The summer so far...

The kids couldn't wait for the summer holidays to begin so that they could proceed to their favourite city - Chennai. We landed here a couple of weeks ago and of course it was insanely hot (not that we were in a position to complain since what we had left behind was no better!) A few days later, I travelled to Bangalore - a 3 day work trip which I combined with a weekend so that I got a full 5 days of freedom from child-rearing duties.

Apparently, Bangalore has had a very warm summer this year. Obviously, I did not find it in my heart to express any sympathy from friends who complained about the Bangalore heat - my standard response was that they were spoilt silly! Having said that, it was unseasonably warm when I compared it to the weather when I lived there, as recently as 5 years ago. I stayed with some dear friends, shopped at the Kala Maadhyam mela, visited relatives, 'guilt-shopped' for my two monsters (!) and caught up with two fellow bloggers for the very first time, in person. The latter was particularly gratifying. Knowing someone in the virtual world and thereafter meeting them physically can be two entirely different things. As it happened, the three of us had lots to talk about and the two hours that we had planned for lunch seemed to elapse with extreme rapidity, leaving us with some great memories and hopes of meeting again soon.

Unfortunately, I was unable to manage a pit-stop at my favourite Bangalore haunt, Corner House, owing to a bad stomach bug which I managed to catch on one of my work days. A suspect vada-pav seems to have caused the bacterial infection and I had a fairly hard time the next day as I was travelling to some villages near Kolar.
I've often observed to S how he gets a rousing reception when he returns from a work trip or even every evening when he returns home from the office. I'm home when the kids return from school and since I never travel anywhere without them, I've never been fortunate enough to be accorded such a warm welcome. My wish was granted when I returned from Chennai; the kids fell upon me and for a few minutes they could not get enough of hugging and kissing mommy! Y kept devouring me with her huge eyes and as I saw the wealth of love behind her gaze, I felt both humbled and grateful. 
As I complained about the humidity in Chennai to the other half, he retorted that he was walking around our Gurgaon flat, sprinkling water in all the rooms to increase the humidity levels!

Such is our summer. Waiting to escape to cool Himalayas next week!