Fresh Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread Recipe

Its still a week until Thanksgiving but the Martha Stewart in me could not wait to chop off one of my pumpkins from the front door step and try something that I never did before. Make Pumpkin Bread !Shared it with a few friends and if they are not just being polite, it did turn out to be great. I went online to find recipes but ended up making a concoction of my own. A friend wants the recipe and I guess it makes sense for me to record it too so here we go -

Ingredients -

• 1 and a half cups white granulated sugar
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup olive oil
• 4 eggs, lightly beaten
• 2 cups fresh pumpkin puree
• 3 1/2 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• Pumpkin spice - I used 2 sticks of cinnamon, 2 teaspoons of cardamom seeds and 1 teaspoon of cloves to grind them together. Usually pumpkin spice has nutmeg. I did not have it in hand and used cardamom seeds instead. You have to grind it fresh to believe the incredibly delicious aroma this mix produces
• 2/3 cup water
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• Chocolate chips

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour two 9 by 5 loaf pans. Stir together sugar and oil. Stir in eggs and pumpkin puree . Combine dry ingredients in separate bowl. Blend dry ingredients and water into wet mixture, alternating. Stir chocolate chips in the end, save some for putting on top of the batter.  Divide batter between two loaf pans. Sprinkle some chocolate chips on top.  Bake for  about 40 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean. Let stand 10 minutes. Remove from pans and cool.

Tips - I did not grate my pumpkin, instead chopped it and cooked it for around 20 minutes and then pureed it in the blender . It was easier for me than grating. Some recipes use raw grated pumpkin. I had an instinct to cook it first and then use it.

My house smelled already like Thanksgiving at the end of the day and my family and friends loved the bread.

 

Avi and Neev's Bollywood dance debut

This season has been extraordinarily busy doing extracurricular, making for some really special times and memories.  Avi and Neev performed in HSNC (Hindu Society of North Carolina) Diwali Dhamaka , grooving on latest songs from the movie 'Chennai Express'. Avi danced with his group on the song 'Lungi Dance' and 'Udan Choo' . He dressed like a tapori (street boy from India) in jeans and green checkered shirt tied over the waist . To complete the look he tied a bandana on his knee , wore a super shiny necklace with a $ sign and had a spiky hair-do. Man, he really pulled off that look and all the jhatakas :)
Neev danced with his group on the song 'Kashmir main tu Kanyakumari' and wore a green Kurta Pajama with a matching stole.  He was the most focused and adorable dancer and his dancing partner was the same. They looked super cute!
You both (Avi and Neev) will never know the extent of the joy you bring to me. Thanks for making my life so rich with the flush of these moments !! Muah....

Neev's first Indian Classical Music Recital

This past Saturday on Nov 16th my 6 years old had his first Hindustani Classical Music Recital. He started learning classical around 4 months back and according to his teacher he is blessed with a sweet voice. I think both my children have the sweetest voices and they both can carry a tune. Family genes deserve a credit here ! I learnt Teen Taal on my little palms from my grandmother and Kaharwa Taal on Tabla from my father. My mother-in-law plays Sitar. She and my father are wonderful singers.  So it makes sense for the kids to have a little bit of it in them :)  One of the regrets of my life would always be to not continue my music and Kathak training beyond elementary years, however music and dance would always remain as a source of joy to me. Thankfully my children inherit that love for music and enjoy learning it. This would be Avi's fourth year on Piano. He experimented with Viola in second grade and is quite enjoying playing flute in his school band this year. Neev started with drum lessons and Hindustani classical few months back and even though practicing anything at home with him is challenging , I am happy to see him having a good time in the classes.
We all love our children !! You can see that expression everywhere. During recital when the young singers performed with apprehension, trembling fingers on keyboard, tiny hands trying to hold microphones not knowing whether it was at the right distance from their lips, their proud and encouraging mothers mouthed Raagas that they made their little ones practice at home and by doing so learnt every Sur, Aroh. Avroh and notations of Bhajans. Their eyes fixated on their children , lips synching with their delicious voices, all this while capturing the memory in iPhone. That was a fine fine expression of love ! I was there and I was one of them, watching my beautiful baby sing Raag Bhopali and a Bhajan based on it. Way to go my precious !!

