Identifying a Stroke! Save Lives!

This I picked from a facebook postof one of my friends.

STROKE: Remember The 1st Three Letters... S.T..R ...

My friend sent this to me and encouraged me to post it and spread the word. I agree. If everyone can remember something this simple, we could save some folks.

STROKE IDENTIFICATION:

During a party, a friend stumbled and took a little fall - she assured everyone that she was fine and just tripped over a brick because of her new shoes. (they offered to call ambulance)

They got her cleaned up and got her a new plate of food - while she appeared a bit shaken up, Ingrid went about enjoying herself the rest of the evening. Ingrid's husband called later telling everyone that his wife had been taken to the hospital - (at 6:00pm , Ingrid passed away.)

She had suffered a stroke at the party . Had they known how to identify the signs of a stroke, perhaps Ingrid would be with us today.

Some don't die. They end up in a helpless, hopeless condition instead. It only takes a minute to read this...

STROKE IDENTIFICATION:

A neurologist says that if he can get to a stroke victim within 3 hours he can totally reverse the effects of a stroke...totally. He said the trick was getting a stroke recognized, diagnosed, and then getting the patient medically cared for within 3 hours, which is tough.

RECOGNIZING A STROKE

Remember the '3' steps, STR . Read and Learn!

Sometimes symptoms of a stroke are difficult to identify. Unfortunately, the lack of awareness spells disaster.

The stroke victim may suffer severe brain damage when people nearby fail to recognize the symptoms of a stroke.

Now doctors say a bystander can recognize a stroke by asking three simple questions :

S * Ask the individual to SMILE ..

T * = TALK. Ask the person to SPEAK A SIMPLE SENTENCE (Coherently) (eg 'It is sunny out today').

R * Ask him or her to RAISE BOTH ARMS .

If he or she has trouble with ANY ONE of these tasks, call the ambulance and describe the symptoms to the dispatcher.

NOTE : Another 'sign' of a stroke is

1. Ask the person to 'stick' out their tongue.

2. If the tongue is 'crooked', if it goes to one side or the other that is also an indication of a stroke.

A prominent cardiologist says if everyone who gets this e-mail sends it to 10 people; you can bet that at least one life will be saved.

Day 2 in phuket

Whoever has heard of Phuket before will get instant images of blue waters and beautiful beaches and magnificent views and islands running in their mind when they hear the name . True ! Phuket does offer these but there is a not so simple effort involved to experience them.
There are a whole lot of islands surrounding Phuket and they have local names . One may not be able to cover everything. For one they may be similar and it costs money and so you would need to make choices . We again took the help from the hotel travel desk.
There are umpteen travel agencies in Phuket offering day tours to the various islands either by speed boats or big boats .
The phi phi island and James bond island tours are the main ones that are promoted . Actually it depends on what sort of activities you are interested in . Based on that one should choose the tour that would suit ones interests.
We chose the phi phi island tour as that seemed to be pretty popular.

A bus picked us up at our hotel and took us to the boat jetty. Since we had a bad experience getting food for our son the previous day we packed some food from the hotel. In our excitement when we reached the boat jetty we forgot to take it from the bus. By the time we realized it the bus had gone back. The persons at the travels kindly showed us a nearby bakery where we got some food.

We were supposed to go by speed boat. To begin with we were the only ones who had a kid with us. Lesson Learnt and Piece Of Advice - Speed Boats Bad Idea for very small kids.

The weather was not too bad when we set out. The sea started to get rough a little later and what started as drizzling developed into a downpour.

Before that my poor toddler who had his stomach churning in wobbly motion of the boat vomited all the food that he had had till then. The boatman was a nice guy trying to make the travellers as comfortable as possible.

Speed boats have a cover but not a sturdy one; more like a tent. So the splashes of rain started entering through the gaps. We were slightly wet at first, then quite wet and finally totally drenched.

It was the worst possible weather. By the time we reached the first destination my stomach also could not take it any longer and I followed suit to my son's regurgitating action.

