Companion

I know I have been off blogging for a long time now. Life has been just too busy or let me call it 'happening' since we left Bangalore. We reached here, Bay Area, CA in June mid. House hunting took 2 months, moving, etc. took forever. And settling...well we are still trying to reach there.

Honestly, I didn't have anything specific to write about also.
Nishet has been away for a week now and keeping Aanya from missing him too much is my job right now. So, I took her out for a little drive and on our way, I noticed an old couple, a really aged couple, may be 78-ish...may be more,crossing one of the streets. I stopped for them. And I dont know why, I kept looking at them. They were so "together". The man had his hand around the old lady's waist and she held him the same way as they went past. It seemed as if they were the reason for each other's mobility. As if they could not walk without eachother. As if they will fall if they didn't hold each other the way they were.

I went into deep thinking mode and realized.....how many like them had a companion...a real companion at that stage of life?

When we are young, we don't care much about companionship and the presence of our partners, loved ones or even friends is taken for granted. But at that age....I am not sure how many of those we would have when we will be 80. Seeing the loved ones go one by one must be the mode of life for people of that age. And they must be really thankful for having the ones around them. And how much they must be chrishing the presence of the remaining few.
But the love I felt on seeing the walking with each other, made me feel very nice. I do not know a word for that feeling, but it felt nice...very nice.
Co-incidently, came home and ordered a pay-per-view - Letters to Juliette. An even more beautiful story about companionship and love in old age. A must watch if you like love stories.

Till I write next time, ciao!

Little Hearts

It is trully amazing how children live in the present, cry while saying bye, remember for a few days or months and then just move on.

Six months back, I remember my baby crying while saying bye to Maya. It was heart breaking.

Now as we are packing our bags again, we are carrying with us lots of love and memories of  wonderful friends, relatives and new people that we met here in Bangalore. While meeting everyone we became selfish and forgot that Aanya too has some connections and would like to meet her friends.

This morning her new best friend, Jessica's, grandmother called up and asked us if Aanya can spend a few hours with jessica to play with her new toys. We had to meet Tanveer and Sadiya for lunch, so we dropped Aanya at Jessica's place for a few hours. 

By the time we reached there, it has started pouring heavily and it was so very touching to see Jessica and her Grandpa standing in heavy rain with their umbrellas waiting for us.

And how the girls reacted on seeing each other after a gap of 45 days is very very difficult to say in words. It was one of the most beautiful things to see them scream out of excitement and hug and kiss each other. They did not care about the rain or the traffic or anything else in the world. They just screamed and hugged.

They spent some quality hours together and naturally, parting had to come with a lot of tears and tantrums. But, I am feeling so happy that Aanya could meet Jessica one last time before leaving.

This one is for Aanya and Jessica's friendship.

Incredible India!

I have to thank my friend Ritu for these eye opening facts.

India is a nation where Rice is Rs.40/- per kg and Sim Card is free
 
Pizza reaches home faster than Ambulance and Police.  
 
Car loan @ 5% but education loan @ 12%.
 
Students with 45% get in elite institutions through quota system and those with 90% get out because of merit.

 
2 IPL teams are auctioned at 3300 crores and we are still a poor country where people starve for 2 square meals per day
 
Assembly complex buildings are getting ready within one year while public transport bridges alone takes several years to be completed.

INCREDIBLE INDIA !!!

Sach's Toothpaste! next what....

You may call me old fashioned or whatever, but I was not very excited or pleased when I saw the Big Bazaar Launch of Sachin Tendulkar's Toothpaste "Sach" in yesterday's news paper. I do not see a connection.  Neither do I see any marketing genius in involving Tendulkar as a co-creator of the product along with Pantaloon group. May be it's just me.

J.Lo, Britney, Amitabh Bacchan branded perfume was OK because it is an accessory. But Sachin Brand "Dant manjan" aka toothpaste doesn't seem appropriate.

Next is what....Mahi Amla hairoil? or May be Kumble range of detergents? Or even Sania nail paint remover?

Recepción a la India Taco Bell!!

Means Welcome to India Taco Bell!

I am so happy today to learn about Taco Bells first restaurant in India. That too in Bangalore! It is quite far off but its OK.

I jumped out of joy to see the ad in the newspaper this morning. Visited the website and checked out the menu and everything else. I was a bit disappointed to see that my favorite chalupas are not on the menu. Neither are Cheesy fiesta potatoes. 

But later on I realized that may be I lost some decent number of pounds since we moved to India because of the absence of Taco bell in the neighborhood. We used see taco bell from our kitchen window in California. In Dallas, it was right across the street. And the weighing machine needle didn't move. :(

But who cares. As long as I can get to eat taco bell in Bangalore, all is well. And it is at a optimum distance (plus traffic) to keep me from having it frequently.

I can't wait to visit Taco Bell now.

Anybody wants to join???