Disciplining

It is time to discipline the undisciplined.

1. Only one coffee in the morning.
2. Wake up when the alarm goes off
3. Go to work before or at least by 8:30am (tough one)
4. Do not browse personal mails (for gap filling) at work (toughie) even at lunch time.
5. Write more, but write sensibly (later part is a real toughie)

Let us stop there and see how it goes.

Five best compliments I have ever received

I am tagging myself from Shyam.

1. An online friend’s once commented, “you are prettier than Aishwarya Rai, who looks fake and Italian, whereas you are ravishing and very Tamil”!  People, don’t come running to hit me. He (it is a He), did say this. I wish I could link it here (for evidence of course).

2. “Your photos don’t justify your looks. you are beautiful”! again by an online friend, but when meeting me in person! again a he! 😉

3. (ok, enough with looks and beauty and self appreciations..errr… isn’t this entire post all about self appreciation to the peak? so, here we go again,) “you are an asset to any organisation” by a tough ex boss after me handing in when she badly needed me in the job.

4. “one should be lucky and feel blessed to have a daughter like me. none of you deserve me” – me, in a (not very long ago) fight with chithi. her reply, “very true”!!!

5. last but not least, ” you are a sensible, rational and a better mother than most mothers I know” by a friend.

6. ….. can I have a sixth one? I take many words in this post as compliments and among the best ones, though they may not sound so (look so, technically speaking) to a naked eye.

take up this tag people to make your day.

Face

Have you ever felt disappointed when you first met a person whom you have only known online but for a while? I have always felt disappointed whenever I came to face to face with my online friends. I don’t know why. It is not that I expected them to be beautiful or handsome. In fact one was prettier than I had imagined but still I was disappointed. I guess it brings one chapter to an end by crushing the blank face into unrecognisable pieces and filling it with some strange unfamiliar features, forcing it and demanding an acceptance on a known name, which makes the disappointment not just a disappointment but also a sad one. I recently had such a disappointment with a blogger friend (a Tamil blogger). I haven’t met this person in person yet, but happen to see a photo on FB and was sad. I do not know what others have thought of me after meeting me in person or after seeing my photo. Balan has always told me that others might find it disappointing to see me having such a childish voice and innocence tainted accent (Madurai accent), while they would expect me to be strong and authoritative. What did you think of me when you first met me in person, if you have met me in person? And, what was your experience with your online friends when putting faces to their names?

Careful what you wish for

A couple of years ago I wished for few things. #3 has come true finally. what about the other wishes? Once a cousin of mine said that “you may get whatever you wish for, but there will be a price” Such a profound thought! 

this time,

1. I want that job I have lost.

five posts tag

The rules are – Post 5 links to 5 of your previously written posts. The posts have to relate to the 5 key words given (family, friend, yourself, your love, anything you like). Tag 5 other friends to do this meme. Try to tag at least 2 new acquaintances (if not, your current blog buddies will do) so that you get to know them each a little bit better.

Family: the whole blog is about my family. I pick the following two posts to give an idea about what family means to me. 1. Leaving home and 2. Coming home.

Friends: I do not have a best friend for life. I had one during school days whose name or story has not been mentioned so far in any of my kombai stories. Here is a story about my play friends and here is another story about our adventures.

About me: Blogging in principle is about “me”. I have more than four blogs, which tells about “me” I think. 🙂 I pick The princess’s story for the true blue “me” kind.

Love: I do not know what love is.  I have always been cynical about it. This post tells how love springs differently for different people.

Anything I like: It will have to be from my pangunip pongal series. I link the last two, you can dig for the others if you want to read the full story. 1. Latha’a maavilakku day  and 2. Senthil’s maavilakku day.

I tag Michelle, Vidhya, Desigirl,  Anitha, PlanetHalder and IBH

Momma has the magic touch

I am still not used to the word “amma (mother)”, referring me. Sometimes I tell her that I am her akka (elder sister), as that is the word I am used to being referred. (I am akka for all my brother’s friends too, so I am quite used to that reference). When she cries, I tell her,”wait akka is coming”, then I have to correct myself and stop and blink for a minute to realise that I am her amma!!

