Madras Mom

Chennai welcomes you...

2011-06-03T12:03:00.000-07:00

It hits you as soon you get off the plane... the heat that the A/c desperately tries to cool down. A sweet looking lady with a smile, big red bindi and a chandan dash stamps our passports as Suprabhatham plays mildly on a player on her counter.
As we walk out the airport, we see happy familiar faces. My nose picks up sweat, sandalwood, urine and jasmine all at the same time. My older one giggles at a paid public toilet remembering a comical scene from a Tamil movie we recently watched. Little one is thrilled to ride in the front seat with Thatha.
I point out the dilapidated building which was the RTO where i got my learning license. We pass the IIT campus where I spent two glorious years of my life and the street down which a good friend lived. My eyes search for the building that used to be the Adyar NIIT center. My dad asks, 'do you remember this temple?' Of course, that's where we did the pooja for my kinetic honda. i see bus stops where i've spent countless hours waiting for 47s, 29s and 5s. New stores and construction take the places of old familiar spots. Ramprasad Hotel is now Zon...something multi cuisine. Rukmini bakery is still there! My home...Happy Home... the jasmine creeper, the new car, the clothes lines on the balcony. my room... posters of Anil Kumble and fido dido replaced with my daughters' pictures.
As i sip a cup of amma's filter coffee, appa brings back Sambhar Vadai from Rambhavan. Now the welcome is complete...

Fever

2011-04-08T15:38:00.000-07:00

I thought I was immune to it. I was wrong. I mean, I had not caught it for more than ten years now...since i moved to USA. Back in India, I used to fall prey to it frequently, missing many a school, college and work days. My mom used to go crazy when my dad, my brother and I all caught it at the same time. She was immune to it. Still is. It won't touch her.
This time, it was obvious from many friends' status updates that they had caught it early on. Phone calls to home and cousins in India made it clear that it was already rampant there. You couldn't catch it over the internet or phone...could you?
But then, co-workers started showing symptoms too. Well, how much damage could they do? After all, I only work part-time.
I am pretty sure I caught it from my brother and his wife who came home on a weekend visit. I knew the minute they stepped into the house that they both had a full blown case of it. It was waking up my brother in the middle on the night. Hubby had apparently tried to mask his symptoms all this while.
But by mid-week of spring break, even I could not keep it under wraps. I had the fever - the cricket fever! All symptoms came back flaring right on time for the India - Pakistan show down and the finals. My daughters were annoyed that mom and dad were hogging the computer and the TV. They were dumb struck at their parents high fiving and dancing around in circles in the family room. They can't believe that we watch highlights after highlights after highlights of the same matches.
It's been an awesome feeling catching the cricket fever all over again. Guess this time around, what with the IPL and all, it is going to last a while. I just hope it lasts long enough for my daughters to catch it too...

TV vs. Books

2011-03-06T07:19:00.000-08:00

i know research says watching TV is not so good for growing children's brains. But I am a tv and movie fanatic and will watch anything that has even a remote story line - although movie songs, crime drama, avatar (for now) are my favorites. I used to fake sickness and bunk saturday half day school so that i could watch the regional film that DD used to telecast on those mornings and i didn't even understand the language! I used to refuse to go out with my mother on Friday evenings in order to catch the ever famous 'Oliyum Oliyum'. My mom used to say, "if only someone invented a small tv that can be worn around the neck, i would get her one!"
And mangoes don't fall far from the tree. my daughters crave their tv and movie time. We watched tonnes of movies (thanks to redbox) over the summer and became iCarly and Avatar fans. iCarly was subsequently banned as my younger daughter picked up a lot of objectionable language and attitude from that show.

But coming to the subject, of late, i've been thinking how watching tv is so much better than reading books - especially from a mom's point of view.

TV comes to your home. Books have to brought home from the library in heavy bags.

The TV sits in one place. you never have to go looking for it(hunting for the remote, however, is a different issue). Books seem to get all over the place and you can never find it when you are in the mood to read.

