Back from India

Namaste,

A fitting greeting after spending about 5 weeks in India. This was the trip I was referring earlier and not the San Diego trip!. This time we flew in Luftansa airlines from Boston to Frankfurt. After keeping amma (mom) busy for over 7 hours of wait time in Frankfurt we got on the Bangalore flight. Bhavya maama, Anjali atte and Ammamma had come to airport to pick us up. The temperature was 65 or so, we were sweating while everyone in the airport was dressed in mufflers, shawls and sweaters. They just don't know what cold is!

I spent a couple of days in Bangalore, went to Mysore to see my cousins Sannidhi and Saanidhya. Had a blast with Bhavana doddamma and before I knew it, it was time for the trip to Mangalore. Urva Ajja and dodda where waiting and I was very happy to see all the toys and my other cousin Saatvik. I decided he would be my guide around Mangalore during all the events.

After a few days in Mangalore, we went to Udupi and saw the new house being constructed at Siri Ajja's place. Hoy!, playing in sand was the best pass time. Udupi was in full festive mood when we were there. I saw a few chariots, elephants and the god's procession. All exciting experiences. Also I saw a Yakshagana and had a chance to give High 5's to few characters.

Appa came during the last two weeks to get some testing done and participate in some functions. All in all, I could not believe we had spent almost 5 weeks outside the USA and before I knew it, it was time to pack up and come home. We came back and the the cold winter welcomed us. Bzzzz. it is cold....

Bundle up folks,

Saaranga

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?