Camping 2014

This summer we enjoyed a few of camping trips. First one was in the Bannerghatta National Forest in Bangalore. This was my closest encounter with tigers; the animals were within arms reach as we toured through the preserve in a secure jeep. The most thrilling event was when a pack of monkeys entered our room. We were sleeping on the bed and the kids were engrossed in the iPad. DS looked up casually he was horrified to find some five monkeys sitting near our bed . He screamed and woke us up. We all ran to towards the door to find it was stuck locked. The monkeys growled and came towards us. DH and DS together chased them away by swinging a large wooden chair. They jumped out of the window one by one. It was so amazing how they could sense the fear inside you. You have to be forceful and fearless. They sense it by just looking into your eyes and decide whether to attack or escape.

We had another incident with the monkeys. DS and DH entered into our room after lunch one day and found a bunch of monkeys sitting there and eating nuts. They had come in to our room while we were gone through an opening on one side of the tent, picked the bag of nuts from under the clothes in our suitcase, opened the ziploc carefully without ripping the bag and started eating the nuts. I wonder how the idiom 'korangu kayil maalai' came; they seem to have such nimble fingers.

Next trip was along the Brandywine river, PA. The river was beautiful in the morning as we cruised in our canoes. Certain sections of the river were shallow enough to get into the waters. The best part of this camping trip was our lunch. We cooked chicken dum biryani the traditional way with the coals. We pitched our canopy and enjoyed biryani as it poured all around us. The hot and dum (smoky) fragrant biryani was just the right thing do on a rainy day like that.  

The next camping trip was to Panther lake, NJ. The lake is stocked with trout and so we were excited about fishing there. We sat there on the rocks casting our rods and watching our reflection on the still waters. The fish there were really smart!! We saw the string being pulled many times but no fish got hooked on and the bait was gone. We even took a boat to explore the deeper sections of the lake but no luck. DS and me sat on the dock and watched numerous little fish as they gathered around the bait. They come closer, worked as a team to nibble and pull teeny bits from the ends and eventually got the whole worm off the hook. Oh! so smart they are. No wonder we didn't catch any. DS was running on the shores trying to catch fish in a bowl to pet. It was a perfect day to spend by the lake.

Another memorable event during this camping trip was when we sat around the campfire. It was pitch dark and quiet all around. Our group gathered around fire on that cold night. Suddenly we heard footsteps of something running towards us. Maybe an elephant or a dinosaur or something that sort - heavy and bulky footsteps were quickly approaching us. We pointed our flashlights all around but couldn't see more than just a few steps ahead. All the flashlights couldn’t break the blackness around us on that dark, dark night. Then the footsteps started to fade and we felt relieved. Whatever that thing was, it was moving farther from us. Maybe it was just a deer I said. DH said it is unusual for a deer to run like that in the dark. Maybe it was being attacked. By a panther? I remembered reading somewhere that panthers hunt at night. Also this lake is named Panther lake, maybe for a reason. In the next few minutes we packed up into our shelters.

On the way to school...

Every morning I rush my kids to school in order to get them in before the bell rings and the doors close. On the way to school I remember my old school days.

I remember the days when mommy would shake me awake and daddy would bring tooth brush and paste direct to my bed. I would wait impatiently outside my sister's bathroom because there was a spider inside mine. My grandpa would shooo away the spider for me. I remember the days when grandma untangled and braided my hair while I did last minute homework. And the days when mom braided on one side and grandma braided on the other side making my face uneven.

On rainy days grandpa would lay stones/bricks in the puddle of water in front of our house so that we can cross over without wetting our shoes. I remember the days that daddy searched my unorganized closet for a matching pair of blue ribbon to go on my hair and polished my shoes until it shine. Just before leaving the house grandma would remind me to never talk to strangers.

Mommy would cool steamed milk under the fan so I could gulp it in faster. I remember the days when I woke up to the aroma of potato poriyal and lemon rice that mommy packs for lunch. Just thinking about it makes me hungry anytime. Mommy would hand me a glass of water before I leave home every morning and ask me to wipe off my milk mustache.

Daddy would read out my physics formulas and check my pencil box on exam day mornings. He would also fill up ink in my pens. On days that our rickshaw didn't show up which was a common scenario, daddy would drop us in the scooter.

I remember the days when mommy watched us from the balcony and grandpa watched us from the street corner until we disappeared from their sight. And then suddenly I felt lonely for a minute as I stood in front of the school doors watching my son disappear into his classroom hoping he will turn back to wave a goodbye. Soon I realized I was late for work so ran back to catch the train.

What makes a good consultant?

I was implementing a certain business rule using a tool called Blaze Advisor. Nothing too complex just needed basic string handling functions to implement my rule. The tool's function library did not include a length function although it did have other string handling functions like substring, findstring, concatenate etc. I was mad that some advance functions were built-in but something as basic as the length function was missing.

