Friday, October 29, 2010

Shubho Bijoya


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

*********

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 and register online.

For more information about Sanjana, you can go to:
http://www.savesanjana.org/
or FaceBook page
http://www.facebook.com/savesanjana

"

26 comments:

  1. You went to India for Holiday, Now I am JEALOUS :-) Looks like you had a wonderful time for the puja there.

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  2. Tumi Kolkata eley aar amakey bolley na :(. Shubho Bijoya

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  3. Sandeepa, glad to have you back. Great time to visit India. Everyone is happy not that they are unhappy otherwise. What is it with auto rickshaw and the kids. My mom indulges the DDs but taking them everywhere in an auto. To tell you the truth I like the freedom on riding in an auto too.

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  4. Welcome back! You know what, that is exactly what I thought about Air India when I went to India couple of months ago. I have not flown in that airline in over 5 years and I was indeed surprised and not bad! The same feeling about the Mumbai airport. I have not been to Mumbai airport in over 5 years and I liked it a lot this time around. They have renovated it and is lot better now than it use to be few years ago.

    It is always fun to be in India during the festive season.

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  5. shubho bijoya tomakeo Sandeepa! Kolkattar pujo dekhle, hingshe hochhe!

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  6. Hi Sandeepa, glad you and the kids enjoyed India trip. Kids like India better when they are young I think. Older kids are have lot of "problems"! ;D

    Doesn't feel good to stick to routine after we come back from India but life goes on.Have fun. We are at the beach right now, short Fall break, back home on Monday.

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  7. Shubho Bijoya to you as well :)


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  8. Ah! what a lovely time u have had! :)
    Glad that Enid Blyton features among the childrens FAV! was ( and still is , mine) and Tinkle!! :)
    Airports charge u the earth for a small thing, don't they? Charged me about $4-5 for a small bottle of bisleri! I splashed some on my face to make sure i was not dreaming!
    SOrry to hear abt Sanjana, will pass on the message as well.

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  9. Sandeepa thanks for sharing all the fun you had at the Pujo in your own land. The picture of the butterfly strings is such a lovely capture. Nice to hear both your daughters loved their stay.

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  10. Shubho Bijaya. amar anek priiti ar bhalobasa roilo.

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  11. shubho bijaya to you and all.

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  12. Shubho Bijoya to u as well... :)
    Hope u had a lovely time!!
    For the record, Enid Blyton was my fav too... :D

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  13. Great that u enjoyed the festival time in India with kids. So u re back to feel the cold snap again!

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  14. Hey Bong Mom.. India trip sounds like a big success. It must feel awesome to have your daughter read your own old Blytons! :)

    I am selfishly glad you are back here now though! Haha :)

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  15. i am leaving today for the festival,..glad to know terminal 3 is good,..;-)
    wish u nd ur family happy festival

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  16. Hi Sandeepa,

    Shubho Bijoya.... What should I say but grin, as because of the CWG holidays in Delhi, we too had fled off to Kolkata during Pujo.....whattan experience...after 11 yrs. By the way, where were this butterfly thing done? We missed this one. Hope kids had a fabulous time and felt like princesses getting pampered.

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  17. Good to have you back! :) you have been missed - I know it was toooo short a trip for you, but it was tooo long an absence here!

    You were in Delhi??! only transiting I hope, else would have loved to meet up. And yes, its complete thuggery at the airport!

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  18. Wish you and your family a very Happy Diwali, Sandeepa!

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  19. Oh wow! LS was really well behaved! I hope my Lil A is like that tomo....I'm off for Diwali. She will now understand auto rides etc and I hope she doesn't get too spoilt! WIsh you a happy Diwali, San.

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  20. Sandeepa,
    I am sure you all had a great time and the hang over perhaps still there :-)..I myself dont feel like doing much after coming back from holidays from home, just gets difficult to adjust to the set routine here..Shobho Bijoya..hugs and smiles

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  21. shubho bijoya to everyone and happy diwali.pics u hav shared r really tempting
    being a delhite,hav never seen kolkata pujo

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  22. Shubho bijoya!...and glad to have you back.

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  23. Shubho Bijoya Sandeepa Di. Lucky you, barite pujo katiye ele :) Your pictures are beautiful by the way. Happy Diwali in advance...

    Sutapa

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  24. I seemed to have lost touch with all.. missed a lot! jantami na India gecho.

    happy diwali to you and family.

    hugs

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  25. India is such a beautiful place, their culture and traditions are unique, great shots.

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