Yet another draining day - It was refreshing to come home and have a cup of hot tea. It was refeshing to hear my daughter's chatter and her phony accents. She was demanding attention! I pamper her though I hate to admit it. I think of myself being quite strict but she manages to get aroung it :-)
Shane Warne pulled in a great victory for Rajasthan Royals today. It was a wonderful IPL match and nice to see the RR team bouncing back after the last miserable defeat. Looking forward to their next match.
I was just wondering how my daughter seems to be so content with little things. It makes her happy when she 'thinks' that she is helping me by grating a carrot. Never mind that I have huge mees to clean up later, it just feels relaxing to watch her laugh. She split a whole glass of her chocolate milk on the floor and table. Took me sometime to clean up the mess. In mock anger, I told her that she will need to drink 2 glasses of milk instead (she hates drinking milk). She sat in the corner for sometime and then slowly said to me "Mummy, I am sorry I spilt the milk but dont give me two glasses of milk else it will spill out of my tummy". I just burst out laughing.
I hit the bed at around 11.15 p.m. Few minutes later, I realized that I didnt send out an important mail. Got up and sent it. Through the night I had nightmares of lots of mails floating around which are not being attended to and I am getting reminders on my cellphone. So to calm myself down everytime I woke up, I just kept saying my usual prayers until I drifted off to sleep. So much for being in the IT field!!
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Sunday, April 26, 2009
April 26, 2009
Have been pretty busy over the last week so could not write. Yes, I know this should not be an excuse, anyway it is :-)
So my daughter is now pretty independent with her bicycle. One good side effect is that I am able to run alongside her which also provides me good exercise. So I feel that my efforts in teaching her bicycle not only benefitted her but also me. I look forward to teh time that all three members of the family are able to go for long cycle rides together.
Talking about effort, I was amazed to see the Rajasthan Royals captain during the match today. RR were down 56/6 and yet this captain wouldnt give up. He put a gutsy performance to keep face. RR lost but I beleive Shane Warne won a lot of admiration. This was also true in the previous match when RR almost lost but ended up in a tie and won the tie breaker. He showed faith in a teenager Kamran Khan who has not had any exposure to even first class cricket. KK also lived uo to the expectations of the captain by helping level scores and then restricting runs in the super over. It was heartening to see the captain lead from the front. I wish we have many such managers(they are there but need more :-)) in the IT field as well.
Oh by the way I tried baking a chapati in the oven today(rolled chapati dough cut into diamond shaped pieces coated with very little butter). The outcome was yummy crispy wheat crackers..... Maybe I will try a chapati base pizza next time -
OK - thats it for today - bye!
So my daughter is now pretty independent with her bicycle. One good side effect is that I am able to run alongside her which also provides me good exercise. So I feel that my efforts in teaching her bicycle not only benefitted her but also me. I look forward to teh time that all three members of the family are able to go for long cycle rides together.
Talking about effort, I was amazed to see the Rajasthan Royals captain during the match today. RR were down 56/6 and yet this captain wouldnt give up. He put a gutsy performance to keep face. RR lost but I beleive Shane Warne won a lot of admiration. This was also true in the previous match when RR almost lost but ended up in a tie and won the tie breaker. He showed faith in a teenager Kamran Khan who has not had any exposure to even first class cricket. KK also lived uo to the expectations of the captain by helping level scores and then restricting runs in the super over. It was heartening to see the captain lead from the front. I wish we have many such managers(they are there but need more :-)) in the IT field as well.
Oh by the way I tried baking a chapati in the oven today(rolled chapati dough cut into diamond shaped pieces coated with very little butter). The outcome was yummy crispy wheat crackers..... Maybe I will try a chapati base pizza next time -
OK - thats it for today - bye!
Sunday, April 19, 2009
April 19 2009
I was working on different things today and the family TV was busy showing the IPL matches. My daughter has no interest watching those matches so she kept pestering me to play with her. I was a bit frustrated since we had done a lot of activities since morning -painting, cycling, writing etc .... Now I couldnt think of anything else so I was just getting mad at her - my better half not doing much to help the situation(was glues to the TV watching the match). I had so much to still do....cook, clean, iron, plan for tomorrow.
