Living in Gurgaon

Hi Vibha, I don't know much about kara, but I used...

2009-11-03T23:03:56.022+05:30

Hi Vibha,
I don't know much about kara, but I used to take my son to little footprints, which was run at the time by jimmy and his team. jimmy has a really nice way with kids and his program was fun. he has now moved to intellitots, so i think their program will definitely be good too. the most imp thing for such a young age is how they take to the person running the program and of course, the environment. i would suggest you call the places you're considering and ask to attend one session as a trial. that should give you a sense of what you and your baby like. good luck:-)

i would like 2 start a parent toddler program 4 my...

2009-11-03T15:58:29.554+05:30

i would like 2 start a parent toddler program 4 my 11months old..i have heard of kara4kids and little footprints and intellitoes..any comparision between them..sugestions are welcome.

Hi all..Im a high jumper and would be passing out ...

2009-11-01T12:17:38.894+05:30

Hi all..Im a high jumper and would be passing out of school next month. Im looking for a place with a High Jump Facility so i can pursue it after school. I've tried enquiring at the stadiums in and around but got no help. Any response will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

hi i am planning ICI velvet touch paint on walls ...

2009-10-31T12:33:55.830+05:30

hi
i am planning ICI velvet touch paint on walls of my new house, is the primar coat required on wall before painting or else can be done without it

I have recently moved to gurgaon & this blog has b...

2009-10-30T13:08:52.774+05:30

I have recently moved to gurgaon & this blog has been very helpful - thanks for sharing & I look forward to visitng this blog regularly

Hi Manika! Thanks a lot for replying to my messag...

2009-10-23T14:47:50.251+05:30

Hi Manika!

Thanks a lot for replying to my message. I was eagerly waiting for this! Yes, what you say makes absolute sense if I think about the overall development and growth of the child, after all why put pressure of a big school as long as she is having a great time in her play school. Also I am quite happy with her current school - ibambini where she is njoyingthoroughly...Thanks ..I again..:)..Anyhow, I will try calling up a few schools just to ease out my worries!!!

Hi Kriti, Looks like your daughter doesn't make th...

2009-10-23T11:16:51.999+05:30

Hi Kriti,
Looks like your daughter doesn't make the time deadline for this year. Why worry, though? There will be lots of kids like her who will join in 2011. My son is also only two months behind her...he will also be one of the older kids in his class when he joins. In many ways that's an advantage - our kids will be more able, intellectually and physically to handle the challenges of big school and they'll also get an extra few months to enjoy pre school! They have to go to big school eventually anyway, so a few months here or there won't affect them. :-) I'm not sure if the schools will really listen if you want to try for this year anyway, but I guess you could call a couple of schools randomly and check, right?

Manika

Hi! Thanks so much for this valuable information ...

2009-10-21T12:18:56.409+05:30

Hi!

Thanks so much for this valuable information on schools and admissions. But I will be grateful if someone can answer my doubts. My daughter is 2.11 years and will turn 3 on 14th November'09. She is currently going to a good play school in Gurgoan. I checked from various sources that she will not be applicable for admissions as she was not 3+ by sept'09. However, is there any chance I can try my luck despite this in any of the Gurgoan schools now?

The option otherwise would be to make her go to a playschool where she does her pre-nursery and then she goes to Nursery in 2011. But tht would be too late for her.

Please advice.

Hi Vikas, As Ruvy said, the southcity gym is one g...

2009-10-13T08:31:19.469+05:30

Hi Vikas,
As Ruvy said, the southcity gym is one good option, though i don't know their membership details. Another option is Club Florence - will be about 8ish kms away from you if you're in Petals. It's quite good...and they offer couple membership at a slightly reduced price.
I'd encourage you to take a look at Vatika when you come here for a visit before you decide where you want to live. It's a great place and they've recently opened a fantastic gym - one of the best colony ones i've seen. in fact, their club is due to be inaugurated this week - i saw it for the first time yesterday and was super impressed - has a restaurant, a lounge, a really nice kids room, etc. all in all, very nice and definitely worth considering.
anyway, good luck with your move and feel free to ask more questions!

manika

Hi Vikas, Intellitots has a branch in Nirvana. The...

