Happy Xmas

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy and Healthy New Year.

Snow outside and inside

Its winter and that time of the year when a white layer on the road greets us every morning. A couple of days back, I was showing Aditi the thin layer of snow that appeared outside our home. I was busy getting breakfast ready in the kitchen, when the child decided to create her own snow inside. Here's what she did:

She picked up the salt shaker from the dining table and went across to the living room sofa to create her own patterns with the white salt. I was shocked to see the damage done to my sofa, but took some pictures to post it here. Aditi is not usually very naughty, but is in that stage when she wants to explore everything and this uppu kolam(rangoli with salt) was one of her experiments.

Have you had any such experiences? How do you handle it? Do you get frustrated especially because it happened during the early morning rush, when time is a constraint always? Take a moment and leave me a comment.

The car driving test

I have been learning to drive in this country for over a year(Does that sound too long? Not much if you consider that we are on our own here, and Prashanth works on weekends, so I only get to go when he's at home to take care of the child. Minus the 6 week long vacation to India and a total of 8 weeks off from my instructor on various holidays). I managed to take about 32 lessons when my intructor declared that I was ready to give the test. So I booked the test and awaited the grand day eagerly. We were to have an hours practise before the test and I wasn't too bad during this session. We then went to the test centre, waited for the examiners to arrive.
An elderly examiner came and called out my name. I had requested my instructor to come along with me during the test(this is optional). After the usual eye-check tests, we walked out to the car. I checked with the examiner if my instructor could accompany us. In the car, I was asked a few safety questions about the car(which I had memorized from the book) and then we started. The test itself lasted longer than usual for about 55 minutes. I was told it would be around 35-40 minutes. The test was really difficult going by normal standards as we hit around a dozen or more major roundabouts, hit the motorway twice and drove at around 70mph, went through the dual carriageways(@60 mph) and I thought I would almost fail the test, when I had to turn right at the roundabout, and a long queue of cars were coming from the right. I simply could not move to the right lane, but at the last moment, I somehow managed to squeeze in. Another one that I thought was a major mistake, which turned out to be a minor one was stalling. We were on a slope waiting at a pedestrain signal and when the lights turned green, the car in front of me stalled. It took me a while to realize and I stalled right behind him. I chose the test just after lunch around 2:30 when I thought the roads would be reatively quiet, but that day seemed quite the opposite. I also had to stop twice for school patrols, and wait for children to cross the road. We finally returned to the test centre and I waited for the examiner to reveal the result. I was shocked and surprised when he remarked that "I am pleased to tell you that you have passed the test". I wasn't sure if I had heard it right, but was grinning from ear to ear. After completing a few more formalities/paper-work, I got out of the car and my driving instructor congradulated me. I still could not believe my ears, but kept questioning my instructor, who remarked that all my blunders were minor and although I was not satisfied with the test myself - it was definitely not one of my best trips - I have passed the driving test. Yaaay!!!

Pa's birthday

This year Pa's birthday fell on a sunday. And the best part was he was not working - long day or night and was very much at home. So we got to enjoy the day. It fell on the day after our trip to London, so we were pretty tired. Me and amma woke up as usual and went about with our breakfast. Then amma asked me to wake up Pa - as is usually the norm on weekend mornings. She also brought this lovely musical birthday card and gave it to me to gift it to Pa. I opened the card to see what the huge smile on amma's face meant and was pleasantly surprised to hear the 'Happy birthday' song. Amma had been preparing me for over a week about Pa's birthday, but I was only interested in singing the birthday song to myself. Pa as expected was all smiles when he heard the song , jumped out of bed and called everyone at home and told them about my special gift. The cute thing about the card was that 'Zappy' sings the song. And the third line goes Happy Birthday from ....Zappy, which sounded so much like my name that Paa thought that we had somehow added my name into the card. So there goes my gift to Paa this year - sponsored by mom of course. Amma made the usual payasam and a typical sunday meal. Then we went out to get some chocolate and strawberry cake rolls for Paa and his friend who had come home that day. I thoroughly enjoyed the choco cake, but did not like the strawberry one. Plans to dine out at restaurants have been banned by mom until I am a little older cos I give her such a hard time that she cannot enjoy her meal!! I spent a lot of time playing with Paa and generally having fun which was nice.

Party time in London

Lets blame it on work that this blog has not seen any updates for many weeks. About a month ago, one of my cousin called me to say that his daughter's birthday party was planned for the second weekend in november . Although London is only about 200 miles from Sheffield, we hardly go out to London, unless our presence is mandatory. We had not met them for over a year and so decided to make this trip and enjoy the party. This post is about an interesting day spent at London partying and lots of eating and generally having fun.
Me and Aditi left on Friday night for the capital city(Why Prashanth did not join us is another story).I was expecting Aditi to sleep after a long day, but I was terribly wrong for she was extremely excited. She was manageable for most part of the journey and spent the first 2 hours, chatting away to other passengers. We walked a bit and a trip to the cafe on the train was the best as she walked abt 4 compartments, stopped to talk to babies/children and others on the way. We landed in the newly built international rail station arnd 10:15pm. My cousin A, accompained by their family friend had come to pick us up. Aditi slept during the 45 minute ride on the BMW, where my cousin's wife B and her friends were waiting for us. It was past midnight when we all finally slept, tired after a long day and the journey to London.
Early next morning, around 5:30 am, I was woken up by giggles from the next room. Turned out that my cousin's child V was excited about the party and was giggling away with her friend, who had quietly slipped into bed beside her the previous night. I tried to help B in the kitchen the next morning, but Aditi kept me busy. B is a great cook, wonderful and yummy are her dishes always - one of the prime reasons why I decided to take the trip. We had rava idlis for breakfast, followed by spring rolls, aloo tikkis, rotis, palak panner, aloo matar sabzi, vegetable rice and peanut salad. I can sense mouths watering, but hold on - I had enough of them even on behalf of you.
Prashanth joined us just in time for lunch. He was not supposed to be working the previous night, but had swapped with a colleague many weeks earlier and had forgotten about it, until Monday. Hence he came over arnd noon on Saturday to London just in time for lunch. There were about 20 of us in all. Aditi enjoyed for a little while with the children, but was stuck to me like glue most of the time.
V was lovely as usual dressed in a cute Ballerina costume and playing and entertaining the others. After lunch ,there were lots of games, for children and the parents, and we had an enjoyable day. V cut the blackforest birthday cake and Aditi enjoyed the cake, eating every little piece that was on her plate. Some families left after the cake cutting and we enjoyed another round of games and had fun. This was followed by a round of tea and feeding Aditi her dinner and we left home arnd 7pm. Again A and his friend dropped us at the St.Pancreas international station, which was a good one hour drive from their home and we had a comfortable journey to Sheffield. The trip was a good change and all of us had a wonderful time at my cousin's place. Here are some pics to prove that.

