A tribute to Basavangudi

"Bengalooru" , a name so new and a complete mismatch to the happening contemporary lifestyle of the city. I always prefer its old name (still in use for now) BANGALORE , a name which represents the green garden city , its lush parks, its fast food outlets, emerging silicon valley , retro style markets. In short its a perfect name for amalgamation of past , present and future city. I have seen some of the famous cities in the world (though not much of a traveller). But then its Bangalore where the heart lives and where the home is. Now living in UK has still not changed my opinion about my city , Bangalore. I love the city and want to raise my kid in that city. I want him to enjoy the city as much as me and adore its heritage as much as i do.

Some of the best areas of the city in my opinion is Malleshwaram , Rajajinagar, Jayanagar, Jnanbharathi and best of the best is Basavangudi. I have never liked the happening and rich crowds of M.G road and i feel quite alienated in those areas and big shopping malls . These malls have so much westernised the city that the city is gradually loosing its authenticity and aping the west culture.

One of the best years of my life is during my graduation. I studied in the college called NCB - National College , Basavangudi "world famous in Bangalore" (he he he he) . As i am typing the name NCB , i am getting goose bumps. What a lovely life it was ! I often dream of those college days and feel that my dream is true and the reality is a dream. How often I wish i could rewind time and go back to those fun filled days.

The best part of the college was my volunteering with NSS - National Service Scheme. i made such good friends for life in that unit. Every saturday after college hours we had NSS class for 3 hours from 2 - 5pm. It was complete fun. We would have lectures occasionally though (most of the time during which all of us would be distracted and bored). Then sometimes it would be manual work like cleaning classroom blackboards , picking up litter and cleaning gardens . At the end of these manual classes , we would be provided with food (when suddenly our NSS attendance for that hour would increase). I enjoyed another activity of the NSS , that was teaching school kids . I can still remember, it was during these teaching class that i befriended a most wonderful person , Vasanth. He went to become my best friend. He was so protective and so loyal that any guy speaking ill of me would end up facing Vasanth . But he was an year older than me and was a student of Arts and me being a student of Science, i had practical classes everyday from 2 -5 . Vasanth would finish his classes by 2 but would wait for me everyday from 2 till 5 and then we would go to the bus stop together and catch the same bus (he lived quite near to my house).

The gang of friends I always hung out were 6 of us 4 girls and 2 boys (i was the only science student and the odd man out) 5 of them were art students and classmates as well. We missed so many classes to go to movies, during birthdays we went out for treats and during NSS camps we stayed together. Many people had infact mistook me for arts students and many arts teachers knew me more than science teachers. Among the others , Kiran one of the guy in the gang was very close and a brother like to me. Together we bunked classes and went for a long drive, ate cheese grilled sandwich in ice thunder IT (bill paid by me) , idli sambhar in guru darshini GD ( which closed down after a flyover was built just in front of the college) ,and dal roti in upahar kendra (UK). Quite often I enjoyed the chaat of a corner shop just at the entrance of DVG road near butter sponge bakery (just cant remember the name at this moment). I think its Gowri shankar.

After college hours , i often stayed with granny especially during weekends and my other cousins would also join. During evening we would wander around the famous Gandhi Bazaar and along with us would be our grand mother . We would eat chaat , dosa from dosa corner , popcorns , cakes and stuffed deep fried capsicums (yum yum) , the quintessentials of Gandhi Bazaar. After so much of snacking and gossiping on our way back , we would finish our first course with a cold juice or an ice cream and come back home and still have place left in stomach for the so called second course for us.

3 years of my life can be summoned in two words Gandhi Bazaar. If i were to die and first aid and every other surviving mechanism fails, then the chaat (panipuri)from Gowri shankar can revive me for sure and even if it fails , i would die in peace . I have tried making chaat at home but it failed to recreate that magical taste in it. the cakes of Butter sponge are the most amazing cakes i have ever eaten . I love their rum and raisin cakes . I can recall the occasions where i specially order those cakes to take it to celebrate our cousin's birthdays and very loudly reveal the flavour of the cake (to irritate and tease my granny who is completely against alcohol).

I guess the heart and soul of bangalore is basavangudi and i feel so lucky to be associated with such a lovely part of bangalore. There is so much to write but so few words to describe my experience for 3 years in basavangudi. I am not just a fan , but a ardent devotee of this area. I bow my head in respect for the area which has seen generations and generations of NCB students hanging out in this area. It has seen evolution of cycle to bike , from sarees to skirts and cotton trousers to jeans. It is a witness of a whole set of trend changing . I am in love with this area and my love for this area is eternal.