I thought the tool was so useless. Why rules are implemented using Blaze? If this was a plain java implementation, we would have had so much flexibility. Hated and cursed the tool. No progress made, task was still open. Then did some research and found a simple trick to accomplish length function using substring and findstring functions. Here it is:

Let's say we want to find the length of String str1. Find a string str2 that will not occur within your original string str1. Append str2 to the end of str1 and assign the result to str3. At this point we have;

str1 = "..." // original string that you want to find the length
str2 = "..." // string that you know for sure will not occur in str1
str3 = str1 + str2

Now use findString() to locate str2 in str3. This should return the position of one character after str1 hence a minus one should give the length of str1.

str2pos = str3.findString(str2)
length = str2pos - 1 //length of str1

Pretty neat huh? This didn't need research, just some simple logical thinking. I told myself again: there is no such thing as a bug free product. Every product has bugs - known and unknown. Know your product; know the bugs, loop holes and most importantly your work arounds. That's what makes you a good product consultant.

Common Sense Problem Solving

Today a colleague came to my desk and said Microsoft Calculator application has a bug. It can divide 2704 by 51 but it cannot divide 2704 by 52. I opened the calculator on my desktop immediately to check this. 2704/51 gave me some result. But when I did 2704/52, it didn't give me any result. I clicked on ‘=’ again, now it showed ‘1’. I was so confused, why should Microsoft Calculator have a silly bug like this? My colleague said maybe it was implemented by a developer like me :) I was almost convinced that there was a real bug until someone from business walked in and explained 2704/52 = 52. That’s why it appeared like I am not getting any results.

I felt so embarrassed. It was very different to feel this side of the fence. Occasionally our users think that there is a problem with the system, business confirms the bug and prioritizes it, and IT even estimates it. A stereo typed developer by now will be putting a nice big band aid thinking that there is a boo-boo in the system. A common sense developer will be scratching his head wondering what to fix when there is no real boo-boo. I have to admit that I have done this mistake once before. I worked on a fix for weeks before we realized it was never broken in the first place. It is often hilarious to see IT going back to business to explain their own business process to them.

I am training myself to apply common sense to problem solving before digging into thousands of lines of code for answers.

Another issue I frequently encounter during problem solving is when the solution is presented to me before the actual problem. Let’s say the original problem is at point A, the solution as perceived by business is at point B. Based on the solution at point B, the problem as perceived by me is at point C. Plotting all these points on a graph will reveal a nice love triangle. Trust me, problem solving in this case becomes as adventurous and many times as unsolvable as a love-triangle. As a lazy developer, I hate to read design documents. On most of the rare occassions that I did read such a document, I have noticed solutions being stated as requirements.

I am training myself to never listen to solutions before I understand the actual problem.

Job Satisfaction

It was the last day of our stay in Paris. We were visiting Notre Dame. There was a long line of tourists around the cathedral waiting to enter the place. Getting impatient with the long wait we decided skip this tourist spot. We wandered through some of the densely packed narrow lanes. The streets were lined with street vendors selling souvenirs, sweets, pastries, colognes etc. The smell of fresh coffee filled the air.


At the corner of the street there was big crowd gathered around a vendor. As we got closer, we saw a man carving statues and figurines out of soft stones using some very basic tools. My son was very impressed with his work. He wanted us to buy one of the statues. I looked at the price on it and decided to walk away. My son insisted that I at least let him watch the man work. I agreed to it on one condition - I will not buy him anything from there. As my son was too engrossed in the art work, I thought it was time for me to do a quick round of shopping.


I came back after an hour thinking my kids will be cranky and my husband was going to yell at me for making him wait. But no - to my surprise! They were still at the same place where I left them; my son still keenly watching the man carve his stone. Many people stopped by to watch his work, some took pictures and walked away, some donated a few bucks and yet few others bought his sculptures. But no one stood there and admired his work for a longtime like my son.


It was a hot and sultry day. The man seemed exhausted but he didn't stop his work. His work progressed very slowly as he carefully rubbed out edges of the stone until it got the shape. Then he worked on the details using a small chisel. With no modern equipments just a basic tool set, it seemed like very tough work. The man took short breaks occasionally to provide some relief to his hands and fingers. He worked meticulously on sculpting a large piece of stone.


After a while, he put aside the large stone and picked up a smaller one. I was curious on why he changed his object. He worked on it for a long time. When he finished it, he gave it to my son. We insisted on paying for it but he refused it completely. He mentioned that he did not do it for money and quietly returned to his work on the larger piece.


The simplistic lifestyle of the man on the street corner taught me a valuable lesson - take break every day. Take a break every day from the normal routine tasks and do something that gives a sense of fulfillment in your job. Take a break every day and step out of the performance appraisal rat race to do something that makes you feel the powerfulness of your role – a feeling that no promotion can ever give. Take a break every day from the daily politics at work and do something that makes sense to you. Take a break every day from trying to get under the spotlight and do something that makes you feel proud of. It may not get you a promotion, it may not get you a raise but it will give you a great deal of Job Satisfaction.

Happy Mother's day 2011

Life is so hectic and mechanical, running between school to day care to work. Then weekends it is running between errands to kids classes to social activities. Sometimes I feel like if only I had a remote control that can fast-forward my life to the point when kids can take care of themselves and be independent...

Other times I feel like life is so stagnant and boring. I just want to take the remote control and rewind back to the time when I was a kid. School life, college life, first years of love, first job, traveling life - always exciting. Just feel like doing all over again.

But today, I feel like pausing at this very moment. I wish life can be stand still because I will miss my kids consuming all my time when they grow older. I don't remember what I did with all my time before they were born and I don't know what I would do with all my time after they grow up.