Still I could calm her down in her half sleep but in her cranky crying mood by just holding her hands and stroking on her forehead. Wow. First time I felt the magical moment.

What about Kuttima (litlegirl) for her blog name, because that is what I call her most of the time. other names are, ammakkutti, illaakkutti. Her crying sound (ungaa) sounds like amma or illaa to me, so I call her ammakkutti and illaakkutti.

*ammakkutti and illakkutti do not have meaning. kutti in general means little.
*ungaa is baby crying sound

Mr and Mrs

Following Planethalder, here I present Mr. and Mrs..

I couldn’t find any decently preserved baby picture of either of us. I must have been 4to5 years old in pic2 . I don’t know how old Balan was in pic1.

I tag Michelle, Desigirl, Anitha, SilentOne, Jay, Sudha, Vidya, IBH, Boo, and anyone who would like to take up this tag. Post your, and if you have partner, your partner’s, baby picutre(s).
@Jay, Sudha – I know you guys do not have partners yet, well, not to my knowledge. So just your pictures will do. You are welcome to post your partner’s picture too. 😉 😀

edted to correct: My mother says that I was 2 and 3/4 years old in that photo.

Boy or girl?

My instincts are that it is a girl.

We are waiting for the anomaly scan done, just hoping on our luck to get a sneak peek so that we can save money from having to go for a private scan. If we don’t get a sneak peek, we will go for a private scan then. It is only two more weeks to go. So we are just waiting.

I am not the patient type to wait until the baby is born. I want to know. So that I can start buying stuff!!

I am not sure I have a clear cut preference on whether I want a girl or a boy. Sometimes I want a girl, sometimes I change my mind. Having been a strong supporter of feminism, it confuses me and makes me feel guilty whenever I like to have a boy. Aren’t feminists allowed to have a choice? Aren’t feminists permitted to like boys? It just confuses me. The selfish me would like it to be a boy so that my child doesn’t have to “defend”and “explain” all the time, instead he can just get on with his life. Another selfish me wants it to be a girl who can develop herself to live her life without doing any defending or explainning. I mean, to the point that these things won’t even get any significance even in her thinking process. Then I want to show the world that this is how it is done!

Another selfish me wants it to be a girl so that she will be part of my family or I can be part of her family, for ever. Wait, if you are getting confused here, here is my explanation: Boys marry girls, and the family becomes centered around the girl. Their children are raised by that girl. It is also my observation that in many households boy’s parents get distanced by the girl and eventually by the boy too, and  it is the girl’s parents who get to be part of their life. Boy’s parents can visit, but they are not part of their life. This trend is in the increasing rate these days, irrespective of the cultural demands. Guilty as charged, it is true in my household too. But my parent’s are more involved in my brother’s life than in mine, since I prefer to keep them away from my life. If you compare my parent’s interaction with Balan’s parent’s interaction in our life, it is the formers who get to get more (Balan is the one who is to be blamed for this).

I know for sure my daughter will hate me. My son might like me. So, more selfish reasons to want it to be a boy.

I might end up pushing my daughter to achieve what I couldn’t achieve (becoming Prime Minister of a (any) country, to quote one example!) or what I haven’t achieved, as I might end up seeing her life as an extension of my own life. On the otherhand, I  might end up comparing my son with Balan for everything and might end up accusing him of being simple headed! I have a history of doing that with my brother and now with Balan.

So I want it to be a girl some days and want it to be a boy some other days.

Balan’s only fear is that he doesn’t want another Premalatha. But he wants it to be a girl. He wants to raise the girl, who will be so not like me! 😦

I refer it as her whenever I talk to her.

I refer it as him whenever I imagine/dream-about his life as an individual’s life.

I refer it as her whenever I imagine/dream-about family dinners together.

I refer it as her whenever I imagine/dream-about grandchildren (!! I know I need to stop!)

I refer it as him whenever I imagine his teenage days when he is going to be embarrassed about everything and anything about me.

Two more weeks.

I know it is going to be a win win situation whether it is a boy or a girl. So, I am actually at peace though I do not sound so.

All work no play

All work no play makes jack a dull boy.

Christmas/New year wishes

1. 10 to 4 job
2. heavy pay cheque
3. no time for blogs, except for few fav blogs and my normalself.
4. win lottery