For the past two months the buzz around my house has always been about 16th October. You might think what is so auspicious about that date. It is nothing but my daughter's 13th birthday. I don't think I ever realized the fact that I was entering my teenage when I turned thirteen. My thirteenth birthday was just like any other number. But to my daughter it is like a jewel in her crown. She was so excited about her birthday. She would always talk about the dress she would wear, how she would look, what gift she wanted etc. Every time the talk about her birthday would come up my son would be boiling with fumes inside because he had five more solid years to call himself a teen. To him it is attaining manhood--may be 25% manhood??? We told our daughter that she could have a party. We gave her many options like bowling, movie, rock-climbing, but all these were termed as "LAME". She wanted to do something different. I didn't understand what that "something different" meant. Then she told she wanted to have a combined party with her close friend who will be burning 13 in November. We agreed for it.
On the 15th October I was thinking that I should do something to make her happy on her birthday. Though not a mega party at least something she would remember for her life. I called two of her close friends for a sleep over. Both their moms were so nice to agree to send their daughters home for a sleepover. Sruthi told me that she had asked three of her bus friends to come over for dinner that evening. Me and my friend Chitra went and bought all the necessary things for making dinner. My husband told that we could order pizza. I wanted to make everything myself for my teenage princess. Me and Chitra made pizza, pasta, corn , beans and nachos salad, chalupaa, jamun and baked some brownies. We were on our heels for almost 4 hours. 5 of her friends were there, Gaurika,Madhulika,Monisha,Brandon,Saadhvika. Madhu's mom Rohini also had come to wish Sruthi. There was so much of noise and laughter echoing around the house. Rishi was feeling all left out. Ravi came home early and was giving company for Rishi. We couldn't figure out for what they were all laughing so much. Everyone was talking and everyone was laughing. This is what childhood innocence means. I could remember the days me and my friends would sit and laugh for anything and everything. We would laugh at a bald head-- unfortunately my dad was also bald. If someone fell we would laugh first then go to their rescue. Where has all that innocent laughter gone? I felt that the house was so full of energy and enthusiasm. Kids enjoyed the food I had cooked--thats what they told me. Rohini, Chitra and me had a good time talking. Gaurika,Monisha and Brandon left at around 10.45p.m. Later we planned to cut the cake at 12 sharp. We all sat to watch a movie.
At 11.45 p.m I got the brownie ready to be cut. Sadhvika was jumping around screaming that she would be the first one to wish Sruthi and give her a hug. Inside me I was thinking the same. The mom status prohibited me from shouting it aloud. All of us were ready for the big show. Rishi was watching a private movie inside the bedroom(he calls it like that because only he was watching the cartoon). Everybody's eyes were on the clock. The clock was ticking... 11.58.59 then 12. "Happy birthday Sruthiiiiii" screamed Sadhu first. Though I was ready for shouting I stood spellbound seeing her screaming. She gave Sruthi a big hug. I came to my senses in a jiffy and wished my little girl. Madhu and Sadhu welcomed her to the world of "Teendom". Sruthi felt like she had become eligible for so many things in her life all of a sudden.
Ravi took a break for a second and went inside the room. We were all wondering what he was about to do. To everybody's surprise he came out with something in his hand. He gave it to Sruthi. I couldn't see what it was. I could only hear Sruthi scream OMG,OMG,OMG non stop. I peeped and saw what was in her hand. It was the I Touch she had asked for. She gave Ravi a hug and jumped saying "thank you papa, thank you papa." Rishi got soo upset seeing the gift that he went inside the room and closed the door. He must have been thinking inside "Why the hell was I not born first to reach teendom?" Sruthi was in the height of her happiness. She cherished the gift by touching it softly. She kissed it. She held it close to her cheek. She wanted to use the very moment. Her friends felt happy for her. We convinced Rishi to come out of the room. Then we all had the brownie and the photo session with Rishi's long face got done. We sat to watch the movie again. Rishi in his height of sadness went to sleep.
