Nattu-isms

Been sometime since I posted about Nattu. She is one witty girl whose response time to things is in microseconds. We at times think... 'How does she come up with such responses'. Here are a few instances

Scene 1:

I cut watermelon and give a wedge to her.

Nattu: What should you tell me amma
Me: (thinking 'shouldn't she be the one telling me thank you'): what should I tell you
Nattu: you should tell me 'enjoy your watermelon nattu'
Me ???
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Scene 2:

I do something for nattu which makes her so happy..

Nattu: you are the second best mommy in this whole world
Me: (feeling jealous and sad) who is the first best then?
Nattu: Oh! that would be your mommy
Me: (no arguing on that point)

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Scene 3:

Nattu did not want to go to school one day. Since she had not missed even one day of school this year I tell her: 'Only three more weeks of school. You will get a certificate on the last day for perfect attendance.'
Nattu(crying hard): 'All we will do is to hang the certificate on the wall. What am I going to gain from that?'
Me: ???

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Scene 4:

I pick Nattu and her friend A from daycare and come home. I go upstairs and change into my regular pajamas. Nattu sees me coming down the stairs and comments to A: My mom is hot.
A who is couple of years older than Nattu tells her: Thats a bad word, you should not use it.
Nattu to me: I am sorry amma, I didn't mean it.
Me: ???

Why..

..is it so hard for you to appreciate but easy to find fault.
..is it ok for you to talk to your mom everyday but is not OK for me to talk to my parents.
..is your job more important and mine has no value.
..should I always be the one to bend my schedule to match yours.
..is anything to do with kitchen work is my job and yours is only to eat what is dished out from there.
..is any talk on equal rights from me is blamed on the blogs I read.
..should you shy away from holding hands in public or any PDA because you don't want others to see you and you are living in USA.
..is talking to my BFF bothers you so much.
..is my mind so muddled when I think about our future.

Too Early...

My cousin passed away yesterday. He is much older than me and was going to turn 60 in August. He was looking forward to his retired life and had lot of plans to spend his time traveling, spiritual pursuit, spending time with family, his new grandson and a lot more. He became a grandfather three months ago. So what happened that put a break to all his plans?

It was cancer. He went to the doctor two months ago because he had numbness in his feet. The doctors did the usual prelim tests, blood work, x-ray, scan etc and found that he had a growth near his spine that was putting pressure on his nerves. They did a surgery to remove the lump and send the tissue for biopsy. Came back as sarcoma, the virulent form. The cancer had already spread and showed its presence in almost all vital organs including lungs. He was in the hospital for a total of 62 days deteriorating each passing day and finally slipped away in the ICU last night. He could not recognize his own daughter the last time she came to see him. She was heart broken.

It was a typical case of negligence. He had chosen to ignore the initial symptoms like pain around the neck and general tiredness. He attibuted those to his age and his long commute to work.

They whole thing seem so sudden. He went to the doctor two months ago with complaints and never came back home. It just got worse and worse. His son is preparing for his finals and his exams starts in two days.

My cousin told my mom when she visited him the plans he had when he retired. She is still to come in terms with her nephew passing away.

Life seems so unpredictable. The saying 'live every day as though its your last day' makes so much sense in this case. He had worked hard all his life providing for his family, raising his kids and was looking forward to a relaxed retired life. He never made it to the finishing line.

It was just too early for him to say goodbye.

Compliments..

I went shopping last weekend and bought couple of nice summer dresses. One of them was a black and white dress which when worn made me feel really feminine..err what I mean is I looked good when I tried the dress at the store. I wore the same to work today with a little different hairdo and accessories that matched the dress. I thought someone will compliment me for the effort I put in but the whole day no one said anything. I could see the reaction on some of the faces but not one soul uttered a word.

As I was getting ready to leave in the evening, a friend from another team stopped by. I had seen her earlier in the day on my way to the restroom and at that time she was getting back to her desk and was talking to someone on her cellphone. She said that she stopped by because she wanted to tell me how good I looked in my dress. She said that the dress, the hairdo and the accessories all make me look atleast 5 years younger. She then proceeded to ask where I got the dress and other such details. She also mentioned that she was glad to catch me before I left because if she gave the compliments the next day it wouldn't be the same. I haven't stopped smiling ever since.

To keep our identity...

I got this in my email this morning and loved it. There has been many posts by bloggers for Women's Day. When I read this, I felt that I should post this as my contribution. Just loved the second paragraph.

You Are A Masterpiece- Sri Sri Ravi Shankar (The Art of Living)

"A plum once said, 'just because a banana lover came by, I converted myself into a banana. Unfortunately, his taste changed after a few months and so I became an orange. When he said I was bitter I became an apple, but he went in search of grapes. Yielding to the opinions of so many people, I have changed so many times that I no more know who I am. How I wish I had remained a plum and waited for a plum lover.'

Just because a group of people do not accept you as you are, there is no necessity for you to strip yourself off your originality.
You need to think Good of yourself, for the world takes you at your own estimate.
Never stoop down in order to gain recognition.
Never let go of your true self to win a relationship.
In the long run, you will regret that you traded your greatest Glory - your uniqueness, for momentary validation.
Even Gandhi was not accepted by many people.
The group that does not accept you as YOU is not Your world.

There is a world for each one of you, where you shall reign as king /queen by just being yourself. Find that world... In fact, that world will find You.

What water can do, gasoline cannot and what copper can, gold cannot. The fragility of the ant enables it to move and the rigidity of the tree enables it to stay rooted. Everything and everybody has been designed with a Proportion of uniqueness to serve a purpose that we can fulfil only by being our unique self. You as you alone can serve your purpose and I as I Alone can serve my purpose. You are here to be you... Just YOU.

There was a time in this world when a Krishna was required and he was sent;
A time when a Christ was required and he was sent;
A time when a Mahatma was Required and he was sent;
A time when a J.R.D.Tata was required and he was Sent.

There came a time when you were required on this planet and hence you were sent.
Let us be the best we can be.

In the history of the universe, there has been nobody like you and to
the infinity of time to come, there will be no one like you. Existence should have loved you so much that it broke the mould after making you, so that another of your kind will never get repeated.

You are original. You are rare. You are unique. You are a wonder. You are a masterpiece. .. Your Master's piece. Celebrate your Uniqueness."

You are you, your own self, don’t change for others, for this is NOT
even their world.

Am I Lucky?

Won an iPod shuffle today in a lucky draw. Well its was G who had registered his name for the event and it was his name that was called out. But who cares. He was not in the audience when his name was called out and I went to collect the prize. So its mine, what say?

Feel like getting a lottery ticket tomorrow. Maybe the luck will strike one more time?

I am glad I read Sue's blog...

We performed my FIL's first death anniversary couple of weeks back. I had to wear madisar for three days for the rituals. I kinda know how to wear it but did not want to ask my MIL for directions. I remembered Sue doing this post sometime back and promptly went and got a refresher course on how to wear a madisar. Followed it step by step and thanked her mentally everyday while wearing it. I was glad I was able to do this myself.

Thanks Sue.