somajm

. Cartoon theme It was my son’s 7th birthday. I had asked the ‘invitees’ to come dressed in black. As they entered I was to give them a superman mask and tie a dupatta for cloaks. But before entering they would have to tell me the password “Shh koi hei”. The party nearly didn’t take off. The tinier ones were brilliant. But the more blasé ten-year olds just didn’t know. And when I smilingly told them they couldn’t enter, much to my horror, they turned homewards. I had to pin them down as a kid remind them of the magic words and kidnap them. the party was visually very effective Dress- get dupattas, masks given to them, dress in black Party- tent made, inside pictures of cartoon characters put up to be identified, children given apparently white papers but actually on them is written in white crayon the name of a cartoon character which they have to decode by painting black paint on it and running into the tent and naming correctly. Elimination game – when music stops they collect th...

Certain frightening things i have come across that i wish to share with all. I am especially indebted to Oprah Winfrey's Talk show for all this information. -baby oil has an ingredient: liquid hydrocarbons which if ingested orally in a large quantity can cause chemical pneumonia which can be fatal -a bucket of water can be dangerous for a one year old too. If he leans over it he may topple into it and babies being head heavy may drown if nobody is around -never keep a treadmill within reach of children. Their hands might get trapped in it. -never keep the bed of children near a window without grills, only screen. They might fall out and down. -never allow children to dig too deep into the sand on the beach. If somebody stumbles into it he might just sink into it and the loosened layers of sand all around might cave in the more you try to pull him out and the sand is very heavy. -never keep children locked inside a car even if you go out for “a minute” -candy gel cone shaped has ca...

Most parents in well to do families, especially the mothers, get into the trap of “My child comes first in class ”. It is an easy trap to get into in today’s set up. The number of children in an average family is two. Thus there is unnecessary focus on the children. Moreover there is a growing ‘Keep up with the Joneses’ Syndrome or fear of being left behind in a progressively competitive atmosphere. It is an obsession that may cause immense psychological damage to the child. Just as we know that a child’s eating habits are reflected in certain personality traits; so also a parent’s attitude towards his child’s studies may create certain changes in the child’s total personality. And the dangerous aspect is that this nightmare for the children begins as early as the first year of his school. Coming first or second or last (for that matter) is a mode of assessment for the teacher . Why should it be of such importance to a parent? At such a young age? Education is about personality develop...

2002 saw the beginning of a new movement in the Indian film scenario. Mira Nair’s Monsoon Wedding started the trend. Then came Bend it like Beckam followed closely by American Desi. All these three films belong to a new genre, which is becomingly slowly popular. They don’t cause a landslide victory in the box offices. Nevertheless they are being viewed much more than the regular Bollywood fare. Because they are made on a string budget the expectations are less. Thus people find themselves being pleasantly surprised when they end up viewing the film without getting bored. Firstly the same painted faces in the same monotonous dance sequences are not there. Absence of unnecessary and painful comic subplots keeps the story telling effect compact. Comic relief is provided in the witty dialogues and everyday situations. Ordinary human beings acting out of negative feelings of jealousy, rage or insecurity replace larger than life villains. The storylines are all taken from everyday situatio...