The Majestic World of Monument valley..

The Mittens, Monument Valley, AZ

Visiting this wonder of the world was one the most memorable trip of my life so far. The make of these gorgeous mittens highlight the power of nature.

For many year its distinct masses has been one of the highlights of the power of nature. Its majestic world has been inspiration to a spiritual world of wonders of nature.

This natural landmark, of glowing landscape of red colored land, has become part of the Navajo reservations, and is home to their spiritual culture. Traces of ancient Indians, a once highly developed culture, the traditional life has been transformed due to coming of white man and time. For the local Navajo the gigantic columns means more than landscapes, they have close and spiritual relationship with the landscape of their fore fathers.

Tourism is an important mean of their livelihood.

This spacious wilderness has been explored for years for gold and silver, but it does not contain anything. The Landmass has just high amount of iron oxide, of which geologist find it fascinating and acts as a gold mine of history of various discoverers of life. The high amount of Iron content enables little vegetation in this region and hence very low number of wild animals.

Stunning beauty of various spectacular rock needles and towers enchant the beauty of this place, for millions of years of powerful erosions has given such imaginative faces to these towers and needles. In other parts Volcanic activity created natural monolifts and these rocks towers consist of these glowing

The Popularity of this regions scenery steam into work of American film director John Ford who used monument valley as a backdrop for one of his many westerns. So the magnificent masses became instantly recognizable and had known to a much larger audience as never before.

Trip :  We took this trip during the Xmas break, there was enough snow to melt into our eyes. The scenic route of I-15 and hence forth was breath taking.

Accomadations : Without a doubt THE VIEW HOTEL is the best choice. It is like a window to this junction. Food was satisfying and warm. And hospitality is excellent. The rooms are Clean and well maintained. But the best part was the view from the patio of each room. It is mindblowing.!! From moonlite snowy mittens to warmth of the sunny afternoon or to shady evenings, every moment was breath taking.

The majestic world of Monument Valley is soulfully riveting.

World War Z - Movie Review

Weather you like zombies or not, you will love this one. The story, action and pace of the movie is superb. It's more of a blend of Contagion and a traditional zombie flick than a scary traditional Zombie movie.
The excitment of what next just doesn't stop. Bratt Pitt, who gives a solid performance, is no super hero but just a guy trying to figure out how to stop this pandemic of conversion into Undead. The thrills fast moving and smart.
The couple of issues I have with the movie is the production issues from early on with a lot of rushed and short scenes. And for the climax of the movie they have tried it to be conclusive but open ended. I was little surprised with the haste of ending the movie, personally I would have not minded another hour of excitement and more cohesive ending. But I assume they left us with the guess of the sequel.
Whatever may have said this is one riveting, intense, visceral, smart and exciting summer movie that will rock your world.I hope they come up with the sequel.:-)

Cheers

Man of Steel : Review

Christopher Nolan has done it again, Man of a Steel is a masterpiece. He has convincingly brought the legend of DC comics to life in an extraordinary adventure. This bombastic creation is reduced to a little more than a joyless cipher.  Synder provides an elegantly retelling of the origin story of that most saintly superheroes, Superman.:-)

It is difficult to revive a superhero, but Nolan, like the dark knight, has given a fresh look and feel to our new Superman. The storytelling is impeccable, it is easier than presumed.  Being the first of the series (which I presume it is indeed) the focus was on building a strong foundation of the existence of superman.

Henry Cavill, has convincingly played the role of Man of Steel.  He has done a great job filling the shoes of our first Superman Christopher reeves. His acting skills are convincing to a super hero looking for answers. I’m so glad he got rejected from “Twilight” series, Can’t imagine him portraying a goofy Vampire.

If you are a Super Man fan…go watch it. It is well written, Acted and Directed. I will again say the best party is the storytelling..it is poetic, and the confluence of current and Flash back scenes are convincing and answer most of the questions unattended in the beginning.

Rolling Stone say…It is Caught in the slipstream between action and angst, 'Man of Steel' is a bumpy ride for sure. But there's no way to stay blind to its wonders."

Love me ...Love me not..!!!

It is when you don’t know if the love still persists or not, you start running away from yourself. You hate to be alone. You are scared to believe the realities facing you.
Long hours on the phone, cupid stories to giggle and day dreams everything has faded from the relationship. After years of affair two some don’t really know if they are meant to be together. It is the in thing today. Seriously I know so many couples who have stuck together and are now confused and puzzled when asked if you love each other. Some may say ‘perhaps’ and some may say ‘that they don’t know’, but no one really have answer to this close ended question.
My friends know each other since childhood, from schools to college to work; they have been with each other through thick and thin. But now when they are asked by their parents to get married, they freak out. They simply don’t know if they are in love. Or if they can be together for life. I find this completely ridiculous.
Confusion is the mother of all bemused decisions we take in our life. And if you observe it arises especially when you can’t avoid taking decisions. In love you fumble and restore, this is how an eventful relationship is like.
It is human psyche that you can’t be with anyone with whom you can’t share any vibe. You have been together for ages; this possibility leads you to become a habit to each other. And then it is when your love rises above its coo-chee-coo level. You may not talk to each other for long hours. But when you talk it’s your love that questions the well being, the desires, the anguish, the irritation and sometimes even your suppressions and confusions.
Talk, communicate, this is how any relationship can grow beyond. True Love can never die between anyone; it’s just the priorities that shuffle. And they will keep on shuffling.
Love should be a habit, it should be the confluence of two flowing energies meant for experience. Be with a friend, a friend who brings the best out of you.

