Goodbye and Hello!

Back from a whirlwind tour-de-India, and we are in throes of major changes. After the first four days back in daycare, Kochunni’s teacher Ms.L, asks if we have any objections in moving him to the next class. We are dumb folded. Is he ready? He is not potty trained yet? A million other questions surge to our lips. Not to worry, she says. They will slowly ease him into the new class probably letting him go to the new class for a few hours each day, the new teacher will potty train him too, plus he is a smart boy he will learn new things. Oh sure, we say, if you think its best.

It’s a small transition in reality. He knows the new teacher, Ms.L2 – has been in her class a few times that Ms.L was absent. His friends who were potty trained while we were having fun in India are already moved into the new class. So with some familiar faces and some new, Kochunni moved into the next phase of his life.

On our end, both husband and I have new bosses that we met and started working within the first couple of days after we came back from vacation.

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Finally finished reading all the blog posts that I had signed up through reader. Does feel like an accomplishment; though now I wish I could take up my reading list with the same vigor!

Finally over jet lag but haven’t yet caught up with laundry (it piled up the first two weeks when I was being just plain lazy). Seriously I don't mind doing laundry, its the folding up afterwards that bores the hell out of me!

Lot of to-do items – building the back yard, hanging up some artwork we got from India, meeting friends. Hopefully sooner than later.

The return of the king

We reached the shores of Dubai Thursday afternoon and were pleasantly surprised by the chilly winds that awaited us. It turned out to be a really a great time to visit Dubai, the weather being just right, and with two nights to spend in town, we decided to hit one of Dubai’s main attractions – shopping – the first night.

The next day we went to the Jumeira beach – a magnificent picturesque beach, with crystal clear cool waters, the turquoise colored waters so inviting that I was ready to spend my day there.

But we headed back, for a quick lunch before we were to go “dune-bashing” or the desert safari – a pseudo roller-coaster ride on a four wheel car across the Arabian desert. With great insistence by our cousins to be taken to the bigger sand dune areas, our driver did go up & down the sand dunes, though Kochunni did not like the experience and started to cry. But we held on and enjoyed the (less than) 20 minute ride through the deserts. (According to our cousin though the dune bashing in Muscat is far better with the dunes raising far higher than its counterpart in Dubai).

Later the car took us to the camp site for dinner and some ‘extras’ – a little henna decoration on our hands, a very short camel ride and an opportunity to wear some traditional outfits for family picture time. Of course, no show would be complete without an area for shopping for some souvenirs. A while into barbecue style dining, entertainment in form of belly dancers and music made the rustic scene complete.

Kochunni enjoyed the later part of the night at the camp and as we headed back home, fell into a deep slumber. I mentally crossed off seeing another natural wonder – the desert – from my list of things to do and happily settled into family conversations. We were back home soon and had another round of re-packing as were heading back to US the next day.

Heading back to the airport, we contemplated the decision to do a stopover and realized that in a way it was a nice gamble, not only did we meet with family we had not met in years, we had something to look forward to while starting from India. And sometimes, God does work in wondrous ways, as we were treated with a surprise free upgrade to Business class at the Emirates counter. Not sure their reasoning behind it, but we thanked our lucky stars as we headed to the long 16 hour flight ahead.

In style, we headed back home. The spacious seating a genuine bonus for us, that left us wanting more air rides. As we landed back in US, I slowly accepted the fact that vacation was over and we were back into the grind.

Again nature has a way of healing our thoughts, and as I opened my backyard door, it revealed the magnificent blooms of spring flowers on our barren peach tree welcoming us back into its folds. It reminded me of another time zone, the love and the joys the journey bought us, and of the bright future that laid ahead of us. I felt rejuvenated and rather than mull the fact of the vacation spent, I decided to look ahead to the wonderful summer.

The journey so far

We are at the tail-end of our trip, tomorrow we travel to Dubai for a small stop over before heading back to US.

Kochunni did not have any stranger anxieties and enjoyed meeting the extended families. The influence of family is easily noticeable as he speaks Malayalam more fluently making full sentences.

Here's Kochunni with his Ammamma, having a "tickling match"


Some of his favorite times was going on bike rides with Muthu (grandpa) standing in the front with the wind (and dust) in his hair, the autoricksha rides and watching the tanker lorry bringing water into our houses. Clearly his personality is more pronounced these days easily showing off his displeasure – yesterday we went shopping and by the time we were done it was already 12.30 or so and I asked my dad to take Kochunni and my mom home first so that she could start lunch for him while I could do some more shopping, of course he started to throw a tantrum and I had to return pretty soon, and as he saw me from the window he yelled “amma vannu” (amma is here) but as I entered the room, he just walked away his face showing his displeasure of sending him home first. We laughed at his antics but it is clear how easily he is able to articulate his feelings today. Gone are the days when the only weapon he had at his disposal were war cries at different pitch and decibel to let us know his displeasure.

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Since our inner country travels was over we decided to do some potty training hoping that having more number of people to monitor Kochunni will be an easy option for all. Of course the little fella did not see it that way and the rounds of coaxing, bribing had no impact on him. He just decided not to pee or poop! By evening he started showing signs of discomfort and I started him on apple juice and back on diaper. And so another round of potty training battle, Kochunni won hands down. This is the last thing I am going to say about this topic (for now) totally blocking off this memory (such a sore loser that I am) and only going to remember this picture of a cute little fella in chaddies.

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Met with Abha and her little cute, adorable, smart little bundle of joy. She was exactly how I imagined she would be – true Mumbaiker at heart and soul, fun loving and smart. I wish I had more time to spend but had to head out to the Commercial Street to fire the tailor who completely screwed up my ‘Patiyala’ to be a clown pants. The tailor for once turned out to be a nice polite fella and agreed to try and make some changes to it so that I could at least wear it at home.

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As the vacation draws to close, I start dreaming more about stuff from work, about Kochunni’s daycare and of course the worsening economy in US. I try my best to push back the thoughts to enjoy my last few days, finish some shopping but the thoughts creep back up, just as I see my parents mulling the same fact in a different way - the empty house, their beloved grandson no longer a part of their everyday lives, his antics no longer live action but more of a re-run through the blog, pictures and videos sent over. But as they say, the show must go on, and so we get ready to pack up and head on back to California.

Spell Check, please!

Somethings are still the same here; spelling errors on a bus ...

The journey so far

Since one of the main reasons for this trip was Kochunni's Vidyarambham we decided to ensure that both sets of grandparents were with us to enjoy the proceedings. We rented a car from Bangalore and traveled further south to Kollur and then to Kerala to visit our home town - though we really have no stake in it. Both sides of the family have let go or been pushed into letting go their respective tharvadu (ancestral house), but for both its still the place that beckons them. The agenda included a quick circuit around most of Kerala visiting some famous temples, the tharvadu and meeting a little bit of family.

But after two days of continuous travel from Bangalore to Kollur and now to Kerala, Kochunni looks like he is half his original size, seemingly having withered into a skeleton. We decided that it might be better on him (and us) to take some rest and give the little fella a break.

We stopped at my mother's cousins house in the lush green house near Palakkad. Kochunni was treated to various treats from Chakka upperi (jack-fruit side dish), cool nalikera vellam (nariyal pani/cocunut water) straight from fresh coconuts, fruits and fresh vegetables. He even had a traditional lunch on the plantain leaf for the first time. It turned out to be a wonderful stop-over. Kochunni was pleased with meeting his mema (mothers younger sister/mausi) and seemed to enjoy the sights of our home town - the green trees, the homely temples to the lush green fields. Having decided to cut short on some temple visits Kochunni got a well deserved break while both sets of parents still managed to do their darshans. By evening, with two good meals in his tummy and a good night sleep he was a new fella, and we went to my parents tharvadu and the associated temples.

