Suitable investments for kid's future

It has become incredibly important to make good financial plans for our kids. Raising kids is very expensive these days and it's a must to do robust financial planning for their bright future. Parents need to invest money very carefully so that it is useful for the kids at the correct time for their higher education.  I've studied carefully and found some options which give good returns on investment as well as they are safe and secure investment options.

1. Sukanya samrudhi yojana for girl child and NPS vatsalya for girl/boy child

SSY or sukanya samriddhi yojana has a good interest rate of 8.1% currently and with compounding it even goes up. It is a scheme run by government and is extremely safe. A girl's parents can open a SSY account in her name before the girl turns 10. The money can be withdrawn  when the money is needed for girl's education  or other expenses when the girl is officially an adult. 

NPS vastalya is similar scheme offering similar rates of interest for the kids. More useful for boy child. It offers good cumulative returns. The account turns into a normal NPS account after the child turns 18. 

2. PPF - A PPF account can be opened in a child's name for investment. The interest rate offered is low(7.1%). But this is a secure and safe investment option. Even though ppf has low interest rate it has income tax exemption on investment(under 80 cc), interest and maturity amount(known as EEE). So for those who are not utilising 80 Cc with exemptions on home loan principal repayment, ppf is a good option. Because tax planning is a part of overall financial planning and overall investment advice.

3. Fixed Income instruments - It always makes sense to invest some part of the money invested for kid's future in fixed income instruments such as FD with nationalized banks. Although rate of interest isn't that lucrative these days, it is a safe and secure investment option.

4. Mutual funds - Investment in mutual funds in the form of SIP is always comparatively safe. We can choose well performing funds for SIP and dedicate that particular SIP for kid's education. Some well performing funds include NIppon India growth fund, Axis small cap fund and Baroda BNP Paribas fund. We can study and choose funds which suit our requirements better. It's always wise to choose a diverse portfolio covering small large and mid cap funds for better returns. Also consider the exit load and don't redeem before 1 year to avoid losses.

5. Investing in sovereign gold bonds is also a good option when they are open for investment. 

6. Lumpsum can also be invested in mutual funds which requires deeper study. Please  choose the funds which are right for you. 

7. Some insurance cum investment options like LIC endowment plans are also a good option for investment. I need to gather more information about these options. 

Let the real Durgas be born

India is known for it's festivities. Each festival has its own significance which all Indians can relate to. But are we changing our festivities and celebrations with time?

The whole nation was shaken with the rape incident at RG kar medical College. But after a couple of months everyone has forgotten about it. The whole nation is busy with the festivities. Is this the real Navratri we want to celebrate? A real Durga Mata who protects everyone from diseases, a lady doctor was brutally raped and murdered. What are we doing for justice? What all Indians are doing for preventing such incidents? Nothing...

Everybody is busy in celebrating the festivities.

It's 2024. The world is making progress on all fronts. But we are still way behind in our thought process. A woman is still considered weak and vulnerable. Anyone can take advantage of her vulnerability and weakness. Women are equally educated as men. They are at par with men in all fields. But are women safe in their own homes? The answer is big 'No'.

As a mother of a girl child, the thought of sending her to school by school bus still scares me like anything. Because women are not safe anywhere. 

Then a thought crosses my mind,  what can I do to help my daughter to protect herself? My daughter is not even 4 years old yet. But I've decided long back. I will enroll her for karate classes once she reaches 5 years of age. Teaching her self defence is important than teaching her anything else. But is this really enough to ensure her safety everywhere she goes? Unfortunately no.

The legal system of this country needs to be reformed to make strict laws for women safety. Unless men learn to respect women and ask for the consent, things are not going to change. We talk about giving sanskar to our new generation, but do all families in india teach their boys to respect girls and women? 

I've decided this navratri, to teach my daughter to protect herself from the evils on her own.

In the era of AI and other technological advancements, we still treat a menstruating woman like untouchable. Lot of families from India still don't allow menstruating women to go to the kitchen. We have made progress in terms of technology and industrialization. But our thoughts and beliefs are still too conservative for this progress. A woman doesn't have freedom in her own home because she is menstruating. So are we really going forward? 

 We can change these thoughts and beliefs, to give way to freedom of a woman. When a woman feels safe and free inside her own home, that time real Navratri will be celebrated. 

