Thursday, September 22, 2011

A little horror story

Finally I had gone to sleep after  3 AM
A little rewind before the time I fell asleep.
I had finally succeeded in putting my reluctant toddler to bed by 11. By 12, when I was still tossing in the bed seeing my hubby and son probably way down the dreamland I decided to slip out of my bed. First thing that I could think of, was ofcourse the laptop. Thankfully (atleast what I thought at that time) I got a friend on chat.

After the usual hows and whats about our lives, our chat moved on to the locations we were in. When she asked  me what were the special attractions near the place I lived, I told her this state was more famous for its horror stories than anything else. (There are websites dedicated to the ghost stories of Ohio btw). And then I shared some horror stories that I had read. And then as it usually happens, there were some stories shared by her too. Time was around 1:45 a.m, and she had to leave. She is in India btw, so I wasnt actually keeping someone else awake like me! So then I thought even I should try to sleep.Went to bed, pulled my blanket and closed my eyes.

I was slowly drifting to sleep when I heard a loud 'COME LETS SING'.  I opened my eyes (if it was a movie, there would have been a background music 'DHAN' at this stage). Both my sweethearts were sleeping.I just looked around, nothing. I told myself  'Too many ghost stories I have discussed, I am imagining..should go to sleep'. In such occassions like all do, said a lil prayer and closed my eyes again. Then again, 'COME LETS SING'.  I sat up. I was sure I heard it this time. Now it continued with some weird music as well. It came from the living room.

"AAAwwww Sacheth's toy!!!!" I jumped out of the bed to switch off the stupid toy before it woke up the other two in my house. Reached for the toy in the dark only, shut it up and threw it in his toy box. Probably its battery was dying and so it cried...whatever! Slid silently under the blanket again. Within minutes there was a 'thud thud thud thud' sound, then there was a 'Hiiii I am baby ted' and then a little 'tup' sound and then a song 'Come on and play now, and say some colours too'. I uttered some curses after my usual 'Ayyo' and ran to the living room again. Switched on the lights this time and saw what was really happening. The first toy that I had put in dark had probably landed on some other toy making it lose its balance. it landed on a talking toy which made him talk, it landed on the baseball bat which hit another teddy which called me out loud to say some colors. Woow what a day rather night!!
When I reached the bedroom again, I was terribly jealous seeing the two souls sleeping peacefully even when the toys just finished a crazy party. Well I just hoped that the toy party was over, but did not want to take a chance. So I slept with my ipod blaring songs on high volume in my ear to be sure that I did not hear anything else and blame the ghost stories.

So my new routine now before going to bed, other than ofcourse the usual checking for doors locked and lights turned off - Make sure all his toys are switched off and none of them are in contact with each other. I dont want them to get in a mood and start a bash again!


Monday, June 20, 2011

Wow...or mmm what else can I say?

`How else do I describe the feeling of eating something on a roadside gaadi? As I write I can feel my mouth watering.
I dont know who all feel that urge or love to have that street food. If you do love it, then read on....else you can just skip it. And if you havent eaten them, then let me repeat Rachna's words - "Just too bad buddy. You'll never know what you missed. A better life next time"

The first thing that I picked from road to eat probably was in front of my school in Mysore. (My memory is not going beyond that). The old lady who sat with the bamboo basket full of guava, cucumber, raw mango, some peanuts, some masala mandakki (masala bhel), some boti, some tomatoes....I mean no less than a supermarket of little eatables. Unlike the school bus or the autos that the kids today in India go to school in, I was going in a tanga (horse cart). On the last day of school, our tangawala uncle would give us a small treat of these things.Putting that salted guava in my mouth, feeling that salt melt which cannot make you hold the temptation to chew the piece in your mouth....wow or mmm what else can I say?

Those hot summer days with the sun shining to it fullest glory, when that old lady gave that thin sheet of cucumber smeared with proper combination of salt and chilli powder and said "10 paisa"....good looking cucumber is treat to the eyes, low price is music to the ears and that taste is heavenly for the tongue...well I dont know what it was to the stomach...but I have and many have survived many such trips of eating roadside food.

