All the best things in life are free.....

Last three days, I have been having a great time at home with kids and dogs. We had some competition events for the kids on Saturday at school and the whole day went in that. Vishu and Anjali got various prizes for their respective events.

It's a great feeling (an unexplainable one at that!) to see your kids at school and how they interact with their friends and teachers. You immediately think of your school days and compare. I was anyway very proud to see them as I thought they both were good compared to how I was at school.

We played shuttle badminton games - me, Vishu and Anjali. After a lot of permutation and combination the teams have set up as Daddy Vs Kids. As expected, kids team lost every championship we played. However, the kids team won Wii Mario Kart comprehensively beating Daddy's 'bum like a drum'!

We inaugurated our swimming pool for the summer on Sunday - it was great fun to play in the pool with both the monkeys. Vishu has learnt his swimming since last summer and Anjali is still scared of it. That's this summer's plan.

Gave bath to the dogs - a very good connecting experience with them whenever we do it. Biscuit, the gentleman, loves his baths and stands still when we scrub him. Blackie, can not stand the soap on his body. So, it was a hustling exercise with him.

Both the nights, got time to spend with my Jeyanthi on the terrace under the moonlit bright nights - talking about kids, future, Lakshmi, life and all the other stuff that binds us together, while the cats were trying to chase/catch the bats flying around. Nedurburg Shiraz made things very special and precious - (parents with two under-10 and charged up kids know this very well).

Above all, in the last three days I have seen 3 brilliant sunrises in the morning and two awesome sunsets in the evening from my home. All these things are making me remember 'all the best things in life are free' and feel pretty good about the last 3 days.

Then this morning, I saw the watchman at the main gate of the compound when the sun was rising and I was feeling good about the time I was having. Suddenly I started thinking about his kids, the sunrises/sunsets he sees everyday, the food he eats almost everyday sitting on the street in front of his small hut - then wondered what value does he put for the same good things that are free for him too? Probably nothing and he may want to have a bigger house, money to go to movies, have good car/bike, etc.

My head since then is filled with the complexities of life and the conflicts of desires with respect to satisfaction in life........

The Question of Ancestors

On Sep 13th, we were on our way to Leela palace to pick up Mary. Anjali was carrying a book - 'Baby Animals'. She was flipping through the pages and saw baby monkeys.

She said with a smile - 'Daddy, look here - Vishu and Manu's (her cousin) ancestors.'

I told her - 'They are everybody's ancestors, sweetipie. Where do you think you came from?'.

She closed the book, lifted her face and with closed eyes and blissful expression, said confidently -

'I have come from Angels, Daddy'.

I didn't have any more questions to ask her. I put my arms around her and gave her a tight hug with, of couse, a proud daddy smile on my face.

Style Rules for Girls

This afternoon, my 6 year old daughter called me with all excitement in her voice. She said that she has figured out 4 rules for being Stylish - rules for girls.

So, I asked what they were, trying to build up the same level of excitement in my tone on the phone.

She started -

Rule 1 - Stylish girls have loose hair.

Rule 2 - Stylish girls don't wear skirts (so I asked her about what do they wear and the answer came in a zippy - 'they wear pants daddy')

Rule 3 - Stylish girls are alwasys stylish (this was a genious rule)

Rule 4 - She actually forgot the Rule #4 while talking to me (I was smiling on the other side of the phone)

Once she completed what she wanted to say, she gave the phone back to her mom and ran out. And I was pretty happy to have known the girls style secrets from an insider :-)

They are crazy

Last Sunday, we were sitting in Little Italy in 100Ft Road Indiranagar for dinner. I was explaining Vishu the tragic life of Karna and how in spite of all his misfortunes right from the moment he was born, he became such an important hero with unparalleled personal qualities and virtues. We both were so engrossed with the whole story that the two girls who were with us were getting bored and bugged.

