babies in each group. That was perfect and one of the parents had to get in the water with them. DH agreed to drive us there,but getting in the water was my job. I hadn’t been in the pool for about 6-7 years and was nervous.But I figured,there would be other people and so we’d be OK.That and I really wanted to encourage Aadya and let her love for water grow.So,I sucked up..and signed up for these lessons.
    Today was the first day. As always,we got there,just in time.And so there was no time to change Aadya’s diaper from regular to swimming diaper. The thing with the swimming diaper is,that if she pees in it,it leaks.Its just made to hold the poop in!*sorry TMI..so, i couldn’t take her in it,from home itself.
    Anyway,when we reached the assigned spot,the instructor was doing head count and briefing the parents about the class. I half-listened,half- looked for a place to change her diaper.There were no benches or chairs.So,I had to do it standing.Luckily the swimming diaper is pull-up,and another mom standing by,looked at me.I asked her to help me. Then,I quickly took off my clothes ( see,here I did the smart thing..I was wearing,my swim-suit inside the clothes). and got in the pool.Well,almost.
    I was fine,till I was holding the railing and getting down the step.And then,suddenly the water seemed so deep.I felt myself panic,just a little..But,Aadya was ready to go join the group and I forgot about my panic. And I still had my two feet on the floor.So,we walked up to the wall and joined the group.And then the fun started.
    First,we learned to kick.The instructor told us,how to hold the babies afloat,facing us,so they could kick. Aadya was excited,kicking her feet,splashing water.Slowly,I was getting more and more comfortable and soon,we were in the centre of the pool,away from the wall.And she was using her hands too.
    The next step was,reach and pull.Here,we each had to throw a toy,a little away from the baby and encourage her to go and get it,while holding her side ways.I did as instructed and Aadya,pushed with her hands to grab the toy.She was so excited,when she got it and didn’t want to leave it.After the first two attempts,she realised that retrieving the toy was more fun than holding on to it..and stopped resisting. We walked from one end of the pool to the other,reaching for the toy.
    Next was bubble time. We had to blow bubbles at the surface of the water and teach the babies to do it.Aadya tried that and gulped a little water..but the instructor,taught her how to spit it right out. And then she had fun trying to spit out.. rather than blowing.Poor child,didn’t realise that she had already gulped the chlorinated water and that there was no spitting it out.
    Soon,it was time for a wrap up.And we wrapped up with some singing and dancing.The instructor told us,to go around in a circle,while singing,” The wheels on the bus go”.We did,imitating the instructor,and the babies squealed. Then we said,good-byes.I let Aadya,splash her way to the steps, and she didn’t want to leave.She was so mad at me,for making her leave.
    As I came out the water,I realised,how heavy we were- the whole idea of being weightless in water,completely forgotten!!Wish I could just stay in the water,all the time!
    It was fun fun experience.I think sometime in those 30 minutes,that little girl in me,got her shot in the water too…looking forward to doing it again tomorrow.