Monsoon through my lenses

At the back of my school, there was a creek. Due to continuous rainfalls, the water in the creek logged, and slowly it enters our school ground. We were eagerly waiting for that and checking the level of water. Because at a particular level we got the holiday. Then viola…. Screaming, laughs, and lots of cheering! We went always with a group of 8 to 10 people and enjoyed the monsoon. Only one or two people had an umbrella and rest of us were trying to hide in the same one 😀

PC: Alamy stock photo

I am missing those days. How many of you have these kinds of childhood monsoon memory? Do you still remember your school incident guys? Comment, please.

Me and Mr. hubby love to have the monsoon ride on a bike. This monsoon ride rejuvenates us from the busy weekdays. This is one of the best ways to refresh our minds and body. Sipping tea on a roadside stall with hot pakodas… 😋 and adoring nature give us relaxation. It is one kind of meditation for us.

We are grateful to have our home at this place where we have a beautiful monsoon. People used to plan for a monsoon trekking and we are blessed to have such kind of road trip whenever we want throughout this monsoon season. Feel this monsoon through my lenses and comment down which picture you like the most.

Now our daughter is also a part of our “Pagalpanti” 😊 She asked whenever she wants to have a ride but we insist her to wait for the monsoon. She asked me what is the monsoon? 

I simply replied it is a rainy season. She said that I know mamma, but what it is exactly? How it works? Why clouds are black and grey? Blaa…blaaa….blaa..

Hmmm, kid’s mind have a lot of queries. I tried to explain in a kid’s manner. Monsoon is the rainy season where we have heavy and cold winds. These winds bring rain. Due to the black and grey clouds, we have rainfall.

Unfortunately monsoon in this year 2020 adds more trouble with COVID -19. Mumbai was flooded and most of the buildings were collapsed due to this heavy rain.

 

Back to the topic,😀we experience this greenery in the month of July to August. Monsoon start from the June and it may end in November too, kidding but yes last year we had monsoon in winter too. The bottom line is you will not find this greenery after august. Because the grasses tend to increase more and it looks like a mushy green forest.

I like monsoon very much. Sipping a hot cup of coffee, ginger cardamom tea with kanda bhajji and hot piping khichdi with pickle and papad, tomato soup, love to have all this with chirping sound of rainfall. Being a foodie I love to have all monsoon season foods + festive food in our home.

What is your favorite comfort food for the rainy season?

 

Hope you like our monsoon photography. Don’t forget to check out my FACEBOOK PAGE page.

 

 

©Neeta Kadam. This article and image are the property of Memory Flies. Any unauthorized use or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author is strictly prohibited.

 

मी आणि माझी सई.........(From dad's corner)

ऐकले होते *बाप आणि मुलीचे जे नाते* असते, ते काहीतरी वेगळेच असते. पण जेव्हा स्वतः अनुभव घेतोय तेव्हा जाम भारी वाटतेय.मला नव्हते वाटले मी तुझ्यासाठी हे असे काहीतरी *सो कॉल्ड* पोस्ट वैगैरे लिहीन कारण आत्तापर्यंत तुझे माझे नाते नेहमी गुलदस्त्यात असायचे, पण का कुणास ठाऊक वाटले मला कि काहीतरी लिहू आपल्याबद्दल म्हणून लिहितोय .

प्रथम तुला *वाढदिवसाच्या अनेक अनेक शुभेच्छा*  खूप मोठी हो , हुशार हो , खूप शिक आणि जे काही शिकशील ते आचरणात असुदे आणि त्याच गर्व करू नकोस. तू सध्या वयाने लहान आहेस पुढे जाऊन वाचशील तेव्हा कळेल तुला मी काय बोललो आहे .

