blogathon/Personal

Anti Sportsperson

Posted on by Archana K B / 5 Comments

I have never been a sports person. I have been very weak physically in my childhood years, and hence was not sent to any sports class. Quite the opposite, RK played badminton very well in his younger days. He was the one to introduce me the rules of many sports, like badminton, tennis and table tennis.

Eager to start with some activity together, we enrolled in the Bangalore Games and Fitness Club in Malleshpalya near the place we stayed earlier. He went for badminton doubles and I used to be the sole female who just watched her man from a corner, rather than playing along in newbie courts. In those times, I played tennis, badminton and table tennis for the first time in actual sports ground.

I also ended up watching the whole of Football WorldCup Final after midnight. And just like him, I became a fan of Roger Federer. While I am writing this post, watching the Australian open 2014 live on Star Sports, I remember how I wrote an analysis on him after watching the same Grand Slam in 2009. But gender differences mattered here too and I ended up admiring Roger, the human being, and the doting husband, rather than watching his tennis points!

Apart from being bloggers and churning out creative blog posts, what sports do you like to watch or play?

blogathon/Links/Mélange – Random Tidbits

On blogs, Lalbagh and rooting android phone

Posted on by Archana K B / 3 Comments

The past weekend, we went to the Lalbagh flower show. It was an annual routine when I came initially to Bangalore, which stopped after the second year. Over the years, the increased interest in gardening, and the addition of the DSLR, and the hope that N would walk more, rather than aching my back, made it easy to make the decision. Though we have bought some seeds and plants, I wonder how much would be the success rate of their transplantation.

Rooting Motorola Defy+

These days, I was busy with rooting my android phone. The plan started owing to the  #100happydays  project which needed an easy way to take pictures. My phone camera (Motorola Defy+) had a problem owing to which I was not using its camera, from long time. I was waiting for the warranty to get expired so that I can start doing my experiments on it. Though it was not guaranteed that the camera problem will get solved after flashing a new ROM, thats the only method being suggested in the forums and by friends. For rooting I followed this guide, and then wanted to install the latest version of CM10(CyanogenMod ROM), but I ended up getting errors. Then with help of Sreejith, got to know about SlimKat, but I did try CM10 once again, since it was so popular. I did not like the interface and the menu, and moreover, installation of Google apps broke it down. So finished off with SlimKat, though the interface looked similar, it looked more refined, and the integration of Gapps went smoothly. The camera is still giving problems, but have installed Camera360  which seems to have workaround to revise the direction. The real test will start when the lag and battery drain would reappear.

On blogging:

This blogathon has opened to me many personal blogs, in which most blog posts are not planned or scheduled. The advantages of such posts are that they are true ramblings or scribblings coming straight from the heart of the writer. Most of my blog posts also originated from some of those thoughts. Though it started off as on online diary, the blog has covered many topics, but remained faithful to the original category of being a personal blog. At times I do think about the future of this blog, and whether I can take it forward to a particular niche where I excel, but I have not received any inputs from fellow bloggers to make the vision clear.

The entire thing of rooting phone took majority of my time that I could not think of blogging at all. These days N has been pestering me to pick her up all time, and I have got a little backache maybe as the result. Though I feel, the sitting posture while devoting my time at the laptop seems to be the more appropriate reason for the same. Meanwhile, the feedly reader is bursting with blogposts of many other blogathon participants. Some people have suggested bloglovin but for me, I need a reader, wherein I could see entire posts in the reader, rather than visiting their blog page. I wished there was a reader so that we could also post comments too in the same window. There are times, when I could not comment in many of them even if I liked their posts because of this. The WordPress.com has a “Like” feature in their posts, similar to that of the Facebook, which is more convenient to let the authors know that I have visited and read them, but sorry that I could not comment and hence notifying you that I liked this post. Maya did a humorous post in which she also explained her inablility to comment more on the blogs. I feel almost the same.

Being Wednesday, I have already started scratching my head over the writing prompt from Write Tribe. Have you?

Bangalore life/blogathon/mommy

Chitchat with my little one

Posted on by Archana K B / 2 Comments

Yesterday, after returning from playschool, N was not in a mood to settle back into home. As I was removing her school uniform, in a casual chat about happenings in school, she asked me,

“You don’t have school, Amma?”

“No, I already went to school when I was young like you”

“Appa also went to school?”

“Yes, he also went to school like you”

” Which school you went, Amma?”

“Holy Angels” (Tries hard to repeat that!)

“So where was I when you went to school?”

“Er..You were not there that time na”

“Or did I stayed here, all alone, with the doggy?..”
(Makes sad face..)
(Doggy is a soft toy who she considers as a real life dog)

“Or was Ammoomma here with me..”
(Starts making all guesses..)

I catch the opportunity and with wide eyed face and teeth, asks her,
“Shall we have lunch.. Guess what is it for lunch baby!!!?”