My poor husband was struck between a sea-sick vomiting child and a seas-sick vomiting me.

Anyways after that we were both pretty ok.

They stopped at a couple of places for swimming and snorkelling. Both me and my husband cant swim and we were just observing as the other travellers plunged into the waters. The water was apparently and surprisingly a little more warmer and they all felt refreshed. We were shielding ourselves from the rain and so definitely it was not so enjoyable. The colors around us were breathtaking but in the rain photography was hopeless.The rocks around and the blue green water were a feast to the eye but with a kind of soggy vision. It would have been a more heavenly experience on a clearer day.

Then our speed boat took us near Viking Caves, one of the popular spots shown to tourists. The caves apparently had some old paintings. Another interesting information was that the bird nests that hung from them were used to make Bird Nest Soups.

Our final stop was at a resort on one of the islands where a great lunch had been organized for us. After getting drenched the best possible thing that can happen is steaming food. After the food my son and I played in the sea water - the first fun element of the day.

Our return journey was more of an adventure-thriller ride. The boat shook terribly and on seeing another boat behind is when we realized how rough the sea was. But this part was fun coz all of us travellers screamed every now and then like we were on a roller coaster together. Finally we landed back on the main island. Our hosts in the speed boat had given us a great service despite the horrible weather and after thanking them we left for the hotel on a bus.

After resting for some time we freshened up and headed for the shopping area near Patong. The area near the Patong Beach is famous for it's night life. Bars and clubs that get busier towards the late hours of the evening. It's also a prime shopping area . We were ravenous by the time we reached .One thing i realized after doing some amount of travelling that you have some indian or the other selling nan roti and parathas in every corner of the globe . We found a good Indian restaurant and had an awesome dinner.After strolling for some time and some souvenir shopping we decided to head back to our resort. We tried taking a tuk-tuk but he charged more than a cab and so we decided to rely on the good old latter.

Landing in Phuket !

Phuket airport is quite small though it's an international one ! They provide on-arrival visas to Indians . Each visa costs 1000 Thai bhat and all you need is a passport size photograph .
As we exited from the airport one guy came to us and said "Sir,Taxi ?" . We nodded yes and he lead us to one of the travels booths and handed us a pamphlet ! "visit to phi phi islands ! Only 2800 tb per person ! We pick u up at the hotel and drop u back. We also provide lunch " he declared . Puzzled my husband queried "we need a taxi now to go to our hotel!"
"u book this for your family sir and it comes with a free ride to your hotel now " he declared with the best salesman-smile he could muster . We did not want to book anything hastily without inquiring first . "No, we want just a taxi to the hotel " ."That would be 1800 tb sir! please come this way" he said and started walking ahead ! We had not had enough time to do any sort of research about Phuket before leaving but I did remember reading on some website that a trip from the airport to the area we were heading to cost around 600 to 800 tb . I quickly conveyed that to my hubby ! He gestured to our salesman to hold on and went in to inquire at the pre-paid taxi booth ! He came back with a prepaid ticket for 750/- . Our friend was about to charge us more than double of that !
We had booked at the 'karon beach resort ' for our stay . Patong is the most developed beaches at Phuket followed by Karon ! Our resort was located on the latter and was recommended by quite a few on travelocity for a family holiday . These beaches are located next to each other and it takes an hour to reach either from the airport !
Considering the prices in other parts of south east Asia for that distance 750 is a very reasonable price .
We reached our resort at around 10 pm and checked in . The moment we entered our room we were convinced that we had made a good choice . The resort almost literally stood on the beach and we had a magnificent view . It was dark but we could see the ocean in the dim lights of the hotel that cast their glow on the shore . There was a nice breeze and we could hear the waves lashing against the shore . There was a beautiful balcony . Perfect for long conversations extending onto the wee hours of the night . Kuttu was also extremely excited .
Room service closed at 10.30 . We were pretty hungry by then . But there are adjoining restaurants and departmental stores that stay open till almost and sometimes beyond midnight. We got some bread and instant noodles that was more than enough to satisfy our tummies .