The only concept that seemed archaic to Kochunni was our insistence on taking his shirt off inside the temples, the poor fella having never seen such a sight cried foul everytime we had to step into the temple. As far as I am aware, Kerala temples are the only place where they insist on men going to the temple in the traditional mundu - shirt less, with only a short mundu covering their chest or using their shirt over their shoulder. Women have to wear sares, while girls have to wear long skirts (pavada/blouse). Though today slowly the idea is challenged and some of the more famous temples have accepted girls/women in churidars and men in pants instead of the mundu. But going shirt less is still widely practiced. Slowly he is getting accustomed to showing off his 'tummy'!

By evening we progressed to Guruvayoor. Guruvayoor turned out to be so warm that we had to move from our non-A/C room to an A/C room during the middle of the night. Deciding to give the little fella another break Kochunni, my dad and I stayed back at Trissur at my husbands aunts house, while husband, mil and mom progressed further to his hometown. I did a little shopping and took rest.

Tomorrow we go back to Bangalore - another long 8-10 hour ride back. Its definitely not been a relaxing vacation (in terms of doing nothing) so far but after tomorrow hopefully the next few days will be restful until we go back home next week - back to the grind.

Vidyarambham

Today was Kochunni's Vidyarambham - the initiation into learning and writing in front of the Lord. This was one of the main reasons for our journey. We reached Kollur yesterday evening after a long car ride from Bangalore.

As the sun rose we quickly got ready for the big event. Luckily Kochunni was showing little signs of tiredness and we hoped that he will be a happy fella during the puja activities at 7AM. After bath, we quickly headed out to Goddess Mookambika temple a few minutes away from our hotel.

Luckily there was not much crowd and one of the priests was getting ready to do the ceremony for two girls when we arrived. He asked us to join them and we sat down inside the Sarswati Madapam. Kochuuni sat on his father's lap and myself next to them. He followed all the instructions that the priest gave with a curious look in his eyes. After prayers he wrote down 'Om Hari Shree Ganpathaya Namaha' in rice and that initiated him to his new learning's. The priest also used a gold ring to write the same on Kochuuni's tongue, represting Goddess Saraswati being with him through/for speech.

The event went off well and then we visited the temple and seeked Goddess blessings. After leaving the temple we stepped outside to see an elephant. Kochunni gave a 'laddooo' to the elephant and in return the elephant raised its trunk to Kochunni as if blessing him. Kochunni liked to feed the elephant but when the elephant turned to bless him he cried a little and tried to turn away. Few minutes latter though he kept re-telling the story of the elephant give him a blessing.We bought Kochuuni a 'chenda' (drum) that was an instant hit with him as he kept trying to play a tune and do a little dance walking down the street, amusing many folks.

Soon it was time for breakfast, re-packing and heading out to Kerala - our next stop.

16 Hours Done

Another 6 more to go before I we touch base with family. Currently at Dubai Airport, waiting for the next flight home. Its been a long 16 hours with Kochunni getting some uncomfortable sleep on my shoulder and on the seat. We barely got any sleep. The flight (Emirates) itself was a comfortable ride though since we got in late to the airport we did not get any time to eat lunch. Being on an empty stomach we gobbled up the dinner they served 3-4 hours later, barely realizing its flavour or taste. One drawback on the flight is its timing, due to which we got only two meals during the 16 hours of journey and very little snack items. On the other hand the Disney channel selection on board entertainment was a perfect thing for kids. Kochunni watched the movie Cars and spent some time being entertained by the idiot box. We barely needed the toy cars and coloring book that I carried for him. Also with a little puppet Jamal that the air hostess gave for the all the toddlers on the flight, Kochunni was a happy camper.

Hopefully with all the sleep he got he will not have much of a jetlag and reach home happy safe and sound. Though I cannot say the same for us!

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Posting a few back dated posts that I typed up, but never got around to post during our trip.

In 8 days

We are off to India, what many folks here would consider a vacation of dreams – for 3 whole weeks! My colleague almost fell off her chair, saying that it was 'awesome'.

Now tell the same thing to your desi friend and they give you knowing smile saying its been a while since you have gone back, haven’t you?

But it doesnt matter, 'coz I AM GOING TO INDIA IN 8 DAYS

I can’t hardly wait. To meet my best friends from college, to maybe see some of my school buddies, meet my parents, my family, travel and the BEST part – watch Kochunni’s reaction to everything. I am not sure how he will do – not a clue, but the anticipation is a joy every day.

Here I come ....

Make a list, check it twice

Lists are sometimes fun, and especially cute when it’s about babies right. So when I saw this on Shine I could not help but take it up. About a 100 items to do before – gasp – our precious babies are off to school. Well, Kochunni is 2 and ½ and am sure the next years will be gone in a jiffy, so I really need a list to keep up pace with his growth.

Here we go (green ones are ones we have done together already - Yippee!).

1. Go to the zoo
2. Visit a farm (pseudo-farm)
3. Go on a hike (a small hike, but one nevertheless)
4. Play with kittens or puppies
5. Catch a frog
6. Make a gigantic mess
7. Help clean up a gigantic mess
8. Master the monkey-bars (playing on them counts right … long way to go before mastering)
9. Swing high up into the sky all by themselves
10. Try ice-skating
11. Go sledding
12. Make a snow-man
13. Blow bubbles
14. Plant seeds and watch them grow
15. Have a pillow fight
16. Jump on a big bed
17. Jump on a trampoline or in a bounce house
18. Hang out in a tent
19. Spend days at the beach
20. Build sandcastles
21. Go fishing
22. Go out on a boat
23. Play with blocks and puzzles
24. Read the classic picture books
25. Read a classic chapter book
26. Check out library books with their own library card
27. Get a passport
28. Carve a pumpkin
29. Hold a newborn baby (to see how much they've grown)
30. Love a special doll or stuffed animal, cars and more cars!
31. Bake cookies and cakes
32. Help plan their own birthday party (not sure if I want to do this soon, feels like a grown up thing to do :D)
33. Go to the circus
34. Go to a museum on a quiet weekday weekend
35. Play hide-and-seek
36. Play a board game
37. Do nothing whatsoever all day
38. Try a sport
39. Watch a sporting event
40. Learn to swim
41. Be tickled in hysterics
42. Paint and draw as much as desired
43. Have the use of scissors and glue
44. Display artworks and other creations around the house
45. Learn to use a camera (and keep an album of the results!)
46. Play with clay
47. Pick flowers
48. Climb a tree
49. Gaze at the moon and stars
50. Toast marshmallows
51. Learn to eat an ice-cream cone
52. Watch a sunset
53. Learn to write their own names
54. Learn their addresses and telephone numbers
55. Learn their parents' full names
56. Set the table
57. Clear the table
58. Help wash the dishes
59. Learn to say their pleases and thank yous and excuse mes
60. Watch fireworks
61. Go to the ballet or theater or a puppet show
62. Put on a ballet or play or puppet show at home
63. Face paint
64. Dress up in costumes at will
65. Learn rhymes and poems and songs by heart
66. Have a dance party
67. Enjoy friends at preschool and at the park
68. Invite friends over to play
69. Get to know grandparents
70. Play with cousins
71. Become attached to a wonderful preschool teacher and/or babysitter
72. Learn the name of our president
73. Know the name of their town, state and country
74. Be familiar with a map of the world
75. Listen to music from many different ages and genres
76. Hear and learn words from a different language
77. Learn the difference between trash and recycling
78. Grow their own vegetables
79. Learn to ride a bike (or try!)
80. Take a road trip
81. Draw a self-portrait
82. Slurp alphabet soup
83. Learn to twirl spaghetti on a fork
84. Pick apples
85. Star in a home movie (from day one, no one else are on our million overflowing tapes)
86. Learn a magic trick
87. Try different hair-dos
88. Practice writing letters
89. Practice counting to 100 (do months of year count?)
90. Make up stories
91. Send a letter
92. Receive a letter
93. Ride on a merry-go-round
94. Give away toys and books to less fortunate children
95. Learn the value of coins and bills
96. Keep a piggy bank
97. Try a musical instrument
98. Have a heartfelt wish granted
99. Have a heartfelt wish denied
100. Receive a million (make that a billion) heartfelt kisses and hugs from their parents! Every day and counting …

