Farewell

Day १

मम्मा तुला माहितेय स्पृहाच्या क्लास मध्ये ना आज पावभाजी दिली 

          Really? wow ! असेल काही त्यांची क्लास अक्टिव्हिटी
          तुम्ही नव्हती का sprout भेळ बनवली होती 

 हा पण पावभाजी ?

He was not convinced with my answer 

Die hard fan of Pavbhaji can smell pavbhaji from any corner in his vicinity.

Day २

अरे ममा तुला माहितेय का ..काल ना farewell Party होती ४th ची Thats why school ने पावभाजी दिलेली 

         Wow so next yearतुम्हाला पण मिळणार तर पावभाजी स्कूल कडून  

Looks like we had this conversation yesterday

It’s already a year gone and today is his farewell party and Pav-bhaji time 

A week back he gushed in and exclaimed 

"Mumma finally day has arrived

No tiffin on Friday for long break .....पावभाजी देणार आम्हाला "

Wait was over and he was beaming :)

Today morning hour was smooth.

Additional update was along with Pav-bhaji they were supposed to get icecream as well and marathi free period as some dance activity that time.

Excitement has built up to core.

4 years back ...same farewell party from pre- primary to primary..

Graduation day!

We get his photo with convocation gown on the day of results.

Memories...

What will he get today I wondered.

Mind swings back and forth.

6 more years there will be another farewell.

Saying good bye to school

May be he will deck up in his dad's blazer or his own...

looking forward for another bright start....

gathering memories of another farewell and Pav-bhaji and Icecream

#TBT #Throw Back Thursday

With 2020 , Digital declutter is on and here I found this.



Its Thursday as well so it qualifies for Throwback ;)

Rewind >

"This boy just doesn't study" I was complaining to friend of mine.
"He is an engineer's son so will study only in Prep leave ;)"He replied.
"Let him grow up and take admission to Engineering course and then he will qualify for it"
I am not ready to budge and somehow 15 days before exam starts we start our study.

When it comes to English literature(I need to admit , I was shXX scared of this word Literature when I heard it first in Std 1st now till std 4th I have somehow digested it.)we do lessons first as it has lot many ques answers...long ..short.. RTC....meanings ..who said to whom etc etc.(If you don't understand these words consider yourself lucky and continue reading :)

"Poems are simple.Just one Page and answers are also mostly one liners."Junior has valid point.

So me (yes you read it right me because he might have read/written it at least once in school) keep poems for last moment i.e day before exam.
So a day prior to exam,I tell little one to learn his question answers till the time I wind up my work.
Happily he agrees.
Within 10 minutes he is ready with his answers.
Alright , I open up note book and with first question my eyes were googly.
But he was ready with his answer within seconds.

"Earthly ills"

I was amazed at the रट्टा  capacity of my little one.

"each one is trying to overdo the other person" what do you mean by it?
"Explain me Earthly ills the way you understand"
I shoot my questions

No answers..

तू हे सगळं काय विचारते ?
This is not in textbook.

No This is not done.
I open up text book and look for poem.

Beautiful poem by Paul Dunbar indeed.
1872 to 1906

Its 2020 now.

It aptly applies even after more than 100 years!

Junior not happy and complains. This is not fare Mumma.I answered correctly first question in book that you asked.
He is in hurry to finish up last few questions.But knowing his mother he decides to listen and cooperate.
We quickly read poem with some detailing and there you go.

Mumma now I know
"Earthly ills means need to study for exams and not getting to play and study as we wish during exams.."

I close the book and he is off to play :)

Study Time

Its been close to two years that I have been stay at home mommy.
So main work now is to nag my poor child and get his studies done.
I have been taking studies in the past not only of my son(I guess being a mom this comes as default responsibility) but also to my nephew few years back.
So studying is not that bad at least when exams are not at corner or may be tomorrow.
(My son could have altogether different opinion about it but I really don't care ;))

So one such relaxed afternoon post lunch we decide to study.
All right, so pollution is the subject and we are reading his textbook.
Am at one particular picture explaining him how people bathe their cattle in river , kids swim etc etc and water gets polluted.

and there you go...म्हणतात ना कुणाचं काय आणि कुणाचं काय . 

suddenly चिरंजीव says ..mumma ती buffalo बघ ना कस तोंड करतेय she is actually enjoying her bath.

