Secondary 2 Week 19 Update 

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Happy Mothers Day to all the lovely mum’s who read this blog!

Exams ended for both the children this week and they were home on Friday because it was marking day in both schools. 

Next week will be paper checking in school before they get their report books the week after next.

BB got the second highest marks in English, which his teacher messaged them in the class WhatsApp chat group. But the bar was set very low as only five children in a class of almost 40 passed! We need to wait till they get the papers back to see what actually happened. 

This week, BB will be performing in his school. His school’s Lifelong Learning Programme is music and the arts, so he is going to sing in the class concert. He just passed me the tickets yesterday so that’s something I am looking forward to. 

In My Hands Today…

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The Girl in the Tangerine Scarf – Mohja Kahf

89754Syrian immigrant Khadra Shamy is growing up in a devout, tightly knit Muslim family in 1970s Indiana, at the crossroads of bad polyester and Islamic dress codes. Along with her brother Eyad and her African-American friends, Hakim and Hanifa, she bikes the Indianapolis streets exploring the fault-lines between “Muslim” and “American.”

When her picture-perfect marriage goes sour, Khadra flees to Syria and learns how to pray again. On returning to America she works in an eastern state — taking care to stay away from Indiana, where the murder of her friend Tayiba’s sister by Klan violence years before still haunts her. But when her job sends her to cover a national Islamic conference in Indianapolis, she’s back on familiar ground: Attending a concert by her brother’s interfaith band The Clash of Civilizations, dodging questions from the “aunties” and “uncles,” and running into the recently divorced Hakim everywhere.

What makes a Mother?

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This Sunday will be celebrated as Mother’s Day almost throughout the world. Across the world, children (and dads) will buy presents and flowers for the mums in their lives and also make a special meal for them. Facebook and other social media will be filled with photos and Mothers Day wishes and mums all over will realise how much they are loved.

 

My mum lives far away in India, so other than wishing her via phone, there’s not much I can do, but we do try to take S’ mum and aunt (who is a second mum to him) out for a meal on that day.

 

So what makes a mother? Is biology the only reason someone gets the privilege of being called a mum? What about adoptive parents? They don’t give birth to their young ones but spend far more time and effort in nurturing them, so are they not also mums? Take S’ aunt for example – she never married as a result of a handicap she incurred as a young girl, the result of a sickness. She has always lived with S’ family and has been an equal partner in looking after and nurturing S and his sister. So she’s another mum we honour.

 

So in honour of all mums out there, here’s something I wrote….

What Makes a Mother

 

The first person we know in this world,

She is the one who makes our world unfurl.

She loves us unconditionally and with balance,

Guides us through life with infinite patience.

She is a friend, philosopher and guide, all rolled in one

She is your one guiding star, she is your sun.

She brightens up your life, she fills your world with laughter

For every question you may have, she has the right answer.

We all know that God can’t be everywhere, so he made mothers

She, who is the zypher, the anchor of your life.

To all the mothers in the world, those who gave birth and those who didn’t, but are mother figures in our lives, here’s wishing you a very Happy Mother’s Day!

As for me, I need to wait till Sunday to see what GG & BB have in store for me….

 

 

 

 

In My Hands Today…

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Chanakya’s Chant – Ashwin Sanghi

10098912The year is 340 BC. A hunted, haunted Brahmin youth vows revenge for the gruesome murder of his beloved father. Cold, calculating, cruel and armed with a complete absence of accepted morals, he becomes the most powerful political strategist in Bharat and succeeds in uniting a ragged country against the invasion of the army of that demigod, Alexander the Great. Pitting the weak edges of both forces against each other, he pulls off a wicked and astonishing victory and succeeds in installing Chandragupta on the throne of the mighty Mauryan empire.

History knows him as the brilliant strategist Chanakya. Satisfied—and a little bored—by his success as a kingmaker, through the simple summoning of his gifted mind, he recedes into the shadows to write his Arthashastra, the ‘science of wealth’. But history, which exults in repeating itself, revives Chanakya two and a half millennia later, in the avatar of Gangasagar Mishra, a Brahmin teacher in smalltown India who becomes puppeteer to a host of ambitious individuals—including a certain slumchild who grows up into a beautiful and powerful woman.

Modern India happens to be just as riven as ancient Bharat by class hatred, corruption and divisive politics and this landscape is Gangasagar’s feasting ground. Can this wily pandit—who preys on greed, venality and sexual deviance—bring about another miracle of a united India? Will Chanakya’s chant work again? Ashwin Sanghi, the bestselling author of The Rozabal Line, brings you yet another historical spinechiller.

Recipes: Carrot Sweet Potato Soup

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Carrot Sweet Corn Soup 2

Last week faced with an almost bare fridge and a family who didn’t want the usual lunch options, I was confused about making lunch. Then I remembered some organic fusilli that S had bought some time back and decided to make a simple Pasta salad. To go with that, I decided to put together the last bits of carrots and sweet potatoes I had and made a soup. The soup was a resounding success. BB loved it so much that he didn’t want dinner, but just had the soup again (this is notable because he does not like carrots nor sweet potatoes!)

Carrot Sweet Corn Soup 1

Carrot Sweet Potato Soup

Ingredients:

  • 3 carrots, peeled and chopped into bite-sized pieces
  • 3 sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped into bite-sized pieces
  • 2 onions, chopped
  • 5-6 pods of garlic
  • 1-inch piece of ginger, chopped
  • 4-5 fresh red chilli, chopped
  • 2 tsp red chilli powder
  • 1 tsp cumin powder
  • 1 tsp coriander powder
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • Salt to taste
  • Water or stock as required
  • Ground pepper (optional)

Method:

  • In a large pan, heat the olive oil and when warm, add the garlic and fry till slightly golden brown. Then add the ginger and red chilli and fry for a few minutes.
  • Add the onions and fry for a while, letting it become translucent.
  • Now add the dry spices – salt, red chilli powder, cumin powder and coriander powder and fry for a few minutes.
  • Then add the chopped carrots and sweet potatoes and saute till they are completely cooked. If needed, add water as required.
  • Cool completely and blend to fine paste either using an immersion blender or a conventional blender. Pour back into the pan and bring it to a boil.
  • Serve hot with croutons and some freshly ground pepper.

Carrot Sweet Corn Soup 3