Lost in webSpace

The apartment of the apes

2011-07-30T16:31:00.006+09:00

I've got a monkey on my back. Life was smooth until a monkey wrench was thrown into the works. Was someone monkeying with me? There surely was some monkey business afoot.

The thing is that we live a little bit out of the city limits. How little depends on who you ask. There're a lot of wide open spaces, orchards and plantations nearby. The air's clean and fresh, there's birdsong, traffic is seen, but seldom heard. Sounds idyllic, doesn't it?

Then there're the neighbours. I really don't mind when someone drops in. There's nothing like having someone dropping in unannounced, and hanging out over snacks and drinks. I have no issues with visitors walking in through the front door.

It's when they force the latch on the kitchen window that it ceases to be cool. It's when they open my kitchen cupboards that it's uncool. It's when they tear open packets from my pantry that it's simply not done. It's when they rip open a packet of oil and throw it on the kitchen floor that it ceases to be funny. Tearing up bags of flour, lentils, cereal and dry fruits and throwing it on the oil already coating the kitchen flour is bad mannered. Opening the casseroles that contain that nights dinner, sampling it and then emptying what's left on the floor is really bad form. Throwing eggs around is an extremely irritating faux pas. Helping oneself to raw potatoes and onions and spitting it around is deplorable.

I called security, and they chased out these uninvited visitors with sticks and noisy firecrackers.

That's when I decided to tear and throw away cards I'd been carrying for years.... From SPCA and PETA. When visitors tend to be quadrupeds with a tail and decidedly simian tendencies, they can cause all the havoc mentioned above. In less than 5 minutes.

And for some bizarre reason, they attacked thrice in one week. One big attack last week, and two quick lightning strikes in a fifteen minute period just two days ago. Stranger still, mine was the only apartment in this block that was raided this last week. The other half thinks that it's because they like what I cook. Somehow that doesn't make me feel better. I'd personally blame it on a faulty window latch. It takes an hour to make dinner, half an hour to clean up after that, five minutes for a raid and then over two hours to clean up after that. I can definitely think of better ways to spend my afternoons.

Much as I regret that I've taken over part of the natural habitat of my simian neighbours, I draw the line at these raids. I dislike the idea of using air guns against creatures hunting for food when their habitat has been encroached by us. But these critters can be extremely belligerent and aggressive. Chasing 5 really huge monkeys out of the kitchen through a small gap in the kitchen window (I don't want them elsewhere in the apartment), and letting off firecrackers in the kitchen to dissuade them from extending their social call is quite scary. My younger daughter refuses to set foot into the kitchen. She's scared that she might encounter a big monkey there.

All this monkey business is getting to me.

I also think that sitting on the sill of the kitchen window at half past five in the morning and snarling at the hostess, because the latch is firmly in place and denies one unimpeded access, displays an appalling lack of decorum.

That's when flipping the above mentioned simian the bird is justified and not the least bit juvenile.

Movie review: Cowboys and Aliens

2011-07-30T13:30:00.007+09:00

I pulled a disappearing act for a long time. And, like the terminator, "I'm back"

Last night, a wonderful friend asked the kids over for a sleepover. The other half and I decided to go out for dinner and a movie. The dinner was fabulous. The movie....

Ah, well... the movie... I thought it had Harrison Ford, Daniel Craig wearing something that looked like Ben10's whatchamacallit, and aliens, and some good old fashioned gunslinging, all this from the trailer I watched last week.

I thought Daniel Craig was starring, so at least there'd be some eye candy.

But what went wrong?

Let me start logically. There are innumerable questions that need answering.

Why did we choose this particular movie to watch?
Because this was the only movie that we hadn't watched, and was playing at a cinema that wasn't too far away.

But why?
Inexplicable lack of judgement. I blame the monkeys. But that's another long story.

What was the movie all about?
Aliens attack the old wild west. The triumph of old fashioned six shooters, shotguns, primitive arrows and spears over advanced technology and weapons.

Why were there aliens in the wild west? What could they probably want?
Oh, that's easy. Gold. They wanted gold.

Gold, what on earth for? Where were they planning to spend it?
Hmmm... Aliens.. I wonder. Do you remember watching "Men in Black?" I bet the aliens were planning a shopping spree at the duty free shops at MiB HQ.

Well, with Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford, surely there was some eye candy??
None at all. They're OLD!!!! Well, one IS old, the other LOOKS old!

But it's a Steven Spielberg production!
See, Mr. Spielberg saw the word Alien in the title. Then he saw the fairly high billing given to Mr. Ford. I assume that at this point, he put 2 and 2 together. The last time we had Ford and Aliens in a box office rocking equation we got Star Wars.

Sorry Mr. Spielberg, this time you didn't call it right.

My suggestion, give it a wide berth. If you really want to watch it, wait for it to hit the idiot box. Don't waste money on tickets.

The movie left me shaken. Not stirred. The only way one could possibly appreciate this stinker is after a three martini lunch. Make that a three martini lunch preceded by a three martini starter and followed by a three martini dessert.

I may also give the next Bond movie a miss.

To read or not to read

2010-09-20T23:49:00.004+09:00

We're now reading. To be precise, I get my daughter to read aloud to me at bedtime. This is not about her putting me to sleep, but one way to get two birds with one stone. Reading practice and bedtime stories.

A few years ago, I picked up the whole set of Ladybird readers for her. At that time they looked wonderful. Big bold easy-read prints, colourful layouts, and new, bigger words introduced in easy phases.

So far so good, right? We stuck to Tom and Kate and their routines (I wouldn't quite call them adventures) and I would get very easily distracted. And that might have been just me, if the other half hadn't pointed out with all subtlety that "Tom and Kate is so boring. Puts me to sleep."

Did that sound harsh??

May I direct your attention towards your typical reader??

and then to some more of the same?

It's.... dry! To put it very very kindly. Halfway through one reading, we are rendered unsuccessful at concealing any yawns and other signs of utter boredom. But encourage the little one to continue we do. May the force be with her! And in all honesty, I did have to use the force to get her to read her quota for the day.

I asked a few educators and they lauded my choice of reading material. So, well, I let it be.

The other day, I got so fed up, I asked my daughter to pick something she wanted to read aloud. Without hesitation, she picked up a Dr Seuss. And read it out way faster than she would normally. I wondered whether it was because she knew some of the pages off by heart. It wouldn't be too far off the mark as I might have read it aloud to her only about a gazillion times.

Just to put things to test, I got her to pick up another Dr. Seuss book. And she did read much better, with way more interest. Here's an excerpt.

Or from another book..

I asked around, and got some opinions.

It's not serious.
There's no educational value to it.
It's just rhyming nonsense.

It does confuse the heck out of a parent, doesn't it?

But then I'm an avid reader. So is the other half. Does reading HAVE to be serious? Is there any reason reading can't be fun? Can't a school related exercise be made more interesting?

When I feel like reading, do I pick Bertrand Russel? Or do I pick whatever catches my fancy? Do I pick a Drucker and Toffler, or do I pick an Eddings and L'amour?

I ordered a few more Dr. Seuss books online. And got the kid to read it aloud. She read it with so much enthusiasm that I had a tough time getting her to stop in the middle of the book, as it was nearly bedtime. Well, if I was in the middle of a good book, I'd want to finish it before I slept too.

The supposedly 'frivolous reading' wins the battle of the books. I'd rather reading was happy and fun. There's always 'serious', 'value-added' reading to be done at school, so let reading at home be thoroughly frivolous.

A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away, Ellen Goodman from the Detroit Free Press, (all the way back in November 1966) said:
"Dr. Seuss took 220 words, rhymed them and turned out 'The Cat in the Hat', a little volume of absurdity that worked like a karate chop on the weary little world of Dick, Jane and Spot. "

With those profound words in mind, would you like to recommend some reading for kids that doesn't bore the parents to tears?

Teaching science vs the science of teaching

2010-09-19T13:24:00.003+09:00

The other half proposes, "No more lame bedtime stories for kid#1. I shall tell her stories about science."

Doesn't sound too bad does it?? Indoctrinating fertile young minds towards science and technology?

So we start with the one of the greatest men of science, Sir Isaac Newton.

OH: Once upon a time there was this dude called Sir Isaac Newton. So Newton sits under this apple tree, and an apple falls on his head. What would we do if that had happened to us?

Kid #1: We would wash the apples first and then eat it.

OH: See, Newton was a scientist.

Kid #1: Like you??

OH: Just like me, but way way smarter. So he started thinking WHY the apple fell DOWN. Do you know why it fell down?

Kid #1: Yes!

OH: Good. Tell me why it fell down.

(At this point of time, the father is thrilled to bits that his 7 year old shows a lot of promise, and a future in science)

Kid #1: See, Appa, the apple hangs BELOW the branch. Because there is a branch above the apple, the apple cannot travel that way, so it has to come down only.. simple!

(Here, as an unbiased observer, I would point out that the kid does know her concepts... about straight lines and all that jazz)

The OH wants to cut this line of thought, and stick with the science of all this.

OH: Baby, if you throw a ball up, does it keep going up?

Kid #1: No, it falls down.

OH: Why does it fall down? Why doesn't it keep going straight up?

Kid #1: Because it doesn't have wings.

There goes that lesson. And we're back to the tried and tested conventional bed time stories.

There are constant attempts to introduce the kids to basic science.

We took them to the Planetarium. There's this little "science park" in the gardens. There they have this colour wheel, painted with the 7 colours of the rainbow, and strips of black and white. The idea here is to touch them and see which colours absorb light, and which colours reflect light. The black strip, needless to say, is hottest to touch, and white is the least hot of the lot.

The OH explains it all in great detail to the little one.

OH: So, Aditi, what will you wear when you go out in the sun.

Kid #1: A hat!

We might be teaching science, but we haven't quite got the science of teaching down pat!

And we're not quite giving up! Tonight the OH plans to tell her the story about James Watt and the steam engine.

Teething issues... reloaded

2010-06-14T01:21:00.003+09:00

All through the day I noticed my elder daughter her run to her room every now and then, and lift up her pillow. Then she'd get back to whatever she was doing, with this slightly disappointed look on her face.

Finally, around bedtime, I asked her if something was wrong with her pillow. And she told me she was looking for a coin. Why on earth would you look for a coin under your pillow, I ask her. Did you drop a coin somewhere? Where did you get a coin to start with?

She then gave me this blank don't-you-know-anything look, lifted her pillow again and took out a tooth! My little one lost a tooth this morning and there it was under her pillow.

This was a bit of a dicey situation. When she lost her first tooth over a year ago, we sat her down and explained to her how her milk teeth would now start to drop off, and how a better, stronger tooth would grow back in it's stead. We talked to her about how this was all a part and parcel of growing up, and how her new teeth would be stronger than what she had before. And that a gap toothed smile was a badge of honour, and that she could flaunt it to her heart's content.

Now we hear that some kid in her class her told her not to throw away her tooth the next time it falls, but to place it under her pillow, and see how it would turn into a coin. (Jobless *&$% kid!)

Here's the problem. Do we introduce a tooth fairy into the equation? Do we simply place a coin under the pillow and ask her to put that into her piggy bank and leave it at that? Do I stick to the 'rational' and 'scientific' path that we've been following to date, and explain away the tooth fairy?

Decisions, decisions... and they have to be made in less than 8 hours from now.

To e-read or not to e-read

2009-12-17T14:00:00.003+09:00

I've just about heard enough of Kindle. That's just what every other geek is talking about. Kindle .

A quick confession here, I for one, am unable to appreciate the whole concept of e-books. I've tried reading them on my large desktop, on my little laptop, and once, even on a PDA.

And I admit, I hated it. Somehow it simply does not work for me.

Why would I want to read an e-book? What's the fun in that?

Would I have to forgo the pleasure of browsing through a bookstore? What about the pleasure of choosing just one book out of many? How does one pick just one e-book? All things being equal, I sometimes pick the better smelling book.
(Books: 1 | E-books: 0)

On a cool day, I drag my rocker to a sunny patch in my balcony, and cozy up with an old favourite. Half the fun there is to randomly open a page and start reading from there. The older and more dog eared a book gets, the easier it is find a favourite bit and start reading.
(Books: 2 | E-books: 0)

When I'm done reading for a bit, I plonk the book down and take a cat-nap. I don't need to worry about leaving a reader on and think of battery life, charging etc.
(Books: 3 | E-books: 0)

Oh, I could carry just a book everywhere. No need to worry about charger etc.
(Books: 4 | E-books: 0)

But then again, to be fair, an e-book reader would occupy a fraction of the space of a paperback.
(Books: 4 | E-books: 1)

And a reader with a gazillion books stored in it would occupy way less space that one big fat-ish volume of the latest in The Wheel of Time series.
(Books: 4 | E-books: 2)

E-books use up fewer trees and rainforest.
(Books: 4 | E-books: 3)

As I think up fair and equitable arguments I stare at my overflowing bookshelf. It's starting to look a hippo stuffed into a Michael Phelps' speedo. It's double stacked, overflowing and, yes, bursting at the seams. How many gigabytes of Kindle would that work out to, I wonder?
(Books: 4 | E-books: 4)

Now, with a Kindle each, the other half and I wouldn't ever have to fight over the same book. Like we did for the last three Harry Potter releases.
(Books: 4 | E-books: 5)

In which case, it would mean that I could actually see the surface of my bedside table. Which at the moment holds around 20 books.
(Books: 4 | E-books: 6)

But what if one of my brats pulls an e-book reader out of my hands and throws it unceremoniously aside?
(Books: 5 | E-books: 6)

What if the kids want e-books too? Would that mean, I need separate e-book readers for the kids?
(Books: 6 | E-books: 6)

What about all those pleasurable hours spent at book sales, second-hand book stores and library sales?
(Books: 7 | E-books: 6)

What about looking at a friend's bookshelf and going, "hey, I'm helping myself to these.."? I can't imagine browsing through a friend's Kindle to see what she/he has that I don't.. sidey as I made that sound.
(Books: 8 | E-books: 6)

The point tallies aside, how does one 'lend' an e-book? What would an e-book library look or smell like? Goodness, would bookstores just vanish?? Not that I have anything against Amazon, but it just is NOT the same as spending a pleasurable couple of hours at a book store.

As I type, my little one is curled up beside me, and is trying to sleep. It's a fairly cold day too. Just perfect for a cup of hot ginger tea and maybe a PG Wodehouse. Something from the Blandings Castle series, I'd say. Summer Lightning, is just within arm's reach. And the book naturally falls open to my favourite funny bits.

To e-read or not to e-read... that's my question.

Pardon me, while I try not to laugh too loud. This is the bit where Baxter is explaining where the pig is.

Who's that??

2009-11-30T19:22:00.002+09:00

What does one call the supernatural creator and overseer of the universe??

Let me backtrack a bit... It has been one hell of a crazy week.

What are the chances that all of us come down with a very bad attack of the flu at the same time?

What are the chances that you have people staying over when the fever hits three digits on the Farenheit scale?

What are the chances that my gas cylinder is delivered 9 days ahead of schedule? (Last time it took 27 days from booking to delivery) And the gas company manages to choose that one single weekday when I am away from home?

What are the chances that you halt at a railway crossing and the gate remains closed long enough for three different trains to pass? And this being Bangalore, the geniuses who are allowed to drive on these roads form 9 lanes on a two lane road blocking traffic from both ends. And it takes an hour and a half to travel a distance of exactly 13 kms.

What are the chances of catching a really bad cold just after a bad flu attack?

What are the chances that the milkman delivers leaky milk packets three days in a row?

To all of the above, one law fits all. If anything can go wrong it will.

Getting back to my question, What does one call the supernatural creator and overseer of the universe??

Murphy??

What was that again?

2009-06-15T19:04:00.004+09:00

Considering that I feel so sore and cranky, it was rather unsurprising that a random caller felt the brunt of my ire.

Someone has to explain real estate terminology to me someday. This morning, one real estate marketer calls me about some property and tells me that "It suits high class people."

Well, I asked the gentleman to define "high class"... He mumbled for a bit and said, "It is for 'good class' families."

Now was I all that out of line asking him to explain just what made a person qualify as "good class?"

"Madam, those are all decent people."

"Ok, so where do indecent people live?" It was too good to let that one pass...

So somehow I get the feeling that this marketer will never call me again.

Whose loss, I wonder...

I nominate me...

2009-06-15T18:57:00.003+09:00

... for this year's Nobel prize in medicine.

I proudly announce that I have discovered new muscles in my body that I solemnly swear never existed before.

I started on a new fitness regime, and did an hour long aerobic workout. I am so sore, it's not funny. It even hurts to bat my eyelids. Or smile. Or sulk. I can't even work up the enthusiasm to take a sip of water. Too much work.

Maybe I should get the kids to get me water in a saucer and then proceed to lap it up.

After that I would lose all rights to tell them to keep their elbows off the table.

Ah well, till someone else does better, I can at least dream of a prize other than fitting into my favourite pair of jeans.

The complete Kolkata-Experience

2009-06-09T21:39:00.000+09:00

AK and I were in Kolkata earlier this month. Rather, we went to Haldia, and got to spend a few hours in Kolkata on our way back.

The other half studied in Haldia for a few years, and when an old classmate suggested a reunion over the long May day weekend, we decided to go. AK was meeting these friends after almost 25 years, and was really looking forward to it.

The first person he introduced me to was Sanjukta, and the very first thing she said to me was, "Hi, nice meeting you! Why have you stopped blogging?"

Now, that's what I call a fan following! There're a few travelogues from our whilrwind tour of the Patel points of Japan that are half written and awaiting completion, but I decided that after a longish break, I'd write a post for a new friend! Here we go, Sanjukta.

This was my first ever trip to this neck of the woods. And I really got to experience Kolkata in the truest sense. Every stereotype and cliche in place!

0900 hrs :

We started off from our hotel after a breakfast, with a tightly packed itinerary. On our way, as we stopped at a traffic light, we saw this group of people standing around a bus stand. I mused that it was rather an odd gathering for a Sunday morning. They looked like a typical group of office goers. Before the light could change, at some unperceived signal, the whole group of randomly loitering strangers fell into formation with a military precision, and, as if by magic, whipped out a whole bunch of red flags, and began to march, shouting slogans.

What luck, I got to see one of Kolkata's famous political rallies!

0915 hrs :

As we drove towards our destination we were held up by another rally, this one in full swing.

0930 hrs :

How could I even say I went to Kolkata without seeing THE landmark: Victoria Memorial.

1100 hrs :

Everyone of my acquaintances who had ever been in or lived in Kolkata insisted that I shop for bags and shoes at New market. And the other-half acceded to that request rather half-heartedly. Would you believe that every single shop was closed? There was some commtion nearby. There was that (by now) familiar sight - people with red flags.

New words added to my non-existant Bengali vocabulary: Hobe-na hobe na!

