Week 9: Rasgueado, Golpe, Efforts for Sympathy & New Feature Film Script!

24 - 30 March, 2014

It was a rather quiet week where nothing much seems to have happened. Or at least nothing BIG seems to have happened. 

But there were several tiny little gems of experiences along the way. 

1) Finally... and I mean F.I.N.A.L.L.Y, the edit for Aravindum Aarumughamum is locked. The full & final edit. Sure, we still have the sound design to be locked before we can release it, but this is already a big milestone so I am happy about that. 

2) After a gap of about a month, I finally got to meet the regular gang. And that always gives me a lot of joy. It was great to catch up and each of them bonded with the little one (yes, she had tagged alone too), in their own unique ways. 

3) I learnt two really cool things to play on the guitar called Rasgueado and Golpe. Both are techniques used in Spanish guitar (Flamenco guitar, specifically) and I was given an exercise where they needed to be used. And I LOVE it! SO MUCH FUN! 

4) The Little One is turning out to be a real hoot. Her new found technique of earning my sympathy is as follows. If I scold her for something, she walks up to the coffee table and very purposefully, yet very, very gently, bangs her head on to the glass top of the table. Then she rubs her head, looks up with puppy eyes fully expecting me to melt and sympathize with her. I told her that the technique would have worked had I not seen her deliberate attempt to go and bang herself. After a few unsuccessful attempts at earning my sympathy this way, she decided to garnish the theatrics a bit. So now, she goes and bangs her head first and then rubs it gently while looking up at me with sad, pleading eyes. And then, for full effect, she goes back to the table and reprimands it, just like the way we do when she falls or hurts herself any way - we scold the object that caused her the pain which quickly seem to make her happy. So now she does that herself. What can I say! 

5) I signed the Little One up at a playschool. Yet another milestone. This place is only a stone's throw from my house and one evening the Little One, my Mom and I walked over and signed her up. She will begin classes from July but for now she seemed rather happy with the bright, cheery place full of children of her age. 

6) I have started to write the script for my next feature and I have completed one scene so far. This is planned to be one with a really small cast but that doesnt mean low budget because it is planned to be set in a location in India (I just don't want to shoot in Singapore anymore!). Because of this thought of an outside location, the working title for the film is "The Destination Film", until I can think of a more sensible one. Talking about titles, I am yet to name my previous feature film script in Tamil. That's currently going by the very creative title of "The Tamil Feature Film". Oh well. 

7) Last but not the least, I have to admit that this event of the helper being away did turn out for good at the end. Sure, it was tiring and quite stressful to manage everything but it did get my mom (and for a short while, dad) down. Once the dust settled down and we got into a manageable routine, we got to spend some quality time together. That was really a blessing in disguise! 

That's about it then. Nothing major. But all good.

Week 8: Dramatic Abandonment, Bioluminescent Planktons, Elephants & Mangroves.

17 - 23 March, 2014

Bulk of the week was spent in Krabi, so I guess I will focus this post on the trip.

So yes, what was initially meant to be a snorkelling trip with my dad, turned out to be a full blown family vacation with dad, mom and the little one, given the recent developments at home. I had already booked tickets and hotel, so decided to stick to the original plan which was to be honest not very toddler friendly. But we decided to make the best of it. And here are the highlights.

Dad, Mom, Little One and I went on an Elephant Safari.
In other words, we comfortably seated ourselves on chairs atop elephants that walked through the jungles and streams, and I realized that the massive to and fro motion as the elephant took each step, was not at all comfortable. The Little One probably felt the same but all she did was sit tight without uttering a single sound. It was probably her quietest hour during the trip.

Dad and I went snorkelling while Mom babysat the Little One.
We were picked up by the snorkelling guys in a fancy wooden box attached to the sides of a scooter which resulted in the most fun ride ever, we enjoyed the fast longboat ride over choppy waters, we explored a ton of corals, saw hundreds of multicoloured fish and once even a crab, got bruised and cut all over when we were dropped off at the wrong end of very shallow waters and tall corals, we walked along a sandbank that appeared between two islands during low tide, walked through extremely rocky waters to a pristine beach, watched the most beautiful sunset ever, got stranded in a boat for close to an hour when the boat got stuck in the rocks thanks to low tide, and the best part of all, we, for the first time ever, saw bio luminescent plankton in the pitch black sea - these fascinating creatures are like glowworms, but in the ocean, and they light up when the water around them moves! Watching them glow as I slapped around in the water, was nothing short of magical!

Mom and I went kayaking in the sea and through the mangroves, while Dad babysat the Little One.
Well, initially it was my mom and I on the same kayak, with me trying to paddle away. But when I, albeit my best paddling efforts, fell behind all the others in our group who were primarily being driven by tall, strong, beefy men, my Mom got cold feet and wanted to get a paddle boy for her kayak. So I was unceremoniously fired as the kayaker and we switched boats. While she lounged comfortably in her kayak being rowed around like a "queen" (words of a fellow tourist), I sat miserably in between two guys in the middle of another kayak, not let anywhere near a paddle. But the experience of kayaking through that maze of mangroves with the constant sounds of crickets and birds, sightings of monkeys (one even jumped onto a kayak!) and cool atmosphere in spite of the blistering heat outside in the open ocean, it was indeed an experience of a lifetime. My mom thought the same too, except that whenever she mentions it, she ends with a "Should have gotten that paddle boy earlier. You could have drowned me!". I did try pointing out that drowning was impossible with life jackets on, but that is simply acknowledged with a "Still, you never know!". Sigh.

Other exciting things happened too.

