And when the batter is transferred to the muffin tins you wait, with Mama, for the baking time to get over, right?

Wrong.

This is what you do when you (cant) wait for the baking time to get over

And what does Mama do? She happily clicks all this and makes a blogpost out of them

PS: Am attempting to publish this post through my phone as my laptop is still not back . So I cant make out if the images uploaded are the right size or no. Please do let me know if you sense any glitch in the post .

This was actually published in an ezine that my team had specially created for the contest. And recently when I tried to visit the ezine again, I realized that the website had closed down. Hence thought of re posting the article here on my blog.

Have been wondering, of late, about this very tussle between print media and electronic media.

Even though I am heavily dependent on electronic gadgets, like phone, laptop, TV,etc.- which have made my life far easier than before, yet there are some things or habits that i still find hard to let go of. For example, I heart my books, I still feel more comfortable jotting down my important to-do lists with a pen& paper THAN setting up a reminder on my phone or making notes in the iPad! I even tried downloading books onto the iPad, just to get a feel of the whole e-reading that so many of my friends had been raving about, only to eventually, end up getting drawn back to the touch and smell of my printed books!

I don’t know for how long this harmonious co-existence will stay. However all i can hope is that our children and theirs get to enjoy the benefits of both the media for the longest period of time.

So when I see Namnam’s school giving her reading assignments or home-works for cursive writing at the same time giving importance to e-learning, it heartens me to know that there are institutions that are trying their best to blend both the media and let the children reap benefits through both.

So which medium do you prefer? Do share your thoughts after reading the article below .

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History has shown that new media has never displaced old media. When movies came into being everyone thought radio will fizzle out. But it didnt. Then came TV. With the advent of television, people thought movies will dwindle. But they didnt. Instead the movie-makers found an opportunity in television to publicize about their films.

Similarly with the growing emergence of electronic media a general perception among people is that print media is on its way out. But is it really the end of road for print media?

Let me note down a few points that have often been raised to debate this very question.

A frequent reason given for the electronic media’s growing popularity vis a vis print is its impact on the environment. Many feel the trend towards increasing use of electronic media can only bring enivironmental benefits. Producing newspapers and magazines involve felling trees, paper waste, printing, emission of sizeable amount of carbon dioxide which can be damaging to the environment.

Having said that a possible downside of electronic media is that it has short memory-span. When one is watching television, he/she eats, chats on phone, plays, switches channels at a given time. So many a times its possible that what he/she is watching may not register in the mind. On the other side while reading a book or a newspaper one’s attention, more often than not stays uninterrupted.

Which brings me to a point that gives electronic media an upperhand. And thats literacy. There are many many people, running in millions, in this world who are illiterate. For them, newspapers, magazines,books, brochures or any kind of printed medium is of zilch use because they cant read. Thats where media like television and radio score. They can watch and hear the news and other programmes and keep themselves updated and informed.

Another argument given by many while comparing print media with electronic media is in regard with the reachability. Modern technology is still considered a luxury in the rural areas. Its often perceived as something enjoyed by relatively wealthy. Of course with mobile revolution that perception is going through a change. Nonetheless the electronic medium remains a concern given its unequal accessibility for the economically less-privileged.

Some people love the physical feel of print media, the smell of paper, the tactile sense of touch, others love the immediacy of the electronic one.

So what I’m trying to say is there really cant be a clear winner. Both sorts have their own following and one will not necessarily cause the other to die. Even amidst the Internet brouhaha, is a fact that magazine readership has risen in the past five years. Communication in any form is an ever evolving thing. A new medium doesnt necessarily replace an existing one. A well established medium will continue to prosper if it continues to give a unique experience.

Let me close by quoting a few lines that I read in one of the magazines-

The Internet is exhilarating. Magazines are enveloping.
The Internet grabs you. Magazines embrace you.
The Internet is impulsive. Magazines are immersive.
And both media are growing.

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Have a great week/weekend and do send in some get-well-soon vibes to my poor laptop which has crashed down leaving me virtually crippled! See you all on the other side.

I want to shout from the rooftops about this wonderful honour conferred on me. Its not just because it has come from IHM- someone who is an epitome of courage and strength, and it is named after Tejaswee-a person who never ceases to inspire me to date BUT ALSO because this award has been given to a post which is immensely close to my heart and which, every time I go back to read it, makes me realize that I did something truly right for my daughter.

So IHM, this is an extremely proud moment for me and I cant thank you and the judges enough for truly appreciating the feelings and sentiments behind this post. Means a lot to me! Thank you from the bottom of my heart!

To read all the other winning entries, do visit here for each one is a gem in its own right.

And it gives me immense pleasure to tell you all that there are efforts being made to compile all the featured posts into an eBook and also a printed book so that it reaches out to even those sections of people who dont have internet access. And if any profits made out of the purchases, they will be donated to charity. What better way to start the year than a noble thought like such, isnt it? Heres wishing IHm and everyone involved in this initiative all the very best!

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Now on to another award which was bestowed by Shail and Pixie- the Versatile Blogger Award.

Now I am anything but versatile for most of my posts revolve around Namnam and the rest are mere gibberish but if such a tag comes from bloggers like Shail and Pixie whose posts never fail to stir me, move me and inspire me then its a huge honour . Thank you so much, Shail and Pixie .

Here are the rules of this tag:

• Nominate 15 fellow Bloggers
• Inform the Bloggers of their nomination
• Share 7 Random things about yourself
• Thank the Blogger who nominated you
• Add the Versatile Blogger Award picture to your Blog Post

And here’s a bit of Deeps-ipedia in 7 bullet-points:

1. Let the first randomness be about the blogger in me- I like to read my archives a lot. Especially when I am going through a writer’s block, or feel low, I log in just to read through my old posts and feel better .

