A Malayalam Book After A Long Time!

Kunnolamundallo Bhoothakalakkulir - Deepa Nisanth

I can't quite recall the last time I read a malayalam book. I love the language, the beauty of its words and I've loved all the malayalam books that I've read. One of my first memories of a book fair was purchasing a malayalam book and the excitement of reading it on my own. Sadly, though I still remember the story, I forgot the name of the book and I misplaced it too. I really loved that book!

Then came the second language malayalam classes at school. Some of the amazing teachers that I've had at school were my malayalam teachers and I am sure they played an integral part in my love for the language and reading malayalam books. My love for Pottakkad's and Malayatoor's books, amongst many others, was instilled by them and I still associate these books and authors with the classes we had where we discussed the books rather than being taught, and where we were encouraged to give wings to our imaginations. Even during those times when I didn't prepare for any other exam, I loved preparing for Malayalam exam - there wasn't much to prepare for, you just had to read through a bunch of wonderful stories and poems!

Reading malayalam novels came down (a lot) once I started college and there would have been very few that I read since college till now. I remember reading Changampuzha's Ramanan and falling in love with some most of the verses in it. I remember reading Vaikom Basheer's Pathummayude Aadu while I started working and M.T.'s Randamoozham after I got married. Other than these, I don't remember vividly reading malayalam literature for a long long time.

Last year, I did want to add a few malayalam books to my reading list but it never happened. And, as the year was about to come to an end, somewhere during the last week of December, as I was browsing through a bookstore, Deepa teacher's ( I do not know her personally, but after following a lot of her posts and reading her book, I do not want to call her anything other than 'Deepa teacher') books caught my eye. Without a second thought, I picked one, wanting to add this to the list of books that I read in 2016. But my mind never let me pick this up since deep down, I knew I wanted to start the new year with this book.

And so, as a new year dawned, I picked up the book with a lot of excitement. Ask me if I had high expectations of the book, I wouldn't be able to answer you. I mean, I don't know. I didn't set any expectations although deep in my mind, going by Deepa teacher's Facebook posts, I knew that this was going to be an interesting read. And that was exactly what it was for me.

The book took me down the memory lane, bringing in lot of childhood memories along with it. I laughed at times, I was disturbed at other times, and there were moments when my heart felt heavy too. All through the book, I felt like I was sitting in my couch and having a conversation with Deepa teacher, taking in all that she had to say, just sitting back smiling and nodding my head. Simple, understandable language and most often, in your daily conversational tone without trying to modify it to suit the 'dressing' of a book, this is what made the book stand out to me. I re-lived my childhood, remembered a lot of old friends and the "naughty school girl" moments, and by the end of it, I felt good.  I felt really good. The book was so heart-warming that once I finished the last page, I sat back closing my eyes and smiled - a right from the heart smile. 

I'm really glad that I picked this book. It was the perfect push I needed to bring me back to the long forgotten warmth of Malayalam books that I once enjoyed. Now, I can't wait to read more. Thank you, Deepa teacher, for this gem!

P.s: You can click below to buy the book. Thank me later! :)

A Messy Mom’s Tale

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The morning alarm goes off by 4 in the morning. I snooze it for another 15 minutes before I open my eyes, not yet ready to get up from the bed until I realize it’s almost 5:00 A.M. I jump out from the bed, willing my body to move faster so that the day’s work gets over before the maid comes.

As I come out of my room and gets myself a glass of water to start my day, the house looks earthquake hit. There is not a single place, let alone any corner, that is free of toys. The cycle is parked in the middle of the living room while the jeep is parked in between the kitchen and the dining room. Oh, and the balance bike is in the guest room. The t-shirt that the little one wore yesterday is lying down near the bed while the shorts is in the toilet. As I walk to the kitchen, the mopping towel is on the floor and I realize that the little one peed on his shorts that is now in the toilet and the daddy wiped the floor but forgot to hang the cloth back, instead leaving it there itself. I see a few chocolate wrappers on the sofa and I wonder how since it wasn’t there when I went to sleep? And then I remember. The little boy refused to sleep and in the process of making him sleep, I had slept off. After which, daddy and son seemed to have had their time together sharing chocolates which Amma would have otherwise restricted.

