The "Just Married, Please Excuse " Contest

This is my entry to the 'Just Married, Please Excuse' Contest.
You can find more details here.

Me & G got only a 2 week vacation for our wedding. Those 2 weeks went by in a haze with visitng relatives, temples etc. Before we knew it we were back in Mumbai.
Since we both have no relatives in Mumbai it is only us staying in a rented apartment.

We decided to take a long week-end honeymoon to Goa (that being the nearest destination). Our train tickets were booked for January 26th(National Holiday). Since the train was to depart at dawn we reached Dadar station by the last train from Borivali which was sometime at midnite. With just both of us there we idled away time by chatting, watching passerby's.
Sometime later I felt the urge to pee. Since I did not want to use the railway toilet and there was an empty passenger train waiting on the platform we were sitting I decided to use it. G went to get some water and I went in the train. As soon as I entered the loo I felt a slight jerk, since I was midway I couldn't stop my business and had to complete it, after which they tying of the nada on the salwar took some time and soon I realized the train was in motion.
I quickly came near the door to see the train leaving the platform, I have my fears of jumping from a moving train(however slow) and just froze. G was no-where to be seen. Thankfully for me the train was just being taken to the shed. I had to walk back all the way to the platform.
For G it was another story when he came back and saw the train moving away. He had fears of honeymooning alone and ran behind the train to rescue his wife(so he says).

We still laugh about this incident when we recite it to others.

The story does not end here. We were waiting for the train to get in an get some rest and do some cootchycooing enroute to Goa. Before long our train arrived, the door to almost all the  berths was closed from inside. We(along with other passengers) were frantic, running across trying the handles of the doors, no one opened. Soon a TicketChecker walked by , on telling him our plight he just shook his head and walked by.
Soon we found one door opened and squeezed in, the train was packed, so much that there was no place to keep even a single step.
 Someone later mentioned that on National Holidays one can travel free on trains, I do not know how true it is but it is certainly a bad day for honeymooners.

There was not even an inch to turn around, even the bathrooms were packed with people(I silently thanked God that I had gone earlier).We somehow pushed and squeezed and I am not sure how many men I brushed against or held hands to be pulled through one inch of space. Finally we reached our seats which was occupied by 5 people, after showing them our tickets we managed to get seats to sit. It was next day at 10 or 11 at some station where 80% of this crowd got out.  Soon our station too came and we gladly got out of the train and to the hotel for some rest.

We still remember this incident when people talk about their honey-moon.

This post is dedicated to Nancy from Reflections.
If you have not yet visited her blog do so, it is a total fun - ride.
Thanks for checking on me Nancy.

On Birthdays and other Celebrations

I always loved the month of May. It was summer vacations and more importantly it was my birthday month. The month started with my birthday. Hubby woke me up at 12:00 to wish me and then presented me with a beautiful golden plated bracelet cum watch. BIL game me another watch and I got 2 tops from SIL.

Next day evening we invited a few friends over for the cake cutting. It was a delicious milk cake. Friends came over, got lovely tulips from Gaya3, a mirror from Priya, mouthwatering pie from Nilakshi, a wind chime from Hazelene, a rose flower pot from Vidya & Kavitha and also a pair of shoes from hubby.
Next day got a courier delivered gift from parents and sister.  Enjoyed the whole day.

May5th &6th week-end.  May5th we had a birthday party at our party-hall and 6th we all went to Como Zoo.

May 12th & 13th week-end. We all went to Rose Garden @Lake Harriet and Lake Calhoun.

May 19th & 20th week-end. Saturday we all went to Bryant park. We had a pot-luck get together for one of our friends who were returning to India. After the yummy lunch we played volley-ball and ended the day by splashing about in the lake.
May20th- Me and G went out for dinner with another couple who were leaving for India. We went to this beautiful Thai restaurant Tum Rum Thai, had loads of good food, talks and fun.

May26th - 28th. We had a long week-end holiday. Saturday we had to attend 2 birthday parties, one at the bowling Zone and one at a indoor park for kids. Ritvik had fun in both the places. Sun we went to Lilliput, the kids had fun doing the Go-Karts and the Bumper Boats. Mon, we had lunch at a friends palce, played cards and evening rested at home.

