Pratham the Pious one

Yes, we would call him that now.

Firstly neither Krishna or me are too much into piousness. We belive in GOd and celebrate all the festivals. We know our shlokas and mantras. But we surely are not the type who do all the fasts and celebrate every tithi that comes in the hindu calendar.

But Pratham is showing signs of godliness!!:-)

It all started when he saw a foto of Goddess Durga at Mali Maushi's place. This one had the godess replendesant in her glory, perched on her tiger and carrying all weapons and items in her numerous hands.So Intrigued was he that he insisted on knowing more about her and well i told him the story of Mahishasura and Durga. He loved it sooo much that he was asking to hear that story and was also reciting it to every person who showed interest.

His Durga Story recital has become a rave in the family. Cousin, grandparents' favourite request is "pratham tell me the story of durga". I have captured it here, you can hear it too.

The next in line is Shlokas. Usually while bathing him, i say the shlokas. But now he insists on specifically learning them. Of course I am more than ready. Its such a heartening sight to see him with hands folded in reverance , standing in front of the POoja Mantap reciting all the shlokas. At the time of writing this post he can clearly recite the folowing shlokas

GururBrahma

Shantakaram

Gangecga Yamunechaiva

Yaa Kundendu Tushar (A HOT FAVOURITE) [> herevers all goddesses saraswati included

Vakratunda mahakaay

Durga Arati

Karagre Vasate Lakshmi

Krishnaay Vasudevaay

Shubham Karoti

Divya Divya DIpatkaar.

I will slowly introduce bhagvadgita and the like...

He loves visiting temples and usually when we move out on weekends, a trip to a nearby temple is a must. You should see him pray with his hands folded and actually recite all the shlokas. People are usually amused at this sight. Some actually asked him to say aloud and yes he humoured them.

Pratham basically is a very obidient child. He does childish mischief but is otherwise very disciplined, non violent and well a gooood boy. Nowadays he has taken to asking me "Is Durga Devi happy with me? Am i a good Boy?" I feel soooo touched... My Answer usually is -> Of course!!! My Baby you are the best. She is veryyyy happy with you.

If at the rare times he decides to be naughty, all i need to say is "hey Durga Devi will not like this!!!" and welllll the naughtiness stops right there!

Hows that for quality disciplining?

Pratham speaks 6 languages

Yes, thats true. Like all parents, I always like to note my baby's giftedness. The one I am going to blog about today is his multilingual-ness.

Pratham started speaking proper sentences a little above 2 years. For that matter We always spoke to him in our mother tongue konkani. Unlike many indian parents who believe that its better to teach their children English, we reasoned that he would pick up english when he went to school and its best that he learns his mother toungue well. So right from the time he was a baby, we and our family members always spoke in Konkani. Even as a baby of 2 years , pratham prattled and lisped in North Canara Konkani. He picked it up while i was away on my work trip to the US. When I came back i got to hear my baby speak in this accent of Konkani so unlike mine( mine is a mixture of konkani, goan and marathi hahaha) TOday ofcourse he speaks like a seasoned guy.

The Next language he picked up was Telgu. How come? well... at this daycare that I first put him, the aunty knew only telgu. The few english words that she spoke were typical south indian accented(!!!!) so we had Pratham say "Aepil" for Apple and u get the drift? so from 1 years to 1.5 years he understood telgu and seems conversed in telgu with the aunties there. Of course back home with us, he never responded to any other languages other than Konkani. Even today when some people try talking to him in telgu, he responds(in english though) but looks like he still remembers the language.

The next in the list is Tamil!!! yes , no surprise actually, bangalore has more population of tamilians than kannadigas. This he picked up at his later daycare where all the caretakers are tamil. I am told that he spoke in tamil and was very much a tamil guy. He actually tried speaking to us in Tamil, but we are illiterate of that language and told him that we cant understand it ( this was when he was around 2).

Now comes the turn of English. I think he picked it up in the daycare again. The Daycare incharge speaks in english and well thts where he must have picked it up. TODAY he is extremely fluent in english for a child of 3.5 years. Surprisingly, during our US trip last year, he didnt venture to speak English at all!! But the moment he landed back in india, he had a new motto - When at home speak Konkani, But when out speak in ENGLISH(even with papa and mama)!!! Its funny to see him speak to the house maid in ENGLISH when the poor thing doesnt understand one word of it. What more, the daycare ladies are telling me that he no longer speaks to them in tamil but only in ENGLISH!!!!! He has become quite an english man !!! I will blog about his prowess in English. U will be surpised!!

