Alyce Wedding

Alyce Wish you a very happy Married Life.- From Everyone in our family

I hope everyone is enjoying Alyce Wedding.

Hai to all, It is nice to read about your activities through the blog. The last two months have been very hectic for us. Avanthika got the first prize in the music competition at school. Her dance perforfamce also went off very well. The entire family was there to watch the show.(ravi,ramesh,suba & dandu mama). Today is my birthday and we went out for lunch. Raja and Avanthika had a surprise gift for me in the morning. I am forced to act and feel like a birthday baby by my sweet little daughter. All the celebrations are to keep her happy. Right now Raja is sleeping after the heavy lunch that he had. All three of us shall be going to Coimbatore on the 12 & 13 of this month for a family puja. Two weeks back we all went to Suba's house including Ramesh's family. We had lunch at the Sanjeevanam. (Dana I suppose you remember the place). It was real fun with all the kids. All the other things are going as per routine. Raji, it is nice to hear that you are planning to visit the US. Has the heat come down there? Bye for now. SHOBA.

Hi Everyone,
I wish all my brothers happy Raksha Bandhan.
Today Delhi is very colourful . Everyone is busy in buying Rakhi for their brothers.
Raksha Bandhan, popularly referred to as Rakhi, is a special day for brothers and sisters. The festival commemorates the unique bond shared by the siblings and is celebrated with fun and fervor, in many parts of India. On the auspicious occasion, a sacred thread - Rakhi - is tied on the brother's wrist by his sister. This symbolizes her love and affection for his brother. The festival is the time to have fun with siblings.
Raji

Birthday

Hi everyone,
Nice to see you all in the blog. Yesterday was my birthday. Office people celebrated my birthday and I had nice fun in the office. I have got my passpost and I am also planning to visit you all. Raji

All is well here:) We are happily diving into summer activities. We went to the beach for a day (it's a 2 hour drive), swimming, and many, many picnics. It seems we have a picnic for every reason we can think of. We call it a cookout, we literally cook outside on a grill and eat outside. We had one for my nefew's induction into the Army, then we had one 2 days later for his graduation from College. We had one for Independence day and we had a few just for fun. Not all of them were at our house. The one we had for Raju's employees was at our house. We had such a wonderful time. It was exciting to see such a larger crowd this year because of all the people Raju has hired. They brought their family members as well.

Shoba, you are a real champ in my book for helping Avanthika with all those activities. I don't know how she keeps up with it all! I think she will be a super star in whatever field she pursues. Did she tell me she wanted to be an architect? I won't soon forget the lovely singing and dance she did for us when we were there. It looks like she works very hard at all her activities.

Raji, good to hear from you:) Are you ready to get out of hot, sweltering Delhi and come to the cool (by comparison) U.S.? We would be so happy for you to come and stay with us for a while. I'm sure Raju would have you helping him in some way with his business. He puts the kids and me to work. We really enjoy being a part of what Daddy is doing. The boys got shirts with the company logo on it and they are proudly wearing them. They mostly just empty the dust bins, but they are hardworking, proud members of Daddy's team.

Raju is traveling this week. The boys think he has a very glamorous job. From their perspective, he gets to fly on airplanes whenever he wants, he sleeps in nice hotels with pools, and eats at the restaurants of his choice. Of course, from Raju's perspective, he has to fly on crowded planes at odd hours of the day and night, misses his own bed, and eats terrible food, and misses his family. But I must say he loves his work and is happy to provide for his family.

I am going to work on putting a slide show of our pictures from India into the blog, so you can all see them. My friend has done it and I will get her to help me tomorrow.

I haven't heard from Rama. Did she and Akshaya go back to India for summer break? How is Subha doing and Lakshmi, and Aishwarya, and Sujatha and all the children? We would love to hear from all the rest.

Love from all of us:)

Dana, Raju, Sanjay, And Vijay

From shoba Hai Dana and everybody. It was nice to see your blog Dana after a long gap of about 6 months. Things are going fine here. Avanthika's school has reopened and the classes are going on in full swing. It is a big jump for her from the 4th to the 5th class. Till now she was only graded according to her performance in all subjects. This year onwards they will be ranked according to their performance. She has to really work hard to stay at the top and she is doing it as well. Her first monthly tests are starting tomorrow. She participated in the solo singing competition in school. We will know the results tomorrow. She will also be giving a dance performance, through her dance school on the 12th of July. Daily practice for the same is going on. We are juggling betwen home, school and other classes. It is very hectic but interesting. Right now she is waiting for Raja to take her to the club for her routine weekly swim. Days are very hot here with no sign of the end of summer. We are very happy to hear about Alyce. Our wishes and love are always with her. Convey our special wishes and prayers to her and your sister. I can imagine how excited and busy you are going to be for the next 2 months. Take care and convey our love to Raju and the kids. Raji, It must be still very hot there I suppose. Take care and keep us informed about your next visit. Bye for now.

Hi everyone,

Here also summer vacation started. Schools are reopening on 1st July. Here most of the children go out of country on holidays.

Raji

Hi, This is Vijay. I think you are great cousins, especially in India. I really like going to your houses. I hope everyone is doing well. We are trying to build a tree house this summer. Daddy and I have planned it all out. It will be a platform high up in a tree maybe even 10 feet high with a railing. We will hang a pully at the top and tie a bucket to it, so we can lower it to the ground. I have to take my bath now, so I will write again later.---Vijay

Hi Everyone,

I am back from a long hiatus! Today is the last day of the school year and we are cleaning up our classroom and resetting it for next year! We are all elated and I am thrilled to finally have a minute to write on the blog. Thank you Shoba and Raji for keeping it up. I appologize for not remaining faithful. My busy schedule ( and I know you all have busy schedules as well) has kept me from the blog. But now on to my update:

Sanjay has completed 5th standard. He was able to begin working on 6th standard literature, so he will have a headstart next year. Vijay has finished 2nd standard and has a line up of books he is going to read during summer holiday. As usual at the end of each school year I make a list of tasks to be done during the summer. It usually starts with cleaning out all the closets in the house. We get too busy to keep them cleaned out and organized. Next I will tackle the boys' toy cupboard and school room. I will be packing up and sending back all the text books and other materials that the school sent me, so I can make room for next years' books and materials. The list I made is 5 pages long so I can go on and on about my projects for the summer.

