Into the wilderness of nagalapuram

"Change of scene and absence of the necessity for thought" they say will restore mental equilibrium.(Ref Three men in a boat, Chapter I for more details). No no...I am not losing my mental stability. OK...atleast not yet!(I am sure Kutu's Dad in all his sarcasm would say that I am well on that route though!). And wow!!! what a change it was! What a contrast the lush green wilderness is to the prim and proper lack lustre office cubicle!!

So in the unearthly hours of a nice Sunday morning 43 beautiful ladies (most of them first time trekkers like me!), assembled at their respective pick points to board the bus that was to take us into the welcoming wilderness of the nagala hills. Caught up on my sleep en route in the bus. Come on....For the newbie trekkers and especially me, Sundays do not start at 3:00 in the morning! We have only known 9:00 AM on Sunday mornings.

We woke up only when the bus rumbled to a stop at the starting point of the trek. Lush green hills, a bunch of houses and an excited group of children from the village welcomed us. And of course the three dogs which greeted us with their enthusiastic barks (or were they surreptiously eyeing our food packets??). So, there we were for the very first time at the favourite trekking haunt of the CTCians. A million questions and fears gave rise to thumping hearts at that moment! But I guess there was only one thing that was running through the minds of all 43 of us! “Yes We Can”!!! But wait…we were not given a nobel peace prize for our very noble thought. Not fair na? Barack Obama says “yes we can” and he got a peace prize, whereas we got some puliyodarai packets and sleeping mats. And boy!!! They proved to be the best prize one could have got for a trek. Much much precious.

And so we started and loaded our bags with sleeping mats and food packets. We were told that half a kilometer from that point is the dam from where our real trek starts. But we walked and walked and walked more to realize that what seems to be half a kilometer for an experienced trekker is equal to atleast 2 kms for newbies. One of our photographers (I think bala) told us to go down the dam to enter the forest area. He very kindly said “this way please”. Where he saw a way we failed to see none. “Where is the way?” was a universal question at that point of time in everyone’s minds!! And he answered by just walking down the stones kept in slanting position. My jaws hit the ground at that sight! How are we supposed to do that?? So after sending out a silent prayer to the nearest god (Who else? Our very own Mr venkatachalapathy at Thirupathi), we also slid down. And we made it! Yes!!! That was a great boost to our morale! Wow! If I were an organizer, I would have had a silent laugh saying “don’t start celebrating already my dears!! There is more to come”. I don’t know if any our organizers or our “knights in shining armour” had similar thoughts at that moment!



From then on it was a game of follow the leader. The leader being Guru. I heard someone asking “Is that his real name or is he being called that way because he is leading”. I think the answer is both. Seriously….he IS an amazing guru. And so puffing and panting and running behind him through the dense forest. Some way into the forest we heard a very sweet sound. The lady behind me said “wow…even ARR could not have composed something as nice as this”. It was the sound of the stream gushing down the hills. This gave a fresh boost of energy to us Chennai girls who have heard water gushing out only through the taps!! That too during the so called rainy seasons!! And all other seasons it is just “kaathu mattum dhaan varudhu” from the taps! So we stopped at the bank of one of the streams and had a very tasty breakfast of bread and jam. Then we drank water from the stream! Anyone who said water is the real elixir of life…is so so correct!

Thus rejuvenated, we walked uphill to reach the haven of our trip!! The first pool! It was so beautiful!! I have no other words to describe the place! The pristine crystal clear water, the beautiful rocks all around the place and lush greenery! Feels like heaven isn’t it?? Believe me it is!! And of coures no experience is complete without a mishap! The "kala teeka" moment of the day for me happened just there. Did I ever mention here that I am a self proclaimed queen of clumsiness. NO? Well here is the proof. I threw all caution into the thin air and just walked into the pool and started floating with help of the sleeping mat. Akshaya was demonstrating to someone how to simulate swimming with that! Me in all my enthusiasm did just that and failed miserably!! The water seemed to be a little deep for the five footer me and I was about to sink when help came in the form of Guru. He did save me but by then my spectacles fell into the water. Boooohoooo. This was when the spirit of CTC came into the fore! All swimmers and some non-swimmers too, tried hard looking for it underwater while I stood there gaping for my breath. But it was not to be found. Maybe the fishes ate it up. And I sat woebegone on the banks of the pool while others frolicked around in the water.



