HAPPY 2007

Wishing everyone a very Happy and Prosperous 2007 !!!

Shah Rukh Khan

Last evening, we introduced a new cartoon to my little one - "Jungle Book". I am glad she liked Ballu and is willing to see the video. Just a few months back, it Barney and only Barney. It was getting increasingly boring (for us ... she didn't mind) . We tried to introduce her to Angelina, Bob the builder, Wiggles ... with little luck. Dora was accepted without much effort and so were Thomas and his friends. Barney still occupied the Uno spot.
During my last visit to the library, I spotted "Lion King" and was reminded of my good old school days. We taken to the movie "Lion King" one of those days... the entire theatre was booked for just our school kids and we had thoroughly enjoyed our day out. I just wanted to see the movie again and brought copy the DVD. When the movie was played the first time, my little one watched it with keen interest and insisted on hearing the story from us. Soon, she mastered the story and especially fascinated by "Hakuna Matada" song.
Last week, we borrowed the jungle book video from the library. She seemed to like the movie when we played it the first time. The next day, when it was her TV time, she came to me and said, I want to see "Shah rukh Khan" ... I could not believe my ears ... How does she know about SRK , I looked puzzled ... only after a couple of more requests from her to see "Shah rukh Khan" video did I realise, she meant "Sher Khan" and her talented accent of saying the same "Shyer Khan" had sounded "Shah Rukh Khan" to my ears. With a little smile, I obliged and she blissfully watched the movie :)))

Doom ... sorry Dhoom!

Watched this one of a kind movie over the long week only because my sister wanted company. This was just a "Materpiece" that it forced me to write the review ... note I haven't blogged in almost a month now.

Disclaimers:
1. The movie has no story ... so if you are disappointed by the end of my review that you did not get to read the story ... sorry, don't blame me...
2. Logic is to be forgotten when watching the movie. Most of the scenes defy logic.
3. If you are Abhishek fan ... you will be disappointed. This is an out and out Hritik movie ... I can merely state Abhishek's role as extended guest appearance.

The movie begins with Hritik's look alike ... err... sorry, a queen travelling by train with a precious crown "Somewhere in the desert of Namibia ..." In the movie, the queen comes to make sure her crown is intact and orders the security guards to close down the window in the chamber where the crown is guarded... her statement "If I can see the skies ... so can someone from the skies see the crown". No sooner does she complete this sentence, we see, a person jumping from the skies and landing perfectly on the moving train.... this person is none other than Hritik. (going by the applause he got when we landed on the train ... he sure has ardent fans, who refuse to think logically). Anyways, Hritik dresses like the queen (not difficult ... remember, I told you queen is Hritik look alike) and steals the crown. Hritik is the most "Clever and Cool" thief ! (Bipasha's words in the movie).
The next scene has some mandatory fights, which are supposed to be introductory scenes for Uday and Abhishek, who play cops. Then there is a scene where Bipasha is practicing shooting ... she is supposedly Abhishek's friend from college and now his colleague.
When these guys dance to their college tune, Hritik prepares for the next robbery and well executes it.... then there is another ... and yet another ... may be not ... I never paid attention ... was busy looking at the kid who was muching pop corns.
Ash is introduced much later in the movie ... but she wastes no time in irritating the audience with her dialogue delivery. A lot has been written about Ash's looks / clothes (???) ... to me, she has definitely tonned her self, but her make up is hideous. Lame song / music scenes follow.
The movie shifts from Mumbai to Brazil where Abhishek swears to catch Hritik. After some more lame songs ... Abhishek finally manages to chase Hritik promising an end. In one of the chase scenes, Hritik falls of a cliff and opens a parachute (must say he is a well prepared theif). Abhishek who has been chasing him looks down the cliff and just jumps ... but wait, he has no parachute (not a prepared cop I should say) ... he manages to hang on to Hritik's parachute in mid-air and both land safely.... phew ... !!!!
After 2.5 hrs of such unrelated / illogical scenes the movie finally ends.
Must know:
* Dhoom was a complete timepass ... I think the idea of giving sufficient scene coverage for all actors, weighed heavily on Di-2. The director forgot to pay attention to the story.
* Except Abhishek, all the other main actors wear very little.
* Hritik's performance is just an extension of Krishh.
* Abhishek's make up is pathetic .... perhaps he was shooting for Umrao Jaan and Di-2 simultaneously, my sister reminded. He would have just changed clothes and continued with the make up :)
* Bipasha looks great ... but not sure why she featured in the movie. The movie could easily do away with her.
* Uday was a comic relief in dhoom ... here he fails to evoke any laughter.* Rimi sen has a guest appearance ... what a relief !
* Ash has never been an actor...
* Music is average.
* Nice photography !

Watch the movie at your own risk !!!

Trick Or Treat

If some kid were to ask me "Trick or Treat?" just a few years ago, the kid would probably stumble upon my answer. Now I know when this is asked. My first year of stay in the US included some interesting events... Halloween was one of them. I was invited to an interesting Halloween party in the office. It was a lunch party. I had little or no clue on I should expect at the party. It was one of the first parties I attended at work and I neatly dressed myself in one of my best formals. As anyone would guess, I looked very different from the rest of the "Veteran" crowd present at the party. Thankfully I had company in another friend "B" and we decided we would stick with each other the entire party. I remember twisting my eye brows on seeing spider webs at the cornet of the table as I entered the party hall ... I had whispered to myself " How untidy !!!" Now when I think back, I must confess it was one of the best arranged "Theme Parties" that I have attended.
My first Halloween experience at home was rather disappointing. My husband had informed that the kids in the neighborhood would come by for candies. So I neatly arranged our living room and spread a variety of candies and cookies on trays. I was eagerly waiting for the kids to show up .. but that was not to be... I was disappointed that evening I must confess. I later learnt that a pumpkin at the door ensured that the kids would stop by ... The kids took no pumpkins by the door as a sign for no candies. Of course, there were exceptions to this rule as well :)
I have never ever dressed myself for Halloween and I sometimes fail to understand why people dress up in scary attires. But this year, there is a Halloween party at my daughter's school and the teachers want all the toddlers to dress up for Halloween and participate in the potluck lunch. My brain started comtemplating various costumes for my little one from the day I learnt about the party. One thing I was sure was that my daughter would not wear any scary costume. Also, I didn't want to buy the costume.After a little thought / discussion we decided on the butterfly costume.
So this saturday evening was spent in designing / shopping and putting together the "Butterfly costume". I could have very well bought some costume ... but I knew of the emmense satisfaction that comes with making a costume from scratch at home. My husband helped in giving it some final touches as well. I must admit, it has turned out to be a unique costume and I seem to like it.
I now only hope that my toddler daughter does not play spoil sport and not wear it ... I would be disappointed then :(
I have been tuning her of the wonderful colors on the wings of the butterfly and how good she looks with the wings ... hopefully she is keep them on tomorrow for the Halloween party :)

Rain Rain go away, Come again another day

Its just the first week of Oct and its already started raining here and is getting colder by the day ! It had been raining all the way till the last week of April and some showers in May and rain is already here :( Summer felt way too short ! Had so many plans for this summer and now looks like I almost have to wait another 6-7 months ! My plans for this summer included

1. Atleast a couple of visits to the beach ... walking by the cold waves (because its Pacific ocean ... I am not crazy about the cold water, but I am used it now) in the hot sun. This followed by a light snack / lunch (never forget food anywhere I go.... do I ???) and may be beach volleyball or cricket or just sea shell hunting or making sand castle.
2. Visit the farmer's market at Half moon bay and taste their heavenly strawberrys and fresh peas.
3. A get-together with friends and family at a local park where the kids could get busy with slides and swings while the adults could play a game of Antakshari / Dum Cherrads or Bingo.
4. A visit to the local zoo
5. A visit to the water park (I am still not sure about this one, because I do not enjoy a lot of the rides here and the entry fee is way too expensive not to be used)
6. Couple of visits to the temple and if possible prepare some "Prasad" for the devotees.
7. Long drives
8. Ice cream at Ghiradelli square ( need not necessarily be summer ... but it featured in my "To do this summer" list. )

No I did not prepare a list, but in my mind I wanted to do all these things and more. Only a few of these were accomplished and now I have to wait for the next summer :(
Don't get me wrong... I don't detest the rains .... I enjoy them and am already preparing my list for the days ahead ... of course in my mind ! There are quite a few interesting things I prefer doing during the rains like

1. Cozing up with a warm blanket / comforter on my rocking chair and looking outside the patio door and listening to the rain and smelling it. (I just love that smell)
2. Watching an old comedy on TV with complete Bose stereo effect. If the movie happens to be "Makkala Sainya" (kannada movie) or "Andaaz Apna Apna " or "Chashme Baddoor" .. that would be almost perfect.
3. Listening to some soothing Carnatic classical music while rocking on the chair ... simply divine !
4. Then of course, muching on churmuri or hot spicy pakodas ... yum yum !!! (especially if someone prepared it for me)

I am sure there are many more things I could come up with for the rainy days ... its been just 2 days since it has started raining and I already have somethings planned out ! The only problem is most of these things end up just being planned ... there is something or the other that comes up and I end up not accomplishing most ! As you would notice most of my planing involves me doing "Nothing" and unfortunately with a toddler around in the house, doing nothing is almost close to "Impossible".
But as my husband keeps reminding me even Impossible says I m possible.... I would like to plan out my activities for the rainy days !

