Faith Race

It was an afternoon when the church ladies were chatting up at the porch of one of the members. And the topic eventually shifted to labour pains. Fortunately there were no teenage girls around and if they were, we would have definitely scared them off with the elaborate discussions on the height and depth of birth pangs. And as it is the trend these days, everything(including the mileage of your car) is measured in terms of one's faith, and obviously many were trying to project their 'measure' now. To all those who are ignorant of the issue, it is like this, faith in God and pain(you can put any other word like, suffering, disease, debts in the place of pain here) are inversely proportional according to many, not me. So as the pain decreases, it shows an immense amount of faith in the Almighty.
Apparently, I was already out of the race as I had undergone caesarian section which is considered (according to them and not by me and obviously not by my Lord either) a dead failure, so kept my mouth shut. To me it appeared as if I am amongst the champions in the art of giving birth. There were aunts and my peers who had just a 'few' hours to two hours of labour and whoosh! the baby had come out. There was even a new mother who was glowing with glee more because of her feat (she had just had half-an-hour of labour! Oh my! and I just could almost hear me screaming away for 14 hours in the labour room and Manoj sobbing away in the lobby). She had become the undisputed winner in that faith race and she looked elated like a Miss India (or Mother India). But then the moment of glory was broken by a mother of a four year old. She said, "But I didnt have any pain!". "What!" the next second, all eyes were on her. Unbelievable, miraculous, what great faith, the adjectives just kept flowing...
After tea, each of us were taking leave off the place and I had an opportunity to talk to this wonder woman. "Didnt you feel any pain at all?" I asked her once again dubiously. "No, nothing at all". "What happened then?" I asked. "Well..." she started, "I am scared stiff of any sort of pain and my husband was equaly terrified, so he went and requested the doctor for a painless delivery for me. So, the doctor gave me anasthaesia and took out the baby. When I opened my eyes, the baby had already come and voila, no pain!" "Did he operate on you?" I asked her and she triumphantly nodded. "hmm... thats what we call a C-section" I told her as I turned to leave.

A day at my nest

All days are tiring but some are more tiring than others(I am a great fan of George Orwell's Animal Farm.)
I always feel like pasting these words on our wall. Nothing inspring about it but just so everyone would know that my hands are full...Not convinced yet? Here's my diary of events:

Before I begin let me introduce my family. Manoj, my husband, like any Indian, works, in a software firm, Abhishek our first-born is 8 years old and Kia, our little princess is 1 3/4 and is according to her brother, 'the naughtiest girl in town!,'