Tiger Rock Taekwondo Tournament

Avi participated in his first Taekwondo tournament on November 9th at Grace Chiristian School, Cary and bagged 3 golds in board-breaking, sparring and individual free design. He also got a silver medal in team free design with his partner Aryan. The great thing about the whole accomplishment has been his own efforts whether it was deciding the routine for free design or picking up right music to go with it or practicing his form diligently. He is most proud of his sparring medal because it really was a tough competition and was earned at the cost of a badgered thigh when the boy against him (taller than Avi) kicked him really hard on thigh (he did get a penalty strike for doing it). Avi is really happy for his team free design medal also. It took a lot of late evenings synchronizing the routine with his partner but the pay-off has been not only the medal but also finding a great friend in the process. Avi and Aryan creatively designed their steps and had fun doing it together.  Avi picked up popular Bollywood tune of "hookah bar " song for  his team free design and chose theme song of movie Pacific Rim for his individual free design. He scored points for his crisp, sharp and fast steps.
Neev missed out on the competition but very excited for his brother's achievements. Neev is extra ordinary with his free design movements according to his instructors. He is the fast feet kid in his group and can't wait for the next tournament to show off his skills. For now we all are celebrating the shine of the bling our sunny boy brought home. We are so proud !

Karvachauth 2013

If you have been keeping up with my blog then you probably know that Karvachauth is my THING and despite the festival falling on the weekday this year, I had gathering of about 50 people at my house which was decorated with dupattas and karwas among other things. A friend decorated a beautiful thali for me by spreading ghee on it, sprinkling kumkum and then drawing free hand design. It looked so pretty with tea lights glimmering inside it. We did Puja, put mehendi on our hands and grooved to Bollywood songs. Moon finally showed up at around 10 PM and the ladies broke the fast to enjoy delicious potluck dinner. When I posted pictures on Facebook, a friend commented on how over the top we celebrated this tradition. I guess we live so far away from home and miss it , the sentiments reflect in the efforts to expose the younger generation to our rituals and of course we have the blast while doing it :) Happy festival season everyone !

Avi and Neev's stage debut

On September 29th ,RTP chapter of Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh organized a Dharma & Yoga Fest
at Hindu Society of North Carolina (HSNC) campus in Morrisville to commemorate 150th birth anniversary of Swami Vivekanand.  HSS's "Balgokulam" presented a skit on his life. Avi and Neev both participated and made their stage debut. Weeks of long practices paid off in form of enormous appreciation from audience. The children were amazing, thanks to the dedication and hard work of the directors. I am so happy for my children to have gotten the opportunity to be on the stage but more for the learning and skills they acquired through this experience. Patience, discipline, dependability, confidence and humility are just a few to name but forging new friendships is the gift that not only they got out of it but also their Mom :) Here's to a season of more stage fun !!

Starry Night

Under the shadow of beautiful crescent moon and numerous stars by the lake Jordan ,surrounded by just darkness !! It was a perfect night and place for star watching. Morehead Planet and Science center organizes monthly sky watching sessions for public and yesterday we took advantage of it by going with some friends. It wasn't the first trip for Anurag and Avi so they took the lead to explain what to expect. We collected our star sheet from a volunteer and Anurag held it above our heads and threw the flashlight covered with a red balloon (for avoiding the glare ) to find our direction and then look for the star constellations. We had a great time looking for the Big Dipper, Cassiopeia, Sagittarius, Scorpion and  Pegasus. Everyone admired the amazing telescopic views of Saturn, Venus, star clusters ( nebulae)and of course, the Moon, There was an informal tour of the constellations with a Morehead educator, about constellation myths and legends, and experienced observers were available to answer any questions about astronomy. My favorite view was of Saturn ring and the craters on Moon. Avi told me that his favorite still remained watching the storm on Jupiter in his last visit of star gazing. After we had our fill of telescopic views of the planets, we sat down on the bench by the park and savored the sky and its milky ways. A great way to end the weekend !

