SaAp SeEdY - oF hiSsInG and mOuNtiNg

Read THIS post by Suma a few days ago. Ofcourse her's is a very sensible and warm post. The only similarity is that my post is about games too. THis one was written on another website I used to write previously on before blogger snatched me away. I thought I might as well share my pearls of wit and wisdom (AHEM!) here as well. That also means I can do sixty posts by just copy pasting the stuff written there!


The idea came from the VERY brilliant and solliidd funny buddy called Udtahaathi! Must read for laughs! Especially This one!


Most of us here are familiar with Sridevi dressed in white, writhing and wriggling in the song “Main teri dushman, dushman tu mera. Main naagin tu sapera” from the classic Nagina.


Somewhere you must have heard this classic dialogue too. "Tumne jisko doodh pilaya ma, woh aasteen ka saanp nikla!"


And it was a snake that got Adam and Eve chucked to Earth from Paradise.


Snakes always make me think of something nasty and evil. Something that looks so slimy can hardly be trustworthy. Add to that some of its species are poisonous to boot and I think all of em bite anyway.


Yet with all these “qualities” these reptiles play starring role in one of the most popular childhood games (that I still LOVE) called Snakes and Ladders. Of course here too Snakes are the villains, so no surprises there.


I tried googling the history of Snakes and Ladders but couldn’t come up with much. Wikipedia says that the western form of the game was invented in Victorian England possible by John Jacques and was apparently adapted from ancient Indian game Dasapada dating back to 2nd century BC. These claims however have not been verified.


Since not much is known about the history, cut to present or recent past or whatever and let me tell you what this game all about.


Snakes and Ladders is basically a board game played between two or more players with a block grid on the board. These blocks have numbers 1-100 on them. Some of these have a ladder or a snake on them. The intention is to reach to the topmost block saying 100, your starting point being One!


You roll the dice and move the pawn as per the number you get on the dice. If you get six you enjoy another turn. Yiippppeee!! So all the players take turns rolling the dice and keep moving ahead. If you come on a block that has the beginning of ladder on it, you get a shortcut up the ladder. For eg. You reach 8 and it has ladder that reaches up to 23, you jump up to 23 in that same turn! Whatte fun! :p The same way some blocks have snake mouths on them. If you get into one of THOSE blocks then you slip down the slippery snake right to the block where the tail is, losing all the lead you might have gained!


So you basically keep on rolling the dice and keep moving up and down depending on your luck till you finally reach the century number 100!


The winning or losing depends on sheer dumb luck which is why I just love this game! If you are the type who is good at rolling dice and getting the number you want a la Shakuni Mama, you will not be wasting that precious talent trying it on Snakes and Ladders! Hehe!


Snakes and ladders is available almost everywhere – starting from local trains and streets in Mumbai to every toy shop worth its salt. It should cost you anywhere between 15bucks to maybe maximum of Rs.100 which will be one of those 5 in 1 kind of boards.


It’s difficult to NOT enjoy the game even today (a reflection on my IQ I guess!), but its sheer simplicity makes it so enjoyable just for a few real laughs and fake groans when you go down the snake!


It is usually a big hit with kids because it’s so easy to learn and can be played with lots of friends as long as you have those different coloured pawns to differentiate between players. If not anything else, they are sure to learn their numbers to 100 and to win and lose in turns.


This may sound farfetched, but isn’t our life a lot like Snakes Ladders too? WE roll the dice (do what we should) and then move. Sometimes it takes us to unexpectedly quick success… that elusive ladder we get. At times, a sudden fall because of circumstances… the snake that pushed you down. Most other times we just keep moving at our own pace without any major hurdles. Eventually we reach our destination through all the Snakes and Ladders and those plain blocks.


Of course, in our life luck plays a smaller role I guess, yet the similarity is uncanny, won’t you agree?


On a lighter note I wish I could dance like Sridevi in Nagina! Anyone game to play the music??!! :p

Fifty50!

oh well! when you want to write and dont know what a tag comes to the rescue. Monika tagged me to do this one! So here i go!


1. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE?

Naah! My granny chose it! and again yesterday a guy on phone first called me Radha and when i stressed on A said Aadha! aaarrgghh! Is it really that difficult?!

2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED?

yesterday. while watching Delhi 6. Then almost got teary eyed when Cubby did "Namsate" to all elders before leaving. It was so cute even if it was done on my request! :)

3. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING?