It was time to go and the time to end my “damsel in distress” act. There it did end. Such is the magic in those forests. It brings out the trekker in you even if you are partially blind. So ends my sob story and we will now continue with the trek. As to how I would work in office the next day...well that's a story for another day! For now uphill and downhill we went. Wading through the little rivulets and jumping up and down the rocks enroute. Often panting for breath. Often giving a helping hand to our friends and cracking silly jokes about….well anything and everything under the sun. And then came the lunch point!! We all said yay!!! Lunch!! Puliyodarai and curd rice and vadams and aalo curry never tasted so so yummy in all my life. They were devoured with much relish. As I read somewhere on the CTC website….any food flavoured with hunger tastes the best. Our doggy friends had their share of lunch from us. There was one particular doggy who was so fussy. He didn’t want to eat curd rice. Only puliyodarai! Someone suggested that the organizers bring in some “Pedigree Dog Food” next time. :)




And so we took some snaps and relaxed and then we heard a growling sound. Suggestions of wild animals of the fiercest kinds started circulating all around the place when one of the organizers very kindly told that this not the place one would find them. But then the growl came again and this time it was louder and clearer and then it dawned on us that it was thunder! Now that woke us up out of our stupor and had us running behind Guru in full vigour. By then the drizzle slowly graduated to a rain! And we had to rush through the sliding pool and magic pool site! Next time…the weather gods please be a little kinder towards us ladies! We don’t want to miss anything. So we ran for shelter and came to a cave.

From then it was just beating a retreat. And we slowly made our way back to the bus by around six in the evening! Distributed the jam packets and other snacks to the kids eagerly waiting there and got into the bus…wet and tired and worn out but very very happy.

Off to Nagala

Had gone on an amazing trekking trip a couple of weeks ago. For the first time I had left home even before my brat woke up from the slumberland. Even after having prepared him before he went to bed the previous night saying "amma will have to leave for office very very early the next day. Be a good boy ok?", I was ill at ease. The mother hen in me not wanting to let go of her little one. But then I did. Mamma Bird flew off the nest for one whole day away from her littlest one! The pappa Bird stayed back did the babysitting. :)

Where women are concerned even a trekking trip will\has to involve shopping. Obviously!! so there I went shopping for shoes and track pants and t-shirts and what not! and then came the task of packing! Oh my god!! I was so reminded of the packing episode in the book "Three men in a boat". I so so love this book and have read it some gadzillion times. But what do I say. Some people are slow learners and I never did learn the valuble lesson that the wise George sermonises in there! He says the golden rule about packing for any trip is this "We must not think of the things we could do with, but only of the things that we can’t do without." So true....so true!! But again learnt it the hard way. We loaded our bags with a hundred differnt things of which not even 1% came handy while trekking. A couple of water bottles is all that one would need while trekking in the wilderness.

Anyways packed we were by midnight. And in all this excitement....I just could not manage a wink of sleep for the rest of the night. In anticipation of what the next day holds...will I pass out in the middle of the forest? Will I get lost? What if my old limbs refuse to budge? And the mother of all "What ifs"...What if Kutu throws a right royal tantrum asking for his amma? what if he falls sick? How will anyone even contact me? There will not be any signal in the middle of the forest! Sadly...the answer to all this was the same... "Whatever will be will be". siggghhh...yeah right. Jo hoga so dekha jayega. Enjoy your day out girl!! Having said this to myself I woke up at the unearthly hours...3:30 AM on a sunday morning.



Got ready and went to kiss my sleeping baby goodbye! :( There is something about sleeping babies that melts your heart. Yes it just melts all the steely resolve that you have made. Everyone said that he will be ok without you. But noone knew that the problem is not with him but me! About me being able to keep him in the back burner for a day. Noone knew that I would be taking two parallel trips. Along with the trekking trip, I would also be sub-consciously going on a guilt trip. Yeah right!! I am a self-proclaimed drama queen.

Finally pulled my heavy self and my even heavier baggage and rushed out of the house to pickup point alloted to us. Once inside the bus, I felt relaxed. So....nagalapuram here I come!

