Friday, August 04, 2006
Back in Bangalore, July 2006
Saturday, July 1, 2006
We've settled into our routine nicely here. Maya had really been missing Akhil, so we had him over for a playdate today. Charlie, Molly, and I woke early so we did a loop in the neighborhood with the double stroller then ended up at the butterfly park (next to the Indiranagar Club) where they frolicked in the tall grass--pretended they were in the jungle with tigers. That park closes at 10am sharp and then we went to the children's park where Maya was with Akhil on their playdate. Maria was also there with Astrid and Mimmi, and Charlies was there with Carla. Charles' wife Lolis (from Mexico) had her baby, Isabela, one month ago (about one month early). She and baby were at Manipal Hospital for two weeks because Isabela was early and in distress--not breathing when born--immediately brought to intensive care unit after C-section. In the end, Lolis and Charles seemed happy with their experience there.
Sunday, July 2, 2006
No power today from 10am-7pm (newspaper said power cut would be from 10-3). Philomen (our driver) had the day off so I drove us to Eva Mall (end of Brigade Road, about a 25 minute drive) and kids spent half an hour playing at Fun Corner. We didn't stay for the usual one hour because there was a birthday party going on with lots of kids. We switched from the Ford Endeavour (SUV) to the Toyota Innova, and I really enjoy driving it. Much easier than the SUV.
Since there was no power, had fun over candlelit dinner in the kitchen. The only thing is, since we returned from the U.S., Charlie has become much pickier. He who had before eaten like a truck driver (usually eating more than the two girls combined) is saying no to just about everything since we've returned to Bangalore.
The kids thought it was the neatest thing sitting under the breakfast bar this morning having a second round of breakfast--Maya and Molly mangos and Charlie oatmeal (or oopameal, as he called it).
Tuesday, July 4, 2006
Badri tried his hand at bringing the kids to school today. Didn't fare too much better than I did, but when I look in on them later they are happy and doing fine.
At noon talked to Maya's class about adoption and read the book Over the Moon. Then showed pictures from Maya's first photo album (red).
In the afternoon got a call from Priya, one of the new moms at school. Her son, Kavi, is in Charlie's class. She was right over at the walking park, so I invited her over.
They arrived in Bangalore months ago from Chicago. She and her husband, Kush, were both born and raised in the U.S., but have roots in Gujarat and Rajasthan. Kush works at Accenture and Priya works at IIM (Indian Institute of Management) in the economics department on women's and gender issues (and NGO projects with some World Health Organization funding). She got her Masters in Public Health, something I wish I'd done at times. Sounds like very interesting work. More small world stories: she knows Ruchi, whose husband also works at Accenture (they knew each other back in Chicago) and also knows Sujatha, who writes blogpourri, a very interesting blog.
Charlie and Kavi seem to be well suited playmates. Kavi was born one week before Charlie and is a head taller than C (tall parents), but they're both very verbal and love dogs and tricycles. Very sweet kids, both.
Went to our friends' house, the Decosta's, for 4th of July dinner. Sarah and Wayne and their four kids--Martha, Sammy, Daniel, and Katie--have been good friends since our arrival 2+ years ago. Sarah prepared hamburgers, chicken, potato salad, pasta salad, and apple pie. The kids had lots of fun getting reacquainted, since both families had been in the U.S. over the last month and a half.
Wednesday, July 5, 2006
Went out to dinner at Taj Residency with Badri's cousin Richi and his wife Cajoli, as well as Jyoti and Mahesh (all former college buddies of Badri's). While they were swapping stories and catching up on old friends in common, I paid a visit to the tarot card reader in the lobby. She basically told me to get my act together and figure out what I want to do for myself. Key words: focus, prioritize. Since I'm anxious to get this update updated, I'll put it off planning until tomorrow (or the next day...).