From an IPhone on the iPhone !!

Whoa ! Just discovered this iPhone app that helps to blog ! This is great !

When my husband offered to get me an iPhone for my birthday I was initially not very interested ! I did not have a very good idea about iPhone apps I must admit . I just thought of it as a fancy phone that was sought after with craze by teenagers and gadget-ohlics !

I also thought that I would not be using 3G or wifi much ! "I am really not fascinated by that" I declared to my husband;"to me it's enough if I can talk & SMS and maybe a good camera would be good " . But somehow my husband thought that it is a good gift for me! The moment we landed in the shop I got pretty excited though ! Who is not by owning something fancy !

I had this manager who kept pulling my legs that I was the only one in the team who did not own a phone that was smart ! He had left my company by the time I got this one . My very first message was to him 'hi ! Now my phone is also as smart as yours :) ' !

After that I slowly started exploring the world of iPhone apps and the features of my iPhone 4 ! 'hey I can do this ! I can do that ' i would brag to my husband !
Now I kind of got an idea why all those individuals on the local trains were so glued to this rectangular thing !
'these people are so addicted! It would affect their finger bones and muscles and also their eyes' I used to comment ! Now I am also a part of that group I was commenting about!
There is something for everyone in there !
'hope u don't get addicted to angry birds ' was the response from my friends ! I am a human being and one of the unwritten rules of mankind is to try out the things u have been warned about ! I immediately decided to explore what angry birds was and luckily have not got addicted to it so far !
I also found a way to keep my toddler seated at a place ! All i had to do was play some of his favorite videos either from you tube or from those that I have stored !
Even now as I type this i am checking the expected arrival of buses and planning my journey !
I have got into the habit of periodically checking the top free apps and installing a few of them to explore ! And I have started observing the Ads about the Apps . I have not installed any paid apps so far though ! The unpaid ones are quite sufficient to keep me occupied .
I am sure that by now we would have some analytical questionnaires out there with the title 'tell me what apps you have and i will tell u your personality ' !
Suddenly this phone seems to have toppled all the earlier top selling mobiles from their positions .
As i sign off on this post I get reminded of the statement from the clown at mc Donalds -- 'I am loving it '

On our way to our vacation!! A tensed Start!!!

Vacation – One of my favorite words and something that I have been nagging my poor hubby about for quite some time. The last one we had was to Penang in Malaysia in the second trimester of my pregnancy. Now my little one is a few months away from his third birthday and a vacation was long overdue. Somehow we could not plan one earlier due to some reason or the other.

This time we had a long weekend and so we decided to go somewhere, any good place where we could get tickets to. We decided upon the Phuket one of South East Asia’s most preferred tourist destinations. This post is not about my trip. Its just about making it to that trip.

Well, our flight was at 6:30 on Fri evening. I had to go to work and my husband was working from home that day. Somehow the days you have to leave on vacation would be the busiest at work. Mine was no exception. To add to it I ended up late at work and also missed an important last-minute meeting as I had not checked my mails or messages. So it was work, work and more work. My husband had warned me to somehow be back at home at 3:30. I had a critical meeting at 3! What was I supposed to do! Somehow I wrapped up the meeting fast, caught the next available cab and rushed home. I checked my wallet and I had some change which would not be enough for a bus ride back home leave alone a cab one! I called up my husband and asked him to wait for me in the lobby with some cash.

After all this when we entered home together it was almost 3:45. That is when my husband’s colleagues decided on a conference call at 4 and called him up. He did not attend it ofcourse but the explanations ate up some of our time.

In our hurry we forgot to dial a cab and went down to the street , the way we always did if our destination was somewhere local. Most cabs that went by had ‘HIRED’ in red displayed on top. At last , one came with a green ‘TAXI’ sign. That sped past without stopping. We realized that was an old couple on a drive, using a taxi for personal use and had forgotten to switch off the sign. We waited for some more time.

