Om's 5th Birthday celebrations

Ask him his age and he proudly announces he is FIVE.

 

All set for cake cutting

We've been celebrating Ahana's Bday at home for the last few years, but I havent been able to bring myself to cook for it, so we've ended up ordering it everytime. For the first time we decided we hold the party at home with all the home made stuff.So this is what I planned for 15 kids who turned up: 

Paav getting served

Chocolate Pudding

Cake & Paav Bhaaji

Sandwich

Hung Curd Dressing Monaco Biscuit

So this is what my party spread looked like. Apart from this I had also prepared Custard pudding for those who didnt eat chocolate. Some Tong Garden honey coated & salt nuts kept my energy filled lad. And ofcourse Tang as Thirst quenchers..We missed taking pictures of these..

Party Time

I decided to hold the party on a working day evening between 6.00-8.00. While Appaji & Ajji decorated the hall with balloons, I got busy with the kitchen. Took half day off from office & started with veggie cutting for my bhaaji. By 5.45P.M. snacks & decoration was all set. We bought the Blueberry cake from Cakewala in Jayanagar. The puddings(chocolate & custard) were kept ready previous night and were cooling in my fridge. At sharp 6.00, Meera & Radhika our immediate neighbours walked in and Om was excited about the start of his party. While Om & Radhika played alone until 6.15, little were they aware of what was to come...6.20 the remaining 10 kids ran in screaming Happy Birthday Om. Om & Radhika went into a state of shock and sat back on the sofa to understand how someone could make so much noise :-D. It took appaji some party music to get the two out of the sofa. And there we had....all kids dancing to the latest bollywood tunes.

I announced its time for cake cutting

The moment I announced that it was time for cake cutting the kids got ready next to Om and the 5th year cake got cut. I had kids coming to me and telling me, "Aunty every dish was very tasty, we really enjoyed the party." What more would I have liked to hear :-). When Ahana's friends had left she announced that she wanted her party to be grand like this at home. And all of us got busy in ajji's room to open Om's gifts. As usual, with every package opening we were watching the expressions Om had on his face.

Pretty girls

Monkeys on the 1st floor

Oh! Come On! Let me eat peacefully

Busy checking out gifts

Happy Birthday 2 U

Boy turns FIVE

My boy turns 5 today. 

Morning when I woke Ahana up for school, she asked me to call her when I was waking up Om. And so I did. Ahana sang him the Happy Birthday song and he was happy to awake and wished by amma, appa & Ahana together.
New shirt, new pant, shoes & Chocolates for distribution. Isn't this what every child is waiting to do on his/her Bday. Om had been waiting to distribute chocolates and cut a cake from the beginning of the year. Everytime a Bday got celebrated at his school, he would come back asking us when his Bday would get celebrated. Today being a working day, I am unable to prepare anything. Cake cutting will happen for sure. Saturday is when I plan to invite some of his friends home and have a small get together.

By the way...he shares his Birthday with Rajanikanth :-D

Forgot to mention this....Ahana asked Om what he would like to become when he grows up. 
Om said Macho Man
Ahana started laughing and said..what Macho man...look like I might want to become a Doctor one day or dad is an Engineer, what would you like to become. 
Om thought over and said..okay not Macho Man, I will become Krissh.
And guess what Ahana had wanted to become around the same age. Click here
 

Freedom Fest 2013

If I had to describe the Freedom Fest of Freedom International School in one word...it would be AWESOME!!

The hard work put in by the children, teachers, helpers, drivers & the Principal, was all seen there. Perfect Show put up. The theme this time was Countries and they covered India, Saudi arabia, Italy, Mexico, Greece, Spain.

The whole playground was utilised perfectly..right side country stalls which displayed everything about the countries and selling specialities of each country, left side had some parents putting up their stalls. The center of the ground was this huge stage with stage lights, disco lights, laser lights, cool sound systems...like we get to see in proper open stage shows.
We were to have Chief minister Siddharamaiah as the chief guest...but he missed...nevertheless the show put up was classy.

Every country got a chance to come up on stage, do a small presentation using audio visuals, small video snippets. Famous Dance forms, movies & songs were performed by kids with the country costumes.

