The year that was !

I have two lives. Yes, you heard it right.
One as Shanthi,
the other as Mama.
It's funny how different these lives are. They are intertwined with each other, you can say. But, I try to make them as different as possible.

My elder one, on the other day, wrote on my palm in big letters "Mama", and told me that he was writing names for everyone on their palms. I smiled. Mama is my first name now, and then follows my real one. And am more than happy to accept that.

But since this is not my motherhood blog, let me concentrate on what happened with Shanthi the whole of 2009.
For starters, we ushered in the new year with tired bodies and minds due to the trip from Las Vegas. And then, birthdays followed. With 3 of us having our birthdays in the first two months of the year, those first couple of months just flew by with parties and stuff.
And then, one not-so-fine morning... I was woken up by my hubby who had a relatively grim expression on his face. It was too early to wake up, but he didn't mind the time. He just said "Pack your bags, we are leaving to India". I rubbed my eyes for more clarity. Firstly, I panicked if something untoward happened to our folks back in our swades. But he didn't seem panicky. He was just very neutral. He then explained about how he was asked to take over the project from India. The news was staggering. Truly. I wasn't quite sure how to react and then just looked blankly at him. We had a month's time and we had to decide if we would go back or would stay with a new job. Frankly, at the peak of recession, we were lucky to go back to India with a job. I've heard horrifying stories of lay-offs, which made families quickly sell off everything and pack their bags to India, without a job too. At least, we were in a better position. And so, it was one hectic month of March, putting up everything on craigslist and giving away all those wonderful things we bought for ourselves so lovingly. And even more dishertening was to leave all our friends there. We lived for a short period in the US, but we had the best time of our lives there. Weekend parties, outings, all which seem a blur now. All that remains now are those bitter-sweet memories and a big sigh.

Life wouldn't stop for anything or anyone. Despite the sighs and sadness, there were a million things going on in my life. Settling in India involved a lot of things. Since it was the first time we set our home here, we had to start from scratch. And so we did. Orissa wasn't quite what I expected. Bhubaneswar was one of the fast-growing cities, which had all the style and malls, but the only thing missing was the traffic. Lucky us. Or else, we wouldn't have got adjusted to the gruelling traffic in India as soon as we came back from abroad. How else could one explain about me driving a car all by myself, and even getting a driver's license (without any bribe ?? :P) There were so many things to do, and the kids loved their new schools too.
But, life didn't stop there. As we were still happily exploring in and around BBSR, my husband's new job with a famous bank made us leave this temple-city and shove ourselves into another temple-city, Chennai.

The routine is unchanged for me, at least. The kids have new schools, new friends and my hubby has newer colleagues. The funny part is that I have a new maid. But am not complaining... thanks to the gym in our condominium in Chennai, my gym routine is established once again.

And so, with so many things occurring to me in one single year, I sometimes smirk at the ironical name I was christened with. Some day, some day Shanthi will reign !!

Wishing everyone a happy new year... Ciao !!!

Iss Traffic se Mujhe Bachaaaooo

You heard it right. I got my driving license today. And what a day. 09-09-09. Astrologers and vedic charts were screaming loud that this is gotta be a very lucky day. So, my indefinite procrastination finally saw the light of the day and I decided to give it a shot. This would decide who's lucky. If I got the license, I am and if I didn't get it, the traffic is lucky !!

First things first, people who have read about my driving lessons must be really curious about what happened to the following issues.
Q 1) Did I master the Indian gaalis??
Q 2) What happened to my driving tutor?
Q 3) Did I succeed in reducing the speed and increasing the sound pollution??

Questions are answered down below in the chronological order
A 1) Well, I should admit that the BBSR traffic is not that rude as I presumed. It's only the oriya animals which were giving me a tough time. But, since they would literally give a DEAF ear to my Telugu gaalis, I just managed to keep my mouth clean.

A 2) After my non-stop chatter about the American swanky sports cars and the express freeways, my driving tutor is nowhere to be seen in Orissa. LAST SEEN and HEARD with SRK ji in an american detention centre !!!

A 3) Speed knows no boundaries on my car. And since there are no RADARs, the roads are my playground !! Nothing much to say about the noise pollution. It's like a drop in the ocean.

So, after much deliberation and my own way of arguing that I wouldn't go to give the driving test, I finally relented. Just because of Akki's bday today. Who?? Akshay 'Singh' Kumar !! As I was turning the morning paper, I realised that he turned 42... which meant nothing less than another decade of some mindless entertainers. But who cares?? He is the Box office KINGGGG !! and the KING declared that it's indeed a lucky day for everyone. Hmmmm... Time to hit the road then!!

Off I went to the test centre. There was a huge ground and it immediately reminded me of some sports meet we used to attend while in school. And then, I saw this S writ large on the ground. It was a huge S shaped road. As soon as I saw this, there were many things which cropped on my mind.

