Badshah's Raves

Sarah turns 3....@ Aamby Valley

2010-01-26T23:33:00.000+05:30

Jan 2010- Seven Years of Marriage & 13 Years of getting to know each other.

2010-01-15T18:55:00.004+05:30

Beating the heat with water.

2009-05-10T12:18:00.001+05:30

DNA Mothers Day Special

2009-05-10T12:05:00.001+05:30

Cheers to all working Moms !!!

The mommy diaries

Kareena N Gianani Sunday, March 8, 2009 3:23 IST

Mumbai: For a woman, choosing to be a stay-at-home mum or pursuing a high-flying career after having a child can be the most defining decision. On International Women's Day, DNA presents the stories of three women in Mumbai who grappled with this conflict within themselves in different ways.

'At 2, my daughter knows I'm a career woman'

Priya Badshah's two-year-old daughter, Sara, is as determined as her mother -- try offering her a chocolate and she refuses politely.The tot calmly accepts that any family member, even her doll, if not around, must have a busy day at 'office'.

"Inculcating such understanding at a young age hasn't come easy," says the 33-year-old mother who juggles with her career as senior manager of corporate communication at a leading life insurance company.

Springing back to work after a four-month-long maternity leave seemed the most obvious choice for Badshah.However, when Sara was a month old, Badshah met with an accident that rendered her immobile for six months. She went back to work after a year, limping and anxious about leaving her child back home. "I was headstrong -- I wanted both, my child and my career."

Thus began her tightrope walk. On a flight, Badshah cannot afford to mull over files -- instead, every minute is spent introspecting what Sara should be introduced to next, whether her diet needs new elements or whether building blocks must be introduced in her play. So, Sara finds her mother returning from work one day and telling her stories -- not about Cinderalla, but those that teach her good manners in the guise of 'fun'. She finds herself constantly having to snap in and out of the two roles.

Her doggedness to find a middle path gives Badshah enough reason to feel guilty at times and become pessimistic.

For instance, if Sara misbehaves, Badshah's paranoia convinces her that she's "all wrong as a mother." Or, when she missed two open house meetings at Sara's playschool, she herself couldn't bring herself to work due to guilt.

"It is a struggle to shake yourself up and stick to the choices you've made for yourself. For instance, I choose to weigh what I bring to Sara's growth as an independent, confident role model vis-à-vis a stay-at-home mum." She clarifies that she isn't running down a homemaker's role. "It's just that I wouldn't be a satisfied individual. Would I make a good mother then? It is impossible."

Opting for this path means waking up Sara as she slept in Badshah's lap because she had make a dash for office. "Excuse the cliché, but every mother will tell you this -- it felt criminal to wake her up when she looked so angelic... and I had to snap out of it the moment I got into my car and pored over office documents," she says, the conflict clearly visible.

In these circumstances, it may be the easiest thing to overindulge Sara but Badshah stands firm. Instead of expensive toys and lavish parties, Sara's birthday gifts include spending 10 days out of town with her otherwise busy parents. "And no, the maid is not tagged along. It is me who Sara has at her beck and call," says Badshah proudly.

Sarah is Two Years old

2009-01-28T20:42:00.002+05:30

@Mahableshwar

Diwali 2008

2008-11-04T20:56:00.002+05:30

Sarah in Saree

Home Sweet Home

Sarah's First day at PlaySchool (July 3rd 2008)

2008-07-03T20:28:00.000+05:30

Attempt to educate our daughter starts today.....

Sarah's first Fancy Dress Competition

2008-06-18T22:05:00.003+05:30

Sarah's Birthday Ceremony

2008-03-08T13:07:00.003+05:30

One Year Old Sarah Badshah in Goa Chilling with MOM and DAD

2008-02-02T13:09:00.001+05:30

Sarah at 11 Months

2008-01-09T20:01:00.000+05:30

Reasons to Celebrate...............

2007-12-19T11:53:00.000+05:30

Celebration means......
A winter evening.
Four friends.
One barsaat.
Four glasses of beer.