Trike a Thon

This friday was a special day for me. It was the first event I attended in school as a PARENT ! I have participated in numerous events in school as a student ... so this was kinda a special to me. There was a fund raising event called "Trike-A-Thon" at school. I vaguely remember something similar that I had participated when I was in 3rd or 4th grade as part of "Girl Guide".
A trike a thon is an event where in the kids are to tri-cycle or bi-cycle certain laps. This is a fund raising event and the kids are expected to collect the money. The amount thus collected is donated to a Cancer research center. I think its a noble idea to donate money to cancer research, but wonder how a 2 year old can raise money ???
Anyways, since I wanted my daughter to participate in the event, we donated some amount. The day before the event, we had to leave the tricycle at the school so that the teachers could decorate it. They also wanted to rehearse the event.
On the day of the event, after constant reminding from us my daughter was ready for the event. As we approached the school ground, to her surprise, instead of finding just her classmates, she found the entire school students peddling to glory. She was intimidated by the crowd to say the least. Her class teacher handed me her driver's license card (kinda cute, I thought), and I put on her helmet and encouraged her to peddle her tricycle. But all in vain ... she was not to move. She felt lost in the crowd. After a few minutes of looking around she started spotting her classmates at one corner of the playground. That put her to ease. I could see the sudden rise in her excitement and all she now wanted to do was peddle with her classmates. It was turn for her class to peddle around the ground and my little was all set by then. She looked adorable with the helmet and a little license hanging around her neck.
I tried to capture the event in all possible angles with my camera :) It was definitely lots of fun for me. Soon it was time to come back to classroom and all the little ones soon formed a train as per the class teacher's instruction. Soon, I waved bye to my little one and got back home.

Unrelated blabberings

• One of my good friends and collegemate moved to the bay area on a long term assignment. She visited us last weekend and I met her husband for the first time. We chatted for a while and recollected some our silly moments in the college. One thing we both haven't forgotten is our regularity in postponing the internals during Engineering days. There was perhaps not a single internal test which we didn't postpone .... still makes me wonder how we managed to achieve that feat !!!
• Daughter of another good friend of mine turned one over the weekend. I still remember the planning for her surprise baby shower we hosted last year ! Time sure flies so fast !
• We finally decided we needed to take a break from work (the last few months have been especially stressful for my husband). We have finally booked our vacation tickets in December ! I have something exciting to look forward to !
• Not making a habit to blog regularly makes to forget blogging altogether ! Hence decided to write ... even if it were unrelated events !

Dumb

I was expecting a call from my personal banker this morning. She had left a message for me that she would call me at a certain time today. So I knew, it was her when my phone rang. I thought she was quite punctual and admired her time keeping. I answered the phone with a low tone, saying "Hello"... she kept repeating "Hello, Hello..." and then hung on me after a few seconds. My low tone was so low, that she hadn't heard me .... I was dumb (pun intended). You see I have a sore throat so bad that I am hardly able to talk audibly. Its been so bad that I am using internal messaging to send across my comments / inputs for the office meetings that I am dialing into.
My daughter has learnt to reply back in the low tone (almost like whispering) as well. I don't want to think she is teasing me ... I will assume she is being patient with me. But I miss my voice when:

• I read Dora books to my daughter. This morning the first thing she wanted to do as soon as she woke up was watch Dora on TV. Since we would not oblige on that demand, she settled for reading. My husband was too sleepy to read a book and so I gave in to her request. I must admit, I almost fell asleep reading the book in the most inaudible voice.
• Attending office conferences
• Talking to my sister over the phone.
• Humming a few songs in my free time.
• Answering my daughter's never ending questions of curiosity.
• Discussing the day spent with my husband.
• etc etc

I have taken some medicine... but it hasn't proved too helpful. I miss my voice ... I hope I am able to talk / sing / chat / discuss / shout soon .....

Had a bad day .... what bad day ???

Kink Kink ..... The alarm rang at exactly 5:15am this morning. I promptly put it off to catch the last few minutes of sleep. (There is something satisfactory about getting the last minutes of sleep after the alarm has gone) I woke up at around 5:30am ... had double thoughts, if I had to work from home or drive to work. There is an important meeting to attend said one part of my mind followed by well, you can always call into the meeting remotely said the other part.... but you have already packed your lunch, laptop etc and are all set to go to office came another thought ... oh well, can always eat the same for lunch when working from home as well said the other.... all in all, I was too confused to decide eitherways ... the bed looked so comforting, yet I told myself, its friday and I could take a longer sleep tonight. So, half asleep I got out of bed and got ready to work by 6:15am. Prepared Dhokla for tea and breakfast (never compromise on food you see... especially when Dhokla is my daughter's favourite, I had to prepare it .... alas I could not see her enjoy her breakfast). Stepped out of house at 6:15am ... still wasn't sure I needed to drive to office.
It was still dark and I drove listening to the music on STAR 101.3 on FM radio. The song by Daniel Powter, "Had a bad day ,You’re taking one down You sing a sad song just to turn it around " seemed very situational. My day had just started, and you ask already had a bad day ? Oh well, I just felt bad for having missed on sleep ... I was not very sad or anything.
I was driving through the curves of the freeway. I had climbed up a hill and as the curve turned downhill, an orange landscape greeted me. The entire surrounding was covered by the tender rays of the rising sun an the whole place was just "ORANGE". It was an amazing experience ... I no longer felt sleepy, sad ... I was in the best of my spirits and I felt like singing "Ruk Jana Nahin... " The beautiful setting just made my day. Reached office at 7:30am and am all set to tackle the day.
Hopefully I will not be singing the Daniel Powter song when I drive back home :) Of well if I do, I will just remember the rising sun experience and my mood will brighten for sure.

Home improvement

Last weekend was 3 days long weekend on account of Labor day. We initially thought of driving to a resort less than 100miles away ... but lack of proper sleep and a hectic week before ensured we did not venture out. We decided to stay home and complete some of the pending home improvement tasks.
It all started with us buying a good bed frame for a guest bed and re-organising the furniture in the guest room. The entire exercise robbed us of our saturday day time. As we were sipping our evening tea, R my spouse suggested we plant some garden vegetables in our patio. I wasn't sure we could maintain the plants and was not very keen about it. But I saw the enthusiam in him and just wanted to support. We headed out to OSH. I was surprised to see the variety of plants available there. After some discussion, we decided to have one flowering bed, a tomato plant, and bought seeds for eggplant, beans, peas, bell pepper, cilantro and Dhil. That also required us to buy the same number of pots. What surprised me the most was the price of the soil .... its so expensive. Never did it once occur to me that we would be paying so much for a good quality soil. It took us a while to figure out the right soil. R could not wait to get started on the gardening project.
He put on his gardening gloves, cleaned the patio and mixed up the different soil we had bought and started his planting. He started with the flower beds. It was almost dinner time by then, so it was decided that the project would be continued the next day. The next day, sunday, saw us rising early from bed and even the morning tea was the last thing on our mind ... we headed straight to the patio. There were some more pots needed and realised that we were short of the soil as well. Also, we needed to buy a stand to place all the pots. We marched towards Home Depot and soon found all the items and the project continued. By around lunch time sunday, the gardening project was complete.
Our kitchen door looks straight into the patio. It feels so good to see the pots neatly arranged there. Everytime I look outside, it brightens my spirit... I never thought I would get attached to them so fast... but I have. I can't wait for the seeds to germinate and grow into lovely plants and fill our otherwise empty patio with fragrance of fresh flowers and a lovely view of garden vegetables.