The other two languages are Marathi and Hindi. He understands them to some extent . He tries some Hindi sentences and sings songs in marathi.The other day he said "Ke Kar rahe ho" in a funny accent. He meant to say Kya but ended up saying Ke and well.... i am afraid that he was getting a southindian accent in his HINDI. OOOOO NOOOOOOOOOOO!! Alarm bells in my mind.

I am soo proud of my son speaking so many languages and that too picking them up on his own.
During our recent US Trip, I remember speaking to a cambodian lady now settle in US. She was proud that he knew "2" languages" - english and cambodian. I almost laughed aloud(no i didnt ) when I informed her that an average Indian speaks 3 languages at least!! and my son all of 3 years old speaks 6 languages!!!

lemme see which is the next language in his reportaire!!

Food for Thought..

One way to identify colleagues who really care about you

-- Put down ur papers

-- send ur Bye bye mail

-- people who really care, will contact you whether they knew about this before or just then. Others under the guise of busy-ness and indifference will ignore you.

Hows that for a sieve of people to hold on to?

Marathi Ganyanchi Mehfil - January 15, 2011

Friends , Remember I had blogged about a Marathi Mehfil to be held on Jan 8th? well anyways that got postponed to January 15th. Yup on Sankranti Day.

For me this day is special . Not becoz its Sankranti, But because its my MOM's Birthday.

Sooo.. this Mehfil was more like a Birthday gift to mom, only she couldn't attend it since it was held in Bangalore and she stays out of Bangalore.

BTW the Mehfil was a huge success. Everyone praised it. Especially, my singing skills.

Know what? Pratham proved that he can sing publicly!! Yes , When Kris and me sang the duet Koligeet "Gomu Sangateen" Pratham joined us and sang the whole song by rote!!! We were soo surprised and also soo happy. It just proved to us that He is musically gifted and reinforced that he has a highly developed grasping power. While both of us were looking into the lyrics whiel singing, Pratham just sang along, no paper and all!! Anyways guys, remember he is just 3 years old and doesn't actually read!!

Also, this was a good opportunity for Krishna to venture into performing arts world. He sang really well for an untrained singer. No Besur Swara anywhere, a little voice training and he surely will sing like a pro!

The snack were potlucked by all of us singers. We volunteered to get Dhokla.

Now this is an adventure to remember . The first set of Dhokla that we prepared was done in the Microwave for the very first time and welll.... it didnt rise too well!!! Worried that it might not be enough , Kris Set off to prepare another round and this time in the Pressure cooker. This puffed well.

moral of the adventure -> Dhokla rises well in the cooker and not the microwave! HAHA

Kris also wanted to prepare SolKadi. I wasn't much for it since we were supposed to have softdrinks. But Still Kris Pertsisted and prepared luscious SolKadi(visit his blog for the recipe).

By the way, it was such a hit that no one touched the soft drinks and welll there was no Solkadi remaining for either of us to savour later!!! Atta Boy Krishna.

This Mehfil thus was a great one for us, our entire family enjoyed and also got acclaimed for our skills.

As For me, now I m enthused to organise more concerts in the future, I do have one planned and will shortly blog about it. Watch this space.

For more details on the Mehfil please visit Swara Shraddha Blog Post here

Had my Cake and Ate it too…

So after much thoughts and discussions I put down my papers. What were my reasons?

Well, Delivery roles in IT are extremely stressful and time consuming. In the projects that I worked in the past, I saw work affecting my family ie my son – I had very less quality time with him and hubby – he had to sacrifice on his work as well as personal front. Yes it did help to have a helpful and understanding hubby, but when his career starts getting affected one falters. And Falter I did. Of course my permanently hurt back (courtesy long hours of sedentary work) also gave me a jolt to reality. Of course I did try to find some less demanding roles within my current organization... But nothing really worked out. Signs of promotion weren’t anywhere near the horizon… it didn’t happen when it was supposed to , I couldn’t wait anymore. My thoughts were -> Why lose on both family and also career front? And I took the decision (again in collusion with my family) I put down my papers…. I resigned….

