Hockey, the poor sibling of Cricket!

Chak De India releases.
Some life is instilled into the lost sport called Hockey which incidentally is our national game too. India wins the Asia cup and atleast now people are aware. Media gives some coverage to the game.

India wins the T-20 world cup in Cricket.
Hockey is sidelined again. Cricket hijacks the song, the star (Shah Rukh) and even the mood!

No, I am not against the game of cricket. Infact I am not a sports person at all.
Its the treatment meted out to the hockey players that I feel sorry for. While the cricket heroes have been assured of lakhs, flats, cars and what not, the hockey heroes were apparently not even sent a congratulatory message by our dear politicians. Please read this for details.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/PoliticsNation/Hockey_players_miffed_at_Chuck_De_India/articleshow/2406380.cms

Agreed that cricket is more popular a game but then the least that can be done is to keep politics out of it. Public may support one game over the other but why is the government interfering? If the cricketeers need money and encouragement, so do our hockey players.
I only wish hockey isnt given the stepmotherly treatment that it is being subjected to.

Read more...

Tags Galore!

I have been tagged by hihopgmom and this one is very very different! There are 3 rules.Rule 1. The rules must be mentioned in the beginning of the tag.Rule 2 You must list one fact that is somehow relevant to your life for each letter of your middle name. If you don’t have a middle name, use the middle name you would have liked to have had.Rule 3. At the end of your blog post, you need to choose one person for each letter of your middle name to tag. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.I don’t have a middle name. There are lots of middle names that I would have loved. Infact I am one of those who is not really proud of my first name. I don’t like it much, but then there are some things in life you just get used to. Anyway, the middle name I would choose is Priya!

P: Possessiveness. Yes, this is one habit or inclination I want to get rid of. I do not get close to people easily but if I do, I get possessive about them – be it my hubby or my best friend or even my children, to the extent of being unable to share them with others. Same goes with some of the materials. I cant share them even with hubby!

R: Reliable. My friends say that I am a reliable friend. I am there when they need me and I have the gift of patient ears and a cushion shoulder for them to cry on!

I: Impulsive. I do most things on impulse. Talk of jumping to conclusions and it happens so many times with me. Talk of going for a casual walk and come back loaded with shopping bags, and that’s me! But then again, I am trying to get into the habit of looking before I leap. It is not good to be impulsive about everything!

Y: Young-at-heart. Yes, I am. There are still so many things I want to learn. I like the company
of young people. I like to enjoy each day and celebrate life.

A: Amusing. I like people who are fun loving, who are amusing and who are humorous. I like battle of wits. There is no point in taking life seriously. “Noone comes out alive anyway” :)

OK, now as per Rule 3, I need to pass this tag to 5 people. Let me call upon NM, Swati, Aargee, Timepass and DDmom…
Girls, out with it now! :)

Read more...

Of Nicks and Names

Lots of tags pending! Let me try to finish one!
Tagged by Swati on nicks that I use for my kids. I guess I am one of the oldest moms around, having a small-girl-turning-into-a-young-teenager and a younger one who just landed on 2 digits! And yet, a child remains a child in the eyes of the parent. I still cuddle my younger one, I still kiss my older one to her disdain and still call them names. Ofcourse the names, the shades and the styles vary as per the mood. How, you ask? Here, I go.