S meant Safety ?? ( which is the least on Indian roads)
S meant Sin ?? ( If i kill something or someone )
S meant Solace ?? ( That's for my hubby if someone killed me !!)
S meant Shanthi ?? (The last thing on my mind right now,...PEACE )
S meant Santa clara ( YESSSS...the place where I got my first driving license ever... For a moment, I got nostalgic about how I had to reappear for the driving test in Ca some 18 months ago.)
S can also mean **it. Which I muttered under my breath and looked at my husband.

By the way, What does this S represent ?? The real indian zig-zag roads? CA driving test was done on REAL roads. Whats this? I asked. My husband giggled and said...You need to go down that S shaped road and come back (using the reverse gear...as if I didn't know!) in the same route. WTH ?? No signals, no safety rules?? And they don't even care if you put on the seat belt. But being the true Californian that I am, I didn't take a chance and came out triumphant.

Here, I have to mention that there's a separate queue for ladies. And I was the only one in the queue. Ho ho ho !! Apparently, most of the ladies prefer the two-wheelers while they give the wheel to the stronger sex...Strong here means who can survive the Indian gaalis. :P
So, while the rest of the junta was waiting for their turn in that hot sun, I completed the entire formality within 15 minutes. For a moment, I stopped being feminist and took the golden opportunity being knocked, just because am an indian woman. hehehe. Yeah, that's one wicked facet of mine many didn't know.

And so, here we go. I can never forget today's date. With an eventful day starting up, I spent a bit of my remaining morning time in retail therapy. Durga Puja is fast approaching and so are the discounts. Did I tell you that I got a skirt for just Rs.150 ( at 70 % discount !!) Well, I stopped the conversion thing. You better do it for yourself, or stop doing it to regain the Solace and Shanthi !!!

Please Sound Horn

Well, I know its been a while I wrote anything... just got really busy with my kiddos schools ( an entirely new phase in my life) and then, my driving lessons. Yeah yeah, in an attempt to utilise my anniversary gift(the new i10),... I explored on the most challenging tasks ever in my life:- Driving on Indian roads. Trust me, if one drives successfully on these zig-zag indian roads, you can be rated the best driver in the entire world. You even have the worst drivers, which explains why the traffic is so bad here. More on that later. I don't want to start my post being over-critical. :d

So, my instructor( who says...fooost clutch, then brake... which means..first clutch and then brake)... is having a hell time trying to reduce the speed on my accelerator. Well, if there's anything to be blamed, it should be the California roads I drove for more than a year. They literally spoilt me. When I told him about the minimum speed one needs to jet on the freeways there, he was more than horrified. He didn't say anything, but the next day.. I saw a change in the accelerator. He was apalled with my smartness apparently ( and sheepishly told that he changed it so that the speed wouldn't exceed 50kmph...) Disgusting!! ..you won't go that slow even in a school zone there... I shouted. But the damage was done already. And I had to compete with the bullocks here. Bollocks !!!!

So, why do I need an instructor when I already was zooming on the American roads?? Because of the East and West difference.
Firstly, I was going on the right side of the road and abused innocent people who were right in their own way. I then realised that I was going the wrong way. OK...point noted...
Secondly, the live stock !! Yes, I've heard of live bucks running in front of your cars in states like Texas... but here, the scene is entirely animal-friendly. You have dogs, goats, bussalos ( that's my younger one's version for buffalo...as he lisps for "f"..Thank God..he cannot use the F word so soon in his life..hehe.. ) and even monkeys here in BBSR (Maybe its because of the famous zoo at a stone's throw away...I hope I won't be confronting the bigger cats on roads. My kids would shreik with happiness, but its like a live safari am driving through!) God bless the animals.

And then, today.. there was this visit to the RTO for the learner's license. After a mere couple of hours waiting (I could have watched an Oriyan movie in the meanwhile instead of biting my nails) .. I was walked into a building meant for issuing licenses to the entire city.
License to break traffic rules,
license to run over a dog,
license to kill.
Ok..am going overboard !! Maybe, it was the red-painted wall which was hyperventilating me. But, I need to get used to it, being here for a while. The office was pretty ok, but there were about a hundred people in a hundred square foot room. Considering everyone had two feet, I wonder now if people were standing on one foot to accommodate the other. Phew !! The population!!!... why didn't our forefathers didn't know anything about family planning?? "Bhagwan ki den" was the slogan...and now India is teeming with people everywhere, making it more and more suffocated. Hmmm, now with the recession cropping up, more and more desis are also making way to the "janmabhoomi"... making it even more cluttered. God save the country !! Oh I mean, "Mera bharat mahaan" !!!


And, why didn't I mention earlier about the horn here? People sound horn each minute. Don't blame them, but you are the scapegoat when you try to reduce the noise pollution. The other day, when my husband (who was still accustomed to the american driving) got a small kiss from a motorbike... the reason he was told that he didn't sound horn at the right time. Lesson learnt!! Now, my husband is also one of the major causes of the already-exisitng sound pollution in India. His reason?? "I can't risk my car".
True... So, my instructor's only request is to press the horn as frequently as possible and to reduce the speed as low as possible. Both of which are seeming to me like gigantic tasks. But, I need to tune myself...if I have to drive on Indian roads. Best or worst... I am gonna master the indian 'gaalis'. Survival of the worst drivers......baby !!!

