10 on Tuesday written on a Friday

Tags

blogging, life in general, parenting, personal, tattoo, ten on tuesday, This and that

Yes you may laugh at the title. But you know everyday I think I should write something here and everyday I come open the new post window and everyday I sit and think, what should I write. Its not that I don’t have topics to write about. I do I do infact many of them. The problem right now with me is of plenty. I have been away from this blog for soo long that I have a lot to write about and I don’t know where to start.

So I think a bullet point post, mentioning 10 things that have been on my mind and in my life would be a good way, before you see more of me here hopefully regularly enough.

So here is my  10 on Tuesday written on a Friday

1. Life has been full of travel the past couple of months. From 7 months of no travel to the last 3 months full of travel, its hectic but its happy hectic. So in the next few days expect a lot of travelogues namely Kolavara Heritage in Shimoga, Raju Guest House in Tirthan, Ride Inn at Manali, Country Club trip to Kandaghat and then finally Goa. Have also done a lot of work travel to Hyderabad in between that has helped me explore the food scene there. More about that too on the food blog
2. Ojas has joined a new school after a break of about 4 months and seems to be pretty happy with it. And while he was on the school vacation, he went off to my mum’s house in Delhi for about a month followed by my SIL’s house for about 2 weeks. So all in all we had some couple time to ourselves after about 6 years and I can’t tell you how different it felt. Good yes and empty yes too but all in very different and weird. I realised that I am always thinking in terms of three now, always thinking as a mom and to actually think as a couple I have to make an effort but I also found it very refreshing. Had forgotten what uninterrupted conversations felt like and what a delight it is to have them. Also what I learnt was that it really is difficult to adjust back to being a mum now 😉 but I am trying I am trying 😀
3. Also like I mentioned in the earlier post, we moved back to the old new house. And one of the highlight for me moving back has been the studio in the house. Baking Studio, a working space for me. It has a desk corner, an island cooking corner, couple of racks for ovens etc. It is not a HUGE space but big enough to be called an office. I have already have had about three workshops there and they all felt nice and cosy. So excited to bake, teach and make videos out of the studio. One by One
4. One of N’s closest cousins P, actually if you ask me they are more like brothers and he is one of the closest people to N, is getting married end of this month. He went and proposed to his girl in full Bollywood style and decided to get married 6 weeks from the date of the Bollywood proposal. As a result we all running around as headless chickens, trying to arrange everything and enjoying every bit of it. The madness, the shopping, designing the card, dresses to stitch, jewellery to match. So much fun. I missed part of this for my own sister’s wedding in October, one because I was so far and two because they pretty much did a very simple wedding. I am making up for that with this one 🙂
5. Robin Williams passed away, leaving each one of us shocked and sad. Sad because there wasn’t anyone like him. We all loved him, We all loved to love him. Shocked because none of us imagined the person behind those laughs was suffering from depression and could commit suicide. I actually wanted to write a whole post on him but then somehow never got around doing it. Let me tell you this, most people who suffer from clinical depression try hard to hide that from the world and we are experts in doing that. I say we because yes I am one of them. I suffer from clinical depression, have been and will be on medications for a long time. And I bet people who read my blog or know me  can’t guess that till I tell them. So be sensitive to people around you. Read up on depression and mental health and please stop using sad and depressed in the same way. One day, one day may be I will be brave enough to share the whole story here. Till such time, I will do with hugs
6. I set myself a 100 book reading challenge for this year. I have read about 36 till now. I know I am behind but the good thing which has happened this year is that most of the books that I have read have been really good. Will list my favorite ones soon. Till then tell me which are the books you have been reading? Which ones did you like? And which ones you hated?
7. The child is growing up fast, he has already joined 1st standard and each time I think of it I wonder wasn’t the day of his birth just yesterday? With him are growing his questions, arguments and logics. This is a strange stage of parenting, I am enjoying it the most but it’s also bringing out the worst in me. Testing my limits, specially the limits of patience. I am loving watching him develop a personality of his own but I am getting scared of the fact that the personality is sometimes looking like a mirror image of me. I love seeing him becoming the independent big boy but each time he does something on his own without even looking at us once, the heart skips a beat and I wonder if the empty nest is not so far away after all. I love his witty answers but hate them when the same are used as smart A&^ replies. Such a strange and lovely stage of parenting this and I am absorbing it all as it comes.
8. I have decided to give this blog a breath, a last hope of survival with the 30 days letter challenge, I saw it first when a friend shared it with me and then I saw Shail doing it and it’s something that excited me after so long. I am itching to write some of the letters, I just don’t want to write some of them. I know some will be intense and will evoke memories, but I have decided to it. Thought long and hard actually and realised some demons needed to be dealt with, some thoughts needed to be written. Hopefully some of them will be funny too 😀 So from Sep 1 for 30 days, hopefully you will have a letter each day to read here. A letter which holds a tiny part of my heart somewhere
9. Some pictures you take make you happy. Make you so happy that you share them everywhere. They might not be the best of the pictures but you like them and they make you happy. The cat stories is one such set for me. I found those cats so so so irresistably adorable that I can’t tell and I am not even a cat person. Go see for yourself
10. And I saved the best for the last, my tattoo 😀 Yes finally after years of planning and thinking and wondering I got a tattoo done. I got an excellent person who heard me out, designed my tattoo and inked it on my patiently. Check out her page here and I strongly reco her if you are in Bangalore. And here is what it looks like

