'Candle in the phone?!!'

It took me sometime  to realise why my son was blowing with all his might into the receiver of the phone mid-way through the conversations, y'day , whenever someone called  and asked specifically to speak to him.

They were singing his ' Appappachi' song over the phone, and the lil' fellow was doing the blowing the candle part in-between !!!

:)

Apartment Hunt - Part 2

Then there was this house owner, who said that  he cannot rent out his house to us, 'coz we have small children, who will mess up his house.

And then there was one who said, he cannot give his house as my parents' or R's parents being there, means more no. of people in the home, which he doesn't like.

And have you heard the latest- the owner needs 1k more from us than the rent he was getting from his previous tenants, as they were a family of 2 , whereas we are a family of 4!!!(Wonder whether the apartment size also grows, when the no. of members in the family increase)Doesn't that mean that its .5 k rent per child per month as hostel rent?!!!

Wonder , what all we need to go through before we find a decent place to stay!!!

Appappachi to you

My son has  been singing the 'Appappachi '(Happy Birthday) song for quite sometime now.As part of the buildup to his birthday which is today, we all'd been singing this to him and he was enjoying it too. But the anti-climax was that , today when we sang it, he was like ' Ildildilde!!!'(which is his way of saying Illa, illa-meaning no no). Looks like he's become quite bored with the song now !!!

At the day-care that he'd been attending while in Bangalore, there were birthday celebrations once a week-every friday, where all kids' whose birthday falls on that week, would cut the cake and then there would be a party. And on fridays, he's not that happy on seeing me or R, when we go to pick him up from the day-care.Its like given a choice, he'd like to stay back for some more time, kinds.  Too bad, he couldn't celebrate his b'day there amongst kids his age. And he has not started going to day-care here. We are planning to have cake cutting et al here at home as well.Hope that makes up.

Lights, Camera Action!

These days, when I get into the kitchen, its as if to shoot for a cookery show. Can you believe that?!!

All ingredients will be ready and kept in bowls based on instructions that were given earlier.  I just need to take the right quantity and mix and bake or cook as required. And I get into the kitchen to cook only when I fancy. And I cook/make only fancy stuff these days  like Chocolate Roller coaster etc.

One of  the many advantages of having a maid!!! What a lazy bum I've become. But I do miss running my own  show sometimes. Donno when those days will return. Not too soon, I hope, as I already have enough on my hands  with Ac and Ad.

Gopalakrishna Panickar enna House Owner

Remember the character played by Mohanlal in 'Sanmanassullavarkku Samadhanam'? The antics he indulges in to get the tenants to vacate his house? Wasn't he so lovable?

Well thats the last quality  I can attribute to my current house owner.We discovered that he is a royal pain, so much so that, we have given notice to move out of our current apartment , where we have stayed for just 2 months!!!

We had liked this apartment so much, it was ideally located -  near the NH, yet tucked in , less noise, easy accessibility- we didn't have to think twice before choosing this one.R was apprehensive, 'coz the house owner was staying in the adjacent one. But I didn't think that was much of an issue as we'd be minding our business and them theirs--but that was not to be.

In our haste, we overlooked checking out  some basic minimum fittings like the plumbing work for washing machine, exhaust fan connection et al, and repent we did.

I approach him(Let's call him 'G'( Gem of a person) to talk about the same, and to my dismay he says a big 'NO' to the same, his reasons being

1.) You did not tell me, before taking the house.I cannot fit anything more as the deal has been signed.

2.) Previous tenant did not have all that.

I had a good mind to say that previous tenant did not pay as much rent as well, but refrained.
You see we've always belonged to the category of those less fortunate souls who have to live in rented apartments,but I must say we had not faced such issues before.
Maybe things are different in non -metros. In Chennai as well as Bangalore, we had all facilities provided by the house owners, if something was missing, we just had to tell them , they'd either fix it for us or ask us to go ahead and do it ourselves and deduct from next month's rent!!!

