Birthday party madness

After months of planning I finally managed Arav's birthday party in Bounce a Rama, an indoor amusement park. I was excited about meeting my friends after so long  but why didn't anyone tell me that even if a birthday party is at a place where everything is already in place (paid for) for you, it is still madness galore!!!

Honestly, having to follow a pre set itenary is crazy because you don't know what to expect next and it doesn't help if you are the host...but I guess the end result matters and seeing the smiles and happiness on my son's face made it all worth it.

As they say, there are some things, money can't buy......!!!

A rhyme for Arav's fifth birthday

Girls love dolls, boys love cars


Town&Country is a minivan, Camry is a mid-size car



Letters are no more just a design

I can read all road-side signs



I know water turns to ice

Youtube is my favorite website



English, Hindi, Spanish, Mandarin

Dora, Diego, Hanuman, Kailan



Bubble-face, kicks, splashes in the pool

Cheetos, choco-chip cookies make me drool



What? why? when? how?

Kind of making sense now



Dude, this is my special year

My FIFTH birthday is here!!!

Summer Vacations and a new schedule

More than half of the  much dreaded summer vacation has gone by and here I am not a pound lighter!! I was really dreading this long hiatus of my five year old from school thinking of how much I would have to endure with him being home all the time. But whew, thanks to a close network of friends, we have managed smoothly so far with planned playdates and weekend activities.
I have even stepped into a new routine of gymming every day while my son is out on playdates. Unfortunately the fat which sits round and comfortable on my body refuses to melt away and so far there have been no "positive" results. All my mom's love shed on me through different delicacies during my trip to India last summer has shown booming results and the "congratulations" (why do people assume a stork's visit every time you pile on..okay I do the same so fair game!!) and "you look so different" remarks just follow me everywhere. To make matter worse, a close friend posted our pictures from a decade gone by on Facebook. Ah, that set the wheels in motion afresh.

And so my sordid saga reels on......

India on American TV (slumdog millionaire effect?)

Having studied and worked in the media back in India, I cannot help but notice the increasing presence of Indians (from India) on American Television.   This is besides the more established media personalities of Indian origin like Fareed Zakaria and Dr. Sanjay Gupta.  Indian  characters on TV are not restricted to being doctors and terrorists anymore (remember Parminder Nagra as a doctor in "ER" and Kal Penn as a member of an Islamic group in "24").
Post slumdog millionaire, talk shows, enterntainment news shows were abuzz with the the Bollywood theme. Dance shows like "So you Think You Can Dance" regularly feature a Bollywood dance round. However, what  really caught my attention and got me to make this small entry was watching the trailer of NBC's "Outsource", a new TV series centered around the call center phenomenon. Pasted below are the links to the trailer:
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JrL3PYpWnM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTe9KAH6ZhU

The south asian/Indian theme has been incorporated in advertisements as well. The "Subway" five dollar ads have an Indian dance , an insurance product ad has scenes from an Indian wedding, "Intel" ads portray their Indian architects who have contributed to its brand value  but the most noticeable ad for me is the one for a chewing gum (cannot recall the product) which has these three teenagers buying gum from a turbaned Sikh at a store.
I am really curious to see how a show like "outsource" portrays the call center phenomenon considering that  there is a huge negative wave related to outsourcing especially in the wake of the recession.
Overall, there definitely seems to be an acceptance of south asian/Indian culture as part of the American mainstream and I hope this acknowledged is strengthened in a positive way with time.

A fun filled family trip to Maui, Hawaii

May was a special month for the family. Tired of holidaying within California we finally ventured forth and moved to destination Maui islands in Hawaii, no less!! Our group consisted of four adults and three kids and we decided to rent a condo in the town of Lahaina close to the water activites instead of a hotel and believe me it was a great decision. Staying in a condo gave the kids a lot of space to run around and just be themselves. Also, having a fully functional kitchen helps especially with infants and toddlers.
Lahaina in Maui is the hub for water activities like the submarine adventure and it really felt great to be able to walk to the waterfront instead of taking the car and paying for parking. Withing walking distance of our condo we had an array of gift shops and dining options. I personally loved the floral Hawaiian dresses and jewelery although most of the stuff could be bought for less elsewhere. Food groceries and gas are expensive in Hawaii and having done research beforehand we stocked up on water and soda for the week long trip from Costco (within a couple of miles from the airport in Maui)and food stuff from Walmart. I also bought a few freezer dinners since we had a great kitchen and it helped us stay on a budget. Another reason for preferring to eat in was that after a long day of sightseeing, the last thing one would want to do is take cranky kids to a restaurant!!!
When I was doing research on where to stay in Maui for first timers, I could not find a lot of suggestions online and now post trip, my suggestion to first timers especially those travelling with family would be to stay in the town of Kihei. My second choice of course would be Lahaina. Kihei had a lot more shopping and dining options than Lahaina and many ocean front condo complexes and hotels. In that sense the beaches would be steps away and since Kihei is midway, it would not be a long drive to most attractions. The Makena area and Wailea are more upscale with the best resorts.
We had initially planned to cover two islands but we chose to stick to just Maui for six days and chill out. That ways, we covered the entire island and soaked in its scenic beauty. The activities we covered were: submarine adventure aboard the Atlantis, snorkelling at Molokini,Road to Hana, sunrise at Haleakala, visit to Maui Ocean Center and the Luau at Royal Lahaina. The rest of our time was spent driving to the unexplored rural areas of the island, shopping and at the beautiful beaches.
It was an awesome vacation and I cannot wait to return and visit the other islands in this beautiful paradise!!!

Arav and Aarav

When my son was born way back in 2005, not only was it my first experience staying in a hospital in US, I was also new to the many nuances of the American system. I knew that I needed to chose a name fast for my son unlike India where there is no hurry to do so but I still wasn't prepared for a birth certificate form to be handed to me while my husband was away preparing the house for the baby's arrival. So there I was all groggy with painkillers and in my hand was the power to shape my son's future identity.
We had tentatively agreed on the name "Aarav" except that at the opportune moment I could not remember that it needed to be spelled with two "As" instead of one!! My hubby's phone being switched off didn't help either. So now my son stands tall at four and a half years, a very precise Arav in a world full of Aaravs thanks to the wide settlement of the the Indian diaspora.
I had almost forgotten about my little folly till I was reminded again by the presence of an Aarav in my son's swimming class. The swim instructor now has to deal with two Aravs' in the same class (with different spellings) of course!!!!

Childhood lies in the details

As a mom it amazes me to notice the small details of our lives through the eyes of my four year old. There are so many thing we overlook or take for granted as adults until they are pointed out to us by a child. For instance, a boot is L shaped and different from a normal shoe or an airplane and a fish are shaped similarly!!
Recently a childhood friend (Stutie) posted a picture of a cloud on facebook and asked for interpretations of its shape. Not surprisingly, the response was overwhelming with so many of us pitching in while jogging our creativity till it became a cloud of different possibilities just like the budding mind of a child. Reliving the details of the minuscule tidbits of life reminds me of the tales from Gulliver's Travels which fascinated me dearly until I learned as an adult taking literature classes that the book is not intended to be a children book but a satire on mankind!!
For now, my hope is to hold on to this amazing process of seeing life through different eyes and reliving the details once the innocence is gone.