Janaki's Blog

Dear Readers, I have reached India and a pleasant surprise was waiting for me. Gopichan had made a book out of my blog!  He has even added a few simple things and some pictures which made my book grand. I have got lots of comments from my relatives and from people of far-of-places saying that they loved my blog. My family keeps encouraging me. Thanking everyone, Janaki

Diary, guess what day today is? The melodious day to go to India! Congratulations to me. I am so exited. Sorry I cannot write for a whole month. Because we will spend one day at Kulu Manali , a week at Delhi   and few days at Bangalore. All these plans are driving me crazy. Diary, I wanted to tell you something for a long time. I decided that I will start a new blog like this one but it shall only tell stories. I know lots of people love stories and that’s why I will afterwards send them. I shall send some Amelia Jane stories. She is a teenager who is a detective and a 15-year-old. Her parents are divorced. Her father is Danny Smith and her mother is Amy Jane. Amy lives in Chicago. Amelia has 2 friends who help her in solving mysteries. They are: A stylish girl named Berta and a tomboy named Alan.   My parents are busy. Dresses and passports are being hurriedly packed and discussed.  Nichikets parents visited us yesterday as we are going to India today. They are not going this ti

We are going on next Tuesday to India. Mom works when I am at school. She cleans the house and washes the clothes to wear in India and to wear when we come back. I have a parent teachers meeting tomorrow at school. I was selected for the singing competition. My music sir had told me that I could sing well. Let me tell you how the day of the singing completion was: It was on last Wednesday. After assembly the selected participants had to sing the song in front of everybody at auditorium. When my turn came I first sang 2 stanzas of my song “country roads take me home…”. Our music Sir played the keyboard while I was singing.  Ye Gods!  I had forgotten the 1st line of the 3 rd  stanza. My classmates were cheering for me. I sang all over again.. Luckily, this time I remembered the lyrics well.  Then I quickly went down the stage. I was a little sad because I thought I would not receive a certificate. But what a surprise!  I actually got a certificate that I had won the third prize afte

“Hey, today is princi’s birthday!” my classmate told me as our class stood in the auditorium.   “And did you know Diya Agarwal is going to give a bouquet of flowers to him?” asked Rakshanda.”She is so lucky, don’t you think so?” I nodded . The principal arrived.   As we said “Good morning Sir” I had a feeling that today is going to be very exciting. But I was wondering why there was an assembly on a class test day. We were having a weekly test on that day and they didn’t give assembly on test days. A teenager came on the stage and said. “Good morning, I understand you all are wondering why we have an assembly today. Well, today is a very special day in our school. It is our Principal’s birthday!” Everybody clapped. A choir came to sing a song. Just then a loud sound was heard above the Principal. One of the girls in the choir jumped. A shower of colorful streamers fell on the Principal. This again happened after five seconds.   The Principal was given some flowers by a kindergarten b

Last Friday morning, some pest-control men came to our house. They wore masks and sprayed pesticides everywhere, even inside the toilet bowl! We had to run out because of the smell inside the house. We sat inside our car. After the men left we went out for a long drive to escape from the smell. We went out of the city and for the first time I saw the hanging bridge of Riyadh. The bridge got it name as it has only two pillars to stand on. We travelled through one pretty road. Actually it used to be a mountain, but the workers cut its middle and made it a road. On the two sides of the road the mountains are still there! I also saw many other things. There were some crazy street lights which were on because its twilight sensor wasn’t working. So they were still giving us light, though it was noon! When we went home, my Mom went to open the gate. She wrinkled her nose and that told me and Dad “the smell isn’t good”. Me and Dad grabbed our masks and put it on. We gave Mom her mask too.

