Can we really exchange our mother??

Finally done with cooking and cleaning for tonight. After finishing all the work, I browsed through Facebook and found this video being shared.

As I watched this advertisement some thoughts flashed across my mind. From the mother's point of view the ad has been made very well, the emotions are brought out correctly. Moms always miss their kids, also a mom can love any other kids as her own .Being a mom I can relate to it.

My mom is a working mom so I dont see how working moms will have the time to participate in this program. Coming to the cooking aspect ,it has been seven years since I got married and I am still trying to cook food that tastes closer to what my mother-in-law cooks and looks like that is not happening. Now and then my husband comments that his mom makes some dishes really good. (He never says mine is bad I have to appreciate him for that).With all this aspect I doubt how someone can make something that tastes like your moms food.To be very honest ,I am from Chennai and my mom doesn't cook north Indian food that often at home and after a point it is difficult for her  to learn new things.

 If my mom had participated in this program and sent me food through someone, my first reaction would have been to call and tell her not to do it. I would have just asked her to stop worrying about me and enjoy her life. Also I would pity the other person who  has to eat the north Indian food cooked by my mom :)

This is a new concept and the advertisement has been made well. In reality whether this program will be a success or not is a million dollar question. Only time will answer. My personal feeling is  we should let our kids explore and be independent and also no one can exchange or replace ones own mother.  Please share your thoughts on this and comment whether you agree with me or not.

Mother's day is approaching. If your mom is here do get her something , there is a deal on this perfume elie-saab-le-parfum-eau-de-parfum-for-women, check it out.  Also if you follow or like my posts do like my FB page IndoUSmoms to get future updates to all my post. Thank you very much  for all your support that helps me follow my passion.

The relation that is not talked much about!!!

Happy Vishu, Tamil new year and Ugadi to all of you. There is a Chitirai Thiruvizha program organised by the Austin Tamil Sangam on Saturday April 25th from 1 p.m to 6 p.m @  McNeil High school. To know more about the program check here Chitirai Tiruvizha.

There is a concert by singer K.S Chitra and few other singers tomorrow in Austin at Texas School for Deaf, 1102 S Congress Ave, Austin 78704. To know more about the Chitra Concert.

It is spring and time to get the veggie patches ready. In  Texas soil has a lot of limestone.  There is a good deal on raised bed Raised bag bed $35.89 and free shipping , fill it with good soil to get a good yield, try this out.

We always hear a lot about  parents and kids relation (dad-daughter, mom-son), siblings relation, daughter-in-law and mother in-law relation. There is one relation that is not much talked about.

When we had our son, my mother was here to help us. I felt that my mother was behaving very strange. I just thought it was because she is in a new place and she was visiting me after few years.

We were taking turns and watching our son at night. By the time my mom woke up , my husband would have already left for work. My mom used to be very guilty that she never served coffee or breakfast to my husband. I could sense that she didn't feel at home.

I asked her if she was not comfortable staying with us. She then told me that she was confused as to how to address and talk to my husband. I was laughing hard. She then told me that my grandmother never stood in front of my father. That was how the mother-in-law and son-in-law relation was in olden days I guess.I don't know how I would have managed if it was like that now.

 After  I understood her problem, I made it clear that things have changed in this generation.The mother-in-law and son-in-law relation has become more easy . It took her time to understand that.

When she visited  us last time she was more casual. There is mutual  respect on both sides and my husband and my mom get along well now. The only down side to the whole situation is that my mom sympathizes a lot with my husband for tolerating me ,and she supports my husband more than me and they get together and tease me  :).  Please share your thoughts on this .

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Ok Kanmani or Ok Bangaram review

Since many of you asked me for the review I thought would write a post on it. I am not going to reveal the story since I want you to go with no expectations. The things I loved in the movie are
* Simple story
* Rahman's Music and BGM , jells well with the movie
* Extraordinary cinematography
*Nithya and Dulquer
*You can see Mani Ratnam all over the movie in the form of the actors and the backgrounds in every scene
*No vulgarity
*Emotions are brought out very well.

The things that I feel they should have paid more attention to are:
*First half is a drag, but second half catches up.
*Very predictable story line with no twist or surprises.
*Many loop holes in the story, I never expected so many in a Mani Ratnam's movie
*Song picturization is not that great.
*Other than the lead pair and one more character, looks like most other actors faced camera for the first time. They did not so justice to their roles.
*Dulquer's profession could have been something different. I did not enjoy the graphics associated with it.

Overall a nice romantic movie that makes you forget about everything else when you are in the theater. After watching the movie with my friend , I came home and told my husband that I really love him :)

Want to know how to set up your kids spring closet using winter clothes ??

Happy weekend!!!. Just got  back after watching Ok Kanmani. The movie is a one time watch.  To get movie tickets use the fandango website OK kanmani movie tickets or you can directly book from Tinseltown Cine mark website.

Managing kids clothes  is a big chore that I really struggle to do. You have to keep removing dresses that they
* grow out of
*have some stains on
*the ones that they tear

Also keep buying new ones to fill these gaps. Usually my kids just love a shirt or a pant and would want to wear that everyday.Morning feuds are really hard to tackle and I will let  them wear whatever they want.It has been really difficult to teach them about how weather pattern changes and how we need to dress accordingly. I recently printed out this activity to make them understand it better  Montessori weather tracking card .Using this card I am trying to map the different seasons to the months so they know how weather changes.

Now we have a transition in weather  from winter to spring and  my son wants to wear a  t-shirt that he has been wearing in  the past few months.  Last weekend I did something

I cut the arms of the t-shirt. Now we both are happy and in peace. The best past is  that for t-shrits with extended arm in a different color , you dont need  any sewing when you cut the arms. It just becomes a half hand t-shirt and you can continue to use it till you child grows out of it. I want to try this with the pants also to make it into shorts, since my son tears  all his pants near the knee. 

