Mom-in-the-city: That Famous Delhi Attitude

Author : Yashodhara      Blog : Y On Earth Not      Date : 5/13/2013 5:48:00 PM

'This was my article in a feature called 'Moms and the City' in the Hindustan Times, Saturday, May 11th. The feature also had articles by three other lovely ladies that I know!Below is the unedited version of my bit on 'That Famous Delhi Attitude', which I personally liked better in its longer avatar ;)''I lived for twenty years in Delhi, before moving to mild-mannered Bangalore, and then to no-nonsense Mumbai. And now, I find myself back here as a mom, and attempting to raise three (...)'

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Pickle

Author : Yashodhara      Blog : Y On Earth Not      Date : 4/24/2013 8:33:00 AM

'The thing with being a parent of twins is that you really don't think about them as separate individuals as much as you should.Well, young Pickle is making sure he gets his share of mind-space.He is ( and of course, his brother is) almost three now, and developing into a very sturdy, yet sharp young fellow with a real mind of his own. He is rather worldly wise and yet very sensitive. It's becoming a real issue, because that kid can really hold a grudge, and what's more, he's really (...)'

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This should be interesting

Author : Yashodhara      Blog : Y On Earth Not      Date : 4/11/2013 4:55:00 PM

'So the little maid who looks after my twins has gone off for a whole month.I couldn't really begrudge her this holiday - last year around this time, she was to go back to her village for some Puja and ended up cancelling - so it's really the first long holiday she's taking in two years.Today was reasonable - I managed to get out of work at 3 p.m. because my part-timer leaves around then. Thankfully, the good ol' K is very much around.I had to get Peanut to her Piano class at 6 p.m. (...)'

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Book Samachar MBA Special

Author : Yashodhara      Blog : Y On Earth Not      Date : 4/11/2013 10:58:00 AM

'By the folks on Storizen. Fairly amusing presentation. Check out the recent books by us boring MBA-types.'

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Those Pricey Thakur Girls!

Author : Yashodhara      Blog : Y On Earth Not      Date : 4/4/2013 11:42:00 AM

'I usually don't do book reviews, which is a shame because as an author, I really value each and every review for my own book. I think I've written only about books like the Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, bypassing even writing about the wonderful Room and several others that I've really liked. I thought I should try and correct this, especially for a book that I picked up at the World Book Fair in February  - Anuja Chauhan's Those Pricey Thakur Girls. Disclosure - Anuja (...)'

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The Last Day

Author : Yashodhara      Blog : Y On Earth Not      Date : 3/20/2013 4:15:00 PM

'I have now started work, and it's been a grand total of two days. But this is about how I spent the last day of my sabbatical, so let's just focus on that.It was a Monday - deliberately chosen because I just didn't want to start work on a Monday, and had decided to finally do something that I had successfully put off for ten whole months.You see, early on in the sabbatical when I had been leafing through some papers, I had found two cheques issued in favour of Vijay by an organizati(...)'

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Sabbatical Final Round Up

Author : Yashodhara      Blog : Y On Earth Not      Date : 3/18/2013 3:49:00 PM

'...so tomorrow I start work.It's at my old office, and it's an interesting project, really - it's part time, and not a long-term commitment  Still, it's the official end of the sabbatical. Dead tired as I am right now, I wanted to do one final round up of my sabbatical, which ended up being ...almost ten months long!So here goes, as I look back over the last few months ( apologies if you've heard some of this before, but this is really a list more for me than anything else(...)'

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Peanut the Gourmet

Author : Yashodhara      Blog : Y On Earth Not      Date : 3/10/2013 4:34:00 PM

'I watch my little daughter, her hair tied up in a ponytail, looking very grown up at the dining table.She has prepared herself for her meal. Always a fussy eater, everything has to be just right. On her plate, she has some dal, carrots-and-peas, a roti, and two pieces of Tinda that she reluctantly allowed me to serve her. An unopened bottle of Yakult lies next to the plate. She will only open it once she's had a few bites of the food.I observe how she helps herself to a little bit o(...)'

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Anybody wanna get Vaccinated?

Author : Yashodhara      Blog : Y On Earth Not      Date : 3/5/2013 5:14:00 PM

'My sister in law is visiting from England - just when Vijay is due to travel there.'Good timing.' she remarked. 'Have you got your flu vaccinations?' Being a doctor, that's her area of interest.'Oh yes,' said Vijay. 'Only...perhaps not quite the right one.''What do you mean?' she said.I jumped in to explain. 'Yesterday.' I shot a withering look at Vijay. 'Vijay decided to go to some Jeewan Clinic. I was with him, and we were supposed to go to Artemis but he said that was closer, so (...)'

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If You're in Bangalore...

Author : Yashodhara      Blog : Y On Earth Not      Date : 3/4/2013 4:34:00 AM

'It's been years since we've lived there, our flat in Bangalore. These pictures mailed to me by our ertswhile tenant ( who moved out just yesterday) made me feel very nostalgic about the place. It's really a beautiful complex.So anyway, he's gone now with his little family. Therefore, we're currently looking for a tenant. This place is on the 2nd floor, 1700 square feet in East Bangalore ( near the old Airport). If you know someone who is willing to rent the place on company lease, d(...)'