Highly disappointed me... considering me explaining him something very important as pollution and he is interested in buffalos look...

I looked at him and burst into laughing...disappointment vanished within a second..

That look on his face..its a lifetime memory we created ..

Its just a snack!

Sunday evening when I am busy doing veggie shopping for the week, father and son duo decides to finish snacks shopping.There they are with bag full of packs.

>>what all things you have got?

>>Got everything which he wants..

Discussion ends there.

Scene 2:Day 2 :
Evening snacks time..

I hand over cup of milk to him..

and there he goes..

>>"Mumma मला जवानी पॉप्स दे "

My eyes almost popped out..

>>" काय देऊ तुला?"

>>;अगं अस काय करतेस तू ? काल आणलंय ना मी 

Me on my way to kitchen wondering ( loud self talk )what जवानी पॉप्स  look like 😃

>>; तुला माहिती नाही का ..शंतनू ला पण माहिती आहे मी त्याच्याच tiffin मध्ये खाल्लं 

now my curiosity really builds up...I took out new snack pack and there you go 

जवारी पफ AKA जवानी पॉप्स 😆😆

May be ह्या नावाने खप जास्त वाढेल 😆

Invitation

He completed 9 years and 10 running now and as all of us wished  once he also wanted to grow up fast and started saying he is 10..(running is silent).
That 2 digit age number makes him feel grown up :)
Time is flying too fast and he is growing too fast I feel and somewhere wonder that innocence is vanishing but there I again get glimpse of it

8.30 pm dinner time is the only TV time Mumma has and no cartoon show is allowed that time..
He has understood that no tantrums would change mom's mind and watches whatever serial is on.Lying on sofa ..sometimes playing with cars...murmuring something ...sometimes complaining sometimes willingly he watches TV with me.Sometimes he is more into it than me I must say.

commercial serial break is on and some promotion of other serial is going on. Simultaneously I am working on something and not actually bothering to look at T.V and there you go...

चिरंजीव >>खरंच का ग मम्मा !

I looked up and see his eyes gleaming with excitement...

मी >>काय रे सोन्या

चिरंजीव >>आपल्याला बोलावलंय का लग्नाला ?

मी >>लग्नाला ?कुणाच्या लग्नाला?

चिरंजीव >>अगं असं काय ..ते बघ T.V वर

Mrs. मुख्यमंत्री सिरीयल promotion is on and all are invited for wedding:)

सुमीच्या लग्नाला सगळ्यांनी यायचं हं !

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3QFqQsTLgM

Part of me wishes him to grow up and be fit to face practical world around and part of me wish his innocence would be intact forever :)

Perspective !

"Mumma तुझी ही pant(read salwar here) जरा different आहे ना ". He said

"Yeh" I replied but that surely put smile on my face..

जुना joke  आठवला म्हणतात ना तस! 4 -5 वर्षांपूर्वी घडलेला..

Why some people have stories associated with everything?

Don't know...not their fault राशीचा गुण असेल 

In this case not one but two stories were attached..

That shiny jet black velvet salwar she was wearing. So much I had liked it.Surely I will buy this. I was discussing it with another female colleague of mine at cafeteria.She also managed to spot that girl with velvet salwar and wondering what is so special about it. Another colleague overheard our conversation and then subject diverted to why females look at other females for clothes ,jewellery ,lipstick shades and what not and how male species is so simple and straight forward and how then won't mind ten other men wearing same colour.. brand shirt in the same room.Subject got diverted then but it was hovering over my mind. Next few weekends relentlessly I visited all possible shops ...roadside vendors but no luck.That black velvet salwar was really unique as per me(and hopelessly out of fashion as per my friend) .I was little disappointed with hard luck but was not someone to give up. I kept searching and finally one day in one shop I got it at much higher price but then I knew it was unique one.Back home looking at the thing I bought husband just commented."is this what you were hunting for so many days..crazy "Grrr ..may be... but I was super happy I had got what I wanted and I had waited so long for it and now was not going to wait any longer.

Next day was the special day I decided to wear it but had to drop kiddo also to school.

"Good will get to flaunt it better" I thought.

All set for school ..me and little one ...me with my bag pack and he with his.I am in hurry to lock door.. making sure nothing is forgotten..then searching auto...after getting auto finally we settled in.

