Am leaving today from Chennai. I never thought that I will miss anything, but today I could think of 101 reasons why I would miss this place - being able to talk in tamil, autowallahs, food, music on FM, Surya sweets and greens etc., etc., Hmmmmm...

Anyways - will soon start posting from Bangalore. Till then, Ciao.

When you transfer from one place to another, if the movement of household items are taken care of, then it is a BIG relief.

We are shifting house for the sixth time in the past three years - across cities and within cities. I seem to know the Things to be done (TTBD in short), by heart! All the shifting has been done by movers and packers so far and we are not worried about moving our stuff anymore. Our experiences have been very good.

All you need to worry about is the associated things like (I just can't stop myself from listing it down :))

• Pay your maid /doodhwala (milkman)/newspaper wala
• Redirecting your mails
• Cancelling all your phone (landline/mobile) connections
• If you feel like it, throwing off the unwanted clothes/storage materials/papers etc.,
• Transferring your gas connection/ration card (Why we dont need to do this qualify for a separate post. One of these days I may end up writing that sob story :( )

Today we went to Hutch shop and Airtel to enquire about the cancellation procedure. Was very surprised that they dont insist on written requests anymore. Hutch, for example says that your bills will reach you by email and when you get the new connection, you can email them at hutchcare.chennai@hutch.co.in to cancel it. Pretty impressive development I should say!

Bought a new mobile phone /handset today. It is a sony ericsson - model w700i (walkman series) costing Rs.12,500.

So far, I always have had handsets that serves the basic purposes - to talk and to send/receive text messages. And was loyal to Nokia.

Have done the basic exploration of the new handset - it has got

• 2 mega pixel camera
• FM radio
• walkman
• expandable memory etc., etc.,

We decided on this after looking at w550i(rejected because of no expandable memory) and Nokia 7610 (no FM).

I've been listening to FM in the new phone and I've one comment - sound quality not very good if it is on speaker. The head phones is great!

Yesterday we went and bought woollens for Kimaya from Lifestyle in the Chennai City center mall on R.K Salai.

This mall is a place we frequent, especially to Landmark and Lifestyle - even before the food court and other shops like health and glow, Reynolds etc., started off. I think they have recently opened the movie screens also - we saw the INOX ticket counter.Parking facilities are good (Just after the rains we went there on a Saturday night and had to park at the basement 2. Not a very great experience. But if you can park at B1, then it is cool.) Food court is spacious and the variety that is offered is good.

I was freaking out at the kids section of Lifestyle - we bought lots of stuff that she needs and a few items because we both wanted to :) . If the items are not imported, I found the prices reasonable. So far, whatever we have bought from here - clothes / accesories / household items / kids clothes and toys - quality is great. I just love shopping here and am happy that they have got branches in Bangalore also!

Today I added the 'as a mom' to the existing title of this blog. I think that will be apt as I'm going to start back at work from next month.

Hope sharing my experiences will be of some help to working-mothers and prospective mothers !

Kimaya is four months old. She makes all sorts of noises and wants us to understand. She rules my life. Latest is that I can't talk to people if she is not okay with it. (She expresses everything by crying / screaming).

Have been at home for almost 5 months and will be back to work from Dec 6th. I've now got used to doing things when she is asleep - planning unconsciously. Dont know what will be the status after going to work.

We are moving back to Bangalore because as if I've to continue to work, I needed a good support system at home. Leaving the child with a babysitter without any supervision was a definite no no. I dont think we can work peacefully. This is an advice that I had got from several working-mothers. We are yet to look for a baby sitter in Bangalore. The process will start only after we move there.

Awareness about various investment options has increased over time. Getting the right information at the right time, due to technological development has made it possible.

Bank Fixed deposits have lost their focus as the interest rates have fallen down. Everyone is calculating ROI on every investment made. Hence for the higher risk takers stock market has become a key area to invest and for the moderate risk takers mutual funds has become THE option.

For those who are investing in India in stocks and mutual funds, http://www.hdfcsec.com and http://www.mutualfundsindia.com are good reference sites.

Off late, gold (in the form of biscuits) is looked at as another investement option. I've heard of a person who buys a sovereign of gold every month once the car loan emi got over and another one who buys almost 8-10 sovereigns per year for her daughters.

Now, where should you buy such gold biscuits - should it be from jewellers? or should it be from banks? or should it be from the commodities market itself? I dont know, but for those who want to choose, here is an interesting 'must read' article I came across! It is a real eye opener.