The tv shows actually have healthy ad breaks, during which time, the kids can use the bathroom and do small chores around the house. It is very hard to get them to put a book down once they are into it.

And you can eat and watch tv at the same time. Although i've perfected the art of eating and reading a book at the same time, my kids have a long way to go. There are books in our house whose pages are stained yellow with turmeric.

When they watch a tv show, 90% of the time, i am watching with them too. So I can go stand in front of the tv when there is any smooching on and help protect my babies' innocence. But I can't control what they are reading. It is becoming increasingly difficult for me to read all the books that my daughters bring from the library before letting them read.

And watching TV counts as quality family time. you can laugh, cry, be scared and embarrassed as a family. how can four people read the same book at the same time?

And finally, until they invent a remote for our kids, we can indirectly control them using the tv remote! and which mom does not want that!

the joys of lullaby singing...

2011-01-16T07:52:00.000-08:00

I get my love for singing from my parents. My dad had a grand collection of MGR and Sivaji songs along with Osibisa and Boney M. on cassette tape that he used to make us listen and he would sing along. We also listened to 'Ungal Viruppam' on the radio every morning. Oliyum Oliyum on Fridays and later Chitrahaar and Superhit Muqabula used to be our most favorite shows on DD. My mom had her own favorite songs from when she was younger and would hum those songs every now and then although she was generally disappointed with the practice of film songs blaring in the morning instead of 'Subrabhatham'. With this kind of influence, I had numerous film songs committed to memory that helped me win many rounds of anthankshari.
When my first one was born, I put all my singing talent to use. I sang her to sleep every single time. I got bored with 'Rock a bye baby' and 'Hush little baby' very soon and looked up my vast film song database for baby soothing songs. I ended up with 'Thenpaandi Cheemaiyile' (Nayagan), 'Kanne Kalaimaane' (Moondram Pirai) and 'So Gaya Yeh Jahaan' (Tezaab). My little one took a great liking to these songs and I used the same songs for my second one too.
It has been almost four years since i sang my girls to sleep when last week, one night, out of the blue, my little one asked me - 'Amma, can you sing me to sleep?' The girls and me were reading in my room, as do every night for about fifteen minutes before they go to their rooms. I was thrilled and I started with 'So Gaya'. As i finished that song, my older one, who i thought was reading and not paying attention said, 'Can you sing the 'Kanne Kalaimaane' song?' I did and with great pleasure, noticed her tapping her hand to the beat of the song. Before the song was done, my little one was fast asleep. I would like to think it was my singing.... not the fact that she was super tired from a 40 minute swimming lesson earlier that evening that lulled her to sleep.

A long way

2010-10-23T06:08:00.000-07:00

I've come a long way from the girl that I was to the young woman that I have become.
I've come a long way......

from the girl that chose to go to evening college and to work the afternoon shift at her job just so she could sleep in late,
to the mom whose day begins at 6:15 (at least that's when the alarm is set to ring). By 7:30, my older one is shouted and yelled at and is out of the house with breakfast in her tummy and lunch in her backpack. Hubby also leaves around the same time. If all goes well, I will have managed to pick a fight with him by then. Then a quick yoga routine and then round two of S & Y to get the second one off to school. By 9:00, I try to be at work.

from the girl that used to bunk Saturday half-day school to watch the regional film on DD and took off from work to watch a whole day of cartoon network
to the mom who tries to keep her daughters' evenings and weekends busy so that they do not become couch potatoes. I splurge on games and toys so that the girls are not lured to TV by boredom. I take them to the library, park, on bike rides and walks. Whatever TV they watch, I drop everything else and watch with them. I can proudly say that I've watched all the episodes of Avatar - The Last Airbender.

from the girl that had only Maggie and tea on her recipe list and that used to laugh at women who wrote in ideas for quick and easy eats to 'Mangayar Malar'
to the mom that scours magazines and websites for recipes. I cook my own versions of Chinese, Thai, Italian and Mexican so that my kids will eat without a fuss. The fact that hubby prefers 'Rasam Saadam' over everything else is ignored and often mocked at. I am thrilled that my 'Mullangi Sambhar' and 'Paav Baaji' are the world's best as certified by my girls.

from the girl that used to depend on her mom for food, on her dad for drop offs and pick ups, on her maid for clean laundry to the woman that cooks, cleans and manages a household of four and a part-time job and that drives around so much that she feels at home in her van (the van storage houses water, snacks, pens, pencils, notepad, cell phone charger, hair brush and accessories among other things)...I've indeed come a long way.