Golu 2008

Finished and posted it at last............
The festival of Navrathri or Dusshera is celebrated in most parts of India. This festival is unique in that its a 9 day long celebration for the Goddessess - Durga, Lakshmi and Saraswati. In TamilNadu, Navrathri is never complete without the 'Golu' or the dolls arrangment on steps. In West Bengal, its Durga Pooja when huge mud idols of the Goddessess are placed in specially erected 'pandals' and special poojas performed on the nine days.
When we were young, we would eagerly await 'Golu' for its when young and old get together and a multitude of talent is displayed.People invite friends and family for tamboolam and to visit the 'golu' in each other's homes. Most of the famous temples thesedays have grand display of Golu bommais(dolls). This festival would usually fall during the September holidays, just after the quarterly exams, so it would be a perfect way to unwind. I lived for most part of my life with my grandparents in Chennai and memories of the huge Golu linger fresh in my memory.
The previous day, our milkman(we had a cow and a calf until 1997 and drank cow's milk until then)would bring down the golu baskets from the loft and the metal steps would be brought down from the terrace room. They would be assembled using screws, nuts and bolts and the huge bales of white cloth would be used to cover the seven green painted steps. We had a huge mud idol of Durga seated on a fierce looking tiger which would always occupy the centre position on the top most step. On either side would be seated Goddess Saraswati and Goddess Lakshmi and few other tall idols. The first 3 steps would be filled with idols of Gods and Goddesses. The fourth step would usually be an Asthalakshmi set. Fifth would hold the dasavatharam. Sixth would usually be some Krishan leelas and Seventh would adorn the huge talai-attum chettair and his wife along with soem Tanjore bommais. Of the sets that would adorn the remaining part of the hall on the top floor would be a village with lots of thatched roof houses, farmers, a well and many women doing different daily chores like washing, cleaning etc. Then there would be the customary park, a temple atop a hill, a garuda sevai set, a zoo, a white cricket set, a marriage conducted in a hall, another marriage procession with the bride and groom sitting on a decorated swan shaped car, a school with a computer lab and few others that have faded from my memory. It would take us a whole day to set everything up and be satisfied at the end of it. Then would begin the trips to the local mamis to invite them for golu and get innumerable sundal packets from them.
My grandmother would usually serve lunch and give clothes away to young girls on one day and to older women on another day. We would also visit aunts and other relatives' during this season.
Fast forward to now, when I had to juggle between work, home, caring for a 20 month old toddler and looking for Golu items. A month earlier I started the preparations. I decided on what would go in each step and had arough idea of where to find them. Most of the items were charity shop finds. I contmeplated making the steps with wooden planks, but then decided to use the furniture and cardboard boxes. They were arranged and it took about a couple of hours to get everything arranged and set up the lights. Aditi was terribly sweet and really never troubled the dolls or the steps, but partly it was because I had set the Golu up in the study, rather than in the living room where she usually spends most of her time.
We had about a dozen people for tamboolam over the weekend and Aditi has totally fun. We had a wonderful time and it was soon time to pack up the dolls. So they were packed in newspapers and safely placed in cardboard boxes and carefully moved to the attic, where they will remain until the next year.

For pictures, please go to Golu in pictures

One year as a mommy blogger

On the first anniversary of my blog, just as I complete fifty posts and just as many comments, I have thoroughly enjoyed the experience. There have been weeks when the blog remained neglected, but I have tried to capture most of the important instances and events in the last year. It indeed surprises me to note that I have survived a year as a blogger and not dumped this within a few months of creation. Whether I'll continue this journey,I'm not too sure. But many women across the globe have become a part of my life. I love reading other mommy blogs and have my favorties too. I think blog-hopping is a kind of relaxation. Every evening after I have completed all the chores and duties around the house, I start visiting blogs. Soemtimes they go on for more than an hour, sometimes very short, but its a part of the daily routine to read other bloggers. I wish to note down here that Mamma-Mia, who regularly comments on this blog has been a great inspiration to keep the blog going. I think tis now time to introduce a proper header and spice up this blog a bit, rather than leave it at its current simple state. Off to work on the header now.

Wagamama

Its a traditonal custom at work that when any girl joins the development/testing team, we organize a girl's lunch and fire hundreds of questions at the new person(s) - by way of getting to know them. A toned down version of raging you could say. Last time we headed out to All Bar One on Leopald Street which was really nice except that they had very few vegetarian options. This time I took the initiative to organize the lunch and we headed out to Wagamama - a japanese fusion style restaurant. The super-fast service at this restaurant deserves special mention. We were a group of ten girls seated in two rows and as the waitress was taking orders on an electronic hand-held system, they were being relayed to the central system that services the orders. We had our drinks on the table within 30 seconds of placing the order. This is the fastest service I have ever had. I have plenty of slow poor service experiences, but this one takes the cake.
We placed orders for the food, but they were on our table within minutes. Not wanting to try the usual noodles, I had vegetable dumplings with sauce - five of them which was actually a side-dish, but quite filling by itself. Others ordered noodles or salad - which looked quite impressive too. One difference though was they served warm salad, which was a striking contrast to the very cold salads the locals normally prefer. They had wooden chopsticks on the table, which remained untouched by most of us. Those who chose nooddles, preferred to use the fork and spoon and not embarass themselves by trying to eat with the chopsticks. Most plates were clean which meant their food was really exceptional. I would love to go there again, but when, only time will tell.

Smart or what?

Then:
When my little girl drops something on the floor accidentally or intentionally, she would remark an 'Oh-ho' which would make me go 'Not again' look - especially in the mornings when time is at stake. Probably the little girl is learning how to impress mamma when you make a mistake....
Now:
She remarks an Oh-Ho, looks straight at me and blowes kisses with a very sweet smile, that would melt rocks. All I do is smile back and request her not to do it again.(Well I know she's not going to follow, but whats the harm in saying so)Kids these days are really much smarter than the previous generation!!

Double rainbow

It was one of the early autumn days. It was raining heavily during the day. One ofm y colleagues refused to go home as it was raining outside(That's quite something for me - as people usuall love to go home soon) As I was returning home, I saw a rainbow in the sky. As usual I clicked a few pictures on my phone camera. A few minutes later, I saw another rainbow in the sky, just above the first one. Leaving you with the pictures of the double rainbow that appeared in the city of Sheffield last week.

Golu '08 in pictures

Here are the pictures of this year's Golu.

Write up coming soon.

My first craft project - at home

Amma thinks she's smart, can keep me occupied for a while with her craft project and get her job done. We make quite a few crafts at the nursery every week and I bring them home, so amma tries to imitate them. I had other plans though. So on a sunday afternoon, after my nap, amma brings out a few chart papers, some pistachio shells, marker pens, glue, scissors and newspaper all laid out in front of me.

Amma plans to:

• write something on the chart paper
• spread some glue
• stick the pista shells on them and
• make a nameboard.

I try to:

• sit on top of the chart paper. Amma shoes me away.
• spread the pista shells all over the room. Amma tries to ignore me.
• taste the shells. Amma pulls them away from my mouth.
• spread glue on my hands, knees and face. Amma stops me just in time.
• walk on the pista shells. Amma tells me to be careful. Otherwise I'd trip and fall. As if I did not know that!

So finally this is what we achieved.... If you are wondering why amma was making these pista shelled nameboards, they are to be part of the forthcoming Golu...

Bless You

This morning, the little girl walked up to me and asked for 'pal'(milk). Just as she finished her milk, she stretched out her palms wide open with a grin on her face. First thing on my mind was her palm was dirty, let me grab a tissue and clean it, but no the palm was as clean as it could be. So I waited for a second, not knowing what the smile meant, then held her palm, bent down and kissed it. Turns out that was what she wanted. But the game was not over yet. She stretched the other palm. I bent down again, kissed it again and then the other palm was stretched out for a kissie. So we played this for over half a dozen times,when she lifted her head high up and sneezed. So me being me, mechanically said 'Bless you baby' and placed my hands on her head. Then the little head goes up and down again waiting to hear the 'Bless you' and would be repeated many times, until I said' Bless you baby'. I felt truly blessed to experience such joy this morning. Oh such sweetness, wish they retained it forever.

