India trip December 2019

Just back from a fantastic and one of our very best vacations - India 2019. Unlike last time, cannot remember a day by day account of the 19 days but shall record a general post for memories sake.

Just before starting, kuttimma won Gold in a badminton county tournament and finished gold level in swimming too. But, despite all the high scholarships, her academic record this term was not good enough for me. She insisted this term she wanted to relax after the huge pressures of last year, so I reluctantly let it go.

The reason this vacation turned out to be one of the best is because of the love  and care that C showered on Raksha and I. C has been a close friend for quite a while now but the selfless love she imparts is very precious to me. She is possibly the same with anybody but for me, who has not had a maternal house to go to since 2008, her home, when I was pregnant, as well as when I visited her this time was more loving, caring and emotionally nourishing than any other home has ever been for me.

She would not let me partake in cooking or cleaning other than the bare minimum, she would cook all of R’s favourite dishes, she would enjoy dressing her up in her own accessories, she would give me her fantastic coffee on waking up and listen to me and counsel me on all my worries. She is only 2 years older than me but I feel so cared for when I spend time with her, even if it is only going shopping with her. She would not allow me to spend unnecessarily and would gently chide R when she is off on one of her impulsive runs.

Her sons K and R are such different personalities, but both so loving and fun. R spent all 19 days completely and absolutely with them, enjoying, fighting, making up and generally having a blast.

The other good thing that happened was that K’s parents came over to Chennai and we visited them at the West*n Marrio*tt. They stayed at the Royal Meri**dien . Their service was rubbish whereas ours was fantastic. The kids and C and I stayed there was 3 days and the kids had a fantastic time  running around and swimming in the hotel pool and enjoying the humungous and scrumptious breakfast. K’s parents had a great time with R and I met them briefly too. C’s  presence helped me manage my minor irritations.

R and C’s kids R and K also visited K’s Chennai home where he grew up and once again had a great time with her grand parents, cousin who was busy with her 12th boards and aunt. I was so glad R met her cousin and had a great time. The grand parents were very loving towards R, were very impressed by her swimming and she loved her silver bracelet and earring from her cousin and maroon beaded gold dollar chain from her grandma.

R also gifted a gold chain to her Grandpa and a pure silk Saree to her grandma. She also gave cash to her cousin for her to spend as she saw fit.

Added to the above, K and I visited the Kalahasti temple , the day we returned from the Andaman. The driver was very professional, ( though car drives in India have gotten to be an absolute night mare and lives seem to escape within a hair’s breadth!) the temple has been fitted with fans and neat roofs, so it was quite cool unlike the burning hot visits I have had there before. We had a reasonably good Dharshan and then we visited K’s periamma. To see her and his nephew and family pamper K made me feel proudand happy. K was very loving to them as well. They spoke to R over the phone on video call and really missed her. However R was with R and K and also, we did not want her on the perilous drive. We had a lovely home cooked meal there and left happy.

We also went shopping in T nagar and after much search found everything we wanted. Kumar*n silks turned out to be the place where we got what we wanted.  It this shopping trip was an experience in itself. We spent some time shopping in Phoen*ix mall as well and that was a totally different kind of experience.

Another good thing that happened was C found a good tailor for me, who converted 3 of my old silk sarees that I was going to throw away , into 3 silk gowns for me and one silk gown for Raksha at a very reasonable rate. Another jackpot of the trip.

I also went with K to Avat*na at ITC Gra*d Ch*la for a fantastic dinner. We had the Bela menu and it was absolutely fantastic. We loved the size and very tamil names and decor of the hotel and the restaurant staff were especially nice. The meal, as promised was an experience in itself and the flavours really subtle but superb. K said the non veg was the best he ever had. As it was our belated anniversary celebration, they also made us a special dessert and asked us to guess the flavours - filter coffee, idly, jaggery and sesame! We could have never guessed! .

Another dinner we had after our T nagar shopping was at Malg*di in Saverr*. The food was not to my taste except for the divine elaneer payasam. But K took me there having already been there the day before for his college friends’ meet and loved the chappala Pulusu. I loved the village decor and the live flute rendition of ilayaraja songs, so all in all a pleasant evening. R as usual was with her friends at C’s place , having a gala time.

C’s top floor flat has a fantastic view of the beach several temples etc and always has a pleasant wind blowing through the house. Also, the play area in the grounds below is small but neat and R had a wonderful time making new friends and playing there. When K and I were in Kalahasthi,   Also took R and the kids to the PC (Pinna*le Cre*st, their apartment block) swimming pool  and the kids greatly enjoyed.

C cooked R’s favourite Aloo paratha, vegetable noodles, chappati and Channa etc and under C’s strict supervision, R had more food than she ever did manage under mine.

One morning, R, K and I as a family also visited a near by 1000 year old Srinivasa perumal temple (Chemman*ery) to give thanks to the year and request guidance to choose the right senior school for R.

While in Marri**ott, C and I and the kids also visited the nanganallur Anjaney**r temple. It was wonderful to pray and simply be there. K could not join us as he had a health check up nearby.

The last day, we met the year 1 college girl that both families were helping educate. We had a good time with the girl and her mum while also sharing some life lessons. We hooked her up with another girl who was smart and ambitious and could guide her. Her mum left happy.

We returned in emirates BC as we both had to work the next day. This time around, it was way way better than last time and we thoroughly enjoyed it. The lounge at Chennai was pleasant and had good Indian fare. The flight was good, food was good and service pleasant enough. But Dubai to L was at another level. The lounge was super cool, the shower facilities fantastic ( as it was new year’s day, we all showered and changed), food range and quality were awesome.

The flight as well was very comfortable, food fantastic and service excellent.