I do a quick cleanup before I start preparing breakfast and lunch, this time making a mess in the kitchen. The maid comes and just as she was about to finish the cleaning, the little boy gets up. As the maid leaves, I see the toys that I cleaned up and organized just a few hours before coming out again. As I run behind the little one, I see the laundry bag piled up to the brim and the washed and dried clothes yet to be folded. I sigh (there’s nothing better that I can do!) and divert my attention back to the little one. It’s time for him to get ready for school. Once he is done with his potty and bath, it is time for breakfast and the little one is seated on his high chair for breakfast. As he starts to have his breakfast, I go for a quick shower and get myself ready.

By the time I am ready, I check the clock only to realize that we are running late. I rush to the dining room to see the little boy playing with his food, water all over his food tray and he playing splish splash with the water with food mixed in it. I do not have time to clean it. I keep aside the tray, wash the little boy’s hands and face, change the dress and we leave home.

I come back home after dropping him at school and realize the house is back to being a mess – toys on the floor (again!), food particles all over the high chair and even water on the floor. I sigh yet again, but I really do not have the energy to clean up just then. I sit down with my breakfast, taking a long breath before yet another long day starts. I check my Whatsapp and Facebook while I have my breakfast and get lost in it. By the time I come back to my senses, almost an hour has passed. The cleaning up has to wait, as I need to sit down for work, if I have to keep up with deadlines. A couple of hours later, it’s time to pick up the little one and I head to his school. We come back from the school and the  little boy runs ahead to play with the toys (read: picking the remaining toys from the organizer and throwing it down). After much coaxing, begging and pleading, he finally agrees to sleep for a while and I realize the bed is not done. I try to do the bed with one little boy jumping on the bed and finally I make him sleep.

I am too tired by then but I have work to finish. I get back to my laptop and tries to finish whatever is pending before the little boy wakes up. Two hours later, a tiny face peeks at me from the bedroom and the little one is awake. I do not want the house to be any messier (though it couldn’t get any worse but I don’t want to try my luck!) and I take him to the park and come back just in time to prepare dinner. I am way too tired after that to clean the house and want to hit the bed, only to realize that there is still that pile of laundry waiting to be done! I keep it for the next day and I dose off.

Yet another day starts and the same story continues. I dream of a neat and tidy, organized house, but two years into motherhood, with an active little boy, all that I care about now is getting hot food on the dining table on time, fresh clothes to wear and having fun with the little one. I cringe when I get a call from friends/relatives informing us that they are coming home in sometime or worse, when we have a surprise visitor because the first thing that I think of is how to clear the mess. I panic and then I try to do a marathon cleanup, only to mumble a few words of useless excuses to the guests for the messy house that comes out as a greeting instead of a hello. There are times when I get suffocated with the mess, there are times I just want to run away from the mess and there are times when everything becomes too overwhelming for me. Though I would prefer it otherwise, I’m almost certain that the story is going to be same for a few more years (I hope to get it sorted by then. Hopefully!).

But, to think of it, maybe I am ok with it. Or maybe I have come to terms with it. Because deep down, I’ll rather use that time to spend with my family and myself than being overwhelmed by the mess and desperately trying to clean up every half an hour, leaving me with no time to enjoy the beauty of life that is in front of me. It may not be a perfect justification, but that is the only consolation a messy mother like me has!

Hello, Twenty Seventeen!

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Dear Twenty Seventeen

I am welcoming you with high hopes. I hope you gift me with joy, love, laughter and happiness. I hope I remember you with a smile in my face and an endearment in my heart. While we are together, gift me with pleasant surprises, joyous moments and wonderful additions.

I wish you give me a year full of amazing reads, explore the deepest corners of my mind, and help me express words in the best possible way. Please take me to places where I will find nature at its best, where I get to know the world and come back with experiences of a lifetime. Let me meet some amazing people who will walk a long way in life with me.  Challenge me to better myself and make me realise that I am capable of more. Let me be me always and let me be surrounded by family all the time.

I hope there are new beginnings, happy endings, and a wonderful time always. I hope you gift me a year to cherish, a year close to my heart and a year blessed with enough of everything.

Here's to a new beginning, a new page and a new chapter.

Happy New Year!