DRS School and Air Deccan

Ani and I went to Hyd for a day to see some houses and a school. We went by the Southwest of India, Air Deccan. I liked it. First off, booking was all online, and our tickets were printouts with barcodes. They did not care whether I was an Indian citizen or not. They called me the previous night to let me know my return flight would be delayed by an hour (it was delayed by 3 hours, but that's another story..). They don't serve *anything* onboard, you even have to buy online. That was not a problem for us, we had nice packed food from home on both legs. We drew some looks from other passengers when I unwrapped chapathis and potato palya, but hey, you got to teach them some American ways right ;) ? The aircraft itself was one of those turbo-prop ATRs, I was ok with it since I've done quite a bit of low altitude flying with Intel shuttles.

Hyd was *hot*. We could not finalize any of the houses we saw because of various reasons. We also visited a school there - scouting for Anirudh. DRS International is a good 45 minute drive from my in-laws place in Marredpally. The school is an air-conditioned oasis in the middle of some scrub land. They boast a swimming pool, skating rink, squash court etc. - the price of course matches the amenities. If Ani joins there, it will cost us a cool 65K the first year - this for the pre-K class!!! Even the school buses are airconditioned.. We are not sure about this school yet, would much rather prefer he went to a neighbourhood montessori. Have to see how it goes..

Swift

D booked an "Azure Grey" Maruti Swift for us (http://www.marutiswift.com). It looks like a pretty nice vehicle. We're thinking of getting a Toyota Innova as the other car.

I took 5 hours of a "touch up" class with Mani Motors to get the hang of driving stick shift again. It went pretty smooth so I took Srinath's car for a spin one night and stalled the car near a speed bump bang in the middle of Jayanagar 4th block :( The dang 1st gear always gives me the haath! Have to practice more in the Swift before I'm really road-worthy (i.e., capable to taking the kids around..)

Ani is enjoying himself tremendously especially since Chaitra is also here from a week now.. his appetite has gone way down though. I asked him what he wanted to eat today, I would get him anything and he said he wants the enchilada, rice and beans from On the Border! I guess not eating is the way he's telling us that he misses his old life. I'm hoping this will pass soon.

D and I think all the kids need to get into a routine soon, especially Ani. Hence the "haste" in looking for a house etc. Many of my relatives have been asking me why we want to stay separate from our in-laws in Hyd. I think the idea of a joint family as the best way to live still eclipses practical considerations in India.

Ped visits

D is visiting us from Hyderabad this weekend, a welcome break for me. We all really missed him! Arjun has some diarrhea and Ani has had some fever so we've been visiting Pediatricians on and off. Am getting introduced to Indian antibiotics, cold medication etc. Dr. Kashi near my parents' place is very good and knows all the US medicenes, so I can convey to him exactly what the kids are used to. This week we saw couple of other doctors as he is on vacation, they're not as good I think..

I'm getting a little restless. I think we need to plan the "next" part of our journey, to Hyderabad, soon. We all need to get into a routine and settle down. We'll probably go by the end of the month, as my parents have a function planned mid-month.

The papers are full of jobs available ads, have to see how it is in Hyderabad once we settle there.

Chaitra (my sister) landed here thursday morning. We drove to Kormangala today and passed by the Forum mall. Looks huge, and it was absolutely packed. Have to check it out some day.