Happy New Year!!

We celebrated New Year's Eve in a quiet fashion this year. We only arrived on the 30th night so we had no solid plans for New Year's Eve. We went out to dinner at F&B which is a very trendy restaurant where they serve 3 different types of cuisine, Indian, Italian and Thai. The food was delicious.

The streets were full of people and we saw a few groups of young people getting ready for some heavy clubbing. It seems like New Year's Eve is not such a big holiday here. Most establishments are open on January 1st. In Bangalore, some restaurants and most hotels had special celebrations planned but mainly catered for expats, NRIs and the young crowd.

I don't have any New Year's resolutions but these are some of the items I would like to take care of this year.

1) Exercise more. I say this every year but have to keep it there as it is very important. After moving to India, I have not found a proper routine.

2) Be a better parent. A broad goal but mainly I need to be more patient with the children.

3) Join a charity or NGO organization and volunteer my time. There are so many avenues to explore so I need to get involved in something this year.

4) Improve Rushil and Sindhu's skin. This is the one main issue we have after arriving in India.

5) Hoping that Sindhura will enjoy India more. She is enjoying it here most of the time but I think she doesn't know it yet :-)

Wish you all the very best in the upcoming year and we hope that all of you will come and visit us.

Spat with 2 women

At the Meenakshi temple, I got into a spat with two women. It was hot, muggy and we had walked through some murky water to get to the line. After 45 minutes of waiting, a whole group of people tried to cut into the line. Two women tried to cut in in front of me. Did I mention that it was hot, humid and the kids were cranky? I went off my top and refused to let them in. Eventually, she did cut in line behind us, I guess I had some satisfaction as we were ahead of them and the priest was extra nice to us. Her reasoning on why it was ok to cut the line, everyone else was doing it and it was her right because she was paying 100 Rupees for the ticket. Everyone in that line was paying the same amount so I'm not sure why that made her special. Sindhura was embarrassed by the whole affair and asked me to stop arguing with them. Later on, Prasad overhead them discussing whether we were from India or not :-)

Back from Kerala

We're back from Kerala and we had a wonderful time!! We flew into Madurai and the plan was to drive to Kerala from there. That was probably a mistake in retrospect for multiple reasons. We stayed overnight at GRT Regency in Madurai which we liked although the food was overpriced. Our adventure started in the morning, our driver was supposed to come at 9AM, we had booked a Tempo Travellor since we were going to be 8 people. He arrived at 9AM but with a Qualis as the Tempo Travellor (12 seater) was still on its way. We decided to visit the Meenakshi Temple but unfortunately, they were painting the goparams so they were covered and we did not get to experience the splendor of the temple. The kids complained the whole time as Rushil did not like walking barefoot and Sindhura found it too hot and crowded. A priest helped us get around, he spoke to us in Hindi at first and then alternated between English and Hindi as I guess he couldn't figure out where we were from. After our temple visit, our plan was to head to Munnar. This is where we made our mistake. Our Qualis driver told us that the Tempo Travellor would arrive between 2 to 4pm. We ignored the 4pm part and assumed he would be at our hotel by 2pm. The travel agent promised us the driver would arrive within 15 minutes and this dragged on for hours. In the end, we left at 4pm and we only arrived in Munnar at midnight. Prasad's theory was that when the agent had said the car would get there between 2-4 pm, we should have taken the hint and made our plans based 4pm as that was the more likely time the vehicle would have arrived. More on our adventures in Kerala in the upcoming posts.

Off to Kerala

We're off to Kerala today for a few days. We'll be meeting up with our friends Krithiga, Subhas, Surina and Arjun, our friends from California. More about the trip when we get back. Happy Holidays!

Skin

One of our main issues in Bangalore is Rushil's skin. He has had a few skin infections and his skin is generally very dry and itchy. We've seen a homeopath and he has been taking medication but so far we have not seen any improvement. The allopathic doctors are somewhat baffled by Rushil's skin and although they are suggesting many things, and we see an improvement for a short period of time, once we stop the treatment, something new crops up. Even Sindhura's eczema is worse after moving to India but her skin is not as bad as Rushil's. Rushil did have eczema in California and he has been tested for allergies and we're avoiding the allergens but there is something else that he is reacting to. We'll take him for further allergy tests once his skin improves as we'll need to stop some medication to get accurate results. Maybe it will give us a clue as to what else we should avoid. We saw an ayurvedic doctor recently who has said that he can improve Rushil's skin significantly but unfortunately, that medicine is not easy to ingest. We're going to Kerala for the holidays so we'll cross check with an ayurvedic doctor and perhaps start the treatment when we get back. Yes, we're trying many things but it doesn't seem like one treatment alone is sufficient whether it is allopathic or alternative. All the doctors are saying he will outgrow this but it will take some time. In the meantime, he is suffering quite a bit although it doesn't deter him from having fun.

Free lawn mowing

There are many empty plots in our neighborhood. Every day, a cow herder brings in a couple of cows to graze on these empty plots. Serves multiple purposes, cows are fed and the grass doesn't grow out of control. Ofcourse, given the number of empty plots, we would need more than a couple of cows to be grazing, but nevertheless, great idea nah?

Pubs in Bangalore

Our friend Garima is in Bangalore this weekend. We decided to have a girl's night out and check out the night life. Garima knew about the 11:30PM curfew but was not aware that dancing is prohibited at night clubs, yes can you believe that? We had dinner at Ebony and then headed over to 13th floor. They had great music but all the seats were taken and since dancing is not allowed, most of the people were hanging out, talking and of course drinking. The early curfew and no dancing rule really makes the pub scene in Bangalore quite dismal. We didn't stay very long at 13th floor but overall we had a fun night out and it was great to catch up and find out all the news with the playgroup.

May I help you, Madam?

The cook, the maid, the driver, store keepers, anyone offering services, address their customers by madam (ma'am) or sir. I believe it is a sign of respect. I feel somewhat uncomfortable being addressed this way as there is some underlying hierarchy that comes into play but it's used so pervasively that I'm getting used to it. At work, everyone addresses each other by their name so in that respect it is similar to the US although that could be because I work at an MNC and high tech company. Probably at other companies, people address their managers by "Sir" or "Madam". I would feel extremely uncomfortable if I was addressed by "ma'am" or if I had to address others by madam or sir at work. I was reading an article on this topic at the workplace which seems to describe it well. Sindhu was telling me that many of her classmates address their teacher by calling her "Ma'am", but she doesn't feel comfortable so she uses Ms or Ms Anuradha. I think at the non-international schools they used "madam". It's an interesting cultural difference.

Salad

OK, I'm not sure how scrumptious this salad looks but it is really delicious and lowfat. This is my cook's invention and every day after work, I gobble down a bowl of this before getting on with my evening. The red colour is from beet roots which I was never a fan of it before but it is a mainstay for us now. He adds beets, cucumbers, tomatoes, cilantro, onions, lemon and a dash of salt. Occasionally, he'll add slivers of mango or cucumbers, or other variations. Given we don't speak a common language, I don't know where he picked up this dish but he did go to a culinary institute in Orissa so maybe he learned it there.

