Saturday, November 25, 2017

Growing up.....

Kiddo {completely shattered aka her high pitched voice}: Now I cannot become a boy. 
Kiddo {while I was trying to frame 'that didn't stop me from being a boy'}: Do transgenders get their periods? If yes, then I can be a transgender. 

Yes!! That too is a possibility. A very good option infact. When I was growing up, I had only two options - boy or girl. I am really glad that you have a broader spectrum to pick from. 


And yes!! I will be in front of you fighting off all those __ who tells you otherwise. 




Picture Courtesy : www.sagechildcare.edu.au

Tuesday, November 7, 2017

Winter is here....

Winter has always been a time of ailment for me & for people around me. Living in Bangalore hasn't helped us either - Allergy, Breathing issues, Body pain & the list goes on. This has inspired me to jot down things I have observed & learned over time. 

Disclaimer : 
If you have any health issues, please consult your doctor before you realign yourself. 
Read up on MahaBhutas & their Gunas & Tri Doshas for deeper understanding on the whys
Anything in moderation is advised. Remember.... Amitham aayal Amruthum visham! 


Diet 
This is the time when our digestive power is enhanced because of the external cold. We have learned in our school that during winter, we burn more energy to generate more heat to combat the external temperature. This internal heat increases the digestive power. Why is it so exciting to me? Increased digestive power enables our body to digest any food irrespective of their heaviness & quantity ingested. Yipz!! I now have a convincing excuse 😉 

Kapha (Earth & water elements) are high during winter. This is the best time to build good health & strength. As the digestive power is high, it is advisable to consume heavy food. This is one time of the year when larger quantity is also advised. If we do not consume heavy food, the body is unable to produce raw materials required for cell repair. More good news to Foodie like me. 

If we do not feed this digestive fire, it will affect our body. This will cause Vatta (Air & Ether elements) to be aggravated. Increase in Vatta will affect digestion. Imbalance in Vatta will also bring in pains & ailments around your joints & muscles.  

Dos 
Oils, Ghee, Sour & salty food. 
Meat, Fish, Crab, etc
Soups
Milk & milk products 
Sugarcane & it's products
Jaggery 
Food rich in Vitamin D - Cod liver oil, egg, mushroom, etc 
Eating warm 
Drinking room temperature, warm or hot beverages 
If tea, boil with ginger, cinnamon & cloves 
A cup of hot milk spiced with a pinch of turmeric, dried ginger or nutmeg before bed 
Nuts & seeds 
DO NOTs 
Raw diet 
Fasting - If you look into our traditions, this will be the time with least fasting. 
Cold food 
Foods with pungent & astringent tastes. Basically, anything that aggravates Vatta would fall under this category. 
Cool drinks, Aerated drinks 
Light & easy to digest foods 

Massage & Bath 
Oil massages keeps the skin lubricated & healthy. 

Why is there so much emphasis on the health of the skin? 
First line of defense to common allergens 
Helps with occasional inflammation 

How does massage help? 
Promotes immunity & ojas 
Improves blood circulation 
Relaxes muscles 
Lowers stress 
Increases longevity 
Strengthens the body's tolerance 
Imparts firmness to limbs 

Abhyanga
Abhyanga used to be an integral part of daily routine. Now, for busy people like us, all we have to do is walk into the nearest ayurvedic center & they will do the rest. It is generally an hour long procedure. They massage our body from head to toe with warm oil. Oil massage is followed by steam therapy. Doing this once a month keeps your body supple & healthy. 

If not as elaborate as Abhyanga, simpler form of oil massages can be done daily at home. Following it up with a nice hot water bath will help you maintain your health quotient. 

Regular head massage with during this season will avoid dry scalp, dandruff, hair fall, headaches, etc 

Lifestyle 
Maintaining a predictable routine will help keep Vatta in balance during winter. To maintain the Kapha balance, there should be a bit of unpredictability too. This may sound counterintuitive. Routines like sleep & wake up cycle, food, work, exercise, all this time can be kept predictable. But one may experiment with specifics like, what workout routine to follow, What food to consume, etc. This would help one achieve balance. 

