Bangalore Roller Coaster

I have been toying with the idea of getting Ananya's ear's pierced and one thing or the other has been coming up. Finally this weekend we got the nerve to do it. I had already inquired about the procedure and Manipal Hospital informed me that we could come any day between 2:30-4:30pm except Sundays. So this Saturday, myself and my Sister-in-law with her daughter went for the dual piercings. As we waited outside the girls played and created a ruckus and we tried to keep it down. Finally it was our turn, the doctor asked us to come, Ananya tripped along and Akshi waited outside. As she sat in the chair in anticipation she was clearly excited, not aware of the pain she was just about to go through. The doctor who came in asked me to mark the points where we wanted the piercings and I did it for him. And then he brought out the gun for the same. The nurse had told us 5 piercings had happened this morning and all was well. As he pierced the right ear, Ananya wailed in pain not prep...

The US trip materialized at the last moment and I managed to have the worst traveling experience till date (of course barring the hijacking). The Air France flight started off late from Bangalore, we missed our connection from Paris to San Francisco. It was more like they didn't want us to take that flight, as there were no Air France officials to expedite our progress through the security checks. The plane was still at the tarmac but we were denied boarding. 6 hours later with a meagre food coupon to see us through, we were put on a flight to Houston from where we were supposed to take another flight to SFO. With only 40 minutes to go through the customs we rushed through the airport, checking out and checking in our bags only to find out the flight was delayed by 2.5 hours. The whole airport was closed as it was past 9:30pm and we waited hungry and tired for the last flight. Boarded the last leg of the flight, we finally reached SFO in the middle of the night. Rented the car at...

Finally the passport arrived and the visa is all fine too. So I am off to San Jose for the business meeting and it also means leaving my dear daughter behind. I will miss her birthday too and I am feeling so guilty about it all. Hopefully she'll manage okay without me, and these 2 weeks will pass in a jiffy. More posts when I am back.

As luck would have it, just when my US Visa expired, I was moving to Bangalore. I will get around it, I told myself and added this to the long list of to-dos in my head. Of course it took a back seat to finding us an apartment, getting Ananya's school started, getting her used to her school bus and then all of us figuring our way around Bangalore. Yeah, it also took a back seat to catching the latest movies, and then my impending vacation to Ludhiana. I kept telling myself, I will do it as soon as I come back. I checked my mail during the last few days of my vacation and saw a message, asking me to travel to the US and panic struck. It was an important business meeting and I didn't want to miss is, but what do I do now. I called up my husband frantically, asked him to scan my passport over to our admin and asked her to start the process. As the date to take the appointment came nearer, I became aware of a lot of impending holidays. Finally, I managed to secure the appointment f...

Yesterday was Ananya's annual sports day, the first formal function we attended at Greenwood high. She was really excited about it and we too were eager to see her perform. As doting parents are wont to, we had eyes only for her and her performances. She got ready early in the morning and left in her school bus. We too hurriedly got ready and reached the main school at dot nine. There were few parents and we took our seats in the first row. Though we had vantage seats, the sun shone on us brightly roasting us in no time, but we stuck on. We could see the children in their tents, eager and energetic, waiting to perform. After a few glitches with the sound system, the program started just about half an hour late. They welcomed the chief guest, Mrs. M.K. Asha and with an opening speech, the children began their march past. There were kids from Nursery, LKG and UKG and the tiny tots marched on with their eyes seeking out their parents from the crowd. As soon as the kids saw their p...

Rang in the New Year in Ludhiana, with my cousins. It was fun to do it the way we used to when we were kids. We would all sit and watch Doordarshan as it was the only channel playing those days. And one of us would bake a cake, which we could cut as the New Year came calling. Later years saw us add coffee to this ritual, but the pattern was the same. As the number of channels on the idiot box increased so did our choice and we ended up clicking channels and not really watching anything in particular. The increase in the quantity had led to a dilution in quality. Then we all went our ways, some to hostels, someone to pursue their careers but we would meet up on New Years. And then we some of us got married, which made things more complicated as now with spouses in tow, it was difficult to meet up. But this year, the stars aligned themselves and there we were together again, all but my brother. So there were four of us, Tania, Henna and Sukhman and myself. We baked an apple pie as some...

Today is one rainy day. It has been raining since morning and I am so glad my daughter doesn't have to go to school today. The traffic is worse than usual which is so very typical of Bangalore. But somehow I have a spring in my step. My maid number one has hurt her foot and won't be coming to work today. Who is going to do the pile of dishes I dumped in the sink when I made Gajar Halwa yesterday ? Ananya's maid has also not turned up. It is raining you see, so she has a ready excuse. But still I have a song on my lips. The chill has set in, and I am wrapped up in my shawl. There has been no sunshine since morning and people all around are cribbing about the clammy weather. But I have a smile on my face. I am taking a 2 week long vacation. I am going home, to be pampered. I am going home to late nights and late mornings. I am going to the north, where the winter chill has every one's teeth chattering and toes frozen. But the warmth in the cockles of my heart has me all c...