Horror Shows!

My daughter is five. When she was younger, she saw some cartoon where she came to know about ghost, vampires, mummy, witches et all. All at a cartoon level. It wasn't scary at all.

Recently, someone in my house was watching Zee TV and she was crossing by, when she saw some new program promotional trailer of a horror show.

Certainly, I didn't expect what happened next.

All of sudden my daughter became so scared that refused to go to the bathroom all alone, even in broad day light. She doesn't go the other room for playing, not even to her favorite place, where we would find her all the time, the balcony. 

We tried to find out the reason and she told us about that clipping she saw on the tv. 

Now, it is a big task for us to take her out of that shock and explain her that it is just a play, not real. Her mind is not ready to accept it though. 

Well, Zee TV is banned for all at my place now, at least when my baby is up and at home. Not only Zee tv, there are many music channels as well, which are a complete no-no at our place, cause they also telecast these trailers. I am not aware how many kids have watched these trailers and how they react but for us, it was bad...bad.

Wishful thinking : These scary trailers should be aired after 9 pm in any channel and not before that.  

Standing with GST!

There is a lot of noise with GST and lot of memes floating about GST is going to ruin us completely.
Before I tell, which side I am standing, let me share the meme which I founf the best::

Jab bhi those paise jama hote hai,

Kahi se ek awaaz ati hai...."Mitrrroooonnn!!!"

Isn't it damn funny!
Well, well, having laughed at this meme, I stand strong with this GST and this revolution.

At the consumer end, may be we have to pay a little extra for few specified services and goods but we are still at the advantageous side.

But being a customer/consumer you and I need to be informed.

Let me quote a recent incident - @ Lifestyle.

Lifestyle quoted flat 50% discount, with hardly a few items at that discount rate. I had a voucher and I thought, before these cards become useless and before GST, let me complete the shopping.

On the items which were on discount, Lifestyle charged extra 5%, claiming that these are new government rules. I am talking about the days before GST was implemented.

When I inquired the store manager about which rule is such, he had absolute no idea! Of course, the same thing was done at many other stores as well.

I really felt cheated. But what option I had?

I know post GST things are going to be a little chaotic, but one thing is for sure -

Do check your bills. Now, we only need to pay the goods and service tax. There are few smart shops who are going to charge you additional for - Service tax.

Be alert and careful. DONOT pay service tax. We just need to pay GST.

HONKING OR NO HONKING!

Before I learnt how to drive, I was at the other side. I used to wonder why people honk so much. It was quiet irritating and so seemed uncalled activity. Trust me, I actually felt, no honking is actually possible!

Really!!!

Of course, I am on the driving seat and who ever thinks it is possible to not honk, please meet me in person!!!

It is absolutely impossible in India. 

Absolutely impossible.

There are so many people who walks busy in their phone, not even looking if any vehicle is coming.

There are others who will just come from any small roads joining the big roads, in full speed; without any horn and there is full possibility of two vehicles banging. This is not all. You have given signal to turn, and someone will just walk in front of your car, if you don't honk.

If you don't honk in both these conditions, then bang-bang!

Really, for those who have visited the foreign countries, please keep these expectations till you remain out of India. Here, we talk loudly, we are a little in hurry all the given time and we can't do without loud HONKS.

So for everyone's safety, let there be some noise!!!!

MOBILE AND NO-MOBILE!

I was very very excited. I was going on my school trip - to New Delhi, Shimla and Chandigarh. My parents didn't want to send me. Luckily my brother had a school trip a month back - to New Delhi and Jaipur. The best part was he got permission to go for the trip.

My parents had a little choice, you see! If my brother can go, so can I.

Those were safe days. Girls and boys were safe. People had some faith in humanity, or maybe it was not reported. I don't know, let's not go there. Okay. So, it was my trip day.

That one instruction that I think all of us friends got from our parents was - Please call where ever you find a PCO. Teachers were requested to make sure that the children make calls to parents every day. Just once though.  

