Living In a Fascinating Enigma called LIFE...

All about Pinocchio,my little lamb

Just a post to say Good bye to 2008 - A Personal diary of 2008

5 Good things to happen :
1) Celebrated Pinocchio's first birthday on 10Jan'2008 which was an exciting and wonderful evening party that I will cherish a long way.
2) My promotion came up this year. After being in the IT industry for 5 years, I am considered a technical analyst anymore..Wow!!
3) My hubby PK's assignment to New Jersey and his travel on 22Aug'2008. ( Still I miss dear!!!). I bade a sweet Bon Voyage to him but after he left and when I was returning from airport...ho..how sad I was...my tears reflected.
4) My sister took over an assignment with an IT major. This is her first job after her college. All set to complete her training and take up the hot programmer job :) So all the best my dear sister J..have a great year ahead!!!
5) A very happy news is that Lil Pinocchio is growing really fast!!! Time flies...the bundle of joy which came to the world all wrapped in a small towel....is now walking,running,playing,talking, eating noodles and more importantly going to Playschool. Hip Hip Hurray!!! (Anti Jinx...U have to keep an eye here)
5 things that hurt me :
1) 26/11 Terror attack did hurt me immensely and the dent cannot be healed. Let all the innocent soul rest in peace....What else can I think of. I feel helpless.
2) My maternal grandpa passed away this March'8 2008. A very wise person he was and was very close to my heart passed away due to ill health. Was a very sad day and it did hurt me badly.
3) Pinocchio fell ill this December and he has blood and mucus in his stools. But as we noticed frank blood, we took him to a Paediatric Surgeon to confirm and clarify that there was no complexity other than the infection. The Ped was very experienced and he internally examined him by inserting his finger into the little one's anal area. Oh..my heart bled the very moment looking at my dear son weep. He stopped weeping the minute he came over to me and when doctor said he was completely fine, I was soothed.
4) Recently the suicide news caused by increasing debts in newspapers scares me...!! Oh..how one needs to juggle between multiple things in life...still ensure to hit a striking balance.
5) On an official front, my project for which I was working for the past 4 years is lost to a vendor competitor. Though its not a hurting news...still a sad sigh!!!
My wish in 2009
A peaceful world with no war, no terror strikes, no communal riots. Lets all work hard and grow heights. Lets nurture a peaceful and positive world for the generations to come.
GOOD BYE 2008 AND WELCOME 2009.

Just a few recent updates :
a) Pinocchio is currently enjoying his Christmas and New year holidays. Wow..wat a bliss!!
b) The good this month is he is speaking a lot as if he was a orator since ages. The bad is he does not give anyone a chance to speak as he is non stop.
c) He wants to be addressed as "LALLA" ( the effect of JaiShriKrishna on Colors TV).
d) The "Chanta Clas' (read: Santa Claus) is the most happening word since a week's time. The Santa Claus that we have put up reads books,listens to rhymes,eats food and does everything that Pinocchio wants him to do :) yes.....he rules the poor Santa.
e) Pinocchio is growing adamant since the past 10 days. He is furious too...
f) Loves removing stickers from "Aladdin" series comic and tries to paste it coherently at the correct space.
Though the image and the slot match, he sticks in all his favourite directions...so a tilted parrot,upward flowing waterfall,vertically sleeping horse.....all are special features of this book. And this book is for sale too...because he suddenly starts selling his book for "Then Rubees". (Ten Rupees)
I have noticed lot of changes this December with the little one. He was sick last fortnight and so looks skinny. Albeit he is a complete active toddler and I hardly find time to blog.




Pinocchio is modelling for Vests and Briefs....Handsome Six pack guy..aah!!!

Dedicated to DH

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This song is dedicated to my dear hubby. PK..pls check out this song from Varanam Aayiram....
http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=zBlrDnIEc44
Somehow I am greatly attracted to this track and it is sung by Sudha Ragunathan, giving the song a carnatic blend.

