Happy New Year - the Tamil one..

This year Tamil New Year day came and went before we could blink. This in spite of my moving a biz trip off by a week to spend the day with family. We both got super busy at work that week. So we decided to dress up over the weekend and take pictures to celebrate!

Jr. with her signature pose (apparently is is the new posing standard)

 She finally obliged me with a normal smile

The little one looked her happy self but refused to put a "pottu" after repeated begging from me. 

The little one said "you get two tries and that is IT! I won't stand for more photos". So two tries it was. 

They might not realize the value of these photos or blog posts now.. someday when they are my age they might look back at this and smile! 

 Last year was a good year for us. Nothing spectacular happened but nothing really disastrous either. Life moved on at a steady pace with things moving on without too much drama in the house. 

This post was to go online last Sunday.. a belated Happy Tamil New Year to all of you! May this year bring peace and happiness to one and all! 

Holi 2016

Holi came and went this year. Given my travels, was glad to be part of a Holi celebration with the gang last weekend. As a kid growing up in Tamil Nadu, there was no Holi. My best memories of student days in Varanasi are of Holi.. 

Great time with friends, Colors, Baang, the mud bath at the end to wash off colors, a feast, did I already mention baang?!

We did celebrate in style at the local park with dry colors and great food! This year it happened again. We started seeing familiar people show up to our group only to realize there was another larger group planning the delayed Holi in another area of the park. Pretty soon, we merged the groups together for even larger fun as every family in our group knew someone from the other group!

Jr. was at her best and she had a lot of fun with her buddies. This one is probably the best shot from the entire collection of pictures for the day... 

 Then we did get a family portrait. Yes, the litle one looks plain compared to the rest of us. She had to go to a  meeting right after the Holi party and did not want to shower. So we respected her request to "not be Holi'ed"!

 

All said and done, it is great to have the company of people who can put a smile on your face and make you celebrate with abandon! 

Was thinking of IT-BHU all day.. three buddies in the group are my seniors from College and that made it even more special. One thing my college trained me for well? If not Metallurgical engineering, it is to play Holi with style... and to teach our kids how to play Holi!

Here is to the festival of colors ! 

There was a time..

There was a time when an economy class ticket would still get you a warm smile from the air hostesses, warm blankets, a kit with toothpaste, socks, eye patch, ear plugs for everyone, another kit with fun stuff to do for every kid that gets on the plane, veggie noodles for snacks between meals, and among other things, a deck of playing cards to pass time.

We have been playing cards at home recently with the kids as the little one is turning into a rummy champion of sorts!

The one deck of cards that has still survived in the house is this one.

This deck pre dates both Jr. and the little one. We got it in the late nineties I think. I kept it as a souvenier of what air travel used to be like. The box is all taped up and the cards were handled with care over 16 years. 

Now we are playing with it. I am tempted to return it back into my shoe box and buy a new deck of cards to play with the kids. Given it is the first time we will be paying for a deck of cards, want it to be a memorable deck for the kids.

Who knows? Maybe they will tape it all up and show it to me in 20 years?