70th Birthday - Surprise visit and more ...

 The idea to visit my daddy for his 70th birthday germinated sometime during the Christmas break of 2016 ... during our Cancun visit. The thought of surprising him was very very enticing, but I had visited India in summer and had almost emptied my vacation hours at work. I also changed groups at work place, so the comfort level with the manager / Biz associates was low. There was also the possibility of kids CASSP exams, tournaments ...and of course money involved.
 The idea was discussed with sister .... she had similar considerations along with the fact that her kid was younger. She kept postponing the decision till late january. I had by then started enquiring different travel agents for a price quote. I was surprised that the ticket fare was not very high considering March is non seasonal / non peak time for travel from US to India.
 Around this time, there were some site problems that my parents were facing in India. Some illegal occupants claiming to have the right paper work over my parent's site. This caused a lot of grief to my parents, especially dad. He put off any discussions on this matter, saying he would leave the matter in the hands of capable officers, God willing, everything would be settled in his favor. But we all knew this was his way of avoiding any discussions,  he was deeply saddened by the events . My mama emailed me one fine day, saying he met daddy and he seem to have lost a lot of weight and he felt his health needed attention. He also warned saying that daddy had taken the site matter to heart which had affected his health.
 That was it ... I could not debate any further with my sister or circumstances here in the US. I had to make that trip to India in March. Husband was very supportive, infact, he had been the one encouraging me to make that trip terming all my considerations as unimportant. To him, parent is above all ... no money, no career, no kid exam should stop one from being there for the parent. Anyways, when I told the sister I was making that trip irrespective of her situation, she wanted 2 days to sort out her side. Things fell in place, and sister also decided to make that trip. So we booked our tickets. This was the first time in 16 years of marriage, I was going to India with my sister and no kids. The trip itself was very short. We left on a friday and were back the following monday...but boy what a trip it was.... so so satisfying.
 We left US on 10th march, 2017 and landed 12th early morning in Bengaluru. Sister's FIL was at the airport to receive us. We rested / ate breakfast with sister's ILs and went to my IL's house. We had booked the taxi in advance, thanks to my aunt. Quick hello to my niece, and wave to my aunt, we headed to Mysore around 11:00am on 12th. Although we had barely slept in the flight, both sister and me were highly energetic. We couldn't get enough of all the planning ...

Day 1 :(sunday)  We managed to pack few return gifts in the ride to Mysore :) We had carried the return gifts / gift bags / sweet boxes / chocolates from US.We reached Mysore around 1:30pm. Parents were taking their afternoon nap when we knocked on the door. Daddy opened the door was extremely surprised to see us ... he couldn't believe his eyes for few minutes. We settled down and got down to Biz the same evening. We had catering / venue booking / gift packing / purchases to tackle and couldn't really put it off ...
 We placed the order for a yummy pineapple pastry and headed for venue hunting along with my parents and V mama and aunty. After going through few places, we settled on Ruchi the Prince.  It had a great outdoor space, stereo system , lighting. We discussed the table arrangement and took our time to finalize the rich dinner menu. ... Watermelon juice, Aloo chat, vegetable pakoda, Tomato soup, papad, vegetable biryani, corn salad, rasam, rice, curd rice, naan, navratan korma, daal, bhindi masala, mango ice cream, gajar halwa , meeta paan and banana :)   I am boggled with how much food we eat ... We made personal phone calls to all invitees because not many had a clue about our visit. Only my aunt, V mama knew ....

 Day 2 (monday): We headed to the mall for shopping clothes. Since it was a short visit, ended buying clothes for kids back home as well. Parents bought us clothes too ... grabbed a quick lunch in the mall and went to the jewelry store and bought a pair of gold studs for mom. Also bought sweets for all our guests and started packing the return gifts. The gift set included a set of kitchen towels (in the form of cute baby frocks), kesar pedas, chocolates, and cash for 1st family circle members. We also prepared games to be played during the party. We had bought table mat sets from US as prizes for the games.

