Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Musafir hoon yaaron

The upside to being unemployed and a home renter, versus being a cubicle prisoner and a home owner, is the ability to pack up and move, either on a whim or after deep thought.

Less than a year ago, when my humans decided to disrupt their children’s lives and move to India, simply because they felt like it, they were both gainfully employed and paying a hefty mortgage.

10 months into their Indian adventure (yes, that’s how mom sees it, as an adventure) with neither a job nor any other form of security blanket, the humans have decided to move again - simply because they feel like it.

Arrey, you guys just came here. You’re moving already?” asked an acquaintance. “All that packing and unpacking. Oof, baba, I don’t think I can do it,” shuddered the woman.

The school principal handed over the children’s school leaving certificate asking, “Husband getting a transfer aa?”

“Yes,” smiled mom, lying through her teeth.

“Has he at least started looking for a job?” asks grandpa worriedly over the phone. "The cost of living in Chennai is lower; you'll realize it as soon as you move."

The humans know little about the city they’re moving to. As the majority of its inhabitants, my humans will also be outsiders, fighting their way through mind-numbing traffic and communicating in languages other than the local one.

“You said the weather’s nice there, mom,” the children exclaim. “Then how come they have lizards if it’s not hot?”

Can you guess where we’re moving?

46 comments:

Sands said...

Bangalore? Good luck with the move!

Mystic Margarita said...

Bangalore? or Mumbai? good luck with the move - we're moving, too, albeit 50 miles away to a new home. :)

Anonymous said...

Bangalore? Can't be Mumbai, it is hot (and humid) there. It has lizards though.

Veena

Anonymous said...

Tell me it's Vizag...and you got a deal ...Srikanth

Broom said...

bangalore?
it has way fewer lizards than bombay.

Anonymous said...

terri:

no you're not!! are you guys really moving to namma bengalooru?

bengalooru sounds about right - i bet most places in usa are less expensive than chennai right now, so usa is ruled out! and bengalooru is probably where unemployed can expect to be employed. and you could still talk to your maids in tamil (or hindi).

if it really is bengalooru that are you moving to, i look forward to meeting you on our next visit.

- s.b.

WA said...

Australia

Anonymous said...

bangalore, i can bet on this.

your next stop should be paris. you shouldnt leave out a complete continent like that:)
-sachita

Anonymous said...

b'lore wud be an obvious guess...so i know it is not b'lore, too soon to get back to US...i guess i shall have to wait!! good luck with the move :)

gau

Anonymous said...

terri:

this has nothing to do with the price of tea in china or chennai, but ...

"... paying a hefty mortgage."

in spite of, or because of, your penchant for the hyperbole, i have a tough time believing that! on the other hand, chains like those bind newer homeowners like us much stronger, especially in the current environment when folks and their houses - believe it or not - turn upside down faster than you can say "terristurf!"

- s.b.

Vijay said...

hmmm wonder where? ;-)

Anonymous said...

let's see - not hot, still has lizards...mind-numbing traffic, languages other than the local one - very good clues...namma bengaluru..
good luck with the move!
- ganesh

Terri the terrific said...

What? Nobody suggested Timbuktu?!!!

wordjunkie said...

Hi, I read this blog regularly, and am delurking to wish you good luck with the move.
Guessing it's Bangalore too.

Anonymous said...

If it is Bangalore, I can report that we are a lizard-free house so far. We saw a couple of small ones when we first moved in, but they seem to be gone. May be the pollution killed them :(

-DS

The Muser said...

sounds like Bengalooru alright!! :) Good luck!

Anonymous said...

Bangalore it is then! Good luck with the move!

Let me know if you need some Grand Sweets maal couriered to you ;)...I live quite close to it!

ara said...

hey terr,
if i may, can u have gooddaysunshine courier a LOT Of things from grand sweets? ;-)) their mysore pak, tomato and gongura chutneys esp .... yum!

and yipeeeeeeeeeee u're moving!! tell mom there's some good gaspacho and chat session waiting (if she remembers what i'm alluding to, that is!)

call sometime soon.
ara

Pretty Woman said...

Bangalore is my guess too!

Lakshmi said...

Bangalore.
Or would it be Delhi?

desigirl said...

ah no! and here i was planning to meet u in july! nooo!

Terri the terrific said...

Wow, that was a rhetorical question people. I didn't think I'd receive so many responses. Majority wins, as they say, so yes, our new digs will be in the neighboring metro with killer pollution, suicidal drivers and overburdened infrastructure. We'll miss the sound of the waves, but the mating calls of the lizards will elicit the same reaction wherever we are.

