Family meet

We got back from Kerala yesterday night. I am back at work today, and the kids to school. We had a lovely trip altogether though by the end of it, we wished we had an extra day at least. Vinod's brother and family as well as his sister in Oz had come down for the baptism and family reunion. The kids had a great time getting know their cousins and uncles and aunts at the 2-day event in Karthikapally. Luckily for us, the rains stayed away that weekend, so we could enjoy both functions.

Though I hadnt exactly looked forward to the family event, since socialising is not my forte, it turned out to be good fun. V comes from a close-knit family where there is much camaraderie and unity. I was amazed by the kind of love and affection the cousins shared, and the way everyone adjusted in that old family house. As someone said, what makes old family houses in Kerala seem so inconvenient these days is that every family unit wants privacy and individual rooms with attached bathrooms - unlike earlier, when all the children shared a room or women shared another etc. Some of us did just that - sleeping en masse on plastic mats on the floor in the drawing room. (Well, I didnt - I shared a tiny cot with Ash, while Mira shared one with her grandparents and aunt.)

The food, courtesy a local catering unit, was fantastic though it didnt do wonders for Ash's skin but we couldnt keep him away from the icecreams and ghee-flavored biriyanis and egg parottas. To the amazement of a few elders, Ash did refuse a few stuff - milk tea, puffs etc. - because "it would make him itch". And they also remembered to tell us that the eagerness and lack of stagefright Ash and Mira displayed was great. Both sang a few songs they had learnt in school for the doting audience.

The journey to and fro was perfect - we had a chauffeur, the sun played truant both days and the route was scenic especially the Cumbum to Mundakayam stretch. So much so that I mentally planned to build a farm house somewhere there some day!


We are going through another nanny crisis again - the latest maid we had hasnt returned and she is reportedly not interested in working. Fortunately one of the earlier nannies, the best we had, has promised to come from Kerala next week. Until then, we plan to leave Mira at the neighbourhood daycare, and Ash at V's cousin's house.