Festive Days - Part 3 - Ganesh Chaturthi

This is the most eagerly awaited festival of the year - mostly to eat the lovely modaks - but also to participate in the grand preparations that precede this important festival in the Hindu calendar.When we were young, dad and I would go shopping the previous night to get the Clay Ganesha idol. My mom would instruct us time and again to bring the pure clay idol and none of the fancy colourful idols that would also adorn the market place and would wait to be picked by some happy customer. The accessories were many including the 'kodai' or paper umbrella for the Lord, the eyes(the black and red beads)the malai(garland) which was made from small purple flowers. The idol would be placed on a palagai(wooden seat) and carefully brought home. Many varieties of fruits would be offered and the shopping is completed after picking some blades of grass(arugumbil). This is used exclusively for the pooja the next day.
The next morning we would quickly bathe and start the decorations in the pooja room. We would place a small table, place the Ganehsa idol over it and decorate the Lord and His seat with all buntings. Then my mother would start the pooja, by which time we would get impatient, and wait for the pooja to end, for the prasad to be offered to the Lord. Then we would happily start our modak eating spree.
Fast forward to now, when we have to rush to work and still try and fit in whatever we can. We also celebrate Gowri Habba the day before Ganesh Chathurthi - a practise that is followed by the MIL, and hence new to me. In August we celebrated Varalakshmi pooja and now it was time to welcome Goddess Gowri. I prepared a very simple sundal for prasadam and invited a few of my neighbours for tamboolam. It was past 9:30 in the night when they left and as I went about my usual chores that night, I wondered if I'd have any energy to wake up early and prepare modaks the next morning.
I was too tired and hence got up at the usual time, got ready for work, but Aditi was still asleep. So I decided to make prasadam that evening. As I quickly refreshed my memory, by reading through Meenakshi Ammal's 'Samiathu Par' for the recipe, realization dawned on me - that the recipe was actually very simple and could be managed within 30 minutes. I quickly prepared the dough, made the filling and started making the modaks. They came in all odd shapes and I made just 11 of them. Left them in the pressure cooker, while I tended to Aditi's morning needs. It was steaming hot, when I presented it to Ganeshji for neivadyam and said a quick prayer. We left for work, leaving the modaks to cool and to be tasted later.
We returned home, and Aditi saw the plate full of white balls in front of the pooja area. I was sure she'd not like it one bit, so I happily gave her one modak in a plate and a spoon to use. The little girl carefully cut piece by piece and relished them. She finished one and wanted more. And you can imgine my joy, for this girl hated any sweets that were offered just a few weeks back(during Janmasthami) and now was enjoying my hurriedly made modaks. I was truly happy for that momentous decision to make it that morning. In all, she had about 2 and a half modaks. They came out prefect in taste, though not in shape. We then visited our neighbour, who had invited us for tea.
And we retired our Lord until next year.

Festive Days - Part 2

For Part 1, please read this.

A week later it was time again, but to invite little Lord Krishna. Again memories of last year lingered - we had dressed a 6 month old Diti as little Krishna. This year too, Prashanth wanted her to be dressed as Krishna, but we settled for Radha. Preparations started even earlier this time. On Monday night, I made uppu seedai, Tuesday night - some thathais and on thursday night - vella seedais. We have grand celebrations at home for Janmashtami and one of the highlights would be the drawing of little padams(footprints) like the shape of the number '8' followed by small vertical lines on top for the fingers. We usually make the rice flour kolam maavu by adding water to rice flour and make the footprints from it.

As Lord Krishna was born at midnight, it is customary to celebrate and perform the pooja inthe evening. So the kolam is done in the evenings just before the pooja. But considering the tot at home would create a mess of the kolam before it dried off, I drew the padams during her morning nap. Surprisingly the child did not mess around, instead considerd it as 'Lakshman Rekha'. She was scared of going over it and would ask us to lift her and safely deposit her on the other side. Before the pooja, I got some aval(poha) and butter for neivadya along with the goodies prepared earlier that week.

After the pooja at home, we went to the local temple and Diti was dressed as Radha in the Rajasthani suit gifted by her grandparents.(I am hurriedly feeding her some curd before we leave for the temple).We put on her a yellow bindi to match her dress and the hairclip was removed before it could even be put on her.

What does 'Ka' mean in boddler language?

Of late, the little girl has been talking quite a bit, learning new words and trying to speak in words rather than actions. But she likes to also abbreviate and get me thinking on what she exactly means.Here's an example
Ka could mean
Cat
Car
Corn
Kodu(give in Tamil)
Kaal(leg in Tamil)

Given the situation, I'm supposed to interpret the 'Ka'.Have you been in a similar situation?

Festive Days - Part 1

The last few weeks have seen lots of festive celebrations and our home was no exception. It was special this year cos I could deck the little one up and get her involved(read help) in the preparations. The festive season as usual kicked off with Varalakshmi Vritham. Its not performed at my parents house and I have only started doing it after marriage. Last year, my in-laws were here and hence every pooja was performed as religiously as possible(within limitations of this country). And this year, I wanted to do at least half as much. Also we've a few friendly neighbours who are Indians and whose parents are here. So I could easily spot people for tamboolam.
Var Pooja fell on a friday and we started preparations on Thursday. We went home, cleaned and cleared on top of the chest of drawers(so it could not be reached by my little tot)and proceeded to decorate it with a kalasam and coconut. We subsititued local flowers/leaves which added a bit more colour. Then comes decorating Goddess Lakshmi which is my favorite part. We put a few necklaces and stuck them to the photo frame with turmeric and decorated the mandir area with more flowers. Food and prasdam form a very important part of any Hindu festival. Once I was done with the altar decoration, I went on to make carrot halwa that night. Woke up early next morning to make the actual prasam of kadala sundal and sarkarai pongal.
We wanted even number of dishes, so made a quick cucumber kosambri for prasadam. We then assembled for pooja and performed aarthi and neviedyam. Daddy them rushed off to work and I tried giving Diti some of the prasadam - halwa and pongal. The little girl prompty turned her head away and refused to eat anything sweet. So I fed her usual breakfast, sulked about her dislike for sweets to my mother and left for work that morning. In the evening, we had invited our neighbours(Indians from the friendly state of Karnataka) for tamboolam. The aunty was a classical singer who sang a beautiful song on Varalakshmi and we had a good time chatting for a while. The little girl was dressed in pattu pavadai and she looked so adorable.

The next day was raksha bandan or avani avittam as we call it. Basically men change their sacred thread and recite the 'Gayatri mantram'. The function itself was very simple with Prashanth doing the pooja and we simply sat around. The little girl enjoyed herself and learnt to do the namaskaram just as we do it and enjoys doing it ever so often at various places as desired.
Part 2 - Janmashtami celebrations & pics coming up soon

Oh-ho

Thats a new word Diti has learnt and has been using most often. When something accidentally falls on the floor, she's quick to respond with a oh-hoh. And its so cute when a 19 month old says them. And the accent is sooo different from what I've ever heard before.There's been a lot of new words from her in the last few weeks. And she demands more independence with eating/drinking and basically every activity.
On a completely different note, she plays often with her little laptop that aims to teach her the letters of the alphabet. It has a little quiz like 'Point to the letter ... or shape ...' The quizzer tells her the the same 'Oh-ho.Try again'., when she presses the incorrect button. I'd like to think she learnt to say the Oh-ho from there although she's definitely learnt it at the nursery.

