Fun Five!

Don't get fooled by the title, I was just trying to have an alliterative one. I'm rather tired of starting every birthday post with a "Phew-I-can't-believe-you-are-already-five". So, I'm putting this one as "what-an-amazing-year-it's-been". Hands down one of the bestest. I definitely loved all the time I spent with you and cherish them so much, because this shall never repeat. The innocence, the curious questions - why, when, what, how, the joy of living in the present, the pride of being able to do things on your own - both for yourself and for others.

The year started off with a Snake Walk weekend - and this time it included a friend from your school, Kavin. After we had him over for your birthday, and he had us over for his (apparently, both of your birthdays are 5 days apart, albeit you are a year younger) - we asked him to join us for this event, and oh boy, you guys had crazy fun running around the paddy fields, spotting touch-me-nots (this is where the touch-me-not obsession started) bathing in mini waterfalls, and by the time the event actually began, you guys were half exhausted, but nevertheless enjoyed the show.  This was your third time in the walk, and you quite knew how it worked, and enjoyed the whole thing. Kavin being there with you was a cherry on the top! 

And then it happened - something we never dreamt of, even in our wildest dreams - just landed in our lap, like it were literally waiting for us - we moved into CDS, right next door to my parents. It's a dream life for you (of course, for me too!) having both thathas and paatis to shower unconditional love and all their attention whenever you are around. You took to the transition quite happily, as this was place you were already familiar with (my parents & V's cousin have been living in this community for a while now). There were hardly one or two instances in the last 10 odd months since we moved here, when you said you missed the Ram Nagar house. 

Come April, we did another vacation to Goa. Yes, 2 Goa vacations within a span of 2 years. This time though, Ultimate Frisbee was the reason. We had our Masters Nationals in Goa, and thought we could extend it to make it a family vacation, and took along 2 other cousins, who were too kind to take care of you while we were at the games. And in those 7 days, you doted on them so much, and vice versa. This was also the trip you unleashed your boredom as hunger chiming an "I'm hungry ma, I'm hungry ma" at the slightest hint of boredom. This was also where you finally agreed to eat Dosa with Sambhar, and eggs in burji form rather than being boiled. We had finally bade a goodbye to carrying quick foods for you. Phew! That's a definitely a game changer - because it's been pushing you to try new foods, which you eventually ended up liking. 

Once back home from the trip, and with 2 months of summer holidays ahead, we enrolled you for swimming classes. Swimming has been one skill that I strongly believe every person should learn - a life skill it is, and opens up so much of the world for exploring (given 70% of earth is covered in water, lol). It was an hour long class every day of the week except Sunday, at 3pm in the noon. You really enjoyed the class, thanks to the master, and started picking up the skill slowly. By the end of June, you were able to jump into the 3-4ft pool and swim its width on your own without any support. I was definitely proud. But things took a turn, once school reopened. The class timing didn't fit as you were quite exhausted from school and it was bang during your nap time, and the distance was also a factor - 20min drive from our home, you'd sometimes doze off right halfway through the drive. We felt it was too much of a stress on you, and decided to give the classes a break, and we still continue to be on the break. I've been meaning to check another pool nearby, but keep procrastinating - may be by the next summer vacation, all over again. Let's see! 

Your energy levels are insane and it's quite hard to manage you inside the house and hence, we have enrolled you in a music class (our neighbor has been kind enough to take you in as his pupil) and some karate and yoga in a small play school right behind our apartment. You love the music class because a handful of your friends from the apartment are there with you and basically you enjoy singing a lot. Your music taste is super varied, right from Carnatic and Devotional to cinema/album folk / kuthu songs, you enjoy them all - with the same love. Oru Naalil and Poren Naa Poren are the ones that we have named as practice songs, and you have either been hearing or singing them almost every other day and know them by heart now. Your Kaathu Mela Kaathu Keezha singing in a recent family wedding garnered so much of fans within the family. I'm so glad you enjoy music.

