Off to School

Nihal has started going to preschool from yesterday. It was a big day for me. I slept late thinking how he would do at his school on the day one. He is in nursery now. I had a strange mix of feelings of excitement and of loosing him in the sense he will not stick around me the whole day,instead be on his own for a couple of hours. Its good watching him go to school.

I sat beside him so he was ok. He didnt mingle much with the kids. Other kids were quite active. They were all watching the teachers singing rhymes and doing the actions. Nihal tried a little on day two but not much. Hope he will learn soon. During the 1 hr there, he didnt seem to like the rhymes part but enjoyed the snacks time not for the food but because of the activity during that
time.

He is quite excited abt his new things,bag,water bottle,snack box,napkin,his new diary with his name on it..when i was checking his diary in his bag he asked me what was I doing with his bag.
Yesday whole day he carried on him, his little new RED bag(sporting a POWER RANGER much to my annoyance). Even after he slept he woke up at around 2 in the nite and cried for the bag and slept only after we kept it beside his pillow.
Since he is a very systematic boy and is very keen to do all kind of work with us he was more than happy to get/keep/open/close his bag,take out/keep tiffin box,get and put mat,spread napkin,open his box,eat his snacks,wear his sandals and all such things where he can do something on his own or with his things.

Cant forget the expression on all parents faces,lots of expectations from the little ones,mothers trying hard to see that their kids gets adjusted easily and prompting them to sing and do actions. G was also there,waiting outside along with few other dads on their way to office,watching their kids keenly. one mom took half-day off for the whole month for her daughter.Hats off to the 2 teachers singing with full energy age-old rhymes and few new ones that i havent heard of,singing in english,hindi and telugu to make everyone happy. And nihal was very happy when he heard his favorite one hcuk chuk railu ostundi.. Looks like school start now is not that painful and its fun all the way.

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Cool recipe ... I used your idea of adding ketchup and i made a curry ... saute onions in oil add mixed veggies and cook with salt and turmeric and at the end i added ketchup and chilli powder.. thats all .. its so nice .. variety .. curry goes well with anything rice items or chapathi poori etc.

If you need to grate something soft like butter or cheese and you can't find your grater, you can use the steel tea filter instead. Especially to use cheese to garnish your food.

Easy to make Baked Potato Chips

This is a very easy to make recipe. I tried it a couple of times and my daughter and I love to eat these.

All you need is Potatoes, little oil and any masala powder.
First Wash, peel and slice the potatoes in thin slices. You can use a peeler or a knife.
Put a little oil and toss the potato slices so that each of the slice is coated with oil. Sprinkle some masala powder or just salt and chilli powder. I generally use store bought masala powders.
Place all the potato slices on a baking sheet. Put only one layer. If you have more slices, use another baking sheet.
Pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees and bake for approximately 30 minutes. You can put some store bought chat powder before serving.

Comment by Preethi

how things change..even our thinking
around 2 yrs back when nihal was a baby i used to go to our play area daily in the eve.
i got irritated seeing kids playing in sand and wondered why parents never stopped them..
But then i watched the kids daily having lots of fun..
enjoying building their castles and decorating it with shells n flowers umpteen number of times with such interest.
and they take care of it with utmost care.they reminded me of my childhood days.
we played many games in mud. one was collecting custard-apple seeds.
each player would dig 3 holes and hide few seeds in 1 of the holes and close all the 3 holes.
now 1 of the other players would come and guess in which hole the seeds are hidden.
if he hits the rite one he wld take all of those seeds else go empty handed.
at the end the player having max seeds would be the winner.
how we wld treat those seeds as treasure in those days!another game,shaping mud like a long mound and hide a bangle or anything keeping our hand over it and moving it few times to misguide the other person who wld then keep his hand on his guessed place and if found in that location he wld be the winner.
and then there was another game we wld play collecting many colorful bangle pieces.
dont remember the game exactly.
and so many other games with bare foot and least bothered abt cleanliness and health.
a couple of weeks ago i saw on TV a clinical psychologist saying how playing in sand with sand tool kit helps improve motor skills and creativity too.
So this weekend i will buy one for Nihal tho he doesnt like playing in mud.

Gobbemmala Patalu

Dukkulu Dukkulu Dunnarata

Dukkul Dukkul Dunnarata, Emi Dukkul Dunnarata
Raja vari totalo Jama Dukkul Dunnarata
AAnati Akkallaraa, Chandragiri Bhamallara,
Bhamalagiri Gobbiyyallo Gobbiyyallo

Vithu Vithu Vesarata, Emi Vithu Vesarata
Raja vari totalo Jama Vithul Vesarata
AAnati Akkallaraa, Chandragiri Bhamallara,
Bhamalagiri Gobbiyyallo Gobbiyyallo

Mokka Mokka Molichindata, Emi Mokka Molichindata
Raja vari totalo Jama Mokka Molichindata
AAnati Akkallaraa, Chandragiri Bhamallara,
Bhamalagiri Gobbiyyallo Gobbiyyallo

Puvvu Puvvu Poochindata, Emi Puvvu Poochindata
Raja vari totalo Jama Puvvu Poochindata
AAnati Akkallaraa, Chandragiri Bhamallara,
Bhamalagiri Gobbiyyallo Gobbiyyallo

Kaya Kaya Kaachindata, Emi Kaaya Kachindata
Raja vari totalo Jama Kaya Kachindata
AAnati Akkallaraa, Chandragiri Bhamallara,
Bhamalagiri Gobbiyyallo Gobbiyyallo

Pandu Pandu Pandindata, Emi Pandu Pandindata
Raja vari totalo Jama Pandu Pandindata
AAnati Akkallaraa, Chandragiri Bhamallara,
Bhamalagiri Gobbiyyallo Gobbiyyallo

Atavi sthalamulu kaduguduma

Atavee sthalamulu kadugudama, Cheli Vatapatrammulu koyudamaa

Guntalu Guntalu tavvudamaa, Cheli golikayaaladudamaa

Sannajajulu Guchedamaa, Cheli SAkhiya medalo veyudamaa

Challani gandham Teeyudama, Cheli siri siri navvulu navvudamaa

Atavee Sthalamulu Kadigedama, Cheli Vatapatrammulu koyudamaa

Goobbiyallo Sakhiya vinare

Gobhiyyalo sakhiyaa vinare, Chinni krishnuni sodari vinave, Krishuni cheritamu ganaare...

Ashtami naadu Gokula mandu, Chinni krishnudu jananamonde , Ataladaga nerchene

Daridrudaina Kuchelunaku, Darisena mosage madhavundu, Athani korke teerchene...

Gobhiyyalo sakhiyaa vinare, Chinni krishnuni sodari vinave, Krishuni cheritamu ganaare...

This has to be repeated multiple times each time increasing the speed and accordingly incresing the speed of steps.

Gobbiyyallo Chandamama

Gobbiyyallo Chandamama chandamama oo chandamama,

Chandamamaki pillalendaru, neelagiri kanyalandaru,

Neelagirikanyalaku nithya malle thota, Nithya malle thothaku nimmalla bhavi,

Nimmala bhaviki Mallella thaadu, Mallella thaduki gilakalle chambu

This has to be repeated multiple times each time increasing the speed and accordingly incresing the speed of steps.

Lookhere for the tune: http://www.esnips.com/web/Gobbemmapatalu

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When preparing coconut rice add little Azinamoto salt. This gives a special taste to the rice.