tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-115910932024-03-14T11:30:30.743+05:30Sum's ArenaA place where i tittle tattle about this and that and whatever.....Sumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11516678367083112428noreply@blogger.comBlogger87125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11591093.post-29888807198743258322015-11-01T00:51:00.002+05:302016-03-30T14:18:53.712+05:30All that's moving is... Walking!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
We're sitting in the car, traveling somewhere and Adu gives a running commentary like this....<br />
"Amma! Bus walking!! Amma, bike walking!!"<br />
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And when our car stopped at a red signal, "Appa... car innu walking beku"<br />
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And to kill time and keep him engaged i started asking him questions...<br />
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Me: So what's that bus doing?<br />
Adu: Bus walking<br />
Me: And whats that bird doing? (pointing to a bir flying)<br />
Adu: Pakshi walking<br />
Me: What is Appa doing?<br />
Adu: Appa car-walking (driving the car :P )<br />
Me: What's Adu's car doing?<br />
Adu: Adu car walking<br />
Me: What's Adu doing?<br />
Adu: Adu kootho!!<br />
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:D<br />
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Sumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11516678367083112428noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11591093.post-11297959680232477232014-12-16T22:11:00.000+05:302014-12-16T22:11:31.826+05:30Our little Clean-freak!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Ok, so Adu seems to have got a clean-freak gene in him, definitely not from one of us! And we're glad about it... may be we'll get a bit of it from him!<br />
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I taught him to put his toys away in his toy-box after he's done playing with them and he's enjoying doing the same by himself from the last couple of months. If he sees his toys littered he excitedly runs, err crawls to them only to point them to me, with a "Aaaaaaeee.. Aaaaaaeee.." and starts putting them one by one into the bag. Of course, I should tell him he's a good boy, applaud him and encourage him after each step!<br />
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While feeding him, if there are some spills - on his dress or mine, he immediately points it out to me implying me to clean it up as soon as he shows! The next morsel does not enter his mouth until the previous spill has been cleaned and His Highness is satisfied!<br />
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Any small bit of food or any rubbish that has fallen onto the floor first catches his attention. He carefully picks it up and calls me and hands it over to me, to throw it away.<br />
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The shopping bags and other things lying in the hallway, as we'd be tired to clear them up after returning home, would catch his attention in an instant and he wants it cleared immediately! He even helps me clear them by handing out one thing after another from the bags.<br />
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The wardrobes, if D has left them open in the morning rush, have him call out "Aaaaaaeee.. Aaaaaaeee.." asking me to close them, first thing on waking up!<br />
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In general, anything that is out of place needs to be set right and cleaned up for our little clean freak :) :) Swachh Bharath Abhiyaan at home ;)<br />
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Sumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11516678367083112428noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11591093.post-24960222763439700162014-08-19T19:07:00.001+05:302014-08-19T19:07:02.123+05:30Adu @ 10 months<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Oh do i have a talkative little man here! We talk and talk and talk the whole day!! He's got many words now and tries to repeat many of them too. he's now mobile with access to a lot of things and places!</div>
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<li>Our little Adu is now mobile, crawling on all fours, exploring the far off corners of the house! That means mamma has to be very very active and careful now! His grandparents were worried that he's not started crawling even after nine months. We both however, were not bothered about it as he is otherwise a healthy baby. But he started moving on fours when he was about 9.5 months, initially in a funny way of using his legs, knees, hands and bum. and very soon he picked up proper crawling, initially at a slow pace and now with great vigor!</li>
<li>He's got so used to some of the regular words we use with him, and if we forgot to say them, he'd tell them himself in his language. For instance when I make his formula carrying him, I count the number spoons of powder that i put into the bottle and then pour the water and shake the bottle, saying out all the steps to keep him engaged. In Paris, we stayed in a small studio apartment in which the kitchen table was visible from the bed. One night he woke up in the middle of the night hungry and started crying. His dad rushed to make the formula for him while i tried to soothe him. He suddenly stopped crying and started saying 'tan, toa, te, ...'. I was surprised how he could stop crying when he was so hungry and then realized he was counting the number of spoons of formula his dad was putting into the bottle! We had a hearty laugh!</li>
<li>He once said Thatha, thatha to his grandfather on phone as many times as we asked him to, and surely his granddad was elated! Now his grandmas are waiting when he'd call them ajji.</li>
<li>The words he says mostly sound the same, but the tone matters. He just imitates my tone - the one i use with him to repeat the words. His favorite words are light-light-bright-bright when we switch on the light or open the window blinds, dark-dark when we close it or switch off, counting one two three while making formula, catch (a ball), nanna (water), nappy, tegi kai when he puts his hand in his mouth, and understands a host of other words.</li>
<li>We love to sing and dance the whole day! He has a few favorites from what I hum too! And he nods his head and shakes his body to some songs! Its cute to watch!</li>
<li>He has a set of favorite rhymes to, which he signs to be sung. Like twinkle twinkle, clap clap, baba black sheep, johnny johnny... If i don't sing one of them for a few days and then sing it he shows his delight at having recognized his old favorite! As soon as I start Johnny Johnny now, he says 'ahh ahh'</li>
<li>He blows kisses now, waves bye bye, gives hi-fi, shakes hand, does namaste, hits his forehead as if to say rama rama, shows he wants to eat, wants water, and wants to sleep. Ohhhh its all so cute!!</li>
<li>But he's become a fussy eater now. He wants something different everyday, likes something one day but flatly rejects the same the next day, Hmmm... mama is having a difficult time trying to impress the little man.</li>
<li>On the allergy front, we met his doctor but the allergy test will be done only after he is one. Till then we are not to try any allergen on him. And we've now stopped nursing and that's a relief for mamma, though it was kind of strange initially, to suddenly start having all milk products! </li>
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That's it for now!!</div>
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Sumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11516678367083112428noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11591093.post-10848572009772936922014-08-19T17:19:00.001+05:302014-08-19T17:19:45.449+05:30A week in Paris - Some tips for travelling with a baby<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
We're back from a week's trip to Paris with almost 10 month old Adu. And boy, are we glad he's inherited our travel genes! Being avid travelers as a couple, we're now so so grateful that our little one enjoys traveling too. It was a no-hassle, simple trip to just one place - Paris, for a week, with a lot of buffer to rest, with no hard and fast tick list and that helped us have a relaxed trip in spite of a 10 month old.<br />
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We covered the important places like Louvre, Eiffel tower, a day's hop on hop off and so on, but kept the rest of the trip to just walk around the city, and explore things at our own pace. Little Adu enjoyed his time in his stroller, babbling away happily, singing long notes, waving at strangers, giggling, and falling asleep when tired! And we walked around the city, a few kilometres everyday, exploring the city, clicking pictures, tasting amazing French food, and taking in every bit leisurely. Unlike our earlier trips, we'd wake up late and start from the apartment in the late morning, after Adu had his share of rest, pack food for Adu from home, venture out till evening when we ourselves would get tired.<br />
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Some of the preparation that helped us ease travel with the kiddo:<br />
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<li><b>Pack light. </b>Consider your baby also as a piece of luggage - a big and cranky one at that! Even when you're taking his stroller, your hands will be busy pushing the stroller. Also, you never know when the kid insists on being carried in arms rather than in stroller. So pack very light for yourselves, but make sure you carry the baby's most essential items.</li>
<li><b>Don't have a hectic schedule </b>when traveling with a baby. You'll need a lot of buffer including resting times, unexpected delays, time to prepare the baby's stuff before every outing, more sleep time than usual owing to the added tire traveling with the baby and so on. Keep the plan relaxed. </li>
<li><b>Be flexible. </b>It is more important to enjoy the trip than to tick off places. There is no point in visiting every place on the tourists' guide when everyone including the baby is getting dead tired. Also, everything might not go just as per you plan. For example, you might plan to visit a place that requires you to set off early in the morning, but your kiddo might have given you a bad night, meaning all of you needing more sleep time in the morning to be fresh. So just push the early morning plan to a better day and do something else that is light instead.</li>
<li><b>Carry enough supplies of your baby's favorite food</b>. Even if your baby is willing to try different stuff, it is better to carry his favorite foods. We had carried some fruit smoothies he's used to, his usual cereal, and some dosa flour. </li>
<li><b>Book a place with a small kitchenette.</b> Or carry your own little one burner stove and a pan. This really helps to dish out something fresh at least for the baby. In our case, we carried Adu's favorite dosa flour (not batter) (a mix of wheat flour, rice flour and a bit of methi powder) that we'd mix with water and make a tiny dosa for him that he'd be happy to eat after a tiring day out.</li>
<li><b>Keep a couple of his favorite toys</b>. And we'd give him one when he's bored sitting in his stroller for quite some time. It would delight him to get his favorite toy suddenly and that would keep him busy for some time. And with small kids, a lot of other 'junk' things can be used to keep them engaged for long periods of time. Like Adu loves to look at and play with maps and brochures after we're done with, lids of throwaway containers without any sharp edges keep him busy for some time, he like studying tickets, receipts and such. Just make sure nothing you give the baby is harmful.</li>
<li><b>Reserve time to just spend with the little one everyday. </b>That may be playing a silly game, singing rhymes, giggling with him, or just cuddling with him.</li>
<li><b>Make things interesting for the baby</b>. Your baby will definitely not appreciate being on top of Eiffel tower or looking at Mona Lisa! What he instead enjoys is playing a peek a boo with you, giggling at the monkey faces you make, clapping hands with him for a rhyme and so on. So make sure you do it with him often, to keep him happy. Don't worry if the people around think you are a bigger monkey! They mostly will not and even if they do, that's ok.</li>