Last week an older co-worker asks me - 'How old are your kids?' I tell him.
'Wow', he says, 'You have a long way to go.'

Hand me (ups and) downs

2010-09-16T08:11:00.000-07:00

There are certain advantages of being the first born, despite the fact that your parents literally experiment with you, on their way to becoming better parents. Almost everthing you get is new.

My older daughter is constantly reaping her benefits of being the first born. All clothes, accessories, toys, crib, storller, bedding, bicycles one, two and three were and are all brand new. Being the first born in the family and among our close group of friends, she gets absolutely no hand me downs. Where as, my second one gets tons of them, not only from her sister but from an older cousin and friends. She is actually excited when she gets them! Before she gets into an outfit, she always asks - now remind me again... whose shirt was this?! - and fondly remembers the person who gave it to her.

I am first born too. I had new clothes, new toys, new bicycle (new tvs champ and Kinetic Honda). It wasn't untill I was in ninth grade or so that my mom realsied that my cousin, a year older than me, who lived in Coimbatore, had the same books for school as I did. Her books looked brand new; even the ones that she had bought from her seniors! I was actually thrilled to use those second hand books. They had notes all over in my cousin's perfect pearl like handwriting. Apart from the books, I never had to use anything that someone else didn't need but was still in good condition.

The other morning, as my daughter was getting ready for school, I pulled out a new pair of mary jane shoes that I had bought during last year's sale. 'Wear these with your skirt. They'll look nice' I said. She tried them on. Both of us were disappointed when they did not fit her. As I stood staring at her feet wondering how fast they had grown, she said 'Well, now you can have them!'

Boys will be boys and men too

2010-07-19T05:37:00.000-07:00

Met up with some friends after a long time...(made some new ones too!).
They all wondered at how my girls had grown up. Some said I looked the same (Yay! I think...). But I was amazed at how they were still the same and at how much they had changed at the same time...

I knew them as boys. Now I see them as husbands and dads. I see the boys lazing around in chairs. I see the husband quickly getting up and moving into the next room to hold a quiet conversation with the wife. I see the boys joking and pulling each other's legs. I see the dad bragging about his kid's ability to recognize 'brown' or worrying about his child being cranky after missing nap time. I used to see them with back packs, long engineering tools sticking out from them. Now I see them with heavy SLRs and sleek iphones. They are hardly the boys I knew. They haven't changed a bit.

The three hour meet-up was so worth the 300 minute drive.

We're almost there...

2010-07-02T15:18:00.000-07:00

Just before a train ride to downtown Chicago, i gave the usual warning to my girls - Use the bathroom now if you need to. In spite of this, my six year old, about 15 minutes through the ride, announced that she had to go NOW. I gave her the look and then decided that was not going to work, because we had at least another hour to go before we arrived at the station. So i tried to distract her - Do you want to play with the phone? We're almost there. Why don't you try to sing that song that your music teacher taught you, in your mind and see if you remember the whole song? Let's play red pinch - you pinch me every time you see a red car! We're almost there.

Finally the station did arrive. We raced to the bathroom only to find a loooong line outside. We're almost there, just march in place - I told her. I also asked if she quickly wanted to run into the men's room (surprise surprise - no line there) while i waited outside. 'No way' - she said. About five minutes later, she finally found relief!

This morning on my way to work, i notice the 'fuel empty' light on the dash board. I've been driving around with that light on for the last three days. I know there is a gas station at the next signal...now if I can only let my car know - We're almost there...

