Jai bappa! ek don teen char!

Got a few minutes of free time and have so much to write about Arya!

So these days kiddo is getting smarter by the day. He has learnt a lot many many things. Sometimes I feel I should record each moment but the kid never poses or repeats something in front of the camera – ofcourse he wants the camera in his own hands!

Thanks to his babysitter Mangal, he has learnt counting in Marathi! So he goes ek, don, teen, char for each and every thing…give him few toys, few stickers on the cardboard, few steps to walk he constantly chats don, teen char, teen don, teen don and so on, not necessarily in the right order.

He has picked up the phone attitude from adults like making faces, laughing, waving hands aimlessly, even the fake coughing, and saying accha bye, ok bye, thik aahe bye like me!

He sits and does pretend reading of books. The other day he lied down with is head on my pillow while I was cooking. He started reading the novel I’m reading now and in my style. Lying down sideways and holding the book horizontally and disregarding everyone who wanted to talk to him! Fast learner he is.

Arya is a very God and elder respecting person you might think. Yea, he suddenly remembers that he wants to touch your feet and starts a paya-padne or feet touching for ashirwaad spree. He makes me and Yogesh get our feet on the floor if we are sitting with our legs folded, after that he makes sure he touches each foot! He never passes a single zhendu/marigold flower garland without doing namaskar saying jai bappa. All god statues and idols in real life or TV need to be revered by doing namaskar. Even my asafoetida bottle that has a Laxmi goddess photo gets its due namaskar!

Ok, leaving for the day. More about Arya as soon as I get time!

New list of words and a new pair of shoes

Arya's new vocabulary

• पा : पाणी or पापड 
• ब SS : बस (sit here)
• का : कार 
• ठो : थ्रो (throw the ball) or ठेव 
• ये : come 
• जा : go 
• पल : चप्पल 
• शू : shoes 
• पापा : dad 
• बॉ : ball 
• हा SS : hot food item 
• hmm : thinking aloud 

The other day I got new red and white shoes with lights for the little guy. I had decided not to buy expensive shoes for him as he outgrows them within 6 months and we can't buy too big ones either. So this pair was not very expensive, but looked okay. 

He loved the pair when I showed it to him and wore it immediately. He didn't remove it during his afternoon nap too! He kept stomping around in the house with those LED lights blinking. When we finally got to keep them in a corner, this guy would go and sit there just admiring them.

Needless to say I got so many kisses and hugs from him without even asking! He would run to me saying maa maa and kiss me!

Amazing experience.

Shrawanmas - by Traymbak Bapuji Thombre (Baalkavi)

Continuing the same thread on the Marathi poems that I still remember after about 20 years... here is one more that was my favorite! It describes nature's beauty during the month of Shrawan.

Shrawanmas

 

by: Traymbak Bapuji Thombre (Baalkavi)

 

Shravanmaasi harsh maansi hirval daate chohikade,

kshanaat yete sarsar shirve, kshanaat firuni uun pade.

Varti baghta indradhanucha goph duheri vinlaase,

mangal toran kay bandhile nabho mandapi koni bhaase.

Zaalasa suryasta vaatato sanja ahaha to ughade,

taru shikharanvar uncha gharanvar piwale piwale uun pade.

Balack mala udata bhaase kalpasumanchi malachite

utaruni yeti awanivarti grahagolachiti ekamate.

Uthati varti jaldanvarti anant sandhya raag paha,

sarva nabhavar hoy rekhile sundarteche roop mahaan.

Fadfad karuni bhijale apule pankha pakhare savarati,

sundar harni hirvya kurani nijbalansaha bagadti.

Khillare hi charti raani gop hi gaani gaat fire,

manjul pawa gay tayacha shravan mahima ek fule.

Survarnachampak fulala vipini ramya kevada hi daravalala,

parijatakhi baghta bhama rosh manicha mavalala.

Sundar pardi gheuni haati puropakanthi kshubdh mati,

sundar bala ya fulamala ramya fule patri khudati.

Dev darshana nighti lalana harsh maayina hrudayaat,

vadani tyanchya vachuni ghyawe shravan mahinyache geet.

 

 

(I copied this and Patharvat from http://gadgilsanjeev.blogspot.in/2011/04/shravanmaas.html)
 

Patharvat - Amar Sheikh

A few days back, I remembered a poem I was taught in school in Marathi. I had loved it back then too and now I realize the core meaning of this. The poet tells us to come together and help break our old, obsolete beliefs and superstitions. The poet calls us to build a new society with new thoughts and ambitions that will take humanity back to glory.

