Travelling to the Land of the Lepchas!

 

Over the last few days, we have been at Sikkim, the Northern eastern Himalayan state nestled in between Nepal and Bhutan. Known for its pristine beauty of glacial lakes, breathtaking valleys, gushing waterfalls at every corner of the mountain drive, panoramic view of the snow-capped Himalayas, and the precarious mountain passes. Mind you… exploring Sikkim is not for the faint hearted or one with a sensitive stomach - it involves fortifying yourself for  freezing temperatures, being prepared for anytime down pour, and enduring through winding and meandering drives through changing landscapes, bracing yourself  for breathlessness at high altitude points and of course grappling with motion sickness even when you  have never ever got sick during travel!  

But all such discomfort dissolves into delight with one look at the mist covered calm waters of Tsomgo lake, or the chance to snowball each other even in summertime at the “Zero point”, or the awe-inspiring views of the majestic Himalayas on the way to Yumthang valley, or experiencing the roar of the “Amitabh Bacchan” waterfalls on the way to Lachung, or taking in some cool refreshing  mountain air while on the pine forest trail to Rabtanse ruins at Pelling, or waking up after quick shut-eye during a long drive  to a spectacular sunset coloured sky over the silhouetted valleys… truly …travelling around Sikkim is all about enjoying the journey as much as the destination … more like life itself…isn’t it!! 

 

It’s after almost two and half years that we’ve donned on our travelling pants (even literally!) and our trip was wedged in between Abhay finishing his class 10 board exams and the reopening of courts in Bangalore after summer vacation and amidst incessant rains, and peak-season rush through out Sikkim and Darjeeling, Aadya’s terrible motion sickness (we had polythene bags tucked in at every compartment of the vehicle only to find them missing when we most needed them!) and Abhay’s annoying obsession with uploading stories on his instagram handle (now that his exams are over we had to keep our promise of letting him resume his social media activity!) …. we did manage to make it one of the most memorable trips ever! 

 

Our last stop was the West Bengal’s queen of hill stations - misty Darjeeling which was more of a reality check and reminder of the traffic jams back home in Bangalore!  Since we were nursing a minor stomach upset and were also exhausted from our Sikkim adventures, we avoided the usual touristy spots and chose to take it slow and indulged in some retail therapy on the Mall road, while enjoying some live jazz at one of its famous eateries - Glenary’s and stopping by Oxford Bookstore. 

 

One of the sure ways of avoiding  the crowds is to either travel during off-season or visit off-beat places within popular destinations. While it’s nearly impossible  to travel  during off season with school going-exam-writing kids, and  it’s not always possible to have the entire trip comprise of off-beat places, but it’s always possible to be a discerning traveller and look out for not-so-oft visited places like museums, quaint cafeterias and bookstores that are storehouses of local history and culture. For instance, while there were serpentine queues at the ropeway ride,  there was not a single soul at Gangtok’s Black cat museum - which we pleasantly discovered to be a wonderful state-of the art museum showcasing Sikkim’s history and the trajectory of the Army's Black Cat Regiment stationed in Gangtok. While none of the localities were even aware of this museum, the administrator of the museum himself appeared to be  curious about how we discovered this place. So much so, that even the taxi driver whom we hailed to go to our next destination was even more inquisitive about our visit and wondered  what interesting things possibly lay therein! 

 

 

 ….which leads me to our next destination….bookstores. As always in all our travels, one of the mini highlights of our trip is to visit a local bookstore and by now our entire family looks forward to it and given a chance Aadya would have spent an entire day at two of Gangtok’s famous bookstores - Good Books centrally located at Gangtok’s MG Marg and Cafe Fiction or Rachna Books (as it’s listed on Google) located opposite Gangtok’s Secretariat Office. 

 

Just off one of the busiest parts of MG market and near Baker’s cafe (a famous cafeteria with charming and eclectic decor, offering delectable variety of baked goodies and eateries ), Good books houses a wonderful collection of mainstream books and many works by local authors  where we ended up buying a few regular Usborn Early Readers for Aadya and an interesting compilation of tales of the land of Lepchas (Sikkim’s aboriginals), aided by amiable and helpful  bookstore owner. Good Books is indeed a lovely place for book lovers to make a pit stop amidst their MG market shopping! 

 

We also dropped into Cafe Fiction, an award winning bookstore cum cafeteria that has a beautiful display of a wide variety of mainstream and independent publications that one can pull out from the aesthetically placed bookshelves and curl into their super-comfy chairs reading them…while sipping a hot cuppa coffee, by the giant windows offering beautiful views of the street below. I wish “Namma Bengaluru” too had our very own Cafe Fiction! 