Hello Hello !!

Early in the morning, I get a call... a wake-up call to be precise... From the MAID !!... yeah, you've already read about how the maid replaced the rooster in my life, and how she made it easier than the life abroad. But did I mention about the cell phone she maintains ?? Ok, her number aside... she calls up to say she wouldn't be able to come that day. Atleast, isnt it commendable that she informed on time? And that too, with her own cell phone. 2009 ki nayi bai...

And then, I SMSed our milkman (the doodhwala) to get extra packets of milk that day, because of the sweet dish I intended to dish out for my kiddos. The point here is, he would come every single day, give a missed call to our cell phone, and then deliver the milk. Utilisation of technology !!

The other day, this auto-rickshaw man, dropped me off from the market, and gave me his mobile number, just in case I needed to go yet again anywhere else....just a convenient way... A new age for call-autos !!

So, was this the same India which started a little over a decade ago, with bulky handsets and even bulkier per-minute rates?? Worst of all, the incoming calls were charged too.. so the dream of a cell phone was only realised with the most-elite group in India. After a few years, this luxury slowly descended to the middle-class section too, with one of the providers making the incoming calls to be absolutely free. Was it a boon? Indeed it was... and so due to the heavy competition, almost all the providers did pronto. Years passed by, and the model of the cell phone became the owner's pride, instead of actually owning it too.

And then came the realisation of a rich oil-businessman, who dreamt of giving a cell phone even to the remotest of villages. Atleast, that's what the publicity was all about. In a few years, this almost came true. Almost kya?? When the daily public , like the maid, florist and even the auto fellow, we interact exchange cellphone numbers, doesn't it give you a great feel?? (Of course, you secretly watch out for their phone model, and try to change your own cell phone...heheh...but that's also improvisation in one way..isn't it ?? )

So, is this a better India ? For sure!! Am happy that the so-called developing country is welcoming technology with open arms, way much better than the other third-world countries.

Staying connected is the key word... so, what if the signal quality is sometimes so low that the "hello" fever has caught up the nation??
Atleast, we are trying !!!!

Beauty Unveiled

So, since I started blogging, I've been getting suggestions about writing something on some beauty tips. After getting down from the seventh cloud, it took me this time to actually compose something about beauty. On a hot summer day....

Lemme share with u gals the best kept top 10 beauty secrets of mine. Promise me not to laugh and not to follow. The world needs just one shanthi ...hehe
Ok... before I get enough hammer about all my self-boast, I was just trying to be at my modest-best... the rest can be decided better by my readers ;)

So, here we go :

Beauty is best decided with the face. Before one tries a hand at make-up, there are quite a few things to remember.

1) It isn't necessary to have the most expensive skin-care products.... but yeah, there should not be either a compromise on them. Cheap products will only lead to bad skin, and then you sadly realize that medical treatment is more expensive than that moisturiser you thought was pricy. Never ever go for cheap ones.

2) A general dosage of daily moisturiser, a weekly scrub, a nightly cream will work wonders on any skin.

3) Make-up is man's most desirable invention for a woman !! Don't you girls agree ? But, it just doesn't mean that since we only have the patenthood for make-up, we need to over-do it. Especially, all the glitter and gloss looks really good during an evening bash, but pleaaaase avoid those blue and green eyes during morning. You will only look like an African refugee more than anything else. And don't get over-inspired with heavy kohls too. Decide on the heaviness of make-up according to the ocassion.

4) And of course, the cleansing routine.... The skin takes the make-up a little too hard. As much as the skin loves being exposed to the public at it's best... the bedroom skin doesn't need more than a cleansing wipe and a good night cream. Never ever sleep with make-up on. (unless you really want to look pretty in the morning shower too.. actually.. the mascara will only make your partner run for his life, so it's better to remove it.)

5) The hair decides best about what you are. Actually, the weather decides best maybe. After letting my hair loose in the US of A (thanks to its encouraging weather)... my hair now finds itself in the clutch the entire day. A strand of hair even on my neck is gonna be the reason for my ultimate crankiness. Lo and behold, my once-straight lovely hair has taken it's new avatar as the curly and lovely one. Speaking about home remedies. I saved my husband a few thousands on the hair curler. heheh

6) So coming back to hair-care, a nice massage with your favourite oil, followed with a great shampoo and conditioner is just enough to let the 'deewane' fall even more on your 'darkest' assets ... Don't torture the 'million things' with ironing and curling at a frequent pace. If you are really a fan of the electric appliances, follow the routine only on the best ocassions. A frequent dosage of the iron only makes it dead even before you realise it.

7) The body needs a generous dosage of moisturiser too. Especially a great sun-block will help you retain the complexion you are born with. Or else, you will be wailing that you were fair, but people will give a deaf ear to those claims. Tall ones, I say...