Kids tiffin/snacks recipes

1. Moong appe/puddu

Ingredients- 1 bowl green moong, 1/2 bowl of rice, ginger, green chillies, salt, spices of your choice,  onions, grated carrot, beetroot, chopped capsicum, oil/ghee, a handful of coriander leaves.

Recipe - 

1. Soak moong and rice together for couple of hours. It'll be best If the moong get sprouted.

2. Grind moong and rice along with 2 green chilies, 1 inch of ginger.

3. Add salt and spices to the batter.  Make a tadka and add the vegetables to the tadka. Add washed and chopped coriander leaves to the batter.

4. Add these vegetables to the batter.  Grease appe pan with ghee. Pour the batter in appe pan.

5. Cover with lid and cook on slow flame. Flip after appe are cooked from one side. Cook again with lid for couple of minutes. 

6. Serve with chutney of your choice. 

2. Makhana thalipeeth

Ingredients - 1 bowl makhana, onions,carrots  capsicum, salt, cumin and coriander powder,  ghee/oil, a handful of coriander leaves. 

Recipe - 

1. Roast makhana on low flame. After it turns crispy, add it to the mixer jar and grind.

2. Add water little by little to the makhana powder ans kneed the dough. Add lil oil, salt to the dough. Add the vegetables and spices of your choice and washed and finely chopped coriander leaves to the batter. 

3. Grease the tava and spread the dough on tava with hands. Flatten it with hands. Don't make it too thin.

4. Make two small holes and pour oil in between.

5. Roast properly on tava with lid on. Let it cook for couple of minutes. 

6. Flip once cooked from one side and cook another side for couple of minutes.  Serve hot with ketcup/chutney. It tastes best with a dollop of ghee/white butter on top.

Thailpeeth can be made with bhajani(mix flour of roasted grains) or by mixing several flours like jowar flour, wheat flour, rice flour and besan together.

3. Rice makhana kheer

Ingredients - 1 bowl of makhana powder, 1 bowl of rice, dryfruits, ghee, sweetener of your choice like sugar, dates powder or jaggery and cardamom powder.

Recipe - 

1. Roast rice on ghee. Add milk, sweetener to the rice.

2. Roast dryfuits in ghee if you like. Chop them finely and add to the kheer.

3. Let the kheer boil. Keep on stirring. Now add makhana powder for thickness.

4. Add cardamom powder and malai on top. Serve hot when it has thickened enough.

4. Peanut laddus

Ingredients - 1 bowl of peanuts,  jeggery/dates powder, dryfruits powder, ghee, cardamom powder. 

Recipe -

1. Dry roast the peanuts on low flame.

2. Remove the peels and grind into a coarse powder.

3. Now slowly add ghee, sweetener and cardamom powder to the peanut powder. 

4. Add dryfruits powder(This is optional)

5. Slowly form small laddus of this mixture.

6. Garnish with cashew on top or raisins.

7. We can also add roasted dry coconut powder to these laddus.(This is optional).

5. Sabudana chilla

Ingredients - 1 bowl Sabudana powder, 1 cucumber, 1 tb rajgira flour, green chillies, ginger, cumin seeds, ghee, salt, peanut powder, salt.

Recipe -

1. Grate the cucumber. Mix it with sabudana powder and rajgira flour.

2. Add peanut powder, salt, finely chopped green chillies, grated ginger, cumin seeds and chopped coriander to it. Slowly add water.

3. When it has correct consistency, pour it on tava greased with ghee.

4. Cook with lid on for couple of minutes. Flip once cooked from one side. Cook again for couple of minutes. 

5. Serve hot with green chutney. This is a perfect fasting food too. 

Egg recipes for the kids

Egg is very high on nutrition, but including egg in the diet of kids is a mammoth task for the mommies as mostly kids dislike the taste of egg. For making the mommy's job simple, here are few egg recipes which will be loved by the kids.

1. Pancakes

Pancakes are generally favorite of kids. So this way we can hide the egg, still can make them eat. 

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons of ragi/oats/whole wheat flour.

Milk as per requirement. 

1 egg

Jaggery/honey as per taste.

Mashed babana/mango/grated apple as per taste.

Nuts and seeds powder.

Cardamom powder.

Recipe:

1. Beat the egg and whisk it. Add the flour, milk, sweetener and fruit. Add nuts and seeds powder and cardamom powder. Mix it thoroughly. Add more milk to adjust the batter consistency if required. The batter shouldn't be too thin or thick.

