Jul 14 2008
The Countdown Begins
! E-Ticket in hand ! ! Household sale bohni this Saturday !
No matter from which angle I look at it, zoom in, zoom out, flip or rotate. It speaks out loud, it is very much a non-refundable, non-transferable
It’s such an experience to watch my daughter go through this process and to see her interpretation of the move at various stages. I don’t think the scope of moving-to-India has registered to her yet. She was a year old when we made our last trip. She hardly remembers anything from then. Few east coast trips after that have led her to the understanding that we will be back home in few days.
We started the selling process this past weekend. We moved some furnitures downstairs, close to the entrance, just to save the lookers from coming deep inside the house. My daughter asks the question, just as anticipated. Why mumma? Mumma is a good story teller, she can churn answers even in sleep. But to give an answer that is convincing in the first go, and one that does not provoke further questions is a whole different ball game. This time she was prepared and had rehearsed the answer. D, we can only take some suitcases in the plane. Plane does not have space for big items and furnitures. Anything that won’t fit into the suitcases has to be given away. She seemed a bit alarmed and says - Only table, chair, bed, shelf? Right mumma? Not my toys and my bo-oo-oks? You are right beta, I tell her.
So, this American dude walks in to take a look at the dresser I advertised on craigslist. In spite of detailing every possible dimension with pictures in the advertisement, he walks in, takes a look and says its too narrow for his room. What can I say, in that one hour that the empty dresser had been lying downstairs, D had managed to sneak in some of her toys. Maybe the dude got ticked off. My little one who had been observing all along pops with yet another question Why Uncle did not take? He did not like it beta. Another uncle will be here in few minutes, he might take it. Okay, I tell her.
This monster screams at the top of her voice at this man, who is now few feet away - Why are you not taking it? We are going to India. This will not fit into our plane!! Then I cannot even go to India! It is amazing to see how these little minds work and how they connect the dots. Furniture not selling + No space in plane == Cannot go to India.
Shortly another person walked in, loved the dresser, paid the list price and took it. To which D exclaims with extreme happiness and relief This uncle was good uncle. That man was bad boy!
And thus happened the bohni on Saturday.
That very same afternoon, a family with 2 kids came by to pick up the guest twin captain’s bed. While the lady’s husband was busy dismantling the bed to be loaded into his van, the resident chatterbox[Yes, I have lost the title to my daughter] strikes a conversation with the lady. First she asks her name. Then she tells her - You are taking my bed because the boys don’t have any bed to sleep on?
My face was worth a photo shoot, I tell ya.
This past week or so, no soul on the street has been spared from the information that we are moving to India. We had a chat, me and the daughter.
Me: D, you should not tell everybody that we going to India.
D: Why mumma?
Me: Because, some things we can only tell to friends. Mummy and papa’s friends are those uncles and Aunties that come inside our house, talk to papa and mummy for a long time. Other people you see on the street, say hi and smile, are strangers. Should not tell anything to them beyond Hi. Especially when mummy and papa are not around.
D: Oh! You are right mumma! I can tell the Aunty who took my bed. She was inside the house and talking to mummy and paapa for a very long time, right mumma!!
Lesson learned! Things you don’t want the whole world to know, keep it low-key in the house. Contain the excitement to self and spare the little bees from serious calculation of what to say and what not to say!
Good Luck with the move…It is certainly a tough decision and I am sure the kids will love India..
It will be really nice to see the kids (ABCD) grow up like how we grew up in India
Well, D has her logic frimly in place, can’t deny that. Good luck with the move and everything that leads up to it. Glad that D is excited about India - that’s a good start right there.
Such a cutie she is
I can understand what you must be going through. Tough no?
It’s easier for the kids, they adapt very soon.
But hey, we are all waiting for you here
Bohni indeed
I can sense your apprehensions.
Dont worry, everything will work our for the best.
A big hug to the resident chatterbox
flawless logic as always!!
waiting to see ya soon, though i can only try to imagine whats going on in your head and heart! and happy bohni too! :p
cheers!
abha
LOL DDmom. What a cute postand also such a emotionally charged one. I don’t think there is any one way you can win with a child this bright. You learn something from the last time and apply it to next time and she will still be one step ahead of you!
This must be poverwhelming for the kids and for you. You will no doubt miss california as will the girls, for some time atleast, but they are going to fit right in. Chip on his trip to India told me everybody was brown in mumbai. (his words, not mine) Good luck on your move! Hope evryting goes smoothly.
*overwhelming. dang those typos.
hi first time here.
just read your post abt plan to move back. you are absolutely right abt the energy that this city has. its awesome, despite the traffic, the chaos and the mosquitoes!
K: Nice to see you again and thanks for the wishes. You have a blog? Do let me know, would love to peep..
And I know so many of ya’ll, that is does not seem like going to a new place.
MM: Yup, she is excited to meet her cousins and her grand parents. Am slowly talking her into schooling in India. Not that she has an option, but the little one thinks after meeting them we will back to her current school.
Swati:
CoFS: It is physically and mentally draining. Just making a laundry list of items to sell, sweet talking D into it. Let go of the emotions attached with few things.. But, hey that’s what change is all about. So, its all good
WIAN: Thankee.. So, you managed to pull yourself out from the center of the internet.. he he..
Otherwise I am lectured back.
Abha: Me too.. wanna meet all of you..
Tharini: Bright or not, one never ending questionnaire she is. Now, I end up thinking like her before lecturing, come up with possible questions and have a ready answer
DotThoughts: Am sure they will fit in, so will I. I am sure I will enjoy every bit of India too. But I will still miss Calif/US. LOL on Chip’s comment.
Choxbox: Welcome here. Hope to see you often. Thanks for validating my thought on Bangalore, it makes the move that much more easier
Ditto Tharini’s comment
The kids really are a step ahead!!
Good luck as always.
You are actually moving? CA would nt be the same without you R!
But theres hope that we ll meet in Blore. And poor D. shes such a sweet heart.
She is a reasonable girl! This time will make great memories to smile on later:-)
She is so smart isn’t she!
BTW, do you have to sell everything, couldn’t you ship a few things to India - one large cargo?
Neera:
Thanks.
Boo: Yipee! We are moving! So very sweet of you to say that ca won’t be the same without me! Will have to frame this! By the time you come to Bangalore, I will be a resident Bangalore-ian! Will give you a red carpet welcome then
sands: So right. One of the reason I jot down daily anecdotes is for future smiles
K3: Actually the post I started drafting was - To ship or to sell - Few minutes into writing, got carried away with the days emotions.. Will do that soon.
hehe… she is a smart cookie!! lady who came to buy the bed was in the house for a long time after all!!
But it must be difficult for her the moving.. are you going to ship her toys and books and stuff? Will help me if I decide to move.. I keep wondering what I will do. Recently we considered moving to UK and were wondering what we should ship and what we should sell.. its very difficult! Hugs to you!!
Preethi: We are selling most of the stuff. Only gonna ship books/toys, computer servers and few other adhoc items. Will do a post on this soon.
Hi DDmom - found you through CeeKay’s blog and learnt that you too have recently moved from CA to Bangalore! Wow - we just arrived to Bangalore from CA too! What a coincidence finding sooo many of us who made this move in the blog world. We should definitely connect. It has been interesting reading your posts since we went through pretty much the same experiences myself. How come no posts since July? Busy settling down?
Divya