Scarery Movie

These images were captured for the blog, by their grandma.  Watching a movie with grandchildren can be fun. Particularly, when they want to watch a movie they consider scarey  -  not for them, but for you.  Sidharth and Nikhil believe I am scared ofanimals .And confronting me with a photo or toy of a lion, tiger or dinasaur to ‘scare’ me is my grandsons’ favourite pastime.
Unknown to me, Sidharth and Nikhil, persuaded their dad to set uo on DVD a movie they wanted to watch  with grandparents in our  living-room, Saturday evening. They didn’t disclose to us what movie it was. And that was enough to arose suspicion. And to confirm my suspicion, they wanted me to promise not to walk out on the movie. To ensure I stay seated through the entire movie, Sidharth and Nikhil  chose to sit close to me on either side, pinning me down to the sofa.  The ‘scarey’  movie we  watched was  – Madagascar- 2

Njnjas Vs Spiderman

 Nikhil, 4, would have us believe that the image he has drawn depicts the triumph of Ninjas over Spiderman .  It shows, he says, the Japanesefighters cutting themselves free from a lethal cobweb cast by Spiderman.  But I saw in the painting quite the opposite image -  of Ninjas hopelessly caught up in Spiderman’s web.But then  Nikhil  had the support of. elder brother Sidharth, 6 plus,and , here i was , pitted against two of them in a combat between the Ninjas and the Spider-man, played out in my bedroom. And the brothers chose to fight me during my afternoon snooze time. The San Ramon brothers choose their hero, the location for our mock combat , and their weapon.

Their weapn in Ninja Vs Spiderman combat was their  sketches.  And Sidharth did a full-fledged battle scene on a sheet  taken from his exercise book.  Nikhil, equally prolific,  tried to intimidate me (read Spiderman) in the playroom , with a fresh sketch on the cobweb theme.

When it comes to taking sides the brothers invariably club-up against thier grandpa. In Euro Final soccer they  were with Italy, leaving me to go for  Spain. In NBA series final, they were for Okhlahoma while I was constrained to back the Miami team. In baseball Sidharth/Nikhil , who went to watch the game in the stadium, returned home wearing Oakland team jersey they bought at the venue, putting me at a disadvantage. I  had nothing to show-off my favourite team – Boston.In the backyard basketball Sidharth/Nikhil brothers team up against grandparents. San Ramon Brothers  usually have their way with Mantri Synergy Devils, represented by grandparents visiting from Chennai.    

Playtime@SanRamon

 When the Krishnan and the Paleja  kids get together  at our place in San Ramone how do you think they spend time together ?

1Playing  chess on i-Pad ?

2 Reading  from a book; or

3 Watching   Jai Hanuman on TV ?

None of  the above.

‘Actually’, (as Nikhil would preface his sentences)  when they are not engaged in  lego building, Sidharth K and Sidharth D , with able assistance from Nikhil and Sonia, clown  around in the living room , Shahrukh Khan style, to the tune of Sonia's fvourite  Bollywood number , Chammak Chhallo.

 And after they are done with Lego, the boys leave  the playroom in a mess for parents to clean up.  

Making faces, 'kothi'-like

 Don’t act like kothi , was their mommy’s   refrain  whenever Sidharth and Nikhi started jumping around in our house  with excitement, making funny faces. Children , I believe, tend to feel untethered when they have grandparents visiting them from India. Besides, it was the day  their school term ended . I got them clowning about in the play-room. As they saw me taking out my camera the boys made faces, determined to put up kothi-like pose for the camera. Kothi is Kannada term for a monkey. 
 I told them about a friend who made faces for a living. Irshad Panchatan , my friend from college days in  New Delhi , took to pontomime as a profession  and made it really big as pontomime artiste. He even founded a school for them in Europe. Now retired, Irshad lives in with his wife and daughter,
It has been a while since this blog has been updated. But then my posts here appear only when my wife and I visit  San Ramon to spend time with our grandsons.
My wife and I are pleased to see them grown up since our last vist one year back. Sidharth, 6, is leaving  kindergarten to join a public school this August. And we hear  his Montessori  school head is so satisfied  with his performance that he  would recommend Sidharth for admission to the second grade. Nikhil, 4, moves into kindergarten at San Ramon Montessori.  Both are belt-holders in Taikwando – the younger one has yellow, while Sidharth is brown belt.
Since  we last met the boys  I notice their passion for cars has given way to basket ball. They spend their regulated half-hour with family i-Pad watching NBA matches. Okklahoma Thunder is their flavour of the month, though the boys have a grudging admiration for Lebron James of Miami Heat , which isn't their fancied team in the current NBA series.   