(Will post pics soon)

SPIDERMAN Craze

SO my 2 1/2 year old toddler is crazy about Toy Story Characters, Cars2 toys(Lightening McQueen especially), the entire lot of Mickey Mouse but his obsession with Spiderman runs another course of it's own.



I still do not remember when and how it started. When he was about 20 months old we would show him nursery rhymes etc on YouTube. After sometime he got bored of that and while I was browsing I came across the Spiderman theme song (which would come on DD over the week-ends). It was one of our favorite serials to watch. yes, yes, even I was in love with Spiderman unlike Superman and the rest.


So he watched the theme song again and again and then during his nightly story time routine his dad got in the Spiderman character to make the stories more entertaining. One thing led to another and soon he would be imitating spinning a web like Spidey and trying to fly like Spidey. His dad got him Spiderman stickers, we asked what cake he wanted for his 2nd birthday and the reply was immediate - Spiderman.

The craze just increased even when we went to India (for BIL's wedding). We went to a shoe shop to buy some shoes for me and I happened to loiter around the kids section as I had forgotten to get Ritvik's home wear sandals. Not finding anything good there I moved to the womens section, after sometime I see Ritz coming out with his uncle wearing a blue and red gaudy crocs. Turned out to be Spiderman crocs, the minute he saw it, he removed his shoes and wore those. Grandparents conveniently bought it for him.


After returning from India he asked for Spiderman watch (he got 2 of them), he has 2 Spiderman t-shirts and if he had his way- he would wear them all 7 days. He even has Spiderman undies(well, I got these for him).


Everyone in our apartment calls him Spiderman, for birthdays he gets Spiderman as return gifts in a Spiderman gift bag.


The stories we tell have to have Spiderman as the main character, so when I recite Cindrella it is not fairy God- mother who gave her the carriage and dress but you guessed it Right- Spiderman.Little Red Riding Hood is not saved by the woodcutter but by Spiderman who comes and kills the wolf.



So Mr Spiderman wherever you are, you have one super crazy fan in my SON.
 

Blast from the Past

This months topic among the group was suggested by Your's Truly :) and it was "To write a letter to your 20 year old self letting him/her know how you turned out to be" ofcourse a touch oh humour is always welcome.


So here goes my version of it.

My dear 20year old self,

I am indeed proud to tell you that even today, you are the cool- headed person you used to be, nothing much affects that thick skin of yours. You still leave everything to the last minute and believe that whatever happens, happens for the best.


Now for some blast from the plast

You should have really listened to Mom when she told you to keep your clothes and books neatly, if you would have done it then , you would have done it now. Unfortunately for your hubby, you still remain the messy kind, though nowadays I do see you making an effort to keep your room and kitchen tidy. And No, you still do not iron your clothes.


As for managing your home and cooking, you always were confident you could manage it when the time came and yes, you do! No complaints so far. You still like to try out new receipes and has not yet got bored of cooking.


Sadly, you did not have an arranged marriage like you hoped and not even to a Malu, infact it is to a guy with whom you converse in Hindi(so much for expecting to marry a guy with whom you would talk in Malayalam or English) and all that talks with friends about how we don't care how the guy looks, he should be able to talk good, your guy doesn't talk much but he does cook some awfully mouth-watering dishes and helps you with everything.That one-headed monster named Jealousy has not been showing its head for a long time and thats good. You have a baby boy and you love him a lot, I know how you were so Women oriented and against all boys but he's a darling!


You should have done your Masters in English like how Dad told you to because nowadays you are trying to see if there are Online Courses on Creative Writing(Irony of Life). But you wanted to do anything related to Computers to get a chance to come to USA and yes, that gets fulfilled. You came to US not once but couple of time, infact I am writing this in an office from this country. You did not have to waste time looking up those proposals where those Malu guys were in US because you know what, you made it on your own. Those big big companies like TCS, Infosys which initially took only Engineers considered taking associates with Masters and nowadays they take candidates with BSC degree, so you would have eventually made it there!


How you hated dancing and still remember Mommy having to coax you to take part in those yearly Onam functions, well guess what things CHANGE and how, you love dancing so much that while in Mumbai, you even enrolled for western dance class. Infact nowadays you are on the look-out of any opportunity to shake your leg or anybody else's for that matter.