2. Heat the pan, add ghee on it and spread the batter. Make thin or thick Pancakes as per your liking. 

3.Garnish with honey, cut fruits. Cut with cookie cutter in attractive shapes if sending in tiffin to make them attractive. 

4. Vegetarians can skip egg and replace with milk/banana.

5. We can also make savory Pancakes with grated vegetables instead of fruits and ginger garlic paste, masalas and salt instead of nuts and seeds powder. Can add besan/rice flour/jowar flour for savory Pancakes. Or can mix all the flours together for sweet/savory Pancakes.

2. Egg appe/egg bites

Ingredients:

2 tb Oats flour, 1 tb rava, grated veggies like carrot, beetroot, chopped capsicum, onion etc, 3 eggs, masalas like cumin powder, red chilli powder, coriander powder, ginger-green chilli paste, salt and cheese 

Recipe:

1.Beat the eggs, add oats flour, rava, grated veggies masalas and salt. Mix thoroughly.

2. Grease the appe Pan with ghee. Spread the mixture in appe pan. Add Grated cheese on top.

3. Cook from one side for 5 mins on medium flame with lid. Then flip and cook on other side  serve with ketchup or chutney. 

3. Egg dosa

Ingredients:

Dosa batter, 1 egg, grated veggies. 

Recipe:

1. Beat the egg. Add it to dosa batter. Whisk it thoroughly  

2. Add grated veggies, salt. Spread like normal dosa. Serve hot with chutney. 

We can make appe also similarly. Also can add ragi flour to make it more nutritious. 

4. French toast

Ingredients:

 2 eggs,4 slices of whole wheat bread, milk, sugar.

Recipe: 

1. Beat the egg, add milk n sugar. Whisk it thoroughly. 

2 . Dip the bread slices in the mixture and roast on greased pan with ghee.

3. Cut into pieces and serve warm.

We can also make savory French toast with grated vegetables, masalas and salt skipping milk.

5. Vegetable cheese omelette 

Ingredients:

1 egg, chopped vegetables like capsicum, mushrooms, brocolli, onion.Grated veggies like carrot, beetroot. 

Pepper powder,  chopped green chillies, salt.

Recipe:

1. Beat the egg, add masalas, salt, vegetables. Whisk the mixture thoroughly. Grease the pan with oil.

2. Spread the omelette on greased pan. Flip when cooked form one side. Add grated cheese on top.

3. Serve warm with ketchup. 

6. Masala scrambled egg/bhurji

Ingredients: 3 eggs, grated carrot, chopped capsicum, tomatoes, onions, brocolli,  cheese, masalas, salt

Recipe:

1. Add oil, make normal tadka/tempering. Add chopped onions, fry them till they turn translucent. 

2. Add chopped tomatoes and remaining veggies. Saute them till they turn crunchy. Don't overcook. 

3. Add masalas like green chillies, red chilli powder, garam masala, coriander powder as per taste.

4. Saute a little and then add eggs, Saute until egg gets completely cooked.  Add salt as per taste and give it a mix. Garnish with coriander and serve with roti/bread. We can also add soya sauce as per liking. (This is totally optional).

7. Banana egg muffins in appe pan

Ingredients: 2 eggs, 2 mashed bananas, 2 tb ragi flour, 1 tb whole wheat flour, jaggery/honey as per taste, 2 tb milk, vanilla incense, 1 tb rava, chocochips for garnishing.

Recipe:

1. Beat the eggs, add the other ingredients. Whisk the mixture thoroughly. 

2. Add a drop of vanilla incense. Grease the appe Pan with ghee. Sweetener like jaggery/honey can be added as per liking.

3. Pour the mixture in appe pan. Cook from both sides after flipping.

4. Add chocolate chips on one side before flipping for garnishing. We can also add dryfruits for crunch. 

5. We can add baking soda to this or skip it. It's optional.

6. This can be baked too if you've oven and you've good knowledge of baking.

Dealing with PPD and new mommy responsibilities

Although motherhood is the best thing ever happened to us, it is equally overwhelming. Being a new mommy is tough. Doing it all by ourselves while healing from the delivery pain is really really difficult.

PPD or postpartum depression is another hindrance in creating the precious bonding with the baby. The first 40 days postpartum are really very important. I myself struggled with few things. I'll try to share my journey as well as the solutions I found for my difficulties. 

I had opted for an elective cesarean delivery. People's judgments about my choice of delivery method was the first problem I faced. The only solution to this is ignoring. People learn their lessons when they are ignored and their judgments are not given importance. Our peace of mind is of utmost importance at that time. 