I am afraid in my experience I can see that the more mixed the crew is, the more pleasant the service.

I also bought for myself the most expensive piece of jewellery I have ever worn. It may not be so for the majority of other women but usually I have simple tastes and shy away from even basic jewellery. This time around, for some reason, I indulged myself. Though I don’t see myself wearing it too often, I did love looking at it.

From LH we travelled home..the final drive provided by the airlines was a very good quality car. I had rested very well in my flight home. But still the last 2.30 hours were quite a strain on my legs for some reason.

We reached home and in the next half hour, a very good friend of ours M was at our door as his wife had sent food for the night, next morning, bread, milk and snacks for us. I was gobsmacked. This is another couple that is so giving without any expectations, just because it is their nature to be so thoughtful.

With both C and this couple, I heartily wish the universe fulfils all their wishes as I can honestly and genuinely say my mental health has been better and my heart much more happier because of their actions. C especially has made a great difference to my life just by being so kind and loving. She is not at all emotional and does not even hug easily. But she just briskly does things that are so kind. I am truly blessed .

What I have not mentioned in all of the above is our Andaman trip with its many disasters, a separate post on the same next...

Letters to my young lady 11

Patumma, ammu

Where do I start. You wrote some big exams in 2019 Sep/ Oct. On the 4 th Oct you received big result 1 for your grammar school. Very happy. Good enough to qualify in the above average range. First academic scholarship interview letter on 10 th Oct. 2nd Academic scholarship interview letter on 16th Oct. On 19th Oct, second grammar result. Once again, well above average.

We know you are definitely not in the genius category. You are that smart kid who works relentlessly to produce results while being always upbeat! To that teacher who said ‘ She is really good in English and maths is fine but NVR will not get her in to grammar’ Ma’am you simply do not know children ,especially not my daughter. She does not understand ‘can’t’. Another thing she does not know is how to hold a grudge. She still likes you. But sorry, I don’t.

You did not like her because she would politely but firmly question you when you calculated her marks percentage wrong. She also challenged you when you tried to bully her.

You thought being the tiniest and youngest, she should defer to all older kids and adults. She, rightly thought otherwise.

Well, my puny one is gigantic in her heart. We see her as Wonder Woman and so does she. How you saw her was solely your problem, not hers.

All of the above pattumma, parallelly  you qualified for the county in badminton , achieved Lamda grade 2, bharartnatham grade 2, singing grade 3, Kumon E ( you started Kumon late July and we did not attend in October) and swimming silver. And the joy of life is still bubbling inside you.

The head teacher of KH was very impressed with your interview and shook Daddy’s hand and said how proud we must be of you.

You had happily suggested additional books for their school library and how to make their learning environment more fun. He particularly identified how you were clearly a child with a child’s perspective and belief in making everything happier and nicer for children.

You are never that top student , top player, top musician. But you are above average at a lot of things. 

And being cheeky and happy , no matter what, well, in my head you are the top of the top in that!

No matter who says you can’t ( including me) , hopefully you would look back at this time and say, ‘ Well , people have always been telling me that, poor sods’ and March your happy march of life blithely proving us all wrong...

Now we know why we waited for you for so long chelame..

Good things take time..;)

Love you loads

Amma

Trip to Algarve continued...

The next day we rushed through breakfast and set off to zoo marine park. To her delight she received a call from our friends and their little ones in Chennai to wish her happy birthday in advance!

On reaching zoo marine, we were not disappointed. For such a crowded place, the people were polite, the toilets and shower rooms were clean and food was more reasonably priced than even outside!

The young one went for her Dolphin emotions experience where she made the dolphin dance, she swam on top of one and kissed one and had a whale of a time. There were only 5 to a group and it was very well organised though expensive.

A gentleman proposed to his girlfriend by using a dolphin to give her the ring.so that was sweet as well..

We then stood in a queue for half an hour only to dodger we were standing for the wrong ride. But we still enjoyed the gentle Jurassic ride and went for the pirate shoes, the dolphin show ( though we have seen the Florida one, the Barcelona one, the Dubai one  etc this one was still ballet like  and mermaid dance like and different) the sharks and sea anemones and water dragons etc. Dad and daughter then spent some time on the artificial wave beach..we still were not done with the dolphins and went for yet another little dolphin 4d show. We had crepes and orange juice and then towards the fab end, we went back to the sea lions and the young one raced with them very cutely.. calling out from this side of the glass fence every time they roared, ‘ No, no, don’t complain..I won this one fair and square!’  ;)

We then went to a Michelin starred restaurant as K wanted to try the fish there and the wine. We were happy tired and crashed in the hotel once back.

The next day was the big 2 digit birthday so the young one woke us all up at 3.40 a, suddenly having woken up with the excitement of having turned 10! Lots of fun and blessings later , time to pack, have breakfast and leave. She told everybody and anybody who would listen..I am a big girl and have turned 10 today!

The phone was buZing from the morning with wishes for her from everybody!

Back home to a surprisingly boiling hot  city, noodles and subway for lunch for the happy birthday babe, cake, a little prep for the mock the next day and off to sleep!

PS

The young one loves Calvin and Hobbes. So, when 2 years back,her friends R and K gifted her a lioness soft toy in Singapore, she immediately named her lily rose and treats her exactly like Calvin treats Hobbes. She has conversations with lily rose, takes her cycling, treats her kindly, takes her to bed etc.

At Algarve, lily rose got dunked in the sea and buried in the sand and sadly her eye came off. Typically, ( very practical and happy go lucky) the young one said, never mind, I am always going to love her and let’s just get another friend for my double digit ages!

