India Trip...a detailed account!!

quite contrary to what i had mentioned before this is my first blog from India and i have been here for three weeks already. I just have been generally lazy and my dialup connection speed hasnt really inspired me to write either. However suddenly a thought struck me yesterday...this is the vacation i had been dreaming about ever since i got to the U.S and blogging is the only way i can save the memories of the good times i have been having here. tommorow, it will exactly be 3 weeks since i got here and i feel like i really havent done 25% of the work i wanted to do over here. 3 weeks just went in a jiffy and all i did was eating and sleeping. When i get back to the US the one thing i probably wouldnt regret not doing is eating as for the last 3 weeks i have been literally stuffing myself with as much food as i possibly can. Infact suffering from indigestion and an upset stomach twice in 3 weeks is itself an indication enough of how much i have been eating, esp. considering the fact that i generally have an iron stomach.

I decided i am going to try and remember what i did since i got here
12/6/04 - got home at around 10.00am...had a delicious bf of dosa and south Indian filter coffee..didnt do anything much...just chilled out in the house...gave everybody their gifts. had a terribly upset stomach.

12/7/04 - didnt do anything worth mentioning...Sindu was sick and so she bunked office.

12/8/04 - went to Landmark and bought books and cds. Had chat from a store in spencers and also punjabi samosa from food world. Spencers has changed quite a bit and the 3rd phase is awesome.

12/9/04 - went back to Landmark to return a book as i realized the same book was available in half.com at about 1/2 its price. Arthi dropped home from work in the evening and was chatting with her for a while. Mohan chittappa and Vinod also dropped by to see me.

12/10/04 - went to ritchie street to buy adapters. much to my surprise i really didnt like the place with its crowd. Sadly the same street where i could spend hours drooling at the goodies and gizmos it had to offer was now annoying. I had originally planned on spending 2-3 hours there but just got my stuff and left the place in under an hour. While driving back home i drove via marina and was filled with mixed emotions. Just too many memories associated with the damn beach.

12/11/04 - went with Appa, Amma, Sindu, Ramesh, Ani, Mohan Chittappa, Usha Chitti and vinod to Mansukhs. Had some 2-3 rounds of chat followed by basundi for dessert. hmmmm....good stuff!!!

12/12/04 - Went out with Balaji to spencers and then later to the beach and then at 7 pm for oceans 12 followed by dinner at Karaikudi....had delicious south Indian Parotta with i think Egg curry. Also had some chat in Spencers followed by Masala Kadalai in Marina beach.

12/13/04 - went to Ayush for a full body ayurvedic massage on my Mom and Sisters insistence. It was comforting and cool. Got myself and amma ice cream from Movenpick on my way back home. Earlier in the day i went out with amma and bought sandals for myself.

12/14/04 - Went with amma to Vivek's in Vadapalani to check out A/C and Washing Machines...bad service. Then went to Sri Krishna Sweets to buy Mysurpa. From there we drove to sindu's office, picked her and Datta up and then Lunched at Aanghan a new restraunt opened up behind Gangothri in Cathedral Road. Had Panneer Tikka which was truly out of the world. Later after lunch we had ice creams in Gangothri and dropped Sindu and Datta off in their office and drove to spencers. Just roamed about and finally had coffee from java city. Came back home and relaxed.

12/15/04 - Went with amma to Rathna stores and I bought her a new cooker and some other stuff. I also bought a belt in Globus. We then went to Chips and Chats and had some chat. I bought a flower bouquet and we drove back home. After a while i then went to Adyar for Arthi's Engagement. The engagement was boring for me as i knew nobody except Arthi. I then went to Besant Nagar beach and walked along the shore for 45 Minutes and then drove back home.

12/16/04 - I cant remember what i did but i doubt it was anything special. I think i went to Just casuals and bought a shorts and a shirt. then went to Kellys and Dropped sindu off and played with Ani for a while.

12/17/04 - Went and picked up a Van Huesen Shirt...some sale was on. Later was wondering if i should have? Went to Mussafir movie...night show...ok movie...typical masala..Sameera reddy looked smoking hot though.

