Hurray, Hurray, its summer Holidays...

One more academic year has gone by. Poorvi successfully completed PP-2 (a.k.a. LKG). She has mastered the art of cursive writing now :-) She has already started spelling the words & reading words in her own "phonic" way (other day she was reading something like - "vel-ko-may", took sometime for us to understand it was "welcome"). She is still to master the cruel world of vowels (e.g. why the word "India" does not start with "E" :-)), but OK, even we goof up the spelling of most words & rely on Microsoft to correct our mistakes, isn't it?

One of the pass time for Poorvi & Me has been "word building". We choose a word & try to crack the spelling :-) Poorvi has to write one letter, I have to write the next, she will write the next one, so on. Its really fun to know how these small kids think - very logical & without any bias of "knowing some spelling already". So, "apartment" becomes "aprtmant" :-) In the world of short-message-services, this word is fairly acceptable :-)

Anyway, it is holiday season now. I can already sense the excitement in the air. Swimming pool buzzing with kids, people leaving to their grandparents house for a long vacation, kids enrolling to summer camp & other kids playing for atleast 15 hours a day :-) Its all happening. Wow, what a feeling to be kid, I miss those days. 2 months of break from everything. The joy of summer holidays is back & I wish all the kids a rocking, fun-filled, fantastic & playful Summer of 2010. 

Malatesh - A long lost friend

(Refer to my earlier blog : http://vikki-pedia.blogspot.com/2009/05/strangers-of-mini-forest.html)

As I was hurrying up in the evening to pick up Poorvi from her grandparents house, I found this very familiar person walking alone on Bannerghatta Road. Moment I saw him, I knew he is the same old person whom I used to meet during my mini-forest days. In my previous blog (refer to http://vikki-pedia.blogspot.com/2009/05/strangers-of-mini-forest.html), I had a mention about him & how I lost in touch with this wonderful guy - Malatesh. 

Malatesh, one inspiring person - trying to overcome all the trouble that life has thrown at him. Ever since he met with the accident, he is mentally crippled for life. He does not remember things quite well, but he never forgets to walk, walk & walk. His routine includes about 2 hours walk in the morning & 2 hours in the evening. He does not have complete balance over his body, but he has never given up on walking. 

It was about 10 years back that we used to meet in mini-forest. When I introduced myself last evening, he felt so happy to see me. I once thought that he may not remember me, but he really surprised me. Initially he was getting confused with another Vikram he knows of. Then he started talking about one more Vikram who is in Wipro and whose parents name are Kamalanath & Nalini. Wow, I was zapped. How does he remember my parents name which I told him about 10 years back ! When I told him that I am the same Vikram he is talking about, his joy had no bounds. He explained me how he remembers my parents name - KNN (just like CNN), which stands for Kamalanath & Nalini. I was just wondering, how short our memories get compared to him but still he is not a normal person :-( He says, he has just one obsession in life - walking. He had some advice for me as well - do not run, but walk, walk & walk :-)

Well, he has taken my contact number & invited me to join him for a walk during some weekend. Hope I will be able to join him in his morning walk one day, even though I am not confident if I can match his endurance & enthusiasm in walking. 

Bharat Sangeet Utsav

What happens when the likes of Nirupama/Rajendra with Kathak sequence, Sangitha Kalanidhi R.K.Srikantan with Carnatic vocal, The Manganiyaras (of Nimbuda Nimbuda fame) with Sufi music, Vidyabhushana with devotional songs, Manasi Prasad with music & dance, Anuradha Sriram/Sriram Parasuram with Jugal sangeeth come on stage & perform one after another for 2 days? Stage is on fire? Well almost yes (although real fire  happened elsewhere), it was an enthralling weekend at MLR convention centre in Woodrose club, packed with these music & performance from the best of the artists in their own field. It was called "Bharat Sangeet Utsav", it really did live upto its name & expectations.

I was fortunate to witness some of the great performances, special note goes to Sufi music by The Manganiyars (Jameel Khan, Mansoor Khan & party). It started at 10 in the night on Saturday & went on till 12 in the night. It was absolute hysteria at the venue when they sang "Nimbuda nimbuda" and "Dum mast kalandar". Crowd was literally on their feet & the kind of standing ovation they got at 12 in the night was just awesome & have never seen in any of the concert before. Same goes with Nirupama & Rajendra. It was a jam packed house on Sunday evening to witness this Kathak-couple dance in tandem for some lovely music. Overall, music lovers had a weekend that they will remember for life, for sure. Let there be more such events, more such entertaining weekends.