But K was not going to spring for yet another soft toy, so he super glued the eye back once we were back home. So now, Lily rose is back by the young one’s side, the beach dunk and burial merrily forgiven;)

Trip to Algarve

For the young lady’s 10th birthday we went on a 4 day trip to Algarve, Portugal. We love Portugal and its people so much that this is our third trip to the country. We are seriously thinking of buying a property there as we are yet to see a more friendly, respectful and secure people anywhere else. And we have been to and lived in a few countries, to say the least.

On day one, we reached the 3 h b fales@ia hotel in Olhas d agua. It was an 8 am flight so we reached at 11. Our conscientious young one finished her Kumon on the flight. So, as soon as we landed, it was straight to the pool. The hotel was positioned on a cliff over looking the sea, so the view was quiet good. The weather, as expected was boiling hot in the high 20s. After the pool,  some pizza from the snack bar and changing in our spacious and clean room, we tried walking down the steps to the beach. However it was pretty late by then and people were coming back, so we decided to just take a rain check.

Though we went for the standard room, it was spacious and pleasant. The sea facing rooms were not refurbished and those blocks did not have a lift so it all worked out good.

K had fever the previous few days, but still had been at work..I had been running around sorting the new uniform and my Diwali stitching and the young one had badminton camp for the previous two days, where she played for 4 hours each so, we were all knackered.

Also, with a lot of effort from all of us, the young one had made giant leaps in her scores in the k.  Sol last mock test and the inspire mocks 7, 8 and 9 , so we were in a well deserved rest phase ;)

We went in to town to have dinner at  taste of Punjab, where the food was tasteful enough. 

After a restful sleep, The next day we had breakfast overlooking the cliff. We love the food in Portugal usually, but the standard here was  not as good as Madeira or Lisbon but still higher than any other country’s Hotel. The fruits especially were of a very high quality. But no variety of nuts for my porridge or hash browns for the little one.

After taking a few snaps, we went to the beach, played a bit and then we set for our dolphin watch to Albufeira..  we were supposed to go horse riding but that didn’t work out. Though the boat trip was pleasant enough and we saw the cathedral caves and the secret caves formed by rocks that were more than 20 million years old and we loved the submarine and Sphinx rock formations, we could not spot a single dolphin.

We had a quick lunch nearby and also lots of pastries at the famous cafe creek cafeteria ( nothing extraordinary but reasonable enough)and made our way back to the hotel. Dad and daughter went for a swim, I read my Good earth yet again and then went down to join them for the walk to the beach. I took my usual morning my walks in the beach while they rested and played in the waves.

They went for Thai dinner while I had the remains of their pizza from the pool and read my book.

Letters to my young lady 10

Dear Kannamma

You are at the grand old age of 10! You are so proud of this that you mentioned this to all whom you met at the restaurant and airport on our trip to Algarve.

 Though you achieved a distinction in bharathnatyam grade 1, singing grade 2, lamda grade  2, bikeability, swimming silver  and badminton county selection for under 12s this year and piano grade 1 ( the year before last) is already in your kitty..we have taken stock and decided that you would like some other instrument and not piano, bharatnatyam is not what you want and acting lessons and stage coach is what you would like to go for this year. While continuing singing, lambda, badminton and swimming.

You have worked really hard for your eleven plus this year, only to gauge your standard as we already passed the exam to the school we want to go. In maths , you have found a way to tackle time pressure. You now choose only those sums that you know you can do relatively fast and you get them all right. That way despite leaving out one or two sums, you are still scoring really high! Well done Kannamma.

This is typical you. Not getting bogged down by problems but figuring out a way that does not require you to compromise your basic nature. Resilience, perseverance and an intense joy in life are still your core characteristics.

Love you to the moon and back pattu. May each year of your life be happier and filled with more joy and kindness and love than the year before!

Bless you my bundle of joy!

Love
Amma

15th July 2019

An important day for the young one. She got through the selections for the county badminton squad for under 12s. As usual, jumping, smiling and skipping..with not a single aggressive or seemingly ambitious bone in her body!

Let’s see where this takes us Kannamma..

Post birthday break

As part of the birthday celebration, my friend D and I planned to take off to a spa break for a night away from the mad crowds that our families were ;)

We took off around 4 pm on the Friday and it was a fun  30 minute drive of giggles and laughter to New?.?Hall hotel and spa. It was a 12th century castle with a moat and wonderful woods and lakes around. There was an old and charming church in the premises as well..

We checked in and immediately took off to explore the woods. The weather was warm with an occasional cool breeze.After a lovely long walk, we changed to our swim suits and visited the sap. It was a small and cosy set up with a swimming pool, sauna and staeam room. We had the pool all to ourselves.. we swam for around 45 minutes and checked out the steam room a bit and went to shower and change for dinner.

Went down to the old and charming dining area..we were given sample wines to try before ordering get and to our shame that in itself made us tipsy! We ordered the area’s famous driftwood cheese, polenta cake for me as main, sea bass for D, and  for dessert we had dark chocolate parfait. While the food was different, adequately tasteful and service warm, the cost was a bit too high for the quality delivered. But we had a great time chatting and laughing and came back to our room around 11 pm.

We changed to our night clothes and as it usually happens with all of my friends, chatted well in to the night . We should have fallen asLet only around 2 or 3. A’s was my habit, I was promptly up at 6.45.

Showered , changed and went down for a really sumptuous English breakfast, fruits, pastries rounding it off with fresh waffles with maple syrup. We once again visited the well loved grounds, (especially since it was such a glorious morning with the sun shining brilliantly)took some pictures and checked out at 12 with the intention to come back around 4pm for the luxury facial that was part of the deal.

