we are same same but different!

was a terrible song from what I hear was a terrible film made by Nagesh Kukunoor of all people! But nopes, this post isn't about bad songs or bad movies or even the NK mentioned above whose previous movies I have loved!

G(a)R(l)AND welcome! The view and space just outside the balcony!

So we celebrated our 5th anniversary over last weekend and went to this gorgeous resort called Our Native Village which is pretty close to Nrityagram in an area called Hessarghatta. WE fell in love with the place the moment we saw smiling faces, were offered yummiest jal jeera I have had and stepped into our pretty sunlit room.

The Room! You can see how happy Cubby is! So were we! :D

The low bed on high stone block had Cubby happily jumping all over the place. The wall behind had a beautiful painting and the orange "curtains" made outta mats just added to the feel. The Balcony opened to vast amounts of green and the stone structure that was our room was naturally cool and didn't need AC which they anyway don't have. TV and AC are two modern amenities that this "eco resort" doesn't offer and you don't miss it at all.

The bookshelf in the dining hall! Cubby was fascinated with a lion and the Ferris wheel!

The airy dining hall has a book shelf full of well thumbed books and some broken wooden toys that kept Cubby occupied every time we were having a meal. And yes, the food was delicious enough for us to spend long time at our table! :) What followed such a hearty meal was what you see below;

a much needed siesta! :)

So that we wake up fresh to see, do and enjoy all that there is!



Gawking at the turkey! It was huge and strutted around making weird sounds!

There were turkeys, roosters and hens to run after or just gawk at because I for one had never seen an asli turkey! There were the owners' dogs and their absolutely adorable puppies! So totally cute that even Cubby who is usually guarded when around anything new was OK having them sniff at him and jump on him! :)

The gorgeous pond / pool! :)

They have a beautiful natural pool in form of a pond with lotus flowers and occasional toads to keep you company! Cubby had fun in the pool with his papa. Ofcos his ego kept coming up every now and then when he realized he isn't supposed to enjoy all this after having said "nahi jaana hai" pretty vehemently. So rona dhona in between laughter kept happening! :)

Getting our hands dirty! The guy Umesh did most of the work but we did get two pots back! :)

You can indulge in all that rustic life entails. Starting from milking a cow (we were quite content just watching, thank you!) to getting your hands dirty as you try your hand at pottery! They also offer kite flying and gilli danda if thats what fancies you! We did the bullock cart ride and though it was nice to know what it feels like by end of it it just didn't seem fair to use it as a joyride.

Mom and son by the small pond while Father got his massage!

There is a spa as well and though not as fancy or spic n span as some of the newer ones (this one has oil on its floor etc), the person offering the massage was awesome. M got a full body massage and came out maha refreshed! Since they didn't have a female masseuse that day, I had to make do with a foot massage the next day which was quite nice too!

The view that greeted us next day morning! A flock of cranes! :)



I dunno why but i LOVE this picture! :)

The room rents are a tad steep but it is totally worth it. Only slight discomfort is the number of flies flitting around because they dont use any chemicals etc, but somehow you dont notice it much! Almost not at all! :)

Anyhoo, we casually mentioned it to the owner that we have come to celebrate our anniversary. Imagine our surprise when we were told that they have arranged a candle light dinner for us by the pool side! When we went back to the room post dinner is when the post with this title started happening in my head! Have a look and tell me what you think! ;)

Our bed decorated with flowers at ONV! we giggled like l'il kids!

This is why! The bed on our honeymoon in Himachal Pradesh! :D

sitting on the khatiya around the bonfire with tired Cub!

The Bonfire!

Us in front of the fireplace in our room during honeymoon! :p

Us at the bonfire at a lovely hotel in Thanedar!

Us holding hands at restaurant in Parwanoo in Himachal!

Holding hands over a romantic candle light dinner at ONV! :p

Me, the new bride at the hotel table during honeymoon!