I will come back to this list when Kochunni goes to school and see how we fared, then.

21st or 12th Century?

A few days ago I was talking to a friend about some of the shows on Indian television – it seemed like the dark ages showing off the saas-bahu dramas, the pain of a father trying to get his ‘dark’ daughter married off, and of course sad stories about the woman who can do no wrong - who is always in one mess or another because of course the whole world is crooked and she never has the guts to stand up and fight. But my friend made a valid point that in India we are still in the dark ages and some of these are real fears that people have, there are people who ‘understand’ why one needs to get married to the tree before you marry the man you fell in love with or why someone else committed Sati or will only wear a white and not attend a single function because their drunkard husband died of lung failure. “Between art imitating life and life imitating art, we're not getting away from this crap,” she said. Her words stayed with me for a long time after, and I could not help wondering what is that keeping India in the dark ages.

Today I came across this news piece – It seems even during crashing economic times, the Bank of England has found time, and has taken the effort to send memos to their female employees on how to dress. Ridicules “rules” like ‘always wearing heals that are no more than 2 inches’ to a complete ‘NO’ on overstuffed bags are included in this memo. I am not sure how the female staff reacted to this bit of a memo, but indeed what a way to ensure the 21st century progress backwards!

So between the idiot box detailing 12th century ethics and a company laying biased ‘rules’ for just half of their employees, I guess we are definitely not getting away from this crap, any time soon.

Freedom, Our Right

I am wearing this badge (courtesy MayG) – and reminding every reader, every individual that Freedom is our right and let no one take that away, Again!

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This is in response to what many fellow blogger's have already written so eloquently about.

My Amma

Finally after 2 and 1/2 long years I hear these words – “MY” amma - spoken today morning with every ounce of emotion that a 3 feet, 2 year old can muster – a possessive, matter-of-fact sound that’s usually reserved for his toy cars and fire trucks he plays with.

A little mommy’s heart no doubt is joyous and ecstatic. Be back after my feet touches the ground, ta-ta! :D

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Ed to add: Kochunni calls me amma for a long time now, it was one of his first words but the change today was the very possessive “my”. That is usually reserved for his toys and bob the builder videos, today it was Me! That totally made the day!

Kinda dumb. Don't You think?

Movies, I admit are one of my weakness. Does this make me any less smart?

Wanna watch a movie where a ‘pharin-returned’ (foreign) hero is so dumb that he keeps his hard-earned cash with him rather than a bank and then goes on lose it all in a fight with the bad guys on a rainy afternoon – watch Maine Pyar Kiya

If you want to watch a couple fall in love with one massive blow out kiss in rain and then never ever communicate with each other, watch Raja Hindustani

If you really craving for some melodrama about a guy only noticing the woman of his dreams – “the Bharitya nari in chiffon saris” watch Kuch Kuch Hota Hai

For a simple way of life becoming so messy and complicated with one trip down the flight of stairs watch Hum Apake Hai Kaun. Stairs=death, take the elevator always!

So why do I sit and poke holes at some top movies from yesteryear's because of this question that seems to be on everyone’s lips these days – Three not so great plots or stories – Rab De, Ghajini, Chandini Chowk are churning out money like popcorn (haven’t watched either of the above mentioned ones). Time and again, people have spent money and time to sit through movies that have gaping holes in them, to make them ‘blockbuster’ of the year. Does this mean the audience which is You and I, are idiots or better at suspending our rational thought for 3 hours? Pray tell.

To me its personal - I could only watch KKHH once and that too was a pain in ass, because the portrayal and the story of Shahrukh’s character and Kajol (Rahul/Anjali) felt so wrong to me. Clothes maketh a man, but what about personality, compatibility, do they not count in a relationship? I felt so bad on the whole – I mean you could make KKHH part two with Rahul and Anjali’s kid trying to re-unite Anjali and Aman (Salman), because oh Rahul dies on his way to work! Jeez! And what with 8 letters, didn’t she have time to write a few more? On the other hand I can still watch MPK especially the first part for the innocence, the laughter and fun portrayed. On the other hand I could have choked myself to death watching Kabhie Kushi Kabhie Gam – especially every time the song came on, which was like every minute. There have been decent movies too with a plot and a storyline– Lagaan, Rock On, Dil Chahta Hai etc that make movie watching a fun experience. Unfortunately they might not be the biggest blockbusters. On the whole the theater run is scared, movies that don’t get the best reviews are for a DVD rental or TV movie only. That’s just me.

The point, yes there is one, is when you go watch a movie you have the suspend your beliefs, but the distinction is by how much. How much suspension might depend of how much you like the star, how much you ‘want’ to like the movie, how much fun you had while watching the movie and so much more. I don’t think ‘dumb’ movies are restricted to any particular language or country either, it’s what you are exposed to and how the matter is presented that matters. For instance, so many movies portrayed a hero who could beat up bad guys and emerge triumphant at the end, heroes who don’t even looked the part, but Matrix changed the dynamics of the plot/story to actually portray the same by calling it all an illusion, and that worked. This time around, it looks feasible. But certainly not all plots lends to justification of the story or a scene like the 100 year old Harrison Ford surviving a nuclear explosion by sitting inside a refrigerator. WTF!

So go on, have a popcorn, waste the $’s, suspend your beliefs and ENJOY ‘if’ you can or move over the dumb patrol is already on the scene. :D

Time flies

Kochunni is officially 2 and ½ years, and I have absolutely no idea how the past years went by. Today can’t imagine the lifetime before we had him (not true I remember the days I slept for 28 hours over a 48 hour period). He is almost a boy, playing with his trains and cars lying flat on the ground.

Gone are the days when he got his first red car (a hummer) and all he did was to hold it without letting go, (even if we showed him to let the car run on its own a 100 times, he wouldn’t let go). Today he will ask you to sit at the opposite end so that he can race two cars towards you.

Gone are the days when he was trying to crawl, today he runs ahead and is upset if by some luck you made it past him and came first.

Gone are the days when all he could do was to put a spoon into his mouth as he tried to chew it off or bang the spoon on the plate, today he makes chapatti’s with his amma. (He rolled the dough to the perfect little roti)

So my budding chef, my rising star, Here's to a wondrous new journey, that's round the corner.

Happy 2009

What a great start to the year with this wonderful award from Preethi (sorry gf for being late, been sorta distracted). I can’t thank you enough, you Da Best!