Prasad's friend Prashanth and his wife Shobha introduced us to Paresh our cook. The other day Paresh was telling Shobha that he'll be out of town for a few weeks and that he'll send his friend as his replacement during his absence. He told her that his friend is quite old though, he's 37 but he'll do fine. Shobha asked Paresh how old he was, he's only 19!! No wonder he thinks a 37 year old is so old. Can I feel any older?!?

Santa in India?

Rushil asked me yesterday if Santa comes to India on Christmas Eve? I thought this gave me an out and maybe I wouldn't have to buy Christmas gifts for the children. So with a straight face, I said, no, he does not. Rushil started crying and saying that he wants to go back to the US so he doesn't miss Santa. Yes, I know I'm cruel. Anyway, I told him I was joking and that ofcourse Santa will visit us in India, he visits every child all over the world. He wiped his tears and said ok and that he would like to write Santa a letter. I guess I should start my Christmas shopping.

Quotes from Rushil

The other day, I was rushing to get the kids ready for school, Rushil casually mentions, "Mommy, you don't look like a mommy"
I, distractedly said, "Really, what do I like look?"
He said, "You look like my sister!"
Well I was flattered however, he also never fails to tell me that I need to lose weight. He rubs my tummy and he says "Mommy you're getting fat, you need to exercise. "

So yesterday, he and Prasad went to pick up Sindhura at tennis class. On his way out of the house, Rushil told me that he would like me to use the free time I had waiting for them to come back to take a walk as it is good exercise. In the car, he shares in confidence with Prasad that his reason for giving me that advice is that "He cares about me."

Every day, he says something that should be recorded, I wish I could capture all his anecdotes as probably in a year or two, he'll be more reserved and I'll miss all those cute things he used to say as I do with Sindhu. Often Sindhu and I will share a smile between us when Rushil says something cute and he doesn't even know it.

Indus Day

Today marked the last school day of the year for Sindhura and Rushil and it ended with a big bang. They pulled off a school program for all the primary students (400+ of them). It was an impressive program with Bharatanatyam dances, Rajasthani dances, singing, instrumental musical, yoga and karate show, skits and lots of songs. Rushil was in the front row for the kindergartners and enthusiastically sang a song with his class. Sindhura played a doll in a play for 4th graders and did a great job in clearly saying her lines. The theme of the program was to protect the environment and all the skits revolved around that theme. If I can figure how to, I'll post videos of the children's performances.

Reading Milestones

Rushil has started reading this year. He has made phenomenal progress in the last 2 months. In order to encourage Rushil, Prasad told him, that he is almost ready to move to Chapter books. Rushil doesn't really know what a Chapter book is but he knows it's a big deal. Last night, we were reading a book and suddenly he noticed the page numbers at the bottom and he asked, "Mommy, am I reading a chapter book?" I said , no, why do you ask, and he said, "Then what are those numbers at the bottom of the page?" I think he has been so focussed on reading and sometimes trying to guess the words by looking at the pictures, that he never noticed the page numbers before. Anyway, I guess it's time I show him what a chapter book looks like and why we call it that. He's seen Sindhu's books all over the house but he never took an interest before.

Sindhu is learning Hindi as a 2nd language at school. She has struggled with the alphabet in the past couple of months and was complaining that she felt lost during Hindi class. We decided to hire a tutor. I found an engineering college student who tutors Hindi and comes to our home twice a week. He is just wonderful, Sindhu has made great progress in less than a month and has caught up with the class. Now she is reading small words, the next step is to get her to understand Hindi as that is our end goal. All this reading and writing is probably not going to help her much if we move back to the US but learning to understand and speak the language will be priceless. And yes, I guess we should teach her Telugu too, one step at a time.

Increased Security

Since the Mumbai blasts, many places have added more security. At my office, most recently, they are checking our car, the trunk, under the car and they even have dogs that I presume sniff for explosives. At Sindhu and Rushil's school, they have also made some drastic changes. Each child is given an ID badge and parents now have to be escorted when they are in the school. Earlier we could walk freely in the campus. The malls always had metal detectors and people that checked our bags, so I don't see a huge difference but perhaps they are educated now on what they should be looking for, at least I hope so.

I have mixed feelings about all this security. I do want my children to be protected and I'm glad the school is thinking about improving their safety and implementing changes but to what extreme. Seeing all this security is a constant reminder to me that we are not safe...

Year End Party

2008 is coming to an end and we really wanted to have a party before 2009 kicked in. Given we'll be travelling the next few weekends, this was the last weekend we could entertain. We were supposed to have the party last weekend, but Sindhu was sick so we postponed it to this weekend. We had invited friends from the same layout/community. Two of the families moved to India around the same time as us from California. One of them had a 3 girls and Sindhu took off to their house for a sleepover. One family we knew from Sindhu and Rushil's school, we see them every day at the bus stop. The father is Indian and the mother is Japanese and both of them speak Japanese and Hindi and so does their son. Our neighbors also came over, and have an interesting story. Both recently quit their jobs and are meanwhile doing volunteer work at schools and also figuring out what they want to do next in their careers. Finally Zubin a friend mine from highschool whom I haven't seen in over 20 years came by. We had reconnected on Facebook and he currently lives in Singapore with his family and was in Bangalore on business.

The highlights of the party: The kids had a great time dancing to music, playing hide and seek and other games. Prasad served Pomegranate Martinis which were a big hit!

Sindhura has done me proud

Homework has always been a sore point between Sindhu and I. All our discussions around homework are pretty unpleasant. On Tuesday, Sindhu announced that there was a project that she forgot about and that it had to be completed by Thursday or Friday. This is not the first time I hear about a project at the last minute. To be fair to her though, she was sick over the weekend and she did do her regular homework but forgot about this one. Anyway, she had to do a project on a hero and she chose Mahatma Gandhi, she was oscillating back and forth since she also had to dress up like him for the presentation part and she was not thrilled about that. Anyway, after 3 evenings, she pulled off the project by herself and did an amazing job! This was the first time, that other than photocopying some pictures for her poster and some brainstorming, I did not help her at all. I have seen a change in her since Diwali. She had a huge Human Body project which was painful for both of us as it took forever for her to complete but ever since then, she has taken control of her homework and we have had a fairly peaceful few weeks. I'm holding my breath to see if this continues...

Top Ten Things I miss About the US.

I got the idea of doing a Top Ten from my buddy. Here's my Top Ten list of things I miss about California.

1. I miss the long hot showers in my cozy bathroom back in Fremont, geysers just don't provide enough hot water to have a long hot shower.
2. I miss MNOs with my friends.
3. I miss being able to pick up the phone and calling my parents or my brother from my cell phone on my way home from work.
4. I miss driving (more the independence of getting around on my own but not the driving part)
5. I miss not worrying about mosquitos and poisonous snakes. I know there are rattle snakes in CA, but I never worried about them.
6. I miss seeing clean roads, far less pollution and our huge backyard.
7. I miss seeing everyone in the playgroups and all our other friends.
8. I miss not seeing so much poverty on a daily basis.
9. I miss buying western clothing but the Indian clothing shopping does somewhat make up for it.
10. I miss eating a moist piece of chocolate cake. Cakes here are kind of dry.

