Adi speak

On our way back from Wales, my phone gave up its life. I have had it for over 4 years - a flip hpone from LG, which has been my good companion for a very long time. And I would have continued to live with it, until the husband got me a HTC. Back to the phone story, we had just left the cottage and I was texting a thank you message to the owner. A sudden brake, a crack on the phone and seconds later I realized the phone was broken. I still managed to use the phone successfully until we got home and my little girl tried to fix it. After about 5 minutes of fiddling with the phone, she declared -"Appa, I cant believe that Mummy broke the phone..." And before we could realize what she said, she came back with "I dont know HOW Mummy managed to break this phone...", stressing just right on where it mattered.
Aditi has been speaking full sentences for a while now, but never did we expect her to give us such blows - one after the other. She's been chatting a lot to almost everybody, but is most comfortable with people her own age. Yesterday she enjoyed with one of Prashant's friend's daughter, who had come a very long way, just to meet her. They played in the garden, on the slide, football, tennis and finally settled for painting. The girls were so absorbed in their activities that they did not want to part company. They've promised to meet each other soon.
One of Prashanth's cousin and his family are visting us this weekend and Aditi is looking forward to playing with her little cousin.

Convocation, grandparents visit etc...

The grandparents are here. They arrived over a week ago to attend Prashanth's convocation and will be here for the next 2 months. The convocation was a grand event and we made a short day trip to London. Aditi enjoyed the trip as usual and had good fun. While the grandparents and ad were off to attend the ceremony, Aditi and I went over to Kensington gardens and played in the park, fed the birds and saw the Kensington Palace from outside. To be honest, it was not inviting at all, with too much rubble all around, otherwise I would have paid the exhorbitant entry fees and gone in. We went back to the town hall where the function was taking place, and joined dad for tea. We took lots of pictures as it was the first convocation I attended and Aditi's first too.

Aditi is warming up to her grandparents. She was shy initially, but has been extremely friendly with her thatha. She's a bit J of her pati, especially because Pati showers too much attention on her dad, but I'm sure she'll be fine in a bit. She does not run to me all the time, but is happy to be chatting and playing with her grandparents and dad and loves to show them around. She's doing a lot more pooja and pretends to imitate her Pati all the time. I wish she learns more slokas as the only one she knows is Mooshika Vahana. She's talking a lot more and clearly and g'parents can now understand her - almost. The peppa pig addiction had decreased a bit, but is showing no signs of going away.

The nursery is teaching them culture and identity and she's absorbing bits and pieces of it and relaying them back to me at home. Her friends circle has grown by leaps and bounds. She's been out playing in the sun and enjoying the summer. We are expected to have a very good summer this year. Lets hope that the prediction comes true.

Latest addiction

Aditi's latest addiction is Peppa Pig.or people who dont know Peepa, she's a loveable little piggy and her everyday incidents are aired as 5 minute episodes on Channel5. My job every morning is to record them and play them for her when she's having breakfast. She's so attached to it that anything Peppa on the shelves of stores should be bought. And shops add to my trauma as they place character toys and accessories at eye level of the child and it leads to long arguments in the shop. She whines, grumbles and begs me with such pleading eyes that its so difficult to say 'No'. I admit I have given in sometimes and bought a few items Peppa, but largely managed to stay away. We also bought a few DVDs that keep her occupied when I'm away on weekends. I understand that the Peppa phase will go away on its own to be replaced by some other character, but its so terrible sometimes that I no longer fell comfortable to take her shopping to any supermarkets. Or I try to stay away from those shelves.
On another note, I have a new car all to myself and an automatic one too. For a second car, we decided to go for an automatic and its been a good decision. One of the main reasons to buy a car was to minimize the travel effort and make our journeys comfortable and it serves that purpose to a T.There is only one disadvantage from my view point - its not as economical as the manual one, but its perfect for me as we only do city trips on this one. Its a smaller car than the BMW, but boasts of a much larger boot space. Overall a great buy which has prompted others in our friends circle to consider buying a second car.

Back to blogging

I have had a big break, and am back after a very long time. Most of it I'll blame on new responsibilities and the additional work involved. But I'm enjoying being busy and loving this phase of Aditi where she makes proper adult like conversations. And her actions are only too good to be described. She's in this phase where she's addicted to everything Peppa Pig, so shopping with her over the last few months have been very difficult. Any tips from experienced parents are most welcome. How do you say no to a child without worrying about her repeated requests?

