Summer 2021- it's almost over!

This summer has been a lot busier than anticipated. We renewed the lease on our house, and we are here for another two years. 

In July, we drove to Cleveland, Ohio, for a short vacation. Met an old friend of S's from high school. On his suggestion, went to a place called Put -in-bay which is an island in the middle of Lake Erie. It was a 2-hour drive from Cleveland to the place from where we had to catch a 20-minute ferry to the island.  From the dock, we took a bus to get to the downtown area. The town of Put-in-Bay is small and quaint and entirely dependent on tourist traffic. The kids were able to go parasailing for the very first time. Who would've thought that a cold dreary city like Cleveland would afford that opportunity?!!!! They had a blast that day - parasailing over the lake on a perfect-temperature sunny day, wading and swimming in the cool waters, playing ball near the beach.....Y pointed out that it was the first time she and her dad had been able to go swimming since March 2020.

Overall, I was very impressed with Cleveland. It has a small but nice national park, a couple of good universities, a nice museum and arts district, and Lake Erie (one of the great lakes). We were blessed with very sunny bright weather most of the days so I guess we saw the city at its best. 

Back home, one of my besties visited for the weekend, her family in tow, and the next weekend, we drove to North Carolina to meet her and tour UNC Chapel Hill and Duke University. In a few days, we are off to Columbus, Ohio where Ads is playing in a tournament and where I will meet yet another friend from high school whom I haven't seen in years. In between, we have middle school orientation for Y, and I have been prepping to make sure we have clothes and supplies for back-to-school. Before we know it, the summer vacation will be over. 

Ads recently received his very first paycheck which was quite thrilling for me :) More on that, coming up soon!

Outside (poem)

A poem on all the fauna that inhabits and passes through our backyard :)

The fox saunters, nonchalantly;

a daub of red across lawn-green,  

White tail-tip flashing. 

He (she?) looks up at cerulean blue sky, 

where another flash of red flits past.

A red cardinal alights on a branch,

alongside his drab-hued mate.

The squirrel is an old friend, atleast she thought so, 

as she decided to move into my attic with her little ones.

I wasn’t really ready for this new phase in our relationship.

Scampering, scooting, rustling, 

they made themselves at home 

and invited their friends over. 

Soon the patio and yard were filled

with merrymaking chipmunks, 

fighting for first dibs on the bird feeder.

Amazon claimed it was squirrel proof; 

A spurious claim, for it crashed to the ground 

as the squirrels dangled from it.  

The blue jay waits patiently for his turn,

flitting from branch to branch 

and swooping down to peck dropped seeds.  

I watch a baby hare from my window, 

as it creeps towards the treeline. 

My heart is in my mouth, as I watch  

fearfully, for cruel predators.

It scampers off, seeing a groundhog 

who serenely sniffs the ground, black nose twitching. 

What does he smell, I wonder?

Grass roots and earth, detritus 

from last fall and winter. 

I wish the deer would chomp my weeds

as they move across the yard, all light and grace. 

Doe-eyes scan the house….

They are poised, ready to dart away 

with the faintest sound of my blinds.   

I meditate to the music of the songbirds, 

the rustle of the leaves, the lilt of the breeze. 

The chimes I have hung where the birdfeeder used to be,  

tinkle against the twit-twit of the cardinal. 

I stare up at the cumulus, willing myself 

to tuck these sensations into my being;  

insert these sounds and sights 

into the appropriate slots of the brain.

May they rest there forever, just not ephemeral 

like the fireflies that twinkle briefly

only in the summertime twilight.

New books

Of course I'm cribbing about having to do it....

But there's a certain pleasure in fingering the books for the new school year, and settling down with cellotape, scissors and pen to cover and label the textbooks and notebooks. 

The scent of new unsullied books, and the sense of a new beginning.

Plus we have been issued recyclable covers for all the books, which is nice but also weird because I thought brown paper was also recyclable? But it's a vast improvement over the plastic covers that we were given last year. 