As you sow so shall you reap....

You know how they say life goes round and round in circles? Well this profound law of nature just dawned on me! And how!!! I had to learn this the hard way and believe you me, it hurts when life moves one full circle to come back and bite you sharp on the backside.

Remember that phase of life when you used to irritate everyone around by repeating each and every word that they said?? Generally being a pesky parrot and invoking the wrath of your near and dear ones. The immense sense of satisfaction and amusement that this provided needs to be experienced to be believed. So yeah...I am experiencing it right now. Only this time its from the other side of the table. My darling son has got into the habit of repeating all that I say! Especially when I go into that hyperventilating mode in the early morning rush to get ready for school! I shout "Kutu!!!!late aagum...vaaa" and there he goes "Kutu!!!!!late aagum...vaaa..." in the same tone and with the same facial expressions!!

And yeah...remember when you used to get away with all the mischief you did by conveniently throwing the "It was not me" arguement? Beat up your little brother black and blue and say "hey its not me...it was my hand!! I am not responsible for that now!!". Throw some random thing on your sibling and say "its not me!! it was that thing which went flying towards him!". Well...this too has backfired on me. The other day Kutu took his toy helicopter and came crashing on me. His entire weight(which is not much anyway) fell on me and the drama queen that I am, I gave a scream and shouted at him(what else is there in life to do nowadays??!!siggghhhh....). And the little brat very nonchalantly says "njaan allaa amma...helicopter". eh? what?

I was left gaping with my mouth wide open and a misplaced sense of Déjà vu. They start really young these days...don't they??

Here I leave you with a very rare photograph. How often would you come across a "Little Monster Meditating".





In case you are wondering what he is trying to accomplish...his teacher is chanting "om shanti shanti shanti.." at the end of the Yoga Presentation by the kids and each one of them is trying hard to look enlightened and calm and peaceful. :)

Did you know...

that ducks have stopped going "quack quack quack"? Especially the Mother Duck which goes around quacking(er...sorry i meant calling) its little ones back home. Am I talking in riddles? My apologies. :) Let me explain.

Ever heard this nursery rhyme which goes thus:

Five Little Ducks went out to play
Over the hills and far away
Mother Duck called quack quack quack
Four little ducks came back.

Four little ducks went out to play...... and it goes on till no little ducks come back.

This has been Kutu's favourite all through last year. So much so that he sometimes used to change its tune to a softer melodious one and sang it as a lullaby for me to sleep. But guess whats happening these days in Kutu's Kingdom? He doesnt like the mother duck to go quacking for her little ones. No sir. She has to start singing out in english!! The other day he was arranging his crayons in his box and randomly singing out this song. I didn't pay any attention to him in the beginning of course because I was bored to death listening to five little ducks everytime he is in a mood to sing. So imagine my surprise when I heard him singing this :

Five little ducks went out to play
Over the hills and far away
Mother Duck says "where is little ducks"
Four little ducks came back
Mother duck say "where you go"
Four little ducks say "over the hills and far away".

And yes this went on untill....No little ducks came back of course!! Smothering all urges of laughter, I asked him why he changed the song. He said in a very matter of fact manner "idhu pudhiya paatu ammaa" (this is a new song amma). A "very nice kuta" kiss was given pronto.

There is one more incident that I have to record here. Couple of weeks or more ago, during one of our feeding sessions, I was singing a song to him. I think it was "odi vilayaadu paapa". Not exactly the right choice when one is expecting the brat to stay put in a place to eat. But still me being me could not think of anything else. Then our little master says "amma verae paatu paadu"(amma sing some other song). Having run out of energy to think of anything else, I asked him what he wanted me to sing. He said "amma sleeping paapa paatu". Racked my brains to recollect the song he wanted but was very unsuccessful! He said "ok...njaan paadam". So here goes his composition...his maiden composition!!

Sleeping paapa sleeping paapa
sleep sleep
morning is come
get up get up

and immediately he ran away and hid behind his cot before I could give him a tight hug. :) After that he refused to give a repeat performance no matter how much we asked. But later that night, he sang it again for his dad just before going to sleep.

