Vedasri Siddamsetty

Oh my Bump! is my weekly chronicling of this little pie baking away, and a sharing of the ebbs and flows of being two at a time. Its a wonderful journey of rising and falling hormones, the beating of two hearts, and a huge sea of change to the body. It’s love and life all the way. 

 

#besties #love

30 weeks! An oh-so-magical week like no other. Great relationships, family and friends are truly the essence of life. It felt so good to have love pour in from all quarters and planning a fun afternoon garnering blessings and good cheer for the little baby to come. Add to that some indulgences and a complete eye-opener with the Android beating the Iphone hollow. Can’t believe am saying that at the moment but when it comes to phones the Android truly wins. Not the same with other gadgetry though 😀 Had wonderful moments with all the people I love and treasure and missed most who are miles away but send their love incessantly. Sheer awesomeness. All the Mommy advice cards and the Dear Baby letters got us all a glimpse of what we would not really know of ourselves. In my case a lot of mentions were made on the sense of humour, with a marker for laughter. Ahem, lets hope the baby does inherit a funny bone or two, that manifest themselves in the first few weeks, cause I really wouldn’t mind no crying baby and sleepless nights! The wise are beginning to ask if I have schools in mind to send the baby to, and caution on how we would need to book schools well before the baby is born! Would’ve been so great if we could home-school! But for that I guess we’d need a farm and some acreage allowing for diverse activities and interests, plus some learned scholars, akin to the education nobles like Akbar would’ve got in their time. To me, that would be ideal education as against classrooms full of students with a sack of books on their back and school bus rides that include ample traffic time. May be the kindle in tandem with the Ipad and Tata Sky education will certainly wipe out the need for text books at all! While I mull at the possibility of which school the little bean will finally go to, what kind of company he/she will keep, what lunch box I would need to pack, and a tumultuous range of possibilities, I wish the child will be more than anything else, superbly street-smart. Intelligent and street-smart, inherently happy, loves to read – ala Warren Buffet, kind, gracious maybe a tiny bit audacious and inherits a certain affinity to people. Now that would be real nice. I certainly feel any knowledge worth knowing can be got from books and the magic of our minds. With the combination and a tad of imagination one can teach oneself anything. From rocket science to the mechanics of running, from calculus to dance, from yoga to knitting, from music to values, anything at all. Knowing is as important as applying. Knowing yourself is the best knowledge one can have, says Sadhguru. And that knowledge comes from spending time in nature, in solitude with oneself, in deep meditation. And having a mastery over one’s thoughts is enough to have clarity, focus, zeal, happiness or just anything we might ever desire. Like Abraham Lincoln rightly proclaims, “most people are just about as happy as they make their minds up to be!”

Baby B: 30 Weeks

Baby’s size? 15.7 inches

Girth: 39.0 inches

Plus: 13.0 kilograms (right there as yet)

Maternity clothes? The Indian Saris have their own way with new-mommies! ❤

Stretch marks? Nope.

Sleep: Is elusive at best and relentless at worst. Tiny specks of insomnia as I haven’t been tiring the body at all!

Best moment this week: Feeling the love and happiness!! Such joy!

Movement: Tumbling and rumbling!

Food Cravings: Macarons! Chocolate ones!! from Concu!

Gender: No idea!

Symptoms: Gorgeous skin tales continue. (double yay!)

Wedding Rings – on or off? On!

Happy or Moody? Happy! Happy! Happy!

Loving: Mechanical watches. Such Engineering feats they truly are!!

Reading: The Mystic Eye by Sadhguru. After reading the book, am no longer a follower 😀 even that tiny bit of following is out of the picture now!

Watched: No shows this week! And This is me is starting to annoy me now 😀

Compliments: On my insanely awesome sense of humour!!

Acne: A lot of chocolate this week = chin acne. Time to bid adieu to chocolate now. I love thee, and hence I will not eat thee! – thus became my motto.

Drawing: On all the high!