In the meanwhile, D had caught a really bad case of hay fever. So we we went to the pharmacy for tablets and eye drops . We ditched the idea of visiting Kingsbury grounds and instead opted for the local mall. We went window shopping, D purchased some gifts, we had some milk shake and macaroons for lunch and covered topics we had not yet managed like movies, books, travel etc. Around 4 we went back to the grounds , enjoyed the scenery a bit more, read our books and wen tin for the facials at 5.

It was genuinely one of the most relaxing facials we had ever had. We gave the feedback to the young ladies, took a picture of our rare rlaxed faces and smiles and took off home.

All in all, a small, sweet and overall fantastic break.

Out of the mouths of babes..

It being my birthday..we had all gone to Ask ? Italian for lunch. K keeps quizzing the young one on the value/ cost of each item so she understands the relative worth of goods and services. At the end of today’s quiz..the young one pipes up ‘What would be my value?’

I started thinking, as I wanted to tell her how precious she was at the same time..how difficult we find it to handle her cool, unemotional naughtiness and cheekiness. While I am thinking how to frame the answer..she again quickly pipes up cheekily ‘ Please make sure you say a value more than 50 pounds, so you do not hurt my feelings ok?’

You had to be there to see her expression and tone of voice..

K and I almost died laughing:)

Easter 2019 - days 4 and 5

Day 3 dawned bright and sunny and the plan for the day was to visit the heads of Ayr farm park.  We went there around 10 am and the kids had a blast for the rest of the day. The young one particularly enjoyed feeding a pony called Merry Legs. She would go to the open trampoline, visit the other animals, go on the slide etc but always check on merry legs every now and then and feed her from the palm of her hand.

The weather was unbelievable for scotland especially for easter. We then went to the nearby Ayr beach where the young one got messy building sand castles and spotting washed up Jelly fish while K and I took our favourite long walk along the beach.

We had determined that these 4 days were a complete holiday for the young one  - with no studies and no food restrictions and most importantly no telling-offs from mum. She had a complete blast but hand on heart I could say that she was very sensible and though she opted for junk, she did not go overboard. She was extremely polite to our hosts, cleared her plates after she ate, cleaned the sink and tub after her brush and bath, thanked them when warranted and was sweetly well behaved with no prompts from either of us.

What was even more endearing was how she teased the shy little boy out, gently coaxing him to open up and devising games that he would enjoy as well. Being 5 years older, she could have easily bullied him ( as most older kids do with her) but she was gentle, sweet and friendly throughout. She did not 'mother' him but was a good and caring older friend. I was super proud of her and so was her dad.

We went to Akbar's for dinner and it was a refreshingly good experience after our previous night's debacle.

Our host P had to leave for work the next morning, so we said our good byes and left the next day. Once again we stopped at the Gretna green services for some refreshments and then made our way to the Lake district. The weather was so glorious, that we wanted to make the most of it.

Once again, we had been to Beatrix Potter land a while back, but we loved it so we visited the lake again. I did not want the ferry but preferred to walk around the lake. The young one gaily fed the ducks , we had our walk, enjoyed the beauty of the blooming trees, the green grass and the rolling hills, chit chatted our way around the lake and drove back home knackered and ready to fall into bed around 9 pm.

All in all, a wonderful holiday ( the cheapest we had ever had but one of  the best :) and another one notched up to keep us warm and light on cold and dark days :)

Easter 2019 Days 1,2 and 3

Unlike the last 10 easters that we have been here.. this easter was a bright and sunshiny one and hence the best of them all :). Though our friends had all planned for Tenerife, we chose the path less taken this easter and planned to visit JK Rowling's original haunts at Edinburgh. One of our friends kindly invited us to stay with them at their house, so the matter was settled.

On the Thursday, the young one finished her mock test review and her badminton class and swimming session at DL. She has already finished her bronze level of swimming and loves to swim just like that any chance she gets. Once in the water, it takes  atleast an hour if not more before I can successfully coax her out.

She was excited since her friend D was visiting her from Shropshire. Unfortunately, D's dad was a medical director and had some urgent issue to attend to and could not leave till 6 pm. While the restless young one was trying to engage herself otherwise, D and her family came walking in, having luckily zipped through the non peak traffic window for easter.

And what a evening it was! We grownups had a fun time chatting and laughing and eating dinner and sipping our drinks till 2 am in the morning. The next day, D's dad mentioned how it had been a long time since they had laughed so much and how the tension of the meeting had drained away from him over the course of the evening. We felt something similar as well.

The young ones completely sorted themselves out, despite meeting after almost a year. I went up to sleep at 2 am and could still hear them giggling and chatting till 3 am!

On day 2 all of us woke up around 9 am, had a leisurely breakfast of brioche bread and egg for the adults and nutella, brioche bread and cold chocolate milk for the kids. D and family left around 2 pm. We had our stuff packed and ready, so we cleaned up the house, locked up and left around 3 pm for our  drive of 4.30 hours to Glasgow. The weather was glorious, the young one needed her sleep, so she stretched out at the back with her pillows .. while K and I chatted, listened to music and enjoyed the drive.

We stopped at Gretna Green for a comfort break and then reached glasgow around 8.30 pm. The lady of the house, H was 8 months pregnant and the little boy was around 5 years old. Our young one, immediately struck a friendship and started playing with him while we had dinner and quickly went to bed.

On day 3, we had a quick breakfast and let H relax while the rest of us drove from Glasgow to Edinburgh. We had some lovely french toast, mac and cheese and milkshakes at Mimi's cafe at Edinburgh, took some snaps around Victoria street that was the inspiration for Diagon alley and then visited Edinburgh castle.

