New Orleans!!!

 New Orleans was a fabulous place to visit, with so much history and in so many books.The boat of course, means to us the Mississipi

 And jazz! there was a music festival going on in memory of Louis Armstrong

 with people casually gathered to listen

The French Quarter was lovely

 Cafe le monde  world famous for coffee and french doughnuts  - beignets

 Selvi looking as good as ever

 Shop for voodoo and witchraft!

Hattiesburg

 Walking into Aunty's house at Hattiesburg is like a trip in nostalgia - all the summer holidays at Montieth lane come rushing back. It is totally comfort zone. You can put up your feet wherever you want, eat when you want, whatever you want, watch movies, hang out in the garden with the dogs and plants, talk, sleep, eat, read.. its a total holiday place. Unfortunately dont have pics of Aunty's fabulous Cadillac

 Aunty's collections of all that is cute fill the house

 Selvi took us to lunch at the Hilton. Oysters !, cooked over coal - rather nice if one can get over the mental block

 Meeting up with Selvi after more than 13 years. She still looks the same, but is much more bright and confident.

 Selva has the muscle of a body builder and has grown so much more mature and caring.

 Hasini - we spent just a day with her.

the land of the outsized. Dessert of a wonderful brownie and cream

Dallas

 The entry to Thambi and Vidya's fabulous home

 Vidya cooking as usual.

 Bro and sis - joined at the hip !

 Thambi did a great job of looking after Appa

Ramya with Surya. Arun and Ramya came for Thambi's 50th bday party. Unfortunately these are all the snaps I have on my phone.

HI people

Check out previous post. From Doctors without borders, we are going to Flying Doctors. Check out a member of the family doing service in Jordan.
hint watch closely around minute 2.

Medical Mission for Syrian Refugees in Jordan June 2014

Twelfth is over!

Happy birthday Dhachu Akka and Saroj Anna :)

I fiiinally got my marks!
I've applied for both engineering and medicine. Really hoping to get CMC or PSG!
My cut off is 198.25
I chose medicine over engineering because I've always wanted to join doctors without borders.

NANDHIKA R    ( 256730 )
Subject	Theory	Practical	Total
LANGUAGE			196
ENGLISH			188
PHYSICS	150	050	200
CHEMISTRY	149	050	199
BIOLOGY	147	050	197
MATHEMATICS	192		192
TOTAL			1172
RESULT	PASS

I've been rather AWOL from the internet recently, but for that my dad is to be blamed! Internet privileges do not come easy when you're in twelfth, I have now realised.

On an unrelated note, this is one of the poems I wrote recently! Please let me know what you think. It was for Medhas birthday :)

You're a tyrant, you're annoying, 

In all the ways there are, you're absurd, 

And Ill keep pictures to show you one day, 

What a crazy little girl you were. 

You're mentally deranged, retarded too,

Limits are simply not your thing, 

And I'm sorry you think you can, 

But I'm afraid you really, really can't sing :P 

You're a useless lump of fat;

You take up too much space; 

And by the way, your obsession with Chota Bheem, 

Well, I'm praying its just a phase. 

You scream, you sulk, you cry, 

But you know just what to say, 

Well aware; that that gap toothed smile, 

Will always help you get your way.

Somewhere in those 20kgs of evil, 

I suppose there's something nice, 

And later when you're faced with choices, 

I hope you do what's right. 

From the day that you were born, 

I knew things would never be the same,

But for not realising it would be the best thing that's happened to me, 

I guess I'm the one to blame. 

So one day you'll grow up, 

And things will stop making sense, 

What was once black and white and heaven, 

Will turns to shades of grey and Hell.

I hope you know ill be there, 

Watching over you every step of the way, 

And if a guy ever has the nerve to break your heart,

I might just break his face :P

As for me, I'm annoying, I'm protective, 

I scream much more than I should, 

And all the harsh words I've said over time; 

Id take back if I could. 

Days will pass and things will change,

But There's just one thing that I know,

You'll always be my little sister, 

No matter where you are, or how old you grow.

And wherever I am.. Is a place you can call home.

The wonderful Dal Lake, Srinagar

Living room of the houseboat. Richly carved throughout

People come to sell you everything - from flowers, seeds, shawls, woodwork, photos... even icecream and tea

Appa found it tough to get into and out of the little boat which takes you to the shore - so he sat where the boatman sits

What is Kashmir without flowers?

The Queen!

Shopping on the Lake - shops on all sides

Kashmir - Sonmarg

This kind of picture is inevitable if you go to Kashmir., so no laughing. At every place, there will be a dozen suits and a few people bugging you till you say okay. Unfortunately, i dont have the pics of MRG and Kalai and Dhruv to display here :-))))

Sonmarg was our first glimpse of snow and snow capped mountains. Simply marvelous. 

 And our first sledging experience. One guy pulls you up the slope and then pulls or pushes you downhill. 

You have to pay for extra gear - coats and boots, for the sledge and guy who pulls you up and then for the photos - expensive affair but we were euphoric. here at the top, we discard coats to pose in the sunshine.

