Panic in the paper

Last week our driver called up one day early morning to ask if I heard any sound from the newspaper. First of all, I didn’t get what he was talking… and being busy with kids, I just ignored…. and my paper boy was also late that day.

After dropping kids at school, inquired more on the newspaper. He saw a lady screaming with newspaper in her hand… and was trying to call Police to inform that there is some electronic device planted in her newspaper. After German Bakery blast in Pune and string of incidents happening in India, everyone is bit cautious these days. It turned out to be an advertisement from VolksWagon to attract buyers.

When I came home and unfolded ‘Times Of india’ newspaper, I was greeted with VolksWagon Ad. Very creative advertisement… but not so welcoming and a bit scary.

“Volkswagen paid the publication to fit an audio chip inside the pages (above) that plays in an endless loop until you close the paper, according to tech blog Digital Inspiration.”

Clutter free dining table

When someone thinks of a dining table, the first thing that comes to mind is a PIECE OF FURNITURE in hall or dining room, where we sit and enjoy our meals, OR a place where we DUMP all our bills, newspapers and other stuff.

Have you ever thought of the importance of dining table/dining area in your life?

When we are home, three most important places to find family members together are:

• Dining area during meals
• In front of TV while watching a movie or television show
• While praying god or playing a family game

We really don’t spend time with each other while watching TV.... thanks to commercials for giving us an opportunity to see each other’s face :-).

The place where we really cherish talking to each other is the DINING AREA…unless the food tastes really bad ;-). In any case, we do talk….even though talking while eating is not good, it gives us an opportunity to share our daily routine, crack jokes and talk with kids… and “The family who eats Together stays together”. Of course, make sure to turn off TV while eating food.

Having a taste for interior decoration, I used to keep bowl of fake fruits and candles for display on the table. Slowly, some other dining table accessories like spoon&fork stand, placemats, pot holders and napkins made their way. Over a period of time learned that I’m constantly moving them in and out of the dining table to make more room for food and people. But truly wanted them near my dining table.

The solution was the small wooden piece I got from LifeStyle. Also custom-made my dining table to make room for placemats below the glass top. Now I’m completely using its space without compromising look.

Keeping the dining table clutter free welcomes us to serve its purpose and also a great place to let kids do their homework. But make sure to clear things after each use and don’t dump unnecessary stuff.

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Effective teamwork

When we hear the word TEAMWORK, the first thing that comes to our mind is the team at work place. Teamwork is work performed by a team..... but EFFECTIVE TEAMWORK is more than that.

So where do we first learn the basics of teamwork? Of course, at home. Being in US for so many years, I never got the enthusiasm or zeal to celebrate Ganesh Chaturthi the way I did yesterday. During initial years in US, we try to follow customs and traditions and slowly it fades away for many reasons:

• We are too busy with our work (if both husband and wife are working)
• Once we have kids, don’t get time for ourselves
• Weekends are pretty packed with shopping, laundry and other household work
• Whatever time we get, spend it with friends and outing

Sometimes most of us don’t even track festivals…even if we do, we try to make it simple, pray God at home with one sweet, visit temple and meet friends. That’s the celebration for us and we really feel good about it. But if we try to do it the traditional way, we definitely need more help as it requires lots of effort and work .

After a long time, I celebrated Ganesh Chaturthi with my parents and brother’s family and we all worked as a TEAM (sounds funny…isn’t it?). Here is our work distribution:

• I went with my brother to buy all the Puja stuff on the day before Ganesh Chaturthi
• Kids helped me in Rangoli
• Food preparation by team members ;-):

               Brinjal(eggplant) potato curry and Lentils daal – me
               Lemon rice and rasam – sister-in-law                
              Kudumulu(undrallu/karanji) and puri – mother
               Medu vada and Guggullu – father
House cleaning and dish washing by maids

And then my mom and sister-in-law helped me in Puja preparation. We all sat down, did Puja and then had good meals. Without them, don’t think I had the energy and enthusiasm to celebrate the festival the way it should be.

That shows the importance of effective TEAMWORK and its fruitful result. And of course a FREE lesson to my kids on teamwork. Whether it be at home or office, you need a GOOD TEAM who can understand, support, communicate and contribute. Last... but not the least, captured moments of the work done by great team at home.

Please KNOCK on the door

Last week, when I came home and opened the door, there was burning smell and I tried to locate the source... but in vain. Learned the next day that the culprit was my doorbell.

Didn’t realize that doorbell is so important in my life. If you are in India, if you depend on maids for your household work and if you have closed doors... you’ll definitely know the importance of doorbell. Before sleeping, I made sure I call all my maids and inform them to knock on the door. I know if I don’t do that, they’ll have good excuse saying “ Didi... maine doorbell bahut baar dabaayi... par koyi nahi the. Aap hamko binaa bolke kahaa chale gaye? (I rang the doorbell many times... but no one was there. Where did you go without informing us)”. They don’t even bother to knock on the door and call you. Need to learn these tactics from maids ;-).

Wonder how our parents lived their life without doorbells. Gone are those days where doors were open all day and you’ll definitely know if someone is at the door... even if they are standing outside the gate. Open doors and windows welcomed fresh air... and of course dust, mosquitoes and flies... but we never bothered.

Things have changed. Even though the thought of childhood makes us feel good... not sure if we can live that life anymore. We expanded ourselves to minimum 3 bed room house and we make sure doors are CLOSED all the time. We can’t keep the doors open as we are too worried of mosquitoes and flies coming inside. We make sure even the windows have mesh and also we are equipped with important weapons... electric mosquito bat and fly killer bat ;-).

Anyways, I’m waiting for an electrician to fix my doorbell. Until then, I’ll keep a note on the door “DOORBELL IS NOT WORKING. PLEASE KNOCK ON THE DOOR”.