1130 hrs :

A few phone calls later, I'm back in action with a plan B for shopping... Ghoriahaat. Wait a minute... aren't we back in New Market again?? No?? But the shops are all closed!! Oh yes, I do see the Bhodrolok with their flags. Yes, I can chant hobe-na with the best of them, now.

1230 hrs :

Thank God, my old friend from college, Pinaki, is with us. He helps us find one or two stores that are open for business. And I do some nominal shopping. AK insists that he doesn't want to see a kurta for another decade at least!

1315 hrs :

Fifteen years ago, anytime our friends from college went out for pani-puri, Pinaki would go on and on ad nauseum about Puchkas in Kolkata, and how the stuff elsewhere was unacceptable. Ever since we got married, the other half kept insisting that the pani-puri at Kolkata were the best ever. I finally gulped down a few puchkas... and the great debate rests. They are supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!!! Woohoo....

1340 hrs :

Pinaki insisted that I really have to eat some 'real' Mishti-doi. I'm a convert!

1355 hrs :

After hunting all around Tokyo to find Netaji's ashes, how could I not take time see the house where was born in Kolkata?

1400 hrs :

All this time we were sweating profusely. I swear that the humidity in Kolkata is worse than Chennai. It was totally crazy. Out of the blue the sky suddenly went dark, the clouds totally obscuring the sky and the sun. And the streetlights started coming on in the part of town where we were.

1405 hrs :

The next thing I know, high winds are literally sweeping me off my feet (and that takes some sweeping!) There's a spectacular breeze that makes me forget I was sweating like a pig a few minutes ago. And of course dust storms.

1410 hrs :

And before I can more than blink at this rapid change in climate, it starts to rain. I 'd like to change that to, it pours. Visibility outside the car is a joke. Kolkata and Kalbaishakhi. I had to see it to believe it.

1530 hrs :

As we head towards the airport, we took the scenic route, so I could see Howrah Bridge.

1600 hrs :

As we try to get to the airport in good time, we see that roads are flooded.

1615 hrs :

And to top it all off, TRAFFIC JAM!!!

I have to admit that I didn't have the time or the appetite for two of Kolkata's famous gastronomic must-dos. Jhal-muri and Rasgolla (yes, I know. It's shocking, isn't it?)

But then I really do need to save something new for next time.

Talking trash

2008-05-26T21:43:00.001+09:00

We're officially on our way out of Japan. The last few days have been completely chaotic. I've had to do the sorting of what to keep (everything), what to discard (ultra heavy winter wear, things I haven't used in over a year, size... er.. X-4... jeans), what's sentimental (Aditi's school craftwork), what's not (greeting cards and other senti stuff)... and also answer questions like "why are my toys in that big bag over there instead of in my toy cupboard? Don't my toys have a visa to go to India?"

The sorting is still the easy part I say. It's discarding that's painful. First thing I did was to donate clothes that are in good shape to charity. Whlie we're at that, let me tel you, finding a charity here is next to impossible. I asked around if anyone was collecting stuff for earthquake or cyclone relief for China or Burma. Answer was 'Cash only, please." The Red Cross asked who would pay to ship the stuff to these places. But thankfully, one friend here asked if I could give stuff to an orphanage. I was more than happy to.

Then we got to discarding. And it's a PAIN in the wrong end. Please do read this article to understand how trash disposal works in Japan.

So there we were, wondering where what went. Does a stone vase count as 'un-recyclable trash', or does it qualify under 'other miscellaneous household goods'? What about that plastic container? Is that PET, recyclable or non-recyclable plactic? Do gumboots qualify under burnable trash or plastic? Why are there so many categories for disposal of footwear? Why didn't I run away and join a real circus instead of being in this one?

So we bagged all our stuff into different categories and got rid of it over a week (each day, we're supposed to take out only a particular kind of trash). Last night, we took out ALL the trashbags and put them in the designated receptacle.

The movers got here this morning. And as they were nearly done, someone rang the bell. He had a bill in his hand, and asked if it was ours. It certainly was, and hadn't we just discarded that with the trash last night? He turned out be someone from the waste removal company who wanted to know why we'd thrown out that much trash? Why had we thrown out the wrong trash for Monday? Hadn't we received the trash calendar from City Hall?

We explained that we were moving... "look, these nice men are taking away all our things," we said. He very reluctantly agreed to let our trash stay in the dustbin. I still can't believe someone rooted through the rubbish to figure out who all that ... er... trash.. belonged to.

Ah well, trash, disposal and recycling is going to be a whole new story once we get to India.

Netaji's memorial

2008-05-22T14:31:00.004+09:00

I remembered reading somewhere, a long time ago, that Netaji's ashes were kept at some temple in Tokyo. Arun and I wanted to visit that place to pay our respects.

Tokyo isn't exactly down the road from this neck of the woods. Last week, once we decided that we couldn't leave Japan without seeing some Sumo (that's another story), we made up our minds that we should see Netaji's memorial too in the same trip.

"Find out where it is," Arun said, "and we'll go there this time."

I tried to do this the easiest way possible. I called the Indian Embassy.

The reply I got there has to be preserved for all posterity. On asking where in Tokyo Netaji's ashes were, I was given this answer:
"You can ask the Japan Tourist office."

That was such an undeniably intelligent answer. I mean, I should have thought of it myself. Think about it, Pt. Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Dr. Rajendra Prasad, Atal Behari Vajpayee... I'm sure they all decided not to trouble the Embassy and asked the local tourist bureau for directions to get there.

I realised then that I only knew that the ashes were in some temple. And I started Googling for answers. I was lucky enough to get the name of the Renkoji temple on first try.

Next step, I started calling friends who lived in Tokyo. "Hi, where's Renkoji temple? How do I get there?" was always followed by a long pause, and the answer was always "What's that?"

It was back to Google again. This time, Google Maps came to my rescue.

Once we got to Tokyo, we took the Marunouchi Line to the Higashikoenji station, and once there started asking for directions to Renkoji. No one seemed to know where it was. With my Google Map for directions, we got to the general area where it said the temple was, and asked passers by if we were anywhere near the temple. Always to be met with blank looks and apologetic bows. Finally one passerby told us that there was a temple nearby, maybe they could help us find this place.

We walked a few yeards ahead, and saw this really small temple.

The temple itself was closed, and our shouts of "sumimasen" (excuse me please) went unanswered. We ventured into the temple, and there we saw.......
Mission accomplished.

Why are Netaji's ashes consigned to rest in an obscure temple somewhere in the back of beyond of Tokyo? Since the findings of various commissions have been tabled in parliament, and the theory that Netaji did not die in the plane crash in Taiwan has been rejected, and considering the fact that various leaders have over the years paid their respects at this shrine, doesn't this imply that the government believes that Netaji's ashes rest in Renkoji? I'm really curious why these ashes haven't been brought back to India . Don't the ashes of this great son of India deserve to be brought back to the land of his birth? Doesn't this great son deserve a prominent monument in the land of his birth?

In this forgotten little corner of Tokyo, lies this impeccably tended memorial to a great man.

Anyone who's interested may visit the Renkoji temple. The temple's at
Tokyo-to, Suginami-ku, Wada 3 Chome 30-20
Take the Marunouchi line towards Ogikubo. Get off at Higashikoenji station. Take the exit marked Wada 1-3 Chome. There's the entrance to a little park to the right of the exit. Walk into the park. Continue down the path till you reach a little road. Turn left at the road. Walk about 150 meters, and Renkoji temple is to the right.

Don't bother asking the embassy for directions.

The Samurai's tale

2008-05-14T22:07:00.000+09:00

The Fourth Battle of Kawanakajima, fought between the forces of Uesugi Kenshin and Takeda Shingen is considered a tactically interesting battle. So intersting, that in the little town of Yonezawa, they reenact that famous battle every spring. That annual battle seems to get Yonezawa its fifteen minutes in the spotlight. Yonezawa was the stronghold of the Uesugi clan during the Sengoku period of Japanese history.

Last month I got an email from one of the local newsgroups asking for volunteers to participate in this year's enactment of the battle. There was this small unit of about 15 that welcomed 'foreigners' to participate. That sounded very interesting. Why not, I thought, and promptly volunteered all four of us. But the organisers were not allowed to recruit samurai of under high-school age. The kids could not be samurai, and one of us had to drop out too. Guess who lost that toss??

On the big day, we started off early in the morning, and drove to Yonezawa. If I thought I lived in a small town, Yonezawa was... well.... way smaller. Since we'd had a really long drive to get there, we were among the last to arrive, and Arun was rushed into the changing room to get into costume.
And that perplexed the little one totally.
"Amma, why is Appa wearing a silly dress?"
"That's not a dress, baby. Appa is wearing a costume."
"Why is Appa wearing a costume?"
"Because today your Appa is a samurai."

And having satisfied her curiosity to that point we marched off to the battlefield.

And there she saw the armies swear fealty to their respective daimyo, in this case, to Takeda Shingen.
And they're ready to fight. For honour, for glory and all that jazz.
"Amma, why is Appa dressed like Spiderman?"
"No, baby. Appa is dressed like a Samurai."

And then the Uesugi forces start to get into formation.
"Amma, is Appa going to fight with those people."
The questions don't stop, do they.
"Amma, now I know what's happening. Appa is the good Spiderman, those people are bad Spiderman. Now all the good Spiderman uncles are going to scold the bad Spiderman uncles."

Talk about impeccable logic.

And they charge and are engaged in battle.

The forward troops light signal flares, and the troops start to get in formation.

The reserves on the other side of the river see the signal. They ford the river and hit the Uesugi armies from the back.

And battle heats up again.

Much as I hate to say it, I totally missed the climax of the battle. One little kid demanded to be taken to the restroom immediately, and refused to wait till the war was over.

And by the time I got back, the battle was all over, the battlefield littered with the (pretending to be) dead.

Well, when you got to go, you got to go.

I have to admit it was a great day. The battle was beautifully choreographed, and Arun had loads of fun.

But there were some really funny scenes out there. The bulk of the troops were high-school kids. The distribution of the sexes was equal. And it lead to interesting skirmishes. The armies charge. Four school girls meet in the middle of the field. They looked at each other and giggled.
I swear I'm NOT making this up!

After the battle, an old lady came up to Arun and asked to pose for a picture with him. She was so excited and she said, "Last Samurai?? Tom Cruise?" Err... lady.... Hmmm.. never mind. Say cheese.

As the troops went back to change into 21st century clothes, one bunch of Samurai charged a bunch of schoolgirls who were chatting by hte roadside. They squealed (loudly) and then wanted to take pictures.

Here, we see little girls start Samurai training... jut in case some weirdo charges her..

This shot was taken before the battle. It was so totally incongruous.

Did the average samurai warrior have to deal with little girls insisting that they had to be picked up right now? Or have to count how many hugs each kid got?
This one did. So what if he was wearing a Spiderman 'dress'.

Darth Krishnan

2008-04-20T21:00:00.005+09:00

Long time ago in a galaxy far far away (as far away as Japan, for starters), there was this academician.

That's not a very gripping story, is it? Anyway, one day, something went wrong, and instead of fighting the dark side of the force, he embraced it.

To make a long story really short, he turned to the dark side of the force. He was seduced by... (gasp) Industry. He ceased to be a Jedi (academic).

Yes, he's now a part of the Evil Empire, and will soon move with bag, baggage and family to Coruscant... well, Bangalore really, in service of the Emperor.

All Hail Darth V... er.. Arun.

May the force be with you.

(play the Imperial March too)

The numbers racket

2008-04-10T13:06:00.004+09:00

"Amma, how many years am I?" pipes the elder one. "4 years!!!!" she shouts out before I can reply.

For some reason, the elder one is obsessed with age. She has to know "how many years" any given person is. And it need not necessarily be a person.

"Amma, how many years is the baby?"
"Amma, how many years is appa?"
"Amma, how many years is Thatha?"
"Amma, how many years is Paati?"
"Amma, how many years Gowri chitti?"

...and so on and so forth, and wants to know how old every single family member is.

I was on skype with an old friend yesterday, and after I'm done goes... "How many years is Akshay uncle??"

I tell her.... she ponders for a bit and asks..."When I am that many years old can I have a beard too?"

Hmmmm... it had been too easy,... way too easy... "Er... girls don't have beards."

"The beast has a beard in Beauty and the Beast. Is the beast a boy?"

"Yup, the beast is a boy."

"Are all boys beasts??"

I don't want to go there.... so I put on her favourite (of the moment) movie Tonari no Totoro.

After a bit,"Amma, how many years is Totoro?"

"Er... I don't know," and I shut up before I start to try to explain the concept of an ageless forest spirit.

"Is Totoro 53 years?" she asks.

I heave a mental sigh of relief, but too soon. Way too soon.

"Amma, why is Totoro 53 years?"

I have no answer there. I look at that cute curious face, and start to think, no mean feat in these circumstances, let me tell you. "Totoro is Japanese," she tells me. "Do you think my sensei knows how many years Totoro is?"

Saved! I guess sensei really earns her pay. I tell her that she should ask her sensei that question. And as she reasons, sensei and Totoro share the same nationality.

After we're done for the day, she wants her usual bedtime stories. She has to listen to a Kannan kadhai, stories of Sri Krishna as a child. Half way into a story about one of his childhood pranks,

"Amma, how many years is Krishna?"

I think to myself that since she enjoys these childhood pranks series of stories so much, maybe I'll put Him at the same age as Aditi. "He's 4 years old, just like you," I say.

And she starts to wail, "But Appa said he was 6 years."
"Well, he is 6 years, I said 4 by mistake.. how silly of me," say I and try to get her to stop crying.

"But why does Appa think 6 years old?"

That's it. I've had my share of the questions for the day. I get up, go to the other half, and say, "Your daughter has some questions for you..."

And I breathe a sigh of relief.. until she thinks of the next set of questions

Google greets April

2008-04-02T09:38:00.007+09:00

I like to think that I'm too old to pull an April Fool joke on anyone. But I still enjoy a good joke. One can always depend on Google to liven up the day.

They were in good form last year with their Google Paper announcement.

I trawled my usual repertoire of Google's services yesterday, and only caught these two.

Where one usually finds the Orkut logo, there was a logo that read 'Yogurt written in the same style.

There was this gem on Blogger.

Did I miss any other funnies?

Update:
A joint venture with the Virgin Group, Virgle, to pioneer Open source Planetary exploration of Mars.
Custom time from Gmail.

Yet Another Update:
Why did I even bother when Wikipedia seems to have listed it all?
Ah well....

Who on earth...

2008-04-01T21:22:00.004+09:00

The other half asks..
Do you know who Mohammad Hamid Ansari is??

The name does ring a bell... very vaguely...

Something to do with the 'D' company? The new PM of Pakistan?

Then he tells me....

Ohh... ok...

After having Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam at the helm, the current non-entity and her sidekick are a total letdown.

Is it just me or is anyone else annoyed by this asinine announcement?

Little lessons from little-r people

2008-03-29T15:17:00.004+09:00

"Baby, finish everything on your plate, or else I'm calling the Oni..."

That is the sum total of our current dinner-table conversations.

(What's an Oni?? Hmmm... read about it here, if you please.)

Much as I hate to resort to the bogeyman, some days, my patience is torn to shreds way before the sun even contemplates moving to the other hemisphere.

I see a little face that's really sad, and about to burst into tears. But holds the tears back, as she tries to be brave.

Now I feel like pond scum. Lower than pond scum. Maybe like the life forms that pond scum hold in contempt and disdain. I try to set things right.

ME: Tell you what, let's just eat three spoons of this. And then we're off the hook.
Little one (LO): OK Amma... Will that make me a good girl again??

Now I demote myself to what the stuff that pond scum hold in contempt hold in utter disdain.

ME: Shall I count??
LO: OK!

Me: 1... 2....
Me: 2 and a quarter, 2 and a half, 2.75

By this time, the little one is totally perplexed. But the deal was that she eats and I count.

Me: 2.75.. 2.8.. 2.85.. 2.9..
LO: Amma, what are you doing??
Me: Counting, baby... 2.91.. 2.92.. 2.93..
LO: But are those numbers?
Me: Don't talk with food in your mouth. It's rude. 2.96... 2.97
LO: But Amma, what happened to 3?
Me: Did I lose count??
LO: I think so.
Me: Ok.. Lets, start again..
Me: 1.. 2.. 3.. And done. You can go play for a while.
LO: So I don't have to eat more??
Me: Goodness, look at your plate.... it's empty!!! You ate it all in three mouthfuls!!

The little one thinks about it.

LO: Amma, can I show you something?

And plays her favourite video and I sit down to watch it with her, as I promised I would.

When it's over, she turns to me and asks....
"Amma, now can you count to 10 properly?? Shall we do some numbers now? I'll give you a hug if you get it right."

Little people sure know it all.....

Isn't it weird?

2008-03-18T16:30:00.002+09:00

I wonder how people start to develop opinions about other people. Especially someone they don't know.

I'm not talking about whether Britney Spears was a perpetrator or a victim. It's closer to home. It's about me.

Why are people confused about my gender? Why do they think I want to enhance parts I don't have? Why do they think I want to know who err..... made whooppee with... how many people? Why does anyone feel I would want Viagra? Contrary to what certain folks think, I do NOT want meet available women in my neighbourhood, or city or whatever.

I do not want to buy cheap drugs. Or fake handbags. Or fake watches. Or genuine looking.... er... anything elses. I don't really care if some celebrity is wearing underclothes or not.

I already have a University degree, thank you. I don't think I am in the market for one.
I don't own a home yet, so hold back on that mortgage.

But wait....
you are an heir of the late dictator of some country I can't find on a map, and want to give me few millions?? On second thoughts, thanks, but no thanks.

A Monster Outing

2008-03-10T13:47:00.011+09:00

There they stood, like the hordes of Sauron. Like the countless armies of boundless Mallorea....

Cut!

My fantasy series' are getting somewhat mixed up, what??

Let me start again. Think of the innumerable hordes of Sauron (for the uninitiated, refer to The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King), picture them as they ready to march off to battle. Now open said image in GIMP (or Photoshop, if you will), remove Orodruin (Mount Doom) from the picture, transfer the horde, as is, to the Ice age and freeze the hordes till they start to resemble Popsicles.

Isn't this what you'd come up with??

Would they look like this?

The summit is totally covered with snow monsters (Juhyou).

Where did these monsters come from??

The Aomori fir trees that cover the peak of the mountain are constantly layered with hoarfrost until they lose any semblance of trees and turn into something straight out of a fantasy (or horror) movie.

On a clear day like this, the snow monsters are a truly amazing sight.

I should mention here, that this was our second trip to Zao in three weeks. The last time we were there, we met up with this blizzard who had descended from Siberia, and who simply wouldn't go away. Visibility was about 8 -10 feet.

Pretty sad, isn't it?

And I badgered and badgered the other half, till he gave in, and we drove down again, and took our chances with the weather. "What if visibility is bad, or if the snow has melted?" asked the OH. But I was determined to go to Zao, and off we went. And took a chance on the weather!

