The Raghavan Family in Bangalore

June 2007 Update from Bangalore


Friday, June 1, 2007

Getting back into the swing of India after a month away. As much as I enjoyed our time in New England, it's nice to be back. I ran into an Indian woman who now lives in Arizona, but comes back to Bangalore every summer with her two kids for a couple months. She asked me how I liked living in India and when I told her how much I like it, she seemed quite surprised, "...but all dust in the streets..." I suppose it does take some getting used to, especially after being back in the states for a long time.

Took the kids swimming today and it's as though Maya and Molly were never out of the water. As much as I tried to get them swimming lessons when we were on vacation, I never succeeded. The usual crowd was at the pool, mothers and one or two kids each. Really a challenge to keep an eye on all three of mine. Lucky for me, Charlie doesn't venture into the water much unless I'm holding him.

In the afternoon Kirsty came over for our weekly playdate that we'd missed when our family was gone. As soon as they arrived, Charlie and I had to run out the door to meet his new teachers at Neev--just a short introductory meeting. He was excited to see his new classroom in the upstairs of the school.

Badri went out for an after hours work meeting, and my friends Deborah and Alla stopped by. They'd just been to a jazz concert at the Max Mueller Bhavan German center around the corner. They were disappointed by the performance and dropped by here for a visit. Always a nice surprise to have visitors drop in unannounced. Alla was in NY the month before, and Deborah was in Thailand and Laos, so they were filling me in. Also, they had some interesting gossip about a friend in the neighborhood and her driver. The driver has been working for her for a couple of years, and the friend and her husband are relocating to London soon. They thought they'd gift the driver their car before leaving, but he said, "No thanks. I'd like a new one." And here I was thinking: Geeze, someone's giving me a car. Nice deal


Saturday, June 2, 2007

In the morning went to Neev with Molly to meet with her new teachers. She's very excited about the new year, and all the teachers are talking about what a change they've seen in her since the summer school program. Let's just hope she stays on the right track! I think she turned a corner when Amba had the great idea of giving her more leadership responsibility in the classroom a few months ago, at the end of the last school year.

Went swimming at the Leela pool and there were half a dozen families there. Grand old time, until Nicolas slipped into the water when Kirsty and Andrew were tending to Chloe and Angus. Jennifer Austin dove into the water to pull him up. I had been in the bathroom and came out to hear him crying, when I found out what had happened. A real wake up call, as Kirsty said.

In the evening, Badri and I went to Kirsty and Andrew's for dinner. They're in the midst of trying to get an extension for Andrew at Honeywell. If they can't, they'll leave at the end of this year. That would be quite sad. Kirsty's one of my closest friends here.


Sunday, June 3, 2007

Speaking of close friends, we joined Kirsty's family in a bon voyage brunch for Jennifer Austin and her family, along with Gabriela and Jolene's families. It was a gorgeous sunny day when we drove up to the Hotel Grand Ashok and saw lots of police and security in front of the hotel. Gabriela went to the Aerosmith concert last night, and it was rumored that the band was staying at this hotel and thus the extra security. Found out later that the security was for a South African cricket player.


Monday, June 4, 2007

Charlie and Molly returned to Neev School today, Charlie to pre-kindergarten and Molly to Kindergarten 1 (K1). Molly ran in and never looked back, while Charlie was a little hesitant at first. There are 15 students with two teachers in Molly's class (Shweta and Vinita), and 30 in Charlie's class with five teachers (Amba, Pam, Sadhya, Kavery, and Aparna--Molly had had all of them last year, except Pam). Parents were asked to stay close by on the first day, in case the students got nervous. Kirsty and I went to Cafe Coffee Day across the street for a chat. Her son Nico is one of Charlie's closest buddies, also in pre-k, and her son Angus is in K2. They come over every Friday for a playdate. She's also looking at getting back to work part-time, either in human resources or law.

