Mom, you are 83....

Dear dear Amma, Today it is the 83rd birthday of yours...

I still remember the time when we all used to give greeting cards to those who celebrated birthday in our family.

Every birthday of mine, I used to find a Cadbury's Chocolate bar and a greeting card underneath my pillow placed by you and Appa...

Though our ways of celebrating were quite simple and less ostentatious, I still cherish those days with affection and longing to return to those good old times...

I can remember  your sweet face filled with affection and with no wrinkles, your hair with very less strands of grey hair, your eyes made up with eyetex, a big red kumkum on your forehead, with a strand of white ash or Vibhuthi above it, your short hair plaited and a chain of beads adorning your neck.

Amma, I can never imagine how you would look at the age of 83!! You lived and died young at 57 and hence remain so forever in my mind...Love you dearly, Amma...

Super Supper of affection and taste...

I would like to share the beautiful moments I had as a child when I was about 8 years or so.

Very often during dinner time, my mother used to mix rice and "sambar" or "vatha kuzhambu" (both are South Indian gravies) in a basin and Rice and curd in another basin. Then we (me along with my elder brother and sister) used to sit round her on the floor. She would make small balls of the rice and place in our hands in turn. Next she would give the curd rice in our hands and for every round she would pour some vatha kuzhambu as a topping for the curd rice.

This way we used to enjoy the meals very much as it would be extra tasty as it was filled with our mother's affection and love...

Today, a modern mother hardly spends quality time with her kids (and mostly it is a single kid). She has to struggle a lot to make her kid eat. So in a fast paced world, she offers fast foods as the child wishes and rushes to her workplace. Hence there is high obesity among children of today at a very young age. The kids are also deprived of the affection and love we used to get during dinner time.

Let us make it a point to spend quality time with our family at least during dinner time, without watching TV, get to know about each others' experience of the day, enjoy our meals in a happy atmosphere sharing and showing our love for one another.