Sindhu's birthday

Sindhu turned 11 yesterday!  I don't remember when she was so excited about a birthday. She has been talking about it for months and even though she had an exam yesterday she was basking in happiness from all the birthday wishes she received from  her friends and family.   She has exams till Dec 10th with a day off in between each exam, I think I am more stressed than she is.  After that, she will have a party but she has yet to decide how to celebrate it other than having her annual b'day sleepover with her close friends.

Yesterday, we invited a few friends from the apartment block and we had a short and sweet party, she was very pleased.

Apartment party

Classmates at school

As gifts, she received money from us, Prasad wanted to experiment and see how she'll spend it. We also gave her a few books and we all went to see Harry Potter as part of the celebration. Rushil however stole the show. He wrote her this cute note which touched Sindhu and she even talked about it the next day. Initially he was going to empty his piggy bank to give her a gift but Prasad convinced him out of it and instead he gave her a Treetop and she loved it!  I would have scanned the note if I had access to a scanner but here is what he wrote:

Dear Sindhu

I like you sometimes when you help me make a clubhouse.
We get into fights but I still like you a little bit.
You are very nice

Happy Birthday
Rushil

Kabbadi in the international scene?

I always thought of Kabbadi as a game that children played in the streets of India but never as a competitve sport. But Kabbadi is a sport  that was played in the Asian games, India won gold however Iran put up a very good fight. The Iranian women's team burst into loud cries when they lost to India in the semi-finals, not sure I have ever seen a team that emotional before, it was an extremely close match and they had an equal chance of winnning.

After the Commonwealth Games and now the Asian games, sports other than cricket have come to the forefront in the news. Background stories of the gold medal winners fill the pages of the newspapers. Reporting has moved on past Sania Mirza, Saina Nehwal and the olympic gold medal winners and other athletes are sharing the limelight.  Many of these athletes may not win at the olympics but the past few months have given them the opportunity to shine at different venues and inspire other up and coming Indian atheletes.

Every day we see new coaching centers for tennis pop up and interest in golf has skyrocketed in India. Rushil attends a soccer coaching center which is quite popular and has branches throughout Bangalore. Cricket coaching centers exist and it is still the mostly widely played sport on the playgrounds but these other sports are increasing in popularity. The quality of the coaching is improving and is becoming more formalized and compared to the US, still affordable. It'll be interesting to see how this will all playout in the future.

Weekend Tidbits

Since Sindhu is so into Harry Potter and her birthday is around the corner, we went to see the film over the weekend. I haven't read all the books and haven't seen all the movies to completion and was a bit lost but Sindhu filled me in. She hasn't read the last book so even she didn't know what would happen.  After the movie was over, I was telling Prasad that maybe I should have bought tickets to see another movie. He was thinking the same thing except he thought it was ok to leave the kids in the theatre by themselves :-) The movie was a bit scary, I don't think they could have sat there by themselves  even if we removed the safety factor.

We hosted a cocktail party at our house on Friday and one of our friends brought their karaoke mikes so after a few drinks and snacks, we settled in for some karoake. Sindhu and her friend even sang an old Hindi song, there were a  few English songs on their list but they were very old songs so she didn't recognize them. Prasad was totally into it and belted out quite a few songs. We ordered some snacks, I had never tried before. Sabudana vadas with mint and yoghut chutney, they were a big hit  and apparently quite authentic too. They had other items on the menu like sabudana khichidi and vada pav which I did get to taste at the mall when we went to see HP. I will definitely go back to this place, it's always great to discover something new. I liked the casualness of a cocktail party, the snacks are on the table, the kids are playing with their friends,  and there is no big dinner affair, it actually makes for a more relaxing evening and a lot less stressful. Maybe we'll do these more often.

Sindhu's exams start on November 29th on her birthday. We'll celebrate her birthday after her exams are over.  The next 2 weeks will be hairy, there will be quite a bit of tension in the house :-)  But soon after that we'll go to Thailand for a few days  and all will be forgotten.

Rushil's Adoption Plans

When Rushil grows up, he wants to adopt a son, move in with his cousin Sachin into an apartment in the US and raise their son together. I asked him why he doesn't want to get married. He said, I will have to kiss my wife on the lips and I don't want to do that so this is a better plan.

