Things I Say

Will now get either said back to me or repeated whether I am around or not. I keep learning and re-learning this lesson but never remember to follow it through...

The other day we (as in Babs and I) were stuck at a light. It is one of those lights that take for ever to turn green. I could have turned right but then I decided to go straight and we were stuck. For Babs, the time it took for the light to turn green was equal to how soon she would get her weekly frozen yogurt. Suddenly from behind she yells,

"Chal bey! Poora din rukhna hai kya yahan. Kitna time letha hai ye dakkan red light. (Move it you, do you want to take the whole day? How long will this annoying red light take.)"

I realized that I had passed on my road rage issues to my daughter. And of course you cannot blame me either. I drive 110 miles a day...the least I can do is scream my guts out when I get stuck anywhere on the road.

A Conversation with Babs to remember

Babs: Do you know what a crush is?
Me: Ya, like a squeezed fruit juice? They call that a crush in India.
Babs: No, not that one. There is another type.
Me: Oh, you mean like crushing you when I give you a tight hug? (me playing innocent."
Babs: No mom, like when someone has a crush on someone, it means they like them.
Me: Really? How old are you?

Ya, my daughter is growing old faster than I want her too. I want her classmates to slow down so she would and we could all slow down this growing old process...

But the stuff she throws at me...if only I could write them all down.

Merry Christmas
ART

I Can Hear My Heart Crying!

Not long ago, approximately five years ago, I gave up on the married-yet-single life. G and I became parents to Babs. I remember feeling left out when my friends went partying and we stayed home nurturing our little cuddly-puddly. And soon, it did not make a big difference at all. Now I look back at the time and I really do not feel like I have missed much and this past weekend it was attested.

Our friends and I left our kids with our baby sitter P and wanted to do dinner and a movie. The movie, Life of Pi was fun and then we went to a lounge bar. I had no idea what I was getting into. The place we chose had a live band playing inside a closed space and the mics were on a high. We could not find a place to sit and enjoy the music or eat. Finally the only spot we found was right next to the speaker/woofer. My heart started to cry as it thumped with every beat. I looked at G with a puppy face, "we are not young any more."

Poor friend of mine who was actually enjoying the music was also quickly pried out of her seat and we rushed out to enjoy the air with much lesser noise and I grinned. This was good. Just hanging out with friends, out in the open, thinking about eating and chatting. That is what I wanted to, not sit in a loud room, screaming over the music, and loosing hearing and speech the same night. I am older now than I was before and this is what I like now, and I am happy with it...

with that said, seven years to the day since G and I tied the knot. I still go back to my old Reception and Wedding posts and reminisce the fun times we had. 

Love

ART

Go Cats!

I remember writing before about how I felt about Manhattan, Kansas when I moved there. It is a real small university town and at that time no one there knew how to spell Vegetarian. Anyways, during orientation I signed up for a host family and completely forgot all about it...until one day I got a phone call. It was from JH. JH introduced herself and asked me if we could go out for dinner. She asked me of my dietary requirements (vegetarian at the time) and decided that I would enjoy salads (which I do not). So off we went to Applebees on a Friday evening. She picked me up, treated me for dinner and dropped me back. She was nearing 50 and a widow of the erstwhile assistant coach of K-States prestigious football team, the Wildcats...Bob Hope. She did this once every month. Offered to take me shopping or just to hang out. She was always courteous and polite and very nice giving me ample advice.

During the college football season, she offered to take me and G to a game. I had no idea that we would get prime seats, and an amazing view but unfortunately neither of us followed the game and sat through the ordeal grudgingly in cold. That was the only football game I had been to till 2012. Later on JH got re-married and moved away to Florida to start a new life and I have not heard from her since...that was 10 years ago...

This past Friday a friend and also a K-State alumni, MR called to ask if we would like to go our school game at TCU and he had free tickets...hell yeah! Babs baby sitter was arranged and off we went together...giggling and full of excitement sporting school gear! Because we went late, the only place we found was among the TCU crowd...but we got there and cheered as loud as we could. We rooted for our team with our mascot Willie the Wildcat, and stood on our feet the whole three hours filled with excitement. For once I did not need coke or anything else to boost my energy. The crowd was electric, both K-state supporters and the home team.

We started to win and the home supporters started to leave slowly...and eventually by the end of third quarter we were standing in the first row...we screamed for Willie to hi-fi with us and could not stop cheering as Wildcats finished the game. We were all so proud and inspired to see our 73 year old coach Bill Snyder do his thing and pull our team once ranked the "most hapless team" to be the #1 team in the country...

Then another amazing thing happened, the team ran close to us giving us hi-fi and fist pumps, I got to shake hands with our Heisman trophy contending QB, Collin Klein and then we took tons of pics with Willie who very nicely posed with all of us...and the rest of the walk back to our car we could not stop talking about the fun we had had...the excitement...

This had been better than the Cowboy's game we had gone to earlier this year...we not only lost but got booed by the guest team in our very own arena...how sad could that be...we left half hour before the game ended and so did most Cowboy's fans...

Anyways, the icing on the cake was when Babs asked me and G when we picked her up, "So did you guys have fun? Tell me about it."

I thought she will get sad if I told her we had fun without her but then decided to tell her everything to build the trust, and to our surprise she was not sad or mad but wanted to see the pics and pestered us to tell her everything about the game. She always keeps surprising us...

So Anyways...I will update with some pics soon...until then have a fun fun fun Deepavali/Diwali.

Love
ART

Falsetto!

I am really not a musician. I think can hold a tune and I believe I can sing but nothing that anyone other than me, and my daughter can tolerate. And as my daughter grows up I am slowly loosing my only fan...how sad is life for me. Anyways...when Babs was a baby we seriously indulged in Bollywood night and day but as she got closer to turning 5 she shifted focus to English songs. She knows all the new Pop singers and is in love with singing the songs.

Anyhoo...as we both listen to the songs on the radio I am becoming more aware of the distinction between western and Indian songs. At least for me...

• In Indian songs the women have to sound as squeaky as possible. I remember when the Usalampatti (Gentleman movie) song released everyone criticised the lady voice saying she sounded like a guy, which she definitely did. But that is accepted in the West, the women's voice can range from Adele to the Usalampatti singer and it is fine...as long as you have dinchak beats.
• Men in Indian songs have to sound male. They cannot get away from high pitches by switching over to falsetto, they have to keep it going base...but god does the west like the male falsetto? Have you heard Maroon 5? Beiber? MJ? Anyone and everyone like to sound like a lady at least for 30 seconds...
• This one is digressing...In Indian music videos women love to wear the tight clothes....
  

Random thoughts while driving my 100miles per day...and just wanted to throw it out there...

Thanks

ART

Son of a !@#ch

Driving on the roads of Chennai can make even a saint cuss...I really think that it applies to Driving, period!

