Wardrobe troubles

I should be packing but it'll be a short one. Last night, Sindhu told me that I used to wear only western clothing in the US and now I wear Indian clothes all the time and look like an Indian mommy. I looked at her horrified, and said, "Really?!? You don't like it ?" She said, "No, not really" and then laughed and said she was kidding. First of all, should I be offended that I look like an Indian and a mommy, that is what I am, but it was the way she said it that bothered me I think.

I do wear mainly Indian clothes, I don't know how it happened but gradually my wardrobe changed and I can't seem to find western clothing that I want to wear. Western clothing that fits well is expensive because it is imported. I find kurtis very comfortable and I really enjoy shopping for interesting ones that I can wear to work or for special occasions. I would never wear Indian clothing at work back in the US and I shocked a few colleagues that used to know me there and now live here. I'm even bringing a few kurti tops for our trip to Egypt because Indian clothing is designed well to protect against the sun, long sleeves shirts made with light cotton, I always struggled with this in the US. The long sleeved shirts that were available were too warm to wear in the hot sun.

Before we move back, my plan is to buy some material, don't know where to purchase the material yet, maybe commerical street, and get some tailoring done but I need to find a good tailor that can stitch western clothing. I also want to get some kurtis tailored for Sindhu, I have yet to find a good place that sells trendy kurti tops for young girls, Fab India sells a few but the sizing/style doesn't suit Sindhu.

Off to Egypt

I don't know when I last spent so much time planning a trip. I went back and forth on the plans a zillion times. We leave tomorrow and I have this elaborate itinerary that has to go smoothly. Prasad is in Morocco for a conference and will meet us in Cairo. I have to finish some last minute packing and planning. Happy Holidays everyone!

The many faces of Rushil

We had a family session with a photographer that lives at our complex a few weeks back. In general, the pictures didn't turn out as well as I'd hoped, I was up till 2AM the night before and looked exhausted, and S&R didn't cooperate since we had the shoot at our complex, they mostly wanted to play and were distracted by their friends. She did however put together a collage of the expressions she captured of Rushil which I liked. Apparently, Sindhu only had one expression throughout the session, something that depicted, "When will this be over so I can go and hang out with my friends?"

The Real India

As you may have guessed, we really don't experience India or live the way that 80% of the Indians do. We go to work in our air conditioned cars with the air circulating internally to block out the smells and pollution, our offices are nicer than the US ones and have better facilities, we live in gated apartment communities that although have their own challenges are very comfortable, spacious, and have a self contained social network and this is pretty much 80% of our reality. I do occasionally pick up the groceries, go to the local library or go to the tailor and have to walk around the dogs, the garbage on the side of the streets, the dirt and avoid being run over by a car but it's really a small part of my life. Maybe this is why it's easy to live here, if I had to take public transport to work every day, work at a non MNC and live in a non gated community, our whole experience would be different. I can take comfort that we're not living in an expat community where we would be even one more step removed although I suspect we would like it there too. As one friend put it, the moment we walk out of our little bubble that we've created, we're like anyone else and that can be a bit scary and I agree it can be but if we didn't even experience that little bit, we would miss out on all the fun.

My bus experience

I had my first experience on the bus the other day. I had been avoiding them as most of the buses looked so crowded and I couldn't imagine myself taking one. On the rare occasion when the car wasn't available, I would carpool with someone at work or take an auto. There is a set of buses called Volvo buses which are modern, air conditioned, clean and comfortable. Although they are quite packed during the rush hour period, the buses are similar to the ones I used to take in Montreal. The difference is that here, you can wave down the bus from anywhere and it will stop pretty much anywhere. The bus stops on the main road in front of the company campus and I can get off on the main road near my apartment complex, a bit of a walk but totally doable. When I boarded the bus, I forgot about the conductor and offered the money to the driver who looked at me and grunted something. The bus ride which is about a 15-20 minute ride cost me 10 rupees. This is the price on a Volvo bus, I'm sure the standard bus that is unbelievably crowded all the time is probably half the price. I was worried about when I had to get off the bus as it seems to stop only when you ask the conductor or the driver to stop, you need to get past all the people and get off as the bus is practically moving again. Anyway, all turned out well and it wasn't so bad. The main drawback is that you need to wait for the bus on a very busy street, breathe in all the pollution and then cross the busy street, something I wouldn't want to do on a daily basis but a pretty convenient and green option when the car isn't available.

Not cool enough

Rushil was invited to a birthday party of a boy who is turning 5 and is in kindergarten. (Rushil is 6 and in the 1st grade). As we're walking to the clubhouse, Rushil smugly tells me that he'll probably win all the games because he'll be one of the oldest. As soon as he arrives, he takes a quick poll on the ages and grades of the other boys. There were plenty of 1st graders and some of the girls were even older. The funnier part was that many of the 5 year olds were taller than Rushil. (my damn short genes are just too strong) . For now, he is blissfully ignorant that he's one of the shorter ones and maybe if we're lucky Prasad's genes will kick in after a few years. Back to the party, after awhile, he tells the host he wants to go back home. I drop in to pick him up and Rushil tells me all the games are too babyish and there was only one cool game, "tug of war". Rushil had his friend Samar (also in the 1st grade) convinced that the party was lame. After I got there, I persuaded them to join in the activities and soon after they got into it and had a great time. So much attitude and only 6 years old.

This is in such contrast to Sindhu. If I'm running late, she'll pop over to our upstairs neighbor's house with Rushil and entertain their 2 year old daughter until I get home. She has always had no problem engaging with younger children and they usually adore her.