Gowri- Ganesha habba

The Ganesha-Gowri habba at house was celebrated with much enthusiam and love this year. It was actually fun and it felt (after a long time) very close to the celebrations we had back home in India. I sure missed my parents and their way of celebrations, but sure, tried to make it as close to tradition and fun as possible.
The preparation for the festival ran almost week long. If I were to account for the planning part then it must have been 2 weeks prep work. it was decided that Gowri habba (festival) lunch would be at my place and the Ganesha habba lunch at my sisters'. But there was one hitch though, both of us were keen to have a Ganapathy mangalarathy (customary to invite friends in the evening and share prasad / gooddies) as is the tradition in Karnataka at our places. We both had separate set of invitees as well. So it was decided that after lunch at my sister's place we would rush back home and get ready for the evening gathering of friends and family.
Deciding on the food list for the mangalarathy and not trying to duplicate the items at both my sister's and my place was tasking and fun :) Finally it was decided that I'd make Mango rice, Mosaranna (curd rice / Bakala bhath), Usli (seasoned garbanzo beans), Benne bisuit(baked creamy cookie) and jelebi was to be bought from the stores.
I wanted to make this festival real special for my daughter as well, as she had shown real liking towards the traditional pooja. I wanted to take advantage of her keen interest and pass on some of the traditions my parents had passed on to me. We started the Gowri pooja at around 8:40am (our plan was to start at 8:00am but thanks to my sister, we got delayed). After the pooja, we had a delicious breakfast of Sorekayi Idli / Chutney. Then the men left for some last minute shopping for the next day after helping us with some lunch prep work. Cooking did not feel exhausting at all. (Perhaps because I was done with most of the veggie chopping and stuff the previous night). We had a scrumptious lunch and loads of fun discussing about our festival experiences back home.
The Ganesha pooja was a smooth sail as well. We performed the pooja on time and headed to my sister's place for lunch. The evening was fun with a lot of people visiting us. My daughter was more than excited to share her toys with her friends and play with them. It was amazing to see her come down the stairs every time one of her friends came by and lead them to her room upstairs. The only sad part was that I had prepared all the food items in excess. There was so much left at the end of the day.
All in all, it was an amazing experience and I thoroughly re-lived some of my moments in India.

ps: Its been a week since the festival and I have been lazy to blog these days ... but wanted to vent out all my excitement before it was gone :)

Ganesha Chaturthi

Have not been able to blog for sometime now ...
Just want to wish everyone

HAPPY GOWRI - GANESHA CHATURTHI !!

Happy Independance Day

India celebrates her 59th Independance day and here is wishing every Indian a very Happy Independance day.
August 15th always occupied special place for me. I remember even now, the Independance day celebrations at school. When I was in primary school, I commanded the pledge "India is my country and all Indians are my brothers and sisters .... every day and it meant even more on the Independance day. Then there would be an inter school gathering where chosen few from each school would display their marching ability. Dignitaries from the colony we stayed in were invited as chief guests ... there would be sweet distribution followed by sports day activities. (for me sweet distribution was the culmination of the event. I never really took part in sports)
Middle school days involved me leading a pack of students in patriotic song rendition. There would also be some cultural dance... oh yes, I was a part of the school band (flute was my instrument of choice) and hence got to wear lovely band dress and a cap :) I simply loved the outfit and thought I looked "smart" in it.
My participation in high school involved in me giving either the welcome speech or a small speech reminding everyone of the sacrifices made for Independance by our fellow countrymen. I was also a part of the school orchestra and we sang lovely patriotic songs. Then again, there was attendance (no attendance in primary and middle school) followed by sweet distribution. Usually it was followed by sports day ... again of which I was never a part of :(
I remember attending Independance day in Engineering college only twice. The tricolor Indian flag was hoisted by the principal, followed by the National Anthem. What surprised me most was the mere 30-40 crowd. It was disappointing...
Anyways, there has and will always be a spirit in my heart riding high on the Independance day and I will continue to feel proud for being an INDIAN !!!
Before I conclude, I'd like to recollect some of the patriotic songs I have learnt:

• Saare jahan se achcha (my all time favourite)
• Hind Desh ke Nivasi
• Jai Jan Bharat, janamana abhimata
• Aakash ganga
• Ye mere watan ke logon
• Sara haddina bahu doorada varegu
• Vishwa vinuthana vidhya chetana

many many more.......

100,000 !

What does the title represent ... can you guess ??? Its not the number of posts on my blog... it isn't lottery amount I won (I wish !!) ... its certainly not my age ... (I know that was a bad one).... well thats the number of miles we have driven our first car !!!
Yep ... last friday our car crossed the 100,000 milestone and yours truly was driving it when the feat was achieved. Of the 100,000 miles, I can certainly claim atleast 50% contribution if not more. My distance to work has certainly been responsible for this amazing achievement. Anyways, our car which my husband fondly calls "Darling", has been a very loyal and great companion. It has been a wonderful ride (pun intended) so far and I have lots of memories like my first drive in the car at 12:30am on the day of landing in the US, our trip to LA, our ride back home from the hospital on the birth of my daughter ... and many many more.
I am certain there are many more in the making !

Peddle, Peddle, Peddle

When I think about my most priciest materialistic possession, my BSA SLR features in the top 5. For the uninitiated, BSA SLR is a brand of bicycles in India.
I learnt cycling during the summer vacation after class 4. We were in Chennai (then called Madras) visiting, my mom's uncle. We were atleast 4 cousins and were undeterred to give up cycling, before we mastered the art. The initial balancing part was slightly hard and the fact that my feet did not touch the ground, when I wanted to bring the cycle to a halt, only made my task a little more harder. Even an occasional scratch on the knee did not bother me. Before I realised, I had learnt to balance and peddle on my own ... but the brakes were still a small concern.
My parents saw my enthusiam and decided to buy me a bicycle. I already knew that I wanted a BSA SLR. That was the "HAPPENING" brand for girls cycles. When we went to the cycle shop, we gave a slight thought if we had to go with the gray color or the marroon ... but all of us were easily convinced that it had to be marroon. My dad offered to peddle it from the cycle shop to the house, but we decided against it soon. Customary pooja was performed and I was rearing to take it for a ride. Thus began my long association with my BSA SLR.
I showcased my peddling talent to my parents the following weekend to get their nod on riding it to the school. My parents did notice my "not so great", braking ability. But had to concede to my request finally. I was just in the 5th std, when I began cycling to school.... and continued doing it till my first year of engineering. I was not very particular on getting a moped / scooter etc even during my engineering ... but my parents felt, I deserved one and bought me a scooty. (thats again very close to me). Anyways, coming back to my cycling days, the initial days saw me enthusiastically going to the grocery store, music/ dance classes, offering "doubles" to cousins and friends all the time. I participated in a lot of extra cirricular activities during my student days ... be it an inter school debate, story telling, singing, science exhihibition etc etc, I cycled my way to the location, participated and rode back home. Mysore not being a very big city, only helped that, I could peddle my way to / from any place within the city.
Now why did I suddenly write about my bicycle ... well last weekend, we were trying to teach my 2year old cycling and she was not very keen on learning. So, we decided that may be if one of her parents set her an example by peddling along with her, she would learn faster ... I volunteered to peddle. Soon, I discovered that my passion for bicycles was intact ... my little one was more than happy to just watch her enthusiactic mother peddle her way in the park :)
I guess some passions stick with you for lifetime !!!