We had been there when the young one was around 3 and I fell in love with St Margaret's chapel and the stained glass painting of Queen Margaret there. So I took the young one to see the same, we then visited the crown jewels, the cannons etc and also the boy wizard shop on the way down.  We had some icecream and the kids played around for a bit.

On the way down we discovered we have lost our shuttle tickets..rare for K as he is usually diligent with stuff like this. We walked down instead and visited the Elephant house where JK Rowling wrote her HP drafts. The young one was the first to spot it and she seemed quite inspired by the whole visit. We then made our way to Victoria street- the museum context store, took some pics in front of trhe chamber of secrets mirror and the hogwarts school desk, bought a souvenir pen for the young one and walked further down the road to anothermerchandise shop and a disney store to buy a batman doll for the little boy who had been patiently doing the HP franchise tour for the sake of our young one.

Throughout the trip, the young one used this pen to write int he notebook gifted to her by D. She was spinning a story of mermaids under the sea..

We then visited Greyfriar's Kirk cemetry and managed to spot the names McGonagall, Tom Riddle and Helen.

We managed to then visit the porto bello beach for the little boy and given the weather was glorious , we had a good time at the sandy beach.

Drove back home, changed out of our sandy clothes and both families went to to Rishi's for dinner. A worse experience in dining we had never had. The food was bad, delayed and the service confused. The kids nodded off even before we could make our way back. We chatted a bit and went to bed happy and tired.

..To be continued

Letters to my young one..9

Chellamma

You know what has been going on for the past few days.. You have worked so hard, harder than anybody else we know ( because they say so and you gave up reading, tele time, free time etc and I, who  has always taken pride in working hard, am amazed at the kind of work ethic and stamina you exhibit). You come back from school, read a bit for pleasure/ go on your bike for some time if it is sunny  and sit straight after on maths, every single day. You work for 4 hours straight with your friends on a weekend  , come home and sit straight after, working at Maths again for 3 hours. The maths concepts are being taught at an exponential speed and you work hard at it because you like to understand the concept , explain to daddy and then do your sums. You do not like to rush, especially when it comes to Maths.

All this effort, despite knowing that you have already got in to a school , so there is no desperate drive for it.

You simply want to do it.

At class, you help your friends understand these concepts because you are so clear about them.When discussing something in real life, like time for a flight or change to be given or percentages achieved you clearly explain these to us and give us the answers.

However, your scores, though above average  , are not at the top of the class. You know the concepts earlier, you know them well but when it comes to timed tests, your mistakes become inevitable.  Children who have learnt from you, who have made half the effort as you have, score better than you.

It breaks my heart to see that all your effort means only half the result. But, that is silly, ordinary, insecure me. You my darling, never let the smile leave your face. You are proud of the bits you got right, you want us to help you avoid mistakes and with that, you are done and dusted. You pat yourself on the back and give yourself a half-an-hour bike ride as a reward for all your hard work :)

Not once, not even once are you jealous of your friends or bitter about your results.

And that gorgeous smile and silly jokes and sunshiny confidence - none of these miss a beat!

Because, in your head,  tomorrow is always going to be better and you are simply going to try again.

Hats off!

You tell me often that I inspire you. Kannamma, let me tell you, I have been inspired by many people in the journey of my life, but none more than you. I live with you, I see you, I made you , I scold you, I love you and yet... I sit amazed by your extraordinary approach to life.

Surely no credit to me or your daddy. We teach you little things, you take them and make it something much more than what we give.

Some day sweetheart, all these seeds will flower and bloom and that day - what a garden you are going to have. I will learn from you and wait patiently for that day and mend my broken heart with your smile.

Love you da thangame!
Amma

The imperfect crime

So, one of my close friends is from Gujarat and she had cooked a bitter but very healthy spinach almond cake that is supposedly good for kids. She had given some for us. I came home and warned the cheeky one that it was a bitter Indian cake but I would really be happy if she ate it.

Astonishingly surprisingly she said ‘ fine amma’ and took it to her room upstairs. I did hear a small thump but I though it was the birds on the roof or some such thing..The empty plate came down after a few minutes and all was well.

Two days later, K happens to look up while sitting in the conservatory and a small shape suspiciously resembling the spinach cake could be seen clearly on the conservatory frosted glass roof.

He takes the CM aside and asks her twice..’ Did you really eat the cake?’  Wide and innocent puppy eyes take centre stage and a vigorous defence of her righteous self ensues....till the shape on the roof is pointed out!

So, the CM had very stealthily and with great planning, carried the cake upstairs, tasted a small bite, concluded eating the cake was too great a sacrifice for a mere 9 year old , taken an executive decision and thrown it out of the bedroom window not realising that it falls right on the conservatory roof, the dining room adjacent to which is where we all spend most of our time in!

Though lots of lecturing on the importance of being truthful and not cheating happened, K and I can’t stop laughing (carefully only when the CM is not around) at the sheer childish innocence that runs through all of her actions and thoughts..even when it is in the planning of a petty crime!

Letters to my princess 8

Ammulu

What a year this has been so far!

You wrote a competitive exam, came out and said ‘Amma, I did really well..they will definitely want me. English comprehension, mental maths, maths problems and creative writing..I did really well’.

I advised you not to be over confident and viewed your comments with lots of scepticism. I also said that there were limited spaces available, so it really depends on how well the others had done. But you insisted, very innocently and as a matter of fact ‘ But I did really well amma!’

And guess what, it turns out you did do really well. Not only did you get an offer, we have also been led to believe that you have a chance of cracking the scholarship exam next year ;) (they only offer scholarships from next year, for senior school)

What confidence in a 9 year old and with what grace! What I do not fail to remember kanamma is how much you have worked hard for this! You are no born genius. You are the youngest in your year, you have convergence issues in your eye and your high energy leads you to prefer swimming and cycling to sitting still and studying. Yet, here you are, never giving up, always persevering, ever resilient  after failures and mummy’s reprimands and full of optimism and that bubbly happiness deep within you...