In my implicit thank you note to the invisibles, ” Oh the Unknown, please provide me with constant supply to the bulb in my head.”

blogathon/Stories

The little shoe

Posted on by Archana K B / 1 Comment
Soon, that day would arrive when her daughter, D would be married off.
And then she would scurry here and there, along with her husband and relatives, in order to make the arrangements. In midst of all the excitement, she would take few moments to remember the memories.
She would be in the constant fear, when her daughter went out of the door to meet her friends and colleagues.
She would remember how her child helped her in the kitchen work, making non-stop comments and gossip on her friends.
She would shed tears of joy when D topped her graduation in first class, and got her first job.
She would lost hope at times when D rebelled in her teenage years, like any other daughter.
She would give the ‘big talk’ she gave when she became the ‘big girl’.
She  would comb and plait her hair before going to school.
She would struggle to feed her, when D was young.
She would search for her little lost shoe in the whole house.
She would smile at the mischiefs and the scares D gave her in her toddler years, and her sweet smile with the milk tooth.
She would feel so blessed to see the baby sleeping in her arms.
She would be called a mom if, after all the months in her womb, she had born that day…
And only if ‘Drishya‘ had not become ‘Adrishya‘ that day…
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PS: Written for photo prompt at Write tribe.
blogathon/Stories

Little did she know

Posted on by Archana K B / 5 Comments

She opened up her laptop after he had gone. It had been ages since he got her any surprise gifts. She thought it was time. She ordered the few dresses she had always dreamt of. Little did she know that he would get her the biggest surprise of her life that evening. The divorce letter.

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The post was written for the 55 on Friday writing prompt at Writetribe.

blogathon/Personal

Alphabet meme

Posted on by Archana K B / 3 Comments

Again, one of those meme days. I feel its an easy way to fill up the empty days. This one is again taken from Shilpa’s blog. This meme is in two parts, and I am yet to fill up the second part to reserve it for another rainy day. Hmmm..

The Letter A 
Are you agnostic? I think I am. Maybe I would turn believer again in old age, like I used to in childhood. You need to get some satisfactory answer to rest in peace.
What is your age? The dreaded 30.
What annoys you? That I am wasting my time by not doing anything or being productive.
 
The Letter B
Do you like bacon? No. Only eggs in the non-veg department.
When is your birthday? In the month of October, one day before Libra ends.
Who is your best friend? Reshmy
 
The Letter C 
What is your favorite candy? Alpenliebe or Mango Bite.
Who is your crush? None now. There were lots before.
When was the last time you cried? Yesterday afternoon, after shouting at N.
 
The Letter D
Do you daydream? I used to, but now very less time to do it.
What is your favorite kind of dog? Not much knowledge on them. But lookwise, I like the cute white fluffy fancy dog.
What day of the week is it? Sunday
 
The Letter E
How do you like your eggs? Maybe scrambled or fried with sunny side up. Everyday its either boiled or omlette at home as per N’s liking.
Have you ever been in the emergency room? Not yet, luckily.
What’s the easiest thing to ever do? Sit and watch TV
 
The Letter F
Have you ever flown in a plane? Yes.
Do you use fly swatters? Nope. For mosquitoes, my hands are enough. 
Have you ever used a foghorn? Nope. Had to Google it to know what is it. I haven’t started car driving yet, and even if I do, I do not think I would risk it in a fog.
 
The Letter G
Do you chew gum? Nope.
Ever tried gazpacho? Eh??Aing??
Are you a giver or taker? More towards the latter, trying to become the former.
 
The Letter H
How are you? I am fine, but sometimes get very moody.
What’s your height? 5’4″ was the last measured for marriage purposes.
What color is your hair? Black, which tends to go brown sometimes because of less oil.
 
The Letter I
What is your favorite ice-cream? Butterscotch.. mmmm..
Have you ever ice-skated? Nope. May not try it. Have heard so many accidents enough to scare me off.
Do you play an instrument? I told you already that. Veena
 
The Letter J 
What is your favorite jelly bean? Android. Yet to taste that.
Do you wear jewelry? Only the minimum essentials.
Have you heard a really hilarious joke? Don’t remember any as of now. The popular one in our home is the Sardar joke of “cutting and shaving at the barber’s”.
 
The Letter K 
Whom do you want to kill? None, I am not that brave to kill. 
Do you want kids? Yes. Already one down.
Where did you go to kindergarten? Holy Angel’s Convent, Trivandrum, Kerala
 
The Letter L
Are you laid-back? Oh yes.
Do you lie? Sometimes yes. Maybe half-yes. I try not to, but since I have to , I try twisting to the extent of speaking the truth but partially..
Do you love anyone? Many. We all do.. ain’t we? Love is not the puppy love anymore, as you grow older it comprises of many emotions.
 
The Letter M
What is your favorite movie? English Vinglish was a good one in 2013. All time favourite would be Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, since I have literally grown up watching it many times.!
Do you still watch Disney movies? No.
Do you like mangoes? Yes. not the juice, but the sliced juicy and sweet ones.
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Ready to gear up for another week??