With love from Kuala Lumpur

I ventured to this buzzing beautiful city when I was 7 months pregnant. Amit had found a very good job and I was not ready to stay back in India without him. I was headstrong about the fact that I wanted to be around him in all the nine months of my pregnancy. Amit had arranged the house and the hospital for my delivery before he came to pick me up from Mumbai. Our flat was on the 30th floor and it was spacious, the highlight being our bedroom offering us the fantastic view of the Petronas towers. Be it day or night the view always took my breath away. The towers were Evans's favourite too and he was equally thrilled to see them everyday. It rained all year long in KL. At times it was boring when it rained too much, but it was always beautiful! Evan used to be so shocked to see the towers vanish when the clouds engulfed them and rains hid them. Once Evan was of a manageable age we began our sightseeing trips. There was always something to see every weekend. That amazed me. Being born and brought up in Mumbai it was very amusing that a city could offer such a variety of places for nature, leisure, adventure, food, shopping and more. We made some very good friends who made the stay all the more fun. Our grocery shopping was also delightful. The train ride which led to Sogo was enjoyable. Evan was always happy in the train. He would keep pointing to the Petronas and Menara Tower amidst his loud happy screams! Sogo offered everything from pin to piano. It was a very cheerful place. There was one mall just beside our condo and that was such a relief. That mall made me fall in love with Starbucks. Until then Starbucks was just a name. It was yet to be opened up in India. Evan and I would meet Amit at Starbucks when he returned from office and we would share a cold coffee while feeding the topping of cream to Evan. Every evening Evan and I would hang out at the poolside of our condo. It also offered a small play area for kids. Our evening time together was the most pleasureable time of the day. Evan would make himself comfortable on my lap as I would sit on the swing. He made me sing innumerable songs to him and we would wait for Amit(baba) to call us out from behind. The poolside was also the adda for all the weekend potluck dinners and gupshup with friends. Every friday night we would all gather, hog on the food and have so much fun chitchatting with our kids around. The store in the condo owned by a sweet chinese female was always noisy and welcoming. To sum it all up, this was a city which gave me the most precious gift, my son. It made me stronger as a person as it was our first venture out of India. It made me realise that being a vegetarian can be painful at times! I just could not get vegetarian options. Even if I would ask the waiter almost irritatingly if they served any vegetarian food, he would tell me on my face that they offered chicken! lol The last but not the least, I realised that one doesnt love a city because of the beautiful roads or the amazing attractions! The stay is ultimately worth it because of your own family, your own people and the relationships you build with the new people you meet and the places you visit.