8) As a mom of two, I've never grown my nails for the past 5 years. I once accidentally scratched my older one's face with my nail, and then decided to keep them short along with my kids. But yeah, if a monthly manicure helps you relax the entire tension, why don't you go along? Most of the married ladies keep their necessities below their family needs. But, when you take care of yourself, the feel-good factor passes onto the family as well. Isn't it ?

9) Diet is definitely a major part in any beauty regime. What you eat is what you are. Skin is always hungry for fresh fruits(no, not the facial only... you can eat them too), milk products (Avoid paneer and cheese if you are calorie-conscious..otherwise..milk is the best way to put your mood back...). And yeah, who wouldnt like junk ? The fries, burgers, pizzas, the desi oily pakoras... As they say, the unhealthy stuff is always the tastiest. Well, I won't ask you to tie down your taste buds forever, but keep it to a limit.

10) And then, follow a fitness regime. It might be a strenous work-out, a cool yoga, or a simple walk in the nature. You decide it according to your lifestyle. But, don't avoid it with the pretext of lack of time. You need to spend unnecessary time making rounds to VLCC etc...

And yeah, Be happy ...be beautiful.

What's a better secret to be beautiful than to be happy in what you do ??

Jai ho !!

What brings a smile on your face?

Firstly, the famous oscar-award song(Jai Ho) which is heard everywhere in India keeps reminding me of the actual premise of the movie too, the slums !! Not that these omnipresent dwellings require any reminder!! But, my first-hand experience with any slum-dweller is yet to be explored.

My due apologies to the famous actors and directors who lashed out this movie before the Oscars. True, India is more than just beggars, slums and the corrupt government. But, definitely..what Danny Boyle showed in the movie is no less. Just that, reality is harsher when its viewed on the celluloid.

So, what made me write this post about slums? Is it the Oscars ?? No... We, as proud Indians, have watched this movie long back before it created ripples in the entire entertainment industry, and also maintained that it's a wonderful movie (Despite the "Gussa of BigB"). It's the beaming smile of a poor boy which made me write about their lives... atleast to think about them.

The other day, while we were heading back to our gleaming new car, after a party we treated ourselves in a posh restaurant(excuse : CAR ) ... I had these kids, scantily clad, running upto me and asking me "Ek rupaiyya de do, memsaab!" Well, after the more-than-a-thousand bucks we spent on a single dine-out, I was immediately embarassed with the extreme lives our Indians spend in terms of their lifestyles.

One rupee ! Will it make a difference to them? I had no idea how. I gave the kid a long stare, debating on whether to encourage beggars or not. But, my heart leapt on his baby sister(I have serious doubts if it was his own...courtesy the movie). Anyway, it didn't stop me for giving him a 5 rupee coin. Well, am not trying to say it was a generous thing, but the way the boy jumped with joy when he saw 4 bucks more than what he asked... it was totally worth it. He went out to his friends and proudly showed it off. Another Jamal Malik in the making?? I fervently hope so... Sadly, life is not that rosy as it seems in the movies either. I asked my uncle, "What will become of them?" He simply said, "Girls to red light, and boys to black !" What a simple statement, yet painfully true.

Another black feather in the cap, I recently read it in the newspaper, on how the father of Rubina Ali(the youngest Latika in the movie) tried to sell her off to an incognito journalist for a whopping sum of Rs.1 Cr. Thank God it was a fake media guy trying to feed his hungry newspaper. If it was a real Arabian??? God Forbid. Who are we kidding anyway? This happens with so many other girls too.

Coming back to my experience, I remember the umpteen number of times I used to save some leftover food in the fridge, forget totally about it, and finally trash it after a week (because of no choice in the US). Here, I felt good about not trashing it, instead fed my maid, who doesn't know how to thank verbally, but shows it in a very effective way of cleaning my house.

Don't these small gestures bring a smile on your face? Well, since I've spent about 5 yrs abroad, all these seem a bit alien to me,.... the rest of the Indians might find it humorous that am penning down a meagre amount and a bowl of upma. It's just that they touched my heart and the lives of people I touch. So, please bear with my thoughts :)

So, as I set out to explore more on the Indian standards.. I realize its not just missing out some silly American things, but to face a lot of harsh realities too.

Jai Ho!

With love , From India

Hi all,
Life as an Indian bahu... a never-ending saga !!

As I start on my new life, I suddenly miss some of the daily things I used to take it for granted in my life abroad. Read on but don't laugh... instead, would be glad if anyone coming to India would get them for me ....

--> Paper towels : Bounty !! Does it sound like a puppy's name?? Naa... thats the brand I used while in US... Courtesy Costco !! Oh...how I miss them... we used to throw them like waste paper there( wait, they ARE paper)..but then, here...you get the worse-than-toiletpaper quality, courtesy BigBazaar :(... Can anyone from the US get me those???Pls pls pls :D

--> My fat-free milk :( .... Huh, am bound to put on all my shedded lbs ( spelt kgs here )due to the Indian fat milk... I know I cannot get it imported from the US..but just complaining..no harm in it na ??