Today was really cool! Our neighbour aunt Jyoti from Rajasthan invited me and Niharika for lunch because it was their festival. Nichiketh couldn’t come because he had stomachache. The real reason is boys can’t come as it is something I think tradition. We had a lovely lunch. It was Puri with potato curry plus haluva. But before that, Aunty washed our feet. She first sprinkled some water then wiped our feet with a towel. After lunch, as a tradition we also got chocolates and 11 riyals. I felt really good because money and chocolate jingling in our hands, we felt rich, rich, rrrich! The money we got had to be spent by ourselves. I like their traditions! Then we went to a room where Niharika did some yoga. After spending some more time, we went home, feeling important.

Gandhi Jayanti came soon and I got three days holidays! Can you believe it? Before the holidays, on Wednesday I was late for school. So I and Carlie, my classmate, had to stand outside the auditorium for school assembly. It always hot inside the auditorium, so I was glad that I could enjoy the cool breeze and talk to Carlie. Nobody inside the auditorium was happy as they couldn’t enjoy the cool wind and talk. All they got was being hot, a long assembly, plus a boring play. Our principal made a long speech about the father of our nation, Mahatma Gandhi. I could see that everybody, including my classmates were regretting why they were early, by looking at their faces when they came out. This evening I played basketball with my friends in the compound. It was fun. My friends taught me how to shoot the ball into basket. Aren’t you thinking that I am lucky?

School reopened, but we didn’t learn anything, so it was total free time. Eeshta gave me a friendship band because during the holidays she thought of me, me, me … Many of my classmates are still in India, out of 20 only 13 are present. My parents made some cabbage soup because I have got a nasty cold and I can’t stand it. I have to blow my nose 50 times a day.. hacheeeeee.. hacheeee.. I got a holiday Wednesday because of Saudi National Day. Well that’s a relief. I can get rid of my cold, thanks to Saudi National Day! One night my friend Malu came to visit me with her baby sister Devu. We wanted to play badminton but some adults were playing, so we just watched them. I kept my badminton racket and shuttlecock on a bench in the ground. Soon my friends wanted to go back to my home, but I forgot about the rackets! We went home, played few games and they left by midnight. After sometime when Dad asked me about the rackets I was speechless. So I went to pick them. But after some steps

Dear diary, School’s going to open tomorrow after long summer vacation. That means all the fun has finished and back to studies. I am very happy because I have finished my holiday homework. As I said in my last blog, it’s about time people started calling me lucky! Last night was full of fun. As Nichiketh and Niharika came back from India, we all were able to play well. Nichiketh’s friend Melvin was there too. Melvin is in my Malayalam class. We played Hide-and-seek, Badminton, Football and Cricket. After playing cricket, Niharika and her parents had to go to the hospital for something.   While playing football, I and the others spotted a cat with something in its mouth. So there was a wild goose chase behind it. Nichiketh found out it was a rat. But we still weren’t sure. After some more chasing, when we were talking, a family came to visit our neighbour aunt Coco   and uncle Loy. They had a girl named Tina and she too was in 4 th standard. Soon we saw a kitten. Then we realized t

Uncle Arvind is getting married to Aunt Paromita. We saw their pictures today. The engagement is going to be in Delhi. And it is perfect timing because it is going to be in November. So hopefully, I would be able to go Delhi and attend the engagement. And it is a good luck because I was planning to go to a few tourist attractions like Qutub minar, Taj Mahal, Nehru planetarium, Dolls museum and India Gate. There are three more reasons. No. 1.   These all are really good tourist attractions. No. 2.  It is about time friends start calling me lucky. No. 3.  I could get my mind out of the holiday homework. Some days back I was checking the map of Delhi on the computer. And you wont believe it, there was place called “kundi”!!! (“kundi” in Malayalam means your butt J ) Dad got five days holidays because Ramadan is ending. So he is really cheerful. We bought loads of dresses and swim suite for me to get ready for going India. We also bought some for my small cousins.