Me, 5 years later, with Cubby next to us as we are about to start the dinner! :)

Yup that's him on the khatiya in the passage! :D We were meant to have a peaceful dinner! We just made a request to the hotel guys and within minutes a comfy bed for the sleeping Cub was ready! :)

Me making funny faces at mall road in Shimla because M kept insisting on some pose!

Me making funny faces at Nrityagram because M kept insisting on some pose!

Us taking random picture in Shimla!

Us, getting a random picture taken at Taj Kuteeram!

Isn't it all too similar? That's why the title!

So does this qualify as second honeymoon?! hehe!

celebrating 5 years and going on 11th! :)

I am a firm believer of Karma and partly destiny too. No, I have never discounted hard work because many a chances get squandered because we keep waiting for things to happen on their own.


So for me the fact that I met M is Karma (good one at that) and the time it took me to convince him that we are good together is the hard work I put in! :)


And as we complete 5 years of being happily married and 11 years of knowing each other I must count my blessings and tell M just how much I love him and how lucky I feel to have HIM by my side.


Of course we have had fights. Some of them have been nasty too. But through it all what is comforting is that we have known how important both of us are to each other. WE have always known that the good times have been a constant rather than being an occasional thing. We know each others' strengths and try not to play on the weaknesses when we have a fight.


M is definitely the better half between the two of us. Both of us come from fairly different backgrounds and the fact that he accepted the change much faster and a lot more gracefully than I did says a lot about him. For that I can never been thankful enough.


Past 5 years have been a joyride and I have loved every moment. Be it the late dinners because we were both learning to cook or the bike rides in rain and sunshine. The movie watching spree when we watched just about any and every movie that released ( karam and Naina anyone?) or the trips to Majestic to buy pirated DVDs when we finally bought a TV after a year of shaadi. The discovering of new restaurants and your uncomplaining company to all the exhibitions that happened in the city. The small barsaati we lived in to the current house we should be getting out of but don't want to! The times when stuff was bought only after we needed it and had the dough for and the occasional faaltu kharcha we can afford to do now. The fact that we are genuinely fond of each others' parents and more often than not how my relatives call you and yours call me when they need something or just for a chat! :) The time we finally bought the second hand Maruti and went on our first long drive with Papa guiding you to now taking Cubby in it just about everywhere. The pregnancy where you were a rock solid support and to see you being the awesome father I always knew you would be. The lavish praise you heap on me even in public laughing away the Joru ka Gulaam tag and just how much faith you have in whatever I do. I feel lost without you even with my own friends and family.


For all this and many more intangibles I Love You! Don't ever leave my side! And don't lose that sense of humour and the smile! :)


happy 5th darling pati M! :)


and here's some random wedding day etc photos! :) I know I made a gorgeous bride (there are no NOT gorgeous brides according to me!) and M still whines about how he wants THAT biwi back! hehe! But me in lenses and make up is only a dream as of now! ;)

The ONLY shy dulhan pic of me! On wedding eve! :)

Maine jeevan ki dor se tujhe baandh liya hai! Corny? yes! True? YES! :)

Nope! No kissing the bride in Maharashtrian weddings! Just some Chinese whispers! :)

The wedding day. I never really stopped smiling since! :)

"Kaan pili" where the brother warns the groom to betta take care of his sister!


M acted the part well and yes, the brothers let go of the ear only after they are given a gift! :) Nothing like good ol' threat of corporal punishment! Hehe!

A photo op among many others! :)

The garlands being exchanged! :) Yeah, I was ANYTHING but shy and nervous! ;)

Find our faces between the flowers! hehe!

The homecoming! :)


I had to kiss all his thirteen cousins and give them a gift to be let in! :) And the fun was just beginning! Can you imagine I forgot to call my folks and tell them i reached ok! gah!

Lord Of the Rings! :)


I think we did like hazaar extra rounds to make M win, but i still won! Woohoo! :)

A LOT of dancing happened!

A LOT of smiling happened! :)

Till we were too tired to do either!

Uske baad kya hua is for me to know and you to guess! ;)


Here's to many more M! :)

Chin! Chin!

