Author Archives: memoriesandsuch

2018 Secondary 3 Week 16 Update

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Tis the season for mid-year exams, la…la…la

GG’s school starts their mid-year exams at the end of this week and BB’s school starts next week. Both their exams end on the same day and they have a longish weekend for paper marking and then it will be results time!

I have been behind BB a lot these days because he has become very lax with regard to his school work. As I write this post, both are busy doing timed papers. I really hope he does enough to do decently in his exams. I’ve given him multiple pep talks and am so frustrated that all my talks seem to go in from one year and get out from the other year without spending time in his brain.

GG, on the other hand, is more focused on her work. She knows what subjects she is weak in and spends more time on those.

Ok, got to go and check on them. Hope you have been having a fantastic Sunday so far!

In My Hands Today…

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From Sand and Ash – Amy Harmon

27343696Italy, 1943—Germany occupies much of the country, placing the Jewish population in grave danger during World War II.

As children, Eva Rosselli and Angelo Bianco were raised like family but divided by circumstance and religion. As the years go by, the two find themselves falling in love. But the church calls to Angelo and, despite his deep feelings for Eva, he chooses the priesthood.

Now, more than a decade later, Angelo is a Catholic priest and Eva is a woman with nowhere to turn. With the Gestapo closing in, Angelo hides Eva within the walls of a convent, where Eva discovers she is just one of many Jews being sheltered by the Catholic Church.

But Eva can’t quietly hide, waiting for deliverance, while Angelo risks everything to keep her safe. With the world at war and so many in need, Angelo and Eva face trial after trial, choice after agonising choice, until fate and fortune finally collide, leaving them with the most difficult decision of all.

In My Hands Today…

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Battle For Bittora – Anuja Chauhan

9453895Twenty-five-year-old Jinni lives in Mumbai, works in a hip animation studio and is perfectly happy with her carefree and independent existence. Until her bossy grandmother shows up and announces that it is Jinni’s ‘duty’ to drop everything and come and contest the upcoming Lok Sabha elections from their sleepy hometown, Bittora.Of course, Jinni swears she won’t. But she soon ends up swathed in cotton saris and frumpy blouses, battling prickly heat, corruption and accusations of nymphomania as candidate Sarojini Pande, a daughter of the illustrious Pande dynasty of Pavit Pradesh. And if life isn’t fun enough already, her main opposition turns out to be Bittora ex-royal, Zain Altaf Khan – an irritatingly idealistic though an undeniably lust-worthy individual with whom Jinni shares a complicated history…

Most non-Indian things about me

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Recently, one of my favourite websites/apps has been Quora. I keep reading stories there and one of these threads was a nice one where people wrote about what was the most non-Indian things about them. So I thought of posting something similar here, instead of in Quora.

Race/Caste: I am completely race, caste, colour and religion blind. I believe in everyone living the life they want to live.

Food: I love foods from other cultures and try to eat different foods as much as possible. I also don’t eat the food traditionally cooked by my community all the time, I need to eat different food all the time.

Speech: I am more comfortable in English than in Indian languages. In fact, I usually speak to Indians here in English and only when I am super comfortable with them, do I start using Indian languages

Punctuality: I am very punctual everywhere. If I have to be someplace at a certain time, I am usually there 10-15 minutes before the scheduled time. If in exceptional circumstances, I become late, I always call or text the person I am meeting to let them know as much in advance as possible.

Etiquette: I always thank people for whatever they do for me. This includes my parents, husband, children and in fact anyone I come across during the day.

Clothes and Jewellery: I don’t buy Indian clothes each time I go to India or even when there’s an occasion. I don’t believe in spending thousands of rupees on clothes you would wear only a couple of times; I’d rather spend money on something I would wear again and again, even if it’s slightly more expensive. It’s the same with jewellery. I don’t like wearing jewellery and don’t even wear the traditional symbols of marriage that women in my community wear.

Cricket: Zero interest in cricket or any sport for that matter. I can’t remember the last time I actually saw a match and since here you need to pay through your nose for cable television, I don’t really see the need to spend that kind of money to watch a match!

There’s probably more, but this is all I can think of right now. I may update this post when I think of more things. In the meantime, do check out Quora’s thread (the link is in the beginning of the post)