[This award is given to a blog that invests and believes in PROXIMITY - nearness in space, time and relationships! These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in prizes or self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers! Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award.]



I pass this along to Asaaan, AM, Wunderyearz, Cuckoo, Dottie, Noonie, Kodi’s Mom, Lijy, ~NM, Tessie, Angel, Mystic Margarita.


Hope you all have a great year ahead!

The last post of 2008

So how do I do the last post of the 2008?

I have been racking my brains on this – seems like a big thing – you know ‘end it right’, sorta thing. Thought of many things to do - a summary post (who has time), a time capsule (Dottie did a far better job already, see here), a resolutions list (come on you know I won’t keep it) or maybe a snapshot of the blog that is rocking and all that jazz (who am I kiddin', my readership has probably fallen to the deep abyss already)

And then it hit me. I do the last post (drum roll please) with CELEBRATIONS! Because, I made it to a 100 post per year this year. Isn’t that reason enough? :D

Here’s wishing you all a HAPPY HAPPY 2009! May all that be blessed come your way. And here are some great pictures of how everyone is celebrating.

Lastly a prayer

O Krishna, we praise and thank you for the gift of living this year,
This year has been a time filled with many blessings,
a few challenges and some opportunities, joys and sorrows
While we trust and believe in You,
Sometimes it’s been difficult to understand Your ways.
Guard us and show us the right way
May we continue to grow in age, wisdom, knowledge and grace
Throughout our lifetime.
Jai Shree Krishna.


Happy New Year!

The Christmas that was …

Full of gifts for the little fella, two parties and one enjoyable train ride. This year too, Kochunni did not grasp the full meaning of Christmas, Santa Claus or the gifts – he seemed to just take everything in stride with a curious sense of joy and wonder, which after all is the true spirit of any festival. He picked up the plane and his truck as the first gifts to be opened but in a little while he took to the drawing board easel scribbling away the sun, the moon and the stars, much to my joy. (We still have to open the little doctor set which I will probably hideaway for the next rainy day).

In the evening we went to our friends Christmas party and enjoyed ourselves to some nice food and innovative party games that the hosts came up with. Isn’t it great when the host of the party really plans a party well – fun for the kids and adults. The next day being holiday I was hoping to sleep in but as usual Kochunni woke up and like the last few weekends he tried to wake us up by singing rather loudly and completely out of tune. The new thing that has also started the past weekend is to jump out of the bed and walk out into the living area – and of course being the most ultra-sensitive cautious parents one of us goes up right behind him to see if he is up to any mischief. Anyway the only good that came of getting our asses out of the bed was that I was able to get to some after-Christmas sales and bought some ornaments for the front yard for the next year. Of course hubby was cross since it meant another box in the already filled up garage.

Saturday we left early for a train trip to Sacramento along with our friends. Maybe it was the low expectations from the trip that it became all the more fun and memorable. We boarded the early morning Amtrax train and as we caught the seats in the upper level we were amazed at the clean and overall spacious little corner. We got the middle seats with tables so the kids enjoyed banging on them and driving their toy cars. The three hours were over pretty soon as we watched some beautiful coastline scenes along the way.

At Sacramento, we walked a few minutes to the little old town - Railroad museum. All of us expected (though no one admitted) it be a dud with possibly pictures of old trains, but to our real surprise they had the real trains parked inside for our viewing pleasure. From the guided tour we learned about the history and as we walked around these majestic trains we were amazed at how our forefathers would have welcomed this mode of transport – connecting people along some pretty impressive mountains and terrains that before then seemed impregnable. Of course you also hear about the wrongs of our forefathers ( the Chinese laborers were pretty much ill-treated, even though they put in equal if not more effort into building a fully functional train system), did which saddens our hearts. There is also a couple of compartments that you can board to see up close - the sleeper chair and the dinning cart along with the impressive chinaware. The upstairs part of the museum is dedicated to some wonderfully built toy cars, which was an instant hit among the boys. Kochunni loved the play area with Thomas and his friends toys and was not ready to leave until quite a bit of warning to leave him there alone. We had lunch a family style Pizza place and by the time we boarded the train for our trip back we were all exhausted. Luckily Kochunni slept for most of the ride back and we only had to entertain one kid who finally slept when it was almost time to get off the train.

We came home exhausted, but still no one could stop talking about the benefits of traveling in the train, our memories of travels back in India and how wonderful it would be if more of America was connected via trains and if it was a little bit more cheap. As we promised ourselves to look into some other nearby places to go for our next weekend get-away, we hauled ourselves home. Sunday was spent relaxing, watching some movies and attending a birthday party. And so ended our Christmas break.

How about yours? Do anything fun?

And to all a good nite!

Snow has fallen, winter has set,
The houses have been lit as the year draws to a close
Santa has started his wonderous journey
As we will soon scramble to bed.
We will be back up in a while to wrap up Kochunni's gifts
Playing our parts as Santa's little elves.
Here's wishing you all a very Merry Christmas!


Image from Christmas MySpace Animations

Story Time

One of my fondest memory from my childhood is during the power-cut hour, sitting in front of our house in Bangalore, with my grandfather - him on his lazy chair, the rest of us on the ground, or the stairs, telling me wonderful stories. There was something mysteriously fun about sitting outside in pitch darkness with only the light shimmering from the million stars above, listening to the stories. My grandfather is one of the best story-tellers. He introduced me to Lord Krishna – through various stories – Kaliya-mardhana, Putana, Bakasura and many more. Today one little search, can land you with a million sites offering stories – folklore, mythology and everything in between. But reading is vastly different from listening to a story.

The magic is in the words, the description, the hint of mystery when some things are left to the listeners’ imagination. It cannot be long, drawn out measure because you might loose the listeners interest, nor do you want to say too much that they have nothing left to imagine. It’s definitely a talent.

When my dear Chachan (grandpa) used to tell me the story, it was his voice – rough, loud and clear that helped build the story. It was also his diction and the little details in the story that he would include. I still remember the first time he told me the story of “The Count of Monte Cristo” he remembered all the character names. Unfortunately I seem to have forgotten many of them today! (sob!) He had a craft in telling the story – like when he narrated the story of Krishna's Kaliyamardhana he would describe the dance Lord Krishna did on the snake with a little beat - "Tham Thakka ...", holding one hand like a hooded snake and the other to symbolize Krishna jumping around the various fingers.

Flash forward 25 years, now I am trying to tell stories to Kochunni – stories of wonder, stories of love and of devotion. I don’t think I have a good talent but I am trying my best. I hope that as he gets older he will enjoy story time, maybe we can sit outside, in the moonlight and build memories together.

On the other hand, he probably already has his great grandpa's talent. He is making up stories about the lion and the monkey jumping on the car and running around, drinking milk, sometimes falling over, sometimes giving you hugs. If you ask him why they fell over, he will turn around look at a spot and ask the lion why he fell, its funny, amusing and lovable. He draws in details that you don't expect from a 2 year old - of course the details might not be all that right with the lion in a green shirt or driving the fast car, but to me what matters is his thought process the fact that he is able to imagine, and to build as much detail as he is able to with his limited vocabulary to tell me a 'katha'.