A 'zoo' on the floor

On a weekend afternoon, as the rest of the family snoozes, this is what a bored boy gets upto. Start with creating a whole zoo on the floor, then move on to specific habitats.
Does your kid have the 5 best toys of all time? :)

Panoramic view of the zoo :)

Or rather, "American Zoo", as the white notice stuck to the cupboard proclaims. The white bear and Ludo counters are "the statues at the entrance, Amma." Note the emergency vehicles all ready and waiting.

The "safari"and at the back is the grassland habitat (a green plastic cover) with zebras.

Board game covers, pressure cooker gaskets, Pediasure 'dabbas' have all become zoo enclosures :)

The toy basket cover hides a tiger and it's cub snoozing away in the afternoon heat.

Alternate professions

I was having a light-hearted conversation with a friend the other day, about what profession we would have chosen, if we weren't doing what we're doing now. It started with her telling me she admires how organized and well-planned I am and then of course I had to return the compliment by praising some aspect of her personality :) Anyway, in this you-scratch-my-back-and-I'll-scratch-yours convo, we started to list down apt alternate professions for each other and even after we'd parted, I was still thinking about it. It was fun to make that list and I thought I'd share it here :)

Careers at which I would have rocked - in no particular order.

1. I would have made a kick-ass secretary or office assistant. You know the type where your boss will definitely die if you leave the job ;) His professional life would have been so organized he would pay me the earth and of course I'd make sure that he is incredibly dependent on me and helpless without me :) These kind of assistants are generally loathed by the rest of the office!

2. Doctor - the family doc type and the specialist, not the surgeon (I'd be all thumbs!). I would have just the right bedside manner (or clinic manner, since no docs come home nowadays). I'd be empathetic, sympathetic and never over-medicate. It would also satisfy my deep inner need to be of some good to society so I think I'd take the job very seriously.

3. The military life, with its organization and regimentation is also something that might appeal to the Virgo in me. Physical courage is not really my forte, but I may have done well in functions like engineering or ordnance.

4. I'd have liked to be an editor. I like working to deadlines and although writing creatively and well is not always possible for me, one can always come up with tons of ideas and generally boss the lowly writers around :) Maybe I could have worked my way up from being a features writer to editing. 

5. A travel consultant. My dream job!!!!! Having all the inside dope on exotic destinations, planning people's itineraries and organizing their trip - well, maybe I can still do this some day!

6. Life coach. Just a gut feel.

Careers at which I would have sucked - big-time.

1. Anything requiring oodles of creativity. Advertising (the creative function), writing (again, creative writing), music, painting.....there's no question of learning to do any of this stuff because the talent simply isn't there. I admit it. (No hard feelings, mom and dad! :)) Hard work can only take you so far in these professions!

2. Anything requiring dealing with creative people, like celebrity and event management. Don't think I can take the pressure. 

3. Number-crunching jobs - investment banking, treasury, even accounting. Can't do it.

4. Teaching - hmmmm...this is a little tricky because I enjoy some kinds of teaching. I've done interview-cracking workshops, group discussion workshops, I've even taught Math and basic accounting to college students. I can't teach young kids anything. How sad is that statement from a mother of 2 young kids? :(( I would have definitely been a disaster as a preschool teacher. 

Then there are those professions where you know you are competent but which you don't like. For example, I've been in the sales function for several years. I know I can do the job well but I hate it. Similarly, jewellery design and jewellery-crafting. I think I'd be good at it (I mean, all of us are creative to some extent!) and enjoy it but have no way of knowing for sure until I have time on my hands and can take a class and take the interest further.

