Treasure hunt

My daughter's 3 rd birthday party was a huge success.
One of the games played with the kids (and of course parents) was treasure hunt.

Below were the clues for the hidden treasures:

CLUE 1:
Follow this clue to kids favourite space
Where the kids go higher and higher in this place
Go to this place to see the "Bling"
Come on .. its right here under the ________

CLUE 2:
There is no need to frown
The next clue is under a place you sit down
Track it down, but there is no Label
Thats' right, the treasure is in under the __________

CLUE 3:
You're almost there! Don't admit defeat!
Now, make your way to the street!
This clue is sure a ticket
Spill out the sand, inside the ________

CLUE 4:
All right ! Way to go and oh Boy !
Now this clue is one of kids favourite toy !
Don't run to hard, coz you may fall
The treasure is near the soccer ________

CLUE 5:
To find this clue you must look hard around !
Only then will the treasure be found !
Try harder... you see nothing comes for free
Green grass and its me, close to the _________

CLUE 6:
Observe around for the party theme
That way your thoughts will stream
Yes! You will fine me, come on go
Behind the seven colors of the ___________

As you may have guessed, it was a themed party ... can you guess the theme ?
The kids and their parents sure had loads of fun !

My true Hero

A little girl hurt her thumb, when she hit against the wall. Her mom ran to her, consoled her and tried to divert her attention to various other things around the house. There was no sore , or blood on the thumb. The girl held her thumb upright the whole day and in the evening her dad came. The magic rub of the thumb by her dad, followed with affectionate words seem to make a differnce. The pain on the thumb was soon forgotten. (wonder if there was any pain at all in the first place)
The little girl soon started school. She did quite well academically. She was enrolled in a school where the first langauage was Hindi. Her parents felt that Hindi Prachar sabha exams would help her with the new language. Her dad donned the role of a hindi teacher. The language was new to him as well ... but he never once showed his nervousness to the little girl. Before the girl turned 7, she had passed her "Maadhyama exmas" ... thanks to her dad. She was now comfortable enough to have a good conversation in Hindi. Along with her curriculum, the school encouraged all their kids to participate in Co-curricular activities. While the mom took the role of Arts / Music / drawing teacher, her dad took it upon himself to encourage his daughter to participate in Essay writing /monoacting / recitation / debate etc. Whether a prize was won or not, their encouragement did not stop. Of course, they tried to encourage the girl in sports as well ... but the girl did not show much on interest in that area. Soon, the girl graduated to Middle school. Her dad helped out in every possible way in her science projects and debate competitions. He was careful in his involvement ... he never once spoon fed. He always encouraged the girl to think out of the box. High school and college saw the girl take regular mathematics and physics lessons from her dad. She now discussed most subjects under the sun be it cricket matches or politics or a problem in Integratiom, or soaring petrol rates and its implication to common man ... she discussed everything with her dad. Soon she earned her Bachelors degree and found a good job in a different city. Her dad accompanied her first day to the office. After ensuring that his daughter's needs in the new city was met, the dad returned back to his hometown.
Then one fine day, the girl got married ... just a couple of days after the wedding, the girl had to locate to a different country to join her husband. The dad gave his most precious possession , his daughter away to this gentleman, her husband with a heavy heart. The girl started living in a differnt country ... her interactions with her dad / mom was not as much as it once used to be. But she always involved them in her world... though remotely. That girl is none other than me and today, I have a little daughter and am enjoying a whole new experience that life has to offer.
But dad, I cannot say enough things about you ...
I may not have been the best daughter one could have, but you still were there for me, when I needed you.
I may not have fulfilled your dreams by becoming an IAS officer, but you have never once complained about my choice of profession.
I may not have done a lot more things that you I could do for you ... but you never once expected anything from me.
Thank you daddy ... thank you for everything. You are truly a gem of a person .... I may have never said this to you ... but "You are my true Hero" ... my most admired person in whole entire world.
HAPPY FATHER"S DAY !