His hands on my lap just the way it was today.He must have felt the soft touch of my brand new velvet salwar.He looks at me and exclaims "Mummaतू  monkey चा  dressघालून का चाललीस  officeला ?"

I couldn't believe my ears..monkeyचा  dress ...........................and then it clicks and am into splits.

Poor chap must have got confused what is wrong with my mumma.She is wearing monkey dress for office and now laughing for no reason.

He is not to be blamed.We only make them wear those soft furry animal dresses for annual day, fancy dresses , don't we? 

He has tough me lesson which probably would top "what I have learnt from my son" list and its PERSPECTIVE 

It was his perspective from his knowledge.Likewise every one has their own perspective and its wise to listen and to respect other person view whether we agree to it or not.But we don't always accept it that easily.

Point to ponder  

Experiments in Kitchen

Time that I have spent in kitchen in last 15 months is probably more than that I have spent there in entire life.Its that urge to try out something new more than actual love for cooking I guess.New in this case is strictly restricted to new for me which could be as simple as basic cake.The real new which leads to invention innovation I have no plans to reach there and happy to leave it for my favourite chefs who have given so much glamour to cooking.I mean the way they present jeera tadka dal makes it look so special.Their fancy utensils spatulas background kitchen and kitchen appliances including microwave freeze or simple mixer grinder its treat to watch.In the end the way which they present dish and taste a spoonful you decide ...you will try it once.

This list of "should try it once" probably overgrown in my case is one reason I could think of my time in kitchen and off course simplicity.Cooking these days have really become simple isn't it.From ज्वारीची भाकरी  to Mexican Italian cousin..  name of which difficult to pronounce you just give it to google baba and he will return thousands of options just for you.Now catch here is everyone would have given his/her special touch to recipe claiming his/her is the best.

* So before you dive in you need to do some homework (this can be from hours to days depending upon individual browsing expertise. capacity and sometimes luck)but once you zero in on handful of cooking experts life is really easy.
There are few out there who will say add salt as per taste and few with there measuring spoons and cups.So its upto you to choose which way you want to go.First category reminds me of my mom and our dialogues when i was in my twenties.I would have fights with her on measurements and her अंदाज  ️...but to get to that expertise you need to be hands on for good number of years..
* For someone who is good at basics and cooks on the whim ...spoons and cups works better as it gives you exact same taste every time you cook.

There are plenty of sites telling us what to do but just handful which tell WHAT NOT TO DO. I mean this is equally important.

"चकल्या बिघडण्याची कारण " ह्यावर एकमेव site मिळाली होती मला and it surely deserves mention here
http://chakali.blogspot.com/2010/11/common-mistakes-in-making-chakali.html

I distinctly Remember I had started with चकली  and it had ended up in मुरुक्कू ....

       Had made banana chips of regular bananas and it was disaster.

       It was wait for over year to find out place where you get bananas for chips.

Besan ladu besan sticks all over inside your mouth and then sometimes it has that burnt smell or too much of ghee.So...So ....

Gits Gulabjamuns u will bet nothing can be simpler than that but that too can go wrong.

I was cursing Gits for mentioning 40 pieces out of one packet.

"You have to make small balls which gets you to proper size after frying" This knowledge you will not get unless you do it yourself or at least assist someone.

They don't write these detailed instructions on the pack and trust whoever is trying it, would follow it obediently without using any personal expertise.

Maharaja Laddu size Gulabjamun joke probably has stuck with me forever.

* Sometimes you have to blindly follow instructions without using your brains.

Gulachi poli..that's a delicacy.When you live near vile parle you will have so many shops giving you that perfect Gulpoli..but no...that is a real खुजली  when u want to try it out yourself.You have encouraging sister who is an expert.So why not.

But as always you watch 10 YouTube videos for gulpoli and then you mix up everything ..recipe for gulpoli puranpoli what not.

No prize for guessing first attempt is super failure.but

हम होंगे कामयाब एक दिन  and you don't give up and finally get your favourite dish exactly the way you wanted.

• Too many cooks(read people/youtube videos /instructions)spoil the broth.Just follow one.
• Ask detailed questions(however dumb it may sound to other person😛 after all its you who are going to put in efforts and eat it in the end😂 )if you are privileged to learn from someone in person/phone.
• Sweet ,spicy, good, ok, excellent all these are relative terms and differ from person to person family to family.Something which is too sweet for you can be diabetic for someone else.

