Nine years ago

....today Navy and I officially became one. Nine years of marriage- not as grand sounding as ten.



I tried to figure out what it is that makes us tick- I could hardly find any reasons why. We seem like such an odd couple. Most recent case being we are polarised even about paintings !!

And yet
We make beautiful homes together ( at least in our eyes)
We often think the same things/ say very similar things
We even wear the same colour clothes inadvertently
We both try hard, whether we wish to admit it to each other or not :-)


And not to forget our little helper Anush

So Navymaama, I love you not for sentimental or several 100 reasons( as the song goes) but I love you because you are you and what I am when I am around you

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We also celebrated my parent's wedding anniv ( 34 yrs) last Friday, at Bombay Blues- truly sentimental journey to beloved Mumbai. Excellent service and good food- must check out.

Anush's New Address

Welcome to Anushka's new room

Anush peeping from behind the hat given to her by Lavs .

The lounge chair is for Anush's parents' comfort , The diwan bed-cot is the old one I wrote about in yaadien

Anush's recycled postbox seat with her current equivalent of "God Knows! " - Gunnu Kishore

This is my room?

Why you make it so many colours? Why you make it so clean Amma?

Why you got blue horse amma- rocking rocking?

Why you written A- B- C? Why you keep boat stickers?

I was worried she hated it - the little monster.
Then she said-

Amma, I like it, very nice! And did a little jig.

Now it is

You want to come to MY room? MY toys? MY name? MY postbox chair etc etc

Talk about starting young on property rights

Tell me why?

Some mothers are so worried about the curriculum, the rigour of teaching and mixed age environment- that too of little 3 and 4 yr olds? Even I have been the culprit sometimes. Does it matter that much?

While we have to be realistic in a competitive world, isn't schooling only a part ( even if a big part) of raising a child. What about the stimulation at home and otherwise?

And WHY are people so wary about changing schools? I have changed 6 or so and only gained from it. . .

If the right school guarantees success and if all children can be moulded into little geniuses would we not have a world full of only good schools and super achieving kids?

How boring that would be!

PS Anush's second day was better - she went in reluctantly today but she mentioned to me that she did not cry in class and had a nice time with the new chithi. . .

Action Weekend

I had my first brush with how children can hero worship a cartoon. The event was sponsored by Nickelodeon who I am sure never anticipated this kind of crowd. We met Dora the Explorer- so what if she was a man who wanted burger and a bottle of mineral water when (s)he visited the men's loo..... Anush made it just in time to touch Dora's 'hair' and shake hands- we were strategically placed near the loo for want of space. That worked in our favour! I can't begin to imagine the amount of germs that could get transmitted from mascot clothing.....

I met celebs of a different kind- tharini, kowsalya, itchy, crazymom, and minka ! All for a few minutes of disjointed conversation since we had to rush off to see Dora! But I would not have missed this opp ever. No pics with me but I am sure you will see some on their blogs

We moved into our new home- finally! A few people passing by our open flat asked if it was a model flat!! I took that as compliments. Our builder also mentioned that we had done it up really well ( that I take with a pinch of salt - he may have been trying to smooth ruffled feathers:-))

Anush went back to school- Montessori -1. She missed her former adult-in-charge and ayah. She was a brave little trooper both when we dropped her and when i picked her up and seems ready to go trow to her beloved school.

But she had wept in class. I could tell from her red nose. My poor baby.

A little bit more about ME

Doing a tag that was passed on by Sree

1) LAST MOVIE U SAW IN A THEATRE?
Indiana Jones

2) WHAT BOOK ARE U READING??
John Grisham- The Appeal- really slow

3) FAVOURITE BOARD GAME?
Scrabble.