--> The conventional oven : Baking was my second love...dont ask the first (there are many :D) ...I used to bake muffins, cakes ( no, no..dont expect it from scratch...everything was from a ready-made pouch... oh come on, am not a baker :D)..so yeah, I miss baking them..and that Corningware bakeware !! Waaaaa .... they are still with a friend who promised to get them in parts and pieces .. I hope she's listening :)

--> The hot water : Yeah, we do have geysers...but they are confined na... The US has this uncanny facility of providing hot water on the right side of the tap...even in the vanity ( never used it though :D)wait...is it on the left side?? I already have a poor memory of my life there... overwhelmed with the extreme details here...

--> And then what ? I miss the
Starbucks coffee (Cafe coffee day is trying hard to fill the gap),
The cold weather ( I used to say that I hate the winters there..but I think I already changed my mind... It's always hot in india ),
My car (Oh,..how I used to zoom on the expressways and freeways there... I will never forget the roads there )
Our gym ( The daily routine of dropping the kiddos at the kids club while we sweated out ... yeah, we still sweat here...but that's for another reason... stop raking your dirty minds.. I was talking about the weather here :D)
And my friends ( Is there any replacement to that?? Hmmm.. NO!)

But yeah, I definitely don't miss
The carpetted floor ( It's ok when you don't want broken things around your house, but other than that, it's such a dust-sucker... hated to clean it)
The do-it-all-by-yourself routine ( My indian maid already made an entry into my blog, so I don't need to mention why I love it here ..hehe)
The endless-spending of your time trying to clock in the Indian time so that we could chat up with our dear ones...
And more to mention... they will come later... still yet to explore the totality of an indian Zindagi :)

So, please try to note down what I miss from the US of A...am glad to pay the conversion provided you supply it to BBSR ... Ciao for now :)

PS : Did I mention the Return policy... Ssshhh... Don't tell anyone...But I managed to return some of the unused things I bought some months ago too... while I was winding my things back there... They simply don't ask you questions...and I wanted to prove that am a pure Desi by heart, by completely utilising it...
I REALLY MISS THAT ... (*a big sigh*)

Lots of love,
The Indian-at-heart yet craving-for-US girl.

The first morning !

Every night is followed with a morning... so my earlier post "The first night" should definitely be followed with this one...kya say ?

Ok..so what was I expecting from an India lifestyle?? Frankly, nothing. It's not that am too alien to household stuff... been managing a house of my own since I was 21 (Now, that wasn't a boast..so stop *rolling your eyes*). However, this is definitely the first time I set up home in the desi style. Definitely, lots of differences.

The morning wake-up call is not provided with a digital alarm clock. Naa...stop imagining roosters...they are so old-world... India is definitely developed!!
The wake-up call I was referring to is the maid, who comes for domestic help. Help!! She woke me up at 7am, and to think of it, I was dreaming about the luxury of a domestic maid, little knowing that I needed to sacrifice my morning sleep(I can never ever wake up before 8am...even when Teju had to go to school at 8.45am... coz people who know me also know that I don't retire until the night again.)

Anyway, thanks to the telugu maid....yesssssssss, ain't I lucky?? I don't need to suffer with the linguistic problems of which I had nightmares of. In fact, I took a crash course in Oriya from my daddy dearest(he spent a quality time of 30yrs of his early life in Orissa... JAI JAGANNATH!!). The crash course seems a waste now. People either know Hindi or English or Telugu... what a relief!!

And yeah, I was constantly reminding myself to not convert currency once back in India. But, I couldn't stop jumping with joy when I knew that I need to pay the maid a little over 10$ (of course, in INR... just converting it :D) for an entire month...Hmm...isnt that a luxury?? Now, all you ladies...stop clenching your teeth... If you are as ready as me to forgo your morning sleep... its totally worth to get back to an indian lifestyle... after all..we were born here..right ??

And then, with a routine my mom followed for thirty years : Boiling the milk, Having filter coffee, making "real" desi breakfast namely upma, idli etc... All this has started for me too. The routine of an Indian household lady. But, please...don't expect a pallu atop my head. I dress up in ethnic only for pictures and when I don't work. So, stop expecting a telugu serial here..

So, ciao my dear fellas... with me adjusting to the "Mitti and Dhool" of "Apna Desh"...Talking about pros and cons. Thank God, now I won't have my dad complaining that I never saw a sunrise in my entire lifetime.
(PS : I think I need to bribe the maid to come a little later in the day ...the indian ishhhttyyyle u see :D )

The first night !!!

Girlssssss.... please stop rolling your eyes as soon as you see the title !
Guys, stop getting any fancy ideas too.

This post about my first night is just as innocent as a baby's smile... Trust me, after all, It's a about how I spent an entire night without my darling kiddos.