Bizarre and Sad stories in the newspapers

In the Times of India, they have a small section on local crimes such as murder and robbery. Everyday there is some new story and many are very bizarre and sad. Today's newspaper had this article about this man who killed his wife and child and few others as he was promised a treasure if he sacrificed them. This particular story did make the front page but many are just a tiny article somewhere in the middle of the newspaper.

Littering

As many of you probably already know, littering is a big problem in India. In order for the streets and sidewalks to be cleaned up, there has to be a huge culture change. It is perfectly normal for someone to walk down the street, open a candybar and throw the wrapper on the ground without blinking an eye. Sindhu was telling me that one of the girls on her bus did the very exact thing and she told her to pick up the wrapper off the ground. This is a young girl who lived in the US and moved here only a year back. I really really hope that Sindhu and Rushil don't pick up the littering trait after years of living here. Just the other day on the street, in front of a doctor's office, I had two banana peels to throw and I asked a security guard if there was a garbage can and he told me to throw the peels in the drainage. I said I wouldn't do that and then he pointed me to a garbage can a few yards away. Why didn't he just point me to it in the first place? It seems to me that everyone ensures that their small corner is clean without caring about the surroundings. Shopkeepers sweep their floors and throw the debris off to the side away from their store but they don't collect the dirt and throw it in a trash can. India has come a long way, at least now there are garbage cans on the streets and garbage is picked up daily at many locations. But, there is still a very long way to go and each one of us who lives here should be play some part in the cleanup.

Recycled bag

I went to a Christmas Bazaar this afternoon. It was an outdoor bazaar with a number of different boutiques selling Indian clothing and arts at their stalls under colourful shamianas. They also had a few food stalls and I ate Lebanese food after a long time. Anyway, I bought a kurti at a boutique called Ananya and the bag she gave me to carry my purchase is the one in the picture. It was a bag made from recycled newspapers. It had a note saying "Say no to plastic bags" on the back of it. It was made by an orphanage near her boutique. (Abalashrama - 26678694) The bag had a stylish look to it, with a cute handle and her logo on the front. Will serve very well as a gift bag or goody bag...

Another woman was selling jewelry, coaster, baskets, and trivets made of newspaper. She used glue and varnish to keep the product from unravelling.

Removal of Shoes

We have always removed our shoes after entering our house both here in India and back in America. In India, it is almost sacriligious to enter someone's home with your shoes on and more so if you don't know them or you're providing a service to them. The maid, the driver, the cook, the carpenter, etc.. will not only remove their shoes before entering but they will remove it at the first step, and not even on the porch. When friends/relatives come over, they will remove their shoes on the porch or after entering the house depending on their comfort level. Rushil and Sindhu's friends who are Indian raised will typically remove their shoes on the front porch. When the pizza delivery boy comes to our house, it's nightime and you know how squeamish I am about mosquitos and other bugs entering the house so I insist that he enters the home while I pay him. He protests and finally Sindhu forces him to come in saying we don't want mosquitos to enter the house.

When the India movers brought in our US shipment, all of them removed their shoes when they entered our house. We insisted that they keep on their shoes as I was worried they would drop a box or refrigerator on their foot. They however said it was safer for them not to have their shoes on. This is a huge difference from the US, where the maids, the movers, handymen all insist on wearing their shoes for safety reasons. The India movers were scrawny looking, not like the big bulky movers back in America. Our Indian movers did not even have any dollies or harnesses, can you believe they carried some of the heavy pieces like a refrigerator on one person's back. Horrifying to watch. Yet they did a great job and there was very little damage.

Sindhu and Rushil take a bus to school. Even the teachers take the same school bus which provides more security for the children in addition to the school bus driver and his two helpers. There is one school staff member that gets on at our bus stop. He is an Ayappa devotee and as I mentionned earlier, there is an Ayappa festival going on. So for 40 days, he will be fasting, wearing only black, a large bindi/bottu on his forehead, no shoes, no meat and the list goes on. Every day, he walks barefoot onto the bus and everyday, I note in my head that he is not wearing shoes. I know it's silly given the number of people in India that have no shoes/chappals and walk around barefoot but somehow it's seems out of place on the school bus.

Communication Differences

Voicemail is not commonly used in India. My cell phone has no voicemail capability and neither does my home phone. I do have voicemail at work but people don't leave messages. SMS is the way to go. If you can't reach someone, you SMS them and leave them a message that way. People use their cell phones for paying bills, and banking too. Dr's office SMS you a reminder for an appointment, airlines will send you reminders, and many stores send you SMS messages to alert you to sales. I think the main reason for this is that most people have cell phones but they don't necessarily have computers or broadband service so this is the only mode of communication technology wise. Initially, I thought it was bizarre to use SMS and thought it was form of messaging used only by the young, but now I find myself using it too. When the Mumbai blasts happened, I had SMSed my relative to ask her how she was, I thought it was better to do that then clog up the airwaves during this critical period when everyone would be trying to reach their friends and family. I received a reply from her within minutes that she was fine. Even for Diwali, I sent wishes to many of my relatives via SMS. Another interesting phone feature is that you can set music to your ringtone so when I call people, I often hear film music instead of a ring tone. Rushil and Sindhu really get a kick out of it. Once I get my new cell phone, I'll figure out how to set that.

Morning Wakeup Call

There is an Ayappa festival going on right now and every morning at 6:30AM, they blast devotional songs for an hour so. I don't really mind as the music is quite nice and it's a reminder to me that I better start getting ready. The interesting thing is that noise pollution is not regulated all. Sometimes late at night (9 or 10PM), someone will be blasting devotional songs or movie songs and noone blinks an eye. When I mention it others, I think they are so used it, they hardly notice that there was music blasting. Even our security guard blows loud whistles in the middle of night. We can be thankful for the fact that we do not have to hear traffic noises from our home.

2009 Holidays and Festivals

Can you believe all but one of the holidays/festivals next year land on a Monday or Friday. You won't believe how overjoyed we are about this. I wish Sankranthi also landed on a Monday or Friday as it is a big Andhra celebration and I would have loved to spend it in Hyderabad with our relatives. It's also a special one for children so it would have been a nice experience for Rushil and Sindhu too. Well I'm still thankful for all the other long weekends. We're planning the first trip of 2009 during the Republic Day long weekend.

14-Jan-09 Wednesday Makara Shankranthi
26-Jan-09 Monday Republic Day
27-Mar-09 Friday Ugadi
10-Apr-09 Friday Good Friday
01-May-09 Friday May Day
14-Aug-09 Friday Janamashtami
21-Sep-09 Monday Ramzan
28-Sep-09 Monday Vijaya Dashami
02-Oct-09 Friday Gandhi Jayanthi
16-Oct-09 Monday Naraka Chaturdashi/ Deepavali
25-Dec-09 Friday Christmas

Na?