तुझ्या माझ्याबद्दल बोलायचे तर ,कदाचित तुला ठाऊक नसेल त्या दोन गायकांबद्दल म्हणून सांगतो तुला संदीप आणि सलील कुलकर्णी यांचे *दमलेल्या बाबांची कहाणी* ह्या गाण्यातली एक ओळ आहे ती म्हणजे *"आई म्हणण्या आधी सुध्दा म्हंणली होतीस बाबा"* हे जसाच्या तसे आपल्या बाबतीत घडले. तुला आधी पण बरेचदा सांगितले होते मी कि फक्त १० महिन्यांची होतीस तेव्हा पाहिल्यान्दा तू पप्पा असे बरोबर ९ वेळा बोलली होतीस. मला वाटले काय आहे, काय बोलतेस, मग लक्ष देऊन ऐकले तेव्हा समाजले पप्पा-पप्पा बोलतेस. अजूनही ते आठवले कि डोळ्यात पाणी येतं आणि त्या गाण्याच्या ओळी आठवतात. कदाचित त्या क्षणानंतर का असे ना पण तुझे माझे नाते अधिकच घट्ट होत गेले. खरे तर प्रत्येक बापसाठी मुलगी काय असते हे सांगायला नको.

त्या नंतर तुझी इवलीशी पावले टाकत-टाकत चालत राहिलीस. त्या पावलांची विडिओ क्लिप तुला दाखवली होती मी. आठवत असेल बघ तुला. आत्ताच बघ ना हे लिहितोय मी सकाळी उठून तर तू तिकडे पण उठून आलीस आणि विचारतेस काय लिहितोयस करून.
सध्या तर ह्या लॉक डाउनच्या काळात सतत तुझ्या सोबत असतो तर तुला जरा पण मी कुठे गेलो कि १० वेळा घरात विचारात बसतेस "पप्पा कधी येणार घरी??? पप्पा कधी येणार घरी???" अग बाळा..पप्पा कुठेही गेला तरी तू असतेस कि सोबत. तुला तुझा पप्पा सकाळपासून रात्री झोपेपर्यंत समोरच लागतो .

तुला वाटत असेल ना पप्पा कधीकधी खूप दम देतो. पण तसं नाहीये... दम देतो त्यापेक्षा १००० पटीने प्रेम पण करतो. आता भीती याची आहे कि माझे ऑफिस चालू झाल्यावर आपले कसे होणार… ना मला करमणार...ना तुला. पण खूप मज्जा येते तुझे सगळं करायला, अगदी शी शु पासून सगळे तुझे माझ्या कडेच असते आणि मी खूप एन्जॉय करतो ते .

हल्लीच एक सांगायचे तर तुझे केस कापायचे होते तेव्हा खूप रडलीस. पण नंतर मी समजावले. तेव्हा पण रडतच होतीस... पण जेव्हा तुला तुझे आवडते बार्बीचा एक सेट घ्यायचे प्रॉमिस केले तेव्हा मात्र लगेच तयार झालीस केस कापायला...शहाणी कुठची....! असो तो पण तुझ्या लहानपणीचं एक भाग आहे .आता मोठी होतेयेस. आता अजून खूप गोष्टी कळायला लागतील तुला .. पण काही नाही समजले तर नक्की पप्पाला विचार न घाबरता आणि तसे हि तू विचारशील हे मला पक्के ठाऊक आहे .

आज आठवे वर्ष लागलेय तुला .... अशीच अनेक वर्ष येतील तू मोठी होत राहशील ...पण आई-पप्पानीं सांगितलेल्या गोष्टी मात्र कायम लक्षात ठेव आणि मला विश्वास आहे तू ठेवशील ....

तुला (माझ्या *सईस* उर्फ *सयोस*) पुन्हा एकदा वाढदिवसाच्या खूप खूप शुभेच्छा...!

Disclaimer: This is a special article written by his dad for her birthday. I hope you all like it. 

Corn Chat

Rain and corn ahh…!!  the endless combination.
 

