Udaipur visit - Monsoon 2011

Today is our last day of vacation in Udaipur before we head back to Mumbai tomorrow. Ths kids enjoyed themselves a lot this time. Kabir has bonded very well with dadosa and dadisa and can spend the entire day with them without asking for me. And Anurag loves the sprawling house and the yard to walk around in all day and explore new things.
We did the usual things - boating on lake Fatehsagar, coffee and icecream at the lakeside stall, a day of shopping at Hathipol, walks around the house and to the river and eating a lot of good food at home. In addition, Kabir went out with dadosa almost everyday to the local fields and playgrounds and also spent a day at the zoo. As always, dadisa made a whole lot of good food- patre, khaman dhoklas, handva, maki ki dhokle and muthiye to name a few. This was my first time visiting Udaipur during the monsoons and it was beautiful!
On the terrace

Anu and dadisa

Icecream by Fatehsagar

Anu with Mira didi

With Pinky, Meera and Khamani didi in their khet
Exploring the backyard

peekaboo

One year since our move

It has now been a year since we returned back to India (as of July 10th). In this year we have come a very long way, physically and figuratively, from our life back in Portland. So much so that it is hard to believe that it has only been a year since we moved.

On this occasion, I want to post a really special video. This was recorded by Izabella and Iren last year in Portland. Kabir spoke fluent Hungarian at that time. Recently, when I showed this video to Kabir his response was, "What is this kid saying?". To me, nothing can be a better reminder of how much life has changed for us in the last year.

I get teary-eyed whenever I watch this video. We were packing our belongings in our home at that time and Iren had taken Kabir over to Izabella's house. In the video, Kabir first recites all his favorite nursery rhymes. Then he tells Izabella that he is going to leave for India in an aeroplane and finally he says goodbye to Izabella, Detti, Arpi and Iren - his second family in Portland.

Goa fun

Playing in the hotel's garden


Trip to Fort Aguada


Playing in the sand at Baga beach


Little champ

Anu takes a ride

Time to head back to Mumbai- waiting for the Konkan-kanya Express

Calm after the storm

Dressed up

Dressed for Meenal mausi's wedding in Goa

Thumbs down

Anurag's thumb got caught in the door yesterday. Its something that I am generally paranoid about as I always watch for little fingers on the edge before shutting any door (especially the car door). Yet, it happened by accident, right in front of me. His thumb started to bleed and swelled up. We rushed him to the hospital and got an x-ray done. Thankfully there was no fracture. We were referred to a surgeon since the cut is where his nail meets the skin. Fortunately the surgeon thought that the nail (which is all blue) will come out on its own and a new nail should be able to grow in its place. The thumb looks pretty ugly but the little guy is now oblivious to it now and is back to being merry.

Cars

Traffic jam in our house

Kabir's new school

Kabir started Kindergarten this week. I was concerned about how he would like it, considering he has never been very excited about Sishu Vihar. To my pleasant surprise, he LOVES his new school.

Kabir's new classroom. Can you spot him?


When I dropped him to his classroom on day 1, he held his teacher's hand and walked away without turning back to look at me. He came back home with a big smile on his face and many stories about his new Urvi teacher.

A poor picture, but one that captures the mood very well

Toothy grin