Janaki's Blog

I have happy news. Yesterday uncle Biju’s wife aunt Deepa gave birth to a baby boy! I am really excited to see him. But I am also sad that they are in India now. Today I had seen his photos, he is soooo cute! Now, let me tell you about my Dad’s home at Manakad. Manakad is situated in a town called Thodupozha in my motherland, Kerala. Manakad has a river too.   And there are lots of trees, different types of flowers, insects and lots of farms. I like the river most. It is only a 5 minutes walk from our home. The river itself is very outstanding as it seems to have shades of green because of the plants on its banks. One day on our way to the river we saw a goat, the goat was eating some juicy leaves and it did not look at me even when I tried to give another juicy leaf. It ignored me all the time and soon I had to leave it, chasing another cow. It had the same habits as the goat and I had to leave it too. Our house is very large. Squirrels could be heard running on the roof a...

Today the weather was really bad! It rained the full day. And it is STILL raining now. Who knows if there is rain tomorrow. When we were going to school there was rain, hail, thunder and lightning. We all got really scared. But we pretended that we were smoking when we went outside because smoke would come out from our mouths. And the teachers didn’t teach us anything too because they did not come to our class. School was only till 11:40. We all danced in the class when we heard that news. Some children had even brought umbrellas.  Tomorrow is a holiday for us all because of the rain.

Last Saturday was sports day.   We had to do our drill that day.   W e had to do marching, wishing and some other exercises in front of the whole school. We were happy when we had drill practice before the sports day because we could miss a few classes. The pom-pom dances were great.   I heard that the house Hejaz (I am in Hejaz) got the 1st prize in dance and 3rd prize in relay race.   Yippee! But when all the pom-pom girls were dancing, some of us spotted a small camera under the gate, spying on us all. The principle climbed a tree and saw a boy outside the gate sitting beside the camera. It was the principal’s turn to spy now! The boy however must have felt the principal’s eyes following because he suddenly ran away, taking the camera with him.    

The next day we went to the Ayyappa temple since there was some pooja Balaji Ammavan had planned. Our lunch was the prasadam from the temple. In the evening we went to aunt Paromita’s house because there was another pooja too. Uncle Arvind was present. He and Aunt Paromita sat on a carpet on the floor. All the elders blessed them. A priest was there, doing the rituals. We were given some tasty laddoos to eat during the pooja.   Yummy!   And not only that, after the pooja we all went out to the garden where a buffet was waiting for us.   There were lots of tasty food like vadapavu, alu tikki, pani puri etc..    I don’t know the name of some. Double yummy! When we were taking our food, we saw an amazing sight. There was a peacock near our neighbor’s house! After that we all went back the guesthouse, but we had to go to the gardens again because there was going to be a feast both Uncle Arvind and Aunt Paromita had planned. Triple yummy! The next day was th...

I will continue to write about our Delhi trip.. There were still 2 days left for the engagement. We went to a restaurant called Kareem’s restaurant. You might think it was a small restaurant, very congested too and that I was silly enough to go there. Well, the ancestors of the chefs were cooks of the Mughal kings. Thankfully now you know that I am not silly. We went there in a cycle rickshaw. Kareem’s restaurant is near the Jama masjid so we saw it on the way.   Kareem’s restaurant is a non-vegetarian restaurant. The food there was great. I must tell you that we saw the Qutub Minar BEFORE we went to the Kareem’s restaurant. The Qutub Minar was REALLY tall! And I think there are 365 steps inside. Then we went to the Humayun’s tomb. I believe that some kings were cut into pieces since in a room where a king’s tomb there was lots of other small tombs. We also saw the Rashtrapati Bhavan, India Gate and the Parliament house. We saw Rajghat too. It is the place where Gandhiji...