Miraculous escape

I got up as usual this morning and got ready to head to the office. The second time tea excercise (since the milk split the first time) and awake child delayed my heading out. I reasoned with my little one that I will be back in the evening to pick her up from school and gently patted her back and smoothened her hair. She was satisfied soon but wanted to bid goodbye from the garage. She gave me a warm hug and friendly smile and said bye. I drove the usual route to work ... the traffic was moving at regular freeway speed. Just as I merged from one freeway to another and had driven a mile, I saw a black car hit another car (I don't even remember the other car color now). This was the first time I witnessed an accident and it was just 2 cars ahead of me. I was in the left most lane (3rd lane) of a 3 lanes freeway. The accident had occured in between the first and the second lane. The traffic in the first too lanes immediately came to a halt. I noticed that the cars in my lane were still moving so I just moved on. I could hardly think ... I was too confused and I was still seeing as the events were unfolding. The impact of the accident was so bad that it left the black car spinning and within fraction of second, the black car headed towards the 3rd lane. It must just a hairline of a distance by which I missed and the the black car ended up hitting the car behind me ... there was a loud thud. I was completely shaken. My mind stopped thinking. I looked at my rear mirror and noticed that all 3 lanes were now blocked and mine was the last car to move ahead of the accident scene. The next thing that occured to me was to call 911. I was concerned about the safety of the drivers involved in the accident. But I had never ever called 911 and was apprehensive about it. But I boosted my courage and dialed 911. A heard a "Hello" and I started reporting "I just witnessed an accident on freeway ..." only after a slight pause did I realise, it was an automated recording that was playing on the other end. I was too shocked to even feel stupid. Soon a real person picked the phone on the other end.
Here is what our conversation sounded:
She: Hello California Highway Patrol
Me: M'am, I just escaped an accident on freeway XYZ
She: Which direction
Me: (trying to think hard ... I was shocked to recollect which direction I was headed) : North bound
She: Where ?
Me: Near ABC... Exit PQR
She: Tell me the details
Me: I just escaped the accident and I am concerned about the drivers involved
She: If you don't give me details, we can't dispatch our crew.
Me: I just told you the exit ... I have no more details.
She: What colour were the cars involved?
Me: I am not sure. Pls send someone though
She: OK. Thanks for calling

I am not sure, if it was OK or not for me to call 911... but in any case I did. It took me a few minutes to get back my composure. The traffic updates kept me glued to the radio set the rest of the drive to work. I only hope everyone is safe.

Hot hot weather

Have you heard of many take pride in the Bay area weather ? When there are discussions around the high cost of living in the bay area, it invariably concludes in the fact that, we pay the huge price for the near perfect weather. The past week has made me think, re-think and then think again, if this is what we call a near perfect weather. Its been scorching hot ... near the 90's and upto 100. For one, we just had one fan, which has been rarely used and no AC. Sitting on a comfortable sofa is uncomfortable in this weather ... imagine standing in front of the stove and cooking for a huge gathering.... its been pathetic. Unable to hear my grumble about the weather my husband has bought a powerful fan which has been more than used over the weekend. The interesting part is that, reasonably priced Air conditioners are out of stock in most stores. Various tricks of escaping the heat like, going on long drives (remember, Car has AC :)), window shopping , eating out, dip in the pool has definitely helped. Last night was slightly cool though. As I drove to work this morning, I heard that the weather would continue to be hot for a couple of days more ... I just hope, the evenings are cooler atleast. (you see, when you are in office, you don't realise the heat)

2nd year - Outdoor Birthday Party

Last weekend, we celebrated my daughter's 2nd year birthday. It did not take a lot of debating for me and my husband to decide on the venue. We had long decided that we would host and outdoor party for our daughter. As most parents know, the child's first year birthday party is for the parent's satisfaction / happiness ... then on, it will be decided based on child's interest. We knew that our daughter would love an outdoor party but what we didn't know was that a beautiful, well landscaped kid's park was in close vicinity to our house. We had seen the soccer ground everytime we drove by the park.. what we didn't know was that a quite little play area was tucked inside as well. That was until little over 2 months ago. We were so glad to have found a play area with swings / slides, sand box etc in such close quarters ... ever since we have tried to take her to the park atleast 3 times a week. It has been her favourite play area since. So, it was not a surprise that we decided to host her birthday in the park. Now there are so many things to do when you decide to host a party .... prepare a guest list, send invites to the guest, decide on the time, food, goodie bags, cake, balloons etc. The problem was we decided to host the party a little too late (we weren't sure we could host one because of prior commitments) ... we just had 6 days to plan, decide and execute. Narrowing the guest list is always tricky ... so was it in this case. After much deliberation, we decided to invite our daughter's day care pals and some of our close friends / relatives. I took the initiative and invited our guests ... thankfully, most of them did not have prior commitments and readily agreed to come. Not wanting to take a chance, I also called up the county park dept and ensure that "Our chosen Venue" was a public park and did not need any reservations. We decided to gift the kids with pail / showel / seeve kit which toddlers love during the summer. My sister volunteered to make cookie and toffee bags ... some puzzles, candies and lollypop and ... lo ... the goddie bags were ready. We ordered a Strawberry Dora cake ... dora being one of my daughter's admired characters. We were to have a snack party. The weather these days has been so hot that the menu had to include loads of fruits and liquids. My sister, BIL, hubby and me ... all of us pitched in prepared the food ourselves. We could have ordered the food to save on the efforts ... but I insisted on cooking, as I really wanted to do something for my little one and it meant a lot to me. The party day arrived ... we franticly worked to get all things right and arrived at the park just on time. The guests started coming slowly. My daughter's excitement on seeing her friends was worth a million dollars. She individually welcomed all her friends ... led them to the play area and ensure they were comfortable. Its surprising how the kids learn to be good hosts :) There were quite a few kids and all of them were busy in their own world ... and for a change, parents were happy to just watch them from a distance and have a good time among themselves. Not one kid wanted parents' involvement ... all of them were just too busy in their world to disturb their parents. Soon they were hungry ... it was just a perfect time to cut the cake. The dora cake turned out to be a perfect choice ... most kids loved Dora and of course the cake. (one thing I am sure is Dora and Barney have huge fan following among my daughter's friends). The kids and adults enjoyed the food alike. It was again play time for the kids. The evening had gotten a lot cooler by now and I decided to conduct an interesting game for the kids. The winnders were beaming with pride when they got their prizes !! Soon it was time to depart for most of the guests. The goodie bags were distributed to the kids ... and they were only too happy to open its contents. The first thing that caught their attention was the lollypop. As the kids reluctantly went back home with their parents licking the lollypops, one thing we knew was that the birthday party was a success and any future party that we would host for the kids would be in parks :)

Lawyer Fee - whats right ?

Once,a law teacher came across a student who was willing to learn but couldnt pay the fees...the student struck a deal saying he will pay his fees as soon as he wins his first case in the court of law..the lawyer agreed and proceeded with the course...after the course was over,the lawyer demanded his fees.but the student kept postponing it.the lawyer got fed up and filed a case against him.each of them decided to fight the case on their own.the lawyer thought if he wins the case,then the student has to pay him his dues.but even if he loses the student would have to pay him becos he had won his first case!!!!the student thought if he wins the case he need not pay the lawyer... and even if he loses the case he need not pay becos he hadnt won his first case!!!!!Whats your say ??

ps: This is not my original thought / puzzle... its picked from internet. But I found it interesting enough to discuss

Email ka kamaal

I had written a few days about my job and that I had to commute 120miles everyday to work. I am losing atleast 3 hrs in driving. Naturally I was not very happy about this. I decided to talk it out with my managers ... but they did not pay any attention to my pleas. So of sheer frustration, I wrote an email to the company CEO. I had little hope that he / she would read it, let alone take any action. I just wanted to get my frustration out .... email was the only means I could think of at the time.
I was thrilled to see a response to my mail from the CEO of my company .... I didn't know what to say. The CEO had forwarded my mail to a senior person in the company and it trickled down to my direct manager in a matter of 3 days. Now my manager along with the HR was wanting to discuss my concern and address it. I explained to them that the work location was too far to commute for me and that I would prefer working from a nearer location. After a bit of discussion, we concluded that the manager would work out a plan for me to work from home for 2 days and commute 3 days to work. I am quite satisfied with this arrangement. (its been just 2 days since ... so I am not complaining :)
Anyways, the whole idea of writing this blog was to express my elevated respect to my company CEO. Thank you Sir / Madam for understanding and addressing my concern.

