Its Been One Year....

It's been a year since the greatest terror attack on India and we are still reeling! Untold horror stories are still surfacing.CCTV recordings are showing the attacks on TV. A few scruffy men with guns in their hands chacing and killing innocents, breaking open doors...What kind of people are these who hope to attain heaven by perpetrating such acts of violence?? People might try to make us believe anything, but why should one find sense in such an unreasonable arguement? All religions are born out of a sense to love for the human race, out of a desire to make the human life better and fulfilling. When death comes, religions say that one must be prepared for it by living a pious life...no God and no prophet can ever ask their followers to destroy that which he himself has created...life! Yet, God,s name is used to perpetrate such ungodly tasks, and these young disgruntled men are believing that they will attain heaven by these tasks. As we helplessly wring our hands more lives are being lost due to these acts of senseless violence. Leaders of all faiths must come together and form a secular ideology and world view so that the youth is properly channelised. Crubing terror does not merely mean beefing up security and supressing them by force...it also means creation of a system of justice and re-establishing the idea of tolerance and brotherhood so that this path becomes the only one that leads to God...It is also a psychological war we are in against the forces of hatred intolerance and violence. I pray for peace today and hope that there will be an end to terror soon!

The First Whites!!

A few days after my 39th birthday, I discovered my first grey hair nestled amongst the black ones right behind my left ear. There was high excitement all around because I had declred that I would use hair colour the moment I saw my first gery. I have wanted to colour my hair for a long time, I had a vision of dark auburn hair or maybe some interesting streaks. I never dared to experiment till the time my hair was naturally black, but now there is nothing to stop me...yaaay! The Brat discovered another white hair at the back of my head. Now, the problem is that I cannot see my own white hair properly, it takes a while to dig out the one behind my ear and I have to really take my eyeballs to the extreme left and focus to have a vague glimpse of it. It had not occured to me that unless my eyes can pop out and position themselves at the back of my head, I will never be able to take a good look at the new white hair I have sprouted. Now I want to observe my white hair at close quarters and so am postponing the hair colouring plan till I sprout some in places that I can see!! Somehow I had assumed that I would turn grey like Indira Gandhi, from front backwards! Well, man proposes God disposes. Untill I colour my hair I have to receive helpful suggestions from the Brat..."mamma colour it red" , "streak in some pink", "how about navy blue?"!! A whole array of prospects have opened before me...well watch this space for my new coloured hair photos!!

My Little Brat Girl Does it Again!!

On children's day we went to the Crossword bookstore at Garuda Mall where a sit and draw compitition had been organized for kids. The Brat is addicted to these events.The bookstore is a wonderful place to spend the evening in. There is lots of place for both kids and adults to sit and enjoy the books. People were relaxing on comfortable sofas with piles of books on the tables in front of them, which they were checking out in leisure.The Brat and mite enjoyed themselves as all the children assembled for the sit and draw competition sat about with books just like them!The competition was for kids above 5years, so while the brat was busy drawing, we explored the place with the little mite. They declared the results about half an hour after the event and the Brat won the first prize! My momma heart swelled with pride! Here are some pictures...

Eventful Visit to Delhi

We returned day before yesterday from a hectic, but enjoyable trip to Delhi. Feeling completely exhausted! I had gone to attend my PhD convocation at Jamia Millia Islamia, with the whole family in tow! While there I got some medical check up done because I am experiencing the typical symptoms of women of my age. I had thought that one fine day menopause will just set in and then I can throw a party to celebrate this happy event, but seemingly it is not as easy as that, there will be several convolutions and hiccups accompanied by numerous side effects! Ah well, such is life...the sooner I get used to the bodily changes brought on by my age the better. I can thank my stars, meanwhile, that the silent killers "thyroid'and 'blood suger' have not struck yet! The cure is simple and known to everybody- proper diet and exercise!! Such a lot of ringmarole to find an answer that I have known all along!
Meanwhile, after a lot of priliminary procedures the day of the convocation dawned. All my earlier notions about convocations was dashed at Jamia. Unfortunately, I had not been able to attend a single convocation ceremony in my life. BA, MA, BEd, MPhil all convocation less, therefore I was looking forward to this day with great expectations. The convocation was a very big affair with students of every faculty being awarded degrees on the same day and at the same venue. The event moreover was badly mismanaged. The students were told in writing to appear at the venue gate at 1pm but when we reached there we were informed that due to Friday prayers the entry time is postponed to 2pm. Now, Jamia gets over early on Fridays for prayers and therefore the univ starts work early at 9am sharp. This should have been common knowledge among the organisers and the time should have been assigned accordingly, but not so. We were left standing outside the gate of our own convocation venue for nearly 2 hours all dressed in our robes and sweating at the collars!! Another important thing that was overlooked was the guests that the students were allowed to bring. There was no mention of guests or passes for them in the convocation notice sent to us. When I asked at the robe counter in the morning they asked me to find out at the exam branch. At the exam branch the laid back guy at the information counter said that the family of the degree getter can enter the venue but might not be able to sit. Later we found out that passes were being issued by the organisers. No one knew what was happening! Our chief guest was Omar Abullah, CM of Jand K, therefore security was immense and we students were not allowed to go to the podium and the VC and Dean awarded the degrees in a single announcement for each department and we were told to stand up in our places when I Dean announced the names of our faculties. Thus the whole aspiration of hearing my name called out and receiving the degree at the podium amidst claps and cheers was left unrealised. The Mr couldnot attend the ceremony, as we could only manage to get one pass in the last moment and my Father in law and the brat attended. The Brat girl got bored but took some great snaps both at home and at the venue. The final put down was that we could not receive our actual degrees in our robes...the office assistant informed us that we would be given the degrees after we returned the robes. There was a huge line at the robe counter and I was apprehensive that I might have to stand there for the rest of the night, that's when a troubled soul came to my rescue. This person was from the Engineering department, he had returned his robe only to find out to his horror that his department was holding a separate function and he had to appear in his robe to get his degree! He came running back to the robe counter only to be told that his robe will not be given back, once returned. Well, I gave him my robe and got the security money and return chit which would help me get my degree. After all this drama, I returned home with the degree at 8pm.
I also celebrated my 39th birthday in Delhi and this time the evening cake cutting was attended by my parents who were staying at my brother's place in Gurgaon. My mother and the mite sang 'happy birthday to you' together for me...my heart was gladdened. This was the first time in my married life that my parents and parents in law were all together with me.I also managed to meet my friend Anjana, before the mite decided to fall ill again and all outings were stopped! Amidst all this activity I also managed to make the mandatory trip to Sarojini nagar market and bought some pajamas and pants for the kids and myself!

Hospital House!

The mite had been down with fever for a while now and the Brat has joined him since the day before yesterday. So it is a tiresome routine of checking temperature, administering medicine, sleepless nights and a general feeling of misery all around. The Mr has also been out of sorts for a while, popping tablets all the time! I have to be ok otherwise who will take care off all these sufferers? We have a trip to Delhi coming up in less than two weeks time and diwali just two days away and I cannot even think of going for gift, cracker or candle shopping with a house full of unwell people. I think we are set to spend a quiet Diwali at home with soup and sandwich for dinner!

COFFEE COUNTRY CHIKMAGALUR: with Belur and Halebeedu thrown in for good measure!-I

This time folks, I think we outdid ourselves. We took on a bit too much and it got rough at the end but I am happy to say that we experienced some wonderful things in the hills and plains near Chikmagalur. In the process we were treated to some cheap thrills that proved quite expensive and we saw some sights which will be with us for the rest of our lives…we also learnt what true Indian hospitality really means when Mr Ansar and his family welcomed us into their home.
The trip started with a hiccup we left in the wee hours of Sunday amidst rain and general turmoil. Thereafter scarcely a quarter of our journey was over when the train stopped due to a derailment of a goods train somewhere ahead on the same line. We had to think fast, we had made bookings at a homestay from that day itself and we wanted to reach as soon as possible. Therefore we got off at Tumkur where the train had stopped. The Mr is an expert in these sort of adventures, after weighing several pros and cons we hopped into a taxi and off we went. At the end of the day we lost 2 hours and 2k but we reached ‘Nature Craft’ at lunch time. Now, there are many words of praise for this homestay /coffee estate on the internet, still I cannot but add my own words too. After a rough and disrupted journey it felt as if we had entered a place akin to heaven! A little peaceful haven amidst wilderness…a tranquil wonderland. Our hosts were the most gracious and considerate.
In fact, most often we would be offered what we want even before asking for it. I might be sitting outside the door of our room watching the cock chase the hen around and just wishing I had a cup of coffee in my hand and viola up comes Ansar saying…”would you like a cup of coffee?”…The most entertaining was the capers of a great dane and 3 mixed breed pups who frisked about all over the estate. The mite was mortally scared of them but they provided a lot of joy for me as I was reminded of my carefree days when we were not forbidden to touch little pups in our colony….sigh. I have instilled such terror in the hearts of my kids (due to the stray dog menace in Bangalore) that they are deprived of the simple pleasure of petting these adorable pups.






