Report of 17 Sept 2006
Hi there from breezy, balmy Chennai -
I was having a rather uncomplicated weekend, and then ended up in a discussion w/ Naren and Scott about the state of the union. Naren's marks have been less than expected and he has now started to say, "This is really the best I can do, I can't do any better." So the mood took a different turn, w/ some unrelenting belligerence from our 15 yo. Adolescence is tiring for all, isn't it. Anyone who wants to buff up Naren's confidence is welcome to do so at narenweiss@hotmail.com. This lack of confidence has led to lack of thorough effort, and it has shown in his grades.
The boys were off school last week, so we went to Bangalore to visit Scott and then down to Madurai to visit my parents. Both spots were lovely, w/ their share of beloved family (Scott!!), and we had a good time. We visited my widowed sister-in-law, Susan, and her kids in B'lore, and I felt for Susan again as I saw her struggle to juggle work, home, kids and household help w/o her husband. My nephew, Sudhir, has failed 12th grade, and so college has been deferred for a year. It is a sad state of affairs as Sudhir's obstinacy in not getting good grades is primarily to irritate his mother, but he did himself in. My niece, Sanjana, tries to exist in this contentious situation. Am I my brother's keeper - no, but we have to do our part for his family. We also got to see a dear cousin, aunt and uncle, and had a scrumpcheroo meal there.
Madurai was fun, and my mother did not appear to want to let us out of her sight. Both my parents and I had long talks on all manner of topics, and I enjoyed their sense of humor, intelligence, grace and total regard for others. I did attend the clinical meeting at my father's work spot, and that was nice - except that I went in pants instead of traditional clothes and it caused big waves. Big whoop - I wasn't going to conform to some folks' antiquated sense of dress, esp when we can wear what we want to the B. I watched my father dress a diabetic leg ulcer, caused by the harvest of the vein underneath for a heart bypass operation, and threw in my 2 cents about control of diabetes. My father does not charge for such dressings, as he feels the ulcer was caused by the doctor ("iatrogenic" - caused by the doc) who did the bypass. The relief on the patient's face when he heard "No charge" was mammoth. I rather like my parents, they are good sorts.
Tomorrow, I return to the B, which I am anxious to do. I want to find out how my burns patient is. Last week, we celebrated my brother Vinu's 40th b'day w/ a very nice dinner cooked by his wife and as we played w/ their daughter, Ahana, it struck me that I am very fortunate that these folks didn't pour kerosene on me and set me aflame. I talked to my sister, Anu, yesterday and there were lots of giggles. I will always value my relationship w/ my sibs and sibs-in-law, and feel that nothing warrants breaking it. Should there be folks on this mailing list who don't talk to family members for whatever reason, pls reconsider. One of my biggest comforts in remembering my late brother, Manu, is that we were on good terms; I imagine I'd have thunderous regrets otherwise.
Scott will be in Chennai all week, and I am delighted. We receive friends from San Antonio tomorrow, and are all very excited. We were at an event today for expatriates in Chennai, and I viewed it w/ mixed feelings: I used to want to ensure that our foreign guests had a good time, but after one of our guests last year was miserable here in spite of our efforts, I feel that I can just do my part and it also depends on the guest's mindset as to what kind of a time he/she has. I was extremely happy to get a cheery note from my friend, Carol, and a healthy dose of irreverence ("Who wants to shoot you?") from Craig. We are so, so fortunate in our friends.
"Success is more permanent when you achieve it without destroying your principles." - Walter Cronkite
Unw -
Renu
I was having a rather uncomplicated weekend, and then ended up in a discussion w/ Naren and Scott about the state of the union. Naren's marks have been less than expected and he has now started to say, "This is really the best I can do, I can't do any better." So the mood took a different turn, w/ some unrelenting belligerence from our 15 yo. Adolescence is tiring for all, isn't it. Anyone who wants to buff up Naren's confidence is welcome to do so at narenweiss@hotmail.com. This lack of confidence has led to lack of thorough effort, and it has shown in his grades.
The boys were off school last week, so we went to Bangalore to visit Scott and then down to Madurai to visit my parents. Both spots were lovely, w/ their share of beloved family (Scott!!), and we had a good time. We visited my widowed sister-in-law, Susan, and her kids in B'lore, and I felt for Susan again as I saw her struggle to juggle work, home, kids and household help w/o her husband. My nephew, Sudhir, has failed 12th grade, and so college has been deferred for a year. It is a sad state of affairs as Sudhir's obstinacy in not getting good grades is primarily to irritate his mother, but he did himself in. My niece, Sanjana, tries to exist in this contentious situation. Am I my brother's keeper - no, but we have to do our part for his family. We also got to see a dear cousin, aunt and uncle, and had a scrumpcheroo meal there.
Madurai was fun, and my mother did not appear to want to let us out of her sight. Both my parents and I had long talks on all manner of topics, and I enjoyed their sense of humor, intelligence, grace and total regard for others. I did attend the clinical meeting at my father's work spot, and that was nice - except that I went in pants instead of traditional clothes and it caused big waves. Big whoop - I wasn't going to conform to some folks' antiquated sense of dress, esp when we can wear what we want to the B. I watched my father dress a diabetic leg ulcer, caused by the harvest of the vein underneath for a heart bypass operation, and threw in my 2 cents about control of diabetes. My father does not charge for such dressings, as he feels the ulcer was caused by the doctor ("iatrogenic" - caused by the doc) who did the bypass. The relief on the patient's face when he heard "No charge" was mammoth. I rather like my parents, they are good sorts.
Tomorrow, I return to the B, which I am anxious to do. I want to find out how my burns patient is. Last week, we celebrated my brother Vinu's 40th b'day w/ a very nice dinner cooked by his wife and as we played w/ their daughter, Ahana, it struck me that I am very fortunate that these folks didn't pour kerosene on me and set me aflame. I talked to my sister, Anu, yesterday and there were lots of giggles. I will always value my relationship w/ my sibs and sibs-in-law, and feel that nothing warrants breaking it. Should there be folks on this mailing list who don't talk to family members for whatever reason, pls reconsider. One of my biggest comforts in remembering my late brother, Manu, is that we were on good terms; I imagine I'd have thunderous regrets otherwise.
Scott will be in Chennai all week, and I am delighted. We receive friends from San Antonio tomorrow, and are all very excited. We were at an event today for expatriates in Chennai, and I viewed it w/ mixed feelings: I used to want to ensure that our foreign guests had a good time, but after one of our guests last year was miserable here in spite of our efforts, I feel that I can just do my part and it also depends on the guest's mindset as to what kind of a time he/she has. I was extremely happy to get a cheery note from my friend, Carol, and a healthy dose of irreverence ("Who wants to shoot you?") from Craig. We are so, so fortunate in our friends.
"Success is more permanent when you achieve it without destroying your principles." - Walter Cronkite
Unw -
Renu
posted by Renu Weiss at
8:34 AM
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