Of Boo, Bloggers, Benjarong and a Boy

We had a get together on Friday evening for Tinner ( as JLT thoughtfully coined) in honour of our visitor from Switzerland- Boo and her adorable daughters. She was one of the first mommy blogs I read before embarking on blogging.

The do was held at my place and a lot of lovely ladies ( Mamma mia Abha, JLT, Monika, Poppin's Mom, Aryan's mom, Starry, Collection of stars, Artsy Craftsy Shruti, P, A, and Boo of course) and lovelier kids turned up. Lots of banter, craft courtesy Shruti, eats and fun happened.

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Our wedding anniversary on Thursday, was marked by a yummy- rich dinner from Amma with both my SILs joing us as well and the girls having a ball with the cousins.

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The poonal ceremony of Navy's young nephew was interesting and I was amazed at his involvement with the rituals and even allowing his head to be tonsured. S, really awesome! Anush is enjoying Blore a lot more due to the multiple family dos and therefore her proximity with her cousins/ second cousins galore.

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We went to Benjarong last night with my maternal aunt from Delhi. A must do even in Bangalore. ( had only frequented this place in Chennai so far)

The real thing

Met up with an STer from Videsh, for the first time, in Chennai . Wonderful and inspiring lady.

And I guess I may have got the commas wrong on that one. She gave us this hilaruious book- Eats, shoots and leaves. On the use and abuse of commas.

Was happy to get Himanpasand from Pazhamadir and Sweet pongal from Murugan idli stall

Sometimes memories/ impressions do not let you down. The real thing more than lives up to your expectation.

Here and here are our entries to the Artsy Craftsy. Old ones that we did but time to get back to participating in this wonderful effort by MindfulMeanderings.

Celebrate Nature- Turn a new leaf

Here is the invite to a new book launch from Tulika. We are trying to be there.

All those who love Tulika be there and if you love trees even better.

If you don't know Tulika and/ or think that tree huggers are paranoid, get there to know more about both. Maybe you will change your stand.

And today is a good day to listen to this song. Anush knows it by heart and loves it.

Spread the word(s)

Had an awesome get together of the Saffron Tree folks in Bangalore. We got to see gorgeous kids, exchange books and of course there was a lot of chat and eats. This time there was full attendance. Hope we have many more such.

BTW If you have old books to donate, (for ages 0-22 yrs) do get in touch with me or choxbox.

And here is Anushka's newer book shelf though we continue to patronise her old one as well.

Updates

Had a lovely lunch with lovelier blogger ladies at Barbeque Nation a couple of days back. Good fun.

Anush has been enjoying summer camp and it is not tedious either, leaving her enough time to enjoy swimming, kolam with her paatis and general chilling about doing nothing much. Would ideally like to take her on one more weekend trip, this time to the hills, since we did the beach just a short while ago.

Anush had her first visit to the dentist.  She has one loose tooth and one slightly chipped one which was corrected. She enjoyed herself and wanted more of  it!!

Aditi is trying hard to speak and she repeats a lot of words- empty( MPT), keep, sit, sheet, raani and so on

BTW we need a tenant in Chennai for our flat that was featured in TOI a while ago. Any interested parties pl write in to my mail id.

Weekend wrap up

Had a cozy blogger meet with Shankari, Shruti, Sandhya and kids. I felt so at home!! The kids bonded instantly and we also had a cool craft session from Shruti. Apart from chatter, eats and gifts. I was so moved that Shankari remembered my post and quest for slates with wooden frames and got them for us! Is that thoughful or what!?!

Went to Mainland China after years- enjoyed it thoroughly from the crackling spinach to the darsaan. My father who had introduced this place to me in Mumbai over a decade ago, was the one who took us again here in Blore.

Made a trip to Chintamani and was again wowed by nature's beauty.

Of Hi and Goodbye

Met up with Sole and Sands and Shruti and Arundathi- at Claytopia- a very cosy and quick meet, since I had not taken the kids along. Absolutely lovely ladies and extremely thoughtful gifts as well. As Sands said they know our taste as though we are family. And we all are, aren't we?

Sands and me should have met in Chennai two years ago. At least we managed now.

Went to The Park- It alia restaurant. Any Italian food lover needs to visit there. Wonderful fare! And took Anush to Subway as well on another occasion.

Saw off thaatu who is off to Delhi on work for a while. No tears this time but many heavy hearts.

Aditi's coxsacie seems to be healing. Hopefully Anush escapes it.

Otherwise a rather relaxed weekend, spent time in painting, craft, onam flower rangoli ( yes, delayed) and general fun with the kids.

Saffron Treat

We had a meet of the Bangalore Saffron brigade ( ST I mean) last evening. Except Chox and Satish whom I missed.

Woderful food, great conversation and lovely thoughful gifts happened.