Then another cab came in the opposite direction. It also sped past without stopping. “Damn!! It’s that same old couple! Guess they are trying to figure out their way” my husband exclaimed with exasperation.

Finally one cab guy stopped. When I peered in to tell him Airport I noticed he had a squint in his eye and his expression reminded me of the aliens from ‘Men in Black’. That did not matter then anyways. We waited for him to open the trunk. A whole minute sped by and no reaction! I went back in front to check and our man was slowly counting some change. Twenty, Forty!!! Finally got him to open the trunk, put our luggage in and started on our way to the airport.

I guess this person had a fear of speed whatever phobia that’s called. The road ahead was pretty empty and other cars were way ahead but he drove as slow as he could. After some time ‘Heavy Traffic ahead’ board came looming into our vision and then he could not go faster even if he wanted to.

The road to the airport is a highway and has boards displaying the distance to the airport. At 5:15 we were at 23 and a ½. I decided not to get obsessed with those boards and instructed myself to check again at 5: 20. I listened to myself but at5:20 the board said 22 & a ½ which was not of much solace to me. Soon the traffic cleared and we came to the taxi drop off point at around 5:35.

That’s when my toddler regurgitated his entire afternoon meal in a projectile angle. I was beginning to notice that he was getting a little restless but did not expect this. There was absolutely no sympathy from the cab guy. ‘Oh No! My Car!! That will ruin my business’ was his reaction. Anyways with all the wet tissue that I had , I cleaned it up to the best extent possible and repeated my apology n times . I signaled to my husband that we should pay him something to make up for the mess we had caused. When my husband handed over a 50$ bill he accepted it, did not give us any word of thanks or any other feeling and got back and sped away. Basically he helped himself to the extra money to make up for the mess by not giving us our change back.

We came to the check in counter at around 5:50 and there was a pretty long queue. There were people going back to some cities in India and their flights were much later at 8 or so.

My husband left me and my son in the queue and went to one of the impeccably dressed airline personnel trying to explain to her that our flight was in half an hour and try to push us ahead in the queue.

That is when the lady smiled and uttered one of the best things we had heard the whole day, a statement which would have normally evoked a long groan from us. ‘Sir! Your flight has been delayed to 7:40. You should not have any problem’. We both heaved a huge sigh of relief and proceeded to await our turn to check in. The vomit had cleared all the indigestion in my little one’s tummy and he was now happily playing with the tapes they use to channel the passenger queues.

Day 1 in Phuket

One of my favorite things about any vacation is the scrumptuous buffet breakfast served in most resorts . Being a foodie of the first order I love good food and I love exlploring different cuisines as well. My dad used to say that whenever you are on a holiday you should have a very heavy breakfast . That way you will remain energetic throughout the day and you won't need a full fledged lunch . Some light snack would do . I am not sure what a dietician or nutritionist would opine on that one but practically it did work . In a breakfast buffet by the time you explore a little of all that they serve - salads , baked potato , bread , baked beans, cereal, fruits , juice etc you will be loaded for the day . After having a relaxed and heavy breakfast we set out for the day .
We took the help of the lady at the travel concierge at the hotel . She was a very sweet lady who offered us great assistance on all three days of our stay .
We booked a taxi for the whole day. First the driver took us to a souvenir shop as it was slightly raining. But who will be interested in souvenirs in the first leg of the journey ? But my son was ecstatic seeing all the elephant dolls for sale in all shapes and sizes .
You will find elephants in one form or the other everwhere in Thailand. Even the toilet in our resort room had a wall hanging bearing the picture of an elephant. So it was the perfect holiday spot for my elephant lover son!
Our next stop was at a place where they reared elephants and offered elephant treks . There was a baby elephant there and at a price of a 100 bhat u could feed him a basket of bananas . My son squealed with delight and thoroughly enjoyed himself . But as a supporter of animal rights I hated this concept of using a calf for such commercial reasons . He was getting deprived of the freedom he deserved.
Our next stop was at the Big Buddha . They have built a gigantic statue of the Buddha on a hilly terrain overlooking the ocean . The place has some magnificent views of the island .
From there we went to the wat talong one of the Thai temples in Phuket . It consisted of two temples next to each other . Beautiful architecture and a feast for the camera .