After 6 years of working in this organization… I decided to leave it. Indeed was a tough decision.

After I sent across my resignation, coincidentally one of my earlier Senior managers offered me a meaty role.. after much deliberation I gave that up and went ahead to sail through the 3 months of notice .

And then yesterday , ie one day before my Last working day I sent my friends a mail title ‘Au Revoir` ’

Hi there,

As my last day in ****** seems imminent, I cannot help but cast a retrospective glance on my first years in Accenture. I remember vividly how excited was I to get this offer back then in 2004. Ignoring the other offers in hand I had decided to place my destiny in the hands of this organization and decided to give it my best shot.

And give it I did, the initial years have been a fulfilling set of years. I progressed in both my technical and management skills. I am thankful to that. Every Project I worked in Accenture has been in a different technology and a different management flavour. This in itself was gratifying. Back then I didn’t consider leaving.

But Time flies friends. Thoughts change. Experiences teach you a lot. Also Priorities change.

I have taken this giant step (to me it is) and hope that I now succeed in my next Endeavour. Wish me luck.

As I leave today (tomorrow to be exact, I write today only because the account may be disabled tomorrow morning) I carry with me the good memories of the times I spent with you and ******.

Wish you good luck.

Reach me at ****** or *****

This mail pretty much sums up that I will be with out today. (if you want to see the responses to this mail click here)

And now the action starts….

Another of my erstwhile senior managers contacted me saying

I really wish we could have figured something for you. At least I can think of one or two options from moving to ABCD team under me or even roles like XYZ where we can leverage from someone like you with effective communication/planning skills incase you are open to non-technical role for a bit…

Do reconsider as we can always reverse anything even at the last minute.

If you have made up your mind, then my best wishes to you for many more successes and new experiences.

Friends that was a sweet mail for me. The feeling that someone , no, a senior manager cares for u!! I say to her – Thanks Shanthi.

Anyways, I replied in negative to her and yet my train of thought was in the direction of the roles she mentioned. And as if in answer to my thoughts Shanthi called me on my mobile and we had a great discussion!!!!!

Yesterday ended up in discussions all around trying to figure out whether this is what I would like and the other logistics. Hubby dear was all for it. (Love u a lot Kris)

ANDDDDDDDDD I sent my withdrawal mail to HR. Ah the rest is history….

So friends what would have been a last day in ***** has ended up being just a ordinary day for me apart from the excitement of having the various teams stopped from disabling my presence in the company. I must thank my HR rep for that BTW.

Now you know why I said I ate my cake and had it too..

Sheela Kee Jawani

Haaa, that’s the hot item song of this moment in India. Katrina (wow ) is the item girl and every amar , akbar and anthony is humming this tune, if only unknowingly.

I am one of them too... this song is sooo catchy!! I have been humming it (and that too audibly at times) for the past few days. Imagine humming when typing that important Weekly Status Report!!!

Ok, Leave me, My 3 and half year old son is also SINGING IT!!!!!! Since we do not turn on music channels he doesn’t know the wordings too well (thank god for that, pat pat on good parenting) so he sings (and tht too loudly)

Sheela kee jawaani Faayoooo

HAHAHAH, and how exactly did he start singing this?

The culprit is the mail sent by one of my colleagues titled as the song. Naturally I had to hear it once to know that the big hullabaloo was about. And well... so smitten I was on hearing the song that I rendered it in my vocal chords even louder than DJ AQeel, forgetting that I had an impressionable tiny tot at home!!

Imagine my shock when my son who usually never sings, started "Sheela Kee Jawani !!! Mummy What is Jawani?"

Wellllll , now I couldn't explain that to him right? I made the mistake of telling him "oh nothing it means Sheela kaa dance"

Pratham: Hmm ok. What was that next line?

Me: Oh I forgot.

Pratham : No mom u know, its some Faayuuuu

Me: no dear I really cant remember.

Pratham was incredulous. He understood that mom was hiding something and that there is something really wrong with the song.

So now we get to hear doses of sheela kee jawani with sheela subsititued with whatever girly name he knows !!!

Hmmmm... the other day he stood in the supermarket aisle and screamed "Mummy Kee JAWANIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII, FAAAAAAAAYOOOOOOOOOOOOOO"

Marathi Mehfil Coming Soon...

I am organizing a "Marathi Ganyanchi Mehfil" in our apartment complex.

