Four

frolicking years have gone by since you came in our lives dear R. When I look back at the years, the difficult parts do not seem to come to my mind at all. Instead, I can only think of how much sunshine you bring into our lives. It is so much easy to live life through your eyes. You are really an easy-going kid (touchwood!).

While you do have your bad days, temper tantrums, and unacceptable behaviour, you are mostly well-behaved, if I can say that. Having said that, I also notice that these days you are offended easily when reprimanded or chastised for bad behaviour. There is a perceptible rise in the mercury levels almost instantly but thankfully also dissipates as quickly. Just hope this is a phase and you don't inherit the short fuse trait from me. The house won't be able to handle so many frequent short circuits ;-) 

On the physical level, you are still the energetic lad, always on the go, though you've mellowed from earlier.  You are able to play independently and even in the playground don't make me run too much after you. Which is showing in some extra flab that I'm carrying nowadays ;-) And, you are not about to give up your mischievous ways, yet!

I'm not sure at what age kids start comparing themselves or their material possessions with their peers but definitely this trait so far is, to a large extent, dormant in you, R. You are quite happy with what you have and rarely 'ask' for something that your friend has. For instance, there have been numerous occasions when your friends flaunt a new fancy watch, shoes or toy. You are happy to play with their new possession but never come home and say, "look he has that, can I get one too?" And, on the rare occasions that have been exceptions to this you have quite readily accepted our explanations to why you may or may not have what you want.

You communicate extremely well in English and Tamil. Hindi is currently your nemesis. It's really comical to hear you put together some words as conversation. I can see the look of being left out when your friends at the complex belt out complex sentences. But, thanks to your resilient and positive nature, there is no sulking I've to deal with. I'm trying my best to introduce you to Hindi. Now you know why I insist on reading out to you the bilingual books that I picked up recently?!

Talking of books, I wonder if it is a gender thing but I'm unable to get you interested in folk stories, mythology or in general concepts that deal with humans, emotions, relationships, etc. While you don't resist, there is a distant look in your eyes that seem to say you don't really enjoy or understand. I can't say it is to do with your acumen in general for anything that is to do with the animal kingdom or vehicles or the inanimate is immediately registered in your little head and you can perfectly rattle out facts after a single reading session. Well, rest assured, your mother has only bought more books in the genre. Yes, I don't give up! :-)

R, you're a fine child and my wish for today is that you grow up to be a sensible and sensitive person. I'm trying and will always seek to bring you up in the most gender neutral manner and hope that you develop a healthy attitude towards life and fellow beings. Be good, always, my child. Amma and appa will love you always.

Happy Birthday!!!



Random musings

What does growing up mean to you? Does it or should it rob you of all the intrinsic qualities that a human is supposed to have? Of the warmth, the empathy, the silliness quotient that sneaks in naturally when you are with people you grew up with, the joy of connecting with a long lost friend or acquaintance, of basic courtesies that is expected when a certain level of communication has been established, the list seems endless.

Yet, these qualities are lost on certain people when they reach a certain stage in life. When they can no longer connect to that part of life they grew up in, relate to people who were once their companions, relate to emotions, traditions or a belief system that they were once a part of. They call it growing up. They also call it independent thinking, living and maturing. 

But, of what purpose is such grown-up attitude or maturity if you cannot look back and laugh. If you do not have someone you can share nostalgia with. If you cannot connect the dots in your life and the sense of void created by people who got left out on your journey seems bigger than the sense fulfillment derived from the ones who joined you.

True, people grow in many ways, change in many other ways and that is the way life is. It is also needed to discard excess baggage, disconnect or distance self from ones that no longer fit into your way of thinking to maintain a sane existence. But life has a way of leaving its scars. Of reminding you of the past connects, relations, mistakes, friends, acquaintances, embarrassing moments, happy moments, and sad moments. How you deal with these scars define you as a person. How you've dealt today will be very different from a few years ago.

I'd say if you are a better person that you were a few years ago, you are growing. If you are able to forgive yourself for the little faults in you, you are growing. If you are able to oversee the failures and take a step to correct your mistakes, you are growing. If you're willing to oversee the others' fault, you've truly matured. If you have earned well-wishers along the way who are genuinely happy to see you grow, you've succeeded, but if you've also managed to keep and value the ones who were once a part of your journey, you've then truly succeeded.


The story of her life

She wipes the sweat from the brow,
her hands suffer everyday blow,
She smiles through pain,
and hopes to bargain
a life better for her children,
a pucca house,
a caring spouse.