Friends - You never did have any many girl-friends anyways, school friends with whom you are still in touch with and your 1 best friend, with whom you hardly talk all year what with she being in India and different time-zone and all but you both know you an just start a conversation when you meet.
As for guys , you always prided on being good friends with those few guys on whom you had crushes or vice-versa but let me tell you, that eventually you will end up stop talking to them because they still hit on you and it's really not very decent.


And yes, those pimples of yours does stop appearing after you turn 30+, so still a long way for you to live with them.

Some key accomplishments you did manage to make till now!
1) Come to US and travel to almost all major spots
2) Get parents to US
3) Get Married and have a baby
4) No longer skinny


I hope when you write a letter to your 40 year old self your accomplishments inlude more than this like working for an NGO, written a book, gone back to 140 pounds etc but till then Have Fun!After all you have only One Life!

Attached or Unattached Emotions

This April 27th will mark the completion of 1 complete year after Ritvik and me are together. We had send him to India for 6 months during the winter and it was last year April 27th 2011 that he returned back to us with his grandpa.
From the time, he was in India he was very much attached to my FIL, sleeping, eating, my FIL had to be there everytime and once he goes to him, he wouldn't go to anyone else.
FIL was going to be with us for a month and then fly back to India.

The transition period started immediately, Ritvik got friendly to us immediately but night times, he wanted to sleep with his grandpa. We slept in the bedroom whereas FIL slept in the front room, so middle of the nite, when Ritzu woke up and did not see his grandpa he would cry till either his grandpa came to him or he himself would walk out to the front-room. In the evenings he would play with us but the minute it was 8 he wanted his grandpa. Gopi was as usual tensed at how we would manage when his dad left. I was too tired from home and office work to think much and was not going to get worried over this and spoil my sleep. He was my son and he would cry for 1 week after FIL left but I knew I could manage then. G even once told me that I was not doing anything to help when baby cried at night. Well, what could I do, it is not like we are living in a 2 level house with FIL sleeping downstairs or something , he was just 5 steps away from us. I told G, once he leaves we will manage but he was not convinced. The attachment of Ritzu to his grandpa started getting more as the day approached for him to leave, G even suggested asking his Dad to sleep at a friends palce for 2 nights. I talked him out of it, did not know what that was going to achieve, Ritvik would only get more cranky after the 2 days.
The day before he left FIL got all upset as to how we would manage after he left, Ritvik would cry for him and no one would be there, there were tears in his eyes. I felt bad too  but I reassured him, that yes with all this attachment he would cry for 4-5 days but then he would be fine.

Finally the day arrived for FIL to leave, I asked G to take Ritvik to the airport and show him his grandpa leaving as it would be easy to explain when he would later cry or ask for him. They left him at 1 and returned home. I reached by 4 to see Ritvik playing with G(being his usual self), he played, eat his food, slept, did not wake up at night and early in the morning he did not walk out in the front room like he did for the past month but just played with us on the bed and continued his day.
He never once asked or cried for his grandpa, he just blended into life with us.

I felt sad for my FIL , did my son not care or did he understand so much at a young age. I am still amazed at how he did not ask for him even once after he left, but another feeling sunk in, maybe my son will be Happy wherever he is.

And then I am this

13th April 2012:- Once again, we @Broadmoor decided to have a get-together to celebrate the Tamil, Punjabi, Bengali and Kerala New Year. Friday, April 13th was decided as the day for the dhamaka nite.

Recently when I went to India Ritvik had got a silk mundu,shirt and I could not see any occasion to put this on him until he outgrows it, so being one of the organizers for the event I insisted on a Fancy Dress Show for the kids.I could dress Ritzu as a Tamil/Malu groom(no need of purchasing any costume, no hard work, the devil in me grinned).We informed all parents only 10 days in advance and all were pretty enthusiastic about it. 

Being part of the  committee of three I was busy in getting food/games arrangements.