Suddenly I realized why not involve her in what I was doing.... I started to make potato curry. I handed out the 2 boiled potates(cooled of course) to my daughter to peel. She gleefully helped me peel them. Meanwhile I had fried the onions with garlic and ginger paste, added a little salt and chilli powder. I mashed these potatoes into the onion mix. My daughter helped stir the ingredients( I have a child safe induction stove) - Then I gave her 2-3 carrots (baby carrots) and handed over her plastic knife. She pretended to cut them in small pieces. I was done with the potato curry. I started to make dosas. While she 'cut' the carrots, I gave her dosas to eat. So the carrots and dasas quickly disappeared without my usual pleading for her to eat. I thanked her for her 'help' and she felt so proud. I could see her beam.
So I found a new way to keep her busy , do my usual household chores and yet feel satisfied of having spent time with her. She is as usual giving her cheerful smile as I write this blog :-)
Au revoir! A lundi....
Suddenly I realized why not involve her in what I was doing.... I started to make potato curry. I handed out the 2 boiled potates(cooled of course) to my daughter to peel. She gleefully helped me peel them. Meanwhile I had fried the onions with garlic and ginger paste, added a little salt and chilli powder. I mashed these potatoes into the onion mix. My daughter helped stir the ingredients( I have a child safe induction stove) - Then I gave her 2-3 carrots (baby carrots) and handed over her plastic knife. She pretended to cut them in small pieces. I was done with the potato curry. I started to make dosas. While she 'cut' the carrots, I gave her dosas to eat. So the carrots and dasas quickly disappeared without my usual pleading for her to eat. I thanked her for her 'help' and she felt so proud. I could see her beam.
So I found a new way to keep her busy , do my usual household chores and yet feel satisfied of having spent time with her. She is as usual giving her cheerful smile as I write this blog :-)
Au revoir! A lundi....
Friday, April 17, 2009
April 17 2009
What a joy to see my cute little daughter ride her bicycle all by herself. The 4-5 days of effort and backache has paid off. It is such a fantastic feeling!!! Anyway one balancing act now completed, I need to focus on the skates and POGO stick.
So today I will talk about 'imbalanced' forces that are so refereshing in our normal routine work life. There are a lot of times where we feel down or just worked up. We all know diversion from that atmosphere is the best way out yet we do not try to do so. I call this the human tendency to be in state of 'inertia'. when we are working we just dont stop though we are worn out. When we are bowling or playing a game of cricket we want to just continue playing no matter how worn out we are. So Newtons law "A body in state of inertia continues to remain in that state until acted upon by an external imbalanced force" holds true in everyday life.
Now this external imbalanced force is extremely good for us :-).This external imbalanced force can be a telephone ring(so remember putting on 'silent' sometimes is not good), your child trying to get your attention, a wift of something being cooked that forces you to get something to eat....Heed to this external imbalanced force - you will come back replenished to continue to do what you are doing - probably much better!
So today I will talk about 'imbalanced' forces that are so refereshing in our normal routine work life. There are a lot of times where we feel down or just worked up. We all know diversion from that atmosphere is the best way out yet we do not try to do so. I call this the human tendency to be in state of 'inertia'. when we are working we just dont stop though we are worn out. When we are bowling or playing a game of cricket we want to just continue playing no matter how worn out we are. So Newtons law "A body in state of inertia continues to remain in that state until acted upon by an external imbalanced force" holds true in everyday life.
Now this external imbalanced force is extremely good for us :-).This external imbalanced force can be a telephone ring(so remember putting on 'silent' sometimes is not good), your child trying to get your attention, a wift of something being cooked that forces you to get something to eat....Heed to this external imbalanced force - you will come back replenished to continue to do what you are doing - probably much better!
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Saying "Thank you"
When my daddy used to run small errands for my Mom , she never missed saying 'Thank you' to him. I wondered why she did that because whatever errand my Dad ran was probably what he should anyway do... But I always a small smile come across my Dad's otherwise tensed face when she said a 'Thank You'.
In my day to day work life I realised how mechanised we have become - so much so that we take everything for granted and forget to 'Thank You'. A few months back, I ran a workshop for a colleague of mine and spent half a day trying to explain some concepts. The least I expected was a mail that said the Golden words. Thats when I realised how many 'Thank You' notes I have missed sending.
Dear All, it was then I decided that I will make it a point to make this little gesture to add sunshine in some elses life and make the receipient feel special. I decided to acknowledge all help however small with a Thank you and a smile(read smiley for e-mail). I have the satisfaction of having someone else's day.