A Godavari Adventure

Sindhu wanted to spend Halloween at the complex this year.  Our complex celebrates Halloween with all the typical US fanfare. The children were dressed up in cute costumes and I gave out more candy than I have ever given out in the US.  The most precious commodity is the American candy and when we separated out their candy,  it was mostly the foreign ones that they kept and the rest we gave away. Rushil grappled this year with his costume, he is past the superhero phase and is mostly into sports heroes now. He chose to be Ronaldo, I wanted to get him a wig and dress him up as Nadal but I couldn't find one.  Sindhu and her friend decided to wear a goth costume which I think she is too young for but since she didn't really know the background behind the "goth" culture and wore black clothing and black lipstick and nail polish, it was ok.  The kids had a great time trick or treating with their friends and covered all 5 buildings with Prasad.

Initially I was a little annoyed that we couldn't leave a day earlier for our Godavari trip because of Halloween but in retrospect, it was the best decision we made. Although the rains should have subsided by late October, Andhra was experiencing the worst rainfall in 40 years. We literally arrived during the 4 day window when the rains decided to give everyone a break. As we drove through the villages, the flooding was evident and initially I was wondering why everyone was obsessively washing clothes and hanging them out to dry and later realized that they hadn't seen sunshine in days.

Tourism in Andhra is pretty much limited to Tirupati.. The tourism industry in the Godavari area is underdeveloped and it's hard to get any information from travel websites or books. A few years ago, I saw a Telugu movie called "Godavari" in the US and ever since then, I have always wanted to make this trip, primarily because my father was raised in the area and I hadn't been to the area since my childhood and also because the area is so lush and beautiful. The only visitors we encountered were people from different parts of Andhra, there were hardly any tourists from outside of the state let alone outside the country. Although the regional accent is slightly different from what I'm used to, it was wonderful to understand what everyone was saying and to be understood.

We flew into Rajahmundry and stayed at the River Bay Hotel.  It is a lovely hotel that is right on the banks of the Godavari River. Our room had a huge bay window and we spent time watching the fishermen ride by in their boats. My inlaws and mother visited a couple of ancient temples in the region.  Draksharama was built over 1000 years ago and is known for its architectural beauty and historical importance.  The second temple they visited is in Mandapalli and is the only Sani temple in the area. There are many old temples to visit if you're up for it, we only saw a fraction of them. Prasad and Rushil were not feeling well so we stayed back to rest as we had a big day ahead of us and didn't want to overdose the children with too many temples on the first day.

On the hotel lawns overlooking the river

These fishing boats are interesting, the men seem to live on them for days and one person has to drain the water from the bottom of the boat all day long

I have a dozen pictures of this couple preparing their fishing net.



I was a little bit obsessed with taking pictures of fishermen.

My uncle used to live in Rajahmundry and he referred us to a local travel agent who reserved a River Boat Cruise on the Godavari River. We could have reserved the one organized by the Andhra Tourism board but the private boats were more comfortable and less crowded. We even ate the breakfast and lunch served on the boat and survived although later with horror, I saw them washing the lunch plates with the river water and wished I didn't see that. It was an AC boat that could accommodate 100 people and was probably at 75% occupancy. The boat ride was 7 hours long and takes us to the Papikonda Sanctuary (Papi Hills) and stops along the way to visit small ancient temples and other sights. The whole area is stunning with green hills, coconut groves, lush greenery and rice paddies.   There were a few college students as part of the staff on the boat and they entertained us by pointing out landmarks, sights and places where Telugu movies were filmed. Before lunch, they  danced to Telugu movie songs and had the audience participating too. The boat cruise is a must if you're ever in the area.

Taken as we were walking towards the cruise boat

Walking towards the boat

The boy in green was the main entertainer on the boat. He chose my inlaws for small ceremony.

The 2nd day we rented a van and visited the Konaseema area. We drove through villages and experienced flooding which affected the region due to the rainfalls. This area reminded us of Kerala and  is equally beautiful and impressive. We visited 3 temples, 2 in Ryali and 1 in Antarvedi.   Antarvedi is the location where the Godavari River and the Bay of Bengal meet. We had trouble finding a clean and neat restaurant, the choices are very limited in the area but the food was quite tasty. They prepare this rice dish with "vaamu" which adds an interesting flavour to the food.

School flooded, no way for the students to enter the school

Some of the roads we were crossing were flooded. Fishermen were fishing with nets right on the road.

Large nurseries with exotic plants are very common there.

Us at a nursery

At the beach in Antarvedi

Man trying to tell Sindhu not go too far into the water as the waves can be powerful. Clearly she understood what he said.

