Twenty- five Seven

Of seagulls and gathias

April 22, 2020

Gathia is a popular Gujerati snack – deep-fried chickpea flour crispies that are favourite with every Mumbaikar. Oftentimes the mere mention of the word sets us drooling.

Now, what, you may ask, is the connection between the Gathias and the Seagulls?

Every winter the migratory gulls stopover in Mumbai like many of our own ‘snowbirds’. When the summer comes they fly back to cooler climes.

Unfortunately, these birds have become so fat and lazy feeding on the ‘gathia’ that they stay back only to die once temperatures rise.

One day, I was driving down Marine Drive with Little Po and Ms. Papaya. Suddenly, Little Po shouted to Ms. Papaya, “Look the sky is filled with ‘gathias’

I couldn’t see a single ‘gathia’ in the sky. It was filled with seagulls though. The twiblilngs were enthusiastically counting the ‘gathia’ when the penny dropped.

A few weeks earlier, Wow Dinga’s class had to spend one Sunday afternoon on Chowpatty beach and stop ardent bird ‘lovers’ from feeding the seagulls ‘gathias”.

So the next time Wow Dinga spotted some one feeding Seagulls on the beach he ran ahead and stopped him from feeding him.

The school is doing something right making the children aware that we should protect the earth and save birds like the Seagulls that make Mumbai their winter home.

Don’t you think so?

Ciao

I’m participating in the AtoZ2020 Challenge, a month-long blog hop where participants post 26 posts, one for every Alphabet, every day except Sundays.

Do join me as I share my adventures with my Little People.

The photo for featured Image is taken from here
Quiet Please! Stop Noise Pollution

April 20, 2020

Good morning and welcome to another week of adventures with my Little People.

Quiet is something alien to Mumbai. The city that never sleeps has a busy hum to it even through the late hours of the night.

Bombay traffic is horrendous. Especially at peak time, cars are crawling bumper to bumper at peak time. And motorists have the awful habit of blowing their horns. As a matter of fact, for decades, ‘Horn OK , Please’ was the standard phrase decorating many trucks on the road.

Source

I sincerely believe that blowing the horn doesn’t make the car in front of you go any faster. Nor does it make the traffic signal change to green.

But most motorists don’t think so and drive with their hand instinctively placed on the horn. They seem to have horn blowing in their DNA.

One evening Hubby Dear was driving the boys home. It was getting late for their dinner time and he was in a rush to get them home. With four cars in front of him, reaching on time was a remote possibility. As was his habit, he honked not once but twice, indicating that the car ahead should move.

All at once,Wow Dinga pulled his hand off the horn and told him to stop.

“That’s noise pollution Abu. You should be QUIET!”

I think the newer generation is going to be more responsible and respectful of the environment than ever before. Especially with the outbreak of the Coronavirus pandemic.

Don’t you think so?

Ciao

I’m participating in the AtoZ2020 Challenge, a month-long blog hop where participants post 26 posts, one for every Alphabet, every day except Sundays.

Do join me as I share my adventures with my Little People.
Squishy like Play-Doh

April 18, 2020

Keeping little ones out of mischief is tough. Especially when you take them out to dinner. You don’t want them running around the restaurants. Nor do you want them to play with the tableware.

Daughter No.1 has devised a wonderful way of keeping them occupied. She pulls out small tubs of Play-Doh and gives one to each child. They can spend hours literally squishing the moulding clay into shapes without dirtying themselves or the table.

But I myself have spent hours getting the Play-Doh out of a pile carpet. That can be hell. So it’s not exactly my favourite way to keep them occupied.

My attitude changed completely when one day Ms. Papaya cuddled up to me and squeezed my ample upper arm and said

“Aji you are like Play-doh. You’re so soft and squishy and you don’t ever get hard.”

Now every time I see some Play-Doh I actually feel some kinship and feel like giving it a nice, tight squeeze.

Ciao,

I’m participating in the AtoZ2020 Challenge, a month-long blog hop where participants post 26 posts, one for every Alphabet, every day except Sundays.

Do join me as I share my adventures with my Little People.

Photo for the Featured Image is taken from Pixabay.