Now its time to say Thank you to my daughter who fetched me glass of water - As I say it I see a proud smile on her face. It has made my day :-)
In my day to day work life I realised how mechanised we have become - so much so that we take everything for granted and forget to 'Thank You'. A few months back, I ran a workshop for a colleague of mine and spent half a day trying to explain some concepts. The least I expected was a mail that said the Golden words. Thats when I realised how many 'Thank You' notes I have missed sending.
Dear All, it was then I decided that I will make it a point to make this little gesture to add sunshine in some elses life and make the receipient feel special. I decided to acknowledge all help however small with a Thank you and a smile(read smiley for e-mail). I have the satisfaction of having someone else's day.
Now its time to say Thank you to my daughter who fetched me glass of water - As I say it I see a proud smile on her face. It has made my day :-)
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
April 15 2009
My daughter is learning three balancing acts - courtesy me ;-)
Today she went cycling. We have removed the stabilizers(side supporting wheels) - I was holding her bicycle while she was trying balancing. We have been doing this for the past couple of days. She seem sto be getting better though my back seems to get worse as I have to bend to hold the back of the seat. Despite protests from her we did go for about a kilometre and back. To my amazement, she seems to be picking up very fast. I hope that she is riding by herself tomorrow.
The second balancing act is roller skates. Thankfully she seems to be a pro with her skates and was able to skate in a couple of days. She needs to still improve on her technique but I am satisfied with her progress. We will try improvizing this weekend.
The third balancing act is her POGO stick. This is definitely going to take time. We are being careful here - she has her elbow gaurds and knee gaurds on when trying. She can now jump twice or thrice without support. Anyone who had guided their children with the POGO stick please post in some techniques to learn quickly.
So I wait until tomorrow to see my l'il one cycling on her own :-)
Today she went cycling. We have removed the stabilizers(side supporting wheels) - I was holding her bicycle while she was trying balancing. We have been doing this for the past couple of days. She seem sto be getting better though my back seems to get worse as I have to bend to hold the back of the seat. Despite protests from her we did go for about a kilometre and back. To my amazement, she seems to be picking up very fast. I hope that she is riding by herself tomorrow.
The second balancing act is roller skates. Thankfully she seems to be a pro with her skates and was able to skate in a couple of days. She needs to still improve on her technique but I am satisfied with her progress. We will try improvizing this weekend.
The third balancing act is her POGO stick. This is definitely going to take time. We are being careful here - she has her elbow gaurds and knee gaurds on when trying. She can now jump twice or thrice without support. Anyone who had guided their children with the POGO stick please post in some techniques to learn quickly.
So I wait until tomorrow to see my l'il one cycling on her own :-)
Simple receipes
I am no great cook and look for all short cuts though I do enjoy good Indian food. Blame it on the fast world ;-)
While working in the IT sector, the inevitable happened.....I started to put on weight not realising that I have put on about 15 kgs in about 5 years. When it dawned that I was really overweight, I started to seek some immediate measures to decrease weight.
I realised that I could start with very simple things. While I stopped buying the ships/crisps, chocolates, cakes, crossaints that I so much loved, I realised that some simple changes in cooking styles can make a lot of difference.
One simple receipe I prepare that has become a family favourite is as follows
1 bunch of spinach(chopped)
1 onion(chopped)
1 tomato(chopped)
4-5 pods of garlic(optional)
a cup of chopped vegetables(brocolli, cabbage, cauliflower, capsicum etc)
a teaspoon of salt(or to taste)
a teaspoon of red chilli powder(or any other flavouring)
2 table spoons of moong dal or masoor dal or toor/arhar dal
Put all the above ingredients in a pressure cooker with 2 caps of water. Presure cook for 3 whistles - If using microwave, dal and vegetables need to be cooked separately. Mash the cokked mixture. You can season with mustard/jeera splattered in 1 teaspoon of oil or simply serve as is with a dash of lemon. This can be consumes as soup of with roti/rice.
Instead of spinach, a bunch of corriander or carrot leaves can be used.
While this dish is very tasty, it is very healthy as well -
If you try it do let me know your feedback
While working in the IT sector, the inevitable happened.....I started to put on weight not realising that I have put on about 15 kgs in about 5 years. When it dawned that I was really overweight, I started to seek some immediate measures to decrease weight.