Patharvat - Amar Sheikh

 

Junaat imala zala saara

Paduni taaka deuni dhakka

Aaj imarat junaat zali

Jeev akaran martil khali

Mhanuni adhi ya

Padun taka

Maara haka jamva loka

Lokashakticha sadhuni moka

Padun taaka

Aanik bandha navi imarat

Patharvat me navya yugatil ahech sobat

Asen jari me adnya rangada

Ek dagad tari ghadu dya re ya majhya hatuni

Ek channicha ek ghaav tari basudya re ya dagadavari

Manavteche navin mandir

Yethe banddha ya jagevar

Padun taka deuni dhakka

First Wedding Anniversary in Nivati-Bhogve, Tarkarli, Malwan, continued...

This is a continuation of a previous article. I saw that I haven’t finished writing the complete account of my First wedding anniversary trip. Click here to read the first article.

Our first day was spent visiting Tarkarli, Malwan and Sindhudurg fort. Here's the next day.

26th Dec, Early Morning:

Devbagh-Nivati-Bhogve visit: The next day we woke up and decided to visit the Devbagh beach.

We took directions from our home stay owner ‘Namita’. (We were staying at the 'Namita beach resort', a home-stay facility facing the Tarkarli beach.) From our home stay, the walk to the tourist boats was just 1.5 km and a pleasant one. There were lots of boats around offering to ferry to the divine destinations Devbagh-Nivati-Bhogve beaches.

We booked one such boat. The ferry started and we saw a beautiful sight of seagulls. They flew up as a flock, the moment our boat passed them. There were so many! I had only seen such a scene in movies.

The cruise booking agents do tell us that we can see Dolphins here, but we weren't so lucky. Actually, I think this is just a gimmick.

We took around 40 minutes of the lovely boat journey to reach a small cliff. I was confused when our boat slowed down. In a moment I saw another movie scene - a beach, totally secluded from the world by rocky cliffs on 3 sides! It was the Nivati-Bhogve beach.

The waters were clear as glass and you could walk for about 60 meters into the sea and yet the water level stayed just at your waist. The sand was white and the waters blue. Boats were anchored in middle of the sea. There was a small crowd of people having fun. The beach is extremely clean and spotless. There are no vendors selling food, water and drinks (So you have to get those with you).

Me and Yogesh tried everything - diving, swimming and floating in the waters, even though we didn't know how. It was amazing. Yogesh kept teaching me how to dive and I kept drowning in the waist deep water.

We climbed on one of the cliffs and saw the sight around. It was breathtaking. I didn’t want to leave this place at all!

Next we stopped at the Devbagh beach. It is a small beach with no vendors around - a gift for the eyes.

We also stopped by to have the famous Malvani Ghavan. A villager would get few ghavan's (It is just like dosa but very very soft), and tea from his hut nearby and sell them on this temporary island. It was our bad luck that Ghavan's got over before we reached him. I could guess how tasty they were though, looking at people smacking their lips. We had a few cold drinks and left. Our boat brought us back to Tarkarli.

From here, we went back to our homestay and packed for our journey back to Malvan at 12.00pm. We had reservations for Pune on the evening bus that left at around 6.00pm.

We thanked the owner of ‘Namita beach resort’ for the tasty food and hospitality.

26th Dec, Afternoon: When we reached Malwan, we had lot of time on hands. So we booked an auto to show us some good sights nearby. He took us to…

The Ganpati temple: This was built by 'Salgaonkars' the owners of 'Kalaniryana' calendar. It is a relatively new temple, and a peaceful and beautiful one. There are 2 beautiful baby elephants at the entrance that I liked the most. There are carvings on the pillars and roof.

The Rock Garden: This is a small garden adjoining the cliffs at the sea. It takes about 15 minutes to reach here from Malwan bus stand. The garden is mediocre and has a red toy train (Kids would love it. I didn’t have Arya back then) The rocky cliffs are amazing to look at. The waves lash at them forming white foam all around. There are numerous crabs - small and big, scary to look at under every rock. We need to be extremely cautious while walking on these rocks. They are sharp and the waves are powerful.

Lastly, we went to a small 'Math' by a saint (like a monastery), few kilometers away from Malwan.

26th Dec, Evening: The auto dropped us back at Malwan ST stand well in time.

We did some shopping for Amba vadi, Fanis poli, Kokam syrup, Awla syrup, and waited for the bus.

When the bus came by, there gathered a huge crowd around it in an instant. People were throwing bags, clothes, caps inside to book seats before boarding the bus. Thankfully we had done a prior reservation. Most of these people had to go as standees. I had never seen so many standees in any bus before. Another new experience for me.

27th Dec, Early Morning: We reached Swargate, Pune at 5.30 am in the Morning.

The anniversary was a very memorable one. Again, no matter how many times I visit Konkan, it never fails to rejuvenate me.

My Guilt - being a working mom

Few friends said that as time passes, you will get used to it. Others said that it never goes away, it grows.

“The guilt of leaving your baby behind to go to work.”

All working moms know what I mean. I used to believe that I was not a sentimental person, and ambitious as I am, I wanted to pursue my career to reach where I wanted to. But a baby changed many things. Now although I still have career aspirations, they diminish the moment I see Arya in tears when I leave the house for work.

