First weeks of a UK family life

Its been a while now and I thought its time for another update. As most of you would know, Rosa did finally arrive here to join me and has been settling in for a little more than two weeks now.

One of her first comments after getting out of the airport was that England doesn't look too different from Chennai ! Although that opinion was soon revised, there are still frequent comparisons now and then.

Its been great to be back together and we are once again going about laying the foundations of family life!  Oh yes, speak about family life and the instant question is - who does the cooking?

Well, we`ve managed to share it between us, with Rosa more often than not playing head chef and me chipping in. With her arrival, food has become more homely and I`ve rediscovered the joy of eating with my hands. Food does taste a lot better that way.

We made a visit to the city of Bath, where Rosa`s university is based, on the weekend that she arrived. Bath is a lot more scenic and touristy than Bristol and she is quite happy with the looks of it.

Rosa journey to the university involves a short walk to the railway station near our flat, from where a 25min journey gets her to Bath. She then has to take a bus to her university as it is based on top of a hill.

The time involved in travel is the price we have to pay for studying in two different cities and still being together. However, there are lots of people who commute between the two cities on a daily basis for work and it is a fairly common practice.

With the distance and time involved and also with the shortening daylight hours as we head into winter, it often means that it is dark by the time Rosa gets home. We`ve taken a walk or two to look around or locality but the majority of the areas are still awaiting a visit.

Last week was the first time in our married life that we played host to guests.  For those who were around during the wedding, my friends - Jolanda,

and Morgane wont be unfamiliar names.They had come over for our wedding and had spent a while in Kerala with us. They were eager to meet Rosa again and also sample some more Indian food.

We did offer them a spread with rice, pork vindaloo, dal and grilled chicken, followed by a dessert of toffee cheesecake. I must say they downed it with relish.

That was a gist of our first few days of family life here in UK. Its challenging being a student couple in a foreign land but we seem to have made a good start. There are a lot more exciting times ahead and we hope to keep you updated as they happen. Watch this space.

The wait is over!

Hi Everyone,
   I know its been a long silence. The past few months have been long and sometimes tense. With Rosa in India and me here its been a long wait but finally the big day is here!
In a few hours I`m off to Heathrow airport to collect her! Finally !

    For those who are not aware, Rosa got admission for a Masters in Economics at the University of Bath and also won a Commonwealth Shared Scholarship for the same. Bath is about half an hour away from where I stay in Bristol and that makes it quite convenient.
Unfortunately, her classes have already started while we wrangled with the horror that is the U.K visa application process!

      I`m not sure what exactly goes on at the visa office but if they take a month to issue a visa ....that too after much prodding...for a Commonwealth Scholar, it`s not hard to imagine what importance is given to processes that can alter the life of scores of people. Anyway, I wish to thank all of you who have played a supportive role through the ordeal.

  As of now, the countdown has begun and I finally get to be reunited with her in about 6 hours. I`ve been living the life of a “married bachelor” so far. Its time to set that right. Do keep in touch. We hope to keep you all updated through this space.

The Wedding and Afterwards - in Video

...and for those of you who missed it, or want to have another look at it, here`s a video clip of the main moments with annotations (click on the video to watch annotations on youtube).

 

Soon after was the Chingari melam . I myself only caught a glimpse of it in between, but whoever had my camera then managed to catch a clip. I`m not sure which one of my cousins / brothers had the camera duty, but whoever it was, nice catch.

 

and of course.... those who stayed around for the night function, witnessed the "ragging" session. I suppose the clip wont make much sense for those who were`nt there, but looks like we all had fun! Anyhow, chief architects Avira and Amit, watch out, Rosa and I await your weddings eagerly! Revenge beckons!