Off to Delhi tomorrow for a wedding. Will be back only nest Thursday. Have a good weekend and a good week all.

Singing

Have been busy with this for the last couple of weeks. Am busy this week with dance practices. More about that later :)

I'd posted about cows on the other blog, which reminded me about these pictures taken on my way back from early school. This is cow heaven. They are rice fields which are not being cultivated and full of succulent grass. Every morning a number of cows are brought down here. It's an idyllic setting. The best days for the cows are when there's a mild sunshine. The cows wade through the water, eating as much as they want. There are usually around 2 to 3 mynahs riding on their backs, probably to catch the insects that fly up when the cows eat. They don't seem to be pecking the cows. So they can't be there for the mites on them. The occasional cow that can be watched up close looks truly blissful. Took the pictures on two different days.

I came across this article yesterday (in the newspaper actually), about autism. Well, I'm always interested in brain development and childhood developmental psychology. This one made me think.
John Gray's 'Men are from Mars...' and various psychological and pharmacological studies have shown that there are some basic differences in brain chemistry and in the way male and female brains process information. I guess much of it is now old hat. But it made me think about the feminine and masculine components of our minds. [I'm sure each of us feels that we have both male & female sides to us] So then there are some of us who have a keen fashion sense (like say David Beckham), which is a female trait. Then there are the geeks. In fact read this page for some interesting tests too.
So, what do you think about it? Personally I feel I have slightly more male traits than female traits. But I think that the female traits I do have were more in the forefront and more active when my children were young and at home. But now that they have all left, the male components of me are more active. But I find, after doing the BBC Brain sex test that I'm an average female on the whole.

This is the 3rd tag. Geets tagged me.
My favourite smells:-
1. The smell of moist earth after the first rains. Heavenly! I so love the smell.
2. The scent of fresh limes, lemons, orange peel. Sometimes I rub my hands with the peel just for the scent.
3. The scent of a baby--a mix of milky breath and Johnson's soap & powder. Nostalgia!
4. The smell of coffee brewing--perks you up just with the smell.
5. The smells of baking--whether bread, cakes of cookies.
6. The smell of frying chicken.

As always anyone can do this tag. It's a lovely one.

I was tagged by Dot too a while back. Now for Dot’s tag;-

There are 3 rules.

Rule 1. Same as for the last tag

Rule 2 You must list one fact that is somehow relevant to your life for each letter of your middle name. If you don’t have a middle name, use the middle name you would have liked to have had.

Rule 3. At the end of your blog post, you need to choose one person for each letter of your middle name to tag. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

I don’t have a middle name. So I gave myself one—Suma.

S— Shanti(peace). The desire for a peaceful life is so strong, which is why I tend to avoid confrontation (as I mentioned in the previous tag). I have also pared down my wants and needs to achieve this peace. Maybe in pursuing this peace so strongly, I am sometimes derelict in my social duties, but even the thought of a mild social ostracism makes it difficult for me to compromise that. [Or am I trying to justify an uninvolved disposition?]

U---Understanding. Empathy and understanding helps one get through a great many difficulties—mainly in relationships. Under this point, I also add tolerance of other people and their lives. From my point of view, I think I’m understanding and empathic and I feel that has helped me greatly in trying to see things from someone else’s view point.

M—Music. Ah what would my life be without it? I have loved music and sung all my life—as far back as I can remember. My mother sang and all my siblings sing. My children all sing too and play musical instruments. In my husband’s family too music is important and there is very rarely a family social occasion where there is no singing. However down I feel or tired, music always helps me feel better. My taste in music is pretty eclectic I guess and depends largely on my mood. I listen to everything from oldies rock & pop to jazz, especially Latin jazz and classical music both Western and instrumental Indian. But you can say my favourite is jazz, particularly Latin jazz.

A—Accommodating. Well I had to think long and hard about what to put down for A and this is all I came up with. I looked up accommodating in freedictionary.com and figured it was basically what I was trying to describe about me, particularly this one :-

good-natured - having an easygoing and cheerful disposition; "too good-natured to resent a little criticism.

So that’s it. Now I have to tag 4 people. Maybe lawyeramma, beks geets and hiphopgrandmom may not mind doing it? Actually anyone who wants to do it is welcome. But please do leave a comment if you’ve done the tag.

Now I have 3 tags to do(re my last post). I thought I'd post one tag per day.

First one--Eight truths/facts tag.
I was tagged a really long while back by Shari of Daily Three. Sorry Shari for taking so long.

Here are the rules for doing the tag:
1. We have to post these rules before we give you the facts.
2. Players start with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
3. People who are tagged need to write their own blog about their eight things and post these rules.
4. At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.
5. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.
But I think I’m changing rules 4 & 5. Since many of the bloggers I read regularly have all done some variation of this tag(meme), I’m not tagging anyone.
So here’s my rule no. 4 If someone comes across this blog and decides to do the tag, please do, but, please leave a comment saying that you have done the tag.


Now to the tag itself:

1. I feel most embarrassed when I have to say anything about myself, which is why I take so long to do tags.
2. I am basically a lazy person and most of all where cooking and exercising are concerned. I know I’m fat and need to lose a great deal of weight, but motivating myself to exercise is so very difficult. Making myself cook is even worse, but that I have to do.
3. I totally love the company of young children. The affection that 2 to 8/9 year-olds give you is absolutely unalloyed and is conditional only on the genuineness of your interest and affection for them. [Hence I’m a nursery teacher.]
4. Among the things I love to do are read, listen to music and sit at the computer. But my absolute favourite things is to get together with the family and have a sing-song/jamming session.
5. I guess you could call me a feminist—at least by Indian standards. I tried to bring up my daughter and my sons similarly. I think that marriage is a partnership between equals. Yes we may be made different, but that doesn’t make either less in anyway. I think I feel that way about my daughters-in-law too and I certainly hope they get those vibes too. I don’t know whether I’m making proper sense here, but what I’m trying to get across is that I believe in women’s equality and have tried to practise it too.
6. I’m short—5’ nothing. Add to that overweight, so dumpy would be the word for me.
7. I am interested in nature and how things work. You could say I have a scientific bend of mind—maybe not as much as some in my family—but just about.
8. I hate confrontations. I very rarely argue with anyone and very rarely lose my temper too. I'd rather give up something than get into a confrontation.

So that is Tag number one done. Please feel free to take on the tag anyone who drops by, but let me know if you do do the tag.

Just an interim(while I think out stuff for 2 tags)
One of my favourite pieces of music--



Terrific version.
Me's comment reminded me I hadn't put a name to the above. It's Dave Brubeck with 'Take Five'.