Sunday April 18th onwards

Had a terrific time laughing, eating Mexican food at Chevy's and viewing Varsha's wedding pics on Saturday night.
Sunday we were off to Deven's baptism at the Allentown Presbyterian Church. I was very impressed with the youth group! Very talented, very vibrant and passionately devoted. One of the lead singers wrote & composed his own song & sang it at the service. It was extremely good - better than American Idol (which actually I don't watch - just hear about) and would easily be in the caliber of any top-rated Christian pop song! Seriously!!
It made me think that the foundation and grounding you receive up until your teens - which then seems to be MIA or AWOL in your 20s - comes back in a big way as you raise your family or just get older.
Deven was very excited and it clearly was an important event for him and all of his family (which includes us :-)). Had a lovely lunch, fun conversation and relaxing afternoon before it was off to Kathak class!
Finally, Rohun's funny statement of this month was as follows. When we were in Napa Valley a couple weeks ago - we had a flat tire & our rental car was replaced with a big Lincoln Towncar. Ro loved it! He kept asking Pramod if could get one for the family. So finally on Friday Pramod said to him - do you know how much a Lincoln costs? Its 50, 000 dollars that is 5 with 4 zeroes. He quickly replied Dad I have the 5 dollars can you give me the 4 zeroes!!! Such dumbness is so very cute! Will let you know when it stops being so :-))
Had Ro's parent teacher conference on Monday the 19th. His teachers were amazed at how well he has adjusted to Kindergarten over a short period of time, he seems to know the routine by heart & questions his teacher if she skips him on an activity, for e.g. reading, which may have been on that particular day's schedule. Since he is new to the program he often does not finish his assignment but still will responsibly let the teacher know that he could not finish it. Personally I have to say that there is an order magnitude improvement in his overall abilities compared to ECYC. The Montessori experience is way beyond my expectation for him - I mean it! Division & grammar in preschool/K - what the heck!
Ro also declared that he thinks he may be falling in love with some girls that he likes. An example of a girl he likes is Sarita Mavshi but he quickly corrected it by saying he is not in love with her - he just likes her a lot. Its funny to see him parse emotions in this manner.
Rutha had her science fair today (20th) - her invention was a cereal bowl attached to a mop to help clean up spilled milk messes. Was very proud & protective of her project & did not want to hear any criticism of it!
Last but not the least Sunita celebrated her birthday today with Savita & family & Sangeeta in Toronto. She had a pleasant day with loads of good wishes coming her way!

Ben Franklin Camp-in

On Friday April 16th, Rutha & I went for her Girl's Scout Camp-in at the Ben Franklin Museum in Philadelphia. This was such an awesome trip!! There were 17 girls from her troop and 6 chaperones. There were about 400 girls & chaperones from all over the area! The event was exceptionally well-organized. We were given the train factory exhibit room as our campsite. Had pizza for dinner. Went to events that were held on the hour. One was on chemistry - very interesting chemistry concepts demonstrated live. Then one on making ice-cream - delicious creamy vanilla - made in a jiffy using liquid nitrogen! Then the planetarium. We saw a sports exhibit - detailing the science behind different sports activities. An awesome exhibit on the HEART (sponsored by none other than Merck!) where you could walk through a large heart like a maze! Watched a demo of an open-heart surgery, life-size replicas of hearts of various life forms - animals, birds etc., and an interesting game centered around how common ailments were treated across the ages in several different cultures!
The girls had a blast - they sang & danced & taught the enthusiastic staff some steps of the hustle! Had a midnight snack which made it harder for them to wind down - I eventually slept around 2:30 am - and woke up around 6:30. Then it was off to a quick wash, a nice breakfast & then a wonderful IMAX movie on Ocean Life!! Its been ages since I watched an IMAX movie & this one was great! Great narration of a funny script by Jim Carrey.
Everybody had a blast!!

Back from CA yesterday. We left on Tuesday March 29th. Stayed at the SFO Westin for 2 nights. First day went to see the Golden Gate Bridge and Muirwoods. Both had heavenly views! Muirwoods was a real delight! Rutha was sick with a stomach virus that started its way from Rohun the previous week & then on to me & then on to Rutha. So through all that on Wednesday we had limited time at both these locations. We ate lunch at a Korean place called Tofu House.
Evening had dinner from Tava. Then Thursday Pramod took the kids to a Discovery House Museum in San Jose. The kids had a blast. I stayed at the Sofitel - helping out as much as I could with the wedding plans. Ru & Ro got mehendi on their hands. Ro wanted the same tattoo as Rutha.
On Friday April 2nd we went to Mayuri Restaurant in Santa Clara for the wedding. It was very nice. The priestess (Guneja) was very interesting. She had very nice explanations - of course to my equality-seeking mind it still lacked the respect and position that a woman deserves in any marriage. The analogy that a woman needs to be twice-planted like rice in order to fully grow and mature was a sore point for me - what crap is that in this day and age?!! On the other hand the correspondence of the DNA to the 9 nakshatras was interesting.
Varsha and Chandra looked great together! It brought tears to my eyes - one reason because she really deserved a shot at marital bliss and second because Ajay Bhasale was cracking me up as he was laughing so hard! The priestess made Varsha call Chandra "Oh Dear" and made Chandra address Varsha as "O Gracious One" to which Ajay burst out with laughter - saying this is a first for Varsha!!
In the evening we attended the reception at Sofitel. It was a very nice affair. The decorations looked lovely. The bride & groom lovelier together! We all danced with abandon!! I said a few words but felt like I could have been better prepared - but it was genuine & from my heart!
Next day we had brunch at an Omelette House with Leena and Harsha. Then went to Napa Valley with Harsha. NV was gorgeous!! We went to Sutter House & on our way to Sterling Wineries our rented Chevy had a flat. Went to Santa Rosa airport and were given a houseboat aka Lincoln Towncar. Reached Sandeep & Tejal Kadakia's house at 9 & were very warmly received by them & their kids Keya & Viraj & Vicky, Charu & their kids Nikita & Ruchita & Prashant & Varsha & their son Rohit (their daughter was out at a sleepover). It was an evening filled with laughter, old memories, jokes on our current lifestyles & hilarious attempts to scandalize the young ones with memories of escapades from grad school days!! The kids had a blast too - they must have run a mile or two in the house!! Ruchita stayed over - she is a very bright & witty kid! On Saturday went to park at the top of the hill in their Evergreen neighborhood - it was like watching a scene in Europe - very ethereal!! It was misty from the rains which added to the aura. Later that afternoon we all went to San Francisco - the usual Lombard St, Fisherman's Wharf etc - a total Patel trip as it was raining very hard. Pulled up at Souvenir Shop & then found a parking spot at the door of Ghirardeli. Enjoyed some yummy, icecream, desserts, chocolates & coffee there before driving around at Union Square. Then landed up at Nan & Curry a dhaaba-like joint for some delicious kadai Paneer, baingan bharta & veg biriyani & naans.
After yet another late night - headed back to NJ the next day - landed at midnight & were in bed by 2 am April 6th. Kids & I went to school & work late today. All tired out - so to all a goodnight!!
A reunion of Pramod's friends from Carbondale would be a great idea when Manish returns to the US!!