Almost an insurance claim

I have this unique habit of praying before and after I do a lot of activities. For Eg: Up from bed, Driving, Writing exams, starting my day at work etc etc. Calling weird .... well I don't mind. Praying gives me some mental peace and confidence before I begin my activity and it takes just a few seconds ... of couse, I have to thank god for everything, so the end prayer :)
Anyways, today as usual, after reaching the office parking lot, I parked the car at a convinient spot and started thanking god for the safe trip I had made. When I opened my eyes, my car was not in the spot I had parked. I was puzzled .... I didn't know where I was. The next fraction of my second, my brain asked me to look at the rear mirror. I looked and applied the brakes ... I was almost about to hit the car parked behind mine in the parking lot. It was a very narrow escape. I then realised that, I had not applied the hand break and instead of putting the car in the parking gear, I had put in Reverse gear. (for those uninitiated, the gears are in this order: Parking, Reverse, Neutral, D4,3,2,1) Thankfully I had turned the engine off and so the car was moving very slowly.
I thanked my stars and of course God .... I was this close to getting my insurance money increased ... touch wood, it didn't happen :)

Riddles - Mind ticklers

Here are some riddles I heard on the radio on my way to work. I found them amusing. ... hope you do too.

1. I am heavy forward and not backward.
2. What is better than the best, worse than the worst, the poor have it and the rich need it. And if you eat it, you will die
3. If 2 is company, 3 is crowd, what is 4 and 5 ?

Keep thinking ... :)

Happy Father's Day

Last friday, during my long drive to office, I was listening to this radio station where people were calling in to share the best advise they ever got from their dad. Some of them very hilarious while others were sensitive and cute. One particular advise that I really liked was "If you want to do stupid things, be prepared to be strong" ... isn't that a cool advise. As expected, I drove down my memory lane, reminding myself of all the cool advises I got from my dad and all the precious time spent with him. In our house, mom has been a more strict parent than dad ... but then dad always supported mom when she tried to dicipline us. Those were rare occanions where dad actually had to raise his voice to straighten me. He would say he stored a "Buddhi Kolu" in the attic and that he would not hesitate to use it if required ... those magic words would somehow work and all the tantrums would be given up. Dad also took keen interest in ensuring that I recited my "Bayi Paatha" every day. The bayi paatha included rhythmic recital of 12 months (Hindu calendar and English calendar), 7 days of week(Kannada and English), Lunar days (Padya, Bedige, Tadige etc), 60 samvatsaras and the constellation and stars in Kannada (Ashwini, Bharani... etc and Mesha, Vrishabha, Mithuna etc). This would be followed by a quiz of math tables. Dad would ask 16 * 8 and I had to come up with the answer immediately ... even a slight delay would not be acceptable and I'd have to write the tables backwards from 2 to 20 that day. This backward writing of tables stayed with me through my engineering days. Whenever I got a slate and chalk (rather "balapa") , I would write down the tables. (yes, I used slate and chalk through out my student days .... it was my kinder garden slate and I refused to give it up ) Dad also was very innovative in generating interest in Maths. Atleast 6 hours a week was reserved for maths and it was not just textual. Even today, if I solve a problem / puzzle I owe to my dad. He introduced me to simple puzzles, problems very early and sharpen my ability. I must add that my grandpa who stayed with us, contributed quite a bit in this as well. Being a teacher himself, he knew the type to questions to be posed for a certain age group. As I grew older, I followed my dad / grandpa and would come up with tricky problems for my sister/ cousins. Dad always said that he could never get over the fact that he had scored 97 in maths in 10th and wanted me to complete the century. I am really glad I achieved it ... I can never forgot that day when the 10th results were out .. dad's face was beaming with pride. Through out my student life, I have participated in numerous competitions.... be it mono acting, singing, poem recitation, debate, elocution, story telling etc, Dad had a big role in this again. Initially dad wrote the script for most of the competitions (obviously not singing ... that was amma's department). Dad also introduced me to voice modulation. Being a good dramatist himself, he knew the importance of voice modulation. Slowly, I was asked to come up with a basic structure and dad would contribute to it. Now, my cousins ask me to help them in their competitions ... and I owe this to daddy. Another thing I am proud about my daddy is his memory. Last year, he visited us here in the US and was putting my daughter to bed. I was shocked to see him use his primary school poems as a lullaby for the little one. (for those of you who know, these poems, he remembers, Dharani Mandala Madhyadolage, Tunga teerada balagadeyalli, some quotes from Someshwara shataka etc) I have had many many more amazing learning experiences with dad and to put down all of it in a single blog is beyond my ability. All I want to say is "Thank You Daddy. Hope you had a wonderful father's day !"

Am I weird ??

One of my fellow bloggers (Anu) tagged me to write 5 wierd things about myself. As I read through her blog, I said, well, I should be able to list some things about myself as well. But wait, introspection is more difficult than it is. After much thinking here is what I can come up with.
* My friends and family find me weird that I do not like to watch any movie at the cinema hall. I just can't ... I like watching movies mind you and try to catch up on atleast 2 a month. But I am not for watching it on big screen. My idea of watching movie is very different. I like to watch movie while I discuss something interesting with my parents / husband. I like to watch movie, while I am blogging, emailing, ironing etc etc. You get the idea right ... I simply hate to waste 3 hours doing nothing but just watching movie.
* True friends hold a very special place in my heart. But I hate to make a conscious attempt to keep in touch with them. Most my friends know that they can count on me when they need me ... but I am not good at reaching them via phone / email on a regular basis. People who know me little find it weird that I call myself a good friend, but have not communicated with "my friend" for sometime.
* People think I was a book worm during my school days ... well, I wouldn't call myself one, but yes, I like to get immersed in an interesting trignometric equation or a Logical gates problem and solve it. I like reading Tinkle, Chandamama, Sudha (Kannada magazines) or Amar Chitra Katha or Panchatantra. But I can never complete reading a novel. I've tried several times, but have never been able to successfully complete one. (until recently.... I completed R.K.Narayan's Talkative Man)
* I was a quitest of the quiet kinda of a person before marriage. I would simply say a hello to guests at home and politely excuse myself from them. Of course my discussion with people dear to me would go on for hours ( Cricket with my Chikappa, Tennis with my friends "D" and "P", Local Politics with my ajja etc) Strangely after marriage, I have become quite loquacious... weird, I didn't realise when this change happened !!
* I have been thinking for atleast 4 hours now and I know there must be atleast 1 more weird thing about me ... but I can't tell ... hmm... thats weird ... isn't it??

First day at new work

Today was my first day at my new work place. As I had written in my earlier post, I have always had long commutes to work. This office was no different either. In fact, it beat the race by more 30miles ... yep.... my current commute back and forth is approximately 130miles. Phew ! It tires me even to think of the distance and it is still the first day :(
I could hardly sleep last night except the wee hours of the morning. Of course it was the time I set the alarm and was supposed to wake up. I convinced myself to catch up the few more minutes of the divine sleep pleasure and finally woke up 15 minutes later than decided. I got ready on time and left home by 6:45am. I was warned by a few experienced commuters that my drive time to work would be atleast 90mins. I had already spoken to the team of my early work schedule, so that nobody would give me weird looks when I started early from work. I was hoping to reach office by around 8:15am. I was told that my manager would be at work by 8:00am. I gave 15mins window, in case he did not show up on time. His presence was critical since, I had to be signed in to get into the building. You see my badge was not processed yet.
So my surprise, I found the drive not very bad .... touch wood. I reached office 8:00am. Not a bad start at all .... I said to myself. I called up my manager on his cell, only to hear a harsh voice (sounding as though he had just gotten up from bed) answering the phone. To my luck, another colleague of mine was at work and he helped me get into the building. I had no clue how to access the office parking space and so I parked the car in front of Wells Fargo bank. There was clearly a note that read "Parking for Wells Fargo Customers Only". But I didn't have a choice, since the place was new to me. I had no clue about the area and the Wells Fargo bank was right across my office. I feared, I would get lost, if I looked for other parking spaces and went ahead, parked my car there.
After the usual introduction and some project overview, I politely reminded my colleague that my car was parked in Wells Fargo Bank parking space and that it was not the best option. He gave me instructions on the office parking spaces and also showed me direction using google maps. I thanked him and went to my car. The driving direction given to me were fairly simple so I did not find the need to write the same. I was to make a right turn from Wells Fargo and would hit the desired road. Within .2miles of the road, I would find the office parking lot on my right. My present office is in the downtown and as with most downtowns I have seen, there are too many one way roads. Its very confusing and I have always hated driving in the downtown.
I drove my car out of the Wells Fargo parking lot and promptly made a right turn. I went straight for less than .1miles when I hit the signal. It was red and I patiently waited. I saw that that the car from the perpendicular road was making a left turn and was coming in the same road as mine.... oh wait ... it was coming almost in the same lane as mine. What a bad driver ... doesn't know to make a neat left turn, I thought. A few secs later another driver did the same mistake. Now I lost my cool and just looked at the surprised driver. Soon, our signal light turned green and since I had not located the road I was supposed to go to, I made a left and started going straight. At this time, I also cribbed about my colleague who had given me wrong directions. I drove atleast a mile and still was not able to locate the road I was looking for. I decided to make a U turn. On my way back, I easily found the road I had missed. Not just that ... I also discovered why the drivers were making a wide left turn. It was because I was in their lane !!!! Yes.... for some reason, I had got confused and had driven in the wrong lane .... my Indian driving skills shadowed my American driving knowledge and I convinietly made a free left turn !!! It could have been disatrous ... thankfully there was no cop or large vehicles approaching... if not I am not sure what would have happened. The expression on my face had to seen to be believed ... I had turned pale .... I couldn't believe myself and for a second could not think.
I got a convinient parking space in the office lot and the rest of the day went by smoothly. But my driving disastor haunted all day long !