Your first movie with your school friends - Inside Out 2. It was mommy and kids day out with 5 of your classmates. The movie, I felt, was a little overboard for a 4-year-old, because this one was mainly about teenage and the emotions associated with teens. But you guys nevertheless had a ball of time wrecking the theatre, hogging buckets of popcorn, and running around with each other. Phew! It was quite a task to watch the movie with your constant questions and distractions. 

With September, came our (V & me) Australia trip. Yes, it was just me and V travelling for 15-21 days without you. You were in the custody of your grandparents and boy, you were stunning. You got through those 15 days like a breeze, except for an occasional 'I miss you ma, I miss you pa' - thanks to the weddings in the family that happened during this time, you got to meet a lot of cousins and relatives to spend time with. Honestly, I did miss you too, more than I would care to admit, and we definitely understood we can't go out on another such long trip without you, you'd definitely bombard us with a lot of questions together with a very convincing answer as to why you should be taken along as well. I still remember the way you asked me "enaku en ma Australia ku visa edukala?" when we said we were gonna go to Australia

Another place that I'd been taking you quite a few times is the Anna Centenary Library - hoping you grow to enjoy books as much as I do. The fact that you are able to read stuff is making you curious much, and you try reading a lot of nameboards, vehicles, posters, anything and everything. Writing is also on the cards, but you ain't really keen about it and find it very boring. Thankfully though you are able to decently write, and we are trying to make you write about your day, a meek attempt at journaling. It's fun reading what you write, given you rely heavily on phonetics for your spelling. Takes us a while to figure out what that word means, but honestly, we are in awe at the ease with which you are writing.

I had wanted to introduce you the world of jigsaw puzzles, and thanks to my friend who gifted you one late last year - it was a 30-piece puzzle, and I could see you intrigued ! We slowly ventured into 35, 40, 60, and 100-pc puzzles. You love our trips to Untangled, the house of puzzles. We also got you some board games, and you are now hooked to it and want to play it with anybody and everybody that comes home for a visit - akkas, annas, chitappas, chitis, any one trying to have a word or two with you ends up with Forrest Run (a board game that we recently got) laid out in front, before even they know it! 

You enjoy the late evening / night cycling around the apartment, and until about a month ago, you rode the bicycle with the balance wheels on. We had removed one of them, about 3-4months ago, but you weren't quite sure and okay to remove the other one. But one fine weekend, hit with a little boredom, we decided to remove the other one too, and booom.. in 15 minutes you started riding like a pro! I was stumped at the speed with which you were able to adapt to cycling without balance wheels. Great job kid! 

You really know your people well, i.e. whom to go for what. On things that me and V wouldn't normally approve of, you conveniently reach out to the grandparents and get it done. But I can also sense that you do not abuse this option. You happen to be quite smart in picking your battles and when to use the trump card. You are quite strong willed and unless you genuinely believe you had made a mistake, it's super hard to get you to apologise. If you inadvertently cause a physical hurt to someone while you were rushing through something, you promptly chime in the apology without any nudge from anyone. 

I'm really glad for all the people you have and share a bond with in your life. You are such a people person. It's been an absolute pleasure seeing you grow kiddo. 

Happiest 5th birthday! Here's to more growing up, exploring new places, and of course, loads of music!

Love,

Amma

Athi's first volunteering!

The Jawadhu Hills Ultra (JHU), a trail marathon, comprising of 30km and 60km distance, was organized by the Chennai Trail club (CTC) in Jawadhu this weekend. Being part of CTC, we naturally opted to volunteer for the event and decided to take Athi along. We have been wanting to take him to one of the CTC events for a long time now, but somehow it kept eluding and this time we decided we have got to do it. Because we were taking him along, we opted to volunteer at the start/finish point - that's the one place that has people flowing in and out all the time, unlike the aid stations that are deep in the trails, with very minimal people around other than a few locals and the runners passing by. 

Up until now, every time we take him out for trips, we'd always been carrying some quick food, and a couple of his toys. But this time, given he is almost 5 years old and this whole trip was going to be mostly outdoors (the school ground), I took a bold call that we are not carrying food - he'll have to eat whatever he's being offered, and a strict 'no' toys!