We do have some other exciting news. Alyce is getting married on August 22, 2009. We are very excited. Her fiance has one more class to take to finish his degree in chemistry. He will be able to teach high school Chemistry, but right now he is working in the Laboratory for Raju. Is anyone able to come over for the wedding? We would love to have you! My sister's oldest son has graduated from college this month. He is in the military and will be going for some special leadership training this summer. Shelby is just looking forward to swimming all summer long. Asa is l6 and he is looking for a summer job. That is the update on Kimm's family.

Raju's business is going very well. He has hired several more employees. He is so busy that he is working very long hours. He has just hired an accountant and another project manager. Once he has them trained I hope he can relax a little bit. Over the next 2 months he has a lot of traveling to do and a lot of technical work to do.

Raju and I went to Florida for a few days in May. It was so nice to be in warm weather. It has been cold and rainy here all month. I was able to plant my flowers on my patio. I have red hibiscus plants and pink, orange, and red impatients. Every spring I eagerly anticipate planting my flowers. I am unable to have a garden at the house where we live now because of all the trees. There is not one fully sunny spot in our whole yard. I tried to grow tomatoes in a spot I thought was sunny. It was sunny, but as soon as the tomatoes were large, pale green, and ready to turn red, the sun shifted and my tomato plants were shaded. Only a few of the tomatoes ripened. I was so disappointed. My mother has put a few extra tomato plants in her garden for me. My parents are doing well. My mother still has a lot of pain in her leg, but other than that she is in great health. My father also is doing well. I can hardly believe he will be 69 this year. He is still working a full day, every day. My brother's business has been hit hard by the significant slow down in the real estate market in California. His business is serviving but barely. We are praying for him and his family a lot. That is the update on my family. I will try to think of a few fun things we have done since I last blogged and write again soon. Our love to all the family. We miss you all and can't wait until we see you again.

Dana

From shoba Hai all of you! Hope all of you are fine. It is a long time since I wrote something here. Avanthika and me went to cbe for the holidays and were back in may. Her school reopens on the 3rd of june. We are all set to begin the new academic year. Raji, it is nice to see that you are the only one who is posting details on the blog. Keep going and take care. Bye for now.

Hello everyone,

Now I am in Kolkatta . Here it is very hot and I will be back home by 1st week of june. Bye
Love,
Raji

Hello everyone,

I hope everyone is fine. It is very very hot here. I spoke to everyone at home and everyone is fine.

Raji

From shoba, Have a nice week all of you. Just tried adding a picture to the blog. Does'nt this flower look beautiful. One of the many wonders of nature.

From shoba, Hello everybody! It is quiet some time since I posted something here. Last saturday (14.3.09)Avanthika's school celebrated an evening of music and dance. She was there in a group song and a group dance, both Tamil folk numbers. Her annual exams are starting on the 23rd of march and will be over on the 7th of april. However her school will close only on the 13th of april for the summer vacation. The last week was a little pleasant with the temperature coming down by 2 to 3 degrees. All of us are fine here. Looks like Raja will be travelling a lot in the coming months as he has taken up 2 or 3 new projects. We are waiting eagerly for the summer vacation when we can be free from the boring routine of school, homework, tests, assignments, etc. Bye for now. Take care all of you.

from Ravi

I forgot to add few words on the picture, GOOD MORNING,posted by me on the 5th march, KEEP THE POINTER ON THE PICTURE OF THE BABY AND DOUBLE CLICK TO GET AN ENLARGED PHOTO TO ENJOY THE BABY.

from Ravi,

Hello everybody,
I was very busy for the past few weeks and so could not blog or teach suja about blogging. I find getting across to people over video on the net seems a good easy and wonderful alternative, and I am used to that with Rama, Ramanan,Raju and akshaya. But blog includes people to view and post at their own pace and time. Any how coming back to the subject of this blog, I just wanted to mark my presence and share my thought on the very name of this blog spot , it is but natural to make an effort for keeping in touch across the globe.
Thought for the day " I am not worried about how many recoganise me But how many I can recoganise is more important " confucius.

From Shoba Hello everyone! Hope all of you are fine. I did not find many postings and that disappointed me. Any way the past weekend was very busy. On friday Avanthika had the 'Science Alive' programme in school as 28th feb is always celebrated as National Science Day in India. I had been to her school to see all the experiments presented by the children. It was so surprising and exciting to see the many many simple but interesting experiments being demonstated by the children. The whole school was decorated with posters and charts of all the famous scientists. Avanthika and her friend showed the working of the Solar Clock. The next day (saturday) , Avanthika was taken through her school's art club to the Lalit Kala Academy to view an exhibition of the art works done by very famous artists. She was back by 12.30pm. After lunch we had to rush for the music performance in our colony's community hall. We reached there by 2.40pm. The programme started by 3.00pm and went on till 6.00pm. In all about 50 children in the age group of 5 to 15 sang many many songs both individually and as groups. Avanthika sang 3 songs. In between we were served with hot coffee, sundal, kesari and fruit salad( all the arrangements both at the hall and food were done by her music teacher with funds contributed by all the students). Raja reached chennai only at 12.30pm on that day because of his flight delay but was lucky enough to reach in time for the programme. The whole evening was a feast for the ears and mouth. The next day (sunday - lazy day, as I always call it) started late. I made pooris and subzi for lunch. In the evening we went for the bharathanatyam arangetram(it is the first solo performance that any student gives after they reach certain level in dance) of one of the senior students in Avanthika's dance school. It was a 3 hours programme and the dancer did extremely well. When we came out of the hall it was almost 9.30pm. We had hot hot chilly bajji and soup as a starter to finish off the dinner at home. So though it was very hectic it was always fun to do different things. The days have become hotter here in chennai. Avanthika is busy with her school work as her annual exams are likely to begin by the end of this month. Thats it for now. Will catch up with all the details later. Bye and take care all of you.