After the movie was over Sruthi told "Man this birthday was an "EPIC". "Thank you mama". She didn't jump around and tell me that she was happy that I took so much effort to do all this. Her excitement for the gadget was more . May be she thought it is all the part of parental package. Anyways moms are always taken for granted. It is only later in our life we realise the importance of our moms. Even then we don't take a moment to thank them for what all they did for us. Many of her friends called her to wish at that midnight. I was thinking why she was calling it an epic. Was it because of the gift she got? Or because the pain I took to organize a small party ? It was solely because her two best friends were there to share her moments of joy together with her. How much ever we try to be friendly with our kids we cannot be their friends. Friends are friends, we as parents can only imitate or pretend to be friends but cannot replace a friend . Sruthi shares with me everything but still I feel there are few things that she will share only with her friends. I felt very happy for having given her the opportunity to enjoy the special moment with her friends. What else is important in a parent's life other than to see their children be happy. We have celebrated so many birthdays but till now this has become an epic just because of the fact her friends were there when she turned a new leaf in her life book of teenage. I wish the value for friendship remains the same ever in her life as now.
Friday, October 22, 2010
Friday, October 1, 2010
Enthiran Virus
There has been this virus called Enthiran virus going around for quiet some time now. It has spread across continents without any boundary barriers. It is very contagious I feel. The treatment for the virus is inside the theatres --on the screen. The treatment became available since yesterday. People are thronging to the theatres in huge numbers. I heard there were thousands of fans who slept at the gate of the theatres. It is like a religious ceremony in many places . It looked like that deepavali had already come . People were celebrating the release of the movie by bursting crackers, doing poojas , abhishekams and what not. It was resembling a total festive occassion.
My house has also been caught with the virus . The most affected is my dear hubby. He came late from office yesterday . I was waiting for him till 11.30 but he didn't turn up. I was wondering how come the conferance call was taking so long? When he finally came at 11.30p.m. I asked him why he was late. He told the call went for long time and then the next words out of his mouth were that Endhiran movie was a super hit. Now the cat was out of the bag. I knew why he was late. He has been reading through all the reviews about the movie. He didn't have the patience to come home and read the reviews. . Today morning he got up and was again going through the reviews. According to me you can know whether a movie is good or bad before going for the movie but reading many reviews will only make you watch the movie through other's eyes. You won't have your own perspective while watching the movie. You tend to concentrate on the details what others' have enjoyed. I feel we should always go for a movie without any preconcieved ideas or notions. This will help us to analyse the movie better. You may ask "what is the use of analysing a movie?. As long as it is entertaining it is fine." Yes, when I was young my dad would never allow us to discuss about any movies once we came home after watching the movie. It was tabooed. But now we discuss with our kids about the movies we watch. They seem to know more about the making of movies .
My son who generally doesn't watch Tamil movies is very much interested in watching Enthiran movie. The main reason behind his interest is that all his friends are going to watch it. He just wants it to be dubbed in English though. We have booked the tickets for Sunday show. Wherever you turn this is the talk of the town. Friends call up and ask ,"when are you going?" To some it seems to be a great previlege to watch the movie on the first day. I personally don't like to watch any new movie on the first few days because of whistle sound and the over excitement of the so called "fans". They don't let you listen to any dialogues. I cannot enjoy a movie in such an environment. But Enthiran is an exception. The reason is, should I say because of the hype created for the movie or because of team involving the Super Star, Sankar, and Ishwarya ? To some extent it is peer pressure also which is leading us to watch the movie as soon as possible. Orelse you won't fit into the pack. Just to know whether the movie has met all the expectations is also one among the causes for me turning into an early bird..Hence I agreed to watch the movie on Sunday with my family. From young to old everyone is excited about the movie. To become a part of the Enthiran history I have to watch the movie ASAP. Let me wait till Sunday to watch the movie.
My house has also been caught with the virus . The most affected is my dear hubby. He came late from office yesterday . I was waiting for him till 11.30 but he didn't turn up. I was wondering how come the conferance call was taking so long? When he finally came at 11.30p.m. I asked him why he was late. He told the call went for long time and then the next words out of his mouth were that Endhiran movie was a super hit. Now the cat was out of the bag. I knew why he was late. He has been reading through all the reviews about the movie. He didn't have the patience to come home and read the reviews. . Today morning he got up and was again going through the reviews. According to me you can know whether a movie is good or bad before going for the movie but reading many reviews will only make you watch the movie through other's eyes. You won't have your own perspective while watching the movie. You tend to concentrate on the details what others' have enjoyed. I feel we should always go for a movie without any preconcieved ideas or notions. This will help us to analyse the movie better. You may ask "what is the use of analysing a movie?. As long as it is entertaining it is fine." Yes, when I was young my dad would never allow us to discuss about any movies once we came home after watching the movie. It was tabooed. But now we discuss with our kids about the movies we watch. They seem to know more about the making of movies .
