Air India and its meals

When I was in the US, I loved Air India. For its food. All the way home and especially on the way back (when you are home sick on the flight itself), they used to dish up delicious and hot Indian meals. And they fed you so often that it was tough to sleep..

Today we took the Bangalore-Hyd flight. Flight duration is 50 minutes. As soon as we took off, the breakfast was served. 3 idlis, 2 vadas, hot sambar, coconut chutney, croissant with butter and Strawberry marmalade, fruit salad and coffee. I mean that meal lasted us till 1 in the afternoon and we had it as soon as we took off at 8.50 or so.

And the best part, it was like a test in time for the crew to see how fast they can serve and clean. They served, and started cleaning after waiting for five minutes. And for us, it was like we made the journey just to have breakfast. We took off, had breakfast, finished and landed ;)

Air India certainly still is the best airline in terms of food. Yay! for that. And domestic flying experience in India is anyday much better than in the US, I'd say.

The fifth one

Today my eight-month old son took his fifth flight! Next week we fly back to Bangalore and that will be his sixth. He seems to be averaging a little less than one flight per month of his life so far!! Good god!

I still remember the heebie-jeebies I had when  flew with him the first time when he was 20 days old! I was so damn nervous, that I sat on the edge of my nerves even though he was fast asleep throughout his flight except for the last 10 minutes when he cried during touch down.

The flights get progressively better. Today for example, was the perfect start. Since his sleeping pattern is set, he slept through our waking up and getting ready and loading and traveling to the airport. In the airport I took him to the baby care and dry-cleaned him and changed him and it was so perfect. Since he is having solids now (last time  traveled he was stll solely on breastmilk), I didn't have to stay back and feed him. Plus the baby care was empty. I was in and out in 10 minutes and we both sang and cooéd through it.

Then we mixed him some formula which he refused to drink. And it was his morning milk time and he was still not drinking. Then he got a bit cranky just when the plane was getting ready to undock for take off. Subhash suggested a couple of times that we should probably mix a fresh batch of formula but I shrugged it saying, well, what is the use, he is not even drinking this. But we knew he was hungry and so when Subhash suggested it for the third time, we mixed anyway and lo and behold! he drank the new batch. Not sure, maybe he didn't like the Avent bottle. (And I should learn yet again to not question the husband's wisdom)

So he was half way through his formula and wanted to cry again when I lifted him and made him stand next to me so he could watch out of the window. And he was so absorbed looking at how fast the trees were moving etc and how we suddenly went above the trees that he just kept watching throughout most of the flight. In the middle of it all, he managed to pull away the newspaper that the guy behind me was reading and started playing with it. That gentleman was highly amused and let him do what he wanted. Boy! As a baby you can get away with murder ;)

Anyways, this flight, we didn't take any of the cotton wool precautions during take off and landing to avoid painful ear pops dur to air pressure change. He sat quite comfortably through it (and even watched his take off and landing!!!!!) and his ears I guess are already tuned to flying related air pops.

He is a jet-setter @ 8 months. Already a veteran flier...

What a generation!

The generation lowdown

As I see it, of course ;)

First few months after the baby's birth..

Generation X:

Typically large joint families. Women had an average of 10 kids give or take. And each woman had experience with raising not just her own kids but also her own sisters and brothers besides nephews/nieces (husband's brothers' kids mostly since ours was/is a patriarchal society). So upshot: Lots of experience with having kids and raising them.

Generation X+1:

Typically shrunk family size. (Some families were nuclear, some were not). Plus advantage of having a generation above with loads of kid raising experience. Typically women stayed over at their parents' place a few months before and after kids were born. The initial few months, typically women did not tend to their own kids at all. Since Gen X was part of large families, some Gen X+1 women had hands on experience with raising nephews/nieces still.

Generation X+2: (Where I belong)

Typically nuclear family. Number of kids more or less same as previous generation. More technology and gadgets and tools at hand, making raising kids a relatively easy task. Whether it is access to more scientific and proven information or simple things like scissors-shaped infant nail clippers, you have everything you need to be able to raise kids on your own. With the same holding true for everyone, typically this generation just tends entirely to its own kids.


What will Gen X+3 be like? Your guess? And which do you think is better?

8 months!

So I turned 2/3rds of a year old mother today. And the son is slowly learning to crawl. And the mother is slowly beginning to fret taking her eyes off him for a split second, lest he should go tumble somewhere. Life is on its toes!