I walk back saying 'OK , I'll get it done myself at my own cost' . Then Mr. G comes running behind and says 'Since you've decided to go ahead , I would like to let you  know that I can allow only premium fittings in my apartment'!!!

We realised then of the shape of things to come.

Its been a very eventful two months, since then,with lots of anxious queries for anything and everything rite from rent payment even before the month ends  to worries that  my toddler mite draw on the walls and complaints on car parking, basically everything under the sun was fast becoming a problem!!!

And we reached our wits' end when, on coming back after a week's break from R's home, uncle G. comes and complains that ' You did not tell me before going away, you are yet to learn the basics of community living!!!' to which R replies ' We thot we just have to tell the caretaker, since its his job, didn know we have to tell you as well!!'

To keep it short  we gave in our notice and are on the lookout of new apartment!!!

Oh Blog , thy Name!!!

There's been no end to the no. of times I change my blog title. Everytime I login I change it. I think I'll have to do a re-cap  every now and then in my posts, so that I can tag the chronological order :)

 

From  ' An afterthought ' to  ' Is it me'? ' to ' Thinking Aloud' to 'Cacophonix Chronicles' to 'A penny for my thoughts' to 'Blogmatix.me.in' to ' Jusforkix', I would call that quite a journey!!! :)

But I like this one very much, I guess this name will stay.

I've always been an ardent Asterix fan. So the influence is obvious :)

What say wot what? hic!

:)

Apartment apartment everywhere, not even one for rent

That has been the situation that we find ourselves in,  out here in Tvpm.We see big banners and cut outs everywhere of apartments and villas, in such astronomical prices, but the problem is that most of them are in the 'under construction' phase.

Can you believe that furnished apartments in the city comes for a monthly rent of 25k? I was shocked to say the least.

We've not been able to find one that fits the bill. If one specification is met, the rest are obviously not !!! If we get an unfurnished one, the location is not good, if those two are satisfied, then the no. of rooms are not enough...no end to our worries.

Keeping fingers crossed. Hope I find my beautiful home soon.

Left handed compliment

Thats what I think of what  Am. Prez said the other day about how people in his country were facing food shortages 'coz us here in India have suddenly started eating more!!!

I thot that would've more to do with  good portion of the grain production going for bio-fuel research et al

Even if indeed it has to do with Indians eating more, then ,  I would be proud indeed , as that is clearly an indicator if how our living standards are improving.

Way to go , India

One moment here, another gone

This is my biggest problem.
One moment I'll be all over it and the next moment I'll be too lazy to even bother about it.
I fear that I won't be continuing the blog, simply 'coz I'm too lazy.
I hope I will get over this phase soon.
I hope I'll continue blogging  'justforkix'!!!

Baby Talk

I realised , how much of baby talk I do in my daily conversations, recently when a very funny incident happened. While pregnant with my second one,I used to take short breaks from work to walk about, in my company's sprawling campus in Bangalore. This campus is very unique, it is a ' See it to believe it' kind of place-lush green with , completely in tune with nature-lots of trees and plants of all varieties et al.

Just behind my building, stands a big tree , a very old one with a big hollow bark. As I was passing by, I hear a frantic 'Meow' from somewhere, I couldn't locate, from where. And then I notice this little kitten, hanging from the lowest branch of the tree using its front paws ,to save itself from the fall, crying in distress. It had not even opened its eyes, must've been just a day old.Just above the branch was the hollow bark and inside it was the mother cat and the rest of its litter, the mother cat looking at the young one , not knowing what to do.There were Associates walking about in the stone pavement near the tree, the cat wouldn't be able to come down , I knew that for sure. I stood there helplessly as well,as I had read somewhere that some cats abandon their offspring, if its touched by humans.My instinct was to stand right beneath the kitten with my 'Duppatta' so that if and when the kitten falls, it can fall safely into my 'Duppatta'.

Luckily, I didn't do such stuff, after all what would my teammates think, if they happen to see their Project Manager in such a scene!!!