At the hotel in Dindi

View from the hotel in Dindi

At the end of the day, we arrived at Dindi which is near my father's hometown. We stayed at the Haritha  Coconut Country Resorts which is run by the AP tourism board.The River Bay although owned by the AP tourism board is run privately and the difference in service, upkeep and cleanliness was very evident. At the Coconut Resorts,  the service was horrible and although the hotel was new, it was already run down. My cousin stayed at the Anand Resorts in Razole and seemed to have had a better experience. The only positive aspect of our hotel was that it had a pool, a trampoline, small park and climbing wall which the children enjoyed the next day. The hotel is situated along the Godavari river and it is possible to rent a houseboat to stay overnight or for a few hours. They were anticipating a cyclone would hit the area but fortunately for us, it was delayed. Because of the extreme weather conditions, too little rainfall during the summers or too much rainfall during the fall, one can never tell if the boats will run until the day before.

That evening, we drove to Pallakollu. My paternal grandmother's sister and husband lived there. My  80 year old grandfather rode a bicycle to the main road to guide us to his home. Can you imagine riding a bike when you're 80?  My grandmother introduced us to their neighbors, everyone was aware of our impending visit, this is the village life. We wanted to drive to Pallokoderu where my father grew up but since none of the family lived there and we were worried about the rainfall, we dropped that plan. We visited a temple in Pallokollu and headed to the train station to go back to Hyderabad.

It was an adventurous trip, I wasn't sure what to expect but somehow, we managed to pull it off.  The East and West Godavari region is a hidden gem and maybe one day, the Andhra Tourism board will be able to show it off the rest of the world.

A little bit of Hyderabad history

After 2 years of Hyderabad visits, we finally made it to one of its most impressive sights, Golkonda Fort. It was a big gang, my inlaws, FIL's brother and wife, and my mother which made it almost bearable for Sindhu. I don't think I've ever been to Golkonda so I enjoyed the visit. We climbed and descended 700+ steps with a guide. Apparently it took 60+ years to build the fort but only 8 months for the Turkish Mughals to destroy it. Hyderabad has a rich history and visiting this fort certainly provided some insight into it. Not all of us did the full trek up to the top but my mother-in-law did even with her severely arthritic knees and my mother after suffering from a swollen foot for a year,  it was quite an achievement. We enjoyed an alu paranthas and yoghurt rice  picnic afterwards ending our visit.



Elation after the descent



Charminar in Hyderabad was modelled after the minarets in the background.

Weekend in Delhi with my sister

My sister had a business trip in Delhi and I decided at the last minute to visit her for a couple of days. My mother and Prasad managed the kids back in Bangalore. It was a great decision, we had so much fun. I didn't see too many of the sights as I've seen them before but I did get a glimpse of India gate and the parliament buildings. I must admit, I was quite impressed with Delhi, I could live there for a short period of time, barring the summer months, Delhi comes alive during the winter months and slumbers during the summer months. I was surprised to see so many foreigners but I guess I shouldn't be, it is the capital and we were mainly in the downtown area. Although my sister begs to differ, my Hindi lessons did pay off, I was able to understand and follow far more than I was before but I need more practice before I can reply fluently. She was amused that I was only able to speak simple sentences.

I met my sister's colleagues, it was interesting to meet people that have travelled all over the world on business and most have been posted in international countries at one time or another during their career.  They all seemed to have had  a far more interesting career than mine. The 2nd night, we met with a friend of my sister's who is a photographer and married to someone whose job is to organize cultural events for a German company, again another interesting couple. That same evening, my sister and I on a whim decided to eat at 360 at the Oberoi, it was recommended by a friend and Prasad.  Guess who we saw at the restaurant, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra! I was thrilled and wanted to go over and talk to her but my sister insisted that I don't. She was sure the secret service police would tackle me down. As I was gawking at them, her husband noticed that I was staring at them :-)  Surprisingly, she looked older than I expected, I think it was the bad haircut she had. Later as they were leaving, she stood up and she is very tall, taller than her husband and she looked younger with her outfit visible.  She doesn't look Indian but I guess many Delhites don't, so she probably fits in fine. According to the women that seated us, Priyanka frequents this restaurant quite often and her brother also joins them on occasion.  Not a single person in the restaurant seemed to have been surprised that she was there, I was the only person that was gushing.  That definitely spiced up our evening.

The rest of the trip was all about shopping. I strolled along Janpath for an hour, and a couple of hours at Dilli Haat and many hours at Rajouri Garden. Definitely Rajouri Graden was the most fun. People recommended GK M block, Haus Khas and the gift shop at Crafts Museum but we ran out of time. I really wanted to go to Chandni Chowk in Old Delhi to get the "real" Delhi experience and perhaps Sarojininagar or Karol Bagh but it'll have to wait till next time.