Friday, July 7, 2006
Kirsty came over for a playdate. We'd missed several weeks, and we really look forward to our meeting up on Fridays. They traveled to Cochin last weekend and had a great time. They are definitely one family with three kids who out-travel us.
Nina Mehta was spending three days at the Leela Palace--part of the Monsoon Package--and I met her at Zen, a restaurant there. We talked for hours over drinks and sushi.
Saturday, July 8, 2006
Tonight Badri and I drove nearly an hour to a Bangalore restaurant called Grasshopper. You have to book in advance so the chef can determine your food preferences and plan the menu from there. Grasshopper is south, on the Bannerghatta Road, and was definitely worth it. It was a three hour leisurely experience, with only five tables of diners. There is a clothing and jewelry boutique attached to the restaurant, which helps you while away the wait between courses. But most amusing are the four or five dogs who have the run of the place, a mix of labrador retrievers and mutts.
Sunday, July 9, 2006
Went swimming and had the brunch at Taj West End.
Monday, July 10, 2006
Molly out of school. Fever yesterday afternoon after Taj.
Tuesday, July 11, 2006
Great yoga session today. Back into the 8:30am schedule, which is really best. I ran into one of our neighbors, Yamini, who is a yoga instructor as well as a classical Bharatnatyam dancer, and she said morning is optimal for yoga. There were a couple weeks when the kids were getting used to school that I went to class in the afternoon, and it did feel a little different.
Ran into an old yoga friend who'd checked out a new yoga place in Indiranagar called Urban Yoga. The woman there asked if she'd taken yoga before, and where, and Upasna told her she'd learned from Acharya. "He's the best in town," the Urban Yoga woman said. I rather like him, too, and I absolutely love the convenience (five minutes walk around the corner from us).
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
Spoke with Teresa, mom to Naomi, one of Molly's classmates, when picking up Molly today. Not sure how we got around to the topic, but it turns out SIETAR (Society for Intercultural Education, Training, and Research) is holding a conference here in Bangalore August 17-19. Teresa's husband is a trainer with Microsoft, and she also told me about a couple people here in Bangalore, Kendra and Heather, who are active in training and/or organizing the conference. Definitely want to find out more about that. I'm not ready to go back to work full-time, yet, but I'd like to get my feet wet. I was a member of SIETAR years ago in graduate school, but let my membership lapse quite a while ago.
Kirsty and her kids came over for a dinner/playdate today. Rita was out sick and Patricia went home early. It was really nice to have the house all to ourselves.
Friday, July 14, 2006
Heading to Chennai tomorrow to get passports renewed. We'll make a long weekend of it and visit Patti and Thatha (Amma and Appa, Badri's parents). The kids are really excited to see them, and we're all looking forward to it, except for the 95 degree (36 celsius) weather. Rajiv, Badri's brother, will also be there.
Picked up Charlie from school and first we went to the children's park. Ran into an Indian woman I'd met there last year, who has since moved to Wilmington, Delaware. Very gracious, kind woman who has always had a soft spot for Maya.
Walking home from the park, Charlie decided he wanted to go into the local temple where he saw two men stringing roses and chrysanthemums. The elderly gentleman was very kind to Charlie, offering him a rose, and told us he was preparing for a marriage on Monday. We took off our shoes and went inside the temple. When we came out, a little boy with a sweet face joined us and was having fun throwing two yellow flowers up in the air, wearing only a shirt.
Charlie and I walked home, and I asked him if he wanted to give the boy a pair of his shoes that no longer fit him. I asked if he wanted to go back with me to deliver them, and he said, "Sure." Put some shorts, shirts, pants, sandals, and sneakers in a bag and walked back to the temple. The flower stringers were still there, and so was the boy. I think he's a child of the temple caretakers who live on the premises. A woman I assumed to be his mother came out of the small house, very pregnant. I smiled and asked her boy's name. "Lokesh", she said. I asked if he was two and she said "yes, two and a half, December born." So just a month older than Charlie, but a few inches shorter.