Asanas or other physical exercises
This is the time to try out high intensity practices. If you having been walking all this while, now would be a good time to start jogging. Join that zumba classes you have been putting off all this while. Exercises will also bring down your Kapha. 
When it comes asanas, go for kidney toning asanas - Ardha Matsyendra, Chakrasana, Navasana, Setu Bandha, Marichyasana, Shashankasana, Supta Vajrasana, etc 
Surya Namaskara - Well... Towards the end of winter, we come across Radhasaptami, a time when people do 108 Surya namaskars. Consider winter as your training towards this 108. 

Pranayama 
Here again go for heating pranayamas - Kapalbatti, Bhastrika, Surya anulom vilom
If you are advanced practices - AgnisaraKriya, Udiyana Bandha, Nauli 

Cleansing Practices 
Jala Neti 
Nasya 

Mudras 

Maha mudra 
Linga mudra 

I do....

Me {irritated while trying to prove that my horse is bigger than his}: Why don't you let me have it once in a while? 
He : I do. 

Two simple words. But... But.... 


Yes dear... I know that you do... But I have no explanations to why I do what I do when it comes to you. 

Sashtanga namaskaaram....... 





Picture Courtesy : kamalkaur.net

Monday, June 12, 2017

Art of Gifting

He : Oooh! All you need to do is ask your foreign contacts & they will be more than happy to gift it for you. 
Me : Aaah! That is one problem I have. I am not comfortable with expensive gifts. I am perfect with hand-me-downs, even stuffs they have been using for ages. I am okay with those. But... anything costing more than Rs.1000.....Something doesn't just go well with me. 
He {The look}: 
Me {rolling my eyes now}: Okay! Fine! Including conversion rates... 2000 Indian monies. 
He {now exasperated}: Whats your problem Girl??? If someone is willing to spend, you just smile & accept it! 

This conversation transpired last night. In the morning, when I opened the book to read, this is what I bumped into!!! 

dātavyam iti yad dānaṁ dīyate ‘nupakāriṇe
deśhe kāle cha pātre cha tad dānaṁ sāttvikaṁ smṛitam (Bhagavad Gita 17:20) 

Charity which is given without consideration of anything in return, at a sanctified and holy place and at an astrologically auspicious time, given as a matter of duty to one qualified, given to a worthy person simply because it is right to give, that charity is regarded as of the nature of goodness. 

So... If the person gifting can convince me on these points. Yes! I have my hands stretched out, palms open to receive & head bowed down with gratitude. But.... If it falls under any one of the other two categories....... Thihahahahahahahahahaha 

yat tu pratyupakārārthaṁ phalam uddiśhya vā punaḥ
dīyate cha parikliṣhṭaṁ tad dānaṁ rājasaṁ smṛitam (Bhagavad Gita  17:21) 

Charity which is given with expectation of some return or desiring some result, with the hope of a return or in expectation of a reward, moreover with reluctance is understood as of the nature of passion. 

adeśha-kāle yad dānam apātrebhyaśh cha dīyate
asat-kṛitam avajñātaṁ tat tāmasam udāhṛitam (Bhagavad Gita  17:22) 


That charity which is given disrespectfully and scornfully at an inappropriate place and time, to one who is unworthy is described as the nature or nescience. 

Picture Courtesy : www.huffingtonpost.com

Friday, June 9, 2017

Tinderland!!!

Me {full on irritation & sarcasm}: 19hrs with 8hrs of sleep & I am already bored with it.
He {mixed emotion}: What? Didn't find any interesting men from whole community of tinder men?
He {when I didn't even bother to respond to that question}: That is a huge spat on the whole of Indian male community.
Me {all smug}: Remember what Pooja Mathew tells Yardley!!




Tuesday, June 6, 2017

Saturday, June 3, 2017

Sing

He {To me!!} : Can you please sing a song for us?
Followed by an awkward silence where we are all dumbstruck & looking at each other & panicking...
Us {Literally ROFL} : Now we know how drunk he is!

I am still laughing..... :-)












Picture Courtesy : in.pinterest.com

Those little things....

Kiddo {while listening to one of our dance songs}: Amma...... Can you dance to that now?
Me {eyes literally popping out of my sockets}: But... I do not remember the steps. We learned this long long ago, right?
Kiddo {shrugging}: Its okay. Even I don't remember no.

Our dance teacher would have hung herself if she had watched us that night. But we enjoyed it thoroughly... :-)










Picture Courtesy : www.austinchronicle.com

Thursday, June 1, 2017

Bold & Centered

He : Was thinking only brave & centered  girl can do this.
Me {Relieved}: You used the right words dear.
Me {Going all smug after a brief pause}: And that is just the tip of the iceberg!