With a kid, preparation always helps - be it doctor visits, trips, friends' playdates, visiting people, anything and everything. When they are suitably prepared, they'd be ready and acceptive of changing surroundings / environment. So, every time we plan for a trip, we always ensure to tell him atleast a week in advance on where we are going, with whom, by which mode of transport, what are we going to do there, etc. and when the actual day comes, he is more ready than us and excited about the whole thing! 

And thus, our preparation for JHU with Athi began a month ago, telling him about the place, the running, what were we going to do there, how is it going to be, etc, and as the day neared, he kept popping us a variety of questions getting curious about a lot of things. As we neared the actual day of departure, we also told him about the no toys rule but promised him that he'd have other kids and an open ground to play. Although a bit reluctant at first, he agreed.

The whole of evening before the day of the departure he couldn't contain his excitement and kept asking more questions and begged us to start packing and offered so much help with that - choosing his clothes, remembering to take his toothbrush, offering to carry his bag. 

We started off on Friday morning, after breakfast and had lunch at Polur and reached the school (in Jawadhu) at around 3pm. The preparations for the event had started the previous day, and there were people all over the school ground. The Shamiyana and the chairs and tables and bibs and banners were getting set up - the energy and josh all around was palpable. Athi walked around a bit, saw other kids, but didn't really interact right away - felt a bit overwhelmed, I suppose. Venkey then took him along for a dip in the well and the boy came back rejuvenated and all ready! And that's when the bromance started between him and Aegan. Somehow (believe they conversed and understood what the other was saying) the boys figured out that they were of the same age and could as well play amongst themselves, running about the place or walking around or pulling out leaves or feeling the sand in their hands and building sandcastles. Any moment you could see them holding hands, walking around together or hugging each other. Wouldn't say it was all rosy all the time - they did have their fair share of disagreements, but nobody interfered with them and that totally helped, because before you knew they were fighting they were already back to holding hands and hugging - so adorable. Occasionally some volunteer would engage a play with them, or mind over them when they were trying to run into the dark. The whole afternoon until night, he would have hardly talked to me for 5-10 minutes - and most of the conversation revolved around me calling him to eat something, or him coming over to just check where I was and update me what he was upto. The ground was bit rocky, and he tripped once and got his knees slightly hurt, but he managed fine. A quick wash and pat later, off he went, to wander again. He came over to me excitedly post dinner appraising me of the fact that he and Aegan shared their dinner on the same plate. 

Bromancing bros!

As the night fell, the boys wanted to sleep together and dozed off as soon as their head hit the floor, even though there was so much of light and banter in the surroundings - the sheer exhaustion from all evening of play. Finally, as everyone dispersed off to sleep, we took them and put them in tents to continue the sleep. 

The race started off at 5:30AM next morning, and we were all up by 3:30-4:00AM to finish off last minute checks and set up. Athi woke up at 6AM, all excited that he had woken up early and enjoyed looking at the morning sky before sunrise. Slowly the other kids started waking up and the gang was all up again roaming around. 

After breakfast, as they were loitering around spotting monkeys, touch-me-not plants and blowing their whistles (yes, the runners were given a whistle to blow in case they were stuck somewhere in the trail and needed help), the first runner arrived. Seeing all the volunteers getting excited cheering for the runner, the kids rushed over to the finish line and were handed the medal to present it to the runner, and boy, they really loved doing that. And that is how it started - every time a runner came, they would rush over to the finish line, take their turns to give the medals. As time went by, they started running to the moment they spotted a runner running to the finish line, held out their hands to the runner, paced along with them and crossed the finish line and gave them their medals and congratulated them. Imagine someone doing all this, a 100 times over. That's what all the kids there did - the event had close to 350 runners, and these kids would have easily done this to the atleast more than half of the runners. The runners, initially surprised at seeing the kids running around, slowly started embracing them and were glad to receive their medals from them and clicked pictures with them. It was such a joy watching the kids run about happily with no worry and enjoying the event as much as we did! 

Both V and I were really glad we took Athi along for this event and are immensely grateful to other volunteering parents who decided to bring their kids along, for all this wouldn't have been possible without those other kids. Teamwork, definitely! We are pretty sure this event would be as memorable to Athi as much as it was to us. It is so true that kids learn a lot of things from observing those around them and the spirit of volunteership that was demonstrated by each volunteer out there, definitely got to the kids. 