What goes around....

2010-06-25T09:01:00.000-07:00

In my first year of college, my parents got me a TVS 50. My mom actually accompanied me to the RTO office in Guindy and tried to get me a learner's licence without bribing anyone.(that didn't work; my dad had to pay someone to get me that and later the drivers' licence.) But once I started riding it around, she got very concerned. She used to sit on the stairs on our house and wait for me to get back home safe every time i took that TVS 50 out. I was outraged by her concern for me. It felt like she did not trust me enough to get back home in one piece. 'Don't wait on the stairs for me' - I used to yell at her.

Last Wednesday, I let both my daughters get on eight wheelers each and into a place with no lanes, no signals, no age restrictions, no traffic police except for 20 year olds also on eight wheelers asking others to keep moving. As I was sitting on the bench at the roller skating center, i had only about 43 mini heart attacks each time one of mine lunged forward or when someone else came too close to them. The girls survived with minor bruises to their bottoms and egos - nothing that won't heal before next Wednesday - and are already looking forward to their next time. My little one wants me to don skates and take her hand in the rink. 'No way' - I say - 'I am not getting on anything with wheels unless it also has a seat!' I'll probably never learn to skate... but i have to learn to let go, as my mother did, so they can soar without being weighted down by my concern.

Margo Memories

2010-05-17T08:05:00.000-07:00

Hubby returned from Chennai yesterday and brought back, among a lot of other things, a dozen Margo soap bars. He left for work at 7:00 this morning and I lazed into the bathroom at 8:00 after throwing a shout at the girls to get up. That's when i smelled the Margo soap and was immediately transported to my grand mother's bathroom!! No no... not time travel. Scientific research suggests that the sense of smell is the strongest memory trigger. My grandma always used Margo (until a few year ago, when she changed loyalty to Dove as per her doctor's advice). And today I could vividly recall the bathroom in my grandma's Vallaba Agraharam home in Triplicane. It had a rickety wooden door with water eating away the bottom. On the left inside corner, there was a rusted but working hand pump, a metal bucket and a palstic mug. And there was that clean smell of Margo.
My grandma rented a portion on the first floor of the home. You would climb the staircase to a veranda. On the right, the veranda led to a long narrow balcony. And on the left there was a hallway that led to our portion. On either side of the hallway, there was a bedroom and a kitchen that was rented by another family.
The hallway opened to another small veranda that housed the hot water boiler. The kitchen and one room were on the right. A left turn at the end would bring you to the bathroom and the toilet. Over all a dark place, but the one room had a skylight!
My cousins and me have spent countless summer days in this home - playing 'kola kolaya mundhirika' and 'oru kodam thanni' in the veranda...taking off dry clothes hung on the terrace, guarding 'vattal and vadams' laid out to dry. In the evenings, my uncle would take buckets of water up to the terrace and splash water all around to cool the sun baked terra cota tiled floor.
The best part would be when all the kids would sit around an adult in front of a big plate full of 'Thayir saadam' - curd rice and a cup of 'vatha kuzhambu'. The adult would place a ball of rice in each of our hands, we would make a small well in it with our thumbs and that would be filled with the 'vatha kuzhambu' and that ball would travel into our mouths. After dinner, we would carry sheets and pillows up to the terrace and sleep on the cool floor, trying a get a spot as close to the skylight as possible to look down at nothing through the opaque glass.
Hubby brought back, not just Margo soap, but all these fond memories... Thanks!

Yes, No, Maybe

2010-02-25T12:59:00.000-08:00

I never lie to my kids. At least, not blatantly. Definitely not when I know I will get caught. I use this technique I learned from my uncle who was and is wise beyond his years. Never say 'Yes' or 'No' to anything. Always say 'Maybe'... that way you are never lying.
'Amma, are we going to the beach this weekend?' 'Maybe.'
'Amma, can we have pizza for dinner?' 'Maybe.'
I did not always use 'Maybe'. I improvised.
'Amma, can I have my friends over for a play date?' 'I'll think about it.'

