Nkta. That's how Y pronounces her name. Start with a nasal N, rapidly followed by KTA. Reminds me and S of difficult Vietnamese names such as Nguyen!

I don't make new year resolutions (I mean, what's the point? I never keep them) but this year I kind of informally resolved (didn't want to put any pressure on myself!) to do better, a LOT better, in the staying healthy department. I've always been a healthy eater and able to stay at my ideal weight without any effort. The latter does not reflect any credit to me but is primarily a function of my mother's fantastic genes. For this, I am grateful every single day :)The problem with being naturall

A friend on facebook had posted this video and I found it a very intelligent, balanced point of view in tackling the serious question of why women are "opting out" of their careers and some societal and also internal changes that are required for those who want to stay in the workforce and rise to the top. The points she makes are so pertinent, and definitely points #1 and #3 were something I hadn't seriously thought about before. How to 'sit at the table' and 'not leave before you leave' really

What's this annoying habit many kids have of not being able to support their own weight when they are standing someplace with you? It happens all the time with Ads. Waiting at the bus stop, he leans against me, so that I have to constantly stagger and try to maintain my balance. In line at grocery stores, malls, even at the park, he's standing there but resting most of his weight on me. IT is SO irritating! It's like he's so tired (read bored) that he can't even be bothered to support himself an

Last weekend, we stayed the night at a relative's place and they were astonished how all four of us fitted into their queen-size bed, and woke up fresh as daisies the next morning, carrying no aches and pains from the uncomfortable sleeping positions the night before. I don't think we can carry it on for much more than a year though, not on a queen bed for sure. The only reason we can do it now is because it's winter and it's actually much nicer to have the kids in bed with us. S says it's like

I asked Ads why he was carrying 2 hankerchiefs and he said "One is for my nose and one is for my tears". Ufff....too much! It sounds so tragic, doesn't it? The melodramatic fellow!Well, atleast no one can say I didn't allow my boy to express his feelings clearly. Nobody shall accuse me of curtailing his emotional growth or ignoring the emotional quotient in his personality.To set the record straight, he'd been going through a weepy phase and just felt the need to be prepared :)

I never seem to get any alone-time with Ads nowadays. By the time he gets back from school, cleans up, has a quick snack and we settle down to some activity, Y is generally up from her nap, often a little cranky and I have to give her the lion's share of my attention. So the infrequent days when she naps longer than usual, are times when Ads and I get some much-treasured one-on-one time together. This morning, while walking to the bus stop, we were talking about the human heart and he wanted to

I'd be a fab mother if I was more patient = less short-tempered.Yeah, right.......like that's the ONLY reason I'm NOT a fab mother yet :(Whom am I kidding?!!That apart, being more patient, more zen, less liable to fly off the handle, has to be a good thing in itself. I know this. The constant struggle to get there, and the more-or-less constant failures, make me suspect that I'm simply not trying hard enough. My kids aren't angels, but they are pretty good kids; and I always feel I'm shortchangi

The more I think about it, the more I am convinced that the feminist movement, in trying to bring reform into important issues that affect women, has swung too far to the right and diluted the essence of femininity by making it unfashionable, in certain sections of society, to be a proud and fulfilled mother, who does NOT hold a paying job outside the home. Don't get me wrong. I think all women should have the CHOICE - to work or not to work, without any kind of judgement being passed on them. L

Ads complained to me a couple of times about how some kid (a year younger than him) was hitting him on the school bus. This same kid used to forcibly take his water bottle away and drink from it, leaving Ads with no water in the afternoons. I told Ads to take a firm line with this kid. I'm not sure whether he did so, but I had also told the bus didi to keep an eye out for such goings-on, and the problem seemed to get resolved.Contrast this with a conversation I had with Y's class teacher re