Daycare updates

Its almost been a month at the new daycare of the little fella, of course with some vacations and his ill heath it hasn’t been as continuous, nevertheless. So some updates (just a fancy way of scrap booking the noticeable changes)

• For the last two weeks, when we drop him off he looks at us (reminding me of the cat from the movie Shrek) and reminds us “vegam varane” (come early). Of course, it’s the ‘drama gene’ that he has inherited but we fall for it every time.
• He loves to talk to his cars like his teacher and friends at school talk to him – so you can hear him admonishing the car “No! Go there”, “Come here”, "This is mine" etc. It’s almost as if he is practicing with his toy cars whatever new sentence he has learned in school. It’s a fun and easy way to let him play and watch the new things he is doing.
  
• This is the best part, if I jump in and explain or correct a sentence (usually correcting his grammatical errors or adding in the golden words) he looks at me in total wonder. Almost as if thinking “My amma knows this, so cool. I just thought she was a dumb girl that gave me food and rocked me to sleep” LOL!

He is talking a lot, knows his colors and recognize many alphabets. He is still weak in his number recognition and throws a fit for lot of things but (touch wood) the terrible twos are ‘almost’ under control. At least now he can somewhat explain what is bothering him. But still a long way to go, especially getting to the diaper-free zone or sleeping on his own - yes he hasn’t mastered that art yet and with his last episodes, he is back to sleeping with us so that we can monitor his breathing. Of course, its always easy to move him to our bed but the route back to his own is tougher. So with the last four-five days of sleeping with us, yesterday he was demanding that he sleep in the AC room. Needless to say, ‘miles to go before we sleep’!

Snow humor

So if you are busy with shopping and stressed out every time you see "Only 6, 5, 4 days to Christmas" - almost an end of the world sort of message, here is some holiday humor. Enjoy!

Santa is coming ...

The stores were decked out two months before and the discussions around ‘what to buy’ started even before. Now with the ‘big’ sales – Early Door busters to Midnight sales – everyone is scrambling to get something for someone.This time though I really would love a real Santa- just seems that it will save me some hard cash. :D

But then again, wasn’t the festive time more for celebration, for family gatherings and just good times. When did gifts, shopping, sales comes into it? Of course, everyone says the same exact sentiment every year and still goes ahead on a shopping spree buying items for every Tom, Dick and Harry. Will it change this year? Maybe!

The thing I love best about this time is the decked out houses, reminds me of Diwali in Mumbai – every flat would be lit up with diyas, the sweet smell of sweets, noisy kids running around, gatherings of families and of course the movies to watch over late nights. This year, since Kochunni is going to his new daycare he is more exposed to ‘Santa’ and his ways. The daycare is planning do a gift exchange next week, and we have been invited to a holiday party for this weekend. Of course, he doesn't know yet that he can start to "demand" for certain gifts (in pretense of writing letters to Santa) this year to I can try to get him meaningful gifts rather than the million plus cars and trucks he is eying for! Already got him a little doctor set, debating on a drawing board-easel combo and of course a little scoop truck just to see his eyes lit up!

That reminds me, what is everyone planning to buy this year? Any wish-lists for yourself, for your kids?

Happy B-Day DADDY!

To the dad ...

who would never forget little treats for his girl; however late he was

who would always act surprised when he finally found the girl hiding under the bed

who taught her how to ride the bike and play badminton

who always argued a case with her until another joined the fight, that they would mysteriously become best friends

who made her laugh

who wrote up a new lullaby for his grandson (still his favorite one at that)

who is and forever will be the BEST dad this girl could have ever!

Happy Birthday, Achan.

More than a common cold

Coming back from our trip from Legoland, Kochunni had cough that did not seem to go away. Later in the night his whole body was rocking as he was breathing but calling up the nurse line we were told it might just still be because of stuffy nose. The husband being extra cautious type decided to take him to the doctor, which as it turns was a good thing. It seems he had a wheezing cough that was very severe and we were already late in getting him to the doctors. Now armed with a nebulizer and a steroid drug we were sent home with strict instructions to conduct a nebulizer session every 4 hours for four days (& night) straight. Of course we were scared shitless. What was wrong with this little 3 feet guy who still seemed to be smiling and enjoying "Bob-bi-bi" (bob the builder) videos and throwing tantrums left and right.

Luckily being the Thanksgiving weekend we were home and he responded well to the medications. A follow up visit with the doctor and she was impressed. She warned us that this could be just a viral infection or could be sign of asthma. The rule of thumb to call it asthma was if it occurred again twice. We prayed to all known gods to ensure that this was just a viral infection and that the worst was over.

Days passed, and as the economy was crashing our thoughts were now racing around meeting the house payments and job security. We made a trip to Dallas and as a precaution even took the nebulizer with us. But everything was fine, that is until this weekend.

Kochunni caught the cold bug and started coughing up a storm and by Sunday morning his breathing seemed severely stressed out. We gave him the nebulizer and took him to the after-hour clinic. Our fears were coming true. The doctor diagnosed his wheezing attack and confirmed our suspicions.

We are dumbstruck, there is no family history of asthma, and at least to me the very name is wrought with horrible pictures of murderous villains hanging onto the asthma medicine playing catch as the heroes coughed up and begged for the medicine. Somehow to even think that a little 3 feet guy running around the house with infectious laughter could be so tied down is not plausible. But that is now the case, it seems.

Today was a follow up visit and Kochunni has vastly improved, but we are on the regime of 4 hours for the next 4 days. Better to be safe than sorry. The doctor does not think it is related to any allergies but could possibly be related to the cold. There are still a few months left for this winter to be over, and the question is can we beat the cold? If he does, there might not be a need for medications (steroids) otherwise …

Hoping for the best, and wishing for him to be safe.

A Wednesday

Reviews are a matter of opinions, you take it or leave it, but it also adds a little perceptive to our thoughts. We saw the movie ‘A Wednesday’ at our cousin’s house at my jiju’s insistence – really it was the battle was between Bejja Fry and Pirates of the Caribbean and somehow this little known movie won. Its just a story that happens on a Wednesday and therefore the name, It has elements of Fox’s 24 and Bruce Wills Die Hard but still is intrinsically Indian and no, not with song and dance (of which there is none) but just the visuals and the straightforward dialogues. With a great cast Shergill, Shah, Kher it promises a thriller ride for everyone (not kids of course). A couple of newcomers (I think) the TV reporter, the good cop, have done their work well too add to the whole experience.

The movie talks about terrorism in the background but mainly its about our society - the one we all live in and breathe or at least try to. Crisp (most of the time) and edgy it’s a decent movie from start to finish.



Ok, my first review reveals nothing about the movie, but that just it – for this one, go without reading too many reviews or plot lines, otherwise it will spoil the experience – I don’t want to give anything away, just know that it’s a good ride and if you don’t like it come back and we can have a discussion about it, ok? :D

Burning: Inside/Out

A couple of weeks ago, Tharini of Winkie's way's posted a text challenge - basically offering 6 words that we needed to work into a sentence, it reminded me how years ago when, as part of language exams we were given a word that we had to use in a sentence. This was one of my favorite parts of the exams - for once you could not memorize anything, had to come up with the sentences in the one hour that was given for the exam, apart from doing all the other things that was asked from us to - fill in the blanks, true or false questions etc. I would feel proud when I came up with a clever answer - it was probably not the best, and with around 80 students in the class, I am sure the teacher found lots of clever, wise, touching and amusing ones. But to me, it was a matter of accomplishment.

Two days ago, there was another challenge on Winkie's way, these were the words - 'Remind Prodded Grasped Message Companions' and the rules were to use the words as is and in 18 words or less. This is the sentence that I came up with "Prodded to action by challenge my message companions is of peace, if you have grasped please remind all."