The other day while I was stuck in a fashionable traffic jam my mind started to wander. I realized there were three types of people driving on the road at any given time. Most people vary between the two types and never adhere to any one type but the third category is a specialty one. Here is how my classification goes:


The Dreamer: I am sure that every driver has had the moment where he suddenly wakes up from a staring-into-oblivion gaze to realize that he has driven a few miles without actually paying attention to anything. He is really surprised and shocked at any small change to the driving monotony and is the one who will typically screech to a halt when awoken from a slumber.

The Driver: The driver who is honestly awake and is aware of his surroundings. This driver can be dangerous when they get on the cell phone because they feel they are aware. They are so aware of their surroundings that they drive 40 mph on a 70 mph road on the left lane while multitasking because they are confident. They are also the ones who might have their turn lights on because they forgot to turn it off, they are following the rules, at least parts of it. They also sometimes confidently apply make up while at a signal and spend a few extra seconds after the green light. They definitely get annoyed when you honk them awake or overtake them because according to them they are driving perfectly normal.

The Danger!: He/she is your maverick. The one with an amazing car with amazing brakes, amazing power, and the car with the looks...typically black or red sports car and can sometimes be the annoying pimped up pick-up truck. You have to watch for these guys, they are always doing 20 over speed limit, slipping and sliding in and out of the lanes, cutting everyone and waking up the dreamers. They tailgate the ones on their cellphones, honk when you slowdown and sometimes they even drive on the shoulder...and the best part is when there is a traffic jam, you sometimes tend to over take them and I always make it a point to try and make eye contact and smirk...most of the time they are so self absorbed that they are not watching you but their own reflection :) These guys can make your evening ride back home dangerous (I never see them in the morning drive, maybe they tend to sleep late).


And like everything else in life, if not for the different personalities on the road how boring the driving experience would be? And the only thing holding me back from saint hood is the few curses I throw around while driving home morphing anywhere between a dreamer and a driver.

And for that...I thank all the drivers...

ART

You Guessed it Right!

October stumps me. Every year it ends up being the most busiest of months for me. I have to schedule two parties and attend various other fun events that have been planned months ahead. There are a minimum of three birthday's to celebrate among celebrating Diwali, Navrathri, Halloween and other stuff. Unfortunately there are only four weekends and only so much time to get everything done.

Each year I tell myself that I am going to get organized but it turns up like my new year resolution, only heard  of and never to happen. This year after so many plans and ideas we scheduled Babs birthday at a Gymnastics place four days before her birthday not because we wanted it then but because that was the only day available. Unfortunately that only gave me two weeks to prepare...and you might think two weeks is a lot of time but it is not if you are driving 100miles per day for work and crash at 8.30 every night to wake up early the next day. I barely spend time at home or with family. Life has changed...

To make things interesting I push things to the end. I waited till the last minute and thank God my parents surprised me with a visit and helped me take care of things. The big day came, Babs had a blast and so did most of her friends. She was pretend Simba for a few minutes and that made her day. She also got tons of clothes from us that morning, a surprise, and she was excited beyond words. Phew!

That is the beauty of these things. Somehow these things workout...you wonder how but it always does. I ran around so much that day that I barely remember sitting down but the look on Babs face made it all worthwhile.

A friend of mine remarked..."now we can say our kids are grown up, there is no running around or screaming and yelling at pizza time." That was the only time I stopped by to check and see what was happening around me, during the rest of the party, I was a headless chicken.

On the day of the party...she dressed up in her Indian dress, wore bangles and helped me carry her photo board to her school. Mom accompanied us and she had a blast showing off her new clothes, jewelry, and her photo board. It was a quick effort because I had completely forgotten about doing it but it worked out well as it was one of those, "less work more pretty" efforts.

Phew! daughter is 5, and her teacher warned me that soon they will turn 16. I freaked out...I already feel that Babs is 5 going on 16...and boy I do not know what I would do with her if she was really 16...

Loving, Tired 

Amma :)

Almost 5?! Chincha? Really?!

I cannot believe that I have spent my last five years being a mother first and foremost. I had started at the job with practically no experience and now I can say that with five years under the belt that I still think I am a novice. I am not the typical mom you would come to with advice...be it potty training or feeding, it all just happened while I was at work...I really say that. Things all happened and fell into place and I was there to catch it. With amazing baby sitters and friends I managed through somewhat decently.

Now that she is older and needs more time and more influence I am stuck. She will turn five in two weeks and then her life will change...yes dramatically so and over night. She will realize that she is big now because I have been harrassing her with it and then I will have to teach her big girl stuff...you may ask, like what? and I will tell you because I don't want you think something else up...you see there are so many things a parent has to teach her ward(s) like biking, running without falling, swimming, tennis, ice skating, singing, dancing, and of course the omnipresent Indian guide on "How to become an Engineer/Doctor/or something really cool."

This is too much pressure on us...the parents...I thought I had left the pressure system back in India when I moved out but apparently a whole bunch of others also relocated with me to make my life hell and keep the pressure on...how nice of you competitive Desi Tiger Mom's...so now there are decisions...schools...private vs public vs charter. The charter schools are filled with Desi moms who are ready to train their children into spelling bee champs or geography bee smart Alec's. I am even being stereotyped by people around me...Seriously, I might look like it but I am not that...I hate to force her to study. I even took her out of Ballet class because she visibly sucked...and then had to re-enroll because she so desperately wanted to give it a try...not my call...see...I hate to force...

But I realize that I am in the education race that I do not want to be a part of. I am being forced and so I will force her and then we will be in the rat race once again...the race that I wanted to leave behind in India. I wanted her to have a childhood free of feeling pressured...with five comes a whole new realm of life and responsibilities for the parents as well as the child(ren) and as excited as I am that she is older now, a side of me misses the carefree parenting days, when going to the park or lying on the bed was fun and I did not have to worry if she knew her sounds of her numbers. I miss holding her while sat still on me because now she is ready to bound away. I miss the days of me singing and her enjoying as against her telling me to keep quiet while she sang...life has changed.

Here is to my little monkey who is going to be 5 soon. You are the best 4 year old ever (and 3 and 2 and 1 and 0). You never bothered me with morning sickness or learning how to pee in pot or drink from a glass. You were quick to learn and easy to raise. Thanks for making mommyhood easy for me and your Papa. We love you the most and when we are not with you we are talking and thinking about you. You fill the voids and everything around us. You make us feel full and in your words...when you are a good girl, you fill my bucket (heart) and when you are bad...you still keep it full...

Love
Amma.

PS: You can sing almost all the songs on 106.1 Kiss FM. Your favorite is Maroon5 (Payphone). I have strictly prohibited you from singing Whistle (Flo-Rida) though you beg me to hear it. You also like (love) One Direction (Beautiful) and love Katy Perry.

Keep singing and keep us all happy.