Life can never be simple
when money as little
flows just as a trickle
slipping into crevices in mockery;
a debris of unending poverty

Tides of sorrow rise in count
sprinkling little joys, as pittance.
Seeking the shore, hopes surmount
only to break in an even dance

A happy home is all she wants,
but is far from what she gets
Mind and body sport several scars
given by the mister, a rouge above par

The house crumbles under, 
when children too move afar
all the trouble now seem in vain
for alas! she lost the bargain.



Befuddled

Strange are the ways of some, who invariably think thus:

When you are hurt, the world is victimizing you
but when others are hurt, the world is trivializing the issue

How do you handle a child who is constantly bullying a few kids in your neighbourhood? I may get some tips on this over the net, but I want to know how to handle the mother who seems to be blind to the errant kid's act, covers it up saying its all child's play and reverses the entire blame to the rest of the parent community who she thinks is singling out her child unnecessarily?

As a parent we all love our kids and cannot imagine them being at fault. However, should love be so binding that you cannot even recognize a fault that unfolds right under your nose? As a parent of one of the victims of the bully, here is an open letter to the mother.

Dear Parent,

I understand that you have some bones to pick with me since you believe that I have reprimanded or even keep reprimanding your child for no fault of his. I need to tell you that I don't go about reprimanding random children at the playground. 

However, you need to know that your child bullies others. If your child keeps bullying my child, I can only ignore it for a couple of times, which I did. The third time is when I walked up to your child and asked him why he behaves the way he does. If you think your child did not deserved to be asked such a valid question, I am sorry to say that you are wrong in your thinking. If you feel your child did no wrong by bullying, and then I am aghast at your thinking and shudder to imagine what is in store for you and your child. If you feel what your child does, does not fall into the category of bullying, I suggest you educate yourself more over here.

Your child needs help, but if you continue to behave the way you do, then please take my humble advice- you need more help.

Your well-wisher.

Of the birthday that went by

Another Birthday went by. Another year added to the timeline. But, it doesn't matter. No matter what number you hit that year, there is a child-like anticipation and eagerness for the D-day to dawn. At least, for me. Yes, life and age has definitely diminished the excitement, intensity, enthusiasm, call it what you may. Still, who doesn't like to be the center of attraction for a full day. The phone calls, the messages, the attention showered by the near and dear ones-it all feels good, doesn't it? 


However, this post is not about all this philosophy. This is about how I allowed myself to be sucked in the quicksand of changing technology and its effects. The husband had been, for a long time now, asking me to upgrade to a smart phone and I had been resisting it citing one or the other reason. Seriously speaking, I never felt the need to. The internet and FB on the PC had anyway engulfed me enough and I was afraid of having it in my hands, literally. So, the game continued between us for a long time; of him goading me and of me taking a puritan stand. I exactly don't remember how all of this changed but I agreed to 'the birthday gift' this year by the husband.

And, friends, as a natural consequence, since then my fingers are constantly being exercised, the hands cannot resist holding the sleek, smart thing, every now and then, and I'm besieged by an almost round-the-clock ring of messages on, of course the "Whatsapp", the devil after Google and FB, IMO. I find my eyes and ears shifting stealthily to where the devil is ostensibly kept away from distracting family time. My guess is that the husband is already kicking himself for what was supposed to be a sort of upliftment of a fellow being. Sigh! so much for his noble intentions. I do feel for him ;-)

That aside, this year, a little more zing was added to the celebration with the husband taking an off that day and we sneaking off to a movie while the kiddo was at school. Only wish the movie was worth all the effort. Shudh Desi Romance was hardly romantic or even half humorous as the promos suggested. In fact, I liked Chennai Express better for all its mindless nonsense and masala.


Conversations with the toddler

The other day, as I picked up R from the school bus and headed back home, he asked me excitedly:

Do you know my name?

Err..yes, of course!

No...my name is T-Rex. Please call me T-Rex from now on..

!!!!

The name now varies from T-Rex, to Tiger shark, to dinosaur, to alligator, to myriad other species!