 

Anyways.. thanks to Make-my-trip, we now return to Bangalore glad that our Sikkim trip was by and large uneventful (though there were scares of landslides at certain places owing to heavy rains) refreshed and rejuvenated for our routine grind back home, our social media accounts full of stories and posts to put up and our minds full of happy memories and  four bags full of laundry! :-) 

 

Well… as my colleague was intrigued to notice books even in my travel DPs .. I must say that a travel without books is no travel at all! Despite long road trips during the day.. reading to Aadya was never given a miss (not that she would herself or let us go to bed without a book) and thanks to “Good Books” and “Cafe Fiction”, we were never short of interesting reads.  But to commemorate our Sikkim trip, we read from “The Legends of the Land of Lepchas Folk Tales from Sikkim” by Yishey Doma and Pankaj Thapa. 

A beautiful collection of folklores on various aspects Sikkim’s environment, history and culture. We were delighted to make some connections of what we saw, felt and experienced from some of the stories. From story of “ The Race between Teesta and Rangeet” that gives a mythical side to the confluence of the rivers of Rangeet and Teesta river that we came across on our way from Bagdogra to Gangtok to “A tale of two trees” being the story of Lali Guras, Sikkim’s Rhododendron that we saw aplenty at the Yumthang valley, or the “The Cave of Occult Fairies”, the story of Guru Padmasambhava or Guru Rimpoche who subjugated the demons and saved his devotees from evil, that reminded us of giant statues of Guru Padmasambhava  at Sandrupse hill and at Pelling skywalk, and the fact that Mount Khangchendzonga is a constant presence in all the stories just as the view of the mountain  Khangchendzonga  was our constant quest throughout our trip! While we are set to get back to pavilion from now on, this book serves as a wonderful parting shot for our minds and hearts still hung over the land of Lepchas! 

Embroidered creations of love!

 I have never been the arts-craftsy type of person and have always been envious of people who are dextrous enough to create a tangible work of art like a painting/drawing/sketch or crafts like handicrafts/embroidery/jewellery, etc. My mother though, has always dabbled into such creative arts  like painting and hand-embroidery as a hobby and still pursues the same post retirement.  My daughter loves to draw and prolifically turns out pencil sketches of her view of the world around her…and I cant help wondering if God skipped a generation while bestowing the artsy-craftsy creative gene to our family! 😊

Anyway, my mother finds great satisfaction in her hand embroidery work and more so on her post retirement move to Dharmasthala. Anyone close friend or family member visiting Shristi is sure to leave with one of amma’s exquisitely embroidered pieces as a return gift to remember their Shristi visit. Drawing inspiration from the surrounding nature, or traditional art designs like Warli, Kantha, Kasoothi or Kutch, amma creates magic with her fingers through her intricate needlework embroidery on vibrantly coloured fabrics, or left over blouse pieces and weaves. She has even embarked on what she likes to call her “magnum opus” – an embroidered creation of mathematical equations pieced together into a massive bedspread representing almost four decades of her life dedicated to the scholarship and teaching of mathematics at Jyothi Nivas College, Bangalore. As Im writing this…I see amma’s focussed needlework creating a beautiful string of flowers on a bright red poplin cloth!

Off late, Aadya and her grandmother  share a special connection through their own forms of art. Aadya presented one of her drawings of a silhoutte of a tree as a gift for her “Sanna-ajji” and Lo and Behold! her “Sanna-ajji” had replanted her tree into customised pillow case! 

Thanks to amma, all four of us have personalised pillow cases with taglines specially embroidered by amma…with “Acchu our Hero” for Abhay, “Aadya our Princess” for my daughter, “Multitasker of Samruddhi” for my husband as he truly is, “Budding competent Advocate” for me (while I thought I was already a competent advocate ….trust my mom to give me a reality check! 😊) Her latest gift has been a hand-embroidered patchwork bedspread with unique designs on each piece, from geometric shapes to modified katha work, from traditional art layouts to colourful flower patterns, with distinctive colour combinations, and beautifully sequenced strands of threads of various shades….and all I can say is that amma’s embroidered tapestry of brightly coloured flowers adorning our bed acts as a mood uplifter just like Wordsworth’s Daffodils! 