4) FAVOURITE MAGAZINE?
India Today - Home, Outlook and all in flight magazines

5) FAVOURITE SMELLS?
Hing, First Rain, Petrol , Mom's vethai Kormabu, Burberry Brit for men on Navy

6)FAVOURITE SOUNDS?
Anush singing, family laughter, Navy ringing the bell when he is back home from work

7) WORST FEELING IN THE WORLD?
Feeling helpless/ defeated

8) WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU THINK OF WHEN U WAKE?
Thanks God for another day and please keep all of us( immediate family) happy today

9) FAVOURITE FASTFOOD PLACE?
Sandwiches and vada pav Outside Mithibai college Mumbai and SantaCruz near the station
In Chennai all the Subways, Tibbs Frankie at Besant Nagar foodworld and Pani Puri at Makkhan Chor Cenotoph road

10) FUTURE CHILD'S NAME?
If girl Aditi/ Ankita , if boy Arnav

11) FINISH THIS STATEMENT---'IF I HAD A LOT OF MONEY I'D'
Buy myself a lovely bungalow and retire

12) DO U DRIVE FAST?
Nope. just learning

13)DO U SLEEP WITH A STUFFED ANIMAL?
no- unless u call a pillow that

14)STORMS--COOL OR SCARY?
cool as long as there is no damage

15)WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST CAR?
Maruti 800- i guess this would be the common answer of most middle class Indians in my age group....

16) FAVOURITE DRINK?
sugarcane juice and masala tea

17)FINISH THIS STATEMENT-IF I HAD THE TIME I WOULD...
spend it travelling even more with Anushka

18)DO YOU EAT THE STEMS ON BROCCOLI?
no

19)IF YOU COULD DYE YOUR HAIR ANY OTHER COLOUR, WHAT WOULD BE YOUR CHOICE?
burgandy- tried it but my hair does not take in the coloure- it stays black!!

20)NAME ALL THE DIFFERENT CITIES/TOWNS U HAVE LIVED IN?
Tanjore, Guntur, Vijayawada, Mumbai, Ahemdabad, Chennai.

21) FAVOURITE SPORTS TO WATCH?
Skating and car racing.

22)ONE NICE THING ABOUT THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU?
Interesting blogger

23)WHATS UNDER YOUR BED?
Our bathroom slippers/ flip flops

24)WOULD U LIKE TO BE BORN AS YOURSELF AGAIN??
Yes

25)MORNING PERSON OR NIGHT OWL?
A morning person.

26)OVER EASY OR SUNNY SIDE UP?
Well done

27) FAVOURITE PLACE TO RELAX?
Home

28)FAVOURITE PIE?
Apple cinnamon

29)FAVOURITE ICECREAM FLAVOUR?
At Moven pick- macademia nuts and Anywhere else Butterscotch

30)OF ALL THE PEOPLE U HAVE TAGGED, WHO IS THE MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND FIRST?
I am leaving it an open tag- I tag all of you who see this, do take this up. It is good timepass. At least answer Q 22

Another study in contrast

Last afternoon

The maid I-Aunty, enquired if Anushka had eaten. Anush in turn asked her and the maid said that she had not yet eaten

Anush quickly rushed to the kitchen cupborad, fetched a plate , placed it on the table and asked my grandma " Paati, Please serve mummum( food) to I- Aunty. So that( she regularly uses this phrase in place of beacuse) she has not eaten "

This morning
Anush authoritatively yells from the balcony to the littel boys waiting in the car park to go to school" Don't touch my Appa's Fiesta car. It will become dirty. I am saying Na"!!
I promptly asked her to apologise:-))

Study in Contrast

Went to get my passport renewed. Actually took a half day off from work for this. The guy manning the counter left early!! I barked to just let off steam and felt foolish since it was to no avail anyway. The place is smelly, hot and crowded and it is a wonder since the website led me to expect otherwise. Also I had worked on getting all the docs- ration card, marriage certificate, declarations etc etc - everythign was in order. And also my colleagues got it with no effort... Maybe the passport guys realised that I was not going any place anyway in a hurry...koi laut aa de mujhe beetay huay din....at least on the foreign travel front

On the contrary the experience at the BSNL office to transfer a phone line to the new house was brilliant- wonderfully clean and cool office with very friendly & efficient staff.

All roads lead to OMR- there are three toll plazas being set up - one in Perungugi, one en route from the Pallikarnai Medavakkam junction and one from the ECR road side

I guess residents in the area would get a monthly pass or an ID or something....I wonder if my office will reimburse or needs to get a pass for the employees with cars or we would get a subsidised pass .

Exposed!!

My mom had draped a sari after a long gap. Anush pointed to my mother's mid riff and said
" You are a little nangu pungu( bare skinned) here paati?!"