The child had a sport's day event a couple of months ago and R came home with his face and T-shirt all muddy. His mouth was smeared with remnants of chocolate too. Upon asking I came to understand that apparently the teacher had rewarded him with the chocolate because he "ran well". A little more prodding into why and how he ran and who else ran with him, he replied that he came first and the other girl who ran with him came second. The answer amused me to no end since it reminded me of this ad:


Several attempts to fish out the correct information went in vain since he kept altering the answers and I left it at that. I didn't think too much of the sports event until a couple of weeks later when the boy actually came up with a certificate for having stood first in sports day event. The event stated " getting ready for school" event. Whatever, that means. But, I am a proud mommy :-)

Talking of chocolates, until last year, R would religiously bring back all the chocolates that he'd receive at school. It is not the case any more. It was his friend's birthday the other day and I asked him if he wished his friend and got any chocolates. When asked why he didn't save any chocolate for me, pat came the reply,

"But, you'd anyway say that you don't want it, no?"

!!! 

*My dear son, at least ask me to see if I actually say that. Or, is it that you know I may not refuse and don't want to take a chance? ;-) *



Hello everyone! I'm alive, thanks for asking.


It's been a month since I wrote something here. So, should I call this as my comeback post or will this be just a filler? It's difficult to say at this moment as I seem to have lost all interest/motivation/energy/creativity-call what you may-to fill up this space. Sadly, something that I though I was passionate about is withering away without no gardener to nourish its roots. I cannot place my finger on any one single reason other than a combination of the usual reasons- writer's block, busy life and sinking motivation.

There were times when ideas did crop up and I felt the familiar urge, albeit one with a far lesser intensity, to update the blog. The idea and feeling, sadly, passed away too soon in my recently accelerated routine life. Now, there's where there is some activity and excitement and probably why my energies are all diverted. The handover of the new house is to happen very soon and I'm in the midst of heavy duty work of getting all the documents in place, meeting up with my designer's team and following up with the site engineer to buck up with the finishing work.

I'm all excited and anxious about the next phase - of getting the place done up. This is something I've been imagining about for the past many months and now as the time gets nearer, my anxiety level seems to have gone up by a new notches. Suddenly, everything seems overwhelming. I'm besieged by doubts of how things will shape up, what if something goes wrong-which I'm sure does happen in such cases, if the entire plan of design, storage, lighting, etc will all match up to our needs and expectation. 

My content writing work has also picked in past few months and I'm seeing some positive developments. So again, this is something else that has kept me on my toes, which, ironically has lead me to neglect the space that was instrumental in bringing the work to me.

The final and main culprit is of course, a lack of motivation. When I started out, I wrote because I liked to. Then when the reader community grew, this liking developed into a sort of narcissism. I'd be all excited to compose and publish a post and then would eagerly await comments. The fact that people read me and wanted to share their opinion gave me a certain high and I got addicted. Sadly, I noticed, my love for writing has been replaced by need for approval and recognition from fellow writers. I am unable to write freely because my mind is blocked with external factors.

I'm hoping to crawl my way back to when I began. Until then,a short update: 

 My parents were here for the past three weeks and we had an awesome time bonding. Celebrating Avaniavittam and Gokulashtami with them was so much more fun than usual. R got a huge chunk of special time with his grandparents and he enjoyed their attention to bits. The house feels so empty today as we saw them off to the station. R, who usually is brave while saying goodbyes, cried bitterly. Sigh! the pitfalls of living away from family and cousins.



Dwaraka- A treasure trove of Kalamkari work


Here's another store tour, albeit not in Whitefield. This unassuming place nestled in Indiranagar/Thippasandra area caters solely to Kalamkari art work. It is a not-for-profit initiative to encourage and promote artisans trained in this ancient artwork. They do have an online store, but it is not quite functional. I got my chance last month to visit the place in person and get a feel of the products.

As evident, it is a visual treat to see this art work on such a variety of products, namely, wall art panels, lamp shades,sarees and kurtis, jewellery boxes, cushion covers, coasters and key-chains. You can also get the wall panels customized to the size and painting of your choice.


Pretty lamp shades
Decorative mirrors
Photo-frames
Nope, these curtains are part of the decor and not for sale





Lovely colours























Being a not-for-profit organization, the prices are also economical. So, for art connoisseurs, it is a definite must-visit.

Like what you see?

You can visit the store at:


# 58/1-A, 4th Main Road, Hal 3rd Stage, Thippasandra, Bangalore, Karnataka 560075 ‎ Ph: 080 4153 2087

My experiments in the kitchen


Something that happens not very frequently, much to my foodie husband's dissatisfaction. We are like chalk and cheese in the matters of food. While I subscribe to the philosophy of "Eat to live", he's quite the opposite, salivating even at the thought of his favourite food. And, his favourite can be quite a wide spread. So, try as I might to satiate even a portion of his taste buds, I can never come close to what he'd like me to cook up in the kitchen. 