On the first day we set off to explore the surroundings of the plantation in which we were staying. We were accompanied by our host and his 2 cute little daughters. The road was flanked by coffee estates and paddy fields with the myriad greens soothing our eyes. There was a tiny lake nearby and to my surprise, there tucked away amongst the fronds there was one of the entrances to the Bhadra wildlife sanctuary which boasts of tigers among other animals! We walked some distance into the sanctuary (the Mr knew about the sanctuary but he had left it out of our itinerary this time). We ambled back to ‘Nature Craft’. The place is named ‘Nature Craft’ after Ansar and his father’s pet project of creating riveting woodcraft which unfortunately they have given up now for the lack of proper skilled labour. Nature craft is a small estate, however a lot of honest labour goes into the maintanence of a plantation of even this size as was revealed later by our host and I can vouch for it that coffee growers deserve every penny of what they earn.
We returned from our brief sojourn to a delicious biriyani dinner cooked by Mr ansar’s mother (her culinary skills have been praised by other visitors too). By the end of the day, it was difficult to imagine that we had started it in Bangalore rain lashing at us as we boarded to taxi for the station! By the way, you should NEVER go to Chigmagalur by train as there are several Volvo buses of the highly advanced kind from Bangalore which can easily take you there, as we were told by our hosts.
The next morning, after a hearty breakfast, we set off for i Mullaiyanagiri and Babu Budana giri hills. The former is the highest peak in Karnataka and to tell you the truth, we were impressed! It compared very well with the Himalayan foothills, we have not seen any South Indian hills that can match the height of the north Indian hill stations but this was something else. The wind was so full of force that nothing but grasses could grow on the mountainside. We were astounded to find some cows calmly grazing in the howling wind near the hill top temple!! Of course had proof of their presence because of their droppings on the stairs leading up to the shiva temple at the top.






The next stop was Babu Budanagiri. The cave dargah there was closed for renovation, however the atmosphere at the place was calm and serene and a constant stream of people were arriving there to pay obeisance. It seems that there was some sort of communal strife at the spot, following which part of the cave collapsed, (divine vengeance, no doubt, when will people stop fighting in God’s name, I wonder). Legend has it that one tunnel from these sacred cave leads to Mullaiyanagiri and another to Mecca. In fact, a person even tried to set of on the Mecca route to check the facts but came back quite blind/ insane. Whatever it is, these stories lend a strange mystery and fascination for the place! Higher up from the cave is the Manikya Dhara falls the surroundings of which provide a breathtaking view of the hills all around. The falls of course pose a problem, some strange theory does the round here that one can wash away one’s sins by bathing here and throwing away one’s old clothes by throwing them down the mountain face!! Thus the entire mountain face below the falls and even, I believe the tops of the trees in the plantations below becomes full of discarded old clothes (and incumbent sins??). No one is willing to see reason here and it is a pity to see the pristine surroundings so littered. While returning we saw another waterfall that gushed forth with great speed. We also stopped at a small lake near Manikyadhara and watched the mist descending on the lake. Incidentally we also walked through swirling clouds at Mullaiyanagiri and watched the mists come in at Manikyadhara too. We returned to Nature craft after buying some coffee at the Chikmagalur market.

COFFEE COUNTRY CHIKMAGALUR: with Belur and Halebeedu thrown in for good measure!-II

If the previous day was thrilling the next was enthralling as we first explored the coffee estate in which we were staying more thoroughly with the help of our kind and charming host, later we visited the twin temple towns of Belur and Halebeedu (ahem, notice the spelling, felt a thrill similar to when I started calling Panaji ‘Panjim’ after a visit to Goa, feels so local and authentic) known for the intricately carved Hoysala masterpieces. We were up bright and early and we proceeded to take a round of the coffee estate guided by our host. We were enlightened about the intricacies of coffee growing. We learnt that little coffee saplings need 7years to grow into a full fledged berry sprouting plant and that they need a lot of looking after in those 7 years. We learnt that since the women do the plucking of the berries, the coffee plant is pruned to a height of about 4ft something. We learnt about the different varieties of coffee ( in fact we had also seen a ‘tree coffee’ tree think bark and all on the first day inside the sanctuary area), about the shade trees and how many of the trees growing near the coffee plants were the result of the seeds brought in by birds and dropped there by accident. Finally our excursion came to a hurried end when the mite discovered a leech among the leaves, we beat a hasty retreat to the amusement of our host- these are the hazards of life in the lap of nature, said he laughingly. In fact our host’s younger daughter is a brave heart and she follows her father around in the plantation, even when she sees a snake she waits till the creature is gone before continuing her trudge after her father!! The mite was quite unmoved by the leech and could not figure out what the commotion was about!! Another hearty breakfast later (our last at Nature Craft) we were kindly dropped by our host at the Chikmagalur bus terminus were we deposited our luggage and set off to Belur on a bus bound to Bangalore!






It takes about half an hour to reach Belur from there. On both sides of the road are the beautiful paddy and wheat fields stretching far in a gradual slant and on the horizon were the hills that we had just left. The ChennaKesava temple is walking distance from the Belur bus terminous. We took a guide to show us through the many carved wonders on the temple . The figures are minute in their details and show cases the culture, dress, beliefs of those times. I was mortified to learn that some of the figures were destroyed/stolen by local vandals! The Hoysaleshwara temple at Halebeedu was hit upon by Afghan conquerors and as was the norm of those times they attacked the place which had the most wealth and mutilated some figures and destroyed the high steeples which shows supremacy to assert their own, however how can one explain the desecration of images at such a beautiful place by the people of the same region? Chenna Keshava means beautiful Vishnu and it is the representation of the deity when he assumed the form of a woman to kill gajasur. The most overwhelming of course is the ‘social’ sculptures which shows women beautifying themselves, dancing, playing instruments and hunting. The images swam before our eyes long after we left the premises.






We had a marvelous meal at a local restaurant and headed off to Halebeedu in an autorickshaw. Halebeedu is 15kms away from Belur and it takes half an hour to get there. A picture of the Hoysaleshwara temple here was in my Class X text book amongst the pictures of other monuments that we had to identify for our ICSE exam. I had nursed a desire to visit these temples since that time. Somehow in the pictures in the text gave an impression of lofty heights, however the temple is of modest height, their spiraling steeples demolished by conquerors, replaced by cement mounds, but on the inside the ceilings are preserved in their grand artistry. This shiva temple is not much frequented by devotees who worship here these days however its surroundings are more beautiful than the Belur shrine with a beautiful lake in the background. From the shops lining the outside of the Belur temple we bought some stone souvenirs, including a statue of the founder of the Hoysala dynasty fighting a lion which incidentally, is the Hoysala emblem. In Halebeedu we bought tiny brass statuettes of shiva etc. These were quite skillfully done.






We had taken a little more time than expected in Halebeedu and henceforward our misadventure started as we missed the last bus to Kemmannagundi at the Chikmagalur terminus ( the last bus to the hills leaves at 5:30pm). We were approached by a jeep driver who promised to drop us at the horticultural dept guest house( where we had done a telephonic booking) by 7:30pm. We knew that the road up the hill to Kemmannagundi was bad but we certainly did not envisage such a bumpy ride and on top of that, it started raining. The jeep driver was an old shriveled fellow who had to stop from time to time to wipe his windshield, as he did not have wipers and I suspect he was blinded by the headlights of the vehicles coming from the other side! It was a day of rides in dilapidated vehicles as the auto we took from Belur to Halebeedu was also a rickety thing which managed only a 10kmph speed when it had to climb a slope on the road! We jingled and jangled in the jeep for what seemed like a lifetime. By the end of our journey all our intestines were tangled the Brat was howling the mite was whimpering, it was 9:30 at night and we discovered that the horticultural dept was very disorganized with guest houses scattered all over the place and only one office which we could not locate in the darkness and the rain. The shriveled driver tried his best to help and finally the Mr had to contact a high official to get the caretaker to open a room for us. The office authority, a lady called Divya extended no help and kept her phone switched off even after she knew that we had children with us and were in grave trouble. The extent of the inefficiency of a government enterprise was apparent when we learnt that we cannot get food in the guest house which we were allotted, there is only one canteen adjascent to the raj Bhavan at the very summit of the hill a kilometer’s walk from our guest house, which we could not go to in pitch darkness and incessant rains. My little babies had had some chocolates and chips on the way up, they were so frightened and cold that the Brat refused to eat anything and the mite had a few biscuits and we finally passed out each cuddling a baby. There was no point in getting up early the next day as there was thick fog all around and we would not have been able to see any sun rise. The surroundings were beautiful, and if the horticultural department had not been so ill organized we would have had a jolly good time even after all this.






We set off in search of the elusive canteen, for breakfast. There were some shacks by the road and the Mr and I had some bread omelets and coffee, before we could get to the canteen there was a barricade and a sentry asked for a toll tax to cross over to the canteen side….something snapped inside us at that point and we simply refused to pay up to enter the canteen….I mean what is the idea, who was making the rules here?? Only one canteen and we have to pay up to cross a barricade to eat!! Why?? Rules are made for the convenience of the people but our government makes them to deprive the common folk of their sanity!!! There has to be a change in the rule book of the horticultural department at Kemmannagudi. They seem to be trying their level best to prevent tourists from coming here…the roads are a mess there is a less than efficient bus service, the jeeps charge astronomical sums to go anywhere…the guest houses do not have their own canteens the whole business is sickening, you do not notice the beauty of the place because you are so bogged down by the hindrances. We gave up the idea of going to the Hebby falls as it remained foggy and rainy and we would have to trek through leech infested territory for the last 1 and a half kms till the falls. We feed our kids some idli and vada and milk at the canteen and walked for some distance down the forest track. We found a group of people collecting leeches in the middle of the road while their car stood by. The mite and I did not have socks on and the mite was in his sandles so I was on the look out for leeches for his sake, and sure enough I saw one trying to enter his sandle!! I managed to dig it out, the mite was surprised to see my animation!! He became quite the leech expert, he discovered another leech in our bathroom later in the day! I found out that you cannot simply stamp on a leech and kill it like you can a cockroach our ant. The harder you stamp the more quickly it will wriggle about! Finally I got it into the Indian style toilet and flushed it down!! We also discovered that there is no way of getting out of Kemmannagundi if you chance to miss the 10 o’clock bus, you will have to wait for the last bus at 4. We waited for a lift at the cross roads tea stall for ages before we took the help of the high official who had got a room for us on the previous night. This official arranged for a jeep for us and we got dropped at Ballavada from where we got the 2:30 Birur bus (we had to catch our train at Birur station). The jeep ride cost us 300Rs! The bus ride 30!
We reached Birur station at 5 we were under the impression that our train was leaving at 5:50, suddenly we discovered to our horror that that was the timing of the booking we had made for the previous day, later we had decided to extend our stay by one day and the timing for our train as a result of our fresh booking was 9:50pm. We would have to wait for a good 5 hours at Birur! Now Birur is a junction station when we reached the refreshment counter was functional when we reached we had idli vada and lemon rice and coffee. Suddenly at about 7pm everything shuts down at Birur and this is the greatest wonder- NOT EVEN TEA is available at Birur station after 6:30!! Now from my earliest childhood railway stations, at any time of the night, had to have the mandatory tea vendor saying “chai garam” in different tones…this was the first time I have seen a station without tea…wonder of wonders!!
Our train arrived at 10:45pm and we reached Bangalore at 3:45 am. We reached home and crashed out…dreaming of misty mountains and mighty temples….what treasures we have found in every nook and cranny of this wondrous country.