Yes, I have tried everything. First, I tried taking him to another room before leaving, with my aunt distracting him. I used to leave the room stealthily. He outgrew that. He now knows why we take him there and refuses to leave the living room.

Second, we tried convincing him that we are taking him along for a walk. He gets all hyped up and my aunt strolls with him in the corridor. I leave the moment he turns to the other side. I hear his cries when I go about a floor down.

It is heartbreaking to see your child wave goodbye to you with tears in his eyes. Especially when he now knows you are distracting him, and he evades your tactics trying to outsmart you but failing in the end. No child would understand why you leave him for 10 hours a day everyday.

Arya notices us getting ready, wearing office attire, having tea. He cries the moment I wear my jacket and Yogesh gets his helmet.

What provoked me to write this article?
Yesterday, Yogesh picked up the helmet to leave. Arya began crying. I wanted to hold him close to make him stop for now. But he didn’t come to me, knowing that I will hand him over to my aunt after few seconds.

He wanted to be smarter and went to the door, waiting. I told him that he was going too, so he should wear his Chappals. He wore them eagerly and came out to wait for the elevator, clapping and talking loudly in his language. I was so broken inside. How could I leave like this, betraying his trust and feelings?

Yogesh went down and I waited on my floor. My aunt and I took him to a neighbor’s bicycle, away from the elevator. She hid him and I sneaked away. When I was about a floor down, I heard his screams. He realized I was gone after all!

When I was leaving my building parking, I saw him standing near the bedroom window looking at the road (I wave goodbye to him every day from the road. He waves too). But yesterday he didn’t wave. He just looked the bike going away, with a sad face, and so much hurt.

I couldn’t stop my tears all the way to the office and I could see his face all through the day. I wanted the day to be over as soon as possible, to meet him again.

When I went home, that little guy actually danced with joy in little circles to see both of us. I hugged him and spent every moment of the evening with him.

I’ve tried to think it over – being a work from home consultant, to quit my career totally, or to start my own shop someday. Each will be a life changing decision. But whatever I chose, the guilt would always stay – in some form or the other.

I guess women suffer at their own hands. We choose our own path - to work or be a stay at home mom, and yet we want the best of both worlds.

I guess that is being a women and a mother. Joy, yet there’s suffering. Pain, yet there’s so much happiness.

Arya's baby talk in Marathi

मी:     आर्य?
आर्य:  काSई

मी :    शोनुडी
आर्य:   काई

मी :    छ्कुडी
आर्य:   काई

मी :   योगेश
आर्य:   (no reply)

मी :    बब्बू
आर्य:   काई

याला कोणी सांगितले कि याची नेमकी कोणती नावे आहेत?

मी:    जेवण देऊ का?
आर्य:  नाइ

मी:    मार खायचा का?
आर्य:  नाइ

मी:    पप्पी पाहिजे?
आर्य:  नाई

नाही हा शब्द  लवकर शिकला पोरगा!

बाकी सकाळी सकाळी उठून "मा मा, मा मा, मम्मा" चालु होतं. आज तर 'पप्पा' सुद्धा म्हणत होता!

'ज'  नीट म्हणता येत नाही. आजीला 'आई' म्हणतो.

पाण्याला 'पाई' किंवा 'पाली' असा म्हणतो. Ball ला 'बा'  म्हणतो.

'दुदु' म्हणायचा ऐवजी  'जुजु' म्हणतो, आणी ते  पण ओठ  पूर्ण चंबू करून.

Arya’s First Birthday and Naming Ceremony

WARNING: This is a huge article giving a detailed account of Arya’s Birthday planning and celebration. It is written more with the perspective of bringing a smile to me and Yogesh on reading it after a few years. Advance apologies to persons reading this and getting bored.

I don't know why I delayed writing about this when it is so important to me. Maybe it was because words are not enough to describe the planning, effort and the fun we had!

1. Planning:

I was getting anxious as the event date approached. Yogesh and I had decided that we would not hire an event decorator due our budget. But I had made Yogesh promise that we will still do the best ourselves. 

The Cake - Mickey playing cricket!



2. Food:

We hired a Rajasthani Cook who had cooked for 900 people in Namita's wedding 6 years back. It was finger-licking delicious back then. He was somewhat expensive than the other caterers we could have hired, but we thought that food needs to be great to win the event!

3. Cake:
After visiting a few shops, we finalized a butter cream chocolate cake weighing 3kgs from Monginis. The design was Mickey Mouse in a cricket costume. Personally I hate Mickey (Why do kids like a mouse? I’m sure it is a big deal in US because they don’t see mice as often). I think the cake looked good though.

4. Shopping:

We got a beautiful Sherwani Suit in maroon for Arya, a red chiffon Saree for me and a new shirt for the dad. 