Forever thankful to CTC for everything that it has given me :) Proud to say, Athi is also now part of CTC!

The pacer gang!

Meiazhagan

I am not someone who can write a book or movie reviews - but I want to write down a few things about this movie that I enjoyed.

The first scene and the song that followed it, had me in tears. The lyrics, the voice - everything about the song carried so much of emotion! The heaviness you feel when you are forced to give up something that has been your entire life - the song captured that emotion completely. Vijay Narain, the primary singer, had done a brilliant job. But as if, that wasn't enough, the finishing touch in Kamal Hassan's voice definitely left me in goosebumps. 

I so loved the scene that showed the hero looking at his erstwhile home, after almost 22 years - it really struck a chord with me, as it's one thing that I was able to relate to myself - a feeling that I have every time I go to Neyveli and catch a glimpse of D63.

Watching the movie felt like watching a part of our own life on screen, the scenarios and the emotions were so relatable. The way the characters were portrayed, and the story being weaved alongside it, ever so subtly, that you wouldn't even realise it, was really good. 

Ok, I think this is all I can manage, without giving away the entire storyline (guess I already gave way too much of it). But the main reason for me to write out this post was that first song - dropping a link to it here, for my very own use!

https://youtu.be/UkYbuiKEWak?featureh=shared

Kudremukh!

Western Ghats have always been my most favourite. I have only been to Kumara Parvatha and Kodachari until now, and both of them have been really beautiful and challenging. I certainly have a thing for lush greens - the kind that you see right during and immediately after monsoon. So, when the office colleagues decided to plan a trip, I jumped up with glee suggesting Kudremukh as the destination.

 I have been wanting to go to Kudremukh for a long time now, ever since I finished the other two K's, but the dream couldn't crystallise into a reality. I went all out and convinced everyone about how beautiful Kudremukh would be and how this was exactly the right time to visit that place, showing all the innumerable photos on the internet. But as with every other trip planning and every other office gumbal, we started off with about 10 people showing interest for the trip, but then when we did finalise the actual date, unfortunately most them backed out due to various reasons. Finally, it was just me and one junior fellow who were the last men standing - and we decided to go ahead and do the trek. One, because I was really desperate to go there, and two, I wasn't sure when I would be handed such a perfect opportunity again, I didn't want to miss this. 

We decided to do this trek with a group called "Native Trekking" - who had an itinerary for the whole weekend, covering one / two places enroute after the trek. They pretty much got you covered for everything, transport (from Bangalore), food, stay and the trek. 

The bus started off from Indra Nagar in Bangalore at about 8pm Friday night. I was to board at Yeswanthpur. As I waited for the bus, I was stumped to see so many people around waiting about for a similar bus, for their weekend getaway. How I wished my life is one such. I chance upon a conversation with a bloke thinking he'd be in the same bus as mine, only to find out that he was headed elsewhere. Nevertheless, had a nice chat about the various places you could trek to in the Western Ghats.

My bus arrives an hour later, and mostly full. The junior had boarded earlier and had warned me about this. So, we settle down for the last row seats. It took us nearly an hour to exit the Bangalore city, and the bus is stopped for a quick dinner, for those who wish to grab something. After this, we start again, and the trek organizers give us all a briefing of the itinerary and the plan for the next day. They try their best to get to engage the crowd by playing some music and inviting people to dance. A few do, but most of us are engrossed with our own little group and barely budge. It takes another hour or two for most of the folks to doze off. I manage to get about 3 hours of barely there sleep. 

We reach Mullodi at about 5:30AM. From there, we were escorted to our homestay, which was about 4-5kms from Mullodi, in a jeep. Everybody was excited to go on the open jeep, and hopped on very enthusiastically. But mind you, the excitement died down in flat 5 minutes. Gosh! So much of jostling, and we could literally feel our hands/ribs crushing against the railing. Possibly, one of the most adventurous jeep ride I have ever taken till date. We longingly stare at every homestay that we pass by anticipating that it'd be ours only to be driven past it as though it didn't exist. After an excruciatingly long ride, we finally reach Rajesh Homestay. Phew! Everyone is relieved we've reached in one piece, and quite a few are already rethinking their idea of this whole trek.