Of course, the son looks up at the mother and gives a big smile and tries to crawl towards her and life is all good. One couldn't imagine any better :)

Slowly but surely I feel the rewards of being a mom :)

Of tables and schools

Often I've wondered why we said our tables (multiplication tables I mean) this way:

Two ones are two
Two twos are four
Two threes are six

..and so on.

I always thought it was a serious grammatical error since it should read "two (times) 1 IS two", "two (times) two IS four" etc. Only recently when Subhash was talking to Rohan and doing the two table (oh don't ask me why an 8 month old needs to know that, Subhash also holds up his toy, lets it fall and says "Chinnu, this is gravity" And I am like?!?!) that I realized that in our tables the number of which the table is recited is not primary, it is just a count. The 1,2,3,4 are the ones that are referred to and so it makes perfect grammatical sense!

Two 1s are Two ==> 1 1 = 2
Two 2s are Four ==> 2 2 = 4
Two 3s are Six ==> 3 3 = 6 (see? Now you know what I mean, I always used to think of it as 2 2 2 in my mind and not 3 3)
Two 4s are Eight ==> 4 4 = 8 (and not 2 2 2 2 = 8)


..and so on.

Well, at least I didn't make mistakes in English when I was reciting my multiplication tables and am I relived about this guilt after all these years!!!

On the topic of schools and tables and all that good stuff, this year's CBSE topper was from NPS Indiranagar which happens to be one of the better schools in India and is <3 KM from our place :)

Fit or fat?

Or both?

Subhash is a very non-exercise person. He very very very rarely exercises. And he eats moderately, doesn't freak out on food like me, but doesn't particularly watch what he is eating either.

I, on the other hand, religiously wake up every morning, go for my jog/walk, do hand weights, ab exercises etc. Yet I have a perennial paunch and feel fat (of course I love food). Especially so after the pregnancy, its just been super difficult to shed that extra flab which I accumulated. Everyone says it will go eventually but I am an ambitious person. I'd like to see it go ASAP.

No doubt I am fit. I bounce back very fast from injuries, don't get very tired easily etc etc etc I feel healthy and happy most of the times. On the other hand I know people with to-die-for bodies who keep falling sick at the drop of a hat, get tired from even the smallest outings etc.

Being fit doesn't necessarily mean being trim. That is the only thing I can conclude.

So are you fit? Or are you fat? Or, like me, are you both? :D

Of Indian Customs

No, not the traditional customs but the customs of customs and excise fame which we all dread so at our airports.

I had no idea we had to pay duty on "importing" new clothing into the country!! They even tax you if you are doing it for personal use (and not to do business). This is what I found out yesterday when I got dinged on a dress that I ordered online and which had to come from overseas.

And just look at the detail listed in the link below. It is mind blowing to think someone had the time and patience to chalk out all of this.

http://www.cbec.gov.in/customs/cst-0910/chap-62.pdf


So, how many new clothes have you "smuggled" into the country? Eh?

Rain rain ...

Today, the rains washed Bangalore. Wind swept everything out. We were braving a nice little storm to get to Indiranagar, only to figure that all the arteries there were blocked because of trees that got uprooted. It was a sight to be seen! Healthy, green, huge trees, just uprooted and lying across the street. And on 100ft road, there was a sea. When will we learn to manage rain water better :( Its such a pity to see so much water just standing and stagnating on the road when it can be drained back into the earth to enhance the water table.

On the plus side the weather is super cool. All that heat can nearly be forgotten when you step outside.

BESCOM as usual is very prompt and there has been no power ever since we reached home. Not sure when it went out. So keeping fingers crossed that they be kind enough to restore it before the UPS conks out on us.

We accomplished some key tasks today though. I am happy for that..

Friends, Facebook and keeping in touch!

On Monday evening we had friends over at home. They moved back from the US (Dallas) and arrived here on Monday. It was a great way to spend an evening. This couple is exactly like us in a sense that the guy was Subhash's batch mate and the girl was mine. We, in fact, used to live close by and more often than not, commuted together. The guy's house was a stone's throw away from ours and so this also brought the girl over to our ilaaka a good deal ;)

Anyways, so this was the first time we were seeing their kids. Adorable. But then I realized that I haven't met the girl at all in this past 9 years since we graduated. AT ALL!!! My god. That was certainly a revelation. I completely was taken aback when I realized this. Then I got thinking. Yeah, indeed, we never met. But we caught up so often on Facebook, Picasa photo share, Orkut, Kodak photo share etc (in order of least primitiveness) that it was almost like we were living close by.

Surely, technology does something to bind us all. I think I am a living example of what my employer promises :) THE HUMAN NETWORK ;) ;)