So dedicating this blogpost to my mother’s magical needle and thread work as we celebrated her 69^th birthday last weekend in a hybrid mode – while we physically joined her and my father at “Aroha’s Eco Hill Resort” at Sakleshpur, and her best friends joined in through a zoom call, with goodies being delivered to their doorstep so that they don’t miss out on the cake! 😊   

Following the birthday weekend, we had an extended sojourn at our most favourite place in the world my parents’ farm, “Shristi”, and just as we are about to drive back to Bengaluru tomorrow, we had the grandmother-granddaughter read together one of our all time favourites – “Grandma Bubba’s warm shawl” by Rijuta Ghate, a publication by Jyotsna Prakashan, which brings out books that have an old world charm to them!  Wonderfully written and illustrated, this book came highly recommended by our friends at the Funky Rainbow, and has always been one of those books we fall back on for a warm and cosy read, and it is rather surprising that I haven’t had the chance to blog about it…until now when it feels perfect for the occasion!

Grandma Bubba lived in the far away mountains and took good care of her flock of sheep. As winter approached, grandma Bubba decided to knit herself a bright red shawl from her sheep’s wool that she’d dyed red from beetroot pieces. Just then, her grandson comes running to her asking for a bright red sweater and a bright red sweater was ready in no time! So every time grandma Bubba dyed her wool green using spinach leaves, or purple with purple cabbage, or yellow through turmeric, or blue turned by indigo, each of her family member comes in with a request for a cap, or muffler or a pair gloves or a pair of socks and grandma Bubba is only too happy to oblige! So the entire family is kept warm during winter by grandma Bubba’s knitted creations and did grandma Bubba finally knit herself a shawl ?.... Read on to find out how grandma Bubba’s love for her family brought out the most colourful shawl that there ever was! A wonderful feel-good story that echoed my mother’s sentiments as her embroidered creations adorn our lives and fill our hearts with warmth and love! 

Quarantine times!

 

I began this year like every year with a new year resolution to blog more often, but didn’t expect to follow it up in the same month itself (it never happens!). Similarly we all hoped to embark on 2022 putting the horror of Covid-19 behind us,  but didn’t expect the pandemic to catch up with us so quickly, and in such a lightening speed so as to have the  hitherto untouched/uninitiated / uninhibited caught unaware!  Neither did we all expect to test Covid +ve at a time when we (read.. I) have been indoors for the past three weeks nor did we even anticipate that the illness would first hit my father-in-law when he hasn’t stepped outdoors in the past whole year!   Well….it hits you when it hits you is all I can say as we got sealed into isolation as a COVID HOME last week!

After being locked in through the first wave, and braved the second wave, we couldn’t after all escape the milder version of the pandemic that had engulfed the city as a third wave, which is now on a decline just as we at home find that the worst is now behind us. From acute fever and exhaustion to slight temperature and weakness, from continuous to sporadic bouts of cough, each of us reacted to the virus in our own way, convalesced as our own body and mind allowed us to and recovered in our own pace …….thankfully all at home. With four of us being co-vaxined and covi-shielded from the severity of the infection, this variant has left us drained mentally more than physically, paling us into a general sense of gloom and dis-spiritedness…as quarantine can turn even the quiet into the querulous!! 😊

Well….the best way to bring some cheer back into our lives is to have happiness delivered to our doorstep  by none other than “Funky Rainbow” our favourite indie book store of South Bangalore. No sooner did the little gems get delivered than did our happiness quotient in the household begin to rise!  Quarantine times can also be a period of emotional upheaval for us as a family as we grapple with the physical symptoms of the illness with willpower and emotional strength and what a better way to remember these trying times than this wonderful book that’s not only makes for a great read aloud book for children but also enables us to reflect on our emotions as adults. “Are your emotions like mine?” by Chitwan Mittal and Shruthi Hemani  is narrated by a little girl trying to understand what she feels every day from excitement to anger, from feeling silly to feeling nervous, from being proud to being adventurous! There are a host of emotions that we experience and reading about it not only serves as an acknowledgement of our own feelings but also a step forward in trying to understand and get comfortable with what we feel, why we feel and how we feel and express our emotions. Aided by brilliant illustrations , the little girl and her lion’s journey into their emotions was an instant hit with my little girl who couldn’t resist drawing her own version of what she feels! Here's to our emotions! 

Gone Grandmother!

Suddenly...she's gone!

The most celebrated member of our household, the senior most member of our entire family and one of the few people who lived to see an entire century unfold in front of her eyes is no more. Our beloved centenarian grandmother, who's hundredth birthday we'd just celebrated earlier this year breathed her last, early this month. While we knew she had lead a  full and fruitful life always surrounded by her near and dear ones down to even the fifth generation of great-great-grandson, and death was a near eventuality, the suddenness of it all still baffles us!  It was meant to be a routine/ precautionary visit to the doctor just before our impending pre-planned travel, followed by hospitalization for administration of drips for a day or two.........little did we realize that it was time for Doddamma's rendezvous with death!