Dad and Mom went shopping while the Little One and I hit the pool in the hotel. Dad discovered a few tour options as they ventured out, so he left Mom at the beach to quickly get back to the hotel to check my opinion on them. On the way to the hotel, Dad lost his way pretty badly. Mom sat at the beach all alone into the night for a couple hours with no money and no phone. Mom thought she was abandoned by her family (yeah, dramatic). Dad got back to her after much delay and heartache and tension. Dad and Mom got back to the hotel to me and the Little One who were oblivious of anything happening. All we thought was that Dad and Mom were doing a little bit too much shopping.

The Little One made friends with everyone at the hotel. They were all kinda inseparable by the end of three days. She also made friends with everyone at the airport, getting into deep conversations with Russians and Indians and Malaysians and Thais, as we waited for our very delayed flight. In the process, she decided to improve her vocabulary and out of nowhere started saying "Eka" (her name), "apple", "Aana" (elephant), "Dudu" (milk), "eyes", "kose" (I think she means "nose" because that's what she points at), "Kaaka" (crow), and such. I decided that she might just be the scientist that her dad wants her to be and not the actress that I believe she might turn out to be. But then when we got back to Singapore airport, we went to our favourite Ananda Bhavan for dinner, and there, she demonstrated that actress might be more her thing anyway. After feeding herself dosa and coconut chutney, when convinced that she had had her fill, she used the remaining chutney to delicately apply on her cheeks, very much how she does with her (and my) multitude creams, as part of her daily beauty regime. Also, there was one instant when she threw a tantrum and I pointed out to her a bunch of strangers watching her from a distance. She quickly dropped the tantrum and picked her best toothy grin and waved at them. Yup. Actress, it is.

So yes, it was an eventful trip. I did miss the hubby who was left behind (rather, he chose to stay behind because 'work is priority' and all that talk), and was very glad to be back.

The Little One on the other hand, didn't seem all that pleased, and immediately walked back to the lift as we reached the door of the apartment. Clearly, she had a great trip.

And so did my parents.

Except that my mom keeps retelling the story of how she thought her family abandoned her with no money and no Thai linguistic skills in the middle of a beach in Krabi.

I guess we will have to live with that.

Relaxation & Realization!

This is officially my first post for the year 2014!

And am writing it on 24th January....after 3 whole week in to the new year!  Clearly, that "relaxation" resolution is coming out really well.

Actually I had been incredibly busy, mainly with work and business travel up until last weekend. Still, "relaxation" is on, especially over the weekends when am doing nothing but generally chilling out (which is different from my otherwise busy recent weekends of filming, writing, travelling etc.).

Much has happened over the last few weeks, but before we get into that, you may have noticed that I am not doing any "counting" of days in the title of this post. Given that the frequency of my posts are gonna be pretty low this year, there is not much point keeping track of that anymore. So that's that.

Alright, so what's happened over the last few weeks.
1) I had a super hectic time at work with 6 major presentations over 5 days and while that broke my back, I have emerged unscathed and victorious, even. In simpler terms, it all went well and was well worth the pain.

2) I had a good trip to Guangzhou, one of the few work trips there that I have actually enjoyed (simply because it is one hell of a boring place). It's all thanks to the fantastic cold winter there and my routine walks to the hotel from the office every night in the chilling cold.

3) I am picking up Surya Namaskar (a yoga routine) and Ashtanga yoga these days and thoroughly enjoying it.

4) I even tried Kundalini yoga and I must say it was not something I was expecting. Surprising and fun!

5) I read yet another Vish Puri mystery by Tarquin Hall - "The case of the Love Commandos" and completely enjoyed it!

6) The hubby and I completed 12 years of togetherness. That's 1 whole dozen and we are still going strong & steady!

7) The little one has started to walk and it is so fascinating to see her trying out her new skill set! So when I get back home after these days, she doesn't crawl up to me, she "runs" up to me and hugs my legs. Total heart melting stuff, that!

And on top of all of this, I made a major realization.

I realized what are the things that I really want to do in life.

It all started with yet another hypothetical, imaginative Q&A game, one of those that I love to play with the hubby. Over a long dinner or coffee, I like to throw a random question at him (and then answer it myself after his turn). "Where do you think you will be 10 years from now"?, "What are the three things about yourself that you love? And three things that you want to change about yourself", "What are you 3 biggest achievements this year?", "What are the 3 things that you think you should have done this year but didn't" etc. etc.

I find these pretty fun to do (even though the hubby doesn't share this feeling always), because I think it helps to discover a few things about yourself that you were probably unaware of until then.

Which is pretty much what happened over last weekend.

As we had our 12-years-of-love celebratory dinner, I threw a random question at him.

Me: What do you think would be a few things that you would regret on your deathbed?
He: Hmmm.... uhmmm.... erm..... *clears the throat*.... oh yeah... .I don't know.
Me: Arre... think of something.... like, what is it that if you don't do, you know for sure you will regret.
He: But I might do it by the time I die any way.
Me: Yes, but assuming you didn't.
He: Even if I didn't, I don't know whether I will regret. You know... whether there will be any regret.
Me: Ugh. Can you just humour me and play the game?
He: Hmmm... OK maybe after Teamie (the start up he has founded and is currently the CEO of), I might regret not starting up another one.
Me: Hmm! Interes.....
He: Or....I might regret starting one.
Me: Uh?
He: You know..you get it.
Me: No, I don't.

This went on for a while until he came up with his list. And then it was my turn and I, very sincerely, thought about it.

And interestingly, I didn't have any of the things I thought I would have in my list. For e.g....

I didn't say that if I don't try out my hand at mainstream film direction (vs. the zero-budget, independent stuff I do now), I will regret it. So clearly, that is not my ambition.

I didn't say that if I don't spend more time with my family, I would regret it. So clearly, I think I am at the right balance of work time and family time now.

I didn't say that if I don't reach a top position in my company, I would regret it. So clearly, that is not my ambition either.