Dreaming of:  Dreamt such crazy horrendous dreams. Don’t even want to think of them at all.

Looking Forward To: Some TLC and loads of love!!

Oh my Bump! is my weekly chronicling of this little pie baking away, and a sharing of the ebbs and flows of being two at a time. Its a wonderful journey of rising and falling hormones, the beating of two hearts, and a huge sea of change to the body. It’s love and life all the way. 

#feelingroyal #rockingoutfit

29 weeks! A rather hectic and crazy week. Meeting lots of people, traveling a bit, wearing make-up and dressing up. There is certainly no better time to be pregnant than at a family wedding. The vibes and high of meeting loved ones and the aura of celebrations is certainly something wonderful. While the baby B kicks and rolls at the sound of music I myself enjoyed every bit of my gorgeous skin. There is no need for foundation or any artist when one feels like a work of art oneself. True beauty or rather any beauty is what comes from within. My over active energetic brain had enough to do all week and while I thoroughly enjoyed myself I ended the week with a glorious session at the pool. Swimming by far is my most uplifting form of entertainment. It’s absolutely rejuvenating. And all the pains that I may have developed over the week, physical or mental, all absolutely withered away with the touch of clear and cool water. The buoyancy of water felt wonderful and added it’s own sense of buoyancy to my spirit. This week I did quite a bit of soul searching and came down to appreciating and loving my body, my area of work and my beautiful mind. Two interesting facts I came across this week from my reading is that, one, anger is triggered by a toxic liver, and two, the amygdala is largely responsible for the ‘fight or flight’ syndrome and anxiety can be worked on through the amygdala, a little organ at the base of the brain. Vitamin b12 plays an important part in keeping the amygdala cool. SO next time you find yourself flying off the handle or getting unduly anxious, look up to the amygdala or the liver 😀 Ancient Chinese medicine also prefixes certain other emotions to the Heart, Lungs and Kidneys, namely Joy, Grief and Fear respectively. Interesting! Also I realised looking at pictures, whatever I think shows up on my face! Oh my really what a disadvantage it could be, or rather what an advantage! So here’s to happy thoughts and happy faces!! =) Meanwhile Baby B showed me some serious dance moves as it has begun jiving to music tumbling here and there and marking some wonderful twists and turns!

P.s. So all through my life I have realised the power of my thoughts. What I have thought of I have become, what I thought I would like I have got and what I think happens. Whether it’s a trip to the market or to the beach, whatever I have thought has undoubtedly happened. While I always nursed a suspicion that the universe has always conspired on my behalf, I am now certain of the power of our thoughts. What we believe and what we think we become. While that does not mean we much guard our thoughts it certainly means there is no need to indulge in wasteful thinking, thoughts are so damn precious after all! 🙂

Baby B: 29 Weeks

Baby’s size? 15.2 inches

Girth: 39.0 inches

Plus: 13.0 kilograms (woah! 2 kgs in just a week)

Maternity clothes? Lets say this week I rocked the maternity wedding clothes!

Stretch marks? Nope.

Sleep: Happily and peacefully. So tired and so sleepy so surrounded myself with pillows and slept away.

Best moment this week: Realising how much fun it is to actually let go. Took a bow and bid adieu to a lot of things this week. It is indeed liberating.

Movement: Rocking and rolling. What a baby!

Food Cravings: Pav Bhaji perhaps. And yogurt.

Gender: No idea!

Symptoms: Gorgeous skin tales continue. (double yay!)

Wedding Rings – on or off? On!

Happy or Moody? Happy! Teary! Happy!

Loving: Swimming. Oh my God. The bliss of water!

Reading: On a Dessert Trail. Am not so much of a sweet person, nor am I into cooking, but it was a decent read as it covered desserts across different countries.

Watched: No shows this week!

Compliments: On looking gorgeous, having gorgeous skin and smiling so so much.

Acne: None. Best thing ever.

