San Diego - Animal Wonderland

Hi all,

It took me a while to get back to the grove after a wonderful trip to San Diego CA during the Thanksgiving week. Non stop flight was probably a blessing in disguise. I slept through most of it when we flew to San Diego. The city is really nice. Unlike Cranston where temperature was hovering around 40's, San Diego had high 60's.

We had a blast in San Diego Zoo looking at all those animals whose pictures I had seen. There was the tall giraffe, the rhino, elephant, lion, deer, antelope, jaguar, monkey, black bear, koala, penguin, polar bear, brown bear and the list goes on. I dozed off for my afternoon nap when appa, amma and Kanna uncle were watching the bird show. With Kanna Maama around I just could not believe how quickly the day went off.

Next day, we took it easy and went to Children's museum to spend some quiet time with my friends. We knew next day would be very hectic at the Sea World. This place is another must see place for kids like me. The dolphins, manatees, beluga whales and the underground shark encounters - wow! all were really great. Every time I started to make tantrums appa was saying that Best is Yet to Come. And it was indeed at the end of the day when we watched the Shamu the killer whale show. The amount of water Shamu splashes to spectators is incredible. They show so much strength yet respond incredibly accurate to the cues of the trainers.

On the penultimate day of our visit we visited the San Diego Model train museum and kid's science museum. My entire year's want of seeing trains was satisfied in the model train museum. There were so many enthusiastic volunteers who were building Lego buildings, Keva plank models day just zoomed by.

Some day again in the future, I should come back and visit San Diego on my own!!!

Well winter is already here. As I write this, a day before the official day of winter, I am looking at 18 inches of snow and complete white out! Gladly, Amma has booked our tickets to India and we are leaving on 29th of December for a 6 week trip. Wouldn't that be fun? I am already getting crash courses in Kannada, recognizing people etc.

I will post some of my videos if possible before I leave and then the travelogues will continue.

See you then,

Stay warm and merry Christmas.
Saaranga

Jagadodharana Performance

Clap Clap Clap! That was a wonderful performance wasn't it? This is the third time I danced with Amma for the same song 'Jagadodharana'. As soon as amma switches on the music for this song, smile automatically comes to my face. I got hooked into it after the first rehearsal we had for the Janmasshtami celebrations at Sri Krishna Vrunda in Edison NJ. I was so good, amma woke me up from my deep sleep just before the performance, put on the costume and took me directly to the stage. It was a flawless performance.

I improvised in the second performance at NEKK to celebrate Ganesha Chaturthi. As part of pranks, I went and picked up a banana that was offered to Lord Ganesha. Amma had to think fast and let me have the banana for the fear of ruining the performance. Smart thinking from both isn't it?

Third time was yesterday (07 Nov 2009) in Hoysala Kannada Koota of Connecticut to celebrate Deepawali and Children's day. It was a bit too much rotation this time and I felt dizzy (carefully remastered in the uploaded video, you see me only lying down, not the dizzy walk I had). Hope you enjoy it too. Amma was heard saying "I had to pay so much attention to him on the stage this time that I forgot to do few acts of my own!)

Winter is setting in. I hear a trip coming up. Where might we be going next?

Saaranga's 3rd Halloween

The Hybrid of 2025




I dressed up as a gas guzzler. Someone said looking at the outfit - 'in this world of depleting oil reserves, what more can you be fearful of than a gas guzzler?' - Fitting statement for Halloween - 2009

Saarang the Music Master

Saaranga identifies musical instruments when mimed

Saaranga the CAR KING

Saaranga identifies different car brands

Negotiations Begin

Folks,

Today is a great day. I have learnt the power of negotiation. After dinner, appa was sitting with his legs stretched and I saw an opportunity to engage him better by using those stretched legs as a mini slide. :-) That used to be my favorite game for a while before I started on tricycle, car etc.

