Rest and Relaxation - and Lauren's new bike

Today I had a few friends over for lunch. Sheela had the house all in order and all the cooking done by noon...

My Mom is loving Sheela. Here is Mom relaxing while Sheela cooks!

Lauren outgrew her old bicycle. She is in love with her new India Princess bike. It has a HUGE front basket, a back storage pod and even a bell!!

Oh, yeah... and hand brakes!! Who puts hand brakes only on a bike meant for 3 year olds?? Welcome to India. Also, along the vein of no bumpers in the bowling alley, the training wheels are about 3 inches off the ground AND the roads here slope about 20 degrees away from the center line. Thankfully, Challu runs around after her all day, saving her from one disastrous crash after another.

Slumdog Millionaire

Months ago I started reading all the hype surrounding a little movie from India called Slumdog Millionaire. It opened long ago in theaters across America and has been getting rave reviews, multiple Golden Globes and 8 Oscar nominations!!! Strangely, it just opened here in India last week. We went to see it on Saturday night and really loved it.

As you can imagine, it has created quite a stir here in India. BUT, not in a good way. For the most part, people here are embarrassed by the film. They think it depicts India in a negative way. I saw one article where it was referred to as "white man's imagined India". I think that the middle and upper class here in India feels that they have finally come so far toward feeling less like the third world country that westerners think of them as and that this film somehow takes away from that. Rubbish, I say. Go see the movie and judge for yourself.

Bowling and Basketball

This weekend was a birthday party marathon. We left for party #1 at 9:45am. It was an 11am party at Amoeba Bowl in the city. Traffic was bad and we were the first guests to arrive at 11:15am (we even beat the birthday girl!). Can you imagine driving for 90 minutes to reach a birthday party that is just 15 miles away?? The bowling alley is very modern and nice. One small difference to note is that the balls come in size small, medium, or large. No weights on them at all. One MAJOR difference... NO BUMPERS!!! Can you imagine a bunch of children - most of them Indian and never have bowled before - without bumpers?? This is pretty much the theme in India. Sink or swim . Watch your step or you will fall through the hole in the sidewalk. During school competitions, there are winners and there are losers... and you know whether you have won or lost. None of this "we don't really keep score" business. 4 full frames of bowling until the first pin toppled! It was pretty agonizing to watch, but I must say, as the games progressed, there were fewer and fewer gutter balls.

After the bowling, they served food in the "Amoeba Lounge". A grilled cheese sandwich, chicken "drummetes", a vegetable spring roll and french fries. We have come a long way in India, I thought, as I sat eating a plate of food served to me in a bowling alley!!

After lunch, it was up the stairs to the game center. Pat went straight for the speed basketball hoop... were he was thrilled to shatter the standing point total record. Taylor hauled away the hundreds of winning tickets (did I mention that absolutely nobody plays basketball in India??)

After the cake we rushed out into the waiting car... to get back home in time for party #2 - which we did with 15 minutes to spare!

Sunday was a bit more relaxed. Andrew loved having Grandma to help him with his homework...

Oasis Center

Today we went to Oasis Center. This pretty much completes the circuit of my weekly "rounds". As always, we went directly to the 4th floor so I could get my delicious latte at Gloria Jeans. Mom opted for an iced coffee (testing her stomach with India's cold milk!). As usual, Lauren got a scoop of ice cream with rainbow sprinkles at Cold Stone. We picked up a few local treats at the market to have for an afternoon snack. A vegetable moneybag and a kheema samosa (which is filled with ground lamb) served with traditional indian mixed pickle...

Mom loved it!!
Arjun must have smelled the snacks and came by for a visit with Lauren ...

Jewlery and Books

Rainbows on roses and whiskers on kittens. Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens. Brown paper packages tied up with strings. These are a few of my favorite things.

If they re-wrote this song for my Mom, surely included on her list would be jewelry and books.
Today we went into the city with my friend and neighbor, Padmaja, to visit Blossom Books, a used book store. We passed by this street book vendor on our way...
Then it was on to Blossom... 2 levels of used books - great prices...Mom loved browsing, and bought several books...
Padmaja was born and raised in Bombay, so she knows her way around the streets of India. A trip to the city with her is always an adventure. I like to have the driver drop me right at the store front... she prefers to walk the streets! Mom went right along, like a pro...

She took us to one of her favorite local shops, where we got the "carpet talk". Mom almost fell over when they told her this carpet cost $5,000 USD...

She settled for a much less expensive, but equally beautiful and unique ring instead. Padmaja made sure she got the absolute best discount price!

So Mom had another great afternoon, full of a few of her favorite things!

Let's see India...

OK, enough of this Palm Meadow isolation. Today we hit the streets. The day started slow, with Kumar (the fill in driver) hanging a hammock that Sheela and Challu brought for Lauren. It is common for the driver to take care of these household tasks.

Lauren loves the hammock...

I thought a trip to the Leela Palace for some shopping and lunch would be a good first adventure for my Mom. As we drove past Palm Meadows security at the exit, I was excited to see Mom's reaction to the India street scene...

She was completely unfazed!!! Although she did appreciate the stark contrast as we pulled around to the Leela Palace...

We shopped and ate in luxury... Mom was not quite seeing what is all the fuss about the hardship in Bangalore!!

Tomorrow my neighbor Paddy is taking us to a used book shop in the city. NOT the Leela, I can assure you!!

Grandma day two... more Palm Meadows...

So... day 2 of India. Following proper guest protocol, we stayed in Palm Meadows only for day 2! It was Republic Day today, a national holiday, so we had a relaxing day. Starting with idly for breakfast...

Then on to some reading on the terrace...

A walk to the market, followed by a glass of wine and a card game with Taylor...

Tomorrow the kids are back to school and we will head out into town. Then the fun will begin! Stay tuned.