December so far....

There are certain things all of us want to do...n when u do that something....U end up feeling happy and nice!!

There are times when to do things u like doing....Ur friends kinda become indispensible souls...not coz they support u...but coz they complement u!!

What started out with a trip to Chennapatna to attend a friend of friend's wedding..n then to buy toys for the children from various orphanages and other centres across Bangalore..to an ex-cab-mate's dinner treat...to a dear friend's wedding...to giving demos on domestic waste management:)....to Christmas parties..to sitting along the banks of a river....to teaching experiences....to just about lazing at home....sleeping, watching TV and reading....My December so far...has seen a lot of variety!!

Its almost like a month...where u want to do everything u didnt do...the entire year.....right from financial investments:)....that is as my friend put it....if u have the finances in the 1st place....to finishing off ur gift vouchers.....lest they expire...or a time to plan that vacation or a much needed break......lest ur leaves expire:)....or a time of sheer reflection...on what u did....or did not do...n with TVs loaded with the best/worst moments of the past year....December sure is eventful:)

I didnt want this post to be long...so have added sub-links to some of the events that have made my December memorable:)

*Chenna

**Life Skills programme

***Shila weds DJ

****Bubbles Christmas party

*****Missionaries of Charity Christmas party

******Doddamakali outing--Triiiiiippppyy!

Chenna

There are times when I have hoped n hoped against hope.. that my cab to work... took me out... ...out n out...on an outing....to Mysore or to that Kamat Lokaruchi in Ramanagaram...or just abt anywhere....[these r usually the days when I have deadlines to meet at work:)]

So, when Shila asked me if I would accompany her to Chennapatna to attend her friend's wedding...I didnt think tooo much...

*1stly....It was just the thing I had always wanted!!...only difference being that I got dropped by my early morning office cab to Mysore Road....n another KSRTC bus took me out on my outing:)

**2ndly....tho I didnt know Shila's friend...I was pretty sure that they wud know me...thanks to Shila:)

***3rdly...I actually took a half day off...to do all this:)

Our journey to Chennapatna had Shila talking non-stop.....there were times when I thought I should stop the bus and buy her some water:)....but it was her moral responsibility to entertain me :)...n to buy me toys in return for my valuable company:)

We reached the place even before the bride made her entry to the mantap...n ended up watching all the rituals from near start to finish:)...It was ...I think...the 1st wedding in recent times....where v actually watched a wedding in progress.....n ofcourse Shila's friend was my friend after all:)

Shila did keep her promise and got me some wonderful toys....all of them were extremely colorful n artistic.....

After getting back to work, I had not a clue that Chenna part 2...was not 2 far off...

Wat I meant by Chenna part 2...is pretty simple....a mere suggestion by a genius of a brain[Now u know who I am talking abt:)]....to visit Chennapatna to buy toys for children from the funds collected for Chrysallis gifting...

Praveena, Deivanai, Sudha n me ended up travelling together..on our mission to get the best possible toys and deals!!

I remember having a whale of a time laughing....n listening to Sudha's tales on her many experiences in Japan, US n Germany....n not to forget the IISc incident...

She was actually describing her study years at IISc and about how unconnected u can get ..with the rest of the world...when u r deep into ur research...n about waking up one day and walking down to the canteen...n finding everything around her empty and silent...only to realize that a national holiday had been declared:)

V land in Chennapatna...n end up driving around in circles ...to locate the shop...Shila n me had been to a week ago....to get our toys....But it was a good thing..v lost our way:)

V actually stopped at a point n asked an old granny to point us to a toy factory....I think she pointed to her left n right...as the place is like flooded with toy factories...

She then offered to take us to a godown, where they had like.....5 or more huge truckloads of toys piled in different boxes....n where they very kindly let us hunt for the kind of toys v were looking for...

V bought pretty cautiously and after about an hour when the final billing was done..v had only got stuff for 3000 bucks...n v had another 9000 more to go...

Thats when v went a lil berserk:)....n sometimes ended up buying huge quantities of all that he had in the godown...

After making our purchases, v stopped by at Kamat for lunch...only to discover that Praveena n me had a Ekadashi on the very same day...so no rice...no onions....not too many options available on that joladha roti oota ...very famous in that part of the world...

V settled for Joladha roti n chutney...while I cudnt stop myself from envying the food on the other's platter:)

After reaching B'lore....v almost gatecrashed:) to Sudha's house n got to meet her mother......who had us in splits with her talk:)

Gift wrapping toys for 748 children is no small task....but ya...my friends made it seem all easy:)

Life Skills!!

Imagine this!!

*A government school class strength of 65+.