Last night

Had an official dinner at Asiana - a really well done hotel, on OMR. I hear the rooms are also good. We opted for the Thai restaurant and I will vote for Benjarong ( near Park Sheraton) instead, any day. Maybe it was too authentic to suit Indian tastes? I am not sure since I do not know what real Thai cuisine tastes like. Also it was strange to have melodious live South Indian flute kutcheri happening in a Thai set up- maybe an attempt at fusion.

News of the day- LAVS has delivered a boy and mom and baby are doing fine. Cannot wait to go and meet them! Anush is also excited and keeps saying she wants to meet the "little boy"

Parked Inn

Went to 601 at The Park for my father's bday dinner. Most awesome desserts and good food and a friendly chef.

Just that they could learn a point about water refilling from the typical Kamat/ Udipi restaurants or provide a jug. Also the pot/ handi for the Biryani was damaged which one could attribute to rustic touches but it was not just cracked- it was chipped and broken. And pizza which is rated the best here was not available since the place was getting a face lift :- ((

Anushka wisely asked a passerby-" You also come to see water fountain?" They were too flustered to answer her. She went up to another bday celebration and wished them Happy Bday to their delight. She was keen to gift her thaathu the gift and could barely keep the secret- a well deserved power drill from Bosch.

Saw Mani & Suhasini Ratnam and a food photo session- so much labour goes into it.

I took my mom to what I consider the must see in this place- the loo in the lobby with its high chair and intriguing wash basins. My dad shared with her the beautiful photo collage that they have of Gemini movie posters and shots outside Aqua on the top floor.

So if you have the time and an occasion to celebrate you could visit the Park. It is less predictable than a Sheraton or a GRT

My Appa Bestest

Pic courtesy google
There are men and there is The Man in every little girl's life- here is to the man with the biggest hands, who makes me feel so secure - my Appa.

He must be the youngest 56 yr old on earth. Happy Birthday Appa( on Monday). I wish I had

His way with words- My recent readers may recollect this and some of my older friends will know this. More recently, Anush has been christened Blue Diamond by him -after the Chennai theatre, given the continuous performance that she is up to.

He is the official tool man- An out of the box, usually do- it - yourself solution for all things electrical, electronic or emotional- No wonder even Anush says " Not working? Thaathu will fix it okay?" to all of us

His gusto- Be it his booming laughter, his baysur singing- which he calls unique ( for one single listener - who else but Anush) his vigorous walks ( he has covered most of Velachery Adyar and Tiruvanmiyur I guess), his pig headed determination to not eat like one and cutting down to a frugal 2 meals a day, the way he relates to Anush like she is a little adult, his keeping in touch with his subject ( diabetes), his devouring books, his organisation skills ....All age groups relate so easily to him since he is versatile!!

Appa- I am really glad you are here in Chennai now and I hope Chennai does its bit for you. Remember, we love you despite the diasgreements we have and here is to all the Good Times and more to come!

Anushka's Non Stop Hits

Top of the charts is Nanna Ray from Guru
When I'm feeling blue comes a close second- my rendition not Phil Collins
Very happy in my heart...Dil dance from Tashan is the one of the new entrants
As is Salman uncle who enters the rankings with Dupatta tera
Shah Rukh uncle with Om Shanti Om finishes the list

Navy is wondering how i let her listen to all this instead of soul stirring Carnatic music. Well....

The little mop girl

Anush has always loved cleaning up and now she has her own little bucket and mop that she follows our maid with.

IndianAH!! Jones

Anush loves using head phones though I am not sure whether they are safe. So we let her do so, sparingly.

Talking of noise value we sat in the first row of the theatre ( the last movie we did that - had to stare into Twinkle Khanna's belly button in Mela- excruicating to say the least) and watched the Indiana Jones latest saga- utterly ridiculous story line with all the expected gimmicks , one liners and larger than life scenes with natives and skulls and caves and secret entrances and nature's bounty and its fury...a wonderful ride even if cliched.

But it may not appeal to today's cynical generation.

But for me, the cute touches like Sean Connery's snap and a kiss in the heat of a fight and a snake- rope trick of a different kind, teh MGR style stunts were funny if not fun.