Never trust a skinny chef :)

Have written earlier about my bouts with reducing weight…. Was chatting with a friend pouring all my woes about the same. We changed topics and started talking about cooking and how we have come to love it off -late. As we were signing off, parting comment from that friend was…you know the saying “never trust a skinny chef” – May be we have trouble reducing weight cos we cook well 🙂 We had a nice laugh over that…lightened the mood a bit.
Nothing against skinny people….may be this saying came about for people like me 😀 and I love it 🙂

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India !! Champions!!

Today was the twenty20 world cup finals at Jo’burg, South Africa. A dream finals as some called it…India vs Pakistan…. Spent 5 + hours watching it on TV. It was nail biting and the match going either way in the last few overs…. India finally won by 5 runs!!! Congrats!!! It was great to see the team win. There were firecrackers burst in exhilaration here in Chennai on the roads….Cricket is a passion here. India- Pakistan matches evokes it like nothing else…..a win is remembered for ages!!!

There is one programme I watched which was featured in the run up to the T20 finals…it was on NDTV…cricketing controversies featuring Imran Khan, Ajay Jadeja, Sidhu and Mantra as panelists. The question asked was which is better the Ashes or Indo-pak match? Imran Khan answered that any match which is evenly poised is good and the Ashes have been tilted in the Aussies side for way too long….
My humble take on this…give me an Indo-Pak match to watch anytime….as I said it evokes something in the mind that gets the adrenalin pumping…but that is me being Indian. It made me think that had I been Australian or English….may be that would have made me feel so about the Ashes.
So, whatever the match, whomsoever the contestants….a good match is just a treat to watch for an armchair cricketer like me 😉 It helps if I relate to the players more 🙂

Super Juggler Mom!!??

I have been thinking of penning my thoughts about this topic for quite sometime now. As usual, an article in The Hindu has triggered me off. It has one statement “Ms. Super Juggler Mom (pardon the stereotypes, but let’s admit to the diminishing community of those going against the tide in our times)” which left me a bit piqued. I am one of those who is a housewife or home maker or domestic engineer or whatever the term used currently. I want to pitch in what my ideas or experience has been.
I find myself constantly defending my choice/circumstance to stay home.
People all around expect you to be “Ms Super Juggler Mom” if not you are a loser!! There have been variations of this thought conveyed to me directly or subtly whatever the other person’s style. If you still chose to stay with your choice, you are also a quitter 🙂
Such prodding does get to oneself after a while. I am not that strong a person and such comments heard in weak moments breaks me and I end up crying, venting out my frustration or just fume with anger or whatever is considered not right!! 😉 At such times, I so want to go get a job and do it all…be that mom that is described. Saner moments, I think I should give all the attention possible to my kid. I don’t want to miss out on moments with him. Make him delicious fresh food for every meal and snack.
I had all that when I grew up. My mother had a master’s degree and yet chose to stay home to take care of us. Nobody questioned her choice then….
On this note, I should mention that I was with women of my mother’s age recently at a family event. All those women were of the opinion that women should be financially independent and some followed with the comment saying may be that is why there are so many divorces too with the children suffering in the end.
Even if shows like Oprah say that the stay at home mom has the toughest job; it is definitely not a widely accepted opinion. Or characters in movies glorify the choice to stay at home (the movie Monalisa Smile comes to mind). May be in theory, it is great….but women like me are definitely pressurised to get a job and do the juggling act to prove if not to anyone else, to themselves that they can. I have quite a few friends who go through the same and vacillate between staying at home and working. They like me are also picked upon for being that ambivalent…sometimes with really rude opinions.
May be I just need a little more strength, self-esteem to stand by my conviction and not be swayed by other people!! As long as I don’t need the job for financial reasons, I hope I can devote my time to my son…and hope to God that I am not put in a situation where necessity takes over!

Tax & Subsidies

This is in response to an ET article. Been following this particular news item on the TV too. Just thought I will pen my thoughts. Just feel that instead of taxing people this way, they could remove the subsidy given in the IITs & IIMs …or mabbe give it as a government loan ( a low interest loan?!)
Will taxing those who go abroad be a problem? How would they enforce it?
Maybe, the government should spend more for primary studies than dole out money for higher education.
It was said on TV that this is to stem brain drain. If they are taxed when they leave…should they not be given some incentive to come back to the country? ( a refund of or a percentage of the tax collected from them 😉 )
I don’t think this is going to reduce brain drain in any way…those who leave would do so anyways…pay the tax and leave I suppose. And those who return will do so…It is just a matter of getting in some money!!
Something that my simple brain was thinking!!

Don’t bother about others!!

How many times would we have heard the title told to us by different people at different times? One should have heard variations of that statement…
Can one really do that though is my question! Take what appeals to you and leave the rest that hurts ?! Is it that easy?
To me personally, I can do neither. Both appreciative and insensitive remarks affect me…the latter more so 🙂
How can someone ignore other people or their remarks?? We do know that man is a social animal 🙂 Don’t live by what the society says they say…but don’t we live in the same society?? Catch 22?!? We form the society we say…but there are so many different opinions…which ones should we listen to, react and the question is can we really ignore what does not appeal to us?
There might be people who have mastered that art…I certainly am not one of them. I fret about everything said about me…especially those not so appealing (for me that is 😉 ) comments. I wonder if I can change something or try justify my position. Am I wrong? Or should I start getting answers ready for why I am right?! 😉
I know I cannot change overnight…but one thing I am trying is to not let comments affect my life (which itself is a task – mind you!) Hope I can get to a comfortable place soon!!
As a plaque at home says “LORD Grant me patience but HURRY!” 😀

Fat or Fit?

Was watching We, The People on NDTV. The topic of discussion – Are Indians obsessed with weight?
Interesting programme and really interesting views… I have written about my views on weight!
This though rekindled those thoughts. How one lady says she lost 25 kgs and was not any happier…though she would like to lose weight too – an equivocal attitude. Something that I struggle with myself so many times (I am kinda comfortable with how I look…though have been called fat by people which would make me feel bad and get back into the slump of feeling fat and remembering every person’s comments on how fat I am or what I must do about it etc..,)
I feel it is not just India obsessed with weight…it is everywhere.
I liked one member of the audience- a doctor’s remark saying Indian women have always been depicted as being voluptuous and suddenly they want to be stick thin! And Pooja Bhat’s remark saying she does not want “starvation chic”
Overall, it was said that people should think more about being fit not fat /thin. This just reminded me of one “friend’s” remark…. when I told that person that all my numbers (BP, cholesterol, sugar ) were ok and that my doctor said I was ok… her remark was your doc is being too kind and you should change him!!! What can you say to such people?!? And when you are low, these remarks hit you hard and push you even more to the wrong side!!