**Combo of the naughtiest boys and girls

***Difficult to get them to listen to you for even a minute...forget about keeping them quiet...

****Lesson to be taught: Effective communication as part of Life Skills programme..

Life Skills programme is an initiative by ppal from our office and an NGO ...working together to impart skills like goal setting, leadership and effective communication through interactive and simple programmes...

I went to the school out of curiosity to get an idea of wat the programme was all about....turned out to be quite a learning experience...

V played simple games with the children...like that whispering game...where in ...the first person whispers a complicated sentence to the next person's ear and so on. The last person is then asked to repeat the sentence and thats when u teach the kids the importance of listening and communicating effectively...

The next game was a story building session. So, if we had the 1st kid start off with.."Once upon a time, there was a farmer"...the next kid had to continue the story with ..."He had 2 wives". Kids these days are pretty creative and added quite a lot of comical and tragic twists to the farmer's story......

The Life skills programme is a wonderful initiative!! What makes the programme unique is that the children appreciate and look forward to the classes..not only to learn ...but also to teach:)

Shila weds DJ:)

A fun wedding with friends cheering most of the rituals...awesome food....a beautiful bride....a tall bridegroom[they had this custom of throwing rice on each others heads....the bridegroom took his height to full advantage:)].....welcoming guests.....a reunion time with pals....catching up on stories...a dig at a dear friend's son...who lands at the reception in shorts:)....the transformation processes....thanks to good old CJ...photos more of the pals than of the wedded couple...

Christmas with Bubbles:)

Bubbles centre for autism is second home to most of us....simply coz of the wonderful hospitality that Sarbani offers n of the activities that v get to do there in our brief volunteering stints...

I always wonder if I actually end up doing any work at all in Bubbles....But Im sure that I do more work that wat I get to do at home:)

Bubbles caters to autistic children with developmental delays and similar problems. Most parents claim that the kinda training and love their children have received in Bubbles is difficult to get in most other schools...

So, sometime last year...I happen to meet an autistic kid ...who has a very very cute way with words...hardly 5 years of age...he can actually mesmerize u with his talk...n get away easily in not doing any of his work....if he has to write a single page of alphabets...he will ask u a million questions...n try his best to postpone the doing....u need to kinda outwit him every now n then...if u want him to do his work....

This year, Sarbani tells us that he has improved quite a lot...and was the chief narrator for the Christmas play ...who ended up asking Sarbani abt an amphitheatre and the brightest star in the sky...when Sarbani gave him the right answers..he was heard telling.."Oh no.....I knew U wud also know:)"...

As Sarbani tells us...that when u work with autistic kids, they are no different than the normal kids....U also end up laughing with them.....crying with them...n sometimes in the midst of all the fun stuff that u end up doing with them..it is their innocence or their response to particular situations that make them special to u...

We kinda did the decorations...n face painting and preparing the kids for the Christmas play...where the entire act was put up by the autistic kids...

I didnt get to watch it..as I was busy getting dressed to play Santa for the day:)

Every year, usually Praveena n me ...both of us get to play Santas...but this year ...they had just 1 costume....n d toss of a coin was supposed to decide as to who gets the Santa costume...I won ...hands down:)..2-0 after making the right call twice...n ended up doing tapang-guchi dance:) as Santa...

Now..Praveena was trying hard to teach me Salsa...she did manage to teach me steps for Jingle bells....but once the 2 of us got onto stage ...she was playing Santa's friend:)....they played....."We wish u a Merry Christmas Song"....n I was out of my nerve's wit on what to do...as what comes naturally to me..was the tapang guchi dance...n ya.....when u r dancing on stage...n through Santa's mask...when u see Sarbani and ur pals...roaring n laughing n having a gala time seeing u dance...U forget ur nervousness....n end up feeling like ur dancing infront of family:)

The parents applauded the Indianized Santa:) n her Salsa friend:)....n after distributing chocs and gifts....v were in for loads of surprises!!

Indu, a volunteer... had actually visited Bubbles, after reading the Bubbles blog...something which got us to realize the importance a blog cud have:)

After treating us to lunch n listening to Krathika's antics in school.....all of us were in splits after hearing of all the things that madam was upto in school....right from doing the dances when punished:)....or from hitting back at the funny ways of some of the teachers:)

N was nice to interact with Swathi...after I think..almost 11 long years!!

V went back home with a glass bowl ..which was hand-painted by the children themselves...n I must admit that it so exquisite n lovely that I am gonna treasure it:)

MoC Christmas party!!

After having so much adventure in a single month...just when I was thinking on how to tell my parents ...that I want to go to Missionaries of Charity for the Christmas party being arranged by Moses and family...somehow turned out.... they didnt seem to mind at all:)

I went late...so gotto c the thank u speeches...but I was told that they were treated to lovely dance performances by professional dance troupes..both from office and outside....n to a whole lot of other programmes...