EEKKSS!! does that answer the question?!

4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT?

Lunch is usually veg since I don't cook in the mornings and the office has arrangements with an udupi place! Oh! and i cant cook non-vegetarian food! :( but I love fish and chicken

5. DO YOU HAVE KIDS?

Yes! This blog started as an online baby book for him. And that's what it pretty much is even now!

6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON, WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU?

Yes! I would be terribly lucky! :p

7. DO YOU USE SARCASM?

Yeah. Sometimes it works the best. Though mostly i think of sarcastic comments as an afterthought. so they mostly happen in my head!

8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS?

Yes. Touchwood i have never had a surgery. Except the C-sec! ;)

9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP?

Next thing to do after the tattoo!! :)

10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL

Wheat and rice!

11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF?

Nopes. I wish i didnt have to open em even while wearing em! :p

12. IF YOU WERE TO PICK YOU OWN FIRST NAME, WHAT WOULD IT BE?

I really cannot imagine anything else! Perhaps Anamika or Avantika

13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM?

Chocolate! and i honestly think Vanilla should not even be called a flavour! Frozen sweet milk is all it is! UNLESS it's dunked in chocolate sauce! :p

14. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE?

Smile and handshake. I hate limp handshakes especially when they are offered like that because you are a woman!

15. RED OR PINK?

Red - totally love it! :)

16. WHAT IS YOUR LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF

I am terribly impatient!

17. WHOM DO YOU MISS THE MOST?

right now M who is in pardes!

18. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO COMPLETE THIS LIST?

that's the point, innit?!

19. WHAT COLOR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING?

Denim capris and white chappals (will it sound fancier if i call them thong style slippers or something?!;)

21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW?

Crap playing on office radio. Would love to listen to Delhi 6! :)

22. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE?

Red

23. FAVORITE SMELLS?

Cubby - freshly bathed! good food! Mehendi! Pudina!

24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE?

Office colleagues. Work related stuff!

25. HOW DO YOU KNOW THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU

blogosphere and then in asli life! and i am happy about it! :)

26. FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH?

I havent watched anything in ages! if i do, Tennis!

27. HAIR COLOR?

i think its towards brown! whatever l'il i have that is!

28. EYE COLOR?

Brown.

29. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS?

No. Wore them only at my wedding and M has been begging me to ever since! But i find them too cumbersome. glasses are easy! :)

30. FAVORITE FOODS?

Dark chocolate and its various dessert forms, pizza, vada-pav and Mumbai sandwich!

31. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS?

Both! Though i really don't get scared by I know what you did last summer kinda genre! so no slasher flicks!

32. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED?

Delhi 6 and totally loved it! :)

33. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING?

a yellow chikan kurti.

34.SUMMER OR WINTER

i dunno really. I cant take either extremes!

35. HUGS OR KISSES

Both and in large quantities! Extremely healthy! :)

36. DESCRIBE YOUR PENCIL CUP

i have dumped by stuff in the drawer! that question kinda went over my head first. didn't we call those things pen-stands?!

38. FAVORITE ARTIST(s)?

is an answer really expected?! how to pick one? Jack Nicholsan, Amitabh Bacchan, Abhay Deol, Asha Bhonsale, Kishore Kumar, all the peoples at Pixar studios and many others!

39. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW?

Striptease by Carl Hiaasen. Rereading is more like it. I just love this dude! Othawise just read Palace of Illusions and LOVED it.

40. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD?

Oh its some ugly n old mouse pad in dull grey! Shessh! The things these tags make you notice!

41. WHAT DID YOU WATCH ON TV LAST NIGHT?

Didn't watch TV at all. Yes, it IS possible! :)

42. FAVORITE SOUND(S).

Nice music and an asli full throated laughter

43. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES?

A R Rahman! :p

44. WHAT IS THE FARTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME?

Lucknow, i guess.

45. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT?

My smile reaches my eyes! :)

46. WHERE WERE U BORN?

Pune. That's where I got married too!

47. FAVORITE PIECE OF JEWELRY?

earrings. mostly danglers.

48. HOW DID YOU MEET YOUR SPOUSE/SIGNIFICANT OTHER?

At alliance francaise! He joined the class to patao another pal, I pataoed him instead! :)

49. FAVORITE SONG?

yeh dilli hai mere yaar! Ishq mohabbat pyaar! thats the only line i know and I am loving it! :)

50.Favorite Musical?

