Army activity - ParenthoodDiaries #51

 Below shown is the INDIAN ARMY activity done by Bharat & Bhuvan today evening at home!!

It's absolutely true that engaging them on an activity is much simpler than making them do the HOMEWORK. Kids absolutely are choosy, and they are right almost every time in their choices about what they want to do. Such raw minds and raw thoughts!! It's so beautiful to know about them day after day.

Helping with homework - ParenthoodDiaries #50

 I think they have already started helping each other in finishing homework! The below looks as if one of them has written in both the books. They did it on their own by the time I returned from work, so can't make out exactly!!!

Don't miss observing the "Uses of legs"!!!

Driving can be a blissful expereince!

 I have lately realized that driving can be a blissful experience, if we can "smile at small things", l- The music of horns that perfectly echo with the traffic signal turning GREEN, as if the V2X tech is already in place!

- Children at traffic signal, who spray soap water onto the windshield to clean, upon refusing to give money spray more water, and make a gesture saying "clean it yourself"!

- Drivers who use their hands to make "what madam!" sort of gestures, upon nearly missing a collision that was to happen due to their decision to display skills!

and lastly,

- Commuters sitting on the back seat of the bikes or pedestrians crossing the road anywhere else than zebra crossings, play the role of traffic police to enact a STOP signal with superior confidence!!!

Smile at small things and driving can be a blissful experience!

School reopen - ParenthoodDiaries #49

First day of school today after the summer break! Bharat and Bhuvan are into Sr.kg now. They very much enjoyed the summer vacation with their grand-mom being in Pune.

Kids are back to school. My mom is going back to our village today. And I'm back to my everyday adventurous routine.

The school-made traffic sign recognition!

 The "school-made" traffic sign recognition system! One more reason to be religiously following the traffic rules, as violation might result into much more damage than mere fines.

Such a pleasure observing this palm leaf growing!!!

 

Kids expression about going to school - #ParenthoodDiaries 48

Kids didn't know much language in JrKG, so they used to say "No school!", on the days that they didn't want go to school.

Now in SrKG, they have started saying, "Mujhe school nahi jaana hai, kithne baar jaana hai school (I don't want to go to school, how many times I have to go)"!!

Interesting times ahead!!

After the blackhole theory...!

 After the blackhole theory, the hardest to explain is...

... why a demo did not work, just at the time of demonstration!

Digital payments in India!

 Here are the amazing statistics about the growth of digital transactions in India, in the last five years. 

Some of us don't even recall how many months it's been, since we visited ATMs for money withdrawal. The era of digitalization has just begun.

 So, another spectacular 'R' has got added to the RRR - This time, The OSCAR!

Great exhibition of talent and perseverance.

Hearty congratulations to all the artists, technicians and audience associated with this song.

Didn't you know 'Naatu'? 😏

A little sweet gesture on this women's day!

 A little sweet gesture from our colleagues, which will stay long in the memory lane!

Due to the munching taste of the chocolate, didn't care enough at that moment, to know who arranged this for all the women at our Verolt, Pune office. Heartfelt thanks to everyone behind this. Means a lot.

Varaha Roopam moment - #ParenthoodDiaries 47

Today my kids saw people playing Holi in our apartments. After coming home, one of the kids said- "Amma, we saw people looking like Varaha Roopam!".

They recently had the annual day function in their school, in which Varaha Roopam song from Kantara movie was a part. They came home and said - "Amma, today Varaha Roopam came to our school and said whooaaaaaa"!

Book: Shivaji - The Great Maratha

I have been in a state of euphoria ever since I completed reading this book about Shivaji Maharaj. I'm yet to pick the next one to read!!!

Having been staying in Maharashtra for the last 14 years, and having visited almost all forts that Shivaji once either conquered or constructed, I got naturally connected to the anecdotes of bravery mentioned in the book.

I always was mesmerized about the legacy he left behind in terms of the cultural values here in Maharashtra. After reading this book, I have realized how he established it that strong, which is still lived and celebrated here. That's the greatest sign of the level of impact a leader can have, on not just his generation but the following too.

On Shivaji's birth anniversary today, I feel absolutely blessed to have learnt about him more through the book, which is extremely well researched and narrated by Mr. Ranjit Desai. We owe a lot to the writers like him, who bring the historic events to the knowledge of the next generations. 

London Underground!

My understanding of an 'Engineering Marvel' has got changed forever, after experiencing the London Underground train transportation. They call it 'The Tube'.

I'm still in the awe of its amazing construction and usage, which started 160 years ago! 

Learning just happens - #ParenthoodDiaries 46

 All that we need to do is to trigger the curiosity in kids. Learning just happen.

Monsters - #ParenthoodDiaries 45

M for Monster

And

M for 'Mother of Monsters'.

Commute by hook or crook!

We think we commute by vehicles, but we actually commute by hook or crook! However. Whatever. With full focus on the destination. Traffic signals are like sun and moon, they come and go. And we keep going!!!

System engineering: It's the challenge, it's the fun!

Yesterday I took my twin boys in a cab for the first time, and I got to experience the "Mother's Perspective" of the features I had worked for.

1. Even though it's not a right practice to enable child lock in cabs, I had to do it myself. I wished I had a mother's wand to open the doors from inside, in case of any kind of emergency!

2. The red coloured emergency button was the victim of the naughtiness of my boys. The driver was worried that the police would catch him if the button was pressed. As a mother, at that moment I deeply wanted the feature to not work.

As a System Engineer of these features, I never had envisoned these use cases in my consciousness.

This experience made me realize yet again that System Engineering is the extremely critical piece of the product development cycle. It's the challenge. It's the fun.

Cross-industry marketing!

The perfect way of executing the cross-industry marketing!

While Amul India has been doing this since many years, Swiggy seems to be in the race too now! Hats off to their creative marketing minds and thanks for spreading the positivity.

BYOD of the automotive industry!

Such a nice looking, innovative and apt-to-the-need phone docking arrangement this auto rickshaw driver has! The raw application of the famous BYOD of automotive industry (Bring Your Own Device). 

Happy mothers - #ParenthoodDiaries 44

 Today after feeding kids I went to them to see if they had their pillow, blanket etc to sleep. One of them asked me "Thumne khaana khaaya kya" (Have you eaten food?). I said no. He said, "Jao, khaana khaake aao" (Go, eat food and comeback).

By the time I ate and went, they slept together.

Moments like these make happy mothers!

Innocence to sarcasm - #ParenthoodDiaries 43

 We recently took kids to an event organized by their dad's company. That event happened in a function hall, but for kids' easier understanding we said that it was their dad's office. Also, they saw some videos of my office colleagues dancing during a recent event in our company.

These two incidents registered so much in their mind that:

- One day when I told them I would be going to office, one of them asked me "Office dance karne jaa rahe ho kya tum?" (Are you going to office to dance?).

- Today we took them to a near by Ganesh Temple and one of them asked "Ye Ganesha ka office hai kya?" (Is this Ganesh's office?).

The innocence with which they question is my favorite part of it. I hope they will ask lot of questions before the innocence gets converted to sarcasm!!

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.