1. When I was the new mom in the town: Gosh, this might be embarrassing for my little girls but they have no choice, do they? After all, they did respond to them, didn’t they? Their eyes did lighten up on being called thus, didn’t they? They loved hearing it as much as I loved calling them!! I called them Kashkamulla and Gompugompa! No, they are not ancient Arabic or African names. They are names without any rhyme or reason. Infact, my hubby was the one who coined them!
2. Based on their looks: My D1 was called Dimpy Kutti – the reason being obvious, she has dimples and kutti was just to make that a formal name. Btw, this kutti is tamil kutti (young girl) and not the hindi one!!! My D2 was called Purva Chaterjee… why? Because her eyebrows meet and they are called Puruvam in Tamil. Chaterjee sounded just right there!
3. Bunty or Babli: Yes, that’s the combined one for the occasions when they both gang up against me! Next the question comes up as to who would be Bunty and who Babli and before I know, a wrestling match begins between them…. And wicked momma has succeeded in her divide-and-rule policy hahahaha (wicked laughter)
4. Influence of animals: Yerumai, Kazhudai, Panni, Naye! These are the names to remind them that momma is upset and they better get ready with the defence. Incidentally Yerumai means buffalo, Kazhudai translates as donkey, Panni is for pig and Naye is dog in tamil. Now, now, please don’t lecture me on the dos and donts of a good mummy. Someday soon I will learn to control my tongue. Yes, I am practicing it! Till then, please bear with me, my little ones!
5. Take a spoonful of Paati/ Ammamma from kitchen, Thatha from his locker, Uncles from their distant locations and you have Sundakka (cant translate it, someone help, please), sakkarai (sugar), pattu (silk), vairam (diamond), muttu (pearl), Aalu (potato) and so on!

Ofcourse, times have changed now. Kids are growing. Its time to call them with their decent names. But let me tell you, I loved doing this tag. It took me back on the memory lane! Infact most of your blogs do just that. I guess I am the last person to finish the homework, as always. So, noone remains to be tagged,
Or!!!
Maybe Usha and HipHopGmom can share something from their memories, but yes, no compulsions!

Read more...

And if you thought...

Multani Mitti was a good face pack for YOUR skin only, think again.
Read this
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2002/12/01/wtaj01.xml

Let me pick up a few lines from there.
"The Taj Mahal is being saved from the corrosive effects of industrial pollution by an ancient face-pack recipe - a blend of soil, cereal, milk and lime once used by Indian women to beautify their skin.
The sticky brown mixture is smeared on the smut-stained marble surfaces of the 17th- century Mogul tomb and washed off with warm water after 24 hours.
The formula - based on a method discovered in a 16th- century Mogul journal, Ain-I-Akbary - has proved to have such restorative qualities that it is now being exported to Italy to clean grimy monuments there."

I read the news in TOI frontpage today and googled for the same. It made a lot of sense.
Now we know for sure that there is a lot of research behind all those home-made therapies and treatments. These are time tested and can do wonders.
So, let me go and grab that face pack and become the eigth wonder of the world!!!

Read more...

What do I do?

OK I have had enough! Its becoming a routine now. Its almost an expected and a planned event. You know you are heading for it and still cant do anything about it. You have tried all routes possible and yet cant seem to avoid it. So, when you cant beat them, join them, said... said... I dont know who said that. But it makes a lot of sense now.
Yes, that monster called traffic jam is waiting at every nook and corner of the road to gobble you. No, you cant escape it. Oh yes, go ahead, go ahead and try that alternate route. You think others are not smart? They are there before you, dear and there you have another monster. OK you have one way to beat it. Try starting for your office a few hrs earlier. Say 4 hrs before your office starts. Maybe you can help the office boy to set the office up!
But if thats not possible, you have to think of ways to be prepared to deal with it.. hmmm. Here are a few tips and tricks to pass your time (if you are alone)
1. Do some yoga and meditation.
2. Catch up with your friends. After all what are mobiles for?
3. Peek into others cars. Try to analyse the story of others lives. Where they could be heading? What do they do for earning the bread, butter and JAM!
4. If its daytime, maybe you can look at the cloud formations, or birds flying... maybe it inspires you to write a poem!
5. ...... please help me fill this... what else can be done when stuck in a soup... sorry I mean a jam!!!

That brings me to a question.... why is it called traffic jam? why not traffic butter? why not traffic cheese? Maybe then it would have been smoother... as smooth as a butter!!! Sigh!!

Read more...