Appa did not mind me sliding, and I happily repeated the up and down routine quite a few times. Then appa said - this is the last one and I said "More". Appa said "Okay. Last Two". I took it to the next level and said "Okay Last Three". Appa would not budge and kept saying "Last Two". I also held my ground and kept on saying "Last Three". Lo and Behold - Appa said "OKAY, LAST THREE"

Negotiate my sincere readers. There is always place for that one extra thing you can ask...

See you later,

Saaranga

Yummy I-C-E C-R-E-A-M

Folks,

How is your summer going on? It is a blast for me. Recently I wrote about the strange language my parents are speaking. After scratching my head for a long time and pulling a lot of hair out, I have figured out two words. One is the summer's favorite ice cream and every Saturday morning's fresh juice.

I no longer need to stare at their faces when they speak about J-U-I-C-E or I-C-E C-R-E-A-M. In fact I have started speaking that language. On Saturday we have a new tradition. This new place Cranston, has a great ice cream place. It is called the inside scoop. Appa chanced upon this place and since summer is short, we decided to visit it every week. Yummy Yummy flavors (strawberry, ginger, snick a ripple, butter crunch, sweet cream to name a few we have already tasted). If you are in the area, please pay them a visit and support local businesses.

See you later,

Saaranga

At our new Home

Hi all,

Sorry for the delay in posting my new activities. As of Aug 1 2009 we moved to a new place in Cranston Rhode Island. Appa had enough of traveling I guess. So for a few days, our house was full of boxes. Appa and amma were busy putting things into the box and i was busy taking them out and spreading all over. Sometimes, I would get yelled yet when appa and amma's patience ran out. I had lot of fun and I am sure they did too.

On the day of the move, I was really upset that Melvin and Rudi (our movers) took my tricycle into the van and I did not stop crying until I got the tricycle back at my new home. Boy that tricycle in itself is a life for me.!!!

New house is big, I have my own room (I hardly use it though!) and my own potty room! Our new complex has a pretty big swimming pool. I enjoy the splish splash splosh. It is very hard to get out of the water in this hot weather. We are still trying to settle down. I will be posting more details about the new house pretty soon. Until then, enjoy the summer.

Bye,

Saaranga

Back to Ocean Grove

Hi everyone,

This weekend we were back in ocean grove beach. The weather was perfect but the water temperature was still cold. So I was shivering whenever I came out of water. Check out the photos below

Photo 1

Photo 2

Photo 3

July 10 - New Saaranga Avatar

July 10th 2009.

Eurostyle Salon

It was a curious place. Paula greeted me and went about cutting hair with such an ease that it was not a traumatic experienec to appa or amma except that I would not sit alone. So appa sat on the chair and I made his lap my seat.

Amma has preserved the first bunch of hair. She has plans of keeping it framed.

Look at the photo below. I do look like a handsome boy now. No more "Oh! how old is she?" "She is adorable" kind of comments.

See you later,

Saaranga

Snip - Snip and there goes my hair

Hi all,

Today (July 9th 2009) was a special day. I had my hair snipped for the first time. Chowla karma also known as Chudakarana Samskara is one of the 16 samskara's (rites of passage) every person should go thorugh. The first hair cut has to be done on an auspicious day so that both Ayushya (longevity) and Varchas (Aura or personality) can be enhanced.

Day started off with a shower at home (how I hate that shower!!). We went to Sri Krishna Vrundavana and amma changed me into traditional dress. Check the pictures on the right. Don't I look cute?

We had punyaaha, ganapathi pooja and chowla home followed by cermonial hair cut. The scissors appa was using were so small that it would have taken days to cut my loooooong hair. We decided that we will pay a visit to the barber shop later to take care of my hair. Lo and behold, Sri Yogeendra Bhat - the head priest of the temple told me and appa to take bath AGAIN!. Okay I gave my consent and did not make much of a fuss.

After poornahuti (final stage of the homa or sacred fire ritual ) we had a good lunch and headed home. Looking forward to meet Paula tomorrow in my first visit to the barber shop.

