A Convict's Mother

My poem 'A Convict's Mother' written more than a year ago

I never realized
When the innocent smile
Turned into an evil snicker and guffaw

I never realized
When the twinkling eyes
Became red and bloodthirsty

I never realized
When the toys in his hands
Were replaced with guns

I never realized
When the smell of liquor
Took the place of baby lotion

I never realized
When the sweet innocence
Was replaced with hatred and vice

I never realized
When playful mischief
Turned into acts of crime

I failed as a mother my son
I cannot bear
Even a tiny cut or bruise on you
Can they hang me instead?”

The mother wept.

My Georgie Porgie

Yesterday we had gone to V's kindergarten for a chat with his teacher. A general parent-teacher discussion to share views and work together towards nurturing the child.
She was a very nice , polite and friendly person and she kept reassuring us that she just wanted to know him better.

Being a Dec born my little brat is the youngest in the class of Jan to Dec born 3 to 4 year olds - Still a toddler in many aspects.She had a little pocketnotebook in which she had noted down her observations about him which she kept referring to. What started as a quite a serious discussion became really funny towards the end as she shared her experiences with him.

Its very tough for my kiddo to stay still in a place. My little Einstein is very inquisitive and needs to know the details of everything happening around him. One of the meanings of his name is lightning and true to it , he would suddenly make a dash for things - Just like that- In a flash. He would be sitting still but suddenly he would run from one place to another.

This characteristic had had the teachers on their toes in the first month of school. Keeping the doors closed, taking turns to sit next to him and keeping him seated - They had been trying different methods they knew.What had taken her by surprise was that despite this he was very observant and grasped whatever was being taught. She had found him glancing through the pages of a read-aloud story and reciting it exactly the same way she had done the previous day.

V loves being in the company of children - so much that sometimes he gets over-excited and rushes towards them in an attempt to give them a tight hug, as a display of affection. This often results in a dash or push rather than a hug. The affection display was apparently sometimes during the toilet break when he suddenly hugs the kids from behind when they are busy attending to the call of nature .One of the victims of this hugging act had looked at her and exclaimed 'No more urine teacher.'The shock had been too much for him. :)

The children are taught to say a prayer along with the teacher before their meal .Athat time he would be busy meddling with his bag . Then when everyone is half way into their meal they will hear this tiny voice saying grace on its own 'Thank You God For the food we eat'. This would be my V. 'No one ever asked him to do that. It was so cute you know!' the teacher exclaimed.

The best part came next. This statement would have alarmed me if my son had been much older. But for a toddler it was very funny. 'He sometimes loves to kiss the other children. Yes its nice to have a gentle peck but he goes for this tight hug and a tight kiss'. She was also laughing as she said this. I caught a glance in her pocketbook and the note a couple of days back read 'Kissed Archana'. 'These kids get a little shocked and end up crying and sometimes I have a whole bunch shouting -Teacher, Vidyut kissing' she remarked.

So my son had been a 'Georgie Porgie Pudding and Pie who kissed the girls and made them cry'. The teacher had told him 'You should not kiss like that. If you want to kiss, you can kiss Mrs.Chin now' . Mrs Chin was the Chinese teacher there.

A few days later he had tried hug and kiss another kids and the teacher had looked at him disapprovingly. My little one promptly responded ' Ok...Kiss Mrs Chin? ' - Fine you want me to kiss only her, so where is she?

The teacher told us that she had seen tremendous improvement in him and seeing other children he was slowly beginning to understand the dos and donts in the kindergarten.

End of it we were happy that the teacher was on a similar wavelength with us regarding children and that her judgement of V was in line with ours. An intelligent, inquisitive, very active and above all CUTE kiddo who loved all around him and loved expressing it as well .

Identifying a Stroke! Save Lives!

This I picked from a facebook postof one of my friends.

STROKE: Remember The 1st Three Letters... S.T..R ...

My friend sent this to me and encouraged me to post it and spread the word. I agree. If everyone can remember something this simple, we could save some folks.

STROKE IDENTIFICATION:

During a party, a friend stumbled and took a little fall - she assured everyone that she was fine and just tripped over a brick because of her new shoes. (they offered to call ambulance)

They got her cleaned up and got her a new plate of food - while she appeared a bit shaken up, Ingrid went about enjoying herself the rest of the evening. Ingrid's husband called later telling everyone that his wife had been taken to the hospital - (at 6:00pm , Ingrid passed away.)

She had suffered a stroke at the party . Had they known how to identify the signs of a stroke, perhaps Ingrid would be with us today.

