I have always thought of how it would feel to do something and feel like having achieved something great….I remember having done stuff like that in school and sometimes in college also. But after college…somewhere I lost it. Nothing was as exciting…

So I kind of lost track of how it felt also….

Recently I had a chance of feeling that rush of excitement again…it was great…

It is something very stupid…but to me…it felt great..

I love cooking and have always wanted to be a great cook…my idea of a good cook is to make tasty dishes …at the same time be very quick….not spending a lifetime in the kitchen…

After wedding was when I got into a daily cooking routine….but still I always had mom-in-law around and so invariably got into the habit of asking….shall I put this much….shall I do that…how much oil…etc etc…

Somehow made only the basic stuff myself….

If not anything…I would call up mom to ask her what I had to do…

Sometime back I realized what I was doing and so started getting into an area of cooking which was a little alien to people at home….like chats and cakes….since MIL was not very used to making it….she was not the one to suggest much….and I just took the initial receipe from mom and went ahead without asking much…

The first break through for my cooking was when a family 3 (relatives) was going to be home one evening for dinner and MIL was still on the way back home…..Most of things were already ready…but the fruit salad and side dish for chappathi were missing. I made a north Indian types alu curry and some fruit salad.

The people who came loved the alu curry dish and asked me if I specialized in north Indian dishes (which I thought was a little too much….)

The final break through for 2008 was on 29^th December….we had invited my parents and sister home for dinner as it was hubby’s Bday….MIL would be home only by 7:30PM as she was held up at office.

I had to decide the menu…do the complete cooking for the night.

Cooking for 4 of us was something I was used to….but more than that…little scary…because I dint know the quantities…also…was not sure if I was good enough to cook dinner for guests…anyways…dint have too much choice.

It was exciting….I was there making all the stuff….I had the dough ready for making hot chappathis…had some cakes for a start, then was moong dal halwa(which again surprised me as it was the first time I had made a sweet other than kesari or payasam all by myself), then there was matter paneer, rose milk (which we forgot to server :( ) and fruit salad.

Actually it was not much….but it was quite filling when we ate it. All this myself…

The best part was…when daddy actually said it tasted too good…when he realized that my MIL did not make it and I made it…he was more than surprised….and my mom was beaming with pride….

I have always thought making everyone happy is not possible….but I proved myself wrong..

What a sense of achievement it was…

But the story is not over with that…

All through this was hubby….it was his bday and I think he did maximum work without complaining a bit…

He ran back and forth to the shop for me as we had almost nil ingredients…

He did the wiping of all the wet glass ware and plates for serving…

The worst part of all the cooking is the post processing…I mean the cleaning…

Once I did all the dishes…hubby again wiped them all dry and put them back in the shelves…

He had also helped me with the egg beating for the cake and mixing the dough….which I should say is a little time consuming…

If not for him I doubt if I would be writing this blog….

I would not forget December 29^th 2008 in my lifetime…

Hubby and I were discussing a conversation that he had .....It was shocking...
Children these days have changed a lot...schools cannot function the way they used to...children cant be scolded or warned if they dont do what they are expected to do in school....it sounds like the US culture. I have heard that if children in US are scolded by parents ....they can dial 911 and the police will be home to arrest the parents....
the situation it seems is somewhat the same here....if teachers ask children too many questions...then children feel PRESSURIZED...parents don’t like it either…so parents come to school to complain about the teacher..

Mobile phone have become like pencil box….every child has one….parents think it is mandatory for their child to carry a mobile….

Children are too rude and get away with anything they do….

I don’t understand this….

Is this how our parents felt when we were to go to school…???/.because it would have been very different from their times….if yes…then this is the start of a generation gap…

Or are the parents these days spoiling their children like this…??

I read recently somewhere that a kid of 3^rd or 4^th standard committed suicide for having failed in an exam….so schools are rethinking if they should exams for students till come to high school….

What the hell….I don’t understand logic….

First of all…..such a small kid knows what is suicide and how it must be done? I dint know…and I dint know that if I failed in an exam I must do something like this….

Second of all….competition is not just if u give an exam or not….if there is no exam it just keeps the kid away from the truth about his own capabilities and does not really help in any way.

The schools should rather teach the children how to face failure….not giving exams I don’t really think is a solution to the problem…

There are many schools these days…they are called international….these schools don’t have exams till a certain level and then they start writing exams….

Its good that they teach the kids differently….but they must remember one thing….once the children finish schooling and come out….they will have to anyway face the world…and this world is going to have exams…less luxury…more conventional learning….the kids must be able to accept this.

At this stage the kid is already quite older and not a kids anymore….then it is more difficult for a kid to face failure ….

Are the schools preparing the children to face the world?

I saw one kids report….he is still in Montessori (before LKG)….his teacher has rated him based on his responses in the school…..the rating is about his leadership skills etc…

Is this kid doing his MBA???NO….then I don’t understand what this is all about…I ma not sure if this is correct…

Our schools are trying to become international… I am happy that we are trying to adapt to these new teaching techniques….but at what cost?are we getting too westernized?

It is good if we want our families to be so western….but I don’t think most of us want it that way….then why are we doing it?

A kid threatens parents that he will commit suicide if they don’t sign his bad report card….how good is this??

I know that there are some parents who keep asking the kid to get the first rank…study and study…..some teachers who hit kids really bad and bruise them…..I agree it is wrong….But that does not mean we go to the other extreme…now the kid threatens everyone else….this is like aliens taking over the world or something….

Do we always have to work in extremes? Cant we do some moderate stuff?

Or is this all because kids are learning too much a very young age?if you see…the schools have all stuff at LKG…

When we were in school…we learnt our lessons in school. Then we came home….after that some went for dance class…some for music…some karate….etc..

But now schools have included all this in the curriculum…so every kid learns all of these things….I think this is pressurizing.

Not every kid may be good at everything and needs to have interest in everything….but now they are forcibly taught….isnt that bad?

New ways of teaching is good. Children need to learn more than just text books….but they must be taught the right things through the right channels..

Moral stories are important…but they have almost become obsolete…

Schools have just become another commercial stuff….want to make money??...start a school….

And the u must say….admissions only if both parents are educated…if you ask why….only then the child can be taught at home…

My question: if educated parents have to teach the lessons at home….then why pay the exorbitant fees to the school…

The child should rather connect with the family at home…

Give them a project work of drawing a family tree…let them know information about their own family…that’s what India is all about…

I dint pay even half of the school fees of these days for my engineering…and I am not talking about 1980s….I finished engineering 4 years ago.

My sister finished 2 years ago with a payment seats…even she paid only half the fees of schools these days…

Is inflation going on at this rate?

There are so many new schools…admissions are all limited…

Now the books, uniform etc has to be purchased at the school. The amount is given to the school during fees payment….

I might have a uniform of last years which is still fine…but now I have to take a new one as the school fees comprises of it….

Way to go schools…make money out of it…..

Best part is…at the end of the day…the kid must score marks in the exams so that he could get a seat for higher education and then a job….that still stays the same…so then what is the point saying all this….finally if he is not doing well in academics…no point teaching him dance and music all at school

It is just like giving the bitter medicine embedded in a sweet…

All these days parents used to just ask the kid to study…but now they give them all these activities to have fun and then indirectly tell them now u better study…is that what it is?

I have asked so many questions in my post…..I still don’t have answers to them….

Just hope that these things don’t spoil the growing environment for children ….they are our tomorrow….