I was in Shimoga, another town of Karnataka, from my high school days to end of college. This was where my love to another famous street food developed....the 'puri' series. Burst of that tangy pani in the mouth when you bite that puri......wow or mmm what else can I say? Not to forget that last bowl of just pani.... The mysterious masala, which even my mom could never recreate at home was ofcourse the highlight of any of them...pani puri, masala puri, bhel puri, sev puri, aloo puri.....wow right?

During my graduation days one of my friends introduced me to another set of eatables.....tomato masala, boti masala, nippattu masala (I cant translate it to any other language sorry) and the the very famous masala pepsi or masala soda. I was a total fan of tomato masala...those round slices of tomatoes sprinkled with salt, chilli powder and some other secret ingredient, then it had a layer of churmuri (plain bhel or mandakki) then a sprinkle of grated carrot, onion and coriander leaves...then another dash of that secret ingredient. It was then all set to be eaten.....what a food it was.

And now I have a husband who is not in much favour of such food (he is one of those people who will never understand what this blog is about). He feels its not hygienic, doesnt matter I still have had pani puris from those places when he is around and muttering, "I dont want...you eat".

My world hasnt taken me outside Karnataka for street food tasting, but I am sure the feeling will be the same anywhere in India.....may be outside too. But what makes them tick? While having golgappas why is it that you have to tell that bhaiyya to tell you when one plate is over? Why is it that you have to see reviews of restaurants and dont really bother to try anything roadside in any city? Is it that warm smile of the person who serves you? Is it with the price that you pay? Is it that nostalgic chit chatter with friends while having them? Is it with the microbial germs breeding there? Or the permutation and combination of all of these?
Whatever it is, the wow quotient has never gone down for such eatables...

Are you at a hands reach to pani puri, take my name and have one :)
Do you have any memories with them? Share it...


P.S : Couldnt stop myself from writing this, after reading the post : http://www.rachnabisht.com/3/post/2011/06/roadside-rendezvous.html

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Where are you?

I keep asking this question atleast a hundred times every day....not to myself, but to my son...
"Sacheth where are you?"
With the magnanimous level of energy that only toddlers seem to have is really mysterious. He is always at work....sometimes happily running around for no reason; sometimes jumping on the mattress or the sofa; sometimes putting all his energy in crying to ask me for water, making people around feel that I am his stepmom who deprives the poor child of the basic need of water.....and only I know that he wants it to spill it around.....with all this he keeps his brain running too, as he knows when I am angry and gives me the warmest smile which calms me down instantly..

Basically....I cant keep him tied at one place for sure...so when I am in the kitchen or totally engrossed in something on the laptop, my little son escapes to his space out of my sight. He keeps blabbering something or there is some or the other noise with his toys that keeps coming when he is away....and I know where he is. Then there is silence which is a signal that there is danger........not to the child, but to the things around him.
Some instances I am sharing here, which could not have happened if I wasnt lazy, more vigilent and blah blah blah....but heck, I am not my mom....I am just too imperfect for situations like this...I am hoping that I will grow wiser by the time I have a grandchild atleast. Ya just hoping.....not confident!

Scene 1 :
I forget to keep away the paper towel roll away from his reach....dont even remember why it had reached down there...I went to see the answer to my question "Sacheth where are you?"
I see the complete roll torn to pieces. On a positive side, I see he is very skillful in that...he has control of his hands to tear even the tiniest paper to pieces. So you know I was late to the scene, the bigger pieces of tear were long gone.

Scene 2 :
I take out the dried clothes out of the drier, feel too lazy to fold them then and there and dump it in the room thinking I will fold it a little later. I go to the kitchen to make his meal. I can hear Sacheth's toy talking in the room....so I know he is playing with it. Then there is silence, then there are giggles...silence again. I decide I need to check. And yes let me tell you all this happened in probably less than 2 to 3 mins.
"Sacheth where are you?" I have never verbally got an answer........he hasnt grown old enough to tell me the truth about where he is....and he has some more years before he can lie me about where he is not.....but I ask anyway.
I see the answer. Clothes thrown in every corner of the room...I feel an urgent need to check the weather channel to see if there was a tornado that just struck that room.