Surprisingly there was less talk on books. Though Poppins Mom and I went to Pratham Too! Anush loved Onion's Sari and Too many bananas.

Wonderful Life!

Went for Ashtavakra staged by Dhaatu Puppet theatre. Absolutely engaging and delightful for both adults and for children. The play was in English and the songs in Kannada but I could follow most of it.

The entry was free and I wonder how they support this initiative. They also had a puppet gallery which could have done with a guide or some literature.

Went to Chamraajpet for the Brahmin's idli corner but it was shut and we ended up in Vidhyarthi bhavan and devoured some yummy dosas instead and got to see Gandhi bazaar as well.

We took Anush to her new school for a peek preview- truly peek because the gates were shut. She looked through the wooden slats and also I held her high over the smaller wall .....She seemed very pleased and even in the evening asked to go look it up again! If she settles in well, this move will be complete and done.

Aditi is able to crawl a few 'steps' and needs targets such as the remote for her to move towards.

We had a mini blogger meet at my place with usha, sandhya, crazy mom and an avid blog reader S joining us. Though I had met three of them before, Sandhya was new to me. It was like those times in Chennai when I bonded with "known strangers" and turned friends. I think there will be many such in Blore.

Anush and Aditi were completely indulged in terms of gifts and though both were sleepy, Anush enjoyed herself and shared her toys with A didi and the little A.

My SIL dropped by and her hubby amazed me with his energy levels and humour.... as usual. The kids are most lucky to have their cousins and new friends close at hand.

Went to Mangalore on work and another blogger Starry came to rescue in terms of a place suggestion for lunch- we went to the Village and had yummy food.

I am a Bangalorean!

Went for my first Blogger Meet as a Bangalorean. It was a surprise shower planned by all the lovely ladies here for COS. So am I now a baptised Bangalore blogger? Need to change it on my profile I guess.

I relived my wonderful baby shower thrown by the Chennai gang, not so long ago.
Settling in well into my work, with the net connection coming in, though it is pressuresome to remote manage some urgent requests. The weekly trips should be useful though very hectic.

Got my Chandamama issue delivered to Bangalore address. Check out the latest Mister Muthu online episode on the side bar

Navy's parents visited and were delighted by the home and the kids.

Do look up my post at ST on a writer- illustrator I find really witty.

Went to Corner House, which is just a short drive from home and enjoyed the menu card as much as the sinful dessert. There is a Parsi restaurant there and Bombay Bhel in the adjoining . And me thinks their newly launched Belgian waffle is in honour of our moving to Blore!! Just kidding.

The Chennai Chronicles VII- Blogging Chums

Edited to add-

Last evening we had a lovely meet with most of the regulars, a farewell for crazymom and artnavy- as we move on to Blore.

It also was also a welcome party and the bday of a new Chennai blogger- ardra.

Needless to add there was music, masti and majaa

Happiness always multiplies when you share and I enjoyed sharing my little joys and big ones here with bloggers.

I still recall my first 'live' meet was with Hiphopgmom on one of her visits to Chennai in 2007. Me- a rookie mom and novice blogger and she a veteran grandma blogger!

The bloggers I have met since include the ones from Chennai and also some world famous ones who visited Chennai.

I will never ever forget the wonderful Baby shower I had right here for Aditi.

Blogging also is what led to the Mister Muthu series getting published in Chandamama. ( while on it check out the new online episode on the side bar here)

So from now on, when I read about Chennai blog meets, I will really miss you Chennai mommy bloggers - even more. Maybe I could remain on the mail list so that I can dash down to Chennai or time an office trip accordingly!

Yes we will be in touch on-line- but it is just not the same. Soem of the friends I made here through blogging- have gone on to become very dear family friends. You know who you are and I hope you visit us in Bangalore!

But I look forward to being on the list at Bangalore blogger friends meets.

Aditi in Person

Last evening was a blogger meet of a different sort- to introduce Aditi in person to the local blogger friends.

Lavs, IBH, Minka, Adya's mom, Timepass and H from Australia made it with kids and a few hubbies joined in as well. Itchy and her men had already come over anyway.

Thanks Lavs for stepping in and coordinating it for me.

Aditi's grandpa helped set up a slide show of her pics with an apt song( from the book I am going to be a big sister) much to Anushka's delight. My mom managed the food and a good time was had. Must mention that I got very thoughtful gifts from all, for the baby and even for me- guess which book- Bringing up Vasu!!

I was sorry that I could not get anything for all the kids but I did manage to go eco friendly with the bag from Small steps- an interesting initiative. Anush insisted on giving the gift as soon as the guest gifted her or Aditi.

Anush was so taken up with Little Buddha that she told Lavs they could exchange him for Aditi. Broke my heart a little .

But later that night she told me that no one should take Aditi.:-))...in keeping with two earlier instances when she shed tears when our driver and a friend asked if they could take Aditi home with them.

