Bangalore Meri Hai

Prabhus 4

Wise Saws and Modern Instances

Kiara is a linguistic delight. She has introduced me to two neologisms that are both useful and musical sounding. One is "wristle". Usage: "The hand bone's connected to the wristle bone". The other is "grocious". Usage "Eewwww...grocious!".
Of her picturesque speech when in India her uncle Adrian has this to say:


I've been meaning to email you about Ranjit and Kiara's stay. Kiara was a
real delight. Glad the books were okay.

Some gems from Kiara:
1. When I asked her whether there are crocodiles in the bathroom in New York
she thought for a minute and then said "No, only potties."

2. As I was leaving Rohan and Usha's house she gave me a whole list of
instructions about how to drive safely. I don't remember most of it but one
of them was "Drive only on the car and not on the road."

3. She seems to have seen a tubelight for the first time at Rohan's place.
She glared at it for a minute and then said, "You rascal light!" I asked her
why. She said, "Did you see what he just did? He went off and then came on
again!"

4. Karina was playing Doctor and I lay down on the bed and said that my
stomach was paining. Kiara immediately jumped on my stomach. I said "Ouch,
what kind of doctor are you, Kiara?" She gleefully replied, "A bouncing
doctor!"

Kiara's Evolution from Jayalalitha (age 2)...

...To Uma Bharati

Of Motherhood and the Motherland

April 2007
Kiara and Ranjit made a trip to India – I didn’t travel because three final papers and one baby were all due in May. The trip was fantastic by all accounts. Kiara reveled in the love and attention lavished on her by her very immediate (Ranjit), intermediate (grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins) and extended family. We are truly blessed to have such warm, generous, loving people in our lives. The holiday included a trip to Goa, where Ranjit and Kiara lived it up in style with Dan, Karina and Alisha, Aunty Philoo and Uncle Kevin, Rohan, Usha and Ari, Abba, Mai and Grandma Sheila. The rest of the trip, I hear, was a whirl of parties and sundry jamborees. Kiara has returned tanned, skinny, fairly insect bitten and completely enamored of her family in India. She’s happy to be back but has since expressed longings to see everyone again – one of those wishes will be granted when Grandma Sheila visits in August.
In their absence, I achieved much – wrote three papers, went to the opera, went to see a medieval cloister, spent a weekend with my Aunt and Uncle, Leonie and Mark, saw the move “300” on the big screen (a rare treat), and watched a play called “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged)”. On the night of the last event, there was a storm and my basement got flooded. Lucklily, my friend Arpine was staying over after the play, and between us we dried out the basement – Arpine even went out in the storm and dug a trench to drain the house!.


May 2007
Kiara returned to school, where her classmates lined up for hugs from her. She also turned four this month. For her birthday, I did a music session with her friends in school, took a “princess cake”, and gave everyone maracas as party favors. This was Friday, the 25th – on Kiara’s actual birthday, Saturday the 26th, we went out for pizza and a movie (Shrek II).

June 2007
School’s out for me, and I have a semester off. My son, Rohan Prabhu, arrived into the world on June 10th, without fuss (he has since made up for the lack). He is thriving, as am I. Kiara goes to camp every day, where she swims, dances, and occasionally goes on field trips. Ranjit and I are managing our expanding family with ease and good humor. Life is good.