I'd love to know what your alternate professions would be. Post a comment or write a post about it and let me know :)

A puppet show and some food for thought

The Ishara International Puppet Festival has been coming to Delhi for a few years now. I wanted to take the kids last year but what with all the shows being in Delhi and starting at 7.30 pm in the evening, the logistics of getting everyone to the city from Noida, and back, seemed overwhelming. Add to that S's I-will-get-back-home-only-by-midnight-everyday work schedule, and it was truly a lost cause. I was so happy when they decided to perform in Gurgaon this year. Epicenter is a really nice cultural and convention center in the city. They have lots of live music (jazz, blues, rock), plays, concerts and other cultural programmes happening all the time, and their Sunday breakfast brunch rocks.

In any case, the puppet festival is here this month. Tickets were excitedly booked for 2 shows. The first one we went to, last Friday, was a production from Taiwan. The 'puppets' were just clothes - shirts, women's tops, dresses, trousers. They danced and they jumped, twirled and swayed to music, expertly handled not by the usual rods and strings, but by near-invisible puppeteers, clad in black and blending into the black background of the stage. 

I really liked the show. Given that Ads hasn't seen that many puppet shows and this one was new and innovative, I fully expected him to enjoy it too. But are kids today jaded or what? He was bored almost from the first few minutes. The thrill and pleasure that I was getting from the show, none of it was visible on his face. I was disappointed, not least because Ads has raised the bar so high for me. He obligingly accompanies me to art shows and galleries and places of historical interest, throws a thousand questions at me and comes up with his own interpretations. I tried hard to see what it was that he didn't like about the show, and came up with nothing. I asked him and he said "It's boring". That was it. 

What I thought would be a simple pleasure for us to take in on a cool winter's evening, an art form that's been around for centuries, something from another land and culture, left him cold. Thinking over it later, I felt I was being unfair to him. I was trying to experience childhood pleasures through him and was upset because his reaction did not match what I thought it should be. A typical case of unjust and unrealistic expectations!

My research sample was not representative enough however. A sample size of just one? No way. Unfortunately, I could not validate any assumptions I had made because the second puppet show we were to go to, never happened. I was a little unwell the day we were supposed to go, and I didn't think I could handle the kids by myself, so I chickened out. The expression on Ads' face when I told him we were not going, I am sorry to say, was one of pure relief! 

The India Art Fair

We spent a few hours at the India Art Fair yesterday. And it was wonderful. They had 3 halls, choc-a-bloc with contemporary art and we dearly wished we had more time to spend there. As it is we spent about 4 hours, which was too little. S and I split up for the most part. We took turns to watch the kids, the parent without the kids could walk around at their own pace while the one with the kids meandered around, (trying to) answer Ads' 101 questions on each exhibit. We introduced him to MF Husain, Picasso, Dali for the first time. I was thrilled to see an entire gallery devoted to Damien Hirst. I saw my first Henry Moore. S decided that Ravinder Reddy was his new favourite, while I plumped for Vivek Vilasini and Seema Kohli. 

A lovely, lovely few hours of feasting for the eyes. Some of the stuff was plain weird though. Sorry, I may be an art philistine, but I didn't 'get' Subodh Gupta at all. 

Leaving you with some pictures. Speaking of art, how wonderful is this?? Awesome, right?? I can't wait to go for one of these workshops/tours.

Next stop, Surajkund crafts mela, Feb 1-15. Already salivating :)

Ravinder Reddy.

Willie Bester (south africa) - Trojan Horse.

A thousand desires - Ravikumar Kashi.

Picasso.

Manjit Bawa.

I really like Tapas Basu.

Kids' favourite - the Infinite Depth series.

One of the Subodh Guptas.

Another one - titled - sarees, resin and wooden chairs.

Butterflies - Damien Hirst.

This one took me aback. Again a Damien Hirst.

Paresh Maity.

Another Ravinder Reddy.

The Last supper - Vivek Vilasini.

Another Michelangelo interpretation by Vilasini.

Seema Kohli.