Now that the obsequies and last rites performed by her eight septuagenarian and sexagenarian children are complete, the relatives have left, and everyone has got on with their daily humdrum of life, we miss her a lot, especially in the little things that had been interwoven into our daily routine - during mealtimes we remember pulling out her silver thali along with our steel thalis  or during the daily pooja we'd fondly recall her picking up to beat the traditional 'jagante'  during the 'arathi" or how she would always wheel herself into the makeshift football play area our living room is often turned into, much to Abhay's chagrin, or the sound of her coughing that I could hear from my office that shared the same wall as her room, or when we still end up peeping into her room to wave goodbye while leaving for work.........it would certainly take a while for us to get used to living without our grand old matriarch. Thanks to the love, constant care and sacrifice  of  her primary care givers, viz. her eldest son and daughter-in-law,  our grandmother or "Doddamma" could lead a long and healthy life with such joy and enthusiasm  (even as she was wheelchair bound) that was unmatched and is truly hard to come by in  today's  technology-driven and impatient millennial world!.

Since we were travelling when our doddamma passed away and could not witness the formalities leading up to her cremation, it was hard for us post our return, to fathom  the thought that doddamma is no more! So much so that even now I almost expect doddamma to wheel herself out of the front room at the sound of pooja bell!!  As we got back, my little one roamed all around the house in search of her favourite companion, who'd keep her company in any indoor game or play the patient audience to her funny antics or join in a jagante duet during the Friday evening pooja.. .....  her dodda ajji was nowhere in sight!    

Abhay too fondly remembers his friendly territorial fights with dodda-ajji as he set out play indoors or how he would coax her into listening to him practice his music lessons or how dodda-ajji would always come to his rescue when being disciplined by his parents! Ever since he remembers, Dodda-ajji has always been a big part of his life at home, and now that's she's gone... he too misses her. So I had picked out a wonderful book that throws light on bereavement, especially from the perspective of young children, "Gone Grandmother", a Tulika publication by Chatura Rao and Krishna Bala Shenoi. Nina's grandmother went away before she could say  goodbye. Though the next day and the day after appeared to be the same....in terms of her surroundings, her school and her friends, it felt  different.... ...... as her Nani didn't come back and it was as if she'd disappeared into thin air. When she quizzes her mother as to where has nani gone, her mother replies "to the stars". Just as she tries to figure out as to whether her nani has really gone to the stars or God's home or has in turn become a part of the air we breathe or the soil below, she fondly remembers her times with nani - the general knowledge book that she'd read with her, or listen to Vividh Bharathi with nani while jumping the skipping rope, or recalls some endearing moments exclusive to the grandchild-grandmother bond. She finally realizes that she may never see her nani in her plump-cuddly shape again..... but can find her  nani  shining down at her as the brightest star in the sky! A poignantly narrated  tale that beautifully captures the child's grief and dilemma over the loss of a loved one and how she comes to terms with the same. Abhay liked the author's philosophical take on death of aged grandparents and was touched by the book. Though my little one is too young to understand what happened, or too young to fully grasp dodda-ajji's absence  and may be just too young to probably remember as she grows up, her times with dodda-ajji...... but as of now, her answer to the question"Where is dodda-ajji?" seems to be "Dodda-ajji is with God"!  Rest in peace...dear doddamma! 

So much!

Extended family celebrations are something young children always look forward to. I guess it’s only as they grow up that they prefer staying away from them! Since both my kids haven’t reached that I want-to-be -left -alone phase as yet (thank God!) and more so, having been blessed with large extended families on both sides... social interaction with relatives has never been a problem with them (at least so far!) 

While our older one has always been comfortable interacting with his first and second cousins, cousins’ cousins, uncles and aunts, grand uncles and grand aunts, grandparents’ siblings, and grandparents’ cousins, (Phew!) ... at religious or social family gatherings or during their visits home,  (though he may not remember exactly how they may be related to us!), it was a pleasant surprise to see our little one  taking in to her extended family circle with ease and even basking in the extra attention she gets for being one of the youngest in the group.

