Day 43: Breathe in, Breathe out!

The day started off with me dropping a humongous metallic plate on to my toes.

I had wanted the husband to practice yoga with me, and to make space for the both of us in the study room, I lifted up a chair and shifted it outside. In the process, the base of the chair which was a huge and heavy metallic plate, unexpectedly came off and unceremoniously dropped on to my toes.

For a few moments I saw all kinds of stars. The pain was incredible and I could see my big toe transform into an unhealthy shade of purplish blue. 

I wanted to scream and cry from the throbbing pain but instead, I breathed through it. 

One of the things you learn in yoga is the art of breathing in and out through muscles, limbs, tendons that are tight and uncomfortable. So I used the same technique - and took long, full breaths and imagined them to move on to that poor smashed toe, to rejuvenate them. 

After a while, even though the pain continued to throb and the purplish hue of the toe looked just as ugly, I no longer wanted to shout to cry out. The breathing technique seemed to have worked and I told myself that I will follow this technique to get myself out of all sorts of painful situations from now on. 

I proceeded to practice yoga - even though making variations to the routine to ensure I do not put unnecessary strain on the damaged toe. Later, I went for dubbing where I had a good catch up conversation with the cast and a bit of dub work done. Then it was time for one last family outing before my trip to London tomorrow - so the husband, my dad, Madam and I went off to Marina Bay Sands for dinner. We ate at TWG which served surprisingly good food for just a tea place. 

A day that started off with a painful morning, ended up being a rather fulfilling one by the end of it. I continued to breathe deeply in and out, and sent out a little prayer of gratitude. 

457 more to go. 

Days 39 - 42 : Four Reasons, Four Days

It was a rather crazy week. Firstly because as part of the innovation team, bulk of my work for the year is cramped into this quarter of the year and May will be choke blocked with meetings, meeting and more meetings that I have the good fortune of leading. And I had to prepare for all of it before my upcoming business trip to London. Secondly, the film team is going to be here in a week's time and there was much prework and coordination to be done. On top, I have Madam who is more and more acting like my grandmother and dictates much of what I do these days.

Anyway that is my long winded explanation on why am clubbing entries right now. I actually have no recollection of what happened which day either but I definitely have four reasons to be happy about - so am just going to state them and imagine that they were spread across the four days.

1) So yes, work was crazy busy - but I had a few really good meetings which were initially expected to be pretty tough. So there was some progress, I got my team to be excited over a few things, and overall things seem to be progressing in the right direction, so it was all good!

2) I think we are finally at 99.5% of locking the background score of the film. And I know how the 0.5% can be fixed, so that is good too.

3) I finally managed to spend some time with my dad who is in town when we went to the National Gallery where he and I explored a few of the many galleries, while the husband played with Madam in the Art Education Centre with its colourful painted jungles. True, we didn't do too much exploration because soon we got a call saying Madam had different ideas as always, but at least we made good use of the little we did have and enjoyed the various historic photographs, sculptures, some really good paintings and other exhibits.

4)  We finally fixed all the logistics and prework for the film before everyone gets here in a weeks' time. Only a week more for the work to start and in another week, I would have the completed film. This is really the most exciting part of the journey and I. can. NOT. wait!

458 more to go. 

Day 38 : Happy Kid

My dad arrived this morning for a short visit. And along with him also arrived a carton of mangoes fresh and directly from the orchard, bananas, banana chips, jackfruit chips, jalebis, mysore paks,the books that I had ordered through Flipkart and were delivered to our place in Kerala, my mom's preparation of prawn pickle and tender mango pickle, a top that I had given for alteration, a collection of medicines, a repaired mixer and even a safety valve for a pressure cooker. My mom was the mastermind behind a lot of these items and my dad was the faithful transporter.

I can safely say that am their happy kid for the day.

462 more to go. 

Day 37: The Gang

With all the travel that's been going on, I had hardly been meeting up with my friends - or The Gang, as I call them.

One of them invited all of us over for a housewarming party, so I could finally meet up with everyone, including couple of the moms (who are easily two of the most lovely ladies I know!) who were around as well.

We spent a few awesome hours over great conversation, many laughs and good food. Madam too was in her best behaviour throughout much to everyone's, including our, amusement.