A year and a half

My little one turned 18 months about 10 days ago and I decided to put up a post before it was too late. As it is I am not a regular with the monthly updates, but this is considered to be an important milestone and I do not want it to go unnoticed.
There has been a sudden growth spurt in her and she's grown so tall that her dresses no longer can keep up with her height. So we happily went shopping and ended up bringing lots of nice dresses for her. She loves climbing stairs and coming down.Only change being climbing stairs is done in adult like fashion, holding my hands and walking up like adults. And she loves it when she manages two at a time. No more crawling up the steps, its proper climbing.
She sings quite a lot of action rhymes in the nursery and her favorite is to do the 'turn around'. When we say Teddy Bear Teddy Bear turn around, she starts circling herself and it almost never stops. And then she tries to steady herself, loses her balance sometimes, only to start turning all over again.
She's getting really competitive and its always only with dad. By nature I decided that she does not like sweets for when I offered her carrot halwa prepared for 'Varalakshmi Nombu' last Friday, she rejected it. Then I tried gulab jamuns - they were refused again. But on Sunday when I gave her daddy the leftover halwa, she wanted some from his bowl and more and more. On this not again ,there's a new bean bag in the living room and dad loves to sit on it and stretch his feet. Only when the little one is not around. For even if we mention that dad is going to sit on it, she runs and jumps on to the bean bag and refuses to let daddy sit on it. If he's found sitting on it, she pushes him off and occupies her seat. On the other hand, amma can sit for as long as she wants and Aditi will sit on my lap without complain.
She loves her bus rides and gives a huge grin to the people in the bus. Only that the elderly respond is a totally different story.The rest are too worried and do not care to smile back - what will they lose I am yet to understand. Th child makes such an effort to smile at them, yet they turn their face to the window and pretend to not see her. But the oldies love her smile and respond back. They are waved good-byes and the bus driver will definitely get a happy wave and bye-bye when I wheel her pram out from the bus.Of late, amma has also been the recipient of lots of huggie and kissie - most unusual given that she never wanted to be hugged or kissed until recently. Dad gets his usual dose of flying kisses every morning and he so eagerly looks forward to it.
The little cleaner loves to use the broom, the cloth or anything - just plain tissue and act as if she's cleaning the rooms. Every thing that amma uses for cleaning - she must use them too. Sometimes gibes a clean after I'm don with it - just to make sure i have done a good job of it. She also helps me in the kitchen, by carefully picking up left over(by dad) glasses from the living room to the kitchen and depositing them in the sink. Also if appa is lazy and amma is stubborn, she happily helps amma by bringing the breakfast plate to appa in the living room and removes his plate once done.
TV does not interest her - she loves to play with the kitchen items or her own toys/ books. She's happy to read new books and loves to read Appa's medical books- top to bottom fro mend to end.I've tried to start potty training, but she shows absolutely no interest and refuses to use the potty seat. She's still happy with her nappy, so #I've given up on trying to train her now.So many things in such little time that I am sure - with my memory like a sieve - I shall forget it within a few days time and worry about not writing it down here.Wishing my little one a happy month and looking forward to celebrating all those nice festival colours.

The Engagement - II

For part I please click here.

By popular demand, I am forced to write this post much earlier than my lazy self would have normally done. For those of you coming here to read some more 'masala', I am sorry folks, this is a typical girl meets boy - boy likes girl, girl says 'yes' and they unite in wedlock. But something that simple and a few words does not make a post. So shall go into further details...

So dad and I wait outside the 'boy's' house, wondering if he was living upstairs in that bungalow. But dad clearly remembered that he had mentioned no such info and so we look for a calling bell. Its quite dark and we cant really trace one, but sensing some commotion outside, the boy comes over to open the door. And I forgot to mention that prior to this actual meet, photos of the boy and girl were exchanged. I had the priviledge of opening up the envelope containing his photo(bcos mom and dad were out of town that day). I vaguely remember telling my parents that the boy is too fair and I would be no match, so we shall delay this meet. The actual reason being I was least interested in marriage, when something as nice as an onsite proposal was beckoning me with open arms. But stubborn that my parents were, they convinced me to 'atleast' meet the guy before I fled from the country.
Back to the Thursday night that we waited outside his home in Chennai, the boy dressed up in formal attire opened the door. At first sight my jaws dropped. My thoughts raced and I realized that the photo did no justice to the actual person. I saw in front of us a fair, smart guy - politely welcoming us into his living room. After intial pleasantries were exchanged, and I was less carried away by his 'looks', we discussed abt our families, his future plans, his education and much more. No we did not have a one-to-one girl-boy session as is the norm. There was no kesari, vada, mixture as is again usually the norm when the boy & his family visits the girl. But we had enough of banana chips, biscuits and juice for company. Mostly dad did the talking/questioning and he patiently answered them all. We left after probably an hour and called mom(who was away on training in Manipal) to discuss about the boy.
When we reached home, grandparents were already fast asleep, but who would not like some gossip, especially because we went to meet the boy. Grandmom got up and settled herself into a chair and my cousin S sat on the floor waiting to hear about the boy. I had literally no negatives to talk about the boy given that we never spoke to each other much, but still had to say something wrong. So here was my conversation at 10 PM with my Pati and cousin.
Me: Pati, the boy is too fair.
Pati: So what, atleast your child will be as fair as he is. And this my grandmom believed so sincerely that even when I was pregnant, she would always remark that the child will be as fair as her father.
Me: Pati, He never spoke a word in Tamil(my mother tongue). How could I marry someone who never spoke my language.
Pati: I never spoke Tamil until I was 12. Yes, my grandmom was born and brought up in Andhra Pradesh and had no knowledge of her mother tongue until she was 12. She was later sent to her aunt's place in a village in TamilNadu to learn Tamil so she could be married off.
Cousin: My bro lived all his life in Mumbai. When you listen to his Tamil, will you call him a Tamilian? We call him a mumbai wala. Language is no bar.
Me: The boy will definitely not say 'yes' to me. He's too good for me.
Pati: Thats not for you to decide. Wait until he comes back. Go and change and sleep now.We'll discuss the rest tomorrow morning.
So saying grandmom goes back to sleep and cousin goes back to her books. Its already late and I have to leave early the next day, so I dash off to catch some sleep.
The next day dawned bright and clear. Dad tells me that he's too good a boy for us to loose, so I better agree. To be honest, I found nothing wrong with the boy, so simply agreed. Just one meeting and one simple decision. Dad spoke to my in-laws and told them of 'our' decision. They very sweetly requested for some more time for their boy to give an answer.
On Saturday, mom is back from her training and we are off to finish some last-minute shopping. We are still waiting for an answer, but travelling onsite is top priority for me. That evening my mom-in-law calls home, speaks to my grandmom for a long time and finally revelas her son's decision - that he has actually agreed. My pati is excited - she tells Thatha and my cousin. Pati calls us and we are busy gliding our way through crowded Pondy Bazar. We can hardle hear Pati what with all the buzz around us, but Pati conveys the happy news to my mom, congradulates her and tells us to buy some sweets on our way back for thatha.
I can hardly digest this fact. Thousands of thoughts run through my mind. I can barely speak to my mom. We just hold hands tightly,smiling at each other and return home. The next morning I receive a call from the now familiar number and then happens our first actual conversation. I left for Germany the next day, but thanks to email and occasional chats, we 'learnt' a little more of each other.
After my return, and although we lived in the same city, we were always busy with work that we hardly actually met during courtship. And was finally united 8 months after I first met him. Incidentally August is when I first 'saw' the boy and we shall celebrate the 5th anniversary in a couple of weeks time.

PS: This is supposed to be my child's blog, so her 18 month update is WIP. Will be coming soon. So watch this space.

