There is always this thought at the beginning of the batch. Should I really start this month? Or break for a few months. Each day is unique and there is something to share. But I do not want to drone on month after month in a race for this number of batches and so on. After all this is the best part of writing like this. You are not challenged into a race to finish first or with the most batches or even to produce something spectacular. Just the comfort of being able to write what you feel at leisure.

I started the batch of May in doubt and the very first one hundred words failed to get saved. Then began the process of trying to get the written word into the May batch morning, afternoon and in the evening. Having given up yesterday, I am trying to get it saved today or else the batch is missed. The family jumped into the fray by trying yet once again, every time they got online. After the morning’s try, I am here again at midday once again. I will not give up before trying in the evening and in the night.

On the seventeenth, I saw that my first 100 words had got saved and there were sixteen blank days. I will be back in the run from June but will have to stop again during the holiday time in July, August and September. India time again during the monsoons! We will catch the monsoon rains in Kerala as we reach Kochi. It will be nice getting back to the house in Coimbatore and it will be a process to get it in order. Schedule sometime with the trees and plants and get my hands into the tough soil once again.

When the June batch started off on a rather hopeful note with the first entry saved, I heaved a big sigh of relief. But it failed to appear, when I checked the saved entries and I seemed to get the May batch clearly, when it was no more necessary. This is when I decided to get rid of it with a little bit of “ blah blah “ and some “ hoo la la” . When I finished with that I was a bit worried with what if it appeared on the net. Much to my horror it did! Oops!

I wasn’t a serious person. I found a lot of humour around and my writing was also reflective of the same. I felt I wasn’t a good serious writer. No novels or lengthy stuff that seems to make a lot of money for me. Short fun column writing was all that I wanted to do. It was current, fun to do and a good read. It had to be related to everyday happenings around me which also was relevant to everyone else. But to get ahead of undeserving people who were already ahead by nook or crook took its toll.

I was getting a bit too serious and it wasn’t helping my health either. At forty four on BP medication, I was ahead of the family trend of high BP in their late fifties. But the good news was if I had continued working for the bank, I would have had to face a history of BP from my late thirties. The long working hours, the thick headed management team, a dose of dishonesty at the top level, all quite accepted but shocking.
I am glad I quit. But my path into something challenging and fulfilling is yet to be.

Krishna’s exams start this week. They haven’t had a social teacher for the past month and not even half the portions have been covered in science. So we have to ask him to study ahead and ask us for help if he has doubts. A lot more of the supervision expected at school is casually dumped on the parents’. As a concerned lot, we jump into the fray to make up for what is lacking and so it goes on.
The PTA meetings are shorter and the queues to meet teachers’ longer, so the chance for essential talk fades away.

The computer exams are today and the notes for the exams have been handed over to the students yesterday. So it was a cramming session yesterday after coming home from school at 3.30pm. Then he had to rush upstairs to a schoolmate’s house to borrow the Hindi notes for copying as this hasn’t been given to his particular section yet. It was 10pm when he went to sleep and he was up again at 6am to rush for school. The two hours of commuting everyday is a waste of time. Reading is not a good idea but dozing safely acceptable

Another day with studying French and copying a whole lot of Hindi grammar notes for the exam on Sunday. I told him that it might be difficult with another night of just eight hours of sleep. He said he would manage, though it was with a lot of difficulty he woke up for school today. Tomorrow is a holiday break before the subject exams. There is a lot of studying to do in Hindi and Science. And I have to schedule his studies to give more time for the immediate ones. At least the copying of notes is done with.

The exam time is almost as stressful to me as I continue to revise subjects with Krishna. With the heat of the summer draining out energy, the tasks of cooking cleaning and washing the pots and pans becomes a task. Then I am also shouting out from the kitchen to ask if this lesson has been studied or are you studying. And the recurring “Don’t waste time”. Then the advice that if you complete your studying you will have more time to play and I can also relax. Admission to good colleges goes to the students with the highest marks.