As we left, I once again felt so very grateful for this bunch who has been with us through thick and thin. I couldn't wish for a better group of besties!

On our way back home, I told Madam that she did a wonderful job with her behaviour and that all the aunties thought she was such a good girl, to which she promptly asked, "How about all the uncles?".

463 more to go. 

Day 36: Eka Uvacha

Or in other words, Madam Eka said...

[As we were about to go out and I asked her to hurry up]
"Wait Mummy, first breathe in and breathe out."

[As I hugged her and said I loved her]
"I know you love me Mummy, but right now am playing with play doh."

[As she sang, in her usual manner, making up sentences with rhyming words]
"Everyone has a wife, who we take care all our life."

[As I asked if she knew the difference between fast and slow]
"Potty comes slow, susu comes fast".

OK then. 

Day 35 : 70%!

As of today, I have completed 70% of the subtitling work for the film. It's a pretty big deal. And I feel immensely productive! Now for the remaining 30%.

465 more to go. 

Day 34: All the Baddhas!

Thanks to an online yoga class by Candace, I just discovered that I can do a few yoga poses involving "Baddhas" or "Binds".

The first one is Baddha Parsvakonasana or the Side Angle Bound Pose - I had tried this before and had just about managed to do it. I was stiff especially on the right side. But today I realized that this is coming a lot easier than before! So that's a check!

The second one is Baddha Ardha Matsyendrasana or the Bound Half Lord of the Fish (I just LOVE that name! I makes me feel all Lord-y!) - I had done various versions of Matyendrasana before as this is a pretty common pose in the classes, and probably had attempted the "bound" version as well but this is the first time I felt completely at ease with it. 

So there, yet another great day with Yoga! 

466 more to go. 

Day 33 : Life's a Rubik's Cube.

Sometimes I feel life's like a Rubik's cube.

For the longest time, everything looks so messed up and you have no idea how to fix it but then suddenly, everything falls in place, oh so nicely! (Or so I think is how a Rubik's cube is solved for I have never successfully managed it myself).

But point being, for the longest time (say 9 - 10 months), everything (in this case, everything related to my film) looked rather messed up (mostly incomplete, in limbo, in a deep dark tunnel with only rare flickers of a weak light at the end) and I had no idea how to fix it (rather, I had an idea but that idea was not going anywhere for reasons completely out of my control).

But then suddenly (i.e. just over two hours this afternoon), everything fell into place (OK, maybe that's an exaggeration, but at least everything looks like it has potential to fall into place) oh so nicely!

Reason being, my music director from Chennai, my sound designer from Dubai and my editor from Mumbai/Abu Dhabi have all confirmed to be in Singapore from May 6 - 12 to complete this film once and for all!

I hopped, jumped and cried with joy at that!

Because that, my friends, is as good as solving a Rubik's cube. Because that would truly be the end of this long drawn post production phase. And I can NOT wait!

I am so freaking excited that I have even decided the date of the Film Completion Party! Yup!

467 more to go.  

Day 32 : Words of Wisdom!

One thing Madam enjoys is spinning tales and poetry, singing to herself, as she plays with her dolls or blocks.

Two lines of wisdom popped out today, as she sang away mixing and matching words that rhymed.

"Everyone has a wife,
Who we take care all our life."
                          - Miss Eka Shukla.

Hope the dad is listening.

468 more to go. 

Day 31 : Bring on the Light!

My film is about to enter the last leg of post production. Pretty soon, the editor is going to be in town, flying all the way from India and we are going to lock the edit. It is all very well planned.

But as soon as I got back from the US, I was faced with a humongous challenge that threatened to derail all the planning - the light in the study room, the altar of all film work in my house, had gone bust. Nope, it was not a case of merely changing the bulb, because that was done just a month ago. This went beyond that. "Athukkum Mele" as Vikram would have put it.

Under the dire circumstances, the husband didn't prove to be very supportive.

Me: The light in the study room isn't working.
He: Yes.
Me: It's been bust for more than a week.
He: Yes.
Me: Why didn't you call an electrician?
He: *shrug*
Me: Never mind, what are you going to do about it now?
He: *shrug*
Me: Call an electrician, will you?
He: OK.
Me: Now.
He: Huh?
Me: Call now?
He: Why?
Me: What do you mean by why?!
He (turning towards Madam) : See? Mummy is scolding me!
Madam : Mummy! Why are you scolding Papa?!
Me: Oh dear lord!