Drawing: On my patience and energy reserves 😀

Dreaming of:  Dreamt of falling, free-falling. If it means sky-diving is in the offing, bring it on!

Looking Forward To: Some quality time and blessings of family and friends.

Oh my Bump! is my weekly chronicling of this little pie baking away, and a sharing of the ebbs and flows of being two at a time. Its a wonderful journey of rising and falling hormones, the beating of two hearts, and a huge sea of change to the body. It’s love and life all the way. 

#mehendiisfun #bumchums

28 weeks! It was a week that literally flew. Catching up with cousins, relatives and friends was the best thing ever this week as was the Mehendi function of my little brother. Culturally Mehendi or Henna (a ground and dried paste of the Henna plant) is applied on the palms of one’s hand to tap into the cooling benefits it renders to the body. Now done in various designs it adorns the palm not just cooling the body but also adding a touch of beauty to the palms. It is said to bring prosperity and good fortune. Inarguably keeping cool, calm and relaxed equates to prosperity and fortune! As I am hardly able to get a grip on my nervous system and hence emotions these days I have a new goal in life and that’s to relax and unwind. What a goal 😃.  While enthusiasm is awesome and boldness is everything, calmness is the secret to happiness I am told. So here’s to a new hobby of meditation that is scientifically proven to reduce the size of the amygdala in our brain that dictates the flight or fight aspect of the brain. With happiness being the purpose of life! (The pressure is certainly off with such a delectable goal 😃😃) Baby B is certainly making me wise.

Baby B: 28 Weeks

Baby’s size? 14.8 inches

Girth: 38.5 inches (right there)

Plus: 11.0 kilograms

Maternity clothes? Flaunting all the ones I got. I can live for one week on a compliment said Mark Twian. What fun!

Stretch marks? Nope.

Sleep: A quiet mind thanks to exercise and emptying has meant great sleep this week. Exercise apparently does quieter the mind.

Best moment this week: Undoubtedly catching up with one of my closest friends after 13 years and feeling like nothing has changed!

Movement: Ow ooow! That itself says a lot. 😃

Food Cravings: None this week.

Gender: No idea!

Symptoms: Gorgeous skin tales continue. (double yay!)

Wedding Rings – on or off? On!

Happy or Moody? Happy! Teary! Happy!

Loving: Stretching and squatting. Well almost.

Reading: Superconfidence. A good self-help book.

Watched: No shows this week!

Compliments: On looking pretty pretty pretty! (Thank you Baby B!)

Acne: None. Best thing ever.

Drawing: Concepts for mehendi decor. It all turned out pretty grand.

Dreaming of:  No dreams this week. None at all!

Looking Forward To: The little brother’s wedding et al.

Oh my Bump! is my weekly chronicling of this little pie baking away, and a sharing of the ebbs and flows of being two at a time. Its a wonderful journey of rising and falling hormones, the beating of two hearts, and a huge sea of change to the body. It’s love and life all the way. 

#howweseeisus #perceptionisreality

27 weeks! This week was awesomeness in that I picked up the paintbrush after what seems like a gazillion years and played the C-scale on my piano after what seems like another gazillion years. As I unearth all my hobbies over the ages that range from horse-riding to girl-scouting, from dancing to theatre, from fashion designing to writing, from painting to golf, from literature to surfing, from yoga to sewing, I realise that I have tried very varied activities and have had quite some fun doing them all. While Mom says I haven’t stuck to one, I beat myself a bit but then slowly let it go thinking that though, having a choice I would like to do every single one of them, I havent really given up, considering I still dream of completing Grade 8 in Piano and have my solo-art show someday,  there is one thing that is really dear to me and that I would really like to excel in and that’s Architecture, yes, the mother of all arts. A friends mother once told me that focus is the most important thing in life, but as a creative professional it takes more than that, connecting the dots becomes the norm and a bustling mind is as important as a calm one. A full life is a merry life. While it was fun to do a gypsy dance around the bonfire, it was equally fun to cook in a jungle camp. Fun being the basic premise. Life is after all for enjoyment. On that note I quipped to by super wise and mature brother, recently awarded for excellence in work, what is the secret of success, he said, its the urge to be successful. Then a few moments later he added and of-course put in the hours, the hardwork. Malcolm Gladwell in his book the Outliers claims that anyone can be great at a thing if they are pursuing it for about 10000 hours. Pilots have a similar view with their own value of flying hours to be fit to fly. While Mathieu Ricard, the world’s happiest man is said to have arrived at that envy-worthy title after meditating for exactly 10000 hours. Life is definitely more than 10000 hours, lets just say its about 8 hundred-thousand hours. And that’s enough time to master not just one but very many things! 😀 Life is for the living!