Day 3 (tuesday): Daddy's 70th birthday... we were excited as family members from B'lore started coming home. The house atmosphere instantaneously turned festive :) We debated on our clothes to wear for the party, joked about each other, decided on mode of transport to the venue ... basically did stuff that families do when they gather together.
 Sister, me and my aunt went first to the venue to ensure the table arrangements were done exactly how we had instructed them. We were glad they were, we only had to make minor adjustments. We also neatly arranged the "Receiving table" with gifts, arishiNa pottaNa and prizes for the games. Set up a special cake table (we carried special table clothes, chair covers from US) Guests slowly started arriving and were extremely pleased with the arrangement. We ensured we welcomed each family personally so daddy / mom could just relax and enjoy the evening.
 We started off the evening inviting few family members on stage and recollect some memories they share with my dad. I was moved with all the heart felt messages / memories / words of appreciation / love family / friends had for my dad. A very humbling / touching experience it was ..
 We cut the cake, started with the Antakshari with a twist. The teams were divided into Kalpana, Aarthi, Ramesh and Ambarish :) Crowd was enthusiastic ... the food kept flowing fresh / hot off the stove. There was mass request for a game of Bingo and we played the same as dinner was served.
 Everyone seem to have a great time. We took pictures, ensured guests were attended / fed. The night ended around 10:30pm and we got back home to prepare for the Sathyanarayan pooja the next morning.

Day 4 (wednesday): The day started early ... once we were ready, we headed to V mama's house where breakfast was arranged. We wanted to help ... but apparently our aunts / uncles the experienced ones already had everything taken care. We spent sometime with them and came back home. The pooja started on time, family members arrived on time as well. It was a hot day, so we served juice to cool down the heat ... The pooja ended right around lunch time, and the caterers arrived just in time. Chairs were cleared, plantain leaves laid out and food was served. The food was not great, but the mood, atmosphere more than made up for it. Once lunch was taken care, we all stretched and laughed and joked some more, took pictures and soon it was time for Bangalore families to leave. We thanked them for their short visit ... and they assured us that they wouldn't miss it for anything. We finally relaxed that night, after all the travel from US for only for these 2 days and we had achieved what we came for. It was extremely well spent and daddy was extremely pleased with the way the days were spent.

Day 5 (thursday): It was a day we just lazed around ... morning breakfast from a restaurant, fab india shopping, some more shoe shopping, clothes shopping, sugar cane juice, bhel puri ...

Day 6 (friday): Lunch at V mama's house, day spent with chikkamma, of course shopping and eating ....Bought sweets, packed stuff, ate puff / sponge cake from Raghavendra bakery, parents bought some more gifts / clothes for us / kids.

Day 7 (saturday) : Started early to arrive in B'lore chatra at 8:00pm. It was cousin P's baby shower. Yummiest masala dose / dumroot breakfast ... mingled some more with extended family. Visited ILs place again ... said our good byes to everyone and came to the airport.

Day 8 (sunday) : Flight delay ... 1:30am slight postponed to 4:00am .... time spent in B'lore airport was very very tiring .... but then arrived on time in California to be greeted by husband and kids. Didn't sleep a wink in the flight ... I guess sister and I memorized the "Who wants to be millionaire" question / answers. The kids were delighted to see me back ... they loved their gifts and sweets ...

The next few days were spent in terrible jet lag ... although I had to work. But overall the short visit to India was memorable in all ways ... every penny spent on the trip was well spent.

Songs green in my memory ...

There are so many "Evergreen" songs in Bollywood that it would be hard for me to narrow down my top 10 favorites. (although "Kisi ki muskurahaton pe ho nisar is undoubtedly my Top 1 ... lyrics - such depth, music - top notch, rendition - Mukehs's best)

 Anyways, this post is not about the "Evergreen" top favorites, but those songs which continue to be green ... meaning songs I heard growing up, never were my favorite (if I may add) and yet are etched in my memory for ever.
 The other day I was watching "Zee TV Annu Kapoor led Antakshi" on youtube and some of the songs featured I heard after many many years and yet, I could sing along perfectly not missing a beat. I truly surprised myself.