Good News!! There is a new Dunkin Donuts factory in front of our house. The workers are just building it. I am sure that the smell of donuts will come to our house every single day. Lovely! I could smell it and always feel hungry. Yesterday was Divya Chitta’s marriage and everyone said it was superb. I wish I was there. Now it is September, only October will have to pass and then I would be in India. Most of the days we phone my grandparents. It is always raining heavily in India. Luckily, in November it would be a fine weather. I am also looking forward to ride my Grandpa’s new scooter. He had promised that we two could ride in it. There is a Shiva temple near my Grandpa’s house. Every evening we go there to pray and chat with Grandpa’s friends. Two days back my molar tooth got pulled out. It was shaking a little. So that day me and Dad tugged and pulled until it finally came out. Then we went out and ate ice-cream.   My poor Dad couldn’t eat because his throat was sore. But my m

Dear Diary, Last two days I woke up early, without even Mom waking me up because there were Harry Potter movies at 9:30 AM on cartoon network. The boy who acts as Harry is Daniel Radcliffe. The author of Harry Potter books is Joanne Kathleen Rowling  or J.K. Rowling. Today I saw Harry Potter and the prisoner of Azkaban. Last two days were the sorcerer’s stone and the chamber of secrets. While I was watching it Mom and Dad called Divya chitta’s mother. Divya chitta (chitta means aunt) had gone to the beauty parlor to put mehandi on her hand.  She is going to be married on Friday. I miss all the marriages in Kerala including the tasty food and payasam (payasam is desert).  Mom told me that uncle Sanju is going to New Zealand. He is a cardiac surgeon. Aunt Karthi and his baby Indu are also going. Indu is a one year old baby and very cute. I saw her at a marriage, she had two ponytails and was in a playful mood. My GK book says that the people from New Zealand are lovingly called Kiwis

“A party? Yeeyyyyy!” I jumped with delight when I heard there was going to be a poolside Onam party in my compound. It was Onam that day and I couldn’t help feeling excited. But alas, my joyfulness finished when I saw there was no one to play with except a boy in 8 th standard. What a waste of delightfulness!! Everybody had gone on vacation and there were only adults. I was disappointed, but soon it vanished from my face when I saw the food. Appam, friedrice, vegetable curry, porotas, chicken, prawns and salads. Yum! I am sure this is going to make a smile flicker on my face, I thought. There was also kheer for desert which made my mouth water.

“Kach .. Kch .. Kch” went my brush as I brushed my teeth. I was getting ready for bed. Just as I finished my parents suddenly called me from the drawing room. I groaned and went there. “What?” I asked sleepily. “There was suddenly a strange vibration and the door shook” they replied. “Who would want to go in the dead of the night?”    I muttered under my breath as I went out. The moon was very bright and I glanced at a helicopter which was flying very low. It also made me jump seeing it had a large flashlight attached to that. “Are they searching for an escaped prisoner?”   I whispered, my heart beating faster than usual. “Maybe” said my Dad excitedly rushing indoors to get his shirt. “What a night!” Soon the chopper was out of sight. After one final look we went inside. “Have you locked the door?” I asked nervously, looking at the windows, almost expecting to see a figure jumping in with a gun in its hand. “Yes” said Mom amused. “Don’t be scared, they are only practicing to drive

Today I thought I should write about music because there are a lot of things I can write about it. I like songs very much. My Valyachan (uncle) is a famous singer. His name is  Sreevalsan J Menon . He sings Carnatic music and had sung in many places like Dubai, UK, Africa, America etc. He sings Bhajans too. My dad has a collection of CDs of his songs. When we go out we listen to these songs in the car. Valyachan calls me JaJanu. Sometimes when he is on TV we get excited to see him. I have seen him practicing upstairs when me and my brother will be playing downstairs, and when we want to take something from up he would smile at us. He would be singing to the tune of the shruthibox. It looks like a radio which gives us the tune of the song we want, so that we can sing with it. Miley cyrus (Hannah  Montanna) is my favourite  singer. She lives at Los Angeles. Her father is Billy Ray Cyrus. He too is a singer and plays the guitar. Miley is 18 years old. She is also an actor. My favorite s