By then my little one was hungry . In our holiday excitement we had forgotten to pack any food. The driver said that he would take us to a wonderful restaurant and drove us to some seafood restaurant which was in the middle of nowhere . Being strict vegetarians that wAs the worst choice for us . We had explained that we were vegetarians but poor fellow got the wrong idea and his attempt to impress us with the wonderful seafood Thai cuisines kind of got totally goofed up . The place was pretty crowded though . Maybe the seafood is really good there but I can't comment . This place was also not like a shopping area or anything where you have a lot of options. So exploring if we got something else was also totally ruled out . Then we explained our predicament to the driver . He suddenly got reminded of an Indian restaurant that he knew and took us there .
Food is heaven especially if it's something like hot basmati rice and rotis and dal in some remote corner in Thailand and the fact about being extremely hungry adds extra effect .
After an awesome lunch we headed to another elephant trek area . By now the sun was out and the weather much better . We decided to go for an elephant .
It was really adventurous as the lady-mahout led the pachyderm through ups and downs in a kind of muddy wet mountainous terrain. My kiddo was squealing with delight though me and my husband were a bit anxious and tensed . After the trek we spent another 100 bhat to feed the elephant . This time pineapple chunks .
The final destination of our day tour was a place called karon view point . Really amazing views .
After returning to the hotel we freshened up and got ready to go to Fantasea at Phuket . A kind of fantasy park mainly promoting it's daily musical show .
There was a bus pick up from the resort and this park is situated on kamala beach . The show was very good and worth the ticket price. It actually combines a buffet dinner which you can choose to opt for or not . The buffet dinner is supposed to be served in grandeur and style . We did not opt for it . The show is a mix of music, dance , magic , tricks and above all close to 40 live elephants performing on stage . Definitely worth a visit one time and enjoyable by both kids and adults . No photography allowed though . In fact they ask you to deposit your cameras and mobile devices and the queue for collecting it after the show was a teeny weeny bit frustrating .
We got dropped back at around 12 and after such an eventful day it took us hardly a few seconds to fall into a deep slumber !

Avani Avittam - A retrospection!

It was Friday evening - Next day was Avani Avittam ; the South Indian brahmin festival mainly for men where they change their 'poonal' the white thread worn across their torso.
'Are you going to make idly and appam?' my husband quipped after we got back home!!

'Oops !! I had no idea! You should have reminded me' I shot back. Easiest thing to do as humans is blaming others for our shortcomings and it comes very naturally to most of us.Sigh!!

Well, luckily we did have the idly batter ready. And I had happily postponed the job of calling up my mom-in-law and inquiring about the usual menu and procedure to the last minute... Well thanks to the presence of idly batter I guess it was a not-so-bad avani avittam. I did manage to make idly and appam and both results were pretty satisfactory.

Coming to think of it, in today's fast world with our continental methods of having cereal for breakfast and salads for lunch and dinner and having routine 5 day weeks and lazy weekends ,a lot of things handed down by culture are getting missed out.

Of course we do try to do the best we can, but the term itself; " best-we-can" is a gateway to excuses!!

'Its a weekday!!! Not much can be done!!'

'Its been such a busy week! Had no time to plan' etc etc.

Its definitely a good thing that there do exist some of us, who try to do something rather than proudly declaring 'I dont do all of that!! I have no belief' . There are also some folks who follow the ritualistic procedures by the book and do it with a staunch reverence and absolute discipline.

There was a time when any of the 'Things to be done' - be it the Appam for breakfast, the japam to be done, the vessels used, the mantras to be recited, the order of the chants,the postures you assume as you chant the scriptures, the menu for lunch - These were performed with strict discipline . They were hard and fast norms in the family that had to be adhered to , no matter what.