We are pointed to our stays - two separate houses - one for men, and another for women. Dumping our bags in the room, we quickly refresh and head out for breakfast. After downing a breakfast of Idli, Chutney-Sambhar with some sugar-overloaded tea, and a packed lunch dabba, we head to the start point - a.k.a the forest checkpost. They have a strict rule of no single-use plastics to the peak, and check your bags thoroughly to ensure the same, before letting you begin the trek. At the forest checkpost, they check your booking details, ID and give you a lanyard with an ID for entry, and assign a local guide for every 15 people or so. 

The instructions were simple - the entire trek distance is 9km one way, you start at 8:30 and get to climb up until 1pm, and where ever you are by 1pm, you start your descent right away - if you manage to reach the peak by then, well and good, if not, it's your loss folks - you better up your fitness game! This is to ensure that everyone is out of the trail before it gets dark. 

We begin the trek with slight incline, and keep moving up. There is so much greenery all around - lush greenery - exactly like the ones that I have written about in the first line - absolute gorgeous eye soothing greens. As we gain more elevation, and see the peaks and mountains that surround us, covered with cluster of clouds, I feel so much peace and happiness, that I can never explain through words. The greenery, the blue sky, the white clouds - a scene that shall forever be etched in my mind, and bring forth the same calmness and peace every time I think of them. 

I'm not sure how many hills we climb and descend, but the valley (?) where the base of each hill meets the next, is usually a dense patch of forest with very minimal sun. After almost an hour into the trek, we started craving for these forest patches as the sun was becoming a little too hot for our liking, and there was no breeze either. And oh, there were streams all through, and every time we crossed one, we made sure to quench our thirst or rather just splash some water on our face with the ice cold water that felt really good. 

We reached the Lone Tree, which had an amazing view and spent a few minutes there. And then we reached a spot, where the clouds just moved into us, enveloping us with misty drops. As we climbed ahead, some inclines were brutally steep and made me wonder how am I even going to make it down in this route. Rightly about 10 minutes before we reached the peak, it started raining, and for the first time since we started climbing, it felt cold. Thankfully, we had raincoats. Wear them and move on. 

And yayyy! We made it - we reached the peak at 12:15. The rain had temporarily stopped. Peak views and I, are never a thing, I believe - especially in treks. Every time I climb up a peak, the surroundings are always covered in clouds and I end up feeling like I'm floating on a cloud, instead of feeling like I'm atop a mountain. Kudremukh peak wasn't an exception either, as it was entirely surrounded by clouds. Definitely not disappointed, but slightly curious to know what lay beneath the clouds. We had our lunch on the peak, strolled around a bit, took a group picture with our entire gang as it started raining all over again.

Spot us!

At 1pm, as advised, we started our descent. I have always strongly believed that ascents take the most time, and descents are usually fast, and haven't been proven otherwise until now. But this trail was hellbent in defying my belief, and it did. The trail was already super steep making us think twice before we took the next step. Add to this, a steady stream of more-than-a-drizzle-but-not-heavy rain, resulting in slippery paths. It literally brought back the memories of my KP trek descent, where I lost count of the number of times I fell face first into the water flowing through the trails. Everyone had their fair share of trips/falls on the trail, and to my credit, I had 3 (junior would want to count it as 3.5, but I disagree. By the way, he had two - which he wouldn't accept either) - thankfully nothing major for anyone.

Three things that kept us moving without too much of a worry was - one, music - me and the juni apparently seem to enjoy similar genre of music, so we kept singing random songs and kept quizzing each other on do you remember this song, do you know that, have you heard this line, did you like that tune, that pretty much kept our minds in bay. Second, the random chats that we had with people who climbed / descended alongside us - we met a paediatrician who had recently taken a liking to trekking and came solo, a boy who interned in Bangalore who was here with his colleagues, a Madurai girl settled in Bangalore who was here on the trek with her friends, two Class XII kids and, last but not the least, a CA (of course, we had to meet one from our clan right - else the trip isn't considered complete) - each sharing tidbits about their life, their experiences and any random stuff. Third, the views - I guess I'll never get tired of describing the views that we had - telling the same thing in different words as I feel I'd never be able to do justice to that with whatever words I use - the simplest way would be to urge people to go visit the place to experience the beauty and the joy.

