Prarambh of the New Era!

 The beginning of a 'New Era' in the Indian space exploration, for sure.

It's a phenomenal achievemet and the best of the inter-organization team work demonstrated by Skyroot Aerospace , ISRO - Indian Space Research Organization and IN-SPACe. Hearty congratulations to the team.

History holds successful anecdotes of privatization. Hope the privatization of space technology in India adds to that list! Long way to go and a lot to look upto.

Toys selection - ParenthoodDiaries #42

We rarely took kids along, while going for shopping. We never purchased a toy in their presence. We would always bring toys and give them separately.

May be due to this, even when they saw toys in road side shops sometimes, they used to name them like say it's an elephant, it's a knife, it's a ball etc, but never asked us to buy the toys.

Recently they were stopped deliberately by a shop keeper, and they paid close attention to the toys that were on display. It was the first time that they picked up what they wanted. Look in the picture what they picked individually. While one picked a soft toy, another picked Adiyogi statue.

I wonder how uniquely and distinctly kids develop their thoughts and interests, in spite of growing together and getting exposed to similar experiences.

How difficult it is to write convincing stories!!

 This post is not to criticise, but just to share thoughts, with all respect to the great story writers.

I often wonder about the weak-links in the stories of recent successful films, since the same weak-link runs the entire storyline!

#Baahubali - Shivagami never treated Baahubali and Bhallaladeva separately. How come she mentioned just 'son' and not Bhallaladeva's name in the marriage proposal, which caused the whole sequence of events!

#RRR - Bheema was said to be the protector of his people. When such an important British delegation visited his village he was not around. If he was around, the abduction of Malli wouldn't have happened and the rest of the story too!

#Seetharamam - Leftenant Ram wrote Noorjaha palace's address on his last letter to Sita and not the address of their home in Kashmir where they last lived together, which was the reason for the rest of the story.

Of course, there might be valid reasons for writing the above sequences. As a film lover, I just wish there was further convincing story-line in place of the above!

Not to offend, just out of love for cinema.

Application of learning - ParenthoodDiaries #41

 Here are some of those little perspectives that kids made me realize:

- Waterfall is like a "Standing line"

- Rainbow is a "Downward open curve"

- Train taking right curvey turn is a "Right open curve"

- The number 5 is made of "Sleeping line, Standing line and Left open curve"

- Traffic avoidance stand kept in our parking area, is a "Zig zag line"

Courtesy: CBSE syllabus!

Happy to see them applying what they are learning.

Adventure sports - ParenthoodDiaries #40

One more reason why I think adventure sports suit them the most! Now it's time to pass on my everyday adventure-routine to them, may be! Or rather, it's time to try our hands at more adventure as a family together!

Leaving kids to explore themselves of what they do make them realize the boundaries that they can cross. We must handle their enthusiasm with care, not hold it.

Water that's available for play - ParenthoodDiaries #39

No matter how much water the lake may have! Only the water that's available for our use, rather play, is the reason for our oceanfull of happiness!!! 

Handwriting - ParenthoodDiaries #38

 Are you wondering if their handwriting also looks alike?

Not to forget that it was the same person who sat with them and at times did hold their hand while writing.

And that person totally related to a dialogue from a video by a fellow mother - "My daughter, for writing one page of home work, one bottle blood of mine gone"!!!

And no measure of both fun and frustration that's experienced.

Monsoon & Rainbow!

Rainbows are a regular site during this monsoon! Watching and clicking a rainbow in its full view has been a longtime wish of mine, which got fulfilled recently.

Kids writing on walls - ParenthoodDiaries #37

So, their writing, rather drawing has reached all across the house except bathroom, where they write with water!! And the highlight is the center photo of the below collage, which is the roof of the room. They have reached greater heights already!!!

Now it's my and my maid's time to reach all those heights, obviously to clean so that they can write again.

From the book "TATA Stories" !

 From the book "TATA Stories" by Mr. Harish Bhat.

"What use we put our possessions to is the real value that they serve"

No to cartoons - ParenthoodDiaries #36

My kids got '0' points for the below question - Whats your favorite cartoon character? Never before a zero made me happy!