Just after noon Maya and I headed up to Yelahanka to the Mallya Aditi International School where we had a few things to do: get the invoice for fees, have Maya measured for her uniform, and get to know the campus a little better. On the way there, Kumaresh the driver tried to pass a truck on the overpass (flyover) only to find a horse cart pulling long metal tubing was there. He jammed on the brakes, missing the tubing by a couple feet, and we were rear ended. Quite the scene. After a while, police arrived at the scene. Maya was quite upset, especially when a policeman got in the backseat with her to talk to the driver. I asked him to get out, and he very reluctantly did so.

There is only damage to the bumper, but it's still a good thing we had seat belts on. Tempers were flaring in the heat, and we had to go to the nearby police station so Kumaresh could fill out a report. After waiting there a while I called a City Taxi who brought Maya and me to the school where we did what we needed to. The taxi driver asked me to tell his company, if they called, that when he reached me there was no need for a taxi, so I had sent him on his way. I didn't bother asking why. I suppose he wanted to pocket the money I paid rather than handing it over to his company.

We had been delayed enough by all this that Badri picked up Molly at school since I couldn't get there in time. She'd had a great day. She and Charlie met us at the pool after he woke up from his nap, and we all had a swim.


Tuesday, June 5, 2007

Today was Maya's last day to sleep in before the start of school, and she milked it for all it's worth. She slept until 9:30! My Argentinian friend, Laura, came over for a coffee and dosa for a brief visit before she's off to Goa then the U.S., Argentina, Uruguay, and Europe. She left Sun Microsystems last year with a great package, so is enjoying her sabbatical. Went to Thailand and Laos with Debora last month, then spent some time in Bali, where she did a writer's workshop that sounded very interesting. She'll be stopping in Uruguay where she bought some land on the coast, then in Germany where she'll study German. She says that Uruguay is a great place to invest in land--where she bought it's still reasonable. Up north a bit further it's become quite expensive.

Maya and I did a few errands around the neighborhood, getting groceries at Hema's and chicken at Frosty's on Krishna Temple Road. Then we went to Tangerine Sizzlers on 100 Foot Road for lunch. Maya had her favorites: tomato soup and pasta with lots of cheese, then finished it off with a brownie fudge sundae with vanilla ice cream. She's very good company. I know she must be nervous about starting yet another new school, but she really keeps her chin up. After lunch we walked over to the toy shop to buy a gift for her friend, Hannah, whose birthday party is coming up on Saturday.

We picked up Molly at school then headed over to the pool to swim. Poor Molly--such a long day. She's at Neev until 3 p.m. The teacher assured me it's all art, music, and fun in the afternoon, but you can tell she's pretty tired at the end of it all. We reached the front of Leela and she started crying because I didn't have her favorite bright pink bathing suit. A woman sitting close by suggested I take some rose petals from the floating basin and try to distract her--to no avail.

Got into the pool and all was well. Rita came later with Charlie after he woke up from his nap, but he wasn't interested in coming in. We had the whole pool to ourselves most of the time. Gorgeous day in paradise under the frangipani trees.

Came home and the kids were very excited to make their own pizzas for dinner. But it just wasn't as fun as it was at Auntie Mary's, where they'd made them with cousins Max and Alex in Andover, Massachusetts.


Wednesday, June 6, 2007

Today is Maya's first day of school at Mallya Aditi International School. Badri joined her on the school bus to help her ease into it. The bus stop is closer to the house now--no need to drive there. She catches the bus at 7 a.m. and should be home by 3:50 p.m. She knew one of the girls on the bus from a previous summer camp at her old school, so that's comforting. There are 36 students in her class and two full time teachers. All the of the students are local Indians or returned NRIs (non-resident Indians who have lived overseas and returned). In some classes there are expatriates, up to five per class, I think.

The bus was to arrive at the bus stop at 3:50, but it didn't come back until 4:20. While I was waiting, I met Vidya (aka Kitty) whose son, Prithvi, is in Maya's class. They live four doors down from us and we'd never formally met them. I think Maya and Prithvi have hit it off immediately--they're both extroverts and keep each other good company on the bus ride.

We stopped over at Jennifer Adair's for circle time, where Kirsty and a couple other moms were with their children. Molly and Charlie really look forward to this time, singing, listening to stories, and dancing.