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Finding “Ability” in Disability : Diya Foundation

Tags

blogging, contest

I first heard about Diya Foundation about an year ago from a friend who works very closely with them. With their motto being “FROM DISABILITY TO DIFFERENT ABILITIES” ,Diya Foundation is a Vocational Training Center in Bangalore providing training and employment to intellectually challenged individuals. Founded in 1999, DIYA is a registered charitable trust. After being told about it and thinking I must do something, I promptly forgot about it until I met Sarah, the force behind Diya in the GS-ISB 10K women program.

Sara, started her career at the age of 18 as stenographer after completing BA(Eng) but somewhere she wanted to do more and after seven years of work she felt the need to do something more worthwhile with my life, after strong resistance from her family she joined Convent of Jesus and Mary, Special School as a volunteer. She says “The initial reaction of nervousness and fear when I first met these special children of whether I would be able to work and understand them dissolved into love and a strong determination to do something  when I saw how loving, trusting and affectionate they were. What really called to me was the challenge in making the difference in their lives, in not giving up and in the firm belief that each and everyone of them is trainable”.  After a year of volunteering she was sure this was her calling and did  B.Ed. in Special Education from SNDT Women’s University, Bombay and continued with Jesus & Mary. Over time she realized that once a special child reaches between the age of 14 to 18, schools ask them to leave. She says “As special educators in schools we focus on teaching them functional academics and not on work skills which would help them get jobs so once they leave the school program there is nothing available and nowhere to go. This where the dream of Diya Foundation began. At Diya the focus is on training in work skills and employment”

 She adds “ Diya was started in March 1999 on a initial contribution of Rs.1000/- each from the 3 board members. The challenge was in getting materials for pre-voc training and the trainees were initially charged a fee of Rs.150 per month. “

 

She says the journey of Diya has been amazing, From 3 trainees to 60 trainees; from the initial  Rs.3000/- to Rs. 35,00,000/- is where Diya has reached in 14 years. From searching for trainees to having a waiting list. Diya today has made a difference in many families, bringing their lives back to them in some ways.  At diya, Each trainee’s program is planned according to his/her strengths and daily goals and targets are set accordingly, they flourish and learn to draw from their strengths and weakness in their own ways

When asked about some of her favorite memories she says “Memories that will always remain are the ‘eureka’ moments in my trainees’ lives : that first eye contact, the first conversation initiated, the first time a work task was initiated or when they learned to tie the cords on a bag and hammer in the rivets. It reinforces all my beliefs that you do not have to go out into the world and do great things and make great changes. It all begins with every small mile-stone that my students achieve in their lives “

While recalling the challenges she faced she says “The initial challenges were in getting in trainees, trainers, funding to run. Then as Diya began to grow the challenge was in finding a permanent  place. Once Diya began training students on vocational skills and started making recycled paper products, candles, we stopped charging them a fee and then the challenge was in marketing products and paying them a stipend to give them a sense of working and earning. Today the biggest challenge is still in finding a permanent place. Diya has moved for the seventh time in 14 years. Another challenge is finding job opportunities for our trained special adults. Corporates are wary of hiring the mentally challenged as they are afraid that they will not be able to fire them if they do not perform”

Sarah has many dreams for Diya, she wants to Diya to have their own employment options wherein the trainees will be placed after training. She wants Diya to be in a place where they would never to have to say ‘no’ to a specially abled individual looking for training and work opportunities. She says “Today we have started two such work options: one is Diya Innovations Pvt Ltd – a gifting company – the marketing and employment arm of Diya Foundation and the sustainability model of Diya Foundation. The second work option is EKTA – our Self-help Group started with parents of our special adults and underprivileged women”

