Yes. I finally went on the Abu trip with family and had a great time.
The day before the trip, we were supposed to collect our bags from Devalmama's house. When we collected the bags, we saw that there was 1 bag for each of us - a small bag just to have the bare necesssities of life. In all there were 23 of us - all age groups the youngest one was 2 year old and the eldest 60.
We reached Abu in 3 seperate cars - one for the moms, dads and kids. on reaching Abu we had a sumptuous meal and dinot unpack our bags and started off for the camping. After about 45 minutes of a trek - which was a bit difficult for the novices and the kids we reached a lovely place. We had five tents with us and pitched all of them. The weather was also excellent with a lot of fog that you could not even see at an arms length. We then went for a walk and sat by the Kodra dam reservoir and sang songs - since i do not have an ear for music we were just listening and enjoying the nature. When we went back to the camp site, we set-up a camp fire and had dinner. The kids then went of to sleep and we were sitting by the camp fire. Suddenly one of us saw two eyes in the darkness and a black animal. Scared, a few of them ran to their tent, zipped it open got in and closed the tent - all just in a few seconds. All of us also started running having thought that it was a wild bear. The bravehearts took a torch and were checking for the animal and........ it was a buffalo. We then went off to sleep. It was raining and very windy and at 2.00, we started having calls from the kids tent that our kids were not sleeping - kai and another boy came to the parents tent. None of us slept till 3.00 in the night.
We woke up in the morning and opened up our tents. the weather was very foggy and we could see the fog coming in our tent. The group than went for caving. We went into a small cave which was pitch dark and we had to literally lie down to cross the cave. All of us managed it and then we had our tea and breakfast there. It was the perfect spot and the perfiect weather to have your morning cuppa.
Back to the campsite, the boys (fathers, actually) went for aswim in the reservoir... and the mothers were literlally shivering seeing them swim in the cold water and weather. We then unpacked and started our trek down with our bags and tents on our backs. (This was when we realised how important it was to have a small bag...)
Having reached home (mama's house in Abu) we had lunch and did river crossing...yes they had set-up all this there. After dinner all of us relaxed, had a chat and befiore sleeping went for a drive to search Leopards and Bears - which we did not find.
The next morning we went for rock climbing and rappelling. The kids were then given Rs. 10 each and hey had to buy whatever they wanted from this. The kids had a great (and tough) time finding stuff for them in Rs. 10. Everyone ended up buying some chocolates/ candies. We then started our journey back home with a resolution to make such trips an yearly affair.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Dilemma...
Ri and all his adventurous cousins have made great plans for the long weekend. the plan is to go to Mt Abu, where his mama has a house, with family. Now that sound interesting - what is the dilemma then?
The programme was to leave for Abu with kids on Friday and return on Sunday. I did not have any idea (of course I was able to make some guesses) about who all are going? What are the plans for the kids? Food? Water? Programme? I mean how much of trekking, mountaineering and other possible or impossible adventures.
I did not know anything except the fact that we are going to Abu for 3 days and by bus. Not that I cannot go anywhere without any planning and cannot stay in a tent or take some adventure. While I would love all that, the only thing I could not take was not knowing anything and going there with the kids. This was because I was sure that it was never going to be a luxury trip with this gang. I knew that there would be some…oops…. many adventures on this trip.
My questions to Ri on the plans and the programme details went unanswered. The only thing Ri would tell me is there are so many of us and an equal number of kids.. also younger than kai…I am sure you will not have any problems. Now I definitely am not that type of a person who can take such an answer. At my insistence Ri would just tell me that even “deval mama and mami” -the organizers, sponsors, planners of this trip and all the trips that made the gang so adventurous - would not have answers to your questions. This actually was not the case but just that Ri would love these trips just as he had enjoyed them all these years with the element of “surprise”.
And this set my mind spinning for all sorts of ideas and excuses for avoiding the trip. It actually wasn’t that I did not want to go on the trip. I very well knew that I was making some unnecessary fuss over the entire thing. But I also wanted Ri and Kai both of them to tell me that I was right.
No. 1. It was a puja at my mama’s house as they have renovated their house. Ri did the architectural and interior designing work of the house. Everyone insisted that we stay back for the puja. I would tell Ri that we should stay back and enjoy the puja and the compliments for his work – as it was really done very well and we had already started receiving the compliments. This is because I thought this was the easiest bait. But as expected Ri was not at all amused by my idea.
No. 2. I cannot go like this. We do not know what we are doing, what is the programme and all and I find it too difficult to go with Kai totally unplanned. And just then I received an email of the entire programme along with the dress code and the menu (not complete but partial)
The programme was to leave on Friday morning for Mt Abu, reach there around 12.30 and then go for a trek in the Aravali mountain range. Go for a night trek, stay over night in the tent, wake up early in the morning go for mountaineering, caving, trekking and then return to the house at about 11.00 am. Then it is all relaxing and playing some indoor games at home. The next day we do some mountain climbing, rappelling, which will be followed by shopping and then leave for Ahmedabad.
Now that definitely sounds interesting and not bad at all – of course with some exceptions.
No. 3. We had to sleep in sleeping bags and yes… now I had another excuse…. Yak our sleeping bags are so bad they stink and I cannot sleep in such bags… actually they were pretty good the only problem was that we had not used them for quite some time and so there was that typical smell which obviously went away once we put them under the sun.