PS: Google

Everyone loves to eat bhuna hua bhutta, especially in the rainy season. There are lots of recipes for corn. Till date, I do not even think of it because I always love to eat the roasted corn with lemon and chat masala that is also from the street vendor because I like the smell of roasted bhutta. They roast it on a koyala😋yum!

Thanks to Saee, I always try out the different recipes for her. Mother minds who always think about how to give seasonal fruit to our kids in a variety of ways. Right moms? So I checked out many recipes of corn. The simplest one which every child love is cheese corn. I tried a bit of them and our family's favorite is corn pakoda.

This corn chat is simple and can be prepared in 5 minutes. As a little bit lazy I try out something easy😉

Peel the bunch of corn and boil it in hot boiling water for 5 minutes and drain the water. You can use this corn in many recipes.

Chopped everything and mix with salt and lemon.

Your spicy chat is ready.

Detailed Recipe: 

Corn Chat  Course: Chat/ Snacks Cuisine: Indian   Prep time: 5 minutes Cook time: 5 minutes Total time: 10 minutes   Serving: 2 Author: Memory Flies   Ingredients: # 1 cup boiled corn # 1 small onion # 1 small tomato # 2 green chilies (as per your taste) # ½ tsp amchur powder # 1 fist coriander leaves # Dash of red chilli powder # 1/4th lemon slice # Salt as per the taste   Procedure: 1. Boiled corn in hot water for 5 minutes and drain it. 2. Chopped the onion and tomato in bit size. chopped coriander finely. 3. Chopped green chilies in big chunks if kids are eating. 4. Mix everything together, add salt and amchur powder. 5. Keep in mind amchur powder is also salty. So add accordingly. 6. Garnish it with nylon shev or crushed potato chips.  (Optional) Corn  chat is ready.

 
Hope you like this easy pessy chat recipe.

How do you eat corn in this monsoon? Comment below.
 

 

ANANDWAN products

 

In the era of local to global ask yourself a simple question:

Are you really going to use your local product?

Do you like to have your own local product?

In the digital world, we are really forgetting our DESI people who are producing their product and selling it. There are porter, carpenter, farmer, and many more who are willing to sell their product. Have you checked on the highway side, how many of them are willing to sell their product, and how many of us are really stopping there to see? The worst thing how many of us are doing bargaining with them?

We are forgetting that these people feed their families only on this sale. They are able to live their basic life only on the sale of their products. Think about it once and if you really want to do something good please do purchase from them.

PS: Shutterstock.com

We love to do shopping in a mall and from an online platform. We are very happy to pay a huge amount over there without concerning the quality. Yes, there are brands that are doing great work, but please tell me who gave them brand recognition?

We only! Right.😊 Then why we don’t want to promote our own “DESI” product. Yes, there are lots of drawbacks but if we start using them and giving feedback they will also improve up-to the level.

Anandwan is the place where all products are handmade. The huge team is making this valuable product. If we can purchase this it will be helpful for the organization.

Disclaimer: This is not the sponsored post. This is my views where I want to promote and making awareness about ANANDWAN products.

How many of you know about Anandwan? If the answer is no then please click here, 

If you know what is it then you must be wondering what kind of the product they make? For the detailed post about the product, please click here.

Well the answer is the place is called “MAHAROGI SEWA SAMITI” where people are having treatments of leprosy and also have basic life like food, shelter, and education. Yes “AMATE FAMILY” is doing a great job by serving this entire community. These communities producing all the above-mentioned products. All these products are handmade.

In today’s post, I am going to share how you can have access to this ANANDWAN PRODUCT. Yes, all these products are exported but if you start purchasing them it can be a local brand.

I am sharing with you only textile products.

# Product list: All products are “HANDMADE”

1.  Handloom

2.         Sataranji

3.       Personal Hygiene Kit: Daily usage.

4.       Travel handbag

5.       Gifting purpose

6.       Family kit

7.       Home décor kits:  Home furnishing, Ornamentation, Gifting items.

8.       Bedding sheet with pillow cover :

 

9.       Anandwan Handstitched Godhadies

# Total cost with post and courier charges:

# How to make payment: 

You can make payments via online and Paytm. Details are given below:

 

Contact information :

If you want to contact them directly, please find the details below.

