Major To Memsaab

That was an interesting transition. As I am married to an officer(ARMY )from my parental unit .I was both a lady wife as well as an officer. So there was no confusion till the time I was in service.

The moment I took Voluntary retirement, people didn’t know how to address me. Mem saab or Maj saab.The ladies and army kids have an unique system of addressing the jawans of the unit. Every one is a “Bhaiyya”.
Since I have worked with them I was on first name basis. For the jawans I was still Maa’m and not Memsaab.

With my retirement from service came the duties of wifedom. I was not excused from any ladies meets .Started accumulating clothes for floral theme party, red day ,black day ………………The list is endless. Now I am expert in looking best with our mix & match wardrobe. Can make a menu which will put a 5 star chef to shame.(cooking is a different issue) .

I have started working again but I have continued to do the duties of wifedom in army because I enjoyed doing it. Now I take leave when the occasion demands. The staff in my husbands unit has now started referring to me as Memsaab rather than Major saab. So now I am ‘The Memsaab.

Stubborn Children

Looking at my four year old son nobody can predict that he can put a mule to shame due to his stubbornness. I have tried every trick to soften him up. But ultimately he does what he wants do. I really cannot make out for what this kid cries for. He actually looks for excuses to cry. His eight year old sister is an angel compared to him.

We travel a lot and every time we do that I have to make sure both the kids get a window seats. This time it so happened that when we were coming down to Delhi from Jammu and there was no window seats available. The tantrum he threw was unbearable. My husband looked the other way pretending that we were not with him. I was embarrassed to the hoot. I literally wanted be invincible at that moment. He stopped howling when my co passenger gave her window seat to him.

That got me thinking. I am I a bad parent? I do not know. Since I am working and come home late in the evening, I have “guilty mom gene”. Because majority of the time in the office I just forget about the kids.

Both the kids are angels at times. They keep their room clean. Do all the daily chores. But when they stuck on something they stick to it no matter what. I have never used physical disciplining or verbal abuse towards my kids. Nor I have taken my frustrations on the kids. In fact I don’t attend many of the evening “couple only” parties because I have to leave the children at home. I really hope he grows out of his stubbornness.

Empire of Mughals

A wonderful book by Alex Rutherford. I was hooked to it from the first page itself.It tells the story of Babur when he was a 12 yr old and had become the king of Ferghana to his final destination Delhi.
I was always fascinated by mughals and how a an outsider could successfully rule India for generations. This is based on Baburnama written by Babur himself.Worth reading even if you treat it as a fiction.