This time around, it was a gloriously clear day. And (at 5°C) warm to boot! When we got to the top, the long drive o'er hill and dale was so worth it.

I could see shutterbugs right at the summit. Of course, they probably didn't get there with two kids in tow.

There were these huge, white, bizzare forms all around us.

As we took the cable-car down to the foot of the mountain, I caught glimpses of skiers and snowboarders weaving among these giant, mysterious, creatures.

All I could think of was an army of fantasy monsters, marching inexorably towards civilizaiton, gobbling up ski enthusiasts as they went by.

Who's turn is it anyway?

2008-02-18T16:47:00.003+09:00

It's been snowing. Hard. Incessantly. Just the way it's been doing for the last 46 days. In all fairness I should mention that we did have 2 days of sunshine, and another couple of days when it didn't snow, but we didn't see the sky.

The last bout of snow has been bad. The other half and I have been having conversations that are reminiscent of an Abbot-Costello routine.

Me: It's your turn to shovel the snow off the stairs.
OH: Not too.
Me: I've done it the last couple of times. It's definitely our turn.
OH: There's a cricket match on.
Me: I can't carry the little one down the stairs. It's iced over, and slippery as heck.
OH: After the match.

After the match....
Me: Is the match over?
OH: Yeah, I'm hungry.

After lunch...
Me: Err.. the steps??
OH: Lunch was awesome. I overate. I need a nap.

After a nap...
Me: What'd you want to do now?
OH: Play with the kids..

After playtime...
Me: The steps??
OH: Don't bug me on a Sunday.

I look at the stairs leading up the apartment. At least a third of them are frozen solid. Iced over with a vengeance.

It's probably my turn.

The doorbell rings. And there stands the OH, breathing hard, and the steps are clear of all slippery substances.

It's probably my turn.... next time.

No weather please..

2008-02-13T16:35:00.004+09:00

One thing I do not want to do this thoroughly freezing blustering day is to discuss weather.

Don't think I'm cribbing about extreme weather. I love scenic snowscapes. I can aimlessly walk around the place taking pictures by the dozen. I even have the patience to dress in what seems like half the contents of my closet before I step out. I love the way my breath is all steamy. I love the way the trees are delicately or generously) dusted in a layer of white. I love making shoe-tracks on pristine, uncleared snow. I really enjoy making snowmen, so what if they look like something Calvin makes, or like abstract art?

Then why am I complaining? Well, this has not been the easiest of days.

It's freezing today. The mercury reads lower than Dubya's IQ.. er.. shoe size.. ah well, they're the same thing actually, aren't they?

Lulled by the bright sunshine yesterday, I washed loads of laundry and hung it outside to dry. And totally forgot to bring one lot inside. This morning my laundry was frozen stiff, with a layer of snow and ice on them.

Later in the morning, the school bus was late. And my nose was totally frozen before I got inside again.

An hour ago I went to get the older one from the bus. The wind was so bad that our covered carpark was totally blanketed with snow. Then came a gust of wind with so much force that I was blown a couple of feet away. And there was this inconvenient patch of ice where I stepped, and skidded, and landed on my gluteus maximus.

And next time anyone back home, or in Singy wants to talk about temperatures in the upper 20s or 30s... you can go.... er.. hmmm.. is my mom reading this???

What was that name again?

2008-01-26T12:01:00.000+09:00

This morning the older one had to be taken to the doctor for some tests. And this being the weekend, dear husband volunteered to take her to the doctor. We've finally found a pediatrician who doesn't speak much English, but writes down in English what he wants to communicate to us. I think this is wonderful. But we're still not used to the staff at that place.

Father and daughter walked into the clinic, handed over all relevant insurance cards, registration cards etc. One lady asked them what they were there for. Arun tried to explain, and finally took a piece of paper and wrote 'urine test' on it.

A few minutes later, another receptionist came up to him. She looked very confused. She handed him Aditi's registration card, handed him the slip of paper, bowed in apology and utter confusion and asked, "I'm sorry, but the registration card says 'Aditi Krishnan' and on this paper you've written 'urine test'. Now which is your daughter's correct name?"

Whe me?

Updates

2008-01-25T13:53:00.000+09:00

Where on earth have I been?? Good question... To those of you who missed my words of (questionable) wisdom, I was on a really long holiday. I was in India for close to a month and a half.

And now I'm back home in rural Japan. And I'm torn between two worlds. On one hand I love the snow, and I hate dressing in layers of clothing that make me look twice as chubby as I really am. I love the soundless tranquility of a snow scape, and miss the incessant chatter that's always present back home in India. I'm petrified driving in a foot of snow, but I sure do NOT miss the traffic chaos in India.

My first day back home, I called my dear friend S and told her to get her backside over and that we had to go eat pani-puri at our favourite roadside stall. S, of course, came over in her new car, and off we went for some chaat, taking the most scenic route through Mysore catching up on two years worth of news. Our conversation went something like this...
S: ... so and so got married. Lives in ..
Me: watch out. That guy had right of way.
S: ... Bangalore. Might move to Delhi next year. Did you hear about..
Me: You didn't stop at the intersection
S: What's wrong with you?? Why would I stop there? There's no traffic light or cop there.
S: What's right of way???

And I, who have driven in theoretically perfect driving conditions for 2 years, gave up and refused to get behind the wheel for the rest of my trip.

The significant other, though, seemed to have no trouble slipping into bad driving habits. One fine day we decided to go on an early morning drive. As the s.o. tried to get the car to reverse, the gears made some weird grinding noises and wouldn't go properly. My dad was watching from the verandah. He knew something was wrong, and didn't have the heart to tell his dear s-i-l what the problem was. I watched my dear husband try over and over again to get the reverse gear in place. I could see his frustration. He was just a little away from losing his temper. I couldn't stand it any longer. As gently as I could, I asked him if it would help if he were to use the clutch.

He gave me a long steady look, used the clutch, got the car in reverse, and told me, "It's all your fault. You're making me drive a girl car!"

So now it's my fault we drive a car with automatic transmission??? Sigh... why me??

Ten things

2007-12-12T13:14:00.000+09:00

Ten things in the next decade?? In all her infinite wisdom, Madhu saw in me the prefect scapegoat. One who plans her life ten minutes at a time, had to make out a ten year plan. That somehow didn't seem very fair. Even people who are paid to plan stuff are given a reasonable five year framework. Ten years?? That seems so far away. Ten years ago I was in University,and looking back, the last ten years weren't exactly the stuff pipe dreams were made of. So are the next ten going to be based on pipe dreams too?? I hope not.

Theoritically, I want to travel far and wide, and see the world. I want to see Angkor Wat, I want to hike along the Great Wall of China, drive along the Silk Route, ponder about lost civilizations under the monoliths at Easter Island, contemplate evolution on the Galapagos Islands, go to the far north and watch the Aurora Borealis. I want to make journeys on famous trains. I'd love to travel from Paris to Istanbul on the Orient Express (hopefully without any fellow traveller getting done in during the trip), maybe cross the tundra on the Trans-Siberian railway... Somehow, I don't see these happening. With two toddlers in hand, and their supplies in tow, I'll settle for seeing Kyoto, Nara, Nikko, Sapporo and Hiroshima before I leave Japan! And perhaps on one of our trips to India, go to Hampi and see the ruins of the old Vijayanagara empire.

And while I'm at it, requalify and get a job to finance my travel plans. And since we're on the subject of requalifying, I plan to renew my HAM radio license sometime. Goodness, I've to study electronics again.

Did I mention my toddlers? I want to be a better mother to them and learn a lot more patience. I don't want to smile in sympathy and kinship next time I see another mother lose it completely when her kids have torn her nerves to shreds. And while I'm at it, maybe I'll be more patient with the other half of the equation when he's totally glued to a cricket match and refuses to even acknowledge my existance.

I want to make our home television free over the next decade. After two years with no telly, I think we're actually being a family and not beings idiots glued to the idiot box.

I HAVE to get in shape. Round is a shape too. Once I can find a babysitter for the little one, I want to devote a few hours a week to getting fit. I may not fit into the old jeans from college days, but I do want to drop a couple of sizes. Quite a few sizes.

I want to get me and my family more eco freindly and try to leave a smaller carbon footprint on the sands of time. Maybe my kids will pick up my eccentric genes and go in for causes like animal rights.

In the next decade, I'd like to learn 2 more languages. And maybe pass a few exams for Japanese.

I want to do something worthwhile with my life. I have a couple of causes in mind and want to work on them. But that might have to wait till my kids are older.

I want to convince the other half of the equation that we HAVE to get a pet.

And very paradoxically, I want to want less. Somewhere down the line I'd like to say I have no wants.

And very soon, sooner than a decade of course, I'd like to see what plans Golly, Denti, Axe and Namrata have for the next ten years of their lives.

Hot Couture

2007-11-21T15:44:00.000+09:00

It was time to go. I opened my closet, put on a sweater, fleece jacket, down coat, thick socks and put my boots out. Then it was the little one's turn. She was bundled up in a fleece layer, and then in a snowsuit. To that I added mitts, hat and extra socks. Finally, I put on a hat, scarf and my boots. Then the little one and I went down the stairs, towards the street to wait for the bus. The bus was exactly 2 minutes late.

As soon as the bus stopped, out jumped the older one, and we all ran back, up the stairs and into the house. And stood near the heater getting warm again, trying to bring sensation back into our frozen extremities.

And peel off and put away all those extra layers. This is the downside of winter. Out here, the wind blows in directly from Siberia (well almost), and every second the schoolbus is late, we're that much closer to becoming human popsicles. Today, I timed myself. I need 20 minutes to get myself and the baby dressed, to go downstairs for a minute or two, get the older one, and then 10 minutes to peel off and put away all the extra layers once indoors. And winter's just about getting started.

Winter ia a bit of a paradox. I hate having to wear layers and layers before it's safe to step outdoors. But then again, with all those layers, it's difficult to say where the blubber ends and the coat starts. Dull skies, and zero visibility are rather demotivating. And that weather is just perfect for a hot masala chai and bondas.

As I watch people amble past, I see a couple of gentlemen muffled very sensibly against the cold. And then one sees things that can chill one's blood. I see a woman walk nonchalantly by, wearing a MINISKIRT!!!! Brrrr.... just the thought of seeing one in this weather makes me shiver. All the way down from my outer jacket to inner coat to sweaters and thermals.

What is the Japanese woman's secret?? What is that keeps her warm in a miniskirt, while my smile freezes in place? Is it green tea? Is it something in their diet? Is it raw fish? Is it whale meat? Maybe whale blubber does provide insulation. Who ever heard of a whale dying of cold? (I somehow don't see that as a valid reason for whaling.)

Ah well, the bright side is that shorts and tee-shirts are just about 7 months away. Here's looking forward to getting dressed in lesser time. And then of course I'll probably start to crib about the heat and humdity. And Japanese women will walk around in mini(er)skirts.

Maybe they're too lazy to shop every time the seasons change. Maybe they are immune to the weather.

All about Fall

2007-11-19T13:41:00.000+09:00

Last year, I didn't get out all much during fall, and missed out on it all. This year, I was determined to see it all, and dragged the poor husband (PH) all around town, over hill and dale, so I could catch a glimpse of the prettiest places to view the autumn leaves.

Fall was lovely. We drove up Mt. Zao and saw the crater lake atop the mountain. We drove across Gassan, that great mountain that marks the boundaries of the Shonai valley. We drove down the Mogami river and around the gorge.

I simply loved the feiry orange, bright yellows and brilliant reds. I never tired of seeing shades of yellow, red and orange all over the place. Each time I saw the pretty colours, I had to stop and take pictures, much the PH's exasperation.

I'd not quite had my fill of the colours of the season.

I woke up this morning and saw.....

Fall is definitely over.

Out damn'd coat, out I say! Yet who would have thought the snow to have had so much cold in it?
(Did the dear departed bard roll over in his grave?)

Multinational fast food franchises and mental defectives

2007-11-09T20:42:00.000+09:00

You may accused me of being really annoyed or completely pissed off, and you wouldn't be far off the mark. Today I made a really stupid decision. Sometimes I never learn. I didn't feel like cooking, so I convinced the other half that we should get a pizza for dinner. Every time we decide on pizza, we run into a familiar argument. I love the pizza joint a few doors down the road, but OH swears by the merits of a multinational franchise (whose local outlet looks nothing like a rustic shack).

Then we got into our Abbot and Costello routine of who goes in to order. I lost that argument, went in, ordered our dinner, and almost ran out screaming in madness. Why, you ask? You shall be told.

I have this bad feeling that this place is either staffed by mental defectives, or they get very flustered when invaded by aliens. Or foreigners. And in I went into that pool of frothing insanity.

Multinational Pizza Franchise Sales Thing: Konichiwa, How may I help you?
Me: "One large cheese pizza please"
MPFST: "What kind of crust would you like?"
Me:"Pan"
MPFST: "And would you like anything to go with that?"
Me: "No thank you, that will be all."

And MPFST starts to ring up the order. And then starts the fun.

MPFST: "I'm sorry we're all out of pan crust in size L."
Me: " Alright, then let me have 2 of size M"
MPFST: "Both pan crusts?"

For some reason, I have this ridiculous tendency to make the same goofs over and over again. Somewhere deep down I believe that each time I go to get a multinational rustic house pizza, the staff would not exasperate me with their limited IQ. And instead of asking for 2 identical pizzas, I get creative.

Me: "One pan and one thin crust please."
MPFST: "Would you like any toppings?"

Toppings? That was a new one. Never in a year and a half were we asked if we wanted extra toppings. And I asked MPFST to read out the list of toppings. As the thing read out the list, I selected a few toppings.

MPFST: "So that'll be one ham and pepper pizza, pan crust, and one one bacon and mushroom pizza with a thin crust"
Me: "What?? No no... I want pepper as an extra topping on one pizza, and mushroom on the other."
MPFST very helpfully showed me the menu. And pointed out that they had a ham and pepper pizza and another pizza had a bacon and mushroom topping.

Me: "Never mind, just give me your regular cheese pizza."
MPFST: "You want only cheese on your pizza and want us to remove all the toppings?"
Me: "God give me the will power to desist from throttling this thing... Cancel my order please"

Me: "Let's start again. Give me 2 medium cheese pizzas, as they are on the menu, one with a pan and one with a thin crust. Please?"
MPFST: "Your order will be ready in twenty minutes."

That was rather painful. And then we got down to the brass tacks of the monetary exchange. She told me I what to pay, I paid her and then the worst part of the evening came up.

MPFST: "Here's your change. 6,200 yen."

I looked at my change. There were the exact number of coins, but just a 5,000 yen note. I gently pointed that out to MPFST.

Me: "My change is 6,000 yen right?"
MPFST: "Yes"
Me: "Er... you need to give me 6,000 yen."
MPFST: "Yes"
Me: "Er... there's just 5,000 yen here"
MPFST: "Yes"
Me: "And you owe me 6,000 yen"
MPFST: "Yes"
Me: "Please, God, don't let me lose it completely. Please don't let me throttle this life form that's bowing and smiling at me... "
Me: "Let's start again. You owe me 6,000 yen, and there's only 5,000 yen there"
MPFST: "Yes"
Me "Excuse me please, there has to be 6,000 there, and there's only 5,000 there. Please see if the figure on your cash register is the same as the amount that you're giving back to me?"
MPFST: "Yes"

And thankfully for my sanity checked the bill, checked what she was handing to me, and finally..

MPFST: "There should be another 1,000 here, right??"

Hallelujah, Glory be, Ishwaro rakshatu... and more on the same vein.

I finally walk back to where the OH and kids are waiting.

OH: "Why did it take you so long? How difficult is it to order pizza? You should have been out of there ages ago! What on earth were you doing?"

I wonder how Lorena Bobbit would have responded to that...

Precious gifts

2007-10-16T10:29:00.000+09:00

She looked at me with barely supressed tears in her eyes.

We were both, at that moment, looking at a gift she had given me six months ago. I could see that she could barely control her tears at just how much I'd cherished her lovely gift.

The day I turned 21 (and let's not go into just how long ago that was), my neighbour came over with a gift. She gave me a plant. A lovely little plant, in a decorative pot. She asked that I cherish it, and that it was a gift from her and her family.

I talked things over with the old man who helped around the garden at home. He said that the little plant wasn't too healthy, somewhat sparse and scrawny, and that it would need a lot of care and nourishment. I took it up as a challenge. I watered it everyday, manured it as per the old gardener's instructions, kept it in a nice part of the garden where it would get lots of light and air.

In six months it was three times as large. It was lush and healthy, but the old gardener and I thought that the leaves weren't growing very well. I bowed to the old man's judgement when he said it was probably a 'fancy hybrid', which was why the leaves weren't growing as well as they should.

In the meantime, the family next door had moved away to another neighbourhood, and contact was limited to the sporadic phone calls. Until the day the lady of the house happened to drive by her old home, and dropped in for a visit. We were catching up on all neighbourhood news, and I was waiting to show her just how much I'd cared for her gift.

I told her that I had a surprise and would she follow me outside, please?

I lead her to that sunny nook in the garden and told her to look. She was a little puzzled as she looked around trying to figure out what it was that she was that I wanted her to see.

Then it happened. I saw the light of recognition in her eyes. She remembered that really pretty terracotta pot. And then her eyes brimmed with tears. Her little plant was thrice as large as it had been six months ago, and had way more foliage.

She turned to me and said, "You know, I worked 10 years on that little plant before I gave it to you." Wow! That was really something, and in three months, I outdid what she'd achieved in ten years.

Then very gently, trying her best not to cry, she said, "Maybe I should've mentioned that it was a bonsai."

Startling revelations

2007-10-16T09:30:00.000+09:00

You never know everything about anyone. Sad but true.

Last week, in a random conversation with my cousin Pt, the significant other made some rather startling revelations. Something that I never knew.

SO, Pt and I were discussing movies. Pt mentioned that she was a fan of Hayao Miyazaki. "Miya-something, who?" went SO. I very gently prompted him, "The guy who created 'Totoro'." After an awkward pause, he went, "Totoro, who?"

Pt and I stared. "My Neighbour Totoro? Tonari no Totoro? The animation film?"

Blank looks again. "Spirited Away??"

"Never heard of it." says SO, looking at me like I'm from another planet.

In his defense, he never knew until a couple of years ago, that the Little mermaid was not a happy story, unlike the way Disney told the tale. I'm married to the only person in Japan who doesn't know Totoro. And I plan to rectify that soon.

And before you jump to conclusions, he can unfold a protein better than anyone else. So there.

Mission: Accomplished

2007-10-13T08:19:00.001+09:00

It was a quiet afternoon. As I approached, kids in tow, I saw an elderly lady doing it. She was smooth, really smooth. She did it in one smooth move, no glitches.