5. Invites:

We sent the invite to all friends and family. I called a few of them on phone to stay home prior to the event.

6. Guests:

Some of the guests came from Mumbai and few from Pune city to stay over. It was fun. Few stayed after the event too and Arya got to know them better.

7. Venue:

We had decided that we would have this event in our own society club-house. It was newly painted and clean. It would be convenient for all guests to come and for us to organize things. It is a one floor structure with an open terrace for functions. It can accommodate a crowd of 150 persons easily (catering section separate!)

8. Club house decoration:

Cake cutting done... Notice the lights and flex banner!

As the terrace was not covered from all sides and it was January, we decided to cover it with a colorful Pandal from all sides leaving the top open. We hired a guy to do light strings of various colors thrown on the trees and pandal. It gave a great celebration effect.

For the stage background, we arranged for a maroon velvet curtain with a peach frilly lace on the top and lights again. Sudhir bhauji had arranged for a beautiful flex printout to be stuck on it with Arya’s face and a happy birthday message!

We had got buntings, shiny stars, big cartoons, happy birthday cutout, alphabets of Arya’s name, lots and lots of red and blue balloons, shimmer, table decoration, all kinds of tapes, etc. from Pune city at wholesale rate. Yogesh was frowning on the demands but I'm sure he loved how it all turned out. 

We got musical candles, a “1” to be placed on the cake, and lots of b’day caps and return gifts.

9. Return gifts:

I wanted these to be useful for the kids. So chose apple shaped microwaveable kids lunch plates in various colors! We packed these in happy b’day return gift bags and kept them ready.

10. Balloons:

I wanted many many balloons, so we got a pump for inflating them and stayed up till late night. We made sets of 3 balloons for decoration. Maushi, mom, dad, me and Yogesh inflated about 170 balloons! We kept them in Arya’s room, filling it to our waists.

The little guy cried each time a balloon burst and I became more apprehensive about the balloon thing.

Hanging the balloons up on the Pandal was another huge task for us as they kept bursting or flying away due to the strong afternoon wind. Few balloons were even stolen and burst on purpose by neighboring kids too when we were not around! Somehow we managed to keep few them stuck.

The almost decorated background..

11. Table:
Table was wrapped with my white wedding Saree and maroon net stuck with balloons. We put a white table cloth on it, some stars and it was done! The cake went on it, a musical candle and the “1” letter too. Kid’s b’day caps were kept there for taking.

12. Food arrangement:

The hall for serving dinner had French windows on 3 sides. It was decorated with cartoon cutouts and stars and balloons. Buffet was set up there with chairs in case few people didn’t want to bear the cold.

13. Music:
We got a music system from my dad’s and played light instrumental music in background (The CD was purchased for my wedding but handed been heard so far!).

14. House decoration:
We decorated our house too with cartoon characters, balloons all over, and a “Happy Birthday Arya” cutout.

15. Naming ceremony on 19th Jan, 2012:

B'day aukshan. See the
decorated crib behind.

Before the birthday, we wanted a proper naming ceremony for Arya. Yogesh and I decorated Arya’s crib (the one discarded 5 months back) with buntings and Mogra garlands. We decorated the house with rose bouquets.

I'm gonna buy this cake
today too! Yummy!

Arya was dressed in a Krishna’s costume that was gifted by my friend Nivedita. He looked very cute and adorable.

I invited about 5 women for a quick Haldi Kunku and the naming ceremony. Neelam had got a Palana song written for singing during the event.

Asmita was to get the honor of saying Arya’s name in his ear along with 4 other pseudo names (I think they were Ayush, Harsh, Ashish, etc. dunno).

We tried making him sit in the crib but he wouldn’t. Ideally we needed to pass the baby from under the crib and over it 5 times or so, but he wasn’t as small anymore, so we let it go.

He had just begun crying, so I played a Palana song on my cell phone that I had downloaded from a website, “Halke halke jojawa baalacha palana”.

Asmita whispered Arya’s name & 4 other names in his ear. We had to beat her up with our fists as a ritual, and we loved that part. Done, he was officially named!

16. The real birthday celebration on 19th Jan 2012:
Immediately following the naming ceremony, we had arranged for the cake cutting. We changed Arya to a cute kurti and churidar. There was an amazing strawberry cake that we cut. Kids loved it. Arya might not know what was happening, but he seemed very happy to see so many people.

17. Birthday bash:
The venue was ready with colored lights, pandal, decoration, balloons, birthday banner and all.


Arya, Yogesh and me!

   The flex print looked amazing. The caterer was doing his job.

We were ready. Arya was in his new maroon sherwani dress. Mangal looked after him mostly.

The cake was delivered and looked wonderful. When I saw kids reaction to the cake, I knew I was wrong in thinking that cake was not a big deal. Cake is the real key to the event! And Mickey Mouse, sadly, has to be loved.


Cake cutting!

