Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Mission accomplished!

Last three days have been totally wicked with me. While battling with my own health issues, I still had to finish a couple of tasks before I could finally see a doctor. Getting your kids admitted to a so-called-good school that focusses on the over-all development of your child, comes with its own package. Not that I am complaining but it’s a double mind exercise for me personally.


At Podar Jumbo Kids pre-primary school, they celebrate the community spirit of each festival. As it’s Navratri this time, they are celebrating the nine days of the festival as a celebration of nine intelligence of the child. For ex. Day One was dedicated to the Visual-Spatial Intelligence, ability to draw, paint and work with images. Day Two was for Mathematical intelligence to reason, calculate, logic, etc..  Following this, Day 7 was for the Naturalistic Intelligence involving interests in environment, nature. etc.  So, as a part of this, the children were to be taken outdoors to enjoy the nature, surrounding, event, etc, were to be captured in the pictures and sent to school the next day where the child needed to speak about how he enjoyed the previous day.

Luckily, for us, Sundays are generally associated with the Farmer’s Market hence the kids decided to use that as a platform for this activity. I was already fighting with my health issues yet I chose to be a part of this venture. How could I possibly miss the excitement in the air especially when it was linked to a school activity this time!! 

Farmers Market is consists of individual vendors, mostly the farmers from remote villages, who set up booths, stalls, tables to sell the organic vegetables, fruits, herbs, etc. This event in Mumbai is initiated by Ms Kavita Mukhi (Founder Conscious Food, Eco-Nutritionist and Naturalist Farmer). It’s held at Nakshatra Van at Maharashtra Nature Park, Bandra-Sion Road between October 7, 2012 to March 24, 2013 on all Sundays except December 30, 2012. Such markets were routine before the Industrial phase but most were substituted in modernized cities with grocery stores and hypermarkets that sell food that is usually produced, packaged, and shipped from remote places.

Farmer’s Market has been a part of our lives since a little over last 2 years shortly after our move from Bangalore to Mumbai. Since then, most of our Sundays begin with a visit to the place. Along with the farmers, some local buddies also set up tables and stalls to sell products like food items, lemonades, ice-golas and candy floss, organically prepared cosmetics, eco-friendly garments, etc. What adds up to this lively ambience is the presence of different kinds of people mixing together and connecting. There’s ample entertainment area for kids as well which helps them mix and mingle with other kids enhancing social skills. You will also be pleasantly surprised to see few people exhibiting their hobbies and skills like music and playing different kinds of instruments. And when your feet is tired of shopping for the fresh and organically produced fruits and vegetables, there’s a stall of Metta Foot Spa where the foot reflexology therapy is being practised by the visually impaired yet extremely self-confident masseurs.

Our Sunday mornings are now totally dedicated to this wonderful dwelling.  Kids are so much used to it that, for them, one of the days of their weekend means the FM. Personally, I am not too much into eating organic, as such. I am basically a lazy human being. If given a choice, I would still prefer to lie in my couch and call my local vendor for my weekly veggies who will home-deliver the same at no extra cost. This has two basic advantages – I can still continue to be a couch potato fiddling with the TV remote and second, the vendor delivers the veggies without any extra amount saving my time, money on the petrol/auto and major savings on my pocket which I would have otherwise spent on petty, impromptu shopping had I ventured out myself.

But FM is different. More than anything else, I love the ambience there. I love the open skies. I love the freshness in the air. I love to see the smiles of those lovely farmers who greet you with the same love and passion every Sunday. I love to see different kinds of people who are care-free, totally in a ‘different’ mood without being judgemental about each other. I love seeing kids jumping on the trampoline, eating ice-golas and candy floss. I love the home-cooked food and the lemonade that’s being offered. I love the butterflies and dragon-flies freely roaming around. I love sitting on the ground and just watching. Actually, I love everything about this place. Those two or three hours take me away from my pending laundry, my food menus, my weekly plans and all other household chorus.


I have been telling about this to a lot of my friends based in Mumbai. Apart from indulging in some fresh veggies and fruits, this is a great and secure place to leave your kids unattended. It’s really fun to see how fast kids mix up with others and not just their counterparts but with other adults. So, if you are reading this and based in Mumbai, please do visit this place, at least once.

I managed a few clicks on my mobile, printed them at home and created a collage to send with kids to school. I really didn't have to teach them what to talk as they knew it better than me. It was all worth for when my son rushed back home straight into my bed (please note I am still unwell and in bed) to tell me how his teacher loved the snaps and what he said about the FM. I loved to see that little spark of confidence and achievement in his eyes.





A mission accomplished……finally!!










Here's the link to their official video which I came across on their site;(www.farmersmarket.co.in). Please note that this has been shot at their earlier location in Bandra.





4 comments:

  1. Yeah Meeta....this is a great place to take kids!Was there on a Sunday and loved every moment there.Manisha

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Manisha, my kids just enjoy it. we are quite regular there since the last two and a half years. Let's catch up whenever you are there.

      Delete