Om's 5th Birthday celebrations

Ask him his age and he proudly announces he is FIVE.

 

All set for cake cutting

We've been celebrating Ahana's Bday at home for the last few years, but I havent been able to bring myself to cook for it, so we've ended up ordering it everytime. For the first time we decided we hold the party at home with all the home made stuff.So this is what I planned for 15 kids who turned up: 

Paav getting served

Chocolate Pudding

Cake & Paav Bhaaji

Sandwich

Hung Curd Dressing Monaco Biscuit

So this is what my party spread looked like. Apart from this I had also prepared Custard pudding for those who didnt eat chocolate. Some Tong Garden honey coated & salt nuts kept my energy filled lad. And ofcourse Tang as Thirst quenchers..We missed taking pictures of these..

Party Time

I decided to hold the party on a working day evening between 6.00-8.00. While Appaji & Ajji decorated the hall with balloons, I got busy with the kitchen. Took half day off from office & started with veggie cutting for my bhaaji. By 5.45P.M. snacks & decoration was all set. We bought the Blueberry cake from Cakewala in Jayanagar. The puddings(chocolate & custard) were kept ready previous night and were cooling in my fridge. At sharp 6.00, Meera & Radhika our immediate neighbours walked in and Om was excited about the start of his party. While Om & Radhika played alone until 6.15, little were they aware of what was to come...6.20 the remaining 10 kids ran in screaming Happy Birthday Om. Om & Radhika went into a state of shock and sat back on the sofa to understand how someone could make so much noise :-D. It took appaji some party music to get the two out of the sofa. And there we had....all kids dancing to the latest bollywood tunes.

I announced its time for cake cutting

The moment I announced that it was time for cake cutting the kids got ready next to Om and the 5th year cake got cut. I had kids coming to me and telling me, "Aunty every dish was very tasty, we really enjoyed the party." What more would I have liked to hear :-). When Ahana's friends had left she announced that she wanted her party to be grand like this at home. And all of us got busy in ajji's room to open Om's gifts. As usual, with every package opening we were watching the expressions Om had on his face.

Pretty girls

Monkeys on the 1st floor

Oh! Come On! Let me eat peacefully

Busy checking out gifts

Happy Birthday 2 U

Boy turns FIVE

My boy turns 5 today. 

Morning when I woke Ahana up for school, she asked me to call her when I was waking up Om. And so I did. Ahana sang him the Happy Birthday song and he was happy to awake and wished by amma, appa & Ahana together.
New shirt, new pant, shoes & Chocolates for distribution. Isn't this what every child is waiting to do on his/her Bday. Om had been waiting to distribute chocolates and cut a cake from the beginning of the year. Everytime a Bday got celebrated at his school, he would come back asking us when his Bday would get celebrated. Today being a working day, I am unable to prepare anything. Cake cutting will happen for sure. Saturday is when I plan to invite some of his friends home and have a small get together.

By the way...he shares his Birthday with Rajanikanth :-D

Forgot to mention this....Ahana asked Om what he would like to become when he grows up. 
Om said Macho Man
Ahana started laughing and said..what Macho man...look like I might want to become a Doctor one day or dad is an Engineer, what would you like to become. 
Om thought over and said..okay not Macho Man, I will become Krissh.
And guess what Ahana had wanted to become around the same age. Click here
 

Freedom Fest 2013

If I had to describe the Freedom Fest of Freedom International School in one word...it would be AWESOME!!

The hard work put in by the children, teachers, helpers, drivers & the Principal, was all seen there. Perfect Show put up. The theme this time was Countries and they covered India, Saudi arabia, Italy, Mexico, Greece, Spain.

The whole playground was utilised perfectly..right side country stalls which displayed everything about the countries and selling specialities of each country, left side had some parents putting up their stalls. The center of the ground was this huge stage with stage lights, disco lights, laser lights, cool sound systems...like we get to see in proper open stage shows.
We were to have Chief minister Siddharamaiah as the chief guest...but he missed...nevertheless the show put up was classy.

Every country got a chance to come up on stage, do a small presentation using audio visuals, small video snippets. Famous Dance forms, movies & songs were performed by kids with the country costumes.

Ahana was part of the Saudi arabia team and had to present on the stage. When not on stage she was at her stall explaining the charts put up. They had date paan filled with dry fruits for sale. Quilled Ear rings made by kids, Book marks with Saudi theme, Arabic mehendi artist & Arabian night theme(for clicking pictures) at the stall. The other stalls had some hand painted bags, scarfs, Indian mehendi, Hand painted flutes, plates & mugs. Basically a lot of art work done by the kids & teachers all put up for sale..and definitely worth the money we paid.

Ahana in her Arabic Attire

Arabian nights Cut-out for taking pictures

Another thing I missed out mentioning...the Flash mob. Blended with the festive feel that was put up. With the 2013 hits being played, all the kids who were not performing on the stage were here in the flash mob dancing in full enthusiasm. And what more...we had the Principal of the school Mrs.Jayanti Prabhakar also dancing n running :-)
The whole show put up...put me in an awe...hats off to the kids, teachers, organizing team & the Principal.

Alice in Wonderland @ Rangashankara

Alice in Wonderland @ Rangashankara for 6+ years kids. December 01, 2013

Alice in Wonderland

Bored and exhausted with their routine, fast-paced lives, four people decide to make a short getaway into a world of their own make-belief. Using Lewis Carroll`s novel as a base, the performers transform themselves and the objects around them into a world of pure fantasy and nonsense; to return in the end changed forever by imagination.

This play is an effort to take a flight of imagination, to re-understand lives and surroundings and look at everything anew through the eyes of infinite possibilities. You will be presented with their explorations.

The play is performed using objects. This unique story telling technique is called Object Theatre. It is relatively a new art form was born in Europe with the incoming of the Industrial Revolution and the Consumer age. It juxtaposes live performers with easily identifiable objects from everyday use, thereby creating interesting dynamics in the storytelling. Tram Theatre is India`s First Object Theatre Company.

Ahana n Meera @ Rangashankara

It had been long since Ahana had been taken to any play, so I decided this is the time to get her interest back in Plays. Only challenge was who would manage Om. So we decided we would take Meera(our neighbour) also along and send Ahana & Meera in, while we spent an hour outside keeping Om busy. 

While I assumed that this Play would be for kids, the queue at Rangshankara just told me the opposite. The crowd was mostly a mix of the grey heads & middle aged folks.

This was a one hour show. The faces of these two kids when they walked out of the amphitheater told it all. While initially Ahana had complained about being sent alone inside....we not tagging along...she had definitely had a good time there. 

While the kids were at the Play, we took Om and mummy to the nearby Balaji temple. We had to show Om Narasimha (Narasimba as he calls it). He refused to believe that what we were showing him was Narasimha. We have a Ganesha temple next to our house...and recently they had installed Narasimha there. How could that narasimha come here was Question no.1. Where did Narasimba's teeth go was Question no.2. 

Answer from dad: Both the narasimha's are brothers :-D. And then the story of Narasimha/ hiranyakashyap/ Prahlad followed.

Om with his best friend Radhilka