Some don't die. They end up in a helpless, hopeless condition instead. It only takes a minute to read this...

STROKE IDENTIFICATION:

A neurologist says that if he can get to a stroke victim within 3 hours he can totally reverse the effects of a stroke...totally. He said the trick was getting a stroke recognized, diagnosed, and then getting the patient medically cared for within 3 hours, which is tough.

RECOGNIZING A STROKE

Remember the '3' steps, STR . Read and Learn!

Sometimes symptoms of a stroke are difficult to identify. Unfortunately, the lack of awareness spells disaster.

The stroke victim may suffer severe brain damage when people nearby fail to recognize the symptoms of a stroke.

Now doctors say a bystander can recognize a stroke by asking three simple questions :

S * Ask the individual to SMILE ..

T * = TALK. Ask the person to SPEAK A SIMPLE SENTENCE (Coherently) (eg 'It is sunny out today').

R * Ask him or her to RAISE BOTH ARMS .

If he or she has trouble with ANY ONE of these tasks, call the ambulance and describe the symptoms to the dispatcher.

NOTE : Another 'sign' of a stroke is

1. Ask the person to 'stick' out their tongue.

2. If the tongue is 'crooked', if it goes to one side or the other that is also an indication of a stroke.

A prominent cardiologist says if everyone who gets this e-mail sends it to 10 people; you can bet that at least one life will be saved.

Day 2 in phuket

Whoever has heard of Phuket before will get instant images of blue waters and beautiful beaches and magnificent views and islands running in their mind when they hear the name . True ! Phuket does offer these but there is a not so simple effort involved to experience them.
There are a whole lot of islands surrounding Phuket and they have local names . One may not be able to cover everything. For one they may be similar and it costs money and so you would need to make choices . We again took the help from the hotel travel desk.
There are umpteen travel agencies in Phuket offering day tours to the various islands either by speed boats or big boats .
The phi phi island and James bond island tours are the main ones that are promoted . Actually it depends on what sort of activities you are interested in . Based on that one should choose the tour that would suit ones interests.
We chose the phi phi island tour as that seemed to be pretty popular.

A bus picked us up at our hotel and took us to the boat jetty. Since we had a bad experience getting food for our son the previous day we packed some food from the hotel. In our excitement when we reached the boat jetty we forgot to take it from the bus. By the time we realized it the bus had gone back. The persons at the travels kindly showed us a nearby bakery where we got some food.

We were supposed to go by speed boat. To begin with we were the only ones who had a kid with us. Lesson Learnt and Piece Of Advice - Speed Boats Bad Idea for very small kids.

The weather was not too bad when we set out. The sea started to get rough a little later and what started as drizzling developed into a downpour.

Before that my poor toddler who had his stomach churning in wobbly motion of the boat vomited all the food that he had had till then. The boatman was a nice guy trying to make the travellers as comfortable as possible.

Speed boats have a cover but not a sturdy one; more like a tent. So the splashes of rain started entering through the gaps. We were slightly wet at first, then quite wet and finally totally drenched.

It was the worst possible weather. By the time we reached the first destination my stomach also could not take it any longer and I followed suit to my son's regurgitating action.

My poor husband was struck between a sea-sick vomiting child and a seas-sick vomiting me.

Anyways after that we were both pretty ok.

They stopped at a couple of places for swimming and snorkelling. Both me and my husband cant swim and we were just observing as the other travellers plunged into the waters. The water was apparently and surprisingly a little more warmer and they all felt refreshed. We were shielding ourselves from the rain and so definitely it was not so enjoyable. The colors around us were breathtaking but in the rain photography was hopeless.The rocks around and the blue green water were a feast to the eye but with a kind of soggy vision. It would have been a more heavenly experience on a clearer day.

Then our speed boat took us near Viking Caves, one of the popular spots shown to tourists. The caves apparently had some old paintings. Another interesting information was that the bird nests that hung from them were used to make Bird Nest Soups.

Our final stop was at a resort on one of the islands where a great lunch had been organized for us. After getting drenched the best possible thing that can happen is steaming food. After the food my son and I played in the sea water - the first fun element of the day.

Our return journey was more of an adventure-thriller ride. The boat shook terribly and on seeing another boat behind is when we realized how rough the sea was. But this part was fun coz all of us travellers screamed every now and then like we were on a roller coaster together. Finally we landed back on the main island. Our hosts in the speed boat had given us a great service despite the horrible weather and after thanking them we left for the hotel on a bus.

