Airtel Super Singer Junior 2

Author: Anu Karthik / Labels: , ,

I am talking about the program that airs on Star Vijay. We have this channel at home as you require a world channel subscription to watch Cricket. One of the umpteen rackets these sattelite companies have. And since Cricket is K's first love (thankfully not the only love), I had to succumb.
When I get lunch ready for the next day, K takes the jr to bed (or atleast is supposed to). Many a times I have caught them both enjoying this program instead of getting prepped for sleep. Since V is feeling sleepy earlier these days I had the chance to catch part of it yesterday, and I am very glad I did.
While I do belong to the school that is against encouraging children into media this early in age as I feel it brings with it many feelings/situations they are not equipped to handle and makes them grow out of their childhood very soon, I was bowled over by the talent showcased. While most of the singers are atleast good, some are just exceptional. There are a lot of poignant moments when the child performs, the parents watch with expectation and pride, and the judges encourage ever so softly. It is very engrossing to say the least. I have a hard time trying to not cry when the elimination occurs, these are kids for god's sake!
Anyway, if you are able to see it..you should watch it. It is a wonderful showcase of amazing talent.

To Amma & Appa with love

Author: Anu Karthik / Labels: , ,

Becoming a parent has certainly changed me, for the better I would like to think. However, not everyone around me would agree I am positive. One thing for sure that it did is make me value some things more in my life that I certainly took for granted before. We are the persons we are because of everything around us and what we absorb and I am the parent I am because of how my parents were. If one thing, becoming a parent has certainly made me closer to them and I value their presence in my life all the more.

The day V went to daycare, everyday as I sit at work watching the clock tick I understand how my parents must have felt when they left me in Pilani, after having their children as their sole focus all 18 years I was with them. Their tear stained faces and pained glances gain more meaning as I wait to be with my son and suffer every minute I am apart.

The calls everyday from India and my irritation at some of those times that I cannot take back; now make we wonder how they must have craved to hear my voice. Even after having my son with me by my side I cannot just have enough, how can I think that they will proceed with life when they let me go so many miles away?

I now understand the challenge it must have been for my mother to make an **interesting tiffin** (in my words) every single day I came home from school. When asked what I would like for lunch/dinner, many a times I have responded that "It is boring amma, same thing". Now when I have to prepare meals for my family, I expect to be appreciated even if I serve the same dish once in 2 weeks, and mind you I don't even make tiffin, it is only 3 meals a day :P I want to kiss her hands and massage the feet that stood in the kitchen taking care of us day after day as I grew up ignorant and oblivious to her effort.

Today I can relate to the passion with which my father would watch our every move. I can relate to his desire to provide the best and nothing but that for his children. I hope to have his energy when he used to come and coach me with lessons after spending more than 18 hrs a day seeing his patients. Gone is the annoyance I felt that he read my personal letters that I wrote in school, gone is the anger when he disciplined me. I understand today that it comes with being a good parent. When he hugs me tight today I understand what he feels because I feel the same when I hug my son.

By no means does this post idolize only my parents. It is a salute to all those who strive to live their life with the children as their driving force. Much as a child gives, it takes from you to be a parent. And to be a good one, a kind that will allow you to go to sleep with a smile on your face is no easy task. It does become a way of life and requires no effort when you start to live, eat and breathe your child in everything you do.

As King Khan rightly said "Having a child is like taking a part of your soul and putting it in another body and allowing it walk in front of you. The child is part of you, is you".

P.S. I will work on the maintaing a distance part when V is old enough to be a teenager, right now I am just reveling in this feeling.

Joys of Motherhood

Author: Anu Karthik / Labels: ,

I am no longer Anu-the daughter, or the sister, or the daughter in law, not Paapu-the wife, not Aanu- the aerobics instructor, not Anu- the doctoral candidate, I became an "Amma" and my life has changed forever. To my mother, a thousand god salutes!! While I cannot be in a happier place, raising a child does have its share of challenges. Here are a few that I experience and I’ve only just begun.

  1. COSTCO and diapers.com are my new best friends
  2. "Me” time is the biggest joke I have ever heard
  3. Eating, sleeping, using the loo and taking a shower in leisure are no longer necessities, they are luxuries
  4. “Poop” is talked about at least once if not more times in a day
  5. Criteria for new friends: They need to have kids or like kids
  6. Criteria for old friends: need to have e-mail or be on online networks, I barely talk to anyone on the phone
  7. Couple time/Dating/Romance –yeah, been there done that!
  8. S.L.E.E.P, oh how I miss you!
  9. Dirty dishes and clothes keep piling up much quicker than I can even say “DONE”
  10. How someone only 34 inches tall can have SO *much* stuff
  11. My list of top 10 inventions of the century goes like this a) diaper b) baby monitor c) washable crayola..you get the picture
  12. My reading these days is limited to a half a page of the parenting magazine ( sometimes I can’t find where V put the rest of it)
  13. Watching a movie is a week long process, especially Indian ones
  14. Jeans most days, different t-shirts, hair always in a ponytail..yeah, you can spot me a mile away, and my sense of style has taken quite a beating I must say
  15. A good day at work is when there is no meeting at 4:30 and I can get a workout at lunch, and my boss smiles when we cross each other in the hallway :)