My parents knew where ever I reached. I called everyday and shouted on phone, "I am fine...I am at so-&-so location. Don't worry. I am good." Hang up. Pay the PCO person and done for the day!

THE MOBILE REVOLUTION

The mobile revolution has taken place. The revolution has its effect even on a two year old(mine started going crazy about mobile at that age...not sure about the little mobile-freaks age!) Small children who don't even have the proper bathroom sense knows how to unlock a phone and open a game app or YouTube and play rhymes!

Most of the school going children, talking about high school children, have a basic phone. When children of today go on a school trip, it's easy to reach them...except if the child and the entire team has switched off their phones in badmashi.

Even when we go to offices, we inform our families, we are here at office. Kya khaya, kya piya, kya kiya...etc etc... everything is shared. Not only calls, but social media has also made this place more accessible.

I can't place my child in my kind of trip. If she doesn't has a phone and if I am unable to reach her at my ease, it's difficult for me send her anywhere. Of course, the time has changed as well. But with all this mobile revolution we have become slaves to our phones and the habit of reaching out to each other at our ease has made us mobile-slaves.

Try this, leave your phone and go somewhere for sometime, a hour or two! Come back home and trust me, you will know how important you are! Everyone will yell and tell you, HOW COULD YOU LEAVE YOUR PHONE AND GO?  

If you are unreachable even for one hour, people go crazy! Indeed, gladly accepting that, I am too a big mobile slave! Mobiles ki jai ho!

STRESS IN A TINY PACKAGE!

If you think teaching is easy, try to handle a bunch of pre-primary kids.

I started taking after school learning classes and trust me, it was going great. Everyone was learning a new thing every day. Everything was under my control. Until the next boy joined.

He is very energetic boy with a little less sense of "NO". He gets angry on everything. He won't even do things as per my instruction. He loves to snatch. He loves to hit and bite. There has been no learning since he has come. He doesn't want to learn and he disturbs everyone else.

I wonder what shall I do. I don't know. My child is also his age, but she has learnt the basic lessons of how to handle her own self.

I really feel there is a big difference in being naughty and having behavioral issues. Or am I just too stressed cause of him, can't say!

Does anyone has any idea how to deal with such situations?

CHANGE IS NEAR!

I am really very excited to meet this new..hot...ferocious...beautiful LION couple, who are new to the Pune zoo.

I thought I am a biggg animal lover...but hey you have to meet my five year old who is ready to pick her pets' potty too...need a pet at any cost. It can be pigs too!

 So, here we are...living with two real rabbits. Irrespective of pets at home, we are regulars at the zoo too.

This news of addition to he zoo family was a celebrated news for my daughter. Yes....she made us cut a cake and went for our first time with the lion at our own zoo.

What makes me extremely happy is the whole funda of adopting  animals at the zoo. With the entry fee which is just a few rupees and with limited government financial help, managing and giving the best feed to the animals and giving them appropriate care is indeed difficult. According to the records, a lion couple would eat 8-10kg of meat in a day. With such a figure, its difficult for commoners to adopt such big animals but corporates stepping in for adoption is the best part.

Hope there are more such initiatives. I can adopt rabbits but hope the richies and corporates make this adoption of animals, a trend and take this ahead!

Change is near!

THE PHONE FEVER

My maid was taking a break from work and was having tea. She happened to be a talkative one who would share everything with you, irrespective of your willingness to hear!

She mentioned to me that she wants to buy a phone. It is a necessity in the current times, not a luxury anymore. But certainly, she thinks differently. It is not only a much needed thing for her, but she wants to make it a luxury.

She wants to buy a iPhone!

Really!

Of course, you should keep your dreams and wishes high, but people forget that these quotes are for real things in life. These should be used for something more valuable and more meaningful.

Phone -

Primary Purpose - Talking/Communication

Secondary Purpose - Entertainment

Now even if one is willing to buy a good phone for entertainment, which can be music, camera, speed, games, et all, still the primary reason for the phone remains the same for all. For all.

