Finished!

I finished my exams yesterday, came home with an aching shoulder and a queasy stomach(thanks to four days of canteen food), and I wanted to hit the bed right away. That however didn’t happen until 10.30 and last night of all nights, Az decided to be his troublesome self where he refuses to sleep no matter what I do. I finally put him on the pillow and said “Do what you want…I’m going to sleep” and I shut my eyes. I’m surprised why I didnt let out a howl a second later. He had just swiped his ‘claws’ across my nose. Can you believe it? He was scratching my face when I put him down. One bad-mannered baby or what!!!!

But what the heck!! I finished my MA exams! I only hope I’ve cleared all the papers!!! I fervently, feverishly hope that!!

So weird

My exams are almost ending now. I cant tell you guys how relieved I will feel once I get this out of my way. The exam centre is in Fullinfaws College somewhere near Hulimavu and although its not a really big college, I really like the green campus. This college was so isolated when I first started my MA course and it was a great adventure for me and Mansoor when we used to come here for my exams on his bike. I simply loved looking at the flat expanses of land and I used to secretly cherish these rides to the college because it let me spend time with Mansoor that was so different from spending time with him at home where he’s engrossed in the TV or discussing family politics with his mother

Anyway, I hadnt been to the campus in 2 and a half years as the last time I had written the exams was in May 2005. I hadnt been able to complete the exams then and here I am, 2.5 yrs later. I was so dismayed to find that the whole locality has changed. The ever -reaching arms of the so-called developers have reached here too, and now, there are so many houses near this quaint college.

Ok, I started this blog to talk of something else, hence the title. I’m going to talk about that now.
A couple of days back I had struck conversation with another person who had come for the exams. She said she had two kids and she was doing her MA Economics. Yesterday she was caught with a slip of paper in the exam hall much after the exam started. I was so shocked. I thought that cheating, especially on exams was restricted to youngsters…I mean, for me, to think that a mother would go and cheat!! I find that so weird! How would she face her kids after being kicked out of college??

Anyways, I still have some more stuff to learn and I gotta head back to it. Catch you guys later!!!

Addicted to Milano!!!

I never really liked this ad and I never got around to trying out this Milano stuff. But last week I bought one packet on impulse and believe me, no other chocolate chip cookie (in India at least) seems to measure up to this one!!! This one is ABSOLUTELY scrumptilicious!! My waist is going to go from becoming ‘kamar’ to ‘kamra’ if I keep on having more of this Milano! Somebody help!!!!!

Aamir and TZP overkill everywhere!

But who’s complaining? Certainly not me! In fact i’ve been surfing channels to see which channel he’s on NOW. He was on Zee yesterday talking to Rajeev Masand. This morning he was on Pogo on Mad. And a little later on Zoom, talking about the making of his movie. I guess he has realised the importance of PR before releasing a film. Everyone in Bollywood seems to be doing an overkill of it, appearing on reality shows and talent hunts, pretending to be interested in the contestants, but all the while busy plugging their films! Aamir thankfully didnt go that route. He just appeared on Sa Re Ga Ma Lil Champs but he’s been on TV ever since!

I’ve been a fan of Aamir since the time I was 12. I still continue to be a big fan of his. I’m amazed at the different kind of work he does and i’m simply DYING to see TZP. Saboor wants to see it too, so i’ll probably be taking him and Sidra after his birthday.

Btw, have any of you been to Aamir’s blog? Check it out! He’s probably one of the only Bollywood stars to have started a blog and to actually write it! When I go through his blog, it seems to personal, like he’s almost talking to me!!

Got to go back to studying for my exams now! GOD! I hate Jacques Derrida!

Tomato soup

I doubt I’ll ever forget the one and only time I made tomato soup in my life. It had to be after I got married and it probably was one of the first things that I decided to make. Why? Beats me. I don’t know what got into me. I could have decided to make a simple gajar ka halwa which I’ve been making since I was in 6th standard, or I could have just made a simple vegetable soup. As you have probably guessed, the outcome which you will read later in this blog was far from pleasing to the eye or the palate.

I followed the instructions carefully, having torn out the recipe from a supplement of Deccan Herald which used to publish recipes. This wasn’t the first time I had messed up after following one of those moronic recipes, although it was the first time in my in-laws house.

