We’re back!

After a long hiatus, the Lil’ General family is back in action. This has probably been the longest break since the birth of this blog with no activity. LG and I were on a vacation at my parents’ for a month. Though, it’s been over two weeks since we returned, I’ve found little time to blog and find myself caught in the daily grind more than ever. Blame it on a active 1-year old who hates his mom spending minutes (mind you, not hours!) in front of this funny looking thing that shows his pictures all day (the screen saver on the laptop is a collection of LG’s pictures since birth). Or, maybe I am just a master of procrastination.

There is no dearth of things to write about; a lot of posts are swimming in my head right now. It was difficult to find words and form sentences for the first week after my return. Then a good thing happened. An assignment came my way and another short deadline for a 2500 word travel article. I tried my best in giving reasons that I didn’t have the ‘bandwidth’ to complete them; it was sheer lack of confidence (this is what staying at home does to one). But the gentleman on the other end had more confidence in what I could deliver. When I ran short of reasons, I just took it up and didn’t think about about it for a day. The next day, it all fell into shape in one sitting and I was relieved as I hit the “send” button. This helped a great deal for I couldn’t complain that I was falling short of words for my blog posts. Deadlines and assignments do that to you what self-assigned tasks don’t.

This break for a month was a good thing for both of us. He got more adult company - sane ones, to hang out with than the looney ones he is forced to bear all day long here. I got a well-deserved break from the parenting routine by watching NDTV Profit all day long until I got tired of it. A lot happened over the month. First, the markets crashed and I was out of action, watching the free fall. Which ensured I would have little work to do on my return. And, who cares about losses (big ones) on vacation. A good part of the holiday was spent drinking cough syrups and taking antibiotics as we took turns in ensuring the cold virus doesn’t leave the house. Mom to LG to me and then it started all over again.

It’s back to work now. More coming soon…All of LG’s antics and milestones at LG Rules. It’s too late to catch up on the monthly milestone posts now. Maybe, I will do a quarterly one henceforth starting next month when he completes 15 months.

Ads on Indian Television in 2007 : The Best and The Worst

The Best Ads:

Idea Mobile - Featuring Abhishek Bachchan where every street and person is identified by their mobile number

Airtel - two kids playing football across the border of two countries, jumping the fence to dribble in no-man’s land.

Vodafone - a guy waiting in elevator to meet his soul mate because his horoscope for the day said “you will meet your soul mate in the elevator today”.

Maruti Zen Estilo - Little Boxes - Maruti took it off air after some months as it didn’t initiate a good response.

HDFC Standard Life pension plans- A retired gentleman telling his wife to fire the maid, gardener so as to save money. Only to surprise her with a holiday in Singapore.

Tanishq Diamond Jewellery with Nafisa Ali in the center dancing to the tunes of Badan pe sitare

The Worst Ads:

All the SRK ones - Nokia, Airtel, Santro and Dish TV

Why ICICI Direct is not a good idea for Intra-day or Margin Trading?

In the life of a trader, there are only two types of days - great and worse; there’s nothing in between that can qualify for being a mediocre one. I just experienced something worse than a worse day - totally down in the dumps; thanks to ICICI Direct for making my life so miserable. Interestingly, ICICI Direct was awarded the Most Preferred Financial Advisory Service in the CNBC Awaaz Consumer Awards 2007; this going to a brokerage firm that sucks in margin calls.

Anyways, the latest episode with ICICI Direct is that during peak trading hours, the site is exceptionally slow which means you have to go through the process of placing an order to confirming the same a number of times before getting it done by when the price has changed and it makes no sense at all. This is still OK. But what happened today cannot just be forgiven. The damn site was down for a good 9 hours starting from 14:00 hrs. Just when I placed a margin order and before I could convert it to delivery the site went down. Calls to their customer service resulted in an automated message - “Due to an unexceptionally high number of calls queued, we’ll not be able to connect you. Please try again later.” It was obvious; there were hundred others trying to square off their positions profitably.

I was relaxed later that evening to know that my position would have got squared off automatically at a higher price, but that was not meant to be. The jokers at ICICI took the least price when the stock was falling momentarily and squared off resulting in a huge loss. The stock in question was MRPL. Their customer care representatives were kind enough to tell me that they were working hard on improving the site and that I should have read the Terms and Conditions carefully while signing up for the demat account which apparently states that they are not liable for damages caused by technical fault. What a nice way of covering your asses!

So, my advice is if you are contemplating of opening a e-brokerage account, then go in for something else.

Why being poilte doesn’t work in India?