Scene 3 :
Old McDonald rhyme is playing on youtube. I am trying to make him eat his lunch at a rate of atleast one bite a rhyme. There is a knock on the door. I leave the laptop, the kiddie, the plate and spoon together to answer the door. A courier man, I sign.....the rhyme stops playing in the background. I keep the parcel in its proper place.....by this time it seems like eternity of silence....I start panicking for my foolishness of leaving the room in that way....as usual "Sacheth...."
You have by now guessed it... Let me try to reconstruct what would have happened.
As soon as I left, he should have tried to grow up and eat the lunch on his own. Hand went to the spoon and tried to pick up some rice...in this process, a lot of rice went down on the carpet...some stuck to his little fingers. In the meanwhile the song stopped. He wanted it to start singing again....Realising the gravity of the situation that he is on his own, he becomes responsible and tries to put on the song. His fingers went to the keyboard.....hit some keys slowly....song did not start...he hit some more with some more force...
so basically when I saw my answer I saw his plate almost empty, carpet having relished most of it and some tasted by the keyboard...The next second some strange combination of his hits seem to work and the rhyme plays again...he sighs a sound of relief, smiles....looks at me points his fingers to the monitor and says 'eeya eeya'....I dont know how I should react.

Scene 4 :
Yaa the same thing...I am in the kitchen...there is silence from the room and the usual "Sacheth where are you?"
I go to see him.....he is tapping his chest to show me where he is and laughing uncontrollably thinking we are playing 'peek-a-boo'..... I was totally drawn to his smile.....played peek-a-boo with him for few more mins just to see him enjoying it... I was suddenly brought back to my world when I remembered that I had spread dosa on pan before coming here......I reached the kitchen in time to save my pan, if not the dosa.

Scene 5 :
Once I saw him in the below position :)
I need to run as there is silence again...."Sacheth where are you?"

Sunday, May 15, 2011

Veggie alien!

My status in US right now says 'resident alien'. I am that alien whose spotting is not seen as 'breaking news' by the natives here.

The past couple of months have been educating in every way possible. Though I knew few of them, out of practice I used the Indian words( thankfully with Indian borns) and got the American version for it in the reply and I silently said 'Okaaaaaay!'
Me : "Oh she is 8 year old? so she is in 3rd standard?"
She : "No in 2nd grade"
Me : "Okaaaaaaaaaaay!"

When I was watching some car driving tutorial videos...dont ask me shouldnt car driving be learnt practically? I will explain it some other time,aaah soo when I was watching those videos I wondered what 'step on the gas' meant..only to clarify later that it means 'accelerate'. Thankfully there is no three word translation to STOP, its quicker to stop the vehicle with a one word than three words which would take 2 more seconds for me to realise what it is. .....Adding to the things that differ are....you drive on your right, petrol is gas, diesel is fuel, engine is filled up with gallons and not litre (liter in American english).In the time when my granny has finally started using kms and kgs, I have switched to using miles and pounds.

She : "Oh you find time to have a bath? I just have a shower everyday"
Me : "Oh...ha ha..." I did smile but my brain was thinking - what the hell is the difference!!! In case you are as ignorant as me, then let me save you a google hit. Bath is when you sit in the tub and clean yourself, and shower is when you stand and do the same job.
Me and You : "Okaaaaaay!"

I thank my stars that I knew earlier that a brinjal is called an eggplant here.I can imagine myself standing in the store inspecting brinjal and telling myself  "Looks like brinjal...but 'egg'plant?". My brain would have been stunned to realise that Okhra actually means ladies finger and is not a city name. I am sure this would be the case if I had landed here 10 years back or if I had no exposure to this world. I am sure a person from here would face difficulties back in India too. Imagine someone saying 'ondu Bhel puri to-go' instead of 'ondu Bhel puri parcel" :).

In a nutshell, I am still learning....if you have had any 'Okaaaay' moments, then warn me about it before I find out myself!

Like being an alien was not challenging enough, I am a veggie too. Unlike the bachelors who yearn for ghar ka khana, me and my husband look forward to eating something different. (Lets not debate if thats due to my culinary skills). So on one particular occasion, we set out for a restaurant which claimed to have 5 different cuisines. What we ordered and got is in the pic above. The one that you see in the far end of the snap is the eternal veggie appetizer- Veggie Spring Rolls. For our lunch we ordered a Japanese Rice and a Korean Rice. And what did we have on table? Two exact looking dishes. Even the 'spot the difference' pics in newspapers have 6 differences, this had only 2! One was ordered with Tofu..so visual difference one. Second one was that they were served in dishes of different shapes-oval and round. Thats all!!! Yes taste wise one was sweet and the other not sweet (they called it spicy on the menu though). Being a veggie is not so good here :(.

