The great spring break...

boy 2: "What's for lunch?"

boy 1: "Parathas? Thank you...!!!!"

boy2: "Why parathas, why not maggi?"

boy1: "You made burgers? you always make his favorite,'

boy1: "Pasta? wow, amma thank you...erm..can you put less veggies next time?"

boy2: "Can we buy this baguette? for garlic bread?"

boy1: "Not rice again!!!! can we have at least 1 ricefree day!"

boy2: "I'm hungry, not the fruit kind of hungry!"

boy1: "can you tell him to stop smirking!"

boy2: "he's kicking me under the table"

boy1: "he's bugging me'

boy2: "no, i didn't! i just stood in the doorway!"

As you can see, everything is revolving around food and the nerves these days!

Yes, the great spring break has arrived and with it, the endless arguments and comments on the lunch/dinner menu, and the snack items and the temperature of the milk. Next time remind me to print a menu!

Having a 12 yrold and 7 yrold at home the whole day, is good exercise to the vocal chords, theirs and mine. They spend their day practising their sarcasm or getting on each others' nerves. I spend my day, deciphering the insults and practising my unruffled, serene mom act.

One wants to go swimming, the other wants to chill out. One wants to watch cartoon, the other wants to watch his IPL! One uses his words and the other one his tears!

Where was i? yes, the hols! You would think that i would get the luxury of sleeping till the birds came knocking at my windows.

I thought so too!

It turns out that my 12 yrold has been selected for his school's basketball team for which he has to attend school practice during his holidays. (They have tournaments when school reopens, hence the practice during holidays) Which in turn means that i still have to get up at 5.45 in the morning and wake up the birds and then my son.

Then this week he was given a 5 day break.

So now i have a 12 yrold sprawled on the sofa reading, eating, playing, arguing, reading, eating and yes playing. Of course he is taking it easy, very easy. Extremely easy in fact! So much so i want to join him on that sofa and just stretch out my hand, for that juice and snacks, but then I'm the only candidate at the moment for the coveted post of '24 hr do whip up something tasty' cook!

I also have a 7 yrold sprawled on the bed since 8.00, looking at the clock ticking away , because for some reason he has made up his mind that he wants to wake up at 11.00 today!

So I contemplated aloud on what could be done with 5 glorious days of vacation - museum, football in the park, a beach run?, library, ice skating, swimming!? So much to do in 5 days, right?





Museum?

swimming!






Park anyone?







beach?



A very unamused 12 yrold voice threatened, "If you continue, i'm going to start counting days for my basket ball practice so that i can get back to school asap! I just want to stay at home"

And the 7 yrold excitedly exclaimed: "oooh, ice skating? beach? YES!!!"

Oh!

Welcome to the lazy, crazy days! Lazy for them, crazy for me!


But either way, i'm lurving it! :) :) :)

When the unimaginable happens!

I have a 12 yrold who has to be reminded that he is a part of this family and therefore needs to pitch in with chores, not add to them by dropping towels in dustbins and plates in toilet sinks, thankfully not toilet bowls! He is after all my boy, a master in the art of absentmindedness, something in which i excel in!

He does what he is told to do, the key word emphasised here is told.

So what do you do when the above mentioned 12 yrold breezes into your room, and asks:: "Can I vacuum my room?"

You try not to fall. You do not pinch yourself to see if you are sleeping. You do not look at him suspiciously, trying to figure out a hidden plot.

But you very calmly say, "Yes, you can,..." in just the right tone, else he realises his mistake.

After 10 minutes, the same 12 yrold says:: "There i've cleaned my room."

What do i do?

I empty my luck quota for the whole month, and milk the opportunity. I say, ' How about doing the whole house?"

He says yes!

and does it well too, even the balcony. Throws the trash too...

The result is:

I think it will snow here in Dubai.

I realise that he has used his study time (he has his final exams going on) for an unscheduled long break

I wish they have exams all year through :p

He is a sweetheart, because i do have a clean house

and

I'm still searching for my house slippers.

Happy weekend, folks :)

Going international!

