Quotidian Tales

Make this a Christmas that you can happily recollect years later. The fancies may fade away as the little one grows up, but the love will remain. S omeone knows I am indeed special because his present for me is always exactly the one that I want! The whole year round, I am so worried about the little troubles I make - scared that I will no longer be on his nice list. As winter settles in, I try to be the good girl. I pray for Santa to overlook my little mistakes and like every year be more indulgent with me. Then one fine day before Christmas, I finally talk to Santa. All my worries fly away, and he magically ushers in the holiday spirit. I tell him about my family, my friends, about Christmas and the North Pole and also my present. I know Santa watches over me the whole year round and although I’m naughty at times, he believes in me and makes sure never to disappoint me during Christmas. I blindly rest my faith on him. Over and over again, following it through every year! S...

A conscious endeavour to foster happiness can help you make a habit out of it. I had seen a photograph of my friend’s daughter. She was right in the midst of greenery, kneeling down and lively in the lap of nature. Her wonder-filled eyes and infectious smile seized my second. Unknowingly, I experienced the happiness that the instant eternalised in itself. I felt it. I wished if only I could hold on to that happiness or engage with it as effortlessly as the child did. The absurdist author, Albert Camus, wrote, "You will never be happy if you...search for what happiness consists of. You will never live if you are looking for the meaning of life." But we are incorrigible. Each of us is in pursuit of happiness. Few realise, it is but a function of our will. Some claim to have found it in their own bitter-sweet ways. The other day, I heard my daughter singing full-throated, the insanely-popular Pharrell Williams song, 'Happy'. She was rehearsing her Zumb...

Making a craft with your child is a meaningful way to engage him...and much more... I t is always difficult to spend quality time with your kid. I make sure, I never miss one such possibility. I usually take up a tiny project with my son every month. I plan it so as to distribute the activity almost through each day of the month. This allotted task gives us a new topic to discuss and work on, together. My takeaway. The happiness and enthusiasm that fills the tender one during the conversations that go along with the creation. My son was actively involved at every step… his ardent love for this simple craft (that) filled me with a sense of accomplishment. Our May project was to fill a glass jar (a long-forgotten gift from an old friend). How should we fill it was the main challenge the two of us faced. A two-day long rigorous discussion followed. It looked like a professional team doing a much-needed requirements analysis prior to a project. Of course, it was mellowed dow...