Sending prayers for her better health.
Monday, 23 November 2009
Unwell
I am at home today when I should have had another day at work busy designing and developing a new application in a newer technology. I had taken off yesterday and was just happy to be home with my little girl. The winter bug has affected her and she's taken ill. After an enjoyable weekend with my cousin and family who had dropped in from London, Aditi fell sick. And then came the fever. More doses of medicine followed. She was getting better yesterday or so I thought, but the fever returned again and again. And I decided to take today off. We did all we would have done over the weekend- reading books, singing rhymes, playing and trying to be as cheerful as possible. But when the little body curls up on my lap when that fever strikes, I feel sad for her, but grateful that I am with her and can indulge her. I cooked whatever she liked - her favourite dishes - but if only she manages to keep any of them in her troublesome tummy - that would be nice. No milk for a couple of days. And she's happy to have fresh fruit juice. Wishing she gets better today. And can go back to school tomorrow and play with her friends. She does miss them and we try to do whatever she would have done in school.
Tuesday, 17 November 2009
History repeats itself
Many many years ago, when the luxury of maids were not available in every home, a little girl about two years old was playing with the waters in the bathroom where her mom was trying to wash the day's clothes. Those were the days when the electric heater was still considered a luxury in a little Karnataka town. They lived in a little township, where houses were few and the afternoons were quiet. People would be sleeping in their homes away from the scorching summer sun. Frustrated at being disturbed by her daughter, and the limited supply of water soon running out, the mom lifted her daughter and placed her outside the bathroom. She then quickly shut the door and locked herself inside. The daughter was upset, cried a little, threw a tantrum outside and then realized her mom would not be able to see her. She started fiddling with the latch outside the room. The mom finished with her washing, was about to carry the bucket load of clothes to dry them out in the terrace. Little did the mom know that she'll be stuck inside for over 2 hours. Her daughter had managed to lock her from outside!!!
The mom tried to explain to the little girl to unlock the door. The girl by then had started crying loudly. It was impossible to pacify her and the mom cries out aloud to through the window. In the local language, she calls out for help. But there is no one around. The roads are deserted and empty. Not a soul in sight. It would be about five-six hours before her husband would arrive home. Thirty long minutes later, the mother is desperate to stop the child crying. And she decides to cut open the door in the bathroom. Now that's not a job for a labourer or a carpenter, not for a lady in her early twenties alone at home.
When electric heaters were not available, hot water would be produced by burning logs of wood in a huge anda (pot). The knife used to cut logs became the mom's tool. She used all her strength and managed to cut to remove a square panel from the bathroom door just below the latch. She then put her hands through the hole in the door, unlatched it and hugged the crying daughter. All of this cutting took about two hours and all this while the girl had been crying. That led to her falling ill the next day. And I have to appreciate the mother for being so brave, thinking and acting quickly, saving herself and her daughter that day.
When Aditi was about 5 months old, my in-laws came to live here for a few months. And my MIL has narrated this story more than once, how her daughter was troubling her, how she locked her out, and how she ended up being locked and finally cutting through the door with a rusted log- cutter knife. I would be in awe, never in my mind did it cross at that time that I would be stuck in a similar situation. Never ever...
We now live a very comfortable life and thankfully have child locks and emergency dial numbers! This happened about seven months ago, Aditi was just over two, and she knew that we locked ourselves inside the bathroom. It was a Saturday morning and Prashanth was away at work doing a long day. I got ready to give Aditi a bath. She wanted to use the toilet, so I put her on her seat and left her on the toilet to go and select her clothes. Within a few seconds I hear the girl banging the door shut. I turn around and run towards the bathroom, but she's already locked herself inside. And is happily saying 'Don't come inside'. And unfortunately I had shut the bathroom windows as it would be too cold otherwise.My heart skips a beat or a few may be. I was not sure what to do. thankfully the girl still thinks its her game and continues to laugh happily. I have never operated the child locks before, so I had no idea what to do. I panicked. I rushed to my neighbour, whose was locked. I came back and tried calling Prashanth, although I knew that there would be no signal inside the theatres. I left him a voicemail and went back upstairs to the bathroom. By this time, Aditi was considerably scared and started crying. Finally an idea struck - call 999 - the emergency helpline and I was put through to the fire service. I explained as patiently as I could and they tried to calm me and asked me to calm the child. I told them that they could break any door/window in my house - just get the child out. As I stood trying to explain the situation to Aditi and asking her to open the door, an idea struck me. No, I was not aware of child locks being fitted to all doors here. I was glad that the tool box was not in the attic. It was easily reachable and I reached for the flat headed screw driver. I managed to unlock the door by turning the child lock around and hugged the child. Oh what a relief! I quickly also called the fire service and told them that I had unlocked the door. A few minutes later after both of us were done with our hugging, I left a happy voicemail for Prashanth. And it reminded me of the time when my MIL was stuck in a similar situation. Thankfully I was outside and could call for help. That was definitely a much better state than being stuck inside - without access to a phone/help.
The mom tried to explain to the little girl to unlock the door. The girl by then had started crying loudly. It was impossible to pacify her and the mom cries out aloud to through the window. In the local language, she calls out for help. But there is no one around. The roads are deserted and empty. Not a soul in sight. It would be about five-six hours before her husband would arrive home. Thirty long minutes later, the mother is desperate to stop the child crying. And she decides to cut open the door in the bathroom. Now that's not a job for a labourer or a carpenter, not for a lady in her early twenties alone at home.
When electric heaters were not available, hot water would be produced by burning logs of wood in a huge anda (pot). The knife used to cut logs became the mom's tool. She used all her strength and managed to cut to remove a square panel from the bathroom door just below the latch. She then put her hands through the hole in the door, unlatched it and hugged the crying daughter. All of this cutting took about two hours and all this while the girl had been crying. That led to her falling ill the next day. And I have to appreciate the mother for being so brave, thinking and acting quickly, saving herself and her daughter that day.
When Aditi was about 5 months old, my in-laws came to live here for a few months. And my MIL has narrated this story more than once, how her daughter was troubling her, how she locked her out, and how she ended up being locked and finally cutting through the door with a rusted log- cutter knife. I would be in awe, never in my mind did it cross at that time that I would be stuck in a similar situation. Never ever...
We now live a very comfortable life and thankfully have child locks and emergency dial numbers! This happened about seven months ago, Aditi was just over two, and she knew that we locked ourselves inside the bathroom. It was a Saturday morning and Prashanth was away at work doing a long day. I got ready to give Aditi a bath. She wanted to use the toilet, so I put her on her seat and left her on the toilet to go and select her clothes. Within a few seconds I hear the girl banging the door shut. I turn around and run towards the bathroom, but she's already locked herself inside. And is happily saying 'Don't come inside'. And unfortunately I had shut the bathroom windows as it would be too cold otherwise.My heart skips a beat or a few may be. I was not sure what to do. thankfully the girl still thinks its her game and continues to laugh happily. I have never operated the child locks before, so I had no idea what to do. I panicked. I rushed to my neighbour, whose was locked. I came back and tried calling Prashanth, although I knew that there would be no signal inside the theatres. I left him a voicemail and went back upstairs to the bathroom. By this time, Aditi was considerably scared and started crying. Finally an idea struck - call 999 - the emergency helpline and I was put through to the fire service. I explained as patiently as I could and they tried to calm me and asked me to calm the child. I told them that they could break any door/window in my house - just get the child out. As I stood trying to explain the situation to Aditi and asking her to open the door, an idea struck me. No, I was not aware of child locks being fitted to all doors here. I was glad that the tool box was not in the attic. It was easily reachable and I reached for the flat headed screw driver. I managed to unlock the door by turning the child lock around and hugged the child. Oh what a relief! I quickly also called the fire service and told them that I had unlocked the door. A few minutes later after both of us were done with our hugging, I left a happy voicemail for Prashanth. And it reminded me of the time when my MIL was stuck in a similar situation. Thankfully I was outside and could call for help. That was definitely a much better state than being stuck inside - without access to a phone/help.
What separation does to you?
Exams were cleared many months ago. That was one of the reasons why the boss refused to accompany me during my India trip earlier this year. Now that they were out of the way, a trip to India was something that just had to be planned and executed. We went for a week each to Swiss and Italy in Summer/Autumn, and I had exhausted most of my holidays for this year. We decided that Prashanth would make the trip, and me and Aditi would stay put here. Except that I never ever dreamt this coming. All I had in my mind was that I should take care of the baby and myself and stay safe. I never thought about how much the child or I would miss him. It never ever occurred to me....
The original trip was to last 2 weeks, but slowly a stop over at Dubai was added and we finally ended up with 2 weeks and 5 days. I still had no worries, and was quite sure that I would be able to manage on my own. Thanks to my friendly neighbour, whom I had almost called for help in the previous post.
Aditi and I went to drop Prashanth at the train station and Aditi cheerily waved goodbye and kisses to her dad. My heart skipped a beat, as the train moved out slowly, the thought of not seeing him for the next 3 weeks - that was the first time it hit me that Aditi might miss her dad too. She had not the least idea that he would be away for 3 weeks. Trouble started the next morning, when dad was not around when she woke up. Prashanth was already st his sister's place in Dubai, so a quick call and a chat later, things were fine. That evening and then ext were sort of okay. I could tell her that Dad was at athai's place in Duabi and she was convinced. It was after Prashanth reached Bangalore, 4 days after he had left home that Aditi started crying. She wanted to be with her dad and she made it clear - Take me to Appa's house or Take me to Bangalore was the constant cry heard in my house.
We used to chat with dad on the webcam every evening and Aditi was happy to see him and hear his voice, but within minutes of closing the conversation, she would be back to crying. Meanwhile I was battling with my own loneliness - the evenings were long and boring, I had nothing much to do, the ironing was done, the house was cleaned, and honestly I did not do much cooking during the 3 week period. I think I was not interested. There was no one to relish my food, so I lose interest in cooking. I made real simple food for me and Aditi.
I never thought I would miss him so much. I never expected that I would blog about this, but better to get it out and be done with, rather than bottle up all my thoughts. All I needed was his presence and the laughter. The house felt empty when I walked in every evening. There was nothing to look forward to in my house.
Weekends were worse. The first weekend was Halloween and it was spent in dressing Aditi up on Friday at her nursery and on Saturday to go around the estate. Sunday seemed never-ending and I was waiting for the working week. The following week was slightly better. Prashanth was at Chennai, we spoke for a long time and most importantly were pretty excited about his return the following Thursday. Four days to go and the countdown began. But due to unforeseen circumstances, his trip had to be postponed by two days. So Saturday it was. I hate night-time driving, so we decided that Prashanth would take the train from the airport to Sheffield. He did not expect us to receive him at the airport. But since it was a Saturday and both of us were pretty excited about dad's return, we cleaned and scrubbed the house clean - ready to give dad a warm welcome. We hopped literally like two little girls from home singing rhymes and what not, and took the train to the airport. Aditi told everybody who cared to listen to her - 'My Appa is back'. Dad was as happy as we were to see him. Aditi refused to get down from his arms throughout the journey. And I was the happiest to have him back.
