BREATHE!!

After a long hiatus of two years I wake up today morning with an insane urge to get back to blogging and thinking aloud. There are so many things happening around my life at present; I feel the need to get back into taking out some time for myself and doing things which have always given me much joy.

We have just shifted to a new city with new environs and it has been busy month settling into the new house and making it a home for the family.

So for the umpteenth time I set up my home and sigh in relief as the last nail is driven through the wall to hang my trusted companion-THE CLOCK in the living room. Every now and then as I flit across the rooms doing my daily chores I glance at that clock and it has this subtle way of asking me- time is passing, what are you doing with yours?

I have lunch boxes to be packed, clothes to be washed and hung out to dry, the garden needs to be watered, lunch has to be cooked and many more little chores which fill up my entire morning and noon. So I tirelessly go about doing the same. Time moves on and soon it is evening and once again I busy myself with dinner preparations, taking my daughter for her riding classes and picking up things and tidying the home.

Time marches on even further and as the evening fades and nightfall approaches I am all ready to sign off on this day and start planning for the next one to come.

Now, don't get me wrong. I love doing these mundane things, in fact I take pride in them. It gives me immense satisfaction to see a cozy home; it re awakens the Martha Stewart goddess in me. When I cook for family and friends I can't help but envision Nigella Lawson being proud of me, albeit I am generally sweating it out and not looking graceful as she does. A Taurean - good food and an earthy home are my birth rights or so I would like to believe.

But, there is always this tiny voice which makes me want to do more....more than just taking care of home, the family. Now don't get me wrong. I am not talking about stepping out and looking for a career to fill up those empty blanks.

The above can be held true for any lady, even the one who is managing a job and a home. When it comes to our species I feel that we women are extra ordinary. We are a race which dare to take on any challenge and give it our best shot. Kudos to that.

But, still there lurks the need to do more...much more. So I asked myself what more?

 Yesterday, I opened up my old recipe books and decided to bake a carrot cake, and I did so. I enjoyed baking it thoroughly. It is not the same as everyday cooking. I donned my best apron, and set to bake....the outcome was delicious to taste. But for me I was on Cloud 9.

That very evening I decided to go for a long walk, it was invigorating. I came back more energized and full of life. Generally it is a quick shower and back to home needs but today I have decided to light up the bath with all the candles and just take out those extra 10 minutes to wallow in their scented smells.

Tomorrow, I will be taking out my tin box which holds my quilling strips and tools and get to creating something new. I am on a roll now.

Many a times we women for get to take out time just for ourselves. There are so many things I love to do, I think about them and promise myself that I will someday get about doing it. That day is NOW, TODAY.

Read a book, go swimming, bake, listen to music, hang out with friends, get hands dirty with craft work, shop till you drop, hit the gym, learn to strum the guitar, learn to ride a bike, plant a flower bed...finish that old painting, write a letter or get back to blogging like me. Do whatever YOU want....but take out some time for yourself. BREATHE!!!

No more excuses about house work, kids, job or partners. My trusted companion ticking away has always walked along side. It was me who chose to run ahead. Now, I live....for others and most importantly for me. Pictures of the carrot cake along with the recipe coming soon. Like I said I am on a ROLL, so ladies out there get ROLLING and get in touch.

GROWING UP

There are times when

She drives me up the wall

And some other times

 I am summoned by her calls

Mummy, Maama, & Mom

So many names

In different forms

Don’t want this,

 And why can’t I?

Are questions asked

As each day passes by,

Some days are happy,

Some days are bad

When mummy is not nice

And her best friend is her DAD

Solace in my arms,

When she fights with her friend

Next day it’s all patched up

Best friends again till the very end

Friendship bands, cards and little notes

Are measuring my daughter’s steady growth

She now fits into my shoe size

And I am ready to give her worldly advice

Remain nice and humble

Is what I say

That’s what your grandmother taught me many years away

She smiled and said yes

Right away,

I will be the best girl from today

My heart swells up in pride

My little girl has got her lesson right

A little later,

I walked into her room

Clothes, toys, books, paintbrushes

All over strewn

Mahika, please clean up your room

I said…

Mommy all you do is fret…..

There are times when

She drives me up the wall

And some other times………

(Dedicated to parents whose kids are in their pre teen and teen years. God bless us all) 

BEING A DIVA

Motherhood has a very humanizing effect. Everything gets reduced to essentials.”

You can’t get closer to truth than this.

 Flashback year 1996: Years spent in the service industry saw me struggling hard with keeping up with times. And then finally one day my perseverance paid off and I was living and working my dream job. Travelling around the world, soaking in the different cultures, wallowing in luxurious hotels, shopping from the most coveted cities in the world, meeting jet setting celebrities’ and getting paid to do all of the above was just the beginning. Yes, those are few of the innumerable perks you get when you fly as a Flight Attendant with one of the leading airlines in the world.