Much love and hugs and kisses!

and yes Thank You! :)

So Cubby is NOT so L'il Cubby now! :)

Its been over two years since I have this blog and have tried faithfully to keep a memoir (i love this word! makes our life sound very fancy!) of our life with Cubby. But even as I look back at old posts and can say this was the month Cubby first walked and this when he first talked, how much he has grown up still comes to us as a surprise every now and then. :)


I guess thats what makes this whole parenting gig so exciting. There are always bits and pieces apart from the big moments that make you think yet again what an amazing experience all this has been and continues to be! :)


So what makes me wonder about all this suddenly?! Our baby has grown up yet again and bowled us over with just how much! :)


M was supposed to go to Bombay for some work for 3 days. My brother and Cubby's Kuns Mama who had recently visited us was also going to be there and the said day was his birthday. Somewhere the idea took germ that perhaps M can take Cubby along with him. We mentioned it casually to my folks (more like thinking aloud), but then the grandparents wouldn't have anyway else. We kept getting calls every few days asking us whether we had booked his ticket already! (Terrible twos get worse when we have to pay the FULL fare to airlines because they allow, no, make it insist, on a separate seat for the diaper clad butt!)


So it was decided that Cubby would indeed go with his Papa and stay with his grandparents while M went out for his work during the day. This was the first time Cubby was going to travel supervised by just one parent and would have lots of time without even that parent being around him.


Aaji - Ajoba were all gung-ho and enthu and told us they will manage fine. If they say so who are we to question it?! :p

carrying his own bag with airline tag! :)

carrying a bag of candies bought at the airport!

D Day arrived and the father and the child left for airport by 730 in the morning. The kid was carrying his own small school bag which had an extra set of clothes, diapers and books! :) Terrible mother that I am, I totally forgot to pack any food for him. Not even cheese slice and bananas which are a standard fixtures. Not even something he can suck on during take off and landing to avoid ear pain. That is why the mehenga candies were bought at airport and I haven't heard the end of it from M esp 'coz Cubby ate just ate ONE of them! :p From what M told me he chattered non-stop on his way to the airport and through the flight and then the cab ride home in Bombay! :)

With Gauri Tai and Atho Dada on the etrrace where his Mom played! :)

He did cling to M a bit on day they reached but familiarity with Mama helped and by evening when he had met the adorable Gauri Tai and Atharva Dada it was like he has lived in that house forever! :)

Getting the first piece of Mama's birthday cake as guest of honour! :p

Next day, M left home by 9am. As is our habit he told Cubby that he will be going to office and that he is to have fun with folks at home and that his Papa will be back in the evening. So he said bye to M and got busy with his day! :) When i called him prompted by his Aaji he told me "Maine gulabjam khaaya, teeth saaf kiya, potty kiya" and then ran off to do whatever it is he was doing. He did recognize my voice easily and had a smile on his face he spoke to me! :)

Considering I don't eat anything I even fit in a bucket! :p

The father who rushed back to an empty house (Cubby had gone to gateway of India with folks) and was missing him terribly. His already broken heart was to be shattered when after coming back home Cubby just said a casual Heylo and ran off to play with his friends! :)

With Kuns mama at Gateway of India! :)

In the boat! :)

With the awesome aaji - ajoba who don't look like grandparents! :)

The only thing M had to do for him then was feed him and make him wear his night suit. Today is his day 3 there and my mom called me in the morning saying 3 kids were trying to dress Cubby up post bath and the Cub was enjoying the attention and pampering! :)


It is needless to mention that I (his mother) was not mentioned or asked for even once! Even when I called he was too busy to talk to me! Somehow I never thought this whole gig would be so easy! :)


Hats off to my folks. Am sure it was their pure and unadulterated love and child like excitement on having him over that made it so comfy for the Cub.


And ofcos big hugs to the Husband M who agreed to this sudden and whimsical idea and made sure it was a complete success! :)


I look forward to packing off Cubby to his grandparents for longer duration during summer vacays! :p

Yes, I am not very maternal that way! ;)


But that does not mean I am not terribly proud! :)


Edited to add - M's comment because its from the Horse's Caretaker's mouth and its too cute to not be added!