<li><b>Carry the essentials always. </b>Always when heading out, make sure your baby bag has refills of food, water, nappies, tissues, bib, a snack and so on. Having a bit more is better than running out of something midway with a crying baby. </li>
<li><b>Keep Emergency Numbers handy</b>. That includes the local doctors, baby's doctor back home in case there is a need, you don't have to panic searching for numbers.</li>
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Sumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11516678367083112428noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11591093.post-74808912208127810682014-07-18T14:34:00.000+05:302014-07-18T14:34:19.310+05:30Adu @ 9 months<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Our little Adu turned 9 months already! And we're having a gala time! Or rather ga-ga time, with him babbling ga-ga most of the time!! He's chatting away a lot these days, all in his own language, but i'm glad i can make out most of it ;) Or so I assume!! One day it is 'ga-ga-ga', and the next it is 'tha-tha-tha', and then it is 'ba-ba-ba', and so on. And sometimes it is a combination of sounds. </div>
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I've been graduated from 'Ungaaaaa' to something almost like 'Amma'. It ranges from Amma, to mma, maammmaa, to ammmammaaa. And his appa is abba as of now! This has been the case almost through his 9th month. Once he starts, he goes on calling amma, amma and it feels soooooooooo good! Still I miss those Ungaa days.... Those days, he'd suddenly call me, 'Unga!' as if to tell me something. Or it's be a Ungaaaaaeee when hungry or when he wants something.</div>
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He loooooves singing! I guess he's giving back all that effort I had taken the past months to sing and keep him engaged. He's probably starting to take revenge on me ;) He still likes to listen to me or his dad singing, and continues or repeats as soon as we stop!</div>
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We've been singing a lot of rhymes these days, with all the baby actions!! And his favorite is 'Twinkle twinkle', followed by 'When you're happy...' and then 'Johnny Johnny'. He has now learnt to make the actions for all these three, and when he wants to hear one of these, he signs. And he sings with his babbles with one of these actions, and we'll know what he's singing!!</div>
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He loves palying with shadows, and whenever he sees a patch of sunlight from one of the huge windows here, he moves his hands and sees if the shadow falls there. Almost always, it'll not be successful, unless i carry him to a suitable position to make his shadow fall there. And then he keeps himsef busy for quite sometime.</div>
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He loves to experiment with the gravitational force too. When on high chair, he keeps dropping things and look at me to pick it up for him. Ok, i agree it's a favor he's doing me, to reduce those extra kilos that is still sticking on ;)</div>
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He's turning out to be a choosy eater. Not that he's a bad eater, but only if things are tasty. And if it is not repeating often. And if it is not bland baby food. And if he's not sleepy. And if he's neither not hungry not tooooo hungry when he turns cranky and wants only milk. Hmmm...... amma is having some real challenge these days!!</div>
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He is turning out to be a clear minded little fellow. He knows clearly what he wants and what he doesn't. And expresses it clearly and gets things done! </div>
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He's learnt to do some signs to tell what he wants. Like he puts one finger into his mouth in a particular way to ask for more food. In another way to ask for water. He pats himself on his head, saying he's sleepy. Claps to say he wants to hear rhymes and it makes it so much easier for us! And when we guess it correctly and ask if that is what he wants, he responds too... </div>
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He's picked up on understanding many words now, like the ones i keep using to him. And when he wants to say he almost gets the first syllable right. Like, ne for water (neeru), lla for light, cack for catch... ohh it is so much fun with a little one around!</div>
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Regarding allergy, he'll have his allergy test by the end of this month. I've been asked to try out other stuff like nut butters, egg once again but i'm just too apprehensive to try out. The first couple of times he had egg he was alright but the later couple of times he had heavy throw ups, so i stopped experimenting. And a small teeny weeny bit of naan that he had the other day at a restaurant caused him to come home and throw up a couple of times and sleep tired. Can't see him tired and dull... so just gave up on experimenting and waiting for the allergy test with fingers crossed...</div>
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Sumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11516678367083112428noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11591093.post-3194032109696378082014-04-25T13:51:00.000+05:302014-05-06T13:53:31.378+05:30Adu @ 6 months!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Oops! I'm so late in posting this!! I was too too busy when he turned 6 months.... was getting ready to travel back to Sweden. And i was to travel alone with Adu, so lot of preparations had to be done by myself... and not to forget the never ending shopping list too...<br />
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Well, Adu,<br />
You had been a WONDERFUL baby this month! Each month seems to be the best one till then! You were awesomely co operative, non cranky, friendly, more communicative, more receptive, more vocal, started showing us some of your interests... and so on...<br />
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<li>You spent an awesomely good time with your Chikki (my sis) which was the highlight for me and her! You almost got along with her as good as with me! I was so glad and she was more! I'd leave you with her to do my shopping and other errands, and you'd be a happy baby, hardly missing me! You'd even go to sleep with her!</li>
<li>You started rolling over, officially! Though you had done it a few times in the third month, you had completely forgotten about it for the next few weeks. And now that you have practiced holding your head up and balancing, and taking your hands off, you didn't hurt your nose, like they say most babies do!</li>
<li>You love music... you enjoyed the concert that was arranged in ajji's house, tapping your thighs for 'taaLa' and later started singing yourself..... Your songs lasted for more than a couple of minutes at one stretch! It was mostly 'ga gaaa gnaaaaaaaaa' currently.</li>
<li>You love it when we play with you with our hands, making different gestures and moving them around you.</li>
<li>You discovered that there are a host of possibilities with those little hands, apart from just mouthing them! You learnt to snatch things, hold them close to examine, learnt to tap our hands, started scratching us more, </li>
<li>You started imitating many of our actions...</li>
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<li>You learnt to do some gestures with your hand that your Ajji had taught along with a small verse. When you first were able to do it, you were delighted with yourself and wanted to flaunt it off to us!</li>
<li>You learnt to move your lips to kiss!!! That was sooooo cute! You started with making some weird sounds with your lips and then finally it came to the almost proper kissing!! How i loved to get those first few sloppy kisses!! And you gave it to no one else!!</li>
<li>You learnt to tap a single leg as against tapping both legs that you were doing till now. This you learnt seeing your Chikki do it. You started following her and found it was fun... </li>
<li>Most of these, you learnt, flaunted off for a few days and then completely stopped doing it for the next few days! Apparently, after learning one skill, and mastering it, you want to move on to concentrating on new ones!!</li>
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<li>Your thatha has certified you as a 'good boy', which is a great thing, considering how long I and Appa took to get such compliments!! ;))</li>
<li>Your Appa missed you quite a bit during this phase, especially seeing the videos that I sent him almost everyday...</li>
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And coming to my diet, well, I've somehow managed these past weeks. Its extremely hot here and I'm terribly missing those yogurt rice and buttermilks.... And not to forget the innumerable sweets that make their appearance on the kitchen shelves, but I'll have to show a lot of restraint as almost all of these are soaked in ghee.... Both your ajjis, are however inventing sweet delicacies with dairy-free versions so that I can have something... I've run out of the limited cartons of oat milk that i had carried long ago and waiting to drink some oatly choco milk! Appa would have stocked up the refrigerator for me and I'm waiting to go back to him!</div>
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All in all, it was a good trip and everyone had a wonderful time with you! Thank you baby!!</div>
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Love,</div>
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Amma</div>
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Sumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11516678367083112428noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11591093.post-61596319542712449382014-03-19T13:27:00.001+05:302014-03-19T13:27:29.730+05:30Adu @ 5 months<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
My darling happy baby,<br />
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It's 5 months! Five months already!!! Just cant believe how fast time is flying. Especially this month as we were in namma Bengaluru, enjoying the company of family and friends.<br />
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The journey was quite okay, and you did pretty well. In one of the flights, you wanted to be held close for the first few hours, but then you started enjoying staying in your bassinet, talking to everyone passing by on the flight. You attracted almost everyone around, with your sweet smile, non stop babbles, squeal and loud laughter... Most of the air hostesses had become your friends. People spoke to you in German, English, Marathi, and other languages and you responded to all of it with the same delight! It was such a sight to watch!<br />
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And back home, you were welcome with a lot of love. You got along with your ajji thatha as if you had been with them from birth! Right on the first day, you slept with them till you were hungry! This made them so happy, I cannot even express. They were probably apprehensive on how you'd get along with so many people here, but you were awesome. Your aunts, uncles, other relatives, Hima-akka, everyone is so happy to have you at home. You coped with the weather change too beautifully - a transition from sub zero temperatures to 30+ degrees here. <br />
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You had your namakarana with lots and lots of people around you, but managed decently. Of course you were stressed and we were sorry for that... Hope to have smaller gatherings in future where you can enjoy...<br />
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You are growing up sooo fast i already want to stop the time machine and want to savour this phase forever and ever.... You are learning new tricks everyday and becoming more and more communicative.... It is such a fun to watch you. You have become everyone's pet here and friends and relatives are visiting you often and want to play with you. I'm glad you don't disappoint anyone! You Always welcome people with your sweet toothless grin and entertain them with your antics...<br />
