Pooh's Den: February 2007

How do you answer these questions? -1

Well I admit I am "know-it-all"bear... I have been generous with my advise and philosophies to whomever cares to hear (and hence the existence of this blog that no one reads or leaves comments!!) but some of V's questions baffle me...I am surprised how R manages to answer them..
Well now readers (if any!!) please leave your comment on how I should deal with this situation,
V and R work 10 hours a day.. they leave home around 5.30am (yes I know most of you think it is middle of the night!!) and get back around 6.00pm and then they fiddle around the house (the pleasures of homeownership!! everyday there is something new and the garage is overflowing with boxes from the old apartment) and on ocassional evenings V heads to Stafford(a good 25 mts drive without traffic) for her dance classes and then there are the homeworks, take-homes that V needs to get done, the photo assignments R covers and oh yes! I forgot to mention their regular trips to Ikea (for your information they did end up there this weekend too...)well you get an idea how my household is?
and now coming to V's question.... she feels she is not being a good wife!! (Gosh!!).. she feels she doesn't cook regularly (I agree... ), she hardly has time to clean the house and maintain it clean (as she has seen her mother and grandmother do back home in India), she doesn't have time to check the laundry, load the dishwasher and the list is endless!!!
Well.. what should I say to console her and prove that she is the best? R would love your inputs too...
Note: R is great working around the house... whenever V is tired (that is almost every evening), R makes sure V is fed and the dishes are washed and everything in between....Thanks R... I am sure I would have starved to death if I kept waiting for V's food....

The circus called family

As I see it, family is just a circus.. they can make you laugh, cry, ponder over facts and even push you to the extreme... yes I know there are times when you wish you could kill one of those so called well-meaning relatives, who always have an advise for the unknown occasion....At such situations I envy R.. he can easily ignore things he doesn't want to hear and forget them... unlike V who remembers everything and stews over things...
The laughing part is fine... but it is the crying part that remains forever... you never forget the stinging words someone said to you...V am sure has millions of such memories pushed back to the corner of her mind and believe me they come out at least expected times creating another round of those scary knife throwing moments!!
These are some tips I have learnt on how to deal with the family circus and their ringmasters
- Always have a plastic smile mask on your face.... smile and smile and smile... and greet everyone..remember those clowns in the circus
- But never spend more than a few minutes with any well-meaning relative... quickly make your escape.. remember those acrobats? swing in and out and they make a ever-lasting impact..
- Never sit around idle when there are relatives around.. act busy..
- Never argue with the well-meaning relatives.. just smile at the unwanted advise they dish out and say "I'll try" and check out nearest escape route
- Always have a place to vent off... like V does to R after every major encounter... crib/cry whatever and get it off and get ready with your mask for the next show..
Life goes on....you smile and you keep moving..
Good luck with your family circus!!

Dance like no one is watching!

This is for V!
For those who don't know.. V learns and performs Bharatnatyam (an ancient Indian classical dance form) with Sunanda's performing arts center (SPAC) in Houston. She has been with SPAC for a little more than a year and she just loves it. Weekends are time for classes and practice sessions...They practice in a studio in Stafford,TX... Interested in joining SPAC? Email V or leave a comment and I'll get back to you..
Kinkinni is SPAC's first annual dance recital in Houston. And it is going to be an interesting event.. with live orchestra and music. V is in a dance drama depicting the ten avatars of Vishnu - Dasavataram....
Their group has been practicing hard... and there is a long way to go before they can be on stage on the 18th of March...
Be there to enjoy a evening of classical dance and music
Remember March 18th, Old Stafford Civic Center, 5.00pm
For more details and tickets, contact me!!
And to all the gals at SPAC... good luc!

Kinkinni

Check out V's dance recital details..
If you are Houston do come down to cheer V...
If you need tickets shoot V an email...
More about Kinkinni later

Ikea's Loyal Customers

V and R have visited Ikea pretty regularly since they brought the house... well it is another matter that they shopped all over... there is stuff from all possible stores but it was Ikea that most of the stuff came from... and they created a record... past month, they have been in Ikea every single weekend... gosh I am fed up of the place....they are taking a break for a while and soon they will be back in Ikea to remodel the closet...I hope they leave me at home during their next trip.. I sure am fed up with the crowd and the same-old stuff at Ikea....

Finally There!

Well finally we are there... we survived the move and had a rocking time during the party..
Let me explain, last week was a real hectic one with V and R trying to get the house set for the party on Sunday... that means working at home after a 10 hr work day and it also means that fights are daily affairs and eating out is just routine!! Of all the last part bothered me a lot... I know V and R fight and make up but FOOD... if they eat out I eat nothing!! well anywayz I survived so did V and R...inspite of some disasters like Bombay Brasserie (who catered for the party) rude call to make changes in the menu and the big bang closet collapse (they just overloaded the closet rack and bang it came down!)
Sunday dawned to be a pretty good day, Bombay Brasserie's panner pakoda, samosa, mango icecream and gulub jamuns were good, friends were awesome and everyone loved our new home!
Monday R had the day off... V went in to work sick and after a couple of hours got back home and they slept.. caught up with all the sleep they desperately needed...
V and R have conveniently closed off their minds to the old apartment which needs to be emptied and cleaned up till Friday... and I am waiting for a chance to play treasure hunt at the old place.. am sure there would be tons of cool stuff lurking in every corner.
Life goes on....
Well for those of you who remember today is Feb 20th.... 3 yrs ago V's grandpa passed away... 3 years and as I said before the pain never lessens... with tear-filled eyes and memories she said a small prayer of thanks to her mamaiyaa....

