A Peter Pan market !

Can you guess the hottest publishing trend of  last year? C'mon try ! It's colouring book for grownups!

Most bookshops now have one or more corners dedicated to them and they come in all kinds of themes like "Harry Potter", "Mandalas", "Henna designs" & "Secret Garden Colouring book" (liked this one the most).                                                                
Fans say that adult coloring books can fight stress big time much like yoga and meditation !Its therapeutic and works like magic to relax your mind. I do agree but I feel  the same could be said for any type of art and craft activities.


Maybe colouring books have the added advantage as  the groundwork has already been done for you ! All you have to do is to grab some colour pencils, which probably most grown ups already have at home & go crazy !

On the contrary,when you are creating artwork from scratch,there is some planning that is involved and you usually have to source the materials.Yes, definitely not as easy peasy as just buying a coloring book and starting  your creative journey .

 By the way,"The Secret Garden: an Inky Treasure Hunt and Colouring Book" has sold 2 million copies worldwide since its release in 2013.

Goodreads

Yes we're back & something about "Goodreads"

I joined "Goodreads" a couple of years back but only started using it actively a few months ago. "Goodreads" is a  free website/app   designed for people who are into reading.It's like a Facebook for readers where the status updates are what you are reading or are planning to read. Apart from entering  what books you are reading,you can see what's there in other people's  shelves. You can read reviews and write your own (which I am quite lazy about doing).

What's more ,you can set your Reading Challenge for the year and mine is 24 books for 2015. So far I have read 2  and gearing up for more!

Oh and for the books you are reading you can key in what percentage of the book you have completed. This keeps you going because when you see that you have read 9% of the book then you want to keep going and make it 15% or at least 10% for the time being.

If you're a reader then try it and see whether you like it! If you're using kindle, then you can link it up with your "Goodreads" account. All the more fun!

Trying my hand at this again....

Thought about this many times...thought about what to write, what to share, what to say, how to say it, how to convey it.....should I limit myself to certain topics and issues, or should I expand and talk about everything that I get affected by?

For today I am just going to say how saddened and sorrowful I am at the inhuman massacre of innocent children in Peshawar. Those who did this are not humans at all....

What kind...

1) what kind of a mother allows her son to get a henna tattoo & does not get one for herself because she knows those ladies add hair dye to the henna!! It's not safe!!
That mother would be me.

2) what kind of a man refills a bottle of liquid hand wash with hair conditioner simply because no one is using it & the bottle is lying around in the bathroom.
That man is my husband.

Lalach buri bala

Lalach buri bala means that greed is a bad habit to have.
We went today morning to the Padini warehouse sale.
We assumed very wrongly that there would not be too much of a crowd.
As we entered the industrial estate where the factory is located; we saw numerous cars parked and people walking towards the same place...again we thought that there must be some other event.
On reaching the warehouse we saw people in a line; there were drink and snack stalls! People were enjoying their drinks & snacks while chit chatting with their friends.
The line turned out to be almost 2 Km long!!!
We decided to get out of there and head to the familiar environs of a mall... What else could we do with 2 bachhas in tow!!

Volcano Salad

A very thirsty baby and a bottle

A very thirsty baby & a bottle of water...make that a very big bottle of water; and what happens if you put these two together???

Here's the answer

I am...

If you call and I don't answer.....it means....

I am measuring baby formula !!

I hate being disturbed when i am doing that more so because I forget the count...

Have you....?

Have you ever been at a gathering & when the host introduces you to someone.....they sort of 'check you out' as though to say 'oh!!! So this is neelum' !!
It makes me VERY uncomfortable!!!

The statue is located outside the Taiping museum. Handsome ain't he?

Conversations

Some conversations reveal so much about the person; they may be few words, but they just open up a whole new pathway or tunnel ... Showing you another aspect or facet to that persons personality and at times these mere words reflect a layer of that person's soul........
I wish we could have such conversations more often

Thank God for languages to help us express our feelings & experiences.

What kind of world would it be if we din't have words??
Scary thought for me... Coz I love to read & can't imagine a world without words - written & spoken.

That reminds me of the annual book sale that's going to be here shortly; they say it's going to be the largest book sale in the whole world!
Looking forward to this sale; again I need a strategy for this year to pick my authors or genre before heading there.

On another note....I am singing 'its only words & words are all I have ... To take your heart away...'

A relaxed Saturday morning

Well hardly.... With baby getting up at 5:30 am; and then he was super excited to see us all near him and that 'inspired' him to play n play he did for the next 3 odd hours!!!! Goshhhhhh we're ready to scream n shout out for help.
Where is super nanny when you need her??
Now the baby sleeps peacefully while we scramble around to get on with daily chores &@@&$)$&

And we are spring cleaning .... Again

Every holiday day starts with us all cleaning whatever we can lay our hands on... Baby is kept busy with lots of toys.
Today we did the toy room (again); the baby's cabinet, and the study table...
All's not finished; as there are tiny things that need a place.
My plan for our home now is to follow this statement 'your home should be a reflection of who you are'; and 'your home should rise up to greet you when you step inside'.
Still a long long way to get there; but I'm going to take baby steps at this and really trim down and organize things like they used to be when I was much more energetic n enthusiastic....gwaad I'm sounding old!!