I try to complete most of my housework before Krishna returns after writing his exams. Sometime, so that he gets my undivided attention when he returns. We just talk a bit about the exam that is over and on to the ones that need attention. The social books are put away to make space for the Maths and Hindi books. Hindi is a tough one and Chandra follows up with Krishna on this. The much needed family talk time on Saturday will go according to schedule as my time is not needed for Hindi revision. A week more to go!

The Hindi revision starts before the exams on a shaky note. When the father is ready, the son feels like he needs more time to revise. There are doubts to be cleared which never surfaced before. This after being advised for days that dad is busy at work and finds little time to spare, so be prepared and gets doubts cleared during study time not when he sits to revise with you. It is frustrating to force a language on an unwilling child. I think if we are here next year, I will move him to the French option, available.

I am worried about my almost eighty year old mother staying alone. When my brother and his family who stay next door to her travel out, she is on her own. I worry about her morning walks and if someone will check if she has got back. What if she has some problem and is unable to call for help after she locks up for the night. She has a family renting out a portion of her house. What if they are not there in an emergency? We still don’t have a 911 number to call for help in India.

I go over the incidents of the day, when I am in bed at night. I try to go to bed early for the events play out in my mind for so long, that I lose a part of my sleep. Did I snap at my child unreasonably? I am the parent in the equation so shouldn’t I need to be more patient. How do I get things done without having to nag people? I spend most days without any contact with the outside world, is this changing me in any way. And on it goes, till sleep gets me.

Once the Hindi exam finishes, the family is more relaxed. All of us seem to be calmer and more good natured somehow. I should think about it, before I get to sleep someday! I will dust the old Wren’s grammar book and will discuss English grammar with my son, before the English exams.
I never studied before any English exam. I always read through the text before sitting for the exams. I have seen friends prepare lengthy essays and learn it to perform better. But I always felt that too much of bookish knowledge spoilt the flow of the essays.

A pain in my lower back bothers me sometimes. I want to wait till I get back to India to go for a diagnosis. Medical costs here are very high in the private clinics and the public facilities are available only if you have registered with them. Sometimes I worry that in these modern times, we still do not have easy access to medical facilities at reasonable expenses. A filling in a dental clinic or an eye test costs around BD 15 (about$45).
A visit to India includes seeing the dentist and the eye doctor and to get spare spectacles.

The pain had almost completely gone, when I woke up in the morning. I checked my weight to see if there was any increase and was glad I hadn’t gained any. The walks weren’t on the schedule due to the heat, so maybe some stretching exercises would help. Later in the day, I tried some stretches only for the pain to slowly start again. So, I tried resting and limped along doing my chores. It wasn’t severe to stop me from my regular activities. I was closer to fifty than forty and should treat my aches and pains with respect.

The temperature is already hitting 46 degrees in mid June. I can’t even imagine how tough it will be in July and August. There are no holidays for the kids after the exams. It is another school week after the weekend.
I have rediscovered tomato juice again. During my childhood, my mother usually gave me a snack of cut tomatoes sprinkled with sugar. Now I find this a very healthy and refreshing snack, only I replace the white sugar with brown. Sometimes it is tomato juice, a great way to combat the heat. And the fresh red tomatoes are available.

Today, we took down the suitcases to put in stuff to take back home. For the past few months, I have tried to shop for a few things for family and friends. As young children, we never really notice the people who visit empty handed. I have tried to remember that throughout my adult life. First remember the children whom we will visit and then something for the grown-ups too. Then remember the people working for you when you are away. Let them know we too remember. The list goes on. I always dread to think of losing any luggage!

There are times, I want to talk to my child about the complications of life. Then I feel I shouldn’t frighten him. Now we are there to back him up, but he has to stand up by himself for himself. Not dwell on the past, live productively in the present and still have a few dreams about the future. We talk of our path and the difficulties we faced, some overcome, and others still a pain reminding us of our frailties. I want him to be happy in life and happiness comes with productive work and learning to relax afterwards.