Baby B: 27 Weeks

Baby’s size? 14.4 inches

Girth: 38.5 inches (right there)

Plus: 11.0 kilograms

Maternity clothes? The Maternity Swimsuit. Finally. Yay!!

Stretch marks? Nope.

Sleep: Those ideal 8-hours are beginning to be peppered by long sleepless punctuations and sometimes listlessness. But exercise is the best thing ever for sleep. A tired body, tired after a workout is the best thing ever!!

Best moment this week: Reading Origins: How nine months before birth shapes our life, and realising am a part of this huge ocean!

Movement: Baby B now really does pack in the punch!

Food Cravings: Yogurt! Finally some craving 😀

Gender: No idea!

Symptoms: Gorgeous skin tales continue. (double yay!)

Wedding Rings – on or off? On!

Happy or Moody? Happy! Super Happy! Deliriously Happy!

Loving: Warm showers, head baths, the smell of shampoo!

Reading: The Lord of the Rings, Book 1, finally!

Watched: Simran, a rather dumb movie, shut it halfway.

Compliments: On looking pretty pretty pretty! (Thank you Baby B!)

Acne: None. Best thing ever.

Drawing: Abstract art. With Oils, resembling sunset, or sunrise, really depends on how you look at life. It could be a (pl/min)us! How we see things really depends on who we are 🙂

Dreaming of:  No dreams this week. None at all!

Looking Forward To: The next week! No really this time it is finally getting my hands on the Lord of the Rings and yes trying out my super cool Polka-Dot swimsuit!!

Oh my Bump! is my weekly chronicling of this little pie baking away, and a sharing of the ebbs and flows of being two at a time. Its a wonderful journey of rising and falling hormones, the beating of two hearts, and a huge sea of change to the body. It’s love and life all the way. 

#red&gold #awesomeness

26 weeks! The best week ever, thus far. With Baby B kicking away at cues, at certain people, at certain events am starting to wonder if my behaviour in the last 6 months has been dictated by the Baby! Choices of food, colours, clothing, words and action are seeming so out of my characteristic and with the little soul bubbling inside of me, it definitely seems like it’s working its way in the world through me. While we assume as parents we shape our kids, I am now quite certain that they come in with personalities of their own and all we could hope for is enjoying their company. Good Lord! Baby Brewing 😀 And while the pixie is inside of me, all it does and wants affects me much more than the other way round. This week was the best ever with Diwali celebrations with la familie, a luxurious trip to Hyderabad’s most gorgeous palace and lots of pool time. Croquet is a new game we picked up this week and my, what fun it was. After a couple of sessions am told it was the prelude to golf. The sound of the croquet stick striking the ball is rather fun and addictive. Absolutely loved it. Vintage is so cool in every sense of the word. A lot of memories and reminiscing happened this week too. And whimsical seems to be the order of my design world. Pulled out my piano this week and hope to get back to serious playing, especially my favourite tune, Air from little Russia, this week. Happened to be introduced and listening up to the Terem Quartet, a musical ensemble from Saint Petersburg. What fun.

Baby B: 26 Weeks

Baby’s size? 14.0 inches

Girth: 38.5 inches (a plateau now)

Plus: 10.0 kilograms

Maternity clothes? Long, flowy and gorgeous! Cotton clothes, loose clothes.