Sunrise and Sunset

As far back as I can remember I have always been a sunset person. I would rather stay up late than to wake up early.  On the few days that I did wake up early I always made a point to note how much I got accomplished but never managed to make it my lifestyle choice. I enjoyed satying up as late as I possibly could. That is, until college happened.

My undergraduate college days saw me waking up again at 6.15am or 6.30am at the latest so that I could catch the 7.10 train (and 7.15 bus in the first year) at Nungambakkam station and start my 42 kilometer train journey. I hated it so much but never once missed making bus or train. I had two good classmates who sometimes were on the road when I got out of home and gave me a ride to the station. Else, it took me 10 minutes to cover the kilometer walk between home and station. And yet, the location being Chennai I never saw the sunrise...as by 7.00am the sun was hitting you hot and heavy...

During my Master's, there was a semester I had to audit a course that was at 7.30am. Groggy eye, in Kansas winter I would walk through snow and ice and make it to the class barely on time and then post session would go to the student union and sleep the rest of the hours off. I was so involved in sleep walking once that I had ignored to check the weather and had to be escorted by a cop back to home as the college was shut due to a blizzard through which I had walked...of course, first winter in life...do not judge me!

And when I started to work, I was always lucky to work 2 minutes away from home. No kidding! So again, I slept through sun rise but made to work on time...again, that is, until now, when I have to drive across town to make it to my new job...the excitement of seeing the sun rise in my rear view mirror is amazing! The red ball of beauty slowly comes up on me until it blinds me through the rearview mirror. The changes the sun rise brings to the sky is something I cannot explain but you have to experience. I now enjoy seeing that happen and waiting for it to happen after the sky first turns, yellow, pink, taupe, indigo, purple, and then he comes up! ah ha!

So now, I am a sunrise kind of person. I go to bed early, shut down watching my Korean dramas by 10, spend some time watching regular TV or doing stuff around the house and then I am done by 11...I am still getting used to it, my body is shocked but I know, like all else...this too shall become a part of me...

ART

Omo Othuke?!!!! (OMG What to do??!!!)

Ya, it has gone overboard…I am really enjoying this Korean thing. The best part, all my BFF’s are into it too. We meet and chat about all the Korean drama’s, our favorite actor (KJH! Of course!) and actresses, etc, etc, etc. It gets funny when we start wondering if every Asian person we meet is from Korea.

Last  Friday when we had gone to gobble up some of the best Sushi ever in the world at Masu Sushi (try saying that name continuously…such a tongue twister) and I was begging to say Kamsahamnida to the server. My husband and friends told me he must be Japanese…so no Hanguko (Korean). I prevailed, I stopped the already funny waited and asked him if he knew Hanguko too…and he said…”Ne (yes).” I squealed then my girlfriend S also squealed and then it started. We had the waiter spend most of his time on our table because we kept talking to him in Hanguko and asking him Hanguk (Korea) drama questions. He was Korean, as were many others who worked in the restaurant and everyone came to pay respect to me, the Indian who now considers herself to be a Hanguk Saram (Korean). Ya Chincha (really)!

This trend started during the Olympics, where Babs would cheer for America, I would for S.Korea and G getting frustrated for us cheered for China. We screamed loudly, beat our chest, and hi-fied, fought, blew raspberries and what nots…but in my house it is established that I am Hanguk Saram.

Oh and then! My break with staying at home came to an end. I think being a SAHM suddenly after having never done that is really a shocker. I realized how much of a slacker I was but then I think I spent the most quality time with my daughter. Who, of course, landed up breaking her arm under my supervision. Shredded my heart to pieces and then put them back together by handling the situation better than I ever could have. Such is life. This summer was amazing. Trip to meet family at NC, beach, tennis, and family time. Then staying home and relaxing with Korean Drama. Met friends whom I had not seen in eons, shopped, fought and what not’s.

And then the big life change. From driving a max of 25 miles per day I am now driving 100 miles per day at least to the new place of work. It was one of those decisions I had to make and I am pretty sure that I could not have chosen better. Like my aunt always told me, “all for good.” I want to believe in it. I hate the drive but it is worth it.

I slacked off blogging mainly because Babs broke her arm and I was heartbroken and then that flowed into laziness and hopefully soon I will be back in full flow.

Love

ART

Handle With Care...

There are some people in our life whom we should be able to put inside a brown box, fill it in with a lot of bubble wrap, tape it tightly, and then write the words, "Handle with care." Then we should put the box on the top most, most far away shelf from our reach and pray that it does not fall out, and that you should not have to open its contents again. Worse, should they be broken.

Phew! Did that mentally, feeling relieved now!

They are like the gifts you hate, that you keep away and pray there is a good occasion to re-gift. They are like the things you should have thrown out years ago but keep saving it for the unknown use they will be in the far away future. Each time you see them while you clean you are convinced that it should be thrown out but you hang on...why? I don't know. Or maybe I do know and just do not want to write it down here. I wish I could let go.

Obviously, I have been cleaning my house...sort of summer cleaning...but the above metaphor is so true for people too.

I hear the newly installed wind chime go ting ting tang...my heart feels good.

Now the kitchen cleaning should start but I am afraid of the ghosts (and metaphors) I might find inside there.

Love
ART

Summer Cleaning...

My plans to clean the house took a backseat when compared to my Korean drama. My love for Korean drama has changed into my love for Korea and everything Korean. There are days when I look at my insufferable Samsung phone and still feel happy that I am at least owning one Korean product...similar to what my favorite actors hold in their hand in my favorite shows...I also regret not buying a Korean car...but that is not about to change now...I am just crazy...crazy for Korea. So any how, now I am back to cleaning the house and I made so much space. There is a lot more space available than before but strangely I have not gotten rid of many things, just displaced them and relocated a few. I am slightly freaking out that I might forget where I kept what but that it for the day when I will be searching for something. In the next couple of days, if you do come to my house, ask me to give you a tour of my closets :) I also started a knitting project. I wanted to knit a skirt for Babs but that took a wrong turn and got twice the size of what it needed to be, so I had to undo everything and re-start...should be done before next week took. I hope I get to do some painting too, that is one thing I have not done since Sanjana was born other than random ones here and there. The past long weekend, we vegetated in the house. Babs said something that sounded so like G, "I want to stay at home and relax, don't want to go out." Scared me and G...she also reminded G to take his own dishes away as she was not his servant (something she picked up from me). We also saw Chillar Party together and really liked it, now Babs wants to see it everyday... Today after picking Babs up from school, we waited in the pick up lane at pharmacy when Babs said, "ahhh, chincha." That means ,"ahhh, really" in Korean. And she also said, "ne, majeyo, (yes, that is right)" when I asked her if she did not nap in the noon. Makes me happy that my daughter loves to learn languages as much as I do. Right now, so smitten by Korean (hanguko)... And today when my car showed that it was 99 outside, I know for sure that it is officially summer, a little late but thanks for the most awesomest spring ever. I really hope that in contrast to last year, this summer is beautiful. Hopefully I start blogging and tweeting more often...I need to

Shoes!

