He is 2.5 years old now... :-)

The last post about my son was when he was 6 months old but I think it is time to devote another post for him since he has grown so much since then...

Actually this post got delayed and my son is almost 2.9 months now...so I think I can write some more about him. He is still the same sweet child which I had described in my previous post about him. But now there is a whole bunch of things which he can do and amaze us at the same time. For instance he is very fluent in both Marati and Tamil - his Mother and Father tongues. So while he is talking to this Dad he speaks in Tamil and with Mom in Marati and he also translates for his Dad when required...he is our little translator :-D It is amazing to see how kids pick up languages at this age...just like that! I think some research into how kids do this will help us grown ones also to follow the same technique. Personally, I think it is because they have an open heart and open mind and are not biased by anything.

He is also very, very naughty now unlike the last time when I wrote about him where I described him as a sweet angel. But his naughty little pranks are all engineered to make us laugh or sometimes even scream depending on how much post-cleaning work we have to do... :-)

Also the most important part of his growing up is his fixation with cars which started quite early but is still very stead. He just loves them! Actually he loves any kind of automobile but he probably likes his Dad's van the best. I realized how much fixated he was with them when the first thing he learnt to draw was a Car few months back and he draws nothing else but that...! Also his favorite letters in the Alphabet is C (for Car) and V (for Van)...hmmm.....I don't remember when exactly his fascination for cars started but boy it has stayed for quite long and I am not sure how much longer will it stay....

He also does a lot of sweet things trying to help me which fortunately or unfortunately turn out to be double work for me! This one time he tried to help me clean the rice and spilt the whole thing on the floor :-O which make me furious at that given instant but later when I think back about the intention with which he did it makes me feel warm and I also feel sorry for yelling at him.

As he is growing up he is more closer to me than his Dad which I guess is a normal tendency for boy babies. Also I think the main thing about bringing up children right is by being a good example for them to mimic. There is no use telling them or disciplining them about right and wrong. You just do the right thing and they will follow you.

Now he understands what is happening around him much better and this has motivated me as a mother to do things which would help him understand our culture and heritage better. Hence I make it a point to celebrate all festivals by following the same rituals and traditions to whatever extent feasible. Hopefully all this will form a good treasure of memories for him to cherish as he grows older.

I can go on and on about him and his antics but I think I will stop here and will continue in another post after a few months....

Nostalgia...

This is a collection of some of the old Doordarshan serial songs and ads...hmmm.....feels good to be back to our childhood... :-) If you were a child in the 80s and 90s then you will surely enjoy these nuggets when life wasn't so complicated and we used to just have one channel on TV and a couple of channels on the Radio...and very few ads which we can still remember...

One of the songs which used to play on AIR...Ghanashyama Sundara

One of my favorite serials and title song (Tehkikaat)...I used to never miss an episode of this..

Another one of my favorite detective serials...I used to loveeeeee thisss....Byomkesh Bakshi

A funny serial which I used to watch regularly - Flop Show Great job Jaspal Bhatti ji...

A regular serial to watch to build up my General Knowledge bank - Surabhi - wish there were more programs like this one...

One of the earliest animations on DoorDarshan channel - for National Integrity - Need to play this even now on all channels...

Cute ad - can't forget this one - Jalebiiii....

mmm....Diary Milk ...sweet memories...

Patriotic ad - Hamara Bajaj

My favorite cartoon (obviously second to Tom & Jerry) - Jungle Book aka Mougli

Another good title song from those days - Chandrakantha

I think when we are kids we always aspire to be superheroes just like Shaktimaan

My first introduction to Arabian folk tales - Alif Laila

Another of my favorite patriotic song - Mile Sur Mera Tumhara

Really got me into the meditative mood early on - Om Namah Shivay

Freedom Run - old memories are flooding back...

Another favorite classic which I just stumbled upon in YouTube - Pingu - I don't remember this being telecast for long...but really brings back a lot of memories :-)

I will keep updating this list as and when I come across any of the old favorites...

Operation UnPlug - One!

This post is a continuation of my previous post which was quite grim. After giving some thought to it I decided to come up with a list of things which we can-do based on our feasibility to lessen our dependence on the 'crumbling' economy and at the same time respect Mother Earth a little bit more. These are just beginnings of a new perspective of life for me...but I can guarantee that there are people out there who are already very actively leading lives which are very self-sufficient and very eco-conscious...so if you are such a person and you happen to stumble across this post of mine please share your thoughts and ideas...and maybe we can make this world that much more nicer to live....

