WHY BABIES ARE BETTER...

The last month saw me take upon a very daunting yet much awaited job of babysitting my sisters’ kids. Now I say daunting because of many reasons – they are two of them aged 4 and 3, they live miles and miles away from me so it might take them time to “like” me and so on. And I say much awaited because of many reasons – they are most adorable beings I have ever laid my eyes on, they call me “little aunt” which makes me feel young and they are just the best.


Though I may take on my ordeal later on, the foremost thing I learned from the job bestowed on me was babies are better than us big ones!
Now disagree all you want, but I give you 3 good reasons for my conclusion:


1. They love you just the way you are
You don’t need to dress up for babies, you don’t need to put on makeup, you don’t need to be all intelligent, well read, aware of current issues, technology savvy. You just have to be fun, capable of having a good time and enjoy their games as if you were that age and they are happy! All that my 4 year old nephew wanted out of me was to be fun at barbeque and the 3 year angelic niece wanted a good push on the swings.


2. They don’t lie about important things
Yes, they may “lie” about not being hungry and not being sleepy and all but they would never lie about the “important” things like where they were, who they were talking to, who their friends are, what they do with their friends.


3. They like the simple things in life
They aren’t about Blackberry, Apple, IPods, Ferraris, Porsches, CK, DKNY or similar. All they go “crazy” about is ice creams, chocolate and crayons. My nephew niece would just crave for a Baskin Robbins to get over their “blues”, that would be their indulgent shopping!


Now this may not something everyone agrees with, but this was so true in my case and all I hope now is that I get more of this babysitting opportunities so that I pamper them a lot more and I keep being the lovable aunt to the two of the most fabulous kids ever…Amen!!!

360 degrees

I am just back from a long road trip and boy, do I miss the good old times. Though I come from a big family, it was just mom, dad, me, mobile and the laptop this time. Well, I can instantly rewind ten years back and almost contrast the road trips from then and now. Well, it wasn’t black and white back then but it sure was different. Mom and Dad were the constant elements, I was a klutzy teenager, the mobile was replaced by siblings; the laptop was compensated for by the good old word game.

Sadly now, the siblings have been scattered across the globe due to the villain called “life”. The mobile is a drug I can’t live without. And the laptop is just a measure to cut down on the boredom and silence which engulfs the monotonous trip.

Earlier it was all about packing the right stuff – hoarding on loads of junk that is, pillows for the comfortable car ride, fighting for the window seat – yes, we did that on the four wheel too, making up quirky words to beat your kin at the word game - I remember using the word kinesthetically, and screaming until your mom shouts crazy from the front seat – threats like “We will drop you off right here, right in the middle of the desert!”

And the best part was getting lost. It leads to an awkward silence, some nagging (I told you we should have taken a left) and a frantic map tracing.

Now, we have a GPS and I have all the back seat space to myself. I am using the mobile to message people about my whereabouts. And oh yes, I bought that mobile because it had a zillion megapixel camera which I can use to click nonsensical road photos – posing next to withered cactus, posing when the sunsets, posing with the scattered clouds high over head, some sand dunes which look picture pretty and many other pictures which I will never recall ten years later.

And the laptop to help me upload those pics instantly so that I feel proud in showing all my 500+ friends what a “wonderful” weekend I have just had!

Ending on a prayer for more road trips…Amen!

NUMB – ERRRR….

Numbers have always confused me, made me numb, scared the life out of me, made me fake stomach aches, sometimes actually gave me stomach aches but, to sum it all numbers and I have never been on good terms. I mean, I’ve tried my best and I still am, but numbers and I never seem to hit it off and no matter how hard I try, they just don’t leave me. I’ve tried many times, but numbers and I never seem to part ways.

After having my fair share of quarrels and struggles with numbers as a math student, I decided to end it right there. No more mathematics or statistics or anything remotely “numerical”. My decision was harsh, but I had to do something about it. I chose to study human behavior – I mean that doesn’t have numbers right? But sadly I was wrong, destiny had other plans – it had teamed up with numbers and they decided to play it rough. Now, even after all my endeavors to avoid the inevitable, I find myself at the losing side. I am being bombarded by the number attack from all ends and I am having a hard time.

There is no winning absolutely. My performance as a student is still judged by numbers. My “popularity” depends on the “number of friends” on a networking site. My success in the gym depends on the number of calories I lose or the number of inches lesser on the waist. My health depends on the number of healthy meals per week, or the number of times I exercise or the number of glasses of water I gulp down. From remembering pin codes to mobile numbers to security codes to credit card numbers to salary to locker combinations to shoe sizes to birthdays and anniversaries -- how on earth did I think I could ever escape numbers.

All I do now is pray for a numberless existence… Amen..