Pregnancy tantrums

I had my baby's 3D scan two days ago. It was booked last week and the appointment was supposed to be 20 mins , but then my baby (shy baby) had completely hidden his face towards the uterine wall making it impossible for the doctor to see his face . And so the doctor made me and hubby sit in the lounge for 20 mins and wait for the baby to move around , he also advised me to drink water so that the uterus would rise and atleast then the baby might move but all our efforts were in vain. Baby did move but he had covered his face completely with his legs crossed just before his face. The doctor told us that I was the 5th lady whom he was conducting the scan another time to see the baby's face and told us to make another appointment and even if the baby does not show up his face in the next appointment then the doctor told that they would refund the money.

After a weeks time we again went to the hospital for the unfinished scan. And in the meantime I had instructed the baby to move all round to get a nice video of the baby's movement (as we would also receive a video CD in the package price). I even requested him to show his face and make things easier in the next visit. This time in the hospital , we did see his face but he had again partially covered his face with his beautiful leg. I loved anything I saw inside my womb. He has very cute ankles (infact very sexy) :) When the doctor tried to move his leg my pushing and pressing my tummy , my kid started defending himself by crossing both his legs and both of his arms. I was made to sit again in the lounge and wait for 20 mins. The second time , i was made to walk around and jump in the scanning room to make the baby move around and the third time the doctor told me do anything to make the baby move.

Doctor was absolutely frustrated , he said he normally does not seen such stubborn baby who make a simple scan so complicated and time consuming. I did not know whether to be proud of my smart baby who is so unique or to be angry of his stubbornness. And after the third time , we were given a VCD compiling all the 20 mins of three scans that day and 29 best picture out of the video . During the scan i asked the doctor whether babies do open their eyes inside the womb, no sooner had i asked surprisingly my baby opened his eyes and doctor immediately captured this . I was extremely glad .

Since the scan I have been waking early in the morning to see my baby's scan pictures . I am unable to sleep after 5 am . Early in the morning in my sleep , i often feel that my baby needs me and I end up waking and cuddling his scan pictures. When I see his pictures , my emotions reach its zenith and I cry. I feel my baby is my achievement and i feel so much pride in seeing him. I love his legs , his arms , his bones , his heart beat and most of all I love his face. The first time I saw him in 3D he looked so much like my dad especially his big nose. I am so very happy and delighted to see my kid. I also feel quite depressed coz i still have to wait for 3 more months to see him , to hold him , and to cuddle him . I feel that he needs me , he wants me but I am helpless . Oh love , I know he does not need my pampering and all he needs his my patience and tolerance. Its becoming unbearable and mentally detrimental to me to wait for this kid. Whatever happens , I am regaining my patience and trying to became more calm and composed. I will wait for that little magician to show up and start his magic in my life . I am sure he will be a lovely little genie. I love you .

First pushchair for the first baby

As I am delivering my adorable son here in UK , the rule is that the newborn baby must have a car seat to travel back home from the hospital . Since we learnt this rule, me and hubby started researching and looking around for car seats and pushchairs . Oh my god , there are loads of companies who make these products and all of them are safe and good and also won few awards for their standard of protection. We were terribly confused . Finally on easter monday when there were many offers and package deals , we decided and ordered .

Yesterday afternoon the door bell rang and a delivery guy delivered our package of pushchair + carseat + footmuff + raincover + changing bag + free sunshade for the car. I waited till my husband opened it and no sooner had he assembled it , i started strolling around the pushchair from kitchen to sitting room to dinning room. I kept hugging the pushchair and stroking the cushioned seat in the pushchair for the baby. I even personified a pillow to our baby and placed it inside the pushchair and admired it . Each passing day is bringing me closer to my motherhood and making me frustrated about when I am going to see and hold my darling in my arms , kiss him on his cheeks and tell him how much i love him and how much i loathed to see him ( secretly sequeeze him also). I feel a strong bond of connection with his pushchair now. I feel i have been waiting for him since ages.

Killing Kickster

"What's that ?" I thought the first few times when my little genie started kicking me when I was about 20 weeks pregnant. The feeling was very unusual feeling like some gastric problem in the abdomen. The first few times I ignored it just thinking it was some gas movement but later I learnt that they were my baby's kicks. How unfortunate I was to miss my baby's first kick !

During my 20 weeks scan I was very excited to see my baby and also to know the sex of my baby. As I laid on the bed , my eyes were fixed to the screen . The technician applied some gel and started the scan. Oh my god the baby had grew so much since the last scan. I felt our baby was cramped in that tight little space within the uterus and was struggling to tear open the uterus. We could see the baby's movement which was constant kicking and punching. I was very happy to see that my baby was just like me restless and impatient. I thought " Oh love you are my photocopy". My husband also was present in the room and was sitting just beside my bed holding my hand. He was looking at the screen and looking at me alternatively to capture my expressions and my happiness. The technician started showing different views from different angles and simultaneously she was also measuring the organs sizes. When she showed the face , my genie immediately covered it with its limbs (my shy baby). Also my baby started covering its genitals hiding its sexuality. I was so surprised to see what all babies do inside the womb. With constant movements from the baby , the technician was finding it awkward to measure and to detect the sex of the baby. She finally said that it could be a baby boy but could not confirm it 100 %.