When we refer to videos  for desserts/chocolate dark chocolate that we get here in India is much sweeter that what you may get abroad or there could be different brands/types for these products.

Even after getting these tips had to have three attempts to get that perfect chocolate mousse at home.

Palak Paneer could have n number of versions like with tomato,without tomato,tomato thinly cut,tomato gravy,with bay leaf,without khada masala,without garlic......

Finally i settled on favourite KKs recipe.

So may be after couple of trials you will get that perfect taste that suits your tastebuds.

• but obvious don't give up keep trying..its not sky diving anyway so can be unsuccessful in first attempt 😛

and in the end some tried and tested links,

for any chat items offcourse Tarala Dalal

Palak Paneer by kk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7ni8I5CZo8

chakali

http://chakali.blogspot.com/

madhura

http://www.madhurasrecipe.com/

vegrecipe

http://www.vegrecipesofindia.com/

keep experimenting and keep me posted!

Agent Agent

Some 5 years back..

It was when we were on lookout for our new home.Built up area, carpet area ,flower bed, no of floors building age, loan availability, flat condition those were the things constantly discussed at home.Husband had registered on some site and there you go... All the property agents had got his number.Weekend used to be time when he used to get maximum agent calls and then in the evening we used to set out to explore the available properties and stroll.You be at some location and then agent won't be there.Then some phone calls ...waiting ..giving directions...

Three and half year old am all ears....watching dad very closely.The way he talks ,the way he answers phone calls ,queries to be asked everything little one had picked up so well.

It was a new game for him.

Agent Agent

Mumma माझा phoneवाजतोय का?

Yes beta 

Ohh agent चा phoneअसेल 

Okमी  aryanबोलतोय 

Ha yes 2 beech ke...(read 2 BHK) 

Ok मी येतो बघायला  

Then little one set out to view so called property on his tricycle 

Mumma on compony 

We would park it somewhere on roadside and then rest of the conversation..

अजून आला नाही का?

मी phoneकरतो 

Hello

हा में इधर खड़ा हु। .. 

पेड़ के पास ...

car में। ....... Black color ki mercedes...

( well when i am going to visit I will use my own car..and not dad's car and we have fleet of cars from A to Z ..so at times it would be blue BMW ..sometimes Lamborghini..मूड किया तो  Aster Martin...i10 i 20 Honda city ...)

Every time we played this game he would take new car name and that surely put  smile on my face with thought...person who has fleet of cars ..BMW to Mercedes ...why would be on look out for 2 BHK in Andheri east...

but then childhood innocent games...:)

Mazha Disco zhala.....

Mumma……एक good news आहे …माहितेय काय .

मी ना sports day मध्ये  select झाला ….Lemon spoon competition मध्ये ..

आता  sports day ला मला फक्त  clap करायला नको …

Ohh wow that a really great news…

माहितेय खरा तर मी second येत होता पण end moment ला ना  dwij baba ने track change केला आणि तो  out झाला आणि मग मी  select झाला मी slow होता थोडा पण बरोबर track बघून चालत होता ना 😊

My little one was all pumped up.

Last day of unit test and we have our sports day..wow thats something new exams and sports on same day….☢

My mind in flashback where we had elaborate close to one week sports celebration where every one would participate in games which they want in the preliminary selection rounds and then on final day of sports week finalist would perform.That entire week there would be no studies.just be out on ground and play ,cheer your friends and have fun.So even if u don’t win there was never a feeling of loser.

One reason was may be for no studies during sports and then fun we had just participating was enough to forget the pain of losing.

Frankly was never so good at sports but fun we had playing those simple games lemon spoon potato race needle and thread skipping langadi kho kho kabaddi do still remember and here back to present times…during regular school hours someday we are having preliminary rounds and on sports day only winners would participate..rest all clap…grrr….me not liking this…but who really cares parent like it or not…

back to present…not really it went back again... at this time just for couple of years..

Mumma माझा  disco झाला …

काय 

Not aware of any preliminary rounds happening in school for sports..we are just in primary section and now have started real studies..ohh yeh..….was wondering annual day is just  done now कसला  disco

तुझा काय झाला ?