I noticed it during my first one on one with one of the college grads in my team. He would say some sentence and tag a "Na?" to the end of it. Eg. "Food and lodging in Calcutta is much cheaper than in Bangalore, na?" Anyway, I love it when people say it, it seems to be used more among the Hindi speaking crowd. Don't be surprised if after a few years of living here, I start tagging "na" at the end my sentences instead of "eh!".

Snakes :-(

One cannot have a blog about living in India and not have some reference to snakes in it. Today I was dropping Sindhura's friend Nimisha back at home after their tennis class. I have noticed that every time I open her gate, Nimisha pauses before moving foward. I was teasing her about it and her mother came out and mentionned that they saw 4-5 snakes in the last 2 months in their yard. Then she went on to say that there are a lot of snakes in the neighborhood and they are attracted to the frogs and rats. I have seen frogs in their yard quite a few times. Anshula has spent the last 3 weeks pruning all her plants and then clearing all the tall grass in her neighboring plot so the frogs, rats and snakes have nowhere to hide. Guess what I announced when I got home, we're also going to do some cleaning up in our yard. Rushil's friend, Shrey came by later and he used to know the previous tenants and told us that they also saw a few snakes in our yard. I'm already paranoid enough when I walk through our house in the dark worried about what I'm going to step on, this bit of news is not going to help me.

Ravi, Shilpa and Prachet

Ravi and Shilpa are my cousins and they live in Bangalore with their adorable son Prachet. I should have mentionned them long ago as they have been very helpful and a big part of our social life on weekends. Usually either Ravi's parents or Shilpa's parents visiting from Hyderabad so as a bonus we also meet with them. Prachet adores Sindhu and during this last visit, he kept calling out her name, it was so cute. When we were at our service apartment in Koramangala, we used to meet them more often as they lived closer to us. I was not working then so sometimes, they would drop in during the weekdays too. In this way, the experience in Bangalore is different from the US as our social life revolved mainly around our friends, here we hardly meet our friends but we get together with family on a regular basis. Prasad also has 2 sets of cousins here and we've started to socialize with them too. This past weekend Ravi's brother Venu and his wife were in Bangalore in transit and they came over for lunch. Again, the carrom board came out and Rushil had a wonderful time playing with them.

Sindhu's Birthday Party

Sindhura's party was a great success! The kids enjoyed the glass painting although I could have planned it better and printed out sample designs. Four of Sindhu's classmates, Prasad's cousin's daughter Shruti, Nimisha, Urvashi and Uma from our neighbourhood all came to the party. Even Rushil's friend Tay made it so the boys were occupied. Cupcakes and pizza were delicious and they also enjoyed the games. Urvashi, Nimisha and Shruti slept over and I can hear them giggling and talking upstairs.

Rain Rain and more Rain

It has been raining non-stop for over a week. I'm thankful for the dryer we purchased, otherwise, we would have wet and smelly clothing. It takes a long time for the clothes to dry in the dryer and it consumes a significant amount of electricity. Given the power shortage, I feel guilty about it so as much as possible, we air dry our clothing.

The temperature has also dropped, so we have closed most of our windows, we no longer turn on the fans at night and I need to start getting our comforters out. I was surprised at how cold it is in the mornings. Rushil has already lost two sweaters and we didn't bring his winter jacket from the US so now I have go out and buy him some sweaters.

At work, our cafeteria is in another building and they have an effective umbrella system when it rains. Someone stands at each building holding out umbrellas, we walk to the next building and someone is there to pick it up from us , same system at the end of the day to help us out to our car.

Sindhu's birthday planning

Saturday is Sindhu's birthday. I found a place that makes chocolate cupcakes with white icing, phew :-) Back in California, I used to bake her cupcakes but given we don't have an oven, I had no choice but to order them. Luckily there are a few places that do make cupcakes, Sindhu does not like cakes... She wanted everyone to do a glass painting craft. None of the entertainers I called were willing to do that so I decided to do the party on my own. We found this great Hobby Store in Indiranagar where I bought glass paint kits for all the girls. Then I went to one of these glass stores (they provide glass windows, glass tops for tables, etc..) and they cut pieces of glass for the girls to paint on. I hope it works out. Apparently they did it at their school so I hope some of the girls know what to do. We'll order pizza from Dominos, it's the only pizza Sindhu likes, she thinks the sauce at the other pizza joints tastes like Indian ketchup. Tomorrow, I have to buy some goody bags, she wants me to get a makeup kit, I'll find some nail polish and maybe some bangles, hopefully I'll only have to go to one place. A couple of the girls in our neighborhood will also sleep over so it should be special day for her. It's rare that we get to have her party on the same day as her birthday. Update on how the birthday goes on Sunday.

Power Cuts

As many of you know, power cuts are the norm here. Lately though, Bangalore has had a serious power shortage with cuts in the morning, afternoon and evening and we're not sure what the long term plan is. I must admit though, it hardly affects us. At work, I don't even notice the power shortages, however, I believe the cost to maintain this type of environment is very expensive. At home, we have a generator and UPS so we are one of the fortunate ones. When we first moved to the house, we didn't even notice when the power was cut. Our neighbor came by and mentionned that we should use only necessary lights/power so we can maximize the generator's time. She mentionned that when the power is cut, the fans make an unusual sound when powered by a generator. I didn't notice the distinctive sound of the fan until she mentionned it but now everyone in the house is aware of it. Our lights, fans and some power outlets work. However our fridge, washer, dryer, hot water geysers, AC and microwave don't work so we do have to work around some of these minor inconveniences but the internet is up, so I think I can live without the others for a short period of time as long as I'm connected. I am also now an expert at lighting our gas stove with a match when there is no power. (yes I do use the stove once in a while :-)

Bomb Blasts

Today, Mumbai was attacked and over 100 people died in bomb blasts. 24 hours after the event, 2 five star hotels are still under siege by the terrorists and there are hostages in the building. This is very scary stuff. Since we moved to India, this is the 5th bomb blast in the country and definitely the worst. In July, there were multiple small blasts in one afternoon in Bangalore, I thought it was a one-off thing and was not too worried even though one of the blasts was only a few km from where we were staying. The security in Bangalore has increased due to the blasts, in every mall, they have metal detectors at the entrances and our bags/purses are checked. Even when we enter the parking lots, our car trunks are searched. Later in the summer, there were blasts in Jaipur, Delhi and Guwati. This along with the bad economy doesn't bode well ...

Carroms

Rushil latest crazes are skateboarding and playing carroms. The older boys in our community are all into skateboarding and Rushil nagged Prasad until he finally gave in. He is still only riding the board in the house so we're trying to convince him to stick to that for a little longer...