Happy weekend n stay safe!

Let me try this again...

After a very eventful past year ... Birth of baby#2; a change of school for baby #1; of yes and I must remind myself to stop calling him baby ... He is 6 years old now!!
Well loads of changes n loads of challenges still looking me in the eye; but I am still make an ate or to write in this space again!!
For today let's suffice ourselves with ' I want to eat a good pizza'
Ciaooo

Time to show off !!

Clap...clap....clap.....

Yesssssssssssssss we finally managed to win at the much coveted blog of Mindfull-Meanderings. Winning on this blog is no small thing....It is a BIG deal !!

I had sent in as our entry for the November Artsy-Crafts Challange, the Akaash-kandil made by Amol and Aadu.

Thanks Shruti for the chance and the lovely award that's soon going to make way to my home !!!

Can't wait to show that off as well !!

My winning picture story

I sent this as my entry for the Samsung, Singapore contest, titled ' What's your winning picture story?'

I chose this picture as it depicts a very significant event in my life as a mother. Here's why....

The picture was taken on 23rd of August, 2008. My son's 3rd Birthday. It was not a normal 3rd Birthday....because that very morning my son also got discharged from hospital after his Open Heart Surgery that had taken place on the 14th of August.

In this photo, my son is sitting on his Papa's lap, and I am performing a very traditional ritual of 'Aukshan' or 'Aarti' for my son. In which I apply a red kumkum 'teeka' on his forehead, followed by raw rise. Then the 'thali' (plate) containing the Diya (lamp) is rotated in front of his face 5 times to invoke the blessings of the Gods.

The date shown on the photo is wrong !! We never paid attention to those settings and just assumed that all must be well.

The day was made special by the presence of all our family and friends that had rallied with us through this tough time of our son's surgery.

For those who wish to participate in this contest, here are the details:

How to participate:

• Email your photo in JPEG format to hweiyun.ng@samsung.com, and explain in not more than 50 words its significance. Photo should be less than 2MB in size.
• Include your full name, NRIC number, email and contact number (in SG)
• Send entries by 5th December, 2010.

Prizes: 2 Samsung NX100 cameras to be won!

Duration: 23 Nov – 5 Dec 2010

Big Bad Wolf Book Sale 2010 - what I bought

The Big Bad Wolf Book Sale is a much awaited event in our household. The last year we really went mad and crazy and bought loads and loads of books...I have written extensively about it in this previous post.

This year we went on the 14th of November.....yes I know or rather realised later that it's Children's Day in India !!! So that was my excuse for buying books for my son and me (well I also am my parent's child no??? so it was my Children's Day also !!)

I did not have a lot of energy this time...the husband was also travelling all week so was exhausted too....but it was soooooooo sweet of him to take me to the sale and be patient enough while I browsed. He had his turn with browsing too, but this time I knew he was more tired than eager to look for good books.

My strategy for this year was to buy Asian authors for myself and non-American and Non-UK authors for my son.

Here's what all I picked up this year.

1. The concubine of Shanghai - Hong Ying
2. The river of lost footsteps. A personal history of Burma- Thant Myint - U
3. The immortals - Amit Chaudhuri
4. The opium clerk - Kunal Basu
5. Tiger Hills - Sarita Mandanna
6. The hungry tide - Amitav Ghosh

Have finished reading the first one on the list, and it was a good read, and I got to learn about life in China (a bit).

The second one is what I am reading now, and am loving every page of it. Who knew reading history could be so much fun...well especially when we don't have to mug it up for an exam !!

For Aadu here's what we picked up:

1. The gentle lion - Takashi Yanase
2. Little daughter of the snow - Arthur Ransome
3. Little donkey's wish - Udo Weigelt
4. Copy & color in
5. Drawing fantasy art

Considering last year's number...this year we picked up only a few....but all's OK....since we stuck to my strategy and plan.

What books have you bought/read lately?

Resuscitating our beloved blog

It feels great to see that Neelum is resuscitating our blog whom we have neglected sorely this year. I was looking at all the posts and I was shocked to discover that I have posted only once this year and that too in February!!!!!!!!!

Time passes so quickly when you have young children but that's really no excuse for not posting in the blog. I have seen mothers with newborns who blog regularly and so what excuse do I have with four and  five year olds?

From now on I have pledged to myself to blog regularly.It can be a short post or even a video but it would be great if all of us can keep writing and interacting with our readers and fellow bloggers.

Memories of my oldest book

The Universe listens to you and and has it's own ways of manifesting our wishes and desires.....so said a friend of mine over a cup of tea just a few days back.

She was trying to get me to blogging again, and begin I did......and I was thinking about a post about books and wanted to share my childhood favorites with all my readers. I wanted to tell everyone about the one book (from my childhood) that stays on in my mind after alllllllllllll these years.