Sigh....my little one has grown up enough to make up songs of his own!! and to think I was worried sick when he took as long as two and a half years to start speaking!! Now....its just a tirade of non-stop blabbering 24x7.

A Trip to God's Own Country

Yes...Kutu went on his first ever trip to Kerala. Inspite of being a malayalee he had not set foot on mallu land for all four years of his existence. This is what happens when you are born to parents who are the most Non-Malluish Mallus . Ok...I think am being a little harsh on myself and his dad. It just so happened that chance and time were not conducive enough to make such a trip possible in the past. Now anyway, thanks to a cousin's wedding we had a long and eventful and fun-filled weekend at trivandrum.

The fun started in the train itself!! With two of our cousins joining us at ernakulam and kutu being his own extra-exuberant self. The little monkey's ambition in life seemed to be to climb up and down the berths in our coupe! I was reminded of the first time we took him on a train journey. He was so calm and composed. ok ok...sorry..I was blinded by motherly love for a few moments! We have never known calm and composed used in the same context as kutu except in school where he is a reincarnation of Gautam Buddha himself! But I digress...I will talk about this aspect of his character sometime later.

Our co-passenger a quiet young girl...most probably a software engineering going home for the weekend...was trying hard to keep a straight face seeing us struggling hard keep up with kutu's tirade of questions and non-stop nonsense.

Cool showers and gentle breeze welcomed us at trivandrum. With the monsoons having arrived much before us, it was a race between us and the rains wherever we went. And guess what we managed to outplay the great monsoons of kerala. We actually managed the whole trip without getting wet in the rain. Yeah...we have crossed the age when drenching in the rain and singing "rim jhim rim jhim" is considered romantic. Post Kutu...rains only remind us of running nose, cough, fever and endless trips to the doctor! No thank you... :) we prefer the safety of indoors.

But then...as usual...i have starting rambling on and on. A quick lunch and a nap later we went our for a drive around trivandrum. Oh Yes...I did mention quick lunch in the same context as kutu! Its time I started to expect the unexpected as far as he is concerned. I went anticipating hell during his meal times as the normal white rice we eat in chennai is not easily available in kerala. The fatter and redder cousin of the white rice is used there. But then my kutu ate! Of course he did make a huge fuss and run around during meal time...but atleast he didnt refuse downright which in itself is a good sign. :) Thank god for these little mercies... :) Again I digress. So we did everything from chasing a running train from the road(a la` rajesh khanna in aradhana) and loafing around in the lovely serene beaches and horse rides.Atlast our little outing ended with having cutlets, omlettes, toasts and coffees at Indian Coffee House near the beach road.

The next day was the wedding which went on well. As always is the case with any mallu nair wedding...this too was a blink-and-miss affair. You bat an eyelid and there...you have missed the wedding. Yes...our rituals are that short!! A brief ten minute affair. A tad boring na? I wish kutu gets married to a punjabi girl and we have a grand "balle-balle" wedding for him. Am going to be one hot looking Mother-In-Law dancing and singing "lo chali mein...apni kutu ki baaraat leke...” Don't you think so too? No? Nahi? Sigh.....well never mind....Whatever will be will be and the future's not ours to see. But dreams...are unlimited!!! :) :)

I have to mention the star of the event though....ammachi! Kutu's great-grand mother. she is 97 not out! Still quite active for her age.It had been a long time wish of mine that kutu should get to see his great-grandmother. It was atlast fulfilled. I was so happy. Owing to old age she might not even have known who we were. But we atleast got to be in her midst for a short span of time and that will do. :) She is amazing. Here I am...typically the silly city bred girl....pecking at the sumputuous sadya that was being served for lunch and there she was eating every morsel with great relish and contentment! Touch wood!! May god give her good health and happiness.

From there we went to vembayam..MIL's hometown...a nice little village near trivandrum. It was a trip down the memory lane for her when she was showing kutu the places from her childhood days! Her school, the local market place, the hospital where her children were born etc. There at home were three little brats all of almost the same age as kutu! The commotion and racket they created!! The gang leader of the troupe was the eldest one. Arya. She is what you call a Toofan Mail…or better still a little tornado! My own little kutu seemed much sober in comparison! So the Fiery Four gang had a great time tearing the house to bits! The gang of the elder brats was no less either! This gang comprised of Hubby Dear and cousins. Their only worthwhile past time during the whole trip seemed to be to tease each other and of course me. One mega leg pulling session it was! But then what else are little brothers for if not this!! They even managed to make me drive a car! It doesn’t matter that all I did was moving the car in first gear back and forth a distance of about 20 mts. But coming from me it is a huge achievement.