So it was only natural that one of Aadya's all time favourite books has been  "So Much" by Trish Cooke and illustrations by Helen Oxenbury. A chance find at our  erstwhile favourite hang-out, Kutoohala, I have been waiting for the right occasion to feature this book on Onestoryaday! While we had borrowed and returned this book a multiple times at the library, under the trusted assumption that I could always borrow it again and never once did I imagine that there would be a time when this book would become altogether unavailable on account of closure of the library!  I will never forget that day in March at the library's closure sale when I tried to scourge all the sections of the library looking for this book and finally had to leave with a heavy heart, not only as I couldn't find the book but also because, I could never ever go back to Kutoohala which was more than just a library to me, it was my weekly relaxation therapy, a quiet retreat for me to escape into and a haven for books to pick as I'd imagine my toddler would enjoy! So this book "So much" (which I finally bought online) will always be special as it's a throwback to those good old days when I could stop over on the way back from work, to my little happy place of wonderful children's books!

Steering away from my ramblings, I must say that many of our reading sessions  culminate in a grand finale which almost always happens to be the reading of "So much", a book that is also a shout out to diversity and multi-culturalism. Set in a Caribbean Household with a big extended family full of loud and vivacious relatives,  "So much" is centered around a baby who is the apple of everyone's eye, just like all young kids at home. The day happens to be a special occasion as the mom and baby welcome the relatives who arrive one after another, with the doorbell going "DING DONG" announcing the arrival of all the relatives from aunty Biba, uncle Didi, nanny and gran-gran, to cousin Kay-Kay and big cousin Ross, who arrive in their characteristic styles and all of whom want to engage and pamper the baby in their own way- from wanting to squeeze the baby, to kiss the baby, to eat the baby (figuratively of course), and wrestle the baby as they love him "so much"! As the house gets a little too crowded for comfort with all the noisy relatives driving their own agenda, the final ding-dong sounds off....a moment they have all been waiting for ..... to surprise the baby's daddy on his birthday. This book is a joy to read to your little one .............vivid illustrations, this book also  offers plenty of fun read-aloud moments from guess-work to repetitive phrases for your little one to follow through and not to forget mirroring the cuddles and kisses on to your little one whom you love so much! Well....we couldn't have asked for a better book as it also happens to be the Daddy's birthday today.....which we celebrated with our extended family.............. so Happy birthday to our little one's  daddy! ­:-)

The Centenarian amongst us!

I always remind Abhay of how lucky he is to be living close to both his  paternal and maternal grandparents. Not everyone gets to be indulged by paternal grandparents on a day-to-day basis and enjoy the 24/7 on-call homework help from his maternal grandparents like Abhay does!  (Touchwood!) In fact, our household has four generations living under the same roof.....with the oldest and the youngest almost a century apart in age!  It not only makes up for a stimulating home environment for growing kids but also enables them to understand family relationships and empathize with different levels of co-existence (at least I hope so!)

Of course, today's grandparents do make it a point to spend time and pamper their grandchildren, but how many kids get to spend time with their great-grandparents? Well....as I said in one of my earlier posts, Abhay has been more than blessed on that count and as his  great grandmother celebrates her hundredth birthday today, he can still count on her to rush to his rescue when being disciplined by his parents! Though she has been wheelchair-bound for the last nine years, and barring a few age related issues,....Abhay's "Doddajji" is active as ever. So much so, that she can even double up as another one of Abhay's nosy siblings, always trying to obstruct his defense-cricket play at home......leading to cross-generational-fights forcing Abhay's grandmother to intervene and diffuse the high decibel situation! Not to be left behind, my little one too reserves her performances exclusively for "Doddajji" only!  Much to Abhay's chagrin, his dodda-ajji also dons the role of a peacemaker during the fights between him and sister over sharing of toys or chocolates, etc!

While it is her indefatigable spirit and unparalleled zest for life that has Abhay's Dodda-ajji achieve the centenarian status, the credit greatly goes to her primary care-providers, my in-laws, particularly my mother-in-law who has had to cut back on a lot of her freedoms to take care of Doddajji!

No celebration in our household is complete without a book and I had to drive all the way to the author's place to pick up this signed copy!  Well, special occasions demand special effort and I am extremely grateful to Ms Roopa Pai, the author, who quickly responded to my urgent request and was kind enough to readily offer one of the last copies of her book! "How old is MUTTAJJI?",  a Pratham publication authored by Roopa Pai and illustrated by Kaveri Gopalakrishnan, is a perfect book for this memorable occasion and did rounds in the entire family circle!