In a country with a population of over 1.3 billion, you didn’t think getting things done would be a walk in the park, did you? By things, I mean simple stuff like having the electrician over to fix your leaking geyser or expecting the fully-paid for book shelf to be delivered as promised on Sunday without 10 reminders.

Reality bites and the fact is being polite just doesn’t work in this country. Everywhere everyone is in a mad run to nowhere; ready to stomp over the next person and it takes a great deal of patience to get anything done. Callousness is inbuilt; perfection is elusive and expecting one can only lead to a stressful life and a weak heart. Read more

What’s cooking for Diwali ?

We are a multicultural family namesake, falling heavily towards on one culture for all occasions, festivals etc. i am fortunate that way for not being forced by in-laws to adhere to rituals with a 10 page long to-do list of what to do, what not to do, what to eat, what not to eat, what to gift and who to visit. Oh! Believe me we know of quite a few couples who get diktats of when to goto the loo. We are a very flexible and easy going family with no hassles, no expectations and no qualms about anything; the downside being that this casual outlook doesn’t go down well with everyone! I know this was a digression but I feel better having got it out of my system for it ruined my Diwali evening partially! Its a bane in today’s times to make others feel good. My wise husband said, “Never ever argue on Religion and Politics. Opinions on these are like a*holes and everyone has one.” But you know how women are, don’t you? You stand to win a Nobel if you can determine what they want. Seriously.The toughest species created on Mother Earth - it would have been a saner place without this species, so complex that it sends my head spinning! And men are transformed to women after marriage.

Alrighty, now to the Diwali part. One of the Diwali traditions when we grew up was to make sweets at home and distribute it to friends in the colony. I’ve continued this tradition even after marriage and didn’t want to blame LG for my laziness this year. Making sweets and namkeen while LG is awake is a big task. It took a little effort and hanging out after dinner in the kitchen to get the goodies done, but I was determined to have it out of my way. Two namkeen and one sweet in three nights isn’t bad, right? Coconut Burfi - a hot favorite wasn’t perfect in its usual white, a little charred but tasted yummy. Thengozhal and tape came out crispy and tasted way better than any I’ve done before. I started making these delicacies a little too early ahead of Diwali or they were very less in quantity. Blame it on the husband who stays up late; sneaks into the kitchen; hunts for the hidden sweet dabba; fishes out a piece and restores it in its place for the wife to discover on Diwali morning that the dabba is a lot lighter than its original weight. Running short of home made sweets to distribute to people on Diwali morning, I just got them nicely packed gifts from a store nearby. The Rangoli ritual was an elaborate affair and the fireworks part very brief this year..pictures will come in soon.

The two day long Deepavali-Diwali; the first one for Lil General, went on well. We had a good time - dressing, eating, shopping and hanging out together!

Diwali Rangolis

Here are the two Diwali Rangolis that I put up in our house and some from the neighbourhood. Mine are kolams (patterns made by joining dots) while people here generally draw beautiful Rangolis. One of my favorite activities on Diwali’s eve is to walk around the neighbourhood looking for the best Rangoli.

Growing up : Girls and groceries

I was eight when I recall being sent to the sweet shop in the colony first time with a Rs.10 note to buy jalebis for myself and my brother. This was year 1986. and perhaps the first time when I handled a Rs. 10 note all by myself. I was thrilled at the thought of shopping for the family, doing the mental math and getting the right change back home for the sweet shop guy was known to cheat. I did a good job and with time other tasks followed : buying vegetables and other groceries from the kirana shop.

A lot has changed since then. Times have changed. Kids these days carry Rs.100 with ease as pocket money to school and buy burgers for a snack during their morning break. All we got was a Rs.5 soiled note to fix the cycle tyre to get back home just in case it got punctured. I am not complaining. We grew well and we grew fine; knew the importance and worth of money.

It is but natural for one to expect grown up girls these days to be street smart. So, it came as a surprise when we saw a teenager struggling to buy a bunch of dhania. One evening last week, on our way back home, we stopped by the local vegetable vendor. we were particularly impressed by this girl - not by anything she did but the way she was dressed and looked. All seemed well until she asked the lady how much the kothimber was for? She paid and then hesitantly looked at the bunch up and down and sideways, unable to determine if it was alright. She cast a quick glance at the vegetable lady and asked, “Yeh achcha hai na..nahi tho mama vapas bhej dhengi mujhe?”`That innocent look on her face said it all..she was really concerned by the quality of the bunch she had picked up. After reassurance from the lady, the girl was on her way. The lady was quick to comment to us, “itni badi ho kar dhania khareedna nahi aatha”. But the incident made me think. I am sure given Rs. 6K, she can pick up a good mobile phone for herself. Why is domesticity being looked down upon? Is it not a part of one’s growing up? Was this girl just a one off case or did she represent today’s generation?

