Dusshera is here!

Nine days of celebrations have started all over India. In some parts, Dusshera is celebrated as Durga Puja. Dandya (dance) has caught on as the new face of Dusshera in parts that don't typically do Dandya. Last night, we had an hour of Dandya at Brigade Millennium (our residential community) with performances from kids and parents. It was a nice evening and a well organised celebration.

Vallabh's school closed for Dusshera on Wed last week, and reopens on 3rd October. Before they closed, the school had a 'Live Golu' in celebration of the festival. 'Golu or Navarathri' is another way Dusshera is celebrated in South India. Vallabh was dressed as 'Lakshmana' from Ramayana (see pic).

Keshav is his usual uncaring self. He's turning into a tough 2-year old who has an opinion on everything. He talks if anyone cares to listen. It's wonderful watching him do things, so different from Vallabh during his age. By the way, he doesn't have any friends of his own, but plays with his older brother's friends and toys.

Anu is taking swim lessons every weekend early in the morning. We wake up, see her leave, and go right back to sleep. She's also taking music lessons and finds time to take Vallabh to drawing and sloka classes here at Brigade. We're thinking of putting Keshav in school towards the end of this year.

Chandar's work is going well. The last few weeks have been hectic 12 hour days. It'd be nice to take a break and visit Chennai (again) this week.

More pics on our flickr site

Elephant Ride

Yesterday we went to B'getta National Park with the kids and our chittappa who's visiting us from Chennai. All of us went on an Elephant Joy Ride before going to the zoo. The kids got their first hand experience of elephant travel - could come handy for negotiating the notorious Bangalore roads.

We rode on 'Vanaraja' while 'Gayathri' was looking (the names of the elephants)

Pics on our flickr site