But, to be fair to him, I don't really try much ;-)

Despite all the disparity in our thoughts and actions, I do surpass myself at times to bring something different to the table (literally). So, here are a few snaps of what I tried out recently.

A cinnamon tea cake- As usual, I combined two recipes, and forgot which ones ;-). 
Turned out Okay.



Paneer Kofta curry- which turned out a little extra salted, because while making the gravy, I disregarded the fact that the koftas were also salted- classic case of inexperience. I'm improving, though, thanks.

Recipe from here



Paneer Do-Pyaza- Turned out so well that the husband kept saying 'awesome' in a loop for the whole day. I gained extra weight just hearing that. See, didn't I tell you, I'm improving?

Recipe from here.



The next time I hear some complaints about my cooking, I'll just do a re-direct to this page. This should work for at least a while ;-)

Bitten by the reading bug

So, there's something I'm happy about-my reading quotient has gone up in the last couple of weeks. The Flipkart guy has been a regular visitor. Although, I order in bunches, the delivery sometimes gets pushed to different dates depending on the availability. I feel bad that the person delivering has to travel the same distance, at times, on consecutive days to deliver just one book. 

That apart, it does feel nice to have that parcel in your hands with new, crisp books to delve into, to lose the world by drowning into them. The books I've read so far have also not let me down.

My current loot:




Additions have been made to the above, but they are mainly books for R- The Eric Carle collection I mentioned earlier, so there is one more person happy in the household.


So, what have you been reading? Will be happy to get some recos.

A musical delight

Anyone here who is tuned in to the Indian Idol Juniors this season? If not, and if even remotely interested in music, then I strongly recommend listening to these wonder kids. However, even if you can't understand music, it is a treat to see/listen to kids as young as 8 yrs perform with such elan, ease and most importantly finesse.

The last episode where Shankar,Ehsaan and Loy had come as guests was in particular a spectacular one when these musical stalwarts were so overawed by each of the 10 performances that they gave a standing ovation to every one of these kids. And, it was clearly not just a gesture of encouragement. It was a genuine and natural response to the outstanding singing talent. The songs sung by the contestants were to be a tribute to the musician-trio and had some of their best songs rendered to perfection. Every nuance, note and emotion was bang on and in certain instances surpassing even the original. Clearly the little contestants seem to have a divine connection with the Almighty, for I doubt if they even understand what it takes to sing flawlessly at such a young age. It does seem to come very naturally.


The kids on the show for this season have taken Indian Idol, for the first time, to a new and prestigious level in musical reality shows- something that the adults could not do so in the last 4-5 seasons. I've always viewed this show as one that is staged with a lot of drama and very less of music. The melodrama involving the social background of certain contestants, the tears and emotional outbursts before/after a performance or (especially) when eliminated have always scored above the music factor as far as this show is concerned so far, IMO. While there is a lot of melodrama in reality shows even where kids are concerned, the Junior Indian Idol has so far steered clear from these. The judges are people I personally admire for their talent in their respective fields ( Vishal-Shekar and Shreya Ghoshal). Their comments are encouraging even when the rendition has been a little off the mark.

My observation with the talent shows is that kids definitely score more on the talent chart as compared to the adult folk. Senior contestants have a lot to learn from these little champs- be it in the choice of the songs, or handling of complex notes or the easy demeanor with which they carry themselves, not letting either praise or criticism affect their being. I sometimes wonder if these virtues are because they are children and not yet affected by the dynamics of growing up in a tough and competitive world. Whatever the reason, this is a musical treat that is not to be missed. 

A video of one of my favourites here:


Chanakya's Chant




Author: Ashwin Sanghi
Pages: 448
Publisher: Westland
Price: Rs. 125 on Flipkart (on a discount)
My rating: 4/5

Oh, what a book!I never thought a combination of history and politics could be so mesmerizing. I'd never been a fan of history in my school days, so attribute all my ignorance in that subject to the bland manner in which we were dished out history lessons. And, politics is a sphere I started to take interest in only recently. This book however kept me hooked on both levels.

The novel is actually two stories set in two eras ( one set about 2300 years ago and the other in the present) but connected wonderfully by a single thread-'Chanakya neeti' that is used to achieve a desirable consequence in the given set of political mish-mash. The parallel narration does more than fine justice to the stories from both eras, without compromising on the pace which is fast and gripping. I eased my way in and out of the two worlds without any jerk (in terms of waning interest or losing the thread in the flow of the story)-a proof of sound writing, IMO.


