No words of comfort can wipe away the tears that we shed for Baby Aji. Baby was what she was fondly called by my grandpa and I made her Baby Aji. She was Vahini to most because she was the oldest bahu in a brood of 12.Kamal Shanbag became Shobha Prabhu when she married by grandpa. She was Aai to her children and Aditi, who spent her first 5 years in her chatrachaya.
Being her oldest grandchild, I had the pleasure of delivering to her, the title of Great Grandmother by way of Arya, and Atul followed suit with his own contribution, the little Anjali. As she had for so many babies before, she knitted a sweater and a woollen cap and little socks for her latest heroine and thanks to Skype, she even saw her walk. Anjali will only see Baby Aji in photos though.
There is so much to say about Baby Aji and somehow I don't want to believe that she is no more. She did leave a little part of her in all of us. It is impossible to let go of her.
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Thursday, August 09, 2007
Happy National Day Singapore
Wow, I seem to be able to log in only one entry every month, which is bad considering that I flaunt the fact that I love to write.
First things first, it's Singapore's 42nd National Day. I was wearing Red and White at work yesterday and imagine my surprise that the only other person doing that was American. In our condo, we have a potluck party tonight to celebrate both National Day and the incorporation of the Management committee. Arya had to wear Red and White too, and we went to buy her a Red t-shirt a day earlier. Can you really believe that MY daughter did not own a single Red T-shirt? I was quite taken aback with this discovery. Red is her favorite color too. But she just never asks for anything.
The next piece of FANTASTIC news is that I got promoted at work. I have just been here for a year and it feels absolutely great to get your efforts rewarded so swiftly. I am all motivated and happy. Also by a lucky chance, there is a Customer event in Austin from 21-23 Aug, which I am going for in my new and exalted role ;-) which is perfect because I can go to Anjali's birthday on the 24th.
And then something which made me sigh with satisfaction was the fact that K finally finally finally gave me a Surprise Birthday Party. The odds were all stacked up against a chance of that ever happening in this lifetime. We've spent 10 years together and never have I been given a surprise. My birthday especially has been celebrated mostly by me - I am such a birthday fanatic. But this 34th birthday was different. I went to work and there were 3 cards on my desk from my department and other colleagues. Then there was a beautiful bouquet in the most perfect mishmash of colours. It made my day and coincidentally matched my dress too. Then Sara and Lit Yang took me out to lunch at Go India in Vivocity, they were both all dolled up just for me and my special day. LY left early for a meeting she said, but it was really to get my cake, HaagenDaaz macadmia nuts and vanilla icecream cake, it had pink colored white chocolate shavings on it...wow it was such a dreamy, yummy cake. But I didn't know that yet, as I was tucking in the last bits of dessert at Go India! And Sara bought Godiva Truffes and we headed out to office. Everyone was waiting in the dark with the cake and candles all lit up. I wish I had taken a picture, but I was just too shocked. Such a sweet shock - Godiva Chocolates and Haagen daaz icecream..ooh! my friends know me only too well. Plus the fact that almost everyone who worked with me had been sitting patiently in a dark room waiting. I was truly surprised and grateful.
And then, Kushal came early like he said he would and we were all dressed up to have a quiet dinner at Sentosa. Oh by the way, Kushal had bought my favorite Chocolate Indulgence cake the previous night and that was a surprise too :-) We didn't manage to cut it then because Arya went off to sleep. So we took the cake along - i was mighty surprised with that. Hehe, then the cake was left behind in the cab, and K tried hard to get it back. Usually he would have just let it go, but he told me to go ahead to the restaurant and waited outside himself. Arya and me went to the restaurant and I saw Kausar, Karim, Maya and Viren. I really thought to myself - wow, what a coincidence, on a week night too! and then they got up and said Happy Birthday, I was just speechless and saw that they were sitting at a much longer table waiting for others to arrive. Then came Rajani, Mitesh, Tulika Nandu and Adu, Vinod and Veena (who were very late) and everyone's bachchas (kids) I was just so overwhelmed, I had no idea. These are all people I talk to on a daily basis and yet no one divulged anything. K's master stroke was that no blood relative of mine knew anything so Arya and Adu were not in on the secret, cos as per him, these 2 wouldn't have been able to keep it from me - hehe, that is true. And I am glad I was well and truly surprised.