So you know my unofficial status....I am a veggie alien!

Monday, May 9, 2011

This post is dedicated to my near to 'Idol' :)

While scribbling replies on Autograph/Slam Book questions in school/college I dont think I seriously meant the names I gave against 'My Idols' section. I definitely admired them....but surely not like Idol or anything.
Many of you have Idols....and they are the ones you adore, as that is what you want to be;you would love to be;you aspire to be...you dream to be.

People idolised are not always super famous.....it could be someone in our family.....someone in our friends list...anybody....and in my case she came from a newspaper column she had penned down...typed down whatever.

As a teenager, I fell easily to have idols changing every day....sometime it would be my teacher, sometimes Nelson Mandela, Shahrukh Khan, Madhuri Dixit, Sachin Tendulkar...

I remember my dad asking me once, "Who is your Idol?"...I said "Abdul Kalaam".
He said.."Wow...so what all do you know about him?" I told him all that I knew from being the current president of India at that time to the books he has written and some other random stuff. He demanded to know more. I told him that was all I knew. He said "that is what everyone in general knows". I felt...."how am I suppose to know anything else?"


I always wondered why a fan was heartbroken when Hrithik Roshan or Karishma Kapor was married. I would think the news that people broke their Television sets in Pakistan when their cricket team lost against India was totally fake....how can someone go to that extent? News that few died of heat attack when their favourite political leader died was a shock to me!
I never understood what made a fan frame his handkerchief which had Amitabh Bachchan's autograph on it.How could people build a temple for an actress? How can some shed crores to just get Bradman's bat in an auction? Now I know they are passionate about them....they really Idolise them.


One person who came close to being 'Idol' for me is probably Rachna Bisht Rawat. When there is a newspaper in front of me, the first thing I have been picking from ever since I remember is the supplement. It was in 2008, the month of February. All things on TV, paper, radio all talked about valentine's day. Being a 'not so romantic' person, the topic of love being discussed so much was getting annoying...some things seemed stupid...and it was wonders that I read this article from Rachna on a Sunday Herald (supplement of Deccan Herald).It was definitely on this topic, but the take was 'hatke'. I loved it...I wanted more. I googled for her name to find out more about her, with not much luck.
I even stuck to this newspaper for Sunday edition when we changed our newspaper just to make sure I did not miss her article when it appeared. I enjoyed reading every article of hers. Her writing was not predictable, her writing did not appear made up, it was not preaching. It had right amount of emotions....her writings were simple, crisp and real.She was all that I wanted to be as a writer....She was more than that too...


I adored her so much that I did not forget to google her name every now and then....and I wasnt finding anything....yes I was passionate about her writing...I wanted to know all about her...now I know she is getting closer to being my 'Idol'.
Just a few days back, I searched for her name again and found her website....there was no limit to my happiness. I was smiling throughout....I searched for words to tell her how much I loved her, then gave up that there is no other way than saying it in simple words...'I love what you write'. I sent her a message through her website and checked my mailbox every now and then to see if she replied. She had not. Did not even realise she could be in a different time zone than mine. I was sure she was busy, but was really hoping and praying she would respond to this fan of hers.
Saw her mail the next morning...I just cant explain the joy I had....I read and read and read those 6 lines she had written...just for me...I am feeling soo soo happy. I really love her writings...I really do...
Make time and go through her website....I hope you enjoy her writing too. Her website is :


Do let me know what you thought about my favourite writer!

Friday, April 29, 2011

Why Sacheth?

Why is my son named Sacheth? Why not X, Y or Z? There is a story to everything right?

Before my delivery I always thought or felt I would have a daughter...not that I wanted one or something...it was just an intuition.....and so I was always searching for a nice girl's name. My husband also probably felt the same and he would also keep suggesting girl names now and then. We had thought of Khushi, Manvitha and some more...