If I were to step back and give an opinion on this as a third party, maybe the above could have been some of the items on my list, but they weren't.

Instead I made a few interesting discoveries. Apparently, some of the things I would regret not doing would be...
1) Being a good yoga practitioner - one who can hold the asanas with grace and one who practices even in old age.
2) Scuba diving
3) Playing the guitar or the violin (two of the instruments I used to play while in school but gave up completely once I moved to Singapore)
4) Making a real, tangible, sustainable difference to even a small part of the society
5) Meditating regularly

Wow. I had no idea these things had so much importance to me until this exercise was completed. I think it was a useful exercise because unlike making resolutions where you limit yourself to what you can realistically do within a certain amount of time, here you are basically going beyond those limitations and saying, by the time I reach the point where this life no longer exists, there are these things that are either giving me a lot of meaning or are something I would love to experience. How fascinating!

It was also fascinating to note that there was nothing about films or writing or travel or family or career in there. I shared this a friend and she pointed out that maybe that's because I am pretty content with where I am on these aspects - something which I should feel really GREAT about! Wow.

So what am I going to do about these 5 things on the list? Well, I haven't exactly figured it out, but I will do something for sure. More on that in the coming posts!

For now, am happy and am inspired!

Days 364 - 367: When the Year Passed Quietly but Beautifully!

It was one of those years when I had very little awareness that it was time for a new year to begin and that this one is pretty much done with. Usually, there would be an excited countdown towards the New Year's Eve, some sort of New Year celebration and a volley of "Happy New Year" messages and calls I would be making left, right and centre.

However this year, I was too busy to bother about any of the above, believe it or not. 

So much so that when the evening of the New Year's Eve came by, at 8pm, I was like... "I am not very hungry. But I will have some Kerala Paratha, egg curry, chicken curry and prawns curry. Oh it is New Year's Eve. I should be staying up until midnight. But am too full and too exhausted. What the heck. Am going to bed."

You see, while the hubby went straight back to Singapore from Bangalore on some imaginary "office work" (seriously, who works in the last week of December?!), his parents... i.e. my in-laws, accompanied me from Bangalore to Kerala on a short holiday. And on their behalf as well as mine, I think it was a fantabulous holiday!

Let me summarize all the highlights of the last few days:

1) Housewarming celebration
As soon the we got back to my hometown, we went straight in for the housewarming celebration of our new place. We had guests pouring in to check out the new place (and they had really nice things to say about it, and of course all credit goes to my parents). 

Later, all of us went off to a banquet hall in a hotel where there was a musical performance put together by my dad's friends (let me add that they are all professional musicians... for the unaware, my dad himself is a professional musician!), followed by dinner. The singers sang several Hindi songs especially dedicated to my in-laws and overall, I must say it was a rather nice evening!

The little one was also in high spirits greeting all the guests, even walking around (with support still) in the banquet hall, shaking hands with everyone and posing for numeros pictures with her toothless grin. She had decided that I am her most favourite person after having disappeared for a few days and was all over me with love. I must say, I quite enjoyed that!

2) Poomala
I had written about this place in my old blog, so am not repeat what it is and how and why it is beautiful. But since it is beautiful, it was only right to take the in-laws there to partake the beauty. So we went there, enjoying the Kerala countryside along the way, and spent a short while, taking in the sights, clicking a ton of pictures and enjoying ourselves thoroughly. Am so glad my dad discovered this gem of a place! 

3) Athirapilly & Peringankuthu
Together with the company of my cousins and aunt, we also paid a visit to the majestic Athirapilly waterfalls. The full force of the falls is visible only during the monsoons, but this time wasn't bad either. With three tall falls back to back, they are always a magnificent sight! 

After Athirapilly, we made our way to Perigankuthu a heavily forested conservatory area, that required special permit to get into. 

The proof that this was thick, unadulterated tropical forest in all its glory, was that we spotted baboons, a baby deer and well, the full untouched skin shed by a super long snake. Over much discussion, the snake, which started off as the mighty King Cobra, came down to a poison-less mere watersnake, thereby bursting several bubbles. In either case, am pretty glad we didn't see the snake itself. The folks living there (mainly forest officers) told us that there are even elephants and tigers in the area, but we were not fortunate enough to spot any.  

We made two stops at Peringankuthu. One to take a look at the dam and the catchment area from a viewpoint high above, and another at the dam itself. 

The viewpoint gave spectacular views of the rolling, thickly vegetated hills, the tranquil waters below, the beautiful dam and calming skies with low hanging clouds. 

At the dam, we walked around for a bit, sat on some rocks and had a beautiful music session where my cousin brother and my mom in law sang a few lovely songs! 

It was so perfect! The peaceful atmosphere, the beautiful sights, the wonderful singing! 

And to top it all, there was a swing right in the middle of it all, and after what may be decades, I was on a swing!! I must also mention that so was my mom in law, which was super cute! 

Now, key to note is that, all this happened on New Year's Eve. 

By the time we got back home, we had enough energy just to consumer the Kerala Paratha, egg curry, chicken curry and prawns curry mentioned above. And hence, there was not much of a New Year celebration as per the norm, but how better to welcome a new year other than to be in a beautiful place surrounded by beautiful people!

4) Guruvayur 
On New Year's Day, we set off for Guruvayur, one of the most popular temples of Kerala, and one that we have been frequenting for long. It was the in-law's first visit there and both of them were dressed in traditional Kerala garbs, and looking absolutely stunning in them! 

After an eventless drive (during which the little one insisted on listening to Bollywood item numbers, in spite of the fact that we were on a pilgrimage), we first visited my aunt in Guruvayur. Her house is right next to the temple and after a quick chat with her and placing our request for her famed filter coffee upon our return from the temple, we finally made it to the temple. 