Enjoy the photos,

Saaranga

GREAT NEWS - Asha Maami has submitted her thesis for Phd

Just came to know that Asha Maami has finally completed her doctoral thesis and submitted her report on "A study on the effect of 8MeV electron irradiation on semiconductor devices using microtron". It will take me a few years to understand the title let alone the thesis. However we are all very proud of you maami. This is a fantastic achievement.

Hopefully thesis will be reviewed and we can all call you Dr.

What is this language

For all the grown ups there, this is a quick request. Of late I have started hearing a new language at home. Appa and amma are talking this way. Please help me understand what they are saying

Appa to Amma: Where did you keep the "C" "A" "K" "E"?

Amma says : In the fridge

Appa to Amma: Can you pleae give me a piece and by the way give me some "J" "U" "I" "C "E"

Amma to Appa: Eat the "C" "A" "K" "E" after you finish eating "C" "H" "A" "N" "N" "A" "M" "A" "S" "A" "L" "A"?

Almost every sentence has a few of these words spelled out. They say it so fast, it is very difficult to understand what they are saying.

Please help me understand what they are talking.

Thank you "ಸಾಗರದಾಚೆಯ ಇಂಚರ" for judiciously following every post.

With Warm hugs,

Saaranga

Splish - Splash - Splosh

Wow,

What a surprise it was. I had no idea that my second birthday was going to be so much fun. Amma drove all the way from New Jersey to Rhode Island and we spent quite a few days with Appa. Appa was going to the CVS Charity classic on Saturday and Sunday. How can we let him miss my birthday? Not a chance.

The hotel where appa stays had a regular pool and another spa pool. It took amma forever to force me out of the water. I had so much fun splashing water on everyone. Simple trick to enjoy splashing water - "Close your eyes". Check this photo.

On Monday 22nd June, I should have guessed something was up when Appa showed from work early (if you consider 6PM early!). He had that little smirk on his face and he and amma were talking in "sh-sh" language. When I went down with them to play with my basketball, I saw the cake, balloons and Happy Birthday banner. That was a total surprise. Having visited few of my friends on their birthday, this was pretty cool. Appa gave me a new shirt, pant as gift and more importantly sunglasses. I look really cool in it

Check out the photos in Current Album and if you like, leave a comment.

See you later,

Bonjour!

Bonjour Madame de Monsieur!

Sorry, ever since we came back from France, I am in the habit of speaking French. After a long hiatus, I am back. We went on a vacation to Interlaken Switzerland, Belfort and Paris France. Pappa was losing vacation days (new policy in his office use it or lose it.. dumb ha?) and Murali Maama (my favorite) is moving to India for about 3 years. So Murali maama and Vandana Maami wanted us to visit them. Everything happened in a Jiffy. Appa and amma got the visa in the last minute (see somethings are better for me. I don't need a visa for a lot of countries....) and off we went on Apr 29th.

We flew to Zurich and took the "Thomas Chu Chu Train" to Bern. I met a new friend Nina on the train and played with her toys for a little bit. Murali maama picked us up in Bern station and we drove to Interlaken. it is a beautiful and picturesque place. After a brief shower, off we went to the lake side. We walked, played on the swings and the slide. So much fun.

Day 2: To the top of Europe. Jungfraujoch. We changed so many "Thomas Chu Chu" trains to reach that place. It was cold and cloudy. But we got some break from clouds and saw the entire valley shine in sunlight. Amma learnt a lot of neat tricks to make sandwiches from Vandana Maami. After we came down the mountain and hiked through the city, it was time for me to hit the bed

Day 3: Grindenwald - A small but lively city in the valley. Appa got few great shots of the valley and me looking at the cow and being amused. We had our picnic lunch and started driving to Belfort France. Since I woke up early in the morning and did a lot of running, I was sleeping almost all through the ride

Day 4 & 5 : Belfort France. Murli Maama's place. We took another Thomas Chu Chu train and went into the fort and saw how ingeniously the entire fort was constructed. Amma bought a lot of stamps and started chasing the Euro coins. Did you know that every country in the Euro zone minted their own coins? Amma had to buy special holders for all those countries coins and her sole motto in life for the rest of the trip became to collect all of those coins. No coin reached my hand in spite of me begging, pleading, threatening, crying, crying, crying and crying...