At the end of it , it did enhance the personal discipline. Made people more active and brisk probably!

Today if you are performing it with your parents, Yes! High chance of sticking to the methodology without any 'adjustments' . But if you are on your own or in some outside country - As long as you adorn a new thread, Avani Avittam done!! I cannot deny that there are definitely youths who have been brought up with utmost belief in these practices that they strictly follow them.

These would become unique specimens in their coteries and marked by elders as 'examples-to-be-followed'. Quite contrary to the state of things a century ago when there were a countable young fellows who disregarded these practices and were branded as 'examples-not-to-be-followed.'

Earlier the social set up was that people following similar cultural and traditional practices were physically located together as a group may be in a village. When done in a group anything does not need too much enforcement. Then migrations to greener pastures , at first from villages to cities and then to different parts of the world have caused some deterioration.

On the positive side, the development of information technology has provided a whole lot of benefits and is utilized by some to help follow the tradition. Take for instance, our household 'vadhyaar' (priest/pujari). He has made videos of the whole japam/ tharpanam to be followed for avani avittam and uploaded the same on You Tube and his own personal website. So many men outside of India would have to been able to complete the avani avittam proceedings to near perfection thanks to that. He also uploaded the same as pdf documents in Tamil as well as in English. This is what my husband used to complete the procedure.

Most rituals are meaningful practices handed down to us by our ancestors and practising the same should benefit us though we may not be able to gauge or measure the same.Passing it on to future generations is our responsibility and to do so we should start practising them.

Eephant- Lost N Found!!!

My kuttu;s eephant had an adventure last Sun
We had gone to the local library with Kuttu on the stroller...Kiddo insisted that we should take his elephant along...So we did!!
After browsing available books and checking out a couple we headed back home. While I was doing this, my hubby was showing our son some thing on the library net browsing desks to keep him occupied.
After we came back home we got into a Skype call with my mom. 'Kutta! Show Patti your elephant!' my mom remarked. Thats when my husband and I gave each other a 'Oh No' look. We had left the eephant at the library next to the computer terminal. Usually we leave it back in the stroller outside the library but Kuttu wanted to bring him along as well.
The library was closed for the day and there was no way of getting it back.
We abstained from using the E-word in English and Tamil lest our kuttu got reminded of it. Also tried to keep him engaged with something else!! I know!! TOO MUCH OF A FUSS about a soft toy!!! But kids can be really obsessed with a few toys and only if you have kids you'll be able to relate !!!
Luckily he did not seem to mind its absence and slept off.
The next day first thing in the morning I rushed to the library!! Luckily they had tucked our soft skinned pachyderm safely in a drawer!!
One end i was too happy for my son!! I had already started building up plan B in case it was not found!! About making a trip to the zoo to get a new one!! In all of Singapore, we found that elephant toy only there. Strange, yet true!! Thats closer to a real elephant unlike the cartoonish ones we get elsewhere.
On the other hand, I guess I have also kind of got sentimentally and stupidly attached to that soft toy!!! It has become like a family member now anyways!!!!

Kuttu - Yo Yo and Eephaants!

I posted a photo of kuttu after a long time on facebook and one of my friends commented

that he is missing my blogs on Kuttu.

Felt good to know that somebody is actually reading them.And So its been that long since I last blogged and thaaaaaaaaaaat long since I actually blogged about Kuttu.

Kuttu has two current obsessions.

One is the song 'Ennamo Aedho' from Kho.He is a huge fan of that song.

Thanks to my set top box with a recording option, I have a copy of it which I play whenever I want my sonny to sit in one place without moving much.This comes extremely handy while giving him his dinner.

He has started immitating the songs on TV as well. As soon as this song starts playing

he would rush to the wall with his back to us and would try dancing like Jeeva with his legs crossed.One more song follows in the recording where the singers dance on huge drums in Chandralekha style. Immediately he will

clammer up onto our coffee table and go dum-dum-dum in rhythm to the beat while I'll keep shouting 'You are going to fall...Get down!'