Appa stayed dressed like this throughout. He enjoyed it except for the last day when it began raining and he couldnt bear the cold.

hi everyone,
short showers here in chennai in may. very welcome.
everybody off on a holiday somewhere.
kapu

Weekend viewing

I am back as Rabi Nambi !!!
Anyway
If you want to laugh out loud
then youtube - RHOD GILBERT LUGGAGE RANT, TOOTHBRUSH RANT AND ALSO CUSTOMER FEED BACK and I am sure it will make your day !
Have a nice weekend folks
Ravi

Niki'first semester break in feb 2014

It was a short one about 3 weeks and she left 3 days ago.It is always sad to see your kid leave even if you know it's for her good since its the start of her future path.now it's back to the same old routine of work .My son is sitting for his IGSCE trials in 2 weeks and exams proper in may ending in june 2014.Than his A levels will start and he is deciding on his career ,actually has already.that means getting ready to put him into a college for his next phase of studies.being a parent can be tough at times I guess.

I thought i would write a few lines becos seeing my daughter leave to india reminds me of my studies and all the good times we had together in montieth lane and Sivananda colony too.

Take are all of you

Regards

Kumari

womans day celebrations :

each block had to put up a channel surfing show.
i was grouped with the mother inn laws category in spite of taking sanjay along to impress them with my young age. no fooling them .
i tried to put in socially relevant themes like vaccination for pregnant women. they point blank refused . no serious issues.
anyway we went on to win the 2nd place out of a team of 5 participants. due to dance shows , mother in law dughter in law fights serial ,and cookery shows.

Celebrating Advaith's birthday - Ooty style -without him

Met Ravi in England for a change

Hi everyone, met Ravi in Derby. Went there with a friend of mine who was worried about a skin condition. He was told by Ravi to eat less curries and drink less alcohol, his wife is happy, he is'nt.
The two previous occasions we met were in NY and Chennai.
Anya is settling in. She got the equivalent of 94%, which prompted me to ask about the other 6%. Apparently the future is space engineering. Hopefully she will get a job when she finishes.
If anybody has not seen GRAVITY I strongly recommend it. .Best seen in 3D IMAX. You are almost in space.
I am training for a half Marathon which is in four weeks. Unfortunately I have to make my own protein drinks , buy my own nuts bananas etc. After all this training I have only lost the extra weight I put on over X Mas. Raising money for MS Society.
Seen Sajit's latest profile pic - impressive

everybodys busy kya ???????????

lots of people visit the blog but dont seem to write. so i dint want february to go without comment ,hence the aimless early morning musings.

north indian decor -12,000 rs.flowers from calcutta. 

 
babu should be free now that anya is in college ,but no sign of him or ravi on the blog.
partially its the whats up vetti group which is the reason. it had become slightly addictive at start and now settling in to a comfortale way of communication.
no upcoming functions to meet relatives at present. and no holiday plans for another 2 months.
i am visiting the temple more often nowadays, trying for atleast once a week all because i got drawn into being a temple trustee. since my religious knowledge can be fitted on one side paper, my main role is keeping the minutes of the meet and being an yes yes person all the time. following appas footsteps ,who though he never voluntarily visits temple was selected as temple president in sivanandha colony becuase he was neutral. here its more fun . the north side wants ostentatious celebrations ,but are able to generate the required funds, while the south are more careful ,and try to save money for long time expenses. and then there are the prasdam problems .the north wants milk peda, mixture and dry clean costly items while the south wants puliodharai and pongal in a dhonai. so we compromise and have both. i sometimes think its so much trouble managing two exreme vies in a complex of 400 houses , how can manmohan singh and sonia govern ssuch a vast mingling of ideaologies !!!!!!!!.

south indian decor,-10 rs. 

Appeal

HI everyone

Ive just entered a Beautiful homes contest with a blog post. The entry with the most number of valid and real comments wins. So help by posting appreciative comments

Its here..
http://mittaipink.wordpress.com/2014/01/31/colours-in-the-belfry/

so come on and round up and help win the laptop prize. My pc is too outdated.

Adelaide Holiday

Sorry I just found Kapu chittis post as a draft and republished it.
Some photos of adelaide and the house here.

Trip to Hahndorf, a little German village near here that is preserved exactly as it was 100 years ago and of course is mostly a tourist attraction now

Pal kachifying on the first day

 Our backyard :)

 Sindhu and Rakesh discussing if this tree is a banana or not. Apparently not, its a traveller's palm, an african tree.

 Feeding the Kangaroos

 And the emus

 First night at home we spent playing Xbox

 Messy house boxes all over the place. Its much neater now i promise :DD

 This is how Sindhu and Rakesh settle their arguments :D

 New year's eve on the beach waiting for the fireworks. Unfortunately i dont have good photos f the fireworks

 Trip to Barossa valley, the major wine area here

 Looking up for a better photo:)

 Amma and appa wine tasting

 And buying lots of bottles to take back!

 Happy after all the wine!!!