Hoping to continue not to expose them to cartoons, not sure how long!! 

Unity in diversity in Indian Film Industry

We celebrate "Unity in diversity", which is the face & strength of Indian culture. Many technicians and artists have come up with fabulous films that have demonstrated the culture, capabilities, skills and the ambitious intentions.

As an audience, the following things never bother me: language of the film, native region of the film, caste of the artists, personal views or life of the artists, watching it in theater or OTT, religion of the artists vs the religious characters they play on the screen. Never these things bother me.

Lately, what's been bothering me is the streak of debates the artists themselves have been having on social media, triggering the audience to add fuel to the fire with their unapologetic way of commenting, rather trolling what they call as!

Hope the day is sooner than anticipated when we stand up together, displaying unity in diversity more in practice, through the one Indian Film Industry.

India's 50th to 75th Independence day!

On India's 50th independence day, back in 1997, I received the below shown 'India badge'. I remember having a chat with my uncle Chandrababu Ravi Jagadish , to preserve it to show on 75th Independence day. So, here I'm proudly displaying it today.

I clearly remember the celebration we had in our school on 15th August 1997. I was 11 years old and was studying 8th class. We had participated in a rally across our town in the morning, and I was one among few students who lead it by announcing slogans over the mike set fixed on a wooden rickshaw. Later in the day at school, gave speech about Independence day.

I received appreciative feedback for the slogans during the rally and for my speech as well. That was the first time I did hold
a mike and spoke. Because of that day's positive experience, till date I feel confident to speak when I have a mike in hand.

Today we have attended the 75th independence day celebration in our kids' school. It refreshed the memories from my school days. Hope my kids too will make lot of stories and moments to tell and rejoice.

The millisecond difference!

The milli-second moment in the final of women's 4×400 m relay at the CWG-2022.

Be it in any sport or life:

It's not done until it's done.

It's not over until it's over.

Keeping at it makes all the difference.

Rainbow - ParenhoodDiaries #35

They have started questioning. They saw Rainbow yesterday and asked, "Amma, who kept the rainbow there?". I threw the same question at them in return and escaped for then!!

I've realized that explaining science to 4 year old souls needs our fundamentals to be really strong, so that we can explain complicated topics in simple terms.

It's funny but true - ParenthoodDiaries #34

It's funny but true that I check my weight with empty stomach and kids weight with full stomach. The womanly and motherly satisfactions have to go hand in hand!!!

Things that have started making my day - ParenthoodDiaries #33

Things that have started making my day are the scenes of the same alphabets, numbers, images, that I have been knowing for years, are being written or drawn by our boys. Amazing feeling it is.

From the book - 'The Power Of Habit'

"Champion teams don't do extraordinary things. They do ordinary things, but they do them without thinking, too fast for the other team to react. They follow the HABITS they have learnt"

Our garden's monsoon makeover!

 

Ridiculous comment about RRR movie that I have heard!

Gone are the days when the friendship between a man and woman used to be misunderstood. Here are the days when the friendship between two men is being misunderstood.

The most senseless comment about a movie I have ever heard is that #RRR is a gay love story !!!

Crazy critics! Now I know what it's like 'mind-blowing', really blown away!

Movies: Virata Parvam and Rocketry

 I have watched "Virata Parvam" and "Rocketry" movies, which are inspired from real life incidents. I'd want to share two of the ironical realizations I have.

1. Life is unfair, fair, unfair, fair and so on. Where we find ourselves in the fair-unfair cycle is ironically uncertain and depends on the circumstances, people and what we choose to do.

2. We believe certain things and we refuse to believe some. Tens of years of our life revolves in this belief-whirlwind. Ironically, our lives are made of what we believe as well as what we refuse to.

You may be able to relate when you watch these movies. I do not intend to elaborate much.

Thanks to the makers and actors who played the protagonists roles in these movies, for bravely and boldly putting up the two stories to the nation, to its people. Applauds and applauds.