"I really can't remember the last time I saw him so happy. Since the moment we walked up the stairs in Dadar, he was at home. Once he saw the neighbor kids, he was obsessed. Soon he realized easy access to chocolates and gubabjamuns under nana-nani, and he was pampered!

Kuns called him "baby teenager" once. Now he is more so. He comes home late, wants to go back before his foot's in the door and hates it when we object to some of his more rowdy friends.

He's just too bleddy comfortable here. Considering it's his first time, it's just not right..."

alphabet test!

That's the most creative title I could come up with for the Alphabet tag that I am gonna do. I was tagged by Swati, Naren's Mum and Monika for this. The first two asked me to do it with the first letter from Cubby's name and Monika asked me to do it with A for Abha. Since majority is for Cubby, i am gonna do the tag with the child's name! I am sure Mon wont mind! :D


Btw, this also reminded me of our train trip back from Goa last year. I played name, place, animal, thing with a girl of 10 sitting next to us. Remember that game where we say A - z under our breath and other person says stop. You pick the alphabet where you had stopped and write name, place, animal, thing that begins with that letter. I remember as kids we used to add more elements like actor, actress, movies, colour and god knows what else. Then one who finishes first says stop and we compare answers and calculate the points. You get 10 points for every unique answer and 5 for common answer. Man! We spent so many vacation afternoons playing this! :)


As for the game with girl on the train, I LOST! I couldn't get animal / bird starting N and she had written Nightingale! I have still saved that days paper! :)

1. What is your name: CubbyR (starts with K!)

2. A four Letter Word: Kiss

3. A boy’s Name: Kunal

4. A girl’s Name: Ketaki

5. An occupation: King (what? it IS a full time occupation to rule a country!)

6. A color: K...(help me! girl from the train? you reading this?)

7. Something you wear: Knit wear

8. A food: Khaman (dhokla! yumm!)

9. Something found in the bathroom: Kadhai

10. A place: Kathmandu (i wanna visit Nepal)

11. A reason for being late: kitchen work?! :p

12. Something you shout: Kyaaaa???

13. A movie title: Khuda ke liye (loved the movie and was shocked that lot of it is true!)

14. Something you drink: Kitkat shake at Mocha! :D

15. A musical group: No music group ..Kishore Kumar!

16. An animal: Kangaroo (i think its darn cute!)

17. A Street name: kamanahalli

18. A type of car: Kia

19. A song title: Kaali teri chhoti hai paranda tera laal ni

20. A verb: Kiss! (yes! i am all for kissing!)

Now here's the pictures of Cubby's latest love. And no, it doesn't start with the letter K.

What is my Mom forcing Me to drink?

Oh! THIS is Lassi?!

I LOVE Lassi!! Gimme More!!!! :)

I think he looks very very grown up in the last pic! You guys think so too? :)

chokkit bikkit and BIDWF moment!

Chokkit bikkit is the demand we hear very often in our household as the youngest member has started getting more and more vocal in his demands. He now also follows it up with OUR set of dialogues saying "Mummy office se aayegi naah, toh bikkit le aayegi aur Cubby ko degi!'


Ofcourse, he is equally or even more vocal about things he DOESN'T want to do/eat. As the terrible two's show up in all their glory the instantaneous response to anything suggested is "Naee kanoonga" or "Naee Chaaiye"! And if it's not that it has to be "Main Kanoonga!". Even a sock taken off without letting him do it is reason enough to throw himself bodily on the floor and kick up a storm. We can do something for him if he graciously allows us to by telling us in so many words "Tum kano!"


But the terrible 2's are terribly cute too. With his increased understanding and vocab he makes us smile even more often. He talks his head off all the time and sometimes we just tell him to shut up and breathe! Can't blame the poor kid, it's in his genes! :p


Now that Cubby is going to school he learning his ABCs an he loves singing it all the time and we LOVE seeing him sprinkle sugar saying"Shugga on your bedd" and then do the sleeping action and say "Betta go to bed!"