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so here's around six thousand words worth....

Ah well! I fell a thousand short. :)

So last week my 7 yrold got to travel to 36 countries, as you can see from his passport :). Their school had an international day, where most countries are showcased. Since the schools here have a good mix of students from different nationalities, it is a common event in most schools here to host an international day. It is similiar to a mini global village, the difference is that the non-profit stalls are put up by the parents.

A lovely concept of introducing different countries and getting to know from which place their classmates came from! Even if most of the kids were more interested in getting their passports filled with all the flags! i could see my 7 yrold flitting from stall to stall, trying to get the flags at breakneck speed! He took great pride in telling me that his friend was from Macedonia, and that his teacher came from South Africa.

Unintended humor came as usual from my side. Twice my boy rushed to me asking for idly, and when i shoved a plate of mini idlies in front of him (we had lots of yummy food, contributed by teh parents), he exasperatedly yelled "ITALY, amma, Italy, I want to know where ITALY is"

Oh!

I'm sure you appreciate how diligently I must have been doing my job of representing my country and the food!

India was quite well represented by flowers, food, colours, henna and diyas and us. The children loved the bangles and bindis that we gave them. The henna was a hit, as were the flowers.

When the school had announced this event two months back, asking for representatives to lead their respective countries, there were just three of us for India. I wondered whether we would even pull it through but then after the initial hiccups, we got rolling. Most parents came forward towards the end, helping with contributions in the form of money, food, artefacts and decoratives. A few hubbies did their bit too, by going where no one could reach, notably the highest places on the fence.

It was nice to see so many in their traditional attire, the sarees were a hit and we, ahem! ahem!got photographed quite a bit! In the end, we must have got something right, because we did get the 2nd place and more importantly everyone had fun!

These were our 9 kids dancing to 'Jai ho', which was well received.

All in all a lovely day indeed! School is so much fun this way, don't you think?

Then i thought to myself "What a wonderful thing to implement in our Indian schools as a way of introducing the different states in India. It would break a lot of stereotype notions and bring out a lot of awareness as far as culture, cuisine and languages go"!

But then you know what, knowing the competitive spirt in which every thing is taken these days, it may not be such a great idea after all!

(psst...this post's for you, tara )

This and that...

It seems like ages since I wrote here! Even though I did peek a bit every two days to read the comments.

Thank you all for the warm wishes/ecards sent on my birthday. This particular birthday was quite special because my parents , grandmom, uncle and aunt were around. It was extremely touching to see them try to surprise me with gifts and food.

(For those who missed wishing me, don't you worry...I celebrate my birthday the whole of February :)...just saying!)

The past 15 days have been very hectic but satisfying. My parents, my grandmother came a-visiting and were joined by my aunt and uncle (my mom's sister) for the last week of their stay It was fun having them around and now I miss the daily chitchat and hustle bustle in the kitchen. Everyday I would want them to sit down and chat while they would insist on evicting me from the kitchen. And so it happened that we would get out of the house by 10.30 every morning, be back just in time to pick my 7 yrold from school and then head out again in the evening after my 12 yrold returned from his school. We've gone to beaches, parks, malls, the tallest building, and a whole lot of restaurants!

This was the first time my grandmom was visiting me and there were times when i could not believe that she was actually here, with me. Ever since my grandfather passed away, 15 months ago, she's been a shadow of her old self. This trip did her a lot of good, she smiled more and she enjoyed herself, even though she missed having grandpa around.

And of course the school also thought it was a perfect time to schedule projects. The 12 yrold had to make a waterfilter. It had to be natural, it had to be different and it had to work. My son had a 'Eureka' moment in the bathtub, and rushed out, (thankfully fully clothed) to tell me his brilliant idea. Ofcourse i did what i was good at...i outsourced the project to my father. Grandfather and grandson bonded over a water filter which actually did work.

The 7 yrold had to learn about puppets. I suggested he take me along as an example, since that's what i do everyday...dance to their tunes! He was not amused and we made a pair of sock puppets instead.