The ability of kids to be adaptable - ParenthorDiaries #32

"Past is past", "Live in the moment", "Moving on" etc. I think kids are the best among human species to practice these in their truest sense, hence are the happiest ones. Their adaptability is admirable.

You might have your own and unique experiences with kids, I'm sharing few of my own.

They had been drinking milk in bottles for years. I used to get worried how much time it might take to get them rid off that habit. Recently, one day I decided to give them milk in glasses instead. They drank without any complaint. I threw away the bottles the next day. Every since, that have been drinking in glasses.

My parents were here in Pune for summer vacation. Kids spent most of the time with them, played with them alot. They wouldn't stay a moment without asking for their grand mother especially. The younger one used to say he would go to our native with his grand parents. They were sleeping when my parents left. It's been 4 days since my parents left. Kids asked about them only once, literally, that too very briefly. It's exactly the opposite of what I thought the situation would be.

Having spent lot of time together with me during the Pandemic, I thought it would be difficult for them to stay away from me. My maid tells me that when I go to office, kids ask once or twice about me, that too occasionally, and they play peacefully the rest of the time. That sounds like a soothing music to my ears which makes me happy (and pinches me too sometimes!). I'm sure that's how it sounds for every working mother.

I'm inspired by their adaptability. How quickly they get adjusted and move on with life, with the current moment. For them, past is past. As we grow, we keep remembering things, more so the ones that hurt us from the past. If only we learn to move on, we learn to let past be the past and not intervene in our present, we will be more productive, more adaptable, and we will be the happier species too.

I have started practicing it.

Percentage of devotion towards work!

From a book by Dale Carnegie Institute: 

"The average person puts only 25 percent of his energy and ability into work. The world takes off its hat to those who put in more than 50 percent, and stands on its head for those who devote 100 percent".

In my career I have come across seeing colleagues who belong to each of the categories. I have been one myself who had to play it differently under different circumstances, under different leaders, and for different projects. I believe we all come across similar experiences in our work-life. 

Fact is fact, the circumstances that are impacting our thought process, physical or mental well boing are known to us only. What happens between us and the leaders under whom we work is known to us and not to anyone else. How some projects motivate us and how some don't is known to us. All these cannot be known to the ones who are judging us or assessing us, constantly. Especially when we have been great performers at the beginning of our careers, any impact either the circumstances, leaders or different projects may have on us is the weak-link that mostly leads to questioning our integrity towards work. It's all different for different individuals, hence do not want to generalize further. And it's nothing wrong with the people who judge or assess us based on our performance. After all, what's seen is what's appreciated, although what's done is not always what's seen! 

I doubt if discussing things openly will help. It might further worsen the situation. We must let the time pass and comeback to our fullest performance all by ourselves. Everything is within us. The external factors like the ones said above can impact only temporarily. Its all up to us as to how we wish and work towards developing and growing ourselves.

The Joy & Pain - Take Home #677

The pain of understanding certain things is deeper than not understanding them. The joy of not understanding certain things is greater than understanding them. And the vice versa is true too. It's our choice, to go for pain or joy. We might not have that choice too in some circumstances! All that we can do is to train ourselves to face the joy and pain with grace and perseverance.

What the COVID-19 Pandemic has taught me the most?

The things the we do not do otherwise, either because we do not want to do or we think we cannot do, we make them happen either when we 'need' them or when we 'have to' do them.

First rains of this monsoon season, at Pune!

 

Louder bikes - ParenthoodDiaries #31

I never liked the louder bikes. Now I have started disliking them, especially when they pass by while kids are asleep at night. Use of sound for no good!

Our home garden!

On this year's world environment day, i.e. yesterday 5th June, we added few more plants to our home garden. And that brings it to a total of 55 types of them. Happy to share the glimpses of our indoor and outdoor plantations.

This is the hobby I developed during Pandemic. Two close-mates have inspired me through this. One is my mom Ravi Nageswari and another is my dear friend Sudha Kondepati.

Items dismantled by kids - ParenthoodDiaries #30

These were all in their rightful places in our house before Pandemic, and now I have them stored under the category - "items removed by kids from either home, dresses, or toys".