I watched in awe. She must have been in her late sixties. And she didn't hesitate the way I would. She seemed to function on autopilot. This was bad. Why did I hesitate to grab the bull by the horns? What did I have to lose after all? (That, my dear readers, is a purely rhetorical question)

I furtively scanned the place. I was here well ahead of time, and the place was empty. I had a good five minute to go before there would be any witnesses to my attempt. Not that there was anything wrong with witnesses, but I didn't want anyone watching me do this. Not the first time at least.

I had my kids to think of. They were both with me, and the older one is at a very observant phase of life. What would she think if I was very obvious in what I was trying? Even worse, what if I failed?

'No,' I said to myself, 'I have to do this. It's now or never.'

With one last look around to ensure there were no witnesses I went to a relatively isolated area. I took a deep breath. I took the plunge.

I looked around. And I had done it. Flawlessly.

I called the better half.

BH: Hello.
Me: I did it! I finally did it!
BH: (slightly slow on the uptake) Huh? What?
Me: Take a guess. Take three guesses.
BH: (sounding distinctly worried) Do I want to know?
Me: I reverse parked. I reversed into a parking slot without mishaps. Perfectly in line.
BH: Cool!!!!!! Good work.
Me: Of course, there were no cars two lots on either side of where I parked. And three lots in the row in the front were empty too.

That's what baby steps are all about. One thing at a time. One small thing at a time.

And it's also the first time that I backed into a lot without hitting something.
I'm so proud of me!

A minor footnote.
I've only made two attempts before this. The first time I reverse parked, the car had a casual fling with a wall. Lots of hurt feelings as the wall didn't really seem to care that it hurt my poor car. The other time was when a really rude concrete pillar got in the way and refused to apologize.

Lock?? I spit me of locking

2007-10-03T10:30:00.000+09:00

I'm all for 'technology-for-all'.

These guys simply rock.

I salute their spirit.

Pain in the... er...

2007-09-28T13:44:00.000+09:00

Small things make me happy. One recent happy thing is that I found a pediatrician who understands English. Yippee. When we first got here, we found a very sweet English speaking pediatrician, but seh retired a few months ago, leaving us in the lurch. Looking for another one wasn't that easy. The list of doctors I had didn't have a single one who spoke or understood English.

One just can't afford to have a communication gap with a doctor. When we first got to Japan, it was cold. Very cold. At least we were. The temperature differerence between Singapore and Tsuruoka was some 30°C. To say that we were freezing would be an understatement. And every trip out of the guest house to get essentials like milk and bread would lead to major discussions on who's turn it was to brave the elements.

And wouldn't you believe it, I developed a rash. In... er... a very sensitive part of my anatomy. And in keeping with Murphy's laws, I picked a long weekend to come down with this. The offices were closed, our liaison was out of town and we were totally on our own. So first thing we did was look up the dictionary. We didn't find a word for rash. So we looked up 'boil' only to find that the dictionary only had listings for the verb, and not the noun. In desperation we ran down the list of words we thought we could use. So we finally got the Japanese words for skin, wound (yes, that's as close as a pocket dictionary lets you get), pain and medicine. Off went the better half, the little one, and yours truly to .... (fanfare please) the ER.

First thing we had to call a cab. Fortunately we could recite the address of the guest house, so we rattled it off, and a cab was soon there. Then we looked up hospital in the dictionary and told the driver where we needed to go. And got to the hospital, and the ER. That was the first battle won.

At ER there were forms miles long with pretty and not so pretty squiggles. So we kept saying "English" until someone managed to get us a form in English. We filled that out, and waited.. and crossed our fingers, toes, eyes... anything crossable. After waiting interminably for someone to acknowledge us, a nurse came up, took my blood pressure, and started talking to me. Actually she was talking AT me. A ten day crash course in Japanese had nowhere near prepared me for this. Once she was done, she bowed and waited. We stared at each other and said the one word that we knew for sure, "wakarimasen (I don't understand).

A and I looked at each other. Well, we thought, let's try telling her what the problem is. So we fired off all the words we'd memorized and gave her a very triumphant smile. And she looked totally blank. Then it hit us that there was this probability that she had no clue what we'd just said.

I mined writing. She smiled, and came back with a paper and pen. And then I drew out (what looked to me like) a human body, much to her amazement. I'll be darned if that didn't look more like the chalk outline from a homicide investigation. Sometimes, I wonder if she thought I'd knocked someone off. I pointed to that drawing and to then pointed to myself. And marked the spot with an "X". By this time she was trying desperately hard not to laugh.

And then, slowly, there was this growing crowd around me while I tried to explain what was wrong. And I had a suspicion that the nursing staff was trying desperately hard not to giggle. With mimes, drawings I think I managed to communicate what was wrong with me. And finally got to see a doctor... who didn't speak English.

After an examination, the doctor asked me to wait outside. Then he handed me a slip of paper with the words "Please Wait" painstakingly written on it. And wait I did for another hour. By this time I was starting to suspect the worst. Anyone who's watched lots of (desi) movies knows that if a doctor isn't talking to you, then something is seriously wrong. My imagination was on overdrive.

Finally my problems seemed that much closer to a solution. The staff at the ER had decided to page an English speaking doctor, get him to come to the hospital and see what was wrong. And finally, without resorting to any playacting or drawing, I spoke to someone who understood exactly what I said, who very reassuringly spoke to me in English, assured me that all was ok, and gave me a prescription. And thankfully didn't call the cops about a chalk outline.

One good thing came out of all this. The two of us started taking our Japanese lessons VERY seriously. After all, when in Rome..... know how to say that you have a whatever in your wherever.

Thoughts on driving

2007-09-25T22:21:00.000+09:00

I never realized that following the letter of the law exactly can drive my spouse nuts. All I need to do is get behind the wheel of our car.

When the speed limit says 30kmph, I do 30kmph. This is small town Japan after all. Little kids can run away when they see a car speeding towards them, but the sweet old lady of 99 doesn't stand a chance. So 30 it is.

Drive on an express highway at exactly the speed limit. So what if all other cars seem to be ignoring the speed limit.

Refuse to overtake the car in front of me. (The speed limit is 70kmph, I'm driving at 70kmph, the guy in front seems to be doing 70kmph, why should I follow the really bad example set by these dudes who are speeding?) Overtaking also means changing lanes. Too much trouble.

What is it about an European make of car that tends to let the nut behind the wheel delude himself into thinking he's Schumacher-ka-baap? Don't these prix realize there's no grand prize for being a pain?

Being first in line at the traffic light on a narrow road AND waiting to turn right. Too much pressure there. Japanese courtesy guarantees that no one's going to honk you out of your mind, but still... there's pressure.

I'd prefer to drive halfway around a parking lot, but I refuse to back up and park, or pull into a one-car space if I can avoid it. I need room. More room, less margin for errors.

Valet parking generates employment.

Reading Katakana

2007-09-23T12:41:00.000+09:00

Katakana... sometimes a boon, sometimes a bane.

It's a boon when we see something written in Katakana. First of all, we can read what's written. Since chances of it being an English word are reasonably decent, there is a chance that we can not only read, but also understand what is written.

The painful part is to decipher it. Easiest way is to read it aloud, repeat it a few times, now add the thick accent of a Japanese person saying an English (sounding) word, and chances are (50-50) that you'll get it. Some of the more common words written in Katakana are ra-ji-o (radio), oo-i-su-ki (whisky) and do-a (door). Some are uniquely abbreviated in a Japanese style like te-re-bi (television) or ra-ji-ka-se (radio-casette player). Some need more than a few repetitions to get right ke-ki (cake), ku-tsu-ki (cookie) or mi-ru-ku (milk).

The bane of Katakana is to read names written so. Ku-ri-shi-yu-na-n is fairly straightforward. But I raised a racket at the hospital when they gave me the medical report of someone called Ooideiya. No jokes there. That's how my name's written in the Latin alphabet. This is after getting totally massacred by entering it the hospital computers in Katakana. After a few of Aditi's teachers struggled with reading my name, they now call me Aditi-chan-no-mama (the mother of little Aditi). And there my poor mother thought she was doing me a favour by giving me (what she thought was) a short and sweet name.

The real fun starts with movie titles. We want to watch a movie today. And I open the local cinema's online listing, and start to decipher. The first thing to do is eliminate all movie titles written in totally in Kanji or Hiragana. If it's part Kanji part Katakana, I'd read the Katakana bit before discarding it as a potential choice.

Once I start reading the Katakana, I repeat the word aloud a few times to see if it sounds meaningful in English. One of the movies playing today is ハリーポッターと不死鳥の騎士団. The Katakana part reads Ha-Ree-Po-Tsu-Ta. Say that a few times, and you realise that it sounds like 'Harry Potter' spoken in a thick Japanese accent. And Harry Potter it is. The Kanji part reads "With horseman group of immortal bird". I am not making this up. Copy and paste that into Babel Fish, and see for yourself.

Well, we've watched Harry Potter. So what else is playing, asks A? There's to-ra-n-su-fu-o-ma. Say it aloud. Read it out a few times. Sounds like 'Transformer', doesn't it? Yes, that's the listing for Transformers. And there's fu-a-n-ta-su-te-i-tsu-ku-fu-o, mi-su-po-ta and also ra-tsu-shi-yu-a-va-3.

The last one is fairly easy. Think back on on the sequels and trilogies all this year, and it's not too hard to read that as Rush Hour 3. A is not too keen on watching what he calls 'boring movies' like Miss Potter.

Anyone wants to guess what movie we've finally decided to watch??

The phone rings (a true story)

2007-09-21T12:38:00.000+09:00

0945 hours
First I swear a bit. What miserable life form would pick this time to call?? Just when I've sung lullabies and rocked the little one to sleep so I can get on with my day. Ah well, c'est la vie.

"Hello?" In Japan, if one answers hello, the calling party knows at once it's a foreigner. And more often than not, apologises and hangs up.
"Moshi moshi, a good day to you and all that. May I speak to Mr. Sato?"
"Sorry lady, but there's no Mr. Sato here."
"Is this the number .........?" and she rattles off my phone number.
"Well, that is the number, alright, but this is Mr. Krishnan's residence."
"That's alright, may I speak to Mr. Sato?"
"Lady, there is no Sato here, please check your records, this is not the number for Mr. Sato."
Some apologies. And she hangs up.

Keep in mind that these conversations are happening in rapid Japanese spoken at 2000 words per minute, and poor old moi responding at about 3 words a minute. And of course, everytime she pauses for breath, I ask her to repeat whatever she just said ever so slowly. And is smaller sentences, in easier words.

1005 hours
There goes the phone again.
Avani howls.
"Hello?"
"Moshi moshi, good morning and all that. It's me, that-ever-so-slightly-obstinate-person calling from your phone company. May I speak to Mr. Sato?"
For the love of God, "There's no one here who goes by the name of Mr. Sato. Could you please check your records?"
"But this is the number I have for Mr. Sato!"
"There is no Mr. Sato here. This is the residence of Mr. Krishnan."
After another flurry of apologies she hangs up again.

1030 hours
"Hello?"
"Moshi moshi, good morning and all that. Could I speak to Mr. Sato?"
I'd hoped against hope that the this lady would have acquired a modicum of common sense and figured out their records were wrong. I admire tenacity, but this is ridiculous. So I go,
"Could you please write down this name in the Romaji script?"
"Yes, of course. Could you spell it out for me?"
"K-R-I-S-H-N-A-N. Did you get that? Would you like me to repeat it?"
"No that's all right. Ku-ri-shu-nan. Is that right?"
"Perfectly right. This is the home of Mr. Krishnan. There is NO Mr. Sato here."
Phew... I think this ordeal is almost over. I thank too soon.
"Thank you so much. May I speak to Mr. Krishnan?"
"He's at work."
"May I speak to his wife?"
Who the &*%@ did she think was talking to her all this time??
"This is she."
"I want to speak to Mr. Sato."
After living in Japan for over a year, much as I try to emulate the exquisite Japanese courtesy, sometimes I lose my tenuous grip on my temper.
"THERE IS NO MR. SATO HERE? Can't you understand me?"
"Is this telephone number ..........?"
"Yes, this is that same telephone number. THERE IS NO ONE CALLED SATO IN THIS HOUSE."
"But this is the number I have for Mr. Sato."
I hang up.

And the phone rings again.
It's HER. I don't believe it. She's been sent by demons to torture me and not let my little one sleep.
My grip on civility is totally gone now. If she can be a pain, I can outdo her anytime.

I did what I should have done in the first place. I refused to speak any Japanese, or English. I spoke in Tamil, threw in some Hindi for good measure.

This time she hung up first.

And I took the phone off the hook.

And Mr. Sato, whoever you are, the phone company is trying to reach you desperately!
And you deserve to have your phone cut off and telephone services denied to you for the rest of your life.

Of facts and fiction

2007-09-21T11:41:00.000+09:00

I love reading Perry Mason books. Earl Stanley Gardner's suave debonair lawyer is the cat's whiskers.

Half the time he has no case, keeps flummoxing the DA, untangles legal messes with the ease of a magician pulling rabbits out of a hat... I mean, it's all so unbelievably cool. Each time Perry Mason says, "Objection, your Honor. Objected to as incompetent, immaterial and irrelevant," I want to cheer.

Then there's movies.

"Milaad, Tazeerat-e-Hind dafa 302 ke tahat mulzim ko saza-e-maut diya jaaye."
For one thing that gives you an indication of just how many movies I might've watched.

You can almost picture (the usual suspects like) Sriram Lagoo, looking like a legal stalwart, standing there is those frumpy barrister robes and trying to look triumphant, smug and indignant at the same time.

That's somehow how I pictured court proceedings would run in real life. What do I know?

My best friend's wife is a lawyer, and on our last trip back home, A and I asked her whether people said all that in court. She gave us a look that almost said, 'Are you for real?' And proceeded to regale us with tales of what took place in the courts. In Bangalore at least.

Chaos reigns supreme. Prosecuting lawyer puts forth an argument. And (I quote exactly what she said, verbatim) "En saar... eneno helthare" (transliterates, Saar, what the heck is he saying?)

Whatever happened to "Objection, milaad!"

A stared. I stared too. Does nobody say Milaad anymore?? Doesn't the judge use his hammer to restore order in court? Has the motion picture industry lied to me all these years? I object.

Objection overruled.
Pardon me while I read some Perry Mason and restore some lost faith.

The wheel weaves as the wheel wills

2007-09-20T17:49:00.000+09:00

I spent 10 days in hospital, when the little one was born, and used that time to read the entire Wheel of Time series, from The Eye of the World to Knife of dreams.

And finally got the one gazillion twenty seven thousand four hundred and forty characters straight. Well, not really. But it does seem like that considering that I started reading the Wheel of Time series somewhere in college (yes, that long ago). Chronologically, I read the first 8 books over a decade ago, and the next three as they were released. And it's very understandable how easily one can loose the thread of the tale.

When the little one was born, I decided that that was the best time to catch up on all those eleven tomes, and make sense of it all. In an uninterrupted continuous session like that, I did manage to get the story straight, and all the different threads untangled.

And I waited for the final book of the series with a sigh of relief. I now knew exactly who was who, what was what character's point or problem in life.

And now I hear that the thread has been cut and the Creator has been woven out of the pattern.

RIP

Of art and math; move over Leonardo

2007-09-17T23:09:00.001+09:00

An acquaintance of ours, Mrs. Y, has been asking me for a while to conduct an "Understand India" session at one of the various organizations she's a patron of. Understand India? It sounded too broad a brief, and I agreed, without a single clue what I was going to do or talk about. My abysmal Japanese notwithstanding.

Once I was given the brief it didn't sound that bad. "Think of a typically Indian activity for kids, that is typically Indian." All right. That didn't sound too bad. But as D-day loomed, I hadn't thought of a single thing that was "typically Indian". Then I realised, that I'd comitted to this session on the same date Ganesha chaturthi, and inspired by that, I said I'd show kids about Rangoli. That was quite safe. No one in Tsuruoka, other than me of course, can tell good rangoli from a totally mediocre one. And it was as typically Indian as something I could think of. So I shot off an email to Mrs. Y about what I was planning to do, links to some sites about Rangoli, and some rangoli designs, and said that all I'd need was coloured chalk, and some rice flour or chalk powder.
My plan of action was very simple. Demonstrate a podi-rangoli, give the kids some patterns, let them draw some with chalk, and we wind up. I totally underestimated the center director, Ms J.

Come D-day, I drove to the center, and was welcomed by a bunch of totally enthusiastic kids. And Ms J was all smiles, and said that she'd organised everything needed for rangoli. Imagine my surprise when I stepped outside, and saw bags and bags of colours. No jokes, there were a dozen hues of coloured powder there. I was stumped. How??

I'd not counted on Ms J's utter resourcefulness. She did her own R and D about rangoli, and was wondering what could be used since traditional colours were not available in Japan. Apparently she was taking a walk by the beach when inspiration struck. She took half a dozen kids and seives to the beach, sifted a few bags of sand, and dyed them with printer ink. And these are wonderful colours she came up with. I was, and still am, amazed at her solution.
I showed the kids how to mark dots, a couple of samples, and once they coloured those, they went on to design, draw and decorate their own creations.

The kids all seemed to be having the time of their lives. And after a bit, the supervisors jumped in too. And the entire driveway was a riot of colour.

Some kids started drawing rockets, etc. They gave free reign to their imagination, and kept drawing masterpiece after masterpiece.

But it wasn't all smooth sailing with art.

My art at least.

One kid said she wanted to colour this pattern. I was happy, and told her to go ahead. She was quite happy, and confided to me that she was very fond of mushrooms.
Sigh... and here I thought my diyas looked so pretty.

During the introduction, Mrs Y introduced India and Indians to the kids as mathematical geniuses. Genius?? Well, the kids started throwing numbers at me, asking to multiply them mentally. And these were numbers they could manage. All under 20. At this point, the imp in me took over, and I started demonstrating the finer points of vedic mathematics to these kids. Just a couple of 'sutras', but sutras that I was very very sure about. The very elementary simple ones. Soon I had kids writing numbers on the board, and writing out the answers before they could key in and get the answer from a calculator. God, that was some ego trip! The awe on the faces of the students, and teachers alike, had to be seen to be believed. So in this neck of the woods at least, we have kids thinking that Indians have a second brain for mathematics.

Thank goodness they didn't want to look at my marks cards.

Of tragedies and fiction

2007-09-14T21:24:00.000+09:00

What is it that would make a nice, jovial, funny person write a thoroughly depressing (my opinion at least) story?

If I wanted a story where the everyone (or the protagonist at least) lives through grief and finally kicks the bucket, I'd rather read some Russian stuff like Tolstoy or Dostoevsky. So when a normally funny Mallu writes like a Russian, it makes one wonder.

Does it have anything to do with communist ideology? They have nothing else in common.

Sorry, Tys, but that one was too much to resist!