Picture Courtesy : humanityhealing.net

Sunday, May 28, 2017

Déjà vu

Once upon a time... Exactly 20yrs back... They did it all for me while I was drifting through the process.
Filling up the application
Posting them
Everything everything everything... 

If he hadn't dropped me at the examination center, I really am not sure whether I would have appeared for the exam. But then... I cleared the exam & I got into engineering. 

20yrs later... I went through a similar situation. This time the enlightened one took care of everything. He went out of the way to make things happen. And me... I was just doing stuffs because everything was delivered right into my lap!

Well... Thanks to his efforts........... Yeah! I cleared.... :-) 

When they say do your Karma, it is interesting to know how very little they need from us... :-) 

Thank you... :-) 

Picture Courtesy : safeacttestprep.wordpress.com

Thursday, May 25, 2017

Boudoir

She {confused} : But why?
Me : Because I knew I could handle it.









Picture Courtesy : www.tidbitsandtwine.com  

Tuesday, May 23, 2017

Set this in Stone

Kiddo {to her God mother during her vacation}: I will miss Amma. I need her scoldings.

For some strange reasons...................................




Picture Courtesy : www.fanpop.com

Condused!!

He : I am sick & tired of your shit.

Comes from the man who wouldn't even know where I live, or which office do I go to.

Yeah.... I am as confused as any one
who knows me.





Picture Courtesy : clipartfest.com

Monday, May 22, 2017

Chirakala Abhilasham!!

He : Finally your longest running idea materialized. Happy for you. You had the guts to act on it. 

Me too dear... Me too..... 








Picture Courtesy : allthe2048.com

Friday, May 19, 2017

Mash up

He: I don't know if you are a school girl or a teenager or a woman. You are a mashup of everything. 









Picture Courtesy : www.theodysseyonline.com

Sunday, May 7, 2017

Time for Detox

This is something I did for a girl community in FB. Copying here for my future reference... And maybe yours too.... O:-) 


With the holidays at its peak, it would be a good time start with a week of detox program. This is primarily a fruit & vegetable diet. If not anything, this routine will help us flush out all that excess oil from the beef roast & pork curry. This can be considered as an experiment to reset your system. 

This is a toned down version of detox programs any leading holistic healing center would have.

Luke warm water/Black tea/Green tea + lemon/honey/cinnamon 30-40 mins choice of workout Breakfast - smoothiesPre Lunch snacks - Fruits/Cucumber+Carrot Lunch - Veggies/saladsEvening snacks - Fruits (Mango/Water melon/Musambi)Dinner - Soups Optional 30-40mins workout Triphala - 1 tsp with luke warm water


The simplest way to get toxins out of our system is - sweating it out. Including some basic exercise routine will take care of this. Sinus can be cleared with the help of steam. Those who are comfortable with Neti kriya(also called Nasyam), can try that too. Cleansing of the stomach & intestines are done with the help of Thriphala churnam. There are other ayurvedic medicines too. You may choose based on your comfort. 


Early to bed, early to rise 

Generally all holistic healing system encourage us to start the day early. Planning ahead helps in finishing your day early & go to bed early. 





Things to Avoid 

Fermented items - Try to avoid all varieties of fermented items during this period - idly, dosa, appam, bread, curd, aerated drinks, etc. 
Artificial sweeteners - Big NO to white sugar. You may substitute with natural sugar sources like honey or jaggery. 


Some Breakfast option 

Smoothies are the best to swallow down. You can bring in variety in taste by trying different permutations & combinations of fresh fruits. Some of the things (not all in one go) that goes into my breakfast smoothies will be - 

Smoothies 
     flax seeds
     dried nuts 
     sunflower seeds or any such you can place your hand on
     oats
     dried dates or any such fruits you like 
     chilled/frozen banana 
     other fruits optional 
     avocado 
     honey/jaggery 
     milk/lemon/tender coconut water (any one) 
          for flavor change try almond milk, coconut milk (may add coconut as is while grinding) 
Oats with fresh fruits 

Some Lunch options 

     (i) salad option - peanuts, carrot, tomato, capsicum 
     garnish with lime & corriander leaves 
     (ii) Steamed veggies - carrot, cauliflower, mushrooms, capsicum, beans, anything of your choice ( 3-4 types of veggies would suffice) 
     May toss in roast garlic or ginger for flavor 
     (iii) Fruit bowl - try with salt & pepper 
     (iv) salted oats with sprouts thoran (roast the coconut mixture in hot tawa without oil, no need of kaduku vara either) 
     Still hungry? Have butter milk/sugar cane juice

What about Evening snacks? 