Downtown - Muni ride

Downtown offers a unique experience everytime you visit it. So far, I have never been let down ...

I was returning from office yesterday. The Muni station that I board is not one of the popular stations. Its an underground station and not many people board there. Muni arrived within couple of mins of me reaching the station. I paid for the ticket in the first car and looked around. There was a young noisy crowd in the first car. After a hectic day at work, I didn't want to be admist a noisy crowd ... so moved to the last car. I was pleasantly surprised to see my colleague from work in the same car. The next station approached and few interesting people boarded the muni. I keenly observed these people, while trying to have a conversation with my colleague. One of the person from the "Interesting crowd" ... with tattoo all over his arms, pulled something from his pocket ... it appeared like tobacco (or was it drugs ???) ... he rubbed it with his hands and started sniffing it. I could sense he was not satisfied just sniffing it. I have never seen anyone doing drugs in front of me ... so I counted this as my opportunity. Just then my colleague asked me something about my work experience .... I mumbled something and looked at this tattooed person ... alas. ... he was gone ... I had lost my opportunity :(

While I was observing this guy, I had not failed to notice another drunk guy moving from one end of the train. Then there was a huge huge guy (who occupied double seats) having some talk about a ballpark game with another equally enthusiastic / huge guy. In the mad rush, another well built lady weirdly dressed stood beside me enjoying music on her ipod (I cannot begin to describe her dressing sense)

As I observed these people ... I almost missed my station. Thankfully I had my colleague to remind me ... so that didn't happen.

Downtown muni rides sure is eventful most days :)

New project - 1st week

The new project is very interesting ... its a re-engineering project. I get to learn a new Business and a new technology. Well the business and technology are old by themselves... new to me.
In that sense its an exciting project. But couple of cribs:
12hrs of my day is gone in meetings ... yes, got that right. My ear hurts and my head stops functioning after a while. And my worst problem, my home phone battery does not last as long and I am forced to use personal cell minutes ... boo boo ....
The people on-board the project have been working in the team for the past 6-8 months ... but not much progress has been made. Most of the knowledge these folks have obtained is not documented. There is no time for Knowledge transfer session given the strict timelines drawn.
OK ... let me stop here ... there are many more positives and negatives about the project though. Its just been one week and I can already come up with a list ... amazing uh ? Thanks to my parents, a lot of things gets done at home. The only thing I do in my free time is run around my little daughter and have fun with her.
How would I manage if my parents were not here with me at this time ?? I cannot begin to imagine the situation ....

