Swim Class

Dear Babs,

So yesterday, o3/23/2010, you and I Babs went for your first ever swim class. You had fallen down and hurt your face very badly. Your lower lip was swollen and your right side of the face was entirely bruised but you were raring to go and so was I.

Backstory a bit before we proceed to your class...I wanted to tell you that I have had your swim bag packed for a month and half now. Everytime I wanted to take you, something or the other went wrong. You fell sick, we did not have the car at home, bad weather, etc, etc,...so on Mar 23, when your first class started, I did not want to miss it at all.

There we were at your class, in your pretty yellow swim suit and you wanted to jump in the minute you saw the water and other kids in their classes. It took a whole lot of me to hold you back but we still got in before your class started and got reprimanded for it along with a couple of other parents.

You were good, you got horizontal on water and loved to do the float (yes, I was holding you) and you also loved to kick your feet and then pull your leg up to your face to see that it was still there. You also threw your toy and tried to chase it...the only downfall...you being my daughter is as ticklish as I am and you did not let me hold you at your tummy and wanted to be held at your shoulder...which was fine...you kept looking at me and laughing and telling me, "don't touch my lollajatta!!!" (lolla jatta - babspeak for tummy!)

We were going around the pool and you were having such a good time that when the class got over and we had to leave the pool, you were not happy at all. Your first swim class was a success in spite of your injury.

I am raring to do it again and this time papa might also join us. Amma needed tons of help with changing you back to normal clothes.

And yesterday I learnt that I had something called Pecs in my body, having not been inside a gym in a year and with so little exercise I had forgotten that I had certain muscles in my body, but after being in the pool with you for half hour they hurt and I could feel them and remember them once again. Thanks :)

Until next class...

Love

Your Amma

Another year in my life

Another year in the days that make my life just ran past me and really, it just feels like yesterday when I was single and ready to mingle!! But now, all matured and feeling older...definitely older, I celebrated in the way people people who get tired past 10.30pm do.

On 21st night, G and I went out with Babs and a couple of friends to our favorite restaurant, Maggiano's for dinner. We went in 10 minutes before they shut down and boy what a fab service we received. I was super touched and a bit drunk and and very happy and of course giggly when we got home.

By the time I got Babs tucked in her bed it was almost 11.30pm. I walked out to see G ready with the program "Life" paused to start when I got out. So we started watching it and then at 12.00am he wished me, and I was all like, "yay." My friends called me and I was again super "yay." Then we continued seeing the first episode of "Life" before we hit the sack.

What I forgot to tell you is that it had snowed on Sat-Sun and Sunday morning G told me that we should go for a drive before the snow melts away. We went to my fav bakery inside this Korean Store and picked up a Mocha cake. A thing that I am sure most of my friends have not done in the last few years...I mean, pick up their own birthday cake. The whole "Surprise" Birthday is big time in fashion as of this minute in our circle. I also picked up a tiny heart shaped chocolate cake for me.

The idea was, I would cut a cake at 12.00am (the small one) and the big one with Babs around...but when it was time to cut the cake, both G and I felt so super stuffed that we decided to give it a miss. That cake is still in my fridge and I am lusting for it as I type this.

On 22nd, I missed all the calls that I received from family and friends because I had my phone in the silent mode :(. So, I called them and got wished/blessed and the day moved on without a hitch.

Evening I picked Babs up, we played for an hour in the park, then we went to another park where you were on the swing for about 20 minutes and then headed home. G came home late from work but we made it to the Chinese restaurant called May Dragon in Addisson which we have never tried. It was good :) We Likey!

Got back home, cut the cake, Wa-La came home for a short time and left and then we all slept, even before my birthday ended, which was a first, but all of us were super tired...see, I told you, I am old!

But my birthday celebration continues because I am meeting my friends from my old office tomorrow and I will be meeting my friends for dinner one of the days this week! So yay!

Love

ART

Striker (2010) - Hindi Movie Review

Ranking: 3/10

Cast: Siddarth, Aditya Panscholi, Ankur Vikal, Padma Priya, anupam Kher

Director: Chandan Arora

Music: Various Artiste

For some odd reason the story reminded me of Slumdog Millionaire. Probably because it was set in Dharavi or probably because of the pace of the movie but it was was an interesting movie.

Surya (Siddarth) starts playing carrom at a little age and becomes a national pro before he gives it up. One day he picks up a fight against a local goon Jaleel (Aditya) who challenges him for a game of carrom. He gets back his hand at the game again and plays at betting games making small amounts of money on and off. All the while he is unaware that his best friend Zaid is using him to pinch money from Jaleel who is also Zaid's boss.