Yes, it was a decision out of a spark when I found the right playschool for Pinocchio after a good long careful scrutiny of schools around my place. I had a set of must-have criteria,which this play school met and I am really happy to have found one nice cozy school like this one. The day 3rd December'2008 seemed to be an auspicious day and so Pinocchio was admitted to School. As with his dad being away, it was myself and my mom who took him for this great event in his life. I had bought a nice attractive school bag,a teddy water bottle and a snack box to lure him to the school.
Today the day began early for me. To be true I could nt sleep the whole last night with the fear of how Pinocchio will behave today. His weeping face was flowing through my mind all night disturbing me to settle down.Pinocchio got up at 8:00 and we had him brush and bath and get ready. This was all done in the way he likes rather than the way it should be done....he ate his tooth paste, poured water all around the bath room and skated in the soap lather.All this was permitted today because in another few hours this little one is going to be away from us, in absolute new hands, he will see new faces and be with them. Since the past 23 months, he is used to move on with only 5 to 6 members of our family, he would just drop a sweet smile and a hello to anyone new but would never go to them. With all this thoughts floating around, my head was heavy, the heart beating higher and it was most palpable that my pressure would have been high. Pinocchio hardly munched half a idli and he somehow drank half a glass of milk. Then he was let to play around so that his tummy was not full when he was put to school, which may result in a puking session.

This snap was taken after Pinochhio was back Home after school....Yippee

At 9:30 am in the morning we entered the school campus,when the school was ON and the morning prayers were going on. Pinocchio immediately identified where he was and started shrugging his grand mom more closely. While I filled up the form and did other formalities, he was shrugging my mom tightly and watching the tiny tots pray. The Principal was a well experienced elderly lady and she adviced me to leave him for an hour for the next three days. But Pinocchio rejected to get on to his Principal and was struck to me like his favourite Incy Wincy spider. She seized and took him inside the school and we witnessed the weeping session commence. I felt extremely sad to leave him but the school folks signalled me to leave. I came out of the campus but had no guts to leave the place. Me and my mom had to wait for an hour to pick Pinocchio back. So we were roaming around the place and the watchman of the school premises was a nice gentlemen who would signal us every now and then about how Pinocchio was doing. After another 30 minutes., I moved towards the school but he did signal that his crying has reduced and so we can extend for another 30 minutes. I would have looked at my watch 10 times in the next 30 minutes and rushed to see what was happening with my dear son. He was seated next to a teacher and was sobbing lightly and chatting with her. Oops...this would be another happy moment of life I would preserve deep in my memories.....I felt I got back someone I missed (for an hour of course :))

Pinocchio is 2 months to 2 years and I was initially planning to admit him to a playschool when he will be around 1.10 years. This thought of putting him in a playgroup rather grew this month when I could nt put up with his tantrums. Not sure if this is the shadowing effect of the terrible two's but my son is turning fussy for everything. So far he was not a very fussy eater, which he is now. He has developed a sudden strong liking towards chocolates....I do understand that all kids are lured to chocolates but there is a count to the candy he intakes right!!! He goes non-stop repeating "choccie" till you give in to his demand. He was completely potty trained and he would always use his potty since 18 months but there is a absolute paradigm shift. Now that he climbs on some furniture say either the deewan or the bed and beckons my attention by calling rather screaming "amma amma" and when I look at him, he pours out or does susu. What will I do with this toddler who tests my patience so much ? Having said all this, you know how inclined I would be to put him in a playschool. So I was looking for a playschool that satisfies my criteria and priorities.
Just a few minutes back, when I got up at 6:30 and found the weather to be so bad and cozy, I have resolved that I will put up with this little daemon for another two months and so have postponed his school plans to January when Pinocchio will complete his two years . Its so cozy and dark, that I myself at 26 years want to nap for few more hours.....why should my little dear son have a time slot to fix and get up ?