Nothing extraordinary, far better ones have been written, but today morning as I opened up my news box & I read stories of Mumbai under attack. I shuddered, and rang up friends to make sure that they were home safe and sound. Its been 24 hours and still no resolution, and I come back to sentence that I typed up less than 24 hours before - no I am not reading too much into it, but a million questions surge in my heart, all beginning with one word "Why" I have no answer but as my beloved city, the city that I grew up in, the city that taught me so many things, the city that never sleeps, Burns .... all I say is ENOUGH!!

Enough with violence, enough with the bloody politicians who are only good at bashans; either get down from the high pedestal, get out of your bullet proof car or just shut up! And for once, join force with the people and do something about the attacks, spend money on intelligence rather than getting more money in your pocket.

Prayers to each and everyone. My eyes are moist, the places attacked are part of history, part of Mumbai's heart and soul, I feel so helpless, I cannot watch the news no more ...

A break

With a couple of PTOs that both of us needed to take we decided to take some time off work and of course being parents holiday have to be decided with kids enjoyment in mind, we decided to drive down to Lego land.

The first big car ride alone with the fella, to say we were apprehensive would be a minor statement. I packed along a few books, a little coloring notepad and some of his cars. Of course being two lazy people in the world, all packing was done on the day of travel and we started out after lunch. Realizing that we had left a few things like the camera, some slippers for the beach, we had to come back to house a couple of times before we officially started the trip at 2.30.

With no sleep in sight for the little fella (with all the running around that we did probably), we set off watching the cars and trucks driving by. After a couple of hours, he did some coloring and realizing that there is nothing to do at all, he fell off to sleep. By the time he woke up, it was time for dinner and then in an hour we were at our destination.

The next day was a nice sunny day and with a little backpack full of goodies we arrived at Legoland. Having been to Disney and Universal a while ago we were expecting long lines, throngs of kids and tired parents but were sorely disappointed. This time around, we were able to get on most rides that Kochunni loved multiple times. His favorite was the pirate ship that held a big squirt water gun that could spout water at other ships that passed us, his second favorite the car ride along lego jungle. He also did his first (mini) roller-coaster ride where he was laughing hysterically when the cart dipped a few meters downs. We finished most of the rides and areas by 4 and then went around his favorite rides some more, realizing that we had the time. All in all a great day indeed.

As it turns out Legoland is a great place for toddlers, especially boys (2+ to maybe around 3 1/2 ) where they could mostly ride all the rides except for a couple like the big dragon roller coaster and a joy car ride. Of course the next age group that would probably enjoy would be the 6-7 year olds who play a lot with lego and understand the intricately created pieces.The Miniland USA is really great place to walk around.

The next day we were to come back, but we decided to stop at the beach in the morning and spend some time playing in the water and sand. This time around, Kochunni was more relaxed in the waters and enjoyed standing knee deep in it. He also loved to play in the sand with his little bucket and pail. The ride back was much tougher than the one in, with after a good nap, for the last 2 hours of the ride, he kept asking us to stop the car and pick him up. Yes, he is pretty demanding that way!

Anyway, a nice short much needed vacation.

The first day ...

*** I wrote this post on the 18th, but never published it, so back-dating it! ***

Yesterday was Kochunni’s first day. Unfortunately I could not accompany the little guy as I had urgent stuff that I need to get done at work every Mondays so his dad took him in. We deposited the bag of diapers, wipes and lunch and bid adieu. The little guy cried at such a change in setting, as expected but a phone call half our later they told us he is fine and enjoying some coloring work. I called again at 12 and was told that he had his lunch and was now going for his nap. I rushed early from work to pick up the guy and found him playing outside – no tears, just the playful self. I was happy, cross that was very happy!

I talked briefly to the assistant and signed him out and came home. When I asked him how the day was, he kept saying two things over and over again – 1. No cycle (they used to have cycle at his old daycare), 2. Achan poi, Kochunni karieenu, teacher shush… (daddy left, I cried, and the teacher said shush with fingers on his lips action). When pressed, he also claimed that his old buddies – Mihir, Vedant and Rucha came to the new daycare! :)

When we reached home, he asked for a sandwich ; I was surprised – usually he would just try his luck for a cookie, but never real food. Talking I opened his lunch box to find that the sandwich I had packed was untouched, which meant that he was really hungry for the only other things I had packed was some grapes, a banana, a cup of milk and a little slice of pumpkin bread. I quickly made him a butter sandwich and offered it him. And wonders he ate the whole thing. My heart bled!

Today I made rice and dal, hoping that the familiarity of rice might make him eat his lunch. The weird thing though, when I called at 11.30 his teacher said he had already had his lunch and was now going to lie down and read a book before falling to sleep around 12.30. I wonder if it’s the timings of early lunch that’s making him eat less. He never had lunch at 11 and if he does no wonder he would be hungry by 5 PM. I will need to talk to his teacher about the new routine.

We all go through growing pains, I hope this is just that!

The catch!

So after full two weeks of looking (hunting) for a daycare cum preschool for the little fella we finally choose a Montessori which is 4 miles away from home but was the only one that had a better reputation and came close our liking.

The local Montessori that we checked out last was bad mouthed by Mrs S (Kochunni’s home day-care aunty). And the other Montessori that everyone loves around here is booked solid – the waiting list had 70 kids already! The other two preschools near our house, were priced so high that you would think its Oxford College or something. Not that, price should be a deterrent but it did not seemed to have the value for the money we would put in, One was just starting out, so with only 5 kids they had placed all of them together even if they were 3 or older, while the other was just a big hall split up into little sections where the teacher sat down on one end coloring and the kids in the other corner, some crying some playing. Not really a picture one would like to see on your tour of the place.

Just like last time it finally got down to bare details on what was your first instinct at the daycare, were you ready to flee, fairly ok or downright loved it. Of course there was nothing that came close to the last emotion, though that’s more so because as a mom nothing (yes nothing) can be perfect for your child other than oneself. But finally deciding on a place at least makes room for the next nightmare of how Kochunni will do at the new school!

The daycare hunt, begins again!

Monday evening:
First day after the time change, it was cold, dark and raining a little by 5 PM. As I park my car and walk up towards the back of the house to pick up Kochunni from his home daycare, the lady of the house and his teacher comes in from the front and stops me. Unusual, I think! There is not a smile on her face, just tiredness. My brain goes into fast drive, what did Kochunni do? Did he throw a fit? There were hints of it from her before, a cry over not getting the cookies first. Is that it? She suddenly turns around and looks at my face and probably understanding where my thoughts are leading, hastens to point out that everything is ok, but that she wanted to talk to me about something.

With an urgency I probe, what is it? Finally settling into her sofa opposite me, she tells me about an black out incident that happened to her last week, while picking up her daughter from school. She lost sight and was blurry for a full 45 minutes, and checkups with doctors reveal that she might need some more examinations. She hastens to explain that she would like to shut down the daycare for now to take care of her health.

What a bomb! I was not prepared to be back into the “daycare hunt” so soon. I ask again (not wanting to accept it), is it so bad, she has two helpers, and not so many kids anymore. But her mind is made up, and she gives me other daycare numbers that I could check out. My heart bleeds for her, and for my son. This lady who for the past 8 months looked after my son, played and taught him so many things. This was his second home. Now he needs to find another place and move on.
I called my husband on my way home and my brain was still in overdrive, trying to look at possibilities. Should we look for a proper pre-school or still keep him in a home based daycare? Where are all those little chits of paper of daycares and nannies that I had dealt with just a few months back?