My son gifted me with his hand prints and this beautiful poem:

" Sometimes you get discouraged
Because I am so small,
And always leave my fingerprints
On furniture and the walls.
But everyday I'm growing,
I'll be all grown up someday,
And all those fingerprints
Will surely fade away.
So here is my handprint,
Just so you can recall,
Exactly how my fingers
Looked when I was very small.

Happy Mother's Day 2011"

Lessons from a Kid

I was busy clothing-shopping at my favorite store with my son. He saw some random toy and asked me to buy it. This has become a routine for him. Everywhere we go he throws out a tantrum for toys. After buying it, the kids fight over it for the first five minutes and then its charm is gone. It is then lying around in the most irrelevant places, occupying most precious space in the tiny house that we dwell in. Finally when I am on a rare cleaning spree, it is thrown into the basement.

Toys have been mere waste of money, so this time I was very stubborn that I wasn't buying it. He began pleading - "just this one time mommy, please. This and the basket ball and that's it. I won't ask for anything else, he said. I know it is not going to be the last time he is doing this. He was quickly losing temper as I refused to buy it for him.

Firstly I wanted him to realize that he can't get everything by just throwing tantrums. Secondly I wanted him to know the value of money and that we can't afford to buy all the toys in the world. Lastly, I wanted him to know that sometimes we are not going what we want and we need the courage to face it boldly. I was doing this for his own good.

But the argument continued. He begged, screamed, cried, rolled on the floor. Seeing that nothing worked, he started attacking sentimentally. He said "if you don't buy it for me then I will never go out shopping with you again". At this point, I was also frustrated so I said "I don't enjoy going out with you either". Then he said, "I am not your friend". I said, "I don't need your friendship, I have better friends than you". He was silent for a minute and then he said, "but I want to be your friend. I don't want the toy. Can I be your friend again?"

This time I didn't know what to say. I felt choking upon words in my throat, couldn't swallow it or speak it out. Here I am trying to teach the kid "value of money" but the kid just taught me "value of friendship". Somewhere along the big argument I had forgotten my priorities (did I even have one to begin with?) But even after the cries, screams and endless tears the kid had priorities set on his mind. I felt so cheap in front of the kid.

The next day I bought the toy on my way back home. I paid 15$ - felt even cheaper now. I was eager to show it to him, I wanted to see the joy on his face. But it turned out that he forgot the whole incident and gotten past it by then. While he was excited to see the toy, he wasn't overly thrilled by it. As usual, the first five minutes the kids fought for it. Then no one cared - the pieces in the set were all over the place. And it was my turn to clean up!

Arandavan kanuku irundathellam pei

One dark winter night I was walking in a empty parking lot in a suburb area. I located my rental car easily in the huge parking lot. I have never driven this car before. Everything seemed new, the controls were in places that I was not used to. I got a little scared - how am I going to drive myself to my hotel. I somehow located a few basic controls and went around the parking lot. After a few rounds of test drives, I turned on the gps and headed towards the hotel.

The streets were dark and not much traffic during that time. After a few turns I encountered a road block; detoured my gps to route me alternately. But whichever way I went the gps was still trying to put me back on the same road that was blocked. So I decided to drive farther away and try gps-ing again hoping it will pick up an alternate route. I was on a very narrow but straight road. I saw a car long behind me. Other than that nothing else was in sight. It was pitch dark surrounded by tall trees. No signs of houses or any type of activity. The car behind approaching me. Soon he was tail gating me very closely.

I noticed I was only going at a 20mph. For some reason it felt much faster than 20. I tried to ramp up the speed a bit but I felt very shaky and he was still following me close. So I pulled over slightly on the right to allow him to pass. But instead he stopped adjacent to me and opened his door. Fear grabbed me, I was cold, yet sweating in my palms. I locked my doors immediately. He was saying something but I couldn't hear anything from the inside. I didn't dare to open the windows. I thought he was trying to get me open my car. My heart was beating rapidly, I thought I should dial 911 right away. Then he started cursing/ yelling, atleast it looked like that from inside. Oh... maybe for my slow driving. Thank god, glad that he was not an attacker. He dashed away after letting out his anger. I checked the rear view mirror, no one else was behind me. I started driving slowly.

The tall trees were dancing wildly in the strong winds. I just wanted to get out of this spooky place. But I soon came to a halt when I saw this sign: dead end. I wondered where the car in front of me could have gone. There was no other way other than making a U-turn. So I looked at the rear view mirror and slowly turned the steering wheel. I thought I saw a movement in the back seat through the mirror. My heart beat was going up again... I turned back; there was nothing. So I continued making the U-turn. My heart beat so loudly that one can actually hear it from the outside. The steering wheel was slippery due to the sweat on my palms. And then I saw the most haunted scene ever. I came to a screeching halt as I saw an empty shirt fluttering on a pole. Then someone broke into the car through the windshield. That's it I thought, whatever was following me - a kidnapper, a serial killer, a paranormal thing or may be an alien has caught me alive. I cried out as hard as I can. And then I felt some thing on my lap, the gps had fallen off the the dashboard when I hit a sudden brake. Oh by the way whose shirt was that, how did it get there? I lift my face up - it was a broken stop sign, hanging upside down and fluttering in the winds.