Last year in summer I mentioned to an ex-colleague of mine that I had close to 25 or 30 pairs of shoes and I never wear all of them. This colleague without mincing words said, "I really don't think you have as many pairs. I have never seen you wear anything but these black ones." Which is a lie because I have been complimented by this same person for my different footwear and of course it is all forgotten because I really abused my black heels. They were comfy, easy to find among my shoe mess, and just plain comfy to carry me around for a whole day.

Now that I am relaxing and enjoying my time at home, I decided to clean my shoe rack first. And to my surprise I found out that I have over 40 pairs of shoes including my boots, and sneakers. I am really hoping that this colleague reads my blog so that she can see the photo evidence. The fact that I still don't wear all of them remains to prove that I am a comfort junkie and as much as I like to dress up, I hate being uncomfortable. So the black shoe stays!

Consolidation of the majority shoes/sandals that I own.

My most favorite shoes and sandals. I wear them at any given opportunity.

The snake skin print is my fav stiletto. It rarely hurts but always looks good.

The one next to it in white, was in brand new condition when this photo was shot.

Now I have worn it once and I had owed this pair for a year before I wore it out. 

I am sad...I need help sometimes.

These three are my next most comfy shoes/sandals. I love the turquoise with brown stilettos. 

The light brown one with flower is so comfy that I can wear it for days without complaining.

The strapped heels make me happy.

In love with this Steve Madden that is so comfy but also a wedge. I normally hate

Wedges but this one is not so high and so easy to wear. 

Last but not the least my wedding sandals. They are gold, with gold rhinestones. 

What is not to love about it. I have it worn it so many times that it looks like this now.

Now after all these years I finally organized them into the over the door shoe rack. They sit there easy for me to wear and I am trying my best to wear different shoe each day and not to repeat them. I feel so bad for all the money that I have spent and not using the shoes. It also sucks that there are some sandals that I have never even wore once. I am going to change that this year. Looking forward for a shoe filled year.

I want to thank that ex-colleague of mine for motivating me to clean up the shoe closet and also for giving me a topic to write about.

Love
ART

Missing Goa

The drive to work after dropping Babs was visually spectacular. There is a stretch between work and Preston Rd, that looks so green that I always tend to forget I am in Dallas. With the grey sky looming large everything slightly green also looked enhanced as if someone had played with Photoshop on nature. And then I missed Goa. I thought about all things I did in the 4 days at Goa. I felt that this weather would be perfect if it were in Goa, on the beach side, sipping a freshly squeezed OJ and relaxing in a beach hut. Aahhhh.....The beauty of the place has captivated me. I want to go back when I go to India next time. Can you believe it? It was my first ever time in Goa and that happened when I was 33. Gosh I wasted 22 years in India not visiting Goa.

And while talking about Goa how can I forget to mention Vivanta by Taj? We spent 4 beautiful days in the hotel that catered to everything we asked for. They gave us a spectacular suite because there was some misunderstanding, they gave us everything we asked for. The breakfast was amazing and even had Babs eating to her fill each day. The rooms were amazing, the pool was great, the kids were kept busy and the mini bar was spectacularly cheap. Mineral water was free and they packed us a free picnic and gave us beach towels when we went to the beach. Our room service guy, Prem, even folded all our clothes and organized our closet because we had left him a tip. And wait...there is more...another Prem and his colleague who waited on us at dinner gave us free appetizers and desserts because they felt we were like friends. They made sure that I got a crocin when I asked for it and that there was warm milk for Babs that they did not charge for every night. G reminds me each time, "no wonder you enjoyed Goa so much," because I got pampered and the day we left it was like a reality check for me. Everyone who had helped us in our four day stay came to wish us goodbye at the door. What more can we ask for?

Vivanta by Taj at Panjim, you rock...and Goa...I love you!

Love
Anu

Korea!!!

Of course I love watching Asian soaps. By that I am strictly excluding anything Indian. I love Indian TV shows but just not their soaps. They are too dramatic, a million episodes long, and nothing really happens, if you watch only one show in a year you can still catch up in fifteen minutes. On the other hand try watching any Asian soap, like stuff that come from KBS in Korea. They are short, sweet, fresh and most of them are shot like movies and are very interesting.

I had already declared my love to Asian TV long ago here. And I am happy that it has not been a one time thing, I am in love. I am in love with everything Korean. I can watch their drama after drama, and fall in love with it all over again.

So right now my most favorite is the show which is available on Netflix called "Lie to Me." It has Kang Ji Hwan (hero) and Eun Yoon Hye (heroine). The hero is a rich hotelier and the girl a smart civil servant. Fate makes them cross paths and then...well...it is soooo cute and romantic...phew...totally in love. Happy things on TV makes me happy.

Now, I can recognize Korean actors. I love Eun Yoon Hye. I have seen three shows of hers so far and all three of them are spectacular. My other favorite Korean show is "First Shop of Coffee Prince." And I really think Kang Ji Hwan is super handsome, especially when he smiles.

If you think the language sounds funny, try watching it in mute or low volume till you get used to it. I can now understand like about 15-20 words in Korean and the vocabulary is building. Either it is mid life crisis or I really am nuts but I want to learn Korean...hmm... strictly South Korean :)

Annyeonghi Gyeseyo (Bye bye)


Love (sarang)
ART

Careful...It Might Tear

When I was a little girl my father had these amazing collection of Britannica Encyclopedia and some other beautiful books, full of information, stories, and images. My brothers and I went crazy over it and wanted to read it all the time but my father had rules. First, we had to prove to him that our hands were washed. Then we had to choose which book we wanted and he would bring it to us once we were comfortably sat on the sofa. Then he would clearly explain the rules to us. No flipping around pages. Have to turn pages using the upper corner only. No earmarking. No tear. No smudge or smear. And I do not remember a single time I had missed any of his rules. All of us strictly adhered to it and eventually big brother S got the collection...hmph! If only I had known!

Anyways, so the other day I was telling G about how kids take books for granted, blah, blah, blah...and then when I saw Babs lift my brand new Ipad, I yelled out her rules to her and told her to hold it carefully. She is not to lift it without my knowledge and she should be sitting on the sofa. She cannot watch a movie holding it in her hands and has to be super careful. If she even hurt it a little bit, she will be hearing about it from me for the rest of her life.

Then I realized that I had just read out aloud to her the Ipad riot act. My Ipad to me is what my Dad's encyclopedia's were to him. Every generation has something that the younger will disrespect or take for granted...the cycle was coming around to me! It is catching up...I am getting old...

