Welcoming IPL 2009 Champions

The victorious Deccan Chargers team returned back to Hyderabad on May 27th, 2009 at 9.00 pm to a rousing welcome by fans. The team consisted of T. Suman, Shoaib Muqsusi, Harmeet Singh, Jaskarandeep Singh, Y. venugopal Rao, Arjun Yadav, Abhinav Kumar, Ravi Teja and Azhar Anjum Bilakhia. It was good to see these young confident cricketers cordially meeting fans and speaking to the Press.

Adithi was again excited to meet the cricketers and patiently waited with us at Shamshabad airport. She was joined by her cousins Pinky and Ashish and friends Vyapti and Rutwik, so the fun doubled. The response from the fans was overwhelming. The Deccan Chargers were taken in an open bus for the victory ride from the airport to Hotel ITC Kakatiya.

The roads were jam packed with fans on motorbikes and cars. We followed them for sometime and then managed to drive ahead to the Hotel and had to wait for a good 2 hours before the team bus paved its way through the crowd and reached the hotel. It was 1.00 am.





The kids though hungry and tired, never complained. The team cut a cake and opened a Champagne bottle and then we moved to have our dinner at 2.00 am. It was an exciting evening ! We reached home by 3.00 am !! And I was up again by 5.00 am!!! Back to work...

Deccan Chargers reach IPL 2009 Finals

Deccan Chargers, charged their way to IPL 2009 finals, to be played at The Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg, South Africa on May 24, 2009. Tremendous game by Adam Gilchrist! No doubt he is considered amongst the greatest cricketers in the world.

Though I was not in South Africa to see all the action live and meet this great player; I thoroughly enjoyed watching it on TV and see my enthusiastic colleagues cheer the team. At home, I experienced the same cheering atmosphere with two little Charger fans and Cheer leaders - my daughter Adithi and her cousin Chinmayi who came from Bangalore for vacation. They cheered the Chargers by breaking into dance for every fours, sixes and wickets taken by Deccan Chargers.They sure are competitors for the original Cheer leaders. And both the kids have a new ambition...they are going to be Cheer leaders for Deccan Chargers when they grow up!

Both these young Charger fans spent an evening preparing this card with their best wishes to the Deccan Chargers team.

Lucky Chargers for having such sweet, innocent and
sincere fans!

Information Galore - 11

Official Website of Hyderabad Traffic Police
http://www.htp.gov.in/

The Hyderabad traffic police launched this website on April 25, 2009. It will help motorists with information on traffic jams anywhere in the city. It will also alert on alternative routes to avoid being stuck in traffic blocks.

There is a Traffic Help Desk for any emergency, e-challans status finder, traffic statistics, Complaints on getting wrong challan, a list of towing zones and parking places in the city.

Every Day...Mother's Day !

Being mom is the best and craziest thing in the world. As I always say, “the Psychologist and Counsellor in me goes for a toss” when it comes to my soon-to-be-nine, daughter. She is my most precious little angel. I love her! But she can quickly turn into my most precious little devil too.

I am amazed, how cool she is about her school, teachers, homework, grades, etc. I always have a feeling , it is I who is studying in the 4^th grade, it is my homework, my exams, my studies… and just before her exams, my friends convey their “All the best” messages to me. I also receive the “Congrats & You did well” messages when she gets good marks. Didn’t I tell you being mom is the best and the craziest…

It turned crazier when she shared her aspirations with me. We are in Kolkata Airport at 5.30 am to board a flight; she gives admiring and enviable glances at the airhostesses. I was feeling sleepy and grumpy and she kept pulling my hand and when I clenched my teeth and asked her, what is it? She said these airhostesses are so lucky. I asked, why? She said, they can wear makeup and lipstick all the time and look good. And in the same breath declared, therefore I want to be an airhostess. The reason: I don’t allow her to use lipstick. Can anything be crazier for a mom at 5.30 am?

Yesterday, she unexpectedly questioned me – Do you like One Child, two or three Children? I casually said “three” and I saw her face fall and she asked why? I had to answer something, so I said because we are three siblings and so was the same with her dad. As I told her this, she starts howling, and said “that means you don’t love me because I am the only Child and I don’t want any brother or sister”. I felt like yelling “Are you mad”, but instead took her close to me and hugged her. I told her, I love her the most and she is very important to me. She said “I love you mom” and held on to me very tightly…I grasp for breath, I understand she has had a bad day with friends. It was indeed a mother’s day, isn’t it?

Enjoy being a MOM !!!

Please Vote

We were prepared to go and vote today and my Father-in-law went ahead of us and came back after half an hour, saying that our names were not in the voters list. He was asked to go to some other place and find our names. So he went around and came back with some incomplete slips. In the meanwhile my neighbour told me that the voters list was available with all relevant details on the Web. So I thought I may as well share this information as we found ours.

The Website is Find your Polling Booth. It is the Final Electoral Rolls SSR-2009 Published of 23 Assembly Constituencies of Hyderabad District.

Cheering the Chargers !

Look who's cheering the Chargers...

Adithi was excited about meeting Deccan Chargers Cricketers at the Hyderabad Airport in the early hours of April 9th, 2009. The team left for South Africa to participate in the DLF IPL 2009 tournament. Adithi cheered the Deccan Chargers and took their autographs. She was very impressed with Mohd Shoaib, a new talented bowler of Deccan Chargers and found him very cute.

Adithi with T. Suman & Mohd Shoaib

Taking autograph from Pragyan Ohja

Autograph from Abhinav Kumar

Adithi - the young cricket fan

Meeting Actor Venkatesh

I and my husband had the opportunity to attend the PUMA Deccan Chargers Apparel Launch Party at 360 ° pub in Hyderabad on April 1, 2009.

360 ° Pub is a happening place, very popular with film stars and Page 3 crowd. The ambiance is too good and it has a big dance floor. The restaurant serves some great food and the setting is romantic. It is a nice place for couples who enjoy to dance and have a good drink. Anyway we being non-drinkers, enjoyed the mocktails and starters. The owner of the pub Raj Singh is a great host. The DJ was playing some peppy Bollywood numbers. Some of the cricketers had a good dance after the launch and introductions.

The highlight of the party was meeting Telugu film actor Venkatesh. I like him and his movies, so it was nice seeing him in person and talking to him. I felt he looks smarter in person than in films. He was very cordial and polite. My husband took his autograph for our daughter. He happily posed with us for a snap.

The Deccan Chargers were in town for a practice session before leaving for South Africa for the IPL tournament. RP Singh, Rohit Sharma, Pragyan Ojha, Venugopal Rao and others were present that evening. We also met Venkatpathi Raju.

While having our dinner, actor Sumanth walked in and as we were leaving, actress Ramya Krishna was entering with Tamil actor Arya. So it was an evening spent with celebrities.

Information Galore - 10

Consumers : Be Alert, Stay Safe !

You are an Aware Consumer if you...

• Don't pay more than M.R.P.
• Don't let advertisements mislead you.
• Insist on Warranty Card.
• Always ask for a receipt.
• Check expiry date.
• Check net weight.

Consumers can call: National Consumer Helpline No. 1800-11-4000 Toll Free from BSNL/MTNL Lines.

011-27662955,56,57,58 (Normal Call Charges Apply) Between 9.30 am to 5.30 pm Monday to Saturday.

Courtesy: "Jago Grahak Jago", issued in public interest by Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution in the Deccan chronicle, Hyderabad Ed, dated March 16, 2009.