Putti and Putta are excited to travel to Mysore to visit their mother's mother who takes care of their mother's mother's mother  on the latter's birthday! :-) As they try to figure out their great-grandmother's age, they are led into a matho-historical adventure of calculating her age on the basis of certain historic milestones that their Muttajji connects to her very own personal milestones! As they try to ferret out information on the "Grand-Maharaja-Maharani's party"  or the "Clean Trains" or "The Dam that tamed the river Kaveri" at the  local library with the help of grandpa  (and not Google......mind you!) and do the necessary math, they finally arrive at a figure which is exactly the same as our Doddajji! A wonderful story that has so many different elements packed into one - from history to maths, from local flavor and culture to family traditions, from adventure to subtle and relatable humour, aided by lively and delectable illustrations - this book is a treat in itself....and to be reading it to our own "Muttajji"  on her hundredth birthday, makes it all the more endearing!!  And thanks to this book, we too went from "old people don't have birthday cakes" to getting a big cake with pineapple icing and roses on the top!!!

On a side note, the math element in the book reminds us of Abhay's maths-professor grandmother who's birthday it is tomorrow. Not everyone has a hundred year old great-grandmother living with them and not everyone has a mathematician grandmother.....so happy birthday to Abhay's "Doddajji" and advance wishes to Abhay's "Sannajji"!!! :-)

The feast of Ganesha Chaturthi!

Every year around the time of July and August, as I drive down some of the city’s roads like R V Road along VV Puram, I see rows and rows Gowri-Ganesha idols lined up …and my heart swells with a warm feeling that that Chowthi is here!  There are a few annual rituals that we look forward to and Ganesh Chaturthi has always been one such family event that we make it a point to join in the celebrations at my father’s ancestral home in Dharmasthala. In fact, the run up to Chowthi is even more exciting …… as we plan our trip, book our tickets or get ready to drive down and  connect with other cousins and extend family as who may attend and who else may give it a miss. As the day nears and we pack our bags and are all set to catch the overnight bus to Dharmasthala only to realize that the whole of Bangalore has landed at the Kempegowda bus stand intending to travel to their respective hometowns for the festival….. literally making it a nightmare to get out of Bangalore! J

Anyway, the celebration of Ganesh Chaturthi as a family fosters a community feeling and helps to continue the family tradition and pass on the legacy to the future generations. It is delightful to see the next generation participate in the event will full rigour and enthusiasm and the new members involve themselves without any inhibitions and this only strengthens the family ties and relations…which is after all the true spirit of celebration of festivals like Ganesh Chaturthi.

Every year during Ganesh Chaturthi, we read a book or two about Lord Ganesha and other mythological stories, and this year I picked up a Puffin publication “Lord Ganesha’s feast of laughter” by Meera Uberoi. As much as I would have liked to read Ganesha’s stories to my little one, I felt that it would be appropriate for us wait a year or two for introduction of mythology to my two year old. So we settled for a chapter book from our favourite library “Kutoohala” pegged mainly for kids over eight years to read on their own, however can serve as read-aloud for kids above five years. This book is a compilation of over twenty three well-known and not-so-well known tales of Ganesha “dug up from ancient texts”, delivered in a breezy narrative so as to engage young children. In fact, I found that the language got a little too contemporary in some places (especially with the usage of words like idiot and moron) so as to get today’s kids to relate to the perspective and mindset of the mythological characters, however without diluting the underlying message therein. From the famous tales of Ganesha winning the race around the world, how he stopped Ravana from becoming all powerful and how Ganesha came to be known as “Remover of all obstacles”, the book moves to lesser known stories about how Lord Ganesha about how Ganesha is creator of the instrument of tabla and was responsible for the birth of river Kaveri, etc. The collection also includes stories a few ordinary people who attained immortality by their devotion to Lord Ganesha and the grace of Lord Ganesha, that always has a touch of shrewdness, humour and unmatched brilliance.  Season’s greetings to everyone this festive season! 

My Brother!

Last week began with Rakhi, the Indian festival celebrating the brother-sister bond, which has acquired greater significance in our household, since the arrival of Abhay’s little sister. While the last two years had been a one-sided affair with the little sister too young to even comprehend what was happening, Rakhi was celebrated more for Abhay to accept the fact that he is now a big brother. This year, however, with the little sister already looking up to her ‘anna’ for many a things at home, and the concept of Rakhi also reinforced by the celebration in her playschool, it felt as if ‘Rakshbandhan” has truly arrived and will always be a special day in the lives of Abhay and his baby sister.

Of course, with Abhay too young  (or should I say too self centered?) to pick out a gift for his sister on his own, it was our job to fill the gap…well at least until he grows old and mature enough to understand that Rakhi is not all about “the brother”! But I must say that the transition of Abhay from being an only child to a big brother has been more or less smooth, with an occasional hiccups, quite expected of a young boy that we often forget that he is, after all! Well done ...big brother!! 