So Babs, if you ever think that I am strict, remember I am so because my dad was so...and we all turned out alright :)

Loving Amma
ART

Vagaries of Parking

I used go to Wal-Mart or any other store pretty often with or without G before Babs was born. Once she was born, G took care of all the shopping and I took care of the house work...we had to share chores...carrying Babs around everywhere was not an option, other than for parties, of course.

So once in a while when I do get out and go shopping I have issues parking. Like yesterday, I have three parties coming up and three gifts to buy, so I went to Wal-Mart. First I drove around trying to find a close-to-entrance parking and could not find anything. Then when I was about to give up, I find the first parking right across from the entrance...Bazinga! I pulled in, proud and happy smiley face, got out and went in.

I did not come out for the next hour and half. With my left knee in brace I walked through every single aisle and finally walked out with what I wanted. Pushing the massive cart around, I forgot where I had parked. As my car stared at me, I walked into the parking aisle, far down, only to turn back and run to my close-to-the-entrance spot. Now the happy smiley face was not there. I might as well have parked far away to start with instead of doing the slow drive of shame.

And this is not the first time it has happened to me!

Love
A confused ART

Illegal Parking

I am one of them. The ones that cannot relax when they do something wrong. I am the kind that is not meant for living on the edge. If the door to a park says, "shuts at sundown," then I am out at sundown. I will not park if some place says "No Parking," I will never drive more than 5 over speed limit (which is why G always does the long distance) and so on. Then I wonder...am I stuck up?

The time we were in Mumbai going around the city late in the night, I bugged G and his cousins about the safety of doing what we were doing. I wanted to enjoy but I was constantly on the edge. But that is me, I always wish I had, in retrospect...

The same happened this Sunday, on such a small scale that I was on the verge of legging it. I was to take my daughter to an Egg hunt. I bungled and missed the egg hunt itself but made it there to meet my friends. I had to park illegally on the street to take my daughter to meet my friends. I freaked out. I kept repeatedly asking my friends if it was OK, if my car would be there when I got back, etc. I was flitting and did not want to converse much, my mind was on the car. I bugged my friends so much so that we left the park in 10 minutes. I was so glad to find my car still there along with the 30 others who had illegally parked. In hind sight I wish I had spent more time with my friends and their kids but at that time nothing else mattered. Wonder why I am this (rhetoric, does not need an evaluation!)!

Also, of course, I mismanaged time and miscalculated distance and gave a wrong address to the GPS and go to the place 15 minutes too late...and my daughter had to miss her Egg Hunt...but all was well when she got to play with her best friend A for almost an hour or more.

Love
ART

Nature Can Kick Ass!

As the tornadoes swirled past my office building all of us huddled inside the cozy confines of the stairwell. I am glad tornadoes move fast else we would have all suffocated inside the overcrowded stairwell. My mind randomly raced through a list of essentials that I would have to pack if I had to evacuate my home. I was confused. There are so many things...then I started feeling sad for all those who were forced to leave their house or have their houses taken away by nature. Nothing can replace the precious hours spent trying to make a house into a home with all the little detail.

It was at that time I realized how much I miss the small things I had collected or mom had made for me when I was a child back in India. When I came (like most of us) to the USA, I came with whatever little I could cram in two suitcases and a hand luggage. Left behind were memories, trinkets, greeting card collection since I was a baby. Cards that my father had sent to us from every corner of the world he had traveled to. My dolls, my toys, my posters, my TV remote that I had fallen in love with, the favorite location on the couch, the awesome arm chair, the other favorite tees that did not make it this time, friends, and a life that I had absolutely loved. I missed everything as I stood in the stairwell trying to get in touch with G and Babs's school. And once again my heart went out to the people who got affected by natural calamities. Even the thought of not being grounded sucked.

When I was driving to pick my daughter I saw the clouds were still dark but moving away and things were calming down quite a bit. It was then that I realized that nature showed us that we can build awesome buildings, live great lives but when you decided to put the fear of God in us, it means business! I am so glad that you let Dallas get away with a few damages here and there and that most of us got back home to our families safe. And for that we Salute you.


Love
ART

Therapy!

On Friday last week, I was at my Ortho-recommended Physical Therapy session. I thought that they would make me move the earth with my left knee and went dressed in gym appropriate clothes. Of course I got disappointed. The therapist taught me how to lift my knee. I am not kidding...I learnt to do exercise like a 4 year old, lifting my left leg and my knee slowly and back or doing a knee squeeze. I gave the therapist my "Are you bloody kidding me" face and she patiently replied to me, "if you don't get your strength you cannot walk normally." I was put in place and now I embarrassingly do my daily 10 minute workout (hehehe) and G sits and holds himself from ROFLing.

This is really annoying me because I need to workout to keep my weight in check, I hate dieting so that is not an option. I have not worked out in almost 3 whole months. I feel like I am the kid who wants to start studying for the exam right after the power cut. I want to run when I cannot even walk normally without my brace! And of course the therapist strongly suggested that I quit running and even going for walks moderately for a while. How sad is that?

A Limping ART

Alone!

Shot this photo using my Samsung S2 Skyrocket during our hike at Brazos Bend State Park near Houston. Below the tree is Elm Lake filled with Alligator's, fishes, turtles, and other swampy stuff. It was an interesting hike!

Unabashed

The word unabashed is described as someone who is shameless.

In our daily life we walk past a lot of people who are super annoying and shamelessly draw attention to them self. These people when in close contact ruin your day for you. As much as you try it is difficult to keep them away. I know of one person who is unabashed and annoying. This person is the kind who will "fall into poop but come out smelling like a rose (as said by Megha)." They are the ones that make everything about themselves. And then they frustrate me into wasting precious words to make a post about them...see somehow it is always about them.

But without your existence my life would be boring...and for that I thank you!

Love
ART

What I Read...

I love to read a lot. There are times I am reading product instruction labels because when I am free I want to be reading something stimulating. I can pretty much read anything and form an opinion real quick. I read a lot of blogs online. Some blogs I love to read, some I love to hate and read, some I read because I am curious. I am through the process trying to know the person behind the hidden blog names and forming an idea of what they are. Some people intimidate me, some people make me feel welcomed and some make me laugh (in a good or a bad way). There are whiners, there are whimsies, there are the doers and then there are the pathetics. Of course, all this is my opinion and what I think of them and what I understand from their portrayal of themselves. I am sure you as a reader also have an opinion about me which is not always what I think of myself to be.

When I read the whiner blogs I snicker at them. I wonder why they cannot be happy with what they have and stop blogging. But if they stopped blogging then I would get bored without anyone to snicker upon.

Then I read the doers, the go-getters and I look at myself and I snicker at myself. How come I cannot do something like that, why am I stalled. They make me look within me, make me react and see what I would have done.