I burst into a heavy sob. Tears flooded down my eyes. How did I end up in this place all alone? I felt something around me, like someone was watching me constantly. What can it be in this lonely place? And then suddenly my brain decided to function. You have a phone and a gps - still in someway connected to the rest of the world; stop crying and start driving. So I drove as fast as I can (still under 40 :) until I came to a highway. Finally happy to see a lighted road and some traffic. I don't know if I was going on the correct route to my hotel but I just kept driving. Just wanted to get as far as I can from whereever I was...

Explaining "Work" to a kid

My son is very curious about "office" and what people do there. One day he asked me if people watch movies in office. Another day he said: "the airport is so big and clean, like office - right?". Another time, I told him we are going to doctor office. Then he thought office is only for doctors. So he asked if I go to see the doctor everyday.

Kids imaginations can be so wild & unbelievable. Below is funny conversation between us:

Arya: Why do you go to office everyday? What do you do there?
Me: Work
Arya: What work?
Me: I dont know, some work.
Arya: Do you have kids in office like me and Adi? What is their names?

(He thought mommy works shifts taking care of kids. During the day she works in office and evenings at home. Funny how he identified correctly that daddy works with computers)

My First R2I Scare

It was the first trip to India after our Return to India (R2I) was finalized and probably the last round trip. The next one hopefully is a one-way ticket to India. Though we visited India several times before, every trip gives a lot of different perspectives on the lifestyle there. The nosy but genuinely caring people; the scream, yell & love relations are always on my mind. Yet some incidents like the one below throw me off the boat. It may take sometime but when the waves settle down and the skies clear up, the soul always swims its way back into the boat.

We were traveling on a mofussil bus one afternoon. After a tiring few days of good food and fun, all of us dozed off as the bus started moving. A while later, maybe after I went into the deepest of deep sleeps, I was thrown forward from my seat due to a sudden brake. The brakes screeched loudly and the bus halted suddenly. A glass shattered into pieces. I woke up totally confused, shocked and hoping it was all a dream. But no it was real. The window in front of me had shattered into pieces when the bus hit a brake.

My son was sleeping on my lap with his head towards the window. Thank God we were all safe. The lady in the front had a minor bruise on her shoulder other than that everyone else were still solid. We quickly dusted off the glass pieces and moved away from the window. Meanwhile the driver continued driving amidst the noises as if the earth would stop spinning if he were to stop driving. Few passengers screamed and then he pulled over reluctantly by the road side. After seeing that no one was hurt he impatiently started the bus again. As the bus jerked through the bumpy road a few more sharp glass pieces that were dangling on the window fell down. One piece fell just two inches from my feet and the piece shattered into my sandals. Thank God we had moved away from the window by that time. Some passengers started to clean up by throwing out the glasses from the bus onto the street. Hopefully no one's tires blew out later that day. A motor cyclist wearing no helmet passed by a few seconds after one of the passengers threw out a big glass piece. Thank God his head was still one piece.

So much value for one's life! - SCARY. The driver, conductor or the passengers didn't show much reaction. Seemed like it was a day-to-day incident for them rather than a accident. Unfortunate accidents can happen anytime in any country but so much reluctance and carelessness among people is what scared me the most. Whether it was a incident or accident, it scared me so much that since my return to U.S I’ve kept myself busy. I guess that helps me keep myself still on the boat.

Explaining "marriage" to a kid

Recently we went to a wedding in India. This was the first time my kids were attending a wedding ceremony. They have never seen one before. Here is a funny conversation with my son:
Arya: What is wedding?
Me: Wedding is a marriage.
Arya: What is a marriage?
Me: It is like a birthday party. People get together, wear pretty dress, have good food and cake.
Arya: Which marriage is this?
Me: This is Indu Athai's marriage.
Arya: Yeah, but which marriage?
Me: What you mean?
Arya: Like, I had 4th birthday, Adi had 2nd birthday... Like that which marriage?
Me: !!!

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A Salute to Teachers

It was over a month since school started. All the kids have settled down except Arya. Going back a couple of months, Arya was so excited about his new school. He called it the big boys school. It gave him a grown up feel.

On the first day of school he was ready quite early - neat and trim, tucked-in shirt, well set hair and above all a smiling face. He seemed to like his classroom setting. While other kids were nervous in the new environment (some were crying), he seemed to actually like the new setting. I was happy that my son liked school right away. As he was quite comfortable, I was thinking of leaving the classroom. He started to cry as I left; I consoled myself that this was only the first day and he’ll soon adjust. The afternoon when I went to pick him up he was all smiles- no complaints.

On the second day he was sobbing in front of the classroom doors; hung on to my shoulders, shed a river of tears and pleaded to take him with me. I felt very weak as the teacher took him inside he wailed “I want to go with mommy …” I left teary-eyed that day. It was getting harder and harder to drop him off at school every day.

Days passed and after about a month and half, I was still the unlucky mom that had to tear apart from a clingy weepy child off the shoulders every morning. The weight was off of my shoulders but sunk my heart deeply for the rest of the day.