Then the Bombay riots happen and Jaleel is behind it. Surya looses his sister and her husband during the riots that were carried out by Jaleel and his men. How Surya meets out his revenge forms the final part of the movie.

The whole time I was seeing the movie I was praying that nothing should befall Surya. Siddarth with his childlike face and good acting convinces you that he can be naive yet shrewd. I think this guy can act but his only problem is that he is cute in a very childish/boyish way.

Definitely I would watch the film during Grown-up time because kids can ask a lot of embarrassing questions.

Athithi Tum Kab Jaoge (2010) - Hindi Movie Review

Rating: 3/5

Cast: Ajay Devgn, Konkona Sen Sharma, Paresh Rawal

Director: Ashwani Dheer

Music: Pritam

This one is a hilarious family entertainer. The movie has a feel good touch to it and is sadly also super predictable but nevertheless entertaining.

Puneet (Ajay) and Munmun (Konkona) live in a nuclear family in Mumbai with their only son and surprisingly they never have a stay-over guest visit them. Their son longs for a guest to come and bingo! To their surprise an old man arrives at their door step in the name of Lambodhar Chacha (Paresh).

Now Paresh is a very demanding guest, he is demanding and imposing is constantly keeping both M and P on their feet. He is very nosy, interfering and embarrassing but brings out the entertaining parts of the movie. He affects both Puneet's as well as Munmun's work and personal life as well...

Numerous attempts to get rid of him only lands P and M in more trouble and eventually how they get him booted makes the end of the story.

The songs are funny (most of them remake of popular Hindi songs adapted for the situations in question), the story is smooth and fast paced, and it is light, and non-taxing to the brain. It is not one of those must-watch movies but again you wont feel like you wasted an afternoon if you saw it...

Anony Strikes Again

I am getting too many annoying anony comments! Bah to you!

Henceforth, if you do not have the B!## to sign off then do not write anything!

Thanks

ART

Headache!

I called my mother and while we were chatting I was short with her. She got upset and asked me

Amma: Why are you being so curt.

Me: I think I am getting a headache. Sorry.

Amma: Did you not tell me that you had a backache yesterday?

Me: Yup.

Amma: What did you do?

Me: Tylenol

Amma: And today? What are you going to do?

Me: Coffee and Tylenol

Amma: So now, you are taking a Tylenol everyday?

Me: Not everyday, but at least once a week.

Amma: In my day we never got headache and we never took any drug at all.

Me: But you did not have any tensions like we do now.

Amma: Nothing of that sort.

Me: Amma, just for starters you did not drive a car in crowded streets trying to stay alive.

Amma: True, but your father single handedly took care of his entire huge family while I had to work out the math to keep our family fed and raise three children and do all the household chores that kept me busy 18 hours a day. Don't tell me that is not stress, look at you, one child and already complaining about age.

Me: Ya, whatever amma.

Amma: Eat healthy and sleep well.

Me: G eats healthy, see how sick he is all the time...all that is a myth.

Amma: No...listen to me and stop taking these drugs.

Me: ok Amma, talk to you later. Seems like the headache is getting worse after all the advice.

Amma: Drive safe and get some rest. Not Tylenol-vylenol and all.

Me: Bye.

I got home, promptly popped two pills of Acetaminophen and waited for the drug to do its work while I lay down on the bed playing with Babs...and I thought of my conversation with amma...I really do not remember her ever having a fever or a cold or a headache. She was always the strong woman who had heart and diabetes issues...but none of those common immunity related stuff. She could not do anything about heart or diabetes, they were in her genes...as they are now in mine too...thank you forefathers!!! But what about the rest, how could Amma and Naana live so healthy while I cannot?

First off my physical activity is close to 5% of what mom did. She ate ONLY organic food, they rarely ate out and absolutely no processed food including frozen stuff. Infact, till I moved to the US of A, I do not remember eating anything processed/inorganic either. The most would be the icecream or some snack that came in a pack which was again a rarity. So yes, my amma ate healthy, had tons of exercise and never had weight issues, and she is so organized that she never misses a meal or her bedtime, no Wonder Amma...huh!

So it is not me, but the unfortunate age and time we live in...where we live in one country but work in another country's time zone, eat everything that comes out of a packet or that was put into a packet after it ingested a lot of pesticides/chemicals, I hardly have time to get out even for a walk and forget being stress-free because to meet friends I have to make appointments but in my childhood, we would get out and bump into friends!

Anyhoo, I think that I should cut down on my Tyle intake...I should set a good example for Babs!!! Whaddya say?!!

Love

ART