The Incredible India

Like anyone else, I too have a travel wishlist that includes a go-around the world to see the mountains, rivers, oceans, ancient monuments, various cultures, food, life style.. and the list goes on. Its sad that I haven't even covered a tiny bit of it and I think have already lived half of my life! However, from whatever little I have travelled, I have learnt a lot of things. One biggest eye opener is that India is the land of ultimate wonders!!

History is something I love and I am very keen to know how our fore fathers lived, the kings, forts etc. So on my visit to England, I went to Warwick castle, that is around two hour drive from London. The entry ticket costed more than  £20 which covered the guide who explained every detail, although it didn't have much story that I remember.
It was a big rocky building that stood amidst beautiful green nature. The nature is a blessing in these cold countries. May be it is due to sparse population and extreme winters that keeps nature intact. Anyway, the castle had a number of halls inside, which were decorated and setup with all the furniture as though people lived in it till the day before. There were a number of live performances outside the castle to entertain people. There was so much of effort put in to keep the castle alive and attract tourists that we hardly find in India. The castle didn't leave any lasting impression on me as such history wise but I was impressed by how it was preserved and glorified. No part of the monument seemed old, so nicely maintained with people around so proud and passionate about it. That's when I thought what if the most beautiful forts that I had seen in India, the Amer fort and Agra fort existed here? They would definitely make it to the wonders list :)

Our forts have such rich history and the forts are laid out so well with amazing plans. They have natural heating and cooling system, mind blowing techniques to fool the enemies, amazing carvings and paintings with colours that still come alive and what not! How much do we know about these forts? There are numerous forts like this, the unbeaten Jaljira fort standing in Arabian sea fighting the strong currents every moment and yet in tact, the Red fort are some of the very few that I have seen. There are a numerous unique superb ones which I am yet to see! Apart from forts we have amazing rock architecture like the ones in Hampi, the astronomical wonder Jantar Mantar, the beautiful Taj Mahal, the caves of Ajanta and Ellora, the GolGubaz of Bijapur, the  wonderful golden Temple and many other astonishing temples in South India which we all must see in our life time! Nature is no less appealing. The beautiful western ghats that are lush green with water streams every where during rainy seasons are worth a drive around,  the Jog falls in Karnataka, the snow capped mountains in Kulu Manali,  the mighty Ganga river on the banks of Haridwar, the Amboli falls in Karnataka during rainy season are only a few to name.

Taj Mahal is amazingly breath taking. This beautiful white marvel is no doubt a wonder. The entry fee is a meager Rs.5. But the Agra city does not stand to the reputation of the wonder. The city is very poorly maintained with no due attention to hygiene. I felt frustrated thinking what impression are we leaving on the tourists who come from abroad? Is this the reason why India is depicted as a poor developing country outside? Yes, I think so.

Museums are another good destination abroad. Every city has a museum that it is known for. Every bit is maintained so well. This keeps me thinking all the time about India. Almost every place or city stands for some notable feature. But only thing that lacks is our passion for what we have at home. We always see the green grass on the other side. We could have millions of museums in India showcasing our history, culture, festivals, food, languages, states, religions, diversity and what not. India is an abundant country and what needs is just our realisation.

India has rich history which is not given the attention it needs. All we speak of is the fight for freedom, but there is much beyond that. Tourism must be given a new perspective and the ancient wonders be glorified! Preserving them for our future generations is the need of the hour and it is each one of our responsibility.

Having said that, on our return back to home, we have decided to set out on the tour often to visit all the wonderful places out there and I hope to write my tour diary!

The School of my dream

It all began when I was in 4th grade, when I went to visit my cousin at "THE KRCRS" - Kittur Rani Channamma Residential School for girls located in the beautiful landscape on the hills of Kittur, a small town famous for the brave Rani Chennama, the freedom fighter in Karnataka. I instantly fell in love with the alluring three storey school building that looked like a marvel to me, the beautiful nature, the dormitories running down the hill, the elegant school uniform. That was when I made up my mind. I had to join this school no matter what. But then, that was not an easy task!

I had two options - crack the entrance exam that is no less competitive for a 5th grader or get in on a payment seat which was not something I liked even if my parents could afford. When I told my parents about my wish, they arranged me a coach who was super intelligent. He honed my mathematical and language skills. The exam had a speed test where we had to solve 50 math problems in 10 minutes, general knowledge that could be just anything and language. There was no defined syllabus and luckily I made it to top 10 list of the merit list. That was my dream come true and I was finally going to be boarded!