Ma Durga...Goddess of Good times!!

Come Durga puja and you can detect the spring in the Bengali's step and the desire to eat sing and be merry for the 4 days of the goddess's stay. The puja in Bangalore is based on the New Delhi model with great food and lots of cultural programmes. Today is ashtami the high point of the pujas and the entire family is fast asleep as they are tired from last nights bingeing!!
We started our outings on shasti, ie day before yesterday...I took the kids to get their first glimse of the goddess at Koramangala, near our house. It rained incessantly but we managed somehow to reach Indira Nagar to catch the performance of 2 little sisters of mine, daughters of my father's cousin. It was an evening of song and dance and lots of rain and some amazing egg, chicken rolls!!
Yesterday we returned to koramangala and participated in the 'anjali' thereafter the children took part in a sit and draw competition held in the pandal. The kids and I had 'bhog' and returned home. In the evening we came to know that the Brat Girl has won frist prize in her group in the drawing competition! There were music programmes all evening and we relished Nizaam's rolls and biriyani with the beautiful tunes filling the air- bengali folk, old and new Bengali and Hindi songs....it felt line being in a rock festival!!Today we will be off soon for the ashtami 'pushanjali' soon. The brat will get her prize in the afternoon prize distribution and we will go for the community feast or bhog...thereafter let's see where the mother goddess takes us.
By the way, I love the Koramangala purohit....he is soooo cute! With flowing white beard and beady eyes...but the problem is that we can't hear the anjali mantras clesrly as the words get lost in his beard!!

Fun time at Innovative Film City

This Sunday we went for a day long excursion to Innovative Film City, which is in Bidadi about 30kms from Bangalore. We had an idli-vada-upma breakfast in a new restaurant near our house and took the volvo to Majestic bus stand. The mite was asking for a volvo ride for quite sometime and as usual it was a pleasure. The Bidadi bus leaves from platform 19A at Majestic and is pretty frequent. We were however too impatient to get started so we took a bus to a depot at Mysore road only to find the Bidadi bus coming shortly behind us full of all the people who were patiently waiting with us at majestic. Thankfully we managed to get seats soon enough and off we went on my favourite Mysore road! we reached Bidadi in an hour or so. From the bus stand the Film City is a short auto ride away. We took a Rs 300 ticket for the Dinosaur House, Fossil museum, Ripley's believe it or not museum, Fossil hunt, mirror maze, mini city and wax museum. We found the mini city complex first.There was a make believe police station, veterinary hospital, bank, TV studio, radio station etc all connected by a make believe road with traffic lights etc which the children could ride on in cycles and toy motorbikes. You have to pay extra for every activity. The TV station can record live programs that you put up which would be given to you in CDs.




Then we went to the Dinosaur world, the mite clung on to me and refused to get off my lap, so we had to explore the place with him hanging from and and wailing to go home! He, however, had no fear for the gigantic dinosaur bone structure at the fossil museum which we visited next.





Thereafter we entered the toon world which had some rides, the children enjoyed the merry go round! There was a mini racetrack as well. We had an excellent lunch of lemon rice fried rice and set dosas washed down with some sugarcane juice and went on to the Ripley's believe it or not Museum.







The museum was much better than what we had expected. Its labrinthine corridors exhibited many of the marvellous and sometimes even grotesque things that Ripley collected. Among them was a funny figure made out of discarded dollar bills, metallic men made out of machine parts, model of an ancient ship out of icecream stickes. There were illusions made from projecting rays of light, including Ripley's 'ghost' that welcomed you to the museum and speaks about his quest. Wax statues of the tallest and fattest humans, and curious animals. There was a television screen which showed the feats of various people who could twist their tongue in the most curious ways, right next to that was a mirror and the visitors were asked to practice their tongue twisting skills in the mirror..I tried some of it at the mirror only to discover, later that the mirror allows people on the other side to see your antics without you knowing. When we went all the way to the other side, we had a good laugh looking at people twisting their tongue and thinking what a spectacle we had made of ourselves earlier!!







After this was the wax museum which was also quite entertaining, some of the figures had not achieved the exact likeness but some were good, I likes the Dalai Lama figure and the Adolf Hitler figure. The section on the fairy tales and cartoon was good too.
We wanted to see the 4D movie which had been advertized a lot. We took a chance and took the mite inside, previously we had thought of seeing the 10min film in turns because the mite does not enjoy movies. However our fears were put to rest when the mite proceeded to enjoy the movie and kept the glasses fixed over his eyes. The fourth dimension was created by water spray and air jets. When water splashed on the screen some doplets fell on us to the delight of the mite! When scores of mice were shown coming at us then air jets gave us an impression of them running over our feet...there was a lot of screaming to be done needless to say!







Our last adventure was at the mirror maze. It is a dark tunnel with mirrors all around lighted by small red lights on the floor, you have to extend your hand and feel your way out of it. People were rushing about in all directions and at one time we were well and truely mirrored in! The atendant lady came and showed us out at last! We did not have the energy to see anything more...there were mock sets and a park but we decided to call it a day!! a day well spent....The film city is still under construction and many cinema halls are being built along with other games and play areas...it has great promise, I say!

Crossing Roads in Bengaluru....

" Is there any way of crossing the road at Madivala market without losing your life?" I often feel like tapping the traffic policeman there and asking him that. This police guy does not lift a finger to help us poor pedestrians. Still, miraculously, I find that I have survived to tell the tale. The Madivala market is the weekly vegetable/fruit/fish buying destination of most people in my area. It occupies a long stretch of the road with one side selling fruits, flowers, fish and the other side almost entirely dedicated to vagetables. Now, if you want to cross to the vegetable side, after buying fish and fruit (as I am in the habit of doing) then chances are that you will be mowed to the ground by a thousand buses, tempos, cars, autos, trucks, scooters and motorbikes that stream continuously down the road, without the policemen at the bus stop caring to stop the flow of the traffic to let us hapless pedestrians cross! Most of the time I employ the procedure of 'taking a dada', that I had perfected in Calcutta. This process involves the searching out of a fellow crosser, mostly male, who has that 'devil may care' look about him who is hell bent on crossing the road. Thereafter, you have to position yourself so that if this character has an error in judgement then he will be hit first by the crazy bus/car/ etc and you will have enough time to scurry back and pretend nothing happened! Some people have perfected the art of slipping in between the flow if the traffic as soon as it slows and somehow meandering in the flow and reaching the other side amidst relentlessly flowing traffic! I have a lot of respect for these people but somehow I cannot make myself do the same. I can wind through the vehicles if they have stopped at a redlight. I have to cross the busy Hosur road 4times every week day twice alone and twice with the mite as I take him to and from his school. When the larger vehicles stop at the light the two wheelers come rushing out from every crack and crevice so timing is very important if you want to escape alive! Then there is the peril of getting run over by a two wheeler on the footpath as they use it freely as the extension of the road. I have seen two wheelers going full speed on the footpath, and one even dared to blow its horn on me as I was walking towards mite's school! I mean, where are the pedestrians supposed to go?
I am a confirmed pedestrian, I love walking the streets of Bangalore. There is so much life there. The trees of bangalore are the best, large with branches outstretched....It is a pity that so many of them have to be cut for one purpose or the other. The road widening process has lead to the loss of several trees...it is heart breaking to see trees cut and lying about in pieces! I know that it is imperative to cut trees for the purpose of construction in a city like this, but is it not possible to be a bit humane about it. It will not harm anyone if the authorities pledge to plant ten trees for every tree they have to fell? Is it possible to not let the uprooted trees lie on the road? Their wood may be used by the needy...if they lie around in the rain then they will rot. I encountered these rotting trees on Hosur road where a pipe laying expedition is in progress. On the other hand I also discovered on my walking expeditions beautiful trees at the most unlikeliest of places giving shade and a certain tranquility to all who stand beneath them and watch the hectic city life go by.


Trees left rotting at the roadside (below). Two beautiful trees, one at a market place and another at a busy bus stop (above)



I found a film poster on a side street wall...Jack Sparrow, anyone??? Albeit a little well fed! heh heh! The other day I was visiting a friendly neighbourhood market and there was a crowd outside the cinema hall there. The hero, whose film was running was visiting the hall. The hero was greeted by loud crackers and the young shop assistant at the shop I was going to was standing outside on the sidewalk railing. When I asked him to give me some cashew etc he came into his shop, smiling.
"Is the hero here", I asked , "yes", said he. "I have never seen any hero from such close quarters" he added, his grin widening. " Ekdum Black hai" (he is dark complexioned), "aur poster mein fair dikhata hai" ( in the film posters he looks fair). I added a few lines about how all of them are just ordinary and look wonderful on screen etc and the both of us smiled knowingly at each other. I could not help lamenting the plight of us poor Indians, spending sooo much money to watch a make believe world. The stars paid sooo much and put on a pedestal to boot and the public, struggling to make ends meet, yet spending their hard earned cash to watch strange copies of others' films. The least film makers can do is show us some originality so that our money is not entirely wasted!