And yes…How can I forget this… I met up with a virtual friend of mine. Someone I have known only through emails, online chats and phone calls. It was nice to meet her in person. It was just like meeting old friends. No awkward pauses or starting trouble in our conversations. No one could have guessed that we were seeing each other for the first time! Sree was an instant hit with Kutu as well. He even decided to bring her home with us to Chennai. :)

So all in all a fun time was had by everyone and it left us yearning for more. But then this is precisely the way every well enjoyed vacation should end. :) I just realized that we have been visiting Trivandrum only when someone in the family is getting married. So the next eligible bachelor in the gang had better hurry up. :)
From the wilderness of Vembayam we are now back to our very own Singara Chennai and it’s good to be home. Even if one’s home is the always Hot-Hotter-Hottest Chennai. :) Kutu’s school reopens tomorrow and he has been making excuses for the past two weeks. He says “Amma June il enikku cold varum…so enikku school pogaan pattillaa”. Yes…he is very sure that he is going to catch a cold in June so he won’t be able to go to school! What do I say to this except to pray for some good luck. Wish me luck… :)

A cheeky incident of a sleepy boy in the morning

Yes yes....i know thats a very bad attempt at a pun! But how best do I describe this incident?

The setting of the scene: A bright sunny monday morning and Amma is attempting to wake up her dearest brat dreading the impending herculean task of "getting ready to school".

But then there is something about sleeping children that melts your heart. Especially the mommy heart! And so me the "Amma with a melting heart" told the half-asleep-half awake kutu that I am going to give him a big kiss. I asked him where the said kiss should be manifested. "Kutu para....right cheek or the left cheek". And the little one lifted up his feet and thrust it on my face and said "ivide(here)".
"oh yeah??!! sigh...sigh...well if you say so....fine.". and it didnt stop at that! He has the cheek to lift up his other feet for a next kiss!!!! And all through this the little gentleman didn't even open his eyes!!

well...well....if you are worshipping the ground beneath the little feet, you might as well be ready kiss them right? :) Mister Kutu.....just show me another woman who would so willingly and lovingly kiss your feet and scratch your bum!! :):)

Thoughts triggered by a phone call

You know you have finally arrived in the Mommy World when...

1. The friend you have known from your own diaper days seeks your advice on which diapers to use for her baby! And you say "I swear by Huggies and pampers is no good" and not stopping with that both of you go on ranting about which diapers give what kind of rashes on the baby's tiny butt.

2. Words like breastfeeding, periods, epsiotomy and contraceptives are no longer used in a hush hush tone.Infact they are quite common place. :)

3. You can hold an entire conversation on and only on the baby pooping, farting and burping. And that too in great intricate details.

4. you exchange really looong emails with your close friend in US....discussing what your respective brats eat. Rather how\why they don't eat anything. Each of you find great solace in knowing that your own brat is not the only skinny stick-insect in this world. and finally at the end of it all declare that you are both sisters in woe. The greatest woe on earth being the fruit of your womb refusing to down even a morsel of food without any fuss.

5. you and the same friend spot a happy looking girl with thick long lustrous hair and give one sad look at your plait(which can anytime be mistaken for a rat's tail) and say almost in unison "oh...she has not given birth to a brat as yet.".

A telephonic conversation with a friend yesterday triggered all these thoughts. My only regret is that I could not hold such enlightening discussions with any of my friends when Kutu was born. Being an early bird in my group of friends, I kickstarted the babywagon atleast a good three years before the rest of them. But anyway...no cribs. I am now the official Gyaan Provider of the group. :) So what if "Go see the Doc...girl" is the only gyaan I can ultimately provide.

How these little brats change our lives!! and how our conversations have evolved from homeworks, assignments, exams, teachers, boys, gossip, careers, office politics, family, marriage and now babies!! :) An interesting Journey!!