2016 -- The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly

Well, 2016 was a roller-coaster ride. Lots of lows and a few non-lows which I must now consider as the highs of 2016 as the year comes to an end. This year, my temper got the better of me most of the time. When I was not feeling overwhelmed by my anger and the guilt that followed, I needed to be practical, understanding, thinking on my feet, accomplishing a lot, etc etc but I felt I was doing everything in slow motion. Like doing everything underwater or while zorbing.

The Good

• Kuku talking - a lot. Whole bunch of new words instead of pointing and crying. He frequently says "Amma please stop talking" so he gets my full attention and he talks to me. He does not articulate some words clearly but folks other than his parents can now understand what he says. He also says "Kerpeech" for kerchief and "bo-loon" for balloon.    
• Kuku going to school without fussing. Initially he did not want to go to school, but soon he was interested in going to school.    
• Hiring someone for our team after a month long round of tests, interviews, and more.
• Losing 2 Kgs in the last month of the year without any effort :D   

The Bad

• Deaths: George Michael dying at 53 on Christmas weekend; Jayalalitha's illness, death and the conspiracy theories surrounding her death; Balamurali Krishna's death; Cho's death;
• Getting all sentimental and crying whenever I listen to beautiful music: Yesudas singing some old favorites, John Denver, bala murali krishna, etc.
• Not keeping in touch with friends, family, and generally feeling like I was stuck in a boring routine

The Ugly

• Deaths in the family: MIL (March) and Grandma (November)
• Two dreams died in 2016. Not sure if I want to re-visit them again ever but never say never. So, lets see.
• Struggling with my impatience, temper, and the resultant guilt.

Well, 2016 was hardly a favorite. Looking forward to 2017. Hope it is way better than 2016.

Merry X-Mas -- Wordless Wednesdays

X-MAS Tree at a mall

Kuku on the Roundabout

New Record -- More posts in 2016

Spent the morning comparing posts published per year. I found to my surprise that I had published more blog posts this year in comparison to the number of posts in the last four years. Yeah!! And the month is not over yet :) 

Even if I do not publish any more posts, 2016 has been better than 2015, 2014, 2013, and 2012. That implies that I have not ignored my blog too much this year :D Happy!

    

Another song and another trip down memory lane - Feeling Older

I was humming while making tea and realized that this was the other song I heard on the Auto- "Dil kya cheez hai janam apni jaan tere naam karata hain". This was another popular number and I could not recall the movie name or the actors. For a long moment, I thought it was Akshay and then realized it was before him. Finally, gave up trying to figure it out and googled the song: Akka India Janta hai.

The movie is Jaan Tere Naam and stars Ronit Roy and Farheen Khan. Realized at the same time that we have seen her (Farheen) in a Kamal movie, Kalaignan. One of my all-time favorite Yesudas songs, "Enthan Nanjhil Neengadha..". It was pictured on Kamal and Farheen.

These movies are at least twenty years ago - Gosh! How time flies. No more trips down memory lane for me :D

Trip down memory lane -- old Hindi song

It took me a while to get an auto, today. I kept walking and waving my arm to stop an auto but most were occupied and some refused to go where I wanted them to. I was wondering if I was going to reach office after lunch when one auto driver stopped. After arguing about the fare (an usual occurrence), we set off. He was playing some Hindi songs on his player and just like that, I was transformed into a school girl.

One song, I could recall and almost sing along was "Hawa Hawa". It was not a favorite but I was surprised I could recall so much of that song. "Hawa hawa" was sung by Hasan Jehangir (a Pakistani pop singer) and was a popular number in the late eighties and early nineties. If you cannot recall the song, you can check this video which you maybe hard-pressed to remember:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgkPsgm_d5w

I struggled to remember the actor in the video. I still cannot recall who he is. All I remember is that this was a very popular song. I knew most of the lyrics which is very surprising :)

Maybe the singer's video will help, it didn't help me though: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35hA0E5Vm5k

Sports Day for Kuku -- Wordless Wednesday

Before the Race

Ready Steady Go

Activity during the Race

Frooti and Eclairs -- After the Race