Sara for me is true woman of independence and however cliché it might sound, the women of substance who wants to bring independence in not just her life but in everyone around hers too and if you would want to make Sara’s dream true you can donate here, I have pledged that if I win I will add that to Diya’s kitty and this season that is where I will volunteer too. Come join in making the world a better place, making Sara’s dream come true

For more information on Diya and  their products, check out their websiste http://www.diyafoundation-india.org/ and view this brilliant and touching video here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKq0sKanqWo

This post Written for the Indiblogeshwaris Ladies Independence Special Contest in association with http://womenentrepreneursinindia.com/

Four Fountain Spa Contest – Results

Tags

blogging, contest, four fountain

So the results are here

Drumrolls for R’s Mom and Mohsina Yasmin please

here are the winning responses (selected by Four Fountain Spa team)

Mohsina said

It would definitely be my husband . Hubby is a Training Coach and hence stands on his two feet for a gruelling 9-10 hours every day , 25 days of the month . It doesn’t end there , he hops from one airport to another through out the month and sleeps at 10 different hotels all by himself . So he’s literally on his feet for about 12 hrs every day , training those who are on their feet for a job in sales at electronic stores selling iPads/iphones/macs etc .
I have never met a more sincere & passionate hardworking human being . To top it all , his love and commitment to the marriage is no less than his job . I’m not sure if i’m the perfect candidate with my little write-up but he’s such a perfect blessing 

R’s Mom said

Ah Interesting eh? I can think of a 100 people I really want to gift the spa coupon to, but the one who tops the list is my mother in law.

1. She has NEVER been to a spa ever
2. She doesnt believe in spas and massages, she says they are a luxury and believes she cant afford them 
3. She is one of the most hard working woman, I have met in my life. Wherever she goes, she is always helping out, doing things, etc etc. I havent seen her sit still for a minute

I think she needs a break, she needs to experience the bliss of going to a spa and she needs to learn to sit back and enjoy some tender love and care and learn what pampering is all about

 

congratulations to the winners and please do mail Sakina at sakina.b@thefourfountains.in and she will send you the e-vouchers

And thank you so much everyone for taking part in the contest

 

2012 in review

Tags

2012 year in reviw, blogging

I am almost ashamed at these 😦 must blog more regularly next year MUST

 

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

4,329 films were submitted to the 2012 Cannes Film Festival. This blog had 45,000 views in 2012. If each view were a film, this blog would power 10 Film Festivals

Click here to see the complete report.

And the Madness Begins

Tags

blogging, marathon, Marathon Bloggers

Couple of days ago, I was reading some of my old posts, reorganizing my blog when the thought hit me that damnit how long it has been since I wrote anything here, infact how long it has been since I wrote anything. Ofcourse there have been some posts on the food blog but those too have been far and few. I went through a series of emotions at that time from being sad and depressed to being angry on myself. Blogging has been a medium which has given me a lot, in terms of friends, in terms of self satisfaction, in terms of creative outlet, in terms of recognition and I felt that I have cheated the medium that gave me so much… A little extreme reaction may be yes but that is what I went through at that time. Once I slept over it I had a madder better plan. I had decided that I will write everyday in the coming month, the post can be on this blog, the food blog or the photo blog. I have done blogging marathons before, succeeded some, failed some but mostly at the end of the month the feeling has been great.

When I posted that I am thinking of doing this on FB a couple of friends showed interest, I made a group and soon our number grew to 21 (as of now its standing at 39 members) all of us with a determination of bringing blogging back in our lives 🙂

But what makes this one even more maddening is the fact that this month, this December is going to be super busy for me, its a month when the business of baking is at an all time high but nonetheless I am hoping that I will make it through specially if you my dear readers keep pushing me through

So with this I leave you with a few Rights of a Reader, something I saw on FB and want to treasure forever… the reader in me approves of this a lot 😀

Picture Courtesy – Duckbill

To join us this month, send an add request to the Marathon Bloggers FB Group

And help us spread the word around by using this batch made by the brilliant Swati

HAARAM.COM, STOP POSTING OUR POSTS ON YOUR SITE WITHOUT OUR PERMISSION!

Tags

blogging, plagiarism

A bunch of us bloggers have noticed that you have listed our blogs and have been copying our entire posts on to your site for which we neither signed up nor gave explicit permission. Hence would appreciate if you could stop doing that and take our blogs off your site ASAP.