अरे  disco

कशात  disco..(I am still clueless but repeating same question is so dumb..)

ती running race होती ना  मी बरोबर धावला ग but teacher saidतू  disco झाला …..

It was the eureka moment when I got what the disco is…but no way I could laugh..I had to use all my skills to show extreme disappointment .how can a mother laugh when her little boy is disco..😅...............disqualified..

I was in splits again….and this time I could share it with him as he knows what disqualified is and what disco is and off course he is two  years older....  big boy:) ...to laugh at his own jokes.....

All rite..

We both geared up for final lemon spoon competition.

"Mumma तो  दात पडलाय ना त्या gapमध्ये मी spoon ठेवेन मग ते हलणार नाही 

(😉 ohh we have natural advantage this year)

हा चालेल  तसाच कर 

हा passage आहे ना mumma तो  perfect आहे तिथेच आपण  practice करू ..

That is perfect bachhu..

तू sofa वर बस आणि get set go म्हन मग मी येईन 

All rite…

There we go

His strategies ,management skills ,enthusiasm and practice…He is already a winner for me:)

My Disco Boy....

Probably school days are best days of our lives.We are the queens and prince of that protected world which our parents give us.Small world of school parents friends.Probably that is the happiest time spent ever.

With generations few things change.we notice that change.sometimes we accept the change ..sometimes we crib and at times just let it go.

In our times this was not the case …unknowingly we slip into this mode may it be for studies..teaching method…annual day or sports day…but we still enjoy it partly watching our kids and partly reliving our childhood days.

To be or not to be .......Tech-kid..

Few days back got one forwarded message on whats-app about #Tech-Kid and it really triggered lot many thoughts regarding technology, kids, as a parent role that we play in introducing technology to our kids. 

Gave title to this write up and thought is it really appropriate ? I mean do kids of this Alpha generation really have this option of to be or not to be?By default or by birth they are Tech-kids growing up with ipads and smart phones in hands and completing pending homework posted on whatzpp apps..They are smart, fast and super curious.They relate to things and can express themselves so well ..know exactly what they want.

With world coming closer and loads of information available at fingertips hope as a parent we can help them understand difference between information and knowledge.

Curious young minds are open and ready to explore every possibility they see. May be we have to be more open and less protective.

Cupboards are full of cars,board games expensive gifts but post school if they wish to play with discarded tyre lying in ground let them play without worrying about uniforms getting dirty, hands getting muddy or  getting late for lunch.

On lighter notes...with increasing weights of school bags and rules and regulations only on paper I really wish ⇣ this can happens soon:)

Master Chef

"Wow!We have master chef competition this month!" I tried to bring as much enthusiasm as possible in my voice..

"जाऊदे गा mumma ...teacher नाहीतरी मला prize देतच नाही .."----

"अरे सोना असा नाही you should participate..teacher सगळ्यांना कसे  prize देणार ना।  prize तर  दोनच and you all are 40 in class...participation is also important you will have fun..we will prepare something nice and then if everyone is making something and you sitting idle you will get bored na.."---

This much gyan was enough..he quickly agreed or may be by age of 8 he has already understood at times its better to agree than argue..

He said yes and got busy with his play but there I rolled up my sleeves.By now even i have understood this master chef competition is more for parents than kids to showcase their talent and creativity.(we are having this competition since kindergarten..so almost done with 3 rounds..when they expect kids (or parent)to be innovative why can't they come up with innovative competition for kids..anyway am diverting again..)

So keeping my principals aside like kids competition ला वाजवी पेक्षा जास्त importance देऊ नई ..kids should be doing real work and not parents etc etc.I started to google recipes which kids can make..this internet is a real मायाजाल।If you are not focused you can really get entangled badly spending loads of time without any results..reminding myself of this fact after every 10 minutes i wasted good amount of time in just finding out desired recipe but no luck.Tried checking with some of myसुगरण  friends but that too was not much of help.

May be my criteris were little stingent..we had done some bread stuff ..shev puri earlier years so was not ready to repeat it It was too simple isn't it ?what innovation in that ?no way he will stand a chance for price in that case.