The school had awesome routine. Waking up early is a speciality of any boarding school. We know the importance of long sleep very well. We had a rigorous early morning PT after drinking a glass of lemon juice which sometimes used to be sour. I then wondered why we had to drink that, but only now I realise, that gave us good immunity! I loved the mess where we ate our food. It was a big place where all 800 girls ate in silence. The breakfast, lunch, dinner and tea snacks were all planned and scheduled. Each of the item would be delicious. The oily dosas with coffee on Sunday morning was something I would long for or the hot chapathis dipped in mouth watering sambar or the hot yummy cupcakes with tea or the freshly baked biscuits with milk still make me nostalgic. We were offered every variety, I never missed my mom when it came to food! Respect and love for food is the most important lesson I learnt there, that I keep telling my kids now.  

After the PT we had around 45 minutes to get back to our dormitory, change into school dress, keep our bed and things neat, take our bag and get going to school. I wonder how I managed everything in so less time. The teachers were amazingly strict. We were not pampered, at the same, we never felt far from home. We had every extra curricular activity - skating, swimming, karate, yoga, all types of indoor outdoor games, horse riding, painting, knitting! As a parent, now I realize how lucky we were that we had so many things to learn at our finger tips.

The dormitory life was fun. The long halled houses with around 45 beds neatly lined up, the locker rooms displaying our daily essentials where we actually didn't lock anything, the drawing room, the bathroom halls with buckets lined up,so clean and tidy...everything is so deeply captured in memory that itwill grow old with us, but never gets faded.Our school life is our childhood! Seniors were warm and supportive. There were akkas who served us selflessly with so much of affection. Each one had their own set of duties from keeping cots in line to checking the neatness of the dress worn. Keeping the bed neat was a big deal, the way bedsheets need to be tucked and the mosquito net neatly made. Even today I make my bed the same way!
Amidst the busy schedule, we found time to enjoy and have fun! We used to sit together and laugh for hours. Those days are something that I will never get back! I made amazing friends for life.

There was healthy competition. We had recitations, debates, extempores in all three languages. We danced, we sang, we ran, we cheered, we celebrated every festival with zeal, we did everything! Annual day was the biggest festival for us. We decorated our school campus like a bride. We used to practice for the functions for various days.  Our teachers were very particular about the quality. Prize distribution is what I loved. Initial years I couldn't make it, but later I felt like on cloud nine!

Staying away from parents at the age of 11 years is difficult. I had to be on my own for everything. Bathing, washing clothes, keeping my stuff clean, studies, eating, everything. I loved the second Sundays, the wait for that call, "your parents are here" brought emotions from within deep. I cherish those short letters my dad would write filled with so much of love! One thing I learnt from school was to understand the importance of family.

There is so much more that I cannot write in this small post like how I fit in my whole world in that small green trunck, how we hid birthday cards for the girls on their birthdays, how we enjoyed being wished, how we adored those stars we got and wore them with pride, how we passed the messages between dormitories, how we dozed off during the after dinner study hour, how we sang in bathrooms, how we managed everything in that mug of water during water scarcity, how we helped each other and consoled when anyone felt low, how we lined up for everything, how we gave natural press to the uniforms under the bed, how proud we felt to be called didi the first time, how we loved that temple run making stories, how we wished for rains to skip morning PT, how we memorized the Sanskrit tenses... Wow what a wonderful life it was!!! My school was an amazing parent for seven years or even more than a parent!

Those beautiful seven years will always hold a special place in my life. I consider myself very lucky to have ended up there. Even after 15 years, I feel it happened just yesterday. Every single memory is so fresh. The school has given me the most lessons for life. I owe every single day of my life to the school and it's marvelous teachers. Wish I could go back and live those beautiful years yet again!

The evolution of parenting

My elder son is in 1st grade this year and this will be his 5th year of formal schooling starting from playgroup when he was 2 years old! Kids' schooling is the most essential part of today's parents and well, it has be. We are far more serious than our parents were and tend to get stressed out fast. I remember my mom sending to kindergarten when I was 4 and I always ran back behind her. My parents didn't worry much about it then. I wonder how I would react if my son would do the same now! However, today's schools are more inviting and fun learning types.