I realised that I could start with very simple things. While I stopped buying the ships/crisps, chocolates, cakes, crossaints that I so much loved, I realised that some simple changes in cooking styles can make a lot of difference.
One simple receipe I prepare that has become a family favourite is as follows
1 bunch of spinach(chopped)
1 onion(chopped)
1 tomato(chopped)
4-5 pods of garlic(optional)
a cup of chopped vegetables(brocolli, cabbage, cauliflower, capsicum etc)
a teaspoon of salt(or to taste)
a teaspoon of red chilli powder(or any other flavouring)
2 table spoons of moong dal or masoor dal or toor/arhar dal
Put all the above ingredients in a pressure cooker with 2 caps of water. Presure cook for 3 whistles - If using microwave, dal and vegetables need to be cooked separately. Mash the cokked mixture. You can season with mustard/jeera splattered in 1 teaspoon of oil or simply serve as is with a dash of lemon. This can be consumes as soup of with roti/rice.
Instead of spinach, a bunch of corriander or carrot leaves can be used.
While this dish is very tasty, it is very healthy as well -
If you try it do let me know your feedback
Human brain
A human brain is a very complex thing - Even before we had mutlithreading as a concept in software, the human brain has been eternally doing this. It can do many things are the same time -
Just the other day I was watching a friend of mine who was on a business cal on 'Mute', trying to decipher what was being said while trying to feed her little child and making notes all at the same time. Now I will not recommend this :-) but I have seen this happen.
It is amazing to think of the pockets of ROM and RAM we have in our brain. While it is sometimes seemingly difficult to remember a 10 digit phone number, I remember the registration numbers of all the vehicles that my father owned. The brain also seems to have some fuzzy memory and some fuzzy logic to retrieve it.
I endlessly imagine the 'ENGINEER' of this brain and thank HIM for everything :-)
Just the other day I was watching a friend of mine who was on a business cal on 'Mute', trying to decipher what was being said while trying to feed her little child and making notes all at the same time. Now I will not recommend this :-) but I have seen this happen.
It is amazing to think of the pockets of ROM and RAM we have in our brain. While it is sometimes seemingly difficult to remember a 10 digit phone number, I remember the registration numbers of all the vehicles that my father owned. The brain also seems to have some fuzzy memory and some fuzzy logic to retrieve it.
I endlessly imagine the 'ENGINEER' of this brain and thank HIM for everything :-)
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Continous learning
At the end of each day I thank the Alimighty for the good things and pray to see another beutiful day. As I do that one question that haunts me is "What have I achieved today?". Well I am here because I need to achieve something for myself, my family, my city, my state, my country, this world......and this goes on...I laugh at these thoughts, brushing it like a fly on my nose....
But then I thought about it; shouldnt I be doing things that I like, rather than go through another drag day doing the mudane tasks and following the normal routine......
As I kid, I always wanted to lean the violin but then my parents couldnt afford to buy one; instead I learnt the harmonium. It is an instrument that looks like a keyboard but the player plays the keys with the right hand. The left hand is used to operate the bellows. Not that I didnt like playing it but I always wanted to learn a stringed instrument. This helped me learn the basics of music and I developed an ear for music.
Today(literally) I feel a sense of achievement when I was able to play the basic 7 notes on the little 1/8 violin which my daughter learns on. She is my teacher and taught me how to hold the bow with a "bunny rabbit" hold. People who teach the violin will know this. I also learnt today that there is no age to begin learning and no reason why your teacher cant be much younger than you.
With this feeling of contentment, I close for today. Will come back again with other such "small" achievements.
But then I thought about it; shouldnt I be doing things that I like, rather than go through another drag day doing the mudane tasks and following the normal routine......
As I kid, I always wanted to lean the violin but then my parents couldnt afford to buy one; instead I learnt the harmonium. It is an instrument that looks like a keyboard but the player plays the keys with the right hand. The left hand is used to operate the bellows. Not that I didnt like playing it but I always wanted to learn a stringed instrument. This helped me learn the basics of music and I developed an ear for music.
Today(literally) I feel a sense of achievement when I was able to play the basic 7 notes on the little 1/8 violin which my daughter learns on. She is my teacher and taught me how to hold the bow with a "bunny rabbit" hold. People who teach the violin will know this. I also learnt today that there is no age to begin learning and no reason why your teacher cant be much younger than you.
With this feeling of contentment, I close for today. Will come back again with other such "small" achievements.
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