Then there are the whimsies, which make me feel at home. They are like me. I write because I want to and I write anything from fluff to family life but nothing that will change the world. No one will gain any knowledge or get enlightened reading my blog but it might make you happy (??) or sad depending on what we the Whimsies write.

Finally, the pathetics. This is the group that I love to hate. As my friend pointed it out to me today, they take the most inane stuff and make a post out of it. While the rest of the world is living life they are thinking about writing a post on something useless to make it look unusual. It is a talent, I give it to you but it is also so annoying. Post after post writing about your own awesome self and awesome life. They take the reality out of life. Yet, you need them to remind you that you are more grounder and also some more links to read and satisfy your craving to read...

So there, this is what I feel and this is how I categorize my blog roll. I think I am a whimsical blog but then each person has their own opinion. If a few of you care to comment then tell me what you think and maybe we can have a discussion.

Love
ART the Whimsy!

New Things!

Finally uploaded a pic of moi at the header of the page! That is the most latest me from our trip to Mumbai at Chowpathy Beach. I really do not have much to write about but I am still going to say random stuff to make up a post.

Once again this year I celebrated a birthday that turned me a year older and definitely not any more wiser than I was last year. My loving husband purchased an Ipad to celebrate the occasions. At first I rejected the Ipad and now I cannot wait for it to get home. We also picked up a couple of new Android phones (I got tired of waiting for Iphone5 and the husband wanted the change) and y'all know how I feel about it. Not adjusting very well to the change at all.

Husband did take me out along with friends to my favorite Sushi restaurant. I ate like a glutton and was sick the next day. That totally did not stop me from eating like a bigger glutton when I went to Houston. Speaking of Houston, we went to Brazos Bend State Park. We walked with the alligators and I had no idea how dangerous they could get else I would have never gotten off the car! It was an fun, tiring, filling (yum!), adventurous birthday weekend for me!

Another random stuff I noticed this year. I took off my birthday notification on FB and only my close friends wished me on FB or they called and wished me. The rest of the wishes did not happen. I was glad that I did not have to thank many people for wishing me routinely (like I do) after noticing the pop up. It was special!

The knee got better, yes it did and I completely forgot all about it while I was in India till I sprained it yet another time. I finally made it to the Ortho's office and I have been directed towards physical therapy (I had so wanted to avoid it). One more tear and the doc threatened me with an injection to the knee! No! So basically my life is filled with lethargy. Last year, I worked out almost 6-8 months of the year and I don't think I will ever be able to break that record. Damn you knee!

Otherwise Babs is growing up. Judgmental people around me keep making me check and recheck my parenting and then I start hating them for making me do that! But my love for the little monkey has only grown more and more, of course!

There, I knew I could write about myself for a post without really saying much! Well, I guess this blog is about me so I am justified in doing this! Yay!

So long folks...
ART

Samsung Galazy S2 Skyrocket Vs Iphone

Obviously this is not a very technical review. This is 100% based on my personal opinion formed over the last 7 days.

We picked up 2 sets of the Android phone last Friday. By Saturday morning we had returned one of them because it had a faulty GPS. So the hubby had another new phone in his hands. I liked mine and was happy that it was not acting up until the battery started to drain while it was not even in use. Thursday the following week I got my phone replaced too. I got it home to notice that Fry's had conned me but that is a whole another post.

This makes me reflect on owing an iphone for over 2.5 years. The same old 3GS that I bought the day it released 2.5 years ago still looks solid after numerous falls and still works brilliantly albeit a tad slow now compared to its successor's. The point is, it still works. I am not sure if the Samsung will work in another 2 weeks. The phone is nice, screen is nice, stuff inside are nice but what is the point if the phone does not work?

Therefore I believe Apple for their benefit utilize and use extensively an important thing called "Quality Testing" and provide their customers with Quality Assurance. Sadly, the same seems to be lacking with other companies. Apple also strives to fix your problem for free or gives you a free replacement within warranty. I really have not bought into their "Genius" idea though. I am sure that Einstein is rotating in his grave. I really wish Apple would catch up with technology fast enough so that the next Iphone does not resemble a past version of the Samsung Galaxy. Or maybe because they do such a good job at keeping their products classy that they take a longer production time and therefore miss out on some technology.

Eitherway, Apple rocks...Samsung is a nice toy only till it is working.

Love
ART
(A non-techi reviewer)

Region Matters?

The other day I was having this discussion about cancer with my friend. She went on to tell about a friend of hers who got a type of cancer and told me, "I cannot believe, this guy, he is a non-smoker, a SOUTH INDIAN, a vegetarian got cancer."

I wondered how important was the regional reference? Is that how cancer chooses it's target?

Love
ART

Of Size 0 and Buff Bodies

I finally saw "Dirty Picture." Finally, because everyone has been raving about Vidya's acting and she has taken home all the awards this year! As far as I am concerned the movie was good but not great. The story was predictable like any biopic and the movie was interesting and I enjoyed it but will definitely not do a second run. I am neither HOT for Vidya or Silk for that matter (Thank God!).

The one thing that made me LOVE the movie is that I am happy to see a normal sized woman on screen. Vidya could say that she gained weight for this movie and blah blah, but no one ever saw a size 0 Vidya. And I wonder why that is such a big deal. She looks beautiful in the movie. The fact that she boldly flaunts her belly made me smile. That is how it should be, that is how normal woman are. There is nothing ugly about it. I salute the return of the normal woman! It also fills my heart up to see her get all those awards while not being a stick figure. She is full and fully happy! Go Girl!

You know what disgusts me? This. Seriously? Yuck! All those 6 packs cannot make anyone happy. Someone is definitely giving something up to get there...you only have one life mate! So rethink your choices. Actors are not always made from six packs and normal men are not made from 17" biceps! Once again...Yuck!

Love
ART

Android!

Everyone knows my love for my iPhone! It is legendary. I have fought many a wars standing up for it. But now I have moved over to the other side as my friend noted. G convinced me to get the new Samsung skyrocket and bought me an iPad to continually indulge me in my Apple love.

I am typing this post from my phone and the swype technique of typing is awesome. Also am enjoying the nav system but the phone itself is taking me a lot of getting used to.

At the end of the day it is google, it was my first love, even before apple and I am sure that I can handle this change.

Love
ART

Roach!

I have always feared insects. I do not remember a time in my life when I have walked in a garden without being shocked (not surprised) by an insect. I do not dislike them but just fear them. I hate them touching me or stinging me (yup!). But of all the insects in the world, one insect intimidates me the most. The Cockroach. The reddish brown body with annoying antennae. The more annoying ones are those that surprise you and fly around. Thankfully for me, my entire family shared the same emotion towards this insect, as does most of the world...We totally disliked the Roach!