Connecting with our own baby is sometimes difficult although we love them unconditionally. My case was something similar. I was so overwhelmed with the mom responsibilities that I couldn't just look at my baby and adore her for few moments. It was tough. Doing all the mom duties while healing from a c section is tough. The sleep deprived and bleeding mom needs help. Solution to this problem is simple. Ask for help whenever you need. Do not try to do it all alone. Take family support. If you're not lucky enough to have family support then hire an external help. It is a must. 

I wasn't really in the best mindset postpartum and would often express my feelings on social media. But I was judged for that as well. Some people might not be with you when they should be. But nothing Is in your hands. All you can do is take whatever support you have and ignore the rest.

My toughest struggle was with breastfeeding

I delivered during covid second wave. It was too much pressure already. Protecting the baby and yourself from covid was tough. Isolation from my friends and family was putting too much pressure on myself. I wasn't able to breastfeed her properly. There was a latching issue initially. Not being able to feed your child after being a mom is the biggest challenge for a mom's mind. I cried 

everyday. I tried every possible remedy from a nipple shield to an inverted syringe. But nothing seemed to work. I was given perinorm tablets to increase the very poor supply i had initially. Then there was engorgement pain. It was a very bad struggle overall. What acted negatively was the tremendous pressure put by the doctors, nurses. I agree, breastfeeding is very good but let us also normalize formula feeding as well. I succumbed to the pressure and spent a fortune on a lactation consultant. But it didn't help either. So I learnt the following lessons with respect to breastfeeding. 

1. Read about breastfeeding before giving birth. 

2. Consult a good lactation expert at the right time. 

3. Invest In a good quality breast pump (preferably an electric one). Although pumping, feeding, sanitizing the bottles is very tiring. So it's best to directly breastfeed. Advantage of pumping is another family members can feed the baby and mother can get some rest. Learn about the correct feeding positions and latching techniques. Because that's what is wrong most of the times.

4. Practice utmost hygiene while bottle feeding like washing, sterilizing bottles etc. Bottle feeding if done correctly isn't bad.

5. Take rest whenever you can. Follow a good diet, take your calcium supplements timely while breastfeeding. 

6. Do mild exercises suggested by the physiotherapist to get your body back to normal routine. Body changes a lot after delivery. Take short walks after it has been advised.

7. Invest in a good feeding pillow/take support of normal pillows while feeding because feeding puts pressure on the back . Also keep nipple butter, breast pads and feeding cover ready. 

8. Keep the hospital bag ready with all the stuff you would need at 34 weeks. 

9. Invest in things that will help you in recovery like cooling pads, maternity pads and panties. 

10. For a smooth recovery post c section, take lot of rest. Keep moving. Take care of your wound. Have a good diet and rest whenever you can. Watch out for symptoms such as pain and swelling in the wound and high fever for initial few days after c section. These can be symptoms of the wound infection.

11. The back pain post c section isn't related to the spinal anesthesia. Please don't associate it with c section. Starting your daily activities and movements post c section is must for good recovery.

12. Care for your stitches as advised by the doctor post delivery. It is very important. (No personal experience with normal delivery).

13. Seek help if you think you're suffering from PPD. Watch out for symptoms such as sadness, loneliness, and depression. Seek 

professional help if needed. PPD is very common. 

14. Ignore all the unwanted advises given by relatives, and people around you. Follow only those which you feel are correct. 

These are the most precious days for the mother as well as baby. You might feel overwhelmed with the baby responsibilities, sleep deprivation and tiredness. But these days are not going to come back. Support from my family was the biggest plus point of my postpartum period. So enjoy your days as new mom with your tiny little one as far as you can. They grow up in blink of an eye.

PS - please follow your doctor's advice for any query or problems. These are just my personal experiences.

Easy snacks recipes for kids

Sharing few the easy snacks/breakfast recipes for kids.

1. Egg ragi appe/puddu/peniyaram

Ingredients:

1. Dosa batter 

2. Sprouted ragi flour 

3.2 eggs

4. Grated carrot, chopped onions, other vegetables of your choice

5. Green chillies/red chilli powder, mustard seeds, hing(asafoetida), salt.

6. Grated ginger(optional)

7.Oil for tempering and ghee for appe frying

Recipe -

1. Beat two eggs in a bowl, add 2 tbsp of sprouted ragi flour, mix well. Add this this to the dosa batter(approximately 1 big bowl of dosa batter)

2. Make a tadka of mustard seeds and hing in 1 tbsp of oil. Fry Grated carrots, onions and other veggies in the tadka

3. Add the fried veggies to the dosa batter. Add 2 chopped green chillies/half teaspoon of red chilli powder and grated ginger to it(according to your kids tolerance). Add salt as per taste. 