After a round in Asia and America, when we decided to get back to India, God decided that we stay in Orissa. If Kerala is "God's own country", shall I describe this low-profile state as "Goddess' own country" ?? There seemed to be a temple every hundred yards !!

With the blazing heat welcoming me, I was trying hard to digest that this will be called HOME !! Yeah, in the same attempt of setting up a home, here I am to have a look at some of the houses and prospective schools for my kids.

As soon as I reached the planned city of Bhubaneshwar, the first thing my husband said " Wow, thanks for coming... it's the first time you came anywhere without the kids !". I felt stabbed with the statement. Didn't I ever really leave them for the past 5 years, not even for a day?? Hmmm, thats so utterly true. As we were driving to our hotel, I calmly realized that there wasn't a single day in the past 5 years, when I didn't clean baby bottles and didn't change diapers.
Too many negatives in one sentence?? Trying to make the positive out of it, baby !!

So, here I am in Orissa, spending a couple of days viewing and rejecting homes.. but the main point here is, spending a couple of days without my babies. Do I like it ? Well, who would like it?? But am literally surprised with the ease they are adjusting to their new mom, spelt "ammamma" here... Was I half-expecting a melodrama here? Hmmm...

A friend of mine once said, "Take a break... you can resume your duties with fresher energy!!". Indeed, breaks are healthy... but yeah, as I woke up the first morning in my life, without attempting to change a smelly diaper, I was already missing my sons.

PS: Bhubaneshwar is nothing what I anticipated !! The planned and clean roads, the greens everywhere, the very-less pollution, and much wider roads !! Wait, there's a Cafe Coffee day here...
So, I forget everything about missing my sons and dig into a much calorific "Devil's own". Yeah, breaks are healthy !! hahaha

Back HOME!!

Life and its twists and turns... especially mine !!
The changes I've gone through the past 10 years have been really dramatic, starting with my early engagement, marriage and motherhood too, with me balancing the student life with equal ease. Of course, nothing in life comes easy. It's just easier said than done.

With a 5 year stint outside India, I find myself in the country yet again in which am brought up, spelt "haven" here. Life's been really hectic for me, managing my 2 young sons, changing countries, adapting to newer environments, etc. It's been a mad rush for the past 5 years for us, trying to fit in the life abroad. I wouldn't deny that the life outside India has been good to me. But it was really time for me to decide the future for my kids. So, here I am !! Back to India....

Firstly, I have to be frank here.. I was very skeptical about getting back to the life in Swades. I wasn't totally sure about how my kids would take the extreme change in their lives, starting with the weather, people and the language ! Both my sons aren't too adept with speaking in Telugu, though they can completely understand their mother-tongue. Blame me for this! As my elder son started picking up words slowly(at 2.5 years), I was focussing more on just one language, and since we happened to be in Singapore at that time, English was the easiest medium to communicate with my little fellow. That explains my sons' semi-alienation from Telugu.

Anyway, as we were preparing to get back to India, we deliberately wanted to behave very normally, unlike the typical DESIs (also called NRIs)!! Maybe, trying that hard is in itself a way of behaving like a typical desi... as the rest of the indians wouldn't try that hard to be normal. Well, normalcy here is spelt like using napkins instead of paper towels, leaving the kids without car-seats and getting accustomed to the horrific amount of dust and pollution.

As soon as we reached India, I found the Santro car which my dad drove to be extremely miniscule, when compared to the Sienna we drove in the US. Okay, we didn't mention it in an attempt to being normal. And then, the traffic !! There's just one word to describe it... Horrific ! People's status was anyway measured with a car... but now, I realize that the bigger the car, the more you have to wait endlessly for the traffic to clear, while you can do nothing but clench your teeth when the bikes and smaller cars zoom past your bigger vehicle. So much for a big car dream!! When we were in US, we thought of buying either an Ikon or a Honda City, but now, I feel that Tata Nano is better :( The traffic is definitely rude here and everyone seem to be in an interminable rush. Rush to schools, rush to office and rush for everything. In comparison, I found the western world to be much more at peace. Or maybe wait, I was behaving like a desi !!

And then the pollution. Am I being over-critical or was it the same country I was brought up? Actually and sadly, it isn't the same India I was raised up in. It's an entirely different country, with changing culture and environment. Yeah, I do agree that India wasn't one of those top countries which scream with cleanliness, but atleast there wasn't this much pollution when we were kids. It can be just explained with the lesser number of vehicles at that time. The present India is teeming with innumerable vehicles, which just adds so much to the noise and dust pollution that it really saddens me that am constantly comparing it with the western world. Could I stop behaving like a desi?? I simply couldn't.