Soon after the scan , the following weeks , my kickster started his rigorous activity. Each week my baby boy has started kicking me more than the previous week. I can now feel the kicks very strongly. I can also sense my baby's turning his position. Every time he kicks I feel that some organ within me is going to pop out of me. Oh I just love this unusual feeling. My mum told me that this period of pregnancy is very special and pleasant when you can feel the baby's kicks. I often feel that my baby genie does not like me resting even for a short while. When I am working he is quiet within me but no sooner I rest on a couch , he starts waking me up , kicking me , punching me , probably even summersaulting ( or may be he is entertaining his tired mum) . Whatever the reason be , I wait for them, I adore them , I enjoy them and I LOVE them.

Summer reunion (extraordinary eight)

In our childhood , me and brother spent our summer vacations at our maternal grandma's place. She stayed in the same city as we did but we did not meet her often and visited her mostly during these holidays. My other 6 cousins would also come there to stay and spend their holidays. We gang of eight in a two bedroom first storey house was a great torment for granny. If one would run into kitchen to light a fire , other would play in the water tank in the bathroom , then other would run down the stairs and fall and the other 2 would fight for TV channels. Our summer vacations lasted for two months and these two months there would be complete chaos in that house whereas on the other side , our parents would finally get some relief from their 10 months of constant mischief and fights of their kids.

Everyday when grandma went out to buy groceries , she would lock us in the house and leave . And when she returned , the house would be in total mess. One would have my aunt's face cream and make up smudged all over her face . Other would be playing in plain flour and other would have messed up all the clothes from the cupboard to fetch a nice saree for playing. Grandma would come running looking for all the 8 of us and give us good thrashing . I now sympathsize with my grandma , how much pain she would have taken for those 2 months ! how could she have cooked when we 8 monkeys were let loose out of our cages! how much food did she have to cook to suffice our hunger during meals and snacking between our meals !

One evening we girl cousins decided to have a fashion show in the house and the boy cousins were to be our judge. We were 5 girls and 3 boys. The judges sat in one of the room holding a book and pen (which they used to draw and scribble during the event). We girls got dressed in the other room and cat walked to this room like we were on a ramp. The boys were hopeless judges , they did not give points and were very biased . They choose the winner (I can not recall who it was).

Another game we often played was "akri khwaish" ; meaning last wish . We had seen so many bollywood movies were the the father or mother or the heroine would die and while dying they would tell the hero their last wish and the hero would go to any extent to fulfil their wish. Similarly one of us (usualluy myself) would pretend to die and my brother would come running and hold me and ask me " what's your last wish sister?" I would say something impossible and win the game . The winner was the one whose wish would be something impossible or the one who would fulfil the impossible wish.

At night I would pray to god that movie channel on TV would play Akshay Kumar's movie. And my worship to god would be writing on a red oxide wall with a chalk " I want Akshay Kumar's movie". When they played some other movie without Akshay Kumar , I would be disappointed and tears would roll down my cheeks. In any case we could not have watched the full movie. By interval , we all would be fast asleep.

During one of these holidays , my fifth cousin practised boxing inside the house. He would hit the curtain hung between a bedroom and the sitting room and when it retreated he would hit it again. Our grandma warned him about the curtain pole breaking and dropping down , but he gave a deaf ear and went on hitting . As granny predicted , the curtain pole creaked and fell to the the ground. Granny rushed to the scene and saw my cousin standing without any injury , she had him thrashed properly . We 7 of us stood watching the entire scene and at the end of the act we were all giggling and smiling and thinking that he deserved those thrashes (if not for the curtain then for his behaviour towards us).

The fifth cousin was the cutest among all of us and for this reason he was very arrogant and stupid. He kept bullying other cousins (especially younger than him) . I was just few months younger than him and so we always competed between each other in every game and activity. One such day he was bullying one of the cousin. My patience was completely saturated with his behaviour and finally I gave into my anger that evening. I took hold of a stick ( long one) , held it like a trident with spear end down ( like the Goddess kali ) and chased him into the house and on the streets. I stopped chasing him after a while and warned him that if he were to return to the house , he would not be spared. My poor 5th cousin was so intimidated by my behaviour that he returned back to the house sweating , frightened like a mouse entering a tigress den.

After the end of 2 months of vacations , our mothers would come and pick us up. We would still be fighting instead of bidding goodbyes we threatened each other saying " I will look after you during the next vacation". When all of us returned , grandma would feel so lonely and empty that she would wish for the next vacation to come quickly. On our way back home each one would have loads of complaints of each other which we recited to our mother. My mother would threaten us that if we continued with this behaviour then she would not take us to grandma's place the next vacations. And so like always we promised her of our good behaviour and break it during our next vacations.