So just taking the time, in no hurry to be anywhere, letting Charlie choose the direction, we met some very kind and humble people.
Badri relaxing with Charlie and Molly
Saturday, July 15, 2006
To Chennai for long weekend
Flew to Chennai on Jet Airways to renew Maya's and my passport and visit with Patti and Thatha (Badri's parents). The three kids were being good as gold most of the way through the flight, and Badri said to me, "It's going great so far! It'd be okay if it went only downhill from here." Well, wouldn't you know it, Molly started in on one of her infamous tantrums (okay, you have to remember she's now 3 1/2 years old--not 2 years old anymore). I cannot recall what was the trigger. Oh yes, it was that she was tired of sitting buckled in. Here we've just flown 24 hours to and fro the U.S. with nary an incident, and we take a 35 minute flight to Chennai and all hell breaks loose. A very kind woman who had been sitting behind us on the plane smiled when I apologized as we were getting off the plane. "No problem," she said, "I'm just glad my fiancee wasn't with me. As it is, he only wants to have one child, and I'm trying to convince him that we should have two." And we both had a good laugh. Such polite people, Indians.
The kids were happy to see we'd rented an Innova (the Toyota minivan here, much smaller than the minivans in the U.S., but quite adequate) and that they wouldn't have to ride in car seats. We rode over to Besant Nagar to Patti and Thatha's place, and the kids were so excited to see them. Patti had prepared lunch--a yummy cabbage kootu (cabbage with lentils), rasam, and papad. Put a little ghee (clarified butter) on the kootu and rice, and the kids are guaranteed to gobble it down. Especially if they can spread the mixture on a papad and eat it like an open faced sandwich (papad is a crispy thin bread made of dal).
Badri's brother, Rajiv, is also living there and working at his new job. He is a hit with the kids, and Charlie comes out with all kinds of combinations of his name (they call him Rajiv Periappa, which means Uncle Rajiv--more specifically, older brother of father). Went to the beach in the late afternoon and had a great time splashing around. The beach was so crowded since it was Saturday. Very few people, if any, with swimming suits. Lots of young boys going in fully clothed, diving into the surf, and most of the ladies in sari or salwar kameez wet up to their knees, and the occasional one with western dress. Lucky for us, it's less than a five minute walk from Amma and Appa's. After going in the surf the kids went on several manually operated amusement rides--flying cars, ferris wheel, carousel--about which I'd been very nervous when I first saw them on the beach. They had a great time and, of course, didn't want to stop.
Sunday, July 16, 2006
Very hot day, so decided we'd go to Mahabalipuram, less than an hour's drive from Chennai. It lies on the coast and is a 7th century town http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahabalipuram. Badri and I had come here before with his brother Ravi and his family back in the late 90s, when we visited the historic monuments. This time, with the kids and Amma and Appa, we booked a room at a hotel, Ideal Resort, for about 3000Rs (or $65). Between the pool and the ocean, Maya and I were in the water for about seven hours. She's really making great progress swimming on her own. The ocean was very rough, but beyond the breakers it wasn't so bad, so I got some good swimming in.
Ate lunch in the restaurant, a delicious brunch with heavenly prawns standing out most in my memory. Charlie took a nap in the room and Amma and Appa rested for a while. Appa went in the pool with the kids--so much fun for all of them. The first time in the pool with their Thatha. Finished off the day all taking a bath in the open air bathroom of the rented room: the kids in the bath and Badri and I showering.
Maya and Molly with Thatha
Molly and Charlie the Michelin Man, Patti in the background, me and Maya in pool
Monday, July 17, 2006
Went to the U.S. consulate to renew Maya and my passports. We figured it would take quite a while, so I packed lots of snacks, toys, books, etc., in the backpack. But getting through security was a real nightmare. They basically wanted us to taste every bit of food and drink in the pack so we could assure it was only edibles and not explosives.