12/18/04 - Took Amma and Ani to Ayyapa poojai in Mylapore. On the way back a stupid Jackass bike guy smashed his bike into my car that was then stationary causing a huge dent in my rear bumper. I was begining to wonder if i should be driving in India. In the evening i went with Appa to rathna stores and then later we all excluding Ramesh went for dinner to Dhaba..ok food and nice ambience but too pricey though!!

12/19/04 - Lunch at Mohan Chittappa's place. It was delicious and filling. Janaki Periammai, Athimbar and Thathi came to our place in the evening. They have bought a new Maruthi 800.

12/20/04 - Sindu bunked office. we did some major suthifying!! Went to Spencers where i bought a pair of formal Arrow trousers, and couple of cotton shirts. Had some chat from Shri Mithai in the 3rd Phase. We then came back home..had Lunch and left again and i bought a pair of formal Woodland Shoes and also leather sandals.

12/21/04 - Went to Naturals, a upscale beauty salon where a haircut costs 200 bucks!! My sis had a coupon for 300 bucks so i got a shave for 50 bucks and a Olive oil Head
Massage for the rest of the money. came out starving and ate lotsa stuff from foodworld. In the afternoon i gave the car for service. got back the car later in the night with the dent been taken care off and also the best part with the A/C working..and working well.

12/22/04 - pretty dull day till the evening. the Evening was horrible. Sindu was supposed to leave and just before we left home to Kellys appa thought Ani had fever. We went to kellys and Mummy took Ani to the Doctor just to avoid risks. I was playing around with the camcorder to see if i can connect it to the computer. Ani started crying because mummy took him to the hospital and after crying really loudly non stop for about 40 minutes...he just stopped and passed out...jeez!! all of us got the shock of our lives and we rushed him to the doctor. the doctor wrapped a wet towel around him and after about 5 minutes he regained conciousness. we rushed him to child trust hospital. I drove the the hospital and i have to admit never before in my life have i been as scared to drive as i was that day. Finally well we later came to know what happened to him was whats called a febrile seizure and is a relatively common occurence in children when there temperature shoots up and it seems it happens in about 3-5% of the children (looked up at it online).

12/23/04 - Left to the hospital early in the morning with coffee. Ani was ok. his fever hadnt subsided though. I spent the whole day in the hospital. i was there till about 9.30pm.

12/24/04 - did pretty much the same thing like the previous day. spent almost the whole day in the hospital, reading "are you afraid of the dark" by Sidney Sheldon.

12/25/04 - was there in the hospital till the evening. In the night went to China Town with balaji. China Town had a great great ambience and was kinda pricey too. I treated Balaji for my internship. Then went to sathyam and saw Swades. Good movie. I thought it was very well made though the first half was kinda slow. I just love the songs in the movie. met Mayee in the cinema.

12/26/04 - Horrible day!! I woke up with a severe headache, backache and also an upset stomach. My dad woke me up saying there were tremors. My friend who had stayed over in my house told me he had woken up because he felt the bed shake. It was not until a few hours later that i realized the seriousness of the issue. Like my BIL said the irony of the situation was that thousands of them had been washed away by the killer Tsunami waves just 3 miles away from my house and i didnt even realize it had happened. I heard the Marina beach is a ghastly site...i still havent had the guts to visit the place not because i am scared the tsunami will hit again but then because there are just too many sweet memories associated with the beach and i dont want to look at the beach in any other way than i have imagined it to be. Ajay and Vijay came home in the evening and we were chatting for a while.

12/27/04 - Felt much better but since the back ache persisted i decided against taking the bike. SInce my dad had taken the car i took an Auto to Spencers where i met up with Arun. Ajay Kumar & vijay in typical desi style came late. We went around for a while and Vijay bought a pair of Jeans. From there we went to Satyam and I saw Swades again.

12/31/04

I tired to post all that I had written earlier in India but then the connection sucked so I couldn’t! This being the last day of the year has been pretty good soo far. The A/C arrived promptly today morning and early noon guys from Samsung came and installed the A/C. Now all that remains to be done is to install the A/C power socket. I will be leaving in a few minutes to drop Sindu off in the doctors place (Andal…her new found pediatrician for Ani) and to go and collect my altered trousers from Lifestyle. As of now I plan on going for dinner with Ajay and Vijay to Savera tonite unless we make other plans at home. I guess that’s it for the moment…..signing off now.

to be continued......