Saturday, March 31, 2012

Wordpressed

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Okay, I'm moving my blog to Wordpress too. Not because I think WP is supercool but because my comp seems to have developed some bug which is preventing me from opening Blogger, GTalk, and google.com (google.co.in opens though). Either Kapil Sibal has done something or it's just destiny and whatnot. Anyway, over the past few weeks, I've been wanting to blog and not being able to do so. Considering the very limited time I have on my hands right now, I don't feel like wasting it on trying to fix this problem which is what any other sane person would do. Instead, I'm simply going to create a new blog and hope that this one doesn't stop working too. I'm so brave.

So here's the address: http://mediumboss.wordpress.com

Please update the link on your respective blogs. Also, I'm not able to comment on any site powered by Blogger. Whataybeauty. If you are a technowhiz who wants to help out a half-crazed brownie with computer problems, please feel free to write in to brownie.gounder@gmail.com. I tried to install all sorts of virus/trojan remover nonsense on my computer to get rid of this problem and it has only made my already sad computer sadder still. Unfortunately, I'm not Ghajini to keep trying.

I'm writing this from M's Mac *sniff*

 Bye, bye, blogspot. I'm breaking up with you.  

Thursday, March 15, 2012

Life as Charlie Chaplin

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I sometimes think that if someone fixed CCTV in my house, they'd get the feel of watching one of those black and white Charlie Chaplin movies. You know, the ones where he's whizzing around jerkily doing a hundred things within a minute. That's right, folks. My mum left on Sunday and we've been on our own since then. Cooking, cleaning, laundry, and of course, taking care of GBM who is increasingly doing her best to make my belief in karma stronger. 

I don't think I'm going to have the time to write my lazy blog essays any more. I'm going to quickly  put up many snapshots onscreen like Times Now and talk fast Arnab Goswami.

So here goes:

GBM wants to flip over and sleep on her tummy these days. Only, she hasn't yet figured out how to put her head down once she's flipped. So she acts like a blind puppy and start wailing till we flip her back. And then of course, she will go back to doing exactly the same thing again. 

5.30 AM- I give up on trying to sleep again and begin the day. 

I put one load of clothes for washing.

I make tea.

I make chutney.

I cook vegetables.

I soak the rice.

I knead the dough for chappatis (for dinner- see, how mega prepared we are!).

I boil milk and put off one spoon curd for...err, making more curd.

I boil eggs.

I cut vegetables for tomorrow's lunch (applause).

GBM is up. I feed her.

M cleans the wash basin, soap dabbas, buckets etc.

We put GBM on the mat. She flips over and is all smiley.

M and I are delighted with her smiles....and then we notice she's happy because she's taken a big dump all over the mat. 

M cleans the mat. 

We clean GBM together.

I clean the dirty clothes.

M oils GBM.

I bathe GBM.

M dresses GBM.

I feed GBM.

I clean GBM's gums. 

M makes dosas.


We take turns looking after GBM and eat breakfast.

I fold up yesterday's laundry.

I hang up the newly washed clothes. 


In between, of course, GBM has done susu a hundred times and we've cleaned her bum responsibly.


M soaks dal for tomorrow's lunch sambar which he will make tonight. He's also in charge of making today's dinner.


The time is 10 AM. M leaves for office. 

I collapse on my beanbag (M's gift for my 26th birthday....could not have come at a better time).

There is peace.

For a while, anyway. 


Wednesday, March 7, 2012

What GBM Did

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GBM turned to her tummy for the first time when she was three months and a week old. Since yesterday, she's been doing it every time we put her down and marveling at her own achievement. She's also trying to crawl very hard and making Sharapova-like grunts while at it. 

GBM likes being taken to the balcony and enjoys watching the Neem and Mango trees right outside. During this time, we're not supposed to talk to her because she's having a quiet, philosophical moment all by herself.

GBM's current favourite song is a 500-year-old Malayalam lullaby called Omana thingal kidavo. One day, when she was extremely cranky, the song came out of my mouth in desperation. I did not even know that I knew it. It calmed her down instantly and works like magic every time I try it. She gives me a wide, gummy smile to show her appreciation. 

GBM had doubled her birth weight when we took her to the doc's for her 3.5 months vaccination. She's now longingly looking at everything we're eating and making swallowing movements with her own mouth. This makes me wonder if I should introduce solids to her at 4 months (the current WHO guideline is 6 months). 


GBM's hair is now so long that she even got a knot in it! M, who believes his daughter is made of porcelain, was distressed because he wasn't sure if a baby hairbrush would be soft enough for his baby's head. I'm sure he'd have taken her to the ICU if he could have to have the knot removed. We finally took it out like a pair of masterly eye surgeons.


GBM's klutz mother has finally learned to bathe her. GBM is very peaceful during bath time, so klutz mother's nerves aren't doing too badly.


GBM does not like it if M and I talk for more than  ten minutes without involving her. She demonstrates her disapproval by throwing a fit.


GBM is going to make her debut in the colony at the Holi celebrations tomorrow. I am ridiculously excited about this and have already picked out her frock and all. M is going to carry her because he's tall enough to hold her up if the other little kids decide to splash her.

GBM makes a laughing sound now. It hardly lasts for three seconds but we all try for three hours to see if we can make her do it again and again.

GBM is now howling. Time to go.