 

There are more carpentry products too and they are really amazing. Check out on the second post link above. Many people trying to access this product. Hope you can have direct contact with them.

 

Till then “HAPPY SHOPPING”

&

Keep sharing.

Lock-down birthday party

Lockdown is still continuing here in Mumbai but most of the work has started. Very much confused about what is happening around us? Everything is so much confusing and stressful. Don’t know where we get such patients in spite of taking care of everything. In our area, we used to get a new corona positive patient in each 15 to 20 days😖 and it is really frustrating.

 

I hope all of you are safe and healthy. Due to lockdown, we are used to making our celebration inside the home whether it is a birthday, anniversary, or any kind of party. Homemade cake and food are such a blessing. But the party without our friends is always incomplete, right?

Finally, we are accepting that we have to live with this virus. After UNLOCK 1.0 we are a little bit free with the restrictions. So we decided to ease out our stress to some extent with all precautions. “Social distance” is mandatory but we are allowed to have a gathering of not more than 10 people and maintain a distance between each other at least 6 feet.

Yes, we had a Birthday celebration with our friends at my home.😀 This is a birthday girl.

It was her first birthday which she celebrated with us. Though we can’t force each of our friends to be a part of this celebration still we invited to all. The presence of these 5 people was such a blessing. Birthday is the happiest day of every person and I believe we should be the part of that happiness. It is such a blessing that the birthday person wants to make a celebration with you. Thank You, dearTanu.

PS: Birthdaywishcard.com

Wish you a very happy birthday and May god fulfill your every dream.

Here I am sharing a few pictures. I keep sanitizer at the doorsteps. I welcomed each one and after sanitizing their hand ask them straight to wash their legs and hand again with water and soap. Precaution and precaution.😨 

Here is the birthday cake. This one was for her family which was baked by me and glad they all love it. Very grateful.

Party food was simple and homemade. Chicken biryani, cake, wafers, and some fun. 😀

The worst thing was on that day we did not have a light for a whole day. A light came around 9 pm. but still we enjoyed it because of our “Inverter”.

 the picture is a blur but wants to save the memory

Some dance masti and lots of chit chat and ha ha ha 😂😁 some video calls and with delicious food, the party ended up.

This Zola 😃 was filled with lots of love, presents, and blessing.

"I wish you always have a happy life and May God make you the strongest woman to handle each hurdle in your life."

Here are some tips on how to celebrate a birthday in lockdown:

# Make all homemade food as much as possible.

# Bake your cake at home as it will be more precious.

# Try to call if possible your near and dear ones within reach.

# Do not forget to take each and every safety precaution.

# Make a video call to the loved one so that you can feel they are also part of your birthday celebration. A virtual celebration is quite worthwhile.

# If it is a small kid's birthday, please decorate your home with lots of balloons and birthday garland.

# Don’t forget to tune up the music and have lots of Masti.

# Prepare a gratitude list on this day. This will make you realize many things.

# If you like then prepares a bucket list for you.

# Most important “BE HAAPPYYY”!

 

Wrapping up the small birthday party, hope you liked it.

How do you celebrate your birthday during this lockdown?

 

 

Happiness is selfmade

It was 1^st January 2020 when one of my subscribers asked me to write on “HAPPINESS” and I did not write at that time. Because it was a really challenging one. I did not want to spread any negativity from my post. I tried but it seems to be more negative. Then I looked back to my life and observe, what is really Happiness to me?

Thank you, dear subscriber.