From Raji

Hello everyone, Hope everyone is fine.
Yesterday I went to Lajpat Nagar where all goods are available at the wholesale market price.
It was very busy. People are busy buying summer clothes. I bought one cotton suit.
After going round the market for long time, I felt hungry and I had boiled corns with black pepper, lemon and butter and Moong dal bagoda with coriander chutney and fresh onion, it was so hot and lovely and I also had soda with lime.

From Raji

From Raji

Hello everyone,
It is warm now in Delhi. Last week I went for a movie Stone Man. Everything is fine.
Today I made Chappati and Cabbage subji for breakfast and lunch.
Raji

From Raji

From Shoba Hello everybody! It is almost a week since I opened the blog. I am surprised to see only one posting of Akshaya. What happened? Looks like everybody is either busy or may be the thrill of blogging is over. Let us keep connected. So please keep posting atleast once a week. What happened to you Dana? It is almost a month since we have heard from you. Please keep us updated about all that is happening there. Hope all of you are fine. Yesterday we had a programme in our club to celebrate A.R.Rahman's nomination into the Oscars. All the lovely hits of A.R.Rahman were played. We met many of our friends there, had dinner and enjoyed the evening very much. Bye, see you all soon and expecting to see some new posts.

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

Hi everyone,
Wish you all a happy v day.
Shoba aunty,
we wish you a happy anniversary.Don't feel bad.We also belong to the same group.This year Aishu was here for her b'day but we never had time to even get her a new dress.
Avantika its nice of you to write to everyone

Today I have a day off because of President's day.(Monday 16/2).

Raji perima your story was too good.The same story happens in Heidi.Here we didn't go anywhere because of cold .It's not snowing now for the past 1 week.We got some sunshine but still temp is low.

Suji we saw your painting.keep up the good work.
Thanks Dana mami for making this happen.
I'll write now and then because i got a lot work to do.Next year i'll be in high school.got my math honors but yet to get higher english.working hard for that.
Bye
Akshaya

From Shoba, Hai! It was a lovely weekend. Saturday was valentine's day and there were some special programmes in our club. We left home at 7.30pm and went to the club. There were many games for the children and adults like musical chair, paperdance(you dance standing on a sheet of paper,when the music stops you fold the paper and put both your feet on it. This goes on until the paper is about the size of your palm and the person who can fit his /her leg into it is the winner), lucky dip, elimination square( everybody dances in four squares, when the music stops one square is eliminated, this goes on until we have the winner.) etc. Avanthika participated in all the games but she was not lucky enough to win any thing. We had some exotic food for dinner and then the dance floor was open for all of them. Avanthika joined her friends in the dance and went on till about 11.00pm. I was shivering sitting in the open lawn till so late. (I realised that though the days were hot the nights were still very chill). We reached home and went off to sleep at 12.00. Thank you Raji for your anniversary wishes. I have made some kesari as sweet and will be going to the temple in the evening. Nice to see Ravi's pictures on the blog. Bye!

from ravi

from suji

Hello everybody,
this is my first blog , i am really exited to get connected to everyone through this blog. I thank Dana perima for creating this. Today we had a nice enjoyment in our SPORTS DAY .I had participated in the events like dance and music .I and my school friends had performed a Japanies dance .In the evening we went to a handicrafts exibition [Natural dyes exibition] in kottur Puram . I had a great time in there. I saw some bueatiful fruit baskets ,table mats , pen stands which was made out of grass . I also saw some cloth materials which was made out of NATURAL DYES . I saw some blocks which are used for block printing in sarees , chudidhar and dupatas .

From shoba, Hai ! I just finished lunch and thought of blogging , while Avanthika is busy studying for her exams. Happy Valentine's Day everybody. This blog is enough proof of the love that we all have for each other. It is very exciting to go through it and know all that the others have done during the past few days. Hope all of you are fine and safe. Our wedding anniversary is on the 16th (monday) of this month. We are completing 17 long, loving and happy years of marriage. I am surprised to note that we were married on a day so close to Valentine's day. (of course, this was not so popular in India those days. so there is no chance of me even thinking of it. Western influence once again. ) There will not be any celebrations as usual as Raja is not used to such things and never encourages them. I have got used to passing over birthdays and anniversary just as if it was another day. Atleast this year I got a chance to inform the whole world through this blog.(thanks to Dana.) All of you may please go through the comments of your previous blog where personal comments are posted. Tommorow I am planning to make some pulov and vegetable. My brother -in- law is comming on the 17th to attend a wedding of his family. He shall be there for 2 days. I am going through all the blogs and comments and making note of them. Dana convey our love to your family. Thanks to Kim for going through the blog and commenting on it. Bye. See you soon.

From Raji

Hello everyone,

How about a story?

One day a wealthy father took his son on a trip to the country so that the son could see how the poor lived.They spent a day and a night at the farm of a very poor family.When they got back from their trip, the father asked his son, "How was the trip?""Very good, Dad!""Did you see how poor people can be?""Yeah!" "And what did you learn?" asked the dad.The son answered, "I saw that we have a dog at home, and they have four. We have a pool that reaches to the middle of the garden; they have a creek that has no end. We have imported lamps in the house; they have the stars. Our patio reaches to the front yard; they have the whole horizon." When the little boy was finished, the father was speechless.His son then added, "Thanks Dad for showing me how poor we are!"

