Two elephants, two hours, memories for two lifetimes

We did two trips within trips this year. The first one was a trip to Kerala with my parents, brother and sister and families. 

We stopped first at Thekkadi and went for an elephant ride to view the Western Ghat mountain range from vista points along a ridge. 

There were two elephants, one male and one female that took the family in batches of four through a 30 minute ride. The male elephant is apparently the fourth largest elephant officially known in Kerala. 

They were magnificent creatures and were happy to take the 4-5 kilograms of bananas divied up and distributed through everyone in our group. 

There were pictures.. lots of them.. here are a few.

Throughout the trip Jr. was a very serious person. The only time I saw her smile, even blush was when she was on the elephant! 

Then came the session where we fed the elephant and the kids got blessed by them. They were happy and scared to go near the giants but soon realized that the animals were gentle creatures. 

That was a kid who is scared and happy at the same time! Should caption that image "Scrappy"! 

Jr. did warm up to the elephant and fed it first. Did not expect her to be that bold. She surprised me.

and once she did it, was all proud. "Did you see what I just did?" 

The little one was really scared and needed a little help from the adults to go near the elephants. 

Then she was their "best friend"!

She got up close and personal !

There were many unforgetable moments on that trip. My parents who were not sure of joining us because of their health concerns, jumped in last minute to join us. Watching them go around on an elephant made my day! 

The views from the ride were breathtaking as well. You could see the mountain ranges, the towns and farmlands below and the sunlight doing a spotlight show through the break in the clouds. 

This reminded me of the views on the way back from Whittianga to Auckland in New Zealand. There is so much sightseeing to do in India. Don't know when we will get time to go soak it all in..

After this we went on a boat ride in the lake to spot wild animals and birds. That is a post for another day!

A difference this year!

No secret that this weekend is much anticipated in the Traveling Narayanan family!

This year, there is a twist. Daddy Narayanan will be on a plane for the most part of the Father's day and the 15th wedding anniversary. 

We did our usual "dinner at Chaat House" early and as a present to the kids, I bunked yoga today and spent the entire morning making "hama bead art" with them. It was their request! They had already worked on this the previous day and made the "secret present".. more Hamma bead art!

I tried to do some powerpoint template to fit some patterns on to the bead frames. They sensed that although my body was with them, my mind was in the Hot yoga room. It was a suggestion that I try to do a Yoga Logo for my project! 

In the process, the kids learned the concept of "resolution". If you dont have an entire box in one color, chances are the final product will look nothing like the logo! So we hunted for other pictures and they found an "AUM" symbol for me to work on.

Jr. ironed out the bead art to make the beads stick. For a second I was worried that the 20 year old iron had been compromised by this ironing session. The little one was honest enough to let me know that the mishap had happened the previous day when ironing on a carpet and I was not to blame!

San was glad to just see us relax, do art, play cards (the little one is now adept at playing Rummy) and other board games. 

My dad gave us his "advanced" wishes for our anniversary, over the phone and I told him "the one good thing you did in this life is get me married to Sangeetha. so if anything, congratulate yourself for a job well done!"

They say that if you have a perception that "time flies" , chances are, you are having good times. As kids we were taught that happiness tends to create a perception of time moving fast and sadness makes you feel time is moving too slowly. 

Cannot believe it has been 15 years!

Good Karma?!

Wishing everyone out there a happy father's day!

All it takes..

A conversation just before bedtime.

Little One : You have to sleep with me for at least 15 minutes today till I go to sleep. then you can go to your bed.

Me : I have work to do. 5 minutes and that is it, okay?

Little One : What do I have to do for making you thaacham (sleep) for some more time? Chainsaw you to the bed?

Me : !!!! Did you mean to say Chain me to the bed?

LO : laughs out loud and says "I guess so.. if I chainsawed you to the bed you will be dead! ha ha ha"

Me : That was not funny!

Somehow yours truly has become a very serious dude these days. Used to be a lot more funny even three four years ago. Don't know what happened over time. It is time to take life a little less seriously and start thinking funny... writing funny!