Tuesday night:
After a long day of work, I reached home to find the little fella sitting at his chair, while his father cooking. My stomach grumbled, but we needed to visit the two daycares that Kochunni’s teacher had suggested. I decided to quickly feed the little fella and in between called up both places to go visit them later. In a few minutes, the three of us bundled up and head towards the first house. It was further away than the current one, but the house was clean, spacious and kid-friendly. The lady, Ms. H, seemed quite nice. We leave for the next house, the house is clean, spacious too. Then she walked us to the play area – the garage! Yes, you heard it the garage – it was converted into the play area, by throwing in some carpets, pictures and toys. I am dumbstruck, and I can see my honey walking in circles looking down on the floor - that either means he is in deep thought or he is very upset, I voted for the second - but I went with the motions of asking about food, & activities that she manages. Slowly we said our goodbyes.

As we drove back, both of us said immediately, no way with the second house. I am not letting my son sleep every afternoon in a place that could extra cold in winter and extra hot in summer, with no windows and just a measly light coming from the glass (closed) windows. Hd was upset enough to call the child services and talk to them about how kids shouldn’t be left in the garage for full days as it might be harmful with the heater and washer/dryer and other stuff still in the garage. It basically boiled down to the fact that the we only had one place to go.

Wednesday:
I decided I need to start my rounds of calling up places and after much deliberation called up the local Montessori and I went to check the place in the evening. The place was neat, tidy and the children all well behaved, as expected! The owner an European lady who asked the right questions and remained friendly and yet business like, persuasive and yet motherly.

The tiny little chairs and tables for the little kids with all the neat little sections for the kids reminded me harshly that this would mean a real school experience for the little fella. My heart churned, is he ready for such a change? I missed my family terribly at that moment, and wished for a miracle for them to be with us just so that I could push the inevitability a little further. Then I tried to reason, at the end of it all I cannot afford for Kochunni to be in a daycare where the person is having issues with her health (not fair for either), nor there is a possibility of me to stay away from my job. The only option would be to send him either to the family daycare, so that for some more days, even months, he gets individual attention or to a preschool that prepares him to harsher realities of routine and curriculum sooner than later!

Thursday morning:
Still undecided. But blogging! :D

'Tis was the night ....

Of jubilation's, of tears, of winning! And wonders of wonders, a nation, a world watched an historic event unfold. As Obama made his speech, his words rung true to millions of Americans across the country –“ Yes, we can” do what we set our heart & our minds to do.

And as I see little Kochunni say the same slogan like his favorite TV character I can dream a little dream – maybe the world will be a better place and change is in order. Who knows in another 48 years, he could be running for President himself and would have a fair chance of winning, if he so chose.

"This is our chance to answer that call. This is our moment. This is our time — to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American Dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth that out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope, and where we are met with cynicism, and doubt, and those who tell us that we can't, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people: Yes, we can."

The evening that was ...

Boo-tackular and b-elicious! Halloween of course. Kochunni dressed up like his favorite character “Bob the builder” with a tool belt, orange vest and light brown suspenders’. And even if I say so myself, he was just too cute!

First stop, his amma’s Spooktacular party last Wednesday … I picked up the little fella from daycare right after naptime and drove him to the party and he even got to see my little cube, he kept saying “Amma office” – finally (I guess) he was happy to see that his dear mother disappeared each day to this 4 by 4 place rather than some exotic location! There was candy, little games and a walk of fame that he enjoyed at the party. A sort of dry run to the actual event.

On Friday, after much debate of either taking him to the mall or just to the couple of houses down the street, we decided to call on our friend. Luckily, with the mom resting with her newborn she was happy to leave her older girl at our house to go trick-o-treating. Kochunni was happy and followed his chechi (elder sister) to every house in the neighborhood that had a light on, banged his hammer on the door and repeated “trick or teeet” and a little Thank you. He did not understand what one was supposed to do after the people deposited the candy in his pumpkin and at one house he even left it right there and came running back to me!

Finally as it started to drizzle we headed back home, to give some kids who came by our house, some candy. At last count, Kochunni’s chechi had 37 candies while he had around 25. Though neither were allowed to eat any, one because she had just lost her two teeth and was told sternly by the doctor – no candy today or your teeth will bleed, and the other because for one more year, he doesn’t exactly know what candies are! :D

But now though the bigger question, what do I do with the 25 candies + the two bags of candy that I bought? Maybe the witches of Halloween would come by and make it disappear. Poof!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Diwali

Wish you all a very happy diwali, may the lights shine on you and your family and bring you all the happiness.

We celebrated Diwali in grand style this weekend at the temple where I got some henna done on my hands and Kochunni wore the kurta that we had bought for his first birthday. At first he was freaked out by the outfit and kept trying to pull it off his head, when finally I showed him his dad’s kurta he was satisfied that this was not some atrocious “girly” outfit! :D

The Diwali mela was nice, with lots of music, food, dance by kids to popular songs like 'Pappu cant dance' and 'Krazzy 4'. It was amazing how many picked on these same songs, but still managed to come up with totally different styles to each. Kochunni enjoyed these numbers extremely and was dancing in the chair, reminding me that next year he could on stage.

At home, these past few days we lit up a few diyas and enjoyed family time. It was a cute sight as I lit the diyas, Kochunni standing right next to me folding his hands in prayer. I hope that one day I could be in India during this time for him to also enjoy some firecrackers and the sparkles all over. But with the festive season beginning there is lots to look forward ...

Are TV shows changing?

Please tell me that they are…. For I do long for a change. When we ordered Direct TV last year I had hoped that watching some good old desi-TV would be a good break from the reality TV shows that now have filled up most of the prime spots on the television. When horrors I realized that the soaps with its regressive values still run the gamut of Indian television! Have you seen the ad for Grihasti – what with the some 7 odd women who have ‘lost their only male support’ Are you kidding me? Reading the news today about the end of the Kyunki saga – brings a little cheer in me. Could it be possible that Indian TV is moving to something more that these oft written lines of “Maa, Bahu, Saas, and the exploitative family members? How can one person be all good and another all evil, has never made sense to me. Add to this the background score of each of these shows - what’s with big drum roll for every turn the eye makes!

Maybe just maybe things will change? At our friends request we watched the show Akkara Kazhchakal on YouTube to realize that better shows could come into existence if only, people cared. The basic premise of the show is to show a Malayalam family living in the US – the daily trials and tribulations that they could face – all with a dose of humor often exaggerated situations but that which anyone who has lived here for a while could relate to. The show is not like a typical soap opera but looks more like a mirrors the daily life - not the dressed up poor bahu and the her saas always eating something.

So here’s hoping for a well deserved change.

Can we do this?

Its Blog Action Day TODAY! I think it should be an ACTION day every day, even every minute if possible.

India is one of the biggest growing nations these days, people seem to have enough cash to buy their iPODs/iPhones to their Swifts and everything in between. Places are lined with malls, inviting the wealthy to spend. Turn around, do you see that little street urchin who hasn’t had a proper meal possibly for two days straight?

Yesterday’s BBC news had this article on their front page - Hunger in India states 'alarming' – as I read it I remember the incident a few weeks ago when honey had to run to Safeway to get a pack of diapers that we ran out on. It seems that electricity had gone out for a couple of hours before at Safeway and now they were instructing employees to take the milk and other frozen items out to be thrown away. YES thrown away … because of the liability issue! Both husband and I racked our brains on what they could have done instead – called some other Safeway location and transferred some stuff there – of course transport could be an issue. Called up a local charity/orphanage and donate at least in part? Again liability issue. I am sure if it was India, they probably could have just yelled and in a hour all the stuff would be taken away within minutes by the poor. But nothing of that sort happened and I guess the food was taken away to be dumped!