आखूड शिंगी बहुगुणी गाय i mean recipe अणायची कुठून ?..i mean ती simple पण असली पाहिजे  innovative पण असली पाहिजे सकाळच्या rush hourमधे  ready pan झाली पाहिजे मुलाला बनवाता येएल अशी पण पाहिजे .too much to handle...but was not ready to give up.

Finally came up with something called cheesy Monaco bites..

simple Monaco biscuit, cheese slice ,some toppings ,tomato ketchup, shev, corriander leaves..

this looked manageable.He can make some 5 6 puries and to add some glamour to dish will make some biscuit chair and table and present it as tea time snack. I was super excited with the idea.

Day before the competition another point came up..there has to be written recipe along with dish.

Again some time on internet to come up with good format.

Preparing actual dish was simple as expected.

Kiddo actually made few and finished it up as well .He looked happy thinking he can eat whatever he made and as biscuits involved kind of junk food which added more satisfaction may be..

Real challenge was getting those biscuits chairs ready.After cursing those DIY video makers for making it look so simple somehow I finished it.Such a relief it was.But it lasted only for few seconds.Now i could foresee a bigger challenge.How the xxx he is going to carry it to school.There is no way he can fix it in case it gets spoiled...and probability of failure was 100 %here...may be its not my cup of tea I thought 😏better luck with simpler more feasible "innovative "idea next time I convinced myself.

It was not difficult to convince Kiddo.He was super happy to see entire set up.Just gave him hint that if something breaks up don't worry just make your snack and enjoy it.Its important to have tasty dish than decoration☹️

As expected chairs ditched last moment but that really was immaterial to him.He came home super excited "mumma काय tasty dish बनावली मी ! सगळी संपवून पण टाकली !.I shared it with Shantanu as well. त्याला पण खूप आवडली ."

haha Monaco biscuits and cheese was super saver.He was not bothered whether he wins or someone else.

As a parent ..Do we walk the talk?

I thought as for a moment i was feeling sad cause I couldn't make prize winning recipe for him but there he was just happy with his contribution.

By end of the day got pictures of prize winning recipes..hats of to mommies and their creativity and enthusiasm..really appreciate the efforts they put in.

After all ,not all there is only one Master Chef!

ummmm...

Last 15 days we are hooked on to stories of Lord Ganesha.
Lord Ganesha kills different demons taking different forms Mayureshwar..Ekadanta..Vakratunda..
and we are pretty impressed by his power.

Early morning in these chilly winter days its so difficult to get up..but this Mumma does not understand anything.Daily she wakes me up early morning(i.e.process starts 6:30 AM and I get up at 6:45AM and bus time is 7AM so every minute counts ..15 minutes activities include bath,brush,dressing up,milk ,shoes and 3 minutes walk till gate..everything plus last minute pencil sharpen and searching for forgotten scales..mind it..)Anyway..

So point is mumma is really not been fair.
And today its just too much I am saying no I don't want to get up but she is not ready to budge..
Mumma..तुझा खूप जास्त होतय ...तुझे  atrocities day by day वाढतच चालल्या आहेत। ..

😂😂😂..

Atrocities....

this is Ganehsa Effect...so mumma is demon is it 😂😂😂

Green Peas

x 

 मम्मा ते तू ग्रीन peas आणतेस ना ते झाड पाहिले मी आज !
>>शेंगा होत्या का ?
नाही गं !direct green peas ..तूला सोलायला नको आता ते
Aryan was super excited with his discovery ..innocent mind was happy he could help his mom .
अरे ग्रीन peas शेंगाच्या आत असतात मी एक दोन वेळा सांगून पहिल पण नंतर त्याची excitement बघून मी अरे वाह म्हणून विषय संपवला.
In the evening he was all set to show me green peas plant.We marched towards other side of complex to see it and there was a small bush having greens fruits resembling green peas.
खरंच रे !हे अगदी ग्रीन peas सारखंच आहे !
पण हे ग्रीन Peas नाही दुसरं आहे कारण सगळे ग्रीन peas ग्रीन असले पाहिजेत ना yellow कसे असतील
(Now I really wanted the facts..what if in excitement he eats those fruits considering green peas..and what if they are poisonous:(..worried me..)
And thankfully there were some yellow fruits along with green :)

By the way that night after going home we saw green peas plant on google:).

Just wondering is there any search engine where you can upload images and get matching images..

anyone?

really want to know name of green peas lookalike:)