Currently, we are supposed to demonstrate how lungs work using balloons, straws and a bottle. I casually told my son that the reasons my lungs worked well everyday, was solely due to them and due to the deep breaths taken and the shouting which goes on. Maybe I should go to school to demonstrate? He too was not amused!

So you take care while I brush up on my science and also try and decrease the obscene number that my google reader is currently showing.

:)

No, really, Look who's back :)

The Dubai Sentimental Times reports:


"Last night saw a very happy reunion between an otherwise sane looking woman and her ...erm...suitcase. The lost bag finally made its way back to the owner after ten days of gallivanting among strange baggage. "


It is great when something unexpected happens. It's absolutely fantastic when it happens after my shopping's done. Now that's what i call a good bag!

Aaall izz definitely well!

:) :) :)

it's time to lug those suitcases around!

Its been an exciting week, getting ready for our upcoming trip to India. 18 days of vacation in 4, possibly 5 cities and two road trips! I'm getting the laundry done, the fridge emptied and the house clean, even if it's going to be kept locked up for two weeks. All the drama of last-minute cleaning just to experience that pleasure of walking into a neat home when we return!

I'm quite eager to chat up quite a few people when i'm in India...have to keep up with this image me as a chatterbox.


Right now, at home, everyone's tripping over half filled suitcases, muttering 'words which better not be heard' and not one has the sense to keep it to one side..that's living with boys for you!

and the way the hubby's going on removing clothes which i pack, i may end up travelling with just one pair of jeans and a tee shirt.

The hubby's always 'tsk...tsking' on how disorganised he thinks i am! I pack as if i'm travelling to Antarctica (Bangalore comes pretty close to it), i think he packs as if he lives on the beach...

as far as habits go, he and i are quite different!

When i work on my laptop, I generally have my Gmail, facebook, Yahoo, Skype and Word open in various windows. Not that everyone is dying to see me online or that I'm going to miss some very important mail, but then it's a habit. Whenever my son or hubby use my computer they promptly close down a few windows.

I hate it...


The other day, I sat at my computer after the hubby had used it and noticed that there was only Google open.

Muttering under my breath, I yelled " Why do you close my Windows? You know i don't like it"...

He yells back.."because i don't like it open...!!!!!"


My eyes widened and i was thinking of a retort suitably dripping with appropriate sarcasm, when i hear him continue" ...and then all the lizards and insects get in'


Oh!


He was talking about the bedroom windows, which i faithfully open every morning and he equally diligently closes after me!


Reminded me of this post i had written long time back!

See you guys soon and have a jolly good year, while i go open those windows and add more stuff into the suitcases! This trip is sure going to be fun!

baby talk!

I walk my second boy to school. It is a 10 min walk and I initially welcomed it for the compulsory exercise. I now look forward to it everyday. It is quite unhurried and relaxing. We talk, we look at birds and lazy cats, we sing songs and we argue. We also discuss serious issues like whether God is being burned to a crisp sitting there above the clouds near the sun!

Everyday we say hello to quite a few babies and dogs, both being walked around by their maids.

Just as i finish smiling and cooing at a very responsive baby, my observant son asks me " you like babies?"



Without thinking, i answer:: 'oh yes!'



Then i realise what i have got myself into and brace myself for the next inevitable question. My quick mind has already started framing a suitable response as to why we cannot have a sibling for him,



and the boy says::


"Don't tell me that YOU want ME to turn BACK into a baby?"



Oh!

So who's been missing me?

"How is Dubai? How are you?" ask many when they spy me online.

The problem with moving to a new country is that whenever someone asks you how you are, you are so tempted to tell them "how you are". The downside is that it may take 15 minutes and then that poor gal may say erm..."i just remembered i gotta go!"

The good so far:

• I like the place we've moved into.
• The kids have their own group down and they play cricket/soccer every evening. The elder one is the star of the group, that's what he so modestly told me. We asked him about his friends, the ones who give him a high five after every goal, and he shrugged his shoulder (that shoulder of his is sometimes the most communicative part). He just knew their names, why would he want to know anything more?"
• why indeed! uncomplicated and simple, that's my boy!
• and the younger one has been given a nickname - Bob! Noone's telling me why.
• The house is just five minutes away from the supermarket, 3 stops away from the nearest mall and a 10 minute walk from school. and it has quite a bit of greenery around. and birds!I like that a lot.
• I found an art center nearby where they have all sorts of shortterm courses...I plan to join whatever's available.