What a wonderful birthday!
First things first, it's Singapore's 42nd National Day. I was wearing Red and White at work yesterday and imagine my surprise that the only other person doing that was American. In our condo, we have a potluck party tonight to celebrate both National Day and the incorporation of the Management committee. Arya had to wear Red and White too, and we went to buy her a Red t-shirt a day earlier. Can you really believe that MY daughter did not own a single Red T-shirt? I was quite taken aback with this discovery. Red is her favorite color too. But she just never asks for anything.
The next piece of FANTASTIC news is that I got promoted at work. I have just been here for a year and it feels absolutely great to get your efforts rewarded so swiftly. I am all motivated and happy. Also by a lucky chance, there is a Customer event in Austin from 21-23 Aug, which I am going for in my new and exalted role ;-) which is perfect because I can go to Anjali's birthday on the 24th.
And then something which made me sigh with satisfaction was the fact that K finally finally finally gave me a Surprise Birthday Party. The odds were all stacked up against a chance of that ever happening in this lifetime. We've spent 10 years together and never have I been given a surprise. My birthday especially has been celebrated mostly by me - I am such a birthday fanatic. But this 34th birthday was different. I went to work and there were 3 cards on my desk from my department and other colleagues. Then there was a beautiful bouquet in the most perfect mishmash of colours. It made my day and coincidentally matched my dress too. Then Sara and Lit Yang took me out to lunch at Go India in Vivocity, they were both all dolled up just for me and my special day. LY left early for a meeting she said, but it was really to get my cake, HaagenDaaz macadmia nuts and vanilla icecream cake, it had pink colored white chocolate shavings on it...wow it was such a dreamy, yummy cake. But I didn't know that yet, as I was tucking in the last bits of dessert at Go India! And Sara bought Godiva Truffes and we headed out to office. Everyone was waiting in the dark with the cake and candles all lit up. I wish I had taken a picture, but I was just too shocked. Such a sweet shock - Godiva Chocolates and Haagen daaz icecream..ooh! my friends know me only too well. Plus the fact that almost everyone who worked with me had been sitting patiently in a dark room waiting. I was truly surprised and grateful.
And then, Kushal came early like he said he would and we were all dressed up to have a quiet dinner at Sentosa. Oh by the way, Kushal had bought my favorite Chocolate Indulgence cake the previous night and that was a surprise too :-) We didn't manage to cut it then because Arya went off to sleep. So we took the cake along - i was mighty surprised with that. Hehe, then the cake was left behind in the cab, and K tried hard to get it back. Usually he would have just let it go, but he told me to go ahead to the restaurant and waited outside himself. Arya and me went to the restaurant and I saw Kausar, Karim, Maya and Viren. I really thought to myself - wow, what a coincidence, on a week night too! and then they got up and said Happy Birthday, I was just speechless and saw that they were sitting at a much longer table waiting for others to arrive. Then came Rajani, Mitesh, Tulika Nandu and Adu, Vinod and Veena (who were very late) and everyone's bachchas (kids) I was just so overwhelmed, I had no idea. These are all people I talk to on a daily basis and yet no one divulged anything. K's master stroke was that no blood relative of mine knew anything so Arya and Adu were not in on the secret, cos as per him, these 2 wouldn't have been able to keep it from me - hehe, that is true. And I am glad I was well and truly surprised.
What a wonderful birthday!
Friday, July 13, 2007
Phuket
Life has been busy. It's just one thing after another until you feel the days all merge into one. K's been travelling a lot, so much so that Arya and I sometimes forget whether he is in town or still travelling. She had vacations and so it was hard to keep her occupied and keep up with all the late night telecons and volunteer work and social butterfly stuff (I feel more like a social sloth at this moment)
It was summer and a vacation had to be taken so we flew off to Phuket. Now we can say "Been there, done that" We spent two glorious days on Patong Beach and one day souvenir shopping, checking out local attractions and basically doing nothing. Arya was in love with our hotel, the Holiday Inn. She spent a substantial part of our 3 day vacation in the Swimming Pool - she especially loved the wave pool.
