At Castel Sant'Elmo

This picture was taken on top of the Castle in Naples. In the background is Mount Vesuvius which is the only active volcano on mainlaind Europe. It last erupted in the 1940s.

Daytrip to Canberra

We spent the whole day at Canberra today. We drove down early morning and stopped for breakfast at McDonalds on the Highway near Goulburn. Mum had hot pancakes, Dad & Kanika had Bacon & Egg Cheese Rolls, Yujita had an apple pie and I had a sausage & egg roll.

We then drove straight to The War Memorial and spent an hour through the wonderful stuff on display appreciating the efforts of Australian armed forces personnel and getting an insight into their historic feats across the world.

We then visited the Australian Parliament and went through a fantastic guided tour throughout the Parliament House which was intriguing.

We later drove past the Old Parliament House, the Lake, Riverside, Telstra Tower and the City Centre.

Kanika was famished so we had to stop for Lunch which was a treat from Dad.. Dad & I had lovely Barramundi & Chips, Kanika had Jumbo Prawns, Kanika had a Chicken Wrap & Mum had a Veg Sub.

We drove back felt nice to have spent a great day in each others company!

Made for Each Other....

Its great to see such a great bond between Dada, Dadi & Kanika..

Big Brothers In Sydney Last Month!!!

Pictures from a party...

Kanika Performs at Durga Puja Festival

Kanika Performed in Cumberland High for The Durga Puja Festival held last week. I'm glad she's keeping in touch with her rich Indian heritage & culture. After nearly three years of professional Kathak lessons from the Shambhu Maharaj Academy in India she has continued dance lessons in Australia with weekend lessons and has performed on Bollywood numbers with Classical dance steps in auditoriums around Darling Harbour, Opera House, Chatswood, Showground Road and several other centres.

Picnic at Fagan Park

We had a great picnic with friends at Fagan Park. We had invited Vikram Bhaiya & Family and it was nice to see Vikram, Dipali & Vasundhara amidst us.

Golfers in Action!!! Watch out Arjun Chaudhri..

More Pictures from the Picnic

Pictures from Hunter Valley

Yujita Completes all her exams for Australian Chartered Accountancy

It's been a tough 26 months for Yujita as she's been busy studying for her Australian Chartered Accountancy. She's just got the results of her last set of examination and has come through with flying colours. She has one assignment to complete in Feb 2008 and will be an Australian Chartered Accountant.

Yujita will be the first person in the family to have completed her Chartered Accountancy from India & Overseas. Congratulations!

I know many doctors have done that in the family - Bindo Chachaji, Sanjay, Vivek, Shalini & Aradhana.

Hello from Birmingham

Hey
I decided it was about time I contributed to this blog.
Dad is currently in Naples, where we are going in half term for a week, which I will write about once I get back. I'll finally get to visit Pompeii which should be great!
Otherwise everything here is the same, school is really busy this year.

Shruti

The Chaudhris from Ghanari

It is a tribute to generation senior,who left Ghanari nearly in 1910 that we are today in England, Australia and of course in Delhi ,India. We are indebited to my grand father Sh. Saran Das and his brother and Baujis Chacha Sh. Jaikaran Das who laid the foundation of this family.
It is a tribute to my mother who along with Bauji brought up her six children and gave them good grounding

Hello..

I have just received your invite to add a blog - i've never done this before so hopefully it'll work !!

I can't believe how grown up Kanika is - i still remember her when you were all at our house - can't remember the exact year but it really doesn't feel as long as it actually is !!

I would like to wish Yujita many many congratulations from myself, tanuka and of course my dad. I'm glad things are going well for you all and we'll have to plan a visit to see you sometime as its already been too long.

Our next trip to India is planned for 03rd November (i'm going for 3 weeks, tanuka is going for 1 month and dad is going for 6 weeks) - i can't wait - its going be lovely catching up with everyone.

Anyway, i just wanted to post a quick email to you and will definitely have to keep in touch regularly.