I was expecting a huge crowd and a lot of rush at the temple, given that it was the first day of the year, but luckily for us, the crowd was very manageable and I didn't feel any of the push and pull that usually happens especially within the tiny shrine. 

After a very peaceful visit to the temple, we happened to bump into my dance teacher whose daughter (who is now a dance teacher herself in Singapore) was just about to perform in the outdoor stage in front of the temple. So we settled down and watched a beautiful Bharatnatyam performance! I was not only happy to watch it myself but was also thrilled that my in laws got to watch an authentic performance right within the temple vicinity which adds to the experience! 

Back at my aunt's place, the filter coffee was ready, true to its fame, and we also topped it with some excellent sambhaaram (spiced buttermilk). 

After some rest, we made our way back to Thrissur, straight to my aunt's place for lunch. She, like the superwoman that she is, had single handedly made rice, sambhar, chicken curry, pachadi, kondaattom, olan, aviyal, thoran, pappadom and paayasam! Yummm!

5) Snehatheeram Beach
I guess no visit to Kerala is complete without a trip down to its beautiful and endless coastal line! We went to Snehatheeram, a small park that's come up in the recent past next to the beach. We played in the waters for a while, the highlight being the little one braving the waves. 

She was totally terrified at first by the oncoming waves and the shifting sands underneath her little feet when the waves retreat, but soon, there she was, squealing in delight and not wanting to get out of the water even much after sunset! I am already making plans to go snorkelling and diving with her some time in the future! 

On the way back, we took a round around the Thrissur Round (yup, the circular road around which the city is planned, is very imaginatively called the "Round"), pointing out the key landmarks to the in-laws like the Parmekkavu temple, the Vadakkumnathan temple, etc. etc. 

Oh, and yet another highlight - soda sarbat!! Woot! I just simply LOVE the traditional soda sarbat that you still get in Kerala... no other drink matches it, in my humble opinion! Felt SO good!

6) Thiruvilwamala
Last but not the least, we also made a quick trip to Thiruvilwamala, my dad's ancestral village on his mom's side. It still remains mostly untouched by "development" and commercialization, thank God for that! 

We visited the lovely, ancient temple on the hilltop, walked around its rocky terrain, had dosa, coconut chutney, onion chutney, vada and tea from the quaint, little restaurant  with the thatched roof, sitting at wooden tables, and eating off banana leaves; we visited the only Shirdi Sai temple I know of in this part of the world and we had another round of Soda sarbat, thereby finishing off the in-laws holiday in God's own country!

So that was that! Super hectic but fantastic few days! 

The new year is here and sure, I didn't really pay much attention to the old year passing by and the new one dawning, but I had a fantastic time at both ends! What more does one need?

Day 361: "Romantic" Bangalore!

Thus, after a day in Kerala, we were off to Bangalore, leaving behind the little one with her grandparents. The "leaving behind" turned out to be a pretty smooth process. We were expecting some high quality "please don't leave me mummy & papa!!!" crying, which....well..... didn't happen.

Nope, not even remotely. 

Instead, she decided that focusing on my mom's box of accessories was a much better activity. Just as well. 

So we - the hubby and I, were off to Bangalore! 

Now, naming this post "Romantic Bangalore" has nothing do with Bangalore being romantic. It is just that this is our first trip together after 1.5 years - the hubby and I alone, without the little one or friends or parents... and to me that alone was "romantic". We chatted all the way from the house till the airport, shopped together for books from the airport bookshop (they always have the best collection!), got ourselves chai and patties from the airport cafe, had a long conversation while savouring it, almost missing our flight in the process (see? romantic!), had another long catch up on the flight to Bangalore, got an airport cab and chatted away again while observing the sights and sounds of Bangalore, until we reached the hubby's aunt's place where his parents were also staying on a short visit. 

At the aunt's place, we had a really nice time catching up with everyone and also stuffed ourselves silly with a lot of awesome home cooked dishes (both aunty and uncle are great cooks and cooked a variety of southern Indian dishes and even Biriyani! They also made their own mojitos, which was just fantabulous!). 

Then the hubby and I took off on the last drive for the day - to the Marriot in Whitefield, the venue of the wedding. We checked in and was soon joined by the other friends who had also travelled in from various parts of India, leading to another round of catch ups and fun. 

Oh, we were also informed by my parents in Kerala that the little one had not one bit of separation anxiety through the day. Good news. 

Thus, day 1 in Bangalore came to an end. Tomorrow, the wedding festivities begin! 

Days 357 - 359: "Shilpa Vihar"!

23 - 25 December, 2013

In his last visit to Singapore, my dad had brought along an old sketchbook of mine, which dates back to my childhood (and I mean when I was about 10 or so). It was fascinating to see what used to catch my fancy those days. I had everything from cartoon characters to flora and fauna and landscapes and each sketch was accompanied by a very clear title e.g. "boy", "girl", "naughty boy", "duck", "good boy", etc.

Interestingly, one of the sketches was that of a pretty little house and this one too had a label. It said "Shilpa Vihar" which means "Shilpa Residences", "Shilpa's House" or something of that order. Clearly, that was the picture of my dream house and what I planned to name it whenever it were to happen in the future. 

Now, it is not that my family had no house of our own. We did have the good fortune to live in cozy, comfortable little home but I guess I was probably not fully happy with it at that point in time. And the reason was that I never had a room to myself. What I had was one that doubled up as my room, general study room, mom's wardrobe room, dad's books room, etc. etc. 

As I grew up, I think I started to care less about "my room" or the dream "Shilpa Vihar" and had completely forgotten about it by the time the sketchbook made its way to me after all these years. But what I did have in mind was to some day have a bigger house in my hometown - one which gave enough space to my parents, my grandmom who now stays with us and the hubby, the little one and I when we visit every year. 