Now the not-so-good.

• I miss the easy accessibility of Singapore.
• I try to take the bus when I can but i dislike the staring that happens when i'm at the busstop.
• Every Saturday night, i think"oh great tomorrow's Sunday" and then it strikes me that Sunday in this place means a working day and then i go 'Oh GREAT!!!!! tomorrow's Sunday! sigh"
• I had three families over for a pre-diwali gettogether and i cooked a huge spread, all the while wishing they were not acquaintances but people i really knew and liked! and to think they were close to nice people. Making new friends is not as easy as it once used to be.
• I think with age, i'm getting to be the opposite of social.
• And my blog! The less said the better. The wordsmith in me has suddenly taken temporary retirement. The only phrases which come to mind regularly are 'eat your food' don't scream' get up, go to sleep' wash your hands' and shhhhh!
• I think i have the Dubai blues!

Will you be my friend - 2

Two years back, when we moved to Singapore, I had apprehensions. Mostly about how my elder boy would take to a new school. My own 'first day at a new school' experiences would always flash in my mind and i worried a bit about how easy/difficult would it be for my boy, to make his place in a new environment.

Two years back i had written this:

Now the situation is the same, even though the location differs. I still worried. He had loved his school in Singapore, was quite popular with teachers and students and was on the school sports team. Would he compare, would he able to adjust? what if? what if? what if...?

And then he came back with a smile. He had a helpful boy sitting next to him, the other kids were friendly, he's shown off his socccer skills, sprained his wrist on the field, caught the coach's eye and he likes the place. And I'm proud of him.

Like i always tell him, never underestimate the power of a friendly smile.

We are finally moving into our new home with NO internet access, the 6 yrold has passed his entrance test, and looks like i'm back to breathing normally.

Sometimes i feel i need to worry/brood intensely for something to work out out just the way i want it to. Wish i could apply that logic to my internet access.

If folks in Dubai see a woman with a mop-head with sunglasses perched on it, clutching her laptop, searching for a socket in a mall to plug her laptop in, please say hi and guide her to one. (that's what may happen when i get desperate).

or maybe i'll be de addicted by then!

Catch you soon!

Psst: thank you, all for the lovely comments in my last post. Would have individually replied, if it were not for the fact that i'm actually supposed to be packing my bags, so that i can leave this apartment that we called 'home for a month'. Just to take those suitcases to a place two blocks away to unpack again and mess up a new place that will be home.

Double Psst: Glad to clear the confusion about my blog name...but considering i could have named it "Aiyorama, so much drama', i think the current name is way better!

My aalochane, right here and right now

I sometimes wonder whether people come here thinking this is a food blog. Perhaps they go away disappointed that i cannot even spell my 'aaloo' and 'channa' right. I contemplate changing my blog name but then that means racking my brain for something and right now the heat of Dubai has fried it to an irretrievable state.



So coming back to the blog name, when blogger sat there waiting for me to key in my blog name, all i could think of was 'Aalochane', (aalochanay) which in Kannada means 'thoughts'. And i thought i thought a LOT! Never mind the fact that most of them never got translated into posts.

So, thanks to me, you now know a new Kannada word.

But, right now I'm thinking that


the elder one has started school and went with a smile, considering he had to get up very early (which means by default i had to get up even earlier!), though I'm wasting my whole morning thinking that he's going to get lost in the huge campus.

I hope he remembers he has a nice smile.



my 6 yrold thinks all this moving around means he is never going to school (Yikes!!)


he has an assessment test day after. (*i'm going to faint)


my shipment arrives today (more YIKES!)

we will then move into our house, which means no internet for 3 weeks (yikes raised to the power of infinity!!!!)