After resting for some time we freshened up and headed for the shopping area near Patong. The area near the Patong Beach is famous for it's night life. Bars and clubs that get busier towards the late hours of the evening. It's also a prime shopping area . We were ravenous by the time we reached .One thing i realized after doing some amount of travelling that you have some indian or the other selling nan roti and parathas in every corner of the globe . We found a good Indian restaurant and had an awesome dinner.After strolling for some time and some souvenir shopping we decided to head back to our resort. We tried taking a tuk-tuk but he charged more than a cab and so we decided to rely on the good old latter.

Landing in Phuket !

Phuket airport is quite small though it's an international one ! They provide on-arrival visas to Indians . Each visa costs 1000 Thai bhat and all you need is a passport size photograph .
As we exited from the airport one guy came to us and said "Sir,Taxi ?" . We nodded yes and he lead us to one of the travels booths and handed us a pamphlet ! "visit to phi phi islands ! Only 2800 tb per person ! We pick u up at the hotel and drop u back. We also provide lunch " he declared . Puzzled my husband queried "we need a taxi now to go to our hotel!"
"u book this for your family sir and it comes with a free ride to your hotel now " he declared with the best salesman-smile he could muster . We did not want to book anything hastily without inquiring first . "No, we want just a taxi to the hotel " ."That would be 1800 tb sir! please come this way" he said and started walking ahead ! We had not had enough time to do any sort of research about Phuket before leaving but I did remember reading on some website that a trip from the airport to the area we were heading to cost around 600 to 800 tb . I quickly conveyed that to my hubby ! He gestured to our salesman to hold on and went in to inquire at the pre-paid taxi booth ! He came back with a prepaid ticket for 750/- . Our friend was about to charge us more than double of that !
We had booked at the 'karon beach resort ' for our stay . Patong is the most developed beaches at Phuket followed by Karon ! Our resort was located on the latter and was recommended by quite a few on travelocity for a family holiday . These beaches are located next to each other and it takes an hour to reach either from the airport !
Considering the prices in other parts of south east Asia for that distance 750 is a very reasonable price .
We reached our resort at around 10 pm and checked in . The moment we entered our room we were convinced that we had made a good choice . The resort almost literally stood on the beach and we had a magnificent view . It was dark but we could see the ocean in the dim lights of the hotel that cast their glow on the shore . There was a nice breeze and we could hear the waves lashing against the shore . There was a beautiful balcony . Perfect for long conversations extending onto the wee hours of the night . Kuttu was also extremely excited .
Room service closed at 10.30 . We were pretty hungry by then . But there are adjoining restaurants and departmental stores that stay open till almost and sometimes beyond midnight. We got some bread and instant noodles that was more than enough to satisfy our tummies .

From an IPhone on the iPhone !!

Whoa ! Just discovered this iPhone app that helps to blog ! This is great !

When my husband offered to get me an iPhone for my birthday I was initially not very interested ! I did not have a very good idea about iPhone apps I must admit . I just thought of it as a fancy phone that was sought after with craze by teenagers and gadget-ohlics !

I also thought that I would not be using 3G or wifi much ! "I am really not fascinated by that" I declared to my husband;"to me it's enough if I can talk & SMS and maybe a good camera would be good " . But somehow my husband thought that it is a good gift for me! The moment we landed in the shop I got pretty excited though ! Who is not by owning something fancy !

I had this manager who kept pulling my legs that I was the only one in the team who did not own a phone that was smart ! He had left my company by the time I got this one . My very first message was to him 'hi ! Now my phone is also as smart as yours :) ' !

After that I slowly started exploring the world of iPhone apps and the features of my iPhone 4 ! 'hey I can do this ! I can do that ' i would brag to my husband !
Now I kind of got an idea why all those individuals on the local trains were so glued to this rectangular thing !
'these people are so addicted! It would affect their finger bones and muscles and also their eyes' I used to comment ! Now I am also a part of that group I was commenting about!
There is something for everyone in there !
'hope u don't get addicted to angry birds ' was the response from my friends ! I am a human being and one of the unwritten rules of mankind is to try out the things u have been warned about ! I immediately decided to explore what angry birds was and luckily have not got addicted to it so far !
I also found a way to keep my toddler seated at a place ! All i had to do was play some of his favorite videos either from you tube or from those that I have stored !
Even now as I type this i am checking the expected arrival of buses and planning my journey !
I have got into the habit of periodically checking the top free apps and installing a few of them to explore ! And I have started observing the Ads about the Apps . I have not installed any paid apps so far though ! The unpaid ones are quite sufficient to keep me occupied .
I am sure that by now we would have some analytical questionnaires out there with the title 'tell me what apps you have and i will tell u your personality ' !
Suddenly this phone seems to have toppled all the earlier top selling mobiles from their positions .
As i sign off on this post I get reminded of the statement from the clown at mc Donalds -- 'I am loving it '

On our way to our vacation!! A tensed Start!!!