This worked for some time. But then I heard my 6 year old explaining to the 2 year old - 'Oh! when she says 'maybe', it means 'no'!' I realized that I can't continue with this. It was around the same time that I realized that my older one had invented a technique of her own.
'Are you done getting dressed?' - 'Almost'
'Are you done with your homework?' - 'Almost'
She might have just pulled the homework out of her backpack, she might be half way through it and very rarely she might actually be almost done with it. But the answer is always - Almost.
Did you like your lunch? - I think so.
Did you do well on your test? - kind of.

I am trying to be more honest with them nowadays. They are growing up, they can handle the raw truth. If I am too tired to take them to the movies, that is what they will hear. I've asked my older one to give me 'yes' or 'no' answers. Let's see....

I drop her at school.... it 23 degrees.....
'Kanna, please wear your hat during recess...' I shout as she walks away from the car.
'Whatever' - she mumbles.

Quick Math

2009-09-21T09:27:00.000-07:00

My parents are here with us, spoiling my daughters rotten and enjoying it thoroughly. About a week after their arrival, one afternoon, my mom was trying all her best to get my younger one to finish her lunch, when my dad announced that he would give her a dollar if she ate her lunch.
She was done in a minute and was thrilled when my dad kept his promise. She hugged him and declared that he was the 'bestest' grandpa in the world. I only had one word for him - 'Beware'.
The next day, she collected another dollar and brought the two dollars that she 'earned' with her when I took her and my dad to the store. As I was driving, she asked me what she could buy with her money. I told her that two dollars will buy her some candy or some hair barrettes, maybe.
'How much will a camera cost?' - she asked. A camera has been on her wish list for a long time.
'A hundred dollars'
'How long is thatha going to stay with us?'

Kudumba Maanam (Family Reputation)

2009-08-07T15:49:00.000-07:00

It was two years ago... the Tamil movie Sivaji came to town and we (me and my daughters) were super excited to go see it at the theater. my husband said it would be a waste of his time and our money. we ditched him and went with our friends and had a gala time. About three months later, the 100th day showing of the same movie came to the theaters. And this time around, our nephew (hubby's sister's son) was visiting us from India and we roped him in to see the movie again. Hubby could not refuse and reluctantly agreed to go. That saturday morning as we were having coffee, he said ' I had a dream last night... that you were dancing down the theater aisles during the movie...my nephew is shocked and he tells all about that to my mom and sister'! 'you are not planning to do anything like that... are you?' he asked quietly. News about what i did during the movie the first time must have come trickling down through some of our friends... not much.. just shouting a couple of open threats at the guy who says 'Sivaji must be hanged' or something similar and at suman who taunts Sivaji for being a bus conductor and a few high pitched howls whenever Sivaji uttered a punch dialogue. So that was what was bothering him. I just smiled smugly at him.

We were at the movie finally. At Rajini's first scene on the screen and every time he did something awesome (which was pretty often), i only had to look at my daughters... with all the accuracy that comes only with two weeks of practice, they threw both their hands up in air in front of them and screamed at the top of their lungs 'THALAIVAAAAA'!

Epic(s) Meeting

2009-07-31T09:02:00.001-07:00

I told the story of Arjuna being the best archer to my younger daughter. About how he can shoot at the eye of a toy bird (it can't be a real bird... she won't let me continue the story...she will grieve the death of the bird for a day.) by looking at its reflection in a pond. The next day, it was the story of Vishwamitra asking Dasaratha to send Rama and Lakshmana with him to fight the demons so that he can perform his yagna. Dasaratha hesitates to send his young sons and instead offers his army.

Vishwamitra insists on taking the boys with him. She asks me, 'why can't he just take that guy who can shoot at the eye of the bird... did he live far away?'