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You have learnt to grasp things now - your favorite being reaching out for our hands and playing with with them when we hold it infront of you. You also have started reaching for the toys around you or any other new or attractive objects around you. You are fascinated by the stainless steel plates and glasses we use for meals! <br />
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I'm happy you are welcome to new objects, people and experiences. You are not scared of new stuff, but get delighted when you see one. For example, you loved your swinging cradle that ajji-thatha had gotten ready for you. When at an<br />
other ajji's house, the mosquito net fascinates you as crazy! Any new person speaks to you, you get delighted. We take you to people's houses for the first time, and you are happy looking at all that is there around. <br />
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The ceiling fan especially is your most favorite object in any room. You now know that something makes it ON when it is still, and you want it running mostly. The heat here does demand the fan to be ON anyways. I'm sure you're gonna miss the fan when we are back in Gothenburg...<br />
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You Love your appa's voice and turn towards the corner of the room he is speaking from, always... (You surely are going to miss him for the next month). Yes, we are staying back here in Bangalore for another month after appa leaves to Sweden. Let's see how it goes...<br />
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Love,<br />
Amma<br />
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Sumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11516678367083112428noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11591093.post-85211055929034057852014-02-09T14:04:00.000+05:302014-03-19T13:26:59.224+05:30Adu @ 4 months<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
My dear Adu,<br />
<br />
Ohh this was the nicest month of the last four. I and you had a lot of time together, bonding! We played, we sang and sang, we slept whenever we felt like, and had fun together! Of course, we also had tough times when you'd cry for some unknown reason when Appa was at office. I'd carry you around the house, sing for you, dance for you, talk to you, make you laugh and so on to keep you occupied through out the day. When none of these worked at times, and you continued Crying, I'd call up Appa and put him n speaker, and he'd call out your favourite nick name that he has named you with, and you'd get distracted for some time! <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjryrkm2g8Yqf0__JD8ux_VnBzcKXsWfoW5IA89E-t3wiHVuhCJLPZMwTmYYSmd3jBkIsDGYmd4v01Hd3V7EojG-PAPyzFcxuaTIMXuEZ53q822b5NH0AOWVLtL5zam_wSIN8p4A/s1600/Adu+at+4+months.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjryrkm2g8Yqf0__JD8ux_VnBzcKXsWfoW5IA89E-t3wiHVuhCJLPZMwTmYYSmd3jBkIsDGYmd4v01Hd3V7EojG-PAPyzFcxuaTIMXuEZ53q822b5NH0AOWVLtL5zam_wSIN8p4A/s1600/Adu+at+4+months.jpg" height="320" width="213" /></a></div>
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I didn't know babies as small as you get bored too! When you get bored, it is a signal for me to change the activity! Out of all the times, you favorite one, apart from feeding, ofcourse is to sit in the kitchen in your bouncer chair and watch me cook. We do it everyday, in the evening, before Appa comes and you squeal in joy and babble a lot of sweet words when it is kitchen time. One day, you watched me bake a brownie end to end, a lengthy recipe, which i feared would bore you. But you enjoyed right from melting chocolate until it was time to take it out of the oven - over an hour and a half! I was describing to you, like always, all that i did, showing all the ingredients, singing in between. At then end of it, i was really sad that I could not give you a piece of the awesome tasting brownie yet - wish you were big enough to have a bite.... Oh well, that time will come too... Soon!<br />
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On the allergy front, soy seems to be bad too, for you - it caused more reaction than cows milk. <br />
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Apart from that you have a pretty decent routine now, not very fussy, except on a few days. You love going out in freezing cold, you watch me in awe when i'm eating, loooove your bath time playing with water and you are generally a happy baby. I'm soooo thankful for that!<br />
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We're getting ready for our visit to Bangalore, to your extended family and Appa and I are eagerly waiting to show off our lil one to everyone back home...<br />
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Love,<br />
Amma<br />
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</div>
Sumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11516678367083112428noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11591093.post-24520238314484183092014-01-31T16:40:00.000+05:302014-02-20T12:00:03.640+05:30Sing along...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I have been singing and singing and singing and singing and singing and ufffff... I've been singing all the time! With my <i>besuraa, be-taal, </i>voice, making up songs after songs, dancing along at times. And someone seems to be enjoying it so much! He in fact wants me to sing in a stupid way rather than listen to great singers' recorded songs. Uff... my boy!<br />
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And evening and weekends, D does the honors! Of course Adu wanting his appa to sing is understandable given the fact how much he used to sing for me and him during my pregnancy. There used to be some singing sessions when he'd sing song after song and I'd listen happily. After mom joined us, she too continued the trend and sang some forgotten songs. And she did continue it in his initial couple of months and he loved it.<br />
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But me? Why me?? With my infamous singing skills??? Well, one because I am his mother, and two I am alone with him the whole day and he does need some entertainment, doesn't he! Whatever be the reason, I've been singing along.<br />
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I'm glad I have at least got back my pre-pregnancy voice finally, after having lost it for many months, during pregnancy and initial days after his birth. And this is helping me recollect some forgotten favorite film songs, (how many lullabies can i learn!?). And some I make up songs with some funny words and those are his most favorites! I sing about his burps, I sing out his nappy change, call him a dirty boy, all in a self composed tune and voila! he loooooves it!!!<br />
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And the reward I get is his lovely toothless smile, more gurgles, some lying down dancing steps, and a happy baby! And I love it!<br />
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Sumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11516678367083112428noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11591093.post-7915823462854259312014-01-17T17:51:00.003+05:302014-01-17T17:52:01.627+05:30Adu @ 3 months<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVqpuwuDZZwxxgYDwxVyxC_lH2caOB3hAioFc1kcoVsXqk6AgSxmigptDWOW0OO0MamAyHGJKYamd8mnCc0OGx5e2OjvUlPHNRsELhCP25tvHXM6elPRWOcefPT1rzBAKKADmYTQ/s1600/s-3months-IMG_0881.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVqpuwuDZZwxxgYDwxVyxC_lH2caOB3hAioFc1kcoVsXqk6AgSxmigptDWOW0OO0MamAyHGJKYamd8mnCc0OGx5e2OjvUlPHNRsELhCP25tvHXM6elPRWOcefPT1rzBAKKADmYTQ/s1600/s-3months-IMG_0881.JPG" height="400" width="292" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My fingers are so tasty!!</td></tr>
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Adu turned 3 months a couple of days ago. Three months and so soon! They say the first 3 months are the most difficult period (during infancy only; there will surely be more difficult periods going fwd) for parents. And looking back, I don't feel it was difficult as such. Of course there were many sleepless nights, and times of confusion when we'd not understand what he wanted or why he was crying... but all those got sorted out pretty soon. Almost by the time he turned 2 months, we could associate his different cries to different needs, get better sleep, and so on. Of course there are a few difficult days when he goes on crying and we feel helpless, not knowing what to do, but that is quite rare.</div>
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A friend recently asked me how it was, the never ending, sometimes hourly feeding-nappy changing business. And frankly I said it wasn't as bad as they say. I'm really enjoying it all... Never once did i feel frustrated for having to wake up so often during the night. I am surprised myself, how it is so, for someone who needs so much sleep generally! May be having help of mom and D really helped too... And may be I was well prepared for this too!</div>
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We're finding this phase of his very very interesting, with him doing different things every day. He's exploring his surroundings, trying to make different sounds, makes out our different expressions both facial and verbal, shows his joy or sometimes anger too! It is such a joy just watching him or talking to him...</div>
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<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li style="text-align: justify;">A little after he completed two months, he started looking at our faces and conversing with his coos and gurgles. This was not random sounds anymore and he would specifically look into our eyes and make different sounds with expressions, as if to narrate something. This has been the most wonderful conversation I've ever had!! It is so much fun, talking to him in his own language!!</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">He did roll over on soft surfaces a few times in his second month, but seems to have forgotten or given up on that now. His interest has shifted to communication from mobility!</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">He notices gadgets in our hands very keenly that's a point for us to take care not to use too much of mobile or laptop when with him. Of late, if we are engrossed in the gadgets and don't pay him attention, he complains quite noticeably! Good for us!!</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">A colleague of D has gifted him with a book made of quilt like material, of a famous Swedish cartoon Bamse, a bear. We've started reading to him from the book and narrating him and he LOVES it! He gets so involved in it and gets excited as soon as we take out the book!</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">He has been munching his fingers quite a bit! Of course mom does not give anything to chew on, and he still hasn't discovered the ability of his hands to grasp things, so he has not many options!</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">He clearly has names for the three people he knows I am Ungaaa, D is Ababu and ajji is Andhe! He cries out these words depending on whose attention he wants!!</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">BTW, his ajji left when he was just about 2 and a half months and he had been looking for her for a few days. And sometimes call for her and cry.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">And he has been able to recognize her voice on phone or skype and feels excited and even responds! When my in-laws try to talk to him on phone, he would just give a confused look and not bother to respond. Now i deduce that it was because he is not familiar with their voices and tones yet, whereas my mom's voice is something he has been hearing from the beginning.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">And another important thing is that he loves sitting in his rocking chair in the kitchen and watching me work! His first bake with me was a brownie, to which he gave me company happily, talking to me all along. And he got used to the mixer sound as well, when I demo'ed it to him after his initial fear! I felt so sad that I cannot feed him a bite yet! </li>
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Ahh the amazing way a little being grows, learning so many things along!</div>