I should admit that it has been a very long time since I have stayed alone in this country without Prashanth and this time it made me realize how much we needed each other's company more as parents and it made me think about all the single parents out there - how do they ever manage all on their own.
On and now the wet towel on the bed no longer bothers me...
The original trip was to last 2 weeks, but slowly a stop over at Dubai was added and we finally ended up with 2 weeks and 5 days. I still had no worries, and was quite sure that I would be able to manage on my own. Thanks to my friendly neighbour, whom I had almost called for help in the previous post.
Aditi and I went to drop Prashanth at the train station and Aditi cheerily waved goodbye and kisses to her dad. My heart skipped a beat, as the train moved out slowly, the thought of not seeing him for the next 3 weeks - that was the first time it hit me that Aditi might miss her dad too. She had not the least idea that he would be away for 3 weeks. Trouble started the next morning, when dad was not around when she woke up. Prashanth was already st his sister's place in Dubai, so a quick call and a chat later, things were fine. That evening and then ext were sort of okay. I could tell her that Dad was at athai's place in Duabi and she was convinced. It was after Prashanth reached Bangalore, 4 days after he had left home that Aditi started crying. She wanted to be with her dad and she made it clear - Take me to Appa's house or Take me to Bangalore was the constant cry heard in my house.
We used to chat with dad on the webcam every evening and Aditi was happy to see him and hear his voice, but within minutes of closing the conversation, she would be back to crying. Meanwhile I was battling with my own loneliness - the evenings were long and boring, I had nothing much to do, the ironing was done, the house was cleaned, and honestly I did not do much cooking during the 3 week period. I think I was not interested. There was no one to relish my food, so I lose interest in cooking. I made real simple food for me and Aditi.
I never thought I would miss him so much. I never expected that I would blog about this, but better to get it out and be done with, rather than bottle up all my thoughts. All I needed was his presence and the laughter. The house felt empty when I walked in every evening. There was nothing to look forward to in my house.
Weekends were worse. The first weekend was Halloween and it was spent in dressing Aditi up on Friday at her nursery and on Saturday to go around the estate. Sunday seemed never-ending and I was waiting for the working week. The following week was slightly better. Prashanth was at Chennai, we spoke for a long time and most importantly were pretty excited about his return the following Thursday. Four days to go and the countdown began. But due to unforeseen circumstances, his trip had to be postponed by two days. So Saturday it was. I hate night-time driving, so we decided that Prashanth would take the train from the airport to Sheffield. He did not expect us to receive him at the airport. But since it was a Saturday and both of us were pretty excited about dad's return, we cleaned and scrubbed the house clean - ready to give dad a warm welcome. We hopped literally like two little girls from home singing rhymes and what not, and took the train to the airport. Aditi told everybody who cared to listen to her - 'My Appa is back'. Dad was as happy as we were to see him. Aditi refused to get down from his arms throughout the journey. And I was the happiest to have him back.
I should admit that it has been a very long time since I have stayed alone in this country without Prashanth and this time it made me realize how much we needed each other's company more as parents and it made me think about all the single parents out there - how do they ever manage all on their own.
On and now the wet towel on the bed no longer bothers me...
Thursday, 22 October 2009
Six days in Italia
The Swiss trip happened in August and I never got around to blog about it. So here is a brief account of our recent trip to the historical capital Rome and the water city of Venice. It was a six day trip planned well in advance unlike the Swiss trip which was literally a last minute booking. I was more organised this time and opted for a self catering accomodation and we survived on home-cooked food for 4 days. We also bought a child carrier for Aditi as I had quite a tough time carrying her around in Switzerland. The first 3 days were spent in Rome, the next 2 days in Venice and the last day in Pisa.
Day 1: Woke up at 2 am, drove to East Midlands airport to catch an early morning flight to Rome. The flight was uneventful and had no trouble from Aditi while securing the seat belt. Took the coach from Rome airport to the city and walked to the apartment. And heres where the fun begins. The apartment was really well done. It had been recently refurbished and we were probably one of the its first tenants. It was exactly as it had been described and with tram and bus lines running right outside on the street, the position could not have been better.A supermarket closeby and buses straight to the colosseum. We had a lunch of idli/chutney, had a nice hot shower and left to explore Rome. Our first halt was the colosseum.We spent quite a bit of time exploring the inside of the colosseum and taking lots of pictures. On our way back, we spotted a park and Aditi was delighted. That was her part of the holiday. We usually hit a park or beach in the evenings so Aditi can have some fun. She played for a while on the slide, watched the dogs and enjoyed herself. We visited the supermarket later and had chappattis and subzis for dinner.
Day 2:
Had a good night's rest, followed by home made breakfast and we left early that day. We were to take the open top double decker bus from the main station. There are about half a dozen companies that run this service and we chose one with a 3 day ticket that also allowed us to use the public transport in Rome. We visited the Pantheon, a few Squares and then hit the Vatican just after lunch. It was breathtaking. Right in the middle of a modern city, you see this huge monumnet - brilliant architecture that was created almost 1400 years ago.It took us around 2 hours to complete the tour - and Aditi slept the whole time in her child carrier. Both of us were eager to try an authentic italian pizza and the first one we had near the Vatican was a disappointment.It was nowhere as good as the Pizza Hut or Dominos one. My MIL wanted us to light a candle and here we found electronic candles in every church. You drop a coin in the box and a tiny LED light comes on. Really nice. We then left for the Trevi fountain. This place was terribly crowded, but we found a quiet corner. We took turns to drop a coin into the wishing fountain, and then threw another one each over our left shoulder. We drank water straight from the tap - thats considered a visitor attraction here. Aditi enjoyed it all, drinking water from the lion's mouth, wetting her clothes and being very happy licking her cone ice cream. She loved exploring it all with us, happily posed for pictures and enjoyed the food we gave her.
Day 3:
More sight seeing happened today.We booked our tickets to Venice, enjoyed a cup of hot chocolate. It really is melted chocolate, unlike the hot chocolate we get in Britain. Enjoyed a vege panini. It was heavenly and we were very hungry and exhausted too. Realised that we are vege people. That cheese and bread is not for us. But salads - always welcome, never boring. Hit the shopping center of Rome and shopped aroudn for a few souveniors. Went to McD to be totally disappointed with their Vege burger. Their was no cutlet thing inside the burger, just 2 leaves of lettuce, a slice of cheese, tomato and cucumber. Climbed up the Vittorio to get a panaromic view of Rome. Learnt that its better to carry more cash than cards. More than we think it might be necessary.
Day 4:
We debated quite a bit on our leaving time. I wanted to catch the 6:50AM train and reach Venice by 11:20, but Prashanth was nto sure if we'd be up and ready, The next one was at 8:50AM, which would go into Venice by 13:20 - well past lunch time for Aditi, which I wanted to avoid. I knew we'd be able to leave on time, so we booked the 6:50AM train. Left our self catering apartment early that morning and reached the train station - had a quick coffee and boarded the train. Nothing spectacular about the train itself, we reached Venice before noon. And the sight that struck us was so beautiful. right outside the station is the Grand Canal and it was buzzing with activity at that time. Lots of people getting in and out of the boats/gondolas and the stretch of water that seemed never ending - it was fantastic. We were in love with this place. We did not want to let go the water out of our sight, but we had to check into our hotel. We walked through the narrow lanes and watched the shops dotted all along our route and our hotel was in another narrow lane. The room was on the second floorr and after having lived in a spacious self catering apartment, this felt rather tiny. A quick shower and lunch later(I had prepared curd rice that morning and packed it for our lunch), we hit the boat stop closest to our hotel. Aditi was as excited as we were and kept saying boat - We go boating. She loved the waters. We went to the San Marco area which is the typical tourist spot - went around all the touristy places - more churches, clock tower, the narrow lanes and bridges - we loved it all. Venice is famous for its glassware and although I was tempted to buy so many lovely articles- Prashanth was successful in preventing me from doing so. He convinced me that it may not be possible to carry them back in a good state, and I'd be terrribly upset if they broke during transit, so we bought none of the glassware. We went on the boats for a while, enjoyed taking different routes, shopped at a supermarket and headed back to the hotel. After another shower, we went out to dine in an authentic Italian restaurant. I had already fed Aditi her dinner and thankfully they had a high chair, which was very useful. We ordered pizzas, but they allowed no sharing. So we had to eat a whole pizza all by ourselves. The base itself was very thin and it tasted authentic, but one whole 10 inch pizza was a bit too much for me. And worse - we were not allowed to take away the leftovers - because they had nothing to pack them in. The bill came as a shock - what with 12% service charge added to it, but the pizza tasted great - so no whining there.
Day 5:
We had no itenary in place, just decided to visit the islands around Venice and the first one we went to was Lido. Lido is a smaller version of Blackpool considering that there are lots of casinos. This is a very well formed island. the roads are neat, the pavements are wide -it was like suddenly stepping into an English town - it was too organized after the lovely chaos that was Venice. We walked down the main road to reach the other end of town - to a beach - hardly populated beach. There were in all about 10 people on the beach and we had fun. Its been a relaly long time since I went to a beach, cant really recall when I went last time, so it was total fun. It was the first time Aditi was taken to a beach, so she had fun playing on the sands, collecting shells and being a little girl. The water was not too cold and perfect for her to dip her feet. We posed for some photographs and had tea at the beach restaurant. I had fed Aditi her sandwich at the beach before we treaded on the waters, so I wasnt expecting her to be hungry. We gave her a glass of hot chocolate when we had tea. But when we were walking back after about 2 hours on the beach in the morning sun, she wanted lunch. Aditi was sitting on her child carrier and when she spotted a bench on the pavement, she asked me to put her down. We thought she probably wanted to stretch her legs and brought her down. She hopped over to the bench, asked us to sit down and said - Let's have sandwich. We were surprised - the way she declared she was hungry - it was so cute. So we sat down, fed her and went back to board the ferry to Venice. We left Lido after spending the morning on the beach - the real fun part of our trip and went to yet another bridge in Venice - this time taking a completely different route. I was stunned to see a university in the middle of the waters. We had covered various routes by now and had almost taken all possible means of transport in Venice.We went to the trains station and bookedo ur tickets to Pisa, shopped for a bit at the supermarket and went back to the hotel. Unlike the previous day, we opted for a simple dinner. I was unable to eat a lasagne in Italy, but none of the restaurants had a veggie option - really none of them - and we checked atleast a dozen restaurants. since the lasagnes are layered in advance, there was no option to remove the meat portions.
