G is for Guns

Tags

AtoZChallenge, guns, kids, parenting, toys

Guns is what we are talking about today, when most of buddies seem to be taking about Gratitude (I’ll admit I haven’t read any of your posts, this is just a feeling I got doing a quick glance on the FB group) I am talking about Guns…

This evening I just have a question for you in the form of a post? Whats your stand when it comes to kids and gun toys? Do u think its ok for kids to think its just toys and play or not?

Will write in more detail after I hear from you… so go on share ur thoughts

 

E is for East (Baiguney, Sikkim Part 2)

Tags

AtoZChallenge, highway travels, sikkim, travel, travel tales

Case in point here North East, I realized I have my travelogue of Sikkim half done so I thought I might as well take up with this opportunity to complete it

I gave you an overall brief of things or shall we call it preview of things in the last post, the next day (technically Day 2 but practically Day 1 since we reached Sikkim only in the evening) started with all the presentations from the bloggers who attended the event. I was amazed at the vast variety of experience covered, while Arun’s and Vishal’s pictures kept us spell bounded, Mridula’s determination for making it to Everest Base camp inspired us and Priya she had me stunned with the idea of who she collected funds for her Antarctica travel. Listening to Rakhi talking about her solo backpacking in India was when the idea of solo backpacking which I am gonna do soon was seeded in my head. So after spending half a day in the conference room and actually feeling good about it we decided to go visit the famous shiva mandir in Baiguney, when we went it was fully covered in fog but still was a sight

the shiva statue

The proudly standing Nandi

Ganja and Jamua, guess which one is who?

Next day morning we went for a short walk/trek to Chakun, which was absolutely breath taking..

Breath taking views

Early morning dew drops on plants, a sight we don’t get to see often

Gorgeous Orchids

the person who took us for a walk told us the root of this fern is a local medicine for diabetes. BTW we eat the greens too stir fried with local cheese it was yummm

The dew drops hanging, something magical about them… the whole tree was full with droplets in the end which felt like pearls hanging down – This is one of my fav pictures from the trip

We also saw lots of wild mushrooms on the way

And while taking a walk we saw this quite, small monastery, such calm and peace… there is something about them that attracts me…

Prayer wheel at the monastery

and Part 3 coming up soon , may be in S may be something else 😉

D is for Dreams

Tags

AtoZChallenge, dreams, just me

I have always been fascinated by dreams and when I am talking of dreams, I am not talking about the ones we conjure with open eyes. I am talking about the dreams that come to us involuntarily, the ones that our sub conscious mind has probably been weaving and shows them to us when we are deep in our sleep, yes I am talking about the Good night sweet dreams kind of dreams.

According to Wiki

Dreams are successions of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations that occur involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep.^[1] The content and purpose of dreams are not definitively understood, though they have been a topic of scientific speculation, as well as a subject of philosophical and religious interest, throughout recorded history. The scientific study of dreams is called oneirology. Scientists believe that, in addition to humans, birds and other mammals also dream.^[2]

How nice is to wake up with vague memory of a dream that you had in the night in which may you went on a vacation, may be you had achieved something that you had been always wanting. Adds some zest to your step isn’t it?

Or even sometimes knowing that you did have a happy dream but having no clue about what the dream was, then I spend hours working my sub conscious mind in trying to remember that dream, oh yeah I am dreamer that way

And sometimes dreams are so weird that they surprise you… Once I had a dream in which I had people from ten different phases of my life and I think we were trying to vacation somewhere and do team building, I just thought may be it was my way of bringing my life to convergence

And then there is a weird and scary dreams, there is one dream that comes to every birthday eve in which I am running and there are two people running behind trying to catch me and hurt me, I keep running panting and then I jump in a well and swim to save myself, the funny thing is that I used to dream this even before I learnt how to swim… One day I would love to go to a proper dream analyzer and ask him what he thinks about this dream of mine but till then its almost become an assurance of my life, my birthday

Do you have some recurring dreams? Is there a dream that you remember very clearly?

C is for Child Sexual Abuse

Tags

AtoZChallenge, child sexual abuse, CSA, csa awareness month, CSAAM

This year I have been wondering what to write on CSA, I have already written about how its important to protect your sons too, I have already written my own survivor story and while giving it a thought and doing some work for CSA FB page, I came across this poster

Pic Courtesy – http://www.parentsprotect.co.uk/

Truly shocking and scary isn’t it? Unfortunately now that I have worked with CSA so much I know its true and that scares me even more, 75% of the kids don’t tell you I wonder why, in think the answers lies right around in us, in the way we behave, in the way we try to shoo this topic under wraps and want to turn a blind eye to it, like it never happened, it never happens and it most certainly can’t happen to us

So if a child doesn’t tell you how does a parent/care giver figure out… according to the internet and various manuals I have read, some warnings to watch out would be

• Acting out in an inappropriate sexual way with toys or objects
• Nightmares, sleeping problems
• Becoming withdrawn or very clingy
• Becoming unusually secretive
• Sudden unexplained personality changes, mood swings and seeming insecure
• Regressing to younger behaviours, e.g. bedwetting
• Unaccountable fear of particular places or people
• Outburst of anger
• Changes in eating habits
• New adult words for body parts and no obvious source
• Talk of a new, older friend and unexplained money or gifts
• Self-mutilation (cutting or burning) in adolescents
• Physical signs, such as, unexplained soreness or bruises around genitals or mouth, sexually transmitted diseases, pregnancy
• Running away
• Not wanting to be alone with a particular child or young person

In this I would pay particular attention to the last one, if u child says he doesnt like XYZ and doesn’t want to play with him/her . please please please listen to him. Kids are more intutive then adults are and sometimes just going with their intuitions could help a lot

Apart from watching out for warning signs, another very important thing to do in my opinion is encourage your child, build trust in them so that they come back and talk to u – Open lines of communication with them in all possible ways.