One consistent strain for every vacation is that Arya embarks on a new place and has to find the souvenir shop to buy gifts for all her friends. Now this was a fine quality (meant to be encouraged) when we went on a 3 week vacation to Europe or a 2 week vacation to San Diego, with ample opportunity. Plus you can really understand the fact that she is missing her friends when you have been away for weeks, or that she wants to tell them - "I thought of you when I was away"
But in Phuket, and with the 3 precious days that we had, I wasn't willing to go up and about and look for the perfect gifts for all her friends when the sun, the sand and the sea was just beckoning.
However, Arya got her way as usual. She bought some colorful wooden frogs for them. It is really very sweet of her to think of her friends all the time. Without any expectations too. None of her friends actually reciprocate in kind, hehe!
The other highlight of our trip was Phuket Fantasea...I should call it a lowlight actually. This was touted as Phuket's answer to Disneyland and seemingly had everything that Disneyland did except Mickey Mouse. However, when we landed up there (after having paid Disneyland prices for entry) we realised that we had been had. The thrilling adventure rides and games were nothing but "ring toss" or "shoot the balloons", the oodles of shopping was nothing but overpriced souvenirs and really glitzy and garish jewellery shops. Oh, did I say overpriced already? And then there was the "Biggest Buffet in the World" What did you expect? Oh no, it was not the largest array of dishes that you have ever seen. By biggest they meant seating capacity. 4000 people can be accomodated in that hall. Imagine 4000 people waiting in line for a dismal spread.
Everything that could be charged for as "extra" was. This is what I hate about developing nations, everyone wants to make a fast buck. Leaves a really bad taste.
Now, we were hoping that the grand finale to the evening would make the whole episode worth it (and we wouldn't feel like complete fools) But alas! They made us leave our phones and cameras at a security desk, only so that if you wanted pics with the animals inside you'd have to buy them. The show itself was more glitz and garish costumes. The animals came on stage and went off. Any roadside circus in India has better animal performances or acrobatics. Anyway, saving grace was that Arya enjoyed herself. As we were trudging out, secretly trying to take our minds off the fact that we had just been duped, we saw some baby elephants waiting to be fed. Of course Arya wanted to feed them and of course, they were charging 200 baht for it. So we said - Fine...and bought bananas and sugarcane (which would actually cost about 20 baht at best) for the pleasure of feeding the elephants and Kushal was trying to take her picture when the mahouts generously asked us to pose with her - Whole family picture they said and took not one but two pictures. Just as I was about to say Thank You, they said - 100 baht...please give elephant. Sheesh!
Now of course it was not all bad. I definitely needed a break and I got it. We all emerged happy and refreshed. But I will obviously recommend that you avoid Phuket Fantasea if you ever land up there.
It was summer and a vacation had to be taken so we flew off to Phuket. Now we can say "Been there, done that" We spent two glorious days on Patong Beach and one day souvenir shopping, checking out local attractions and basically doing nothing. Arya was in love with our hotel, the Holiday Inn. She spent a substantial part of our 3 day vacation in the Swimming Pool - she especially loved the wave pool.
One consistent strain for every vacation is that Arya embarks on a new place and has to find the souvenir shop to buy gifts for all her friends. Now this was a fine quality (meant to be encouraged) when we went on a 3 week vacation to Europe or a 2 week vacation to San Diego, with ample opportunity. Plus you can really understand the fact that she is missing her friends when you have been away for weeks, or that she wants to tell them - "I thought of you when I was away"
But in Phuket, and with the 3 precious days that we had, I wasn't willing to go up and about and look for the perfect gifts for all her friends when the sun, the sand and the sea was just beckoning.
However, Arya got her way as usual. She bought some colorful wooden frogs for them. It is really very sweet of her to think of her friends all the time. Without any expectations too. None of her friends actually reciprocate in kind, hehe!