7:00AM - Just woke up, now have to drag myself to the kitchen and get Abhi's and Manoj's lunch ready. Manoj, who woke up earlier after storing the sparingly available water, has already woken up Abhi but he is still lying on the sofa. Have to get him to the wash basin.
7:30 AM- I thrust the loaded toothbrush into his hands and he is actually brushing his teeth! Great! Now as Manoj is getting himself ready, I have to prepare Abhishek's breakfast and make sure he finishes it.
8:00AM -Abhi is still half-asleep, but gets into his uniform and is about to put on his shoes when he announces that he needs to go to the toilet (we had asked him many times but he was sure he didnt want to), so down comes the shorts, shirt everything.
8:15AM -Just as I enter the toilet to help him out, Kia wakes up with a wail. So I rush to the bedroom to soothe her while Manoj attends to Abhi and gets his newly pressed pants wet.
8:20AM- Kia goes back to sleep, I come out and help out Manoj in getting Abhi back into his uniform. Its late for school, a rush to the door and a wave of hand and they are off.
8:30AM - I take my tea cup, get ready to read the paper, Kia wakes up again - she peed on the bed. Now she would cling onto me for an hour, wont let me do anything but get her milk. So I get her milk, feed her and then again onto me she climbs.
9:30AM- Meanwhile the maid comes and goes. Kia insists on going out to watch her wash clothes (she actually wanted to wallow in the mud pool) but I dissuade her. Her wailing starts again.
10:00AM - After futile attempts to feed her egg, banana, porridge and dosa, I turn on the TV, play out her favourite songs on DVD. She appears to be watching it and I tiptoe to the next room and start pedalling my exercise cycle. Kia has already reached there and is trying to climb on to my lap. I abandon the idea and go back to watch the songs with her.
10:30AM- Again I try to feed her cookies, apple and cashew but fail miserably. One thing I know is that she is too quick and dexterous for me. As she is intersted in her doll, I go again to the other room to do some writing in the computer and the power goes off. Kia has already lost interest in her doll and is now wailing for her song. But dear, there is no power I try to explain to her but she screams again. I take her out for a walk.
12:00 noon- Finally the power has come, I am tired of running after her but she is still energetic. I give her more cookies/chips and water and rush to the kitchen to prepare lunch. A few minutes and Kia cries out that she has done her toilet. I get back to her and she is already pointing to the lump on the floor and screaming "two, two!" I take her out, clean her up, put her in a safe place and run to clean up the floor before she starts her crying.
1:00 PM - Finally lunch is ready. I try to give her a quick bath, but she has other ideas. I manage to get her out and start feeding her.
2:00PM - Kia has finished her 'elaborate' luncheon (you wouldnt know this if you see her being quite thin and all) , meanwhile I had to clean her up twice as she put glue followed by a whole bottle of eucalyptus on herself. I fill up my plate to eat but have to keep it aside as she has climbed on to the bookshelf and is furiously throwing everything down.
2:30PM- After a hurried lunch, I get myself and her ready to get Abhishek from school.
3:00PM- We are back home, I busy myself in getting Abhishek out of his uniform into his 'home' dress through a bath while keeping Kia from playing with water, from attacking the books again, from climbing on the Keyboard, from emptying Abhi's lunch box on her favourite chair and from tearing Abhishek's classwork. Abhishek has lunch, Kia again removes her diaper, wets her dress and I have to chase her to redress her.
4:30 pM - All settled, time for Kia's nap (her afternoon naps are quickly shifting to evening naps) which is a long procedure by the end of which I am drained.
5:00pM- Abhishek needs help in his homework and studies. Have to do it with least possible noise for Kia is a light sleeper (like her mother)
7:00PM- Kia wakes up just as I am about to prepare dinner, so its clinging time!
7:30PM - As Abhi and Kia are playing I tippy toe to kitchen and 'prepare' dinner and come back just in time to prevent Kia from banging her head on the table top as she is chased by her brother.
8:00PM -Dinner time for kids and Manoj arrives. Whoa! free atlast. I dump Kia on to his hands and he feeds her while I clean up kitchen, take a bath and try to catch with him but we cant hear each other over kids' yelling.
9:30PM- Our dinner is over, children want to play with Papa. So Manoj plays with Abhishek catch-catch, Kia has again climbed on the Keyboard and turned it to full volume with a hip hop beat. We try to catch up over the din.
10:00PM- bed time for Abhishek but not yet for Kia. For her, its playtime!
11:30PM- Kia finally shows signs of sleep. So we get her milk. After her drink, she is again playful while we doze off.
12:30PM- Kia is finally asleep. We smile at each other triumphantly and crash into the bed promising to catch up with each other tomorrow...

Wish I could send a weekly report, then mine would be the longest for sure.

Seen and not Heard - Petra

Too many black sheep in the family
Too many stones from a house of glass
They've heard the story, they've heard the lines
But talk is too cheap to change their minds
They want to see some vital signs

Convictions - in the way we live
Convictions - not a narrative
Actions speak a little louder than words

Seen and not heard, seen and not heard
Sometimes God's children should be seen and not heard
There's too much talk and not enought walk
Sometimes God's children should be seen and not heard

Delayed reaction to hostility
Brings us into reality
Cause when we answer in our defense
They can see through the false pretense
They want to see some evidence

Commitment - no more alibis
Commitment - not a compromise
Actions speak a little louder than words

Let your light so shine in all you do
With an answer near when they come to you
Don't let your mouth start talkin'
Until your feet start walkin'