So we have moved in and by and large settled into the new home. It is larger and cooler than the previous home. There are so many kids and people and social life for the kids is at a high already. They went for the first bday do last evening!!Thanks for those who wished us on our move. Some home posts will surely follow.We tried thinking up a new name and decided we like the old one itself. Anyway the first one is in Chennai. So this will be Varnam Blore.Here is wishing ourselves good times ahea

Anushka is into reading chapter books in a big way and right now her favourite is the timeless staple- Enid Blyton.She was helping me sort the picture books for our move and paused every now and then to read old favourites.She was so moved by Tulika's Beboo Bear that I found her sobbing when I got back to the room. I felt really bad for assuming that she is old enough to read all picture books herself. While reading them is easy, the content of some books can be pretty d

Some milestones and inflexion points attained over the last couple of months. Some minor, some major, some that still need work!1. Ads' slight OCD behaviour continues! I'm not complaining since he's been channeling it in ways that are largely in my favour. For example, he gets back from school and will not have his milk unless he has cleared away his lunch box, put away his shoes, thrown his uniform into the laundry basket and compulsively tidied up the shoes/sandals that are lyin

Y has been attending a baby ballet class in Gurgaon for the last four or five months. I enrolled her for a lark, because she loves dancing and because I thought performing on stage would make her more confident and less of a shrinking violet. She’s been bunking half the classes this semester thanks to our crazy travelling and weekend breaks, which, given how expensive ballet classes are, has made me feel very guilty indeed! Barring the first couple of classes, I did not get to see what she ha

My November  session at Ananda Vidyalaya is on Chameleons and other crawlies.The super talented Artsy Craftsy will be conducting the craft session post this.Be there if you can. See the joy on the kids faces when you interact with them. It will leave you smiling for long.Do any of you have this book or read it? How is it?Pratham Books have evinced interest to donate books to AV . My friend S has also passed on some really good ones. THANKS!!Hope more such people out there will sen

At Atta Galatta I had a fun session with a good crowd of kids and parents. Used a mix of props and styles including Rajasthani puppets and song, dance and mime.Did twists and versions of familiar tales- Lion and the Mouse, The Talkative Tortoise, a groom for Roopmati, Gajapati Kulapati and The not so hungry caterpillar.Completely enjoyed myself. Hope this will be  a new beginning - in terms of story telling that is commercially rewarding as well!!**********We attended ACT's  ( Ashwini

Had a wonderful time at this inspiring place.I love how kids from all strata mingle at this library whose collection of books is now over 7000 with generous donations from volunteers in India and overseas.A playschool teacher- volunteer helped me along with the session since Oriya was what a few of the kids understood, not Hindi or English.

So the littlest one turned 4 a few days ago and she has been punching above her weight for so long now that I have to sometimes do a double check. FOUR? That's how old she is? Only FOUR?She's pretty tall for her age, well atleast more than averagely tall (maybe she'll get mine and my family's tall genes!). People tell me she looks thinner now than a few months ago but she's actually been getting heavier and taller so she looks a lot leggier. With her glasses and her shy smile, she looks older th

My cousin M made a surprise visit to Blore and the kids were bewitched! Aditi is calling herself " baby" nowadays. She proclaimed " I am M chithi's baby not your baby!!"Anush was curious to know if she was Tamilian and married- LOL! We also took M to Cmani for the first time and gorged at Little Italy to celebrate her promotion! Way to go M!Was in Delhi yesterday and was surprised by the chill there.

People are constantly amazed when they hear about the minsicule screen time my kids have. These discussions invariably happen in the company of friends and neighbours who are moaning about how much TV their kids watch, how they are addicted to video games/ipad/Wii/PSP and the computer. I am constantly being told about how video games and the like will take over my kids' life real soon. Just wait till Ads/Y are a little older and they will be addicted to XYZ, I hear. Well, I really don't think so