Chicago! I love the whole treatment and how different every song is. What performances! And the actors have sung their own songs. Love Queen Latifah's song - Reciprocity. No, actually I love all the songs! :)

Now to tag others! Suma, WIAN, Smita, Swati and Puja.

Yeh tag karke saadi izzat rakh lo! :p

The end of teens, eh?!

So today Cubby turns 19months. Somehow the whole two's and schooling bit doesn't seem so distant anymore. Seeing his antics, I keep wondering "What next?!"

So my darling son, the stage is all yours! Like every month around this time. (Oh well! You know it is few days here n there, every now and then!) This time I really don't know where to start. I mean obvious milestones like walking, talking, dancing, teething and such are done. Now there is a marked improvement in these things and so many intangibles that I am clueless about putting in words. But I can always try, can't I?

You now RUN all over the house. Be it to run away from clothes or the oil massage before your bath or the cream post it. You just raise your hands and make a dash away from whatever it is you don't want. More often than not this is accompanied by naughty laughter which we get to hear ever so often these days! :)

You catch on the games pretty quickly and want to repeat them as often as it pleases you. Be it running between your Dadu's legs when he is trying to block you or the silly Dhoom game mummy plays. It just involves holding my hand and running and touching the main door saying "Dhoom!" and then running back to the other corner and touching the table!

You love physical masti now. Be it throwing yourself without a worry on the bean bag or being made to hang ulta holding your legs. You could be standing on the bolster on the bed and you just let youself fall without knowing what fear means. A happy laughter rings through the house when you do these things. It belongs to everyone present in the house at that time. You will stand at the edge of the bed or on the chair and extend your hands for me to hold them as you mouth the word JUMP! A word that sounds like Un mma but means Once More follows in quick succession! :)

You are quite a stickler for routine. Anything that is done once in a certain order, you demand it be done same way. When i tell you lets go have bath, you go and sit on the stool. I take off your clothes. You say "Stan up" and then point to your nappy saying "Naapee! Take it off!". You then ask for soap and it's a daily fight since you want to hold the soap the entire duration. Between a tussle here and there we manage to get done. I end the bath saying we will Bucket Boodoosha which means pouring the remaining water direct from bucket onto you. So then I hear a little voice teling me Buckette Booaassha! That done, you ask for "Tauiya" meaning taulia (towel). It always amazes and amuses me how you remember every l'il detail. You say "Chottu Munni" as soon as I wrap you in the towel and pick you up 'coz I call you Chottu Baby as I hold the freshly bathed warm close to me!

Yeah! What's with the chhotu munni anyway? When did you hear this word. Its really funny. I say Goonda Baby, you repeat it. I say gandoo baby, you repeat that. I say naughty baby, you do. You get the drift. But the moment is say Chhotu Baby, you say Chhotu Munni! And then laugh! You are such a weirdo, I tell ya! :)

And it doesn't end with this. You have now learnt to point to shoulders and chest. So when we ask you where is your shoulder, you show it correctly. But when we point to your shoulder and ask you "What is this?", you say "Ion" (lion) and the other shoulder is "Diger" (tiger). Sometimes both are Ion! What gives dude?! :p

That reminds me, you can now repeat What is this as What this is and I am guessing using it as an actual question is going to start soon! Sigh!

You say Good Night so adorably! It started just like that one day and for a few days only the toys and things in room got the wishes. Goonight! Sea Otta! GooNight! Payintin(painting)! GooNight Oneybee! and so on and so forth. Now we hear GooNight papa! GooNight Mummy! GooNight Daadu with a cute style that so uniquely yours. Goodmorning has just about started! :)

You love counting. Un, two, thee, four you know. Rest of it pretty much garble. You love saying do-do, dono, otha to indicate multiple number.

You also like pretending that you KNOW your abcd! Usually it gies A,B, C, D, M, N and then some baby talk I dont understand. A is sometime for apple, sometimes ball and mostly goat. Then sometimes, like today, you go ahead and shock me. I just randomly said as distraction for giving you milk, Q for and you said Cooween (Queen)! I am thinking it's just a totally lucky guess! :)

The tantrums keep getting worse. Now you raise hell for every little thing that is denied to you. It could be just about any random thing. If you are refused, a big crying session happens! I find it difficult to be patient and/or firm at such times. But thankfully you also get distracted pretty soon till the next thing catches your fancy. You can throw tantrum for something as silly as getting your nappy changed or wearing your nightsuit or demanding the spoon with which we are eating! Grrrrrr!