And the work on this - a house that has enough space for all of us together - has been progressing for the past couple of years and is now almost completed. And I planned to visit my new home, or "Shilpa Vihar" as the hubby as been calling it ever since he saw the sketchbook. The idea was for all three of us to go check out the new place, then the hubby and I leave for a friend's wedding in Bangalore leaving the little one behind with her grandparents, then I come back to my hometown together with my in laws who will join me from Bangalore, spend a few days there and then return to Singapore with the little one.

In other words, there was a ton of planning and packing to be done. And that's exactly what I did during these few days. Making packing lists, packing, shopping, packing again, repacking because nothing seems to fit in the darn luggage, etc. etc.

And finally when all that was done, we made our way to Thrissur in Kerala, to see that house that my parents have been toiling to set up for so long (My involvement has been financial only while they have been designing and really pulling the weight that's required to be pulled for any construction of a new home).

My parents picked us up from the Kochi airport and soon we were there. The new house perched on a slightly elevated road, overlooking the Brahmaswam Madhom (a temple and a vedic institution, open to the public only once a year during Saraswati Puja) and its adjoining beautiful, serene pond. With a gorgeous view like that, this was already a perfect home in my mind but I was wowed when I walked through the indoors. The interiors (done by a professional interior decorator) had been done up beautifully and I was thrilled that they had even managed to frame family photos and line up on a photo wall. It was all so beautiful! And the best part - there was enough space... more than enough space in fact, for all of us together!

So there it was - after a gap of more than 20 years, "Shilpa Vihar"!

Days 216 - 222: Birthdays, Neighbourhood Cafes, Discoveries and Princess Parties!

When I started out writing this blog, I had put up a "reasonable" target of writing at least one entry a week. I thought that with my multiple roles as mother, wife, brand manager, health conscious human being etc., I wouldn't be able to achieve anything more. But truth be told, I had actually expected myself to deliver far better on the frequency, given my tendency of wanting to over-deliver on targets. And I had done reasonably well so far too - this is my 128th entry for the year, it seems! That's definitely a lot better than a weekly entry!

But recently, I have been struggling to keep up. There have been a lot of combined entries vs. daily ones, and as of today, I think I have hit rock bottom on frequency with this post - which is following the previous one after exactly 7 days!

So why am I writing such utterly inane statistics here?

Because it helps to describe the state of my life very well. Yup, my life's gone crazy busy, mostly due to work.

But that's fine. Good news is that there has been something to smile about (rather widely most often), almost every day!

So here are the highlights from the last 7 days...!

a) As a Malayali, I get to celebrate two birthdays every year. One according to the universal English calendar (which is coming up this week), and another according to the Malayalam calendar (which is a lunar calendar, as opposed to the solar English calendar). The Malayalam birthday, thus, doesn't fall on specific date every year but keeps changing by +/-15 days or so every year. Long story short, it was my Malayalam birthday on Sunday and unlike previous years when I mostly forgot or ignored it, this year I didn't. All thanks to my mom who made quite a big deal out of it with early morning prayers and a celebration involving semiya payasam (dessert made of vermicelli, milk and raisins)! It was a small celebration, but indeed a beautiful one!

b) Ever since we shifted to our current place in Bishan in 2009, there was only one flaw that we could find in our otherwise perfect and extremely convenient neighbourhood. The absence of a Starbucks outlet! There's been countless times when the hubby and I would want a cup of our favourite Chai Tea Latte but there is no Starbucks in the vicinity. If I had a penny for the number of times I said, "I love Bishan... but really wish there was a Starbucks here", I would be pretty darn rich by now. Good news is, it is true that if you really want something with all your heart, the universe does conjure it up for you! Yes, we have our own neighbourhood Starbucks now, within just a few minutes walk, and we - i.e, the hubby, the little one and I, made our first trip there! Woot!! Over a cup of Chai Tea Latte, I thanked Gods and the Starbucks management for making Bishan perfect, finally!

c) It was a 4-day long weekend in Singapore thanks to the National day and Eid holidays and I spent the majority of it on packing for our upcoming trip. I had already written up a 150-item long list, bulk of it being the little one's necessary items. The thought of packing all these have been daunting me for the longest time, but I am proud to say that after several hours of non-stop, focused effort, it is almost all done now! We are pretty much ready for our first long vacation together!

d) I made two new discoveries - First was the Lantern Bar at the Fullerton Bay Hotel, which had a fantastic view and a great ambience. I have to say that the service left much to be desired, but it is definitely worth going there for the view and ambience! The second one was "Blue Ginger" at Tanjong Pagar. I had been here once several years ago, so this was more of a rediscovery. They serve Peranakan cuisine and I particularly loved their Blue Ginger Chicken.

e)  There were also a couple of fun catch ups with friends. A school friend of the hubby had come from India on a short visit and it was lovely to meet him. And we also met up with the usual gang over a very late night drinks session - it was almost like a farewell session because we would be meeting each other only next month now, thanks to everyone's travel plans.

g) Last but not the least, the little one went for her first "princess" party - which was the theme of the birthday party of a friend's five year old girl. The parents had done a pretty amazing job of bringing the theme to life - what with princess themed cakes, balloons, wands, crowns, plates, cups, napkins, and even a storyteller in full princess costume with a "prince" in tow. Our little one, even though had no idea of the theme or the stories or the games, was clearly fascinated by the proceedings. She was so excited that she showed absolutely no signs of crankiness for a span of two whole hours! I guess this is just the beginning of several such parties to follow, and while it makes my head reel to think that I will have to organize such events in the future, as far as the little one is concerned, it was a great beginning for sure!