I will take a break from our Delhi trip. Today I decided to write about the Christmas party we had in my compound, here I go: The party was at 6:00. We decided to go to the dentist because I had complained one of my molar teeth was hurting me. We all were getting ready to go but afterwards my dad wasn’t sure if the dentist was available. So I went out and saw that my friends were out decorating for the Christmas party.  The drumstick tree was decorated with lights and balls which made it look like a Christmas tree instead of a drumstick tree! Alvin was riding his cycle, Allana and her mother and Slomo were there. I and Slomo had to chase all the balloons that went rolling away. But even when we kept all the balloons on the playground off they went rolling again. Some even flew in the air.  I noticed Allana was going to stand on a chair and stick letters saying Merry Christmas. She needed help. So I held the tape. Slomo told us he had to go on Alvin’s roof to get a few ten...

The next day we went to the beautiful Lotus temple. On the sides of the temple were huge pools. And there was a beautiful garden that led you to the temple. We had to remove our shoes before we got inside. The Lotus temple is a Bahai temple. When you got inside you had to sit quietly (or you would get thrown out). The Lotus temple can be visited by anyone ( JJ even you JJ ) of any religion. Next move was to the majestic Akshardham Temple. The temple was full with beautiful carvings and gigantic idols. There was a crowd. Later we went to a shopping mall called Citywalk. All the families separated. Me and my parents drank coffee and donuts. The people there in Delhi were stylish. We then bought a few things and all of us together went to our bus. We had our dinner at Ammayi’s home. Me, Karthik and Tappu played video games. After that long exciting day we went back to our guesthouse were we waited for the next morning to see Qutub Minar.

The next day, we woke up early. We went down to have breakfast. I loved the breakfast. I had cornflakes, bread-and-butter, and tea. I decided to have that kind of breakfast every morning. I have read about the kind of tasty food English people have like bacon, cake etc. I think they are people with good luck. All my relatives were at the guest house.  Soon we all were ready. We had a bus to pick us up. We were going to see the Agra fort and Taj Mahal that day. All of us thought of going to see the Taj Mahal first, but some ministers were there. So the Taj Mahal was shut down for a while. From Delhi we had to pass Haryana and then come into Uttar Pradesh to go to Agra.   Balaji Ammavan had hired a guide for us. It was very kind of him.  The guide uncle explained everything nicely. We understood every word. The fort was beautiful. The carvings of the red sandstone were especially pretty. We saw the chair were Birbal used to sit. It was white in color, just opposite ...

Dear diary, Let me shoot about what happened when we arrived at the Delhi airport. Well, when we were at the Delhi airport we had to wait for uncle Ajay to pick us up. The reason we went to Delhi was that because of uncle Arvind's engagement. I think I had told you that before. There were mostly dogs in Delhi. I seldom saw cats. I seemed to miss those little cute furballs. Because, well ….er... you know what it is. Anyway, uncle Ajay soon came. We then kept our bags at the guest house of International Institute of Technology (IIT), just next of the guest house was the college. After that, we went to Balaji Ammavan’s house. The people there were: Karthik, Madhav, my cousin Thappu, aunt Subha and Ajay uncle, Balaji ammavan, Ammayi, uncle Arvind, aunt Renjitha, uncle Kanan, aunt Anu and uncle Hari.  After sometime, all the ladies and me had to go for shopping. And I was so bored to death. I wished I was with the others who were in the park. Mom had told me later I had to go wit...

We have come back to Riyadh. And I tell you it was good to see India again. We saw Delhi. But we did not see Kulu Manali or Bangalore because we did not have the time to see them. So that was out of question. Delhi was beautiful. We saw the Qutub Minar, Humayun’s Tomb, Taj Mahal and goodness knows what all places I visited.  The malls were good too. We saw a piano playing by its own. School had started before I came back to Riyadh. So now I am copying my missed notes.  We will be seeing India again after 6 months. That’s fine with me as I will have to wait very little. I will write more about our vacation later, I don’t have the time now. Sorry folks.

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...

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 cer...

“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 ...

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 r...

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.