On the occasion of Rakhi, we read what the little sister loves to call the book “Anna-book” – Anthony Browne’s “My Brother ”. Narrated in first person from the perspective of a little brother who almost worships his big brother, who believes that his big brother is capable of everything – from climbing walls to flying, from standing up to bullies to containing monsters, from being a rockstar-like singer to grooving like Elvis Presley, from being avid reader to a talented artist, big brother is sure a cool cat (at least sometimes!) and you can almost feel the little brother wanting to emulate him as as he considers himself to be as cool as his big brother! Narrated  by way of simple one liners that come alive with brilliant illustrations archetypal of Anthony Browne’s books…this book makes for a splendid Rakhi read!!  Belated wishes to all the brother-sister duos on the occasion of the Rakhi season! :-) 

When Mama Comes Home Tonight..!

Just when the omnipresent working mom’s guilt had begun to ease with Abhay growing independent enough not to need his mom at every juncture, its back to square one with my little one!  Though being an independent professional allows one the flexibility to combine work with certain personal responsibilities that a structured job does not make room for, that does not automatically being about a greater work-life balance. Technically, there are no ‘day-offs’ or ‘sick-days” or “paid leaves” or even “public holidays”! While being busy is a good sign for an independent professional, it can also lead on to biting off more than one can chew.... often blurring the lines between home and work…and that’s when your support structure at home truly matters.

Well, notwithstanding umpteen number of day-cares that have mushroomed on every street of the city, most working moms depend on some sort of a support structure at home, at least during the early childhood phase of their kids – be it in the form of parents, in-laws or nannies, etc. Till recently, I was in between nannies …..the uncertainty  of which, believe me,  is worse than being in between jobs! With each passing day, things turn from bad to worse, leaving you at the mercy of these maid/nanny agencies that is probably the only business not affected by any kind of recession! Of course with each passing day, the helplessness makes you doubt the wisdom of your choice of getting back to work with a young kid in tow. Finally, when you find that your prayers have been answered, there is still a sense of uncertainty over whether the new help is here stay or will she vanish into thin air …like her predecessors! So while some semblance of sanity has been restored in our household, following the appointment of a new nanny for our little one, we never know when the rug will get pulled from under our feet…once again!

Anyway, this is an age old saga of a working mom that will only end when her kids fly out of their nests (or will it??). Meanwhile we shouldn’t forget to enjoy the small pleasures of life with kids  that includes reading to them which may turn out to be more of a relaxation therapy for the mothers!

Not very often do you come across a book that you can so well relate to, that it almost feels like to have been written only for you! “When Mama Comes Home Tonight” by Eileen Spinelli and illustrated by Jane Dyer is one such book that is a must-read for every mom, (especially working moms) to a young child! So much so that even the illustrator dedicates the book “To all mothers who come home tired at the end of the day….”! This book assumes a reassuring tone for all the kids waiting for their mamas to return home. With a beautiful narrative, the author vividly captures the daily routine of a mother once she is back at home…and how everything she does, involves her little one .. ..from hugging her little one tight to feeding her dinner and dancing with her down the hall, from engaging in quiet play to looking out of the window for stars and moon in the night, from mending the little one’s clothing while fixing her own and taking some time off for a cup of tea while letting her little one have a sip or two, from getting her into a bedtime routine of bathing her…reading to her and finally putting her to sleep with her soft lullabies in the company of her soft toys…mamma stays on till the end!  

Even the soft and tender water colour-like illustrations of the mother-child duo seem so real and familiar that it may as well be straight from one of our households. Personally, the illustration of the thumb-sucking-curly-haired little girl makes the book seem like a customized picture for me and my little one! Though based on a simple theme, its sublime presentation enhanced by soothing illustrations make a comforting read for all mothers and their little ones alike!

Daddy Bear!

Call it a blogger’s block or blame the proverbial mistress that the practice of law is likened to, in the saying “Law is a jealous mistress” (or should it be the master in my case?), but this no doubt has been my longest break so far on Onestoryaday. It is only recently when my younger one turned two ( I know time flies..!) that I realized that while I had chronicled our read-aloud experiences with my older one…….…there are hardly any posts on my reading experiences with my little one…and that especially when she literally  jumps with joy when I pull out a book for us to read together.  More so, it wouldn’t seem fair when she grows up to discover that Onestoryaday was all about her older brother! So pre-empting any mis-interpretations that may arise in the future over the  digital dominance of her older brother on Onestoryaday, I better start making amends ….ahead of time before I’m accused of any favourtism!!