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Well, on the health side, he is happy and healthy when his amma is dairy-free and not otherwise. Unfortunately soya too doesn't seem to be working for him. I did try it a couple of times and he was upset for a couple of days. Eggs on the other hand he seems to be okay with. So I am an egg eating vegan ;) Well, I know i can't say that.. so rather can I say I am a dairy free ovo-vegetarian?! But I am happy to discover so many possibilities that I would have otherwise not done. So that's it for now!</div>
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Sumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11516678367083112428noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11591093.post-80576176890632776092013-12-13T03:47:00.000+05:302013-12-14T04:09:09.992+05:30Adu @ 2 months<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
My lil Adu turned two months old today. Time just flies by... especially with a baby. I didn't cut a cake or do any 'celebration' as such for his monthly birthday, but thought of recounting on the journey so far. From being a fragile, helpless, one cry for all needs new born, and an anxious, scared mother, we have come a long way!<br />
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Here are some things he did / does that amuses me...<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>He enjoys his bath, oil massages by ajji, clothing, nappy changing and does not make any fuss, but just hates wearing his hat. And even if we manage to put him one, he quickly manages to get out of it by shaking his head off it.</li>
<li>He suddenly realized he recognizes me, sometime in week 6. In the middle of a night, as if meeting someone very familiar suddenly after a long time, he looked at me and with a beautiful toothless smile exclaimed 'Unngga!!!'. Ever since, i've become his Ungaaa!! </li>
<li>He now has a distinct cry for every need of his - hunger, need for a cuddle, need for his amma's cuddle (of course it is different from the previous one!), sleepiness, nappy change, need for a burp, or just boredom - all have quite different cries.</li>
<li>He clearly recognizes me now, and today, even gave me lots of smiles - the real kind of smiles, looking straight into my eyes, conversing something with me with his coos and gurgles.... Ahh.... what a bliss!</li>
<li>He and his ajji have a non stop conversation forever, when he is in a mood for it!</li>
<li>He loves to sleep on his appa, listening to his and ajji's songs - he sure is a music lover</li>
<li>He is one angry baby when hungry! Even if i am late by .001 second when he is hungry, he almost brings the roof down! And when offered to eat, he grabs and also does some strange sounds as if showing his contempt! I can, however, carry him and distract him for a couple of minutes, or put him on my bed, and cover him with my blanket, which reassures him that I am coming to him soon.. then i'll have a breather of about a few seconds before i get to him!!</li>
<li>He is one burpy baby - just like his mom ;) After every few minutes of feeding he needs to be burped, which he clearly demands if not done.</li>
<li>After doing his potty, he gives one beautiful smile and then gestures his right hand as if shouting a slogan or saying 'Jai'! This has been so right from his first poo!!</li>
<li>He now has started focusing on his hanging toys and kicking or beating it and watching in amuse. He however cannot hold them yet.</li>
<li>On nights when he does not sleep and keeps us awake too, he surely rewards us with something sweet to compensate for the lost sleep - like a sweet toothless grin, a special conversation, a new sound, a series of smiles in half-sleep, and so on. All these are worth much more than our sleep and keeps our spirits high!</li>
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How amazing and wonderful it is just to sit and watch a baby grow! And sad that it just passes off so quickly...</div>
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Love you, Adu... So grateful for coming into our lives and making it so much more colorful :)</div>
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Sumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11516678367083112428noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11591093.post-30257512812385501632013-12-12T00:32:00.000+05:302013-12-14T04:09:38.615+05:30Dairy free diet : Update<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Unfortunately it is CMPA that Adu has :( . The elimination diet that i followed almost proved it. I was on a milk free diet for 15 days during which he had improved and then i tested with just a bit of milk in coffee and less than a teaspoon of ghee. And almost on the same day, he again showed symptoms. Also his rashes kind of increased this time. And again, i ate something outside, which worsened his condition. </div>
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Then the pediatrician confirmed it and said we just have to accept it. Though not life threatening, any little amount of dairy that i consume is going to affect him. Kids are likely to grow out of the allergy, some after a year, and most within the first few years. Till then, we got to be careful. </div>
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Coming to my story, I have pretty much got used to dairy free diet now. All I miss is some filter coffee and garam chai in this cold weather. Apart from that I have found quite a number of dairy-substitute products. It is not as big a deal as I had thought, anyway! Of course the big challenge would be when I visit India, lets face that then.</div>
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For now, there is no issue as such and my baby is growing well as well. Grateful for it :)</div>
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Sumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11516678367083112428noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11591093.post-18518243067712142302013-12-04T23:18:00.002+05:302013-12-14T00:37:18.885+05:30The first challenge - Dairy free diet<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Ohhhh it came as a big shock for us when Adu (let's call my baby boy so) was suspected to have developed what is called Cow's Milk Protein Allergy (CMPA). It was kind of indigestible for us when it was explained. Apparently the infant's immune system mistakenly sees the milk protein as something the body should fight off. And this causes an allergic reaction, which can cause an infant to be fussy and irritable, and cause an upset stomach and other symptoms.</div>
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It all started with Adu throwing up, losing appetite and crying in the night for a couple of days. He is otherwise a no-cry baby, very cooperative in all terms till now and a happy baby in general. He made us call the health care number two nights in row and then we took him to the hospital. Seeing the symptoms the pediatrician suspected him to be allergic to cow's milk. We just nodded, not understanding it fully. Only when they explained in detail did we realize what it exactly was. </div>
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If the diagnosis turns out to be true, Adu will not be able to have any milk or milk products till he grows out of this allergy, which can be in a year, or two or three or if he is not so lucky more. And as for the immediate consequence i was asked to stop eating everything dairy if i were to continue nursing him; else I could choose to stop nursing him and switch him to full time formula. This would first be evaluated with a dairy-free diet for two weeks initially, observing him, followed by a dairy diet for a couple of days. If the symptoms recurred, I'd have to quit dairy as long as i wish to feed him.</div>
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The source of the problem, as we speculate was that he was on formula part time. It was inevitable for us to feed him formula in his first week, when my supply was low, and he had high bilirubin levels for 3-4 days (infant jaundice) which required him to eat lots of food and digest it in order to reduce it. And subsequently too, he needed formula feeds a couple of times a day, when I could not fill his lil tummy. The formula is generally based on cow's milk, and the baby had apparently developed an allergy towards the cow's milk protein. And this had surprisingly happened after 5 weeks. I could not take it in that an Indian baby would be allergic to something as inherent as milk!</div>
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Now coming back to the point, I definitely did not want to stop nursing him - already i was feeling bad for having to give him a couple of formula feeds. So the only option for me was to stop dairy for now. Coming from a traditional South Indian vegetarian family, this was indeed difficult for me - especially now, as my postpartum diet consisted of large amounts of milk and ghee. It was then that i realized how addicted i was to dairy!</div>
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My meals consisted of addition of spoonfuls of ghee and ended with curd rice, my snacks consisted of milk, my bakes consisted of butter or other dairy, my filter coffee would not taste the same without milk, my tea was full of milk, the innumerable Indian sweets that I loved were full of ghee or milk.... the list was endless (Wondering about my calorie intake reading the above, well, I'd burn these fats too, so i'm definitely not obese :D )</div>
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I'd feel like crying when people around me would get themselves a good cup of filter coffee, or offer me something with milk forgetting my diet. I'd see the pack of sweet lying in the counter and miss it already. </div>
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And my little baby could not have these too, till however long it was... that was even sadder. Trust me, i was planning for his first birthday cake already! And I had been thinking of what all to bake for him as soon as he started eating them... I'd started calling him Krishna, and now that seemed like a paradox. It was a difficult week for me... </div>
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Now about ten days into the diet, it does not look as dark! I've indeed survived... but then I realize how difficult it is to quit some habits and addictions... especially when it comes to food. I now know why non vegetarians find it so hard to give up meat. In fact, I myself would think of becoming a vegan time and again but had not gathered enough will power. It is not impossible but not easy as well... </div>
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Anyways, now I'm hoping that his diagnosis turns out to be false and I get back to my original diet, but also prepared if it turns otherwise. I know it is not impossible... and in a place like this, there are definitely alternatives too...</div>
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<i><a href="http://sumsarena.blogspot.se/2013/12/dairy-free-diet-update.html">Update on 12/12/2013 here</a></i><br />
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Sumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11516678367083112428noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11591093.post-21563315113390043362013-11-28T23:27:00.001+05:302013-11-28T23:30:15.587+05:30And then another mother was born....<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
And then a mother was born....<br />
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After more than twenty four hours of pain. Well, the word pain can truly be understood only by a mother... a mother who has gone through the labour pain, to be exact.<br />
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When my midwife asked about the Braxton Hicks contractions (practice contractions that the uterus undergoes before labour in preparation for the big job) that i got towards the end of pregnancy, I'd say it was sometimes painful. And when D asked how he'd know when I got true labour contractions, she simply smiled and said 'You'll hear the difference!'. And my mom would say it was something that one can hear from block away!<br />
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And I used to wonder how it would be...<br />
