Shubho Bijoya to all my readers.
I have not forgotten the Give Away and will announce the winner by next week, pinky promise, cross my heart.
It is just that I have been extremely busy. Flying across seven seas and 13 rivers, with two kids to a land where you share the itinerary with Ma Durga and her five off-springs is pretty unnerving. And when your vacation is only a tad longer than her 5 days you do wonder at her immense energy and patience.
Back home I guess she has it easy with her umpteen house helps. Me ? I have to breathe and pack lunches and make the kiddo work on missed lessons and unpack loads of suitcases and soothe kinder spirits and in general slog...
But the short whirlwind trip was worth it. Things that we would like to remember from the trip:
1. First international flight for LS. She was pretty good I would say and made friends on the way.
2. Air India is not as bad as they portray.
3.The new terminal at Delhi Airport is amazing. The loos are sparkling, better than JFK.
4. Cafe Coffee Day there charged me $2.50 for a donut. I almost fainted
5. Sadly Kolkata Airport looked sadder.
6. First Pujo in Ma's own land for BS. She was thrilled.
7. Main attraction for BS was the Ferris wheel and the makeshift rides they put up outside the Pujo pandals. She went on a rickshaw at 10 in the night to ride one of them with her grandpa for whom the shock of such rides was just too much.
8. She loved Monginis.And discovered my Enid Blytons. Tinkle was another new found love.
9. LS loved her baths in a bucket and the rickshaw and opening/shutting glass cabinets in a an uncanny rhythmic order. She loved riding without seat belts and fighting with "my friend" cousin.
10. I of course loved food, shopping, food, shopping and more food and not having to cook or photograph any of it.
More later, till then enjoy the season....Happy Halloween
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While I wish all of you the best in health, wealth and happiness let us take a moment to think about giving this season.
A reader sent me a mail with a request. I quote her here,
"I have a friend, Sanjana, who is fighting cancer, and her odds have suddenly gone down drastically. The only way to save her is by a stem cell transplant. The problem, however, is of finding a match. There is quite a big lack of awareness in the South Asian community about stem cell donation, and as a result, for a person of South Asian origin, the odds of finding a match are less than 1%.
Please go the the National Marrow Donor Registry's web-site at www.bethematch.org
For more information about Sanjana, you can go to:
http://www.savesanjana.org/
or FaceBook page
http://www.facebook.com/savesanjana
" Test