North Carolina Zoo, Asheboro

We couldn't have picked up a better day to visit the zoo. With high of 82 degrees , it was quite a nice breezy day to walk almost 5 miles to cover Africa and North America loop of Asheboro Zoo. We did North America in the latter part of the day and realized that all the grizzlies, black bears and even lions are all lazy bums, preferring to enjoy siesta than showing off their mighty selves to spectators. Kids were not disappointed though because they were able to catch up with African animals in the first part of the day and even got to feed the giraffes out of their hands. I got a great click of the giraffe sticking his long tongue out and Neev happily putting a leaf on it. They both loved the Aviary and specially enjoyed watching red cardinals and parrots. Dinosaur exhibit is also open right now and kids loved their huge replicas in motion, crying out , ' I am not scared of you' and 'come get me if you can' :)
When we went to Prairie Geyser where they have put a replica of 'Old Faithful Geyser', we reminisced our most favorite vacation to the Yellowstone National Park in 2009.
I am not a fan of swamps. There is nothing appealing to me in marshes, prairie grass and blackish thick water and that's why Anurag can never convince me for a trip to Everglades but thankfully Cypress Swamps in the zoo was a small preview of waterfowl, turtles, amphibians and alligators. To me, a sight of a big huge snake completes the trip to the zoo (as long as they are on the other side of the glass). I am scared but equally fascinated by them. A HUGE diamond back rattlesnake and a cotton  mouth were put together in the window and watching them resting in a rather very friendly pose was the highlight of my day.
While Avi felt that he was too old to go on the carousel, Neev enjoyed the ride twice with his Daddy. We all enjoyed the 4-D experience watching Ice Age : Dawn of the Dinosaurs, getting sprayed with water, poked in the back, shaking in our chairs and feeling the air on the sides of our seats. Avi also loved using his binoculars to see Bison, Antelopes, Onyx , Rhinos and Ostriches roaming in the reserve.
Food is pretty good at Wilderness Café (Avi and Neev enjoy cheese pizza anywhere ) and an ice-cream tastes divine at the end of the day even to a non ice-cream person like me. 
Another summer is slipping away and I am hoping that many years later when I sit to read this diary, these times spent with my family would be the biggest joys of life !!

Long weekend of fun with friends

It all started with the potluck dinner at our place on Friday with our 'Shakha' friends (Shakha means branch in Hindi and I am referring to our local branch of HSS - Hindu Swaymsevak Sangh where we go every Sunday evening to do yoga , play games and learn about various aspects of Hindu religion and culture). Yum dinner of Chole Bhature, Medhu Vadas, mango-peach salsa, vegetable Pulao, Raita and Kheer was followed by a really enjoyable session of piano and songs by some very talented friends in the group. Great evening indeed !
On Sunday we joined same group of friends and  'Kishores' (teenagers' group in HSS) for a day camp in Umstead Park. The kids went on a 3 miles long hike, did 'Charcha' (discussion) on various topics such as ways to stop companies to patent what has always been common knowledge in India about benefits and medicinal usage of plants and trees, what can be done to stop cow slaughtering and increase the milk production in India.  Kids showed a lot of interest and participation. After Pizza lunch and some games Anurag gave them 'Baudhik' (a talk ) on the life of Swami Vivekananda. A few Kishores were going to go to a sleepover afterwards and somehow everyone in the group got invited for this dinner. An impromptu plan turned out to be a feast and fun with a game of table tennis, piano, singing, 'antyakshari' and dumb-charades. Neev started 'antyakshari' by shyly singing Vivekananda song in his honey voice and got a round of applause by everyone. My sweet child hid his face but I could tell that he thoroughly enjoyed the attention.
All in all a great long weekend of some good discussion and fun with a great bunch of people !!

Avi's first Chess Tournament and win

Last Sunday on July 21st Avi participated in his first chess tournament and came in the first place after playing 3 games and winning them all. His USCF rating is 911 as of today. Its a great feeling and we are so proud of him. In the next tournament he will be up for a really tough challenge. Congratulations son and good luck for the next tournament !

Sunny & Musical Sunday

Feeling quite accomplished after finally spreading the mulch in the lawn, cleaning the garage and vacuuming two cars, all in a 92 degree hot day. Naturally a reward was in order and it turned out to be a music video evening at home with our Harmon Kardon surround sound system. Gotta love my hubby for setting it up few years ago. The choice of the music today was an hour long sound track of 'Lord of the rings' , another medley of it performed by Lindsey Stirling, sound track of Star Wars, movie trailers of 'Man of Steel' and Gregorian's 'Unforgiven'. If you are wondering, in my family I am a minority and hence the chic flick sort of material never gets played on family nights :) Our 8 years old has a way of surprising us and the latest one is his memory of all the sound tracks with different scenes in trilogy of 'Lord of the rings' . I have to say, I quite enjoyed myself watching my boys listening to the music and saying things like , 'oh that's a shire song', 'that's when Smeagol found the ring', 'that's when Aragorn was leading the army'. Avi has finished reading 'Lord of the rings' , watched the trilogy 2 times , has done 'Star Wars' marathon session with his Dad last summer and recently checked out the latest 'Star Wars Ultimate visual Guide' from the library which weighs a ton. I don't know which term is more respectful 'Nerd' or 'Geek' but I know I have one in making already (following into his Dad's footsteps). I am not the one complaining, in fact I am quite a fan of "Big Bang Theory's" boys :)