Ahana was part of the Saudi arabia team and had to present on the stage. When not on stage she was at her stall explaining the charts put up. They had date paan filled with dry fruits for sale. Quilled Ear rings made by kids, Book marks with Saudi theme, Arabic mehendi artist & Arabian night theme(for clicking pictures) at the stall. The other stalls had some hand painted bags, scarfs, Indian mehendi, Hand painted flutes, plates & mugs. Basically a lot of art work done by the kids & teachers all put up for sale..and definitely worth the money we paid.

Ahana in her Arabic Attire

Arabian nights Cut-out for taking pictures

Another thing I missed out mentioning...the Flash mob. Blended with the festive feel that was put up. With the 2013 hits being played, all the kids who were not performing on the stage were here in the flash mob dancing in full enthusiasm. And what more...we had the Principal of the school Mrs.Jayanti Prabhakar also dancing n running :-)
The whole show put up...put me in an awe...hats off to the kids, teachers, organizing team & the Principal.

Alice in Wonderland @ Rangashankara

Alice in Wonderland @ Rangashankara for 6+ years kids. December 01, 2013

Alice in Wonderland

Bored and exhausted with their routine, fast-paced lives, four people decide to make a short getaway into a world of their own make-belief. Using Lewis Carroll`s novel as a base, the performers transform themselves and the objects around them into a world of pure fantasy and nonsense; to return in the end changed forever by imagination.

This play is an effort to take a flight of imagination, to re-understand lives and surroundings and look at everything anew through the eyes of infinite possibilities. You will be presented with their explorations.

The play is performed using objects. This unique story telling technique is called Object Theatre. It is relatively a new art form was born in Europe with the incoming of the Industrial Revolution and the Consumer age. It juxtaposes live performers with easily identifiable objects from everyday use, thereby creating interesting dynamics in the storytelling. Tram Theatre is India`s First Object Theatre Company.

Ahana n Meera @ Rangashankara

It had been long since Ahana had been taken to any play, so I decided this is the time to get her interest back in Plays. Only challenge was who would manage Om. So we decided we would take Meera(our neighbour) also along and send Ahana & Meera in, while we spent an hour outside keeping Om busy. 

While I assumed that this Play would be for kids, the queue at Rangshankara just told me the opposite. The crowd was mostly a mix of the grey heads & middle aged folks.

This was a one hour show. The faces of these two kids when they walked out of the amphitheater told it all. While initially Ahana had complained about being sent alone inside....we not tagging along...she had definitely had a good time there. 

While the kids were at the Play, we took Om and mummy to the nearby Balaji temple. We had to show Om Narasimha (Narasimba as he calls it). He refused to believe that what we were showing him was Narasimha. We have a Ganesha temple next to our house...and recently they had installed Narasimha there. How could that narasimha come here was Question no.1. Where did Narasimba's teeth go was Question no.2. 

Answer from dad: Both the narasimha's are brothers :-D. And then the story of Narasimha/ hiranyakashyap/ Prahlad followed.

Om with his best friend Radhilka

I missed it-- Baby managed Baba

Two and a half days of my absence from home had me worried as he also was to travel out to Goa. Both of us in Goa with our set of friends. He left on Thursday on his bike and I was to leave on Friday by flight. Mum-in-law noticed the worry on my face and had tried hard to calm me down :-)
With mind racing I kept thinking on how to give instructions to Ahana baby...thought over for sometime and took out 30 mins from my work to make a list of to-do things. A day-to-day instruction set got prepared for baby.
Friday- 22nd afternoon Om had his dress rehersal.
Saturday- 23rd Om had his annual day
Sunday- 24th Ahana had her National level drawing n coloring prize distribution ceremony & Vineeta's Bday at Martin Farm, Sarjapur.

All of it time bound.
My list of to-do was meant for Ahana who had to take care of her lil brother without bothering her granny.
And from what I learnt after returning...Om's school day went perfectly well and Ahana did a perfect job of managing the show :-) Now I am waiting for the school annual day recording to see what sonny boy did on the stage.

Time flies

I am back here after a gentle knock from my aunt who accidentally reminded me of my blog :-) Incidentally she was searching for some details on Koravanji and happened to see Ahana's pic appearing in the images.