And what a timing !! It's the elections time baby. Get ready for the biggest reality show in India. The world's biggest democracy is getting ready for it's new leader. And as an election drill, every single car is being stopped and inspected, making the already-bad traffic even worse. I am surprised with the number of political offices which cropped up in Vizag itself. With a small city itself accommodating so many political changes, I can really imagine the plight of the rest of the metropolitan cities. As a normal Indian, not a desi, I asked my dad as to why the roads are so bad. No exaggeration, all the main roads are completely blocked due to flyover constructions... and all the in-roads are in a very bad state (due to the semi-work of the drainage management). Dad just explained that no work is to be done during the elections time. It's only the new government which decides the rest of the work to be done. So pathetic and so hypocritical !!

Maybe, it's time I stop complaining about India. I've been this spoilt brat and a typical NRI, trying to make a mountain out of a molehill. Or maybe, I was really opening my eyes for the first time now. You see, I was just busy with my life in abroad, and now I feel it's time I woke up and see what's really happening with our Swades. Is anyone imagining ShahRukh Khan now ???

It's not really bad after all. The above-mentioned complaints are just one face of the coin.

As a first positive thing about our country, I should mention the warmth exuding amongst our family and friends. People make it a point to visit me when they heard that I came all the way from America. Not to mention, the unending chocolates my kids got from the various "Uncles" and "Aunties". My kids were just bewildered with the huge amount of the sweet bribes and I was already planning as to how to avoid so much of a chocolate invasion on their tiny teeth. That being said, I really couldn't face people with the same warmth they showered on us. Maybe, it's the habit of living all by oneself in abroad, which makes one a little inaccessible. My parents got worried about me behaving like the teenager I used to be, clinging on to my computer and books. For a change, it's the computer and my kids now. Books are still waiting in the cupboard for me. But, my kids have crazily liked the number of people visiting them. Maybe, they loved the huge amount of attention they were drawing. They are just thrilled with the chocolates and toys, which were otherwise inaccessible in US. And speaking of the change, my best friend mentioned that she found my elder son even more friendly and in a very happy mood, when he animatedly spoke with her over the phone, describing how much he liked India and his granny dearest. Thank heavens for that !

Mentioning about the humid weather in Vizag, I was anyway used to it since childhood, so no more complaints. But, can anything beat a stroll down the Visakhapatnam beach having yummy raw mangoes(with salt and spice... any more explanation would lead to more salination...so here I stop !!) and even yummier hot corn?? The drive down the long beach road on any hot evening just turns down the heat and I get a feeling that I can spend the rest of my life in that cool breeze. Definitely, it's way much better than the western world snow, where it's just pretty in pictures but horrifying to actually live in.

Now, completing almost a month here in India, I have no more complaints. Am fervently hoping that India would change, with better roads and lesser pollution. Even if it doesn't, am not complaining. Just getting used to... after all, am one in a Billion. Ain't I ????

To HELL and back

For starters, Hell here means Las Vegas !!
No, I am not describing the whole experience to this city as hellish, but since their own claim is that of being 'Sin City', I couldn't help but give Vegas this nickname.

Undoubtedly, we had real fun. The whole experience to the "City of non-stop entertainment" is definitely unparalleled. The awesome feel one gets when you enter this "City which never sleeps" is one which we cannot forget in our entire lives. There is a strong current of money and riches wherever you visit this place. The innumerable shows cater to all kinds of audience, and by that I also include the juniors too.

Frankly, I never wanted to visit Las Vegas, definitely not with 2 kids in tow. I had this indelible feeling that I just wouldn't be able to enjoy the Adult city the way I wanted to... if I went out with my sons. Also, I had this feeling of something unholy about it, so I thought that my sons are better off without visiting this place. But then, I had this clinging feel to visit it too.. especially, when in this country, you don't have an option to leave your kids in their granny's place or so, someone suggested me to go visit this place even before my kids outgrew their childishness. I realized that they are too young to absorb the entire adult content of Vegas, so off we started.

The journey was a good one, with our best friends travelling along with us. It started off as a double-date, except that we had two car-seats in the car too..(Whew).
We stopped by at a friend's place in Los Angeles, which happens to be mid-way from our place(Cupertino)to Vegas. Maybe, it was the anticipation to visit Vegas which made us sleepless the entire night in that new place. We just waited for the dawn to break, and then continued our journey.

In a telugu flick "Manmadhudu", the hero says about the city of Paris that "It looks like a perfume bottle in the morning and like a champagne bottle in the night". Am not too sure about Paris... but the statement definitely suits Vegas. More so, I've heard someone saying that visiting Vegas at daytime is as good as seeing a woman without make-up !! heheh.. So much true. It's just any other ordinary city, except that it has expensive hotels lined up screaming of richness in every angle. I bet that no other city must be making so much of money in one single night.