Vacation – One of my favorite words and something that I have been nagging my poor hubby about for quite some time. The last one we had was to Penang in Malaysia in the second trimester of my pregnancy. Now my little one is a few months away from his third birthday and a vacation was long overdue. Somehow we could not plan one earlier due to some reason or the other.

This time we had a long weekend and so we decided to go somewhere, any good place where we could get tickets to. We decided upon the Phuket one of South East Asia’s most preferred tourist destinations. This post is not about my trip. Its just about making it to that trip.

Well, our flight was at 6:30 on Fri evening. I had to go to work and my husband was working from home that day. Somehow the days you have to leave on vacation would be the busiest at work. Mine was no exception. To add to it I ended up late at work and also missed an important last-minute meeting as I had not checked my mails or messages. So it was work, work and more work. My husband had warned me to somehow be back at home at 3:30. I had a critical meeting at 3! What was I supposed to do! Somehow I wrapped up the meeting fast, caught the next available cab and rushed home. I checked my wallet and I had some change which would not be enough for a bus ride back home leave alone a cab one! I called up my husband and asked him to wait for me in the lobby with some cash.

After all this when we entered home together it was almost 3:45. That is when my husband’s colleagues decided on a conference call at 4 and called him up. He did not attend it ofcourse but the explanations ate up some of our time.

In our hurry we forgot to dial a cab and went down to the street , the way we always did if our destination was somewhere local. Most cabs that went by had ‘HIRED’ in red displayed on top. At last , one came with a green ‘TAXI’ sign. That sped past without stopping. We realized that was an old couple on a drive, using a taxi for personal use and had forgotten to switch off the sign. We waited for some more time.

Then another cab came in the opposite direction. It also sped past without stopping. “Damn!! It’s that same old couple! Guess they are trying to figure out their way” my husband exclaimed with exasperation.

Finally one cab guy stopped. When I peered in to tell him Airport I noticed he had a squint in his eye and his expression reminded me of the aliens from ‘Men in Black’. That did not matter then anyways. We waited for him to open the trunk. A whole minute sped by and no reaction! I went back in front to check and our man was slowly counting some change. Twenty, Forty!!! Finally got him to open the trunk, put our luggage in and started on our way to the airport.

I guess this person had a fear of speed whatever phobia that’s called. The road ahead was pretty empty and other cars were way ahead but he drove as slow as he could. After some time ‘Heavy Traffic ahead’ board came looming into our vision and then he could not go faster even if he wanted to.

The road to the airport is a highway and has boards displaying the distance to the airport. At 5:15 we were at 23 and a ½. I decided not to get obsessed with those boards and instructed myself to check again at 5: 20. I listened to myself but at5:20 the board said 22 & a ½ which was not of much solace to me. Soon the traffic cleared and we came to the taxi drop off point at around 5:35.

That’s when my toddler regurgitated his entire afternoon meal in a projectile angle. I was beginning to notice that he was getting a little restless but did not expect this. There was absolutely no sympathy from the cab guy. ‘Oh No! My Car!! That will ruin my business’ was his reaction. Anyways with all the wet tissue that I had , I cleaned it up to the best extent possible and repeated my apology n times . I signaled to my husband that we should pay him something to make up for the mess we had caused. When my husband handed over a 50$ bill he accepted it, did not give us any word of thanks or any other feeling and got back and sped away. Basically he helped himself to the extra money to make up for the mess by not giving us our change back.

We came to the check in counter at around 5:50 and there was a pretty long queue. There were people going back to some cities in India and their flights were much later at 8 or so.

My husband left me and my son in the queue and went to one of the impeccably dressed airline personnel trying to explain to her that our flight was in half an hour and try to push us ahead in the queue.

That is when the lady smiled and uttered one of the best things we had heard the whole day, a statement which would have normally evoked a long groan from us. ‘Sir! Your flight has been delayed to 7:40. You should not have any problem’. We both heaved a huge sigh of relief and proceeded to await our turn to check in. The vomit had cleared all the indigestion in my little one’s tummy and he was now happily playing with the tapes they use to channel the passenger queues.