Stretch marks? Nope.

Sleep: Getting comfortable is getting harder now. I wish I could melt into clouds literally but pillows will have to just simply do for now.

Best moment this week: Baby-mooning at the Taj Falaknuma!

Movement: Hot spicy food literally is giving the pie a kick. Or rather me a kick!

Food Cravings: None!

Gender: No idea!

Symptoms: Gorgeous skin tales continue. (double yay!)

Wedding Rings – on or off? On!

Happy or Moody? Happy! Super Happy! Deliriously Happy!

Loving: Oranges. Winter come away soonly.

Reading: Origins:How our first nine months shape the rest of out lives by Annie Murphy Paul

Watched: and still watching, Abstract a wonderful show on Netflix about design. Absolutely loving it. A must for all the design aficionados.

Compliments: On being the happiest person (!) (hehe)

Acne: None. Best thing ever.

Drawing: on inspiration for the SUn ARt. Darn its called procrastination but this week am so getting down to it.

Dreaming of:  Eating mud. Am so hoping the dream is just an allegory and it means something else.

Looking Forward To: The arrival of my favoritest Pedamma (read Aunt) end of this week!

Oh my Bump! is my weekly chronicling of this little pie baking away, and a sharing of the ebbs and flows of being two at a time. Its a wonderful journey of rising and falling hormones, the beating of two hearts, and a huge sea of change to the body. It’s love and life all the way. 
#whatawonderfulread
25 weeks! The relatively peaceful week had me gorge on a couple of wonderful books and gave me much clarity on life as it is. The feeling of being a Mom is sinking in as the pie has began to seem more real than ever. All the free time and all the wonderfulness is just the calm on the surface I sense as a ton of changes are brewing on the insides. The gloriousness of Pranayam is a new learning for this week. Luncheon with friends was a great highlight of this week, simple pleasures!

Baby B: 25 Weeks

Baby’s size? 13.6 inches

Girth: 38.5 inches (woah!)

Plus: 9.0 kilograms

Maternity clothes? Still scouting for swimwear!

Stretch marks? Nope.

Sleep: Pretty great considering all the swimming I have been doing and all the reading, weaning off technology before bedtime is a great plus too!

Best moment this week: So the lil pie kicks me to wake up early mornings. Like 6 AM! early bird on the cards I say!

Movement: On time every morning! What a punctual child!!

Food Cravings: None!

Gender: No idea!

Symptoms: Gorgeous skin tales continue. (yay!)

Wedding Rings – on or off? On!

Happy or Moody? Happy! Sad! Teary!

Loving: Ola Shekhtman’s city skyline rings. Absolutely loved the St. Petersburg ones.

Reading: Oh mind Relax please! by Swami Sukhabodananda, Amazing Secrets of the Bhagavad Gita by Ed Viswanath, Hanuman Chalisa by Devdutt Pattanaik and now starting on War and Peace!

Watched: A bunch of talks by Sadhguru. Witty and precise. Not much of a fan though..

Compliments: On my pretty pretty eyes and gorgeous hair (!)

Acne: Receding scars. Best thing ever.

Drawing: Did a wonderful sketch of outer space.

Dreaming of:  Climbing up to Macchu Pichhu.

Looking Forward To: Diwali!!! (patakas, sweets, friends, family)

Oh my Bump! is my weekly chronicling of this little pie baking away, and a sharing of the ebbs and flows of being two at a time. Its a wonderful journey of rising and falling hormones, the beating of two hearts, and a huge sea of change to the body. It’s love and life all the way. 