First day at work - new learnings

I began working on my new assignment from this monday. I had a good sleep sunday night ... surprisingly did not have any jitters starting on the new project. Got addressed at the right time and headed to the Caltrain station to catch the 7:13am train. The parking fee has been hiked since the last time I was there ... anyways, got my ticket and boarded the train. The ticket validator at the station was not functioning, so, as soon as I boarded and had found a comfortable seating ... I began to look for the Conductor. You see, being cited for ticket violation is no fun :(
Anyways, once I got my ticket endorsed my the conductor, I caught up on more sleep. The train ride to the downtown was more or less uneventful. I hopped on the Muni from the caltrain depot. Now, I wasn't sure which station I had to get off. Well, I had a vague idea of the downtown, but wasn't sure. With my best guess, I got off at the station which seemed closest to my office building. It was a subway station and I got back to the streets. The looked across the street and noted the office building number was close to my destination address. OK.. not a bad choice of station to get off I appreciated and continued walking in the direction of my office building. After walking a couple of blocks I realised I had missed my office building and so headed back in the direction I started off. I located a tall building from a distance and since I was going to the 22nd floor, I decided that the tall building was more than likely going to be my office and yep I was right. To my luck, the person who would escort me inside the building (secured building you see) was right behind me. Though we had not met before, somehow we recognised each other and he helped me get to my floor. He brought me a huge package which contained my laptop ... and all he had to say was he will be busy in meeting for the next 3 hrs. Great ... so what was I going to do now ??? I braved the odds and assembled the ever confusing parts of the laptop ... within about 20 - 25 mins, I was all set and connected to the office network successfully. I was all set for the day's work.
The entire day just went by in meetings and discussion ... soon it was time to leave.
I confidentantly headed to the muni station ... the trains were coming at regular intervals and I hopped to the muni within minutes. The muni headed through the tunnel and within a few secs the outside sunlight hit the muni (the sun sets at around 8:30pm these days) Something seemed wrong ... didn't the muni spend more time in subway in my morning ride?? Oh well ... everything was clear in mins ... in my anxiety I had jumped on to the muni heading the opposite direction. The next station never seem to show up ... how much more was I going away from my destination I wondered .... thankfully the next stop finally was made. I got off immediately only to be greeted by muni trains from all directions. (it was 5 roads junction) Welcome to downtown chaos I thought !!! There was no specific station there and the muni 's from all these directions had their own stations ... hmm well ... where would "MY" muni come ... I didn't know. I asked a lady in her 20's (looked educated to me) and she willingly spotted the right train for me and asked me to jump onto it. I thanked my stars for sending the train before I'd encounter one of those homeless vagabonds.
But there was another worry inside me... the Caltrain timings. I had barely 25mins on hand to make it to the train. With every inch closer to the Caltrain station, it appeared I had hopes to make it to the train. The last signal before the Caltrain station ensured there was a nail biting finish to this entire episode. The muni station is just across the Caltrain station. So I put on my best atheletic run from the muni station to the Caltrain station to make it to the train ... I almost felt a tear drop when the train left the platform right in front of my eyes ... anyone who travels by public transportation understands this feeling. It is a pathetic state of mind.
Before I could curse myself for choosing the wrong Muni, I noted that there was another Caltrain leaving in the next 10mins to my station ... and whats more it was a BABY BULLET with limited stops. This one would reach my destination sooner than the missed train. What more could I ask for, I gleed. "Ooper wala jab bhi deta hai to chappar phad ke deta hai"

Beginning of a new chapter

Friday was my last day at work ... no I didn't quit my job. I am moving to a different project.
My last day was very relaxing in the office (as expected). I went around thanking everyone for their co-operation during my stay in the project. note: I only went and thanked those from whom I had truly benefitted. My colleagues surprised me with a lunch out. We went to a nice Chinese Restaurant.
I have to write about my almost embarassing incident at the restaurant. Being a vegetarian, I had very limited choice in that particular place. I ordered for Seczhwan Eggplant (pardon my spelling) and steamed rice. Now, we were a group of 5 and I was the only vegetarian. Anyways, the soup was served ... it had a decent taste. I was looking forward to my order. The waitress served a huge platter of eggplant and rice. The food was inviting and I digged into it greedily. As soon as I put the food into my mouth I realised it was super super hot and I could see fumes from my mouth. If I was at home, I would have just cleared my mouth immediately. Here I was, in the company of office colleagues, I managed to control my tears ... held my napkin close to my mouth and gasped a few breaths. Thankfully everyone was busy discussing about this new application at work. For the next 300secs, I did not dare to touch the food.
After lunch, I offered to buy them all coffee. We chatted our way back to desk discussing about my next work location, technology I'd be working etc. The next 2 hours, I just sat there staring at the monitor trying hard to stop myself from drowsing. This is when I realised, it hard when you have loads of work to do ... but it is harder when you have no work to do.
As soon as the clock ticked 3:00pm, I got up and handed over my laptop, my badge and other office supplies. Bid my final good bye to my manager and walked out of the office building recollecting my experiences in the project. The drive home was uneventful.
I now look forward to my new project ... hoping to learn new things and enjoy my experience at my new work place.

Met Yamaraj* .. well almost ... and didn't even realise ....