Of Willy, Shamu and San Diego

I wish we had watched Free Willy, a whale movie in theme park setting, before we did the Sea World in San Diego. I reckon Sidharth and Nikhil would then have had a better understanding of Shamu the whale at the Sea World.As it happened,they came out of the Shamu Show drenched, bleary eyed with sea water, and blaming it all on the poor whale.
Nikhil said he didn't want to revisit Shamu who had splashed the pool water on him. Sidharth took it sportingly; said it was fun getting soaked at the Shamu Show.
We were seated on the sixth of the first 12 rows designated the 'soak zone'. We were at the venue an hour before the show,to be able to get seats upfront. But then Nikhil did not expect Shamu to do what he did to him and his clothes.

But then after watching Free Willy and the sorry plight of the whale in the movie Sidharth/Nikhil changed their mind on Shamu. Sidharth wondered who, and where Shamu's mom was. What, if a mean man drained the water from Shamu's pool, as he did, from Willy's pool? Who would save Shamu, as Jessie did Willy at the movie ? Wouldn't the whales at the Sea World want to get out into the open sea?
When she heard of their concerns, Sidharth/Nikhil's mom reckoned that it was just as well they didn't watch Free Willy earlier. If they had , they wouldn't have wanted to visit the Sea World.

A highlight of their San Diego trip was the visit to the beach, from where Sidharth and Nikhil brought back a fistful of seashells. They spotted several seals at the beach; it was the world's only beach where the law gives a free run to the seals, and an official notice says seals can move about anywhere there, and they cannot be legally removed or disturbed by people.

Seals are a tourist attraction on the waterfront of Hyatt Residency, from where you get a water taxi to the Sea World. Jeniffer, who piloted our taxi boat knew a thing or two about seals. She told us they brought in a boatload of fish caught in mid-sea and dumped them every other day all along the hotel waterfront. Which explains why seals flock to the water front.






Sidharth/Nikhil realized there was more to San Diego than the Sea World when they got to ride a speedboat driven by dad/mom.

San Jose Tech Museum

Doing San Jose Tech museum with grandsons - Sidharth,nearly 6, and Nikhil,3 plus - made me wonder if this was what Nehru had in mind when he talked of creating a scientific temper in our young minds.The museum exhibits with interactive features invite children to try their hand on colouring a digital sketch, web-designing, bridge-building, and a host of other activities.






Sidharth/Nikhil,among other things, created their own websites and designed a roller-coaster ride that they could test out in a simulator.They experienced the thrill of riding the roller-coaster they structured on a computer. The tech museum has scores of other hands-on exhibits to engage children. So excited were my grandsons that they wouldn't want to leave when a the security guard reminded us politely it was time we left. The museum closes at 5 p m.







The next day Sidharth asked if he could upload some photos from his baseball camp in the blog he created at the tech museum. Such was the impact of a visit to a place, so unlike most other museum where exhibits are kept in a glass case or cordoned off with a don't-touch signboard.

San Ramon, July 2011

Sidharth and Nikhil were having their afternoon nap when we got in from the airport, after a 24-hour flight fro Chennai.But they had a left this notice taped to the front door of their San Ramon home.
It has been two years since our last visit.Sidharth is 6, has started going to regular school and got a blue belt in taekwando. Brother Nikhil, 4, in pre-school, finds himself literally in his brother's shoes .

The brothers have taken over the garage, in addition to their play-room.