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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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Finally done with the blanket for the girl. Though not quite done, mum insists that we must put a thin layer of cotton on the underside as wool is 'prickly'. I'm not convinced because this blanket is already heavy, so let's see which way we go. What do you guys think? Also, I'd like to eventually embroider Rumi's name on one of the stripes but that's going to be another learning curve. I intended to use only six colors but the project only increased in scope and breadth until the final blanket came to be with 12 pretty stripes. Had many misadventures along the way with yarn running out (I probably won't be making hasty online purchases again!) and stitch dropping but all the imperfections have just added to its handmade-ness. I just loved every minute of knitting so if you have a child you would like it for or even for yourself, message me I would love to make another simply for the sheer joy of knitting. #knittersofinstagram #iheartknitting #iloveknitting #clicketyclick #handmadeisbest #handmadeblanket #woolprojects #yarnprojects #colormehappy #colorjoy #raisingrumi #mommyblogger #relaxinghobbies #madewithlove

We rarely go to book exhibitions because we actually do not have the physical space to store any more books and there is always pile of unread books at home. (Tsundoku!) But we found ourselves at this lovely lock the box event on Sunday and I went a little cray-cray. Instead of filling my box with unread books, I ended up hunting for the oldest, funkiest versions of beloved books. With Enid Blyton, I seem to have a magical radar, I pulled them out of literally any nook and cranny! I swear those Blytons call me! Is there any way I can convert Enid Blyton fanaticism into a respectable profession? They have some crazy magic goosebump effect on me even today. Just look at their lovely covers, from the depiction of the circus, to the somewhat scary Siamese cat (a word learnt only from her. Apart from those, I found some very lovely old versions of Heidi, Ballet shoes (who can ever forget Meg Ryan's dejected recommendation to a buyer in You've got Mail?) and a superb first edition of Winnie the Pooh. I searched brick by brick for Little Women and Jane Austens but no such luck, showing up on the last evening as we did! Got a funky green Good Wives though. For the child we have a vintage alphabet book with the coolest paintings, a lovely book of poetry, a Bilbo Baggins find that made the husband swoon and a baking book. So many of these finds are books that I would never think to order or buy. But I think books have a way of calling their owners. I love discovering that my Heidi once belonged in the library of a Alison McKay or that my Enid Blyton has a cover that the Queen of Storytelling would herself have held when she got published!! Ooh goosebumps again! Books are love, books are magic, books are just the best thing to have happened to mankind ever! I'm in raptures inhaling that old book bitter-almond and vanilla smell at home today! #booksbooksbooks #bookstagram #booksofinstagram #secondhandbooks #usedbooks #oldeditions #enidblytons #winniethepooh #heidi #balletshoes #noelstreatfield #littlewomen #goodwives #lordoftherings #bilbobaggins #fortheloveofreading #ilovereading #dropeverythingandread #DEAR #raisingareader #raisingrumi #theseareafewofmyfavoritethings

I get hell for this hair. Right from "Why don't you take her for a haircut?" to "Why do you use hair color for a child?" and "No problem, she can get it straightened when she grows. Problem?? I am in love with this hair; crazy, mad, love where I cannot get enough of running my fingers through it, looking adoringly at it, taking pictures of it! Now let us put aside the question of other people minding their own business and look at all these questions. Why is Rumi's hair length bothersome? Trying hard to really understand it, I have concluded that it is because it is super-fine and not thick. And why is that a problem? Because thick hair is a measure of beauty. Beauty and not health, because Rumi's hair shines like polish in the sunlight, she does not have any health deficiency and has seldom been bothered by sniffles, coughs or the like. So this is clearly not a health issue, it is years and years of conditioning that makes us believe that only thick hair equals good. All of my life I pulled my hair back into am apologetic ponytail, convinced that it was not thick enough to deserve any kind of flaunting. Same goes for straightness. Until recently, curls were something meant to be shyly concealed in a bun, straightened out as soon as you got the oppurtunity. I wanted Rumi to love the way God has made her, right from her mop to the strawberry shaped birthmark on her cheek. The way to here was long but we persisted in our affirmations and convincing her that curly hair is magical and we are now in a stage where she flaunts her hair proudly and holds her head high. This is in part thanks to a group I discovered called @indiancurlpride where I learned special care for her hair. Now we indulge in a lovely bath routine and just the other day a friend of Rumi's watched and said "I want curls too!" That was such a proud moment for me and a proof of the power of words yet again. How often we are tagged 'chubby', 'chashmish' 'kaali', 'nakti' as kids! How callous and careless adults all around can be! Self-love is so much harder than to believe what others say about you but I like to believe that we are raising a child who will remember to love her authentic self.

Every evening should be like this. Memory tiles, bright quilts, books and hygge. I think the biggest gift you can give your children is to genuinely enjoy spending time with them and to not just have kids because it is the next milestone and then rush them through the motions but actually have fun doing it. Naturally this is easy to say when you have the entire family to help and I always say that I enjoy my kid more when I am able get some time off her, but I really believe that there is no other reason to become a parent other than the joy of raising another human. As for the time Rumi spends with her Baba, I don't think we need to be excessively grateful for fathers doing things with kids even as we laugh that they don't know where the diapers are. A child is the responsibility of both parents (whenever both are available and accessible). As a SAHM I know more about the minutae that comprise Rumi's day but I fully expect my husband to feed her, bathe her, dress her and do everything else without an instruction manual from me telling him how things should be. I know he works damn hard all day long at work and I work semi-hard all day long at home too. We agreed upon these roles and enjoy them too. But parenting Rumi is shared 100% of the time. I like that this generation of fathers is so different from my Abbu who needed to check my class and division with Mum before a PTA. But even in these modern times, it was surprising and disconcerting to a few other Mums when Abhi should up at cooking day at school without me. If we both had turned up together, it would have been sweet. But him alone, cooking with the other women? 'Henpecked, girly, a bit over' is that what must have gone through their minds? We all love those adorable pics on social media where dads hold babies in gorgeous carriers looking so chill in their shorts. But do we really expect daddies to put in equal work with the bubs? I'm talking specifically of kid related chores and not household chores in general (which without a doubt must be shared!) What do you guys think? #foodforthought #hygge #togethertimes #happinessis #sunshinehouse #istheloadreallyshared #raisingrumi #mommyblogger

One of the hardest parts of being a SAHM is finding relatively healthy, tasty and easy to prep meals to answer that frustrating everyday question: 'What's for dinner?' The husband pitches in fairly often but his cooking involves a messy kitchen, lots of pots and pans and wine so it is best suited to long weekends. There are some tricks I've mastered such as getting the girl who makes the rotis to help with preps such as peeling garlic pods and making purees and to make weekly meal plans so that the fridge is well-stocked. On the blog is the recipe we made last night, chicken with two vegetable sides. The next day, i chopped up the leftover chicken and made a salad (a dollop of mayonnaise and lots of yoghurt) because I don't really believe in the mum always eating leftovers thing but we tend to waste quite a bit of food! If you have any easy, healthy, dinner recipes please share them with me. The link to the blog post is in the bio. #healthydinners #dinnerecipes #easymeals #quickcooking #sloweating #raisingrumi #mommyblogger

Facebook unearthed this video for me, from 2 years back and it was such a delight to hear Rumi's voice and expression and speech from before she turned three. I had all but forgotten her little stories that would entertain and thrill all of us. Every minute spent with a child is so precious because they grow and change before you can even blink! #raisingrumi #rumiisjoy #storytellingvideo #mommyblogger

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