If there are tantrums, there are hugs and kisses too. You have finally started offering hugs on your own. You will come and just keep your head on my lap or put your arms around our neck and say "Uggie" and the tenderness just makes me go all mushy inside! :) Keep em coming my darling son! :) Soft toys are also offered Uggies every now and then especially when i scold them for not eating their food! :p

We are wroking on the potty training now. You understood the big job funda within 10 odd days and now tell us 95 outta 100 times scrunching up your face and saying "Paatie!". Uuderstanding the su-su funda seems quite some time away. There are times when you do tell, but mostly it's AFTER you are done. And yes, you demand a book when on the potty! ;) Ho jaayega! :)

You now take a little more time to adjust to new places and people. Not the free for all baby you used to be which in a way is a good thing. That in no way means you are anti-social. You still love meeting people, especially other kids! :)

You insist on reading same two books everytime. Looking at is more like it. You just don't have the patience to listen to a whole story. You prefer to point at things you know. Sometimes, you will insist on not even turning the page showing the same things as if caught in some kinda infinite loop. Gah! I mean we KNOW you know an elephant by now! :p

You have started with small phrases already. Be it give me (in tones of rsisng intensity!), keep it, nightsuit pehnenge and god knows how many more things!

You love playing in the kitchen. If you are in a happy mood and not insisting on Godi when we are cooking you play by yourself with dabbas and bowls. Occassionally I hear you say Patia (patila), Katoi (katori/bowl) and some such. You remove all the alu (potatoes) in the basket and spread them across the kitchen. You later help clear em up also.

Another thing you can do now is to open the microwave door. We have no option of taking it out of your reach. Saying no was obviously strengthning your resolve to do it. So as a midway, we have explained to you that you can open the door ONLY when it does Tee!Tee! which means, only after the buzzer goes off saying job done. You can be in any corner of the house but you RUN to microwave when you hear Tee!Tee! as if your life depended on it! Now am teaching you to not try and close the door on Mommy's hand. We are doing good!

Eating is still a pain. You eating normal khaana with us seems like a verry distant dream. You LOVE bananas and can love on them. Ask you anytime, you will say Banama (improvement from earlier Bawawa) and get it from the fruit bowl by stretching on your tiny toes and give it to us. We peel it and give it in your hand and you eat happily! You also like cheese evey now and then and can polish off a slice within no time. You like the taste of butter too. As you see, nothing that can count as a meal shows up here. (Sorry to all mums I must have judged!)

How can I forget? From touching the chappals to trying to lick em (with some successes I am sure!), you have finally moved to wearing them. Only hitch is they are ours and about 5 sizes too big! But when did that stop you, anyway?! So, you are often seen trying our chappals and shoes and we often find a pair cruelly seperated a room away!

You also know who lives where. Daadi and Daadu, Puna mein and Aaji Ajoba hai Baambay! Mama is in Meica (America). And yeah, what do we do with the "Amma" accent you have picked up ?! Dog is Daag, Potty is paatie and bombay is baambay. You add oo and ee to everything. Egg is eggu, soap is soappu and bread is bedde! I am praying you grow out of it eventually! Brrrrr!

Drat! Yet again I have to chew my words when I said I wont have much to say! You are such a complete joy to be with. Ofcos there were times in last month when we wondered whre out smiling kid had dsiappeared. I almost used the banned word "cranky" to describe you. Your Papa has gone out of town for about a month. When he left he told you that you are the man of the house aned need to take care of your mummy. It's almost like you understood what he told you! :) Your clear laughter (sometimes asli, other times fake) makes us laugh too.

And today when I kept my head on your lap as we woke up (just to tease ya), I was surprised you just let me be and even offered an Uggie!

What more can a woman ask for, eh?! :)

happy 19th my love! God Bless! :)

Designs on me for Valentines Day!

So what did we do this Valentines day? Usually we are pretty clueless and last year we actually forgot about it. This year...


We could have been doing something like this...


Instead we laughed over the corny heart shaped chocolate cake...


choked on the heart-straw, but Looved the sinful coffee.


and then went to a tattoo parlour to get meself a tattoo!


Yes!!! I did too! :)


Ofcos its NOT blood! Freaked ya out, didn't I?! :p


Sneak preview!