I was telling the story of the curse given to Karna by Mother Earth. When Karna's Chariot startles a small girl on the road carrying milk in a can, she drops the can and all the milk seeps into the ground. The girl starts crying loud and Karna consoles her. She says that her mother will punish her for spilling the milk. Karna offers the girl that he would buy her a new can of milk. The girl, who was about 5-6 yrs old, says that she needs only the original milk which she was carrying home. The legend has it that then Karna squeezes every drop of milk out of the mud and fills up the little girl's can and sends her home.

Mother Earth gets angry with this act of Karna taking out something back from her. She curses him that she will take something of him when he is in the most difficult time of his life and make it more worse. Eventually in the battlefield with Arjuna his chariot wheel gets stuck in mud and Karna gets killed by Arjuna.

Vishu was so moved with this story and he asked why that girl was so adamant and insisted to get the same milk instead of letting Karna buy fresh milk.

The fun started here and I replied - 'you know buddy how the girls are!' with a grin on my face and looking at Maggie. Vishu said - 'But Daddy not all girls are like that. Mummy is good, and different'. It was time for Maggie to give the victory smile.

Well, the battle lines were drawn and I am not the one to back off now. So, I continued with a bigger grin on my face - 'Well Vishu, what do you know of your Mom, only I know how troublesome she is'. Now Vishu couldn't control his laugh and started laughing loudly looking at his mom. Maggie made a sad face to reflect the conversation mood.

Anjali who was upset with me the whole evening that I was not telling her the story but only to Vishu, now thought that I was crossing my line and she needs to help her mom. So, she touched her mom's cheeks with both her hands and said in a very calm and firm voice - 'PLEASE IGNORE THOSE BOYS MUMMY. THEY ARE JUST CRAZY'.

Maggie and I burst out into laugh and were talking about it for next 2-3 days. We are so proud to have kids like Vishu and Anjali - they are our best friends and cool kids to hang out with.

You and Me

You did not seek me,
And I did not, you.
Yet we met, of all chances
And liked each other.
Love it is true, but you say fondness,
And are we to define it? I smile.

It hurts because we matter
To you and to me
Things said (by me) and some unsaid (by you),
Naked feelings and winter suits,
Tender sunshine turns hot at noon
And am I to blame for the burns?

I seek you, but nothing from you
Giving is love and not taking
It is not even being a bystander in
Your life's journey!
Rare are such people in life
And are we lucky to find one for each!

MSri
22-Jul-2008

Is my Dad a trouble?

About 4 weeks back, on a Sunday, we went to Forum mall in Bengaluru to watch the Harry Potter movie. We went to Kalmadi coffee shop before the movie and while ordering the coffee, I saw Srinath (Batni) entering the coffee shop with his family. I was meeting him for the first time after I left Infosys 16 months back. It was good to see him.

After Maggie and I greeted Mr & Mrs Srinath and his son Fire-engine (I used to call him that when he was a kid - now he is all grown up and going to the US for his studies), I wanted to introduce Vishu and Anjali to Srinath.

I told Vishu that Srinath was my boss at Infosys and I worked with him for a long time since 1994. Srinath told Vishu that he had met him when Vishu was a baby. Vishu was seriously thinking about something. I knew a new trouble was brewing in his head.

Finally, breaking his silence he asked Srinath, - 'WAS MY DAD A TROUBLE TO YOU?'.

Me and Maggie felt so embarrassed and didn't know how to react.

But, Srinath was smiling and happy, knowing that finally somebody understands what he went through during all those Nordstrom, Caldor and Japan days with this Mr. Mallampooty. He was ready with a answer - 'Yes, he was the biggest pain I have had'.

For some reason, Vishu smiled and seemed to be happy to hear it! I just held him and messed up his hair, asking him if he was happy to hear it. He said that he was very happy to know that his Daddy is also a trouble and subtly hinting that I have lost the moral righteousness to give him a lecture next time around.

That's my son. All of 9 years old.

Girls and Boys

This is the new thing my daughter is saying -

"Girls Rule and Boys Drool" - picked up from 'Homeward Bound' movie's Sassy.

"Don't mess with Girls,

'coz they are special pearls'

- this one is her original, inspired by the new Vodafone ad about love tips vas service!