Art on a Platter

Blogeswari was generous to get these plates done for my kitchen through Rashmi of Fluke Design.

And not just that, she got me an incredibly engaging wooden cat which works like a jigsaw and turns into a jewelery box. ( see in set in the above pic)

Anush assumed it was for her and I was surprised that she mastered dismantling and putting it together before her dad came back that night.

We attended a wedding at MRC hall, of a relative from my mother's side. This is the first time I visited that hall and it is splendid. There are ramps for the handicapped, clean spacious lifts, anti skid and dry loos, the ac works like a dream, the staff is courteous, the parking is ample and so on. . .

Ganesh - Kumaresh were the performers that night and that was simply beautiful. See Anush's severely engrossed expression as she observes them. But i do wonder how these artists are okay with all the noise around??!!

In terms of the return gift I was glad to see wooden parrot key chains instead of a steel/ plastic dabba.

Somehow food in marriages/ functions in Chennai is never made as brilliantly as at home/ restaurants or even to the level of B'lore or Mumbai. Even if the spread is lavish, the taste is never up to the mark. Or maybe just my luck, that in the last 10 years in Chennai, just 2 large functions where I thought the food was good.

Two of a kind

Anush is thoroughly enjoying the craft gifts she received in particular two of them. She says a Big Thank you to IBH and Ro aunties for these !!

I just had to oversee/ guide her once and then she managed with minimal help.

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On a sad note, India lost two of her best classical singers in the last few days- Pattamaal and Gangubai Hangal.

My earliest recollection of Pattammal was my maternal grand ma listening to her completely mesmerised. . .debatable but my family always thought that this musical genius was to MS what Sivaji was to MGR or say Guru Dutt to Raj Kapoor.

Gangubai Hangal- I listened to one rainy evening in Mumbai when the India Today classical music cassette collection was procured by my folks. A powerful voice - she was very different from the usual classical singers I had been exposed to. Good bye ladies!

Meeting friends old and new

Saturday was a lovely chill out weekend after a spate of hectic weekends. I was feeling a little bad about having opted out of a Pondy trip for a family friend's wedding but I did not think I could take a long road journey and get back late on Sunday to face the rest of the week at work.

But to more than make up for it Sunday was vibrant with cheer, good will and long lost memories

Met up with a lot of blogger friends - Madmomma, Poppins, Sue, Indu, Itchy, Crazymom. Finally got to meet Dipali and Rohini, though I missed Kiran. Also met a couple of bloggers I am not so familiar with- Desi Girl and Kenny as well. Some of these mommy bloggers look so fit, it is amazing!

The time I stayed-could stay only a while- was just enough to exchange gifts, take a few pics and say a Hi and a Bye. I felt that the restaurant must have found us a pretty unruly bunch. :-)

Of course Anush was excited. She has understood that meeting any of her mother's friends usually means a lot of goodies for her - books, art, craft, tees, bubble makers, etc - and that is exactly what happened. To be fair, Anush herself helped me pack our gifts and also distributed our goody bag of Indonesian cat/ fruit magnets, Tsunamikas and bracelets. She was amused to note that Ro also had a watermelon like stomach...:-))

Met a long lost school friend, who had helped me bag the Ideal student award in school. She has recently delivered a really sweet natured ultra talkative- cooing baby. Despite the weight gain she spoke of, her face remains fresh as ever and her attitude just as friendly as can be. She has now put me back in touch with a host of school friends and I have finally opened an account in face book! I was happy to see Anush so comfy with the entire family. Hope we stay in touch now on.

Visited GRT, the jewellery shop for cutting and removal of the already tight ancestral finger ring that I usually wear always. It belongs to my maternal great grandmother! Plan to get it redone to whatever size I end up post delivery. Anush recognised the place as one where in we had tried to get her ears pierced( the second time, over a year back)!! She was not very happy about that but we could easily distract her with the play pen and the glass elevator ride in the shop.


Went to Kailash Parbat and of course had to order Ragda pattice, pani puri and sindhi subzi and kitchadi. The snacks and food were great, the portions TOO large but the brownie sizzler was a complete let down .

Saturday Surprise Shower

What a weekend!!

The blogging gang had plotted with Navy and threw me a surprise baby shower on Saturday at my mom's place. Navy had managed to keep it a secret for almost 3 weeks!! I am sure I would have found it difficult for such a long duration.

On early Saturday, I was left wondering why Navy was not keen on the movie, why he had pushed his trip to his native place by a day, why my mother had this sudden urge to visit the organic veggie shop she vociferously dismissed the previous time, why Navy wanted us to visit the temple that evening . . .

Anyway as I entered our Velachery home, I noticed there were lots of chairs out and wondered who had come . And then I heard a lot of voices shout " Surprise!!!" i saw an assortment of little ones and their moms and a few willing hubbies as well!!