An insight into the blurb:
"The book begins in the year 340 BC, and shows how a young Brahmin boy is traumatized by the murder of his father. He decides to take revenge, and uses his calculating brain to plan it. Slowly, he becomes an expert political strategist and is known as Chanakya. He uses his skills to unify the country Bharat (ancient India). This unity, teamed up with his expertise, ensures that the army of Alexander the Great is defeated, and Chandragupta is crowned the king of the Mauryan empire. With time, Chanakya gets bored and decides to use his intelligence to pen down the Arthashastra.
Chanakya's Chant then shifts into modern India, two and a half millennium later. It focuses on Gangasagar Mishra, a poor Brahmin teacher. It turns out that this man becomes a puppeteer to people. He witnesses how contemporary India is riddled with corruption, greed, treachery, and hatred. He realizes that in order to succeed in this society he too must indulge is such malpractices. However, Chanakya's Chant highlights the possibility that this man could be a reincarnation of Chanakya. Gangasagar plans to make a slum girl the Prime Minister of India."

Interesting enough to grab a copy? Go ahead and you'll not be disappointed in all likelihood. And, do share your views if you've already read this one.



The Very Hungry Caterpillar


By: Eric Carle
Picture book for 3-5 yr olds
Price: on discount at Flipkart for Rs. 175
My rating: 4.5/5



I got this book through Flipkart last week and it is currently the hot favourite in our house with R demanding to read the book at every meal each day. Eric Carle has beautifully put together different learning elements in one simple yet captivating story, which is nothing but the life-cycle of a butterfly.

And, what an interesting way for 3-5 yr olds to imbibe such knowledge! The journey of the caterpillar has been captured with bright, colourful pictures and simple narration. Not only that, a child can learn the days of a week, counting, get introduced to different variety of fruits, and other types of food, all of this packed together in a great read.

I loved the book as much as R. I highly recommend this book to all parents with kids in this age bracket. Do grab a copy, if you haven't done so already. As for me, I'm planning to buy the other books in the series by the same author :-)

The Spinning Wheel-a store tour

Falling in line with my intention to bring to light exclusive Home Decor stores around Whitefield area, here's another store tour. I had come across The Spinning Wheel many times- in the flea market and other exhibitions- and always thought to myself that I'd go back to them someday. And, boy! am I glad that finally I made to their store? You can bet a million bucks here.

The unique part about this store is that not only do they house exquisite art items procured from various places in India, but they also specialize in refurbishing old furniture. They add lovely embellishments like tile-work or painted art- and convert a drab looking piece into a style statement. So, if you are bored of your old dining table but do not want to spend a fortune on another or have sentiments attached to the current one, you know where to head.

The Store owner, Rakhi Mutreja, is a very enterprising lady with a lot of passion for the work she does and it really comes across when she talks about each of her piece in the store. When every art piece is handpicked, it becomes a lot more interesting because of the story and history attached to it, says Rakhi. They completed their first anniversary recently but are already running short of store space-something that is not surprising considering the kind of response/orders they are getting not only from Bangalore but other parts of the country as well.

Now, for the tour:


Aren't the camel ones unique?


Pretty door knobs





The weaved bottle collection-so pretty!


The tile collection
Collectibles that will add depth
A customized upholstered teak chair with beautiful tile work



Signature items

The click does not do justice to the beauty of this lovely painting

Pretty vases


Isn't everything drool-worthy? Its no wonder that I'm so addicted to their FB page. I'm getting a few lovely stuff done from them and it makes me happy that there is an excuse to keep visiting their store often in the next few months.

Asura-The tale of the vanquished





Author: Anand Neelakantan

Publisher: Platinum Press
Pages: 500 
Price on Flipkart: Rs. 190


Ramayana re-told by the vanquished seemed like an interesting premise and I picked it up with a lot of expectations. However, I was disappointed.The book begins well, then drags, then picks up in bits and parts but finally drags so much that you want to just quit reading. 

The story unravels through the voices of two persons- Ravana and a commoner Bhadra. The concept of having a third-point view of the story, told through a common man, seems novel and keeps you engaged. Some of the parts where he (Bhadra) brings out the voice of an ordinary citizen in the backdrop of an unjust life, braving against the odds and his grouses with the government of the country seems very relevant and realistic. Yet, Bhadra sometimes assumes a profile than is even larger than the main protagonist and you just want him to mind his own business after a while.