2009-10-11T14:07:14.206+05:30

Hi Vikas,
Intellitots has a branch in Nirvana. They conduct a program in Shalom Hills School premises. This is very close to Sohna road. I take my son there. Personally I think this is a way better option for toddlers. My son has a blast and with the comfort of always knowing I’m there…. And now he really doesn’t care if I’m there or not as he’s gotten use to the “out-doors”. I took my son for a free session to try it out. You should call them and request for a session when you guys get here and try it out. I wish I had this option for my elder son. Hands down….best option!
In regards to the vacancies in Nirvana, there are so many empty houses I wouldn’t have a clue where to start giving numbers. We have a neighbor who’s also into real estate. May be you can give him a call. His name is Vikas Sehgal 09811106006. Nirvana is also building apartments in the area and I think some of them are ready for occupation.
As for “good” gyms in the area….. you don’t have much options yet. If you do live in Nirvana or South City 2, you can join the South City 2 – south Patio club. They are pretty decent and the rates are pretty low for residents (even for tenants). I do believe they do not give membership for non-residents. Nirvana is also building their own club (which should be open sometime this month….fingers crossed) and is suppose to be a really fancy place with an excellent gym, pool, squash courts, tennis court, Kids area etc. Vikas would know all the details and might be the best person to help you around the area in regards to real estate. He too lives in Nirvana… so he knows all the benefits and problems.
Cheers
Ruvi

Hi All, There is a new play school that has come ...

2009-10-11T13:01:19.440+05:30

Hi All,

There is a new play school that has come up in Sushant Lok Phase 3. Its called Toddler's Junction. Its run by experienced people and provides the best of care for the kids. It has facilities for children from 6 months onwards and has different programmes suiting different needs. If anyone interested please -
Contact
Toddlers Junction
G-36 Oriental Village,
Sushant Lok Phase-III
Gurgaon
Ph: 0124-4068795
Cell: 9818246325
E-mail: toddlersjnctn@gmail.com

Hi Manika, Hi Ruvi Thanks for a prompt response....

2009-10-09T17:37:04.071+05:30

Hi Manika, Hi Ruvi

Thanks for a prompt response. Yup, school fees negotiation is the most ridculuous thing I have ever heard.

How did I come to know ... Well, I called up Mother's pride for general enquiry and an hour later they called back and started enquiring about my occupation background. They said they give x% discount to business families and y% discount to professionals (Some innovative way of negotiation)

They explained me the discounted fees structure & since I was sounding hesitant, they offered me further discount.

Both me n wifey got the shocker of our life and decided that come what may, we'll not put our kiddo in Mother's Pride at least.

This is where your blog came handy and we shortlisted Pallavans

Ruvi - Thanks for the info. I really liked intellitots, but guess it is really far from sona road.. Dont want the kiddo/wife to travel on a daily basis.

Even I have heard good things about Nirvana - Pl let me know if u know someone who is willing to let out his flat . - We'll be shifting around 10th December

Am coming from Bombay, oops Mumbai, hence would prefer flat over floors.

Manika, Ruvi : One small help.

Both me n my wife ar gym addicts - We have excellent club house n gym in our building . Gurgaon building gyms are not great, so just want to enquire if they have any good Independently operated gym on sohna road wherein we can enroll ourself - Actually, sohna road has all other facilites (Groccery, Multiplex, Play group etc), so just want to enquire about this last bit (gym) before I zero down on the building - Petals/Nirvana

P.S. : I just love net/Google - U can interact with so many like minded people, get unbiased review, first hand information at the click of a button

Guys, Thanks again for all the useful info.

Take Care

Vikas

Hi Vikas, Hi Manika, My son goes to Pallavan too ...