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In fact when my water bag broke the day before my lil prince was born and contractions started soon after, I could still bear it. Yes, it was the most painful pain i had experienced till then, but i didn't know then that it was just a fraction of what would follow! Yes, seriously!<br />
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It was the most painful twenty fours of my life... every hour was more painful than the previous. And then I remembered my mom quoting my grandma that a baby will be born only after the mother thinks she can take the pain no more and will die of pain. Well, i did decide I'm dying at one point, but still the little one did not arrive till a few hours later!<br />
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Now to be frank, I hesitate to call the usual headaches, tooth aches, throat pain, joint pains and so on as 'pain'! It sounds rather funny!!<br />
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Well, is that not how I was born too? Even my mother would have experienced the same pain, may be a little less or a little more. That is what every mother has gone through for ages and ages and that is what will continue to be.<br />
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But what an amazing way nature has... just after the baby is out, all the pain is gone - well, not exactly (it in fact continues!) but then, the feeling of pain is gone. It just disappears when hearing the sudden cry, when holding the little, tender being in arms. People had told me that before, but one needs to experience it to understand. It is just beyond words to describe the feeling of holding a new born close after hours of pain. Love, affection and all the good feelings just overwhelm at once. All you want is cuddle the bundle snugly close to you...<br />
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I guess that is what motherhood is all about! They say 'With every baby, a mother is born'... And now i understand it :)<br />
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Sumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11516678367083112428noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11591093.post-61767261109114357902013-11-25T00:25:00.002+05:302013-11-25T00:25:31.937+05:30Those nine months...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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I had been wanting to have a baby.... and thoroughly enjoyed my pregnancy and birth. Oh well, i did not say it was an easy pregnancy or an easy childbirth. Wait... i think easy and difficult are pretty relative terms. People with a trouble free or rather morning-sickness-free pregnancy call mine as a difficult one, and those with more complications call mine an easy one!</div>
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For one, i had morning all-day-sickness not just in the first trimester, but throughout the pregnancy. Right from the time i discovered i was pregnant in week 6 till the day my lil one was born - okay it was till hours before he was born! Being the foodie I am, I hated food like anything and meal times were like a punishment to me. Except on rare occasions, like when eating out or when there was something exceptionally good. And even then there was this risk of it going down the drain as I could throw up anything anytime! Let me tell you honestly - it is no fun hugging the ceramic bowl in the bathroom everyday, twice or thrice a day... it just drains off all energy, takes off any little appetite one might have... but then when you are pregnant, you have the mental appetite to eat or not, your body does have the appetite. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
And well, it is no fun that way, trust me! You are hungry, eat something, rather healthy, start feeling uneasy right after and a couple of minutes later throw it up, and then after exactly five minutes you are hungry again. And wait, you cannot even ignore it, as there is a lil fella inside you, urging you to eat. Again. Immediately. And you go back tot he kitchen to repeat the whole story again. If you are lucky, you will retain it. Dee and later mom had difficulty making something to my taste! They would be delighted if occasionally i'd eat something happily... and then not throw it up for the next few days!!</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
And then it turns into a bigger problem - someone inside feels cramped and so presses against the lil stomach and as a result, the contents of the stomach and its friends rush upwards, towards the entry point - resulting in severe acidity. Hugh!</div>
<div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
I was surprised how every part of one's body - yes <i>every </i>part - undergoes a change when one is pregnant! From aching legs to tooth pain (what is the relation between tooth and pregnancy, God knows!), discolored skin to join aches, raging hormones to mood swings (the effect of which is more on others than self!), and a completely topsy turvy abdomen! And then the sleepless nights when tossing and turning on bed was an adventure due to a huuuge belly... of course this is a common thing, if one were to carry an offspring full term.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
But apart from all these, I must say I did have a healthy and easy pregnancy. I continued almost all the daily activities, continued to travel, had many exciting and adventurous trips, kept a journal of pregnancy, and all that... Did not take any supplements at all, except for the folic acid in the first trimester, underwent just a couple of ultrasounds, as opposed to the amount of supplements one is administered and the number of scans one is made to go through these days. Also, did not meet a doctor even once here in Sweden, and whole of pregnancy and most of childbirth was managed by the midwives here. It was a surprise for us that people are advised to meet the doctor only in case of complications. This was all a paradigm shift even for us, but then we are thankful that it went this way. And thankful that we were here in good and safe hands.</div>
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So when i look back now, i can definitely say it was an easy and healthy pregnancy inspite of all those troubles... Or is it the mother in me that feels so?</div>
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Sumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11516678367083112428noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11591093.post-20056287551171781112013-11-22T23:08:00.002+05:302013-11-22T23:08:49.632+05:30Varför???<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
This was in the initial days of my Swedish classes. There were people from countries across the world enrolled and we were all getting to know each other.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The first few days went in learning the usual questions and answers for the same like</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
- What is your name?</div>
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- Where do you come from?</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
- Where do you stay? and so on.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
And then it progressed to </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
- How old are you?</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
- Are you married?</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
- Do you have kids? </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
- How many siblings? and so on</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
And after that came more details on Question words. And some in the class who did not know English and us who did not know their language were all conversing in sign languages and in the bare minimum Svenska we had learnt till then. And there were a host of mistakes we did, especially with the confusing question words - using something for something else, others not understanding sometimes and correcting at other times.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
So this girl from the class, from some middle eastern country knew very little English and was at our table talking something. From the class of previous days, we'd learnt each others' age and marital status. And apparently she was barely 19 and was pregnant. </div>
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The first question she had for all of us is how many kids each of us had. Not many in the group had kids and well, we were all elder than her. She went on asking each one the same question and got her response. And when I said I still didn't have kids, her next question was 'Varför?' [means 'Why?']</div>
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Given our little knowledge of Svenska, we all assumed that she is asking the wrong question, may be she meant to ask something else. Someone asked her what was her question and she repeated 'Varför?' </div>
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<br /></div>
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This was a common question that comes from a super-inquisitive 'ajji' or 'aunty' or so from where I come from. But I had been glad about people not asking about your personal life here. Thank goodness I was not the only one who was shocked at this question! </div>
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After a few moments of recovery I got back my balance and asked her back 'Varför?' She didn't understand what I meant. Then i made myself clear why she wanted to know about it! That confused her enough while the rest of them were giggling about my response! And when she asked the next few people the same question, she was smart enough not to ask 'Varför?' again! And they almost thanked me for saving them from having to face that embarrassing question!</div>
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The others, who have become quite good friends now, laugh at that incident even till date!</div>
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<i>PS: This was written and saved as drafts sometime last year and i had totally forgotten to post it... Here it is now... after i have a baby!</i></div>
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Sumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11516678367083112428noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11591093.post-86705294703576102492013-11-04T22:58:00.000+05:302013-11-25T00:26:07.741+05:30New kid on the blog!!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Yes! I'm a mother now!! To a sweet lil baby boy!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYO8R6oLUcCL8vHldv5DcU9Vpusbwt_Vc5E_SiidA0NvH7DgQnTlnrK8kI5NUD7R848_E_Qos6y64CDTUfkiC93CkN7jMFpij6kXbn4-0fwye9pDUnMbqxD_zuD0eX-rplZ3RuVA/s1600/Blog-IMG_9658.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYO8R6oLUcCL8vHldv5DcU9Vpusbwt_Vc5E_SiidA0NvH7DgQnTlnrK8kI5NUD7R848_E_Qos6y64CDTUfkiC93CkN7jMFpij6kXbn4-0fwye9pDUnMbqxD_zuD0eX-rplZ3RuVA/s400/Blog-IMG_9658.jpg" width="266" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
He was born on the 13th of Oct, Vijayadashami, an auspicious day in Hindu calendar, on his due date! And life has changed quite a bit since then! He does keep us all busy round the clock, though he is not a troubling baby. Life does change after a baby!<br />
<br />
So my guess is this blog also might turn into a mommy-baby blog... or this may inspire me to write other things too, more frequently now on. Lets see.... Right now, i have so many things to write and so little time....<br />
<br />
Let me sign off now, and get back soon with more stuff...<br />
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Sumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11516678367083112428noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11591093.post-77256886401286224562013-02-06T23:25:00.000+05:302013-02-06T23:25:00.496+05:30Cooking and Us<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
To my <a href="http://sumsarena.blogspot.dk/2013/02/svenska-and-friends.html">Swedish classes</a> sometimes I do carry lunch - the last few times it was some rice variety with veggies or greens. Of course a different one every time, given my appetite for good variety of food and love for cooking. I was initially apprehensive to carry Indian food, with so many flavors, but as i got to know my friends' love for food and their readiness to try out different cuisine I got comfortable.</div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