Your teacher reports the same ‘ popular, resilient and persevering’ . Your head teacher says you ‘ work uniformly hard at anything give to you’. What life skills pattuma!

Not just this you also managed to get in to the county selections for your favourite sport - badminton! As always , when you walk into court, the other kids look down upon you due to your puny size and innocent , naive friendliness. But then I see everybody’s reaction transform in front of my eyes as you start playing  :) I have always showed you Susan Boyle’s BGT video and the audience reaction , to teach you not to care about comments and put downs but go and reach for the stars. That is exactly what you do and how!

The other kids are competitive, aggressive...so I suggest to you that may be you should copy some of that and you turn to me and say clearly ‘ Amma, I love the game and I want to enjoy playing it well.. I do not want  pressure or competetion or aggression. I believe I can win like this as well’. Wow. So clear. So clean. Am so glad you are who you are. In fact I am in awe of your indomitable spirit and clarity of thoughts.

You win ovations from your teachers and class whenever there is a creative writing task and you are zooming in maths as well. You are eager to be independent and very eager to start cooking.

But, keeping to time is still a battle. When a class tarts at 6 pm or school starts at 10 to 9, time does not magically stop and wait for you to skip and dance and chat about your class mates and their shenanigans. You have to be ready and in the car by a certain time!

The years roll on, you grow mature and kind and absolutely lovely but this lack of punctuality does not seem to improve!

When do you plan to win this one chitlu?


Love you to the moon and back

Amma

New year’s eve

Day 8, I was still down with fever and cold. So just another lazy day for all of us, K and the young one were knackered from their squash session late night the day before, so we just had a leisurely breakfast, packed up and lazed around till half 12 when the taxi came for the pick up back home.

After an uneventful flight, except for my fever and cold, we reached home in time to welcome 2019 the next day.

Day 6 and 7

Day 6 saw me wake up in sniffles but still go to the spa , check out the jacuzzi, the sensory showers, the sauna, halo therapy and Indian head massage with foot message with Himalayan crystals. Still not satisfied, I also went to the beach side tent for back and leg  massage treatment by Sandra - as it had rave reviews. The weather was quiet chilly the whole of this day and I paid dearly for my over enthusiasm. Sandra’s tent had transparent views to the beach (which meant some wind was let in through the plastic curtains )she did a professional job but the wind caught up with me and I fell terribly sick.

K and the young one sensibly enjoyed in the hotel, swimming in the heated indoor pool, resting and enjoying the sea view. 

The next day , day 7 was extremely sunny and while I spent the whole day looking at the sea wistfully from the balcony, K and the young one went swimming and snorkeling in the Calheta beach, looked at fishes, ate dinner, generally had fun and came back to take me for a walk on the stones reaching in to the sea for a 20 minute view of the sunset with some music. 

We ate dinner in the room as I was still sick with fever, cold and body aches.

Day 7 did not start very smoothly. There were some ‘ troubles’ and like we have all done with our parents, the young one said she was walking out on us and went out of the room. I was petrified but did not know if running after her was the right thing to do ( as I am always worried that as a pampered only child she should not grow up to be a spoilt brat), K wanted to give her 5 minutes and then get her back in..in the meanwhile ( ie, within 2 minutes)there was a knock on the door. The young one was back with her anger still carefully managed in her face but piping up childishly ‘ I only came back for my kindle!’. It was obvious, with all the stranger danger stories we had fed her, she had been terrified as well.

We heaved a sigh of relief, hugged her and spoke to her about how though as a family we may have fights , the love and safety a family provides could never be sought or procured elsewhere.  Fights and arguments are ok but walking out on a family is never ok.

At 9 , her anger is still very innocent and her indignant arguments are so funny and cute. But K keeps warning me that I should still try and keep a straight face as, for her, they are all very valid and serious arguments.

Day 5

Day 5 saw us getting ready by 6pm to take the taxi to  Funchal and catch the Porto Santo lime. Reliable Gilberto dropped us on time. The city of Funchal was lit up with Xmas and new year decorations and since the city rose up on a hill by the coast, we had a spectacular view from the board. But this was nothing compared to the brilliant illumination we were treated to , on our way back at 8.40 pm.

The first class ticket afforded us nice comfy seats and a buffet breakfast that was not a patch on the hotel breakfast of course, but was plenty sufficient nevertheless. The wifi on the ship did not work and it was quite windy and chilly on the deck, so we took hour long naps, explored the ship for the next hour ( all magazines and tele and cinema were in Portuguese with no subtitles), and then it was time to disembark. There was not much of a crowd so overall it was not a bad experience.

We had booked a snorkeling session with the mildly famous Maththias, as soon as we landed. He was on time for the pick up and he was wonderfully personable and chatty, especially with the young one. We went to a hilly terrain with a steep, golden sandy climb and drop to turquoise blue waters below. It was a natural lagoon which was calm compared to the slightly rough sea splashing on the rocks at its outer edge.

He got us all into two layers of snorkeling suits each as he was not sure how cold we might feel. The water was not very cold , so we wore our flippers, donned our snorkelling mask and went under. It was the young one’s first snorkeling experience and Maththias was the perfect coach. She loved holding his hand, following his instructions and exploring the magical underwater world.

We saw blue and black fish, a school of striped fishes, wonderful, swaying aquatic plants, shimmering star fishes and the high light - a delightfully playful octopus ( a rare sighting I believe ). In around 40 minutes, the young one felt cold and wanted to get out. She and I steed on to a sandy slice and changed out of our wet suits. K continued to explore and was rewarded with 2 huge red and black star fishes and an elegant dance and exit by the octopus. 