You may have something depending on your activity level later in the evening. If you are planning for a heavy workout, even ethapazham would be okay. If you are not planning to workout, keep it light. 

Dinner? 

     Here again, slice & dice whatever suits you & pressure cook for 2 whistles. if you are lazy like me, you may skip the blender process & gobble up as is. Adding ginger & pepper would bring in interesting flavors. 


Kudambuli

     Soak kudambuli in water & drink that water. It helps in weight reduction. Note - you are not preparing fish curry. You are consuming the water as is, so tone it down a bit. (This is something I learned while talking to an ayurvedic doc for this article). 





Detox Water 

     Consume at least a liter of herb/fruit infused water. This link has interesting options - https://www.loseweightbyeating.com/detox-water-recipes-fast-weight-loss/ 
     I stick with lime, ginger, mint combo 

Triphala 

     End the day with triphala churnam. This will take care of cleansing of your stomach & the intestines. 
     This is how I consume triphala. I find this easy to swallow. 
     Mix 1tsp of triphala in one-gulpable-portion of luke warm water. The trick is to get the right amount of water. It should go down your throat in one-single-gulp! If you forget about the portion in the first try, don't worry, you will remember it the next time ;-) If you haven't ever had thriphala, you will understand this when you take it O:-) 

Beginner Yoga videos 

     Here are some links to basic yoga stretches. Will keep your body supple & flexible. You may repeat the same routine. 

     If you are already practicing Kapalbatti, this is a wonderful cleaning practice. Let the strokes be at your pace, but make sure that you practice continuously for a min at your pace. 1 min & n strokes/breaths make it 1 round. Perform 5 such rounds. Give sufficient pause between each rounds. 

     Nadi shodhana is also good. Name itself has shodhana in it ;-) Here again, repeat 5 times. 

Is this even possible? 

I will list my personal experience here. I am someone who has grown up eating non-veg. Even now, I cannot think of completely letting go of non-veg. Though the portions have come down, a complete letting go... I couldn't think of it. 

One thing that helped me was, chanting this to myself - 'Okkay... Its only this one meal that I am going veg." Small packets instead of the big package. This has worked even when I had to prepare beef at home. While preparing, I had told myself, I am going to have beef for lunch. But at lunch time, I was like... Okkay... I will eat veggies now & have beef later. 

Another thing is, you have to keep tricking your body. Never ever should you leave the stomach empty for long periods. It should be fed at regular intervals so that it doesn't feel hungry, uncontrollably hungry. My weak moment is when I get back home from office. I am a savage. I rampage the kitchen & gobble up a lot of junk. When I sensed this, I started having  butter milk/sugar cane juice/kappalandi muttai just before leaving the office. When I started doing that, I was in control when I reach home. 


The longest I have stuck with fruits & vegetables was 7 weeks. During that time, my body had toned down a lot. I had lost kgs & inches. And the icing on the cake??? No pimples during that time of the month.... Aaah! 

PS. 
This is a write up. End of story. Do not read between the line, especially with me as the center character. 

Friday, May 5, 2017

Birds of the same feather!!

"Do you have any curfew? I would like to go out, wanted to know whether you are free to accompany me. " Asks a 37yr old divorcee staying with her mom in Kerala to a 35yr old separated female staying with her mom in Kerala at 5.30 in the evening.

She : There is no curfew as such. But if I do not reach home by 6.30pm, mom will start nagging. 
Me : Yeah! I have a similar one at home. That was the reason why I asked whether you have to be home by a speculated time. 

We exchange an exasperated silence & then we laughed at the irony of things. 

As the clocked ticked... We ended up saying this to each other... 

Me : Can you step inside the house so that mom knows that I am out with a girl. 
She : Can we take a picture for me to show mom that I was indeed out with a girl. 

Aaha! 

