India, Baby

(has to be read with the same energy Joey says London Baby in Friends)

Yes folks, my much awaited India trip is almost here.

The past few weeks I have been very busy shopping and deciding on what to take, as I hate doing things last minute. I still have loads and loads to do so will not be blogging regularly (like if 2 post a month is regular..), and will not be reading blogs too.

On the bright side when I come back I will have loads and loads of things to post about.

So wishing Everyone, Happy Thanksgiving, Merry C'mas and a very very Happy New Year..

INDIA, BABY!!!!

I Wish I Wasn't a Kid Anymore

So as promised here is my part 2.

1. Corresponding to the point 1 below, I always used to have bruises. My elbows and knees we always scrapped. I have so many scars even today from all those falls. The reason I hated every time I fell and scrapped my skin I would go home bleeding. Before getting any sympathy from mom I would get yelled at, hten she would wash that wound in Dettol. I call still feel the burn all that feeling comes back when I see a bottle of Dettol.
2. Hand me downs: This was one thing I hated the most. Having a sister older, who kept her things very neat and clean meant it would be passed down to me. In the earlier days my parents thought it would be so adorable to see both their kids dressed alike, so they would get us the exact same dress. Later we were told this was done to avoid conflict. So which meant when we outgrew our dresses I would get Veena's which was not a bad it, but it ended up being the same dress I wore years ago. Now after so many years, Veena and I are the same size so when we visit each other's we raid each others closets and take what we like.
   
3. Competitiveness: I used to be so competitive back when I was a kid. I had to win in everything I took part, be it sports or giving speeches. It has worked to my advantage now that I think of it, but I wish I had taken it slow back then and enjoyed school days than overly cautious about making sure I was the best (or at least tried to be) in everything I did.
   
4. Sunday School: My parents took us to church every Sunday, which was okay. But what I disliked was going to Sunday School (Sunday school is classes held at church before or after the service where kids are taught about the religion). Going to classes, learning new songs were all fun, but we used to have exams and competition which I wasn't much of a fan of. The main reason was none of my non-Christian friends had to do this, so every Sunday I remember complaining to my mom so and so doesn’t' have Sunday school why should I. But these days when I got to church I feel so happy that my parents sent me to Sunday school.
5. Curfew: This was more of a teenager thing. I was supposed to be home before 10.00 PM no matter where I went. When I was in college all friends would hang out till late at night, but my parents would never let me. I have had so many arguments with them regarding this. Now when I come to think of it I would act the same way when my 17 year old would ask me about staying out late at night.
6. Unable to keep in touch - I had so many great friends back in 3rd grade, 6th grade and most of us moved around so we never kept in touch. 9th grade and 10th grade we started writing letters. I so wish when I was younger I had a way to keep in touch. I'm able to track most of them now on orkut, but still am looking for a dear friend from 3rd grade.
7. School Uniform: We did not have a fun uniform, navy blue skirts and white shirts. But what I hated about the uniform was that fact we had to wear read ribbons. My younger days I had short hair, so it wasn’t much of a deal, then my hair grew longer and I hated those pig tails I had to wear to school with red ribbons at the end. Who wears ribbons anyways?

I could come up with only seven…(this too I had to think for a week)

If you carry your childhood with you, you never become older - Tom Stoppard

This is a two part tag, tagged my Silverine.
Rules
Write 10 things you loved about your childhood
Write 10 things you hate about your childhood
Tag other people.

I put together a list of things I loved and I seemed long enough to be a post so the things I hated will be a post by itself.
Things I love about my childhood:

1. The amount I could play. Everyday after school I came home changed my uniform and played with Veena and other kids outside till our mom called us. No I get back from work and need a huge motivation to even go to the gym. It used to be catch, then skipping, then Badminton. How many of you remember help sister? Even school had designated periods to play.
2. Friends - It was so much easy to make friends and keep friends. Nothing I said upset his/her feeling. We would be do (Katti) for a while then palam (batti) soon. Its not that I don't have friends now, I do but one has to very cautious what one says as one gets older
3. Food - The amount of food I ate had no bounds. I was never an obese child but I ate a lot. Not having to worry about carbs and sugar was definitely better times, all I had to do was munch munch munch
4. Sneaking and Eating - This is something that Veena and I did regularly. We would sneak into the kitchen and steal food. It was not because mom never fed us, but it was mainly for the rush and thrill one feels. Things that we ate were Maltova, Thenga (coconut), sugar and not just limited to these. Above all was the joy when mom woud take the Thega and see bite marks on it and ask who it was, we would both together say it was a mouse.
5. Sibling - Veena was the best sister one could as for, we are still close, but we both have lives of our own now. As a kid she watched my back, she stood by my side even when she knew I was wrong. In private she would come and tell me what I did was wrong. She played with me everyday, even though I was 3 years younger than her, she would play all my games with me patiently. We still talk everyday but miss chechi a lot.
6. Energy - Not once I remember getting tired as a kid. I can not even recall complaining to my parents that my feet hurt as opposed these days something or the other is always hurting.
7. Festivals - Be it Christmas, Easter, Onam my parents always made sure it was celebrated. Dad always took days off for Onam (Christmas and Easter were holidays) every year and he would tell us the same story over and over again. For Vishu our neighbors would come and wake us up take us (with eyes closed of course) to their house to see Vishu Kani.
8. Ela Podi (rice packed in a banana leaf) - After summer vacations when we travelled back to Tamil Nadu in train mom would make this Ela podi. It had Choru (Rice), Chuttu areche samandi (Coconut chutney), Etheykke mezhukuperrati. We were told we can eat our podi when we get to Ernakulum as that was the mid point of our journery. It is still fresh in my memory how Veena and I used to bug my mother from Kottayam asking is it Ernakulum yet, how far is Ernakulum. I haven't eaten a Ela podi for so long.
9. Time - As a kid I was never busy. I had time for everything, study, play, read and eat. Now I hardly find time, did the days get shorter as I grew up? I don't study or play these days, still rarely find time to read a book.
10. Passion - I had loads and loads of hobbies as a kid, stamp collection, currency collection, sticker collection and I used to be so passionate about them. I used to trade them with friends. It was all showcased in a book or album. Thinking about it, I believe it is still in storage somewhere. Now I can not think of one thing that I’m so passionate about, I do have new hobbies now but not the passion I had back then.

Part 2 to continue soon