Some of <a href="http://sumsarena.blogspot.dk/2013/02/svenska-and-friends.html">my new non Indian friends here</a>, are especially fond of Indian food - and more of the spicy, hot varieties. And I do offer them my rice whenever they are around and being great foodies that they are, they relish my methi rice, spinach rice, rajma masala and so on.</div>
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The most common question I'm asked is "Do you cook everyday?"</div>
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"Yes I do", I say. The fact is, I cook twice a day - like most of us Indians - Breakfast and lunch to be packed in the morning and something fresh for dinner in the evening. That makes it three mostly different meal a day! When the fact that I do cook everyday itself is quite indigestible, I do not mostly get into the details!</div>
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And then I'm asked for details like whether I cook in the evenings and save the leftovers for lunch next day, how long do i spend in the kitchen, whether I cook before breakfast or after breakfast and so on. [The fact is most of us Indians do <i>make</i> breakfast too - cereals and bread are only emergency breakfast items for us :) ] </div>
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<br /></div>
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And they wonder how many hours a day I slog off in the kitchen. But the fact is that cooking fresh for every meal hardly takes a lot of time - especially when you have some experience and when you like it. How long does it take to make a flavored veggie rice, for example? Cook rice in a pressure cooker, and while it is cooking or cooling, saute some veggies in a pan along with some spices and mix it with the rice! Tada! Yes, it is that simple! And those who do know cooking did agree with this - it doesn't take more than 15 minutes of your active time - especially here, when most veggies are available in frozen form! This is it, unless I'm trying out some extravagant item for the love of cooking.</div>
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This left me wondering how different our lives are and what could be the reason for this...</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Firstly, I've grown up eating fresh food for every meal, almost always... and that has continued even after marriage at the in-laws' place. And it was the same even when I had a full time, super busy life. So it is in a different country too, where you get ready made foods of all kinds. Food and cooking has been an inseparable part of our lives. When I can't or on't want to cook, D offers to cook. Not that we do not eat out, but it is something we do occasionally or the fun of trying out different places, or when we really feel like it.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Second, the concept of frozen foods for us Indians is quite new. And I bet many have not yet embraced that lifestyle yet. Refrigerators are a recent inclusion in our kitchens. And we hardly know about the freezers - except for the small compartment at the top of the refrigerator, that is used to store ice-creams or to make ice cubes!! </div>
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Thirdly, we believe that eating fresh and homemade is healthy.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
And not to forget many of our elders' beliefs that left overs should not be eaten the next day. In many households even today, cooked stuff are not stored in refrigerator, let alone frozen!</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Of course many urban families have embraced the western culture of frozen and ready to eats, but I'm sure there is a large chunk of people like me who still hold on to the old roots!</div>
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Sumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11516678367083112428noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11591093.post-46846727331857393852013-02-03T18:04:00.001+05:302013-02-03T23:31:27.483+05:30Svenska and the new friends<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="text-align: justify;">Of late, I'm trying my hands at learning Swedish - going to classes here, called SFI. It's fun and very nice to learn a new language. Swedish has been a lot more easier for me than Japanese, that i tried to learn a couple of years ago. May be because of its close relation to English. However, it is significantly different from English in terms of vocabulary and grammar. </span><br />
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Classes these days are a lot fun filled! We have people from different countries, from all over the world... from countries like Ethiopia, Somalia to US and UK. Out of them all We are one close group of about 10, two from Italy, one each from Kenya, UK, Vietnam, France, Bosnia, Germany, Moldavia and ofcourse me from India. Its almost like a global conference during the breaks!! And we've been going out for cofffees, for museums etc and loving it all.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihCPyMy2LbSgCniGikkz_kfSIRjK7iqravryjq_sUC33VqM7mbu5GgrxKvXG2jZPZBu2vmkqkJy9RMpEcw-wIHCpSfhyphenhyphenDrn2gk-0y06S1ImJsvoIj3KQEO6Kw80nlDUMXMQTjsIQ/s1600/Picture+021.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihCPyMy2LbSgCniGikkz_kfSIRjK7iqravryjq_sUC33VqM7mbu5GgrxKvXG2jZPZBu2vmkqkJy9RMpEcw-wIHCpSfhyphenhyphenDrn2gk-0y06S1ImJsvoIj3KQEO6Kw80nlDUMXMQTjsIQ/s320/Picture+021.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Also had a series of luncheons where one of us cooked lunch for all the others a day and it was fun. My methi malai mattar, capsicum gravy and jeera rice were a hit, though quite on the spicy side. People even asked me for the recipe ;)</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWLNDFnM4R15gA6exrR5177AJ7-7G2JVYa9okR_cwgIIzWm70QB6QPbDhyphenhyphenwVNxZYM__LYxGxlr2LmiUJ2OYVxcOCgEtg3gXBEGve25m3uO9F_ZepvGVFoPJ2ck1P3NIozVBdPV1A/s1600/Picture+020.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWLNDFnM4R15gA6exrR5177AJ7-7G2JVYa9okR_cwgIIzWm70QB6QPbDhyphenhyphenwVNxZYM__LYxGxlr2LmiUJ2OYVxcOCgEtg3gXBEGve25m3uO9F_ZepvGVFoPJ2ck1P3NIozVBdPV1A/s320/Picture+020.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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And ohh btw, i'm taking my second test tomorrow - level C in just abt 2 months... Going back to school at 30 is fun indeed! </div>
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Sumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11516678367083112428noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11591093.post-55849142767135670992012-08-30T12:55:00.001+05:302012-08-30T13:37:11.419+05:30The beginning of my pocket money<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7IPZSWiDoDkM7EMwmn9KxeKT-kGirLO-9mstQoC0XUXtsn4Oz4OM5PjqaK-D4AvCHuIN_5ZqxSjXYXJiEZ4T8372fvL2hM29sAqA6btrGTfALxinyGBUSIST1B_zlYPyKbyQsig/s1600/PktMny.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7IPZSWiDoDkM7EMwmn9KxeKT-kGirLO-9mstQoC0XUXtsn4Oz4OM5PjqaK-D4AvCHuIN_5ZqxSjXYXJiEZ4T8372fvL2hM29sAqA6btrGTfALxinyGBUSIST1B_zlYPyKbyQsig/s320/PktMny.jpg" width="283" /></a></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
It was during those days with L that I got introduced to the
attractive delicacies sold in the petty shops on the way to school. There were
some umpteen shops on the way, each specializing in something or the other,
needless to say, junk food of those times! There were these cookies in a
bakery, all loaded with dalda/margarine, ranging from 20 paise to 1 rupee;
there were deep fried fryums (<i>boti</i>)
for 5 paise each, peppermint for 5 paise, cut fruits and cucumber, may be for a
similar value, cotton candies, chocolates from Nestle, Pary’s, Cadbury’s, and
some with no brand but very popular; there was this gadi wala with some
colorful rubbery candy, that he used to make as various designs, as wrist
watches, rings, or lolli pops, etc; and there were these chikis of various
forms and sizes; honey cake for about 2 rupees a piece, and many many goodies
like this. Ohh whatever happened to those small coins and the goodies they used
to bring, now!! I guess today’s kids haven’t even seen a 50 paise coin!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Mom, being a good and experimental cook, used to make many
snacks at home and pack for school too. She even used to bake a couple of cakes
and cookies too, something very big for those days. Needless to say, they were far
healthier and of great standards, and of course something less attractive for a
7 year old who was exposed to a hundred different things outside :)</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
This girl L used to always have some money with her. Sometimes
less than a rupee, and more often more than a few rupees, sometimes even 5 or
10. Now, looking at the values of stuff mentioned above in that age, this was
quite a money to splurge, esp by school kids.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
So she introduced me to various shops on the way, which I had
only seen till now, or may be mom bought me a pencil or eraser from one of
these occasionally. Every day, she’ll buy a different item, depending on how
much money she had and would give me a small portion out of it. And I’d devour
the taste of all these new colorful, exciting stuff! That was when I tasted my
first honey cake, one of her favorite costly treats, the deep fried fryums (mom
always made happaLa-sandige at home and fried them in good oil), some open
candies like peppermint, orange candy etc (dad and mom used to get only covered
candies), and so on. Even at school, there were kids who would go out in the
lunch break and buy some goodies from the innumerable shops surrounding.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Even after having had all these, the greedy me was always eyeing
one bakery very close to school where there were a hundred kinds of cookies in
jars on the counter. These cookies used to attract me every day, but L had not
bought these even once. And my self esteem would not let me ask her to buy me
one of those! One of the days I even mustered up courage to go up to the shop
and ask about the prices of these cookies. They ranged from 20 paise to 1
rupee.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Back home when there was some change left out on the table
or counter, I’d eye them and evaluate the coins to the cookies that I wanted. If
I had even faintly asked me parents I wanted to taste one of these, they’d have
definitely bought me, but I didn’t. I picked up one coin first and carefully
hid it in my uniform pocket. And the same day in the lunch break, I walked up
to the shop and handed him the only coin I had and asked for the least
expensive cookie. I still remember the taste of it. It was a salt biscuit, the
size of today’s 2-rupee coin. Hmmm… it was tasty! Esp since it was stolen, I believe!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlh82wUQDJwR_x99TllB2jqcwOX2aGQw047924j1eNrhb_PmgE5RDX61Z5scuUePTQIfOCB6gu0ChN0LeefPm-C6emIg8pkvZdlrruGE7f_J1a664pbifs2S9LXyIfgrnnGlLNOg/s1600/PktMny2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlh82wUQDJwR_x99TllB2jqcwOX2aGQw047924j1eNrhb_PmgE5RDX61Z5scuUePTQIfOCB6gu0ChN0LeefPm-C6emIg8pkvZdlrruGE7f_J1a664pbifs2S9LXyIfgrnnGlLNOg/s1600/PktMny2.jpg" /></a></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
So this continued; I tasted a few other cookies and candies like
this, each time getting more courageous. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
My parents were, as always smarter than me, and had doubted
about this. (I wonder how, but will ask mom after showing this story!) But they
wanted to confirm before confronting me. So on a Sunday, dad had left some
change, quite many coins than usual, along with his wallet on a table when he
went to bath. And mom also made sure she didn’t come to that room for a long
enough time for me to pick them and hide them. I thought I had accomplished
something with great success, but I was wrong. They had counted all the coins
and kept them and now, it was clear that I had picked whatever was missing.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
And then began
