Dora

My daughter finally got her very own Dora, the Explorer DVD from a friend of mine (Thanks, Gayathri) with a few irritating (to me) episodes which she loves. 

Anyway, there was this one episode where Dora and her friends save a Prince who is imprisoned in a castle by an evil witch.  Yeah, you read that right - not "princess" but "prince".    I was seriously getting worried about all the ever-distressed damsels that dudes saved in my daughter's fairy tales and wondered if my daughter's resentment with me "working" was a result of the stupid stereotypes that she was being bombarded with.  To be honest, the queen of our home is terrified of millepedes and the king of the house routinely rescues her from them - but that is different from helpless virgins being saved from the dragon by knights in shiny armour, right? Right?

So, maybe I am a wee bit pleased about the Dora episode that she watched.  The evil "witch" could have been a "wizard", but then, I may draw flak for making much ado about this whole feminism thing. 

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Toiletpaper

My four-year old is shocked beyond words. Absolutely stunned.   She is unable to believe that some people use paper and not water to clean up after essential bodily functions.

"How can they use paper? Won't 'it' stick?,"
"Won't they get fever because of infection?",  
"Are you sure they don't dip the paper in water before they use it?" 
"Do they use it after both moochaa and aai?",
"Does athai (her aunt who lives in the US) use paper?",
"Does athai use paper on baby S (V's six-month old cousin)?".

And then it struck her like a thunderbolt.  Amma and appa lived in the US before she was born.  Her eyes widen.  She throws an accusing glance at me and screams- "You and appa used PAPER in the US?". 

Mom and dad have feet of clay, afterall.

Just wait until she finds out that she did not grow from a seed inside mommy.

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I am moving to a new home  to include my professional writings as well.
All Web-2 frills are eliminated at the new site, but you may always reach me by email, if you care and dare.
Of course, Vox will continue, at least for the present, to house short verbal outbursts, occasional posting of artwork (?) and rants, which I hope won't be aplenty.

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When your grandmom says that you have put on "a little" weight,  it means you are FAT.
Time to hit the gym..

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My little daughter just listened to Bach's Barndenburg Concerto 6 and refuses to accept that it is anything but Little Einstein that she watches on the computer, that features the piece.

That is the risk of incorporating profound pieces into banal everyday events, however educative.

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Writing Briefly and Stuff by Paul Graham

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I believe

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Horseback

We are there finally.  No fuel in Chennai. For the last couple of days, petrol bunks (gas stations in some parts of the world) have been shooing off customers, because "there is no petrol or diesel supply". 

Result?

I dropped my daughter off at school and reached back home in 20 minutes flat.  A sojourn that would usually take one hour in the snarling traffic. 

There is 50% less cars on the road.
'
There are 50% more two wheelers (motorized and manual).

There is 50% more air to breathe.

I can actually see the asphalted road.

Not for long though.  My bike is on reserve now, and I cannot take it out until I fill its belly.  So, until that happens, if it does, that is, I need to look at alternative options to drop off/pick up junior from school.

Anyone know of a good place to buy horses?

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Cobweb

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Goddess of food.  My best yet.  Took really long because, there are are complicated filigree on the "mandapam" and the crown. And I used the technique suggested by an expert and painted colours AROUND and not over the stone colours, which took a hell lot of time.  However, it was worth it as the jewels have a nice shine now. Check out the shiny white border around the halo and the stones in the crown and jewels in the closeup. My camera gave me a lot of trouble clicking. The photos don't do justice to the painting.  I must have inadvertently changed some setting, and I am not savvy enough to fix it.

Annapoorani

Annapoorani closeup

I successfully enticed my mother-in-law into glass painting.  I hope my F-i-l is not cursing me for unleashing a monster on him. Not bad for the first attempt, I should say:

Pillayar by the MIL

Lakshmi by the MIL

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