Mommy, Daddy - The Guru Cool

I strongly believe that every mother... sorry rather every parent should be an imparter of knowledge. It need not always be syllabus based like ABC or 123.. It could be anything.
- Songs sung in your language
- stories which you grew up on told by your grandparents and parents... since most of us grew up in joint families then and that may not be the case now for your lil tot.
- games you played as kids... etc etc

Most of the time even though its the mom who does all of the teaching and lessons, its the fathers who swim in the ocean of praise with broad chests.. with everyone especially on his side saying ` kitna hushar hai... bilkul papa pe gaya hai / gayi hai...'
Lol... much to the irritation of the mothers. Having said that, there are also plenty of cool daddys out there who take equal interest if not more in their child's learning and development.

But coming back, what I feel is that even though your child goes to school or tuitions, we as parents should take out some time on an everyday basis and sit with our kiddos and do some activities, craft , or just about anything you fancy.

You';; not realise it now but as the child grows up and starts understanding, you will become their centre of knowledge. What better reward than that!!

Our Culture - Why are kids need to know about it!

You say Santa Claus and our tot will start singing `Jingle Bells’.

Ask them the months of the year and they can rattle off –January, Feb….

Ask them any contemporary western existence and I’m sure they know it.

So then where does that leave our culture! As we so proudly call ourselves Indian and Indian culture, which the West seem so crazy about? With yoga centres popping up in every corner of the world. We’ve taken fancy to it only once it became a rage overseas.

I’m not some social preacher here, but this thought came to my mind today… today being Aashadi Ekadashi.

As an adult I still fail to understand the importance of these days, though my parents and in-laws being God-Fearing and followers of the Hindu Calendar truly believe and religiously follow these days.

So the question arises why has this not been passed onto me.  - I grew up in a house where this was all followed and now that I’m married, its followed here too.   And if I don’t know anything about this… how will my children ever know the importance of these days and our Hindu Culture.. Forget only Hindu culture… holistic Indian culture.

Some thoughts’ are on my mind. Stay tuned in… working on some vishesh tipnis…

In the meanwhile a here’s a little note on Aashadi Ekadashi.. FYI

Celebrated at Pandharpur, Ashadhi Ekadashi is more of a religious procession festival and is also known as MahaEkadashi. This Mahaekadashi is also known as Shayani Ekadashi, because on this day Vishnu falls asleep to wake up four months later on Prabodhini Ekadashi in the Kartik month. This period is known as Chaturmas and coincides with the rainy season.

Ashadhi Ekadashi is the day of fast and on this day people go walking in huge processions to Pandharpur singing the Abhangas (chanting hymns) of Saint Tukaram and Saint Dnyaneshwar to see their God Vitthal. The yatra starts in Allandi and ends on Guru Poornima day at Pandharpur.

Coughy coughy…. Mumma dava

I consult with a very good pediatrician for K. I’ve been taking her to him since she was born.  The medicines he prescribes suit her well and work wonders in recovery. But at times I feel does she really need so many medicines? Why can’t you just try the regular home remedies. FYI… I’m a big fan of home remedies… and wherever meds can be avoided I DO!!!

When K was younger I obviously followed the docs advise and gave her the meds he prescribed but since she turned 1 I have been introducing her to subtle hom-meds.

The simple concoction  `kaadha’ of honey, haldi, tulsi leaves and a bit of lemongrass in water and let it boil away it you feel all the curing properties in all the elements have been sucked out of them. Cool it and give 3 – 4 spoons as many times through the day. You can also add lavang, dalchini, but I think it’ll make it quite spicy and hurt the lil ones throat.

 Just giving them spoon full of honey every morning, cures a cough but obviously slowly.

A wonder powder I stumbled upon `Jestha Madh’. Add a lil bit of it in a spoon full of honey. Just a pinch will do infact since its quite spicy. Its worked wonderfully on K. Her cough reduced considerably.

It depends person to person, I prefer building on K’s immunity and strengthening her system from now itself. Whenever she does fall sick, I prefer to wait 3 days giving her hom-meds and then adding the `Sinarest’, `wickoryls’ to the list!