I took pictures of some other disturbing scenes in this beautiful city wich is a result of callous urbanization. Tell me, is it necessary for urban development to be this ugly? Can it not be planned and organized and systematic where it does not have to bring filthy exposed drains into being. Surely there is someone goofing up around here!
I have included also the phtos of some flowers in my balcony which bloomed in August to make the post less of an eyesore!

What I could not Achieve....

A few weeks ago, the Brat Girl came to me all excited and asked me whether she could join the 'Guides', the girls wing of the National Cadet Corps."It is during school hours", she said, to my great relief, for I did not know whether I would have been able to take her to school early or bring her back if she stayed back. I remembered how keen I was to join the Guides during my school days but could not for precisely this reason, no one could pick me up after school. I was happy to let my brat join the guides. She looked so smart in the blue dress...my little daughter, looking so big and important! I thought of all the things my baby can do which I cannot....She can skate, cycle, swim(after a fashion), ride off on a horse, breeze off on a camel. She looks small and shy but she is tough inside...she went off on those crazy fair rides which has a boat shaped ride swinging at precariuos angles...the Mr came away looking a little green about the gills after taking the ride with her but she was unfazed. I don't have the guts to go for these rides, never had! All in all, I could not help feeling quite proud of my tiny gutsy Brat...may she achieve great heights!

The season of festivities!

It began with raksha bandhan... and then they came one after the other...lakshmi puja here in bangalore, then janmashtami and now Ganesh puja and the month of ramzan also in progress...lo and behold, it is that time of year when there are festivities all around. We celebrated all the festivals in our own way at home. Last year the mite was very suspicious of the string tying and did not want to tie one. However this year he wore all his rakhis (sent by grandmom and aunt and the one given by the Brat Girl) very happily. He wore one to his school too! In our house even the girl gets rakhis so the Brat also had a few of her own (sent by grand parents, uncle and aunt and one given by the mite)!
On the lashmi puja day we were invited at the landlady's place. aon Janmashtami I got a small idol of infant Krishna and the Brat made rangolis, she was also invited to make rangolis at the landlord's son's place which is just behind our house.
This time on Ganesh Chaturthi the young boys of our lane organized a one day puja right in front of our house. It was like having Ganesha in our own homes. All the people of our lane enjoyed the one day affair! We were called for the aratis and prasad was delivered at our door step. There are a few other pujas in our neighbourhood and the whole place is full of lights and joyous festivities!
This time the Durga puja of the Bengalis has also been preponed by a month and I am having that queer puja feeling from now itself! New clothes are being bought with a gusto! You can visit any mall or any place where clothes are being sold, and you will find the place teeming with Bengalis calling to each other- " Aei shirt ta Haru kakar jonno kemon hobe?"(how is this shirt for Haru uncle)..." Eta Papai ke suit korbe" (this shirt will suit Papai)etc.
Last Sunday, we had our own special festivity- it was 'craft day' at house. I went and collected two of the Brat girl's friends and the three of them made short work af several tubes of fevicol and numerous glitter packets and cut up two t-shirts and two pajamas to make 'friend' mix and match clothes for themselves. The girls had a blast and I had the afternoon to watch a film with the Mr at home. The mite cooperated tremendously and all went off well.

Does this life have any meaning??

A young girl, my niece, woke us up with a jolt last Sunday morning- she made us ponder- what are we doing? Does our existence make any sense, or do we constantly try to distract ourselves from that one and only reality- DEATH. That sweet girl, dedicated, sincere, responsible, religious and devoted to her parents poured 5ltrs on kerosene on herself and struck a match- why, because, she somehow felt betrayed that her God had not heeded her prayers and saved her mother, who died scarcely 10 days before after a prolonged illness. We were stunned beyond belief, how can an educated, responsible girl do this to herself, to her father? WHY WHY WHY? She had a bright future before her but she did not want to exist in this world without her mother, she chose an excruciatingly painful death for herself. Nothing that this world can offer to her was enough to match with her desire to be with her mom. Her mother, who , throughout har life wanted nothing but to have her well settled. It is true that her father may not live long after this tragedy, but then I wonder, we all have to die one day, so did the child show her GOD her own superiority in choosing her death?? Is her God sad, happy, intimidated? I guess we will never know. Is there a life after death when she can live with her mother in peace for eternity? who knows, but while we are here on earth we have to believe that this live and this earth is what we were meant for. We must struggle on...we must not attach such strong emotions to that which is unknown (our God), we should always strive to make this life beautiful for ourselves and for others. After this incident, I immersed myself in the life that I have lead. Picked up the much postponed task of scanning old photos with a vengeance. I found a lot of peace amongst my memories, I got in touch with a few more friends...read and re-read the comments of astonishment and joy and laughter which my friends posted on our class X snaps...and I have realised...live is good, we must hold onto it and hope and pray that Goid does not put us to the test, torture us too such an extent that we think of putting an end to it all! May we get the strength to carry on with our lives with a positive attitude, while remembering the ones who have gone, let us not forget the duty we have to those who are still there...I pray sincerely that mother and daugther have found peace with their God..

Three Performances and a glad soul

We recently got to experience three heart warming misical/dance performances. The first was by a french gentleman, a colleague of the Mr, who can play the guitar and has recently discovered that he can sing. This gentleman and 2 french ladies with whom he came into contact at the alliance Francaise,got together to perform some French songs at his friend's restaurant.This gentleman had invited the Mr and family. We chose a Saturday, before the French national day.We reached early and the crowds had decided to come in late for dinner so we had the singers all to ourselves for an hour or so.It was beautiful,we were handed a sheet with the songs explained and the 2 ladies seemed to sing to us and us alone, smiling and swaying in between the tables...going up to the Mr (the only male guest, all the other males were restaurant staff) and hanging about him like those hotel singers they show in films! The Mr was deeply moved..."that is the first time a lady singer has done that around me", he said bashfully and I bet we would see him blushing if the lights had not been so dim. The French songs were, but obviously, mostly about love, but the freedom of the french spirit was clear as one of their most famous song writer has penned a song on 'street walkers' or loose women. In the song the women are complaining about their low position in society. It was fascinating! Another raunchy number was about how the mother, ex-wife and ex-mistress of a no good fellow are asking his present mistress to leave him and go off with them on a all girls holiday! The second performance was of two bulbul birds and the venue was the tree in front of our house that is getting prepared to enter our balcony. These bulbuls have been coming to this tree for sometime now but on this day they were more active and playful than ever before or since! The last performance was of dance by the 13 year old grand-daughter of our landlord.The young girl goes to a dance class which was celebrating its annual day. The Mr gave this programme a miss but the kids and I had a great time. The mite was screaming "sa re ga ma pa..." at the top of his lungs throughout the performance and the brat went off to sit in the first row and came away looking really impressed by it all! I forgot to mention this but the brat had given an impromptu song performance at the behest of one of the french ladies on the evening of the french songs. She sounded so sweet on the microphone and did a decent rendition of our favourite bengali song "aha ki anondo akashe batashe" from the film Hirok Rajar Deshe by Satyajit Ray! I am so proud of my bratty baby. Unfortunately our batteries got exhausted when she was singing so we don't have a rocording of it! But we do have a recording of her singing the same song, again impromptu in Calcutta with an aktara player in the crafts bazaar 'swabhumi', will see whether I can dig that out from the family archives!

Ode to a free spirit!

Visited Nritya grama on Sunday and felt the presence of one of my favourite women of India- Protima Bedi! This is a woman who had guts, from baring all at Juhu beach, to excelling in dance to organizing her own husband's second marriage, to planning this beautiful Gurukul to dying among the lofty mountain peaks, hers is a fantastic life...completely liberated and honest! I just adore her...!Nrityagrama, her brainchild is a residential gurukul of dance located in Hesarghatta near Bangalore. It took us about an hour and a half to reach there in a taxi. The dance practice was over for the day but we had ample time to take in the ambience of the place, explore the various practice halls and wander in the sprawling acres which had fruit trees and vegetables growing all over!
Thereafter we went to the hesarghatta lake built by another favourite person of mine, good ol' Tipu Sultan. The lake has dried up completely and cattle were grazing in its bed. No one could say since when this has been for our travel book displayed a picture of a lake filled to the brim! A small muddy pool could be seen in the distance where buffalloes were taking their afternoon bath! No one seemed to care either. We visited the lake goddesses temple and came away with a silent prayer to her...please fill the lake up again!

At Last All 'Religious' Leaders are United as one!

All the so-called religious heads find themselves clasped tightly in each other's embrace against the issue of legalization of gay relationships. Actually the law does not speak about gays at all, it merely prohibit 'un-natural' sexual behaviour, and certain perversity. Now, the question is whether homosexuality is 'un-natural' and therefore against God. Do we always do what is natural? is there no space for human feelings? If we left all to the laws of nature then we would be breeding like animals! Isn't there some difference in what a human feels and experiences? The institution of marriage, family relations, our love for our children from their birth till our death, are these 'natural'? They are the result of the human experience and human thoughts and feelings. If an individual feels love towards another and finds themselves eager to share their lives together then what does these old fuddy duddies have to say about it? If they were spreading hatred or destruction or harming anyone then we would have to intervene. Wait a minute, what is so natural about religion itself? Is religion natural, is it not created as a result of the human experience and feelings? Is it not born of an enquiry of the human mind desiring to fathom the mystery of their existence? Does not all religion emphasize the brotherhood of man and love for the fellow being (no pun intended). However, religion has now come to endorse the most bitter kind of hatred, the most rigid intolerance the senseless violence against the fellow human- that, I suppose, is natural representing the tsunami or earthquake!
Meanwhile, thank God no one is bothered about the grumblings of the 'grumpy goblins' and the people are celebrating in 'gay' abandon! Jai ho!