Though K and I had done snorkelling, deep sea walks and water scooters at Mauritius and hence the sea life we had seen was much more varied and colourful, the high light for us was this safe and gentle introduction to snorkelling for the young one with the right kind of instructor.

Maththias then chatted with us about how the octopuses, once they trust you are very mischievous, how a Murray eel will catch a finger and spin so fast that you would loose your finger and how he believes monk seals will return to poro santo once the octopus population, which is their prey is revived.

We climbed back up to the car, changed to dry clothes in hidden alcoves, took a picture with Maththias and drove back to a restaurant  in the area by the beach. On the way, Maththias also took us to a viewing point for a picture with a wonderful view of the whole island.

As he only accept d donations and had no fixed price as he introduced people to snorkelling as a passion, we paid him what we thought was a good price for a professional service as he was indeed extremely good.

He also spoke about his horse obelix which the young one was very keen to see. Unfortunately, while reversing in to the very narrow drive to drop the snorkelling gear off he scraped the car, which belonged to his friend. So, we thought best not to ask to see obelix as he was on the phone profusely apologising to his friend in Portuguese.

We had pizzas and the local breezed at a  simple restaurant and made our way to the beach. We walked along the beach from one end to another and while the young one and K wet their feet and three pebbles at the sea, I walked up and down with Sid sriram singing in my earphones, the wind tousling my hair and my feet sinking in the fine golden sand.

We walked back to the shuttle station and paid a Euro each for the 10 minute ride to the cruise ship. We relaxed, had a snack buffet and slept ..completely knackered from the day.

Gilberto was waiting to take us back to Calheta. We paused a minute to enjoy the magnificently lit up Funchal city view and then went to the hotel and slept.

I discovered the next morning that I had caught a cold.

In all, given that having chilly wind blowing in my ears is an absolute no-no for me, no matter how sunny the weather is..Porto santo in December is not a good idea.

K and the young one however had a great time and enjoyed the weather.

Day 4

Day 4 dawned with some trouble with the little one. The usual mischief and the testing of borders happened. As she is no longer a little one we had mutually decided to take hard calls to educate the young one on the link between cause and effect.

Consequently we cancelled the planned trip to Praia de Garajau and Christo Rei as she had wanted to go snorkelling. Also, breakfast for her was strictly fruits, orange juice, cheese,egg and hash browns with no pastry or cakes or cereal or pancakes, the fare she usually looks forward to on holidays.( This she suggested herself as she understood that we gave up the trip as well, for no fault of ours)

After a few failed but valiant attempts some genuine repenting happened and then some rectification as well. So, we took her to the infinity pool of the hotel as it was a fantastically sunny day. Though the infinity pool was not heated, the warm weather made it easy after a while, once you braved the initial baptism by ice cold water. The view of the sea, the mountains and the sun made for a wonderful family swim.

We then took a taxi with Gilberto Perreira, our taxi guy who we had disappointed with our late morning cancellation, to go to Leavada do risco. Levada are actually tiny irrigation tunnels used in olden days to get water from the spring to farm the hilly volcanic terrain of Madeira. In the modern day, following these tunnels leads them to the wonderful springs along the way and finally to the original water source.

It took 20 minutes to reach the starting point of the trail high up in the mountains. Driving through the clouds and looking down at the city on the slope brought back nostalgic memories of Ooty and Darjeeling  in the 1990s.

We were dressed for sunny weather but right at the top it was a tad chilly. We decided to brave it and started walking through the stunningly scenic trail.There were lush green mountains kissed by puffy white clouds , there were mini waterfalls seeping across the moss patched black rocks, fresh green trees all around and never was there not a sound of a babbling brook through the  pipe-like thin irrigation tunnels.

There were intertwined branches of trees forming brown and green canopies, steep climbs, flat walks and  stepped declines all in one trail. The weather got very pleasant after the first few minutes and with the gentle breeze and pristine mountain air, it turned out to be a fantastic outing. 

Be it wherever we went, even this remote hill trail which ended in a spectacular water fall, there was absolutely no garbage whatsoever. Majority of the visitors were civic minded and even at the end of the trail, we saw an employee of the Calheta municipality watching out for any stray litter.

On the way to the waterfall, we stopped at the Rabacal nature spot cafe, to sit amongst chirping birds , stretching trees watching mountains and peeping clouds to have a divine home made chocolate cake and tea. 

We visited the waterfall, took some picks and walked the 1.5 km back to the vehicle pick up point. Here a shuttle took us back the 1 km steep walk to the top where the taxi was parked, the same path that we had easily and pleasurably climbed down on our onward journey.

As always, I had a great time and the young one and K had a lovely time as well though they prefer beach visits to nature trails.

Once at the hotel, we caught up on some pending work, watched the breath taking sunset  from the balcony of our sea view room, wrapped ourselves in warm clothes and set out for dinner at the same place as the day before,

We had a leisurely dinner and rushed back to sleep as we were all knackered plus we had a half six reporting time next morning for our taxi to the Porto santos  line to catch the 8 am ferry to the island with the golden sand and  apparently warm waters.

Day 3

On day 3 we had planned a whale and dolphin watching trip with possible swimming with the dolphins for the young one. ( by the way the Madeira special almond cakes in the buffet this morning were out of the world!)

The young one did some tests and we set for whale watching. However we were told that the peak season was over and we may not see many whales or dolphins. Given that the price was expensive, we gave it a miss and took the taxi to Funchal. It was a 30 minute ride and the taxi guy offered a round trip.