The engagement

I have been reading quite a few of the engagement stories of late(I am reading all the old posts...) and decided to recall mine here.
I could very well be a member of Tharini's Green Sulk Club for I had the typically old-fashioned arranged South Indian marriage. It was almost a year since I finished college and joined one of the Indian software giants through the much-hyped campus placements. Like any other budding, normal software professional, I was dreaming of a trip abroad at the company's expense. Normal working hours were between 8:30 AM and 10 PM. I was working for an extremely busy project with tight deadlines that life outside work was almost nil.
In the midst of this, my aunt started the 'horoscope-matching' and look out for eliglible boys for my cousin, who was 2 years younger to me. My parents were level-headed, not too much bothered by the process. But people dont leave you alone if you are happy where you are and other relatives started pestering my parents to start looking out for matches for me. I was least bothered, given that I hardly spent much time at home. So some time in July '03, mom declared that she had placed an advertisement in the newspaper's matrimonial columns.
As an aside, we know that these ads would yield nothing, given that we had placed ads atleast half a dozen times for my older cousin in 2 years, who had her own set of demands which were never fulfilled by the so called eligible batchelors.Anyway, the ad appeared and the horoscopes poured in at my parents place. My parents selected a few that they felt were most eligible, passed them to me for 'approval' and then went on to 'talk' further with the boy's parents. Horoscopes were matched and the ones that did not were discarded. The funny things about ads/profiles which my cousin and I would laugh over -

• All boys were invariably from Bay area, CF
• They were always school/university toppers - yes all of them!!
• Photos would always be in front of the poshest car in the car park that they never owned.
• They would always be very fair(brown) and very tall(5'6") according to the parents.

Among them eligible boys were those of doctors, engineers, lawyers(!), architects, teachers, professors and what not.
Among the few that my parents finally shortlisted was a doc, working/living in Chennai(oh, what a relief. I can continue to work in the same place without having to move cities and jobs). After a few converastions with my future in-laws, it was decided that the girl-boy seeing had to be done almost immediately, for I was supposedto be leaving abroad for work within 2 weeks. So the in-laws, who are living in Bangalore decide to come to Chennai - to live with their son for a week and also finalize the match making during their trip.
Man proposes, but fate disposes, for my mother, who's a bank manager, was off for a training to Manipal in Karnataka for a week. And so the in-laws who had planned their trip to Chennai decided to postpone until mom returned. At the end of the same week, I was leaving the country not to return for a minimum of 6 months. This was an opportunity not to be lost according to the elders in the house. They declared that we finish this girl-boy viewing within the same week. But how could we do it. The boy's parents were not around, the girl's mom was away. So the only involved parties around were the girl's father, the girl and the boy.
My in-laws graciously permitted us to visit the boy - given that the boy was living alone, he could not come alone to see me at my place. But allowed us to visit him. Remember the girl is not supposed to talk to the boy before this event. So that thursday evening taking special permission to leave by 5 PM at work, I left - all dressed up for the occassion to meet the boy. Dad and I caught got in the famous Kathipara junction traffic and the 20 minute ride turned into an hour and a half. Not nice if you are getting the man to wait this long. Neway reached his house by 8 PM finally.

This is proving to be a very long one. So to be cont.....d

Walking with the pram

I am a huge fan of public transport and this country has some very good links. Anyway the extremely high parking rates makes it impossible to drive to the city centre where I work. So we take the bus, I drop off the little one at her nursery, walk to my workplace and the same routine follows in the evening. Today as we were walking back from the bus stop towards home in the evening, the child got a bit upset and started humming, I think she was probably hungry.

The summer vacation has begun and the school going kids go bored.The sun outside is shining and they hang out on the pavement most of the time. Today a group of kids, about 6-8 years old were standing by the road. And they tried to imitate Aditi. Going aaaaaaa, eeeeee and all kind of sounds to be followed by Early in the morning - As if I did not understand what they really meant. I usually turn a deaf ear and a blind eye to those on the road, but today they were having fun at my child's expense and I was rather disturbed. One kid started and the rest followed and continued doing it until we were far far away. As usual, I walked off without battling an eyelid.

Why do these kids still practise racism so strongly? Its as if its in their blood and wont go away at all. On the other hand, I know of prefectly nice people, who give up their seats in the bus when they see a mother struggling with a child or baby. Anyway I was mightily upset and this kept ringing in my ears. So I decided to vent out through this outlet and get it out and done with. Children in my opinion should be taught against colour and creed, but its not to be expected in this country - who gave us our independence many years ago, but there's still a small population that thinks of us as their slaves. Some day in the future, I hope they realize their mistake and turn a new leaf...

Nursery update

Its been about 4.5 months since Aditi started nursery. Full day at the nursery. And its been almost the same time since I started work at the new place. Usually I speak once or twice a week to her carer in detail about her activites during the day. This week I had updates about my little one from other carers who are usually not part of the baby room.
A couple of days ago, one of the staff told me that she's extremely friendly and a happy child. She smiles at people,says hello every morning and bids them good bye every evening as we leave the place. The mother in me was excited to learn about this. Today evening as I wheeled her pram away, I was met by her key-worker. She remarked 'You know, your little one has become so chatty. She is no longer the child who joined us in March. She's so sociable. She sings with us and loves action-rhymes'. Needless to say I was thrilled.
The baby room that Aditi goes to has a few other newer smaller babies and Aditi is happy to play along with them without harming them. This week, a new child joined the baby room and was crying so loudly. The worst was the parent did not want to leave the child alone and kept asking the staff, if he should stay longer. I instantly recalled Aditi's earliest days in the nursery. She would cry for over ten minutes and I would wait outside until she stopped. There's a small glass panel in the door and if she saw me outside, she'd point to the door and cry louder. So I'd wait near the office room for her to stop and the minutes gradually decreased. In about 3 weeks, she stopped completely. She still has favourties among the carers. She'll peep through the glass panel to see who's around every morning and will happily walk in if one of her favorite carers is on duty. Otherwise there'll be displeasure writ large on her face, but she doesn't cry these days. Her key-worker today recalled of how she liked only one particular carer in her early days and how she now plays and sings with everybody.
To give credit to the nursery, she's definitely becoming more independent and learning to play with her toys or work with her books on her own and I can peacefully do some cooking or blog-hopping. Her passion for books deserve a separate post in itself and I shall relate it another day. She dances with us or by herself and does a cute turn around. And expects me to sing every nursery rhyme exactly as her carers do. We now enjoy every moment with her and weekends are filled with fun activites - be it gardening or shopping. The mornings for some reason are lessbusy these days and we get to play quite a bit before we leave for work every morning. It's such a pleasure to see her smile and run towards me and hold my legs as I walk into the nursery every evening. Looking forward to the bank holiday weekend when we can spend a lot of time together.

Free heart surgery - Do pass this message on.

The card that was never gifted

It was one of those snap at each other moments and then thinking of the innumerable ways to make up by means of nice gestures or little gifts. I had the easy way out most of the time, 'cos I would dish up something really nice and would win most of the time. For him, its a bit difficult- but he would offer to do little jobs for me in the kitchen - helping pack Aditi's bag for the next day or sterilize her bottles. And we would have happily forgotten about the crazy argument. Thankfully such occasions are rare in this household.
Last week, we had one such instance and we made up, smiled at each other and got down to completing some paper-work. He was busy filling up an application form and looking for some documents. Suddenly he looked up at me and said 'Shall I show you something?'. What kind of thing could be pulled out from midst of college certificates and mark sheets. My mind raced and the immediate thoughts were it would be a photo - 10 years or so younger and proudly displaying it. But then the question was repeated and this time my heart was beating fast. Before I could collect my thoughts and ask for it , out he pulled a little piece of white envelope and showed it to me. A card it was. But my birthday is still months away and the wedding anniversary when one would usually expect gifts was over 2 months ago. So still trying to guess hard why my name would be scribbled on the envelope, I peeped into the card. Out came the most wonderful words I had read in a long time. It was apt and it was at the right time. He had won over me this time and in the most unexpected manner. Full marks to this wonderful man who timed it even superbly. This is what the card read....