And here I am doing this post about the same....and had it not been for Shruti's post about Diwali Moments, I would have never gone and looked at blogadaa, and all the amazing contests they have there. BTW: Shruti won the blogadda contest about Diwali Moments !!

Getting back to the memories about my oldest book....

The book was bought by my Papa, and although I don't remember the exact date/year of when he bought it, but I can say this much that I knew how to read...so maybe I was 7-8 years old. So the book has been in the family for over 26 years !! that's like quarter of a decade !!

My Papa has a practice of writing the name of the recipient on the first page of the book in the most creative manner...I follow this practice with my son's books !!

The book I'm talking about it 'The Adventures of Dunno and his Friends' by Nikolai Nosov, a Russian author. The book was translated in English by Margaret Wettlin.

The book was thick, hard bound, with a nice cover with the picture of the main character 'Dunno' on it....the cover is still picture clear in my mind.

(Image Courtesy: http://home.freeuk.net/russica2/books/nez/book.html)

The book is in my home in Pune, where it rests with all other books that Papa got for us (big brother and me) as kids. It is super fun to look through this collection whenever we go there...sadly now it's only a couple of times every year. Sigh !!!! One of the many drawbacks of not living in India :(

The very fact that the book still remains in good condition in our Pune home, shows that I have no plans of letting go of this treasure, firstly because it's a book and having parents who love books and collections of their own, I was/am never under any pressure to de-clutter or give away !! The same collect-books streak continues today at my home in KL, and every year we have to make a trip to IKEA to get a new book case !!

Secondly, we hope to pass on the book collection to our next generation, so it's our duty to safe-keep it.

The book is about the amazing little people of a fun town called 'Flower Town'. Dunno, the main character has many friends, and they manage to run into some kind of adventure after another.

The plots are simple, and very funny. One begins to love each and every character in the book.

One thing that I am going to do for sure during my next trip to India is get this book back for my son who is 5 years old, and loves books and reading !! All these years I only allowed him to browse through the book and always had a very watchful eye on him !! for fear of he causing any harm to my beloved book. And my son is a guy who has never broken a toy or torn a book !! My possessiveness comes into action unknowingly !!

I hope the book brings as much joy to my son and my brother's kids over the years ahead .... as much as we (big brother and I) had while we read it as kids.

I highly recommend this book to all parents, not only is it a great read, but it has amazing illustrations and drawings on each page which make the book more readable and super duper enjoyable !!

Through blogadda, I was happy to learn about a company called 'Friends of Books'. This looks like something I'm going to love...as they have an Online Book Rental Library and also a Bookstore full of amazing second hand books. The best part is that they operate 24x7 and 365 days a year !! Hold on...there's more....the books are delivered to your doorstep all over India !!!

Goshhhhhhhh that's like THE best thing for a book-lover like me.

I can buy the books and have them sent to my home in Pune and then have the family ship them over here !! Sadly I can't avail of their library service...but I'm going to tell all my friends in India about this great service.

and I connect with bloggers at BlogAdda.com

November 2010 Artsy Craftsy Challenge

Akaash-Kandil

Amol and his little helper Aadu made this beautiful Akaash-Kandil for this Diwali.
It is a very basic and simple lamp to make. Aadu helped with the cutting and pasting.
The instruction can be found here on Balagokulam

We used up some 7 sheets of card paper that we had at home. Glue, Stapler, and some glittering sticky tape is all that you need to make this lamp.

This is the first year that Father-son did something together for Diwali. And I am proudly going to submit it to Shruti's November Artsy Craftsy Challenge.

One day at a time

Yes ...'one day at a time'...............that's my motto from this day onwards.

Loads happened in the months since I last wrote on this blog. There was my India trip, and I came back with a viral...that took a while to shake off, then there was this unprecedented tiredness and weakness that took over for about 2 months....there were many visits to the doctor....then after a while I grew sick of seeing them. Then along with all this there was a newly acquired aversion to the smell of cooking oil and smells of all kinds in general.

Yes people I realized well into my 3rd month that I was pregnant !!

As of now I am taking in all the help I can possibly get, a lot of money is being spent I know...but I guess what is more important is my peace of mind and me being able to spend just as much time with my First-born (never thought i'd refer to Aadu in this manner).

There were loads of friends who I met during my India trip who said they read the blog and I was surprised coz they never comment :(

There are friends here in KL, who encouraged me to re-start writing as that would get my mind elsewhere and I could have a clearer mindset. Thanks Dhanya, Kakoli, Nirali, Runa, Manali, not to forget the Husband who's at his supportive best these days.

Along with all these special friends i'd like to especially mention another friend of mine....Shruti. Now Shruti is more than just a blog friend...and she's the one with monthly crafty challenges on her superb blog. Recently she did a post about Diwali celebrations and she put up a photo from my last year's Diwali album, the one about the Shivaji-fort. She did all the link up and all to my blog....and I was like....'goshhhhhhhh Shruti...do you really want to link up an almost dead blog onto you your thriving blog?' I was really ashamed and embarrassed...and it was that day that I made a promise to everyone of my friends who were edging me on... that I would write again.

So here I am.