Everyone told us that Delhi is not safe for women however, we felt safe throughout our visit but I guess you can never be too careful. Two years ago, when we went to Agra, we bypassed Delhi completely, hopefully we'll get a chance to go one more time before we move back.

Diwali in Hyderabad

Lighting the diyas and firecrackers, eating delicious food and the family gatherings, this is what we enjoyed most about Deepavali this year. We spent the holiday in Hyderabad at my inlaw’s home. This is the first Deepavali we spent with relatives as we were in Rajasthan our first year and Malaysia last year. Even this year, we visited Rajahmundry and the stunningly scenic nearby areas along the Godavari River in Andhra Pradesh and arrived in Hyderabad on Deepavali day. We spent the morning relaxing and meeting our relatives and buying firecrackers. The streets were festive with vendors selling mango leaves, flowers, fire crackers, diyas and other items for Lakhmi puja. I particularly liked the colourful clay pots and dolls that were sold; I had never seen those before in Bangalore and was told it is a local Hyderabad custom to pray with the clay pots and to put up doll displays during the festival. In the evening, we lit diyas and hung electric lights outside our home. We changed from our Indian saris, kurtas and kurtis to more comfortable clothing in preparation for the evening fun. In the Godavari area, we didn’t see many firecrackers being lit before Deepavali, this could be because there was flooding in the area and a cyclone warning so perhaps people were cautious and preparing for the hardship ahead. In Hyderabad, people were lighting their firecrackers from dawn to dusk days ahead of Deepavali and days afterwards although I am told that when Prasad was young, people lit far more firecrackers than they do now primarily because of the cost and hopefully because people are more environmentally conscious. Although I felt a bit guilty about contributing to the pollution, I wanted S&R to finally have a “real” Deepavali so we purchased enough to last over an hour. S &R started off slow with sparklers but eventually gained confidence to light up the turning wheels and flower pots. The rockets are scary, I was worried one of us would get injured.  One of Sindhu's friend's arms got burnt this year when she was lighting the spinning fire cracker, what a horrible experience to go through, her arm and some part of her leg is bandaged now. I remember our first year here, Rushil was afraid of the loud sounds and blasts but he seems oblivious to it now.  Our evening ended with an elaborate meal which included plenty of ghee laden sweets.  Although experiencing Diwali with friends in Bangalore would have been fun, spending it with family will be a memory that I hope that children will have for years to come.
 

 The gang  - Prasad's  parents, uncles, aunts, cousins and my mother

Psychedelic picture because of all the diyas, lights and firecrackers

 Prasad's mother's sister and sister-in-law

 Lighting flower pots

 Lighting the chakra style cracker, always a bit scary as they are unpredictable.

 My mom joining in on the fun.

 Chappati making - Sindhu suddenly took interest in it, had to capture the moment.

Experimenting with the camera 



The Gifts of Wali Dad

Our complex had a cultural show, dinner and dance to celebrate Diwali. I organized a children's play, "The Gifts of Wali Dad" for the event and Sindhu and Rushil participated in it. Sindhu played the part of Wali Dad and Rushil was one of the narrators.  It was heart warming to see how well all the children performed, they even helped each other on the stage for cues and with the microphones. I was so proud of them. It was a little nerve wrecking, Rushil and one other girl were sick with the flu but they both still did a great job and enjoyed the event.  The script was taken from this website which by the way has numerous other wonderful children's scripts with stories adopted from all over the world. I remember the Ashtakalas, family friends of ours from Montreal that used to write and direct the children's plays we performed for our annual Ugadi cultural show, I can now appreciate how much work it was but also how much fun it was too. The best part was that all the children were friends and most attended the same school so they all participated with enthusiasm.  I definitely would love to do this again, it was a great experience for the children and me. Here are some pictures, their costumes were very cute too.


You can see the play  at this link and pictures are below:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Vu7o5SAFQ0

 Samarjit - narrator, Rushil - narrator,  Ayan - narrator, Avantika - peri, Anika - servant, Nisha -merchant, Riya - queen, Neha - narrator and Sindhu - Wali Dad

 Check out Nisha and Sindhu's dhotis tied by one of the grandfathers at our complex.

 Narrators on the right and Merchant and Wali Dad on the left.

 Rushil and his buddies (Ayan,  Rushil, Samarjit and Ashu)

 Me and some of the moms

There is a story related to the net sari I'm wearing. We tried to iron it in Hyderabad before one of the wedding events and it tore!! I was so upset...  Anyway, I took it to a tailor who specializes in darning and he fixed it right up and you can't even see the tear now. I was sure it was not salvageable but I was wrong.