Patterning Discipline

Stand at ease, attention. The army way, is it that easy to train our kids our way. I used the word train with respect to discipline as nowadays parents try to train their kids with respect to their expectations.  It may seem easier but in the long run these harsh measures hurt the most. Kids are like soft clay and must be carefully molded with reverence to their nature, age and behavioral pattern.

Every parenting is unique as every child is unique hence it’s difficult to pin point the particular reasons. But here we can discuss few obvious reasons to sustain child’s behavioral pattern.

The ideas are not just for toddlers but are particularly relevant in giving insight and advice for dealing with common toddler problems such as dealing with tantrums, bedtime and constantly saying no to every request. You need to see things from your toddler’s point of view and explain ourselves that we often measure a toddler's behavior by adult standards when we haven't reached the milestones, so that they can meet these standards.

Here are few alarming Behavioral distress when noticed must be stopped:

1. Throwing tantrums to get the things done.
2. Stubborn head
3. Crying unnecessarily to gain sympathy
4.  Temper Tantrums

Parenting is an Art that is yet to be perfected by anyone. Long time parents must suggest you their experiences, but the uniqueness of your bond with your child makes every parenting unique in itself. Many Child psychologist and observers have gathered and generalized few ideas and hence there are good books available to guide new parents or troubled parents. Below is the list of few finest parenting books to manage child behavior:

1. Positive Discipline, by Jane Nelson is a modern day bible on disciplining kids.
2. Setting Limits with your Strong Willed Child, by Robert J. Mckenzie
3. The Smart Love Parent: The Compassionate Alternative to Discipline, Martha Heinman, William J. Pieper
4. Discipline without distress: 135 tools for raising caring, responsible children without time –out, spanking, punishment or bribery, by Judy Arnall

You cannot Start or Stop behavior of a child with the touch of a button. Being a parent it’s your duty to give a thought into cultivating the best out of the stimulating energy of your child. They are full of energy hence it is necessary to channelize it in the best possible way. Here are few positive ideas to help control the behavior of the child or must say ideas to channelize their energy for the best. Understand their psychology

Though great ideas come with experiences but one of the sort after is getting a handy book for such occasions. Like The Everything Toddler activities Book: Games and Projects that Entertain and Educate, by Joni Levine

Toddlers are limited in their ability to communicate, hence must be patiently heard as they often express themselves by crying, jabbering or with pointing. They will test your patience with their clumsy and awkward gestures. And one of the most annoying aspects could be their inability to share, Mine and No are their favorite words, but you have to understand it ain’t unique to your child.

Redirecting is one technique which when used can be really effective, like if the child is throwing or patting blocks or toys, take them away while saying that ‘ that the blocks are to build”, and substitute it with another appropriate toy like a ball and ask him to throw it in the basket. By redirecting the activity, you channel the child’s more problem activity into an acceptable activity.

It’s important to provide children with opportunity to vent their emotions. They hold up their emotions in public and at school which takes a great deal out of them and hence giving then opportunity to surpass these test and come to you gives them a relief.

Toddlers are not the most empathic ones and hence it’s important for you to as a parent to make them understand how you feel. They may take a while to understand but it’s important for them to review the situation and behave. Over the course of they start understanding more actively.

And most importantly never let the child get away with wrong deeds. They may not have best of the days and expects you to understand, and parents must cut them a slack at times, but don’t let them take advantage of you. Every parent has a bag full of discipline tricks, hence show them as much as you know where it is coming from, them must understand that there are consequences for their actions.

Disciplining is little like juggling, the trickier you get - the better it pays off.

A Planned Joyride.

Being a new parent is overwhelming enough, and taking a trip tops the list of testing patience. I have no tips or agenda to share, but yes would love to share my experience from our first road trip.

It wasn’t an ordinary 2 way trip, back and forth from a destination; it had its twists and plenty of turns. We decided to take our 1 year old on a road trip for 9 days, and cover the coveted natural marvels of southwestern US.  I was so scared on how my lil one will react to an extended car seat ride. So we started taking him for long drives before our trip. Even experimented feeding and entertaining him to observe his moods and reactions. I was elated to see he took all those trips really well.

The grooming was worth it and with only few brief stops, which actually occurred on drivers discretion for regular intake of caffeine, the 8-9 hours stretch were a piece of cake. I noticed if he is well fed and well attended with kids’ humor and talks he was an excellent rider.

For hotel I carried his favorite toys to play with, and as he recently started to walk I frequently made him wander around the aisle, which kept him calm and even made him sleep soundly after.

I have always kept kids food handy and my son is use to it for the same reason. Hence to feed him was never a fuss. I even took rice cooker along for few home recipes. Keep the kid hydrated, it keeps them calm.

Take lots of milk bottles along. I was never worried incase my son wishes to drink only milk, and if I have no way of cleaning them on the go.

Carry zip locks along, they come handy with wet clothes and plenty other things. We took all the possible over the counter medication for a 1yr old along. And even made list of all the departmental stores and hospitals near the places we went. It’s good to be prepared.

As per clothing, just keep them comfortable and warm (in my case). I took all his PJs along especially for the ride.

It was an amazing trip and my son loved it, he climbed the rocky patches of the Monument Valley and played in the sandy swirls of the Antelope.

Don’t be scared kids are stronger and more fun than we credit them for.:-)