 Many guests complimented on Arya’s resemblance to his dad. Ruchi was very sweet. She took care of distributing the birthday caps to all kids.

Arya cut the cake and we blew the big musical candle over and over again, as it rekindles! The firework rocket was lit and it blasted to shower many shiny and crape paper bits all over the place.



Ruchi distributing cake.

 Ruchi was an angel again and distributed the cake to all. Oh yea, and I had missed out shopping for the cake spoons! But people anyway helped themselves with a second and a third piece!

Next Arya got up on the cash counter to collect all the gifts (figuratively speaking)! He was now wearing a white suit Namita had gifted him.



Dinner buffet.

Indoor seating. Check out the
club house. It's converted to a gym now.

Dinner was served and the indoor cum outdoor seating proved to be amazing. People loved the food!





Nivedita and family, Jayant and
family traveled a lot to reach here.



On their way out we thanked the guests and handed the return gifts to kids. They even got to choose what color they wanted. I got a feedback few days later from almost all moms that their kids wanted to eat only from those plates!

Arya changed to his comfortable clothes. We were the last ones to have dinner and finally relax. After the huge anxiety and effort, the event did go as smooth as butter.

Here are a few photos of the event.



Sinhgad college staff and families.

 

Arya admiring the gifts and
his new white suit

 

Guests



My sisters and their families!
Mani is married now though.



Mom and pranju



Mani and Arya



Dad and all.


 

Fighting Migraine

It is like a time machine. It begins and transports me to a vortex, a zone, stopping whatever activity I am in, bringing to halt the day I was having. When I come out of it, 2 hours or 2 days are gone. Migraine has been a loyal and a bitter companion to me for over 20 years. I have missed so many moments, events and details about things around me. It is not a serious or sorry thing to write about, but hey, it is my blog.

My mom used to say that I’d complain of headache as a child in school. Migraine back then wasn’t so famous. My simple parents didn’t know what was wrong. X-rays, MRI’s were done, but a neurologist was seen only when I was in my teens. Finally the thing got a name – migraine! (It rhymes!). Tablets didn’t provide long term relief. I didn’t want to continue a tablet a day for the rest of my life.

In my 10th standard during migraine I would draw all the curtains in the house, covering each slit of light coming through the door with a rug. I would lie with my head on moms lap until it passed away. My sisters had to bear with the dark house and no TV on for a day or two. I would cover up for the lost time by studying through the night. The headaches were bad back then. Today I am surprised where I got so much strength to fight those.

Of course my family was very supportive about it. They didn’t even know that it was quite common and there were many people who suffered.

It was there in the engineering and MBA too. Again I wondered how I would take care of my career, job and a family of my own! How will I manage?

When I was in MBA, I read about homeopathic treatment for migraine (A big commercialized doctor in homeopathy claimed that he can uproot it totally.) We went. Fee was too high, but my parents paid it anyway. And there was a slight improvement (should I say touchwood?). I continued it for some years and the intensity and frequency was bearable. He didn’t uproot it, did improve my condition a lot.

Presently it is a combination of allopathy and homeopathy. I know what to do at the onset of such a headache and I am well prepared for it. I don’t expect something for 20 years to go away in 2!

Now migraine is a known word. There are so many websites, informative articles in newspapers, so many medicines in various streams, so many counseling groups, etc. In fact people make faces when I give it as a reason to ignore my duties.

Today I'm managing my career and my family with the help of a person I can rely on always – my hubby. Yogesh makes me feel so cared for when I am in the zombie zone (I never expected somebody other than my mom to understand it). I thank him each time I come out of it.

Thought of writing about it as I lost the last weekend at home due to a headache. It's Friday already and I'm thinking how I would enjoy this one!  

Pune is waiting for the rains. I am too.

We havent purchased our raincoats yet. Yogesh too doesn't have one. We, like many dedicated stingy Punekars will buy them only when we get drenched in heavy rains a few times. Sadly we haven't seen the rain that our normal wind cheaters cannot handle. And it is mid July now!

Where is the rain? Have we driven it away?

It may be an inconvenience when you go to office half drenched. It is a risk to drive amidst rains. It is yucky to get mud splashed on you. But I've always loved to feel the rain whenever I can. To look out of the window when it is raining, to drink hot black tea, and to have kanda-bhaji (onion pakode) when it is raining is amazing.

As a kid I always made sure that I go out when it was raining heavily - at least once. I did those crazy things like making paper boats, and I also sent small insects on big leaves to unknown destinations via the streamlets in my building compound.



Rainy road

 I remember when I was doing my MBA from Dept. of management sciences, Pune University, I absolutely loved the campus. I wish I had clicked photos of me there. I knew back then too that I will want photos of me in PU later, but simply ignored it at that time! Well, it is still green, but it doesn't feel the same now. There were times when I would go home from college on my puny little bike (Sunny) soaking in the rain, with people looking at me as though I was crazy. 

