My daughters are very privileged to study at two truly wonderful institutions. The younger one will study at ISM or International School of Manila. We visited ISM last week and came away very impressed. The school that educates almost 2000 students from kindergarten till Grade 12 is housed in a massive complex that contains an impressive auditorium, an Olympic size pool, a scuba diving pool, couple of gymnasiums and also an oval track field. My daughters have studied all over the world in some great schools but this school is on a different scale altogether. With the kind of stimuli the kids are given, one can only assume that each child reaches his or her full potential. As children move into middle and high school they do tend to get side tracked due to social relationships that get very complicated in the growing years. However, gorgeous play grounds, colourful classrooms and loving teachers coupled with a high academic standard, a truly diverse set of kids, what else can one ask for?

My older daughter will join Columbia University in the fall of 2010. All my sadness at her impending flight from the family nest melted away when I visited the US universities two summers ago. Each college was better than the other, and getting an education in one of them, just like a dream. In the Columbia Campus located as it is at the top end of Manhattan, you get the benefit of both worlds. Retreat into campus life if you wish or jump right into the hustle and bustle of a big city at any minute. Broadway leading upto Columbia on one side is home to some excellent restaurants that would not pinch the budget of a student. Many of the professors choose to live in that neighbourhood for easy access to college. The campus itself is replete with statues, beautiful architecture and many words of wisdom, all very properly in Latin. The selection process is very rigorous, ensuring a very high level of intellectual stimulus.

With the kind of input that goes into educating a child from the first world one would think that the finished product is unmatchable. Yet we have witnessed over the past many years that Indians educated in India have done extremely well and head many of the MNCs. When I think back to my school days, neither the infrastructure nor the academics were anywhere close to what we see with our kids. And yet those days were so lovely, carefree and fun!

And it Starts

The typhoon Basyang passed though Manila last evening. It was supposed to be Signal 1 category but turned out to be Signal 3 and it was expected to bypass Manila but it did not. Rukmini wanted to get out of the rooms so we went next door for ice cream . When we left, we looked out of the window and the scene downstairs looked perfectly alright, the mall was open and there were people moving along the road. Only the next day did we realize that we had taken a bit of a chance. Luckily she was happy with a cup of ice cream which she did not even finish. By then I was a bit worried about t he winds whipping up and the increased rain. We rushed back to the hotel, just in time. The rest of the night, the wind howled and the rain crashed down. There was a power outage at midnight which continued through the next day but which we did not sense as the powerful generators of the hotel were on.
There was widespread damage in the city, mostly trees having fallen on the road or on houses and on electric lines. At 8 in the morning I went to the vegetable market with a friend. It was only later in the day that we heard about the anger of the new president at the weathermen for missing this completely. Also thanked our lucky stars that nothing came crashing down on us!
The market we went to was very much like Crawford market, flowers, fruit, vegetables and in the back, meat and fish. After that interesting trip where I bought lots of fruit and veg we were quite exhausted. So we went off to Meenal’s lovely bungalow and then onwards to Starbucks for a cappuccino. After that we went to Hypermarket for a round of groceries. By the time I got home it was noon and soon after I had to be off to view houses. Just after viewing 5, my mind was made up. Same old same old.

In Manila

After 7 months we are finally here in Manila. It is day 3 since our arrival. We cannot really count the first day as we arrived only in the afternoon and were really tired. First impressions of Manila. ….. don’t know what to write. However I am also aware that I felt the same way when I reached NYC the first time. Day three, I think we are accepting the place and beginning to enjoy it perhaps?


But how tiring, to do this one more time, knowing that it is not the last. Grocery stores, a home, doctors, dentists, friends, book clubs, shops, beauty salons, hairdressers, the list is endless. After that the pursuit of a job,….In the meanwhile, I also have to send one child to college and manage Revati’s school drop and pick up along with arranging for a maid and driver that I can trust. Okay, that was too whiny, I admit!


Tomorrow morning I am off to visit the vegetable market. Vegetables are very expensive in Manila I am told. Onions Rs. 120 a kg anyone?


But the clothes we saw at the mall today are so good and cheap! It is a mystery!
The first night we walked across to Podium Mall just across the road. Bumped into good friends of Monish.

The second day, missed breakfast. Had lunch at ADB and met a very nice couple there again.

The couple of houses that we did see were not very inspiring, rather rambling and ramshackle at the same time. I am looking forward to doing some real house-hunting tomorrow.

Today we went into the famous Mega mall. It certainly lived up to its name. All three of us were quite satisfied. Ended up eating some rubbish nacho chips with cheese on top, but the girls were happy with whatever they ate.

The food experience here takes me back to London in the earlier days. Not much by way of vegetarian options. I hate it when a fuss is made of what I eat, that I am not a meat eater. What is the big deal? Am I to explain each time?


Oh, there is a typhoon raging somewhere. Quite foolishly, Rukmini and I decided to go out for desert after dinner. While going we were alright. There was a slight drizzle. But on the way back, the wind had picked up and so had the rain. From the hotel room one cannot really tell what is going on outside. Good thing nobody found out about our little expedition.

Moving

The count down to another major move has begun officially. This time it is a move to the Philippines. Since it is almost impossible to cope with the variety of emotions that one goes through when relocating I thought it will be good to write a blog. The plan is to continue writing through the relocation process and also once one reaches Manila. I am told repeatedly that life in Manila is good. The expat community is very warm and friendly and I really am looking forward to meeting a whole lot of new friends.


The difficult part is the unraveling of a life built so carefully here in Mumbai. The pattern is familiar. Moving to a new place, feeling overwhelmed at first and then gradually but surely beginning to feel that you too belong, infact you are an insider. Then once the decision to move is taken, the slow and painful acceptance that these once very familiar streets and these good friends are now going to be separated from you by thousands of miles and several time zones.


As I write this I am enjoying the exotic fragrance of champa and mogra arranged in a bowl in my room. I wonder will there be similar flowers in Manila? When you live abroad you miss your home in so many ways big and small, it is impossible to keep count. I guess I should be a veteran at moving after having done it so often; London , New York , Tokyo and back to Mumbai, now to Manila. Don’t be surprised, my fellow trailing spouses have moved a lot more.