2. One of the best things to have happened after moving to my current house has been my growing interest in gardening. Especially now when the weather is so conducive, I find myself enjoying the whole process of sowing seeds, watching them sprout to life, nurturing them while having little bit of conversation of my own with them( quirky, aint I ) and feeling elated like a child upon seeing my buds blooming into flowers .

3. Unkept beds turn me off. Totally! I am finicky about even the slightest crease of the bedsheet

4. Its been almost 3 years since Namnam started going to school and even today I feel overwhelmed when she pulls her hand off my grip excitedly to run inside the school and join hands with her friends while confidently surging towards the classroom. Gosh, I wonder when I will overcome this phase of letting her go of my hold .

5. Recently I had a sense of huge accomplishment when I managed to make a perpetually-sulking- yep, the ‘khadoos’-type lady in our compound smile . Ever since we moved to our compound, I had been trying to crack up a conversation with her only to get the most disintersted look as a response. So I never really got a very positive vibe from her. But the new year seems to have had a good effect on her as she did give a good smile and wished me back a Happy New Year .

6. Went for a girl’s night out y’day with two of my friends and had a blast of a time! It was so relaxing and addictive, for a change, to not stress ourselves about what to cook, or which activity to take our kids to or how to get them to do their homeworks or how best to tackle their tantrums for our respective spouses had ever so graciously volunteered to be the temporary-stay-at-home-dads and cater to them that we were even contemplating having such night-outs more often .

7. Now before you all even begin to ask me where we girls went for our night-out, let me not keep you guessing for the simple reason that i am too excited to let you even guess. I cant wait to tell you all- its as simple as that!! For those who have recently started reading me, let tell you that I am a huge huge tennis buff and more specifically a die-hard fan of Roger-Federer. And it has been my dream for as long as I can remember, to watch a live tennis match which finally got fulfilled last night at the Qatar Tennis Federation. What even better was that I got to see Federer play live! And needless to say it was an experience of a lifetime! The sheer respect he commands when he is right there on court is something that I cant express in words. He is dignity personified. It was truly a delight to watch him play so effortlessly with utmost poise and calm. I just hope he reaches the final so I can go back to ogle and drool at him some more! An icing on the ‘ogling’ will be if Nadal reaches the final too and gets thrashed out by Federer, what say, Swaram

With that I’m done with the tag and all set to slip into the weekend. Before signing off, here are the 15 bloggers to whom this tag is passed!

Sandhya

Ashwathy

Rakesh

Vimmu

Saritha

Nancy

Kanagu

Shilpa

Amrita

Deboshree

Pins N Ashes

Bhargavi

Tanishka

Rekha

Hypermom

Phew! Didnt know tagging 15 bloggers will stress me out so much!!

A lovely weekend to all!

Happy New Year Everyone! Heres to a 2012 filled with fun, frolic and happiness!

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

The concert hall at the Syndey Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 17,000 times in 2011. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 6 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.

Click here to see the complete report.

Uncertainty because theres always a sense of jitteriness about what the future may hold, and hope because, despite the uncertainty, there is this unfailing hope that everything will be fine….just fine. Although I have no control over life’s unpredictability, there’s this want to start the new year with a fresh perspective, on a happy note, all the while telling myself that the coming year will have far better things to offer than the previous one.

This year in particular being a little rough on me and my family, what with the surgeries and constant health-scares to have plagued my parents, the anticipation of what’s in store for me in the coming year is even more so.

Yet, this is one time of the year when I feel extremely positive because it is such a beautiful time of the year, isnt it? Everything- from the lovely weather to the wide array of festivals to the smiling faces of people to the well-illuminated houses to the beautiful decorations adorning all the malls and roads, not to mention the promotional-flyers of supermarkets and malls finding a space in between the sheets of my newspaper every other day alerting me of their festive offers and sales-every single thing seems to cheer me on towards staying positive, staying happy .

When, R & Namnam geared up to set up the christmas tree a few days back, what set me thinking was how little it mattered that we didnt follow the religion that normally was associated with christmas. What mattered was how symbolic the festival was with happiness and cheer. In fact a friend and I were even discussing about how this was one of those festivals which transcends religion, caste and creed…how over the years, it had come to mean more about staying happy, spreading joy and being hopeful of better things to come than the birthday of Jesus Christ.

In this world where there are diverse religions, festivals are occassions which reiterate their co-existense.

When my Punjabi friend comes upto me to wish “Happy Onam’ or when I hug my Arab friend to wish her,’ Eid Mubarak’ or when an American joins his Sikh friend to burst crackers on Diwali, or when, in an Islamic country like Qatar, I find malls and retaurants beautifully decorated with christmas trees and stars or when I find ‘konnappoo‘ being sold in shops around Vishu

Konnappoo (image courtesy Google Images)

it makes me realize how beautifully religions can co-exist in this world. How we can respect each other’s religion without having to compromise on our ideologies and beliefs.

And this is the time of the year when I miss being home the most for I know how beautifully festive my city looks all around. In fact the yearning to fly down to soak in the festivities starts to creep inside me much earlier…when the second half barely trickles in. With so many festivals lined up one after the other my heart fills with so much of happiness that as the year closes in, more than feeling sad about bidding the current year goodbye, I find greater joy in looking forward to the coming year with more fervour.

On that note leaving you with our Christmas tree and heartfelt wishes that the coming year will have loads of joy and happiness in store for you and your loved ones

Wish you a Merry Christmas and a very happy & a blessed New Year