 

The chandelier earrings! #jewelry #athingofbeautyisjoyforever

25 weeks! Swear this one flew by. Literally in traffic jams!! Being pregnant and stuck in a traffic jam may well be the worst thing ever considering the cramped positioning one has to endure for a large amount of time. Took me 3 whole days to get over the tiredness jostled up by a 3-hour traffic jam. I sure do hope Baby B comes out with a set of wings 😀 This week I caught up on reading, finished the book Grow by Jim Stengel – which I totally loved. Its a non-fiction read where Stengel mostly writes about business ideals and gives us a dekho into some of the world’s greatest and most loved companies. My takeway from that book was mainly this one point – have an artist as the leader of the company, a CEO, CFO or the one who literally drives the company. Creative folks apparently have an edge with a completely different view, the per se out-of-the-box thinking. However, they must be backed up by the do-ers, ones who are pragmatic and have their feet firmly in the ground. A wonderful read. He also talks about the 5 basic ideals or fundamental values of which most companies follow atleast one. The values being those of eliciting joy, enabling connection, inspiring exploration, evoking pride and impacting society. Pick one and start now he says, start big or start small, but start now.

Baby B: 24 Weeks

Baby’s size? 11.8 inches

Girth: 38.5 inches (woah!)

Plus: 8.6 kilograms

Maternity clothes? Yes. Now scouting for swim wear. 😀

Stretch marks? Nope.

Sleep: A little ditchy! The weather Gods are being super kind and the glorious weather makes me want to curl up in bed and watch back to back episodes of ‘This is Us’. What a wonderful show.

Best moment this week: The big chandelier earrings. Oh how I love ’em!

Movement: Gone all quite! The party seems to have packed up!

Food Cravings: None!

Gender: No idea!

Symptoms: Gorgeous skin tales continue.

Wedding Rings – on or off? On!

Happy or Moody? Happy! Happy! Happy!

Loving: Swimming!! Absolute sheer JOY!

Reading: Grow by Jim Stengel.

Watched: This is Us. Still watching. Half a season down, One and a half to go. Loving it.

Compliments: On how the chandelier earrings suit my face so very well. A thing of beauty is literally joy forever. Loved the earrings.

Acne: Need to clear the scars now!

Drawing: Back to the suns. Not yet satisfied though.

Dreaming of: Stirring up a storm.

Looking Forward To: My visit to the Library this evening and picking up half a doz of different books for this week.

Oh my Bump! is my weekly chronicling of this little pie baking away, and a sharing of the ebbs and flows of being two at a time. Its a wonderful journey of rising and falling hormones, the beating of two hearts, and a huge sea of change to the body. It’s love and life all the way. 

 

Those 5 secs of fame! #featured #happinessflamboyanceenergy

 
23 weeks! This week had a super busy feel to it with rounds of shopping, the yearly Dussehra festival, the holiday festivities and a ton of things. Finally I have made my peace with maternity clothes, of which I like my swimsuit the best :D, and have learnt to flaunt the curves and the light-bulb of a skin. I may have just found the purpose of my life. Finally. Thanks to the Dalai Lama and Vish who fished out an old slam book, thus providing much alacrity. This week therefore is huge. 😀 Plus sleep turned out to be extra awesome and thus the morale. Three scientists just won the nobel prize for studying the link between our circadian rhythms and health thus putting across path-breaking research on how the earth’s rotation vibes with our internal body-clock. Just the old tales on being in sync with the sun! At the derby last afternoon I chanced upon these lines of poetry, “lets learn from the almond leaf that flames as it falls. flamboyance is everything”. Those lines resonated with me. Flamboyance is indeed everything. Move over simplicity, am certainly so done with you! 😀

Baby B: 23 Weeks

Baby’s size? 11.4 inches

Girth: 38 inches (woah!)

Plus: 8 kilograms

Maternity clothes? Yes. Going designer with different cuts and colors. Digging on yellow like never before.

Stretch marks? Nope.

Sleep: Supremely awesome. Waking up fresh as a daisy and ready to hit the road every day!

Best moment this week: Rocking the page3! Those 5 minutes of fame!!

Movement: A little push here and a little nudge there! Not too much. Not like the last week at all.

Food Cravings: None!

Gender: No idea!