Celebration means......
Hundred bucks of petrol.
A rusty old bike.
And an open road.

Celebration means......
Maggi noodles.
A hostel room.
4.25 a.m.

Celebration means......
3 old friends.
3 separate cities.
3 coffee mugs.
1 internet messenger.

Celebration means......
Rain on a hot tin roof.
Pakoras deep-frying.
Neighbours dropping in.
A party.

Celebration means......
You and mom.
A summer night.
A bottle of coconut oil.
A head massage.
Gossiping about absent family members.

You can spend
Hundreds on birthdays,
Thousands on festivals,
Lakhs on weddings,

but to celebrate
all you have to do is spend your Time with your loved ones.

Keep in touch with your loved ones ........
Thats real celebration!

Sarah showing her dancing skills

2007-11-23T17:57:00.000+05:30

Sarah @ Nine Months and standing

2007-11-03T11:55:00.000+05:30

New Car

2007-10-04T12:40:00.000+05:30

Car Type:- SantroXing
Purchase Date:- 5th September 2007

Sarah is eight months old today

2007-09-25T22:41:00.000+05:30

Sarah is seven months old today

2007-08-26T11:04:00.000+05:30

Sarah is Six Months old today

2007-07-26T10:25:00.000+05:30

5 months old Sarah

2007-07-18T15:58:00.000+05:30

Numbers and Letters

2007-07-13T14:26:00.001+05:30

Found this very interesting!!

Letters 'a', 'b', 'c' & 'd' do not appear anywhere in the spellings of 1 to 99
(Letter 'd' comes for the first time in Hundred)

Letters 'a', 'b' & 'c' do not appear anywhere in the spellings of 1 to 999
(Letter 'a' comes for the first time in Thousand)

Letters 'b' & 'c' do not appear anywhere in the spellings of 1 to 999,999,999
(Letter 'b' comes for the first time in Billion)

And Letter 'c' does not appear anywhere in the spellings of entire English Counting !!!

Let me guess… you are recalling all the spellings, right? So did I

Really a great thing to know, isn’t it?

Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans

2007-07-06T14:15:00.001+05:30

Got an awesome forward email chain letter .....but this is the one which i identify very closely

It's been 18 years since I joined Volvo, a Swedish company. Working for them has proven to be an interesting experience. Any project here takes 2 years to be finalized, even if the idea is simple and brilliant. It's a rule.

Globalize processes have caused in us (all over the world) a general sense of searching for immediate results. Therefore, we have come to posses a need to see immediate results. This contrasts greatly with the slow movements of the Swedish. They, on the other hand, debate, debate, debate, hold x quantity of meetings and work with a slowdown scheme. At the end, this always yields better results.

Said in another words:

1.Sweden is about the size of San Pablo, a state in Brazil.

2. Sweden has 2 million inhabitants.

3. Stockholm, has 500,000 people.

4. Volvo,Escania, Ericsson, Electrolux, Nokia are some of its renowned companies. Volvo supplies the NASA.

The first time I was in Sweden, one of my colleagues picked me up at the hotel every morning. It was September, bit cold and snowy. We would arrive early at the company and he would park far away from the entrance (2000 employees drive their car to work). The first day, I didn't say anything, either the second or third. One morning I asked, "Do you have a fixed parking space? I've noticed we park far from the entrance even when there are no other cars in the lot." To which he replied, "Since we're here early we'll have time to walk, and whoever gets in late will be late and need a place closer to the door.

Don't you think? Imagine my face.

Nowadays, there's a movement in Europe name Slow Food. This movement establishes that people should eat and drink slowly, with enough time to taste their food, spend time with the family, friends, without rushing. Slow Food is against its counterpart: the spirit of Fast Food and what it stands for as a lifestyle. Slow Food is the basis for a bigger movement called Slow Europe, as mentioned by Business Week.
Basically, the movement questions the sense of "hurry" and "craziness" generated by globalization, fueled by the desire of "having in quantity" (life status) versus "having with quality", "life quality" or the "quality of being". French people, even though they work 35 hours per week, are more productive than Americans or British.