For my daughter, the full pants are now 3/4th and also I will remove a stitch at the bottom of her old dress to make it longer. If you have any other ideas on how to reuse kids dresses ,please do share it so we all can benefit from it.

I am always jealous of her why??

Hello All, hope you all are enjoying the  weekend. We went to South Asian  Festival at Zilker park yesterday and it was good. Today stuck with household chores :)

Keep your weekend free on May 15th and 16th and also 17th , it is the 10th anniversary celebration of KALALAYA in Austin. There are going to be 2 plays enacted on 15th and 16th. On May 17th there are 2 Bharathanatiyam recital and a hilarious stand- up comedy by a a stand-up professional team  from Dallas. Waiting  for the tickets info. Stage play and direction by a renowned director , Krishna Sankar To know more about this check this website Direction FX.

Summer is approaching and we need to get the swimming accessories for the kids. We got this goggles for them using this deal  2 pair of swim goggles for $7.99 . A good deal for swim set is Nautica Little Boys Rash guard swim set.

I really don't like to compare myself with anyone and I know jealousy is something that spoils relationships. But there is one person whom I am  always jealous about. I have been seeing this person since childhood. When I was in school, I used to study seriously for my exams but she used to read some story book and be  very cool yet scored very good marks in her exams. Later when I was in college, though I studied well, she seemed to always have loads of fun yet managed to get a gold medal and university rank in her exams.

Later I got married and had kids. Whenever I complained about my kids ,she always talked so much about  how nice her kids were and how easily she managed them. Though I am very jealous of her in every stage of my life, she is still my best friend and she guides me through everything.

If you have not guessed whom I am talking about, it is none other than  "MOM".  Even yesterday when I was talking to her and telling her about how difficult it was for me to manage everything she told me about how she was enjoying her retired life.

I know that she has also struggled stage by stage in her life to reach where she is now. Still I think to myself that she is enjoying life more than me :). I am jealous but I want that to continue and I want her to be happy always and only good things come to her. If any of you have experienced this feeling do share your comments.

Some myths about life !!

It is not a Sunday unless you try to really work hard to get things ready for the week and at  end of the day you figure out that you missed to do some things that you planned for the weekend :). Most of my Sunday's goes like that. We have a new week and hope you all have a good one.

Spring is here and it is time to take care of the lawn. There is a groupon for this Grass Green Super food to keep your grass green. Also you will have to pull out the weeds, this tool the best seller Fiskars Uproot Weed and Root Remover.  For cheap law mowing you can try this website Lawnmowing online. We have tried this service and it is really good,usually they dont pull weeds manually or do edging.If you can manage those then it is a very good deal to get your lawn mowed for $19.

As I am getting into the next phase of my life ( from 20's to 30's), I realize that some myths which I believed earlier is no longer true. Some of them are

*You can control everything in life :  Right from your birth to your parents you have no control. Sometimes I think to myself, if I were not born to my parents I would have been a different person. We  follow our parents in many ways. So the base where you start is not in your control so just let it go.

*Your education gives you everything in life : When I was young , I was a very serious and studious person. When people had fun and did other things I thought they were crazy. Now I understand that I was wrong.Education system itself is very very weird, I saw this photo on Face Book and I truly agree with it . I discovered that I can write very late in my life. I am practicing to try to  find the best in my kids whenever I am  around them , the sad part is  they always bring the worst in me :)

*Money is everything: There have been times when I thought if I have money I can do this or that, I will be very happy, I dont have to work :). Money solves most of the problems but not all of it.

*Living abroad is the best: In my 20's I thought India is not the place to settle down. Seeing my aunt and uncle visiting us from abroad, I thought they are really happy there and they are not worried about anything. Living abroad for quiet sometime now, I know that it is very very hard physically, have a lot of work to do without help , it is very difficult mentally also as  you miss your parents and also other small things in your home country.

There are so many to add more. It is very surprising as to how you get to know more things as you get older, though you think you are just following a routine and there is nothing interesting in life.

The God of Music !!

Hope the week is going good for everyone. It is spring and we are all looking to do something fun with our family. There is a groupon for the Sea World, San Antonio 42$ for 72$ adult pass and 32$ for 61$ kid pass. We went there last week and it was fun for the kids.

My favorite music composer is AR Rahman. I was young when his famous tamil compositions released. Only thing I remember is waiting on Friday's for a special program in Doordarshan channel to listen to his songs. If the songs were not suitable for kids to watch then I would just loose that opportunity also.I have always been a fan of his music growing up. These days , I  get around with Austin traffic listening to most of his compositions in the car. Whenever I am scared to pass a big truck while driving I will listen to one of my favorite songs  and will pass it with ease.When I am sad I know which song can lighten me up . His music has always been there to comfort me.

Recently this question popped up  in my mind , how can someone be a genius like this??. There has to be someone or something behind all this, so I went ahead to read his biography. As I was reading , I found so many new things about this person that I never knew. I didn't know much about his father and his childhood. Then how he worked with other music directors and did jingles and finally through Roja came to be noticed and won the national award. You must watch this interview  he gave in 1995  in tamil 

For people who don't understand tamil , he was asked if he could win grammy/academy  award and he answered "could be ". All his answers were very matured. Looking at his growth and achievement I feel that we all have witnessed a music genius grow in our period. 

For people who want to just know more about him and not read his biography see  this Rendezvous with Simi Garewal

 I am really happy that an Indian has gone to heights through music and also he is helping younger generation to learn music through his music college KM conservatory. I really wonder how he does all this when we crib about the general things that we do day to day. I am so much looking forward to his concert in Austin.