Toxic malls

Warning: This post is just a rant :) Feel free to ignore.
We had to go to a mall the other day. Well, we didn't have to, technically speaking. My father-in-law was in town and in the morning we had to do some shopping for him. In the afternoon, we didn't have any outdoorsy options for the kids since it was a cold blustery sort of day and we didn't want to sit around at home. I suggested we check out this huge mall in Gurgaon, which I've never been to. The kids could play in the kiddie area, I could check out some sales and we could finish dinner in the food court.

Now I donno whether I have mentioned this anytime on this blog, but I hate malls. As in, really hate them. I hate everything about them and in the normal course, I would never suggest going to one, much less take the kids along, but in a place like Gurgaon, if you can't go outdoors and you don't have the time to drive to the rajdhani, then you have to go to a mall! Sad, but that's how it is. We occasionally do visit malls, because our favourite bookstore is in one, sometimes the nice restaurants are there and every now and then we catch a movie in one. So, anyway, we went to this place and while the kids hung around with their dad and grand-dad, I braved the crowds at Westside and came out after 30 mins with a thumping headache.

We then went to the play area (called "Funcity" - anything but!) and we paid an exorbitant amount for the privilege of being swung around in a merry-go-round kind of thingy for 10 minutes. The kids squealed with delight and fright and genuinely had a good time, so I won't complain. Ads then spent a fruitless half hour using up all the money on the card on idiotic games that gave him only one go at picking up some useless toy. 

When we were ready to go, S, looking haggard and as though he was having a headache too, looked at me and said "I hope we aren't planning to do this every weekend."  I shook my head. I'm aware I'm in a minority here given that most people I know (in Gurgaon) seem to visit malls every weekend but I find these places toxic. Give me the sweaty crowds and the haggling at Sarojini Market and Pondy Bazar any day!

Review of Ra-One

I wanted to review Ra-One after we saw it more than a fortnight ago. I took Ads and Y and the 12-year old son  of one of my neighbours (aside: felt very proud to manage 3 kids all by myself!!). This neighbour's son was very enthusiastic about watching the movie and Ads had heard it was a superhero movie and wanted to see it too. Y conveniently sleeps off in most movies (the darkness and for some reason the noise, lulls her to sleep!) so I had no worries about her witnessing any scenes of violence and/or scantily clad females. 

Now here's the thing. I went to see Ra-One a good 2-3 weeks after it's release and after hearing/reading about how bad it was (and really, not a single soul said the movie was even halfway decent), my expectations were understandably very very low. As Ads would say, they were at minus infinity :) So obviously, this frame of mind to a certain extent (but only a teensey-weensy bit) explains why I found the movie to be not bad at all. It was ok. It wasn't bad, it wasn't good. I wouldn't pay the money to go see it again. SRK played out his standard half-dozen expressions. Kareena Kapoor looked hot, as usual. There were the usual foot-thumping songs, the usual melodrama. In fact, it was exactly like any other Hindi movie. So the horrible reviews had me a little puzzled especially as I thought  the SFX were pretty good and classy. The scenes which are supposed to be from inside a gaming console were especially very well-done and realistic (err...I meant game-like). My humble opinion is that everyone has been a tad unfair on panning the movie. I don't think the producers ever claimed they were making a work of cinematic art. Ra-One is in the same genre as Robot (quite as entertaining) and much much better than Krrish. Indeed it is the same genre as the movies that can be clubbed under "mindless summer Hollywood blockbusters". Transformers, Spiderman, Fantastic Four, Superman, anyone?? 

On the same topic, if there was a movie worth watching, go watch Tintin. The animation is just superb! Superb! The performance capture technology is a little surreal because it looks so real (the character's faces do look somewhat more wooden than one might expect). In the middle of the movie, I actually leaned over to S and asked him if they'd changed from animation to real people. It was that good! Also, it's based on my favourite Tintin books and it's a trilogy, so lots to look forward to! But, strictly for Tintin fans, methinks. Ads simply didn't get why amma and appa were so excited :)