So I ended up calling the electrician myself. Let me point out that this is the first time an electrician has stepped into our house since when we bought it, so needless to say this is not something we do every day and I didn't even have a number to call at first. But thanks to the very efficient referral service by NTUC home services, the electrician gave me a ring back in 20 minutes and within 2 hours, he was at my house fixing the light.

When the bulb flickered alive once again, happily spreading white light on the red walls of my study, I felt great! Not because I so efficiently managed the situation (OK maybe that too) but because having a study room with a working light just brought me a tiny bit closer to the completion of my film. And right now, every tiny bit of progress means a lot!

269 more to go. 

Day 30 : More Stories!

Back home, I was greeted with much enthusiasm and soon Madam and I settled down for more story telling. That is, she tells, I listen.

Story one:

Once upon a time there was a Princess called Sadhoor. 
There was also a King called Vishnu. 
Then there was a Giant whose full name was Tedeera and half name was Tedeer. 
The Giant went to the princess' and king's house. 
He stepped on their house and broke it. 
But he was a good giant so they became friends. 
Then a big rock came rolling down so they ran away from there. 
Then they saw a little egg "snatching" (she meant 'hatching') and there was a baby inside. 
Then there were a few big eggs and the baby's Mummy and Papa also "snatched". 
Then the King and Princess went to the Giant's house because their house was broken. 
The baby and his Mummy & Papa also went to their house. 

Uhm... OK, but wait, what happened to that rock that came rolling down?

Oh that rolled down and fell into the river. 

Story two:

Once upon a time there was a Tiger called Puliya. 
There was also a duck whose full name was Razia and half name was Razzie. 
The Tiger wanted to go to the castle to see the Princess whose name was Gracia. (She is really into princesses!)
The Duck said she will give the Tiger a ride. 
The Princess was sleeping. 
The Tiger went to the Princess and they got married. 
Because he was a good tiger. 

But I thought the Princess was sleeping?

Yes, she was sleeping. But Tiger knocked on her door, so she woke up. 

But of course. Seems like I really should stop asking such inane questions!

470 more to go. 

Day 29 : Calm After the Storm

The day was spent on the return flight from US, once again on the Emirates via Dubai and my sole focus was on relaxing. After the rather stormy week, I had wanted nothing more than just hours of thoughtless, dreamless sleep. I was very conscious of the fact that I wouldn't be getting much sleep when I get home bright and early on Sunday morning because Madam would be up bright and early as well, so wanted to make the most of it on the flight.

So that's exactly what I did.

I watched a couple of movies all of which were forgettable except for the science fiction "Netru Indru Naale" in Tamil, enjoyed the lovely food served (the Chettinad Chicken on the Chicago - Dubai leg was exceptional), downed a glass of wine for some additional help with the sleep and for the first time in all these years, got 6 straight hours of sleep on a flight! I am a very light sleeper and have never managed more than 3 hours at a stretch on any flight before.

I was so very much in the relaxation mode that I almost missed my flight from Dubai because I did a little bit extra relaxation over a cup of hot chocolate in the lounge and got confused about the time of the flight departure, thereby ending up at the gate after it was closed! That was a first. But they kindly let me through without much fuss.

Thus I fully embraced the calm after the storm. Now for the little bundle of stormy energy waiting at home for me!

471 more to go.

Days 24 - 28 : Five Days of Grind in Chicago.

I don’t really want to club blog entries but I am at the end of my 5 day business trip in Chicago and I am, to say the very least, wiped out. I have been having meetings non stop from 8am to 9pm every day, with stops for only breakfast, lunch and dinner in between, some of which also ended up being working meals. Except for the team dinner on Thursday night, I didn’t even once step out of the hotel, not even for a breath of fresh air. It was crazy, I am exhausted and I can’t wait to get back home.

But I am happy for a number of reasons.

For getting to see in person all the wonderful teammates from all over the world on Monday.

For being able to squeeze a few rounds of Surya Namaskar in spite of the hectic schedule on Tuesday.

For having a brilliant conversation and many laughs with two colleagues over a working dinner, that turned out be a non-working fun dinner on Wednesday.