Symptoms: Glowing skin. The oh-so-awesome glow from the first trimester is back!!

Wedding Rings – on or off? On!

Happy or Moody? Happy! Happy! Happy!

Loving: Swimming!! The bluest blue waters and bubbling under the pool. Had the most awesome experience doing my laps in the pool. The happiest place on the planet is in water for me. Sheer joyfulness!!

Reading: Young Turks! About 13 young entrepreneurs and their take on their journey and life. Fun read. Easy Breezy.

Watched: The telugu flick Spyder. (walked out in 40 min) My o My…Super violent.

Compliments: On my broad shoulders

Acne: The terrible acne is clearing off and leaving a sunshine glow all over my face. Nicknamed sunshine is absolutely so apt. (since ever)

Drawing: Toffees. For some reason remembering the melody ones we would gorge on as kids.

Dreaming of: Beaches and sunshine!

Looking Forward To: Painting the sun set. Finally!

Oh my Bump! is my weekly chronicling of this little pie baking away, and a sharing of the ebbs and flows of being two at a time. Its a wonderful journey of rising and falling hormones, the beating of two hearts, and a huge sea of change to the body. It love and life all the way. 

22 weeks! That’s two weeks over the halfway mark, and now am finally beginning to show(!), look and feel pregnant. Phew! The clothes don’t fit anymore and the little bum is now over 11″. This week I went over a complete wardrobe overhaul, buying a whole new set of clothes, styles which I would never otherwise wear (read long maxi dresses) feeling like a completely new person. The only craving that has been making the rounds is that of walking. Yes! Instead of food I’ve been craving activity! Exercise, meeting people and fresh air. No more air-conditioning and lots of yoga! Besides the baby in my bump has been moving so so much that I almost feel like there is tournament game going on in there!

Baby B: 22 Weeks

Baby’s size? 11 inches

Maternity clothes? Yes. Loving the long flowy dresses that practically hide everything.

Stretch marks? Nope.

Sleep: A tad bit better considering the (almost) electronic ban imposed in the night! No more late night reading of articles off the blue light emitting screens. A bad bad cold though!

Best moment this week: Red Cheddar Cheese! Tastes absolutely divine. And yes the 10000 step walk mark!

Movement: YES! YES! YES!

Food Cravings: No cravings, none at all! Except for exercise 😀

Gender: No idea!

Symptoms: Dull aches and pains combined with a ton a gas which all go away when I walk around or stretch!

Wedding Rings – on or off? On!

Happy or Moody? Oh so moody!

Loving: Exercise! Being out of the house! Meeting people!

Reading: My Brilliant friend by Elena Ferrante (cannot believe how long this is taking to read!)

Compliments: A clothing designer went gaga over my height! Umm thanks Dad! And all the swimming!

Acne: Terrible terrible ones on the chin. Tried turmeric, salicylic acid facewash, steam breathing, nothing seems to work.

Drawing: Sun, Sun, Sun! Still not very happy with what to do for the commissioned art piece.

Dreaming of: Being an athlete! Ran my first marathon successfully in my sleep. Haha!

Looking Forward To: Dussehra!

Oh my Bump! is my weekly chronicling of this little pie baking away, and a sharing of the ebbs and flows of being two at a time. Its a wonderful journey of rising and falling hormones, the beating of two hearts, and a huge sea of change to the body. It love and life all the way. 

21 weeks! The little one is bumping along, much like me, staying up late night, nothing like me, and winding a wee bit up and down. This week I did my first pre-natal yoga class. Which was awesome!! Sumo squats and what not. The meditation time only amplifies all the activity happening in the tummy. Lunch with the ever effervescent Unnati  Pingle was both exciting and fun. Laughed so much at this thing called life, and got a preview of the latest offing from her Design Studio. Lunch at Sage, an organic restaurant was all things healthy and extremely delicious. Must visit if in Hyderabad. A limited spread of pizza, ragi flour chocolate cake and the likes, and much to my delight extremely healthy. Well if one could do gongura in a salad with tamarind dressing, making it taste delicious then nothing else needs to be said.

