Another feather in Adi’s cap

Adi is in 2nd grade now and this academic year is coming to an end. He will be 8 in May and I would like to summarize the year that passed by for Adi, for it was special in many ways linked to his academic achievements. On a meek note, let me begin by saying that his truly won a couple of competitions held in school but the cream of the cake has been the Science Olympiad foundation SOF tournament which is a qualitative and quantitative assessment of kids at the national level (for more details refer SOF) in order to build up the scientific and IT talent pool. Hmmmm it’s too early to use such complicated terms for him but as of now I am proud of the way he cracked it.
Well! There is short story behind this. Sometime in October, one day he returned home from school and very casually asked me for some money. Money! I heard and I bombarded him with a thousand questions. He took out his diary and showed me the note which was about the SOF. I had no idea what it was then and the note said, please register for cyber, science or maths Olympiad exams by paying some XX amount for each. Adi pestered me to pay up for all three, but I flatly refused and told him to enroll only for science and maths. Well the little man was counting chickens before being hatched and he was already dreaming of the three laptops which is the award for the topper of SOF and that meant ranking within the first 500 (national level lemme stress) in the first level test after which you get selected for the second level and if you rank first at all India level then you get a laptop and cash award from some eminent personality of India  and my boy wanted that (High ambition for the little body and mamma dear cannot bear to see her little boy carry such heavy load) . And so the next day I sent him some money and asked him to promptly get back the remainder. But the little man turned out smarter than the dumb mother. He paid up for all three and bought a chocolate for his girlfriend and himself with the rest of the money and came back home without a sign of remorse. The mad me whacked him exactly thrice for not obeying and vowed to send the exact amount in future!!
Coming to the point 
The First level SOF took place in the months of September, October and November.
Adi ranked 241 at all India First level for the Cyber Olympiad and 438 for science Olympiad respectively and got selected for the second level in both.
His second level Cyber result is out and ladies and gentleman, mamma is proud to present her 57 ranked boy even though his truly self is depressed that he did not stand first and will not get a laptop. But Mamma and dada are very proud of his achievement as he has no idea what it means to stand 57th at All India level and he is entitled for a cash award for being within the first 500.
The second level science Olympiad result will be out in a couple of days I will keep you all updated about the same.
Hope I wasn’t bragging but I don’t care even if I was in this matter  as this blog is for my kids.
Buuri nazarwaale aapka mugh kaalle!!! Will translate the meaning of this sentence in my next blog ;)

Edited to Add : Update on Science Olympiad second level results and guess what people
He ranked 2nd at All India level :))) and his dream came true. A laptop as the prize for the genius ;) and mama is soooooo haaappppy :X:X

Below are the cumulative records of the same mostly for my reference later ;)
Cyber First level result

Science First Level

Cyber second level

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Sports Event at our Apartment

Busy was the word for February. Generally, the sports day until last year was held on the Republic day in our apartment but by some means we pushed it further and had our yearly sports event towards the end of Feb. Few of us took initiative to plan the event and instead of a single day event, we decided to make it a sports month. Badminton and table tennis matches were planned; mails and notices were sent out for enrolments. Many came forward to participate. Lots were drawn and dates were fixed for the matches. All of a sudden there was excitement in the air. The normally sluggish atmosphere in the apartment was bursting with activity. I was delighted to watch people carrying badminton rackets day in and out practicing for their matches. Some played for the fun of it while others were actually good at the game. Life is absolutely beautiful when people get together to enjoy even if it means for many a couch potato to dump their lazy mode to get some butts moving. Also a Walkathon along with kids sports event was planned for the D day. Breakfast was outsourced from Adyar Ananda Bhavan. We did face some hitches in putting together breakfast for almost 140 people, but thanks to the active involvement of the president of our committee, things fell into place. Walkathon was scheduled to start at 7 A M in the morning and the first batch was for senior citizens. All were up and there much before time and their faces gleamed like little excited kids. Me and couple of others were volunteers where each of us were assigned different jobs. Some had to note down the lap timings and others had to watch if anyone were breaking rules. Few of us were at water points serving water, aerosol, glucose and bananas. In one word fun!! All done, people were hungry for breakfast and Adyar’s mini tiffin which consists of one crispy masala dosa, one idli, one vada, pongal, kesaribhath, 3 chutneys and sambar at Rs.45/- was more than welcome for every one. After breakfast it was time for kids events and this is one area where you never need to push for. Kids are always excited when it comes to sports. We had planned one event for each age group, but they all wanted more. It was amusing to watch the little kids perform and the treat for our eyes was the men’s frog race which was planned on spot for the fun of it. It was hilarious to see them do it all wrong!!!
Ok ,Will leave you all with some snaps.