For giving a well-accepted presentation on Thursday.

For having a great sense of achievement on all the work accomplished and for the feeling that I would miss many of these wonderful people as I return to Singapore on Friday.

For the above and many more, I am truly thankful.

Now for the arduous return journey back!

472 more to go.

Day 23: The Emirates Experience!

I enjoy long flights because it is my time to catch up with movies!

Also the Emirates was really awesome because it offered so many movies. Also their business class on A380 is really kickass. It comes with an iPad (even thought I didn't use because there was no need to), eat seat fitted with a mini bar stocked with drinks and a big bar towards one end of the business class seating with several fancy bites and drinks and even a little lounge to chill out in. It's definitely the best business class I have been on (Singapore Airlines A380 will come a close second) and once again, I sent out several notes of gratitude to the universe for making me so privileged to experience all this! 

I utilized the long flight (7 hours to Dubai, 5 hours stopover, 14 hours to Chicago) to watch a ton of movies. Here's all that I watched: 

1) Talvar (Hindi) : Good 

2) Kirumi (Tamil) : Good, even thought I don't know why Tamil films have such a passion for useless, unemployed heroes. 

3) Oru Second Class Yatra (Malayalam) : Bad 

4) Joy (English) : Good 

5) Sisters (English) : TBD, since I have only been through half of it so far. 

6) Nanum Rowdy Dhan (Tamil) : Good 

7) Masaan (Hindi) : Good, I suppose. I am supposing because while some of the performances are awesome, it is one of those films made to win at film festivals by exploiting fun topics from India that sell like hot cakes internationally such as poverty, corruption, casteism, sexual taboos and exotic backdrops (in this case, that of the corpse burning ghat in Varanasi). 

Clearly, I had a very productive, enjoyable trip to Chicago! 

477 more to go. 

Day 22 : PTM, Shopping, Packing, Music & Yoga!

The day started with my panicking over the amount of work I have left remaining before leaving for US tonight.

There was the first Parent Teacher Meeting (PTM) at Madam's new school, some shopping for Madam based on the long list from the school on what she needs, giving detailed feedback to the music director on the film background score which is a rather hard task than what it may sound like, squeezing in some yoga because am not sure when I will be able to exercise next and finally, getting the last minute packing done.

And by 5pm or so, I was done with all the above.

PTM - Check!
Shopping - Check!
Music feedback - Check!
Yoga - Check!
Packing - Check!

So smug about a day well spent!

And to top it all, I realized that Emirates Airlines sends a really cool car as complimentary pick up of business class passengers right from their homes! Mine came with a well groomed driver complete with a suit and a necktie as well as wifi and TV in the car. Brilliant!

478 more to go.

Day 21 : Music Progress!

So very excited because I think we are almost done with the first draft of the complete soundtrack for the feature! This is a major milestone, something which we have been working on for the last several months.

So happy that this film is finally reaching completion. It's a good day indeed!

479 more to go. 

Day 20: Bus Riding & Story Writing!

Two things happened today:

1) Madam took the school bus back home on her own today! Phew! What a relief!
2) She wrote stories. Rather, she narrated and I wrote them down for her benefit. They go as follows:

Story One:
One upon a time, there was a princess and a king.
A baby was born to the princess.
Then a monster came.
But there was a dragon that scared the monster.
So the baby was not scared by the monster.
The dragon locked the monster in a cave.
The monster tried to push open the wooden door of the cave but it was too strong.
The wood was as strong as bricks.

Story Two:
Once upon a time, there was a deer.
Then a cow came walking.
Then suddenly a pig came.
The pig was so sleepy.
The pig decided to sleep in the forest.
So the cow and the deer also slept.
Then one day the deer's, cow's and pigs' papas and mummies came.
Then all of them played together.
And then they all slept together again.
Then all of them woke up and had milk.

Story Three:
Once upon a time there was a good girl and a naughty, crazy boy.
The crazy boy's house was made of chocolate.
But the crazy boy wanted to go into the good girl's house which was made of strawberries.
The animals came and circled the boy's house and tied him up with a belt.
So the boy couldnt go to the girl's strawberry house.
But later he became a good boy.
And the good boy became a king and the girl also became a princess by magic.

480 more to go. 