Taadaa!! That's cute l'il devil a.k.a. Hot Stuff! :)

It is still getting healed, so I don't have a clearer and nicer picture. This is with M's camera phone. I have wanted a tattoo for the longest time. When I told my dad, he said "Finally! Your long standing wish is getting fulfilled! Make sure the needles are new!" My mom freaked out just as I thought she would! :D It is indeed heartening to see some thing don't change. Hehe!

Finally found this guy to get it done from. Came reccoed from coupla friends and a totally worthy recco I must say. Ofcos this being my first tattoo, I am no expert, but I felt comfortable with him, he had a steady hand and the tattoo looked exactly the way I though it would. The place was neat and clean, they opened a new needle in front of me and gave em to me as souvenir once done thus reassuring me that they don't get reused.

M first decided to wait downstairs but then came up to the studio to "hold my hands" through the pain and was thoroughly disappointed at my lack of screaming and crying! :p

Cubby has been touching it, pointing to the nappy the devil is wearing and saying "Naappy!" followed with "Niicce!" in his characteristic style.

Me, I am just waiting for this week to get over so that it's completely healed and i don't have to hide it under the Neosporin powder I sprinkle generously to avoid infection. And no, there are no deep thoughts behind the design. I just thought it was cute! :D There was definitely a thought behind the place... ankle is the only part of my body that at this point of time that doesn't jiggle! :p Logical, Nahi?! :p

Thanks M! For the AWESOME gift! :) Love ya more than you know or can imagine. But then you DO know, don't ya?! :)

WHAT GUDI?!

was the question asked by both, my mom and dad, when we told them we were going to Masinagudi for the long republic day weekend. Cubby still has too much Baergatta hangover to acknowledge Masinagudi often. But he has his moments!

As usual we kept thinking of having a plan without actually making an effort to see it materialise! By Tuesday before the weekend, I started making phone calls and every place around the city was full with no acco available anywhere. Show me the recession people! Then M remembered Masinagudi, which was highly reccoed by the cousin who had gone there recently. The websites looked inviting and it was not like we had a lot of choice anyway, with everything being full of over enthu Bangaloreans. (Digression: People in Bengaluru really take their weekends seriously and its so heartening to see that! :)

As part adventure / part slumming it out, we decided to drive down. We have a 800 and its not the best car to do 250kms one way kinda trips. But M wanted to try his hand and Cubby n me were all for it! :) The car gave us a mean mileage of 22kms/litre on this trip. Kala tika! :D

So we made the bookings at this place, transferred the money etc and did packing in bits and pieces every evening since the plan was to hit the road latest by 730am. With a kid to take along we are nothing if not realistic. Ofcos imagine our horror when the alarm didn't ring and we woke up at 7 when the maid rang the bell. I was in a shitty mood because of the delay, but it turned out to be blessing because we had slept longer and were eventually in better moods.

Taking a short break to just stretch our legs!

M being like all other men, would rather ask Internet the route rather than other human beings. So while going we took a route that was more potholes, than road. M kept wondering how come we had no other company all the way. We realised we had taken a wrong route only when we spoke to another couple at the resort and they told us the regular one. So people, Yahoo maps sucks! We are not in the US with awesome GPS systems. So just ask other people who know! :)

The cottages! :)

We reached the place at around 3 and fell in love with the resort. Pretty stone cottages with high ceilings, that kept the extra heat and cold out, clean beds, a GORGEOUS garden juts outside with a stupendous view of the mountain, The Nilgiris from window and the balcony. We had managed to have lunch on our way and after freshening up a bit ordered chai and onion pakoda. It was such bliss to just sit out on the balcony looking at all the pretty flowers in the garden and being awed at the magnificence of the mountains that seemed within walking distance.

There was a bonfire in the evening and we warmed ourselves and made some friends. Cubby now looks at lit agarbatti and says Fiirree thanks to seeing enough Fire the two days we were there. Dinner was buffet and though not exceptional, was quite nice and filling. Funny thing was the guy used to come and tell us the menu rattling off a thousand things out of which we saw about one or two. Hehe.

The view in the morning. Can you even imagine the mountain is right there hidden by the fog? Garden outside the room!

Next morning there was so much fog that I actually thought I had imagined seeing the mountains. It was like they had disappeared overnight. As we had chai sitting in the balcony and the sun started shining more brightly, the fog gave way to the mountains, yet again. Cubby and we walked on the grass barefoot and tried playing ball. The things with greenery in Masingudi is its a l'il dry. So you don't see those soothing lush greens nor is the grass that soft. But its still more fun than tiles and concrete. :)

Check out Cubby's hep hand me down jacket. Got it just in time!

