5..4..3..2..1 First train journey begins!!

5..4..3..2..1
We left at 7.40 pm from Bangalore. Hubby came to make sure we are comfortable in our 1AC cabin. As soon as the train started, we opened the food box and had our dinner. There is a different charm of having Parotha, aloo ki sabji and achar in the train. You end up eating twice your usual appetite and that too without any guilt.
Travelling in train after almost 6 years. Wanted kids to experience the wonderful journey in train. Our kids today are almost aloof of the joys of traveling. Our busy lives are affecting our simple joys of life...the fast pace of life these days doesnt have time for those 10-15 hrs of train journey. We are more interested in destination...we forget that the journey is as exciting as the destination.
This time I made sure I take time out for this beautiful laid back time for myself and kids. Everythings is the same and this known itenary is still as interesting as 6 yrs back.After a few pleasantries with the co-passenger I went back to playing with the kids.
For Khushi n Avani it was an out of the world experience. Firstly, the concept of sleeping on the upper b erth excited her so much that she refused to come back even for food. She had decided her territory and also spread her kingdom (her color pencils, books, junk food packets which her Dad bought her with great affection...or probably concern whether the strict Mom would let kids eat junk food for next 7 days :p)
Looking at Khushi, little Avani also grabbed the other upper berth and hung her legs between the stands. It was a new world.for them. Every small vendor from water, cold drinks, tea, coffee, dharwad vada, breakfast, soup, dinner, lunch needs to be registered. I wonder what it would have been if we travelled by 3 AC or sleeper class where every minute some or the other vendor arrives?
It took a little more time for me to put the kids to sleep as they were in no mood to go to the other dreamland from this wonderland. Especially the more notty little one wanted to explore the reading lights, the stairs to take u to upper berth, the curtains, the switches for light fan n bell. Ohh.. and the most dangerous of all the Emergency Chain for stopping the train. I purposely did not educate khushi about the Emergency bell..yes u guessed it right...they cannot resist demos of new/dangerous things which you introduce to your kids.
The night was not that bad, apart from the ritualistic 2-3 hickups in the night everything else went of well.I was woken up by a excited voice "Mummy...just look outside the window...its so beautiful!!". And yes indeed...it was beautiful!! Bright sun shining at 6.40 am on the unending green fields. The training gushing amidst paddy fields, sugarcane fields, lakes, rivers, dams and pristine small villages where the day has just started. The sun was.the same, the earth was the same but the morning was different. I had no hurry of getting out of my cozy bed, I need not get ready for the rat race. I could do without a todo list today..afterall I was on vaccation. Kids were also on vaccation...they made sure I know that early in the morning by opening a packet of little.hearts and devouring it without even asking me for permission. Unlike me, today I ignored!!
Nothing could have been a spoiler if Indian railways make our restrooms more asthetic. Though they were clean, their asthetics were just not appealing for the kids.
I am missing the unending chats I used to have with unknown people in trains regarding everything under the sun. The 1 AC has qualified for the train journey I wanted my.kids to experience but the chatter box in me is still craving for that harmless/learning experiemce of.meeting new people. Talking to them about their lives, connecting to them without judging them. Infact, I am not sure if I am still the same old Dipti who can connect with anybody on earth and talk to anybody from 1 month to 100 yrs.
Its gonna rain outside, kids are sleeping extra long with the swing effect in train n I m introspecting. I have gone a long way in life and have a longer journey to travel.. my life journey is also similar to this train journey in some respects. Only I wish I knew the iternary in advance :)

Exploring on my RAM PIYARI

This post is intended for participating in the Indiblogger.in contest "I m Explorer" by www.tatasafari.com

Khushi's dose of the day!!(18th Sep 2013)

Usually its a herculean task every morning to wake Khushi up for school and get her ready on time. But this Monday was different. She woke up 15 minutes early without any intimation and finished all her activities in a very organized manner before time. Unlike the other days she was super excited to go to school and this was enough indication for me to guage something is cooking up.
Mummy: Khushi, Are u ok ?
Khushi : (with a sheepish smile)Nothing!!
Mummy: Acha...nothing?? Then why are you so excited about going to school today?
Khushi: Well... today...Today is our field trip!
Mummy: Wow..Field trip? But where are you going for field trip today?
Khushi: (naughty grin) ICE CREAM PARLOUR!!

