Rely on Reliance

So we visited the Amb mall in Gurgaon today. I mean c'mon if you stay in Gurgaon it has to be your hobby to visit one of these glamorous malls. You can't even go a kilometer without seeing a mall. This mall is supposedly India's biggest mall(It is hard to believe but I am used to this concept in US since everything there was world's oldest, best or some sort of superlative). It has food court and fun games for kids. They are coming up with a Jungle Java kind of play structure there too. Absolutely clean restrooms is a big plus about this mall.
Anyway we need to buy some appliances and they have a Reliance Digital store in there so I guess Manna agreed to the 'Malleria'. In one sentence Reliance Digital is equal to 'ABC Warehouse' in US. They have computers to washing machines to any other appliance that needs power. They also have exercise equipments.
They have an amazing massage chair only for 1,50,000 Rs. So of course I got a nice free massage. It even massages your feet. If I ever win a lotto I am going to buy this one.
Sorry I digressed. So the prices in this store are very reasonable and you get to see all the brands under one roof and compare them side by side. Their staff is not so well trained yet so it is a hit or miss on the knowledgeable salesman. But overall good service, comparable prices, good variety and good selection.
I will keep you posted on the models of the appliances that I end up purchasing. Here is a good web site for comparing the appliances and reviews in India.
http://www.compareindia.com/

Also Reliance has other stores like
Reliance Time Out - which is equivalent of Borders bookstore in US. Nice book/music/multimedia store . They also have good children's area in there for kids to read. And most importantly a coffee shop for me. So Manna can now start counting the ridicules amount of money I would spend on gourmet coffee. This one is also there in Ambi Valley.
Reliance Trendz - An appearal store like Pantaloon. Also in Ambi Valley mall.
Reliance Fresh - fresh produce store.
Reliance Wellness - health and medical products market.
Reliance Jewelery -
Reliance Mart/ Reliance Super - Retail chain like Big bazaar in India.
Reliance Footprint - Footware store. By the way Delhites have the best taste in footware! This topic deserves a complete post later.

All you need to have in India is lots of Greens and you can have an US equivalent lifestyle!
I still get a sticker shock in India, I hope I come out of it pretty soon.

Chidiyaghar(Zoo) report

So Sunday(March 23rd) morning we left the house around 9:15 to go to Delhi Zoo. Kids were pretty excited to visit the zoo as well. We reached the zoo by 10:00. The zoo is close to the old fort(Purana Qila). We were happy to see empty parking lot. I guess anyone can beat the slow paced Delhites. We put our bags(carrying parathas, paneer and some of their American snacks!) on the back and Chiku in the stroller and started our zoo exploration. The ticket price for the zoo was pretty cheap, around 12 bucks. But we were not allowed to carry any food inside. It seems one of the animals recently died because people feeding.
Here is the score card for zoo

So here are the best parts of the zoo:
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The zoo was beautiful considering it is in a developing country.
It had ramps everywhere for handicapped access.
It is spread over an area larger than Toledo or Detroit zoo.
Good variety of animals like (giraffe,leopard, white lion, antelope, sloth and Himalayan bear, Rhino, monkeys, NeilGuy, Emu, tiger, elephants, wolf, hyenas, crocks, deer)
It was not crowded until 1 pm or so and later started getting packed.
There were beautiful spring colors on the trees and bushes.
All the animal habitats were big and safe.

Not so good parts of zoo:
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Bad/not cleaned toilets(I complained to the officer on duty and he mentioned that it is due to Holi absent ism)
Too many alligators in the zoo.
Some of the animals were missing the description name plates.
Not very good arrangement outside the zoo for picnic.
Could have been made little better for little once with a little train or a play structure.
It is too much to walk for kids with no food to carry.

But overall not a bad experience at all. I would recommend that starting an early trip to any of the public places in India is a better alternative than getting stuck with masses.

toledo zoo no no, Delhi zoo

For those of you who know us really well also know that we have visited Toledo zoo million times for Sunny's obsession for animal facts or for any other reasons that we will not mention here!
We might visit Delhi Zoo pretty soon! All I need to find out is the Thai place to eat at after a tiring day at zoo. You know what I am saying.

Check it out
http://www.delhi-india.net/travel/nationalzoologicalpark.html

Drrriver

I guess I forgot to mention that the we got a driver for Innova. I am very happy with him so far. He gets a nice shiny white uniform from Monday. He comes with very high recommendations. Few advantages of having him are.

• He is born and brought up in Gurgaon so he knows every nook and cranny in town.

• He has worked on the farm for last 15 years, so gives me some confidence about his credibility.

• Since he has worked on the farm for so long he has visited all plant and office locations where manna works so it is an added advantage.
• He has kids exact same age as ours.(gives him more patience to work with mine)
• He stays 5 minutes away from the farm so commuting is not an issue

Well let's pray that this too good to be true driver lasts long!