We finished the session with Anurag's favorite 'Unforgiven' by Gregorian. Its originally done by Mettalica but Anurag loves this version. After you get over the trance and struggle to figure out the lyrics, you realize its pretty deep. The chorus goes like this -
What I've felt
What I've known
Never shined through in what I've shown
Never be
Never see
Won't see what might have been
What I've felt
What I've known
Never shined through in what I've shown
Never free
Never me
So I dub thee UNFORGIVEN

Give it a listen, its not something you might enjoy the first time but like a lot of things we come to love, it grows on you !

Crafty Saturday

Waking up at 8 AM today to take kids to Home Depot's workshop was totally worth it. They made one of the cars from 'Despicable me 2 ', painted it blue and decorated it with stickers. We have been taking advantage of these 'build and grow' workshops by Lowes and Home Depot this summer. Boys built a Monsters Chest from 'Monsters U' couple weeks ago which was really neat. For mother's day Lowes had a project of creating 'Sweetheart frame' in heart shape. What can I say, I don't mind the loud thuds of hammers around me at all when I see my little builders at work in their cute aprons and work goggles.
Thank you Home Depot and Lowes !

Laughter Crackers

Scene : Summer afternoon and Avi, Neev playing 'Sorry' (board game) with Mommy. Each time Neev draws a sorry card, Avi bribes him to not bump his pawn in return for a million prizes and every time Neev obliges him. At some point of time I tell Neev , "Avi is taking you for a ride Neev" and Neev responds , " its okay Mommy , I quite like the rides. I get to scream at the top of my lungs" .

Last year Neev's teacher shared this with us during a conference-
Once while reading a book and trying to engage Neev, she asked him a question about the story and Neev said, "but I did not raise my hand".

He is really the funny one in family :)

4th of July 2013

We Celebrated America's birthday in spectacular style at Cary’s Booth Amphitheater with patriotic performances by the Cary Town Band and the North Carolina Symphony.

We were disappointed that there were no boats to watch  from the Triangle Model Yacht Club on Symphony Lake but may be we were late and they had already sailed.

Music combined with family-friendly activities, national anthem sung really well by Miss NC 2012, good food, some familiar faces from kids' classes and a dazzling display of fireworks made 4th of July really nice but most of all it was spreading the blanket by the side of the lake and spending some great family time appreciating all kinds of freedom that this amazing country offers which made it special.  Happy Birthday America !

Mindblowing Architecture

Check out the architecture of the buildings in the pictures ! Zaha Hadid has designed buildings which make me feel that I am watching a delicate symphony of Ballet and Martial Arts . Also watch the videos of Zhang Xin's interviews . In her words "where there are problems, there are opportunities" !

http://edition.cnn.com/2013/07/02/business/richer-than-trump-or-oprah/index.html?hpt=hp_c3

Over a period of time we have made a lot of healthy changes to our diet, switching to many organic dairy foods and including more vegetables , fruits and whole grains on our platter . I had been feeling happy about cooking fresh meals for my family and making better choices of foods in general. However, when it comes to exercising, other than occasional walks , I haven't really done anything concrete in a long time (In fact I really started to talk myself into feeling comfortable with whatever weight I am on ). My husband on the other hand has been very disciplined these past few months about his workout regimen . He has never had a weight problem and is usually very good about his diet - choices and control both. And yet he is striving to do better with his overall health.  After long 9 years today was a small start of something that hopefully will turn into a regular regimen of workouts for me. Inspiration from my husband and motivation from a friend got me out walking on the sidewalks of my block (more like periodically jogging to catch up with my friend's brisk walking). Boy oh boy was I in for surprises ! For such a long time I told myself that I could start an exercise program anytime I wanted to, without any drama of "America's biggest loser' . As I lay in the bed tonight and feel the burn ...... big time, its dawning on me that if I want this to work for me, I need to have more respect for that show ! They say no pain, no gain so I am deciding to live with the pain until the gain shows up......somewhere.
The feeling after the workout though is exactly the same as I remember it. Its nothing less than meditation  if you could just be silent for a few minutes after pumping your heart a bit and try to focus on its rhythm. Invigorating and calming at the same time ! No wonder exercise is an alternative for Xanax.
The dinner I fixed us tonight was Parathas and potato curry. After realizing how hard I had to work to burn so little, I did not feel like getting myself a dinner plate. Instead I rummaged through the fridge, lucky to find some lettuce, carrots and oranges but I was out of my favorite mango poppy seeds dressing.  So here is what I did - cut oranges into little pieces, sliced the carrots and broke some lettuce leaves. Added a teaspoon of lime juice, raw turbinado sugar and a pinch of sea salt (it was delicious I tell you, without any extra calories of the dressing) . Gobbled a big bowl of it and not feeling guilty. I don't know how tomorrow will turn out to be but today deserves to be bragged about :)

