Janaki's Blog

Today marks ten years of blog writing . It’s so crazy to think that this journey started when I was nine, but I can still remember penning my thoughts down into a little pink diary, and then reading it out for Dad as he typed into Microsoft Word. Eventually that diary got filled, and so did the next one. I still have both of them in my possession. We’ve moved houses several times, and a lot of belongings have gotten lost or misplaced, but these books are my own odd little pensieves that I can never let go of.  People say that it’s the little decisions we make that can alter our lives forever, and maybe that’s what happened when I stumbled across that book. Ten years of my life have been documented on this little corner of the internet, and there is a feeling of comfort knowing that these memories will stay safe and treasured for me to look back on. Whenever I go through the posts, I’m hit by nostalgia in the most magical, emotional way possible. The best part is when I reconnect with o

As Dad opened the front door, I danced around him like an excited puppy. He had bought dinner and I was starving, which was probably my own fault. Mansaf We had a traditional Jordanian dish called  Mansaf , and it looked beautiful to me. It was delicious too. But Mom did not fall in love with it as much as I did. In December we are having our annual day, and nobody knows who the chief guest is going to be yet. I want to do a group song, so I am going for song selections. Since Annual days are important, the school timings are usually extended so that the participating kids can practice. This time, the timings have been extended from 12:40 to 1:00. Do you remember that Malaysia trip I told you about? Well, now it has been cancelled because very few people are going. So, we get to have a normal trip this year. Everyone is guessing that it will probably be to Al-Hokair again since most of us wanted to go there again. Besides, you don’t get cotton candy at Star City. N

Exams are over!!! Today is my day off from studying and I am spending my day with the television, computer and books. It is nice but there is no holiday tomorrow. That’s the worst bit. But at least there will be winter vacation next month. After the last exam which finished today, it would have been pandemonium if the lights didn’t go off at school. There was only confusion as we buzzed around. At the compound nobody came out to play today. I am feeling really annoyed. Today I saw an old Malayalam movie “ My Dear Kuttichathan ”. It was the first 3D film in India which was made when Dad was in school. It was superb and I enjoyed a lot.

“And it was an exciting day”, Mom finished telling the story to Dad. I am talking about our Thodupozha trip when we were on vacation. We had woken up early in the morning and had waited for Sethu kochamma and Kochachan. They had offered to pick us up and come with us to Thodupuzha because of a special occasion which would happen at Divya chitta’s husband’s house. I liked their house. Calm and quiet, with 3 small garden ponds filled with fishes and a small stream near by. But the nicest thing that pleased me was nil mosquitoes! That’s because of the fishes in the garden pond, which would gobble them up. This is one of the best places on earth. Uncle Prasanth and uncle Mahesh were there too. Uncle Prasanth took some photos of me and showed me all around. He is a regular reader of my blog. He is going to get married in January with aunt Vani. Divya’s chitta had a big tummy since she is pregnant. All grown ups settled afterwards in the living room, where there was a table loaded with

Ring, Ring! The phone rang. Ring, Ring! Mom picked up the phone. “Hello Keerthi….. What? …… You will be coming to visit us tonight. …… Splendid!” This is how our afternoon started. Even though they would only come in the night I asked the same question starting from the afternoon. “When will Eeshta come?” Eeshta is my best friend. It was her mother who had called my Mom. At last the time came, me and my parents dressed up and waited for them. I was feeling excited. Soon we saw the light of a car outside our gate. We greeted Eeshta and her family. Eeshta, me and Eeshta’s younger sister Aashika went out to play. After dinner they went home quickly, because it was Friday and our Dads had to go to office next day. School is starting coming Saturday. After one week it will be exams and then holidays in the month of November. I am starting to get a little nervous because of the exams. I wish November would hurry up and come.

I love books! Give me a children’s book and I will sit there with my head buried in it. My room is filled with books. Before we went to India, we ordered some books through flipkart . We had given the address of Grandpa and the books reached there before we did. Grandpa was in the hospital for a week. Mom and Granny went everyday to see him. Sometimes they didn’t take me along, so I would get bored. And guess what I did? I would take a few books, march to my grandparent’s bedroom, turn on the light and fan and sit there reading. Sometimes I would read for a long time. My grandparents would take the book away and say my eyes need rest. Valyamma bought me 2 Enid Blyton books which are my favorite now. Dad sent a few more books through flipkart afterwards, and Mom bought me another 2 from DC books while we were waiting at the airport for our flight to Riyadh. These are some of the new books I like - The Smurfs and the Egg, Diary of Amos Lee, Tintin in Tibet, Adventures of

BOOM! BOOM! I nearly jumped out of my skin. BOOM! BOOM! My father rushed out of the house. “What’s going on?” I asked Mom. The front door opened and Dad came in. “Fireworks!” he said. “because of Eid”. I had finished my dinner and was lying peacefully on the sofa, watching TV. Dad and Mom were in the dining room, chatting. We ran to the pool side and saw fireworks being blasted on the sky outside the compound. There were yells of excitement. I climbed on the top of the slide, which leads into the swimming pool and sat there watching. After sometime fireworks stopped and there was peace all around, we quietly went back home. Dad’s Eid holidays have finally ended. I just wish he had a few more holidays. It’s more fun when he is around the house.

