Paper Planes

Today K and I had wonderful wonderful time playing with our boys... We made lot and lots of paper planes and boats.... just a piece of paper folded few times so it appears as plane or boat....... racing the boats and throwing the planes that can reach the farthest.... plain, simple, easy yet very powerful......... boys had a blast and so did we.... one of those priceless moment to see those two brightly amazed faces and curious sparkling eyes.....a simple sheet of paper was clear winner in keeping them excited-holding their attention so long over anything from three roomful of expertly selected toys....who needs all those fancy, expensive toys when you can have creativity and ability to enjoy simplest things in life.... I remember having same good old time doing the exact same stuff with my father... my cherished, priceless moments....I miss you so much Baba... Thank you so much for giving me all the worldly wisdom and ability to enjoy simplest things in life to the fullest.. That's what life is all about... Boys, mommy and daddy will do a finger/shadow play some time next...

Tribute to my beloved Father

mourning the loss of our beloved father Dr. B. V. Karandikar....... thought of re-publishing the tribute written by his best friend Dr. Suresh Ranade.... the article in marathi so eloquently express all the wonderful memories and exceptional qualities Dr. BVK possessed....... I don't have enough words or courage to write anything more at the moment but I know i will because my father was my first inspiration to writing.... We miss you so dearly Baba ! Your courageous life will be a living memory to all of us!! http://dnyandeep.blogspot.com/2010/07/blog-post.html

Risk aversion or risk assumption ?

Looking at the title, someone might guess its about the wealth management or stock market .. typically it would… but its something totally different… It’s something that mattered to a whole lots of us though… At least my mind for last few months… one of the highly talked about topics of this year… The Swine flu and H1N1 Vaccine… Now you would think, I belong to one of those high risk group who should be worried about this believed to be worst pandemic outbreak of the century ….To the contrary, I don’t.. Currently my state of health seems to be in best of shape. … Besides I am not the type who falls for mass hysteria that easily but sometimes my parenting techniques conflict with that..... And ,I have a long oversees trip coming up shortly and I have twin toddlers who I need to worry about more than anything.. Based on these facts, my quest to get my boys vaccinated began about 2 months ago. Not to mention, the few months before that all the research I did to figure out all about this vaccines. Now for that matter, I am not in medical profession. So I rely heavily on mighty internet to obtain and absorb all the info I can to make an educational judgment. I knew all about precautions to take, about adjuvant squalene type of vaccine and problem of autoimmune disorder and what not ( see I can be very dork and studious if need be ).. I was almost so worried about getting my boys vaccinated that a thought almost crossed my mind to drop the idea altogether… Then I made it to India abruptly and all that I saw on the airport was unnerving.. All the masked up airport personnel made me feel so outcast… Gash… I do not have enough resources to deal with hospitalizations and quarantines and all that entails.. so better safe than sorry… I am back to getting vaccinated again… What followed was the quest to get the actual vaccine. As it’s the case, there is not enough vaccine yet for everyone who needs it. So last few months my pediatrician’s office got a call every other day… no avail there.. Now I am calling all the county health hotlines… finally after a hunt of about 2 months, I got an appointment… lucky me … a week before we start our trip, I landed a spot to get the vaccine. I was praying that I don’t have to wait in line for hours, in 20+ degree cold weather. All my lucky stars had to be in line properly…… and I thought living in the most powerful and most prosperous nation on the earth was enough !! Seriously, something needs to be said about this … why the system is so broke that you can’t manage the simple task of vaccinating all the high risk people better ? why do all those pregnant women and senior citizens and young children had to stand line in cold for hours to get vaccinated? Media blames officials, officials blame media.. who takes the responsibility of the failure? .. and the actual chaos at the facility was so bad that all my questions remain un answered… squalene /no squalene, hygiene/no hygiene… At the end, all it mattered was vaccinated / non vaccinated… Now I wonder, was taking that vaccine and more importantly giving to my young boys was really risk taking or risk aversing? I am not convinced either way… but until next year, I can rest easy!

We need CURE for the cancer... mere awareness is not enough .