2009-10-09T16:02:41.534+05:30

Hi Vikas, Hi Manika,

My son goes to Pallavan too and I absolutely love it. Its not fancy and glitzy.... its a very 'traditional' institute and they do things in a very systematic way. Since your kid is under 2 you can also look at Intellitots (www.intellitots.in... I think!). They have a parent-toddler program from 9 to 11am. Its a program for both care-giver and toddler and its incredibly interactive. I take my 14 month son there and I can’t tell you how great they are. You try Shivani on 9990800892 for more details.

In regards to Accommodation… Have you tried Nirvana Country? These houses/villas and are so great for the kids. There are many parks and play areas for the kids and the nirvana community organizes many festive events. I see many vacant houses around the colony and am sure you can negotiate a good detail... specially since the market is still a bit slow.
Hope all this helps.
Good luck.
Cheers
Ruvi

Hi Vikas, Thank you for reading my blog:-) My so...

2009-10-08T15:32:04.194+05:30

Hi Vikas,

Thank you for reading my blog:-)

My son has been going to Pallavan since March this year, and I still love it. You might have some trouble getting your daughter in there right away though, since I think they take kids starting at 2 years. Maybe that's a little flexible though, so I guess you could check...till 2.5 years, she will need to go to a 1 hour class, which is nice for her to settle in but a bit of a problem for parents since it's too short a time for them to use that time productively for work or anything else.

And no, they don't negotiate on fees, which is a really ridiculous idea! I'm amazed that Mother's Pride does this. How did you find out? (just curious)

I don't know much about Orchid Petals - we had checked out the sample flat a couple of years ago and really liked it. It was our second choice after Vatika City. We chose Vatika bec it was ready at that time, and also bec we really liked it. YOu could consider checking it out if you're just renting anyway.

Hope this helps. Let me know if you have any other questions.

Manika

Hi Manika Know, am late in the day, but just to l...

2009-10-08T15:12:10.917+05:30

Hi Manika

Know, am late in the day, but just to let u know, we are miving i Gurgaon from Mumbai and was looking for a pre school for our daugther (20 months) and in the process happened to go through your blogs.
Must say, the blogs are extremely informative and detailed.

We'll based out of Sohna road and after reading your blog , have already finalised Pallavan (though haven't even seen the school building). Just want to know the following:

a) Had a Mother Pride pre school, and what was shocker for a Mumbai ite like me, is that "Mother Pride" negotiates for monthly school fees. Is Delhi/Gurgaon really so commercialised.

b) Do they negotiate for school fees at Pallavan also (Though strange, but guess anything is possible in that part of the country)

c) We intend to finalize "Orchid Petals" for rental purpose - Any views on that.

Am sorry, if I am trobling you, but please do answer my queries in your free time

Well seriously I feel sorry for you. Most of the j...

2009-10-07T15:01:33.777+05:30

Well seriously I feel sorry for you. Most of the jewellers in Gurgaon would have done the pierce for FREE !!!

I got mine done using the gun method (which by the way is safest even for little children) from Chopra Jewellers at 168 Karol Bagh and they even gave me a complimentary stud FREE (and that was when I did not even buy anything else from them).

Today [6th Oct 2009] there is an article on Gurgao...

2009-10-06T14:45:20.158+05:30

Today [6th Oct 2009] there is an article on Gurgaon Schools in the main paper, and their rankings via 'perception' 'hearsay' value mostly of 200 people of which 160 are parents and just 40 are teachers I am given to understand ..

So what's new? No great surprises or eye openers there .. Firstly including Shriram, Moulsari Ave in the Gurgaon schools listing was silly .. it's from 6th onwards .. Parents are more keenly on the lookout for schools in the nursery admissions business this season .. Or am i wrong? That was not the target audience they were looking at when doing the piece. How does tagging it as a top school in Gurgaon help anyone looking to choose a school for their kid??

They will need to apply to the parent school .. which is in Delhi .. So technically it is NOT a Gurgaon School.