My son who generally doesn't watch Tamil movies is very much interested in watching Enthiran movie. The main reason behind his interest is that all his friends are going to watch it. He just wants it to be dubbed in English though. We have booked the tickets for Sunday show. Wherever you turn this is the talk of the town. Friends call up and ask ,"when are you going?" To some it seems to be a great previlege to watch the movie on the first day. I personally don't like to watch any new movie on the first few days because of whistle sound and the over excitement of the so called "fans". They don't let you listen to any dialogues. I cannot enjoy a movie in such an environment. But Enthiran is an exception. The reason is, should I say because of the hype created for the movie or because of team involving the Super Star, Sankar, and Ishwarya ? To some extent it is peer pressure also which is leading us to watch the movie as soon as possible. Orelse you won't fit into the pack. Just to know whether the movie has met all the expectations is also one among the causes for me turning into an early bird..Hence I agreed to watch the movie on Sunday with my family. From young to old everyone is excited about the movie. To become a part of the Enthiran history I have to watch the movie ASAP. Let me wait till Sunday to watch the movie.
Friday, September 17, 2010
My Face in Face Book
"Mamma can I have a facebook account ?" my 12 year old daughter asked me when she came back from school one day. I had no idea what she meant. I asked her whether it was some kind of a book shop? Or it was something on the net that gives you beauty tips ? It sounded more like some bank account to me. She gave me a look as if I was not meant to be living in this world at that current moment . She looked at me sarcastically as if I belonged to the pre-historic age. Since I happened to be her mom she couldn't shake me to nothing. I have to admit that my computer knowledge was limited to browsing and checking my hotmail account. I was totally alien to the world of Facebook till my girl explained to me. Then I did some ground work to know how safe it was for her to have an account. Since I didn't find it secure enough for her, I told her that I would create an account for myself and that she could use it. This way I could track what she was doing too ( but she was smart enough to just look into her friends' account and not send any messages.). This is how I entered into the world of Face Book.
After I signed up in Facebook my life took a different turn. It took me few months to first figure out how to use the facebook. Till today I am not aware of many of the facebook usages. I can't imagine people having a virtual farm in "farmville". I forget to water my real plants in midst of my daily chores. How do people religiously take care of such farms? Those bumper stickers too confuse me a lot. My friends' list is very limited. I wonder how some people, that too kids of 12 , 13 years could have 500 to 600 friends. In my whole life time till today I don't think I have made friends with so many people. Does this mean I am not friendly??? or may be I am very choosy while choosing my friends. When I ask people, who have umteen number of friends in their list, how they manage so many friends? all they say is that " it is all networking". Most of such FB friendships are shallow relationships I feel. The current fashion is to have as many friends as possible in your list. I personally don't agree with this though.
Coming to the point, I also fell into the FB web even before I realized about it. As soon as everyone leaves the house in the morning I sign- in the face book account to find out what has happened during the hours I slept . Before, I used to read through the newspaper in the morning--a habit cultivated by my dad, which I have been following for the past 30years. But now world news doesn't carry any waitage. All I want to know is about my friends' world. I sit in front of the computer and read all the notifications and messages. Then I reply for those which I feel like. I update my status without knowing in what way it is useful to others. I write about what I cooked, where I went, what I bought, whom I met, what I ate, etc.etc. It is more like a diary where you write the whole day's happenings. Only difference is that a diary is personal and no one gets to read it other than yourself. Here it is accessible to the whole wide world.Things which have been going on as a routine have become things to be noted and shared. Does this mean I have no other job? Or does this mean I have no one around me to share my thoughts and feelings in person? I use facebook even to interact with my next door friend. Am I so busy that I don't have time to pay a five minutes visit to her house? I no longer complain that I am bored. Whenever I have nothing to do I start looking at the pictures posted by my friends and their friends, whom I don't even know. I am so inquisitive to know about other's holiday, how they celebrate the functions and festivals. By looking at various pictures I get to know the uptodate fashion. This doesn't mean I am a fashion queen or anything. Just to feel that I am aware of what is in vogue. I enjoy watching the shared videos and notes. Be it anything , whatever your friends share or their friends' share I get tempted to have a look at those clippings or postings.
Sometimes I wonder why I want to know who all my friends' friends are? and from there I take a diversion and I go through their friends' list also. It is always "take diversion". I sit and look at the profile and pictures of people , with whom I am no way connected with. It is like a chain reaction. If one of my friend has commented for someone , eventhough I don't know the other person I go and look at the history of their conversation . Is this because I like to know to whom all my friend is connected with or is it out of a small hidden jealousy? I spent long hours looking at the albums of unknown people.. When I go out sometimes I feel I am familiar with some people's faces because knowingly or unknowingly I have come across their pictures in facebook. In total I have become a curious cat..One thing I still don't understand is that why unknown friend requests are always from an unknown male and never from an unknown female.
