Back!!!

Well, here I am..back to the same old routine..
Going to India had to be one of the best decisions I had made in a long while..And it was even more pleasant because of my blog pals who made sure that I had a good trip.

If it wasn’t for Tinker bells and her family, Bala, Gurmeet and T&K it would have been next to impossible to have visited all the places I wanted to visit

Things we did
1. Visited Ravi Varma art Gallery. When I was 7 years old my father had taken me to the same art gallery and I wanted to take my kids and show them Ravi Varma’s paintings.
I was extremely disappointed with the way the art gallery is run. Ravi Varma is one of the greatest artist from India, How ironic that his paintings are kept in a leaky old building with zero maintenance?
It is a shame that the paintings by such a talented artist has been left to rot ! ( I know I shouldn’t hope, but still..Isn’t there anyone out there who cares?)

One intelligent person( I shall not name for fear of more “peeppi“) decided to buy three “peeppi” for the kids from the vendors in front of the zoo. They played their peeppi till sun set!

2,fed the fish at Aruvikkara dam.
Kids really enjoyed watching the fish gobbling up all the nuts.

3. Visited Ponmudi..
the drive reminded me of the roads in East Malaysia ( Tambunan- Ranau highway!!)

3. Visited Kovalam. I had packed the swim suits for the kids..but they didn’t even bother to change. I ended up buying tee shirts from the street vendors!!

Kovalam has been voted ( number 2) as one of the 10 places to visit before you die and I wanted to take my kids there..That is done!!

4. Visited the back waters of Kochi.
Saw cheena vala

5. Visited Mattancherry

6. Attended the wedding. Met most of my family members, including cousins whom I haven’t seen for quarter of a century!

7. Visited Cherai beach. The sun set was absolutely beautiful.

8. From Kochi we went to Bangalore. I didn’t have any guide book of Bangalore,because I was sure I didn’t need it. After all I studied in Bangalore and I spoke fluent Kannada!
Well, I was lost from the time I came out of the airport! There were no fly overs when I was studying in Bangalore and the only Kannada word I could remember was enu ree( ok lah 2 words!). Eventually the driver informed me that he knows to speak in English.
We stayed at a service apartment and my kids refused to leave the room. After the hot and muggy Kerala weather, they enjoyed the air condition in the room.
It was Ugadi and most of the shops were closed. We went to Brigade road and had lunch at Shangri la.
There were a lot of things I wanted to do in Bangalore. There is a special place that I need/want to visit. In one of the books Ruskin Bond had written about passing through Deoli each and every time en route to Dehra and never wanting to break the journey there and look for the basket seller of Deoli..I guess it is the same with me..May be one day I will stop over and visit..

9. From Bangalore we went to Delhi.
Hired a cab and visited Taj Mahal. Words can never describe the beauty of Taj Mahal.. But the annoying tour guides and the photographers for sure made life miserable. I just wanted to be left alone, but that is never possible if you are visiting any major tourist attractions in India. One persistent tour guide walked almost half way with us.
10. Visited Fatehpur sikri and visited the tomb of Salim Christi. I had read about making a wish a tying a knot at the door of the tomb. I gave a thread each to my kids and we all made our wish. I asked them what they wished for
Yaya wished for an environmentally friendly India. She was cribbing about the way people were throwing thrash every where
Toothless wanted to be able to use the talents God has given him wisely.
Baby wished for peace on earth.
I was really taken aback when I heard what they wished for. I was expecting them to wish for PS3 games or things like that.
I was a bit embarrassed because unlike them I wished for something.(Shhh. I am not telling).

11.We also visted Delhi Haat, Khutub Minar and the lotus temple.

12.Attended Usha Uthop Concert organized by Delhi Malayalee Association.( Baby wanted to know why that guy was wearing a saree!!!)

13.Did a little bit of shopping and bought gifts for friends.
Yaya bought Nancy Drew books and lots of bangles
Toothless bought R K Narayan books
Baby bought Twinkle books.
Mama bought a Razai.. there is a story behind my love affair with Jaipuri Razai.. One day I will write about it.

My biggest fear was kids falling ill.. Fortunately that didn’t happen.
I am just so glad that I decided to attend the wedding. Next time I will stop over in Kottayam and may be Kolar!

17 thoughts on “Back!!!

  1. Hit ‘enter’ too soon. In continuation, came across your blog the week you left and really wanted to know how your India trip was. Will probably be doing the same trip in August(BBay, Bangalore, Delhi, Kerala)

  2. hey sarah great to see u back…and glad to see u had a blast…wow ur vacation sounds like fun and even the kids seemed great…waiting to start reading ur blog again…gosh i missed it…i had withdrawal symptoms..gosh!!!

  3. welcome back sarah !! So happy you had a good trip .Talk about withdrawal symptoms ! I was going through cold turkey ! Now start blogging earnestly girl !!

  4. Sarah, I sent you mails to 2 different addresses asking you to stop by and I did wonder whether anybody that I saw was you. Next time do give me a call and come over to my place!

  5. 12.Attended Usha Uthop Concert organized by Delhi Malayalee Association.( Baby wanted to know why that guy was wearing a saree!!!)
    lolllll…. :))

  6. Gasp….how did you manage to fit SO much sight-seeing into the trip – how many days were you gone fo? Sheesh – truly remarkable – and that too with kids, when i go to india, we barely get to see EKM (M.G road for hasty shopping) and then KK road in kottayam. bah!

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