Wishing you all lots and lots of love

Ja

x x x x x x

Kanika in the Parliament House, Canberra

Kanika had gone for her Yr 6 camp to Canberra and the Snowy Mountains in July. She had a swell time. I managed to nick this picture of her PC to post it on the blog.

Old Sanawarian meet in Sydney

It was nice to be invited for the Old Sanawarian meet in Sydney at Crows Nest in August. We caught up with old mates from School and had a wonderful time discussing our schooldays. All non sanawarian spouses (both husbands & wives) were ragged and asked to speak out one by one and tell us all why they married a Sanawarian!

Swami Adhiraj Chaudhri-The latest addition!

During my visit to India last fortnight I was delighted to meet the youngest member in our family - Adhiraj Singh Chaudhri. He was really cute and entertained us all evening. Gunjan had cooked some lovely meat and Tashi & Arjun were very warm & hospitable as always. It was fun to catch up on good old times and bring back memories from yesteryears that made us all proud to be part of a great family.

A special thanks to Rajinder Chacha for taking a detour and spending some time with me in the office before leaving for Amritsar.

Bir Tayaji & family members..

Pictures of Bir Tayaji & family members with some of our wonderful friends taken at a party at our place last month. It was Kanika's birthday party!

Wine, Cheese & Chocolate Tasting in Hunter Valley

Over the weekend gone by we visited The Hunter Valley and enjoyed tasting some of the wines of the region at the Mc Guigan's Winery. It was fun to be tasting different wines and enjoying the flavours on the pallete. We followed it up with a guided tour into the vinification process from a visit to the grape vines in the vineyards to the crushing, fermentation, ageing & blending process.

We followed it up with Cheese tasting and tasted different cheeses from the soft cheeses to the blue vein cheeses. It was fun.

Lunch was sandwiches with ham & fresh cheese from the cheese factory shop & vegetable burgers for mum. We had lunch at the Hunter Valley Village Gardens followed by a short nap in the park and then tried a hand at Aquagolf. It was really cool to be hitting balls into the water instead on the greens. Arjun would've won all the prizes had he been here!

We made some fresh tea on our stove and then went on to try out the chocolates at The Chocolate factory shop. Kanika bought some chocolate & English toffee fudge.

Yujita & Dad went on to try a few more wines and I helped myself to a nice offer on a case of Bin 3000 Merlot. Dad & Yujita then went to try out some champagnes and brought back a couple of bottles of bubbly wine for the cellar at home. Hic ..hic hooray..

It was a nice two hour drive back home and a day well spent!

Yujita gets into PricewaterHouseCoopers!

Yujita has got into PriceWaterhouseCoopers as a consultant and is pretty pleased with her achievement. PriceWaterhouseCoopers is the number one Accounting firm in the world. It's a great feeling to be working with the best and full marks to her for working her way upto the top! Well done Yujita..

Kanika in her School Uniform

Thats Kanika in her School uniform. It's her last year in Primary School and she's going to Sr. School in January 2008.

She's enjoyed Excelsior Primary School and has done well in academics and cirricular activities. Her latest achievement is a Distinction in Mathematics in an countrywide examination conducted by the University of New South Wales.

She's not as intelligent as her Shruti Didi but will catch up if the gray cells are put to test.

An Ode to Mum & Dad..

Its such a great feeeling to have Mum & Dad with us in Australia. We are indeed proud of them and enjoying every moment of their company.

Kanika is the biggest benefactor as she has her holidays and is spending quality time with them at home and taking them out.

Dad's enjoying driving around in the second car and does loose his bearings sometimes but finds his way back home always.

Mum has virtually taken over the garden and pampers us with her delightful cooking however we want her to relax and enjoy her stay with us in Australia. I must confess our garden looks greener, healthier, tidier and the springtime bloom looks even prettier thanks to her loving care.

We love you Mum & Dad & would like to let you know you're always welcome here as this is your own house and your presence makes it a fully furnished home!