Tricks and habits..

Through my pregnancy I read books, websites about pregnancy; of course I never had the time to read about what happens once the baby arrives; moreover I always thought I will have the help of all existing mothers in the family J.  One of the greatest tasks is to put your baby to sleep.

Since the day Aarav was born, I started to set him a habit of rubbing his forehead which should put him to sleep. This is still working unlike Gayatri Mantra which we used to sing in his first week. Although I have noticed recently, if he doesn’t want to sleep and if I try to rub his forehead, he will shake his head indicating “don’t do it” or “I am not going to sleep”!!! But if he wants to sleep, he will close his eyes at the first touch on his forehead.

Recently when my brother’s friend visited us; who is also a new parent, asked me if I am singing songs to Aarav, I said why should I sing songs to such a small baby, he won’t understand any of it. He said songs work great for babies!

But just out of the blue two week ago, I ‘by mistake’ started to sing “Lakadi ki kaathi, kaathi pe ghoda” song and he slept!!! INSTANTLY! I thought it might have been a coincidence, so I tried it for 3 days in a row…and guess what, it really works! Now I have a nap song for Aarav which works every single time. Easy and quick way to put him to nap; a few rocks on the lap with the song and Aarav goes into deep sleep. Each time it works and it feels like such an achievement! But experienced parents are warning me to prepare more songs as babies will need a new song every month..

So now I have to go hunting for baby songs from our childhood times…because these days we have only sheila ki jawani, chikni chameli etc..and I don’t think he should be exposed so soon to today’s bollywood item songs…

Now I am working on tricks to make him smile! They are pretty much weird garbled sounds, more like noise for adults that make him smile…random pitches of ‘ooooooo’ sound work great on him..and it’s so true that, that one giggle, smile your baby gives is so priceless! It’s actually getting interesting as he responds back with his own sounds….precious moments!

Continued…from Breaking news article

As I had mentioned earlier, that I fired my super-smart maid, here is how the story goes! Before I fired her a week ago, I had my mother in-law and another guest visiting us, all family. As per my deal with the maid, I was supposed to give her clothes to wash only on alternate days. One of such days, I gave her to wash my mother in-laws clothes, which pretty much covered the space on the wire to hang them to dry. She did not let go the opportunity to say that “You should soak less clothes. Now see there isn’t enough space to hang them to dry!” I didn’t want her to win her way like always. So I replied back instantly, that it was just one such day she had to wash more clothes what is the big deal? She immediately retracted from her previous statement saying she didn’t mean to say the load was much! Like I can’t read between the lines!

Another day passed and I used to fill up the whole sink with utensils to wash; the sink size is quite small. While washing the utensils, she turned to me and said “You should give me 600/- from next month. I agreed for 500 but see how much work I do”. Let me break down her work first-

1)      Utensils every day

2)      Sweep every day, wipe alternately (Sweeping is really not sweeping, because she barely touched the broom to the floor!)

3)      Clothes wash on alternate days

4)      I am out of town almost every week for 2-3 days for interviews, and she doesn’t work those days

5)      Sudden holidays for her random festivals of gods I have never heard of, I would say my bad!

So in a month she had worked hardly 15 days! With this break up in my mind and the fact that I had landed two jobs in Bangalore, I giggled….no wait, I LAUGHED wickedly in my head and said, “600 right? From next month? DONE! For this month 500 as per agreement. Next month 600! For sure.” I couldn’t wait for the day when I would tell her that she was fired and that I don’t need her less-than worth services!

I could sound so wicked in my mind, but in reality I can’t put it out; as already seen in my maid articles she ruled me! So when the time arrived, I just told her that I was going to stay with my mother for a few days and hence I don’t need her to come anymore. And paid her the 500/-

Goodbye Radha!

Child Labor

Today I had a positively productive evening, I hope so! We stepped out for a walk with a visitor we have today at home. On our way we stopped over at a temple, I generally go to. The best part about temples is the “Prasad” that you receive from the priest; they are just too tasty and yummy. I know I sound like a little girlJ. So after our prayers, I noticed that they were going to offer Prasad in those leaf bowls. I insisted to wait for it, so we sat in the nearby seating area.

My new friend - Apoorva

Before, I had noticed a girl about 12 yrs old smacking one of the two kids she was taking care of. When I sat down, the same girl came & sat next to me & questioned me instantly, “Akka (Elder sister), Where do you live?” Generally I wouldn’t answer such a question, but she seemed so innocent so I gave her the landmark to my house. She said she had seen me before in the temple. She asked me who the two guys were with me, brothers or friends? I said one was my husband and another friend. She gasped, “You are married? You look like a girl!” (blush J) Kidding! She slowly peaked at my toe rings and said she didn’t notice them before to know I was married. Moreover, she hadn’t seen married women in jeans! Hmm…I didn’t know what to say to that. I asked her name; Apoorva a very nice name. And then she came to her point saying, “Akka, if you need any help please let me know. I am looking out for work at homes”. I was a bit taken back. I asked her what her age was, she said 14. She really didn’t look old enough. I told her it is illegal to hire children below 14 to work. I asked her why she wanted to work; she said she has two months at hand and all her friends work so why not her!

