my battle with weight

I once lost 12 kilos in 6 months.I put it all (and more) back promptly over the next 12 months. My weight loss and gain has been like a yo yo eversince. I have finally embarked on a semi-serious weight loss program. Started working out with a personal trainer and watching what I eat. Now that's the difficult part. Foodies like me can hardly do that. Specially if you are married to one too. A is expected back in a few days and my diet is going to fly out of the window. He hates me putting on weight too. Maybe I should try talking him into going easy with cooking for the next few months.
I have never aspired to look slim and sexy. I just want to be able to wear anything I want. Now even to get to that stage I need to lose at least 15 pounds.

emotional consequences of being a stepmom

I wanted this blog to be a chronicle of my life as a stepmother in India. I thought that was an incredible experience to have considering cinderella and I are only 11 years apart. She calls me by my first name which is a shock to most people, I don't mind..how does it matter what she calls me, the acceptance is more important.
We often encounter strange looks, questions and awakard situtions . We all have our ways of dealing with this.Cinderella enjoys shocking people. Now I do too.
But I write about other things too. Currently this is the highlight so I guess it dominates .
S thinks I need therapy . She happened to see me through in a foul mood because I had'nt heard from A for 5 days (he is travelling). We usually speak everday whenever he is travelling. Even after being married for 6 years, I am obessesed with him. I over expect and collapse when he does'nt give in. To me he's perfect in so many ways .. just not for me. I don't think he knows what to do with me except just love me.It was very difficult for me to have his daughter stay with us but I did it only because I could'nt see him unhappy.I don't know what I expected him to do..but it was certainly not nothing. My irritation with him has strange manifestations and I need therapy before it goes out of control.

social consequences of being a stepmom

Well my lunch went of rather well..one of the reasons(there were many) I threw a lunch was to introduce my stepdaughter to folks in our building, as she has finally moved in with us. The village belle in the building had actually asked me who she was after chatting with her ninteen to a dozen a two days before! So I thought it would be a good idea to introduce her graciously to all the sacrimonious aunties and end the speculation. I had been told, everyone knew who she was so I did'nt bother to make any formal introductions but the kid did get interrogated .... what are you doing here? (she goes to a hard to get into college so there was hush after the answer), where were you before you came here (she lived with my in-laws ) etc etc. Considering that she(Cinderella) considers herself an asocial person, she did pretty well.
went to S's place in the evening for dinner with the kids in tow. I made some spagetti and meatballs for her party. As usual as everything does from our kitchen.. it went very well with her guests.I met her friend Megha. Interesting woman. Lives in with her boy/man friend. They've had a baby and because of 'where' she lives has had to tell people that he is her husband. She is considering giving up her job and being a full time mom. A trait I see in a lot of working moms in our country. She is dying of guilt that her kid has to stay with her maid when she is away at work.A (my husband) always says that we indulge ourselves as parents and not our kids.After talking to her.. I suddenly felt guiltfree about not being able to spend more time with my son. At five, I think he is very confident, independent and tries to take charge of situations even when he hardly has the skills to do so,. (okay this could be the mom in me talking but really he has amazing people skills practiced on a string of housekeepers and babysitters we had in the past 3 years)
Cinderella and I are watching 'lost in translation' right now. Thanks to our wireless keyboard.. I am multitasking.

a lazy tuesday!

decided to take the day off and be a 'mom'. I have been going thru this phase of late when I want to be at home and try being a only mom rather than a juggler which I am on most days.I find this trend extremly alarming but enjoyable. I cleaned up my son's room , did some chauffering around for cinderella, had an afternoon siesta, did a trial for my party on saturday, visited a friend, spend some quality time with sonny boy and watched a chick flick in bed.ON the whole a very well used day.
I'm throwing a lunch on saturday afternoon primarily for the the women folk in the building. It is a only ladies do and I have decided to serve a typical bengali menu..I thought about my original forte- chinese or thai but was adviced against it.So here's the menu:
Sorse maach (fish in mustard gravy)
Kosha mangsho (mutton curry dry) served with luchis (deep fried indian bread)
Sorse begun ( brinjals in a mustard sauce, a fish substitute for vegetarians)
Aloo posto (potatoes with a poppy seeds)
Chaner Dalna ( Cottage Cheese balls in a gravy)
Cholar dal( lentils- dals garnished with coconut peices)
Ghee Bhat/ Luchis
Gulab Jamuns and selection of bengali sweets for deserts
Feeling very satisfied with my menu planning skills.Still racking my brains to make the party interesting. Most of these parties are rather boring.. people come, eat, bitch and go.A non bengali DIL serving authentic bengali food! MIL is hyper.. she has been filling the coffers of BSNL trying to help me to get my menu right.I have scored quite a few brownie points with her in my efforts to learn the finer nuances of the bengali cuisine.

Kashid

Kashid turned out to be far more scenic and picturesque than I thought it was..The drive from Pune to Kashid was a treacherous one though..the roads were bad, it was dark and visibility was nearlse of the pelting rain.The drive seemed much longer probably because we assumed to get there faster than we did.We stayed at one of the better resorts in Kashid ( a sleepy little fishing village on the konkan coast with a handful of huts) called Prakriti resorts. The resort has villas on a hill all of which face the sea. There is not much to do in Kashid except perhaps walk around a little bit. The resort has a decent swimming pool and a health club with only massage and steam bath , if you please!.One can drive down to nearby Murud-Janjira for some scrumptious coastal cuisine. The Janjira fort..the only one in India (that I have heard of) in the sea is worth a dekho.We could'nt visit it unfortunatly as the ferry service to the fort is not available in the monsoons.I don't think anyone else was inclined to anyway. The way back from Kashid was much more pleasant ..we happened to discover a better route .. mum-goa highway till panvel and then the expressway to Pune.What I liked about the place that it is relatively undiscovered and as we had stuffed the car with loads of food, booze and music..we did'nt miss much.The food at the resort is unimaginative.There is no cell phone coverage which contributes to the peace and quite. So I'm back to work today with recarged batteries for the whole week.

new orleans-mumbai

had been laid up in bed for the past 3-4 days and ended up watching CNN for 4-5 hours a day. Pictures of the devastation by hurricane katrina, the inability of FEMA to control the situations, the superdome, people fleeing and crying..images showing fragility of human survival. President Bush appears for his first major press conference with his dad Sr. Bush on one side and Ex-Pres Clinton on the other.I thought it was symbolic..his inability to stand up on his feet on his own.
Mumbai seemed nothing compared the magnitide of the katrina devastation. The Chief Minister actually had the cheek to say that he handled the mumbai disaster better than the Katrina diaster in teh US. Is the guy out of his mind ? Does he really believe himself ? we are in deep deep trouble if he does.Though it was a wake up call for the mumbaikars.
Looking forward for our much awaited trip to Kashid..a small seaside place on the konkan coast in maharastra.I am told you can't do anything there. just walk by the beach, eat the local food and sleep.Purrfect!

my first attempt ....

I have thinking about setting up a blog for the past two years ever since my sister introduced me to the concept. In the meantime, I introduced the concept to 4 individuals and one NGO.So now I finally have my very own blog!! I still can't get over this. I have been reading scores of blogs over the pat two years dreamily imagining what it would be like for me to have one. .. So here I am folks!!