While I had made grand plans of resurrecting my blog on Mother’s day……by the time I got around to executing the same …. It was Father’s day!! Though it is tough to find a book that makes an ideal read for both my kids who are almost nine years apart….. nevertheless I had the daddy and the kids all huddled together with a couple of picture books on the occasion of Father’s day. Amidst the jaded expression of my older one and the distracted attention of my little one, we managed to read a bear themed picture book which my little one was excited about.....  “Me and My Dad”  by Alison Ritchie and illustrations by Alison Edgson which is a trip down memory lane for us….as we had read a similar book to Abhay back when he was four years old!  Reading “Me and My Mum” by the same author-illustrator team made Abhay wonder why there isn't any reference to the dad in the book….and we now answer this question six years later!

My little one kept on blurting out "Teddy bear" as the book beautifully illustrates the wonderful times that the father-baby bear share through out  the day......right from being woken by dad with tickle and a kiss to exploring the world on a piggy back ride…from keeping safe from storm to dancing in the rain…from swimming in the stream to sleeping under the stars…dads are such fun to be with…..both my kids will vouch for that for sure! :-) Happy Fathers day to all the daddies! 

Aha! ...with Granny!

Come July and it’s time to say…Aha! …and head straight to Rangashankara! We have been regulars at the Aha! International Theatre festival for children since 2012,  making advance reservations even before the tickets arrived, planning and assigning chaperoning responsibilities well ahead in time so that all of us at home get a piece of Aha!  So much so, that my parents and in laws have often wondered who is the intended audience for the plays – children or their parents!! 

Ideally, we would like to watch all the plays ( and we have done that for a couple of years), but through the years, we’ve evolved in our choice of plays and  Abhay now prefers plays more suited to his age, with language, humour and themes he can relate to and so this year we’ve picked out plays and shows meant for children aged seven and above. In fact, my little one who is now over fourteen months old narrowly misses the eligibility to watch “Dinner at eight” presented by Headstart school of Montessori meant for children between the age group of 18 months to 36 months. Of course….left to me …I would have gone for all the plays!!!  So, waiting for my little one to grow up…I guess!! J

Yesterday we went for the screening of a Korean feature film, “The Way Home” directed by Lee-Jeong-hyang  Since it revolved around a relationship between a grandma and her grandson, Abhay was accompanied by his maternal grandma! Though the film was in Korean language, it was presented with English sub titles. Set in a remote village in Korea where a city bread spoilt kid is sent off to his grandma’s while his mother is in between jobs, the film beautifully portrays the evolution of a poignant relationship between the grandma and grandson, despite the age factor, generation gap and the urban-rural divide. Abhay and his granny thoroughly enjoyed the movie and thanks to Rangashankara, Abhay has been exposed to not only world class theatre but also brilliant movies from all over the world!

So we had to end our Rangashankara movie night with a moving story and who can be better than Ruskin Bond when it comes to insightful and charming stories on inter-generational relationships! With my last two posts also on Ruskin Bond…. it feels like a Ruskin Bond festival on Onestoryaday!  We read “A long walk with Granny” from the collection “The Room of many colours” and other stories brought out by Pensuin publications. The same story has been rejacketed as “Getting Granny’s glasses” by Puffin publications.

Nani (granny) needed a new pair of glasses but was reluctant to get them as she had to travel all the way to Mussoorie to get to the eye hospital. ( With Abhay’s own grandma’s legendry reluctance to get her annual eye check up…this story couldn’t have been more appropriate) So as Nani tries to make do with her old glasses that are badly scratched with spots all over, it is up to her doting grandson who agrees to accompany her on their two day tedious journey to Mussoorie to meet the eye doctor. Just as Mani wonders how to get by the first mile, which comprises of a long walk to Nain Market to catch the only bus to Mussoorie, Nani chides “I may be going blind but there’s nothing wrong with my legs”!  And so Nani and Mani set off on what turns out to be a rollercoaster ride along the foothills of Himalayas, with incessant rains and landslides aplenty. Though it is Mani who’s tasked with the responsibility of taking care his septuagenarian Nani, it is Nani who could give a well trained scout some stiff competition, when it comes to readiness and preparedness to brave any emergency, from carrying all essentials to being ready for a ten mile stiff climb when the bus breaks down! When Nani  finally gets her new pair of glasses…..she cant stop gazing out of the window on their way back as every turn and bend opens up new vistas for her! Nani’s child-like enthusiasm along with Mani’s mature sensibilities make for a  great story……and Ruskin Bond’s tender and vivid narrative packed with subtle yet tongue-in-cheek humour enhances the experience to a totally different level!  What an apt ending to an Aha! evening!