The driver in me....

I enjoyed the days when I used to commute to office on my two wheeler.I had fun driving during the rains and my amma would get the shock of her life on seeing me reach home completely soaked. .But then ,little did  I know that my days as a two wheeler rider was soon going to come to an end.

One fine day,Achan realized that there was a car missing in our garage. Once the decision was taken to bring a car into the family , all heads turned towards me signalling that I should learn car driving now.For some reason, I couldn't understand what the driving school coach taught me in those ten hours of driving lessons that I took.Maybe ,he was teaching too fast expecting me to learn quickly the art of car driving. At the end of the course, I was not able to distinguish between the second gear and fourth gear and even worse, the engine would turn off whenever I tried to start the vehicle in the first gear. I was exhausted but managed to clear the driving test though. It is still one of the few miracles in my life which lies unexplained. Days and months of coaching by Achan followed but it was in vain. I was still not able to start the car without the engine turning off atleast two times.Somehow, I was not able to understand how the mechanism of starting the car without turning off the engine worked.
I realized, that I had to help myself in my mission of learning the art of car driving.Everyday, after coming home from office, I would take the car and go around in my locality and also practice especially in the first gear.But, I  was  still not confident of driving in the city. I had given up all hopes  when the idea of keeping an experienced driver for a few days dawned on me.To me, Chandru was an angel in human form. He was an experienced driver and had loads of patience. It just took a week for me to master the skills of car driving and before I knew it, I started my commute to office in my car. I was delighted at my achievement which would not have been possible without the help of Chandru for his unstinted support and belief  in me that I could drive a car in the roads of Bangalore City!!!

And,so my journey began  from the worst to the best car driver.I came to US after marriage and now I had to drive a car the exact opposite of how I used to drive back in India. My initial car driving days in US have just started.After clearing the written test, I have been driving my car in and around  Phoenix with Rithu (my husband) giving instructions now and then.But, I'm sure that  with practice and self-belief I will be able to drive a car here and hopefully clear the road test which is due next month.

Ozzy's latest sport

Ozzy loves playing hide-and-seek with Amma. It's his favourite game. Usually, it happens when I bring him back home after a walk.Amma in the meantime goes and hides behind a door or a curtain and calls out to him as soon as we enter the house. Ozzy realizes that Amma is in trouble and tries to search for her in all the rooms.I love the look on his face when he frantically searches for Amma but can't find her.

I run along with him asking him now and then to find Amma since she's missing.And then, after a lot of running and jumping ,when he finally finds her  there are no words to describe his happiness . Ozzy feels he's achieved the greatest feat of his life.

I wonder what must be going through his mind when he plays this game .Maybe, for him it might not look like a game.I think he feels that Amma is in deep trouble and it's his duty to make sure she's safe.Or maybe he thinks that she is having his favourite biscuit with her and calling out to him so that she can give it to him.Whatsoever the reason, we can't help but notice how concerned Ozzy is when Amma is missing.
Maybe that's why Ozzy will always be a part of our family.

Ozzy and Me

I can still remember the day when Ozzy wagged his way into our lives.I had been pestering my dad since the previous month to get me a puppy but he was not sure if I could take care of one. Repeated attempts to convince him of my animal caring skills were proving futile.I've always been an animal lover but was never given a chance to prove myself as one.After several weeks of pestering , my dad finally gave in to my demand on one condition, that I would take up the sole responsibility of the new member in our family. I agreed and happily hugged my dad.

Me and my brother started checking with our friends who had pets for their vet's contact numbers to inquire about adoption.After a few phone calls and some vet visits ,we zeroed in on one of the vets who had a clinic near our house. We had decided to adopt a labrador retriever since they were a very playful and friendly breed . We went to check with the vet who told us that he knew about a family where we could adopt a labrador puppy. On reaching home, we conveyed the message to our father who agreed to bring the puppy that weekend.

Then began the countdown to the most awaited day when finally i would have a pet of my own. Finally,on a saturday afternoon, my brother knocked on the door. I opened the door and saw my brother holding a fawn coloured labrador retriever puppy. My joy knew no bounds as I fell in love with the new member in our family. I took the puppy in my hands and realized that his eyes were rooted at the floor.We realized that maybe the little one wanted to explore the new place. As soon as he set his paws on the ground, he started sniffing and exploring his new home. As soon as he was comfortable he marked his territory on our floor.Myself and my brother looked at each other and smiled. Our puppy had settled in our home and in the coming days was going to settle in our hearts too.