I have managed to get a group of like minded friends who are as enthused about the Mehfil as me.

The tentative date is January 8th, 2011. I shall post again once have the confirmed the dates.

The objective of this Mehfil is to sing and revive Marathi songs. I have already shortlisted these songs

1. Reshamachya Reghani -> A Marathi Lavani
2. Latapata Tujha Chalana -> A catchy Song
3. Mendichya Panavar -> A slow melodious song
4. Gomu Sangateen -> A duet to be sung by me and Kris.
5. Shukratara -> A Romantic Duet
6. Gagan Sadan -> A Bhaktigeet to start the session.

More information later... Watch his space...

HNY!

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE.

I hope this year of the new beginnings for me is as prospering to me and to you.

A resolution this year is to be more active on the blogsphere!!.

The Winner of MasterChef Austrailia is….

…. ADAM.

Wow!!! I had bet on Adam and I won it!!! Yesterdays’ challenge was preparing a Snow Egg pastry and frankly for a moment I thought Callum would lick it!! As he has a sure hand when it came to desserts , I was a bit worried. But well, “alls well that ends well” and the best Man Won.

Adam deserves it!! He has a firm head on his shoulders. He thinks right and works on his dishes without any tension. The pieces he brings to the table are innovative and he has the advantage of also knowing oriental food techniques. The episode on Dec 29 involved cooking a protein in 3 diff ways. Adam chose pork and he used one technique (Japanese Chinese) where he minced the meat with two butcher knives hitting alternatively. I ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT!!!! But surely I don’t have the guts to try it. (of course I would have to try it on some veggies since i don't eat meat)

Way to Go Adam!!

Spoiler -> Seems what we saw in India is a stale show (BLIMEY) The contest aired early this year on 19 April 2010 on Network Ten, concluding on 25 July 2010

More info on Wikipedia…

Anyways, I m now eagerly waiting for the masterchef series 3. It will start in April 2011, means lates 2011 for us Indians (sniff sniff)

New Microwave Oven

Congratulate us friends…

We finally bought the Microwave oven!!

And yes as you are thinking right this is our 10th anniversary present to ourselves.

After hankering for LG 7148 and spending much time on 'Oo Lala ' ing on the features guess which did we finally buy?

ONIDA Black Beauty!!!!

Yes we were bowled over by its looks, it pricing and ahem the offer. The sales man did a good job in promoting it!

We have got a 3 non stick pans set along with it!!!

(Our tribe of non stick pans is increasing)

Now don’t think I m gonna blog about the delicious meals I cooked in the microwave. That will be done by my hubby .

Customer Response..

Ok so we thought we should visit COORG for leisure stay this year. Like wise set about making enquiries for the homestays. yes it’s a bit late for enquiries for Dec 25 weekend. But well… whats the harm in trying.

Of the many I wrote my mails to I wrote one to “Gowri NIVAS” . People who know my mail writing capabilities will vouch for the formality and detail I included and well, know what answer I got

A One Liner and that too in lower letters– “ sorry not available ”

Do these people not realize that by sending such terse one liners, they stand to lose potential customers? Or are they not bothered at all about that?

I have decided to not ever consider this homestay in the future, If the answer to a polite enquiry is a terse one liner then .. well I can wonder the quality of the hospitality they will provide!!

On Bench and Blog

Being on Bench gives you a lot of time to spare!! So as people around me are trying to find themselves a project or scratching their heads as to why their names are not appearing in certain lists, I am spending a gala time browsing through Blogs and hold your breath .. food Blogs. Ok I had written sometime back how I love to read food blogs, so this is nothing but a similar kind of post. Have I put you off already?

But well today I wanted to list out another Blog of note…

Srivalli’s Spice Up Your Life -> http://spicingyourlife.blogspot.com

She does write well, very much like BongCookbook’s Sandeepa she needles her children’s tales with the recipes and well I have copied some of her recipes now to try out (??)

Speaking of Food Blogs, Kris is supposed to launch one of his own. Now, the fotos are ready, but the posts are still to be polished. And yes, Yours Truly is gonna design the blog…

I shall share the link the day its launched.

Now the Question you ask -> Shraddha , You have so many blogs, how about a food blog?

My Answer -> Well, heard of Green fingers? Well mine are light green and Kris’s definitely are Dark Green. So he wins the battle without much ado! Stop bothering me with that question!!!!