Day 6:
We left shortly after breakfast at the hotel, bid goodbye to Venice and were off to Pisa. This was the last item on our itenary - to visit the Leaning Tower of Pisa and we were waiting to get back home. But Pisa did not disappoint us. We had to change trains enroute and just about managed to catch our connecting local train to Pisa. We had to activate tickets when travelling on a local train, but the lady ticket inspector was extremely friendly and waived our fine. We took a bus from the train station and were in front of the leaning tower in less than 10 minutes.And there are a couple of monuments to admire before you get to the Leaning Tower. Wikipedia gives the details about the history of this tower. Children below 8 years old are not allowed to enter the tower. So me and Prashanth had to take turns to sit with Aditi while the other went up. There were about 300 spiral steps leading to the top and the feeling on top was wonderful. The weather was perfect as well for early October - we had enough sunshine to get tanned. We booked our return flights from Pisa, so stopped over at McD, before taking the same bus to the airport. One thing new to this trip was I had atleast half a dozen people ask me how I managed to bring a toddler along on a sight seeing trip. I met a couple in the Tower of Pisa - from Scotland, who had left their toddler daughter back home.another one at the airport who also got someone to babysit their toddler. I also had quite a few strangers ask me about the child carrier and why the child would not walk around everywhere(!!). How do they expect a two and a half year old to walk all day along in crowded touristy places? We spent a while window shopping at the airport and finally sensed a huge sigh of relief as we landed in Britain. An hour later we were home. Aditi slept on the rturn flight as well and gave us no trouble putting on the seat belts. A lovely trip indeed.
Aditi has learnt the concept of time. She has learnt that we leave if its 20 past 8 in the morning and we come home in the evening by 6'o' clock. That shes allowed to play with her friends(the girls as she calls them), until 7'o' clock. Dinner is at 7:30pm and so on...Every few minutes, she comes and asks me - What time is it? And then repeats whatever I say. Its so cute to see her do that.
Day 1: Woke up at 2 am, drove to East Midlands airport to catch an early morning flight to Rome. The flight was uneventful and had no trouble from Aditi while securing the seat belt. Took the coach from Rome airport to the city and walked to the apartment. And heres where the fun begins. The apartment was really well done. It had been recently refurbished and we were probably one of the its first tenants. It was exactly as it had been described and with tram and bus lines running right outside on the street, the position could not have been better.A supermarket closeby and buses straight to the colosseum. We had a lunch of idli/chutney, had a nice hot shower and left to explore Rome. Our first halt was the colosseum.We spent quite a bit of time exploring the inside of the colosseum and taking lots of pictures. On our way back, we spotted a park and Aditi was delighted. That was her part of the holiday. We usually hit a park or beach in the evenings so Aditi can have some fun. She played for a while on the slide, watched the dogs and enjoyed herself. We visited the supermarket later and had chappattis and subzis for dinner.
Day 2:
Had a good night's rest, followed by home made breakfast and we left early that day. We were to take the open top double decker bus from the main station. There are about half a dozen companies that run this service and we chose one with a 3 day ticket that also allowed us to use the public transport in Rome. We visited the Pantheon, a few Squares and then hit the Vatican just after lunch. It was breathtaking. Right in the middle of a modern city, you see this huge monumnet - brilliant architecture that was created almost 1400 years ago.It took us around 2 hours to complete the tour - and Aditi slept the whole time in her child carrier. Both of us were eager to try an authentic italian pizza and the first one we had near the Vatican was a disappointment.It was nowhere as good as the Pizza Hut or Dominos one. My MIL wanted us to light a candle and here we found electronic candles in every church. You drop a coin in the box and a tiny LED light comes on. Really nice. We then left for the Trevi fountain. This place was terribly crowded, but we found a quiet corner. We took turns to drop a coin into the wishing fountain, and then threw another one each over our left shoulder. We drank water straight from the tap - thats considered a visitor attraction here. Aditi enjoyed it all, drinking water from the lion's mouth, wetting her clothes and being very happy licking her cone ice cream. She loved exploring it all with us, happily posed for pictures and enjoyed the food we gave her.
Day 3:
More sight seeing happened today.We booked our tickets to Venice, enjoyed a cup of hot chocolate. It really is melted chocolate, unlike the hot chocolate we get in Britain. Enjoyed a vege panini. It was heavenly and we were very hungry and exhausted too. Realised that we are vege people. That cheese and bread is not for us. But salads - always welcome, never boring. Hit the shopping center of Rome and shopped aroudn for a few souveniors. Went to McD to be totally disappointed with their Vege burger. Their was no cutlet thing inside the burger, just 2 leaves of lettuce, a slice of cheese, tomato and cucumber. Climbed up the Vittorio to get a panaromic view of Rome. Learnt that its better to carry more cash than cards. More than we think it might be necessary.
Day 4:
We debated quite a bit on our leaving time. I wanted to catch the 6:50AM train and reach Venice by 11:20, but Prashanth was nto sure if we'd be up and ready, The next one was at 8:50AM, which would go into Venice by 13:20 - well past lunch time for Aditi, which I wanted to avoid. I knew we'd be able to leave on time, so we booked the 6:50AM train. Left our self catering apartment early that morning and reached the train station - had a quick coffee and boarded the train. Nothing spectacular about the train itself, we reached Venice before noon. And the sight that struck us was so beautiful. right outside the station is the Grand Canal and it was buzzing with activity at that time. Lots of people getting in and out of the boats/gondolas and the stretch of water that seemed never ending - it was fantastic. We were in love with this place. We did not want to let go the water out of our sight, but we had to check into our hotel. We walked through the narrow lanes and watched the shops dotted all along our route and our hotel was in another narrow lane. The room was on the second floorr and after having lived in a spacious self catering apartment, this felt rather tiny. A quick shower and lunch later(I had prepared curd rice that morning and packed it for our lunch), we hit the boat stop closest to our hotel. Aditi was as excited as we were and kept saying boat - We go boating. She loved the waters. We went to the San Marco area which is the typical tourist spot - went around all the touristy places - more churches, clock tower, the narrow lanes and bridges - we loved it all. Venice is famous for its glassware and although I was tempted to buy so many lovely articles- Prashanth was successful in preventing me from doing so. He convinced me that it may not be possible to carry them back in a good state, and I'd be terrribly upset if they broke during transit, so we bought none of the glassware. We went on the boats for a while, enjoyed taking different routes, shopped at a supermarket and headed back to the hotel. After another shower, we went out to dine in an authentic Italian restaurant. I had already fed Aditi her dinner and thankfully they had a high chair, which was very useful. We ordered pizzas, but they allowed no sharing. So we had to eat a whole pizza all by ourselves. The base itself was very thin and it tasted authentic, but one whole 10 inch pizza was a bit too much for me. And worse - we were not allowed to take away the leftovers - because they had nothing to pack them in. The bill came as a shock - what with 12% service charge added to it, but the pizza tasted great - so no whining there.
Day 5:
We had no itenary in place, just decided to visit the islands around Venice and the first one we went to was Lido. Lido is a smaller version of Blackpool considering that there are lots of casinos. This is a very well formed island. the roads are neat, the pavements are wide -it was like suddenly stepping into an English town - it was too organized after the lovely chaos that was Venice. We walked down the main road to reach the other end of town - to a beach - hardly populated beach. There were in all about 10 people on the beach and we had fun. Its been a relaly long time since I went to a beach, cant really recall when I went last time, so it was total fun. It was the first time Aditi was taken to a beach, so she had fun playing on the sands, collecting shells and being a little girl. The water was not too cold and perfect for her to dip her feet. We posed for some photographs and had tea at the beach restaurant. I had fed Aditi her sandwich at the beach before we treaded on the waters, so I wasnt expecting her to be hungry. We gave her a glass of hot chocolate when we had tea. But when we were walking back after about 2 hours on the beach in the morning sun, she wanted lunch. Aditi was sitting on her child carrier and when she spotted a bench on the pavement, she asked me to put her down. We thought she probably wanted to stretch her legs and brought her down. She hopped over to the bench, asked us to sit down and said - Let's have sandwich. We were surprised - the way she declared she was hungry - it was so cute. So we sat down, fed her and went back to board the ferry to Venice. We left Lido after spending the morning on the beach - the real fun part of our trip and went to yet another bridge in Venice - this time taking a completely different route. I was stunned to see a university in the middle of the waters. We had covered various routes by now and had almost taken all possible means of transport in Venice.We went to the trains station and bookedo ur tickets to Pisa, shopped for a bit at the supermarket and went back to the hotel. Unlike the previous day, we opted for a simple dinner. I was unable to eat a lasagne in Italy, but none of the restaurants had a veggie option - really none of them - and we checked atleast a dozen restaurants. since the lasagnes are layered in advance, there was no option to remove the meat portions.
Day 6:
We left shortly after breakfast at the hotel, bid goodbye to Venice and were off to Pisa. This was the last item on our itenary - to visit the Leaning Tower of Pisa and we were waiting to get back home. But Pisa did not disappoint us. We had to change trains enroute and just about managed to catch our connecting local train to Pisa. We had to activate tickets when travelling on a local train, but the lady ticket inspector was extremely friendly and waived our fine. We took a bus from the train station and were in front of the leaning tower in less than 10 minutes.And there are a couple of monuments to admire before you get to the Leaning Tower. Wikipedia gives the details about the history of this tower. Children below 8 years old are not allowed to enter the tower. So me and Prashanth had to take turns to sit with Aditi while the other went up. There were about 300 spiral steps leading to the top and the feeling on top was wonderful. The weather was perfect as well for early October - we had enough sunshine to get tanned. We booked our return flights from Pisa, so stopped over at McD, before taking the same bus to the airport. One thing new to this trip was I had atleast half a dozen people ask me how I managed to bring a toddler along on a sight seeing trip. I met a couple in the Tower of Pisa - from Scotland, who had left their toddler daughter back home.another one at the airport who also got someone to babysit their toddler. I also had quite a few strangers ask me about the child carrier and why the child would not walk around everywhere(!!). How do they expect a two and a half year old to walk all day along in crowded touristy places? We spent a while window shopping at the airport and finally sensed a huge sigh of relief as we landed in Britain. An hour later we were home. Aditi slept on the rturn flight as well and gave us no trouble putting on the seat belts. A lovely trip indeed.
Aditi has learnt the concept of time. She has learnt that we leave if its 20 past 8 in the morning and we come home in the evening by 6'o' clock. That shes allowed to play with her friends(the girls as she calls them), until 7'o' clock. Dinner is at 7:30pm and so on...Every few minutes, she comes and asks me - What time is it? And then repeats whatever I say. Its so cute to see her do that.
Tuesday, 29 September 2009
Creating the Golu
Golu is traditionally celebrated for nine days, but for many like me the world over, preparations begin many weeks in advance. My trip to Leicester to find more Golu bommai did not end too well and we returned almost as soon as we reached there. So the hunt began locally and after gathering quite a few new dolls for this year, we went about buying other little gifts that made the Golu very special. I started off with a small list of invitees for my Golu, but its grown over 4 times and there were over a dozen families over the Navarathri period. Aditi enjoyed the most I think, decked up in Indian dress and lots of bangles. The little girl is hooked on to fancy bangles now.
