DESTINY'S CHILD

Just watched the swearing in ceremony of our 12th President. Watching her go through all the honour I was just wondering if she too was pinching herself to see if all this was true as I sure was. No Presidential election had stooped so low .People were wondering how "one woman" can decide for a country of more than a billion who our President & Prime Minister would be! Scandals on one side , justifications on the other. Finally the results announced! India in her 60th year has a WOMAN PRESIDENT! "Woman "made all the difference for those who elected her or so they said.

Today when I saw her take her oath ,I wondered how someone who was not much of a national politician today is the FIRST CITIZEN OF INDIA. I would only call it "Divine Intervention". A post which actually everyone knew was ceremonial but whose very face was changed by Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. A tough act to follow. Wonder if she'll vist Siachen, ride a Sukhoi or even reach out to children & the youth like Kalam did.

Hearing her speak ,she did sound confident & said all the right things.Good job by whoever wrote it! But then ......she is a seasoned politician too!

With the past one'Tense" month behind her Prathibha Tai has a glorious 5 years in the 340 roomed mansion & with the probablity that the Rs. 50,000 which Presidents so far got as salary likely to be "doubled"... a double whammy sure for this 'DESTINY'S CHILD'. Well as to how she would perform only time will tell.

My best wishes to our NEW PRESIDENT who has a difficult path to tread! With fingers crossed I'd be watching what destiny has in store for her 'FAVOURITE CHILD'.

COOL!!

April is when we moved to Bangalore & now its July! God! time really flies! I have to tell you what i've been up to. Bangalore is sure a city that is COOL! How?? Read on.........

My holiday in May comprised of visits to Mangalore & Udupi .The wedding of a dear cousin where we had a great time & a trip to Davangere complete with a vist to Kollur made my vacation memorable! June brought us back to Bangalore. My kids & I still in the holiday mood forgetting we are going to stay put here. Fromthe 10th onwards reality dawned that we are going to be here henceforth.

13th was the first day in school after vacation. They came home & seriously asked me" Amma! is there no way we can go back to Chennai?" I felt bad for them and for myself. Two years in one place , in one school is reason enough to get bonded & miss it too. As for me, I grew up in the city & it has always made me smile when I look back. Trying to tell them all nice things about their present school & making them look at all the nice things around...... they soon stopped complaining.

But I had a horrible taste of Bangalore traffic when I was to meet a friend on Bannerghatta road. A 20km journey from home I gave myself 11/2 -2 hrs to reach her place. Not wanting to add on to the congested traffic I decided to take a bus !!!Litttle did i know what was in store?? I was stuck in jam after jam & finally reached her place after 4 hours ! Tired and dehydrated. I entered her house looking like I drove the bus! God I haven't seen traffic like this ever! By the time i reached, it was time for me to return as my kids would be back from school. Sad but this reality was too shocking! I've heard of how bad the traffic in Bangalore is but this easily takes the cake.

The optimist that I am I'll tell you the brighter side of my Bangalore life. I watched some really good movies-

a)Mungaru Male- a kannada Superhit. The songs are superb & so is the cinematography

b) 73 Shanti Nivasa.another Kannada film. Loved a dialogue in it which is" It is simple to be happy but difficult to be simple"A remake of Bawarchi it sure had its moments.

c) Shrek 3- A wonderful movie!Total Paisa vasool!

d) Sivaji the BOSS- This Bachelor of Social service sure did things we dream of... but it was Vivek I enjoyed in the first half & Rajini only in the second half. Another typical Rajini flick & for those who understand Tamil the wonderful oneliners!

A get-together in mid June with about 20 of our family members was another great one. The advantage of Bangalore is that we have many relatives here. With the kids now slowly getting used to their school , I too am trying to see the plus points of Bangalore. Am still confused what to do with myself though! Either way, one thing nice about Bangalore is the weather.......So i decided to look at small things first & derive happiness . I'm starting now........ looking out of my window & sure it's COOL!!