Day 4/100 - From the Toy town of India

Channapatna – which translates to 'Toy Town'  is situated around 60 kms from Bangalore on the Bangalore – Mysore highway.Had heard of Channapatna toys from a shop in Bangalore Airport that distributed a pamphlet and a  free keychain last December when hundreds of Artisans had come for the Airport Renaming and Terminal Inauguration. So when we decided to go for a road trip to Mysore it was a natural choice to take a short break at Channapatna- for a cup of tea and to buy something for Aiden. The Rocking Horse from Channapatna is his favourite now even after having fallen head –on from it .

Since we could not spend enough time in the town to explore it for ourselves  - I googled about  Channapatna  back in office the next day – enough to know that :

• The unique craftsmanship of making toys here was introduced at the time of Tipu sultan – who invited Persian artisans to train local artisans in the making of wooden toys.
• Channapatna toys are generally crafted out of white Ivory wood and pained with organic vegetable dyes – which are safe for children.
• These toys are generally manufactured in small to medium sized units with multitude of them being run as an extension to the houses in small scale. Ladies in Channapatna are generally seen chiseling and shaping small wooden  blocks outside of their houses . These are then collected in Cycles and Rickshaws into small manufacturing units where they are polished , painted  and assembled. The ladies and artisans earn around 500 Rs a day as against Rs 70 a few years back – thanks to the involvement of NGOs  in reviving this small scale industry that was facing hard competition from cheap Chinese toys in market.
• The art has gone global in recent years with demands pouring in from countries like US / UK  providing  prototypes of modern toys .Michelle Obama who took collection of Channapatna  toys – trains , key rings ,Ganesha idols -  from a stall in Delhi when she came for a visit in 2010 – has also given a  global touch to the revival of this ancient craft.

Here is a good write ups on Channapatna and the toy making process :

http://www.beontheroad.com/2011/02/incredible-world-of-toys-at-channapatna.html

Day 3/100 - From the barber shop

Goofy ( one of the many names that I call Aidu ) is particularly paranoid of haircuts that he cries, wails , hits and kicks anyone in the vicinity if someone touches his hair for a  cut. It has been happening ever since his first haircut and has become particularly difficult to convince him for a haircut as he grow. All attempts at cajoling him for a  haircut which his grandparents , uncles , aunties and even neighbors have done has just gone vain.

With multiple  failed attempts at getting his hair cut -  even after managing to take him to the barber shop;. it is either me or his dad who gives him a haircut , which just reduces the length of hair – in no particular pattern. I've been longing to see his hair properly groomed by a professional – for the last 6-7 months.

This Sunday evening when we were planning for an evening walk ; I just had an intuition that maybe  he is no longer afraid of haircuts ; now that he is a BIG boy as he claims. So we just drove to the nearby barber shop without giving a   hint of where we were heading. It was only when I parked the car below the complex  that he asked me where we were going and I just told him we'll get something from a kids shop – which I'm sure he understood was  a lie from his otherwise less sinful mom.

When I climbed the stair to the second floor – he held my hand, looked straight into my eyes and said – "I know where we  are going ". Usually I melt at this dialogue ; but this time I kept my cool ( I'm known to overact and overdo things concerning  Aiden – which his dad and my dad complains equally -as being 'over motherly'  ) and told him "It's OK Goofy we'll be done soon". Thankfully there was no queue and I quickly placed him on the chair as soon as I could; without giving him time to protest. While the barber was making him ready for the haircut – putting an apron around his neck and some talcum powder; he mumbled "Mummy , please ask him to cut slow" – which I dramatically did with all props and frills.

 And there he was – a smart obedient little boy staying calm and cool at the high held chair; slowly tilting his head at the barbers gestures. No wonder he had a good haircut.

So; here is a pic clicked after the haircut in his new dress which we got ,  for being such a lovely champ , from the kids shop below  which I said we came to visit -  I cannot be a liar to my boy.

For now he has bid goodbye to the fear of haircuts ….My boy is growing up.

P.S: When I think back over the episodes of hair cutting accounts that we have had it reinforces to me that kids reflect our feelings most of the time. Earlier when I used to take him to the barber shop; I myself used to worry if the haircut would hurt him and would keep telling him hours in advance that he should not cry or mess up explaining to him that the barber uncle would definitely not hurt him and on and on.This time somehow I was composed and he only reflected my state of mind. 

Day 2/100 - From the Garden..

I love spending time with plants and flowers . And Gardening is one of the biggest stress busters for me. More than seeing a good , well maintained garden ( which for sure is a bliss in itself )- I enjoy the pleasure of planting , pruning , manuring and taking care of plants.
When Aidu was in Kerala last year and I had to be alone in Bangalore for the sake of work ..It was in my agenda to visit a nursery near our place every weekend.
I used to get up every day to check the well being of the plants in the garden...I love to see them grow and bloom. By 3 months of our stay in our new house ; I had 2 coconut trees, a mango tree ,
guava and pomegranate beside the less conspicuous yet beautiful flowers in my garden ( which is hardly a pinch of land ).
Probably because of the intensity of my desire to see them grow ; the plants generally grow and bloom when I'm away ( or so I feel) - most plants grew and bloomed when I was away in Singapore for three months..
I had a good collection of veggies too in the terrace and left out space on the sides of the house this year - thanks to my in-laws who were here for few months last year.
So here is a collection of pics from my garden. The Crop was not very great this year - due to the late and weak monsoon ( more to our laziness to water them regularly ) - But it was good enough to keep the momentum going - We have planned to get the next set of veggies to plant.

Day 1/100 : As he turns four..

So here I'm - reviving my blog after a break of good 5-6 months of inactivity.
Wanted to give it a last try to see if I can ever be regular on blogs...
So for now I'll start with Aiden - the smile and happiness of my life.
He completed a glorious four years last month.
We had a small cake cutting at home - few of his friends had come down and my boy was super happy to have his playmates at home.
As it is now he is a super naughty being with all plans to pull all our( read mine and my husbands )nerves at any time of the day.
The persistence he shows at disobeying us and in having his ways gets out the devil in me and I'm surprised not at his naughtiness but at the realization of the devilry of the devil in me. But his prayers with folded hands and closed eyes " Oh Jesus keep my mother sane - Yesuappe ente mummynte dheshyam okke mattane ) is often answered and I'm back to normalcy and a good laughter most of the time.
So that is how we make up after most bad fights.

And here are few pics from the cake cutting party :)

P.S: This Self declared Blogathon initiative is one of the few steps to find some time for myself - to put a schedule to otherwise busy yet non productive - haphazard lifestyle I'm currently into.