See Your Dream Came True!

A few days ago, for the first time in all these years, we cooked dinner as a family. We made guacamole and tacos with a rajma and vegetable filling. Raghav was the chief chef, delegating the work and following through with his instructions on how we should cut things, what we should put in etc. It was real fun!

He was the one who coaxed my husband to join in and then when he did and happily, Raghav was the first to exclaim to me: "Amma! See your dream came true today!" I was touched that he remembered the dreams I had shared with him long ago.

Yes I had waited many many years for this moment.....these are the little-big dreams on my list....and knowing how Life made it happen through my son, while all along I had expected it to happen in another way, flooded my being with unspeakable joy. Feeling really grateful for these little things....

Here are some pictures of those moments.....Well I did my bit too, but the other two were too engrossed in what they were doing, to take pictures of me! :)

Tidbits from today....

We were at my dad's place for lunch as he was having a friend from UK over. We were as usual late :)....we have huge issues with keeping to time as a family! They had already started eating and as we entered, my dad's friend got up to shake hands with Raghav.

"Hello mate! Hello young man!", he said, stretching out his hand.

Raghav looked surprised, but smiled and shook hands, before disappearing upstairs. Later, he tells his dad that he was surprised because 'mate' is usually used by Australians and not by the English, and that he was wondering how my dad's friend had used an Australian word when he was from England! :)

When we shared this with my dad's friend, he smiled and shared how the Australians may have learned it from the English, because he's been using the word 'mate' from when he was quite little :)

My learning: 

It is funny how we get stuck up with 'concepts' in our head and how Life wakes us up constantly, encouraging us to break away from fixed 'concepts' of things and people...we need jolts like that every now and then to shake up our beliefs....and that is what living and learning is all about.


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We were driving back home....

 I guess Raghav saw a bike in front of our car, weaving in and out through the traffic at a manic speed and exclaimed:

"Oh wow! That man on the bike is playing Lane-splitter in real life!"

(for those of you who don't know, Lane-splitter is a bike racing game) :)


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Practice does not have to make perfect.
That has been my learning with Raghav.

He has never been one to keep practicing stuff over and over again until he thinks it is perfect enough for him. He has been one who attempts things only when he 'feels' that he is ready for it.
That has been the way with him whether it has been starting to walk, cycle, cook or pretty much anything.

Tonight we were making lasagne for dinner and he was helping with all the cutting. I was quite amazed to see how he cut everything almost perfectly to size!

I can cook...or rather, get someone to cook for me!

I have been thinking about my "home alone" time away from home, somewhere up in the hills, and for the first time in all these years, my dear son lets me go (atleast in his thoughts for now, until it actually happens ) without a whine or a tear and says "yeah, ok....but who will cook for me? Appa doesn't know how to cook.." I smiled, nodded and let it all brew for a while without trying to 'sort it out' for him. That was many days ago.

This morning, father and son have a long conversation about it on their own during a drive in the car, and then my dear son comes up to me later and says: " Amma, you can even go next week if you want! I am ok....maybe you can write down a few recipes for appa to follow...actually I know how to make a few things like cheese toast and chappathi frankie, and I have my Tarla Dalal book...I cannot make those on my own, but I can tell him how to make them for me....I know the ingredients and the method."

My heart melted. I do want to go away and be with myself so much.....but just these words from my son, makes me feel like I have gone away and come back. They set me free. And I am sure they set him free too.

And who says one HAS to learn how to cook and make a meal for oneself? Who says that it is an important life skill to teach or learn? There are so many ways to deal with challenges like these. Cooking for oneself is just one of the ways. There are many other ways. Why get stuck with one?