Baby B: 21 Weeks

Baby’s size? Carrot (10.5 inches)

Maternity clothes? Yes. A whole new wardrobe!

Stretch marks? Nope.

Sleep: Sleep has been super duper restless, considering the game tournaments in the bump! Need to blow the whistle at times and say game over! 😀

Best moment this week: The cues to which the baby responds in addition to all the bumping around. The tumbling in the tummy. Butterflies in the stomach. Seriously.

Movement: YES! YES! YES!

Food Cravings: No cravings, none at all! Except for dancing 😀

Gender: No idea!

Symptoms: Dull aches and pains which go away when I walk around or stretch!

Wedding Rings – on or off? On!

Happy or Moody? Oh so moody!

Loving: Exercise! Being out of the house! Meeting people!

Reading: My Brilliant friend by Elena Ferrante

Compliments: The oh so glowing skin!

Acne: On the chin. Sigh!!

Drawing: Sun, Sun, Sun!

Looking Forward To: Wedding shopping, new styles of clothes.

 

For the last month or so I have been glued to a number of religious books. The Bhagavad Gita mostly, and a couple of other religious manuscripts including the Ramayana, the Sai Charitranama and others. The Gita ofcourse is a part of the Mahabharatha one of the two Indian epics. Having read the versions for kids, this time around the reading was on a much deeper level of study. When we quizzed an architect on what would he would recommend reading to be a great architect, he said the Bhagavad Gita. He could not have been more right. The Bhagavad Gita presents solutions to the most complicated aspects of life in a sentence or two but mostly it continuously reinstates one single notion –कर्म कर फल की चिंता मत कर, translated from Hindi as, work with absolutely no attachment to the result. Apart a few more gems of wisdom here are a few that stayed with me much after reading the original translated from Sanskrit.

(in order of appearance in the Gita)

1. Those who are wise lament neither for the living nor the dead. Lament I believe as per the Gita, in any form is an absolute waste of time!
2. Equanimity of the mind is a sign of self-realisation. A person is said to be equanimous when he regards all – the honest well-wisher, friends and enemies all with an equal mind.
3. And finally as for actions – that action which is performed indifferent to success or failure, is called action in the mode of goodness.

As a part of a larger picture, we are on this planet for a rather insignificant measure of time. And while we use this time to make hay, stay happy or reach the moon, it’s our lifetime that matters the most to us. And no, God is apparently not judging, does not need incessant praise or a matter of great fear. Good is God, and earnestly working with effort is what the Gita prescribes.

While we wish upon security

we run amok at every opportunity

To praise the Lord Almighty

and join the fraternity

Depending on spirituality

more than sheer sensibility

A Godman or simply a few

is all we need for faith to renew

Trusting in dogmatic traditions

and calling them revelations

Just cause a thing was done so

it makes it not right moreso

There is God for sure

to that belief there is no cure

And a part of that divine is you

with or without a befitting clue

Gathering for a worthy cause is religion

not one of blind fanatism or destruction

For a crowd is an exaggeration

of emotions mostly an allegation

The constant lure of atheism

is supplemented by non-adheism

Applying the mind comes easy

for all the mighty and breezy

But to not be able to control

drives one off the divine roll

There is none that holds

who is not within the fold

To truly belong to oneself

and be our own little elves

Is all that we would need

lest we let ourselves bleed

Good is God the Buddhists say

kindness is my religion the Lama says

For there is no God without forgiveness

and no almighty without gracefulness

In word, kind or deed

there is a warm appeal

To be of great utility

for all the fraternity

There is God in each one

in idols and sometimes none

For it is the belief

that mostly gives grief

Perception is reality

and life a fragility

As we bind premonitions

to make lengthy altercations

We discover the legions

of all the many regions

The two faces of the coin

is the oddness of religion!

=D