The school bus

its here everyday at nine
initially u clung to me tightly and i assured u its fine
u will have fun i said make new friends
u looked at me terrified not willing this to end
let me be with you mommy please u seem to say
with so much innocence in your eyes my resolve began to sway
it will be fine i said to myself rather than to you
it is new and terrifying for me too
and then it was eleven and time for you to come
i waited by the gate and then some
your eyes lit when you spotted me
come to me baby i said with glee
i took you in my strong embrace
you looked at me with playful rage
how could you do this mommy?
how could you leave me?
I missed you but i had fun
The bus is here gotta run
Sigh they grow up too fast
wonder how long will this last
Even though Im happy when it strikes nine
At eleven i'm the happiest coz once again you are all mine.

Curls galore

Last night while going through my stash of sex and city episodes i came across the one where Mr.Big has got engaged with Natasha leaving Carrie high and dry....it was a delight watching that episode again especially the part where Carrie has an epiphany about curly haired girls....."There are simple girls and there are Katie girls....I'm a Katie girl" she says quoting from "The way we were".....I totally relate to this as I'm a Katie girl too through and through....

People have bad hair days I have had an entire bad hair adolescence....before that i couldn't care much so i don't know....but i do know my mum used to get my hair cut every time they would grow longer than my ear lobes coz she hated the fact that they curled and became a mess....someone told her if she keep getting them cut my hair would become straight.....i hated my hair growing up coz no matter what i did to them they would just look messy (this was when the messy look was not in)..... and if you are growing up with a sister who had the picture perfect thick long straight black hair you can imagine the nightmare....she could roll out of the bed and still looked completely poised and i would spend hours doing my hair and still have someone say " its time to leave why don't u go brush your hair" Grrrr

Even when i was in college i would wait for dry weather days (very rare in bombay) just so they would not frizz up....My friends always joked about how my hair can tell the weather....Generally not a beauty conscious person i would spend a lot of time putting hair packs and what not on my hair....If you have seen the episode of friends where Monica goes to Barbados and faces hair nightmare you would know what i am talking about.....Our honeymoon was in Bali and i came back with what looked like an Afro on my head.....But after few years something wonderful happened....While living in New york i decided to go to this upscale place on 5th Avenue....The Italian guy who was my stylist that day gave me an advice i will never forget....

I was cribbing about how i hate my hair and i wouldn't mind getting them permanently straightened...when he said in his wonderful accent Are you kidding? I have women spending hundreds of dollars in here to make their hair look like yours. You have gorgeous curls..What?? they are anything but gorgeous I said running my fingers through my hair .... Phat he slapped my hand....stop it....you are not supposed to touch your hair....you are ruining your curls....no brushing them no running your fingers through them....none of that...

And voila....from being a frizzy bushy mess my hair transitioned into perfect bouncing curls....that is a point of envy for everyone including the sister....i have so many people asking me have you got something done to your hair....and i go no they were always like this its just that i didn't know....All i had to do was not brush my hair....so simple and yet it took me 20 odd years to understand.....got me thinking about life...and how sometimes whatever we do doesn't seem enough.....doesn't seem to set things straight (or curled)....sometimes its not what we are not doing....sometimes its what we are doing wrong....what we are doing as a habit and never questioning because it has been done all the time....sometimes we have to step back and analyse our every move.....sometimes we have to be brave enough to change the very foundation of our beliefs.....and then we shall witness the magic....how the very thing we were chasing was always with us....All we had to do was not brush....

the day i got million$ advice with a 100$ haircut.

My curls define me....I'm so glad i never got them straightened....my dad used to say you are as twisted as your hair.....hes right.... I'm complicated and wild and unruly.....But if you just let me be i can be your crowning glory :)

I know I'm being very vain in this post.....what the heck I'm going to go ahead and post a pic too.....

Mother-Hood

hiya

im back after a long break..... currently enjoying the mango season....summer vacation at moms n then at mom in laws....new things have happened since my last post...Arav now speaks in sentences....yes sentences with 3 or more words....that's few more than the husband who still answers mostly in yes or no unless its a life threatening situation :).... so far Aravs talking is music to my ears....wonder how long that will last

but this post as the title suggests is about motherhood....which is a constant frame of mind...and also brought forward by the recent Happy mothers day event....on which day i did nothing more than wishing my mom followed by demanding breakfast as i was lounging on her couch....and sending a text message to mom in law...not an ideal daughter in anyway i know.....but im literally being smothered by maternal love and it has got me wondering.... wondering how amazingly it works...the current miss india (no idea what her name is) was asked what does a mother learn from her child? she answered unconditional love....i dont know if it was a textbook answer like world peace but it did strike all the right chords....

yes parents love is unconditional but mothers love even so...i dont know if its by default or by design.....but it is Gods most amazing creation.....the two mothers in my life one by birth and one by marriage are glorifying examples of this love....2 different personalities 2 different parenting style but one common thing : unconditional love....the one by birth or the old mum (for lack of better term) is a practical fierce independent level headed lady....no babying anyone no pampering....let the kids rough it out on their own philosophy....but caring n always there...one with whom i can share almost anything....i wonder how she didnt kick me out of the house when i was an obnoxious teenager ... back answering rebelling and utterly selfish....only after Arav have i come close to understanding what mom must have gone through....and hes only 2 yet

the new mom is emotional extremely generous kind and giving....the quintessential aloo ka paratha gajar ka halwa kind of bollywood mom....who expects nothing in return and loves me more than her sons maybe....i sometimes wonder how i lucked out....an astrologer friend once said that my kundali is such that all godesses have showered their blessings on me....meaning the women in my life will always take care of me....how true

but one thing i have realised is that its so easy to take them for granted...its so easy to be ungrateful....its a  love that u dont have to win that u dont have to work hard for....it is given....and so its hard to care much for....but i think we need to make a conscious effort to appreciate this amazing gift....this biological glitch....Mothers love...Mums need to be appreciated , revered, worshiped , thanked.....in small and big ways everyday

to all the super moms i know.... a very happy mothers day :)