“Well, he should be here now”, said my father as we waited at the Jeddah airport on Thursday which was yesterday. We had returned the car which we rented and the man at the rent-a-car shop drove us to the airport. The airport was very spacious. We were waiting for Samer uncle who works with Dad. “He has small kids” said my Mom to me. Children? That’s good! I could play with them, but will they play with me?  Soon the uncle came. He had twin babies and a little girl named Zaina. Her brothers are Abdulrahman and Omer. They both are very sweet. One of them smiles very much and the other is serious, only sometimes he smiles. When Mom and I went to the ladies search room for security check we saw something very very funny. A woman had put her daughter down, so the police could check her. When the police started checking the lady the small girl started jumping “do that to me!”. Me and Mom rushed out giggling since our turn had finished. When we had to wait for the flight, Samer uncle ca

Palm Beach is a sandwich shop, but yesterday we discovered that it also has a restaurant on the top of it.   It is a Lebanese restaurant, this was written on the top of the menu. The food was very tasty there. There was a fish tank with two gold fishes and one black fish. The stair cases were decorated with coral reefs on one side and had covering with clouds painted on it.  The food we ordered was chef’s special shrimps and Palm Beach special mixed grill. I liked the shrimps the most. The salad was put in a majestic way, so it looked very beautiful. When Dad put his spoon in it I told him not to spoil the beauty! Palm Beach was there since 1976, so I think it is one of the oldest restaurants in Jeddah. The funny thing is even if it is a Lebanese restaurant there were two waiters who were Malayalees! They asked us from which part of Kerala we are. With the shrimps they served a little rice. Mom asked if any of us wanted some. Me and Dad said “No”, “Good” said Mom, “because I want

Kanz Obhur is a seaside restaurant in Jeddah. We had dinner there last night. We have already been there once with Biju uncle and Deepa aunty. The restaurant is very beautiful to see, especially in the night. We sat in a seat near the sea. The water was very clear and clean. I could see many stones underneath. Some little fishes swam here and there. They were gleaming silver colour in the water. There were fountains which bobbed on the water and coconut trees which had red stockings! Next to the coconut trees were lamp posts with lamps which look like fire. I was feeling very happy. Our waiter was from Kerala. He was very excited to see us and kept asking questions. I thought it was the first time he saw a malayalee in Jeddah! Before that, we went to the beach (the place which I told you where the rocks were put to stop the waves from coming in). The moonlight was shining on the waves of the red sea. A man went on the rocks to wash his feet and hands, suddenly a wave splashed again

It was a beautiful day. We decided to have a picnic. So when I got ready Dad went to buy some food and Mom packed some things. Dad came back and waited for us, and then off we went. We took a new path, on the way there was the sea. Many people were there. Some were walking and some were sitting on huge boulders which were put to stop the sea from coming in. We kept our picnic things and food in the car and went down two steps to the beach. My father and I went on the huge boulders and sat on one of them. There were lots of crabs, small and big. The waves were very strong and they splashed against the rock. I was first scared but then I started to enjoy it. Mom was scared so she did not come but sat on the steps. Dad and I found something small, black moving thing which looks like leeches. They were on some rocks. First Dad went and then I followed, we were looking at them. Then a huge wave splashed against the rocks and came right at us! Dad and me ran, laughing and went back to ou

This is the second time I am in Jeddah and today is the fourth day I am here.  Now it is Ramadan, Muslims do not eat during daytime. We came here for a business trip. Today as it is Friday, Dad has no office. Red sea is in Jeddah. It is also called ‘city of roundabouts’ as there are lot of roundabouts with statues. Jeddah also has the tallest Fountain in the world, the King Fahd Fountain . I have seen it 3 times. It starts after sunset. The red sea doesn’t look red even though everyone tells it does.   Last 2 days we went to see the sea . It was a beautiful sight as it was sunset.   The sea and the sky looked purple, orange, yellow and pink. There were many seagulls. A rat went into a small hole. The seagulls were heading home in a V-shape. They had a busy day catching fish. I thought how long they would have to fly as the sea is very big. In the night 2 rats came out. They scampered into their holes when they saw me coming.  We had dinner at Al-Baik , which is a popular restauran