Tuesday, October 13, 2009
September 2009 Update from Bangalore
September 1, 2009
tutor Naba
to Kids Kouch with kids
September 2, 2009
Lunch for Charlie's class mothers at Spiga on St. Mark's Rd.
Pick up kids at Bangalore Club and meet with Indira and Sheila to plan Maya, Arushi, and Samara's birthday party.
September 3, 2009
Breakfast at the Egg Factory with Arati. Huevos Rancheros yum.
Charlie and I went to Arti and Anupama's by autorickshaw for a visit.
Met Pamela Leri at the Leela Library bar.
September 4, 2009
Khushi and Yash came over today to play with Molly and Charlie. Maya went to Mahika's. Veronique came over later for a playdate.
September 5, 2009
Molly had her first piano lesson at Kids Kouch. Then I brought her to Alyna's for a playdate. Irfana took them to the KGA club for lunch.
Pranav came for a playdate with Charlie today. Maya went for a playdate at Kimaya S's today.
Went to see the new Denzel Washington movie: The Taking of Pelham...
September 6, 2009
Molly to piano.
Then me and the kids to Jemila's for a playdate.
Got home by 3pm so Maya could go with Prithvi and Kitty to a German puppet show.
September 7, 2009
Tutor Naba
Took the kids to Mama Mia's for ice cream after school. Cool thing about living in this neighborhood for five years--people we know come by 6th Main, see us having ice cream and come in. Sarayu stopped by for a good chat. Some Neev moms dropped in, too.
September 8, 2009 Maya's 9th birthday
Marylouise, Hannah, and Maura came with us to TGIF to celebrate Maya's birthday.
September 9, 2009
vmware training.
September 10, 2009
Molly on field trip then birthday party at Devs.
September 19, 2009
Took the 6:45pm flight to Delhi. All excited for the holiday.
The service apartment Badri booked is great--two bedrooms, living room cum dining room, kitchen, and two bathrooms. It's in the Greater Kailash neighborhood of south Delhi, so we won't be far from either of Badri's brothers or cousins and aunt.
September 20, 2009
Had a leisurely breakfast of cereal, toast, and eggs. The apartment owner included the services of a cook with the rental. Gautam stays upstairs with his family, then comes down in the morning to help us out. Each day we'd let him know whether which meals we'd be having there, and he's shop and prepare lovely dishes.
Around noon we headed over to visit biggest brother Ravi, Malani and Apu, who's now 13. Apu is the object of endless hero worship by his three cousins. Amazing to think that he was barely 5 years old--Charlie's age-- when he and Malani went to Pune to help me out when Maya first joined us in 2001.
The highlight of the day is when the sariwallas came--the two men selling saris. While they pulled out sari after sari, the kids watched Power Rangers over and around our heads. Amazing how you can get just about anyone to come to your house: the bank will come and deliver cash, vegetable and fruit vendors, as well as plastic container vendors, and the milk man. You can get just about anything delivered here.
Delhi usually starts to cool down a bit just about now, but it was still quite hot. In the late afternoon we went swimming at a nearby pool for 100rs each. As we got out of the car at the front gate, Charlie asked if we were going swimming in the Ganges. The pool was clean and cool, but other than that it was a bit of a stressful experience: it was run rather like a military establishment, with whistles constantly being blown to tell people they were breaking some rule or another.
September 21, 2009
Had breakfast and got a bit of an earlier start than yesterday. Went to Badri's old neighborhood, Rabindranagar. Drove by his old house and school, DTEA (Delhi Tamil Education Association) Secondary School. DTEA schools were established in the north by a group of Tamilians working for the British Government who wanted to teach their children traditional Tamil values. Since Amma and Appa had relocated north for Appa's job with the government, that was a way for the boys to get the "southern" education.
We drove over to Lodi Gardens and had a wonderful time exploring the 15th and 16th century tombs and mosqueред It's a beautiful green, grassy space where lots of Delhiites come for walks and picnics. Badri grew up right around the corner from here and played here nearly every day.
As the weather got hotter and hotter, we scooted over to nearby Khan Market where Badri's family's mochi (cobbler) and tailor were when he was a kid. Had a snack and cold drink at the Turtle Cafe and enjoyed a long time spent browsing at the Full Circle Bookstore. I begged them to open a shop in Bangalore (they have in Chennai). Great selection of books. As we were leaving, we ran into a woman I'd met in Bangalore earlier this year. A returned NRI (non-resident Indian), she said how much she missed Bangalore--that it was much harder to make friends in Delhi.
Today is Kirsty's 40th birthday, and I called her Mom's house (the only number I had) and left a message. She called me later when we were on the way to Kadham's for Dussera lunch. Sounds like she's re-adjusting well to Sydney after 3+ years in Bangalore.