Today is world Diabetes day. Both my parents have diabetes. Detected almost 3-4 years back. They started with allopathy, having dianil (or one of those brands with same composition) everyday morning and night. Blood sugar level reduced, but they started having other side effects. My dad's body heat increases whenever he has any sort of allpathic medicine, which happened with this also. My mom had guiddiness in the morning and frequent hunger pangs. They were following the prescribed diet carefully.

After sometime they really got fed up and started to look for some alternate medicine to keep it under control. In my home town they heard that siddha medicines is working for quite a few people and started having that (powdered medicinal herbs filled in a capsule instead of the 'kashayam'). The person who was giving them their medicines was not a qualified doc in alternate medicines but an assistant to a doc. And hence their blood sugar level did not reduce, but atleast it did not increase much and they did not have the side effects.

When they had come to Chennai few months back one of my mom's friends told her that her diabetes is fully under control after she took medicines from a Siddha doctor in Vadapalani. So my parents also went there and started taking the medicines - in four to five months time, both their blood sugar and urine sugar have come down (almost 30 points per month) and their health has improved visibly.

Though I'm not a firm believer of alternate medicines, since this has worked for my parents, I wanted to share with you all.

For those who are interested, the doc's address is given below:

Dr. Balan,
15/12, Thiruvengadum Street, (Near MM Jewellery)
Virugambakkam,
Chennai.

Telephone number: 91-44-23774240

This post is a cut and paste from Mr David Appasamy's blog (a member of chennai metro bloggers site). I enjoyed it thorrroughly!!!

This hilarious article was apparently written by a Dutchman who spent two years in India, as a visiting expert. Not only did he survive two years of traveling on Indian roads, he did so with his sense of humor intact! Read on and enjoy!

“For the benefit of every Tom, Dick and Harry visiting India and daring to drive on Indian roads, I am offering a few hints for survival. They are applicable to every place in India except Bihar, where life outside a vehicle is only marginally safer”

Indian road rules broadly operate within the domain of karma where you do your best, and leave the results to your insurance company. The hints are as follows:

Do we drive on the left or right of the road? The answer is both! Basically you start on the left of the road, unless it is occupied. In that case, go to the right, unless that is also occupied. Then proceed by occupying the next available gap, as in chess. Just trust your instincts, ascertain the direction, and proceed. Adherence to road rules leads to much misery and occasional fatality. Most drivers don't drive, but just aim their vehicles in the generally intended direction.

Don't you get discouraged or underestimate yourself except for a belief in reincarnation; the other drivers are not in any better position. Don't stop at pedestrian crossings just because some fool wants to cross the road. You may do so only if you enjoy being bumped in the back. Pedestrians have been strictly instructed to cross only when traffic is moving slowly or has come to a dead stop because some minister is in town. Still some idiot may try to wade across, but then, let us not talk ill of the dead.

Blowing your horn is not a sign of protest as in some countries. We horn to express joy, resentment, frustration, romance and bare lust (two brisk blasts),or just mobilize a dozing cow in the middle of the road. Keep informative books in the glove compartment. You may read them during traffic jams, while awaiting the chief minister's motorcade, or waiting for the rainwater to recede when over ground traffic meets underground drainage.

Occasionally you might see what looks like a UFO with blinking colored lights and weird sounds emanating from within. This is an illuminated bus, full of happy pilgrims singing ‘bhajans’ or religious songs. These pilgrim buses go at breakneck speed, seeking contact with the Almighty, often meeting with success.

Auto Rickshaw (Baby Taxi): The result of a collision between a rickshaw and an automobile, this three-wheeled vehicle works on an external combustion engine that runs on a mixture of kerosene oil and creosote. This triangular vehicle carries iron rods, gas cylinders or passengers three times its weight and dimension, at an unspecified fare. After careful geometric calculations, children are folded and packed into these auto rickshaws until some children in the periphery are not in contact with the vehicle at all. Then their school bags are pushed into the microscopic gaps all round so those minor collisions with other vehicles on the road cause no permanent damage. Of course, the peripheral children are charged half the fare and also learn Newton's laws of motion en route to school.Auto-rickshaw drivers follow the road rules depicted in the film Ben Hur, and are licensed to irritate.

Mopeds: The moped looks like an oil tin on wheels and makes a noise like an electric shaver. It runs 30 miles on a teaspoon of petrol and travels at break-bottom speed. As the sides of the road are too rough for a ride, the moped drivers tend to drive in the middle of the road; they would rather drive under heavier vehicles instead of around them and are often "mopped" off the tarmac.