Germans have established 28.8 hour workweeks and have seen their productivity been driven up by 20%. This slow attitude has brought forth the US's attention, pupils of the fast and the "do it now!"This no-rush attitude doesn't represent doing less or having a lower productivity. It means working and doing things with greater quality, productivity, perfection, with attention to detail and less stress. It means reestablishing family values, friends, free and leisure time. Taking the "now", present and concrete, versus the "global", undefined and anonymous. It means taking humans' essential values, the simplicity of living.

It stands for a less coercive work environment, more happy, lighter and more productive where humans enjoy doing what they know best how to do. It's time to stop and think on how companies need to develop serious quality with no-rush that will increase productivity and the quality of products and services, without losing the essence of spirit.

In the movie, Scent of a Woman, there's a scene where Al Pacino asks a girl to dance and she replies, "I can't, my boyfriend will be here any minute now". To which Al responds, "A life is lived in an instant". Then they dance to a tango.

Many of us live our lives running behind time, but we only reach it when we die of a heart attack or in a car accident rushing to be on time. Others are so anxious of living the future that they forget to live the present, which is the only time that truly exists. We all have equal time throughout the world. No one has more or less.

The difference lies in how each one of us does with our time. We need to live each moment. As John Lennon said, "Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans".

4 months old Sarah

2007-06-03T13:31:00.001+05:30

CUSP

2007-06-02T19:51:00.001+05:30

The chimes of time tell me I am at a cusp
Cusp of oasis and unknown desert
Oasis, a time of a lifetime
Desert, a nameless place in time.
Spoilt by oasis, desert threatens the spirit
Today's open skies are being truly treasured
Now not alone adds to the heavy tomorrow
With the cusp nearing its end, time alone will tell.

3 months old Sarah

2007-05-22T21:40:00.000+05:30

Once a Mom, Always a Mom

2007-05-20T13:27:00.001+05:30

Name: Mrs Neelam Verma
Age: 55
Profile: Young Mother and Homemaker

Sounds odd but its true. I am referring to my mother here, who has raised not only me but my two sisters as well, to be the “all-rounders”. That’s a compliment, I once received from my mom-in-law. What better credentials. Well, all mothers are wonderful but I take pride in being the daughter of a super-wonderful mom cause she raised three daughters against all odds; emotional as well as financial. Without the support of a husband but that’s a different story altogether.

This January, my husband, Hakim and I finally exited the ‘Double Income, No kids’ bracket and welcomed our first kid into this world, Sarah. Our joys knew no bounds and I began my journey into ‘Motherhood’. But fate had plans, which caught us unawares. Sarah had not even completed her second month when Hakim and I met with an accident and I was run over by a speeding tempo. Broke my pelvic bone and right shoulder with multiple fractures. Typically one would keep the bad news to a minimum from parents but in our case, mom had to rush to the hospital with Sarah in her hand, witness her daughter’s pain with silent tears while rocking her grand-daughter.

And then the ordeal started. Mom was sole in-charge of Sarah while visiting me in the hospital and back home, managing the house. It’s been a month now that I have returned home from the hospital, completely bed-ridden for the next two months. Lying idle in my bed, it amazes me to see how mom is looking after her two babies. In-between changing diapers (truly a non- stop activity) and feeding Sarah, mom sponges and feeds me amidst the daily household chores. Not to miss, she never misses a chance to cook Hakim’s and my favorite dishes when Sarah is sleeping. At the age of 55, she is at our beck & call throughout the day and wakes up thrice in the night to attend to Sarah. That’s what I call a wonderful mom but what makes her a super-wonderful mom is she does all this with a constant smile, humming baby talk with Sarah without a second’s break. And trust me, I have seen and heard the ‘new moms’ at times complaining and fretting with baby blues! The way my mom has taken to new motherhood at her age is simply beautiful!

Hats off to you and Happy Mother’s Day, Mom!