Viral Invasion and Momma Irritability

There viral fever is an unwelcome guest at our house now and I am the fittest around here and the mite the hardest hit! Today I snapped at the mite for talking continuously and following me around the house while I was sweeping the place( Rajamma is also down with severe cough and cold and missing for the last three days), the mite pulled a face and went out on to the balcony and stood there gazing at me with fever enlarged eyes. Obviously, the shrew had a change of heart and decided to bring the little fellow in. The problem with the mite is that he refuses to have alopathic medicine, not even crocin syrup, so homeopathy it is and that is taking time. The brat can swallow medicines now so she is recovering but my heart goes out to the little fellow who cannot understand why he is not going to school or for our daily walks in the morning!

Goodbye MJ....

In the 1980s we stared at our black and white TV late at night and saw a thin black man win 6 or 7 Grammy Awards. At one point he said "...and this is for the girls at the back..", and removed his dark glasses and there was an ear splitting scream from the audience! He wore a lot of makeup and his eyes were big and expressive...we were duely impressed. We did not understand a word of what he sang but his attitude and dance steps and racey beats of his songs moved us. Then, a few years later with the coming of the coloured TV and VCR we watched his moves again and again. We knew the thriller video story by heart. MJ's stature grew before our eyes as did his fortunes- his ranch, his personal zoo, showcased in the video of one of his songs etc. Then came the controversies and the rapid decline in fortunes and creative output. It is painful to see an ikon being reduced to an object of pity and ridicule. Why is it that some people cannot handle success and fame? What goes on in their minds? Why do they destroy themselves in this manner. I guess we will never know!All I can say is rest in peace MJ where ever you may be, the world will always remember your amazing moves and soul stirring music.

Alone Again...

Well, Ma and baba went back home last week, it is back to the grind with 2 kids going to school and a disorderly house for me. It was wonderful to have them stay with us for these 1 and a half month or so. Ma and specially baba had to make a lot of adjustments for the sake of their grandchildren. Our Calcutta home is large and this place small with all of us hanging about all the time! The children too made concessions for Dadan and Didan, not venturing near the bathroom when Dadan is taking his bath, opening Dadan's shoes for him, pouring him a glass of water, helping Didan to carry stuffetc.
As for me, I had never in my wildest dreams imagined that i would be able to cook a meal that my parents can relish. I had rarely ventured into the kitchen before my marriage and had never cooked a meal. I used to make scrambled eggs for breakfast and the occassional cake and nothing more.Now, when baba says "bhalo hoyechhe" (the dish is good) to any of my preparations, I feel a strange elation, when ma says "tor hater ranna ta bhalo" (you cook well), it feels really great. In the afternoons when all the rooms in my house are occupied by my kids and parents, sleeping contently after lunch I experience a feeling of fulfilment...I must be completely domesticated, but that is how it is! I was very happy to give my ma some free time when she could read books or watch TV without having to worry about serving dinner or lunch! However the mite got into the habit of plucking her specs from her nose and throwing it aside so that she left the book she was reading and played with him!
Now that they are not here I have to answer innumerable questions like- "Dadan ki baire boshe achhe?" (is dadan sitting outside in the balcony), I have to explain that dadan is sitting in his own balcony in Calcutta. "dadan didan bangalore e kobe aashbe?" (when will dadan didan come to Bangalore) etc etc.
Miss you Ma Baba.

Raining Rainbows in Mysore!

Went off on a 2day trip to Mysore with Ma and Baba and the kids, thereafter got so involved with my virtual farm at the Farm Town in Facebook that this space got a little neglected! Then comes the gentle prodding of who else but my trusted friend 2b'smommy and I get out of my lethargic stupor to recount the adventures of the weekend. Well, we set off in the morning, on Sunday, in a taxi which we had booked for two days. It takes 3hours to get to Mysore. The bookings had been done by the Mr at the Mayura Yatri Niwas which is a Karnataka govt establishment.There is something unique about the countryside in the South- it is highly urbanised. Ma observed that the moment one gets out of Calcutta one finds nothing but rice fields stretching far into the horizon, not so here. There are fields, but the highway is dotted with shops and hotels and Cafe Coffee Day and McDonald's outlets every 30 kms!The moment one gets out of Bangalore on the Bangalore-Mysore road, one hits upon the town of Ramanagaram which is the place where the film Sholay was shot. This place is rocky and rugged and one can easily visualise Gabbar walking amongst the hills!This place is a rock climbers' paradise and is scarcely 50km from Bangalore city. Right after that comes the town of Chennapatna famous for its wooden toys, there are several 'Toy Emporiums' on the highway itself. Thereafter we come upon Mandya a sugarcane hub and finally Srirangapatna and Mysore.
Mysore is a very laid back city, even the cars seem to loll on its streets and the people's movements are slow and leisurely! We breezed straight into our hotel and had a quick lunch and a short rest before setting off to explore. First stop- St Philomena's church, which is my favourite- it has the highest steeples in Asia! Then we went to the palace, only to find that the whole of South India had converged upon its ticket counter! We had chosen to come to Mysore on a Sunday because the palace is lighted up in the weekend and presents a lovely sight, however Sunday is not a good day for going inside the palace. We beat a hasty retreat and set off for the Vrindavan Gardens which is 19km away. These gardens are built along a dam on the river Cauvery and presents a beautiful landscape. It also has a light show in the evenings at its fountains. We stayed for some time and had tea/coffee before it started to rain. It was raining off and on that evening. we had seen a beautiful rainbow just outside the palace. There were many enterprising chaps selling umbrellas and plastic caps at the gardens. Our driver Ramesh lent us his umbrella and I bought another one from the garden, however it became clear that we will not be able to wait for the lighting of the fountains. The kids played around the fountains for sometime before we headed back for Mysore. We saw 2 more rainbows, one at the gardens and another on our way back. By the time we reached Mysore it was dark and the Mysore Palace was all lit up and sparkling. There was no more rain then, thank God, otherwise the lights would have been switched off. The driver, Ramesh said that even he was seeing these lights for the first time, although he had brought tourists here several times, he generally goes to vrindavan gardens at about that time and thus had missed this sight. We stopped the car and took in the sight of the grand palace shining like gold.
The next morning we were at the Chamundi hills by 9:30 am. There was no entry fee on that day, this is another place that should be avoided on Sundays because of the milling crowds and the entry fees. We visited the goddess in peace and quiet and felt really good. I had come here with my parents in law on a Sunday and we could not enter the temple because of the long queue! On the way down we got a bird's eye view of Mysore city and a good close view of the huge Nandi statue on the hill, I had missed this on our last visit as well! When we reached the palace after that we found it to be nearly deserted compared to the commotion that we had witnessed on the previous day. Baba, the mite and I sat outside while Ma and the Brat Girl took the tour of the inside of the palace. You have to remove your shoes while entering the palace building and Baba cannot walk without his shoes.
We checked out of our hotel, next and after having a hearty meal at Kamat Restaurant we set off for Srirangapatna. We went to the Sangam first after a brief round of Tipu's fort. Baba rested on a chair at a river side shack while we went to dip our feet in the water. When we reached back Baba had calmly dozed off in the river breeze! Ma wanted to know the names of the two rivers that met the cauvery in the sangam. Ramesh asked one of the shopkeepers selling knick knacks at the river side, "gotilla" (don't know") comes the answer! Here is a man busy earning his living, of what use to him is such knowledge!?! We got the answer from the toll guys at the govt toll collection shack!
Then to Tipu's tomb, an extremely peaceful place, Ma and Baba spent some time sitting under a tree there. The mite refused to get out of the car and baba asked me to go and sit next to the chap! The last stop was Dariya Daulat Bagh, Tipu's palace...which looks like a hovel when compared to the Mysore palace of the Wodeyars but houses some exquisite wall frecos and some remarkable line drawings by a British gentleman called Thomas Hickey! No photos are allowed inside both the Mysore Palace and the Dariya Daulat Bagh. After this survey of Srirangapatna we set off back home through Mandya, then Chennapatna, where we stopped for tea/coffee at Cafe Coffee day and finally Ramanagaram till we reached good ol' Bangalore happy to have spent a wonderful two days at a place so full of history and natural beauty. Pictures tomorrow...am turning in now folks!! I dedicate this post to my friend 2b's mommy. I will read all the others' posts tomorrow...yaawwwnnn... goodnight!

Group Photo at Lady's Seat

'Rhumba' (very) Fine at Yercaud!