The other highlight of our trip was Phuket Fantasea...I should call it a lowlight actually. This was touted as Phuket's answer to Disneyland and seemingly had everything that Disneyland did except Mickey Mouse. However, when we landed up there (after having paid Disneyland prices for entry) we realised that we had been had. The thrilling adventure rides and games were nothing but "ring toss" or "shoot the balloons", the oodles of shopping was nothing but overpriced souvenirs and really glitzy and garish jewellery shops. Oh, did I say overpriced already? And then there was the "Biggest Buffet in the World" What did you expect? Oh no, it was not the largest array of dishes that you have ever seen. By biggest they meant seating capacity. 4000 people can be accomodated in that hall. Imagine 4000 people waiting in line for a dismal spread.
Everything that could be charged for as "extra" was. This is what I hate about developing nations, everyone wants to make a fast buck. Leaves a really bad taste.
Now, we were hoping that the grand finale to the evening would make the whole episode worth it (and we wouldn't feel like complete fools) But alas! They made us leave our phones and cameras at a security desk, only so that if you wanted pics with the animals inside you'd have to buy them. The show itself was more glitz and garish costumes. The animals came on stage and went off. Any roadside circus in India has better animal performances or acrobatics. Anyway, saving grace was that Arya enjoyed herself. As we were trudging out, secretly trying to take our minds off the fact that we had just been duped, we saw some baby elephants waiting to be fed. Of course Arya wanted to feed them and of course, they were charging 200 baht for it. So we said - Fine...and bought bananas and sugarcane (which would actually cost about 20 baht at best) for the pleasure of feeding the elephants and Kushal was trying to take her picture when the mahouts generously asked us to pose with her - Whole family picture they said and took not one but two pictures. Just as I was about to say Thank You, they said - 100 baht...please give elephant. Sheesh!
Now of course it was not all bad. I definitely needed a break and I got it. We all emerged happy and refreshed. But I will obviously recommend that you avoid Phuket Fantasea if you ever land up there.
Wednesday, June 06, 2007
Europe again
Little did I know when we were on our idyllic Europe vacation last June that I would land up here again exactly after a year. This time I went to Amsterdam, Veldhoven, Bussum, Cologne and Munich and I am on my way tonight to London (or rather Bracknell)
There are tons and tons of new things I learnt in these couple of weeks.
Some Ahas were that Cologne and Dusseldorf are just on opposite sides of the Rhein, a mere 30 kms away from each other and there is a ferry (obviously)or hovercraft to take you across.
Also learnt that Cologne and Bonn share an airport. It's called...what else.. the Koln Bonn airport :-)
Gujjus have taken over the world. I met a bunch of them (probably a 100 or so) in a SOTC tour group in Veldhoven, which is this little suburb of Eindhoven. All that Eindhoven really has is Philips. So I am wondering what they would have come to see.
More fun facts to follow in my next post.
There are tons and tons of new things I learnt in these couple of weeks.
Some Ahas were that Cologne and Dusseldorf are just on opposite sides of the Rhein, a mere 30 kms away from each other and there is a ferry (obviously)or hovercraft to take you across.
Also learnt that Cologne and Bonn share an airport. It's called...what else.. the Koln Bonn airport :-)
Gujjus have taken over the world. I met a bunch of them (probably a 100 or so) in a SOTC tour group in Veldhoven, which is this little suburb of Eindhoven. All that Eindhoven really has is Philips. So I am wondering what they would have come to see.
More fun facts to follow in my next post.
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Happy Sad Feeling
I am really happy today because I had my annual review and it was all good news and my efforts were well-rewarded. But my family is not all around me, I want them at my dinner table, laughing and talking and arguing and enjoying. K is in KL, Adu is busy although she's in Sg, Atul is in SD and I can't even tell him until its time for him to wake up(hate time zones), Mummy, Papa, B.Aji are all in India, very happy, but I want to see them and I want to celebrate.
A is here, but she doesn't totally understand. I told her I got a good report card :-) She got a B2 for the first time ever today in Maths because she got stuck on one problem and lost time, couldn't complete her paper. So it wasn't exactly a good analogy - me telling her about my own glorious report card.
Guess I will watch some TV. K will be here tomorrow and then we'll go and party on Thu or Fri.
A is here, but she doesn't totally understand. I told her I got a good report card :-) She got a B2 for the first time ever today in Maths because she got stuck on one problem and lost time, couldn't complete her paper. So it wasn't exactly a good analogy - me telling her about my own glorious report card.