I spent the weekends looking for return gifts, found some lovely paper bags to put them in, bought some dry fruits to be put in the tamboolam bag instead of sundal(sundal was to be eaten at home). My neighbour and friend D volunteered to help me arrange the Golu as Prashanth was working nights that weekend. We had a great time - typical girly chats, late night teas and plenty of snacks, giggling away and once managing to wake Aditi up in the process. We started at about 9:30 and finished by 11:45 at night. I had sort of arranged the steps with cardboard boxes and books and D provided feedback, rearranged some of them until both of us were fully satified with the result. Two heads were definitely better than one. Earlier in the week, I had washed and ironed 2 of Prashanth's white veshtis to spread over the golu padis. The steps were just long enough that the border of the veshtis formed a red and green border on either side of the padis. Then began the fun part of actually arranging the dolls on the steps. D & I again rearranged them until we were extremely happy, discarding some away. We had another round of snacks and some photo sessions later and D left. I proceeded to clean up the place, stack the boxes that contained the dolls away, put some lights on and finally went to bed by 2 am.
Last year, I kept the Golu in the study, because I was scared Aditi would pull all the toys down. This year I took a bit of risk and set it up downstairs in our kitchen diner which overlooked the garden and was much bigger than the study. I had told Aditi that night I would be keeping the Golu with D aunty and that she should not touch it, but can see the Golu. I least expected her to remember it. The next morning my little girl wakes up, gives a big smile when she sees that I'm still in bed lying next to her and then tells me - "Amma, u keep Golu, I not touch it, I see it". I was surprised to say the least. The little girl has been so sweet with looking after the Golu, wearing Indian clothes, matching bindis and bangles and being a girly girl really. She does ask for a toy from the Golu, mostly from the park or from the zoo , plays with it for a bit and returns it back to its original position. She's also been extremely happy to hand out the tamboolam bags and take one for herself each time. Thankfully she only wants empty bags, so thats fine by me.
Sunday was Saraswati Pooja, we placed some of our books including Aditi's in front of the Golu and then went over to do the Ayudha pooja. Aditi was super excited to put chandan/kumkum on her bicycle and mine, we then did a little pooja for the car and soon left for an Indian Dasara meet - lunch and fun at a huge community hall. Aditi had total fun playing with balloons and we returned around 7PM exhausted, but happy. On monday morning after a little Vijayadasami pooja and making Aditi read a few lines from her books, we have officially completed the Navarathri. One doll was put to rest at night and I packed off the dolls and sent them to the attic until next year.
I spent the weekends looking for return gifts, found some lovely paper bags to put them in, bought some dry fruits to be put in the tamboolam bag instead of sundal(sundal was to be eaten at home). My neighbour and friend D volunteered to help me arrange the Golu as Prashanth was working nights that weekend. We had a great time - typical girly chats, late night teas and plenty of snacks, giggling away and once managing to wake Aditi up in the process. We started at about 9:30 and finished by 11:45 at night. I had sort of arranged the steps with cardboard boxes and books and D provided feedback, rearranged some of them until both of us were fully satified with the result. Two heads were definitely better than one. Earlier in the week, I had washed and ironed 2 of Prashanth's white veshtis to spread over the golu padis. The steps were just long enough that the border of the veshtis formed a red and green border on either side of the padis. Then began the fun part of actually arranging the dolls on the steps. D & I again rearranged them until we were extremely happy, discarding some away. We had another round of snacks and some photo sessions later and D left. I proceeded to clean up the place, stack the boxes that contained the dolls away, put some lights on and finally went to bed by 2 am.
Last year, I kept the Golu in the study, because I was scared Aditi would pull all the toys down. This year I took a bit of risk and set it up downstairs in our kitchen diner which overlooked the garden and was much bigger than the study. I had told Aditi that night I would be keeping the Golu with D aunty and that she should not touch it, but can see the Golu. I least expected her to remember it. The next morning my little girl wakes up, gives a big smile when she sees that I'm still in bed lying next to her and then tells me - "Amma, u keep Golu, I not touch it, I see it". I was surprised to say the least. The little girl has been so sweet with looking after the Golu, wearing Indian clothes, matching bindis and bangles and being a girly girl really. She does ask for a toy from the Golu, mostly from the park or from the zoo , plays with it for a bit and returns it back to its original position. She's also been extremely happy to hand out the tamboolam bags and take one for herself each time. Thankfully she only wants empty bags, so thats fine by me.
Sunday was Saraswati Pooja, we placed some of our books including Aditi's in front of the Golu and then went over to do the Ayudha pooja. Aditi was super excited to put chandan/kumkum on her bicycle and mine, we then did a little pooja for the car and soon left for an Indian Dasara meet - lunch and fun at a huge community hall. Aditi had total fun playing with balloons and we returned around 7PM exhausted, but happy. On monday morning after a little Vijayadasami pooja and making Aditi read a few lines from her books, we have officially completed the Navarathri. One doll was put to rest at night and I packed off the dolls and sent them to the attic until next year.
Sunday, 20 September 2009
Golu 2009
Its been a busy weekend with visitors flowing in and out. Here are some pictures from this year's Golu. Write up will follow shortly.
Thursday, 10 September 2009
The bicycle
Remember the times when you would rent a bicycle for an hour for a rupee and beg your parents to help you out on the road?I have had many of them when I was about nine years old. We then moved to Chennai, where my cousin and I would still rent bicycles from the local shop and have fun on the roads. All this stopped when my cousin was gifted a BSA champ bicycle with stabilizers. This became our pride and joy and a ride on this bike was almost always the first thing we did every morning before leaving for school. When I was 12 and my cosuin was 11, we had our own bicycles - a Hercules and a Hero to take to school regularly. For Aditi, the bicycle interest started early on. Every evening over the last month or so, she would be seen sitting on a little bicycle with stabilizers when I went to pick her up in the nursery. There are about half a dozen kids in our estate, who own bikes and go for joy-rides in the evenings. Aditi would normally ask for lollipop, but whenever she saw one of these bicycles, she would stop and stare at them and ask for one. It would go something like - 'Amma, Where is my bicycle?' Thoughts of my own childhood flashed from time to time and we decided to get her one. Two weeks back on the sunday, when Prashanth was at work, I took her to the local bike shop. she was excited to say the least. She got onto a little pink bicycle with stabilizers - a test one and started riding it all over the shop floor. We tried another little yellow and pink one. I explained to her that we could not take one home that day as we did not bring the car. The next evening when Prashanth came to pick us up, we went straight to the bike shop. Aditi rode the little bicycyle again to impress her dad and we brought home a yellow and pink one, fitted with stabilizers. She's got a little red helmet and wears it proudly before every biking session. Her two friends aged six and nine come knocking on our door, if we do not take her out for her bike rides every evening. Overall it has been fun so far, to watch my little princess ride carefully on the road outside our house. It helps that we live in a cul-de-sac inside an estate, for there's hardly any traffic in the evenings. Yesterday, I met a lady with her little daughter, who's moved recently into Sheffield and lives in our estate. Aditi was on her bike riding spree and the lady asked me if I had skipped the tricycle stage. I was astonished - it made me question myself - Should I have bought Aditi a tricycle before moving her onto a bicycle? I know she's ridden or tried to ride a tricycle in her nursery. I ahve seen her on it when she was younger. But what I have seen and learnt is children never RIDE a tricycle. They just move it with their legs on the floor for a long time and by the time they learn to pedal, have almost outgrown the tricycle. The bicyle makes it easier to pedal and the stabilizers do provide the support. The only drawback I can think of is that it can only be used outdoors. Given that we live in an estate that's closed to public traffic, it was easier for me to make the choice. I hope Aditi does not demand pictures of her on a tricycle when she grows up!
Tuesday, 8 September 2009
Bindis and the litle lady
I love bindis. I wear them everyday - mostly the marron coloured shingar stick bindi, sometimes the small round sticker ones and occasionally fancy bindis. I love them so much that my mother never fails to pack a set of fancy sticker ones each time I leave from Chennai. I am not so fond of earrings or bangles, but bindis - they are a must for me. It seems when I was around 2 years old, I'd allow my dad to leave for work, only if he took me to the shop nearby and bought me a packet of the sticker ones everyday, and then I would proceed to stick them all over my face.
My not so little girl loves them - much more than I do. And one day she ransacked my precious belongings. She wants to wear a new one from a newer packet every day.
Every morning, after her shower, she would wait patiently for me to dress her up and then open my dressing drawer, pick a new bindi and stick it on her face. And when it did not settle in right, she would ask me to put it 'properly' for her. By the time I picked her up from the nursery in the evening, they would no longer be on her face and she would have binned them during the day. I watched with agony as my lovely collection of the red stickers diminished. I was thinking of probably hiding my collection and only leaving a few for her, but I knew that would not work. She would 'demand' for the new packets.
Thankfully, as with all things at her age, the interest only lasted a short while and now, she no longer wants them. Occassionally, she wants the one on my face, but since mine is usually done with the shingar stick, it cant be removed and stuck on hers! One another reason to have(or not have) a daughter..
My not so little girl loves them - much more than I do. And one day she ransacked my precious belongings. She wants to wear a new one from a newer packet every day.
Every morning, after her shower, she would wait patiently for me to dress her up and then open my dressing drawer, pick a new bindi and stick it on her face. And when it did not settle in right, she would ask me to put it 'properly' for her. By the time I picked her up from the nursery in the evening, they would no longer be on her face and she would have binned them during the day. I watched with agony as my lovely collection of the red stickers diminished. I was thinking of probably hiding my collection and only leaving a few for her, but I knew that would not work. She would 'demand' for the new packets.
Thankfully, as with all things at her age, the interest only lasted a short while and now, she no longer wants them. Occassionally, she wants the one on my face, but since mine is usually done with the shingar stick, it cant be removed and stuck on hers! One another reason to have(or not have) a daughter..
Friday, 28 August 2009
Ganesh Chathurthi
A trip to Birmingham:
On Saturday the 3 of us readied ourselves for our first ever long journey in the new BMW - a visit to the famous Balaji temple in Dudley. It is the biggest hindu temple in the UK. We had arranged for an abhishekam that morning around 10AM. So we left home around 7:45. The drive took us around 2 hours - we would have reached faster had itn ot been for the road works and the slow speed zone for quite a distance. Fifteen minutes on the road and Aditi wanted to get down or go to her nursery and be deposited with her keyworker. She did not like being tied down to the carseat and we sang many nursery rhymes to keep her busy. She insisted on sitting on my lap, which was forbidden anyway by lay in this country. She tried to sleep but the morning sun kept disturbing her! We reached exactly two hours after we left, made our way to the reception,completed formalities and payments and went upstairs to the actual sannidhi. The curtain was drawn, so we had a quick darshan of the other dieties and sat down for the curtain to rise. Aditi was extrememly excited with the darshan of monkey-god. She's been watching Ramayan on NDTV Imagine and is very fond of Hanuman. The abhishekam started around 10am and Aditi kept asking various questions while each liquid was being poured. She looked at the idol who was well oiled and said - 'Swami crying' - The oil appeared so to her and she wanted to know why Swami was crying. She wanted to have milk when the paal abhishekam was performed. She patiently waited until all the abhishekams were performed. And enjoyed placing flowers near the kumbham. While we waited for the Lord to be decorated, we went around the other dieties - Ganesha, Muruga and Navagraha temples. We were fortunate to also take part in the Vishwa Santhi homam and perform Deepa pooja for world peace. Aditi and I made a quick trip to the car for a snack and we all went back to the main temple for the Managala arthi. The place was extremely crowded, being a saturday and after the arthi, we got special abhishekam prasadam and more laddus for friends and neighbours.There's a little tent behind the main temple where lunch is served on saturdays. Here we met one of my college mates, who volunteers at the temple every week. He recognized me and we quickly exchanged contact details. Aditi enjoyed the lunch - rice, sambar, moong curry and kesari. We posed for a few pictures near the ranganathar temple, where a fountain has been set up. Had a quick tea at the famous Dosa stall and started our drive backhome. Aditi slept throughout the journey, which meant I enjoyed the ride back, listening to old time classics on the iPod.