When we were in Jaipur shopping for a painting, one of the storekeepers introduced Rushil to carroms. When we got back, Rushil nagged his father until he bought him a new set of carrom coins (we already had the board). Every night Rushil begs Prasad to play carroms with him. The deal is that he has to finish his dinner, homework and his bath and then he gets to play. His thumbing technique is killer. He takes the game very seriously, all chaos breaks if he loses. He is seen here playing with Prasad's uncle who was visiting us and making sure that Rushil is on the winning team.

Outsourced!

I just saw that movie today and it was quite good. It's about an American who works at a call center in the US which closes down and moves the operation to India. The American is asked to go to India to train the call center employees. The movie starts off quite funny and sort of loses its sizzle by the end but I think it's a movie worth seeing!

Hearing a lot about Slumdog Millionaire, looking forward to seeing it when it's released in India.

Restaurants

Prasad's two uncles, Sadasivam Uncle and Subbaya Uncle were visiting us this week. For dinner on Friday, we wanted to find a vegetarian only restaurant. There are a lot of choices available but mainly South Indian options. The problem with South Indian restaurants is that it's hard to sit back and enjoy the ambiance and decor. The food is very tasty but the whole point of the place is for you to eat quickly and get out of there since there are 10 other people hovering around you waiting for a table. But today, we found a good one, it's called South Indies. They have an interesting concept, you can try food from four regions in South India and the food was tasty, service was great and the decor pretty decent.

Some of the good Darshini style South Indian places we've tried in the recent past: Sri Krishna Cafe and MTR Tiffins, and Gokul Kuteer. Gokul Kuteer was the most upscale with a varied menu but I think the food at the other two places was better.

The other place we really enjoy is Barbeque Nation. They serve skewers of vegetables and meat at your table and you can heat them up on a grill right in front of you. It's fun place to go with a group of people.

Today for lunch, we went to an North Indian restaurant called "The Dhaba". The decor was very interesting, it was like you were sitting in a hut in North India, the food was good and overall a good experience. The topic of eating healthy came up and a few people mentionned how they ghee with all their food, rotis, subjis, etc.. I was quite shocked, with all the health scares, I didn't think people still ate ghee with their food. The people I was with were justifying it saying that ghee is really good for you and the other spices like ginger and garlic offset the fat that the ghee brings in. Also ghee is really good for your skin so it's a necessity during winter and dry months. I guess I digressed a bit, back to the restaurant review.

A few other places we've tried : F&B, they serve many different types of cuisines so it's a nice place to bring the kids and also enjoy a good meal ourselves. La Casa, right near our house and they serve Indian and Asian food. It's nice to have an upscale/hip restaurant right nearby. I tried Adaa Panjabi near Purva Riviera with my office mates last week, very good Punjabi food. I heard about Aapanna (sp?), it's raw mango drink apparently very popular in the North, I'm looking forward to trying it out soon, I wish I had heard of it before our North India trip, but probably raw mangoes were out of season now anyway.

I should add Sindhura and Rushil's favourite restaurants in Bangalore: Dominos, McDonalds and eating hotdogs and milkshakes at Forum Mall. Surprised?!? Probably not.

We're starting to discover some of the restaurants in town, we haven't found too many good ones in our area but we'll be exploring more. Definitely with the diverse population in Bangalore, there are many choices and we just have find the ones we like.

Perception of Bangaloreans?!?

I was trying to book hotels in Munnar, Kerala for our Christmas trip this year. I called one homestay and he said his larger rooms were booked but he had a few standard sized rooms which were available and that maybe we should get an extra room to accomodate the children . I asked him the price of the rooms and then by accident asked him if the rooms had AC. Now Munnar is a hill station so AC in December will not be required. I had taken it back saying it's probably not required when he asked me where I was calling from. I said Bangalore. He abruptly said there were no rooms available and said goodbye. I was taken aback. I called him right back and asked why he suddenly changed his mind. He said they always have trouble with Bangaloreans so he didn't want to rent out the rooms to us. I was shocked ! Should I have said I was American or Canadian, he would have quoted us more and now where do I say I'm from?? Ok Hyderabad, I'm going to try that next time...
I thought with a recession going on, it would be easy to find accomodations, they are all booked, I'm panicking!

Papaya

Just a short note to say, the papaya here is very tasty. Every weekend, Prasad picks up a papaya and our cook cuts it up. I just love it!! When we were staying at the service apartment, I had papaya for breakfast every morning. Lucky for me, the kids don't enjoy it so I only have to share it with Prasad. I'm looking forward to having some Durian but so far, we didn't have the guts to buy one, the size of it is quite daunting.

Oh and the bowl is from Jaipur, part of my Blue Pottery collection...

Recession to Kids?

Sindhura came home and mentionned that one of her classmates is moving back to Sri Lanka. This girl just joined the school in August so she has hardly been here for 3 months. Her father is a pilot. Given the economy, the airline industry has been the hardest hit here. I had casually mentionned that the economy was weak so probably they had to close down a few positions at his airline. I was thinking out loud more than anything and didn't expect the kids to pick up on what I was saying. But Sindhura wanted to know what a "bad economy was" and a "recession". I told her how the banks had run out of money and a few companies were running out of money and they had to lay off a few employees. She pried further as I think she was worried about us losing our jobs. Rushil took it to the extreme and said what if everyone in the world lost their job, what we do then?!? I'm sure this relays back to his fear of being poor and seeing what that means on a daily basis. Anyway, I really grappled with how I was to explain this the downturn to them and think I did a lousy job of it. I'm sure it will come up again, hopefully I'll be better prepared.

Children's Day

Today we celebrated Children's Day. Rushil and Sindhu had a fun filled day at school to commemorate this day. The newspapers were full of articles on children. Many children were released early from school, thankfully not mine, the whole system I have setup crumbles when they are released early :-)

In case you were wondering what the significance is, today I was educated while reading a small snippet in the newspaper (yes while getting driven to work). Children's Day is celebrated on Jawaharlal Nehru's birthday because he loved children. At one of his speeches in 1957 and I quote from the Times of India "The first and primary duty of us in India must be to look after properly every child in the whole of India... If you do not loook after them today and give them every opportunity of growth, then your future will not be so good"

Anyway, I think we should all celebrate Children's Day all over the world and I wish I had done more to celebrate this special day.

Sindhura was so excited about today. We bought chips and candy for her class as they were having a party. Unfortunately, they had stepped out for drama practice and her candy and other children's candy was stolen, Sindhura was quite disappointed and they could not find out who did it. There is quite bit of petty theft in the school, somewhat concerning....

Obama

Obama is in the news all the time. The Indian public is pretty fascinated by him. Today's newspaper front headline was about Obama calling the Indian prime minister and assuring him that that the US and India will maintain good ties. Seems Pakistan and other world leaders received a call before India and so everyone was waiting on pins and needles for when India's PM would get a call. I guess living in the US, we don't realize how important the US is to other countries. What Obama's win means to India is discussed on a daily basis and India definitely like the rest of the world wants to maintain good ties. Every move that Obama makes is heavily scrutinized from an Indian perspective, at least this is what I see in the newspaper. On a daily basis though when talking to colleagues and friends, this topic has not come up since the election.