I tried all I can - rewarded stickers, took him for weekend outings, picked him up early. I tried explaining to him why schooling is important and how all kids of his age go to school happily. I even tried threatening him that I wouldn't pick him up if he were a cry-baby. In the end, I almost gave up. I found ways to cope up my mornings. Some days I came back home and took a short break before heading to work. Other days, I would divert myself into Google Reader or YouTube during the train ride. I was learning to accept this phase. Kids give us countless tears - both joyful and sorrowful ones, we just hope that the joyous moments outweigh the sorrows.

Then one day, I saw a new teacher in his class. I was worried if this new change was going to make things worse for Arya. But the next day when I dropped him there was no crying. I was surprised and the teacher explained to me that she asked him to promise her that he won’t cry anymore. Later that evening, I tried to ask him what exactly the teacher told him. He couldn’t say it correctly; all I know is that he hasn’t cried at all for the past week (Touch wood, I hope it stays that way) I know he is not doing it because he is afraid of the teacher. I also know that he is not particularly happy about going to school. But how many kids are really happy about going to school? All we want is for them to accept that it is part of life and not to stress too much about it.

Later I thought about it - for what seemed almost impossible to me as a mother, a teacher could do it magically overnight. I was amazed at the power teachers possess. They can achieve and outperform without working late hours like most of us – just simple gestures of kindness and few words of encouragement can change a kid’s world completely.

I’ll finish off here, saluting all teachers around the world that make a positive influence on their students.

Double Ka Meetha / Shahi Tukda on a Friday

It is the much awaited day - a Friday. Fridays are always nice because it is the last day of the work week. And this Friday was extra special because there was a office event - which means one whole day of do-no-work but get paid. Arya woke me up at 5:00am. He was running a high fever. His eyes were watery and he seemed very weak. I decided to take the day off, take care of him and if needed take him to the doctor. He went back to sleep around 7:00am and woke up around 11:00. He came running to me and said "Mommy, it is Friday... I have to go school". I tried to convince him saying he wasn't well so he can stay at home and relax and ... watch Dora all day. Noooo, I want school! So after a quick shower and bowl of cereal, he went to school.

It was about 12:00 - I missed my event. Didn't feel like remoting into work. So got myself about half a day of "do-nothing" time. Well, technically I could run some errands - grocery, laundry, water the plants etc. But no, I am not going to waste my precious time like this. So after spending the next 3 hours doing nothing really useful, I got out off the couch. I thought I should do something that I am passionate about - something that I like but my normal lifestyle doesn't allow for it. After about 5 minutes, I was still thinking what to do. So I google "What am I interested in?" It gave me a bunch of career related websites. Okay, I'll think this up myself. Alright, how about sketching, painting? - it was about 3:00pm, I only have two and a half hours before the kids come home - so can't do much of it. I really love painting but just don't find that order of time. If only I can be on bench for a couple of months...hmmm! Alright let me think of something else. How about cooking? Now I hear some laughing from my inside. It is a miracle if I cook more than twice a week. But cooking is only my hobby. You cannot do it everyday, then it becomes boring, like my job.

Ok so it is cooking then. But what can I cook - I open the refrigerator to get some ideas. I see a pack of bread, some yogurt and ... nothing else - ok I get it - we need to do groceries, but now is not the time for it. I remembered this great dessert I had in India on Hudson. It was a sweet dish made of bread, I don't know the name though. I quickly google for Indian sweet recipes made from bread. I scroll down the search results - not bread pudding, not bread halwa - these recipes didn't sound like what it tasted. It was so rich, creamy ... and finally I decided it could be Double ka meeta or Shahi Tukda. Both recipes were similar with minor differences. Seems like this is a Hyderabadi street-side specialty. Luckily I had all the ingredients for this one. I consolidated the recipes into my own version (that's how you create a signature recipe). It came out delicious, though not exactly the same as India on Hudson. It is a very rich dessert most suited for special occasions or just plain wasted days like the one I just had. Remember to keep the weighing scale away for a few days after having this scrumptious dessert.

Here is the recipe:

White bread - 6 slices
Milk - 4 cups whole milk
Cashew halves - as per liking.
Ghee - to fry the bread

Sugar syrup:
Sugar - 12 tsp & Water-1/2cup
Cardamom powder - a pinch (boil together until it reaches a thin syrupy consistency)

First cut the edges of bread slices and then cut them into triangles. Deep fry the bread pieces in ghee until it is crisp. Prepare sugar syrup as mentioned above. Allow milk to boil in a heavy wide bottom vessel until it reduces to half its volume. Remember to stir continously. Fry cashew halves in ghee on law flame until golden brown.

Arrange fried bread pieces on a plate and pour sugar syrup over it when it is still warm. Wait for few minutes until the bread slices are soaked well. Pour reduced milk over this and top with fried cashew pieces. Enjoy when still warm.


The left overs became kind of mushy. I refrigerated this for a Sunday brunch dessert. Serve chill with a generous topping of warm chocolate syrup.

iPhone4 not cool enough?

It was my birthday morning, I wake up to some noises. Actually it was the happy birthday song from a very familiar voice. I saw a gift-wrapped package on the couch. It was the new iPhone 4. My DH sang and recorded happy birthday for me and set it as a ringtone on the phone. Wow, it was super cool. The look and feel of it, the glass... just felt good holding it. I soon found myself using it in great many ways: text, email, chat, blogs, maps, music, movies, tickets, restaurants - the applications were great many. And best of all, I didn't read any manuals or research on google to use the phone.