Routine

So the kids finish first week of school already. Times flies. They have Friday off for the Good Friday. Kids love the school so far. It was a pleasant surprise that they adjusted so well to India and most importantly to school. I think it is because there is not a whole lot of culture difference between two schools. The kids are attending IPC curriculum at Amedeous High School. I will write a whole post about that later. Sunny's school hours are 7:45 am to 1:30 pm. Chiku has school from 9:15 to 1:30. They both use school transportation going to school and I pick them up in the afternoon. Sunny leaves home at 7:00 am and Chiku leaves home at 8:10 am. A Toyota Qualis comes to pick them up from the door. Chiku goes to school smiling and Sunny gets up from bed as soon as it is 6:00 o'clock in the morning because he does not want to be late to school. I pick them up from school at 1:30. We come home around 2:00 ish. Not a bad routine at all! They both have a lot to tell about their day when I am picking them up from school. They both finish their lunches and snacks in school everyday. Sunny is absolutely nuts about the soccer games that they play during the lunch break. When I pick him up he is soaking wet from playing with his friends. I feed them lunch at 2:30 ish and then they take a nap from 3:30 to 5:00 pm. In the evening after snack break we go to a park, go for a walk or go grocery shopping. We eat dinner around 8:30 and the kids are in bed by 9:00 pm.
I think this is a damn good routine for a week 2! Would you agree with me?

bol baby bol

Conversation between me and my 5 year old. According to him I should not be a home maker.
Sunny: "Do you go to business when we go to school?"
Me: "You mean do I work when you go to school?"
Sunny: "Yes do you work?"
Me: "No, I don't"
Sunny: "Mumma, Are you even looking for a job yet?"
Me: "No"
Sunny: "So you sit at home when Papa goes to work and we go to school?"
Me: "Yup"

Nawabi

The guest house that we are put up in is very well maintained. It is lush green with beautiful landscaping. There are horses and cows in the backyard. There are also peacocks in the backyard. We are given a two bedroom house with a living room and a dinning room approx. 1400 sq.ft. The kitchen is on the top floor of this house. There are FIVE people who work in the kitchen to serve us. The tea came to us in the tea pot and silver lined cups and saucers. The breakfast is pretty staple with cereal, fruits and eggs (of course anyway you want it). The lunch is served with FRESH WARM rotis, home made dahi, bhendi, green beans, dal and pulav. The dessert is fresh cut fruits. I love it and also feel that I deserve every bit of it after lot of years of slogging in US. The first time Chiku kept asking “why is this kaka (uncle who is serving us food) not eating with us?” We have been eating amazing meals! Manna thinks he should enjoy these days. I wonder why he thinks so?!

Ohh the Shiny Wheels

So I was taking a nap with my kids after their first day of school (March 17^th). I mean I get tired of dropping them off and picking them up! Someone knocks the door, when I come to the door there is a driver dressed in white company uniform who hands me a big bouquet of beautiful flowers, sweets and set of keys. These days everyday I get hospitality surprises so I thought this was another good gesture. He then congratulates me on a new car. I did not think it was for real so I did not have any expression on my face but when I go outside, Beige Toyota Innova, 7 seater is in our service. That was a very pleasant surprise. The company car is beautiful and spanking new. But we do not know how to drive again on Indian roads. I guess we will have a driver in couple of days so we will get to test drive it.

Back to school

This time it is not for kids, but for me. I am joining Maruti Udyog Driving School for driving lessons. I am being treated as an “Advanced Driver”. So I will start 8 days of school, from 11:00 am till 1:00 pm. I hope I do well on Indian roads agaon. Wish me luck and I will keep you posted.

Here are the details:

http://www.marutidrivingschool.com/advanced.html

Good resource to learn Hindi

http://www.hamsacreations.com

Sunny particularly liked it since it is audio-visual. Try it out

Monday Madness

Well you must be thinking what is so special about Monday the 17th. You are right, these days every day is a new adventure so why this one is a special one. Today kids had first day of school and Daddy had first day of work. As per the school schedule sunny's school starts at 7:45 am and Chicku's school starts at 9:15 am. Daddy was to report at 9:30 am. Both the kids need two tiffins. One for a snack with a fruit and something else and another one with proper lunch. We had managed to pack that one previous night. We also managed to get Sunny and Daddy ready by 7:00 am. Well after all the hustle bustle the Taxi driver was a no show. The nawab showed up at 9:00. Needless to say sunny was late to school by almost 2 hours and Chiku was late to school by 15 minutes. Chiku started crying after reaching school. But we left her crying since daddy had to rush to office since he was already running late. But of course going with our track record we did not get proper directions and reached office at 10:30.... Only an hour late so should be fine according to IST!


Verdict for 1 st day:

Sunny loved the school because they played soccer in the lunch break.

Chiku loved school because, I don't know, I guess because of two lunch breaks!

And Daddy liked work because it was way more organized than he had expected.

Learning's from Monday:

Traffic is horrible around 9:00 o'clock in Gurgaon. In Ann Arbor 9:00 was post peak period but not according to the relaxed northanites.

Gurgaon does not have traffic signals. Every big intersection is controlled by a police whom people seem to ignore like a stray dog on the street. So every intersection was clogged by people trying to rush without showing any courtesy to others.

Moral of the Story:

While fastening your seat belts please remember to be very selfish on the road and remember you are the only one who has to get to work and others are just killing time!