FOR THE PERSON WHO SHARES MY LIFE
I want to take a little time
To tell you how I feel
We all live such busy lives these days
That it's easy to get so wrapped up in everyday tasks
That we forget the things that really matter in life.

I've given it a lot of thought lately
And I've come to realize
That what really matters in my life is you
I take for granted your many qualities
Like your affectionate ways and your tenderness
Your ability to lift me when I'm feeling down
Or simply your willingness to listen when I need to talk

I know it may sometime seem as though
I don't appreciate all these wonderful things about you
BUT I DO
And although I dont always find the time to say it
I want you to know that I love you, I need you
And I feel very lucky to have you in my life.

I was filled with emotions and tears of joy ran through my cheeks. That was the nicest thing said about me in a while. Most of the words echoed what what running in my own mind. And to know thta the person who 'shared' your life felt the same way - was really awesome.

Was this card bought the same day that it was gifted to me. Apparently not. Otherwise why would it find its place in the midst of degree certificates. To know more on the story of the card read on. About 30 months ago, yes its thirty and not three, he was on night duty and my mother wished me on a thursday - 5 days before my actual birthday - saying it was my star birthday. I passed on the message to the husband, who enthusiastically went and bought a cuddly teddy for his wife and presented it the same evening. The card was supposed to be gifted on the actual birthday. 3 birthdays passed and the gift remained hidden. Approximately a year later, the teddy found its way into the baby crib. And one evening in early July, more than 2 and a half years later, the card finally reached its recipient. And that my dear friends is when the card was destined to find its rightful place.
If you have such similar or unusual experiences, why not share it with us. Go on and leave me a comment.

My first tamil movie

That title is to say my first tamil movie in a theatre after my marriage which is more than 4 years old. The much-hyped 'Universal Hero' starrer Dasavatharam was released recently and we decided rather unexpectedly to go around &watch it last night. Usually its a Saturday thta we'd go out to watch a movie(ie pre Aditi days) and this time the husband suggested that we go out on the Friday. After feeding and putting Aditi to sleep and packing her night time essentials, we ventured out with high hopes to watch the said movie. Aditi was really too sweet. She slept through out the 3.5 hours or so that we were away. Our neighbour in the movie theatre questioned us on how she slept so peacefully unmindful of the sounds...
The movie started off very well and somewhere half an hour into the movie, it seemed like all too familiar, typical tamil movie.The hero could have chosen to play say 4 roles instead of 10. It seemed all too much and the make-up wasn't up to the mark. Anybody who has watched Indian would have said that the make up was the highlight of the movie, but here it was terrible. Certain make-ups of the hero looked like an improvised fancy dress makeover. I was disappointed to say the least, after all the hype in the media, what with 10 years of research and 2 years of making, the movie definitely did not stand up to its mark or my mark.
There are 2 more posts in draft waiting for some attention from me, but I direct all the time towards the emails/responses in the SBS group, which of course has very intersting stuff happening all the time.

16 months into motherhood

This is my first attempt to recall all that I have learnt from my little child in the last 16 months. You brought so much joy to daddy and me on the day I knew I was carrying you. It was a Thursday and the famous WorldCup football match between England and Trinidad and Tobago. We were sent off early from work to watch the match. Your father usually picks me up from the bus stop near the Tesco superstore, and though I reached early, I went into Tesco to do the weekly shopping. As I went past the medicine counter, somehow my eyes rested on the HPT kit and without a second thought, I bought it. We returned home, dad made some tea and I went off to wash and change. I wasn't nervous or anxious, but I was too overjoyed to say anything when I saw the pink lines on the test stick. I came downstairs, had my tea and watched the match. I was nervous about telling your father - I do not know why. I decided that if England won the match, I'll tell your father otherwise, I'll wait till the weekend. As luck would have it, England won the match and I sheepishly told your dad. He was happy and excited - which I tell you I did not expect, and went off to get some multivitamin and Santogen -that I used throughout and even after you were born. I could not wait to tell your maternal grandmom the next morning.

When you were born, I did not even know to hold you. You taught me persistence when I was struggling to feed you. You taught me to be patient as I moaned away at the long hours you were stuck to me all the time. Night times for the first 2 months were typically a nightmare - You taught me to accept the good and the bad. When we were in desperate situations, you were the ray of hope. One look at your sweet face and any problem would melt away. You taught me to smile with your sleepy-dreamy smile - when I would be all worried about your input and output. I still cannot believe you were the little baby - who looked exactly like my grandmom -with a round face and brows full of furrows - that came into my life 16 months ago.

You showed me how to hold a book upside down, vertically, horizontally and at every angle other than 'normal' and how to enjoy a book in every direction. Each of your milestone has amazed me no less and now you are onto the climbing phase - sofa/chair/tea table/bed. We were surprised to see you climb a flight of stairs on our holiday in Paris - you were 10 months old then. But now you can climb up and down - oh you are growing up so fast!

You taught me not to be lazy on a weekend - you wake up at the crack of dawn - always on time and my repeated requests to you to sleep a little longer only end up in me getting out of bed and playing with you.

When you act naughty, I try to be clam. I try not to yell at your name and many times these days, I find myself just shutting up and completely ignoring your act. I tell you that its not right to do so , but just in a normal voice. The other day, your daddy raised his voice a bit and you started weeping. You still do not like anybody - especially your daddy or me yell at you. You don't mind if we tell it in a normal voice. I have definitely learnt to be calm.

You've taught me the importance of time and to work in little batches and still play or continue my conversation with you. To be honest, I'm still working on this. I can multitask, but not with you. But I have changed from being always bound by time to work as little or much as need be. Sometimes I tell myself, I am lucky to have you bring this other side of me. These days I am a little more relaxed about everything I do.

You are choosy and picky about your food. You tell me that its okay if you ate a little less someday and that you would be alright. But me being your mommy will worry unnecessarily over the quantity that you've had. You like cheese and yogurt and would have that for breakfast,lunch and dinner. Your fascination towards cornflakes and then cheerios was very short-lived. You still love anything green - so I am happy about your food colour sense(if that's a term at all)

Recently, you taught me to dance. Oh and that scene comes to mind instantly. I remember how I was sitting on the floor trying to read a book with you and you pointed to my hands. Immediately I took them away from my lap so that you could sit. But you kept smiling and bent down to hold my hand. You lifted your left leg first and then your right and kept nodding your head at the same time. This is popularly called the 'dancey-dancey' at home and we are ever-ready to 'dance' with you dear child. But not to dance to your tunes all the time.

Your love for the mobile phone or hand-held hasn't diminished at all .You still love the phone to bits. Only now you have learnt to hold it and speak to it. You started off one day saying 'Aditi, Aditi speaking' and now you have imaginary conversations and talk a lot, most of which we are yet to comprehend. You love to go and stand near the patio doors and watch your shadow. You try to catch the shadow only not knowing that its really you. You've started walking backwards and sometimes fall over objects/toys/books.