When I lived in India, the roach haunted me. I would never use a restroom without fully checking for its presence. For some odd reason, I knew it when a Roach was in the house hiding somewhere. I had a sixth sense for it. Dad was always prompt at getting to it and getting it out of the house. Dad was so particular that he made sure that roaches were not there in our house. So once in a while when it did come, you could see me running around screaming my head off. When I was ready to move to America, I assumed that America being a developed country and all would have gotten rid of the Roach and I could live without fear...that is until Dad reminded me that the Roach's biological name was Periplaneta Americana (Disgusting link, had roach pictures), and of course there are roaches in every corner of the earth. Yuck!

The first apartment I lived in Manhattan, Kansas was infested with baby roaches. My roomies and I observed an entire week of strict roach killing and keeping the house spotless to get rid of all the roaches. Things returned to normal but the hatred grew. After that, I can count the number of times I have seen a cockroach. I try to keep kitchen clean and bathrooms spanking clean to make sure the Roach does not come into my property.

The point I wanted to make was...Every time I went to India, I always wondered if I would be assaulted by roaches but in all the three times, I did not even see a single roach. But every time I got back after a 3 week vacation, a roach was waiting for me in Dallas. I am anal about leaving my house clean. I clean the fridge, The shelves are cleaned, the house is swept and mopped, clothes folded away, beds are made and the house looks brand new and yet, an uninvited guest spends a few weeks at my house. How annoying. I hate you cockroach!

Yesterday, I was admiring my new sugar/coffee/tea storage bins and wanted to transfer sugar into its new container. Besides me G was standing and serving dinner. I opened the shelf and time froze...

• Something wrong in this picture
• That thing is odd. 
• Oh!I think it is a roach.
• I have never seen a roach at eye level.
• F@#$ it is a roach!

As things finally moved from slow-mo to normal pace, I shut the door and ran out screaming. G looked helpless and said, "This is the one thing I cannot do. I hate roaches too." Babs saw me do the "Yucky" dance. We then decided to keep the closet shut and run away to the living room. I got the bug net and kept it close to the kitchen door and we decided no sugar for the rest of the evening.

Thanks to jet lag, waking up early we saw a roach (not sure if it is THE ROACH) walk around the living room. G picked it up and threw it out. But I still fear opening shelves now. Hate you roach.

Love

ART

PS: After living in Texas, I also dislike the Cicada bug. But then I freak out at caterpillars, butterflies, moths, and everything else...

Back home and Back

Before I left for India I was dreading the trip. I was going to be away for 30 days, never done that before. I was going to be taking my 4 year old to India, for the first time. I was not sure what to expect of what to do. I bugged all my friends with my fears and now I know that I was definitely over reacting. India is my homeland, the place where I have my most fondest memories from. How did I even think that something could go wrong there? I am not back, a lot wiser, happier, and of course heavier.

My mother-in-law (here on referred to as Mom), took care of all my tummy needs. Father-in-law (Pop) took care of my extra-tummy needs like sweets and other random desserts. They also took care of my daughter while I was swamped in luxury getting my hair done or hands waxed. They were happy to be with their grand daughter while I for the first time in years had some time off for myself.

My daughter on the other hand was off making friends and playing with them at the park every evening. She mentioned it to me the other day about how fun it was that she just had to get down from our flat to meet her friends and no planning or driving was required for her to have fun.

We visited so many place in Mumbai during my 3 week stint that I now know my way around Mumbai. First we did the touristy things to show Babs around. We went to Juhu beach, bandstand, Chowpathy, and made sure that she did not venture into the water. We took her to Elco Market and made her have their famous Paani Puri's. We shopped around a bit with her first and then without her. We took her to Siddhi Vinayak's and a whirlwind trip around Versova with friends. She had a blast.

Then without her, G took me to a late night drive to Worli Sea Link alone first, and then with his cousins. We hired a cab at 1.00am and told him to show us around Mumbai. First we thought we will do a drive to Sea Link and back but once when we got there, we decided to drive ahead. We went to South Mumbai, and from there to Zaffran, a restaurant, took the cabbie with us and had an awesome post-dinner dinner. Then we drove to Gateway of India before heading back on Sea Link again. This time we forced him to stop in the middle of Sea Link to pose for photos. The driver was scared but we prevailed. And by the time he dropped us back home it was 5 in the morning. We saw the bed and we crashed!

Then there was Holi. So much fun with kids in the neighborhood. G and I took to attacking bigger kids with our pichkari's just to annoy them. At first the big kids did not want to retaliate but after a while they had had enough and the war began. Babs was completely colorfully drenched. And to end all this, there was a feast waiting for us! How nice!

Oh!And did I mention our trip to Goa? We got to stay in what I feel is the best hotel ever. Will write about it in a separate post. The beach we chose was Ashvem beach for a whole day of relaxing. The kids had a blast, surfboarding, playing in the water, swimming, building castles. Then we did the Aguada fort and Church of St. Francis Xavier. The best part of it was the meeting of three friends. G, and his best buddies with their families. All of us had such a blast.

Then we did a stop over in Pune and a day in Bengaluru. At the end of which Babs was running a constant temp and when we went to Chennai we were confined to my friend S's house for a day and half waiting for Babs to recover. When she showed very less chance of recovering, we just drugged her and started going out. And she for her part was not behaving sick while Tylenol kept her happy. After a doc visit and some anti-B's Babs was back in action and Chennai was fun.

My knee that had bothered me a lot was awesome the first 3 weeks and then it acted up on me again. But in spite of it, I was out all days of the week doing something or the other. G and I had only 3 inactive days totally in 30 days! We always seemed to have a plan for the next day. More Desh posts to follow till I get over my India fever (never!). Till then...

Love
ART

Wow!

So five years did not change India much. The roads are wider but are filled with more cars than it can handle. People are still there everywhere in your face and have no problem getting into your business. Clothes, sewing, spa stuff are super cheap and affordable still. Yet, Rs.1000/- leaves your hand like you spend $3 in the States. But at the heart of it all, it is the same old India.

I came here freaking out that I might have a problem adjusting because I have changed, my lifestyle has changed but boy was I wrong. It took me all of 5 minutes before I started avoiding eye contact and figuring a way to avoid the crowds. I enjoyed riding the cab and ever ready to enjoy the food. Using the bathroom that has no tub and just being who I always was. I now instinctively wash my feet before sleeping and do the same for Babs. I ignore the urge to pee if I outside and hold it even if I have to for 8 hours. I can move out of India but India is still inside me and manifests every time I am back home.

The whole idea of vacation makes me feel like an outsider looking and judging India for what it is. I am constantly analyzing if I will fit in should I move back. I am afraid that I will be one of those despicable NRI's who spoil it for the rest of us...

And then my daughter comes running to me after playing in the park with the new friends she had made that day and tells me. "Amma, I am Indian too. I like India and don't want to go back to US." I reminded her, that she will have to go to school in India also. She thought for a second and then reassured me, "Does not matter. I made 4 friends in 2 days, I like that." And that sealed it for me too. My daughter with all her playfulness pointed out to me the best part of India, it is easy to make friends when you go to play in the public park.