I am sorry I missed recording some of the most beautiful moments that have passed with my growing kids. Om is going to turn 5 in a months time and Ahana is close to turning 10. wow!!

Fun....
Ahana had her first sleep over at her friend Vineeta's place last weekend. Seems to have enjoyed it thoroughly. Three girls chit-chatting until 11.30P.M. Her grandma had her eyes wide open when we said she's going to her friends place for the night. Its been a month of movies, parties and fun for the kids. Chennai Express, Krrish & Thor done. Chennai Express was loved by all, senseless clean family movie and for this reason kids have ended up watching it 6 times!!!! Ahana mimics Deepika Padukone perfectly- Hindi with South Indian accent. Krrish was too violent for the kids. Om complained of stomach pain midway. And the same happened while watching Thor. Conclusion- Om acts all brave, but when it comes to watching action on big screen, he's scared & ends up with tummy pain which vanishes the moment he's out of the theatre.

Reading...
I used to wonder how my lil cousins could read Harry Potter so many times...and now I see Ahana going on n on about "Hairy"Potter all the time. She's finished the first two parts in 3 weeks. Now reading Harry Potter & the Prisoner of Azkaban. With Om its 3 letter words. Getting him to sit with appaji for some reading practice is the biggest task. With me, it works sometimes not as much a problem as appaji faces :-). Being strict works...at times.

Achievement...

• Got a call from Ahana's drawing teacher Foram Joshi from Color Palette Art Institute, that Ahana has got a bronze medal in 8th National Level Drawing & coloring Competition organised by Lalithakala Center for Visual Arts (http://jseedutrust.com/4.php). 

• This year has been activity filled for Ahana. She may not be the first in her class, but continues to remain among top 3. Ahana was given a chance to go for an Inter-school speech competition this year. An opportunity at an early age..

• Ahana was also chosen for Arts n Craft show hosted by Robb from Pogo channel. I helped her with this paper craft at home, but the enthusiasm she had for meeting Robb kept her at work till the end. We made a horse with rolled up newspaper & Kellogg's cornflakes box. Unfortunately the dates for meeting Rob & Inter school speech competition clashed. Another try awaits her next year. Hopefully her wish will be fulfilled :-)

• She also got an opportunity to participate in Cooking without fire competition held at her school. The princess she is, I had to ensure I dont give her a recipe which does not involve knives/ sharp instruments. So what did she make....She made chocolate balls (with marie biscuit, milkmaid, butter, choco chip) & buttermilk with doddapatre. No prizes, but was shortlisted for the finals. Pic of the chocolate balls in serving tray below...

•  Just last week she had Arts n Craft competition at her school and the themes gives were Rainbow colors or Underwater world. I suggested she make a lantern with rainbow colors. And this is what she made...all by herself at school. As of now she's been told she's first in class. We are awaiting inter-class results.

 

For Om, achievements in terms of prizes are yet to begin. He has another 2 years before he gets into the rat race. He's been faring well in school so far. Grades stand at A. So no worries for now.

Ahana baby>>this one's from pappa 

Flash back. I was in 7^th when I got a City level Camlin contest prize. That was among the three prizes I picked up at NPS. I was given 10 Rs for a water color set. ( if you can recall that small red box with round tablets of colors ..they get over with three large drops of water )Two small brushes in that set and I went wild with that … Whenever I held a brush in hand folks around me gave me images of my future in Kurta with one artist jholi and slippers. I had to struggle to understand PCMB after that.

Ahana however loves to paint. While her drawing is way off. She does not yet understand symmetry, perspective and proportions what she loves is colors and her combinations some time are stunning and the best part I have liked is that she does not copy. She will go mixing colors and find a different blue or red for the sky letting her imagination play.

While she showed skills in arithmetic, singing and academics and picked up the best student for Juniors…she had been asking us for enrolling her into painting classes. We never thought that this is something she really wanted or should be getting into. It was amazing to see how involved she was into this once it started. For the last year and a half she has been really putting her heart into this and interestingly this is the achievement  which has eluded her the most. She would pick up prizes everywhere but not this.

I share this because it means a lot to her. (learning for me )

Regards,

VHM