DH did all the research for me before buying the phone. He usually gets the best phone that suits my needs. After all this I end up returning the phone and getting a new one - just so I make some noise to prove my existence. I came across a few android phones and got to play with them. For the short period of time that I used, it seemed great - integration with Gmail, Picasa, GTalk was so much better. Someone mentioned that I could easily unlock the phone and just replace the SIM card to use it in India. Getting iPhone to work in India isn't so straight-forward.

So this and some other insignificant reasons set out my mind to android phones. Plus it is google: open systems, freedom to write better apps etc. Meantime, my iPhone was working great. No antenna issues (personally, I think the antenna issue was just a hype... couldn't replicate it on my phone unless you do a little dance with it), good call quality and skype worked flawlessly over wi-fi. DH was convincing me to keep the phone. I would have chosen to keep it if it was my choice. But it was DH's... so had to find something wrong with it.

My trial period was ending and I was still debating whether or not to keep the phone. DH said he bought the phone not just because he liked it but because he thought I would like it. Ohhh... how sweet? ... But my mind doesn't work that way. So here goes my iPhone back into the package for return - for no real reason! After having it for 19 days, I felt so crippled the next day.

I went to the AT&T store to look at my next phone -the androids. And guess what: the androids didn't have the same charm as before. For some reason, when iPhone was in my hands the androids did seem better. Also, I learnt the same day that skype only works on verizon's androids. I understood two things about androids:

1. It is difficult to make apps that will work on all android phones due to the wide range of firmware available. So whether an app will work for you or not is a question.

2. Though android is an open system, the service providers are not so open - cutting down the abilities of your phone. AIM doesn't work on wi-fi, vonage allows only wi-fi and no 3G calls, skype works only on verizon.
Way too many restrictions placed by service providers. Seems like true open system is not yet achieved by google's phones.

So a day has passed since my iPhone had gone and I am left with nothing but these thoughts. I am sure DH is mad at me for returning the phone. It was a birthday present, how could I do it! On the outside I am still speaking great of the androids but inside I hate myself for returning the iPhone. So that night I ask DH to call AT&T and get back my iPhone. So DH calls next morning, I guess he must have told them one of the two things:

1. Oops! I returned my wife's phone accidentally. Can you send it back to me?
2. Oh, I am dumb. After this many years, I still haven't realized that when my wife says a no, she actually means a yes. I shouldn't have returned the phone, can you give it back please...

Well, whatever he said we don't know but basically they were unable to send back the phone. My next option was to get the android that I secretly wanted or to re-order the iPhone. iPhone asked for activation fee again, so I decided to go for the Samsung captivate. It was a cool phone - just saying this to cool myself off. Since I was already on AT&T, they couldn't port my number over again. So placed an order on wirefly, new number.

So on went a few phoneless days - it felt kind of connected and disconnected: connected to people near me, disconnected from rest of the world. I was preparing food in the kitchen one hot summer day when I heard some vague noises, thought it must be a kid’s toy so searched for it to switch off. The sound came from my bag - opened it to see my new phone. This time it was singing "I love you..." I was totally thrilled. DH mentioned that the happy birthday song wasn't lucky, that's why this time he tried a different song. I wondered how he couldn’t give up after all this. Ah! I know... not that he loves me so much but the love for cutting edge technology – he can research and try out new phones in my name. Whatever it is, I was surprised that he had the guts to spend on another phone for me.

First day with my phone - I was completely psyched, showed off to anyone and everyone I met that day. I liked the alerts for new messages on IM or mail with out interrupting the current application. I love how you can directly upload pictures from camera to Picasa albums. Oh and I love the Swype keyboard - so fast and easy to type. And I love the unique looks as opposed to the so common, everyone carries an iPhone look.

On the flip side, I couldn’t get Vonage, Nimbuzz, Sipdroid or other VoIP apps to work in it. Either AT&T blocks them or apps don't support the newer firm wares yet. There seems to be issues with the GPS, but forums say Samsung will come up with a fix for that. I greatly miss the glassy feel of the iPhone. AT&T has not yet confirmed my return. I secretly wish they don't approve and send back the phone.

Meantime, I am trying to enjoy my new phone – just because it is my choice!

A picture with Mickey...

It is the long awaited day, we are visiting Magic Kingdom today. My parents have been telling a lot about this place. Here is where the beautiful princesses live. They have beautiful castle, they ride on a pretty horse carriage. We are going to see the princesses, dance and dine with them... it is going to be a magical day. And I am going to see Mickey. He lives here with his girl friend Minnie. He is my favorite. I eat only Mickey mouse dosa.

Goofy and Donald are putting up a dance show by the castle. People are greatly amused by this show. I wonder why... it is so hot, the sun is melting us off. I see so many fun rides on the other side, I think we should just move on.

We headed to the Fantasy Land - most kiddie rides are here. We went to some rides - Dumbo the Elephant, Cinderella's carousel, Mad tea party... I want to go again and again but Dad says no more. Each ride is about an hour wait in the hot sun. And we cannot take the stroller in the lines. So no place to even sit down and rest. Mom and dad can carry me intermittently but it is not so comfortable in their arms. They keep switching positions and besides you can never rely on them. They can refuse to carry at times. These are the exact same rides that we go on the beach board walk - no wait time, we can go any number of times. I wonder why we came all the way here.