Kaale Ghane Baalon ka raaz

One of the first complaints you hear from people who travel to the US from India is about their hair fall problem. So far, I haven't met anyone who has said they have not faced this problem. Its gotten so worse for me that I pity myself when I don't see my lustrous hair that I had back home in India.
My mom took extra effort to take care of my hair. When I worked in Bangalore for sometime, my aunt took the same care too. My mom ensured I washed my hair with any one of the following:

• Hibiscus leaves paste
• Mehendi
• Castor Oil / Sikakai
• Methi soaked and ground as a fine paste

Shampoo was taboo .... I don't ever remember using shampoo in India. It felt so refreshing so get a hot oil head massage and then wash it with "Hande water". I really miss that now. These days all the above are unknown territory to me ... all I know is Shampoo. The result is quite evident ... a thin strand of lack lustre hair :(

Sorry mom .... your efforts are wasted !

Vacation Details

Day 1

By the time all family members gathered at the resort, it was around 3:00pm. By then, we folks from CA had refreshed... so I decided to welcome the rest with some cool water melon. We all exchanged pleasantaries and relaxed for a while. We decided to hit the beach in the evening. With sun cream lotion, a tent, frizby and swim tanks we headed to the beach. The weather could not have been better and so could not the beach. Being used to the cold California beaches, the warm water beach at the island was a welcome change. Reminded me a lot of the Chennai beaches I had been to with my family back home. All of us had a great time ... some liked getting
soaked in the water especially my little one. I simply enjoyed watching her and playing in the sand. One another cousin of mine had a son a little older than my daughter .... he was a little hesistant in getting into the water and preferred to practice soccer. He is just over 2.5 years and appeared to be quite good at it. After some frizby and quite time, we headed home for a simple dinner. We were all so tired and hungry that plain "Saaru / Anna" (Rasam rice) felt divine. Soon, we hit the bed... it had been a long day for us folks from California.

Day 2

The next day, we woke up late (8:30am) ... you see we were in a relaxed vacation mood. The east coast folks had already woken up and were sipping their coffee in the patio. They advised us that they had seen an amazing
sunrise and we should experience the same. Being nature freaks, we weren't going to miss out on that. We decided to visit the beach early the next day morning for the sun rise. We had a hearty breakfast (dose and gojju avalakki) and decided to soak in the pool.... off we went to the resort swimmin pool. Initially I was hesitant to get into the pool ... but could not decline my little one's plea... she was having such a great time and I wanted to be a part of it too ! It was so much fun in the water. Cousin S suggested ice cream and all of us headed ice creaming hunting. We reached the island downtime in the process and found a nice ice cream shop. I had Fudge Brownie and it was simply awesome. Another cousin M suggested kite flying and we bought some kites at the down town. We spent some more time at the downtown and went back to the resort. After a nice tea, we decide to go to the beach for kite flying. We were hoping that the kids would enjoy kite flying .... but they seem have more fun in the sand with the pail and shovel. After some fun time at the beach, we went to the downtown for the dinner. We reached a nicely done restaurant ... the ambience of the place was good ...food was as good. It was an OK thai dinner. We went back to the resort and hit the bed soon.

Day 3

As per our plan, we woke up early for the sun rise ... I could hardly sleep as I could simply not trust the alarm. (of course, the alarm did not alert us at all) We reached the beach at 5:45am .... perfect time for the sun rise. The sun rise was absolutely brialliant and it had a been a long time since I had seen one as amazing. We went back to the resort and prepared breakfast. (uppit). We lazed around the house before we went out to checkout kayaking. After a lot of searching, we found a place later in the day where they offered kayaking rentals. My sister and me decided to take turns to take care of my little one. First she went kayaking with her husband. They had a real testing time when the got stuck in the mud and had a hard time coming out. By the time they came out, it was early evening ... besides their experience was not very encouraging for us give a try. So we decided against it. So headed back to the resort. We spent some more time at the pool and then went home for a nice coffee. The rest day was spent in beach volleyball and sand castle building and sea shell collection.

Day 4

It was time to bid good bye to everyone ... our initial plan was to go to the airport and return the car by 11:30am ... but we changed our plans in order for us experience kayaking. Me and my spouse went kayaking while my sister watched my child. I would catagorize kayaking as a team building activity ... initially our team was not so great and we landed in the grassy marsh. We soon figured our rhythm and had a good time. It was exhausting though! We went back to the resort for a family lunch before saying good bye to all the cousins from the east coast. Drove back to the airport and returned the car and reached the airport at the right time.

Overall the family vacation was a refreshing experience .... as my sister's husband rightly put it: "Idea of a vacation in India is usually visiting places and going sight seeing .... idea of vacation in US is just escaping to a quiet place" This time we relaxed in our US vacation idea!

Family union – Journey

As mentioned in the previous post, I was looking forward to this family union since the time we had zeroed on the place – Florida. Naturally I was all excited when the travel Friday dawned. As usual I had postponed ironing and packing to the last day. Our flight was later in the evening (red eye flight) and so I was able to pack conveniently.
My sister and her husband came to our house on time as planned. We headed to the airport on the decided time. I prayed there would be no traffic jams, and luckily my prayers were answered and we were able to reach the airport sooner than expected, thanks to some fast driving by my husband. We reached the long term parking lot and were welcomed by “Parking Lot Full” board. As we decided to make a “U” and look for parking spaces in other lots, the security person said that we could park our cars in the short term parking itself at long terms rates. You see short term parking is right next to the airport terminal and my sister screamed “How lucky we are” in excitement. Her husband pointed out, don’t conclude so early …. Wait for us to park the car.
We were surprised to find the domestic parking lot so empty. We parked right across the elevator so we didn’t have to walk long with the luggage. When we entered the domestic departure terminal, there were boards of all the airlines except ours … we looked, looked and still looked and then we found … our Airlines (Airtrans) was in the International Terminal. So walked all the way upto the International Terminal. The Airport is really huge and walking from Domestic to International Terminal with a kid and luggage is just not easy. Finally after a little more searching we found our terminal. We checked in, managed a quick dinner and headed towards the gate. The flight was on schedule. We cursed the airline crew for allotting us seats way in the back and were trying to get comfortable in our seats. My little one was just not too happy to be restricted to her seat. Thankfully we had carried Barney DVDs and turned on the laptop. She got busy with that for a while before falling asleep. We were to change flight from Atlanta to Jacksonville. We reached Atlanta on time 5:00am local time (2:00am PST). The highlight of our wait time at the airport was the over excitement of my little one, news repeated atleast 5 times in the CNN channel and the bad rest rooms.
One of my cousins S and her family boarded the same flight as ours at Atlanta. We all flew together and reached our destination on time. Car rental was just a piece of cake. We had our breakfast after a long wait at Cracker Barrel. Our vacation home was tastefully decorated condo. The patio had a nice view of the ocean and the beach was 3 mins walk from the condo. It was a pecfect place for a family union and we were all set to spend the next 3 days together.
Our return journey was not really eventful. Only thing that will be etched in my mind about the return journey will be the restlessness of my little one in the flight. All our energy was burnt by the time we reached back home. Our mind was refreshed while we were physically very tired.