Day 6: Off to Paris. After goodbyes to Murali maama and Vandana Maami, we took a non stop train from Belfort to Paris. France has a very good train system. We landed at Gar de lest station at Paris and our hotel was right outside the train station. We checked in, did some shopping and hopped on a mini bus for the Paris illuminated tour. I slept for most of the time but Appa kept on clicking. Great shots of Paris in the night.

Day 7 Paris: We saw the Eiffel Tower, Musse de Orsay (museum), walked by the Senne river, to the Concorde square. Then started the long walk through the Champs Elysses (Shan Zeleze) to the craziest circle in the world by the Arc De Triumph. Guards were giving their honor when we reached the Arc. It was really cool. Walked down a little bit, had our dinner and went up the Arc to see Paris from the Arc. It was really beautiful. I saw lightning few miles away and suddenly at 10PM, Eiffel tower lit up in those amazing sparkling lights. It was really cool.

Day 8 More Paris: Louvre museum, Galleria LaFayette, we bade goodbye to Paris and hopped on a TGV (Train à Grande Vitesse - literally translated as High Speed Train) to Zurich. One thing I liked (not sure if Appa and Amma liked it) was the Paris Metro. At every station, Appa and amma had to lift the stroller and I had to sing "Ganapathi Bappa Morya..." It kind of became funny sometimes...

Day 9: Flight to Newark, NJ. It was hard to come back. As you can see from pictures, I was ready to live in Paris. But vacations are meant to be just energizers and so it was to all of us. We all had a very good time..

Check out the photos here.

Au Revoir..

I am a Fill In the Blanks person

Hi all,

Amma and appa make fun of me now a days.  I am the fill in the blanks person.  I tell the ending words of almost all sentences they tell me.  For e.g They say Twinkle Twinkle Little ____ .  I say Star.  They say Row Row Row your , I say Boat.   Get it?

It is not true that I repeat only the last words.  I tell lot of other things.  I just returned from Leela Dodda's place in Scranton, PA.  I was counting steps, as I was going up and down all by myself.  (Yes by myself).  Sometimes, my backside hurts if I slide too much too fast down the stairs but most of the time, I manage to stay up right !!!

Amma taught me a funny song

Undaadi Gunda

Maduve Manege Hoda

Hattu Laadu tinda

Hotte Novu Enda

Innoo beku Anda

Amma Benne tandalu

Appa Donne Tandaru

Kai Kat, Bai Much

All the words in bold are the words I say.  Rest is amma and appa singing!!

Slee you!  (I say see you as Slee you)

Saaranga

Why do these roaches trouble me so much?  Amma caught a glimpse of my encounter with cockroach...  Check it out..

Ciao,

Saaranga

The Three C's

I guess, everyone is busy sticking to their new year resolutions.   I waited for two weeks.  Not even a single comment.  :-((

Anyway, the three C are 

VC: Vacuum Cleaner

PC: Pressure Cooker

MikC: Mixer Grinder (Mixie...  Ha Ha Ha)

I can speak a lot now.  The Ned and Fred story book is too good.  Soyee (my version of sorry), Thankshoo (thank you), cumee (excuse me..)  Funny aren't they?  You want more?  how about bunny for Bhramari, Sheiaa for Shiva, shome for phone, moishen - very hard to guess moisturizer....

Ta Ta Shee U

Saaranga

Happy New Year,

I have resolved to overcome the fear of 3 C's.  V.C, P.C and MikC.  Can you guess what they are?  If you do, leave a comment.  I will answer in approximately a week's time.

Ciao,

Saagana (as I call myself now)