I am sure that I have met this person once before....so when I was telling somebody else that I stay closeby...there was this inmate who came up to me and asked me ...If I stay in V.Pura....it is actually amazing how much they remember things about u n ur life...

I had other inmates ask me abt Shila's wedding...n scold me for coming in so late....

Last time, I had actually visited MoC after a new haircut...n even tho..most ppal at work..did not notice the change...ppal in MoC came up to me asking me abt the haircut n I even had 2 inmates plaiting my hair...n asking me to apply oil regularly:)

All of them were dressed in their colourful best with lovely bangles, chains, earrings and clothes...looking very happy and wishing everyone who came to them..."A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!"...

Every year, this programme is hosted by Moses and his family. They visit MoC, distribute new clothes, food, arrange programmes and end up having a gala time with the inmates:)

Tripppppyyyy!

This blog started out with a posting of a team outing from office last year.....I took ages to write it...n ppal who managed to read it....had a test of their patience reading it!!

An entire year has passed...my blogspace has seen a lot of posts....some short...some still looong...where in...I just cudnt stop writing!!

Coming back to the point...really difficult to keep me focussed:)...V had our team outing again this week...n it was one of those rare occasions where everything was in place!

I had to get up at 4:30am....an extremely challenging task ..considering how cold it is in the mornings these days...But I kept telling myself ....Its gonna be worth it:)

After leaving home at 5:15am....with my mother standing out till I reached the end of the road....n after promising her that I wud call her after reaching the bus-stop....n having fears of the power going off...n me having to find my way through the dark ...n of dogs chasing me...heheheh...now u know wat exaggeration means to me:) ...I felt small...yes...when my neighbour's daughter joined me in the bus stop...looking all brave n all....She apparently does this waking up part at that unearthly hour and the walking bit everyday to reach her early morning waking up college:)

V started out on time...n tried taking a dig at our boss....by telling him that the bookings werent confirmed n all...though he claims that he didnt fall for the gig....Im pretty sure he did....a lil atleast....after we caught him messaging his friend to help us with the resort bookings!!

I can really sing well....provided I dont sing out aloud:)...after seeing my teammate Maya develop a head-ache after all tat singing....I decided to play it not so loud!!

Before I forget...we were headed towards Doddamakali, located very close to Muthathi near Shimshapura...

We were in for the Cauvery actually.....Im sure Kirthi would agree....as when another teammate suggested a resort which had indoor and outdoor games...the only question that Kirthi asked was.."Does it have the backdrop of the Cauvery???"....so Doddamakali it was!!

Other than the river, we were also promised a guided trek and coracle rides...

A 7 km jeep ride takes u to Doddmakali..n u r actually climbing up and down a hill...till u reach Doddamakali..which is located at the base of a hill...

I had earlier been to Bheemeshwari, which is also pretty much similar to Doddamakali..so I kinda did know what to expect...they didnt let us trek there....n so very smartly I land there with sandals....that finally gave way, 2 days after the trip..but did serve their purpose when v actually ended up trekking in Doddamakali..

The place is very beautiful...n the trek ..was short n sweet....I am personally not too fond of trekking...I keep wondering as to what it is that u achieve at the end of it...U climb a hill..hanging onto whatever u get...n then u climb the same hill down....Big Deal!!...But ya..this trek got us to a rocky place quite close to the Cauvery river...n when u sit there ....with hills n greenery all around...fresh air....with the cold river beneath your feet....It gives u a very serene feeling n u end up thanking the trek that got u there:)

I hate rocks...simply coz I end up slipping n falling on rocky terrain all the time....But what with half the ppal around u telling u that u can never make this stretch ...etc..etc....It really motivates u big time..to deliver ur best!!

Post lunch and a whole lot of volleyball games n kanna-muchi games...n coracle rides...v were ready to leave the place with the jeep ride back to the main road...n I must recommend that if u ever go there...travel in that open air truck:)....n watch out for those branches:)

The ride back was nice...not coz I didnt sing:)....but coz we started out with Dumb Charades.....on movies...personalities....brands....etc..etc.....v actually played non-stop till v got back to office:)

Kirthi was our "guessing man"...often known to make statements like...."I didnt even watch u act...the movie/personality name came to me out of the blueeeee"

Some things I wont forget in a hurry are the ones when Hemanth fell off his hammock twice, in a hurry to retain his spot... simply coz he didnt want me to get to the hammock before him:)

When asked about all the scary poses I ended up giving to anybody who dared to take my photo..all I can say is that...Im a lil tired of giving that 100W smile all the time...n wanted to experiment with expressions:)....I have 2 controversially edited photos....thanks to DP and JH....which talks a lot:)

The ending....well..dunno if I shud consider it an honour or an insult to my singing talent:)...was in Puneeth ending Dumb Charades by miming me...n I must admit....he did a pretty good job:)