The learning kids have is invaluable; and incomparable to the price of the original items.

Learning pattern of kids - ParenthoodDiaries #29

 Our kids' "My first learning library", the way it is now vs how it looked when purchased!

And that's how kids learn.

New Addition to my book rack!

 

KGF Chapter 1 & 2 - Not just a movie review!

 

I dedicate this post to my friend 'Subbarao Popuri'. I wish he was around!

I remember watching KGF Chapter-1 in Prime Video at the mid of night, holding mobile in one hand and moving the baby-cradles with the other. More than that of the protagonist's, I got connected with his mother's characterization. I completely resonate with the thought process of raising kids to become human beings with a 'strong conviction' towards what they want to, or have to, do.

Being a fictional story and using the cinematic liberty, they had shown what they had shown in the movie. That mother's wish was about 'gold & living rich'. The wish could be of anybody or anything. The conviction with which one must fulfill it, was profoundly depicted in KGF Chapter-1.

Along with the continued display of conviction, there is one more thing that I'm admiring about KGF Chapter-2. The 'Screen Presence' of Yash. Breathtakingly beautiful.

Credit to the brilliant script-work by Prashant Neel in making the film commercially successful, inspite of NOT having item number, dance numbers, separate comedy track, sexually intimate scenes or even skin-show. Dialogues of the protagonist, no matter how weird they may sound at times, have come out well, probably because they are overshadowed by his body language. Background score, art work, cinematography, costumes especially that of Yash, everything happened so well together. Some call it destiny; I call it the strong conviction with which the KGF series is made! Inspiring.

I watched the movie a month ago. Waited this long to write the review, just so that I would not spell the words out of the Mental Euphoria the movie took me to, to an extent that I did not watch any video content for the following two weeks! I'm happy that I have waited and could give a genuine dedication to my friend.

Signing off from Tata Motors!

While crossing the Tata Motors main gate for the first time as an ex-employee, I told myself that I will be responsible to make the journey ahead absolutely worthy of leaving this wonderful organization.

29th April 2022 marks my last working day at Tata Motors, the place that has been my second home for close to 14 years.

Every time I will see a Tata car on road, I'm going to rejoice not just the components I worked for but also, and more so, the people with whom I had spent memorable moments.

I thank everyone whom I was blessed to have both on personal and professional fronts, during my tenure at Tata Motors. My bosses, senior colleagues, peers, ex-colleagues, immediate team members, creche staff, parents, immediate family members, friends, husband, kids, and maids - everyone have their share of contribution in whatever I have done and become.

I look forward to accomplish & contribute further more in the journey ahead.

Start of their writing - ParenthoodDiaries #28

 Start of their writing and end of our white walls. It's true that there is ending in every beginning.

Congratulations Team RRR!

 Joining 'Amul' in congratulating the Team RRR for the thunderous show.

Birthday and thoughts of death!

 Never on my birthday I had thought about 'death' as much as I did yesterday.

While we celebrate our birthday, someone might be mourning their loved one's death on the same day. This is a raw fact of life, but never it occurred to me until this year's birthday, until I mourned one myself.

Few months ago, I got to know about a friend's death due to post-covid health issue. We shared same birth date. We shared common interest in 'cinema'. We used to discuss about movie reviews. We were relatives, though never met in person. The web series he suggested me last to watch was 'Maharani', to watch which I'm yet to come to terms. I feel, this web series is the only remaining emotion between us.

People come and go. With him, a portion of my desire to write movie reviews has gone too. Hope it's for a temporary period, just like life.

Emotions of kids - ParenthoodDiaries #27

I'm a fan of my kids' raw emotions. Smiles that make my day escape in a flash, fights that make my day last longer than the sun-moon cycles, stubbornness that often seems beyond their age, anger that makes the moments tough for me, oneness that they both display while playing together, ego that I often wonder if these little kids too have it in abundance, and all the other emotions that I do not know how to write about.

Sometimes I feel as if they are growing faster than time and some other tough times I become desperate thinking when they will grow up!

My parenthood journey is a mix of emotions and beautiful moments that I keep bagging and bragging about!