Start Point for Walkathon




Water Point





The Winner of ladies walkathon

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May Her Soul Rest in Peace

I wont come up with the same excuse this time other than the fact that I was plain lazy in filling you all in. A lot has happened since I last updated and to begin with let me give you a brief on our vacation at Ajith’s home in Kerala. The weather was puuuuurfect , not too cold nor too hot. Both my Sis-in-Laws with kids were there and we had a good time showing off our culinary skills. That ensured sumptuous food throughout our stay there. I had warned Adi about snakes wandering around the property during this season and like the saying goes “talk about the devil and the devil is here “, Adi and cousins spotted a viper right in front of the house the very next day. The kids tried to be a bit adventurous by getting close to it but since this snake cannot see in daytime, it was moving very slowly. Ajith killed the snake without second thoughts while the others were busy compelling him to do so. The little brats were excited but not scared. That’s about the little adventure they had, but sad news hit me on the day before New Year. My aunt passed away (my father’s brother’s wife), she was 60 and bedridden for six years, and both her legs were amputated because of high sugar levels. I and my mom in law went to see her and her face reminded me of all the good times I spent in summer all through my younger years. She was a very warm hearted, strong person and had to struggle throughout her life as my uncle died early. She had a good job which took care of the financial side and brought up her two daughters without letting them feel the loss of my uncle. She inspired me in various ways which I may not be able to pen in here and I loved her for it. Even though I wasn’t around her much, she has touched me in various ways and I think very few can give that kind of an impression in one’s life.
As I looked at the pale, white, lifeless body, I could not hold it any longer as I sobbed dejectedly on my cousin’s shoulders. On the other hand, I was glad her misery ended.

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Merry Christmas

Christmas is a season of festivity and there is some kind of magic in the air as it approaches. The lights and decorations around us bring in a lot of excitement and seeing them will raise the spirit of all including people feeling low. We had a humble celebration in our apartment and the kids were asked to get some decoration for the Christmas tree that we put up in front of the reception. Adi was all excited to hear that Santa will be coming with gifts in the evening and he got busy creating decorations for the Christmas tree. He came up with a Santa Claus made of shuttle cock and cut out a huge bell with paper and colored it suitably. The other kids were also equally excited and came up with some wonderful decorations for the tree. All of us gathered down in code Red and the kids were getting a bit impatient as Santa was taking a while longer. However the music playing in the background kept the kids busy as they rocked to them and finally Santa arrived. While he greeted everyone, the kids were busy prying with the red bag he had over his shoulder. Santa began to tease the kids by running away from them, but the little brats lost patience and pulled out his cap. He was lucky that he didn’t get stripped whilst poor Santa realized that it’s time to give away the gifts if he had to return home graciously or he would have learnt the hard way not to mess with them.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Have fun all of you all, I will be in Kerala this new year and hoping to have a ball with my hubby’s family. I will leave you with some pics of the Christmas tree in our Apt.

Check out the red bell that Adi made for the tree

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Update :)

Ok I have a confession to make and that is “I am a farmville addict “which kept me from blogging for almost a month now and I felt like I have forgotten to connect my thoughts into words. I must say it’s been stimulating to do something else other than blogging but on the way I missed to update you all about a few accomplishments of my dear Adi which am proud of and they are….they are ….they are…. “first prize for handwriting competition and a consolation prize for drawing competition in school (forgot to mention that he got the first prize for drawing competition last year when he was in first standard)” and wow!! I like to use the word first a lot, as mama vidya never was first in anything. All thanks to papa Aju for transferring his smart genes to his son . I must admit that he gets the artistic strokes quiet naturally and seems like it has a part to play in his handwriting too. But the boy does get impatient and tends to get all dirty when not in mood but his dirty handwriting is like my neat one hehehe.Well! I would like to record these moments as such little achievements can be forgotten easily with passing time and owing to my poor memory , I would like to look back some day in future and feel proud of his modest triumphs during his childhood.
Atul on the other hand is happy in his own way and hasn’t fallen ill with common ailments off late which have kept my mind at peace (touch wood). His little antics and smiles brighten our day. Check out his latest video.

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Goodbye Radhika

One more friend relocated but this time it was a close one and that made a difference. Radhika moved to Chennai last weekend and with an aching heart we let her go! It came as a surprise as she broke the news to me and my first reaction was tears. I never thought she would leave as she owned her apartment and owners hardly think like the floating population. We knew each other for the past 4 years and our friendship blossomed slowly with time. Both of us had a fervent mind when it came to organizing activities in our apartment and this factor bonded us. Also our habitual morning walks (talks and laughs precisely) after dropping Adi in his school van was something I was getting used to .Today as I dropped him , involuntarily I searched for that familiar smiling face only to realize that I will never have her company anymore. The bareness struck me as I walked back home and Ajith opened the door only to ask me, “do you miss her”. Yes! Of course I miss her!
I have cribbed over and over again that the best friends I made, belonged to my teen days. But after getting to know Radhika, I knew I had just made one among the few I acquainted with .
And now, the time has come to say goodbye not to the friendship but to a sort of life and I want to live in dissent by saying...see you later...

Dedicating this video for her

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