Mosquito Bat

Have any of you seen this thing? It's quite entertaining the first time you use it. It zaps the mosquito and kills it. Our doctor recommended it as it is chemical free unlike most of the other mosquito repellants. I was not able to find it till now and I think it's because no one understood what I was asking for. Even today when I asked for it, the saleswoman pointed me to apple juice :-) To be fair to her, I didn't know it was called a mosquito bat and finally after directing me to the third person, he understood what I was asking for. Anyway, we brought it home and Sindhura, Rushil and Nimisha (Sindhu's friend) watched me zap two mosquitos and they were quite thrilled. We have finally solved our mosquito problem. Every day, from 5-7pm, we need to keep our doors closed to keep the mosquitos out but this is the same time, the maid is wrapping up the laundry and the kids come home from their activities so inevitably, a few creep into the house. Sometimes they are quite bothersome and Sindhu can no longer can blame the mosquitos for not getting her homework done :-)

Chinna Aunty and Gayatri

Prasad's Chinna Aunty from Madras, uncle and his cousin visited Bangalore for a wedding. They came for a very short visit as Gayatri had to go back to Singapore. We met with them at the wedding on Friday. I got the kids ready and decked up for the event and we headed over there in the evening. It was our first wedding since we moved to India. We didn't know the couple at all which was kind of funny but we were welcomed nevertheless. It was great to catch up with Prasad's aunt. Gayatri and her daughter Harshita came back with us and spent the night. Harshita is now 4 years old and is quite the talker. She remembered Sindhu from when they visited us a few months back in San Jose.

Woohoo!!

Definitely a historic moment! I'm thrilled that Obama won the election.

Finally Jaipur....

Jaipur was a 4 hour drive from Ranthambore and I was so excited to return to Jaipur after 11+ years. We stayed at the Royal Orchid in central Jaipur. It was a decent place, the rooms were small but neat/clean and the bathrooms were modern. It was also reasonably priced. Last time Prasad and I went on our own, we stayed at the Jai Mahal Palace and that was pure luxury but it was booked up and probably unafordable anyway. The first night we went to Choki Dhani. It is a mock village with Rajasthani dining, stores, camel/elephant rides and Rajasthani dance shows. The kids absolutely loved it!. The whole area has a very festive air to it, it's like going to an amusement park. We covered the City Palace and Hawa Mahal the first day. We also went to Bapu Bazaar and bought some local textiles, puppets, lots of bangles etc.. You can really bargain there which is fun because so many of the other stores quote fixed prices and don't offer more than a 10% discount. The next day, we went to Amer Fort. The road to Amer Fort is full of great shopping areas. I bought a set of beautiful musical female Rajasthani dolls, blue pottery and a beautiful painting. I literally shopped till the last minute and we only arrived 1/2 hour before our flight took off. We asked the driver to wait in case we missed our flight. Luckily the airport is very small so we made it just in time. Prasad also wanted to check out this famous vegetarian restaurant that was recommended by a shopkeeper, Surya Mahal, but unfortunately, we ran out of time both evenings and ended up eating at our hotel. I think we'll be back to visit Rajasthan again, possibly to see Udaipur and Jaiselmer.

On Oct 31st, we were having dinner at our hotel and Sindhu suddenly realized that it was Halloween and became very upset that she didn't get to go trick or treating. Next year, we'll have to make it up her. Apparently, they did try to celebrate Halloween in our neighborhood but it didn't really work out, the community next to us does celebrate it so next year, we'll head over there.

Ranthambore National Park

The next day we set off for Ranthambore National Park in Rajasthan. It was about a 5-6 hour drive from Agra. We stayed at Pugmark Resorts. It was a lovely resort, actually nicer than Kabini in Nagarhole. Our rooms were large and clean, they had a swimming pool which Rushil completely enjoyed and an ayurvedic massage center which Prasad and I enjoyed. The food was not as good as the food at Kabini though. We had booked the resort through Yatra and that was a bit of a mistake as there was ambiguity on what the package consisted of and we still have not resolved that yet.

Our first safari was on a canter bus at 6:30AM. We were very fortunate to see a tiger on our first run. Maybe it was because it was Diwali that day. The tiger was very accomodating and hung around for quite some time and even allowed one of the other buses to follow it for a few minutes before jumping into the bushes. But as you can see, Prasad was not able to get a great picture of the tiger. That afternoon we went on another safari to a leopard sanctuary. We were not fortunate to see any leopards in the wild but we did get a very good view of a hyena. They had a baby leopard named Lakshmi that was in captivity. The cub was abandoned by its mother as he was limping. They had celebrated his birthday on the day of Diwali by cutting a cake, the park rangers were quite attached to the cub. They were planning on releasing him into the wild sometime in the near future. As we were driving back from the safari, we saw everyone preparing for the Diwali celebrations by lighting their diyas on the front porch.

After dinner, we participated in lighting fire crackers and sparklers at our hotel. Rushil especially enjoyed this part. Sindhura was scared that the embers from the fire crackers would fall on her so she stayed as far away from the big crackers as much as possible.

The next day we could have gone on another safari, but the kids were done with them so we slept in that morning and headed to Jaipur. Being as lucky as we are, on that safari, they saw a tiger, 3 leopards and a crocodile so looks like we missed a good one.

Ranthambore was a good idea as we were able to get away from the city for a few days. The big difference we saw was the Ranthambore was much drier and other than the tigers/leopards, you don't see too many other animals. At Nagarhole, it is much more humid, so the landscaping is more lush and there are lots of animals to see but you don't get to see tigers so easily. I prefer Nagarhole to Ranthambore but I must say, there is nothing like seeing a tiger in the wild.

Hump Ahead and Swimming Safety

It's not what you think... A speed bump is referred to as a hump. And there are road signs that warn you about a speedbump and they read "Hump Ahead" :-)

Today, I was reading the swimming safety rules at our club house. The one rule that stood out for me : "If you are in trouble, please yell loudly so someone can come and help you" :-)

Delhi, Agra

The kids had a week off for Diwali so Prasad and I took the week off. We landed in Delhi and right off the bat, I really wished I had already started those Hindi lessons I have been talking about for months. I have found a teacher and plan to start soon so for our next trip up north, I won't feel so lost.

Sindhu made two observations about the northern part of India:

1) People speak far less English in Delhi, Agra and Jaipur. She concluded this mainly from the signs on the shops, most were in Hindi, unlike in Bangalore, where most signs are in both Hindi and Kannada. Most people only spoke Hindi.

2) They celebrate Diwali with much more pomp in the North. Many of the homes, shops, gardens were lit up with beautiful lights and we didn't see it in Bangalore. On the day of Diwali, we were travelling back from a safari trip and it was getting dark and we saw tiny lights in the small villages, they had all lit diyas, it was very beautiful.