As it leads to me in deeper thoughts.  Since my childhood happiness is not equal to me. Then I thought, “NO” there are more countable days when I was happy. Like I was happy when I had my degree, my first job, my marriage, my house, my vehicle, my kid, etc. I think these are the milestone in everyone’s life and everybody tends to achieve it. Yep, it is a different thing that we want something else and we get something. 😊 This is called DESTINY. You will get what you DESERVE!

But,

As human beings we tend to think about such things which we are not able to achieve. Might be for satisfaction or passion. It is perfectly natural. 😀

All I want to say we do more struggle on what we don’t have rather concentrate on what we have. When we are able to draw a line in between this, we will be the happiest person in this world.

I am not professional but yes like to pen down my thoughts on this through “SPEAKEASYCHALLENGE”. Please don’t forget to put your valuable thoughts in the comment section below.

I am follower of Buddhism and it really works on our life. We read a message or put this quote on our social media wall. Is this only limited to that? The answer is “NO” Because everyone is suffering and search for happiness.

What do you mean by our feelings?

Feelings are attached to the current situation. The situation may not sustain for a longer period of time but our feeling remains throughout life. Every situation is temporary. We generate our thoughts with that situation and stick with it forever. Try to live in the present, yes it is quite a tough but not impossible. When the situation gets over after some period of time then why not our thoughts? Live your life more mindfully. It will bring more satisfaction and happiness in your life. Don’t try to scratch any feeling forcefully.

For Example: As a mother, we are always lined up our work. Sometimes our child shows us a tantrum in unexpected ways. That will ruin our whole day as it will be the root cause of the delay in every work. And our anger develops. Our kids will forget within a span of time but we do not. We used to push our anger on ourselves, on the whole day and sometime this will be carried to the next day too.

We should learn from our child that everything is temporary. We should forget and forgive.

“Always do those things which makes you happy”

As a human being we are wearing many hats as a daughter, son, mother, father, daughter in law, sister in law, a list will never end. We always in dilemma what society will say? Right? Who cares, this is your life and you have a full right to be happy. Never hurt anyone for your happiness but yes, always do such things which make you happy. Happiness is lying in doing small things and not the big achievements. Don’t forget to enjoy a tiny moment when you will look back you get to know how big that was.

“Accept the things the way that occurs”

Indeed. It is really not the easy one. It is not possible to always accept things. But instead of digging on – why, how, where, acceptance makes it easy. The more you dig yourself the more you will suffer.

If your near and dear one not behaving the way you want and in spite of your every trial then leave it and accept their behavior. If anyone angry with you, accept that anger. His anger also temporary due to some incident and it is ok, sometimes people get angry, sometimes people get sad, sometimes people get jealous and sometimes people get happy too. Accept the way they are instead of indulging in why. It does not mean that you should withdraw from the situation. This is the way where you can stop overthinking. Acceptance helps in maintaining your inner peace. Other behavior should not empower your mind. Our mental peace should not disturb by the behavior of outside people.

Realistically it is not possible that we live in a present. Our life is a reflection of our past. We tend to interlink our everyday situation with yesterday. This interlinking brings more problems to the present life. I know we are just a complicated human being and not saint, but yes we should try on these things which are actually normal and we always make it complicated. If you adopt “Let it go” you will be more able to live your life at that moment.

Finally,

What do you think, what is happiness?

According to me, Happiness is our thought only. If we thought we are happy we will be happy and if we thought we are sad we will be sad.

So,  

@choose your thought carefully.

@Do not stick any temporary feeling.

@Learn to live in the present, and moreover learn to live each moment happily.

@Try to forgive so that you can have peace.

@ Try to detach with the person, situation, and relationship. The more you detach the more you will find peace.

I would like to sum up here only with wishing you a lotttttssss of HAPPINESS.  Especially moms, don’t forget, if we are happy our whole family is happy.

 

Till then,

 

Keep smiling 😊

 

This post is written for Speakeasy Blogging Challenge 2020 by Ruchie & Dipika.

PS: All buddha quotes images from pintrest