The Spicy Indian Blog

The Jeep is reversing on a narrow jungle track as rushed as it can. But over the loud cackling of its engine and rustling of the branches the jeep unapologetically brushed by, is one unmistakable sound - the hastening beat of my pounding heart. This is jarred every alternate second by the trumpets of the three elephants charging at us, their trunks raised, and their heavy legs kicking off the heavy jungle dust akin to leading the charge in a war. In the still and noiseless jungle setting, the sound of every single elephant trumpet, coupled with the heaviness of their charge can pierce and shred every single assumption of well-being and security that you have ever had in your life. A panic that you have not known so far;  a fear so primordial, not experienced so far.. It is clear by now, the charge is not a mock one. The elephants are sufficiently peeved to respond everytime they hear the roaring of the jeeps engine approaching. May be half an hour earlier in the Evening, we ...

As I position myself to come out of my apartment complex, I am cut off by a thick perpendicular slab of disagreeable traffic. Even as the daily routine is about to kickstart, this manifestation of the social chaos is the first hurdle to assess, tackle, and merge into. Your morning tranquility zone ends here abruptly to a jarring cacophony. The squealing and squawking of the swarm of two wheelers - which is the first you need to tackle since they buzz from the sides in this traffic- is akin to those of a bunch of unruly parrots, which descend on you suddenly. I wait for a few seconds to prepare my required shift to the next energy band. For those two seconds however, my mind slips into alternative thought. Should I work from home just today to avoid this traffic? Probably not. Do I like enough doing what I do? What do I like doing?  My thoughts still reach me over the din of the vehicles, but cannot start in these few seconds a journey towards a conclusion. The starting melod...

I visited Blue Ginger from 1st to 3rd November 2012, with my wife and 4.5 year old son. I started from Bangalore at 6 am and reached the Vythiri village at 2 pm with a 1 hour stop in between. I had recieved a call from the resort around 11.00am to check where I was, and was asked to call the resort once I reached the Vythiri village. I called back and in a few minutes a jeep arrived to guide me to the parking area. From the parking area is a 20 min drive uphill to the resort in the resort's jeep. Your car remains parked down the hill. The drive to resort is a nice starter to the experience. When I alighted from the jeep inside the resort, I was impressed with the view, the scenic natural ambience it exudes. This sets the right tone. I was also given a room upgrade based on availability. The resort experience is quite good. It has a pair of waterfalls within the estate, which the young and middle aged can access without much issues. Might be difficult for senior citizens. ...

Just an innocuous pickup at the Mumbai airport could end up costing you over Rs.300 even before you sit in your pickup vehicle. I guess I was just a minute late in locating the mini-van that had come to pick me up at the Santacruz Airport in Mumbai. The Airport was the first stop on starting from Dadar for Amit, Ranjeet-Preeti, and Nishant on the way to Dapoli. Our destination, Harne-Murud was around 270 km southwards from Dadar (Mumbai – erstwhile Bombay) , and around 380kms northwards from Goa. Very much on the coast. And this region in general, is silently proud of its numerous beautiful beaches. Much like the less flamboyant but nevertheless very beautiful country girls. The Konkan region is the beautiful south-western coastline of the state of Maharashtra in India. This verdant region, with bountiful coconut and betel-nut plantations had yet escaped my travel till date. Guess it had to wait for the first decade of the new millennium to turn over, for me to be able to leave my foo...

Shubham has now taken his 2nd or 3rd baby step in analytical comprehension. Now he can grasp constructs like if-then-else, action-reaction, cause-effect, basic shapes. His most interesting observation till date was when he saw a person exercising in the apartment. He pointed out 'Taingle'. I was about to ignore his pointing as a follied infantile babble, when my slower CPU brain connected the dots, and saw the 'taingle' or triangle he was referring to : the shape formed by the man's outstretched legs with the ground. He is also climbing the inquisitive ladder fast. 'He kaay ae? he kaay ae?' is a mantra that he chants unerringly at any new thing that his rapidly building encyclopedia cannot index to. And then he cements his knowledge by asking the 'he xyz aahe ka' type of questions. And they keep on coming faster than even the training ball machines on tennis courts can throw at you. But hey unlike the tennis balls, his innocently analytical questions...

Today morning I returned from the bank, and turned inside crossing the entrance to the car-park. Shubham rambled along. There are two benches there placed opposite to each other, beside the walk-way. Shubham suddenly turned and climbed the bench, and sat there. And told me 'Teeee bassa', implying 'Sit, and on that bench there, not this one'. Then we just sat there for the next ten minutes. People came and passed by, minutes came and passed by. And we just sat there. Shubham looked around and admired the plants, and searched around for the 'fullu' or flowers. I indicated to him I we should go home now, but he clearly said 'naahi' (which he can say quite firmly now :-) ) . And we sat for somemore time. What was revealing to me that it is possible to spend time with Shubham without doing the high-energy running around or playing, and screaming part. Just sit down in front of each other. A nice and quiet moment to share.

We landed in India on the 10th of Jan 2009. July 9 would have implied the completion of 6 months on returning back from the US.SHubham has a PIO, so he did not need a visa to enter India. He did not have a OCI since none of me or my wife is a US citizen or green card holder. We are part of that sect of the neue Indian populace which strives to get the world for their children, but themselves prefer to return to their motherland after they have gratified themselves with their adventurous forays abroad. So, around 1st week of June, we started working towards getting Shubham registered as a Resident Alien here in India, or Bangalore to be more specific. The first step we took is get a financial affidavit of support from a Chartered Accountant who got it notarised it for us. I won't mention the name here, but its in Jayanagar, and I had earlier got my pan card done, and income tax return done from him a few years back.I visited him on a Saturday. You will probably get the notarisation ...