Notes from a Small Town.

The one good thing about my parents living in a small town is that Im totally relaxed. I am taking laziness to an all new level. Like in Madras, no mad shopping to do hunting for that perfect short kurta, no restaurant hopping looking for that elusive Schezwan fried rice, no beaches, no visits to the dentist,... Im not even moving my behind to go to any of the temples for which this town is famous for. Only one quick visit was done to Govindapuram the day before the Kumbabhishekam.

I signed up Ashu for a 10 day swimming camp in a hotel pool nearby. Never in a million years would I have thought that my daughter will learn swimming in Kumbakonam of all places!! Unfortunately I took my dad along for the first class and seeing her splutter and pant, he took the coach aside (Im not sure if he bribed him! Hes capable of it!) and told him to teach her swimming with her head above the water! sigh. The even more sad part is that the coach agreed and now after the last lesson, Ashu is swimming exactly like how our Labrador (God bless her soul!) used to when she fell on the Kodaikanal lake!

I hardly come online or talk on the phone. My mom and dad take care of the girls. If Im really tired watching TV or looking at the ceiling (during the power cut), I play judge to the Pallankuzhi match between my 96 year old grandma and 6 year old daughter. My happiness cant be measured when Ashu makes her move after she counts the Sozhis discreetly so that she can pothufy Kaasi or take a muthu. I can proudly say that she has become the member of the Secret Society of Pallankuzhi! Antu is having her own fun upturning the heavy wooden board and scattering the Sozhis everywhere. Some (read Sis!) might say that Antu is following my footsteps but for the record, I did it only when I lost a game, mind it!

If you think at 96, my grandma is the oldest in the family, you are wrong. My grand uncle turned 100 (One Hundred!) recently and he lives with my uncle and aunt next door. Ashu and Antu visited him as usual and he remembered their visit 6 months back and said, "The little one will come to me. Shes not shy like the older one!" Gotta give it to the old man! Sharp as a cookie even though hes very weak physically. The irony is that every time we visit home, my mom or my grandma will insist that we go visit him as soon as possible because "God knows when what will happen? Seekram poi paathutu vandhudu". This has been going on for the past 10 years and its really hilarious that this dialogue is coming from my 96-not-out grandma. Poor thing used to wipe her tears and say, "May be I wont be here the next time you visit. Take care of the kids"! But even she thought enough is enough and during my last trip declared, "May be Im not going anywhere until I see Ashu getting married! So see you next time!" Hope to God I have the same sense of humor when Im old. (Not that old, please God!)

I dont know why but I sense that my parents are very proud that we live in Switzerland and I cant explain why but Im most reluctant to tell near strangers where I live. Ashu being the girl she is hardly ever strikes a conversation with strangers and even if she does, she ll only answer to Yes or No questions. Antu being small, people hardly direct their questions at her and even when she says "I live in Zurich", people assume she said Zoo and give me a weird look! So that only leaves my mother! While on the train, I went to the loo for like 30 seconds and my mom had introduced her grand daughters to half the compartment and maamas and maamis are asking me how I manage in the snow! One gentleman is asking ashu what her name is in German(!) and another lady is asking me if I get Murungaikaai there! Some people dont even know where Swiss is (Adhu enna? Newzealand pakkathula irukko?) and I have to tell them that it is near London! (My apologies to the Swiss!)

I dont know how my parents did it when we were kids but watching TV with Ashu is like Chinese torture. It does nt help that she has nt watched a full length Hindi or Tamil movie. Or a non-kiddy English film for that matter. It feels like a different Ashu is unleashed when I watch a Tamil movie and she catches a few scenes. "Why is that baby crying? Why is the mom leaving the baby and going to fight a war? Why is she crying now? So what if she came to know she is adopted? She has a mom and dad, right? Why does she care about her real mom who left her?" All this for a two minutes scene from Kannathil Muthamittaal. As if this is nt enough, there was a scene where Maddy and Iduppazhagi are hugging and the Akka character stops them. "Why cant they hug? Why is she stopping them? So what if they are nt married? So why dont they get married? Why should they ask the dads permission? Why dont they just get married and surprise him?" This from a girl who still informs me that shes going to the bathroom before she does! God save me! And here we were my sis and I as kids suffering through rape scenes, kissing scenes, hugging scenes, near rape before the hero saves his sister scene, rape after which the girl marries the rapist and lives happily ever after scenes, rape followed by suicide scenes, rape followed by murder scenes, MGR duet songs, Moods advertisement, etc... etc... etc... without batting an eyelid and without a peep! And in those days, parents could nt even change channels like we can today because there was only one channel to watch and most importantly there was no remote. And even if one was lucky to get the Srilankan channel Rupavahini , changing the channel meant that someone has to go to the terrace and change the direction of the TV Antenna to a certain angle and for people below to scream, "Yes, yes. STOP! No, no. Go back! Yes. A bit more. No No. Too much." Im sure its hilarious to hear now but it was one of the most frustrating thing, let me assure you. Coming back to the point, what am I doing wrong?