Why?

2007-09-11T10:33:00.000+09:00

Watching movies with a 4 year old is really trying.

Why??

Because of all the questions I have to answer. All questions are 'why?' questions.

The little one, and I too, have watched Mulan only about (according to Arun) 29,832 times over the last 2 years. She knows all the songs, knows all the characters, and even knows some of the dialogs.

So far so good?? Well, now lets get to the real fun.

Understand first that my daughter has recently grown into the "why?" stage. So as we watch, someone refers to the villain as 'Shan-Yu'. "Shan-Yu??" she asks in horror. "Shouldn't he have said 'Mr. Shan-Yu' or 'Shan-Yu-san'??" That shows how well we're drilled her in her P's and Q's.

Mulan cuts off her hair, and heads off to battle. "Why is she playing with a knife? Doesn't she know that it's dangerous?"

"Why is Mulan taking a bath at night? Won't she get a fever or catch a cold?"
"Why is Mulan going swimming at night?"
"Why did Capt. Lee take off his shirt?"

... and so on and so forth. Halfway through, my brain shut down, after thinking up easy-to-please answers.

After a while, answering these with "Why do you think that happened?" failed. Very miserably. The first time she looked at me and said, "I want amma to tell me why." When she saw that I took too long to think up an answer, she looked at me asked, "I think amma doesn't knows why." So much for being the all-knowing parent.

But it's my fault. I didn't see it coming. All the obvious signals went off a few months ago, and I ignored them. Recently we saw some shots from Superman Returns on telly, and she asked me, "Why is Superman wearing red undies over his pants?" Before I could recover from a choking fit, she answered, "Didn't his mummy teach him to wear it properly?"

Why me??

The theory of kids

2007-09-06T11:20:00.000+09:00

Theoretically, I should get up by 5am, and finish making breakfast, lunch, a different kid-friendly lunch box for school and get it all packed and ready by 7am.

The alarm goes off. Brrr.. I think to myself, 'it's colder than Siberia in here,' and I curl up for a few more minutes. Avani starts to whimper. I feed her and look at the time. Goodness me, it can't be 6:45 already!!!!! Run, run, run! or I'm never going to have time for my morning cuppa.

Theoretically, I wake Aditi at 7am, get her brush her teeth, eat her breakfast, have a shower and get dressed to go to school by 9:05. The bus comes to get her at 9:10. Theoretically, this gives her a lot of time. And she can linger over breakfast. No need to hurry.

Now it's time for negotiations:
'Oh heavens, look at the time! C'mon baby, wake up or you'll miss your bus.'
'No school. I don't want to go to school'
'You GOT to go to school. All your friends are going to be there. You got to go.'

By this time appa is late for work, and Aditi wants 5-huggy-and kissy. And once A has left the wailing starts. 'I want one more huggy-kissy'

This is usually a good time to observe this phenomenon of catastrophic proportions called 'the sympathetic detonation'. The first law of sympathetic detonation states that: 'for every wail from one kid there is an equal or greater wail from the next, and so on and so forth'. By this time the little one is howling her head off, and I'm ready to howl too.

By some miracle, the older one is washed, dressed, fed and I think to myself that I need to be a little more patient. After I've done her hair, she looks at the mirror. And starts crying. 'I don't want my hair done like this. I want it done the other way'. Another dose of sympathetic detonation. When cajolery fails, I resort to ultimatums. That's how I've fixed your hair today, and that's how it's going to be.

As we head down to go wait for the bus, she looks in her bag. 'Yellow?? I want the pink lunch box'... and cries a little. Sympathetic detonation again.

Second law of sympathetic detonation: 'once sympathetic detonation has occured, there're no laws that apply anymore. It rapidly dissolves into utter chaos, and its each woman for herself. The men are clueless, and will remain so'

Theoretically, now I can sit back and relax with the baby. Get her breakfast. Play with her a bit. Give her a leisurely massage and a bath. Rock her to sleep.

How I want to sit back, put my feet up, and take a few deep breaths. But the little one's breakfast can't wait. She's really hungry and is howling. By the time she's been fed, she's also broken enough records to qualify for the spitting olympics. Her spitting's getting more powerful, and I swear the radius of the mess has increased to over 4 feet.

And between keeping the baby amused and getting something done around the house, I also need to get lunch ready.

Theoretically, she sleeps.

Yeah, right!

Theoretically, I now have time to get the laundry done, and other assorted household chores.

Yeah, that too.

Theoretically, I'm done with all this by lunchtime. Then A and I can have a relaxed lunch, and after cleaning up, I have time for a power-nap before Aditi gets home from school.

Nap?? who napped? By the time the bus gets here, I just managed to catch up with my morning backlog!

Theoretically, Avani now has some lunch and amuses herself for a bit while I get a snack or something ready for Aditi when she gets back home.

"Why didn't you give me a cute lunch?"
"I don't want this for a snack. I won't eat that either"
"I want amma to go to Mysore"
"Waaaahhhhhhhh"
Sympathetic detonation occurs... again.

Theoretically, Aditi eats everything on her plate. And settles down to read, draw, play.

Hah!
Now let's talk about a very old game my grandmother taught me. It's called 'aadu-puli-aatam', the game of 'tigers and goats'. I've forgotten how it's played, but my kids have developed a whole new way of playing it. One takes the role of tiger, and the other plays the goat. The tiger attacks the goat without the least provocation. And the goat howls. I step in to intervene, and the tiger starts to roar... er .. howl.
Remember the second law of 'Sympathetic detonation'?

Theoretically, I get dinner ready on time, and we all sit down to dinner on time. We all eat dinner, Aditi does her nightly routine of brushing, changing, and is off to bed by 8pm. A and I get the kitchen cleaned, get Avani fed, and then have time to watch a movie, read a book, listen to some music. And then like the famous nursery rhyme, it's early to bed, early to rise.

Dinner table talk is reduced to eat what's on your plate and love it. The older one is washed, changed and brushed. And makes promises to be a good girl the next day, and tells me how she will be nice to the little baby, and asks me to tell her a bedtime story. I leave the little one with A, and we start our story. Halfway through she doesn't want me there anymore. "I want appa. I want amma to go to Mysore".... there we go. There's a change of guard, a little sympathetic detonation, A rocks the big one to sleep, and I try to get the little one to nap.

By the time both are asleep, A and I look at each other, look at the mess that is the kitchen, look at the disaster in the house, and consign it all to the blazes, and crash out.

Tomorrow is another day.

A picture is worth a thousand words

2007-08-31T13:47:00.000+09:00

We're all dressed up, with no place to go. I think this would be a good time to take a few pictures to send to family and friends. I mean, how often is that we're all looking un-scruffy, not unkempt??

I take out the camera, frame a shot to my satisfaction, twiddle with the settings, set it on continuous shooting, and click and click and click. After a few dozen shots, A switches places with me. He shoots a single picture and says "ok. We're all done!"

And then I start to download pics. There are lots of pics of A and the kids. I take my time, screen out the not so nice ones, mail out the good ones to family and friends.

And then the inevitable question comes along. "Hey, why aren't you in any of the pics?"

Hmm... I was the one shooting. That's why I'm not in any of the pictures.

It's time for the second inevitable question. "I thought Arun said he shot a few pictures too." Oh well, since you asked for it, I send out a nice blurred image that could be anything from my family to the yeti family.

On the other hand, maybe this is a good sulking point.
"I take such nice pics of you, and you can't get a single good shot me!! Least you can do is get me a surprise gift that I'm sure to like!"

I can see the possibilities there.

Of gender, theology and preschoolers

2007-08-03T18:19:00.000+09:00

Aditi asked Arun something, and he gave her a very asinine answer. Something on the lines of how Calvin's dad would have answered. I now understand why Calvin's dad is the way he is. Until now I never had to answer questions on life and the universe and everything in between from the perspective of a 4 year old.

Recently, I had a very enlightening conversation with my little one. It went something like this.

A : Amma, are you a girl?
Me: Er.. yes, I guess you could say that.
A : Is paati a girl too? Are both my paatis girls?
Me: Yes, smart girl.
A : And that means Appa, and my two grandfathers are boys.
Me: Hmm.. absolutely.
A : You know, S-chan*, Sh-chan, and K-chan are girls.
(* chan and kun are honorific titles used while addressing little girls and boys respectively)
A : And also, D-kun*, H-kun and Y-kun are boys.
Me: That's absolutely right. Smart girl.
A : Do you know how I know the difference?

Now, whether she knew the difference or not, I wasn't all that prepared to know that.

Me: Er... really??
A : Because they use the 'standing up' potty.

I was right, I was nowhere near ready for this.

A : Amma, the little baby uses a diaper. Then how can you tell whether it is a boy or a girl?

Hmmm... I fully sympathize with Calvin's dad at this point. I totally understand why he answers questions the way he does.

A : Amma, is God a boy or girl??
Me: Huh???
A : Does God use the standing potty or sitting potty.
Me: Ask Appa that. He's a scientist, you know. He knows ALL answers.

Anyone out there care to explain??

I was right..

2007-07-22T17:10:00.000+09:00

... about RAB.

And I kinda suspected that HP himself could be a horcrux.

Not bad... I finished the book in one 3 hour sitting.

Cool, isn't it??

When the earth trembled

2007-07-16T22:16:00.000+09:00

We were getting ready to go for a drive, when Arun goes, 'Can you feel the movement?'

Huh?? Of course I can. When the motor's running of course there's some shake in the car. A gave me an exasperated sigh, parked and turned off the engine. And I could still feel some movement. Oops. Another tremor.

We've been feeling tremors from the earthquake at Niigata for the better part of the day. Anything in the range of 6 or so, seems to be felt all the way north here. Niigata is a little too close for comfort (about 150 kms too close).

We're all OK. No damages in this part of the world.

And thanks to all you lovely people who called/mailed/messaged. We're all fine, and let's hope that the worst of the tremors are over.

To ease everyone's worries, 'Brunch was OK. The dal was bland, potato curry too hot, and the earthquake quite mild, thank you'.

日本の形 The Japanese Tradition

2007-07-09T14:47:00.000+09:00

Everything that you ever wanted to know about sushi, chopsticks, tea ceremony, apologies, origami, summer vacations and other such things.

Who on earth..

2007-06-25T10:43:00.000+09:00

.. is Pratibha Patil? What obscure orifice of the thing called the Congress party did she crawl out of?

It goes without saying that I want Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam to continue at the helm for another term. But who am I? I'm a voter, yes, but unfortunately a voter doesn't elect the president.

So what does that leave me with??? Mrs. Patil?? Who is she anyway, and what makes her eligible to helm a nation of a billion?

So let's all compromise, shall we? Shall we go with what the GreatBong says?? In his inimitable style, he compares the two prime contenders, and wonders if maybe we're overlooking the obvious choice. Read this one, folks.

At least you started this day with a hearty laugh!

A stranger in a stranger land

2007-06-24T15:03:00.000+09:00

Not being able to read Japanese, I am as good as illiterate. Never did this hit me so badly as this last week when the little one called for her health checkup.

First time I heard anything about it was when I was told by the translators' pool to show up at X place at Y time with Z things. Then I get a postcard from City Hall telling me to be in A place at Y time with Z things. Well, how am I to be in place A and X at the same time, pray? So its back to the translators' pool who said to get to X.

Clear as mud, what? Well, it's still just that. So I took the little one, and after a daunting search, found the right building. The search was daunting because I had the name of the building written down for me in Japanese script, and I was doing a case of character matching using my written instructions. Then once I decided that I was in the right place, I went in, found the right floor, room etc, and registered the little one who was probably equally bewildered. Then came the flood of important sounding of words.

Apparently this was where the 4-month-olds were having their health screening. Wasn't my kid 6-months old? Er, yes, but this is where I was told to come. More muttering between the staff there. But why didn't you get the 4th month screening done?? Hmm... let me see.. no one told me about it, could that possibly be the reason?? More agitated muttering... Alright, please come this way, and follow these instructions.

So far so good. My little one was pronounced all OK. That was wonderful. Then the health officer asks me, why haven't you given her these shots?

And there I was totally stumped. The last anyone explained to me, City Hall would tell me where and when to go for shots. So, no one told me anything about these shots. Apparently certain shots would be administered by City Hall and I had to arrange for the others. And the person-in-charge tells me, 'oh, here it is on this little book. See, here it clearly states all that.'

That was true. But I pulled out another instruction booklet given to me by City Hall. And I go, 'person-san, this one says (in English) that City Hall will inform me about the vaccinations.' And she looks at the other book (which is totally in Japanese) and goes, 'Ah, that one is outdated. See it clearly stated here (in Japanese) that you need to arrange for that yourself.'

Somehow I managed to drive back home without venting my frustration on any assorted automobiles, telephone or electric poles, got home and totally lost it. Poor A then called his office, asked them to sort out the mess, and ask that we be given updated information, and please be told what we need to do for the next 6 months.

Again, chaos. But City Hall sent you a card to be in place A, why were you at X?

Aaaaarghhhhhh... welcome to the bureaucratically induced insanity.

So the appointment is rescheduled, and I go to place A. And the doctor there helps me fill out a form all in Japanese, giving consent for my daughter to be vaccinated. I signed where I was told to, and sat back and relaxed.

Just before vaccination, forms were being scanned again. Then the person in charge goes, "Sumimasen, inkan arimasen ka?" (Excuse me, but don't you have a seal/chop?) "Arimasen, kochira wa sign shimashita." (No I don't, but I have signed here).

Then muttered discussions again. How I despise those!

Now this is a matter of security. Apparently signatures can be copied.

Well, that's true, but... hmm.. you know, seals can be stolen, replicated?

At the end of the day I had to have a seal to consent, and then some head honcho decided that my thumbprint would be a safer option than a signature. So I was helped to fill out another form. And as I put my thumb impression on that, I could remember scenes from banks back home, when the bank personnel would help illiterate clients write out forms etc, and they would put a thumb impression wherever a signature was needed.

I looked at the bunch of incomprehensible squiggles on the form that I had just signed, and thought: "My parents spend a healthy sum on my education, so I could put my thmub print on a form I don't understand that someone had to fill out for me?"

I finished the vaccination, strapped a totally annoyed baby into her carseat, and turned on some music. And then I suddenly heard "Ei dil, hai mushkil jeena yahan." That made my day. I relaxed, and sang along "zara hat ke, zara bach ke, yeh hai Japan meri jaan."

Verbs and Preschoolers

2007-06-12T10:28:00.000+09:00

Since we started to learn Japanese, we stuck with the simple present, present continuous and past tenses in daily conversations. Otherwise our bhejas would have been overloaded and fried to a crisp. With the imperatives, we stuck to the politest form. We figured that the politer we were, we could get away with abysmal vocabulary and grammar.

With Aditi being a fussy eater, a healthy part of mealtime conversation would go something like this...
Me: Aditi, eat your rice.
Aditi: No.
Me: Baby, have some rasam.
Aditi: No.
Me: Eat your vegetables.
Aditi: No.
Me: Aditi, would you like some curd?
Aditi: Yes.

Then she started school. And our Japanese vocabulary of negatives and verb forms grew in leaps in bounds. How?? We had a rule. She was not allowed to use the word "NO". As usual she turned out to be way smarter than us. Now mealtime conversations go something like:

Me: Aditi, Gohan tabette ne (eat your rice).
Aditi: Gohan tabe shinai (I won't eat my rice)
Me: Baby, have some rasam.
Aditi: Rasam wa iranai (I don't want rasam)
Me: Eat your vegetables.
Aditi: Yada (I don't want to)
Me: Aditi, would you like some curd?
Aditi: Yes (Yes)

Ergo, my vocabulary has increased. I can conjugate the verb taberu (to eat) fairly competently in all forms. And using that as a reference, work with other verbs. I can use many forms of negatives.

And my daughter still eats nothing but curds.

Sigh, maybe she photosynthesizes.

A little post script

2007-05-27T08:01:00.000+09:00

PS:
The geek list wouldn't be quite complete without this little confession added to it.

8. retail therapy means going to the electronics store and lusting at the new Mac desktops. Not just lusting, literally drooling over it.

Handbags? Shoes? Clothes?? Naah... iWant iMac.

Did I mention
9. Arun treated me to an iPod?

Pirates 3

2007-05-25T00:26:00.000+09:00

I booked tickets well in advance, best seat in the house and all that jazz, first day first show, and since we happen to have babysitting, no need to drag the kids around, and with all enthusiasm off we went to watch 'Pirates of the Caribbean 3: At World's End'.

Arun and I are big fans of the Pirates franchise. Or rather, we were. We loved the first, thought the second was alright. The latest was weird to say the least.

Somehow the sequels just don't live up to the high standards I expected after Pirates 1. This one was even quite gross in bits. The story was like soup poured on an inverted plate; kept running around all over the place. Too many characters, plot lines, plots, loose ends.... and an ending that was left wide open for a sequel. Any number of sequels. Well, let's just say if Walt Disney was really interested in building up a Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, they could have gone for a mini series or something.

I'm definitely not going to add spoilers here, but like someone says of Capt. Jack Sparrow: "Is he making this up as he goes along?"

What have I become?

2007-05-24T13:47:00.000+09:00

After over a year in Japan am I the same person I used to be? Have I become someone else totally?

According to Hemu, I've changed. He thinks I'm a geek. Hemu defines geek as "someone who has abnormal love/interest in gadgets and technology, high IQ and good at math.. etc".

I'm quite flattered someone thinks I've got a high IQ. I have my doubts about the math bit.

So I asked Hemu to elucidate, and he brought forth this list.

I quote:
1. you dual boot
2. you hate windoze
3. you use bittorent
4. you have a mac
5. you worry about templates and fonts
6. you blog!!!
7. you have multiple blogs

Unquote.

Hmmm.. if that's the case, I'm now a (certified) geek. And proud if it too......

No letters??

2007-05-18T22:47:00.001+09:00

'R' was the only one who mailed me her address, and got me started on my (almost) New Year's resolution to start writing letters. And I must say my handwriting is getting better. Doesn't anyone else want a letter?

Where are all you letter-writers from days gone by?? Come on people, let's get started again!

And on a lighter note... Dear R, if you were to write which country the letter is to be delivered to, it might get to me earlier. I doubt average Joe postman knows where Tsuruoka is. Please mention Japan in your next letter....

However...

2007-05-18T22:40:00.000+09:00

... on a more positive note, I can now write decently enough in Japanese to ask the lady sitting next to me in the PTA what the time is? Or is this meeting over yet?

If that's rude, and not quite done, I wonder how many degrees I need to bow to assure them I won't do that again?

Further adventures of a Gaijin in Shonai

2007-05-18T21:53:00.000+09:00

What is it about the air in Shonai that seems to wash away my non-existent good sense?

First I (mis)volunteer as a something or the other to the school board. I found out that I am a Kanji. What the heck is a Kanji, you ask??