Every morning before I can even dress you up completely, you run to the mirror and love to look at yourself and smile. But can you please wait until I've finished dressing you up. Its a struggle these days to dress you up for you do not want to wear certain clothes and want to make your own choice of clothes.Your recent love for mommy's bag drives me nuts because you want to hang the bag around your neck and you do not know how to remove it. You cry for attention and if I remove the bag from your neck, its back on your neck in less than 5 seconds and you are crying again. You love your books - now you are fascinated towards the ones that make noise. The Duck book that goes' Quack,Quack' and you shout 'Buk,Buk,Buk' with it. The Car book that makes 3 different sounds and you love it to bits. But I guess I'll do a separate post on all your toys and books. now let me add some pictures and hit Publish on this post sitting in the Drafts folder for a long time.

Father's Day

Father's Day this year dawned bright and sunny. Aditi and I were busy that morning chatting away on Yahoo! with my parents. The little girl has learnt to dance in her nursery and one day sometime last week held my hands and moved her legs and head from side to side. This dance has become an oft repeated game in our household with amma and appa taking turns to dance with the little girl. What we enjoy most is her wide grin as she moves her head from side to side - expressing her happiness and joy. We eagerly await each other's turn to dance with our little child.
My mom wanted to witness her grandchild's dance and so I mentioned 'Dance' to Aditi who was busy playing on the floor beside me. She got up at once, extended her hands and started waving her torso from side to side. A couple of minutes later, she wanted her dad to join and proceeded to wake him up. What a unique way to start Father's Day - for daddy by dancing with his darling girl.
The gift: On Friday, I went during lunch to buy an electric shaver as a gift for Father's Day. We had requested for a shaver socket in the family bath in the new house and I had wanted to put it to good use. I wasn't sure which one to choose given the 40 different varieties housed by Argos. After reading many reviews and doing a bit of research on the shaver head, I decided on a piece - and safely stored the bill in case it needed to be exchanged or returned. On my way back, I was thinking of storing it away until Sunday morning and surprising daddy with the gift, but Prashanth returned early that day and hence came over to pick us up.
It was no longer the surprise I wanted, but Prashanth was excited at his gift. He's the tech-savvy one at home. He read up the instructions, used it the next morning and declared that it was indeed a good choice. I was happy to see that the shaver was put to use and wasn't returned. So the formal gifting process did not happen on Sunday, but Aditi was lovely as ever when we visited a friend's place for lunch that day. She enjoyed herself and the hosts loved having her around. We had a heavy lunch and headed home while Aditi slept on our way back. Enjoyable day for daddy and happy day for mummy with hardly any cooking.

Four fabulous fantastic fun-filled years

I am a month late on doing this post, but was determined to do it this weekend. Thanks to my dear friend Nithu who had her blog updated on the date of her wedding anniversary that reminded me time and again to do the much delayed post. This one is especially meant to relive the last 4 years that I spent with the man of my dreams.

The first anniversary was meant to be very special, but I spent the day in a flight from Chennai and hence we ended up celebrating the following week. We had a week-long celebration as we were meeting each other after a long time and went around the Kent countryside, enjoying every day. Year 2 saw us both in Paris - we did not go there on a holiday - we were stopping over there on transit. Atleast we were together, but still flying from Bangalore after a trip to India for his cousin's wedding. The third year was prefect. It fell on a Sunday, we went to the temple, we were new parents, we took blessings from my dad who was at home with us. The only thing that was missing was that we spent the evening at home rather than dine at a restaurant.

This year it fell soon after the Spring Bank holiday weekend. Worse Prashanth was working the previous night and the next, so I would only meet him for a couple of hours that day. Those hours are typically the times when my little girl gets cranky. Its her snack/dinner time and I'm all in a rush to cook dinner for the kid and my man who is off to work through the night. It wouldn't be wrong if I said we did pretty much nothing on that day. But the boss had different plans. I had casually mentioned to him that my watch was as old as our marriage and needed a replacement. People who wear a watch day in and out, will know what I mean when I say 'The world seems dead, if my watch drops dead.' So after the night shift, Prashanth went shopping for a watch and as soon as I returned home gave it in Aditi's hands to be given to me. Curious girl she is, she decided to open the pack and see what was inside. She probably assumed it must be a game. But just in time, Prashanth managed to grab it from her and presented it to me. Of course I was overjoyed and happy. More so becasue of the effort and pains he had taken to shop for it and gift me something special and useful on this memorable day. Every time , my mom sees it on the webcam and says it looks pretty, I'm reminded of the scene when he gave it to me.

Did I bother to reciprocate? Not really. Well I'm kind of late. I have decided to club it with Father's Day gifts. We did manage to enjoy the weekend with what I call a house-party. I cook some of his favorite foods, put Aditi to bed, dim the lights, light up some aromatic candles, have a candle-light dinner and enjoy ourselves with a movie later. Its not just at anniverary time, but whenever I feel like it that we have this house-party.

Leaving you with a picture of the wonderful gift I received for my wedding anniversary this year.

From mamma's lamb to daddy's darling daughter

I am extremely happy to announce that over the last couple of weeks, Aditi has been spending more time with her daddy and getting much closer to him. This may be the case in many households, but my child was always stuck to me and refused to stay with daddy for more than a couple of minutes. When we sit down for breakfast or dinner at the table, the little one who would usually sit on my lap runs to her father and asks to be picked up. Of course, daddy is only way too happy to oblige.
It started one evening when I was busy fixing up some dinner for daddy who was about to leave on night duty. Aditi wanted to be picked up by me, but I was cutting vege and could not manage it single-handedly(and carry Aditi with the other hand). In my hurry to cook something before daddy left, I decided to let her cry. Prashanth who was sitting on the dining table was trying to comfort Aditi. For a couple of miutes, Aditi cried out loud. Then realization dawned on her. She ran to her daddy and asked to be picked up. He in turn bribed her with some Cheerios. Now Prashanth has never and NEVER had this request from his baby and was pleasantly surprised. From then it was no stopping her.
Nowadays, she smiles wide - showing all her 16 teeth, as soon as she sees daddy in the morning. If she hears his voice, she looks in that direction to spot him. During weekends, she has her lunch sitting on his lap on the dining table. She uses a spoon & fork at the nursery and insists on using a spoon/fork at home and refuses to touch any food with bare hands. Even finger food has to be eaten using a fork. And she turns the fork upside down as she puts the food into her mouth.

What triggered this sudden change in my baby - An argument between me and Prashanth. Me pointing out(he said 'nee kutthi kamikara') that he hardly spends any time with the kiddo and me and always spends time with the internet browsing 'ning' and other useless stuff which can wait until the baby goes to sleep. So he made an effort and I appreciate him for this act - to spend more time with us rather than rushing to his laptop in the evening. The evenings are now more lively and Aditi enjoys the attention she gets from daddy.

Little naughty things that the babe has been upto these days:
* Pretends to sit on my lap and then runs and sits on daddy's lap
* Insists on sitting on daddy's lap while she has lunch and while we have ours.
* Plays more with dad, but returns to mommy when hungry.
* Plays this game every evening and makes us laugh, she joins in too - asks daddy to pick her up, then jumps ove to mummy stays with mummy for a minute , then goes back to daddy. This passing back and forth game goes on for a while until she's bored and tired of it.
* Threw her shoes(new pair that she did not like) into the dustbin when amma was not looking.

Earlier daddy used to called Aditi - a little lamb as in Mary had a little lamb - cos she would follow me wherever I went - this includes the loo and shower room- or cry out loud if I did not let her in and shut the door. I am so happy that she's bonding with daddy so well. I have waited long enough for this and I am overjoyed now. This leaves me with some time for myself and daddy is soooo happy when his little girl comes walking up to him.