Ganesh Chathurthi:We went shopping for groceries late on saturday night and returned with three bags of goodies. After sorting them all out and cutting veggies for the next morning, I quickly decided on the menu. We had invited a couple of people over for lunch on sunday. I got started on the lunch preprations after sorting out breakfast and before nine am was done with most part of the cooking. Then came the cleaning. Prashanth joined in and we made the house look presentable. After a quick shower, I proceeded to arrange the pooja with all my Ganesh murthis. Prashanth gave Aditi her shower and they chose a pink and purple dress to wear for the occassion. We also celebrate Gowri puja, a practise I started only five years ago and Aditi happily helped me pick flowers from the garden and place it(Well, she played with the rose petals dipping them in water). We then tied the sacred yellow thread and I recited a few slokas. Then comes Ganesh pooja. We took a little break, I started making the modaks(which unfortunately did not turn out as nice as they did last year!) and we offered the same to Ganesha. All done and ready by 1, we waited for our guests to arrive. They made us wait longer than expected and arrived fianlly by 2:30pm.I gave Aditi her lunch and we finally had ours around 3pm. Too late by our standards... Anyway we had a nice time until about 5 pm and they left home. Aditi was excited to have people around her and wanted to know why the aunty could not stay with us for ever. She went off to play on her bicycle later with her two older friends who live in the same estate.
On Saturday the 3 of us readied ourselves for our first ever long journey in the new BMW - a visit to the famous Balaji temple in Dudley. It is the biggest hindu temple in the UK. We had arranged for an abhishekam that morning around 10AM. So we left home around 7:45. The drive took us around 2 hours - we would have reached faster had itn ot been for the road works and the slow speed zone for quite a distance. Fifteen minutes on the road and Aditi wanted to get down or go to her nursery and be deposited with her keyworker. She did not like being tied down to the carseat and we sang many nursery rhymes to keep her busy. She insisted on sitting on my lap, which was forbidden anyway by lay in this country. She tried to sleep but the morning sun kept disturbing her! We reached exactly two hours after we left, made our way to the reception,completed formalities and payments and went upstairs to the actual sannidhi. The curtain was drawn, so we had a quick darshan of the other dieties and sat down for the curtain to rise. Aditi was extrememly excited with the darshan of monkey-god. She's been watching Ramayan on NDTV Imagine and is very fond of Hanuman. The abhishekam started around 10am and Aditi kept asking various questions while each liquid was being poured. She looked at the idol who was well oiled and said - 'Swami crying' - The oil appeared so to her and she wanted to know why Swami was crying. She wanted to have milk when the paal abhishekam was performed. She patiently waited until all the abhishekams were performed. And enjoyed placing flowers near the kumbham. While we waited for the Lord to be decorated, we went around the other dieties - Ganesha, Muruga and Navagraha temples. We were fortunate to also take part in the Vishwa Santhi homam and perform Deepa pooja for world peace. Aditi and I made a quick trip to the car for a snack and we all went back to the main temple for the Managala arthi. The place was extremely crowded, being a saturday and after the arthi, we got special abhishekam prasadam and more laddus for friends and neighbours.There's a little tent behind the main temple where lunch is served on saturdays. Here we met one of my college mates, who volunteers at the temple every week. He recognized me and we quickly exchanged contact details. Aditi enjoyed the lunch - rice, sambar, moong curry and kesari. We posed for a few pictures near the ranganathar temple, where a fountain has been set up. Had a quick tea at the famous Dosa stall and started our drive backhome. Aditi slept throughout the journey, which meant I enjoyed the ride back, listening to old time classics on the iPod.
Ganesh Chathurthi:We went shopping for groceries late on saturday night and returned with three bags of goodies. After sorting them all out and cutting veggies for the next morning, I quickly decided on the menu. We had invited a couple of people over for lunch on sunday. I got started on the lunch preprations after sorting out breakfast and before nine am was done with most part of the cooking. Then came the cleaning. Prashanth joined in and we made the house look presentable. After a quick shower, I proceeded to arrange the pooja with all my Ganesh murthis. Prashanth gave Aditi her shower and they chose a pink and purple dress to wear for the occassion. We also celebrate Gowri puja, a practise I started only five years ago and Aditi happily helped me pick flowers from the garden and place it(Well, she played with the rose petals dipping them in water). We then tied the sacred yellow thread and I recited a few slokas. Then comes Ganesh pooja. We took a little break, I started making the modaks(which unfortunately did not turn out as nice as they did last year!) and we offered the same to Ganesha. All done and ready by 1, we waited for our guests to arrive. They made us wait longer than expected and arrived fianlly by 2:30pm.I gave Aditi her lunch and we finally had ours around 3pm. Too late by our standards... Anyway we had a nice time until about 5 pm and they left home. Aditi was excited to have people around her and wanted to know why the aunty could not stay with us for ever. She went off to play on her bicycle later with her two older friends who live in the same estate.
Friday, 14 August 2009
Krishna Janmashtami
Janmashtami this year did not have any of the funfare it held in the last few years in our household. The year Aditi was born, we dressed her up as Krishna and last year as Radha, but this year I made no such effort. I could blame partly on the Swiss trip that had left me completely exhausted and we arrived just a day earlier. Or I could use another excuse that the internet told me it was on friday and I thought I had a day to 'prepare' for the festival, and found out on the previous night that it was on thursday and not on friday. But they are lame excuses I know very well. I had no plans to make any kind of sweet preparation this year, because we are both on a low calorie diet and Aditi does not like sweets. I had planned it to be a simple affair right from the start. No sweets or savories, just milk, curd, butter and aval I thought to myself.
But the Lord had other plans. I got up early that morning and Aditi woke up with me, so we finished all our morning chores well in time and had lots more time on our hand. Rather than settling with her book on the couch, I decided to do the padams with the freshly prepared dosa batter from the previous night. Drew a simple kolam outside and little padams all the way upto the pooja shelf. Aditi helped me by walking carefully around the little padams.She was fascinated by them to say the least. More time left, so I decided to do up the pooja shelf. A freshly blossomed tulip was plucked and offered to the little krishna statues. A little prayer was said and a bhajan sung and we left for our repsective locations to spend the day. On our way back, I picked some fruits and more flowers. The best part of this celebrations is that we can delay the festival until midnight, so I was in no hurry. After sorting out our dinners, I arranged the neivadyam plate with little cups of butter, milk and curd. We made a simple mixture of aval, vellam(jaggery) and pottu kadalai and offered it all to the lord along with some fruits. The daddy was back and he joined us in our celebration. And thus ended janmastami this year. Aditi still walks carefully around the padams, and instructs us not to stamp on them.
A part of me still thinks I should have made something sweet for little Krishna, but I think i'll make up for it by making something nice for Ganesh Chathurthi, especially since it falls on a weekend.
But the Lord had other plans. I got up early that morning and Aditi woke up with me, so we finished all our morning chores well in time and had lots more time on our hand. Rather than settling with her book on the couch, I decided to do the padams with the freshly prepared dosa batter from the previous night. Drew a simple kolam outside and little padams all the way upto the pooja shelf. Aditi helped me by walking carefully around the little padams.She was fascinated by them to say the least. More time left, so I decided to do up the pooja shelf. A freshly blossomed tulip was plucked and offered to the little krishna statues. A little prayer was said and a bhajan sung and we left for our repsective locations to spend the day. On our way back, I picked some fruits and more flowers. The best part of this celebrations is that we can delay the festival until midnight, so I was in no hurry. After sorting out our dinners, I arranged the neivadyam plate with little cups of butter, milk and curd. We made a simple mixture of aval, vellam(jaggery) and pottu kadalai and offered it all to the lord along with some fruits. The daddy was back and he joined us in our celebration. And thus ended janmastami this year. Aditi still walks carefully around the padams, and instructs us not to stamp on them.
A part of me still thinks I should have made something sweet for little Krishna, but I think i'll make up for it by making something nice for Ganesh Chathurthi, especially since it falls on a weekend.
Saturday, 18 July 2009
Dreaming of BIG cars
When I was young, I was fascinated by the big cars that were parked outside my house when my uncle visited. He held one of the top ranking jobs and was provided with brand new huge cars every few years - and it had all the gadgets that would make our jaws drop. Twenty years ago they were still a novelty - to have a radio, a casette player which mostly played bhajans or carnatic music, perfumed air freshner, electric window buttons controlled centrally etc... and my cousin and I would examine each car in great detail, play for a bit with the gadgets if the driver let us to and secretly desire to possess such cars when we grew up. When we were about 13, my uncle arrived in a new CEILO car, and we took an instant liking to this one. It was a cream coloured one, a much better replacement of the old grey estate vehicle which could comfortably carry 8 heads. And the cousin, a year younger to me, came up with this idea to buy a black CEILO car and take my grandparents around in it. So we started saving money - honestly - we put away all the money we got for Pongal, Diwali and such like for over four years, not spending a penny more than what we needed and earning more money doing odd jobs. That was nowhere near the cost of the car, but we learnt our lessons on financial management which came in handy when we had to leave home many years later. And slowly the CEILO fever faded away. I think we used the money to buy clothes and jewels for a cousins wedding. By then our parents had newer cars and dreaming of big cars did become a reality. When I started driving one myself, I realized that the car was just another means of transport to get from Point A to Point B. Fast forward to life after marriage and settling down in the UK, we bought a little Skoda silver grey car, which remained our loyal companion for the last 3+ years. I started driving this vehicle only recently(thanks to an accident during college that shattered my confidence for a long time) and soon decided that it was time for a change. My eyes were set on a BMW or a Merc and I begged and pleaded with the husband to go for a change. It was agreed that if he cleared his fellowship exams, we would buy a new car. Thankfully, he's now a Fellow(of the Royal College) and the hunt for a car began almost immediately. After looking around and researching, we realized that the best vehicle for our kind of use would be a BMW. Few more doubts on whether to go for a manual or an automatic transmission were cleared after a couple of test drives. And we brought home a sparkling graphite coloured BMW, much to my joy. I can't thank the husband enough for fulfilling my desire to ride a BMW. It had been a long time dream to own and drive one .Here I present to you all our newest member...