Spent quite an eventful trip at yercaud and was back last night. Travelling with little kids is a problem and on top of that having to deal with an ex-half armyman who is unwell, and impatient and prone to shouting orders at the drop of a hat (ie my father) is a challenge that only the kind hearted Mr can take up.So, off we went amidst much confusion, everyone pushing and pulling in different directions. The first problem was acquiring a wheelchair, which was solved quite easily at Bangalore city railway station. Baba was whisked away by the wheelchair route with ma following behind and we reached the platform within minutes of each other.The train was on time. We were off to Selum from where Yercaud is a 1 hour drive up hill from Selam town. The train reached on time at 9pm. Thereafter the trouble began...there were no porters at Selam at that time. One sickly looking fellow was already engaged. The Mr searched about for one, because we needed him to get the wheel chair for baba. Baba could hardly be contained screaming for the Station master with ma trying to calm him down. The Mr at last acquired a wheelchair- he had to deposit his identity card! This is how our disabled are treated at our railway stations! No wheelchairs and the path which wheelchairs take, long and winding over the rail tracks and really dangerous sometimes.There is change needed here!Then we were deposited in a safe place on the other side of the station...another thing the way out for wheelchairs lead out to a god forsaken part of the platform from where it is difficult to get any vehicle (must speak to Mamata didi about this)! The Mr sped off to return the wheelchair. A kind gentleman had helped ma while crossing the tracks with the chair, he hung around and was joined by a second gentleman who even summoned a taxi for us on his phone, they also scolded the lone porter who had by then arrived after completing his previous chore. By the time the Mr arrived after depositing the wheelchair, the taxi had arrived.
Hotel Ganesh mahal acted like a balm to our frayed nerves. The service is good, we had already had sandwiches on the train so we just had to flop down on the wonderful bed! The next morning revealed a surprise, Selam town, that had smelled like Agra the last night was transformed as the line of hills became visible at the horizon in the morning light! We were bathed and ready by 9am and off we went on a taxi (rs 800) to Yercaud.
The Yercaud lake has been taken over by the tamil Nadu government and the only hotel on its banks is the Hotel Tamil Nadu, the Mr had made an e-booking for us over there. The buildings are sprawling with cottages dotting the slope. We had opted for the rooms which had a view of the lake.The boating was also entirely under the control of the Hotel Tamil Nadu people. I think it is a wise idea not to do any boating on Sundays because the whole of South India descends upon the lake on that day!! Yercaud is a convenient weekend getaway! The rates are also higher on Sundays and the lake over crowded with boats of all shapes and sizes! We were kept standing in the line for over 20mins when I in typical Delhi/ Calcutta fighter cock woman style started demanding an explanation for our long wait! Till I kicked up the storm, everyone else was waiting patiently with nary a complaint while the women at the counter chatted and laughed and occassionally handed out a ticket or two to the sweating and weary line stander! They were so shocked at the outburst that they began to issue me a ticket bypassing the poor man who was standing in front of me with two kids, mumbling something about rush and shortage of boats! In any case the public must be told why they have been made to stand in line for so long said I firmly! Finally I did manage a row boat for the mite and me. The Mr and the brat had gone off in a two seater because that's all that was available. We did manage to take the row boat ride together though.
There are many view points in an around Yercaud. On the first day Baba refused to budge from the lake side in the morning so we took an auto to Shevaroy temple, the highest point in Yercaud. There is an intriguing cave temple there and one can see the whole of Yercaud town from the plateau top. The brat took a camel ride with her father. There are some giant wheels and small mary go rounds there and of course the camel which look quite out of place in this high land! The Tamil Nadu government has handled the tourism prospects of Yercaud pretty badly. There are trafic jams on Sunday and we did not spot a single policeman. When I asked at the hotel reception why this was so, the person there first made an excuse that there aren't enough police men and then added " they are busy looking after the VIPs"!!! There is a camel ride near the lake too and cycles for hire but no place to cycle in!On our way back from the Shevaroy point we also visited the Rajarajeshwari temple. Not noticing the 'no camera' sign I clicked pictures of the shiv idol near the entrance and the five faced Ganesha, but no one came rushing at me in rage, like in other temples.
In the evening Baba decided to join us in exploring two other points- the lady's seat and the gent's seat. The former is the more famous of the two and therefore more crowded. We had a view of the famous hair pin curves by which we had ascended the mountains. Baba made us pose for an 'instant photo' of the family which has come out pretty well! The gent's seat is higher than the lady's seat and has a closer view of the hair pin curve mountain side. We witnessed a beautiful sun set there. Then we went for some essential oil shopping at the Bhavani Singh factory store which has oils to relieve joint pains, sinus problems, etc. Then we went for a wholesome dosa dinner at a hotel nearby.
Breakfast was complimentary at Hotel Tamil Nadu and had idli, vada, poha, upma and dosa. We forgave the canteen guys for not bringing the tea on time... Full with the breakfast we hired a taxi to give the town a second look, this time with baba in tow. So first was the trip to Shevaroy point, Rajarajeswari temple, then Pagoda point- which had a completely different view then a quick round near Montford school and back to the lake in good time for the boating escapade. In the evening it was again the 4 of us for a round at the rose garden- children's seat which had yet another view of the hair pins- and the lady's seat. We missed the telescope views at the Lady's seat every time due to mist. On the first day there was bright sunshine but we were too late for the telescope and the next 2 days were misty...so...we had to rely on the naked eye! The children's seat is the cleanest and according to us, affored the best view of the hairpin curves. It has a ticket system and can be approached from the rose garden. After these points we headed back to the lake where we were met by Ma and Baba. After the mandatory coffee we retired for the day. Dinner was at Tamil Nadu Hotel and Baba declared that "Hotel Tamil Nadu IS THE BEST" (and bayonet in the backside of those who do not agree!!!), the Mr mumbled something about bad service and the rest which resulted in another loud assertion of the superiority of this hotel after which the Mr gave up! The food in this hotel was really good, and its proximity to the lake made it easy for Baba to walk there and observe the milling crowds.
We had watched the thrilling semi-final of the IPL the previous night which the Bangalore Royal Challengers had won, now we hoped to see them win the final...of course our hopes were crushed. We planned to attempt the trek to Killiyur falls on the last day at Yercaud. Bright and early the next morning the Mr and I set off for Killiyur falls- there was no water there (as the monsoons have not arrived)-but it would be nice morning walk site as it is unspoilt. This treking business is the Mr's idea, I would rather curl up with a book at children's seat, but I decided to venture out with him, secure in the knowledge that Ma would look after the sleeping kids. It was only a kilometer long trek, the path goes steeply down the mountain side to the base of the falls. We took an auto for the 2km ride upto the start of the path. " Rhumba down" said our auto man...off we trudged down the mountainside. There were sounds of chirping birds and the distant sound of water from a shallow stream that fell from high up in the slopes. An irate cock crowed at us for a bit, and then relented. I went down panting and puffing, but I was happy to reach the rocks at the bottom of the hill. I also managed to clamber up with the help of the Mr and am still living to tell the tale, that's an achievement for someone as unfit as me!! We wraped up the trek by 7:45 and were back at the hotel by 8. The brat bawled for sometime when she came to know that she had been unable to get up for the trek (she had slept pretty late), but calmed down when we promised another boat ride. After the huge complimentary breakfast we went off for the boat ride- no lines at the booking counter and pure bliss on a nearly deserted lake!
On this last morning we decided to visit the horticultural garden and orchidarium, which had been closed on Sunday. The orchid garden was a pleasure to explore even though it is not blooming season. An entire day can be spent here with ease. Then we took ma baba to the children's seat for the view. After some last minute shopping we headed off for Selam at 1pm. it was a roller coaster ride down hill and we reached rather fast. We had lunch in Selam and waited at the railway station waiting room. This time we found a very efficient porter who did a good job of bringing Baba to the waiting room and making him board the train.
While coming back the train was an hour and a half late and again at Bangalore we faced the wheelchair problem. The porter said that a train was standing at the platform from where the wheelchairs were brought and it would be difficult to get one before 11pm when that train is expected to leave. Baba became agitated and started shouting "wheelchair" at the top of his lungs, when he saw that the word did not conjure up the chair he agreed to walk some distance. After walking the length of the platform the porter finally dumped the luggage on a trolley, made baba sit on it and pulled it along to where our taxi was waiting. The inference from these strange occurances is this- the railway administration only expects the disabled to travel in the mornings, a little late at night, and the whole system works against them. Baba observed this morning that not only was he the only disabled person around but he was also the most elderly. So are we them making the conditions at our railway stations so hostile that the elderly and the disabled are unable to travel by the rail? Baba enjoyed the journeys and showed a lot of courage and faith in the Mr and me to agree to travel on the train with us in this condition. He has also started making plans for a holiday at Pondicherry next May! That revelation is going to give the Mr some sleepless nights! Anyhow, Baba's "bhaloi laglo Yercaud" (Yercaud was good) made us feel happy and increased our enjoyment of the place.

Taking a break

Phew! After two 'political' posts I am quite drained! Going to Yercud for 3 days to cool off...see you around folks! Folks? ehhh is there anyone out there...?

Prabhakaran: The Tamil Dilemma

Well, Prabhakaran is dead ( although some people still claim he lives) and Sri Lanka may be congratulated for rooting out terrorism from their land. Wouldn't India want to do the same in Kashmir and the US with Osama?? The world community was quick to condemn Sri Lanka in its failure to arrest civilian casualties, would the world community issue the same injunctions for the LTTE or do the terrorists not belong to the world? India is in a bind about how to react in this situation. Once again, the futility of terror as a means to settle political problems has been proved. In a violent form of protest you are invariably violating someone else's human right to life, thus jeopardizing your own cause. Problem of political representation, autonomy and rights have to be worked out through dialogue. The Tamils all over the world who are mourning prabhakaran must realise that after all he was a millitary strategist and he died the death of a soldier....fighting with his men. He would not have been able to speak the language of harmony for he represented the disruption of terror. The point is that he Tamil settlers just cannot demand a separate country of Sri Lanka while oweing complete allegience to Tamil Nadu in India, Vaiko and gang should reasilse that it is not their struggle. The most the tamils can ask for is non-discrimination and equal rights as citizens of Sri Lanka they cannot blast bombs all over the place kill Sri lankan and Indian ministers and generally create havoc and then hope to get humanitarian treatment and a separate state within Sri Lanka. if they are so keen on a separate land for themselves why not take a boat back to Tamil Nadu to the likes of Vaiko and party who bleed for them!? How can India, which is fighting a so called 'freedom fighter terrorists' at its northern border support a similar ideology amongsts its own people in another country.
Clearly, Prabhakaran has spoilt the Tamil case in Sri Lanka, the govt of that country will be cautious in giving powers to its Tamil residents and now that they have a military victory there are even less chances of Sri Lankan govt to pay heed to the tamil cause.
I feel sorry for all the innocents who lost their lives and the thousands who are still suffereing from injuries and psychological scars of battle. May there be peace and justice.

"Jai Ho!" , "Singh is King" and all that sort of thing.