Experienced wrapper available

A couple of months ago, it was Rushil's best buddy's birthday. I was on the phone with my parents or my siblings and Rushil was quietly keeping himself busy. After a half hour or so, he came out with his masterpiece. He had wrapped up his friend's b'day present in newspaper and had created this enormous monstrosity. It was truly touching as he was so proud of his accomplishment. Even his friend was impressed that Rushil took the time to wrap his present and his mother and I had a good chuckle over it. Unfortunately, I didn't take a picture of it then but the one above is his 3rd attempt so he's getting better at it. Although, he's doing his part in saving the environment by using newspaper, he's making up for it by using all the scotch tape in the world to keep the whole thing together.

It's interesting to observe the contrast in the two children. Sindhu also had a birthday party to attend today. She rummaged through the house, found a cute bag and dropped her gift in it and ran out. The bag of course cannot be too cute or Sindhu would not be able to give it away as she may need to use it for a craft one day. Sindhu is a pack rat, she saves candy wrappers, ribbons, wrapping paper, gift wrap tissue, stickers, beads, etc.. in case she will need it for a craft one day. I have to secretly go through her stuff and throw them out so we don't create a health hazard in the house.

Chatting Away

Last night, we went out to dinner at Sammuk for Asian food. Sindhu was reading her book for a bit while we were waiting for the food and Prasad was online chatting with my dad on his new blackberry. Rushil became curious and started reading the chats and then he and his grandfather started online chatting. After a few minutes, my father asked him what his favourite subject was and Rushil said, math. He gave him some subtraction problems which Rushil was all excited to solve although these ones were a little beyond his level. This morning Rushil and I were chatting on yahoo messenger, he sitting on one couch and me on the other, every time I took too long to respond, he would yell out, I'm waiting for a reply from you. Rushil loves to do his math homework but the reading/writing part he avoids like the plague. Chatting is a great way for him write sentences, learn to spell and a fun way to solve math problems. I guess the next step is to steer him away from the phone and to the computer otherwise I don't think the phone can survive the abuse. With Sindhu using the blackberry to record songs and Rushil's online chatting, I'm guessing it'll have a short life.

Beauty Products

As some of you may know, I'm a huge fan of the Himalaya brand of beauty products. After moving here, I have started using their facial lotions, facial wash, face pack and shampoo and so far I've been pretty happy with the products. A few weeks back I ran out of face cream and wanted to replenish my supply at a beauty supply store in Jayangar. The woman behind the counter could not find the exact product I was asking for although the store did carry the Himalaya brand. She then claimed that Himalaya products are mixed with chemicals and are not purely natural and ayurvedic. According to her, the authentic ayurvedic beauty product companies are Biotique, Jovees and Shahnaz . I've read about the founder of Shahnaz and she has a pretty impressive story. Check out the websites for these companies, they have a sophisticated line of products and all claim to use ayurvedic ingredients. Nevertheless, I was quite surprised to hear her comments on Himalaya , there is nothing in the list of ingredients that suggest that it's not ayurvedic. Himalaya is mainstream and their products are sold at any grocery and pharmacy, I've seen Himalaya products in the UK and in Malaysia and they are one of the leading suppliers of ayurvedic medicines. I searched on the net for any negative feedback but didn't find anything suspicious. I'll stick to Himalaya now as I did purchase a small bottle of lotion from the Jovees product line and was not happy with the results, maybe I'm biased.

College Relationship Comparisons

This past Saturday we met some of Prasad's college friends and families. A group of them live in Bangalore so Prasad has started reconnecting with them. One family moved back to India recently and lives in the same complex as us and their daughter is in Rushil's class. A couple of them he had not seen in 20 years. They reminisced about their college days and had vivid and fond memories of their past together. After spending the evening with them, it occurred to me that I did not have a bond like that with my college friends. I came up with a couple of obvious reasons, I didn't live in a dorm (I always wished I did), I was shy, most my classmates were males, and it took me almost 2 years before I hung out regularly with the same gang (4 guys and 1 other girl) and we hardly ever met on the weekends . And out of that group, I now only keep in touch with one of the girls . At that time, most of my social life revolved around my high school and cegep friends. Although all of these reasons play a factor, I think there is a little more to it than that. Indians tend to bond very strongly with their college classmates, and that tie seems to remain over the years. Most of our Indian raised friends in the bay area regularly met with their college friends and although they made new friends, their college friends were part of their social fabric. Even my father still connects with this college friends. Looking at a small sample of my friends and family that grew up in Canada, very few keep in touch with their university friends regularly, it's an interesting cultural difference.

Exam

Today I had what I would call my first real physical examination. It was more thorough than any physical I've ever had even during my pregnancies. All the tests were pre-decided as my company pays for an annual checkup for employees over 35. This is what the package included , I arrived at 8:30AM and didn't leave till after 1PM.

• Bloodwork before and after breakfast (yes they provided idlis for breakfast!)
• Ultrasound - Haven't had one since I was pregnant with Rushil
• Xray - Haven't had one in 5 years maybe
• Lung Capacity Test
• Eye Exam - Never had a such a thorough one in my life - No need for reading glasses, yeah!
• Met with a Psychologist - I wasn't sure why that was part of the standard package.
• Met with a Gynecologist
• ECG - Never had one done before
• Tread Mill Test - Never had one before. I was a bit disappointed that he stopped me at the 2nd level as my heart rate went up high. I asked him if it meant I was out of shape and he said no, but I think he was being nice.
• Mammogram - Can you believe it was not included as part of the package but I got it done anyway.

On the weekend, I'll meet with a general doctor who will analyze all the results, I'll meet with a dietician and then I'm done. Prasad has been pestering me to do this for quite some time, and I finally did it although I was annoyed I had to miss work for a good part of the day.