Despicable me 2

Tuesdays are not the movie days in our family but who does not want to take advantage of special screenings? Watched 'Despicable me 2' today in AMC at South Point, Durham. Too cute !! It releases on July 3rd - definitely a good family watch ! Streets at South Point were a bit lonely today but we enjoyed our stroll after the movie. Quite a good day for a Tuesday ! Now if only we did not have to wake up early for science in summer camp tomorrow morning, it would have been a perfect one :)

Dharma Bee Nationals, June15-16 , 2013, Chicago

More than 130 children competed to win the final round of the National Dharma Bee Competition that was held this year on June 15th at Best Western Expo and Conference Center , Hillside, IL.

Even though its just Avi who qualified to represent NC and SC in group 2 , the journey to learn about Swami Vivekananda's life and teachings turned out to be a great learning experience for our entire family. The event opened with lighting of the lamp by Sri Ved Nanda Ji, president of HSS USA and chantings by Yash Ji . The prayers go like this -

"Subham Karoti Kalyanam
Arogyam Dhana Sampadah
Shatru Buddhi Vinashaya
Dipa Jyotir Namostute

"I fold my hands before the light that brings prosperity, auspiciousness, good health, abundance of wealth and destruction of the enemy's intellect". Here, Darkness symbolizes enemy's intellect and with the arrival of light, darkness disappears. Likewise, light (God's Grace) destroys darkness (enemy's intellect).

"Deepajyothi Parabrahma
Deepajyothi Janardhana
Deepo Me Hara Tu Paapam
Deepaa Jyothir Namostute"

 "I fold my hands before the lord, the maintainer of this creation, in the form of this light. I adore this light, which destroys all the pains resulting from my omissions and commissions".

Nanda Ji is a great leader and an eloquent speaker and his inspiring speech was just what the children needed to start their day. 

The day of the competition was an intense but exhilarating experience for children of all ages where they got the opportunity to reflect their learning through cleverly designed test format by Dharma Bee team. The four sections of competition namely speech, written exam requiring  descriptive answers, poster board presentation and a team activity of 3 hours gave them a chance of  practicing all 4 aspects of Yoga – Gnana, Raja, Karma and Bhakti .

The next day children and their families were escorted on a field trip to Art Institute of Chicago where Swami Vivekananda gave his historical speech in 1893. It was surreal for the children to stand on the same stage which was graced by Swami Ji’s presence 120 years ago. 

After the visit to the Art Institute, we went to the Hindu Temple of Greater Chicago where Swami Vivekanand’a large statue aggrandizes temple's beautiful lawns. The award ceremony featured the world premiere of the play “Swami Vivekananda’ by 45 children from Shakhas of Chicago area. In about 90 minutes ,children beautifully portrayed main events of Swami Ji’s life. The sequence of scenes was so seamless that nobody could tell they were rehearsed and prepared at different Shakhas. The ceremony concluded with award distribution by chief guests Tulsi Gabbard, congresswoman and Swami Ishatmananda Ji of Vivekananda Vedanta Society

We not only applaud the efforts of HSS in coordinating an event of this stature but also draw inspiration from it. The spirit of the organizers , coordinators, volunteers and parents was a reflection of the values inherent in Sanatan Dharma.  It brought us closer in that circle and reminded us that as parents we all have the great responsibility to preserve these values and pass them on to the next generation . In his concluding address,Ved Nanda Ji said , “ I am looking at this hall, packed with parents and children from all over the United States and I have a report to give and that is, the future of Hinduism is secure”.