It was heartening that the people of India gave a desisive verdict this time round. I was preparing myself for life under a BJP government of Mr Advani who would start construction of the Rama Temple at ayodhya, re-introduce POTA and enable Mr Modi to act like the heir apparent.in the worst case scenario we would have Mayawati as the PM leading a motley crew of Mulayams and Lalus and Paswans each trying to out do the other is making an as of himself/herself. Prakash Karat tried too late to prop up a non-Cong, non-BJP front. the man had started goofing up from the time that the Cpm started giving ultimatums to the Manmohan singh Govt regarding the nuclear deal. The left still uses the rhetoric of an imperialist conspiracy which was in vogue in the 19th century- even russia and China have given up such fears and have shown more faith in their sovereignty than our CPM. Only the other day the routine meeting of the Obama envoy with political leaders was said to be a part of the 'conspiracy' of imperialism to hijack our democracy and under mine our sovereignty....and when you see earnest fellows like Sitaram Yechury mouthing such bull shit then you start thinking whether the CPM will ever bury Marx's ghost and move on...Thereafter, like a spoilt child, reacting after its constant alarmist pleas to drop the deal with the US, it withdrew its support from the govt and vindictively expelled Somnath Chatterji who refused to step down showing more loyalty to the country's parliament than to this Party. Then again Karat's last ditch effort to lead a third front...did not stop him from contacting Ms 'silver throne' Jayalalitha who could not decide whether she was for or against the LTTE. The failure of the left to topple the UPA govt should have sown the seeds of doubt in their minds regarding their performance in these elections coupled with that the failure of the WB govt to deal with the Nandigram and Nano factory problem sealed their fate. Frankly, I feel for the left...I think the socialist ideology has an element of fairness in it. in essence it is humanist and looks to the welfare of the greatest number. However, rigidity in any ideology marks its inevitable down fall.
I can understand Rahul's appeal, he appears to be sincere in spite of his political naivete, far removed from the thrashing, bashing, power hungry melee.However I do detest the sycophants in the Cong party..." Of course Rahulbaba should be PM right now", " Rahul Baba will surely become PM one day", "rahul baba will decide when he will be PM", " The win was solely due to Rahul baba's strategy of ditching Mulayam in UP", "Rahul baba inspired the youth to vote for the Cong" only the "baba" was missing clearly the loyalists had started licking feet! However they forgot another not so young man ( Well Rahul will also be 40 next year...is that young?) Mr singh who showed tremendous amount of quiet fortitude, under attack from the Advani brigade he addressed all problems with a silent calm and resolve. I think this vote was also in favour of Manmohan Singh, if the cong had not stood firm in projecting him as PM, they would not have made a clean sweep. seriously, would you have voted for Cong if Rahul was projected as next PM?
Ah well, all's well that ends well. However my one regret is that out of all states Karnataka had to be swept by the BJP. Yeddy must have done something right! But here's a warning for Yedds...beware Sir, if you give free reign to the Rama Senes and the church desicraters then you too might be shown the door.don't ever forget that one cannot survive on culture which in any case is an ever changing notion the people still want what this country has still, after 60 years been unable to provide for them, roti, kapda aur makaan!

Bangalore Rap.

The other day the mite and I were caught in a thunder squal outside Total Mall with no umbrellas...I called to an autorickshaw but it seemed to have not heard and moved on, I desparately climbed on to the divider to cross the road- it would be easier to get an auto from the other side. Suddenly a young chap calls me ...."madam, the auto has stopped..." I turned back to see this boy pointing at the auto which was standing some distance away. The boy had no umbrella either, he had stopped the auto and come running some distance to inform me, it had started drizzling by then with loud claps of thunder..."oh..." I said bemusedly and then rushed to the auto and jumped in, and spend off without giving the poor boy a second look. I felt like a scum of the earth a moment later. Here was this boy who had worked so hard for me and I did not even say a proper thank you. I could have offered him a lift, after all, he did not have an umbrella either...but I was only thinking about ourselves! The people of Bangalore are very kind and I have to get myself used to their ways so that I may be able to repay them for their little acts of kindness.
Here the shopkeepers and the domestic help are in the the habit of calling us ladies 'Amma' or the shorter 'ma'. When they address you so, you cannot even argue with them, it sounds so beautiful..." No, ma, I cannot reduce the price on this" ... my mental response- "ok, son"...and that's the end of the matter! "Take this fish, ma, you will like this" - "very well son"...and so on. In Calcutta they shop keepers call you 'didi' till you look about 80 when they will switch to 'ma', or 'mashima', in Delhi they call you "madam" and if you are over the hill in their eyes then "auntieji" and later "mataji". They had started to call me auntie...it made my skin crawl, I would have cut some throats if I graduated to mummyji or mataji there...but here, the lilting 'maa' just melts my heart, it makes me completely defenseless. One of the reasons might be that it is used indiscriminately for women of 1-100+. The swimming coach used to call the brat girl in the pool saying- " Jump in ma..", the brat ofcourse has no feelings for this adress and promptly refused!
In spite of the arrival of the rain clouds it continues to be hot by Bangalore standards...I, however am enjoying myself as my parents are here, I have had them bring some old photos of our 'happy family' days and I am determined to scan them for posterity! Will post them here too...cheerio for now and a very happy mother's day to all the momma bloggers!!!

Down in the Dumps!

Seeing the Brat enjoy her swimming lessons I had felt reassured that it will be smooth sailing for her, however, things started getting unpleasant when the trainers made them do a breadth at a stretch. She just did not have the confidence to do it. The trainers made her go through with it by force. The next day she refused to dive in and the trainers had to throw her in and I could hear her scream from the other end of the pool! Suddenly she was not enjoying herself any more and I started wondering whether I had pushed her too soon. There were some kids who gave up early but out of those who had continued till now the Brat was the loudest protester! She could do the stretch every time and still did not want to practice again. The next day she complained of a head ache and we came away early...we both cried a lot that day...I was really shattered, to see all our efforts wasted like this. I felt she will never be able to swim again. Seeing me like this the Brat relented. Yesterday she bravely jumped into and and did the stretch at the 4 and a half feet side, but when they took her to the deep side it was the same story again- bawling the Brat bawl and refusing to dive in! She, along with two other cry babies were thrown into the water and they did manage to scramble to the sides to catch hold of the edges but they were crying all the time! I was completely at my wits end- I had explained to her that she knows the basics of swimming, her trainers are good and all she needs is practice- but to no avail, she hollered away the whole time! I had to bring her back. Today they had an extra class in the morning but she had school today... and she refused to go point blank! What I observed was that all those who had learnt properly were taller than her...maybe when she grows taller she will be able to overcome her fear. I used to be afraid of the deep side too but I did not have any trainer who was willing to give me time and assistance, and unfortunately my baby could not take advantage of the opportunity that she got. I was hoping to record a video of her swimming but in all this drama I just did not have the mood. Ah well, I did try to give a good start to the brat but sometimes fate comes in the way.

Ahem, a tag, at last!

I thank 2b's mom for having such faith in me, after I had made such a hash of her previous tag! Some friends just don't give up on you...(lump in throat and tears in eyes). Well I have been tagged to put a finger on five things that I love about being a mom- actually I can write a million things but I will try to think hard to zero in on what I like about it as of today...I am sure that my brat and mite will give me another million reasons to like motherhood again tomorrow.

1. Well, first things first, I loved being pregnant, the very idea of having a new life coming into existence inside you was exhilerating. Although I had high blood pressure throughout the first time and swollen face and feet both times, I did not mind at all.

2 Then out pops the baby, its first glance, the entire feeling when you touch the being who was till now inside you kicking away...it feels like all of your insides heart, lungs, stomach, liver is melting into a pulp, there is so much love that you feel like jelly!

3 When the baby starts feeding, that little mouth programed to suckle, making contented grunting sounds, it is difficult to hold yourself together. I remember crying out loud when I realised that my last baby is weaned and I will not have a chance to see another little one contently feeding, latched on to me!

4 When a million 'ummas' (kisses) are deposited on your face just after you have spanked a little bottom making them cry. they have complete amnesia- one moment I am screaming hysterically and the kid is throwing a tantrum that could shame a tsunami, the next moment a tsunami of kisses engulfs me! they have not learnt their lesson!

5 The sound of hearing the word 'mamma' a trillion times a day from the moment they get up till before you pass out at night, in different tones...better than any music...

buuus, that's it?...I was only getting started...anyhow this should do for a start!

Progess of the Brat and Mite: Swimming Lessons and Imaginary friends

The Brat is having a smashing time at her swimming classes. She had a minor set back yesterday because she could not flap the legs properly but I am sure she will pick up soon. Monday is off day for her, so she can try again tomorrow. The mite and I totter about at the poolside for the hour, he collects leaves and says the darndest of things- "aami baritei chaan korbo" ( I will take a bath at home)- he cannot understand why I bring his didi to this great mass of water for a bath, he wants to make clear that he likes to have his bath at home, thank you! The Brat had only one imaginary friend- a guy called Baalbul. Baalbul came into being when we had a power cut and our inverter was out of order- there was pitch darkness, something the brat had never seen, on top of that the adults were discussing what can be done to resolve the crisis. The brat declared that Baalbul the electrician would arrive and everything will be alright. Since that time Baalbul became a part of the family and we would have to have phone calls with him, feed him along with the brat and take him out with us when we went out.This continued for sometime and then suddenly my baby grew out of Baalbul. now if I tell her about him she gives a shy smile and tries to evade the issue. She does not want to discuss about him. The mite discovered his imaginary friends when he needed to pin the blame on someone for deeds done by him- so was born 'Du-du-du'and 'Walebabu'. "Mamma dekho Du-du-du auto ta bhenge diyechhe" " Wallebabu jol phele diyechhe" (Du-du-du has broken the toy autorickshaw, Walebabu has dropped water) and so on and so forth. Now he adds his own makebelieve names to these names- he was called 'Pink Pajamas' yesterday but now he is 'White Pajamas' and "pink Pajamas' is another friend- so is 'Biker', 'Dark Blue Pajamas', 'Face Face' etc etc. Now if all of these guys are upto something or the other, what does that make me- a mum on the verge of breakdown, what else!!?!