Hmmm let me see. Kanji is the name given to the Chinese characters used in Japanese writing. Kanji is also the name of traditional rice gruel. And according to Wikipedia it's also the name of a kind of shrub in Australia.

So which of that applies to me? None of the above, I guess. By some obscure logic, I'm the kind of Kanji that means classroom manager. I have enough trouble being a mom, and I'm a classroom manager?? God help us, why on earth am I paying exorbitant fees to the school if I am to be called a classroom manager? And I'm called Kanji-san.... Darned of that doesn't make me sound like 'respected rice gruel'.

Last week, a friend told us of a very interesting incident. Apparently, her nephew came out second best in a classroom disagreement. And one fine Sunday morning, the winner of said argument came over to his house with a battalion of family, bowed deeply and expressed a profound apology.

I thought that was carrying schoolroom politics a little too far.

Today the PTA called parents to school to observe our little ones in class. OK. Now, I thought, I finally can see for myself what Aditi does at school. Aditi always refuses to talk about school once she gets home.

When I got there, I saw kids running around, playing and generally having a good time in the school's indoor play area. And parents standing around in groups watching kids play. And there was the usual greet-and-bow-thingie going on. Once playtime was on in earnest the tone changed.

For example, Aditi got pushed by one little kid, and his mom came over to apologize, with a deep bow. Another kid hit his friend on the head, and his mom ran to that kid's mom and bowed in apology.

What the heck? People, this is nursery school... let the kids sort out their issues... or non-issues. Is this a school-playground or a corporate boardroom?? I'd rather the kids settled these issues themselves. I realise that in Japan, the sincerity of an apology depends on the depth of your bow, but this is a little ridiculous. Actually, this is absurd.

After Aditi came out second best in another little altercation, I told her to go to her sensei and settle matters. Not ask me to intervene. Call me an ignorant Gaijin, but I told the apologetic mother that it was not our problem. Of course, if she'd bowed any lower, she could have touched her knees with her nose. She could teach Sony Corp a thing or two.

What can I say about my schoolroom (mis)adventures in Japan? Looks like this is just the beginning. Just one month into Kindergarten, and I'm in deep... er... let's just say I have no clue what I'm upto. And in a few years time, Avani will get into kindergarten too, and hopefully by then I'll have developed some good sense. Or I'll be in a country where I don't need to bow to express my humility regarding my kid's conduct.

Hopefully, I won't be called Madame Rice Gruel ever again.

Banzai

Spring is here, so they say

2007-05-05T13:58:00.000+09:00

After a long winter, the sun decided to shine with a vengeance over the last few weeks. On selected days of course. The trees in the friendly neighbourhood park started to sprout pink buds, and one fine day, the park was covered by a canopy of white sakura, tinged with the faintest blush of pink.

I came home and declared 'Hanami 2007' open.

Whenever I heard or read about 'Hanami' (before I came to Japan), I always had this feeling that it was a big fuss about a few flowers. Last year, soon after we landed here, I saw sakura in bloom for the first time in my life, and i was awed. It had to be the most beautiful thing that I had ever seen. But still, I thought it was a bit of a fuss. And I was busy, getting started with our life in Japan.

Winter here is long.... really long. Since we got here, we put away our warm clothes for all of 7 weeks. We got here in spring, and it rained almost all the time. July and August were unbelievably hot and humid, and come September, we started wearing warm clothes again. Then winter set in in earnest. And went on for just about forever. Then the snow melted, and one fine day, the cherry trees bloomed. And told me to dump the heavier jackets for now.

The sight of sakura trees in full bloom is incomparable. Just lush flowers, not a single green leaf to be seen on the trees. And after about a week, the flowers just wither away, and the trees are clothed in tender green leaves. And I know for sure the bad weather's gone. For now.

Everyday that the sky was clear, I bundled everyone out of the house, packed up whatever food was cooked, and lo.. picnic time! And after each picnic, a walk around the park, taking in the beauty of sakura in full bloom.

Of course, we didn't stop with sakura. We went to the nearby town of Yutagawa to watch the apricot blossoms, to Sakata to look at more sakura, and finally last week to Yunohama to see acres of tulip fields.

Tulips?? Yes, tulips... Tulips as far as the eye can see, in so many colours! Of course, there are lots of Japanese tourists in Amsterdam too, but trust me, I am still in the heart of good old Japan. And Arun decided to serenade me.

Earlier today a friend invited us out to a picnic. We are off to see more flowers tomorrow. And that too Mustard blooms!

Gawd, if Arun starts to sing again, I'll flip!!! Or I'll sing right back at him!

Harmony, Disconcert, Depress

2007-04-25T14:41:00.000+09:00

Once upon a time I loved to (attempt to) sing. Once I was in the zone, I could sing 'Memory' across a wide octave range. I could sing notes that hadn't been invented. I could sing along with the black keys, the white keys, and the cracks too, but I would sing, and in notes that had never been heard and never will be heard again. And I would sing at the top of my voice.

Earlier today, in Japanese class, sensei was photocopying a homework assignment for me. As I was packing up to leave, I heard a very familiar melody over the public address system. I started to hum along, and then began to sing softly to myself.
Burnt out ends of smoky days
The stale cold smell of morning

As I sang to myself, sensei asked with all concern, 'Onaka no itai desu ka?' (Is your tummy hurting?)

I told her I was singing... and I don't know who was was more mortified....

I surely am not winning a Grammy in a hurry....

American Idol, here I come!

Tribulations of a stupid Gaijin

2007-04-21T13:54:00.000+09:00

What is Gaijin?
Gaijin - short for Gaikokujin- noun- person from a foreign country.

What Gaijin are we talking about?
Gaijin referred to in headline - yours truly.

Why tribulaitons?
Because I was stupid.

Why was I stupid?
Because something got Lost in Translation.

Now that I've dispensed with the preliminaries, let me start my story.

A few weeks ago, there was the first PTA meeting at Aditi's new Kindergarten. At the PTA, the teacher asked for volunteers. Our translator explained that this was a call for (what I understood was) a homeroom mother kind of thing. And since there were no takers, I volunteered. That should have given me a clue, but like I mentioned before, there's this element of don't-think-just-leap somewhere in my mental make-up.

The first meeting of the homeroom volunteers was called today, and I went with a full dose of enthusiasm. When I walked into the school, there was this classroom readied for the meeting. And it was done up like a corporate boardroom. There was this square-shaped table arrangement, with each participant's place marked with a placard. There was an agenda in front of everyone, and tea and water. That still didn't ring any warning bells.

Next thing I know, speeches, and members started introducing themselves. Something didn't sound right at that point. Weren't we just required to state our names and leave it at that? Each person seemed to have so much to say about themselves. I was the third to speak, I just told the group my name, my daughter's name, what class she was in and sat down. And people were still looking at me, with expressions of "and what else?"

"What else?" That's it people, what else do you want? By then someone was kind enough to translate for me, and told me to talk about what I wanted to achieve as a member of the core committee??

And I started to think..... "Core committee ?? hmmm.. let's see now"... Just a minute! What "Core committee"? No one told me anything about any "core committee"... Isn't this just a meeting of homeroom parents??? For once I was totally speechless, and upheld my right to remain silent and not say anything, and just sat down.

Then the meeting started for real. The accountant (what the ^&*@ is an accountant doing in a PTA?) started reading out long long lists of numbers, that was last year's budget and balance sheet. Then she read out the current year's financial forecasts.

By this time I was fairly stumped. Something was not quite cricket here. And I wanted to know why x-thousands were being allocated for y-activity. That was apparently a no-no.

Then there were discussions about who will do what, for what school activity. Holy *&%#, My idea of school is that I pay fees so you keep my kid amused for a few hours a day! Why on earth am I doing all this? I decided on the easiest way out of the committee work. I offered to do the layout for the annual magazine. No interactions, no committees, nothing!

Then came the worst part. We were asked by the class teachers to plan a trip to the park (100 mts away from school) when every parent pulled out planners and organisers. It took them an hour to agree on a date. By this time, I'd totally lost it. I just told them to tell me when to show up, and where!

Fortunately for my sanity, Arun called. The baby was howling her head off. I apologised profoundly to the group, and ran out like my gluteus maximus was on fire!

Next meeting is a month from now, and I'm fully intend to fall sick a day before that :D

Ours is not to reason why,
Ours is but to listen and forget
(No PTA is going to kill me)

A weird soul

2007-03-31T23:03:00.000+09:00

So I find time to post something and I'm totally out of inspiration, and Axe, that jobless dude tagged me again (like a gazillion years ago). And right now I'm in a weird enough mood to actually respond to a tag like that!

What 6 things make me weird? Am I weird at all? Ah well... let's see...

1. When I'm down or off colour, my idea of getting back into the swing of things is to cook a really elaborate meal. And not eat it.....

2. I love pedicures. A pedicure is always the answer... no matter what the question.

3. I refuse to use leather so that I can hide my (lack of) taste in footwear... handbags too. Well, as a secondary thought, it's disgustingly politically correct to boot... and goes perfectly well with my current PFA, PETA and other assorted crusades.

4. I dislike having to use the same brand of shower gel/cream twice in a row. And yes, the brands are necessarily NOT tested on animals.

5. I can't desist from buying pans. A good saucepan is perfect retail therapy!

6. I do not like conversation while I'm having my morning cuppa. I despise any disturbances then. I'd rather forgo my tea if I can't have some in total peace and quiet. I also do not like anyone else using my favourite tea-mug.

That was rather tame, wasn't it? I always loved to think I was weirder than anyone else. Why conform? Darn... I really need to redo that list. I refuse to be that tame!

And I'll be weird(er) by not tagging anyone else..... so there!

And if you think you're weird, please go ahead and tag thyself!

New Year Resolutions

2007-03-23T10:57:00.000+09:00

It's March, you say? A little late in the year, you think? Ugadi does count as New Year... so there!

I'm sick of bills and letters to occupant in my mailbox. And I've cribbed about it before. So, here's my resolution. I'm going to write a letter a week from now on. Anyone friend that e-mails me their snail-mail address gets a letter.

Here's the catch. My mom taught Aditi the rudiments of composing a letter. So you'd get a note from her too. And do reply...

Let's revive a lost art.

Who's on first??

A pink slip...

2007-03-19T08:54:00.000+09:00

... for the weatherman.

All assorted weather widgets insist it's a cloudy day. And it's snowing... and I have a large laundry load including linens.

According to at least 4 different sources, it's between 8 and 12 degrees (in metric units, of course!).. and ranges between cloudy and partially cloudy. So is my window out into the world wrong?

Fire the man, I say... or I wonder if I could sue? Hmmm....

Better still get the weather guys to do my laundry....

Even better, get Arun take the afternoon off and look after the kids, and I go out and build a snowman. And then come home to hot masala tea and spicy, piping hot pakodas!!!

And I can hear the balloon of delusions popping :)

Anything for a friend.....

2007-03-12T19:19:00.000+09:00

Dear friend Axe is all jittery
He needs help in a hurry
His 'Sangeeth' is looming,
With no ideas blooming,
So lets put him out of his misery.

So all you stinking mutts
Get off your lazy butts
So lets start to think,
And get some pen and ink
And help Axe out of his rut.

So put it all down on paper,
before your thoughts start to taper
Send them to me,
The world shall see,
Your take on his wedding caper.

A whole new ballgame

2007-03-10T00:14:00.000+09:00

What is parenting all about?

An acceptable answer would be, 'It's an exercise by adults who think they are smart, trying to outsmart a kid who's way smarter than the parents think'. Plenty shmart....

This is the sporadically updated scoreboard of that game called parenting.

Set 1:
Parents want to communicate and at the same time do not want little ears listening. So parents think, lets communicate in a language the kid doesn't know. Parents decide to communicate in Hindi.
Score: Parents 1 : Kid 0

Set 2: Parents realise that kid picks up on key words in the conversation, and makes some sense of it.
Score: Parents 1 : Kid 1

Set 3: Parents start to spell out things.
Score: Parents 2 : Kid 1

Set 4: Kid starts to take guesses at what parents are spelling out. Gets some stuff right.
Score: Parents 2 : Kid 2

Set 5: Arun has a request. He yells out, "Neeche se D-I-A-P-E-R leke aana". Aditi leans close to me and whispers, "Appa diaper kondu vara sollara" (Appa asked you to get a diaper)

Game, Set and Match: Aditi.

Somehow, I don't see us winning this game... not now, not in the near future, not ever...

And i don't mind losing....

Talk about lazy

2007-03-09T09:10:00.000+09:00

A fridge that tosses chilled beer to you??

Now that it's been built, the perfect investor is probably way too lazy to write out the cheque!

I love...

2007-03-08T14:01:00.000+09:00

... Cooliris for Firefox.

And it works well with Windoze too.

Ah winter!

2007-03-08T13:43:00.000+09:00

My first white winter, and I love it! Our little neck of the woods has turned into a winter fairyland. Think of the winter scene from the movie, "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe". This isn't too different from that. Just way prettier.

Around the time mommy left it started getting sunny, and last week I thought I'd create more closet space and put away my bulky down coat. After 2 weeks of incessant sunshine, I decided I could make do with layering and a fleece jacket.

Now the powers-that-be-in-charge-of-weather got a kick out of getting it to rain when they knew I wasn't carrying an umberella. No one told me that they had such a warped sense of humor. They waited for me to put away my bulky coat, and then decided to let it snow. Not just snow, but a foot and a half overnight.

I'm not complaining, but it's just that I don't care too much about the latest fragrance I'm sporting.... Eau de Mothballs

That picture in the middle is an abstract interpretation of a snowman. About 3ft high. My first attempt at (abstract) snow art. Move over, Picasso!

The end of an affair

2007-03-08T13:22:00.000+09:00

All that bandwidth and no movie downloads; what a waste!

Thus spake well (un)known philosopher-in-training, Hemant D Galagali.

That, unfortunately, is what the blokes in charge out here are implementing these days.

Just about everyone I know in this neck of the woods (read all desis I know..) seem to have got ardent love letters from their ISPs asking them with all passion and romance to please remain faithful, and not download any output from the motion picture industry. I rejoiced that I hadn't received any love-letters. Unless someone told me otherwise, I intended to watch as many of the latest motion pictures as possible.

Then, one day, out of the blue.... the phone rang.

It was the dreaded pyaar-ka-sandesa, delivered over the phone.

Moral of the story:
Moral, what moral??

Just keep your nose clean. Cease and desist from nefarious activities.
If you want to watch a movie, wait for it to hit the local theater. If it doesn't, then too bad.

Ah well, now my entertainment totally depends on what DVDs my desi grocer in Tokyo sends over with my monthly orders, and on the largesse of li'l sister.

Happy 2-007

2007-01-07T22:36:00.000+09:00

(Sorry, but that was way too tough to resist.)

Have a wonderful year ahead.

Last year's been quite ... hectic.. for want of a better word...

First the crash course on Japanese in India, then back to Singy and get set for the move to Japan, moving to Japan and discovering a whole new way of life, getting used to the labyrinth that passes for bureaucracy, then there was all the excitement of getting ready for the second baby, more paperwork and communication issues at the hospital, starting to drive again after a hiatus of over a decade, getting my license, backing into assorted walls and pillars, then the big preparation to face the legendarily bad winters this neck of the woods is famous for and actually having the baby (little Avani, aka Boo) ...... Wow... has it been a busy year or what!

Now that I think about it, damn... we did get a lot done in the last one year! If I'd been given this list a year ago and been told that it was the PoA for the year ahead, I'd have totally freaked out!!

Its been a wonderful year, and now I'm looking forward to a slightly more relaxed year in the backwoods of Japan.

Akemashite Omedettou Gozaimasu!

(to those 'lost in translation', a 'Very Happy New Year to You')

It's a ........

2006-12-07T21:21:00.000+09:00

...... GIRL!!!!!!!

Avani was born on 6th December at 1447 in Tsuruoka, Japan. She is 47.5 cms tall and weighs 2668 grams and is absolutely adorable!

Watching it snow

2006-12-04T23:57:00.000+09:00

So what's a reasonable person doing being wide awake after midnight? Watching it snow. According to the weatherman, it wasn't supposed to till about middle of December, but I guess someone forgot to tell that to the weather.

I'm getting done with my packing. Since I'm going to be in the hospital for around 10 days, I decided this is a good time to re-read all 11 volumes of the Wheel of Time. Isn't it a good thing I convinced Arun not to throw it away when we moved? A too thinks it's the best way to kill time in a hospital bed. Beats watching Japanese television. I still haven't figured out what is a show, and what's a commercial. Or the point of one particular show where half the characters are dressed in kimonos and the other half in natty western suits, who seem to go through life in a series of elaborate tea ceremonies. Or another where a bunch of guys in, what I assume are medieval costumes, go around chopping up people like so many vegetables with their katanas. Wheel of Time is way less complicated! Just some 100 main and 200 sub characters, 1 dozen key plots and a dozen-dozen sub and sub-sub-plots, enough twists to confuse a geo-mapping satellite... what more could I possibly ask for to keep me entertained for 10 snowy dreary days?

Aditi is pretty excited. She's waiting to play with her new sibling. She's picked out books to read to and stories to tell the little one.

Here I sign off. I have no idea when I'll be able to blog again for the next few weeks.

How come all you guys out there aren't running a baby pool?? You were so much more fun last time around! So watch this space to know if it's going to be a boy or a girl.

2006 - Big sister is watching

2006-12-03T01:00:00.000+09:00

Aditi is quite curious and has her own ideas about the little baby.

She was quite shocked when I told her that the little one does not know how to open the kitchen drawers and cupboards. She thought about it for a while and came up to me and said, 'Amma don't worry, I'll teach kutti-baby to open drawers'. Yikes, that's all I need right now!

Aditi has told me that she will sing to the little baby, will carry it around (scary), will teach baby to use the potty, will tell the baby stories, will share with the baby (scarier: considering that her idea of sharing is to take what she wants from the other kids), will teach baby to sing, and yes, that she will tell baby to listen to what amma and appa say, and that she will teach baby to be good (scariest).

More than the baby itself, A and I are now eagerly waiting to see Aditi's reactions to her little sibling. Her first sight of the little ones and her opinions and thoughts.

That reminds me: better get the video camera ready. Charge batteries, get more tape etc.

Food for thought

2006-12-03T00:46:00.000+09:00

Now that D-day is around the corner, I've been quite caught up with things... Was it this hectic last time around?? I don't remember. I don't think so.

This time around, the rigmarole is starting to show signs of getting 'Lost in Translation'. I had a very exhausting 2 hour interview with the nutritionist at the hospital a couple of days ago. Somehow by the time I got through to her about what I eat and don't eat, I was quite ready to give up and tell her just give me rice and curds, and I'll get my own pickles, thank you. Being a vegetarian in this neck of the woods isn't all that easy.

