Flying high...

Why i enjoy flying with jun :

Just as we are taking off : "Ready, get set, GO!!!!'....and the plane obediently takes off!!

After the take off : "Amma, have we come out of the world now?"

During the flight : "Amma, i can see INDIA!!!"

During the flight : " Why do they give the same book and broken pencil again and again? They dont have anything else?"

As we descend for landing : Amma, i have MAGIC ears. If i yawn, i can hear better!!!

Junspeak

- Watching my dad excuse himself from the table while the rest of us were still eating :

"Why thatha said 'excuse me' when he did not burp?"

- When i made the mistake of showing him my freshly pedicured feet :

"These are your same feet?"

sigh....

Holiday horror?

A holiday at your parent's home.

Makes you feel like a child again.

You become lazy, pampered and reckless.

You get your hair streaked violet (yes, you read right.)

And while you secretly think you look totally cool...

You hope when you go back,

Mr husband will still have a place

In his heart and home for you!

Blue who? Happenings in the new year...

We brought in the new year watching the Dark Knight in IMAX. Late night show... i will skip right to arjun's verdict. The guy actually stayed awake through the movie and even discussed it for about an hour into the new year!!!

I thought it was quite good especially since the previous movie i watched in a theatre was something called 'Dostana' Nobody and i really mean nobody told me how absolutely crass and crude and un-funny it was. In fact everybody said it was an enjoyable movie. WHAT WERE THEY THINKING????

But that was in the last year so let me come back to the present and why we are not at all blue anymore....a new maid has made an entrance into our lives and she does not expect to be called 'Your majesty' like the other hyd maids. Only if you are a woman and run a home will you understand the gravity of this event.

And then we went KITING!!

Atleast that is what arjun told all and sundry as we trudged our way to the terrace with two precious kites and a roll of thread. Leading the troop was Maddy who apparently was 'world-famous-in-his-locality'kind of a kiter in his younger days.

Over the years,I have learnt that the few claims he makes are not to be taken lightly and he proved it yet again as he expertly threaded the kite and in no time, our little silver rhombus with a tail was sailing in the skies with three sets of adoring eyes following its every dip and rise. Then arjun got to hold the thread and so did i.

It was like a dream we never actually had came true. The wonder of it all was fantastic.

And then came the villain. A jaundiced yellow kite with manja thread (thread coated with glass pieces) came closer and closer and our white thread was no match. We were too brave to quickly lower the kite so we fled till we couldnt any longer and in one neat cut, the dirty yellow kite had cut our silver rhombus and we were left just holding a limp white thread.

Maddy was so wild that they came after the kite that arjun was actually flying that he turned to the group and showed them THE finger. I thought that was mighty brave of him considering those boys were just FIVE terraces away ;)

Anyway, the net result is that day before yesterday, Maddy prepared for war. He came back with around six kites, lots of white thread but lots more of manja thread. Tomorrow will be show time and we have never been so excited before.

Love this city!! :)

ps : Love is . . . getting your salman-khan-fan-wife a kite with his picture on it!!!

:) :)

Gosh, its been a while.

Balancing the little bit of consulting that i do with managing a family has taken its toll on my blogging. Mornings have become replicas of those portrayed in taare zameen par...except, its worse. So a short getaway to chennai for the long weekend? Heaven!!

No visit to chennai is complete without going to spencer plaza and buying a ridiculously overpriced toy from landmark. But this visit, i truly enjoyed.

" Junjun, you want the Doctor set or the cooking set?"
COOKING SET

"you sure?"
COOKING SET!!

" sure you dont want the doctor set"?
AMMA!! I WANT THE COOKING SET.

i couldnt help singing : "My future is so bright i gotta wear shades...." :) :)

After this lovely start to the day, we saw some video games in an almost shady corner of the food court. Arjun and S (his cousin) - fingers itching, begged for a chance to play. S played merrily, making spiderman run into walls over and over again. But no one could understand what arjun's convict-on-the-run was doing.

Exasperated that he was wasting his time making his convict stop every few steps, i started cheering him..... "make him run junjun, make him run".