The antibiotics of life

2009-02-09T13:19:00.001-08:00

There was this Tamil movie i saw on DD when i was 12 or 13. Thengai Srinivasan is the hero. He is disease ridden and lying on his death bed with a side table full of medications. Lord Krishna, played by none other than N T Rama Rao is sitting on bed making thengai realise that he is suffering because of all the sins he committed in his life. This is the conversation that goes on....

Krishna: Do you realise why you are suffering like this?
thengai : Why?
Krishna: Because of all the bad things you did in your life...
thengai: I don't believe that.
Krishna: You are taking all these medications...
thengai: So...
Krishna: What is this one here called?
thengai: Erythromycin.
Krishna: Erythro what?
thengai: mycin.
Krishna: This one?
thengai: Zythromycin.
Krishna: Zythro what?
thengai: mycin.
Krishna: And this one?
thengai: Someothermycin.
Krishna: Someother what?
thengai: MYCIN.

And thengai suddenly realises what Krishna is trying to say.
This scene has played in my mind every time i was prescribed antibiotics over the years.
Last week, i was down with pneumonia and the doctor ordered a fresh round of antibiotics - and you know what, this time the mycins were much bigger than i ever remember.

Retort to Top 21 things......

2007-11-26T14:37:00.001-08:00

This is the second time someone has sent me this forward. When you get past all the spelling errors, grammatical mistakes and badly formed sentences and finally read the 21 points you realise how ridiculous the whole thing sounds.
Obviously written by a US return osmania university graduate.

Here is what i would have said to the guy who wrote this.

Top 21 things Indians do when they come back to India :

Here are TOP 21:
21. Tries to use credit card in road side hotel.
That's what Madavan does in Anbe Sivam and he did not come back to India, he was in India.

20. Drinks and carries mineral water and always speaks of health conscious.
Of course, to drink tap water and carry mineral water would defeat the purpose of being health conscious.

19. Sprays duo such so that he doesn't need to take bath.
Come on, there are people in chennai who do that on a regular basis. unless, you mean spitting on two people.... wait, there are people in chennai who do that too on a regular basis.

18. Sneezes and says 'Excuse me'.
'That's good manners' - says my daughter

17. Says 'Hey' instead of 'Hi'.
says 'Yogurt' instead says 'Curds'.
Says 'Cab' instead of 'Taxi'.
Says 'Candy' instead of 'Chocolate'.
Says 'Cookie' instead of 'Biscuit'.
Says 'Free Way' instead of 'Highway'.
Says 'got to go' instead of 'Have to go'.
Says 'Oh' instead of 'Zero', (for 704, says Seven Oh FourInstead of Seven Zero Four)
Says 'gas' instead of 'petrol'

So what... add new words to your vocab.

16. Doesn't forget to crib about air pollution. Keeps cribbing every time he steps out.
Both sentences mean the same. this is what air pollution does to your brain.

15. Says all the distances in Miles (Not in Kilo Meters), and counts in Millions. (Not in Lakhs)
What is there to count up to a million?

14. Tries to figure all the prices in Dollars as far as possible (but deep down the heart multiplies by 43 times).
It is the brain that does the multiplication. Poor guy, you've been thinking with your heart.

13. Tries to see the % of fat on the cover of a milk pocket.
Nothing wrong with it. In fact, the Aavin system of color coding the packets according to the fat content is much better for the same reason we have pictures of a man and women on public toilets.

12. When need to say Z (zed), never says Z (Zed), repeats 'Zee' several times, if the other person unable to get, then says X, Y Zee(but never says Zed)
what did you need the spelling for - zoo ??

11. Writes date as MM/DD/YYYY, on watching traditional DD/MM/YYYY, says 'Oh! British Style!!!!'
You've got a keen sense of observation, but you should not be peeking into forms that this guy is filling up.

10. Makes fun of Indian Standard Time and Indian Road Conditions.
Don't you?

9. Even after 2 months, complaints about 'Jet Lag'.
Scientifically, it takes one day to recover from jet lag for every one hour of time difference.
Obviously, this guy was making up reasons to get away from you.