Sunday Excursion....Nandi Hill

We decided to push off to Nandi Hill on Sunday. It is pretty easy to get there, just board the 8:30 bus from Majestic platform no. 10- smooth sailing- no planning no bookings no complications. I think the Karnataka tourism department can ply a profitable volvo service in this route, but for now the State bus though a little worn does a good job, just a few puffs and pants and a little wheesing while negociating the hairpin curves on the hill. We landed at the bus stop on the hill in 2hours time. We wanted to explore the top of the hill so we took a car ride to the top instead of trudging up as we did last time. We walkind down the steep incline from the top and sat for sometime at the children's park.Then we walked around the Nehru Nilaya guest house exploring the garden. We had lunch at the KSTDC eatery which has a lovely view of the countryside below. Then we settled into 3 benches at the nehru Nilaya for a short rest. After resting we went to the children's park again where the brat went on the rides and the mite ran about and the Mr and I dosed off on the benches and watched the kids play. When it neared sun down we visited the temple and settled down on the mountain top for the show. It was marvellous. While coming down we saw thw lights of the city twinkling like a million stars below.
We had no idea how we were going back! The Mr sprung a surprise by arranging for a truck ride till Chikkaballabhpur! Now, we had taken two truck rides before this but this one was something else. The truck was carrying cardboard cartons folded and kept in neat piles. We clambered on and off we went. The mite was terrified so he stuck to me- the brat liked the adventure. The truck has no shock absorbers so it was a bumpy ride. When it turned at the hairpin curves it seemed as if the whole starlit sky was changing its position! When the mite shifted to the Mr's lap and promptly fell asleep, I could ly down flat on the cardboard piles and watch the sky- all the extra fat in my body was nearly shaken up well and truely! From the highway we got a magestic bus- we returned after having delicious appam stew at a new joint at Forum. A day well spent!

Blast It!

Another series of blasts and another story of complete unpreparedness of the police and fire services. Another case of prior knowledge and yet total neglect by the keepers of law and order. The public agony and frustration was clear at Guwahati as they screamed their grievances at the madia. The fire brigade did not come on time, the police were nowhere to be seen. If it was known that such attacks are possible then why wasn't the police on high alert? Why didn't they have proper drills so that the fire engines and the police can reach any terror spot as quickly as possible? No enquirey no nothing...only anguish and loss. Can the rage ogf the people get converted into some action by the authorities? Questions questions....no answer in sight!

Hai tujhhe bhi ijazat....

Day before yesterday I paused and thought...do I really have to do the mad rush routine now that the kids have holidays? NOOO was the answer, so I let go...I did not cook, I spent a leisurely morning at the net. Then took a leisurely bath and leisurely put nail polish on my toes (something I was meaning to do for ages)...and took the kids out for lunch! Nothing happened, the earth did not stop rotating, the sun did not set in the east and the Mahabharat did not become impure ( direct translation of Bengali saying 'Mahabharat oshudhho hoye jabe'). The result- happy me happy kids! Yesterday was also different, the brat went to Nimmi's house (our ex-neighbour who is still great pals with my kids) to spend the day. I went to buy prawns and cooked them for dinner. The mite and I went to Nimmi's house for dinner- she made lemon rice, gulab jamun and pepper rasam and I took the prawns. We had a good time on her terrece. Now I have decided that I will do minimal cooking and maximal enjoying!
This morning, the brat I had the mandatory fight in the morning regarding her attitude...however things have become better now when i fed her the watermelon that e had bought the other day. Looking forward to another peaceful day....jai ho!

Sunday Splash!

I do not know how to swim properly, and I did not learn to cycle either, so i was determined that my children should learn these things at the proper time. The brat has shown a lot of promise in this matter. She learnt cycling pretty much on her own because I was pregnant at the time and could not help her and the Mr was too impatient. All I did was insist on removing the balance wheels in the face of stiff opposition from the entire family. Now it is the turn of swimming. I was determined to start her off this summer. The classes start in April- but the kids are allowed to splash around before that. We spent a refreshing Sunday morning at the pool side while the brat tried to float and the mite skipped about on the lawns. Aaaaah bliss.

The Mite's New Game

A month ago the mite chanced to hear the song "mera naam chin chin choo" and since then he seems to think that he can rename himself as and when he feels like it. After hearing the Chin chin choo song he was 'Chin chin choo' for some time. So if we called him by his name he'd say "Nooooo....I am Chin Chin Choo". Now matters have turned to such a head that he changes his name everyday according to the dress and he expects everyone to call him by that name and takes offence if we don't. Now if I am admonishing him I can't remember the latest name he is going by so I say " Dark Blue Pajamas why are you digging your nose?" to be answered by " Nooooooooo... my name is pink pajamas" ! in dismay I realized that his pajama has been changed after his bath and therefore his name. Then he comes up and says stuff like "Mamma didda(his sis) is not calling me White Pajamas" ! To which the Brat says "I will not call him White Pajamas, then he is calling me Red Pajamas"! Thereafter all hell breaks loose! Finally I have made it clear to the little chap that he cannot expect his sister to remember his name changes so he better be happy with my efforts to call him what he wants. Today I had to inform his grandfather that he would have to call him 'Face face' if he wants any response from him on the phone! His t-shirt has many cat and rat faces so he named himself that this morning. I hope he grows out of this phase soon for the sake of my sanity!

So, who is listening?

Women's groups have put forward a charter on women's concerns to all political parties. First and fore most these groups have urged that women's reservation bill should be passed. Ha...women are clamouring for the this bill for at least a decade now, parties are not even ready to file women candidates, leave alone reserve seats for them. A few days ago there was another report where a BJP minister, who is herself a woman is giving an excuse for not filing woimen candidates "What can we do", she says,"no party is willing to file women candidates", what an excuse! What is the outcome of such charters which are "appeals" to the political parties. No political party attaches the slightest bit of importance to these appeals- these should be demands based upon women's constitutional rights. It would be better if these women's groups develop a cadre of women leaders who can be worthy of getting a ticket. We do not want horrors like Mayawati, Mamata Banerjee, Jayalalitha, Vasundhara Raje etc they make our insides churn. Can you imagine Mayawati as our prime minister- that will be a good time to immigrate! Is there no learned, sincere , socially conscious and competent dalit woman in our country? Men have made a complete mess of our political system, it is time for them to step back and allow real deserving women to take over, we do not want bizzare creations of males, we want self made and socially conscious women, otherwise no reservation bill can save this country. There are countries where the 33% reservation of seats for women is in effect in the Central legislature. Finland is a case in point, and the country is doing pretty well in every sector and specially in the social sector of the welfare and health of the family. I shudder to think what the outcome of the elections are going to be, but one thing I am sure of- the number of women in the legislature will be as small as ever.

The Brat's Art/craft attak!

The Brat Girl gets this attack around the time of her exams, when there are a million spellings to learn! Her room is in a mess- small pieces of craft paper strewn everywhere, fevicol tube oozing the stuff, also lying on the floor, scissors also dumped in the midst of it all. "Look, mamma, I made this for Dadu bhai thamma/Dadan-Didan/my friend/baba/you/mite/the auntie nextdoor/the uncle who smiled at me yesterday/what have you!" -that is the time that I blow the fuse because all this while I have not been able to tear my eyes away from the messed up floor! Anyhow, you might call me a cruel mother who does not let the imagination of her baby take wing, but that's how it is! Unless the brat learns how to clear up afterwards I will remain my unappreciative self, heck, I deserve a clean floor at the end of this. Moreover, her 'creations' are found all over the place from the next day onwards-I have to rescue them from being swept away by Rajamma, torn apart by the mite, sat on by big daddy and sundry other accidents-and I hate wastage of art paper and cellotape. Finally the unappreciated brat took matters into her own hands and took some pictures of her handiwork and now wants me to put it in my blog! Ah well, at least there will be some proof of her destructive and creative powers for posterity. Here she has cut up a few of her socks, used up half the electrical repair black tape and cut up some wool to produce these things which she promises will be given away and not be found being swept away by Rajamma! The pom poms are the same stuff on different back grounds, she is experimenting with photography too!

Clouds ahoy!

They came in ones and twos like errant little children, they formed themselves in lines dizzled a few desultory drops on us and since then are drifting about aimlessly....they do not seem in the mood...There has been no rain for over two months! Cool winds, yes, but not a single cool drop! Last year it had rained all through March, the scorched earth waits this time. For now I am happy to see the clouds- the monotony of day after day of a bright blue sky has been broken by these tufts of white cotton wool like masses sailing to and fro and often creating a dramatic effect at sun set. Well Bengaluru average temperature has risen by one degree..that I believe is very significant seen in the background of general global warming. We have messed up yet again!

A Lazy Afternoon at the Mavalli Tiffin Rooms

This Sunday we decided to visit the famous MTR near our house. We reached at about 12:30 to find a huge crowd sitting outside waiting for their turn to get in. Our hearts sank even though we were prepared to wait because we had heard that half of Bangalore turns up there for a hearty meal, and the breakfast disappears at some ungodly hour in the morning before you can say- idli,vada, dosa! However the crowd was very disciplined and there was none of the pushing shoving and line breaking that we were used to seeing in such cases in the North of India. Finally we had to wait only for about 20mins. There were comfortable benches for the waiting public. We had to wait for sometime on the first floor. It was evident from the height of the room and its large window that the house is about a hundred years old- solid and imposing. The young lady who has inherited this establishment is doing quite well- she was felicitated by some commercial organization recently. We saw atleast a 1000 people and about the same number were having lunch and throngs were at the gate-and each meal is for Rs100 so you can guess what kind of mullah the establishment is raking in!
The meal was excellent and had true blue Kannadiga flavours- the sago and bisi bele bhat was very good, so were the dainty fluffy dosas. We were served fresh grape juice first, then came a moong dal salad, kaccha kela vegetable, sago, coconut chutney, dosas, bisi bele bhat, raita, rice, sambhar, rasam, papad, curd rice, jalebi, payasam, ice cream and finally paan! We came back satiated! It was total paisa vasool!