Reminiscences

It's kind of weird! I posted a piece on Friday (July 13) and now it doesn't appear in the blog. But what is really funny that when I try to edit my posts I can see the post and the picture with it. Let me see if this post also has the same fate, if yes, then I will have to ask the good people at Blogspot to help me out.

Yesterday I had a cleaning frenzy and decided to clean some closets of mine. I also wanted to put the Princess and Pilot's night clothes in seperate bins, so that they can look for their own clothes to change into after they brush their teeth. Also the Pilot keeps saying that there are no "boy dresses" and I wanted to check if this was really so. When I was cleaning up the closet I came across heaps of their stuff when they were babies - the swaddling clothes, their blankets, their cloth nappies and towels. They clothes and nappies were so small and I remembered them at 1-2 months old. Life was so much simpler then...

Kids grow up so fast that their childhood seems to be so fleeting. I have decided to stop and enjoy their toddlerhood and the years of pre school as much as I can and while I can. Too soon they will be in Primary school and then life will be one busy whirl of school and activities with no time for a cuddle!

Keep smiling people!

Singapore National Service

Aagh, it's been a week now since I posted. It's not that there is nothing to write about, but it's just that I've been so tired and sleepy these days that I am just not able to garner the enthusiasm to actually sit down and write about things.

This year marks the fortieth anniversary of the National Service in Singapore. All male citizens aged 18 have to mandatorily do their National Service (NS) to fulfil their citizenship obligations to the country. The papers were full of the history of the NS and the Sunday paper even had a special supplement with articles and musings about the NS.

The NS is one big equaliser where people coming from different strata of society, from different races as well as different educational backgrounds will have to learn to live and work together with the common purpose of defending the country, should the need so arise! Now since the pilot was born I was prepared mentally for this, but I had thought this was the perfect time to let him know what he is supposed to do once he reaches the magic age. This is supposed to be a rite of passage or as someone put it, "they enter as boys and come out as men". Theoritically I am not opposed to it, and in fact even welcome something like this, but what I am opposed to is the disruption it causes to their studies is what makes me have any reservations.

Ah well, there is no point in grumbling about it since the Pilot has to just do it and there is no way out of it. I just hope he gets what he is passionate about (the airforce perhaps?) and then the two years will just fly past him.

Triple Seven

First things first, you must have noticed that I have been putting up images for the last few posts. Well the only reason is that I was playing around with Blogger and saw this. So I decided to upload the snaps I take of things around me. It's a conscious decision that I will only put up pictures which do not have any people in it so that I can maintain mine and other people's privacy! This one is a picture of a cracker going off in honour of all those people getting married tomorrow. For more, read on...

So what is this triple seven? Well it's a a play on tomorrow's date - 07-07-07! Since this is a which will come probably once every hundred years, it's a date most people (especially couples) are making full use of. I read in the papers recently that about 700 couples are planning to get married tomorrow - come to think of it, we also have an invite for a wedding tomorrow - and so hotels, caterers, photographers, make-up artists and other people servicing the wedding industry would probably be inundated with orders. Phew! I do not wish to be in the shoes of a wedding guest who has to hop all around town moving from one wedding reception to the next!

There's also the Live Earth concert across the world tomorrow. My piece on saving the earth is fodder for another post, so I'll end this post here.Happy weekend people and see you real soon!

Long time post

I am back! What with the past few months being crazy at work, it was all I could do just to keep up with work-related emails. I just gave up on a lot of stuff including writing on this blog. But the reason why I was MIA for so long is done. The event, I was planning was a huge success; so much so that at the end when my boss thanked me for planning and executing it, I got a standing ovation from the delegates who were in the audience! The worst part was that I was seated right in front and didn't even know of it till someone told me after everything was over!

Anway the Pilot and the Princess have started piano classes with their other twin friends A&A. So every Sunday we troop off to the class where S (A&A's mom) and me hear shouting and banging going on inside the class! I still don't know how much they like this but I am willing to give it a shot. We've also decided to put them in Kumon and Hindi classes next year when they get to Kindergarten 1 and I am scouting for Speech and Drama classes for the two of them. Phew! so much for such little kids, but then c'est la vie!

Also my helper has decided that she would not extend her contract and would be going back to India next month to get married! My parents will be here for a few months to help me transition, but then from December I will be on my own (albeit with my inlaws support). I am prepared for this, but I guess reality will set in only after she leaves and I am actually doing it. I'll be posting regular updates, so be around to see the next exciting round of me the all round woman - wife, mom, career woman and general dogsbody!

Hope this time around, I'll be able to post regularly - atleast 2-3 times a week as this blog was primarily started to be a record of my life - a diary of sorts.

Keep well everyone and Happy 4th of July to all the Americans who read this!

The World around me...

This post was written by me on Monday morning when I was reading the daily news, but with things the way they were, somehow it didn't get uploaded. So here goes...

A new day, a new week. I know that I have been very lax at posting, so here is a big SORRY from me!

I am just catching up on the news - I usually read Mumbai Mid-Day and Samachar. There is this piece of news on Midday, which I found very strange. You can read this article here.

Basically it says in the event of a plane being highjacked on Indian soil, a new Home Ministry rule says only Indian passengers will be evacuated; govt won't negotiate for release of foreigners.

I find that I don't really like this ruling as it assumes that an Indian life is more valuable than a foreign one; and when we Indians go and live and work abroad and face such laws, rules in our adopted country we cry foul and raise anti-discriminatory laws! Also shouldn't the government know that in today's world, with more and more families being mobile, there are many cases where the parent/s and children may have different nationalities and passports and in such a situation, would a parent (who will most probably be an Indian national) allow himself/herself to be evacuated and let their child/ren (who would more likely be a foreigner) stay in the plane?

And in such a situation what would the government do? Would they force the Indian parent to forcibly leave the plane and in the process break up a family? To all those in power, who shout from rooftops about the 'Bharatiya Sanskriti'(Indian Culture), is this what is all about!