Talking time with family extends into hours. Having stayed in India longer than my sister, the India related talk with my sister is lengthy. We argue about issues which took place years ago. It is exhausting at times but some things stay longer in memory till it is discussed and dealt with. Think it over, to see if you have been fair in your judgement of people.
Then to quickly get back to the reality of seeing that dinner is on the table. Remind Krishna, to get his school books in order for the second term of school on Sunday.

Krishna is going for a cricket coaching camp for the next fortnight. The kit has arrived and it is excitement time. The unwrapping of the packages is done to bring the shiny new bat into action. The bat is lovingly handled. Its action checked with an old tennis ball in the corridor of the apartment. The gloves, the helmet and the other accessories handled with care. The bag is voluminous and will have to be taken to school with his school bag which already weighs close to ten kilos. His time will be a scheduled one from 7am to 7pm.

I find the cell phone useful, only when I am outside the house. It is Krishna who uses it, when he goes out to a friend’s house or anywhere he goes alone, except school (where it is not allowed). He is quite careful about taking it out of his pocket when he returns home.
But I always have this fear about the cell phone ending up in ruins in the washing machine, the day he forgets to take it out.
After ringing and searching for the missing cell phone yesterday, I found it in the pocket of his unwashed pants.

The cell phone rules, I discovered when Krishna went back to school yesterday evening, for the inauguration ceremony of the cricket camp. The function ended at 8pm, almost an hour late and the school bus drivers were not there when it ended. So the children waited and it was almost 9pm when the bus dropped him off a stop ahead. He called his father who was already waiting for him at the destined stop. All these developments were known to us as I had sent the cell phone with my son. It was very useful and the stress was minimal.

I take time to write down the points, I would like to discuss with the class teacher at the PTA (parent teacher association) meeting. The school has set a time limit of three hours for the meeting. There is a queue of parents and children outside every classroom waiting to get time to talk to the teacher. So unless you are a persistent parent and create the time and patience to wait in a queue you have to give up on this interaction.
The first point, I would talk about is the lack of sufficient time which blocks meaningful interaction

There was a blockage at the school intersection as we drove up for the meeting. The number of middle school and high school students here, numbered over 6000. The police were clearing the blockage. Most parents with their children, had to trek a good distance on foot under the blazing sun. The queue at each teacher’s classroom was worth at least a half hour wait. We met the class teacher and the science teacher and skipped the rest. The science madam was not receptive to my comments at all and said she knew her job. Should have skipped her too!

Krishna is unhappy about the cricket sessions. He was put in a team with the sixth graders and didn’t get to bat or bowl. He has been fielding for all the three sessions they have had. I told him he has to speak up and let the coach know about it. Because he was with the sixth grade team, they were not given a standard hard cricket ball but a tennis ball for practise. “My friends are at the nets and all I get to do is field for the sixth graders”. Not fair I agree, but give it time.

A tough workout in the sweltering heat of the early evening followed by a one hour trip in heavy traffic and a kilometre walk back home- the result, an exhausted kid who flops down on the floor of the living room at 8pm. Then to the task of coaxing him to shower and eat dinner. But he was happily tired and that’s all that mattered. And he is up at 6am for another exhausting day of school and cricket.
For me it was family talk time and making plans to reach Coimbatore from the Kochi Airport, where we will land.

I remember a communication session at the bank training centre. How a message gets distorted when it is communicated from individual to individual and when it gets to the fifth person, it is almost totally lost.
Krishna said the sponsor’s T-shirt had to worn everyday for the cricket sessions. Chandra enquired and came to know that it had to be worn for the photo session compulsorily. Both didn’t tell me the photo session was today. I happily packed a different white T-shirt in his kit today. He will get to know the blunder, when he unpacks his kit after school.

In a fortnight, we will leave for India. Time is fast vanishing. The heat has slowed down the packing and I seemed to be putting it off every day. Krishna will have school almost till the day of travel, so the school schedule preparations will have to be done as usual. The kitchen storage has to be cleared of items that will spoil and the refrigerator emptied by the time we leave. I do not like leaving any electrical items running,so nothing can be stored.
It will be nice change, to get away from the heat of Bahrain.