No. 4. Swine flu. I did not explain anything about this as I myself did not have an explaination that how would it affect us there in the middle of the forest.
Every alternate day I had different things on my mind – one day I would be excited about going and the very next day I would start thinking about excuses. Not that I had to give excuses to anybody – not Ri, not the gang, nobody. These were just excuses for myself.
We plan to leave on Friday and I still have one more day to keep on thinking. Gosh….. don’t I have any other thing to do in life?
I do not know what is going to be my ultimate decision. As of now I know that I am going.
The programme was to leave for Abu with kids on Friday and return on Sunday. I did not have any idea (of course I was able to make some guesses) about who all are going? What are the plans for the kids? Food? Water? Programme? I mean how much of trekking, mountaineering and other possible or impossible adventures.
I did not know anything except the fact that we are going to Abu for 3 days and by bus. Not that I cannot go anywhere without any planning and cannot stay in a tent or take some adventure. While I would love all that, the only thing I could not take was not knowing anything and going there with the kids. This was because I was sure that it was never going to be a luxury trip with this gang. I knew that there would be some…oops…. many adventures on this trip.
My questions to Ri on the plans and the programme details went unanswered. The only thing Ri would tell me is there are so many of us and an equal number of kids.. also younger than kai…I am sure you will not have any problems. Now I definitely am not that type of a person who can take such an answer. At my insistence Ri would just tell me that even “deval mama and mami” -the organizers, sponsors, planners of this trip and all the trips that made the gang so adventurous - would not have answers to your questions. This actually was not the case but just that Ri would love these trips just as he had enjoyed them all these years with the element of “surprise”.
And this set my mind spinning for all sorts of ideas and excuses for avoiding the trip. It actually wasn’t that I did not want to go on the trip. I very well knew that I was making some unnecessary fuss over the entire thing. But I also wanted Ri and Kai both of them to tell me that I was right.
No. 1. It was a puja at my mama’s house as they have renovated their house. Ri did the architectural and interior designing work of the house. Everyone insisted that we stay back for the puja. I would tell Ri that we should stay back and enjoy the puja and the compliments for his work – as it was really done very well and we had already started receiving the compliments. This is because I thought this was the easiest bait. But as expected Ri was not at all amused by my idea.
No. 2. I cannot go like this. We do not know what we are doing, what is the programme and all and I find it too difficult to go with Kai totally unplanned. And just then I received an email of the entire programme along with the dress code and the menu (not complete but partial)
The programme was to leave on Friday morning for Mt Abu, reach there around 12.30 and then go for a trek in the Aravali mountain range. Go for a night trek, stay over night in the tent, wake up early in the morning go for mountaineering, caving, trekking and then return to the house at about 11.00 am. Then it is all relaxing and playing some indoor games at home. The next day we do some mountain climbing, rappelling, which will be followed by shopping and then leave for Ahmedabad.
Now that definitely sounds interesting and not bad at all – of course with some exceptions.
No. 3. We had to sleep in sleeping bags and yes… now I had another excuse…. Yak our sleeping bags are so bad they stink and I cannot sleep in such bags… actually they were pretty good the only problem was that we had not used them for quite some time and so there was that typical smell which obviously went away once we put them under the sun.
No. 4. Swine flu. I did not explain anything about this as I myself did not have an explaination that how would it affect us there in the middle of the forest.
Every alternate day I had different things on my mind – one day I would be excited about going and the very next day I would start thinking about excuses. Not that I had to give excuses to anybody – not Ri, not the gang, nobody. These were just excuses for myself.
We plan to leave on Friday and I still have one more day to keep on thinking. Gosh….. don’t I have any other thing to do in life?
I do not know what is going to be my ultimate decision. As of now I know that I am going.
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Kai at School
Kai's school has a concept of issuing 'Tryers card' to the kids to encourage them for different things that they do in school. Kai got her first Tryers Card today for talking in English at School and Story Telling... I was sure that my little chatter box was definitely going to get one for story telling. Not only that she got a star in the card for telling stories. I am sure if they issue one for spinning stories, she will definitely be the first one to get it...
And you know which was the first story that she told in her class impromptu? It was the gujarati story "Vaadilo Hajam" from the book "Gijubhai Ni Baal Vaartao"... of course recited in English.
And you know which was the first story that she told in her class impromptu? It was the gujarati story "Vaadilo Hajam" from the book "Gijubhai Ni Baal Vaartao"... of course recited in English.
Kai at School
Kai is learning cursive alphabets in school. Yesterday they were taught to write the letter 'p'. The teacher then asked them to write 2 lines of 'ap', 2 lines of 'pa' and 3 lines of 'pat'. Everyone started working at it. Kai's partner made a mistake and wrote 3 lines of 'pa'. Poor little boy was about to rub the whole thing, which Kai saw. She told him, "I have an idea! you don't need to rub the whole thing but just add the letter 't' at the end and it will be done". A very simple thing which any of us would have done. The moment I heard this, I started thinking about how tricky a kid who is not even five can be??
Ri in the News
Ri is designing the snake house at the local zoo here and this was in the newspapers on the 1st of August. This will be the biggest snake house in the country. This is also a dream project for Ri as it combines both his hobby and his profession. Here is the link to the article
http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=QU1JUi8yMDA5LzA4LzAxI0FyMDA4MDA=&Mode=Gif&Locale=english-skin-custom
http://epaper.timesofindia.
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