Thursday, February 23, 2012

Spring joy

These days, the days are longer, we need the fan again, we can open the windows a wee bit and sleep, the cold slowly melts away and in short, summer is in preview :) And suddenly my heart feels joyous for a few moments every day at some time or the other because it reminds me of Indian summers and my childhood, of mangoes, of hot days, of sleeping with the air cooler on, just on the bare floor, of morning schools, of summer vacation, all day laziness and what else not. Summer always brings me joy, unconditional and pure. Every day, I am snatching some moments of pure happiness from life, thanks to the sun. Very apt, we named our son after the sun ;)

Sunday, February 19, 2012

What is in a school.

When we were in Hyd, I noticed, a lot of the schools' posters talked about how if your goal is to get your kid into IIT, their school is the one to bet on. Why am I saying a lot, actually, all of them just said the same thing, at least all the ones I saw.

In Bangalore, the posters say, child's potential, overall development, well rounded personality etc etc. No mention of IIT in even one of the posters that I have ever seen.

Disclaimer of course being that the Bangalore we live in is not really the traditional one, maybe on the west side of town posters do say IIT? But then again, in my wanderings through the west side of Bangalore, I never came across a poster for a school ;) Also, in Hyd, I saw posters in equivalent areas to where we live in Bangalore - Kukatpally, closer to Hitech city etc.

So what is the deal between the two cities pursuing such different dreams!!

Monday, February 13, 2012

Hectic week

Right after we were back from Chikmaglur, we traveled to Hyd for my sister's baby shower. It was the son's first time in the train. We had booked Rajdhani, but my, what a horrible train, old and shoddy. I would have much preferred the Kacheguda express if only it ran a little later in the night! Phew! But the son thoroughly enjoyed the train and the auto ride that led to it. He was a darling and didn't fuss at all. But neither he, nor I, got any sleep, thanks to the berth being too narrow for both of us.

Sister's shower went off very well. Her in laws took care of every detail so painstakingly, it was heartening to see she was in such good hands. We took the usual sweets, fruits etc and I was glad I was able to be with her on that day. One moment our eyes met in the middle of all the ceremonies and tears swelled in my eyes. I don't know when we grew so old! She is going to have a kid! We were just kids hanging out at home and chilling not so very long ago! The son, as usual, gave up on food and sleep and got very cranky by the evening and I felt so sorry for him. Today we got back and were so fatigued from the journey that we took off, son included. Hopefully routine will set back in soon.

Subhash was his usual very nice self and took care of all the shopping, clothes, sweets etc. Boy, am I glad I have him for a spouse :) He takes on initiative when he doesn't really have to and never complains. Couldn't get any better! I hope I can do him a good turn in return. I think in our marriage, I am quite happy that he has never had to choose between being a good son, a good father, a good brother and a good husband. In whatever little ways I could, I enabled him to be all of them at the same time. And he has done the same for me too! I never have to choose between being a good daughter, a good mom, a good wife and a good sister! Hopefully we will continue doing the same for many more years to come :)

Wednesday, February 08, 2012

Fantabulous!

We got back today after a 4 day trip to Chikmaglur. It was simply divine. Today we finish 6 years of being wedded and we went out to take off for the occasion.

This trip being the first vacation with the kid, since the kid was born, we were of course nervous about food, sickness etc. And I would say that the biggest highlight of the trip was that he not only ate ok at all meals, but we also came back without any major incidents of sickness or anything else to spoil the trip :)

The Resort

We stayed at the Serai and it was a great place. Sufficiently luxurious, great food and very accommodating staff. We had the room with the pool (other choice being jacuzzi) and I think the son thoroughly enjoyed "swimming" - his definition being, sitting on the edge of the pool and splashing water on us. When Subhash asked him if he wanted to take a walk in the pool, he actually said "No Naanna, I want only swimming". He enjoyed his bubble baths too! All that water that probably went into his mouth during both these activities, I was paranoid about him catching some sickness. I guess either he is too grown up now, or the water at Serai was maintained well, which of these, I am not very sure ;) Food was a good mix of Indian, Chinese, Thai and Italian and I love love loved it. The pastry chef is excellent and the souffles and cakes were awesome! We used to eat there, pick what the son was most likely to eat, have it packed, take it back to the room and feed him in the usual style with his DVD/CD on. So each meal was 1.5 to 2 hours long, for all of us together, but we were not sight-seeing at all, so it was OK. Not bad at all for a first vacation for the son!

The Drive

Both ways was without incident. Very impressed by NHAI again! (After the Hyd Bangalore Highway NH7). We were able to do 100-120 on most stretches, the rest where we were able to do 80, they were in the process of making it a 4 lane. We took two breaks on the way there, and it took us ~6 hours. But on the way back, without stops, we were back home in 4.5 hours flat! Amazing roads, I must say, very impressed. Much better than most US highways I have been on. And even better, because the roads are empty.

The Train Ride

We wanted to take the son on the toy train ride in MG park, went all the way there beating odds and times only to find it was closed on Tuesday and doesn't start until after 2.30 today. Since we had to leave by 10 ish, Subhash suggested we just take him on Namma Metro closer home (a brilliant idea). We came home, had a meal and then left to take the Metro from Indiranagar. Again, very impressed. Awesome work. I can see why BMRCL needs so much time to finish each phase. I am sure just the land acquisition would be a pain! We went from Indiranagar to Byappanahalli and then back to Indiranagar, and the son was thrilled. He just did not want to get off the train! I hope the rest of the project goes through fine and we will have all zones (North, South and West) running. Then I guess commuting to my aunt's place on the other side of town will be much less painful! Ditto for my cousin's. Stations seemed clean and well maintained - after a few months of operation - I would say not bad at all. Sad part was - no phase planned towards work-place :( No option but driving for me :(

US

6 years. Only? :)

As always, thankful for everything in life right now. I hope and pray for everything to stay just this way :)