Next we go to a show - Mickey's Philhar Magic. Lucky, only about 10 minutes wait here. The cool A/C is a big relief from the heat. I wish we can just stay here all day. But what is this? All the lights went out. We are shut in a dark room. Donald duck and few other characters come in with a loud music (noise?). Even the big boys can't handle this. It is horrible - the room is all smoky now, I can hardly see anything. Oh! from within the smoke, a ghost or some sort of a monster comes out. It gets closer and closer. The noises get louder. I am scared. Suddenly someone splashes water all over me. I scream at the top of my voice. My baby bro is also crying, mom is trying to close his eyes so he wouldn't be terrified by the monster. Alright now the noises stop and the lights are on finally. Thank god, we are all still alive. Let's get out of here now and never ever turn back here again.

We are now going into Mickey's toontown. Here is where my favorite Mickey and Minnie live. We have to see him. That's why we are here in the first place. Oh, wait... let us just see this one thing before that. It is a giant boat with sprinklers & water leaks. I would love to get soaked now and cool off the heat a bit. Adi & I love playing in water.

It started to rain so heavily. We run into the Toontown Hall of Fame for shelter. Mom said, here is where the fairies and princess live. I always wanted to see the beautiful princesses but now is not the time for it. We have to go back to the water play area. So Adi and I throw tantrums but they wouldn't let us, the rides are all closed due to rain.

When the rains stopped we went to visit Mickey in his country house. Popcorn was popping in Mickey's kitchen. Oh, that reminds me, popcorn, I want to eat popcorn - right now. Mommy... right, I should have guessed... 'No, not now!'. We then visit Minnie's house and enter into the Judge's tent. Here we can meet Mickey and Minnie. Mommy says it is a long wait. But I really want to see Mickey. I love Mickey. This why I came here for... oh! come on Mom let's go. Alright, alright I will be a good boy. I won't ask you to carry me. So after the drama, we enter into the longest slowest moving queue.

I am standing here for about an hour now, my legs are hurting. I've promised to not bother mommy. So I am just going to sit down on the floor. Oh.. this is nice but it will be more comfortable to lie down. I am so sleepy, let me just put my head down for a while... oh, the line is moving - should I get up? No need, line moves very slowly it is not worth getting up to walk just 2 steps. Let me just roll-over. Mom warns me - it is dirty on the floor. Oh.. I know that... but what can I do? I am so tired. Still no signs of Mickey. Adi was so cranky - wailing, hitting and pulling mommy's hair. Mom asks me frequently "can we just leave?". She is going to pull me out of this anytime. This Adi is always a trouble-maker. He is going to ruin all my plans today. Oh good! finally he is going to sleep on mommy's shoulder. He looks so comfortable. Why can't I do that? Where is daddy? Oh, I know - he went to get fast pass for another ride and perhaps he got stuck outside the queue. Mommy can you carry me? I know she'll say no - but after a scene of crankiness, I was on mommy's other shoulder. This was comfortable for a while but soon I realized that if I push Adi off, I'll have more space to sleep. Let me try that.... mommy yells at me and throws me off. She said no more Mickey, let's all go out. No, no, no... I want to see Mickey. That's why I am putting up with all this. So I convinced mommy and our journey see Mickey continues.

It is about two hours since we entered here. Really, I have no energy. I can barely walk or talk. I am so thirsty, I want water. We are stuck in this infintely long queue, no water, no restrooms else we lose our spot in the queue. Finally I give up. I say 'Mom, let's go out. I don't want to see Mickey mouse. Let's just go'. Mom is so mad at me now. Only two more people ahead of us, you better wait now. They finally call us in. Mom & me can barely stand up on our knees.

I can't beleive what I am seeing... Mickey and Minnie are here. It is like magic, my aches and pains are gone. I feel so fresh and lively now. I give them a huge hug. I want to give them a gift. Ah... I should have thought about this before. What can I give... am looking around, can't find any thing interesting. Ah! there in mommy's hand - the camera. That's a great gift for Mickey. Mom gives me "the look". Okay, okay!

Hey! At last we saw Mickey. Great!


I went to school after vacation and here's what I told my class:
"I went to Florida for vacation. I went with my mom, my dad and my brother. We all went to Florida Ms.Vanessa. I fly on the airplane. It was so hot there, very hot. I walk a lot and the sun was so hot. I want to go again, we went to Disney Land."

Kids Art work

Frustrated with scribbling marks all over the walls, we decided to install a board so that kids can sketch freely. The board was a super hit on the first day. I remembered to buy washable markers just to be on the safer side.

Stripes or Skulls - What would you choose?

One Saturday afternoon I went shopping with my son. The kids section in Macy's welcomed us with bright spring colors. I saw several aisles of beautiful girl's dresses in pink and purple. Then it was the newborns section - several aisles of soft pastel yellows and blues, tops and tees adorned with pretty bows and cute little teddy bears. I almost reached the end and I still couldn't find clothes for my boys. I asked someone who worked at the store and they pointed me to the same way that I walked before. "All the way to the end" she said. I went back again and I was astonished to find that only the back wall had some boys clothes. Nothing much! Girls section occupied 60% of the space, newborns took 30% of the space and remaining 10% was for boys (age range 2 to 8). I couldn't believe that I had to shop in this tiny little section for the next years!