Fun gathering at Kadham's. Her daughter, Uttara, is also 13, and yet another object of my children's hero worship. Her dog, Muffin, is also a favorite--of mine most of all! She's a yellow lab, about a year old, and loves to come sit on my lap. I soaked up all the dog lovin' I could. Meanwhile, Maya had Uttara trying to talk me into getting a dog, and promised her she'd get her one when she turned ... I forget how old.
Neelam came over with Dhruv, who is exactly Charlie's age, and they had a blast. Rajiv and Renu came, but Anya wasn't feeling well, so stayed at home. Ravi, Malani, and Apu rounded out the crowd.
Kadham's been in this apartment for 15 years in Hauz Khas market. I remember it from when I first came to Delhi in 1998. Full of lovely local art, carpets, and FabIndia textile covered cushions.
Called Mom to check up on how she did with her Moh's procedure. She said it went well.
September 22, 2009
We thought we'd headed out early enough, but by the time we got to the zoo it was so hot that we decided to hire one of the "green" CNG trolleys. In one hour, we were able to see the whole zoo, getting out only to see some of the really cool animals--like the bathing hippos--close up.
From there we went over to the India Habitat Center. Checked out a photo exhibit there, then had lunch at the Eatopia.
Neelam gave us a great tip about swimming: the Neeti Bagh Club. She told Badri to call this guy David and ask if we could swim there. It turns out, the Neeti Bagh neighborhood has a pool, and David's Swimming Academy is there. Much better than the first pool. Very clean, and totally relaxed. 150rs a person. Badri's called the Intercontinental Hotel, which we'd been told is the closest place we could go swimming, and it's 1500rs per person, which would turn out to be $150 for the family for a day of swimming!
In the evening we went to Usha Chitti's, Badri's mom's sister, for dinner. We arrived at about 7pm, and the rest of the crew came a couple hours later. That's the Delhi way--make sure you have a snack before you go to someone's house for dinner. At 8pm no one else had arrived and Charlie was fading fast. Usha Chitti completely understands, and put food out for the kids. Everybody who had gone to Kadham's came, except Ravi (who was working) and Anya (who wasn't feeling well). Subri, Neelam's husband, and Karunya, her daughter, were also there.
September 23, 2009 Big day at the Taj Majal
We thought it would be a shame to be here five years and for the children not to have been to the Taj Majal. Left early in the morning in a rented Toyota Innova for Agra. No nonsense driver got us there in about four hours. It was quite hot by the time we reached, about 10:30. Once in the parking lot, we were approached by eco-friendly golf carts (imported from China earlier this year) and camel drivers to take us to the Taj. We decided on the eco-friendly golf trolley, much to the chagrine of the children. While in the parking lot, we also engaged a tour guide who seemed to speak good English.
Before we came, Kadham recommended we bite the bullet and get both a tour guide and a photographer. We agreed on a package at the gate, and we were very happy we did. He had us pose in the stances we might have got from a wedding photographer and you wouldn't find us in otherwise. A bit pricey, but we were glad.
The weather was very hot, so we didn't see the Taj Mahal at a leisurely pace. And are we the only family that very carefully lays out things to be taken the night before, only to find that, when you need them, you haven't put them in the car? When we got near the entrance we realized that we'd forgotten to bring socks, which we'd need since you have to take off your shoes. If you walk barefoot, you'll burn your feet on the marble floors that have been baking in the sunshine.
Noteworthy expenses incurred today: 5500rs ($100 USD) minivan rental (Toyota Innova), 3400rs lunch--brunch at some 5 star ($68 USD), 3700rs ($75 USD) photographer (sounds expensive, but we looked at it as the official wedding photographer we never had).
September 25, 2009
We searched around in Connaught Place for a restaurant Badri used to enjoy going to. Unable to find it within 10 minutes and with hungry kids in tow, we settled for Pizza Hut.
Took the Delhi Metro for the first time. I hear it's won awards, and Bangalore is trying to get some advisors down to advise them. Rode the metro to near St. Stephens campus, where Badri went to college. From the metro, we took two bicycle rickshaws to the campus. Tons of bicycle ricks--so the pollution wasn't as bad as in other parts of the city. Once on campus, we visited some of Badri's old classrooms. Badri said that, as a late teenager, he would never have imagined returning to the campus with his three children.
Had dinner at Renu and Rajiv's. It was a great bonding time for the cousins. Malini, Ravi, and Appu came also, as well as Kadham and Usha Chitti. Dassera traffic was horrible, and both Malini and Kadham considered turning around and going back because they had to sit in traffic, getting bombarded by exhaust in their ride there.
Renu made all the kids favorites. I got a great picture of the three brothers sitting side by side on the couch sucking in their guts, looking happy as ever. Appu, Anya, Maya, Molly, and Charlie hung out in a separate sitting room. When I walked in I felt like I was invading teeny-bopper space. But realizing I wasn't so unwelcome, had a nice chat with Anya and Appu.
September 26, 2009
Badri and I dropped the kids off at Nilam's.