From Shoba,
Hello everyone ! We are back after a short visit to Coimbatore. The function went on very well. Meeting friends and relatives, yummy food and changing dresses kept us very busy. ( we changed dresses two times each day as there were many functions ) I was tired at the end of the stay after all this (changing silk sarees-kancheevaram and dressing up Avanthika) This is very typical in all Indian functions. The elaborate food (twenty items severed in banana leaves for each meal), the crowd , the rituals etc. I really hope that this tradition of celebrating functions goes on as the younger generation will get to see many old customs and rituals. ( many people restrict the functions to a small scale due to funds and time constraints).
After all the fun we had to return to our routine. Believe it or not , I washed four loads of clothes yesterday alone. The whole day I was busy unpacking and getting the house back to shape. Dear Raja could have washed his clothes, as he reached Coimbatore only on Sunday. He never even thought of it as he always lives upto his name (raja means king).

It is lovely to see that all of us are quite serious about the blog. This will really help us to know each others lifestyle better. Avanthika will be giving a music performance in our colony community hall on the 28th of this month. (through her music class). She is very busy with the everyday practice for it. Days are getting hotter here. I am scared to think that we have a long way to go before the climate can even get pleasant (march to november). I think it is time for me to go now as my tummy is grumbling for lunch ( radish sambar and cabbage ). Bye! bye!

From Dana

Hello everyone,
Wow this is really fun! With all of us on the blog we can really keep up with everyone at once. I love hearing about the day to day activities of everyones lives. I'm so happy to see Rama's family joining in the fun.
We are getting used to the cold weather again. Rama, I don't know how you survive in the Chicago cold weather. You are much braver than I am. We are settling back into our busy life style, but we are missing everyone so much. Today I made myself a south Indian coffee and called my sister to reminisce about our trip. Last Thursday I prepared a class on India for Sanjay's classmates. I had a really bad sorethroat so Siva left work and taught the class for me. We had a great time. The children were so engage and already knew many interesting facts. Next week we are going to go over the geography of India. I also have a video about children going to school in India. After the children see the video the children will compare and contrast going to school in India with going to school in the USA in an essay. I gave the kids appulum for a snack and they ate every bit of it. I'm not sure yet what I will bring next time for a snack. This weekend I made a big pot of Sujatha's eggplant, onion, and radish sambar, but I put too much sambar powder in it. I'll try again tomorrow. On Monday night my parents and my sister's family are all coming over so we can talk about our trip to India. My parents are excited to hear all the stories.

Suja, can't wait to hear if you got anything at the Sukra. If you have something made please take a picture of it and post it in the blog so I can see it. I love your designs. I am really enjoying having my ring fixed. I keep looking at it like newly betrothed girls do. I can't thank you all enough for helping me to get it fixed. Kimm loves her new amethyst ring. We made a fantastic memory designing that jewelry. That sort of thing is not possible in the USA, but that's what made it so special.

Rama, your rose bush should be fine. Just keep watering it eventhough it looks half dead. It will probably come back strong in the spring as there is more sunlight. That is the voice of experience. I nearly kill a plant every year and still manage to bring it back to life.

Shoba, I hope you had a great time in Coimbatore. Please say hello to your family. I fondly remember meeting them on my first trip to India.

It's late here so I'm off to bed. I just hope I can get up and go to the gym in the morning before church!

Our love to all,

Dana

hello evryone,

i feel happy to have joined the blog.well.....!!the first three days of last week has been really boring...coz the govt has announced tat all colleges must be closed till they announce the date to reopen..atlast..they announced and it reopens on the 9th monday..but i have been quite busy from wednesday(5th)with my classes...im fortunate to have joined the blog...since i need not waste my dads money over the phone...i can get the daily info rite here...thanks aunt dana...i miss u all sooooo much...i wont be able login frequently though...but i sure do hope i cud login atleast once a week..bye for now...love u all loads and loads...

take care

good to be back!!!!

Hi everyone,
Happy to be back.It's good to see Raji has some time to blog too.Today i had some time to read everyone's .That's because i decided to take rest from any cleaning works.it takes atleast 2-3 hrs everyday since we started to do everything on our own.Today Akshaya has gone outing in school.So i made some poori for her .Gone to Chicago downtown and its 0 F today so rice won't be good to eat.
My rose plant has given off 5 buds and i made a mistake of keeping my door open since it was warm and nice day b4 yesterday(35 F).But now it doesn't look so healthy.
Trying to save it .
Thinking of making rice uppuma like shoba after i get some coconut.
that's it for now
bye

from Ravi

I went upto clean the house where Raju&Dana were staying but something made me to skip that today. All of us miss you so much. I think we all may require more time to accept your absence here. our summer is starting and our days are hotter now. I, Suja, Suji, and Shiva went to the beach yesterday evening and was enjoying the breeze for 45 minutes. I took Suja to Sukra jewllery twice in this week (she has taken a keen interest after Dana & KImm's shopping experience at that store). When I asked her for her sudden interest on silver jewels pat came the reply that she would like take silver jewels as patterns for her future gold jewel. As I was just thanking God for not getting a reply like a pattern for future Diamond wares. Suja continued and said may be for Diamonds too. I think I have to go now for some office work. bye

From Shoba, Hello everyone! It is nice to see that the whole family is getting into the blog slowly. Avanthika and myself shall be leaving to Coimbatore tomorrow to attend a Poonal ( scared thread ceremony ). We shall be coming back only on Monday. I am excited as we shall be meeting a lot of our relatives and friends. We are taking the night train. Raja will be joining us on Saturday. I will be busy tomorrow as I have to do the packing and go out for some shopping. I could not do it today as it was a Bandh (all shops are closed on such days). I shall get back after I return.

WE HAVE ALSO JOINED

Hello everyone,

We are very happy to keep in touch with everyone in the family through this blog.

Regards,

Akshaya, Rama

Hello Avantika,

What is common with a tree and a dog?

Bark

Raji

We Have Returned Home!

Good morning everyone! We have returned home safely! It was a very long flight, with only a 1 hour delay in Brussles. My father borrowed a 12 passenger van from my friend and picked us all up together. We are glad to be home and back into our routine, but at the same time we wish we could bundle everyone up and bring them with us. Thank you all for an outstanding visit. I have much more to write on that account, but it will have to wait until I am more awake. We are still getting over our jet lag.