This is the best example of positive motivation I have seen. Wish we adults also could have such motivation to go to work everyday. I m sure most of us drag ourself to work 90 % times. Alternatively  I wish we had such jobs where we were self motivated to go so enthusiastically everyday.
"Kabhi kisiko mukkamal jahan nahi milta
Kahin zameen nahi to kahin aasman nahi milta"

Khushi's dose of the day!!(07 Sep 2013)

Khushi was as usual drawing in the evening when I came frim office yesterday. Avani was clinging to me and we were all seated in the living room. To entertain Avani I played a dance song on my mobile. Pretending to be distracted and not able to concentrate in her drawing, Khushi revolted
Khushi: Mummy, please stop the music. I am not able to concentrate in my drawing because of the noise
Mummy: Khushi you try and concentrate. I have to play the music for Avani
(After a little argument, I decided to move to my bedroom and let Khushi CONCENTRATE on her thing. But in the pigeonhole sized apartments in cities, the sound still reached the living room!
Irritated she screamed to stop the music, I didnt pay much heed! She comes to the room, dives into my cupboard and hands me over the new pair of headphone (still in the box) which I have won in a blogging contest)
Khushi: Mom, please use HEADPHONES if you want to listen to.music. Dont disturb others!!
1. Nobody uses headphones at my place, so how the hell she knows what is it used for? 2. Abhi yeh haal hai, bade hokar pata nahi kya kya distrubances honge baachon ko hamari wajaha se :p

Tribute to bloggers on Teacher's day!!

I am relatively new to blogosohere and owing to my fulltime job, I am not as active as I would like to be.I m still very naive in the art. But I am super impressed with the ability of blogworld.
We know people who write are called WRITERS. But not everybody has the drive or tallent or resources to publish their work. Infact not everybody writes book. Some people write experiences, some feelings, some humour, some short stories, some travelogue and others poems. And most of us write everything above. So for people.like me, blogs are the best way to vent out my feelings and thoughts. I can write whatever I feel on my blog, I may or may not have audiences for my every post. But every post is what I am, what I am feeling right now!
Many old friends tell.me, where was the writer in me earlier during school and college days?? I am sure, it was always there but our definition of writer wasnt the same then. We had a prestigious spot for the creative lot and could never dare to claim to be one then. But now, with blogging, we have a new category of writers. Writers who need not be long haired, big red bindi, kurta wearing serious looking breeds. Most of the times, they are that boy next door or that girl in amidst us whom we always thought is kinda mysterious in her behavior. They come in all shapes and sizes. Some blonde hair girls who want to be a rebel and voice their opinions. Others playing their second inning and fulfilling their longing to express themself to the world. We have the technology genius who have alot to share and at the same time shy from.the real.world. Its amazing to see brilliant photographers and not.so brilliant ones who are dillegently proving the verse "One picture speaks thousand words".Crazy bloggers for whom writing is an addiction, they can write alot of blog on same topic to get those free vouchers in the blogging contests.
Parenting blogs.are a rave these days, some educating, some.informative, some act as an open forum for discussions and some.just the way you explore yourself as a parent.every day!  From the passion of automobile to fashion, bloggers discuss about everything. The most sort after and interesting blogs for me are either personal which talk their heart out or the humourous ones which never fail to bring a smile on your face with thier day to day subtle humour. Politics and political opinions also makes a wonderful topic to debate about.And we have a huge young population in India who are very opinionated but busy in their rat race. Blogs help them to be vocal among the like minded people and this satiates them to an extent. Cartoon strips are another genere of blogging which excites me alot, specially some of them.who can really convey a very important message in a very subtle way through their cartoons. Many more types of blogs, poems, self motivation, short stories,sports, music, travelogues, polls, debates, contests are booming everyday. Its like, you have an urge to read something and you can find a blog on it.
And how much people crave to write can be easily weighted by the popularity of sites like Indiblogger and Blogadda which help.you share your blogs with other fellow bloggers. Every contest in these sites gets huge participation. Companies want to.promote their new products among the bloggers. They not only get huge audiences in the form of bloggers, they also inturn get so many more customers who are reading about them in the form of their blogs. Its a hit marketting strategy these days.

Bloggers are nomore annonyms people expressing and discussing their views. They have a face and name which they take pride in promoting. They have Blogger.meets and  Blogger awards. They are huge in terms of publicity and prizes. They boast of esteemed elite jury for their award selection. There is no shortage of glamour and intellect in these awards even though they are.virtual. And in those frequent Bloggers.meet, mutual admiration and sometimes even friendship flourishes.
Like any other matured industry, blogosphere is also a full fleged industry. May or may not in monetary terms for all, but definitely time to come everybody will would have a digital representation in the form.of blogs.
Today on Teacher's day, I pay a tribute to all my blogger buddies who have influenced me in more than one ways and kudos to each of them for leaving behind such awesome footprints of them in the form of your blogs. Happy Teacher's Day!!