As soon as we landed in Delhi, we drove to Agra. We rented a car through a contact from Prasad's friend. jaideep.hora@learninglinksindia.org 98802 16581. Although he didn't give us the contact number of driver till the last hour, he did pull through with a decent van and driver. The driver, Bunty took us to Haldirams for lunch which was a great place to eat mainly because I've eaten their soan papdi and namkeen in the US and it was it interesting to see where it all started. You could see them deep fry the baturas right in front of you and they had a wide selection of chats and sweets available, ofcourse, most of it was unhealthy.

The drive to Agra took much longer than expected so we got in very late. The city was very much alive at 10pm though mainly because it was Diwali season. Many of the shops were open and there were huge crowds of people (mainly men though) outside enjoying the festive atmosphere.

We stayed at the garden villa homestay www.gardenvillahomestay.com. It is a family run business and they are very hospitable. They provide a nice home cooked meal if you give them enough advance. The owner speaks English and French and is quite entertaining. It is like staying in a home, it is not a 4 or 5 star hotel but it's clean, the bathrooms are modern and a great play to stay.

Prasad's watch was set back 2 hours so we completely overslept and only realized this after breakfast. We quickly got ready and went to see the Taj Mahal. Sindhu was very excited about seeing the monument and wanted to see every part of it. We were harrassed by guides and Sindhu emphatically didn't want one so we obliged her this one time. The lighting in our photographs was dark so we hired one of the local photographers and he took some great pictures so although it got tiring to pose for him, it was totally worth it. It is a beautiful monument and it was peaceful to sit and watch it for a bit even with the huge crowds.

We drove to Fatipur Sikhri after lunch. About 1 mile before we even reached the destination, we were stopped by some very aggressive guides, we finally got rid of them only to be harrassed by another set every kilometer or so. Finally Prasad gave in and we hired one of the guides much to Sindhu's disappointment. But we really did need a guide so we could get some history and information on the sight. This was Prasad's and my 2nd visit here and I think this visit was a bit disappointing. It become much more commercial and people were harrassing us to buy cloths, flowers to put at the mosque when all we wanted to do was to tie a string and make a wish. Also the last time, one of the imams sang a beautiful islamic prayer and this time around we couldn't find any imams. It is also not as well maintained as the Taj Mahal. Nevertheless, it is worth a visit and has a rich history surrounding it.

Longer lines for Women

Last week, we headed to the airport for our Diwali trip. It was a fabulous trip and more details about in later posts.

At the Bangalore airport, they had two security lines, one for women and one for men. Usually, they have one line but when it's time to be frisked, they separate the men from the women. But this time around, they had 2 completely separate lines and what bothered me was that the men had multiple friskers but the women had only one and it took us 3-4 times longer to get through security.

The same thing happened when we were at Taj Mahal. There were 2 separate lines and it took the women at least 10 minutes longer to get through.

Also somehow the women behind me think the whole process will go faster if they rub themselves right up against me leaving literally no space between us and if I didn't block them, they would happily jump in front of me in line... (that is my biggest pet peeve, there is no concept of a line here and no concept of personal space :-))

Rushil's Three Dislikes

During our Diwali trip, Rushil shared with Prasad the three things that he doesn't like about India:

1) Too many poor people. This really bothers him and he struggles with what can be done about it and feels somewhat helpless about it and that maybe we should go back to the US to avoid thinking about it.

2) Too many sick animals. I was surprised with this one since he never brought it up before.

3) Too much garbage everywhere. Not too surprising of a revelation...

Other than that, he loves it here and doesn't ask about going back.

Sindhu on the other hand will take longer to adjust...

A more direct conversation

As per my previous post, Prasad's indirect, subtle approach did not work with the driver. Yesterday, Prasad laid it out. The driver immediately said that he showered every day and that he was clean but that he didn't use any cologne or powder. I would have just died, I really could not have given this kind of feedback to anyone, I have a hard enough time giving my team members feedback about their work, forget about personal hygiene. Anyway, Vijay took it well and did not seem to take offense, let's hope he doesn't quit. Today, the only smell in the car was the scent of a new car.

Prasad and I carpool back and forth everyday. Since our home is quite close to office, this has worked out really well. We leave shortly after Sindhu and Rushil get on their schoolbus and we leave our offices shortly after they get home from school. Since we have a cook and a maid, our evenings are actually quite sane as compared to San Jose where we were juggling cooking, cleaning and making sure their homework is done. Now my main focus is their homework.

Next week is Diwali and the kids have the week off from school. Prasad and I are also taking the week off and we're going to Agra, Jaipur and Ranthambore. Sindhu is very excited to see the Taj Mahal, the rest of the places, she can't quite identify with yet. Her interest was piqued though when she heard that Jaipur is referred to as the "Pink City". My office is distributing sweets to all the employees for Diwali and they are also organizing a potluck at the office. This is apparently the norm in India, they also gave us the option to donate the box to school children which I thought was a great idea. They specified that everyone should come in "ethnic" attire, I am often puzzled when that word is used here. Why is Indian clothing referred to as "ethnic", shouldn't western clothing be referred to that?

An unsuccessful discussion

If you recall from the last past post that our driver, Vijay has a body odor problem. As I mentioned, I would let Prasad handle this. So on Friday, Prasad decided to bring it up with him in an indirect way. He started off with, where do you buy your clothes, we wanted to buy you some clothes for Diwali (Did we?!?....) Vijay was a bit uncomfortable with the question and didn't really answer it. Then Prasad mentioned that in India, it's more sweaty here than in the US and that perhaps he could buy him some deodorant. Vijay said sure and then changed the topic and brought up that one of our friends will be back this Sunday. Vijay's brother drives for that friend. Now I'm not sure if he didn't get what Prasad said or just decided to to change the subject. On Saturday he smelled pretty much the same way. ...

First day at work

Not too much of an eventful day since we had a half day orientation session. There were quite a few things that were new for me and quite different from the benefits received in the US. Another colleague of mine was joining on the same day so we hit it off right away. It turns out that she also moved from California, she has 3 daughters, one of which is 8!! and she lives in the same gated community as we do!!! How's that for a coincidence. Anyway, we're already planning to have our kids meet, have them play tennis together and we can carpool. I also met another woman at the orientation, she just moved from Mumbai and she is a producer! She was working for MTV back in Mumbai and joined the video team, it was nice to meet someone from the non-techie world.

The office building is very nice, it's like being the US but even hipper. There are always folks sitting in the hallways chatting about something or another, seems somewhat more relaxed of an atmosphere. There are a lot of young people. I ran into quite a few folks I knew so that made me feel at home. The women mainly wore Western clothing which kind of bummed me out as I think I'll be the odd one out if I wear Indian clothing, what's with that ?!?