Picture Courtesy : www.recapo.com

Tuesday, April 25, 2017

Echo

Me {going wild with my 'plans'}: Alone is fine. But then I want to climb a hill. I am not sure whether I am capable of doing that all by myself. Will a trek alone be safe? I have watched too many Hollywood movies to do that alone.
He : So what? You can go visit the hill.
Me {.... continuing, unaware of his comment}: And after reaching the top, I want to scream my lungs out.
He : You can scream from the foothills
Me {with puppy eyes}: But then I won't get The Echo
He {with his SriKrishna smile}: You are capable of introducing echo in a text chat, foot of the hill is piece of cake for you.

This conversation happened over WhatsApp. I am pretty sure him mom went to the temple earlier this month and prayed for his well being. There is no other explanation as to why he was out of my reach when this conversation took place. But..... I am sure of one thing.... One day... The universe will surely give me chance to make him pay for this!!!

Revenge..... is best served Cold (with echo!!!!)
Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Picture Courtesy: Drawn by self!! 

Sunday, April 16, 2017

Life's Problems!!

Kiddo {after a tiring day, read each line after a pause}: I want to watch the movie. I also want to sleep. I also want to hug & sleep with you.
Me {as always..... in ignore mode}
Kiddo {after a deep sigh & resignation}: Problems in my life!

I have no idea how I controlled myself from bursting out loud laughing!!!








Picture Courtesy : melcasipit.com

Wednesday, April 12, 2017

Salvation

She : What does your husband do?
Me {totally bored of this routine}: I am divorced
She {after a pause}: You should come with me. I will take you to my church.
Me {phrasing thank you, but no thank you in my mind}: :-)
She {sensing a reluctance in me}: Jesus will help me with your salvation. He is our savior. He will help you rid off your sin. He is your only savior.
Me {finally propping my halo correctly over my horns}:  Oooh! Thats very sweet. You have found your Jesus. I have found mine too. He is named Vishnu.

Did any one say religion is of no use????

Picture Courtesy : www.doolnews.com

Monday, April 10, 2017

Elites????

Scene N
A : Does your family have caste issue?
Me : Whaaaat?
A {Rephrasing as I didn't understand it the first time :-P} : Is caste going to be a problem?
A {Continuing after a brief pause}: No... Just checking. Many of the upper caste I know are not comfortable, especially when there are elders at home.

If only A  knew where I belong!!!!

Picture Courtesy : www.independent.ie

Friday, March 31, 2017

How did you?

She {wide eyed & excited}: Wow! Kiddo got into Isha Home School?
Me {enjoying that sparkle in her eyes}: You are the first person outside the yoga community to know Isha. You have no idea how relieved I am.
She {her excitement rising a note higher}: How did you get through?
Me {now confused with that question}: Err.... I applied, she cleared the assessment, she is now in.
She {continuing with her excitement}: That is a great school. There are people I know who have been trying & couldn't get through. Isn't it very difficult to get through? How did you manage to get it done?
{And it went on for some more time..... }

Her excitement made me realize... There is a plan. The other day, I was complaining, when will things start falling into my lap. At this moment, I was rather thankful for the so-called challenges I had to tackle while I was pursuing this for Kiddo. I can now see how insignificant they were. That was my Karma. But... The universe does have a plan for her......... Prayers.

Picture Courtesy : www.gracebelgravia.com

Tuesday, March 7, 2017

Karma Yoga!!

"Everyone in life serves a purpose..."

I finally found the reason why Kiddo is in my life...... To teach me Karma Yoga!!!!

Thanks to the patriarchal attitude of the society, it was drilled into me that Kiddo is never mine. I am merely the caretaker. I admit here that... This concept was bitter to me until I finally connected all the dots. Now I see it as.... The patriarchal attitude help me severe any attachment I had towards Kiddo. {Check}

Thanks to the growing teen in Kiddo, now I have reached a stage where I am doing things because I have to do it. You have no idea how much of self control is required for that. You feel like strangling yourself for bringing this upon you, but... you cannot do that. Nor can you strangle the child. So... Go on with your Karma... Do what is required. {Hey... that is another check mark!}

Now all that remains is... To not get affected by the outcome. Smile at the chaos & carry on with my personal journey.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Aaaah!

Well.... I am not as far as I used to be... It is just a matter of time dear... matter of time...
Yes! Was trying to make sense out of the third chapter of Bhagavat-Gita
O:-)

Picture Courtesy : http://www.aananda.com/karma-yoga/

Thursday, February 16, 2017

Where are you???

