When Dreams Come True

American artist Elizabeth Caroll Smith's painting "When dreams come True" was the winner of 'Ars Ad Astra'. It was a project conceived to put art in outer space. The space theme paintings by 82 artists were put up on the late Russian Mir Space Station.

It would be ideal to adorn the wall of our kids' room. Cannot applaud the artist enough for her creative imagination. The moon reflecting in the water and the children sending a paper boat towards it!! This is my favouritest painting so far. Love it :)

Favourite Lullabies I sing to my kids

I have always been very vocal with my children, be it reading stories, singing lullabies or ahem, yelling(sometimes). I used to be so tacit before I became a mother. But since my first baby was born, my vocal chords have been exercising a great deal. Ofcourse, I'm loving it!

Tip: You can control yelling by saying this to yourself : "she's only two, she's only two,.... " or whatever is your kid's age.

The following are the lullabies I sing most often at bedtime.

1. Jaamu raathiri, Jabilamma song from the Telugu movie KshanaKshanam. This wasn't supposed to be a 'baby' lullaby, but the lyrics are so meaningful . The protagonist(Venkatesh) sings this song to comfort the leading lady(Sridevi), when she's scared of the goons chasing her and apprehensive of spending a night in the jungle with a total stranger. Penned by Sirivennela Seetharama Sastri and composed by Keeravani, its a masterpiece that stands the test of time. This song is also one of the first songs my first born used to hum.

2. Twinkle, Twinkle little star; the full five stanzas. The original poem was written in England by Jane Taylor. But the tune as we know it was composed by Mozart to a French poem 'Ah, vous diraj-es, Maman'. Somehow, this tune was set to Twinkle, twinkle little star, contrary to popular belief that Mozart composed it. It is simply addictive.

3. Hush, little baby, don't say a word! This song lulls while teaching rhythm and sequence.

4. Lullaby and Goodnight! is a classic melody. A part of this famous composition by German pianist Johannes Brahms was taken from German folk poems and the rest was written by George Scherer. Though I haven't learnt to croon it well enough, I hum through. I usually play it on my phone for the little ones.

Singing encourages listening, self-expression, verbal confidence and an eagerness to communicate. While you bond with your children over some songs, it teaches them more than just music. Kids learn patterning, rhyme and rhythm. It promotes deep breathing, stimulates brain activity and strengthens memory. Start singing to your little ones, if you haven't already, with lotsa lovve!!

Student Rickrolls Teacher

Indian-American student Sairam Gudiseva inserted the lyrics of a Rick Astley song in his quantum mechanics essay. In fact it was an essay on Neil's Bohr.

He wrote it in such a way the lyrics all aligned to the left. It was smart and must have taken some effort. Wonder what grade he got for submitting this.

To 'rickroll' means to trick someone with a link to Rick Astley's video. The meme was made famous by Rick Astley himself appearing unannounced in a St.Patrick's Day parade. The act revived his career. The 80s smash hit, Never gonna give you up topped many international music track rankings.

Sunanda Pushkar's death

First reports hint at suicide.Death reported by Mr. Tharoor's staff. May be due to poisoning.

Why would a wealthy, beautiful mother of a 21 year old kill herself over marital disharmony? She was proud of making it big in a man's world.

I used to enjoy reading Tharoor's column in the Hindu Sunday edition and welcomed his foray into politics. He was a UN official at the time. The fog cleared when the erudite Stephanian started his 'cattle class' comments. He isn't any better than the other politicians. And then followed the IPL controversy of buying a team for his wife.

If a sportsperson dopes or fixes matches, he is banned for life and ripped of all his achievements. Why doesn't the same apply to our politicians? They just change their portfolios!This is a bit off-topic.

There's some similarity between Ms.Pushkar's death and that of Bob Woolmer, the South African coach of Pakistan's cricket team. He too was found dead in a hotel room. The investigators suggested suicide, poisoning and then ended it with a heart attack. May be he knew too much and was about to reveal his knowledge of match-fixing. May be Sunanda knew too much?

This is the stuff of thriller novels and media speculation. The truth will probably never come out owing to the case's classification.