(Sniff Sniff .. wish this Bench LAN allowed me to publish posts, I wouldn’t have to write them today and post them tomorrow!!! )

Update on 10th Dec,2010 -> I prepared pesarrattu from her blog, it turned out YUMMYYYY. thanks Sri.

Pratham, the Englishman

Ok unlike other Indian Parents, we DID NOT START SPEAKING to Pratham in English. Actually even when we were off on our recent trip to California, we did not think that we should teach him conversational English either. But the little fellow has picked up English so well… We are sure he will be perfect by the time he reached the primary section(ie grade 1 – 4 for non Indians to understand)

Today as he lisps and speaks his baby sentences, we only sometimes not not correct him (yes two nots there).

His first English sentence was “HAPPY NEW YEAR” this was taught by Kris for the New year 2009. But the teaching ended there when he shyed out and didn’t say any word to the aunties and uncles he met around the time.

But today his English is as fluent as it can be allowed.

Like the other day he asked me “ Mama, are your listening? Or are your hearing?”

Or then his favourite phrase now “ Don’t tell me Wrong!!!” he says this when we try to tell him that he did a wrong thing!

When I get him home on the scooter and overtake a four wheeler(say car) “ Mama, Our Scooter is First, Scooter is a Winner, Car is Second”

When he wants to request us anything ” Papa I Ask you to give me ----“ or “Mama can you please make me some omlette” (that she prepares well) or “ Papa Can you please repair my building block” (Yes Papa can mend anything!)

OR when he doesn’t want to wake up in the morning “ I (am) not going to school today!”

On the road he identifies the Stetter, the Tanker, the Tipper, the Bulldozer and the tempo. And yes he loves Cranes!

One more thing, The moment he steps out of the house, he speaks only in English! Now, people would think that he has been instructed to do so, but friends, no, we have not.

The moment it is someone who is not a family member , the prattle with them is in guess what – English. (Its so funny to see him speak to the house maid in English, while she talks to him in Kannada)

Well, its not just us, but many other “Aunties” and “Uncles” agree that Pratham’s English is far much polished than any other child at his age. I will update this post with more English lines from him.

Man or Woman?

My in-laws are visiting us currently. As you know from my earlier posts, Pratham insists on speaking English(and pretty fluently at that). So he speaks to them in english too.

Now, my MIL knows English but uses the slang "man" often. Eg. "What are you doing man?" "Where are you going Man".

So now Pratham has started adding "man in his sentences"

today as i was looking into my facebook profile, as he was lying on his father's lap , asked me "What are you doing man? noooo what are you doing woman?"

I was so taken aback and looked at him surprisingly.

To this he said "Mama, you are girl no? so woman!"

This is just one of the many prodigious actions !! His word associations are brilliant!!

:-)

My house is bigger !!!

So Pratham told my MIL

Your house is very small!! only 2 floors no?

My house is veryyyy big, see 9 floors, also zero and -1.

you dont have -1 no?

(The apartment complex we live is multistoreyed. My In laws have an ancestral home which is single storeyed)

Scare Tactics!!

Pratham Scared us royally yesterday and today!!!!

Well trust him to do so..

SO what happened yesterday? We took him to the homeopath to treat his insistent cough. We came home with three small bottles of 'sweet white pills' . Pratham just loves them and insisted on holding the bottles with himself. We left him to his antics; kris with his work and me in the kitchen ,getting his dinner ready, little realising what was in store for us!!! When kris went to his room, what does his see!!! Pratham has gulped one ENTIRE BOTTLE OF PILLS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The cap of the next bottle was unscrewed, all ready to be swallowed when he was caught in the act!!! I m sure u will understand the tension we faced!!! I came in and held him, asking "Puttu, where are the pills? did u eat them?" I took care to tone down my tone so that he doesnt feel as if he is being scolded(thanks to the parenting session i attended recently)!

Me : Puttu, tell me did u eat them all? tell me dear , see if u have then you will have a bad tuummy ache!!
Pratham : No WWWhat? Me?

The poor thing was scared stiff.

Pratham: Mummy what will happen to me?

and he started bawling!!

In the meantime Kris called up the doc and explained tht he had swallowed all the pills.

To our relief, doc said that that was ok. we could give him some milk to reduce the effect!!

It was that simple!!!