Another important thing to do will be to keep all members of the family educated, it really doesn’t help if you tell your child to be aware and alert and the granny/father comes and tells no u have to trust everyone. Kids can get confused often so make sure the message passed to them is consistent

Keep your child safe, don’t shove CSA under the carpet. Talk about it, act on it NOW c

B is for Being Bossless

Tags

AtoZChallenge, dream venture, just me, me, personal, sin-a-mon

Yes being bossless aka being an entrepreneur. Most of you know I turned one about 1.5 years ago when I started Sin-A-Mon : Blissful Bakes, Today morning when I was thinking about what to write about and what came to my mind was bossless, I probably no its not even a word but what the heck and then I realised I haven’t ever written about being an entrepreneur for some strange reason. I haven’t ever written about what it is running a company (I know its not a big one but still its a dream which is coming true), I have never really written about what is it being in food industry.

I have been sitting on this post for the whole day and wondering what to write, the problem is not what I should write, the problem I am facing is what not to write, I have so much to share that it is becoming totally confusing, for once I am at wits end on what to write and what not, I should have listened to me my inner voice and wrote here more enough. So what I have decided is to list down the top few memories that I have of being an entrepreneur good as well as bad.

1. Being featured as a Google featured business, now Sin-A-Mon has got a fair amount of press *touchwood* but there is something special about being picked by google to be a google featured business. For days when I got a call/mail from google on this I couldn’t sleep… I was flying high in the air, pinching myself and wondering if this really has happened

2. The moment when you get good feedback from a client, about how the cake or cupcakes you made mattered so much to the occasion, that how the stuff was polished. It almost makes me forget the looooooong hours I spend standing and baking

3. On the day when Sin-A-Mon turned one, I did a little cupcake decoration party for kids at Anand Vidalya, which is a trust for underprivileged kids and runs an evening school. Most kids were excited, happy and delighted to decorate their cupcakes, the creative things they did with spoons, sprinklers and cream was amazing and then there was this one boy with his toothy grin, he at the end of the workshop came and told me “thank you aunty, I fun.. I had a cupcake first time” I just can’t describe the explosion of emotions I went through at that time

4. When I met Rocky and Mayur from Highway on my plate, oh godness how I love those folks and when I met them I was flying in air. Food celebrities are the celebrities that excite me 😀

5. In one of the kids workshop I was running, I was really tired and exhausted and there was this darling girl who sensed it and came fed me the cookie that we had made in the class.. I swear I melted away

6. Couple of weeks ago, I walked into O’s room and overheard a conversation he was having with his friend… goes like

F : oh I feel like eating a cake

O : lets ask my mumma, she makes the best cake and I am not saying just like that, I will show you facebook where lots of people tell her she makes best cake 😛

So either I have been telling him too much about FB or about sinamon 😉

7. One day when I had a bulk order and was baking till late in the night and N came up to me with a couple of tea and told me how proud he is of me, now you need to know N to know why this one is so special. He is a reserved, not so vocal person. Someone who thinks and feels that feelings and emotions need not be spoken about and when he said to me I think it became a memory for lifetime

8. But along with all the good things always come some sacrifices, some not so good memories… the worst is the one when one morning ojas came to me and asked “mumma before you used to pick me and drop me from school always, now a days since you have started sinamon you arent spending enough time with me” I swear on god, I could give up everything in one moment and go back to being a SAHM but then that wouldn’t be me I guess

and after jotting down these memories I have realised if I dont stop I will keep going on and on and on so I will leave u now and come back to more stories in some other soon enough… till then do read this fab piece by a friend – 10 things to know if your wife decides to be an entrepreneur, I swear to God each one is true 😉

A is for April’s Fool Day

Tags

april fool, AtoZChallenge, fun, just like that

This morning I woke up totally forgetting about the date 1st April inspite of remembering its 1st of April.. Sounds funny eh? What I meant is that I remembered that today is 1st April but totally forgot about the April’s Fool Day , got up and went about the Monday morning bussiness as usual. Saw a friends post on her FB page saying

Get me maximum likes for Saffrontrail Facebook page from your friends and I will be your personal homechef for a week. Go ahead, share this-what are you waiting for?

And in my love for Tam bram food, I instantly shared it on my wall

And that is how I royally got fooled today, an april fool I say 😛 so how was ur april fool’s day… made a fool out of some or some made a fool out of you? Do share

PS: I am starting on a brave attempt of doing A to Z blogging challenge all of april… Wish me luck and hope u enjoy the ride with me 🙂