Now looking forward to our holiday next week! 

Days 212 - 215: Ladies Wing, D-Day, Sudoku & Big Smiles!

Quick list for the last few days....

a) I had a meeting with the Singapore Malayalee Association's Ladies Wing, to discuss some of their strategies and potential events. I used to be very active SMA's activities in the past but it had gone down considerably over the last few years due to other priorities. But these associations that represent my state and its people still remain a soft spot and when I was called for this meeting, I couldn't resist but go! Even though there were just a few of us present that evening, I had a great time! It is always a joy to get back to familiar grounds, something I consider close to home and the fellow ladies wing members were pretty enthusiastic and fun to talk to. An evening well spent!

b) Thanks to my super busy schedule at work these days, I had hardly been spending any quality time with my mom. In her words, "What is point of coming to Singapore, if I hardly get to talk to you?!" Fair enough. So on Friday, I made it a point to take her out for an early dinner, followed by the movie D-Day. My original plan was to go for yoga and get back home and sleep, but then I realized that should probably be second priority. My mom enjoyed the dinner and loved the movie. She looks super pleased at the end of the evening and that in turn made me feel super pleased too!

c) I also got to spend some quality time with my mom on Saturday, and this time...instead of any restaurant outings or movie dates, we decided to play Sudoku together. My mom had just recently discovered Sudoku that comes in the daily newspaper, and she got me work it with her. Together we spent hours solving several Sudoku puzzles! Now I feel far less guilty about that quality time!

d) Last but not the least, I am really enjoying this whole motherhood thing a lot more these days. Mainly because the little one has begun to express such extreme joy at seeing me every evening after work! Just as I open the door and get in, her face lights up, she gives her broadest toothless grin, comes wobbling towards me on all fours, in the fastest possible speed she can. As soon as she reaches me, there is a very enthusiastic waving of hands, indicating that she needs to be picked up and as soon as I do that, there is a smothering of "kissies" all over my face. I don't think anyone has looked this pleased to see me ever before. For as long as it would last, I am gonna thoroughly enjoy it!

Nett, my mom's smiling, the little one's smiling, I am smiling. It's all good!

Day 202: Shopping Sunday!

It was my dad's last day in town and we realized that we haven't done any shopping together. It's usually a routine - we go shopping together at least once on each trip of his, but this time, with the little one around, more time was spent indoors than walking around in malls.

So to catch up with lost time and shopping opportunity, we set out for Orchard and spent a few hours walking and shopping in the malls there, with the little one tagging along.

Shopping on this trip - check! Now I can happily let him go back! 

Days 194 - 199: Kickboxing, Cycling, Poster, Friends & Family!

I just realized that I have not written a post for an entire week almost! Just about missed my promise of writing a weekly post! Blah!

But then, that's how busy I've been.

Quick list of one highlight per day:

1) On 13th July - I had the most wonderful evening with our usual gang of close friends coming over to our place. First the hubby and a friend went for tennis, then all of us went to the pool together with the little one and everyone one had a ball swimming or watching her trying to swim. Then a few took a steambath and that was followed by drinks, dinner and a LOT of mindless conversation. We hadn't done something like this in ages, and it was great fun!

2) On 14th July - After introducing the parents to Din Tai Fung where authentic Chinese food was served, it was time for enjoying Ichiban Boshi, where authentic Japanese is served. Just like how they loved the former, they loved the latter too! The excitement over wasabi, edamame, miso soup, sushi and katsu don was infectious!

3) On 15th July - Another partner workout - this time with kickboxing! Super fun!

4) On 16th July - As of today, I have completed 100 days of exercise for this year! That was the target I had set for myself at the beginning of the year, taking into consideration my new found role of a mother and the demands of having to juggle exercise with work, family and leisure. But I had never expected to complete this within just 6.5 months of the year! So proud and happy!  

5) On 17th July - I made the teaser poster for "Aravindum Aarumughamum", by accident. Yup. It all started when I was doodling on my iPad, using an app called 'Sketchpad' for those of you who want the details, to make a reference sketch for the poster. I wanted a illustrated, minimalist poster for the film and I was planning to sketch out my idea for it and send it to a friend who had promised to help me with the actual illustration. After completing the doodle, I asked the hubby what he thought of it. He said the doodle, with its crooked lines and uneven blotches here and there, serves the purpose of a teaser poster just as it is. First, I was surprised by that reaction and didn't think much of it. But with his encouragement, soon I was convinced that instead of being just a reference, this could actually be the teaser poster for the film. And thus the first publicity material, a teaser poster, for my new short film "Aravindum Aarumughamum" was released! (And by "release", I mean, it was put up on Facebook). Yay!

6) On 18th July - I took on cycling again. For those of you who had followed my 1000-day blog, you would know that cycling is an activity I had picked up only last year. It was one of the things to do on my before-30 list and I got to it with just 9 months to spare. But as soon as I pretty much got the hang of it, I discovered that I am pregnant. Since then my bike had been lying discarded in the storeroom. I didn't get back on it for this long because I wasn't sure how it would work with the pelvic pain I had sustained post pregnancy. But now that the pain's almost all gone, I got back on the bike today. After a lot of nervousness and some initial fumbling, I could ride it! Sure, I still need to get more controlled but it was great to be able to ride a few hundred metres without breaking any bones! Special thanks to my dad who was my teacher for the day!

Few happy days! 

Day 188: Parents & Authentic North Eastern Thai Cuisine!

This morning, my parents arrived in town. And with that began another round of glorious pampering of the little one. I can safely say that she is about ten times more spoiled that she was before, within a single day. I can already sense her confidence rising. When she whimpers, she knows that she is gonna be picked up and cuddled. When she screams, she knows that she is gonna be picked up and taken out for a "walk". My poor dad went out on about five such walks today.