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The Cycle of Life

Author : Yashodhara      Blog : Y On Earth Not      Date : 2/22/2013 2:17:00 PM

'I don't know why I bother.There's this one cycle shop just five minutes from my home. Last year, on my birthday, my husband convinced me to buy this one pink-cycle-with-a-basket which I blew thousands on, and have used exactly four times so far.So today, I'm pretty sure the guy saw me coming from miles away. The cash registers would have started ringing in his head as soon as my head bobbed into view. Because I don't shop often, but when I do, I go so way overboard that you wouldn't(...)'

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I GotYe Babe

Author : Yashodhara      Blog : Y On Earth Not      Date : 2/7/2013 5:59:00 AM

'I went to yesterday's Gotye concert at the Blue Frog.Excited that I'd managed tickets at the last moment thanks to some very good and resourceful friends. Sheepish that I was just like one of those yuppies who've pretty much heard like two or three of his songs.It blew me away.He is stunning in almost every way. As a musician, he is incredibly versatile. I lost count of the number of instruments he played...mostly percussion, but plenty of other things as well, many of them being in(...)'

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Eventfully Yours

Author : Yashodhara      Blog : Y On Earth Not      Date : 2/5/2013 10:01:00 AM

'I love February. Always have, always will.Apart from the fact that weather is beyootiful this month ( yeah, right - have you SEEN the wet misery outside in Delhi today?), it's generally an active month - with a certain overgrown kid's birthday comin' up ...and a certain couple's Ten YEAR wedding anniversary (gasp! we're so OLD!)Of course, I might not get to go to Gotye's concert tomorrow given that tickets are all sold out and after my initial excitement about this in November ( whe(...)'

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What 'Ambitious' Means

Author : Yashodhara      Blog : Y On Earth Not      Date : 1/27/2013 12:08:00 PM

'Before I tell you this little story, here's a little feature on some interesting (heh heh) books and authors in today's Hindustan Times Brunch.                                                                                *****Friday was a holiday for the kids, so I thought I migh(...)'

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*Ahem, Cough, Cough*

Author : Yashodhara      Blog : Y On Earth Not      Date : 1/22/2013 9:01:00 AM

'A big hug to the nice folks at Bahrisons, with love from Yashodhara 'Lals''

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Learning to say NO

Author : Yashodhara      Blog : Y On Earth Not      Date : 1/22/2013 8:46:00 AM

'It's been seven months of my sabbatical so far. So much has happened. Incredible amounts. I've been doing regular round-ups, and I figured one is due. For all I know, this might just be the last one. - I spent the time that I really wanted to with my grandmother before she passed away earlier this month. I cannot thank life enough for this. I saw her so many times despite the 3 hour back-and-forth ride - by car and sometimes metro. - My daughter and I have a different leve(...)'

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Sense

Author : Yashodhara      Blog : Y On Earth Not      Date : 1/21/2013 6:01:00 AM

'I look into your clear eyes and see right into your soulI listen to your laughter that is louder, fuller, purer than the ringing of temple bellsI touch your smooth skin, wondering at its perfection I taste the salt in your tears when you bury your face in my neck for comfortI smell the sweet scent of your baby-breath as you struggle to tell me how you feel. I struggle to tell you how I feel. Do you understand the word Blessed?One day you will. When you’re old eno(...)'

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Grandparents

Author : Yashodhara      Blog : Y On Earth Not      Date : 1/18/2013 4:52:00 PM

'I think I must be luckier than most people - I've had all four of my grandparents around for a long, long time.I was very close to two of the four in particular. My paternal grandpa and maternal grandma.The former passed away about two years ago.The latter barely a week ago - only nine days after the sudden demise of my mother's father. Yes, it's been a tough start to the year for the family -especially my mother, with whom they both lived for the last few years.For me personal(...)'

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When Our Brother is In Town.

Author : Yashodhara      Blog : Y On Earth Not      Date : 1/11/2013 8:44:00 AM

'* A Churan-waala's day is made. - At M-Block market, GK. A nondescript churan-waala sits on a cold winter day.He's approached by a tall-but-stooping man. To his delight, the fellow proceeds to select Churan of all variety, worth over a thousand bucks. He cannot believe his luck. This is more than he sells in a day.'I live in the U.K.' explains the unnecessarily chatty tall man. 'My sister comes to you a lot to buy churan, too.'The fellow from the U.K tries to give him some extr(...)'

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Writing Resolutions

Author : Yashodhara      Blog : Y On Earth Not      Date : 1/9/2013 8:25:00 AM

'As you may know, HarperCollins and Indiblogger are running a contest to get the best short stories published. If you're a blogger and you write, please do check it out here I'm mentoring this contest and my latest post 'Resolutions and a Recap' goes like this - As the new year begins, and we start afresh, it’s a good time to think about your goals – and if at all, like me, your goals have anything to do with a creative pursuit, I hope you’ll relate to this.People talk a lo(...)'

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