This BIDWF moment came thanks to this new knowledge.


We were sitting in a restaurant and Cubby was getting fidgety and bored towards the end of the lunch. So we got some tissue papers and he started scribbling. Then he said "Tum likho naa!" So I held his hand with the pen and we were writing my name. So I went "A B H A".


What does Cubby say very indignantly?


"Nahi!! A B C D!"


WE could not stop laughing!


He similarly stunned us by spouting days of the week and months of the year! I mean we keep forgetting that he goes to school and already has a life that we have no clue about.


The kid is growing up way too fast, I tell ya! :)


Apart from that his eating habits MIGHT just be improving. He suddenly got completely turned off by the tasteless goop he had been having for past over an year, namely khichdi and raagi. He made it very clear that he will not be eating it anymore by refusing to let even a morsel go in his mouth without having to go through a battle.00


Now he likes stuffed parathas (esp aanoo and paneen), sambhar chawal and dahi chawal. He also likes to eat just sukhi chapati. So the attempt to make him normal dal-roti-subzi etc has not yet been made. Add to that Amma makes sure that he inherits the local taste buds and often does not even TRY and give the stuff that I make and keep. That bit is getting a little annoying, but then I end up not making a big deal because at least he is eating without too much fuss. (Touchwood and Anti jinx!)


He loves colouring and now recognizes (that means past few months) all the common colours. His latest favourite is Geen cunon (colour) and he insists on having all liquids in his Geen Gaas wonly! :D


He also comes up with some funny n funky dance steps every now and then and I am guessing that is the "Schoon effect" too! :)


All in all, if you discount the omnipresent whining, life is good! :D


Considering I have done like a mini Cubby update, leme just do one tag as well!


This was passed on to me eons ago by Starryeyes - an awesome awesome blogger whose posts I just love to read for their honesty and beauty!

1. What's for dinner? M will make the subzi, me the dal. Which one, I dunno!
   


2. What's the last thing you bought? Milk and curd
   


3. What are you listening to right now? Some kannada song playing at work.


4. What do you think about the person who tagged you? Read the lines before the tag!
   


5. If you could have a house totally paid for, fully furnished anywhere in the world, where would you like it to be? By the beach!
   


6. What's the principle you live life by? Life is too short to sweat over small things and that ONE person can make a difference.
   


7. If you could go anywhere in the world for the next hour, where would you go? Rajasthan. I desperately wanna see go there!
   


8. Which language do you want to learn? Kannada I guess and teach Cubby Marathi. My family is hounding me for neglecting his mother tongue! :p


9. What's your favourite quote? Shit happens! :)
   


10. Who do you want to meet right now? Friends!


11. What is your favourite colour? Black and Red


12. What is your favourite piece of clothing in your own closet? A nice black top gifted to me by a close friend and white denim capris my folks got me from US and erstwhile yellow capris that are now greenish yellow thanks to a washing machine disaster!


13. What is your dream job? I wish I knew!


14. What's your favourite magazine? RD and Cosmo though I haven't read either in ages. And recently Cubby's Toot! :)
    


15. If you had $100 now, what would you spend it on? Books and movies
    


16. What do you consider a fashion faux pas? Wearing clothes in which one is visibly uncomfortable and yeah panty lines!


17. Describe your personal style? Anything that fits! I like capris and jeans!
    


18. What are you going to do after this? Take a nap on my desk.


19. What are your favourite movies? Thodaasa Roomani Ho jaaye (M finally managed to get me a VCD! yyayy! thanks!), Lock, stock and two smoking barrels, kill bill, Children of Heaven, Chicago, Clerks, Golmaal (old and new), Munnabhai and just too many more!


20. Which is your favourite poem? I have never been a poems person. I like Cubby's latest nursery rhyme G G G og the Giraffe. Like it even more 'coz he loves it so.
    