Thursday, June 7, 2007

Out on a hunt for sweatpants and polo shirts for Maya to wear to school. There was some design snafu with the school uniforms, so for now they're being asked to wear solid color pants and shirts. Went to Bossini's nearby and was happy they were having a sales promotion: you pick out what you want to buy, then step on a scale. If you weigh 60 kg (132 lbs.), you take 30% 0ff the sale price. I thought it was pretty clever. Got her a nice shirt and pants for $15.

Sarah came over with the kids to play in the afternoon, and as soon as Maya and Prithvi got home from school they wanted to go over to his house. I invited him to join us here. They have become quickly inseparable! And in keeping with the two degrees of separation (as opposed to Kevin Bacon's six degrees of separation--it seems to be two degrees of separation in India--everybody is either related or knows each other somehow), the owner of the house we live in is Kitty's husband's uncle.

Went out for drinks at Hotel Ista's cool bar with Gabriela, Marylouise, Priya, Jenn Austin, and our significant others. Had a terrific time--outside, great ambiance. One of our favorite places.


Friday, June 8, 2007

BESCOM, Bangalore's electricity provider, sent a collector to our house today who threatened to cut our power if we didn't pay a 14,000rs ($341) deposit. This is something you pay annually based on your previous year's electric usage. Our watchman, Suleman, fended him off, and I got a phone call about it while I was picking up Charlie from school. I brought him home, then had to go to the bank to get a bank check for the amount (they wouldn't accept cash or personal check). At the bank, I was directed upstairs, where you push a button on a machine to get a number based on what service you're there for. When your number shows up on the TV screen, it's your turn. It didn't take too long.

Then went over to BESCOM where I waited in line for half an hour and made it in time to pick up Molly at Neev. She was the second to last one to get picked up, so I wasn't too late. (I later found out from Badri that it is the landlord's responsibility to pay this deposit.)

Molly was very excited to go swimming, of course, and I told her we'd go after picking up Maya. At the bus stop, I spoke with Maya's classmates mother, Kitty, and she told me she had an extra ticket for a shadow puppet play at the Ranga Shankara theatre tonight. I'd seen it in the newspaper today and thought it'd be interesting for Maya, so it was nice she got invited! She and Prithvi are becoming inseparable.

Kitty also mentioned something I thought was interesting: she said that expatriate students can choose French or German as a second language rather than Hindi or Kannada. I didn't think the European languages were an option until 5th grade, but I think I'd like Maya to learn more Hindi here, anyway, since French will more likely be available in the U.S. when we return as opposed to Hindi. I also learned the difference between the local and expatriate fees for the school--nearly $10,000 difference!

Molly, Charlie, and I went to the pool around 5pm and Badri met us there. Kavita, the founder of the kid's Neev school, and her family were there. I hadn't seen her since April, so it was nice to catch up. In the changing room, she referred to swimming at Leela as an oasis. And how! You're completely removed from the chaos and dust of the streets of Bangalore.


Saturday, June 9, 2007

Did the pool thing again today. In the afternoon went to Hannah's birthday party at Embassy Woods (Marylouise's daughter and Maya's buddy). Caught up with a lot of people we missed while in the U.S. for a month. Of course, a lot of those people are just going on their vacation now, since there are two school calendars here: international schools, which have July and August off; and local Indian schools, which have April and May off. Now all three of our children are on the same calendar, although Maya's is technically called an international school (Mallya Aditi).


Sunday, June 10, 2007

Molly started a fever yesterday, and it continued today. Viral, I'm sure.


Monday, June 11, 2007

Molly home from school today, with fever, vomiting, and sore throat.

I took Charlie for a haircut, which he loves these days. The next day at school one of the moms said, "Boy, does he have a lot of hair." They should have seen how much he left on the beauty salon floor!

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

Met Jessica at the Max Mueller cafe. Gotta love that bacon and eggs breakfast. She and David just bought a house in Sweden, with much the same plan as us--move in in a couple years.

Molly had another playdate at Berkley's. Those two just love each other. Definitely Molly's first best friend (besides Maya and Charlie, of course).