Guess I will watch some TV. K will be here tomorrow and then we'll go and party on Thu or Fri.
Saturday, February 24, 2007
Happy Half birthday to Anjali
It's already 6 months since my chota bhai became a baap and Anjali came into our lives. A few days ago, we saw 2 pics of her eating. Yes, she is onto cereals now. She was actually holding the spoon, which had all of us oohing and aahing. Aditi Atya was here too.
By the way, Vin did a Birthday Suprise Trip for Adu again. This time it's Bangkok. I am so happy for her.
Back here in Singapore, we had some tame CNY. This year we didn't invite a whole lot of people. Infact K was asking me why we haven't been inviting people these days. I think I am just being lazy. I did have the NUS girls over last Saturday. Sunday we went to Manisha's house. Dinner was awesome with tooooooo many different dishes. It was an impressive spread and too much variety to choose from.
I also had a surprise party for Kushal and I invited a bunch of friends. Of course, they didn't get to savor his cooking. But the surprise was a success because he was genuinely surprised. He has been working so hard. It was a well-deserved break. I wanted to invite a few others, but I wasn't completely sure of what time the birthday boy would arrive.
Our anniversary was a very dull affair as well. Naively enough, I thought I could surprise him with a Rasa Sentosa Sunday Brunch and overnight stay, but it was quite quite full even a month in advance. To top it off, he was sick as well. We managed to go out for lunch with Arya. Thai Express at Paragon. Really poor service, we were ignored for very long after getting to the table. Arya still remembered the worm in her tomato from last time. For K's birthday, we went to Pasta Fresca at Pasir Panjang with the Charis. Another disappointing restaurant. The food was godawful and we really paid through our noses for such lousy food ki kya kahen.
But yes in general, I haven't been the hostess with the mostess. I have been attending loads of parties though. Especially a lot of NUS dos.
Coming back to babies, I went to see PFT's beti on Friday with the rest of the office gang. She is such a cutie. The most distinguished feature was her impeccably combed hair. That's how she came out. All propah and not a hair out of place, and such thick hair too. GB was jealous he said :-)
And to speak of Anjali again, I really miss having her to hold and play with. Although I spent just a couple of weeks with her, it was the most awesome bond. I can barely wait to see her again in December.
By the way, Vin did a Birthday Suprise Trip for Adu again. This time it's Bangkok. I am so happy for her.
Back here in Singapore, we had some tame CNY. This year we didn't invite a whole lot of people. Infact K was asking me why we haven't been inviting people these days. I think I am just being lazy. I did have the NUS girls over last Saturday. Sunday we went to Manisha's house. Dinner was awesome with tooooooo many different dishes. It was an impressive spread and too much variety to choose from.
I also had a surprise party for Kushal and I invited a bunch of friends. Of course, they didn't get to savor his cooking. But the surprise was a success because he was genuinely surprised. He has been working so hard. It was a well-deserved break. I wanted to invite a few others, but I wasn't completely sure of what time the birthday boy would arrive.
Our anniversary was a very dull affair as well. Naively enough, I thought I could surprise him with a Rasa Sentosa Sunday Brunch and overnight stay, but it was quite quite full even a month in advance. To top it off, he was sick as well. We managed to go out for lunch with Arya. Thai Express at Paragon. Really poor service, we were ignored for very long after getting to the table. Arya still remembered the worm in her tomato from last time. For K's birthday, we went to Pasta Fresca at Pasir Panjang with the Charis. Another disappointing restaurant. The food was godawful and we really paid through our noses for such lousy food ki kya kahen.
But yes in general, I haven't been the hostess with the mostess. I have been attending loads of parties though. Especially a lot of NUS dos.
Coming back to babies, I went to see PFT's beti on Friday with the rest of the office gang. She is such a cutie. The most distinguished feature was her impeccably combed hair. That's how she came out. All propah and not a hair out of place, and such thick hair too. GB was jealous he said :-)
And to speak of Anjali again, I really miss having her to hold and play with. Although I spent just a couple of weeks with her, it was the most awesome bond. I can barely wait to see her again in December.