 I could not think of leaving home without my oh so necessary make –up kit, crammed up with my facial oil blotters, moisturizing wipes, sun-screen, my extra huge sun glasses, facial spritzer to keep my skin hydrated at all times, lip balm coz heaven forbid I forget one of those and my favourite Fisherman’s mint. And then came along all my other regular make-up ….compact, lip stains, blusher, mascara and my eyeliner with their respective accessories. My handbag was armed for making me look like a “DIVA” at all times or so I thoughtJ

Year 2003: So here I am with the rain beating down on the hospital window holding the most precious gift, my daughter “MAHIKA” weighing a perfect 3 kgs swaddled in her blanket, a month before I was expecting her. My journey onto motherhood starts from there.

Needless to say, I had to bid “adieu” to my fabulous career and say “hello” to the new one in hand.

First few days started from regular feeds and customary burping sessions; there were very few sleepless nights thanks to my daughter’s sleep cycle (she would sleep right through the night). Very soon the first one month was over and we all kind of settled into our lives. So to celebrate we went out for dinner as a family.

I once again equipped with my handbag full of my make-up ammunition and another bag with Mahika’s baby stuff (all astute mothers know what goes in and for those who don’t…some day you will), looked forward to a lovely evening ahead.

To cut a long story short by the time we were back home Mahika’s baby bag had been opened like a zillion times and all the stocked items inside were near depletion and my handbag was not even opened up once. So, I thought it’s just a matter of time and I would go back to looking lik a “DIVA” soon.

A year passed away, and soon the first milestone became the second and it was time to pack our bags and move to another city(thanks to the Indian Navy) I was still jet setting and living out of my suitcase or in this scenario my trunk boxJ

As I was packing the things on my dresser I removed a box which I had completely forgotten about containing my facial spritzer, my oil blotting papers and my compact which had caked, couple of my lipsticks which had cracked and my bath salts sans  their amazing ylang-ylang aroma. Any person who loves make-up like I do will tell you that wasting make –up brands like Body Shop, Bobbi Brown and Clinique is a definite “No-No”. I was shocked…it was a sacrilege on my part. How could I have let this happen?

I knew the answer to that all too well; motherhood brings with it a miraculous change in most women. We don a completely different persona; push ourselves to unchartered territories, test our multitasking capability, cash in on our inner strengths from day to day and surprise ourselves with our patience which we were completely unaware of possessing in the first place.

So somewhere along that journey I had forgotten about looking like a “DIVA”. Where was the time for it? Don’t get me wrong, I would still took care of myself but it was “just the essentials”.

Present Year 2012: Now my daughter is stepping onto her 9^th year, another new age to be discovered by both her and me. The pull-along toys have been long replaced by basket ball, badminton racquets and roller blades. The adorable dresses have traded places with more functional t-shirts, shorts, tracks and jeans. Now she no more asks me to buy her Cinderella princess shoes…instead she prefers gladiators, flip flops and sneakers (a die- hard Adidas fan).Her bookshelf which had graced “Read to Me” fairytales, now proudly holds Enid Blytons, Famous Fives, timeless classics like Little Women & her latest desired book on “Ancient Rome”.

9 years is short of a decade….so quite a few years of motherhood experience. And it’s not just Mahika whose needs have changed. I still believe in always being well groomed and presentable. But now my make-up kit is reduced to the essentials-moisturizer, sun screen, mascara and lipstick. I indulge myself now with more time in hand, to mini spa treatments and give myself a day to completely rejuvenate inside and out.

My love for high heeled shoes will always be there but now my shoe cupboard has more of flats and my trusted moccasins (I simply cannot do without them). My bathroom cabinet which once boasted of products which would put Cleopatra to shame now has a basic exfoliator, shower gel and a loofah.

My clutch bags are stored way inside my cupboard and my fore runners are my more sturdy bags which can carry  essential things like my wallet, keys, a small bottle of water, wipes, a pen with a small note book filled with chores which needs to be done and maybe a tinted lip balm. More so often they also carry my daughter’s chewing gum, a packet of chips and a small Tupperware with “Dry Fruits” just in case she wants to have a snackJ

 Being a woman my love for good things in life is in my genes, but once I became a mother I had the time only for the necessities (at least for the initial few years). Let’s accept it we all love to be pampered and look beautiful. But in my  journey so far I have learnt a very humbling lesson-

To be a Diva:

“You don’t need to LOOK like a DIVA, you need to FEEL like one”.

(Dedicated to all the mothers who work tirelessly at home and on professional fronts with a common goal-  ensuring that their kids have an amazing future ahead, you all are DIVAS)