The town where we lived had only one English medium school, so we all ended up there. That could have been so easier for our parents. They didn't have to research for the extraordinary schools, their ratings, teachers and what not. Schools back then did what they were supposed to do..impart education and assess at the end of the year. That's all! What we get in schools these days is a lot different. They do many other things other than teaching, so many activities, Olympiads, parents involving stuff, fund raising etc. There is so much competition between schools that leaves parents in dilemma and often wonder if their decision for their kids is the right one.

When I was in, may be, second or third grade, I was used to walk back from my school which was more than 2 kms far. I loved that walk and cherish even now. Me and my friends made stories, picked tamarind from trees, but never felt the fear. Would that be possible now? The insecurity that has crept in our society now always keeps parents in worry mode. I go pick my son who gets dropped by his bus just a 1000ft from my home. Although he tells me that he can walk back alone, I am never at ease. I wonder what memories he is making for life.

Our schooling was totally different and was fun that we will never get to see now. We respected our teachers and not loved them. We used to please our teachers so much that they asked our names and remembered it. When a teacher called by our name in class, we would feel accomplished. Teachers were strict and there were rules to follow. Now, a teacher knows the child on the first day itself. He is welcomed by the teacher in the class and made so comfortable. I never see any kid crying now to be left at school. That's a huge change I see.

We as parents are putting so much of efforts and time on our kids, their home work, play etc. We know what is taught every day in class. We involve so much with their school activities, PTA, we know their teachers well, ask them about kids progress often. We even decide what game he needs to play and for how long. We fetch books for them and know well about their reading ability. We learn new recipes,  think so much on their lunch box. There are numerous blogs and Facebook pages just involving kids friendly recipes and lunch ideas. We plan every detail about them. We are into everything in their life. Sometimes I feel, he doesn't have space at all. My parents never got involved in this detail in my childhood. I went to residential school and they visited me once a month. They didn't know my teachers, what I read and what I played. Yet, at the end, I think I grew pretty well and had good lessons for life.

I think this is the evolution of parenting I see, good or bad is the topic for discussion and debate. I think my parents did the best job, gave just what I needed and made ME be MYSELF. I sometimes put myself under analysis, and try to change as a parent, still I am not that good at handling stress because the world is competitive and we want our kids to outperform in everything :(

The world of 'Organics'

After I moved to US, I was left with tons of options and brands to choose from the groceries isle, starting with milk, eggs,bread and every other grocery.

When I picked a gallon of milk can, I noticed the claim- "Our farmers pledge not to treat their cows with artificial growth harmonies" with the further highlight- "No significant difference found between cows treated with hormones or not".
When I went on to find more about this claim, I found that it is legal to treat cows with artificial growth hormones here. The cows treated that way produce more milk and are prone to udder infections which is why they are further given heavy antibiotics. This milk when consumed can cause problems. There are a lot of articles online on the impact on human health. So I decided to go organic with milk. There are a number of organic brands which again is not easy to choose from. I followed the article https://www.cornucopia.org/dairysurvey to select the milk brand. I got couple of good ones. But I still wonder why milk should carry fish oil or algae oil to make it pro DHA. Anyway!

Further educating myself, I found it better to switch to cage free humane certified and pasture raised eggs. The caged chicken are overly populated and are fed GMO food that makes their eggs not good. The pasture raised chicken are the best bet. Although chicken here are not allowed to be given artificial growth harmonies, it is better to go organic!

We hardly eat bread at home. I prefer cooking hot and healthy breakfast that keeps the day energetic. But my son loves bread omelette and sandwiches. So whenever I buy I look for whole wheat organic bread preferably non-GMO verified. There are a multiple non profit projects that ensure products are organic. You can look for this label "non-GMO verified" on anything marked organic.

My little ones diet has lot of spinach as he ran into low Hb. My elder one loves strawberries and grapes. I was shocked to see these top the "dirty dozen" list. I felt so guilty of feeding my kids the pesticide laden fruits and veggies. I turned to organic options on these on urgent basis.  I am yet to switch to organic on few other veggies.

Our budget has taken backseat with this world of organics, but the relief of feeding kids the good food is immense. But wait, wasn't everything organic when it all began? Why did we do GMOs and roundup? If this was to solve the hunger problem, isn't it creating another problem to deal with?

I always wonder what if we were not able to afford to the organic food? Did we then eat what's available and get sick and die with disease? Is the good food on earth for only the people with some money? Survival of the fittest or survival of the dollar? Think!!!