Disclaimer : I am toning this down to something I can relate to. Sage Patanjali (in his Yoga Sutras) was talking about how to reach that state of eternal bliss. The mere mortal that I am... I have no clue what this so-called state of eternal bliss is. So.... I am trying to connect it with my teeny-tiny-restrictive universe. I am sticking to the usage 'practice'. It could range from your plan to go walking daily to studies (for students, age no bar). 

Some background to what I am going to say. In verses prior to the one discussed here, Sage Patanjali talks about Samadhi. Everything about Samadhi was a total bouncer for me. But then verse 1.21 & 1.22 caught my attention. 

Tivra Samvegaanaam Asannaha (One can reach the goal if they show the desire & put in appropriate effort into it) 
Mridu Madhya Adhimaathratva Tataha Api Visheshaha (And... The desire & effort can be of three grades - Mild, medium & intense) 

This was the starting point for me - You need to analyze, understand and accept where you are with respect to your conviction & practice. Based on the above two verses, we can draw up a 3x3 matrix. 


From the look of it, the worst place a person can be at is when you have - All the time in the world for your practice, but absolutely 0 conviction in what you are doing (The Mild-Conviction-Intense-Practice space). We all know that person who literally slogs his __ out, but the effort never translates into anything. Imagine a situation where you are working day in & day out, but there are no results. 

And... Don't you think the best place to be at is.... Intense-Conviction-Mild-Practice???? If we can made great things happen with the least amount of effort....... Aaah! 


Now, once we figure out where we are, we can prioritize things and work towards moving to the best place in this matrix. 

So.... Where are you today?? 

Sources : 
     Patanjali Yoga Sutras - made easy by Dr Padiki Nagaraja Rao
     ww.swamij.com

Tuesday, February 7, 2017

108

Me : Should we give it a try? Lets not worry about the final count, just give it a try. Like this was an experiement?? Should we?
Kid1 : Okay
Kid 2 & 3 too agreed.

It was the day after Rathasapthami. I was leading an asana session for children. This conversation happened while I was explaining the significance of Rathasaptami. We just decided to give a try at 108 Surya Namaskar. Just a trial... A personal enquiry. The kids were never trained to do a 108. The aim was not to complete 108 rounds, but to look inside and find out.... How far we can go, Are we bound by our own limitations etc.

The result??? Ooooo... One completed 108, One came close to 90 and the other around 70. The smile on their faces... Extremely humbling experience :-)

Their happiness did inspire me to participate in the 108 conducted in our community. This wouldn't be the first time I am doing a 108. I know that I can still do it. I was not planning to spend time on something I already knew. But the smile on the children's face did inspire me to pick my mat & walk to the ground.

Kiddo too had promised to join me. When she picked her yoga mat, I had mentally prepared myself to listen to her wailing around 20th round. Well... She did surprise me by completing 108 without any complain. Okkay... According to her... 107.5. In her defense, she was tired towards the end. I had asked her to sit down until she is ready to continue. She did initially sit down, but the crowd's energy made her jump up & continue. So.... she completed her 107.5 & I my 108. This is to our first 108 :-)

Picture Courtesy : www.parents.com

Wednesday, February 1, 2017

:-)


:-) 
:-) 
:-) 
:-) 

Wednesday, January 11, 2017

Answers...

Me {puzzled... staring into the phone}: What has happened to him? 
Kiddo {in a matter of fact tone}: Ooh! He is bored. He has nothing to do - No TV, No Phone, No Nothing. So he is really bored. 

Now that explains a lot of things. 

Note to self : 
Surrender... with gratitude.... 





Picture Courtesy : blissyogaspa.wordpress.com

Thursday, January 5, 2017

Injection!!

Kiddo {during her bed time chit-chit} : Amma.... Is there an injection to have a baby?

I was going through a myriad of emotion when I heard this. The innocence in her voice did bring a smile on my face. But... I knew where this was coming from... So wasn't sure which direction to take things to. After great effort, I keep my tone neutral and ask...

Me : Why do you need an injection for that?
Kiddo {retreating...} : Nothing...
Me {probing further though I know the answer} : Is it because you don't want to get married?
Kiddo : Yes!! I do not want to get married.
Me : Why?
Kiddo : Because then all I will be doing is cooking & cleaning.

I was left wondering... Are we in the wrong country? Or were we just born into the wrong state in this country?

Picture Courtesy : in.pinterest.com