Wednesday, 10 June 2009
Nursery Rhymes
For a very long time, Aditi was uninterested with the telly. I was not too disappointed, for I am not a fan myself, although the daddy loves the black box. I was glad that the addiction to TV was limited to one member of the family. We bought a nursery rhymes DVD on our previous India trip and I have tried to get Aditi's attention once in a while. But she would never respond and all my efforts were in vain. Her interest remained in the two dozen books that form her mini library at home.A couple of weeks back, I picked up a nursery rhymes book from the library. Our library allows us to pick 15 books on the child's card, with no penalty for non-renewals, and we make full use of it. We usually have atleast ten to twelve books from the library all the time at home. And the rhymes book became her favourite - at breakfast, dinner and sleep time. She'll usually pick an object to take with her to bed - usually a book or a doll or even a pen or her watch. And for a while now, it’s been this nursery rhymes book. So the other day, I tried my luck again with the DVD and suddenly her eyes were glued onto the TV. she was watching every action, trying to imitate them and sing along to every rhyme - half of which she's never heard before. She was so absorbed that she did not notice me leave the room and that’s something for she ALWAYS follows me wherever I go. And I'm extremely glad that this has finally caught her interest.Advantages: I don’t have a little lamb following me around the house. Milk and dinner are done at a superfast pace when watching this DVD. Usually getting her to finish her milk is a very BIG problem. The freedom of not having to sit with her and entertain her all the time is making me happy. And she's learning to sing the rhymes properly(with the tune and the words) and is excited about it.Disadvantages: The only thing so far is dad cannot watch his favourite programmes and the nursery rhymes is the only thing that gets played repeatedly on the telly when the little girl is around. May be I should move the DVD player upstairs and get Aditi to use the smaller TV.
Thursday, 4 June 2009
The Domestic Horrors Tag
I love my home and love to cook and serve my family even more. I have lived for most part of my life with my grandparents and there were huge family gatherings all the time, so I am used to the hosting business and continuous flow of guests at home. Except for the occasional lack of salt in a dish or sugar in the tea, I cant really think of kitchen experiences.
And just as I finished typing the last line, I remembered this incident. Aditi was about 8 months old and I had kept dal in the pressure cooker. It was the small 3 litre Hawkins one, so we just put the dal or rice straight into the cooker and add water. Not in a separate vessel as is usally the case with a bigger cooker. And I washed the dal, closed the lid, placed it on the stove and carried on with whatever I was doing - domestic chores. After about 20 minutes, I smelt plastic burning. Thats when I reliazed that I had not added any water to the dal! And the safety valve got burnt i n the process. Since this was an aluminium one, it was not so difficult to clean....
Another one was with the washing machine five years ago. We had just moved into Belfast and ours was a washer only WM. There was no dryer and we had to dry the clothes in the balcony on a line, fasten it with pegs. I switched on the machine at night and since it takes a while, I went off to sleep. Usually the next morning, I would pull the clothes out and take them to the balcony. That day was no different or so I thought and opened the washing machine. Out came buckets and buckets of water. Soemthing went wrong - I dont remember the details, but I spent a good one hour trying to clean my water-logged kitchen. Thankfully the kitchen was not carpetted and had vinyl floors, so I could easily clean it up.
Feeel free to take up this tag and let us know of your domestic horros.
And just as I finished typing the last line, I remembered this incident. Aditi was about 8 months old and I had kept dal in the pressure cooker. It was the small 3 litre Hawkins one, so we just put the dal or rice straight into the cooker and add water. Not in a separate vessel as is usally the case with a bigger cooker. And I washed the dal, closed the lid, placed it on the stove and carried on with whatever I was doing - domestic chores. After about 20 minutes, I smelt plastic burning. Thats when I reliazed that I had not added any water to the dal! And the safety valve got burnt i n the process. Since this was an aluminium one, it was not so difficult to clean....
Another one was with the washing machine five years ago. We had just moved into Belfast and ours was a washer only WM. There was no dryer and we had to dry the clothes in the balcony on a line, fasten it with pegs. I switched on the machine at night and since it takes a while, I went off to sleep. Usually the next morning, I would pull the clothes out and take them to the balcony. That day was no different or so I thought and opened the washing machine. Out came buckets and buckets of water. Soemthing went wrong - I dont remember the details, but I spent a good one hour trying to clean my water-logged kitchen. Thankfully the kitchen was not carpetted and had vinyl floors, so I could easily clean it up.
Feeel free to take up this tag and let us know of your domestic horros.
It is called 'Aditi' talk
It feels great when your little one starts talking - properly in sentences - in a language not just understood by the mom and dad, but by everyone. Until about 18 months Aditi was happy to 'point and talk', and I almost always seemed to understand what she said. That was a huge relief compared to the initial months when crying was the norm always. Thanks to her nursery, she started speaking in sentences pretty soon. And for a while now, she can have a complete conversation and be pretty much understood by everyone around her. She learns new words everyday. And is extremely happy to use them in her sentences.
Rather than just saying the word aloud, she usually likes to say "It is called xxxx". And she can understand every word of what we speak in my mother tongue. She still finds it difficult to make sentences and use them in my language, which is not what I wanted, but I think as long as she can understand and respond to what we speak, it should be okay for now. I'll gradually build up her confidence and slowly get her to speak in my language.
Continued after 2 weeks....
I'm usually greeted with a 'I dont like this Amms' or a 'I dont want this Amma' especially when I go near her with a cup of milk. What is it that happens to kids when the transition from bottle cup takes place? My child loved her bottle. That would actually be an understatement. She loved the bottle so much that it took me almost five months to make her give up her bottle completely. I managed to completely wean her away from the bootle only when she was about two years old.
And back to the point of talking, books are her favorite. They have always been so. And she now reads sentence(more so recites them from memory) from every single book around the house. Its good that we can borrow upto 15 books from our local library on her card. We make full use of it. Evenings are spent reading every page of all the books. And books give her company during breakfast, lunch and dinner. Literally every meal that she has at home will be with the help of books.
And the pram has been bid goodbye. For almost two months, we have been walking to and from the bus stop. On rare occasions when its raining heavily, we use the pram. Otherwise its walk or carry. The 'carrying' bit is not so often, except when she sees a dog or cat too close to her for comfort or on days, when she's really tired. And I gladly oblige. We do the typical mother-daughter thing and chat on our way to and from the bus stop - about everything we see on the road - the cars, birds, other children playing in the compound/pavement, the occasional biker, just about everything. The only problem is that I can no longer do any shopping at lunch time and safely out the bags away in the pram basket. Since we already have enough bags to carry aka my office bag, her nursery bag and Aditi herself, shopping at lunch time has come to a standstill! But I do enjoy walking and chatting with my little girl. Reminds me of the time when I would drive my mom around.
I finally managed to change the header, since the summer has finally arrived in Sheffield.
Rather than just saying the word aloud, she usually likes to say "It is called xxxx". And she can understand every word of what we speak in my mother tongue. She still finds it difficult to make sentences and use them in my language, which is not what I wanted, but I think as long as she can understand and respond to what we speak, it should be okay for now. I'll gradually build up her confidence and slowly get her to speak in my language.
Continued after 2 weeks....
I'm usually greeted with a 'I dont like this Amms' or a 'I dont want this Amma' especially when I go near her with a cup of milk. What is it that happens to kids when the transition from bottle cup takes place? My child loved her bottle. That would actually be an understatement. She loved the bottle so much that it took me almost five months to make her give up her bottle completely. I managed to completely wean her away from the bootle only when she was about two years old.
And back to the point of talking, books are her favorite. They have always been so. And she now reads sentence(more so recites them from memory) from every single book around the house. Its good that we can borrow upto 15 books from our local library on her card. We make full use of it. Evenings are spent reading every page of all the books. And books give her company during breakfast, lunch and dinner. Literally every meal that she has at home will be with the help of books.
And the pram has been bid goodbye. For almost two months, we have been walking to and from the bus stop. On rare occasions when its raining heavily, we use the pram. Otherwise its walk or carry. The 'carrying' bit is not so often, except when she sees a dog or cat too close to her for comfort or on days, when she's really tired. And I gladly oblige. We do the typical mother-daughter thing and chat on our way to and from the bus stop - about everything we see on the road - the cars, birds, other children playing in the compound/pavement, the occasional biker, just about everything. The only problem is that I can no longer do any shopping at lunch time and safely out the bags away in the pram basket. Since we already have enough bags to carry aka my office bag, her nursery bag and Aditi herself, shopping at lunch time has come to a standstill! But I do enjoy walking and chatting with my little girl. Reminds me of the time when I would drive my mom around.
I finally managed to change the header, since the summer has finally arrived in Sheffield.
Friday, 24 April 2009
India Trip - Part 2
We had about 90 minutes transit time, comfortable enough to change terminals in Paris and get through the security checks. But as soon as we got off the flight, we were stranded on the escalator(thankfully it was stationary), because our doors into the airport, from the gate where we had landed were locked. A stressful 45 minutes later, the doors were unlocked and we landed at our terminal/gate bang on the flight departure time. I was not alone, about a dozen of us were to board the Chennai flight from Paris, so we had a good time while waiting on the escalator and at the shuttle bus stop.This delayed our flight, which finally took off an hour after the actual departure time. Aditi slept from time to time, played for a while, walked a lot, drank about 6 glasses of juice in 10 hours and was not as troublesome as I had imagined.
At Chennai airport, Aditi stayed put beside me, while I collected our baggage. My eyes searched for my parents as I wheeled the trolley out of the terminal and it was easy to spot them. The reunion was the best - it was the first time that I landed in Chennai in five years and it was a huge relief to have reached home.It took a couple of days for Aditi to get used to the many people in our house, but soon she was ordering people around - thatha, pati, big pati and ayyaamma(our maid). Aditi met her great grandmother - my mother's mother who happened to be staying with my parents. She took to my father like a fish to water, but gave her 'orakanna parvai' at her pati. As she kept calling 'papi', my mother taught her to say Ammamma. It was so cute to see her go Amm-amm-amm-amm-ma.
We have a huge old-style teak swing that adors the living room at home. Much like a fireplace in this country, which is usually the focal point of most living rooms.Aditi loved this swing and enjoyed the to and fro motion. We went shopping to T-Nagar, visited the 'must-go-to' shops on Usman Road, called on friends and relatives and ade a 5 day trip to Bangalore to meet Aditi's other set of grandparents. She was pampered everywhere we went and I should agree that she was well-behaved most of the tim. She would normally take baout 5 minutes to settle in a new place and then enjoy the comapny of those around her.
Unlike last time, when she suffered from various immune attacks, this time was much better. A mosquito bite, turned into an infection and spots appeared at various places. There are a few scars that are yet to go away. She loved the fact that she couldpick the receiver and talk anytime with whoever she desired, unlike here where the phone is placed 5 feet above the ground.
But the look on her face was priceless when she met her dad at Manchester airport. It was a wonderful reunion and I wish I had recorded the conversation for posterity. All-in-all an enjoyable two weeks and a well deserved break for me and my little one.