Consider this a gentle reminder from our end..for now.

We may not be so gentle the next time, for this is a serious issue of copyright violation..

Thank you.

All of us

Where the Kay Woman meets the M Woman

Tags

blogging, book, friends, kiran manral, the reluctant detective

Yeah Yeah we are talking about the latest book of most loved Kiran Manral‘s The Reluctant Detective.

I have been a long time reader of Kiran’s blog and love the way she writes. Be it humour or the social causes she takes up. She has her own distinct way of describing everything, a way that keeps you hooked to reading from the starting of the post till the end…  The way she changes hat between the loving mumma to the brat, the dedicated person running India Helps, being the fashionista at her yet another blog and ofcourse making us smile and laugh at ThirtySix Forty and counting is amazing. Super Woman Kiran Manral 😉

I finally had a chance to meet her last year sometime during Feb when we went for the Lavasa trip and one of the biggest highlight of the trip was meeting her and chatting away to glory as long last friends naa make that soul sisters 🙂 We chatted about everything under the sun from handbags to men (wink wink), to mils to kids, from bloggers to twitter folks, it seemed that full 2 days weren’t enough for the things we needed to speak about

And somewhere during these chats, came up the topic of child sexual abuse which eventually turned into a month long initiative to spread awareness and break the taboo that we carry around CSA. If I may say so myself it was very well received and the feedback we got from the readers, the support we got from organisations like blogadda and many NGO’s and also the media mentions had us totally humbled us. The month will always be in my heart and mind as one of the milestone months of my life and CSA wasn’t the only that will make it memorable, it was also working so closely with the woman I came to admire even more, a woman who became much more than a blog buddy and moved on to become more like a sister.

So when she announced her book (seems like ages ago though 😉 ) the excited wait began and when I received it two days ago, my excitement was beyond control.. the book I was reading already was ditched and to N’s horror surprise a baking order was ignored because I couldn’t put the book down 😛 Eventually N put some sense into my head (read screamed at me to get baking he he) and hence I haven’t been able to finish the book as of yet. But soon I will be back with a review but till now it feels exciting, gripping and funny as I thought it will be…

After all any book which starts with a struggle of what to wear to a party and how its a struggle to keep the nail polish from not smudging has to be interesting anyways 😉 and yeah did I mention some handsome men and two murders

I will be back with my review till such time here is how u can grab your copy from any of the below links depending of whether you have a favorite or you want to go for the cheapest which BTW is infibeam 😉

Flipkart 

Signed Copies at Dialabook

Crossword

IndiaPlaza

InfiBeam

And for more information on the book follow the book blog and LIKE the FB Page

A New chapter – 55er

Tags

55-er, blogging, milestone

Her mind is full of contradictory thoughts and emotions…

should I dare, sometime I will have to do it anyways…

or may be tomorrow today doesn’t seem to be the right day…

Lost in deep thought she gasps at the number staring at her. 879 posts….

with a heavy heart she marks all as read and starts a new chapter

———————

Yes my dear friends that is my real story in a 55-er, so if u have anything you wrote in the past 3 weeks and you want me to read please leave a comment else its all been marked as read 😦

And also with this we mark the 700th post of this blog … huge huge number… I am impressed with myself that the blog still interests me even after writing so many posts, I agree there have been many a fillers too but I think for me 700 is huge… so lets celebrate…. the next celebration here would be when I hit 1000 posts 😀

Ahem Ahem

Tags

blogadda, blogging, celebration, celebrity moment, interview

So blogadda thinks I am worthy of being interviewed and has published it too 😀

Click the below picture to read the interview and tell me how u like it please 🙂

Where Femina Steals | Post 25

Tags

blogging, femina, NaBloPoMo

Yesterday I got a call from Ritu saying that Femina has printed one of her stories without her permission. And I was angry and upset.

Go read Ritu’s post for details here.

I wonder why do these publications take bloggers so lightly? Does it really take so much time to send a mail asking for permission? Does giving a little money to the blogger for publishing it really make a difference to their deep pockets? I don’t think so, than what exactly is the issue I wonder?

It has happened to many people before. I was once told that Punjab Kesari has printed my recipe and pics in the paper by a cousin living in Punjab, like a foolish girl I ignored it when they told me its public material but now I have realised that enough is enough. We as bloggers have to take a stand against this. So lets stand together and make femina apologize to Ritu.

Here is the image of the article in print… the story which has not just been printed but modified too… horrible I say.

Femina Shame… Please apologise