LG is 10 months old and the boys at home rock!

The monthly newsletter is a few weeks late this time. Lil General completed ten months on 18th October while his grandparents were here. Two months shy of completing an year, the boy is growing fast, his antics increasing by the day and doesn’t lose a minute to surprise us. If you are short of energy you know who to look up to. Vivek and I are seriously considering to moving to a Cerelac - dal rice - Porridge diet. We believe this is better than any Red Bull. The only time during the day when we have a peaceful moment to ourselves is the time LG naps.

October was a month of heavy duty socializing that took us on a 10 day trip to Amritsar, meeting friends in Delhi and a visit by my parents on our return. Meeting new people did a world of good to Lil General’s separation anxiety. Both sets of grandparents were anxious before they met him as to how he would react on seeing them, if he would play with them etc. All their doubts and fears were put to rest. it took him a few minutes to be all over them. Conquering my dad’s tummy was like being on an expedition to Mt. Everest for LG, a feat that he couldn’t achieve. But there’s always a next time. Visits to grandparents naturally meant more and more gifts that his wardrobe can hold.

LG and his paternal granny competed in who could sleep the most while his grandpa stayed guard while LG slept, never leaving him alone even for a minute. His dadaji just couldn’t have enough of him and played with him the most. Retirement, in his words, makes you feel lost. Suddenly you lose the purpose for living and get drawn into a mode of depression. LG’s visit did a lot of good to him that way. One of our fond memories from Amritsar was the visit to Golden Temple and the lovely dinner at Pizza Hut. The guys at Pizza Hut took very good care of Lg while we ate and did a small dance that LG appreciated without even so much as blinking his eye. Maybe, we too should shake a leg for him.

The air hostesses became instant fans of LG. There was a lot of opportunity for brushing his hands over their face and pulling their hair - I must say they didn’t mind their makeup going awry.

He has been able to sit well, without support. He can stand and walk with support. We just have a few weeks on our hand to move stuff around the house that are at a 2 feet level to over 4 feet.

Though “thambudu” didn’t put an instant smile on his face, he connected with my mom in a special way. Laughing so loudly every time she gave a lemon to him to make him open his mouth so that I can feed him (yea, those were the fussy eater days) made her happy. He was fond of her new bangles. The only person he spared from biting frequently was my mom but her glasses were under attack often.

Dad ought to thank his stars for all his gadgets went back with him safe and sound. I can’t guarantee the same next time though.

The potty stories remain - do I even need to start ranting the details about texture, color and smell. This makes me feel he is not a ten month old but a well grown up old.

He still blows raspberries, beats his chest out of happiness and has learnt to say pa-pa. No ma-ma yet. Vivek has been training him and I HATE him for that because he said pa-pa first. The boys rock when they are together. But doesn’t matter because I know he loves me more and doesn’t need a reason to smile at me. Bites me hard, pulls my hair and scratches my face. I know I make his day and that makes me happy.

Oh, before I forget, he stopped crawling on his stomach in Amritsar. I loved the way he used to do it and was so fast at it. There were times when I thought I should go around the house that way for a week - the only way I’ll lose all the fat. He learnt the art of crawling on his fours. It is amazing how kids refuse to do what they did when they reach a new milestone. It would be a matter of weeks before he stops crawling and starts walking. What remains with us is memories and the footage on video camera. (I haven’t been doing a very good job of filming him )

Feedback : Asian Paints’ Home Solutions

If you are planning to get your home painted through Asian Paints’ Home Solutions, then think again. I was carried away by their impressive advertising in newspapers just as you might have been. All it took was images of houses painted with bright colors and a toll free number to call them when we decided to get our apartment in Bangalore before renting out again. I called them which was promptly answered by a lady who asked for details such as the location, area of the house, surface (outer/inner walls) to be painted and other standard questions that I provided. She promised that someone would call up within 48 hours to fix an appointment to inspect the site and get further details. She was insistent on getting all our contact numbers - residence and two mobile numbers. No call came even after a week. So, when V called up again, she confirmed all our details was resting in their database and had no proper explanation as to why no one got back. This time we were assured of a positive response. It’s been a month since the incident. After such a irresponsible way of conducting business we decided not to go ahead with Asian Paint’s. Further inquiry also revealed that they do a bad job of completing the work undertaken. The quote agreed upon is never the final one and I believe client’s are harassed to pay more or stay with a job half done! So much for the brand name..