 For starters, the Antakshari title song, I sang along so well, as though I had been practicing it all these years everyday ... then there were songs like "Noorani Chehrewali ..., Subah Subah jab Khidki khole .. etc" that I sang effortlessly.

I thoroughly enjoyed reminiscing those songs ... 

Farm animals party

My daughter's first birthday celebrated last weekend had a farm animals or Baryard theme. My sister and I cut out farm animals, made out a barn, tractor and arranged the same on the table to give a barnyard feel. The cake was specially designed to match the barnyard theme. (actually the bakery did not have exact barnyard cake, so had to give specific instructions to the decorator)

 We also made masks of farm animals and handed the same to all the kids. Guests really appreciated our "DIY" efforts. 

 We played 3 games ... Tail the donkey, Musical chairs and Memory game. The last one was for couples and it was fun watching the parents struggling to remember the list of barn animals they had just seen.

 Food was excellent ... vegetable pakora, chips, water melon served as starters ... Navratan Korma, Dal Makhaani, Naan, Veggie Biryani and Raitha was the main course, Curd rice and Carrot Halwa rounded the menu. Guests really enjoyed the food ... the sad part was we had ordered more food than required fearing shortage. Thus ended up eating the same food for the next 3 days. 

 We had neatly arranged the return gifts in gifts bags. It comprised of a piggy bank (of different farm animals like cow, sheep, duck, pig etc), a craft toy making set, candies and a thank you note. Overall I was quite satisfied with the way we celebrated the birthday.

 Hubby would have preferred summoning someone to entertain the kids I guess... so the next year it will be his way perhaps :) 

Milestone ....

 My older daughter has crossed another milestone ... she can ride a bicycle.

 The look on my husband's face on the day she achieved this milestone was priceless. And she achieved this feat on May 5th 2009 ... much before her 5th year birthday ... due in July.

 We bought this bicycle as a present for her second year birthday. At that time, it was too big for her to even sit on it ... her feet were left dangling in the air if we did manage to put her on the seat. For the first few months after the purchase, she avoided going anywhere close to it. Hubby kept encouraging her to get familiar with its parts atleast ... but she would have none of it.

 After pleading and persuading, hubby managed to teach her to ride the bicycle a week before her 3rd year birthday. This was with training wheels though. 

 Ever since, she loved riding her bike and was quite comfortable riding it to grocery stores, library, parks etc. So it was only a matter of time that her training wheels were to come out. 

 This time though it did not take a lot of effort on hubby's part ... she was quite familiar with the parts and could reach the ground with her feet. But she did whine when the training wheels came out ... eventually she learnt to balance and now can't stop gushing about her feat. 

 Congratulations my dear daughter ! You have reached another milestone !

The same milestone your mother reached when she was 10 years old on her BSA SLR. If you are someone like your mother, you'll continue to love riding your bike for many many more years to come !

Pet Peeve

I grew up having no pets in our house at any point in time ... and hubby always had pets while growing up. I don't like having pets (cats and dogs) ... hubby thinks that because I have never experienced their unconditional love, I am unable to appreciate them. Perhaps true ... but somehow I cannot thinking of having a pet of my own.... atleast not now. With very little help from outside, hubby and I barely manage to get some rest ... kids, work, housekeeping, cooking etc take up most time.
But my older daughter loves pets ... her love for pets started even when we went out to parks with her in stroller. (she was perhaps about 5-6 months then) She'd get excited seeing pet dogs / cats and clap her hands in joy. No surprises there ... she gets her dad's genes in this department.
So, when her dad asked her what present she wanted for her 4th year birthday, madam promptly requested for a pet. Of course this conversation didn't happen in my presence. Her dad promised her a pet for her 9th birthday provided she convinced mom (thats me) Ever since this conversation, she finds ways and means to convince me to get her a puppy. Everyday as we step out of the house to drop her to school, she asks me, if I still thought pets weren't welcome in house. She also explains how she will take care of it and that, I would have to do nothing special for the pet. She also assures me that pets don't bite their masters and are always faithful.
She has atleast 4.5 years for her 9th year birthday ... but she sure is trying to lure me towards pets.