We did likewise, Pratham also for once drunk his milk without much ado. and things continued to be hunky dory. :-)

I love HOMEOPATHY :-)


So what happened today?

The Iron wala hadnt returned the clothes and well, i had to go and see what happened to them. But Pratham was busy watching his video and wasnt ready to budge!!! Instead he suggested tht i go and collect them myself !! he would contently watch his video!!! Hmm , why not? i thot

Me : Puttu, i m going to the iron wala, u watch ur video, dont move, dont open the door
Pratham(absentmindedly): ok

SO off i went, finished as fast as i could (nothing blogworthy there) and was back, and lo behold what do i see

THE DOOR IS OPEN, the door stopper is in place, the house LOOKS EMPTY!!!

GOD NO!!!!

I yelled "PRATHAM PRATHAM"

A maid on the floor : Madam, he is here!!!

and pitterpatter come pratham running!!!! All this in a matter of 5 secs but , my mind raced to fearsome terrains!!!
I hugged him!!

Pratham: Mom i was searching for you! Where are you? you left me!!!! (All in english)
Me: Bala, I told u rite? i was off to the iron wala!! Why did u open the door!!!
Pratham: I wanted you!!, you lost no !!! maaka bhay dislee . haav liftakade gelo, tuka sodhchaak(i was afraid, i went to the lift to search for

you)!!

Now what do i say?

And after that, he cried and vomitted!!!! I dont know whether the throwing up was pathological or psychological!!

"Atta Kanala Khada" , i m not leaving this little fellow alone till he becomes 10!!!

Pratham Speaks - Of Gals and Frocks

Sometime in the morning, when Pratham watchd the ads in between his SpongeBob Square Pants Episodes, he saw that most of the girls in US wore frocks.

So he told me 'Mummy, tu Girl Kee?'
Me : Yes dear, Haav Girl
Pratham : Tar Tu hee frock ghaal nai
Me: ok dr, haav frock ghaltaa ok?

Great!!, now i could buy many summer dresses here and blame the dollars spent on my son's express wishes of me wearing "frocks" :-)

In the evening as i was getting ready to go out for a walk, Pratham entered the room while dressing. I had only worn a top by then. This particular top was a bit flary and had a belt to tie at the back and was a bit short. So

Pratham: Mummy, Tu Frock ghale (happy smile)
Me: Hay Baalaa, have frock ghaale (just to humour him)

He surveyed me for 2 secs and then said 'Mummy tu ek pant ghaal nai, tujhee chaddi distaa"

Coming from him, it was sooo funny to hear that!!!! He was worried that I would venture out in so short a dress!!!

Me: Ohhhh, puttu haav pant ghaltaa haa, bhivu naaka.

I had to humour him rite?

HAHAHA

Me on Twitter..

Yup guys , me on twitter.

https://twitter.com/prabhushraddha

(one more place to update.. now all i need is time)

The Gals Meet ...

Saturday was a great day.. I woke up in the morning and the first thought was Hey Its our Gals Meet today...

 

the gals meant all of us friends from the BOFA days. we were 6 in all.  Each of us different yet all bonded together in a single thread of friendship..

 

Saraswati, the cool PM. Chitra, the serious  yet a very down to earth PM, Shruthi, the talented bird, Geena, the poetic writer, Rini, the pretty gal with brains and poor ol me...

  

The day went off in a flurry of activities, I had my dress picked. And my hubby has also decided on what cool gear he would wear. I spent much of my morning deciding what to attire my baby in. Nothing too showy, yet very classy and also very cozy and AHEM comfortable ....

GOLLY!! If pratham were a girl I think I would have spent even more time deciding whether It would be a frock or a more casual outfit... Thankfully, boys have not much options..  eventually I zeroed down to a wee cargo and a V neck TShirt. It was a good combination, one from Liliput and the other from Children's Place.

 

And yes, the Baby Bag had two other sets, one Cat and Moss and another a coudroy and T shirt.

 

Come 3:30, both me and Krishna were ready but Pratham dear chose to throw his tantrums... The power cut being on, we could turn on the computer to play his favourite Zhuk Zhuk Gaadi.. My singing didnt help

 and eventually by the time he was all powdered and diapered and attired, it was 4:30!! (and we were meeting up at 5)

 

Somewhere in the meantime, the rain god decided to show up and Rini called up asking whether the meet was still on and I was like... Hey man!!! lets not allow varsharani mess up our plans!!!