We reach the checkpost at 5pm and with that the trek ends. I feel both exhausted and exhilarated at the same time. Self pat on the back for making it to the peak, and finishing it on time before dusk. 

As we enter the homestay we are welcomed with pakodas and tea. We bathe, hog on the snacks, and then gobble up the home cooked dinner of rice, veggies, dal, egg, payasam and decided to call it a night. All the previous night's missed sleep, the exhaustion from the trek caught up with me super quick and I doze off as soon as my head hits the bed.

The next morning, I'm all rejuvenated from a good night's sleep and wake early and watch out the mountains surrounding our stay, as the sun rises. We pack our bags and take the rib-crushing jeep ride one more time and board our bus back to Bangalore. The route is scenic with a winding roads, and tall trees and soon changes to widespread farmlands with raincloud backdrop and cool breezes as we descend from the mountains and enter the flat terrains. 

We make a quick stop at Belur Chennakesava temple before heading straight to Bangalore. 

All in all, this whole trek was one absolute paisa vasool and was exactly like what I wanted it to be. So glad that I was able to make it. And this shall forever remain etched in my mind. Special thanks to junior for his company - without which it wouldn't have been as much fun as it was! 

Book fair Nostalgia

If there is one thing that all the kids in our town awaited with bated breath, it has to the Book Fair. It has about 60-80(?) book stalls of various publishing houses spread across a big ground, and then to finish your evening on a high, there was always joy rides that included giant wheel, tora tora, cup and saucers, dashing cars and once, a water slide and go karting, even! And not to forget the food counter serving Delhi Appalams, Gobi 65, Fried Idlis and what-not! The one thing I'm always guilty of skipping is the auditorium, which used to have speakers/authors from across the State, sharing their views on various topics. I think this again had a separate theme for each year and a sub-theme for each day. 

It happens every year around June-July, for a period of 10 days. Starts at about 4:30PM in the evening and ends at 9:30-10:00ish. Every year there used to be a theme for the entrance decor, which kept getting better year on year. They had a daily entry pass or a seasonal pass for the entire 10 days, both of which if I remember right, didn't exceed Rs.50. 

The only motto during the book fair days was to rush out of school by 4:00PM and finish off all the homework, and get to the book fair by 6:00PM. This was possibly around Class VI-Class X. There were separate visits with friends and family. With friends, it always used to be loitering around each shop trying to find a book that you like, and note down the shop name & the book name, go on all the rides, hog on a little of the food that was bought on shared money.  I wouldn't call myself a voracious reader - most of my books were Tenali Raman, Mullah, Akbar Birbal and the likes. The one other thing I was absolutely fascinated about were puzzle / activity books like word finders, 365 pages of activities, etc. The day I come with parents is always with the motto to empty their pockets - buy all the books shortlisted, eat so much that you wouldn't want to have dinner when you go home and go on all the joy rides, all over again. 

Something else that was very interesting to me in book fairs were bumping into your class/schoolmates (people that I haven't really talked with). It feels like you get a glimpse of another side of their life outside the school gates.

Thinking back, I'm honestly stumped at how NLC had managed to pull off a book fair year after year, because it is definitely no easy job. Bringing together so many people, publishing houses, scouting for speakers/authors, logistics, theme ideas - all of this required so much time, effort and money - but I'm ever thankful that they did it, because it was all absolutely worth it. Anyone who had lived in Neyveli, would definitely have fond memories of any time they spent there. It was as close to an annual oor-thiruvizha you'd have in any village - this was our oor-thiruvizha.

You may wonder why all this nostalgia all of a sudden. It's because of this one picture that a friend of mine shared. Apparently, there is a book fair this year at Neyveli, after a gap of 4-5 years. This picture triggered out a lot of old memories, stashed right at the back of my mind, which I felt were worth putting down here!