4th Celebration of a 9th Birthday

Here are some pictures from the 4th (and final!!) celebration!!!

Typical Indain Phone Conversations

So, here the phone etiquette is a bit different than back at home.... I will take you thru it....

Here is me calling one of my co-workers...

ME: "Hi"
Co Worker: "Hi Devyani, Tell me"

"tell me"... Tell you what...?? When someone would start the conversation with 'tell me' it would just throw me off!! But now, after understanding the translation... they have just done a direct translation of the Indian word used when starting a phone conversation. The word is 'bolo', which directly translated means, 'tell me'.

OK, another one....

Me Calling the bank....

Bank: "How can I help you"
ME: "I have an issue with...." (issue is not relevant here.....)
Bank: "Tell me your good name"

Good Name??? I did not know I had a good name... Wait does that mean I have a bad name too!! Seriously... Here they refer to your first name as your 'good name'!!

OK.... the bank conversation continues.....

Bank: "Give me your contact number"
ME: "Nine Double-Zero, eight, double one, double 4....."

Yes, I think that all phone numbers have at least one set double digits, and instead of just saying "one, one", you have to say "double one"!! You can resist, but there are so many time the person on the other end has corrected me and applied the 'double'!! The best part.... Vim's phone number had 4 sets of double digits.... Yep, he can use the 'double' quadruple times!!!

Indian Sayings...

Being here for 6 months, we knew that it was inevitable that we would pick up some 'Indian sayings'. Out of the 4 of us, little Milan was the one that first to make noticeable transitions.

Examples....

The other day Milan had to do a project about seasons. He picked winter. We were collecting pictures that related to Winter. We quickly gathered some that showed what you would wear in the winter. So Milan proceeded to tell me all of the things.... boots, coat, mitten, and muffler.... yes, he said muffler. This is the 'Indian' term for a winter scarf. Those of you that are Indian can relate to this one!!

Another one.... he was playing with his cars and then he proceeded to tell Mira that one of his cars can go 100 kilometers per hour!! Kilometers...???? Isn't it miles per hour.... yes, he had started to make the transition to the metric system!!

The best.... is the way Milan speaks to Manjula (our maid). He turns on this thick Indian accent and uses his hands and adds in the occasional 'Indian' head bobble (this is worthy of its own post). He strongly believes that she will be able to understand him better withe the 'accent'. Truly entertaining to watch!!

Last Guests and Celebrations

Well, our last group of house guests left yesterday.... and the house is QUIET!!

Last group of visitors....





Next... How many celebrations does it take to celebrate a 9th birthday!! For our 9yr old princess, she got 4 celebrations!!

First Celebration: With our guests from Canton, Mich (Paru and Bhru and family)



Second Celebration: This was a combo celebration with our guests from Atlanta (Jig and Divyesh and Family). Veda celebrated a b-day on Jan 11.


Third Celebration: This was on the actual b-day. Typically b-days back at home were celebrated on the actual day with close family. So following with tradition, we celebrated with our Ozone Family - (Charu's Family and the 'other' Jig's Family)



Fourth Celebration: Yet to come....This will be the actual b-day party.... yes... after all these celebrations, there is still a party... fortunately, only 3 friends, at the house... no frills!!

What is the good thing about all of these celebrations.... an excuse to eat cake (dessert) 4 times in one week!!!

This last picture.... Mira wrote a sign on our white board in the library... Nice isn't it!!

Weather!!

I figure that the weather is a big topic of conversation back at home so I though that I would add my 2-cents!!



Is that enough to make any of you want to hop on the next plane to Bangalore!! Let me tell ya, it surely does NOT make me want to hop on the next plane to Detroit!!!

Well, the last wave of visitors have just left today and I feel sad already! It will be nice to get back into the routine for all of us. But at the same time we will miss the hustle and bustle of activity around the house.

We have exactly 3 weeks of a 'dry spell' and then....... my parents come for a visit!!! YEAH!!

Hopefully all of you back at home at managing to keep warm!!

I think that we may make a trip to the pool this weekend.... soak up sun, swim some laps.... I know! That was a low blow to rub it in.... but I could not resist!!

Pictures from the Holidays!

The Ladies at dressed for dinner at the Oberoi

The group at dinner at the Oberoi

Milan with his Mama!!

A group shot!!

The ladies....

Me with Kavi!!

Awwww!!!!!

 

Brunch at the Oberoi

mmmm  Ice Cream!!!

I like it!!!

Cutie!!

Check me out!!

Christmas Morning!!

A pack of Trident Gum in the Stocking!!

A nice dinner out!!

Kavi!!

A nice family shot!!

Milan with his little cousin!!

Alka and Sonal with the kiddies

The group enjoying a nice dinner!

Mira with Umber and Ved

Vim and I and the Little Guy at Samarkaand

Here are some pictures from our visitors! As you can gather from the pictures.... we had a great time!!

I will get back to regular posting in a few days.... Our last round of visitors are coming today!!

How is the snow back at home??? Todays high in Bangalore.... 80.... It is not too late to book a winter get away to Bangalore!!

Long Time... No Post.....

Sorry for not posting for a long time!! To sum it up we have been BUSY!! A good busy!!

Here is a brief re-cap!!

Starting from Dec 23 to just yesterday, we had visitors!! All together 12 house guests travelling in 4 groups, spread out over 14 days, 9 trips to the airport, and 3 road trips!! Phwew!!

Over the 2 weeks we had lots of fun.... we would not have had it any other way!! Lots of good times, shopping excursions and delicious meals out!! We are truly thankful to everyone that made the trip over to see us. It really meant so much to us!! THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!

Now, it feels a little empty in the house.... but only for a brief pause... then we have our last wave of visitors this weekend and then...... the long dry spell!!

I will post some pictures soon!

We hope that you all had a great Holiday back at home. We missed the family traditions and gatherings that go along with the holidays.... The kids missed the visit from Santa. Actually let me re-phrase that.... Mira missed the visit from Santa. Milan was not phased at all!!

Both the kids miss the snow.... Milan actually wore his pajamas inside out (this is trick that the kids used to do to 'wish' for a snow day back at home) on Sunday night. He was thinking that he would get a snow day! I tried to explain to him that it does not snow in Bangalore. He insisted on the pjs-inside out, and asked me to check the computer in the morning just to be sure that there wasn't miraculously a snow day for him in Bangalore.... It was really cute to see his thought process.... very clever...

We are now officially a quarter way thru our assignment here. Yep, 25%.... 6 months... It is hard to believe!! We have enjoyed every bit of it and intend to make the most out of the next 3-quarters!!

We wish you all the best for 2009..... May the new year ahead bring you and your family the best of everything!