Lavs, her super enthu and participative hubby and LB, the tall and gregarious IBH, the gentle DC, mnamma with her movie star looks and newest baby, Kowsalya with Anush's "akka" Abhi, Timepass with her family- they had come over early and done up the hall with balloons etc.

The cake was cut, the snacks/ sweets eaten ( well more or less) and there was a lot of gup shup. All the gifts were beautiful including ones from over state ( Blore)

The wishes on the blog roll put together by Lavs, is something I shall treasure forever and hope the little one enjoys when he/ she is old enough to do so. Some of the messages were hilarious, some touching, some serious... Best of all was the feeling displayed of genuine friendship. I am moved. THANK YOU ALL.

We anyway visited a temple after all had left and later that night when Anush opened up the gifts and wished to know if "these are gifts for my baby?" . . .she is already possessive about the little one!

Very thoughtfully there were gifts for Anushka as well ....something i will remember for the future.

The glass bangles inspired by the Seemandham- Vala kaapu function were a very nice touch, especially since I had lamented that the second one does not seem to merit a function traditionally! Thank you - whoever thought of this! So I am already a fair mom now, Anush had a traditional seemandham and the new one has just enjoyed a most unexpected blogger version!

The last few days

Friday

Met Usha - one of my oldest blog inspirations. She is just what she is on her blog- frank and lovely. She thoughtfully got Anush a CD of stories. Anush surprised me by really taking to her and not wanting her to leave. She even asked for Usha before the blogger meet at Blore!!

Saturday

Went to Blore for Navy's cousin's wedding. Travelled by the day train after a long time.

Enjoyed the mehendi . . .

Anush to a relative" If we ask for mehendi in only one hand, then they will put till here( till mid arm) . If we ask for both hands then they will put small small....."

Anush to me" Amma that mehendi lady is very good and fast na? .....Shld i say woman not lady?"

Anush delighted the gang with her dancing and prancing to all the " 9xm songs" and even did a solo dance much to her own delight!!

Sunday

Anush dressed up in all her finery and enjoyed herself thoroughly with the teenaged lot at the wedding.

I was asked the same battery of questions " due date... how r you....how is anush reacting....are you still working...." and that was it. Some of the older women told me it would be a boy since my skin looked pretty bad.

Yes, met up with some bloggers and their lovable kids- Poppin's mom with her delectable kids, Monika with Ojas and hubby, the most gracious hosts- Mamamia (Abha) household, Starry and Collection of stars with her lovely daughter.

Monday

Enjoyed the conventional food at the marriage.

Wore a sari after a long gap- a gorgeous Kanchivaram designed by an NID student- one gifted by my mother over a year ago!!

Met a distant relative and friend of Navy's who had been following my blog!!

Took a fancy new Shatabdi and met a lovely co-passenger who indulged Anush almost through out the journey

Sari khabar

I was in Bangalore on work and managed to meet up with some well known mom bloggers -Poppin and Sweet pea's mom, choxbox, mama mia ( abha) and S, an avid blog reader who came in with her adorable 2 yr old. My list of bloggers (plus DC and timepass )met numbers 19 now.

No pics were taken , a lot of banter happened on what was a rushed visit. I felt really comfy with them, though I was rather new to two of them and very familiar with 2 others.

S gave Anush lovely Tulika books and got us all chocolates. Having not much time to plan I only managed some Ettikopaka sharpeners and Tsunamika miniature dolls.

While on gifts, Sue sent Anush a gorgeous sari and here are some pics of Anush in it. My mother draped it the Bangla way courtesy Sue's post of long ago. And do not miss Anush's favourite key chain at the sari edge.

Blogger Shower

Blogeswari on Tuesday
Madmomma, Boo, Minka, Lavs, IBH, Itchy, Koushalya on Thursday
Apu on Friday
Choxbox on ???

Mommy bloggers- eight of us with a generous helping of our little ones and a sprinkling of hubbies met up on Jan 1st at my place. A wonderful way to begin the year.

All the kids were adorable and must have wondered how we all knew their names and were so familiar with them.

Anush I think and hope was gracious enough to share her toys. I did not pay her attention ( I was fluttering about between the kitchen and the men and the gang)

Must mention that I missed Sandhya due to a mysterious email mishap.

Go here , here and here to see a fairly comprehensive update on the madness where in time flew even before I could say a few words to each of the Mommy bloggers. Do I know them even better now? - I am not sure. But now I know the faces and voices that go with them.

Kaftan the doll gifted by Blogeswari

Met Blogeswari at Anokhi, Chamiers and hit it off. She is so easy and amiable. And I find we have a common friend too.

I caught up with good friend and blogger Apu in Bangalore on work, at her place finally. I managed to squeeze it in en route to the airport . I am so glad I could.