Today me and mom had planned to visit the new branch of foodie chain Nagarjuna in Indiranagar.Somehow the plan got dropped as our car driver did not turn up.It was already 12 noon and I was more inclined to eat chicken biriyani and finally I decided to give it a shot though my store was running out of many requisite ingredients.My scootie never betrays me....and here I was with all shopping done in the next 20 minutes.
By 2 in the noon...the biriyani was ready ..so it ideally took 120 minutes from scratch....he he...really from scratch say getting the chicken from butcher's :)

Here goes my mom's recipe for this mouth watering stuff ........
Ingredients :

JeeraSambha Rice - 1/2 kg (2 cups) Chicken - 500 gms Ginger garlic paste - 4 tsps Mint - 1 bunch Coriander leaves - 1/2 bunch Green chillies - 5 Chilli Powder - 2 tsps Garam Masala Powder -1 tsps Coconut Milk - 1 cup Onion - 2 large ones Tomato - 2 medium sized

Method :

a) Wash chicken and marinate in curd and a tspn of chilli powder.

b) Make course paste of onion.Grind the tomato and get rich puree.

c) Make a course paste of coriander,mint and green chillies together. This leaves us with three different pastes from step (b) and (c).

d) Heat oil in a pressure cooker and add cloves,cinnamon, bay leaf and cardamom. Allow them to split.

e) Once done, add the onion paste and saute till it turns golden brown and till the raw smell is all off.

f) Add the ginger garlic paste,followed by the green paste and saute them well.

g) This will be followed by tomato puree,chilli powder and garam masala. Saute all the contents, till the mixture disgorges the oil out.

h) Add the marinated chicken to this paste and mix the ingredients well. Add requisite salt and pressure cook the stuff till a single whistle is thrown.

g) Now, remove the lid,add the soaked rice to the mixture and add 2 cups of water.

h) Let the rice cook without the lid for another 5 minutes,now that the rice is half cooked, add the coconut milk and stir well. Pressure cook for 8 to 10 minutes in low flame.

There you go...the yummy biriyani....it really did touch my G-spot as the taste was well maintained and was neither very spicy nor bland. Taste buds well satiated....

My Little Wonder

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------- Scene of the day --------
Its Potty time and Pinocchio is wonderfully seated on the potty.

We had recently bought a Tom and Jerry Kids tooth paste and the process of brushing his teeth with this new paste is so tempting that the little one wants to get away from shitting and the potty.

To deviate him, I was conversing with him...it started like :
Me : Whom do u like Tom or Jerry

Pin : yeli (rat)

Me : oh ok and u like mickey or Minnie

Pin : (spontaneously) Minnie

Me : Oh is it...and u don't like Dora?

Pin : Dora pikkum pikkum (means I like Dora)

Me : Oh ok...so is it Dora or Minnie

Pin : Dora

Me : OK..and Buzzy

Me : Buzzy thumba ista.(thumba ista in Kannada means more I like more)

Pin : ABCD sollu ma..amma ABCD sollu
It is like Dora teaches ABCD in one of his CDs and so the very thought of Dora reminds him of ABCD.
Recently since 15 days I notice Pinocchio transforming into a bilingualist speaking tamil and kannada with equal ease but this drops me into complete astonishment. I have been in Bangalore for the past five years but hardly could I make a sentence in Kannada without any flaws.We speak Tamil in our household and so its quite natural for Pinnochio to get accustomed to Tamil and speak Tamil with ease which he does.Now the kannada background,we have a live-in house maid who speaks only Kannada and she has been conversing with Pinnochio in Kannada since he was 8 months. I have never given this a thought and had never imagined Pinocchio to speak in Kannada even in my wild dreams.The most interesting fact is that he does not mix languages and speaks the appropriate language to the right person.
He will outgrow 22 months this Nov 10Th and makes 3 to 4 word sentences like :
In Tamil

* Bappukku pattasuna romba bayam @Bappu is scared of crackers@

* Mummy baba koyil polama @Mummy..shall we go to baba temple@

* Bappuku vijay mama romba pikkum @Bappu likes Vijay mama@

* chinhg ich king paatu podu.. @Play Singh is King song@

* Acchi madiyela pathu mammu kudi @Will lay on grandma's lap n drink milk@

In Kannada :

* Bappuku dhodda chocci beku @Bappu wants big choccie@

* Aunty chappathi maadi kodi @Aunty make chappathi@

* Bappu dhodda papa aayi @Bappu is a big baby@ and this he says standing on some tall object say over his dad's bike or on the kitchen slab

* Aunty..dress bicchu...dress beda @Remove my dress..dont want dress@

Thus goes the little express...I am both excited and astonished as how these little kids neural network is so smart...I confess..human brain is beyond comparison and no machine can replace..why replace..can even be a analogy to human brain.

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