The Extended Family....

We have built on our family of 4 and have grown to 6. And no, I did not have twins!! Actually that quite possible since we have been here almost a year now!! STOP... don't get any ideas!!

The other 2 members of our family is the driver and the maid. They have been with us since we got here.

Lets go with the driver first.... Devraj. Having a driver is great in many ways, I had a whole post dedicated to this. But as with all good things, there are some pitfalls. I will get to that.

Devraj drives me to and from work, runs errands, cleans the car, bring my shopping bags into the house, carries the kids out of the car when they fall asleep.... so many things. He is great with the kids. There have been many time when we are out and about, for example our commercial street adventure a few weekends ago, and Milan is done shopping. We call the driver, he comes right to where we are, toss Milan in the car and Devraj drives around with Milan. It works out great. Devraj is great with Milan and I am sure Milan tells Devraj some great stories. It is great to have that luxury, but of course... there are issues.

For example, he is with you when you are in the car.... ALL THE TIME!! He can hear all the conversations that you are having, and YES, HE is listening, he overhears phone conversations, conversations that Vim and I are having.... all of it... he is listening.... We have to be careful what we say, because the drivers have a network and they all talk so things move thru the grapevine really quickly.

Devraj also has to deal with both Vim and I. Now both of us have completely different sytles when we are in the car. I ALWAYS sit in the back seat... come on, I am being chauffured, that is my place!! I usually don't make idle chit-chat with Devraj when he is taking me to/from work. I sit and mind my business. This is completely different than when Vim is in the car. Vim climbs in the front, yep... he wants a full view. He is talking to Devraj complaining about the garbage on the road, the way the guys on thier motorcylces are driving, questions why there is no order in the traffic, there is something that he is complaining about. And Devraj quietely lets Vim spew. Occasionally Vim will roll down the window to give someone a piece of his mind, and quietly Devraj just continues to drive. With that, I respect Devraj's adaptability.... he can adjust the silence when I am in the car, and the chit-chat with Vim. And he does so with a smile on his face and no complains.

Is he perfect.... not in all ways, but for all that he does for us, we are thankful and greatful for Devraj!

My next post will be about the maid, Manjula.

Mira's Dance Teacher

In efforts to keep Mira busy over the summer, we decided to sign her up for some Indian dance lessons. Instead of going for the traditional style, we decided to do some 'Bollywood' Dance Lessons. Yes, there is such a thing. Being summer, there were not many group classes in session, so I decided to opt for some private classes.

First, I put the feelers out using the Ozone Yahoo groups to see who was out there. Using the yahoo group is the way to find things out in the bubble. OK, the yahoo group posting yielded 4 leads. Off I went. The first guy's name was Guru. As I dialed the number, I realized that he had a song playing while the phone was ringing. It started something like this, 'I am a discooo daaannncccceerrrrrr - paa pa ra'. This is a jingle from an Indian song, some of you may know it!!! OK, I almost started laughing when I heard this!! This was 'his' tune!! OK, decided to look past the 'tune' and actually give him a try.

He came over for an initial meeting, seemed OK. Then we made arrangements to actually start the lessons. He canceled on a few appointments so I was starting to get a little irritated with my 'disco dancer'. Finally he shows up. Mira had a song in mind and we decided to start with it. Let me tell ya, when Guru 'the disco dancer' busted out his moves... I was digging it!!! The boy has some serious rhythm. This is much better than the 'cheesy bollywood dancing' you see in the movies, he was really GOOD! He started teaching Mira and I was just admiring his rhythm. Secretly maybe I was a bit jealous that he had more rhythm than me... OK, we all know that is not too hard!!

Then I started asking him about different songs to see if he could teach a dance to them... so I started playing them off in my Zune and off he went.... boogie-ing away... and I was really in awe... I kept switching do different songs, and telling him, OK now dance to his one... I kept switching, and he kept dancing. It was really amazing.

I wanted to start dancing and pretend that I was as good as him, his dancing was somewhat infectious... for a moment, I thought that I could actually dance as well as him. Fortunately for me, I saved myself the embarrassment and just sat there!!!

Now we have only had one lesson from Guru, and since then, he has been canceling out appointments at the last minute. Sadly I may have to give Guru the boot if he does not stick to the appointments...

If Guru actually shows up regularly, maybe I may pick up a few moves from him.... hmmmm!!!

Bargains in Bangalore...

There are bargains to be had here in Bangalore...