Oh well.

But they are happy. Over the moon in fact, with their precious grand daughter. Their excitement and her excitement at all the attention was pretty interesting to watch.

Once it was time for the little one to hit the bed, I finally got both of them to myself. Together with the hubby, we went out for dinner at our new favourite Thai restaurant 'E-Sarn' on Thomson Road. According to their website they serve authentic North Eastern Thai food. And I can assure you that authentic North Eastern Thai food is mind-blowingly awesome! We stuffed ourselves with Tom Ka Gai, Steamed Seabass, Kailan in oyster sauce and Green curry prawns. YUM.

A fitting end to a beautiful day! 

Day 180: Saturday Highlights!

A pretty nice Saturday. My in-laws are to return to India tomorrow, so the whole day was spent together with them.

Some of the highlights include:

a)  Morning chai & chat with mom-in-law. Only the two of were up while the men slept in. So we caught up for a bit in the morning, with our own girl talk.

b)  Heavy & yummy brunch at Antoinette. It’s already been established that Antoinette is a favourite of mine, and the in-laws too enjoyed the décor, ambience and the food.

c)  Swimming with the little one - The last time I took her to the pool was almost a month ago, so I was doubtful whether she would still remember all that she had learnt in the water before. But she did remember! In fact, she seemed to have improved her sense of balance and was evidently very happy in the water. All of us watched her having fun trying to float on her tummy and on her back, go in circles in her floating ring, and generally enjoying the water.  

d) After dinner walk to 7-11 and getting ice creams, a routine that had been established with the in-laws when they were here last year in June while I was pregnant.

e) Chatting away until late at night, clearly indicating that the last couple of weeks were nowhere close to enough when it comes to “catching up”.

It was a lovely last day and now, until the next trip! 

Days 175 - 179: People, Plays, Films, Yoga, Work, Music And Such Happy Things!

I am having a good time! Yup... all up, hardly any downs (touchwood). The past few days have been pretty happy and I feel good!

Why? A variety of reasons!

a) I went back to work on Monday and got showered with a few more compliments on how well the offsite was organized. Am not one to shy away from compliments and yes, these made me very happy!

b) I went to watch a play after more than two whole years! And I loved it. It was a locally produced play called Fourlies and I thought the writing, direction and performances were brilliant! It is always great to watch such splendid works of art and considering that this was a completely original work from Singapore, it was even more heartening.

c) I watched Raanjhanaa, a new Hindi film and fell in love with it! As far as I am aware of, it was a romantic drama made like no other romantic drama from India so far in terms of its storyline. It was funny and tragic at the same time. It had both the leads playing not white but very grey characters. It had a dark, scrawny guy from South India making his debut in the highly discriminating fair-skin-loving Bollywood, and flooring every single person with his talent alone. It had brilliant music and very good integration of the songs with the narrative instead of force fitting them. Nett, I felt really good watching it.

d) I went for yoga three days in a row, which is a big deal because the last time I did that was some time in March! Once work had started, it's become increasingly difficult to hit yoga. And the irregularity had also contributed to laziness. So it took all my willpower to do three days in a row. But I did. And it was awesome.

e) I had a great chat with my editor friend from Mumbai in which I narrated an entire feature film story. And now we have just that - a full feature film story! Surely there is a long way to go from a storyline to a final film but it gets me super excited when a new idea brews. So yes, I am excited!

f) Got to spend a lot of quality time with the in laws, which included long chats, chai time and bargain shopping, even! It was a good last week, as they will be on their way back to India this Sunday.

g) I discovered the wonderful, wonderful songs from three Hindi films - Raanjhanaa, Lootera and Fukrey and I can't stop listening to them. They are definitely fodder for happy thoughts and glazed smiles and I love them!

i) I had the most amazing lunch with one of my best friends. One of those where we don't talk about our daily mundane lives but our takes on what our lives have been so far, where we think it is going, where we think it should go and what we can do about it. I feel really good post that 1.5 hour Friday lunch.

h) The little one has discovered the art of clapping. Or rather the art of repeatedly slamming her right open palm on her left closed fist, in the name of clapping. She crawls all around the house and demonstrates some over the top excitement when she sees me (as well as her other favourite like her dad, grandparents and nanny....but I am there too!). It is such overwhelming joy to see her break into her toothless wide grin when she sees me early in the morning or after I can back to work. I can see that she is already not just the little vague baby but a full individual with pretty much her own unique personality and this journey of motherhood is getting more fascinating by the day.

So yes. I am happy. With all of the above and more! 

Days 108 - 113: So Much Happening!

I really wish I had the time to write individual posts for the past few days because there simply seems to be much happening these days! But I am too caught up and my bullet-pointed highlights will have to suffice. So here we go!

a) Housewarming - My brother-in-law and wife bought a new apartment in Singapore and had their housewarming. The hubby, the little one and I were there for this very special moment in their lives. It is always lovely to see people's dreams come true and I know that this was a big one for them! It felt really good to be part of it!

b) Farewells - Both my mom and my father in law left for India over the last few days. Farewells are never nice but the upside is that you really treasure the last few days and hours spent together! It was no different this time as well and I thoroughly enjoyed the quality time that we spent!

c) The Pool - This is a real big one! The little one took her first trip to the pool and it was nothing short of awesome! Initially when I placed her on her floating ring in the water, she started to wail, probably due to the cold. So I took her out and got her to dip only her feet in the water. After the resulting acclimatization, she seemed to enjoy a lot better. Before we knew it, there she was comfortably settled on her floater ring and thoroughly enjoying her "swim"! All my maternal instincts came out and I felt oh-so-proud of my water baby! Of course, she spent more time trying to eat the floating ring than playing with water, but let's ignore such small distractions for the time being. I had the best time with her and after her time in the pool was done, it was my turn! My last swim was two days before delivering the little one, so it's been a while now. But my first postpartum swim wasn't bad at all. I managed to complete eight laps, which is a decent average for me. Loved the water, loved the experience, loved the evening!