In the afternoon I met with my manager. She is quite friendly and we got off to a good start. The best part of the day was that I got driven to and from work and I actually read my novel during the car ride, how's that for relaxing! The only issue is that my driver has BO and I'm not sure how to handle this. We do need to do something about it since it can be nauseating since we're stuck in the same vehicle for extended periods of time and other than that, he's reliable and his driving is fine so far. He just started a week back and he's ultra quiet and hard to read so it makes it more difficult to communicate this uncomfortable feedback, I'll let Prasad handle it. :-)

Overall it was a good day, I got home a little later than I hoped to. Sindhu was all upset when I got home since she wanted to invite a friend over and she was chased away by their dog, she almost slammed her fingers while closing their gate and she lost track of Rushil and it started to rain. Poor thing was very stressed when she got home and she was relieved to see Rushil safely at home. She has developed more of a sense of responsiblity towards Rushil than she ever had in the US, it's amazing to see the change in her. The maid was also worried as she wasn't sure if she should allow the kids out. The cook wasn't quite sure what to cook, I forgot to inform him so I do need to get a better handle on things tomorrow.

Pictures of our home

In case you're curious, I took a few pictures of the house. I'll add more once our master bedroom and office/guest bedroom have been cleaned up.

International Day at Indus

I could not attend Internation Day at Indus as I was travelling to the US but I heard it was a grand success from Prasad. Each grade picked a country to represent. Sindhura's 4th grade class picked Turkey and Rushil's kindergarten (prepII) picked Similarities between India and Pakistan. Rushil's class did a short skit and he had 2 lines. He was the front of the Pakistan line and had to boldly say 2 lines, Prasad said he was crisp and clear and apparently not nervous at all. Sindhura's class also did a skit and she played the narrator part and wore a scarf to represent Turkey. After all the skits were over, the parents visited the exhibits, Prasad said the whole production was very impressive!

My Tweezer Experience

I couldn't find my tweezers for the last couple of days so I decided now that I have a van and new driver, today would be the day. I honestly did not think a tweezer would be so hard to find but boy was I wrong. It's amazing how many stores I have to visit to find the simplest things. I couldn't find a tweezer in any of the big grocery/department stores. First of all, a tweezer is called a plucker in India. This I found out after visiting the 3rd store and was acting out plucking my eyebrows to 2-3 people in each store till someone put me out of my misery and told me what they actually call it here. Communication problem is a mainstay for me here. Even if I speak a common language, my accent or their accent or the words I use or they use cause me to ask my questions multiple times to multiple people. Finally they direct me to the store manager who has the best communication skills and usually is able to understand what I'm asking. Anyway, finally one woman took pity on me and told me to go to one of the small fancy bangle/gift stores you find at most little corners. It took all of 1 minute to pull it out and it cost 10 rupees, I ofcourse bought 2 of them...

The same thing happened the other day, I was looking for pan leaves, small packets of tumeric/kumkum powder and supari to give as part of the goody bags for the Bommala Koluvu and again none of the large stores had it. I had to go to a pan store which I guess made sense, but those places are awful as they sell cigarettes too and all the men were wondering what I was doing there. Where do people buy pan leaves for pujas, I have no idea :-) And then I went to tiny stall where they sell provisions and he had all the other items I needed. I was a little annoyed and wondered why I couldn't just buy everything in one store like Spar or Total but then I realized that it's really nice to go to your local stall and develop a relationship with them and buy small provisions there rather than run to a large supermarket. The shopkeepers get to know you and when you are short a few paisas, they ask you bring it next time and they start ordering the items you like and remember what you bought the last time. It's nice to get personalized care.

What I'm squeamish about

Two things have always freaked me out in India, the bathrooms and the bugs. Although, the bathrooms in our home are pretty decent and we have these windows with these netted screens, we still see quite a few bugs especially in the evenings. I'm always going around closing open doors to keep the bugs out but it's not that easy. When people come over in the evenings, I'm the first to close the door as soon as they leave so we can prevent any bugs or lizards from entering the home. I may seem anal to folks but I need to preserve my sanity. Today I saw another lizard, it was very tiny one. I asked Prasad if he could do anything about it and he said I would just have to live with it. Then I saw this bug floating across the tv screen in the dark, I have no idea what it was but it freaked me out. We have an open field next to our home as they have not yet built a home there yet. I was told by the security guard that the previous renters saw snakes coming out of that field, this is really something I needed to know :-( Anyway, I think this is the one thing that will take me a long time to get over so please don't be upset with me when I close the door on you when you leave or enter my home at nighttime :-)

Seattle, the new twins and San Francisco visit

I had to make a quick trip to the US to get my employment visa to be able to start work on Oct 15th. I was quite weary about making a trip back since we just moved here recently and would have preferred to make a trip next year some time. But given I had no choice, I decided to make the best of it and boy did I have fun! First, I stopped in Seattle, I had originally planned to stay there for 2 days but given that the visa was only supposed to take one day to get, I decided to postpone my trip by 2 more days. That was the best thing I did, although my SF portion was short and I had a bit of a panic attack when I found out the India visa office would be closed for Mahatma Gandhi Day, all in all it turned out ok and I got my visa in the end. In Seattle, I visited Sarathy, Seema and the twins. My parents and Ravi were also there the same weekend, my parents actually surprised Sarathy and Seema. I had such a wonderful time with everyone, I wish I had brought my camera and posted pictures of the Seattle leg. I was fortunate enough to meet Seema's parents too. Arjun and Ahisha were an absolute delight, I forgot what it was like holding an infant and feeding them. They are just so cute and cuddly and you could just hold them in your arms for hours on end. It was so easy to get sucked into all the feeding/pooping/gas discussions that were plaguing them for the past few weeks. Anyway I was thrilled to see how well the babies were doing and could definitely appreciate how tough it is to raise twins. I was also able to make a short trip to see Lakshmi, Gopal, Arnav and Samhita. Although I was there only one evening, we had a great time catching up. Samhita had especially changed over the last 3-4 months, she had grown and was talking quite a bit. Arnav and her were having a great time playing with each other.

I was then off to SF. I spent one night a different place so I could see everyone. I managed to see mostly everyone except the guys from the two playgroups, other than TK and Subhas. I spent a night an Manju's, one night at Sri Devi's, two nights at Krithiga's and one night at Kavita's. They all showed me such a good time and were wonderful hosts. Sindhu sent me letters to give to many friends so I had to drop in at many of friend's homes. Many of them wrote back to her and she was thrilled to get the letters and small gifts they sent her. The 5 days were like one big "Girl's Night Out" I had a such a wonderful time. I even managed to get in some shopping and a quick trip to the office too. Much of the discussion in the US was surrounding the elections and I also saw the Vice-Presidential debate while I was there. The economy was another huge topic of discussion. In India, the topics in the news are so varied but in the US, the climate has changed a lot in the past few months and so the elections and the economy are the main topics. I do now see that the economic climate has also changed in India and we're hearing about more doom and gloom here too. Prasad and the kids did wonderfully without me, I was quite impressed with how well they managed considering he had about 5 days of holiday to fill up too. I now feel I could do this again. I felt at home in the US and it was to be driving again. The first day back in India took some adjustment but now I'm back into the swing of things again.