All good things must come to an end and so did the mango season. Just when I was finishing a whole Rumaani Mango and scraping the seed with my teeth for that last bit of pulp stuck there, my mom announced that that was going to be my last mango for this trip. For a moment, I thought of swallowing that seed whole but the childhood conditioning of how a tree will sprout from my head if I ever swallowed a seed would nt let me do it. Well, theres always the next season I suppose. I can wait.

Long Live Grandpas!

I read MM's recent post and could nt stop grinning. Grandpas surely rock and its the same in this household where the girls think their Thatha is the best thing that happened to them after gummy bears! The girls don't even acknowledge my existence when Thatha is around. The only lap both of them fight for is their Thatha's. Ashu who is so restrained when it comes to showing her affection screamed a high pitch shriek and ran to my dad when she heard his voice at the door in Madras. She hugged him and held on to him like a lizard on the wall for five whole minutes! He is the one who tells them stories of his trademark "Singaaram Bingaaram". For hours. On the phone! No wonder Ashu says that he loves her Thatha the most in the whole wide world!

I know I'm being a total copycat but Im sure MM wont mind if I post the below photos. I have to because of the striking similarity. I swear they were nt photo shopped! :)

Travelogue: Hawaii.

We are back in Zurich and badly hit by jet lag that the entire household got up at three in the AFTERNOON yesterday! All thanks to Antu who was awake from 2 am to 5 am. I think we ll get back to normal once school reopens tomorrow for Ashu. While shes so looking forward to school, I'm not. Since one of my new year resolutions is to stop whining about the weather, I wont.

Three weeks in the US just flew by. Like always, social life there is more hectic than here thanks to my sisters huge circle of friends who are almost like family to us now. Not to mention the huge range of restaurants, much to Hds delight. Since it was Antus first trip to the US, for the first time Utbts duo and my duo had a blast. Luckily, we were also able to attend Chulas birthday party and it was so much fun. Met Sundar, San and the girls too. (where are all the boys?) Asaaan was kind enough to drive all the way with her four kids to meet me and my sis. I was thrilled to meet her. Though I had followed her blog earlier, I had stopped reading after she moved to a new domain. So once she mailed that she wants to come and meet us, I hurriedly read her blog and updated myself with her life! Thanks S for being so sweet in spite of that! :)

Now about Hawaii. Where do I begin? It was the best vacation ever. Just perfect in every way. Since Sis and Bil planned the whole thing, I did nt know anything except that "we are going to Hawaii" until I landed there. Add to that that only Sis and Bil were registered drivers for the rental car, so we were literally chauffeur driven everywhere! :D Now tell me, who gets this lucky? Only me, for sure! :) I also did nt hesitate to pull the SAHM card every time I could and left both the kids either with HD or my mom! So who got to do the Diamond Head Crater hike in Oahu and go on a submarine in Kona and go snorkeling in Kealakekua Bay? Me. Me. Me.

We landed in Honolulu with the usual Lei welcome. Stayed in the 25th floor of Aston with a fantastic view from our room. Checked out the Waikiki beach and the girls had a blast. Then lazed at the hotel pool some more. The next day, we went to the beach again and in the afternoon, leaving the girls with Hd, we 4 did the Diamond Head Crater hike. Though its supposed to be a moderate hike and takes 30 mins to reach the top, it was like climbing Mt Everest for me. My moms fitness level was better than mine and only the thought of my girls made me not fall from the cliff and kill myself! That night we caught a Hula dance performance at the beach. It was really beautiful though the men sure wished for some coconut shells instead of a top on the hula dancer! ;) The next day we took a plane to Big Island.

We landed in Kona mid morning. Picked up our rental car and drove to our condo. It was fantastic. The vast ocean was just out there from our balcony and we could nt wait to get out. Seeing Big Island, we sure felt we wasted our time in Honolulu. While Big Island still looks pure and untouched, Oahu is slowly becoming a concrete jungle. We got some lunch, looked at the gorgeous sunset from our balcony and called it a night. The next day after breakfast, mom, sis, Ashu and I went on the Atlantis submarine. While the whole experience of going in a submarine is very thrilling, we did nt see that many fish nor was the reef that beautiful. I got sea sick to boot. Ashu (and my mom!) enjoyed the whole thing though. We all went to Hapuna beach later. It was the most awesome beach ever. I ve not seen such soft sand before anywhere. Antu was covered from head to toe with sand. Ashu was like a little monkey hanging from her Perippa or Appa in the ocean. Sis and I nicely sunned at the beach.