d) Compliments - Who doesn't love compliments! When someone comes and tells me that he/she likes something I had worked on, I am immediately transported to cloud nine. And over the last few days, I was told by one person that she loves my blog and by another that she watched my film Mausams for the second time and by yet another one that she loves all my films so far! Not one, not two but THREE! Which means triple trips to cloud nine! Very thankful, very humbled!

e) Duxton Hill, Lucha Loca & Auntie Kim's - These are my discoveries over the last few days. Duxton Hill is a pretty "happening" place in Singapore and the not-so-happening me had never been there before. But I really liked it. It had old shophouses that have been converted to pretty nice retaurants. I had dinner at a place called Lucha Loca which was pretty good too. I absolutely loved their grilled fish which came up with an awesome spiced sauce and their housepour red wine was great, unlike the watered crappy stuff that's usually served. Another discovery was Auntie Kim's Korean restaurant on Thomson Road. It looked like pretty authentic Korean food. I had noodles with fried meat in soy bean paste (which is black in colour) and it was super yummy! I love it when I make such discoveries...it's great to have a few new very promising places to go to!

f) Work, Reading & Schedule - Work's progressing wonderfully and I am really enjoying myself. I had two late night calls and by late night I mean schedule like 7 - 10pm and 7 - 11pm on the two days. It's crazy but I am still enjoying it because I managed to squeeze in a yoga class on one day and play-time with the little one on the next, so I really can't ask for more. I am also managing to get some reading everyday especially  during my commute to and from work and sometimes during bedtime, once the little one has slept off. This is something I am enjoying a lot too. During the weekend, I also managed to watch a few movies (the Tamil film "Pizza" was my favourite!), which is of course, an activity that I always enjoy. I am still a long way from having a regular routine but for now, I am at peace with things just the way they are.

Like I said, too much happening. All exciting, all beautiful! 

Day 104: Vishu!

It’s Vishu, the Malayalam New Year!

Mom and I woke up early – or rather, got out of the bed early because “waking up” works only if you have slept in the first place. The little one decided that she will turn Vishu to Shivratri and was quite active the whole night. (For the uninformed, Shivratri is an Indian festival where you are supposed to stay up the whole night). Anyway, after getting ready and a small prayer, mom gave the hubby, the little one and I the “vishukaineettam”, a token of wishing prosperity for the year to come.

All of us then made the customary visit to the temple, followed by the Vishu sadya (feast) at my favourite restaurant Swaadhisht. I met a few fellow Mallu friends there, who introduced me to a Mallu couple. The husband told me that he had watched my films while the wife told me that she reads this blog! Woah! Nothing like a bit of ego boost and resulting gratitude on New Year’s Day! So thank you folks – for watching my films, for reading my blog!

Later in the afternoon, one of my most favourite persons, my teacher mentor from my Junior College days, paid a visit to meet the little one. She is one of the nicest, most selfless and generous persons I have ever come across and it is honestly a pity that I don’t see as much of her as I should. We met each other after a few years now, albeit being in the same city! But it was lovely to have her over and catch up with her. Took up the beauty of the day by several notches.

So that’s it. Another Vishu has passed by. But once again, a really special one.

Day 103: Beautiful People, Beautiful Saturday!

Beautiful Saturday made beautiful by the people around me.

The day began with the arrival of my dad in law who is here for a short visit. He came, armed with gifts and sweets and a big smile. All of us were happy to receive him but most of all, the little one. She was thoroughly delighted as he picked her up and lifted her high and whirled her around! And needless to say, when she laughs, all of laugh even more!

In the afternoon, I went for my yoga class. Nothing new about that but this class was extra special because the hubby tagged along! We hadn’t done a class together in ages and it was real fun to have him huffing and puffing, straining and stretching, right next to me as I huffed and puffed, strained and stretched!

Evening was spent with the hubby and my mom, who is also in town, over a shopping trip and dinner at her favourite place – McDonald’s! And who doesn’t love the McFries!

Indeed a beautiful Saturday with Beautiful people! 

Days 96 - 97: The End of the Maternity Leave!

Just as I had predicted last weekend, this weekend was filled with swinging emotions. One moment am pretty excited to be getting back to work, another moment I am dreading the maternity leave coming to an end. But to end it on a high in any case, I decided to indulge in three things that I usually love - Family, Food & Fun! 

"Family" included some quality time spent with the hubby, the little one as well as my mom. 

"Food" involved everything from sushi (Ichiban Boshi) to momos, coriander chicken and gobi manchurian (Fifth Season); from bacon and cheese rolls, chicken drumlets and my latest discovery -  wonderful cocktail with Creme de Cacao (Marche Bistro & Bar) to kebabs (Marrakesh).

"Fun" included Yoga practice, shopping, watching a film, and taking long walk carrying the little one in my arms when she refused to sit on the stroller any more. 

Now am all set for the next innings at work. Bring it on! 

Day 94: Mom, The Food & The Movies Are Back!

My mom's back in town!

And as usual, she has come loaded with awesome food, my favourite being the super yummy jam rolls and beef fry!

Once she got her rest after the overnight flight and after we digged into the above mentioned food, we quickly got down to business and watched a Malayalam movie together. This had become something of a routine in her last visit, to watch a movie with me every single day! It was possible then, thanks to my maternity leave and we wanted to make the most of the remaining days of leave I have.

So yes, today was awesome with some awesome food, an awesome film with her awesome company!