Just about 3 days before my delivery Krish said...."You know what...I feel we might have a boy!"
And yes I did have a boy.The naming ceremony was on the 11th day after his birth. So we had to come up with a name by then! Almost everyone near and dear were put to work.

I was very sure that I did not want his name to start with A, yaar in college his will be the first lab batch for exams na....I really pitied my friends having to go first and face the external examiners without any caution....
Rosh(my sister) suggested lets not go for X,Y Z also...you know just in case what if they decide to start the exams in reverse alphabetical order....point was seriously taken.
So we felt the safest thing would be P,Q,R,S. But ya any name sounding good other than A,X,Y and Z was also ok.
 Due to the stars under which he was born, we were suggested that we name him with names starting with sounds Ga, Sa or Sha. Someone told us you can keep any name and for the sake of it keep one more name with the letters to keep the gods happy.Name searching began only by the 5th day of his birth. By the end of first day we had named him 'Diganth'. Sounded good....almost finalised.
Next day morning I said "lets search some other name."
Krish was surprised "Arre we finalised one yesterday right?"
I stammered...."Yaa....buuuut...."
"You are feeling bored of that name after thinking over it the whole night?" Rosh helped me...I bet she knows me very well.... I had liked the name...but now was bored of it :P
So the quest began again.
There were some interesting choices - 'Shinchan' by my lil cousin....name derived from her cartoon character ofcourse. Then there was Kritrik (combination of Krish's and my name). both scrapped for obvious reasons!
There were many more weird ones, but I am not able to dig through my memory right now for them.

Then there were names which sounded good, but were shelved with reasons like :
"I had a classmate with that name in school. He was very very dumb....not that name"
"I have a collegue with that name....kaamchor...no!"
"I had a lecturer with that name...its a very old name!"
"Hmm....ya.....but....next"
"Sounds like he is a milkman"
"I know one guy with that name....too arrogant...something else"
God...what were we thinking!!!!

There were some names left out because we were scared of the nickname it would bring to my son.
Someone suggested Saptharshi.....Rosh laughed..."So what will his friends call him? Soppu?" (Soppu in kannada means leafy vegetable). and added "Why go that far, in another 2 years or so, he might be answering 'Yaa' to a street vendor shouting 'soppu....soppuuu'." Some regional issues there...some more names were left out like this.

Rosh asked me "Ritu...how do you like 'Champ' for a nickname?"
I said.."Wow..good"
She said.."Hmm...then name him Champak....his friends will then call him Champ"
My twisted lips and raised eyebrows made her shut up and stop her from giving any other such ideas.

Since the names were going nowhere.....Krish decided that he will sit with sahasranaama books (books having thousand names of different gods) and suggest on something. Then went another day or two for that. Krish would suggest a name, and we would either half heartedly approve it or reject it for one of the many reasons mentioned earlier here. And then we had to get a name, as it was the 10th day after my son's birth and the next day morning he had to be named. We had finally finalised on 'Satwik' and 'Sacheth'. One suggested by a dear one and the other lord Ganapathi's name. And then with a kind of voting done with different people, 'Sacheth' was chosen....and so 'Sacheth'
Since then, when I tell my son's name, I mostly hear a 'huh?' or 'oh' or 'sachin' or 'sachith'.
But that is fine, coz I have heard a lot of them for my name too. I dont blame them..coz I would have done that to some too :P
But one thing I have realised....if you keep calling a name hundred times a day any name like XYZ will sound as easy as a Tom or a Peter or a Michael. Happy Naming everyone...you will get there sometime or the other...naming a pet can be difficult too!!

Sunday, March 13, 2011

Bangalore to Detroit...I did it :)

Bangalore to Detroit is not the highlighting part.....'WITH A LITTLE ONE' is the major part :)
Well...as my facebook update announces, I have now reached Marysville in Ohio,US.
I travelled alone with my son all the way from Bangalore to Detroit..and this little blog is all about its highs and lows :)
As soon as I knew I would be managing my little one all alone in the journey of around 24 hours...I must admit I freaked out. Then as there was no other go...did all the preparation possible to keep things under control. Google came to help as always in churning out different write-ups other moms have written while travelling alone with a baby/toddler. Most of their tips definitely helped.A big thanks to them. I had the maps of Bangalore, Frankfurt and Detroit airport almost printed in my mind.....did not want to loose anytime searching for anything...But did any of it help? You will find out soon :)

