In My Hands Today…

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Time Stops at Shamli and Other Stories – Ruskin Bond

An enchanting collection of stories from the little-known heartland of India Ruskin Bond’s characters—who live for the most part in the country’s small towns and villages—are not the sort who make the headlines but are, nonetheless, remarkable for their quiet heroism, their grace under pressure and the manner in which they continue to cleave to the old values: honesty, fidelity, a deep-rooted faith in God, family and their neighbour. They do have problems, of course—the sudden death of a loved parent, unfulfilled dreams, natural calamities, ghostly visitations, a respected teacher gone crooked, strangers who make a nuisance of themselves in a town marooned in time—but these are solved with a minimum of fuss and tremendous dignity. Taken together these stories are a magnificent evocation of real India by one of the country’s foremost writers.

2016 Week 10 Update

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This week I’ve been in a funk! The reality that I will be unemployed in about 6 weeks time probably hit me and I’ve been completely unproductive the whole week. I had plans, none of which I did. I really need to step it up if I have to have any hope come May.

I did send out my resume to a few places last week, but no nibble yet, that probably also had a hand in why I was so out of sorts. Though I have plans on what I will do post May, I also don’t want to be in that position….Its a catch-22 situation for me and I don’t like it one bit!

Big B is being quite nice to me these days and I guess there’s some guilt involved in that. I do plan to let him know if I need to take time off for interviews, but so far there’s nothing, not even a speck in the horizon – guess my age and varied experiences are finally catching up with me, a situation I dislike tremendously.

This week will be a short work week for me as I am on leave on Friday. My sister-in-law is pregnant after trying for close to 10 years and that day is the traditional baby shower. Unlike western cultures, most Indian communities have a very elaborate baby shower or Godh Bharai in Hindi and Seemantham in Tamil. In our community this is done usually in the seventh or ninth month of pregnancy and traditionally this is the date when the pregnant woman leaves for her parents place to complete her pregnancy and deliver the baby. These days though, most women only go to their parents homes after delivery, if at all.

Hopefully, writing this down will be cathartic and I am able to shake off the funk that I’ve been in and this week is a good one! Have a great week people!!

 

2016 Sec 1 Week 1o Update

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BB received his test scores this week and he did not perform to expectations. He missed his target scores by a couple of marks for Maths, Science and English and failed by 1 mark for English Lit! This from a boy who scored an A for English in PSLE! I was very upset with him, but being the first test in a new school, decided to let go. Hopefully this has served as a wake-up call for him, if yes, then the low marks are worth it. If no, then there are more severe consequences.

I’ve told both of them that if in the mid-terms they do not score what targets are set, then I will immediately take away their phones from them. I will provide them with an ordinary phone (not the iPhone they currently have) which can only be used to make phone calls.

As for GG, she is busy with her performance with her choir for the school performance. GG had applied learning days last week and went on her first field trip from school – to Fort Canning Park and the National Museum. The learning trip was for history since they are doing the history of Singapore and where better to start than Fort Canning!

This is the last week of school before term break for a week. BB will be having a science camp in school this week where the highlight will be going to Changi airport. His school’s ALP (Applied Learning Programme) is flight and aerospace and this is what BB’s passionate about…..

In My Hands Today…

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Chef – Jaspreet Singh

Kirpal Singh is riding the slow train to Kashmir. With India passing by his window, he reflects on his destination, which is also his past: a military camp to which he has not returned for fourteen years.

Kirpal, called Kip, is shy and not yet twenty when he arrives for the first time at General Kumar’s camp, nestled in the shadow of the Siachen Glacier. At twenty thousand feet, the glacier makes a forbidding battlefield; its crevasses claimed the body of Kip’s father. Kip becomes an apprentice under the camp’s chef, Kishen, a fiery mentor who guides him toward the heady spheres of food and women.

In this place of contradictions, erratic violence, and extreme temperatures, Kip learns to prepare local dishes and delicacies from around the globe. Even as months pass, Kip, a Sikh, feels secure in his allegiance to India, firmly on the right side of this interminable conflict. Then, one muggy day, a Pakistani “terrorist” with long, flowing hair is swept up on the banks of the river and changes everything.