8. Avoids eating more chili (hot) stuff.
what do you mean 'more'? More than what he ate before or more than what your stomach can take?

7. Tries to drink 'Diet Coke', instead of Normal Coke.
Didn't he speak of health conscious in point 20?

6. Tries to complain about any thing in India as if he is experiencing it for the first time.
You could have written just this one sentence.

5. Pronounces 'schedule' as 'skejule', and 'module' as 'Mojule'.
Impressive spelling.

4. Looks speciously towards Hotel/Dhaba food.
You should too.

Few more important
3. From the luggage bag, does not remove the stickers of Airways by which he traveled back to India, even after 4 months of arrival.
That's pure laziness.

2. Takes the cabin luggage bag to short visits in India, tries to roll the bag on Indian Roads.
This gives reason for point no. 10

Ultimate one

1. Tries to begin conversation with 'In US ....' or 'When I was in US...'
When you return from Goodoovancheri, you begin conversation with 'When I was in Goodoovancheri....', don't you?

Early morning prayer - short story inspired by a true story

2007-11-16T18:29:00.000-08:00

she woke up with a start. she was sure she heard a 'thud'. she lay perfectly still. 'creak'. oh God, please, let it not be a burglar. she had heard stories of break-ins happening in the neighb0rhood. the tv show said that two thirds of all burglaries happened when people were home. God, let it not be a burglar. images of the garage door, front door and patio door ran through her mind. all locked. the basement door ! she has been asking her husband for months to install a latch for that door. please, Lord, let it not be a burglar. It was 6:01 am. Her husband stirred and then sat up. "can u go downstairs and check, I heard something" - she said. "Ah ! noises downstairs " - he scoffed even while yawning. "you and your weird imagination! a man has other things to do in the morning. " He walked into the bathroom and shut the door behind him. She heard another 'creak' distinctly from downstairs. God, let it be a burglar.

What was i doing

2007-11-15T10:25:00.000-08:00

All right. I was 'inspired' by Asal Tamil Penn. She really has a lot of what i think i have a lot of - a sense of humor. She has exactly what i want - all the time in the world to churn out blog after blog. What can i do? I am so forgetful these days, i even forgot that i created this blog. The other day, we dropped s&s at a friend's house to go to a conference at the school. We come out of school after one hr and i can't find the car keys. we walk to the car, it's there where i parked - with the keys in the ignition, running... he doesn't say anything, he was right there with me, he could have reminded me. we go back to pick up s&s, the friends ask us to stay a while. we do. and finally we go home. at least, dinner is ready. that's what i think. dinner is more than ready. it has been on sim only since we left home. the blackened gravy with channa sticking to it was beyond salvage. s&s are happy. 'yay! we are going to cholaa, can we have kothu parotta and mutter panneer?'

Had to write about fall

2007-11-15T10:23:00.000-08:00

Fall (also known as autumn or ilai udhir kaalam or pathjhad) has become my favourite season. For the first twenty five years in my life i knew only the very hot summer and the mild summer. And mild summer was the time when my asthma used to act up and my mom used to make me wear a sweater to college. yes, you read right, a sweater, IN MADRAS, TO COLLEGE. my friends were generous enough not to laugh at my face. Then I came to Chicago in the November of 1998. It was dark as night at 3 pm and it was already winter that year.
But this november, the weather has been kind - it is still fall and it is beautiful outside. It is cold but not freezing so I can show off my sweaters without hiding them under the ugly winter jacket. yes, i love wearing sweaters now.
and the trees, after wearing a uniform green through the summer are now proudly adorning their beautiful colors (just like we used wear our best color dress to school on saturdays).
Fall has turned leaves into rose petals, gold coins, little flames, landing pads, extra yard work and more. My daughters willingly helped me rake all the fallen leaves in our yard into piles and had loads of fun jumping into them. Then they reluctantly helped me bag them.
Driving around with a camera nowadays (thanks to my bro's advice).
If you want to see what I see - click