Once we finally got in, we had a fun time meeting others waiting there as well, a lot of whom were from Bangalore. Nearly every month you run into someone in Bangalore who is taking a trip to Chennai, and nine out of ten times they're going to renew their passport.
Tuesday-Friday, July 18-21, 2006
Molly was out of school all week with a cold. Charlie stayed home today, too, I suppose in solidarity with Molly.
Friday, July 21, 2006
Had our weekly playdate with Kirsty. She picks up Maya from school, along with her son, Angus. The six kids play for a couple hours and Kirsty and I have a coffee, catch up. Then the kids eat dinner at five while K and I have a glass of wine. It's not as relaxing as it sounds. For days after the playdate we remember truncated conversations that were started and then not finished. Sometimes we'll think to pick up on the open end and resume the next time we see each other.
Saturday, July 22, 2006
Went for my monthly pedicure today at Woodlands Hotel. It's a little cottage dedicated to a pedicure clinic with three chairs. Strictly therapeutic treatment--no nail polish. I nearly fall asleep every time I go for the 30-45 minute treatment. Cost is 250 rupees ($5.50).
Sunday, July 23, 2006
Got out of the house by a record 8:30am with Molly and Charlie. Went over to the children's park, where Badri and Maya met us later. Philomen, our driver, had the day off, so I drove us to Tipu Sultan's Palace. It was quite an adventure, but thankfully it was Sunday so the traffic was relatively light. Badri's a great co-pilot, has an excellent sense of direction, and I couldn't have done it without him.
The palace was built in the late 1700s as a summer retreat by Tipu Sultan, one of India's only kings who resisted British rule. In the palace, there's a picture of a mechanized tiger attacking a British soldier who lays on the ground, commissioned to be built by Tipu Sultan. As Charlie and Molly were escaping out of the palace and I wanted to grab their attention, I called out, "Come see the tiger!" and they came running. Very interesting edifice, almost completely made out of wood, pillars made of teak, in a style that's usually seen in marble and stone.
temple next to Tipu Sultan's palace
Tipu Sultan's palace
Molly Bright Eyes
After we were able to drag the kids away from what most amused them at the palace, a gardener neatly trimming the shrubs, we went next door to a temple. We all removed our shoes and gave them to a young boy who was putting a number with each family's pile of shoes. As luck would have it, there was a "wedding" going on in the temple. Badri spoke with one of the attendees, who said it was an Indian family living in the U.S. who was sponsoring the "wedding". Two stone gods--one female, one male--were adorned with kum kum (red powder) and jasmine flowers and the Iyengar priests (Badri's family's community) were chanting their Sanskrit verses, while people were seated observing the ceremony.
Six priests with white threads over shoulder
Saturday, July 29, 2006
I had another 24 hour getaway at the Leela Palace, 10 minutes from our house. All I could ask for--complete quiet, relaxation. Went for a facial with Moni at M&W, followed by a hair oil and head massage, shampoo and blow dry.
Stopped in at Anokhi and bought a shirt for Badri. Went to the Mahua Gallery to see the latest exhibit and saw a sculpture I really liked called "Animal Lover," in a bronze patina. Made me think of Molly, who is completely crazy about animals (so is Maya, but sometimes I think Molly actually thinks she's an animal, usually a dog). A kid sitting on and kissing what looked like a llama. The gallery manager, Shanelle, was very helpful.
Went to Citrus for dinner and had salmon on spinach risotto.
Sunday, July 30, 2006
Relaxing morning. Slept late. Sat outside at Citrus and had eggs benedict. The highlight is always when Maya and Molly come to the room with Badri to pick me up. They're so excited to come to the Leela and eat the chocolates and cookies that come with the room.
Went down to Mahua Gallery and Badri agreed the "Animal Lover" sculpture was pure Molly. We bought it.
Molly and Maya coming to pick up Mom at Leela Palace
View from my room at Leela Palace