A recent one that I had come across is the Tailor. I had taken 7 pairs of pants in to be adjusted. This would have cost me at least $50 back at home and that would have been with a lot of pleading with Mike my tailor from back at home to give me a good rate. Here in Bangalore, the total bill... 270rs.... which is a whopping $5!!! Ok, $5.50 to be more precise... How about that for a bargain!! And, I did not have to haggle the price down...

No keep in mind, not everything is a bargain here... once you start getting into the 'imported' items, the price sky-rockets!! Remember the $10 box of Honey Nut Cheerios....

I still love the fact that I can get all my weeks produce for under $10. $10 did not go very far at Nino's back at home!!

I will have to post some pictures of my weekend Fruit Market. Needless to say, it is a bit different than the Nino's experience!

Garbage...

Here is a post from Vim on.... GARBAGE!!!

For a city that boasts of IT hegemony in India, Bangalore has a dismal record of garbage management. The city generates about 3500 metric tonnes per day (MTD) or about 700 truck loads of MSW from house holds, markets, hotels and other commercial establishments.

Collection methods are interesting. There is no safety factor! There are no Garbage Trucks like what we have at home. There is no recycling at all by house holds, markets, hotels and other commercial establishments. Basically there is no system at all on how to recycle, the concept of it, how to pick it up and how to dispose of it. If garbage is not collected its just dumped on the side of the road were there is piles of other garbage. Then you get wild dogs, roaming cows, cats, rats and all come out for a feast! Also the poor beggars go through it to find some edible goods, if not stuff they can utilize for their make shift home. Remember, you get very young poor kids going through this just as in the movie Slumdog Millionaire.

To understand garbage collection, the pictures below sum it up. Mode of transportation is either a small semi truck or typically a Tractor & Trailer, a few guys rummaging through the ‘rubbish’, all manual labor, no proper safety equipment, i.e. shoes, vests or clothing – causal work environment. Then the garbage gets dumped at a local site, for it to be rummaged through by other locals looking for treasures.

The garbage men in the Ozone Bubble...


You could not pay me enough to take the job of sitting amongst all the garbage


Piles of garbage on the side of the road... a pretty typical sight


Another Garbage truck...


Here is a dog rummaging thru the garbage....


And now the 'garbage man' rummaging thru the garbage... EWWWW...

Food in Bangalore...........

I know that I have posted about this before, but it this topic is definitely blog-worthy!!

This weekend we went out as a family - just the 4 of us to Commercial Street. This is 'THE' shopping street in town. Now mind you, we all have been there before but usually for a quick run, but an entire day adventure with many things to accomplish... this was the outing for Saturday. The kids did really well as we jetted in and out of stores, dodging the cars, motor bike, and pedestrians.... But come 1pm, they were about to hit a wall.... lunch was in order. Now we have always been a little leery of trying the small dive-type places on the street for fear of Dehli-Belly! But Saturday, we were told of a place that was worth going to, so off we went. It was called Shiv Sagar. We loaded up... Cold Coffee with Ice Cream (yes, all of us!!), Behl Puri, Padpi Chat, Paneer Manchurian, and Chole Bhature... Sorry for the non-indian readers... this does not really tell you much, the rest of you, I am sure you mouth is watering by now!! We enjoyed the food, it was de-lish and we were stuffed!!! Guess how much it was.... 500rs... yes $10.

Sunday we celebrated Fathers Day and let Vim pick the place for lunch.... his choice... Hard Rock... It was the four of us, and another friend and his son (Kamal and Shyl). Pigged out once again... this time, more of a western fare... Spinach dip, burgers, chicken wings, chicken tenders... plus a few alcoholic drinks.... We enjoyed the food, it was de-lish and we were stuffed!!! The only difference being... we spent almost 10 times as much!! OK, granted... 2 more people and a few alcoholic beverages....

OH, just for those of you that have been reading (and paying attention), do you remember how long it took us to get to Hard Rock the last time we went (for Milan's B-day)? Yes, 1.5 hrs.... which was a Friday night.... On a Sunday afternoon, only 30 mins! Yep!

Needless to say... it was a 'good-eats' weekend.

Jealous!

The kids are now out of school for the summer....

I called home today and Vim and the kids were in the pool!!!

UGGHHHH!

I totally got the short end of the stick!!

I want to be on summer vacation!!!

Another Book....

I forgot... There was another book that I have finished reading...

Eat, Pray, Love

So, that makes 5 completed and a 6th in progress... Not bad, eh?