ps: Details of my vacation will be in the next post

Mind your Language

Have you ever come across a person who doesn't speak his / her mother tongue and wondered why ? Well ... I have .... and now have found convincing answers too.
After coming to the US, one of my first observations was that, the kids born to Indian parents usually did not speak their mother tongue. (they understood, but wouldn't converse in mother tongue). They insisted on continuing the conversation in "English". I had seen this in India as well ... if a kid as young as 3-4years replied in "English", I could see the pride in the face of parents. But this practice is more strong in the US, I realised. After living here for sometime now and seeing my little one growing, I have realised why this is the case.
I am sure all of us agree that "Language gets polished when you speak more often". Its just not true to just spoken languages .... its true to Computer languages as well. You gain command over language when spoken/used often. So kids in the US are exposed to English all the time ... be it in school, with friends and even in grocery store. They realise pretty early in their life that their parents understand English. They also realise that their mother tongue sounds different than what the others around them are communicating in. Its amazing how early in their life they figure these things out.
The fact that even the parents friends circle may not necessarily consist of people speaking the same mother tongue justs adds to their exposure to English.
Picture this: Some one speaks to you in a language you are quite comfortable, other than your mother tongue.... say English. You would never reply back in your mother tongue ... you'd reply in English. The assumption in the above situation is that the other person speaks your mother tongue too. The same holds good with kids too.
All this does not mean that the kids do not know their mother tongue .... they very much do and are quite comfortable with it too. Sometimes, it takes the parents to go some extra miles to ensure the kids to speak in eir mother tongue.
Atleast I will try my best that my kid is comfortable with my mother tongue "Kannada"

Appreciation / Encouragement

I still remember the day my SSLC (10th std) results were announced. I had secured a good percentage (ok, I was a geek then) and my parents were really proud of me. Except for my third language score, I was myself quite satisfied with my percentage. Its almost customary in our family that once the results are announced, I would share it with my grand parents (luckily for me, they reside in Mysore as well) and get their blessings. So I went straight from the school (where I learnt about the results) to my grandparent's house. They were as much excited as well, as were my uncle, aunt and cousins who stayed with my grandparents. My uncle who had promised me a watch if I secured good percentage, did not forget his promise. He bought me a really good watch the very day. That was my first watch and my excitement knew no bounds.
Then I visited another uncle of mine (dodappa's house). They were really happy for me and my cousins U and L were in tears of joy when they learnt about my percentage. ("Anandabhaspa")My aunt, who has always generously gifted me anytime I visited them, bought me a gold ring in appreciation of my achievement.
I received several other token of appreciation from other uncles and aunts at that time. But the watch and the ring have remained very close to my heart. I still treasure them and do not share it with anyone.
As a young student, I really felt so happy and encouraged to get all these gifts from near and dear ones. Now, as a working professional I may be able to buy these items myself, but the excitement is no longer there. I excitement in receiving gifts has long faded away as well. But I still remember my happy moments when I got these gifts as a student. Its perhaps my turn now to encourage other students in my family and help them savor the precious moments.

Family games

As noted in my blog before, we are having a family reunion coming up. I was thinking about the various things we could do during our gathering and went flash back to my times in Mysore. We played a whole range of games during family gatherings .... most times, I would play the host. Here is a recollect of the games we enjoyed in our family:

• Antakshari (Kannada and Hindi) : One of my all time favorite games.
• Chowka Bharah (a board game using sea shells)
• Bingo / Housie-Housie
• Scrabble
• Dumb-Cherrads (rarely)
• Word building
• Puzzle solving
• Cards (Rummy, 28, Donkey, Hearts)

I would like to learn about your family games ...

Accident .... Emergency ... Action / No Action

2 days back, it was the birthday of my little one's friend. My little one so excited as if it were her own ... it just added to her excitement that the goodies bag she got had some cool toys for her ! Her favourite was a plastic whistle. I was playing with her and she accidentally tried to grab something and the whistle in her hand pierced my right eye. For a second, I was extremely scared and thought I was blind. After getting back to senses, I realised the pain and constant tearing. All I wanted to do was be sure I wasn't blind. I tried to open my eyes... but it was more difficult than I thought. With a lot of efforts, I finally opened my eyes and thanked my stars for being able to see.
Though my spouse insisted, we visit a doctor immediately since the tears never stopped and I couldn't open my eyes easily, I resisted the idea. Its a matter to time before the tears will stop I argued. But not the one to take it easy, my spouse dragged me to the Emergency room. (it was already 8:00pm ... so regular doctor check up was out of question). I always fear the emergency room visit especially after being there once in Las Vegas. The scene here was slighly different and less frightening. There were atleast 10 patients ahead of us, so it should take about an hour to 90mins we concluded. The wait here was very very exhausting, especially for my better half. The little was getting really restless since there was nothing which grabbed her attention there. A game of "Jute" would be a good bet she decided and started running around the place. After almost 90mins, we were called in for initial "Triage" where our details was verified and BP recorded. Then we were sent back to the waiting room again. We waited, and waited ... and still waited. There was no sign of any progress made. My query on how long it would take for my turn fell on deaf ears at the reception. By around 9:30pm, my sister and her husband joined us there. My little was hungry, frustrated, sleepy by now. So my spouse decided to head home, feed her and return back.
So, my waiting continued, this time with my sister and Brother-in-law for company. Finally around 10:00pm I was called inside. No one accompanied me. A male nurse practisioner led me to a hallway and wanted me to give an eye exam. I could see quite well with my left eye and read out the letters at a distance without any effort. But my right eye was still tearing and I said, it was hard for me to read. But he insisted that I read and I gave my best shot. I was taken to one of the beds and asked to rest there. I waited here for additional 45mins before the doctor examined me. She explained to me that there were some scratches on the cornea and then prescribled some medication. She also wanted me to consult an opthamologist. But she assured me that there was no cause of concern.
The next day I got my eye thoroughly examined and thankfully there was nothing seriously wrong.
Now I am doing just fine except that my vision is slightly blurred due to the medication. (well I am able to write this blog, so I must be doing more than just fine)
I will never forget the long wait in the emergency room. It was quite an experience.

Mother's Day

I don't remember which year I learnt that there was a day dedicated to "Mothers". But I do know that it was not until Engineering days that I knew about it. For me everyday was revolving around my mother rather amma , daddy and sister... so there was no reason for me to specifically remember amma. But when learnt about mother's day, I wanted to do something that would make my amma feel special. With limited budget (I didn't need pocket money since my parents took care of everything.), I would try to make amma feel happy. Sometimes it would be a simple heart felt wish and warm hug ! My amma never failed to see the warmth and the purity of wishes though.
This year I wanted to surprise her with something different. I have heard several horror stories of online identity thefts and was always apprehensive in buying things online. Most times, the payment sites were not secured and I felt vulnerable. This time, I found a good site which was secure and offered to deliver gifts to India. Before getting too excited, I wanted to ensure that delivery was available in Mysore as well.... to my luck it was available. The only problem was that only flowers, cakes or chocolates could be delivered. There wasn't a wide range of choice .. but I didn't want to step back. So I decided on a Black Forest cake. I knew my parents liked the taste and they would appreciate it. So placed the order.
I was happy that the site customer support folks replied back to my order queries without delays and the cake was delivered to my suprised amma on "Mother's day". I called up in the evening and I could almost see her smiling face and hear her excitement when she said "Thank you for the cake" ... I wish I could run to her and give her a warm hug ! Thank you amma for everything you have done to me ... you have been an absolutely wonderful amma, a great friend and strict desciplinarian .... I appreciate you for everything !
The only regret is that I had placed an order for a Black forest cake, but the cake delivered was a Chocolate cake. I hope someone who reads this blog could point me to good site which deliver gifts to Mysore.