There are many things which we need to unplug ourselves from. Take for instance the food inflation which seems to be getting worse day after day. The best way to 'unplug' from this is to grow our own vegetables. Ok, I agree, it's not easy - we live in a flat too with very little gardening space but what is stopping us from having a few potted vegetables like tomato, potato, carrot, cucumber and so on? This will not only help reduce our dependence on the expensive vegetable hawker but will also give us the satisfaction of cooking our own home grown vegetables :-) which I can bet will be more tasty and fresh. This will also increase the 'green' quotient of your home and you will do your part in making the planet greener...

The next main thing is to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels. For this we need to reduce our dependence on driving a vehicle or even renting one. I for one rent autorickshaws when I have to travel out but they are a species of humans I think I would be better off dealing without. If they gas prices go up by one unit these guys increase their rates 10 units. There is no one to question their rowdyism. I always abhor traveling in one but end up traveling as I have no other choice. To find a solution to my problem I started researching if there are electric bikes (remember I want my solutions to eco-friendly as well) which I could buy. But then I realized that were a couple of electric bike choices but their maintenance costs were way too high. Every year the maintenance cost would be about 50 % of the initial purchase price!!! I think there is a huge potential for electric bikes in India which is currently being ignored by the government for their own selfish purpose. Then I realized that in China there are a lot more varieties of electric bikes. If any business men are out there I would request you to please tap into this potential market which is the best solution from an environmental angle as well.

This is the first post among a series of UnPlug posts. I think people who think in favor of the environment and talk 'big' are still ridiculed upon today. But I think it is high time that the others wake up to the damage that has already been done and unplug themselves from all selfish associations and try to lead more fuller more eco-friendly lives. Their life may not be on the 'fast lane' but it will definitely be on the more 'sensible lane'.

Corporate Sustainability...the new buzzword

I came across this word in the newspaper the other day and it caught my fancy. hmmm...what does it mean...? There was an interview with Mr. So & So where he mentioned that it refers to companies considering all aspects of their business from a social, cultural and economic environment with the main focus being on creating a 'green' strategy...he mentioned that 'CSR' (Corporate Social Responsibility) was just frou-frou (there goes another keyword down the drain!) and he said that 'CS' or Corporate Sustainability was the catch-all word.

So what exactly is CS? According to the Brundtland Commission's Report it means - "development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs". I guess it is high time that we woke up to this truth...given the fact that we have already started paying a heavy price for the mistakes made by our previous two generations...

The first and foremost thing to be done based on the above definition of CS is that basically as corporate's or as individuals we have to become 'less greedy' - easier said than done. People today blinded by their greed want to earn and stash away $$$ by any possible means for themselves and for their future generations...but they forget to realize that who will enjoy all their wealth if there are no humans left alive on this earth???!!!!! 7 BILLION - a staggering number - maybe if medical science had not tampered so much with nature's cycle of life and death - maybe our population would have been at a much more sustainable level today. Don't take me wrong, I am not in favor of people dying early due to epidemics / pandemics (or) probably wouldn't want to have the average age of human being to be just 60...but when we talk about sustainability, all I am saying is that nature has its own laws and man has tampered with those basic laws.

There is a saying which goes 'Mother Earth has enough to satisfy every man's need but not every man's greed' - but 7 billion...just think...how will Mother Earth sustain this number, even if every individual transforms into a 'non-greedy' person!

Also I came across another term called 'Geo-engineering' (Yes, one more branch will be available very soon in all our engineering colleges). Since the problem of global warming is reaching alarming proportions they want to put mirrors in space to deflect sun's light :-O in addition to a host of similar plans including sprinkling salt on clouds to make them absorb the sun's light!!!! There will be numerous side effects to this including around 20 -30 % less rainfall in India......hmmm....and this is just the first one...! Why can't people just plant more trees which is the simplest solution to Global warming...No, wait...trees need space and who has it with 7 billion Homo sapiens occupying the same real estate...I am not sure how far people will go in their technological advancement....looks like they are hell bent on destroying Mother Nature's delicate balance...I think the time is not far off when Earth will look all arid and dry filled with 'man-made junk' as depicted in the movie 'Wall-E'....that will be a very sad day...very sad day for all of us....