Considering i'm guzzling cups of coffee and tea in anticipation of chaos, do be kind to say a hi if you drop by here.

Mirror talk

Had i mentioned how awesome i was for managing without a full-length mirror for two years?






Now I have not one but two full-length gigantic mirrors to preen before. One in the hallway and one in my bedroom. It is H.U.G.E. For one who managed with one measly square of reflecting surface, this is enormous, so pardon the 'gush' talk. Besides this is temporary accomodation, so I am making the most of it.


It took me a few days to get used to the one in the hallway. It is at one end of a corridor and initially it was a bit of a shock to come sleepy eyed and see a scary looking figure walking towards you, when it was in fact you walking to yourself.


This particular mirror also sees some serious getting in touch with the inner self.

For instance,

A certain 'she who shall not be named' (forgive me, i just watched harry potter 6) sashays to and fro before deciding that the visit to the gym is overdue. Tucking in that stomach is getting to be a pain.



A six yrold is often caught making funny faces to himself and practising something which looks a cross between jumping, flaying arms around and moving different parts of the body in 4 directions. He calls it dancing.



The ubercool serious dude, soon to be 12, has been spotted coaxing those lil curls in front into a spike. and ofcourse a few choice soccer moves are mandatory.



The big guy has also succumbed to the charms of the mirror, there has been a fair amount of looking at side profiles and critical appraisals going on.



We may have just discovered narcissism, our inner selves and the fact that mirrors don't lie.

So, where am I?

24 months back, a family of four moved to Singapore. For a two year period. To give the kids some exposure. For a change. To see how different the cheese is. Ofcourse the husband's job required the move. The rest were just excuses to reinforce the decision.

Even though I've moved cities a lot during my childhood and after marriage, setting up a new home away from India was difficult. It was a new country. Besides, I never realised when i had let those roots grow deep enough to keep me connected to Delhi. It was tough to pack things up, and say goodbye!

But move we did and did a pretty good job of it too! We each found our bits of cheese in places we least expected. I found mine in blogging, something i was not aware of before. And just when we were beginning to sit back, it was time to move again. Oh my has it been 2 years already?

In addition to handling the pang I feel at the thought of moving away from the familiar, people seem to excel in telling me what to expect in the new place. When we moved to Calcutta, people painted a very gloomy picture of the place. It happened to be one of the best places i've lived in. Warm, inviting and addictive! So was our move to Bhopal. Contrary to popular perceptions, it is a lovely laid back city with a close knit community.

and now,

"Doooobai" drawled people in horror. and then went on to praise Singapore. "Look at the transport, the safety, the comfort, the weather; Singapore is the best, it is the best! "

Our house owner looked suitably mortified, and he said "you are going to dooobai. your wife will wear a booorkha?" sigh...

I went to see a 'few months' new son of a neighbor and she was a tough nut to crack. Everytime i said something about the baby, she would brush it aside and inform me about some new horror about dubai. By the time she had finished comparing the transport, the order, the comfort and started on the libraries, (and she has never visited dubai till date) I had reached the end of what ever little patience i never knew i had. I resorted to my diversionary tactic and turned to her baby and gushed "Oh my what an active little boy"

A master move, if it wasn't for that little fact that the darling had wisely fallen asleep a while back.

Sometimes i'm too smart for my own good.

Singapore, to us, was a wonderful two year vacation and we loved every day of it. People want to know how we do it. The moving around, i mean. I guess when you move as much as we do, it helps to avoid comparing. I would never be able to let go, if i did that. It is best to go to the new place with an open mind and most times you are pleasantly surprised.

Every move too has one panic stricken moment when i fast forward and rewind my whole life, and all i see are cartons and suitcases and packaging tape.

So here I am in Dubai. Comfortably settled in a serviced residence while we hunt around for a place to live in. There is a lot to get done.

and the mind overwhelmed with trying to get all the coordinates to meet somewhere, i turn on my laptop, quite eager to enter a world which has remained the same: familiar, inviting and a mood uplifter. and it is almost like i've never moved!

keep those comments coming, folks, they keep me sane.