We stayed in The Mandalay Bay, the first one on "The Strip". It was an awesome hotel, with classy interiors. The lounge and our master suite was very much welcoming..and the view from our room had this awesome Luxor hotel(Pyramid shape) in front of our eyes.
The first evening was a much relaxed one, each one of us taking our time to soak in the richness of our hotel. The master bath was simply stunning, and little did we want to come out of it :D ... Once freshened up, we hit the roads of Vegas along with our best friend in hand, the camera !! The city boasts of non-stop lights in the nighttime, and capturing it through the shutterbug only enhanced it's beauty. We had a stroll until the mid of the strip, by when the kids were too exhausted and were dying to get back to Home !! ( Already?? That's why I didnt want to go with the kids... did you get my point ??) Anyway, being the good boys that my sons are, they were ready to accept that our suite is our new home, and they were utterly happy, as they realized the bliss of constant TV and no school in Vegas :P

The second day started off with my routine with the kids. However, my elder one was exhilarated when he knew that he didn't need to attend school there. Maybe, he thought it's gonna be for a long time! And I let him indulge in that blissful thought atleast for a while. Post-lunch, we visited the famous Circus-circus hotel, which had stuff for kids, very much unlike the many other hotels on the strip. I was pleasantly surprised with the number of kids swarming there like bees, for the various games and shows lined up for the gen-next. It was definitely a haven for all the juniors, who might feel stuffy with all the casinos and the adult themes lined up in the rest of the hotels. After a while, when the kids were tired again and wanted to go home, our friends were sweet enough to offer to baby-sit them in the room, while we splurged ourselves away in the casino. "I'll be back in a couple of hours" ...That's what I told my friend when she took my kids back to the hotel. The couple of hours just stretched to a straight six hours, as we spent in the casino and the long walk we took back on the strip.
The rare time, which me and my husband spent walking and talking and clicking all the 5 miles( wearing heels :O) is one thing which I wouldn't forget for a long time to go..

The third day was a similar one, taking turns with the kiddos, and trying to sneak into the casinos and hotels. Amongst all, The Bellagio is one hotel to be watched out for. The richness was reflecting in every possible angle of the hotel and the Christmas theme was a great one to look at too. In the evening, in an attempt to entertain my sons, we took them to the Shark Reef Aquarium. .
It was a good one, with lots of fishes and whole lot of information on them. The glass dome was looking similar to the one we visited in Singapore, and we felt utterly nostalgic. After all, we spent three years of our lives in Singapore and we have some very fond memories of that country too

My husband had his old-time pals come down to Vegas at the same time. I still have to figure out if it was a planned move or a coincidental one. You never know these guys na ?? I had the night to myself to take a break from the casinos visit, as these guys had something planned up for them. Me and my friend had a quality time of girl-talk, after we tucked in the kids to sleep. The relaxed time for ourselves, instead of scurrying here and there like the other nights, was definitely a welcome one, while the guys got to enjoy their piece of bachelor time. Now, I don't think I need to explain what kind of fun one haves in Vegas, while the wives are not around !!! And then the guys come down in the wee hours of the next day, only to tell us that they have lost a couple of hundred bucks in the casinos again. Not again !! I've heard of "What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas"... but here, we were just losing since Day one... and that was one point which was irking the back of my mind. However, the guys who went to a nite-club ( sorry for divulging the details) ...also managed to take us ladies too, the next day... to the same place. I didn't need to be persuaded much about it, because I wanted to be a Roman while in Rome. I really wanted to see the dark side of Vegas too. Somehow, I felt like this journalist wearing club-wear. I wanted to see the girls who worked in these awful places... and Vegas is the best place to explore.


My first steps into the smoky place just left me speechless. Girls were roaming around in their skimpiest best, and I was thoroughly embarrassed with the entire place. I wanted to run back, but being the strong girl on the outside, I followed my husband to a table of two. I was fervently happy that we didn't come down with our friends together to this place. The kids had saved my day...or shall i say it night ??? However, I had a girl coming up and she sat right next to me. I couldn't face her, though I know it should be the other way round. She started chatting with me, and slowly I realized that she was such a normal girl...just being in the wrong place. She was very pretty, and told me a little about herself. I realized that she was doing her profession with the same mindset as any other job. She was there for money, and wasn't even being hypocritical about that. She just told that she hated Vegas, because it's a great place to visit but not to live. I felt sad for her, and she was awestruck when she learnt that we live in the Bay area. That might have spelt "Heaven" for her... or for that matter, any other place than Vegas was better for that girl, whom I already started feeling bad for.

With that shaky experience to take back home, we started back home the fourth day from Vegas. Not to mention, a number of shows we watched over those few days we spent ... we really had a good vacation. The return journey was one to be remembered for a long time though. That being the end of a long weekend, everyone seemed to head back home almost at the same time, just to make the already-bad traffic even worse. The slower-than-ants traffic made us move only 40 miles in 2 hours, and the guys were so tired driving at 5 mph... that they had to stop the car at a rest place for a couple of hours. Incidentally, the rest area was also a casino, the last one near Vegas, and we utilised those rest hours too in the casino, taking turns with the kiddos. Ironically, this was the first time we won and we had a good laugh about it. Finally, after 12 hours on the road, taking rest and turns with the wheel, we finally reached our friend's place in LA.

This was one trip which had it all. Enjoyment, Loss and Frustration. But of course, everything was worth it. After all, its LAS VEGAS !!!