For the last few days Kabir has been telling us the story of the leaking Antarctic Pipe
Its a riveting and gripping story, involving the Octonaughts, his nanny, his playmates from the sandpits, our Baleno car and a polar bear.
In short the pipe above the Antarctic has stopped working.
Its blocked. The plumber can't fix it.
(our pipes are 'blocked' air quotes so Kabir can't leave the tap running)
So Kabir has to turn on the pipe.
Then water will run.
It will rain.
Rain will snow.
Snow will make polar bear happy.
To get to Antarctica we have to pack the Baleno with snacks.
(Baleno car and snacks are extremely important part of life routine).
Then we have to pack juice.
Then we have to call the Octonaughts.
When we (he and his friends Amma and Nana not included) get to Antarctica
We will fix the pipe with a helicopter and an Allen key.
(he helped Vinay assemble IKEA furniture so he knows of Allen keys and screwdrivers)
Then the pipes will flow and the fish will be happy
Then it will rain
Then it will snow
Then penguins will dance together (Planet Earth episode)
Then it will be very cold so we need to eat chocolate.
Then we can drive back home in the Gup.
Baleno car wants to stay in Antarctica.
The end.
(this is an abridged story, hastily written down so I don't forget the wonderful details: some of which include in random story appearances...
Colossal squid, one arm ghost, Roma and Diana, Princess Holly, Pineapple, Lorax, a satellite and jellyfish.
I think this is the part where kid is getting to be super fun to talk to!!!
But this is also the part where kid is talking back and dismissing all my wisdom as 'NO Amma you don't know anything only I know please listen to me. "
(sneakily Vinay tried asking him is the Antarctic very hot because of this thing called Global Warming?) #science
But Kabir was like no it's because the plumber did not fix the pipes. Now the volcano is going to erupt I'm very busy.
The long and short of it being yesterday I told him about an uncle called Hans who fell into a cave and went down a volcano on a journey to the center of the earth.
Today we have to continue talking about lava and magma so imma go read up
Seems like this phase of the lockdown is ending slowly. Here are some very local, very online things that helped me get through the lockdown. Parent-friendly, Koramangala friendly.
1/n
Food: I got the OPOS 5 min cookbook from Amazon via Prime Reading. (so... free I think?). Lifesaver. I believe the man who started this movement and his FB group aren't well liked? No matter. OPOS style cooking saves TIME.
Highly recommend. No learning curve. Noobfriendly.
Veggies and Fruits: if you live in Koramangala, cannot recommend enough Arafa Fruits/ Veggies near Sowbhagya / Iyengar Bakery in 5th Block (bonus Bakery makes stellar egg puffs)
+veggie shop hear Nakoda Medicals at Wipro Signal.
Sitting across Uber/Ola union drivers, negotiating strike demands, talking to @nandiniv about contract workers, that's how GIGI was born.
150 million gig workers in India have no access to benefits.
This changes today.
We're building benefits for the future of work!
@nandiniv GIGI is a fintech company whose focus is on building really simple, micro, financial products that make a huge impact on the lives of those working in India's informal sector.
@nandiniv We've been live since 2019, working with various 2 wheeler and 4 wheeler gig workers in Bangalore, building and curating the right products for them.
We work with aggregators, marketplaces on the supply side, and the best and most trusted financial players on the product side.
Quick thread - work productivity mantra/life hack to maximize time utilization.
tldr: Break up the day into ACT-REACT-ACT blocks if you're a very senior manager or owner
Break up the day into REACT-ACT-REACT blocks if you're in client service, have dependencies, mid-junior team
What does this mean?
Essentially you ACT to take ownership and control of your time.
In this block you do what adds MOST value to your book.
Read, write, learn, a 1v1 meeting where you're the listener not giver, a jam session where someone is there to help YOU, etc.
You REACT when you're doing tasks that require you to catch a ball someone else has thrown.
Respond to emails, pings, look up info for someone (their ACT), give feedback, answer questions, participate in meetings that others lead, 1v1 where you're giving.