Is this picture perfect or what?! Except me ofcos! :p

We decided to have lunch someplace else and got out of the resort to just look around and figure out our options. I had also tried getting acco at this place, and though they offered a room l'il too late, the girl was sweet enough to ask us to join em for lunch if possible. We called them and after bit of discussion they said, we could come over. Oh! The place is beyootiful. They even have a swimming pool. The food that cost us almost as much as our resort was delicious to say the least and the restaurant really pretty. And imagine my delight when I saw chocolate ice cream as dessert. I get so annoyed with seeing vanilla ice cream (which is not even a real flavour for crying out loud!) at every buffet. All in all, a great decision! Maybe we will stay there next time we go. Though I must say, our resort was high of pretty factor too! :)

Aren't the mountains magnificent?!

We tried sleeping in the afternoon, but Cubby is his enthu best at this time and we didn't really get much sleep. We just chilled, walked around the resort, got amazed by just HOW MANY stars there are in the sky. You can just sit and keep looking and counting.

Blacky or Blaaki as Cubby call it.

Next morning, it was already time to leave. As we came out to pay bills etc, we saw a cat there. Cubby had never seen a asli cat. Remember, how he insists on calling cat a dog just to annoy me. Well, now he doesn't. L'il Blacky (the cat) made sure he/she convinced Cubby of it's existence. One of the uncles picked it up and let Cubby touch it and Cubby's glee on hearing an actual Miaow was just so cute! :)

He also got to hear cows moo because every evening the cows would be mooing away to glory as they returned home after grazing. So now we also get to hear cow goes moo often. He played with goats and was totally fascinated by the kids (goat babies). He saw asli donkeys and now calls horse, a horse instead of donkey! We got to hear rooster too and he does his version of cock-a-doodle-do! :) I realised even more strongly that books might teach them to point at the right thing, but seeing and experiencing the the same things has much deeper and more meaningful impact! :)

We did not do safari etc because it was too hot and we had done it before at Nagarhole Wildlife sanctuary and from what we heard later, it was a good decision! :)

Money paid (less than we expected, hence making us verry happy), we got set to to come back to Bangalore. This time it was a normal road and with enough breaks (a niiice fish lunch at a deserted place called Fishland and coffee and sandwich at CCD on Mysore road) we reached home by around 6pm after 6 and 1/2 hrs on the road.

First scared and then thrilled in the Hammock! :)

Cubby was on good behaviour most of the time except food time and I lost my patience ever so often. I still can't get over his being so difficult when it comes to eating. There was an occasional rona-dhona session in the car because he wanted M to hold him when he was driving, but that was okay simply because if we as adults get bored in such long drives, a kid very obviously will be.

I cooked up simple pasta dinner and we went to bed early, exhausted, but very happy. We are thinking about going to Halebid at next opportunity! :)

Here is the propah travel guide I wrote!

My picture feature! :p

Yes Mummy! Kya ho gaya?!

Accha Ruko toh. Leme finish the pakodas at least!

Ok! Now you can take my picture! :)

Ok! Now lets take a walk! Isnt it niicce, Mummy?! :)

a forward too cute to resist!

So i got this forward from a mail and i though it was too cute to be missed! And since Cubby has entered our lives, I know time flies faster than before. So even though I think his homework days are far away, i know before long, I will be facing the H word! Have a good laugh!

(Here's the reply the teacher received the following day)

Dear Mrs. Jones,

I wish to clarify that I am not now, nor have I ever been, an exotic dancer. I work at Home Depot and I told my daughter how hectic it was last week before the blizzard hit. I told her we sold out every single shovel we had, and then I found one more in the back room, and that several people were fighting over who would get it. Her picture doesn't show me dancing around a pole. It's supposed to depict me selling the last snow shovel we had at Home Depot.From now on I will remember to check her homework more thoroughly before she turns it in.