Please bark at me if my logic is as blunted as my age currently!!

Secondly how does Suncity NOT EVEN make the LIST?? Someone is sleeping on the job? I am almost beginning to believe that Gurgaon Dons and Paisanos enroll kids there which covers it in such deathly anonymity and lack of any feedback. How else does a school with such sexy infrastructure and efficiency in conducting the admissions process not feature anywhere.

It's so easy to just get a vox populi and pass it off at a SURVEY!!!! Someone never went to school and learn what it that word means.

Manika SORRY I vented on your blog as usual.

Cheers

OH GAWD Manika .. you fell into the worst trap .. ...

2009-10-06T14:32:47.402+05:30

OH GAWD Manika .. you fell into the worst trap .. actually a double whammy trap .. Can't say more than this for fear of a arousing slander charges ..

"How Much is It?" Should be a response-tic for most such queries in Gurgaon ..

The other day I almost paid Rs 2000 extra for a product in MGF Mall ground floor vs the same thing in a corner shop upstairs .. and those are the only two shops in that mall selling that product .. Hmm makes you wonder .. Told my hubby if he checked while at work [near ITO] in Old Delhi .. he might have saved two more grand.

Waiting for the Metro with SUCH A VENGEANCE!!!!!! Gone will be the RIDICULOUS bending over for such ass whipping we suffer daily in this city.

Nandini .. you said it ..

hi guys. My daughter falls short by 2 months for n...

2009-10-03T06:41:22.737+05:30

hi guys. My daughter falls short by 2 months for nursery admission by the 31/2yrs criteria followed by all good schools. I wanted to find out do they look for age criteria even if i get her admitted in 1st std in these schools. That way i can admit her in nursery where ever she is eligible right now. Anybody who knows about this.

There are jewellers in old Gurgaon who use guns fo...

2009-09-29T10:14:04.980+05:30

There are jewellers in old Gurgaon who use guns for ear piercing and do a good job too. They know how to manage wailing babies and screaming kids and charge no more than 200-300 bucks. You need to take the tops off after a week and replace them with silver balis.
Divya

OMG! Max is easily the most expensive, and the stu...

2009-09-21T22:19:43.351+05:30

OMG! Max is easily the most expensive, and the stupidest hospital in Gurgaon!

Hey I am writing this from US and was living in G...

2009-09-21T20:50:54.674+05:30

Hey

I am writing this from US and was living in Gurgaon for the past 2 years and I perfectly understand what you are saying about expenditure in Gurgaon. We returned to India and came to US and the single major cause is expenditure in Gurgaon.
BTW,my cousin went to Joy Alukkas jewellary shop to get his daughters ears pierced and they charged some Rs.500 or so. They are jewellars from Kerala so no-rip off !!!
Hope this helps.. :-)
Just FYI, US is far cheaper than living in Gurgaon ;)
Regds... Nandini bala

Hi Priya , I used to take my kid to Intellitots ...

2009-09-18T11:49:59.308+05:30

Hi Priya ,

I used to take my kid to Intellitots in Dlf Ph - 4 for a parent toddler program which he used to really love and look forward too . I really felt that was one nice place for toddlers. Recently they have opened a centre in Nirvana - Shalom Hills too . Nirvana is close to Sohna Road . So , u could check up with them .I don't remember the no. but u could check at www.intellitots.in . Take care

I totally know the feeling, living here for 2 yrs....

2009-09-17T18:26:00.652+05:30

I totally know the feeling, living here for 2 yrs. 450 n above for a haircut is supposed to make u feel like million dollars isn't it? but sad, thats not how it works in gugaon. steep prices n shabby service.

hi, i am a mom of a 16 month old son and its been ...

2009-09-17T10:14:07.631+05:30

hi,
i am a mom of a 16 month old son and its been difficult now to keep him engaged at home. i live and sohna road and am looking for some mother-toddler program closeby. any suugestions? i read other posts, but most of the suggested places are quite a distance from my house.

Please advise
priya