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!