At Chennai airport, Aditi stayed put beside me, while I collected our baggage. My eyes searched for my parents as I wheeled the trolley out of the terminal and it was easy to spot them. The reunion was the best - it was the first time that I landed in Chennai in five years and it was a huge relief to have reached home.It took a couple of days for Aditi to get used to the many people in our house, but soon she was ordering people around - thatha, pati, big pati and ayyaamma(our maid). Aditi met her great grandmother - my mother's mother who happened to be staying with my parents. She took to my father like a fish to water, but gave her 'orakanna parvai' at her pati. As she kept calling 'papi', my mother taught her to say Ammamma. It was so cute to see her go Amm-amm-amm-amm-ma.
We have a huge old-style teak swing that adors the living room at home. Much like a fireplace in this country, which is usually the focal point of most living rooms.Aditi loved this swing and enjoyed the to and fro motion. We went shopping to T-Nagar, visited the 'must-go-to' shops on Usman Road, called on friends and relatives and ade a 5 day trip to Bangalore to meet Aditi's other set of grandparents. She was pampered everywhere we went and I should agree that she was well-behaved most of the tim. She would normally take baout 5 minutes to settle in a new place and then enjoy the comapny of those around her.
Unlike last time, when she suffered from various immune attacks, this time was much better. A mosquito bite, turned into an infection and spots appeared at various places. There are a few scars that are yet to go away. She loved the fact that she couldpick the receiver and talk anytime with whoever she desired, unlike here where the phone is placed 5 feet above the ground.
But the look on her face was priceless when she met her dad at Manchester airport. It was a wonderful reunion and I wish I had recorded the conversation for posterity. All-in-all an enjoyable two weeks and a well deserved break for me and my little one.
The pregnancy tag
1. WAS YOUR PREGNANCY PLANNED?
Sort of.
2. WERE YOU MARRIED AT THE TIME?
Yes.
3. WHAT WERE YOUR REACTIONS?
Extremely excited and was thinking of how the father-to-be would react when I tell him the news.
4. WAS ABORTION AN OPTION FOR YOU?
No way.
5. HOW OLD WERE YOU?25
6. HOW DID YOU FIND OUT YOU WERE PREGNANT?
Home Pregnancy Test. Although I had the idea to buy one only on the way back home that day.
7. WHO DID YOU TELL FIRST?
Prashanth, followed by mum.
8. DUE DATE?
12 February 2007.
9. DID YOU HAVE MORNING SICKNESS?
Yes, until the 20th week.
10. WHAT DID YOU CRAVE?
Kanja manga, kanja narthanga.
11. WHO/WHAT IRRITATED YOU THE MOST?
Nothing really.
12. WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST CHILD'S SEX?
Girl.
13. DID YOU WISH YOU HAD THE OPPOSITE SEX OF WHAT YOU WERE GETTING?
Nope, but would have if the first one had been a boy!
14. HOW MANY POUNDS DID YOU GAIN THROUGHOUT THE PREGNANCY?
10 Kilos.
15. DID YOU HAVE A BABY SHOWER?
Yes, arranged by us with friends/cousins as guests
16. WAS IT A SURPRISE OR DID YOU KNOW?It was the traditional ceremoy and I had not seen one myself, so had to go about doing things by asking mom/in-laws.
17. DID YOU HAVE ANY COMPLICATIONS DURING YOUR PREGNANCY?
No.
18. WHERE DID YOU GIVE BIRTH?
Blackburn, UK
19. HOW MANY HOURS WERE YOU IN LABOR?
Approx. 7 hours
20. WHO DROVE YOU TO THE HOSPITAL/BIRTH CENTER?
Husband, with mom by my side.
21. WHO WATCHED YOU GIVE BIRTH?
Husband and mom.
22. WAS IT NATURAL OR C-SECTION?
Natural.
23. DID YOU TAKE MEDICINE TO EASE THE PAIN?
No.
24. HOW MUCH DID YOUR CHILD WEIGH?
2.8 kg (6.3 pounds)
25. WHEN WAS YOUR CHILD ACTUALLY BORN ?
8th Feb 2007.
26. WHAT WAS YOUR REACTION WHEN THE DOCTOR ANNOUNCED THE SEX OF THE BABY? We knew about the sex, so was eagerly waiting to see my little angel.
27. WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST REACTION ON SEEING THE BABY?
Relieved that the labour phase was finally over. Was thrilled to see the baby that grew within me.
28. DID YOU CRY?
No!
29. WHAT DID YOU NAME HIM/HER?
Aditi
30. HOW OLD IS YOUR FIRST BORN TODAY?
2years, 2months, 2weeks, 2days(Incidentally!)
Feel free to take up this tag. I'm not sure if ther's any blogging mom out there, who's not already completed this tag.
Sort of.
2. WERE YOU MARRIED AT THE TIME?
Yes.
3. WHAT WERE YOUR REACTIONS?
Extremely excited and was thinking of how the father-to-be would react when I tell him the news.
4. WAS ABORTION AN OPTION FOR YOU?
No way.
5. HOW OLD WERE YOU?25
6. HOW DID YOU FIND OUT YOU WERE PREGNANT?
Home Pregnancy Test. Although I had the idea to buy one only on the way back home that day.
7. WHO DID YOU TELL FIRST?
Prashanth, followed by mum.
8. DUE DATE?
12 February 2007.
9. DID YOU HAVE MORNING SICKNESS?
Yes, until the 20th week.
10. WHAT DID YOU CRAVE?
Kanja manga, kanja narthanga.
11. WHO/WHAT IRRITATED YOU THE MOST?
Nothing really.
12. WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST CHILD'S SEX?
Girl.
13. DID YOU WISH YOU HAD THE OPPOSITE SEX OF WHAT YOU WERE GETTING?
Nope, but would have if the first one had been a boy!
14. HOW MANY POUNDS DID YOU GAIN THROUGHOUT THE PREGNANCY?
10 Kilos.
15. DID YOU HAVE A BABY SHOWER?
Yes, arranged by us with friends/cousins as guests
16. WAS IT A SURPRISE OR DID YOU KNOW?It was the traditional ceremoy and I had not seen one myself, so had to go about doing things by asking mom/in-laws.
17. DID YOU HAVE ANY COMPLICATIONS DURING YOUR PREGNANCY?
No.
18. WHERE DID YOU GIVE BIRTH?
Blackburn, UK
19. HOW MANY HOURS WERE YOU IN LABOR?
Approx. 7 hours
20. WHO DROVE YOU TO THE HOSPITAL/BIRTH CENTER?
Husband, with mom by my side.
21. WHO WATCHED YOU GIVE BIRTH?
Husband and mom.
22. WAS IT NATURAL OR C-SECTION?
Natural.
23. DID YOU TAKE MEDICINE TO EASE THE PAIN?
No.
24. HOW MUCH DID YOUR CHILD WEIGH?
2.8 kg (6.3 pounds)
25. WHEN WAS YOUR CHILD ACTUALLY BORN ?
8th Feb 2007.
26. WHAT WAS YOUR REACTION WHEN THE DOCTOR ANNOUNCED THE SEX OF THE BABY? We knew about the sex, so was eagerly waiting to see my little angel.
27. WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST REACTION ON SEEING THE BABY?
Relieved that the labour phase was finally over. Was thrilled to see the baby that grew within me.
28. DID YOU CRY?
No!
29. WHAT DID YOU NAME HIM/HER?
Aditi
30. HOW OLD IS YOUR FIRST BORN TODAY?
2years, 2months, 2weeks, 2days(Incidentally!)
Feel free to take up this tag. I'm not sure if ther's any blogging mom out there, who's not already completed this tag.
Thursday, 9 April 2009
The Burn
Aditi had an accidental burn last Saturday. It was close to her nap time on a cloudy Saturday afternoon. We were planning to go out and I had dressed her up in her coat and shoes. I had packed her milk cup in my handbag, which was unfortunately left on the dining table. And I was wearing my own socks and shoes. Suddenly I hear the sound of the cup falling down and turn around to se the little girl bathed in milk almost. Hot milk trickling down her chin. And the girl let out her loudest cry. I quickly splashed water on her face and neck, but her winter jacket was in the way and by the time I removed her jacket and two layers of clothing and rushed her to the bathroom for more spraying of water, the damage had been done. Her chest and neck were badly burnt. But we did not realize it, for she was tired and sleepy and in pain!
I put her to bed and when she woke up, found a few blisters on her skin. We rushed her to A&E, and they put a huge bandage around her chest and shoulders. The little girl was irritated with her bandage. But thankfully I had to gaurd her for only a couple of days, as we had another appointment on tuesday and the doctor asked for the bandage to be removed. The burnt skin is now drying up and we were told that there would be no permanent scars, although the healing process would take a while.
Praying that the little girl does not have to suffer much - as I have been informed about the itching during skin regrowth. Do you have any advice to keep the itching at bay? And to hasten the healing process? She has been prescribed E45 mositurizing solution to be applied four times daily. I have been asked to try coconut oil as well. If you know aof any other remedies, please advice.
I put her to bed and when she woke up, found a few blisters on her skin. We rushed her to A&E, and they put a huge bandage around her chest and shoulders. The little girl was irritated with her bandage. But thankfully I had to gaurd her for only a couple of days, as we had another appointment on tuesday and the doctor asked for the bandage to be removed. The burnt skin is now drying up and we were told that there would be no permanent scars, although the healing process would take a while.
Praying that the little girl does not have to suffer much - as I have been informed about the itching during skin regrowth. Do you have any advice to keep the itching at bay? And to hasten the healing process? She has been prescribed E45 mositurizing solution to be applied four times daily. I have been asked to try coconut oil as well. If you know aof any other remedies, please advice.
Wednesday, 1 April 2009
India Trip - How it happened
It was the middle of February when I was informed that I had to take all my holidays by the end of March. There were still 14 days left and only 3 days could be carried forward to April. I had booked a week's leave in March. It started after a casual conversation at lunch time with a colleague, who said that flight tickets to India were really cheap at this time of the year. That night the thoughts of making a short trip to India took shape in my mind. We discussed and argued over it and finally Prashanth gave me the green signal. There is something special about an India trip and more if its an unexpected trip. Your mind is flooded with happy thoughts and the current worries and troubles take a backseat. I decided to take 12 days off. The next couple of days were spent in convincing my manger to grant me the holidays. Tickets were booked and it was the lowest price I have ever flown in the last five years. If I had planned a month in advance, I would have only paid 10 percent for Aditi's ticket as opposed to the 75 percent that I had to shell out as she was over two years. But when its a holiday to India, these things hardly matter. I spoke to my mother to take a week off from work and strangely although it was March and annual year end, Amma was granted a week's holiday(Amma is a bank manager, so the leave was a true bonus). Slowly things fell into place and I concentrated on the shopping and packing.
Shopping for gifts is something I love doing. A bit of retail therapy is always welcome. So I spent shopping for everyone in the immediate family and three babies whom I'll be meeting for the first time. I have been away from home for longer than 2 weeks, but this time, I was torn between wanting to visit India and having to leave Prashanth alone here. I tried as much as possible to make his cooking/cleaning less difficult. Packing was a simple affair, all I did was pack some cotton sleeveless dresses for Aditi and a couple of salwar suits for me.I was going home and I could wear the ones at home - that remain unused for most part of the year.