First I had to explain that I don't eat meat and fish. No fish?? Yes, ma'am, no fish. So the nutritionist gets some printouts from her file and my translator asked me whether fish is 'meat'. Now, how on earth does one answer that? So the next step was to explain that I was NOT vegan, and that I could take milk, cheese and other dairy products. Yes, eggs are OK too. No, I do not mind eating tofu and eggs every day to make up for nutrition components.

Then I had to explain that chicken, beef and pork are not OK, neither are ham, bacon or sausages. By the time we got through that part, I was so tired. Then came the kicker. 'So does that mean prawn, shrimp and crabs are alright?' Sigh... we were back to block one. And the poor lady went through a list of vegetables to find out what was OK and what was not! After a point I gave up saying 'every vegetable is fine, every single one', and stuck to okaying each individual vegetable as it was read out.

I don't know who was more shocked by my diet, the nutritionist or the translator. I'm sure they think I'm from another planet.

Bond, James Bond

2006-12-03T00:26:00.000+09:00

Since Ma is now here, and more than game for babysitting, A and I decided to go watch Casino Royale. Verdict, not bad at all! Initially I really didn't like the idea of Daniel Craig as Bond, especially after Munich. Now I really should take back any uncharitable thought that i might have had about Craig as 007.

Of all the Bonds to date, I think Craig comes closest to the high standards set by Sean Connery. After Sean Connery, he has to be the next best Bond to date. I really should add that I did think Pierce Brosnan was an awesome 007 too. Eye candy, oozing sophistication and er.. more eye candy. A, of course, thinks that this is a girl thing. he might be right, but who cares. He's CUTE! No one could call Craig's Bond cute. Cool, but not quite eye-candy. Beef-cake, yes; eye-candy, never!

The initial action scenes lacked the usual polish of a typical Bond chase. Way too gritty, and not quite polished. The Madagascar chase somehow reminded me of a classic Jackie Chan movie, with slightly too acrobatic stunts.

And then there was the absence of the traditional Bond theme music in the title sequence. But never mind, it did play during the end credits. So A and I sat through the final credits just for the Bond theme!

One crib I have about this movie is total absence of gadgets. Where, oh where, was the watch that doubles as a detonator that could also be used to pinpoint someones location by GPS and of course, in an emergency, tell you the time too?? Where was John Cleese?? Somehow Bond wasn't quite the same without his faithful-sidekick-fancy-gadgets!

And not enough of the trademark one-liners. (You expect me to talk? No Mr. Bond, I expect you to die)

But yes, if they can't get Brosnan back, Daniel Craig is an awesome Bond, James Bond.

Hair raising tales

2006-11-28T02:36:00.000+09:00

... and I bit the bullet, packed my dictionary in my handbag, wrote down a list of (what I thought) were useful words and phrases, and walked into the hairdresser's salon.

The first sight of the stylist wasn't all that confidence inspiring. And it didn't help that my so-called useful phrases list turned out to be next to useless. Then the stylist handed me a few books and asked me to pick a style. Some of them looked quite nice... on Japanese women. Finally i gave up on the book and told him to just shorten it. I think that offended his professional ethics, and he asked me to wait a bit and disappeared. That was somewhat scary... was I getting my hair cut or not?? Then he came back with a glossy ad from a glossy magazine for one of the cosmetic giants. And pointed out to one of the models' styles. Alright. That looked comfortably simple, something which I could live with. If it didn't look good, at least it wouldn't look terrible.

The end result wasn't too bad. After lots of 'chotto skoshi' , 'o this or that kudasai' and plenty of 'onegaishimasu' I decided I could live with the look... It certainly doesn't make me look like the spokes-model for Estee Lauder, but at least I don't have the everyday-is-a-bad-hair-day look anymore.

Aditi, of course, thinks that I'm in disgrace for not combing my hair, which is why it's way shorter. I wonder if she'll still think that way once she's in her teens!

Movies, Movies, Movies

2006-11-28T02:01:00.000+09:00

So just what have I been up to lately?? Watching movies!

Since we discovered the wonderful world of torrents (thanks, Nikhil), I've been downloading movies, old and new, by the dozen! After all, that's our second best entertainment option (#1 of course, is li'l sis, who got us hooked totally to 24).

Lets see, in the last fortnight we watched Cars, Khosla ka Ghosla, Pyar ke Side Effects to name a few.

Cars was, in one word, BRILLAINT! Loved the concept, loved the execution! It was worth waiting all those months till I could get a decent print!

Bollywood movies are definitely starting to break out of the stale old mold. We watched Khosla ka Ghosla earlier today. After I downloaded the movie, A read some reviews, none of which were even charitable. So we didn't get around to watching it for absolutely weeks... till today! And we really liked it. The characters are funny. The plotline: could happen to anyone.. very very real, and realistic! No unnecessary song and dance for no good reason. Anupam Kher, Kiran Juneja lead an exceptionally subtle and sublime cast. It's definitely worth watching. Do give it a try. Really entertaining!

Pyar ke Side Effects was another refreshing change from the usual ho-hum Bollywood plots. Rahul Bose and Mallika Sherawat (who really can act) are quite funny. I loved the bit where Mallika Sherawat tries to initiate a serious conversation about relationships... right in the middle of a cricket match (deja vu)! Again, a good timepass movie.

We still have Don and Dor on our to watch list. And we're saving those for snowy weekends when we're likely to be totally housebound! So more reviews will happen later.

So wish me luck....

2006-11-19T23:26:00.000+09:00

Nonono... this isn't about the latest addition to the family.. All's smooth sailing on that front. Except of course for names... neither of us can agree on one... or rather, two, as we decided we didn't want to know the sex of the baby.

Later this week I embark on an adventure like none other. After having a series of progressively worse bad hair days, I decided to bite the bullet and do something about my hair. So after a lot of R&D (looking for good cuts that didn't look like the wearer was attacked by rodents) I asked one of A's colleagues who her stylist was. That lovely lady went one step further and booked an appointment for me.

Now we get to the catch. The stylist doesn't speak English. So I'm poring over the good old dictionary and making a list of what I think are important words that one needs to communicate with a stylist.

Worst case scenario: I don't get on the wrong side of a camera a few months. Considering that I'm the one doing at least 99.99% of any picture taking, that doesn't seem like such a big scare!

So wish me luck. This is my acid test. Whether or not I post any pictures will tell you whether or not all those Japanese lessons paid off.

Ave Caesar! Morituri te salutant!

Testing 1..2..3..

2006-11-07T13:08:00.000+09:00

One of my readers (all countable on one hand) asked why there haven't been updates here in ages. Good question... No answer...

Honestly, nothing much has been happening out here. Since my last update, all that's happened is that I finally passed my driving test, got my license and the very next day backed the car into a pillar. Nono.. not to worry, the car had the mildest of scratches on it!

Now that I have my license, I've been exploring this little town, drive in any direction that seems interesting (advantage of living in a small town: can never get lost), going window shopping without harassing Arun.. You get the drift.

Right now, we're trying to get decent baby furniture, infant car-seats, woolen and other assorted warm clothes for Aditi (who's shooting up like a beanpole), warm clothes for the new baby... phew... Did I forget to mention heated carpets, room heaters and more stuff along those lines?? So all spare time's spent in stores checking out stuff.

The weathers starting to get chilly. Quite chilly actually. There's already been snow about 60kms north of here. Any sunny days are now spent airing out quilts, comforters, blankets and other assorted winter wear that's been sitting in storage for a few months. Or if its a really gloriously sunny day, I drag Arun and Aditi around somewhere for a long drive in the mountains and look at the pretty colours.

Other than that, nothing much. Will get around to posting some pics one of these days. Don't ask when, when I get around to it.. that's when!

Wow....

2006-09-29T13:12:00.000+09:00

Is that cool, or what?? (Check #7 in case you're trying to figure what on earth I'm talking about!)

Watching Superman with a 3 year old

2006-09-12T18:14:00.000+09:00

My little one watched her first Superman movie, Arun and I laughed all the way through.. Why?? Because of all the questions we had to answer, and the lovely running commentary.....

Here are some of the more interesting ones.

Movie begins- Krypton explodes- the little one thinks it's the moon- scene changes- Clark Kent shows up at the daily planet- little one goes, "But what happened to the moon?"

Lex Luthor throws his wig at the little girl- "Uncle did not wear ponytails, so his mommy made him bald" (am sure that sounds familiar)

Lois Lane is being bounced around the aircraft- "See? That's why amma tells me to wear a seatbelt!"

Superman changes back into Clark Kent- Lois and Watzisname are discussing how Clark Kent possesses some traits similar to Superman- "Is Superman wearing glasses?"- Even a three-year-old-novice to the Superman franchise knows that Kent is Superman.

Lois Lane leaves the cabin where she finds the collection of wigs- Lex Luthor steps out of a washroom- He's brushing his teeth- "This is the way we brush our teeth, brush our teeth, brush our teeth.... left, right, up and down... " (remember the tune to 'here we go 'round the mulberry bush'?)

Superman is taken to hospital and the doctors prepare for surgery- "what happened to Superman's clothes?"

Lois Lane starts to light a cigarette, and flicks on the lighter- "No playing with fire. It's dangerous"

Arun promised her that he'd tie a towel around her shoulders and she could be 'Super-Aditi'.

So I can safely assume that both kids loved the movie.

Tagged again!

2006-09-10T00:39:00.000+09:00

Why me?? I spent too much time trying to figure out 8 things about me, thanks to Dents' tag.. and now this... ah well.. here we go!

1. Book that changed your life: 1984. Why?? 1) sounds darned impressive, 2) I read it sometime in the early '90s and by then it was too late for 1984 to be like 1984... (it could happen later, or it may already be happening, but it not like 1984 happening in 1984.. hehehehehe)

2. Book you've read more than once: The Collected works of O'Henry. I've read them a gazillion times before, and will probably read them a gazillion times again!

3. Book you'd take to a desert island: Weekend Wodehouse. This collection has the perfect blend of the incurably loony inhabitants of Blandings, the moronic Bertie Wooster and his faithful Jeeves, and a handful of the most eccentric of Mr. Mulliner's relations. Simply perfect.

4. Book that made you laugh: Mike at Wrykin, Aunts Aren't Gentlemen

5. Book that made you cry: To Kill a Mockingbird

6. Book you wish you had written: "What to cook that (both) a 3 year old and a 35 year old are likely to eat"

7. Book you wish had never been written: Here I throw a cat among the pigeons.... "Catch 22" ... I started it 4 times, but could never get beyond a certain point... I still don't get the point, if there was one, of the book...

8. Book you're currently reading: Tom Clancy's 'Cardinal of the Kremlin'

9. Book you've been meaning to read: Anna Karenina... I don't know why. Each time I started reading it, I couldn't get beyond a point. I'd like to say that I have read Tolstoy ... hehehe

10. Tagging: aaaghhhh... lemme think... Arun, Gouri, Denti, Anitha, Deepak, Joji and Ozzy...

Hahahahaha

2006-09-04T13:18:00.000+09:00

*ROTFL*

The new king of Bollywood

2006-08-28T20:20:00.000+09:00

When I first read on Rediff that there was to be a bollywood remake of Othello, called 'Omkara', I told myself it was a recipe for box-office disaster. Then after I read about the casting, I had this image of a producer like the kinds of Naseeruddin Shah in Bombay Boys ... who wanted to make a bad movie so he could launder some black money...

Ok, Ajay Devgan was cast in the title role... after watching Company I didn't doubt he could play Othello. But Saif Ali Khan and Viveik Oberoi?? Saif would have made a decent Cassio... but Viveik Oberoi as Iago?? Note how quickly I jumped to the wrong conclusions. When I later read that Saif Ali Khan was to play the role of Iago, I couldn't believe my eyes. Chocolate boy Saif as the evil Iago?? No way.....

So over the weekend Arun got his hands on the movie, and I was like, oh well, beats watching Superman Returns in Japanese. 30 minutes into the movie I was ready to apologize to Saif Khan for any misgivings I might have had of his histrionic capabilities. Saif Ali Khan HAS to be the new King of Bollywood. His portrayal of Langda Tyaagi is way more than superb and brilliant. His performance is exquisite! Pure art. If he doesn't get ALL possible awards for that role, then there is something seriously wrong with the Indian Cinegoers, Critics and film jurists alike. He's simply the perfect Iago, oozing evil from behind a veil of innocence.... It's time for the rest of the Khan's to move over and make way for the new King of Bollywood, Saif Ali Khan.

Ajay Devgan as Omkara (Othello), Viveik Oberoi's Kesu (Cassio), Kareena Kapoor's portrayal of Dolly (Desdemona), Konkona Sen Sharma's Indu (Emilia) and Naseeruddin Shah's character of Bhaisaab (Doge of Venice) were beautifully played. Bipasha Basu as Billo (Bianca) sucked big time. She was way too plastic. Yes, she was there just for the item numbers, but still, I'm sure there are better actresses who could have played that role.

The desi setting for Othello was brilliantly conceived. The background was the murky politics of the region. Character development was brilliant! It was gripping to the end! I don't think I have really raved about a Bollywood all this much.... ever! For a tragic ending, it was brilliantly shot. From start to finish, Omkara is gripping!

I recommend this as a must watch. However, if you are looking for a long song and dance production, with hazar bizarrely outfitted extras in the background, this is not for you.

Bollywood's most sophisticated and stylish offering to date. All hail Omkara!

Who let the doc tag??

2006-08-25T10:52:00.000+09:00

I always thought PhD students (at least going by the ones that I've seen) didn't have enough time in a day to get their research done... Looks like I could be wrong about that. A certain researcher in a certain university in Bean-town seems to have all the time in the world to play tag! I refuse to be a spoilsport, so here goes...

This is how one plays tag online..
1) Say who tagged you
2) Say eight things about yourself
3) Tag 6 people

I was tagged by that jobless doc in Boston.

8 things, eh?? Lets see....
I WANT chaat... desperately..
I DON'T want to make the aforementioned chaat.
I WISH I could have something nice for lunch (something NOT cooked by me)
I genuinely believe that if I wish hard enough some inspired soul WILL open a Mexican restaurant in Tsuruoka.
SOMEDAY I will wake up on time to watch a sunrise here(so what if it happens at around 4:30 am).
I HAVE conclusively proved that a cellphone dropped in a pot of boiling sambar will never work again.
I NEED retail therapy to feel good.
I'm WAITING for the local release of X-Men 3.

(Wow... how colossally boring!)

Now let's play tag... Anitha, Deepak, Arun (much against my better judgment), Joji, Gouri.... you're IT! And here's right back at you, Dents.

Who let the dogs out?

2006-08-10T09:10:00.000+09:00

Who let the cat out of the bag?? What cat?? What bag?

Thanks to Dents' constant linking, we discovered YouTube. The first time I looked at the Youtube site, I found 'Kajra Re' on the first page. This little one absolutely loves that song, and sings it so adorably I ended up bookmarking that for her. As a natural progression, we found links to other songs that she liked, Hakuna Matata etc.

And with a little searching and browsing we discovered we could find a lot of old favourite music videos too. Arun wanted to see if he could find The Ketchup Song. It did have such a catchy beat. So talking of catchy beats, we thought we should find Macarena too. I remembered certain 2-left-footed types (other than me of course) trying to dance the Macarena. It was such a craze when we were in college!

And then one of the videos we were watching actually had a link to... I am not joking.. "Who let the dogs out?" The little one actually sings that one now! Of all the good music she could have picked up, she had to like that one song (if one can call it a song)!

Now first thing in the morning, she comes up to me and says, "may I please watch Ketcher (ketchup), Macarena, Kajra Re and Who let the dogs out? Please??"

What a start to my day.....

As a very irrelevant postscript, does anyone who remembers a certain party remember the part where a certain artist type would, in the middle of conversations, suddenly ask, "but folks, Who let the dogs out?" And then everyone else would religiously reply "Who? Who?" And then, the artist would pick up the intercom and go "Security, 1 plate baasundi.. "

How to give a 3 year old a haircut

2006-08-08T09:29:00.000+09:00

1. Take said 3 year old to a hairdresser, preferably one run by elderly ladies who are sure to pamper her silly
2. Take out dictionary and try to explain how you want her hair trimmed
3. Listen to responses that don't make sense as the words used by hairdresser do not exist in your dictionary.
4. Put dictionary back in handbag.
5. Start miming. Fold, twist, mime scissors, cutting motion etc and hope message is getting through correctly.
6. Seat daddy-dear on barber chair and let 3 year old watch him being draped in towel etc.
7. Seat 3 year old on daddy's lap, and cover her with towels etc.
8. Confer again with hairdresser using abysmal vocabulary and sign language and agree on length.
9. Hairdresser shall start snipping at this point.
10. 3 year old insists that she doesn't want her head shaved and will wear her ponytails from now on.
11. Explain to 3 year old (before onset of tears) that this will look very cute, and ask the hairdresser to say 'kawaii desu' (how cute) a few times to get the idea through.
12. Explain (or try to explain) to three year old why its not a great idea to move her head rapidly from side to side.
13. Let cute cat walk through salon.
14. Ask elderly lady whether its ok to pick up said cat.
15. Pick up said cat and hold cat in angle and height so 3 year old looks that way.

16. Move cat around to keep 3 year old looking in the right direction.
17. Turn chair away from mirror.
18. Explain to 3 year old that this style will look cuter than curls.
19. Get hairdresser to reiterate #18
20. Repeat steps 16 till desired results are acquired
21. Do a final trim.
22. Wait for hairdresser to get a pretty ribbon and let 3 year look at herself in mirror.
23. Repeat steps 18 and 19 again.
24. Pay hairdresser.
25. Get out of salon before cute (but very annoyed) cat decides to express displeasure.
26. Start breathing and thank the dude above for getting one through this with minimum trauma.
27. Look at s.o. and hope one doesn't have to repeat this in a hurry.

Finally....

2006-07-31T00:18:00.000+09:00

... got around to posting a few pics here.

Dinner with Geeks!!!

2006-07-30T14:42:00.000+09:00

Arun had invited a few of the students from the Univ to dinner last night. Are they geeks!

Suddenly the conversation changes track and the guys start discussing one particularly pretty student. One of the PhD students was looking a little confused trying to figure out who the rest were talking about. Suddenly one saw enlightenment on his face. "Ok... I know who she is... she's the one with the IBM thinkpad...." Not the hairstyle, or other attributes to jog our friend's memory.

The reactions around were priceless.... jaws dropped, one guy even slapped himself to see if he'd heard right.....

And now I think people (especially Tina) should think twice before calling Arun a geek.

Template generator

2006-07-28T22:13:00.000+09:00

I've been rather bored with the look and feel of my blogs, and didn't really care all that much for the templates available on blogger. I really wanted a three column template, colours of my choice etc...

The previous template was alright, but it was absolutely BORING!! Rather colourless... uninspired too.