Cheer up V!

V's the chef in the family... and am the picky eater... R alway says V is the best cook!! Puts up with all her experiments and finds something good about everything.. And me with my sharp taste buds am always critical about everything I eat...
And the past couple of weeks V has hardly been cooking. Her excuses..include everything from I am tried to the things I need are at the other house. And who suffers poor me!! the fridge is empty and the moving is tiring her...
Poor V... knowing her as I do.. I know she feels guilty of the mess the house is in...the poorly stocked fridge and her lack of interest in cooking..the days are getting to her...
come on V cheer up!! Spring is not far around.. and you can do it!! Smile and enjoy maadi!!

The overhyped V-day

I always feel Valentine's day is a over-hyped holiday.. well you don't need a day to tell you love your better half. The saccharine sweet cards, the hearts and teddy bears just seems to be an overkill. It is just a commercial gimic to get people to the shops. Anyway's coming to the issue on hand.. I wonder what V and R are planning for tomorrow.... V is always the romantic... the chocolates and roses kind of gal... and especially now she needs all the chocolates in the world..she has been going through a busy busy time.. school and homework and take homes and dance practices (that is another story in itself.. will post about it soon) and above all the shifting to the new house is zapping all her energy off... She is waiting for a break if she gets one...poor dear
Hang on till morrow when I get to know what V and R did for the over-hyped Valentines day...
And also note: am looking for a date for morrow...with V and R in their world of red and pink hearts I'll be left all alone.. any takers? am lovable, sweet and a promise a wonderful time at my new cave!

Time to flex my muscles

It is time to flex my muscles and start working... its the BIG moving day... it is one of the things I hate to do but it has to be done and the results are wonderful... There are some movers coming in and the big stuff is ready to be transported to my new cave. R and me are in charge... V is busy at work, she has to listen to someone lecture on "Morphological and multiscale modeling of random media problems"... wonder what that means? Might be V could do a guest column on my blog about "random media problems"
I do wish V was around serving us wonderful cold lemonade as I work.. unfortunately not.. but she has promised to get me cookies...
I am going to be busy the weekend, moving things over and then the internet connection and phone services are being transferred. Please friends bear with me during this transition time. I might not call you or answer my phone or emails or scraps but I promise to be back with a bang and lots of new pictures to share.

Grahapravessam

Sunday was a fun day!! Fun days translated in bear roar mean "good food" !! Dr.A and Dr.B had come down bearing gifts and were a part of the function. V was a little upset that her parents and granny were not with her for the day and I could see tears welling up her eyes quite often believe me it wasn't the smoke from the homam! It was quite strange to see a full-fledged pooja in US but everything seemed fine.. and I have a full bottle of honey!! Can life get any better? The festivities and celebrations, we got back to catch the super bowl.. poor V she had a tough time trying to study...She had a exam Monday and I guess she did it decently well and now the big move starts!! Looking forward for new adventures, discoveries, laughter and tears in the new place.....

SAD

I am so glad that I am not the only one...I thank my lucky stars everyday that I am in Houston and not somewhere up north during the cold winters. You might think a bear like me would prefer winters unfortunately humidity and heat have been a part of my life during my days in Trichy. I always prefer the hot humid summers of Houston to the winters. I remember the trip to Simla in December 2003. I was freezing and it was no fun. Snow didn't excite me, and begged V not even to step outside the tropics and there she goes to Houston.
Houston is having one of its bad and wet winters. I haven't seen the sun in the past 20 days. And it has been raining non-stop for the past 4 days and am getting depressed. I am sure V and R are also going through it. The winter gets to all. And if you think I am crazy, check the link below..

http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/01/25/HM.SAD/index.html

So I need to get out!! How about a trip to somewhere warm... Caribbean sounds appealing now or Hawaii.. I better talk to V about this!!

the huge meltdown

I often wonder how V changes suddenly.. one minute she is her usual self.. going around with her chores and me lying partly forgotten and then the next minute, I am her best pal.. she hugs me and sobs all over me and it lies on my shoulders to console her and make her smile. Even R can not handle these moments, I know how she feels and how big a loss it was for her.
It is almost three years but I remember it vividly and I am sure V does it too, the pain and and the heart wrenching tears are never forgotten. I have never seen V like that, not even when her first crush broke her heart when she was all of 9. Losing your loved one is never easy and sometimes I wonder if the pain ever goes away. It never does, it just stays suppressed in the heart and then there is a meltdown.. just like today. V was fine, taking a lunch break between classes and then suddenly something somewhere reminds her of her loss and it is tears and pain. She hid in the girls room weeping her heart out and came out with red puffy eyes. She gave her standard allergies excuse and moved on with life. But I know every minute she misses him and she'll give up anything in this world (me and R included) to get him back.
She owes him everything she is today and she says a small thanks to him everyday with a small weepy smile ... and life goes on.....
I wonder will the pain every go away? Never I guess... V will never stop missing her grandpa and wishing he was here today to see and share her happiness....
I am sure right now as her eyes well up with unshed tears she is whispering, "mamaiyaa I miss you.. you promised me .. it is not fair... I love you and I miss you"

Pooh's Den