Went to a workshop sponsored by SIETAR (Society for Intercultural Education, Training, and Research) at the Alliance Francaise. Melanie Martinelli was the trainer, and the workshop was "Coconut Meets Mango." Saw a few familiar faces, including Brian and Kendra, who are both trainers (graduate school at School for International Training in Vermont and Lesley College in Massachusetts, respectively). Lots of people starting their own cross-cultural training consultancies. The workshop took a look at how we perceive our own personal culture and how we interact with those who are different. We split into two groups: those who considered themselves a "coconut" (tough on the outside, etc.) and those who considered themselves a "mango" (sweet but bruise easily:).


Wednesday, June 13, 2007

Another circle time at Jennifer's. Charlie has started to choose favorite books of hers he just can't live without. She let him take home Olivia and the Missing Toy today.

Went out to dinner at the Olive Beach flea market with Kirsty, Marylouise, Gabriela, Ilsa, and Susan today. This place really knows how to do it up. Ambience to the max: lighting, music (way too loud, though--we were inside and are usually outside where the music doesn't hit you like such a hammer). Excellent food! My favorite waiter, Amar, came over to say hello, and thanked me for a comment I'd made about him being a great waiter in one of my blog entries. I figured that'd be a good time to ask him if he could find a jacket for me to wear (a/c on high) and he obliged.


Thursday, June 21, 2007

Went swimming in the rain at the Leela pool, then dropped into the Overseas Women's Club for a bit. Met Monique, from Australia, whose husband works for IBM. We'd seen her at the pool many times with her two kids, but we met for the first time today. The perennial question: where to send the kids to school. She's trying Canadian School in August, then will see what happens with Mastery International School.

Also talked to Kavita, a woman I'd met before because she moved into a friend's house in the neighborhood. The last time I saw Kavita was at yoga, and I can't believe it was two years ago. Time really flies!

Spoke with Fiona, another Australian, who had recently gone trekking up in Himachal Pradesh for two weeks. The folks she went with laughed at her because she brought gators (to keep boots/socks/pants from getting wet in the snow), ski poles, and snow goggles. Well, they ended up at over 4,000 meters in heavy snow and they weren't laughing then--she used every bit of equipment she schlepped up there. Also, I learned that you don't need oxygen tanks until 15,000 ft., and they were pretty close to that. Some of her team got altitude sickness, but she didn't because she'd taken some medicine to prevent that. It also helped that they took a 16 hour bus from Delhi north towards the mountains--going that slow route helps you adjust more quickly to the altitude than if you flew in.

The reason I'm going on about this is because Debra (Canadian), Alla (Latvian), Alla's nephew, and I are thinking of going up north hiking for a week. I defiinitely don't want to get into the snow, but Fiona and her crew hadn't expected snow in June where they went, either!

Picked up Charlie at school. Met Veronique, a recent arrival from Toulouse, France. She lives in our neighborhood and her son, Matthias, is in Charlie's class. We plan to get together to improve each others French and English. Charlie and I went to met Badri and Rich Deal (V.P. of Human Resources at Fair Isaac) at Leela's Citrus restaurant. Just had time for a brief chat with the two of them then they had meetings to attend.

Charlie was asleep by the time we got home (only took 10 minutes!) and I put him down for a nap then went to Neev for a curriculum meeting all the parents were attending. I feel like an old hand, attending the same meetings for three years running now. Thank goodness for some continuity somewhere!


Friday, June 22, 2007

Went for a teeth cleaning and x-rays at Dental Lavelle this a.m. The main dentist always asks about Mom--he did major work on her a couple years ago and neither of them will ever forget it. His son, also a dentist, is visiting Bangalore. He set up his practice in the Boston area, and is just moving from Back Bay to the South End of Boston. I mentioned to the father that he'd paved the way for his son (he'd moved to the U.S. in the 1970s, one of the first big waves of Indian immigrants), and he talked about how he worked for little over $1 an hour (minimum wage back then) to save money for dental school on the west coast, and now look at his son, living in the Back Bay one generation later.