4. Grease the appe Pan with ghee. Pour the appe batter in the pan. Cook on medium flame with a lid. Flip the appe once they have cooked on one side

5. Serve warm with chutney of your choice.

2. Mix lentil/moong chilla with filling.

Ingredients:

1. Soaked green moong/mixed sprouts.

2. Rice

3. Grated beetroot

4. Cheese

5. Green chillies, cumin powder, coriander powder,salt as per taste.

Recipe -

1. Soak moong/mixed sprouts along with rice in 1-2 proportion for 6-8 hours.

2. Grind them along with coriander, 2 green chilles, 1 inch ginger. Add spices like cumin powder and coriander powder to the batter along with salt as per the taste.

3. Pour the batter on greased pan with ghee to make chilla. 

4. Add filling of grated beetroot with cheese to the chilla. 

5. Serve warm with chutney/ketchup.

3. Sweet potato patties

Ingredients:

2 medium sized sweet potatoes, 1 small 

bowl soaked poha, 1 bowl boiled carrot+green beans, ginger, green chilies, coriander powder, cumin powder, salt as per taste.

Recipe- 

1. Wash, peel and boil the sweet potatoes. Mash them. Add them to soaked poha.

2. Mash boiled carrots and beans and add them to mashed sweet potato. 

3. Add spices, crushed green chilies and ginger to it, add salt as per taste.

4. Make round shaped patties and pan fry them in ghee.

5. Serve with chutney or ketchup.

4. Beetroot omelette

Ingredients:

1 egg, half bowl grated beetroot, salt, green chillies, onion, 

Recipe -

1. Beat the egg, add Grated beetroot , onions, green chillies, salt to the egg. You can add mushrooms, coriander leaves, chiili flakes and freshly cracked pepper also

.2. Fry the omelette in a pan greased with oil. Flip 

once cooked from one side.

3. Serve warm with ketchup. 

That's all for today. Coming soon with part 2. Let me know if you try these recipes 😋 

6

Hypothyroidism and negative blood group in pregnancy

Motherhood is beautiful as well as equally challenging. Every lady is worried about the process of conception these days. There are a lot of myths about pregnancy with hypothyroidism and negative blood group specifically B negative blood group(as it's a very rare blood group). I'll share my experience to give some relief to the worried would be moms. These myths need to be handled very carefully to have a positive outlook during conception and pregnancy.

I have been diagnosed with hypothyroidism when I was 14 years old and have B negative blood group. But I didn't face any problem during conception and throughout the pregnancy as well as delivery. If we take few precautions, these two conditions won't bother us. Lot of people think of these two factors even while matchmaking for marriage and deny alliances. That's an absolutely wrong thing to do.

I'll talk about hypothyroidism first. Hypothyroidism and fertility are directly linked by many people. But it's a misconception. Hypothyroidism if treated properly, will not cause any problems in conception. I had been mornitoring my TSH levels 6 months before I wanted to conceive. With stable TSH levels i didn't face any problem in conception. I had also maintained stable TSH levels throughout the pregnancy. It plays an important role in overall hormonal balance, metabolism of the mother and brain development of the fetus. I was monitoring my TSH levels every 6 weeks in pregnancy as advised by the endocrinologist. TSH has different limits for each trimester. The doctor adjusted my dose in pregnancy accordingly. It is a must to get your thyroid levels tested even when you're not a hypothyroid. A thyroxine tablet in appropriate dose suggested by the doctor everyday solves all your worries in case of hypothyroidism. Also maintaining a healthy diet, moderate exercise and healthy lifestyle helps in maintaining good thyroid health.

Talking about B negative blood group and pregnancy, it is absolutely safe to go ahead with conception and pregnancy even with a B negative blood group.

If the baby's blood group comes positive or vice versa, you're administered an anti D injection and you're good to go. It'll not cause any RH incompatibility and other related complications. Women with B negative blood group face no issues in pregnancy. Their partner can have any blood group, that doesn't matter.

PS - These are just my opinions and experiences. Consult your endocrinologist and gynecologist for the right opinion.