I was looking around wondering what to do and the mother cat had started thinking of me as an unwelcome intruder and was staring at me. I dare not touch its young one. At this point another associate - a total stranger was coming from the opposite direction oblivious to the whole scenario. He looked at me puzzled, wondering whether I needed any help. The point to be noted is that , I was heavily pregnant at the time and seeing my expression, he was wondering whether I was in distress. He asks me whether I need any help. I blurt out ' Theres a little Pussy cat over there, it needs help'. Now whats wrong with that statement, you must be wondering. Nothing but that I used baby talk when I said pussy cat, to be precise, I said 'Pushi (shi as in 'sssh'i) cat'. ' A what?' says he, quite confused.I point to the tree and he says' Oh , a cat, you mean!'. He shrugs his shoulders as if to say , theres nothing much we can do abt it. The little kitten decided to take matters into its hands and just let go of the branch and fell down with a thud. The mother cat sprang down in a split second and took its young one back to the bark.

The guy smiled at me and walked away and so did I. But I was quite embarrassed . All this baby talk with my first one, was influencing my language in such a big way - but then consoled myself thinking, there would be a phase in his life as well, when he also would be doing such baby talk happily :)

Season of Weddings

This is no ordinary wedding season. Year 2008 has brought me one good news after another, of 'Good ole' friends tying the knot. When I say ' Good Ole' I mean 'Good Ole' (wink).

Some of our very good friends who had remained single, coz they couldn't find their soul mates or 'coz of many other commitments, are finding time and luck this year.And this starts the age old debate on 'what the right age for marriage is?'.

Many friends of mine who married quite early (i.e , in their early-mid twenties) vouch for that, while others who preferred to wait for some more time, found bliss in their choice as well. Then there are some who say that 'Its always wise to postpone, since with marriage comes endless responsibilities, so why not enjoy for some more years before you take the plunge'.

One thing I've noticed is that ' There indeed is a general rush so that certain milestones can be achieved' - like say, to have your children before you are 30. Partly 'coz of health concerns , partly 'coz of the sense of achievement/pride that accompanies the successful completion of milestones.

I know of a guy who used to boast that ' He was the youngest in class'--no no, not while at school, he must have been atleast 24 yrs old then!!! I don't understand, what credit he holds for that,it was solely 'coz of the Govt's policy of age regulation from KG onwards, that his 'seniors' agewise ended up in his class!!!

Coming back to today's point, Here' wishing all the very best to our friends who are getting married this season and here's hoping that the couple of remaining friends--the ones who are closest to my heart, will get married in this year too.

Contradicting Quotes!!!

I was inspired by Paulo Coelho's famous words “When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you achieve it.” while reading 'The Alchemist' . Infact from my life's experiences too, I have found these words to be true.
But offlate I've been wondering whether anyone has said before that " When you dont want something to happen, you find that it happens to you, with or without the help of the conspiring universe!!!" ( something you've dreaded ,even when the chances of it happening was miniscule or remote,)
10 years back,I had moved out of Tvpm- where I was born and brought up, to Chennai where a Techy job beckoned . Eversince, I must admit, I was not particularly fond of coming back to Tvpm to settle down. And honestly, I didn't think I'd ever have to do it. And marriage took me to Bangalore, the place , where I had always wanted to settle down, if I were to be in India.And we bought a home in Cochin as part of our backup plans so that if at all we came back to Kerala, thats where we wanted to live.I'd always dreaded coming back to Tvpm, donno why.

Now look at me.Life has come a full circle for me. I am at Tvpm now, believe it or not.Its not the same old me, lock, stock and barrelwise -- while it was just Me who went to Chennai, its a package of me , my husband and two adorable kids, who have come back !!! I have nothing against the place 'as is', but its just that I never thought I'd be living here. It was always Bangalore for me. And when the topic of coming down to Tvpm came up when R got a good break here, I brought up all my case points against moving. All said and done, here we are, as the positives outweighed the negatives.
Donno for how long, we'll be here, but the point I am 'Thinking Aloud' today is about how the very thing that you dreaded always happens to you.What else can explain, about me being here now?!!

So while I believe in Paula Coelho, I believe in the Quote that I made too :)