Big 5 !!!

Ro turned 5 last Tuesday and that weekend, we took him to his favorite place, the zoo. The Dallas Zoo opened up a new space for the 'Giants of the Savanna' and we were there on day 1 to see the 6 elephants in their new home and feed the giraffes. Ro had a great time, in spite of the heat. 

 On the day of his birthday, we had dinner at Rainforest Cafe. He loves the re-created tropical forest ambiance in the restaurant with the rainbows, shooting stars, the lush vegetation, the fake thunder and all the animals.

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Chennai Collectables

When we bought our first house, we were pre-occupied with parental duties and hardly had any collectibles to showcase. We neither had the time nor was it on our list of priorities. I dream of that day, when our home would be a delight to the eyes; filled with items collected over the years; each with its own story.

On my recent trip to Chennai, I picked up some home decor items from two unconventional shops.

Sundari Silks located in the heart of T.Nagar looks more like a beautifully done Chettiar mansion than a saree shop. What interests me was their home collection. Some pieces were unique while others were replicas; some were heavy and old world, while some were newly crafted. I picked a couple urns and bells with Ganesha carved on them.

Rathna Stores is more of a kitchen stores than a home decor one. Surprisingly, the stores carried a few reasonably priced unique accent pieces. The key is to look beyond the mass produced items. I found a brass Ganesha playing drums and a swan shaped lamp.

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Rangers Ballpark, Arlington

Texas Rangers and Coppell ISD partner together to give public recognition to outstanding students who demonstrated exceptional character and citizenship qualities throughout the year. Ri was chosen to receive this honor. You make us proud.

Last evening, we were in for an exiting evening of baseball and camaraderie as the Texas Rangers met the Baltimore Orioles. The honored students and teachers gathered on the field and the elementary school principal threw out the first pitch with the PE teacher making the first catch.

Ro started reading sentences and I can't wait to have family reading time with all of us reading our own books !!!

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Powerpoints for a Mom

Not just for a day, I have been celebrating Mother's day with my mom for a whole week. No dining out, no gifts, just plain old fashioned mom and daughter gup-chups.

On the other side of the world, a teacher asked a little girl to write a few words about her mother. The teacher is aware that the kid's mom is in India and she emailed it to the mom. I am sure you can guess the ending of the story. The ppt brought a tear or two in the mom's eye. Here is one of the slides of Ri's power points titled 'The Greatest Mom'.

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Lunch Box Idea

It is a rare occasion when the kids (both of them) remember to tell me in the evening that I packed a great lunch or that they absolutely loved it. Yesterday was one such miraculous day.

I bought garlic bread from Sprouts and gently toasted it. I packed it with pasta sauce for a dip, milk and some fruits for snack. It was a huge hit and all it took was a few minutes to pack it. The one thing missing on the lunch menu was veggies. Dinner was spinach dal and scrambled tofu.

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Balance 101

How do you bring about a balance in life? It is bountiful and my interests are diverse to be focused on a few aspects at a point of time. Balance to me means; focus on priorities that need my attention the most at a particular time. Most often I try to do this on a proactive basis instead of reacting to adverse events.

There have been weeks where work has been my #1 priority and I may have neglected others to an extent. At times it’s something as basic as keeping the kids’ active and eating healthy.

I spent the last ten years towards building a strong marital bond, saw two beautiful kids grow right under my eyes, traveled a bit, built a rewarding career, made new friends and kept in touch with the old ones. Now it’s my mom’s turn to get some of my undivided attention. I am visiting India for a couple of weeks just to be with her. Of course I will meet as many friends and family as I can.

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San Antonio ... Revisited

Who visits the same place twice in a row and that too with in a month’s time? This was an official trip and was for most part a PR one. I wish there were more of these and less of those with 6 to 8 hour marathon meetings.

It was fruitful for a variety of reasons. One, my two week vacation to India is approved. Of course my boss knew it was coming sometime soon. Two, he seemed convinced that I am executive material and approved my training for executive education at McCombs School of Business @ Austin.

The place where I stayed was fabulous and was right by the river walk. The building was at least 100 years old, in its original Spanish colonial charm.

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