Even if his upset about something or decides to throw a tantrum his crying would be musical. With tears streaming down his cheeks he would start the sad version of that song which even the music director of Kho is unaware of. 'Yo-Yo-puyiya iya' he would start off.

He also loves the 'Yaathe Yaathe' song from Aadukalam. Whenever he sees a picture of Dhanush in a magazine

or his interview on TV he would start off 'Yaathe Yaathe Yaathennaaaachooooo'.No matter what costume or get up Dhanush is in

.This also applies to cycles. Whenever he sees anyone on a cycle he will start this rendition.

His second obsession is the largest mammal on land - the elephant.Kids normally love kittens and puppies.My baby boy is mad after elephants. At my parents house in Chennai there were some miniature elephant statues in wood and porcelain. Those were his favorite toys. He loves watching Animal Planet.

In fact he gets pretty

excited about every animal he sees on screen and screams the name out with absolute mirth. He is able to pronounce those words perfectly - zebra, cheetah,lion, tigawee(Tiger), deer, bear, snake, chameleon(Yes, I am not joking!), hippo, rhino, dinosaur- he loves all of them and gets them all right. But his favorite is undoubtedly the pachyderm.

We sometimes show him elephant videos from You Tube. As a result, the moment I sit at the comp to check my email he would come rushing, get on to my lap and start requesting for Elphaant Elphaant...If we dont oblige he will keep repeating that simultaneously trying to operate the mouse and the keys to get the elephant on screen. Motivated by his keen interest we took him to the zoo.

He was kind of not very enthusiastic about the actual elephants. The ones on digital frames and miniature ones seem to attract him more.

We got an Elephant Soft Toy for him. That has become his companion.He carries it around every where sometimes even to the bathroom.

At night sometimes when he is deep asleep he would suddenly wake up, say eephant and then fall asleep again.

His first words in the morning when he wakes up is 'elephant'.

One day he kept pointing at the Window and saying 'Eephant Eephant' .When I peeped out he had thrown his favorite toy out of the window.

The cuddly one had undergone a fall from the tenth to the second floor and it lay on the sun shade of the apartment on the second floor.

I went down to that flat and a small dog that they owned growled at me displaying all possible animosity.

Like all other dog-owners they said that he was being friendly and just wanted to play. I love dogs,no offence against them but when you have one growling at you , this is something you cannot agree. I have noticed this statement from quite a few dog-owners though and possibly I'd be saying the same thing if I had one.

Finally I explained that I had come to fetch my son's toy.

They could not reach the sun shade and so they pushed it out with the handle of a mop which I neatly caught from the ground floor

without allowing it to fall.

That elephant sometimes accompanies us when we go out as well. He places it in a comfortable position on the stroller.

One another soft toy animal - may be a tiger or kitten or dog would come along as well, but the elephant is a definite companion.

He will also quickly notice elephants no matter in what size it is in. Right from the print on diapers to the design in jewellery.

He gets very excited about Lord Ganapathy's statues and pictures and also refers to him as 'Eephant'

He gets very excited about the other elephant statues when we go to the temple.

If he sees a person wearing a tourism TShirt from Thailand with an elephant on it

he will get pretty excited and repeat 'Eephant' a million times.

If it were a puppy or a kitten that he liked I may have actually considered buying one for him.

But with elephant, the feasibility is not there and its high-maintenance. So for now he has to be

content seeing them on TV and with his soft toy companion.

If this obsession continues, I am sure my kiddo is going to end up doing Wildlife photography or research.

Into My Next Decade

http://www.indusladies.com/forums/blogs/jaishvats/into-my-next-decade-5833/

Garbage Out Good Things In!

http://www.indusladies.com/forums/blogs/jaishvats/garbage-out-good-things-in-4431/

Birthday Party!

http://www.indusladies.com/forums/blogs/jaishvats/birthday-party-4427/