Shazu, my ever-present companion was with me when I announced to my mother in law that I wanted to make tomato soup. Siraj phuppujan (about whom i’ve blogged here) was visiting us. To be truthful, she fit the description of a strict ’saas’ more than my MIL. Both of them nodded, and said they were looking forward to it.

Tying my dupatta at the corner of my salwar, I entered the kitchen, undaunted. Before I go on with further details, let me describe that house a bit. The house my in-laws were living in when I got married was a small house. The main door opened to the living room and just adjacent to that was the dining hall. Off on one side was the kitchen. One had to cross the dining hall, and one was equally visible from the living room when one was trying to make a graceful exit from the kitchen towards the sanctity of one’s bedroom.

Well, the tomatoes boiled and boiled. I don’t remember how I went about making it, but it didnt take long for me to realise that something looked horribly wrong. The smell wasn’t right and when i tasted some of it, it was awful. It tasted just like thick, tomato flavored,boiled water. To add to this mess, I decided to make it an egg-drop soup. Out came the bowl, the eggs which were subsequently dropped inside the soup in a thin stream. It coagulated into a curdy mass before I could even whisper ’shucks’.

This was when I realised that I was in serious trouble. How? Here’ s how:

1. My mil and Siraj phuppujan were sitting right outside the kitchen.
2. My mil and Siraj phuppujan actually seemed eager to taste the soup.
3. I couldn’t escape from the kitchen without them noticing me.
4. I couldn’t throw the soup out because it would flood the dustbin and my mil wouldn’t be happy.
5. I couldn’t throw the soup out either way because my mil would not be happy about me wasting food.

What was I to do?

Shazu at that time suggested something that endeared her to me immensely. I at once realised what an ally I had with me, and we’ve been thick friends ever since.

She offered to hold out her edges of her salwar top and make some sort of receptacle out of it. “Throw the soup in here and I’ll take it to the bathroom and flush it” she said. It was a most foolish suggestion, which we didn’t follow, but then, she was just 14 then (and I was 19) but still, I loved her for making it.

I owned up to my mother in law that the soup didn’t turn out the way it was supposed to. She tipped the entire contents into the sink, where it clogged the sink that whole night (which was why I hadn’t done it). And the next time I met my mother, she told me, that someone’s someone(the story had done that many rounds!) asked her about the disastrous soup I had made. I admitted to it and haven’t made tomato soup ever since!

Just four days

It took just four days for Azhaan to change his sleeping pattern. Now, he no longer gets sleepy just listening to sleepy romantic songs sung by Sonu Nigam…he no longer nods off his head when I rock him on my lap….he wriggles like a fish….an eel to be precise until he’s off my lap, onto the bed, rolling around and then looking at me and giggling.

Nopes. Not funny. At 11.30 pm in the night, I am not in the mood to go ga-ga over his giggles. I just wanna sleep! I spanked him (over his diaper, so that doesnt even count for anything) but no effect at all. He didnt even cry. Just continued wriggling.

The four days I mentioned…two were spent at the hospital, where we let him sleep whenever he wanted, however he wanted to..and the remaining two, at home, where I continued the same pattern because of the IV in his arm and I didnt want him wriggling over and around it. And here I am. Suffering because of those four days. Whew!

I finally managed to make him sleep by forcing his head to lie on my shoulder while I paced around in my bedroom. I wouldn’t mind so much if he wouldn’t wriggle! When I’m half-asleep(read half-dead), feeling him wriggle is really low for my morale because it means that sleep is no where near on his mind.

Anyway, he’s asleep now ( and I kissed him a couple of times, saying sorry for spanking him and all that).

When kids fall sick

Its tough when small kids fall sick. Especially when they’re at the age when they can’t talk yet. Those are the times when you wish you could be sick in stead of them…

Azhaan fell really sick two days back. He had a lot of vomiting and then loose motions so we had to admit him to the hospital.

There he gave the nurse and docs hell for trying to put an IV into his arm. Still, after poking him in both arms and legs, they managed to put it in finally in one arm.

We got him discharged today, but the loose motions haven’t subsided yet. Apparently he’s got lactose intolerance, which means he cant digest milk. Its been hell trying to get him to sleep without milk, and I had to give in because I couldn’t bear to see him biting his own arms in frustration.

I hope he becomes all right soon.