Four days before the event  one of the mommies asked what Ritvik was to become and I said ,"Aaaah..ummmmm..not decided"(I did not what to give his outfit out) and she suggested asking him for suggestions. Well, if I did that, i already knew the answer, I thought. SPIDERMAAAAAAAAAAAAAN, it would be. Anyway out of curiosity at night while putting him to sleep I did ask him and he replid, "Easter bunny,amma". Hmmm, if he wanted to become a Easter bunny, I could atleast try to get him a costume. Next day I googled on how to make a Easter bunny costume(am totally against buying a readymade costume), I did find one site but the whole process would take a week and involved stitching as well. While googling for this I did come upon a easy way of making a sheep costume. So evening the conversation goes like this to Ritvik.

"Easter bunny is difficult to make", what about a sheep?

"No amma, no sheep"

"But sheep is good, you could go onstage and say "Baa Baa, black Sheep"

"No amma"

"Ok, then what else can you become"

"Amma, man with the yellow hat" (For those who don't have toddlers, this is Curious George and his friend, the man with the yellow hat". Link is here.

Ahaaa, this was interesting and doable and different. (I also had my backup costume, in case this did not work out)

I was encouraged and said he would look great in it.

So again the next day I googled for the man with the yellow hat costume and again came upon some pretty interesting links. Since Ritvik did not have a yellow shirt/pant, I would have to get a white shirt and pant and dye it. He already had boots and a belt. I would have to make the hat and tie.

 I ran the idea by hubby who said it would be easier to just buy the hat or else go with the sheep costume.

 Next day morning I again tried convincing him to be a sheep but all the encouragement the previous night went to his head, he flatly refused.So Thursday morning I ran the idea by Sandhya and she said it was doable, so we went shopping@Micheals and got the yellow dye, the paper for cardboard, black felt, satin ribbon and glue.

Friday morning Sandhya started work on the hat and tie and it came out beautiful. Evening when he returned from day-care Ritzu was so excited to see the hat, he was even ready to take bath right away.

So, all of you who managed to read this post here is the The Man With The Yellow Hat and he did have a kutti George Monkey to accompany him.

The Power Within Me

This month’s topic among the group was chosen as


“Given a chance, the power /sixth sense I would like to have & why.”


It does sound like a Beauty Pageant question and if I was a contestant my immediate answer would be world peace, Erradication of poverty, stop global warming etc.


Well, I am not participating in any contest and so I wanted to write about something which is much more practical. The answer came to me in one of my evening walks.


It so happened that 2 weeks back Minnesota which is know for its harsh winters had a beautiful weather on a Friday evening. The weather was perfect to go out to the park (when you have a toddler you don’t think beyond this). I picked Ritvik from the day care and eagerly awaited G to return from office to go out. G came, sat on the sofa with his cup of tea, said he had a head-ache and wanted some quite time. Soon after he got a call and immediately informed me that he was going out to play volley-ball. I was furious, here I was waiting for him so that all three of us could go out and he did not even bother. I think he understood my anger from my grumpy face and took Ritvik with him as well.


With baby & hubby gone, I decided to take a walk by the lake. There is a short route and a long route . I decided to take the long route and walk at such a slow pace that I would reach home only by 9 or maybe take 2 rounds and reach home even later. G would probably get a little tensed on not seeing me, I hoped. As I don’t carry a cell it is impossible to reach me, so I started my walk with all these evil intentions in my mind. I was halfway on the long route when I suddenly felt a little pain in my stomach. There was a bench few feet ahead and I took some rest there. Once I felt well I started walking and again that same feeling in my stomach, oh oh, it was then that I realized, what I was undergoing was Nature’s call, not to pee but to poop.


As soon as the realization hit I who intended to walk the slowest, walked the fastest that evening. The only prayer I kept repeating was God, please save me from any embarrassment. At one time I even thought of squatting in the bushes but this was not India and maybe someone would call 911 on seeing a butt naked lady in the bushes.I asked God to forgive me for my evil intentions to hurt G and the Power to Control. I literally ran past the stairs and dashed into the restroom.

This is a true incident and I immediately knew that I would want to have the Power to Control Nature’s Call.

I remember so many time in India when we would have to go to dirty/stenchy toilets, if only I had the Power I could always do it in my home.How many times have we drank so much water at lunch that in the meeting afterwards you want to pee so bad and crossing and uncrossing your legs also does not help.


Oh Lord! I would want the Power to Control Nature’s Call.