Summer has started early in this part of the world and the longer days and sunshine means we go out often and Aditi is back cycling inside our estate. She's got older girls as friends and absolutely adores their company. She can talk to them unlike last year where it was mostly through me. She's also being a perfect older sister to other little children from our estate. Incidentally there are four other kids who go to the same nursery as her and she loves to visit them in the baby room from time-to-time.

I'll hope to be more regular in my posting. More news including my new car in the next post.

And here's a picture of Aditi' with her ears pierced - a few weeks before her third birthday.

Unwell

I am at home today when I should have had another day at work busy designing and developing a new application in a newer technology. I had taken off yesterday and was just happy to be home with my little girl. The winter bug has affected her and she's taken ill. After an enjoyable weekend with my cousin and family who had dropped in from London, Aditi fell sick. And then came the fever. More doses of medicine followed. She was getting better yesterday or so I thought, but the fever returned again and again. And I decided to take today off. We did all we would have done over the weekend- reading books, singing rhymes, playing and trying to be as cheerful as possible. But when the little body curls up on my lap when that fever strikes, I feel sad for her, but grateful that I am with her and can indulge her. I cooked whatever she liked - her favourite dishes - but if only she manages to keep any of them in her troublesome tummy - that would be nice. No milk for a couple of days. And she's happy to have fresh fruit juice. Wishing she gets better today. And can go back to school tomorrow and play with her friends. She does miss them and we try to do whatever she would have done in school.

Sending prayers for her better health.

History repeats itself

Many many years ago, when the luxury of maids were not available in every home, a little girl about two years old was playing with the waters in the bathroom where her mom was trying to wash the day's clothes. Those were the days when the electric heater was still considered a luxury in a little Karnataka town. They lived in a little township, where houses were few and the afternoons were quiet. People would be sleeping in their homes away from the scorching summer sun. Frustrated at being disturbed by her daughter, and the limited supply of water soon running out, the mom lifted her daughter and placed her outside the bathroom. She then quickly shut the door and locked herself inside. The daughter was upset, cried a little, threw a tantrum outside and then realized her mom would not be able to see her. She started fiddling with the latch outside the room. The mom finished with her washing, was about to carry the bucket load of clothes to dry them out in the terrace. Little did the mom know that she'll be stuck inside for over 2 hours. Her daughter had managed to lock her from outside!!!
The mom tried to explain to the little girl to unlock the door. The girl by then had started crying loudly. It was impossible to pacify her and the mom cries out aloud to through the window. In the local language, she calls out for help. But there is no one around. The roads are deserted and empty. Not a soul in sight. It would be about five-six hours before her husband would arrive home. Thirty long minutes later, the mother is desperate to stop the child crying. And she decides to cut open the door in the bathroom. Now that's not a job for a labourer or a carpenter, not for a lady in her early twenties alone at home.
When electric heaters were not available, hot water would be produced by burning logs of wood in a huge anda (pot). The knife used to cut logs became the mom's tool. She used all her strength and managed to cut to remove a square panel from the bathroom door just below the latch. She then put her hands through the hole in the door, unlatched it and hugged the crying daughter. All of this cutting took about two hours and all this while the girl had been crying. That led to her falling ill the next day. And I have to appreciate the mother for being so brave, thinking and acting quickly, saving herself and her daughter that day.
When Aditi was about 5 months old, my in-laws came to live here for a few months. And my MIL has narrated this story more than once, how her daughter was troubling her, how she locked her out, and how she ended up being locked and finally cutting through the door with a rusted log- cutter knife. I would be in awe, never in my mind did it cross at that time that I would be stuck in a similar situation. Never ever...
We now live a very comfortable life and thankfully have child locks and emergency dial numbers! This happened about seven months ago, Aditi was just over two, and she knew that we locked ourselves inside the bathroom. It was a Saturday morning and Prashanth was away at work doing a long day. I got ready to give Aditi a bath. She wanted to use the toilet, so I put her on her seat and left her on the toilet to go and select her clothes. Within a few seconds I hear the girl banging the door shut. I turn around and run towards the bathroom, but she's already locked herself inside. And is happily saying 'Don't come inside'. And unfortunately I had shut the bathroom windows as it would be too cold otherwise.My heart skips a beat or a few may be. I was not sure what to do. thankfully the girl still thinks its her game and continues to laugh happily. I have never operated the child locks before, so I had no idea what to do. I panicked. I rushed to my neighbour, whose was locked. I came back and tried calling Prashanth, although I knew that there would be no signal inside the theatres. I left him a voicemail and went back upstairs to the bathroom. By this time, Aditi was considerably scared and started crying. Finally an idea struck - call 999 - the emergency helpline and I was put through to the fire service. I explained as patiently as I could and they tried to calm me and asked me to calm the child. I told them that they could break any door/window in my house - just get the child out. As I stood trying to explain the situation to Aditi and asking her to open the door, an idea struck me. No, I was not aware of child locks being fitted to all doors here. I was glad that the tool box was not in the attic. It was easily reachable and I reached for the flat headed screw driver. I managed to unlock the door by turning the child lock around and hugged the child. Oh what a relief! I quickly also called the fire service and told them that I had unlocked the door. A few minutes later after both of us were done with our hugging, I left a happy voicemail for Prashanth. And it reminded me of the time when my MIL was stuck in a similar situation. Thankfully I was outside and could call for help. That was definitely a much better state than being stuck inside - without access to a phone/help.