FB changed a lot in me. The best thing that ever happened to me through FB was that I tracked down my best friend after soo many years. Before using FB I used to call and speak to my friends. But now,Whatever I wish to share with my friends is all updated on my wall. I once read that "facebook is the only place where nobody sees you differently when you talk to the wall." Through each one's wall I can know what is happening around . It is like those walls where you see notices and posters stuck . It reaches one and all the same time. It is also used as a propoganda tool-- to share my scribblings, my children's achievements ,naughtiness, etc etc. My wall has become a board to display my moodswings. Is anybody going to benefit from these information about me?? SMS is outdated now. Phone bills have come down. Once in two hours I check to find out whether anybody has replied or commented on anything. I am always looking out for something new to happen every minute in my pages of FB. I am always excited to refresh the page . I started seeing the world through others eyes. I waste my time "liking" so many things. At the same time I wonder why isn't there a "dislike" ? May be FB is to show your best side to the world I guess. I doubt whether there is always a beauty contest going on in FB because I see people changing their profile pictures quite often. No more long personal mails to friends. It is all cut short into messages in FB. I am more like a science student now--answering to the point. This is my transition from being a Literature student.
The other day I went for a movie with my family. A newly married couple was sitting in the row front of us. Instead of talking to each other I saw the man checking his FB account on his mobile. I see friends going out for dinner and each one checking the FB account in his or her mobile. When you have your friends and family around you what is the need to know what is happening around in your FB account. Everyone seems to be in their own world of choice. Personal interaction is becoming lesser and lesser day by day. In future we all can interact only with virtual beings I guess. We don't want to talk to each other to express ourselves. We only want to type our feelings, emotions and thoughts. We find ourselves more expressive this way. . FB helps me to know about the personal interest of others. Even if I keep quiet FB tempts me to "find my friends using FB". It keeps reminding me to "get connected" with my friends.
Personal always carries the meaning something close to your heart. After signing up in FB I find a lot of things which had a personal touch have become 'things in common". Each relationship is different and each carries a different value. Through FB these days I find I started to weigh all relationship with a same scale unvoluntarily. But trust me all my friends have a special place in my heart. Only when the number of friends is within the limit you have a track of things. When it is uncountable there is no personal touch to anything said. Whenever I want to know what is happening in my friends' side I just go to their profile and find out. I have become so lazy to even call them and talk. Since every activity is recorded in the fb even when I call my friends there is not much to share over the phone other than hear the voice of each other. Actions and reactions are all recorded in words in FB. After a certain period of time it is just an adress book I feel. If I happen to take a spelling test along with a 7 year old kid surely I will fail the test. Language has become more for just communicating . If you stick on to the correct grammar and correct spelling that shows you are outdated in the FB world. To assume myself to be part of the youthful FB world I have to follow all the shortcuts in spelling and grammar. Whatever said and done FB is also a kind of addiction. I want to come out of this web and once again build my relationships on "Personal touch".
After I signed up in Facebook my life took a different turn. It took me few months to first figure out how to use the facebook. Till today I am not aware of many of the facebook usages. I can't imagine people having a virtual farm in "farmville". I forget to water my real plants in midst of my daily chores. How do people religiously take care of such farms? Those bumper stickers too confuse me a lot. My friends' list is very limited. I wonder how some people, that too kids of 12 , 13 years could have 500 to 600 friends. In my whole life time till today I don't think I have made friends with so many people. Does this mean I am not friendly??? or may be I am very choosy while choosing my friends. When I ask people, who have umteen number of friends in their list, how they manage so many friends? all they say is that " it is all networking". Most of such FB friendships are shallow relationships I feel. The current fashion is to have as many friends as possible in your list. I personally don't agree with this though.