The next day, it was moms turn to baby sit while we four went for snorkeling. The whole experience was so thrilling. We drove to the harbor and from there, in a small raft which can hold around 20 people, the captain took us to Kealakekua Bay. It takes around an hour and a half to reach the bay. And the ride was just mind blowing. You just grab a rope, literally hold your life in your hands while the raft goes super fast, spot spinner dolphins, Manta rays, even whales, and stop and pee in the ocean if anyone wants to go! ;) Its as close to nature once can get, Im sure. The captain stopped and showed us the lava tubes, sea caves, entertained us with the Hawaiian folklore and history. It was amazing. Once we reached the bay, we were given snorkeling gear and ordered to go, jump! Literally. Thank God for my sis and Bil who have already snorkeled a few times. Otherwise I was sure I was drowning even though I was wearing a life jacket and was very much on the surface! Once I firmly told my brain to breathe through the mouth and not the nose, I was fine. It was a surreal experience to swim with the fish. The reef was beautiful and even a reef shark was kind enough to make a blink and miss appearance! After an hour, we got back to the raft, ate lunch which was included with the package and got back to the harbor with a heavy heart. It was pool and jacuzzi time once we got back to our condo!

The next day we left early in the morning for Hilo to visit the Volcanoes National Park. On the way, we checked out the Place of Refuge temple at Honaunau. It is the most complete restoration of an ancient Hawaiian religious sanctuary in Hawaii. The location was out of the world. We also went to the Black Sand beach and saw two huge turtles which were sunning at the beach. They were so carefree and did nt care a bit that we were there and photographing them like crazy! I almost felt like one of them is going to look at us and go "duuuuude" like the turtle in Finding Nemo! We reached the Volcano park in the afternoon. Hd immediately started wheezing coz of his breathing problems! One can actually feel the difference in the air and the strong smell of sulphur. Thankfully, he had the inhaler handy. We went for a drive and checked out the steam vents, the view of the Kilauea Iki crater, the lava tubes,... We went only on the short hikes. Walking inside the lava tubes was scary to the say the least. Hd stayed back with Antu while we all checked out the sulphur bank trail. Later, we checked out the Kahuna and Rainbow waterfalls before leaving back for Kona.

The last day in Hawaii(boo hoo hoo!), we went to the Waikoloa beach after breakfast. We swam in the ocean to our hearts fill even though there was a shark alert! We caught a late night flight back to SFO. And the next four days went in a buzz because I shopped like crazy so that I don't have to buy a thing in this expensive Swiss for the rest of the year. If you saw a woman shrieking, "its so cheap" at Target,, "is this also one dollar" at the dollar store and "is this denim skirt really for 3 bucks" at Kohls, theres a good chance that it was me! Dragging Ashu who wanted to live in the US forever and Antu who was stuck to my Bil like a leech and me who hated to come back to the freezer(there goes my new year resolution!) was an uphill task for Hd even though he caught a cold as soon as he landed here. hmph! It was a beautiful vacation thanks mostly to my sis and bil. Mahalo guys! Hang loose! :)

Aloha!

The vacation from vacation was Hawa Hawaii! We just got back after a fantastic week in Oahu and Big Island. It was fantastic to say the least. We had the time of our lives. The kids and my mom had the most fun and we literally had to drag them out of the water every time we we were in a beach. Us sisters and the husbands were able to go snorkeling together leaving the kids with my mom. It was one of the most beautiful experiences of my life. More on that and the Volcano experience and watching the ocean animals and the Hula dance and the gorgeous sunsets and the delicious pineapples,... later. Now we are busy packing. Yet again. Off to Zurich in a couple of days, boo hoo hoo. Hope 2010 began with a bang for all of you just like it did for us. See you on the other side.

What are we up to?

Antus birthday was a small affair. I bought loads of gifts for her. One of those press-button-make-noise toy from her dad and me, a noddy doll from Ashu, a wooden puzzle from her paternal grand parents, a set of 4 peter rabbit board books from sis and Bil and a silk paavadai from my folks. I bought blocks for Ashu as well for being a good big sister. Ashu said, "but sometimes Im a bad sister, amma. I hurt Antu". I told her its OK while rolling my eyes! Sometimes, indeed! Then the whole jingbang went to the Guindy park. I took Antu in the stroller and sat under a shade while the 2 set of grand parents took Ashu around. Then we went to Savera(Malgudi) for lunch. At the end, they brought a cake for Antu and we sang and clapped and ate the cake. Hd joined us on the phone. I told my mom how everyone was there for Ashus 1st birthday and the big party and how Antus birthday was such a low profile one. But I added, "instead of an Appa, she has an Akka present now. That covers everything, I guess." My mom took 5 whole minutes to understand who the said akka(big sis) is!

Then we left Madras the next day and drove down to my parents place. As always, Im hogging on mangoes, watching TV ("ulaga tholaikaatchicyil mudhal muraiyaaga..."), stepping out of the house only if Im dragged out and seeing Ashu only during meal times. Shes busy with her regular gang here who are at least a decade older than her! Antu is still only crawling and at the end of the day, the pants she wore for the day goes straight to the pile of clothes my mom keeps for mopping the floor! I bought her 2 pair of pants yesterday and both are in the pile now. Poor pants! My dad borrowed a inflatable water tub from a friend and both the girls have a ball in it for an hour everyday. Antu is getting used to going to sleep on my moms shoulder on the Oonjal.(swing) I think shes going to spit in the direction of her crib when we go back to Zurich next month! I dont have to worry about Ashu though. I don't think shes coming back at all.