Sincerely,Mrs. Smith

And while I am doing the mommy bit, leme shock Muthalik by telling him that Mommies also believe in Pink Chaddis and all that they stand for! I am verry tickled with the fact that M.Muthalik is now gonna be in Dharwad and Belgaum instead of Bengaluru as per his original plan. I am guessing he got scared the bengaluru hoodgas and hoodgis might just make him wear a huge garland... made with what else, but Pink Chaddis! :p

Me, I am waiting for my return gift! sari! Check out IHM's wicked poetry! If you haven't already that is! :)

So what plans for the V-day peoples?! :)

Zebba, Ippo and Eyetaya!

If you come into the Jain ghar these days, you will see a little boy walking around the house saying Zebba! Baergatta! Ippo! Baby! Baergatta! M says I have scarred him forever by taking him to Bannerghatta National Park. That he will be found walking chanting Zebba even at age 20 perhaps. Sometimes, I almost tend to agree. But I am already planning to take him to Mysore Zoo in near future. They even have a giraffe I have heard!


At the entrance. raring to go!

Anyhoo, now that Cubby had started recognizing lot of animals and can walk for fairly long time without demanding "Gooddi" (carry me request said in one word!), we though good time to take him to the zoo. And it was so totally worth it.



Oho! Mummy stop posing for pics! Let's go!

Ofcos the day started funny with rain gods deciding to do their sense of humour bit by making it rain in middle of January! I kept having my intense one on one with God demanding the rain be taken away with immediate effect, but the cludy n cool weather could stay. Afterall you can only bargain as much and the rains did stop by the time we entered the zoo, though cool n cloudy, not really! :p

Bass aise hi. GK ke liye! :p

We decided to skip the safari considering we were not sure if Cubby will enjoy being in a small bus with grilled windows and squinting to see tigers and lions. Plus there was a mile long Q for it. So we bought our tickets for the zoo and camera and went it.

Can you see the python, somewhere down there?!

Bannerghatta is a tad confusing and its not easy to find animals you really want to see. I mean would an 18month old actually care about a huge cobra that lying on the floor or hidden in it's cave with just the tail showing?! Anyhoo, we first found Bear which is an animal Cubby recognizes. There were three of em and one was eating Ganna (sugarcane). So now the series goes Bear! Baergatta. You ask what does Bear eat?! He replies Ganna! :) The grills have very small squares and for a kid it's not easy to make out what is prowling the cage.

That's a Bear! It is eating ganna!

We saw some monkeys, langurs etc and Cubby was quite happy though not as excited as we thought he would be. The leopard didn't interest him at all and the hyena was too stinky to stand there for long. The small tortoises were really cute, but thanks to almost no movement I am not sure how much Cubby noticed. Same goes for crocodiles, who were sunning themselves like statues that even I had a doubt if they are real. Some moved suddenly and we tried to see Cubby would notice it. He does say Cocodile now! ;) So maybe he did.

I think there is leopard somewhere in the background! :p

What really got a reaction was his favourite Zebra. He could not believe his eyes that he was seeing a live Zebba about 50times the size of his toy one. Plus the fencing had enough gap to see it clearly. Add to that it is a good looking animal. The black n white stripes, taut and shiny skin and right there within your grasp. Cubby was totally fascinated. Till date he identifies Bannerghatta outing with Zebba more than anything else.

Isn't the baby Ippo totally cute!

Hippo (Ippo) also became quite a favourite. My belief all babies are cute came true when we saw a baby Ippo. It was adorable and stuck to it's mum (i guess) all the time. They also came and gave them food while we were there, so we showed Cubby how they were having their khaana.

I am bored now, Mommy!

Eyetaya (Elephant) didn't get as much approval as we though. Or maybe it was because he was tired by now. He had been walking with us almost the entire time, demanding godi every now and then and walking again when little refreshed. We saw some birds, but that didn't interest him much, neither did the listless aquarium. I have seen better stuff in homes.

WE took a lunch break and ate some OK types biryani available at the government stall. Egg rice, more like it. Tried feeding Cubby some cerelac. The stall was next to the children's play area and Cubby went absolutely ballistic just playing in sand rather than go on slides and swings which we made him do for our khushi! :p

See- saw! Up Down! Upar Neeche!


I am doing this only for their happiness!


Id much rather play in mitti! One fistful of sand has so many interesting things! :)

Ofcos, playing in it with Zebba, even more fun!

Zebba ROCKS! people! :D

Where is my Zebba?!


Oh my god! What do I do now?!


What the heck?! I will just play with sand again!

We then tried hunting for rabbits which turned out to be futile and we just kept going in circles. Plus we were terribly tired by then and decided to call it a day, leaving the rest to another day. And we will be back soon indeed! :)

Chalo bhai. Ab ghar chalein?!