Day 19: First Day!

Today Madam joined K1 (lower kindergarten) at her new school.

Dressed in her new uniform and shoes, armed with her new bag and water bottle, she was pretty excited about the whole deal. She didn't even hesitate to wake up at 7:15am as opposed to her usual 8:30am. 

I was pretty apprehensive on how everything would go and I called upon all sorts of Gods to make the start as smooth as possible. 

The husband was away on a business trip, so I packed Madam up in a cab and proceeded to the school on my own. As soon as we reached, we were welcomed by the principal and several teachers, who were all waiting to greet parents on the first day of school. We were at least 20 minutes early, so there was a lot of attention. 

At first, the plentiful attention actually wasn't well accepted by Madam. She looked perplexed by all that activity and every time a teacher approached her to accompany her to the class, she took two steps back and shook her head vigorously. Thankfully the principal asked everyone to leave her alone and as a special consideration (since usually they take over from the parents right from the entrance), they let me accompany her all the way to the class. 

Once Madam set her eyes on the classroom and the class teacher, she was immediately at home. She happily walked in and comfortably stayed there for the next three hours or so. 

I spent some time in school to pay fees, buy books, talk to the principal, the vice principal etc. and then went to a nearby mall to buy some stuff, update the grandparents on the events, catch up on some work calls and enjoy a nice cup of tea as I waited for the school dismissal time. I returned to the school a few minutes prior to dispersal and watched the proceedings from a distance. We had booked a school bus one way from the school back home, and I wasn't sure if she would be comfortable in it on her own. So I was waiting in the school premises as a back up, in case she throws a fit. 

She didn't exactly throw a fit but she clearly showed her displeasure of having to travel in the school bus (which is more of a mini van), by staying rooted to the spot and refusing to get into it. The class teacher called me up for some help and after a bit of to and fro, it was decided that once again, as a special consideration, I shall be allowed to accompany her home on the bus just this one time. 

So both of us got in and she sat on my lap and clung to me almost the whole way. Just five minutes before we reached home, she insisted on sitting on the window seat and wear her own seat belt. I helped her with it and was happy about this positive step towards travelling on her own from tomorrow. 

Once we got back home, Madam declared that she "likes school but not the bus", which is a great start! 

We were expecting her to be dead tired after school and was expecting her to take a long afternoon nap, but nothing of that sort happened. Instead she was up and about the whole afternoon with double the energy as usual, possibly from all the excitement, and I actually had to take her to the library and grocery shopping to use up some of that energy! 

In a nutshell, it was a great first day! Am hoping that she takes the bus back home on her own tomorrow, but one step at a time! I am also very thankful with the school authorities for making it so flexible and bending all their rules for her!

It was indeed a great day for us and let me wrap up with this interesting conversation Madam and I had. 

Prior to her going to school, I had given her a little bit of advice ; "Some children may cry in the school asking for their Mummy and Papa. You should be nice to them and get them to stop crying and tell that that you would be their friend, OK?" I was hoping that this would help her realize that crying isn't a great option and she shouldn't be joining in if she finds any other child upset. 

And here's what happened. 

Me: Did anyone cry in the school today? 

Madam: Yes, one girl was crying all the time. 

Me: Oh no! Why? 

Madam: Because she wanted her mummy. 

Me (all excited to know how my advice was heeded): So what did you tell her? 

Madam (with adequate exasperation): I told her "HUSHHHH, HUSSSHHHH, Dont cry all the time!"

Me: But I had said... didn't you... OK never mind. And what did she say? 

Madam: She just cried louder and louder! I don't know why! 

Oh dear Lord. 

481 more to go. 

Day 18 : Time for School!

Today was a rather hectic day. Not only because work was crazy and I was running from one meeting to another, but also because I had to manage a ton of admin complications at Madam's new school. 

Yup! Madam, after a gap of 5 whole months after she last went to her play school, will be joining a new school tomorrow, going to class K1 (Lower Kindergarten)! 

Needless to say this is a HUGE deal for us and we are looking forward to tomorrow! 

But then to get to tomorrow, I had to go through today. 

And today involved filling up a painful online form a million times before it got accepted by the system (OK, not a million, but I did it 7 whole times, which is as ridiculous), constantly being in touch with the school authorities to get everything done before the session starts tomorrow, and juggling my work calls, meetings and emails on the side (note: the husband was conveniently out on an overseas trip).  