Ravana, according to the original mythology, although portrayed as a demon-God, was known to have shades of goodness in him. He was an intelligent ruler and a Shiva-devotee with a great love for arts. However, in Asura, these very qualities are just mentioned in some parts and that too sketchily. Ravana comes across as a very confused person, always with conflicting thoughts, even though he has a fierce and strong ambition to succeed. His goodness rarely comes across except in his thoughts. His decisions, action and their results seem quite accidental. You don't really feel any sympathy towards this Asura who is telling his side of the story. The plot seems far-fetched in many areas and the parts where the final battle is depicted is quite outrageous. I can understand that since it is Ravana's story, Rama has to come out as an evil person. Yet, it is difficult to stomach the twisted details towards the end.

I couldn't help comparing this book with The Shiva Trilogy, also a mythological fiction. Although, the third book was a let down, the book overall had a well-rounded effect with the plot flowing out naturally. 

The twists and plot of Asura seemed contrived and laborious in comparison. The book also was found wanting in the editing part with quite a few grammatical errors.

There are quite a number of good reviews for this book and I seem to be on the minority side. So, probably this is just me and you may like it.

Have you read this one? What are your thoughts?




Sangreh- a store tour

Since the time I nose-dived into planning the decor for my home, I've been on the look out for interesting home decor stores on the net and within my locality. To my delight, I discovered a few stores around the area I live, that sell some exclusive stuff. 

I plan to feature the stores here for the benefit of people like me, who are eager to set up their homes, live in and around Whitefield area, but are loathe to venture into the city traffic to buy great looking stuff despite best intentions and keep wishing for such stores to come up in the vicinity.The first among them is a store called Sangreh that has been recently launched at AECS layout, close to ITPL junction, Kundalahalli and Marathahalli areas.  

Now, a good blogger always roams about with a handy camera to click away interesting finds, add lovely captions and tidbits, to make a story on their blogs. Sadly, I don't fall in that category. I'm always rushing out of home and only manage to stuff in the water-bottle and snack box for the young chap. Only after I landed at the store, did I realize that I had missed an opportunity to capture the store and its products. However, upon request, the store owner, Priyanka Mehra, was kind enough to not only permit me to feature her store but also use her photos.  

A little more about the store in Priyanka's own words:

"Sangreh, as the name suggests, is a collection of artifacts. An art for us is any item where a creative mind has worked to provide craftsmanship with hand or machine.  We believe that we can get  good artifacts for our customers and can work to provide a unique shopping experience. Our store-we ventured into this business about 5 years ago- is an experiment of our beliefs. After holding exhibitions at various places in the past 5 years we began to understand what the market wants and how quality artifacts can be made available for them. Setting up our own store was thus a natural progression of our venture and here we are at AECS layout now. Our intention is to provide a personal touch in our services and enhance the shopping experience for our customers. This, we hope to achieve by providing a home-like ambience to the store, personally attending to our customers, setting up a play area for our little customers, and providing unique and eco-friendly shopping bags"


Now, for the tour:

A view of the entire store
I'm in love with this antique clock-might buy this in the next visit ;-)
An eye catching attractive lamp

Musician figurines


Won't your books look even more lovely with these bookends?

Nested tables and unique elephant trunks
Attractive pottery drawers to hold your jewellery and knick-knacks

What bright colours!!!

Isn't this pretty?



























The artifacts are directly outsourced from Rajasthan, which makes the pricing too quite economical. Apart from Home decor stuff, Sangreh also houses some lovely women's wear (kurtis, leggings, skirts,etc), chunky jewellery and soft furnishings. That's not all.  They also undertake orders for Solid wood furniture ( like coffee table, side tables, dinning table, bed, etc…)

I have to add another interesting thing that happened. As mentioned, the store had a small play area in their backyard and I heaved a sigh of relief that R could entertain himself which meant the husband also could join me in shopping which is a very rare occurrence. As I got talking with Priyanka, a little lad, about R's age, pottered in. Turned out that he and R are almost of the same age, go to the same school, albeit different classes, and also take the same bus route!

Not only this, but the apartment they stay in and the place we are about to move into are constructed by the same builder. Now, isn't this a LOT of coincidence?! Now, I can tell the husband that I share some karmic relation with this place and use the excuse to frequent it ;-)