Haan please! I am so tired. And sleepy.

ps: We don't have too many animal pics because its difficult to click em through the mesh and we were too fascinated by Cubby's reactions to bother taking pics at that time. His expression to me read "OMG! These things exist OUT of books and even move!"

pps: for anyone who wants more details on Bannerghatta National park, here's my review with more practical details! http://bangalore.metromela.com/article/Go+wild+at+Bannerghatta+National+Park/2407

I have no idea what this post is going to talk about or where it's gonna go. There is so much that has been happening that is scaring the hell outta me while making me very very angry. Be it idiotic Sri Ram Sene actually getting cockier by the day with the publicity they are getting to people losing jobs in hundreds every single day.

Puja wrote her usual short post packed with a punch after the Mangalore attacks and though I tried to take it lightly, I just realised that it could be so true. Tomorrow, it could be M and me sitting somewhere and talking or just holding hands and walking in the malls, god forbid even exchange a hug and a peck and we could be thrashed for it. I don't wear any mangalsutra or toe rings to prove I am married. Will carrying my marriage certificate everywhere help considering most of these hooligans cannot even read?

If push comes to shove, will I be able to kick these men in their nuts and tell them to buzz off?! Will it be wise to do that even if I could work up the courage to do it? I mean violence isn't exactly my strength. No wonder, I don't belong to any of these moral police type parties. I quite like Trailblazer's post on this. It hurts like hell. Do read it. IHM too has been making a point and all relevant ones too about this.

To top it all, the BJP government ru(i)nning the state doesn't think parties like SRS need to be banned. Are these not fundamentalist organisations too? Are these people NOT terrorists?? These "internal terrorists" are even more dangerous because they actually get support and protection from some of us. Just like I was shocked to see some of my "educated" friends supporting MNS! So on that principle, will they support Kannada Rakhshna Vedike or some such organisation when they try to throw Maharashtrians out? With such violent means? Here's an interesting post by M on Internal Terrorism

Just today I had lunch with a male friend. We hug when we meet. If there is one of those hooligans walking by just when we hugged, will I branded as a slut, a dhabba on Indian culture and worthy of being molested by 10 men?! My heart beats faster and my blood boils at the thought of it.

Why do we make such a big deal about how grown up men and women want to behave with each other? Or how they want to spend their free time?

M used to travel a lot in one of his previous jobs. There was no Cubby even and I used to really get bored. The only friends I had then were mostly M's pals and some colleagues of mine. More often than not I would call one of em least once a week and tell them to take me out. We would have dinner, perhaps go to a pub or watch a late night movie. M knew about this and he was totally OK with it because we base our relationship on trust. That's the reason I was ok with him going to a bikini bar on his trip to Philipines! That's what grown ups do. They talk and sort out things amongst themselves. They don't need some idiot of a culture vulture to tell them what is right and what is wrong!

Once when a colleague and me decided to go for a movie, M was online (sitting in some godforsaken country) and I told him to book our tickets for the last show. My colleague was shocked. He actually could not believe that a relationship could be so honest and easy. Ofcos this dude perennially worried about how to get a virgin wife and I kept telling him you can never be sure! That made the poor guy even more nervous! :p

So then why do we complicate everything by basing things on gender stereotypes and prejudices of every kind? Why is it still a big deal to get married out of your caste and religion? Why is still awesome if we celebrate each other's festivals? Shouldn't it be the norm by now? Why do we still keep the onus of preserving bharatiya "culture" on a woman's shoulder? Why do we think different rules apply for different people and sexes?! Why can't I dance in a discotheque? Why can't i drink if I want to?! Why can't I wear what I want without being judged either as aunty or a whore?! Why am I an outsider even in my own country just because I cross a state border? Why is it so difficult for us to be polite and speak a language that everyone in the group understands?!

But more than all these things, why are we suddenly SO intolerant of everything thats different from us?! And what makes us think its OK to resort to violence to prove our point?! Why do we all want to be same, rather than enjoy our differences and diversity?! I mean not many countries are as lucky as we are to have so many different cultures in one geographical area! Shouldn't we celebrating it rather than fight it?!

Like I said this was supposed to be rambling. I almost never do these kinda posts because I cannot be logical in my thoughts and rather prefer reading and commenting on other people's blogs. But what the heck, its my blog innit?! :p