But no. All i got was a dirty look from my son.

i looked at the screen again. Yup. The Convict was definitely supposed to be running away. I explained that to arjun and then i got this response.

AMMA! Cant you see the traffic light? Only when it is green, he can go!!

I know now that my son is going to grow up into a law abiding citizen.

If only because, he doesnt stand a chance as a convict on the run.

Its all in the game!

Three little boys playing cricket. Average age : 4.

Ball is soft, yellow and has a smiley face on it. Bats - neon green and pink.

We were ready.

Batsman stands like Bheema holding his mace. Obviously misses the ball.

Bawls

Bowler bowls to the batsman and in some science defying angle, the ball bounces back and socks the bowler in the eye.

More Bawling

The bowler bowls to the batsman. The ball moves so slowly towards the batsman that the fielder decides he has had enough. He actually fields the ball BEFORE it reaches the batsman

Some more bawling

The batsman is told to LOOK at the ball. He does exactly that, eyes popping out, and doesn't even attempt to hit it. When asked why...

Even more bawling

Batsman misses the ball and reacts by throwing the bat at the bowler

The fielder joins in with a nicely aimed throw.

Spectator is torn between laughing and well...laughing some more. No way was i going to break this up!!


Be strong Chennai Kings...i dont see heirs for a really long time ;)

Coz we are living.....

A family friend who came visiting got the ultimate compliment from junjun :

" i am going to buy myself a vasant uncle. He is so nice! "

....Cheers to love in a material world!

Holidays!

Holidays are a really nice time...when you are a STUDENT!!!

For a mother of a three year old, having the said three year around ALL the time needs a bit of getting used to!

Arjun, dont watch so much tv! Why dont you play some music instead?

I see him heading towards the music system and go into the kitchen

When i come back, both the TV AND the Music system are on.

"one for amma and one for arjun" he says happily.

I am fighting a losing battle.

Munnar

A trip to the hills where nature's bountiful beauty is so in your face - puts things in perspective -like how deliciously insignificant one is in the grand scheme of things.

A lovely holiday. A special aunt for company along with my parents. A lovely park that junjun just wouldnt come out of. The most amazing boat ride of my life. Seeing elephants in the wild. Views that took my breath away (and almost some of my just eaten lunch too...) Lovely long drives on rubberized roads. And when we were back home, Junjun asking everyone whether we wanted to smell his feet.

A perfect holiday :)

Flavours ;)

Our first long drive in our brand new car and.....arjun puked all over the seat.

Now when someone asks about our car, we say the colour is 'panther black' and the interiors are 'arjun puke'

c'est la vie!

Chennai Chapter

Chennai was a flurry of poojas and vadhiyaars, homams and ellai saapaadu. Being the first death anniversary of our dear achan.....arjun's grandfather from maddy's side, rajesh and shanti (arjun's periyappa and preiyamma) ensured they left no stone unturned in ensuring all the rites and rituals were performed. Am sure achan is smiling in heaven. May his soul rest in peace.

Occupied as we were with all this, we didnt have much time to visit anybody. Thath (and bobby who celebrated their first wedding anniversary on the fifteenth) came and chauffered us around for a couple of days and it was pure fun.

Coming back to coimbatore, we all felt the sadness one always feels when a holiday is over.... but as they say, there is no place like home.

Arjun, after his chennai visit, talks nineteen to the dozen. Hates going to school all over again and tried to convince me that 'school is closed. amma'.

Must mention here that all the vadhiyars fell in love with him, tx to the promptness with which he collapsed face down on the floor each time he had to do a namaskaram!! actually, even we all loved him a little more :)

Expecting the chennai side of the family to visit us next month. Just cant wait to see arjun and suraj together again. Brothers in arms. Absolutely!

Chennai Chit

Logging in from 'abhase's' sexy laptop in chennai. Having a lovely time watching suraj and arjun bond....not that they needed to...they just seemed to pick up where they left off. Blood is thicker than water? so true!

Chennai has changed so much. Am not sure i can live here again. The reason - the terrible traffic. As our very own kochamma put it, 'some traffic police person from bangalore has been transferred here and is messing up chennai too!'

Loved this line thath! ;)

Detailed chennai chit when i am back home.