A meet in the wedding!

From Avanthika, Hm...........Hi everyone,how about some riddles?Here is one.Can any one answer this? What is common with a tree and a dog? Do you know something?Ants can carry about 50 pounds if they are in a group.Today morn I got up at about 6'00. breakfast mom made some chapattis.She also made some subsi for the side dish.I liked all that blogging done there.We went for a wedding yesterday and saw Lakshmi chithi,Sandya and Ramesh chithappa.We gave a present to the bride ,and when we were eating we saw them.We had a yum yum dinner there.then we were of home,we reached home at about 10.00 in the night ,I was so tired ,so I went of to sleep.I had to do an assingment.So today I wrote for about 2 hours.The assingment for about 7 pages............hm.......a lot of writing work I guess.I think that Sanjay forgot about his spider.I think you had a nice time in the flight.Vijay would have had some fun.I think that is enough for today from me .Bye......... good night!

From Ravi

Hello Dana and Raju hoping to get a call from you as soon as you reach home.
can you invite Rama and Ramanan too to join the blog? the email id is
ramanancs@gmail.com. bye

from Ravi

hi folks, suja made vathakkuzhambu,appalam(papad)Keerai(spinach), for breakfast. We really miss Raju and your family (incl. of Kimm and Shelby). I am very happy that Dana got her betrothal ring repaired. I noticed that Vijay had left his treasure (cricket bat) here. I know there was no room for few of the other things too.But I am wondering how u guys took all the sheen and shine of our morning and huge vaccum created by your absence. anyhow my prayers for your safe and happy journey back home.I am eagerly awaiting to hear from you all.

blogging?,interesting.But you are leaving

From Avanthika, Good blogging everyone,I liked the pictures and all that stuff there .Hm.................I have a tough time without you.But anyway it doesnot matter to me.Here in INDIA I couuld not sleep that night,so I read a magazine and as soon as I finished hthe magazine you know,what?Grrrrrrrrrrr........I slept.

From Shoba, This is fantastic. We are going to have the whole family into the blog. Already some of them have joined and are going great. Welcome to all the new entrants. Things are not going to be the same again, with everybody writing details in the blog. All of us are really going to be connected with each other by knowing everyone's activities. Thanks to Dana for the effort that she has taken to make this happen. ( choice of the name for the blog is simply superb, I am very confident that it will live upto it's name). Hi Ravi and Raji, Nice to see that you have also entered the chain of bloggers. Keep it up. Let us all stay connected though we are in different parts of the world. Raji, my nephew's group did not win the group competition, but they went home with some individual prizes. My driver is going on leave from today afternoon. He shall be reporting back for duty only on 6.2.09. I had a lot of outside work to be done and that kept me busy for the past two days. Yesterday, Avanthika and me went for a dance performance given by her Guru. The one and half hour show was simply fantastic. I realise that Avanthika has a long, long way to go in this field in terms of classes, practice, expressions,perfection etc. We met many of our dance class friends and throughly enjoyed the evening. Her routine exams have started ( every tuesday and thursday) and so she is fully occupied with her studies and other classes. Dana, I know that you must be very busy with the packing, as you are going to leave today. It was very nice to have you and family here with all of us. Time just flies as it did now and will also fly again, so that we can see you all very soon. Once again I thank you for creating the blog and getting everyone into it. Bye, take care all of you.

From Ravi,

Hello everybody its a very bright,warm beautiful day here. I will be busy with my children the whole day, since the car driver is on leave. Ramesh is taking care of Dana,Raju,Kimm and their children to-day. I hope their visit to parrys (in india-chennai)will be a great fun. Vijay is bit confused about why Dana is wasting a day to go to Parrys. I hope Dana's blog will come out with the real experience of the visit and the re-action of the child. Its time for me to go to school to pick-up shiva. bye everyone.

Lovely

Hi Ravi,
It is lovely to see u in the blog.
With Love,
Raji

from ravi

hello i am a new entrant hope to kep in touch frequently

Hello Shoba and Dana,

It is nice to keep in touch with everyone. I was pre occupied with my works.

Dana convery my warm welcome to your sister and her daughter. It is nice that ur visiting all our family members.

Convey my wishes to Avanthika , Sanjay, Vijay , Siva, Suji, Sanju , Kim , Shelly and others.

I enjoyed watching A.R. Rahman's Golden Globe Award and Republic Day Parade.

Shoba How was ur nephew's performance?

Subha called up and informed me about the solar eclipse.

Today I started posting pictures .

Ravi called up and told my student's parents came to invite me for their daughter's marriage.

With Love,

Raji

From Dana

Hello everyone! This is getting exciting. Raji is up and running. We are right now trying to get Ravi and his family up and running. Soon the whole family will be chatting back and forth keeping everyone up to date, which is getting more difficult now that we are spreading all over the globe. So much has happened since my last post. I can hardly believe that my sister and Shelby have come to visit us in India. It is so wonderful to have them meet the family and see the places that we have been talking about for the last 14 years. Since they arrived (and got over the jet lag and time change), we spent the day in Mylapore (which to those who live in Chennai you know that means jewelry shopping), Mahabalipuram, Subha's house, Raja & Shoba's house. So we have been very busy. The trip to the Sukra (silver shop) was loads of fun. Kimm and I got a tray and went through each case. We picked the jewelry we liked from each case and put it on our tray. Once we finished that process we sat down with our tray and began the arduous process of picking from our tray of favorites. You know what shopping does to you....makes you starving, so off to the restaurant we went. The next day we went to Mahabalipuram. The ruins are amazing. They date back to the 7th century. The rock carving is spectacular. The following day we were off to Raja and Shoba's house. Of course, we ran up to the roof top for a great sunset view and cool breezes. Avanthika took Kimm and I and the kids for a walk a few blocks away, so we could show them what a Jack fruit looks like. It is a delicious fruit, but it is so peculiar. It is larger than a watermellon, has a rough skin, a thin stem, and scariest of all, it grows high up in a tree. If one falls on you it is all over. Getting the edible fruit out is a lot of work but worth it. We had great fun talking and letting Kimm in on a few family stories. Raja and Raju (that's Siva for my friends back home) talked business as usual. Shoba made a delicious dinner. When there is coconut chutney involved it's fabulous and she makes a fabulous coconut chutney.
Today we went to Subha's house for a quick visit. She made one of my favorite snacks, masala vada. She also made a fantastic tomato chutney with idly. Fortunately we timed our trip just right to miss the heavy traffic. The 22 mile trip can take several hours if you don't plan properly. We already made that mistake earlier in the month.
We are so sad to be counting our last days here. We have so enjoyed our stay. Our family has taken such good care of us. We have all been spoiled. I was thinking that my husband and children were being spoiled, but to day I noticed that all 10 of my finger nails are long at the same time. This has never happened to me before. I realized of course it is because I haven't done any work at all. They don't even let me clear a dish from the table! They are amazing hosts. I'm realizing who much room I have for improvement.
Thank you everyone for contributing to the blog, I believe it will really be a great tool to help us keep up with each other and stay close.

