Busy Weekend - Sidhiqui Kebab Center

It has been a busy weekend. Padmaja had a 5 day week this time and we have a ton of stuff piled up. Anyway, have managed to complete almost all the items we had planned to do. I still have a backlog on the investment tracking front and will work through that this week.

Today I went to Tolichowki to try and find the Sidhiqui Kebab Center. Called Afghan once I reached Tolichowki and he was able to direct me to the right place. Anyway, I picked up some Chicken Tikka, two Hariyali Tangdis, Rumali Rotis (Rs. 2/- each!!!) and some Arabian Tashma (never tried this before, lets see what on hell it is ).

Will report back on the quality of the stuff after we have finished devouring the stuff tonight...

Took the kids to the Krishna Kant Park in Yousufgudda. Was standing in
line for the ticket when two guys barged into the line. I shouted at
both of them and pushed my way to the front. The cheek of these people!
And they looked like your average IT kind of people. Educated, with good
jobs and all that. But boorish, idiotic and rude fools! This country is
full of idiots like that. Transport them to the US or some place like
that and you get to see a different person! They become polite, law
abiding Desis with a phoney accent and a I Love NY T-shirt! Idiots!

Cuttack On Wikipedia

My maternal grandfather (now deceased) and his family hail from Cuttack. My grandmother lives there with her 6th son and his family. Her other children live all over the country (Bangalore, Varoda, Rourkela etc).

Cuttack is ooollllldddd. More than a 1000 years old now. I was happy to find a Wikipedia entry on Cuttack this morning.

(Posted via Thinga Web)

Bablu out of the Rat Race for two months!

Padmaja and I decided not to admit Bablu into play school after all. We will wait till September this year.

Let him be a baby for some more time! Get up late, have a late breakfast and then potter around the house all day... No point in forcing him so soon into the rat race that is life these days. He will be thrust into the mad mad world soon enough anyway!

Mamli unfortunately didn't have the same luxury when she was a baby. She started play school when she was just over a year old. At that time we didn't have any family support here in Hyderabad (not that we have any now!) and the live-in maid was a bum. The maid was harsh to Mamli when we were away and we thought it better to have her in school than spend the entire day with the maid.

The situation is better now. Mamli is all grown up and supports her little brother. So Bablu is not alone and has somebody to look out for him. The current maid is a little better than the first one. Not much but still an improvement over the first one.

We hope Bablu will enjoy his toddlerhood for a little while longer. Something his elder sister didn't get to do...

(Posted via Thinga Web)

No School for Bablu today

Yesterday evening Bablu seemed a little apprehensive about having to go back to school. Kept changing his mind about the whole thing. One minute he would rush off to look for his school bag and the next he would shake his head and say "no school".

Well, it was his lucky day today :-) It was raining throughout the morning and we decided to let him stay at home. No point in tempting fate and having him fall sick. Anyway, the boy was thrilled and jumped about the house all morning. Made Gunu late for work. Insisted she put on his favorite Nursery Ryhmes CD in the player before she left. She couldn't find the CD and called me while I was in the middle of a teleconference with the chaps at HQ (Oracle HQ, US). Anyway, she finally managed to get everything working and was allowed to leave :-)

I took Mamli to school today because of the rain. We picked up another class mate of her's along with her mother. They were trying to get an auto-ricshaw just outside our appartment complex and we gave them a ride to school. The traffic outside Bharatiya Vidhya Bhavan Jubilee Hills was as bad as ever. Dropped off Mamli & her friend near the gate.

(Posted via Thinga Web)

Bablu's First Day At School

Bablu started play school today! We took him to the EuroKids at Ameerpet at 9.00 am. Mamli had already left for her school at 8.15. Gunu, Bablu & I drove to EuroKids. Bablu was excited at times and rather apprehensive the rest of the time :-)

Photographs: Set 1, Set 2

Anyway, he was fine initially. The classroom was full of kids, mostly crying for mommy. Bablu looked as if he would love nothing better than to burst into tears himself but held out as best as he could. Gunu went in with him while I stayed outside chatting with other parents. Gunu came out after a little while and I got a peek of Bablu sitting on the floor playing with a set of building blocks or something like that. I left shortly after that.

Gunu called up about 11.30 to say that she had dropped off Bablu at home and arrived at work. It seems the boy burst into tears a little while after Gunu left the class room and kept pointing towards the door. The poor chappie can only manage a few words in Oriya and has no Telugu, Hindi or English. Anyway, he quitened down in a little while and played a bit. Gunu and Bablu left the school at about 10.15 or so and returned home in an auto-rickshaw. Bablu threw a tantrum the minute he reached home, shouting "Daddy Gua, Mummy Gua...". "Gua" in Bablu-speak means gone/go/went away. His tantrum was about us leaving him alone with a bunch of strangers and going away. In typical Bablu fashion he kept quite till he got home and then started throwing things around :-)

Lets see what tomorrow brings!

(Posted via Thinga Web)