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Tag: Pune pinkathon 2016

Women who run with Milind

Things have been unusually quiet on the blogging front because I have gotten very busy with other exciting work assignments. I have been meaning to write about my experience at the Pune Pinkathon (which has really served as a kind of life-changer for me; I have been running regularly since that day) for two weeks…

Why it takes a Milind Soman to make me think about fitness

A regular Thursday evening. Rumi is visiting her grandparents so the house is unusually quiet. I am in my usual Salwar-T-shirt avatar watching something on Romedy Now. I am casually checking my WhatsApp and my eyes fall on some messages exchanged with Isha. Isha is one of the coolest, most inspirational youngsters I know. This…

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Two men look outside the prison bars; one sees mud, the other stars. This quote has stayed with me since I turned 14 and read Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul. So many times what we experience in life, especially in hard times is a matter of perspective. Just this morning I was talking to my husband and saying that Rumi is so used to the attention of adults all around her that she has not learned to play alone. The more I thought about this, the truer it seemed. But right now I observed that she has been playing at her desk, pretending to type away at her laptop for over half an hour now! And she has been doing this for the 2 days that we've been at mums. When we arrived, I explained to her that I was very tired and needed a break so i would be reading and journaling and knitting quietly at nanu's. And she has been truly supportive and curling up next to me when I read and doing lots of things on her own too. Just watching her play quietly made me realise how much i tend to snowball and exaggerate when I carelessly use words like 'never' and 'always' while talking of people or situations. A slight shift in the way you look at things sometimes makes all the difference in the world. #raisingrumi #summervacations #mommyblogger #indianparentingblogs

Physically sickness, emotional fraying, mental fatigue. My husband sat me down and told me to forget about everything else and only think of self-care. And so I climbed on a chair and entered my cozy shelf of Enid Blytons. I counted them lovingly (117!) and pulled out a pile to read. This Secret Seven book is the first one I owned and though the Secret Seven are not a series I go back to as often as my find-outers or Famous Five, the cover drew me in today. I'm sure everyone believes it of the editions they own but these cover illustrations are one of my absolute favorites. And what can I say about Enid Blyton? Just spotting her signature in a row of books sends a powerful shot of wellbeing through my body. It is not just about the content, a very black-and-white good vs bad where virtuous kids are rewarded, a world filled with good weather and gorgeous food. Enid Blyton is a place for me. Like Narnia, like coming out of a rabbit hole into a magical land, I opened my first Enid Blyton and I was transformed. I wanted to be Darrell Rivers and Georgina Kirrin. And so i strived harder in real life to 'play fair' and 'not be a coward'. I can't fully articulate what her books did for me growing up but even today, these books are the best therapy I know. #enidblytons #enidblytonsummers #thequeenofstorytelling #selfcare #theseareafewofmyfavoritethings #happinessis

Just one of those super hard days when all I want is to get into mum's lap and sleep it away like a baby. Except that my poor sick child wants to do the same so ilI just have to dig deep into my reserves of strength and patience and troop on. I've been so sick the last couple of days; is there anything more annoying than a cold in this sweltering heat? The poor cuddly girl took it from me and now has a high fever too. And to combine it with a no-maids week and you have a fine mix of dirty house, crying child and a million chores and this is absolutely the lowest I've been for a very long time now. I woke up so heartsick, wanting to run away, wanting sleep, wanting the wheezy sound in Rumi's chest to stop and wanting a hot meal in bed and I would have sat down and howled in self-pity if Rumi didn't require all my care right now. So I got up and sponged and cooked and plumped some cushions. A Disney movie, an Enid Blyton and a few breaths later, I found that I could handle it. So i guess the lesson for today is this: too often I wait to feel like it and then do something (feel like cleaning, feel like taking a shower etc.) But sometimes the doing of the necessary stuff helps you feel better too. Today I had to fight with all my might to make breakfast and get on my feet and all the chores made my heartsickness reduce a bit. There are days when even that might seem impossible; need to fully accept those too. For now, this will pass, this shall pass, this too shall pass. #harddays #thistooshallpass #raisingrumi #slowparenting

What makes one a mother? As privileged and honoured and delighted as I feel that I have been given the opportunity to raise Rumi, today I find myself dwelling upon the many different ways we mother. I have friends who have nurtured me and mothered me through angst and heartbreak, picked me up with love, fed me by hand and championed me. I know people who nurture their careers, their passions, their creative fire with the same care you would give a newborn. I know my husband who takes care of me and cherishes me every single day, making me feel prized with tenderness and warmth. I know people who crusade tirelessly for making our planet, Mother Earth a better place to be. I know women who make fantastic aunties and grannies and playmates, giving my baby a network of inspiration and love to fall back on. I know men and women who make the universe sparkle a little more just through the way they love themselves and shine on with their most authentic light. There are a million ways to mother and birthing a child is only one of them. Happy Mother's day, may we always keep our well of nurture and giving replenished! #happymothersday #mothersday2019 #mothersofinstagram #beingamother

Took the little miss to a pottery workshop for kids today. It was a last minute kind of thing as I wasn't able to make up my mind whether the commute, early waking etc. would be worth it and Rumi does not enjoy mud play too much anyway, being the super-finnicky tidy girl she is. So was it? Well @earthly_dreams is so good at not just the pottery bit but at working with others too! She drew Rumi in, encouraging her to try on her own, making cute animals such as turtles and snails. And @pallodfarms is such a gorgeous place with its bountiful plants and shady nooks and well-designed aesthetically pleasing spaces. Just what kids are really missing these days - green spaces to run wild and free! Rumi had an OK time; the snacks, rocks, people and plants constantly distracted her from the actual pottery but that's fine because the most important part for me was to take her out of her comfort zone and encourage her to try something totally new. I feel that irrespective of the outcome, the most important thing right now is to take her to different places and let her try her hand at as many different experiences that we can provide. #funthingstodowithtots #potteryworkshopforkids #pallodfarms #toddleractivities #summervacations #summerishere #raisingrumi #mommyblogger #indianparentingblogs

'Ye tumhari meri baatein, humeshaa yuhin chalti rahe' I know I say it often enough about kids growing up in the blink of an eye but this summer I am seeing a totally different little Rumi. She has developed a style of talking, of nodding her head and saying 'accha' very sagely and although she has always been a chatterbox, we are now having these amazing conversations about movies, food and even religion! Sure the house is always in a BIG mess and sure there are times when I want to scream my head off and not want to fill another bottle of water or provide the next yummy snack but in spite of all these hassles, this vacation is turning out to be such a gift! From midnight feasts where we woke up at 3 and dressed up in party clothes and shocked my husband to watching junk movies like Ladies vs. Ricky Bahl till 2 in the morning to allowing Rumi to rollerskate at home, I am slowly realising that it is ok to bend the rules, to not have structure, to get out of bed and plop in front of the TV all day long in your jammies. Structure and routine and early bed times and wholesome meals are extremely important for little children. Just as it is absolutely OK to wear your best dress at home and dance, and have an ice-cream float for dinner and stay up till 2 a.m just to make a happy vacation memory with your family. I can be so harsh on myself and consequently on Rumi for trivial things such as bath-times so I am grateful to Rumi for teaching me to let go a little bit and to savor all this crazy chaotic time that we spend together. #summerholidays #summervacations #letitgo #slowparenting #savouringeveryminute #happyholidays #togethertimes #raisingrumi #rumiisjoy #mommyblogger #indianparentingblogs

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