So yes, India has not changed at all and fortunately for me, I have not either :)

Love
ART

Baby can walk!

With outstretched hands G stands at one end of the living room as she waddles towards him. Both of them grinning ear to ear. It is a first! yay! Baby can walk! Awesome!!!!!!!

That baby is me! I am now able to walk short distances without limping. Of course the limp comes back once the knee does a warning jerk, tightness or a shot of pain. The point is I can walk.

And it was funny when I walked out of the room, looked at G and told him, "Stand across the room and see me." G could not stop laughing. The comedian in him took over and he immediately acted like I was the 11 month old Babs trying to walk to him. He kept moving behind as I neared him and we were near tearing.

Love
An almost walking ART

Trying to Rest at Home

I have been really sick before but I never took the time off to stay home. I was always back at work. I felt that if I stayed at home, I would be cleaning, organizing, sorting, and doing things I did not get done before. The last time I did that was in Feb of 2008 when I had flu and I could not move a limb. And now again, I am at home spending time on the couch. I cannot move and do any cleaning even I wanted to. The knee hurts, so I am sitting with heat pad to the back, cold pack on my knees, water bottles, remote controls, phone and laptop with lotsa pillows and blankets. I really hope not to move though I did sweep the house clean. I could not bear to see my hair taking over the floor space.

At the same time, I am sitting at home feeling super guilty that I have sent my daughter who has a cold to school because I really cannot take care of her the way I am right now. Mentally too, I am exhausted and I am really short with her. The guilt is immense but if I recover soon, then maybe I can take care of her better. I don't think that with a broken knee I can do much of parenting other than asking her to fetch me things (which she does beautifully) or to sit down and be a good girl. So I have convinced myself that this is good.

Mommy guilt sucks the most in the world. If only there was a way I could meditate the whole thing away...how nice would that be?

Since I am at home, doing nothing but sitting on my ass...I might actually post today...random things. I really want to sort the pics from our SFO/LA/Vegas trip. Hopefully I do that and get them online for family and make the album I wanted to do...lets see...

Love
ART

Em-Brace it!

Most of the time when someone gets hurt they always have a good story, or at least a story. Well, I am obviously different. I have hurt my knee really bad, for the first time in my life, and I do not know how or when it happened. I am in pain, unable to walk and still no story. I rake through my brain, and nope, none. I twisted it and have no recollection of when! Well, that is taking being Clumsy to a new height...a "forgetful clumsy."

The only background I can see to the story is that I went for a boot camp on Friday, but that was two days before the pain started. Maybe I had strained some ligament after the boot camp and when I jumped out of our very high bed I twisted it. But again, no real solid story, just a surmise because Saturday and Sunday I was perfectly fine with the normal post-boot camp thigh pain which is painful but fun (you know it!).

At the end of it, I am sitting with a possible LCL tear (hopefully that is what this is) and a prayer hoping that it wont get any more complicated. I am wearing a brace, taking thrice as much time to get chores done, getting no chores done, feeling super sorry for myself and crying at random things (yes I am super emo like that), expecting my 4 year old to take care of me (yep, dependent too), limping, screaming while trying to make turns, unable to sleep comfortably, icing the swelling....and more...I can go on but I am going to stop before everyone starts hating a me, the cribber...but you get the point, one torn knee and life goes downward.

Anyways, I took Babs to Beauty & Beast on Sunday and she loved it!

Love
ART

My throat is Sat

I would love for Babs to speak at least 2 languages. I can fluently 4 languages and communicate in 4 others. The advantages for that need not be re-written by me. Since she started school after summer this year, the task is getting more and more difficult for me and G. We try to remind her to talk to us in Hindi but she switches back with no difficulty to English and almost always has to be threatened to translate it for us. There are times when G and I play the silent game where we do not respond to her until she switches language. All this is painful, really.

During New Year's Eve party, Babs and her friend R were screaming their lungs out, dancing, running around, and in general tired. When I sat down to take a break, Babs ran to my lap, relaxed on me and told me in a hoarse voice, "amma, my throat has sat." All of us burst out laughing. She was literally translating, "Mera gala bait gaya," into English.

*******************************************************************

While we were in San Francisco for the year end we visited Berkeley a lot. All of us awwed and oohed at the awesome campus that nature had made for the university. Mountains on one side and the bay on the other. Wow! So Babs kept asking what it was, and I told her about the awesome school that Berkeley is...

When we got back to town, I had to get Babs re-updated to school life and I started helping her with spelling and simple addition. While I was folding laundry, she was busy doing her 6 sums, all single digit addition, and it was taking her a lot of time. Suddenly she looked up and asked me, "Amma, which one should I go to? Berkeley or Harvard?"

Me: What? Why would you ask that?

Babs: You tell me that if I study well, I will go to a good school right?

Me: Have you added 1+6 yet?

Ya, I have spoken to her about Harvard, and I threaten her from time to time that if she makes it to a community college then ma, and pa ain't funding her...but I am really hoping that I will not be a parent who is hovering over her child all the time...but who knows...lets see...

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On January 8th, we took Babs to a full length feature (animated) film in a theater. It was a gamble. I was worried that she will talk too much (which she did), and I was worried that I might disturb other patrons (which I did not). I was also worried that I might not enjoy the movie (which I did) and worried that I will never do this again (I am so going to...Beauty and the Beast...here we come!).

The movie was Tintin. I picked up some Quesadilla for her and a lemonade and I made her have her dinner while watching the movie. She had questions from time to time because she did not know who was who and what was what but she whispered most of the time. She was always concerned for Snowy and did not care much for others...

At the end of the movie, she tells me, "I love Tintin."

Ten minutes into the drive home, "Amma tell me about the movie, I did not understand anything."

Two days after the movie, G and Babs were doing Captain Haddock and Red Rackham style sword fight using her thunder sticks! 

I know, she got it...in 5 years she will also memorize all Tintin books like the rest of us! :) Cannot wait to re-read them with her.

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Right now her favorite songs are: Lukka Chupi from RDB,Aadat Se Majboor from Ladies Vs Ricky Bahl. She is always singing one of these songs. I had forced her to learn Yamunai Aatrile but she prefers to sing Lukka Chupi. I am the one singing boy part...and I love to jam with her...although my singing credentials are totally suspect...I love singing with her.

In the last 6 months, she has learnt to color within the lines and also know her alphabets in written form too. She can count a bit and can try and add...though 1+6 to her as E=mc^2 is to me. We are making progress but my hectic work schedule last year completely took me off working with her on anything.

Before I sign off, here is her singing Yamunai Aatrile! Please pardon her pronunciation, though now she has become better at it.

Love,

Your Amma