From Shoba, Hello Raji ! This is a nice way of staying connected. Delhi is getting ready for the Republic Day parade. Are you going to see the parade? We shall be watching it on TV. Take care. My nephew has come from Coimbatore yesterday. He has come with a group of 16 students from his college to participate in the IIT Saarang 2009 competitions. Raja has left to Coimbatore for a day on some official work. Yesterday was Raja's dad's anniversary. The whole day was hectic with the puja and all the cleaning and clearing after that. My nephew will leave on Sunday or Monday. Avanthika is very busy with her school activities and other classes. Hope she gets some time to write something here.

Thrusday Market

Hi everyone,
It is very cold in Delhi.
Everyone liked the wrist band made of shells that we bought in the beach.
Yesterday I went to the market. It is a special market named as Thursday Market, We get fresh fruits and vegetables directly from the farm. It was very lovely with full of green vegetables and colourful fruits.

From Shoba Hi ! It is almost a week since I wrote something here. The past week was too hectic and I was totally busy. My sister came on the 13th to spend her Pongal holidays with us. We were too busy going out for some shopping and enjoyed every minute of her stay with us. She left on the 17th night. The next day Raju and family came over to spend two days with us. It was real fun having them here with us. I realised that the entire Venugopalan family are big talkers as we talked so much until we were totally exhausted. I cooked some simple dishes for them. Raju relished every dish, Dana enjoyed them while the boys only tasted them. I ended up making dosas for every meal of Sanjay. They enjoy only certain Indian foods like the dosa, vada, pappad and of course the yummy curds and rice( note that all the items are deep fried). Both the boys came with me to drop Avanthika in her music class that is a couple blocks away. I showed them some jackfruits that were hanging on the tree. Vijay was very curious about the Indian autorickshaw. He was starring at all the ones that passed by. Hi Dana's Mom, How are you and dad? It is very nice to see the way your grand children are adjusting to the Indian way of life. They are going great. They are having real fun and are enjoying all the Indian food. Both of you need atleast a week to hear all the stories from them. Dana told me that you have moved into a very comfortable locality. I pray to God to give you both the best of health throughout your life. When are you planning to come over here? It will be a great pleasure to have you with us.

From Dana

Hello! I'm sorry it has been awhile since I posted. I actually typed in a post but I wasn't connected to the internet. When I tried to post I lost the whole thing:( Okay, so, We have now been to Marina Beach twice. Each time was a blast:) The first time we went with Ravi, Sujatha, Siva (my nefew), Sujithra, Aishwarya, Raji Atai, and my family. Good thing we have an 11 seater van (also known as a 6 seater in the US). The piling in is what makes it so fun for us. There are no seat belt or car seat laws here, so no worries. The first time we went was because there was a mutany. We started out with a quick trip to a handicraft exhibition. We ended up having to go across town. When it became late we decided to eat dinner out. We were all well entertained when Vijay had a run in with an indian style bathroom at the restaurant. Uncle Ravi to the rescue! After that the children demanded a trip to Marina Beach as compensation for their pain and suffering. When we are in town we are all celebrating and there is no limit with the Uncles and Aunties. So, when we got to the beach I bought everyone a light up stick, then a twirlie thing. This year the twirlie things have a light on them. They are a small plastic thing that when you shoot into the wind on the beach it comes back to you. It was really fun when the kids all shot them off at the same time. From there Raji Atai bought everyone kites. The sea breeze makes Kite flying very easy and the kites go so high. Even though we left the beach at 11:00 pm, Ravi chittapa yelled Ice Cream for everyone, so there we were at Cool Cats getting ice cream at eleven o'clock We arrived home at midnight exhausted and happy!

A day or two later we started out go carting. What a blast that was. Lakshmi got behind a wheel for the first time in 36 years. She was terrific and ran a noteworthy race even though Raji, her 6 year old daughter was yelling faster, faster. Sanjay faired very well and was even able to get back in the game after a spin out due to his dad hit his back bumper. It was also Aishwarya's first time behind the wheel as well. She was so brave rounding the corners practically on two wheels, determined to not let her uncles pass her. As I looked closer, I realized these go carts were nothing more than lawn mower motors with a frame and some plastic playground border materials for bumpers, so I tried my best to appeal to my boys that for a science project they could easily build one of these go carts. We decided to swing past the house for 5 minutes to pick up some water and a change of shoes and head to the beach. It was a 2 hour 5 minute break. No one goes to the beach before 4 o'clock... It's unheard of! There were gasps all around when I suggested that we go at 1:00. So after our 2 hour break, we all piled back in and headed to Marina Beach. This time we played games and Raji and Vijay road a horse together. We ate at all the stands, baji, roasted corn on the cob, behl puri, son papri, you name it. Sanjay and Vijay stuck their toes in the water. The kids took endless turns shooting a bb gun at a wall of balloons. Instead of bb's they use lentils dipped in metal. We, of course, returned home at midnight exhausted again.

