June 4th 2005

It was not a surprise, and I knew about it, but V insisted on keeping my participation in the prep work to the minimum. If you are wondering what in the world I am talking about -- it was our baby shower, well, kind of. We were trying to keep it informal.

V managed to secure the use of the barn used by the township’s youth services. Now I know what you are thinking… a barn! But it really was a fair place – wide-open space for people to gather, a kitchen counter and enough distractions for the kids – a koi pond, table tennis tables, a climbing wall and lots of pace to run around and very importantly lots of clean and spacious rest rooms.

Between V’s picking up the keys and driving to the train station to pick up our friends, Subarna and Eunhee from Philadelphia, the organizer Geetha and the decorations expert Mini and her family arrived at the scene. Others arrived thereafter – Anu, Deepak, Usha, Saji, Jyothy… It was a potluck and we had a decent spread – idlis and sevai, vegetable stew, korma, fried rice, curd rice, payasam among other things and at least two kinds of cakes. And it was not about just good eats either -- Geetha organized a number of games around the baby shower. We cut a cake and opened our gifts (all very useful in the days ahead) before people started on their drive back home.

And just as our friends left, cousin Aju, Narayanan, Anagha and Ananya arrived from Long Island. The girls did justice to the food and appeared to have a great time figuring out the barn. The parents, though tired from the drive, were good sports, as always. They even helped us haul the gifts and goodies back to the apartment.

It was nice to have friends and family to share our joy.