They grew up so fast....

Did not realise how 21 years passed by . First Shreya left 3 years ago and today Sankalp left home to the United World College, Wales leaving a vaccum behind. Though I am proud that they are doing good in every possible way and this is necessary for them and their future - still it feels empty around me.

I know when Sankalp or Shreya reads this, they will say " mammaaaaaa" we are big and we can take care of ourselves - but I still could not stop worrying standing and watching anxiously if my little boy will remember to pick his watch, passport, computer from the security check trays at the airport. I sighed a relief when I watched him do so. 
  
He then just turned back and waved to us and moved.  This is his first step out the door. It seems like just yesterday we were bringing our brand - new baby home from hospital. Did not realise when he grew up and now he'll be starting a brand-new chapter in his life that has nothing to do with me. Where did the time go?

When the doctor told me during the ultrasound that it was a boy,  for a second I was sad , as I wanted a sister for Shreya - but he is a very very affectionate brother and they have a heavenly bond between them. I love the brother he is to Shreya.

 

As he started moving and pulled himself up as a baby , a cage was brought into the home and furniture was moved around. He was always so fascinated with the kitchen utensils and was busy banging them on the floor. I loved the toddler he was.

 

He is a people's person and hung out with lots of kids in kindergarten and was a favorite to his care takers. I loved the preschooler he was

As a kid he never could sit for 5 minutes steadily one place and I never had big hopes on his capability to study. He proved me wrong , did very well academically , was the school leader in high school and was liked by all. One day while at school, a teacher passing by asked us if we were parents to Sankalp and then told us that we should be proud of him - not only because he is doing well in studies but because he is such a good human being :-).

 

Yes we are proud of our little one who has become a caring, compassionate, sensible, independant big boy that loves to explore. But to tell you the truth in my heart sometimes I wish that I had one of those clingy kids who never lets you out of their sight :-).

 

I know , I know it is time to let them go and turn my energies towards myself and do the neglected hobbies, fulfill my unfinished dreams etc etc , but still why did it have to happen so fast. I never realised how the time flew by.  My friends who have kids tell me that life is going to be OK and I will cope with this. I am thinking more of Sekhar who will miss his dear son in the mornings being behind him to be on time for the school :-).

Shreya and Sankalp we miss you ...

Get set for some color folks!

I was in India last year during Holi and the festivities have changed so much from what I knew when I left India 20 years ago. Things have changed color and where what used to be a family and friends get together today got a bigger dimension and It looked like it was one party no one wanted to miss and who's who of the city youngsters came together for a great gala Holi bash at Taj. When I was invited for this event I gave an instant 'YES' as I was curious to see what it was all about and I did surely enjoy seeing the myriad hues and all the fun and excitement around.  

The colors were organic. People came in designer white dresses just to get drenched. 
 
The party had lot of gourmet food and drinks, and people were spoiled for choice. Vodka and Cranberry juice just flowed and girls and boys alike were having good shots of it. 

 

There was lot of fun and frolic, Live DJ , Rain dance (with sprinklers) to the tunes of Chammak Chalo, Munni Badnam, Shiela ki Jawani.  Bhang was flowing too . Swimming pools were all colored and people were air lifted and splashed into the pools. It was mad but it was fun and it was not wild. Well organised and it was one of the best Holi's I have seen in years.

Let the festival of colors, color your world in Myriad hues and usher in the Spring . Now I am off to my dream destination. Do not forget to enter the blog give away here . I will come back and announce the winner :-).

A give away - 2nd blog anniversary

Today is homeshanthihome’s  second anniversary! Right from day one it was so much fun interacting with you all and I have made some good friends since then . Fast-forward two years and I still absolutely love the blog world than any other social networking sight I am in. 
Patricia Torres  - ‘Havent heard from you in a while.. All well at your end??’

Sharon Colaco D'souza  ‘Hey Shanthi...its been ages!how are you?’

Messages like this pop up every now and then and show the wonderful connections we made in the blog world!

I am sorry that I have not been so active on the blog lately. Somehow I feel these single sentence status updates on the social networking pages have killed active blogging.  Though it is convenient and simple to update what one is doing right then and there on facebook, twitter etc, I have to admit I do miss the storytelling in the blog. I miss the personal connection we had in the blog world.  It is not that compliments or comments are important but it is just the way we stayed connected.  People who used to engage in intense discussions now just hit the "Like" button :-). I am coming to hate this like button :-) .  What do you think?

I still love my blog because what I can say on my blog uniquely and insight-fully is something I will look back upon in time. This can also be a chronicle to my sweet wonderful generations down the line !  “Hello! this was how my world was." :-) . So I promised myself to be on the blog more often. 

Thanks so much to all of you  who took time out to read the posts on homeshanthihome and likewise I always enjoyed reading your comments. It's been so much fun meeting up with some of you on different occasions. Can’t forget the lotus flower sabzi Rama Ananth made during my visit to Bangalore, Kamini your truck load of green plants are thriving well in my garden, diet tips and reminders from Anpu – Thank you. A shout out to all  you wonderful girls out there - Anu, GB, Prachi, Sandeep, Meera, Priya, Divya, Neha, Nayana, Kala, Sharon, Patty, Sudha, Shilpa, MY3, Lakshmi ( and all others I did not mention) – thanks for all the nice things we shared and the support you have shown all through.

NOW! how about celebrating 2 years of knowing you all. Are u ready?  here it is ….

I am traveling starting Friday through the Easter vacation to an unknown destination. Whoever guesses it right  first – where I am heading to and the reason why you thought I would be going there - will win a gift I will be specially picking for the lucky winner from that country :-). Those of you in Norway or close friends or family who knew where I am going – U R disqualified :-) and please don’t spill the beans.  Please leave your guesses as a comment below the blog post.  I will announce the winner when I come back in April first week. Chao.

An island just to ourselves...

Continuing the mid summer week on boat - Day 3

After a late night out at this bay , we decided to get going early in the morning as we had a long day at the open sea. We got up quite early ( 10 AM :-)) Yess! that is early when on a relaxed vaction. don't you agree? . I remember as kids our vacations were more hectic than the normal days as we wanted to cover as many places as we could and get the best run for the money spent. But slowly I got used to pampering myself to vacations just meant for relaxation :-).
People on the other boats were still sleeping when we left and I had to click these 2 cute puppies waiting for their day to unfold

Passing past ship  wrecks and other boats we finally saw the first glimpse of the island we were going to anchor at

The boys got ready for the anchoring looking for rocks, depth and a place that keeps the boat safe during the high tide and low tide.

Ulrik's cooking is awesome.He really knows how to churn out great outdoor meals with minimum resources. We mostly settled for grilled food. While the guys made the food I finished the dish washing :-).

We then set out for exploring the island 

 Just us and the sea gulls , the fiery sunsets, the coppery glowing rocks and the shimmering waters- there could not be a better definition for a dream vacation

 Ulrik pitched a tent for himself while 3 of us decided to sleep in the boat

 the evening slipped away while we talked and watched the changing colors of the sky, sitting around a small fire made of twigs collected on the island.

 

Isn't this getting better with each day :-). Stay tuned for the last night out. visit day 1 and day 2 here