At work it was a different affair. The week before I left was very hectic as it always is. I promised to respond to mails when necessary and kept up at it. We were to board an early morning flight on Thursday morning from Manchester. The flight and how Aditi enjoyed her stay at Chennai and Bangalore to follow.
(To be continued...)
Shopping for gifts is something I love doing. A bit of retail therapy is always welcome. So I spent shopping for everyone in the immediate family and three babies whom I'll be meeting for the first time. I have been away from home for longer than 2 weeks, but this time, I was torn between wanting to visit India and having to leave Prashanth alone here. I tried as much as possible to make his cooking/cleaning less difficult. Packing was a simple affair, all I did was pack some cotton sleeveless dresses for Aditi and a couple of salwar suits for me.I was going home and I could wear the ones at home - that remain unused for most part of the year.
At work it was a different affair. The week before I left was very hectic as it always is. I promised to respond to mails when necessary and kept up at it. We were to board an early morning flight on Thursday morning from Manchester. The flight and how Aditi enjoyed her stay at Chennai and Bangalore to follow.
(To be continued...)
Friday, 13 February 2009
The real birthday
In my hurry to hit submit, I forgot to mention about the real birthday. We had been to a party the previous day and came back exhausted; so went to sleep early. By 3 am the next morning, both Prashanth and I were up and excited about Aditi's birthday. Prashanth had still not got back to normal sleeping patterns after a busy week of nights, so we had nothing much planned for the day except a special lunch at home and just being together. After all birthdays hardly come on sundays, especially when Prashanth is not working.
The little girl woke up by 7 am unaware of the excitement of her parents. We wished her and sang the birthday song for her. A short while later, wishes came pouring in from both sets of grandparents in India, from her aunt, cousin and uncle in Dubai and from some more relatives and friends. After breakfast, I gave her a shower and dressed her up in the pattu pavadai that she had worn for her first birthday. She was too happy to be decked up all bright and red; and kept calling otu to her dad to come and admire her. Dad came over, armed with camera in hand and she posed for some of her best pictures.
Soon our neighbour came over to wish her with a huge gift, an automatic cycle with a gear box, that moved by the press of a button. As with anything in this country, it had to be assembled and our neighbour and Prashanth sat down with the hammer and screwdrivers. Aditi was extremely co-operative, waited for the pieces to be put together and sat on it. Alas! it worked only backwards. It turned out to be faulty. So we trie changing batteries, but still no luck. We got it exchanged later in the week and Aditi now enjoys her cute geared cycle.
We spent the rest of the day at home and Aditi changed in all about 7 dresses that day and I gave in bcos I did not want to make the poor girl cry on her special day. We went out for our usual grocery shopping and enjoyed a cake roll. Simple, yet relaxing was how we celebrated her second birthday.
Monday, 9 February 2009
The second birthday
The little girl celebrated her second birthday at her nursery two days before the actual day. The birthday itself was on a sunday, so we decided to throw a party on friday at her creche. I took half a day off and Prashanth had just finished his week of nights, so was free to join us around tea-time. I shopped for the cake and other nic-nacs to take to the nursery and reached about 5 minutes before 3PM. Aditi was having a nap, and her care-taker suggested we set the table up. I was hoping that Aditi'll be delighted to see us, but she was upset to be woken up and took over 10 minutes to settle down, get changed and finally shyed away when we had to cut the cake.The rest of the children went over to wash their hands, and then quitely sat on the little table and chairs arranged for them. And there was no quarelling/fighting over seats, no shouting and all eyes eagerly set on the cake. One of her carers offered to take pictures, so Prashanth joined us for the cake cutting ceremony. I was busy cutting the rest of the cake and placing them on the paper plates, almost forgot that I had to give Aditi a plate as well, until she asked for it herself. We had some mini-bites, cornpuffs and McVites mini biscuits apart fro mthe birthday cake. The kids enjoyed themselves and asked for more helpings, the popular choice of one and all being cornpuffs. After some milk/juice, the kids looked happy and content.
The staff then escorted the children to the wash room and cleaned up the tables. We then picked up all the bits and pieces, and headed home. The best part of this simple party was Aditi enjoyed being among her folks and I enjoyed the party rather then running around attending guests. Now for some pictures.....
Wednesday, 28 January 2009
Christmas and New Year
Last year Christmas fell on a Thursday and we got 4 days off. The nice thing about this year was Prashanth was not working, except on Christmas day, so we enjoyed the long weekend. When I asked my colleagues at work, what Christmas meant to them, they said it was the time to meet friends and family. It really seemed so this year for us. On Christmas day, me and Aditi went over to the famous Balaji temple at Birmingham, along with a friend, chatting happily on our 2-hour journey. Prashanth was working that day, so he could not join us. At the temple, we met Prashanth's cousin and family, who were travelling to Scotland and stopped on their way for a quick darshan(and free lunch). It was a surprise, for neither of us knew about each other's plans to visit the temple. We had wanted to meet them for a while, but on our recent trip to London, they were away in India. And all plans to go to London would be scrapped off even before we could think about it. We caught up on all the latest happenings in the family and after lunch, headed back home. I had packed Aditi's rice and dal, but she surprised me by eating the sambar sadam that was distributed for lunch at the temple. We headed back home and Aditi slept throughout the journey. Our friends dropped us at our place and I served them dosa and chutney with the previous day's sambar - as a thank you for the trip. So typically as on Christmas day, we met family and had friends home for dinner.
On Boxing Day, we went over to Kettering to visit a couple of my school friends. We wanted to take Aditi to meet more children of her age and she enjoyed that evening with the friends's children. The four kids had fun playing train, reading books, and basically playing with every possible toy that they could lay their hands on. Aditi tried the kids' goggles and was very happy. She was excited to find people as small as her and not having to pull mummy and daddy into her games. I was delighted to find her enjoying the company of her new friends - in contrast to what I had imagined - she wasn't shy at all. We left the next day and were supposed to visit Leicester, a typical Indian(gujarati) city, but the traffic out on the motorway made us change our plans and we drove straight home. As usual Aditi slept during the return journey, only to wake up when we pulled into our driveway.
And we shopped on sunday looking for deals to buy a flat screen 42 inch plasma TV, making maximum use of the winter deals.(A 40 inch Sony LCD TV is now the focal point of our living room!)
PS: This was started long ago , and was left midway. Managed to complete and hit Submit today.
On Boxing Day, we went over to Kettering to visit a couple of my school friends. We wanted to take Aditi to meet more children of her age and she enjoyed that evening with the friends's children. The four kids had fun playing train, reading books, and basically playing with every possible toy that they could lay their hands on. Aditi tried the kids' goggles and was very happy. She was excited to find people as small as her and not having to pull mummy and daddy into her games. I was delighted to find her enjoying the company of her new friends - in contrast to what I had imagined - she wasn't shy at all. We left the next day and were supposed to visit Leicester, a typical Indian(gujarati) city, but the traffic out on the motorway made us change our plans and we drove straight home. As usual Aditi slept during the return journey, only to wake up when we pulled into our driveway.
And we shopped on sunday looking for deals to buy a flat screen 42 inch plasma TV, making maximum use of the winter deals.(A 40 inch Sony LCD TV is now the focal point of our living room!)
PS: This was started long ago , and was left midway. Managed to complete and hit Submit today.
Sunday, 25 January 2009
Nursery update
2008 wasn't a great year for us, and a bitter disappointment in December, made it worse. We tried to cheer up by visiting friends and meeting family over the Christmas weekend. And Prashanth was working on New Year's eve, so me and Aditi rested at home. There's been lots of things happening with the little girl at home. She's been talking in small sentences and imitating what we say and do. She's trying to string a few words together and is aiming to make proper sentences.
At the nursery, she's moving from the baby room to the toddler room where she'll meet many two to five year olds, and to make the transition easy, the staff have been taking her to the toddler room every now and then to make her familiar with the surroundings. She's been enjoying herself there and is learning to sing new rhymes everyday. Action rhymes are still her favorite and new dance moves are always tried out. Every evening we are treated to a little performance by the little girl, dancing and singing all by herself, sometimes just dancing to the music on the telly.
Aditi loves shopping and picks up anything that she sets her eyes on and expects to be bought. Her love for new shoes and dresses, even at this age is really alarming. She would happily wear the new dress and shoes even before we deposit the shopping bags on the floor. Her present craze is a new knee high boot, which is being worn even at sleep-time!! At supermarkets, she walks nad randomly picks up toys and quitely places it in the shopping trolley. Of course, we scan for her items and promptly remove them before we hit the cash counter. And one day while we were shopping, I noticed a new toy while we were waiting in the queue. I assumed Prashanth might have picked it up, but turned out that Aditi had herself chosen the toy.
This one loves her books. Her favorite is the farm book - My first farm, where she points out and indicates the various animals and her babies, fruits and vegetables. This also lists the various dairy farm products and different types of tractors and so on. Counting has taken on a new turn. Previously she would count up and down the steps randomly from one to ten, starting at four and finishing at eight. She's improved now and counts in an orderly fashion.
While on the bus, she loves to point to other buses and cars on the road and draw my attention to it. A few weeks to go for her second birthday and we plan to have a prty at her nursery and spend the day at Weston Park .
Will try to be more regular this year with updating my blog.
At the nursery, she's moving from the baby room to the toddler room where she'll meet many two to five year olds, and to make the transition easy, the staff have been taking her to the toddler room every now and then to make her familiar with the surroundings. She's been enjoying herself there and is learning to sing new rhymes everyday. Action rhymes are still her favorite and new dance moves are always tried out. Every evening we are treated to a little performance by the little girl, dancing and singing all by herself, sometimes just dancing to the music on the telly.
Aditi loves shopping and picks up anything that she sets her eyes on and expects to be bought. Her love for new shoes and dresses, even at this age is really alarming. She would happily wear the new dress and shoes even before we deposit the shopping bags on the floor. Her present craze is a new knee high boot, which is being worn even at sleep-time!! At supermarkets, she walks nad randomly picks up toys and quitely places it in the shopping trolley. Of course, we scan for her items and promptly remove them before we hit the cash counter. And one day while we were shopping, I noticed a new toy while we were waiting in the queue. I assumed Prashanth might have picked it up, but turned out that Aditi had herself chosen the toy.
This one loves her books. Her favorite is the farm book - My first farm, where she points out and indicates the various animals and her babies, fruits and vegetables. This also lists the various dairy farm products and different types of tractors and so on. Counting has taken on a new turn. Previously she would count up and down the steps randomly from one to ten, starting at four and finishing at eight. She's improved now and counts in an orderly fashion.
While on the bus, she loves to point to other buses and cars on the road and draw my attention to it. A few weeks to go for her second birthday and we plan to have a prty at her nursery and spend the day at Weston Park .
Will try to be more regular this year with updating my blog.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)