Coming to the point, I also fell into the FB web even before I realized about it. As soon as everyone leaves the house in the morning I sign- in the face book account to find out what has happened during the hours I slept . Before, I used to read through the newspaper in the morning--a habit cultivated by my dad, which I have been following for the past 30years. But now world news doesn't carry any waitage. All I want to know is about my friends' world. I sit in front of the computer and read all the notifications and messages. Then I reply for those which I feel like. I update my status without knowing in what way it is useful to others. I write about what I cooked, where I went, what I bought, whom I met, what I ate, etc.etc. It is more like a diary where you write the whole day's happenings. Only difference is that a diary is personal and no one gets to read it other than yourself. Here it is accessible to the whole wide world.Things which have been going on as a routine have become things to be noted and shared. Does this mean I have no other job? Or does this mean I have no one around me to share my thoughts and feelings in person? I use facebook even to interact with my next door friend. Am I so busy that I don't have time to pay a five minutes visit to her house? I no longer complain that I am bored. Whenever I have nothing to do I start looking at the pictures posted by my friends and their friends, whom I don't even know. I am so inquisitive to know about other's holiday, how they celebrate the functions and festivals. By looking at various pictures I get to know the uptodate fashion. This doesn't mean I am a fashion queen or anything. Just to feel that I am aware of what is in vogue. I enjoy watching the shared videos and notes. Be it anything , whatever your friends share or their friends' share I get tempted to have a look at those clippings or postings.
Sometimes I wonder why I want to know who all my friends' friends are? and from there I take a diversion and I go through their friends' list also. It is always "take diversion". I sit and look at the profile and pictures of people , with whom I am no way connected with. It is like a chain reaction. If one of my friend has commented for someone , eventhough I don't know the other person I go and look at the history of their conversation . Is this because I like to know to whom all my friend is connected with or is it out of a small hidden jealousy? I spent long hours looking at the albums of unknown people.. When I go out sometimes I feel I am familiar with some people's faces because knowingly or unknowingly I have come across their pictures in facebook. In total I have become a curious cat..One thing I still don't understand is that why unknown friend requests are always from an unknown male and never from an unknown female.
FB changed a lot in me. The best thing that ever happened to me through FB was that I tracked down my best friend after soo many years. Before using FB I used to call and speak to my friends. But now,Whatever I wish to share with my friends is all updated on my wall. I once read that "facebook is the only place where nobody sees you differently when you talk to the wall." Through each one's wall I can know what is happening around . It is like those walls where you see notices and posters stuck . It reaches one and all the same time. It is also used as a propoganda tool-- to share my scribblings, my children's achievements ,naughtiness, etc etc. My wall has become a board to display my moodswings. Is anybody going to benefit from these information about me?? SMS is outdated now. Phone bills have come down. Once in two hours I check to find out whether anybody has replied or commented on anything. I am always looking out for something new to happen every minute in my pages of FB. I am always excited to refresh the page . I started seeing the world through others eyes. I waste my time "liking" so many things. At the same time I wonder why isn't there a "dislike" ? May be FB is to show your best side to the world I guess. I doubt whether there is always a beauty contest going on in FB because I see people changing their profile pictures quite often. No more long personal mails to friends. It is all cut short into messages in FB. I am more like a science student now--answering to the point. This is my transition from being a Literature student.
The other day I went for a movie with my family. A newly married couple was sitting in the row front of us. Instead of talking to each other I saw the man checking his FB account on his mobile. I see friends going out for dinner and each one checking the FB account in his or her mobile. When you have your friends and family around you what is the need to know what is happening around in your FB account. Everyone seems to be in their own world of choice. Personal interaction is becoming lesser and lesser day by day. In future we all can interact only with virtual beings I guess. We don't want to talk to each other to express ourselves. We only want to type our feelings, emotions and thoughts. We find ourselves more expressive this way. . FB helps me to know about the personal interest of others. Even if I keep quiet FB tempts me to "find my friends using FB". It keeps reminding me to "get connected" with my friends.
Personal always carries the meaning something close to your heart. After signing up in FB I find a lot of things which had a personal touch have become 'things in common". Each relationship is different and each carries a different value. Through FB these days I find I started to weigh all relationship with a same scale unvoluntarily. But trust me all my friends have a special place in my heart. Only when the number of friends is within the limit you have a track of things. When it is uncountable there is no personal touch to anything said. Whenever I want to know what is happening in my friends' side I just go to their profile and find out. I have become so lazy to even call them and talk. Since every activity is recorded in the fb even when I call my friends there is not much to share over the phone other than hear the voice of each other. Actions and reactions are all recorded in words in FB. After a certain period of time it is just an adress book I feel. If I happen to take a spelling test along with a 7 year old kid surely I will fail the test. Language has become more for just communicating . If you stick on to the correct grammar and correct spelling that shows you are outdated in the FB world. To assume myself to be part of the youthful FB world I have to follow all the shortcuts in spelling and grammar. Whatever said and done FB is also a kind of addiction. I want to come out of this web and once again build my relationships on "Personal touch".
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