Dear Aai, Words are not enough to describe how deeply we all miss you..The whole foundation of me being me seems to have shaken like never before.. It was tough to see you go away so soon.. Time and again, I feel such helpless loser that nothing more I could do to find a cure to stop that rampaging cancer. Now I realize how effortlessly you became the best mother a daughter could wish for. Your positive attitude, your zest for life and your deep empathy for others and above all wonderful memories of all we shared is what we are left with to carry on on with our lives. I wish I had your uncanny sense of knowing what I was feeling even when I was thousands of miles away. And to top it all off, your decision to donate your eyes... what an exemplary life you lived and we got to witness. In October, the World was celebrating Brest Cancer Awareness Month. It was tough to sit in the plane with pink clad crew when I had just lost you. ...symbolic gestures don't save life...Sadly, just being aware of cancer is not enough.. not by any means.. There needs to be a cure for it.. A solid treatment plan for all those who suffer from this dreaded disease. There is no other way around it. No life should become a mere statistical number in the billion/trillion dollar industry. No daughter should have to feel so helpless as I feel, in fighting and loosing their loved ones to cancer.. To have witnessed you handle adversity so bravely and cheerfully will inspire me throughout my entire life. We miss you and we miss you deeply. You would think it gets easier with time. It doesn't. I am just learning to hide it better. In me you live and your spirit I celebrate. ----------------------- No comments pl..

I am Back !

Last few months , I kind of hit the writers block... I was busy and my mind was busier...So there were no posts for over two months... Thank you all who asked about my new posts. That's encouraging that there are a few who like what I scribe... Last two months went like whirlwind for me.... literally so many things got done sequentially.... . With two toddlers at the tow, we moved in our new dream home... I wish I could describe what all went in that process in just one line.... We had a dream, we planned, we built, we moved and now we are trying to settle....If you can read between these lines, maybe you can sense the cause and reward co relation... I am content in the sense that despite several curve balls that came our way, we got through ahead in tact... So , in a way it was a good exercise of planning and execution... For that matter, it was totally voluntary on our part to get into this situation in first place... and boy did we pull through it well... So you can call this a silver lining in the gloomy spirally downward falling recessionary atmosphere.....We never imagined that buying -selling-moving-negotiating will be so exhausting and tiring yet fulfilling and gratifying..........DH and I fought, laughed and learnt a lot during these months and I am sure we grew along the way.... For me, that's what accomplishment is all about... Both of us wanted to make the best of the situations and at the end we did exactly that !! So, as we are finally settling in our new home.... I am back to my writing... Along with de-cluttering my house, I hope that I have cleared my mind some as well... So now I can focus back on all the things that I enjoy doing... And I must admit the last two months of hard work paid off well in last two weeks....Truly one of a kind reward ! My younger sister visited us unexpectedly and we both had heck of the times... Sometimes, dreams do come true on short notice.... So here's to the job well done ! and I am back !!

Happy Father's Day!

Writing is becoming my well found hobby all over again. Back in the college days, I was really good at writing... Won many prizes for my writing gigs including elocution / debating / essay competitions.... I loved to write then..... After Graduation though ,somehow, my writing went way by side... Many new / exciting things did happen along the way... but my writing stayed on the sideline.... I guess I was about to forget that I enjoyed writing... But there he was -My Father determined not let that happen... My life inspiration belongs to my Father.. completely........whole heartily...I have grown up watching him express his thoughts and feelings in many different forms including poems, pictures, short stories and wonderful letters he wrote us. Now the medium has changed to SMS, IMs and e-mails but the expressions and feelings are still the same. I respect the care, the thoughtfulness, the maturity of this witty man who I am blessed to have as my Father. Babuji. all my life, I will always be thankful to you for encouraging me to dream new and dream big ! Nothing and nobody can stop me from that.... I am in awe of your strength, your integrity, and your painful endurance you deal with daily. I hope that I can somehow, someway come close to having your strength, your wisdom and your boldness to make you a proud dad. Sometimes good luck showers upon you even before you are born. I am truly blessed to have the presence of a wonderful, loving and rationalist wise father!!! YOU ARE MY HERO!!!! Happy Fathers Day Babuji !!!

Trip to the garden center

Yesterday, I just strolled trough the Atrium Garden and got few clips of the bloom .

It was such a sensory delight. Gorgeous weather ,vivid colors of beautiful flowers...

Had a wonderful refreshing time... I love visiting garden centers, nurseries this time of the year.

Its such a delightful experience. The flowers are in bloom all over the place and nice breeze makes it even more enticing..

Browsing these pictures can relay the sense of relaxation time and again.........