Logic - of four & five year olds...

The class of almost five year olds and five year olds are watching the animated version of " Charlotte's Web". So Charlotte the Spider grows old and eventually dies. Sigh!!!

In the classroom the four-five year olds question their teacher - " Are you old?"

The teacher replies "yes , everyone grows up and grow old eventually".

The kids - "hmm... that means you will die , just like Charlotte".

The teacher - " he hehe ... who liked the movie?? tomorrow we will learn about metals".

Cut back to a saturday at home in the evening. It's been a long Saturday. Having taken Achyuta to his swim lesson, weekly grocery shopping, then to a birthday party and now back giving him a scrub. It's the pizza saturday for Achyuta so it is ordered for take away on the phone and i request Govi to walk the block and pick up the pizza while i clean up our son. This because my feet were killing me....

Achyuta to me " Amma you go and get the pizza pls. i want appa to give me my bath".

Me - " Please let your appa go, i am tired".

Achyuta - " that's ok, its not far. You go please".

Me - " My legs are hurting".

Achyuta - " Are you getting old amma"?

Me - " yes raja".

Achyuta - " so your legs are going to fall off?"

Ok so i dont have the emoticons function here otherwise i would have potrayed the look on my face....

Achyuta and I have been bonding since the last four days at home. He had the viral fever so had to stay home and Govi was travelling so were glued to each other.

I was reading a book and Achyuta was playing near me when he came upto me and asked

" Amma, is your tummy big? Bigger than my tummy?"

Me- "Yes Achyuta my tummy is bigger than yours".

Achyuta - " Oh so is there a baby in the tummy?"

Me - " No Raja...."

Achyuta - " then why do you have a big tummy?"

Do i need to say anything more?....

It's a strange association of events & little minds.... why did Charlotte the spider have to die???

Crossing Over - Friend to Acquaintace

I always feel that once a friend is made, he or she is for keeps. The old saying " A friend in need...." i believe that or rather believed that to a great extent....until now when i am forced to think over.


I am wondering about the fine line between an acquaintance and friendship... can one cross over to be the other?? and how do i know that the "friend" i thought was only an acquaintance??..strange but happens.....

So when does the doubt arise...???


A friend's loyalty is questioned.

A friend is not in touch just because you are half way on the other side of the globe. Not even on birthdays and such incidents....

A friend doesnt remain in touch even though you are in the same city. Does'nt even reply to your text msgs...

You get to know the happenings in your Friend's life directly and not from another source specially not from your friend's friend & so on...


You cant capture any funny moments on the camera as the friend doesnt look good and doesnt appreciate it.


You cant talk to your friend only to the spouse.

When all these above things happen then the friend is an just an acquaintance in the form of a friend.

How much can it bother me?? I realised that it bothered me a lot. And then i saw the other side of the whole thing.

When my friends parents cant come visit me as i have not been to their house, i thought wow!!! an opportunity to wind off from such friend. And it has been offered to me...

NOt be in touch!! Easy .. uhh??


I kept thinking & feeling hurt about being discarded.
We have shared some wonderful moments but it had to be confined to those moments.
Like a photo, you remember and cherish but the moment's gone.

No - we cant do digital remastery in this case.

I do realise the hurt i have gone through but if you are not wounded you wont heal and heed.

As humans we are all allowed mistakes and misunderstandings but as Friends we sort it out.

Like the saying "Lucky in love", we need to be lucky with friends as well.

I have been very lucky every time except twice until now but that wont change Me.

I am still a Friend!!!

Slumdog Millionaire 4 Oscars

The first buzz of the movie came when audiences in the west saw and then came some of the awards. Actually quite some awards and then suddenly it is in the running for Oscars as well. My curiousity gained intensity with the reviews and comments i read in the papers, on the internet, celebrities blogs... Once a movie makes so much noise and consistently then i need to quench my curiosity. The book Q & A by Vikas Swarup has inspired this movie & it was little wonder that the book was sold out ( as the vendors said) in India over Christmas.

So i waited for the movie to release in Singapore and finally went to see the movie with Govi and not sure how well he would take it. Just two days prior my Indian friends had said "dont watch if you dont have to". Hmm.. now that did give me some second thoughts. Their view was they didnt like the way Mumbai is projected and that the slums were shown and also it was not made by an Indian director.

Having lived in Mumbai and seen the largest slum - Dharavi at close range almost daily for 20 odd years and boarding and alighting the local trains on all working days, get pushed and squished by the crowd in the train. Not to forget the smelly armpits specially on the way back when each hand is holding on to the overhead handle in the ever so crowded trains. Been very close to the infamous stock exchange serial blasts, escaping injury and being in the middle of the crossfire of the communal fights in mumbai and yet going to work as though nothing had happened, i was wondering how bad can the movie be in potraying the surviving city. A movie cant damage the city.

Our own directors of fame didnt choose to make the movie so why not watch the movie made by another good director.

I remember seeing Traffic Signal - a hindi movie, which potrays the life of the homeless who have to survive each day at the traffic lights but how much of reality and honesty the movie showed is still in doubt. All claims and acclaims aside i felt the movie was fine and a decent watch but didnt have the punch to keep the viewers really glued.

When we watched Slumdog Millionaire i didnt feel sad for the city as what was shown is what it is and a few glitches and very minor hiccups aside the movie was an entertaining fare. Unfortunately slumlords exist there & begging is big business there and as shown people do go to any lengths to decapitise little children and steal new borns to put them into business.

The suttle way the story is weaved and keeps the audience attention is neat. The scene where the little boy gets close to his idol and he actually takes shit (jumps into a shit pit - yuck.. ughh) to get his idol's autograph is cool. The lead actor's character build up is strong. The kids are cute and impressive. Anil Kapoor finally shows his talent. The music score is equally nice.

One noticeable glitch was that no quiz show will ask a question and have a break before the answer has been given. That is the only scene where the makers have goofed but then without that the storyline might have dithered a little, the thrill could have been lost.

We came out of the movie hall with a smile. Govi for a change didnt sleep & actually enjoyed the movie. It did have its commercial aspects but then without that i might not have seen it and maybe Danny knew it.... ha ha ha... how many stars can we give for that movie?? Four for sure. One star is reserved till it wins the Oscar. It should get some Oscars & i will be happy. After all the music score is by an Indian, the actors are Indians so why should it not win an Oscar?

Go Slumdog.....

Hairband or Sunglasses

Singapore is naturally warm, hot weather. Sunglassess are very handy in such weather. What do the sunglasses do? It protects the eyes, shades the eyes from the scorching sun shining into our eyes. But it can also be used very usefully in another way. It doubles up as a hairband.

Even when the sun is not so bright, a cloudy day when the sunglasses can rest, people wear them on their head as a hairband. They do so even on rainy days. Now i wonder if that is a way to really manage your hair or is it a subtle way to show off the brand of the sunglass you own. Maybe both or it is the easiest way to carry it - on your head.

I do try sometimes to hoist up my sunglasses even though i put my hair in a pony and my glasses dont stay on my head and for that matter when i perspire in the hot sun the glasses dont even stay on my nose, i have to constantly push it up. So as a test - once i let my hair loose and tried my sunglasses as a hairband and yet it would not stay on my head. All this when i see a lot of women so comfortable with their sunglassess on their head. What do they do that i dont?? Maybe like a lot of other things - it is an art.

I realised that turning my sunglasses to a hairband was not working for me so i carry the case with me and when i am done using them in the sun they go into the case and into my handbag.

It's safe there..