Friday, February 02, 2007
So overdue
I never really recovered from the San Diego vacation to write about it.
I must say that Anjali is adorable. It was wonderful to hold her and coo to her and do silly things to make her smile. Atul said they will come to Singapore in Dec this year and I am already counting the days (months, sigh!!)
The 2 weeks with Anjali made me want another baby. More than ever.
We did a lot of fun things in SD and also in LA. We went to Disneyland where all of us had our first ever Disneyland experience and we were lucky to go there at Christmas time so that we could witness the great Xmas parade. Arya, me and mummy saw snow for the first time at Big bear lake. We went down tubing and all that. So much fun.
Arya was Anjali's fairy godmother, she did everything short of changing diapers. I gave Anjali a bath almost every night. How she hates getting water on her face!
Kushal cooked some delicious meals for all of us. Atul and Bhawana drove us around everywhere. They needed 2 cars to fit in everyone, car seats et al.
We checked out the Y! office in SD, do you know they have real orange trees in the courtyard. We picked oranges and ate them on our roadtrip to Big Bear, hehe. Just the sheer glee of it all.
And we all shopped a great deal but not as much as we would have loved too. There was just too much to do.
Atul gave Arya a lot of love and a lot of grief, she became Adu's replacement as the object of his affection and teasing. We did miss Adu several times during the 2 weeks and wished she could have come as well. We taught Arya to play gadav, 5-3-2 and 7-8s.
We went to a lot of parties Atul's office party, etc. Arya was always hovering around Anjali playing the role of the protective older sibling.
For Arya particularly, this trip was so cool, because she got to see zoos galore. The wild animal park in San Diego is really so fascinating. We saw a lot of animals even in the puny Big Bear Zoo that we hadn't seen before. Badgers, skunks, and the like. The world-famous San Diego zoo is not half as good as the Singapore zoo, but hey, it was a zoo and Arya was in raptures.
We also went for the first time to a Costco, and it was amazing to see. Quite a wonder!
So I came back and rubbed off the saying on my cube - When was the last time you did something for the first time? There were so many firsts we did on this trip. And they were all so overdue, like this post is.
I must say that Anjali is adorable. It was wonderful to hold her and coo to her and do silly things to make her smile. Atul said they will come to Singapore in Dec this year and I am already counting the days (months, sigh!!)
The 2 weeks with Anjali made me want another baby. More than ever.
We did a lot of fun things in SD and also in LA. We went to Disneyland where all of us had our first ever Disneyland experience and we were lucky to go there at Christmas time so that we could witness the great Xmas parade. Arya, me and mummy saw snow for the first time at Big bear lake. We went down tubing and all that. So much fun.
Arya was Anjali's fairy godmother, she did everything short of changing diapers. I gave Anjali a bath almost every night. How she hates getting water on her face!
Kushal cooked some delicious meals for all of us. Atul and Bhawana drove us around everywhere. They needed 2 cars to fit in everyone, car seats et al.
We checked out the Y! office in SD, do you know they have real orange trees in the courtyard. We picked oranges and ate them on our roadtrip to Big Bear, hehe. Just the sheer glee of it all.
And we all shopped a great deal but not as much as we would have loved too. There was just too much to do.
Atul gave Arya a lot of love and a lot of grief, she became Adu's replacement as the object of his affection and teasing. We did miss Adu several times during the 2 weeks and wished she could have come as well. We taught Arya to play gadav, 5-3-2 and 7-8s.
We went to a lot of parties Atul's office party, etc. Arya was always hovering around Anjali playing the role of the protective older sibling.
For Arya particularly, this trip was so cool, because she got to see zoos galore. The wild animal park in San Diego is really so fascinating. We saw a lot of animals even in the puny Big Bear Zoo that we hadn't seen before. Badgers, skunks, and the like. The world-famous San Diego zoo is not half as good as the Singapore zoo, but hey, it was a zoo and Arya was in raptures.
We also went for the first time to a Costco, and it was amazing to see. Quite a wonder!
So I came back and rubbed off the saying on my cube - When was the last time you did something for the first time? There were so many firsts we did on this trip. And they were all so overdue, like this post is.
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