Kanika's first day in High School..

I cannot believe it that my darling daughter has completed primary school and starts High School today. It is an emotional day for me as she starts a new chapter in her life and I change my equation with her from being a kid to a young girl. She is an amazingly wonderful child with fine virtues. We wish her good luck as she starts this new chapter and builds the foundations towards becoming a fine person!

Santosh Goes Ozzie!

The Manager of my IT operations in India has been here for the past 10 days and is training with me. He's living at The Wentworth Hotel in the heart of Sydney. It has been a hectic time and he's had a wonderful opportunity to see how we work in a developed country and how precise & efficient we have to be. I am proud to be able to contribute towards the development of Santosh who's worked with me for almost a decade and hope he does well as we don the red shirts when we amalgamate to form Nerds On Site!

Happy Birthday Dad!

Here's wishing you many happy returns of the day! Together we put our thoughts together to the almighty to thank us for giving us a great Dad and wished you good health, prosperity & happiness all through the year!

Nostalgic Moments with Nerds On Site

Its been a lovely journey with Nerds On Site from being a Nerd to Heading their Operations in Australia and now being a core member of India its a great feeling. This was my first interview with a Sydney newspaper and it's been great guns thereafter. I trust it is the blessings from my parents, my dear brother and my forefathers that got me here as when I thought of a career which was not the mainstream professional... doctor or engineer, people wondered how I'd go but it was my conviction and the faith my parents had in me that got me here.

Thank you Mum & Dad, thank you Sanawar, thank you Sanjay... as without you all I would never have been here!

What is on in Delhi?

Delhi is all set for celebrating Republic day. The chief guest is the President of France. The British Prime Minister is in Delhi. Incidentally he is keen to Knight  Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar

Four Days In Ghanari

Severe winter in North India and the right place to enjoy is to be in Himachal Pradesh., not

necessarily Down under or Birmingham.

Well I was in Ghanari with temperatures plummeting below zero. What a time, I had! Chicken from Sood's Dhaba, trying cooking some vegetarian dishes in my kitchen and enjoying whisky sitting around the fireplace.

I spent a day getting some repairs done in the house and returned on Lohri, which heralds the end of winter in India.

Swimming In The Rain...

Had a wonderful weeekend. Friday evening was a boys night out at The Mean Fiddler. I was the designated driver but Yujita was kind enough to drop us boys over so we all had fun. It was four pints of Pure Blonde off the tap and shook a leg & a bit. Shuchi was kind enough to drop us all back but not before offering us some lovely Chicken Tikka Masala & Mutton Roganjosh with Naans from 'Jewel Of India'.

I worked at Drummoyne in the morning on the waterfront whilst Yujita prepared some good Indian food - Bhindi, Daal, Pulao, Kadu & Puris. We had Manu & Anu's Parent's over for cocktails and dinner. Neeraj, Jacci, Sanjee, Shuchi, Shuchi's Mum & Kids were over too. Jacci made some lovely Rosewater Shortbread. The kids were in the pool. The food had to be vegetarian as Manu & Anu's parents were strict veggies! We had beer though as its was cleared as fermented barley water along with saboo dana tikkies & veg cocktail samosas! I freaked out on Yujita's Apple pie which was delicious as usual with vanilla ice cream.

Sunday was a nice day. Yujita needed her passport pictures for Overseas Citizen Of India Visa so we were off to Castle Towers. Watched Sabse Favourite Kaun Star Awards on Indian TV. And then it suddenly began to rain...


I decided to dive into the pool.. And Yujita & Kanika followed.... Noodles for dinner and a glass of wine to end the day.. Yet another Weekend gone by!

Christmas in England

Well, in contrast to those enjoying the sunshine down under, here in England the weather was its usual dull and grey self. Not that it stopped us having any fun.
We went up to Middlesbrough on Christmas Eve and spent the evening catching up with everyone and just having fun (some of us doing so whilst enjoying a drink or two...). On Christmas morning we all gathered excitedly around the tree waiting to open our presents. After playing with new toys and watching new dvds, it was time for my (second) favorite part of the day: Christmas Dinner. The food was lovely as usual, compliments to the chefs Nisha and Sujata and Riya even had her own bottle of 'special' children's champagne.

Some pages from History

My father had one brother elder to him, Purshotam Lal and two sisters, Geeta and Brahami. Both sisters were married into one family who owned nearly the whole village and were big Landlords. Bauji's brother was a Senior V.T teacher in those days. Bauji was born on 20th April,1904. He joined the P.E.S on 16th Sept, 1929 at Kullu as an Assistant District Inspector of Schools. I recently got access to his service book. Incidentally he retired in 1959, the year I was commissioned into the Navy. All entries of his service book have been made by him and interestingly the last entry reads "Finished this service with great glory and respect " That is the sum total, the way he served

A sheet of paper in the book he has left behind is a letter written by one of his bosses when he was only 25-26 years old. praising his managerial skills. His grand children, Doctors, M.B.A's, I.T Professionals, C.A's think they are whiz-kids. It will be good reading for them...

Stir Fry Veggies.... Hmm Very Nice

Yujita has perfected the art of a nice stir fry with noodles/rice and this is what we have at least twice a week. I must confess I have it with a Lamb Chop, Chicken, Fish or Prawns as I live upto the family tradition of being a meatosorous!

What is Patiala Peg ?

Parliament house, Canberra

The Chaudhris from Ghanari

Surely my grand daughter is enjoying her holidays. In my days these vacations were called bade din ki chhutian, Then I didnt know why this term but now I can attribute this to 23/22 Dec is the shortest day in the Northern hemisphere and the day light hours start increasing there after i.e why Bade din. Though these vacations were at the time of Christmas and new year day

Captain Cook's Seafood Buffet Cruise!

One of the nicest sunday afternoon's spent digging into some awesome food ranging from Oysters, Mussels, Salmon, Prawns, Fish, Chicken & Beef. To be eating such nice food (not to forget the wine & beer) and feasting one's eyes to stunning views of Sydney from the waters was a bonus especially on a bright sunny day! What more could we ask for? Lots of stuff in video and fewer stills but these stills will be good enough to convey the message..

Picnic at Collaroy Beach

I had some work at Collaroy last week and Yujita & Kanika came and had a nice picinic whilst I made some money for the seafood buffet cruise we are off too this week! It seems they had fun and so did I as the property I was working at had stunning Ocean views & the lime & lemon bitters that the client offered me had a real tang about it but for the fact that India lost the Test to Australia meekly!

Mein Aur Meri Petunias!

मै और मेरी पेटुनिअस अक्सर येह बाते करते है कि अगर मम्मी और डैडी मेरे साथ होते तो कित ना अच्छा होता!

My favourite pass time is working in my gardens and sitting and having a ginger & lemon tea to admire the blossoming garden!

Happy New Year!

Here's wishing the entire family a Very Happy 2008. I hope it brings everyone good health, fortune & success in their respective endeavours.

Kanika, Yujita & Rajiv