 

SO all Aboard the car at 4: 35, we were off to CUbbon Park, the venue of our rendezuous. Of course Rini Beat us to it and we finished second. Geena and Chitra were already on way and with the big Jam in Bannerghatta, looked like they would be some time. Sooo Rini and her Hubby Dhanesh and Me and my boys decided to board the Toy train. One round on it and Pratham was very much elated. Just as we alighted, Geena reached and she came laden with presents - yeah Big Packs of Kit Kats for the kids and Pratham's Birthday Gift.

 

While the boys got busy in the park trying to entertain Pratham, we gals did a lot of catching up..

 

In some time Chitra and her family joined us.. GOlly her kids has also grown up quite a bit. Little Ananya all of 4 years was a wee mite of 2 when I last saw her. I still remember this fairy with a little Bald head (they has the toinsuring ceremony then) and cute chubby cheeks, all concentrated  on finishing her Pongal and not a drop down my friends.. Siddharth, the Bhaiya had grown taller and quieter but still cheerful as before.

 

The Little ones played in the park. The hubbys kept vigil on them and we gals talked. O How we chatted and reminsced! Saraswati and Shruti couldnt make it and we missed them.

 

The next action in our agenda was going to good Ol' CORNER HOUSE.  Actually it is just around the corner from Cubbon park(the one next to Arlines hotel on Lavele road?) But then bangalore with its multitude of one ways, forced us to drive some 5 kms to reach it. Now.. this drive too was eventful.. We missed the turning at Minks Square and ended up going all the way via GPO and indian Express and then infantry road and Cubbon road and then Crossed the MG Road and phew.. reached lavelle Road . But Rini and company(ie Dhanesh and Geena) who were supposed to follow us, ended up following the wrong car and well, missed the turning and ended up going to Mallya hospital, Corporation and the works!!!! Thank god, Krishna with his deep knowledge of Bangalore Roads could help them with directions and eventually they reached.. Hurrah!!

 

Of course in the mean time, the tiny tots happily played in the mini playarea that Corner house has.

 

Once we were all together, we ordered huge servings of ice creams and sundaes and the gals gang spoke on every topic possible in this worlds.

 

It was a Gala time that we had, Meeting up after so many years, catching up on each other's lives, dissecting future plans But more so being together. This wonderful junboree brole up at 8:30.

 

By the time we reached home ,  it was 9:30. Both me and Krishna agreed that it was a very relaxing day.

 

BTW here is the invitation mail I sent out for this meet

 

Gals,

 

Its long time and no see

So lets meet, shall we?

 

The place in the park Cubbon,

The time being with the evening sun

 

With Family and Kids, we shall gambol

It Will be lotsaa fun that's all….

 

Gotta decide more, but lemme hear your ayes..

A weekend thts it, with sweet Hi's and Byes'

 

What is wrong with today?

Well, firstly I hoped to find my mobile that I forgot yesterday near my workplace. And well those hopes were dashed.

None of my teammates who worked late found it. L The Lost and Found didn't have it!!! The shiftlead who was supposed to gi through the CCTV

footage let me know that it would be difficult to find out since they don't monitor inside work bays!!

I am beside myself!!!! I am wracking my brains trying to remember what is stored in the mobile!! Apart from the telephone numbers, I had some

data in it!!! Some passwords, some stuff!!! GODDDDDDD. But thanks heavens that I don't have fotos there!! Thank god, This is a primitive mobile

that I had!!

Yet , I m not to lose hope. the lost and found will get back tomorrow.

And then what else happened?

Coming back from the cafeteria after lunch, my sandal broke!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now today being 'Orange' Day, I had worn sortaa orange-sortaa beige sandals. These were in the store for the past 4 years, I got them out specially

for the dress I wore today!!! Gosh I couldn't wear these and walk neither could I walk barefeet!!!

Thankfully, Manu and Devika offered to help. I wore Devika's sandals and both Manu and I went to her PG to pick up a spare pair of footwear and came back with a very miserly set.

The only bright point here is that I discovered a new shortcut from office to Brookefield!!! Golly a good 4 km will be saved , if I take this route regularly!! But as all shortcuts are, this is pothole ridden and also otherwise a shock absorber damaging road!!!!