This incident happened about 2 weeks back. Like I have mentioned in my previous post, I have never had respite from long commute to work. I have been so much used to it now that it feels part of my lifestyle.
Anyways, I was returning home after an eventful day at work. Little did I know that bigger events were in store for me. It was only 5 mins since I had driven from the office parking lot ... I had just entered the freeway. The traffic was moving at a nice speed and I was glad. Suddenly I heard a honk.** I looked at my speedometer ... it reflected 70mph and was satisfied. The posted speed limit is 65mph and the traffic was more or less going at 70mph speed. I ignored the honk and thought it was for a fellow driver. Just then I noticed a huge truck approaching me in the next lane. The truck driver had a horrified look and pointed his hands at something. I could make out that we was trying to convey some message to me. I just couldn't understand and had a quizzed look on my face. I then noticed that the car following the truck was that of a Cop. Oh ! I concluded, the truck driver was trying to alert me of the approaching cop so I could drive at the posted speed !!! What a gentleman ... I thought.
But the next moment, I said " Hey, but no body in the US does that ... why would anyone alert you of the cop especially being followed by one ????" .. All these thoughts came to mind in less than 5 secs. Something didn't seem right ... I realised that I was loosing the control of my car. I was in the left most lane ***. So I cut lanes and had almost made it to the right most lane and my car started wobbling crazily. Thankfully the pullover (emergency parking) was right beside me and I pulled over. I parked my car and causiously came out. To my horror, the left rear wheel had been torn to pieces. The truck driver's indication now made perfect sense to me.
I knew I had to call AAA ~. I had never dealt with them before and so wanted to consult my husband about the steps involved. So I hoped into the car. As luck would have it, my cell phone lay dead there ... and I hadn't carried the charger. I cursed myself and spotted the next exit in about a miles' distance. The last thing to happen in this situation was for me to forget my purse. Thankfully I had carried it along. (yes, there are times when I have forgotten my purse as well ... thankfully I have gotten well)
Anyways, I locked my car and started walking towards the exit ...not knowing where it would lead me to.Just when I had walked some 30 yards, a biker stopped and asked if he could take a look. He was a typical American male ... tall well built man, clean shaven, in his early 50's (perhaps) He was not riding a Harley Davidson ... a BMW bike ... I noted the memorised the number plate and accepted his offer. He took a look at the torn tyre and asked if I carried a spare tyre. I think I have one I mumbled not so confidently. He said, "Well, I can change it for you, if you like" he offered. With not much choice, I agreed. He also lent me his cell phone, in case I wanted to call anyone. I appreciated his kind gesture and tried to reach my husband. As expected he did not receive my call. (he doesn't answer calls from unrecognised numbers) I could hear the rush in my blood, when he didn't pick up the phone. While the good samaritan was replacing my tire... another fella in a sports car stopped. He was another 20 something male with tattoes, bandana ... the typical rock star look. He offered help, when the older guy politely refused. With not many handy tools, the older gentleman somehow managed to replace my tyre. He cautioned me to drive slowly and not make sharp turns. He pointed to the replaced tyre and said "This is almost like a toy tyre ...don't take your chances. Drive carefully... not beyond 40mph". I thanked him for his help .. he drove away on his bike with a smile.
I shared my experience with my husband and family later that evening. They were all thankful I had managed to reach home safe. One of my colleagues at work remarked "You are so little ... anything could have happened to you, You were driving at a good speed ... bikers are all not always nice ... you just got lucky !!"
Only then did it dawn on me that I was indeed lucky ... I had almost met Yamaraj .. what if my car just went completely out of control and I could never pull over ... what if another car speeding from behind just hit me when I was chaging lanes ... the consequences could have been fatal. I thanked my stars !


My little dictionary for the uninitiated:
* : Yamaraj: God of death
**: Honking is not common in the US ... one honks only when a fellow driver makes a mistake.
*** : Left most is the fastest lane
~ : American Automobile Association. When insured, they provide road side assistance for any problem with the automobile

Famine

I have no good reason for not blogging regularly.
I now vow to be reasonably regular.

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 !!