Shopping in Mylapore

from Avanthika Yesterday we went shopping in mylapore with my prerima and mom.We took an hour to buy all the things.we bought chains, earings etc.We then went to a sari shop and bought some saris too.

From Dana

Happy Pongal everyone! Yesterday was Pongal. Ramesh, Raju, and Raji took about an hours drive to see the farm house that Ramesh built. It sits in the middle of rice fields. Think beautiful plantation house with verandas and cool sea breezes. At Least this is the picture that Raju gave me of the place. I can't wait to see it. I think we will wait until Aunt Kimmy and Shelby come. By yesterday I was exhausted from all the fun we have been having, so I stayed at home and slept all afternoon. About 6:00 Ravi took Sujatha, Aishwarya, Sujitra, Siva and me to the handicraft exhibition. I was able to get a birthday present for Sujatha and a few gifts for friends. We all ended up back at the house by 8:00, ate some dinner and then off to bed.

From Dana

Shoba and Avanthi, great job blogging. I loved all the updates from you. This will be really fun or as Aishwaria is fond of saying "too good." Yesterday Ravi and Sujatha and the kids took Raju, me Sanjay & Vijay and Raji over to Balaji and Subha's house for a short stay. We left during rush hour, 7:00 p.m., and it took us 2 hours for the 20 kilometer drive. T Nagar has gotten so crowded since I was there a few years ago. As usual the kids were busy playing. Kumar had some fireworks, so while the women slaved in the kitchen serving Subha's excellent meal, the kids burst some crackers (lit firecrackers and sparklers). Late that night, Raji Periamma and Aishwaria laid down to sleep on the living room floor. One by one the kids all came out and decided to sleep together on the floor. The next morning we were up early, because Balaji and Subha wanted to take us to a special place for breakfast. I had a wonderful onion and chili uttapum with sambar, green chutney, and coconut chutney. Vijay, of course, had idlly and vada and was still able to eat half of Sanjay's masala dosa. Raji shared some of her breakfast special with me. It was all quite delicious. But there was no time to waste, Subha had a morning of shopping planned for us, so off we went. T Nagar is crowded, but it's lots of fun to shop there. The boys all got outfits a gift from Balaji Atimber and Subha atai. Raju mama bought outfits for Kumar and Swamy (who is now called Maya, because one of the little ones couldn't pronounce his name). At every turn Raji Atai and Subha Atai were buying my boys gifts. We were glad to finally get a remote control car for Swamy. We then went for a delicious, healthy lunch at a specialty restaurant that Balaji and Subha picked out for us. The food was really different and delicious. We were served 5 juices each in a one ounce cup, then a row of raw vegetables in the form of different salads ( I especially liked the cabbage, beetroot, carrot, and green mango salad with peppercorns), then a row of semi cooked vegetables, then a row of fully cooked vegetables. There were I think 15 dishes in all and just a few bites of each. It was really fun to get to taste all those dishes. Oh, and how can I forget they served brown and white rice at the very end. This way you are already full of good veggies. We went back to the house and Aishwaria and Raji napped, Raju and Sanjay had a talk in the back bedroom, the kids played, and Subha, Balaji and I talked for a good hour. Vijay, however, went off with Kumar, who took him on a motorcycle ride! We had a wonderful time.

My gift.

From AVANTHIKA, Today my aunt from Coimbatore came to Chennai by train.She came in the morning at around 7.30a.m.when I was about to leave to school. She said she has brought a gift for me. I went off to school, I was eager to know what the gift was. T hen I rushed back home and there on the table was the present. She had bought a set of bangles and a cell phone holder for my mom. I took pictures of her with the camera which Dana chitthi gave me.

Field trip to the beach.

From Avanthika
Today we went on a field trip to the beach. We were first divided into different groups. We were taken there to learn about the land and sea breeze. It was not very hot and so we enjoyed our walk to the water. Then we stood in the waves . We did not mind our dresses getting wet. we had real fun in the water. We collected some shells and came back to school.

From Shoba Today I had the shock of my life on seeing Raji in a jean and top, with short hair. Anyway I am so happy for her and nice to see the way she is adapting to her new surroundings. I could make out that she is all ready to go out of India on her new job. It was nice to spend the evening with the family. Yesterday was very eventful. Two piegons tried to build a nest on our toilet ventilator. I had a tough time shooing them away. Then I spent almost 3 hours in netting the ventilator. I was successful at last. They have not come back.

From AVANTHIKA, Today me,my mom and my dad went to kottivakam and spent our day with Raji athai.We took many photos of each other with the camera that Dana chitthi got us. We all were playing and enjoying. Ramesh chittappa took Sanjay and Sandhya to drop Aishwarya akka. Raji athai gave me a pencil box which had some useful gifts in it. Suchitra gave me some chocolates and I ate a few on reaching home. Raji athai was looking so trendy and fashionable in her new outfit. Yesterday I went to school with my mom for the parent -teacher meeting. There was an art and craft display in school. All the students had done any craft or drawing for the display. My paper bag, peacock drawing and garden setup was displayed.

From Dana

Today Raji has come from Delhi. We are all very excited. Aishwarya has come from the U. S. She had a wonderful time visiting family in Chicago. She is already to go back to the university. We are all shocked and delighted to see how much Raji has changed. She has cut her hair (it's adorable). She came in jeans and a beautiful pink blouse and very cool sunglasses.
Last night Ramesh, Lakshmi, Raju, Dana, Aishwarya, Suji, Sandya, Sanjay and Vijay went to a mall called Mayajaal in ECR (East Coast road). We were snowballing (bowling). Most everyone got gutterballs, but we had loads of fun. Then we were off to play arcade games. Everyone got pencils for prizes. Later we went to the Fisherman's Cove (Taj) in Muttukadu, where we spent time watching a man make glass figurines. Sanjay bought one for Erin and one for Alyce and one for Sandya. We had a wonderful dinner there. We met a woman who works for the New York Times. She was from New York City. We had a nice conversation. Just as we were leaving Ramesh arranged for a golf cart ride through the resort and down to the beach. They had a bonfire going. It was just beautiful. Sanjay and Sandya fell sound asleep in the car. We got home very late about midnight. It was great fun! How can we forget this afternoon we made pakoras, yum. Raji brought wonderful gifts for everyone and lots of treats to eat, jelabee, samosa, chips, juice, and ,of course, grilled cheese.