Leaning Tower of Passes: Most bus passengers are given free passes and during rush hours, there is absolute mayhem. There are passengers hanging off other passengers, who in turn hang off the railings and the overloaded bus leans dangerously, defying laws of gravity but obeying laws of surface tension. As drivers get paid for overload (so many Rupees per kg of passenger), no questions are ever asked. Steer clear of these buses by a width of three passengers.

One-way Street: These boards are put up by traffic people to add jest in their otherwise drab lives. Don't stick to the literal meaning and proceed in one direction. In metaphysical terms, it means that you cannot proceed in two directions at once. So drive as you like, in reverse throughout, if you are the fussy type. Least I sound hyper critical; I must add a positive point also.

Rash and fast driving: in residential areas has been prevented by providing a "speed breaker"; two for each house. This mound, incidentally, covers the water and drainage pipes for that residence and is left untarred for easy identification by the corporation authorities, should they want to recover the pipe for year-end accounting.

Night driving on Indian roads: can be an exhilarating experience for those with the mental make up of Genghis Khan. In a way, it is like playing Russian roulette, because you do not know who amongst the drivers is loaded. What looks like premature dawn on the horizon turns out to be a truck attempting a speed record. On encountering it, just pull partly into the field adjoining the road until the phenomenon passes. The roads do not have shoulders, but occasional boulders. Do not blink your lights expecting reciprocation. The only dim thing in the truck in the driver, and with the peg of illicit arrack (alcohol) he has had at the last stop, his total cerebral functions add up to little more than a naught.

Truck drivers are the James Bonds of India, and are licensed to kill. Often you may encounter a single powerful beam of light about six feet above the ground. This is not a super motorbike, but a truck approaching you with a single light on, usually the le ft one. It could be the right one, but never get too close to investigate. You may prove your point posthumously”.

Dutchman or not, you have to admit this is a brilliant, satirical take on driving on Indian roads, peppered with some exaggeration!

Was just wondering about a few things yesterday. This post may not be coherrent or make any sense. Pardon me for that.

If you think that you want to be happy, whatever happens, you will still be happy is what I started to believe. But what I found out is that if you are not destined to be happy, then you will never be. Something or other can come up unexpectedly to put you back in the worrying/negative state of mind.

When your daughter is crying because a cut which is bleeding, how much ever practical you are, your heart rules. And when two people, who are close to you are suggesting two different things at that moment, you are really confused. Atleast I was! Balanced decision and being diplomatic are no where near!

It is very cloudy outside and my mood is also like that. Dont feel like doing any work including taking care of Kimaya. Hope it will get better as the day progresses.

Forgot to mention about developments of Kimaya. She has started to turn on her stomach quite often. She seems to be very impatient in life. The moment she perfected the turning part, she wants to move.. As she is not getting it, she starts crying. As a third person if I look at it, I really feel like laughing. As a mom, it is very upsetting to see her frustrated. I dont think I'll ever get bored in life for sometime now!!

And in Sa re ga ma pa - little champs, which got over a week back, Sanchita won and Diwakar was the first runner up. As the weeks went by, his expressions became better. And I guess he will be indebted to Zee TV Sa re ga ma pa and Alka Yagnik for this amazing change in his singing. I feel happy for him.

Today had been a busy day. Went to lots of places with SIL and family. Thought about Kimaya only when she needed a feed. Shameless!! Actually did not want to additionally crowd her when already so many people were around her.
I particularly liked Toys R here which is on Nungambakkam High Road that is diagonally opposite to the Park hotel. Never take kids there - you will have your pocket empty :-). Too many choices. You get everything for kids that you get in a place like US. Amazing... One problem is that you have to go there more than once to familiarize yourself first about the things that are there. Cant go in a hurry. ( May be it was because we went while they were about to close the shop)

Have changed the template of the blog. I like it, Do you??
While I was reviewing the details of my profile, I just realised, ever since I started writing this blog, there has not been much happening at work :-). I will soon join work and then there may be lots to write up to match the blog name.
Wait and watch!

When I got transferred to Chennai, the music fest was just getting over. The way things are shaping up, I may be going out of Chennai before the music fest is starting this year...
Anyways, planning to attend a few of the programmes in the November fest. For those who have not heard about it yet , this is the link - http://www.hinduonnet.com/novfestx/who.htm.
Going to check a few things on search engine optimisation. Want to improvise my blog and make people visit it :-).