Rains

The pre-monsoon showers have set in here - so we have lots of fallen trees, power outages etc. Spent a couple of nights without power (the UPS conked out too..) - thats the real India :) Arjun and I have a nasty cold. D is in Hyd, getting us cell phones, looking for a house, school etc.

Ani has become very independent! He sleeps by himself now, and is fully potty trained. Yay me! :D

Foodworld

We went to the local grocery/department store Foodworld today. Pretty much a miniaturized/Indianized version of Safeway. This particular store had opened the last time I was here(Dec 03), but looks a little rundown already. Its the usual story - 1. No maintenance - the floor looks worn, the place needs a cleaning ans paint 2. They did not plan for expansion. So the area next to the entrance is piled high with rice sacks etc. They've added a chaat counter and a counter to make idli/dosa batter fresh, and these counters live on the porch of the place.

Still, it is so nice to walk thro the aisles and find Indian as well as many familiar western brands at your local grocer.We picked up some pasta and Ketchup for Ani.

The road where my parents' house is located has gotten to be busy. The honking of horns and roar of engines drives Siddharth crazy - he's not able to nap for long spells. Expect he'll get used to it soon.. The house of one of our neighbours got sold to a developer, there'll be one apt complex there soon..it is sad to see our old neighborhoos going away.

D observed that the greatest change for us both is not the traffic or grocery store - it will be in our work environments. D is moving from software to manufacturing and I'll be "unemployed" for a while. Since our jobs define a large part of us, this change will be our biggest challenge.

Jetlagged

The kids are quite jetlagged. They sleep most of the day and keep us awake at night. Anirudh woke up hungry and 11 pm and 3 am last night - lunch time and snack time respectively in Kindercare :)

I'm enjoying eating all the different types of mangoes - after a long time..

The papers seem to be full of job wanted ads. Have to see how the situation is in Hyderabad after we move there.

I've not stirred out since we came.

Anirudh is having a ball playing the whole day and getting all the attention. He calls our maid Meenakshi as "Meema" and follows her around. I think he's going to get real naughty due to boredom.. I was talking to my mom about sending him for a couple of hours to a local montessori run by a relative, but she says it is summer holidays here now. All schools are closed! Wonder how parents cope when both mom and dad are working and there are no relatives close by..

We're in Bangalore

And so we finally made the journey. It went quite smooth, the kids were almost angelic throughout. Singapore Airlines food was terrible until we hit Singapore. Then it got really good. Service was great as usual, except the HKG-SIN leg - they refused to turn off the video on the huge screen in front of us, and the twins (in the basinettes) were getting really distracted by it.

The last few days were crazy. Despite the months of planning, the last few days were really hectic. D's brother, sister, cousin and families visited to give us a grand farewell. I was able to offload a lot of my stuff to Chaitra - she was a little pissed at how much:)

Shobitha, Datta, Poonam and Nachi came to the airport. D and I were really touched by the farewell gestures and parties - D remarked that he was so busy he could not say goodbye properly to everyone. I got misty eyed when saying goodbye to Keshav (D's brother) - somehow, he (and Sahana in the last 3 years) has been with us for every ocassion, has visited us frequently - he's been a really good "kid" brother to D. I think we'll miss our friends and siblings the most - Except for my brother, the rest are in US currently.

Everyone has been asking what my feelings are right now. Actually I don't really have any. I think the whole move will sink in in a couple of weeks or so..

Bangalore is HOT. I don't remember it being this hot when I lived here - I may be wrong.. As always, when we land in any airport in India, I'm struck by the vast difference in maintanence. Singapore and Bangalore airports - no comparison!

We were treated really well at immigration - someone pulled us out of the queue and sent us ahead, so we were out in minutes. We have a lot of bags - 10 check in, and 6 carryon. $60 did wonders to get some porters to help us. My dad was aghast that D gave them so much money..

Its 4:51 in the morning right now. Kids are asleep (except Arjun - he's been feeling gassy for a few days now). D just remembered that we have not cancelled our Valley Times subscription. During the journey Anirudh asked once if we can go back home to Pleasanton. Not so easy now!

The local mosque just started his "Allah..." cry. Sounds of India..

Monday before Move

Its the 9th today and move date is the 14th. The house looks like a tornado went through it. Boxes and packing materials everywhere. The one good thing about moving is that you get rid of a lot of junk. We've moved quite a few times in the last 9 years, but manage to accumulate junk in between moves always :)

A is going to go to daycare till Wednesday (till the movers cart away the stuff). D is done with work and so am I.

Still lots of little things to take care of ... - pay dentist bill, pick up prescription refills in Safeway, buy a recliner, buy gift certs. for visiting relatives, etc. etc. Not enough hours in the day!

Packing up

We're leaving from SFO the night of the 14th. The last few days now are a blur - packing, shopping, meeting friends, making sure the kids are still somewhat ok..

We'll be in a state of flux for a while. It will be a while before we're settled again, and have a comfortable routine. We'll miss the friends we have here, Ani will miss his daycare and teachers (although he does not realize it yet), the twins will never realize anything ;)

First post

I'm starting this blog to log my thoughts and experiences as we head back home to India. D and I have spent some years in the US (13.5 for D, 9.2 for me) and are heading back with lots of hope and excitement, mixed in with some apprehension. Its going to be a fun ride..