another counseling session! I sobbed, and was sure something terrible was to
happen now. I guess I lied to them at first, and then admitted. I confessed on doing
it for some days now and told them what I did with the money. They told me
about Mahatma Gandhi’s story of stealing his dad’s pen, and said it was okay! Surprisingly,
they didn’t scold me or beat me, only explained to me it was wrong. They could
have falsely suspected the maid for what I had done, they could then lose trust
in me if I continued it and so on. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
And then they decided to give me some pocket money every
day. It was 25 paise a day. I could use it every day or save it for a couple of
days for a bigger cookie, or save some for the future and make a big sum of it
and use it for a bigger thing. Whatever I did with it was up to me, it was <i>my</i> money! But there were some important
things that had to be kept in mind:</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;">
</div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: 7pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">No open foods - they are very unhealthy because
of the dust, dirt and germs on them</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 7pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">No cut fruits/veggies for the same reasons</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 7pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">No boiled food - like boiled corn or boiled
peanuts - the water they’d have used might be very unhygienic and unhealthy</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 7pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Not too much of fried foods, as the oil they use
is not as good as the ones used at home</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 7pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Cookies can be had occasionally as they are
mostly with dalda and not pure ghee, which is not healthy in the long run</span></li>
</ul>
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Yes, there were a lot many things to have in spite of all
these No’s. I did use the money for my little pleasures, but also made sure I saved
it (More about the savings in a later post). The amount I got, almost doubled
every year, became a weekly sum from daily, and then monthly. By the time of
college I was getting about 500 bucks, but I had also learnt to use it
meticulously.</div>
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<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Pics Courtesy Google Image Search</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
Sumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11516678367083112428noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11591093.post-18268989495864424342012-08-18T00:57:00.001+05:302012-08-18T00:57:47.876+05:30The day I bunked school<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijewzdEQgetgyaxoyYx17DJVsWCqlpuwc3bMmDlNHPXoah9n-6tK8_LUTOMSDWuPpplpdipzygepBd93IxutQJPJyJjKnhYCh4P1Ie6GmwedrjLcyXz6YHceuxteJcesfVH3VutA/s1600/-children-clipart-8.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="301" mda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijewzdEQgetgyaxoyYx17DJVsWCqlpuwc3bMmDlNHPXoah9n-6tK8_LUTOMSDWuPpplpdipzygepBd93IxutQJPJyJjKnhYCh4P1Ie6GmwedrjLcyXz6YHceuxteJcesfVH3VutA/s320/-children-clipart-8.png" width="320" /></a></div>
I was in second standard then, about 7 years of age. My school was about a kilometer or two from home and I used to walk for about half an hour to reach. There were some country roads which we had to walk to save time and distance, a railway line to cross, a slum to go past. Those were the days when there were no school buses painted yellow to take the kids to school. May be there were in some hi-fi international schools, but those were something we were unaware of. We did our schooling in some local private school as did most of our peers from that age. And walking to school was the only option. Second Saturdays would be special as dad would be off from work and would drop us in his scooter, a luxury we looked forward to!<br />
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In the beginning mom used to accompany me, with my little sister, who would walk a bit and for the rest of the walk, end up in mom’s arms. And then there was this older girl, a neighbor of ours, who was in fifth or sixth standard then who also went to the same school and an arrangement was made for me to go with her and comeback with her. Let’s call her L.</div>
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I used to enjoy walking with her - a big girl who seemed to know so much, who had friends on the way, who knew many shops that sold candies on the way and who I thought was one bold girl. What I didn’t know then was that she used to miss classes quite often, be sent out by teachers every other day for not completing home work and got very low grades. These were something that weren’t even possible for me to imagine, as my parents saw to it that I always completed my homework, taught me at home as well, never allowed me to bunk just like that and I was always told education was the most important thing to have in life! So all things that this girl L did, amused me.</div>
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There were times when I’d have some complex and feel inferior to her, as I never had the guts to do all that she did - to be so carefree about school, and not to be asked about anything about school at home. I envied her freedom! I cursed my luck for having parents who took interest in my studies and grades and home works…</div>
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(What I didn’t know then was that as soon as she completed her 10<sup>th</sup>, no matter she failed or passed with a rank, her parents would get her married off to a rich guy or rather a man, much older than her, and then she’ll have a couple of kids before her mid twenties and that’s about it. There was nothing beyond this for her to aspire for… but in my case, my parents aspired that I’d study well (of course I was the one who got first in class most of the times) and become an engineer or a doctor or whatever was that I aspired. They wanted me to become independent with good education and that was the most important one.)</div>
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Coming back to the story, this girl, on some days stopped by the railway track and asked me to go to school alone and come back in the evening. By now, I was well aware of the route and was used to walking alone too. And in the evenings when I’d come back she’d already be there, and would walk back with me. I was so dumb that I’d assume she came to school after me and came back just before me! Later she told me that she’d sit by the railway track and play there by herself for the entire day and go back home after the school hours! </div>
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She tried persuading me to give her company too. But I was too scared to attempt anything like that as I knew the consequences of it. When I didn’t give in, she tried scaring me. She showed me a used and thrown hand gloves and said stories that there were some criminals there who murdered people and chopped their bodies into pieces and carried them in gunny bags. And that this hand had fallen off by mistake. I was petrified by this thought. I then agreed to stay with her one day, and hide and watch that guy who killed people! Was it out of fear of that guy or was it because of curiosity or to appear bold like her, I don’t remember now. Anyways I bunked the next day. </div>
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As we reached the railway track, we didn’t go further on the school road and instead, removed our shoes and got on to playing something there. And the criminal who was apparently the cause of this venture had been forgotten! After about an hour or so, to my ill luck, there came this neighbor aunty, who knew both of us and there we were caught red handed, err mud handed :)</div>
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I don’t remember the exact sequence of what happened later, but I and L were in that lady’s house and my mom was brought there; our house was a couple of furlongs from hers, may be her son went over and brought my mother (there were no telephones then). Mom had her comb still stuck on her hair, she had left in a hurry. And the next thing I remember is that my mom took me home silently, clearly angry and as soon as we went home, she changed my soiled clothes and gave me a couple of whacks from her comb. </div>
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And later I was given some counseling and asked to confess on the details of the event. And there was some lesson on why it was bad to bunk so as well; and how it could be dangerous for little girls to be roaming about the railway track the whole day and so on. And there ended my bunked day!</div>
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Sumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11516678367083112428noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11591093.post-26684990011384425712012-08-08T13:56:00.001+05:302012-08-08T13:56:07.142+05:30The Writer's Blogger's block<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf60l-qQIoiCablEaydTILKCQSCVNYloPE4nKPk4LHVh5XcPZOJhxFtzkasFZoETR5rSKnFRVDBpxzx83LfIdZYyqCCu-eR6NYzij99B1xwPYx9-ZKJi74ffOLuxlYkdqdL0USEA/s1600/IMG_0296.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf60l-qQIoiCablEaydTILKCQSCVNYloPE4nKPk4LHVh5XcPZOJhxFtzkasFZoETR5rSKnFRVDBpxzx83LfIdZYyqCCu-eR6NYzij99B1xwPYx9-ZKJi74ffOLuxlYkdqdL0USEA/s400/IMG_0296.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Every night, just before drifting off to sleep, these
awesome brilliant ideas pop up in my mind, about something that i should write.
I'll get nice awesome words and sentences as well, that I’ll decide to put on
the blog first thing in the morning. I am quite determined to remember them
till the morning as well, trying to memorize the ideas and words!! Getting up
then and writing is not something that i do...</div>
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And the next morning starts with getting up late and
hurrying to cook breakfast and lunch before D leaves. And then I sit with my
laptop, along with my bowl of breakfast, and may be the TV ON too... And as a
pre-programmed application, my fingers first open the Facebook and go down the
feed from all friends, all updates useful, useless and the links and the
forwards (shares) and so on... And also some notifications on friends liking or
commenting on my posts... And then the blogs to check for new comments and
stats... I'm talking about my food blog here; that is a more happening place
than this one! And then the blog updates of other bloggers and pals... And then
some news may be, and I just completely forget the idea of writing, let alone
the most-determined-to-remember ideas... Huh!</div>
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And after all these I feel a bit sad that a brilliant idea
is not recorded :(</div>
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The idea of writing a great post has just got dissolved....</div>
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Hmm... I know I should not let this happen... I should
concentrate more on writing and give more importance to it...</div>
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Hope it happens soon...</div>
</div>Sumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11516678367083112428noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11591093.post-56735606251010626302012-08-01T16:07:00.000+05:302012-08-01T16:07:32.584+05:30The Age Factor<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<i>'While how old you are is not in your hands, how old you
feel, definitely is!'</i></div>
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Recently a blog friend of mine posted something on being 30,
some positive aspects of it. I liked the post and left a comment on the lines
of agreeing with her and mentioning of sailing in the same boat. And her reply
was “Man u n thirty..U don’t look a day older than 25..Rock on” </div>
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He he! Obviously this made me gleam and grin from ear to ear.