Thankfully, everything got sorted out by evening and I let out a huge sigh of relief. 

So, yes. Tomorrow, my little one will be going to K1, in her new uniform and shoes and bag and all that jazz. 

But most importantly for me, it feels like life is inching closer to normalcy and I can't wait! 

482 more to go.  

Day 17: Night Time Reading

One of the recent habits I have fallen into is that of reading a few pages of any book I have on hand, before going to bed. I have always been a voracious reader, but over the last few years the reading had been restricted to travel times - in airports, on flights and during commute in Singapore.

The last three months I have been through about 20 books or so, which is really a lot - all thanks to Flipkart, visits to the library and my latest habit of reading something before going to bed.

My latest book is the French Lieutenant's Woman. Am about half way through it. The plot is not the most out of the box one - mainly because I think I have watched some really silly films loosely based on the same theme - A man falling in love with a woman who is pining for her ex-boyfriend, a sailor, who has gone off to the seas.

OK, that one liner makes it sound like it's some Mills & Boons mushy pulp, but it is hardly that. The book is "postmodern historical fiction" - i.e. it was written in the second half of the 20th century but the plot is based in mid 19th century. That alone makes it interesting, because the narrator calls out that he is in 20th century and constantly draws comparisons - on everything from societal rules, economic structures, and even fashion and architecture - to whats in the plot from the previous century. Plus he demonstrates a sense of humour at the least expected times and has a few kickass observations.

Sample this, as he writes about a lazy guy who asks himself why he should do anything at all when there are so many experts on it already in the world: "You will see that Charles set his sights high. Intelligent idlers always have, in order to justify their idleness to their intelligence." or "We all write poems. It is simply that poets are the ones who write them in words."

I am not sure where the current book will lead, but for now, everyday after am done with the evening's work calls and after Madam is fast asleep, am so happy to curl up in bed and cozy up with a book. It does have the ability to top off even a not-so-good day with a rather good night !

483 more to go. 

Day 16: Gyozo!

My latest discovery in Japanese cuisine is that of the Gyozo, or their version of the dumpling. I had already fallen in love with the Chinese versions as well as the momos a really long time ago, but had never really taken to Japanese dumplings. Mainly because between the sushis, sashimis, katsu don, edamame etc. there were already too many things to choose from. So I had reserved the order for dumplings to Chinese restaurants, particularly Din Tai Fung.

All that was to change thanks to Madam's love for dumplings, which she had recently discovered at Din Tai Fungn as well.

We even have a song for it - "Pling Pling Dumpling."

But we found ourselves at Ichiban Boshi and she brought her love for dumplings over. Her exact words were, "I think we should have Pling Pling Dumplings. You think that's a good idea?"

I thought it was an excellent idea and figured out soon that I love Gyozo as much as the other Plings.

484 more to go. 

Day 15: Subtitling Begins!

Yup, I have begun the long, dreary work of subtitling the film. Which officially means that we are at the beginning of the end! 

Well, there are still edits to be fixed, sound design to be fixed, music to be fixed, but the film is definitely at a point where it can do with some subtitling. 

So there. 

Am not exactly looking forward to the work itself, but I am definitely excited that this film is inching towards completion! Can't wait! 

485 more to go. 

Day 14: The Swaadhisht Discovery!

In my previous blogs, I had fawned many number of times, over the restaurant Swaadhisht and the fantastic Thalassery Biriyani, Beef/Mutton coconut fry, Kerala Porotta and Varutharacha Chicken Curry available there.

Today, after a break of several months, we visited Swaadhisht, together with Madam, my mom and our helper. As usual, I ordered my favourite Thalassery Egg Biriyani, but also decided to explore something new.

And that was the Prawns Fry, which happened to be a really lip smacking affair. Super spicy with crunchy fried onions and curry leaves and absolutely heavenly!

The foodie in me was completely satisfied!

And apparently the foodie in little Madam was also completely satisfied too. She was close to tears from all that spice, but she braved it on, frequently saying "hhssss, hhsssss", but still downing one prawn after another.

For both of us, it shall be the day of a new Swaadhisht (tasty) discovery!

486 more to go.