What separation does to you?

Exams were cleared many months ago. That was one of the reasons why the boss refused to accompany me during my India trip earlier this year. Now that they were out of the way, a trip to India was something that just had to be planned and executed. We went for a week each to Swiss and Italy in Summer/Autumn, and I had exhausted most of my holidays for this year. We decided that Prashanth would make the trip, and me and Aditi would stay put here. Except that I never ever dreamt this coming. All I had in my mind was that I should take care of the baby and myself and stay safe. I never thought about how much the child or I would miss him. It never ever occurred to me....
The original trip was to last 2 weeks, but slowly a stop over at Dubai was added and we finally ended up with 2 weeks and 5 days. I still had no worries, and was quite sure that I would be able to manage on my own. Thanks to my friendly neighbour, whom I had almost called for help in the previous post.
Aditi and I went to drop Prashanth at the train station and Aditi cheerily waved goodbye and kisses to her dad. My heart skipped a beat, as the train moved out slowly, the thought of not seeing him for the next 3 weeks - that was the first time it hit me that Aditi might miss her dad too. She had not the least idea that he would be away for 3 weeks. Trouble started the next morning, when dad was not around when she woke up. Prashanth was already st his sister's place in Dubai, so a quick call and a chat later, things were fine. That evening and then ext were sort of okay. I could tell her that Dad was at athai's place in Duabi and she was convinced. It was after Prashanth reached Bangalore, 4 days after he had left home that Aditi started crying. She wanted to be with her dad and she made it clear - Take me to Appa's house or Take me to Bangalore was the constant cry heard in my house.
We used to chat with dad on the webcam every evening and Aditi was happy to see him and hear his voice, but within minutes of closing the conversation, she would be back to crying. Meanwhile I was battling with my own loneliness - the evenings were long and boring, I had nothing much to do, the ironing was done, the house was cleaned, and honestly I did not do much cooking during the 3 week period. I think I was not interested. There was no one to relish my food, so I lose interest in cooking. I made real simple food for me and Aditi.
I never thought I would miss him so much. I never expected that I would blog about this, but better to get it out and be done with, rather than bottle up all my thoughts. All I needed was his presence and the laughter. The house felt empty when I walked in every evening. There was nothing to look forward to in my house.
Weekends were worse. The first weekend was Halloween and it was spent in dressing Aditi up on Friday at her nursery and on Saturday to go around the estate. Sunday seemed never-ending and I was waiting for the working week. The following week was slightly better. Prashanth was at Chennai, we spoke for a long time and most importantly were pretty excited about his return the following Thursday. Four days to go and the countdown began. But due to unforeseen circumstances, his trip had to be postponed by two days. So Saturday it was. I hate night-time driving, so we decided that Prashanth would take the train from the airport to Sheffield. He did not expect us to receive him at the airport. But since it was a Saturday and both of us were pretty excited about dad's return, we cleaned and scrubbed the house clean - ready to give dad a warm welcome. We hopped literally like two little girls from home singing rhymes and what not, and took the train to the airport. Aditi told everybody who cared to listen to her - 'My Appa is back'. Dad was as happy as we were to see him. Aditi refused to get down from his arms throughout the journey. And I was the happiest to have him back.
I should admit that it has been a very long time since I have stayed alone in this country without Prashanth and this time it made me realize how much we needed each other's company more as parents and it made me think about all the single parents out there - how do they ever manage all on their own.
On and now the wet towel on the bed no longer bothers me...