This is not the first time that such a thing has happened. Many a time, people
belive that I am much younger than I actually am. I believe it’s because of my
appearance…. I hope not it is because I am childish or so :)</div>
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A couple of months back when I accompanied mom to Mysore for
her exams (Ohh yeah, she is definitely younger than me…. She’s doing a degree
now), an old lady, at whose house we stayed asked me what I’m studying! Then when
she was told that I’m working in so and so company and am married for so and so
years, she was astonished. And I was more astonished, that I can still pass for
a student! </div>
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It does feel good when someone makes a remark like that, doesn’t
it? At least for me it does. I feel good when someone asks me something like ‘what
are you studying?’ or comments like ‘You look like a school girl. Can't say you
are married by looking at this picture.’(a blog friend when she first saw my pic
in FB).</div>
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Ok… some pondering over these incidents gave me some enlightenment
yesterday, and i came up with the quote on top! That I should not feel like thirty and should instead feel five
years younger. That gave me a strange joy…. That makes me believe in being able
to do all that I wanted to and couldn’t in the last five years… That made me feel
like living all those years and more once again, all over with a fresh start! And
finally it made me younger than what I am… Believe me it makes wonders! </div>
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<i><br /></i></div>
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<i>Thanks to all of you
whose comments helped me in this realization :)<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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</div>Sumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11516678367083112428noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11591093.post-50016418835178772452012-06-28T20:18:00.002+05:302012-06-28T20:27:39.666+05:30Skandla: A short trek outside city of Goteborg<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;">On a Saturday afternoon that we didn’t want to go to far off
place, googled and found this place pretty close to ours, called Skändla where
there are remains of the medieval village, and apparently Stone - Bronze age
man lived here.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv0hkIXpEESKyTCX5SCQBPrDVyGjDt5UINtZm2CM5L28EXUqeWeGlqpe_l8kihLR8QgL59L1r5A4_mJYaOBDdhOj7_48OzAvfIQqZZqyjyfYnST30Fue17S_cYL_sz9hBtbLmFAA/s1600/IMG_1699.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv0hkIXpEESKyTCX5SCQBPrDVyGjDt5UINtZm2CM5L28EXUqeWeGlqpe_l8kihLR8QgL59L1r5A4_mJYaOBDdhOj7_48OzAvfIQqZZqyjyfYnST30Fue17S_cYL_sz9hBtbLmFAA/s400/IMG_1699.jpg" width="266" /></a></div>
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We’d have to change two buses but the total journey was just
about half an hour, though the buses to the place are infrequent. We got down
at the mentioned stop – Skandla Sodra, and were pretty lost as to how to reach
the actual place. We did see a hillock covered with forest on our left, but weren’t
sure where the entrance was. We asked the only two people we saw there, who
apparently were also new to that place and as per their suggestion, kept
walking on the main road. After a long walk of about a couple of kilometers we
were sure that we were still going around the forest trying to find the
entrance rather than entering it! No guesses for who was looking at the map :P.
Okay, the map didn’t show the entrance, it only showed the road around it :D</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1dDYO1HRL1gmbwppvQ2G-RRm3ppM1MOL7Vm5FROXrYJgTviONISSQTiio9153iIlgKHETA6_HmmIsFyIdVqB0XhJP2ngW1L5TizaJ_ttYMeTC-1zw4HXLKQSwpw1B1YTQm9PQPA/s1600/IMG_1674.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1dDYO1HRL1gmbwppvQ2G-RRm3ppM1MOL7Vm5FROXrYJgTviONISSQTiio9153iIlgKHETA6_HmmIsFyIdVqB0XhJP2ngW1L5TizaJ_ttYMeTC-1zw4HXLKQSwpw1B1YTQm9PQPA/s400/IMG_1674.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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However the walk around the forest itself was quite
pleasurable, with a small country side road in between hilly forest on one side
and huge fields on the other, with some Roe-deer and hares in between to entertain
us. Of course birds to keep our camera busy :)</div>
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We were done with the walking quota of the day by then and
decided to return for the day and come back the next. This time took another
smaller road back, and almost figured out where the entrance was, so as not to
repeat the same mistake again!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBQhq8ng5m_7AWLrhKdB4Rv8IjVHaPIW19E0gHPsmxoI1MpkWzw0_QIsCMceuapupW0kmaMjMa2FtDBaFMMhb7lVKbkjH9GLil6mNvEa6K6ZlbTLYegi1D3V43io0C8Lj8z71eFA/s1600/DSCN9280.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBQhq8ng5m_7AWLrhKdB4Rv8IjVHaPIW19E0gHPsmxoI1MpkWzw0_QIsCMceuapupW0kmaMjMa2FtDBaFMMhb7lVKbkjH9GLil6mNvEa6K6ZlbTLYegi1D3V43io0C8Lj8z71eFA/s400/DSCN9280.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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The next day we set out earlier in the say, and this time
reached the entrance from the bust stop in just a couple of minutes, but yes,
on the opposite side to what we had taken the previous day. There were routes
and maps and clear information about the place, helping us not to get lost. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuQXnu9NCEXwUsBQaVl0vlxUTq-HsnQsGB9A3vxMKwq_QO5A3a0gLSKH8qeGoCAR3Wc-U9xexLRVV-d0JUovaOjRcbPHwY_SKtzwv2hOTW2kKil8Ao5LElA7mU5sYT2WHMkDZLvQ/s1600/DSCN9282.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuQXnu9NCEXwUsBQaVl0vlxUTq-HsnQsGB9A3vxMKwq_QO5A3a0gLSKH8qeGoCAR3Wc-U9xexLRVV-d0JUovaOjRcbPHwY_SKtzwv2hOTW2kKil8Ao5LElA7mU5sYT2WHMkDZLvQ/s400/DSCN9282.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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It is about 7km walk in the forest, mostly on small paths,
but the paths are clearly marked. We took a thick stick for some protection, as
there was not a single human around the entire place. Only towards the end of
our trek did we find two more groups of people. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixp8wEy0jjfAIyfFg7Q4HpSJen-nB5x2hfNeR3rAoKkGB_vQ03icx498H2FRO4pjE_bQKA7M82Uto6qdNEvPhQENrDvstAsd9UXzplHMAfQ6ptrJsr46Ui3svgOQ94Vj4YzlH0pQ/s1600/DSCN9284.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixp8wEy0jjfAIyfFg7Q4HpSJen-nB5x2hfNeR3rAoKkGB_vQ03icx498H2FRO4pjE_bQKA7M82Uto6qdNEvPhQENrDvstAsd9UXzplHMAfQ6ptrJsr46Ui3svgOQ94Vj4YzlH0pQ/s400/DSCN9284.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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There are some remains of a medieval age village. Apparently
evidences of stone age, bronze age and iron age man have been found here. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWBFWE31XzdUcxNcogVaE9XN9pjNyu9rgOEdjqHAjY3Bv5y6DQVNAP6EMSEjN4KosocBDad5y4h0t3p6bpQYast6pOIg1iiacLABqzLIof_O7W5MK17YNjZyTiCr0_TLRGG1UXqw/s1600/DSCN9291.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWBFWE31XzdUcxNcogVaE9XN9pjNyu9rgOEdjqHAjY3Bv5y6DQVNAP6EMSEjN4KosocBDad5y4h0t3p6bpQYast6pOIg1iiacLABqzLIof_O7W5MK17YNjZyTiCr0_TLRGG1UXqw/s400/DSCN9291.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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There are these huge heaps of boulders which acted as a fort
for their safety. </div>
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<br /></div>
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Here’s the other side of the ‘fort’ that is not easy to
climb up.</div>
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Fell in love with this house adjoining the forest..</div>
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Finally after a satisfying walk in a jungle of Sweden, glad
that the home made pizza loaded with cheese was well burnt, came back home and
collapsed :)</div>
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<br /></div>
<br /></div>Sumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11516678367083112428noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11591093.post-66976957972475130452012-06-21T19:00:00.003+05:302012-06-21T19:00:54.237+05:304 weeks in Goteborg!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="background-color: white;">Ooooo…. It’s almost a month, and so soon! We’re in Sweden
now, in the city Goteborg. D had to move here on work and I followed him! Leaving
behind everything ;) Took a break from work, which was a good change. Loving
this new place, esp since it is summer here and the weather is pleasant. I have
all the time for myself, a total contrast to my life back home… loving this
change.</span></div>
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We’re traveling quite a bit on weekends, exploring various
places in and around Goteborg. And doing a lot of walking! And also I’m cooking
a variety of dishes… experimenting new stuff. Of course the food blog is more
active now! Hope the same here too :)</div>
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Will be back soon with more updates!</div>
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Ciao</div>
</div>Sumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11516678367083112428noreply@blogger.com1