From Dana

Today we spent the day at Siva's oldest brother's house with Shoba and Avanthika. We sat and talk. As is typical of Indian homes, they have a hanging chair. Avanti pushed Vijay in it all afternoon. The kids told each other jokes and riddles and played cards, and Shutes and Ladders. We then went to the science center and planetarium and then on to the playground. Siva got on the merry go round and almost made himself sick. It was a great day.

From Avanthika

Today I had a great day with Sanjay and Vijayd. We went to the planetarium and saw the show and then went to the science exhibition. We had so much fun today.

Enjoying our time here!

We are keeping a busy schedule while we are here. Yesterday we went to a beautiful 5 star hotel for dinner. Siva's oldest brother took us. While we were there we ran into the gentlemen that we met in Germany. I would say it was a small world but when you are in a small country of over 1 billion people it doesn't seem like it. It seem a little more like the title of Thomas Friedman's latest book, "Flat, Hot, and Crowded." We had a great time, but again it was around 8 p.m. and the boys were so sleepy that they couldn't eat.

Today we went to my niece's school and chatted with the principle for a couple of hours. It was a very enjoyable exchange. Education in India is very competitive. Most children are in private schools so there is a lot of competition for students and a lot of pressure for students to do well. It reminded me of choosing curriculum. You have a million choices and are expected to choose just the right one. Again though, Vijay having had a big breakfast of a bowl of rice with rasam and okra, a bowl of curd rice, and then just a bowl of curd, oh yeah and a cup of hot cocoa, he fell asleep sitting up in a chair in the principle's office. We are planning to send him to school for a day with Sandya. She is in 2nd grade also.

This Saturday Siva, his brother, Sanjay, Vijay, and whomever else hears about it will be taking a flight to another city to check up on a job site. I told the ladies I would cook for them all day and bring them their coffee. I am a nervous wreck. If I can't pull this off they will probably never visit me in the U.S. It should be a very entertaining day. My sisters-in-law are very fun loving and we enjoy a great friendship and good girl talk.

Siva is keeping busy. He also wakes up at all hours of the night, so he gets to work. It works out well because he is then free during the day. He talks business with his brothers all day long.

From Sanjay:
Time with my cousins is very fun. I taught them a few games. I brought some balloons which we used for water balloon fights. The dads even play along with us. Vijay dropped a balloon on Uncle Ramesh's head from the balcony and it roll down his head and popped on someone else. It was really funny. I loved playing ball at the beach. I taught my cousin Kumar how to play football. Today we went shoe shopping and I got a great pair of sandles; Vijay got crocs. Wish you all were here with me. Bye!

We have arrived!

Our 20 hour trip was a little eventful. We had an 8 hour flight to Brussels, after which all 400 of us disembarked like cattle at about 3:00 a.m. We were ushered through another security check point. Since we were about 300th in line the boys and I decided to run to the restroom. I got into a slight altercation with the cleaning woman who was trying to force me to use the men's room. I would have no part of that, so it became a tug of war with the bathroom door. I won of course and the other ladies cheered me on. It was quite a spectacle I am sorry to say. When ya gotta go, ya gotta go! We finally boarded the next plane without further incident. After several hours we all finally settled in and fell asleep. Siva and Vijay were on one side of the plane and Sanjay and I were on the other. With 4 hours and 53 minutes to go, Sanjay, without warning, started vomiting. I have no idea where that came from.

Well, we finally arrived at 1:00 a.m. on January 2nd. We were up and running by 6:30 a.m. talking and eating the next day. The boys fell asleep sitting up in their uncle's office. We carried them off to bed but, they were up by 1:00 a.m. So through the night we were playing cards, getting unpacked and having peanut m & m's for breakfast at 3:00 a.m. Changing your days into nights and your nights into days is no easy task.

The next day all of Siva's brothers and one sister and their families were all together for the day. We had a great time talking and reminiscing. We all piled into several cars and drove the 3 blocks to the beach. At dinner time the boys fell asleep at the table while waiting for their dinner. Vijay is in heaven. After coming to India the whole world makes sense to him. He is an Indian at heart and is very much at home. To put it in his own words, he said "This is the best place I have ever been!" Sanjay is not too sure and is sticking close to me when he is not busy playing with cousins or the new toys that the uncles have bought for him.

Yesterday, we left the children with their aunts so I could attend a meeting Siva had with some gentlemen we met in Germany this past summer. It ended up lasting all day. I thought the boys would have a heart attack, but they didn't even notice. They are doing so well and are so comfortable.

We are staying in a brand new 2 bedroom apartment that was built on top of the guest house we stayed in last time we were here. Siva's youngest brother moved into the guest house and expanded it. Now, all three families have their own homes but we are only a few steps from each others' front door. My sisters in law are sharing the cooking but they both want us to eat at their house. When we go into one house we have a meal or coffee (which is given in a small cup about every 2 hours), if we then go into the other house they are insisting that we eat there too. So for the first 2 days we were having 2 breakfasts, 2 coffees, 2 lunches, 2 coffees, etc.... We finally worked out a system.

We are all being spoiled wrotten! They won't let me do any work around here and the rest of my family are eating all their favorite foods.

From Vijay:
I'm busy all day playing with my cousins, Sandya, Sujee, and Siva. Sandya calls me Ana, because I am one year older than her. My Chitty (aunt) Lakshmi took me to Sandya's school and out to buy bread and a toy. I was digging in the sand and pop out came a crab. Boy, that startled me! The food is the best cooking I have ever had. I have vadai and curd rice every meal.