I even went home soaking wet in the rain on purpose while I was in my previous company. This year I might have to do it due to lack of raincoat though.

So when will it be?  

Ordinary days that are not so common

Yesterday evening I asked Yogesh to stop by a fish vendor. He agreed immediately, bringing a smile to my lips.

Arya was handled by Yogesh/Maushi while I cooked the fish.

I loved the steaming aroma of fish in the house. Rice, fish and dal – yea I love it. It is a soul food for me and a comfort food too. I should have been born in Bengal or Kerala I guess. Both guys in my house love it too, so no complains.

Had a restful night’s sleep and no early morning car driving lessons today.

The sky is lightly clouded and the weather is coldish.

I had called up Arya’s maid. He seemed to be playing as his voice reached me from her phone. I told her to teach him some words like tea, coffee, water, ball, bat, etc.

I can’t complain about work load in office. I’m just doing some avra-avri i.e. some data organizing on my laptop for ready reference next time.

Work-desk got shifted, but I didn’t mind much. I’m not going to let this spoil my day!

Now I’m sitting at my deck sipping a cup of hot lemon tea and writing this blog.

The only thing missing is my favorite coarse plain brown shawl and a pillow and I’m done! (I love the rough texture of that shawl. It feels very cozy.)

Ordinary days  - I love them.

About the cell phone

I forgot my cell phone at home and going to the canteen for mango juice (Wonder if mango pulp juice is as nutritious as a real mango juice. But that’s another story.) It is amazing to walk free i.e. to forget carrying wallet and stash some cash in the jeans pocket, to forget the mobile at home and walk with free hands and most importantly to walk without a care.

We women don’t have such huge pockets in our formals and on our shirts too. Salwars don’t have pockets at all unless you choose to be un-fashionable. Jeans are a savior with just a little space for your cell and cash. But you need to be careful all the time such that it doesn’t fall when you sit. I have lost one of my prized cell phone that way.

BTW, Arya is learning by leaps and bounds. From a couple of months now, he can talk on the phone. No he can’t actually talk yet. But he knows the phone gesture lingo. i.e. to hold the phone to the ear, always keep walking when you talk, talk few words in a loud voice (Aaaah? Haan? Olaay, etc.), laugh a few times, rush to the phone when it rings and raise both the hands as if saying who could it be?

He talks with my mom and dad, replies to their comments in his own language.

The best part is, he knows when the phone is on loud speaker and in that case doesn’t hold the phone to the ear but in front of his mouth! Cutie pie.

That’s it! I hate being hit.

Timepass post...

Mom was visiting me last weekend. Arya was playing around as usual. Whenever he came by to kiss or hug me, I involuntarily held both my hands around my face and head. If I am not as alert (or if I am eating something) and Yogesh is around, he protectively holds his hands in front of my face to save me, from a head-butt. My mom was surprised and even scolded me for being like that with my own baby.

Arya has been head banging a lot since birth. What concerns me though is that instead of banging his head on a wall or furniture, he bangs it on mine. He runs towards me in playful mood and leaps on me. His head being heavier freely bangs against mine. No, it’s not painful for him.

A few days back, I was lying on sofa while he ran to me with his arms wide open. Looking at how sweet he looked, I forgot about the dangers of his action. Within a second he hit his forehead on my upper lip sending a sharp pain through all my teeth. I yelled. I cried. He didn’t get hurt as usual, but my upper lip was swollen. He sat there looking at me with tears in his eyes ‘cause he thought he had hurt mamma. I applied some ointment and held a hanky on it. Arya didn't like me hiding my face and so grabbed the cloth from my hand and put it on his lip! It’s been 5 days to it but my lip still pains when I chew.

And today he playfully hit me once again with his head, a full force blow on my left cheekbone. It's been several hours now but well...

I should get a helmet that I can wear around him or a cushion I can tie around his head.

I don’t think my mom would understand.

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BTW he has started hitting other kids during playtime, some even older than him. He hit my sisters daughters and my maids children. My maid's 3 year old daughter doesn't come to our house anymore 'cause Arya hits her. So much for thinking that my baby would be timid and bullied around in school. I have to curb this habit.

Why watch a movie with a baby around?

I am a soft romance movies fan. I love movies like Only You, One Fine Day, DDLJ and the sorts. Before I start let me mention that I hate 'P.S. I love you’. It is a depressing movie about lost love that always makes me think all sorts of things that could happen and I start relating to the character a little too much. Similarly I do love serials that have romance as a theme.

There was this serial some time ago aired on Star World/HBO I don't remember - Sex and the City. It wasn’t very romantic. It revolved around 4 New York women who search for different things in life and how their friendship evolves. It also showed their relationships and NY fashion. Recently one of my friends gave me this pen-drive with the movie version of the same serial. It had the sequel too. These movies are fun to watch.