Once there, we took the cable ride to the botanical gardens. While the ride with views of the shimmering sea and the orange tiled lovely homes were a delight , the botanical garden was a disappointment, especially for the price. 

We should have instead paid just for the cable car and got down at Monte palace which costs much less and is a much much more worthy site. It is interesting how the cable car ads below talk nothing about this but lots about the ‘ quiet dull if you are not into gardening’ botanical gardens instead.

We had some milk shake and banan crepe, next to a small cafe near the Monte gardens  and then caught the cable ride back down.  We then spent some time at the promenade, after which we caught the taxi back to Calheta.

The weather is chilly till about 9 am but then from 9.30 to 4 pm it is absolute heaven. Fantastic sun with a perfect breeze to deliver an hour ideal day!

Once at the hotel, The  young one and dad went straight into the indoor heated swimming pool while I rested. We all then went down the road to the manufacturing the gelato hotel. Their tomato,sauce base for the pizzas and pastas were as good as we had read in the reviews and once again I was struck by how genuinely friendly and welcoming the Portuguese are.

I made a mental note to make somewhere else in Portugal our holiday destination, the next time we are planning something.

Xmas 2018

I had wonderful memories of our April trip to Lisbon , so for Xmas when we were discussing options, along with Cyprus and Morocco, Portugal was once again on the list. I really liked the polite and friendly Portuguese and given R’s class timings on the 23rd, a jet to holidays to Madeira fell convenient.

The agreement was that the young one would do her maths and English for some time every day in the morning and nights and we will spend the day enjoying. Mum and dad will also support her and not watch tele when she is working. 

On the way to Madeira, the 4.5 hour flight saw the young one learning some wow words for some time and then watching tele. The 2 hour delay of the flight already gave us a wonderful brunch at the airport giraffe through the air

One vouchers.

We landed at the Cristian’s Ronaldo airport only to be greeted by for  sunny but slightly chilly weather with a roaring wind.

We reached the savoy sachchurum hotel which was around 40 minutes from the airport.The drive along the coast was adventurous with steep slopes, dark volcanic rocks and the absolutely roaring sea and howling wind.

The hotel was neat, the rooms were spacious and the service excellent. The room was facing the sea bang opposite and it was a delight to look out of the French windows during the chilly mornings and sit on the balcony during the wonderfully warm afternoons. We sat and chatted with a Madeira wine  between us and the roaring sea almost right below us in the late night post the young one going to sleep.

The bathrooms were a strange phenomenon. You could not see from inside but it was a crystal clear view of the goings on in the bathroom from  outside  them! The less said on the topic, the better it is!

The day we landed, we went for a swim in the heated indoor pool - we were the only ones in the pool and came to the room, ordered room service and went off to sleep.

The next day, we woke up late, had a wonderful buffet with a phenomenal spread , worked for some time and once the sun was high, went off to the tiny but perfect Calheta sandy beach. The water was the warmest we had ever seen in our travels. (Not even Dubai had such warm waters. I believe the volcanic springs may have something to do with this). It was shorts and t shirts weather, so we played in the beach for a while, walked along the promenade and on our way back had an early dinner at the new era restaurant. Food everywhere is healthy and with decent flavour.

Letters to my princess -8

Ammu

As usual every day getting ready in the morning is a battle. You get ready at your own pace and cannot be hurried. I was, yet again, reminding you how I was late for work and how it was not very nice of you to not feel bad that you were making me late for work.

You happily kept singing while saying -' I will try and get dressed faster amma' - while just not doing anything remotely of that sort! I was frustrated and I said ' That is very mean of you kannamma.. you are not even worried I am getting late and you are showing that you do not care by singing happily'. You blinked cutely and said ' Oh no amma.. I am singing because I am happy. And I am happy not because you will be late but because R ( that is madam is referring to herself!) is always happy, no matter what! La, tra lalala'. I did not know what to say but on my drive to work I could not stop the smile this memory brought to my lips :)

One other reason you are  always late is because you like to fill your mornings with chit chat with me. While dressing up, you said ' Amma, one of my friends wears a crop top in swimming and one other friend of mine at the holiday club wears a stringy cropped top and trousers. I am not sure if I like it or but is it ok to wear dresses like that?'. I said 'Kannamma, when you go seeking for attention through your dressing or otherwise, you will always end up getting the wrong sort of attention. Always be dignified and honest and kind and the right sort of attention will come to you. It will look like those who seek attention get it and are most popular but behind the popularity is lots of mean backstabbing. So, be careful'. As always, I do not know how to do light conversation and you and your dad do not know how to do a heavy one!

So, when I said this, you came back with ' T in my class , though he belongs to another section, always seeks me out to say hi and bye, even though we have no reason to speak to each other. Is that the right sort of attention amma?' I was gobsmacked! T is this nice boy who we also know socially. Though I was prepared to give the gyan, I was not prepared for questions! So, I managed to improvise and  said ' Yes pattu, as long as he does not force you to talk to him even if you do not want to and respects you and is a good friend to you, it is the right sort of attention'.

All sorted, you went to school chirping and skipping as always.

By the way, in an effort make you a tad more serious, I have started meditation sessions for you. We started 20 days ago and for the past 10 days you have been doing 10 minutes of fantastic meditation. (Before that I slowly increased from 5 minutes to 10) From day 1, you focused, sat still and took deep breaths in and out as though you have been doing it all your life!

So, my theory that you would have found it difficult to sit in one place, not talk and to not do anything funny will be impossible for you? - right out of the window!

What an enigma you are my chellame! But you are my enigma and the most sunshiny, brilliant enigma at that.

Love, love, love you da chellame for that and more!

Amma