Anonymous said...

Hah! Glad to see mom has seen the light and moved to the *only* decent city in India!

M (yes, a Bangalorean, who is now g, d, and running as fast as possible from missile flinging Chennaites!)

P.S. all your angst over TP has a solution as well, see? Best City..as I said :-)

Anonymous said...

Has mom passed on her extreme obsession of lizards to the young ones?

-sachita

Anonymous said...

Yippee! Bangalore it is! Welcome to the city of all flavors!! :-).
May be i could participate in one of the get-togethers and get to meet you.

- Shree

Chitra said...

What?? You leaving to B'lore? Sighhhh!

Guddi said...

Pagal khandaan hai pura!!! come back here.. i'll pay for the anti- gecko pest control till one of you gets a job. totally pagal.

Terri the terrific said...

Guddi, there might be a cure for cancer, but there is no anti-gecko pest control. Mom has researched the subject. The only thing left is to get a cat as a house pet.

Chitra, why the sigh?

Shree, I'll keep you posted.

sachita, where do you think mom got her phobia from? Yes, from her own mother.

M, what is g and d?

desigirl, maybe our paths will cross. I'll just be a 5-hour train ride away.

Pretty Woman, I wish it were Paris.

ara, send me a list before I leave. Who makes gazpacho? Is Maharaj still there?

gds, thank you for your kind offer. I hope to shed those last five pounds now that Grand Snacks will be out of sight. From what I see, the temptation is worse in Bangalore.

The Muser, thank you.

DS, just the fact that you had lizards to begin with is worrisome. They can always come back, like cancer.

wordjunkie, ganesh, new people, thank you.

Vijay, you were among the first few to know.

s.b., any mortgage is hefty, especially if you have to pay for 31 years.

gau, thanks. We've been told not to move out of India for at least one more year. Feelings are supposed to change by then, it seems.

sachita, ah, Paris, Rome, Madrid. I'll even take frigid London at this point since they don't have creepy crawlies.

WA, not unless it's lizard-free New Zealand. Our hotel room at the Great Barrier Reef had geckos behind the bed and in the bathroom. I hated that part of the vacation.

s.b., when is your next visit to nimma Bengaluru?

broom, really? You make it sound as though Bombay is crawling with lizards. How do these celebrities live there? I feel I'm the only one here with this irrational fear.

Srikanth, no Vizag or Hyderabad. At least we have family and friends in these other parts we're moving to. We might as well move back to the U.S. if we have to move to a place where we know nobody.

Veena, sands, thank you.

Mystic, good luck to you too. I'm not even sure where you live.

Sue said...

Ooof!

I'll be in MDR for a fortnight this summer and was planning to meet your folks, Terri. :( I didn't realise the idea terrified them so much!

Terri the terrific said...

Sue, you are cordially invited to Bangalore. A fortnight in this heat? Wow! You're brave.

ra said...

yay! I shall see you soon!

A Muser said...

Yay! We can meet! My brother lives there!

Terri the terrific said...

ra, muser, let me know when!

Sue said...

School hol. Besides, my folks have a pool in the apt. :)

No chance of B'lore this time, but next time I go, I'll drop you a line.

BangaloreMom said...

Hey Terri

Welcome...suswagatham!! I am sure we will here a lot more interesting accounts from you about namma bengaluru!!

ano said...

Enjoy madi :)

dipali said...

Happy Bangalore, Terri and family.
When do you move?
All the very best in your new city.

wordjunkie said...

Hi, ditto your feelings on 'A Mighty Heart'. Actually felt a little guilty about not feeling anything other than unease at how COLD Jolie was.

Terri the terrific said...

wordjunkie, I'm still trying to figure out if the problem was just with Jolie or the entire film.

dipali, thank you. We'll move as soon as we find a suitable rental. Given mom's hard to please disposition, it seems to be taking time.

ano, BangaloreMom, thank you.

sue, pool in Chennai apartment complex? Not in my neighborhood then. Sounds so refreshing.

A journey called Life said...

Hey Terri.. stumbled upon ur blog a few days back.. like the way u write.. some of ur posts are so hilarious! thanks and keep up the good job :)

Sachita said...

I thought another move meant another set of house/maid/cook-hunting stories,the neighbourhood maamis and not to forget the favorite paunch showing, proud displayer of all the degrees ever earned neighbour . please start the posts soon:)

Terri the terrific said...

A journey called Life, such kind words! Thank you for reading.

Sachita, still in Chennai. Will move after we find a rental.

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