I felt so helpless that day and even today when I think about the incident. I regret not being able to do anything!

But it doesn’t stop me from doing things I can do today and everyday. I admit these are small things, but “boond boond se sagar bana” (little drops makes the ocean).

1. Stop buying truckloads of bottled water – get a filter instead and use tap water. Take a bottle to office, so you don’t use the paper cups or bottle water.
2. Don’t waste food. Period.
3. Recycle, Reuse.
4. Plant something.
5. Donate.
6. Shout at honey or little Kochunni or anyone if I see the tap left open while they are brushing their teeth (they are getting much better about it, these days).

Here’s more.

Go ahead, do something. Like John F. Kennedy said "...ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country" your World. Just do the little things and hope that there’s still a beautiful world left when our kids & grand kids grows up!

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Please do join the Blog Action Day - 2008, if you can. Go ahead, and do tell me if you do!


Image from: BBC News and Blog Action day site

So many words, yet so little

There was talk on a radio show that I often listen to on my way to work about Ivana Trump getting married to her boyfriend who is quite a few years younger to her. They kept calling her a “couger”. Now, in reality couger is a mountain lion or panther – a beautiful animal native to the Americas. But here the reference is more of an older woman who preys on younger men. Note the word is even the #1 buzz word according to Time.

This got me thinking how many words we use to describe woman’s exploits and some of it is just not fair ...A married man dating another woman is just a cheat but his girlfriend becomes a mistress, if the situation were reversed the man still doesn’t have an equivalent to the word mistress while the women would be called a b**ch. Again the word is not ugly by itself – it’s just the female of the dog specie – an animal who is loyal and cute; but the connotations it draws in the minds of people is of a hard core woman who will do anything to get what she wants.

Of course, you might argue, that one should love being called a couger for the matter of empowerment and all. I mean here is this reversal of the typical December-May romance. But calling any human being with an animal name is never in my books a good thing? Not that an animal is anyways better or worse than humans, it just doesn’t seem fair to either species. What say you?

(image from: http://weblogs.cltv.com)

Angels

Saturday, honey came back from a two week long trip to India and it was perfect. Kochunni got tons of books that my mom sent, a little wrist watch and even a wooden car that he played around for hours on end. Of course poor honey was tired from jet lag, but the little fella wanted to do everything with his “Acha” (daddy) – from sleeping on his shoulder to playing.

By Sunday he was in full swing with all his parental duties. When evening came, we decided to go out and get his car cleaned up for office today. Of course we ran late and the place that we usually go to closed up at 6 PM. Since the car was dirty we decided to stop at this new place. Five minutes into the thing made us realize that they were less efficient than the ones we normally go to – and this would take more than half hour to get the job done. It was cold and already getting dark, I was sure Kochunni would get bored within a few minutes and looked around on what could be done.

Right opposite to us was a pumpkin patch and I decided that might be the best thing for me to do with the little fella. We walked across the street, the little guy holding my hand and exclaiming at all the cars that were going past right beside us. When we reached the counter he was exited and when I finally let him loose in the little jumper his joy knew no bounds. He jumped, he tumbled and he flipped to his heart’s content. After a little while, I asked him to come out thinking that it might be best to start our walk back to the car.

As he came out, he saw the little stairs going up for the big kids to come down the slide. He asked me, could I go amma? I was skeptical and answered back, sweetheart I can’t come there with you, you will have to go on your own, can you do that? He immediately looked straight into my eyes and nodded his head in a yes. I was surprised and little worried. I knew he would not get hurt being an air jumper set but still he could tumble down and get frightened. I again tried to explain that you need to go alone, can you do it? He started to pull my hand towards it. I finally decided to let him go and helped him climb the first two steps. As I looked, he walked up the first few stairs and then as the little stairs started to curve at the top, he was on all fours. My heart beat a little faster but I noticed that the girl right behind him, instead of pushing past him, was beginning to help him. I smiled and realized that there was now a queue of kids behind, and as the girl did not go past him, everyone had slowed down to meet Kochunni’s pace. I walked over to the side of the slide and waited for the little guy to emerge. Right at the top, he looked down and smiled and when I asked him to come down (almost afraid that he might just sit there) he perfectly did what I had asked of him at every other slide he has been too – sit down and move up close to the slide and then come down smoothly. Due to the big slope he just whipped down in an instant and with a triumphant smile walked over. I was beaming with joy!

Of course, one time is never enough and he asked “Eeniyum” (again), I gently reminded him we need to leave and started to dial hubby’s number, they were already done with the cleanup and were on their way. Kochunni was still pulling me to the steps and trying to climb the first step, as I quickly hung up the phone and helped him on. This time right after the first few steps he fell and almost slid backwards. As I shouted to Kochunni to be careful and hold the edges, a little boy probably around 4-5 turned around and asked me “Should I help him?” Of course, please do. So this time the boy helped him all the way and even waited for Kochunni to finish his slide before plunging himself. I yelled a big thank you and asked Kochunni to do the same.

As I walked Kochunni back, I realized what great kids the two kids were, I probably forget their faces in a few days and only remember some varied details like the girls pink and white sweater and boy’s dark blue shirt and trousers and curly mop of hair. But what they showed me yesterday was that even without any adult supervision kids are intrinsically good, not bullies nor little terrors that we often imagine them to be!

Thank you, my two angels for helping my son to do the things he ought to be doing, to let him grow just a little today! I hope one day Kochunni repays our debt and helps some other hapless little 2 year old.

No man's land

In high hopes that Kochunni will be trained to sleep on his own, in his own room, we moved him to his room that has all the things a boy could desire (or so we hoped). We had painted the room a nice shade of blue and adorned one wall with pictures of cute animals – a hippo, a giraffe, an elephant. A nice placard displaying his name in bright orange colors. A little night-light atop the dresser. After great reluctance at the said move (read cries of horrors) I had this brilliant idea of sleeping next to his crib in the small bed pulled up close to him to help him sleep and once he was asleep I would move back to our room. In theory doesn’t this seem like a great plan?

Now let me show you some loopholes – One he hasn’t yet mastered the plan of sleeping through the night, which means around 11 or if we were lucky around 4-5 AM he would yell “Ammmmmma” And I had to run from our room to his and get into bed with him. Not that I minded sleeping with him – it was just the knowledge that he might call that made it harder to sleep well. There have been nights when I woke up with a start walked to his room and realized the little fella was sound asleep. Another big loophole is that I have supposedly left with no room in my own house!

Let me explain, when I lie down with him during the night after our little prayer we talk about this and that (insert cars and trucks). Sometimes when he seems restless and not wanting to sleep I would complain and tell him to be quiet since daddy, grandma and his amma now want to sleep. One time this led to a sudden revelation & Kochunni mentioned that his grandma occupies the middle room, his dad the AC room while he sleeps in his room. Of course, I couldn’t resist his reasoning and tried to explore further, so what about amma, I ask. Doesn’t his amma have a room? Poor boy he was at a loss of words for once. I laughed and let it go, that is until yesterday when I posed the same question. This time he had an answer. He looked straight into my eye and said “Amma lavele chaachi” (Amma you sleep in the morning).

So now I am left with no room, having to sleep when all the world is awake. Thank you, dear son that’s just wonderful.