I tried to explain her that her age is to play and study and enjoy like all other normal kids. Someday she has to work & earn like everybody, but then she can’t play or study. On enquiring, I got to know that she had no parents anymore and she lived with her elder sister & husband and the two kids belonged to her sister. I learnt that she goes to school and she just gave her 8^th grade exams; which also made me realize that she is not 14 but much younger. I promised her that I would buy her books for her 9^th grade, but that she should not work as a help at homes. I tried to explain her how she should study and educate herself and do a job in an office when she grows up. Apparently, her elder sister is working in some kind of office or factory, which is good. I tried to educate her about different jobs with minimum basic education, which would give her opportunity to do a decent job than wash clothes & utensils at homes.

Sadly, it is a new trend these days in India to hire poor girls from the villages who stay at home and take care of the kids and everything. This is very common with the highly-paid IT couples, who prefer to hire help because they are busy with their jobs. In fact, my mother had suggested me a while ago that if I settle in Bangalore then she knew a friend whose daughter has such a help. I stopped my mother right away and showed my anger regarding the topic of hiring a small girl. I told her no matter how busy my work life would get in future; I would never hire a young girl to take care of my house and family and that she should never bring this topic to discussion again. It is just wrong and educated people like us should not support or follow such trends. I understand that the poor families need money for their survival, but still I would not be a part of such employment.

I hope I could share some good knowledge with Apoorva and I plan to buy the 9^th grade books for her. I might have disappointed her with respect to giving her a job. I still want to appeal to my IT friends that it is wrong to hire children. Please stop child labor!

Thank god for "Safety Pins"

The Indian way as I mentioned earlier, was to use things until they are totally wasted! My maid’s broken flip-flops will give a better idea. Thank god for safety pins, she can now continue to use them. J

 

PS: She wore them like that for a week, but now she has a brand new pair of flip-flops, so no worries J

Tall – not enough!

The new setup of the portable cooking stove is so high for me to use now, I believed I was tall for anything! I am pretty much cooking at my eye-level! Very weird & so awkward!

MAID my day!

Today I got myself a maid to do the house chores. She is a typical maid woman, who likes to gossip! In India, there is a practice of having maids to do the household chores like washing clothes, utensils, sweeping & wiping the floors. It is fine for me to do it once in a while, but to do it regularly is quite a physical & mental stress; at least for me. Before when I lived with my parents, they always had a maid & it wasn’t really my task to keep a check on the way she works; was my mom’s problem. Now after having my own house and a maid, it is a bit awkward. Personally, I find it way too weird to have an elderly woman cleaning my house & things. It’s a cultural thing for me; very awkward to find mistakes & mention the corrections to the older lady. So it is really difficult for me to act like the boss or be one, literally.

Day 1 went ok. She washed the utensils well. The sweeping is a bit “pcch”!!! So she is kinda tall like me & the way she swept the floor was, just touching the tip of the broom to the floor. Pcch! No wiping today as she wants a cloth & we have a mop-stick! I was lenient on that saying she could do it from tomorrow. She washed the clothes pretty fine too. Just when she was done & set to leave, she mentioned “As you are just 2 people, you will have fewer clothes. So soak them to wash once in 2 days”. Now, I am wondering who the BOSS is!!!! Like I mentioned, I am not really comfortable giving orders, so for now, I just nodded saying “Sure! “

Indian maids are an extra-ordinary species of humans! The most sweet-taking, most gossiping, very smart to put things subtly into your minds and make you dance on their notes! But again I am not generalizing. Commonly, they would be like I mentioned. So I made a point to my maid today that I am not of the kind to sit & discuss stories from the neighborhood, which she accepted to be correct. Yet, she discussed with me stories from the neighbors! J Well, it was day 1 so I don’t want to make too many conclusions, all I want is my work done neatly with least amount of discussion or arguments. At the end of the day, I & Radha the maid, have to be happy with each other. So we’ll see how it goes from tomorrow. God help me!

PS: We mutually agreed on a salary of 500/- per month ($11). I bargained from 600 to 500 J. Again, I am too bad at bargaining, just can’t do it. A MUST KNOW skill in India! I just nod to any quoted price anywhere! A shopping dummy!

Ran out of Gas!!! Welcome Portable Cooking Stove

My morning today started with the LPG gas cylinder getting exhausted. We still don’t have the 2 cylinder setup where you replace the empty one with a fresh one. So no coffee L. We stepped out for a yummy south Indian breakfast of Masala Dosa, Idli Sambar & 2 steaming cups of coffee! On our way back my husband wanted to buy the portable cooking stove for future occasions too, apart from the current one. We stopped at a regular steel utensil store and the guy had a 5kg cylinder for 900/- ($20). The store keeper did a systematic setup of the whole thing; it was interesting to watch him assemble the parts. Starting with a flame holder & the rim to hold the vessel, screwed the together along with a handle to the rim.

Then he got the cylinder; connected the regulator on the back of the metal rim. Connected the regulator on the cylinder by rotating the metal rim. Then with a very very thin pin like may be 1mm thick wire he made a hole on the top of the metal regulator top to let the gas into the burner (of course the regulator was turned off).Then set back the metal rim with the flame holder on the top.

A perfect check up for no gas leakage! He lit a match stick & held it near the regulator first then moved to the burner, turned on the regulator & then Voilà! We had a nice blue LPG flame. J Back to cooking now, with just one burner though!