I can't sit across the TV and watch anything without interruption due to Arya, the chores or Arya's chores. So I watch few scenes and if Arya wants to eat, I miss 15 mins of the movie. Yogesh continues watching, so the movie proceeds. I come back and don't want to rewind it to start from the scene I was on. (Why spoil the fun for both?). Some minutes later, we get corporation water. The supply is timed, so Yogesh has to fill it up and store it. He misses a few scenes, but the movie continues, don't know for whom? This happens on and off.

Later when I see that he is not going to be around for a long time, I rewind to watch it, and he does the same. So actually we end up watching the same movie multiple times, in random scene order and making up the story in our heads. I don't understand why film editors take so much trouble compiling it! Thus, over the weekend and 2 more days, I have still not seen the entire movie and have also lost the desire to see it.

But it rained - Parikarma

This was more than 10 years ago.

Back then, me and Namita were teenagers, and mani was a kid. We loved MTV, Channel V, and Star TV (which is Star World now). Each day after school/college, when mom n dad were in office, our afternoon was dedicated to watching music videos and hearing all sorts of songs in huge volume! We watched X-Files and Friends re-runs, and Highlander.

Golden days, yeah.

Here's a song that me and my sisters used to hear when we were way too young. Asmita may not have liked it as much, yet we played it loud. I was thinking of this song in office last month but couldnt remember the lyrics. A few days back, when I was in Asmita's car, she up'ed the volume of the radio amidst the traffic, and I was transformed back to my younger years. I used to love this song. It was touchy. The video was way too sad. (I was always a sad-songs-person.) When I read about it online I knew why. Click here to read the story. http://www.parikrama.com/bir/story.html. Here are the lyrics.

BUT IT RAINED

BY PARIKARMA

Wrapped in a polythene tucked away safe in my mind
A little goodbye maybe or just a passing smile

The birds fly away to the southern sky searching a home
A bunch of paper flowers or a little boy left all alone
Can somebody hear me I'm screaming from so far away
Morning who will calm you now, the evening is eclipsed again

Well does life get any better
More yesterday than today
How I thought the sun would shine tomorrow
But it rained . . .

They justified the cause for which Daddy might give up his life
It's been so long, so long a time, still I miss Daddy at night
The ache is long gone but the never keeps staring along
The waters in the seas are high
and all the sand castles have drowned

Well does life get any better
More yesterday than today
How I thought the sun would shine tomorrow
But it rained . . .


You must hear the song, the music is heart touching....

Who says love can’t be bought?

For the past week and a half, Yogesh had gone to Bangalore, Mysore, and other places and it really, really, really upset me.

Firstly, I am already stressed with balancing the baby along with my job. I need a break for a few days that he hasn’t planned as yet. (I hope you are reading Yogesh). So yes, I was envious. How does he get a trip for a week, while I slog alone!

Secondly, with him going out of Pune, it upset my whole routine. I had to drive to office and back 30 km every day. I had to handle Arya when I was back since he wasn’t around to carry him when I was doing something else. I slept 2 hours later than my usual time each night!

Most importantly, Arya’s nanny also decided to bunk for 7 days without any notice, multiplying my troubles! My anger kept on increasing everyday, so much so that I could literally burn him with a glance.

He finally came back yesterday. I avoided speaking to him. He had got few toys for Arya. One of them is a yellow furry duckling. You wind the spring and it starts jumping and walking ahead. Arya gave a crackling laugh when he saw it jump. He too jumped on top of the duck and grabbed it. Next Yogesh showed me some accessories he had got for me. I didn’t budge.

Last but not the least, he showed me a Mysore silk dress material today morning. Oh, it was beautiful! Of course I couldn’t ignore it. I loved it. He really has a good eye for dresses… I wonder how, but it did win me back!

If you are still reading, Yogesh, I still do need a vacation, and movies, and shopping, and dinners out, and all the pampering, so start planning!

Arya's talking!

Yea, he was talking in his own language for a long time with words like Aaaiee, Paapaa, Ajee, Atya, mamma, etc. but never meaningfully addressing people or objects.

On Sunday the 6th of May, we were going to Kandala for Pranjal's 3rd birthday. She is Arya's cousin. Arya already got the vibes that we were going out, so he kept roaming behind people to get him ready too. He even cooperated with wearing the diaper!

When we were almost done, my dad started calling to people "Chala, Chala, Chala lavkar" and began walking towards the door. Arya understood and shouted "Chala, Chala!!!" He too walked to the door. I was so thrilled! I wished Yogesh was there to see it! It was the first time Arya said something with understanding. And I can't believe my baby's first words were not 'mamma' or 'papa', but 'Chala'!

He didn't repeat the same words again when we prompted, but when we came back my aunt asked me to get the water bottle to the kitchen, and Arya said - "Batli (bottle)"

Now I have to decide if I like being called 'Aai' or 'Mamma'!

Arya's walking!