"I am 15 months young"

When I was a teenager, I visited a well known doctor at his clinic in Chennai. After the routine examinations, as he was about to write the prescription, he asked me how young I was. I must admit that it struck me only after a little while that he was asking my age(how old I was). We are used to hearing the common phrase - 'how old' that the reverse doesn't strike us immediately. Thats the story of the title of this post. Now some updates on the little one.

I need not hire a cleaner to help me with the dreaded cleaning chores. My little girl goes around with a broom and imitates us in a typical fashion of her own. Be it the dining area or the patio, she roams with the broom and pretends to clean the entire place. She is upset if I dont hand over the broom to her when I'm trying to clean the place. That said, she's still a bit scared of the vacuum cleaner and prefers to stay away when it's in use.

She does two very sweet things that i'm yet to capture on video. Whenever I sit on the floor, she does an above turn with her back facing me, walks backwards towards me and sits on my lap. This is something both of us look forward too, and the very manner in which she turns around and sits down is fascinating.Talking of sitting, when she has to sit down, she puts the palm of her arms on the floor to support her, then bends one of her knees and then slowly brings the other to the floor.Until then the arms are still on the floor supporting her. It reminds me of the way my grandmom would sit on the floor using hands to support herself.

She loves outdoors. The front of our house has been blockpaved recently and we can safely let her do some walking around in that area. She loves to go around in circles outside until she's bored or tired of the walking. Walking has actually been replaced by running these days.

At 15 months, she's turning into a picky and fussy eater. The baby who gulped down anything that was offered to her now refuses food most of the time. This started about 3 weeks back and is getting worse by the day. Initially I could distract her with her favorite food, but now that seems very difficult too. For now, the husband is very supportive and helps me deal with her patiently, otherwise its a struggle when it comes to feeding. My MIL wisely told me last year that the child will eat everything when young and tantrums start around 18 months. This is turning true in Aditi's case. Any suggestions/comments/help on this one welcome.

Also I am becoming adept at doing one handed jobs for she wants to be carried all the time. People tell me its just a phase and it should go away in a while. We wish and pray that it goes away soon. Sometimes its difficult to believe thats she's completed 15 months. Her personality is changing every day and her face is loosing its babiness and getting more mature. She can speak a dozen words clearly and babbles a lot more. She can sing the tune of nursery rhymes with us. Her favorite song still remains the one she's been hearing for the last 12 months - a Ganesha composition, which still puts her to sleep.

She's a happy little child who's excited to go to nursery each day and comes home with the same enthusiasm and bringing more joy into our lives each day. How I wish time stays still and she remains like this forever.

Tagged!

Mynanhipari has tagged me with this general questionnaire tag.

Last Movie You Saw In A Theater: Welcome

What Book Are You Reading: My first farm, 5 Little Ducks and about half a dozen touch and feel baby books

Favorite Board Game: Monopoly

Favorite Magazine: Women's era(always), more recently Practical Parenting

Favorite Smells: Incense Sticks - especially sandal ones

Favorite Sound: Early morning Suprabatham from the nearby temple

Worst Feeling In The World: Guilt

What Is The First Thing You Think Of When You Wake? Will my baby wake up before I finish my shower????

Favorite Fast Food Place: The one outside Foodcourt(after my recent trip to India)

Future Child's Name: Not sure if i'll have another one.

Finish This Statement. "If I Had A Lot Of Money I'd...” Donate half of it to charity and let the rest earn some interest in the bank.

Do You Drive Fast? No.

Do You Sleep With A Stuffed Animal? No

Storms-Cool Or Scary? Scary

What Was Your First Car? Skoda Felicia

Favorite Drink:Ginger elaichi tea

Finish This Statement, "If I Had The Time I Would .....” Spend with my baby and hubby.

Do You Eat The Stems On Broccoli? Of course

If You Could Dye Your Hair Any Color, What Would Be Your Choice? None (I am not a fan of hair dyes)

Name All The Different Cities/Towns You Have Lived In.
Chennai, Pondicherry, London, Belfast, Sheffield

Favorite Sports To Watch: Formula1

Nice Thing About The Person(s) Who Sent This To You: A mom who enjoys motherhood.

What's Under Your Bed? Nothing(Prefer to keep it clean)

Would You Like To Be Born As Yourself Again? Yes.

Morning Person Or Night Owl? Morning Person.

Over Easy Or Sunny Side Up? Over Easy

Favorite Place To Relax: Any uncrowded temple (with my eyes closed).

Favorite Pie: Lemon

Favorite Ice Cream Flavor: Vanilla

You pass this tag to - Nithya and Mona

Of All The People You Tagged This To, Who's Most Likely To Respond First? Nithya I guess.

Long weekend

May is one month that has 2 long weekends and we look forward to this because the first and last Monday in May are usually bank holidays. Our plans to visit Rome during the first week of May pretty much got scrapped after we realized that Prashanth was working the nights on Monday. I was particularly enthusiastic on Friday as one of my school friends, whom I had met through Orkut, was visiting us on Saturday. She was visiting with her husband and two boys aged 5 and 2. We were up early on Saturday and polished every nook and corner of the house until it shone bright and clear.
The plan was for my friend to visit us that evening, so I prepared gajar halwa, aloo tikki and bhel puri. They had visited the shopping mall before they arrived, so the elder one was exhausted due to the walking and slept off on the couch after gobbling down his milk. The younger one refused his milk, but started looking into each of Aditi's toys from her red toy box. What surprised us was Aditi happily shared her toys and played with the little boy. Thanks to the nursery, she did not cry for the same toy that my friend's son picked. She picked another toy and decided to play with it until he was finished. The little ones ran from the kitchen to the living area and were 2 happy bunnies. While the kids enjoyed their new found company, the dads discussed current affairs and other miscellaneous topics - like which service provider's was the best broaband in the country. The moms caught up on all the school girls' gossip. We chatted on who went with whom and what happened later. My friend gave me useful tips on parenting and choosing schools. Three hours flew up in a jiffy and it was time to bid good bye.
We cleared up and awaited our next set of friends who arrived on Sunday and stayed with us for the night. They travelled from London, stopped enroute at the Balaji temple at Birmingham and came on Sunday evening. The South Indian tiffin varieties sold at the Balaji temple deserve special mention. They are prepared by volunteers and are simply so tasty that they are sold out in no time. Our friends got a big laddu prasadam and medu vadais neatly packed with 3 varieties of chutneys from the temple. There was a sale of mangoes at the temple and we received a huge crate of mangoes as well. We decided to go for a simple dinner, but by the time I laid the dishes, there was hardly any space left on my dining table. The simple menu was Chappati, Mutter Panner, Baingan Bartha, rice, murunga sambar, rasam, gobi-aloo fry, left over mangeout curry from lunch, mint thogayal and vadam. We chatted till midnight and the men stayed awake much longer.
The next morning was a bright sunny day and after a breakfast of semiya upma, we went out to the Botanical gardens, which is in the heart of Sheffield.

Aditi enjoyed walking on the lush green grass there. She was running all over the place and we had a tough time trying to run behind her. It was the first time she was walking around in an external environment other than the garden and the little paved area in front of our house. After some pictures and a few nic-nacs there, we returned home hungry and tired. Aditi slept off on our way home after all the running , the poor kid was too drowsy.We had a leisurely lunch and our friends left later that evening. Aditi enjoyed the company of the 2 new comers in the house and our friends had fun time with the kid. Back to work on tuesday, but surprise-surprise awaited me that evening. More about that coming up in the next post.

New home in pictures

A few other bloggers have been posting pictures of their newly done homes. I follow suit and here are some pictures of our new home.