Leave her, she doesn't know what she is talking about, I personally know of people who have taken loan to buy an iPhone. There must be many many who must have done the same. I know - 'the experience' of using an iPhone and all that, but does the primary purpose change in any way.

There is a beautiful quote in hindi,

"Jitni chadar hai utti pair phailao"

Buy a phone which you can afford. You will be much happier.

P.S.: I can't even think of buying a very expensive phones and my husband is the happiest. It wouldn't be nice to experience a heart attack at this young age! Damn these Butter fingers, I tell you!!

Wondering how you(who bought an iPhone) deal when your phones fall.

FOOD, FRIENDS AND ONE PLATE!

I am in a philosophical mood today. I met my college friends over the weekend and went back in time, when I was young and carefree and so not loaded with any kind of responsibilities, of course, excluding my padai likhai.

It was some time. Classes, classrooms, library, books, professors, girls, boys, affairs, break ups, late nights, hunger pangs,  maggi, food, canteen, mess, bad-food, good-food, chicken cravings, tapri, chai, tapri ki chai, tapri kaa chicken, sarita kaa dhabba.....

Sarita kaa dhabba - Can't forget that day at Saritas'!

We skipped our breakfast that day. It was a perfect chutti ki subh. We all woke up late and when we woke up, only thing in our minds was food. So, we brushed our teeth and took a rubber band and just pined our hair with it, without brushing it. Really and who cares!

Sarita and her family were getting the dhabba ready for the day. They had no food ready by then. Only tea was there. We were quiet disappointed and thought we will go to the next one. But her father said, give us 10 minutes!

The thing which we thought we had, was TIME. We said okay. With a cup of hot tea in our hands, we were in deep conversation about the global warming and the water level issues. When our second cup of tea was on, hot aromatic pyaz-tamatar ki sabji and few parathas arrived at our table. We were four and we started eating with all our might. It looked like we have not been fed for days.

There is a magic when you eat from one plate. You have no idea how much you ate and you are just not full. Someone will say, ek aur, and you feel haa yaar, ek aur! Something like this happened to us. We kept on eating. Sarita, do-teen aur la do! We repeated this so many times! It seemed like a never ending breakfast.

Sarita was a telgu and she spoke to her dad in that dialect. We were in mid of food talks when suddenly my friend started laughing hysterically. She turned and called, "Sarita, we don't usually eat this much! It's out first time too!" She laughed and Sarita ran inside her room, leaving us wondering what just happened!

Eventually we found out that Sarita commented on us, "How much they eat? Will they ever stop eating? 2 saal kaa khana aaj hi kha lenge kya?"

Of course, we had a good laugh! But from that day onwards, I learnt a small lesson, NEVER EAT IN THE SAME PLATE WITH YOUR FRIENDS. YOU WILL BECOME SUPERFAT.

FAT SHAMMING!

Is it okay to put down someone to show yourself higher? Is it okay to laugh about things which hurts the others?

If I pass a comment just as a joke about your looks or about your being fat, is it okay?

No its not! Not even if you are my husband!

I have a sister-in-law, who is quiet distant. I really don't know what reminded me of her, but that incident cracked me up then and its cracks me up now!

She came to visit us for a day. I just had a baby and generally since childhood I am healthier than others around me. Mind it, just healthier and even if I would have been fat, what you have got to do with it! 

I hardly knew her and she is passing comments like, "Oh my god bhabhi, you look soo fat , I mean you look very nice but you know, I don't want to be this healthy also. I would rather not have babies if it makes you look fat!"

I gave her back, "Yaa right! You shouldn't ...everyone doesn't look as lovely as me when they put on! The way you look now, I mean, just look at you, I mean...I can say you should DEFINITELY...DEFINITELY not try putting on weight."

She left soon after lunch and we never spoke and I am soo glad about that fact.