potpourri 10

Been a really long time since I’ve written a potpourri and there’s been so much happening that it seems like a perfect time as any.

• Am sitting at home after such a long time alone. I don’t remember what I did last veteran’s day, but in any case, it’s a bit strange and am actually supposed to relax, sleep-in and eat breakfast in bed according to a colleague. Obviously that’s the last thing am doing, and after pottering around and sending everyone out, I read the paper while having a cup o coffee, cleared the mess munchkin’s room is in, watched a bunch of videos, sent some terse emails out wrt son’s lego stuff and now here I am writing a post. Can’t believe it’s already past 11. Ugh! Time flies too fast when you sit at home.

• Last two weekends have been a bit busy. Diwali fest was on the Sat before and then last Sat was a friend’s 16th birthday party. Major activity from our household. Apart from the husband who was relegated to the audience and behind the video camera, the four of us took to the lights and stage in different forms.

• I was asked to write a “funny” poem on chocolate for the birthday girl. Funny on demand’s a hard thing unless your name is Bikerdude, Krishashok, Pri, Naren, Twisted DNA or Max. I tried and then before I read it told the audience that the least they should do is be polite and laugh. The nice souls obliged. Apart from the girls’ friends who were all 16 year old Asian-American kids who giggled at every word I uttered, the rest politely smile-stared at me. Not sure now how best to interpret that.

• Extremely proud of munchkin. The past two Saturdays she’s taken to the stage like a pro. The diwali dance was ina group and she was hugely excited to be with a bunch of other munchkins. She smiled through the 4 minutes, stood at the center and didn’t let the large black vastness ahead faze her a bit. This Sat, she went up in a packed dinner hall and did the same dance, but solo! She made sure she practiced every day of the week and though she looked nervous and insisted on looking at me and dancing the whole time, she did it all. I almost cried with pride. I must thank Maxdavinci for editing the song and sending it to me as soon as I wailed to him on how iTunes was too techy for me. *yea, I know, even my older kids think so*

• Now she is so fired on dancing, she’s latched onto Banno Rani from 1947 Earth( skip to past 5.20) and we have started “practice” for it last evening. Of course I have no idea why we practicing fro some song, we have no plans on performing, but learning something for the fun of it is satisfying. The husband of course disapproves of this whole “show-monkey” concept that he feels we are getting into with her, but from where I stand, the girl has some talent, I’d rather let it grow than discourage it. Esp since I hardly qualify as an over zealous ambitious helicopter mom, the argument doesn’t work much!

• The older bunch of 8 kids I have been teaching since they were 3-4 years old are now teens. In a span of 4 Sundays they picked up Dariya Kinare (remix version of the original Farida and Vinod) and performed it with such precision and unison that the audience loved it, whistled and danced with them. Of course they’ve seen the kids grow up in front of their eyes and the connection’s undeniable. The best part of it is the friendship that ties them all together. We recently watched all their performances since ’99 and boy, what a treat to see them improve and grow as a group. Life is good. :)

• Halloween was okay. Apart from sticking the picture of creepy me on my office door, and creating a wave of raised eyebrows, unbelievable OMG’s and chuckles in a stiff boring office, it petered into me dressing as a hawaiian with flowers around my neck and hair. Of course it’s subjective if I looked Hawaiian or like a wannabe-Shakuntala, but hey, it was dress-up day. Munchkin was a composed bumblebee and the husband played himself. The older two played goths of different kinds and disappeared for hours together. There weren’t as many kids as usual either. Maybe the elections in a few days time scared everyone enough.

• Work’s getting boring. Since I personally stepped down, I shouldn’t be complaining anyway, but yea, it’s alright. Am hoping things will pick up soon.

• October was a challenge. I wrote every night as a drive to see if I could actually stick to something if I wanted to. I enjoyed writing a post a day. Of course it was getting hard trying to fit it into my schedule, coming up with what to write on, and then making the time to do so, late at night when the house was asleep. The husband must sleep better these days as he probably must have thought I was indulging in nefarious activities of various kinds sitting alone in the study tapping away! The poor man. He has no idea how much I treasure him giving me the freedom I need, without which I’d be one cranky old woman. It was last Thanksgiving that I had written this post , and I continue to feel the same way after 15 years.

• Yesterday I went over to a mom and pop tee shirt printing store, and the old man who runs the place was talking on the prices etc. He asked if I could pay cash. Since I didn’t carry the amount, I asked if I could pay a small amount and then come back in tomorrow for the rest. He waved me aside and told me “I trust you. The heart and belief is important, and ultimately it all evens out.” He went on to tell me a story of how he was cheated of a huge order and then eight months later he was paid for it anyway by the same person. The world works in twisted, interesting but ultimately balanced ways.

• People are generally manipulative and shrewd. Everywhere. Being good, open and trusty takes one nowhere. There is always a pressure to be on the lookout for who’s going to pull the rug from under you, who’s gonna outshine you, and how best to make someone else’s weak spot work for you. It’s sad but it’s as real as it gets. I’ve lived a very sheltered life up until now and hence learning these at my age is harder than I thought

• Our own conscience is a funny thing. It is the ultimate boss we answer to. Having this blog, writing, communicating, reading only nurtures our brain and life in small yet significant ways. It’s as good as participating in a real life book club, or something similar. No person can be bullied, threatened, pleaded, begged to change their outlook unless they want to. In a similar fashion, just because something is alien doesn’t necessarily mean it is evil or bad. It’s interesting how an online life is misconstrued as bad, weird, strange, quirky and even that one has lost their ability to prioritize in their real life. Abilities and capabilities are questioned, and every little action is doubted and second-guessed to blame the simple fact that one blogs. It’s all the same I mean, we are real people behind these words. No bots are scripting such depth now are they?

• I blog or write coz it gives me pleasure. I enjoy it, once I stop enjoying it, I quit. It’s quite simple rt? Which other facet of our lives gives us that freedom apart from the hobbies we choose that gives us immense satisfaction and pleasure. Like how I feel when I dance. It doesn’t matter that I am fat, or I am not as graceful as many others and the fact that I may never be slender enough to pull off a fast piece how muchever I want to, the fact remains that my eyes light up and I am my happiest best when I dance. Replacing dancing with writing, I surely am not a good writer, I may write scattered, and I may not be consistent, but when I do, there’s a piece of me that dances.