Arya started walking. On 19th April, 2012, the day he turned 15 month old, he took his first steps from the sofa chair to the wooden table – a distance of 3 baby steps. We kept smiling and encouraging him all the time. He knew he was doing something special and loved the attention he was getting.

Actually his self-training began by holding the rear bar of his bike and walking. We also held his hand so that he could get his confidence up.

But the sofa to table was his first independent adventure. I loved it. After that there was no stopping. The distance kept on increasing with a few more baby steps, every time he did it. The first week was an unbalanced, tilted to one side, sometimes leaning behind walk, resulting in his falling down. If he saw anything he liked, he'd let go of walking to simply crawl to it faster. He kept losing his balance when he saw something exciting.

Yesterday he learned to rise up from the floor and walk. (Oh, the earlier walk was when he was already standing holding on to some furniture.) The same evening, he learnt to hold an object in one hand and lift himself up with the other. Now he can turn directions, talk and carry objects while walking!

His latest try was to hold a big ball in both his hands and get up from the floor, something he couldn’t do yesterday. But judging by the rate that he is going now, he will learn that quickly too. I think he is trying to compensate for the time lost in the last few months!

And yes, I am congratulating myself too for not bringing the pressure on my child to walk sooner, although I was so eager!

Quick, cross your fingers, it’s the mail van!

Childhood. I wish I could go back to those days, or at least see them as a movie on a projector screen. I want to remember small things I did back then.

My mom still remembers her childhood. She had 7 siblings and they stayed in a joint family of another 4 siblings with their parents. Some days were good, some were bad. In a good phase they got to cook what they want, got clothes stitched during Diwali, got chappals to wear, etc. The other days they were not so lucky. Yet, whenever she recollects her childhood, there is a spark in her eyes, saying, “Amcha lahanpana sarkha anandi lahanpan konacha nasel. Asa vatata ki parat lahan vhava, Akka swayampak karat disavi ani amhi khelat rahavot!” (“No one might have had a happy childhood like ours. I feel like becoming a kid again, to see my mother cooking in the kitchen, and to play with my sisters.”). She called her mom ‘Akka’.

 She once told me that whenever they saw a mail van (Red van by Indian Postal Office) or a Fire engine, they crossed their fingers. It meant that they would get “Khau (Sweets)” when they got back home in the evening. Actually even I and my friends believed this during our school days. We crossed our fingers when we saw the red van, however we rarely thought of looking for sweets when we got back home. It was different back then for my mom, as her parents barely made ends meet. Some days she did get a surprise and felt good for remembering to cross her fingers.

Come to think of it, what does that van have to do with sweets? It brought letters from relatives and loved ones far off – carrying good news and updates. People might be distributing sweets on hearing from them. And so the custom.

Nowadays we don’t crave for sweets so much, as we keep buying them whenever we want to. Also, these Red Post Office vans have become so rare, with the surge of internet, emails, phones, etc. that we have forgotten that they ever existed!

But then today, while coming to the office, I happened to see this red van going merrily on its way. I crossed my fingers on a sudden reflex, without thinking what I was doing. After a few minutes I told Yogesh that we are going to get sweets today evening, because we saw the van! He might have assumed that it was yet another whimsical thought of mine, and kept driving ahead.


So, will I get sweets today?

Tears? Why?

I was always an emotional person. There’s always some reason for me to feel terribly happy or terribly sad.

One source of the sad feelings is the news. I try, but I can’t keep myself away from TV news or online news sites. I do not log into news sites per se, but Yahoo, Gmail or Rediff give latest happenings on their home pages / personalized pages.

The most recent reason for my grieving is reading about Baby Falak’s demise.

I initially read about this on TOI website. After that I could not help but read about the baby’s condition every morning when I came to office. If I knew she was about to have yet another major surgery I would also check on the site how it went and how she was coping up. I have felt so much sympathy for her – I almost felt connected to her. I couldn’t believe what she went through - suffering and enduring so much pain when she should be smiling and playing, getting adored for her small baby antics. Falak’s story had gripped the entire world. Many wanted to adopt her post release from hospital, despite her medical condition later.

Be it motherhood or the fact that I am a woman; I cannot bear to see any child in pain, missing from home, or physically abused. Luckily, I didn’t have to do moral policing to other parents ‘cause I have a very good friends and family circle around me who treat their kids like angels.

When I heard that Falak has passed away, I couldn’t keep the tears away. I feeling sorry for her, or wanting punishment for the culprits does not erase what she might have gone through when she was being treated like that. I don’t want to hope for her go to heaven, because heaven should be experienced when you are alive.

And now there is another similar story about Baby Afreen. Again I haven’t yet logged in to new sites to read about her. It is on email home pages. Media sensationalizes such news to get more hits on their web pages.

Such baby-battering cases are social issues that I hope we overcome in years to come.

Meanwhile I am trying to keep myself away from tragic stories.