I was browsing through the clothes and I couldn't find one thing interesting. I was looking for some casual wear. The tees had terrifying graphic prints - a humungous dragon spitting fire, a dinosaur destroying a city, a speedy car kicking out bikers & pedestrians off the road, a robot shooting in all directions etc. While it is cute for boys to be naughty little rowdies these graphics seem to cross the border of a lovable wildness.

Besides this I saw dump trucks, garbage trucks, bandaged-boy and skulls. I wonder what would be the motivation for anyone to buy these kinds of clothes unless it is for Halloween dress-up. But it was not even the season. These clothes seem to be the spring season arrivals for little boys. Oh and then there was the faded-look, paint ripped off/ splattered screen print tees – definitely NO!!

If you leave out all these then you are left with solids, stripes or checks. I feel like these are very adult-ish. I don’t want to push my kids into these patterns already since they are going to be stuck with them for many years anyway. I don't want my kids to look too nerdy. At the same time I can't accept the way too trendy/ hip looks.

Whatever happened to cute little newborn outfits with sweet wordings like ‘I love my mommy’, ‘My Dad rocks’, etc. Where are the adorable teddy bears, ducklings, cars and trains?

I hope trend changes and boys also get a chance to dress up in something nice and cool.

Firing questions at the Firemen

My friends had organized a tour of the neighborhood fire station for their kid’s birthday party. The fire men explained the various operations of the fire engine, the tools & equipments they use incase of an emergency. I was amazed at how smart the kids were in asking questions.
The fireman took out a long heavy hammer and axe out of the fire truck. Here is a funny conversation between the fireman and one of the smart kids:

Fireman: We use these tools to pry open locked doors incase of an emergency.
Kid: If you break open the doors then do you close them after you put off the fire.
Fireman: No, we don’t do it. The house owners have to fix it themselves.
Kid: If you leave it open then skunks may enter our house.
Fireman: mm… yeah!
Kid: Oh! I know what you should do. If you are there to put off fire in our house when we are not in home, you should call us immediately. That way we can bring the keys to open the door. Then you don’t have to break our doors.
Fireman: Good idea…

Boys vs. Girls

We have some rose plants in the front of our house. Every morning I step out of the house and pick a rose. My son (3 years old) watched me do this for a few days and then he started getting involved with the process. He likes to boss around all the time, so gradually he started suggesting and then ordering me which flower I should pick. He would point at the tiny bud rose one day and then at the big dried up rose the next day. But he never picked the one I liked. Nevertheless I wanted to encourage his interest and so tried to give some hints to pick the right flower. I told him to look for roses that just started to bloom with the petals still intact but not so closed. I also told him to try to find the closest match to my dress color. I reminded him these points everyday. But everyday he picked a big, dry flower and argued endlessly that it was prettiest of all.

One day I was tired of arguing with him. So I told him that we’ll take two – one of his choice and one of mine. Roses are pretty and they smell good too. I asked him to give it to me because I wanted to smell it. He immediately turned around to show his diaper to me. It was my mistake!! I smell his diaper to judge if he has to be changed.

We reached his school. He handed the flowers to me and said bye-bye. Another little girl in his class was curiously looking at the roses in my hand. I gave the two roses to her and asked her to take the one she liked. Without any hesitation she took the one that I chose earlier. She is younger than my son and had just started to speak few words. She didn’t have to be taught to identify the pretty flower.

I just realized that Boys are boys no matter what we teach or train them.

Tanglish

Raising kids in the U.S, I have always wondered if my kids will learn Tamil. I always talk in tamil to my son even though he constantly replied back in English. Initially he seemed to be confused with the mix of languages at school and at home. But now-a-days he has a clear understanding of the mix. He speaks tamil words in English sentences and he uses them in the right context in the right grammatical sense. Here’s some of the funny mixes:
I பாழாக் my pant. -> I spoiled my pant.
My tummy is வலிக். -> My stomach is aching.
வாய் is ஒட்-ing.-> Mouth is sticky.
பூச்சி is flying. விரட்டு இட். -> Mosquito is flying. Chase it away.
I want அம்மா பேசு. -> I want mom to talk to me.
Egg is வேகு. -> Egg is boiling.
Dress is not காய். -> Clothes are not dried.
No மறைக்-ing the TV. -> Don’t block my view of TV.
I துறத்து the குருவி. -> I chased the sparrow.
Baby சின்னி பிள்ளை, I பெருசு பிள்ளை. -> Baby is small boy, I am big boy.
Give me some வலி. -> Give me some way.
Don’t put me கீழை. There is முள். -> Don’t put me down. There are stones.
I put செடி for தண்ணி. -> I put water for plants.
I தொலைச்சு one shoe. -> I lost one shoe.
Sun is கூசிங். -> Sun is bright in my eyes.
This was the best of all: he mixed Spanish, English and Tamil all in one sentence:
Abuella is not in வீடு. -> Grandma is not in home.