A village holiday

Do you remember the time you spent at your grandparents place? A time away from the bustling city? A time away from pollution? A time spent in a care free manner? We had all that and I used to worry that my kids would miss them. But with the in-laws living in a village, they get to enjoy the best of both the worlds.

Taking you through a holiday in a village...


Green paddy fields welcoming you with a gentle sway...

Thaer thiruvizha to which each household in the village takes pride in the number of house guests they get..."akkam pakkathu pathinetu pattium varanum".

Iyyanarukku pongal, puthu thuni...

Pallanguzhi, thaayam, 7 kal, to while away the time when it is too hot to go out and play...


A Singapore Flyer or a Rattinum...both are fun.

A diwali with the extended family and friends...

Tender coconut to round it up!

Artsy Crafty again

The little boy did the following two crafts in his school and it was just apt for Artsy Crafty July contest.

The first one is a splash of colors. And this is how the little boy explained his art work, "Mummy, you have to take the colors you like and drip-drip and splash-splash on the paper. Then we can stick glitter on foam and stick that on the frame."


This was the work he did today. It's his snail and he told that he stuck foam pieces round and round and got the snail's home on the back. There are leaves stamped at the bottom for the snail's food.


And this is the little girl's contribution. She did this for this year's pongal.


We didn't have kolam powder at home and rice flour was not giving a fine flow. So we mixed Sooji with Rice flour and got the fine flow. The little girl loves kolams and this was one that she did mostly on her own except for the final touches. Our neighbours came out and saw her putting the kolam in our backyard (we don't have enough space in the front) and asked her about it. There were so many questions on what it was and why she was doing it. She enjoyed explaining about it!!

Cup and saucers

Here's another use for them.



and if you have spoons also, you can try this:

A sweet...A surprise

It was supposed to be like a mysore bak. But when poured on a plate and allowed to cool, it became hard on top and a bit gooey in the middle. I had to place it in the fridge to be able to cut it into pieces. Hubby took a few pieces to his office ... I tried to make him take only the mysore bak other friends had given for Diwali, but that was not enough...so he took a few of these sweets too. I was not brave enough to take it to my office. Evening, hubby returns and says everyone enjoyed the sweet and wanted some more. I double checked with him to make sure he was not kidding. True to word, he took quite a few of those sweets to his office again (I still believe he did it so that I don't force it on him in the next few days!!!). He then called me from office and asked for the recipe. Seems no one in his office had heard about "7 cups" (lucky for me) and wanted to know the recipe. They thought the soft inside was the way the sweet was supposed to be. :)

Oh Daddy!!

That is how the little one calls his Daddy...with the sing-song tone. We first noted it when we had been to a restaurant after the diwali shopping. The kid started shouting at the top of his voice "Oh Daddy" when his Dad went to wash his hand. The whole restaurant was laughing at his antics. We were wondering from where he could have caught this, when my daughter told "Amma, it resembles the "Oh Doodle" in Mickey mouse club house. And that was it....it was the exact sing-song tone. So now we can say my son has started observing and using things he learns from the TV.

On another note, I like the way Diwali is celebrated in Singapore. The way the govt puts in the effort to light up the Little India area, the shows and concerts that are staged on a big stage near that area, the "Diwali fair", the colorful shops, sweets, crackers and everything that would remind you of the festival of lights. Its nice that there is a substantial Indian population in Singapore and the govt recognises them.

Dance baby Dance

Place and timing is not a problem...surroundings and the people staring is not an issue...its dance all the way! Walking, eating, playing is all a dance.

An airport is no different.

And then the 15 mins of Fame happened...Dancing for the Navarathiri festival in a temple.

Updates on the trip - The wedding

After the dramatic entrance made by us, we settled in quickly. The following two days was a mad rush with us getting things ready for my brother's wedding. There were the last minute purchases, checking things out and over all the fantastic chaos we normally associate with such functions :) The big sis looked like a doll. She likes to doll up and we do like to cater to it. The gagra choli and pattupavadai competed with the halter tops, frocks and mini skirts. She could carry off all these in perfect style. The little one didn't want to be left out and did his part by looking cute in a shervani, a panjakajam and even in a simple white t-shirt and shorts. There was no time after this wedding to sit and relax and savour the after math as we had another wedding in the following week. It was that of my cousin's. So off we went to my aunts house, baggage and all to continue the celebrations there.

Immediately after that wedding, we had to rush off to my hubby's native as there was a 'kumbabeshegam' in one of the temples there. My FIL was the main person in the committee doing the renovations, so all of us were quite busy. A festival in a village is almost like another wedding. All close relatives and buddies were invited and there was a three day feast at home. The following day we had the little ones head tonsured. He cried a bit but was generally OK most of the time. He looked good with a tonsured head, but his features had changed completely. Now, he resembled his sister more than his father.

to continue ...