“Janu, we will come and pick you up on Sunday morning’’. I kept my ears glued to the receiver. Few days after me and mom reached India, Kunjunni and Kunjichechi invited me to spend the day with them. So after they called me, I was dancing around the room. I would only go, so I knew I was going to enjoy a lot. This was our plan: Valyachan and Kunjunni would pick me up. Valyamma and Kunjichechi would not come. (I will tell you why later.) Then we would go over to Madhavan’s, a cousin of Kunjunnni and Kunjichechi’s and take him too and resume our way to Gold Souk mall and watch a movie. Kunji chechi and Valyamma were in the mall to buy tickets for movie “ Rise of the planet of the apes ”. I didn’t like the movie, so Kunjichechi let me to put my head on her lap. I just closed my eyes because I was a bit scared. The ending part was much better for me. After the movie, Malu chechi called to say she had come to the mall. When we all looked down from the second floor we saw her. We then sta

Hi! Did you miss me? I came back today and I kind of feel strange. Maybe it is because of spending a few weeks in another country. Dad and I are all cheerful, my pet fishes are swimming in their bowl looking the same and Mom is chatting away happily with uncle Sujesh. When we told Kunji chechi and Kunjunni that we were leaving soon, they were really shocked. So we hung out with them one more last day. Last night Ravi Kochachan arranged a family get together at  Golden Fork . We really enjoyed a lot. Today I am really tired. Many things have happened in the God’s own country. I will write them in the coming days.

Great news! I am going to India today! Yippee!! I won’t be able to write for some days but I bet I will have tons to tell you when I return. I can hardly wait to step inside the plane and zoom off. We will reach India tomorrow morning. Dad will stay here in Saudi. I will miss him for a few days. But on the bright side he will be able to look after my pet fish. When we come back Dad will have the Hajj holidays so we might be able to go to some other place in Riyadh. Today while I was feeding the fish I had a few words to say to them. I said “Hey, I am going to India for a few days. That means Dad has to feed you. If he doesn’t or neglects to clean the bowl, don’t blame me.”

More 4 days to go … and then I will be in India!!! I love when packing starts. I don’t like waiting at the airport though and the only ways to entertain myself at the airport are: Read a book Eat a sandwich and drink cappuccino             I am a great bookworm so I always pack a few books to read when I am feeling bored. In the aircraft I try to go to sleep but it is useless. We haven’t started packing till now but Mom has ironed our clothes and dusted the suitcase so it will be easier for us. We are mostly taking full-sleeve shirts and pants because in India there are mosquitoes. The only thing I hate is that I am mostly the target for mosquitoes and that really annoys me. L Kunjunni, Savitri, and Kunjichechi are just as excited as I am. Savitri lives in another city far away, so I wonder how many times I will see her.   Whenever I get good marks, Dad gives me some pocket money. But I don’t spend, I just save them in my purse.  So I am planning to spend the money in India a

“Daddykins, please teach me how you made that movie?” I pleaded my Dad. Finally Dad picked up the courage to come and teach me. I was overjoyed. Sometimes while he was teaching me he had to give me a few gentle pinches. By the next day I had mastered how to make a movie with the pictures you have. So while Dad and Mom having their afternoon nap I successfully made a movie that only courageous people could do. But since all family members are there and their faces are shown Dad told me not to show it on the blog. Sorry folks! This is the movie Dad made first to teach me how to make a movie. Dad promised that I could take pictures on his camera, so you can expect nice movies of mine in the coming days.

Last 2 days have been lots of fun. On Sunday this is what happened……………… Alana called us to her home for dinner just like that. We were supposed to go at 9pm. So we had to finish playing by then. Rohini went to Alana’s home, Slomo had gone shopping and Albin was away studying at his home. That left me, Raja, Aisha, and Tolha at the ground.  The 4 of us were practicing basketball. Afterwards, we were thirsty and hungry. So we sat on the bench. Then Raja informed us it was 9. He then went home. “Alana told she would come and call us to her home when it was 9” Tolha mumbled. “Well, there is no use waiting now” I told him “Let’s go!” At Alana’s home aunty greeted us. She told us to go home, change our clothes and freshen up. That we did. At their home there were only me, the twins (Raja and Rohini), Tolha and Aisha. The food was from outside. Before it came we were watching the movie “ Night at the museum ”.  Aunty even gave us home made tasty carrot cake. Dinner was KFC .  I took a fe

June 26 th ! Today is a special day. It is my first blog anniversary. I have completed a year of blogging.  Last night we had dinner at pizza hut and there is a special reason behind it. Guess what it is? I had received full marks for social studies and science in monthly test. My Dad also gave me 5 riyals as pocket money. I think I have more than 100 riyals now, I am planning to spend this money with my cousins in India and have so much of fun. Just think of it! I have a pizza shaped scar on my knee. Two days back I tripped over a step and hurt my knee when I went to call my friends out to play.