We agree !!

Neev turns Six

Birthday celebration in the class with friends - special crown, sticker, present form the treasure box , sprinkled cupcakes and rice krispies  ! A punching bag and boxing gloves for present from Mom & Dad, birthday brunch at Briggs, outing in Bond Park and yum chocolate cake in the evening - the youngest in the family turned six today !

Dharma Bee Regionals

Today I am so proud of Avi for winning the regional level Dharma Bee in his age group (a national competition to honor and celebrate Swami Vivekananda's 150th birth anniversary). Both Avi and Neev participated at city level. Avi won and went on to represent North Carolina at regional level today and came in the first place. Now he will be representing Southern States including NC, SC etc. at national level in Chicago. He will get to visit all the prominent landmarks associated with Parliament of world religions including a visit to the Art Institute of Chicago where Swami Vivekananda gave his famous speech. Avi had tough tie breaker rounds for first place. Of all the age groups, this group's performance was most fantastic. All the children had prepared so well and it was evident from the close score. In the end it was Avi against Niveditha. I think there were around 9 tie breaker questions and the audience thoroughly enjoyed the fire round.
It was a great experience and I am happy for my baby ! Congratulations Beta !!



 

First warm day of March 2013- Kite festival

On a warm beautiful Saturday I took the kids to Bond Park for Kite Festival. After numerous unsuccessful trials of flying the kits the frustrations rose up and we headed to the lake to cool our tempers down. Turned out it was a great idea. Feeding the ducks and playing at the beach with pebbles, drawing nonsense stuff in the wet sand mud was excellent therapy while soaking up the sun. Afterwards kids enjoyed hanging from monkey -bars, singing made-up songs. We hadn't packed a change but cleaned up pretty well and enough to stop at Goodberry's for ice-cream before returning home. Welcome spring ! 

Trip to India - Nov 2012 to Feb 2013

This November all of us visited India and returned to USA in February. A dream like trip with lots of quality time with family and precious meeting with two of my dearest friends Gauri and Yajshri. Met them after a dozen years. So much has happened since then - husbands, kids, homes, careers and yet felt like we were just our old selves - thank goodness for that feeling with some friends !
Baba (my grandfather) is 94 years now.  I am so proud of my Dad for taking such good care of him. He himself will turn 71 this May.
Celebrated lots of birthdays - Anurag's , Dad's and Avi's. Anurag enjoyed a surprise gathering and delicious cake by my Brother and Bhabhi ( the real surprise was a firecracker like sound along with flowing shiny confetti on him while he was cutting cake :)) . Dad treated us all with a party on his birthday and surprise of surprises , my Uncle from Sydney joined in the celebration after braving a traffic jam on Mumbai-Pune highway. Even though he was on a business trip, he traveled all that much just to spend few hours with the family. Avi turned 8 on January 1st and had a grand party with the family in Hotel Greenpark Pune with angry birds cake from Four Season's bakery shop (it was the yummiest 2 tier cake ever with white cake on bottom and chocolate cake on top) and a four course dinner. Kids blew bubbles, jumped on trampoline and played on rides. Everyone was required to dress for a wedding so the children looked like princes, ladies like queens and men like kings. It was quite a birthday party Avi had.
We met the youngest member of our family, my nephew Shaurya who is the most beautiful toddler in the universe. Sharp as a knife and cute as a teddy. God bless him !
Avi and Neev got pampered by everyone and Neev has declared my brother-in-law as Ashwin -the Fufaji :) Neev had developed quite a fondness for Fufaji's head and had become his official 'champi wala ' :)
Thanks to our sisters and brothers, we got treated to a lot of great dining experiences and movies (The Hobbit, Dabang 2 , Matru ki Bijali ka Mandola). It sure was a lot of fun !
On the way to Badaun we stopped at Agra and showed the children Taj Mahal,  Khwaza Saleem Chishti's Dargah and Buland Darwaza at Fatehpur Sikri. Very special experience !
It was a trip of a lifetime and it was all due to our wonderful families ! Anurag and I can not thank our stars enough for these special people in our lives.
We are back now dealing with such an extended absence from school (kinda feels like waking up after a  beautiful dream).  Worst comes worst the kids would have to repeat the year. Oh well !