Welcome weekend

Yesterday night, after a long time, we watched a friday movie, "Pukar" (Anil, Madhuri movie) after dinner. Our initial plan was to watch till interval and continue the next day. The idea was to go to bed early and go for an early morning hike the next day. But we got so engrossed in the movie that, we didn't realise that we had almost completed the movie .... so we decided to complete it anyways. It was obviously late by the time we went to bed. I was skeptical about the early morning hike we had planned.
As usual, we woke up to the "Weekend Bonus" .... an early rising ... thanks to my little one. So we decided make the best of the time and stick to our hiking plan. I quickly prepared tea and packed vegetable rolls, orange juice, water etc ... our backpack was ready. (ok... I know, we were going for a hike and picnic ... but with a child one must be prepared) We set out earlier than expected. Reached the ranch and found a convinient parking place. (the parking lot was full as were leaving) We put the little one on the stroller and she didn't complain for a change. We hiked for about 45 mins while the little one was busy with her recital. We spotted a mountain lion as well. We had completed a path and wanted to explore another trail. But it was past breakfast time and the little one would not compromise. So I decided to sit back to feed her and my spouse went for a jog. We headed back soon after and enjoyed our breakfast while driving back home.
Its been a great start to the weekend ! I hope we do this more often !

Sun rises in the east ... sets in the west

I went on an evening walk yesterday and enjoyed a wonderful sunset. The weather here is so good for the past 2 weeks that sometimes, I think we should go on a trek or to a beach everyday ... alas thats not possible!
The beautiful sunset reminded of the time I have thoroughly enjoyed nature's eternal beauty. In this post, I would like to remember the best sunrise and sunset I have seen so far.
I have always been an early bird. I woke up early almost everyday and enjoyed the morning sunrise from the terrace of our house in Mysore. I could see the complete view of the Chamundi hills and it only added to the glorious sun rise. But the best sun rise, I can never forget in my life time has to be the amazing experience at Kanyakumari. It was during the holidays after my first semester engineering exams. We were on a south india vacation. We reached Kanyakumari when the weather was almost perfect there. The serene beauty of the place captured our attention instantly and fell in love with the place. We knew that apart from the other things we wanted to do, enjoying the sun rise was a must. We checked into a beach side hotel and got up early in the morning (around 5:30am). We went to the terrace and waited with baited breath. The sun rise was so exotic that one had to see it to believe it. It was an amazing experience. Its been a while since, but this particular sun rise is still bright in my mind.

I was lucky to experience and equally amazing sun set as well. This happened in the fall of 2004. We had gone to Lake Tahoe .... again a family vacation. We had seen the Tahoe lake and were headed towards Reno. As we were driving, we noticed that the sun rays which were so intense all the while started turning golden orange. We were lucky to be close to a Vista point. We were not going to miss out a golden opportunity to see the sun setting behind the mountains with a clear lake to complete the picture. It was a great sun set ... I could almost see all the colors of the spectrum as the sun set. We captured some great pictures and everytime I see the pictures, I re-experience the sun set all over again.

I would have ended this blog right here .... but I happened to notice that my best sun rise was in the Eastern hemisphere and sun set in the western hemisphere :)

Vacation planning

Family gathering, family vacations (not just our family of 4, but all uncles, aunts and cousins) were somethings that I grew up on and always looked forwad to those. Exploring new places was just one part of the fun .... we cousins rocked the bus (pun intended) while travelling to these places. Antakshari was almost mandatory ... which more often than not ended up in some argument about the beginning of the song ! The adults took part in Antakshari as well. How could I forget those yummy snacks we ate almost non stop. It was a unspoken / unwritten rule that every family would get atleast 4 snacks. I can never forget the kodbale, chakkali, benne biscuit, sajappa, Khara puri, Kobbari mittai etc. (all these are famous snacks in Karnataka).
Since the time I moved to the US, family trips are limited to just me, my spouse and my little one. Occasionally, its my sister and her husband. Some of my cousins, who had as much fun as me in the childhood family trips, found the idea of a family union in the US quite exciting. We decided that we should all meet up atleast once a year. This idea June 2005. It has taken almost a year to materialise. This year, we have finally decided to meet up in Florida during the May long weekend.
Narrowing the location to Florida was a herculean task in itself. If one family wanted to meet in Texas, the other families found it not so glamorous. If one suggested Southern California, the other had other social obligations there .... the ideas bouced back and forth for 2 weeks. It almost appeared to me that, we might not make it this long weekend as well. But finally we decided on Florida. Though booking flight in the nth minute was going to be expensive, we decided to go for it anyways.
Once the flights were booked, car rental and accomodation almost seemed effortless. Now we have everything in place. I just cannot wait for the long weekend ... I haven't been to Florida and I am looking forward to those sunny beaches. Most important of it all.... I am looking forward to meeting up my family and making memories.

Whats there in the number !!

I always talk to my parents over weekend. If I don't talk to them first thing saturday mornings, something keeps haunting me the entire day and I lose my peace of mind. Its become such a strong practice that, I don't even bother to prepare the tea on saturday mornings... so my spouse prepares strong masala chai, while I am busy purchasing the calling card to India.
This week was an exception in that, I could not talk to daddy saturday morning as he was not available then. So I had to call up in the evening. During our discussion he mentioned about the parties he attended in honour of his retirement, the various gifts he received, tons of fruits and fresh garlands he had got. While we were busy chatting on various subjects, he mentioned that the new phone was grey in color and the instrument had a caller id feature as well. He said he had made a request to the telephone dept to retain the old number. We had bought new washer / dryer and I "had to" share the details of the same with my parents. So we switched topics and discussed various things before saying good bye.
Come monday evening and I couldn't wait to talk to daddy about his new role experience. I tried calling home, but no one was picking the phone. That was unusual ... daddy would go to work at 6:30am and it was just 6:15am ... my daddy has been so punctual in leaving to work that we almost can set our watch time to 6:30am when he steps out for work. And amma doesn't usually go out so early .... since there was no response, perhaps both amma and daddy went for a morning walk they had always planned I concluded. I called up later after 3 hours and this time the phone was engaged. I waited for half an hour longer and called up again .... the phone kept ringing but there was no response ... now my heart began to beat faster. My parents always tell me if they planned to go out of station ... so they are in probability in station ... but then my grandpa was supposed to undergo a cataract operation in B'lore ... did they make a last minute decision to visit grandpa ?? But then daddy had mentioned that he could not afford leave when I told him that he deserved a vacation before starting his new assignment. A million thoughts ran through my mind in nano seconds ... I was confused / concerned at the same time. I could not sleep well that night.
The next day morning, I rushed to my mails and behold ... a mail from amma waited me ! The subject read phone number change ! That was enough to calm me and put me to ease. What a relief that was ... I called up daddy / amma and had a quick chat with them before heading to work.
I came back home and shared my experience with my sister ... only to learn that she had gone through the same the previous night !

Happy Birthday !

Last week my birthday was celerated in a most delightful way by my spouse and family. Birthdays were special days a few years back. It was a time when I felt special and got a chance to meet near and dear ones. After moving to the US, birthdays almost had lost the charm they had back home. I missed my family more than ever on birthdays ... but this time, I felt really touched with all that my spouse planned for the birthday.

• We went shopping for new clothes for me ... and to my luck found a pair of clothing which I really liked. (thats unsual ... whenever I intend shopping, I never find anything satisfactory.)
• I was wished "Happy Birthday" right at mid night.
• I woke up to the Birthday song from my little one.
• The little one and my spouse had decorated the house tastefully.
• A nicely wrapped gift awaited me.
• As I thanked my spouse for the thoughtful gift, my parents called me and wished me.
• Few other family member called to wish me as well from India.
• This was followed by a nice rendition of the Birthday song by my sister and her hubby.
• As I was sipping my tea, my good friend who had not been in touch for a while now, called me!
• I had several e-cards from friends and family.
• I planned to take a day off .... but the work pressure never gave room for that.... and I didn't complain. (I worked from home though)
• I picked up the little one from day care and headed home after a quick stroll in the park.
• Got dressed up in my new outfit ... and so did the little one.
• My spouse came back from work earlier than usual.
• My sister and her hubby were expected to join us for dinner ... and I heard the door bell ... and then surprise!! My cousin and her family were there !
• In a few minures my sis and her hubby came .... we cut the cake (another surprise).
• As it was dinner we debated over the restaurant and then finally decided on one. We headed out and I was about to start the car when another surprise awaited me .... the food was already ordered and was there in the car !
• All my favourite dishes were ordered (my better half had paid special attention to my favourite food) We had a hearty dinner and had a nice family time.

I really had a great birthday ... except for the fact that I missed my parents .... my spouse had carefully planned my birthday in keeping my interests in mind.