Onake Obavva

Last evening I was trying to explain my daughter who "Obavva" was. (For the uninitiated: Obavva was a brave lady of Chitradurga, wife of a guard, who sacrifices her life to save her kingdom from enemies.)
Try as much I did to explain her the story, I was not able to put the best words to explain Obavva's martyrdom to my daughter. I was reminded to this wonderful song from the Movie "NagaraHavu". (besides being a great movie, it has some unforgettable songs). "Kannada Nadina Veera Ramani" song is one of my all time favorite songs. The rendition by P.B.Srinivas is just great ... but the song is par excellence because of Obavva's act depicted by actress Jayanthi. (in cameo).
This song being my dad's favorite as well ... he had trained me in it when I was barely 8-9 yrs old. I have sung this song in several competitions and have won many prizes. There was this one time when my teacher who was so impressed with my rendition of the song in our school competition suggested I sing the same song for District level singing competition. She even brought a cassette recorder to the competition and recorded my song. The speciality of this song was everytime I sang it, I got teary... so did my teacher. Just went on to show how much my teacher cared for me and our bonding.
Anyways, I digress ... so yesterday, in order to better explain Obavva's story, I played the song to my daughter on youtube. She watched it attentively. Obavva's death in the end started to haunt her... she could never understand why someone as brave as her could be killed ... but she appreciated her bravery and loved the video. She also understood the story much better than what I had tried to explain.

I hadn't heard this song in a very long time ... but yesterday when I heard it, I surprised myself by not only singing along without forgetting the lyrics .... but also crying at the end of the song.
Some songs are so touching, they never fail to stir you.

Morning obsession

I had never tasted or tea for about 23 years of life. My parents (mother in particular) thought that caffeine would further thin my already slim physique. So when hubby ordered 2 teas during our Manali trip, I didn't know how to react. I was newly married and he didn't know my tastes / preferences. It was a very cold evening and we had been driving for almost 5 hours and were naturally tired and hungry. I desperately wanted to drink something hot and perhaps eat something spicy too. Obviously I couldn't get hot Bournvita in a road side tea stall and so I decided to try out "Chai" for the first time in my life. The tea stall owner gave us steaming hot cups and the aroma was itself very very inviting. My unsure self, took the first sip with a lot of apprehension. But one sip and I knew I had missed something so divine for such a long time in my life. I just fell in love with that cup of tea. (of course, I haven't tasted that special tea till date)
And so, I started drinking tea occasionally... gradually it become a habit. It replaced my morning cup of Bournvita and now it is almost an obsession. First thing in the morning, I need my steaming hot cup of tea.
I like my tea light and spicy ... little milk and mix of spices. I love it when I add ginger, 1 cardamom, 1 clove and just a bit of cinnamon. Over the years I have also learnt that boiling water with the spices and sugar for an extended time and then adding tea leaves and milk gives a totally unique taste. My taste buds jump with joy every morning when I drink the first tea sip. Its extra special to me since hubby makes that perfect tea for me. I prefer nothing to come between me and my tea during the morning. 5 minutes of divinity with my morning tea and I am good to tackle the long day with a smile. Disturb my morning tea time and I will grunt about something or the other for the next 2 hours ... well thats me :)

Nepali Goddess

Nepali Goddess ??

I am in the state of shock ... right now. I don't know what to say or write except that I am sad .. very sad.
Sad not just for the little girl's future, but also all the tests mentioned in this article.

I have not witnessed this personally nor do I have a Nepali friend to check with. But if what is written in the article is true, then I am at loss of words !!