My first flight was from Bangalore to Frankfurt. Sacheth (my son) was feeling fresh at that time, so did not have much trouble in fulfilling the formalities at the airport. He fell asleep as soon as the journey started, and continued sleeping for a marathon 8 hours....Good or bad? Well....good for the co-passengers...good for him...and not soo good for me :) As he was on my lap full time, I was almost immobile the whole flight....just moving my hand to gulp down something now and then. My seat was just after the pantry (I am not sure what is the name actually used for that area....)After serving the first set of snacks, the flight attendants kept some water and lot of chocolates in that area and vanished. It wasnt personally served, and so I couldnt eat it :(. I was quite hungry already....and the look of some delicious chocolates increased it even more. With the condition I was in, I could only count how many times every person came there to take their chocolates. There was one gentleman in blue who made around 12 trips to the pantry.Everytime he was there he would drink a glass of water and grab a fistfull of chocolates into his pocket and fade away from the scene.Hmm.....his love for chocolates surely beats mine!Nothing more worth mentioning in the first leg of the jounrney...

We had around 4.5 hours wait time in the Frankfurt airport before we boarded the flight to Detroit.
My first flight landed in the B terminal of the airport and my next flight was in terminal A. With the help of some officials, I could find out that I need to take the sky train to reach there.Took the train that came to reach there....but there was some confusion and I missed the stop. Train came back to the earlier station where I had boarded. A manager or guard whoever he was in uniform came up to me and asked "What is your final destination?"...."I need to reach the gate A62"....He said "Next stop" and held a firm face without any expression....Not sure if he was thinking if we were taking a joy ride.....or may be plain helpful but couldnt convey it through his expressions.But to be frank Sacheth was really enjoying the train ride, and I did not mind as we seemed to have all the time in the world.But after the strict instruction of "Next stop", I did not dare have a repeat trip and got down. Got down and started towards my gate. During the walk is when I realised that my bags werent as light as they seemed when I strarted the journey. The backpack, a side bag on the right shoulder, Sacheth in the left arm and a cross bag which had my passport, tickets and other urgent things were all seeming like a mountain each. I found a trolley, put my bags on them and tried to make Sacheth sit on it too to relieve my hands for pushing the cart. But he seemed to be feeling a little insecure...so just refused to let go off me.With him in my hand, I couldnt push the trolley too.So put back all the bags and walked my way towards the gate. I was praying badly that there be no gate change, as I had no energy left to go to some other gate. I was hungry, and Sacheth was cranky so couldnt really explore the shops there to find something right to eat. All the shops nearby seemed to be selling meat....and I thought why am I a vegetarian?And that was just a passing thought :)


Second flight first half, Sacheth again dozed off comfortably....and I wasnt feeling sleepy :( I watched Golmaal3 instead.When the movie was over, I was feeling sleepy and Sacheth got up all fresh :) Keeping him engaged and entertained and yet not allowing him to move around was challenge in itself. But somehow managed that too. One needs to have a lot of patience while dealing with kids of this age....as they dont understand what you say...but very well understand when you are angry at them and start crying even louder. With this, by the time I reached Detroit, I was more mentally tired than physically. The wait of even 5 mins at each counters after arrival seemed like eternity. Finally I saw my husband smiling and waiting for us....he relieved me of all the luggage I had....it was such a relief. And that broad smile on Sacheth's face on seeing his dad is unexplainable....and all the tiredness of the journey just vanished....And I felt like jumping and telling...."Aah...I made it..." Yes I did it :)

Did I just scare off anyone planning to travel alone with a baby? Dont be...this is a test that you will never get to do on yourself. Its a test on your mental strength, physical strength, how long can you stay hungry, how long can you stay without using the restroom in a cold weather...its a journey worth taking.....go for it :)

Saturday, January 8, 2011

Long since I wrote....

Its been long since I wrote
since I wrote to my heart's content
With so much of time gone unused
I hope in future I am not gonna repent
I might repent, as I am just loosing touch
The fingers moving once so easily to express
are resisting when I want to tell so much
I am fearing, the little writer in me is murdered
as the words I use seem so weathered
A lot of reading is what I now need
to be encouraged to give my blog a feed.