Kirsty and family came over for Friday afternoon, but this time there was an added bonus--a sleepover for all! Andrew is still in China, and we thought it would be fun. Angus slept in Maya and Molly's room, Nicolas slept on the trundle bed in Charlie's room, and Kirsty and Chloe had the guest bedroom. It was lots of fun, until Charlie woke me up at 6am on Saturday morning! God knows when Maya and Angus woke up--by the time I came downstairs Maya had already done three pages of Hindi writing practice (now that's my idea of a fun Saturday morning!).

Later in the day we went to Dhruv's birthday party in Langfordtown and Maya looked completely exhausted. Sure enough, by evening she was feverish. Really hadn't slept much the night before. After the party the kids all took naps.

Badri and I stuck to our plans and went to the Leela for an overnighter, a belated Father's Day gift. Had a great time relaxing, watching multiple episodes of 24 (U.S. television series--we have 2001 and 2002 seasons on DVD). Went down to the Library Bar for a drink (I love the ambience there--not the prices), then to Zen for some sushi.


Sunday, June 24, 2007

Slept in--'til 8:45am! Went downstairs for the always heavenly Sunday breakfast. Started off with a plate of cheese, fruit, and bread, then on to eggs benedict. Rita brought the kids over at 11am and we met them at the front of the hotel. So excited they were! You'd think this was their first time to the Leela. We hung out in the room while they watched Angelina Ballerina and had dosas and fruit that Rita and Jayama had packed.

Badri took off for Delhi in the afternoon, and we had a laid back rest of the day.


Monday, June 25, 2007

Kept Maya home from school today. While I was walking back from the bank, I ran into our neighbors, Mike and Lynn. They're one of the two couples I know here in Bangalore where the dad's stay-at-home (Phil and Marion are the other--both couples from the UK). Invited them in for a coffee and found out they'd already had overseas assignments in Sri Lanka and Thailand, and hope to have many more.


Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Dropped off Molly and Charlie at school. Kept Maya home again since she still had remnants of the cold. Veronique stopped by with her little girl, Marie. It's only been a few weeks since I heard of Ladakh for the first time, and today Veronique tells me that she's going there trekking with her husband in August. Her parents will come for a few weeks and watch the kids. She offered me her down sleeping bag for our trip, for which I'm very grateful.

Heard back from Melanie Martinelli, the trainer who led the cross-cultural communications workshop a couple weeks ago. Turns out SHE'S also going to Ladakh--this Saturday for a couple weeks of trekking and cycling. July/August is definitely the high season up there, in the heart of the Himalayas, so if there's anyone going, it's usually around now.

Alla came over and we went to a couple outdoor adventure shops to see if we could get things for our trek. Slim pickings out there. We figure we'll make do with what we have. Bought a head lamp at Wildcraft in Cambridge Layout. Then we picked up Alla's dog Bruno (to keep Maya company) and we came to my place to book our flights on Air Deccan for Bangalore to Delhi and Delhi to Leh and back. We'll leave July 4 and return by the 13th.

I've been trying to find a piano teacher for Maya for the past year. Generally the teachers around here are all booked up. I tried Raj Shekar again, a guy who turned me down last year (since he said no to me, I heard he was teaching Naomi, Molly's friend, so I figured I'd try again). This time, he said he'd take on Maya as a student, on Mondays at 4pm. He suggested I buy a Yamaha 403, so I called around yesterday.

Today Maya came with me to pick up Molly from school and we went over to Shiva Musicals in Frazertown. Picked up the keyboard, stand, stool, adapter, and carry bag for a little over 17,000rs. Has more bells and whistles than we'll ever need, I know, but when we got it home and set it up, Maya had such a blast with it, while Charlie and Molly danced around to her music.
Badri back from Delhi.


June 29, 2007

Visited Gallery Sumukha. For the most part I'm trying to convince Badri to visit the galleries now more as museums, resisting the temptation to buy. But there's a lot of beautiful Indian art around town.



dress-up time



Maya and Molly



Molly loves to dance




Hanging out with Appa




Badri & Charlie



Maybe we should move to Seattle--Charlie loves his rain jacket & umbrella so much!