Today I discovered PsycHo, one of the best template generators I could find online. The customization options are quite comprehensive. It does need some very minor tweaks to personalize it further. If a HTML/CSS doofus like me can do it, trust me, anyone can!

All I need to figure out now is how to get the side columns run the length of the page, and not abruptly terminate where the column text ends. And I also need to know how to lose those bullets against the previous posts.

Comments anyone? And yes, I really need to know the column length thingie... so do put on your thinking caps and help!

PS: I did find a few more bugs and can't figure out how to debug those...

1. According to Axe, he can't click on any of the old comments. He tried clicking on June 2005 and couldn't click on the "5 voices in the dark" thingie. But he could click on the timestamp to view everything, though.... I tried it too.. he's right.. . (check)

2. Just how do I lose those darn bullets agianst previous post titles? (check)

3. Clicking on any link makes it open in a new tab... does anyone who doesn't use a decent civilized browser like Mozilla find they are opening new windows with each click on a hyperlink?

Deepak set that right for me! But there's still other li'l things I need help with.. so all geeks out there can put on their thinking caps!

The newest Bogeyman

2006-07-26T20:48:00.000+09:00

My little one has these lovely long curls, but always refuses to brush them. The other day while I was blog surfing she saw the picture on this. She looked again, and turned and asked me: "did uncle's mommy take away all his hair because he refused to wear a ponytail??"

Now I just seat her in front of the comp, and flip to Axe's blog. And Aditi promptly goes, "may I have my butterflies (her word for ponytails) please?"

Poor Axe.....

Shades of dark, darker and darkest...

2006-07-16T00:10:00.000+09:00

.. is how I'd describe Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man's Chest.

What went wrong?? Was chatting with Axe about this last week, and he cribbed it was too dark, comparing it with The Empire Strikes Back in relation the first Star Wars. I think we all went to watch the Curse of the Black Pearl with minimum expectations expecting a decent action comedy. The Curse of the Black Pearl was funny. The chemistry between Johnny Depp and Geoffrey Rush was simply brilliant. I, of course, tend to overlook the guy with the sword, but he was a total non-entity in this one... It just wasn't funny. And funny is what I expected after the first movie.

I hated the weird creatures. One supposes that an overdose of the fantasy element (weird mutated creatures) could not really be that funny.

And what's with the score?? I just loved the score in the first movie... the one that goes

Ta-dum-tum-ta-da-dum-dum-ta-da-tum-dum-ta-da-dum

That particular bit played only during the final credits!! It was such an apt score, with a certain flamboyance to act as a counterfoil to that slurring, somewhat effeminate pirate...

Ah well, now that Barbossa is back, maybe the Pirates 3 will be more interesting.
(Highlight at your own risk. Spoiler alert!!)

It wasn't a total loss. I loved the East India Company being portrayed as the baddies.

I don't want to give it a rating, but I suggest that you watch it only if you are a die-hard fan of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise.

"Too sweet ...."

2006-06-19T23:02:00.000+09:00

... was the final verdict, after about 25 people watched me make coconut burfi and later eat it.

This is again part of the all the activities I ended up being roped into. SS-san from the International forum asked if I would like to attend a small talk at the nearby hamlet (town, they call it here) Atsumi. And yes, could I demonstrate the preparation of some traditional Indian 'candy'?

Candy? Now I was at a complete loss. What typical Indian candy could I make? So I spent about 2-3 weeks in intense research at local supermarkets. Why? Oh yes, I forgot to mention that Satsuki (SI-san), the session organiser, requested that I use ingredients available locally. So there I was desperately mailing mommy and anyone else I could think of asking for very simple sweet recipes, and then hunting in the supermarkets for availability of ingredients. Before I hit the stores there was a lot on internet and dictionary research trying to find the correct English or Japanese name for these things.

Simple and tasty delicacies were ruled out. To make kesari, I needed rave, something unheard of here. I couldn't even find condensed milk for some simple sweets. Finally mom's friend Radha aunty gave her a simple recipe for a coconut burfi, with minimum fuss, that I could make with dry or processed coconut powder. Thank God for that! So after giving SI-san a list of things that would be needed, I settled on this.

On D-day, I was told that I would be given a lift there by one Mrs Okabe, and was given instuctions where to meet her. So I go to the rendezvous and meet her there for the almost hour long drive to Atsumi.

Then we hit the first hitch. Mrs Okabe was Korean, and spoke fluent Japanese. I certainly don't know a single word of Korean, and my Japanese to date isn't something to write home about. So I reached into my bag and pulled out my notepad, pen and dictionary. So whenever Mrs Okabe said anything, I'd jot down what I assumed were the key words to the conversation, look it up in the dictionary, mentally phrase out my response, look up the right words in the dictionary, conjugate verbs correctly, adjust tenses and reply back. We actually managed to have a decently meaningful conversation this way!

The drive to Atsumi was lovely. We drove through the mountains, and the last twenty minutes, we had the mountains on one side, and the sea on the other side of the road. It was a cloudy day, and visibility was a quite poor once we reached the seaside. Since Mrs Okabe had to concentrate on her driving, I put away the dictionary and sat back to enjoy the view.

Atsumi itself is famous for its hotsprings and rose gardens. The town is built into a small valley along the Atsumi river. The houses at the edges of town look like they've been built into the very hills.

We got to Atsumi, and I finally met SI-san, who was so far only a voice on the phone. I was then told that I would have to speak a few words about 'bringing up children in India'. Duh? I told her that I would love to do it, but it wasn't going to be easy using an abridged dictionary. But fortunately, my Japanese teacher AB-san was there, and she was a part of the group who would be learning to make the candies from me. So I quickly wrote down something and she translated it into Japanese.

It was a very small group. There were only 4 of us per group. There were 6 groups in all, with representatives from India, Philippines, Brazil, USA, New Zealand and Korea. I knew AB-san from the classes. The other two ladies were quite curious about everything starting from my clothes, to bindi, to mangalsutra. One totally precocious little kid crossed over from another group to mine because he said he had many questions for me.

So we adjourned to the kitchens to start making our respective dishes. While the concoction was cooking, the little kid (and the ladies too) were full of questions. They were appalled that I hadn't eaten any local fish. And were shocked to realize that I didn't eat fish, period. So instead of a cultural exchange it turned out to be an explanation of vegetarianism. I had to explain just what a vegetarian ate if not fish and meat. To them a diet free of any sort of meat was incomprehensible. I have been told that the ladies and gentlemen in the group now want a full demo of a vegetarian meal.

The little kid was a firecracker. He asked me to speak to him in 'Indian'.. so I let rip in a nice combination of Tamil, Hindi and Kannada. His questions were endless. Finally there was the most priceless one of all.. do all Indians know the kind of yoga where you stand on your head? .... Huh?? where did that come from?? So I asked him: Do all Japanese people know how to fight like the samurai with a katana? Are all Japanese expert in martial arts?

By this time, all the kids were around my table, because word had spread that I was handing out candy... I still have no clue what was so funny about my question, but the entire bunch of kids broke into squeals of laughter, and went on and on and on. I asked AB what I'd said wrong. She too was a bit puzzled, but one of the other mothers in the group said not to think too much about what makes those kids laugh.

And then, there was the 'eating'... We all got to sample what the other groups had made.

Finally when I was leaving, everyone stopped to say how much they liked the candy, but did I add too much sugar by mistake? It was delicious.... but... it was too sweet.

Yes, Indian sweets can be rather overwhelmingly sweet.

And yes, my new friends have asked themselves over to lunch some weekend to taste meat-free food...

At the rate people seem to want to try Indian vegetarian food, Arun says maybe I should open a restaurant.

Things I know for a fact

2006-06-06T16:55:00.000+09:00

I know that gravity is 9.81 m/s². I know that the boiling point of water is 100°C. I know that the moon orbits the earth, and the earth in turn orbits the sun.

To be precise, I have been told that these are facts and I have accepted them at face value.

I've also been told that using cell-phones can cause brain tumors. Today, I know certain facts about cell-phones that have been proved to my satisfaction, much to the detriment of the instrument in question.

Now I have listed some things that I have had proved, to my satisfaction, as irrefutable facts.

A cell-phone dropped in a pot of boiling sambar will never work again.

A cell-phone dropped in a loo has a very slim chance of ever working right again. Especially if it has been there for 4 hours prior to detection.

A sturdy Nokia 3310 may, under standard throwing and falling conditions, survive a fall from a 7th floor window, and live to tell the tale.

I certainly do not make any claims about being any sort of electronics expert. I do know some other random facts about other household electronics.

M&M candies should not be inserted into a DVD player along with a DVD. If it doesn't fall through, it leaves a funny coating of colour on the surface of the disc.

Pouring chocolate milk on a Tom and Jerry DVD doesn't assuage either protagonists' hunger, but does leave one big grandmother of a mess to be cleaned up.

And picking up a DVD with a pair of tongs can crack the said disc.

Does anyone out there have other facts to share??

What a rip-off

2006-06-04T21:47:00.000+09:00

We now know for certain that we aren't going to watch a single match played in the FIFA World Cup 2006.

Over the weekend, we went out to buy a satellite dish and tuner from one of two service providers. We go to the electronics store, make out choice, and then before we pay, for some reason (divine intervention probably) decide call our friend AS-san to talk to the salesman once, just to make sure we understooeverything right. Thank God for that.

We had 2 choices of satellite TV options, provided by service providers N and S henceforth referred to as spN and spS). Now, spN broadcasts every match live. But absolutely no replays or highlights packages or anything. And spN doesn't have a single non-Japanese channel in it's repertoire.

So we look at spS. spS offers some 20 basic, and 8 premium English program channels. We like that. And yes, the World cup matches will NOT be broadcast live. The games are recorded and telecast the next day. Ok, that doesn't sound too bad, does it? But they are all telecast between 9am and 6pm. And somehow Arun didn't think he'd take the day off to watch a match who's results were already available on any news bulletin on any media.

So, much to my delight, no cable television! Am off to make something sweet to celebrate!

Even if I am thrilled, I still can't help believing that it's all one big rip-off! Not one broadcaster has a highlights capsule or anything. You watch them live on one channel, or watch the recorded on another, no repeat telecasts, no highlights, nothing.

Just how long will people get taken for a ride like this? Broadcasting standards ARE fairly primitive!!

Colourful local parade

2006-06-03T22:20:00.000+09:00

Last week there was this parade in town in honour of the Tenjin Matsuri festival.

Here are a few pictures.

These masked persons are called Bakemono. Their primary function in life (or rather in this parade) is to remain masked for the duration of the parade, not utter a single word, stay incognito and most important, pour out sake for all and sundry. And juice for the kids, of course! Did I remember to mention that the sake is free??

Legend goes that one Sugawara, who was this education reformer in the late 9th century, fell out of grace with the powers that be. Since Sugawara was so popular with the masses, the powers decided to exile him.

The locals wanted to give him a fitting farewell, but did not want to be recognised as friends or well-wishers of a persona-non-grata. So the town turned out in force to see him off. Every man, woman and child masked beyond recognition.

Bakemono also means monster.

In the days of yore, during the Tenjin Matsuri, the bakemono could enter any home without fear of impunity. According to our friends here, some of the gentlemen who used to play the bakemono used this as an opportunity to visit their favourite ladies!

These are the Shinto priests leading the parade.

The next section of the parade were the traditional dances. This particular dance looked a little like the dandiya performed in a kimono! I didn't get around to taking any video, but picture a dandiya filmed in excruciatingly slow motion, and played back is slow motion! Yes, it was that slow!

Arun wondered if these people had ever watched a dandiya or a garba. I wouldn't recommend it. We wouldn't want then to suffer from motion sickness, would we?

This little girl was the youngest participant in the traditional dances. Looked like a Japanese doll! Aditi and Nadiya were thoroughly fascinated by her costume.

I really shouldn't have listened to Arun's suggestions for the right place to watch the parade. By the time the bakemono got to us, all they had was fruit juice.. they were all out of sake!!! Next year, we find a place closer to where the parade starts! Is there any point in missing out on as much free sake as you can drink?

Oh no... not again!

2006-06-01T11:44:00.000+09:00

I've been trying, with my bare minimum knowledge of Japanese to find out where MI-3 is playing. It hasn't released here yet! Release is planned for early July.... I just hope Pirates of the Caribbean 2 will be released on time.

Sigh... if anyone still wants to send me a b'day gift, please send me some curry leaves, chaat and maybe some movies.

How priorities change...

Am I getting old???? hmmmmm......

PS: Anyone who thinks Axe is gay say "Aye"......

Interesting questions

2006-05-31T16:31:00.000+09:00

I got this forward by email. I decided to post it here rather than simply forward it on. Enjoy...

And if you're jobless, do post corresponding answers. That would be more entertaining

Why does your gynecologist leave the room when you undress?
If a person owns a piece of land, do they own it all the way down to the center of the earth?
Why can't woman put their mascara on with their mouth closed?
Why is it called alcoholics anonymous when the first thing you do is stand up and say "hi, my name's Bob. I'm an alcoholic"?
If you mated a Bulldog with a Shih-tsu would you get a Bullshit?
Why are they called stairs inside but steps outside?
Why is there a light in the fridge but not in the freezer?
Why does mineral water that has trickled through mountains for centurieshave a use by date?
Why do toasters always have a setting on them which burns your toast to a horrible crisp no one would eat?
Who was the first person to look at a cow and say "I think I'll squeeze these dangly things here and drink what comes out"?
What do people in China call their good plates?
If the professor on Gilligan's Island can make a radio out of a coconut, why can't he fix a hole in a boat?
Why does Goofy stand on two legs when Pluto remains on four? They're both dogs.
What do you call male ballerinas?
Can blind people see their dreams and do they dream?
If Wile E coyote has enough money to buy all that Acme crap why doesn't he buy his dinner?
Why is a person who handles money called a broker?
If quizzes are quizzical, what are tests?
If corn oil is made from corn and vegetable oil is made from vegetables. What is baby oil made from?
If a man is walking in a forest and no women is there to hear him is he still wrong?
Why is it that when someone tells you that there's billions of stars in the universe, you believe them. But if they tell you there's wet paint somewhere you have to touch it?
Why do you call it an asteroid when its outside the hemisphere, yet call it hemorrhoid when its in your ass?
Did you ever notice that if you blow in a dogs face it goes mad, yet when you take him on a car ride he sticks his head straight out the window?

I protest....

2006-05-30T15:48:00.000+09:00

I am really bugged today. And here are my list of protests and pet peeves:

X Men 3 releases in the 2nd week of September. A release almost 15 weeks after the premiere doesn't make any sense, does it? Apparently where there's merchandising in connection with the movie, the Japanese release is scheduled at a later date. But this time lag sucks... Big time!

Getting my driving license translated to Japanese is proving to be a big headache. I called the office of one of the translating agencies, and not a soul there could speak English. Now do I trust them with the job of translating my documents when they can't understand a simple question like 'is this the translation service?' or 'do you speak English?'... I think not.

So my next option was to call er... (better I don't name names, no saying what trouble that could create in case I need something from there at a later date) .. A certain body of diplomatic representatives from my country.. And it was a waste. The dude who finally answered my queries had all the answers. "Yes of course it can be done, please send us the original and a copy attested by (er.... no names again) ... those we report to back home. You don't have an attested copy? Then no, it can't be done.... But maybe it can be done for an extra fee... But ma'am you will not be issued any receipt for the extra fees paid...." ... For a second, I should admit, I was quite stumped... then I realised exactly what was implied.... (&*^%*&#@%#*#&%!!!!) Why do these people make things so complicated? I asked around, and turns out this is the only mission that charges at all for these services to their nationals. And to think we need to depend on these @#%%&!$ in any crisis....
(And if for some reason I wanted to get the attestation done, it could be done in one of two ways. One, I submit the required papers in the local administrative offices and wait till eternity for it to get done and get back to me, if ever. Two, take it from point to point myself. involving at least 2 trips each to the state and national capitals! And going route 2 again implies fees sans receipts.. )

Despite my efforts I still can't get the hang of hiragana and katakana (the basic Japanese scripts).

The postman told me that our mail takes longer to get to us because the address etc is in English... takes longer to decipher.

Last but not the least... the salespeople at big local supermarket cant understand the words soda-bi-carb or bicarbonate of soda!

A slice of India...

2006-05-22T18:16:00.000+09:00

Over the weekend, SS-san from the International Forum arranged with NM-san, who runs an Elder Day-care center, that I would give a demonstration on 'wearing Indian clothes'. So Aditi and I, dressed in our traditional best went to the center to show them what Indian clothes were all about. Yunohama, where the center is located, has to be the smallest town that I've ever seen. Before I even realised we had entered the town, I was told that this was the other end!

I really had a lovely afternoon there. There was a birthday party for three of the ladies there. They turned 75, 91 and 98! This was a birthday treat for them. I think they had a better time with Aditi running around than the actual sari thingie. Aditi, I know for a fact had a whale of a time running around and wrapping all and sundry around her little finger. She was at her charming best. Everyone was greeted with a konichiwa... O genki desu ka? And I certainly didn't need NM-san to interpret the 'awwwwwwwws'. That is a kind of universal language, what?

For the first part of the demo the ladies were slightly bashful, and it was decided that the old dears who were a year older today would play dress-up first. And did they enjoy it!!!! Especially the 99 year young at heart! After the rest of the old dears saw that their friends were having a whale of a time, everyone wanted to play dress up and have their pics taken. Some 20 odd of them wore saris and had their pics taken.

And then was the birthday party. Aditi insisted on singing 'Happy Birthday' at the top of her voice! Awwwwwwww again.

Then one grandmother bashfully asked me if I would visit her niece who ran a nursery nearby. So off we went to the nursery. The kids were so curious about Aditi and me in our desi outfits. One precocious little one stopped and asked me 'Anata wa gaijin desu ka?' (are you a foreigner?)... I couldn't help but burst out laughing and explain to the little tyke that I was from India. That was a good icebreaker as any. So here I was surrounded by kids who had such a repertoire of questions. Where was I from? Why was I dressed like that? Did I know English? Have I seen an elephant? (God knows where that one came from) Why am I in Japan? Wow... they really were curious. Finally it was time for us to leave and we got a really enthusiastic goodbye from the entire bunch!

So we headed back to the elder care place to collect our stuff. There the admin staff asked if they could wear saris and have their pics taken too. So there we were for another 45 mins while the younger generation played at dressing-up.

Even as I type, Aditi asks if we can go there again. I ask her why... "because they will call me kawai desu (how cute)"

She does have her priorities.

We certainly have been invited back again for any other 'Indian' activity. I am thinking of a movie session. How does Sholay sound? Perfect cross-cultural bridge?

Some more pics of Aditi

2006-05-22T00:25:00.010+09:00

Pictures of Aditi taken at Preethi and Sriram's place just before we left Singapore.

Sriram has amazing patience with a camera...patiently shoots pic after pic till he gets the right shot!

Sriram, thanks a million!