21. What inspires you? Any and every good deed... big or small.
    


22. What do you carry in your bag? Wallet, comb, ALL my lipsticks (don't ask me why!) and keys.


23. Coffee or tea? Coffee. Never been a tea person unless its that milky n sweet n kadak tapri ki chai!
    


24. What do you do when you're feeling low or terribly depressed? Shop and eat!
    


25. What is the meaning of your name? Halo (I always have a tough time telling people who go Huh when i say halo! So then i just say light! :)
    


26. Which other blogs do you love visiting? just too many to mention here!
    


27. Favourite dessert/sweet? dark Chocolate and things made with the said item! :D
    


28. Favourite season? rainy season!
    


29. If I come to your house now what will you cook for me? Maggi? No? Ok! Omelet then! a Niice cheese omelet!
    


30. What's your current mood? I need sleep! I need a new job!
    


31. Which feature of yours do you like the most? My smile!
    

And here's some random photos from the last month!

At Lalbagh flower show this Independence day!



Cheeeeees'y' Smines at Nandi Hills!

Cubby's fake smine! :D

Cubby staring at his first "real" frog sighting! :)

The time he thought his father was a trampoline!

Till he decided to give him a short 2mins break! :p

Cubby at UB City! :) The amphitheatre is awesome and we just ignored the security guy trying to shoo us away!

The Blue Umbrella! :)

That's that folks! Have a super weekend! :)

i dunno what this one is about!

This is going to be one of them random posts where I write for the heck of writing types.


I am really terrible at this whole story telling business and even when I read out of a book Cubby usually runs away within 3 pages odd. I mean I start yawning myself, so can't blame the poor kid. This being the case my preferred mode of putting Cubby to sleep (apart from just letting him drift off) is to sing to him and give in to his "Haath Pheno" demands. That day he was especially jumpy and I volunteered to tell him a story so that he would lie down just for the novelty factor. He did too and I was officially lost and stuck.


Anyhoo, the best I could come up with was the thirsty crow story and I got it over with in my usual unimpressive fashion to be bombarded by "Phinse sunao, Cnow ki stony!" (Cubby replaces L and R with the N sound!). I finally managed to get him to sleep and now he comes up with random" Stony sunenge" requests leaving M and me very flummoxed.


Yesterday was the weirdest. So M yet again told him the crow story and I offered to sing instead. What does our little guy come up with?


"Cnow ka gaana sungenge!"


?????


Considering he was in a realllly foul mood and verry sleepy, nothing else would do. We were racking our brains for an appropriate child friendly rhyme with crows and could come up with nothing.


Mean mommy then created the base by asking Cubby "Crow ko Hindi mein kya kehte hai?" to which the child replied "Kauaa" and what followed was an enthusiastic rendition of "Jhooth Bole kauaa kaate" by the mother and beanbag music by the father and lot of crazy laughter interspersed in between.


True to his current mood, the same was done about 3 times for His Highness and then a scolding later we were on the bed ready to go off to la la land! This was just so that this memory doesn't get lost! :)


Meanwhile Cubby got gifted subscription to this monthly magazine called Toot. Thanks Mehek! :) It is a delightful little magazine with a whole lot of art, craft, puzzles, jokes, general knowledge and stories thrown in. It is ideal for kids aged 3yrs to 6yrs and I am saving em for later while Cubby enjoys just the pictures right now. If you are in Bangalore you can call 080 - 32947354 / 22483701 and ask for Mr. Benher Alexis who can come to your address and fill out your subscription which costs around Rs.600 (which is what? a pair of jeans these days?). You can also check out the website and find a contact in your cities! :)


And here is another funny "we are like this only" post by M about another God being offended in another part of the country thanks to another unacceptable mention in yet another Bollywood movie. You have to read it thrice to get all the puns the man has managed starting from the title to the next 10lines of the post! :)


Oh! Before I say ta on this post, here's what Cubby has been upto these days. Everyday, all the contents of the toy box are removed and put in an order only Cubby understands. The result is something like this;

The creation! :)

The Creator with his creation!

Am sure there is some order to what seems like chaos! :)

How has this week treated you till now. Me, I can't wait for the weekend!


Ciao! :)